Kane Chronicles: Bloody Sands

Chapter 9 of my Kane Chronicles story, enjoy.

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Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)
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Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Kane Chronicles belongs to Rick Riordan.

Chapter 9: Turning the Tables

Carter sighed as he finished explaining everything to the others. They were all downstairs now; Zia had dressed in less revealing clothing. He was seated with his arm around her as they sat on the sofa. The others were either sitting or standing nearby as they explained. Julian lay unconscious on the other sofa, his wrists behind his back and bound with the duct tape, just like his ankles and legs. To ensure he couldn't cast any spells when he woke up they had to tape his mouth, too. Carter knew they would have to be ready since, if he woke up and the spirit possessing him was dormant, he'd panic. They'd have to calm him down and tell him what had happened. That wasn't something he was particularly looking forward to. He could only imagine how Julian would react when he found out what he had done, willingly or not. He looked around at the others, noting their expressions. Thankfully none of them seemed to be angry or blaming Julian anymore; they had heard the truth after all.

"So, all this time, some ghost or something has been possessing Julian and was therefore able to get through the wards," Jaz said, shaking her head. "And it made him do such…unspeakable things, to Sadie, and try to do them to Zia and put all of us at risk."

Walt shook his head. "All this was part of that…Setne's plan; a sick sense of humour and twisted logic."

The others nodded.

Carter however knew there was more to it, so he then added, "That's not all; whoever this spirit is, he also has a grudge against me. It's the only way Setne could have convinced him to carry out this plot."

The others cringed at that and Zia, her head on Carter's shoulder, moved a bit closer to him, speaking softly,

"That doesn't really help us narrow things down." She paused and then added, "You've made a lot of people angry after all."

"True," Carter replied with a grimace.

It was then they heard it.

"Mmmm hmmm; Hmn, whht thm fhgg!?"

Julian had woken up and discovered his situation. Carter stood up and hurried over to him. He was flailing, pulling furiously at the tape binding him.

He cried out through his gag. "Hghn, nht fhnnn ghnf, lmt mm gh!"

He then saw Carter standing over him and cried out again. "Ghrtmr, hmlp, gmt mm hhtth thnf!"

"I'm sorry Julian, I can't just yet," Carter said apologetically. "Listen, you have to calm down and listen carefully to what I have to say; it's important."

Julian stopped struggling and stared, clearly confused. He tried to ask what, but through it tape it came out as 'Whht?' So he sighed and nodded, indicating he was listening. Carter then began to explain to him everything that had happened and what he had done. Doing his utmost to reassure Julian that his actions weren't his own, emphasizing as much as possible the possession part of the incident.

Despite his efforts Carter could see the despair in Julian's eyes as he realized the truth. Carter put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, it's going to be alright, I promise. Amos and I are going to get that spirit out of you and banish it," he explained. "Then we're going to deal with Setne. Once we do that, you'll be safe, and we can set you free."

Julian didn't reply; he didn't even struggle or try to talk. He merely bowed his head and waited. It was then Amos came into the room.

"Okay, everything's ready," he said." I must ask all of you to stay back and, no matter what happens, do not interfere."

Carter nodded. "Alright, let's begin. You heard him everyone."

They all nodded and stepped back, although before letting go Zia squeezed Carter's hand and gave him a small smile. Carter and Amos stood in front of Julian who remained unresponsive to their presence. Amos glanced at Carter who shook his head.

"I had to tell what happened, he's not taking it well, even though I explained it wasn't really his fault," he explained.

"Understandable," Amos replied with a sigh. "It'll take a while to come to terms with this. Right now, our most important goal is freeing him from the spirit. Then we must look to help him recover."

Carter nodded and he and Amos got to work, beginning the spell.

It was hard going, the spirit proving resistant to their efforts, but finally they were able to wrench it out of Julian. Julian gave out a muffled scream as they did so, his eyes screwing shut in pain. Carter tried not to think about how painful such an experience must be – not yet, anyway, as he needed his full concentration.

When the spirit emerged he nearly faltered; those who recognized him let out shocked gasps. The spirit possessing Julian was none other than Vlad Menshikov.

The spirit of the 'Evil Ice Cream Man' as Sadie had called him, howled and struggled but at a gesture from Amos, Carter focused and together they banished him, sending him back to the spirit word. Julian remained slumped on the sofa, breathing hard; Carter hurried forwards and peeled the tape off his mouth.

"It's okay now. I told you…You're free now," he said reassuringly. "This won't happen again."

Julian shook his head as Carter began to free him from the tape. "That doesn't matter. I can't believe I did this. It's all my fault, I should never…"

He broke off, saying nothing else. Carter looked up at Amos who shook his head sadly. Carter sighed and stood up, joining Amos. The others began to move forwards but Amos waved them back.

"This isn't over yet," he warned.

Carter looked up at him surprised as the others backed off again, just as surprised.

Amos then turned to Carter and explained, "Well, we've dealt with Vlad; that puts a stop to Setne's plan, Setne himself is still out there and that doesn't bode well. We need to deal with him quickly."

Carter nodded in agreement. "You're right. We need to stop him before something like this happens again."

"Oh and just how do you plan to do that?" Came the familiar mocking voice.

Carter spun, shocked as he saw Setne floating there, smirking at them.

"Please, as if you could stop me," Setne laughed. "I thought you'd have set up some defences against me to stop me coming in here."

Carter glared at him. "I did."

Setne raised an eyebrow and laughed again. "They weren't very good then, were they?"

"They were perfect; however, I lowered them," Amos countered, surprising everybody.

Setne looked like he was about to laugh again. "Oh, really, how foolish, and why did you…" He was cut off; however, when he found himself suddenly bound head to toe in linen bandages. He hit the ground and found Anubis standing over him.

"That's why," Amos remarked casually.

It then finally made sense to everyone. Amos had conferred with Anubis and lowered the wards so Setne could come in; right into the trap Amos and Anubis had set. Anubis smiled and picked Setne up. He turned to Carter.

"Tell Sadie I'll be back soon," he said cheerfully. "Once I get our 'friend' here back to the Underworld."

Carter smirked and nodded and Anubis disappeared with Setne.

Amos restored the wards before leaving and Carter passed Anubis' message on to Sadie. He was relieved to note that she seemed to be recovering fast now. He let out a slow careful breath as he fell onto his bed. It was over. Julian was still a guilt-ridden wreck, Sadie still needed time to recover, but at the very least, the worst was over at last.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.