Chapter 27

Those Few Years Of Happiness

It all had happened so quickly, there had been literally nothing she could have done about it, and she found herself being still confused and astonished about how this could have been possible. The daze that made her head feel heavy to the point where she was this close to passing out cold due to having the worst physical pain she had ever experienced in her whole live relentlessly coursing through her like raw electricity was long gone by now. She could still remember all of it. One moment, she was standing there on the road, struggling to hold onto her last bit of consciousness and feeling like her legs were this close to giving up on her as she heard her traveling companion furiously yelling at her captor to release her; then, before she knew it, all she could see was nothing else but the purest kind of darkness, entirely blinding her and rushing past her body like a harsh wind, all whilst her captor's grip remained on her arms, holding onto her with so much strength that it caused her even more pain; not only that, but her wrists were tightly bound together by something that didn't quite feel like chains or even a rope, but nonetheless, it was still strong enough to prevent her from trying to move her hands for an inch. It wasn't the latter that caused her to snap out of the mist that filled up her whole head, though; it was the impossibility of seeing anything around her, her world being complete darkness as if she had been promptly, irreversibly blinded for those few, horrifying moments. Fear and helplessness instantly took over; that's why she screamed for help in that endless, suffocating darkness that brushed against her body with such intensity that her skin went cold, unable to stop doing so, hoping from the bottom her rapidly beating heart that her pleas would be loud enough for Darby to hear above the howling of the rushing darkness (that turned out to be only audible to her) and find her. Had she struggled in an attempt to break free from Malakai's iron grip and find a way out through the endless blackness? Of course she did, absolutely, but it quickly became clear that there was no use to it, for Malakai's hands didn't move for a millimeter when she frantically tried to move her arms, nor did her hands slip from her bindings. It may have lasted only mere moments, but to Cora, being trapped in that storm of darkness felt like harrowing centuries.

Then, in the blink of an eye, it felt like her vision had returned to her at last. Sure, her new surroundings were dim at most, but at least she was able to figure out where exactly she was at right now; the sight didn't give her much ease, though.

Her knees touched a hard, tiled floor that had formed cracks due to years of neglect and had been collecting dust and dirt from the moment Blackthrone Asylum had been forced to permanently shut down, much to the relief of all the patients who had survived long enough to see this day, the deeply shocked families of some and the people who just so happened to live in the surrounding area and were completely oblivious to the horrors that took place behind those walls. How many unlucky souls had occupied this cell throughout the years that this asylum was still operating, back when this cell was one of the very few to actually have a bed to sleep in, though with smelly, stained sheets that were so thin that you could rip them up like paper? Had their sobbing, their cries of despair, madness or perhaps a combination of both, or their intelligible mumblings and ranting been audible enough to be heard throughout this whole floor? Well, seeing how there had been a narrow shutter installed in the massive door on her left that once had the function of staff members peeking inside this cell to either inspect the current state of the unfortunate patient who had been locked in there before entering to give them their daily dose of medication, food, or a relentless session of any form of abuse that would add yet another physical or mental scar on said patient, or to simply tell them to quit yammering and go the fuck to sleep, usually followed by the threat of using a large syringe to shoot them up with enough sleeping medication that could knock out a grown horse within seconds when they just so happened to voice their agony during nighttime. The sole window in this cell that had once offered whoever was staying in here the heartbreaking view of the outside world, cruelly reminding them that they would probably never step outside to experience the beauty of the surrounding woods ever again and also reminding them that the world happily went on without them, not missing them for one second, had been boarded up with three, broad, wooden beams, almost completely obscuring the view outside, save for a few slits where the night sky and a couple of trees in the nearby distance could be seen. The sole object that came close to being a luxury in this abandoned hellhole, the bed, had been the subject of vandalism of bored local youth or explorers armed with a selfie stick and a live stream on their phones, finding it a brilliant way of earning a few more followers by using their feet or whatever heavy object they could get their hands to wreck the frame and bottom of the bed, because not even years of neglect could cause a bed to collapse on its own and be reduced to a pile of scrap metal mixed with aged wood like this. The cell's walls weren't in much better condition either; unintelligible scribbles of all sorts of colors, grimy, cartoonish designs and a lone, red haphazardly sprayed on pentagram decorated the walls that had once been ivory white. And then there was the cold that had spread throughout this decayed asylum. This probably had been the worst cold Cora Jade had ever experienced, unable to remember a winter she had been through in her life that could possibly compare to this, but not even the harshest winter she could have thought of couldn't come close to this. Her body shivered with the nearly torturous freezing temperatures, but she didn't have to guess why or how it seemed like the air in this building had been frozen solid; it only made sense when there were countless tormented ghosts roaming the property ever since 1987, hell, perhaps there could have been a haunting or two before the whole place was shut down. Could Malakai's presence have only added to the unbearably low temperatures, since she remembered the air around him being just as cold as any other ghost? Perhaps so, yes. Her denim jacket and beanie couldn't do much to provide her body with some proper warmth, being practically useless pieces of fabric at this very moment.

The pain that had nearly caused her to pass out had been wholly numbed by the freezing cold, but now her fingers couldn't stop trembling. Her wrists were still bound together behind her back by dark energy shaped like a thick rope, which she had quickly found out about when she had first attempted to break free from her restrains by using her fire on them, only to have a short but heavy, painful spark jolting through her whole body, as if she were a barking dog who had been punished by a shock collar. Malakai must have been counting on her using her powers, Cora figured, that bastard.

He had imprisoned her on the fourth floor of the abandoned asylum that continued to be a place of horrors to this very day; unbeknownst to her, Darby was only minutes shy of arriving.

Even though it seemed like it, she was not alone, Cora knew, feeling it in every single bone. And she was not talking about the ghosts that had been roaming these hallways for God knows how long. Her breath once again took the form of a tiny cloud when she breathed out, trying to get up on her feet. It took some strength and effort, but soon she managed to stand up, though she did have to find her footing for a second due to her legs feeling rather wobbly. Her eyes now fixated on the closed door in front of her, she began to take slow steps.

'I know you're here, Malakai.' she said. She did not know this yet, but her gut feeling was more than justified; just out of her sight, right next to the shutter, the half ghost had been leaning against the heavy door from the moment he had left her in this cell, arms folded and the back of his head resting against the freezing, thick metal. Even though her voice did snap him out of his thoughts, Malakai decided not to respond to her, not now, at least.

'You have taken me here because of Darby, haven't you?' the ghost huntress asked, undeterred by the silence and convinced that her kidnapper was nearby. Now standing in front of the opened shutter, she peered into the dark hallway. 'I'm guessing you're seeing me as some sort of pawn in all of this, huh? Because for some reason, Darby is that damn important to you. So what the hell do you want from him?'

A few seconds of silence followed after she had asked him this question, as if Malakai was considering her with providing the answer… which he decided to do.

'Your friend may not be aware of this, but he has been bestowed with a great honor.' he calmly said; Cora was barely able to stifle a soft gasp of surprise, not expecting her captor to be this close to her. 'The honor of being the only one with the capability to end the suffering of millions.'

'Well, I'm sorry, but I highly doubt Darby is gonna help you out with that after all the shit you pulled off back there at the motel.'

'He will not have a choice about this, I can assure you. He is now on his way now, no? He will be here because of you. If he wouldn't have cared about you in the slightest, he would have retreated back into the woods without even looking over his shoulder. I can tell you this, though. Once he has helped me to accomplish my goal, he will be reunited with you, with some luck… should he be fortunate enough to reemerge as a ghost.'

'Darby won't let that happen! And neither will I!' Cora responded, a small flame of anger having formed upon hearing this.

'Mouthy, aren't you?'

'You bet your ass I am.' The ghost huntress slowly breathed in some frozen air before breathing out, managing to get a hold on her temper. 'So why, if you don't mind me asking. Why all of this? You have raised so much hell to get to us. You have corrupted so many ghosts, ghosts who could have peacefully moved on to wherever they go next if they had allowed us to help them. You have turned them into monsters. Causing them so much suffering… all because you are so obsessed with Darby? You must have a reason for all of this, it just has to be, Malakai.'

'For what had felt like centuries, I had been searching all over this country.' the half ghost said, feeling so hesitation to explain it all to her; after all, she must be familiar with the world of tormented spirits who were unable to move on. 'They are exceptionally rare, but they still exist nonetheless. Ghosts who have died more than a hundred deaths. It is only them who have the ability to open something that is impossible for all others.'

'What? But… Darby's alive, he is no-'

That's when it suddenly struck Cora like a lightning bolt, falling promptly silent and her eyes slightly widening upon the sudden realization. It had been in the back of her mind, but there had been this one moment where her companion explained how his powers could be activated, and now that she thought about it, it suddenly made a whole damn lot of sense. It must have been some time after they were done admiring the work they had done on her jacket, still sitting in the van at the edge of the sunny field nearby Wattson's local oil site. Darby had told her about his ability to cease his heart from beating, thus allowing him to freely use his powers, though technically rendering him 'dead' for the time he needed to fight a rampaging Mindless. He must have seen the unease on her face, because he couldn't help but slightly chuckle and tell her that it was no big deal, he was always able to get his heart back to work after the job was done, that he had done this… hundreds of times.

Jesus Christ.

'There is a gate that the living can't see, but it has always been there, ever since the beginning of time, from the moment life had been created. The gate to the afterlife, young lady. It is there where each spirit is bound to move onto, have they made peace with their previous life on Earth. Enough spirits to occupy a replica of this whole world live there, and it shall be more than enough to unleash them all upon our own world. One by one, I shall infect them all. I shall turn them all into my bloodhounds and sic them onto humanity. Once they meet their end, they too shall become ghosts. They too shall be infected. Until this world will be completely void of life, and nothing else but endless darkness for spirits to roam in. When I see with my own eyes that this world who has caused me nothing but pain and suffering throughout my life has finally ceased to be… I can rest peacefully.'

That's when Malakai turned and stepped in front of the shutter, locking eyes with Cora for the first time, and it instantly felt like the shade of blue grey was sharp enough to pierce straight into her very soul. Cora had already been stunned by not only the sinister calmness with which Malakai revealed his goal to her, but also with the realization that the fate of the whole goddamn world had been thrown into hers and Darby's hands, the latter still being unaware of this, but that would surely change soon enough. Out of all plans, out of all goals in life… up until now, Cora had only been familiar with the plan of destroying the entire world from what she saw in movies and comic books, having always believed that people with superpowers and a desire for global destruction could only exists in the realms of wild imagination. But now it was real. People like this were real. Malakai Black, the one who could put an end to the world as they knew it if they fail to stop him… oh God, oh dear God. It was impossible to find any words for this, it was too much, way too much to comprehend.

As she quickly took one step back, Cora's eyes had become adjusted to the dimness around her, thus making it not too difficult for her to see the features on her captor's face, now finally able to get a somewhat proper look at him. A narrow nose, a flat, thin-lipped mouth that perfectly contributed to the sinister calmness Malakai presented himself with, a small crescent-shaped moon tattooed just below his right eye, the sides of his head shaven asides from the middle that sported brown, slick-backed hair, a neatly trimmed beard… but the one thing that definitely stood out the most about Malakai's face was the left side of his head and a part of his neck that looked like they were about to crumble into large, black chunks, as if they had been horribly burned to the crip some time ago. Cora clearly remembered his face not being like that when she encountered him on the road, so it must have happened only just now. No, it didn't look like he had been severely burned, Cora quickly realized, shaking off the comparison she had made seconds ago.

It was more like he was… rotting away.

Despite the semi-darkness, the ghost huntress' shocked gaze upon the blackened part of his head and neck didn't go unnoticed by the half ghost.

'As you can see, there is always a price to pay for the ability to wield black magic.' Malakai said. 'What you are seeing now, young lady, is nothing more but an empty husk with no heart, no soul. An empty husk that is only being kept alive to an extent by the magic it contains within, while also consuming it. Like a parasite, or cancer, if you will. I have been able to delay the inevitable during my search by absorbing ghosts that were unfit to be corrupted, but I can finally say that tonight, if all goes well, that too will come to an end.'

'You…' Cora had to pause to let it all sink in properly, her eyes widened and bewildered as she stared back at her captor. 'You're dying. And you're going to die along with the world.'

'That is fine by me. I have long made peace with the idea of me being all but a pile of ashes in a world that is inhabited by ghosts.'

Then, as if all of this had truly become too much for her to comprehend, Cora carefully sat down and turned around, her back now touching the door. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, keeping them close. For a short moment, she had no idea of what to say next… until she did.

'You know what, Malakai?' she said. 'I don't believe it.'

'How so?'

'Well, what I mean to say, is… It's what you have said earlier, right? About how this world has caused you nothing but pain and suffering throughout your entire life? Yeah, I still remember that part. That's what I don't believe. You didn't suffer throughout literally all of it.'

'What the hell do you know?' The briefly resurfaced memories of the abominations that just so happened to be his parents tossing his younger self into a dark room to leave him to starve for days, the echoes of them remembering him that he was nothing but walking, breathing cancer, the anger that he had carried into his adult years that would flare up like a roaring demon as soon as he would be provoked in one way or another and all the times he had been staring at the wall of his prison cell caused Malakai's voice to grow low with bitterness. 'You know nothing about me. We have never met up until last night.'

'Because I know you have been happy once. Don't you remember. Don't you… remember having Zelina in your life? Zelina Vega?'

Now it was Malakai's turn for his eyes to widen with a mix of astonishment and surprise. 'What…?'

'I know that you have loved someone who loved you in return. I have read about her, Malakai. I have seen the news report, I have seen the interview they had with you, I… I know what happened to her. And I'm so sorry, I really am. Nobody deserves to suffer a loss like this, nobody deserves to lose a loved one in such a horrible way. I know she must have been good to you, because only when you love someone that deeply can you show this much hurt. Malakai, I have seen that hurt on your face. I heard how you talked about her, you told the whole nation that she was a wonderful person. You must have loved her so much for making your life better. Hell, you were willing to trade in your life for hers! You said so yourself! True, I don't know about what has happened to you before you two met, but I do know for sure that she meant everything to you. She… She made living in this world absolutely worth it, didn't she?'

It was dead quiet on the fourth floor of the abandoned Blackthrone Asylum, no, the entire building. Malakai slowly turned around; if there had been no door between them, his legs would be touching Cora's legs. The ghost huntress heard his breath shudder as he audibly breathed out, as if he was contemplating of talking about his deceased lover, holding back his emotions, or both. The half ghost squeezed his hands into tight fists before loosening them, over and over again before he finally decided to speak.

'We were both broken souls.' he spoke; though he sounded calm, there was no mistake in it that a hint of sadness could be heard in his voice. 'Both of us had been broken by the world before our paths crossed. Ever since she had been sixteen years old, Zelina had no family. She was all by herself. She did not lose them because of disease or a fatal tragedy, however. As far as she knew, when were together, both her parents were still alive. Her uncle as well. They invited him to their home almost every day, because they were that close. She had told me that from the moment she had entered her teen years, that foul creature couldn't keep his hands to himself whenever he was alone with her. One night, he tried to take it a step further. But in the end, it was him who ended up bleeding. Zelina had fought back so hard that he didn't dare to enter her bedroom for the rest of the night. It was after this that she told her parents everything. But they refused to report her uncle, refused to make him pay for what he did to her, asking her if she wished to 'destroy' the family. The betrayal Zelina must have felt when she saw that bastard sitting at their family's dinner table with her parents when she got out of school that day, drinking coffee, laughing and talking like nothing had happened…'

Hearing the venom in his own voice, Malakai was forced to take a short break before he continued; Cora didn't notice it herself, but it was like she had forgotten how to breathe.

'That's when she decided to run away from home and never return. For a long time, she had no place to call her own, but she had been fine with that. She knew how to survive. Eventually, she became a bartender at a bar I used to frequent back in the day. I could immediately tell there was something special about her, and well… she must have seen something in me too. I don't know what, but she did. And I loved her for it. Zelina had all right to be angry at the world for what happened to her in the past, but she wasn't. Unlike me. Despite everything she had gone through, she remained happy. A good person. Someone who saw a future with me. Zelina was the first woman to ever show me any affection, she really did try her best to make me happy, but there had been way too many times for me to be too angry to see this. Even though I had her in my life, I still let my anger get the better of me. I was still too bitter about my own past. But despite all the fights we had, she remained with me, telling me she loved me. Determined to heal my scars. But on… that night… that one damn night…'

Now that he was forced to recall the night where he would commit one of the two worst mistakes of his life, Malakai swallowed back all the emotions that came with it.

'On the night where she… she died… we had another fight. I hurt her so badly. Not with fists, never with fists. Words can do far worse damage. And that's what I used against her. She didn't say anything back. She stared at me with large eyes, wet with tears… and then she ran out of the apartment and went outside. That had been the first time she ever did that. Looking back on it now, I realize I have hurt her so much that she couldn't bear being in the same apartment with me. Not long after she left, by the time I had managed to calm down… I heard the sirens. Something immediately told me that this was about Zelina. So… I followed my insticts, went outside, walked towards the crowd of people that had gathered near the police cars down the street… and that's where I saw her lying in the snow. Snow is never supposed to be red…'

Cora didn't say anything, but the mental image of a hysterical Malakai Black with tears running down his face being held back by two policemen when trying to get to his dead lover was more than enough to form tears in the corners of her eyes; instead, she covered her mouth with both of her hands.

'I could not live with the regret. I could have never been able to live with the mistake of sending her to her own death. All I wanted was to fix my mistake and bring her back, for I could not live without her. From that moment on, I began to search, not wanting to believe that there was nothing I could do. I looked in the darkest corners of black metal concerts. I managed to find the sketchiest bars and clubs that were known for their unusual clientele. I found my way through the darkest of woods. But I found it. I found what I believed to be the answer to everything. I was made aware of a ritual that could bind one's spirit back into their body, but for that, you need the ability to see it. So, in exchange for my soul, I was given the power to see ghosts, along with the ability to wield black magic. Now caught somewhere between life and death, I went to work. In the dead of night, I managed to retrieve her body from her grave, unseen by whoever was working the night shift at the cemetery. It did not take long for me to find Zelina's ghost, since she was roaming close to where she had passed away. I promised her that everything would be okay, that everything was going to be fixed. And she believed me… Now, it's not that simple to make a ghost go back into their original body. For this, a 'bridge' between the spirit and the body is needed. A life for a life. So I searched for a lowlife that wouldn't be missed by anybody, who could disappear into thin air without anyone ever thinking about them. I found that lowlife in a mere street thug. I took them all to an abandoned warehouse where I could fulfill the ritual without being caught. You could imagine the surprise and horror when Zelina laid eyes upon the human sacrifice… she didn't need any words to express that. He was the one talking, more so because he saw the knife that I needed for the ritual in my hand. Even though he could not see her, he was trying to convince me that he did not mean to kill 'that woman' and none of it would have happened if she had just handed over her stuff to him… Needless to say, I made sure the ritual would hurt a whole fucking lot to him.'

This was it. Right now, he had arrived at the part of the story that was most difficult to talk about. The second mistake. Just like the previous one, he had nobody else to blame other than himself, and he knew it.

'The 'bridge' had been formed, and so Zelina's ghost successfully could go back into her body. When she awoke, she sat up and stared at me, saying nothing. Confused, but alive. For a moment, I was able to finally hold her in my arms, telling her how sorry I was for everything that had happened, over and over again. I was convinced that it was all over. I thought she could come home with me and we could continue living our lives together. But on that night, I learned that black magic doesn't fix anything. It can only destroy. It can only corrupt. It happened so quickly, there was nothing I could do about it. The transformation began as soon as Zelina… God, I can still remember her screams of agony. I watched as darkness consumed her body, rotting her skin and turned pitch black. Her hair fell off in clumps until there wasn't anything left. I saw the life draining from her eyes. I watched her limbs stretch beyond their capability. Her mouth was disfigured by misshapen teeth. That creature… that gurgling, twitching, crying creature that was lying in front of me was not Zelina. Could not have been her. But dear God, it was her. I had done it again… I had failed her once more. I had caused her even more pain this time. I had no choice but to… to put her out of her misery.'

Another mental image went through Cora's head, only this time way more heartbreaking than the previous one. This time she could imagine Malakai, heartbroken, distraught, horrified, remorseful and blinded by his own tears as he knelt down on the bloodied floor of the warehouse, placing the head of the abomination that had once been Zelina Vega on his lap and holding it in place as he drove a knife through her skull, ending the agonized, uncontrollable twitching for good.

'I'm so sorry…' she managed to say, her voice softened with sadness and genuine pity. 'That… That's just awful…'

'Don't be sorry for me.' the half ghost said, looking over his shoulder. 'You should not feel any pity for the likes of me, that would be a waste for those who do truly deserve it. It was me who destroyed the one source of happiness that I could ever feel in my life, not once, but twice. She was the one who could grant me those few years of joy, and I have ruined it all in the worst way imaginable. Make no mistake, I deserve the ultimate punishment for what I have done. The world deserves to die, but so do I. Perhaps I deserve it more than anyone else. But let me tell you, young lady… when I die, I want to take the damn world with me. It shall be my last blaze of victory. Zelina's ghost perished along with her when I ended her suffering, and I have no soul to speak of. So, you could say that even in death, we shall never be together again. Do you understand it all now?'

'I…'

So this had never been about ending the world end for the hell of it, just because he was feeling resentful about the horrible things that happened to him throughout his miserable life… This… This was all one big suicide attempt, wasn't it? That's what it could practically be boiled down to, right? And he was going to take everything and everyone down with him out of spite… Jesus fucking Christ. Despite the horror that crashed down on her just now like a massive avalanche, Cora managed to find her voice again.

'I… I understand. But still, Malakai… I will never allow to let you use Darby for something like this.'

It was far down below, two or maybe even three floors down, but in the silence that followed in the entire asylum, they both could hear it. A familiar voice, calling out Cora's name over and over again as loud as its owner possibly could. Darby… oh God, Darby! But just as the ghost huntress was about to call out his name in return, the door struck her with full force in her back, causing her to fall forward. But before she could do anything, Malakai's hand had taken a firm grip on the collar of her jacket, dragging her out of the cell in a similar fashion of how the ruthless staff members had dragged out unwilling, resistant patients out of their cells until late 1987.

'Don't even bother trying not to scream.' was the last thing Malakai told her before another heavy jolt traveled through her body again thanks to her bindings; it was indeed impossible for Cora not to let out a loud scream of pain before they both blended in once again with the darkness.