Chapter 46. Take over.
The I.M.P. van drove up Stolas's house, swerving up the gates and crashing through, screeching to a halt near the front steps. The front doors swiped open, and Millie and Moxxie rushed out to the side door. Millie reached in, helping Shred carry an unconscious Jack. He looked battered but not as bruised as Shred, who was limping but still carrying his friend up the stairs.
"I can carry him," Moxxie offered.
"That's fine," Shred smiled, "I got him."
From the top of the stairs came an angry Stella. "What! Is! The meaning of this!?" She shouted.
"Your Highness!" Moxxie stated in surprise.
"Move it, lady! We gotta see Stolas!" Millie demanded.
"Excuse you! Do you know who you are addressing!?" Stella retorted.
"Your Highness, please! A friend of ours needs to see Stolas, and it's urgent!" Moxxie tried to de-escalate.
"Hmph!" She eyed Jack and recognized him, scoffing, "That foul mouth imp. Seems he got what's coming to him."
Millie stomped forward with an angry look. "Look lady, we don't got time for this, either move it or lose it!"
Stella returned with a fiery glare of her own. "You best watch your tone or else I-"
"What's going on here?" Stolas asked, coming out of his house. His eyes widened once they laid on Jack. "Jack!" He rushed down and examined him with worry. "What happened!?"
"We'll explain inside, we need to lay him down somewhere!" Shred said.
"Right, come on!" The owl stood up and gestured for them to rush in.
Stella quickly stepped in their way. "Oh no, he's not going ANYWHERE inside!"
"Stella, we can discuss this later, can you please move aside!"
"We will discuss this now! And the discussion is that he's not coming i-" She was cut off and startled by a large mechanical hand slamming beside her, its blade fingers close to her frame.
It was the hand of Shred's Ripper, who was glaring at Stella. "Move it, you stuck brat!"
"Who are you calling a-"
"You!" He moved Ripper's hands around her, the blades coming close to her neck.
"Earg!" She shivered, trying to keep face.
"Move aside, you braty prize child, before I rip you up!"
She froze, her eyes widening in shock and fear. She started to shiver. "I…"
Stolas noticed this and became curious. "Stella?"
"Don't…" She looked down, shaking more, gripping her fist. "Don't you…" Shooting her eyes forward at the feline, she shouted: "Don't you ever call me that!" Her eyes showed rage, rage that was accompanied by a look of trauma.
"Stella…" He noticed the traumatic look on her.
She took a sharp breath and stomped off. "Whatever, do what you want!" She crossed her arms while walking into the house but it looked more like she was trying not to hug herself.
Stolas watched her go with some concern and shock. "I've never seen her like that."
"Stolas!" Shred called out, moving up.
"Oh right! Come on!" He led them in.
Jack lay on a table in the living room surrounded by a magic circle with Stolas beside him with his grimoire floating before him, a magical aura surrounding his hands.
"So what happened?" Stolas asked.
"Jack wanted to test things out, see if whatever was affecting him was only responding to angels, so we spared," Shred explained.
"We had tranq darts just in case but…" Moxxie added.
"What?" Stolas inquired.
"It happened again and…something was different this time. Dust was summoned and there was that second scythe, however this time, Dust took a strange form."
"A strange form?"
"Yeah it was coming out of him," Millie continued, "trying to take a humanoid shape, there was a face and an arm, like nearly a whole upper body, and what's weird was…bits of it looked like that ether scythe, heck it even grabbed that other scythe."
"It did!?" That took Stolas by surprise.
"Yeah! Shred had Jack pinned but when we shot, that thing came out and deflected the shots."
"Wasn't easy trying to get him down," Shred groaned, rolling his arm in pain.
Moxxie came to his side. "I can get a medkit."
"I'll be fine," He smiled, "I'll patch up at home."
"I shoulda brought my bat, coulda backed you up," Millie stated in sorrow, "Sorry."
"Don't be, I didn't think of it either."
Moxxie's phone buzzed. "Hm?...Oh, it's Nala."
"How is she?" Millie asked.
"Worried, obviously."
"Well," Stolas spoke up, closing his book and fading away the magic circle, "I have an update."
"Is it a good one?" Shred asked.
"It's not…a bad one." Stolas turned to them with a contemplating look, "I didn't find anything wrong with his soul or body. I can't find any immediate traces of anything, but again, this isn't my specialty."
"Damn. We shoulda called you before we did it, that we could've done it while it happened."
"He would've been moving too much for it to work. Still, he's fine…for now at least."
"At Least it's for now."
"Um," Moxxie spoke up, having updated Jack's sister, "Nala's wondering if it's ok to bring him there."
"I can make a way there," Stolas nodded.
"I'll help ca- ow!" Shred tried to stand but cringed, his leg jostling.
"Shred!" Millie approached.
"I'm fine!" He tried to smile, leaning on the chair, "Just…gimme a sec."
"He got you pretty bad there," Moxxie commented.
"You two go ahead and take him home," Stolas suggested, "I'll make sure Jack gets to Nala's safe."
"Sounds good," Moxxie grabbed Shred's arm, helping him up.
"Sorry, guess the adrenaline is dying down," Shred said, letting the imp duo hold him up.
"It's fine, we'll get you patched right up," Millie said with a grin, leading him out.
"Thanks," With their help, they managed to walk out into the hallway and headed to the stairs. "Hm?" Shred stopped and glanced back.
"What?" Moxxie questioned, following his gaze.
"Thought I…hm probably nothing," He shook it off, continuing.
Stolas was already messaging Nala, telling her that he was opening a way now and stating he needed her help bringing him across. "Come in," He stated, opening the gate.
Nala poked her head in a little worried. "Um…Is this ok?"
"As long as you're not here for too long you'll be fine."
"What'll happen if I'm in for too long?" She asked, approaching Jack.
"In theory, you die in a painful way while becoming a sinner at the same time. Your body will be shaved off and the inner sinner demon will emerge from it," He said as a matter of factly, standing above Jack.
"Sounds…painful," She looked down at her brother with a solemn expression, "He's…not badly hurt at least is he?"
"Not too bad but I want to be gentle," He reached under and took hold of the tarp Jack was laying on, "Ready?"
"..." Nala took a breath and grabbed her side, "On three."
"One...two…three," Softly they both lifted and carried the unconscious Exterminator through the gate.
"Couch," Nala directed, orienting around and with careful coordination, laid her brother down on the cushions, "There."
"Good," Stolas breathed easy.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome," He smiled, "Do you need anything?"
"No it's fine, the sun's starting to set and I'm sure you got princely stuff to get done."
"I can finish them later."
"...You sure?"
"I'm sure," He reassured.
"..." A grin went across her face, "I could use a second player in this one game I'm playing."
"Pass me the controller! Oh, wait!" He turned to his portal, "I should grab my grimoire, be right back." He rushed in and grabbed his book along with Jack's phone and wallet, something he took off before fighting Shred and brought in by the Imp couple. "Oh dear, I nearly forgot his phone and wallet," Stolas giggled, "silly me."
Collin jumped out and grabbed the phone, "I'll take that!" He rushed back in.
"Don't you go snooping in there," Stolas warned, closing the gate behind him.
"I won't, just gonna prank him," Chuckling, Collin opened up the phone and got close to Keenie, "Ready?"
"Yeah!" Keenie said, getting close to her boyfriend, the two making kissy faces and taking a picture. They did another of them making a heart together.
Stolas rolled his eyes and went to join Nala for her game.
"Hrrmm…" Jack groaned. The surface he was on was warm, hard, and rough. He could hear the sounds of footsteps, each with a different origin but mostly cloven, and could feel their vibrations. "Huh…" Slowly, he opened his eyes and his hearing fine-tuned itself, picking up the sounds of chopping. Raising from the sidewalk, shaking his head, he looked around. When his vision began to clear, he immediately noticed something off.
Before him laid a single rough forward path, one made of shoddy white bricks and gravel. The houses that were placed beside the path were old, very old, medieval even, but more noticeable was the fact that only the faces of the houses were visible, the rest faded into a white void. In Fact, everything but the path was faded into a white void, even behind him was nothingness. He heard the sounds of what he could make out as horses and or cloven demon feet, along with some chatter, but he saw none, the sounds emanating from nothing around him, as if coming from the void itself.
"The hell?" Jack asked no one, confused as to what was happening. At first, he assumed this to be some dream or vision like his other ones but it was much too different from his last ones, especially the pure blank nothingness as it was usually a twist of red and black. "Well…" He glanced forward, "only way is…forward…I guess," Saying that to himself, he took a step and began to tread before the road. It was a forward path but not a straight one, twisting and curving around, each building he passed being the same as the last, medieval old and only visible from the front. 'This some renaissance dream?' Jack thought, continuing to walk. The path was the only one to take, even the alleyways that derived from it, only leading to more nothingness. So forward he walked, hearing more of people of demons that weren't there, picking up the sound of steel steps and clattering metal along the way. 'How long is this path?' he questioned.
The answer came at the turn of another curve in the road. The path ended before him stopping at one last building, leading to the empty void. This last building it stopped at was different from the others, as more than just the front was visible, the whole place was there and right on the edge of the road's end. It was obvious what this dream or vision destination was for him. Looking back, wondering if he could backtrack, he found that there was nothingness there too, as if the blank space was following him as he walked.
"Welp, inside it is," Jack sighed. Cautiously, he moved, going to the place. There was a sign with a symbol on it but he couldn't quite make it out as the imagery was blurry. What he could tell was that the place wasn't ordinary because of how it was structured, two stories high, wide with a large chimney, and gated windows. He reckoned it was some sort of blacksmith shop, but what bothered him the most was the odd sense of deja vu. The darkish magenta color with the yellow trims, the placement of the sign that he couldn't make out, and the mat before the entrance that had the image of a hammer and a blood skull, all looked familiar even though he knew he'd never seen them before. Standing before the door, he looked at it with a sense of unease. There was a sound of a bell playing in his head, an odd jingle of ching ching tang emanating from it like he was expecting this sound to play once he opened the door. Shaking this thought out of his head, he reached for the knob with his left hand. He went wide-eyed, "What the-!?"
Before his fingers even grabbed the handle, he froze. The hand that was going for the door, the one he had guided to the opening, wasn't his. It was somewhat furry, a patch of dark reddish crimpy fur with a white undercoat on the backhand, a small thin trail of it going down the light red arm with spots of white on the fingers, and tightly placed on the wrist was a black band with a round green jewel on the back. His eyes trailed down the hand, finding an arm he didn't recognize, the red being darker than him and the spots of white he found along not his either. It went all the way up to his shoulder. He stepped back, shaking, gazing at the arm that wasn't his yet was attached to him, an appendage he recognized but knew he shouldn't and knew it should not be on him.
*Ching ching tang* The door opened, playing the sound that was in his head earlier. Jack looked forward. There was a darkness beyond that door, only cracked open but the blackness inside was easily noticeable along with the eyes that peered through. The soft and tired-looking light yellow orbs looked gently at him. Jack knew those eyes but they were the first time he had seen such pupils. Something came out from the door, the one looking at him reaching out. He fell back, pulling back from its slow reach, sweating and heavily breathing, his eyes shaking on the arm, unable to look away from it and the one attached to him. He couldn't stop looking between the two, for it was his arm reaching out from the darkness behind the door.
"AAAH!" Jack screamed out, shooting from where he lay.
"Jack!" Nala shouted, dropping her controller and rushing to her brother.
"Are you alright!?" Stolas asked the same, following Nala.
"..." Jack didn't respond, catching his breath, looking before him at nothing with unfocused eyes. Quickly he brought up his left arm, looking at it, pulling up his sleeve to inspect it.
"Jack?" Nala called out again, reaching out for him and grabbing onto his left arm.
"Huh!?" Swiftly, he looked to his side, seeing his sister and Stolas, the duo having unease in their eyes. "...Hooo," He exhaled, taking a breath to calm down, flopping back and covering his face with his right arm. "...Hey sis…"
"..." Nala smiled and softly responded: "Hey bro."
"...What happened?'
"You and Shred had a spar and…something happened," Stolas explained, "I wasn't there so I don't know the full details, but-"
"It happened again…"
"It would appear so. I scanned you like last time but I didn't find anything."
"Damn…Shred ok?"
"He was bit…bruised but he'll be fine."
"Aight, I'll…apologize later…what time is it?"
"It's," Nala checked her phone, "about ten till eleven."
"I was out for a while," He said, unshielding his eyes and looking up at the ceiling.
"You ok?"
"I…" He raised, "need a drink." Avoiding eye contact, he went to the kitchen.
Nala and Stolas watched him broodingly but didn't impede him.
"I should leave," Stolas raised, "Thanks for having me over."
"Thanks for bringing him and…watching over him."
"It's my pleasure," He softly grined before making his way home.
"I'll keep everyone updated."
"Please do," He remarked before going through and closing the way.
While that was happening, Jack was filling up a glass of water from the tap, chugging it down, and letting out a gasp once finished. He loomed over the sink for a moment, his body feeling weighted and his mind jumbled. Slowly and nervously he raised his left arm, holding it in front. It was trembling, unable to keep still. In his head, he could see flashes of that moment in the dream where another arm was attached to him while his actual one was reaching out from the darkness of that door. His heartbeat accelerated and his breath was getting quicker, the flashes getting intense and the imagery of that appendage overlapping his. Dropping the glass and turning back on the sink, he pooled some water on his right hand and splashed it right onto his face, feverishly rubbing it around, holding it there as he tried to calm down.
"...Jack?" Nala said, standing nearby.
"Hm!?" Jack whipped around and saw his sister near the edge of the kitchen. Her eyes were on him, telling him how she felt in that moment along with the language of her body. He took a breath and turned off the faucet. "...I…didn't mean to scare you, sis."
"..." She walked up to her brother and grabbed his arm, "Are you ok?" She asked for the second time.
"I…" His palm went back on his head, "My head hurts."
"Need some aspirin?"
"I think I just…need some sleep…but some aspirin can't hurt."
"I'll go get you some," She said, softly walking back but holding on still, "Meet up in your room or the living room,"
"Heh," A weak smile was placed on Jack's face, "Is it even my room anymore?"
"Collin and Keenie made themselves a room in the basement, just in case the family visited."
"Huh. Smart, Aunt Jeena does do her surprise visits sometimes. I'll meet you in my room then."
"Kk," She let go reluctantly and made her way to the bathroom. On the way there she pumped into Keenie.
"Oh! Sorry!" Keenie apologized.
Nala shook her head. "You're good."
She was about to ask what she was doing when she noticed Jack walking up. "Hey, you're up!"
"Yep," Jack said with an underwhelming smirk, "good to see ya, Keen," He remarked, heading to his room.
"Is…he ok?"
"Honestly," Nala sighed, "I doubt it. Mind giving him some company? I'm gonna grab him a cream soda from the attic."
"No prob," Keenie made her way to the room and ran into Collin who just come down.
"Hey, is Jack up?" Collin asked.
"Yeah, but he's uh…" She grabbed his arm and pulled him along, "just hold off on the pictures for now."
"Ok?" He was dragged into Jack's room and spotted the imp sitting on his bed, looking up at the posters hung up, absent-minded. Once the Angel's eyes met his person, he understood what she meant. "Oh…"
"Hm?" Jack turned to the holy duo and placed a delicate smile. "Hey, guys. Need something?"
"Uh no, we uh…" He, along with his girlfriend, sat on the bedside in front of him, "came to see you."
"We were worried about you." Keenie said, "Seeing you knocked out on the couch like that was…unsettling."
"Well…" Jack leaned back, keeping his fragile forced grin, "I'm up now."
"Yeah but…you were sweating alot."
"Still kinda are too," Collin added.
"Oh…do I stink?" Jack asked.
"N-no that's not-" Keenie exhaled, "Jack we're worried if you're doing alright."
"...I…" His expression did a slight drop, his eyes gazing at his left arm, slightly lifting it and feeling it tremble.
They noticed and decided to question.
"Is your arm hurt?" Keenie questioned.
"I can get a med kit," Collin offered.
"..." Unable to keep his smile anymore, he frowned, letting his emotional exhaustion show and bringing his shaking arm down. "...When Nala gets here…I'll explain it all, ok?"
"...Ok," He agreed, giving him a grin of compassion.
"She should be here soon," Keenie informed, "went to get you a cream soda."
"Heh," The imp chuckled, "She's too good to me."
The door opened and in came Nala with an orange cream soda, "I am, aren't I?" She smirked cheerily, coming up to her brother and handing over the can. "Here."
"Thanks," Taking it gladly, he maneuvered it around his grip to open it with his index finger, intent on keeping his left appendage resting on his side. He brought it to his lips and took a big chug of it. With a sigh, he brought it down, affixing his gaze to the now half-empty can.
"...Jack…are yo-"
Jack raised his caned hand to stop her, scrunching his face up and closing his eyes for a moment. He leaned back and took a breath. "...I…had this dream while I was out…I don't know where I was but...I knew it was hell…but it was…medieval…there were these sounds, sounds of demons and carts, along with a rustling of metal…but I couldn't see noone…all I could see was a path forward on a shoddy brick road…Everything else was just in…a white void…I could only move forward…I walked and walked, passing by timely buildings I've never seen, not given any other path but forward…" He sighed and took another sip, "There was a shop at the end…it was different from the others…I could see the whole thing…the sign was blurred but I just…I knew it was a blacksmith's shop…I couldn't go back, the path was gone, so I just moved forward. I have NEVER seen this place before but like…it felt so…familiar…I even had the sounds of the bell playing in my head before I even opened the door…That's when I reached for it and…and…" Raising his left arm, looking into the unsteady palm, he remembered that part of the dream.
Nala, Collin, and Keenie saw how nerved he looked, his sister taking hold of his shaky fingers to bring some calm, her eyes showing compassion on her brother.
He looked into those eyes and saw the same kind of look from the two angels. It gave him some peace, enough to continue. "My arm was gone…replaced with someone else's…it was an imp arm I think but it had some fur…I don't know whose it was or even why it was attached to me but like…I felt like I should've known, like I've seen it before and I know I haven't…That's when the door opened. Ching ching tang, the sound of the bell and the sound that played in my head…There were eyes on me, the only thing I could see past the frame…it was dark in there." He held onto his sister's hand and leaned back, "I wanna say…they reached out to me but…it was…it was my arm reaching out…I…reached out to me. Dream ended after that and I woke up."
"Whoa…" Collin reacted, taking in all he heard along with the others.
"Yeah."
"No wonder you were sweating," Keenie said.
Nala sat down in front of him. "You…You think it's got something to do with… whatever's trying to…link with you?"
Jack looked at her, weakly and tiredly, "I think so…what else could it be?"
"Jeez…Stolas really needs to get that hound to find what the hell is connecting to you."
"...Is it connecting to me?"
"Huh?"
"I feel like… it's not connecting to me…I black out each time that…whatever it is connected to me…I don't remember what I did during those times, it…it's like I'm being…taken over," His gaze went downward, his self-feeling more unsettled, "I wanna found out whatever the hell this is…I want to get back with the others, back on the field fighting angels with the team…but the more I try to find this out…the more I feel like…I'm being possessed…that I'm…not gonna be me once it's all over."
Collin and Keenie looked at each other, trying to figure out what to say, opening their mouths but stopping before a word could be uttered. Once they had thought up something to say, Nala rose.
"Be right back," Nala said, rushing off.
"Um…" Keenie spoke, "If it counts toward anything, you were in that cave remember? With all those crusaders?"
"Our supposed future selves?" Jack looked up.
"Yeah!" Collin picked up where she was going, "If that's you then there's no way you're getting possessed."
"IF that's me."
"If you're with the others then it's gotta be you, right?"
"Maybe…" Jack wasn't so sure about that, "Unless the team just accepts whatever it was that took me over."
"There's no way they'd do that!"
"Not easily at least…could've just accepted my fate and have them go along with it."
"Jack, you know them better than that. They wouldn't let you give up that easily."
"Who said it would be easy…I got limits just like everyone else."
"Yeah, bu-"
Nala walked in holding a tablet. "Back!" She walked up to Jack and set the tablet down "The next cleansing is in a week, so…pick a place."
The screen before him had a list of events. Jack confusedly turned his gaze at her. "Huh?"
"Pick a place. Stolas can get us there, the hotels don't need reservations, and I got enough for both of us."
"What are you talking about?"
"A week off, that's what."
"Week off?"
"Yeah. No Exterminator stuff, no heaven shit, no investigations, just you, me, and a pair of angels."
"Wait, why?"
"Cause you need it. All this shit that's going on is weighing you down and a week of nothing but food and fun would do wonders. Besides, it's been a while since we did a trip anyway."
"I…I don't know. What if I-"
Nala stopped him by placing her finger on his lips. "No what ifs! No buts, no probably, just pick a place and we go."
"Yeah, b-"
"Ah ah!" She pressed.
"I don-"
"AHT!"
"..." He could see in her eyes that she wasn't gonna back down, so with a sigh he gave in, knowing his sister, "Ok fine," He picked up the tablet, scrolling through the event list. "...Wait, how are they gonna come?"
"Oh," Collin said, "Clark gave us some illusion crystals a few days ago. He managed to make some with some items from the museum."
"From the unknown period?"
"No from before that, back when there were like divine prophecies that angels would deliver. Back then they had to go in person."
"Huh. Ok. How is Clark by the way?"
"He's working on building a new Divina Vasa. He thin-"
Kennie clapped her palm on his mouth. "Hey! No angel stuff remember? Pick a place,"
"I'm picking, I'm picking," Jack went back to the tablet. "Hm…" He found something of interest. "Here."
"A theme park?" Nala peered.
"Yeah, they're a comic con event going on, so I won't have to worry about my timer."
"Alright!" She took the tablet, "I'll let Stolas know tomorrow and we can get going by the next day!"
"Great," Jack smiled, this time with less force.
"Now," With a pat on his shoulder, she smiled at him, "get some rest. You look tired."
"Yeah…that could do me some good."
Keenie hugged him. "Sleep well, Jack."
"See you in the morning," Collin elbow bumped.
"I will…thanks guys," Jack said.
"Don't mention it."
"Also, where's my phone?"
"Uh," He avoided eye contact, "It's uh..charging."
"Ok? Can you-?"
"I'll bring it later! Night!" He flew off with his girlfriend.
"What did he do?" Jack asked. With a sigh, he laid back. "..." He tried not to think about his dream and turned off the light, closing his eyes.
Earlier
On the outside of Stolas's house, someone came sneaking by. It was around the time Moxxie, Millie, and Shred drove in with Jack.
"Move it, you stuck brat!" Shred was heard yelling.
The demon looked around on the side, seeing Shred with his Shadow Demons claws around Stella's neck. They saw an opportunity and moved in, sneaking in through a window, making sure they were quiet and unseen. They spotted the group walking in, carrying Jack to the living room. Creeping by, they peeked in, watching them carefully. Observing it all and hearing them, they waited there, curious about what was happening but more focused on the owl prince himself. They waited and bided their time and soon enough, out came M&M carrying Shred. Quickly they hid out of sight, peaking out and eyeing them with disdain.
Hm?" Shred stopped and glanced back, forcing the demon to retract back in.
"What?" Moxxie questioned, following his gaze.
"Thought I…hm probably nothing," He shook it off, continuing.
As soon as they were gone, they went back to the living room entrance. Stolas was alone and Jack was unconscious. They smiled, their golden tooth glinting while a gun with a white engraving was drawn from the boot they wore. Slowly and softly they leaned out. They had to be careful, not wanting to be noticed, agonizingly moving timidly. Before they could aim, the Goetia opened a portal. In their mind, they cursed and moved back into hiding. Peeking again, their eyes widened once they saw Nala come in.
"What'll happen if I'm in for too long?" Nala asked, approaching Jack.
"In theory, you die in a painful way while becoming a sinner at the same time. Your body will be shaved off and the inner sinner demon will emerge from it," Stolas said as a matter of factly, standing above Jack.
"A human!?" Their Western voice gasped. He shoved his gun away and got his phone out, starting to record. He made sure to get it all, including the angels that popped in. They had left and he hugged the wall, holding his phone close. Footsteps were heard and he moved, rushing out with less caution, getting outside of the manor. He was in the clear and went back to his phone, replaying the recording. "A human in hell…and an angel…" He smiled evilly, adjusting his hat. "Missed my shot but got some dirt instead. Hehehe," The voice of Striker laughed.
End
Next chapter. Vacation.