Realm Wraith

by T. R. Briar

  It was better now that Tomordred no longer chased him. He could do something he hadn’t done in a very long time: rest. He wandered through the neutral places, where he sensed no demons, and came upon a very dilapidated and decaying village. It did not seem as if anybody lived here; rather, he walked amidst the phantom echo of a place that had once existed, now long gone. Most of the buildings were singed, no more than piles of broken wood all burned and covered in ashes. Floating ash fell around him like dusty snow. Not a soul dwelled here, not mortal, not demon. Complete solitude.

  He found a house that was still intact and went inside. Amidst the scattered and burned furniture he found the remains of a cot with a rotting mattress and stained bed sheets. Ugly as sin, but not uncomfortable, so Rayne decided to lie down a while, looking up at the holes in the ceiling as more ash snowed down around him. Even without being tired, he was happy to relax, just a little.

  After lying there for minutes, hours, years, he couldn’t be sure, he heard crunching footsteps coming from outside the house, and sat back up, sensing somebody familiar.

  “I’m in here!” he called.

  Apolleta walked through the decrepit door frame into the house.

  “Nice place ya got here,” she said.

  “You found me.”

  She walked over to a miraculously intact old rocking chair, and tested it with one foot before sitting down.

  “I tried to practice what you told me. It was hard at first, I couldn’t really ‘pull’ myself the way you described. But then I started to kinda feel some of the others; when I thought about them, I could go to them. And it got easier. So when I got here, I looked for you and, well,” she raised her arms, indicating the house around them, “here we are.”

  She draped her arms over the back of the rocking chair, sitting on it in reverse. “I suppose you won’t be staying long, what with that thing after you?”

  “No worries, that’s all behind me.”

  “He stopped chasing you?”

  “We worked out a bargain. I don’t go blabbing what I know about him, he doesn’t obliterate me from existence.”

  “You’re blackmailing a demon?”

  “That’s such an ugly word. We have an arrangement that benefits us both, that’s all.”

  She rocked back and forth in the chair. “It’s scary that you’d even do that. I never would have thought you’d find a way to weasel out of that. You seemed like a dead man for sure.”

  “I had to confront him. The bastard showed up in my son’s dreams just to get to me.”

  He felt her horrified glance in his direction. “They can do that?”

  “He can. I hope that’s not normal for demons.”

  She rested her head against her arms as they lay draped over the back of the chair. “I don’t even want to think about that, some big ugly monster targeting my sister and her babies.”

  “You probably don’t have a lot to worry about, unless you drew too much attention.”

  “Not me, I’ve been laying low so I don’t end up like you.”

  Rayne looked in her direction. The blisters on her body had spread to cover her face and neck, no longer confined just to her shoulder. They seemed to cause her pain, as she flinched when her hand brushed up against her skin. He could still sense that feeling of wrath, and saw a strong desire for vengeance when he looked at her, but he feared to look deeper as he had before.

  “How are you recovering?” he asked. “I mean, from the whole ‘being shot?’”

  “Not too bad, I guess. I’ll probably be going back to work soon.”

  “What about the man who shot you? Did they ever catch him? What was his name, Tyler?”

  Once more she scowled at him, but resigned herself and looked back down at the burned floor. “They got him, yeah.”

  “Was there any reason he shot you? Clearly you knew the man, so it can’t have been a mugging.”

  “Tyler was—” she sighed, staring up. “He was the muscle for this big ass drug dealer downtown, Deon. Guy went to prison eight months back for a list of crimes too long to count.”

  “Were any of those crimes against you?”

  “Nah, but that asshole was always selling crack to kids, I worried my sister’s babies would get caught up in his web some day. Now I don’t have to worry about that anymore, at least till the next dealer shows up on Deon’s turf.”

  “So, why did Tyler want you dead?”

  “Because,” she hesitated, “I’m the one that got Deon sent to jail.”

  “You testified against him?”

  “Not exactly.”

  Now Rayne’s curiosity grew, and he began to wonder how this linked to her sin. She glared at him. “You’re asking way too many questions.”

  “Come on, I just want to know what happened. What’s the harm? I’m just some stranger from the other side of the world. And if I can keep a demon’s secret, surely I can keep yours.”

  “Forget it! If you’re so obsessed with secrets, why don’t you tell me some of yours? You figure out why you’re here yet, Mr. Lawyer?”

  “No clue.”

  “You know, I really know nothing about you. You never mentioned a son before. How long you been married?”

  So now she was turning the lens on him. “Never been married. I met his mother at a pub, and we went back to my place. I was too drunk to put on a condom.”

  “Oh, so it’s like that. You share custody?”

  “No, I’m Levi’s sole guardian. She showed up at my flat a year later with this baby, and tried to extort money from me. I tell her off, tell her that’s not my kid, she insists it is, I slam the door in her face.”

  “How cold. Oh, wait, look who I’m talking to.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  “So how’d you end up with the kid?”

  “Another year after that, she wakes me up banging against the door, screaming my name. Completely strung out, barely even know where she was, and the boy’s clinging to her leg while she’s screaming her bloody head off. She’s covered in blood, and I find out she’s a damned prostitute. One of her customers didn’t pay up, so she beat him to death with a lamp.”

  “Jesus.”

  “The boy just watched. Fifteen months old, and she never even bothered to name him. She used him to play people for sympathy. “

  “So, you took them in?”

  “Oh no, I called the police. They arrested her straight away. She tried to choke me, of course. They were going to take the boy, but I told them he was mine, as she had so delicately insisted. She should have gone to prison. I was all set to testify at trial, but she got out on bail, and overdosed on drugs, way I heard it. Died before they even got her to a hospital.”

  “That’s awful. I hope you were a better parent for the kid.”

  “I’d like to think I am. I named him Levi. Not sure why; I just liked the name. It was hard at first, even with David’s help. I had no idea how to take care of a child. But, I really do care for him. He’s only six now, and he doesn’t really remember the time he spent with his mother. He doesn’t remember her at all, really; he just knows he had a mum, and she’s not with us anymore.”

  Apolleta brushed ashes off her forearm. “Do you think that might be why you’re here? Because you betrayed this woman? If she died because you sent her to prison—”

  That had never occurred to Rayne. He never cared about what happened to her at the time. Once he’d learned of her death, he’d barely given her a second thought. He shook his head. “If I did nothing, she would have left again, and she’d have taken Levi with her. At some point he’d wind up on drugs, or she’d try to sell him for money, or he’d be dead in a dumpster somewhere. She could have gotten clean and tried to be a good mother, but she turned to whoring herself instead. I did what I had to and I never looked back.”

  “Did what you had to, huh?” Apolleta mulled over those words. “I understand that.”

  “So, now you know a bit more about me. Are you happy?”
r />   “You remember that stuff so clearly. I thought you lost your memories.”

  “Older stuff. My childhood’s just a blur; I can’t even remember my parents.”

  “Oh, how awful.”

  “All I remember is a bastard who buried me alive and left me to die.” Hatred crossed Rayne’s face, and the air around froze, turning the ash around him into falling shards of ice. Apolleta shivered at the sudden drop in temperature that spread through the house. Then it faded, as a look of stunned disbelief crossed Rayne’s face.

  “Kueyin!” he exclaimed with such force that Apolleta fell out of her chair.

  “Huh? What?”

  Rayne flushed with embarrassment at his outburst. “Sorry. I just remembered the name of my dog. It popped into my head, just like that.”

  “Kueyin? That’s a weird name for a dog.”

  “Yes, well, that might’ve been his name before I adopted him. Not entirely certain.”

  “Oh. Well, good for you. Your dog, huh?”

  “Wish I remembered more than just bits and pieces.”

  “There must be somebody you can talk to. Relatives? Family friends?”

  “Hrmm,” Rayne mulled it over. “My parents both died years ago, so I’ve been told. Don’t have any close relatives that I know of. I know where I grew up.”

  “You should go back there, see if anybody knows you.”

  “Maybe.” He looked back up at her. “And you should do some real soul searching, figure out things yourself.”

  “I told you I—”

  “—didn’t do anything wrong, yes I know. But the Abyss knows something you’re not telling me.”

  She ignored him, and stood from her chair, looking around the ruins. “This place really isn’t so bad. I mean, the rest of the Abyss is god awful but this village is the first place that’s actually felt a little safe.”

  “Darrigan said that the Abyss can echo the real world sometimes. I’ve been to other places with ruins. Like shipwrecks. I suppose maybe this village existed once and it got burned down. Or maybe it’s just someone’s twisted recollection, who knows?”

  As he spoke, Rayne walked back to the door, staring out at the ash covered wreckage. The frozen air that filled this place didn’t bother him at all. A low mist covered the ground now. He glanced over at a well in the center of the village, a round stone structure with piles of charred wood lying beside it. The mist was high enough that it flowed into the gaping opening, sucked into a black oblivion.

  “Something going on out there?” He heard Apolleta approach behind him.

  “Just a little fog. Doesn’t feel dangerous.”

  “Really?” she stood next to him now, looking down at their feet. “I dunno, seems kinda ominous to me.”

  “It’s just at our feet. I don’t sense anything else out here right now.”

  “How can you be sure?” she shivered. “Gabriel told me about creatures that attack from the mist. It hides their presence so you can’t see where they come from.”

  “But this fog is just at our feet. I mean, unless something snaps at our toes, I think it’s harmless.”

  “You are way too calm about this stuff.”

  “Look, I’ll show you.” He stepped out from under the door frame, and faced her, walking backwards with his arms outstretched with a childish grin on his face. “Hey! Is there anybody out there? Show yourselves! Tasty morsel just walking around! Come on, you know you want to!”

  “Rayne, stop that. Haven’t you ever watched any horror movies? You know something’s gonna jump out and eat you, and I’ll be next!”

  He put his arms down, the smile fading.

  “You’re right,” he said, glancing to his left.

  “I just think you’re being too careless.”

  “No, I mean you’re right about there being something here,” he said, walking in the direction of his gaze.

  “What?! Rayne get back here!”

  “You there!” he called. “Show yourself!”

  From behind a building a large dog-like creature stepped through the fog. It had three heads, and a very familiar aura to it Rayne sensed.

  “You again?” he breathed. The dog stared at him with eyes still veiled by a heavy mass of fur.

  “Rayne, I don’t like the look of that thing.”

  He tried to stay calm. “My third night here—it didn’t attack me then. I don’t think it’s that dangerous.”

  “A-are you kidding? Just being near that thing, it feels like I’m going to get my throat ripped out.”

  The creature opened its mouth, baring rows of teeth with a threatening, unnatural sounding growl. It whipped all three of its heads in Apolleta’s direction, and with a howling shriek it bounded after her. Rayne felt an utterly crushing murderous intent.

  “Apolleta, run!” he yelled. “Leave her alone!” he screamed at the monster. Apolleta ran without hesitation. The monster was too quick, and it caught up and pounced. As the terrified woman threw up her hands in a feeble attempt to defend herself, she vanished, and Rayne realized she must have pulled herself elsewhere in a state of panic. He breathed a sigh of relief, but it was brief as the creature turned its heads to face him. It snorted, a cloud of frozen air expelled from its nostrils, and it continued to snarl. Something about it bothered Rayne, a sense of familiarity. As if he’d seen this monster before that night beside the ruined house.

  “Are you—” he started to speak, but the monstrous beast leapt off into the mist, vanishing like smoke.

  * * *

  Rayne watched the road ahead of him as it disappeared beneath the hood of the car, a black river beneath blue skies. Repeating green fields shuffled past his window. He wasn’t very aware of them though, more focused on what lay ahead.

  David had agreed to drive him into the countryside. Rayne was grateful, though he wished he could have done this himself. David had at least agreed to let Rayne do his own thing while he waited in the car. But, at least this way Rayne didn’t have to drive. David had been incredibly helpful about all this, even though Rayne had come to him out of the blue and told him he wanted to find his childhood home. He’d arranged for Levi to stay with Mrs. Robins, and he’d helped Rayne find the address of the house, and directions on how to get there. Then he had assisted Rayne into the car, and they were off, though Rayne still felt a little uncertain about the whole thing.

  Soon, Rayne could see the fields of farms breaking up the countryside, herds of sheep grazing. Beyond that he could see buildings, people milling around, enjoying sleepy town life. The streets were narrow, so David drove slow. A stray cat darted in front of his car and he had to brake to avoid hitting it. The cat looked at Rayne and hissed before scampering off.

  A little ways past the village center they reached houses, and even from down here it was familiar. Rayne recognized this place from his little adventure with Darrigan. So the demon had known him as a child, he reasoned. David soon pulled up in front of the same house as before, this time from out on the street, and not from above.

  “I shouldn’t be long,” Rayne told him. “I’ll just ask to take a quick peek at the house, and we can head home.”

  “Take as long as you need,” David said.

  With a gentle click, Rayne shut the door of the car and placed a hand over his wheel, running his other one through his messy hair.

  “Relax,” he told himself. “This will do you good. Get on with it.”

  He rolled up the cobblestone pathway past the front gate among green bushes and brilliantly colored flowers that waved to him in the breeze. He reached up to the knocker set against the front door, then saw the doorbell, and reached for that instead. A pleasant ringing followed.

  After a couple seconds he heard footsteps, and an elderly woman, hunched over, with curly white hair and a flower print dress, opened the door.

  “Wot do you want?” she asked, adjusting a pair of purple spectacles to peer at him.

  “My name is Rayne Mercer. I’m sorry to call without no
tice like this, but I used to live here as a boy. You bought this house from my parents, and I was wondering if perhaps you could let me see the house for a bit?”

  The old woman narrowed her eyes. “Now see here, don’t you think it’s a bit rude, popping by people’s houses without a courtesy phone call? Get off my stoop!”

  “Please, it will only take a moment.” Rayne peered behind her into the entryway of the house. Sure enough, he recognized the floral wallpaper, and beyond that a hall with a table holding a bowl of apples. This was his old home.

  “I bought this house fair and square,” the old woman snorted. “I don’t know anything about the people that used to live here, or any fellow named Ryan Merchant. Bugger off before I ring the police!”

  She slammed the door in his face, and left Rayne standing on the stoop, feeling very stupid. He regretted not calling first. Defeated, he wheeled back down the cobblestones, approaching the car.

  “Well I’ll be, is that little Rayne Mercer?” a voice called to him. He looked over to see an old man walking down the sidewalk. “My word, what happened to you? Oh, and don’t mind Mrs. Perkins, she’s a sour old bat. Never did like visitors.”

  “I’m sorry, have we met?” he asked.

  “Oh come now, you remember me, right? Been living here for over fifty years! Knew your father, I did. And I remember you from when you were a small child! You were a teenager last I saw you, but I could never forget that face!”

  “You knew me as a child?”

  “I sure did! What’s the matter, you forget?”

  “I’m sorry, it’s just been a rough couple of months.”

  “Oh, I getcha. I getcha. My face ain’t all that memorable anyways, can’t blame you for forgetting.”

  Rayne approached the elderly gentleman. He felt as if he should know him, but nothing came to mind. The man was tall and stood up quite straight, about in his seventies. He had a full head of silver hair swept back, and wrinkles and age spots lined his sharp face. He wore a black coat with a burgundy scarf tucked into the collar, and a pair of black spectacles rested on his nose, hiding clear blue eyes.

  “You really knew my family?” Rayne asked.

  “Yes indeed, my lad. Upstanding man, your father, very no-nonsense fellow. And your mother, what a fine bird she was, eh? Used to come round to visit me on Tuesdays while your father was out. She and I got along famously, we did,” the man laughed, then appeared nervous and shifted his gaze away from Rayne. “Anyways, if there’s anything you’d like to know, feel free to ask.”