Awakening

by S. C. Mitchell

  Yeah, something important, just like her. And she wasn’t ready yet.

  “Shit.” She dashed for the door.

  The moon affects all, but some more than others. – Mystic Musings by Dimond Jewel, 1981

  Chapter 2

  Jack breathed a sigh of relief as he closed and locked the front door of his small home in the woods. It was a lot like Anna’s house, though not as cluttered.

  Shit, Anna. That damned clog shouldn’t have taken so long to fix.

  Of course, Anna had been his big distraction. He still couldn’t believe he’d run into her. God, she looked so good. Which was bad, because tonight of all nights, he didn’t dare be late getting home.

  What had he been thinking taking that job?

  Yes, Mr. Higgins hadn’t had anyone else to send, and when Jack saw the name on the work order, he couldn’t say no. He had to know if it was really her.

  Still, he’d cut it far too close. If he’d left with the job unfinished, he would’ve had to call Ben Higgins to go out and finish for him and that wouldn’t have been good at all. Jack couldn’t afford to lose another job because of this thing.

  Thankfully Anna only lived a few miles down the road from his place. Did she need solitude like he did?

  All the smells in her place—what was Anna cooking up in there? He’d seen enough to know it wasn’t a meth lab. But there were other under the radar drugs she could be messing around with. Pot, mushrooms, opium? He didn’t want to believe that about Anna, but people change.

  The earthy scents of her house still clung to his clothes.

  As he headed for the basement, Jack began to strip. He dropped his shirt in the living room as he hurried through. The beast’s heightened sense of smell had kicked in a bit earlier than usual and he’d been constantly assailed all during the time he’d been working on Anna’s sink. It wasn’t necessarily unpleasant. In fact, he’d grown quite fond of the rich aroma of all those herbs, mixing in the air around him, and his mind now associated those scents with her.

  Jack continued to strip as he rushed through the house and down the stairs into the basement. By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs he was in just his boxers. He hurried to the generator and started it up. The old engine sputtered to life.

  A prison cell stood bolted to the cinderblock back wall of the basement, and he hurried toward it. His hands closed around the cold, steel bars of the cell door as he pulled it shut to lock himself inside. With a click, the electronic lock engaged. He was now trapped in the cell until morning.

  Across the room, the old generator hummed and sputtered. How much longer would it hold up? He grabbed the old chain and combination lock. Wrapping it twice around the cell bars and the door, he slid the lock through the links, spun the dial, and breathed a sigh of relief.

  He looked at the old chain. Rust coated much of it, and deep gashes showed where the beast had been working on it. Not that it mattered. There was little chance that the electricity would go out and the backup generator would also fail. It had been years since the chain had even been needed. Still, he should probably think about replacing it soon. Just in case. He couldn’t afford to replace the old generator, but a length of chain wouldn’t put him back too much.

  He sat on the cold cement block bench he’d built. It was the only piece of furniture that would survive a night with the beast. As he waited for the change, Anna’s beautiful face filtered through his mind. It would be so amazing to have her back in his life again.

  No. What was he thinking? She’d never be safe. He needed to keep the miles and the years between them.

  The tingles started. The hair on his arms and legs extended, nausea knotted his gut. Sweat drenched the fur as his head swam. The moon would be up now, full and bright in the clear sky outside. He couldn’t see it, but he could definitely feel its effects. The pain struck as it always did, starting behind his ears then moving along his jaw line.

  The physical change occurred first. His bones extended and his joints contorted, sending waves of agony cascading through his body. Jack clenched his teeth and endured the pain as his body morphed into the beast. Only at the very end of the change did the beast take over his mind.

  He’d learned to put the pain aside, for the most part. As a youth he’d spent a lot of time writhing on the floor during his transformations. Those days were over though. He wouldn’t give the beast that pleasure anymore.

  The voice of the beast thundered in his head. Ah Jack. Do you really think these bars will hold me in forever? You know one day I’ll escape. Then you’ll have blood on your hands, thanks to me. Why not just embrace what you’ve become?

  There was a loud crack of what sounded like thunder. The lights flickered and went out. How could that be? There hadn’t been a cloud in the sky. Thank goodness the generator would keep the power on the electronic cell door lock.

  Jack was almost gone…to wherever it was he went when the beast took over. He was still in the background, but completely out of control. He had a faint impression of a second rumble of thunder and a flash of electricity before he was relegated to that small corner of the beast’s mind.

  The beast’s claws grasped the old chain around the door and yanked it hard toward the floor. It hated the chain and lock that kept it confined.

  Then the generator gave up with a hiss. That second blast of lightning must have shorted the old machine out. How convenient. The cell door slid open from its lock, still held by the chain but no longer locked by the electronic system.

  Dropping the chain, the beast took hold of the door itself, pulling it closed then quickly snapping it open as hard as he could against the chain. The old links held at first but over time the beast felt something start to give in the rusty old chain.

  Joy filled the beast as it continued to slam the door again and again, feeling the weakened link pull slowly apart. This was the night. For whatever reason, the power was out and the cell door was open. Only the chain kept it confined. The beast had waited years for this opportunity, and it wasn’t about to waste it.

  With a snap, the link finally gave and the cell door swung open.

  For the first time in its twelve-year possession of Jack, the beast was out of its cage, free to go wherever it wanted in the human realm. Up the basement stairs and into the place Jack called home, the beast followed the trail of Jack’s clothing. His flannel shirt lay in a heap by the front door. The beast crouched to draw in the scents. There was something…

  Reaching down with its clawed hand it snatched up the shirt, holding it to its nose. Flowers and herbs, unpleasant but telling, and underneath it all the scent of a woman. Young, tender, innocent. The beast had found its prey. It bashed through the front door and bounded out into the night.

  Kolthas are crafty creatures. Watch your step, your pocketbook, and your soul around them. – A Concise Demonology by Ben Lupo, 1927

  Chapter 3

  The full moon rose high in the night sky, brightly illuminating the forest glade. Candlelight chased away what few shadows remained in the clearing. The soft grass carpet was just slightly damp on her bare feet as Anna slipped out of the robe and let it fall to the ground outside of the circle of protection she’d created on the forest floor. The circle was a combination of chalk dust and dried herbs. It enclosed the five-pointed star she’d made with the lavender and hyssop mixture. In the exact center, a small stone altar held the rest of the ingredients she’d been mixing and brewing all day. She’d barely finished the preparations on time.

  Naked now, she stepped carefully over the circle edge and made her way to the altar. Why did so many of the higher-level rituals call for the witch to be naked under the full moon’s light? Was it truly an important part of the rite or just some perverted warlock’s sinister joke? In any case, the book called for it and she wasn’t about to take any chances this evening. She’d waited so long for this moment. And, after all, wasn’t this the reason she lived so far out of town and back in the woods? No one would ever
stumble upon her out here so she was free to do as she liked.

  That included summoning a demon. The thought sent a chill down her spine. Before this night was through, if everything went as planned, she would be face-to-face with an honest-to-gosh demon that she’d pulled from another dimension.

  Anna had worked hard to become an expert in demonology. Over the past years she had devoured every bit of information she could find. The four types of lesser demons: Kolthas, Whargan, Falgolite, and Drogga. One of those was what she would be targeting tonight. She doubted she had the power to contain a Ballor. The Demon Lords were not something she would ever plan to take on alone. Someday, with a group of her friends behind her, maybe she would chance that.

  She hoped to summon a Kolthas or Falgolite because she wanted to converse with the demon. The wolf-like Whargan would probably only growl at her and the Drogga were known to be pretty dumb creatures. Yes, Kolthas or Falgolite would be great, but she didn’t see anywhere in the manuscript that told her how to choose a specific lesser demon to summon. Oh well, she could always try another time, and even a really dumb Drogga would still make her night.

  She began the incantations, lighting more candles at the appointed time in the ritual. She heard the rumble of thunder as predicted in the text. Though there was not a cloud in the sky, the summoning would cause a lot of thunder and lightning in the area. It took plenty of arcane power to open a rift between dimensions. It was another good reason to be way out in the country, away from people.

  A bolt of lightning erupted from the ground in front of her, striking a nearby tree then bouncing to the power pole in front of Anna’s house. Instantly her house and yard lights went dark.

  Oops! Hadn’t thought of that happening.

  The book predated electricity, so there was no mention of this side-effect, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She would just continue. The moon and candles would provide enough light. She’d deal with the power company in the morning.

  The catmint was next, ground finely just that morning to be cast on the little fire now burning brightly on the altar before her. The smoke had a pungent smell as the herb turned to ash in the little brazier.

  Again, a great bolt of lightning erupted from the ground before her and shot off into the night sky. This was arcane power beyond anything she’d ever dealt with before.

  And it harm none.

  That was the first rule of her order. It dated back hundreds of years. Was she stepping over some boundary tonight? Going too far?

  If so, she was already over the line and there was no backing out now.

  Certainly, others of her order had used the ritual in times past, though there was no reference to it in any recent histories. The old tome had only recently been unearthed from an ancient archive.

  Her voice rose in the final incantation. A shimmering orb of blackness appeared before her, just outside of the protective circle of chalk dust, as multiple bolts of arcane energy erupted around her, flying off into the night sky. Slowly a small shape began to emerge from the blackness. Fiery red skin, pointed ears, two small horns protruding from its forehead, and a long, snake-like tail with a barb at the end. The creature was the perfect image of the devil and was most likely the inspiration for many of the images in religious art and sculpture around the world. All it needed was a pitchfork to complete the picture.

  “A Kolthas demon. A real live Kolthas demon,” Anna said under her breath, but the creature heard her.

  “Yes, witch, a Kolthas demon,” it said, then it hissed at her. “Set me free or send me back!”

  “All in good time, my little friend,” she said, keeping her tone light and easy. “I mean you no harm. I just want to talk to you for a bit. Then I’ll send you right home.”

  The last thing she wanted to do was to antagonize the demon. If she could get this one to open up a bit, maybe she could learn something new about demon-kind that would benefit everyone. Demons had been crossing over to our world for thousands of years, yet so little was known about them.

  * * *

  Freedom. The beast breathed in the fresh crisp air of the forest, seeking a scent it could follow. After years of being caged, this was what it had sought—what it had waited for. Now the beast could hunt. That human, his host, had kept it locked up, away from all this for so many years. But the beast had been patient. It knew one day the man would slip up.

  And this had been that day.

  The dead forest animals it had left on the trail behind filled it with warm satisfaction. The deer, black bear and bobcat had proved excellent hunting and the taste and smell of blood filled the beast’s senses. But it needed more—it needed to kill a human and drink in their spirit—revel in their pain and death.

  The woman. Her scent was on the air now. She was close. The small house, lit only by moonlight, was a familiar image—something from Jack that had lingered in the beast’s mind, even after the change. This house was known to Jack. The woman was important to him. That made her impending death even more appealing to the beast.

  The woman wasn’t in the house though. Her scent came from up a forested trail to the back. Firelight and candles flickered among the trees ahead. Silently, he moved through the trees toward the light. The woman stood naked and exposed to him. It could sense her heartbeat and feel the blood rushing through her veins—blood he would spill on the green forest floor. That thought invigorated the beast.

  No!

  The small, quiet voice inside called. The beast chuckled, opening its mind to Jack and relishing the human’s reaction to the violence and death it planned.

  Then the beast noticed the Kolthas demon, trapped in the orb of force next to the woman. Surprise and excitement filled the beast. It would have an ally now. It could kill the woman and free the Kolthas here on the other side. Then the two of them could wreak havoc on the night. Perhaps the Kolthas could help free the beast of the pesky human inside of him, or at the very least pen the human up during the day and let the beast out at night to prowl. Yes, life was about to change for Jack Hughes. It was the beast’s turn to rule.

  * * *

  It had been exhilarating. The Kolthas demon had been resistant at first, but slowly Anna had coaxed and cajoled the creature to talk with her. Simple conversation at first had led to more complex questioning. The demon now seemed at ease with her.

  Anna felt the drain of holding the creature here, though, and knew the time had come to send the demon back to its own world.

  “Why not set me free here, in your world?” the demon asked. “Then we could talk more. Really get to know each other.”

  Anna knew that was a trap, of course. Set free, the demon would cause chaos at the very least, and it would probably attempt to kill her. In any case she refused to be responsible for unleashing yet another demon on the world. There were plenty here already. So, it was time to send it back before she was completely exhausted.

  A growl in the underbrush drew her attention from the Kolthas demon. At first, she thought maybe a bear or wolf had wandered in. But the shadow that rose out of the underbrush was vaguely man-like. Standing on two feet, the shaggy creature advanced on her. The jaws on the wolf-like head snapped at her. Its arms were raised, long claws ready to attack.

  Anna recognized the creature immediately, so she wasn’t afraid. Her protections were in place. The creature couldn’t touch her. A bear or a wolf would have been a problem, but not this. Her protective circle would work as well on the Whargan demon as on the Kolthas, but she had to wonder what a Whargan was doing this far out from anywhere. Had the rituals drawn the creature here? Would there be more demons coming?

  She moved back, toward the center of her circle of power, as the Whargan stalked her. First things first, she would send the Kolthas back. She went to extinguish the two centering candles, expecting the Whargan to be stopped at the outer edge of her circle. To her surprise, the creature stepped over the chalk line. That wasn’t supposed to be possible. The circle offered p
rotection from all otherworldly creatures. A Ballor maybe had the power to defy the wards, but not a Whargan. Something strange was going on here.

  She was trapped now, inside her protective circle, with a vicious killer. If she left the circle the Kolthas demon would be free. How had the Whargan been able to enter the circle? Luckily, she was not without defenses. A quick bubble of force would buy her some time. Maybe enough to at least dispel the Kolthas.

  She cast her bubble then concentrated on the rituals needed to send the Kolthas back to its own dimension. At first, she could feel the Whargan battering on her shield but was able to ignore it. Then, for some reason, it stopped.

  “Anna?”

  She risked a quick look and was stunned at what she saw. Jack Hughes, completely naked, was standing where the Whargan demon had been moments before. Her concentration slipped, for just a moment, but it was enough. The Kolthas was free.

  “Now, witch, I have a question for you.” The creature sneered. “Are you ready to die?”

  * * *

  Jack’s head was fuzzy and the pain of transformation was still with him, but he had command of his body again. The beast was contained, but the beast’s instincts were still running rampant through his system.

  Anna, his friend, was being threatened by some sort of creature he’d never seen before. But it didn’t matter what it was. It was trying to kill her. Instinct took over and Jack jumped the creature. Instantly he felt the change start again. Pain wracked him as he wrestled with the imp, but he ignored the pain.

  Inside there was another battle being fought. The beast wanted control again and was fighting to take it. Jack released the little creature and backed away. Again, his body started to change, this time back toward human. This had never happened to him. The full moon was shining brightly overhead. How was he gaining control?