The massive well over ten feet thing in front of Bathe struggled to control itself in front of the glowing Méndez. It held one of its hands up, making sure its eyes were still covered from the heavenly light that radiated from the Méndez.
The creature struggled to move forward, closer to Bathe, but it forced its leg to move. It dragged its legs as a supernatural force from the Méndez held its legs in place. Fright and horror took over Bathe's face the instant he saw that the demon could even move. He could not understand how the demon could move its legs.
“I order you bound! Pinned to this realm, to your current position ...” Bathe continued to shout out loud as he held his Praying Méndez high so that the glow reflected in the face of the demon that was almost twice his height.
As the demon advanced towards Bathe placidly, Bathe began to move backwards. Anxiety overtook him when the colossal creature crossed the initial point Bathe was standing beside the car.
“Impossible!” Bathe exclaimed, looking perturbed. As a Vitrian, he'd never seen such a scene where a demon would be strong enough and have the power to overcome the binding orders of a Praying Méndez.
Wanda allowed her mum to drag her away. She wasn't sure where they were going, but she knew they were close to the point where there is a barrier, and they can be safe. Marcus, her father, had told her about locations in different cities in the world, where they only have to get to, for them to be safe from demons.
Suddenly, her mind was cast back to Eric and she remembered how she had left him to die. She yanked her hand off her mum's, stopped, and turned to look at Bathe.
“Wanda,” Sofia shouted, initially thinking the demon had grabbed her daughter from behind. She ran back to Wanda, whose eyes were fixed on Bathe and the creature that was four times as wide as Bathe.
“We have to go,” her mum shouted, but Wanda, who could see the danger in which Bathe was in, just carried on staring. She was oblivious to her mum's shout and plea to run.
Realising that her daughter was probably in shock, Sofia turned, and to her horror, she saw the demon was directly in front of Bathe, whose face was damp with sweat as he became inundated with the presence of the strong creature in front of him. It was apparent, he was out of options on what he could do to keep the demon bound.
“We have to help,” Wanda was hasty. “I'm not leaving Bathe,” she protested, knowing she had left Eric to die earlier. She wasn't going to do it again.
“We can't!” Sofia cried. There were tears in her eyes. She held her daughter by the shoulder. “Listen to me,” Sofia spoke, looking directly into Wanda's eyes to get her attention. Wanda's eyes adjusted from the scene behind her mum to see the trepidation in her mother's eyes. “You can't fight a demon with bare hands.”
“What? We are not leaving him alone there,” Wanda protested. “There must be something ...”
“The only thing now is to ...”
Wanda butted in with a scream the instant she looked up. An object covering the late bright summer sunlight was dropping from the sky a few metres above her and her mum. Sofia turned, looked up, and she became frightened at what loomed and fell towards them.
Like Bathe's shocking surprise that the creature could move wasn't enough, the creature's movement became faster and faster as it began to have more and more power to overcome the barrier that Bathe was using to hold it down.
In confusion, the thought of abandoning his position, turning his back on the creature flashed in Bathe's mind, a feeling that had not flashed in his memory since his teen years, when he first started training as a Vitrian and battled demons. Knowing that the thought was worthless, he ignored it and only held his Praying Méndez up at the creature that was now standing before him. Its body covering Bathe's body in every direction.
With audacity that Bathe could not comprehend, the creature took its hand off its face and looked directly at Bathe through the glow of the Praying Méndez. Bathe's expression was beyond description, staring in bewilderment. No demon had ever looked directly at a brightly shining Praying Méndez. The creature, with its right hand, took hold of the Praying Méndez. Its hand covered the Méndez in Bathe's hand totally, and the glow in it died out instantly. It then spoke, in an unequivocal and very audible voice, which shocked Bathe. Demons could speak, but it was in an ancient language, or they would mutter very unclear single English words when they are in their original demon forms.
“Your prayers are weak. You should do better,” the creature spoke audibly as it closed its right hand on the Praying Méndez, putting out the glow. There was no smile or smirk on the creature's face as it looked straight at Bathe.
Before Bathe could make his next move, the creature hit him off with its huge left hand. The creature wasn't interested in Bathe, and it was obvious it just wanted to get Bathe out of its way. Bathe's feet went off his ground as the creature tossed him away; he went some metres backwards. He tried to get back on his feet, but he missed his steps as he staggered and fell backwards again.
The demon leaped, covering the metres between it and Wanda.
Wanda and her mum looked up to see the creature towering some metres over them. They turned to run, but it was much faster than them. It crashed over them, hitting Wanda behind the head as it knocked them both to the ground.
Trepidation swept through Wanda, who had a severe headache the instant the creature fell on her. She and her mum got up in haste, and her mum immediately stood up, looking rough and dirty. She blocked the space between Wanda and the creature as Wanda stood behind her. Wanda's vision was blurred - the sudden collision from the creature made her nauseous. The creature rose from the ground like a flower opening up very slowly at the sight of the shining morning sunlight. It roared involuntarily again like something was forcing it to do so, against its own will. The creature's eyes settled on them after the roar; it looked at them and was about to charge towards Wanda when Sofia, who had positioned herself in front of Wanda, shouted and screamed.
“Leave my daughter alone!” Sofia shook her head vigorously to reveal she was screaming with all the strength in her. The intensive scream brought all the veins in her head and neck out.
The creature pulled its body back and looked up straight at the unexpected scream; it seemed the loud screech brought it back to reality. Even in Wanda's dazed state, she saw through her impaired vision, the confusion in the creature's eyes.
“Run! Wanda, run!” Sofia yelled without turning to see Wanda run. Wanda turned and began to run in a wobble, feeling slightly unbalanced.
A moment of silence passed due to the loud scream from Sofia, and then the creature stepped forward and pushed Sofia away. Sofia went flying off her feet, about twelve metres away, and crashed into the ground. In pain, Sofia raised her head up and instantly froze in her position on the ground when she saw long arrows flying in the air. On the spot, she knew what the arrows were meant for; they were used to demobilise extremely powerful demons. But she was frightened because the arrows were not flying towards the creature; they were flying towards her daughter, who was about ten metres away, running away from the creature.
The arrows landed as Sofia screamed with all the strength in her knowing the arrows would easily tear her daughter apart.
In the twinkle of an eye, the creature had jumped and covered the space between it and Wanda. With force, it swept Wanda with its hand and yanked her towards its massive body as the arrows came down. The arrows penetrated deep into the body of the creature, but it was too late; the creature had Wanda pinned under its body. Its body frame covered Wanda's as she slumped lifelessly in its arms.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Chapter 6
There was a torrential downpour of rain, and tears simultaneously ran down Wanda's face uncontrollably. She stood beside her mum, who was also crying incessantly, looking straight down at the coffin as it was lowered down into the grave. Wanda had overheard her mum the previous day that she wanted no delay to the burial, and it had been organized a
s soon as the Vitrians could fit it into their schedule. Wanda had wished to see her father once more, even if it were only his body lying there, motionless, but her mother obstructed every opportunity of anyone seeing his body.
Though there were several black umbrellas held up against the rain, and it was already getting dark, Wanda could see how drenched her mum looked in the graveyard in her winter jacket. She could see her mother was in excruciating pain. Wanda turned to Jason; he looked stern and annoyed, holding on to his little spider-man rubber toy. She knew definitely Jason would miss their father; they all would.
When the burial procession ended, she saw Bathe walk up to a man. Wanda couldn't see the man's face, but from his frame, she could see that he was huge, his chest was wide, broad shoulders, and he was tall well over six feet. He was taller than Bathe. Bathe, and the man turned to look in her direction several times while they spoke. Wanda did not understand why they kept looking in her direction, but she began to stare back at them.
Sofia, who was still trying to control her own emotions as everyone extended their condolences, held on tightly to Jason like the little boy was going to vanish like her husband if she released her grip on him. Little did she know that her daughter was being watched by several people who attended the funeral. After a few more minutes of discussions, Bathe turned around, and along with the man he was talking to, they walked away.
“Wanda,” Wanda heard Jason shout in his usual frustrated tone, signifying the little boy was tired of calling his sister several times to get her attention.
“What!” Wanda complained as a little child does when answering another. Suddenly as she was about to turn and face her mum and brother, Wanda noticed a figure behind a tree some distance away in the graveyard. The figure moved stealthily, and she saw it was a person. In the heavy rain, Wanda stared, tilting her head and her little black umbrella as she tried to focus. She noticed the movement again, and then she saw the person properly; it was a child covered in a black raincoat with the hood pulled over his head so Wanda could not see the face. She knew the person was probably her agemate because she felt she was taller. The child stood alone some reasonable distance away, hiding behind the trees. Wanda wasn't sure who it was; neither was she sure the person was trying to conceal her appearance. She could sense the child was in trouble and needed help by the way the child kept turning away to hide behind the trees and would gently steal a few secret peeps to observe what was going on at the funeral.
“Mum,” Wanda shouted a moment later, trying to call her mother's attention to the child by the tree. “Mum,” Wanda shouted again and louder when she could not get her mum's attention.
Wanda turned, wanting to rush to her mum, and just then, she bumped into a woman. The woman grabbed her by the arm; the exceptionally tight grip from the woman made her scared. She was about to shout when she noticed how beautiful the woman was; her hair was platinum blonde, and it was pulled back in a ponytail. Her eyes were a unique shade of deep sky blue. She looked so gorgeous that Wanda became fixated with her face. She froze, looking into the woman's eyes, but in all the beauty, she could read fear and despair in her expressions.
“Listen to me, listen, Wanda,” the woman said in a rush like she was pressed for time. Both the words and the fact that the woman knew her name caught Wanda's attention. Wanda felt the woman's grip was unnecessary by the way the woman held her tight by the arm. The expression on the woman's face and the way she spoke frightened her. She tried pulling her arm loose.
“Focus little girl ... you can save us all. Whatever you do, don't join them.” The woman looked up to signal to a direction behind Wanda. “They would ...”
“Keep your hands off, Celina,” Wanda heard her mum breaking into what the woman was saying. To her shock, she heard a loud and clapping sound as her mum's hand descended on the woman's cheek in a slap that resonated even in the rain. The woman only stood upright but said nothing initially.
“I am sorry, Sofia,” Celina managed to say after taking a deep breath from the pain and accepting that Sofia could humiliate her in public.
Perplexed, Wanda only turned to look at her mum and Celina wondering what was going on. Celina was about to continue when Wanda heard her mum speak in haste and in an embittered tone, cutting Celina off. “Keep your hands off my daughter and take your bastard child away from us. Remember, Marcus Troms had only one wife and two children,” Sofia said, pointing her right forefinger and talking in a harsh but low tone that only Celina and Wanda could hear.
Wanda could hear and feel the detestation in her mother like an enmity long fed for years existed between her mum and Celina. She looked at the woman's face and saw that Celina looked hopeless, watching Sofia pull Wanda away.
Celina could see Sofia was not going to allow her access or the opportunity to say what she had to say.
“Times have changed, Sofia,” Celina finally shouted as Sofia pulled Wanda away. A heavy thunderous sound broke out in the sky as Celina spoke. Wanda shivered at the sound and lightning that followed, shaking the entire graveyard.
Abruptly, Wanda woke up, and her body jerked up from the bed the moment the thunderous sound occurred. She had been dreaming, but the sound continued to reverberate in her head. She heard footsteps, like someone in a hurry, she turned and looked in the other direction, to hear a sound like someone rushing out and then the door slammed shut behind the person.
For a moment, Wanda felt she was at the burial ground as the image of the shutting door mixed with the sound of rain falling filled her vision. Then her eyes began to adjust to her new environment as her massive migraine began to subside. She squinted for a while to control the headache before opening her eyes.
The room looked like a hospital room – more like an insufficiently equipped clinic room that was perfect and newly built but rarely used. Wanda noticed the bed next to her; it was a hospital bed but had no drip-stand, no usual hospital equipment. She was about to turn and observe the other side when her mother came rushing through the door. Wanda watched as her mother rushed straight for her with wide-open hands.
Sofia hugged Wanda, the hug was so tight Wanda felt choked for some seconds. Still feeling weak, Wanda lifted her hands gently and wrapped them around her mother. Sofia pulled back after a while but kept her hands around Wanda's shoulders.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes,” Wanda's voice was low.
Her mum could see the sadness on her face. “What's the matter?”
“Nothing,” Wanda managed a faint smile. “I dreamt about dad's funeral.”
“Oh, Wanda,” Sofia said with sympathy. “I don't want you having sad memories ...”
“It's okay, mum,” Wanda replied, trying to disregard her mum's compassion. She knew there was more to her father's past that aroused her curiosity, and she wanted to discuss it with her mother, who had waived off such discussions in the past. “He's my dad anyway, and I don't mind reminiscing on his funeral,” Wanda continued remembering Celina and the words her mother had used when she responded to her at the funeral.
“I am happy you are awake.” Sofia changed the topic from the funeral and hugged her daughter again. She knew too well that with Wanda dreaming about Marcus' funeral, questions would follow.
“You were asleep for almost twenty-two hours,” Sofia added, and Wanda could hear the anxiety in her voice. “I was afraid I must confess.”
“I'm alright, mum.” Wanda could see the joy on her mum's face through her eyes, which had heavy bags of sleepless signs underneath the lids looked like they were going to pour out tears. “Do I have another sibling apart from Jason, mum?” Wanda enquired, trying to start up the discussion on Celina, but the question, which came as a surprise, startled Sofia.
“Nooooo,” her mum answered with a squint watching Wanda in total surprise and wondering where she got the notion of having another sibling from.
“Celina ...” Wanda called the name and halted. “Who is she, mum? You've always avoided telling me
who she is and why you treated her the way you did, at dad's funeral.”
Sofia looked down realising where her daughter was heading to with this.
“We should discuss that some other time, not now, Wanda.” Sofia paused and watched her daughter. “I watched you all day while you were asleep.” She pulled a sincere smile on her face.
Wanda looked at her mum and noticed she was still dressed in the same clothes she wore a day before. Remembering the day before, Wanda's body stiffened in horror.
“What is it?” Sofia became tensed like Wanda had passed an instant virus to her causing her to become so tensed. “What happened yesterday?” Wanda asked as despair took over her.
“The Vitrians arrived before the demon could ... could kill you.” Sofia looked down. She found it difficult to discuss what could have led to her daughter's death.
“All I can vaguely remember was the demon hitting you off, I was almost unconscious from the panic, and I thought I saw arrows ... some arrows above me.”
“Yes, they were arrows meant for the demon; I thought they were meant for you too because they were coming in your direction until the demon jumped over you after it pushed me aside, and I saw the arrows landing on it.”
“The arrows would have landed on me.” Wanda was fretful.
“Oh, the arrows,” Sofia retorted, showing that the arrows had caused her some distress too. Bathe stepped into the room, interrupting their conversation, and invading their privacy. “Yes ...” Sofia turned towards Bathe, who was now by her side. “The Vitrians are very precise; they claim they knew the demon was going to leap at you. The arrows would have missed the demon if they had directed the arrows at it, so they targeted where it was going to - your position.”
Wanda looked puzzled at what her mum was explaining. She knew that meant disaster for her, but fortunately, the creature had leaped as they predicted, so she was saved. Wanda thought about her being the actual target for the arrows. The thoughts disturbed her as she fixed her gaze on her mum. But she waved the idea off, knowing now that the Vitrians were trying to save her and she was glad they showed up on time.
The Healing Mendez (Vitrian Secrets, #1) Page 7
