Khaos

by Louise Manson

  Khaos was so stunned by this new apparition that she could do little but stare up at it in horror. The monster took this opportunity to reach out its vile clawed hand and grab Khaos as if she were merely a doll, squeezing her in its pincer-like grip. Khaos felt her strength drain, and something paralysed her mind; a sudden feeling of worthlessness overcame her, and she let the beast pick her up, her head lolling to one side, her sword falling out of her hand and clattering on the patio below. What was the point in fighting? What was the point in trying to succeed? She had no life to lead. She was bound forever to this never-ending task; while the mortals she was here to save carried on with their simple, easy lives obliviously. She resented them. Hated them. Why must she suffer whilst others got to be normal, and happy?

  And Carmen. Why was she cursed with these wretched feelings? She hated herself then too. She just wanted to be close to her. Just friends. Close friends. Mark, Carmen’s handsome, successful, “normal” boyfriend appeared in her head. How easily Carmen had fallen for him, and why wouldn’t she? He had her heart, he was her soul mate. There was no competition. Khaos felt the resentment, the burning, raging jealousy, bubbling in her soul, filling her to the brim…

  She hated him. Hated him.

  ‘Feel my pain,’ said the demon in its hissing, guttural voice. There was only the slightest hint now of Marla’s voice in the background. ‘Feel my sorrow. We are poor, sad things. Left behind, while everyone else has a good time. Everyone else finds happiness, contentment. Love. These things escape us, though we try, we strive, it’s never enough.’

  ‘I will never know love,’ said Khaos morosely.

  ‘No. It is not for you,’ agreed the demon.

  ‘I will never have a normal, happy life.’

  ‘No. You have been denied these things. Your fate is a path of death and destruction. And you will be destroyed, in turn, along the way.’

  ‘When it’s all over…’

  ‘There is no return to normal life for you after this.’

  ‘Then what’s the point?’

  ‘Yes. What is the point? Why save them? Why lay down your life for them?’ The monster grew huge then, still clutching Khaos, and pointed an arm as enormous as the branch of a tree towards some nearby houses; neighbours of the Portobellos. ‘Do you think these people know how you suffer? Do you think they care that you’re laying down your life for them?’

  ‘No,’ Khaos sighed, sinking further into a depressed stupor.

  ‘No. They’re too absorbed in their simple little lives. And don’t think they’ll thank you either. They won’t,’ the demon’s voice slithered. ‘So what does it matter, then, if they live or die? You don’t matter to them.’ It reached its free claw hand out, lifted the roof from the nearest house, and stroked the astonished faces of the people within in an almost tender way. Within moments, they were turning on each other, a young brother and sister strangling each other in a fit of jealousy. Their mother smashed a lamp over the head of her husband in a jealous rage.

  ‘No wait, stop…’ Khaos murmured ineffectually.

  ‘Why? Let them feel your pain, for once. Let them feel the endless sorrow, the worthlessness…’ Six more arms, like huge tentacles, sprouted from the demon’s writhing grey-white body, and more long, claw-like fingers reached out to other nearby houses, to do the same: opening the roofs, and stroking, the faces of the occupants ever so gently, each hand occupied with a different house. Soon the whole street was in turmoil.

  ‘No… Wait…’ Khaos murmured, in almost a whisper, as even speaking seemed difficult. She stared at this growing destruction, knowing it was wrong, but feeling powerless to stop it…

  ‘Khaos! You must break free!’ shouted the spirit voice inside her head. But even he was muffled and far away. It was nearly as if she was back in her coma again, except this time, it was a fluid, muffled world of pain and confusion. Khaos knew she needed to come to her senses, resist this demon, break free from its grip…

  ‘Khaos! Use your power!’ cried the inner voice, unrelenting. ‘You must channel the elements!’

  Khaos closed her eyes tight, and used her remaining strength to focus on the source of the earth power. She let herself be absorbed in the task, she could not do anything else, she could not move. She reached out for anything nearby she might channel; the ground below them, the rocks, the trees… she reached out and summoned their power. The trees to her right, several yards away, stood in a line. They were fairly large, deep rooted trees with thick, long branches. She reached out to them, speaking silently to them, bidding to them break free of their roots and come to her aid. She squeezed her eyes tighter, using every inch of concentration to will the earth to move for her. She felt the demon’s claw tighten around her, fought for breath, sure that she was done for.

  A loud crash caused her eyes to suddenly snap open, and through grey vision she watched as two of the trees she had been trying to summon groaned, their roots and branches twisting and turning, causing the earth to shudder in their wake. Finally, their roots split and ripped up, sending showers of earth in every direction. To the demon’s astonishment, the huge trees, now free of their bondage to the earth, flew through the air as if some giant had thrown them. One knocked the demon smartly between the eyes, the other swung behind and clonked the monster between the shoulder blades. Almost in slow motion, the demon fell, like a huge heavy monolith crashing to the ground, its claws and arms tangled up in themselves and the tree branches. It lost its grip on Khaos and she flew bodily though the air, landing, thankfully, in the soft upturned hollow of earth left behind by one of the airborne trees. She clambered up the soft dirt, and pulled herself to her feet, shaken, but alert and ready, her wits restored to her again.

  The demon was lying on her stomach, arms flailing around like a giant trapped spider, still trying to free itself of the trees. Its mouth was a round, jagged toothed “o” of distress, and the noise it was making was like a mournful foghorn.

  The spirit was still in control of Khaos, channelling the power through her and turningher vision grey, but somehow, this time, it felt more natural. Khaos saw her chance to strike at the demon again, and did not hesitate. Whilst she felt the strength of the earth crackling across her palms, she stretched out her arms, aiming for the earth beneath the stricken demon, and closed her eyes once more. She was sure that this time the power came to her more easily. as Almost before she began to truly focus, she felt her hands heat up, the power flowing through her. She summoned the earth to erupt, to open its mouth and swallow the demon up. She felt the energy flow through her and burst out of her hands, an almost physical weight, like a ball of pressure which she transferred from her arms down to her hands and threw it, with all her might, towards the Demon Envy.

  The earth split, as she had intended, slowly, but more controlled than before. With an enormous groan and shudder, like an ancient giant man awaking from a long sleep, the earth moved around the demon, huge cracks snapped and split across the dirt, until suddenly, the ground fell in on itself, taking the demon with it. With one last contemptuous cry, the demon was gone. The earth overturned, leaving dust and debris bubbling and shifting across the disturbed ground.

  Khaos breathed a sigh of relief, and pulled herself to her feet, as the blast had knocked her down. She was exhausted, covered in a layer of dust, and cuts and bruises which were rapidly healing, but she had made it. The demon was vanquished. She turned, and headed back to where Carmen had been lying, hoping that perhaps she was alright, and that this nightmare was over. In the darkness, she could see a red glow; her sword, lying where she had dropped it, on the patio in the Japanese garden.

  ‘Khaos, watch out!’

  There was a deep tremor all around. The earth shook, harder and harder, like a volcano, about to erupt. Khaos felt her stomach drop as the demon burst out of the ground in front of her, this time more worm-like than ever; a long, thick tail streaming out behind it, its sharp-toothed mouth wide, eyes staring grotesquely, and claw-like arms
coming at her, intent on vengeance. At the last moment, she managed to dodge the cruel mouth and flailing arms, though a claw managed to scrape her arm deeply. She jumped to the other side as another clawed arm was aimed at her, but again she missed and the demon’s claws thumped off the upturned earth harmlessly.

  ‘Did you really think I was going to die? Just like that?’ shrieked the demon angrily. It flailed at Khaos again, missed by inches, and with an angry scream, leapt forward and plunged under the earth, burrowing at high speed, her long, slimy body slithering and swaying from side to side as she disappeared down. Khaos raced unsteadily back toward the patio, every footstep shaking, her mind on her sword. She must get to the sword.

  Her eyes were fixed on the orange-red glow ahead, when suddenly the earth below her very feet shuddered; and before Khaos had time to get out of the way the demon’s horrible face exploded out of the dirt directly below her, sending a shower of dust, stones and clods of earth everywhere; catching Khaos up in it. Khaos was thrown through the air head first, her arms and legs swinging for purchase on something, but finding none. She landed heavily on solid, cold stone. As she fought for breath, it occurred to her that the hard surface she had landed on was the cobbled patio of the Japanese garden; she had made it.

  Meanwhile the demon reared up in from of her, its cruel arms waving, fingers waggling like evil claws, and the face high above her fixed in an unblinking grimace, a slight smile on its open mouth as it eyed Khaos contemptuously. As it dove straight at her, the mouth opened wider, poised to kill. In those few seconds, Khaos’s vision went darker and time seemed to slow down for a moment. A fiery glimmer on the edge of her vision caught her attention, and in a swift blur of movement, too fast for human eyes, she rolled out of the way of the demon and leapt into the air towards the sword .

  The demon shrieked with rage as its closed her mouth on cold dirt and stone, it swivelled round fluidly and poised, once more, to attack. Again, it leapt toward Khaos, mouth open, faster this time. But this time Khaos was ready, she clutched the sword with both hands. Its flame burned bright against the shadow of the descending demon’s mouth, and there was a brief moment of surprise in the demon’s eyes as the sword found a purchase somewhere deep inside its gut. It gave another shriek, but this time, the cry was in agony. Black smoke began pouring out of the demon’s mouth, and Khaos and the sword were half-thrown, half spat from its jaws. It closed its terrible mouth and shook its head from side to side to try to alleviate the agony, the smoke transferring to its nose in the absence of the mouth cavity to escape from.

  Khaos followed her instincts completely; without even a moment’s reflection, she swung the sword round and struck the demon again, this time slicing an arm clean off. The demon gave another shriek as the amputated limb thumped down on the ground like a piece of rotten meat. The wound was seeping black, putrid blood and smoking in the same fashion as the nose and mouth. Before the demon had time to raise another arm, Khaos was there, brandishing the sword on autopilot, slicing off another arm with bloodthirsty accuracy.

  The demon’s face was coming at her again, jaws wide, and Khaos leapt up in the air to meet her, swinging the sword heavily in a three-sixty degree motion, slicing its throat open. More of the dark blood slopped out, and the demon finally closed its eyes, for the last time. The body fell down heavily, like an enormous tree, landing with several shuddering thumps and thuds onto the earth and stones below. It lay in a slimy, grey pile, a huge, rotting, deformed corpse, the black blood oozing from several scorched wounds, and the whole body leaking black smoke slowly from every pore.

  As Khaos watched, the body began to disintegrate, crumbling and cracking as if it were merely dust. As it melted away, the black smoke rose and began to spin in mid air, as if caught in a mini-whirlwind, spinning faster and faster until it was a small black cyclone. At the same time, Khaos’s left arm jerked forward of its own accord, twisted round so that the wrist was exposed. The black cyclone spun toward her, and coiled around her arm, like a snake. Its point made contact with her wrist and, right before Khaos’s eyes, began to snake its way into her arm. Within seconds, it had been completely absorbed, and Khaos could see it writhing black under her skin, near the small tattoo. Its wriggling finally stopped, and Khaos saw it had formed another strange little tattoo on her wrist, seven different sections, like the first one, but distinctive.

  Khaos stared at the new mark bemusedly, considering all that had passed. Meanwhile, the demon had all but crumbled away, leaving behind a little burnt human-sized corpse. All that was left of Marla.

  A groaning sound interrupted her thoughts, and she suddenly remembered Carmen. With the fight for her life, she had all but forgotten her. She could well be dying, for all Khaos knew!

  Khaos quickly ran to the arbour, where she saw Carmen lying where she had been before. Blessedly, she had not been caught up in the destruction, despite being only a few feet away from the carnage caused by Khaos’s fight with the demon. Khaos ran to her side and kneeled alongside her, turning Carmen over by her shoulder. She seemed to be well enough, except for a few cuts and bruises, a large bruise on her forehead, and a long but shallow cut on her leg, which was bleeding a little. That would probably account for the blood on the shoe that Khaos had seen.

  ‘Carmen? Are you alright? Carmen?’ gingerly, Khaos reached out and stroked her cheek, very gently. Carmen let out another groan, and her eyelids fluttered open. Khaos barely contained her relief knowing that she was at least breathing and conscious.

  ‘Ma…’ Carmen moaned.

  ‘It’s alright. Everything’s going to be alright,’ assured Khaos tenderly.

  ‘Ma… Mark….’ Carmen moaned. Khaos heart sank heavily. She should have been prepared for this response. This was the real Carmen speaking now, after all. ‘Mark? Where’s Mark?’ she demanded, her hands flew to her head, clutching at her forehead, prodding the bruise tentatively.

  ‘He’s fine, I’m sure,’ said Khaos dismissively, trying to conceal the bitterness she felt. ‘Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?’

  ‘My head is killing me… Was I drinking again?’ said Carmen. ‘Wait a minute, Marla… She was angry with me! She... she dragged me out of my room…’ She pinched her forehead, trying to recollect the memory. ‘I hit my head, I think, on the stairs. I don’t remember anything else.’ She frowned at the memory. ‘I’m so confused… that bump really hurt…’

  ‘You’re alive, that’s the main thing.’

  ‘Wait, didn’t the police take you away? Did they let you go? I gave them a statement so they would know you didn’t kidnap me.’ She smiled. ‘Marla has some really crazy ideas sometimes.’

  ‘So what happened after I got taken away?’

  ‘Nothing, at first. Mark came and picked me up from the snug. He wanted me to just come back to his apartment, but I knew I needed to clear your name. And I had to see Marla. Because you said she wanted me killed! But I still couldn’t believe it. So I gave my statement to the police, and told Mark to take me round to the family house, so I could confront her.’

  ‘You should have stayed away. I told you she was out for your blood.’

  ‘But I couldn’t believe it! I thought if I could just talk to her, she would see sense. I couldn’t find her at first, I searched all over the house, went up to her room; no one there. And suddenly she was standing there, behind me, at the top of the stairs. She was… different. She didn’t say anything; just stared at me… her eyes were weird, really big, not blinking. Then suddenly she just… turned. Starting shrieking at me like some crazy woman and grabbing at me. I fell back into her room, tried to get away from her, she just kept pulling at me, trying to drag me by anything; my arms, my legs, she even pulled my shoe off in the process. She got my hair a few times, as well. She has really long nails too, like a cat or something. She pulled me off the bed by my legs, dragged me out the door… that’s when I must have hit my head, she must have dragged me down the stairs, unconscious. What was she thinking! And w
here did she get the strength? Honestly, it was as if I weighed no more than a child or something! I don’t know what got into her. It was like she was possessed…’ She trailed off, thoughtful for a moment. ‘Where is Marla, anyway?’

  ‘Uh… Carmen…’ stuttered Khaos. How was she going to explain to her what had happened? That Marla was dead?

  ‘What happened? Cam? What’s the matter?’ said Carmen, concern growing in her voice and expression. ‘Where is Marla?’

  ‘Carmen, you have to listen to me,’ began Khaos, but she didn’t know how she could possibly finish. ‘Marla… She wasn’t herself, I had to fight. I had to protect you…’

  ‘Cam?’ Carmen sat bolt upright, her concern turning to dread. ‘What are you saying? What happened?’

  Khaos couldn’t look into those worried eyes and answer. How could she explain that Marla was dead? ‘Carmen…’

  ‘Cam, Where’s Marla?’ demanded Carmen. Her eyes suddenly darted to something behind Khaos, and her expression dropped. Khaos turned and saw that she was looking straight at Marla’s curled up corpse a few yards away. ‘Cam…’ Carmen’s voice shook. ‘Wha… What happened? What have you done?’ She pushed past Khaos roughly, all friendliness gone, determined to get to Marla.

  ‘Carmen, no, don’t look!’ Khaos begged, trying to hold her back.

  ‘Get off me! Let go!’ Carmen screamed, pushing Khaos’ hands away. She stumbled over to her sister. Shaking, she gingerly touched Marla’s cold cheek, before letting out an uncontrollable sob, her whole body convulsed with the emotion. Then she screamed hysterically.

  ‘Carmen, I’m so sorry…’

  ‘Did you do this to her?!’ she shrieked, snapping her head back toward Khaos.

  This time, Khaos could not look at that face and lie. ‘Carmen, she could not be saved. Something took over her. She would not have stopped, she would have killed you, and many others too.’