by David Falchi
«Are you absolutely sure that you want to come with me? » I asked Lerner again. «You probably won’t be of any use to me».
My assistant’s voice was barely audible, which meant that the Mercury bracelet that I was wearing were doing their job. If by any chance I had needed to close every communication channel with the world of the spirits I knew that I just needed to focus.
I grabbed the necklace and I put it around my neck.
It was like wearing a pair of glasses after being short-sighted for a lifetime. The shape of the objects seemed clearer and the light seemed brighter. I raised the fingers and I brought them before my nose. I barely recognized them as mine. In the meantime, a lost howl resounded in my mind, carrying inside words and screams from another time. But those weren’t random voices. They seem to have a purpose; In fact, I felt like those spirits were wandering around my memories. They were seeking as many information as they could, in order to find out who they were dealing with. A few moment later it was like having a jackhammer in my brainpan, and I had to lean on the backrest to prevent my body from falling on the ground.
Lerner was following the scene from inside the mirror. I thought I saw him opening his mouth but it was as if he was inside an aquarium. I couldn’t hear anything of what he said.
Now I understood what the power of that object was. If I hadn’t worn the Mercury bracelet I would have never been able to bear that spiritual shock. And even in this way I was struggling. A body like mine, accustomed to this kind of influences, had no defense against the souls trapped in the necklace. Before I could even realize it, I was standing on my knees. The colors of the hotel room were so bright that they almost made me close my eyes. Then, I realized that they weren’t just bright: they looked like gold. I was looking at the world through the jewel that I had around my neck. I brought the hands at the chest level. My instinct was telling me to tear off that damned object. I had to use all my determination to resist the temptation. If I hadn’t worn it I wouldn’t have been able to take a single step inside the haunted house. Something warm slipped into my mouth and I realized that I was having a nose-bleed. I tried to stop the bleeding with a hand. The continuous pounding in my mind didn’t seem to stop, and it was as if an entire squad had decided to invade my brain.
I decided not to fight it because I knew that going against the spirits was pointless. They were older than me. I would have stood no chance against them.
I forced myself to relax, stare at the ceiling and breathe through my mouth. My nose was still clogged up.
I seemed to have found the solution to my problem. I panicked for a little while but then the souls trapped in the beetle calmed down. I could still feel them inside but at least they were no longer trying to demolish my mind’s barrier.
I ran my shaking hand over the face and I realized that it was covered in blood. Despite this, I felt better and stronger than I’ve ever been. I just waited a few seconds and then I stood up. The world still had weird golden nuances but now it looked like the world that I knew. I was the one who had changed.
It reminded me of a sentence that I read in the Bible: My name is Legion, for we are many.
That’s why I felt powerful. I wasn’t alone in my fight against the dark forces. I made a quick stop to the bathroom and I washed my face several times to remove every trace of the red liquid. I looked at my own image trough the mirror. My eyes had turned brighter. I couldn’t tell whether this was due to my new sight or if something had really changed in me. To prevent the risk of sounding suspicious I wore a pair of sunglasses that I had in my suitcase. However, the dark lenses were having troubles to contain the phenomenon that had just modified my perspective.
I looked at my assistant now, and the mirror showed that he was sitting on the desk. He had his hands on his head, as if he had been suffering from a terrible migraine. When he heard that I was coming near him he raised his head and I could tell by his look that he must have been desperate.
«Did we really have to call the big guys? They will devour me».
His voice was metallic and I could barely hear what he was saying. Even in this case, I had a feeling that my senses were being filtered by the gold beetle.
Apparently, it was as if the dinosaurs had been brought back into the modern world.
If a tiger had always been on top of the food chain, suddenly its place had been put right in the middle of the pyramid. That was what was happening to Lerner. The only benefit that he had was that those dinosaurs responded to me.
«Are you sure that you want to come? » I asked.
Lerner nodded, even though he didn’t seem particularly convinced. Well, now it was too late to talk about it. I was ready to face all kind of threat but I knew that I had to hurry, before the jewel could get the better of me. I knew its story and I had no intention of being overcome by it.
I grabbed the suitcase and I left the room. I felt so light that for a moment I thought that I was floating on the aisle carpet. Lucky for me I didn’t meet anyone until I reached the hall: people would have noticed that there was something odd in me. I didn’t like to draw the attention. Maybe the world that suited me the most was one populated by ghosts, or at least that was what Lerner used to say when he watched me acting around people.
I walked through the way out and then I hit the road. Until that moment I hadn’t thought about how I was going to get to the house. I didn’t have a car and I didn’t know if there was a bus that I could take.
Now it was time to test the will of the medallion that I’d been wearing for almost half an hour now.
I stood on the sidewalk and I raised a thumb. The first vehicle ignored me but the driver of the second car pulled over and lowered the passenger window.
I looked inside and I saw a middle-aged man that was clearly overweight, with a long beard that compensated his lack of hair. He was smiling.
«Did your car broke in the middle of the mountains? » he asked.
«Something like that», I replied. «I need a ride. Where are you headed? »
«Prato della Contessa», he replied promptly.
«That charm is beautiful. Where did you find it? »
Strange. I thought I’d hidden it under the jacket, and yet the beetle had managed to come out. Just when I need a car.
I opened the car door and I sat. «I’ll tell you all about it during our trip. It’s an interesting story».
* * *
«Are you absolutely sure that this is the right place? » asked the driver, once he stopped the car in front of the house. «This doesn’t seem the right place for someone who’s travelling with valuable objects».
The guy had done nothing but talk, for all our journey. And while he had gone on and on with his monologue he couldn’t take his eyes off the necklace that was hanging around my neck. He was so hypnotized by the spirits that it contained that he would have dived in an ocean of flames if only I had asked him to.
«Yep. That’s my destination», I claimed. «Thank you for the ride. It’s been very kind of you».
«It’s been a pleasure» he replied without even looking me in the eyes.
«Do you think you’ll need a ride back as well? »
«No, thank you. I think I’ll stay here for a while ».
He moaned something about objects that he must have had but then he did nothing to stop me.
He must have perceived that there was a link between me and the spirits of the medallion that had just bewitched him.
I watched him backing up but then the sound of the wood replaced the car’s rumble. I was back again in the Guidis’ mansion, and soon that would have been the last time that I walked through that door. For better or for worse.
Not even a full day had passed and yet my last visit there seemed to go back to months ago.
Vegetation had exponentially grown but at the same time it looked weak, and so it clashed with the thriving green of the surrounding area. The entrance door had been left opened, and now the airstream was sla
mming it back and forth. The white shirt was gone; the wind must have carried it away. Everything was surrounded by a golden aura but that didn’t make the scene less threatening.
«Are you ready? » I asked Lerner.
My assistant didn’t reply, and if he did answer he must have whispered because his voice hadn’t been able to penetrate my defense system. I crossed the gate and I immediately noticed that something had changed inside of me. The spirits contained in the beetle must have perceived a danger and so they had started to react. However, they didn’t attack me like they did in the hotel room. They seem to have accepted me, and so now they were simply trying to activate a security system. It was as if they were scratching my mind with their nails, to convince me to move away.
The Mercury bracelets on my wrists were vibrating, as a reaction to the presence that we were about to meet. I recited a short good luck pray and shortly afterwards I reached the porch. The house was darker than ever. The day was sunny, but the sun rays seemed to stop on the threshold, as if they weren’t able to pass through the barrier of darkness.
Something moved in that ocean of darkness. I thought about the weapon that I had lost the day before, and I found myself incapable of stepping forward, so I stopped. However, even if I had stayed outside, the presence could have shot me from the house, and I seriously doubted that the spirits would have been able to stop the bullet.
From where I was I could only see the extremity of a limb laying on the doorknob. It looked different from last time: now it seemed to have grown a real human arm. I even noticed a turned up cuff near the wrist. If I hadn’t seen it before with my own eyes I might have thought that the entity was a corporeal spirit.
«Who are you? » I asked.
The door suddenly opened wide. The entity took a step back, hiding from my sight. I could have just burn the place to the ground to solve the problem. He was afraid of the light and this probably would have wiped him out. In that moment I was very tempted to move away from that house.
However, I took a step forward, toward the entrance. I almost felt the walls shaking. Even the creature that had been waiting for me must have realized that this time I had quite an armory. I went near the darkness’ border, ready to throw myself on the floor as soon as I smelled danger. A few feet away from me there was an amber-colored figure. I had already seen the disgusting body of the being but I wouldn’t have wanted to repeat that awful experience. The enemy had other plans for me. I entered the house, and shortly afterwards a golden dim light covered the surrounding objects, allowing me to see. Everything was exactly as I had left it, except for the creature that was standing before me. That view shocked me. If only a few hours ago he had barely been able to create a rough reproduction of a human being, now he had become quite skilled.
He looked exactly like me. He even had my same clothes. He was only a feet away, and his legs almost touched the sofa on the corner, in front of the fireplace. We stared at each other for a little while. Standing yourself before your doppelganger isn’t easy, especially when you are absolutely sure of his demonic origins.
A few moments later he disappeared and a dark mass passed through my body. I still have troubles to describe what I felt in those terrible moments.
Physically, it felt as if all my nerve endings had been stimulated by an indescribable pain that made me scream like I never did before. But the worst thing happened when a storm of violent and savage feelings ran my mind over: they would have turned nuts even the most stable person. I suddenly saw brutal images of dismembered bodies, and then supernatural flames started to burn them. I then realized that those bodies were still alive and they were trashing in the hope of escaping that terrible torture. My ears filled up with excruciating and confused screams while my nose smelled the acre and revolting smell of charred skin. And the scariest thing was that deep down on me I was feeling grimly happy for what was happening. A part of me was happy to see that destructive force in action, and craved to participate. It would have wanted to arm itself with the Blasphemous Fire and destroy every life-form until it died of spontaneous combustion. Nobody could be saved in that new world, and no one stood a chance against chaos. I might as well be a part of it. Become its pupil and its Messiah. I could have broken all the rules that I had followed until that moment. The entity that had received me wasn’t just a reproduction of my body, it was the image of how I could have become.
Of how I should have become.
There was no trace of the old me after that supernatural attack had thrown me on the floor and had caused my body to go into spasm.
It was in that moment that something appeared in my mind: a howling barrier that mumbled unintelligible words.
Hearing those whispers, though, was a relief, in fact it was like breathing some fresh air after being stuck under the water. The feelings that had assaulted me before slowly left me, just like a receding tide.
A few moments later I was able to think straight. But there was no time to chill. My survival instinct helped me to quickly slide on a side. Honestly I had no idea that I could even be that fast. Anyway, I acted just in time to avoid the bullet that was about to drill my head.
I wouldn’t know how to explain the strength that suddenly made me move on the dusty floor of the house. If I’d had time to think, I would have concluded that the presence, at first, at tried to seduce me, but then, when it failed, he must have decided to kill me in the old-fashioned way. But this is not how our primordial instinct works. He must have sensed that another threat was coming, and during the years I had learnt to listen to that silent scream that taught me to act first and then think. I walked on my knees and I found shelter in the stairs that lead to the basement. Until that moment the entity had proven to be stronger only when it was nearby the attic. So, I deduced that the underground must have been the safest area in the entire house. My ankle hurt. I must have injured myself when I was about to pass out a few moments before.
I had just set foot inside the house and the beetle had already saved my life. I could still feel the spirits’ restlessness. It must have been centuries since they’d suffered such a severe attack. The world around me looked golden than ever, as if I had gone deeper into the ancient universe of that jewel. The entrance door closed violently. I was trapped inside. I dared to look out of the two wooden stakes that supported the banister. My doppelganger was still there, and he was still pointing the gun towards the place where I last was. He seemed puzzled. It seemed that things hadn’t gone as planned.
He noticed that he was being watched and so he raised his head toward me. A moment later the revolver was headed towards me.
«You’re stronger», he said.
He even learnt to speak. The creature was making progresses.
Lucky for me there was only one bullet left. Of course, there might have been other weapons inside the house, but he would have never used them, and only in that moment the reason became clear to me.
That creature was doing everything in his power to become just like me. He had studied me since the moment that I had entered the Guidis’ property. Maybe, at first, he had chosen one of the spouses, but then he must have changed his mind when I arrived. In fact, since that very moment, he had used the same weapons that I had with me. If I had realized that sooner, I wouldn’t have brought a knife. Now, that was literally turning into a double-edged sword.
«You too have become quite stronger», I replied. «And I honestly don’t understand how you can grow that fast. What are you? »
Any information would have come in handy at that point. Knowing what the presence considered itself could have given me some clues about its mind state. If it was confused there was a chance that I could deceive it.
«I am you», replied the creature.
He started to walk toward me and another shiver immediately ran through my spine.
When he stood still he might even resemble a man, but when he moved you could tell that he hadn’t learnt how to imitate his model. His steps wer
e weird, and it was as if he was trying to slide on the ground. His arms were swinging freakishly, as if he had been desperately trying to stand still. The revolver was dancing forward and backward, but then he pointed it back towards my face.
The spirits voice came back and I walk down the stairs as fast as I could in order to close the door and lock myself up in the basement. Now it was the time to fight back. I’m sure my enemy would have found a way to pass through the small room in which I was but at least he wouldn’t have been able to carry the weapon. If I’d had time to prepare we would have had a fair fight.
I’d already realized that the beetle could amplify every power that I’d decided to use. In that case, the smartest thing to do was to build a barrier in the middle of the room. I didn’t need a flashlight: thanks to the necklace that hanged around my neck, I could see everything through the darkness. I sat on the cold floor and I crossed my legs.
I recalled a spell that had already helped me several times. I didn’t think about the sound of the wobbly steps that came from the other side of the doorstep. For as long as I could remember, that formula, had been used during the Witches’ Hunt. In most cases they were just poor women who had been unfairly accused, as many people know, but in some of them had been real agents of the darkness. When things like these happened, torturing the carrier had the power of setting free evil forces. The most knowledgeable inquisitors had found a system that helped them being ready to fight back in a short time. When a body gets exposed to the light it can absorb a certain amount of it, and that was the main principle. And every shred of light can, in turn, collect other spiritual particles that are normally contained in the air. Thanks to this spell, everything around the spell user can be channeled, creating a lively barrier made of light and souls.
Of course, once the effect was over I couldn’t have used the same defense system, but I still had other eggs in my basket. Perhaps, if I had used that barrier, I would have been able to protect Lerner, who, after all, was my secret weapon. If, until that moment, the enemy, had been able to copy me in everything that I did, there was no way that he could take my assistant’s shape. I just had to find a way to take advantage of that aspect.
