Immortal Darkness

by David Falchi

  The wound hurt so badly that I had to wrap my finger with a tissue; then, I sat and I tried to look calm and serene. But I was only pretending and when the beetle broke off the worn out chain and it fell on the ground, I could no longer hold a sense of pure and genuine fear.

  9

  From that ocean of darkness I could see a glare that wasn’t that different from the one that was spreading out of my last defensive line, just a few inches away from me.

  A blurred shape came closer and then it slowly took a clearer outline. In a few seconds I realized that I’d been staring at a face that I found, at the same time, both familiar and strange: it was the face of my dead sister. If her face had the same feature that Priscilla had, I couldn’t say the same of her eyes: black, empty and lifeless. They were set on me, but they had the same expression that kids have when they discover a new animal.

  I stood still, trying to repress the shock and the horror. That feminine figure was getting closer, and then with a hand she reached out the barrier’s border. Priscilla immediately pulled back her arm, as if touching the barrier had burned her skin.

  The defense was working, and that was my only consolation.

  So, the presence stopped and sat before me, imitating, once again, my posture. I had to use all my self-control to trying not to react. I kept repeating myself that it would have been pointless. I was fighting for my own life in that moment, and if I had accidentally taken a false step it would have been the end for me.

  I was starting to feel weaker and that numbness wasn’t making me particularly happy. It meant that I would have had to choose carefully my next move. Probably, the wisest decision would have been to cast another protection spell that could have given me the chance to reach the front door and leave. Of course, that would have meant that I had been defeated, and I hated the idea of quitting the game after I had been deceived and mocked. Even now, there was an undisguised irony in the way in which my sister was sitting. She was right in front of me, and she was looking ahead.

  When she started talking, I was hit by surprise.

  «As you can see, I’m a fast learner. According to your species, at this point I should be thanking you. However, as you can imagine, gratitude is something that doesn’t belong to me. Although, the concept of “respect” does belong to me.

  And if it hadn’t been for you I could have never reached this kind of awareness. That Guidi was just a rat».

  Maybe it was expecting an answer, but I had already fallen in too many traps and so I decided to remain quiet. Did it wish to talk? Good, it would have had to expose itself, or go back to the shadows that had originated it.

  «Maybe I should respect him too, for having awaken me, but I can’t. He’s a slithering being, who has no idea of who he is. The fact that he has decided to call you makes me feel so happy».

  Information were coming, provided that what Priscilla just said was truth. I’d already noticed that when the entity had an ethereal form it didn’t have troubles communicating, showing that it had been surprisingly quick in learning our language.

  Besides, it had admitted that Mr. Guidi was the one who had awaken it. So, apparently, there had been a moment in which my employer had not been cautious. I kept thinking about a specific object that might have triggered the curse, but then I forced myself to leave that idea. Prejudices had already caused enough problems in that intervention.

  «You can talk», continued the creature, still using my sister’s voice. «In this moment, I can’t read your thoughts, and I’m sorry about it. Even though we represent two opposite universe, the secret dialogue with you had been quite helpful». It laughed and for a moment I thought I heard a girl laugh.

  «Maybe, now that you are weak, I could cross through your thin defense, as you persistently call it. But I would never want to use all my strengths. Your soul needs to remain intact. As you know, I don’t have one. Yet».

  I was so hung up in the challenge that I had forgotten that I had been wearing the Mercury bracelets. That must have been the reason why it couldn’t read my mind. Everything that the being perceived came from the blood on the floor. The barrier, together with the bracelet, had been an excellent shield. Unfortunately, what I’d just learnt came a bit too late.

  Its last confession had scared me but I forced myself to repress every feeling. My sister was standing before me and she was threatening to devour my soul. I don’t recall ever being that crashed in a case.

  However, now I had to stay calm. The Mercury bracelet that at first I thought would have protected me against the spirits in the medallion have been an unexpected help.

  If I wanted it to know more about it I had to let it talk. Even though I found disgusting the idea of talking with my sister disfigured ghost.

  «What are you going to do with my soul? You can’t leave this place».

  The girl laughed again, and another shiver ran down my spine. «You’re right. These walls are stopping me. But I can do better. I can enlarge this house. I’ve already managed to extend my influence in the garden around the house. Soon, I’ll be ready to reach the wood. It’s quite an interesting hunting area, don’t you think? »

  «I honestly don’t understand why you would want to stay in a world that doesn’t belong to you. If I can’t find a way to send you back someone else will come. I’m not the only one. You should know that. Actually, in this moment, the property could just be razed to the ground, and that would be enough. I had already given instructions about that. In fact, if I don’t come back within a certain time, that’s exactly what they would do. There’s no way out».

  A doubt seemed to cross Priscilla’s face, but then her facial expression came back to its usual numbness.

  «In that case I would have to force my hand. Devouring your spirit would make me so much stronger. And I’d be curious to see how they’d be able to activate their machines before me».

  It didn’t just inherited my experience, it had also taken my arrogance. The same presumption that had almost cost my life a moment before that. I hoped that the creature that was standing in front of me, reacted in the same way. I pitched forward, and I kept provoking it.

  «And what makes you so sure that these people won’t have the Mercury bracelets? » I asked. «You don’t know what happens outside this place».

  Priscilla’s smirk widened. «If that was true I would have known it. I was in your head, remember? And you haven’t given them a damned thing».

  I held tight the knife and I came closer. My cheek nearly touched the inner defense. «Or maybe, I figured out a way to deceive you. By underestimating me you might have made my same mistake».

  Priscilla’s face suddenly deformed and looked suspicious, but I didn’t give her time to think. I jerked forward and I noticed that under the flare produced by the protection circle the blade shined even more. I deliberately ignored that inner voice that was begging me to spare my sister.

  I plunged it in the middle of the ethereal manifestation, dipping half of my arm in that disgusting creature. Its face was no longer suspicious, in fact, now it was full of hatred and revenge. Still, it didn’t have the time to miss the contact with the blessed knife. It let out a howl of pain and it started to lose consistency. I compelled myself to resist, leaving the weapon exactly where it was; however, my enemy seemed to be made of a weird substance and now my skin seemed to be on fire.

  I let out a moan but I didn’t give up, and once again I felt grateful because my obsession for safety measures had made me wear the bracelets. Without them I would have never been able to resist to that prolonged scream.

  Priscilla looked into my eyes for the last time, and then she disappeared iton the darkness. The silence that followed was such a welcome guest. I quickly pulled back the hand inside the safety zone and finally, I allowed myself a sigh of relief.

  In every case there’s a moment in which one is sure to have won, but there’s also a moment in which the fear of being defeated gets the better of you. Lucky for me, th
is only happened to me a few times, but inside the Guidis’ house that feeling was becoming kind of strong.

  However, I had barely touched the armor of the entity that had been infesting the house, and I had probably just bought a few minutes before its next move. But I knew that I couldn’t delude myself. Especially because the blade’s edge had already been damaged while the edge had been dulled.

  Maybe I could have used it for one last time before the presence had managed to deplete it with its energy. I took a peek at the Mercury bracelets and they were still intact, while my skin, instead, was irritated and had turned red. Apparently, the enemy could only damage objects that contained souls.

  It was an ironic twist of fate. I had spent years looking for weapons that contained spirits and now what I needed the most was just a regular armory. I had no idea how the creature could get the better of all kind of spirits, but the fact that it was able to do it was undeniable. If I wanted to feel protected I shouldn’t have had souls around me.

  I felt so discouraged that I let out a laughter. Of course, the barrier around me would have stood for a little longer and I could have probably reinforced it with more blood, but how long could I have survived without eating or sleeping? Maybe I could have lasted a couple of days before I fainted, but once I had passed out I would have been at the complete mercy of the darkness. And when the entity would have demolished the house, my dead body would have remained inside its walls.

  «You’re not having fun now, uh? » I asked the darkness in the attic. «You didn’t know that your inspiration still had another trick up his sleeve? »

  It didn’t reply. Maybe it was recovering or maybe it was just thinking about its next assault. I thought about running away but I wasn’t sure if there was a chance that I could have reached the entrance door. It was likely that I would have been caught before I even reached the main floor.

  I quickly went through all the offensive strategies that could be used, unfortunately, most of them weren’t going to serve the purpose.

  The house didn’t contain any free spirit and even so I couldn’t have relied on them. And that completely ruled out magic.

  The only option that I had was an exorcism. The creature before me came from Hell, and with a little bit of luck I would have had the chance to weaken it. I pulled out the little book from the jacket, where I always used to keep it. It’s a manuscript of around fifty pages that an Umbrian monk had prepared for me. This book contained the most effective rituals used to hunt the demons and the spirits of the darkness. There were several reasons why I didn’t like using them. First, the lack of scientific rigor: one could never know when and how they would have worked. In most cases, the result depended on the enemy origins, and sometime, the demons were immune to it. Second, even if the exorcism worked, no one could tell where the presence had gone. In my job, freeing a house from a presence and then see that same being infest another one nearby that house would have been pointless. Third, the reason why I tended to avoid to use those ancient rituals depended on the fact that the entity usually fought for its life. The more powerful it was the more damages it could cause to the surrounding environment. It already happened to me once: I had witnessed the death of several exorcists who were hit by and flying objects, or by the fall of a beam. While you’re performing a ritual it’s difficult to control the defense systems. For this reason, in situations like these there should be two people.

  Considering how things had evolved I didn’t have many options. The house was bound to collapse anyway, and I was going to be buried under its ruins, so the least I could do was annoying the guest as much as I could.

  I pulled out Lerner’s mirror. It was surrounded by a shining mist, which meant that even my assistant had been doing his best to defend himself. When he realized that his presence had been requested, he peeped out from the reflecting surface. He was wearing an elegant suit, with a double-breasted ribbed jacket and a burgundy tie. His sparse hair was slicked back and he must have put some foundation on his face because his wounds were barely visible.

  «What’s going on? », I asked.

  Lerner had to scream in order to be heard. «I’m glad you finally remembered that I’m here. I would have regretted having to go without saying goodbye, Kiesel. We’ve been through so much». He stopped to straighten his jacket. He seemed quite uncomfortable in that outfit. «What is it that you looking at? You don’t like the suit that I’ve chosen for my second funeral? »

  «Put on some comfortable clothes and a pair sneakers». I replied. «I’m going to need your help».

  «Oh I see, we’re making jokes now. This could only mean one thing: we are one step away from our death. What do you want me to do, Master? »

  At that point, hiding my next move to the enemy didn’t make any sense. Now that it knew me it would have been able to foresee anyway what I was going to do.

  «I need you to build a temporary defense circle. You’ll have to use all your power. It has to stay up until the exorcism is over».

  «Exorcisms have never been your thing».

  «Do you think you can do it? »

  My assistant nodded, and then he came near the mirror’s edge and winked. «Are you sure that you don’t want a quick heads up on the situation first? »

  «What’s your opinion, Lerner? »

  «Finally we’re finally each other by our names. I can’t figure out what lies behind that poker face. Here, look at you».

  For a moment, my assistant’s world disappeared, and it showed just a regular mirror. Through the reflection, I didn’t look like a person that was about to lose both his life and his soul. As Lerner said, I looked calm. The jaw was closed, and that revealed my inner turmoil. I wasn’t sure that repressing my emotions was the best thing to do, however that concern was purely scientific. These kind of feelings could alter the human mind and I wasn’t going to give the enemy another head start, after all, it already had one too many.

  Lerner was back in his place, right in the middle of the reflecting surface and he was still wearing his elegant, impeccable suit. «Do you want to know what I think? »

  «Of course I do».

  «This is exactly the kind of lesson that you needed. You’ve spent the last years hunting every sort of supernatural being, and you had shown no respect. The entity that you met is the portrait of what you’ll become when you’ll die, if you keep having this attitude. And if by any chance today you were to die, well at least, you’ll have retrieved some of your lost compassion».

  «Do you have any idea on how we could solve the problem? »

  Lerner snorted and leaned on a wall. He extracted a cigarette from the pocket on its jacket and then he put it in his mouth.

  «I had other things to say to you but you are more stubborn than my grandmother’s mule. Your plan is interesting. I’ll watch your back while you try to do the exorcism. Good idea. It will be like trying to pull out the water from the Titanic with a small bucket, but I like it anyway. Let’s try. The alternative would be to remain here and make conversation until the moment that we’ll die, but to be honest you’re not that entertaining».

  The tobacco started to burn and my assistant took a long drag of his cigarette. I understood what he said but that really wasn’t the moment to waste time with considerations about human frailty. For most of my life I’d lived like a robot, and change my nature -at this point - made no sense. I would have died as I’d lived: trying to defeat the dark side.

  «I’d like to suggest the track», continued Lerner, playing innocent. «What if we sang Saint Augustin’s song, but we started from the end? »

  I had used that exorcism only once, and I only did it as a practical exercise. It was a combination of very difficult and apparently rambling sentences, with words that came from Latin, Ancient Greek, Aramaic and some other terms that came from the language of magic. According to the people who witnessed the effects of this formula the ritual would have been unbearable for any infernal entity, and at the same time it
would have sent them back to the flames of Hell. And that’s what pushed me to look for the right formula of that spell. The surrounding area would have been blessed by heavenly forces – provided that they had tuned in at the moment of the evocation – that would have freed the entire house from all evil spirits. There might have been a problem though, right in the beginning of the exorcism, when the performer’s will would have gone against the demon’s. The entity’s fury would have been huge, and that’s why I needed Lerner’s assistance. And I didn’t even know if he was strong enough.

  The enemy presented some new features and even the ritual itself hid some insidious variables.

  «You can do the honors and start the ritual», I said.

  «I’ll try to create a smaller circle inside that mess that you’ve made» he replied. «I bet that this is the only barrier that will hold».

  I made a shy smile. I didn’t want to be influenced by Lerner’s nervous good mood.

  I wanted to start the ritual as soon as possible, and I needed to hurry. The wait was killing me. The darkness was dancing outside the protective circle and I was afraid that soon I would have seen it sink into that ocean of darkness.

  My assistant took such a long drag that it burnt almost half of the cigarette in one fell swoop, then he squeezed the cigarette butt with his feet and rubbed his hands. The mirror showed a dim light that slowly spread outside the reflecting surface. The effort that Lerner had to make to influence the external world was huge, and in that moment I was happy that I had given him the chance to feed in the wood. If he hadn’t had that extra fuel, our chances to succeed would have been very poor.

  Just like he said, the light formed a circle that went inside the one that I had drawn with my blood. Now I felt like I couldn’t move. And that feeling ended up being true: in fact, if I could cross the defense barrier that I had created, that couldn’t be said to the one built by Lerner. Its barrier had to be destroyed in order to be broken.