Into The Void (Vampire Hunter Book 4)

by S. C. Reynolds

  “Leon already had some power in Hell, he just wasn’t top dog,” Nicholas continued. “Like Lucas said, Magnus was running the show. Leon rallied some of the demons together and repeated what the soothsayer had told him. The soothsayer he visited – although she lives on Earth – is greatly respected in Hell. She’s not a demon herself, but she has a soft spot for them – why, I’ll never figure out. Tries to help them out however she can. So she wouldn’t lie about it.”

  “Anyway, there was no time to waste. For all Leon knew, Aurora could discover how to kill demons the next day or in the next twenty years. But Leon and the other demons weren’t about to wait around and find out.”

  “You’re almost to the part where I died, aren’t you?” I asked nervously.

  Nicholas nodded. “If it’s too much, just tell me to stop, and I will,” he offered again.

  “Thanks.” I smiled gratefully. “But it’s better to know the truth.”

  I locked eyes with Lucas briefly. He smiled and gave me a reassuring look.

  “There was a new demon in Hell that had never possessed anyone on earth before,” Nicholas continued. “She was begging to go to the surface, said she would make him proud. Leon reluctantly agreed to let her do the job. The plan was for this demon to come to Earth, possess Aurora – and this is the truly awful part – commit suicide. So Aurora’s body would be dead and the demon could leave it and go back to Hell.”

  I shuddered. “That’s terrible. I can’t imagine anyone would have believed I killed myself, though.”

  “We wouldn’t have,” Henry said. “But don’t think about that now. It’s not important.”

  “Don’t worry,” Nicholas interjected. “The demon who took over your body got what was coming to her. It was supposed to be a quick job. But the demon found out she liked being in a human body a little too much for her own good.”

  “Didn’t Leon know what she was up to?” I asked. According to Emmett and Henry, I had been possessed for days before my murder!

  “She told Leon the job was done, and he didn’t question her,” Nicholas replied. “Said she could stay on Earth for a few extra days before returning to Hell. Reward for doing such stellar work I guess.”

  “So Leon just assumed some random demon from Hell followed through on his orders? Leon sounds like some kind of moron for not double checking,” I said.

  “When he realized this demon was camped out in your body, he was livid,” Nicholas explained. “He sent his right hand man, Richard, to take care of the situation. There was a very bloody, very violent fight between the two demons – while they were in their human hosts. Unfortunately, your body got so cut up during the fight that you really did die.”

  I gulped. Now I knew. I actually knew the point at which my heart had stopped beating, the point I had stopped breathing, when all life left my body. I had died from stab wounds during a demon fight, inflicted by some demon named Richard.

  “You doing okay?” Henry asked. “This is crazy. So much to take in. I can’t even begin to imagine if it were me we were talking about. You’re holding up really well.”

  “I think I’m in shock,” I admitted. “But I want to know the rest – we all need to know what happened.”

  “The plan to make it look like you had committed suicide went out the window. Richard doused the body in gasoline and set it on fire.” Nicholas held up his hands. “That’s all I got.”

  “The demon didn’t say anything else?” Emmett asked.

  Nicholas snapped his fingers. “That’s right. I am leaving something out. When Richard got back to Hell and announced that the demon killer was dead, everyone started worshipping Leon for saving them. That’s when they started calling him Lord Leon. The majority of the demons wanted Leon over Magnus, so Magnus was overthrown and Leon became the new king.”

  “Is the demon who told you all of this still here? On earth?” Emmett asked. “I was thinking we could ask him some more questions.”

  Nicholas shook his head. “Sorry, I sent him back to Hell. But I think he spilled his guts before he left; I doubt he’d have anything else to say. He really wanted to stay on earth. No loyalty to Leon and he’d have told me every detail about Hell that I had wanted to hear. But I was more concerned with getting him away from humans and back to where he belongs. Besides, I wanted to meet up and tell you guys what I’d learned.”

  “Geez.” Henry raked his hands through hair and let out a long sigh. “So is the power she was supposed to get when she was living the same one Tobias expects her to develop now?”

  Nicholas shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, man.”

  “But Tobias thinks your power is going to kill Senara, and Senara isn’t a demon,” Lucas said to me. “Something still doesn’t add up.”

  “Maybe Aurora version 2.0 can do both.” We all turned to look at Emmett.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Let’s just say the soothsayer told Leon the truth about you killing demons. So he kills you to stop it. But you can’t ever really change what’s fated to happen. Then, someone else brings you back – we know it wasn’t Leon for certain, and Tobias said at the meeting it wasn’t him.” Emmett paused.

  “I still don’t follow,” I said.

  “Perhaps if you hadn’t died, you only would have had the ability to kill demons. But since you died and came back to life, the course of your fate wasn’t completely altered, it was just thrown off track a bit. Maybe the power was magnified by your resurrection, making it strong enough to kill demons and Senara.”

  “You’re suggesting that Leon basically shot himself in the foot by killing her? Because now she’s back and she’ll be stronger than before?” Henry asked.

  “It’s just a theory.” Emmett pushed his glasses, which had slid down while he was talking, back up onto his nose. “I’ll probably have to sleep on it. You know how it goes. I have to wait for things to come to me.”

  I turned to look at Lucas. “What do you think about all of this? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

  Lucas sighed. “If you want to know the truth, I’m thinking that I already wasn’t happy at the thought of you going head to head with Senara, and hearing that you’re also fated to be a demon exterminator isn’t making me feel any better.”

  “Surely it won’t come to that,” Henry insisted. He looked around the room, searching for confirmation. But no one said anything.

  “We could sit here and debate it all night. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” I finally said. My voice sounded normal, but inside I was a wreck. I felt mentally exhausted from the last hour of my life.

  “I guess we should do the spell now?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “If you guys are up for it, now’s as good a time as any,” Henry replied. “It won’t take too long,” he added.

  Everyone was nodding and agreeing. It was, after all, what we had come here to do.

  Henry looked nervous. I could see his hands were shaking as he took the contents out of his bag and carefully arranged them on the floor in the middle of the room. He flipped the book open to the spell and laid it down next to the rest of the items.

  “Do I need to dim the lights or something?” I asked nervously. On TV, it was always dark and mysterious when someone was casting a spell. Not the middle of the day with all the lights turned on.

  Henry shrugged. “Go ahead.”

  I could tell he was appeasing me, but I turned the lights off anyway. There was still a tiny bit of sunlight coming through the extra thick curtains Lucas had hung up as soon as he’d moved into the apartment.

  “Okay,” Henry said, sounding much more confident now. “Let me tell you how this works. I have to read from the book and add certain items to this bowl at specific times. If the order and timing aren’t exactly as the spell dictates, it won’t be successful.”

  I glanced at the items he was referring to and stifled a laugh. The bowl he was using for the spell was part of the Matthews’ fine dining
set. I didn’t recognize the other stuff, apart from the vial of holy water he’d showed me earlier. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what all this weird shit was – or how he got it.

  As if reading my mind, Henry said, “Aren’t you guys curious about all these things?”

  “Well, yeah,” Emmett admitted, “but if you had to do something horrible to get a hold of them, I’d rather not know about it.”

  “No, no, it’s nothing like that!” Henry held up what looked like a chipped piece of plastic. “This is a boar’s nail.”

  Involuntarily, I leaned away from Henry.

  “I didn’t even have to get it myself – I bought this off the same guy I bought the book from. In fact, he had a lot of this stuff. He told me the spell I was doing used common ingredients and that it was a beginner’s spell. He said once I got to the more complex ones – like that one that requires the leave of a karava tree – that I was on my own.”

  “So who wants to go first?” Henry asked. No one said anything. “Once I read the spell, I have to put holy water on everyone who the spell protects. I need to do it on myself last, since I’m the one doing the spell.” Henry looked around expectantly. “Well, don’t just all volunteer at once!” he joked.

  I was about to reluctantly say that I’d be first when Lucas scooted over from his seat on the floor.

  “I’ll go first. Just tell me what to do,” he said awkwardly.

  “You don’t have to do anything,” Henry said. “Just sit there. Oh and try not to move around too much. The rest of you get on the floor and form a circle with Lucas,” he instructed us.

  “How will we know if the spell worked?” I couldn’t help asking.

  “If I’ve done it right, all this stuff will start smoking in the bowl. That’s the signal for the final step - holy water on the people, or vampires,” he quickly added, then looked at me and corrected his statement again, “or dead girls. I think I’ve covered everyone. Strange to think that Emmett and I are the only two actual human beings in the room.”

  “Let’s get going,” Henry said. “Please, no talking while I read the spell. In fact, don’t say anything until we’re done with the holy water.”

  Everyone nodded.

  In a booming voice, one that didn’t even sound like Henry’s, he started reading from the book in the strange language that no one could identify. I watched, mesmerized, as he methodically threw things into the bowl, then started reading again.

  Henry didn’t look at anyone during the entire spell. He was completely engrossed in what he was doing. I had a feeling if I waved my hand in front of his face, it wouldn’t have broken his concentration.

  As he dropped the last item into the bowl, we all stared at it expectantly. At first nothing happened. But after a few seconds, a black smoke-like mist started floating up from the bowl.

  I looked at Henry. He was fixated on the smoke, watching the pattern as it wove upwards in a spiral-like shape towards the ceiling. I wanted to ask him what he was doing, but we weren’t allowed to speak. I caught Lucas’ eye. He looked a little nervous. Probably worried about that smoke setting off his fire alarm. Which it could very likely do, if it kept drifting upwards.

  Finally, when the smoke had almost reached the ceiling, Henry opened the vial of holy water. Starting with Lucas, he splashed a few drops on his forehead. Lucas winced but didn’t move. Nicholas was next. I could see he was gritting his teeth when Henry splashed him. They lied about how painful it is.

  Then came Emmett, and finally me. I had wondered if the holy water would burn me as well since I wasn’t technically human, but it didn’t. It just felt like normal water.

  Finally, Henry splashed the water on himself. He then took the vial, which looked like it was empty, and put it in the smoking bowl. Within minutes, the smoke started being sucked back into the bowl. And then it was gone.

  “Okay, you can talk now,” Henry said.

  “Looks like it worked,” I whispered.

  “Yeah,” he replied, grinning. “Like I said, it’s a simple spell. But still…” His voice trailed off.

  “Thanks, man.” Nicholas stood up. “I’ve got to get going now. I really appreciate being included in this. One Nicholas is already too much for this world; I don’t need a doppelganger.” Nicholas grinned.

  “It was really nice to meet you.” Henry sounded sincere.

  Well, at least he likes Nicholas, I thought ruefully. It would have been hell to sit in a room with that kind of tension if Nicholas and Henry clashed like Lucas and Henry.

  “I need to go, too,” Emmett said, standing.

  “Me, too,” Henry chimed in. He turned to me. “Want a lift?”

  “Sure,” I replied. There was no reason for me to stay at Lucas’ apartment. It would have just looked weird. And what was there really left to say, anyway? Nicholas had lucked out, finding out about my death, but for any more information our best bet was Emmett.

  Lucas walked us to the door. He touched my shoulder lightly as we were leaving. “Be careful,” he said to no one in particular, but I knew the words were directed at me.

  Chapter 19

  “What a night,” Henry commented as we got into the car.

  “No kidding,” I concurred.

  “Are you okay with everything?” Henry asked me.

  “Not really any other choice, is there?” My voice was sharper than I had meant for it to sound. “It’s just a lot to process, in one night.” I softened my tone. “Of course I’m still in shock about how I died – it doesn’t seem real, to be honest. Especially since I don’t – and hope I never – remember any of the time I was possessed.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Henry said. “Some things are better kept locked away in your mind.”

  “It’s not just that, though,” I said slowly. I looked at Henry out of the corner of my eye.

  “What’s up, Rory?” he briefly glanced at me, then turned his attention back to the road.

  “It’s you,” I blurted out.

  “The spells?” Henry questioned.

  “Well, yeah,” I replied. “What if you decide you do want to use them for evil? And I’m no better!” I said before he could answer my question. “I was already thinking you could retaliate against that Benji creep with a spell. What’s happening to us?”

  “I had the same thought about Benji,” Henry admitted. “But I wasn’t going to do anything without talking to you first.”

  “But Rory,” he continued, “you’ve known me almost my whole life. I would never harm anyone.” Henry sounded miffed that I would even suggest it.

  “Sorry,” I muttered. “I’m just being paranoid. Ignore me.” But inside I wasn’t so sure. How did Henry’s father start out? Eager to change the world – change lives – with his white magic? When did it all go sour? I tried to push the doubt out of my head.

  “Anyway,” I said, changing the subject. “What did you think about that whole power thing I’m supposed to get? How the hell would I ever even know about demons, vampires or any of these other supernatural things if I weren’t one of them?”

  “I don’t know what to think,” Henry admitted. “It just seems like everyone is out to destroy each other. What if this war happens and there’s nothing left? We may be entering into the void.”

  “I don’t follow,” I said in confusion.

  “Tobias wants to kill humans and Senara – and probably whatever army she’s building, as well. Chances are Senara will go after Tobias, once she learns he’s got the same agenda as her.”

  We had pulled up in front of my house now. Henry paused and turned to me before continuing. “And now this Lord Leon has entered the picture – you really think he wants either of them to unleash Hell on earth? What if they all just kill each other – and us in the process – and there’s nothing left? Void. Barren. Life on earth would be extinct.”

  “I hadn’t thought of it like that,” I whispered.

  Henry sighed. “Aurora…” his voice trailed off.


  “Yes?” I prompted him.

  “I know I sit and talk about college applications and running for school president and trying out for the basketball team…all that high school stuff. But the truth is, I’m worried as hell, just like you. I have no idea what next year is going to bring. And now I feel compelled to read that book. Even though I haven’t done any more spells,” he added quickly.

  “It’s just crazy. We used to know everything about each other – to understand everything about each other. And now I’m not sure I know you at all, and I’m positive I don’t know myself any more.” Henry’s voiced was laced with sadness.

  “Don’t say that!” I exclaimed. “You’re – you’re still everything to me,” I stammered. “Even if you are doing spells, even if I am a zombie or whatever the fuck you’d call me. We’re still us.”

  Before Henry could answer, I leaned over and kissed him. He didn’t respond at first and I thought I’d made a huge mistake. He doesn’t feel that way about me anymore, I thought sadly.

  But then Henry’s lips were moving against mine, and it felt natural, right. The way everything with Henry had always felt, since we were ten years old playing in his parent’s backyard.

  I don’t know how long the kiss continued, but Henry ended it. I wanted more of him. I had forgotten what it felt like to kiss him, and now that I remembered I didn’t want it to stop.

  “I should get going,” he said, not looking me in the eye.

  “What’s wrong?” I whispered.

  “Nothing.”

  “Please, have I done something to upset you?” I pressed. I had been on the brink of losing Henry so many times; I couldn’t face it again.

  Henry sighed. “I thought we weren’t going to have this conversation again.”

  “I liked kissing you,” I ventured. “I’m the one who initiated it, remember?”

  Henry looked at me and smiled, but it was a sad smile. “I’m afraid you like kissing other boys, too,” was all he said.

  “That’s not true!” I said, but the words sounded like a lie, even to my own ears.