Retriever of the Lost Souls (Retriever Series Book 1)

by Brian

  Chapter 55

  That next evening, as they were finishing up dinner, Isabella announced that Talitha wanted to talk to him. Both Philip and Cassie were excited to talk to her as well. Eoin and Isabella had made the decision to tell them about what was happening. They had met many of the spirits that came to visit. But they also knew that they had to keep away when Eoin and Isabella told them to.

  The change was faster than usual this time, and when Talitha saw Eoin, she leaped out of her chair toward him, knocking him down. The chair Eoin was sitting in broke into several pieces, and Eoin cried out in pain as Talitha landed on top of him.

  Philip and Cassie started laughing uncontrollably. Talitha looked at them and did not know whether to laugh with them or cry that she had hurt her love. “I am sorry, my love. I didn’t mean to cause you to be hurt,” she said solemnly.

  Eoin and the kids were laughing.

  “Talitha, just promise me you won’t jump at me like that again - I only have so many chairs!”

  Feeling ashamed and contrite, she stood up and hung her head down in a penitent manner, as if waiting for Eoin to punish her physically. Eoin got up and placed the palm of his right hand softly under her chin, lifting her head up. Smiling, he then took her into his arms and comforted her. “You have done nothing wrong Talitha, I was teasing you. As you can see we are laughing at what happened. Talitha looked up and looked at everyone in the room and smiled.

  “Now, what did you wish to talk to me about?” he quietly asked.

  Talitha perked up.

  “The room! It broke this afternoon! The coven is quickly breaking now!”

  “Really? That’s amazing news! I am so happy to hear that!” Eoin exclaimed excitedly. The children looked at them confused. They did not know of the covens or anything else pertaining to the fights they had.

  Talitha returned to her usual ebullient self. Seeing the children’s confusion, she explained that many that had been tricked into going below now had a chance to go above this time. This perked them up and they began to cheer.

  “Over a thousand went above!”

  Eoin fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face, and gave thanks to God for such a miracle. Philip looked at his father with wide eyes. He had never seen his father cry before.

  “Dad? Are you ok?”

  Eoin looked at both Philip and Cassie and explained what all this meant. They were excited beyond belief. At this point, Eoin decided to send them to bed. There was much to discuss, and it would be better not to have them there. After arguing about going to bed, they finally walked away and off to bed they went. They were then able to continue their conversation.

  “Those that can are beginning to leave,” she said. “The guards are too few to stop them.”

  Eoin placed his hands on Talitha’s shoulders and was excited beyond belief.

  “I must prepare for our battle tonight. Perhaps it will be the last one,” he said.

  Giving him a warm kiss, Talitha left, and when Isabella came back, he shared the good news.

  “Oh my gosh! A thousand souls?” Isabella asked in wide-eyed wonder.

  “Yes,” he said, “and it could all end tonight!”

  Surveying the broken chair, Isabella said, “Ummm, Eoin? What happened to that chair? Did you and Talitha have sex on it?”

  Blushing, Eoin told her what had happened. “She just came flying at me, and the chair busted when it went over.”

  “Riiiiiight,” she said, teasingly. “I believe you. I really do,”

  Eoin said nothing else as he picked up the remains of the splintered chair. It was something Isabella would tease him about for months to come.

  Eoin and Isabella were preparing when Isabella announced that Martha wanted to speak to him.

  “What did I do this time?” Eoin asked with a smirk.

  Smiling, she said, “nothing, my dear. What makes you think I am here to chastise you? Do you have a guilty conscious?”

  Eoin was embarrassed.

  “I too, have a sense of humor, Eoin.”

  He was smiling wide now. “Okay, so you got me this time. I’m on to you now,” he teased.

  Martha smiled and held out her hand for him to take.

  “There will be no fight tonight,” she said.

  “No fight? How come?”

  “They know they are losing the war and are having all available people patch up the large cracks throughout the coven. It is a last-ditch effort to keep up the appearances to those who are still there, for nobody can have hope.”

  Eoin was happy for that, but he wanted to fight and end it once and for all.

  “There will be time for that, my dear,” Martha told him, reading his thoughts. “For now, I suggest you and Isabella get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day for you as they will make a last stand and throw what’s left of the coven at you.”

  Eoin hugged her, glad she didn’t shirk away this time.

  “I will see you soon Eoin. I pray you sleep well tonight. We have placed a ring of protection around you as we don’t trust them to stay away.”

  “Thank you, Martha. Good night.”

  The transitions for Isabella were getting more comfortable for her and took less out of her.

  Eoin started to share the good news with Isabella, but she told him she already knew.

  “I heard Martha talk to you. She left the door open so that I could hear,” she said.

  Smiling, Isabella explained what she had been feeling lately,

  “I can feel myself getting stronger with spiritual gifts. Usually, when I go to their quiet room, the door is closed, and I can’t see or hear what you do or say. This time, though, Martha left the door open. I could hear but not see. It is one or the other. If I see, I can’t hear.”

  That night, for the first time in a long time, they slept very well.

  Chapter 56

  Isabella was quickly preparing dinner that night since she wanted to spend as much time as possible preparing for the next round of battles. With supper cleaned up and both kids in bed, they sat down at the table with their Bibles and computers. Eoin was intent on what he was reading and failed to see that Martha had come.

  “Eoin,” she said quietly. He didn’t hear her, so she repeated it with more force. Eoin looked up, not having heard who he thought was his wife. “Yes, honey what do you need”

  Smiling she looked at Eoin and said, “It is I Martha.”

  “Oh, Martha! To what do I owe the honor of your visit?”

  “You are a smooth one,” she said. “I wanted to let you know that you will be fighting tonight.”

  Eoin nodded in acknowledgment. “Then, I’ll be ready,” he said.

  “You must prepare diligently. These next few days will be difficult, but if you remain focused and in prayer, you will be fine.”

  Her warning startled him slightly.

  “You must be prepared. I shall go now.” She left before he could say anything further.

  “Eoin, what did she want?” Isabella asked.

  “We are fighting tonight. Martha has told us we have to be ready, because they will be throwing everything at us that they can. So not only do we have to be ready physically, but mentally and spiritually” he said.

  Three hours later, Isabella looked up from the Bible and announced it was time. As Eoin was shutting down his computer, he saw that Isabella had rapidly become disoriented and helped her up the stairs, while uttering a prayer and asking for strength.

  Once Isabella was ready, he helped her lie down in the middle of the bed, then once more the fight was on.

  “Hey, baby! Have you missed me?” Alaya asked, tauntingly.

  “Were you gone?” he retorted.

  “Oh, you know you missed me. Why don’t you come here and show me?”

  He nonchalantly grabbed the cross and hid it as he approached her. He leaned over to kiss her then plunged the cross over her heart, pressing as hard as he could. She shrieked in pain and begged him to remove it.


  “Get that thing OFF ME, fucker!”

  Eoin just pressed down harder. He didn’t want to hurt Isabella, but he knew he had to be rough to get Alaya to leave. With a shriek, Isabella’s body once again went limp. This time, however, it was different.

  Talitha appeared.

  “You hurt Alaya badly, but not destroyed. You probably won’t see her for a few days.”

  “That won’t be so bad. Is Isabella OK?”

  “Yes, she is fine. She has become a prayer warrior when she goes below. It helps her while you are fighting. I must go, another one is about to start.”

  “Who are you?” an effeminate voice asked.

  “Who are YOU?” Eoin replied.

  “I am Wilmot,” the voice said. “Please don’t hurt me. They pushed me into the beam of light. I mean you no harm.”

  As he spoke to Wilmot, Eoin realized that the softness of him didn’t fit in with the horrors from below. In fact, he was much like Talitha and realized that he liked him. He wanted to know more about Wilmot and decided that he’d spend the time getting to know him once the coven fell. Eoin began to tell him about God and the forgiveness which comes from above when Wilmot spoke up.

  “I can’t go up. I’m still behind the Fourth Door,” he said.

  “Why did they send you then?” Eoin queried.

  “There aren’t many fighters left so they send whomever comes into their line of vision.”

  Eoin took pity on him. “You need to go back, Wilmot. I won’t fight you, and I will rescue you somehow, some way, although I can’t guarantee it will be like Talitha’s rescue.”

  Wilmot interrupted him.

  “Talitha? How do you know Talitha? They told me she had been destroyed,” Wilmot said as he began to cry.

  “My friend, it was This One who rescued Talitha. She is safely above now.”

  Wilmot gave Eoin a big hug and with tears in his eyes, kissed him. Eoin recoiled.

  “No offense, but I enjoy the wares of women, not men,” Eoin said.

  “I know” Wilmot giggled. “I just wanted to say ’thank you’; you’ve made my day.

  Wilmot said nothing as he left. When Isabella came back, she could feel his angst.

  “What happened? Who was that?”

  “Somebody named Wilmot just kissed me! He said he knew Talitha and thought her to be destroyed. When I told him otherwise, he became upset and began crying.”

  Isabella started giggling, and to say something to tease him when suddenly she became very groggy.

  “Somebody’s coming.” Her voice trailed off, and she was gone.

  What he saw next, Eoin couldn’t comprehend. He rubbed his eyes as he stared.

  “Who are you?” Eoin said.

  “They call me Tar,” the voice said.

  To Eoin, he appeared to be a human, but he didn’t act like one. His nose was twitching, and the movements of his head were quick, almost animal-like. Then it occurred to Eoin that this creature standing before him reminded him of a rat. Then, he thought of the creature’s name. Tar. It was rat spelled backward.

  “I smell food,” Tar said, his nose zeroing in on where Eoin had a stash of Oreos. “Where is it? WHERE IS IT?” He walked toward Eoin and started gnawing on his leg. Eoin pulled away as fast as he could.

  “Settle down. I’ll give you some food. Don’t bite me.”

  Eoin remembered from his high school science that the movements of a rat’s head are primarily to orient the senses of a rat toward something, in this case, food, and Tar’s moves were eerily like those of a rat. Then suddenly, Tar began scurrying around on all fours searching for the food that he so keenly smelled. Eoin was revolted at the sight of this and felt his stomach heave a little. It disturbed him so deeply he couldn’t comprehend.

  “Okay! Okay! Stop!” Eoin shouted. “Here! Here’s a cookie. Now just go!”

  Eoin pulled out the stash of Oreos and tossed one across to Tar. Picking it up, he held it between his thumbs and index fingers and nibbled on it with astonishing speed. In seconds, there were only crumbs left. Eoin tossed the second one to him.

  Isabella slumped on the bed as Tar left. Eoin had never encountered anything like this before, and he was scared for Isabella. It was Talitha who came back and informed him there would be no more fighting that night.

  “Talitha, can you please call Martha? I need to talk to her,” he said.

  “Of course. I shall talk to you soon then, my love.” She blew him a kiss, and then he was face to face with Martha.

  “Martha, what on earth was that creature?”

  She looked at him with pity. “That, my dear, is one of the animal people. There were rumors of their existence, but they were unconfirmed until now. It’s so sad what they’ve done with their experiments.

  “What would happen if they went above? Would they be made whole humans again?”

  “I don’t know, Eoin, but Heaven welcomes all.”

  “Yes, I suppose they would. Martha, that was the worst experience ever. I hope I never see another one again.”

  “I must go. There is much work to be done. The coven will be destroyed in a few days.”

  Eoin would usually be elated at this news, but the experience with Tar had left him shaken to the core. As Isabella stirred, she knew something was amiss, but she was too tired to ask questions. Eoin crawled into bed beside her and held her until she fell asleep.

  Chapter 57

  Shaymo knew that Magus’ coven was falling and visited him.

  “You fool!” he bellowed. “How could you allow this to happen? He’s JUST. ONE. GUY! You IDIOT!”

  Shaymo was pacing back and forth furiously.

  “You have allowed Talitha AND Gohlcan to leave! I’ve punished others for less! I guess I’ll have to handle the problem myself! Lilith won’t be too happy with you when I tell her YOU failed!”

  Terrified, Magus said nothing as he withstood Shaymo’s rant. He knew that Lilith had many great powers and he was more afraid of her than Shaymo. Any beating he would endure would be less of a punishment than what Lilith could deliver, so when his henchmen came to fetch him, he was almost relieved.

  “Take him to the Punishment Room and give him two hundred lashes with the scourge – DO NOT destroy him!” Shaymo said as he stormed out of the room and headed for the Arena where he would summon Eoin.

  *********

  With Isabella still in his arms, Eoin again felt his world swirl, then dissolve. He found himself in the same forest as before. This time, Eoin had a tool belt at his side which contained items useful to a gladiator: a dagger, a shield, a sword, a facemask, and chain mail. He wondered just what was in store for him. Finding his way carefully, he stumbled into a clearing a short distance from where he started and following the cobblestone path, he saw what looked to be a stadium of some kind in the far distance.

  As he grew closer to the stadium, the air started to burn his nose and lungs, so he donned the facemask from his belt and continued toward the stadium at a slower pace to conserve his energy as much as possible.

  He heard a rustling behind him, and in a split second, he was grabbed roughly by the arms from each side and dragged the rest of the way to the stadium. Once there, his captors ripped off his facemask, causing him to gasp for breath as the sulfur burned his eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. Through his tear-filled eyes, he saw that there were thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of spectators waiting in anticipation. The arena seemed to be at least five times larger than the ancient Roman Coliseum. He stood before a very imposing man that he had never seen before. This man started laughing when he saw him.

  Looking down at his belt he saw another mask had appeared. Somewhat smaller than the previous. He immediately put it on and could suddenly breath again.

  “Eoin. We finally meet. I must say, I expected more of a man. My fighters are afraid of this?” he said, sweeping his arms in a grand gesture.

  “To whom do I have the extreme displeasure of speaking to?” Eoin asked as he coughed a
nd sputtered.

  With a hearty laugh, he replied, “I am Shaymo. My wife has told me much about you. I have seen your idiocy from the beginning.”

  “Your wife? Who would want to marry a wannabe leader like you. A ‘man’, if I can call your slimy ass that who is so dumb he can’t beat a small man like me.”

  “Yes, my wife” Shaymo interjected angrily. She is the one that wooed you almost from the beginning. I think you know her as Lilith”?

  If that news stunned Eoin, he never showed it.

  “Well, Shaymo. It’s NOT a pleasure to see you…but your wife on the other hand….mm mm. We had some good times together. My favorite was when she--”

  His left ear exploded with excruciating pain that caused Eoin to crumple to the ground, overcome with nausea.

  “DON’T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT MY WIFE AGAIN!” Shaymo roared.

  As he lay there writhing in pain, he heard a soft whisper in his right ear.

  “Don’t worry. It will be alright. Trust in God. He is the Master Healer.”

  Eoin felt a tugging inside of him, followed by another swirling sensation. Looking around he saw that he was in an operating room. He thought it odd that there were only two people in the room. The same voice, which whispered in his ear, now spoke to him.

  “Eoin, please lie down on the table.”

  His voice was firm, commanding, and twanged with a Texas accent. He was tall and of Hispanic descent. The nurse gently took his arm and guided him to the table, where she assisted him in lying down, then put a blue surgical sheet over him.

  “My head hurts like hell,” Eoin said.

  “I know,” she said softly. “We have been sent to heal the damage Shaymo caused to you. Lie still now.”

  Eoin was very confused. He felt that he knew this doctor and nurse, but his thoughts were jumbled.

  “I am Dr. Gohlican, and this is my wife, Diane. You’ve been the recipient of a rather nasty device called a Flash Bomb. You must have pissed him off for this to have happened.”