Curse of Soulmate--The Complete Series

by D. N. Leo

  “Stop the car, Jo. Stop it. Now you sound like Ciaran.”

  “Yes. I sound like him.” Jo stopped the car and stormed out. “And for your information, we agreed that you should tell me what exactly you did. Not just ‘I might have killed an innocent man.’”

  “Ciaran knew?”

  “Not yet, but I’ll tell him. Ghosts don’t rape live people. But it raped me, Madeline. I can still smell his metallic stench on me.”

  “Oh, Jo! I’m so sorry. You never told me.”

  “Told you what? A mind bender forced his mind on me and mentally raped me? I don’t know how it worked. I just knew when I was violated.”

  Tears rolled down Jo’s face now. “I can still smell him. I would have rather it made Larry rape me because at least then I could have fought back.”

  “It’s not just the one incident. It’s a ghost. Believe me. It’s haunted me for years. Remember all the records of violent crimes I committed when I was younger that you erased for me? It made me do those things.”

  “It possessed you?”

  “No. It possessed men around me to kill and rape everyone around them and then kill themselves. It told me that. It’s haunted me since I was ten. And it told me that if I didn’t kill the men it possessed, it would keep killing. My only solution was to knock the men out. But it’d never forced itself on any women.”

  “Until me?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know, Jo. I just saw it in front of Mon Ciel before. I thought I had killed Larry, and it had let me be in peace. I don’t know why it came back.”

  “I saw it, too,” Jo muttered. “But I don’t believe it’s a ghost. Mind benders are humans. As long as it has blood and flesh, it will just have to deal with me now, once and for all.”

  Madeline suddenly grabbed Jo and shoved her toward the back. “It’s here.”

  “I can smell it.” Jo pulled out her gun.

  Madeline stepped toward the front and pulled out a knife she had tucked inside her jacket.

  The metallic stench filled the air.

  But they saw no one.

  An image flickered in front of them, and something in the shape of a man appeared. “It’s the middle of the damn day . . .” Jo grunted and shot at the creature.

  The bullet shot through the image and kept going.

  The image appeared a bit more solid, and the ancient, ugly face of an old man started to form. He smirked at them.

  Jo shot again. The same thing happened. The bullet tore through thin air.

  “It’s not human, Jo. I told you.” Madeline charged at the image and swung her knife. It disappeared.

  They heard car engine roaring in the distance.

  “Oh, no,” Jo moaned.

  “When a guy with tachophobia drives like that, it tells you just how much he cares about you. But we can’t let him come near us, Jo. The ghost possesses men.”

  Tadgh’s car fishtailed and stopped right next to theirs. He stormed out, yelling. “Where do you think you two are going?” He walked for a couple of steps and started to stagger. His eyes became bloodshot.

  “Oh no!” Madeline cried and darted toward Tadgh. Before he could do anything awful, she used her knife handle to whack him in the temple, knocking him out cold on the ground.

  Madeline turned around, looking at Jo. “Now you’ve seen it firsthand, Jo. It wants me, and there’s no other way to handle this.”

  Madeline strode toward the car, got in, and drove away.

  Chapter 99

  London streets were the same. Londoners were the same. Morning rush. Traffic. Winter breezes. Madeline did not expect that London would have changed much in the last few weeks. It was still winter. The sun still came out late in the morning.

  The days were still short, and the darkness still occupied a large part of the daily cycle. People still worked for a living. Life in London went on with or without what happened in Eudaiz, another universe. Soon, this London scene would be history to her.

  She thought about Ciaran. She allowed herself a moment to think of him. She thought she would think of him for the rest of her life.

  This morning, Jo had messaged her and said Ciaran had regained ninety percent of his strength, according to Doctor Thomas. She trusted that, with Jo’s skill, her message wouldn’t be tracked.

  Madeline still resented the joke fate had played on her. Even with a standby, she couldn’t get a flight to New York until tomorrow. She was lucky they could schedule her at all.

  She finished off her coffee and headed toward the British museum. She wanted to take a look at John Dee's glass again for no particular reason. It might be the last time she got to see it, and it had marked a significant stage in her life. Why not?

  The museum was quiet but not lacking visitors. Madeline found the glass again. It sat there just as it had for the last five hundred years.

  The air thickened. Madeline was into this holo-techno enough now to know that she was entering a holo-communication sphere. A holographic image of Ayana appeared. Ayana was careful enough to block the view from other visitors so that they could not see the holo-communication.

  "I thought it was my grandfather," Madeline said.

  Ayana smiled. Her blue eyes pierced through the thickened air to cast a warm look at Madeline. "I understand that you left Ciaran."

  "He told you? Or were you stalking me as soon as I left Mon Ciel?"

  "The latter, Madeline. Do you think Ciaran would storm out to the field to tell me that you left him?"

  "Of course not. What can I do for you? As you can see, I no longer want to be associated with this whole ordeal. I will explain things to my grandfather."

  "I'm afraid it won't be so simple."

  "Okay, I broke my promise to grandfather. He’ll be mad at me. So smite me—or whatever you have to do. I'm going back to New York tomorrow. No one can do anything to stop me."

  "Including Ciaran?"

  “Yes.”

  "You're being unfair, Madeline. Ciaran didn't have a chance to talk to you.”

  “I have had enough of this.”

  "You're clear-headed. You have a strong mind. I think you would serve Eudaiz well. I’m not speaking for Ciaran. I’m speaking on behalf of the Eudaizian people who will need you in the future."

  "I'm sure you can do without me. I'm going back to New York. Let me be an ordinary person."

  "You were born in extraordinary circumstances. You were conceived in Eudaiz, like me. But you spent your life on Earth. You can never be ordinary, Madeline. You don't know what it has taken for you to be able to stand here talking to me like this. You don't know what or who has paid for your well-being."

  "You’re blackmailing me?"

  "If you say so. I will do what I must. That's the least I can do for your grandfather. He is ambitious and manipulative. But his concern for Eudaiz is genuine."

  "What happened to my grandfather?"

  “The Black Rock is our utmost enemy. Richard’s district was attacked several times. That was why Richard formed an alliance with Juliette and sought the sample gold from the LeBlancs. He was developing a weapon that could destroy the Black Rock. But that weapon cost a lot of resources and lives. He hasn’t gotten anywhere with it—you know the situation with Juliette. Now he’s under attack and has no weapon."

  "What can I do? Can't you help?"

  "I can help Richard within my limits. But I have to take care of my district first. Richard has created a lot of enemies and alienated many other Sciphils because of the way he operates. It doesn’t do him any favors now. The most important mission of a Sciphil is to have a ready successor. If you leave Richard now, he will have no chance of finding another one."

  "Is he injured?"

  "I’m not sure about his current status. But I know he will need you very soon. I don't think he could even open the gate for you now. He is very weak."

  "What do you suggest I do?"

  "Go back to Ciaran. Go with him to Australia. I will let you go through my opening, p
rovided I have Richard's permission to do so."

  Madeline shook her head. “I’ve killed an innocent man. My soul is not virtuous—I can’t pass the Daimon Gate alive. There is no point in my grandfather trying to get me there.”

  Ayana nodded. “He will have to pay for this dearly.”

  “How? What do you mean?”

  Ayana shook her head. “Richard has decisions to make. I can’t speak for him. But, in any case, if you need to go through the gate, I am happy to take you to the opening together with Ciaran. Goodbye for now.” Ayana smiled, and the hologram disappeared.

  * * *

  Madeline left the museum. She walked along the streets, heading back toward her hotel, wallowing in thought. She should stick to her plan. She should talk to her grandfather, Madeline mused. Whether she desired it or not, he was her family, the only family she knew.

  Madeline realized that for the first time in her life she felt like an orphan.

  She had been a fighter. Shuffled from one foster care home to another. Growing up, making a career and a life for herself. Then Jo came along. She loved Jo's family and adopted them as her own. Maybe her life had been so full that she had never had a chance to think about her biological connection. She’d never thought of herself as a victim or an orphan.

  Why now?

  It was when she’d found her biological family that she’d felt lonelier than ever.

  Madeline had arrived at her hotel before she knew it. As soon as she entered her room on the sixteenth floor, she knew something was not right.

  She wanted to leave the room, but she couldn’t open the door. It seemed to weigh a ton. Her window was open, letting a blast of cold air inside. The breeze cut into her skin. As much as she would like to deny her sixth sense right now, she could not dismiss the nauseous feeling she had.

  It was him. Her ghost. In the room.

  Chapter 100

  Madeline turned on all the lights in the room and slammed the window shut. The room warmed up instantly. Too warm. She heard the click of the door lock. She charged toward the door and opened it. She could run and escape the hotel. Be seen in public. Then there would be nothing he could do to her.

  But she was not a coward. She refused to run. He wouldn’t appear for no reason. What was it he wanted?

  Madeline re-entered her room and closed the door.

  "I know you’re here. Come out. Tell me what you want. Don't be a coward."

  Nothing happened.

  "I know you’re here. I can sense you. You know that, right? Whatever you’re waiting for in here is not going to happen because I’m leaving now."

  Nothing.

  "Chicken," Madeline mumbled and went to the bathroom. She filled the sink with water and poured all of the bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and gel she could find into the water and dissolved them. They made a light-colored bubbling tub of water. She scooped up some water with a small hotel glass and started splatting it everywhere.

  She kept doing so until the water hit a form. "Got you, bastard," she said.

  She dropped the glass instantly and grabbed a chair. She flew over the bed and swung at the form where she could still see some water on it.

  It roared, the low rumbling roar of a beast.

  Madeline kept swinging and hitting. She knew it couldn’t hurt her. For more than a decade, it hadn’t changed its ways. It would not hurt her directly. It would have to borrow a human form to do so. But there was no one else in the room for it to manipulate. So Madeline continued her attack without fear.

  It roared again and again, whenever Madeline hit it. But it would not run away as it had before.

  The air in the room thickened, an obvious sign of a coming holocast. "Not now, for God's sake," Madeline thought.

  A beam of light appeared, and the holographic image of Richard formed.

  "Poor timing, Grandfather. I know we have to talk, but not now and not here."

  Richard stared in confusion at Madeline, who was in combat stance on the bed, holding a chair with both arms.

  "I've never done you harm, Madeline."

  "Not you! Just not now. Please go away, Grandfather."

  Madeline gauged the room. The marks of water were gone. She could not see the form of the beast now. If there were another person present, the beast would have manipulated the person's mind to attack Madeline. That was its usual modus operandi. Unfortunately for the beast, Madeline thought, Richard was a hologram, and could not attack her physically.

  The room was quiet. Madeline could not sense the beast anymore. If it was still there, it had somehow suppressed all of its energy.

  A moment went past. Another moment. And still nothing happened.

  Richard looked puzzled.

  Madeline put the chair down. When she finally had a chance to look at Richard, she cried, "Holy Jesus Christ, how bad are you hurt?" His clothes were covered in blood.

  She darted toward the hologram only to realize that she couldn’t touch him.

  "I'm injured. But the majority of the blood is not mine. Don't worry, I can manage."

  Madeline puffed out a breath. It was probably not a good time to tell him she did not want to be a Sciphil anymore.

  "What can I do for you now? Ayana told me your district is under attack."

  Richard smiled. "It was very kind of her. She is a good woman no matter what side she is on. What else did she tell you?"

  "That you’re in trouble, and that you might need me."

  Richard sneered. "Since when am I in trouble? And who is she to judge?"

  "She wasn’t judging. She simply wanted to help. I’m leaving Ciaran. I wanted to get out of the whole Eudaiz ordeal, and that's why she told me that you might need me. Now you’re telling me you don't need any help. So that’s great. I'm free to go back to New York then."

  Richard's eyes drooped. He shook his head. He didn’t have to say it—Madeline could see that he was in deep trouble. The man had his pride. Just like Ciaran—choosing possible death over having Juliette's drug in his system.

  Damn it, Madeline cursed silently.

  "Would you come to Eudaiz and help me?"

  "You want me to be right next to you, ready to take the Sciphil role if anything should happen to you, right? Is it really that bad?"

  Richard drew in a long breath, then nodded. "I made a mistake. It was too late to recover. I might never recover. So yes, it’s bad, and I need you to be ready. I have to take you through now. I might not have another chance at this."

  “My soul is not virtuous. I have killed an innocent man. The Daimon Gate will kill me.”

  “What happened?”

  “There is a creature. It haunted me through all of my childhood. It said it would continue to kill people until I killed one of the innocent men it possessed. Don’t ask me why. I don’t know. The creature was here just before you came. I thought it had left me after I killed that man in Australia. But for some reason, it’s come back.”

  “What creature? What are you talking about?”

  “I told you I don’t know. And I don’t know how to solve this situation. But I can’t come with you to Eudaiz.”

  “There had to be a way,” Richard said.

  “Maybe there is. But I don’t want to waste your resources, chances, or energy. If you have a choice better than me—”

  "I don't have anyone else, Madeline. You’re the only family I have left. I would never leave this role to an outsider."

  "You might have to if I die during the process."

  "I won't let anything happen to you, Madeline. I lost you once. Never again. If I don't have a successor, I'll let my eudqi collapse."

  "You'd let Eudaiz be destroyed?"

  "I would rather it be destroyed in my hands than in someone else's. I don't know who to trust anymore. The Black Rock is evil. They have many forms. If they took over Eudaiz, it would be a fate far worse than death for the citizens."

  Madeline nodded. “So what’s the solution?”

  �
��There are different routes to take, and there is one I know of that could work. I won’t risk you going through it, though, before testing it. So I’m going to get you inside the gate for the test. Are you afraid?”

  “No, of course not.”

  Richard nodded. "We’ll go from here.”

  "What? You mean you can open the Daimon Gate right here? I thought it was huge."

  "Opening the gate is very significant. But this is just a test. I’ll see if I can push it.”

  He concentrated for a moment. His image glowed as if he were transforming from a hologram into a real presence. Madeline could feel the energy radiating from him. The circle of light around him—which used to be the holocast—expanded and brightened.

  The circle illuminated in blue and white and grew even more. Madeline felt the energy growing as if Richard were moving closer to her. She shifted, suddenly not sure she was ready. But it was a call to duty, she might as well just do it.

  Richard reached his hand out. "Give me your right hand."

  Madeline obeyed. Richard held it. She felt his presence and the waves of energy coming out of him like little electrical currents.

  The hotel room was small, but when the circle of light reached a corner, Madeline saw an unusual bend in the light. She could see the shape of the beast hiding in the corner.

  "Stop, stop!" Madeline yelled at Richard.

  Richard stopped the circle.

  "Can anyone go through the gate when you open it?"

  "Yes, Madeline. But I cannot hold it for long. What is it?"

  "The creature is here, in the room. Can it get through the gate?"

  "Yes. But a gate-crasher will be killed on exit. Let it come in. I'll kill it now to save time."

  Richard expanded the circle further.

  For the first time, Madeline could see the creature in full view. It was truly a beast. The light from the circle shined on it. It stood. It had a shape like that of an ape, and its head nearly reached the ceiling.

  Richard could see it now.