The Affliction

by Wendy E. Marsh

  “I’m Ashley,” said the plain girl in her late twenties, who looked like any other forgettable face. “And I found you a Davo to exorcize.”

  “You’re the Informer,” I said stupidly, remembering Gabriel telling me about her when he explained the different callings and members in our chapter. He said they hardly ever saw her, but there she was.

  “That I am. I’ve been out for a few months gathering intel on the Black Shadow and came across the trail of this guy,” she said as she spun around in her chair and pressed a button on one of the keyboards.

  A picture of an ordinary looking man, middle aged, with graying hair and dad clothes popped up on the large screen in front of her.

  “That’s the form the Davo is taking?” I asked, a little skeptical, even though my Intuition went haywire just from looking at his picture.

  “At the moment,” said Ashley. “You know they can morph right?” She looked at me expectantly.

  “Yeah to whatever form that will torture you most,” I replied, remembering what Moraine taught me in class. Davos could sense what figure would cause someone in their presence the most pain, shift to that person, and use that weakness to invade their soul.

  “Just remember that,” Mariah interjected. “The Davos that we haven’t killed yet are alive for a reason. They’re dead smart and tricky as hell.”

  “That’s where we come in,” Moraine replied, with an excitement in her eyes I didn’t usually witness.

  Ashley printed off the address for the last known location of the Davo and handed it to me.

  “Well that’s weird isn’t it?” I asked, staring at the words Alliance, Pennsylvania. “Isn’t Alliance a ghost town?”

  “It is,” said Mariah, “but it’s not weird at all that a Davo would show up there, and it’s not the first one.”

  I remembered learning about Alliance in my history class at Aurora High School. Back in the sixties, a coal mine ignited and the fire still burned beneath the ground to that day. The government finally invoked eminent domain in the nineties, condemning all the buildings there. “There’s been some controversy over what started the fire, right?” I asked.

  “Yes, that was the first time we were sent to Alliance,” said Isaac’s Gramps, startling me by his entrance. He shuffled over to stand behind Ashley so he could get a better look at the computer screen. “They had varying suspicions of what triggered the fire. Someone dumping hot ash into a trash pit. Firefighters burning trash in the dump to clean it up. But our Sages thought otherwise. They were sure it was the Davos, so Emily and I went to check it out.”

  “There were more than one?”

  “Oh, back then it wasn’t unusual for three or four to spawn in one place. Especially somewhere like Alliance, where the conditions were perfect.”

  “So the mine is where the Davos came through?”

  “Yes, and so it seems another one has, too. They didn’t enter there for a long time because we were watching it so diligently.”

  “So why now?”

  “That’s what you’re going to have to find out.” He said with a wink.

  “Now, when you get to Alliance your intuition should pick up, Aubrie. We don’t know if he’s still there or has moved on but Mariah will help you track him if he has,” Ashley explained.

  “I can smell their trail,” Mariah added, looking deadly as ever.

  “So who’s all going?” I looked at Ashley.

  “You, Moraine, Mariah, and Isaac. You need a Guardian.”

  “And we don’t need Cyrus because there’s only one?”

  “Correct. Unfortunately, Exterminators don’t get to use their abilities much these days. They’re becoming extremely rare, too.”

  I briefly wondered how Cyrus and Mariah could have even two children, knowing that our numbers dwindled in response to the decreasing Davo population. And Tanner was definitely an Exterminator.

  “When do we leave?” I questioned, starting to feel the nerves as the reality of encountering a real Davo took hold in my mind.

  “Right now,” said Isaac, entering the room with a cocky smile on his face. “Let’s go kill this bastard.”

  Chapter 25

  A small trail of smoke, barely visible, snaked up from the rocky ground beneath my feet. When we arrived a small group of tourists puttered around, but they left with the nearing of dusk.

  “It’s hard to believe there’s a fire burning under there,” I said, kicking a rock aside to let more smoke escape.

  “Yeah, well, it’s been there for a long time. It ruined this town,” Mariah replied.

  I looked out over the landscape around me, unable to believe there was once a civilization there at all. It just looked like a giant field with streets running through. Definitely creepy.

  “So where are we going, Aubrie?” Isaac questioned.

  “We have to find where he entered,” I said, crossing a few streets until we could all see the giant sink hole in what once was someone’s back yard. Fear twisted in my gut as we looked over the edge of a twenty foot wide by at least a hundred foot deep pit, smoke gently escaping and red embers glowing below. I wondered if the tourists from earlier found it and what they thought it was from.

  “Well no question about it, Gramps told me that’s how they entered last time, too,” Isaac said with awe in his voice.

  I shut my eyes, letting my intuition construct a plan for me. “It hasn’t been long since the Davo was here, his presence is potent.”

  I felt an insistent pull, yellow light gently flashing around the edges of my mind, and a relief in following through with the mission as I started walking across the field to the tree line. The October leaves were absolutely beautiful, in shades of persimmon, saffron, and my favorite, scarlet. I stepped into the forest, stopping one more time with my eyes closed.

  “Make sure we’re on the right path, Aubrie, they have a tendency to misdirect us.”

  We were all so silent I could hear the leaves and some sort of nuts falling from the trees and hitting the ground as Moraine’s voice sounded in my head.

  I sighed. “You’re right, I almost led us in the wrong direction,” I leaked to everyone, unable to hide the defeat in my voice even through telepathy.

  “I need a little fresher trail,” Mariah said as she crouched near the ground, pushing leaves aside, not meaning to add pressure, but worrying me all the same. What if I lost him and it was my fault the Davo got away? Or worse, what if Moraine stepped in and had to finish the mission for me?

  I turned around, walked back across the field and kept walking until we arrived at an overlook. The days started to shorten and the darkness crept in on us, but our eyes saw out over the hills anyway. And at that moment, my eyes spotted a yellow trail of dots blossoming up from the base of my feet and snaking over the next hilltop. “I found him!” I exclaimed, looking at Moraine, who also peered out at the light trail.

  I started running through the yellow spots, Mariah jogging leisurely beside me even though we all moved at a pace faster than any outsider. After a couple of miles I started to lose some of my excitement but then Mariah dropped to the ground, sniffing, and hissed, “I got it!” as she took off ahead of us.

  By the time I climbed through an old barbed wire fence, I had just enough time to see the man from Ashley’s computer screen morph into a severe looking woman who oddly resembled Cyrus just before Mariah tackled her without hesitation, slicing razor sharp claws across her face.

  The Davo let out an awful wail, slipping away from Mariah, then spun around ready to pounce. I yelled as the Davo jumped at Mariah with such force I knew there was no way Mariah would dodge it even with her speed. But just before they collided, the Davo bounced back as though she’d hit a wall and Isaac appeared in front of Mariah. He turned himself into a chameleon, and apparently, I wasn’t the only one who missed his entrance into the battle.

  Mariah, Isaac, and the Davo continued to fight with moves so quick I had trouble deciphering who was winning or losing. Fin
ally, Mariah dug her claws right into the Davo’s chest, then raised her arm up into the air, releasing a glowing red smoke into the night. The Davo immediately transformed from the woman into a frail, beastly creature, and Mariah wasted no time at all in ripping off its horned head.

  “Nice job, Aubrie, I’m glad you realized you were on a false trail and found your way to the lights. Always look for the lights.” Moraine smiled at me and I felt empowered, for just one second before…

  “Mariah look out!” I screamed in her head, sensing rather than seeing another Davo as it rocketed for her body. Mariah ducked then jumped on top of it as it morphed into the female Cyrus look-alike.

  “How are there two?” I said aloud, nervously. I knew it was an ominous sign.

  “I don’t know,” Moraine said, looking shocked for once. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen more than one together.”

  “I can’t get him out!” Mariah yelled. “I need a host.”

  My heartbeat started racing again. She couldn’t exorcize the Davo, he was too strong, and I started to panic. Just then the Davo decided to turn into a young woman that most definitely looked like Isaac, and his shield faltered. Mariah screamed and the Davo slipped away after knocking Mariah to the ground and ran straight at me. I brought up my gun and shot it straight in the head, but the wound immediately sealed over and it kept coming. Moraine teleported away and I made to follow her but right before I did, the Davo suddenly shifted into Gabriel.

  I couldn’t move and Gabriel stopped ten feet in front of me. “I never liked you,” he said. “I was so disappointed when we finally met, I can’t believe I wasted so much time looking for you.” Disgust and hatred were carved onto his face, looks that he never wore in front of me before. His words seared through my heart but my intuition knew that this was all a trick.

  My intuition forced me to look toward an old barn at the edge of the pasture, and I heard squeals in my head. “The pigs,” I said to Mariah and Isaac and had just enough time to teleport out of the reach of the Davo, who took my moment of hesitation as an invitation to strike.

  When I reappeared by Moraine’s side, I had enough time to see Mariah dragging the struggling Davo, who had turned back into Mariah’s fear, toward a large pig that Isaac retrieved from the barn. Mariah once again used her claws to rip out what should have been a heart, but when she threw it at the pig all she released was the red smoke that seemed to enter the pig’s body. The pig then ran with incredible speed directly into the barbed wire fence, effectively slicing it open.

  When the beast transformed, Mariah let it study her face before tearing out the throat with her teeth.

  We teleported to Mariah and Isaac, who stood over the now dead Davo. I looked over at the pig, who also now lay unmoving, lifeless.

  Mariah wiped some blood from the side of her head, panting. “Thanks, Aubrie. That was one tough son of a bitch.”

  “But I didn’t do much,” I said.

  “Oh, but you did,” said Moraine, “you passed.” All three beamed at me as I jumped into the air with exuberance at my success. I found my home and my people, and I belonged.

  Everyone congratulated me and I smiled, feeling true accomplishment. But even though I knew what the Davo said was a nasty hoax, I still couldn’t help but think that maybe the vile it spewed was true. And I couldn’t erase the look of abhorrence on Gabriel’s face from my mind.

  Chapter 26

  Ridiculous masses of snow once again bombarded the state of Pennsylvania. I was bundled up in a heavy coat, hood draped over my head. I was never one for hats. The coat was long enough that I was able to sit on the edge of the now frozen fountain, my favorite part of the gardens at Headquarters, without snow melting through the seat of my pants.

  As the light drained from the earth on a gray evening, Marielle danced around in the snow like a tiny angel, serene and beautiful and calming. No audible music sounded but I could see the song playing in the wintry air and I was lost in it. If there were words they breathed something like hope, though they rested in the swirling of a melancholy wind and I knew then that the dance was a reflection of my own soul. My life changed and for the better but I was content and nothing more.

  After six months since my awakening to the society, I had done remarkably well in my training, so well in fact that Moraine thought I was ready to graduate from the program at the end of the week. The news that I was finally ready to fulfill my birthright as an active member of the chapter and gain acceptance into The Mystic was exhilarating. Just six months before, I had known there was a possibility I might never become a true Sage.

  But somewhere in the success and excitement, I still searched for something else and I could no longer deny what I knew I sought. I worked so hard from the day Gabriel and I met to repress the natural feeling of compulsion toward him. I had resisted a force out of my control for too long and it dragged me down. The memory of what the Davo-Gabriel said out in that pasture haunted me for a long time, but I couldn’t deny the truth any longer because my intuition had finally become strong enough that I had broken through part of the barrier that Gabriel himself had set up against me. And now I knew without a doubt. We had the Draw.

  The fight inside of me over the past few months had grown so violent that I needed my time at the fountain to organize and then repress the battle within. Without this time I wouldn’t possess the commitment to focus on what I needed to do on a day to day basis and I surely wouldn’t have made it as far in my training.

  I don’t know what everyone saw in me while I was there but I imagine it was a soul consumed by fire, or at least burning is what it felt like within me. I realized part of the pain lay in the knowledge that it was self-inflicted. I had done this to myself. If I had just kept my head on straight that night, trusted in him, and stayed in his room, he would still be there with me. But in true Aubrie fashion, I did what I learned from everyone else in my life, and I ran.

  After that night in August I had visited the fountain quite frequently, and at first, the others tried to approach me, Isaac and Eleanor most often. Only Tobias avoided me from the beginning, intuiting that it wouldn’t do any good.

  They tried to help me, persuade me, to give me words of wisdom and advice. But they didn’t know what it was that I sought. Not even Isaac could comprehend entirely. I felt wretched. Not only were they unable to help me, but I couldn’t stand their presence near me while I was at the fountain. The only person I could tolerate was Marielle, and she would often come to me silently and wander around while I tried repeatedly to break the barrier, and now to understand what was beyond it.

  “Marielle.” I never spoke at the fountain, but on that day with her dancing around me, I no longer felt just a temporary relief from the conflict but a resolution. I tracked her as she pirouetted through the falling snow like an illusion come to the tired, the weary, the broken. “Help me.”

  She stood in front of me, a shadow against the whiteness and I peered up at her through snowdrop-laden lashes with a pleading in my sapphire eyes. She placed her small hands on my wind-beat cheeks and spread warmth throughout my body. I watched as her hands fell to her sides and she retreated into the flurry, leaving me to embrace the strength I needed to go on.

  Marielle disappeared and the blank face of winter stared me in the eyes, and I knew that I was alone. I couldn’t see the sky beyond the blanket of clouds that painted the earth beneath it a progressively darker gray, but I turned my face to Heaven as the tears froze in their tracks and I found the power I had harbored within me all along.

  I started, snapped back into reality and ran towards Headquarters as though I sprinted away from a monster, and in a way I was. Truthfully, I was afraid of that demon pursuing me, by the loneliness and fear of love that had shackled me for the past six months.

  All my life I had lived within myself. I always had the most extravagant dreams of what I would become but had never made an effort to pursue them outside of my own mind. The truth was that I had alwa
ys been scared of failing to achieve perfection because next to perfect had never even been enough to earn my own mother’s love.

  I had held such high expectations for myself that they held me back whenever I thought I would fall short of them. In the end, I had let myself down, kept myself from becoming anything close to what I had wanted.

  People, so many people wasted their lives, just let it slip by. Living in misery, pretending everything was all right. Oblivious to the fact that time was passing…time that only passes once. And I was one of those people, though I told myself otherwise. Twenty-one years old. Two decades of life…and what did I have to show for it? A scared, backward girl with no hope of a better future, unless…

  I sped through a tundra-like landscape, barren except for a few survivors of warmer days. A tire swing hung from the corpse of a maple tree, the legs of an upturned lawn chair speared the air, and I swore the heat from my body melted the snow beneath my feet. The fire inside of me consumed the fear and doubt, fueling my epiphany. I had power.

  I had a chance to change myself, my life. The past six months had been agony and I refused to stand for it anymore. I could keep on as I always had, finish my training, become a Mystic, fight the bad guys and forget about Gabriel, but that was no longer the only option in my mind.

  I felt my heart pounding in my throat and embraced the yellow haze I saw around the edges of my vision, dispersing into the air around me. Running, even at my speed, was not fast enough for me, but teleportation was. I needed fast right then, more than I had ever felt the need for anything because I had finally broken free of my shell.

  I reappeared right where I had projected myself, into my room by the window. Isaac stood in the middle of the room, cyanotic with silent determination. He didn’t seem surprised that I had suddenly appeared in front of him, and probably looking like a mad woman.