Chapter 18: Killian on the Move

Lori quietly walked across the stairs of the Theta Sorority dorm. A few girls passed her, and some looked at her with sympathetic eyes. Lori nodded to them politely, but she stayed on her tracks.

When she walked into her dorm room, she realized the lights were on. Her roommate, strangely, was nowhere to be seen. She's probably out with her boyfriend or something. Lori thought. Just as she put her bag down and was going for her bed to get some rest, she suddenly realized a figure was lurking in the corner.

"Wow!" The woman screamed and turned around, going straight for the door, but a mysterious energy slammed the door shut before she was even close. She tried to cry for help, but the mysterious figure waved her hand, and Lori came to the horrifying realization that she has been completely silenced by an unknown force.

Jessica stepped out of the shadows with slight irritation on her face. Really? This could've been such a cool entrance! Am I really that terrifying?

"Relax, Lori." She reassured. "I am not here to hurt you."

"You...it's you from the church!" Under the dim light in the dorm, Lori immediately recognized Jessica, but that recognition hardly calmed her down. She only met the girl hours ago, and right now this practical stranger was standing in her own dorm room, with her roommate nowhere to be seen. "The other girl here! Taylor! What did you do to her?"

Jessica shrugged. "I saved her, actually. Of course, since I want this conversation to be private, I sent her on a walk outside."

"Saved her? From what?"

Jessica tilted her head before reaching her hand out. Red energy converged on her grasp and started creeping toward the girl. Talking was boring. She preferred to use actions to prove her point.

Lori was taken back. She kept on backing off until her back hit the wall. Suddenly, before the brunette even knew what happened, she suddenly felt the cross on her neck heat up.

Jessica smirked. Finally!

A flash of light swept across the room, and in the center of that light, a figure approached. He was a tall man dressed in black clothes. His expression hidden under his dark hat. But what immediately caught Lori's eyes was the hook that replaced his right hand.

It was the same monster that killed Rich! Wait...what the hell is going on here? First, some random girl she just met today barged into her room and used some magic on her? Now the being that killed her boyfriend suddenly jumped out to...to do what? Protect her?

The Hookman disappeared and appeared again right behind Jessica. His hook came slicing down onto Jessica's shoulder. Strike one! The hook pierced Jessica's t-shirt and came to a stop next to Jessica's skin. Without even thinking, the Hookman brought his weapon back for another attack. Strike two! Same result. Strike three...is my damn hook even working?

"Oh…" After three full strikes, Jessica finally turned around. The Hookman was fast. Really fast. But Killian has covered Jessica's body in a crimson shield. She could be run over by a car and still not have even a scratch on her skin.

"I assume it's my turn." The blonde struck back, running her elbow right across the Hookman. The sheer strength that move possessed was enough to send the spirit teleporting back to in front of Jessica.

He should consider himself lucky. If Killian exposed his power across Jessica's body, he would be dead already.

After the initial round, a wiser opponent would've looked at the exchange and said "fuck it, I'm out.", but no one has ever credited violent spirits with being wise. An extension of the evil individuals they were when they were alive, these spirits existed for one purpose: to carry on what they failed to do as humans.

Spread more pain and suffering than they ever could when they were alive.

The Hookman teleported forward, this time to Jessica's left. He landed blow after blow on the girl before she could even react.

"Well, you have to give it to him for his persistence." Jessica glanced at the spirit busy at work. Aren't you tired? I would've given up ages ago if I were you. That's why I'll never be a violent spirit. Wait...why am I talking about it like it's a bad thing...anyways, where are we?

She would just call out Killian and handle this thing, but she had another, very important step to work on.

"So...Lori."

Lori has already collapsed on the ground. Her mouth hung open in utter shock. What is she seeing? The killer that took out her boyfriend was right in front of her! But instead of screaming in fear like she did last night, the brunette couldn't help but feel the urge to laugh.

If the guy with the hook-arm didn't kill Rich, she would even feel bad for him. He was just standing there, constantly bringing his hook up and sending it crashing down, only to repeat this process again and again until the end of time. The girl was just standing there with this bored look on her face. It was strangely comedic.

Hearing Jessica calling out to her, Lori spoke up. "Yes?"

"Let me introduce myself again. Jessica Moore. Professional supernatural-mercenary." She pointed at the Hookman. "It's my job to handle things like him. By the way, he's some sort of angry spirit that took shelter in the cross on your neck." She pointed at the metal cross.

Lori immediately reached into her shirt and pulled the cross out. She was about to throw it away when Jessica stopped her. "Just listen to what I have to say first."

The girl on the ground took in a deep breath and nodded.

"So, since I'm a professional," Jessica went on. "I usually collect some fee for my work. Since you're a college student..." She tossed out a number. "I'll deal with that thing for...how does $300 sound?"

"Three...three hundred dollars?" Lori rose her eyebrows. "Hmmm...sure. I'll talk to my father and come up with that."

"Talk...talk to your father?" Jessica sighed. Honestly, the fact that a college girl has to talk to his father to come up with $300 by itself is sad enough. You're almost an adult, for god's sake! "Actually, never mind. I don't want your money...you know what?" She pulled out a stack of hundred-dollar bills from her pocket and handed it to Lori.

"Buy something for yourself, sweetheart! Financial independence is the first step to complete independence!"

Yep! I just did it! I just paid my customer with my own money. Well, technically I'm still charging her, except the charge is negative. Anyways...you have a problem with my business model? Well, it's my money so I get to decide what to do with it! Even if I burn it, it's my problem! Oh, and also it's my jail time cause destroying money is a felony.

"Uh…" Lori looked down on the money and, for the n-th time today, wondered if she didn't wake up correctly. She pointed at the Hookman, who was still struggling. "Are you still going to handle him?"

"Oh...yeah!" Jessica almost forgot about the Hookman. She turned to Killian. "Do your thing, Kil."

"Gladly."

Lori watched as Jessica's eyes suddenly turned red. Just then, she could tell something has changed with the blonde girl. Before, even with all her power, she had a sarcastic vibe about her. But now, she felt...dangerous. Lori could sense fear growing from the bottom of her heart.

Killian ignored Lori. He turned to the Hookman and, with a single move, reached out and grabbed onto his neck. The spirit resisted. It even tried to fade away, but crimson energy has already surrounded him completely, locking him in place. At this point, Killian could light him up with the snap of a finger.

If he wanted to, which he didn't.

After all, this was the first time he had a spirit to actually play around with. The water spirit was too tricky, and Bloody Mary almost killed him. Killian had a lot of good ideas he wanted to test out. Now, he finally could.

"Teleportation. Super speed." Killian glanced at Lori and remembered her story. "Invisibility. Doesn't seem to have too much intelligence, though. Just some basic instincts."

He suddenly released the upper body of the Hookman and took a step closer so the Hookman could punch him. "Ok. Super strength. No environmental manipulation with this one or any especially deadly attribute as far as I can see, but it's still a decent fighter."

It's just a shame violent spirits can't really be turned to his side. What could Killian do? Bribe it? Threaten to kill it? The spirits, at least this spirit, didn't have nearly enough intelligence left to handle such complicated concepts! Even ideas like avoiding pain that allowed animals to be trained didn't seem to apply here.

However...Killian's gaze suddenly turned to Lori.

He could sense this violent spirit was linked to Lori. The Hookman survived by the repressed emotions of Lori, and in turn, it struck down whoever Lori felt resentment toward. This was its attribute. Its defining characteristic. If he could gain access to Lori...he, to some degree, would have access to the Hookman.

Of course, the violent spirit by itself was trivial, but it opened up a path for Killian to control stronger beings. In essence, it was an attempt by Killian to increase his influence in this world.

"Here's the deal, Lori." He said quietly. "Two things can happen."

Lori froze. Those few simple words made her more panicked than she has ever been for the past two days. For a moment, she couldn't even put forth an answer. All she could do was nod.

Killian's face was expressionless.

"First option, I deal with this spirit. From that point on none of this will be related to you. You get a normal life."

"I...can I choose that option?"

You can hold it right there! I don't even want to know what the second option is!

"Not before you hear out the second option. Second option, I find a way to help you control this spirit. From that point on, you will do my biddings when I need you. When I don't need you, you can do whatever you want."

"Wait…" Lori coughed in surprise. "you want me to control that thing? How?"

"Leave that to me." Killian was unfazed. "Just make your choice."

"I…" Lori glanced at Killian. "you know...I would love to, but...I'm not interested in that, so..."

She was careful, and rightfully so. This was someone that was literally playing around with ghosts! If she annoyed Killian, she would be a dead woman in moments!

Killian nodded slowly. "It is the nature of everyone to resist change. You have lived in the normal world for your entire life. I understand the difficulty in toppling your own worldview and entering a whole new world. But Lori, remember..."

He leaned up close to the girl.

"Sometimes, danger wouldn't stay away from us just because we ignore them. The threats are always there. The only thing ignoring these threats does is prevent us from being ready."

Lori was dead silent.

Killian finally nodded. He didn't touch Lori, but he had no intention of convincing her either. Lori was important, but not irreplaceable. He gave her a choice, and she chose.

He held his hand out. Lori knew what he wanted. She quickly handed the metal necklace to Killian. Yes. The trinket was a church heirloom and she doubted her father would be happy to find it gone, but hey! An angry father was so much better than a murderous psychopath with a metal hook for weapon!

Red energy covered the trinket. On the side, the Hookman disappeared, banished back into the cross. Once, it offered the Hookman shelter. Now, it was a prison. Killian returned the trinket into his pocket before offering a final word.

"None of this happened. I never made you the offer, and I destroyed that trinket and the Hookman. Remember that."

He never said the 'or', but Lori would be a fool if she underestimated Killian's threat just because of that. She nodded slowly. Seeing her reaction, Killian returned the control of the body back to its rightful owner.

"So," Jessica rubbed her hands together and smiled innocently. She turned to Lori. "have a good night? Oh, and now that you are available once again, happy dating!"

She turned around and jumped straight out of the window, but the blonde didn't see the hint of fear buried in Lori's eyes.