Chapter twenty nine

Jerry smiles as he begins walking towards the small town of Haven. As he steps out of the trees he hears a loud shriek and freezes. He turns around cautiously, looking back into the woods were the shriek had come from. As he stares into the woods he sees something move slightly, hiding in the shadows of the trees.

"I know you're there Aylana come on out," Jerry cries out as he stares into the woods. He hears the shriek again, a lot closer to him this time.

"Stay away from me!" Aylana cries out. For a moment Jerry thinks she is talking to him. "Noo..." He hears her scream. He stands there listening for any other sounds but there is nothing but silence in the woods now.

"Aylana," he calls out, his voice full of worry.

After a few more moments of silence pass by he decides to go check on Aylana. He slowly makes his way back into the woods towards the spot where he thought he had just seen her trying to hide.

"Aylana where are you?" He whispers as he looks around.

The only thing he can find however was a piece of torn cloth hanging on a tree branch. There was no sign of Aylana anywhere.

"Let me go," he hears Aylana scream out.

Jerry takes off running towards the sound of the screams. It doesn't take long for him to reach Aylana. As he enters a small clearing he sees Aylana laying on the far side with someone else standing over her, trying to drag her off into the woods.

"Let her go," Jerry cries out, running towards Aylana. Whoever was dragging Aylana let's go of her and takes off running into the woods. "Are you alright?" Jerry sounds worried, running over to her quickly. He reaches down to help her up but she shoves his hand away.

"I don't need your help," she cries out, pushing herself up off the ground.

"What happened to you?" Jerry looks at Aylana with worry. Her shirt and pants had been torn and she had fresh cuts on her arms and face.

"I was attacked by a ghoul. That's what was dragging me away," Aylana cries out, shivering slightly as a cold gust of wind blows through the clearing.

"It'll be dark soon," Jerry shivers, looking up at the sky as the sun begins to set.

"What are you doing here Jerry?" Aylana's voice shakes as she stares at him slightly frightened. He looks back at her, smiling as he looks at her.

"I have been looking for you," he replies, smiling as he steps closer. "I need you to remove the piece of your husbands soul that has attached itself to me when I touched that cursed book."

"You know I can't do that I'm sorry I can't help you Jerry," Aylana backs away from him slowly, continuing to stare at him frightened.

"You have to do something I'm not going to be able to stay in control much longer. If I can't stop him then he's going to have full control of me," Jerry explains, looking at Aylana with pleading eyes.

As Aylana looks into Jerry's eyes she can't help but to feel sorry for him.

"I wish I could do something to help you," she whispers sadly, knowing that anything she attempted to do would kill him.

"There has to be something that you can do," Jerry cries out, staring into Aylana's eyes hopefully.

"Well I may know someone that can help," Aylana thinks out loud, looking at Jerry skeptically. "I don't trust you for one second but I am going to try to help you."

Before he can say anything back she grabs his hand and they start floating into the air. Before long Jerry feels himself falling, suddenly slamming down against the wet ground.

"You could've warned me about the fall," Jerry sounds slightly angered as he picks himself up off the ground.

"Sorry," Aylana replies, looking up at the house in front of them. "Something isn't right come on." She sounds slightly worried as she takes off running towards the house.

"Where are we?" Jerry asks, trying to catch up to Aylana. "Hey wait up." He calls out as he runs into the house. He catches a glimpse of Aylana as she darts up the stairs. "Aylana?" He calls up the stairs.

He pauses at the bottom of the stairs, wondering if he should run up the stairs after her. He begins climbing up the stairs, trying not to make a sound.

"Noo..."

He hears a loud shriek and freezes. As he looks up the stairs he begins to see a bright glow forming. He walks on up the stairs to the second floor cautiously. As he reaches the second floor the bright glow dims and he sees Aylana standing on down the hallway with her back to him. She wasn't alone though, there was someone else laying on the ground a few feet away from her.

"What just happened?"

Aylana doesn't answer him though. Instead she bends down and checks on the guy laying on the ground. The guy laying on the ground coughs slightly and tries to raise himself up.

"Here let me help you up," Aylana says, placing one of his arms around her neck. She wraps her own arms around the guys waist. With her help the guy manages to stand back up on his feet. "What happened here Anubis, where is my daughter?"

"She isn't here she left with two others," Anubis tells her as he begins to walk towards the stairs. "A ghoul attacked us so I sent Amber and the other two away." Anubis tells them as they make their way back down the stairs to the living room. "Somehow the ghoul broke through the boundary spell that you placed on my house."

"I don't see how a ghoul just broke through the boundary spell only I could have removed it," Aylana says to him, helping him down onto the couch. How did a ghoul get through the boundary spell I placed? She thinks as she stares at the ground.

"I didn't even know it was in the house until I came up to the second floor. I was going to my study when I heard a window shatter. By the time I got to Amber's room she was running down the stairs. I was going to chase after her when her bedroom door busted and the ghoul attacked me." Anubis looks up into Aylana's eyes with worry. "Someone must have broke the protection spell to force Amber away from my safety."

"So what, is Griffin trying to lure Amber away from here to find her sister so he can trap them both along with Sara and her friends?" Jerry looks at Anubis and Aylana while feeling more confused then ever.

"Well even if this was Griffin's idea, it still wasn't him that removed my boundary spell. And I don't see why he would suddenly need Amber and Olivia," Aylana feels annoyed, sitting down on the couch beside of Anubis.

"I don't know Aylana, I can't make sense of anything Griffin has been doing lately. Why would he be trying to sacrifice Julie and Sara if he was wanting to sacrifice Amber and Olivia?" Anubis replies, looking down at the floor.

"I thought he needed the sacrifices of my daughters to leave the shadow realm," Jerry asks, suddenly remembering that Griffin had shown up in the attic when he was talking to Kendra.

"He's supposed to be imprisoned here in the shadow realm."

"But he isn't trapped here. Earlier when I seen Kendra in the mortal world, Griffin was there too. He somehow managed to find a way for himself to enter the real world without sacrificing the two girls," Jerry explains as he stares back at Anubis. "So if he isn't planning on sacrificing my daughters to free himself what is he really planning?"

Anubis looks over at Aylana with worry in his eyes. An unspoken message passes between the two of them.

"You don't think he's trying to steal their powers do you?" Aylana asks as she looks at Anubis worried.

"I don't know Aylana I don't really know what he is planning anymore," Anubis stands up and walks over to the window.

"Anubis there is something else I wanted to ask you," Aylana says as she stands up and walks over to stand by Anubis. "I was wanting to know if..." She starts but he raises his hand to stop her.

"I already know why you are really here," Anubis interrupts, turning to look at Jerry. "You wish for me to remove the piece of Griffin's soul that has attached itself to you."

"Yes are you saying that it is possible then Anubis?" Jerry asks, looking at him hopefully. Anubis just shrugs his shoulders and smiles, placing the palms of his hands together.

"Yes it is possible but I will need an extraction spell. I need the spell book Aylana," he turns towards Aylana and smiles again. "So where is the book at right now?"

"The last time I had the book I gave it to a girl named Lexi," she closes her eyes and concentrates on the book, willing it to come back to her.

As she holds her hands out she can feel the book forming in her hands. Once the book has fully formed she opens her eyes again. Before she can say or do anything else Anubis snatches the book from her hands and opens it.

"Finally," he whispers to himself, flipping through the pages. "Okay Jerry hold still and I will try to remove Griffin's piece of soul from yours." Anubis tells him, smiling as he begins reading from the book.

As he reads from the book a faint silver mist begins to form around Jerry. Jerry drops to his knees as his insides begin to feel like they are being torn apart.

"What are you doing to him?"

Aylana tries to run over to Jerry and help him but an invisible barrier seems to have formed around her. She can't do anything but watch as Jerry continues to scream silently in pain. He looks up at Anubis and opens his mouth to speak but no sound comes out. Instead, a faint white light floats up out of his mouth exploding in the air above him.

"There now Griffin can't control you anymore," Anubis smiles as the mist clears around Jerry and he falls onto the floor. "I am sorry Aylana but I have to go now." Aylana tries to move but she is still trapped by the barrier surrounding her. All she can do is stand there helplessly as Anubis disappears with her magic book. Once he is gone the barrier holding her disappears. She rushes over to Jerry, rolling him onto his back.

"What did Anubis do?" Jerry's voice comes out as a whisper as he speaks. He tries to move but every inch of his body feels numb.

"He removed Griffin's soul from yours," Aylana tells him, placing an arm under his back, helping him sit up. "Then he took my book and disappeared."

"Where do you suppose he is going?" Jerry struggles to speak, his face twisting up in pain as he tries to move. Aylana looks into his eyes as she feels sorry for him.

"I'm not sure but he is capable of doing anything. He was never imprisoned in the shadow realm," Aylana pauses and looks back towards the window briefly. "Now you just need to get some rest." She tells him, turning back and smiling down at him sweetly.

"But..." He starts to protest but deep down he knows that she is right. He yawns as he lays back against the floor, closing his eyes. "Do you think Griffin knows that his soul has been removed from mine?" He asks, his eyes still squeezed tightly shut.

"That is something I don't know. I'm sure he would know it or at least he could feel it though. Now you just lay there and get some rest."

Jerry doesn't say anything else, he just lays there beginning to fall asleep. The last thought that crosses his mind is what Griffin would do now that he couldn't control him anymore.

~

Griffin falls to the floor, pain shooting through his entire body. For a moment he doesn't know what is happening to him. It feels like his insides are on fire. Griffin lays there motionless as the pain continues coursing through him. He opens his mouth as if he is about to scream but no sound comes out. Instead a small ball of white light floats out of his mouth and up into the air over his head. It explodes sending sparks of white light showering down all around him. After a few moments the pain subsides and he stands back up. He tries to walk but he can't take a step without wobbling.

"Is everything alright?" Griffin turns his head around to find Arthur standing in the doorway.

"Yes everything is fine, I just need to rest," Griffin replies, slowly making his way towards his desk. What just happened?

He thinks as he sits down behind his desk. He looks up towards the doorway to see Arthur still standing there looking at him oddly.

"I couldn't help but to notice the bright ball of light exploding above you a few seconds ago. Are you sure everything is fine?" Arthur continues to look at Griffin worried.

"Yes everything is fine. Have my sister or Kendra returned yet?" Griffin silently wonders why neither of them were back yet.

"No they haven't come back yet," Arthur looks down the hall suddenly. "Sounds like Julie is back up." He says, listening as he hears Julie banging on the barrier to her room.

"She can't get out of that room. Now as soon as my sister gets back send her to my study," Griffin tells Arthur, turning his attention to the papers on his desk.

Arthur senses that Griffin wants to be left alone now and leaves, walking back down the hall towards Julie's room. As soon as he opens her door, he steps back in shock.

"Let me out of this cell right now!" Julie cries out, her hands engulfed in bright bluish white flames.

She looks at Arthur hatefully as she raises her hands and sends a ball of flames at him. Even though Arthur is safely on the other side of the barrier he still jumps when the flames hit the barrier. They spread all along the barrier, becoming a wall of flames as they try to find their way out of the barrier.

"Will you cut that out nothing you can do will break the barrier holding you," Arthur says, but even as he speaks he doesn't sound so sure. At the top of the doorway a tiny flame somehow finds its way through the top of the barrier.

"I will break free from here!"

Julie's entire body becomes encased in flames as she starts floating towards the barrier. She slams her body against the barrier, causing it to shake. A tiny crack forms in the barrier where she had slammed into it. She backs up ready to slam into it again.

"Sleep now!" Arthur hears Griffin's voice and turns to see him standing right beside him, his right hand raised out towards Julie. She falls to the floor as the flames begin to extinguish. "She is growing stronger." Griffin says, smiling as he looks at her. "She won't be waking up any time soon." He laughs as he slams the door shut. "I have to prepare for the sacrifice."

Arthur stares at Griffin curiously as he walks back into his study. Once Griffin had stepped inside his study Arthur turns and heads down the stairs. As he enters the living room he pauses and looks at the couch, surprised to find Kendra sitting there.

"How long have you been here?" Arthur asks, slowly walking towards the couch. Kendra looks up at him, tears in her eyes.

"Not long, I can't keep making my daughters think I betrayed them," she cries out, wiping her eyes as she cries. She looks back down at the ground quickly. "I will free my daughters and stop Griffin."

She continues to cry as she stares at the ground. Before Arthur can say anything a mist of darkness forms around Kendra and she disappears. Arthur is left standing in the living room, alone and feeling confused.