The truth behind the sacrifices [33]

"You mean I am the only person alive from the Potens coven." I held the sides of the chair tighter as I felt the fear terrorize me. Everyone else from the coven was dead. I was the only person alive. "What happened to other members?" I asked.

"Two years after your mother left the coven, the members of the coven started dying unusually. Some died of diseases, some died in accidents while some died unexpectedly. Everyone I knew from the coven is dead. You are the only person alive which has the same blood as the Potens coven, which means he is going to come for you sooner." He warned.

"But you have mentioned that he was still in hell."

"He is but that won't stop him from getting his work done. He can send his minions to kill you. Two of them have already come for you. And. . . he can be raised from hell too --- by sacrificial killings."

Realization hit me hard and a gasp left my mouth. All those murders were actually sacrificial killings. There was no serial killer. It was the work of demons who were trying to raise that higher ranked demon. "Have you heard about the recent murders of forest park?" I asked.

His eyes suddenly flitted back at me, evaluating me for a few seconds then shifting back into nowhere. He closed his eyes and paused for a minute, as if contemplating his next reply. "Those were not murders Katherine. They were sacrifices." 

My hands flew swiftly to my face as he confirmed my suspicion. So the feeling I had all along was true after all. They were indeed related to me. "How do you know so much about all this?"

"Because I have been working on this since a long time along with my friends. But. . ." He paused and pressed the insides of his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

"But?"

"They are all dead now." He finally said, his voice breaking.

'You mean, the victims --- you were working along with them?" I was shocked.

"Yes. Paul, Daphne and Sarah. They were also witches. They were with me in this mission. We have been following the patterns of the demonic activity for a very long time. We knew the demons were after you and we were hoping we could end this without involving you in this mess. But that night when they cornered you, I had no choice other than to save you and let you in on this. I was sure that it would be the last time you would see me and I hoped you would eventually forget everything you encountered."

"But after that night the demons became aware of our plans and that's when Paul disappeared. Daphne, Sarah and I tried to locate him but we couldn't find him anywhere until his body was discovered. We were extremely devastated by the news. We stopped meeting and got back to our lives, in an attempt to drive the attention of demons away from us but who knew it would make us fall into their traps. Eventually Daphne was sacrificed and so was Sarah. They are after me now. Once they sacrifice me, they are gonna find more people until Andromalius rises again. And then he's gonna come after you."

"How many sacrifices are required for a demon to rise?"

"It depends on a demon. Lower ranked demons don't need sacrifices. They can easily leave hell and possess people as they have no form of their own. But a higher ranked demon needs sacrifices. Every human has a spirituality of its own and when they are sacrificed they leave behind this spirituality which sums up and helps a demon to rise. A witch is thrice a human. Our magic can allow a demon to rise faster than in the case of humans. Since they have already sacrificed three witches, I don't know how many people they might need after that. Maybe. . ." He paused for a few seconds, as if evaluating the situation. " Maybe they won't even need any more people once they sacrifice me." He added.

Every single hair on my skin rose in response to his words. Three innocent people have already lost their lives in an effort to save me. I couldn't let anyone else die because of me. But what could I do. I am nothing but a person who spent all her life unknown of her true identity. "What can we do to stop this?" 

"We need to stop the demons from raising Andromalius. They are going to come after me next. But its not going to be easy for them. I'm already taking all the precautions."

"Precautions like?" I asked intrigued.

He pointed at the wall which was the entrance to the place and then towards the ventilator windows. I noticed a vine tucked on the frames of door and windows.

"It's a herb which keeps demons from entering inside. Though it's just a temporary fix but it still works. Moreover, they cannot locate me cause I have done an anti-locator spell on myself. They would never be able to find me till the spell is working."

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked.

"You are indeed like your mother. I was surprised when I saw you earlier tonight. It was totally unexpected. For a minute I was suspicious if someone had followed you here or if you were possessed by a demon. But once confirming everything was okay, I was relieved. The only thing that surprised me was that you remembered everything. I was totally expecting you to never walk this road again, since nobody would want to involve themselves into something as sinister as this. I guess that's something you take after your mother. Not giving up until you find a way. However, it would be better if you stay out of this. Do you still have the amulet I gave you?" He raised his eyes.

Grabbing the amulet by it's chain I pulled it out of my sweater. "Yes. I still have this." I held it in front of him.

"Good. Always wear this. It is meant to protect you." He advised.

"But how does it work?"

"It is imbued with an anti-locator spell. They cannot locate you if you're wearing it." He answered.

It was indeed true. I had not come across anything unrealistic or sinister since the day I started wearing the amulet. It has been protecting me all along. Even the presence I had felt around me since my childhood was gone. I put it back under my sweater and stood up from the chair.

"But it cannot protect me forever." I walked over to him. "We need to find a proper end to this." I insisted.

His eyes appraised me for a few seconds before he finally walked away from me towards the kitchen counter and gulped down water again. "There is a way to end this but. . ." He paused, keeping the glass down on the counter again. "But it involves you."