Chapter 8 Pt. 3 The Curse

"Why are you here?" Talon was quick to the point, growing tired of Lahash's slow build and game.

As the two continued to exchange words, the guides and Luna watched on with confusion. Meanwhile, Meridian was experiencing her own confusion driven from too much alcohol. As John continued to push himself onto Meridian, she couldn't help but notice a floating being hovering above their heads, circling around watching. Meridian continued to watch the ghostly apparition. She was beautiful and would not leave Meridian.

"Look! That is a ghost!" Luna gasped as she pointed and put her hand over her mouth with the other as in disbelief of what she saw.

Ridge overheard the comment and looked up to the ceiling. "Isn't that your specialty?" Ridge questioned Luna, unsure of her reaction to seeing the ghost.

"It is, but we can only help if they are open to going on. Not all ghosts realize they are dead or they need to move on," Luna explained. "She must be hanging on for some reason."

Meridian couldn't help but keep looking at the ghost. John took her by the hand and helped her walk to the back where the bathrooms were. John was kissing Meridian all over, and it was obvious that he wanted more. Relic and the rest of the guides, along with Luna, walked to the bathrooms and watched. Meridian and John had gone into a bathroom stall, and he began to pull her underwear down from underneath her skirt. As the pair continued to get to know each other in the stall, the ghosts hovered above and watched with a look of concern.

Back around the dance floor, Talon and the demon were still exchanging words.

"If you are not a fallen angel, then what are you?" Talon asked.

Talon followed Lahash as he walked to a recently vacated table with half-filled glasses of human tonic with traces of spillages leaving a sticky residue. Lahash ran his long fingers through a small puddle of a spillage. He brought his index finger up to his face and studied the tip of his finger drenched in a dark brown liquor. Lahash took his finger and ran it across his tongue and closed his eyes. He stood for a moment with his eyes still closed and smiled. "Ahh, the tastes of Italy. I always loved Disaronno." He opened his eyes and began to open his coat jacket, so he could pull out a black handkerchief that matched his tie and wipe his finger. As he was putting away his handkerchief, he looked to Talon. "Quid pro quo, fallen. Why do you remain in company with the guides?"

Talon's defensive look was turning into one of disgust. He stared at Lahash as though he was still seeing him in his very first moment, taken back with a demon of this caliber. "My reasons shouldn't be of your concern. However, I was asked by one for my help."

Now that Lahash was satisfied with a morsel of information, he decided to indulge Talon a bit, by finally answering the fallen's first question. "I forget humans turned spirit guides are still stifled by an obtuse mind. There are no such things as angels. The spirit guides are what exist to watch over humans. Humans just call them angels. You are a fallen… You were never one of us and never can be. I am a demon, but demons never fell. I am like the girl you are watching over. I, like she, was born of my realm. The only demons that are a fallen, so to speak, are you, Talon, and the others like you." Lahash was not short of cutting insults.

"Why are you here?" Talon asked again.

"Well Etheria's leader, Warrick, had deals put in place with my own realm's leader, and that deal was that we maintain more of the balance here on Earth, and we allow him to cast out his own as fallen in exchange for that power here on Earth. I understand that the fairies are becoming involved, and that is a problem." Lahash stated.

"Why would that be a problem for you? The fairies keep to themselves and they don't get involved much, not even to keep their word," Talon sarcastically explained.

"Yes, we know that, but now that your Meridian escaped the realm with the fairy book, and with the aid of a coven, the fairies are now more powerful than you realize. They hold the power to help ghosts move onto the next stage - like another life – or to fall as a demon or go on as a spirit guide. The fairies not helping the ghosts out as much has been a benefit to our kind. In addition to that, Warrick casting out your kind has served us well too. However, Warrick has stopped casting out guides - if you haven't already noticed - and there is a reason for that. The fairies can turn all fallen back to spirit guides; yes, I know you know all of that. If the fairies take that action, then the balance will fall back toward the good, and all our agreements will be off the table. I was sent here to find out why all these things have changed. If the dark one finds out what we perceive to be the truth, we will take action against humankind, and all the tales of possession will be made a reality." Lahash spoke words to Talon that he only imagined or heard stories of.

John and Meridian were still in the bathroom stall 'enjoying' one another. Meridian's giggles of pleasure and stupor lingered in the room. She was momentarily distracted though by the ghost still swimming up over their heads. "Stop! Look up there. Is something floating above? It looks like a ghost," Meridian said.

"What? You really are drunk. Even better." John continued to kiss Meridian ignoring what she had been pointing at.

Unexpectedly, the ghost became angry and flew straight down into John without him even noticing. In anger, the ghost shot right through John and then disappeared from Meridian's sight.

Talon became distracted from Lahash as he felt the negative energy of the demons that were hovering around the bathroom. One had sensed John's vile thoughts and ill intentions with Meridian. Despite Meridian seemed to be enjoying herself, for the time being, Talon was in full demon mode with rage as he tore off the door to the stall and threw John into the wall like a rag doll. With the blunt force of hitting the wall, John was instantly knocked out. Meridian could not see what it was that picked John up with ease and tossed him away like trash. She was sitting on the back of the toilet with her hand over her mouth trying to put together what had just happened. The commotion may not have been visible, but it was heard by Tallulah who was making her way to the restroom. She walked in and saw John laying in the floor passed out, with Meridian staggering out of the stall drunk. Her words did not make sense to Tallulah. She quickly grabbed Meridian by the arm and pulled her out of the bathroom before anyone else took notice of what was happening. Disoriented and disheveled, Meridian struggled to keep pace with Tallulah who was marching out of the bar leaving the guides behind.

Luna found the ghost and was watching her, deciding to see if there was anything she could do to help. The ghost did not speak directly, but Luna understood what she was communicating to her when no one else did.

"She was trying to help Meridian. She is telling me that the reason she has passed on is that John hurt her and left her for dead. She is not ready to move on and won't until she has her reckoning," Luna explained to the group.

"Why is it we can't hear her, but you can?" Slaten asked.

"That is a part of what fairies do for humans…sorry, ghosts," Ridge interrupted.

The group quickly left the bar and were relieved to find Meridian and Tallulah soon back at the hotel. Tallulah leashed out another round of lectures to Meridian who was too drunk to care about her reckless behavior. Relic did not stay around as his curiosity of Warrick's curse led him back to the bar where he found John disoriented and looking for Meridian. It came to Relic through John's thoughts that he knew where Meridian was staying, and chances were that he would want to finish what he started. Relic followed him, and his suspicions were right as he headed back toward Meridian's hotel.

The streets were getting quieter with the evening getting close to dawn. John couldn't make it any further and fell down and passed out. A couple passing by noticed and stopped to help him. After several times of trying to wake him, they discovered he was not breathing and called for an ambulance. John was dead, and it appeared that it was alcohol poisoning.

Relic returned to the hotel where the pair were staying. He found Talon and the rest of his group ready to let them know what he discovered.

"This curse is very strong; we don't have to worry about John ever again, and the ghost got what she wanted. I followed him after the women left the club, and he just fell down, passed out, and then died. I thought it was from being too drunk. This curse is cryptic indeed. The last guy was struck in the middle of the road, and now this one just collapsed. How do we stop this?" Relic questioned himself as much as Meridian's supporters without any real answers.

Talon and the rest of the group sat in silence trying to put together all the things that were happening at such a fast pace. Fear struck into them as they pondered how this would affect Meridian if she ever did run into Aiden. All eyes fell on Talon as he stood in the main lobby of the hotel staring out the window.

"I know what you all are thinking," Talon said.

No one replied. They all just watched the fallen in turmoil over his son and the fallen guide he wished to save.