Chapter #14: The Séance Of Samhain

"Kid… why do you keep looking over those case files? They aren't even in our jurisdiction," Ray asks as we sit in our squad car, having been put on patrol duty tonight of all nights due to lack of coverage. I peruse over the three separate case files laid out before me, glancing out the window to check the graveyard we'd decided to park in front of. It's always been a local hotspot for teenagers and occultist to fuck around this time of the year. Usually they just make a lot of noise and leave a huge mess, so we figured why not try to get a jump on them this year. "Why don't you just put it away, at least for tonight? I can't keep watch by myself all night. You know how crazy Halloween is…"

"I think… I'm finally getting somewhere…" I sigh as I lean back in my chair and rub my eyes in frustration. "And I don't know why, but I have a strange feeling that these three cases are all connected. It's just too weird, even for how trippy the Bay gets, y'know? And this one, from up north, I think those kids are lyin'. Something doesn't add up…"

"You got another one of those famous gut feelings?" he inquires, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I think I do…"

"Well, never mind what I said before then," he tells me, and I glance over, mouth slightly agape. He scoffs and asks "What?"

"In the six years that we've worked as partners, you've never encouraged me to go snooping around cold or closed cases before when I tried, so why the sudden change?" I respond, putting the file down.

"We've worked together for a long time Jake, and whenever you get one of those weird gut feelings, you're never wrong. Even back on our first case together. You had a feeling that the kidnapped girl was at the father's house, and you were right. And about the boyfriend who killed his girlfriend even though he had an alibi, you found his accomplice when even I called you crazy. Even just yesterday, you had a feeling Jamie would be mad at you when you got home, and from what you told me earlier, you were dead on," he admits, taking a sip of his coffee. "I trust your gut, Kid."

"Thanks Ray," I say genuinely, giving him a small smile. Took him long enough to finally trust my instincts. Maybe in another six years I'll get him to finally call me by my damn name.

"What's the deal with those cases anyway? Who are they?" he asks as he looks over, pointing to the three pictures I have out on my lap.

"Chris Clah, from the cult case a few months back, remember the one from up north?" I ask as I point to the picture of the handsome Native American with the large scar on his face. Poor guy ended up losing an arm in those woods and barely survived with his life. "And I know you remember Fay Savage, we found him and his brother at that massacre just a couple of weeks ago," I point to the next picture of the glowering pale man.

"Yes, that was a sight I never expected to see anywhere in Berkeley of all places… His face definitely fits his name…" Ray shudders as he glances at Fay's picture, remembering the scene as we helped the brothers out of that wrecked and bloodied house. "And I vaguely remember you yammerin' on about the attack in the Redwoods. How'd you get your hands on that file?"

"Jamie's brother is the deputy Sheriff up there. Apparently, they're originally from Garberville, so Jaime pointed it out to me when the cult attack first happened, before it was even on the news. The Sheriff and I corresponded, and he said the case had gone cold after just two and a half weeks due to no leads, so it wouldn't be a problem if I held onto it for a while. He thought maybe a new set of eyes would help shine some light onto the bizarre case or somethin'," I explain. He nods, pointing to the last picture with two kids set up in the back of an ambulance.

"Who're they? Can't be older than 18 or 19."

"Jack Baís and Mara Morte. They were the ones who were rescued from that 'Death House' up in Napa," I inform him and his eyes pop open.

"Holy shit, that's them?! I knew the victims were from out here, but they haven't released anything about them. They're so young… They're gonna have a lot of trauma over that."

"Yeah, I imagine all the victims from each of these cases need some intense therapy," I agree, looking through Chris Clah's case file one more time. No matter how many times I go over it, something feels wrong, like it wasn't multiple people, just one for some reason. "I wish I could just work on this at my desk rather than here. I can't believe the Captain put us on the streets, on fuckin' Halloween…"

"It's the craziest day of the year Jake, you know all the weird shit that happens tonight, more than on any other night of the year, especially with the full moon shining bright now. Domestics, rapes, home invasions, kidnappings, murders, they all skyrocket this time of year, and that's just the regular bull we have to deal with on a daily basis. Then you have to add up the specific shit, little kids getting poisoned from candy, teens with alcohol poisoning, people gettin' date-raped, all the public intoxication and fights that follow, and the people breaking into graveyards to do rituals and rob graves. That's why we're here in the first place. Until we get a call, we're staying here. Almost every year, there's two different instances of occult shit happening here," Ray tells me, and I nod, closing the case files for now.

"I know… I can just feel something, almost like it's brewing beneath my fingertips," I explain to him and he nods knowingly.

"I've had that happen a few times. Like I said, don't dismiss it, just give it a rest for tonight. I need you alert. This is also a night with a high fatality rate for cops. Even more for us since we're detectives," Ray reminds me, turning serious. "I only got a few years left before retirement kid, I'd like to make sure I see it."

"I know Ray, I hear you."

"Good, because you're the best partner I've had in all my years. I actually feel better knowing I can count on you Jake," he tells me. I nod, casting my gaze outside. "So, Jaime isn't still mad at you, is he? Oh shit, my bad, does Jaime still go by a he?"

"Yeah, Jaime's fine. He's not transitioning, he's just feminine. He was just mad because I couldn't make it to an office party with him over the weekend and finally spoke up about it. We had a very long conversation about it, and decided it's probably best if we take a vacation soon to just get away and finally relax. Between his job and mine, we're both too stressed out. Sex is pretty much the only thing that helps us relax anymore," I tell him honestly and he nods. Jamie is androgynous, and often dresses in women's clothes because that's what makes him feel most comfortable, so there's times that people confuse him for a girl, or someone transitioning since he has a very petite feminine frame, along with some feminine features and long curly hair down to about the middle of his back. Plus he's fucking gorgeous.

"Me and my wife had a similar thing happen after I had to deal with a nightmare of a case. It'll be alright Kid. I wouldn't even call it a rough patch, you both just need to be able to spend some quality time together is all, like a couple should! No shop talk, just focusin' on each other. You kids are just so damn busy today, you can't even get a chance to let the relationship grow anymore. It's sad, though I am glad that you'll be taking a break, Jamie's very nice. Among the younger generations, you're the sweetest couple I've seen in a long time honestly. It's refreshing," he confides happily. I hold my tongue on his remark, knowing it'll get me nothing but disappointment. Jaime and I both work full time, yet can barely afford our spot. We make ends meet, but just barely, and we've both been working 60 hour weeks these past couple of months to keep up with growing expenses and rent. We're making ends meet, but barely, and all anybody has to say about it is that we meet more time for ourselves, and of course the dreaded "I just don't get why kids these days are so broke and tired" or even a "Well I worked as much as you did for less money and did fine!" Which is fine and dandy and all, but that was back when a candy bar was like 10 cents. And East Bay rent is a fucking joke…

"…I'm 30 Ray."

"Hey, to a man of 62, you're still a youngin'," he chuckles as his eyes flicker over to the fence of the cemetery, squinting a bit as a scowl begins to form. "Looks like we've got trouble Kiddo."

"Already?! It's only nine!" I groan as I glance towards the fence, spotting a group of flashlights trudging through the dark graveyard, at least five of them bouncing off of the dew covered grass. They must've hopped over from the side street wall. "Fuck… okay, let's go round 'em up. Hopefully we can just get them to leave quietly without having to bring them back to book 'em."

"That never happens, and you know it," Ray smirks as he slides out of the car.

"I can hope, can't I?" I grumble as I hop out behind him. We get to the front and try the gate, which is understandably locked. "Should I just hop the fence and round the kids up while you wait here, old timer?"

"Hmph! I'm not that old!" he grunts and begins struggling up the fence. I have to help him get over the last bit, but he was able to handle himself rather well, much to my amazement. Once he's over, I climb up after him and hop down onto the soft grass. Even though it's only about 9:15, the fog is already rolling in, and it's coming in thick, just as it had been for the past couple of days. "Did you pay attention to which way they went?"

"No, but I think they went farther in, probably towards the back of the graveyard, towards where all of the oldest graves are, from the 1800's and early 1900's. Near that mausoleum, I think. But, we should still check the entire grounds, just in case they're hiding somewhere. Some kids like to play hide and seek for the extra scares here," I tell him, and Ray just gives me a bewildered look. "Me and my friends used to do it back in middle and high school for fun. You know this place is haunted, right?"

"And you know I'm not superstitious, Kid. Let's just find them and get out of here."

We begin our search at the fence and slowly make our way back, always staying within sight of each other in case they're lying in wait for us. About halfway through the cemetery, I feel Ray tap on my shoulder and point towards the back corner of the graveyard where lights can be seen illuminating the area, near the old graves, just like I had said. We creep towards the lights, not trying to announce our presence in case the kids scatter in all directions, not wanting to have to round everyone up individually. As we get closer, we can hear the kids saying something, almost like they're chanting, each speaking as one.

"What the hell? …Are they doin' some of that satanic shit?" Ray questions in a whisper and I shrug, the kids finally coming into view. There are six figures in view, four women, two men, either in their late teens or very early 20's. Five of them are holding hands in a circle, with one inside of the circle with her back to us, all of them chanting together in what I can only assume is Latin. We continue our slowed approach, a bit bewildered by the scene. Then the one in the middle turns so that we can actually see her face.

She's cradling a recently killed cat in one hand, and what I can only assume is some bloodied ceremonial knife in the other as it has a gold handle, silver blade, gemstones and strange symbols carved into it. The woman contorts in a strange pattern as she flings the poor flayed cat around. It takes me a second to realize that she's drawing a symbol on the floor with the cat's draining blood, but of what, I can't make out. I try to make my way forward when Ray stops me. He reaches for his radio and tries to call it in, but for some reason all we get back is silence, like a jammer is in the area. I take out my phone and try to call our Sargent, to inform him that we'll probably need backup, but my phone also says there's no service. A dead spot? In a metropolitan area? No fucking way…

Before I can even question why it's acting up when I was just able to go on the internet in the car, the phone powers off, saying the battery is dead. I try to turn it back on, yet it remains black. It was at 80% literally five seconds ago. I give Ray a worried glance and he tries his own. I'm left staring in confusion, as the exact same thing happens to him.

"Should we go back to the car and report it from there? I know the phones and radio work there," I ask, and he sighs in frustration.

"I don't want them to try to escape while we do… Are you okay with staying here while I head back to the car to phone this shit in?" Ray asks, a little nervous about leaving me here alone. I nod, telling him to hurry. "Hey, don't try to engage with them yet. That crazy girl's got a knife, who knows what everyone else has on them. I don't wanna think about what they'll try to do if they rush you and catch you by surprise Jake. Stay alert."

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna do anything stupid. I'm just gonna keep an eye on them for now," I promise as he creeps away, power walking back towards the fence we'd parked beside. I glance back at the weird ritual and notice that the chanting has stopped, just as the girl in the center is no longer swirling around the dead cat. She's talking to the group, yet I'm too far to hear anything but mumbles. I let out a small huff and move in a bit, sticking to the shadows until I find a tree to sneak behind, finally able to hear what these dumbasses are saying.

"-ybe you're going too far with this Luna," one of the men says, talking to the girl in the center.

"Terry, it's too late to turn back now. Aren't you the one who said you wanted to talk with your mother one last time since you were away at college while she was dyin' in the hospital?" Luna responds with a pouty face. Terry glowers back at the girl, but nods. "Then just shut the fuck up, and let me finish this."

"You don't have to say it like that Luna, don't be such a bitch," another girl pipes up and Luna stares her down until she turns her head.

"I just want this to work, Rosa. In order for the fuckin' séance to work properly, we needed a sacrifice," Luna responds coolly.

"I still don't understand why we had to sacrifice the poor cat…" another girl chimes in sadly.

"Because it was either a cat, a dog or a human. It's really supposed to be a human, so be happy I didn't make us drag over one of those homeless bums that plague Shattuck or Telegraph. And there aren't really any stray dogs over here, but we were lucky enough to find a stray cat. And you didn't seem to be too bothered when I was cutting it open Amy," Luna retorts.

"Can we just hurry this up? I don't want us to get busted before we even get to start what we came here for," the other man speaks up.

"Thank you, Charles, for being the only one who really seems to care about this," Luna praises. "Now hold out your hands."

They all do as she asks, facing their palms up towards her. With the same bloody knife she'd used on the cat, she slices into each of her friends hands with a fluid circular motion before they can whip them away, each of them cussing and yanking their hands back afterward. They all glare at her, waiting for an answer as to why she'd done that, only for her to slice her own hand. Then she instructs all of them to smear the blood over their faces to hide them from the spirits. Four of them proceed to do as she says, except one girl, who looks at her with a grimacing face.

"What're you waiting for Gina?" Luna questions impatiently.

"First you cut me, now you expect me to rub blood over my face? You know it makes me sick just to look at it! I almost passed out when you killed the fuckin' cat!" Gina tells her, utterly disgusted. Before Gina can stop her, Luna grabs Gina's bleeding hand and shoves it into her sputtering face, smearing crimson all over her face. When she finally lets go, Gina leans over and throws up all over her own lap, trying to wipe the blood from her, only for Charles and Luna to stop her. In the end, she leaves it, but throws up again and begins to cry, causing everyone to groan and scoot away from her.

"Please tell me this is almost over? All I want is to talk to my dead brother, not kill cats and torture my friends…" Amy asks nervously.

"Yes, I just need everyone to follow the ritual properly, otherwise the spirits will come after you and try to either eat your flesh to become human again, or they'll possess you and wear your skin like a suit," Luna says before chanting again. "Et ego invocabo te Astarte! Et ego invocabo te Baalberith! Et ego invocabo te Eurynomous!"

"The fuck is this shit…" I grumble as my hand unbuckles the strap on my gun holster, taking the weapon out and holding it at the ready as I watch on, glancing back to see where the hell Ray is and what's taking him so fucking long.

Luna continues to chant those three sentences about nine times, until she suddenly stops, a blank expression covering her face. The others look on questioningly, wondering what had happened and why she'd stopped. Charles reaches up to try to touch her, and she contorts her head in his direction, stretching out a hand to grip the tops of his head. He tries to push her hand off, but it remains there as if an unnatural amount of strength has surged into the unnerving woman. When the others try to get up to stop her, she waves a hand at them, and they all slam back to the floor. They struggle frantically to get back up, somehow pinned to the ground by their torsos and arms, legs kicking free, yet feebly. Panic sets in as they realize they've dipped a toe into the Abyss, and it grabbed hold, beginning its terror as it starts to drag them under, into the unknown.

Luna raises her other hand to Charles' face, and begins to wipe all of the blood off gently, almost lovingly. And even as he fights back and tries to shrink away from her, she holds him still. Once all the blood is gone, his face contorts to a grimace of confusion and pain, until he too goes still, his face blank, expressionless. A smile forms on his lips, starting small and almost unnoticeable, growing eerily wider as he begins to chuckle, until he's hysterically guffawing. She wipes the blood from her own face, yet, there's no change whatsoever, unlike Charles.

She proceeds to walk to every other member of the séance and wipe the blood away from them. Gina, Amy, and Rosa all scream uncontrollably as she does this, but aside from them freaking out, they all seem to behave like normal compared to the other two. It's not until she reaches Terry and wipes the blood from his face that something bewildering happens once more. I can't make out everything from where I'm hiding, but I can hear it all.

Terry arches his back up high, while keeping only his head and heels on the grass, his back stretched up towards the moon, until he gasps angrily and flops down to the ground. He then starts grumbling and growling, snarling like a rabid dog and snapping his teeth so hard it sounds like they might break if he keeps it up. Luna reaches down and strokes his face soothingly, but this seems to only fuel his rage-filled behavior, freaking out the other three girls severely as they remain pinned to the ground.

"Where the FUCK are you Ray?" I question in a bit of a panic, unsure of what the hell I should do anymore. I should've stopped them when Ray had first walked away to stop any of this from happening and just gathered them up afterward. But this… this is real. This is like what we walked into when we found the Savage's at their cousin's murder house, a heavy cloud of darkness closing over the atmosphere. Something supernatural, something of true evil pouring over the cemetery grounds as Luna steps back into the center of the circle of five.

"Filii oriri meum, dimiserit caprum emissarium in mundum vivorum!!!" Luna chants in a commanding voice that sounds nothing like how she'd sounded mere minutes ago. Before I can work up the nerve to step in and intervene, the ground all around us begins to tremble. I grip the tree I'm hiding behind, assuming that it's an earthquake. It's not one of the minor ones that we usually get, but something near a 6 or 7.0 magnitude with how harsh the entire area is quaking, causing me to drop to one knee. I wrap my arms around the tree to stop from falling over and being seen. My teeth rattle like a detoxing addict, and I see the ground begin to split in certain areas, making me realize that I need to get the fuck out of here, NOW.

I try to stand but fall to both knees, unable to move whatsoever as the earthquake grows more devastating. Feeling pinned to the ground, I hold onto the tree for dear life as the earth rattles violently, my bones clashing against themselves, chattering agonizingly.

Abruptly, everything stops, just as quickly as it had started, leaving me shaken and panting as I gaze around, looking for any damage to the area. Yet there is none. No fallen trees, no damaged headstones, no crumbling stone walls or uprooted fences. It's as if the whole thing was all in my head. I stand unsteadily, glancing back to where Ray had disappeared beyond the fence, yet still not seeing him anywhere. That's when I notice it.

The ground begins to slowly shift, moving in churning motions as the grass twists and turns, becoming loose from where the roots mold themselves into the dirt. I realize that something is breaking free of the earth as the smell of decay enters the air, putrid and rotten, like puss covered gangrened meat that's been left out in the sun to soak in yellow curdled milk, a slight stench of three-day-old fish lingering as a finishing touch to the stank. I gag and feel my eyes sting, instantly knowing the smell of death, having come across a good number of bodies throughout my years on the force. I cast my gaze around and see that it's not just that one area as I had imagined, but is covering the entirety of the graveyard, as each spot over a tombstone begins to push up, the grass twirling before being shoved to the side by rising dirt. I stare in shock, feeling my body weaken a bit and my stomach tighten up, trying not to retch from the unholy stank in the air. As I force the rising vomit back down my throat, I gasp and peer over the nearby headstones as "hands" begin to emerge from the graves.

Most are skeletal, no flesh left as they've been rotting in their caskets for far too long, while others are fresher, insects poking of their new homes, having burrowed themselves into the soft decaying flesh of the deceased. I watch on in horror as hundreds of rotten, boney, grizzled hands push out from the earth of which they'd been laid to rest, and pull forward, dragging out more of themselves. First comes the rest of the arms, sheltered by tattered rags of what were once fancy dress clothes, then their heads breach the surface, with matted hair covered by yellowed-green puss and old dirt, eyes sunken in or hollowed out completely from time. After comes the torso, shaking free mummified skin and showing darkened ribs protruding from the rotten torso; half of the fresher bodies dragging behind entrails that only spread the stink in the air further, making the smell almost toxic and stinging the eyes.

Some bodies continue to drag out their legs, while others erupt with a shuddering SNAP as half of them break their spines and continue on with only their torso. Those who do manage to drag out the remainder of their bodies clamor about, with not enough muscle or meat left in their legs to hold them up properly, except for the few that are the freshest, or those that are just bones. And surprising as this may seem, the skeletal beings are the most terrifying to me as they jitter, jig, and rattle along with each movement or step. When all are free from their graves, they stop and wait, as if expecting orders.

As the first bodies started to slowly erupt from the cold earth, I began to climb, digging my knife into the bark of the tree to help me up as I watched in horror and tried not to shit my pants. I can only hope that they can't reach me, and that they can't see me either. Because a baton, my knife, two clips, and my Smith and Wesson M&P .45 won't be able to do much against this horde. That's only 30 rounds all together… no matter what, 30 versus hundreds isn't going to end very fucking well… There's a shotgun in the trunk of the car that Ray always keeps with him, having been ambushed a few times and caught off guard. After the last time, when he got stabbed through the hand, he always keeps it in the trunk or backseat. If he's still in the car, the only thing I can hope for is that he's seeing this, and that he has backup with him. They're gonna have to come and fucking save me.

"Why do you three cry? Is this not what you wanted? You wanted to see your family members buried at this graveyard, yet you cringe with fear once your wishes are met?" Luna asks, stroking Amy's trembling face. "Here child, it's your baby brother who was hit by a car, why won't you say hello?"

She points towards a single corpse, one of the freshest ones around, stumbling towards them, a dead expression plastered on its face as it moves. It's of a young child, no older than six or seven years old, with half of his head caved in. I'm assuming from the car accident… and that they also had a close casket burial. Amy cries louder as she looks upon her brother's rotting face, sobbing hysterically and trying to scurry from where she's still pinned to the floor. When the child finally reaches her, it just stares, emotionless, hollow on the inside, with whatever soul that's trapped in there not being her kid brother. It's someone else, perhaps even something else, an err of inhuman energy floating over the cemetery.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Amy screams, her legs kicking wildly. The corpse cocks its head at her, then peers over at Luna.

"If that's how you want it, that is fine," Luna shrugs, gesturing for the corpse to come near her. As it does she glances down at Terry, who has calmed down immensely since the horde of dead rose from their graves. "Eurynomous, are you hungry?"

"Yes! Please let me eat!" Terry grunts happily as Luna snaps her fingers, and the invisible binds holding him release. Terry hops up like a martial artist, kicking his feet in the air and uses the momentum to lift the rest of his body into a crouch, standing quickly afterward. It's an impressive thing to do, especially since Terry is pushing 300 pounds while only standing at around 5'4", at best. He smiles and grabs hold of the child's corpse, then bites down, gorging himself on the dead flesh and slurping it down with abandon, pure glee spreading over his face as the coagulated juices slide down his neck and chin. Amy shrieks as she watches her brother become eaten down to the bone, his skeleton dropping to the floor once he's finished. The three girls and I stare in disgust, while Luna and Charles just chuckle. When he's done, he turns back to Luna and says, "Thank you Astarte. That was delicious. Can I have more, or are they off limits?"

"You can have a few for yourself, but leave the majority. I have big plans for us Eurynomous," she tells him, smirking as he dashes off into the crowd, searching for the newest bodies to ingest next. She turns her attention to Charles, still grinning on the ground. I climb a bit higher up the tree to rest properly on a sturdy branch and notice the blood. It was spilt into an upside down pentagram, with the bodies of Luna's friends all at the points of the star, and she's set in the middle. "So, Baalberith, how do you feel? Are you up for wrecking some havoc as well?"

"FUCK YES. Now unbind me, so I can kill everyone that cursed us on this goddamn earth!" Charles replies with a happy snarl. Luna almost looks surprised.

"I'm so glad you two are aligned with me on this. I wasn't expecting to be summoned with others, but you boys… you make me want to show the world what awaits them beyond," Luna responds joyfully. Or I guess I should actually say Astarte, as at this point it's very apparent that even if Luna was a crazy bitch, she wasn't this crazy. All of them have changed drastically, and I've watched enough horror movies to understand that these three are either possessed, or something worse. And I don't even want to know what "worse" entails.

"Are you going to let me up from this goddamned position or not?" Baalberith questions angrily. Astarte snaps her fingers and he eerily floats from the ground to his feet, mimicking Nosferatu.

"It has been FAR too long since we have been set free upon this domain. And what's more, it is All Hallows Eve brethren, when we were once feared, until the humans turned it into a celebration, much like Samhain, but even more disrespectful… We will show the world why we were feared, tonight of all nights, when we unleash our existence onto this Eden. This world will be ours once again. They will understand the true meaning of pain… of hatred… of terror," Astarte seethes and raises her arms to the sky. The pale moon above begins to change, turning darker, gloomier, until it's an ominous maroon, casting a bloody haze over the night sky and graveyard, my vision turning crimson.

"First, I'll kill all the teensy heathen children, then, I'll kill the whores. I'll save the men for last, when they're all alone, scared and deterred by the godless earth, to let them know that their hateful god left this earth for the demons like us to take over, and burn it to the ground," Baalberith snickers, a childish giggle erupting from deep within him.

"Oh, what the fuck…" I grumble in disbelief, looking on as I feel my stomach churn. What in the holy hell did I just fucking walk into. And how in the fuck am I going to do anything?! What the fuck CAN I do?! Should I try to shoot them and save the three girls that aren't infected like the others? Do I continue to hide and see if backup is ever coming? And even if they do show up, will they be able to do anything aside from pissing the corpses and demons off. And for that matter, what the fuck can I do? I'm just a cop with a few bullets. At best, I can try to kill the three. But I doubt shooting them will actually kill them as I just watched one of them eat a corpse and not change physically in any type of way. I don't even think it will slow or faze them. "How the fuck am I supposed to fight against them?! What can I do to stop this?!"

"Perhaps I may be of some assistance Jacob," I hear a voice at the top of the tree purr. I glance up, spotting a large black mass of a spirit with glowing green cat eyes and pointed ears, peering down at me from the top of the tree. It's perched upon the highest branch weightlessly as it gazes at the nightmarish scene with an irritated huff. It begins to slink its way down the tree vertically, the laws of physics broken on the spirit as it maintains eye contact with me the entire time. "You see, I rather enjoy this earth as it is. And from what I can gather, aside from the blunders that humans make with the nature of this planet and all it has to offer, I would go as far as to say I truly do love it here. It's an immensely beautiful and gorgeous place to reside in peace, away from the unnecessary evils that prowl in the Darkness. And is currently unbothered by the tedious rules set by the deities of the afterlife. This is my place to reside, my world to roam free, to journey where I wish, when I wish, as I wish.

"And I DO NOT wish for that peacefulness to be disrupted by three demons who were once revered as distasteful gods, just so they can throw a tantrum like infants and ruin a perfectly marvelous place just for their own hollow satisfaction. I see the value of this planet, of all the life that resides here, large and small, unthinking and overthinking; even the value of the humans that love to wreak havoc, much like demons themselves. But even I am not narrow minded enough to believe that demons walking the earth again would be more beneficial than the humans that already reside here. Aside from the populace that they keep increasing absentmindedly, they are not inherently bad, nor do most choose to be. From what I have witnessed, humans are simply misguided souls, children who were created by a god who cared far too little for them and left them to their own devices, despite what he tries to portray in his scriptures. He left them here like infants with knives, or guns, as they seem so proud of now and days.

"Humans are not the problem, they are simply misguided. And punishing them with demons is far crueler than most who walk this earth deserve. I'm sure that even you, Jacob, with your limited knowledge of demons and their kin, can imagine exactly what these three will do to this world if left unchecked. And think of the others they will bring up from the underworld with them once they have the opportunity. That girl was much like you, holding the power to conjure due to her lineage. With her as a host, Astarte will raise all she can to purge the humans from this world. And she won't stop there, next will be the wildlife, from the darkest depths of the seas, to the chilling peaks of the skies, she will wipe all natural life from this planet. I do not wish for that to happen, and I am prepared to do everything in my power to prevent it, are you Jacob?" the spirit asks, narrowing its eyes as it casts a glance at the ground.

Eurynomous is working his way through his fifth corpse while the other two talk amongst themselves, glancing at the remaining three girls with satanic grins. I try to think about everything going on without screaming. There was just so much information being said by this creature to be understood all at once. It's obviously been on earth for millennia, or eons. It mentioned that Luna was the descendant of a witch, or something very similar, while also nonchalantly pointing out that I am too, apparently. And on top of everything else, it expects me to be able to fight against three demons; wait, I'm sorry, gods, who were forgotten and turned into fucking demons, now possessing hosts and raising the dead. And that was all done by just one demon! Who the fuck knows what the other two are capable of!!!

"I can see the hesitation lingering in your eyes Jacob. We do not have time for it. I need you to decide whether you wish to help save this world, or simply let it fall into the darkest chaos ever witnessed by human eyes. You need to choose, and quickly," the spirit tells me impatiently, eyes narrowing while boring into me.

"What are you?" I ask uncertainly, almost cringing away from it as it comes closer, its gorgeous eyes drawing me in, leaving me mesmerized.

"That is an explanation that will have to wait for another time. All that I can say now without going into intricate detail, is that I am a spirit, a protector, and that I am willing to work with you to rid this world of evil, if you so wish to accept this responsibility," it replies dismissively. I don't feel any ill intent coming from the spirit, and usually my gut would be flipping drastically if it was something bad or evil. But for some reason I still feel hesitant.

"If you wanted to stop them, why didn't you do it before they were summoned?" I ponder.

"I wasn't aware of their presence until they were already on this plane of existence. Normally, if a demon shows up and doesn't have the capacity to cause any immense damage onto the world, I'll leave them to their own devices so long as they are not too cruel. But this is different. This trio, especially since they've banded together, will cause irreparable damage to this planet, and death to every living thing that calls this world its home. I can't let that happen. I hold too many fond memories of this place to allow that to occur. But I can't do it on my own, I need your assistance."

"How can we stop this? I'm just a human… What would I have to do?" I ask, still uncertain. It slinks down to rest on a branch beside me, a slender tail-like wisp flicking back and forth intriguingly behind it, its ears perking up and eyes growing wider.

"You are more than just A human Jacob. I think it's time for you to realize this. Do you think that intuition you have is normal?" the spirit inquires. I shake my head, knowing that there must've been something strange happening to give me such insight towards certain people and what their actions will be. "So, are you willing to help me stop these abominations before they can accomplish their mission?" it questions, a sort of smile forming on its face.

"Yes," I answer, glancing down at the demons. Astarte is giving orders to the corpses in Latin, Eurynomous is working his way through his eighth body, seeming to finally be done with his horrendous feast, licking his fingers clean as his stomach finally bulges outward. Baalberith is sitting on a tombstone, sharpening the bones left over from Eurynomous' meals and fashioning them into ivory swords or knives, admiring his work with prideful glee. "I need to help those stupid girls down there, and I don't want anybody else to get hurt because I was too scared and ignorant to stop them when I had the chance."

The spirit reaches out toward me, as if extending its hand for me to grasp it. I glance down once more, knowing that I need to clean up this mess before someone else tries, and fails miserably. The spirit waits for me patiently, its hand or paw extended towards me still. I figure that no matter what, I'm pretty much dead already in all other outcomes. At least this way, I have a chance to survive. I grab hold of its hand, and feel a surge of electricity pouring into my body, tingling and making all hairs stand on end. I feel a prick on my finger as the spirit cuts the tip of the digit, and licks at it, ingesting my blood, its eyes glowing brighter afterward. It brings its free hand up and places it over my heart, and I feel a burning sensation, much like severe heartburn, or maybe a small heart attack. I groan just as the spirit yowls lowly in discomfort, realizing that both of us are feeling this, not just me. It takes the hand away and smiles once again, bowing its head.

"We are now bound together, Jacob Folkvar, guardian of mankind. Partners until the day you pass into the afterlife. I am here to help you, just as you will help me. We are familiar, branded with each other's names carved into our hearts. You can use my power, just as I can draw energy from you. We are kin," the spirit claims as its wisped appearance begins to diminish, becoming clear, letting me see that it's holding the form of a black jaguar. I rub my chest, the burn on my heart lingering there painfully.

"We're stuck together until I'm dead huh? Well, that'll be interesting, to say the least. So… what's your name?" I ask uncertainly, still not entirely sure what the fuck has just happened. It bares its teeth into a charming smile, eyes glinting like stars in the countryside.

"Shadow."