Александра Адорнетто - Halo

Jake placed his hand on the boy’s head. “Don’t be afraid,” he purred in a seductive voice.

“I’m here to help you.”

Slowly he began to make swirling signs in the air above where the boy knelt. From where

I was crouched, I saw the boy follow Jake’s hand movements and scan the faces in the crowd, obviously trying to gauge the seriousness of the situation. Perhaps he was wondering if this was some elaborate prank, an initiation rite that must be endured before he was accepted into the group. I feared it was something much more sinister.

Then one of his followers handed Jake a book. It was bound in black leather, and the pages were yellowed from age. Reverentially, Jake held the book aloft and let it fall open. Instantly a gust of wind shook the trees and sent dust flying around the squatting headstones. I recognized the book from my teachings back home.

“Oh, no,” I whispered.

“What?” Xavier sounded alarmed as he too, caught sight of it. “What’s that?”

“It’s a grimoire,” I said. “A book of dark magic. It contains instructions on how to call on spirits and raise up the dead.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Xavier looked like he was about to pinch himself to try to wake from the nightmare he had unexpectedly fallen into. I was struck for a moment by how innocent he was, and I felt almost sick with the guilt of having dragged him into this. But now wasn’t the time to lose my head.

“This is a bad sign,” I said. “Grimoires are powerful things.”

Still atop the grave, Jake’s chest began to heave. His chanting grew faster and more manic and he read from the book. He spread his arms wide. “Exorior meus atrum amicus quod vindicatum is somes.” He was speaking Latin, but not like I’d ever heard it before. It had been altered, and somehow I knew it was the language of the Underworld. “Is est vestri pro captus,”

Jake sang, his hands clutching at the empty air.

“What’s he saying?” Xavier whispered. I was surprised to find that I could translate the meaning of the words exactly.

“Come forth, my dark friend, and claim this body. It is yours for the taking.”

His followers watched with bated breath. No one moved, no one uttered a sound, not daring to interrupt whatever unnatural process was taking place.

Beside me, Xavier sat so transfixed that I had to touch his hand to reassure myself that he was still conscious. We both jerked when a sound like splitting stone filled the air and had to resist the urge to cover our ears. It was a screeching noise, like nails tearing down a blackboard.

It stopped abruptly, and a cloud of black smoke poured from the mouth of the massive stone angel. It drifted down to where Jake was standing and seemed to be whispering in his ear. Jake grabbed the boy by the hair, tilting his head back and forcing his mouth open.

“What are you doing?” the boy cried.

The black cloud seemed to reel and spin for a moment in midair before plunging into the boy’s open mouth and down his throat. Jake released him, and the boy instantly uttered a guttural scream. He clutched at his throat and clawed at his body as it convulsed on the ground.

His face was contorted as though he were in agony. I felt Xavier’s arm begin to shake with anger.

The boy lay still. A moment later he sat up and looked around him, his expression of confusion turning to one of pleasure. Jake offered him a hand and hoisted him to his feet. The boy flexed his body as if discovering it for the first time.

“Welcome back, my friend,” Jake said, and when the boy turned around, I saw that his green eyes were black as tar.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see this before,” I said and dropped my head in my hands. “I befriended him, I wanted to help him. . . . I should have sensed he was a demon.”

Xavier put his hand on the small of my back. “This is not your fault.” His eyes swept over the congregation gathered at Jake’s feet. “Are they all demons?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Jake seems to be conjuring vengeful spirits to possess his followers.”

“This just keeps getting better and better,” Xavier muttered. “Where do the spirits come from? Are they the people in these graves?”

“I doubt it,” I said. “They’re probably the souls of the damned from the Underworld, quite different from demons. A demon is a creature created by Lucifer himself, and they worship none but him. It’s the same concept as angels in Heaven; there are millions of souls that go to Heaven, but they don’t become angels. Angels and demons were never human. They’re in a league of their own.”

“Are these spirits still dangerous?” Xavier asked. “What will happen to the people they possess?”

“Their main purpose is to cause destruction,” I said. “When they take over the body of a human, they can make that person do anything. It’s like having two souls within the one shell.

Most people can survive it unless the spirit intentionally damages their body. They aren’t much of a threat to us, our powers are far greater than theirs. Jake is the only one we need to worry about.”

Xavier and I fell silent as Jake led the next victim forward. But I was not prepared for what happened next. When he pulled back the hood, I saw a familiar cascade of russet curls and wide, frightened blue eyes.

“Don’t worry, my dear,” said Jake, tracing his finger lightly across Molly’s neck and down to her chest. “It won’t hurt much.”

I gripped Xavier’s arm. “We have to stop him,” I said. “We can’t let him hurt Molly!”

Xavier’s face was pale. “I want to bring Jake down too, but if we intervene now, we don’t stand a chance against all of them. We need your brother and sister.” He shook his head, and I realized he was finally accepting that he couldn’t defeat Jake alone.

Overcome with jealousy and desire, one of Jake’s followers threw herself on the ground and began to writhe. Her eyes rolled back so that only the whites showed, her mouth opening and closing in silent moans. I recognized her immediately as Alexandra from my lit class. Jake bent down and stilled her thrashing by grasping her hair in one hand. He ran a finger suggestively along her exposed throat and let it linger over her mouth. She was breathing heavily and seemed to arch toward him in ecstasy, but he moved away from her and used the tip of his boot to trace a line down her body.

“We should leave,” Xavier whispered. “This is more than we can handle.”

“We can’t go without Molly.”

“Beth, we can’t let Jake know we’re here.”

“I can’t leave her, Xavier.”

He sighed. “Okay, I think I have an idea for getting her back, but you have to trust me and listen to what I say. A wrong move could cost her safety.”

I nodded and waited for Xavier to say more, but a blood-curdling scream commanded my attention. Molly was on her knees, Jake’s hand gripping the back of her neck. Her own hands were tied behind her with rope. The black fog was erupting from the stone angel’s mouth.

Molly’s face was white with pain and confusion, but her eyes fixed intently on Jake. I couldn’t stand to see it. I stumbled out from behind the tombstone, ignoring Xavier’s yell of protest.

“What are you doing?” I screamed. “Stop this! Jake, let her go!” When I looked at Jake’s face, it was distorted with anger. I felt Xavier’s presence by my side. He positioned himself protectively between me and Jake.

Upon seeing him, Jake’s anger seemed to dissipate, and he folded his arms and cocked one eyebrow in an expression of amusement.

“Well, well,” he said. “What have we here? If it’s not the Angel of Mercy and her . . .”

“Molly, get down from there,” Xavier called out, and she obeyed dumbly, too stunned to argue or formulate any sort of response. Jake snarled.