Homeward Bound (Journeyman Book 1) (23 page)

They both ignored the base desire to open the door, turning away to walk deeper into the grotto. Soon they reached a branching corridor with paths heading off to the left, right and center. Ronove headed down the central one and into a small chamber. Stone shelves were carved directly into the walls. Upon them were stoppered flasks and bottles of various colored liquid and in the middle, a stony basin rose from the ground. Its inner surface was smooth as glass.

He walked over to a large round flask of black fluid and unstoppered it, pouring half the container into the basin. It was thick like tar and bubbled once it settled.

“Your hand,” he said, extending his own above the boiling fluid.

Keli followed suit and his hand doubled backwards to seize it. Producing a dagger from beneath his robes, he swiftly cut a gash across her open palm. The blood pooled as she attempted to withdraw, but he kept her firmly in place. It overflowed into the bowl and when the deep crimson hit black, the liquid went clear, swirling like a drain to show them brief glimpses from far off demonic settlements around the world.

Keli proudly observed the forests of Tillamook as the Bigfoot there walked openly amongst her agents –many had assembled for such a rare creature. Their towering frames and dark hair blended seamlessly amongst the surrounding foliage.

The scene whirled to Kenora, Canada where a grizzly sight met their eyes. Emaciated Wendigo were feasting upon still living flesh and Keli did not turn away. Their long tongues lapped up fresh blood and she couldn't help but applaud herself for bringing at least a few of these terrifying beasts to their aide.

The dank cave then spun away, replaced by rapidly shifting images of megalithic ruins, ancient statues, deep mines, and high volcanoes. All were visually striking yet forsaken, as if they sat poised for greatness.

Suddenly the liquid raged and the destitute lands dissolved into an assembly of non-aligned supernatural creatures, gathering under the dappled light of an old barn. At the front of the group, the head vampires of three covens paced.

“Shifting the purpose of the Sight is a dangerous thing, Your Grace,” Ronove chastised. “Do it too often and our eyes will be detected.”

“I know,” she said, “but we have to know what our adversaries are up to. Where is this place?”

Ronove fell quiet, allowing the magic to work its way into his mind. “Durango,” he answered.

“Ah, so they're close then?” she replied.

He nodded.

Rippling once more, she tried to direct the Sight into the Journeymen outposts, but they were blocked from entering by powerful warding. The fluid surged back, spilling over onto the floor; only a thin sliver remained along the bottom of the basin.

She finally thought of Gage and his homestead appeared, quite distant in the shallow pool.

“The Crosse home,” Ronove confirmed. “We cannot yet penetrate any closer than this, but my agents have corroborated that he is there.”

A devilish smile slithered across her face. This was just the news she was waiting for.

“All we need to do now is wait,” she said eagerly.

“Most excellent Your Grace,” Ronove concurred as a lesser came into the room. He approached him, whispering into Ronove’s ear before stepping back a few paces.

“It seems that your quarters are now ready as well,” he informed her. “I can take you there now if -”

A sudden
boom
rattled the chamber, knocking Ronove to the ground. Keli struggled to maintain balance as Agares’ voice echoed throughout the room.

“Keli, my apologies for interrupting you but there is a… situation here that requires your immediate attention.”

“Agares, we need to limit this form of communication! Especially to here! Can you not see to these matters yourself?” she asked sharply, questioning if he could do anything but grovel. “I have only just arrived and -”

“It’s Dajjal,” he cut in, not wanting to waste time mincing words.

Ronove watched Keli vanish in an instant as he rose to his feet, leaving them both alone among the dark rock and stone.

AGARES WAS PACING AMONGST
the dead plants when Keli manifested outside the church.

“Where is he?” she asked hastily.

He stepped out of the blood puddle and quickly led her inside, still barefoot..

They didn't have to wait long. The doors had barely closed when she was addressed.

“Ah you are finally here,” a deep voice rumbled, knocking loose rotten scraps from the timbers above.

“I'd keep you waiting for all eternity if I could,” she answered. “What do you want, filth?”

A giant firestorm erupted in the middle of the church, setting the dark altar alight. It took the shape of a horned skull as she screened her face from the searing heat of the flames.

“Do not continue to toy with me, little girl,” he said with utter malice. “How such a lesser demon, a satyr no less, ever managed to crawl its way out of Hell and even possess a mortal escapes me. Yet, I shall be sure to get those answers. I am the bringer of pain and death, born to make you suffer.”

Keli approached the fires, now swirling in a circle above the altar. What little glass remained in the windows began to melt and flow down the walls as if some enormous candle were weeping.

“I happen to be full of surprises, about as much as you are overblown with hot air, Dajjal,” she replied spitefully. “I intend to keep those secrets to myself as well. Looking at this situation, I see that you are still down there, roasting away in the pits while I’m up here actually getting crap done with our ever growing legions.”

“Forever the peddler of great words and little deeds. I agree that shit is all you have managed to accomplish,” he said with a coldness that could douse any normal fire, yet the hellfire continued to roar.

“You dare speak to me like that? I will show you what I am capable of…” she began.

“No, you unremarkable ass,” he said, cutting her off and making her feel insignificantly small in one fell swoop. “Let me show you.”

A flash of hot silver flew out of the breach with a roar, the spinning razor finding its way across Agares’ neck before gliding back through the portal like a boomerang.

His eyes flashed, widened by an incredible pain. He then crumpled to the floor without a word. There was no blood from the cauterized wound, only death.

“That is but a small taste of my power and it is growing. I will be there soon, Keli,” he warned, “and you are incapable of stopping me. There is nobody there who can.”

A loud crack of thunder shook the entire place and a great gust of wind arose, extinguishing the flames. All went dark, along with part of Keli's confidence
.

Hesitantly, she departed back to the Devil's Highway, leaving Agares’ body alone in the middle of her once sacred sanctuary.

GAGE CONTINUED TO GAWK
in disbelief at the ghostly woman who was standing, well in fact floating, in front of him.

“Mom?” he asked, unable to fully comprehend what he was seeing. It definitely looked like her, but she had youth upon her face. He looked over to Adrienne. “I can’t…”

“Gage,” interrupted Adrienne. “Is that?”

“Yes, it is I,” his mother interrupted mockingly, whilst waving her arms about in a ghostly fashion. “You know, either of you could direct your questions this way. It took me years to work up enough energy to manifest.”

She floated around the two of them, their mouths still agape. “Gage for goodness sake, you’re gonna catch a bunch of flies if you leave it open like that. Now, where was I? Oh yes; manifesting alone takes an incredible amount of power, but then to remotely call a phone by way of the EM spectrum? Outlandish! Yet, I managed to do it and there you stand with your mouths open as if you’ve never even seen a ghost before. I know better than that, or shall I say ‘boo’ to make you feel more at ease?” She shook her head and looked directly at her son. “And Gage, honey, upgrade your phone. There's all sorts of wrong going on in there.”

Adrienne just stood there, staring straight at and through her. She finally closed her lips after the trio stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room for a few more minutes. It was hardly the picture perfect family reunion, but Adrienne finally moved, stepping out from the salt circle while using her shoe to break the solid line.

“My apologies, Mrs. Crosse,” she said. “I… I meant no direct offense when I said I didn’t like ghosts earlier. My name is Adrienne Elkins and it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m a Journeyman based out of Houston, Texas. I came here with Gage to… wait,” she paused, noticing Gage’s mother was taking all this information in without so much as a blink, “do you even know what a Journeyman is?”

She smiled. “Oh I'm
all too familiar
with them, yes, and no offense. I’d hate ghosts too if all I encountered were the tormented spirits that you both do so often.”

“How is that possible?” asked Gage as he trudged out of the circle at last, pausing to take in his mother’s face up close. He reached out to rub her cheek but his fingers fell straight through as if nothing were there. Her feel was notably warmer than the other ghosts he had encountered, but still wet. It was an odd feeling that was, to date, unique to spirits.

“Oh Gage, what on God’s green Earth have you done to yourself?” she asked as her eyes rolled their way up his tattoo sleeve. “You look like a -”

“Thug?” he finished for her, looking over to Adrienne who was already giggling. “I told you she would say that.” He glanced back over to his mom mischievously. “You know, I have a
lot
more of them too,” he teased, raising his eyebrow.

She raised hers in return, indicating who he learned that expression from. “Is that so? Well, good thing you don’t have a brother then, since he would immediately graduate to my favorite right now.”

Adrienne couldn’t help herself and laughed loudly before throwing a hand up to her mouth. She peeked over Gage’s way and found that his still furrowed brow didn’t look all too happy now.

His mom drifted over to the fireplace, looking at its cold hearth. It reminded her of how she had felt the past three years. “I am joking of course,” she said softly, turning back to look at her son. “It is so good to see you again my boy, I can’t even express it. And dear, it is a pleasure to meet you too; Adrienne, was it?”

“Yes ma’am, and the pleasure is all mine,” she said as she took to lighting the fireplace with a lighter out of the satchel.

“My name is Madeline Crosse,” she said, formally introducing herself. “The big lug you’ve brought along as your traveling partner is, as you know, my stubborn son… is he stubborn with you too?”

Adrienne was reluctant to nod, but turned away from Gage and did so meekly.

Madeline laughed. “Not surprised. Somehow, despite Charles’ best efforts, he still ended up in the employ of the Journeymen.” She saw a puzzled look settle on Adrienne’s face as Gage slumped himself onto the sofa, returning his feet to the coffee table.

“Manners,” she said.

Gage shrugged. “Demons and shit tend to pull out your manners and yank ya into the life whether or not ya want it, Mom. So, Dad was a Journeyman?” Gage prodded. “I gotta say, I had no clue.”

“Yes he was,” she said timidly, as if admitting a lie.

Gage bowed his head, “So where is he? I gather from your solo appearance that he’s not here with you.”

“No, he isn’t,” she replied, looking back to the now sputtering hearth, the fire quite pitiful in size. “Sadly, I have no idea where he is. Part of me hoped that he would be here to help explain things, possibly even aid you in a vastly superior capacity than I could, but when I first managed to appear he was nowhere to be found. I was alone and scared, unsure if he was utterly destroyed, sent to Heaven or Hell, or even in the astral plane. For a long time I was unsure I could even contact you. Thank God I did.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here, Mom,” Gage said with relief riding heartache.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Adrienne said, still a bit lost on the conversation. “So, Charles Crosse was part of the Journeymen? I have to admit I’ve never heard of that name before.”