My Demonic Ghost: Banished Spirits (15 page)

I was distracted all throughout the film, barely keeping up with the plot, as basic as it was, excusing myself to go to the bathroom at the halfway point. I lingered outside for a moment, leaning against the wall beside the cinema with my head buried in my hands. I waited a few minutes before I heading toward the bathroom, and then washing my face before returning to my seat. The film didn’t enter my head, not even once.

When the movie was over we decided to go out for some lunch. I felt stupid and annoyed with myself. I just didn’t know why I was so distracted, maybe concern about things at home or that something might be following me, like a Hunter or a Goon? I wasn’t quite sure what was keeping my mind buzzing. It was a lot harder to set foot back into the ‘normal’ world than I had first expected. My eyes moved to the road, watching as my friends darted off ahead of me. I picked up speed trying to catch up, until a scream stopped me in my tracks. My head swung to the side. I saw a woman, her arm pointing out and her lips still open wide in terror. She stood close beside another man, who was stumbling desperately to his feet.

I slowed my pace, paranoid about what they were screaming at. I followed her lifted finger and traced it back to myself, the quickening punch of my heart ringing in alarm. I moved to check behind my shoulder when a heavy crash tackled me to the ground. My head jerked and my hair flew across my face, the weight crashing onto me and pounding me into the gravel. The road scratched my arms as a loud engine roared past, a heavy horn blasting above it. Swarms of hands touched me, lifting me from the ground. The voices of my friends could be heard shrieking in the back ground, calling my name.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” They shook my shoulders as I nodded.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I didn’t see her! Is she okay?” A truck driver wheezed as he jumped out of the vehicle and ran to my side. I blinked slowly; suddenly aware of my near death experience. I could’ve died and everything we’ve tried so hard to achieve would have been ruined in a matter of seconds. Lock would be doomed, my mother devastated, and my soul lost to the hands of Goons and Hunters.

Whoever pushed me had saved a lot more than just my life. 

I glanced around myself, checking for the heroic glow to outline the face, but instead my hero looked at me with a gaze of frustration.

“Lock? What you doing here? I told you to stay at home!” I shouted into the faces of all those staring down at me and they pulled away at once. They all did, that is, except for Lock who brushed his jumper down. His hood had been tipped back, cupping loosely at the crown of his head where his brown hair ruffled out from underneath. He had dark rings under his eyes, and though he wasn’t as white as he was in spirit form, there was still something obviously wrong with him, like he was sick or terribly cold. Lock just didn’t look healthy, normal… living.

“I’m saving your life,” he barked, “Obviously you were never taught to look both ways before crossing the road; or that when someone saves your life you are meant to thank them.”

I clenched my teeth and pulled my face back, “Thanks.” My words were bitter and ungrateful.

“Do you need to go to a hospital?” A woman tapped my shoulder as I turned and smiled politely at her.

“No, no I’m fine. Thank you.”

“This young man is a hero,” another voice cheered, reaching down to touch Lock but he jerked his shoulder away unkindly, away from her hands.

“Rach, you scared us half to death!” A hand turned my head to face her, a familiar face this time, as one of my girlfriends captured me into a hug. Lock lingered close to my side, pressing against me as the people moved in swarms around us both.

Jessie, one of my friends called up above the rest of the murmurs, the crowd now breaking away, “Do you know each other?” I ushered us off the road and onto the footpath.

Lock followed, standing close to my side, hiding back underneath his hood.

“Ah, this is my friend Lock, from Whitehaven. Lock, these are my school mates.” I cleared my throat and pointed to them as I spoke their name; each of them scanned him briefly and exchanged curious glances with each other. He didn’t look normal.

“You’re from Whitehaven too? You’re far away from home, why are you in the city?” Danielle asked.

“I’m actually a family friend of Rachael’s. My family moved back a few days ago.” He spoke so confidently that even I nearly believed him. He was handsome and held a charm about him that was too irresistible to ignore; all that he was missing was a pulse and a couple of more years.

“Ah, it’s not that important anyway. He’s just some kid that I know.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lock’s head lowering as I spoke. Was what I said wrong? The girls smiled and nodded as if they believed me. I glanced over at him, but Lock’s head was turned the other away, looking out down the street and fidgeting with the deep pockets of his jumper. The sun was warm against my back.

“I better get going; I’ll see you guys later, anyway…”I lead Lock away as I waved behind my shoulder to the others.

Lock crossed the road first; I caught up with him once we were both on the foot path and out of the others’ sight. I grabbed a handful of his shirt, pulling him to a stop.

“Hang on Lock. I just wanted to say thank you… properly.” The words felt cold against my mouth, like I was smoothing ice cubes along my lips and tongue. I shouldn’t have yelled at him like that, especially since he risked hurting himself to safe me.

“Well, you’re not much use to me dead now are you?” he muttered back, still keeping his eyes glued to the concrete. If my words were cold, then his were like an ice storm. He needed me to be alive; it’s different from wanting me to be alive.

“Right…” This boy in front of me, in all of his splendour and grace; how could I have been such a fool as to imagine anything more than being convenience for him? I wasn’t anything special, wasn’t the smartest person, wasn’t the prettiest or the funniest. We both knew that. Just looking at me, I scream ordinary. “But can I ask you something else?” He nodded. “How… how did you know where I was? Were you following me?”

His shoulders moved, awkward and uncomfortable as if the air its self was poking through the fabric and into his skin.

“I… I did but I don’t know why. I just keep thinking you’re going to get hurt, or there’s a Hunter or, I dunno... I can’t help myself.” The stillness in the air became like glass, the voices of the outside world vanished, and everything, except his body, standing only inches from my own, was unreal. How easy would it be to just reach out and take a hold of his hand?

“You mean… like the Banished spirit protection? Don’t worry I kind of understand. I’m your Host right, you need me to survive so…” My smile was weak and my voice was low.

“Umm…” He glanced up slowly, “Rach… What am I to you?”

What am I to you?
I went silent, absorbing his words, watching the shimmering wet veil over his eyes sinking into my own. I was captivated in their web; the points where one shade of green smudged over into the other, like water dribbling down a rocky waterfall and into a pond completely filled with padded lilies.
What am I to you?
This question, it was easier to answer than I had first guessed, so simple that I couldn’t catch myself before I let the truth spill from my lips.

“Everything.”

My answer caught him off guard, judging by the way everything about him tightened; his shoulders, his chest, his neck and lips, his eyes and fingers twitching at his side. As if a chink had formed in his armour, a small glimpse of him appeared in front of me just like in the alleyway as he bit into his smile and coughed. It sounded like a choke, like holding back bubbling laughter or stifling a cry. He was smiling, teeth and all appearing behind the fold of his lips, where a set of dimples curved delicately alongside his grin.

“Heh, you’re such a dork.”

I did feel like a dork, but I wasn’t upset that I that he called me one or that I had said it. It was good. This feeling was good, as if a heavy weight in my chest had been shattered and lifted into the free space above me; even if it was only a one way feeling, I didn’t mind. Because he was here with me now and I would do my best to help him. After admitting to it out loud, I felt that I could take on the world with my bare hands. Everything was going to be alright somehow. His hand reached out, taking mine. He whispered as we continued to walk, his fingers so delicate yet firm intertwined with mine, “Yeah...me too.”

We headed towards the apartment, stopping at the street corner where I glanced over to see people milling around the large central park on the opposite end of the curb. The sun was weak, but strong enough to coat the grass with a subtle shine. There was one particular couple that I noticed walking along the footpath. Their faces were turned to each other, wrinkled with the lift of their smiles and their steps were slow and small, as though time didn’t exist in their world.

A frown crept across my face and my grip tightened, Lock glancing back over his shoulder before following my gaze to the couple before I could shake my head away. He knew as well as I did, that he would never reach that age, never reach beyond what he is now, and that their future was not for us.

He wouldn’t grow up, he wouldn’t learn wisdom, not have the experiences of the world and life that I would. Sure, we’re two years apart now, but I’ll only get older and older whereas he’ll stay this age for all eternity. This thing we have, there’s no chance for us. He was dead and I wasn’t. Even if I did die, if that truck had hit me and turned my body to paste, even then we wouldn’t be together because the Goons and Hunters would tear us apart. And who is to say these feelings would be carried across with me when I die? I would be a Banished spirit, too, and my only interest would be to find a Host, a Host of my own.

I lowered my head. Neither of us said a word. 

Lock took my elbow, hurrying me along. “I don’t like being out here… I can feel them watching me.”

I glanced around. The streets were empty of demons, nothing except houses and cars. But I wouldn’t let my guard down; it’s their speciality to move undetected. As far as I know, in every shadow waited death and every light sounded the alarm.

Chapter Sixteen:

Night came just as quietly as an outside breeze and soon we were huddled together in the living room, waiting for the sun to completely die out behind the buildings. Eric and Jake were with me and Nail’s Host Melanie, too, of course. We talked about everything other than the Banished spirits, and once the sun had disappeared I stood and flicked off the switch. In the blink of an eye, sitting perfectly in between us as if they had been there the entire time, Howl, Betrayal and Nails appeared, mixing within the shadows. It was a shock to see the brilliant eyes of the Banished sparkling in the darkness. Lock and I stepped into the centre of the room, hands held out and lips posed ready to call Mother forth when we were interrupted by abrupt rapping at the door.

The knocks were too urgent to just ignore, so I called out in a weary chirp, scared that my mother’s voice would be on the other end. Instead, a male’s tone beckoned for approval to come in. He straight out admitted to having a Banished soul with him, one named Rope, instructing me to pass the name on to the others inside. This happened a few more times, about four other Hosts joined us in my apartment, decreasing the room space dramatically, but no spirit agreed to leave or keep their Host outside.

There was Rope, an older gentleman with a leather vest and a nasty rope burn ringed around his wrinkled neck. His head rested at an awkward slope against his shoulder as if it had become detached. His Host was close to his age, male as well, and red in the face. Rope’s eyes were the familiar colour of brown, so close to Gluttony’s in colour that I nearly dry retched remembering our visit to her. He was a quiet spirit, more than happy to sit in the corner with crossed legs and simply watch.

Another Spirit, a teenage girl dressed in dark gothic clothes had long, miscoloured dreadlocks falling around her face, was named Cult. She stood in the corner by herself, as motionless as a wax figure. Her Host, a female in her 50’s sat alone as well, but nowhere near Cult. She looked dazed, as if she was living off drugs.

Cult’s eyes matched her face. She had fiery red eyes that only intensified her rage. Standing beside her was a business man, a spirit who called himself Booze, who looked so tired that he could pass out and drop to the floor at any second. His eyes were grey, that same pasty grey I had seen on the man in the train carriage. Close to him, sitting by his feet like an obedient pet, was his Host, a woman in her early 20’s.

Lastly there was one more teenage boy, handsome but street tough, his vibrant eyes had the same yellow gleam as Howl’s. He gave Howl a one handed hug and pat on the back in greeting. Howl called him Rip and invited him to the front of the group along with his hesitant Host, who was eyeing the door with an urge to run.

I looked at Lock as he moved towards Betrayal, pulling her down so he could hiss into her ear.

“Who are these people? And what are they doing here?”

“I dunno. Friends of Howl’s, I think.” She, too, shot the extending crowd a worried glance.

Howl walked over, laughing awkwardly, “Don’t worry, these guys are my friends. They overheard me mention Lock’s plan and wanted in on the free deal.”
Free deal?

“Overheard?”

“Well, I only planned on telling Rip but why not help everyone?”

“Never thought of you as being the caring type.”

I turned to Betrayal, looking across the seemingly packed living room, “How many Banished spirits are there in the world, exactly?”

“Countless,” Betrayal laughed.

“Then, if there are so many, how come no one has ever discovered you guys before?”

“We never used to show ourselves to our Hosts. You know when you get the shivers out of nowhere? That’s usually us passing by, but once we heard about the Staff, we needed help from our Hosts to find it. But it’s no problem; we can control the Hosts and if necessary, we can also have their minds wiped clean.”

I moved my attention swiftly through the new faces.  “Everyone has such strange coloured eyes…”

“You know that old saying,” Nail’s voice startled me as she peered over my shoulder; “the window into one’s soul is through their eyes… Banished spirits are humiliated by the fact that the worst sins of our human life are so publicised. These colours reveal to everyone our greatest faults, seven sins…seven different eye colours.”

I glanced over at Rope who had brown eyes just like Gluttony. I couldn’t deny it; that bloated patch of mud in his eyes resembled Gluttony’s presence perfectly, yet the copy was not as powerful as the real thing. Rope licked each fingertip as if he were touching his last meal and rubbed contently across his belly.
How sad, to have your faults as your only memory…

“I guess it can’t be helped,” Nails sighed as Lock growled and sighed too, returning to his spot in the vacant floor next to Betrayal and I. He held out his hands, palm flat and fingers spread wide as I mimicked him carefully. The same stretch of black began creeping across the floors and walls. Mother appeared momentarily, snapping her bones and ripping through the shadow sac that carried her. The new spirits flinched at the sight of the seven armed serpent woman, their Hosts taking cautious steps back. Lock held a dagger ready in his hand, running the sharpened spike along the tips of his fingers. The black and gold blade was covered in a rusty brown stain, no doubt the ooze from Gluttony’s side where Lock attacked her.
Six more to go.

I guess no matter how many times one would look upon the form of Mother; your throat would always pinch closed at the mere sight of her. I choose a new mask and watched Mother slip it over her watery face. The cracking of her shifting bones echoed and the darkness opened its mouth to swallow us up.

The darkness faded to a soft baby blue and my hands shot up instinctively to cover my nose. Thankfully no smell knocked me down. The room had shifted without us being fully aware of the changes; it was here one second and became this new world in the next. It was like a moving shadow that shifts underneath you with the gradual roll of the sun, it just changes. We were greeted by a dense forest and an even thicker weight of fog sitting on our heads. Above us, a layer of grey clouds completing the sky’s face, raining down drizzles of cold spit, the haze was so thick it was difficult to see past one’s own toes. We quickly moved closer together, hands held out and fingers stretched in an attempt to touch as much as we could.

Ba-Boom…
“What was that?” I shivered as my entire body became rigid, the trembles sprinting up from my feet where the vibration of the earth’s heavy heartbeat moved underneath me. I glanced at Lock, standing only a few steps away, but only his outline could be interpreted.

“Guys….” I whispered, making sure that they weren’t leaving me behind.

“Come Rachael, we have only until dawn to do this…” Betrayal’s voice cut short as a distant screech broke through the mist clouding in on us. I jumped again and wanted so desperately to cling to someone, to anyone. “Let’s just do this quickly,” she finished. We continued to walk, carefully as if there were land mines underneath our feet, us all except for Betrayal who was hovering above the ground. 

My head was burning with strain as I stretched my eyes and squinted into the distance, into the blanket of smog that settled upon the air like airborne snowflakes. There was a steady
Ba-Boom
of the ground breathing; each gulp pulsating under the dirt every fifteen minutes, just like clockwork.

“Listen, I’m going to go on ahead and check out what’s out there. You think you can manage not to getting killed while I’m gone?” Betrayal’s voice spoke up from in front of me. I faintly heard Lock’s grunt a little further up beyond Betrayal, which only made me feel more uncomfortable. They were getting farther and farther away from me. I jumped at the snap of every twig, the rustle of leaves made by Lock or the Sin, or even just the passing breeze. The air its self was dragging my body down, trying to smother me back into the murkiness collecting at my heels.

Lock took my hand tenderly before giving me a reassuring squeeze. I hadn’t seen him approach and the touch startled me. He was close, so close that I had to lean my head back to stop my exhaling breath from blowing into his eyes.

“Rach,” I could see the faint, clouded image of his face smiling at me, “Right now, no matter what, you cannot let go of my hand.”

He gave me another squeeze, his slender fingers pressing into my palms. We walked forward, Lock pulling me behind him with every step. My hand was on fire. The fear of being eaten was replaced by the fear of tripping and crushing Lock underneath me.
Oh no! I hope my palm isn’t sweaty
.

Ba-Boom…
The heartbeat moved below us again, another 15 minutes. I glanced down, expecting to see the dirt ripple like a wave when I accidently walked into the back of Lock with my head still bowed. I glanced up awkwardly at the impact.

A ghostly grey silhouette was standing in front of us, her large cloud of hair sitting in thick knotted curls from her shoulders down to the middle of her back. I inspected her closer to find out that she wasn’t so much standing as she was leaning in the curve of a tree branch, her back arched in a perfect bend with it as her legs, slender and bare swung effortlessly below. Her body was distorted through the bulk of the mist but her eyes, those grey smothering hues, shone through like fog lights. This must be the Sin.  Then, in a second, she was gone. It took one blink, just one.

“Did you see her?” I whispered. Lock nodded his head and I felt his hair move against my nose. I was too close again. He had his blade out, clenching the handle so hard that it trembled under the pressure.

“Where’s Betrayal?”

The forest was so still it swallowed his words instantly, as though he hadn’t spoken at all. Unexpectedly, a soft whisper rode on the waves of air and blew gentle breaths against our ears. She appeared again, this grey woman, yet this time stood a bit further back, running her hands up the base of a tree trunk. She was laughing before she disappeared. “Damn… BETRAYAL?” Lock called as he dropped my hand, moving forward.

There was no answer, nothing but the same motionless forest staring back with its deafening silence.

“Lock, we should wait for Betrayal to return. It’ll be safer…”

“We can’t… we can’t wait…”
Ba-Boom
“We’re taking too long…”

“So what? Last time we rushed things and we nearly got killed…”

“If we don’t get out of the Sin world before the sun rises we’ll be stuck in here forever. Didn’t I tell you that already?” his voice snapped.

“Wha-What? No you forgot to mention that!” I snapped back. “Why don’t we just head back to Mother before time runs out and try again tomorrow night?”

“That’s against the rules. We have to visit the sins in order. We can’t just pick the same one again and again…”

The leaves rustled against each other to my left at the same moment as the woman’s voice beckoned me from the right, appearing and disappearing in rapid succession. She was playing with us and Lock was quickly losing his temper. He kept stepping forward, farther and farther out of my reach at each of the Sin’s baiting. I grabbed hold of his sleeve.
Ba-Boom
tickled past our feet. I felt it through Lock’s clothes when his shoulders suddenly tensed, his neck jerking sharply to the right.

“Got cha-”

My fingertips slipped free as the warmth of Lock’s shirt was ripped from my hands. He dashed forward madly, way beyond my reach. My feet moved on their own, my knees knocking together weakly; the smog felt thicker and heavier with Lock’s absence. The spreading haze overwhelmed my senses, turning the sky into ground and moving the dirt from underneath me and into air. I couldn’t keep myself from tripping, catching myself on outstretched arms before my face hit the ground. The dirt felt moist on my bare palms. I couldn’t grab the breath to call for help, I couldn’t breathe.