Chapter Two:
When You Can’t Sleep at Night
Nicodemus
Before I knew it, I was standing in the middle of a meadow. The sky above was painted a fascinating blue, with airy white clouds dancing around one another due to the somewhat daunting wind. The walkway beneath me was made of a rich and ancient stone, and lead to a fountain that glistened in the bright sun. It shone down on the almost clear waves, warming the water to the point that I wanted to jump in. Had this been my first time having this dream I would have done so, but I was all too familiar with the beautiful scenery.
I had this dream twice a year; once on my birthday and once in the spring, April fifteenth to be exact. It was something I had almost begun to look forward to, and yet, I could never stop the coming events from happening. It was like clockwork; a demented rhythm or rhyme that was an unbreakable part of my reality, and one I would apparently be living through again tonight.
Beyond the fountain was a gorgeous, fully bloomed cherry blossom tree, with a marble bench beneath it. Falling petals swept across the stone ground, somersaulting through the currents as they made their way down the path to brush along my legs. The sound of the water trickling was magnetizing, and I ran my fingers through the cool pool with a smile.
A boy around the age of eighteen was sitting on the bench below the tree, with one leg flat against the top, and the other bent so he could lay his chin on his knee. His gaze was fixed to a sketchbook his pencil was moving across, and he was completely unaware of the world around him. His hair, a rich dark brown that caught chestnut highlights whenever the Sun grazed it, was tucked behind his right ear so he could see what he was working on without interruption. He wore nothing more than a grey zip up sweatshirt with some type of logo on the front pocket, and black jeans and sneakers.
His pencil paused when he heard me walk towards the fountain, and when his gaze met mine, his penetrating eyes filled with wonder. They were as gold as my mothers, and yet somehow shined brighter, as if they were made from the actual resource itself. The way they glittered in the sunlight was unnatural, yet mesmerizing. Every detail of his face was etched into my mind after so many years, but I never grew tired of seeing it. The wind carried more petals through the courtyard, and as they passed him on their way to the ground, my heart fluttered a thousand times a minute. We couldn’t look away from one another, nor did we want to.
I took another step forward and began to reach out, my lips moving to begin forming his name. I never remembered what his name was, but every year it seemed to flow from me confidently as if I had known it my whole life. His smile filled the atmosphere, and he dropped the pencil to slide off the bench and meet me halfway. The pencil, instead of lying flat, began to roll off the bench, and fell with a deafening ‘tink’ to the stone.
As soon as it hit the ground, the stone beneath me shattered into thousands of pieces, stopping just at the point that he had set his foot down. My stomach dropped as the void beneath us swallowed me whole, and made the boy yell something unintelligible as he slid on his knees to reach for me. Our fingertips barely brushed before he realized it was too late, and tears ran down his cheeks as he continuously cried out for me. I couldn’t hear anything he said, or remember what I yelled back, but all I knew was for the seventeenth year in a row I was forced to fall into that never-ending abyss. My heart shattered as I watched the boy desperately scream what I assumed was my name, and claw to try and catch me, with the gold of his eyes slowly dissipating as the void reformed to close him off from me once again.
There was a very stark difference to the dream this time around, though. Not only was it not my birthday, but it was also May; why was I having this dream again?
╪
The babbling brook carried a freezing current over sharp rocks and other debris, where it collected at the edge of a quaint yet steep waterfall. Water spilled down the cliffside and splashed methodically into a small lake, whose waves licked a thin sand shore to breathe life into the plants colonizing around its edge. Nearby animals, which mainly consisted of deer and rabbits, took turns lapping up the cool waves before running back to their dens, attempting to escape the frigid air that crept down from the passing night sky.
The only light to fill the quiet forest came from the rising Sun cast overhead, and soon, a feeble flicker of my old flashlight. I trudged down the moist landscape as best I could, my boots making wet squish sounds whenever they hit a new puddle of mud. When we came to the edge of the brook, Claude paused and shook his head sadly, sighing to himself. (I hate the ones like this…) He whispered before moving to kneel in the sand beside the body floating in the waves.
The girl seemed to be around twenty; the absolutely freezing water was crawling up the back of her legs to crash over her waist, while the wet sand cradled her splayed arms and torso. Her face was buried in a mixture of cold grass and broken twigs, with her black hair soaked and stuck to every ounce of flesh it could wrap itself around. “No obvious signs of death,” I mumbled curiously as I crouched beside him, and used a stick to move some of her hair aside.
Claude surveyed the corpse before tsking slightly and clicking his pen. He combed through a flurry of dense paperwork, mumbling under his breath. [She’s not in there, Claude!] Alice snapped for the fourth time that morning.
(She has to be, they all are. Did you even check these records?) He barked back.
Alice glared at her husband intently, but attempted to stay calm so the argument wouldn’t escalate further. [I checked them a hundred times! Not a single Human was supposed to die in this town for months. I have no clue where she came from. I mean, she seems like a normal case? Why wouldn’t she show on our list? I can’t pinpoint anything particularly special about her…?]
I pressed my hand to the girl’s neck, then moved up to her jaw line. My fingers parted a section of her soaked hair and attempted to turn her over, but she was too stuck in the sand for it to be an easy task. “Don’t feel a pulse, much less see any movement. How peculiar; we should take this one to Dad.”
(We’re not allowed to take their physical bodies back, you know that. Besides, he told you to solve the issue, so it’s our job to solve it.) Claude said sternly.
“Well, I’ve never seen one that had no pulse yet didn’t show on the reaping list, have you? This one will end up as a Jane Doe I'm sure; someone would have come looking for her if she was an abduction case or something like that. Law enforcement will pick her apart, declare it a drowning, then dump her in the morgue to crisp her up anyway.” I snorted matter-of-factly.
Jackson added within my head since I was borrowing his eyes. It was the only way I was able to see for the short amount of time I could, which meant one Shadow Walker had to sit out every time we went exploring.
I ran my fingers down the marks in surprise, “So they are. You guys are sure she doesn’t have a name? I’ve never seen one without a name, but I’m a lot younger and inexperienced then you all, so it’s best if I make sure…”
{We’re positive. What an odd way to start off a case.} May said mostly to herself as she walked up the shoreline from investigating under the water.
A beat of silence passed before I knelt down and carefully began to drag the girl upward. Her frozen legs creepily emerged from the water and hung like dead weeds as I carefully turned her around to lay her on her back, so we could get a good look at her face. “I have a theory; Dad said that Humans killed by demons are prone to flying under Reapers radars for a hot minute, since they are used for food at a later date. The demon masks their soul from Reapers so it can feed, which would explain why she’s not on our list.” I gestured to the marks on her neck again, “That being said, I also don’t think these prints are from hands. She has lacerations all over her torso and neck, but only at the vital points. This thing knows how to kill, and laying her face down was no coincidence. It was hoping she would be here long enough for the skin to heal and for her death to be perceived as a drowning.” I proudly declared.
(How could a dead body heal?) Claude sniffed.
“Well, almighty one,” I teased, standing, and pulling my journal from my backpack. I flipped through the numerous pages and pointed to my notes, “Those markings fall in line with a sealing bond, a preserve one, nonetheless. I think whoever this demon is leaves this to make sure the body is fresh for it to return to. Not a soul stealer but a flesh one, so it must be some type of animal. It doesn’t want to go back to spoiled meat, or leave a trail that other Humans can follow, so it does this to keep it’s meals nice and chewy. The soul probably got trapped due to the bond, so as soon as we kill the demon, she’ll be released when the marks expire.”
I slapped my journal closed with a proud smile, “We should hit the road now before it attacks again. I think I have an idea of where to find our demon friend.”
╪
The air was frigid with an icy chill the rain had brought with it. My boots sunk into the deepening mud as I quietly trekked through the dense trees, almost completely silent as I attempted to scope out any abnormalities in the atmosphere. I kept shivering from the bracing wind, but did my best to keep an even pace so we could tail this demon and keep the nearby Humans safe.
Claude manifested beside me as I paused between a break in the trees, placing a hand on the stump to keep myself steady. His dirty blonde hair was swept back over the black eyes all Shadow Walkers bore, though his were always serious and commanding. He slid a hand into his pocket and leaned on one leg, scoffing once, (Any idea what we’re looking for here? Even if it’s just some sort of class? This is worse than a needle in the haystack.)
“Thank you, Debby Downer, for your incredible insight,” I teased, which made him roll his eyes at my tone.
[Knowing Atlas it’s something worse,] Alice mocked as she returned from scouting the tree line, [I haven’t felt any presence of dark souls for a forty mile radius. Whatever this thing is, is definitely not a Human turned demon.]
“Could be hunting down its next meal, so it’s cloaking,” I commented.
{I suggest we head into town, then. There’s a small cluster of homes on the other side of the fence; no more than thirty families and a couple of general stores. If I were a demon, that would be the perfect snack.} May added as she pointed to the horizon.
“Hence why I thought of this place to begin with. Alice, you and Jackson scout ahead, see if you can sense any weird energies in the town. May, stay a few feet behind me as a Shadow so no one suspects anything. Claude, I'm going to borrow your eyes so I can try and find some promising prospects. I doubt we’ll be seeing our demon just yet, so we’ll have time to recharge after the fifteen minutes is up. I’ll talk with the locals and see if anyone’s found or heard anything disturbing lately.” I explained as I nodded to the somewhat bustling streets across the field.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
[Sounds like a plan to me,] Alice said before she and Jackson dissipated. Claude winked before melding his consciousness with mine, which made the world appear to me once again. I blinked a few times to soak up my new surroundings before sighing, thanking him, and taking off towards town. May sunk into the ground, where her body had turned into a black shadow that slithered across the grass after me. To a Human, it would look as if I were casting a normal shadow in the light, but little did they know what was actually following me.
The town itself was too small to even call a village, but it did in fact hold a handful of stores and a coffee shop. Kids were bouncing around the sidewalks as they chased one another, and the adults were talking outside the church. I felt every set of eyes bearing down on me as I strolled down the sidewalk, which was not uncommon. Being a strange kid with silver eyes usually called attention in most situations. It didn’t help that the Humans had just left morning service, so they were very much aware of this strange new presence in their town.
Over the past five hundred years, a new religion named Proles Deorum had begun to rule the Human Realm, which centered around the belief that the universe was governed by Elemental Gods after all. Much like Paganism, but with a new name to not deter newcomers. The current Gods wanted Human belief to start turning to them once again, so they began to plant the seeds that blossomed into a common religion that the Gods wanted all Humans to eventually follow. The Bible had now become Lex Deorum, or The Law of the Gods, and ruled the stained glass churches that now depicted symbols for each of the seven Gods.
Proles Deorum stood for the Children of the Gods, and since it’s integration, worship had reached many sides of the world. This new religion did not end wars amongst Humans, bring peace, and or end segregation the way the Gods had hoped, but it did serve as stepping stones as Humans began to explore the real creators of their reality. Because Humans were now aware of the existence of Elementals, they seemed to be able to pick us out of a crowd much easier; especially ones who’s physical appearance gave it away so blatantly. This meant I had to be very keen about who was watching me at all times, as Elementals were still instructed to distance themselves from Humans as much as possible regardless of the knowledge of our existence. Luckily for me no one wanted to play twenty questions, so I was able to get by easily.
I ended up slipping inside the general store to try and seek out a willing local, but only a girl and her uncooperative mother were present. The clerk was a teenage boy who popped his gum loudly, and was not interested in entertaining my existence as I approached the counter with a honey bun. “That all?” He said as he looked me up and down intently. His soul, a deflated throbbing within his chest, was a hazy grey, meaning that as of right now, he most likely would make it to Caelum, but he had done a few questionable things that he would benefit making up for.
“Yes, thanks.” I replied, trying to ignore the throbbing ringing in my ears from his soul. It was hard to drown out the hum, especially amongst this many Humans.
“Never seen you round here before; did you just move in?” He continued, typing the price into his manual cash register.
Claude abruptly took his eyes back and flashed away as an orb, leaving me blind, but I knew what direction to look in so the boy wouldn’t notice. “Staying with some family is all. Needed some fresh air for a bit.” I casually responded.
“Who are your folks?” He pressed suspiciously.
(Thomas Eckles; old man no one talks to that lives on Beaver Creek.) Claude hissed within my head, returning as the orb to enter my body, and then my subconscious once more.
“Thomas Eckles is my grandfather; he’s letting me stay for the weekend in exchange for helping fix up his kitchen. He’s getting too old to travel into town for the equipment, so I offered to help him out.” I lied smoothly.
The kid handed me back my change, “Figures the weird kid would be related to that old coot. Fence that guy in while you’re here; he always causes trouble when he comes by. Something about birch beer…” As he spoke, a group of people walked into the store behind us. The only reason they caught my attention was because of the thick Elemental energy they oozed, which took my breath away slightly when it entered my own energy field. They were two men and two teenage boys, who paused when they entered to turn and stare at my back. In the reflection of a pocket mirror sitting on the counter, I saw that one of the men had deep red eyes and brown hair that was long at the top and cut short on the sides. A perfectly manicured thin beard covered his intense jawline, and he wore nothing more than a tank top and jeans even though it was freezing outside.
The other man had neon yellow eyes and the same mahogany hair my father and I shared, which was swept behind his ears in a tiny bun at the nape of his neck. He had an eyebrow arched as he studied me, and when he nudged the other man with him, the two mumbled back and forth in a tone that made their teenage companions slink a step backwards. I had no clue who they were, but I knew I needed to get out of that store, fast. The cashier tapped the counter, breaking me out of my trance abruptly, “Hey, you good? Need anything to bring back to the old guy?”
“Oh, uh, no thanks. Appreciate it!” He raised an eyebrow as I went to turn and head for the door. Just as my foot hit the ground, the tile underneath it rumbled deeply, and made everyone in the store fall dead quiet. I held my breath as the vibrations grew more and more violent, making a few boxes of cereal tumble off the shelf beside the mother and her child. “Gehenna of a truck coming by, eh?” The cashier scoffed to himself.
A loud crash erupted outside, followed by a horrific demonic howl that shook the town to the core. [It’s hunting during the day?!] Alice cried as she manifested beside me.
{It’s hunting an entire town, more like it! This thing must be big trouble!} May said.
People began screaming bloody murder as whatever was making the noise sent a car flying through the main doors of the general store, which shattered into a million pieces. Everyone inside was violently thrown towards the back office, where weak coughs and more terrified cries echoed. The two men from earlier moved to comfort the Humans in the store, who were thankfully safe; I scrambled up and darted to the windows, yelping at the shape crawling from a large crack in the ground. “It’s a Cerberus….” I whispered in horror.
The three headed monstrosity let out a demonic howl, sniffing wildly for the scent of its prey. It caught sight of two little kids hiding behind a trash can and crouched into a hunter’s stance, flicking its tail methodically as it crept towards the terrified children. “You’re not planning on going after that thing, are you!?” The cashier cried to me, which made the group inside the store with us turn in shock.
“Watch me,” I snapped, holding my arm out as my scythe began to appear. My arm trembled at the release of energy I was forcing; I sucked in a pain filled wheeze before it finally appeared fully, falling into my grasp. I took one slow breath before darting out the doors and threw the parking lot, throwing my hood up and swinging the scythe. It slammed into the first of the Cerberus’s head, which made it screech bloody murder and smash backwards into the ground. The kids screamed and ran towards the church, where their parents were holding open a storm cellar door, and luckily got them inside safely.
I slid back a bit and began shouting a Latin spell that made the ground shake wildly. A white ring appeared, and finally, energy from the Shadow Realm coursed through my veins so I could continue to fight in the Human Realm properly, and make it impossible for Humans to use their cell reception. It was a dangerous move to try and open a portal, since Fido could use the goods coming from it as well, but I need some type of energy to help my with the fight. [Get that thing to the field! We’ll keep the Humans back until it’s safe!] Alice barked as I conjured a barrier made of black smoke. It swallowed the town around us, putting the Humans into a brief sleep while I took care of the demon.
“Was planning on it!” I sarcastically called back before whistling loudly, which made the Cerberus turn and growl violently. “When he said demon, I didn’t think he meant a head honcho!” I snapped, yelping and taking off back towards the forest as the monster bellowed after me. May threw up a giant wall of ice between the field and town to keep the Cerberus from turning back around, and Jackson fortified it with thick vines he had been using to tie the doors closed of buildings Humans had fled into.
The Cerberus leapt and soared through the air above me before crunching down on the muddy field, throwing it’s jaws open to bare thousands of teeth with my name written all over them. I spun on my heel before kicking one of its noses hard, which made the head snap back enough for the creature to summersault into the trees. “I can only keep a barrier around this town for thirty minutes, and only have Claude’s sight for another five, so let’s make this count!” I yelled to my Shadows as I whipped my scythe around three times before slamming it into the ground, making a violent rumble echo through the space.
A crack leading to the Shadow Realm began to form as the Cerberus stood and began running after me again, screaming loud cries of anger. I jumped up and shot back down to the Earth, slicing one head of the creature clean off before skidding back across the meadow to gain distance between me and the angered puppy. It howled an unholy cry before darting forward, snapping its jaws wildly while blood spewed from its open wound. I shot my scythe up as its teeth came down, which snapped around the handle rabidly. It barked at me with violent, saliva-soaked snarls, which made me wince worriedly as it got closer to my face. I slammed my foot into the ground to help hold my place as the thing pushed me backwards, trying to break the unbreakable scythe in half as it did.
Alice inhaled deeply before exhaling a stream of burning hot fire, which blinded one of the heads and scared the other enough to loosen their grip. This caused me to be able to slip out from underneath and skid to her side, where I nodded gratefully as she winked. May took over and sent a blinding array of icicles directly into the demon’s chest, which made it collapse briefly so I could get back within the circle of my Shadows. I thought I had gotten away safely, but the Cerberus’s tail whipped around and grabbed my boot, dragging me across the mud towards the snapping jaws of the hungry demon. I wriggled wildly to try and break the bind its tail had on my leg, and swore to myself as I thought of how to get out of this unscathed. Just before the Cerberus clamped down on my neck, I found an opening and sliced up, taking the last two heads off the creature. Its body flopped backwards before hitting the ground and sliding into the crack I had created.
I stood, panting wildly, as blood spilled down the sides of my face from both the Cerberus and my wounds. The crack sealed automatically, satisfied with what I offered it, and the field fell silent once more. I looked to the sky and let out a soft laugh, coughing once from the sudden release of energy. “Round one, Dad.” I teased, turning to my Shadows with a blood-soaked smile.
(Just in time as well,) Claude commented as my vision went black, and he appeared beside Alice and May, (Though, I'm getting tired of having to sit these out!)
“Fix my eyes then, Punk,” I laughed, high fiving all four before sighing, “Let’s clean this up and erase the Humans’ memories before heading home. I think I need some ice cream and a long nap after this one.”
I went to turn towards the town as a set of footsteps crunched across the tree branches that had broken during my fight, which became the only sound in the field. I froze violently, as did my Shadows, but they retreated into my head as the group of Elementals from the store broke through the tree line. Though I could no longer see them, I could feel them, and knew the yellow eyed one had stepped forward to address me; I knew this based on his explosive and tingly aura. “Young man…?” He stiffly called into the frozen air.
I stayed still, but flicked my eyes side to side to try and sense if there was an easy escape, only to find they too had put a barrier around the town. The energy pulsing from it was stronger than any I had every felt, and since yellow eyes was most definitely an Electricity Elemental, I knew Claude and I would only get fried trying to fight through the seal since we weren’t strong enough to combat this amount of energy.
I swallowed hesitantly and let my scythe handle touch the ground as a sign I didn’t intend to fight. The man took another step forward and addressed me again, “Some spectacle that was, killing a Cerberus at your age. We’ve been tracking that thing for quite some time, and I'm admittedly a little sour about missing the chance to bring him to Atlas myself.”
“What do you want?” I hissed defensively, which made his kind tone drop.
Red eyes came forward now, his voice filled with acid as he spoke, “No one had made us aware that there were Elemental children in this neck of the woods, let alone ones who can kill Cerberus’s alone. Fact in that I know for certain I saw more than two Shadow Walkers with you, and we are more than beyond curious. I would hope you would have an inkling of who we are, and would be willing to introduce yourself as well,” he sternly demanded.
Yellow eyes brushed red eyes back, and took another step towards me. When he saw me tense up he paused, knowing not to try and come closer. “We are the Gods of Electricity and Fire, young man, and we are not asking, but telling you, to inform us of who you are.”
(Fuck…) Claude whispered in my head, (Nick, you need to listen to them…?)
My stomach did a somersault, but only a fool would test these men any further than I already had. I swallowed hard, and clenched my scythe with trembling fingertips, “My name is Nicodemus… Nicodemus Crawford. Nice meeting you, gentlemen.” I simply responded.
“Crawford?!” Red eyes shot back, so violently that I jumped.
Alice gave me her eyes this time, allowing me a chance to see what I could be facing head on. I slowly turned to the group, which made the two men gasp softly when they saw my face full on. I raised an eyebrow at the two; yellow eyes scoffed and backed up a step in horror.
When I got a good look at his own face, a sense of familiarity made my blood run cold. His features were so similar to my father’s that is was undeniable that the two weren’t related, and both of us were very aware of this. He looked like he had seen a ghost, and kept taking steps back to distance himself from me. “You, you look just like my…?”
“Like Atlas…?” Red eyes croaked.