I pull into my driveway and head inside, glancing in every direction as I do. Once I’m through the door, there is a greeting called out to me from the kitchen.
“Hey Mike, how's it goin–g” Vithar, my roommate, asks me. I say roommate, but I more mean, 'live in guest.' He is a tall, thin red-headed ex-wizard currently hiding out from the wizard's guild branch here. He is the reason I was able to catch Christine. It cost him everything to do it, too. After an unfortunate backfire from a divination spell, he had visions that stuck with him, and he came to find me to warn me. He saved a lot of lives, but he helped a demonspawn to do so. How irresponsible he was, I guess. The guild didn't like it that he did not get approval from their higher-ups, and they have been searching for him ever since. I feel responsible for his current predicament, so I let him hide out here. The guild occasionally checks in to see if I have seen him, but I have always been, well, let's say 'less than cordial' with their representatives. They tend to look at me as an abomination, so I don't really care about what they want. He can't stay here forever, so he is trying to find ways to blend in. He is originally from a port city in England somewhere, so he has been trying to speak with a US slang accent . The results prove it has not been going so well. When he tries to say, 'goin,' he still has trouble not pronouncing the 'g' that is supposed to be at the end of the word. He ends up sounding more like Forrest Gump instead of the casual, non-regional diction he was going for.
I stand in the doorway and drop off my keys before I look at him and shake my head. “I need a minute–I'll be right back,” I say.
“The accent's that bad, huh?” he says, and I laugh. Turning down my hallway, I head up the stairs to my room and fall onto my bed, looking at the ceiling. I have to get a grip on this. I almost hit that guy with an enhanced punch. It would not have been too much for someone like me to handle, but I'm positive he was only human. That would not have gone well for him. I feel like that situation was perfectly tailored to push me over an edge. If I'm being honest with myself, I have already had that happen. I look to the side of my bed and remember it vividly. I still don't know who, but someone did something to me–whether a spell or otherwise. This made me think that spirits were seeking me out to get through the veil, which is the separation of the material and spiritual worlds. I was told by Vic–after foolishly attacking her in a rage–that I didn't have that power. And that, if I did, I wouldn't be trusted to use it with my small amount of knowledge into those spaces of the supernatural. I was also told by Olvira, an archwizard at the local guild, that I have the magical capabilities of an uninitiated child. Whoever did it was masterful. I was made to believe I was being haunted and attacked by spirits. Vic believed it was in an effort to get me exhausted and weaken my control over my demon half. I'd like to say it didn't work, but I can't. He woke up in my moments of weakness.
We have 'spoken' a few times since I briefly let him take over, my demon and I. It is more of a conversation with a disembodied voice in a neutral headspace within my mind. At first it was like speaking with a child just learning to talk. Over the past year, however, my demon has picked up some of my speech patterns and our conversing has gotten easier. I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing that we have slowly opened up to speaking terms. Necessity called for me to embrace the relationship to keep myself–well us–alive. After doing that, we were not able to come to an agreement on our combined usage of my body until recently. Even then, it is mostly to access our combined abilities and sometimes to have him train in combat. It was a necessary compromise since I have not been able to shut him out like I did before. No amount of meditation or bargaining has worked–as is evidenced by his voice in my head now.
Don't act like you weren't when he was after us. You hid immediately and then blamed me.
he says, ignoring the first part of my response.
Yeah, yeah. I didn't hear any disagreement.
He does not reply. I close my eyes, attempting to rest my mind. My first thought is, of course, Rhal. I really don’t need that paranoia right now, so I move on to the other person I have been thinking about lately–which would be my mom. I have not talked to her for a couple of months. She was upset with me after I begged her to put the house in her name again so that I would stop getting visited by the faux spirits. Once I learned that my visitors were not real, it was unnecessary. I asked her to change it back to me again after I was unceremoniously thrown from my house in just a towel by an unseen force. This was because once she took ownership back, I, being a demonspawn, needed to be invited in. Even though I am her son, the Threshold laws do not mince words. It really sucked. I also wanted it done so that Vithar could move in unhindered. He had come back to seek asylum with me and came walking up after my removal from my own home. It weakened his magic, but he was able to go inside to get my phone. She was . . . annoyed to say the least. I feel guilty that I have not spoken to her since.
I nearly fall asleep, lying here on my bed with my eyes closed. It is somewhat surprising what with everything running through my head, but I suppose that means my mind is exhausted. I rub my eyes before opening them to wake myself up. The ceiling is blurry and unfocused, so I do it a few more times and blink until it clears. Letting out a loud sigh, I sit up and gather my legs in a lazy lotus position. Putting my hands together, I try to connect with the void energy within. Pulling my hands apart slowly with my fingers curled like I am holding a ball, I force energy into space between. The dark purple and starry black void energy swirls inside weakly. First it is the size of a marble, then I concentrate on increasing the gathering energy. The ball ebbs outward, slowly expanding until it is the size of a soccer ball, then a basketball. Finally, I expand it into a bubble around me.
I have been working at this in my off time. It turns out, I can use my void ability in a couple of different ways, but since I had never really practiced, it was weak. I still don't know everything it does yet, but I know I can make myself unnoticed and nullify energy within the area. I have also discovered it is very calming inside the area that I create, which is why I am doing it right now–I need it. There is a lot of magical energy in the city, and I hear it as a low hum. Always. I have gotten used to most of it, but every now and again it reaches a keening crescendo if a human is casting anywhere within a mile radius of my vicinity. That is not an ability exclusive to me–all demons, half or otherwise, can hear magical energy. When it is being actively used near me, it sounds like a high pitched whining, and it keeps me constantly alert.
I practice longer than I usually do, aiming to get myself in the right headspace. It definitely helps keep my mind from racing. Dropping the dome and sitting forward on the bed, my back pops as I twist and stretch before standing up and leaving my room.
“Hey man, any visitors today?” I ask while coming down the stairs.
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“Nah, just the mail, bro,” he says, still trying the accent. It doesn't sound good.
“Don't do that. 'Bro' is too advanced for you.”
He shrugs, “No, no one has come knocking today. How was work?” he asks, setting a kettle onto the stovetop. I do not have a kettle, but I find he always has random things when he needs them.
“It was fine. Oh, here,” I say, handing him the information of the person from the shop this morning. “A guy from the shop needs help but can't pay. I can also ask Kai, but I thought I'd offer it to you, so don't feel any obligation or anything.”
He picks up the paper, reading what the man wrote. “Yeah, maybe,” he says. That probably means 'no.' I'll ask Kai about it.
“Cool.”
“Anything else going on in the outside world?”
“Well, maybe. I think we might have another visitor.”
He looks toward the front door, confusion on his face. “I didn't hear anything?” he responds.
“No, I mean, like, visitor,” I say pointing to myself.
“Oh . . . Oh,” he says. “New? Or is he back?” I have talked to Vithar about my encounter. Not in great detail or anything, but he knows of my fears.
“I don't know yet. It doesn't sound like him from what I've heard, but I don't know everything he's capable of. I'll find out soon if my paranoia is correct,” I say and sit in my chair.
I definitely want to, but I make it a point to not ask him for help right now. I can't push him. I know he wants to go back to using and studying magic, but it would not take long for the wizard's guild to find him if he does. They may not know it is him, but they know it was not them. Humans using magic registers different on whatever they use to track it. It's how they find people that are capable and recruit them. That is also why I get away with using my beginner's level of magic–I don't count as human to them.
“Still having trouble?”
“Oh yeah. I attacked a panhandler earlier,” I say, swiveling the chair to look at him.
“Uh,” he says, squinting his eyes, “I feel like I'm missing a part here. How does that make sense in your head?”
“Right. So, when Rhal first tried to abduct me, he was wearing a disguise. It made him look like a beggar and he said, 'Hey, you okay?' He said it again when he actually got me.”
“And what's the significance of the words?”
“The words themselves weren't important, but he has the power to make his prey fall unconscious with a phrase he chooses. And today, I was approached by someone asking for change. He walked up behind me and said, 'Hey, you' and that's all it took for instinct to take over.” It's quiet for a moment.
“Hm, sounds like PTSD,” he says finally.
Is it? I never really gave it thought. My being cautious could come across as trauma. If I wasn't making justifications in my mind for my actions, I might have seen it.
“I never really thought about it like that. I have been positive it was going to happen again since I have not heard or seen anything from him. Like he was just waiting for the right moment to strike. Damn, I have been living in this tense fear for almost a year.”
“It would make sense. I've not seen anything like what you've had to go through. Not in my studies nor in any of my encounters with demons or demonic abilities. I can't imagine what would stick with you.” The kettle whistles and he pulls it off the burner.
“Well, I've got to take that energy and put it to better use. He will be back regardless. If it's him that I've been hearing about, I've got to be ready, able to act.”
He finishes what he is doing in the kitchen and brings out two mugs of tea, setting one on my side of the coffee table and sitting down on the couch placing the other mug on his side of the table.
“Thank you,” I say, letting it sit on the table to cool.
He sits back against the couch and looks at me. “Wanna tell me about it?”
I think for a moment before answering. I do think I need to actually talk about it. I told a few details to Eph, Vic and my mom, but not the entire story.
“Yes, I do.”
He listens while taking sips from his mug and adding comments as I recount my troubles during the morning. It goes further than that as I tell him about how I have felt for the past year since everything went down. The admissions keep coming, more and more, going from the beginning with the incubus and continuing through my kidnapping. He winces at the details of what Rhal did to that family and again at how the wizards treated me when I was trying to get them some help. I conclude with me trying to save my sister and knowing that Rhal is still out there–waiting and watching.
“I was essentially told that he's only biding his time. Waiting until he knows he can get to me.” I finish, running my hands over my head.
Vithar blows out a puff of air.
“That's . . . A lot,” he says.
“Yeah,” I say, my head bobbing up and down as I stare off into the middle distance.
We remain quiet for a moment. Usually after I divulge certain aspects of my life to someone, the silence is broken by them telling me how they would have done it or by them making an excuse to leave and not speaking to me again. Vithar, however, stays contemplative, not adding to or reducing any of my admissions.
“How about you–do you have anything that you need to talk about?” I ask, breaking the tense silence.
“Probably, but not right now. I don't want this to turn into group therapy. Not that there's an issue with that, but it would feel like I'm trying to one up you or something. Or describe how I've had it worse in some weird way that isn't actually worse. I figured you could use an ear, not a competition.”
“I really appreciate that, man.” And I do. I am more than willing to reciprocate, but it is nice just feeling heard.
“No worries.”
I pick up my mug and we sip our tea, making chit chat of lighter subjects for a while until the conversation naturally peters out. I get up to make some food for us and he starts studying some of the books I have picked up from Eph's. After we eat I start scrolling through local news sites for any information about what has been attacking people and animals in the area. There's not much more than what I had heard earlier in the car. Just reports of an animal that looked like “a really big dog.” I press play on a video that looks to be recorded on a phone. It is a blurry capture, and that means one of two things. Either the person was using an ancient phone or it has a supernatural aura that obscures it.
Either way, it is a very large creature. Could there be another demon here trying to stir up some trouble? I will add this question to my list.