The wind howled outside the window causing them to shake, as Tom and Nancy argued over the sea of bills spread across their flimsy coffee table. Tom paced the room trying to figure out how they could come up with the money, while Nancy sat on their stained couch with her head in her hands.
"Tom, we can't keep living like this! It was a stretch when we bought this place but with the interest rates increase we can't keep it up much longer." Nancy's dark eyes flashed with frustration, her hands trembling.
"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Tom replied, running his fingers through his short blonde hair, "If we sell, we won't make back enough to put down for a smaller place, we can't afford anything right now."
As if on cue, the lights flickered and went out, plunging the room into darkness. The only illumination came from the sliver of moonlight slipping through the dusty window shades. Tom searched the drawer for a candle. "Great the storm must have knocked down a powerline somewhere. At least this will lower our bill."
Nancy didn't find his attempt at humor funny at all, "You won't find the candles in there." She informed him "They are in the garage remember."
"Oh right, part of your spring cleaning thing." Tom left the room feeling his way down the hallway and to the garage door. Nancy heard the old door creak open and Tom entered it. A moment passed and then a loud thud rang out from the garage.
"Tom, are you ok?" she asked peering through the dark, but only silence answered her. Then more sounds emerged from the direction of the garage, things falling and smashing. Nancy leapt off the couch, her hand searching the darkness for some kind of weapon she could use as her mind filled in the darkness with the vision of an assailant.
'Seriously Tom, if this is you it isn't funny!" Nancy warned. A hooded figure entered from the garage door and raised a hand to point directly at her. Nancy's hand found a heavy glass ashtray, which she wielded like a weapon just as Tom's body was dropped from the ceiling in front of her. Nancy screamed at the sight of her husband's body sprawled across the floor, she looked up but her eyes couldn't locate the creature that dropped him.
"Stay away from me!" Nancy shrieked, backing against the wall, and swinging the ashtray as she desperately tried to fend off her attacker. The Familiar approached her slowly, gliding down the wall behind her. The familiar prepared to strike but then it noticed Nacy was pregnant and hesitated. As it paused, Nancy was able to make contact with its invisible form, the ashtray shattered on impact and the Familiar rushed out into the night. Nancy slid down the wall trembling, noting the hooded figure had also vanished into the night.
-----
Across the city in their dorm room, Zack and Rob huddled around a speakerphone, the pair listened closely to every word. Deb's voice explained the true Demonology translation.
"So we are dealing with another sin here," she said. "If we want to seal Sloth, then we need to figure out where they died."
"Don't we need to know who Sloth is first?" Zack suggested, his blue eyes narrowing in thought. "Paulina said that sins are drawn to the places they were created."
"I think our bigger problem is our lack of a blood moonstone unless Deb just happens to have another one lying around," Rob mentioned, he was starting to feel like their chances of stopping Sloth were slim. "Let's face it, knowing what we are dealing with doesn't help us in the slightest if we don't have what we need to stop it."
Before they could discuss it further, the doorknob to Zack and Rob's room began to giggle. Zack hung up as the door creaked open, revealing Lindsey standing in the doorway, her ponytail swaying behind her. They could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't there just for a visit, she sighed before removing some papers from her satchel.
"Well I can't say I didn't see this coming," she said, laying the papers on the small table in the room. "Boon's mother has taken out a restraining order against you two. You are not to be within a hundred feet of him at any time and yes the University and your parents have been informed about the document"
Zack looked up to see his own mother had appeared in the doorway, she looked devastated by the news. Zack's heart sank realizing she had made the three-hour trip down here after hearing the news. She motioned for him, not wanting Rob or Lindsey to hear their conversation, and Zack followed her out into the hall.
Lindsey took advantage of this moment to talk to Rob one-on-one. Her eyes flickered between him and the restraining order, Rob could tell she was exhausted, most likely from Boon's mother badgering her for the last forty-eight hours.
"Rob, you're lucky Boon isn't pressing charges," she whispered, she looked at him as though she didn't recognize him. "What is going on, for months now you haven't been yourself. You've been in trouble more times than I can count and Kidnapping Boon was reckless and stupid."
"We didn't kidnap him, we were all hanging out and just lost track of time" Rob stammered, trying to make his lie a reality. "It's not our fault Boon's mom is a psycho."
Lindsey sighed, looking unconvinced but leaving the subject alone for the time being. Meanwhile, Zack faced his mother's wrath in the hallway.
"Zack, this restraining order is just the latest in a long line of concerning issues," she scolded, her voice making her sound as though she was on the edge of tears. "Not to mention the seeking out at night over the break and the fact you are failing three classes. I had to beg Professor Dowding to let you make up that chemistry midterm!"
"Mom, I—" Zack began, trying to find the words to explain everything that had happened since September.
"This is about your father isn't it?" His mother interjected before Zack could finish forming his thoughts. She looked at him as if she were trying to confirm her own theory, understanding replaced her anger.
"Maybe," Zack relented, his gaze fell to the floor. "We haven't really talked about it since it happened."
"We'll talk about it this summer, anything you need," His mother pulled him into a tight embrace. "I promise things will get better, we don't need him to be happy." she pulled away looking at Zack, who couldn't bring himself to return her gaze. She released him "I love you." She whispered.
"I love you too," Zack returned the words, feeling even more guilty for lying. With that, she left the dorms, Zack watched her all the way down the hall and wondered if he would ever be able to tell her the truth.
-----
The storm had ended the night before but there was a different one brewing in Ethel's apartment. John paced restlessly on the hardwood floors, he had questions but Ethel's cryptic answers were getting tiring.
"Ethel, why do we need Zack's help to handle this creature?" John demanded, his voice tight with frustration. "You said it yourself—he is weaker than you are. How exactly can he add anything to this fight."
"John, I understand your concerns," Ethel replied calmly, her eyes steady on his face. "But Zack has his powers mastered and we underestimated him. He will get his powers boosted by his covenant, strange as it may seem."
"Well if you just trained us better we would be at his level too," John said, not willing to trust Zack as an ally. "Honestly everyone throws us around like rag dolls, I am beginning to think Zack was right about you just using us to increase your own power."
"We just haven't had the time," Ethel tried to explain, ignoring the truth of John's words. "It's hard to train when exorcists are on high alert, there is a Familiar on the attack and Zack getting in the way."
"These all just sound like excuses," John countered, anger rising in his chest. "Zack only gets in our way because you seem to have it out for his friends, and the Familiar isn't after us so why worry about it? Pablo and the exorcists are actively trying to find and kill us, and guess what? If we can't fully control our abilities then they will!"
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"John, please," Ethel implored, almost annoyed by this whole conversation. "As a Supreme, it is my duty to look after and protect my domain."
"It is your duty to protect and look after your covenant too," John retorted, trying to get her to see just how powerless he had been feeling.
"I am doing the best I can," Ethel said firmly. "I found you all, I hid you from the exorcists. If it wasn't for me Pablo would have found and gutted you by now. You don't have to agree with me on everything but as your Supreme, you better show me some respect."
"Fine," John agreed, his jaw set in defeat. "So what do we do now."
"Now we gather more intel," Ethel replied, turning her attention to Olivia, who had been silently observing the exchange. "Think you can get Zack or Rob talking, I have a feeling they know more than they are letting on."
"It would be my pleasure," Olivia said with a smile, her eyes landed on John and he could feel her gloating as she left the apartment.
-----
Meanwhile, at the Dana Porter Library, Deb covertly met with Zack and Rob on opposite sides of the reference book section. They tried to make it look like they were scanning the aisle for a book, while they whispered back and forth to each other. As Deb slid a tablet through a gap in the books, Zack caught it deftly, his fingers brushing against the screen as read stories about sole survivors and mysterious deaths in the area.
"Sloth could have been created from any of these," Zack whispered, as he read a story about a man who came back to life after being declared dead for ten minutes. "Honestly I am not sure we are going to find Sloth this way. Are sure there is no other connection between the victims?"
"None," Rob muttered, his expression grim. "The only connection is that they all graduated from the University of Waterloo, which doesn't really limit the suspect pool."
"Maybe," Zack knew what he was about to say wasn't going to make anyone happy. "We need more victims."
"That would help," Deb said, but just saying the words made her feel gross. "But we could also try following Boon around, maybe he could lead us back to Sloth."
"It's too dangerous," Zack murmured, "Besides if Rob or I got caught, we could actually go to jail, thanks to his restraining order."
"Right" Deb agreed, but she had no intention of letting Boon just wander around campus, it was too risky in her mind not to follow him. "I've got to go, Jessica has more hand-to-hand training she wants to cover." She gathered her things and left, neither Rob nor Zack had noticed that Boon was leaving the library at the same time.
She followed close behind him as he made his way to the biology building. But when he entered one of the small lab classes, she waited outside, ear pressed to the door, listening for any signs it was meeting between Boon and Sloth.
In the sterile lab, Boon's eyes scanned the shelves, he shifted through the boxes. His fingertips brushed against glass jars and metal trays and finally found a box marked for direction, containing several ravens. A sinister grin spread across his face as he carefully removed one from the box. His eyes darted back to the door of the lab as if he could sense the eyes on him.
-----
"Deb you are late for training." Father Bill said as he stepped inside Deb's empty dorm room, she had never been late before. Finding her room empty he turned to leave, but Deb's odd behavior tempted him to investigate the room for clues, she had seemed distracted recently. He hesitated, then decided a quick look wouldn't hurt. Tossing items from her drawers onto the floor, riffling through her books, he finally discovered a 12-pack box of condoms. Upon upending it, he found only one remaining. His brow furrowed in disapproval believing he had found the reason she was so distracted. But there was a new nagging question in his mind, how was she seeing?
-----
Deb continued to trail Boon through the university halls, ensuring he never actually laid eyes on her. She hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary yet but she knew it was only a matter of time before Sloth would have to make contact. As they approached the gym locker room, she prepared herself to slip in after him.
"Deb!" A voice called out, causing her to jump. She turned to see Sarah standing behind her with an innocent smile. "Are you about to go into the guy's locker room?"
"Oh, uh no," Deb stammered, suddenly feeling exposed. "I was just going to talk to Boon, I guess I wasn't paying attention to where he was going."
"Oh no worries," Sarah replied. "I get lost in my own head all the time, my mom says it is a gift."
"Sounds more like a curse," Deb said dismissively, quickly trying to redirect her attention back to Boon. She could hear muffled choking sounds coming from within the locker room.
"It feels that way sometimes, I have ended up in some weird places while thinking about stuff," Sarah said, clearly wanting to continue the conversation. "This one time..."
"Sorry but do you hear that? I think someone in there is choking." Deb said, still listening to the gaging. "Go get help!"
"Right, shit I didn't hear a thing." Sara took off down the hall.
Deb breathed a sigh of relief before cautiously entering the locker room, the sound of running water filling her ears. Steam fogged the air, making it difficult to see. She followed the sound of choking and found Boon naked in the shower, bent over the drain.
She took a step forward and Boon's face jerked unnaturally toward her. "Looking for me?" he sneered, getting to his feet. "What? Did your precious Zack send you to spy on me?"
"No I heard you choking," Deb explained, unsettled by Boon's sudden recovery. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok."
"Am I OK?" he laughed, his gaze was like a predator eyeing its prey. "You're pathetic. You don't care about me, you just want the master." As Boon began to close the gap between them, Deb knew she was in trouble.
-----
The university quad was bustling as students headed towards their last class of the day, creating a few students lounged on the grass, enjoying the sunset. Rob, however, was far from relaxed. He felt a strong grip on his shoulder, forcing him to remain in place. He looked up to see Olivia, her dark hair framing her determined face, her claws ensuring he didn't escape.
"Listen, Rob," she snarled, her brown eyes narrowed. "I couldn't help but notice Zack and Deb aren't around today. Such shame, I was hoping we could exchange notes."
Rob's heart raced, but he forced himself to remain calm. "I'm sorry but your notes aren't really up to our standards," he said, trying to maintain an air of nonchalance. His gaze flicked to the CCTV cameras mounted on the surrounding buildings, and he subtly gestured towards them.
Olivia followed his gaze and hesitated, retracting her claws. She stepped back, her voice low and measured. "I think you might find what I have to interesting, I have been sitting on something even Ethel doesn't know about. Some Boon-related things.."
"What exactly do you think you know?" Rob replied cautiously, rubbing his shoulder where Olivia's grip had been moments before.
"I know Boon is the Familiar," Olivia said as if it were common knowledge.
"What, no-"
"Please I saw Boon enter that house the night we went after Ahmed. Do you know who I never saw come out? Boon." Olivia laughed. "John was too worked up to notice."
"Why didn't you tell Ethel?" Rob crossed his arms, wondering why a vessel would keep things from their Supreme.
"The only person you can trust is yourself. If Ethel taught me one thing it's that," She shrugged, "Keep a trump card makes me valuable and keeps me safe, so where can we talk without getting seen?"
"I have a key to the basketball team's locker room, no one should be there now," Rob suggested, even though he was still unsure if he could trust Olivia.
"Lead the way" Olivia gestured. Rob nodded and shot a quick text to Zack about where he was headed and with whom.
-----
Zack's phone buzzed in his backpack while he sat at a small desk in Professor Dowding's office, he chewed the eraser as he looked over mid-term, he hadn't had time to study for this one either. He felt sick knowing he was going to fail again. Suddenly a strong aura of pain and fear filled the room, Zack knew who it was as soon as he felt it.
"Professor," Zack began, pushing back his chair. "I have to—"
"Sit down, Dawson," Prof. Dowding interjected, not looking up from his book. "You can't leave until you've completed the exam."
Zack sat down but the aura was overwhelming, He knew if he didn't act soon it would be too late. He circled C on every answer on his scantron sheet, placed it on the professor's desk, and bolted from the room.
-----
The steam from the hot showers shrouded the locker room in a foggy haze, as Boon held Deb by the throat. Her feet dangled off the ground, his expression was hollow. his movement was twitchy and his voice sounded distorted as he spoke.
"Oh Deb, you didn't even bring a single knife," he sneered, "Shameful for an exorcist really."
Her heart hammering in her chest, Deb swung at Boon and tossed her side. With surprising speed, he was on her again, pulling her up by her arm. Deb gasped, she could feel his supernatural strength crush her arm, But then Boon trembled and the light returned to his eyes.
"Wh–what's going on?" he stammered, confusion flooding his eyes as he looked around the locker room and released Deb's arm. He looked at her before realizing he was naked, his face turning a crimson red, "Why are you..."
At that moment, the door burst open, and Zack rushed into the room, breathing heavily. He took in the scene before him – Deb on the floor, Boon standing in front of her, naked. Zack's eyes shifted to their dull pink, as the whole room began to shake with telekinetic power.
"Get the hell away from her!" Zack demanded, his crushing aura could be felt by everyone in the room.
"Zack?" Boon seemed confused, pointing at Zack.
Zack scoffed. "I told you to step back." With a flick of his wrist, Boon was sent spiraling into a set of lockers, but he didn't stay down long.
Boon lunged at Zack, landing a well-placed punch to his jaw. With Zack momentarily stunned, Boon jumped on him and the boys tumbled backward. They rolled on the floor as they tried to subdue each other.
As Rob and Olivia entered the gym, she froze. She could feel two powerful dueling auras. She grabbed Rob's arm.
"What the hell." Rob protested but Olivia didn't say a word, she just started dragging him through the facility. "Let go of me you lunatic,"
"Something terrible is happening right now." She didn't look back, she just kept pulling Rob along behind her, the aura's source.
"How terrible are we talking here?" Rob began, he didn't feel ready for a fight right now. "Maybe we should call Zack?"
"It is Zack," Olivia whispered, as they turned the corner.
Just then, the locker room door burst open, and Zack was flung out into the hallway, landing at Rob's feet. Boon followed, his face contorted in anger as he continued to wrestle with Zack.