Chapter Eight
“What happened to you?” Eddie had asked, nestled into a hug against him.
Clay found it difficult to find joy in such a reunion. Eddie, his kid sister–all grown up now, not at all how he remembered her. To have tried and failed to hunt down his own sister as a witch. It was an embarrassing moment for him. Had he known it was her, he never would have tried to harm her.
The bitter realization sank in. How many innocents would he have murdered if not for his uncle or Duncan? Not learning from his own impulses troubled him greatly. It seemed it was his nature, no matter how hard he fought against it.
All of those slips and trips that saved her life. Had he not fumbled to such epic extents, she’d be lying dead in that coffee shop, and he would have had have the blood of another family member on his hands.
The girl was lucky.
Luck, she told him during that reading. Maybe dumb luck was his middle name as he thought about it.
Eddie waited for him with patient expectation and he knew then he needed to break the silence between them.
“I tried to save everyone, but–” His voice broke and he swallowed the words to avoid crumbling into a weeping mess. “I’m sorry, Eddie. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Eddie clutched him tighter, her head on his shoulder. “We thought you were dead, and I was so young then. I just didn’t recognize you when you showed up. A-and everyone buried it. I remember them. Those eyes. When I talked about the glowing cat eyes, people got scared and then I had to talk to doctors who made me take pills and–”
“You weren’t crazy,” Clay said. “It happened. A monster stole Dad’s body. Those were the monster’s eyes.”
“What?” Eddie pulled out of the hug and sat on the ground across from him as he remained slumped against the tree with tears in his eyes.
Clay gave a curt nod. “That wasn’t Dad who killed Bryce.”
“But you shot him, right? Mom and the police both said that. And that you got scared and ran away even though it was self-defence,” said Eddie, her head bowed as she pushed through this hard topic, all to gain more understanding of a night that haunted her dreams for the last sixteen years.
He swallowed hard, fighting down the sorrow and tears as he relived that night. “I thought he killed Bryce, and I shot him. But, it was something inside him that did, and as soon as Dad died….”
“The Qliphoth took your body,” Eddie murmured.
Clay stiffened, sitting up straight to make himself seem larger. His gaze became solemn. “How do you know that?”
She shook her head. “The moment I touched you, that word came to mind. I just sensed your feelings and knew.”
An empath. He’d need to be more careful around her.
Clay stood up, turning from her to regain his composure and lock down the emotions raging within. “Qliphoth are powerful creatures, but they don't have bodies in our world. They hijack us. They feed on our souls. Fucking parasites. Latching on until the soul extinguishes.”
Eddie climbed to her feet and approached his left side, pensive in her slow gait, looking up at him as she stopped beside him. He braced his hand against the trunk of the tree and gritted his teeth.
"His name is Seb," he told her. "He's who I've always been after."
“But how did you–how are you–”
Clay knew what she was about to ask and he didn’t have the patience to let her stumble through that question.
“My–our uncle and Duncan saved me. They drove it out. They're hunters,” Clay explained, meeting her gaze as he studied how confused she looked, trying to put the missing pieces in place. “Duncan’s dad was his partner, but he died a long time ago. He took Duncan in and raised him like a son. I've joined them ever since and they trained me."
Eddie stayed silent a moment as she digested all of that. “Nobody ever told me we had an uncle.”
“Jake Weston,” Clay continued, relieved to talk about something other than Seb. “You never met Grandpa, but he was an awful man until the day he died. Smoked three packs a day, alcoholic, and a homophobe. Disowned Uncle Jake and made the whole family pretend he never existed. That’s why.”
“I–” Eddie exhaled, putting her hands into the pockets of her work slacks, “I want to meet him then.”
“You will,” Clay said with a weak smile.
“Wait, does that make Duncan our cousin?”
Clay bristled at those words. He never thought of it that way. They were young men when they met and each other’s firsts in a lot of things that didn’t belong in polite conversation. It never felt weird to either of them because they met as friends and pushed each other to be better and stronger. They shared a bond he couldn’t explain to anyone. Loved each other, even. Cousin was never a word they used. Come to think of it, Duncan had never referred to Jake as his father, either.
“I don’t see things that way,” Clay finally admitted after a long silence. “Neither does he.”
The sun above was low in the sky, bathing everything in hues of gold and red. If they wanted to reach that house before dark, they needed to press on. Clay was about to suggest that when a twig snapped close to them. They were too engrossed in their conversation to notice that all sounds of nature had gone silent around them. He and Eddie exchanged a look and remained at the ready, not knowing what approached.
A low growl rumbled from where the twig had snapped and he threw his right arm out to bar Eddie from stepping forward, urging her to get behind him.
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It emerged.
Therion. This one part wolf and part man.
Gold eyes sharpened on them.
It stood taller than Clay as it approached slowly, a hulking wall of black fur and muscle. It paused several yards before them and stood in place, seeming to study the pair.
Clay threw himself toward it, closing the distance and swinging his left fist with all he had. His fist pulsed with searing hot pain as it cracked against the side of the Therion’s skull. The creature went flying backward through the underbrush, unleashing canine cries of agony while it crashed through several trees that tipped and groaned until they slammed against the hard ground.
“Clay, wait!” Eddie called after him.
He didn’t hear her before giving chase and leaping after the downed creature. Without silver, he’d have to beat the ever-loving fuck out of it until it died.
The Therion rolled onto all fours and snarled, leaping up and catching Clay in midair. They crashed to the ground, rolling over one another to gain dominance. Clay struck hard with closed fists until it let him go. He got back on his feet and faced the creature down.
Baring its fangs, the Therion lunged and snapped its jaws. Clay stepped back in time and reached out, coiling his meaty fingers around its closed muzzle. He pulled it forward and drove his knee up into the creature’s throat, letting go and smashing his free elbow down onto its head. Another yelp of pain rang out from the Therion as it dropped to the ground.
His chest rose and fell as doubt clouded his mind. He backed up several steps from the downed Therion. Clay’s stomach growled with hunger and he could not move. The clash with the Wendigo had worn him down. The icy fingers of exhaustion reached up and gripped him, tugging and slowing him down. Everything he had thrown at this creature was desperation as he careened toward his physical limits. That time had arrived.
If he failed now, Eddie would die.
“Eddie, run!”
The Therion leaped from the ground and tackled him, twisting Clay into a prone position before they hit the ground. Clay unleashed a howl of rage as it pinned him down, the left side of his face pressed into the soil. The heavy creature atop him growled and then felt lighter. In a cacophony of crunching bones and popping cartilage, the creature was…was it reverting to a human form?
Clay struggled to no avail and he felt the clawed hand restraining him change shape. It felt warm and calloused, belonging to a man. The sense of helplessness from being held down elicited more thrashing and growling as he fought against this unfamiliar naked man holding him down.
“That’s enough,” the Therion growled with a hoarse voice, now a man as the last of the transformation had ended. “Don’t make me hurt you, boy.”
He saw his sister a few feet away, eyes wide in surprise.
The sun dipped below the horizon as darkness fell upon the forest.
He lost.
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Sixteen Years Ago - The Night of Walpurgis
The blizzard raged beyond the farmhouse, the fierce wind evoking a protest from its bones as the old home settled. Silence fell after the gunshot, so much so that one might hear the faint breathing of those who survived. Laughter echoed in his mind. His body would not move when he commanded it.
The corpse of his father, unrecognizable from the bullet wound, lay crumpled atop Bryce’s lifeless body.
Well done, killer. Out of this worthless lot, you’re quite a scrappy fella, yeah? I can just tell you’re made of something special now that I’m inside you.
In his soul, he knew this voice that talked to him was what controlled him now. The thing that attacked his family tonight. He would have cried if he could.
To kill your own old man like that. The Qliphoth whistled, impressed. You didn’t even hesitate. You’re a man of action. I like you. Call me Seb.
“C-Clayton,” his mother whimpered, crawling out of the bedroom, and cradling the stab wound in her abdomen. A wound inflicted by the thing that controlled his father. “What did you do?”
Clay’s eyes shimmered green as his pupils became cat-like slits. He laughed with whimsical malice.
“Mother dearest, was Father not trying to kill you? Let’s just say I took care of him but was a little too late to save Bryce–” he made a face for dramatic effect, feigning awkward remorse. “Sorry.”
“S-so you’ve murdered my child, had my husband killed, and now you’ve taken my other son hostage?” His mother asked between ragged breaths. “You fucking monster.”
“Qliphoth,” Clay corrected, turning away as he strutted out of the hallway and toward the mudroom. “And that’s right, I have. I’m gonna kill your little girl, too. No more burdens for you. The world is your oyster now…if you live.”
The little girl hidden underneath the coats on the tiled floor cowered, whimpering, as Clay lifted the barrel of the rifle, training it on her.
“Sorry, little one,” Clay said, donning a vicious smile. “I just really fucking hate kids. I’d say it’s nothing personal, but it is.”
She cried out as her bladder emptied, shrinking deeper into the pile of coats and closing her eyes as if she could just will him away. Clay itched the trigger finger and–nothing.
Clay growled in frustration, unable to move.
Don’t, Clay pleaded from within. I’ll go where you want. I’ll do what you want. Just let them live. You’ve taken enough from us.
Seb found it arguable. Leaving survivors wasn’t his style, but he felt generous enough to leave Charlotte in fate's hands.
He said nothing, trying to shoot the girl again, but his finger would not yield to his command. In a jarring display of power, his stubborn host had regained control. He couldn’t move anything.
Listen here, you piece of shit.
Clay burst through the front door, running out into the April blizzard, his long strides carrying them across the illuminated farmyard with the singular light pole shining like a beacon in the desolation.
Seb was in genuine disbelief at having lost control like this.
They ran out into the darkness of the pasture now, into the cruel maw of the storm, unable to see a foot in front of them. Though Clay knew the lay of the land intimately.
You will not kill my sister or my mom.
For the first time in Seb’s immortal life, he felt fear. Never had someone taken his sense of control like this. This body had endurance, and he searched the memories of this youth, seeing all the hard labour he did around the farm, the sports he played, and the boxing classes, too. Like a fierce young warrior, he ran through the knee-deep snow with no signs of tiring. That wasn’t all. Deep within, there was a power yet untapped. Who was this child?
They vanished beyond a tree line.
Now, let’s be reasonable, Seb pleaded. Tell me what you want, maybe we can–
Clay dropped to his knees in a clearing and stood the butt of the rifle on the snow-sodden ground, putting the barrel into his mouth.
I want you to go to the hell you crawled out of, demon. Who can you possess if I die alone? Nobody. You’re scared. I feel it.
He itched the trigger, ready to end it all.
Wait, please! Please! I promise I’ll stay away from them. Don't send me back there.
Clay hesitated for a moment before his wavering resolve steeled anew.
You’re going back.
The gunshot shattered the foreboding silence in the storm, echoing through the valley.
His eyes burned green. That had been far too close.
Seb wrested control not a moment too soon, having pulled the gun out of his mouth, and pointed the muzzle away from his head in the nick of time. He panted with wild fear in his gaze. Blood poured from his left ear, ruptured from the blast.
A child had nearly bested him.
“Let’s not, but I will leave what’s left of your worthless family alone as long you never, ever pull that stunt again,” he said aloud, asserting his dominion over the boy.
The strength Clay wielded crumbed as though the ground had opened to devour every foundation of his will. Seb banished Clay’s consciousness into darkness as his mind drifted into a slumber fraught with nightmares and pain. He would keep him down for as long as possible. Long enough for Seb to construct an inner labyrinth to prevent him from ever seizing control like that again.
He would get his revenge for this humiliation. The lad was strong, but not invincible.
He’d break him, he resolved, grinning with mirth and malice. The helplessness that the boy felt as he slipped away was delectable and he yearned to feed on as much of it as possible.
Seb rose on his feet, standing in the blizzard as he savoured the cool night air.
“Oh, to be out of Sitra Achra again.”