Chapter 5

Waiting for Thea to arrive back from another meeting, Celia was sitting at her desk laughing as she listened to Kira tell her about one of her more interesting documenting experiences. It’d been a slow morning but one that was filled with laughs. Suddenly, Celia gasped loudly as she grabbed her head.

Kira looked at her in surprise, “Celia, are you ok?”

“NO! Thea’s in trouble. Big trouble!” she exclaimed as she jumped up so fast that her chair fell over. “Call Darius and Damian! OH MY GOD! WE HAVE TO HURRY!”

Kira immediately dialed Darius’ number as she jumped up and ran after Celia, who’d started to run down the hall, trying to find Thea. “Darius, Thea’s in BIG TROUBLE!”

“I’m already on my way, as are the Centurions,” is all he said to her.

As she pulled her phone away from her ear, they rounded a corner where they found Thea crawling towards them, tears of blood coming from her eyes as even more blood poured out of her ears.

“Oh gods! Thea!” Kira gasped as she and Celia ran to her side.

Thea continued to crawl, desperate to escape, a glazed look in her eyes as if she wasn't aware of where she was. “Dnirya...” she whispered softly.

Not far from Thea a hooded figure held his clawed disfigured hand out to her, as if pulling her very soul from her. “She is mine,” the figure hissed in a voice that was somewhat familiar.

“NO!” Damian roared as he appeared in full Daemoni form, a ball of energy in his hands. Throwing the ball with all his might, it slammed into the Mythic, sending him flying against the wall.

Stalking towards the creature, who cowered against the wall, Damian was determined to make him suffer. A ball of hellfire formed in his hands, when he suddenly saw the creature's face, he snarled, “YOU! You would do this to her? Then your end shall be horrible. Your punishment even more so!”

Darius arrived just at that moment with several Centurions, including the Twins who immediately put themselves between Thea and the Mythic attacker. “Damian, don’t destroy him. We need him! Theanna needs him alive!” Darius instructed as he put himself between Damian and the creature. “He’s been possessed by an Ahriman!”

Damian blinked as he realized what the creature had been doing. “Where is it?” he howled.

“You’ll never get it. It’s mine now. She’s mine,” the Ahriman hissed just as the Twins shot him with a stun round.

Gasping, Thea suddenly collapsed unconscious, being caught by Celia before she hit the floor. As she connected with Thea’s mind Celia cried out. Thea’s mind was breaking away piece by piece. “Thea, hold on. Please hold on,” Celia begged her.

“Theanna!” Damian cried out as he flew to her side. Tenderly he wiped away the blood from her face as he tried to connect with her mind. He could just barely feel her.

“Dnirya...” Celia heard Thea say as her voice softly faded away.

“No! Thea stay with me!” Celia cried out. “She keeps calling for you, Damian. She needs you.”

Taking her into his arms, his wings wrapped around her protectively, he said to Darius as he stood up, “I’ll take her to medical, but you must retrieve it, Darius. OR ELSE!”

Darius nodded as they looked at each other, “Celia stay with them. Thea needs you!” Placing his hand on her forehead, he said to them, “She’s not gone yet but we don’t have long.”

“Do you think she’ll be ok?” Kira asked worriedly.

“I don’t know,” Darius simply said as Damian, Thea and Celia vanished from the hall.

Kira nodded slowly as she looked at the Ahriman lying unconscious. Slowly, she approached him. Something about him struck her as familiar. As she got closer she was finally able to see his face, and she could only gasp as her hand flew to her mouth in horror. “Marcus? But... but... how?” she stumbled as tears began to pour down her face as she watched the Centurions pick him up and carry him away.

“He was possessed, most likely during his last assignment. Unfortunately, Ahriman's possessions aren’t like regular Daemoni possessions. If the Ahriman has had him for a while, he’s lost. I’m sorry Kira.”

Taking a deep breath, she turned to Darius. “He'd want you to save Thea, so do what you must.”

Darius nodded as he stated, “I’ll do all I can, for both of them.” Kira caught a look of worry and panic flash across his face before he turned and very quickly walked in the direction the Centurions had gone.

As she started to walk down the hall towards the medical department, Kira pulled out her phone and called Thea’s home number. On hearing Glen’s voice she said, “Glen, it’s Kira.”

“Well, hello, what can I do for you?” he asked.

“It’s Thea.”

Kira could hear the tone in Glen’s voice immediately change as he asked her, “What happened?”

“She was attacked. She’s in medical, but Glen, it’s bad,” Kira said to him a bit shakily. “I’m heading there now.”

“I’m on my way, as well. I’ll be there soon,” Glen stated briskly before hanging up.

As the call ended, Kira finally dialed Liam’s cell. “Liam...” she began.

Knowing her as he did, he immediately picked up on the panic. “Kira-darlin, what’s wrong?”

Sobbing a bit she said, “It’s Thea. She’s been attacked. It’s bad, Liam. Ahriman bad... and Marcus… he was possessed wholly by the Ahriman! Thea needs you, I need you.”

“Shit! We’ll be right there! Don't leave medical!”

“I won't,” she agreed before the call disconnected. As Kira put her phone in her pocket, she approached the medical department wing. Hearing a female voice call out to her saying, “Kira,” she turned to see a beautiful woman approaching.

“How is she, Helen?” Kira asked as they hugged.

“Not good. The Ahriman almost accomplished his goal.”

“I’ve only heard of them in whispers. What was he doing?” she asked, tears once again flowing freely.

“In layman's terms, removing her mind and soul, piece by piece. There’s still a small piece of the Thea we know and love remaining that Celia is psychically protecting. If he accomplishes his task, the person is left a vegetable-like shell that slowly dies. When an Ahriman removes the mind and soul it’s stored until such time as he gives it to his master. Darius is working to retrieve it and find out who his master is. That’s the good news.”

“And the bad?” Kira asked.

“Retrieving it may not save Thea. What the Ahriman does is almost literally ripping out everything that makes you, you. Putting it back... well, that can be worse. Think of a puzzle you've finished and decided to put away. Pieces break apart and in their storage container become a jumbled mess. It's the same with what the Ahriman steals, only the key to putting it back correctly is the Ahriman himself and his cooperation. Unfortunately, they would die before going against their master.

“Surviving an Ahriman is unusual, surviving the recovery process is even more unusual. The whole process leaves deep scars and most cannot put the pieces back together to become the person they once were,” Helen explained sadly, knowing she wasn't just talking about Thea now.

“She’s strong and has many people who love her. She’ll make it!” Kira stated determinedly, ignoring the rest. Right now she had to concentrate on her best friend, the person who was more like a sister to her.

Helen looked at her as she said, “I hope so.”

“Excuse me, Helen? May I have a word?” A doctor interrupted as he approached her.

“Of course, Dr. Stanchek.” As Helen stepped aside to talk to the doctor, Kira wrung her hands. Just yesterday everyone was so happy. How did this happen? As Helen returned she pulled out her cell phone and said, “Darius, she’s getting weaker. Damian needs it now.”

“We almost have it,” he replied.

“Hurry, love. Do what you must.”

“Absolutely.”

Turning back to look at the doors to Medical as she hung up her phone, Helen then turned and looked at Kira worriedly. This was very very bad.