CHAPTER 29: THE KEY

Thomas laughed,” Hans, you’re kidding right? I mean if it was you, or Marcelino I would understand. But this is Suzanne we’re talking about.”

He was exasperated, they all were. Thomas shook his head, “We all travelled from different continents of the world to gather here at your sanctuary. I don’t know about the rest of you but I was hoping to find solace and protection here, and now you’re telling us we have to fight? Based on some weird inscription and a freaky looking tattoo on Suzanne’s palm? Hans are you out of your mind?!”

The twins ignored Thomas and went over to inspect Suzanne’s palm in awe. Marcelino remained silent and unmoving.

Thomas started to storm out of the room when Hans quietly said, “Suzanne is the only one who survived the black mist. And if you don’t believe in us, you can at least believe in Hendricks.”

Thomas whirled around, his eyes were tearing up now.

One of the twins asked, “Are you crying?”

Embarrassed, he wiped away the tears that were brimming in his eyes, “No, of course not. There was dust in my eye.”

Then he sighed, his shoulders slumping, the energy seemingly leaving his body as he leaned against the wall, “Alright, tell us your plan.”

Hans gave Suzanne a slight nod and walked over to the mini cauldron in the middle of the room. There he scooped up a small portion of the shimmery white power with his bare hands before pouring them on the ground to form the circumference of a circle.  

With all eyes on him, Hans went to the shelves and picked out 7 different coloured vials, and proceeded to place them in the shape of a triangle within the circle, forming a thaumaturgic triangle.

One of the twins whistled, “Are we doing the Illuminati?” The other elbowed her twin and they took a seat on the floor, cross-legged across from Hans. Even Marcelino was edging for a closer look now.

“The circle represents the protective barrier that will protect us and these 7 vials represent each one of us here. The twins and I,” Hans pointed to three of the vials, all of which formed the tips of the triangle, “will be in charge of maintaining the barrier throughout the battle with the mist.”

Tom crouched down and stretched his neck as far out as he could, wondering how someone like himself could contribute to Hans’ art of war.

“Marcelino and Thomas will stay near the edges of the barrier to prevent any form of penetration by the enemy.”

“Wait what? You want us to fight the mist head on??” Thomas’ jaw practically dropped. “That’s suicide! Marcelino! You heard what Hans said?”

No one paid attention to Thomas. He sulked and moved towards where Hans was, feeling rebellious and yet intrigued by Hans’ plan.

“Suzanne, you and Tom will be in the middle. At my signal, the twins and I will create a slight crack in the barrier and Marcelino and Thomas will draw the mist in. Suzanne, you must have full control over the portal at this time. Do not let anything from the Abyss slip out. Time will be crucial here. Once all the black mist goes in, seal it up.”

At this, everyone became silent. Hans looked at Suzanne, his eyes boring into her, there was no room for mistake.

Tom cocked his head, confused “What do I do?” Tom still did not understand. Thomas scooted over to Tom and gave him a gentle pat on the back.

“What?” he implored.

Suzanne gave him a brave smile, “If I fail, you’ll have to kill me.”

Things started to become crystal clear for Tom. Thomas was right, this was suicide! Suzanne barely made it out alive from the first attack, how on earth would she even be able to survive this one? They were NOT going to sacrifice Suzanne for all this blasphemy.

“No!” Tom jumped up, incredulous.

He went at Hans, grabbing him by the collar, “There has to be another way! This is bullshit!”

The shouts began, Tom had to be held back by Marcelino. Thomas was on the floor crying out his lungs now and the twins were frantically trying to soothe and stop the men from fighting one another. Suzanne was just about to step in to help when suddenly she heard a voice call out her name.

*Suzanne….*

She whirled around, no one else seemed to have heard the voice except for her. They were all busy arguing with one another. Was she dreaming?

*This way…..* the voice called out again.

It came from outside the room. Amidst the chaos, no one paid heed to Suzanne. She slipped out of the room, following the voice.

She was in the library now, but it looked strange though. Everything looked blurry as if she were seeing them underwater.

She looked back to the secret room, they were all still arguing with one another, but for some strange reason, their voices were muffled. Suzanne tilted her head and found the whole room was also cloudy. It was as if she was in the twilight zone.

A window in the library was open though and in a trance, she walked towards it. Suzanne approached the window, amazed at the snow until her gaze fell to a hooded figure standing under the shadows of a great big tree in the middle of the white lawn.

She wanted to ask, “Who are you?” but nothing came out. She suddenly felt immobilized, her limbs became strangely heavy as if a massive pair of hands were pinning them down.

This did not seem right. Try as she might she just could not move, she could not tear her gaze away from the hooded figure below either.

She was anxious now, and her breathing became laboured. It felt as if she was suffocating in a room full of smoke.

*We are not evil…*.the voice said, deep inside Suzanne’s mind. They sure as heck sounded evil to Suzanne though.

The voice repulsed her. It reminded her of her nightmares, of scaly hides and worms oozing with sticky mucus.

“Get out of my head!!!” she willed, unable to speak, perspiration forming all over her head. The figure was starting to lift its head now. Suzanne did not want to see its face, she had a feeling she would not like it.

*Join us…*

She couldn’t move, not an inch.

*Come to us..…*

“Help me!” she prayed and began to weep. Summoning all her strength, she tried to break free of the trance.

*Certainly, you do not want to die…*

The figure finally met Suzanne’s gaze and her blood curled. Suzanne screamed.