CHAPTER 42: APOCALYPSE

The voices were calling out to Suzanne. She couldn’t be sure if they originated from the abyss or from the hooded figure hovering at the door. But there was nothing soothing about the voices. Every sound that they made sickened her, making her feel as if maggots were crawling over the top of her skull and into her ears. She shook her head furiously but the sensation refused to go away.

*Focus damnit….*

“Suzanne….” the voice called out again. It was the same voice that had called out to her from the garden. And the airport. And in her nightmares.

The voices were awful. She couldn’t comprehend what they were saying save for the calling of her name but she was pretty sure they were some kind of distorted incantation. All of a sudden, she had an avalanche of dark and alien thoughts. She did not like them, not one bit.

She looked over to Tom who stood slightly hunched over, ready to pounce on the figure if need be.

*We have to win this fight.*

The hooded figure was advancing towards her now, but she could not move from the centre of the sacred circle. One wrong step and she could unleash the beings from the dark portal. If that happened, all would be doomed. She continued pulling the black mist into the portal.

*Strike it at the weakest.*

And at that moment, the mist seemed the weaker of the two. Did it originate from the hooded figure? Suzanne could not be sure.

“Kill him,” the voice said. This time she understood every single word.

*No!*

Summoning all her strength, she called upon her phoenix and up it soared, above her, spreading its fiery wings. It shrieked and flew straight ahead towards the dark figure.

“Stab his heart,” the voice continued to taunt her. A smothering sensation washed over her.

*Shut up!*

Then it seemed to her that things were moving in slow motion. She saw Tom shouting something at her before throwing the powdered bottles at the mist, in an attempt to slow it down as the twins’ snake continued to wage war against it.

“Cut his tongue…” The voices were getting louder and she was having trouble catching her breath.

*I will not yield!*

And then there was Hans. He had regained consciousness but was writhing in pain. Having been violently thrown into the wall, he had broken his arm and the left side of his face was badly bruised and an eye was swollen shut.

But he was conscious enough to realize what was happening. The hooded figure ignored both Hans and the twins as it advanced towards Suzanne and Tom. She was his target.

It was gloating at her, she was sure of it. Its manner was arrogant and it had the cockiness of the damned as if victory had already been claimed. So it did nothing to Hans when the latter drew his dagger.

“Tear their eyes out…” the voices grew louder until they roared in her head, and all she could think of was the roaring of dark putrid blood flooding the earth, draining the life out of every living creature on earth.

She thought of her grandmother, the twins’ parents and of every innocent soul. No.

Then she cried out, “HaShem!!!”

And God answered her in the most mysterious of ways. At the entrance, from where the hooded figure has passed through, a woman emerged.

Suzanne had never seen anyone like her. She was beautiful beyond description, her golden blonde hair blew as the whirlpool of wind tore through the mansion, and her eyes, they were mesmerizing as they were hypnotizing. Somehow, she reminded him of Vlad though they looked nothing alike.

The woman moved at blinding speed. As the hooded figure raised its hand, crushing the phoenix with its invisible grip, the woman somehow disappeared from the doorway only to reappear besides a limping Hans, grabbing the dagger from his hand. To Hans, his dagger simply disappeared.

The phoenix struggled in the grip of the hooded one, clawing at the invisible hands. Suzanne shared the pain of the phoenix as it suffocated from strangulation and her heart shrieked in her chest, threatening to rupture. Nevertheless, she kept on dragging the mist into the portal. If all failed, she would have to use her dagger.

The woman came to all their aid, seemingly disappearing from Hans’ side only to emerge from behind the hooded figure. Silently she raised her hand, ready to plunge into the back of its chest.

But alas, the dark figure sensed her presence and whirled around at the speed of light, this time, grabbing the woman by the neck with its hands. The phoenix crashed onto the ground, gasping for air as the woman struggled; her skin decayed under its touch.

From behind Suzanne, Hans finally got up on his legs and called upon his protector, the spirit of the great lion. It roared and charged towards the dark figure, momentarily catching their enemy off-guard. It loosened its grip on the woman and turned its attention to the lion.

By now, Suzanne’s phoenix had gained enough strength to rise once more and both the phoenix and lion clawed and struck at the figure. It was overwhelmed by the unyielding attacks of the two great spirits.

The woman cradled her neck right before gripping the dagger tight in her hands. Time was precious to them.

With a scream of both anger and grief, she flew at the figure and plunged it deep into the chest of the enemy.

The attack on the figure seemingly weakened the mist further and Suzanne took the opportunity to drag the mist back into the portal once and for all.

And for a fleeting moment, all was quiet.

*Is it over*? Suzanne wondered, her heart thumped wildly. They all held their breath, staring at the fallen figure. It did not move. Suzanne got up and carefully stepped out of her circle. Now there was one last thing to do, she would have to haul this demonic being back into the abyss where it belonged.

But what they did not realize what that the dagger should have laid total waste to the being, much like what Vlad’s dagger had done to the other enemy. No one knew, not even Vlad’s sister herself.

The dagger should have ended the dark figure’s pathetic existence once and for all, but it did not.