Enigma of the Soul - Book 1 - Pieces (12 page)

Just before Death leaves she turns to Devan, “One day we will meet again, and that day will be your last.” Death disappears through a black hole.

Devan sits in a pool of ash of the former building, still hurting from the Phoenix Kiss spell. Devan knows that he will not last long if he stays there. Lying on his back and chanting, Devan reaches out to anyone that he can find. Each person he sees is connected to another soul.

Devan thinks to himself, 'Where are the souls that have
no one?'

Devan drifts in and out of concussions. Devan finds a soul that seems like he knows it from somewhere. As if he and this soul have met before.

Devan contacts that lone soul. “Help me! Help me! I am dying, and I need your help.”

“I hear you, and I shall help,” The soul responds and starts walking in the direction of the voice in his head. Jack only knows one thing at this time and that is someone calling him. This someone may have answers for him; answers that he searched for all his life. He will seek out this voice and help it.

A full day passed before Jack arrives at Devan's location. Jack finds a half naked man lying in a pool of ashes and blood. Checking to see if Devan is still alive, Jack puts his hands on Devan's chest and mouth. Devan's eyes pop open making Jack jump back. Devan waves his hand to make Jack come closer. Jack leans in over Devan's face to hear him better. Devan speaks some words, but Jack cannot make out what they are. Jack lifts Devan up off the ground and puts Devan on his back to carry him. Jack walks in a new direction that he has never been. Devan's body hangs limp off of Jack's shoulder as he hangs on to his own life. Knowing that he is safe, Devan passes out as Jack walks on to find the next town or home.

After walking for a couple of hours, Jacks finds a lonely house sitting on the outskirts of a town. Jack walks up to the door and knocks. While waiting to see if anybody is home, Devan wakes up and whimpers from the pain. An old lady answers the door.

“Can I help you, young sir?” squinting at Jack, the old lady tries to make out who he is and what he is carrying.

“Yes ma’am, my friend is badly injured, and I was hoping that you could help us.” Jack replies.

“Yes, Yes come on in. Please set your friend on the couch. he can rest. How badly is he hurt?” The old woman gets a pillow to put behind Devan's head. Jack lays Devan down on the couch. The old woman fetches a rag and a bowl full of water. Jack and the old woman begin to clean up Devan. The more they clean the more they see. Scars, scratches, and cuts cover Devan's body.

The old woman thinks out loud with Jack sitting next to her, “What did your friend fight? A wild animal?”

“I wish that I could tell you. I don't even know. I found him like this.”

An hour goes by as Jack and the old women treat Devan's wounds. They wrap up his arms and chest leaving his head and lower body untouched. The old woman covers Devan up with a spare blanket.

“I hope that we are not any trouble for you ma’am.”

“No, not at all. I am enjoying your company already. I live alone here, and no one comes to check on me. It is nice to be helpful and wanted again,” The old woman replies as she washes her hands.

Jack smiles back and thinks to himself, 'I am going to do whatever it takes to help this man. Some how he is my future.'

A week passes as Alfonzo watches over David and waits for him to wake up. Alfonzo is exhausted from sleepless nights of hearing David cry out in his sleep. He cries for his parents and for his missing younger brother and sister. David's dreams are plagued with demons tearing at his family souls as he stands back watching them cry out to him for help. He is trapped in a glass box with seams sewn together with golden string. He screams and pounds on the glass to get out to help his family without luck. David awakes from his nightmare only to find Alfonzo watching over him.

“How long have I been asleep?” David says rubbing his burning eyes.

“You have been asleep for a week to the day now.”

“Have you been waiting here for me to wake up? Watching over me?” David tries to sit up but falls backwards hits his head against the headboard of the bed.

“Now, don't try to get up just yet. You are still very weak from the battle. I brought you to an old angel's home that is no longer used. I want you to stay there and get some rest,” Alfonzo wings stretch out with all of their might.

“How can you sit there and tell me to rest when there is a killer out there? We need to get back to my sister's house and dig up some clues then hunt this murderer down before he can kill again,” David tries to stand and falls flat on his face.

“What are you going to do? You're too weak. You go out there, and you will be killed,” Alfonzo peers at David as if waiting for his next move.

“We need to bury my sister and her family with due respect. We also need to go to my brother's house, if it still stands, and take a look around to see if the killer left any clues,” David pulls himself back onto the bed.

“I'll make you a deal. You let me rest for one day, and I will help you find this killer you seek,” Alfonzo turns around to face away from David.

“Deal, and you must help,” David responds.

“I'll see you tomorrow,” Alfonzo drifts off into dreamland.

David lies back, and daydreams about catching this killer.

“Tomorrow will be a new day,” David says out loud.

The next morning, David and Alfonzo arrive at Joanne’s house and discover that no one has been there. Using his shirt, David begins to collect the burnt bones of his sister and her family. David collects each and every bone trying not to miss a single one.

Holding the tears back, David says to Alfonzo, “Please find a place to bury my family.”

Alfonzo soars into the air to cover more land faster and notices a small house only a hundred or so yards away from David's location. To get a better look, Alfonzo gets closer to the house. Memories flood Alfonzo's head.

'It was not only a couple of weeks, but a couple of months ago that they buried David's brother in the same ground. What has come of his family?'

Alfonzo flies back to David to help him out.

“David, your brother's house is just through those trees to the east. I did not realize that we were so close. Please let me help you,” Alfonzo flies within a foot of David's head, hoping to land on his shoulder.

“No, this is my burden, my family. My curse to suffer, not yours,” dead silence again. “I remember where their house is now. Thank you.”

The rest of the afternoon Alfonzo helps David bury Joanne and her family next to his brother and family graves.

David walks inside of his brother's house. He just stares at the kitchen covered with dried blood. Alfonzo tells him to go to the next room and sit down on the couch. David, exhausted, does what he is told. Lying on the couch, David lets his mind drift. He thinks about everything that has happened in the last couple of months.

'My family is being hunted down like animals.'

With that thought David drifts off to sleep.

A week passes for Jack and Devan. Devan lies in bed as Jack and the old women tend to Devan's wounds. Waking up one morning as Jack is tending to his wounds, Devan turns to Jack.

“You must finish it. You must kill them all. He still has more family members. I can feel them walking. Talking. Playing their little games with each other.”

“What am I supposed to do? I don’t know magic.”

“I will teach you.” Devan takes Jack's hand and draws a symbol on it. "Go draw that on the ground outside and repeat the words, locate my enemy’s bloodline, in Latin. The symbol will do the rest.”

Jack nods and heads outside, he draws the symbol into the dirt and repeats the words. His eyes begin to glow, and he can see a house and people walking, talking and playing games as if they were right front of him.

'So these are the people that you want dead Devan. Fine, so be it. They will die tonight.'

He walks back into the house to let Devan know about what he has seen.

“Good, I'm glad to hear the spell worked for you. Now you know what to do?” Devan asks.

“Yes. Kill them all, leave no one left standing.”

“Very good, my boy. Leave before it gets to late and you don't have the upper hand.” Devan takes off his ring, “Take this. It will keep you from harm. Remember, I am always with you.”

Jack takes the ring and thanks him.

It was a slaughter when Jack enters the home of Dave Turner, the last living family member of David. Jack tears their body apart like a wild animal. No one survives.

As David sleeps, his soul drifts through different houses searching for something or someone. He stops to look through every window but comes up short.

'I am getting nowhere fast. I should give up.'

Heading out of town, David sees a little house off the main road sitting by itself. His soul is magically drawn to it. David walks right in, passing through the front door, and stops. He finds what he has been searching for all this time. Devan sits in the living room chair and acts like a puppeteer. Devan pays no attention to David as he watches his every move. Wondering what Devan is up to, David stays within line of sight never taking his eyes off him. As Devan moves his hands around, he talks to himself, but in different tones.

“Please don't hurt us,” Devan says in a soft tone.

“You must die.” Devan says in a deep tone.

“ROAR!” Devan says in an even deeper tone says as he shakes one of his hands.

“Please, God, help us!” Devan screams in a soft tone.

“There is no God for you,” Devan screams in a deep tone.

Then one hand attacks the other while Devan screams at the top of his lungs. Devan moves his hands about, making one chase after the other one. One hand pounces on the other and acts like it is ripping the other hand to shreds. The winning hand pants as if it was tired.

David realizes what is happening. David rushes over to Devan and tries to punch and kick him. His hands and feet pass right through him. David screams in frustration.

Alfonzo grips David’s shoulder and shakes him to try waking him from his nightmare. After a couple of minutes, Alfonzo sinks her razor sharp claws into David's shoulder.

“What did you do that for?” David screams.

“You were thrashing out as you were dreaming. It was only thing that I could do it wake you up,” Alfonzo lands on the back of the couch.

“In my dream, I watched Devan play with imaginary puppets and make them fight each other. I realized that he is killing someone,” David stands up and walks over to the window.

“Your family is in trouble. We must leave now,” Alfonzo lifts up off the end of the couch; grabs David, and flies towards David's last remaining family members home.

Flying swiftly and dodging everything, Alfonzo knows that this is a life or death situation. Nearly over shooting the house, Alfonzo makes the descent but comes in too fast. David drops to the ground with a thud and rolls to the front door. Blasting through it like a herd of elephants on the stampede, David finds himself standing in a blood soaked shell of a house. Body parts are scattered everywhere as if a wild animal went crazy for food. Alfonzo lands on David's shoulder as he walks around.

The house was silent, only the sounds of David and Alfonzo breathing echo against the walls. David and Alfonzo walked to the back of the house. Halfway there they see a bright flash of light coming from the backyard. Rushing to the backyard, they find a black portal closing. David runs over to the portal only to be thrown back by a lighting blast coming through it. Alfonzo flies over to David and they both watch the portal close. Dusting themselves off, they head back to the house.

Inside, Alfonzo finds a place to land. Alfonzo is horrified from all the carnage in front and all around them. David stands in silence as he begins to grieve over the last of his family. A brother and his little family that he will never get to know. He tries to hold back the tears because he does not want Alfonzo see him cry. David stands in the middle of the room with his back facing Alfonzo. A single tear rolls down the cheek, but it feels like a waterfall gushing out.

“What could have done this? What kind of monster could do this much damage in so short of time?” David breaks the silence as he tries to rationalize what he sees.

“What you see is the remains of an ancient, dark magic. This is what you get when you mix humans with demons and then control the demon to do your bidding.”

“Does it have a name?” David looks down at the tiny hand that has no arm to it.

“Yes… Xaphan… it is a worker demon turned berserker. It can be controlled and summoned at will. It was designed to do evil, nasty things to humans. But when you cross this demon with a human, only evil will come from it, and it will destroy everything in its path.”

“How do you kill it?” David is steadily getting angrier by the minute.

“You can not kill it without killing the human host,” Alfonzo's voice sounding concerned with the way David is beginning to act.

“So be it.” David takes a moment to collect himself. “Please take me away from all of this death. Take me to a place where I can grieve over my lost family.”

Alfonzo nods and flies over to David to pick him up.

As the two lift off the ground, David says to Alfonzo, “Burn it. Burn everything in sight. Let this home and the land become their resting place. Leave nothing standing. Make it a hole in the earth. This hole will remind everyone of the great lost that I have suffered. Please do that for me.”

Alfonzo lifts to fifty feet off the ground, whispers a small prayer and then says, Phoenix Inferno. A fiery ball surrounds Alfonzo and David to protect them. Mirroring on the ground, a fiery ball grows to engulf the area ten feet outside of the home. Everything within the sphere turns to ash. Trees fifty feet away catch on fire. Everything within a seventy-five feet radius feels this spells affect and the radiant heat that is coming off the fiery sphere. Then it stops. The protective sphere disappears around Alfonzo and David.

“It is done,” with that; Alfonzo and David fly off, destination unknown.