WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE (17 page)

“Why doesn’t Rav-
I mean Malleus use her sword?”
 
Sarah whispered
as the Kubo demon lunged at the monster in question.

“Because I’m not
stupid enough to let a horrifying demon who wants to kill me have access to a
weapon that can cut through anything.”
 
Rebekah casually held up Raven’s rune covered sword.
 

Bekah spoke
nonchalantly but there was uneasiness behind her words.
 
Sis wanted Sarah to see this, felt it
necessary if they were going to remain business partners.
 
Rebekah argued against it, feeling that if
they hadn’t told Felicity, Amanda or even their mother, then someone whom they
had only known for a little over four months couldn’t be trusted.
 
Raven won that point by saying that since
they no longer lived together, it would be a good idea if someone was around
who knew the warning signs that Malleus was getting stronger.
 
In a final, desperate move, the older sister
had asked what it would do to Sarah, finding out that the terrible monsters of
their childhood nightmares not only existed but the worst happened to be
sharing a body with someone she thought of as a friend. “Lil’bit is a lot
tougher than she seems”, Raven answered, ending the discussion.
 

Since Malleus
Maleficarum was Raven’s albatross, Rebekah accepted defeat and agreed they
would tell Sarah.
 
However, she intended
for the two of them to sit down with her and explain things carefully so she
wouldn’t be too frightened when the change took place.
 

Now things had
happened to quickly to allow time for explanations, the demon within her sister
taking over after the fight with the Protectorate guards.
 
Rebekah knew the only thing she could do was
keep Sarah, whose gray eyes were displaying a mind-snapping panic, calm and
hope that Raven was right about the blacksmith’s mental fortitude.
 
It was the first time Bekah could remember wanting
Sis to be right about anything but she wished for it with all her heart.

In the magically
sealed chamber, Malleus toyed with the Kubo demon, not appearing to need
Raven’s sword.
 
The demon stabbed with
its tail, yellow poison dripping from the end of the stinger, and she grabbed
it with an open hand, feeling bored rather than worried.
 
A vicious kick sent the demon flying head
over heels to lie in a broken heap against the wall.
 
Black ichor poured freely out of the wound
where the tail had once been attached.
 
Malleus held her new trophy up and examined it closely, noticing battle
scars that marked the shell, oblivious to the not quite dead creature that was
slowly struggling towards her until it was too late.
 
As if from a great distance, Malleus heard
the mortal named Sarah shriek just before a white hot pain tore through her
back.
 
The Kubo demon raked its talons across
the soft flesh as she fell heavily onto the stone floor.
 
She would have smiled if she knew how.

Blue fire burned
across the jagged wounds, healing them instantly as she rose to her feet, still
holding the demon’s tail in her right hand.
 
Looking down her nose at the dying creature Malleus swung its stinger
down in a final thrust, piercing the demon’s neck and impaling it to the floor.
 
Slowly the Kubo demon dissolved into a puddle
of black tar that bubbled and steamed.

Feeling sick to
her stomach, both from the sight of the liquefying Kubo demon and the brutality
in which it was killed, Sarah turned from the barrier saying she would walk
home.
 
Rebekah’s voice stopped her before
she reached the second step.
     

“We’re stuck down
here, Sarah.”
 
Bekah said.
 
She pointed to a seat that Sarah hadn’t
noticed.

“Why?
 
You’ve done this before and Bryson is right
up there.”

“Bryson would be
why we’re stuck down here.
 
He’s the
second line of defense.”

“And we’re the
first, I suppose?”
 
Sarah snapped.
 
She was becoming more pissed off by the
second, the anger bringing her mind clarity it hadn’t had since Raven collapsed
back in Augusta.

Bekah shook her
head as she selected the softest rock she could find and made herself
comfortable.
 
“No, the barrier is the
first.
 
You saw how easily she killed
that other demon.
 
If it falls, we’d be
dead before we knew it was gone.”

“Then why are we
here?”
 
Sarah begrudgingly accepted the
circumstances and sat down.

“To turn on the
barrier and let Sis out when she finally regains control.”

A wet, sickening
crunch made Sarah and Bekah jump.
 
Malleus had apparently pulled another demon into the room and smashed
its face into the barrier.
 
Blood and
more solid gore dripped down, seemingly in mid air.
 
If looks could kill, Bekah and Sarah would’ve
died right then as Malleus’s crimson eyes glared at them.
 
Madness and death were reflected in those
bloody orbs.
 
In the silence, bits of
what looked to be teeth hung suspended for a minute before clattering to the
stone floor.

“It isn’t polite
to speak of someone as if they weren’t present, Rebekah.”
 
Malleus growled as the demon it its grasp
thrashed violently.
 
One of its claws
pierced her stomach but healed instantly.
 
Malleus paid it no mind.

“Yeah?
 
It’s not polite to take over someone’s body
either, Malleus.”

“Perhaps you would
like to come inside and discuss manners face to face?”

“Maybe you should
come out here.”

The monster
wearing Raven’s body smashed the demon’s head against the barrier hard enough
to shake dust loose on Sarah.
 
Malleus’s
voice was a promise of violence, her red eyes pledged retribution.
 
“I’m going to be free eventually.
 
You cannot keep me contained forever.”

Rebekah shrugged
her shoulders as Malleus stormed away from the barrier, the demon it had just
killed dissolving where it lay.
 
Sarah
looked at Raven’s older sister, saw tears in the girl’s eyes and felt a rush of
sympathy.
 
She started to stand but Bekah
stopped her in a whisper.

“Don’t let it see
weakness.
 
It just makes things
worse.”
 
Sarah nodded and settled back
into the chair.

The two sat
without talking for a long while, the silence broken by occasional inhuman
screams from the chamber as Malleus continued her rampage.
 
Finally Sarah could take it no more and asked
Bekah how often they had done this.

“Sis has given up
control forty-seven times, not counting the first few when we didn’t know what
we were dealing with, or this place.”
 
Bekah sat up a little straighter and answered the questions she knew
were coming as best she could.

           
“Malleus
first took over about ten years ago when Sis was twelve.
 
We were exploring in the woods close to here
when she- Sis- had an attack like you saw tonight.
 
She- Malleus- took over very quickly that
time but her control was shorter back then, less than a minute, though it
seemed much longer.”

           
Sarah
remained silent as Bekah continued, seemingly relieved at having someone to
share the burden with.
 
“After Sis came
back, we talked about what happened and did some research.
 
There’s not a lot to go on but what’s there
is enough.”

           
Rebekah
lapsed into silence but Sarah had more questions.
 
“What did you learn?”

           
“Demons
are bad.
 
Malleus is one of the worst; stuff
of prophecy type worst.”
 

Sarah
blanched.
 
“You mean, tonight I…”
 

Standing and
stretching; Rebekah smiled down at Sarah with a hint of pity.
 
“Sis and I have been dealing with it for a
decade now and she’s never gotten free.
 
Believe me, there have been much closer calls than tonight.”

Sarah wanted to
continue but Bekah gently rebuked her.
 
“Tomorrow we’ll sit down together and tell you everything.
 
Right now I think she wants to go home.”

Inside the
chamber, the blue flames had changed back into their normal orange.
 
Raven leaned against the barrier, swaths of
drying blood marring waxy skin.
 
Her
clothes were torn, bloodied, and beyond repair.
 
But Sarah didn’t pay attention to anything other than Raven’s eyes.
 
They were once again the sparkling emeralds,
though dulled with pain, which she had grown so accustomed to.
 
“Sorry for scaring you, Lil’bit.”
 

Quickly Bekah
pressed the runes and the barrier faded.
 
Raven slumped into her sister’s arms.

Exhaustion weighed
heavily in Raven’s voice.
 
“Almost didn’t
make it, Sis.”
 
Rebekah merely grunted
and motioned for Sarah to help.

Walking to the
first step, Bekah yelled at the top of her voice that they were coming up, then
held a yellow fireball above her head as the three slowly ascended the stairs,
Bekah in the front with Sarah and Raven close behind.
 
Bekah explained as they went that the
fireball was to let Bryson know it was them and not Malleus.

Bryson watched
them warily, his eyes darting from one figure to another as they exited the
cavern.
 
Satisfied that none of the three
were possessed he settled down and gently chided Raven for putting them into so
much danger.

“I know and I
won’t do it again.
 
Pinky swear.”
 
Raven rubbed the dragon’s cheek sleepily
before climbing onto his back, helped there by Sarah and Bekah.
 
The other two climbed up and he lifted into
the air, turning, finally towards home as the sun broke over the horizon.

CHAPTER
14: NO GOOD-BYES

           
The redhead walked around the room,
straightening things up.
 
A picture hung
crooked here, a bit of ash had fallen there.
 
She busied around the room, picking at random objects and moving them
around.
 
After she was finished she
nodded in the middle of the clutter and congratulated herself on a job well
done.

           
She decided not to take notice that
now only four windows allowed the light to shine through.

Sarah awoke the
next morning in a strange room with sunlight streaming through the window.
 
Confused at first, she remembered the events
of the prior night and having to stay at Bekah’s house because she and Raven
were too tired to go home.
 
She pulled
her jeans and shirt on then stepped out into the hallway where laughter could
be heard from the living room.
 
She
stumbled, still half asleep out of the hall and rubbed her eyes, muttering “morning”
to the two sisters.

The redheads burst
into another peal of mirth, which would have offended anyone who wasn’t used to
them and their private jokes.
 
Still
chuckling, Bekah told Sarah that there was lunch in the kitchen and that she
had ordered Buckler’s, if that was alright.
 
The blonde simply shuffled into the kitchen.
 
She ate quietly at the table and when she finished,
joined the other two settling down on the leather couch.
 
Bekah and Raven were sitting cross-legged on
the floor playing a game of cards.
 
Sarah
had no interest in joining despite their offers to start anew.

“I think we should
have a talk, if the two of you don’t mind.
 
Afterwards, I’ll decide if I go or stay.”

The laughter
quickly faded like the sun behind a thunder cloud.
 
Bekah joined Sarah on the couch while Raven
sat in a large chair facing them.
 
“Would
you like for us to explain, or do you have some questions first?”
 
Raven’s voice was worried, something rarely,
if ever heard there.

Sarah thought for
a moment then decided.
 
“One question
first and then we’ll go from there.”
 
She
looked directly at Raven.
 
“Am I in
danger around you?”

Taking a long,
deep breath to steady her nerves, Raven nodded.
 
“Yes.”, the pale woman responded matter-of-factly.
 
“The truth is everyone would be in danger if
she gets out.”

Afraid of what she
would hear, Sarah told them to explain and she would ask any questions as
needed.

It was Bekah who
told the story, “I told you last night that the first time it happened was
about ten years ago.
 
What I didn’t tell
you was that Malleus nearly killed me then.”
 
Ignoring the wounded sound Raven made, she continued. “What we’ve
discovered as time has gone on is that the stronger Sis gets, the longer the
Malleus can stay.
 
We don’t know why that
is but it saved me that day.”

Sarah took
advantage of the pause as Bekah took a sip of water, “What do you mean, ‘the
stronger Raven gets’?”

“It means that Sis
is currently one of the most powerful sorceresses in the world and we’re not
sure how much she’ll continue to grow.
 
When she was younger, the demon stayed for very brief periods.
 
Now, as you’ve seen, it can stay in control
for hours.”

“Anyway, we
couldn’t tell anybody because who knows what they’d have done with her.
 
We talked about it and-“, Bekah looked at Raven
who finished the thought.

“I can tell when
Malleus is about to take over.
 
I can
feel her getting closer to the surface, if that makes sense.
 
Usually, with only three exceptions, we make
sure I’m locked away from others.
 
At
first, we put me in handcuffs behind a locked door.
 
That didn’t last long because, as you heard
last night, she can use my voice and chains won’t slow her down.
 
So we had to find a better solution.”

Bekah picked up
the thread, “We discovered that barrier by accident a year or so after the
first attack.
 
I was reading a local
history book for school and it told about a prison they used for magic users
years ago, though nobody could remember where it was.
 
We know this area better than anyone so
finding it wasn’t a real problem.
 
The
hard part was figuring out how to open it and then seal the chamber.”

“It happens four
or five times a year but I can tell about a week in advance when I need to go
down there, so there’s plenty of time to make arrangements.”
 
Raven interjected.

Sarah mulled over
the information and thought of how to phrase the next question.
 
Speaking carefully, taking ample time to
consider her words, she said, “I’m only asking this for my benefit but have
either of you considered outside help?
 
There must be a way to exorcise it.”

The two sisters
answered, “No.”, in unison and Bekah explained.

“Forget what
you’ve heard in stories, Sarah.
 
Possessions
don’t just happen and demons can’t cross over from their world.
 
They can take over a mortal’s body using
forbidden spells, but it takes an incredibly powerful magic user to cast them.”

“Their
world?”
 
Sarah confusion showed on her
face.

Trying to keep the
explanation brief as possible, Bekah summarized what they knew.
 
“Our world is a nexus point.
 
Hundreds of different realms border ours, and
the demon’s world is one of those.
 
Barriers
were put in place eons ago by the Gods, but Malleus can break through those
from this side.”

“But you just said
it takes a sorceress to do something like that?”
 
Sarah pointed out.
 
The two sisters looked at each other with
identical expressions of trepidation on their faces.

“She has more
magic power than anybody-- or anything-- else on the planet.”
 
Bekah revealed.
 

Raven lowered her
eyes and curled her feet beneath her.
 
Sarah
felt an almost instinctive desire to comfort her friend but held back.
 
“Did you notice that the torches in the
chamber burned blue after she took over?”

Bekah carried on
without waiting for Sarah to answer Raven.
 
“She has so much energy that it can’t be contained by a human body.
 
Blue fire is the visual aspect of that, which
is why I held the fireball in my hand as we were walking up the stairs.
 
That way Bryson would know that it was us
coming and not Malleus.”

“And there is no
way to keep it sealed forever?”

           
Raven
shook her head, “We went to the Oracle years ago.
 
He wouldn’t tell us anything.”

Sarah sat back and
considered what she had learned.
 
She
never expected to hear about anything like this in her life, much less see it
first hand.
 
Her first instinct was to
get up and leave; taking what little money she had earned in the shop with her
back to Vestavia.
 
Then her eyes fell on
Raven.
 
In spite of everything she had
just heard she had grown fond of all of them.

           
Sarah
nodded one final time and stood up, facing the two sisters.
 
“I’m going back to the shop.
 
Raven, I need some time to think things over
so stay here tonight.
 
If I’m there in
the morning, I’ve decided to stay.
 
If
not, please don’t look for me, alright?”

           
With
that, Sarah walked out the front door, heading towards their shop.

           
Raven
slept fitfully that night and was standing in front of her shop at precisely
eight a.m., the time they regularly opened.
 
She wanted to rush right over first thing to see if Sarah was staying
but Bekah forced her to have some breakfast first, pointing out that pressure
wasn’t what Sarah needed right now.
 
So
here she stood, alone, after telling Beverly
they were closed, with a hand resting on the door of the shop, afraid to open
it, terrified not to.
 
Steeling her resolve,
Raven twisted the handle only to find it shut tight.
 
With a shaking hand, she slid a key into the
door and stepped inside.

 
          
It
was empty, as she expected it to be.
 
Still the young girl couldn’t keep the tears from her eyes.
 
Slowly she walked to the counter while
Rebekah closed and locked the door behind them.
 
A note was lying beside the register and through a prism of tears Raven
read it.

           
“
Dear Raven,

           
I’m going to Vestavia for a few days
to think things through.

           
I do not know if I will be coming
back or not.
 
The truth is I am afraid

           
of what could happen if I stay
around you but I know how hard you and

           
Rebekah work to keep your problem
contained.
 
Please do not come for
me.
 
If I

          
decide to return, I will let you
know.
 
Perhaps this can be a good thing
for us.

           
Please tell everyone I said goodbye
and give Rebekah an especially big

           
hug for explaining everything to me
last night.

           
Yours, Sarah Petty”

           
Raven
let the paper fall from her numb fingers as Rebekah embraced her with a reassuring
hug.
 
They stood like that for fifteen
minutes as Raven’s pain wracked sobs drowned in her big sister’s neck.
 
Finally Raven stood and, through the
occasional sniffle, asked if Elspeth was at the castle.

           
Bekah
shook her head.
 
“She and Stephen went to
Thornhill yesterday for a meeting.
 
Why?”

           
“When
are they getting back?”
 
Raven’s eyes
were still puffy and bloodshot from the tears but a cold gleam burned in them
now.
 
Bekah knew that something wasn’t
right.

           
“In
about a week.
 
Sis, will you tell me
what’s going on!”
 
Bekah hurried after
Raven who was striding with renewed determination out of the shop.

           
Raven
stopped just outside and lifted her nose to the wind, like she was sniffing for
something.
 
“Go get Amanda while I grab
Felicity.
 
Meet us in the family room in
thirty minutes.”

           
This
was one of the things that really annoyed Rebekah and most everyone else about
Sis.
 
Once the little brat decided
something she expected everyone else to have already figured it out with no
explanation.
 
Bekah refused to more
another inch until she was let in on the big secret.

           
“No
secret, Sis.
 
The Protectorate has moved
into Augusta.”
 
With the words still hanging on the early
morning breeze the girls set off to find their sisters.

           
Sarah
sat alone at the train station with her meager belongings at her feet, casting
glances back over her shoulder every few moments expecting to see someone.
 
She had told Raven not to come after her but
was well aware of the stubborn streak the redhead possessed.
 
She wasn’t sure which would bother her more;
if Raven showed up to talk her out of this trip, or if she didn’t.

           
The
shrill cry of a whistle jolted Sarah out of her thoughts.
 
She hefted the tattered duffle bag in one
hand and, after a final longing look down the platform, stepped onto the train.

           
“What’s
the problem, Raven?”
 
Amanda jumped to
her feet and rushed to hug Raven and Felicity who just walked in.
  
“Bekah wouldn’t tell me.”

           
Raven
told Mandy to calm down and she’d tell them everything.
 
After everybody had taken their usual spots,
Mandy and Liz on the chairs with Raven and Bekah sitting together on the couch,
Raven told them.
 

           
“I
believe Augusta
is working with the Protectorate.”
 
Liz
and Mandy gasped in unison.

           
Liz
spoke first.
 
“What makes you so sure, Raven?
 
Couldn’t you be mistaken?
 
Augusta
is a neutral city, not to mention technically within our borders.”