The Demon, the Witch, and the Priest, page 12
Despite his politeness, I didn't budge. I couldn't fathom what he was saying. I know what my eyes saw, but I just couldn't wrap my mind around it.
As the seconds passed, his smile faded, and he bowed his head. Without another show of sentiments, his massive form began to change. With every steady breath he took, the man changed.
The horns shrank back into his skull, leaving only wavy, silver hair in its place. His eyes filled with a sparkling blue, and his skin turned peachy with a little flush in his cheeks. The man shrank until I was looking down at him.
“Maybe you should take a moment, too,” he suggested.
“A moment for what?” I grumbled.
I had no idea what was going on, and my confusion seemed to be growing by the minute. I stood in a large room lit by candles and a fire burning that cast the room full of shadows.
If that hadn't been creepy enough, there was a man that willfully changed from what he claimed to be a demon, a Cambion, to a human form. Maybe I was dreaming. That was it. I was asleep, having a horrible nightmare, and would wake up soon. I would be back at the orphanage, Sister Mary would be alive, and none of this would be real.
“I'd like to wake up now,” I said aloud.
The man laughed, which I found irritating. “Take a look,” he smiled as he gestured towards the mirror. “This is no dream.”
I found the large ornamentally crafted gold gilt mirror hanging on my left. I also noticed the stacks and stacks of books covering the walls from floor to ceiling.
The orphanage had books, but never anything like this.
When I looked back at the man, he only gestured towards the mirror again. Turning around, I moved to place my reflection in the mirror.
Staring back at me was a monster. I was what he was. I touched my pasty face with my clawed hands. My clothes were torn and hanging off me in rags. My red eyes showed brightly. I felt every crack, every bump, even my freshly grown horns. I had to touch it to know it was real.
“What's happened to me?”
“I released you. To reveal the true you.”
“What?”
“Relax, and I will explain it all.” The man spoke in a bright English accent.
“Relax? I'm a monster! How am I supposed to relax when I'm a monster?” My Italian accent felt thick in my ears.
“A demon,” the man corrected. “Relax, my son. It’s quite simple. You will understand everything.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?”
The man put his fingers to his lips to signal my silence. “Take a deep breath. Close your eyes.” He waited for me to comply before continuing. “Now, think of something pleasant. Something that makes you truly happy.”
I thought back on my life with its limited experiences. I realized my memories were not very noteworthy, but I tried to concentrate on every significant day I'd ever had. The day I learned how to read and write. The day I learned to tie my shoes. The list wasn't very long, but what there was of my life, the single denominator was Sister Mary St. John.
I thought of her peaceful smile and warm heart. My entire body started to tingle with warmth. I felt as though I were glowing with white light even though I knew I wasn't. My nose filled with her scent; honeysuckle and lavender. It felt like home.
There was pain like ice and fire, and then my skin felt too big again. When I opened my eyes, I was staring back at myself.
It really was me.
Happy to be back, I looked over at the stranger. Quickly I realized I looked like a younger version of him. We could have been twins if not for my darker skin.
“Please, have a seat,” he gestured again towards the chairs at the fireplace.
We sat down together, and I said, “You're my…?”
“Father. Yes.”
Nervously, I looked around to verify we were alone.
“My name is Alterazar,” he started. This time I cut him off.
“I'm sorry. I just don't understand. Where am I?”
“My home.”
“Which is where?”
“Physical location isn’t important right now.”
I was about question him more, maybe force him to release me. I wanted to see the outside. I wanted to know where he had taken me.
Before I could, the man said, “Let me start at the beginning. I met your mother on the streets of Venice. She was a beautiful local. Silly and naïve, but so full of life. I courted her for two weeks, convinced her I was in love with her, and it took no more work on my part after that. I left once she became pregnant, of course. There was no need for me to stay nearby until you were ready to be born.”
The man said it so casually like it was as natural as breathing.
I wondered if he had done this before? To some other unsuspecting naïve girl who would be, in the end, trapped to raise a baby in a time where you were cast out and disgraced for your circumstances? Or did she not make it through labor, leaving yet another child an orphan.
Did I have siblings?
These were the things I thought of as he spoke. With irritation, I said, “Sticking around to raise me was never a thought?”
Alterazar laughed. When he changed back to his human form, his voice had also switched to a more soothing tone, but his laugh had stayed the same. It was harsh, guttural, and mean.
“I am a demon trying to gain control of the eternal balance; it's kind of a full-time commitment. I apologize if changing your cloth wasn't on my to-do list.” A simple smile played at the corners of his mouth.
He wasn't mocking me, but he did think I was just as naïve as my mother had been.
“Then why make me?” I asked.
“I needed an heir.”
“Why with a human?”
“Our kind can't breed with each other. It is a genetic defect. A Cambion must mate with a human to beget a child.” The way he said it, with distaste, made me see his inferiority complex coming to the surface. Something he probably hid from everyone else. “It makes us weak. The others think we are not strong enough and mock our human side, but it is the perfect disguise.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are human when you are born. I was born Alexander Morgan Blacksmith. My mother was a farm girl, a job she got as a teenager after her father, the town's Blacksmith, died from a heart attack. The story goes that my father came into town some dark and stormy night. After a few days, he made promises to run away with my mother, to free her of her state of being. Instead, he impregnated her and left. I have never tracked him down, but there were four other children born that year, all without fathers,” he smiled, but I didn't know why. I didn't even care why.
“Why not just use one of them as your heir then?”
“I don't know where they are, and they have no loyalty to me. There are other Cambions—some related, but most not. We have to carry on our race, Kane. It is only right.”
“Who is Kane?”
“You are.”
“My name is Gio.”
“Your human name is, yes. Your Cambion name is Kane. It's strong. Biblical even. Do you know the story of Cain and Abel?”
I stayed quiet. I felt he was baiting me so that he could keep talking. I was quite sure he liked hearing the sound of his voice.
“Like I was saying, we are born human. It is what makes us weak. If we were to die before our rebirth, it would be a waste, but we are not completely lost. We don't get sick due to the demon blood in our veins, so childhood disease and death are practically unheard of for our kind. But there are other kinds of casualties; being trampled by a horse, drowning in a river, things of that nature. We are stronger and more durable than a typical human, but we also have a stronger instinct to survive. If put in a position of them, or you, you will fight to the death, and you will win.”
“I'm not a fighter.”
“You only think you aren’t.” The man smiled. “I tried to get to you sooner, but…”
“I don't remember seeing you before.” I honestly tried to remember, but I came up empty.
“I did not want you to see me until after the transition.”
“What transition?”
“The transition. I was 15 when I completed my transition. I was playing a game with a few boys from town when I discovered one was cheating. When I called him out for what he was, the boy challenged me. Naturally, I could not just walk away, so I accepted. He was bigger than me, but as I said, we have a stronger survival instinct. When Walter knocked me down, I got back up. He knocked me down again, and I got back up. On the third time, I tasted blood running down the back of my throat. When I was on the ground, I found that I had landed near a solid log of oak. I grabbed it firmly and swung up as I stood. The board smashed into Walter's jaw, shattering some of the bone. He fell to the floor in pain. I remember that moment as if it were just yesterday,” Alterazar smiled sweetly this time. “The other boys were cheering me on as they had done for Walter just a few moments before. I climbed on top of him, pinning his arms down with my knees, and began bashing his face with the wood until I saw blood. The others started screaming and running. Walter stopped moving.”
I felt bile rise in the back of my throat as Alterazar told his story, but then I heard awful laughter in the back of my mind. There was excitement growing in my limbs. Anxious for a fight. With every gory detail, I heard something inside of me grow to want the same kind of viciousness. To want to experience it firsthand. It scared the hell out of me.
“Well, after that, there was nothing more to be done. Walter was dead, and I fled town that night. I transitioned then and became my true self. I moved from town to town, working odd jobs for a hot meal or a dry bed. Sleeping in the rain became uncomfortable on dirt floors. I'm sure you have noticed by now your skin doesn't seem to fit anymore. It's too big in your human form but too small when you change to Cambion.”
“Yes.”
“You will get used to it,” Alterazar said assuredly.
“How did you get all of this?”
“Over the years, I have gained things—knowledge and skills, which led to money and power. I am the first Cambion to be respected and feared. Most of us are looked down on as inferior due to our human birth. We can't simulate into the demon world, our world, until we have shed our humanity.”
“How do we do that?”
“By killing an innocent.”
“Kill?” I gulped out.
“Yes, as I did with Walter. Currently, you have a soul. You have good; however, once you complete your first kill, that will all disappear.”
“Disappear?”
“You won't even miss it. It is a glorious thing to be free of all weaknesses that tie you to laws and reason. If I want something, I take it. If I don't like something, I get rid of it.”
“Just as you got rid of Sister Mary St. John?”
“Who?” Alterazar asked as he thought back. “Oh, yes. The nun at the door. She had gotten in my way one too many times. She always held you too close. She smiled at your face, but at night when you were asleep, she always said prayers for you, extra prayers to keep your soul intact. She knew you were not like the others. She feared you just as much as she feared for you.”
“How do you know?”
“I know things. I have connections above ground as well as below it. I know that when I tried to get you at fifteen, she stood in my way. I know that when I tried on your sixteenth birthday, she was in my way. I was getting tired of waiting. She saw something in you. Something she feared, but she also saw something strong and good. I guess it was her fight to be lost. Not to do with anything now.”
She saw something in me. Something good, Alterazar had said. “Where is she?”
“Dead, of course.” He said it with such ease.
I felt the air leave my lungs at his careless admission. I felt a dark hatred rise within me. My blood began to boil. I tasted acid in my mouth as a small mysterious voice got louder and louder in my mind. He wanted destruction, and at that moment, I wanted it too—the murder of the man who took the life of my mother.
“She. Was. My. Mother.” I breathed each syllable as I channeled my rage to transform. I felt justified in using my new form to take him out. I told myself it was justice for what he had done to Sister Mary St. John.
In the half-second it took for me to lunge at Alterazar, he had fully transformed into his demon form as well. He matched me pound for pound. Blow for blow.
I threw him off of me, but it wasn't enough to make him go far. The chair I had been sitting in earlier was my closest weapon. The solid wood splintered as I smashed it against his body.
Alterazar stumbled back, but he charged at me once he gained his footing, running me backward into one of the many bookcases. Shelves crumbled beneath our weight, and an avalanche of books came crashing down as we moved the fight elsewhere.
I was young and inexperienced and easily overpowered. Before I could stop it from happening, Alterazar stabbed me again.
Stunned, I fell to my knees, and all went black.
40
Paige-
Paige was captivated by Gio’s story. Even though he talked of demons, she hung on every word coming from his human mouth.
“What happened next?”
Gio looked exhausted, more than Paige thought anyone could. He met her eyes.
“Alterazar tried to train me. He taught me how to control the change, and in return, I could not only change into Kane faster, but I could also control some of the pain.”
“How painful is it?”
“More than I could describe,” Gio said honestly. “He taught me all the things we could do. Our defenses. Our weaknesses. He taught me how to shimmer.” When Paige’s eyebrow cocked up, Gio said, “That's how we got in here tonight.”
“The pressure?”
“Yes.”
“So, what is a shimmer, exactly?”
“The best way to describe it, I guess, would be to say we teleported.”
“We teleported?” Paige’s mouth gaped open, and Gio couldn't help the small chuckle bubble in his throat. “What else can you do?”
Gio shook his head, “Maybe we shouldn't.”
“Why?”
“The one thing I don't want to do is encourage him.”
“Encourage who?”
“Kane,” he said plainly.
A shiver passed through Paige at his memory.
Gio talked about Kane as a third person, so Paige forgot they were the same for brief moments. She had almost been free of what he looked like and how terrified she felt when he was loose.
Paige wrapped her arms around her knees as she pulled them up to her chest. It hurt to think of Gio like that. The demon him tearing the human him apart. “What's it like?”
“To have a demon in me?”
“Yes.”
“I think it's kind of like someone with a split personality disorder; only I don't have three or four. I just have Kane. Except Kane takes over my body when he gains control, changing it to his. He first has to take over my mind, pushing me to the recesses.”
“Does he talk to you?”
“He taunts me most of the time. Taunts my humanity. He's been trying for years to get me to change. I've hidden him for so long. Fighting Kane used to take a lot out of me, but I've gotten stronger.”
“Why fight him?”
“I didn't choose him. I didn't choose to be evil.” Gio looked deeper into Paige’s eyes.
Her body yearned to touch him. Her pulse raced, but she couldn't move. Her eyes held him, just as his eyes held her.
“I don't choose to be a monster.” Gio smiled a small crooked smile. “You know, the whole time since you saw me in the church with Father McCallan, I've had this urge to comfort you. I want to hold you until you stop shaking until your heart calms down. Until you believe me, but I don't because I don't want to frighten you more.”
Hearing Gio speak those things only made Paige’s heart tighten. He shouldn't be saying those things. What was worst was she wanted him to say them anyway. She wanted him to feel what she felt. It made everything she felt when she was near him valid.
“What keeps you going?” Paige asked as she tried to pretend like his words hadn’t affected her.
“Sister Mary St. John. She saw something good in me. I don't want that to be for nothing.” Paige nodded, accepting his answer for what it was, but then Gio added, “And you.”
Paige’s heart fluttered. A sigh nearly slipped from her lips, but she stopped it and quietly exhaled a controlled breath. Try to move on, Paige asked, “How do you control your changes?”
“The key is anger. The overwhelming anger I felt at losing Sister Mary was the key I needed in the beginning. It was the only power strong enough to awaken the monster I had become. My love for her was also the key to changing back. She is what kept me human back then.”
“How do you do it now?”
“As I said, Kane has been dormant for a while now. I still miss Sister Mary; that will never change, but,” Gio stopped to breathe. He looked as though he weighed each word in his mind before he said them. “Fear for you. Fear you may be in danger will initiate a change. Seeing you safe changes me back.”
Why is he saying these things? He shouldn't be saying these things.
Paige should leave. Get away from him, maybe, but then what? She wanted to know more; she needed to know more ---to understand it all. So instead of leaving, Paige asked more questions. “How many demons are there?”
“A whole world full. Demons live underground, among humans disguised in human form, and in other dimensions.”
“Other dimensions?”
“Yes. They get called here by witches and other practitioners of magic. If the summoner is not strong enough to control the demon they called on, there can be severe consequences. Demons can also be called up from other dimensions in some cases by higher demons. In these instances, the Council would get involved for resolution.”
“What’s the Council?”
