The forlorn mother put the twelfth candle in place. The basement was dark. The fetid smell of decomposing flesh hung heavy in the air. “This has to work,” she whispered. “This just has to work.”
   
The mother’s name was Bethany, and she was preparing to perform a ritual she discovered on a necromancy website. She followed the website’s directions perfectly. Failure was not an option.
   
On her basement floor she drew a chalk circle inscribed with the image of a soaring raven. Along the circumference of this magick mandala she placed twelve candles. Eleven candles were white. The twelfth candle was red, made of wax crimsonly colored with her blood. Baby Bridget, her beloved daughter, rested in the circle’s center. She was silent. She was lifeless.
   
Bethany was not usually the type to believe in magick. But this was her daughter. She had to try something. The website claimed the spell was genuine, translated from ancient hieroglyphs written by fallen angels. She was just desperate enough to believe that.
   
Bethany lit the candles one by one around the divination circle. The red candle was the last to be lit. She clasped her hands over it, closed her eyes, and spoke the website’s incantation.
   
“Azrael, almighty Angel of Death,” she cried. “Release this innocent child from your grasp. I give to you an offering of fire. Now rekindle the fire in this child’s heart. Come, Azrael! Accept my tribute and let this child live again!”
   
Bethany opened her eyes. The basement was silent. Nothing happened. She was ready to collapse in anguish, when suddenly she felt something. An eerie wind entered the sealed basement and began to blow the candles’ flames toward Baby Bridget.      
   
“This is it,” Bethany said tearfully. “It’s working!” The flames entered Baby Bridget’s mouth, leaving the basement in total darkness. Baby Bridget opened her eyes and started to cry.
   
Bethany joyously arose and rushed to the circle’s center to embrace her reanimated daughter. As she moved forward, though, she began to sweat. The basement grew hotter and hotter. Suddenly, Baby Bridget erupted into flames. She screamed and screamed and the flames grew higher and higher. Bethany stumbled backward and was caught in the blaze. The fire grew stronger with each of the baby’s tortured wails.
   
The fire consumed the basement and eventually the whole house. It was only after everything was reduced to ash that the cries ceased and the fire died down. Bethany had hoped to bring her only daughter back to the world of the living, but she brought forth a demon instead.
 
Death
 
The aged priest put the twelfth bowl in place. The basement was bright, but shadows surrounded him like dark sentinels. The smell of smoldering flesh hung heavy in the air.
    
The priest’s name was Father Robert, and he was preparing to exorcise a fire demon from the basement of the Morris family’s five-year-old home. He was meticulous. Given what this demon was capable of, failure was not an option.
   
On the basement floor he drew a chalk circle inscribed with a dodecagram. Along the circumference of this purification circle he placed twelve bowls. Eleven bowls were white. The twelfth bowl was red.
   
He filled the bowls one by one with holy water from a silver decanter. The red bowl was the last to be filled. He clasped his hands over it, closed his eyes, and prayed.
   
As Father Robert recited his prayer, he began to sweat. The temperature in the basement began to drastically increase. Then, fire spewed forth from the center of the purification circle. The light and heat were tremendous, but Father Robert stayed strong and remained in place.
   
From within the incredible inferno the fire demon appeared. It looked like a skinless human infant, a pulsating mass of charred muscle and tissue. With its daemonic red eyes it scanned the basement. It stared down at the purification circle, then directly at Father Robert. “Who are you and what do you think you’re doing?” it asked in a shrill, otherworldly voice.
   
Father Robert was astonished by the creature’s ability to speak, but he kept his composure and responded. “My name is Father Robert. I am here to bring an end to the suffering you have caused and free the soul of the girl you devoured.”
   
“Girl?” said the demon, feigning innocence. “What girl?”
   
“You know full well! The little Morris girl! The innocent child that lived in this house who you burned alive!”
   
The fiery creature chortled. “Oh, I remember now! But you can’t blame me for what happened to her. She’s the one who sought me out. After her family moved into this house, she heard me crying and came to ‘comfort’ me. She threw me scraps of wood to eat and squirted lighter fluid on me to drink. She made my flames grow bigger and stronger.
   
“Do you know how much that hurt? Can you imagine how much pain she put me in? I roasted her body and ate her soul! She tasted just like my dear, sweet mother.”
        
“Devilish creature,” Father Robert said calmly in reply, “I can see you are in a great deal of pain. However, that gives you no right to make others suffer. I am a servant of God, so I will send you back to the fires from which you were spawned.”
   
Father Robert continued reciting his prayer. At first, nothing happened. The demon chortled, mocking the holy man. Then, the holy water in the bowls rose into the air.
   
The holy water rushed into the demon’s mouth. It gurgled. It gasped for air. Finally, its flames were extinguished and it crumbled into a pile of ash. The fire demon was destroyed. Father Robert hoped that this would mean the little Morris girl could rest in peace. 
 
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©2011 Michael Albani

     
A native of Roseville, MI., Michael is  currently working on earning my Bachelor’s Degree in English with Creative Writing Emphasis and History from Albion College. He has always been a fan of the horrific and the macabre, but this submission marks one of his first attempts at publication on a horror story outlet.

The Marradith Ryder Series: The Art of Shadows, Part 47

 

“So when did you become an early bird?” Nora said , stepping aside so her daughter could walk into her suite.

Marradith shrugged and walked past her. “Seems like it’s a neccessity these last few months.”

Nora followed her into the kitchen and they both sat down.

“Dad’s gone?”

“He left last night,” Nora said. “Going down to Kitanya to see if your brother is still there.”

“He didn’t go alone?”

“No. Evan went with him. But that’s not what you’re here to talk about. Spill.”

Marradith shook her head. There was never an easy way to say anything to her Mother, and she should have known this instance wouldn’t be any different.

“Mom, I found out about what you did when you were young. Why didn’t you tell me you were in The Circle?”

Nora drew back. She did not look away, holding Marradith’s stare with a steady one of her own.

“I was doing jobs for a friend of mine. I didn’t know anything about the Circle or the Sojourners when I started out.  Yes, I killed people for money. And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to look at me the way  you are now. I’m guessing Justin told you?”

“You’ll be surprised, but he kept your secret from me. He said that it was between the two of us.”

“Then how did you find out?”

“Scott came to me the night of my wedding party, and he told me that I needed to look up the record for a certain prisoner who was being held by the Sojourners years ago. He said that it would explain a lot of things to me. He said that I could not trust the Sojourners as a group. It took a long time for me to get access to the file.  Will was out of commission, and then I had to wait for him to come back on duty before I got it. So I finally read the file a few days ago. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that you were the prisoner.”

“So, what is it that you want to know? Are there things that you didn’t find in the file?”

Marradith was taken back.  Nora spoke as calmly as someone discussing a gap in her resume.

“I have a lot of questions, actually. How come you never told me any of this before? I know that Danny is still pretty young, but… you told Scott everything.”

Nora pursed her lips. She sat at the kitchen counter on a stool, with her hands palm down against granite.

“Let me remind you of something. Scott is my first born. I had never been a mother before. And since he is a boy, your father and I had a whole different vision of how he should be raised.  Your father has always been very loyal to the Sojourner cause. I became one before we were married, but that was so we could be together. I never wanted my children to be associated with either group. Your Father and I knew we didn’t have a choice in the matter. So we raised Scott knowing exactly who he was, and what his powers might be once he matured.  We hoped that as he grew he’d become prepared for the idea. That he’d understand that his talents came with certain responsibilities. That didn’t happen. Scott told us around the time he was twelve that he wanted nothing to do with the Sojourners. We hoped that he would mature and understand that this was the best way. That didn’t happen.

“When Scott went away to college, he was recruited by the Circle. He was stupid, with a rebelious streak a mile wide.”

Marradith looked down. Then she looked towards the window, anything to avoid the pain in her mother’s eyes.

“When you were born,” Nora continued, “Paul and I decided that we would need to use a different tactic for you.  Being open with Scott hadn’t done anything but cause trouble. So we decided that we would tell you things slowly.  We taught you that you were different, and that the things that you can do had to be kept secret, for your own protection. We tried to instill in both you and Danny the values that Scott seemed to lack. And yes, we were going to eventually tell you the truth, but Leighton came after you, and there was no time.”

Marradith crossed her arms. “Okay.  So you were going to wait…how long, another couple of years?”

“One more year,” Nora said softly. “A little more time for you to be more of an adult.”

“Why? You thought I was immature?”

“No. Because we wanted to have our daughter, and once you knew the truth–your life was going to change, and there would be no going back. We knew that. And your life has changed. Your have duties now.  And you have been taught to kill. That changes a person in ways that are fundemental. There’s no replacing innocence.”

“You thought that I would rebel the way that Scott did?”

“Marradith, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. We didn’t want to frighten you with too much knowledge at once.  I have wondered, many times, if Justin is not the only reason you agreed to become Sojourner in the first place.”

“Justin?”

Nora smiled. “You don’t have to pretend with me. I knew that you were in love with him the first time I saw the two of you together. You couldn’t be with him and not make a commitment to being a Sojourner.  He’s a powerful reason for you to stay. I will never like him, but I have seen how he cares for you. So as long as he can keep you safe and on the right path, I have no problems with him.”

“I had a right to know,” Marradith spat. ” All these things that you didn’t tell me…how did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

“Guess what? I don’t care about your ego. It was all about protecting you. I did what I felt was best at the time, and that’s all there is to it.”

“Mom. What you’re saying is you just didn’t trust me. And apparently you still don’t, if you’re expecting Justin to keep me in line!”

Nora shook her head. “Don’t be silly. If you’re expected to live a hard, dangerous life, there has to be something in it for you. So you got a husband out of it. Things could be worse.”

Marradith stood up. “Well if that’s how you feel, I’m going. I’m flying out of town today anyhow. Imagine that? More than a week without you or Justin to keep me under control!”

Nora bit her tongue. She wanted to say more, but instead changed the subject.

“Make sure you go see Rafael before you leave,” she said cooly. “Just in case he’s not here when you get back.”

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©2011 Lori Titus