Fallen Angel Pt. 6 - The Challenge and the Spirits
Feb 4, 2006
Blog Entry 6
Unfortunatly for Alice, the writing did not last more then a few words; interrupted by Miguel a second time, she escaped an annoyed sigh and put the small notebook away. Anger rose through her, realising Miguel had most likely heard the exchanged words between her and Damien: words she had wished to keep private between the both of them. However, she calmed down and hid behind her natural mask again.
Sitting back to back against the tree, Alice found Miguel's voice had dropped down a good notch from his previous attempt at intimidating her. Now he spoke to her in a calm way, but still, he seemed distant and somewhat uncaring. This conversation did not last very long. Miguel, upon hearing the conversation with Damien, now challenged Alice to tell him why he should trust her. She may have chosen to remain silent, or she may have been unable to respond altogether. Either way, Miguel rose from his sitting position, walking a few steps away from the young woman, before glancing over his shoulder, "I know what happened to Nick", came his words. It was enough for Alice to stand up and run up to him. Her expression showing both disbelief and distress, she ordered Miguel to share what he knew, but he refused, challenging her one last time to find a reason for him to trust her if she wished to have the answers she seeked. Then he disappeared, leaving her wide eyed.
What relieved the tension was Damien's voice... was he singing?! Even from outside, one could hear the large man singing to his rubber ducky while he took a bath. It was always a wonder how such a big man like Damien, so intimidating and borderline scary on the battlefield, could be reduced to an eight year old boy in the body of a bodybuilder at times. Better yet, he found no shame at all in singing his serenade to the plastic, floating duck. Well, it was a way to bring a few laughter and smiles to his packmates before leaving for the suicidal mission that was to be the closing of the Wound on the island.
The pack gathered together soon after to leave for the island, where they would find the Wound and hopefully close it before it got out of hand. Most packmates believed this mission to be out of line and would most likely destroy them all. Being able to speak to the spirits was one thing, but inviting them for teas and cookies in hopes to close an malignent Wound was another. However, Ryan, the pack's Alpha, had a plan all along: one he had not yet shared with the rest of his packmates. He ordered the truck to be parked in the parkinglot where the boats used to cross to the island were hidden. The rest of the pack got ready to stir up the boats when Ryan announced a change of plans. Ordering Alice, Mike and Miguel to stay put, he ordered Damien to drive him to an abandonned Newspaper Factory, where he would attempt to cross the gauntlet with the help of a damaged Loci, to contact the spirits for information on the ban of the feline spirits residing near the Wound.
The factory was old, barely standing still. It creaked uneasilly with every step made, dust rising high, clogging the nostrils and lungs. It was rather empty, with a few boxes here and there, signs of a few fires probably made by teenagers who had thrown a party or just crashed there. In fact, both Damien and Ryan found now dead evidence of the little parties taking place in the area. They found a young man, or what remained of a young man who appeared to have been chewed on. From the looks of things, the boy had been eaten by rats...
Nevertheless, business was business, and there was no time to waste on the Beshilu at this time. Damien and Ryan crossed into the Hisil into an alternate world of their surroundings. Though still dark and weary, the factory seemed that much more alive with its twisted machinery and newspaper riding the floors, walls, and cogs. Signs of the factory collapsing soon came from the pillars, eaten and rotten to their core. At any given time, the Newspaper Factory could collapse on them.
Though slightly clueless at first, Ryan approached an old blank newspaper set on one of the ever so large machines. Hesitating a moment, he finally attempted to put to good use what Ardent, the Ithaeur from the New Hopes pack, had taught Ryan about spirit communication. A few words escaped his lips, and he waited for a reply. Random letters and numbers were scribbled upon the blank page, soon scratched out and disapearing, like an invisible pencil and eraser had went to work. Ryan made a few more attempts to verbally apprehend the paper spirit, only to receive the same answer: random scribbles, scratched out, erased. After a moment, however, it seemed Ryan figured what could be done and bit down on his index, drawing blood. He then proceeded to write his request on the page with his own blood.
Fortunatly, Ryan's new attempt at communicating worked, and the spirit answered accordingly. Not with words, but with moving images. Ryan asked about the feline spirits who had previously attacked him and his pack in their own home, apparently the same ones guarding the Wound. He went straight to the point: what was their ban so they could be defeated? Last encounter had been nearly deadly, and there had not been much of a chance to fight back.
A still image of a man with a lantern appeared on the page. A black circle surrounded the lantern. The man was surrounded by the creatures, and soon, the lantern was turned off and a horrible scream was followed. Ryan and Damien exchanged glances, wondering what the spirit meant. The image scribbled itself again, this time, with a clear difference: the man was holding a tourch. Also, the image was frozen in time, unlike the last one. It seemed nothing more would give them any clue as to what the spirit meant. When Ryan drew a question mark, he felt his essence being drained away from him, his very soul being sucked of life as a warmth engulfed him. Though it did not last very long, it was enough to surprise Ryan and have him stumble back from the spirit's action. However, the image of the man and his torch was no more still. The man walked into darkness, brandishing the fire with a clear look of fear upon his face. The room itself in which Ryan and Damien stood went to darkness next. The man from the previous image now appeared as a ghost of the past. The look of fear upon his features was even more evident with this three dimentional version of the moving image. Dark shadows surrounded the man, the feline spirits, but unlike previously with the lantern, it seemed the spirits would not approach the man. The episode came to an end, and the newspaper closed itself together, refusing to speak furthermore. Obviously, the issue of a light source was important... and both men remembered how electricity had gone out in the house before the feline spirits had made their attack. According to the image of the man holding the lantern and its unnatural light, the feline spirits were unaffected and had brutaly attacked him. They turn off that source and use it to their advantage. So then, could it be that natural light sources from the fire on the torch would do the trick? Both Ryan and Damien believed so.
Eager to get back to their packmates with their newfound information, Damien and Ryan, after coming out of the Hisil, came back to a missing car and a few words spray canned where it used to stand: "FUCK YOU". Where Ryan found himself to be rather crushed and unhappy his brand new Shotgun had gone away with the car, Damien, on the other hand, only smiled and rubbed his hands together.
End of The Challenge and the Spirits
(Note from the Maria: I don't think I forgot anything, but if I did, feel free to let me know so I can edit it accordingly. ^^ Keep in mind it was my first blog entry, so I wouldn't be surprised if I DID miss some things at first. Thank you! )
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