Sailor Ray and the Beginning of the End Read online

  “Yeah, I get it. I get it one hundred percent. I was working for Krowe at one point. I knew he was a psychotic necromancer…that he tortured people. Experimented on people…and I didn’t care. The more I used the tome, the more I became like him. I was practically a monster, and I was willing to cross whatever line needed to be crossed as long as I got what I wanted, but somehow, when it mattered most, I didn’t. It was because of a lot of things, but a big part of it was because of you and your father. Even if you were actually dead, if I had to become a demon to bring you back, you wouldn’t have been able to look me in the eyes. I would have been like Alceron. Twisted and demented,” Blaze confesses. “And then after I tried my best to put everything behind me, your voicemail showed up on my phone saying that you weren’t actually dead and that you needed my help. It was surreal. I thought I had lost my mind, but it really was you… I was happy that I found you, and when you explained to me that you needed my help, I dropped everything to make sure that you were okay. But now, but now, things are different. The Sphinx operation and everything has picked up, plus the one thing I wasn’t able to do was kill Krowe.”

  “That necromancer is still out there?”

  “Yeah. I was planning to kill him, but he somehow knew that I was coming to end his life, so he fled. It took me months to find him the first go-round, and now, I have no idea where he is. But one thing I do know is that I’m sure he’ll be seeking revenge. When Tolelantis’s book was destroyed, I killed his master. I don’t think that’s something that he’s likely to forget anytime soon.”

  “How much of this do Abby and Roc know?”

  “Enough,” Blaze answers concisely. “Abby knows more than Roc, but they still don’t know everything. I’m telling you because I know you can relate.”

  “Do you plan on telling them the full story.”

  “When the time’s right, yeah. Too many things are going on right now. Tolelantis is gone, and Krowe is in the wind. I’ve been keeping an eye out for him…following leads when they come up, so he won’t be sneaking up on me anytime soon. There’s no immediate threat…it’s more shame than anything. I’m trying to right my wrongs, Ray. I feel like an idiot for doing what I did, but I can’t turn back.”

  “You didn’t kill anyone innocent, did you?”

  “No, I only killed those who deserved it, but the whole principle behind it wasn’t right. Part of me blames the tome, but it was me who kept trying to push the boundary more and more, even before I was in too deep.”

  Damn it, Blaze. I had no idea that he would do that much for me. He put his humanity at risk just for a shot to bring me back, and I was alive the whole time. I guess I could say the same for me. Vartal manipulated me, but even while knowing what he was doing, my own motives kept me from getting rid of him. I allowed him to gain more ground until I was forced to make a choice.

  “Well, it’s okay then. Even while being manipulated you did the right thing.”

  “Maybe, but I still feel like it’s a cop-out. I’ll sort it all out. I just need some more time. But now you know, Ray. Now you know what’s really been on my mind. I know I can trust you to keep it a secret.”

  “Yeah. For sure. As long as it doesn’t evolve into something more.”

  “It won’t.”

  We ride the rest of the journey in silence, the weight on the conversation still heavily on our hearts. It took a lot for Blaze to confide that level of information with me. I remember how it felt when I finally had the courage to reveal the truth. I was scared and didn’t know what would happen if the others knew the truth. For the most part, my fears were proven false. They were surprised, but they were there for me. Most importantly, they found it within themselves to understand. With everything that happened to Blaze, I don’t blame him for dabbling in the darkness. Objectively, he had more of a reason than me. Especially if he thought he could use Tolelantis’s power to bring back the ones that he lost. He didn’t say it, but I know he wanted to bring his family back. He didn’t have to. He killed them because it was the only way he could save them from themselves. Who wouldn’t be tempted to reverse that?

  “We’re here.” Blaze pulls up to an old, abandoned warehouse on the edge of town, Alceron’s current location according to Abby’s intel and from the tracker Blaze put on him.

  “Are we going to wait for Abby and Roc?”

  “No,” he says before unbuckling his seatbelt, “I wasn’t lying when I said that I almost took him out. Alceron is dangerous, and more people means more opportunities to turn us against each other. I trust you, but I can’t be everywhere at once. I’m immune to Alceron’s magic, at least to the extent that he used it on us during our first encounter. Point blank, I can protect you, and you’re a better hunter than them both. No matter who I partnered up with, two of us would have been left vulnerable to Alceron. If we’re lucky, we can kill him before Roc and Abby even arrive. That's why your plan back at the base didn't faze me. If you weren't going to say anything, I was.”

  “Okay, but aren’t they just a few minutes behind?”

  "No. On the way here, Abby texted me saying that the issue they were working on needed more time. We were supposed to just do recon, and wait for them. I agreed, but our best chance for taking him down without complications is if both of us go together. If Alceron can sense tragedy, he most likely knows that we're right at his doorstep. I can't leave you alone. If Alceron finds you and he tries something new, I'm not sure if you'll be able to fight it."

  "Okay... Yeah, I'm down. Let's rage."

  I exit the car after Blaze, and together we walk towards the front of the warehouse. There's no point in sneaking up on him. He knows we're here, and it doesn't seem like he's going to run. He's waiting for us.

  Blaze didn’t go into detail about how he hurt him, but I assume it was from our standard weaponry. I’m guessing that in his time away from battle he took it upon himself to heal. There’s a good chance he picked up a snack or two for his troubles, which means he might be stronger than before.

  Rather than pick the lock at the front of the building, Blaze kicks it down and storms ahead, the moonlight coming in from the window pane ceiling as our guide. There doesn't seem to be anything going on in the facility, and our search confirms it. He doesn't appear to have backup, and he didn't set out to find any once he knew we were on our way. Every step we take is calculated. Alceron tricked us before and round two is beginning to look like he has something up his sleeve for us, again.

  "Sailor, look." Blaze steps from out of the entryway into one of the main rooms of the building. I step in behind him and see Alceron waiting for us, bathed in the moonlight with his head tilted on an angle. His mouth is covered with blood. Fresh blood. I'm not sure if it's a scare tactic or if there are some traits the demon shares with vampires.

  "I've been waiting for you two. I was beginning to think that you got cold feet."

  "Nah, never that," Blaze answers for the both of us. "You were the one that ran away."

  The demon returns his head to his default position, his blonde hair sways in synch with his motions, partially covering his eyes. "Isolation makes the heart grow weaker," the demon muses. "I've already had a taste of the girl, but you hunter, you I can tell will be a satisfying meal as well. To have you both at once will be the most delectable treat. Out of all of the despair that drew me here, the two of yours was the most enticing." The demon’s elongated tongue hangs from his mouth, slick with blood. "It was so dense that I couldn't turn away. The other misfortunes were nearly icing on the cake, as you humans say. You two are hopeless… Tragic… Ruined… If only you could see what I see." He snickers. “You’re both well on your path to being demons just like me.”

  “That’s enough,” Blaze hisses. He shoots at the demon, but Alceron deflects them with an axe he materializes from thin air. There’s a demonic, purplish-blue hue to it, and there’s a presence attached to it as well. It’s hard to explain, but I can feel its effects on the atmosphere where I’m stand
ing.

  “An executioner’s axe…” I say, not the least bit surprised by his antics. If he has the ability to materialize tragedies, spawning one of his weapons he used in his past life should be a non-issue. What is shocking is his dexterity and the pressure his weapon’s emitting into the atmosphere.

  “But wait, there’s more.” Alceron slings his axe my way and I dodge it with a diving roll. The axe disappears beside me, but before I can get my bearings and reload, I see him launch an array of knives comprised of his demonic energy.

  “Shit!” I brace myself as they hurtle towards me, but they all miss me as if it were intentional.

  “I can taste your fear, hunter. You’re starting to see the difference in our skill.” The sound of gunfire erupts from the other side of the room where Blaze is, but he blocks his assault again with his axe. “But you,” he says to Blaze. “You’re fearless. You’ve dealt with others of my caliber. Perhaps that explains—”

  “You talk too much.” Blaze rushes in and Alceron takes the bait by hurtling his axe towards him. Blaze dodges it in his pursuit, trusting his instincts, and slips past the projectile without losing speed. Once he closes the gap between them, he draws his dagger and plunges in into the heart of the demon. Alceron gasps and Blaze twists the blade, exasperating the damage he’s already inflicted. “I don’t know what you were planning, but it’s over, now.”

  “On the contrary, hunter, it’s only just beginning.”

  “Blaze, look out!”

  By the time Blaze notices, it’s too late. Blaze looks up to see Alceron’s axe in its swift decent. Blaze tries to dodge it, but he comes up short. His right shoulder falls to the ground, cut clean from his body. Blaze screams at the top of his lungs and falls to his knees. Alceron’s axe then circles behind him and slices through his neck, decapitating him. Blaze’s head rolls under Alceron’s foot and he kicks it my way. His head comes to a stop right at my fingertips. I’ll never forget the look of his lifeless eyes and hanging mouth for as long as I live. “Next.”

  Alceron begins to walk towards me with a relaxed gait. Did killing Blaze somehow make him stronger? He was already strong enough, before. I reload as quickly as I can and unload my second round of shots. Alceron’s axe does his handy work by deflecting my bullets, but this time, it’s floating and acting on its own. “The more you fight me, the stronger I get. It’s best if you give in.” I ignore the demon and double down on my efforts by using both of my guns.

  Alceron one-ups me by spawning a second axe to compliment the first. While I’m shooting, one of my bullets ricochets from his axes and cuts through the side of my bicep. Taken aback, my gun drops to the floor and I catch sight of Blaze’s severed head once more.

  “This can’t be real. This can’t be real. This can’t be real,” I voice hysterically as I back away from the monster. I trip on my own feet while backpedaling and Alceron laughs at my rapidly deteriorating confidence. With no other moves in my arsenal, I pull out a syringe of Holy Water and inject myself in hopes that the nightmare will end.

  “What are the chances that I can cleave you in half, I wonder?”

  The demon paces closer to me and one of his axes floats into his hand. He lifts it up to swing, but before he can execute me, he fades into nothing. I rapidly blink at the onset of his disappearance, but then everything suddenly becomes clear.

  He had gotten me, again. The fog of my hysteria clears and I see Blaze on the ground against a wall, bleeding from his shoulder, his gun resting in his hand. The sound of gunfire had just happened, I think, but I’m not too sure. I was just coming out of Alceron’s attempt to feed from my tragedy. One thing I am able to see is Alceron’s body, lifeless and sprawled out a few feet away from Blaze.

  “You did it.” I push up from the ground and wince from the burning pain at the top of my arm. I look to see the cause and notice an incision...the blades...part of his illusion must have been me thinking that I dodged them all. One of them cut me, and that’s when his spell began to work. If I wouldn’t have known about his abilities, I would have been done for. There was a brief transition last time I was afflicted, but this time, it was seamless. “Blaze...Blaze, are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I should be asking you the same question,” he says while rising slowly. He doesn’t seem to have lost that much blood, but I can tell he’s near the point of exhaustion. “He didn’t try to kill you because he was feeding off of you,” he rasps. “It made things...difficult. He almost got me, but I pulled through.”

  “I’m glad you did.” I help Blaze from against the wall and wrap his arm above my shoulder as an anchoring point. He grunts as we begin to move, and I notice that his jacket is slightly damp and sliced into. “It’s nothing,” he says. “I’ll be fine.” He tucks his gun into the same side of his destroyed jacket and places his hand over his wound while we move towards the exit.

  Blaze said he’d be fine, and I trust him. I don’t have any other choice.

  After we made it out of the building, I called Abby and explained to her what happened. Her and Roc took care of the rest while Blaze and I headed back to base. Something that was interesting to both of them was the existence of Alceron’s axe. He had been killed by Blaze, and Roc and Abby made sure, but his axe still existed even though it was manifested by his abilities. It lacked the same energy that it once had, but the physical item still remained. Abby made the call to handle it like any other paranormal artifact and lock it away. The only thing she planned to do differently is check on it from time to time to see whether or not it will disappear like the other items.

  All in all, things worked out the best that they could have given the cards we were dealt. All of us survived, we stopped the threat, I finally learned about what's been eating at Blaze since I returned, and I voiced my concerns that Vartal still may be around.

  We're going to look after him while he recovers...the three of us...and I'll be sure to watch out for Tolelantis, too.

  Alceron’s magic worked by exploiting and feeding off of a person’s most tragic moments, picking from things that have either happened or that the target fears may happen. After being hit twice it affirmed what my greatest fears are. Vartal’s return and losing Blaze or anyone else that I cared for. It was never really about me; it was always the people around me. My father became Vartal’s puppet in one scenario, and I saw Blaze get beheaded in another. I understand that now, and after we made it back to safety, I made it clear that Vartal is extremely powerful and we should keep an eye out for him, just in case his decides to make his return.

  I admitted that it was fear talking, there was no way around it considering the things that I saw, but it was also the truth. His death was never fully confirmed, and he knows enough about me to put everyone close to me in danger, including them. When I first told them, there wasn’t much to do and there isn’t now, but at least if he does come back, we won’t be caught off-guard. We’ll be ready to stop whatever he has in store, and I’ll be the one to kill him once and for all.

  Chapter 13: He who Wanders

  “Vartal?”

  Yes, child?”

  “I remember now. I wasn’t drinking. I was the designated driver. I was sober. Someone swerved into my lane and hit us. That’s when everything went dark. I didn’t kill anyone.”

  Do you feel relieved?

  “In a way, yes. But I can’t remember much after that, still. Bits and pieces. It’s coming back. A flash here and there…is that you?”

  It is. Through our bond, your body is beginning to be restored to what it once was.

  “Can you save my friends, too? If I’m like this…maybe…”

  In my present state, I cannot guarantee such a feat.

  “I understand. What about the guy who hit me? Do know if he’s alive?”

  No, but if he’s in the same state that you’re in, this prison serves him well.

  “Yeah.”

  Or perhaps he is alive and well.

  “I hope he suffers.”

&nbs
p; Me too.

  “If any of my friends died because of him, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  On the contrary, I think you’ll know exactly what to do when the time comes.

  “How much longer am I going to be here?”

  Not much longer. For now, just relax and accept whatever thoughts or feelings cross your mind. Soon you’ll be ready.

  “This feel’s nice, Vartal. Thank you.”

  Enjoy your rest, for when you wake, there will be much work to do.

  The End

  A Note to the Reader

  I want to take the time to thank you for reading my story. I’m an independent author so having my work read by even one person is a step forward in chasing my dream.

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  Thank you very much.

  About the Author

  Alex Villavasso was born and raised in Louisiana where he first found his love for fiction while reading through the summer months. When he is not working on getting his thoughts out of his head, Alex can be found doing things that everyone tends to do, like sleeping, catching up with friends, and spending copious amounts of time on Netflix.

  Alex hangs out at AlexVillavasso.com. You can connect with him on Facebook at Facebook.com/AlexVillavasso and on Twitter at @AlexVillavasso. Alex can also be reached at [email protected] if you prefer to contact him through email.

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