Orenda

After being in a world of isolation, being accepted into an unfamiliar group is a different kind of lonely. On one hand, it’s very exciting that you’ve finally found people who love you for who you are. You want all of their attention and to form this big, beautiful bond. However, with your past you feel like you're constantly bothering them. You begin to wonder if they really do like you or if it's a pity thing. Maybe this is a really cruel joke? Should I even bother getting my hopes up, only to be burned or should I run away and ruin a blossoming friendship before they get the chance to hurt me? It’s the negative voice that screams with an intensity that drowns out even the sanest of thoughts. It is our trust the guides us through this.
I’ve been living at this house with Rolf, Maude, Derrick, and Imma for a few months now. The weather outside is beginning to chill and the leaves are changing color. We’ve still yet to meet Gael. I hear his schedule conflicts a lot with ours. I almost wonder if they’re right and he's just SO busy to the point where he cannot even join us for hunting, or if Gale just doesn’t exist. It's almost like living with a ghost, but it's kind of not. I would have at least seen the ghost. In fact, I’ve spoken more with Kadin than I have Gael. Kadin has been telling me about his life and the things he's been through. He said he's been in the hunting business forever. He is from a family of hunters and gives us tips on where we can go hunting. He said he met Rolf when they were in elementary school, but stayed in touch with all of the moving. Also, his favorite game is Runescape and he is an Aries. Ever notice it looks like it's spelled Run-escape? Something else I've noticed is that without Kadin, Rolf and Maude resort to looking in newspaper articles for some funky business. They've tried to have me help look for a case, but everything just looks like a strange coincidence to me. They have me check out the field instead. I inspect the surrounding area for activity. I also don't understand that part either. Derrick refuses to help out when we're getting involved in a case. He only shows up to the last fight. He says that he is the muscle of the group, but that's hard to believe. He's been thrown, knocked out, and trapped more times than I can count. If he’s the tank, he’s made of glass.
I play on my own phone as Rolf taps away on his phone's screen. After a reply he sets the phone down and waits in anticipation for a reply. If his eyes could, they would bore a hole into the screen. As I match red jellybeans with red jellybeans, an incoming phone call comes in from my mom. I let the phone vibrate until it goes to voicemail. Rolf's phone lights and and he snatches it from the chair's armrest.
Rolf's eyes sparkle as he tells us Kadin found us a job. He explains that Kadin's family was tracking a large amount of disappearances in the mall. Now, these things happen all the time because human beings are garbage, however it was such an elevated amout that brought up concern. In the end, Kadin's family ruled that this was a coincidence because, again, human beings are garbage. Kadin was telling me a few days ago that he was investigating a case his family dropped because of a funny feeling. Well, he made it out to be much larger and heroic. Like he was trying to be a knight. However, his digging lead him to finding a nest of spirits in the mall. This is a big confusing considering every spirit we've fought have been alone. Rolf explains that spirits aren't necessarily solitary, just really aggressive. Well, we've all seen Constantine and Lucifer. Or honestly any show that has demons. If not, they're hostile towards humans and big jerks to each other. That's all I got for descriptions. We leave at midnight.
We meet in front of a popular mall. The size of the building itself feels intimidating and the chilled September night breeze only adds to the spooky air. Not much information was given to us other than this is a nest and Kadin will meet us inside. My anxiety is a little high. I don't like going into an unknown situation. What happens if I slip up? What if I get myself so worked up that I imagine things and then blow my own cover? I take a deep breath. I won't know until I'm in the moment. I just need to be very aware of my surroundings. This almost reminds me of the velociraptors in Jurassic Park. Don’t keep your eyes on the one in front of you, because two other spirits will come at you from the side!
Opening the mall door never felt heavier before. We walk inside where the only light available is the moon that shines through the glass ceiling above us. We pull our flashlights out and separate, again I’m partnered with Rolf. As we walk together, our footsteps echo in the halls on the tiled flooring. Shouldn't this be carpeted? Aren't most malls carpeted? The stores that line the walls look caged in, keeping out any intruders. Rolf doesn’t try to make light conversation this time. His brows are narrowed and his body stiff. This really must be a high ordeal. Both of our eyes dance back and forth, looking for signs of movement. I feel eyes behind me and turn around. The light hovers over empty space. Nothing is there and Rolf looks at me like I’m being paranoid. In my defense, how many times does the bad guy get you from behind? I get brushed off and we turn to continue our path. As we do, a large dark mass that hangs from the ceiling descends in front of us. It almost looks like a spider coming down to devour it’s prey. Rolf’s knees knock together and my shoulders shake. It drops onto the floor and we point our guns at it.
“Don’t shoot!!” It whispers, “Don’t shoot!!”
“Kadin?” Rolf asks.
“Yeah!!” It says, “Would you REALLY shoot your best friend since first grade?!”
“Honestly, yeah.” It moves closer into the light, revealing a short man. His dark curly hair is grown on the top and shaved on the sides. He has a short beard wrapping around his jawline and dark eyes. He smells of cheap cologne and cigarettes. He’s wearing all black and reminds me of a burglar.
“Why are you coming down from the ceiling?!” I ask.
“To scare you,” Kadin smirks, “I wanted our first meeting to be memorable.”
“Any other way could have been memorable! I could have shot you!”
“But where's the fun in that?” Kadin laughs. When he smiles you can see it in his eyes. There’s a ring on his front teeth where you can see he holds the cigarette to his lips. He looks around us and asks Rolf, “Where is our dear friend, Gael?
“Not coming,” Rolf says, “He has work.”
“What a bum,” Kadin says, “Nah, don’t ever, ever like him!”
“Is there something about him I shouldn’t like?” I ask.
“He’s just dumb,” Kadin says, “A not good person you shouldn’t associate with.”
“I’ll, uh, keep that in mind,” I say, “Do you know where the nest is?”
“It’s somewhere!”
“Do you know anywhere specifically?”
“This building!” His tone is almost joking, as if things will always work out so why even worry in the first place.
“We should get moving then,” I say. Kadin unties himself from his rope he and we continue down the hallway.
We clear the fourth floor and descend the still escalators. My hands shake as I grip firmly onto the railing. Heights have never been my friend and it’s even more terrifying to be going down stagnant escalators. I try not to look down, but also I can’t look up. I keep my eyes on the stairs part of this hell until we reach the third floor, but even that didn't necessarily help. My hands and feet have a weird tingling sensation where they feel like they’re not totally in this body. Once on the third floor I step away from the railing and stick closer to the wall. Rolf walks beside me and Kadin behind us. Movement comes from the hallway to my left and I point my light down it. At the center of the floor a black mass sits, dark energy bubbling out of it and floating towards the ceiling. Kaiden walks next to me and we both point our guns at it. Rolf screams out from behind us. We swing our heads around and watch two black tentacles pull Rolf over the railing. Kadin runs towards Rolf's to try and aid him. A third tentacle comes from the ceiling. I yell for Kadin to be careful and he slices it in half with his salt iron machete. It writhes on the ground until evaporating. A voice calls out to us, but is heard in our minds as if it were our own thoughts. It’s deep and calming. It sounds like multiple voices speaking in unison. It tells us not to turn away from it.
Kadin and I turn back around to the shadow on the floor. It grows larger until it takes up most of the hallway. The air around it dissipates and shows a large, monstrous creature. This creature is made of tar and drips onto the floor as it’s body forms together. It's elongated body produces thing legs from it’s sides, giving it the form of a centipede. A purple light at the center of it's body slides up towards the head. The tar melts away and shows a porcelain baby doll face. The face itself is cracked and missing it's right eye. Small little creatures that look like large isopods made of sludge crawl around on the walls. Kadin and I aren't sure where to focus.
“You are The Empath,” It speaks into our minds, “We are The Hallow.”
“The Hallow?” I ask.
“We are spirits who live in the dark so you can be in the light,” It speaks.
“That’s a weird way of putting it,” Kadin says, tightening his grip on his weapon, “Nah, don’t trust this guy. These are demons that feed on the sorrow of humans. As they feed, they dehydrate the human and turn them into dust.”
“We feed a small necessary portions from several bodies,” It speaks, “We make sure the human is not injured. The outcome is favorable to the human, seeing as it’s depression is alleviated for the time being.”
“Explain the disappearances and literal piles of dusted humans that have been found all over the place!” Kadin argues.
“One of my children had strayed,” It speaks, “This has been dealt with.”
“You can’t trust a demon, Nah,” Kadin yells.
“Child, are you not capable of thinking for yourself?”
“What if these are good spirits?” I ask.
“That’s what it wants you to think,” Kadin says, “It's tricking you to let your guard down so it can strike!”
“If we wanted the child, we would have taken her already,” It says. It crawls across the wall at an impossible speed and puts its glass face inches away from mine. It says, “You are a well of sadness we could easily keep and feed on for an eternity. Oh, the lifetimes of pain you had encountered had followed you here. Your soul is more cracked than my own face and this could very possibly be your last reincarnation. We wonder when your soul will break or if this life will repair the damage done.” Kadin lunges his sword at the spirit. It pushes him, launching him across the balcony and into a gated door.
“We will not feed on you,” It says, “You will not find us unless we wish to be found.” It sinks into the floor until there’s nothing there. I’m left there pointing my flashlight at the last spot it was seen. Kaiden and Rolf rush to my side, but it’s too late. What did it mean by lifetimes?
By the time we reach home it is five in the morning. Derric is beyond pissed that we didn't kill a nest of demons. In fact, no one is really concerned about anything that went on except for the demon escaping.
“I can't believe you let the demon go,” Derric yells at me.
“Lay off her,” Kadin hollers back, “Rolf and I were incapacitated and she was alone.” Rolf winces at how easily he was carried off. He himself is covered in a purpleish slime and is desperate to clean up.
“If that was me, the whole hoard would be dead!” Derric screams.
“Rich, coming from the guy who rushes into a battle and is knocked out immediately!” Imma chimes in.
“Why are you guys even standing up for her?” Derric yells, “We all have to clean up her mess after all of this! We even spend extra time looking for it!”
“Could you have done any better?” Rolf asks.
“I could have taken it on by myself,” Derric yells, “Instead you keep sticking me with two half rate hunters that I need to babysit!”
“You're the one that needs babysitting!” Imma yells, “You need someone to watch you so you don't get yourself killed!”
“I'm going to have a smoke,” Derric huffs, then stomps outside the house. Rolf goes upstairs to take a shower. Maude and Imma go into the kitchen to make some after hunting sandwiches. Kadin goes outside to have a smoke with Derric. I sigh and go into the other upstairs bathroom. I let the shower run as I look through my phone. I have several missed calls from Mom and two voicemails. I listen to the first one which is about how she's irritated I'm not answering her calls. She was so mad that I left home to live with Imma and a group of guys. Living with her felt like walking on eggshells. I thought things would change once I was gone.
My phone lights up. Kadin sent a text saying, “Nice to finally meet the beautiful Miss LeFerre ;)”