Beyond the Rift ✔ (Completed)

Chapter 34: The Guardian of the Stone

"You check-in in room 105." Marty hands me a pair of rusty old keys. A reddish outline forms on my palm. I close my fist.

We are standing in the motel lobby. I look at the parking area. The pick-up truck is parked in the motel's parking area. Though, travelling in the open cargo bed of the truck was uncanny, however, the whole way; the silence was nerve-racking. No one dared to spea.

Even Marty being the bubbly kind, didn't goof around this time. Everyone was terrified of Ethan. And me too. They wouldn't even look at us in the eye.

After the horrid fight, no one discussed any strategy or plan for finding the stone. We just hopped into the pick-up truck. Ethan drove quietly and none of us objected. It took us two days to reach Arkansas.

According to my vision, the stone is supposed to be in an old mansion in the town of Nashville. I might have a brief look at the inside. It had the bifurcated stairs; the one from the iconic movie Titanic, that splits off into two smaller flights going in the opposite direction. Lastly the heavy glass chandelier, suspended in the middle of the room, dazzled in the dim lit space. All in all, the mansion seems to be abandoned.

When I described the space to the others, Nick, immediately checked out the place. The mansion belonged to a rich landlord named Gerald Milton, although, he has been dead for 15 years and the property is uninhibited. Since it's a private property, the four of us have to sneak after sundown.

"We've got one hour to gear up, don't forget to wear the locket Halitus gave you." Marty shuffles to leave.

"Did you talk to Ethan? What did he say?" I ask Marty, knowing his reply already.

"He didn't say a word, I guess he agrees with the plan." Marty tries to explain, but fails to sound sure.

"I know." My voice drops, "He was against this whole thing, somehow we are here, and he is pissed."

"I am not telling this to make you feel better, but, you did the right thing." Marty states bluntly. "This is more than to find a piece of stone. We are talking about wrestling an otherworldly entity."

"What are you talking about?" I look at Marty; my mind perplexed. "What entity?"

"After Nick brought up the information on the old mansion, he researched further on the strange sightings, in and around the place. The signs indicate the guardian of the red beryl is none other than a Qareen."

"What's a Qa...?"

"Qareens are a type of spirit, similar to a genie, they are usually controlled to do the bidding of a master, however, few submit themselves eternally to protect unique and sacred valuables. They bind themselves to an object, whenever it is forgotten or abandoned, the Qareen is summoned to guard and protect the object, until someone comes looking for it again. Qareens are more or less like shapeshifters. Moreover, they will take on the form of a person's deepest, darkest desire to seduce them. Later on, they kill the victim. The only way to retrieve the Red beryl crystal is by stabbing the Qareen through its heart. As it is just a spirit, Qareens don't die but are vanquished from existence, and return until the next time the object is disavowed. But catching a Qareen off guard is next to impossible. It's a being, powerful enough to resist Asmodeus himself."

I blink several times in response. My brain freezes and glitches at the exposition. Marty might have said a million things but only one thing stuck up in my mind; it's more powerful than a sephilim.

The thing is more powerful than Asmodeus, than the tridents, than Ethan, it is more powerful than me. How are we going to find the crystal without getting dead?