Inner Demons

Chapter Twelve: Revelations

          Back up in the house, the sun started peering over the horizon. Jamie was sitting outside the house. Arms crossed, his entire right arm was blackened, burned and raw. He cradled it with his other arm, his face throbbed, half of it covered in hastily done bandages. But more then anything, the image of a bloodied Vanth hauling Gwen's...no, Nova's broken and battered body up the hill. Utter terror in his eyes as he held her, she looked so tiny, so weak. And not only her, but Quinn was in Jamie's arms, she was burned so badly...all up her arms, her shirt was seared off, all down her thighs and even parts of her face... 

          Vanth was inside with both of them, he tried to stay and help, but the mere sight of Gwe...Nova's body made him nearly throw up. He had just excused himself and was sitting against the wall of the tiny white house, head in his hands. He had flashbacks to when Vanth stumbled over to them, he managed to choke that apparently this was only a test. 

          Belial was only there to test his power. Vanth had said that Belial had run out of power fighting Gwe...Nova, and had to retreat before he could do any lasting damage to Vanth. And not only that. Not half an hour ago, Vanth had told him how people became morphers. Through blood contact. When he said that, bent over Nova's broken body, Jamie remembered how Quinn's burnt hands had tried to desperately staunch the bleeding from Nova's chest. Then the realization hit him. He shook his head. What was happening? Why did they deserve this? He shook as he placed his forehead on his knees. 

          "...Is something wrong?" Jamie felt a grim smile come to his lips at the familiar voice. It wasn't the first time that he had heard voices like that, ever since he had lost his medication in the first skirmish with Belial, it had been happening more frequently. The night before had been the worst, he had been seeing things, hearing voices. And here he was, the sound of Gwen's stern voice in his ear. 

          "...Go away..." he growled, hiding his face. 

          "Jamie..." the young demon's lips rose, huge fangs flashed as he shook his head. 

          "I GET IT, I'M INSANE. LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" he snarled, looking up at the door to the house where the voice came from, a figure stood there. It was Gwen, the small, broken body he'd seen just half an hour ago was standing before him. Clothing soaked in blood, huge rows of gruesome, roughly done stitches, patches of burnt flesh and bandages covered her, but here she was, standing and breathing. She opened her mouth as if to say something, the mangled flesh along her jaw stretching inhumanly as she went to speak. Jamie lept to his feet and threw his arms around her. 

          "Y-You're here...but how are you...why?" he stammered, she put her hands on his shoulders, pushing him back slightly. 

          "...I haven't exactly been truthful to you two...Come inside, I'll explain." she said, out of breath and looking tired. Jamie suddenly felt protective of her, he had never felt that was before. But after seeing her nearly dead, he realized how small she seemed. She went to pull away from him,

          "...Are you okay?" she asked, he paused, looking down at her. 

          "...I'm fine but, are you...sure you're alright? I mean you...looked...well, dead." Jamie started stammering. She chuckled a little, smiling slyly. 

          "I assure you, I'm fine. Come on." She said, he finally let her go, a weird feeling in his chest as she went, limping back into the house which was filled with the scent of burnt hair and flesh, he shook his head, it was disgusting. He followed, Quinn was laying down in the bed in the back of the house, her arms covered in white bandages. She was still unconscious, Jamie looked down, squeezing his eyes shut. Nova put her hand on his shoulder. 

          "...I'll tell you everything." she said, there was doubt in his blue eyes as he sat down on the chair in the corner. 

          "...Gwen isn't my real name. I go by Nova. Yes, I was the one who sent Vanth to retrieve both you and Quinn." She started to explain, he sat there quietly. 

          "...Long story short, I didn't associate myself with you at all until now. And you just saw why. I was planning on bringing you back to my home, on the island where the demon clan was located...but while I was away, the previous leader of the clan, Abaddon, was overthrown by a demon i'd never heard of before. Belial. Apparently he had lived with the clan for a short period of time before it happened. And by the time I made it back, Abaddon and most of the clan had fled. By this point Vanth was already on his way to get you two. Then while I was on the island, I saw Evander fly over and drop you all off on the mountain. Which was how I came to find you all myself. But I still didn't want you to be in danger because of me...I used my alias, I was hoping to drop you off at a place in Europe where you could stay until this had all blown over. But something told me that Belial had already fixated himself on the two of you. So I took you with me to go find Abaddon. I needed to find out why, and how, he was defeated by Belial...and I believe I just did..." she winced a little, holding her arm in her hand. Vanth was standing quietly in the corner as she explained. 

          "...Belial got his hands on power that wasn't meant to be released..." Nova bit her lip, "Lucifuge Rofocal. The Greater Demon in charge of Hell's government, Belial discovered the sigil used to invoke him...Your species of demons can use these sigils in many different ways. Belial used it for evil. When that massive...thing appeared, I saw the sigil on it's back and recognized it..." Nova paused to take a breath. 

          "...That isn't Belial. Not the real one. He's been completely taken over by Rofocal. And as long as he has that sigil, he's not going anywhere any time soon." Vanth looked down, seemingly upset. Nova sent him a sympathetic look. 

          "...What about Quinn?" Jamie asked, it was Nova's turn to look upset. 

          "Morphism is spread through contact with the blood of an individual already infected with it," she sighed, "Quinn touched my blood with her burnt hands. She will become a morpher..." Nova said, looking guilty as she looked down at the young demon unconscious on the bed. She put her head in her hands. 

          "...Can't you stop it?" Jamie asked, looking down at her. Nova shook her head. 

          "There's no way. Once the infection starts it's impossible to stop..." she replied, her white hair streaked with mud and blood, she looked exhausted. Vanth put his hands on her shoulders. 

          "It'll be okay..." he attempted to console her, she shook her head.

          "...She might not even survive it." Fear struck Jamie's heart like a bullet. 

          "...No, she won't die..." he muttered, panic rising in his chest. The look on Nova's face didn't help. 

          "...Quinn..."