Beyond the Veil

Chapter 23

Cole, with his heightened senses, picked up on the danger an instant before the Necromancer swung the small blade up, and moved to the side, pushing Al out of the way.

The Necromancer cursed as he missed both Cole and Al, his eyes sizzled with intense rage. "You…" His voice trailed off as he froze, totally unmoving. His head tilted to the side, his lips darkening to black as froth dripped from his mouth.

I glanced over to Al and Cole questioningly, Cole was watching the rigid form while Al was sighting his gun. Cole put his hand up to stop him.

"What in the heck did you do that for? He’s just standing there we should just-"

"It wouldn’t do any good," Cole broke in, "this isn’t the Necromancer."

The floor shook as a deep voice seemed to vibrate from every corner of the room, "Very astute Demon, I would very much like to examine your brain sometime."

"Seeing as that’s a one-time deal, I believe I will reserve that for someone else."

The voice chuckled, "Ah, it’s so nice to see a Demon with spirit; those who let me borrow the bodies of their victims were pathetic creatures hardly worth the time it took to turn them into my soldiers."

Cole stiffened, "You turned demons?"

"Yes," The voice rolled and filled the room, "I so enjoy doing it to, it’s not just the screams but the science of it all the simple science. For example, simple graphite ground down into a powder makes your friend there solid to where anyone can touch her." Both Al and Cole moved closer to me.

Al went to put a comforting hand on my shoulder and frowned when his hand passed through me, "How?" He gestured to my wrists still bound in the handcuffs.

"Oh, a detective I believe, correct? Aren’t you supposed to be intelligent, I just told you that the graphite makes her solid, to the touch, how much energy do you think that takes?"

Alphonse narrowed his eyes, the emerald depths glittered, "You mean you’re draining her of her energy?"

"Precisely," The deep voice purred, "And….hmmm…I wonder what would happen if I doused her entire body in the powder? What happens to a spirit who runs out of energy?"

Pain, lots and lots of pain…but you don’t need to know that.

There had been only a few times when I over did it in regards to my energy but I wouldn’t go through the experience again if I had a choice. If I had to manifest my entire body when I had no energy….that would hurt, a lot.

A hand rested against my other shoulder making me jump, I looked up to see Cole’s hard profile illuminated by the meager lighting. He watched our surroundings carefully, taking everything in.

"So demons can touch her, even if she’s not manifested? Fascinating…definitely worth further research….but sadly, the time for play is drawing to an end."

"So you’re running, coward." Al spat the last word.

There was another chuckle that made the room shake, "On the contrary boys, I believe you will be the ones doing the running. If you want to catch me that is…" Cole’s fingers twitched on my shoulder, the only sign of movement in the room. "Yes," The voice went on, "If you would like to catch me and put an end to our little game, meet me at the Abetan, the demon knows what I’m talking about."

A growl issued from said demons throat, "I do and its suicide for you to go there."

"I believe you are referring to the Angels? Well don’t worry, I have a plan for them, they won’t be able to touch me. Now all that remains is for you to arrive." The body twitched at the center of the room before crumpling to the floor in a heap, black blood pooling around the corpse, "I’ll be waiting…"

Cole snapped the steel manacles that held me in place as if they were mere wooden twigs, I notices however that he didn’t meet my eyes. "Cole, is something wrong?"

He didn’t answer, merely offered me a hand up.

"Lacy, are you…you know...okay?" Al reached out to touch me, his hand passed through my arm again. I smiled at him, trying to erase the worry I saw etched across his features, "It’s okay, I just have to charge up again that’s all. It’ll be fine. He didn’t take enough for it to hurt."

Cole’s voice was nearly silent, "Miss Lacy?"

I blinked up at him, "Yes?"

"Can you forgive me?" His golden eyes glittered with remorse.

I frowned, "For what?"

"For this." He put his hand on my shoulder, there was a brief flash of bright light and the world spun for a moment violently. I slowly came back to myself, blinking the black spots out of my eyes.

A familiar tingle of energy went through me as I realized where I was. He wouldn’t have…

The now spic and span features of Al’s apartment surrounded me.