Perverse Thirst: A Ghost Walkers Prelude

Chapter 7

The witch threw the end of her staff in Pilo's direction, and sent out a bolt of lightning knocking Pilo off his feet, sending him sliding down the hallway. Demini was knocked off balance, and fell into the wall. On the floor, at the end of the hall, Pilo now had a view down the connecting hallway. By this time, the nun was returning, running as fast as her old, out-of-shape, sore body would allow her. In her left hand she held a large cross, and in the other, she held a jar of holy water.

Pilo had uncovered the evil hiding under the nun's nose. She thought of him as a hunter, and now had concerns on the evil remaining within her territory. Stopping at the corner, the nun poked her head around to assess the danger. Feeling he had a better chance at stopping the threat with the nun's weapons, Pilo grabbed the cross. Attempting to take the woman's cross, Pilo was reminding of his true nature. The flesh touching the cross burned on contact, and Pilo retracted his advance. Seeing what happened, the nun now knew she was surrounded by evil.

The wandering witch, in spirit form, returned to find her skin suit soiled. Angry, the spirit of the witch moved to the other witch's location, in the hall. Surrounded in her sister's demonic aura, and with lightning popping off the walls, the witch moved down the hall toward Demini and Pilo. With no doubt his skills were outmatched, Pilo prepared to make an escape.

"Demini," Pilo yelled as he got to his feet, "let's go!"

Demini didn't need convincing to leave the area. Pilo snatched up the suitcase off the ground. He led the way back toward the sanctuary, on the opposite side of the church, down the hall running parallel to the one they entered. When they set foot in the area underneath the steeple, he closed the door behind them. All of the pews were magically pushed to the front of the room, blocking the door.

"Get to the balcony," Pilo directed Demini.

Pilo turned to find something to block the door with. Before he could find anything he felt was suitable, the door blew open, and he was thrown through the air again. He slid to a stop, at the base of the pile of pews blocking the door. Tossing the suitcase up to Demini, Pilo moved into position to join her. With all his strength, he jumped to grab the bottom ledge of the balcony. He found jumping with all his strength, he could jump higher than he ever imagined. His effort brought his feet far above the top of the balcony ledge. Unprepared to leap over, Pilo found himself at the wrong angle to land on something. Demini had to pull him the rest of the way over before he fell back to the floor. They both dropped down behind the wall to hide from the witch entering the room.

"You've attacked my sisters," the witch bellowed out as she entered the room. "You think you can kill one of us, and I'm going to let you walk out of here?"

In hiding, Pilo looked around in search for what to do next. All of his training as a hunter never prepared him for the defense she had. Witches had more power than P.A.C.E. ever taught about. Quick thinking would be the only thing getting both of them out of there. At the end of the pew, in front of them, sat an offering plate. Grabbing the suitcase, Pilo had an idea of what to do next.

"I can smell the stench of your lifeless flesh," said the witch. "The curse lingers behind you as you walk though these halls...Forever thirsty...At least after tonight, you will no longer have to deal with your punishment. You've shown that your value has run its course. Tonight, I do, what the High Priestess should have done in the first place."

The witch stood in the middle of the sanctuary, looking up at the balcony. With a couple waves of her staff the electricity built up at her feet. Covering her lower half, the demonic spirit began to swirl in a counter-clockwise rotation. When her power built up, she was lifted off of the ground. Rising through the air, the witch prepared her staff for another attack. Before Pilo and Demini came into view, an offering plate full of liquid flew over the ledge. She was able to knock away the offering plate, but the liquid doused her torso.

Standing up from behind the balcony ledge, Pilo took the witch's attention. All of the electricity from the staff released into Pilo's chest knocking him through the air. With the witch distracted, Demini took several matches in her hand and made her attack. Since the witch expelled all of her electricity on Pilo, her defenses where down for the moment. Taking advantage of the witch's weakened state, Demini threw several lit matches in the air toward the levitating witch. When the lit end of the match came into contact with the alcohol saturating the witch's clothes, the fumes went up in flames.

Unable to concentrate on levitating, the witch fell hard to the floor. The screams of the witch filled the room when the flames fully engulfed her. Untethered, the demonic spirit retreated from the fire, and left the room. When her staff was let go, it turned into ash. Spinning in circles, the witch tried to run from the pain. When the shock finally took hold, her erratic movements ceased, and she went limp. Smoke rose from her meat suit as it quickly turned to a black ash.

Demini went to Pilo's side after the witch didn't move anymore. The scene held her attention, and interest, but she knew they were still in danger. Pilo was coughing and holding his chest when she arrived at his side. The front of his shirt was missing, and the edges, surrounding the missing area, were singed from the blast of electricity. A black mark was left on his pale skin from the point of contact from the witch's blast.

"Are you alright," she asked.

"No," he answered, in between coughs. "I have a confession to make."

"What's that?"

"That was my first time fighting a witch."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes," he replied while trying to hold back the pain.

Demini punched him in the shoulder. "I thought you were a hunter."

"Ow...I was...We never got to fight witches though. We almost did, and we all got cursed. I've never been that close...That was intense...Wasn't it? Thankfully there was only three of them...Did you see me jump? I cleared the ledge."

"I can't believe you got me hunting witches, out here, with no experience."

"They never told us they could do that...And you'd follow me anywhere."

"Don't take advantage...How'd you jump so high?"

Advantage? I need you...and I don't know...I just jumped...Do you think it's part of the curse? I've never tried jumping as high as I could before...Never thought to try."

"Could be...We need to get out of here. Who knows what these nuns are going to do. Can you move?"

"For you? I'd do anything."

"Well then get to your feet, my love. I'm not ready to lose you."

A rapid healing ability had Pilo feeling better once he got to his feet. The experience let him understand his boundaries and capabilities more than anything he had experienced up to this point. Strength fueled his courage, and built his confidence. Demini helped him off the floor, but he took a step away as soon as he got to his feet. Jumping up on the ledge of the balcony, Pilo turned and gave Demini a smirk before taking a step out into the air. She made a motion to stop him from falling, but he moved out of reach by the time she put herself into position. From the ledge, she witnessed Pilo's test in abilities. He landed hard, but it didn't affect him. Standing in the cloud of dust, he made eye contact with Demini, and gave a wave for her to follow in his footsteps. Putting her trust in Pilo, she jumped up on the ledge, took a minute to build up her courage, and then stepped away from the ledge. Landing hard, Demini was surprised as the lack of pain in the sudden stop.

Giving Demini a long, hard kiss, he moved to the pile of pews blocking the doorway. With each hand, he tossed pews out of the way with ease. Since the beginning of the curse, his mind had been his biggest weakness. Testing his strengths allowed him to free himself from the prison of doubt he had lived in for so long. After watching Pilo, Demini skipped over, to join him in clearing the exit. His happiness excited her, and what it meant for them. It was a night their love lost a little of the fear lingering around its walls. Losing the fear gave her more security in their future, and their future gave her all she wanted.