Scattered Souls

Chapter 48 - Deal With The Devil

"Out of all the people on the list, who would've thought it'll be the last one." I mentioned to Xypher on our drive back home, still unable to get over how lucky we were to actually find an Irish priest when they were pretty much scarce at the moment.

"We were lucky indeed." he said, agreeing with my thoughts.

"How were you able to make a deal with the priest that quickly?" I said in awe.

"I thought it would've taken a whole lot more convincing to get him to agree for the ritual." I admitted.

"You have to seize the opportunity to entice them." he explained.

"If you make someone an offer they can't refuse, then they have no other choice but to accept." by the tone of his voice, it was evident he was a pro when it came to the art of deal making and enticing people.

"Almost as if making a deal with the devil." I teased.

"I guess you could say that." he said with a grin.

"Is the priests' son really going to show up in two days time?" I asked him. I doubt even social services could ever dream of offering to reunite biological parents with their children that quickly.

"Of course. Are you doubting my power, love?" he asked, with a teasing tone.

"Hell no." I said, with a little giggle.

"At least the ritual will finally be happening next weekend." I pointed out.

"The sooner we get it done the better." he said.

As much as a part of me was happy that the ritual was finally getting done and it meant that Xypher would finally be set free. Another part of me was also a bit sad, since it meant Xypher would be gone.

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As much as I enjoyed the drive with Xypher, I couldn't wait to get home and go through the diaries. The curiosity was eating me alive. It was far too much for me to bear. Which is why, as soon as I got home, I headed straight to my room, took out the diaries from where they were under my bed and I immediately started to scan through the pages. I'd put it off for far too long and I simply couldn't any longer. With Xypher wanting to do the ritual next weekend, I didn't exactly have a lot of time on my hands. Something told me that these diaries contained valuable information. Since I wasn't able to get much out of Xypher, I figured these diaries had to be the next best thing.

In the first few pages Gran continued to write about her excitement around turning eighteen and all the plans that were being made. I flipped through a few more mundane pages until I got to the part where Gran receives the music box. She received it mysteriously, just like I did. Only in her case, it was with all her other presents at the party and she only later realized that it was passed down from her late grandmother. At first she tried to piece together the riddle just like I did, however she also didn't have much luck in that department.

As I turned through more pages, I grew more and more horrified by the words that I was reading with my own eyes. I actually wondered if my eyes were deceiving me - that's how outrageous the content was. The Xypher that Gran was describing seemed completely different from the one that I'd come to know and love. The hopeful part of me wondered if the person Gran was describing was even Xypher at all. However, the logical part of me seemed to know better.

The Xypher that Gran describes is malicious, offering favors that turn out horribly and then taunting her about the outcome. Gran describes multiple moments where she's made to feel responsible for the bad things happening to the people around her, as a result of the favors she was promised. The Xypher that Gran describes haunted her dreams to such an extent that it became too much for her to handle. The Xypher that Gran describes is out to destroy her life. The Xypher that Gran describes is a blood thirsty revenge seeker that will stop at nothing to make her world come crumbling down.

The last few pages of the current diary I was reading mentions how Gran suspects that she's starting to lose her mind, how she feels like she has no control over her own life and how she's desperately looking for a way to get out of the mess she was in, even if it meant taking her own life.

With tears in my eyes and my heart feeling like it was shattered into a million different pieces, I reached for the next diary, bracing myself for what else I was about to discover.

Every part of me ached, I felt like I had just been slapped in the face with the ultimate betrayal. I always had a feeling that Xypher was hiding something from me, however, I had no idea it would be this bad. He had tormented my precious grandmother. Almost driving her to the point of suicide. Was I ready to see what the rest of the pages had in store?

I took a deep breath as I prepared myself for the contents of the next diary.

The next diary was filled with more pages of doubt, terror and confusion. That was until Gran found a loophole. After months of trying to do some of her own research and going to multiple religious organizations to find someone that could help her, eventually after a little while, she stumbled upon an Irish priest of her own. This priest was able to promise to place a seal on the teapot in which Xypher's soul was trapped until her first female grandchild turned eighteen, which explains how I ended up being able to interact with Xypher now, because that seal had been broken when I turned eighteen. Xypher hadn't mentioned the teapot had been completely sealed before that. Then again, Xypher hardly mentions much of anything.

Was it possible that Xypher had enough time to reflect and change while he was sealed inside the teapot. I had to wonder, considering the Xypher I knew and the Xypher that Gran describes in her diary are poles apart.

After Xypher's soul is sealed in the teapot, Gran goes on to lead a rather normal life from what she describes on the pages afterwards. However, at certain times she was still haunted by thoughts, memories and even dreams of Xypher's initial torment and her concerns and fears regarding how things would turn out for me.

After closing the last diary, I just lay on my bed and sobbed for what felt like ages. I was so confused about the current situation I was in, that crying seemed to be the only way to let out all of my mixed emotions.