Chapter 23

The chanting held a steady, monotone level, like a tumbling crash of a waterfall. It grew and rose and ebbed like the pounding of an ocean surf against a sand bar. Sean could feel it as well as the earth shattering shaking of the wooden floorboards underfoot. But the chanting of Medraut, he could hear that too. It was clear and defined in Sean’s skull, like an unwanted voice that spat and called him names and that was annoying to the highest degree. It wanted Sean to die and to kill himself at the same time. The voice was as dark as night and more fiery than hell, and it was as belligerent and proud to call itself as such. The voice of Satan himself, without his presence. And it was coming from the other room.
The room filled with three wraiths, guarding a maniacal captain.
Sean knew that Medraut needed to be stopped.
“Medraut needs to be stopped!” Elise shouted, not caring whether her voice was heard by the enemy in the adjoining room.
“You think?” Sean shouted back, one hand positioned over his ear, trying to block at the incessant jumble of noise and clatter. Sean imagined it was like standing in the middle of category four storm with thunder.
Elise stared tensely at Sean. Her eyes told him everything that he needed to know. Everything Elise wanted to say was in those pair of green eyes that glowed back at him.
“I’ll go,” Sean said, knowing even if Elise heard him, she would understand. But instead she frowned, and then shook her head, jabbing a finger at Sean and then at herself.
    “What are you talking about-are you crazy?” She said. “I’m the only person in this room that is qualified to do this. You stay while I go, you dimwit!”
    Sean backed away, pointing at his knife at his hip.
    He said. “I have the knife!”
    Elise pointed at the middle of her chest. “And I have the world’s single best weapon in the world!” She stabbed a finger into Sean’s chest forcefully, screaming, “I’m not letting you go in there. Do you hear me?”
     “And what am I supposed to do?” Sean matched Elise’s volume, the droning thunder of Medraut’s words echoing loudly through the walls.
     “Go get your family! Bring them to safety, save them.”
     “Oh really? And what happens if you fail in stopping Medraut? What would happen to the world if you can’t take out the portal?”
     Staring at Elise in room, light from the other room flooded both of them in an otherworldly blue glow. It rippled in the air, the atmosphere reacting like a live electrical wire being dunked into a shallow puddle of water. Elise’s face was lit harshly, bright whites and blues flashing across her face. Hard shadows of valleys cracked her face in numerous places. Elise usually looked young and youthful, but now she truly did look a two hundred years old.
     Elise hung her head. “Sean. I’m sorry.” With her head down, she held up her palm against Sean. Before he could grab her hand or jump out of the way, Sean stared as Elise’s hand glowed a vicious color of amber and streams of light shown in pinpricks from her fingertips. Sean was sent flying head over heels, his body being instantly pushed backwards by an invisible hand that threw him against the back wall of the room.
     “Elise!” Sean shouted, but Elise ignored him. She kept her hand up, palm facing Sean. With shoulder blades flat against the wall, Sean watched helplessly as Elise tore through the remaining wall and into adjacent room.
     
   

    All Sean could do was watch. And it pissed him off. Not only had Elise just jumped into a roomful of wraiths a maniac killer captain, but she had the audacity to force him to stay in the background and watch her get destroyed. Sure, Sean knew Elise could handle herself in a fight. He had seen her in action before. But she was deprived of energy, Sean had seen it in her eyes, her face. She was drained, and she hadn’t had enough time to recuperate. As strong as the magical Medallion may be, Sean guessed Elise needed more than just two minutes with it. Possibly two hours, and then she would be healed. But only two minutes? Elise looked like she was already three feet in the grave, and she didn’t look like she was ready to go up against enemies that she couldn’t touch. To Sean, the entire situation looked bleak. Medraut was calling upon God knows what via a portal to an alternate dimension, Elise was going to confront not one, but three six foot tall wraiths and Sean was left hanging up against a wall.
     Staring, the bass like cadence drowning out all of Sean’s hearing, he stared down at Elise crossing into the other room. She squeezed through the crack that was once a tiny peephole in the wall, and once she did, Sean felt himself fall to the ground. He landed on his feet roughly, momentarily losing his balance but then shooting towards the human sized hole in the wall where Elise had just passed through. But before he could follow Elise onto the other side, a loud scream jolted Sean to his core. It was unlike any other sound he had ever heard in his life. It had the shrillness of a baby crying but the bestial ferocious anger of a feral animal underlying it. It tore at Sean’s ears and he covered them and watched, eyes wide, as the crack that stood before him somehow closed on itself, a tall slit in the wall replacing it. He slapped his hands against the wall, cursing at it and shouting Elise’s name. He shoved his eye against a decent split that was wide enough for him to see into the other room. He saw Elise moving forward, making a beeline for Medraut, despite the three tall apparitions that were already turning to meet her.
    Sean pounded a fist against the drywall as he watched Elise’s shimmering figure close in on the closest wraith standing guard. The wraith raised both hands, the faint image of claws growing out of its outstretched fingers. Just when Sean thought Elise was going to get ripped to shreds, the wraith lurched backward, clawing at its back, and then fell flat on the floor, disintegrating into wisps of ash. Elise was waving her hands and fingers in confusing and seemingly anatomically impossible positions in front her. But her movement as Sean had predicted began to become gradually sluggish.
    Sean’s heart skipped a beat, his eyes widening as he clawed in vain at the crack in the wall. Once he realized it was no use, he returned his eye to the slit in the wall.
    Sean spied Medraut look up from his chanting to see one of his wraiths fall before his eyes. The captain’s malicious grin was now replaced with confusion, and then anger as he scanned the room, pausing to shout at the wraiths to find the intruder. The chanting had lost its momentum, but Medraut smoothly brought it back, picking up where he had left off.
    “Elise. . .” Sean whispered to himself, gritting his teeth. “Get out of there.”
    One other wraith began to circle the room, wandering about but finding nothing as he drifted like a rain cloud. Suddenly he dipped and bowed like a sapling against gale force wind. It jerked back and forth almost as if it were dancing, but Sean knew it was Elise. The wraith made a clumsy attempt to swipe at her vigorously, but gold vines materialized in the air burst from behind the wraith and covered him entirely. At the end of the sunlit strands grew sharp points that reared up and back in the air, and then jabbed themselves into the chest, arms, legs and head of the wraith.
    The wraith, more enraged than hurt, stretched out its arms wide, causing the air around him to ripple slightly. The atmosphere of the entire room shuddered like a stone being dropped into a stillwater pond, which then revealed Elise standing there, wide eyed and face pale. But her expression was anything but fear. Realizing she was no longer invisible, Elise began to circle the wraith, staring him down. Then Sean saw her mutter quickly as she disappeared again.
    Sean licked his lips nervously as he spied Elise’s momentary shimmer in the gray lit room. He looked over at Medraut, who had pulled out his small pistol from his waistband and a long dagger from his boot. Sean couldn’t help focusing on the dagger. It looked like it were made of pure gold, the blade gleaming brightly in the unearthly light that was coming from the giant tome on the floor. The captain advanced towards a fleeing shimmer, and stopped, aiming his pistol as his sighted in the direction Elise was heading.
    He fired off three rounds, one of them finding their mark one Elise.
     “Come back for more pain, have you?” the captain shouted over the din of a low thrumming note, seeming to emanate from the big book itself. A psychedelic kind of strobing lights sprung from the opened pages of the tome, casting tilted shadows all over the room.
Elise stumbled off her trajectory, but kept on sprinting as she phased through paint cans and horse stands, trying to block Medraut’s aim. After one more trigger pull of his pistol, the slide shot back. The captain grunted and tossed the gun to one side. Elise made it halfway through her serpentine pattern until the last remaining wraith sped from behind Elise and swiped at her back, revealing a splatter of blood.
Sean winced from within his hiding place, watching the shimmering form turn on the wraith. The wraith’s head instantly snapped back from an unseen blow. It stumbled back, reeling, its hands swiping in all directions hoping to strike at its offender. But the attacks kept coming, the wraith eventually tripped over itself, just before its head was decapitated as it broke away into gravelly pieces of black grit and debris, its remains scattering across the carpet floor.
    Sean exhaled sharply, not realizing he had been holding his breath. With the last wraith gone, Sean realized he needed to do something, anything. He walked away from the crack in the corner and stared at his surroundings. From what he saw, his chances of exiting the musty old room was next to nothing. The whole room had no doors and no windows, just an ugly split in the wall where Elise had closed the gap in the room when she had left. Everything else that wasn’t broken was sectioned off from the other room by plywood and thick wooden beams.
    Sean realized he wasn’t getting out without his tanto knife. He rushed over to one thin slit in the corner, wiping away dust and grit that had gotten into his eyes. From his hiding place, he saw Elise revealing herself and becoming visible, staying behind Medraut. The captain didn’t move, but Sean could see that he was fingering the long dagger in his left hand, his body covering it from Elise’s sight. She stood several feet behind him, unable to see the weapon he held in his hands.
    Even though Medraut was yards away from Sean’s small peeking hole, the young janitor could hear every word spoken by the captain, as if Medraut was right next to Sean’s ear.
     Medraut said. “I was wondering when you would show up.”
    “Elise! He’s got a knife!” Sean shouted as hard as he could. He screamed it again and again until his voice become raw, but neither one of them reacted to his shouting. The deep, visceral bass that pounded in the room completely enveloped his cries of warning to Elise. Sean tried smacked the wall in his corner, but all he was rewarded with was pain.
    Elise edged forward, limping slightly as she moved closer to the still captain.
    “You’re dead,” she said, panting. The gash in her left shoulder left a large dark colored spot in her blue hoodie. Sean stopped slapping the walls and concentrated on smashing the corner slit, hoping that somehow he could widen it without breaking his hands. He tried using his tanto, but it was no good. There was nothing for Sean to pry open.
“You look halfway there yourself,” Medraut said, his eyes dead ahead, as if they were looking straight at Sean through the crack in the wall. The captain’s eyes were cold and cocky, just above his standard overconfident smirk Sean was used to seeing.
    Elise stopped short a few feet in front of Medraut, holding both stiletto ready.
    “Face me.” She said. When Medraut didn’t comply, Elise shouted, “Stand up, now!”
      The captain stood up slowly, still palming the knife, hidden away and out of Elise’s vision. Sean hit the wall with a rolled up fist, shouting as loud as he could, trying to warn Elise. Then he paused and felt the wall. Felt at the cracking boards and the crumbling plaster. He pushed at the wall with his palm, not caring about the splinters jabbing into his flesh as he feverishly grunted against the wall in front of him. The wall had collapsed on itself, so parts of it must be loose. Some parts light enough for Sean to break through and carry out of the way, allowing him to crawl into the other room. Sean stepped back and examined the wall. In the darkness, with only several points of light to aid his vision, Sean sighted one of the biggest cracks of light in the wall to his left. It stood a foot above his chest and the line that light spilled through was two feet wide, twisted and gnarled like a wizzen branch.
    Sean raised his foot and kicked at it. The shock of force rammed up into his heel, through his knee and ended at the back of his hip. His right foot tingled, but he stepped back, walked forward, raised his foot high and kicked three feet underneath the crack of light again, and again and again. He kicked so hard that he couldn’t feel his foot by the end of his fifth kick. By his seventh, Sean couldn’t bare the pain in his knee and he had to stop. No matter how hard he kicked, the wall stayed closed. Sean grabbed at his knee and fell back, his rear end thumping hard on the unfinished concrete floor. His back rested against something hard, and Sean turned around to see the small wooden hallway table. He looked at the crack, then at the table, and then grabbed it up with both hands gripping it firmly. He raised it over his head, ignoring the screaming pain in his knee. Taking four large steps back from the wall, Sean began to advance forward, faster and faster until he was at a run. And then he shoved the table, corner end first headlong into the open crack. The wall split apart from the impact, a medium sized hole opening in the wall. Rays of dazzling light flooded the dark room and Sean jumped up to the hole in the wall, climbing out onto the other side.
    Once he was through the wall, he landed hard on his feet and in the other room. He saw Medraut’s eyes flip over to meet Sean, but the captain didn’t move. Sean on the other hand sped forward, pulling out his tanto from his side and holding it in front of him, pointing it at the captain as he approached steadily. He looked at Elise and they traded nods.
    Sean used his free hand to point down at Medraut’s hands. “He’s got a knife-” Sean shouted as loud as he could, but the instant the sentence left his mouth, Medraut jumped backwards from his crouch and spun around. It was so sudden and the jump so far, both Elise and Sean were shocked with surprise. Elise stumbled backwards, already caught unaware by Medraut’s proactive move. She dodged slices and even held up a hand to take some slashes, Medraut’s wide golden dagger glancing off an invisible shield that protected Elise’s fingers from being lopped off. But Medraut was fast, stabbing and prodding, switching the dagger from one hand to the other like a street performer passing ball from one cup to the other. Sean stepped forward cautiously, not knowing what to do. Whether he should attack from behind and just stab the captain or try to attract his attention. Sean approached with light feet, watching the captain closely. Medraut feinted several times, the last feint turning into a hooked stab that caught Elise right in the side.
    Elise let out a shout, and then Medraut dove at her, golden dagger darting like a snake’s tongue, heading straight for Elise’s stomach. But the knife never made it home. Instead, it bounced off Elise’s side as she moved out of the way at the last second. Medraut pulled back his elbow, ready for another stab, but he had missed his chance. Sean was already on top of him, knife coming down on the captain’s back. The knife sliced diagonally across Medraut’s shoulders, the blade glancing off his shoulder blades. Sean brought his blade down again, but Medraut had turned and faced him, dodging his attacks like a nimble alley cat. Sean’s last two slices were caught by Medraut’s blade, and then his knife was stripped away from him when the captain elbowed Sean in cheek bone. Once Sean was stunned, Medraut slammed down the butt of his knife on the inside of Sean’s wrist and kicked the custodian in the chest, sending him reeling. He flailed backwards, his back smashing into the floor and his hands coming up to protect his head as he rolled roughly on the ground.
    “Knite!” Medraut shouted through his bared teeth, two knives brandished in both hands now. He swung them back and forth, advancing steadily upon Sean who was unfolding from a crouch.
    “Sean, how nice of you to join us.” Medraut switched his grips with both knives, both blades shifting downward deftly in his hands. He raised them and jumped forward at Sean, the blades scything down on Sean’s head. Sean fell out of the way, the two blades whizzing past his right ear as he rolled to one side and jumped to his feet. He looked for a weapon, any object to use in self defense. Nothing came up except paint cans and brushes, all of which he would have to get past the captain to get. Sean backed away, trying not to get himself edged into the corner of the room, which Medraut was attempting to do. But Sean sidestepped, his back parallel with the wall. He stared down the captain. Stared into his bloodthirsty eyes and realized he was looking into an animal’s gaze. A predatory wolf eyeing his prey, calculating ways to kill. When to attack.
    “Sean,” the captain stayed with Sean as he backed away, both knives held lightly up at chest height and pointed slightly downwards. Medraut smiled, chapped lips breaking and the color of bright red appearing in notches all around his mouth.
    Sean asked, “Are you really opening a portal to the Ghost Plane?”
    “What difference does it make if I tell you?”
    “Answer me!” Sean shouted, gulping down a rising knot of anxiety in his throat.
    Medraut said. “You really are bad at stalling for time, aren’t you?”
    That was when the captain spun around and stuck Sean’s tanto blade into Elise wrist that was coming down for a vertical strike at Medraut. Elise winced and withdrew, but not without slicing at the center of the captain’s chest. Blood leaked from Elise’s wrist, a two inch slit spurting with blood on both sides of her hand. The knife had gone all the way through. Sean charged the back of Medraut, but was elbowed in the face. The captain whipped around and slashed upwards, the blade whizzed a hair’s width away from Sean and it passed harmlessly up in the air. Medraut’s arm came around for another pass to bisect his face, but Sean flung himself backwards out of the captain’s wicked slice. It ripped at his shirt but never touched his skin. Sean stumbled over his own boot and fell on the floor, hands slapping the hard concrete ground. His head and elbows felt numb upon impact, and he was dazed for a split second before realizing the captain rushing at him.
    “You die first!” Medraut spat, lunging forward, both knives held like two skewers set to impale Sean in his chest. Sean raised his foot high above his chest, ready to kick at Medraut. But he never landed. The knives flew out of his grasp the instant Medraut flew across the room and hit the wall with a deafening thump. His arms and legs flailed and flopped limply on impact, then he slid down and hit the floor headfirst. Sean looked away from the captain and stared at Elise. She staggered forward, off kilter and off balance, one hand raised. Her fingers trembling.
    Sean stood and ran over to Medraut, fists clenched, ready to pummel the guy into the concrete if needed. But the captain didn’t move. He just lay there, eyes closed, his limbs askew in strange positions that looked painful. Sean reached down, grabbed at the captain’s shirt and lifted him up. Medraut didn’t move. Elise came right up next to Sean, hand shaking, lifted and ready over Medraut’s unmoving body.
    “Get the knives,” she said. Sean did, letting go of Medraut’s unconscious body and picking up his tanto. He slapped it to the side of his waist where it formed a sheath. He stared at the captain. Still no movement. Sean moved over to the golden dagger and snatched it up, eyes still on Medraut. Sean glanced down at the knife in his hand. At the base, the pommel was a tiny figure of a grinning skull, which bared a striking resemblance to the Angel of Death. The dagger weighed as much as it looked, the entirety of the dagger was made of solid gold. Sean felt like he was holding two masonry bricks in his hand. His wrist quickly became tired and he had to set it down at his side. Sean turned his gaze back down at the unconscious Medraut.
     “That should keep him out of commision for a while,” Elise said coldly as they both turned their attention to the middle of the room where the magical tome lay.