The Shadows from Beyond

17 ~ You'll Wake the Dead

~ Torin ~

Niobe leads him through a shattered doorway and into the cathedral. There is shattered painted glass all over the floors and pews, and there are candles laying on their sides on top of tables.

Torin looks up, seeing the half-broken vaulted ceiling. It was once painted with angles fighting a massive serpent. But now, the parts depicting the angels is broken. So now, the snake is all that one sees when looking up at the ceiling.

The two of them walk down a narrow hall behind the altar, and Niobe raises a hand, creating a small, silvery-purple fire that hovers above her hand. Torin smiles. He has not seen her in so long. But still, he loves her. And he wants to take her home, too. Not just Wren.

"Where are we going?" Torin asks.

"Shh," she whispers.  "You'll wake the dead."

A smile crosses his face once more. He nods, and they start to descend a spiraling staircase. The pair moves silently down the stairs, and he can't help but realize this is a lot like like mausoleum they found Wren's body in.

Niobe and Torin reach the bottom and walk down a hall to the left of the stairs. He remains silent, but watches as they pass by the different doors. They walk past a particular door that is very thick, and Torin could swear he hears a claw scraping against the back of the door.

"What is this place?" he whispers.

Niobe sighs. "Here." She stops before a wrought-iron gate. "This is where she was seen last. This place has a way of trapping lost souls. Be careful."

"You're coming with me, though. Right?" Torin asks.

Niobe shrugs.  "I can't leave here, Torin."

"Why not? You'll become a wraith, like me!"

"I know, but ...." She chews on her lip. "I don't know, Torin."

"Please, Niobe, I need you back," he says. "I ... I have lost so much. And I can't lose you again. I refuse to."

"And what if it's not what I want?"

His eyes widen in shock. "You .... don't want to be with me?"

She rubs her arms. "I'm sorry, Torin. I can't."

He shakes his head. Pain surges through his body, his heart. He hunches forward and slips into the doorway. Niobe stands behind him as he walks into the small room. A pale girl wearing a torn, dirty, and bloody dress is laying on her side, her back to him. She does not move.

"Wren? Is that you?" Torin asks.

Slowly, the girl sits up and turns her head. Her hair is still shaved, even in death, but her face is so bruised and bloodied that it takes him a moment to recognize her. But when he sees her gray eyes, he knows it's her.

She whimpers, pulling her knees up to her chest. She hugs her legs and sobs.

Torin realizes that she sees his true form. She doesn't know who he is. "It is me, Torin Fade. You know me, I'm just in my wraith form."

Wren's wary expression does not falter. But she slowly stands on her shaking legs. "Torin ...?"

He nods. "Yes, it's me. And my.... and Niobe. She helped me find you. Now, come on. We gotta go, now. This place is not safe for either of us."

"How will we get home?" she asks. "I'm dead, Torin."

"I know, my friend. I'm going to help you, okay? I promise. Annika and Scarth and Darius are all waiting for you back home. They want you back, Wren."

Suddenly, her head jerks forward, and Wren's knees hit the floor. She tosses her head back and screams. Then, as her broken screams fade, they morph into a sickening peal of laughter. Her eyes turn solid purple. She tilts her head to the side as she stands up much faster than Wren normally could, and she grins at them.

"Wren?" Torin asks, confused.

"Wren's not here, little wraith," says the warped female voice coming from Wren's throat.

"Fuck," Niobe swears.  "This isn't Wren. Not just here, at least, Torin. She is not fully Wren anymore. A lost soul has fused with her."

The lost soul possessing Wren laughs and claps her hands together. "Oh, what glee! What glorious glee!"

"Leave her the fuck alone!" Torin shouts.

"No!" Niobe cries. "You'll wake the dead!"

But then, there's a sickening sound of bone on bone, and bone on stone. Skeletal creatures, some looking like people but others far too warped to identify, emerge from the rooms all throughout this basement of the cathedral.

Niobe shakes her head.  "This is bad. Torin, grab her and go! If one of them touches her, or you, you'll both die. For real. Now go!"

"Not without you!" Torin objects.

"Fucking go, Torin!" Niobe screams as she summons two flaming swords to her hands. "I'm sorry, but please. Take Wren and whoever possessed her and go!"

Torin sighs and takes Wren, or whoever she is, and concentrates.  The woman possessing her squirms in his grip and he pulls her against his chest. He focuses hard on the feeling of being back in his body. Wren looks up at him, and then, they both vanish from the cathedral.

But not before he sees what became of Niobe.

As he looks back at her, he watches her fall. And watches as Niobe is torn into by the creatures. He hears them scream as they tear into her. And he hears her screams above them all.