The Haunted Mansion

Chapter 5: The Light of Four Fires

~Zyvea's POV~

    I move for the staircase, but the Pastor grabs my ankle mid-step causing me to back to the floor with him. He uses my momentary fall to crawl atop me. I swing my whiskey again, but my drunkenness betrays me. Ostarius grasps my forearm, pinning me to the cold stone floor. As his arm rose high in the arm, the blackened dagger soon finding a home in my chest cavity. Coughing, as blood rushed up my throat, 'well at least I'll die in my right mind,' I thought. The rock around us began to shake to shake. My vision begins to blur as I look past the Pastor to see the flame of the altar split into 4 separate flames. In and out of consciousness, I feel the weight of Ostarius leave me, the faint sound of wailing, and flashes of darkness surrounding me. Is it shameful that part of me is relieved with the anticipation of dying while I'm still 'me'. 

   Weightlessness consumes me, as I blink -- a last effort at life-- to be greeted with the familiar darkness of my dreams and my nightmares. The taste and feel of blood on my began to dissipate as I floated away; I no longer wished to fight against the darkness. Why should I? Apparently, they are the cause of my creation. 

~Darkness POV~

   The black obsidian that had locked us away from the world cracks under the heat of the sacred fire. For the first time,  we could feel our bodies take form and separate. Peering our through the flames, finally able to take on the world in our true forms. 

   For about 250 years, we've been trapped under that ridiculous contraption of the Catholic Church. We've spent the centuries calling out to the weak-minded for access to the surface again. Year after year, we spent our incarceration pleading at the darkest desires of the humans around hoping for one to be clueless enough to invite us back to the surface for some selfish boon. Temptation is the only weapon you really need when it comes to humans because they're almost never content with where they are. They always  can be swayed for the mere promise of more. We've stayed bound here until that fateful night that Terrence came to inquire about living forever. The four of us tried to warn him that immortality isn't for the faint of heart; especially not those who don't have discipline. 

   He still persisted, so sure that immortality would suit him like a freshly made silk. My brethren and I had no intention of granting him this, but not because we're a pack of liars. Only because true immortality isn't for the likes of 'us' to grant, but why tell a committed fool the truth? He fulfilled the rites and sacrifices we deemed necessary for his wants, but they were only to hopefully sire a child that would be pulled to free us. We needed him, an active conduit for our work on Earth until we built the strength for our own forms again. We've spent the better part of 20 years using him to carry out our every whim; the drugs his futile attempt at trying to stifle his own memory of what we used his hands to accomplish. We did hold part of the immortality promise in gifting him a lineage; however, we did leave out that his lineage would be ours in perpetuity.  

~Caspian POV~

   The dark smoke that has kept us intertwined and under the weight of smoke finally breaks above my head. The feeling of air hitting my skin again is enough to make me scream in ecstasy, even if it is in a measly old cave. Without hesitation, I leap through the first flame as my body comes back into formation. Passing through the fire, I feel the surge of power, apart of my birthright, begin to embolden every piece of me. The boys condemned into this desolate place with me begin to rise as well, and the girl we lied to laid out before us. The sight of her blood and despair causing a mix of pain and rage inside me before my eyes land on 'holy' man nursing his head. 

~Julius POV~

   'Oh how missed being able to admire and caress my own skin!' Standing for the first time in over 2 centuries felt better than the first time I came. The girl that aided in our freedom's blood called to me from across the cave floor. Remembering my instincts, I look to Caspian to coordinate our plan of attack. Him being our colonel and commandant  took control, giving me the signal to take the right flank of the priest. Caspian took the left, our demonic nature hiding our shadow from the walls. Briefly, I allow myself to look at her. Her bronze skin radiant in the dim glow of the residual flames of our rise. 'Pulchritudo mortua est forma, sed renascatur in sua,' I thought before seeing Silas gather his position on the ceiling (beauty died, but is reborn in her).

~Silas POV~ 

     The essence of being within a body is so much more joyous after not being allowed to have one for so long. Being darkly endowed with abilities will be so much more fun with all the information I've gathered about humans. I pull at the power laid in my veins, and take to the shadows above the priest's head. The young woman that gifted me this chance at life again lay strewn on the floor, her head lolling about as she struggles to regain consciousness. Damn it, I know I need to focus on surging my strength to kill on Caspian's orders, but her blood, darkly curling through the cracks of stone threatens to capture all of my attention. None of it made any sense. I know we need her that there's no way we'd let her die now, but knowing how much pain and betrayal she feels makes me want to do nothing but tend to her. "Silas!" Caspian's voice reverberating around my head. I hadn't missed that special skill of his, but knew it was only because the subject of my current hatred was getting away. I lurch away from my spot, and flip before landing at the top of the black stone staircase. 

~Augustus POV~

      Finally! I couldn't take another day being trapped in oblivion, my mind mixed with the others so close that your own thoughts can't be distinguished from theirs. I love them dearly, but everything in me needed to be myself again. Feeling alive again was more intoxicating than anything that man had ever created. Silas loved to torture his prey, he chose to wait at the opening of the cave rather than just jumping in front of the priest. He still thinks he's going to see the outside of this cave again; I don't even think he's even noticed our ascension yet. Silas loves to let them have a little hope, so he can crush it...we all do. I'll let them take this kill for themselves though. Instead, I turn my attention to the beautiful girl loosing blood in front of my feet. I sink to my knees, I don't think I've ever prayed. But finally being able to see her was more religious than any sacrament I could partake in. Moving closer, I dip my right hand in her blood before pulling at my power. Inhaling, I place my bloodied hands on her scalp, the dark coils blending through my fingers and I consciously had to stop myself from intaking the scent of her hair. "Virgo mortalis, surgite et extremae flammae filius fiet,"  I could feel Caspian's eyes watching my every move. He wanted her well more than anything else that will happen tonight (o mortal virgin, rise and become the child of the final flame).

~Caspian POV~

      I know she'll be fine. I know that she'll get up and the plan I've spent centuries working out will come to fruition, yet I can't help but to watch Augustus do his job. Her amber skin glorious in the firelight. I break my gaze trusting that Augustus heals her the way he's healed so many times before. Reaching for the thrum of power latent within, I push upwards lightly flowing through the darkness behind the holy man. Slipping on the final step, he finally notices Silas with a, "Boo!" The shock of it was too much for him to even scream as he stumbles backward flailing his arms. I let him fall into my chest, and take the highest joy at the terror and dread that overtakes his expression. Before he can turn, I grasp his throat in my dominant hand, and plant him against the cave wall squeezing his windpipe. I don't want to hear whatever ignorant excuse he has for betraying someone he's known since her infantry. "Julius! Start it now!" 

~Julius POV~

    Cas' mental communication snapping me out of my revelry of starring, and I gather my strength before standing before the altar. I chant, "Profer euphrates vincla, accipiant fata Ositarius" (Bring forth the bonds of the Euphrates, may they receive the fate of Ositarius). In a matter of moments the onyx, purple of my power swirls to life around the cave. Caspian's smile widens with delight as he tosses the priest by his neck into the heart of darkness. Hanging there, the priest pleas, "You will not defeat me! I am a vessel of the Lord!" Does he really think the Lord above would have him murder a girl ignorant of her destiny, last I heard He's a merciful God not of this insipid, small-minded nature.  Using the power now laid bare within the obsidian rock from releasing us, I redirect it at the priest. The old iron chains that once held bound, nearly makes me shutter from the memory. From the edges of the darkness surrounding him, those terrible and burning chains came enfold in a vice grip around his human flesh. The aroma of it almost raising a smile to my eyes; however, his eyes practically cross as he cried out. "AHHH!" Silas' laughter follows his howl of pain. I focus on him, all my power converging on him as I lock him into the abyss that kept us bound. For a moment, I ponder what the darkness has in store for him when he disappears with a soft echo of a shout. I stop caring the moment her eyes open.