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Baring Bones: A Halloween Story - Chapter 4 (And Bestiary Notes)


Shahrazad2

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Baring Bones: A Halloween Story - Chapter 4 (and Bestiary Notes)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

 

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Can I just state, for the record, that this really wasn’t how I’d hoped I’d be spending the evening? Is it too much to ask that I go to a party, hang out with friends and coworkers, show off my costume, and maybe meet a hot guy who doesn’t turn into a huge brute possessed by the ghost of a puritan witch hunter who decides to murder me in a clearing full of the bones of monsters?

 

Before my eyes, Gosser was transforming Kellan’s body with the life force of over a hundred party guests. The green light illuminated his muscles so that they gleamed slickly, and every so often, like cartoon electricity, it caused his skeleton to blaze visibly through his skin, looking dark and monstrous. His muscles pumped and burst and grew again, almost seeming to froth. His costume tore off his powerful new body, revealing his warped physique to the world and finally revealing that tattoo that had been teasing me all night: the words “To The Bone” written in interlaced gothic script, stretched from just beneath his right clavicle, dipped across the tops of his pillow-sized pecs, and ending beneath his left clavicle. For some reason, even when the eldritch fire revealed his skeleton, the words stayed there, hovering grimly in front of his uppermost ribs and sternum, only to re-attach themselves to the skin when it re-appeared the next moment. His pants also burst, the black fabric charring in the green energy as a naked and increasingly erect, thick cock spilled out, stretching over a foot long! His balls also bulged, dangling heavily beneath his erection, but while Kellan had been a stunning and enticing figure of a man, Gosser’s possession only made his endowment seem threatening and repulsive. In body shape, his physique resembled some cross between a bodybuilder on the cover of FLEX magazines and the oversized physique of comic book ‘tanks’: enormous muscles, but gleaming with sweat and ectoplasm, and sharply defined, with noticeable veins and heavy striation. My enhanced vision noticed that the red lights had been flashing back at the manor, but now they’d gone dark, and as they died, so did most of the emerald flames around Gosser/Kellan, now standing over eight feet tall and looking down on me with a sickening grin that occasionally flashed the horrible rictus of Kellan’s bare skull.

 

Horribly, Gosser took his massive hands, every inch of tightly-packed muscle in his huge arms flexing as he did so, and began to slide them over his new form, caressing and stroking his stolen skin in a blasphemous form of self-worship. “AT LAST,” he moaned, as he continued to feel his own horrific muscles.  “LET ME SHARE SOME LAST WISDOM BEFORE YOU TAKE MY PLACE IN THE GRAVE, YOU UNCLEAN THING,” he snarled at me in that creepy dual voice. “WHEN I WAS ALIVE, I SPENT MY LIFE PROTECTING THE PITIFUL HUMAN RACE FROM ITS OWN DARKNESS… THE PURSUIT OF CORRUPT MAGIC, THE WORSHIP OF FOUL ENTITIES, THE REANIMATION OF DEAD TISSUE, THE BEASTS AND MONSTERS THAT LIVE IN MAN’S SHADOW… BUT IT WAS ALL FOR NAUGHT. AS THE YEARS PASSED, FEWER AND FEWER ALLIES JOINED MY SIDE, AND THOSE THAT REMAINED BECAME AS GRAY-HAIRED AND WRINKLED AS I. MEANWHILE, THOSE QUAKERS PLAYED THEIR LITTLE WELCOMING GAMES, PUSHING FOR ACCEPTANCE OF ALL NEWCOMERS, NEVERMIND THEIR ORIGINS AND POTENTIAL THREAT. I WAS RIDICULED, AND MY TRAINING CAMP SHUT DOWN, ONLY TO BE TAKEN OVER BY BRAINLESS BIBLE STUDIES AND WHINING CHILDREN! FINALLY, A DESCENDANT OF MY USELESS YOUNGER BROTHER BOUGHT THE PROPERTY AND BUILT HIS HOME ON IT, BUT HE AND HIS DESCENDANTS WERE ONLY INTERESTED IN MAKING MONEY, AND LACKED TRUE FAITH AND TRUE DISCIPLINE. FORTUNATELY, I HAD ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY. I TURNED TO MY NOTES ON THE VARIOUS WITCHES AND SORCERERS OF WHICH I RID THE WORLD, AND FOUND DETAILS ON AN INTRICATE SPELL THAT WOULD ENABLE ME TO LIVE AGAIN… AND THIS TIME, INSTEAD OF BEING A VIRGIN DEFENDER OF THE FAITHFUL, HOLDING MYSELF PURE, I WOULD REVEL IN ALL THE PLEASURES AND POWER I HAD DENIED MY BODY IN LIFE. AS LONG AS ONE OF MY GODLESS RELATIVES CONTINUED TO LIVE, I COULD USE THEM AS A HOST AS LONG AS THEY HADN’T LET THEIR BODY GO TO SEED. HOWEVER, IN ORDER TO REMAKE EVEN A HEALTHY BODY TO MY IDEAL, I WOULD NEED THE LIFE FORCE OF AT LEAST 250 ADULTS. YOUTH IS WASTED ON THE YOUNG, AND I SHALL TREASURE WHAT THEY WERE THROWING AWAY. EVEN WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE HERE, I NEEDED SOME WAY OF HARVESTING THAT ENERGY AND CONVERTING IT INTO ECTOPLASM TO FUEL THE BODY. SO I ARRANGED FOR SPOTS THAT WOULD DRAW A NUMBER OF PEOPLE AT THIS PAGAN CELEBRATION TO BECOME SINKS OF VITALITY: THE WOODS WHERE THEY WOULD DRIVE BY IN THEIR HAY-FILLED CONVEYANCE, THE BONFIRE WHERE THEY WOULD TRY TO DRIVE BACK THE NIGHT’S CHILL, THE DANCE FLOOR WHERE THEY’D CAVORT SHAMELESSLY, THE BAR WHERE THEY DOWNED THEIR DEVIL BREWS, THE PLACE WHERE THEY DEFECATED, AND THE CHAPEL… WHERE MY MORTAL REMAINS WERE SAFELY INTERRED, BENEATH THE STONE FLOOR BEHIND THE ALTAR, FROM WHICH I COULD BEGIN THE RITUAL TO FILL MY HOST WITH THE ECTOPLASM TO REMAKE HIM AS THE MAN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN! FINALLY, WITH THE DOORS BETWEEN WORLDS STILL OPEN FROM ALL HALLOW’S EVE, I WAS ABLE TO ENACT MY PLANS!”

 

While Gosser monologued, absorbed in feeling up his stolen body, I’d been surreptitiously flipping through the journal, hoping that I could find the details about the spell and some way to break it. Knowing where his body was hidden was great, but I couldn’t escape him now, much less get all the way across the property to the chapel and break through the concrete floor, and then concentrate on the music of the Choir enough to summon the Helpful One and send Gosser to the Great Beyond. I’d managed to find rules for how to trick Kappas into bowing and spilling the water from their heads, how to protect yourself from native American curses, and how to wear clothes inside-out to confuse fairies (and most normal people, I’d suspect), as well as a spell to raise the dead to fight on your side against their killer (which would’ve been nice, but I didn’t have “The Bloode of the Innocent,” “The Bloode of a Dragon,”or “The Bloode of Godde’s Servants”… though there was certainly enough “Ectoplasme” around Gosser/Kellan). None of them seemed likely to work. Then the book fluttered from my hands and floated into Gosser’s waiting hand! I realized belatedly that even in a body, he’d retained ghostly powers like poltergeist activity!

 

“THEN, HOWEVER, SOMETHING INTERFERED WITH MY PLANS. I COULDN’T SENSE ANYONE, COULDN’T DETECT ANY FOREIGN MAGIC, COULDN’T EVEN SEE A PERSON I KNEW HAD TO BE THERE, EVERY TIME I TRIED TO CONVERT THIS WHELP INTO MY HOST! I CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT ONLY A CREATURE NOT INTENDED AS PART OF GOD’S PLAN FOR THE WORLD COULD SO EVADE MORTAL MAGICAL AND SPIRITUAL SENSES… WHAT IS YOUR NAME, HELLSPAWN?”

 

I found myself suddenly forced to speak, as if the words were being drawn out of me. “Angelo Chiaro Alinero,” I stammered, revealing my full name to monster. I wondered if knowing my name would give him further power over me, but if he could force me to talk, I’m not sure there’s much he couldn’t do already. However, as soon as I spoke my surname, he smiled with wicked satisfaction, and the book levitated in front of my face, the pages turning of their own accord. A flicker of green ectoplasmic flame illuminated a particular passage, listing the family names descended from the Grigori Armaros, “Who Taughte Men The Resolving of Enchantments”. At the bottom of the list was a name, underlined in green: Alinero.

 

“YOU ARE A NEPHILIM, THE DESCENDANT OF A UNION BETWEEN THE SONS OF HEAVEN AND THE DAUGHTERS OF EARTH. YOU ARE SO WICKED THAT GOD HIMSELF SENT THE FLOOD TO WIPE OUT YOUR KIND. AND LOOK… HE DOES SO AGAIN!” Waving his powerfully-muscled, green-glowing arm at the sky, I saw that the full moon had been replaced by storm clouds, and dimly remembered the weather man talking about a hurricane making its way up the coast. With a howling laugh, Gosser continued. “FORTUNATELY FOR YOU, I SHALL TAKE CARE OF YOU, SO YOU NEED NOT FEAR DROWNING LIKE SOME OF YOUR ANCESTORS… YOUR DEATH SHALL BE QUICK, AND AFTER THAT, YOU SOULLESS THING, THERE WILL BE NO PARADISE FOR YOU, JUST EMPTY ETERNITY!”

 

With that, I felt my body lift from the ground and float towards his grasp. I tried to struggle, but I couldn’t move a muscle. I felt his hands wrap around my torso, and waited for the pull, when a woman’s voice echoed through the clearing, and Gosser froze in shock.

 

“So… it looks like someone has some pretty dramatic plans. And it looks like you’ve already killed some of my descendants, Quincy Gosser. I would rather you not harm another.”

 

Tossing me to the bone-strewed ground, giving me a number of bruises and small cuts, Gosser turned to face an exotic older woman, dressed as Marilyn Monroe, and holding Claudia’s empty husk. “YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? AND YOUR DESCENDANT… HE IS SPAWN OF THE GRIGORI, NOT YOUR DEBASED BROOD, WITCH!”

 

‘Marilyn’ smiled condescendingly at him and wiggled her finger teasingly. “Now now, Quincy, do remember that Armaros hasn’t been seen since the Flood. That’s plenty of time for his descendants to mate with mine, as well as many, many, many other people. Time DOES fly, after all.”

 

Gosser curled his fingers into fists. “I WILL DESTROY YOU BOTH, THEN!”

 

‘Marilyn’ laughed, a rich, throaty chuckle that almost sounded like a purr. “Oh, that was a good one, darling! You just slaughtered about 280 people in Halloween costumes, just so that you could pose in a speedo and live out the boyish daydreams you never actually indulged in life. You haven’t the vision, the wisdom, or, frankly, the balls, to face me.” She then winked at me. “Unfortunately, I am unable to actually interfere with someone of fully-human descent without provocation, and though you have descended further than most, you still… barely… qualify, Quincy. However, I am allowed to tip the scales in favor of my family.” She pulled a long, thin dagger from somewhere in her billowing skirts, held up Claudia’s gray finger and pricked it, then shouted, “YOUR LEFT POCKET, ANGELO,” before vanishing in a puff of smoke. I found myself able to move and reached into my pocket as commanded, pulling out a small vial labeled “Dragon Blood.” Before Gosser could stop me, I threw it to the ground, enjoying the satisfying sound of the glass shattering and wiping my own blood from my arms as I repeated the small, nonsense chant from the journal. My voice seemed to echo in the clearing, becoming more pure and powerful as the bones began to rise, cloak themselves in blood-red skin and muscle and assemble themselves as a collection of monsters, who immediately turned against Gosser with a vengeance. I saw harpies, trolls, ettins, lamiae, satyrs, and more wade into combat with the enormous hunk, whose green fire charred their reformed flesh, and whose punches and kicks sent them flying. The monsters were relentless, but Kellan’s body and Gosser’s powers together were unstoppable.

 

As more and more of the monsters started to fall and turn to dust, one of them, a hugely-muscled creature with the horns of both a ram and a bull, lifted me up and said, in a voice that sounded like the ruined throat it used to speak, “Thhhhank yooou, brotherrrr. Weeee wellllcommme vennnnggeannnnce agggainnnsssst ourrrr killllllerrrr. Gooo annnnd ennnnd hiimmmm forrrr usss!”

 

With that, the creature threw me high into the air, well over the tree line, back towards the fields. As the storm rumbled around my hurtling body and the rushing wind pulled tears from my eyes, I felt resigned to crashing into the earth and dying, when the costume wings on my back suddenly unfolded, fanning out behind me. The plastic and fabric warped as my body seemed to catch fire, blazing white like a shooting star. As swiftly as they’d begun, the flames went out, and I found that I wasn’t cold, the wind now seemed to caress me instead of blowing at me… and that I was no longer wearing the wings…. they’d become real, and fused with my back. I remembered The Helpful One giving them to me and realized this had been its plan all along! What’s more, I felt powerful… running my hands down my body, I realized that my shirt had burned away, and I now possessed the sculpted powerful body of an Olympic athlete, with curly hair-covered gymnast-like chest muscles to power my new wings, which were clawed at the top like a bat’s but covered in ravenlike feathers that shaded from black to blue, purple, green and red at the tips, with an iridescent oily sheen. I flexed my chest and found that doing so caused my wings to beat, sending me soaring upward! With a cry of exultation to answer the thunder of the storm, I beat my wings, feeling my body pump as I sped towards the Manor.

 

As it came into view, I realized that there was no motion. Gray husks from the party guests littered the grounds, and I remembered that I was now the only living person on the grounds (though I technically was over the grounds at the moment) unless you counted Gosser in Kellan’s body. Far behind me I heard a terrible roar of fury as the sounds of the fight between the dead monsters and the tremendous Gosser continued. They wouldn’t be able to buy me time for much longer, though, and I still had to break through the stone in the chapel to reach Gosser’s real body. My wings fanned out, pulling me up before gently dropping me to the ground and folding up against my back.

 

Then I felt a chill at my back. I whirled around, fanning my wings out aggressively to make myself look bigger, and stared at the sight in front of me. A hazy, transparent version of Claudia, still dressed in her costume, hovered behind me, looking nervous. She parted her lips, and a voice like the whisper of a fall breeze said, “I’m sorry… he took me over and used me while I was asleep. He thought he could get close to Kellan through me. And he did… but you brought me back once, and the lady using my blood for that spell snapped me out of the shock of having my life taken from me. I think she wanted me to help somehow, but what can I do?”

 

I shook myself. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry… I’ve got a crush on your boyfriend, and if I’d been focusing on actually solving this mess instead of how tight his costume was, maybe we’d have been able to keep you alive.”

 

Claudia’s shade moved closer, but her face had a rueful smile. “I’m not entirely comfortable with you and Kellan, together, but he still cared for me… at least before that monster too him over. And I have to say, you look pretty amazing now,” she continued, giving my new musculature a once-over. “If you can somehow manage to save all of us, I think I’d be up to try sharing Kellan.”

 

Before I could respond, behind Claudia (or through her, actually), I saw a sudden burst of green flames exploding from the woods. “That’ll be the end of the reanimated monsters,” I groaned. “He’s coming. We need to get into the Chapel, and we need to get his body from underneath the altar. Maybe we can do it together, or between the two of us, we can get inside Kellan’s head and break him free. Let’s go!”

 

Her face lighting up (literally glowing) at the thought of defeating Gosser and rescuing Kellan, Claudia drifted through me and inside the doors of the Manor. I opened them and followed her, only to be slowed down when I realized that my head was scraping the top of the door! I’d grown in height as well as musculature, and I remembered the stories of the Nephilim had described them as giants. Ducking carefully, I entered the main drinking room, which was eerily silent with no one talking and the dj’s music turned off, and found Claudia’s path blocked by a bunch of ghosts dressed in old-fashioned attire. One of them, a skinny, bearded man, moved forward and said, “We are the soldiers of God and the slayers of monsters. Our brother, Quincy Gosser, has called us back to stop you, Abomination… and you shall be stopped!” Immediately, torches, pitchforks, and other makeshift weapons formed in their hands and they menacingly waved them at me. Claudia ducked through me to avoid getting stabbed by a spectral musket blade, but I’d had enough.

 

“Your time is long gone, and your crusade, while noble, was misguided and callous. Your current goal is foolish and in defiance of both natural and supernatural laws, and I have seen far more frightening things tonight than a group of colonial spooks. What’s more, I’ve BECOME a more frightening thing than all of you. I am alive, and this is my world… your world passed away with you, and you are not welcome here. BEGONE!”

 

To emphasize my argument, I flexed my ripped chest, and my wings unfolded behind me, causing a draft of wind that knocked over more than a few bottles of cheap alcohol and spilled dozens of plastic cups on the lifeless party guests. I stared them down, my eyes never leaving the ghost’s, and my rage at their idiotic temerity caused white flames to lick my skin and dance among my hair and feathers. The ghosts quailed before the sight, and though some looked indignant, they all faded away. The flames died, and I folded my wings behind me, and took off at a run towards the chapel doors. I pushed them open with a cacophonous BANG that echoed through the chapel, and Claudia and I raced to the Altar, only to stare at the unmarked floor. Without being asked, Claudia did a swan dive into the floor, passing through the concrete, only to emerge a moment later, as if rising from a pool. “There is an old, worn coffin with a body down there… about six feet under… but I can’t turn it ghostly and bring it up with me or anything! What do we do? Kellan will be here any moment!”

 

“I’ll have to break through it,” I said, hoping I wasn’t making a big mistake. However, the power of my muscles, and the warmth of the white flames filled me. I focused on Kellan’s kiss, on his attitude, the way he was protective of me, how he insisted I never risk my life again, and all the other moments we’d shared that evening… and the thought that Quincy Gosser, all-around useless member of society, had used Kellan as if he didn’t matter at all filled me with a terrible wrath. With a furious battle cry, I leaned over and slammed my fist into the concrete.

 

I didn’t feel anything when my knuckles connected with the cold stone… but cracks began to form as it crumbled, revealing another layer beneath it. Again and again and again I punched, sifting aside rubble until I reached soil and began digging with my bare hands until they reached wood. “ARTEMIS,” cried Claudia, almost in my ear, and biting back a curse both at the lack of time and Claudia’s inability to remember my name, I looked up to see the glowing, monstrous, skeletal form of Gosser striding into the Chapel.

 

He saw what I was doing, and with a wave of his hand, sent a blast of telekinetic force at me… it knocked the altar backwards, and only a quick beat of my wings sent me upward, dodging it just in time, and giving me the chance to form a blade of white flames. I descended on Gosser like a stooping falcon, and crashed into his billowing chest. Green flames coiled against white ones. My own enhanced physique and fiercely buffeting wings countered Kellan’s much greater musculature. But I had trouble dealing with his poltergeist powers, and once, when I was about to land a punch, he phased through it, becoming insubstantial for a moment, only to solidify enough to take a swing at me! If I was caught up in fighting Gosser/Kellan, I couldn’t get back to the body and call the Helpful One.

 

“I’ve got this,” murmured Claudia in her whispery voice, and I felt her melt into my body instead of passing through it. My white flames blazed around us and I suddenly felt everything slow down… except me. Winding back, I landed a perfect punch straight at Kellan’s “To the Bone” tattoo and, filled with Claudia’s spirit, Gosser couldn’t phase away. I felt Claudia speak through my lips: “Get. Out. Of. My. BOYFRIEND!”

 

As soon as my fist connected, I suddenly found myself, no longer a warrior angel, but my normal body, wearing costume wings, floating beside Claudia in a vast room filled with green mist. Hovering in the center of the room was a naked, skinny Kellan, looking very much like he had when we first met. He looked up at us and his eyes widened in shock.

 

“Did… did he kill you both? I felt him take me over, but I can’t remember anything else. I’m so sorry! I thought I could protect you both, but those muscles were useless! And now I’m stuck like this forever and you guys are gone!”

 

“Um, baby,” Claudia interrupted as Kellan began to tear up, “I don’t feel any different besides being here. I think we’re no more dead than before. We’re in your mind or soul or something. I think that if we can clear out this mist, you can fight back against that creep. And we need you to fight back… otherwise, even Armand here won’t be able to handle him.”

 

I forced myself not to rise to the bait… no one could be that hopelessly awful at names, could she? “She’s right, Kellan. I might be able to take him on, but I can’t fight you… especially if there’s a chance we can get you back. And a really powerful witch and a… an archangel seem to think there’s still that chance. So come on… it’s time to use your muscles and show Gosser that he’s got no clue what he’s meddling with.”

 

I reached out my hand to him, and Claudia did the same. When Kellan tentatively wrapped his agile, musician’s fingers around ours, the three of us began to glow, and the mist turned white and faded away… and then a blinding flash of light filled the room.

 

When my eyes cleared, I found that I was in my angelic form, again, and Kellan was still roiling with Gosser’s energies… but he seemed paralyzed. Claudia’s wraithlike form appeared swirling around them, and she shouted, “We’ve got him! Go!”

 

I turned and sprinted for the unearthed grave, but with each step I began to hum, then actually sing, making up the words. At first it was just my normal baritone, but then I started hitting notes that were well beyond my range, both extremely low and shockingly high. Then I started singing in multiple voices at once! Then some of them were singing different songs in different languages, the words and pauses, the breaths and echoes intertwining. I felt like my chest was swelling, the muscles in my throat vibrated as impossible harmonies poured from my lips. After I worked my fingers into the wood of the coffin and lifted it off with a flex of my muscular arms, I ripped the lid off and revealed the dried bones resting awkwardly inside. I distantly heard Gosser scream in despair and frustration, but those pitiful wails were drowned out as the many voices coming from me were joined by countless other voices… including one that was much deeper and richer than the others. The many separate songs blended together into one, and in a language that sounded more like birdcalls than human speech. I placed my hands on the sternum and the skull, and ended the song with a single word that I intuitively knew meant “Return/Release/Undo/Let Go.”

 

Whatever that language was, speaking it involved more than just saying a word. As I was speaking it felt like a tremendous pressure weighed me down. Some measure of myself went into the song, and I felt like screaming… but I had no more breath to speak after the word left me. I felt the feathers and skin shed themselves from my wings, and the accompanying pain felt worse then when I had my wisdom teeth removed, when I fell off a slide and broke my arm, and when I got sun poisoning combined. I gasped for air, feeling weak and helpless, as my muscles shrank… but not all the way back to normal. I could tell I was still and inch or two taller than I had been, and my muscles retained some of their lithe definition… and a fraction of their strength. My vision felt darker and my hearing felt muffled, as both senses adjusted to the loss of supernatural power, but I could still see a glow and still could hear the Chorus. For all that I was losing, though, I could see that Gosser was similarly afflicted.

 

Kellan’s body broke free of Claudia’s grip, but didn’t do anything except widen his stance, pull his fists back, and then begin punching the air. Seeing an 8’2” guy with rippling muscles shadowboxing was pretty impressive, but as he continued to do it, I realized that there was something odd about his sweat. I pulled myself out of the deep hole in the chapel floor, feeling like all of my muscles were screaming in agony, and shakily made my way towards him, in time to see that his sweat was a rusty red, blood-like shade, and that it seemed to cling to his muscles. However, his skeleton was permanently concealed beneath his skin, which started to look less green and more healthy, though still fair. Gradually his features became less monstrous and twisted, and more determined and handsome. The red ooze formed into a ball, then an actual humanoid figure, rolling back each time Kellan punched, and I realized that he was deliberately sweating Gosser out of his system! I watched as more of his naked body rid itself of the ghost’s corruption. Gosser seemed powerless to fight back, as if my song, touch and word had paralyzed him. Finally, Kellan’s body was coated with nothing but clear sweat, and the slimey Gosser had congealed into a jell-o like consistency when Kellan raised his foot and slammed it down on the ground, sending out another shockwave! Gosser tumbled backwards by about three yards, flipped over the altar and fell into his own grave with a sickening squelch. Unfortunately, without real wings and as drained as I’d become, I wasn’t able to leap away, and toppled over as well… only to be caught by a pair of invisible hands. “Don’t worry, Augustus,” came Claudia’s cheerful whisper. “I’ve got you. This poltergeist thing isn’t that hard.”

 

Meanwhile Kellan was glaring into the grave. “And that’s for hurting my friends, family, and loved ones, and using me to do it, you sick fuck!” He turned and saw me hovering in thin air, and ran over to help me to my feet. “Are you ok, Angelo?”

 

I was about to respond in the affirmative, when I saw that something was stirring from the grave. “Guys, I don’t think Gosser’s quite done yet,” I exclaim as a limb formed of red muck and bone pulled a horrific body from the pit. With sightless eyes and a dripping maw, it hissed at us: “All wassss innnn my grasssp, and you ruinnned it allll… for what? A fewww paltry, spoiled lives, drinking themsellllves senseless? Rommmances that will be forgotten in a fewwww yearrrs? Whhyyyy are theirrrr goals and purrrrsuits morrrre valuable than mine?”

 

“Because,” Claudia retorted. “You have no idea what any of us might accomplish in our lives, and what our futures might be like. You simply took away all of that possibility because you didn’t make the changes you really wanted with your own life, and underestimated and dismissed all of us as unimportant compared to your own goals… to have sex and look attractive and be in shape and party… everything that you accused us of doing.”

 

“Because,” Kellan responded. “You manipulated people, lied to them, frightened them, and tried to control them rather than admit that you might be wrong or that you could have pursued your goals differently. And you betrayed everything that was supposed to matter… your faith, your goals, your family, your friends.”

 

“And because,” I finished, letting the tones of the Chorus flow into my speech. “You died over a century ago. Your time to be in the world is long over. Isn’t that right… Azrael?”

 

The others turned to stare at me, but that deep, rich voice echoed through the chapel. “SO, YOU REALIZED MY IDENTITY, NEPHEW? I AM PROUD OF YOU.” The stained glass window behind the altar blazed with rainbow colors as a figure with four thousand wings, a body consisting of enough eyes and tongues for every human living on Earth, and four floating, masklike faces, one of which was identical to my own, appeared above the altar.

“The Angel of Death? You did hint at it after we saved Claudia,” I replied. “And once I got over your appearance and this creep spilled that angels were involved, at least through me, the it was pretty easy to figure out. You called yourself ‘The Helpful One,’ and Azrael means ‘Whom God Helps.’ Besides, he wrote about the different archangels in his journal. I skimmed over the passage the first time, and I was pretty distracted when we met, but it just made sense, in the end.”

 

All four of Azrael’s faces smiled. “OF COURSE. NOW THEN,” his fourth face flipped over, going from my own appearance to a bearded, old-fashioned face that I realized must’ve been how Gosser had looked in life. “QUINCY GOSSER, MANY YEARS AGO, YOU LEFT THIS LIFE. I AM PLEASED THAT YOU ARE FINALLY RETURNING TO YOUR RIGHTFUL REST.”

 

Gosser’s fluid face somehow conveyed an expression of hope. “I’m… I’m going to Heaven? After everything?”

 

Azrael’s voice replied. “THAT IS A GOOD QUESTION. SOME SAY THAT ALL SOULS END UP IN HEAVEN EVENTUALLY, BECAUSE GOD IS MERCIFUL AND LOVING AND HIS SON SACRIFICED HIMSELF. OTHERS SAY THAT YOUR ACTIONS DETERMINE YOUR ULTIMATE FATE. YOUR ACTIONS IN LIFE AND DEATH HAVE BEEN GREATLY GOOD AND UNFORGIVEABLY EVIL. PERHAPS YOU WILL FIND THAT ALL SOULS HAVE THE CAPACITY TO REACH HEAVEN… BUT SOME OF THEM TAKE LONGER TO GET THERE THAN OTHERS.” With a fanning of Azrael’s many wings, and a faint hum of music that I suspected only I could hear, Gosser turned to dust and faded away.

 

The fourth face of Azrael flipped again, this time becoming Claudia’s. “CLAUDIA WILLIS, YOUR TIME, AND THAT OF EVERY OTHER VICTIM OF QUINCY GOSSER’S, HAS NOT YET COME. RETURN TO YOUR BODY, AND THESE TWO WILL BE ALONG SHORTLY WITH MY DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO RESTORE YOU ALL TO YOUR MORTAL FLESH.”

 

Claudia nodded, shooting us a nervous glance, and walked through the walls of the chapel, back towards the clearing where ‘Marilyn’ had left her. That reminded me… who was she? I was about to ask, but Azrael’s face flipped to mine, and its four heads shook in disagreement. “I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO ASK, NEPHEW, BUT I AM FORBIDDEN FROM TELLING YOU MORE ABOUT THE WOMAN DRESSED AS MARILYN MONROE, OR YOUR HERITAGE, SAVE THAT I WAS THE ONE WHO ALERTED HER TO YOUR NEED HERE, AND THAT YOU WILL SEE HER AGAIN SOMEDAY. PERHAPS SHE WILL FEEL MORE OPEN TO CONVERSATION THEN. NOW, WHEN WE SAVED CLAUDIA’S LIFE HOURS AGO, SHE BECAME A LINK BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE DEAD… AT LEAST FOR THIS NIGHT. THAT IS WHY HER SPIRIT ALONE, OF ALL THE PEOPLE QUINCY GOSSER LEECHED OF THEIR LIFE FORCE, WAS ABLE TO MANIFEST AS A GHOST.  YOU WILL NEED TO SING HER BACK TO HER BODY WHILE YOU…” The angel’s face flipped again, becoming Kellan’s. “WILL NEED TO COMPLETE ANGELO’S EARLIER USE OF THE LANGUAGE OF THE BIRDS TO RETURN THE STOLEN LIFE FORCE TO THE GUESTS. I BELIEVE YOUR FAIRY TALES WOULD SUGGEST THE BEST METHOD OF DOING SO. I SHALL ARRANGE FOR THE DAMAGE DONE TO THE PEOPLE AND PROPERTY TO VANISH, AS IF IT HAD NEVER HAPPENED, AND I SHALL SEE TO THE REMAINS OF THE VARIOUS CREATURES ANGELO REANIMATED. NOW, GO AND ENJOY YOUR LIVES… BECAUSE I WILL SEE YOU BOTH AGAIN… SOMEDAY.”

 

With that, the archangel of death vanished. I looked at Kellan, and he actually blushed and scruffed his bare foot against the cracked floor, and tried to cover his crotch with both huge hands (and wasn’t entirely successful). Looking away to spare him some embarrassment, I murmured, “We’d best go meet up with Claudia.” He nodded, and we stepped out into the cold November morning, trudging down the fields towards the clearing. Along the way, he picked up the hayride driver and put him back in the cab of the tractor, but before we reached the clearing, Kellan held up a hand. “Wait… before we go in… I need to do something.”

 

Facing him, I saw his features struggle for a bit, as he tried to decide what to say, before letting out a sigh. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I still need to be filled in on some of the events of tonight while Quincy took me over. I’m kinda worried about giving everyone back their lives. It feels creepy to have them in the first place, but you look like whatever you did put you through the ringer… and I like being a supermuscular, super horny guy with superpowers. It’s been just about the only good thing about his whole night… aside from meeting you. But if I give all that back, I’ll go back to being just another skinny indie guy in a band. Will I feel the same way about you… about guys in general… or will my memories change like Claudia’s did? I can’t just say I can work out or something, because there’s no way that I’d get these muscles through normal exercise… and there’d be no extra height or superpowers either.” He took another deep breath, then let it out, before continuing. “But I have to do it. It’s not right that Claudia and the others die just because I want to be superman. So before I go and restore everyone, I want to do this.”

 

“Wha-,” I started to say, only to have his lips on mine, his tongue seeking entrance, his warm breath a sharp contrast to the cool night air, and his massive biceps and triceps wrapped around me as he lifted me up and held me against his rock-hard, marble smooth chest, the “To the Bone” tattoo warm beneath my fingers. I could feel his groan of satisfaction vibrating through his torso as the kiss became more hungry and fierce. I slid my hands up his pecs to rest on either side of his thick, bull-like neck, caressing the hard mounds of his shoulder muscles. God, could the guy kiss! All too soon, however, he broke away and gently lowered me to the ground in front of his magnificent naked (and hardening) body. “Thanks… even if I forget that and go back to my normal sexuality, it happened, and it happened when my mind and hormones weren’t being messed with. Let’s go break this spell.”

 

It took me a moment to snap out of my kiss-induced stupor, but I nodded, and tried not to stare at his perfect ass as he loped through the undergrowth. I did notice that there were a variety of burns and ashen sticks left over from Gosser’s fight with my monsters, but if I looked closely, I could spot places where shoots were rapidly sprouting and re-growing. I didn’t see any lights, but I could hear the faintest strains of might have been music sung by a choir of angels.

 

Claudia hovered above her lifeless body, and Kellan reached down to pick her up, before turning to lock his blue crystal eyes with mine. “Are you ready?” I nodded, unable to speak at this point. If he did forget and shrink back down, I’d be the only one who remembered anything… since I wasn’t entirely human. That knowledge, while wonderful to know while I was flying through the stormy sky, now made me feel like even more of an outsider than when I’d been the only sober person at a Halloween party. Drawing my attention back to the matters at hand, I cleared my throat and tried to sing.

 

It came out as a croak.  With Kellan’s expectant and worried eyes (not to mention Claudia’s translucent ones) on me, I tried again. It was like my throat was filled with silly putty; I struggled to get a reasonable sound out. Eventually I held a long note and was able to clear my throat enough to blend it with others. I drew on memories of flight, white fire, Claudia’s righteous smackdown, Kellan’s growth spurts, and his kisses, and I felt the song echo across the property, collide with the thunder, and seep into the drained bodies of the party guests… right as Kellan placed his lips on Claudia’s.

 

Have you ever mixed a bunch of different paints together, especially in a cup of water? It usually ends up as a gray mess. Watching Claudia return to life was not unlike seeing that process in reverse; her gray pallor began to shift and flicker, and then her skin, hair, lips, and eyes took on their natural hues. To my second sight, however, her aura returned in a blaze like fireworks, or the glow of a summer afternoon when you’re just about to drift into a nap. She took in a deep breath, and Kellan, squeezed her gently, before she began to hungrily return his kiss. He now looked only a little smaller than he’d been a moment ago, but it was hard to tell with him leaning down to make out with his girlfriend. I turned away to give them some privacy and to look in the direction of the Manor, and I could hear the music start back up, along with the sounds of voices as the party returned to life. I could faintly see a blaze of lights from the returning auras of over 250 people registered on my ESP through the trees and walls of the building.

 

The next thing I knew, I was pulled into a hug… not by Kellan’s huge arms, but by Claudia’s skinnier ones. “WE DID IT,” she squealed, almost directly into my ear. “This is awesome, Achilles!”

 

Sigh. “Yeah, you’re right, Claudia… want to go check out the rest of the restored party?”

 

She shook her head. “Nah, we’ll leave that to you. I’m feeling like I need to get my hunk here home and in bed. Have a good night!”

 

Kellan looked like he was delirious that Claudia was back to her normal self (and the prospect of sex with her was a sure thing), so he waved at me and followed her to the car, presumably to avoid being spotted buck naked by anyone else.

 

I stayed in the clearing, watching as the grass and trees re-grew in record time, and stones (actual stones, not fossils of a variety of monsters) emerged from the ground to decorate the space between the foliage. The night was almost over. Claudia was back to life, and the damage was undone. Quincy Gosser would never haunt the world again. Kellan was still in spectacular shape, and his relationship with Claudia seemed as strong as ever. I knew some more stuff about myself, and maybe had some talents I could use in the wide world. I should be happy, right? Except that I’d basically gotten a goodbye kiss from one of the hottest guys I’d ever seen, and I wasn’t sure how to take that. Claudia’s ghost had seemed open to sharing him, but if he was already shrinking, would he retain those feelings for me? And then I smacked myself in the forehead, realizing that I didn’t have Kellan’s number, email, anything!

 

Groaning at my own stupidity, and realizing that Kellan and Claudia would be long gone by now, I began to leave the clearing to begin the long trudge uphill to say my goodbyes to my few remaining friends and coworkers at the party, when my foot kicked something that wasn’t a stone or a plant. I leaned down and picked up Gosser’s journal. And wondered… maybe there could be something in here that I could use. Gosser himself had failed in his mission to keep people safe from the supernatural, but that was because he was going about it the wrong way. Maybe I could learn from his mistakes and take what knowledge there was in the book and do some good with it. Tucking the journal under my arm, I began to follow the path that the hayride had been traveling all night, and reached the party.

 

People were still moving around, shifting from the bonfire to the manor and all about. I decided that one lesson I could take from not following Gosser’s example would be to actually enjoy life as it was… so I went inside, poured myself a soda, and hopped to the dance floor to sway to the music as the dj played a couple of classic songs. And if I was dancing with myself, it didn’t matter. Honest. That goofy couple came around and asked me to flap my wings again, so I humored them, and I spotted Mack dancing drunkenly with another of my coworkers. I went over to them, said goodbye, and headed out. The drive home was uneventful, and I stripped off my costume, hung up my wings carefully, and collapsed into bed. I dreamed, of course, of flying.

 

The next morning, I slept in, slowly pulling myself awake by reading a gay erotic romance novel on my kindle. I got cleaned up, did the laundry, and began the draining hunt for a new job, since I wouldn’t be able to rely on the Halloween Hayride position anymore… or at least, not until next year.

 

As I was applying for an Administrative Assistant position nearby, my phone buzzed. I didn’t recognize the number on the screen, but when I opened it and said “Hello,” the deep, exuberant voice of Kellan filled my ears.

“Angelo! How are you feeling?”

 

“Kellan? Dude, I’m fine, but how are you? And how’d you get my number?”

 

“Hahaha… remember when you conked out after singing Claudia back on the dance floor? And you woke up in my car? I went through your phone while you were sleeping in case I had to call your parents or something if you didn’t wake up, and I saved your number. But man, what’s your address… we need to meet up and talk about last night.”

 

“Um… ok,” I murmured, before rattling off my address. I was trying not to get my hopes up, but Kellan had saved my number, even if he’d thought I was dying, and he wanted to meet up… I’m not too proud to take that.

 

In a few minutes, the doorbell rang, and I went downstairs to find Kellan, dressed in a tight band t-shirt and jeans that accentuated his new musculature, while still looking non-mainstream. I let him in, looked him over and asked, “Did you have to go shopping for that outfit?”

 

Kellan nodded. “The jeans, yeah… though I had to wear an uncomfortably tight pair of sweat pants to get into the shop. Nobody ever mentions “No pants, no service, but I didn’t want to risk it. The shirt I got at a show, and accidentally got the wrong size, so it was hanging around. But anyway, I’m too new to this gay thing to talk about clothes, so you might want to ask someone else if that’s all you’ve got to say.”

 

I did a double take. “You’re still interested in guys after last night? I thought with the Sleeping Beauty true love kiss thing and Claudia said…”

 

He flashed me a shit-eating grin. “Oh, Claudia kept me very busy this morning. I really do need a lot more sleep before I’m all caught up. Fortunately, I have a lot more stamina now… and someone else I want to sleep with. So, what’d you say? Want to show me what I’ve been missing?”

 

“Far be it from me to turn down sex with a… what, 7’7” tall, hung, professional bodybuilder guitarist,” I reply, “but…”

 

“I actually sing and can play drums and bass, too,” Kellan interrupted. Then he paused. “Ok, maybe I can’t sing as well as you, but I’m not an angel.”

 

“Demi-semi-hemi-and-whatever-comes-after-hemi-almost-infinitely-back angel, actually,” I retort. “Besides, I’m not sure what I’ve actually got left. You heard me croak this morning, and weakening Gosser enough to break you free took a lot out of me… including my wings and all.”

 

He looked me over, smiling at times, frowning at others. “Huh… You still look more… athletic? Toned? Maybe a bit taller than you already were, too.  Maybe you just have to give your singing a rest for a bit, recover, and then practice more… maybe sing normally to build up your vocal skills. If you want to guest star at one of my band’s shows, I’m sure we’d be lucky to have you, even without magic songs.”

 

I did a double take at that announcement. “Are you serious? You’d want me to sing with your band?”

 

“Hell yes,” he said, then looked quizzical. “Can I say ‘hell’ around you? Don’t want to get struck by lightning or something.”

 

I chuckled. “I’m pretty sure we can let it slide. At the most, you might get a static jolt from someone as far removed from the angel family tree as me… besides, I’m pretty sure that my… ancestor… didn’t end up on the best of terms with the Almighty.”

 

“Why’s that,” he asked, a curious expression spreading across his features.

 

“Well,” I hedge. “I’m here, aren’t I? I’ve been doing some research all afternoon. Apparently, Nephilim aren’t supposed to exist, which is why Gosser couldn’t sense me until he’d possessed human eyes, and why I was immune to the draining he used on everyone else.”

 

His curious look morphed into an expression of shock and then anger. “Dude, never say that God’s mad at you for existing. That’s stupid! I think God sent you to that party just so that you could save all of us. Without you, Claudia and I, and everyone else there would be wiped out, and Quincy’d have his perfect body and be loose on the world. Besides, you helped out the Angel of Death… they fucking owe you, man, particularly since he used to be a man of faith that they let get out of control. Besides, I shouldn’t be the one to tell you that ancient Biblical scrolls written by a tribal scribe in the desert over two thousand years ago aren’t always God’s honest truth, gay boy.”

 

I was speechless at first, but then I closed my mouth and nodded. He took that as assent and changed the subject. “So, you need to rest your voice, and you might or might not have wings anymore, but you’re immune to magic and spooky spying, you can cast spells, you can see and hear stuff that other people can’t, and you’re more fit than before, right? Well, I’m not as big and strong as I was last night, but I noticed something… this morning I reached for the fridge door, and it opened on its own… I think I’ve got Gosser’s poltergeist ability, and some of his other powers. Not sure how to fog people’s minds… and not sure I want to know after all that he did to Claudia, but I’m still super strong and fast, my senses are overcharged still, and I’m probably still pretty hard to hurt, and I might be able to absorb ghosts’ ectoplasm if I work at it, so why don’t we do some ghost busting, on the side? Maybe I’ll grow stronger, and you’ll get your other powers back, and we can continue to clear up other spooky messes. It’ll be awesome… and we can spend more time together and get to know each other better… and then have some hot, superpowered sex!”

 

I had to laugh at his final statement, but then I thought about it. “Just the two of us?”

 

He nodded. “Yeah. Claudia’s talking about how nice you were at the party… though she still keeps calling you other names beginning with A, even when I correct her. I think that maybe normal people’s minds naturally fog over around the supernatural… and she did die twice last night. It’s probably a good thing that she is blocking the memories out… besides, she hasn’t shown any supernatural powers. I don’t want her to get hurt, and unlike us, she’s not able to defend herself against things that go bump in the night. She did wink at me and told me she wanted all the dirty details later when I mentioned I was going to see you today, though, so I think she’s ok with sharing me, though… and honestly, now that I’m this strong, I need to hold back in sex with her… you, on the other hand, are a… napalm? Nefertiti?”

 

“Nephilim.”

 

“That’s it. You’re stronger… supernaturally strong… and if you’re not quite powerful enough to take on a crazed ghost in my body at the moment, my body’s not over 8 feet tall anymore, either. And you’re a dude. Can we at least try? My hormones are still amped up, and I’d rather not find out I have to be mostly celibate for the rest of my life.”

 

“Poor guy,” I reply, laughing. “Oh, who am I kidding? There’s no way I can resist you, Kellan. C’mon over to the dark side!”

 

In a flash, Kellan was kissing me, hungrily, his powerful hands tearing off my clothes with a loud RRRRRRIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPP, exposing my skin to the cool air. Not wanting to damage his new clothes, I slip my hands under his shirt, feeling the warmth of his hard abdominal muscles before sliding the shirt up over his head.  He pulled off his jeans, and I was treated to the sight of his naked body, his huge cock growing erect before my eyes.

 

“Going commando,” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

 

“I couldn’t find any thing that looked good and fit me… I’m kinda… gifted, you know” he replied with a shrug of his mountainous shoulders, before pulling me off my feet and pulling me into an embrace, his hard pecs against my face, while his thick cock filled and stretched towards me.

 

“God, it feels sooooo good just to cut loose,” he groaned. Then he looked down at me. “Can… can we fuck? I don’t think I’m going to last long, and I want that ass. I mean, I want everything… I even want you to fuck me in the worst way, which is kinda messing with my head, you know? But I really, really want to fuck you.”

 

“Sure,” I say. “Lube and condoms are upstairs in my room, in a bag under the bed.”

 

Still holding me aloft, he headed towards the stairs. “Which way?”

 

“Uh… all the way down the hall, to the right,” I manage as his muscles flexed against me with each step up the stairs. He deposited me on the bed with surprising gentleness (but also with haste) and dug under the bed, pulling out the promised bag.

 

“Hold on,” I say. “Lie on your back and let me do it.”

 

Taking the bag from him, digging out the magnums and several packs of lube, tearing them open, and sliding the condom down his huge shaft. It fit… barely. I then slathered the lube up the enormous cock, feeling it twitch with surprising force and eliciting throaty moans from Kellan as he tossed his head back against my pillows and writhed. With a liberal helping of lube, I readied myself, noting that my butt did feel a lot more… muscular… than I remembered, and straddled his hips, gently lowering myself onto his shaft., wincing as I did. With painful slowness, I worked my way down, driving Kellan increasingly wild, his breath heavy and his bodybuilder’s chest heaving, his fair skin flushed to a rich rose hue and his dark hair tangled and framing his perfect face, until I was able to rest my thighs against his flanks, feeling his balls against my ass.

 

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I slid up, and then immediately back down, groaning deep in my throat as I felt Kellan filling me again. After a few more trips up and down his shaft, I felt like I could handle it and said, “OK, Kellan… take me!”

 

A growl almost scarier than Gosser’s creepy rasp emerged from Kellan’s throat as he rolled his hips and slid into me, then rolled back out, then in again. “OOoooohhh, FUCK, YES,” he exhaled. “God, this is so tight! I’m not gonna last… ooooh… long!”

 

“Oh wow! Uh… me neither,” I gasp, shocked, as I usually take awhile to get off when using anything but my hand. But I was fully erect (and was it my imagination, or was I bigger as well?) and dripping precum onto Kellan’s sculpted abs, which were gleaming with sweat. He reached up and slid his hands down my shoulders to the back of my arms, as if feeling my smaller, sleeker (but still mystically enhanced) biceps, and raised his head to lock his bright blue eyes with my dark brown ones. His expression was tender and wild and happy, and then I felt it… his cum gushing inside me, straining against the condom, somehow hitting me in just the right spot, triggering my own burst. I watched in surprise as my cock fired across the expanse of his torso, splashing onto his face and then over his head, against my wall, while I felt his juices slide down his shaft and pooling in his wiry dark pubic hair. He pulled me down, still riding his cock, holding me against his chest, and then kissed me long and deep, the motions of his tongue languid and graceful and sated as those of his new body.

 

It took me awhile to pull myself together after being so thoroughly fucked, and I was enjoying just being held in Kellans muscular arms, when he shifted and said, “I don’t know how I feel about this…”

 

Worried, I looked up at his face, and met his cyan gaze again, worried that he’d somehow gone from having a great time to having gay sex guilt, only to see a smile break over his face. “Do I want to fall asleep snuggling with you like this, do it again, or shower together and feel your hot hairy body all slick and soapy?”

 

Deeply relieved that he wasn’t panicking, I pretended to think about it, stroking my chin, frowning, and narrowing my eyes. “Hmmm… all three?”

 

“Works for me,” he rumbled, sending pleasant vibrations through his chest and cock into my body. “By the way, thought you should know something…”

 

“What’s up?” I asked, stretching out on his hard body.

 

“When we came, I could’ve sworn I saw some of your white flames fanning out behind your shoulders… and they were kinda sorta shaped like small wings.”

 

 

 

Elsewhere, a woman who had been dressed as Marilyn Monroe the night before finished her ministrations on a couple of the monsters that had been reanimated to fight Gosser/Kellan the night before. They now looked like fully-living creatures, one with neon green scales and fins, one with scarlet feathers and a beak, and one with thick brown fur and tusks. She planted a kiss on each of their humanlike heads and announced, “There! All better!” If it was possible for the three monsters to blush, they would’ve, but at that instant a Barbie-sized androgynous creature with bat wings and a scorpion tail and tiny horns fluttered into the room. “Madam,” it said with all the formal air of a butler, “The spells you set up to watch your newly-discovered descendant show that he and the revenant from last night were successful in delivering the specter to the angel of death, and that they have formed an alliance to explore the supernatural… and a sexual liason, of sorts. You asked to be kept informed.”

 

The woman flashed a perfectly white smile at the creature. “Thank you, imp. Yes, the boy will bear watching, especially if he can sing and attracted the attention of the archangels.”

 

The three repaired monsters, exchanged a look, when the scaly one asked, “Um, Great One, we consider ourselves in our brother’s debt.  Had he not possessed his Grigori ancestor’s talent for spells, we might not all have been brought back. Is he safe with the revenant? Even with the ghost gone, such creatures are…”

 

“Problematic?” Finished ‘Marilyn’, with a wry smile. “I am aware. I do not share your debt… my gift of the dragon’s blood was sufficient reward for coming into his heritage, and he hasn’t shown any features of our side of the family just yet. Still, he could prove useful. And I am sure that if we continue to monitor his actions, we might find a way to bring him into the fold.”

 

The feathered monster ruffled its winglike arms, and asked, “If it is just the two of them, are they likely to encounter much of the supernatural? I thought that their powers were both weakened by getting rid of the ghost. More experienced and sophisticated teams have sought out nonhuman intelligences before… there are whole television shows about them, after all.”

 

The woman nodded. “True. Nevertheless, like calls to like. They two of them are already unable to stay away from each other… and together, they will draw the attention of others.” Her smile turned sharp, showing unusually pointed canine teeth. “Besides, I have it on good authority that things will get interesting for them next Halloween.”

 

 

BESTIARY NOTES:

These files are compiled from Quincy Gosser’s journal, independent research, and my own first hand experience with various paranormal and supernatural entities. I figure that if we are going to seek out the supernatural, we should leave a record of them so that others can learn from our experiences. The following creatures were encountered at the Higgins Manor.

 

Sincerely,

 

- A

 

*Ghosts: Ghosts are some aspect of human LIFE that left such a powerful impression on the world that, at least a portion of the dead soul was unable to actually pass on. Ghosts are unique among undead in that they do not haunt places where their bodies are buried so much as places where they had a vivid emotional experience. This experience is often a complicated and tragic death, or some place that they loved and made their own in life, or a particular conflict or declaration that left echoes through time. It seems that ghosts are not actually creatures of death, per se, but of life. There is some debate about whether or not ghosts are actually the spirits/souls of humans, or whether they are just memories and recordings. In support of the latter theory, ghosts do not change, ever. They are as focused on their goals, their “unfinished business”, or their emotional moments fifty or a hundred years later as they are the moment after they died. Many ghosts have powers that would be described as “psychic”: telekinetic “poltergeist activity,” manipulating the minds and senses of others, possession, etc. When they do create illusions and phantasms, it is usually of their defining event in life. These illusions can be particularly vivid, with some people reporting cases not unlike time travel, experiencing some historical moment that shaped the creation of the ghost as if they’d actually been there. Ghostly possession is usually not as serious as demonic possession. Ghosts, however, show a peculiar ability to pick up greater power the longer they exist and are recognized. Some of what we consider pagan gods or elementals might actually have been ghosts at some point… ghosts who finally changed themselves, or gained some supernatural power and a lasting legend beyond their human identities. However, just as not every elderly individual lives to be 100 years old, not every ghost is remembered beyond the lives of their immediate descendants. Ghosts gain power from human energies and attentions, which is why they are so concerned with haunting humans, particularly if it furthers their goals. Ghosts can be reasoned with, however, and logic does work on them. They also seem to be weakened by the presence of people who don’t believe in ghosts (but strengthened by those people who do believe… and ghosts are possibly the most believed-in paranormal entity out there, second only to God). Many ghosts are essentially harmless… but ghosts, like people, are individuals, and they can be fearsome if roused to action. Many ghosts, it should be noted, do not know or accept their deaths, being far more concerned (or obsessed) with their lives. Fortunately, there are a number of rituals, sounds, prayers, and natural elements that can be used to exorcise or calm ghosts. Unfortunately, such things are considered superstition among many modern societies. With a ridiculous number of fake psychics and mediums out there, finding something that works against ghosts is very difficult. Note that ghosts are only ghosts in the mortal world. If you somehow find your way to an afterlife, the spirits there are often referred to as Shades, Saints, and Ancestors.

 

*Revenants: Straddling the border between ghosts and vampires or liches (which are primarily a convention of fantasy rather than folklore), Revenants are undead spirits that manifest in some form of body, usually their own (though sometimes that of someone else). Revenants tend to have many powers similar to ghosts, as well as an effect on the life around them. Such effects include manifestations of plagues in formerly healthy villages, unusual behavior in animals and people, and a certain inexorable threat to the safety of a large number of people. Attacking or destroying the original body of a revenant, especially with the same rituals used against ghosts or vampires, can be a surefire way of both destroying the revenant and cleansing its influence from the area (miraculous recoveries all around are common afterwards).

 

Kellan is a special case, in that, though he is definitely a revenant, the ghost that possessed him wanted to improve his physical health instead of detracting from it. His system has been permanently marked by the dark ritual and the huge amount of ectoplasm Gosser flooded his body with, though, and this has resulted in some unusual powers, even for a revenant. His connection to me, stemming from my interference in the ritual’s progress, might have muddied the waters as well. Since he has been rid of Gosser’s influence, we’ve primarily noticed that these powers, like my own, tend to be stronger around other supernatural influences, rather than being consistently present. Also, Kellan remains alive, though I have suspicions that he might now have a much longer lifespan than most people… assuming he doesn’t antagonize any paranormal entities too much. Besides, I’ll be watching his back.

 

*Angels: “Do not be afraid.”

The traditional image of angels as winged people, or little flying babies is very popular, but not exactly accurate. Angels are often depicted with wings to indicate their spiritual nature, but that rule holds true for fairies, pegasi, and many other entities as well. In fact, if angels do have a presence in the world, popular legends suggest that they look like, or disguise themselves, very much like humans. The true forms of angels are probably difficult to perceive from our limited senses, and are usually described as intricate chimerae, with features of lions, eagles, oxen, snake, humans, wheels, and more. For instance, the word “Seraphim” derives from the same root as “Serpent,” and these “burning ones” might possibly be the celestial dragons of the Far East through another cultural lens. The origins of Cherubim actually describe creatures like the Shedu or Lamassu or sphinxes of other legends, with the bodies of beasts like lions and bulls. Angels are often described as having many eyes, being sources of light, and having an unusual number of heads, wings, and mouths. It is uncertain if they work through humans (possessing them, perhaps) or create human bodies and identities for themselves from thin air.

 

What is known is that the main body of angels has been split at least twice. The angels that followed the Adversary (the devil… it is somewhat confusing as to what he was called when he served God, since sources disagree) have been thrown into the mix of creatures collectively known as demons, and instigated a major conflict in heaven itself. They are now banished to Hell, and are generally not considered “angels” any longer. The rebellious Grigori, on the other hand, are a bit more ambiguous, since they didn’t actually fight with the other servants of Heaven.

 

Angels seem to be constantly linked to the Chorus, which some Nephilim can perceive and join as well, and in this sense, they are working to uphold reality in some fashion that is appropriate to their roles as God’s servants. That said, angels seem to be responsible for a number of religions, but they don’t seem to have any actual preferences (Gabriel is supposed to have heralded the founding of Christianity and Islam, for instance). Also, Angels serve as a buffer between the world and God… such an effective one that even most of the supernatural creatures I have encountered since the night at the Higgins Manor have no idea if God, Heaven, and Hell exist or not.

 

Angels seem to have a number of roles. Attempts to classify angels and assign them a hierarchy have been conflicting and confusing at best. The Seraphim are the highest rank of angels… or the fourth highest. The archangels are only the second lowest rank, but they somehow command all the other angels. None of the Powers have ever fallen from grace, but the devil might have been chief of the powers. It might be easier to describe angels by their actions in general rather than assigning one type to particular roles. Angels are Messengers. They are Guardians. They are Warriors. They are Healers. They are Guides. They are Psychopomps. They are even devil’s advocates and tempters, testing people at times (and there are some suggestions that the devil’s fall is actually orchestrated simply for the purpose of testing humans, and that the supposed War in Heaven is an act). Beyond anything else, angels are inscrutable.

 

They are also powerful. Nothing says “beware” like an entity that is really on a mission from God. Their unusual features and vast abilities are likely why many of them are depicted as telling humans to not be afraid. But if they are fearful and maddening to view in their true forms, it puts legends of certain ancient gods and H.P. Lovecraft’s insane horrors in a very different light.

 

That said, angels are not infallible and they are not perfect. Too many of them have fallen or rebelled for that to be the case, and they have since been strictly limited in what they are and are not allowed to do, particularly in the world of the living.  They are vulnerable to pride, lust, and envy, and possibly other sins, and their role in upholding reality means they can’t create too many ripples. Angels much prefer to work through other agents unless demons are involved.

 

 

*Nephilim: “Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” – Genesis 6:1-4

 

Nephilim are the descendants of Angels (mainly the Grigori, or Watchers, an entire choir of angels who were supposed to guide, teach and protect humanity) and Humans. Apparently, the Grigori found human women attractive, and abandoned their divine mission to have lovers among the human population. Each of the Grigori supposedly shared divine secrets with humanity, perhaps secrets which mankind was not meant to know. Their offspring, the Nephilim, were usually described as giants (Goliath, for instance, is supposed to be a nephilim), and many of them lived in Canaan. There is some suggestion that the demigods (Heracles, Helen of Troy, Gilgamesh, etc) of other cultures were also nephilim, but records are scarce. Supposedly, the vast majority of Nephilim died out in the biblical flood, which was sent to wipe them from the earth after their culture had become corrupt and spread its influence to the surrounding human tribes. The Grigori themselves were “bound in the valleys of the earth, under darkness, until Judgment Day.” Without the Grigori to support them, and with their population almost wiped out, the Nephilim never really recovered as a civilization, though there is some suggestion that both royal bloodlines (especially those that espoused “Divine Right” to rule) and some of the more outrageous mutations in the human population are a result of lingering nephilim lineage. I find the theory that all gifted and talented people have Nephilim blood to be rather dismissive and belittling of the true gifts of humanity as a species, as well as grossly overestimating the number of nephilim that remain. According to the journal, only a few families remain that have even the potential to manifest nephilim genes, and of those that do, few every realize that potential. Many people in nephilim families go their entire lives without a clue that they are in any way different.

 

Abilities-wise, Nephilim are gifted. They possess the human capacity for free will, and have no real weaknesses (though some have individual fatal flaws) aside from a tendency towards corruption and a feeling of discomfort with their status between humanity and angels (leading many to pursue apotheosis).  Nephilim are stronger and have greater endurance than humans, and their lifespans can stretch for hundreds of years. Nephilim have a surprising presence that they are often not fully aware of, which might manifest as good looks, hideousness, charisma, leadership, or fading into the background. Nephilim also tend to have some sort of talent that is extremely powerful. All nephilim are immune to both human magics (many of which were originally taught by the Grigori) and other supernatural senses. Some scholars claim that this invisibility to scrying derives from nephilim being unnatural creatures who were never part of the Divine Plan. I wonder if perhaps, as links between both the physical and spiritual world, we somehow blend in. Nephilim also inherit some ability related to their ultimate angelic ancestor. For instance, my ancestor, Armaros taught men “the resolving of enchantments,” so I was able to alter and break some of Quincy Gosser’s spells. Another nephilim, descended from Chazaqiel or Azazel, might have some talent for manipulating the weather or weapons and armor and cosmetics and jewelry, respectively. Nephilim can sometimes manifest the natural powers of their angelic ancestors, but usually only if they encounter angels who unlock those powers. These powers include second sight/ESP, wings, a boost to strength and endurance, and heavenly fire and light. Nephilim also have the potential to hear and join the Chorus, a musical representation of reality itself, maintained by the angels. Those that can sing in this fashion are capable of altering the rules of the world around them, however, singing for unimportant reasons can draw negative attention from angels, and sometimes the rest of the Chorus opposes an individual song, rendering changes to reality impossible. Overuse of the Chorus is also possible, especially for beginners, and can make it difficult for a nephilim to sing without extensive periods of rest. Generally, alterations of the Chorus are subtle and temporary, and tend to involve changing the rules of a situation instead of raw creation or destruction (though such effects are possible). For instance, an angel using the Chorus to rescue a human from a burning building could rule that the inhabited parts of the building are fireproof and cool to the touch and smoke free for the duration of the human’s escape, only to collapse behind him once safely outside. A nephilim using the Chorus to create a vast fortune for herself would probably find the attempt exhausting and pointless (all the money might be monopoly money, or obvious counterfeits, or it might be stolen almost immediately).

 

 

*Marilyn Monroe: ?

 

I have my suspicions about “Marilyn,” but whatever she is (aside from related to me, somehow), there are currently too few clues to be certain. Sure, there are hundreds of supernatural women, witches, demons, goddesses, and spirits that assume female form out there. About the only thing I know about her is that she knows Azrael, has access to dragon’s blood, somehow knew what I’d been reading (or manipulated luck to cause me to read that reanimation spell), and can teleport both herself and other things. She seems to have some limitations involving how much she can influence people, so maybe she’s a fallen angel or demon of some sort? I admit I am somewhat loathe to go asking around, both because she is powerful enough to spook Gosser and I’d rather not antagonize her, and because I already found out I’ve got one of the Grigori in my background… I’m not sure I want to know just what else is hidden in my family tree.



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This was a great story.  I wasn't sure I'd like it at first since I'm not normally a halloween fan, but then I had to keep reading until I finished every part.  Great work!

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Thanks guys! I really appreciate your thoughts and compliments, and I am hoping to use them to improve my writing. Convolution, that's really sweet of you to say... I am glad to be here!

 

Growingbigger, I love your profile, and I am so flattered that you enjoyed this story so much despite your initial misgivings. I admit I don't find Halloween particularly sexy, but its energy and atmosphere and excitement, along with that combination of Magic and its possibilities along with the creeping, eerie aspect of fear makes a compelling recipe for a story. Hope to talk with you more.

 

Vga 518, no worries... I make sure that I write everything down in Word, save it, and THEN post it, so Baring Bones and the first chapter and a half of its sequel, Pumping Blood, are safe. I haven't reposted the latter yet because I want to get a little bit further along (maybe complete the current chapter) before posting. I hope you all like vampires, however.

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  • 2 months later...

Wow. This was by far the best multi-part epic i've read on the forums. So much attention to detail, a rich storyline, just greatness all around. Excellence. 

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