Chapter Seven
True Love Lost Forever
When the night of the equinox arrived, Logan was prepared. He had the geomancy of the spell memorized and was confident he could get everything right. One wrong thing could be disastrous though, preventing the gate from opening and he would never see Aideen again. It was all rather simple, the hard part would be obtaining the blood needed. Logan wasn't sure how he was going to do that.
Leaving his refuge and entering the night, Logan felt anxious when he stepped into the cold. He could see silver edges around the thick, clouds from the radiance of the full moon. The slush in the street was turning to ice in the late hour, that made walking arduous. Logan kept his hood pulled tight over his head and his backpack was full of everything he needed, including The Deleth Ruwach Grimoire. Aideen wasn't with him, even though he wished she was.
Standing behind a large tree, hidden in the darkness, Logan waited to see if there was any sign of life in the small house. The moon was still hidden by clouds but he could tell the eclipse had already begun. After a long time of debating with himself, Logan concluded that all was quiet. Making his way into the familiar backyard, Logan retrieved a key that he knew would gain him entry into the house. It was exactly were he remembered it to be. Quietly, he unlocked the door and entered without a sound.
Hesitating at the doorway, Logan remembered, his heart was beating so fast it felt like he might pass-out. The only sound Logan heard was a deep rumbling coming through the dark from the back room. Then he saw Aideen, enticing him down the hall. Logan followed as she disappeared through the first door. Turning the nob, he opened the door slowly and the old hinges let out a squeak. Freezing for a moment, he listened, but discerning no new sound slid through and shut the door.
Trying to calm his anxious feelings, Logan stood in the darkness feeling utterly alone. He had to do this, it was the only way, he remembered telling himself. Taking both crystals that hung around his neck by the left hand, Logan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then removed an old scarf from a pocket on his pack and gripped it with both hands. Logan could scarcely see his mother-in law, laying on her side. Nara was cuddled up under a few blanket in deep sleep. But as Logan took two steps towards the bed, she stirred and rolled onto her back. Her eyes shot open and began to blink, trying to recognize the image before her. Panic set in as Nara jumped up in fear.
“Logan?” Nara asked, as it dawned on her who it was. “What are doing?”
Logan leaped on her, like a man possessed and forced the cloth into her mouth. Nara protected herself, desperately, with all her strength she kicked and scratched at Logan. The soft, bed hardly made a sound. Logan, eventually had the scarf tied tight in her mouth, but scrambled to get more rope out of his pack. Logan almost lost the upper hand as she struggled violently against him. Through her aggression, Logan managed to tie Nara's hands to the headboard and then bound her feet tight together. Tired and restrained, Nara stopped when Logan backed off. He was stinging and bleeding from a few wounds.
“Logan,” she asked through muffled cries. “What are you doing?”
Logan stood above her in the dark and through heavy breath said. “I'm going to bring Aideen back.”
Logan could sense Nara's horror as he grabbed a long hard, wooden club from his backpack and left the room. Muffled snoring through the walls was still the only sound that could be heard. Quietly, Logan entered the next room. He did not want to wake his father- in law. Teaghue was the strongest man Logan knew, and had always felt intimidated when around him. He was also the kindest man Logan knew as well, willing to give to whoever asked. If Teaghue was able to fight, Logan knew he would lose. As Logan approached the left side of the bed, Teaghue suddenly coughed and opened his eyes wide. Recognizing his son- in law instantly, he bolted up right.
“Logan!” was all Teaghue managed to say.
Logan didn't hesitant, and swung the club backhanded, striking hard against his left temple, sending him sprawling across the bed. Teaghue managed to stumble to his feet, but Logan was right there and hit him once more. Teaghue crumpled against the wall, unconscious. Logan hoped he hadn't killed his father-in law. He couldn't die yet, he needed to stay alive until it was time. He could see a darkness spread down the side of his father- in law's head. Checking Teaghue's pulse to make sure he was still alive, Logan was relieved when he felt a weak throb. It was all over in an instant.
Lifting Teaghue from under the shoulders, Logan dragged him backwards, out of the bedroom, down the hall and into the living room- leaving a dark, trail behind. Proceeding to make space in the middle of the room, he pushed aside a couch, two chairs and few little tables. Then positioned Teaghue with his head to the north and arms out stretched. Teaghue groaned as he was shifted around. Going to a cupboard where he remembered Nara kept her candles, Logan grabbed eight and situated them to the points of the compass. Upon lighting them, a globe of brightness surrounded Teaghue that pushed aside the dark. Logan set the Deleth Ruwach Grimoire at his feet.
Making sure Teaghue was still sleeping before removing his pack, he then rushed back to Nara and flung the door open. She had her right hand free and was undoing the other. The cloth that was tied around her mouth hung loosely around her neck. Terrified, she tried to escape the best she could but with one hand still tied, she couldn't.
“Logan,” she pleaded. “Don't do this. Aideen's gone. Please, Logan, she gone from us. She wouldn't want you to do this.”
Logan looked at her, wishing she could understand. “I'm going to bring her back. You'll see, we can all be together again.”
Logan reached for her quickly. Nara lashed out and landed a hard hit on the side of Logan's head, which dazed him for a moment. But Logan proved stronger. Promptly, he had her subdued and bound her hands tight behind her back and put the scarf back into her mouth. Forcing her to the living room, he set her gently in a chair.
Upon hearing the muffled cries of his wife, Teaghue began to reawaken and attempted to rise. Logan quickly retrieved his club and smacked him across the head once again. Collapsing onto the floor from the force of the blow, Teaghue didn't move. Thick, drops of blood sprayed across the room, covering the walls and Logan's face. He remembered regretting that action, he really didn't want to hurt his father- in law but it was the only way. Teaghue's blood began to ooze across the floor from the mangled, laceration on the side of his head. Logan had to hurry or else Teaghue would die for nothing. He knew they would all be together, if he could just get this right. Repositioning his father-in law, Logan had to work fast or all would be lost.
Responsively, he began to follow the instructions described in the Deleth Ruwach Grimoire. Taking his index and middle finger, Logan scooped up his father-in laws fresh blood and began to create two, thick, concentric circles around Teaghue, inside the candles. After dousing his fingers again, Logan designed four geometric symbols- a triangle within a circle, pointing inward. He situated two at both sides of Teaghue's head and two on either side of his legs. Logan kept an eye on Nara sitting in the chair, watching in stark horror as Logan drew with her husband's blood. Teaghue groaned, slightly through his swollen and bruised face. He whispered Logan's name.
Going to his pack, Logan retrieved a dagger, Nara gasped in recognition as it was the same knife that was used in the sealing of the marriage covenant, the only thing he had from his father. Candle light, glistened off the sharp implement and the jewel, adorned hilt sparkled. Logan then straddled Teaghue and held the blade above him. Nara let out a muffled cry and lunged at him awkwardly, head first. Logan swiftly reached out and grabbed her by her night clothes with his right hand and stopped her before she could knock over any candles. Bringing the other hand around with the dagger, smacked her hard against the right side of her head. Logan pushed her back and she landed hard in the chair dazed. Her eye began to swell shut. Logan took a deep breath, he didn't want to hurt Nara, he didn't want to hurt anyone but it was the only way.
Logan looked at her
and said reassuringly, “I'm sorry it has to be this way, Nara. We'll all be together again. You'll see.”
Bringing the weapon back to Teaghue's throat, Logan wasn't sure how much pressure to use, so he pressed down hard. The implement dug deep into the helpless man's flesh. Slicing easily through muscle, artery and cartilage. Logan turned his head, not wanting to see his father-in laws last breath gurgle through the open wound. Blood cascaded like a fountain, spreading down both of Teaghue's arms along the floor. Logan remembered feeling repulsed at that moment, stunned by what he had done. But it was the only way, he kept telling himself, he would be with Aideen.
Nara wailed in anguish and fell out of the chair onto her knees. Logan quickly stepped around, being careful not step in any blood. Large drops of the thick, crimson fluid fell to the floor from the dagger and his hand. Logan came around Nara from behind and attempted to hold her. She struggled as much as she could but her strength and will were gone. Logan began to cry as he shifted her to the north, west point of the compass, between two candles,
“I'm sorry,” he said.
With a few more gasps of life, Teaghue's blood ceased its hemorrhaging. His heart stopped beating but continued to flow down both arms until it joined with the blood already painted on the floor. Abruptly, the candles increased their flame, flooding the room with bright light. Teaghue's life essence was suddenly caught in a current as it merged with the concentric circles. Faster it travel in a clockwise direction, filling in the space between the rings. As the stream completed the circumference, the candles quickly died leaving the room in perpetual darkness. Little bolts of electricity began to pulsate out of the black, flashing from the bloody course. Increasing and gathering, the white light forced its way up, exploding like a physical force. Logan had to turn his head away from the brightness. When his eyes adjusted, Nara's face shined with the pure light and Teaghue appeared to be suspended on a bed of white fire. The light around the perimeter still raced in a clock-wise direction.
“You see, Nara,” Logan explained. “The passage between the Light of the Living and the Light of the Spirits is now open. Teaghue is about to transcend. But I can't let that happen. I have to reverse the current and bring Aideen to us.”
Logan pulled the dagger across the exposed skin of his mother- in law's throat. Blood coursed over the knife and down his hand. Holding Nara, Logan controlled the flood as it coalesced with the fast, flowing stream of light and disappeared within the current. The clockwise rotation of the vortex began to slow and then reverse, accelerating in the opposite direction. When the corona was moving fully counter clockwise, the clear, pure luminosity reached upwards, its brilliant light filling the room.
“I'm sorry,” he said. “But it's the only way.”
Suddenly, all luminosity disappeared from the room. Logan opened his eyes wide, but could only see sparks. After a second the brilliance returned, a sharp pain hit the back of Logan's eyes. Exploding from the circle, Teague became engulfed in blue flame. Streams of white light forced its way out of the geometric diagrams and swirled around a point above the man. The singularity pulsated as it grew, becoming like a hurricane of irradiation that reached to the ceiling.
Slowly, the conflagration took shape, twisting and morphing, it looked like it was fighting against the maelstrom. The figure began to coalesce through the distortion of light and appeared to be convulsing in pain. On the far range of his hearing, Logan began to perceive a noise which made his ears twitch. Louder it grew, until it dominated his hearing and the rising magnitude became a deafening, high-pitched scream. Never taking his attention off the light, the figure became a woman dressed in a pure, white gown. Her luminosity of purity glowed from within, but her back was arched and her arms stretched out. The woman's face was twisted in pain and torment, her mouth was wide open.
Nara convulsed in Logan's arms and he looked down to see the last breath escape her lungs as it gurgled through the gaping wound in her throat. Going slack in his arms, Logan released his tight grip on her. He instinctively needed to block his hearing from the cry, it resonated inside his head until the agony became intense. So he dropped the dagger and covered his ears from the increasing wail. Forgetting his hands were covered in blood, he accidentally smeared his head with the viscous fluid.
“Oh, no.” She cried. Her voice sounded like it reverberated through water, leave a slight echo on the other side. “Logan, what have you done?”
Logan could hear the panic and distress.
“Aideen, I've missed you so much,” he pleaded. “It was the only way to bring you back. Now we can truly be together forever.”
The spectre looked down at Logan and saw her mother. “Oh no, Logan what have you done?”
All of a sudden, her glowing face began to turn grey and her eyes took on a hollow, sunken look. Her radiance started to dim, as if it was being drawn from her. Crimson light, abruptly exploded through the room as it seemed inundated with blood. The colour of the blood moon, it burst forth from the circle and Teague became engulfed in red fire. Streams of scarlet brilliance, forced its way out of the geometric diagrams and swirled around Aideen, engulfing her.
“Oh no, Logan, what have you done.” She screamed. “I was in paradise. I was with your mother and father, and our daughter. Oh no, Logan, what have you done? I shall never see her again.”
Her moan made Logan cringe.
“I was waiting for you and we would have been together forever. But you have torn me away, I will never enter paradise again. Oh no, Logan, what have you done? You have condemned me to the darkness.”
Aideen screamed, the dissonance in voice was excruciating torment, as her head flew back and her arms stretched out wide. Logan had never hear such a vociferation before, he could feel her suffering. It reverberated through his body in waves that cut to his heart. What had he done? It was all going wrong. How could this be happening? He was about to lose Aideen forever, again. His dream was turning into a nightmare. Logan rose to his feet in confusion, he remembered being in such confusion he couldn't comprehending what was happening.
“Aideen,” he cried. “Don't leave.”
As if answering his summons, the Deleth Ruwach Grimoire opened and the pages began to flutter, stealing Logan's attention. Hastily stopping on the one blank page, red letters began to write themselves. Appearing under a thin ray of light, they were burnt into the old vellum. Aideen froze, as if she was suspended in time, and her scream was precipitously disconnected. Logan watched as clear sparks began to jump from Teaghue's chest. Standing out in stark contrast against the red hue all around, they accumulated into an energetic orb of white light above him. Then, as if coerced,the sphere raced to the source of the crimson illumination and dispersed through the red vortex streaming out of the geometric symbols. The same thing began to happen to Nara as well but before the wisps of light could assemble, they sped haphazardly towards the convolution.
Logan felt helpless as he watched their spirits being draw into the darkness. In horror, he observed Aideen's light rupture and hastened towards the geometric symbols he had created. Jumping up, he tried to seize her, but touched only emptiness, passing through the light as if it was nothing, as if it wasn't even there. Stumbling over Teague, he went crashing into the wall and accidentally, kicked the Deleth Ruwach Grimoire across the floor. All light swiftly followed when Aideen completely vanished through the gate and only shadows remained. Logan sat in the dark and silence perplexed, and hopelessness took him.
After a moments the candles reignited, illuminating the room in its cool light. The room seemed dimmer now, as if the world had become bleaker, but it revealed a scene of sacrificial murder. Logan felt sick and horrified, blood was splattered in various patterns over the walls and furnishing. He was covered in blood. Teaghue and Nara, dead in a pool of their own blood.
Aideen was here, he knew it, although there was no indication that she had ever been. She did exist. She was in paradise with their daughter- he had a daughter. But he had
ripped Aideen from the perfect light and sent her into the darkness. Her scream still echoed in his mind. It was his fault, he quickly realized but he couldn't understand. Logan remembered gazing at the carnage around him in a stuporous state for a long time. Until the grimoire caught his attention and Logan was drawn to it, as if it was calling to him. The new text, written in red, still glowed but was dying into black. It was simple to understand, unlike the rest of the book, the words were in a language he could easily read.
'Deleth Ruwach was ruler over a small kingdom. Demanding a beautiful, young woman marry him, she promptly refused. Deleth Ruwach had her executed. Regretting his hasty decision, he commanded his sorcerer to bring her spirit back. The sorcerer, realizing what he had to do, devised a way to prevent it. Deceiving the king into thinking he was doing his bidding, the wizard killed Deleth Ruwach and crafted the inner pages of the book with his skin. Then summoning a demon, he made a covenant with it- consigning his soul for eternity. Crafting the cover with the thick hide of the demon, he trapped Deleth Ruwach forever in the darkness. But the sorcerer couldn't close the gate. Knowing Deleth Ruwach still craved for the spirit of the young woman, the sorcerer shed his own blood to seal the book, preventing anyone from learning the knowledge contained within. With this last act the demon collected his spirit. The spirit of Deleth Ruwach still hungered and with the help of the demon twisted the words of the book, hiding its true intent until the last, waiting for someone to open the gate again.'
Logan started to panic when he realized what he had done, he couldn't believe it. Where was she now? It was his fault she was in the darkness. Observing the mutilated bodies in front of him, two people that he loved, he had to run. Racing out of the house, Logan didn't pay any attention to his surroundings, everything was a blood, soaked blur. Not a thought entered his head as he ran. Logan kept on running until he stopped to catch his breath and found himself on the bridge that crossed high above the river that ran through the middle of the city. The water below him was black, but in the red light of the moon he could see tall waves in the rushing current. He must go to her, Logan remembered thinking, it was the only way for them to be together. He needed to follow her into the darkness. Looking down at the black, turbulent waters of the river, he knew this was it. Climbing the guard barrier of the bridge, Logan jumped. It felt like an eternity until he hit the fast moving, freezing water. It took his breath away as he plunged deep. Gaining the surface, his instinct to live began to fight. But the waters washed over him and dragged him down. He struggled for a moment until the dark current swept him away.
As his last breath filled his lungs with water, Logan remembered thinking, “I'm coming, Aideen.”
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