~ CHRISTOPHER ~
My watch alarm went off, rousing me from my sleep. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, for a moment confused as to where I was, not remembering how I’d gotten here. I was sitting in the middle of a shack, comprised of crudely put together wooden walls and an earthen floor, with hay scattered across it. I pushed to my feet and brushed the golden strands off my damp clothes, picking out a few stray pieces from my hair. I pulled my hood over my head and stepped outside. It was still dark, though in the distance, towards Buckland’s Reserve, a red glow lit up the horizon, looking like...
Fire!
An image of Catherine and my grandfather fighting flashed across my mind. But it was too early, Catherine had told me—
Realising they must have changed the time, I took off in the direction of Buckland’s Reserve, running as fast as I could, hurdling over fences. The smell of smoke grew stronger as I drew closer to the reserve, the red glow now a raging fire, no shielding spell able to hide the flames tearing into Mother Nature. I leapt over another fence, running like the Devil was at my back, or in front of me, my grandfather just as evil.
I darted between the trees to get to the reserve, cutting across the car park. I slowed down as I neared the line of pine trees, spotting my father standing on the other side of them. He had his back to me and was looking across the field at—
I stopped in my tracks at the sight before me. Catherine was standing at the far side of the field, dressed in torn black jeans and a hoodie. But it was the sphere of water that surrounded her that left me dumbstruck. The swirling mass was drawing in particles from her surroundings, stealing it from the plants and sky. While behind her, was a line of flaming trees, the contrast between water and fire striking.
My shocked gaze moved to the source of the fire. My grandfather. He was heading for Catherine, his body encased in flames. But not one hair on his head was burnt, the fire coming from within. He was conjuring up fireballs, which were moving around him like a solar system, creating his own shield-like barrier. He raised his hands, looking like he was going to throw one of the fireballs at Catherine.
I yelled out, “No!” capturing his attention as well as my father’s. But I didn’t care about my father. My sole focus was on my grandfather, or more accurately, stopping him from killing Catherine.
A massive water sphere crashed into him, taking him by surprise, Catherine using my distraction to her advantage. He staggered back, the majority of his shield getting doused. But it wasn’t strong enough to knock him down—only anger him. With a roar, he instantly lit up again, sending a mass of fire at her, the streaks of flames like daggers, ready to pierce her water shield.
Before it could hit, Catherine extended her arms out, propelling her own attack, both water and fire exploding on impact, not reaching either of them. But my grandfather was already generating more fireballs, propelling them at Catherine before she could react. One of his fireballs hit her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. The fire tore at her clothing, but she quickly smothered it with water. She went to get up, but was knocked back down by another fireball.
I rushed forward to help her, but my father stepped in my way, pushing me hard up against a tree. In the background, Catherine screamed in agony, sending me into a panic. Knowing I had little or no time to save her, I let rip, throwing one punch after the other at my father, knocking him down. Not wasting a second more on the bastard, I jumped over him and raced towards my grandfather, willing fireballs into my own hands, the energy inside of me rapidly building. I threw one at him, yelling, “Leave her alone!” It fell short, but still grabbed his attention. He spun around to face me, but not before my father ploughed into me from behind, tackling me to the ground.
I went to conjure up more flames, ready to burn my father off me, but he punched me in the head, rattling my brain, stopping me from concentrating on the fire. He grabbed my rosary and yanked it off me. Desperate to get it back, I lashed out at him, the rosary my only means of helping Catherine, but my punches only enraged him more. He struck me again and again, raining blow after blow down on me. I defended my head and kicked out at him, knocking him off me. I quickly scrambled to my feet, falling over as he grabbed one of my ankles. He climbed on top of me, pinning me down with his weight.
“Get off me!” I hollered.
“Stop being a fool, Chris! You can’t stop this. Your girlfriend’s practically dead anyway.”
“No!”
With all my might, I shoved him off me and got to my feet, just in time to see my grandfather lift a hand over Catherine, who was flat on her back. He was cradling a fireball in his palm, its flames a fiery mix of orange and red with wisps of black smoke. But he didn’t drop it on her, instead he watched as her body convulsed on the ground. Even from a distance I could see she was badly burned, so much so that her clothing had melted into her flesh, blackening her skin.
My grandfather’s gaze shifted to me. “She’s dying! You can’t stop it, it’s done.”
Before I could yell out a litany of curses at him, my father bashed into me yet again, taking me down a third time, the bastard never giving up. Overcome with grief, I kicked out at him, wanting to hurt him as much as my grandfather had hurt Catherine, to make him pay for everything both him and my grandfather had done, to make him suffer like they were making me and Catherine suffer. He fought back, trying to hurt me as much as I was hurting him, but the physical pain was nothing, the mental anguish everything.
My body lit up, flames encasing me, so much rage and grief fuelling it, my emotions burning out of control. My father scrambled away from me, his face shocked. A second later I realised why.
I wasn’t wearing my rosary.
The fire had ignited without them, the flames intrinsic, something rare. But I didn’t care how it had happened. All I cared about was destroying him, my father having pushed me too far. I lifted my flaming hands, ready to send him to Hell.
“No, Chris!” my grandfather yelled, running towards me. He threw out a barrage of smoke, dispersing the flames coming from my body. I instantly reignited and turned on him, making him stop in his tracks.
“This isn’t you, Chris,” he said, holding his hands out, worry clouding his brow. “You have to stop before it’s too late.”
Knowing it was already too late, I spread my arms out wide, ready to throw everything I had at him, my body a raging inferno, my soul having blackened like his. But a barrage of smoke hit me from behind, my father attempting to smother the flames. My grandfather joined him, the two of them working together, choking me with the thick smoke. I fell to my knees, gasping for air, the smoke stinging my eyes and clawing at my throat.
A soft patter of rain fell over me, dispersing the smoke, water for once giving me relief. Large storm clouds were forming above our heads, smothering the predawn sky. More rain fell, but it didn’t touch us, the water being directed elsewhere, towards—
Realisation hit me, my grandfather too. He spun around to face Catherine. Where she’d lain defenceless before, convulsing on the ground, she was now on her feet, with her arms raised to the sky. She was spinning a massive waterspout with her hands, the funnel-shaped vortex connecting her to the storm clouds above her head.
My grandfather yelled, “Antonio, get Chris out of here! Now!”
A fire shield instantly ignited around him, the heat so intense it shot out in all directions, a spark hitting one of my shoes. My father blew smoke on it, then grabbed my arms and started dragging me away from the heat. I let him, too weak from the smoke attack, my lungs still coughing it up.
I watched helplessly as my grandfather started advancing on Catherine, two massive fireballs igniting in his hands. Catherine lowered her head to look straight at him, her eyes completely blue, no pupils, only a sea of hate. Then out of nowhere, wings of water shot out of her back. Both me and my father gasped, what we were seeing only spoken of in myths and legends, but we didn’t have enough time to think about it, nor did my grandfather. Catherine flung the waterspout at him. He reacted quickly, throwing his fireballs at her, along with his fiery shield, doubling his attack. They pushed the spout back a few feet, then got sucked inside, the vortex swallowing them whole.
An eerie silence fell over the reserve, the waterspout now hovering between Catherine and my grandfather, its interior glow suggesting the fire was still alive. Both Catherine and my grandfather remained where they were, neither of them appearing to know what to do next. All that changed in a second as an explosion ignited within the spout. It hurled out water and smoke in all directions, a massive blast of heat rippling through the air. My grandfather and Catherine turned to run, but were picked up off the ground, flung back several feet. Catherine was slammed against a burning tree, her water wings exploding on impact, her body going limp like a ragdoll.
The blast continued outwards, heading towards me and my father. We both threw ourselves to the ground just as a huge rush of steaming hot air shot across our backs. It stung, but didn’t burn, eventually dissipating. I opened my eyes, blinking away the stinging mist. A few feet away from me, my father lay on the ground. I went to check if he was still breathing, but stopped as a groan escaped his mouth. He didn’t make a move to get up, just lay there, looking dazed. My rosary was hanging out of his jacket pocket, the purgatory bead glowing.
I grabbed the rosary and ran for Catherine, navigating through the warm mist that now covered the reserve. As I drew closer, I spotted her lying next to the burning tree she’d been thrown against. I stuffed my rosary into my back pocket and dragged her away from the tree, then dropped to the ground, pulling her into my arms. I didn’t need to feel her pulse to know she was dead. Her body was lifeless, her soul gone, blood and soot staining her white hair. She was also covered with severe burns, her skin blackened in areas, most of her clothes melded to her flesh.
Forcing my grief down, I removed the Halo rosary from my jeans pocket and slipped it over her head, peeling back the burnt remnants of her sweatshirt so the beads were touching her damaged skin. An intense blue light lit up her body, the Maris rosary changing the halo’s colour. But nothing else happened, the Halo beads not healing her.
I looked up at the sky, begging God to help her, yet my prayers went unheard. For a second, I considered calling out to the Devil, willing to barter my soul to save Catherine’s, but instead I screamed out my grief, knowing I’d lost the one good thing in my life.
Almost like an echo, my father screamed out too, his broken voice travelling across the field, telling me that my grandfather was also dead. I didn’t think I could feel anymore anguish, didn’t think I would grieve for the bastard either, but I did, the utter despair I felt crippling me. Despite what my grandfather had become, the hateful being he’d turned into, I still loved him.
Inconsolable, I closed my eyes and dropped my head to Catherine’s chest, rocking her back and forth, unable to hold back my pain. Another type of pain bit me in the brow, forcing me to lift my head, what had caused it grabbing my full attention. Thin streaks of blue and white light moved in and out of Catherine as though they were sewing up her flesh, her body healing before my eyes.
Holding my breath, I waited for her to open her eyes, almost afraid to blink, scared it was all in my head. I was rewarded several seconds later when her eyes popped open. She looked up at me, attempting to say something, but before she could get a word out, my mouth was on hers, kissing the hell out of her.
I eventually broke the kiss and picked her up, lifting her off the ground. I turned with her in my arms, stopping at the sight of my father bent over my grandfather’s body. As though he’d sensed me watching, he looked across the field at me, his features tormented. His eyes moved to Catherine, hurt and anger thrown her way. He knew what I’d done. Knew I’d chosen to save Catherine over my grandfather, the Halo rosary’s light already weakening. Within seconds, it would become dormant, no power left to revive my grandfather.
“He saved you from the demon!” my father yelled at me. “And you allow him to die?!”
I didn’t reply, knowing I had no defence, what I’d done unforgivable.
But instead of raging at me more, he lowered his head back down to my grandfather’s chest, sobbing over his dead father.
With a broken heart, I walked away, knowing that was it.
I no longer had a family.