Chapter 6

"Darsy!" a loud child scream woke me up.

I was lost in space and time, but I felt some déjà vu even being asleep. It was another day in a row, when someone woke me up. Wouldn't be there any morning, when I would just awake from the alarm clock or when I slept enough?

Having blinked several times, I set my focus. When suddenly my little sister fall on me laughing loud and then my both brothers. They were like large ants swarming on an improvised bed, on which I have been sleeping only for a couple of hours before being woken up by a small army of children. How did they get here? I could not remember planning a family meeting.

"Children missed you a lot, so when you couldn't come to us we decided to visit you!" my mother said cheerfully, answering my unasked question.

"Great idea," I uttered in a hoarse voice. I was ashamed to admit, but I did not think so at the time.

"Get up, get up, get up!" children chanted and jumped on the mattress.

"Okay, little bandits! Let's see what's in the fridge, while Darsy gets ready!" Jackson helped me out. He always knew what I needed. And now I needed a couple of minutes to concentrate.

Children smooched me on the cheek in turn and whirled after Jackson, accompanied by mother. Pristine silence filled the room, and it had to be that way throughout the whole Sunday.

I buried my face in the mattress and groaned. It was only 9 a.m. Given the fact that I came home towards the morning, it was catastrophically early and my body strongly protested against such an intervention.

Stop! Children touched me and noticed nothing unusual. Yesterday in the shower, I thought I would lose any contact with people forever, turn into Cerberus with lava flowing all over when even ice-cold water boiled in contact with my skin. But everything was fine today. The Force had absorbed this ability, and I got back to normal. This thought amused me. Something snapped inside, and I started laughing loudly and compulsively. I was still a human, as Eugene said. Indeed, I was still myself regardless of fighting and supernatural nonsense.

Being in a good mood, I went to the kitchen to my noisy and cheerful family. Mary enthusiastically licked her fingers stained with chocolate, Peter and Cooper threw cereal at each other, making clear that Jackson and I will have some chores to do after their departure.

"Hi everyone!" I shouted happily, and the children rushed to hug me, almost knocking me down.

Mother sat in the corner smiling wearily. She did not get much help after I left. I missed my father, who could not come because of his illness, especially lacked his wise advice and soothing look. If people could be compared to countries, my father would definitely be Switzerland – such an old, wise and extremely calm country, which remained sane in conflicts and reconciled the parties, when the dust settled. It was amazing that being confined to a wheelchair he was not angry at the world. On the contrary, he was confident, strong and calm. The world became a bit better and more meaningful by his side. Only father could help me find many little things in silence, enjoy the splendor of peace and confidence.

The entire time I have known him, he never raised his voice to me, my Mom, little ones, even when he was in unbearable pain. He withstood all the ordeals and never took out his indignation on us. It seemed sometimes that nothing could upset him enough to make him lose his temper. I always loved him for his wisdom and kindness. I was sure that my mother was the happiest woman with such a man by her side. After all, he could be relied upon even being in a wheelchair.

"What are you going to do on your last free day before the start of the school year?" mother asked.

"How about going to the mall? Let's play on every slot-machines there, and then eat pizza till we're full," I said to the little ones.

"YES!!!!" children yelled and raced to get dressed in the hallway.

"And you should have some rest. We'll look after them," I told my mother. She stood up and hugged me.

"Thank you, dear!"

A few hours of uninterrupted sleep would do her good.

"I declare in good faith that this is the best Sunday in my life!" I barely uttered after the sixth slice of pizza. I was hungry like a beast. I had never eaten as much as today.

Children were so exhausted after the slot-machines that fell asleep, leaning on the dirty tables in the pizzeria. They looked like little angels. But for the rest of the time, these three were pure devils – always noisy and bringing a cataclysm of global scale.

"You're more relaxed today. Aren't you nervous anymore?"

"No, I'm 100% ready for the future. I had doubts yesterday, but not today. It's going to be an interesting year," even I myself could not determine exactly what I meant at this point – studying at Harvard or hunting demons.

I felt almost almighty today. I felt unprecedented energy in my body, as if I could literally move mountains. After all, I killed one of the most powerful and ancient demigods tonight. Now I possessed his abilities, and I could control them, but not otherwise. These abilities could help me finish my mission, and let me get back to my normal life. The only discomfort that still haunted me was the vision of souls.

I felt death again on the way downtown. This time it was painless and expected. Two elderly people died. They passed away peacefully in their sleep, as they’d always dreamed about. I saw them from the window of the car holding hands and rejoicing that they were together even after death. They did not care about the place, but about being together.

I smiled unwittingly. I wish I could love someone so much someday.

"Come to me!" Jackson embraced me and kissed the tip of my nose, bringing me back to reality. It was such a touching moment that I wanted to capture it in memory forever.

A light earthquake confused us both. Children woke up and rubbed their eyes sleepily.

"What's happening?"

Cups on the table were rattling, spoons were sliding to the edge.

"Earthquake?"

People around began to panic, which grew with every new push.

"Hurry up outside," Jackson grabbed the boys and ran to the exit, and I followed him, pulling Mary by the arm.

Children cried. Mary's hand shook, but she was keeping up with the pace.

Plaster was falling from the ceiling, metal supports were rattling indicating that they would soon bend or break from the pressure, and everyone inside would be buried under the debris. The ground was shaking so hard that I barely stood. I picked up Mary in my arms and rushed to catch up with Jackson, who I've lost out of my sight. Suddenly, part of the floor collapsed, and I lost the prop, but my ability did not let me fall. After flying a couple of inches into the pit, I used the Force and climbed backward like by the stairs. Mary was so scared that she buried her face in my shoulder, and did not see anything. She trembled with her whole body and screamed with every loud sound, clinging to me harder and harder.

Huge cracks on my way did not stop me, but sparks from torn wires were a much bigger problem. I saw the stairs ahead, but there was an abyss of thirty feet high and sixty feet long on the way. A leap would not help to cover this distance. Having looked around, I made sure no one was watching. I kicked off the floor and began to glide through the air, as if on the wet floor and reached the goal in a matter of seconds. It took us a couple of minutes to get outside.

Jackson was breaking through the rescuers line not far from the entrance. Having lost me out of his sight, he wanted to return to the collapsing building, but noticing me; he let out a sigh of relief and began to cry from happiness. We rushed to hug but suddenly everything froze. My chest was pierced by the infernal pain, again and again, bringing me to a frenzy. The souls of those who died under the mall wreckage appeared in front of me. They were confused, scared, and I could not say a word, because of the pain preceding their death.

All these people would not be able to get answers, but it was the least of their troubles. In the blink of an eye, black souls that had escaped from the river began to appear from cracks in the ground. There were so many of them that the sky turned black. Soaring up, they went down, snatched the souls of newly dead, and flew again laughing loudly.

"No!" I screamed, but they could not care less about me.

I could only throw fireballs, which appeared without much effort on my part. The fireballs could not harm the souls because they were incorporeal, and therefore my weapon flew through them.

I tried to grab souls by their hands to prevent snatching, but it did not work and I caught only air.

Once there were no souls left, black souls rushed onto me with wild cries. I set the protection of dark smoke but it did not stop them at all. My legs seemed to be rooted to the spot. I froze in anticipation of the collision.

At the last second, Eugene appeared from the portal, waving his sword from side to side.

"What should I do?" I shouted.

"Nothing! There's nothing you can do!"

Eugene repulsed the attacks of souls. They seemed to be afraid of the light of his sword. I was worried about those, who could attract the attention of these creatures. People stood still and were easy targets. Eugene alone could not save everyone from so many black souls. They transformed into their new shapes, which was a terrible but fascinating scene.

After a few moments, they stopped attacking and began to return to the crevice from which they emerged.

"Why did they leave?" I wondered.

"They took what they came for. In a few minutes, they'd take the new shape and become vulnerable, so they had to leave."

"Why do they need the souls of the dead?"

"They'll infect them. Only black souls can transform into demons, Nefarious and Murky Shadows. They're raising an army. The more souls they get, the bigger the army will have."

"I don't understand a single thing. I have so many questions..." my head was buzzing. The mall was not just shaking from the earthquake, but it was a planned attack with a specific purpose. These incorporeal creatures must be led by someone, or be highly intelligent to choose the biggest and most crowded mall in Boston.

"Listen, now is not the time. Let's talk tonight. Everything will be back to normal in a moment, and I need to get out of here. You can ask all your questions tonight, and now you should take care of all these people. We can't let anyone else die."

He disappeared into the portal and everything came to life. In the terrible hum and chaos, I heard a strange sound, I failed to determine. Jackson was talking nervously, and to stop him, I covered his mouth with my hand, and listened out again.

The sound was coming somewhere from under the debris. Someone was crying for help. Not being aware of my action, I rushed to the source of the sound.

"Darsy, where are you going?" Jackson shouted.

"Stay with children! I'll be back soon."

"No, Darsy!" but I already was not listening.

Driven by a strange feeling, I ducked under the fallen beam. There was little room inside, but I managed to crawl. Water was flowing from somewhere and rubble was crunching under my feet. Perhaps, one of the mall fountains was still functioning, creating a small waterfall. And this would be another problem – bare wires and water was not the best combination.

The sound was amplifying, and now I clearly understood that was the child cry. The dust was eating my eyes out, but I crawled to the sound until a small hand grabbed me.

"Help me!" the eight- or nine-year-old girl cried.

"I'm here for this. Please, don't move so nothing falls on you. What's your name?"

"Amanda," the girl groaned. She was scared and covered in blood, but I had no idea if it was hers.

"My name is Darsy! Tell me, Amanda, are you hurt?"

"No," it could be lie. People often did not feel pain in the state of shock.

"Amanda, are you stuck?"

"My leg is stuck!"

"Okay. Let me see. Just don't move. Deal?"

The girl nodded vigorously. Trying to get to the child's clamped leg, I asked some question to distract her.

"Who were you with?"

"With my Mom. We wanted to buy me new shoes."

I felt sorry for the girl because her mother was probably under the debris of the second floor. Although I did not rule out the possibility that the woman was simply thrown aside and managed to get out. Thus, now the woman was outside frightened to death and suffering of the grief for the missing daughter, or soon the child would learn that she became an orphan.

The leg was pressed by one of the sculptures placed around the perimeter of spacious halls. I tried to move it with my hands but failed, and the slightest movement made the girl scream in pain.

"Amanda, I can get you out, but you have to cover your eyes with your hands to protect them from dust. And do not open your eyes no matter what you hear. Okay?"

"Okay.

She obediently closed her eyes. I concentrated, lifted the statue and a part of the wall easily with the help of the matter, as if the piles of stones weighed nothing. I grabbed the girl with my other hand and lowered the debris, which fell to the ground and formed a cloud of dust.

"Hold on to me, but don't open your eyes till I say so."

Amanda wrapped her arms around my neck, and I crawled vigorously down the way, removing the falling rubble by the Force. We got outside within minutes, and a crying woman rushed to us. She took the girl in her arms, and they both began to cry.

"Thank you!" she looked at me.

"Take care of her!"

Meanwhile, Jackson was heading to me. He was furious.

"Are you out of your mind? Why the hell did you go there? What were you thinking? Are you Captain Marvel or something? Or are you that stupid?"

I heard Jackson talking like this for the first time in my life, especially to me. He had never been so angry. And as offensive, as it sounded, he was right. After all, it was impossible to explain to him that it was much safer for me than for the rescuer. Several people would die trying to get the girl out, or she would die before I even used my powers. But Jackson did not know that. He saw this as a pointless risk and a miracle that I was alive.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't stop, when I heard her cry!"

I hugged my boyfriend to stop him from saying things he would regret. And when I stepped back I saw my mother, who looked at me with her eyes full of tears. How did she manage to get here? As we approached, she hugged me until my bones crunched and said,

"Don't you ever make us worry like this again!"

Doctors wanted to examine me but I refused and escaped. Soon after our return home, my mother took the children away, saying almost nothing in the end. I was sure she would not bring them here anymore. It was a hell of a day.

My parents were never happy about the idea that I would move to live in a big city with an incredible number of dangers that I would not be able to handle alone. My Mom saw herself the proof of her fears. It was strange that she had not yet tried to persuade me to return to a country town, where not fresh fish from the local supermarket was the only danger. My younger brothers and sister would not soon be able to escape the protection of my parents. And all this was because of the ill-fated trip to the mall.

I wonder was it a coincidence that this happened in the place where I was, or my presence caused it.

While I was thinking it through, I was put to the bed and treated with a cup of melissa tea.

"I'm fine! Really! I'm not shocked or wounded! I was born under a lucky star."

"I would say you've been born in a life suit," Jackson tried to be funny.

When the tension eased, he felt remorse about his words at the mall.

"Hey!" I stroked his short hair. "It's okay! You don't have to apologize. I'd have scolded myself for something like that, too. I don't know what has happened to me. I can't even imagine what it was like for you at that moment. I'm sorry I did that."

"Baby, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you!"

Jackson laid his head on my stomach and hugged me. I was caressing his head, trying to calm him down.

"I'd like to take a nap. Will you wake me up by 10 p.m., so I can read a bed-time story for Mary?"

Jackson nodded, and I leaned back on the pillows, blissfully closing my eyes. This was quite a day before the beginning of the academic year.

I had nightmares for a long while. I saw people dying of injuries on their way to the hospital or during surgery. Or was it real?

At 11 p.m. I was waiting for Eugene at the set place, and he did not show up. By 12:30 p.m. I started to get nervous. What if I was in the wrong place?

I sat down straight on the pavement and wondered aloud,

"Eugene, where are you?" I heard a sigh, and when I closed my eyes, I saw him.

It was not some fantasy but a real image of Eugene. He was fighting with a few demons or something. There was nothing else around, but the red ground and dim light – no moon, no stars. The terrain looked like a catacomb or something. I had not studied Tartarus yet, but he might be there.

Eugene selflessly swung his sword, striking the enemy with his weapon, and the tattoo on his face glowed bright red. His expression was stern and focused, his eyes blazed with bright flames. When there was only one opponent left, he looked up, as if he knew I was watching.

"Wake up!" he just said, and I returned to reality.

It was just in time. Otherwise, I would have been eaten by two disgusting creatures just in a second. It would be more logical for me to feel fear, but the first emotion was disgust. These creatures had hands, legs, body, and head like humans but they were not humans and not even Nefarious ones. The grey color of their skin differed much from ours. Moreover, their entire body was covered with mucus. They had no eyes and nose on the face, but swollen vertical holes instead, and the mouth was like a bulldog mouth with sharp long teeth. Their hands were longer than humans, with terrible black claws.

The attackers had hair neither on the head nor on the body. But the most striking thing was the complete absence of the navel and genitals. They were not concerned about wearing clothes. I got the impression that these creatures crawled out of the sewerage. I could feel their terrible stench everywhere.

"Oh dear, they look scary!" I blurted, and then I threw a fireball at one of them.

It burned away in an instant without making a single sound. But I failed to hit the second one fast. He figured out my plans and disappeared from the fire line so quickly that I could not even notice this. Three fireballs missed the target, one of them set a garbage bin on fire. The second one nearly burned the car peacefully parked in the parking lot. It seemed unreasonable to fight these creatures under a lantern not far from the apartment house, but they gave me no other choice.

Three more fireballs were thrown in vain, and I was getting very angry.

"Hey, that wasn't the deal! You're making me dizzy!" I said to a silent monster.

I decided not to be on the bit and tried to calculate the trajectory along which the enemy was moving. Every time I tried to hit the target, he went a few feet to the left and stopped.

"Hm..."

I threw the next fireball, which served as the bait, from my left hand, and then threw the second one almost immediately hitting the monster when it stopped.

Having shaken my hands off, I smiled and said,

"That's it!"

I heard clapping behind me. Eugene stood, leaning on the lantern.

"I'm impressed. You learn fast. Yesterday you almost exploded from these abilities, and today you deftly kill vampires. By the way, it was them. That's how they look, not as you show them in the movies. It's not good that you've put on such a show."

"I was just waiting for you, and they attacked me. What was I supposed to do?"

Eugene shrugged.

"Well, shall we look for another adventure?"

"I didn't take their abilities. Why?"

"You did, but haven’t noticed. They're parasites and their abilities limited to speed and strength only. And they're not immortal, so you don't have to worry."

"Thank God!" I exhaled with relief.

Eugene raised an eyebrow at my last sentence.

"What?

"You know the truth. Why do you keep saying that?"

"That's a habit!" I shrugged. Besides, if I started praising many gods in public, I would be misunderstood.

"Okay, ask your questions!" Eugene sounded a bit doomed, but judging by the look on his face, he wanted to answer or just liked my questions.

"What was that? A few minutes ago. I know I saw you, but how?"

"This is called mental connection between the Guardian and his ward. I feel when you're in danger. I can see you any minute just as you can see me. It'll be this way as long as you're under my protection. At least that's how Tol explained it. I've never had wards but missions. But when you are next to the demigod, I can track your location. Try to use it less often, because each attempt takes a lot of effort and is not always successful. I barely understood how to figure out when you're in danger."

"Do you mean your tattoo? It was glowing..."

"It always lights up when the ward is in danger. I felt it but could not come to the rescue without finishing my job, especially since the danger was minimal."

"The place you were in, what was it?"

"I thought you'd be asking me different questions. Why are you interested in me?"

"As you just said, we're connected. I want to know why and how. And since we're in the same boat for the whole trip, I'd like to know more about my companion. You can consider this a human thing," I waved.

"It's the Tart Desert. To get in and out of Tartarus, one needs to go through this desert. Only Gods can go straight to Tartarus. And I was protecting the entrance from the newly transformed souls that somehow managed to do something no one had ever done before. Nobody could wander the desert with impunity. There are certain services that eliminate unauthorized access."

"But how could you be there? You're not a God!"

"Yes. But I can transport myself there. I have friends among Gods, who can do me a favor at a certain price, especially since it's in their interest to allow me to do my job. Believe me nobody cares about the rules when the existence of all Living is at stake."

"Okay, now tell the truth!"

"About what?"

"About what's going on. Initially, you said that only one hundred souls escaped because of Charon. This morning I saw that the number is much bigger."

"That's true. While the gate was unsealed, a much larger number of Dark Souls escaped but you have to return only one hundred souls. It's the number that will restore the balance."

"Why?"

"One hundred souls escaped because of Charon. All the rest escaped because of the Guardians, who were not able to seal the gate fast. We also pay a certain fee but the Balance doesn't depend on it. It's rather natural damage."

"Why was there an earthquake?"

"It's not an earthquake. The fact that the dark souls can't stay long in this state outside the river and soon transform into other creatures. Only being in the form of spirits, they can infect the souls of the recently dead and wandering ones. Thus, they create an army. That's why the accident was set up. They hunt every new soul to transform. It's like a cycle. Sometimes they'll do something like that."

"Next time, I'll be ready to stop them."

"You won't be able. These souls don't care about physical distance. They can easily be on another continent."

"But I feel their death..."

"Not all of them. It's more like an anomaly. Charon feels no pain. Perhaps, it's your human nature to feel their emotions. In fact, only the cause of death is important for the Carrier. Since you are limited by the human form, you can only feel those who died in relative proximity. You have no idea how many people and other creatures die every minute. If you felt the pain of each of them, you would have died long ago. Try to abstract your mind from those who die. You can't help them."

"Maybe, with time... But why a new Carrier hasn't been appointed yet? It's terrible that souls have to suffer all this time."

"You're right, but it's not that simple. Charon has served as a Carrier since the beginning of time. According to scripture, after uncertain circumstances, it's necessary to appoint his Heir – a direct descendant, that is his son. But in view of the fact that he does not exist or we don't know about his existence, this process is somewhat complicated. Now hundreds of sages are trying to find someone who's willing to bear this burden voluntarily, not abusing the Force. This one must be worthy, or the Vessel won't choose him. You have to pay off the debt until then, because the Carrier will need the Force to take over the post."

"Tell me, how does the lack of Balance impact your world?"

Eugene was about to answer my question but we were interrupted by six newly arrived vampires.

"I'll handle this..." I said and started whacking those blood-suckers.

It wasn't until the third one that I realized I was moving as fast as they were. It was so amazing that my vestibular system could stand it, and everything did not merge into one continuous landscape before my eyes, but remained as clear. But by the time I was done with those three, the others attacked Eugene, who did not put up much of a fight, thinking it was better to leave them to me.

He was holding one by the throat as I approached. My hand burnt a hole in the back near the heart and grabbed the vital organ of the vampire, who did not fight at all. The next second the vampire fell down at our feet. But when I was holding someone's heart in my hands it strangely cheered me up. A smug smile on my face made me look very predatory.

My eyes met Eugene's for a second. It was hard for me to determine the nature of his emotions, but something in his eyes made my smile disappear. I did not know whether it was good or bad. I had no time for further consideration as the two remaining vampires decided to flee.

"Where are you going?"

There was no response. I went after those two but got bored. Eventually, I concentrated and I created a firewall the vampires ran into — the chase was over.

When I returned, I saw a lovely picture – Eugene was sleeping, leaning against the post. We had just started hunting, and I felt unprecedented energy but he needed to rest. Judging by his appearance, he was not telling me the real state of thing for one reason or another, and I personally could not care less.

From up close, he looked peaceful and handsome. His tattoo gleaming with dull red light, most likely fading. His breathing leveled off, and his always tense muscles relaxed. For some reason, I wanted to touch his perfect face, to outline his tattoo, to feel the roughness of his slightly unshaven face with my fingers. My hands reached out for his face against my will, but stopped half an inch as Eugene spoke in a guttural voice,

"Don't you dare!"

I clenched my hand and put it in my pocket.

"You fell asleep!"

"And you've found out that I sleep too. What a surprise," he stood up, looked around and continued, "Let's go on hunting or to the Guardians' Abode."

"I think it's better to go home. Tomorrow is an important day, and I need to rest and get ready for it. I don't want to be sleepy during the classes."

Eugene looked me in the eye for a long time, as if trying to read my thoughts, and then smiled warmly in gratitude for the secret care. At least that's what I thought.

"Okay, let's go! I'll walk you home!"

Our relationship became weirder and weirder.