Vitrian Secrets by Dele Andersen (book club reads txt) 📕

Before Wanda realized what was happening, the battle she had hoped would not take place commenced. A knife flew in the air toward the creature. The creature caught the blade with its left hand and tossed it away like a baby throwing a soft toy; it then rushed toward the Vitrians. Some Necatus followed the knife, but it knocked them off one after the other. A few feet from them, it halted, as if having second thoughts about killing them. It looked at itself. Five Necatus were stuck in its body. It grunted at the silver objects penetrating its skin, picked them out one by one, and threw them out like one tossing away a toothpick. Two of the adults jumped in front of it with sparkling, menacing-looking silvery machetes in their hands.

“No!” Bathe shouted with his hand outstretched, but his words were too late. They were already in front of it.

One of the adults struck with his knife; it barely made any impact on the creature's skin. It looked at the adults with hateful eyes. Sweeping his huge right hand, it knocked them together and sent them into the air and crashing through the trees.

Wanda gave a short and sharp scream in horror.

The creature was about to take another step when arrows flew in its direction. Four of them sank into its body.

Wanda looked at the remaining Vitrians around her. Four of them had bows in their hands. The upper and lower parts of the bows were made of silver; the sight window was black, and the string was tight and firm. The arrowhead was made of silver, making it deadly to whatever demon it contacted. The creature looked at the arrows penetrating its body and then back at the Vitrians. It shook its head like it was wondering when they were going to learn.

“Again!” Bathe instructed, and more arrows flew in the air, but this time it was ready.

The creature knocked the arrows off as fast as they came. One by one and very quickly, it pulled out each one of the arrows stuck in its body.

Everyone watched in shock; the surprise on their faces made Wanda realize that in a typical fight with demons, this many arrows were fatal to the beast they struck.

The demon no longer walked to get to them; it leapt. Petter and Bathe looked at each other and brought out their Praying Méndez. Becky saw them and promptly brought hers out too. The other Vitrians raised the bows in their hands, but Wanda could see the anxiety on their faces. They weren't sure how to stop the creature.

The creature landed with a loud thud on the ground. A bout of jitters ran through Wanda. The instant it saw the Méndez shining, it held back and turned its head away.

“We bind you,” Bathe shouted. Both Bathe and Petter raised their Méndez up high and stood in confidence. “You will not cross this place, nor shall you touch Wanda Troms or anyone here. Go back to the abyss.” Bathe’s voice grew louder with each word.

The Méndez in Petter and Bathe's hands were shining brightly. Bathe's glowed heavily, much more than it had two days before. The creature covered its face from the divine light. Before it could do anything, another four arrows buried into its body. It didn't move its hand from its face, but it took a step back, which brought Wanda hope.

Just then, she saw people dressed in black and wearing masks dropping from the mountainside like ninjas onto to the road they’d been on before. Their outfits covered them from their necks down to their legs. Seeing them in the distance, Wanda remembered the person on the bike on the way to the fortress before the grayish-white demon attacked.

“The rebels are here,” someone said.

“The four of you, keep them engaged.” Bathe looked toward the adults still with them. “We will figure out what to do with this creature.”

“Shouldn't the demon have disappeared by now?” Becky asked, and Wanda turned to see her as the other four Vitrians ran back to the road.

Becky's Méndez had a feeble glow. It wasn't bright, which revealed that Becky had not been praying adequately.

“Yes,” Petter said. “Why is the demon not disappearing?”

“I cannot,” the demon spoke, and again it startled them. This was not a grunt or a roar. It was a voice, a clear human voice. “For the Abyss is not my home.”

The Vitrians froze. Wanda couldn't believe what was unfolding; the supernatural light was supposed to be harmful to demons, but obviously not to this one.

The voice sounded familiar to Wanda, like a voice she'd heard before. She tried to concentrate, but the apprehension around her overwhelmed her thoughts.

To her horror, the creature lowered its hand, and she knew it was now looking directly into the light. Bathe's face showed his confusion.

The creature grabbed the Méndezes; it closed its two hands around each one. Both produced a sound like a wet cloth quenching the heat on hot metal. A tiny flicker of smoke erupted from them as their light went out.

“And your praying is very weak,” the creature added.

Bathe and Petter took their hands off the Méndezes as the demon crushed them with ease. The creature's deep red eyes worried Wanda. She wasn't sure if it was because the demon looked directly into the light from the Méndez or if it was a new level of resentment toward them, but she knew its anger was on a new level—one set to kill.

In a moment, Bathe had a knife and a machete in his hands. The tips of the machete shone brightly.

“Petter, Becky,” Bathe called, “drive Wanda away as fast as you can.

The demon turned toward Petter immediately. Wanda expected it to hit him, but it didn't. It walked past him and hit the hood of the car so hard the hood caved in instantly.

“No!” Bathe shouted. For a second, Wanda thought the shout was about the car; then she saw Becky jumping high behind the demon. She stuck her Méndez into the creature's body.

In a reflexive action, the demon turned and hit Becky so hard she flew away, and her body slammed into the ground. She lay motionless.

Bathe was on it. He swung his knife into the creature’s back.

“Go, Petter—now!” Bathe shouted as the creature turned to face him.

Bathe swung in the air as the creature moved. He held onto the knife still stuck in the creature's back. He balanced himself and struck with the machete, but because the creature was still moving, the impact wasn't as strong as the first.

Petter and Wanda rushed into the car. Petter gassed the engine. The engine grumbled but started; the heavy blow on the hood hadn’t destroyed it. Petter accelerated and moved straight to top speed.

“Petter, stop, stop!” Wanda shouted as they neared the cliff. Petter brought the grunting jeep to a speeding halt. The tires screeched, rolling backward against the ground and then stopping about three feet from the edge of the cliff.

She and Petter looked at Bathe and the creature. After some minutes of struggling to get the knife off, it was able to get ahold of Bathe and the knife. It held Bathe up high in front of it, holding his wrists tight together in one hand. Its second hand was in a fist, its eyes burning with hatred.

Blood coated one side of Bathe’s face. He looked at Wanda as the creature lifted him above the ground, his hands stretched out above his head.

From this distance, Wanda could read his thoughts, how sorry he was for her dad's death, for Jason, and for not protecting her enough. She opened the door and hurried out of the car. Petter stretched to pull her back, but he was too late.

“No!” she screamed, and it echoed off the mountains.

The creature threw Bathe down and leaped like it had been summoned. In the blink of an eye, it landed in front of Wanda. She backed up, breathing heavily until her back hit the car. She hadn’t expected the impetuous appearance of the creature, nor had she expected it to cover the distance so quickly. Bathe flew out of her mind as she stared at the angered eyes of the beast. Their eyes locked in an eternal moment.

She remembered her Praying Méndez, and she brought it out. Unexpectedly, she became lost in a reverie, holding the Méndez and watching the creature's eyes. The creature was bleeding in several places as arrows, Necatus, and Becky's Méndez projected out of its body. Watching Wanda, the creature's eyes changed, and it caught Wanda's attention . . . they were not the venomous cat-like eyes anymore. She stood in profound astonishment at the eyes she was looking at, speechless.

Petter, who was out of the car now, came to Wanda's aid holding out a knife. He was about to say something when he heard Bathe behind the creature. Bathe ran the distance with all the strength left in him and collided with the creature, making one last big strike with the knife. He fastened it in the creature's back with all the force he could garner.

Bathe’s speed pushed the creature, causing both of them to smash into the jeep. Petter, who was well alert, moved away in time, but Wanda, lost in reverie, didn't move.

Bathe, Wanda, the vehicle, and the monster moved toward the edge of the cliff. Both Bathe and the creature reached for Wanda, then they all tumbled over the cliff.

Petter ran to the edge of the cliff and cried out. It was an intense cry of horror; a cry Wanda had never heard before. The scream was that of pain. The veins in his neck popped and stretched to their length like a string pulled to its breaking limit. He fell on his knees as they toppled over and away into the water hundreds of feet below.

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Chapter 13

Wanda opened her eyes slowly after several dreams that revolved mostly around her father's funeral and the unforeseen events that had overwhelmed her life in the last few days.

For a second, the word dead continued to come up in her memory. Dread knocked on her heart as a flashback reminded her of the horrifying expression on Petter’s face as she flailed her arms in the air, falling off the cliff. She closed her eyes tight and tried to get the image out of her head.

She opened her eyes again with better focus this time and studied the place around her. The room was built with ancient wood that smelled like it had burned over and over again. She wiggled her body and saw she was covered with a thick brown blanket. Fresh firewood burned in a fireplace. She gazed at it, thinking that was where the smell came from, but she noticed it was too small to be responsible for the strong odor in the room.

The room was warm, and she wondered why the fireplace was lit during summer. Even the walls had burn marks on them like the place had been burned recently by heavy fire. Some of the burnt wood had