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Once I was out of the hospital I felt much better. I couldn’t believe that a place that contained so much pain could have such a negative effect on my body. And it could actually weaken me more than any spirit could do.
When I left the Mayor he was writing a report in which I only appeared as a freelance assistant that had nothing to do with the events. I had to wait a few days before I could find the energies to cast that last spell but everything went smoothly. I didn’t like to use the art of persuasion to get rid of uncomfortable situations but things with Piancagnaio’s authorities were getting kind of ugly. They were determined to find a scapegoat, and since Mrs. Guidi had gone missing, I had become candidate number one. I would have never backed down from a danger, but the idea of being locked up in a penitentiary and not being able to work made my heartbeat raise.
No, Lerner was right. If we had tried to influence their will, even slightly, we would have been able to convince them that I was innocent, and even the marshal would have bought that. My assistant had refined the formula that I had learnt from a Greek illusionist. And since he didn’t know what the police was going to do with the objects that I’d been confiscated he had used that same formula to remain by my side.
That morning, I was supposed to be escorted from the hospital to Siena’s Prison, to confirm my preventive detention. While I head out I saw the steering wheel that was supposed to drive me there. The man on the wheel seemed annoyed and his eyes were fixed on a cell phone. He didn’t even noticed that I had just passed him. He had absolutely no idea that he was going to wait there for a while before he was called back.
I leaned against the glass by the side of the entrance. A lot of people kept coming, I suppose to visit their hospitalized relatives. No one paid attention to me.
I only had to wait for five minutes. Another steering wheel had stopped right in front of the stairs that lead to the building’s backyard. The giant cop, who had also witnessed to my arrest, got out of the car. He had the same sulky expression.
While he walked in my direction his head looked down, like a bear, he was ready to carry his prey.
«Everything is set» he said. «Can we go? »
I distanced my back from the glass behind me. «Yes. Are you sure that you have taken everything? »
«The hotel guy thought about everything. I just retrieved the luggage».
I nodded and we headed toward the patrol car. That was the first time that I sat on the passenger seat on a steering wheel. Well, at least there were some positive things, in the chaos that I had lived this week. My suitcase was on the carpet. I didn’t need to check its content, I was sure that everything was inside. Just like I was sure that no one had looked inside. The protection spells were still working.
«Where are we headed» asked the beast on the wheel.
«Depends. Some things are still missing».
He slapped his forehead and the noise that he made resounded in the entire cockpit. Then he pitched backward and he grabbed two transparent plastic bags. One contained the dagger, while the other one contained the gun. I picked the two objects up and I put them on my lap.
«So? » asked again the agent.
«Drive me back to the hotel Ragno d’Oro», I finally said, «I still have a few things to do».
* * *
I was back in my hotel room, even though the last time I slept there was like a century ago. I sat by the desk and I placed the mirror on one side, and the gun on the other.
«Why don’t you let this one go, for a change? We’ve won. This should be enough. Let’s get out of here and help the kid. The case would be a cheerful piece of cake. We’ll get rid of it in a few hours, and then we’ll head home».
«I must know what happened», I replied.
«Curiosity killed the cat» sang my assistant. «What life is this, Kiesel? Number six or seven? »
I ignored him, and I started to remove the gloves. As usual I felt naked and vulnerable. And only the idea of touching the object made me feel even worse.
The gift, that sometime I considered a curse, had brought me to discover some interesting things. Sometimes, it had brought me in nightmarish dimensions, where I had barely found a way out. Keeping those memories away required a huge willpower. It was the reason why so many prophets were called crazy in the past: they hadn’t been able to control the gift that they were given and they had given up. The same thing had almost happened to me at the beginning of my career. Now the gloves had become a part of me. I never took them off, not even when I slept. That skill couldn’t just be turned on and off. The only thing that I could do was shielding my mind otherwise the memories of the objects would have crushed my subconscious, causing bizarre dreams and nightmares.
In this case though, I didn’t want to reduce my knowledge. On the contrary, I wanted to expand it and in order to get that I decided to remove as well the Mercury bracelets. It wasn’t just curiosity that was pushing me to behave like this. If I had just discovered a new species of demons I needed to know everything about their nature. Until that moment I had just inferred a few things but now I needed to draw a detailed portrait. And that was the only way to do it.
I headed toward the room’s door, and when I opened it I still had my gloves on. Pierfrancesco was still there.
«This will only take a few minutes. Do you think this could be a problem? »
«No one will bother you. When you’re done we’ll go fix that situation that I told you about».
I smiled. «You have my word, kid. I’ll be quick».
I closed the door and I headed to the chair. Like me, Lerner was sitting on the same chair. As usual, in his world the room looked worse than ever. Everything was destroyed, while he was the only thing that had remained intact. His arms were crossed and they showed his disapproval.
My eyes moved toward the revolver. I let it slip under the bag that contained it, and then I put my right palm near the handle.
«We’re ready», I mumbled. «Now let’s find out who the hell you were».
The first image that invaded my mind was the moment in which the armorer was handing me the revolver. I was satisfied and excited for what the man had considered to be his personal master piece. Later on Herman Frank had told me that he had wanted to keep the gun for himself and give me back my money. It was only when I told him what I was going to do with that weapon that he had decided to hand it to me. I didn’t let myself be distracted by that memory: that was a protection system that I’d learnt during the years. I was always able to go back to the uneventful moments of the object. However, in that case I was hungry for knowledge so I pushed harder. It was like wandering in a labyrinth and any unexperienced clairvoyant would have lost the way many times before finding the right channel. But I already knew the way. My mind turned black while I started to walk on the shoes of the being that had pointed the gun against me. The hatred of that nameless presence poured on me. The dark walls of my conscience started to tremble, while those negative feelings were taking control of my intellect. At the same time I tried to learn as much as I could. Just like I thought, that entity had never been human, even though the emotions that he felt seemed to belong to a human being. I watched it shooting me and it scared me again, because I was now aware of all the times that I had risked my life. On my way back I dug deeper into the creature’s mind. I had already come to the conclusion that it must have been young, but I was still looking into a set of ten years span. I got back to the image inside the labyrinth, and it was as if I was expecting to find a long straight road behind the corner, only to find out a short passage that lead to a dead end. In the meantime the anger that I was feeling had reached unbelievable levels. I was furious, but I had no idea who might be the source of my bloodlust. There was another object by the end of that short aisle and I immediately recognized it: it was another link. It looked like a white sheet, and that was the only thing clear in that universe of darkness. If I had touched it I would have reached the next level, and considering where I was, the idea of going back made no sense. With shaking hands I bent down – or at least that was what my mental projection did – to pick it up. I was back inside the Guidis’ mansion, in the attic. I was still in the creature’s memories but now it was out of my mind so I was able to see the world through its eyes. I was pretty focused on the task so I moved forward.
Just like I remembered the area was in terrible conditions, but there was no trace of the threatening aura that had welcomed me. To make up for that there were two people that I knew, and maybe I should have learnt more about them before I had accepted their job offer. Mr. Guidi’s hands were by his wife’s throat and he was pushing her against the wall.
«Please, I don’t think that I can do it», she mumbled. The woman’s words resounded in my mind in that world were all my perceptions were altered.
«But you don’t have to do anything», he replied, while he threw her on the floor.
Mrs. Guidi ended up on the dusty sheet, the same one that I had touched before I was dragged into that room. «You just have to shut up while we inaugurate our new house». Then he slapped her on the head. «But if you want you can scream. I don’t think we have neighbors. That will be an interesting variation».
He continued to keep his hands on her neck while he started to take off her clothes with violence. The woman was moaning, begging him to stop, but her requests only seemed to get him more excited. He hit her again, this time on the kidneys, and she sobbed.
It was in that moment that the creature was created. I felt my body levitating, and I struggled to remind myself that I wasn’t truly floating in mid-air. In that moment, the anger of a man expressed in an abandoned place was giving life to the entity that I was going to meet a few days later. A sudden urge of violence hit me, and if at the beginning I had felt aversion to what Mr. Guidi was doing, now I wanted to give my contribution... and help him. Even though deep down he disgusted me, in that moment I wanted to take part in the act of cruelty that my employer was committing. The sheet turned red, while the man continued to push and hit the woman’s body. And while his lust for violence continued to grow, another emotion joined the first one. It was hatred for what was happening, and for all the abuses that the woman had suffered. Hatred for not having been able to rise up against so many years of cruelties.
«What was that? » asked the man, suddenly lifting the head.
His face was red and covered in sweat, and in that moment I felt a huge anger against him. If it hadn’t been just a memory, maybe I would have jumped on him and killed the man.
Now I was watching the scene through two real eyes. And the world was getting darker.
«What the hell is going on? » asked Mr. Guidi, this time raising his voice. It was in that moment that he realized that he had been standing before a paranormal phenomenon.
He pulled the woman by the hair, forcing her to stand, even though she was too dazed to understand the mortal danger that was standing before them. I turned toward them, and I tried to grab them – first I wanted to put my hands on him and tear him to pieces like he deserved – but I had incorporeal limbs and so I would have just passed through their bodies. I howled for the frustration while my parents were climbing down the stairs and were leaving me in the place where violence and hatred was yielding its results, and it was giving life to a new species of undead creatures. I slithered toward the sheet that was covered in vibrant red stains, and I fed from the savagery that had drenched it. Dark particles started to levitate, and they headed toward me, nourishing that darkness that gave shape to my being. A few moments later I was able to lift the sheet up. The fury that I felt was now being replaced by another emotion. Satisfaction. And hunger. I had just been created but I was growing fast. I looked around and I realized that the house contained some spiritual remains that could nourish me. I didn’t have a soul, so I had to do my best to create one.
* * *
I threw the gun against the wall and I remained were I was. I was shaking. Did I just turn into the entity that I had fought against? I could still feel its psychic energy slithering through my mind, trying to take control over me. The presence hadn’t really died, because it was the personification of all the negative thoughts in the world– in this case the ones that the Guidis’ mansion contained. The violence on the woman had just lit the wick of a huge dynamite stick. The creature that I had met wasn’t just a demon from the Nine Circles: he was an emissary from Hell that was born on the Earth and that was created by human cruelty. I had let that darkness invade and corrupt my mind. Suddenly I felt as if something was slithering inside of me, and I was pretty tempted to hit myself again with the blade.
I immediately put on the gloves and I picked up the revolver from the floor. Lerner was screaming something from the mirror, but I was in such a shock that I couldn’t grasp his words. It didn’t take long before I grabbed my stuff and I headed to the door.
Pierfrancesco was still there, and when he saw me he goggled. My expression must have said everything.
«I’m sorry, kid», I managed to say with a huge will effort. «I won’t be able to help you with your problem. I need to rush back to Rome».
He didn’t complain and he let me leave the hotel, probably fearing my reaction. Like a human robot I headed toward the bus stop, and I for an hour I remained under the sunlight until the next bus arrived. The rays were warm and bright but despite this they didn’t seem to be able to damage the dark aura that was all around me. For years I had fought against the spirits of the darkness, and I had ignored the threat that came directly from my own kind. The same threat that I was now carrying inside and that I would have hardly gotten rid of.
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