Chapter 224: 224
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
~~
Trinity
~~
"This will end when I say it does!" Edmond screamed at me. "And not a fucking minute sooner you ungrateful whelp. If it wasn't for me and my experimentations, you wouldn't fucking exist. Remember that. Remember that it's all thanks to me that you even have a chance at life. And you need to remember that it's me that can take all of that away from you. I gave you your life and I am more than capable, and definitely more than willing to take it from you." His ranting finally came to an end, along with the holier than thou tone he always used. He was now a rambling moron that lost his proper sounding dialect. Hmm, he did have other faults, that was good to know.
"If you think you're a match for someone chosen by a god and a goddess, then bring it on you psychopathic freak. I don't think you have it in you to beat me. That's the problem with you. You always let other people do the real fighting, the real dirty work, all while you sit there and threaten them like you're someone special." I watched as Edmond's face blanched, he obviously couldn't handle the truth.
"Watch that fucking mouth of yours you little bitch. Shut it, before I shut it for you."
"Oh no, I'm quaking in my boots. Someone help me please." I pretended to shake and shiver like I was afraid, deliberately overplaying the action for comical effect. I was the only one to appreciate it at the moment.
"I regret ever making you. You're the most useless of all my creations. You've been nothing but a damn thorn in my side since day one. The mere sight of you even killed your mother. If she hadn't been destroyed just by the idea of you then I could have used her as a way to control you. She would have been the remote control for me to use wherever I might have needed to. But no, no one wanted you when you were born, not even your good for nothing mother."
"You know nothing about families, Edmond." I had to force the words past my clenched teeth as I bit down hard on my anger. I didn't need to lose control, that's what he wanted. If I lost control I would get stupid and make mistakes. If I made mistakes he might win. I had to bite my tongue and keep my sanity, no matter how hard that might seem right now.
"Families are for the weak and simple. Families hold you down and stop you from reaching your potential. What need would I have for a family? What good would they do for me? I am too ambitious and powerful for a family." These words. The things he was saying. All of this was nothing more than the ramblings of a man who had long since lost touch with reality. He was so far gone that I knew nothing could ever reach him again. There was no point in talking to him anymore.
It was then, listening to this psycho babble of his, that I noticed those eyes around us again. At first they were nothing more than just a feeling, something that made me know that I wasn't alone here. Then, I began to feel like I was beginning to see the eyes, glinting in the light all around me, though still nearly impossible to detect.
Now, as Edmond had rambled and preached his craziness for the last several minutes, it was like the eyes had taken form. And it wasn't just the eyes, I could see faces and bodies forming as well.
When I first caught sight of the face looking at us I was momentarily terrified. I thought that some demons had latched onto Edmond and followed him into this world, this place of gray emptiness. I thought that there might be some new enemy coming after me before I had even dealt with the last threat.
Then, I looked closer at the faces, at the people surrounding us. There were hundreds of them. All young and innocent looking. And all of them looked so much like me. These were the children of Edmond. This was the family that he has said he didn't need or care about. This was his biggest flaw. And they would aid me in his downfall.
"Did you pay any attention to your children Edmond? Any at all?" I asked him. I wanted to buy time now, to allow my siblings time to fully form. And they seemed to be feeding on Edmond's negativity. Come on then, Edmond, feed them, give them the sustenance you never would have spared them while they were still alive, while they still had their whole lives ahead of them. Feed their rage and hatred toward you. It would only help me in the long run anyway.
"What need would I have of looking closely at them? They were mongrel half breeds."
"If you hate half breeds so much, why did you make so many? Why did you put so much time and effort into their creation? The idea of it all simply baffles me." He had to know that his words made no sense at all.
"It was simple really. Like I told you before, I needed spies, agents on the inside. I needed children born from the enemy clans that would have their trust and not be questioned. In a sense they would be sleeper agents."
"Were there ever any of your children that survived your special attention? Were there any sleeper agents that you were actually able to implant for future activation?" This was all starting to sound too much like a bad crime drama to me. Did he know this was the bat craziest shit I had ever heard? My guess would be that he didn't, and that he thought this all made sense. Well, I guess to him it did.
"There were a few that managed to be programmed for future activation. But they seemed to behave differently once they were sent home. So much so that they were noticed."
"Does that mean they were destroyed?" I asked this out of genuine curiosity, and to know if I had to find and deprogram all his little sleeper cells.
"Yes, unfortunately. As of this moment, you are the only living child of mine. The others have all been eliminated."
"That must have been difficult for you." I tried to sound soothing, to give words like you would to any other grieving father. Apparently, my efforts were wasted.
"Yes, it was quite the pain. I spent much of my long life preparing for their missions, only for my tools to be destroyed before I could enact even one step of my plan. It truly was an annoyance."
"You don't feel anything about them being killed? About them having died for no reason beside their affiliation with you?"
"What would there be for me to feel? Why do you keep asking me about this? Why do you keep going in circles with this?" He seemed annoyed now.
It was like all he could feel. The only emotions he was capable of were anger, frustration, and annoyance. Oh, and rage. Let's not forget that little beauty of a reaction. He was definitely capable of rage. Perhaps I had inherited some of my rage from him. Then again, wolves were known for it too. Sucks to be Edmond when I finally released my rage, all of it, and directed it at him.
"You're stalling." Edmond chuckled as he stated the obvious. "You know you can't win and so you're stalling. This is perfect." He was smiling like a lunatic, his eyes full of some form of psycho I didn't even want to come close to analyzing. "Just give me a few more minutes and I will be out of these bindings of yours and I will finish this for you. You obviously seem too scared to even try." His laughing voice seemed to grate against my skin like sandpaper being drawn across my nerves, I felt it most on the back of my neck as all the hair on my neck and arms began to stand at attention.
"Such a delusional dumbass." I shook my head and pinch the bridge of my nose. "How did you manage to live this long being so stupid?" I didn't mean to ask the question out loud, but in my frustration it just slipped out.
"Me, stupid? You must be mistaken you bitch. I am not stupid in the slightest."
"Oh, you must be, there is no other excuse for you being too blind that you think I am scared right now."
"You're stalling for time. What other reason could it be than fear?" He chuckled as he spoke, still so oblivious to his surroundings.
"I was buying time for them." I answered.
"For who?" He looked confused, like he didn't understand a word I said. "None of your little friends can get here, you know. We're completely alone, and that's how you will die."
"We're not alone." I smirked at him. "I have family here with me."
"What family? You refuse to recognize me as family, remember." He looked so cocky when he said that, like he thought there was no one else that could possibly be here. Did he simply not know the truth of where he brought me?
"Look around you Edmond, and say hello to my family?" I did as I told him to, waving to the hundreds of siblings I had never been able to meet.
I watched as Edmond's face fell. The look in his eyes went from cocky and arrogant to one filled with nothing but fear.
"No, this isn't possible." His voice even cracked as he spoke.
"It most definitely is, Edmond. Say hello to your children." I grinned as he finally understood. And, as I looked around, there seemed to be more than before. There seemed to be some among them who looked angrier than the others. Were they the ones that had been killed after being activated? I had the feeling they were.
"How are they here? How is this even happening?" Edmond nearly screamed as he looked around the clearing at all his offspring.
"We have always been with you, Father." The boy who had spoken to me last time spoke again. "We have all been with you and waiting for this opportunity."
"Yes, Father, we've been waiting for you." One of the angry looking girls spoke, her voice turning into an angrier sounding sneer when she said the word father.
"You have played right into our hands, finally." Someone near the back and out of sight spoke up, but their voice was no less loud and could be heard easily.
"Why have you attached yourselves to me, you heathens."
"Heathens? Us? No, Father," another sneer, "you are the heathen. You are the one who takes pride in destruction."
"You are the one who has plotted the destruction and downfall of not only your own flesh and blood but also the world." They all spoke in unison and I could swear I heard the voices of Thoth and Nehalennia mixed in among them. The God and Goddess must be aiding the children of Edmond.
There was nothing for me to do for the time being. I just needed to listen and watch the show around me.
"You were all my tools, my experiments. You wouldn't have lived if it wasn't for me." He tried claiming that stupid logic again.
"And none of our deaths would have occurred if not for you either. You are nothing more than a blight on society, and it is time for you to be eliminated." They were continuing to speak in unison, their voices sounding eerie, but powerful.
"You can't! You won't! I won't let you!" Edmond was screaming now, frantic with fear. I guess he truly was capable of that emotion too.
"It's time to face the music Edmond. Time for you to atone for your sins." I told him as I finally joined my siblings in this conversation. "You have been judged by those who you sought to destroy, and you have been found guilty. There will be no second chances or escapes. It all ends here and now."
"No! I won't let you." He continued to try and change the minds of us all. But it was to no avail. His fate was sealed.
"Prepare to die, Edmond." Those were the last words that I spoke before I called my magic to me. I reached out with a phantom hand, the same type I had used with Reece. I reached out until I felt his throat under my phantom limb.
When I felt the steady, yet rapid, beat of his pulse I knew I was in position. I was ready to do what needed to be done. I hardened the magic of my invisible, phantom hand. Once the magic was stronger and harder, I swiped with it, one quick motion, right across his throat. The spray of blood was instantaneous as the cut nearly severed his head. Once more swipe, this one going in the opposite direction, and his head had been removed.
Almost at the exact same time that I had made my first swipe, the children of Edmond had descended. They had already torn his limbs from his body before I had fully removed him of the burden of his head.
I pulled the bloody, dripping head to me with the phantom hand as my long dead siblings clawed and ripped Edmond to shreds. I just stood there, watching the bloody mess form before my eyes. There was no recognizing that pile of red goo as Edmond, nothing of the previous shape remained.
When they were done, they all turned to look at me. The rage and anger leaving their bodies. Those emotions had instead been replaced with a sense of contented happiness. They were finally at peace.
"How did you find us here?" I asked them, curious to know how they had been able to follow us from the real world.
"This is the land of shadows. We ghosts live among the shadows and rarely make it to the land of the living." They all spoke once again, like in death all children of Edmond were the same.
"Did Edmond know that?"
"No, he did not. But it was to our advantage that he did not know." There seemed to be a hint of laughter in that response.
"So you followed him, waiting for your chance to kill him?"
"We would not have been able to kill him without you, sister. It was your conversation with him that gave us form. The negative emotions fed us into being able to attack. Even among the shadows, ghosts are nothing more than a conscious shadow. We could no more hurt him that you could catch the wind." I laughed at that, because I had actually caught the wind, so to speak, but they didn't need to know that.
"So was it just our words, or my magic that you needed?" I asked them, for clarity purposes.
"Both. You are the only one of us to survive, and now there will be no more. Please, sister, use your gifts wisely." As they all spoke this time I noticed a slight glowing around their edges.
"What's happening now?" I asked them, scared as they all seemed to be disappearing.
"We have nothing to tether us to the shadows now, it's time for us to move on and find peace." They seemed to be smiling, all of them were. "Be strong, and be brave dear sister. You are the last of our kind and we will always watch over you from the great beyond." And with those words they all began to quickly fade away.
"Thank you for your help. I will never forget you all, ever."
"Thank you." They spoke again, but it seemed so far away now, like they had traveled a great distance while still looking at me. "Goodbye." With that final word they were gone. I was now alone in the field with a bloody mess in front of me and a head held in my hand.
There was one thing I knew for sure though, Edmond was finally dead.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
~~
Trinity
~~
"This will end when I say it does!" Edmond screamed at me. "And not a fucking minute sooner you ungrateful whelp. If it wasn't for me and my experimentations, you wouldn't fucking exist. Remember that. Remember that it's all thanks to me that you even have a chance at life. And you need to remember that it's me that can take all of that away from you. I gave you your life and I am more than capable, and definitely more than willing to take it from you." His ranting finally came to an end, along with the holier than thou tone he always used. He was now a rambling moron that lost his proper sounding dialect. Hmm, he did have other faults, that was good to know.
"If you think you're a match for someone chosen by a god and a goddess, then bring it on you psychopathic freak. I don't think you have it in you to beat me. That's the problem with you. You always let other people do the real fighting, the real dirty work, all while you sit there and threaten them like you're someone special." I watched as Edmond's face blanched, he obviously couldn't handle the truth.
"Watch that fucking mouth of yours you little bitch. Shut it, before I shut it for you."
"Oh no, I'm quaking in my boots. Someone help me please." I pretended to shake and shiver like I was afraid, deliberately overplaying the action for comical effect. I was the only one to appreciate it at the moment.
"I regret ever making you. You're the most useless of all my creations. You've been nothing but a damn thorn in my side since day one. The mere sight of you even killed your mother. If she hadn't been destroyed just by the idea of you then I could have used her as a way to control you. She would have been the remote control for me to use wherever I might have needed to. But no, no one wanted you when you were born, not even your good for nothing mother."
"You know nothing about families, Edmond." I had to force the words past my clenched teeth as I bit down hard on my anger. I didn't need to lose control, that's what he wanted. If I lost control I would get stupid and make mistakes. If I made mistakes he might win. I had to bite my tongue and keep my sanity, no matter how hard that might seem right now.
"Families are for the weak and simple. Families hold you down and stop you from reaching your potential. What need would I have for a family? What good would they do for me? I am too ambitious and powerful for a family." These words. The things he was saying. All of this was nothing more than the ramblings of a man who had long since lost touch with reality. He was so far gone that I knew nothing could ever reach him again. There was no point in talking to him anymore.
It was then, listening to this psycho babble of his, that I noticed those eyes around us again. At first they were nothing more than just a feeling, something that made me know that I wasn't alone here. Then, I began to feel like I was beginning to see the eyes, glinting in the light all around me, though still nearly impossible to detect.
Now, as Edmond had rambled and preached his craziness for the last several minutes, it was like the eyes had taken form. And it wasn't just the eyes, I could see faces and bodies forming as well.
When I first caught sight of the face looking at us I was momentarily terrified. I thought that some demons had latched onto Edmond and followed him into this world, this place of gray emptiness. I thought that there might be some new enemy coming after me before I had even dealt with the last threat.
Then, I looked closer at the faces, at the people surrounding us. There were hundreds of them. All young and innocent looking. And all of them looked so much like me. These were the children of Edmond. This was the family that he has said he didn't need or care about. This was his biggest flaw. And they would aid me in his downfall.
"Did you pay any attention to your children Edmond? Any at all?" I asked him. I wanted to buy time now, to allow my siblings time to fully form. And they seemed to be feeding on Edmond's negativity. Come on then, Edmond, feed them, give them the sustenance you never would have spared them while they were still alive, while they still had their whole lives ahead of them. Feed their rage and hatred toward you. It would only help me in the long run anyway.
"What need would I have of looking closely at them? They were mongrel half breeds."
"If you hate half breeds so much, why did you make so many? Why did you put so much time and effort into their creation? The idea of it all simply baffles me." He had to know that his words made no sense at all.
"It was simple really. Like I told you before, I needed spies, agents on the inside. I needed children born from the enemy clans that would have their trust and not be questioned. In a sense they would be sleeper agents."
"Were there ever any of your children that survived your special attention? Were there any sleeper agents that you were actually able to implant for future activation?" This was all starting to sound too much like a bad crime drama to me. Did he know this was the bat craziest shit I had ever heard? My guess would be that he didn't, and that he thought this all made sense. Well, I guess to him it did.
"There were a few that managed to be programmed for future activation. But they seemed to behave differently once they were sent home. So much so that they were noticed."
"Does that mean they were destroyed?" I asked this out of genuine curiosity, and to know if I had to find and deprogram all his little sleeper cells.
"Yes, unfortunately. As of this moment, you are the only living child of mine. The others have all been eliminated."
"That must have been difficult for you." I tried to sound soothing, to give words like you would to any other grieving father. Apparently, my efforts were wasted.
"Yes, it was quite the pain. I spent much of my long life preparing for their missions, only for my tools to be destroyed before I could enact even one step of my plan. It truly was an annoyance."
"You don't feel anything about them being killed? About them having died for no reason beside their affiliation with you?"
"What would there be for me to feel? Why do you keep asking me about this? Why do you keep going in circles with this?" He seemed annoyed now.
It was like all he could feel. The only emotions he was capable of were anger, frustration, and annoyance. Oh, and rage. Let's not forget that little beauty of a reaction. He was definitely capable of rage. Perhaps I had inherited some of my rage from him. Then again, wolves were known for it too. Sucks to be Edmond when I finally released my rage, all of it, and directed it at him.
"You're stalling." Edmond chuckled as he stated the obvious. "You know you can't win and so you're stalling. This is perfect." He was smiling like a lunatic, his eyes full of some form of psycho I didn't even want to come close to analyzing. "Just give me a few more minutes and I will be out of these bindings of yours and I will finish this for you. You obviously seem too scared to even try." His laughing voice seemed to grate against my skin like sandpaper being drawn across my nerves, I felt it most on the back of my neck as all the hair on my neck and arms began to stand at attention.
"Such a delusional dumbass." I shook my head and pinch the bridge of my nose. "How did you manage to live this long being so stupid?" I didn't mean to ask the question out loud, but in my frustration it just slipped out.
"Me, stupid? You must be mistaken you bitch. I am not stupid in the slightest."
"Oh, you must be, there is no other excuse for you being too blind that you think I am scared right now."
"You're stalling for time. What other reason could it be than fear?" He chuckled as he spoke, still so oblivious to his surroundings.
"I was buying time for them." I answered.
"For who?" He looked confused, like he didn't understand a word I said. "None of your little friends can get here, you know. We're completely alone, and that's how you will die."
"We're not alone." I smirked at him. "I have family here with me."
"What family? You refuse to recognize me as family, remember." He looked so cocky when he said that, like he thought there was no one else that could possibly be here. Did he simply not know the truth of where he brought me?
"Look around you Edmond, and say hello to my family?" I did as I told him to, waving to the hundreds of siblings I had never been able to meet.
I watched as Edmond's face fell. The look in his eyes went from cocky and arrogant to one filled with nothing but fear.
"No, this isn't possible." His voice even cracked as he spoke.
"It most definitely is, Edmond. Say hello to your children." I grinned as he finally understood. And, as I looked around, there seemed to be more than before. There seemed to be some among them who looked angrier than the others. Were they the ones that had been killed after being activated? I had the feeling they were.
"How are they here? How is this even happening?" Edmond nearly screamed as he looked around the clearing at all his offspring.
"We have always been with you, Father." The boy who had spoken to me last time spoke again. "We have all been with you and waiting for this opportunity."
"Yes, Father, we've been waiting for you." One of the angry looking girls spoke, her voice turning into an angrier sounding sneer when she said the word father.
"You have played right into our hands, finally." Someone near the back and out of sight spoke up, but their voice was no less loud and could be heard easily.
"Why have you attached yourselves to me, you heathens."
"Heathens? Us? No, Father," another sneer, "you are the heathen. You are the one who takes pride in destruction."
"You are the one who has plotted the destruction and downfall of not only your own flesh and blood but also the world." They all spoke in unison and I could swear I heard the voices of Thoth and Nehalennia mixed in among them. The God and Goddess must be aiding the children of Edmond.
There was nothing for me to do for the time being. I just needed to listen and watch the show around me.
"You were all my tools, my experiments. You wouldn't have lived if it wasn't for me." He tried claiming that stupid logic again.
"And none of our deaths would have occurred if not for you either. You are nothing more than a blight on society, and it is time for you to be eliminated." They were continuing to speak in unison, their voices sounding eerie, but powerful.
"You can't! You won't! I won't let you!" Edmond was screaming now, frantic with fear. I guess he truly was capable of that emotion too.
"It's time to face the music Edmond. Time for you to atone for your sins." I told him as I finally joined my siblings in this conversation. "You have been judged by those who you sought to destroy, and you have been found guilty. There will be no second chances or escapes. It all ends here and now."
"No! I won't let you." He continued to try and change the minds of us all. But it was to no avail. His fate was sealed.
"Prepare to die, Edmond." Those were the last words that I spoke before I called my magic to me. I reached out with a phantom hand, the same type I had used with Reece. I reached out until I felt his throat under my phantom limb.
When I felt the steady, yet rapid, beat of his pulse I knew I was in position. I was ready to do what needed to be done. I hardened the magic of my invisible, phantom hand. Once the magic was stronger and harder, I swiped with it, one quick motion, right across his throat. The spray of blood was instantaneous as the cut nearly severed his head. Once more swipe, this one going in the opposite direction, and his head had been removed.
Almost at the exact same time that I had made my first swipe, the children of Edmond had descended. They had already torn his limbs from his body before I had fully removed him of the burden of his head.
I pulled the bloody, dripping head to me with the phantom hand as my long dead siblings clawed and ripped Edmond to shreds. I just stood there, watching the bloody mess form before my eyes. There was no recognizing that pile of red goo as Edmond, nothing of the previous shape remained.
When they were done, they all turned to look at me. The rage and anger leaving their bodies. Those emotions had instead been replaced with a sense of contented happiness. They were finally at peace.
"How did you find us here?" I asked them, curious to know how they had been able to follow us from the real world.
"This is the land of shadows. We ghosts live among the shadows and rarely make it to the land of the living." They all spoke once again, like in death all children of Edmond were the same.
"Did Edmond know that?"
"No, he did not. But it was to our advantage that he did not know." There seemed to be a hint of laughter in that response.
"So you followed him, waiting for your chance to kill him?"
"We would not have been able to kill him without you, sister. It was your conversation with him that gave us form. The negative emotions fed us into being able to attack. Even among the shadows, ghosts are nothing more than a conscious shadow. We could no more hurt him that you could catch the wind." I laughed at that, because I had actually caught the wind, so to speak, but they didn't need to know that.
"So was it just our words, or my magic that you needed?" I asked them, for clarity purposes.
"Both. You are the only one of us to survive, and now there will be no more. Please, sister, use your gifts wisely." As they all spoke this time I noticed a slight glowing around their edges.
"What's happening now?" I asked them, scared as they all seemed to be disappearing.
"We have nothing to tether us to the shadows now, it's time for us to move on and find peace." They seemed to be smiling, all of them were. "Be strong, and be brave dear sister. You are the last of our kind and we will always watch over you from the great beyond." And with those words they all began to quickly fade away.
"Thank you for your help. I will never forget you all, ever."
"Thank you." They spoke again, but it seemed so far away now, like they had traveled a great distance while still looking at me. "Goodbye." With that final word they were gone. I was now alone in the field with a bloody mess in front of me and a head held in my hand.
There was one thing I knew for sure though, Edmond was finally dead.
~~Trinity~~"This will end when I say it does!" Edmond screamed at me. "And not a fucking minute sooner you ungrateful whelp. If it wasn't for me and my experimentations, you wouldn't fucking exist. Remember that. Remember that it's all thanks to me that you even have a chance at life. And you need to remember that it's me that can take all of that away from you. I gave you your life and I am more than capable, and definitely more than willing to take it from you." His ranting finally came to an end, along with the holier than thou tone he always used. He was now a rambling moron that lost his proper sounding dialect. Hmm, he did have other faults, that was good to know."If you think you're a match for someone chosen by a god and a goddess, then bring it on you psychopathic freak. I don't think you have it in you to beat me. That's the problem with you. You always let other people do the real fighting, the real dirty work, all while you sit there and threaten them like you're someone special." I watched as Edmond's face blanched, he obviously couldn't handle the truth."Watch that fucking mouth of yours you little bitch. Shut it, before I shut it for you.""Oh no, I'm quaking in my boots. Someone help me please." I pretended to shake and shiver like I was afraid, deliberately overplaying the action for comical effect. I was the only one to appreciate it at the moment."I regret ever making you. You're the most useless of all my creations. You've been nothing but a damn thorn in my side since day one. The mere sight of you even killed your mother. If she hadn't been destroyed just by the idea of you then I could have used her as a way to control you. She would have been the remote control for me to use wherever I might have needed to. But no, no one wanted you when you were born, not even your good for nothing mother.""You know nothing about families, Edmond." I had to force the words past my clenched teeth as I bit down hard on my anger. I didn't need to lose control, that's what he wanted. If I lost control I would get stupid and make mistakes. If I made mistakes he might win. I had to bite my tongue and keep my sanity, no matter how hard that might seem right now."Families are for the weak and simple. Families hold you down and stop you from reaching your potential. What need would I have for a family? What good would they do for me? I am too ambitious and powerful for a family." These words. The things he was saying. All of this was nothing more than the ramblings of a man who had long since lost touch with reality. He was so far gone that I knew nothing could ever reach him again. There was no point in talking to him anymore.It was then, listening to this psycho babble of his, that I noticed those eyes around us again. At first they were nothing more than just a feeling, something that made me know that I wasn't alone here. Then, I began to feel like I was beginning to see the eyes, glinting in the light all around me, though still nearly impossible to detect.Now, as Edmond had rambled and preached his craziness for the last several minutes, it was like the eyes had taken form. And it wasn't just the eyes, I could see faces and bodies forming as well.When I first caught sight of the face looking at us I was momentarily terrified. I thought that some demons had latched onto Edmond and followed him into this world, this place of gray emptiness. I thought that there might be some new enemy coming after me before I had even dealt with the last threat.Then, I looked closer at the faces, at the people surrounding us. There were hundreds of them. All young and innocent looking. And all of them looked so much like me. These were the children of Edmond. This was the family that he has said he didn't need or care about. This was his biggest flaw. And they would aid me in his downfall."Did you pay any attention to your children Edmond? Any at all?" I asked him. I wanted to buy time now, to allow my siblings time to fully form. And they seemed to be feeding on Edmond's negativity. Come on then, Edmond, feed them, give them the sustenance you never would have spared them while they were still alive, while they still had their whole lives ahead of them. Feed their rage and hatred toward you. It would only help me in the long run anyway."What need would I have of looking closely at them? They were mongrel half breeds.""If you hate half breeds so much, why did you make so many? Why did you put so much time and effort into their creation? The idea of it all simply baffles me." He had to know that his words made no sense at all."It was simple really. Like I told you before, I needed spies, agents on the inside. I needed children born from the enemy clans that would have their trust and not be questioned. In a sense they would be sleeper agents.""Were there ever any of your children that survived your special attention? Were there any sleeper agents that you were actually able to implant for future activation?" This was all starting to sound too much like a bad crime drama to me. Did he know this was the bat craziest shit I had ever heard? My guess would be that he didn't, and that he thought this all made sense. Well, I guess to him it did."There were a few that managed to be programmed for future activation. But they seemed to behave differently once they were sent home. So much so that they were noticed.""Does that mean they were destroyed?" I asked this out of genuine curiosity, and to know if I had to find and deprogram all his little sleeper cells."Yes, unfortunately. As of this moment, you are the only living child of mine. The others have all been eliminated.""That must have been difficult for you." I tried to sound soothing, to give words like you would to any other grieving father. Apparently, my efforts were wasted."Yes, it was quite the pain. I spent much of my long life preparing for their missions, only for my tools to be destroyed before I could enact even one step of my plan. It truly was an annoyance.""You don't feel anything about them being killed? About them having died for no reason beside their affiliation with you?""What would there be for me to feel? Why do you keep asking me about this? Why do you keep going in circles with this?" He seemed annoyed now.It was like all he could feel. The only emotions he was capable of were anger, frustration, and annoyance. Oh, and rage. Let's not forget that little beauty of a reaction. He was definitely capable of rage. Perhaps I had inherited some of my rage from him. Then again, wolves were known for it too. Sucks to be Edmond when I finally released my rage, all of it, and directed it at him."You're stalling." Edmond chuckled as he stated the obvious. "You know you can't win and so you're stalling. This is perfect." He was smiling like a lunatic, his eyes full of some form of psycho I didn't even want to come close to analyzing. "Just give me a few more minutes and I will be out of these bindings of yours and I will finish this for you. You obviously seem too scared to even try." His laughing voice seemed to grate against my skin like sandpaper being drawn across my nerves, I felt it most on the back of my neck as all the hair on my neck and arms began to stand at attention."Such a delusional dumbass." I shook my head and pinch the bridge of my nose. "How did you manage to live this long being so stupid?" I didn't mean to ask the question out loud, but in my frustration it just slipped out."Me, stupid? You must be mistaken you bitch. I am not stupid in the slightest.""Oh, you must be, there is no other excuse for you being too blind that you think I am scared right now.""You're stalling for time. What other reason could it be than fear?" He chuckled as he spoke, still so oblivious to his surroundings."I was buying time for them." I answered."For who?" He looked confused, like he didn't understand a word I said. "None of your little friends can get here, you know. We're completely alone, and that's how you will die.""We're not alone." I smirked at him. "I have family here with me.""What family? You refuse to recognize me as family, remember." He looked so cocky when he said that, like he thought there was no one else that could possibly be here. Did he simply not know the truth of where he brought me?"Look around you Edmond, and say hello to my family?" I did as I told him to, waving to the hundreds of siblings I had never been able to meet.I watched as Edmond's face fell. The look in his eyes went from cocky and arrogant to one filled with nothing but fear."No, this isn't possible." His voice even cracked as he spoke."It most definitely is, Edmond. Say hello to your children." I grinned as he finally understood. And, as I looked around, there seemed to be more than before. There seemed to be some among them who looked angrier than the others. Were they the ones that had been killed after being activated? I had the feeling they were."How are they here? How is this even happening?" Edmond nearly screamed as he looked around the clearing at all his offspring."We have always been with you, Father." The boy who had spoken to me last time spoke again. "We have all been with you and waiting for this opportunity.""Yes, Father, we've been waiting for you." One of the angry looking girls spoke, her voice turning into an angrier sounding sneer when she said the word father."You have played right into our hands, finally." Someone near the back and out of sight spoke up, but their voice was no less loud and could be heard easily."Why have you attached yourselves to me, you heathens.""Heathens? Us? No, Father," another sneer, "you are the heathen. You are the one who takes pride in destruction.""You are the one who has plotted the destruction and downfall of not only your own flesh and blood but also the world." They all spoke in unison and I could swear I heard the voices of Thoth and Nehalennia mixed in among them. The God and Goddess must be aiding the children of Edmond.There was nothing for me to do for the time being. I just needed to listen and watch the show around me."You were all my tools, my experiments. You wouldn't have lived if it wasn't for me." He tried claiming that stupid logic again."And none of our deaths would have occurred if not for you either. You are nothing more than a blight on society, and it is time for you to be eliminated." They were continuing to speak in unison, their voices sounding eerie, but powerful."You can't! You won't! I won't let you!" Edmond was screaming now, frantic with fear. I guess he truly was capable of that emotion too."It's time to face the music Edmond. Time for you to atone for your sins." I told him as I finally joined my siblings in this conversation. "You have been judged by those who you sought to destroy, and you have been found guilty. There will be no second chances or escapes. It all ends here and now.""No! I won't let you." He continued to try and change the minds of us all. But it was to no avail. His fate was sealed."Prepare to die, Edmond." Those were the last words that I spoke before I called my magic to me. I reached out with a phantom hand, the same type I had used with Reece. I reached out until I felt his throat under my phantom limb.When I felt the steady, yet rapid, beat of his pulse I knew I was in position. I was ready to do what needed to be done. I hardened the magic of my invisible, phantom hand. Once the magic was stronger and harder, I swiped with it, one quick motion, right across his throat. The spray of blood was instantaneous as the cut nearly severed his head. Once more swipe, this one going in the opposite direction, and his head had been removed.Almost at the exact same time that I had made my first swipe, the children of Edmond had descended. They had already torn his limbs from his body before I had fully removed him of the burden of his head.I pulled the bloody, dripping head to me with the phantom hand as my long dead siblings clawed and ripped Edmond to shreds. I just stood there, watching the bloody mess form before my eyes. There was no recognizing that pile of red goo as Edmond, nothing of the previous shape remained.When they were done, they all turned to look at me. The rage and anger leaving their bodies. Those emotions had instead been replaced with a sense of contented happiness. They were finally at peace."How did you find us here?" I asked them, curious to know how they had been able to follow us from the real world."This is the land of shadows. We ghosts live among the shadows and rarely make it to the land of the living." They all spoke once again, like in death all children of Edmond were the same."Did Edmond know that?""No, he did not. But it was to our advantage that he did not know." There seemed to be a hint of laughter in that response."So you followed him, waiting for your chance to kill him?""We would not have been able to kill him without you, sister. It was your conversation with him that gave us form. The negative emotions fed us into being able to attack. Even among the shadows, ghosts are nothing more than a conscious shadow. We could no more hurt him that you could catch the wind." I laughed at that, because I had actually caught the wind, so to speak, but they didn't need to know that."So was it just our words, or my magic that you needed?" I asked them, for clarity purposes."Both. You are the only one of us to survive, and now there will be no more. Please, sister, use your gifts wisely." As they all spoke this time I noticed a slight glowing around their edges."What's happening now?" I asked them, scared as they all seemed to be disappearing."We have nothing to tether us to the shadows now, it's time for us to move on and find peace." They seemed to be smiling, all of them were. "Be strong, and be brave dear sister. You are the last of our kind and we will always watch over you from the great beyond." And with those words they all began to quickly fade away."Thank you for your help. I will never forget you all, ever.""Thank you." They spoke again, but it seemed so far away now, like they had traveled a great distance while still looking at me. "Goodbye." With that final word they were gone. I was now alone in the field with a bloody mess in front of me and a head held in my hand.There was one thing I knew for sure though, Edmond was finally dead.
