The story of the FALLEN

12. Demonology, part 2

Nakir is lounging on the sofa, his bare feet on the coffee table and a book in his lap. He is humming a dark tune while he reads. He must be juiced up to the max, Zack thinks. The shadows are dancing on the curtains and probably narrating the book. He just can’t make any sense of it. The shadows move too fast for him to follow. Is Nakir even aware of what he’s doing? Nobody else here has the ability to command shadows. Since Zack can’t sense a demonic presence, it must be Nakir’s doing. Should he ask?

“Zack! Stop glaring. I can feel your gaze on the back of my head.” Nakir says. He doesn’t turn or move otherwise. He just can’t be bothered.

“Care to explain the shadows?” Zack asks back. He is intrigued.

“I need something to kill. The Blue Lagoon is closed for one day.” Nakir answers. His frustration can be heard, not just seen.

“I can spar with you to take the edge off.” Zack offers. He knows it won’t do much good, but it might take Nakir’s mind off of things for an hour.

“Later.” Nakir flips him off. “This book is good. Where did you get it?”

“A book shop. The guy deals in rare and old books. I might have to go back there and browse around some more.” He answers. The plan is to go back, but maybe he should take Nakir with him?

“The dialect is crude, but I know Aquinas was from Sicily. It’s just weird that he wrote in that dialect. All his books are either in Latin or French.” Nakir remarks. He flips to another page and continues with the humming. “It’s not his usual scientific debate either. He really went deep into the genealogy of demons. Do you think he actually met real demons? What is the chance he experienced this for real?”

“I don’t know. The chances are that he met demons. Maybe even an angel. We both know we’re not the only ones left.” Zack scoffs at his own thoughts. They are not searching for their brethren, and they certainly don’t want to be found. But maybe Aquinas found someone. The scholar was extremely open minded for his time.

“I found that Manticus demon of yours. Peculiar creature.” Nakir continues. “They are drawn to light. They can sense when someone is initially good and their goal is to drain that light. Aquinas claims that the Manticus can then assume any form he likes for a short time period. All depending on how much light energy it could drain from the victim.”

“Are you telling me our demon killed Father Angus and then just walked away looking human?” Zack wonders. Why didn’t he know that about demons? Why are they now just learning this after five thousand years?

“Looks like it. Maybe a cat, or a dog. There are no specifics, but it is implied. It could be possible.” Nakir reads on. The shadows form the demon and then change forms to human, cat, and dog.

“This is a problem.” Zack tells him. “How are we supposed to find the demon, if it can change shapes? Can I assume that he can change his signature as well? Does he give away the sense of being human? Or that of the animal?”

“If it can hide that well, we are in trouble. Can’t trail a demon if your senses scream dog.” Nakir responds.

“And that detective is still at it. He is determined to solve this murder.” Zack shakes his head. “If there is a witch behind this, the guy is in danger. He told me that someone ordered the body to be cremated. All he’s got left are pictures in his file.”

“Wipe his memory, if you care about him. Get him off of the trail.” Nakir shrugs. He closes the book and sighs. “You still up for that sparring session?”

“Wipe his memory? That is cutting it close to the forbidden act. You know we can’t play with free will.” Zack glares at Nakir. “Is that what you do with the girls?”

“No. I have no need for that. I tell them up front it’s a one time deal.” Nakir smirks. “I’m not back to my old hobbies. I know that look in your eyes, so don’t try to deny it.”

“Good.” Zack smiles. “Come on. The training rooms are empty.”

They don’t really need the mats around the vast room, but those are good for muffling the sounds. There will be a lot of hitting the ground or the walls. Zack doesn’t need to hold back with Nakir, and he is certain Nakir won’t hold back. Training with Nakir brings all the variety of their training weapons in play. The racks are spaced evenly on both sides. He wonders what Nakir will choose first? Zack is partial to the staff himself, but he never could tell with Nakir. In the end, they could go through the whole set of training weapons at their disposal.

“Ready?” Nakir inquires. He chose the spear this time.

“Sure.” Zack inclines his head. This should be interesting, he thinks. The first blow comes so sudden, he barely has time to react. Staff in motion, he blocks Nakir and steps out of the way. He knows all of Nakir’s moves. They have been friends in battle since the very beginning. Blocking and thrusting, he will not let Nakir have all the fun. He goes on the offence and slashes over Nakir’s feet. The guy jumps out of the way, only to bring the spear up over Zack’s head. He leans back to be out of the way of the tip, before he swings his own staff at Nakir again.

They both spin out of the way of the other. Nakir grabs two training swords in favour of the spear. He must mean business, Zack smirks. Both can play that game, he thinks. He lets the staff fall and pulls the swords out. Just in time, because Nakir is rushing at him with full speed. He crosses the swords in front of him and pushes with all his strength just as Nakir makes contact with his two swords. Using his own momentum, Zack throws Nakir up and over. Then he spins around to block a roundhouse kick to his head.

He’s done playing! Striking as fast as he can, he pushes Nakir into a corner. He forces the dark angel to defend himself. Zack knows it’s only going to fuel Nakir’s rage. He can see it happening in real time as Nakir’s eyes turn completely black. He knows the one small weakness of his opponent: Nakir’s left hand. He pushes in and strikes only on the left side. He forces Nakir to drop the sword and kicks him to deal the final blow. Or, so he thought. Nakir jumps up and comes back down with his own angelic blade. Damn! Zack has a millisecond of time to summon his own sword and block the blow. The training weapons can’t withstand such an onslaught. He would be doomed, but his personal angelic sword can stop Nakir.

The clash of metal on metal echoes around the room. The battle is in full swing. Both of them give as good as they take. Sparks are flying every time the swords come into contact. Speed and endurance play no role here, because they are evenly matched. It all comes down to who will make the first mistake. Zack pulls his dual swords apart for better leverage against that monstrum Nakir calls a sword. One blow with that and Zack can kiss his immortality goodbye.

“Tell me those aren’t sharp?” Detective Holland asks. When did he get here and who let him in? Zack glances at Nakir and they both lower their weapons.

“Who let you in?” Zack glares at the detective.

“The front door was unlocked. All I heard was the clash of weapons, so I came to see what was going on.” The detective answers.

“Practice.” Nakir shrugs. His stance might be deceiving, Zack knows the detective can be killed in half a minute. “Who are you?”

“Detective Garry Holland.” The guy answers.

“This is Niki. He’s one of the teachers here.” Zack tells the detective. “But you still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?”

“Don’t know how to answer.” The detective sighs. “You’ll think I’m crazy, but at least you won’t laugh at me like my colleagues would.”

“Now, I’m interested.” Nakir leans on his sword and looks over to the detective. “Try us.”

“I was down at Holland Park. The scene of the murder has been cleared away, but I thought that maybe we missed something. I was just going through it all again when a man rushed me. Not saying a word, he just straight out slugged me.” Detective Holland tells them. “I pulled my gun. I yelled at him that I’m a cop. There was just no stopping the guy.”

“What? You ran?” Nakir inquiries.

“No. I shot him. Twice. Point blank range.” The detective shakes his head. “The guy should be dead, but all he did was screech at me like a banshee from a horror movie. Then he turned and vanished into the bushes.”

“Did you see his face?” Zack asks. Is it possible the detective came in close contact with the Manticus demon and survived? He glances at Nakir, but there is no tell on his face. Cold and impassive as always.

“No. He had one of those oversized hoodies on. I couldn't even tell if it was a man. I’m just assuming that from the height and the bulk.” The detective says. “And the right hook he dealt me. It hurt like hell.”

“Did you see any blood left behind? Did you see the bullets make an impact?” Zack wants to know.

“Not a drop of blood anywhere.” The detective answers. “Maybe he had a bulletproof vest on? But it still hurts from that range. He didn’t recoil or anything. Now that I think about it, it’s like I was shooting at a wall.”

“Ire debeo vultu?” Nakir asks Zack if he should go check it out. There is probably no chance the detective speaks Latin.

“Itur postea.” Zakir nods. They will both go, he just needs to get rid of the detective first.

“I’m still here.” Detective Holland waves at them.

“Do you need a ride home?” Zack asks. “We could offer you a spare bedroom, if you don’t feel safe on your own.”

“That’s not what you were talking about. I can’t let you roam around the park at night. What if you get hurt just like the priest did?” The detective says. “I may not speak that weird language, but I know what you’re thinking. This guy is dangerous. This is no time to play vigilante, no matter how good you think you are with those swords.”

“One: Father Angus didn’t die in the park. Two: We can take care of ourselves.” Nakir glares at the detective.

“He’s right. You know that, too. You wouldn’t have come here otherwise.” Zack smirks.

“Then I’m coming with you.” The detective insists. “I’m not crazy or paranoid. I could never be accused of being trigger happy. But this guy is just not normal.”