The Last Guardian

Chapter_43: The Boogeyman

 Johnathan suddenly woke up to the sound of grunting and aching. He had rested the entire day in the church while the others were busy questioning the captured Dmitri who was locked inside an isolated room in the church. He got up and scratched his head- it was almost night time- he checked his watch- 8:00 p.m. and he was getting hungry. He went up to the torture room. Farid was waiting outside the room, looking through a window, in deep thought. Johnathan walked up to him slowly.

“Ah! You’re awake-”said Farid turning towards him “how do you feel?”

“Like somebody squeezed me like a lemon and took out all the juice-”said Johnathan walking feverishly.

“You’ll be fine- your Qi is restoring, give it some time-”he advised.

“What’s going on inside?” asked Johnathan.

“Billy wants to know where Dmitri found the Necronomicon- I personally detest torture, so I’m waiting outside-”replied Farid calmly.

“But why is it so important?” asked Johnathan naively.

“Because its a rare artefact-to acquire it one must have met the one true Witch and either defeat her in a battle or strike a deal with her- I’m betting on the later because she’s not easy to defeat-and if he’s made a deal, then hell will reign down on earth sooner than you can expect-”replied Farid.

“What? I don’t understand-” replied Johnathan.

“Well...she usually deals in human sacrifices-mostly infants and new-born children, so ...”replied Farid looking worried.

“That’s disgusting! Ugh!” remarked Johnathan.

Inside the torture room-

“I’m gonna break every bone in your body until you tell me where the Witch is and how you got the book from her-”said Billy and punched Dmitri hard in his face.

He was tied to a chair and his white coat was now bloody red. He was clearly tortured more than enough but he had an iron will.

“Huh! Do your worst- old man! I am not gonna tell you even if you kill me-”replied Dmitri.

"Oh you're gonna tell me everything- believe me- I'm just starting!" replied Billy wiping the blood from his fists.

"I know you from somewhere... I've seen you- your face- looks familiar!" said Dmitri breathing heavily.

Billy took a pail of water and splashed it in his face.

The door opened and Johnathan came in with Farid.

"Be careful, don't kill him- yet!" said Farid walking up to Billy.

"I ain't handing him to the police- he will die here-"replied Billy.

"There are other ways to make him talk- this violence isn't necessary-"said Farid.

"Oh! You're such a pacifist! I need to make him pay for hurting Johnny-"replied Billy.

"Listen to me- the Necronomicon is useless without him- only he can open the book, the witch has allowed only him to read it. In case he dies, the book will return to it's owner..."explained Farid.

"Geez! I didn't know that-"said Billy washing his hands.

"I have things that can force him to speak the truth, so keep him alive - and once we're done, I'll bind a spell that will stop him from accessing his memories from the last 24 hours and then drop him off at the police station-" added Farid.

"Do as you please Brother, I'm done!" replied Billy walking away.

Raven left too.

Johnathan stood there watching Dmitri who was barely conscious-

"I still don't understand how he managed to have a werewolf as a son-"said Johnathan observing him closely trying to find a resemblance.

"Well he had the book- he must have turned his son into a monster in order to help him- Who knows!" replied Farid.

"And what about Ivan?" asked Johnathan.

"What about him?" replied Farid kneeling down before Dmitri and inspecting him closely.

"Well Ivan had a lair full of vamps and the day I fought him, he said that he had no idea why we were after him and he didn't sent his men to attack you... and now his brother?" said Johnathan.

"Wait what? He said that?" asked Farid in surprise.

"Yeah right before I killed him-"replied Johnathan.

"Huh! There's a deeper mystery here- but first things first, I need answers from him-"said Farid and put two fingers on his forehead.

Johnathan looked curiously as Farid closed his eyes with his fingers pressed against Dimitri's forehead. He was trying to read his mind....

Moments later, he opened his eyes and stood up. He looked worried.

"What? What is it?" asked Johnathan.

"It's bad my friend, she's already here-"replied Farid.

"Who are we talking about?" asked Johnathan.

"It's not just any witch, it's The Witch- it's the one in the stories that parents used to tell their kids in order to behave- Ah! We're too late-"replied Farid in frustration.

"Who? The Boogeyman?" asked Johnathan.

"Yeah- the one original Boogeyman from his home country-"replied Farid.

There was an awkward silence in the room before Farid went out of the room. Johnathan was too weak to stress upon another problem. He took a deep breath and sat down on a chair opposite to the unconscious Dmitri. He sat there and wondered what is this new trouble that has Brother Farid worried and what's the deal with the Mafia and their Black Magic...

Brother Farid walked in a few moments later, with a small book in one hand and a vial of red liquid in the other. He gave the book to Johnathan and said-

“Read this- look for the title named- Slavic Folklore-the first creature there is what we are dealing with-”

Johnathan did as he was told and started to read while Farid stood before Dmitri and opened the vial of liquid and grabbed Dmitri by his head and poured some of its contents in his mouth. Dmitri was unconscious but he suddenly woke up as the bitter liquid ran down his throat. He choked and coughed-

“What did you just give me?” he asked.

“Call it a kind of truth serum-”replied Farid.

“Huh! Nothing will work on me – I’m immune to all poisons and potions-”he remarked proudly.

“How did you get the book from the witch?” asked Farid interrupting his speech.

“I begged her- I found her hidden location in the deep forests of Romania after many days of struggle...many of my men died of exhaustion and cold but I kept going and I finally found her hut...wait what’s happening to me? Why am I telling you my secrets? What have you done?” said Dmitri in utter shock.

“The power of Veritas compels you to speak the truth-carry on!” replied Farid folding his arms.

Johnathan stopped reading and looked at Dmitri, his story seemed interesting.

“What is Veritas now?” he thought.

“I shall not! Wait...Ugh! We call her Babushka or grandmother in Russian. I wanted the power to defeat the Guardian and I’ve heard that only Babushka of the woods possess such abilities-so I had to try. My men were skeptical at first but when they saw her hut, they ran away...but I kept going...I needed to see her...”replied Dmitri unwillingly.

Something was forcing him to spill out the truth despite his best efforts not to. Billy and raven came in at the fateful time and listened to what Dmitri had to say...

Meanwhile Lisa was at the abandoned factory looking at the crime scene. Around fifty people were found unconscious and another fifty with maimed or killed. There were empty cartridges outside and a giant dead body inside a cage. She put her hands on her hips trying make sense of everything around her. If not for an anonymous tip, the police would have never known that there has been a m******e. Her mind went to the usual suspects, Billy and Johnathan and that strange emo girl with a bad attitude. She thought that surely they had something to do with this, maybe there were monsters here?

"Somebody beat the crap out of the Mafia!" she said to herself.

There were policemen all around the factory and the forensics were having a hard time collecting evidence- there was just too much of it! As Lisa was inspecting the scene, she had a phone call- it was from the precinct, she was needed somewhere else- there has been a missing persons case. She argued on the phone that the Mafia case was more important but when she heard that the mayor's daughter had disappeared, she had to go...