Accidental Demon Slayers: Experiments in Darkness pt. 20

When I regained consciousness I was standing in the large, front yard of a grey, rotting mansion.  The design was a mixture of medieval castle and Gothic nightmare.  Obviously it wasn’t the happiest of places.  The only color was the green grass, a sharp contrast to the black of the house, and the gray of the sky.

As expected, Juktha was standing to my right.  She looked just as dazed as I felt.  I don’t think even she could ever imagine that Grath was strong enough to have pulled us into Megan’s mind-scape on his own.

I heard a soft moan to my left.  It was male.

I turned my head, and saw Kurt sitting on the grass, rubbing the side of his head.

“How in the hell...” I couldn’t believe me eyes.

“Why is it that I always get sucked into these creepy, strange worlds on every single one of your adventures.”  Kurt stood up, shaking his head to clear his vision.  “First Sumthak’s layer, and now... What?  Dark Shadows?”

“You were the one who gave Grath the idea.”  I took his hand in mine, giving it a squeeze.  He was really here.

“Don’t remind me.”  Kurt cracked a half smile.  “Try and have a romantic moment, and some forgotten god goes and turns it into a special trip to a netherworld.”

Juktha stepped towards the house, looking it over, taking in the decay, the rot.  “His influence is already taking over.  We are running out of time.”

We all froze at the sound of approaching footsteps.  I turned, ready to fight.
“I’d ask why you were on edge, but I have an idea.”  Ashtyn was walking up the long driveway, brushing leaves and grass from her shoulders.

“The gang is all here.” Juktha was obviously unhappy with that fact.  “He’s trying to take out his biggest threats.”

“Us?”  I glanced at Juktha, then to Kurt and Ashtyn.  “Why them?  They don’t have any powers?  They couldn’t get to him before he involved them in all of... this!”

“That’s not entirely true.”  Ashtyn pulled a dried leaf from her hair.  “There’s been something going on with me.  Something I... I can’t really explain.  I can understand things, ancient languages, that no one else could.  I touched one of those spores, and it just turned to dust.”

“It’s my aura.”  When Juktha spoke we all turned towards her.  “The longer you are around Bobby, the more you have been exposed to my essence.”

“So, it’s rubbing off?”  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  “But Kurt’s around me more than anyone, and he isn’t showing any odd powers.”

“But he is.”  Juktha looked at Kurt.  “He makes you stronger.  That battle with Grath in the lab?  You didn’t survive it because of me.  You survived it because Kurt was in the room.  He protects you, heals you.”

I was about to say something when the sound of the front doors of the house banging open pulled my attention.  We all turned towards the noise.

There, standing in the open doorway, was Megan.  She was in a long, flowing, white dress.  She seemed to stand out against the darkness behind her.  No light seemed to be able to actually penetrate the house.

“Megan!”  I started towards her, but Juktha stopped me.

“Help me.”  Megan’s body tensed as a shadowy hand seemed to break away from the darkness, and move across her stomach, then up towards her breasts.  “Please.”

With a violent tug, Megan was pulled into the void beyond the doorway, and completely vanished from our view.

I took off, the rest of my group following behind me.  Within seconds we had crossed the lawn, and were entering the house.  As expected, once we were inside, the doors slammed shut behind us.

This was it.  Our battle with Grath had begun.