The Corpus Grimoire part 5 (finale)

Mano took Grace down an alley to a side door. “Can you break it down?” he asked. She raised her hand and concentrated. A blast of dark energy shot out and the door fell inside. Wasting no time, Mano took her hand and rushed her into the shadowy building. The room was dark and their eyes hadn’t yet adjusted but Mano felt around, finding a large crate, then pulled her down behind it where they hid.

“I’ll take you wherever you need to go if you just get me away from those people,” Grace told him pleadingly.

“I appreciate it. Right now, we need to hide.”

“You think they’ll find us?”

“They will. We need to plan for that. Adina took my gun, so I’ll need you to disarm anyone with a weapon. I’ll take care of the big guy. Should be quick. Can you handle the girl?”

“I-I think so.”

“Good. Once we get rid of them, we’ll leave town.”

Moments later, Alysa rounded the corner and entered the alley, followed by Creed, Janey, and Valencia. “They went into the appliance store,” Alysa took note of the broken door leading into a darkened storage area.

“This girl needs to stop following strange people around,” Valencia muttered.

“You two wait out here in case they sneak out,” Creed told the witches, “Me and Alysa are going inside.”

Creed entered first, gun drawn. The back room was dark as the store was closed for the night. Large crates and industrial shelves created a small maze the two had to squeeze through. Mano and Grace hid in the darkness, facing a show room window, which provided a small bit of light. Mano waited until he could see Creed silhouetted against the window and silently directed Grace to remove the gun with a tap on her shoulder. She sent a black beam that went unseen in the darkened room and a moment later, Creed’s gun was removed from his grip. Wasting no time, Mano raced toward Creed and tackled him into the glass. They both went through the window and spilled onto the show room floor.

Alysa summoned a light spell and the entire back room was illuminated. Grace was instantly spotted among the metal shelves and panicked. “Stop following me, Alysa,” she threw her hands out and a shadowy limb grabbed the appliances above and pulled them from the top shelf. Alysa threw herself out of the way as the appliances hit the concrete floor, sending machine parts flying. With Alysa distracted, Grace once again raced out of the building with Alysa following. “Gracie, just wait!,” she said as she squeezed through the crowded storage room.

When Grace reemerged in the alley, she spotted Janey and Valencia standing in her path. “Let’s talk about this,” Valencia told her sternly. Grace never broke stride and black peels of energy lifted both women up by their dresses and threw them against the walls of the alley, rendering them unconscious. Grace continued to the street and as Alysa passed the two unconscious witches, she made sure they were still alive before chasing after Grace.

In the show room, appliances were set up neatly, according to their departments. Some lights were up to deter break-ins but most of the room was cast in darkness. Creed and Mano had just gone through the window and were regaining their bearings. Mano stood to his feet first with a shard of glass in hand, “You’re in over your head, pendejo. Last chance to walk away.” Creed smiled and spread his arms, “Bring it.”

Creed threw the first punch but Mano ducked under it, using the shard to slice the underside of his arm, his leather jacket protecting him from a slit vein. “Damn,” he pulled his arm back as Mano advanced. He thrust the broken glass toward Creed’s throat, but Creed snatched him by the wrist and twisted. Quickly realizing it was an attempt at breaking his arm, Mano performed a complete flip in the same direction. It forced him to drop the glass but saved him from an injury. Mano then pulled Creed down as he rolled onto his back and pressed both feet against his stomach before kicking him into the side of an oven. Creed angrily popped back on his feet and Mano stood up just before he took a boot to the chest. He flew into the air and landed hard against a reception desk. It was then that he realized Creed was more formidable than he anticipated and slipped into the shadows.

Outside, Grace ran into the street with Alysa following. “Just stop, alright?” Alysa used a spell to telekinetically pull her back and as Grace found herself yanked in the opposite direction, she sent another blast. Alysa raised a forcefield but the impact against the shield still threw her onto her back.

“I got power now!” Grace shouted, “Does that piss you off? You wanted to be the only one who can do shit?”

“Of course not,” Grace stood up, “We’re just try’n to protect you.”

“You could’ve protected me before any of this ever happened,” Grace told her sadly, “Made sure I was alright when things were gett’n bad. Ever since we graduated, you been gone and I’ve had to be on my own.”

“I had to go off and fight, Gracie,” Alysa told her pleadingly, “I never had a choice.”

“What about my fight? You think I wanted this to happen? The shitty job? The drugs? I needed someone to talk to but you weren’t there!”

“I was there! I never left!”

“That’s not true,” Grace shook her head, “When people went crazy in town and they turned to zombies or whatever, me and mom had to hide in the basement. Where were you?”

“I was fighting to stop it!” Alysa’s voice rose in anger.

“Yeah, you said that already.”

Grace raised her hands and a massive black claw reached out. Fingers closed-in around her, but Alysa used an animalistic spell; the image of a snake appeared and she managed to slide through its grip and slip away. Grace swung her arm in an over-handed motion and the giant hand came down in a fist. Alysa rolled to the side as the fist punched a hole in the pavement.

Meanwhile, Creed searched through the appliance store. Alysa warned him that Mano was skilled and he was learning more and more how true that was. When he passed by a refrigerator, the top door swung open, slamming into his face. Creed shut the door and stormed forward as Mano leapt over a nearby washing machine. Creed pursued and Mano hopped up, delivering a spinning-kick to his face in the process. Creed stumbled back and as Mano tried a follow-up attack, Creed landed a punch to the jaw that threw Mano onto the tile floor.

Mano was shocked by his strength and had to shake his head to clear it before climbing to his feet. Creed grabbed him by the back of his jacket but Mano ducked down, then spun around, quickly slipping out of it. He gave Creed a quick one-two combo against his ribs before upper-cutting him in the jaw. Creed retaliated with a right-cross that threw him against another refrigerator. Mano ducked under the next punch and Creed put a dent in the side of the appliance.

“Stand still, asshole,” Creed thought to himself.

“Fall down, asshole,” Mano thought to himself.

Outside, black energy enveloped Grace’s arm and elongated into a spike. “I’m not gonna fight you!” Alysa shouted as she backed up. She knew Grace was monumentally powerful, but luckily, she had no experience fighting or knowledge of magic and that was keeping her alive for the moment.

“You abandoned me,” Grace stabbed at Alysa, but the attack was blocked by a mystical shield, “And you did it when I really needed you!”

“I’m here now,” Alysa’s shield blocked another shot, “I’m sorry, Gracie. For everything!”

“You’re only sorry now that I can kick your ass.”

Grace plunged both hands into the pavement, sending tendrils of energy below ground. They shot up under Alysa’s feet, throwing her onto her back. As she gasped for breath, Grace approached.

In the appliance store, Mano rolled over the top of an oven and moved to a display of coffee machines. As Creed rushed in, Mano threw a coffee pot, which Creed ducked under. The next pot smashed against the top of his head. Creed groaned and fell back against a refrigerator. Mano ripped another pot away from its display and smashed it into a counter, leaving a plastic handle with jagged shards of glass jutting out. He then leapt onto the oven and kicked off into the air, the makeshift knuckle-duster ready to strike.

Creed held onto the door handle of the fridge and, with both hands, took a swing. The refrigerator rose off the ground and found its way into Mano’s path. The impact threw him onto his back and the sound of the falling fridge was thunderous.

In the street, Alysa raised a hand, creating a shield just in time to catch a blast of dark energy. She swung her arm down, deflecting it into the pavement nearby.

“I’ve always protected you, Gracie,” Alysa called out, “Remember when your parents got divorced and I helped you get over that? Remember how my mom used to make you dinner every time you came over? Or what about when Justin Bevel flipped your skirt in eighth grade and I whupped his ass?”

“That was the past,” Grace said sadly.

“What else can I do except say sorry?” Alysa pleaded, “You gonna kill me because I’ve been busy? You know why I came look’n for you, right? Your mom called me and said you got fired and you were on something. I dropped everything to help you, even though I’ve been through the worst time of my life since my mom died.”

“So you finally gave a shit and wanted to help,” Grace raised her arms and black tendrils reached to the sky as her makeshift cloak flapped, fumes of black smoke escaping with every movement, “But the thing is, I don’t need your help anymore.”

Alysa hated what came next. She was only trained in nature-based magic and not witchcraft. And yet, the spells written along Grace’s body seemed to call out to her. The book wanted to be used. Janey and Valencia said there was an allure to the Corpus Grimoire and they were right. She couldn’t speak the language but with her connection to the mystic arts, there was a certain knowledge there. Something to be used. When she gazed at the letters and thought about the sort of spell she needed, the words tattooed along Grace’s face shifted, like ink falling into water. She spoke the words out loud. Grace stopped and started to wobble as a few sparks danced around. It was a mild light spell, so the cost was low. It was still effective, however. The spell caused vertigo and threw Grace off balance.

Her head was spinning and her vision was blurred. She summoned some dark energy but the beam spun into the air as she had difficulty focusing. Finally, she came to a rest on the ground, across from Alysa. The two girls sat and gazed at one another.

“You been through a lot of shit the past few months,” Alysa said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.”

“I tried to call,” Grace began sadly, “But there was never an answer and I was too pissed to leave a voicemail.”

“I kept meaning to call you back,” she admitted, “I really do care about you.”

“I wanna believe you.”

“All the drugs and the crazy shit that witch put you through… I know it’s a lot.”

“It was, but you wanna know something?” Grace smiled, “I feel better today than I have for a long time.”

Creed raced across the street, “Alysa?” Behind him, Janey and Valencia followed, having recovered from Grace’s attack. Grace looked at them and back at Alysa before rising to her feet. “Gracie, don’t go,” Alysa stood up, “We can help. I promise!” Grace gave one last, silent look before her cloak unfurled. She rose into the air and disappeared into the night.

Hours later, police had the area tapes off and Adina Rusnak’s body was carried out in a body bag. The four survivors were interviewed with the chief of police, Charles Meyer, interviewing Creed personally, “… And the Smith girl just got up and left?” Meyer looked at Creed incredulously, waiting for an answer. “Not much we could do for Grace at that point,” Creed responded. Meyer began ranting, which Creed anticipated and while that happened, he felt another set of eyes on him. Around the corner, he saw a familiar, customized motorcycle and a black-clad rider. The Horseman had run into Alysa and Creed a day earlier, looking for Mano. Creed knew Mano had slipped away at some point during the aftermath and it was likely Horseman was there to continue the pursuit. He warned Alysa and Creed about crossing him and, while the Horseman’s face was hidden behind a dark visor, Creed could still tell he was infuriated. He knew that if they ever met again, it wouldn’t be peaceful.

Across the street, Janey and Valencia sat with Alysa. “Friendship can be a very fragile thing,” Janey told her, “Sometimes we take it for granted.” Alysa nodded. Valencia reached into her bag and, despite the pouch being far too small, she somehow removed the Corpus Grimoire from it.

“Wait,” Alysa began, “Isn’t that…?”

“It was,” Valencia opened the book to reveal blank pages, “It’s pretty useless at the moment. Empty pages. We were tasked to bring the book back, but there’s not much anyone can do with this thing now.”

“Why’re you giving it to me?”

“One day, you’ll find your friend and when that happens, I’m sure you’ll find a way to transfer the power back to this book.”

“And hopefully she won’t be mad at me.”

Janey gave her a slight hug, “Whether forgiveness is given or not, try to find peace in knowing you did everything you could.”

“Thanks,” Alysa thought for a moment and then looked up at the two witches, “Think y’all could teach me some witchcraft?”

“Really?” Valencia asked, “Why?”

“I was kicked outta the Iseda priesthood a while back. It was all I knew and since I left, I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep doing what I needa do.”

“And you want to be a witch?”

“Maybe? I dunno. I figure learning different forms of magic might be a way to find out who I am. I know either way, I need to protect people, especially folks in this town.”

“You have to first understand witchcraft is not to be taken lightly,” Janey explained.

“It can be enriching but it can also be dangerous if you’re not careful,” Valencia added.

“I realize that,” Alysa answered, “Danger’s been a big part of my life for a while now.”

“We can make some visits and teach you a few things,” Valencia told her.

“If it’s not too much trouble.”

“Creed won’t like us coming to town,” Janey said with a wink, “All the more reason to show up.”

****

The next day, Creed and Alysa sat in Helen Smith’s livingroom; her eyes were red from tears and she held a used tissue in her hand. “The good news is Grace is alive,” Creed told Helen, “And she ain’t being led around by no junkies or crazy European ladies no more.”

“If you see her again… please tell her to come home,” Helen sniffed.

“We’ll do that,” Alysa stood up and gave her a comforting hug.

They left the house soon after. “That was a rough conversation,” Alysa said sadly, “Wish we can do more for Grace and her mom.”

“If I’m reading the situation right,” Creed began, “Grace is gonna show back up sooner rather than later. Maybe we can help cure her when she turns up.”

“Hope so.”

As they returned to Creed’s truck, a lone figure stood on the roof of a house, silently watching them. Once Grace was satisfied, the black shroud surrounding her raised up and she flew into the distance.

Next: An unexpected family reunion