CODEX Part 3: Between Heaven and Hell

"I can't believe I'm doing this again," Zoe mumbled as she watched Carley talk to someone on the phone.

After the other group left, Carley insisted to stay and try their luck at a ghost. Of course, it was a stupid idea to remain in a dark building for something like that but that didn't seem to matter.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Robin said as she walked next to Zoe, "I can't believe she actually got prepared for this beforehand,"

That was probably the worst thing; she expected that to happen.

"It seemes she wanted to do it no matter what. She came with that idea in her head. She's probably wanted to do it for a long time," Richard continued.

Zoe sighed and watched Carley sweet talk the director on the phone.

"Do you think we're going to get some spiritual response?" Jacob was freaked out but he was equally curious.

"No." Zoe responded bluntly, "This school is empty," She stated firmly.

"We don’t know that."

Zoe rubbed the back of her neck and got up. Carley finished her phone call and came back with a winning smile.

“He said we can use it as long as we don’t break anything,” She chuckled when she realized how her words sounded, “It feels a lot like high school, really,”

Zoe took a deep breath and glanced over her shoulder. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was silent.

"Nothing happened after she died. I wonder if she stayed back for real,” Jacob commented.

Zoe had a lot of experience with ghosts and she knew just how fast their presence could be felt. Andy used to follow her everywhere and disappear when he was getting fed up with her yet she could still feel him around.

“Let’s hope we are unfortunate,”

Carley glared at her playfully and punched her in the arm lightly, “Don’t say that. Don’t kill my mood,”

Zoe only stared blankly at her former classmate.

“So,” Chen started, “I looked the ghost up. The one Zoe mentioned before,”

After their commander left, the whole gang moved into her apartment. Chen came back the next day with his necessities and brought a lot of beer and snacks while Charlie didn’t come with anything but a change of clothes. Ezekiel rubbed his head and gave up easily, finding the two humans far more comfortable than Eneizar and Iaosur.

“Did she really commit suicide?” Ezekiel asked curiously.

Chen nodded. He got quite comfortable on the ground with his laptop on his knees.

“She jumped off the school on a Friday. I hacked the police data base and got some files about her. It seems Nova Parish was a girl with a lot of issue,” Ezekiel raised an eyebrow and crawled closer to Chen as he continued, “She was having problems with anxiety, she was bipolar and often insinuated that she could see the darkness,”

That grabbed Charlie’s attention because he moved his head towards them, “What darkness?”

Chen shrugged and checked the rest of the file, “It doesn’t say. But she was suffering of severe paranoia and she filed complaints against people that weren’t real,”

Ezekiel leaned against the couch and stared at her picture, “She said she can see the darkness, she was paranoid and would often have sudden changes in her character. Doesn’t that sound very familiar?”

Charlie stared at Ezekiel before he sighed and got up, “That’s Zoe.” The two humans looked up at the host, “That is Zoe’s personality. She is slightly paranoid and has a lot of moments when her mood changes drastically. She’s in a constant state of anxiety when she leaves her house and is uncomfortable when talking to people. Besides, she sees the darkness. She sees demons and ghosts and she’s always under radar,”

Chen’s eyes widened, “But Zoe is the commander. That girl was human,”

Charlie chuckled and bent in front of him, “But she wanted to be. She wanted that title. The only way to know for sure was to kill herself,” He added and closed the laptop.

Chen narrowed his eyes at the older man and put the laptop aside, “Wait. Doesn’t that mean Zoe is in danger? She has the title that girl craved. Besides, her ghost is still very young,”

“We should call her and-“ Ezekiel got interrupted by a loud noise.

The front door opened widely and Jasper got pushed in by the two hosts.

“What’s going on?” Chen was very confused. He got up as well and walked towards Jasper but jumped back when the inheritor hissed and launched at him. Thankfully, Luke jumped over him and immobilized the shorter man.

“He suddenly freaked out. His eyes rolled in the back of his head and he started to talk in Latin," Mark was going to say more but someone interfered.

“We have a problem,” The one who appeared first was Eneizar. He pushed Luke off the inheritor and grabbed the young man like he was a puppet before he entered the place where horrors usually happen: Zoe’s bedroom.

Ezekiel stared in confusion at Mark. The human started to fidget and pace around.

“What’s the problem?” He asked Iaosur.

The angst demon glanced at Zoe’s bedroom before he looked at the human.

“Lucifer found the inheritor.”

The room fell into a deadly and uncomfortable silence instantly. It felt like someone just dropped a bucket of ice water over their heads.

“What will happen now?”

Iaosur grabbed a hand through his hair and licked his lips, “I don’t know.”

Ezekiel’s eyes widened and instinctively turned towards Charlie. The host was staring down at his feet with a poker face but Ezekiel noticed his hands trembling.

As soon as they got the affirmative answer from the director, they moved on the stage. Carley enlightened only four candles before she told everyone to form a circle. She placed the Ouija board in the middle and took a deep breath.

“This is really weird,” Robin whispered to Zoe.

The commander was in between Robin and Carley, Jacob was on Carley’s other side while her boyfriend was next to him and Richard was between Conner and Robin.

Zoe couldn’t help but look over her shoulder, expecting Gakhas to be there but he wasn’t. She hasn’t seen him in a few hours and she was scared that he might take advantage of the situation. It was in his nature to scare people.

“Are you ready?”

For some reason, Carley’s question sent a chill down Zoe's spine. She started to sweat and feel very uncomfortable. No one nodded but that didn’t stop Carley.

“Is there anybody in here?” She asked out loud but nothing happened.

“See? She’s not in here. Let’s just leave her rest in peace,” Jacob mumbled.

Carley glared at him and shut him up instantly, “I ask again. Is anybody in here, with us? We don’t want to hurt you. We just want to connect with you,” She added, trying to sound more convincing.

Surprisingly, the Planchette moved. She nudged the others to touch it and give enough spiritual energy to reach out to them. Once Jacob and Conner touched it, the Planchette started to move faster. It didn’t move on yes or no; it moved on the number 6.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The boys asked each other.

While Zoe was looking at the board, Jacob felt a soft touch on his left hand and a sudden push on his shoulders. He looked to the side only to catch a glimpse over his shoulder but nothing was there. He brushed it off quickly and turned his attention to the group.

“It suddenly became very hot. Do you feel it?” Richard took off his cardigan and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“Maybe it’s because we are channeling our energy on this board,” Carley’s answer made enough sense for everyone to believe it, “What does the number 6 mean for you?” She continued the game.

The Planchette moved on three letters.

Y-O-U

“You? You mean us?” The Planchette moved on yes, “Are you dangerous?” The Planchette moved on no and Zoe narrowed her eyes at the board, “Are you Nova Parish?” The Planchette didn’t move at all. Carley smiled and took that as a good sign, “Can you tell us when you died?” The Planchette moved slowly on letters, not numbers.

“Long time ago,” Zoe mumbled. That wasn’t an answer from a ghost and she knew it.

“Is there something you want us to say or do for you?” Carley continued to ask. The Planchette moved towards Jacob, his eyes widening, “W-What do you want to say to Jacob?” The Planchette moved again.

KILL, it said.

Jacob’s eyes widened even more and he started to lose focus. His energy was spreading around the group and it was attracting negative auras.

“Is this supposed to happen?”

Zoe narrowed at something behind the man.

“No,” Her tone was cold. She bit her lip and glared at Gakhas. He was controlling the Planchette as he wanted so she interfered, “I have a question, too.”

The demon raised an eyebrow and leaned over Jacob. The human could feel energy being pushed on him; bad energy.

“Why don’t you leave this school? Go back hom-“ Zoe’s eyes widened. Gakhas was waiting her request when he suddenly disappeared.

The Planchette stopped responding, as well. She frowned and looked around but couldn’t find the short demon.

Richard and Jacob felt relieved out of nowhere, like their souls were safe once again.

In that silent night, something snapped in Hell. For Zoe, it felt like a sudden stab in her heart. Her eyes widened when she started to hear soft whispers. Fortunately, she was the only one who could hear them but unfortunately, the Planchette started to move by its own.

“What’s going on?” Carley asked bewildered. Her hand was moving rapidly from one letter to another.

Robin grabbed Zoe’s hand and felt it very cold. She looked at her only to see her staring intensely at the message.

“They-“ Carley started, “-know.” She tilted her head to the side in confusion, “They know. What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Wait. Look, the message is not done yet,” Richard announced quickly.

Everyone leaned in to see what the message was.

“He-“ Carley started.

“Found-“ Jacob continued.

“The-“ Conner added.

“Inheritor,” Richard finished.

Zoe’s eyes widened and her whole body tensed; Robin could feel it on the way she tightened her fists.

“Oh, there’s more.”

“Great,” She whispered in annoyance. The night was evolving rapidly into a nightmare.

“This one moved faster. It says they are coming,” Carley was confused, “Who are they coming for? And who are they?”

Those two questions brought only one answer.

G-E-T O-U-T

Zoe’s eyes widened and she got up quickly, surprising the rest.

“What are you doing?” Robin asked first. The others were curious about the answer, as well.

“We have to leave. I have to leave right away, I’m sorry. I-“ Zoe got interrupted by the door to the theater beibg slammed open.

The noise was loud and it scared the shit out of the group. The Planchette moved without anyone channeling any energy on it.

“They’re here,” Carley read. “Who’s here?”

The answer to her question came suspiciously fast.

Two shadows appeared in front of the doors. They weren’t making any noise but they could hear them sigh. It was scary, mostly because it felt a lot like a horror movie where the suspense was worse than the actual monster.

Unfortunately, the real monster wasn’t out there. No, he was among the humans; eating and breathing, living just like them but the vessel was about to break and she knew it. Zoe started to cough and feel her heart throb. She closed her eyes and grabbed her head in pain.

At the same time, in her room, Eneizar was trying to keep Jasper conscious.

“Is that how strong you are? You’re quite pathetic, aren’t you?” Eneizar commented, Jasper snarling at the demon and struggling to break free, “Don’t break free just yet. You have to choose a side to fight for, inheritor,”

Jasper’s eyes narrowed at the vanity demon.

“I already chose.” He spoke through gritted teeth, “I know who my master is, unlike you!” He almost spat on Eneizar’s face while saying that,“You lied!” He continued, “You LIED!”

From pure evilness and no control, Jasper started to laugh loudly, like a maniac. Eneizar’s grasped weakened and the demon could easily punch him and throw him away. Thankfully, Iaosur called Gakhas and they grabbed him and chained him on the bed.

Eneizar walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaning against it as he closed his eyes.

“You’re gonna get it! Eneizar’s gonna get it!” He heard Jasper sing from inside the room. It was scary, even for someone like him.