• Enter, Darkness

    Diary entry number 36
    There used to be true civilization, but that was before. Before the demons, the force for chaos finally broke into our world. I suppose I can’t blame them, those people who surrendered their freedom for security. By all accounts the years that chaos ran rampant upon the world were horrible. People died in great numbers and in many unimaginable ways. Then came the Order and they offered people peace and freedom from the demons that plagued the world. The people agreed and the Order implemented the great purge. A section of the world was cleansed of demons as well as everything and everyone who was accused of co-operating with the demons. Then, true to their word those who were allowed to enter the society the Order built had peace. But it was an empty peace, a false peace. It was the kind of peace that reigns when people are afraid to move, afraid to speak, and afraid to act. The first thing the Order did after setting up their society was decree that if you lived in their society you had live by their rules. Those who defied them faced banishment or other far worse fates. The way they saw it people had brought the demons upon themselves by provoking them with their actions. So the Order outlawed any action that might provoke a demon.and implemented the harshest punishment for performing any of those actions.

    Night and still unbroken silence dominates the streets. The pale halogen lights of streetlamps barely pierce the gloom of the lingering darkness. On the edge of two of these flickering spotlights was a dead-end street, a harbor for the night’s shadows. A young woman is waiting at the street corner. Her name was Kathrin and she was pacing up and down fidgeting with the zipper of her loose gray sweatshirt. Her non-descript blue jeans were straight and not creased; they hid a pair of perfectly white sneakers. Kathrin’s outfit concealed any possible distinctive features about her figure. The only thing that is apparent is that she is of median height. Even her blond hair that is cropped close to the bottom of her neck is mostly covered with a blue baseball hat. Kathrin tried desperately to peer thru the gloom in order to catch a glimpse of the person she had arranged to meet on this dark street corner.

    Suddenly, without a sound to break the silence, another woman emerged from the shadows of the alleyway. Black clothing had been banned by the Order long ago because it was believed to attract demons, yet she was dressed in almost nothing else. She was wearing a long black trench coat that was very form fitting and reached down to her heels. To compliment it she wore a pair of black leather shoes and black dress pants. The only splash of color in her outfit came from the blood red t-shirt that peeked out from under her trench coat. She had long black hair and unnaturally pale white skin.

    Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of darkly tinted sunglasses that didn’t seem to hinder her at all, even though the street was in almost complete darkness. She was fairly thin and very tall, but she didn’t seem scrawny. The name that this woman had chosen for herself was Eliza, but not many people knew that. Most people, if they knew that she existed at all referred to her as Darkness. Since all that they remembered about her was that her face was marked with a tattoo on her left cheek; a slightly disturbing picture of a small sun that is threatened to be engulfed by a great swirl of darkness. So, Eliza used this to her advantage and adopted Darkness as a surrogate surname since it was vital that no one from the Order know who she really was.

    “So,” Eliza said and her clear voice seems to penetrate the gloom itself. “I wonder what has brought a member of the Order to my door step this fine evening.”
    Kathrin flinched at the tone in Eliza voice when she said the word Order. Her voice had been full of malice and anger. Kathrin squirmed, even more uncomfortable because of Eliza’s overwhelming presence.

    “But…but… I… I’m not,” she managed to stutter out a feeble protest.

    “Spare me your half hearted excuses! I know what you are, despite what you’ve done to try and hide it. You would have never gotten this far if I hadn’t let you. So, let us both save ourselves some time by skipping to the truth.” Eliza said in a tone voice that was dripping with scorn.

    Kathrin tugged on the drawstrings of the hood on her sweater before nervously saying, “I need your help.”

    “Obviously,” said Eliza and the scorn in her voice elevated to full blown contempt.

    “There’s this mirror you see. It was my mother’s but I inherited it when she died.” Kathrin paused and looked frantically around at their surroundings assuring herself that no one else was there. “Well, it always made me uncomfortable as a kid. I always thought that it was one of those mirrors that could steal your soul if you looked into it too long.”

    “Are you going to get to the point one of these days?” Eliza interrupted.

    “Well,” Kathrin said and gathered up her courage to continue. “One of the first things they teach you when you join the Order, is how to detect the presence of demons. So, after I was sure that I understood the methods behind the ritual I practiced it on the mirror. As it turns out the mirror was actually possessed!” She paused and when she continued she spoke very fast. “Since then I’ve tried everything I can to exorcise the demon in the mirror. But nothing works! Anything I do just makes it stronger! The mirror aura is openly malevolent now and it scares me!”

    There was a long pause at the end of Kathrin’s statement and then Eliza said, “And why haven’t you told your Order friends about this mirror and had them deal with it?”

    “If the Order found that I have possessed this mirror for most of my life. They would banish me from the Society for sure. I take it that you know how hard life is outside of the society.” Kathrin gave Eliza a sideways glance, when Eliza nodded Kathrin continued, “If they found that I had increased the power of the mirror, even unknowingly, they would try and prosecute me for being a collaborator. You know what happens to collaborators.” Kathrin and Eliza shuttered almost simultaneously. The pause that followed was filled the shared silent horror of the two women.

    “This mirror, you have it with you?” said Eliza breaking the silence.

    Kathrin shook her head and said, “It’s much too big to carry. It’s one of those huge gothic full length mirrors. I’ve hidden it in the attic of my house.”

    “You expect me to follow you, an agent of the Order that is trying to hunt me down, to an undisclosed location at a moment’s notice? How do I you’re not leading me into a trap?”

    “I swear by the Order’s mark that I carry that I haven’t planned anything that could possibly endanger you and while you are helping me I also swear not to harm you in anyway.”

    Eliza raised an eyebrow in disbelief and then spent several minutes in thought before responding. “Well,” she said. “I suppose that is the best assurance that I can expect to get from one of the Order. Very well, lead on.”

    Dairy entry number 37
    Is going knowingly into a dangerous situation in order to help someone else still considered to be a suicidal impulse? I think that most people would say no. In fact if said person is in danger and you have the power to help them, then I think most people would say that you are morally obligated to help them. But what if it’s not a mortal danger for the person you’re helping and it is for you, are you still obligated to go? …

    It had been a long and tedious trek down many empty roads to their destination. But since neither woman had wanted to attract attention to themselves by driving to their meeting place, they had been forced to walk to Kathrin’s house. They walked down street after street filled with apartment houses on either side. They looked like big milk cartons lined up as closely as possible in a row. As they were walking they happened to pass by an unusual house. This house looked like all the other cookie cutter apartment houses they had passed this evening save for two things, it wasn’t lit up from the inside
    and there was a wilted daffodil in a flower pot clearly visible on the front step. Eliza turned to look at the house with a questioning look upon her face.

    Kathrin saw the look sighed and said, “I didn’t actually know the woman who lived there, but we would wave to each other in passing. You know, it’s just one of those neighborly things that you’re supposed to do. I think her name was Victoria.”

    “What happened?” Eliza asked.

    “Well about a month or so ago Victoria got a live daffodil from her boyfriend as an engagement gift.” Kathrin nodded towards the wilted flower on the step.

    Eliza whistled and said; “A live flower is one expensive present these days.”

    “Well, she decides to share her gift with the rest of us by placing it where we all could see. A day or two later Victoria and, from what I’ve heard her boyfriend were both pulled in for questioning, I don’t think I’ll ever see her again.”

    Eliza shook her head sadly and asked, “Did the Order even give a reason?”

    “There’s always a reason,” Kathrin replied. “They said the flower could cause jealousy in the society and jealousy could draw demons.”
    “I can see why you’re worried now,” said Eliza. “If the Order calls them in for questioning over such a small thing, imagine what they would do to you.”

    Both women gave the empty house a long look before continuing on their way. They didn’t have much father to go. Kathrin’s house was just across the road and two houses down from the empty house. Kathrin, like all the other single people in the society lived in a small split level apartment. When they were entering the building Eliza paused at the thresh-hold of the house and didn’t enter. Instead she just stood there looking into the house. Kathrin was already half-way up the stairs to the attic, when she looked back and saw Eliza, Kathrin shot her a disbelieving look.

    “You walked all this way and now you’re getting weird about entering? What are waiting for?” she asked. “Come on in!”

    “I prefer,” said Eliza. “To be invited in, before I enter a house.” Then she stepped across the thresh-hold into the house, as if she was making a point with the action. Kathrin snorted in derision and continued up the stairs as Eliza followed close behind.

    As they were standing in the cramped hallway that had the trapdoor to attic in it, Eliza looked around. Therewas a bathroom to the right that looked like it would barely fit one person. On her left was a bedroom that looked like a person would have trouble squeezing past the dresser to get into the bed. Eliza turned her attention to Kathrin. She had reached up for the handle to the trapdoor but no matter hard she pulled it wouldn’t come open. In the end Kathrin had to pry open the trapdoor with a crowbar in order to get into the attic. When it finally opened, there was a loud thud as a pair of stairs fell down to the hallway floor. Kathrin and Eliza shot each other a nervous look and then headed up into the attic.

    The attic was darker than the night had been outside. The only light came from the open trapdoor and that only lit up a small area, the rest of the attic lay in obscurity.

    “Hang on,” Kathrin said. “We’re going to need a light if we want to see the mirror. Now, I know had had a lantern around here somewhere.” Kathrin shuffled around the area of the trapdoor trying peer into the black. Eliza looked around for a few minutes before pulling out an old battered oil lamp and box of matches that had been lying in a pocket of shadows nearby.

    “Is this it?” Eliza asked.

    “Yeah, it is.” Kathrin said coming over from where she had been looking. She lit the lamp and held it out so that more of the attic was visible. “Though I don’t know how you saw it, especially with those sun glasses on.” Kathrin made feeble attempt to grab the sunglasses on Eliza’s face. Eliza stepped back suddenly and Kathrin’s hands grasped nothing but air.

    “If you’re smart you won’t try that again,” Eliza said coldly.

    Kathrin blushed bright red and said, “I’m sorry, I was just curious.”

    “Curiosity killed the cat,” said Eliza. “Now, where is this mirror of yours?”

    Kathrin took a breath to steady her nerves and then replied, “It’s over here.” Kathrin led Eliza to the very back of the attic. There a huge form slightly taller than either of the women was covered in a huge white sheet that had symbols written all over it. “The best I could do was to contain the aura within a spelled sheet.” Kathrin explained gesturing to the covered mirror.

    Eliza walked around the covered mirror once and then ran her hand up down the mirror length to feel its form under the sheet. “You can go now,” she told Kathrin. “It will be safer if I deal with this thing alone.”

    “No way,” Kathrin declared. “This is my mirror and I want to see what you’re going to do with it.”

    Eliza let out a hiss but nodded her head and said, “As you wish, just don’t blame me for what might happen next.” With that she took a firm grip on the sheet and pulled it off the mirror.

    True to Kathrin’s word the mirror’s aura was very malevolent striking the two women with a sharp blast of wind the moment the sheet was pulled off. A first the mirror reflected nothing save a great inky blackness, then slowly an image appeared. It was two women, but not Kathrin or Eliza. The woman on the left looked a little like Kathrin but her face was cruel, malevolent, and full of vindictive hate. She wore the white tracksuit that was the uniform of the order but it was splattered with dark blood. The woman on the right seemed strange in comparison because she looked completely normal. She wore a deep blue sweater, blue jeans, and pair of white sneakers. She had long brown hair and deep brown eyes that peered through a pair of plain but attractive glasses. While Kathrin was horrified unable to tear her gaze from the dark vision of her, Eliza was in shock. She reached out a hand to touch the surface of the mirror and the woman on the right did the same.

    “It’s been so long.” Eliza muttered.

    “It really has been for you, hasn’t it?” the voice came from the woman in the mirror. Suddenly she moved on her own, putting her hands in her pockets and smiling a mischievous smile. “Since a mirror has reflected your truth instead of the real one.”

    “What’s happening?” Kathrin asked confused.

    “You,” the woman said with malice in her voice. “Go away. I don’t want to talk to you.”

    “You’re not actually Melanie, are you? You’re just a thing that has taken her form,” said Eliza.

    The mirror said, “No, I’m not you.” Eliza gasped and Kathrin looked back and forth between the women trying figure out how they could be the same person. The mirror woman smirked. “That’s what you been trying not to say isn’t it? That this form,” The mirror woman motioned towards her own body. “Is the real you, your living soul, which is why I can inhabit it, unlike this thing.” She shoved the image of the darker Kathrin and the actual Kathrin stumbled. “It’s just potential, just a gathering of what could be.” She snorted and pushed the image out of the mirror and Kathrin fell. “Useless!” The mirror woman declared and the comment was directed at both versions of Kathrin. The mirror woman pointed at Eliza and said, “What I’m more interested in is you. How hard it must be for you. When most people talk about battling their demons they’re being figurative, for you it’s quite literal.”

    “Shut up!” Eliza raised her voice for the first time that night.

    “Whoa,” the mirror woman said widening her eyes in pretend shock. “Did I touch a soft spot?” She looked at Eliza sharply. “No, I don’t think that’s it. Aha!” she snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it. You don’t want her to know, that’s what it is, isn’t it?”

    “Know what?” Kathrin asked.

    “Ooo…” The mirror woman did a little dance inside the mirror, like a little girl would when given an exciting present. “Can I tell her please?” Continuing the little girl act, she stretched the please into a plaintive whine and batted her eyelids.

    “Anything I could do to stop you would make the action pointless,” Eliza said through gritted teeth.

    “Oh, but how to explain something you don’t understand yourself.” She put her hands to her face in mock contemplation. “I know! I am, for your information Miss Ka-ther-in,” The mirror woman drew out the syllables in Kathrin’s name to make her distain clear. “I’m a ghost, not a demon! A spirit leech to be exact, which is why your silly little spells didn’t work on me.” She stuck out her tongue at Kathrin. “But Eliza here,” she pointed at Eliza dramatically. “Is somehow a fully fledged demon and a pure bred human at the same time!”

    “But…but…but that’s impossible!” Kathrin shouted.

    Eliza sighed and said, “I’m afraid it’s true. That’s what these sunglasses are for, my eyes are a dead giveaway.” With that she reached up, removed her sunglasses and then put them into a pocket in her trench coat. Her irises were blood red.

    “Possession?” Kathrin asked, half horrified and half fascinated.

    Eliza shook her head and said, “Not exactly, no.”

    “Then how?” Kathrin pressed.

    “Yes,” said the mirror woman. “Do tell.”

    “I don’t see why I should tell either of you!” Eliza shouted furiously. “It’s none of your business!”

    “Then I shall have to make it my business,” the mirror woman declared. An inky black shadow sprung out from the bottom of the mirror and surrounded Eliza. There was a moment of furious activity while Eliza fought the attack but then she was completely swallowed. When the shadow fell away it was the mirror woman Melanie standing in front of the mirror and Eliza was reflected.

    “Eliza!” Kathrin gasped. “Are you okay?” In the mirror the image of Eliza stayed silent. Melanie teetered for a minute before coming to her senses.

    “I’m fine, I think,” she said.

    “I wasn’t talking to you!” shouted Kathrin. “I was talking to Eliza.”

    “But I am-” Melanie stopped talking as she caught sight of one of her hands. She lifted her hands to the level of her eyes and stared at them as if she had never seen them before. She then looked down at her clothes and put a hand up to the glasses on her face. After just standing there for moment an expression of disbelief on her face, she turned to the mirror.
    “What have you done!” she spat.

    “I’ve returned you to yourself,” said the image of Eliza. It seemed like the two women had been reversed so the mirror woman now looked like Eliza and Eliza looked like the mirror woman. “The demon that made you Eliza is now trapped with me. You are just Melanie now and you are free.”

    “But you don’t understand!” cried Melanie. “You’ll never be able to contain her power. She will destroy you!”

    “Not if you tell me about how you two are connected, then I can use that connection to return her to you.” The mirror woman smiled at Melanie evilly.

    “Why shouldn’t I just let you shatter?”

    “I’ve seen into your soul, your precious moral code won’t let you watch someone die when you have some way to save them, even when you hate them.” The mirror woman shot a meaningful look at Kathrin.

    “It’s a long story. She’ll overwhelm you before I can finish telling you.”

    “Talk fast.”

    Melanie sighed but then began her story. “It was about two years ago and I was going to school in the Society.” Melanie paused when she saw Kathrin’s shocked expression. “Yes, I belonged to the society,” she continued. “In fact I was born there my parents having been accepted into the society before I was even thought of. I had a fairly normal life until one day a demon manifested in the school. Physically it didn’t look very much different than Eliza does now.” Melanie nodded towards the mirror Eliza. “The only thing that was different was her outfit, when the demon appeared in my school it was wearing a very revealing black dress. The demon was and still is a very powerful succubus and there was chaos throughoutthe school. Eventually the headmaster of the school, who was a high ranking member of the Order, trapped it at the bottom of a stairwell. Quite a number of the students including me gathered around the railings of some of the higher levels of the stairwell so that we could peer down and observe the sealing ceremony. The object the headmaster had chosen to seal the demon in was a small vase with a design that depicted a small sun threatened to be swallowed by a great swirl of darkness. It was just the kind of thing that would attract a demon. Towards the very end of the ceremony I was pushed from behind and fell straight down into the heart of the sealing symbol. I remember breaking the vase with the left side of my cheek and then nothing. The next thing I knew looked like that,” she nodded over towards the mirror Eliza, “and the Order was trying to kill me.”

    “Why?” Kathrin spoke up.

    “Well one good reason is they knew that the sealing ceremony had given me control over the demon powers. But I think it is more likely that they wanted to get rid of the evidence. It was a major mistake that ended up with someone with the powers of a demon. In other words the Order’s worst nightmare. After I escaped I started calling myself Eliza. It didn’t feel right using my own name because I wasn’t the same person anymore.”

    Suddenly a great cracking sounding came from the mirror. The mirror shattered violently shooting mirror fragments all over the attic and the two women. A great swirling tornado of darkness came out from the mirror’s remains. It assaulted the two bleeding woman howling and screaming.

    “Eliza!” Melanie screamed into the violent wind. “I command you to come back! You are bound to me.”

    “You do not control me anymore!” the wind declared.

    “I do! It was my blood that bound you to this Earth and by my blood I command you to come back!” The tornado swirled around and then charged at the two women. Melanie pushed the wounded Kathrin out of the way. Then she closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to envelop her. As the winds surrounding her grew less and less violent the shards flew out of Melanie’s wounds as they healed, her skin paled, and her hair became raven black. Her clothes blacked as well until she was wearing the outfit that Eliza wore. When the last puff of darkness died she opened her eyes again, the irises were blood red. Melanie was now Eliza again. Eliza stepped over to the bleeding Kathrin, with a wave her hands the shards flew out of Kathrin’s skin and her wounds healed. Eliza sat by Kathrin and waited for her to open her eyes. While she was waiting, Eliza ran the recent events over in her head. She stared at her pale hands and gave a small sigh then started when the hand started to turn back to pink as she concentrated on it. Kathrin moaned and opened her eyes.

    “Are you okay?” Eliza asked.

    “Yeah, you?” Kathrin answered.

    “Actually I’m better than I was before, I think... Look,” For a brief moment Eliza became Melanie and then with a strained expression she relaxed and was Eliza again. “Who knows how long I might be able to keep my original form if I practice.” Eliza couldn’t keep the excitement from creeping into her voice.

    “Good for you,” Kathrin said sourly still somewhat sore.

    “Hey,” said Eliza indignant, “I did warn you.”

    “So, what now?”

    “What now?” Eliza parroted standing up. “Now, I leave. I’ve done my job.”

    “But what about me? Aren’t you worried about someone from the Order knowing who you really are?”

    Eliza shrugged. “Not really, for three reasons. One, you owe me big time. Two, it’s nice to have someone actually know the truth. Three,” she paused considering. “Three, I don’t think your that bad of person.” Eliza buttoned up the front of her trench coat and stepped into the darkness where she was barely visible. “I hate goodbyes, so I will say until we meet again.” Then Eliza disappeared into the darkness without a sound.

    “That,” said Kathrin shaking her head “was really weird.”

    Diary Entry Number 38 end
    … It probably wasn’t smart to just leave her like that. In fact I should have erased her memory, so that she didn’t remember a thing. But I felt like I owed her something, thanks to her I discovered that on a personal level balance between order and chaos is possible after all. Now I’m determined to find out if it is possible on a larger scale as well. Besides who knows what might happen, maybe we will meet again.

    Melanie Dun and Eliza Darkness signing off.