Chapter 20 The creatures of the Abyssal realm

Evan sat on his bed. He was still angry, but not really bitter anymore. He wanted to go back to Kenneth and the rest. He wanted to apologise to them. He had sought relief in his old gang of vampires but it was no use, they were still where he left off, they could not help him, they could not set him on the path to healing. He wanted to let go of the anger and bitterness that had beclouded his reasoning recently. Besides he was scared, scared that something terrible would happen to him.

He remembered how Agnes used to talk about how she was scared that something terrible would happen to her. Evan used to discourage her from such talk, but recently he had begun to think that she was right.

A gust of cold wind passed through the window and into the room.

It was odd, Evan thought, how the weather was recently, but he knew the reason, he just did not want to think about it.

Evan stood up sharply. He knew he had closed the window. He was sure he had. Why was it open?

Evan heard a creaking sound in his wardrobe. He stood up quickly and grabbed his gun, on second thought he kept it back in it's place and bared his fangs. Whoever had snuck into his room would serve as lunch.

Evan walked to the wardrobe stealthy, his footsteps inaudible.

In one quick movement, he flung the wardrobe doors open. To his surprise, there was no one there.

Evan began to question himself. Well he didn't hear any heartbeats so whoever was in his house (and he was sure there was someone in his house) was not human.

"Show yourself." Evan said less than bravely.

He heard a light giggle in response.

"I won't say it again, show yourself." Evan said again.

"Here I am." Came a harsh whisper from behind him.

Evan swung around speedily, he would live the rest of his days regretting that unfortunate action for standing in front of him was a creature so terrifying and strange that Evan stood still, numbed by fear. He could not shout, not fight or anything, he just stood there…

"You think we should tell Evan about the veil?" Theo asked.

Kenneth shook his head.

"He doesn't want to see any of us now." Kenneth replied.

"He has to know," Nella said, "he has to. We don't know what exactly this veil has been holding back for so long. We all have to be on guard."

"Are you going to tell him yourself?" Kenneth asked, "because he'd be so glad to see me, he'll probably shoot me out of joy."

"After all this, you haven't lost your terrible humour." Nella said, irritated.

"It's called sarcasm darling." Kenneth said, giving her a half hearted smirk.

"Fine then," Nella said, standing up, "I'll do it myself."

"I'll come with you." Theo said, also standing up.

"No," countered Nella, "Evan already has too much to deal with, it wouldn't help if I came along with a stranger.

"You are also more or less a stranger to Evan, so we're the same." Theo replied, "you just said it yourself, we have to be on guard."

"I can protect myself Theo," Nella replied stubbornly.

"I'm not saying you can't," said Theo, "I simply want to watch you do it – and make sure that you're doing it well.

Kenneth looked at the siblings quietly.

Nella stared hard at her brother for a while.

"Fine." She said, "let's go."

They left Kenneth in the bar and Nella led the way to Evan's house. She had gone there shortly before the whole veil and sacrifice thing came up.

As they approached the house, both Nella and her brother sensed something strange in the house.

"Do you feel that?" Theo asked.

Nella nodded.

"We probably shouldn't go straight into the house." She said.

Theo nodded. They both went around the house and into the back.

There they felt the strange presence stronger than ever.

They both whispered a spell that made them see through the walls. It was a common spell they practiced when they were still in Lighthood coven.

When they looked through the walls again, what they saw made Nella scream and Theo back away, almost dead of fear.

The creature was too absorbed in it's meal to notice the scream.

"It's ... it's a ... a…" Theo stammered, terrified.

"We... we have to help him!" Nella said, trying not to lose her head.

"How?!" Theo asked, still shaken, "and what the hell did we just see?!"

"It must be from the abyssal realm," Nella replied, "we have to help him Theo – please."

Theo nodded, to him Evan was a foolish young man, yapping about his loss as if he was the only one in pain, but he could not leave him at the mercy of whatever was in there.

The Farmin stood in front of Evan's immobile body.

It's feelers which looked like centipedes were about fifteen in number. They were connected to it's mouth and with it, the Farmin felt Evan's head, feeding on his intelligence.

The Farmin itself could be likened to long, six foot centipede. Unlike the normal centipede, the Framing had a head, a head that housed a pair of yellow reptilian eyes , a hole for a nose and a mouth full of little centipedes (well they looked like centipedes, they were actually the creature's feelers).

So engrossed was the creature in it's meal that it did not see Nella rush in.

"Ashi gu attached bis Lee!" Nella shouted.

A blast of wind threw the creature off Evan.

It landed with a thud.

"Begone you vile creature!" The creature yelled at Nella.

For a moment Nella stood there, surprised that the creature could talk at all.

"Aty niji nos!" Theo yelled, throwing a fan of flames at the creature.

"Forgive my language," The Farmin laughed, as if the flames were nothing to it, "I forgot we were in the twenty-first century."

Theo stood surprised too.

"I meant damn you!" The creature yelled, throwing what seemed like venom their way.

Nella dodged the venom. Theo jumped out of it's way just as it landed on a table in the bedroom – and melted it.

Nella chanted a spell that threw the chair at the creature's head, it crashed into it but caused no major damage. With her vampiric speed, she grabbed a gun from the bedside table and aimed at the creature. It sent another spray of venom.

Theo quickly put up a shield spell between them and the creature.

He then shatteted the window with a spell

and sent the shards of glass into the creature. It howled in pain and stretched the centipedes in it's mouth towards Nella.

Theo intercepted the move by sending a division spell in between the centipedes. The centipedes fell down and Nella aimed at the creature and speedily shot at the creature severally.

The creature howled a final, outraged howl.

"I haven't fed well…" it continued saying, "my brothers will finish what I started."

Theo walked carefully to it and cast a division spell on it's neck. The creature's head fell with a soft thud.

Nella ran over to Evan's body and felt for a pulse.

It was still there, rather fast as is normal with vampires but it was there none the less.

"His temperature is normal," she announced to Theo who was now standing over her, "there are no injuries at all. What was the thing feeding on?"

Theo bent down to examine Evan. He was pale and his temperature was rather normal.

Theo moved Evan's hair, and in his scalp, there were small punctures from where the Farmin had planted his feelers.

"What is that?" Nella asked.

"Must be where it had fed from." Theo replied, "I wonder what if fed on."

Evan gasped for breath, he opened his eyes with difficulty.

"Evan are you okay?" Nella asked.

Evan only stared at Nella and smiled idiotically.

He talked, no that's a wrong verb, he babbled away. Speaking little English and much gibberish.

"I think I know what the creature fed on." Theo said, his eyes widening with disbelief.