“You drive, I have been drinking” Yvonne was unwavering.
“What do you think I have been doing? Vacuum cleaning?”
Yvonne looked at Erik with contempt and sighed deeply.
“Fine, I drive, I have probably been drinking less than you, drunkie”
Erik took the insult with a smile, now was not the time to start a fight. He took a look at the snowy parking lot, in the dark he could still spot his car, a blue Volvo 240. It was necessary to scrape the frost off the windows before they could drive. He turned his attention to Yvonne again.
“If you want to drive you have to scrape the windows as well.”
Yvonne muttered something inaudible and proceeded to scrape the windows. Erik stared out over the parking lot again, watching the snow fall in deep thought. It was two months ago since Oskar’s disappearance. Two hellish months for him and Yvonne who feared they would never see him again. There were lots of rumours about his disappearance, but most agreed on that it was related to the massacre at the bathhouse in Blackeberg. A survivor of this massacre, a young boy named Micke had stated that Oskar had been present during the massacre. He told the police everything about his peers plans to take revenge for the wound Oskar caused his friend Jonny that day at the ice. How they planned to remove one of Oskar’s eyes, Erik shuddered in rage at the very thought. Whoever did kill them, he thought they got what they deserved for what they planned to do.
Then Micke’s testimony devolved into mutterings about some kind of angel of death, arriving through the sound of shattering glass. The police disagreed of what actually happened, some believed that Oskar had murdered them and fled to avoid the authorities, which Erik would not believe a single word of. Others said that the murderer entered through the windows and kidnapped Oskar, a theory that was strengthened by the shattered glass, for what reason the murderer would spare Oskar and Micke and was beyond anyone. The final theory was that Micke was the killer, that he subject to some kind of mental illness; this was the line the police currently supported. Micke’s sanity was undoubtedly shattered by these events; he was soon moved into a mental institution for treatment. Though his story never changed, he would still continue too mumble about his”angel of death”. But Erik knew even this version had its weaknesses as well; it did not explain Oskar’s disappearance. But the police persisted that he could have been buried in the woods by Micke, or he could have fled because of the mental trauma, Eric did not believe one word of this. Oskar could not be dead, and he would not leave of his own free will. ‘Or would he?’ He had escaped from him before, and neither he nor Yvonne knew where he had been that night. Could that be true? Could Oskar have disappeared of his own free will? ‘No’ He and Yvonne may not have been the best parents in the world, but he would never do that. Strange that the police did not seem to understand that the incident at the pool may be related to the ritual murder case. Maybe was the man who poured acid over his face only a decoy, the real killer was still loose, and he had his Oskar, probably doing unspeakable things to him at this very moment. He pushed away the thought; he did not dare to think about it.
But a couple of hours ago, he and Yvonne got new hope. They got an anonym tip that Oskar had been sighted in the small village of Garpenberg. They could not wait to investigate this, drunk or not.
When Yvonne was done with scraping the windows she opened the door to the driver’s seat and sat down, gesticulating to Erik to take his seat. He opened the car door and took the front seat. Yvonne started the car and drove out of the parking lot, towards their destination. Erik hoped that they would not encounter any police controls; neither would pass their drunken driving tests. But in worst case he could take the fines, if only they got to see Oskar with their own eyes again.
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The journey to the village of Garpenberg felt like it was taking an eternity. Erik was on the edge of falling asleep, maybe the alcohol made him drowsy. He watched the road signs, they were soon to enter the city of Sala, famous for its silver mine: they would be at their destination within an hour. He could feel Yvonne’s jerky driving, Erik hoped they would stay on the road for the reminder of the trip; he prayed to the heavens that they would. He was normally not a religious person, but was desperate to see Oskar again. Suddenly he saw something on the side of the road, a hitchhiker, holding a sign that said ‘Garpenberg’ The hitchhiker was a young girl with long black hair, clad in tight black leather and wearing a thick coat that looked like it originally belonged to a Gestapo agent. The coat was clearly too big for this girl, who was probably not more than fifteen years old. Yvonne was so caught off guard by this stranger that she involuntarily wrenched the car towards the hitchhiker, almost running her over. The girl quickly leaped out of the way at almost unnatural speed. Yvonne finally realized what almost happened and went for the brake, the car stopped only a few feet from the ditch. The hitchhiker opened the door to the back seat, without even asking them if she could get a ride. Erik met her gaze; she had a strange eye colour, red. Despite her young appearance, he could see wisdom in her eyes, as well as arrogance and a little annoyance. Her face was pretty, but cold. She did not seem to be a regular teenage girl; there was something that was off about her, something that made him feel uneasy. Without revealing a single emotion, the girl spoke to him.
“I guess you owe me a ride, you almost killed me.”
The girl seemed unnaturally sure that they would do as she said; she also seemed completely uncaring about her possible death. She also spoke English rather than Swedish, with a Rumanian accent. She was probably a tourist from around these parts.
“You are in luck; we were going to Garpenberg anyway.”
The girl smiled coldly at him.
“If I am to give you a piece of advice, you better not set your foot in that village. The things happening there are beyond your understanding.”
Yvonne looked right into the girls eyes through the rear-view mirror.
“And just who are you who think you can tell us what to do?”
The girl averted her eyes and looked down at the floor, full of old beer and soda cans.
“My name is Eleonora. That was not a command, it was an advice, if you set your foot in that village you will die, and I do not want to have more innocents on my conscience.”
Oskar’s parents introduced themselves to Eleonora as Yvonne and Erik. She just nodded as a response.
After a short while of silence, Eleonora could not refrain from asking anymore.
“Why are you travelling to Garpenberg anyway?”
“We like you to answer the very same question.” Erik was resolute.
Yvonne however could not refrain from telling her the story to lighten her burden. She told her all about Oskar, the pool massacre and his disappearance, as well as their anonym tip that Oskar was seen in Garpenberg. After finishing, Eleonora just sighed.
“Forget about your child, he is already lost.”
“And how do you know that?” It was clear that Yvonne had lost her temper.
Eleonora remained silent. Erik looked at his former wife, busy with driving the car, full of road rage. After a while, the girl gave them an answer.
“I work for a foreign agency, an agency that I will not name, my mission is classified. But Garpenberg is a danger zone, if you enter it, you will die. Sorry, but your child is most likely already dead.”
“Doesn’t matter, we have to find him, we got to know what happened.”
Erik had never been surer of something his entire life. They were going to Garpenberg, risk or not. He looked back at Eleonora, she gave him a short-lived warm smile before falling back into her regular gloomy state. Erik could swear he saw fangs in her mouth, but that was probably just the alcohol talking.
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Erik could see the sign; Garpenberg was only a hundred meters away. There was no turning back now; a deep fog covered the area, obscuring sight. All they could see by the side of the road was trees. Eleonora looked into Erik’s eyes.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this? This is your last chance of turning back.”
Erik nodded. He had to do this. Neither he nor Yvonne had any idea of what awaited them here, but the surroundings made him believe he was suddenly in a horror movie. Who knew what creatures could lurk in the fog at the dark of night. Eventually they reached the village, a ruined building on their right side; it looked like it been set aflame recently, as the smell of smoke was still in the air. On their left side was a church, with the cemetery surrounding it. At Eleonora’s request, Yvonne stopped the car in the middle of the road. They all went out; a chilly wind could be felt to the bone. Eleonora sniffed into the air like a dog. She whispered something silently for herself, it sounded like “It is here.”
Erik approached her and put his hand on her shoulder; she pulled away and looked at him with suspicious eyes.
“What is here?” Erik demanded to know.
The girl trembled slightly; she was clearly unnerved by something.
“Our worst nightmare.”
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They approached the gates to the cemetery. Yvonne was by Erik’s side, they held each others hands, trying to comfort each other meanwhile stumbling forward in their drunken haze. Eleonora was leading the way, they entered the cemetery. Erik did not know what was going on, he only knew he was more afraid than he has ever been in his entire life. He only hoped that at the end of this path, he would find Oskar, preferably alive. While travelling up the path towards the church, Erik read the graves, mostly local folk. As they got closer to the church, Erik noticed something further into the cemetery, four open graves. Eleonora also spotted them and headed their direction. As they got closer, Erik could read the name on the first grave. ‘Elias Örn’ under the name was written ’Who was taken from us so early by the cruel world, may he rest in peace’ and the year of birth and death ‘1739-1751. Eric did not know Elias Örn, but he suddenly felt bad for him, and his parents. He hoped with all his heart that Oskar would not suffer the same fate as this boy. Yvonne leaned towards him, he hugged her, tried to comfort her, tried to comfort himself. He wondered why this grave was open if the boy had died in the 18th hundreds. He looked at the unopened graves beside it, the graves of Elof and Elin Örn, who seemed to be Elias siblings. He set his eyes on the rest of the opened graves, his heart almost stopped when he read the names, Erik Eriksson, Yvonne Eriksson, and Eleonora Varias. He panicked and searched the cemetery for Oskar’s grave; it was nowhere to be found. But that did nothing but increase the feeling of dread they had within their hearts. Erik and Yvonne sat down on the ground beside Eleonora and gave her a puzzled look. Eleonora pulled some kind of machine out of her coat, a cell phone. She dialled a number and a man answered. Eleonora gave him clear instructions.
“Search the name Elias Örn in the database, now.” She sounded impatient.
About twenty minutes of silence passed before the man’s voice was once again heard.
“Elias Örn was a young boy, born in the year of 1739, fabled for his good looks. He was believed to be killed in 1751 by the infamous renegade Lord Törnkvist, but recent reports from our spies have stated that he has indeed survived and has been recently active in the Stockholm regions. He is a renegade offspring and is therefore considered very dangerous; he needs to be put out of his misery.”
Eleonora hung up and sighed heavily. Erik had no idea what was going on, how could that child still be alive after over two hundred years, and what do Oskar have to do with all of this? Yvonne approached Eleonora, poked her in the chest.
“Do you mind telling us what is going on?”
The girl uttered a dismal groan.
“Fine, you will soon be dead anyway.”
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“You may have a hard time believing this but, the members of our organization are not human. We are the Brotherhood of Darkness, an organization dedicated to the worship of the death god Azrael and the continued survival of his children, the immortals: creatures your kind calls vampires. We have existed for millennia, hidden from human eyes, except from the eyes of our arch enemy, the organization called ‘The Flame of Light’ They are a group of vampire hunters and fanatics following the evil one, the usurper of heaven, Gavri’el. The very same being that exiled our father and cursed us with this existence, living as nothing but parasites. For millennia, our organization has been the only thing standing between the evil one and the destruction of this world, in eternal war against his followers in the Flame of Light. I am an agent of the brotherhood, a professional genetically engineered demon hunter, we are called Shadows. Mine is the task to locate and eliminate potential demonic presence. Recently the Brotherhood located a vast energy in this very area, the largest concentration that has ever been seen in the mortal realm, my master’s fear that a very powerful servant of the evil one has found a breach into this world. To stop this they sent their oldest and most powerful agent, my mission is to banish this demon back to thence it came.”
After Eleonora finished, both Yvonne and Erik were speechless. This was too much too digest at the same time. In normal circumstances he would not believe a word of this story. But in his intoxicated state and after all that happened, nothing would surprise him. He took a look at Eleonora, she bared her fangs and hissed, she did undoubtedly look like a vampire. Though for some reason, probably the alcohol, he was not afraid of her.
“And what does this Elias have to do with anything?”
Eleonora gave him a grave look.
“Hopefully nothing, but if I am right, and I am almost certain that I am…everything. When the evil one banished the child of the god Azrael, the one that all immortals descend from, he did so with a purpose, and this purpose was to use his descendants as a connection between the two worlds, to launch an invasion and control both the mortal realm and the afterlife for all eternity. To prevent this we teach all members of the brotherhood methods to screen themselves from demonic influences. This is why we cannot allow the existence of vampires outside our order. They may fall under the influences of demons and unwittingly bring forth the apocalypse. This is why Elias needs to be destroyed, before he dooms us all, though I fear it is already too late.”
Erik and Yvonne nodded silently. Yvonne spoke with the vampire in a desperate manner.
“What does our Oskar have to do with any of this?”
A cold laughter was heard from the girl.
“How should I know? Though it is safe to assume he is somehow connected to this Elias, he used to be active in the same area as your child’s disappearance after all.”
Erik turned to his former wife.
“Didn’t you say that you were sure Oskar weren’t seeing anyone strange before his disappearance?”
“How should I manage to supervise him the entire time? I have work to do. “
Eleonora interfered in their argument with an impatient and threatening tone in her voice.
“Silence, we have better things to do than to quarrel over things that could have been done, face fact, it is too late. Quiet, I think I heard something.”
Erik and Yvonne shut their mouths and listened. First they could not hear a thing except the normal sounds of the night. But all the sudden, Erik could hear the sound of footsteps; they came from the path behind them, leading to the church. They turned around towards the path to the church, the sound of footsteps stopped. They turned around. Before them, on the muddy path towards the church was a young boy, turned so that he was facing them. Erik recognised him immediately, his golden hair and pale skin, it was unmistakable. ‘Oskar’. But something was wrong; he could see it in his eyes, empty like a well without water. The empty look gave him chills. Yvonne didn’t seem to notice this and ran towards Oskar with her arms open and immediately gave him a hug. Oskar looked like a stale corpse in Yvonne’s arms. As last she noticed something was wrong and let go. She backed away in dread. This being may look like Oskar, but his soul had already departed. Yet, Erik stared into his empty eyes in hope of finding some life, one sign that Oskar was not entirely gone. He found nothing; he was nothing; a shell of his former self. Eleonora, still sitting close to her own grave, did finally seem to react. She got up to her feet in a laid back manner and slowly draws a gun from her pocket. It was an elaborate gun, of a model from Germany that was common during the Second World War, from the looks of it made entirely from silver, with a handle of bronze. She aimed this pistol at Oskar; he still didn’t seem to react. But react did Yvonne who quickly yelled at Eleonora.
“Don’t, he’s our son.”
Eleonora paid her no heed and fired her gun.
Erik could feel his heart stop in its tracks ‘No’. As the bullet approached Oskar, his position shifted so what would otherwise be a fatal hit barely missed his shoulder. Clearly something was not quite right about this situation. Suddenly the figure of Oskar disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving no trace. A mighty voice could be heard from all around them, all at the same time.
“You have to do better than that; silver bullets can’t hurt an illusion. Parents of the chosen child, if you want to see your child again, offer yourselves to me and I will grant you this wish. Eleonora of the Brotherhood lets settle this once and for all, meet me in the church, it is also here that I keep Oskar.”
Erik went over to Yvonne; put his hand on her shoulder.
“I don’t know what is going on, but I think we should do whatever is needed to get our Oskar back.”
Yvonne nodded, she leaned towards his chest, and he hugged her. Yvonne whispered in his ear.
“Whatever is necessary, I want to hold him in my arms again.”
Eleonora, who had been silently watching their little emotional moment, decided to break the mood.
“You can snuggle later, now we must enter this church, I am determined to put an end to this demon, whatever means necessary.”
Erik and Yvonne let go of another and followed Eleonora, who had already began to approach the church vigorously.
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The church’s interior was well decorated, but that did not even cross Erik’s mind this moment. He was focused on the altar, and the broken statue of Christ lying at its feet. On the benches before the altar sat men, women and children. Probably the former occupants of the village, all with the same empty eyes as the Oskar they saw outside. On the altar itself stood a divine figure; a child. This was the most beautiful child he had ever seen in his life, his long black hair and stunning features made sure he could not avert his gaze, he was so beautiful. The child was clad in long white robes and three pairs of white wings sprouted out of his back; his entire being was surrounded by a bright light. The only thing disturbing this image of beauty was the eyes; Cold and ruthless, full of hate, burning with a fierce flame. Erik remembered the name of this child; Elias. Erik could not believe this being was a boy, he did look quite feminine. He was the one Eleonora suspected to be involved in Oskar’s disappearance, the one that was now the embodiment of some spirit. Beside Elias, at the foot of the altar stood his beloved Oskar, with the same empty look in his eyes as before.
Eleonora approached the altar, still holding the silver pistol. At the front row of the benches she stopped and aimed the pistol at Elias. Erik could feel Yvonne’s hand taking a tight grip of his. The spirit did seem to finally notice Eleonora. His voice had so much unquestioning power it was hard to believe it came from a little boy.
“What? Can your kind enter without an invitation now?” A sarcastic smirk was visible on his lips.
Eleonora just matched his smile with one of her own, a gloating one.
“You just invited me, don’t you remember?”
Elias looked at her scornfully and somehow laid-back at the same time.
“Did I? Never mind, you cannot win.”
Eleonora made an effort to fire her gun. The spirit raised his head confidently and gave her an arrogant look.
“If you fire this thing, the child dies.”
Eleonora burst into laughter.
“I do not care, he must die anyway”
She pulled the trigger, Elias did even flinch. A clicking sound was heard. Eleonora looked puzzled at the pistol, she checked the magazine. Elias was once again scornful towards her.
“I should mention that I removed your ammunition the same moment you entered this room.”
Eleonora seemed to be for the first time since they met actually frightened.
“That’s impossible; we are not in the spirit realm. You cannot possibly be that powerful.”
Elias burst into cackling megalomaniac laughter.
“Since I first sat my foot here, this place was no longer the mortal realm; you are all in my domain. I am the Lord of all things, ruler of Eden, the eternal one; I am Gavri’el, god of this world and the next. The only reason why you are all not already dead is that I have a better use for you.”
Eleonora fell down on her knees, she pulled something out of her coat; a crucifix.
“By the power of the son of man, the vampire who ascended to heaven, I banish you to the black abyss evil one.”
Gavri’el made a simple gesture with his right hand; the crucifix fell right out of her hand and dropped on the floor.
“You need more than that to vanquish me, your faith is weak.”
A sense of panic was clearly visible in Eleonora’s face. She turned towards Erik and Yvonne, still hold each other’s hands.
“Run, warn others, the evil one has returned, run; before it’s too late”
But Erik wasn’t going to run, not so long the creature had Oskar. He took a good look at the creature; he could never been able to guess this morning that not before long; he would meet the gaze of the devil. Never would he be able to guess that the devil would be this beautiful either. He approached the demon while Eleonora backed away from it, shaking her head at Erik. He spoke to the demon.
“You sent the anonym tip, didn’t you?”
The child jumped down from the altar and landed a few meters before Erik. He could feel how the two women had their eyes on him.
“That it correct, mortal, though I am not responsible for the kidnapping, that was Elias doing, he is your true enemy, not me.”
Erik could hear Eleonora yelling to him from behind.
“Do not listen: run”
Gavri’el made a gesture, causing Eleonora to fly into the nearest wall with a heavy impact; she collapsed on the ground, coughing blood. Yvonne, being a highly protective person, rushed to her aid. The demon turned to Erik, took his head in its small hands and forced him to look into its eyes. He found no choice but to stare into them, the demon whispered to him.
“I will show you the story of Oskar’s kidnapping and the true nature of Elias.”
Erik could feel the world fade away, his mind travelling into the fiery realm of the demon’s eyes.
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He could see something in the darkness, a young girl. Though it wasn’t a girl, it was Elias. The girl was in a tunnel, he could see a man approaching. The girl pretended to be injured, the man picked her up. That proved to be a mistake as the girl tore into his neck, breaking his spine, draining him dry. The vision faded away.
A new vision emerged; it was his son’s bedroom in Yvonne’s place. Two figures were lying in bed together. It was Oskar, and the little murderer Elias, traces of blood still lingered around his mouth. Oskar slept like a log while Elias silently watched him sleep. The spirit’s voice could be heard.
“Do you approve of this, Erik? Does it bother you that your son is in bed with a boy?”
Erik could not say he was totally unbothered by this. Not that he had anything against Elias being a boy, what he was bothered by was that he tricked others into believing he was a girl. Poor Oskar had probably no idea what he had signed himself up for. The scene disappeared.
Next he was in the dressing room of the local bathhouse in Blackeberg, to be more exact in the shower. On the floor sat a man, naked. Erik recognized him from the news, the ritual murder; Håkan Bengtsson. He could hear the police approaching him. Håkan held the jar of acid in his hand; he poured it over his face while screaming on the top of his lungs.
“Eli, Eli.”
The demon spoke to him.
“This man was once like Oskar, one of Elias victims. He is what Oskar will become if he continued on that path, a murderer, and a paedophile. If you want to ever see Oskar again; Elias must be destroyed.”
The vision faded away, he was left in total darkness. He could feel the hate grow within him. That Elias only manipulated Oskar so that he could serve him, he couldn’t tolerate that. Erik knew he had to save Oskar from Elias evil influence, he had to die, a very painful death. The darkness gathered around him, strengthened him. Hate filled his entire being; he could feel how everything else disappeared from his mind. A jet-black blade appeared before him, crackling with power. He reached out for it, the very moment his hand took grip of the blade, his entire soul filled with malice. He had become hate itself, only one thought echoed in his head, Elias must be destroyed.
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Eleonora could feel Yvonne’s hands under her arms, she helped her up. Eleonora made a gesture towards Yvonne signalling that she could stand on her own. She turned her attention towards Erik and the evil one. This was not good. She knew she was fighting a battle she could not win, and they could not run, not while It was in control. Erik turned around towards them. In his hand was a sword with a black edge, his entire body surrounded by a cloud of pure darkness. She had not been this afraid her entire life, the world now faced certain doom. The blade in his hand was well known in brotherhood mythology, the Blade of the Destroyer. This infernal weapon was according to myth forged in the days of the War in Heaven by Gavri’els master smiths. Fusing the metal with the very essence of the Destroyer, the dark entity trapped in the centre of earth. The blade, in the hands of Gavri’els lieutenant Abaddon, become the evil one’s secret weapon, the myth told that the Blade single handed won Gavri’el the war over the Ancients. The Blade was one of the most terrifying weapons ever made, it did not only kill its victims, it erased their very soul and sent it to an eternity of darkness and pain, worse than anything man or spirit could ever conjure, not even Gavri’el.
The cloud of darkness around Erik manifested itself as a dark cloak, out of his back sprouted a pair of black wings, his eyes turned red and filled with pure hate, an aura of darkness seemed to surround him. Gavri’el smiled with delight.
“Go forth now, Abaddon; into the darkest corner of the spirit realm. Cast Elias soul into a dark oblivion. After you are done, the cleansing of this world can begin.”
The dark manifestation disappeared and Gavri’el approached her and Yvonne. Nothing could stop him now. He reached out his hand, the last thing she heard before being swallowed by darkness was.
“Time to take your rightful punishment."
