Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:10 pm
Hey guys! Yeah I know poor Pogue and Reid and the others. Thanks for the replies to the last part it was fun reading them! Please let me know what you think of this next part!
Part 20: Monsters
Pogue blinked several times as his surroundings changed yet again and he was back in his dorm room sitting on his bed. Caleb was standing in the doorway looking confused. “You alright man?”
“Yeah fine I just had a bad dream.” Pogue said not wanting to let his friend know that he had not even shut his eyes.
“Listen Reid is still kind of out of it, so he is going to stay with Liz still. He has stopped mumbling things and the shivering has slowed.” Caleb said plopping down on his own bed.
“What could have done that to him?” Pogue asked.
“No idea, but I have a feeling that Leo knows and he is just too afraid to tell us.” Caleb said.
“But how did the person know that Reid was afraid of closets?” Pogue asked.
“I want to know that as well. Sure all of us know but he had to tell us after playing hide and go seek with us as kids. No one else but family would know his fear and no one we know would lock him in a closet.” Caleb said.
“It sounds to me like whoever this person is, they have a way of finding out our deepest fears.” Pogue said and Caleb suddenly sat up looking alarmed.
“What is it?”
“I just remembered something. There was a line in our book about a demon who comes around every so often, a fear demon.” Caleb said.
“So?”
“I need to take a look at the book.” Caleb said walking over to his bookcase and he pulled out and old leather book. On the other side of the book was a flickering light in dark stone basement. Reaching in farther Caleb pulled out an even thicker ancient looking book. The Book of Damnation
“What did you like memorize that thing when we were kids?” Pogue grumbled as his friend started flipping through the yellowed pages. Caleb apparently was fed up with flipping through the normal way and set the ancient book on the bed and used his powers to get to the desired page, the book’s pages flipped in as if turned by a magical wind.
There on the page was a man with gray hair, a pointed face, hawk beady eyes, thin lips, and sunken cheeks. The name across the top in old gothic letters read, Barbas, demon of fear. Caleb and Pogue silently read all that was mentioned about the upper level demon.
“What happened to Reid sounds like something this guy might do.” Caleb said.
“True but did you read the last line?” Pogue said.
“No.”
“Well if you had you would have see that he was vanquished, by the Charmed Ones.” Pogue said Caleb stared at his friend both of them thinking the same thing.
“Leo!” Caleb bellowed. Blue lights filled the room and the angel stood before them looking worried.
“What who is hurt?” He asked.
“No one yet, so your charges vanquished Barbas?” Caleb asked folding his arms across his chest.
“Oh uh yeah.” Leo said, his ears turning slightly red not wanting to mention to the two powerful witches that there was a slight possibility Barbas was back.
“Cut the crap Leo.” Pogue said.
“Alright, there is a chance that the person who locked Reid in the closet is Barbas. He is an upper level demon who reads peoples deepest fear and then uses it on them to kill them. If Reid had been left in there longer he probably would have been scared to death.” Leo said.
“Is there any way to confirm this is our guy?” Caleb asked.
“We have Cole checking with his contacts in the underworld but we do not think that is going to turn anything up. The Source is worried that Liz is a huge threat to him and so is her child. Aside from actually attacking her himself he needed to send someone who could get under an immortals protection shield. Liz is not protected from her fears.” Leo explained.
“Alright we need to tell the others, you all need to help come up with a way to stop him. We need to take care of this guys.” Caleb said.
“The sisters are on it, they feared that it might have been him so to get a head start they are creating vanquishing potions.” Leo said.
“See if they can create a summoning spell as well, I want to see if a little good old fashioned firepower might do the trick.” Pogue said.
“Just know that if he shows himself there is a good chance that to save himself he will bring to life your worst fear.” Leo said before he orbed away. Caleb and Pogue grabbed the book then blinked away. The two appeared in Liz’s apartment looking around for one of their friends.
“Don’t move.” They heard Liz yell before she appeared before them in a flimsy bathrobe, showing way too much. “AH!” Liz jumped and pulled her robe on tighter at the sight of the two boys, her cheeks reddening.
“Nice robe.” Caleb laughed as he set the book down which caught Liz’s attention.
“What is going on?” Liz asked.
“Hey babe, what is taking…” Tyler stopped at the sight of his friends.
“Hi Tyler.” Pogue said glaring at his bare-chested friend. Tyler took the hint and pulled Liz with him to go and change. The two emerged moments later both looking sheepish.
“I swear we leave you alone for two minutes and you are both going at it.” Caleb said shaking his head.
“Alright enough, what is the problem?” Tyler asked motioning to the book upon receiving a shocked look from Pogue.
“We think we know who put Reid in the closet, this guy.” Caleb said showing the two the book. Liz looked troubled at the sight of the demon, as if knowing that he was the one who had the power to hurt her and her baby.
“Leo and the sisters are working on it to see if this is the guy but I am pretty sure it is him.” Pogue said remembering his dream of the graveyard.
“How so?” Tyler asked pulling Liz close.
“Earlier in my dorm I found myself in a graveyard facing my innermost fear.” Pogue said.
“What?” Liz asked.
“I was in a graveyard and I had no idea how I got there but then I saw Tyler and he just seemed so different, so angry. Liz had been killed and so had the baby and I had been the reason, Tyler called me a monster.” Pogue tried to explain. Liz looked at her cousin through weary eyes.
“What is your fear?” Liz asked.
“That I am evil. That I am going to be the reason everyone I love dies.” Pogue said.
“Well that takes care of that, I think it is safe to say we are dealing with Barbas here.” Tyler muttered.
Liz did not seem to hear her boyfriend she was too busy focusing on her cousin and how worried he was. “Pogue you are not a monster, you could never be a monster.” Liz said hugging her cousin but that did nothing.
“Liz our whole family has been evil from the start.” Pogue muttered.
“No that is not true, they were not evil people they just made bad choices. Evil is not a nature it is nurture Pogue. We choose how we want to be, all of us chose to fight the good fight instead of throwing in the towel and taking the easy way. Tell me Pogue do you want world domination?” Liz asked catching the attention of Tyler and Caleb, the two listened intently to the two cousins.
“Of course not.” Pogue said.
“Do you wish to kill an innocent?” Liz asked.
“No.”
“Do you think about hurting people all the time, do you crave their blood and their cries, do you revel in pain, do you not love?” Liz asked getting more upset with each question.
“Of course not.” Pogue said.
“See you are not a monster because a monster could never love. A monster would not worry about being a monster they would just be one and they would never fear hurting their loved ones because they already have.” Liz said.
“Wow that was a good speech.” A voice croaked from the hall. The four turned to see Reid and Kyle standing there, Reid looking tired and worn.
“Reid should you be out of bed?” Caleb asked.
“I am tired of sleeping and the room was making me feel claustrophobic.” The blonde muttered as he sat down on the couch. “Liz is right Pogue, you are not a monster it is the one thing you would never be good at.”
“But our powers are evil.” Pogue said.
“No they are not, they are just associated with evil because way back when some idiot used the power for harming someone and from then on it was associated with evil. A power can’t be evil just the way the person wielding the power wields it.” Tyler said Liz grinned at her boyfriend kissing him soundly for his add in. Tyler smiled at her wrapping his arms around her kissing the top of her head.
“I guess it has just always been a fear of mine, ever since I gained my powers. I did not want to end up like the bad people in the book. I guess I never really thought about the fact that it was their choice to do harm.” Pogue said his face slightly scrunched up in concentration.
“So this Barbas guy, is he dangerous?” Kyle asked.
“If he is the person we are dealing with, he is very dangerous, he can make your worst fear come true.” Caleb said.
“And this is deadly how?” Kyle asked.
“He can scare you to death.” Reid whispered.
“Right.” Caleb said.
“He can kill me.” Liz whispered. Tyler tensed and looked to his friends to see if what his girlfriend had said was true.
“Yes.” Pogue whispered.
“We need to do something and fast.” Tyler hissed pulling Liz close.
“We know, we need to get everyone together and come up with a plan.” Caleb said.
“There is just one problem here guys” Pogue said.
“What?” Reid asked.
“It says in the book that Barbas can make himself invisible, there is no way of knowing if he is watching us. If he is than all of our plans are going to be foiled.” Pogue said.
“So we need to come up with a way of communicating so that he will not know.” Liz said.
“Right.” Tyler said.
“I think I have an idea.” Liz said, a wicked grin spreading across her face.
“Oh that is never good.” Kyle muttered.
Part 20: Monsters
Pogue blinked several times as his surroundings changed yet again and he was back in his dorm room sitting on his bed. Caleb was standing in the doorway looking confused. “You alright man?”
“Yeah fine I just had a bad dream.” Pogue said not wanting to let his friend know that he had not even shut his eyes.
“Listen Reid is still kind of out of it, so he is going to stay with Liz still. He has stopped mumbling things and the shivering has slowed.” Caleb said plopping down on his own bed.
“What could have done that to him?” Pogue asked.
“No idea, but I have a feeling that Leo knows and he is just too afraid to tell us.” Caleb said.
“But how did the person know that Reid was afraid of closets?” Pogue asked.
“I want to know that as well. Sure all of us know but he had to tell us after playing hide and go seek with us as kids. No one else but family would know his fear and no one we know would lock him in a closet.” Caleb said.
“It sounds to me like whoever this person is, they have a way of finding out our deepest fears.” Pogue said and Caleb suddenly sat up looking alarmed.
“What is it?”
“I just remembered something. There was a line in our book about a demon who comes around every so often, a fear demon.” Caleb said.
“So?”
“I need to take a look at the book.” Caleb said walking over to his bookcase and he pulled out and old leather book. On the other side of the book was a flickering light in dark stone basement. Reaching in farther Caleb pulled out an even thicker ancient looking book. The Book of Damnation
“What did you like memorize that thing when we were kids?” Pogue grumbled as his friend started flipping through the yellowed pages. Caleb apparently was fed up with flipping through the normal way and set the ancient book on the bed and used his powers to get to the desired page, the book’s pages flipped in as if turned by a magical wind.
There on the page was a man with gray hair, a pointed face, hawk beady eyes, thin lips, and sunken cheeks. The name across the top in old gothic letters read, Barbas, demon of fear. Caleb and Pogue silently read all that was mentioned about the upper level demon.
“What happened to Reid sounds like something this guy might do.” Caleb said.
“True but did you read the last line?” Pogue said.
“No.”
“Well if you had you would have see that he was vanquished, by the Charmed Ones.” Pogue said Caleb stared at his friend both of them thinking the same thing.
“Leo!” Caleb bellowed. Blue lights filled the room and the angel stood before them looking worried.
“What who is hurt?” He asked.
“No one yet, so your charges vanquished Barbas?” Caleb asked folding his arms across his chest.
“Oh uh yeah.” Leo said, his ears turning slightly red not wanting to mention to the two powerful witches that there was a slight possibility Barbas was back.
“Cut the crap Leo.” Pogue said.
“Alright, there is a chance that the person who locked Reid in the closet is Barbas. He is an upper level demon who reads peoples deepest fear and then uses it on them to kill them. If Reid had been left in there longer he probably would have been scared to death.” Leo said.
“Is there any way to confirm this is our guy?” Caleb asked.
“We have Cole checking with his contacts in the underworld but we do not think that is going to turn anything up. The Source is worried that Liz is a huge threat to him and so is her child. Aside from actually attacking her himself he needed to send someone who could get under an immortals protection shield. Liz is not protected from her fears.” Leo explained.
“Alright we need to tell the others, you all need to help come up with a way to stop him. We need to take care of this guys.” Caleb said.
“The sisters are on it, they feared that it might have been him so to get a head start they are creating vanquishing potions.” Leo said.
“See if they can create a summoning spell as well, I want to see if a little good old fashioned firepower might do the trick.” Pogue said.
“Just know that if he shows himself there is a good chance that to save himself he will bring to life your worst fear.” Leo said before he orbed away. Caleb and Pogue grabbed the book then blinked away. The two appeared in Liz’s apartment looking around for one of their friends.
“Don’t move.” They heard Liz yell before she appeared before them in a flimsy bathrobe, showing way too much. “AH!” Liz jumped and pulled her robe on tighter at the sight of the two boys, her cheeks reddening.
“Nice robe.” Caleb laughed as he set the book down which caught Liz’s attention.
“What is going on?” Liz asked.
“Hey babe, what is taking…” Tyler stopped at the sight of his friends.
“Hi Tyler.” Pogue said glaring at his bare-chested friend. Tyler took the hint and pulled Liz with him to go and change. The two emerged moments later both looking sheepish.
“I swear we leave you alone for two minutes and you are both going at it.” Caleb said shaking his head.
“Alright enough, what is the problem?” Tyler asked motioning to the book upon receiving a shocked look from Pogue.
“We think we know who put Reid in the closet, this guy.” Caleb said showing the two the book. Liz looked troubled at the sight of the demon, as if knowing that he was the one who had the power to hurt her and her baby.
“Leo and the sisters are working on it to see if this is the guy but I am pretty sure it is him.” Pogue said remembering his dream of the graveyard.
“How so?” Tyler asked pulling Liz close.
“Earlier in my dorm I found myself in a graveyard facing my innermost fear.” Pogue said.
“What?” Liz asked.
“I was in a graveyard and I had no idea how I got there but then I saw Tyler and he just seemed so different, so angry. Liz had been killed and so had the baby and I had been the reason, Tyler called me a monster.” Pogue tried to explain. Liz looked at her cousin through weary eyes.
“What is your fear?” Liz asked.
“That I am evil. That I am going to be the reason everyone I love dies.” Pogue said.
“Well that takes care of that, I think it is safe to say we are dealing with Barbas here.” Tyler muttered.
Liz did not seem to hear her boyfriend she was too busy focusing on her cousin and how worried he was. “Pogue you are not a monster, you could never be a monster.” Liz said hugging her cousin but that did nothing.
“Liz our whole family has been evil from the start.” Pogue muttered.
“No that is not true, they were not evil people they just made bad choices. Evil is not a nature it is nurture Pogue. We choose how we want to be, all of us chose to fight the good fight instead of throwing in the towel and taking the easy way. Tell me Pogue do you want world domination?” Liz asked catching the attention of Tyler and Caleb, the two listened intently to the two cousins.
“Of course not.” Pogue said.
“Do you wish to kill an innocent?” Liz asked.
“No.”
“Do you think about hurting people all the time, do you crave their blood and their cries, do you revel in pain, do you not love?” Liz asked getting more upset with each question.
“Of course not.” Pogue said.
“See you are not a monster because a monster could never love. A monster would not worry about being a monster they would just be one and they would never fear hurting their loved ones because they already have.” Liz said.
“Wow that was a good speech.” A voice croaked from the hall. The four turned to see Reid and Kyle standing there, Reid looking tired and worn.
“Reid should you be out of bed?” Caleb asked.
“I am tired of sleeping and the room was making me feel claustrophobic.” The blonde muttered as he sat down on the couch. “Liz is right Pogue, you are not a monster it is the one thing you would never be good at.”
“But our powers are evil.” Pogue said.
“No they are not, they are just associated with evil because way back when some idiot used the power for harming someone and from then on it was associated with evil. A power can’t be evil just the way the person wielding the power wields it.” Tyler said Liz grinned at her boyfriend kissing him soundly for his add in. Tyler smiled at her wrapping his arms around her kissing the top of her head.
“I guess it has just always been a fear of mine, ever since I gained my powers. I did not want to end up like the bad people in the book. I guess I never really thought about the fact that it was their choice to do harm.” Pogue said his face slightly scrunched up in concentration.
“So this Barbas guy, is he dangerous?” Kyle asked.
“If he is the person we are dealing with, he is very dangerous, he can make your worst fear come true.” Caleb said.
“And this is deadly how?” Kyle asked.
“He can scare you to death.” Reid whispered.
“Right.” Caleb said.
“He can kill me.” Liz whispered. Tyler tensed and looked to his friends to see if what his girlfriend had said was true.
“Yes.” Pogue whispered.
“We need to do something and fast.” Tyler hissed pulling Liz close.
“We know, we need to get everyone together and come up with a plan.” Caleb said.
“There is just one problem here guys” Pogue said.
“What?” Reid asked.
“It says in the book that Barbas can make himself invisible, there is no way of knowing if he is watching us. If he is than all of our plans are going to be foiled.” Pogue said.
“So we need to come up with a way of communicating so that he will not know.” Liz said.
“Right.” Tyler said.
“I think I have an idea.” Liz said, a wicked grin spreading across her face.
“Oh that is never good.” Kyle muttered.