Epilogue

A Demon's Love

Six Weeks Later

Remembering the feeling of sun on her face as they broke to the surface was Jen’s last memory of that day. Because as soon as she broke the surface, she wracked out into lung wrenching coughs and splutters and blood poured from her mouth.

Jeremiah took her straight to the hospital and she’d spent the next month in recovery, Greg, Angel, Saint and Tony wandering in and out at all hours of the day to keep her company and to entertain her with their latest adventures.

Jeremiah was teaching them how to Hunt.

She studied her hands as she thought of Chase, most likely throwing a tantrum in the motel they were currently staying at as he searched for her. But she had told him, she needed space. Since that day, Chase had become almost like a third arm, attached to her body with no way to sever his hold.

Jen knew he was worried. In truth Jen was worried. In the six weeks that passed, she had felt like a ghost wandering through space with no idea of time.

Her arm was still in a cast, broken and her ribs would take longer but pain medication did wonders and she knew a few healers from her mother’s old coven who would be more than willing to help her. But until then, Jen would wait.

She sat in Montague Park, highly wary of how much danger she was in. She sat on top of one of the picnic benches, her thick black jacket keeping the cold away from her. Winter had long ago begun and Sydney temperatures had dropped close to zero, a climate her summer body was no where used to.

She’d received the text message the previous week and after much consideration believed she should at least try and see if she could make things right. Under her jacket she wore iron chain mail and iron bracelets cuffed her wrists. Along with an iron choker, Jen was wearing ten extra kilos in iron alone, without counting the fact she carried four blessed guns and wore her pentagram charm. She had a pentagram tattooed again, but this time had it done on her inner thigh where no decent person would dare to look.

In her hands she passed the thing that had saved her from Adramalech between them. The ruby keychain Edmund had given to her on her first day, the one he threw back at her just before they went their separate ways in Graffiti lane. It wasn’t the iron cage that had protected her from Adramalech but the ruby she’d kept safely in her pocket and with it in her hands it seemed nothing could possess her ever again.

“Emerald. You came.” Jen half turned and behind her, where there was no one before was Edmund.

But at the same time, he wasn’t Edmund.

His hair was much the same, longish with red frosts at the end of the black locks, but instead of hanging around his face, it was slicked back, the frosts ending at all odds and ends in his head. Edmund never stood up straight and had a certain slouch about him even when he stood at full height, however now he appeared to have a ruler shoved down his back. His baggy black jeans had been replaced by a black pair of suit pants with red pinstripes and his long black jacket was now a black Burberry coat with double breasted buttons.

No rings adorned his fingers and his earrings were all gone.

It was Edmund, but not her Edmund. “Hello Emerald.” He said for good measure, taking in her silence.

“Adramalech.” Jen replied curtly as she stood up to face him. She slid the ruby into her back pocket and took in his figure and stance again and pursed her lips. “You got out.”

“Within this body I can do anything.” He took a deep breath in and exhaled. “It’s amazing, the power this boy contains. It’s pure and runs so deep... I’m surprised he’s not a full Wiccan by now. Germanicus and I, we let you escape then simply asked Fedora to let us out at the next stop in the ley line. I have only been on the surface since I sent you that message. Curious things these mobiles. Humans have gotten so intelligent. More so than I ever imagined.”

Jen crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed. “I highly doubt you dragged me out here to speak about technology. Although I should tell you, weather is still the preferred topic of boredom.”

He chuckled, his laughter sounding so much like Edmund’s it pained Jen. “I guess that some things don’t change. Hopefully, etiquette is one of those things.” From behind his back, he presented Jen with a bouquet of roses. “These are for you.”

“I don’t want them.”

“They are not from me, rather, they are from Edmund. An apology, of sorts.” He took a few steps towards her, the flowers still held out in front of him. “He wants you to have them and he wanted you to know that he loves you.”

“You’re lying.” Jen whispered. “Edmund’s dead.”

Adramalech laughed and he placed the flowers on the picnic table. “Your naivety amuses me. I have not killed Edmund’s soul. That still lives inside me.”

“You mean his soul still lives in his own body which you just happened to move into?” Jen spat.

Adramalech took another step forward but then frowned. “You’re wearing iron.  Lots and lots of iron and you have a pentagram tattooed onto you.” He reached out and grabbed her broken arm roughly. “That will help keep you safe from lower level Demons but not me.” he hissed, then pulled Jen flush against him.

Adramalech leant down and grabbed Jen’s face forcefully, kissing her and pushing his tongue �" Edmund’s tongue �" down her mouth. Jen almost choked, unable to breathe when Adramalech flew back and, with a large noise which echoed through Montague Park, crashed into the single pole of the swing set.

Jen breathed heavily and watched as a war seemed to be waging in the silver eyes of Edmund and Adramalech. In one second their eyes flashed between silver and black and Jen knew that there was a battle for control. She withdrew her pentagram necklace but the eyes flashed black and stayed that way as he pulled himself off the ground and hissed angrily. “You weren’t lying.” Jen said. “He is alive in there. But he’s only alive because you can’t kill him.”

Adramalech suddenly appeared behind Jen, lifting her hair up and whispering into her ear, “It’s not that I can’t. It’s that I won’t. See, I can kill you anytime. And Edmund... Edmund knows that. The love he has for you burns stronger than my hatred towards the Wiccans. If I remove you, I would have full control over this body, however I would still not be able to use the powers it possesses without the help of Edmund. So you and Edmund shall both live.” He dropped her hair and ended up in front of her again in the next second. “For now.”

Adramalech turned on his heel and started to walk off. From inside her pocket, Jen withdrew a blessed gun and pointed it at the back of his head. Adramalech stopped walking. He half-turned his head and frowned at Jen. “Really? Are you really going to shoot?”

“If I don’t shoot you now, more people are going to die.” Jen said, cocking the gun.

“I’m a very powerful demon, Jennifer. The only way you will destroy me is if you shoot the heart, the head or maybe even the chest. Somewhere there’s a vital organ or vein. You would have to shoot me somewhere where neither I, nor Edmund would survive. Somehow I think your love for him runs as deep as his love for you.”

“I love Chase.” she whispered.

“You love Edmund too. If you don’t,” He turned around and faced her, raising his arms up in the air. “Shoot me now and have it over with. I’ll even do you the honour of letting you face Edmund himself, because let’s face it - if I had possessed anybody else, you would’ve pulled the trigger before you could’ve even seen I had roses.”

Jen breathed heavily but kept the gun perfectly aimed. “Here. I’ll be nice. You have five minutes to kill me.”

Adramalech’s inky black eyes rolled into the back of his head, turning into Edmund’s silvery ones. For a moment, he stumbled forward, finding the ground. Jen faltered her aim for a second. “J-Jen?”

“Edmund?” Jen asked, unsurely. He balanced himself and straightened up. For a second, she wasn’t sure if it really was Edmund and Adramalech was playing a trick on her. But then she saw how he stood, at full height with a small slouch. “It’s you.”

“Jen, shoot.” Edmund said. “Shoot now, please.”

Her hands started to shake, her heart questioning everything her mind believed in. “Jen, please.” he begged. “Shoot me, or he’ll destroy the world.”

“I-I...” Jen’s hands were shaking uncontrollably and she dropped the gun. “Edmund...”

“You’re going to give up hunting Jen.” he said to her. “You’re going to give it up and marry Chase and buy a house and raise kids, remember? You told me. That’s what you said you were going to do.”

Jen fell to her knees and buried her head in her hands and in seconds, Edmund’s arms were wrapped around her, holding her and rocking her back and forth. “Shush, it’s alright. Please, Jen it’s alright.” Edmund hugged her tightly from behind and pressed quick kisses against her cheek. “You don’t need me, Jen. You don’t love me. You can kill me, it’s alright.”

Jen turned around in his arms and grabbed his face, kissing him so hard he stumbled backwards and just barely managed to keep himself steady. One of his arms went around her waist and the other stroked her face lovingly. In the matter of two weeks the two had fallen madly in love and Jen knew then there was nothing she could do about it.

I love Edmund and it has nothing to do with a spell or magical wording.

I love him.

Edmund pulled back from her and he smiled, just stroking her face. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” she choked out.

Edmund reached down in between them and picked up the gun. “I-” His words were cut off by a choking sound and he started waving the gun out in front of him. Jen grabbed it and pushed herself back across the grass as Edmund’s eyes flashed between silver and black again.

“Edmund!” Jen was about to lunge forward but Edmund disappeared before her very eyes with a moaning noise and a bang.

Jen curled herself up in a small ball and pressed her forehead to her knees as she cried at her failure and worse still, her loss.

Author's Note

Spelling? Grammar? What did you think of the story as a whole? Should I continue writing this series or was it a waste of time? Tell me what you think...