Chapter Four

“This is ridiculous. Seriously! Can you tell how pissed I am? Because I am seriously about to explode.”

            It was a little passed midnight and Margaret had retreated to the confines of Headmaster Solomon's office. After the encounter with Ammit, the young Witch had no choice but to seek out her caregiver. Fortunately for her, the kind, round man had already heard the commotion. After tucking Daniel away in his dorm, the Headmaster took his time to care after Gomorrah, who was injured during the fight. The Demon was back in his canine form, sleeping soundly on a makeshift bed made out of blankets and pillows from the infirmary. Solomon turned from his patient to look at Margaret. The girl was eating a sandwich as she sat on her guardian’s desk.

            “Margaret, you must relax,” Solomon said gently. “Gomorrah will not waken when you're busy having a temper. And don't eat that on my desk! I don't want little bugs crawling in here.”

            Though he wore the face of a kind headmaster, Solomon was actually a proficient magician who studied the healing arts. He had been a friend of Margaret's grandfather since they were children, often following her grandfather around on various Demon hunts. He knew Margaret was very disdainful towards him but he wanted to care for her as if she were his own daughter. Margaret made eye contact with the stout man and quickly finished half of the sandwich in one bite. Solomon shook his head and sighed, then went back to caring for Gomorrah. Margaret jumped down from his desk and went over to stand behind the man.

            “When do you think he'll wake up?” Margaret asked.  

            “Any moment,” Solomon answered. He placed a hand on the dog's head. “Poor thing went through a lot.”

            “You're telling me. I swear when I see Armpit again, I'll rip her a new one!”

            “The Demon is called 'Ammit.'”

            “Whatever.” The young Witch sat on Solomon’s desk and folded her arms over her chest.  The plump headmaster's gaze didn't leave Gomorrah's body, but his face was twisted in thought.

            “Ammit...it's as if I heard that name before,” he mused to himself. Before Margaret could say anything, the old man ceased his thoughts and changed the subject. “Where is Sodom, by the way? That tricky Demon hasn't been here at all to check on his friend.”

            “Sodom is watching over that Daniel guy for the night. Who'd thought he would've brought me so much trouble. If it wasn't for him, Gomorrah wouldn't be hurt and Grandpa's hard work wouldn't have vanished.”

            Margaret stared at Gomorrah and pouted her lip. She knew she shouldn't be blaming Daniel but what else could she do? That Demon came from Daniel’s body when he was unconscious. Ammit obviously had some sort of attachment to him. Whatever was to come out of it, Margaret knew that it wouldn’t be a good one.

            “So, old man,” Margaret began. “Have you heard of this Ammit Demon?”

            Solomon nodded. “She’s a very powerful Demon. Often, she is known by another name: the Soul Devourer. Her legend dates back to the times of the ancient Egyptians. When it was time to enter the underworld, the human’s heart would be weighed on Ma’at’s scale of justice. Should it be heavy with sin, the heart was fed to Ammit. The person would never be allowed into the underworld and would never have a chance at reincarnation. I believe it’s-“

            “I didn’t ask for a history lesson,” Margaret interrupted. “Now do you know a way to beat her?”

            “Violence will not answer the question in this case, Margaret.”

            “So you don’t know? Great…”

            “It’s true, I do not know how to defeat her. But from what you have told me, she has a very strong connection to that boy, Daniel. I’m sure either Sodom or Gomorrah will have a better understanding of Ammit than an old Wizard like me.”

            Margaret sighed. She didn’t want to wait. She wanted answers, not to sit around. But she knew it was best to wait for her companion to recover. Before she could ask another question, Gomorrah began to stir. The canine Demon’s paws and face twitched for a moment. He growled sleepily and opened an eye slowly. His gaze immediately went to Margaret.

            “Miss Margaret,” he said quietly. His voice was soft and wispy, as if he was still exhausted from the whole ordeal. “Thank the devils you’re alright.”

            “Gomorrah…” Margaret said under he breath.

            The dog lifted his head to look around. He turned his head to the side, exposing his left eye for Margaret to see. Instead of the snow-white fur she was used to seeing, it was now a rusted color. A large gash covered his left eye, which remained closed due to the damage. The wound hadn’t completely closed yet and fluid continued to ooze from it. This was the result from Ammit’s attack. Margaret’s blood boiled at the sight of her injured companion. Gomorrah cocked his head to the side.

            “Is there something wrong?” Gomorrah asked innocently.

            “You bet your a*s something is wrong!” Margaret shouted. “Look at you, Gomorrah! Look at what she did-“

            “Calm down, Margaret,” Solomon interrupted. He placed a hand on Gomorrah’s head and stroked the dog Demon’s head. “You don’t want this poor creature to be frightened, now do you?”

            “Do you know how scared I was, stupid?” Margaret ignored the headmaster and asked Gomorrah, frustrated. “I would’ve been so pissed if you were dead.”

            Gomorrah dipped his head. “Sorry, Miss Margaret. I didn’t mean you upset you.”

            Margaret crossed her arms over her chest and let out a sigh. “It’s alright. I’m just happy you’re awake now.”

            “How do you feel, Gomorrah?” Solomon asked.

            “I feel fine now, thanks to you, and now that I know Miss Margaret is unharmed. But for some reason, I feel a little hollow. Like something is missing.”

            “That might be a side effect of having all those Demons extracted from you. Margaret opened you right after Ammit attacked you and noted that a majority of your pages have been either torn out or went blank.”

            “What?” Gomorrah looked at Solomon and Margaret in shock. “You can’t be serious. It’s not that easy to erase a Demon once they’re within a grimoire.”

            “If you are feeling well enough, can you change to your book form so we can check?” Solomon asked.

            Gomorrah nodded and took a deep breath. The Demon transformed to his book state and teleported into Margaret’s hands. She looked down at Gomorrah’s cover and gave a grimace. It wasn’t the same book she held just hours earlier. It was much lighter now. The cover was no longer white and clean, but instead had a large mark down the middle as if a clawed hand left a mark. Just like with Gomorrah’s fur, the perimeter around the cuts were no longer white, but were the same rusty red color. Blood was still oozing slowly from the mark, causing Margaret to be even more careful when handling it. She took a breath and opened the book.

            A small relief flood through her when she saw the familiar drawing of a sheep. Brigid, the Demon she summoned earlier, remained within the tome unharmed. She flipped the page and saw the drawing of what looked to be a horse. Though she had never seen this Demon in a very long time, she recognized it to be the steed called Hrimfaxi, the horse of the night. She remembered Hrimfaxi from her childhood and how she would summon the horse behind her grandfather’s back so she could ride her. The dappled fur on Hrimfaxi’s pelt looked like twinkling stars in the drawing. Her mane and tail was long and formless like water. Margaret blinked and turned to the next page.

            The next Demon was one that she was not too familiar with. It was a drawing of a cow with long horns that curled upwards. A large hump appeared where the withers were and a gold ring was found on the cow’s right nostril. The bovine was adorned with jewels and silk, making it look like one of the most elegant cows Margaret had ever seen.  She looked down at the page and remembered the name of the Demon: Parvati. Though she wasn’t quite sure what the Demon was capable of, she knew that she’d make a decent companion.

            Margaret continued by flipping to the next page. It was blank. She flipped to the next one and was met with another blank slate. Her face faltered as she went on, only meeting empty page after empty page. After seeing page after page, she gave up and closed the tome.

            “Just great…” she growled. “My grandpa’s hard work gone in thin air. Some Witch I am.”

            In a flash, Gomorrah reverted back to his dog form and sat before Margaret. His scarred face looked up at her with reassurance. “I don’t think it’s all that bad.”

            “What are you talking about? I’d be pissed, if I were you.”

            “Though I’m sad that Master Simon’s Demons have all vanished, think of it this way. Now you’re able to write your own legacy.”

            Margaret looked at Gomorrah with a blank face. He was trying to make the situation as best as he could. She puffed her cheeks and looked away from the dog.

            “Gomorrah, if you don’t mind, can I ask a couple of questions?” Solomon spoke up, clearing the silence that fell in the room.

            “Sure! What do you need to know?” 

            “Do you know anything about Ammit?”

            Gomorrah blinked with his good eye. “Of course. Ammit is among one of the highest ranked Demons in our world. Even higher than Sodom and me.”

            “Well that explains everything,” Margaret drawled sarcastically.

            “Quiet, Margaret,” Solomon warned. “Let Gomorrah finish. Now, Ammit mentioned something about staying with the boy Daniel. Do you know what that means?”

            Gomorrah tilted his head to the side and looked up, mimicking a thinking gesture. “I’m not sure what it means. I’ll probably have to do some research on the subject.”

            “I see. Well, it is quite early for us to draw a conclusion. For now, all we know is that she’s targeting Daniel Hacker, for some reason or another. Margaret, I need you to protect him and watch over the boy.”

            “Say what?” Margaret looked up. Her pinky had been in her ear and was cleaning it while Solomon was talking.  

            “You heard me, young lady. You are going to have to keep an eye out on Mr. Hacker. Bad things are sure to come. You’re a Witch; it’s your job to protect those who can’t fight Demons.”

            “What if I don’t want to?”

            “What’s the big deal anyway, Ms. Margaret?” Gomorrah asked. “From what I saw you and the human were getting along quite well.”

            “We were then!” Margaret snapped. “I just don’t want to be responsible for him. Besides, I don’t have the Demons grandpa collected. I’m gonna have a hard time protecting him with only like five.”

            The Headmaster shook his head and sighed. “I’m not going to argue with you about it. I just hope you do the right thing, Margaret. You both may go back to the dorms now. I have some things to attend to before I turn in for the night.”

            “Since I stayed up so late, am I allowed to skip class tomorrow?” Margaret asked. Gomorrah narrowed his good eye at her but she ignored the canine Demon’s glare. The Demon did not enjoy Margaret skipping class; he believed that only the educated can survive. Margaret caught sight of Gomorrah’s disapproving stare and stuck her tongue out at him.

            “Of course not, young lady!” Solomon said with a chuckle. “Remember to be up bright and early. If I hear about you skipping class, you’ll be stuck with detention and cleaning duty in the dorm bathrooms for the rest of the month.”

            Margaret rolled her eyes and got off his desk. She walked towards the heavy oak doors and pulled them open. Gomorrah followed at her heels. Without a single word, she left the Headmaster’s room. The door was slammed shut, the sound echoing throughout the room. Solomon stared at the door quietly, trying to piece together what the world may come to if they don’t figure out Ammit’s curse in time. The lack of Demons that Margaret’s grandfather acquired might be more troublesome later on than it is currently. However, Solomon was more worried about Margaret’s mentality on the whole ordeal.

            “I just hope that girl picks the right thing to do.”