Chapter Three #2
“As this darkness grew, people came to worship it. Like you worship any God. That evil was given power, and it tainted lives.”
Julian got the two Marines coffee, and they were grateful to have it.
As they sipped, Avalon continued.
“One of the original families that worshipped this entity, taking in its darkness and using it to better their lives, was stopped by another family.”
She pointed at Genesis.
“Your ancestors got rid of the problem or tried to the best of their ability. They took out the trash, so to speak.”
Genesis lifted a brow.
“Got rid of?”
Avalon explained.
“Like I am the keeper of the static, they were cleaning up the area of people who liked to do bad things here on this plane. Think of it as psychic cops.”
Genesis knew nothing of her family. Her mother and father would never speak of them. All she was ever told were they died a long time ago.
Avalon continued.
“They were tasked with policing it, if you will. In a town known for its magick, and the witches, your family kept it clean of anyone who would dabble in evil.”
Okay, that didn’t freak her out as much as it had when she started. Avalon made it sound like her ancestors were killers, but now, psychic cops she could get behind.
“They balanced the scale?” Tori asked.
That made Avalon nod.
“Exactly. Everything in life has to be in balance. Like I said, good and evil, black and white…and so on.”
So far, everyone was with her on this one.
Avalon continued.
“Every generation of your family had their job to keep the balance here. They made sure that darkness stayed in the shadows. Only, forty years ago, that became unbalanced to the point it was unable to be stabilized like normal.”
That hung there, and she gave them time to digest that.
“Like now, it’s out of balance again. Back then, someone from that bloodline went on a killing spree. They liked the way it felt to harvest souls, kill psychics, and cause a mess. They honed their gift to be a psychic vampire, like you have now.”
Julian didn’t like that at all, because this sounded like it was happening all over again.
Well, shit.
It was back again, and out of balance. That might be why the whole town felt…off to him.
He shared what they knew.
“We found out that forty years ago, Genesis’ parents got the hell out of here and moved to Utah. Then, there, they had Genesis as they remained in hiding. Later, her mother committed suicide, and then, her father did too.”
Avalon nodded.
“I’ve known about this happening since I was a young girl. I’ve been helping the dead in the static most of my life. It’s always been my duty. Like certain people are born into bloodline to do the same work, we were too.”
They looked skeptical.
“Who here was a cop with a cop as a parent or relative?”
Not surprisingly, MANY of the people who had been cops had family members who were. While they might think it’s just ‘following in family’s footsteps’, some things were in the blood.
Justice.
Helping others.
Causing harm.
It was all the same thing.
Without judgment, they all listened.
“This evil killed so many people here, and then, it wanted to enact revenge. Witches and psychics weren’t enough.
It needed that family. Genesis’ family. Because I’ve protected her, I’ve made myself a target.
Because Lucian is connected to me, he’s a target.
We were shown to this darkness, and we’re the ultimate goal.
It’s gotten drunk on power and wants to have ALL of it in the static. ”
Julian was curious.
“And if it gets you all?”
Lucian knew.
“The dead are gone, and anyone who is psychic is marked. That’s why The Phoenix Files were created,” he offered. “That’s what we did as a family. We protected psychics who were in danger. Not from this, but from other entities. Dark is ALWAYS drawn to light.”
Raven got it.
“With good, there is always evil. It has to be balanced. Like when a circle is cast, balance has to be there for the magick to work.”
Avalon nodded.
“Yes, Raven. This nightmare wants to make sure it’s not, so it can feed on the dead, and control that space. Once the psychics are killed, it will come for everyone else. We all have souls. Think of it as a spiritual serial killer. This one is after that energy.”
This was wild.
And a lot to take in.
Granted, they all knew serial killers. They’d worked plenty of cases from being cops, in the FBI, and working here to know how dangerous they were.
Why not spiritual serial killers?
Was anything less weird in this town?
“So, if it gets you guys, it’s moving onto everyone else?” Josh asked, getting twitchy.
He didn’t want his woman in danger like this.
She nodded.
“No one will be safe. My goal, when I began helping psychics, was to preserve them and their gifts. We all have psychic potential. Some of us are open when we are born, and some aren’t.”
That made sense.
“And why you three?”
Avalon sipped her tea.
“We were born to this. Avalon, Lucian, and Genesis. Fate isn’t big on coincidences. Everything is done with intent.”
Raven agreed.
“There are connections to each of us with invisible threads. You pick your friends that way, and your career unfolds that way. How many times have we said, ‘luck was on our side’ when there was no luck? Fate is driving the bus.”
Avalon nodded.
“Raven is right. Like with Fate driving the bus, our parents were part of that fate when we were named.”
Tori looked confused, so Avalon continued.
“Our names tell it all. Like the Oracles at Delphi, there were three. We’ve always kept the static. Just at different times. Me the longest, Lucian after me, when he found his tuner, and lastly, Genesis. She’s just awakened. History repeats, and we’re the next generation of keepers.”
The whole team listened.
Before finding out ghosts and paranormal things were real, most of the cops here would have laughed at this.
Only now, Julian believed.
As a Native, there were things his people explained that most people wouldn’t understand. He’d seen some shit that shouldn’t exist, but it did.
There were things that went bump in the night.
Good things.
And bad things.
They existed whether people believed or not.
“Nothing in life is a coincidence. There has to be good and evil, along with that balance. We’re the keepers of it.”
Raven knew what she was saying.
“Avalon was a place where a weapon was forged. It was where Excalibur was created.”
Hart went there.
“That’s a story.”
Avalon was to the point.
“All stories back then are based in some truth. Stories were passed down, and they changed over time. Every religion has a book that holds those stories. We can discuss the Bible if you’d like. That is Christianity’s book. The Koran. The Scrolls. Written word came from spoken stories.”
The Catholics in the room backed way off on that one. The Bible was written not by God, but by men helping God. So, she wasn’t wrong.
That had to be passed down from person-to-person, until it was written down.
Raven didn’t doubt any of this. He was taking in what Avalon was saying and staring at the three of them. In his religion, things were also in threes.
It was all beginning to connect.
“Lucian means light or illuminator.”
That made her nod.
“It’s true. He lights the path for me. While I work in the static, he is that bright light with Ridge that helps me see more psychics. Before Ridge, it wasn’t nearly as bright.”
And that left only one person.
“And Genesis means the process of a new beginning or starting something new.”
Avalon nodded.
“I won’t be Oracle forever. You’re looking at the two people who will take over for me. IF we can keep them alive.”
Maura had been sipping her coffee and watching the other people in the room. While they might not believe Avalon was accurately depicting it, she did.
They saw some shit working on The Phoenix Files.
“Yeah, no one is dying while we’re here,” she said. “We promised to come back and help if you needed us, Avi, and here we are. So, you three are the ones likely to be targeted? That should be simple then. We know who to keep safe.”
Nate answered for his wife.
“This asshole will take out Genesis and Lucian to get to Avalon. Of the three, she’s the strongest. It went after their family member to slow them down. Ridge’s wife was used as a way to incapacitate Lucian.”
He agreed.
“I’m like a psychic paperweight without Ridge.
I can’t get into the static as deep as I need to in order to light the path for Avalon.
I can still go in and do some work, but not much.
If I go too deep, like Beckett, I can’t get out.
Ridge is my Claire. He’s my partner in this, and this monster knew how to make sure I was out of the game. ”
And they knew there was no way the man would regroup to be able to do that.
Who blamed him?
His wife had just died.
Hell!
They didn’t want to do this, so how could they make Ridge? What Julian wanted to do was pack this place up and move them the fuck out of Salem.
In fact, he might just do it.
Boston would be a jumping-off point, and then, he’d try to find them a new home.
ALL OF THEM.
It’s why they came to this side of the country after what went down with Nyx and his mother dying in that psychic nightmare.
Lucian was to the point.
“Incapacitating me doesn’t necessarily mean killing me. I’m not able to help now with finding this person in the static.”
And that was problematic.
“The three of us are power, light, and the beginning. It doesn’t want us to rebalance this mess. If it does, he will fail, and once more, his family legacy is stopped. Evil will keep trying, but as long as there are people to fight it, we all have a chance.”
Jagger was curious.
If they needed to find this, they would.
“So, we know it’s a male. What else do we know?” he asked.
Lucian told him.
He started at the beginning, telling them about all six women who seemingly offed themselves by taking their lives in weird ways. From hanging to swallowing drain cleaner, to stabbing a steak knife through their chest.
The whole time, both people listened.