"At least you don't live here," Aaron grumbled.
Aaron left a note and a few presents wrapped in shiny red paper on the kitchen table. He didn't want to leave his mom on Christmas, he didn't want to hunt down a killer - and ghosts - on Christmas, he didn't want Alaire in the hands of the killer on Christmas either... Tough.
"You sure you want to come?" Gerald stood at the front door, eager to leave.
Aaron looked up the stairs one more time, debating waking his mom up, but said, "Yeah, let's go."
Ryan practically ran to Gerald's car, letting Aaron take the passenger seat. The air was so icy that their nose hairs froze as soon as they left the house. Dawn had barely begun, and a thick fog surrounded them. Aaron watched his breath come out as little white clouds.
"Does anyone else want to drop the torch in a river somewhere," Ryan said, "What if it possesses the car?"
"Let's not think about it," Gerald snapped, "Or talk about it. Or acknowledge that it's even there. Until we get to Seattle."
"Yeah, alright..." Ryan rolled his eyes.
Luckily, the car ride was smooth and uneventful. By hour two, the car smelled of McDonald's breakfast, by hour five Ryan was passed out and sprawled out in the backseat, and by hour nine they were all ready to pass out.
"Need me to drive?" Aaron offered.
"I think I'm alright. We'll just have another coffee run or energy drink pit stop..."
Aaron looked at the floor of his seat, which was cluttered with empty cans and foam mugs.
"If you say so," Aaron shrugged, "We're about an hour or two away."
"Cake," Gerald said in a silly tone. He started to giggle.
Aaron side glanced at him, "You sure you're ok?"
"I'm... peachy! Running on no sleep, driving ten hours, there's a possessed object in my trunk, and we just saw what could quite possibly be a ghost or demon in your house. I'm fantastic."
Aaron sighed, "I really thought this was over."
"Did you..." Gerald mused, "Ever see anything like that? When you were kidnapped."
"Yes."
Gerald was silent.
"I know this is going to sound crazy, you're a rational guy looking for facts and evidence, but... The first time I saw a figure like that, it was Thanatos. He appeared out of nothingness. It felt like you were suffocating. Like you were slowly dying the closer he got to you."
"You really saw this thing?" Gerald didn't sound like he was teasing.
Aaron nodded, "It's what killed Taylor and Matt - grabbed their faces and popped their skulls like a melon."
"You didn't mention that in your report," Gerald noted.
"They didn't let us get to that part..."
Aaron remembered talking to the police from his hospital bed, and how incredibly frustrating it was. Not only that but for the first three weeks, he could hardly move his left arm from the gunshot wound in his shoulder. Aaron rubbed the scar.
"How are you holding up, by the way?" Gerald asked, noticing Aaron starting to cringe.
"The scar is ugly, but I'm alive. I can't say the same for the others."
Gerald tapped the top of his head, "I mean up here."
"Oh... I've been better, and I've been worse. It was really bad when I first got home. I'd throw up after having nightmares, and any loud sounds would make me jump. Now I can hide it a little better."
"I'm impressed," Gerald said, "Seriously. I may never know completely what you and Alaire went through, but I've seen some pretty messed up shit. And those survivors didn't look as well-off as you."
"Thanks, I think," Aaron smiled.
*****
"Gerald! How the heck are you? You-you guys smell like eggs and sausage..."
A woman with thick dark hair wrapped into a ballerina bun, hugged Gerald as soon as the door opened. She introduced herself to Ryan and Aaron as Maren, the brilliant.
"Nice to meet you both," her white teeth gleamed at them through her big smile, "You all look pretty haggard, though, if I'm being honest. There are showers in the locker rooms if you're desperate..."
"We'll get a hotel later," Gerald said, "It's good to see you, it's been a while. Sorry, we had to come on Christmas day."
"No kidding! That's alright, it's nice to get away from crazy family sometimes. Besides, your request sounded interesting. You have something for me right?" Maren raised her eyebrows with enthusiasm.
She escorted them into her classroom, which was empty for winter break. The seats were staged like most universities - in bleacher formation. A large black chalkboard displayed itself behind her rather large wooden desk.
Gerald set the trunk down and carefully opened it.
"Oh..." Maren pulled out her reading glasses from her pocket, "Is this... Greek." She pointed at the writing imprinted on the torch's handle.
"Yeah," Ryan jumped in, "I looked it up, basically it means death."
"Huh..." Maren examined the torch, turning it over and over, "I mean that makes sense. A torch upside down is symbolic of a life cut short, hopelessness, loss of enlightenment, bereft of future, yadda-yadda."
"It's an artifact for a cult that worships death, or this thing called Thanatos," Gerald said, "Do you know anything about it?"
"Oh I've heard some things on the news lately," she said, "However, I'm having a hard time believing the thing they worship actually being Thanatos."
"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.
"Thanatos is from Greek mythology," Maren explained, "He's the god who's also the personification of death. But to my knowledge, he wasn't one of the worst gods... In fact. I'd be more afraid of his siblings."
Gerald, Ryan, and Aaron in unison said, "Siblings?"
Maren nodded, finally taking her eyes off of the torch, "Thanatos is the son of Nyx and Erebos -night and darkness - and his twin is Hypno, god of sleep. But there's more. His other siblings are more negative personifications, Geras - old age, Oizys - suffering, Moros - doom, Apate - deception, Momus - blame, Eris - strife, Nemesis - retribution, and Charon the boatman. Thanatos himself is supposed to be exclusive to peaceful deaths. There is something a bit more bloodthirsty... the Keres."
"That was a lot of info..." Ryan groaned.
Aaron stepped forward, looking Maren dead in the eye, "What are the Keres?"
Maren waved the three of them over to her computer. She pulled up some photos and articles under Keres. Images of winged female demons flooded the screen.
"Keres are the embodiment of violent deaths. They're female death spirits, of the unpleasant kind... Again, that's the Greeks. If your cult is worshipping Thanatos by brutally murdering people, then... I don't know. They might be really naive or might know something we don't."
"Naive is a possibility since the last two involved in the cult were no older than Aaron," Gerald said.
His phone started vibrating in his pocket, "Excuse me," and he left the classroom.
Maren sighed, and plopped down in her desk chair, "Do you guys care if I keep this?"
"Just don't take it home with you," Ryan suggested.
After ten minutes, Gerald finally returned. His normally tan face looked pale and ghost-like.
"What is it?" Ryan asked.
Aaron waited anxiously, for some reason his heart was racing. He'd seen that facial expression several times over - whenever someone was killed in the Thanato Project. Alaire had that same face in the hydrotherapy room when Jacob died, and when Taylor and Matt were obliterated. He knew that look more than he cared to.
"That was um..." Gerald paused, "Tina, the woman who sold us the torch... she's been murdered."
Aaron's body felt like heavy led and ice. His blood was cold and his brain felt like mush. How could this still be happening?
Ryan slowly turned to Maren, who set the torch down on her desk like it was infected.
"You sure you wanna keep it?" he asked.
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