19. Memento Mori
Although Benoni laughed for two minutes straight, everyone else didn't stay still just to listen to him laugh. The Furies, Johannsen, and Wozniak immediately went on the offensive and held on to their amulets and pendants, whispering the hexes they wanted to rain on Benoni. For a few moments they held their agressive poses, until one by one they realized that nothing was happening.
The look of further consternation on their faces made Benoni laugh even harder.
The first one to realize what was wrong was Giovanni, who took a couple of shuffling steps back, and then turned around and pelted down the hallway.
"They have no way of knowing that I may have just cancelled all their magic…"
Instead of staying and trying to undo whatever he may have done, all he could think of was to go and make sure that Circe was okay. So he started running towards his pod. Suddenly, he remembered and stopped in his tracks.
"Fuck me sideways!! She's still in the Furies' office! Shit on toast… Now how do I get past the Benoni guy, or whatever he is?"
At that moment, Wozniak turned to his comrades and yelled, "Get those kids and run! Johannsen, try and see if you guys can get out through a window and get out of the building! Try to see if you can get to the other pods from the outside! Go!"
Johannsen turned and ran into the Furies' office, but the Furies themselves stood indecisive, looking from Wozniak's frown to Benoni's laughing face.
"What can you do, with no Magick? Come with us!"
"No! I'm the only one big enough to try to slow him down! I told you to go!," Wozniak yelled harder than ever, and took a few steps towards Benoni, who was still laughing.
Benoni closed his mouth to muffle his laughter fit a little bit and put up his hand in a clear "wait a moment." Wozniak paused mid-step. Benoni seemed to be about to say something. He straightened up, but instead of saying anything he started laughing again, harder than before.
"Okay, that does it!" Wozniak yelled and took a diving tackle at Benoni's legs. Now, Wozniak probably tipped the scales at over three hundred pounds, even in his present femenine form, but when he crashed against Benoni's legs it was as if he had tried to tackle a telephone post. Benoni didn't yield an inch. Instead, there was a sickening wet-crunchy sound as Wozniak's collar bone snapped at the moment of the impact. Wozniak curled up in a ball and moaned in pain.
Agatha tried to go to Wozniak, but Adelaide pulled her back by an arm. "Don't get close!" she hissed furiously at them. Then, she looked at Benoni and raised her voice loud enough to make herself heard over the peals of laughter.
"Who are you, and what do you want with us?"
Benoni seemed surprised for a moment, but at least he stopped laughing. "Well, you know? Those are usually the very last words uttered by those unfortunates who meet me… But this is the first time that I feel like answering. My name… well, I don't really remember it, but for a long time many have called me Benjamin, so I guess that's my current name. Certainly, you may call me that, if you wish, it really doesn't matter…"
Benoni seemed to consider his next words for a moment.
"And, what I want from you, is for you people to finally breed yourselves out of existence. That is all."
The Furies wrinkled their brows in confusion.
"You see," Benoni continued, "a long time ago I was confronted by the four magicians founders of Hogwarts, in England. They used their magic that day to prevent me from doing whatever it was I was trying to do that day, which I don't remember very clearly, and to force a stalemate between us. But I do remember very well that I vowed to myself that day that I would erradicate this magic from humans, no matter how long it took. Well, it hasn't been that long really, so I am very pleased to announce to you today that we have seen the beginning of the end, so to speak. As you may have noticed, your magic has been cancelled. Apparently, so has mine. I didn't know I was doing magic, honestly, but I guess that's what it really was, just simple and vulgar magic… I mean, I can go around putting thoughts and images into other people's heads, like some sort of silent hypnotism, but I thought it was because of the Dark Gift, because of the Spirit of the Blood… But it seems to be magic, nonetheless. Hmm…" Benoni rubbed his chin and seemed vexed.
"Look, I don't understand anything you're saying. What is this dark gift you speak of? What is a spirit of the blood? Are you some sort of demon?" Tabitha asked with a quiver in her voice.
"What? No! No, I'm no demon. Well, at least I don't think so. I suppose I'm what you may call a vampire. I think I was the very first vampire in the world. I don't know, but I haven't met any older one, and every single vampire in the world is a fledgling made from my blood. Of that much I'm certain…"
Adelaide interrupted, "How could you possibly know? All the stories and tales say that vampires do not know who is the original maker, that it is forbidden to search for him… Also, no vampire has magical powers…"
"Didn't I just say I didn't know I had magical powers, woman? Anyway, don't worry about vampires. Over twenty years ago I sent out into the world the strongest fledgling I have ever made. He had most of my powers and almost all of my strength, and I gave him very good reasons to hate vampires, and he went on the rampage and destroyed most of the vampires in the world. Too bad he went crazy and destroyed himself before finding the rest of the vampires. But at least he got most of them. So there's only a handful of us left. I know where they all are, I can sense them through the blood, and right now they are all sleeping off the madness, underground, so they won't be bothering us for a long time… So, as I was saying…"
Adelaide interrupted again, "The British have never mentioned anything about you, related to Hogwarts…"
"Yes! They do seem to know how to keep their mouths shut, eh? Pity you lack that grace… Now, what I was saying is that, after a few decades of observing the magic folk back in jolly old England, I realized that the ability to perform Acts of Magick was handed down in the blood, pretty much like the Dark Gift in vampires… I mean, any human could do magic if he had the right lineage. So after a few centuries I decided to do a little experiment: I convinced a group of wizards and witches who didn't agree with the Secrecy Statute of 1689 to emigrate to the New World, where it seemed all separatists ended up, anyway. Those people wanted a more pragmatic approach to Magick, so they were easier to manipulate by social pressures than the British people in their isolated communities. So I spent all these years watching and learning, until I discovered that… But, come, help this poor woman at my feet… I can't think with all her moaning."
All three Furies came close to Wozniak, but just stood there, just looking down at him, with their hands hovering waist high, not knowing how to even try picking Wozniak up.
Tabitha looked quickly at Benoni and said to Adelaide, "I think I have some left-over Percocet tablets in my desk, from my hip surgery last fall. I'll go and get them while you two try to make him comfortable here, on the floor. Ben… Benjamin, Wozniak needs to go to a hospital; there's nothing we can do for him here. I think he has a broken collar bone and a separated shoulder. Maybe some internal bleeding. Whatever. Will you allow us to get help?"
"Allow you? I have not the slightest interest in you people, haven't you figured it out yet? I'm here for the children! Goodness! The faces you make! No, I don't want all of them, I just need Circe and…"
"No!!" Giovanni yelled, running around the corner, where he had been crouching, waiting for the opportunity to slip past the monster on the hallway.
Also at that moment the door to the Furies' office opened and Johannsen peeked out into the hallway and yelled at the Furies, "There's no way outta here! The damn cabin's on the very edge of the ravine!!"
Ignoring Johannsen, Benoni turned to Giovanni, smiling. "I could smell you back there… I was wondering when would you rejoin us, and…"
"Shut up, asshole! You're gettin' nowhere near Circe!!"
"Oh? How are you going to prevent it, may I ask?"
"If I can cancel the Magick, I can un-cancel it! Begone!!" Giovanni roared the last word at the same time that he dropped to his knees and slapped the floor with both hands. A small vortex of wooden splinters, soil, and rocks suddenly blossomed at Benoni's feet and swallowed him in an instant.
"What are you waiting for? Get everyone out!!!" Giovanni yelled at the Furies, who stood there, mouths agape.
As everyone started to jump into action, a small geyser erupted next to Giovanni, and a hand shot up from the soil and grabbed his ankle.
Although Benoni laughed for two minutes straight, everyone else didn't stay still just to listen to him laugh. The Furies, Johannsen, and Wozniak immediately went on the offensive and held on to their amulets and pendants, whispering the hexes they wanted to rain on Benoni. For a few moments they held their agressive poses, until one by one they realized that nothing was happening.
The look of further consternation on their faces made Benoni laugh even harder.
The first one to realize what was wrong was Giovanni, who took a couple of shuffling steps back, and then turned around and pelted down the hallway.
"They have no way of knowing that I may have just cancelled all their magic…"
Instead of staying and trying to undo whatever he may have done, all he could think of was to go and make sure that Circe was okay. So he started running towards his pod. Suddenly, he remembered and stopped in his tracks.
"Fuck me sideways!! She's still in the Furies' office! Shit on toast… Now how do I get past the Benoni guy, or whatever he is?"
At that moment, Wozniak turned to his comrades and yelled, "Get those kids and run! Johannsen, try and see if you guys can get out through a window and get out of the building! Try to see if you can get to the other pods from the outside! Go!"
Johannsen turned and ran into the Furies' office, but the Furies themselves stood indecisive, looking from Wozniak's frown to Benoni's laughing face.
"What can you do, with no Magick? Come with us!"
"No! I'm the only one big enough to try to slow him down! I told you to go!," Wozniak yelled harder than ever, and took a few steps towards Benoni, who was still laughing.
Benoni closed his mouth to muffle his laughter fit a little bit and put up his hand in a clear "wait a moment." Wozniak paused mid-step. Benoni seemed to be about to say something. He straightened up, but instead of saying anything he started laughing again, harder than before.
"Okay, that does it!" Wozniak yelled and took a diving tackle at Benoni's legs. Now, Wozniak probably tipped the scales at over three hundred pounds, even in his present femenine form, but when he crashed against Benoni's legs it was as if he had tried to tackle a telephone post. Benoni didn't yield an inch. Instead, there was a sickening wet-crunchy sound as Wozniak's collar bone snapped at the moment of the impact. Wozniak curled up in a ball and moaned in pain.
Agatha tried to go to Wozniak, but Adelaide pulled her back by an arm. "Don't get close!" she hissed furiously at them. Then, she looked at Benoni and raised her voice loud enough to make herself heard over the peals of laughter.
"Who are you, and what do you want with us?"
Benoni seemed surprised for a moment, but at least he stopped laughing. "Well, you know? Those are usually the very last words uttered by those unfortunates who meet me… But this is the first time that I feel like answering. My name… well, I don't really remember it, but for a long time many have called me Benjamin, so I guess that's my current name. Certainly, you may call me that, if you wish, it really doesn't matter…"
Benoni seemed to consider his next words for a moment.
"And, what I want from you, is for you people to finally breed yourselves out of existence. That is all."
The Furies wrinkled their brows in confusion.
"You see," Benoni continued, "a long time ago I was confronted by the four magicians founders of Hogwarts, in England. They used their magic that day to prevent me from doing whatever it was I was trying to do that day, which I don't remember very clearly, and to force a stalemate between us. But I do remember very well that I vowed to myself that day that I would erradicate this magic from humans, no matter how long it took. Well, it hasn't been that long really, so I am very pleased to announce to you today that we have seen the beginning of the end, so to speak. As you may have noticed, your magic has been cancelled. Apparently, so has mine. I didn't know I was doing magic, honestly, but I guess that's what it really was, just simple and vulgar magic… I mean, I can go around putting thoughts and images into other people's heads, like some sort of silent hypnotism, but I thought it was because of the Dark Gift, because of the Spirit of the Blood… But it seems to be magic, nonetheless. Hmm…" Benoni rubbed his chin and seemed vexed.
"Look, I don't understand anything you're saying. What is this dark gift you speak of? What is a spirit of the blood? Are you some sort of demon?" Tabitha asked with a quiver in her voice.
"What? No! No, I'm no demon. Well, at least I don't think so. I suppose I'm what you may call a vampire. I think I was the very first vampire in the world. I don't know, but I haven't met any older one, and every single vampire in the world is a fledgling made from my blood. Of that much I'm certain…"
Adelaide interrupted, "How could you possibly know? All the stories and tales say that vampires do not know who is the original maker, that it is forbidden to search for him… Also, no vampire has magical powers…"
"Didn't I just say I didn't know I had magical powers, woman? Anyway, don't worry about vampires. Over twenty years ago I sent out into the world the strongest fledgling I have ever made. He had most of my powers and almost all of my strength, and I gave him very good reasons to hate vampires, and he went on the rampage and destroyed most of the vampires in the world. Too bad he went crazy and destroyed himself before finding the rest of the vampires. But at least he got most of them. So there's only a handful of us left. I know where they all are, I can sense them through the blood, and right now they are all sleeping off the madness, underground, so they won't be bothering us for a long time… So, as I was saying…"
Adelaide interrupted again, "The British have never mentioned anything about you, related to Hogwarts…"
"Yes! They do seem to know how to keep their mouths shut, eh? Pity you lack that grace… Now, what I was saying is that, after a few decades of observing the magic folk back in jolly old England, I realized that the ability to perform Acts of Magick was handed down in the blood, pretty much like the Dark Gift in vampires… I mean, any human could do magic if he had the right lineage. So after a few centuries I decided to do a little experiment: I convinced a group of wizards and witches who didn't agree with the Secrecy Statute of 1689 to emigrate to the New World, where it seemed all separatists ended up, anyway. Those people wanted a more pragmatic approach to Magick, so they were easier to manipulate by social pressures than the British people in their isolated communities. So I spent all these years watching and learning, until I discovered that… But, come, help this poor woman at my feet… I can't think with all her moaning."
All three Furies came close to Wozniak, but just stood there, just looking down at him, with their hands hovering waist high, not knowing how to even try picking Wozniak up.
Tabitha looked quickly at Benoni and said to Adelaide, "I think I have some left-over Percocet tablets in my desk, from my hip surgery last fall. I'll go and get them while you two try to make him comfortable here, on the floor. Ben… Benjamin, Wozniak needs to go to a hospital; there's nothing we can do for him here. I think he has a broken collar bone and a separated shoulder. Maybe some internal bleeding. Whatever. Will you allow us to get help?"
"Allow you? I have not the slightest interest in you people, haven't you figured it out yet? I'm here for the children! Goodness! The faces you make! No, I don't want all of them, I just need Circe and…"
"No!!" Giovanni yelled, running around the corner, where he had been crouching, waiting for the opportunity to slip past the monster on the hallway.
Also at that moment the door to the Furies' office opened and Johannsen peeked out into the hallway and yelled at the Furies, "There's no way outta here! The damn cabin's on the very edge of the ravine!!"
Ignoring Johannsen, Benoni turned to Giovanni, smiling. "I could smell you back there… I was wondering when would you rejoin us, and…"
"Shut up, asshole! You're gettin' nowhere near Circe!!"
"Oh? How are you going to prevent it, may I ask?"
"If I can cancel the Magick, I can un-cancel it! Begone!!" Giovanni roared the last word at the same time that he dropped to his knees and slapped the floor with both hands. A small vortex of wooden splinters, soil, and rocks suddenly blossomed at Benoni's feet and swallowed him in an instant.
"What are you waiting for? Get everyone out!!!" Giovanni yelled at the Furies, who stood there, mouths agape.
As everyone started to jump into action, a small geyser erupted next to Giovanni, and a hand shot up from the soil and grabbed his ankle.
To Be Conluded…
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