Chapter 22…Sympathy for the Devil
“She’s been at it for four days” Kanya muttered looking at the meditation room. “Summoning an audience with the Sages isn’t like picking up the phone. It could take time” Ora said sipping tea. “Four days though? What if they’re not responding out of choice?” Kanya asked. “Why would they do that?” Ora asked. “You said yourself these Sages cut themselves off from humanity. What’s to say they just don’t want to be bothered?” Kanya asked. Ora held her teacup. It was a valid question and one she didn’t have an answer for. In times past, the Sages were aloof, but they didn’t ignore a summons from a fellow Yaksha. Especially one from someone old and respected as her mother. “I admit this is taking longer than expected” Ora muttered. Her mother Sora sat in mediation observing the Astral Plane for a reply. There was none. However, she could sense a disturbance in the fabric of the Plane itself. Like faint ripples on the surface of a pond. Sora sighed and ended her mediation. She exited the room. “Still no answer?” Ora asked. “No and that troubles me. Last time I requested an audience it only took a few hours” Sora said floating onto the kitchen table. Ora scooted over a spare cup and poured tea into it before shrinking it down for her. “Jasmine. My favorite” Sora muttered. “Why don’t I go see Mike?” Kanya asked. Ora spit out her tea and coughed. “I can think of a few reasons not to. Some involve eating you. Others crushing you under his foot” Ora said sternly. “Mike wouldn’t do that to me. He loves me” Kanya said.
“That man I fought did not have love in heart. What was there was twisted and warped into something other than love” Sora said. “Ora I have to try. If I tell him who that Asura is and what’s it’s done, it may make Mike rethink his decision. Please, it got worse when you hid the truth from him” Kanya pleaded. “He was willing to renounce the Asura at one time. Mother has a point though Kanya. The Mike you knew could be gone now. Swallowed up by Kasem” Ora said. “A chance I’m willing to take. Respectfully, in the end it’s my decision. Not yours or your mom’s” Kanya told her. “Very well” Ora sighed. Kanya quickly left the room to change clothes and returned shortly later. “You can’t send that girl to him. Put your foot down! Literally on her if you have to!” Sora shouted. Ora motioned for her to be quiet. “Come here Kanya” Ora said. Kanya approached her. Ora rolled up the left sleeve on her sweater and ran her finger on the inside of her arm near her wrist. A magic glyph began to glow and then disappear. “A teleportation spell in case things don’t turn out the way you hope. My car keys are on the nook” Ora said. Ora sighed as she left. “A big gamble daughter” Sora whispered. “I know mother” Ora muttered.
Kanya drove to Mike’s home and arrived just over an hour later. For a brief second she thought she had the wrong house as the windows were cracked with some broken glass scattered in the grass. Scorch marks forming a circle in the driveway. Kanya nervously knocked on the door. No answer. She could see his car was there, so she was sure he was home. “Mike! It’s me Kanya! I wanna see you! I’m…I’m worried about you” she yelled. No answer. Kanya began walking back to the car when she heard a voice. “You alone?” Mike asked through the door. “Yeah just me Mike. Just Kanya” she replied. Mike opened the door. She stepped in and was instantly hit with the stench of death in the living room. She looked at him. “Mike, my god…” she muttered seeing him as if he hadn’t slept or eaten properly in days. “Sorry I wasn’t expecting company, so I don’t have much in the way of snacks or drinks. Katie, look, who’s here” Mike said taking towards the coffee table. The shrunken Katie gazed up at the giantess and simply nodded. Kanya sat down. “Katie! How have ya been?!” Kanya asked picking Katie up. “I am fine” Katie said with zero emotion. Mike sat down next to them. “I doubt you’re here just to check on me Kanya. Be honest” Mike said cutting to the chase. “Part of why I’m here really is to check up on you. Just because I didn’t go with you that day doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you. As for the rest, you do know your actions caught some attention right?” Kanya asked. “You mean the media or that Yaksha that tried to kill me?” he asked. “Both” she replied. “The media doesn’t know shit. They think it was some overnight demolition and cleanup. As for the Yaksha, I beat her ass like she owed me money” Mike said coldly. “I know. You nearly beat Ora’s mother to death” Kanya said. “Mother? Figures” Mike huffed. “Mike you’ve killed dozens in just a week’s time. Why? I know you have to fight the curse but so many people?!” Kanya asked. “Do you smell that?” Mike asked.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but it is bad in here. But please answer my question” she said. “Your answer is in the air Kanya. The smell of death. I looked online about how to get rid of the smell and its pretty fucking gross. Something about human fat cells that decay. I think I’ll try charcoal next” Mike chuckled. Kanya held his hand. “Michael. Tell me what happened” she whispered. “I got Katie pregnant. After a few weeks I grew her back to normal size. There were some serious complications and the Asura said he could heal her but needed some sacrifices. So, I focused on a massage parlor ran by Asian gangsters. Well, they didn’t like that and came here to give me a 9mm fuck you. I was fine. Katie wasn’t” he muttered. Kanya looked at Katie. “But she’s…oh dear god” Kanya muttered remembering the story Ora told her. Kasem had raised his wife from the dead. The smell in the room. How odd Katie was acting. It began to fit. “He needed a lot of sacrifices to bring her back. A lot Kanya. I tore through Chinatown like a fucking storm of death and destroyed a criminal gang…and the innocent lives they enslaved. And when I get to the head cheese himself, a Yaksha interfered. My one shot at trying to make this even. So yeah I beat her ass. Hit her so goddamn hard her ribs broke like twigs.”
“So, he rose Katie from the dead after that?” Kanya asked. Mike shook his head. “He claimed he wasn’t strong enough. He just needed one more sacrifice but not just anyone. It had to be close, personal. He found a woman my grandfather let go because she was pregnant with his child. Something I should’ve done myself with Katie!” Mike yelled. Kanya held his hand tighter. “She gave birth to a girl, my aunt. The last person on this earth that was blood. I had the intention of sacrificing them to get Katie back but after I got there and spoke to them. I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t do it…” Mike said crying. Kanya stroked his hair and he turned to look at her. “He made me. That goddamn thing made me eat the woman and then broke free of the Coin imbedded in my chest. He gave me what I asked for before he left. Gave me exactly what I asked Kanya. He fucking monkey pawed my ass and then left with my aunt” he said coldly. “What do you mean monkey pawed?” Kanya asked. “I asked him to bring her back to life and that’s exactly what happened. But the devil is in the details. One thing I should’ve included in the deal. Her soul. Watch this…” he muttered.
Mike had Katie look directly at him and he raised his fist over her. He brought it down quick only stopping it an inch over her tiny head. “Not so much as a goddamn twitch. I went to church growing up, but I never put much stock in things like a soul. But they’re real. Real as anything else. They make us who we are. They give us the capacity to feel joy, sadness, grief, love, anger, and fear. The ability to choose, make decisions. Without a soul, we’re just meat puppets. Put Katie in your hand and look closely into her eyes” Mike said. Kanya did and brought Katie real close to her face. Kanya looked into her tiny bluish green eyes. “Oh god” Kanya muttered. “They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Like staring into a dark room isn’t it?” Mike whispered. “Mike, Ora told me Kasem did this before and what he made was a killer. Has Katie done anything?” Kanya asked. Mike got up and took Kanya by the hand to the basement. He showed her the terrarium and inside was a four-inch shriveled mummy. “What the fuck?” Kanya muttered.
"The first day she awoke I thought she was just in shock. I mean she did die after all, so I brought her down here to play with some pet girls. It was going fine until that evening I was cleaning up the broken glass down here and one of them let out this weird screech. I found Katie kissing the girl, but she wasn’t kissing her. She sucked the damn life out of her. And then as dessert did the same to the bug sized pet girl too. “Mike. We have to destroy her” Kanya said flatly. “NO!” Mike yelled. “That thing isn’t Katie, and you know it!” Kanya yelled. “If you do everything I did would be for nothing! All those lives for nothing!” Mike yelled. “Mike…” Kanya whispered pointing to the mummy in the terrarium. Mike held out his finger which showed bite marks. “I’m taking care of it” he said. “You’re feeding her your own life energy?! That’ll kill you!” Kanya yelled. “Probably. Fitting punishment if I do say so myself” he laughed weakly. Mike stumbled and Kanya caught him. She walked him back upstairs. “Will you let me help you? Please?” she begged. Mike looked at Katie. “She won’t be harmed. I promise” Kanya said. He weakly nodded and shed a tear. She borrowed his phone and called Ora. “It’s me” Kanya said. Kanya flinched. “Whoa! Slow down. A lot happened over here, and he’s agreed to let us help him on one condition. Yeah a condition. Well remember that story about Kasem raising someone from the dead? Well, he did it too and Mike has been feeding her his life energy. He won’t surrender unless we promise not to destroy her” Kanya said on the phone. Kanya waited and then nodded. “Okay. I’ll be heading back soon” she said ending the call. “Come on Mike. Let’s get you and Katie help” she said helping him up. On the drive back, Katie sat in the cup holder staring at the radio as it played music. Mike stared out the window.
“Did you think about me while I was gone?” she asked. “Yeah. At least once a day and when I was in that spa, Kanya they used your family’s restaurant for it” he said. Kanya tensed up. “It really pissed me off. The last of your family’s legacy and the thought someone like you could’ve been one of those girls” he muttered. “If I stayed with you, things could’ve been different” she said. “You went to where you needed to be. I’m not too insane that I can’t see you’re a lot happier then when I left you” he said. “I’m more honest about who I am” she said. “Being a Yaksha?” he asked. “That and liking girls and not just boys” she said grinning. “I see” Mike said slightly grinning. Mike fell asleep not long after and awoke when Kanya arrived at Ora’s cabin. She brought him inside. “This is a fool’s errand. Him is one thing but bringing that abomination in here is another!” Sora yelled. Mike looked at the woman making the racket. “Ah we meet again. I almost didn’t recognize you seeing you’re not vomiting blood” Mike said apathetically. “You mortal little…”
“He might be gone but I’m not powerless” Mike said as lightning crackled from his fingertip. All three were taken aback. “Ahem. Michael this is my mother Sora. Mom this is Michael” Ora said. “Mother? Yes I can some resemblance. You have nicer feet than her. Nicer everything including personality” Mike said. Sora clenched her teeth. “And I assume that thing is Katie?” Sora asked. “Yes it…she is” Mike replied. “Was it worth it?” Sora asked. “It wasn’t” Mike said before stumbling. “Ora he needs food and water” Kanya said Ora nodded and went to the kitchen. “Katie does too please” Mike said. “She eats? She actually eats food?” Ora asked surprised. “Eats, drinks, pees, shits, and sweats like another other living person. But to sustain the magic that brought her back to life she eats life energy. For the last three days I’ve been feeding her mine” he said. “And you’re alive?!” Sora asked. “Well duh?” Mike replied. “Mike it’s a legit question. By all accounts she should’ve killed you the first time she fed on you. Human size or tiny, life energy doesn’t change” Ora said handing him a sandwich and water. Mike sat down to eat. “I’m just telling you what it is. There’s a lot I don’t get. Like how do I still have powers? Why aren’t I dead if the contract is broken?” he said. “Obviously, it wasn’t broken. As for your power I can sense something still inside you. Something in your chest” Sora said. Mike pulled his shirt down. “A sliver of the Coin is still inside me. I didn’t know if that was the reason, but I figured as much” he shrugged. “Why would Kasem leave a portion of his power behind? Why not just take it all back and break the contract altogether?” Kanya asked.
“I do not know. Either he did it intentionally or he couldn’t. Michael is a unique vessel. Perfect for his needs” Sora replied. “Far better than his grandfather which is why he was able to break free from his prison” Ora said. “What? Wait a minute. I had this thing for a few months. Grandpa had it for decades so why didn’t this Kasem guy break free on his watch?” Mike asked. “A few reasons. One, the connection between Asura and the mortal who uses its power is symbiotic. The mortal uses its power in return gives the Asura sacrifices. That much you know already but it’s goes deeper than that. The Asura also feeds on the mortal’s darkest spiritual energy. The more pain and evil the mortal is consumed by, the stronger the Asura can become. It becomes a vicious cycle. Your grandfather, with all his dark desires and pain, doesn’t come close to someone who lived with suppressed trauma all their life like you. Kasem knew exactly which buttons to push to make you worse. And the other reason is simply the body count. The number of lives he took within 50 years…you blew past your grandfather’s body count in months” Ora said. Mike, who had been feeding Katie a piece of ham, grew very quiet. “Putting that aside, we need to know what he’s up to and where he is now” Sora said. “Somewhere east of here” Mike replied quietly. They all looked at him. “I can’t explain it, but I can just sense him in an eastward direction” he said.
Meanwhile…
“We will arrive shortly sir. Have you ever been to Nan?” taxi driver asked. “Yes a very long time ago. It was known by another name back in those days” Kasem replied. The taxi driver found his answer odd but dismissed it. He looked at the western white woman sitting next to Kasem in the back seat by way of the rear-view mirror. “Honeymoon?” he asked. “Anniversary really” Kasem replied. “Pity you did not come sooner. You missed the Phi Ta Kon festival where we honor the spirit Yaksha for their gifts of fertile crops and lands” he said. “You believe in the old stories of that Yaksha?” Kasem asked. “Not really. This is the 21st century. The time of superstition and folktales are past” he chuckled. “A lot of folktales have basis in truth. The old tales of the Yaksha and Asura for example. What if I told you this place was the setting for a great battle between them. That long ago a Yaksha cast out from his people tried to bring his dead wife back to life. That his people fought him to stop it” Kasem said. “Never heard that one before” the driver said. “Most good stories tend to die on the vine so to speak” Kasem muttered. The taxi stopped at the town square. “Here we are sir” he said. Kasem paid the man and got out of the taxi with Becca, Mike’s aunt who was still under Kasem’s control. “A decent man. I wonder if he will be spared” Kasem said. Kasem walked with Becca for a bit. As Nan was remote for a town, it was no stranger to westerners, so they paid little mind to Becca even though she wasn’t entirely dressed for the humid weather. Still wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants, she now has on sandals as Kasem didn’t want her feet to be marred.
Kasem looked around. “Last time I was here it was just a collection of thatched huts and a simple primitive building as a temple to Yaksha. Now it’s hotels, knickknack shops, and cheap bars and restaurants. Guess a lot can change in 2000 years. Oh, allow me to allow you to experience this” Kasem said lowering the mind control he had on Becca. “Please let me go” she begged shedding tears. Kasem wiped them away. “Sorry but no can do. I need you. Someone who holds blood touched by magic from before birth. Oh, don’t bother calling for help. Even if I allowed it I’d simply incinerate anyone who tried to help. Walk with me for a bit. It’s rare I get to have a real conversation with anyone” he said leading her to walk beside him. “Long, long ago, I fell in love with a human girl named Juna. Unlike the other humans that worshipped my kind as gods and goddesses, she did not. She would question me, challenge me with logic, treated me as a person and not some god. And for that I was deeply in love with her. I wed her in the customs of the time, and we experienced bliss. She even became pregnant with my child. Not long after she died in a pointless accident. Heavy rain caused the roof of her family home to collapse on top of her. So deep in grief I vowed to bring her back to life.”
“At first my fellow Yaksha thought little of it as such a thing had never been done. Some even called me a fool. I didn’t care and continued my work. I began killing humans as research and my people didn’t take kindly to that. By that time, I reached a breakthrough…or thought I had. Just as I succeeded bringing Juna back to life the strongest of my people came to stop me. After a great battle that scarred this land and scoured it of life, I lay defeated and my Juna burnt to ashes. I was imprisoned in one of the few things that survived the inferno…a simple Coin. Imprisoned in a cheap coin and in turn imprisoned further in a stone statue guarded by Yaksha. My location a guarded secret as they feared my power and knowledge. So many centuries past that one day the temple where I was, was abandoned. And there I was for another 613 years 6 months and 2 days undisturbed. Yes, I counted the time for there was little I could do. I did more than count the days though. I can admit now that I erred with the spell to bring Juna back. In my foolishness I figured her soul would automatically return to her body via sympathetic magics. It did not. Resurrection isn’t complete without the soul and recalling a soul from beyond is easier said than done. Without a soul, a resurrected body is a puppet thing that only cares about feeding on life energy. Something Michael has probably found out about now” he said. “Michael…” Becca muttered.
“Yes Michael. Poor Michael. He lost someone like me too and was doing everything possible to bring her back. And let me tell you he did some bad shit. Then came you and your mother to finish the deal. Oh, the turmoil in his heart finding out the last family member he had was part of the deal. He had a mind to do it too. Eat you and your mother. And then the fool went and had a conversation with you both. The irony, oh the irony. Of all the horrible shit he’s done, the one thing he gets called out for wasn’t even his fault. His grandfather shrinking and raping your mother. And to top it off you look just like his dead mother. He wasn’t expecting a relationship with you. He just wanted to meet you that’s all. He even cared about you, and he knew you for all of three fucking minutes. Even went so far as trying to bite his tongue off and bleed out to save you. Now that’s dedication. You can care about it or not. Won’t matter in 10 minutes anyways” Kasem said coldly. “If you’re going to kill me then why wait it out?” Becca spat. “Well, that goes back to my first attempt to bring Juna back to life. I had a VERY LONG time to think it over and I know now what spells I need to use to accomplish my task. First thing is to perform the spells in the exact place where she died…which is right over…you got to be kidding me” Kasem hissed.
He looked around and grit his teeth. “The audacity. A temple to a human is one thing but to sully this sacred place with a goddamned frogurt stand?! Yaksha masks?! A fucking Starbucks cart?! This is a sacred place, and you dare defile it with tourist wares?! YOU HERETICS!” Kasem screamed as he summoned a tornado of pure flames surrounding him and Becca. The screams of innocent people were swallowed up along with their bodies as the inferno expanded. The fiery tornado towering hundreds of feet into the air scorching and cremating anything it touched. Kasem lowered his hand and sighed as the horrific display of wrath died away. Around them the concrete was scorched and blackened. The temple burned to ash. The Buddha inside sizzling. Small piles of bones charred and smoking lay about where people were caught and cremated within seconds. If someone counted, his wrath killed 29 innocent people. The screams and smoke filled the air. “As I was saying. First I need to perform the spells where she died. Second, the body but since the Sages turned her to ash, I needed a replacement. A body touched by magic to serve as a vessel. And lastly, recall her soul from beyond by using another soul as payment to preserve the balance. That’s you Becca. Body and soul” he said grinning. Becca suddenly found herself surrounded by a magic array of glyphs. Kasem began chanting in an ancient tongue as his eyes slowly began to glow. The air began to howl around them as dark energy crackled around her. “LET ME GO! LET ME…” she screamed before Kasem sealed his hand over her mouth.
“Goodbye Rebecca. I’d tell you this won’t hurt but I’d be lying” he said before a burst of dark energy came from his hand into her mouth. He let go and used his fingernail to cut his hand and let his blood drip into the magic array. “I call upon the day and the night. One I give to my father, progenitor of things. Two I give to mother, the matriarch of life. Hear your child reach through the veil to reclaim a soul! Payment to be given in kind! REBIRTH!” Kasem screamed as an ethereal form appeared before him and Becca. Becca who seemed to be in pain now whimpered as the thing slithered into her mouth and down her throat. Becca screeched in agony as her very soul was torn from her body. It drifted out her mouth and was pulled away screaming into the abyss. Her body went limp until her eyes briefly glowed. Kasem ended the spell. “Juna?” he asked. “Beloved?” she replied weakly. She gasped in pain as her body began to contort and change. “Endure it my wife. It will end soon” Kasem said holding her. Her bones creaked; her breasts grew. Her hair turned black and grew. Her skin darkened. Her fingers and even toes grew slightly. And then it was over. There was no trace of Rebecca left and in her wake stood a woman seemingly 19 or so years old looking Thai. By the time it was all over, the first responders had appeared due to his fiery fit earlier. “What is that horrible sound coming from those strange metal carts?” Juna asked cringing. “Just bothersome pests” Kasem said pointing his palm at them. With invisible magic force, a wave of pressure blew them to smithereens as if someone exploded a bomb in the middle of them. “Better my wife?” he asked. “Much better beloved” she said before staggering. “Careful. The body is still fresh from the change, and you haven’t had legs in 2000 years. And food apparently” he said grinning as the hand he had on her stomach felt it growl. He held her close. “Come. I know of a wondrous place in a city called Bangkok called Kentucky Fried Chicken where you can eat your fill” he said. “And what after that Kasem?” she asked looking into his eyes.
“Hard passionate sex. Passionate enough to have the child we were robbed of. And after that, I shall begin my revenge on those that imprisoned me. The accursed Yaksha” he said grinning.