Phantomaniacs: Eternal Damnation

By Theodora Oniceanu

After adventuring in the World of Shadows to help a team mate, Amy is left alone with the group of students working to the rehabilitation of the Laurens' Mansion, being asked to lead on behalf of her Angel friend Amitiel. But Amy proves to be an angel as well. Given notice that her angel friends going for a rescue in the Underworld got trapped in a place named the Crematory of Souls, Amy decides to go for the first time down there to help them come back. Reassured by Raphael, Amy gathers her forces finding the courage to take the solitary walk through the deserts of the Underworld. But the eerie place has horrors to offer and proof is given at every step that the journey taken is a very dangerous one. How will she manage to help her friends and get back to the surface?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Theodora Oniceanu
• Release date: Jun 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463970188

Theodora Oniceanu

Theodora Oniceanu (born Lacatis) lives in a small town named Targu-Mures, situated close to the heart of Transylvania, Romania with her husband, her son and their cat. She followed the classes at the Faculty of Letters at the University of Petru Maior Transylvania and the ones on Sociology and Social Studies at the University of Spiru Haret, Bucharest. She is passionate about arts and crafts, she also loves sports, travelling and photography, enjoys good quality music and, of course, books. She's been writing since age nine, but with interruptions. Now she feels that she has the necessary time to dedicate good part of her life to writing.

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No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any for or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

For my beautiful, wonderful sister, a great supporter of my work of writing and art: Thank you for being there for me and encouraging me to continue writing and telling my stories.

Phantomaniacs

Eternal Damnation

by

Theodora Oniceanu

Contents

NIGHT OF THE DAMNED

CONTINUUM

THE DEN OF CONFESSIONS

BRIDAL MARCH

HOPES

In oreder to be successful one must be born lucky. You either have all the money and means in the world to buy yourself anything you want, to pay for your happiness and the built of your pride or you don’t , thus living a worthless life - a meaningless existence you’d then lead. I was one of the lucky to be born in a good family, almost rich from the very beginning of my life; smart and beautiful, endowed with all the qualities to become a leader! My name is Dean and I finally know who I am! But you don’t. You haven’t seen me shine yet as I know I was born to!

NIGHT OF THE DAMNED

The gloom of eternal darkness was assaulting the senses of the living creatures sentenced to the crawl in desperation, craving for the breathable air the Underground didn’t have to offer. The World of Shadows was nothing compared to this. An intoxicating scent of brimstone combined with rotten eggs and putrid flesh was pervading the lungs causing coughs and nausea that felt painful to the wind-pipe as if splinters of hot metal sprinkled on the living organs, burning everything in their way down the throat, forcing reactions of vomiting through coughs and tears. Groans coming from the womb of this world - on the surface of which ghouls were crippling the still alive but sentenced - were humming incessantly, announcing thunders into the distant horisons, carrying crowns of dark grey stalagmites covering the gapes and chasms of dark chaos of all the gods thirsty for blood and human sacrifice. Ten yards to the left down her feet a group of ghouls were feasting upon a human carcass. The scent of rotten flesh crawled up to her nose - she touched her amulet. A field of light immediately surrounded her, the ghouls stopped in amazement, looking back at her in sheer perplexity. Their sharp tapering teeth revealed in fierce appetite for new flesh. But the light was too bright for them when they arrived five feet away from Amy. Their arms draped to their eyes, they slowly took distance, stumping around like wounded hyenas. It was dark and cold the ground of this place, only the red horisons reminding of the promised fires of dooms-day. Amy remembered Menw’s advice before she headed to the Underworld alone: Do not attack unless you’re under attack. Solve everything you can by the power of your light and you will get out just fine. It’s the only way to find your friends and bring them back!

She couldn’t believe it! It was only a week ago when she decided to assign for a position in a team working for the rehabilitation of this building, the Laurens’ Mansion, and she had already lived more adventure than in her entire life as Amy - the daughter of an ex-accountant in a legal office who changed careers a year after she got married and focused more on human-resources for multinational companies. She never imagined she’d live any adventure of any kind, not even a normal romantic clichéd one like an elope with a boy her mother wouldn’t allow her see or a solo-career as an actress or a singer. But this? What she was living now was beyond the power of imagination of anyone thought to be sane. Have I died in my sleep a week ago and this is that afterlife promised to the souls passing? she asked herself. Is it really possible? Everything feels so real, so,... fleshy... so strong! Uh! another kill, she said feeling disgusted as she passed by a dead body half consumed by a ghoul. It was only twelve hours ago when she left the managers meeting where she conscientiously took notes and offered some of her ideas partly distracted by her worries on Amitiel and Maeve. She knew that they were angels but she couldn’t prevent herself from feeling worried for them. And there was, of course, Dean, for whom she should worry much more but had regrets not being able to since she could not like him more than duty called: I am an angel, for Christ’s sake! I should know better! Still, I don’t like him. But I don’t want him to die or suffer in misery... After all, he did sacrifice his own freedom to save Miranda! He’s not that bad a human! I wonder what keeps him alive around here and for how long? He must be a very strong spirit if he could hold it around here for so long. She advanced with ease, floating above the toxic brimstone road, looking around at the dark desert-like landscape where there was no other sign of life given than the one of victims devoured by ghouls hauling and squeaking in the distance, screaming their pains out loud for the depths of the World of Shadows to take away and offer a glib trawl of hope for redemption. Don’t get involved! Do not empathise, Amy! You can’t save any of the souls or bodies here! she was telling herself each time she met a ghoul eating from a dying body - they were already touched by them, by the ghouls, there was no way for them to be saved. She kept thinking, replaying in her memory all the events that happened after Amitiel’s informing of Dean’s crossing to the Underworld. What was he thinking? Why would he go that far? She was plagued with questions of the kind like nightmare-haunting and day-dreaming in the good old days spent in the library, reading before meeting Amitiel. She didn’t regret it, this meeting and the adventure coming along, not even for the price of one second. She would not trade this moment now, eerie and frightening as it was for the luminous, peaceful library. She had friends to help rescue the life of a reckless young man who foolishly thought he’d turn into a hero by offering himself as a host for Conall’s revengeful spirit. "I can understand Conall, Maeve had said to Amy when contacted for more news, but I do not agree with him; not anymore. After all my time wasted taking revenge on my executioners I dare say I learned better - they weren’t worth the effort. Nothing changed them as nothing changed me in such profound way that would ruin my true self. I am back to my real self and feel at peace. Conall should go for the same thing unless he has chosen eternal damnation, a choice as dreadful as possible to attain immortality." They were still in the World of Shadows, looking for the best way to transit the space to get to the Underworld. Amy couldn’t sleep and so, contacted Maeve for advice. How are you doing? How do you feel after the reveal of your true self? Maeve had asked. I feel a little dazzled, to be honest. I kept having strange dreams and nightmares and they were mixed with visions of all kind. Some were clear as the light of day, others were shrouded in darkness. Amy answered. "It’s normal. Your mind is trying to defend itself from the many memories of past times coming back to you. Just try to take deep breaths and sleep. The herbs can only help your body. For your soul you’ll have to look inside. All the answers are inside you!"

- They are, aren’t they, Amy said to herself aloud. A ghoul got distracted by the sound of her voice. It made a few steps towards Amy then it drew back in fear. She never thought she could inspire fear to another human being, still less to these repulsive creatures she feared only two days ago. They took distance stomping around. Her inner light was chasing them away. She crossed the brimstone deserts approaching a battle-field, a place where there were fights between the strongest human bodies sent down there and the demons trying to feed their ghouls with human flesh. Aghast by the terrifying death witnessed, a human body ran towards Amy asking for help. It was a man carrying a fainted soldier, blood gushing out a large wound on his exposed chest, horrified and dirty, begging for help!

- Help! Angel, please help! Have mercy! Help us!

Amy wanted to do something about this man but, before she had any idea on how to do that, a demon decapitated the man and minced the soldier feeding them both to ghouls. Amy drew herself back in disgust and horror. She never witnessed a violent death before. Gasping with terror she kept encouraging herself to rise above this situation and fight the jeering demon scornfully laughing back at her.

- You thought you can come here and rescue the poor souls sentenced to eternal damnation! Oh, you poor angel. Amy chafed at the hearing of the demon’s words and brightened her fury flames thrusting the demon that approached her. The creature disappeared along with the ghouls and the bodies they were taking a feast upon. She looked around: all creatures gone. It was the first time she thrust at a demon and warded it off - her wish had come true but the chagrin caused by the horror and pain she was witnessing was not expected to come along with her powers. She took her time figuring out the path to take, grasping her sword, not willing to surrender to any of the ghastly feelings induced by the place and its dreadful creatures. Deep into the horisons, a fight was going on. The battle-field was close, she could hear the roars and the screams, the blows of clenched metals and the grunts of the deadly wounded; she could feel the hot air bringing the smell of death to the cinder deserts - they were enjoying it, those demons.

- I want to feel! one of them raged engaging into taking into possession the body of a wounded man - another doomed to eternal fights human body. You! All of you, he rasped then spat wiping his mouth with the back of his palm, you were sentenced to this ordeal because you caused suffering of the same kind to others while hiding away like rats whereas I, I loved fighting on the field and manipulating fools like you, thinking they’d be rich forever, beyond the life offered, beyond death, beyond resurrection, beyond anything! Ha ha ha ha! Fools! Come after me! Hurt me! I am invincible! I’ll rise again! And again! Come and see how I’ll defeat you! I will defeat fear, defy death! I can die a thousand times I’ll still be back for more and more. I am your greatest nightmare! I am immortal! No ghoul shall attack me! No ghoul can really have me! I am invincible and you, you are a fool for trying to fight me!

Amy could not believe her eyes: A fight for the sake of fighting. The demon was speaking through this body as if he were the man he took possession of, as if it was all about himself the flesh he subjected to his powers of domination. Are they one now? Oh, poor Dean! He’s just meat to be minced for the ghouls once the mission completed! Indeed, the man fought well and the demon won his share of goodies he didn’t really want - it was just for the pleasure of fighting and winning the fight, the reward being the pleasure of hurting in full meaning of the word.

The battle-field was covered with warriors not knowing the reasons behind their fights - it was a clench for survival, that’s all they knew! But survive for what? For more fights? For nothing but ashes and charred pieces of wood to put into the mouth as a replacement for food? For the promise of turning into a ghoul once driven by starvation to committing cannibalism? For starvation and madness were they fighting? - What am I, a man started hallucinating in the proximity of the boulder behind which Amy was hiding. He was watching his trembling hands, the skin scratched and bruised, two larger cuts in his right palm from which blood had gushed out now covered with dirt and gore. I’m gonna save this one! I can’t let him die in front of me! Not him too! Amy decided. The next second she grabbed the man by the collar of his dirty stained with blood shirt, pierced here and there by the blade of a thirsty blind warrior. She pulled him towards her but his eyes started rolling, his body losing balance he fell to her feet losing