Verbum Chapter Three: Curse Me Like One Of Your French Whores

“Surprise, surprise!”

George spread his arms wide and walked over to where Marcus was kneeling. Marcus was still too shaken too move even an inch of muscle since the demon was thrown out of the window. What ensued was a silence penetrated only by the sound of their shuffling and the occasional crackle of Rosie’s remains burnt to a crisp.

“Didn’t expect me, did you?” George said as he pulled out a cigarette from his jeans pocket and lighted it.

Marcus swayed his head to look at George in the face. His face was still spattered with Alvin’s blood, which has begun to dry.

“What… the fuck… are you doing here?” he whispered hoarsely.

“Sorry? Can’t hear you.” George took a puff from his cigarette and squatted down in front of Marcus. “You gotta speak up, you know.” He breathed the smoke out on Marcus’ face.

“I said, what the fuck are you doing here?” Marcus screamed as he suddenly regained his strength and tried to claw out George’s face. George jumped back and gave a throaty laugh.

“Whoa! Easy there, tiger. Well, to be honest, I missed you.” He gave a wan smile. “After we separated, I haven’t heard anything from you,” said George. He took another puff from his cigarette. “Not a text, a tweet, a Facebook message, or even a goddamn email. And here I see you, inches away from having your head chomped off by a ratchet-ass demon. Honey,” he tilted his head to one side. “What are you doing with your life?”

Marcus tried to stand up, shakily doing so. He tried to lean onto the wall nearest him for support. “How did you do that?” he asked. “How did you even know that?”

“Know what?” George asked in reply. “Oh, you mean that nice little magic thingy? I found it from a source with unbelievably copious amounts of information, even those that may have been buried in the past. It’s called the Internet.” He gave Marcus a sullen look.

George crushed the cigarette under the toe of his boot and walked over to where Marcus was standing. He lifted Marcus’ chin with a finger and looked him in the eye.

“I’ve picked up a trick or two from you, darling,” he said with a sweet smile. “Now, to answer your question. What exactly am I doing here?” he walked and leaned over the opposite wall and lighted another cigarette. All his movements were those of a man who has everything under control. Very far from the naïve, clueless guy Marcus knew and left just a couple of months ago. This is a different George. This is a man with a plan.

He tried to use his ability to try to read into George’s mind but when he peered in, everything was just cloudier. Tangled swirls of dark gold and grey smoke were all he can see in his vision.

“I’m here to end things between us. Some form of final closure so we can both move on,” said George.

“I don’t think there’s anything that we need to talk about,” Marcus said defiantly.

“Oh, I think there is. A lot, actually.” George gave Marcus a knowing look. “And don’t worry, this Veil of Silence your pretty friend cast still stands. Teneo!”

George waved his hand in a quick motion. Suddenly, Marcus felt his feet getting heavy, as if being held by strong invisible hands. He tried to break free and thought of a counter-spell for it.

“Taces!” George fired another spell at Marcus. This time, he felt his tongue stiffening from the base to the tip.

“No talkies, babe. You will listen. You’re my bitch now,” George said with a sly grin.

***

It was like a montage of random scenes, like most dreams go. And like most dreams, it started in the middle of things. No chance to give you a back story or a reference. Jesse was standing in his kitchen, holding a glass of water. The blackness from the window indicated that it was nighttime. Next thing he knew, he was in his car, driving down EDSA, or at least what seems like it. He sees a magnified version of a container van. No, the car is hurtling towards it at full speed. He looks at the seat beside him and everything turned black.

Next thing he knew, he was walking down a busy street in Makati when he heard three shots being fired and everybody started running in random directions. He was bumped by at least about three people, the last one was a man who crossed his legs with his and made him stumble to the pavement. He was falling face-down as he put his hands to his face to break his fall.

That was when he woke up, panting and gasping for air. That was messed up. Because the sigil he cast was supposed to give him a dreamless sleep.

***

“I know you were the one who tried to kill Jesse’s boyfriend. I know you've been secretly in love with your 'best friend',” George pointed his cigarette on Marcus’ face. “I saw you do that freak ritual in our basement last year. That was some shit, I’m telling you! All those light shows and that demon, just wow!”

Marcus struggled to wriggle his tongue to speak but it was as stiff as a stone. He wanted to explain that he had a higher motive in doing that. But all he could manage was a weak throaty groan.

“I got there in time, though. Countermanded the demon, overriding your charge,” George continued as he walked behind Marcus, tracing a finger on his shoulder. “Wasn’t really sure I could do it. You’re much more of a bastard than I am,” he whispered to his right ear.

“But I did,” he said aloud. “Just a little tweak in the words, really, and poof! Demon’s mine!” he let out a derisive laugh. “But not fully, though. That was the first time I did your shit and apparently I didn’t fully gain control, only enough to change the intended target. Let’s just say, he was collateral damage.”

Fuck, thought Marcus. So that’s what happened. And all along he thought that he misworded his charge, or miswrote a character in the circle. He had to give it to George though. No beginner can pull off something as complex as that in such a short time. It takes practice. He wondered what else George can do now that he has obviously learned a lot more.

“Quite surprising, huh? There’s another thing you need to know, and this is something a little more personal,” he looked straight into Marcus’ eyes. “I blinded you.”

Marcus’s eyes widened in disbelief; everything became clear to him now. For months, he hasn’t got a proper vision at his command. The swirling clouds have been a regular second sight and he had to crawl his way through things. Admittedly, he became dependent on his ability to see things beforehand. He had to look ahead to see the outcome before making any decisions in almost everything he did.

“You know why?” George continued. “Because you’re one big fuckin’ asshole, that’s why!” he screamed and slapped Marcus hard. Marcus nearly fell over from the force of it and his face stung.

“You fucked as much men as nearly the entire population of San Juan behind my back! And I am that stupid innocent schmuck believing every little lie that you said! I wanted you to suffer horribly for all the shit you did to me!” George was very hysterical now but he started to compose himself. He breathed deep and let out a sigh and smiled.

“You haven’t been living the life you should be living,” he caressed Marcus’ face where he slapped him. Marcus winced. “You were too dependent on these psychic divination shits that you have, letting Fate dictate your life, throwing free will out of the window. Really, I think I did more of a favor for you, darling.”

George held Marcus’ head in both his hands and moved his face closer to his. “But since you’re special to me, I’m gonna give you your precious powers back. You want that, don’t you? Huh?”

His palms glowed in a green light as he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Marcus closed his eyes as well and felt the surge of power coursing through his head. He was starting to see clearly now albeit blurred. He still couldn’t penetrate George’s mind.

George took a step back and regarded Marcus, sarcasm dripping from his smile. “Look at you, all back to your normal shitty self.”

Marcus tried to move his tongue. He cleared his throat and tried to speak. George put a finger to his lips and hushed him.

“Now, let’s go and end this crap.” He moved his lips closer to Marcus’ and whispered in a sultry voice. “Curse me like one of your French whores.”

“You bastard!” Marcus growled. His fingers moved in a quick succession and drew a complex sigil in the air. “Subitosenium!”

At that same moment, George put up both of his hands in front of him, his palms facing Marcus, and intoned: “Speculum!”

The Sigil of Swift Decay that shot out from Marcus bounced back from George’s glowing palms and hit him forcefully. He was thrown backwards along the hallway and he felt his insides churning painfully. He squirmed spasmodically and let out a long scream as he quickly turned into dust from the inside out, until all that’s left was an echo fading down the hall and was absorbed into the Veil of Silence.

George stood riveted with every second of Marcus’ demise from his own Swift Decay curse. It was too quick, too fast. He wanted him to suffer. He wanted him to feel all the emotional pain he felt in a physical manner. But then, this death is good enough for him. The city’s biggest harlot in disguise has been brought to justice at last.

He took out his phone and dialed.

“Jesse! It’s George,” he choked his voice to sound like he’s been sobbing. “Marcus… he’s dead. I don’t know what happened, but it’s all messed up! You gotta come over quick!”

He clicked the phone to end the call and smiled.

to be continued