The Twins of Noremway Parish by Eric R. Johnston

least that was how it had looked to Phoenix. In fact, he had fallen involuntarily, raising his arms in the air and shouting a chant in a strange tongue. “I said get up.”
    Urey’s arms came down, one grazing the wound in his stomach, the other rubbing the injured arm. “My legs won’t move,” he said, but when he tried to stand he found that his legs were in perfect working order. Looking sheepish, he said, “I don’t know what happened.”
    “ You showed a lack of spine is what happened,” Phoenix sneered.
    “ Franz.”
    “ Stop talking, you insolent mutt.” Urey did so without argument. It was strange, this feeling that had come over both of them. Phoenix found he was confident, empowered, in command, while Urey, who usually took charge and often was able to keep the brash sheriff in line, discovered that he had neither the will nor the ability to do so.
    It was a curious feeling for them both.
    Phoenix felt like a new man with a new purpose. It had come on him as soon as he witnessed the parting of the wolves. How they had lined the path to the house, allowing him entry in stark contrast to the treatment afforded the chancellor. He felt like he commanded these wolves, these harbingers of Darkness–like they had welcomed him into their fold.
    He grabbed a hold of Urey’s good arm and pulled him through the house. He didn’t have a specific idea where he was going, just that he was drawn to a far room. The inside of the house, like outside, was dark; the only light was the moon shining through the windows.
    “ Should have brought a lantern,” Phoenix said, but then saw several hanging from a shelf. “Thank you, Tomias for being so well stocked. Such a good mayor you were.” Then he laughed. He laughed like he’d never laughed before. It was the hysterical laughter of a crazy man, but somehow not unpleasant.
    Before they reached the room that he was so mysteriously drawn to, three beings appeared in front of them. Yellow eyes first materialized, followed closely by long fangs. The rest of their bodies quickly appeared, but in the moonlight (since he had yet to light the lantern), details were not immediately forthcoming. But these creatures struck fear in his heart nonetheless–not that he would admit it later. Besides, the fear only lasted the briefest of moments before he seized control and ordered the demons to move.
    “ The Darkness awaits you, Franz Phoenix of Noremway Parish,” the middle one said and stepped aside, allowing him to pass through into the room. Urey stayed behind, ignored by the demons for the moment.
    Phoenix entered the room and saw the piano in the corner. A candle propped in a large decorative holder was perched and lit upon it. A sweet unfamiliar fragrance filled the room, apparently coming from the candle.
    There was a bookshelf immediately inside the doorway containing a wide variety of books. He really had no interest in them, but as the demons followed him in, they seemed to want to gather around it, removing random books, leafing through them or skimming through them quickly and throwing them aside.
    It was quite an interesting thing to watch a trio of demons do.
    But as they moved from one book to another, the house began to shake and he found himself falling through the floor into a dark realm.
    ***
    Decon woke from his surreal vision, remembering it and all the others that had come before. He was determined not to forget this one. There was something strange going on at the Waterman House; something peculiar; something that needed to be addressed.
    Then he realized he was holding a two-headed child in a blanket.
    He would not be making another trip out there tonight.
    ***
    Franz Phoenix found himself face-to-face with something he had never seen before. Wisps of black fog encircled him, but his attention was drawn to the being suspended in thick smoky filaments that resembled chains. The being was not there, but he was there. He didn’t exist, but he did exist. He