Chapter 35 #2
Priest Brown stands there for a few moments in silence, watching him set up the secret ritual right under his nose.
I hold my breath; a tiny sob shakes out of my rib cage, and I press my hands over my mouth to stop the heartbreak and fear from seeping out.
“Please, please, please,” I whisper to myself, praying to the God who's about to witness my blood spill wrongly in His name.
He suddenly nods. “Brilliant, Bones. I commend your forward thinking.” He rushes to the edge of the stairs where I remain and leans over me, grabbing the front of my white dress. He pulls me up, and I whimper as I dig my feet into the ground. I look around, desperate to see a final glance of Milly.
“Milly,” I whisper out with a whimper, and feel her finger trail on the back of my neck. I settle into her touch as he drags me in the middle of the candles. My knees scrape along the floor, and I wince as the sting burns.
“Kneel before the Lord, Grace. Show Him your repentance.”
He throws me onto the ground, and my hands smudge on the painted pentagram. I quickly shuffle up to block the drawing along the candles. I keep my palms flat on the ground, looking up at him with a snarl as the blood from my lip continues to drip on the white of my gown.
“I have nothing to repent.”
I watch him tighten his body in anger again, preparing my body for another hit when he turns and grabs the knife. He raises it above, pointing at the cross behind his head. With that motion, the congregation all stand at once, stamping their feet in a sickly rhythm that imitates a heartbeat.
I swallow and wipe the blood from my mouth, smearing it on the priest’s foot. He starts to chant, and I close my eyes, whispering the banishment softly.
“Grace, no,” I hear a soft whisper in my ear, completely ignoring it.
“Mirror bright, I call your might,
Absorb this demon, hold it tight.
No longer bound to harm or stay,
Trap the shadow, take it away.”
I repeat the banishment, over and over again, until the candles around the pentagram start to flicker, the flames growing in size. The room starts to darken, as though the candles around the priest are sucking the light out of every small fire throughout the room.
I continue to mutter the words softly, the hairs on my arms raising in alarm.
I can feel the terrible wickedness from behind the priest. I glance behind him and see the mirror filling with a darkness unparalleled by anything I have ever seen; darker than the depths of the ocean, darker than the heart of the man who stands in front of me, darker than the pits of hell I thought I knew—this is darker than any comprehension of shadow.
My soul shivers inside my body as the void of hope permeates the room, my jaw dropping in response to the sensation. As I halt my words, the darkness begins to retreat. I panic, speaking louder this time, chanting the words I so desperately cling to to save my life.
“Mirror bright, I call your might,
Absorb this demon, hold it tight.
No longer bound to harm or stay,
Trap the shadow, take it away.”
Priest Brown flings his attention away from the congregation to my face as I grin up at him, speaking the words with venom. What I would give to see the confusion under his mask—better yet, the realization when it clicks. Ah, there it is.
His body begins to vibrate. “What are you doing?” he asks, rage coating his tongue as he rips his mask off.
There’s a gasp around the room, and I continue to chant louder with confidence, feeling satisfaction at his anger. His eyes are bulging along with the veins in his forehead and neck, red spreading through the surface of his flesh. Pure rage. I grin.
Speckles of spit smack my face as he shouts, “STOP!” His voice vibrates through the room, an octave that trembles the knees of the assembly.
I hear the shuffling of capes and the confused whispers of the guilty behind me. It’s as if the removal of the mask released the trance.
“Grace?” I halt my words momentarily, hearing the voice of my father, but I don’t look and tune him out as the realization regarding the mask clicks. “Grace!” I hear him shout again.
I shoot up onto my feet and lunge for the mask from Priest Brown’s hand. I groan as I grip it, feeling the urge to let go of it immediately. The sensation stirs nausea within my stomach so intensely that I cannot withhold the gag that forms in my throat.
I swallow hard, sweat starting to build on my forehead from the nausea.
I maintain my grip, fighting through the push of the mask itself as Priest Brown attempts to rip it out of my fingers.
I fight harder, digging deeper into my grit, praying that I can hold the vomit in and keep my fingers hooked.
The mask continues to thud a constant displeasure through me, and I find myself becoming more and more desperate to rid myself of it.
“It’s just like the mirror! Fight it!” I hear Milly shout from somewhere.
I hold onto her voice and her words, letting them motivate me to push myself past anything I have ever felt before. I’m going to live. I keep whispering to myself over and over again, clinging to any motivation. I am going to stay with Milly.
I grind my teeth together as tears blur my vision.
I pull against the priest’s hold when I feel something hit me from my side, and we go flying across the pew.
I groan as the feeling of discomfort instantly disappears, and I look around wildly for the mask.
It’s only a few feet from me. Priest Brown is trying to sit up, and as he touches the corner of his head, blood drips dark red down his face.
The candles flare underneath him, and I force myself to my feet.
I snag the mask and gag instantly as I look at the mirror. I hear a mumble and some more shouting behind me, but I’m too focused on trying to place the mask in the mirror, away from Priest Brown’s reach. He’d have to enter it to grab, creating the perfect opportunity to trap him.
I repeat the chant as I bring the mask up to the glass, and it vanishes instantly, pulling my right arm with it.
I rip my arm back and look at it, noticing how pale it has become in only a split second.
Goosebumps litter my skin as the hair stands on end.
I bring my other hand up to warm the first and hiss at how cold it is. What the—
“Enough.”
I turn my head around and see Professor Blackthorne glaring at Priest Brown. The priest’s upper lip is in a harsh snarl as he holds his head pathetically. I look at my professor as he holds a knife up in a threat. He must’ve knocked us both down when we were fighting over the mask.
I see Milly appear behind Priest Brown, but she places her finger over her lips in a hush motion.
I turn to them, but hide my discolored arm from their sight as they focus on the priest before them.
I clench my fists, desperate to remove Milly from his proximity as a new wave of adrenaline courses through my veins.
“Enough, Warren. It’s done,” Bones grits through his teeth. But the man bleeding laughs instead. He smiles, he actually fucking smiles. The laughs become louder and louder, more manic by the moment.
“You think that you can end me? You think that you can end the power of a demon?” His voice starts to contort into a deeper, grittier rasp.
I find myself subconsciously taking a step backwards.
“Do you know how much blood has been spilled in this very room? This very space? The blood of your predecessors fuels me.”
He snarls as he leans forward toward Professor Blackthorne. His eyes shift minutely, changing from round human pupils to sharp feline slits.
“What the fuck,” I whisper to myself, and his head flings in my direction.
“You insignificant little bitch,” he spits out, sputtering blood out of his mouth. But the blood isn’t red.
Professor Blackthorne takes a step back, too, but still holds the knife out at the demon. The blood is a deep black, bubbling from the corners of his mouth and steaming as it hits his robe and the concrete floor with a hissing splat.
“I could not care less whose blood is spilled this evening, as long as someone fuels me.” He starts to crawl onto the ground, heading directly toward Bones.
The congregation begins screaming. Some run out of the room, and I see others frozen in fear. I don’t see my father. I glance back at my professor. He stiffens and raises the knife to throw it when the demon inside Priest Brown starts laughing again.
“You think that a knife can stop me? You think that can kill me?” He gurgles the words out, the foul smell of the blood permeating the air.
I start to gag and look back at the mirror that has held its abysmal darkness.
It moves slightly, as if it has its own consciousness, waiting for its next meal.
I take a deep breath, desperate for a final moment of courage, when I glance back at Milly behind the priest. She’s frantically flipping through her grimoire.
Her brow is pinched together as a tiny bead of sweat forms along her forehead.
Her bottom lip is in a small pout in concentration.
I find myself smiling softly at her beauty, grateful for the opportunity to have loved her in another lifetime.
My heart pinches at the realization that this is it. I found someone I want to spend eternity with, and I’ve only gotten a glimpse of the future we were never really allowed to have.
“I love you,” I say with confidence.
The room quiets in response. Milly flings her head up and stares at me in confusion, before her jaw drops at my words. But the moment passes too fast as Priest Brown is on his feet, charging me within a moment.
He snarls a demonic screech as he rushes me. His eyes are completely feline now, split into diamonds down the middle. He grits his teeth, and I can see that they’ve sharpened into dagger-like points, eager to chomp into me as I rush backwards to the mirror.
I watch the shadows in the mirror vibrate with anticipation, glimmering in blatant hunger as I turn my back to them. I feel them caress my skin, but I know it’s not me they want. No, I’m not the end goal.
There's a silent understanding between the two of us as I exhale a soft breath.
I start the chant once again as I feel the demon slam into my body.
His elongated teeth latch onto my collarbone, crushing it within seconds as I feel my blood begin to pool out.
I scream out at the same time Milly screeches, rushing toward me in a blur of blue.
I fight the anguish of his bite as the shadows pull me backwards.
I try to keep my eyes open, desperate to let the last thing I see be Milly.
The soft caress of the shadows latches around my waist, and I fall backwards into the void, Priest Brown screaming in my ear as he removes himself from my body. But it’s too late.
I smile as I wrap my hand around his wrist and whisper, “Return to night.”
Milly continues to rush to me, tears streaming down the corners of her eyes. I mouth, “I love you,” one last time to my reason for existence. She shouts my name, but everything fades into a comfortable silence, and I cease to exist.