Chapter 51
NOW
Violet saw the black mass move over, taking Ollie with it, morphing into the shape of a man.
Its arms were all elongated and skeletal, its fingers stretching out to grab Jake around the throat.
She could see black lines crawling across Jake’s skin, and she knew that whatever it was, the black thing was out to eradicate Jake in whatever way possible.
And after him, it would come for her.
She cried out, unable to find words to describe it, but knowing it was inhuman and demonic: the embodiment of all of Charles Milburn’s evil deeds.
She had no idea how it had been created; but then had a flash of a memory that wasn’t hers – Meg crying and walking around her home with a bundle of dried sage, which was smoking at the end.
A smudge stick – a classic way of trying to rid a place of negative energy.
She got an image of a tiny wax figure, thrown into the Well, and Meg begging Coventina to take it away – a wax poppet.
Violet had studied enough about witch trials to know that this was one of the things they accused women of doing.
And whatever dark magic Meggie had inadvertently meddled with had created something she could not control; whatever bits of Charles were hanging around, whatever negative vibes he was emanating, had coalesced into some sort of…
she didn’t even know what to describe it as.
‘Demon’ sounded mad – but was she seeing one now?
It was evident now that this – thing – was Charles Milburn, or rather what was left of Charles Milburn. And he was busy strangling the man she loved.
Violet suddenly realised the brutal truth: the three of them were back together – Charles, Emory and Meg.
They had found each other through some bizarre twist of fate, and she felt the power of Coventina filling her now.
Was it the goddess who had made it happen?
Woven her magic into the world? Drawing them here on silken threads to finish it?
Emory could not have saved Meg all those years ago – but Meg could sure as hell try to save Emory now.
And send Charles to Hell where he belonged.
Violet had no magic spells, no incantations.
She didn’t know what Meg would say; all she had were her own emotions and her own brand of curses.
She prayed it would be enough. She prayed to Coventina, and her own God, and to the elementals that Meggie had worshipped.
She prayed to anyone who would listen, then she ducked down and retrieved Meggie’s dagger.
‘Jake! He thinks you’re Emory.’ cried Violet. ‘News for you, Milburn. He’s not and you can’t have him.’ She rushed at the men and raised her arm, hurling herself towards Jake, who was grasping at the shadowy hands around his throat, looking furious and trying to fight a ghost.
Brother against brother…
Violet roared as she drove the dagger into the black mass that was Milburn, not knowing that she could even utter such a noise. It came from her own soul, a build-up of energy that she didn’t know she possessed, from instincts older than time.
The black mass splintered apart with a horrible hissing sound and another animal-like howl rent the air. And this time, the noise wasn’t from Violet. She grabbed Jake and pushed him down hard, crouching on the ground next to him as she pressed her hands over her ears.
The force seemed to shake the valley, and the world splintered about her. The thing somehow put itself back together and tore around them like a molten black lava; then to her horror, it turned and made straight for her.
Instinctively, she raised the dagger again, hoping the black mass would throw itself onto the blade, and not daring to think about what would happen when it did.
And as she held it out, her heart pounding, it did just that. It swept straight towards the dagger, and the words that had evaded Violet before flooded into her mind, and she knew Meggie was putting them there.
She spoke the ancient words out loud – some sounded Gaelic, some sounded Anglo Saxon, some Celtic, some Latin.
The black mist thickened and swirled, writhing as if it was fighting something, then it hung for a second as another terrible shriek rang out, as a face appeared within it, the eyes glowing red…
Violet genuinely wanted to throw up. The thing opened its mouth and howled again, then the face tilted heavenwards and its eyes widened.
But before it could reach her, there was another flash of colour in the sky and the water in the Well began to swirl, then, like an iron filing being pulled towards a magnet, the black mass turned sharply away from Violet, and headed towards the Well.
A silvery blue energy burst out of the Well and coiled around it, dragging it away into the depths.
Violet held the dagger with both hands as it vibrated wildly, the words Meggie had spoken to her echoing in her ears. She wondered, wildly, if the dagger had its own hotline to Hell and that was where Charles Milburn’s soul was being taken right now.
‘Oh God, oh God,’ she muttered, throwing the dagger down. She was shaking and trembling, not knowing what on earth she’d done. Ollie had fallen to the ground when the thing rushed away from him, and he was currently crawling away from them, and she didn’t blame him one bit.
One last piece of light, one last piece of energy burst out of the Well and fountained up towards the sky. Violet looked up, following the silver arc, and knew that Charles Milburn would never be free to come back. Not after this.
Violet’s ears tuned into the world around her and she could hear Jake coughing and choking, his hands falling away from his neck, his eyes wide and terrified.
‘He’s gone,’ said Violet. ‘Whatever it was, whatever shape Milburn took, he’s gone.’
And then everything went black as she felt herself collapsing, overcome with everything that had just happened, her energy completely and utterly drained. And she heard a voice calling her name, and his arms come around her, and she sank into them, grateful for his presence.
He had come for her.