I Am the Nightmare (A Novel)

Chapter Ten: Part Two | A Ghost in the Breeze

For once, the evil hellions who had assisted Oliver and the demon in so many countless murders, rapes and kidnappings, and encouraged such hate and chaos for countless years, had finally met their match. They were the demon's counterpart; to rid the dream world of their vile existence would, most assuredly, show their demonic father that Elizabeth was something more than a pretty girl . . . she was a threat. The fact that she eradicated the children in a matter of seconds with her eyes closed and a smirk on her face was her own satisfying little bonus.

Elizabeth approached the demon. Her right hand grabbed the air in front of her and she pulled back her fist, yanking a dark red mist from Samuel's body. It floated midair, regrouped into a swirling ball of twisting vapor that nearly resembled the collision of two blood-red galaxies, intertwined from their own chaotic motion. In a dark flash, it dropped to the ground. As it shifted and spun, its color changed to solid black, then it rose, manifesting into a well-groomed Oliver Whitney, his hair parted and his spotless white suit, pressed.

Samuel's body hit the ground hard; Elizabeth watched the impact stun him, but he quickly took control of his limbs and scooted himself away from the danger. He collapsed back onto his back and held his chest.

Elizabeth studied Oliver; the crease in his brow ridge, those dark eyes, high cheek bones and thin lips were facial features that sparked a memory in Elizabeth's mind, a memory of the beast that ruined her life. But this skinny version before her would be no match for the former. Though eerie and most assuredly, a creep, the bulked-up porcelain giant she had come to know would squash this man like a bug, of this, she was sure.

Oliver winced at the young girl. "I used to eat girls like you for breakfast," he said and gave her a smile. "I'd start with their hearts."

Alex rushed over to his mentor and helped the man to his feet; Samuel used the boy's shoulders to hold him steady, then the hunter manifested a raging ball of fire. Samuel, Alex and Elizabeth watched its orange, yellow and red shimmering flames as the demonologist held it mere inches from his palm. The flames whipped in the wind, but the rain couldn't drown it out. When the heat became too much for Samuel's skin, he catapulted it at Oliver.

Of all the birthdays, sporting events, trips and celebrations throughout Elizabeth's life, there wasn't one that could have matched the anticipation she felt as that heavenly fire sailed; to watch this evil thing burn, to see it get what it deserved, even if only for a few seconds, had her praying to God its heat would rival pure hellfire.

The flame swept across the entity's face, stripping the skin from the muscle and burning off the hair on its head, leaving nothing but a bubbling scalp behind.

Oliver's mouth opened and spat a roaring fire of its own. The hot pulsing flame shot out as if launched from a flamethrower; its searing heat swept across Alex first, charring his body to a crisp black. The young man flailed about and screamed through the fire; he dropped to his knees and went silent, his remains face-planting into the grass. Samuel took the fire to his chest and face and when the raging inferno ceased, the man-of-God's blackened bones and cooked meat lay in a smoldering, steaming heap on the ground, while his eyeballs sizzled in their sockets like frying egg whites.

Elizabeth had seen a lot throughout her time on Earth, the worst being within the last few months, but two men reduced to globs of gooey skin and organs at the ground before her feet was quite a few steps beyond that of the blood and deep cuts that had haunted her mind for a time. She winced at the disturbing sight and held her fist over her nostrils to block the smell, but she didn't linger in the dismay for long. She used both hands and every bit of her concentration to lift Oliver from the grass, raise him high and hold him there in the rain. She sent a bright blue lightning bolt ripping across the sky and it struck the tall man right in the chest, lighting his pants on fire and sending a pulse through his body that made him look like a rag doll. The force of the shock dropped him back to the ground. He hit hard, snapping his left arm at the elbow.