The Dark Place (#FrightFest2016 Gold Winner)

The Dark Place - Chapter Fifty-Two (Part Three)

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Donna Stephens bolted across the room just as Wendy's feet left the floor and it was only by sheer luck that she managed to reach the girl before momentum would have heaved her out of the window. She tried to pull her back into the room but Wendy struggled viciously against her. Twice Donna almost lost her grip around the girl's waist but that only made her tighten her grip around her. She was not sure how much longer she could hold onto the girl without help to drag the back to safety.

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Cass ran into the bedroom. The girl fought to get out of the window but Penny's mother was equally as determined to hold her back. The spirit of Lady Constance could not gain access to Wendy's body, hard as it tried. Cass guessed that was because the girl had not been a willing victim where Tamicka had been tricked into allowing it entry to her.

"STOP!" yelled Cass as she ran across the room and grabbed a hold of one of the girl's kicking legs. "YOU STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

"What?" asked the Penny's mother, her arms still firmly clasped firmly around the teenager's waist.

Cass ignored the question.

"LEAVE HER ALONE RIGHT NOW?"

"Cass, are you alright?"

She took no notice of the woman a second time.

"I ALLOW YOU TO COME INTO ME!"

"What the hell are you talking about Cass?"

The girl stopped struggling and the two women pulled her unconscious form back into the room.

"Why would you do that?" Lady Constance Munford's voice was loud and clear as the words seemed to echo from nowhere.

"Wh... what was that?" asked Donner, her eyes darting all around the room, looking for the spot where the voice had come from.

"Mrs. Stephens go and find your daughter, she's with Tamicka's dad and right now and they need all the help they can get."

"B... but what about you?"

"I've been taking care of myself most of my life and I'm not about to change that habit now," Cass smiled at the woman as they lowered Wendy the floor. "Go on, they need you more than I do."

There was a little hesitation before Donna Stephens finally turned and ran out of the bedroom in search of her daughter.

"I asked you why you would take the place of that girl?" Lady Constance's voice seemed calm and measured.

"Because I want to save her."

"Is that all?"

"Do I need more?" asked Cass. "I have nothing... no one to live for. She has everything to look forward to."

"All the more reason for me to take her rather than you would you not say?" There seemed to be a sly smile in Lady Constance's voice.

"And do you really think that you have the strength to take her again? Before you tricked her, this time she will be ready for you. You made a big mistake leaving her."

"It may be difficult but I will get the girl back!" The voice of Lady Constance sounded nowhere near as confident as it had only moments ago.

"Will you?" asked Cass. "Is it really worth the risk?"

"And what risk would that be?"

Cass was sure that a trace of fear had crept into the voice now?

"The risk of you losing your battle to possess her and returning to that place that you hate so much," replied Cass. "I'm offering you a much easier option."