Bedeviled

Chapter 8: Devourer

A prickling chill crawled down Emmett's neck, raising goosebumps along his arms. A ripple of unease passed through the crowd as an unnatural pressure descended, forcing the air from their lungs. Primal instinct told Emmett something approached - something that existed far outside the bounds of reason. The shadows between the trees seemed to roil and contort, oozing outward like black ink through water.

He saw his friends tense, eyes widening. They all sensed it too. "Steady," Emmett murmured, as much to himself as to them. He had to keep filming. This was it.

The swelling darkness coalesced into a humanoid figure, blurry and indistinct. It shifted fluidly between forms - first a wispy, mournful woman in white, then a looming masculine shape with a glinting hook for a hand. The Devourer of Souls, Emmett realized with a jolt of terror, the living embodiment of Delirium's collective nightmares.

But rather than remaining one entity, the Devourer began to divide and take on new forms - familiar forms that struck fear into the hearts of Emmett and his companions. It shifted into the visage of Emmett's long-dead father, his face gaunt and accusing, blaming Emmett for not being there when he passed. Emmett's blood turned to ice at the sight.

For Sabine, it became her former mentor, the one who had betrayed and nearly killed her. "You will never be good enough," it taunted in his gravelly voice. Sabine trembled with rage, fingers twitching toward her knife.

It morphed into Eliza's stern, unforgiving mother to remind her of past mistakes. Then it took on the appearance of the schoolyard bullies who had tormented shy Odelia for years. Each manifestation was meticulously calculated to prey upon the companions' deepest fears and regrets.

Continuing to terrify the town's inhabitants, the entity appeared as the Lady in White, her mournful wails echoing through the night, chilling the bones of all who heard them. The next, it transformed into the The Man With a Hook, a tall, entity with a fisherman's hat covering his face and a hook for a hand, that stalked its prey, instilling panic in the hearts of those who crossed its path.

Sabine, her voice trembling with a mix of awe and fear, whispered, "It's using our fears against us."

Meanwhile, the disciples' empty gazes radiated malevolent glee as they watched the Devourer exploit each vulnerability. This perverse exhibition seemed to nourish them as much as the townspeople's dread.

Emmett focused his lens, pushing down his horror. He had to remain an observer. But his hands shook as the entity twisted into yet another cutting reminder of his failure to save the ones he loved.

The onslaught continued until the friends were paralyzed, ensnared in their nightmares made flesh. Only the Devourer's abrupt focus on the townspeople gave Emmett the chance to collect himself.

It stalked toward the fearful civilians, taking on increasingly freakish and unnatural forms. One moment it was a shuddering, faceless thing writhing on too many limbs, and the next it was an inverted mockery of a human shape, crawling like an insect up the trees.

Chaos erupted as people fled screaming. The disciples' malignant laughter resonated through the pandemonium as they herded the townsfolk like sheep.

Emmett's gut twisted. He had to do something. Gripping his camera tight, he ran at the shifting entity, plunging his pocket knife into its churning flesh. But the blade passed through harmlessly as if cutting smoke. Emmett stumbled back in shock as the futility sank in. Traditional weapons were useless against this horror.

"Blades cannot stop it!" he cried in warning to his companions. Even Sabine's knife barely left a scratch as she slashed at the writhing darkness.

There had to be another way!