Henry Neville- The Geist Therapist

19. The Stalking of Estella: Chapter Five

She was confident Henry and Polly could stop any lowly spirits approaching. Had Shade sent them? She was aware they could track each others movements, but if he was aware that she was selling him out to the doctor then surely she would be facing their master right now. Shade had no reason to not tell their master what she was up to.

All she could do now was wait and see, would Shade or their master come for her or will Henry stop Shade?

***

The smoke surrounding Shade was fading quickly and the dark shadow stood firmly as if nothing had happened. He growled while maintaining his glare at Henry but remained unhurt.

"Who is that?" Polly called.

"Excuse me a moment," Henry said to Shade.

"How dare you," the demon replied.

"Are you serious?" Polly asked as she watched Henry walk away and straight to the man in the red coat.

"Mr Funsie, right?" Henry asked.

"Only on the stage, sir. In the face of adversaries I am Malcolm Trawler, at your service."

"Nice to meet you, Mr Trawler. What is your weapon, sir?"

"This here beauty is a vaporiser; whatever that thing is you are battling is not the only monster in these parts," Malcolm eyed Shade suspiciously. "Although, I guess that's not of the physical plane. My gun should have blown it to a million pieces."

Henry shook his head, "I'm afraid not, this is a demon of the spirit realm. Nasty little bugger."

"Whatever your plan is, demon hunter, you better do it fast. Even without a face it looks furious, and it's coming this way."

"How dare you walk away from Shade!" The demon hissed as it slowly approached again.

"Stop! Please stop!" No one had seen where she had come from but Miss Estella had thrown herself between Shade and Henry and pleaded with the former with her arms stretched out wide.

"Get out of the way or feel my true malice!" Shade hissed.

"No, I will not!" Cried Estella.

Shade clenched his left fist and a scream was heard. Everyone looked to their left and saw Bonnie being slowly raised in the air. The scream was cut off and she began to struggle; clutching at her throat as if something was there.

"No," Estella whimpered. Slowly she stepped aside. "Don't hurt her."

"For too long she has given you strength and an attitude to rebel... No more!" Shade tightened his fist more and a snap could be heard. Bonnie fell limp and was dead. Shade lowered her body back to the ground to rest.

This crushed Estella, she was defeated. Ready to give up and succumb to Shade's evil plans she fell to her knees. She did not cry or plead this time, she just stared emotionless at the ground accepting her fate.

Henry, Polly and Malcolm could only watch on in horror as they contemplated their next move.

Malcolm cocked his gun, aimed it at Shade and fired. The explosive struck the demon in the chest but he did not falter. The black smoke evaporated quickly and Shade began his advance on Henry.

Again his fist clenched, then he spoke to the doctor, "Time for you to feel as Estella does."

Another scream followed by a shout of "Henry!" Polly was being raised into the air, the unseen force gripping her throat. Struggling to breathe she was completely at the spirit's mercy.

"Polly! No!" Henry's face turned a sickly white as he watched his assistant and best friend begin to suffer the same fate as Bonnie.

Suddenly the hold on Polly began to loosen. Henry's attention turned back to Shade and he was amazed at what he witnessed.

"This stops now, Demon!" Luca spat at Shade; she had appeared right beside him and held a firm grip onto his outstretched arm.

"What are you doing, Witch? The master forbade us both from interfering with each others work. You will pay heavily for this," Shade hissed. He let go of Polly and she fell to the ground, crying out in pain as she landed awkwardly and whacking her head.

Malcolm reached her first, "Leg's broken," he confirmed to Henry as he arrived. Polly soon passed out from the pain. "She'll be fine. I'll help her, you go help that poor girl stop that thing."

"Polly, I'm sorry," Henry whispered softly. He pushed another button on his rod and blue sparks shot out of the tip like lightning. "No more games," he spoke with a seriousness Polly would have been proud to hear.

"I'm done being the pet he can kick around," Luca growled. She punched Shade in the chest, forcing him backwards and falling to his knees.

"Fool, your powers are no match for mine," Shade gave out a short laugh.

"Maybe not but I have allies, what do you have?"

Before Shade could answer he was struck square in the face by Henry's rod at full swing. Shade crashed to the ground; not the effect Henry hoped for but he still felt better for it. He soaked up the feeling before turning to Luca.

Luca grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away, "You have a lot of questions but first we need to get out of here. I have an idea, follow me."

"I won't leave Miss Alexander behind," exclaimed Henry. He turned to face his assistant just as she let out another horrified scream courtesy of Malcolm snapping the bone back into place.

"Mr Trawler is a friend of mine, trust me, she's in the best hands."

Henry looked somberly at the young woman. Her words were enough to convince him, "Where do you propose we go?"

Luca pointed to the circus, "Funsie's tent of course. The mirrors."

The idea clicked in Henry's mind, he knew what Luca had planned, "What happened? Where did you go?"

"It's too difficult to explain right now, he's coming," Luca pointed towards Shade making his slow approach again.

Henry ignored Shade, his focus was on Polly and praying she would be ok. He could still just about see her being nursed by Malcolm. The circus tent they sought was still some distance away.

"Pity I couldn't send that wretch back to the world beyond," Henry said to no one in particular.

"Shade can move freely through the realm you speak of. It did not work the way you intended because it would have had no effect on his ability to come back here," Luca replied.

Shade picked up his pace and began chasing them with a run. Whatever that stuff was that woman had thrown at him had removed his ability to disappear or leave the area completely but it fortunately had not hindered his other powers, especially the ones that kill.

Ignoring the peasant mortals around them, Shade's focus was entirely on Luca and Henry. He wanted them to suffer but they were just out of his reach to use powers that could hurt them. Instead he took a liking to the hunt, like a cat chasing a mouse into its hole, or in this case, a large tent.

Shade laughed to himself as they entered the tent. They would be no match for him in an enclosed space and they must surely be short on breath with the running, he had them and he was going to enjoy torturing them.

His cackle laughter grew into a terrifying howl as he lavished on the thoughts of murdering the two, slowly and painfully.

***