Love & Exorcisms | 18+ | COMPLETE |

- Chapter 55 -

Hanson had begun to chuckle. "Shall I show you more?"

I had to build back up the wall I had previously so carefully constructed. But for all my care, it seemed all too easy to break down. Had I made a mistake? I'd told Damian he could trust me, that I was in control. But my fear was rising.

He won't come in, girl. We won't allow it. We don't allow rats. Subpar echelon beasts.

My body began to tingle. It felt disturbingly familiar - far too similar to when I had given control over to Krahia. As I struggled to control myself, Damian moved closer to Hanson. His voice was no longer gentle and reassuring. It was demanding.

"Listen to me Hanson. I know you're still in there and I know you're strong enough to overcome this..."

I turned away as Damian continued talking. I had to get out of my head and back under control. I focused on my breathing, flexing my fingers, curling my toes. Aware of every muscle I had at my command.

We'll protect you. You're ours, don't bother. We'll keep you safe.

I couldn't allow myself to panic. Not now, not here. Damian was still speaking to Hanson, but his language was foreign. Even so, with every word the young man twitched, his face contorting more and more into an expression of anger. He pressed himself back into the corner he stood in, like a trapped beast, and bared his teeth.

"You made a mistake coming here, Exorcist," he hissed. "You and your little whore!" He twitched again, and his neck began to bend at a frightening angle. He muttered, growling, "No. No, no, no, no. Don't be angry. Don't be angry please-"

"Get down on the ground, Hanson," Damian commanded. "Now!"

Slowly, remarkably, the young man sunk to his knees. Sweat streaked down his forehead despite the chill within the room. His jaw was tense, the veins in his arms bulging. "In bed with a killer," he repeated. "A killer, a killer, a killer." On his knees, his gaze turned to me yet again. "You..."

Pain shot through my hand. Something had thrown itself against my hastily-prepared mental walls. Blood, so much blood - sobbing - get out, rat, before we rip you apart -

Hanson burst into high-pitched laughter. He sunk down, pressed his head against the floor as if grovelling for forgiveness, but his laughter continued. "Don't hurt me, Legion!" he shrieked. "Let me in! Let me! In!"

Damian sprang forward, to one knee, grasping the back of the young man's head in one hand. "Berätta ditt namn för mig," he said. "Du hör inte här. Lämna denna plats."

My stomach lurched. I had the irrational urge to plug my ears rather than hear him speak. I could not understand his tongue, but it seemed the beings within me could. Their muttering was sudden and furious. Names came unbidden to my mind, along with the urge to blurt them out, but I remained silent. I moved a bit closer, cautiously, watching as Hanson sweat and trembled beneath Damian's hand.

"Damn you," he muttered. "Damn you...fuck...I am...I am." He gagged, a violent fit of coughing overcoming him before he choked out. "Shax. I am the one known as Shax."

I was overcome with disgust, as if I were looking upon something rotten and foul. Hanson's body seemed to shift before my very eyes, contorting, skin graying, tendrils of black mist coiling over him. A form, almost human, seemed to crouch over him. White eyes blinked at me. Long limbs squeezed Hanson's body with brutal strength, making him groan as his joints popped.

Could Damian see it? The demon that possessed Hanson was there, staring at me with pupil-less eyes. But...was it truly there? Was it real...or...illusion?