Peter Hunter and the Minions of Mara

Preview of Book 2

...

"I'll go talk to her," Chiara told Peter as she started on her way.

He held her back at her arm.

"Whoa, hold up. If it's true, that she's possessed, you don't want to be anywhere near her right now. The spirit has taken over her body and mind."

"I can't just leave her. Look, I'll be right there." Chiara removed Peter's hand from her arm. "You'll be able to hear if anything happens and you can come in and save me. Right?"

He shook his head. "It's the girls' bathroom."

"Seriously?" she asked incredulously. "Fine. I'll lure her out."

Before he could stop her, Chiara wove through the crowd and reached the bathroom. When she entered, she could feel danger hanging in the air, as if the walls were closing in. Her sight locked onto the one occupied stall. She shivered. It was colder in the bathroom than it had been outside.

She heard growling noises from the stall and fought the urge to turn and run. She swallowed hard and opened her mouth to call out, but found that her voice wouldn't work. She took small tentative steps toward the stall.

As she neared it, she saw through the gaps that Sydney was fumbling through her purse. The dark cloud of demonic energy was swirling around her silhouette. She pulled out an unmarked pill bottle and poured all the contents into her hand.

"This'll show him," Sydney grumbled.

Without thinking, Chiara pulled the stall door open and smacked the pills and bottle out of Sydney's hands. She wanted to say something inspirational like:

"Every life is worth living."

"There are many people who care about you."

or, "I promise it'll get better."

But her mouth still wouldn't work. Instead, she just stared – wide-eyed and open-mouthed – as the pills and bottle plinked onto bathroom tile.

Sydney's stunned face changed into one of outrage and Chiara took instinctive steps backwards. The lights flickered and Chiara felt the pressure in the room thicken. The door to the stall slammed open. She jumped back and Sydney emerged, oozing darkness.

She tried to form words but she was breathless. She remembered a Scripture verse from Philippians, "...at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth." But she couldn't even force her mouth to say, "Jesus."

The demon held out Sydney's hand and Chiara was thrown through the air and against the wall. She fell down, gasping and wheezing to get her wind back.

Sydney strutted casually to her and spoke with a voice that was not her own. "Pathetic human," it said. "You're nothing but a meek little church mouse."

Chiara couldn't stand, but she scrambled backwards against the wall. The demon cocked Sydney's head to the side and crouched in front of her.

"I think I'll have fun with you. I'll make every inch of your body hurt until you're begging for mercy."

Chiara noted how Sydney's face had transformed. It almost looked like the bones had shifted. Her cheeks looked sunken and dark. Her skin tone was ashen with an almost green tint and her teeth seemed to come to a point. Her pupils were elliptical, like a cat's.

Chiara got to her feet, keeping her back against the wall. "S-s-Sydney, please," she pleaded. "I know you're suffering, but I'm here to help you."

The demon rose slowly. "She. Can't. Hear. You," it sang.

Chiara realized that Sydney was not likely to be motivated or inspired by kind words. Sydney would never accept help. She would see that as a weakness and Chiara knew that Sydney hated weakness.

That's it! she thought. I just have to make her see how weak she is now!

She edged away from the demon, trying to get to the door. "Well, while you're in here, having this little pity party," Chiara tried to imitate Sydney's usual tone, "I'm going to go out there to the party. It must be so sad for you that I'm having a great time with my date while you're in here sulking over your pathetic life."

The demon bared Sydney's teeth.

"I'm going to dance the night away with Peter," she continued, "because all your tricks won't ruin our friendship. Maybe I'll even dance with Slick. Because you can't stop me if you're in here crying."

Sydney suddenly swiped a sprawled hand across Chiara's face, leaving a series of throbbing scrapes.

"You want a fight?" Chiara said with a shaky attempt at a defiant air. "Follow me if you're not too scared."

Chiara dashed for the door.

Look forward to the next title from the

Freelance Exorcists series:

Drop by Drop; And Other Short Stories

Chiara Marino and the Demons of Darkness

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