The Beast stared at me for a moment before violently shaking its head, flinging Luc into the wall near the door. I flinched, wanting to rush to his side but I knew that if I did that, the thing would capitalize on my distraction and just tear us both to pieces. I knew I had to focus completely on it if I was going to draw attention away from those I cared about.
I stared it down and, for once, the creature didn't lash out indiscriminately. It knew that I was being smart this time, that it had to be careful. Dammit, I cursed to myself. I was counting on this thing to be stupid and blind with fury like before. It seemed like the more physical it became, the more it could actually think.
There was one upside to that; as it watched me, it's eyes widened and then narrowed, moving over me, waiting for something to happen. It was as if it was trying to do something to me that was no longer working-I assumed that it was trying to throw me around like a chew toy like it had in our previous encounters. But it wasn't happening: I remained rooted to my place, not willing to give upan inch of my ground. Maybe my theory was true-the more the spirit came into our world, the less it was able to function on that in- between plane. It was an actual creature now, not just a half-shadowed thing. It seemed to have lost powers as well as gained them.
Or maybe I was wrong, and maybe the only thing stopping it from crushing me was just the pure forced of my will, my lack of fear. Maybe that's what it took to defeat it-to face it head on, refusing to give into the fear that it bred.
Either way, I had no idea what to expect.
The thing took the first strike. It lashed out, its burning claws made of something like magma slicing through the air towards me. But being whole made it slower. I dodged to the side, and its talons just missed me-cutting into the wall behind me instead. They gouged deep into the already damaged drywall. It was slow, but it was still immensely powerful. I feared what it would mean if those made contact with my soft flesh and bone.
It paused for a moment and flicked its many eyes around the room for a moment before settling back on me-to my horror, four more pair burst into existence on its face, nestling next to the other four. Its mouth full of twisted, burning fangs split wide, stretching across the swirling mass of air, curving into a hideous grin like the Cheshire Cat's.
I realized suddenly that I had made a fatal mistake; when I had dodged to the side, I had gone the wrong way. Now the Beast was between Luc and me... and the Beast knew what that meant.
It turned its massive head towards the limp form of Luc and opened its massive mouth... ready to consume him at let me watch as it did.
"NO!" I screamed. My hands fumbled over the debris next to me, and I began to chuck whatever I could reach at the wavering form of the creature, hoping to distract it from its new task. Splinters of wood, chunks of metal, a twisted half of my laptop connected with the back of what I assumed was its head. It didn't even flinch.
I scraped the ground, desperate for something else to throw. My raw hand closed around a small pile of salt that had slipped out of the ritual's doll when I had been thrown against the wall. It made my burns sting, literally rubbing salt into my wounds. The idea didn't quite form in my mind, but I knew that this might do something- they purifying effects of the salt in the spell may carry over to real world encounters. Hoping for something, any kind of reaction, I picked up a handful and threw it at the back of the Beast's head.
That got its attention. When the salt hit the back of the beast, it sizzled like water being thrown on a fire. The beast screamed. It whipped its face back to me, and its expression was no longer playful... its was twisted in a malice that shook me to my core. I had really pissed it off this time.
But I couldn't waste time being frightened. I grabbed whatever was left of the salt on the floor, ignoring the pain as it dug into my hand, and charged towards it. The thing was surprised for a moment, but it quickly centred itself and roared in retaliation, warning me what it would mean if we were to come into contact.
It took all my courage to ignore its warning. I used its gaping, screaming mouth to my advantage. I stuck my hand inside, throwing the salt I had cupped in my hand down its burning throat.
It retched and then wailed a banshee shriek like nothing I had ever heard. All eight of its eyes flew wide in fury and pain. Gagging, it threw one last swipe of its massive paws. I froze-I had gotten too close to it, I couldn't dodge away.
I saw it move like it was slow motion, its huge fiery claws reaching for me. It came down on me like a force of nature. I expected the crushing impact, closing my eyes and anticipating the pain, but I felt nothing. For a moment I feared that I had misjudged my strength and that it had just killed me instantaneously, leaving me no time to even feel the sensation of death... but I heard it growl in frustration and I opened my eyes.
The creature was stumbling backwards, its mouth pouring thick bluish smoke, a black tarry substance dripping out the corners. It collapsed against the far wall-the wall that Lillian had blown a hole through-causing what was left of it to crumble and begin to burn.
"Rach-el..." his voice was weak but I could have heard it crystal clear in the loudest environment. Luc was alive-and awake- but barely. Gashes and burns patterned his body, and he was clutching a wound at his side that was bleeding quite a bit.
As I fell to his side, I realized then that he had use some of his remaining strength to provide some sort of shield for me, to protect me from its demon's strike.
"Luc!" I cried, passing my hands over him, desperate to help him but not sure of where to start. "Stay still, just rest! We'll get you out of here!"
"N-no..." Luc stammered weakly. "No, we need to stop Lillian..."
Lillian... somehow I had blocked her out of my mind in my frenzy to save Luc. I glanced over my shoulder to see how Polly was faring.
Stripped of her powers, Lillian and Polly were evenly matched. But I saw as flash of silver, and I noticed that Lillian was brandishing an ornate knife. Polly only had a splintered piece of wood-that was once part of my cupboards-and was carrying it like a club.
Lillian was graceful as she sliced and stabbed through the air, aiming for her sister. But Polly was practical... and fast. There may have been a poetry to how Lillian moved but Polly didn't waste time with flourishes. Her sister twirled and lunged and Polly dodged out of the way, hitting her in the stomach and snatching at her hair. But her hand closed on nothing as Lillian span away just in time.
"Polly... needs to finish... the spell..." Luc said weakly. "You need to... help..."
"But Luc, you're really hurt!" "Leave me..." I hesitated, not wanting to leave the man I loved in this state, but I knew he was right. If I dragged him away, there wouldn't be an escape from this woman. If we didn't kill her now, she would keep coming after us until she got what she wanted. There would be no hope for any of us if I ran away now.
"Don't worry," he said, seeing the apprehension in my face. He smiled slightly, in what I was sure he meant to be an encouraging way, but seeing the strain it took for him to make that small movement only made me worry more. "I'll protect you,"
"I'm not worried about me!" I muttered, but I smiled feebly back.
"But don't be swayed by Lillian... or whatever is pretending to be her. That's not her sister."
"What is it?" My eyes widened in horror.
"I feared something like this would happen when Lillian was playing with the darker forces of magic. Those powers prey on you when you're at your weakest, take you over and consume you until there's nothing 'you' left..." Luc coughed. He spat up blood and moaned, but didn't take his eyes off me. He gripped my wrist, trying to impress on me the importance of this information. "I think our break up was the catalyst. Her broken heart left her vulnerable, and something used it as a door, took advantage of her... now there's nothing left of her. I'm not entirely sure if that was how it happened, but I am sure that's not Polly's sister. Don't let Polly forget that."
I nodded. I knew what I had to do. I leaned down to kiss him lightly on the mouth. Lingering for a moment-longer than I should've in such a situation-before I brushed my finger over his cheek. I gave him one last longing look before I got to my feet again.
Polly was still engaged in battle with her sister. She had thrown the doll into the centre of the sacred circle-to keep it safe-and its salt innards were scattered in a halo around it. I had already lost some of the salt in my battle with the creature, and I worried that we couldn't afford to lose any more. And there was much more to be done: the candles for the ceremony needed to be lit and the doll needed to be repaired so that it would be ready when we needed it..
I crept over to the circle, hoping to escape the notice of Lillian. The Beast still lay in a heap in the corner, now smouldering rather than burning, ignorant to its surroundings, but I knew the damage Lillian could do was just as awful and twice as quick. Luckily Polly didn't seem to be tiring, and her sister was more than occupied by her opponent, so I set to work.
I scooped what I could of the salt and shovelled it back into the clumsily hewn husk of the doll, hoping that the amount I used against the beast wouldn't damage its effectiveness. I tightened the thread in the abdomen, leaving enough room for us to shove in a lock of hair or... maybe a chunk of flesh. I was willing to work with anything.
Once I had finished preparing the doll, I set upon lighting the candles. Luckily, the burst of flame that engulfed me and consumed the hair Polly had won from her first altercation with her sister had already lit a few of them. But they had been alight the whole time, and were shrinking fast-we were running out of time. I could still use them to light the rest of the circle and began lighting each of them, one by one.
There was a cry of pain and my head snapped up from my work. Lillian had landed a solid blow, grazing the exposed skin on Polly's neck. I stifled my own shriek of shock, hoping that the wound wasn't deep enough to be fatal. Lillian snarled gleefully, and in the moment of her triumph and lull in the battle, she noticed for the first time the change on her surroundings. Her gaze traced from the pathetic form of the defeated beast in the corner to my work on the ring of candles. Lillian's glee turned to malice when she realized what I had done, and what I was doing. She raised her arm to strike out at me-someone who wasn't immune to her dark powers.
But Polly wasn't done yet; blood poured down her front from the wound in her neck but the fire in her remained. She flipped the club around in her hand, arming herself with the splintered point and swung it towards her sister's unguarded abdomen.
Her sister choked as the point pierced her strangely dull flesh and strange inky blood gushed out from the wound. The look on Lillian's face changed. Suddenly her eyes filled with tears and she sobbed.
"Polly... How could you?" Lillian sputtered.
Polly's expression changed from the angry mask of battle to a look of fear and remorse. I knew what crossed her mind; she feared that her real sister was trapped somewhere, held hostage by something-she feared that she had actually just grievously injured her beloved sister.
"Polly!" I screamed. "Don't let her trick you! That's not your sister! That's the thing that killed your sister!"
"No, Polly, don't listen to her..." Lillian coughed. "Something was possessing me... you need to help me Polly... please help me!"
Polly's grip loosened on the club as her hands shook violently. Her eyes flitted back and forth, tracing the features of her sister's face, trying to find the truth. I feared that it may be Lillian's involvement too... The key Polly wore protected her from physical attacks, but did was it also immune to mental ones?
"Lilly..." Polly whispered. "Is that really you?"
"Of course... Polly..." Lillian choked up blood, the same unnatural inky red that streamed from her stomach. "Don't you know your own sister?
"Oh God..." Polly stammered. "What have I done?!"
Her sister wavered on the spot as Polly retracted the spike from her gut. Polly reached out to catch her before she fell. She caught her just in time, stumbling under her weight and cradled her in her arms. Lillian looked frail and broken as her sister held her.
I was confused. What if she was telling the truth? What if she was just possessed?
"Polly, NO!" Luc cried. "Gotcha!" Lillian sang, and raised up her silvery knife, plunging it into her sister's back. Polly shrieked, and threw her sister to the ground. She scrabbled for the spear that lay near by and turned back to her sister, impaling her again in retaliation.
She hissed and howled, writhing beneath the stake, spewing the same black tar that came from the demon. Polly pushed her away and turned towards me, the colour quickly draining from her face as she lost blood; written on her face was an apology for falling for such an obvious trick.
"Rachel!" She groaned, a trickle of blood escaping form her lips. "A-Are you ready?"
"Yes!"
"Then catch!" She snapped off a shard of wood from the bloody tip and tossed it into my waiting hands, just before she collapsed to her knees, clutching at her neck. I shoved it inside the little doll and grabbed the ribbon that lie beside it. I began to weave it around the form as quickly as I could, as I scanned the page of the book and muttering the incantation under my breath.
Lillian spat out a mouthful of sticky black and screamed. Lashing out at Polly she stabbed her one more time-Polly screamed and fell to the ground completely- before descending on me. Her eyes were wild and burning, her hair blew out around her head in a tangled glow and her face was twisted with hatred. She may have looked more human than the Beast, but she was infinitely more terrifying. I finished the incantation as she raised her knife. I began to blow out all the candles, trying to finish before she could make contact.
"Allow me," a croak came, from across the room. Luc had propped himself up on his elbows and was ready to strike. His face was drenched with sweat from the exertion of staying conscious, but his look was determined.
He called out something I didn't understand and a great rush of wind blew through the apartment. The candles were extinguished in one fell swoop.
There was silence at first. Lillian had frozen in spot, her arm still raised and ready to stab me, but her eyes were wide and dull, unseeing. Then came a great howl, like the sound of wind during a tornado, and it was as if she gave a great inhale, sucking all the air out of the room, the life force of the room rushing into Lillian's gaping mouth.
She gave one last scream and her body split open in dark sticky lines, showing that beneath the human skin that had once belonged to Polly's beloved sister, it was only a hideous beast made of the syrupy black tar substance that remained. It slid apart with a repulsive noise, splattering onto the floor. There was a moment of horrified silence before the mass simply caught fire and burned away. The fire consumed the mass in record time, leaving only the black scar of a burn on what remained of the hardwood floor.
The Beast was gone as quickly as its master, the fire that it was made of simply extinguishing and disappearing like it had been doused in water.
We were now alone in the room.
"Polly...?" I croaked, stunned by what had just happened. I didn't feel happy, or sad... I felt numb, dumbfounded by what had actually taken place, that we had actually killed Lillian... or whatever had been inhabiting Lillian's body.
"I'm... alive..." she voice came, muffled by the floor as she was still laying face down. "Barely..."
I heard a scuffle of movement, and turned to see Luc dragging himself along the marred floor, wincing at every movement.
"We did it," He muttered, rolling onto his back when he got close enough. "It's done. It's actually done."
"It is, isn't it?" I mumbled, collapsing to the floor myself-I suddenly felt so exhausted. It wasn't a physical exhaustion as it was a mental one.
A piercing squeal split through the silence, and there was the sound of a great shifting. The ceiling above gave a great heave and chunks of drywall and dust rained down on us.
"Oh fuck," I said. My tone was disinterested, I felt myself drifting away. "This place is going to collapse, isn't it?"
"Goddammit," Polly cursed, sounding like she felt the same. "If it's not one thing..."
"I think I have just enough..." Luc muttered, his voice trailing off. I felt my eyes close; I no longer had the strength to keep them open. I didn't care if I had fought for my life, only to die. I just wished it was all a dream, that I was actually snug in Luc's bed, wrapped in his arms...
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