The Cemetery - XVIII

Part 1

Amelia

cont.

Two days after speaking in my sleep we were prepared for the ritual. I laid down for rest and Margaret assured me that when I awoke that I would be rid of the demon and my life would return to me. I was ready.

                When I emerged into the twilight plane as I had done so many times before I wasn’t greeted by the sight of my brother. Instead I was approached by a shifting shapeless shadow. The silver figures formed a circle around me and I felt an icy grip on my heart. The shadow flew over the glassy ground towards me and wrapped around me. This dream was not like the others and I hoped that my motions in sleep were an alarm to my friends in the waking world. The shadow formed a mouth with sharp jagged grey teeth. Its eyes shone a bright red that pulsed with a ferocity of a flickering flame. The creature formed a body and stood at arms length. Its large clawed hands wrapped firmly around my arms holding me steadfast. I tried to scream but my voice was dead in me.

                “You have disobeyed me for far too long. I will take what is mine. I need not wait for your approval. I’ve weakened you to the point of cracking. Your vessel is mine.”

                And with that declaration I felt the shadow start to pour over my body. The solid form returned to smoke as it engulfed me. I felt my voice return as it disappeared. A bright flash of light surrounded me as I was wrenched form sleep to the waking world. With dull eyes I beheld the forms of my friends standing over my body. Though I felt a distance as though I were sinking deeper into the bed instead of coming to from dreaming. I heard my voice in my head speaking to them but they made no response to my pleas.

                “Is it over? Was it a success? Margaret?” I attempted to speak. I saw their faces look over my body and the horror in Margaret’s face as she looked over me.  She backed away from the bed holding her face in terror. I wanted to move, to escape my bed but my limbs would no obey me.

                “What is that!?” I heard the voice of the steward but they were veiled as if miles away.

                “I don’t know. Maybe we were too late.”

                “Do it now!”

                “It might not work!”

                “Do it anyway!”

                The two figures in my room became fuzzy as my vision began to blur. I felt as though I was losing consciousness again. In my head I felt a pressure building as though I were being forced out of control of my body. I saw my arms and legs begin to shake violently as animation was restored. Margaret moved back once more and I could see through a veil the table where the ritual devices were seated. At the sight a heard a shrill screech echo through my skull as the creature cried out in fear.

                In one swift motion Margaret took a small blade, slashed her palm and dropped the blood into the chalice on the table. In a bright flash of light a wave of power forced me to the bed and the creature, shrieking in pain, was ripped from my body. I saw the room return to my vision but the presence wasn’t fully expelled. Out of my body the creature returned to smoke and swirled about the room filling the small spaces with its looming presence. I saw Margaret mouthing words and my steward fighting with the air. In an instant the room returned to normal but the creature was not gone from us. The steward looked up from the ground and his eyes shined red. He cocked a smile and stepped towards me on the bed.

                I called out to him in fear.

                “Gerald McMahon! Snap out of it!”

                He stopped his approach and one eye turned back from a glowing red to his normal blue.

                “I’m sorry miss.” He spoke through gritted teeth. In a rush he flung himself towards the window, crashed through the glass and hit the ground extinguishing his own life. With his expiration the shadow emerged from his lifeless corpse and scurried over the ground back towards the cemetery. Margaret rushed to my side and held me.

                “Is it over?” I asked feebly of her. She held up a mirror to my face to show that my vitality had been restored. She nodded slowly as the sun began to rise over the hills to the east.

cont.

A week later, Geoffrey Starcross finally arrived in England. He had been travelling to us ever since we sent the last correspondence to have his help but he had been delayed in arriving. With his appearance I was sure that all would be well. In his great wisdom and with Margaret’s retelling of the tale to him in person of what had transpired he has linked the few threads we have to hopefully tie off this series of incidents. I will see him once more before I leave this place for good. These words will be handed off to him as he plans to put them in the hiding place I’ve arranged. He will take his own notes and keep them for the future but these words will only exist in memoriam of what has happened and what I dare hope never happens again.

                Doctor Starcross, tells me that such intrusions upon the human psyche are as old as time. Creatures of immense power are set upon this world without our want or need simply to wreak havoc and use us as playthings. We are not worthy of such treatment but there are very few things that can be done to save us from such happenings. He has told me that there is a solution to this demon that he hopes to put into place once things have settled. I have included a prescription for his methods in this text. I do hope that he succeeds and this back up not be needed but on the off chance that Starcross fails, this might be the only way to end this creatures reign of misery.

                I am now far away from that place, where I believe it has been made borne and will stay if not connected to a living person. I and the others are not sure if this one shadow beast is the only one of its kind but this world is assailed by many forces, as the doctor says, and its not wise to assume there are few when indeed there may in fact be many. It is important to arm yourself against the things in the darkness, lest they find you and take your soul. I am testament that survival is possible. Gerald is testament that human will is the strongest thing in existence even when pitted against the greatest of odds.

                It is my sincere hope that these words never see the light of day, but if they do I hope they will not be needed to quell some darkness.

                If you have found this text, please be wary for you know not what you might have stumbled upon. I pray for your safety and the well-being of your everlasting soul. May God shine his holy light on that forsaken place and rid it of its evils.

--Amelia Darrows

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