I tugged on it, trying to extract it from Emma’s essence. When I exorcised people in the past, it felt like grasping a rope tied to a weight that I had to pull out. But this didn’t feel the same. I began chanting, feeding off the power of my own words.
With a piercing scream, Emma threw back her head. Her arms shot out and the purple forcefield shattered as if made of glass.
“You’re losing her,” Travis said in panic over the earpiece. “The barrier is gone. You have to exorcise hernow.”
Jo ascended the hill behind Emma. He was supposed to come and grab the book then run like hell if anything went sideways.
“I can do this,” I said through gritted teeth, more for myself, as the darkness continued to rise.
Reaching for any life-line to keep hold of her, I pulled on the power from the book that lay on the ground next to me. Light blossomed from it as I drew on its magic, siphoning it into my hold on the evil in Emma.
Othanos was a strong demon, but he couldn’t fight centuries of belief and power meant to keep the darkness at bay. There was no way I was losing Emma now that I had supercharged my abilities with the heart of Terra’s power. My heart raced as I tugged harder at the infected parts of her. It was almost over. She would be home tonight. She would take a bubble bath and snuggle in next to me on the couch. I'd kiss her senseless and then claim her body and keep her close until I was sure she was recovered and well.
Darkness swelled in Emma, seeping out from every crevice of her being. Her honey brown eyes turned black.
Pure, utter fear replaced my anticipation. Her dark power surged forth revealing itself to me at last. She pulled off an energetic cloak and unfurl smoky tentacles made of ancient evil. They were massive, powerful limbs, beyond anything I’d sensed in Othanos. This wasn’t right. There was so much darkness.
Leaning into her energy field felt like rubbing myself along a cheese grater covered in acid but I had to see, I had to know what she was. I sensed the presence of the spirits she had absorbed over the past several months, but this was so much more than Othanos, the Ururu, or the other dark entities she’d exorcised.
Her tentacles whipped frantically, warning me that my presence was unwelcome.
Straining under the effort it took to lock forces with her, I realized couldn’t do this. There was too much. Emma was too powerful. The world slowed around me as I solely focused on keeping a hold of her, only the thundering sound of my own heart drumming in my ears. I stared into Emma’s beautiful face, terrified of what she had become.
Instead of a singular, dark entity possessing Emma, I sensed a vast, boundless ocean of darkness inextricably woven to Emma’s being. I was foolish to think I could exorcise her. Evil didn’t possess her, it was entwined into her very being. It had been there since we’d left the Stygian.
This magnitude of power would destroy any human.
But Emma wasn’t just a human. She was the Propheros, who had undergone the Reckoning. All the demonic energies she had been absorbing merely fed the darkness that had been there all this time. I wasn’t facing Emma, I was face to face with fathomless evil. This wasn’t Othanos, this was the Reckoning.
With only a slight push,Emma sent my power back to me, sending me flying several feet. I hit the ground hard, but it was nothing compared to the blow of my newly gained comprehension. I jumped to my feet, ready to try again but I knew now I would not able to exorcise Emma. She was woven into the many primordial entities possessing her body, some as old as time itself.
“Grab the book and go,” I yelled to Jo.
Instead of running for the book, he stopped at my side and whirled around.
Jo’s hand moved lightning fast, the last rays of sunlight glinted off the gun. Before I could react, it went off with a deafening crack. Someone cried out and it took a moment to realize it was me. I was too late. The bullet tore through Emma’s forehead leaving a hole between her eyes. Emma swayed on her feet.
My heart lodged in my throat and for a moment I wondered if I was the one who was dying. I started toward Emma, I needed to hold her in my arms though there was nothing I could do.
I stopped in my tracks. Instead of falling over, Emma stayed standing. Black ichor trickled out of the bullet hole, dripping down into her eye. Emma brushed it away, then looked at her fingers. Her skin knitted together until there was no trace left of the bullet hole other than the black blood. As her skin healed, it took on a grayish tint and black veins appeared around her eyes and forehead.
Jo gaped. The gun went limp in his hand.
As soon as she finished healing, her cold black eyes regarded Jo.
When Emma spoke, there was an echo of many voices entwined with it. “We do not like to be shot.”
Emma reached out a hand and Jo dropped the gun, his body stiffening. She had him in her hold. Before I could tell her to stop, Jo’s spirit cracked from his body. Unlike the demons, his essence wasn’t indiscernible black mist. It was a fully formed astral projection of Jo. The ghostly form of his soul extended until he could turn and look back at his own body which was twitching and shuddering as if held taut by a string. Jo ghostly face was surprised and dazed. A shudder of horror rolled through me. The grotesque dissection of his light from his body was akin to that of a soul eater’s method.
Emma flicked her wrist and Jo’s soul separated completely from his body. His mouth opened as if he were screaming, though I heard no sound.
I reached out, trying to use my own powers to grab Jo, pull him back to his body. But I couldn’t do what Emma did, I never could. Like water through my fingers, he slipped away. Then instead of being absorbed by Emma, his astral form exploded in a burst of light. The book of Terra flew off the ground landing in Emma’s hand before Jo's body hit the ground. His lips already blue, eyes open and sightless.
I turned back to meet Emma’s black eyes for a few heart stopping moments. My blood ran cold.
We stood there regarding each other as her smoky tentacles rippled and swelled around her. She could kill me in an instant, but I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Then she suddenly turned and walked away. I staggered after her, unable to feel my numb legs, until my knees hit the ground. She raised her hand. Two large crib, contorted demon resembling babies with massive leathery bat wings, swooped down from the fast-darkening sky, grabbing onto her arms and lifting her into the air and away.
