Page 133 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“I’ll let you,” Will replied immediately.

“It’s not about the words. When I begin, you have to let me in. It won’t be comfortable for you, but you can’t resist, or I won’t be able to do it properly.”

“Okay, time out,” Norma declared. “Just to be clear, Will, letting someone enter your mind is a really, REALLY bad idea. And I’m not talking about the mountain of weird thoughts and perverted images that are probably running through your head. Whoever controls the mind can also control the body. By allowing another person… another witch or wizard to do something like this, you’re taking a huge risk. No offense, Abby, but he should know this.”

“It’s fine,” Will said, forcing a calm tone, and looked into the eyes of the girl sitting before him. “I trust Abby.”

“Letting someone you trust do it is still a fucking terrible idea,” Norma insisted. “I mean, sure, we’re in a group now and we can keep an eye on each other, but you never know what the other person’s intentions are or what they’ll do with the information they get once they’re in your mind. You just don’t do stuff like that, okay?”

“Are you getting at something specific?” Blake muttered with irritation.

“Yeah, that this kind of thing is super dangerous,” Norma replied seriously. “And that he shouldn’t be doing it now, but if he’s determined, he needs to know not to agree to things like this in the future.”

“He won’t,” Abby stated with conviction.

“How do you know?” Norma asked.

“Because he’ll know how unpleasant it is.”

Will flinched involuntarily. He glanced uncertainly at Blake, who just nodded, signaling that he should decide. Will swallowed nervously, then looked back at Abby. He had made his decision.

“Ready?” Abby confirmed, taking his hands.

“Yes,” Will confirmed nervously.

Abigail’s fingers tightened on his skin. He had been instructed to focus on her eyes, so that’s what he did. He expected something… jarring, but for a long moment, absolutely nothing happened. Will was slightly confused and embarrassed, but he didn’t look away.

And suddenly… he felt strange. He had the odd sensation that something else had appeared at the edge of his consciousness. Something foreign. A shadow that pulled his thoughts and memories toward it, leaving him with a terrifying sense of emptiness. It was so uncomfortable that Will wanted to pull back, but he remembered why he was doing this, so he allowed the shadow to spread further.

Abigail’s eyes were instantly shrouded in darkness. And then Will lost control of what was happening. He lost control of himself. He was no longer sitting in the classroom across from Abby, surrounded by his friends, but drowning. Drowning in that endless darkness, unable to catch his breath, desperately trying to give shape to the nothingness around him, but he had no arms or legs. He tried to scream, but he had no mouth. He had no lungs, no face, no body… He had nothing. Not even memories. He couldn’t remember his name, his purpose; he couldn’t remember who he was, what he had been doing, or why he was in this situation. He felt like he was dead. That the only thing left of him was this faint spark of consciousness he was desperately clinging to, afraid he would fall into oblivion.

Suddenly, the connection was broken. He returned to his own body, to his own mind, so overwhelmed by the flood of thoughts, emotions, and sensations that he fell off his chair. Curled up on the floor, he took shallow breaths, trying to pull himself together. Blake waited a moment before helping him up. Will took his seat opposite the girl again, though he no longer had the courage to look her in the eye.

“And?” Norma asked.

“He’s not possessed,” Abigail answered.

Will found it hard to believe.

“How do you know?” he whispered.

“Demons, like all creatures of darkness, are jealous and cowardly,” Abby announced. “When they sense a threat or competition, they attack. If you were under a demon’s influence, it would have done everything to break the connection and push me out of your mind. Nothing like that happened.”

“Told you so,” Norma said triumphantly.

Will smiled involuntarily. An unimaginable relief washed over him.

“But he’s not a wizard either,” Abigail added.

Everyone present stared at her in complete shock.

“While I had control over him, I tried to use magic,” Abigail explained in a colorless voice. “I couldn’t. I couldn’t even sense any magical energy.”

“I don’t understand.” Norma looked confused. “If he’s not a wizard, then what is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“For now, we know he’s not under the influence of a demon,” Blake said, cutting off the discussion. “That will have to be enough until we get more information.”