Chapter 10
Noticing the sheer size of the cloud outside Sarah felt dread well up inside her. There wasn’t much of the sky that the dark swirling mass didn’t cover and she wondered just how many of the banshees it contained. She didn’t need to be told that this wasn’t a normal hunting party, she had seen those before. This was an army ready for war.
She looked at Tom in confusion. ‘Are we safe here?’
She remembered being told that the building was protecting the inhabitants, and so far that had appeared to be true, but there was something about the ominous cloud outside that had a sense of determination about it. It seemed to be heading straight for them.
‘We should be.’ he answered distractedly.
Tom’s eyes didn’t leave the darkness outside as he spoke and she could tell by the worry etched into every line on his face that he didn’t believe what he said. The creatures knew where they were hiding. There were too many of them out there for it to be a coincidence that had gathered them all together; it was organised. She shuddered at the thought.
‘What brought them here?’ Sarah couldn’t keep the tremble out of her voice, making her sound frightened and vulnerable. She felt sick with fear and blame. The comments made earlier by Thaddeus ran through her mind, that the banshees would know where they were hiding now because of them … because of her.
She hadn’t told the vile creatures anything while she had been held captive, she hadn’t been given a chance to speak, and as far as she knew Tom had been unconscious for most of the time he had been a prisoner. Still, she didn’t think creatures that could strip monsters of their powers would need to have a conversation to get the information they needed. The guilt pressed in on her. Was she to blame for the banshees being there now?
Tom finally looked away from the mass of clouds and glanced briefly in her direction, his expression unreadable. ‘It could be that they followed me when we escaped, or that they sensed Thaddeus using his powers.’ He turned back to the scene outside, bordered rather appropriately by the dark-coloured curtains giving it even more of an ominous appearance. ‘Either way, they are coming this way.’
He moved quickly towards the door but she didn’t follow. She felt rooted to the spot in front of the window, eyes fixed on the terrifying scene it framed. The cloud drew closer, the denseness of it easing as it prepared to engulf the building and she could now see the thick mist that it was made of. She stared mesmerised at the threat just beyond the walls of their haven, knowing what sort of creatures it contained and what they would have in store for her.
The clouds encircled the mansion on both sides and from her vantage point, she could start to make out the shapes of the creatures within. The cruel hard faces and wild unkempt hair of the banshees taunted her with menacing glimpses amongst the swirling cloud. Shuddering she remembered how many of the creatures had been held in the room at the prison. Both of the times she had been outside with them she had only encountered a couple of the beings at a time, the thought of all of them being out there paralysed her with fear.
The noise was getting louder, the individual screams joining together to become a constant howl. She was completely absorbed by the evil she knew was out there. An evil that held her fate.
‘Come on,’ Tom grabbed her hand roughly and started again for the door, this time she had no choice but to follow. ‘We need to find Thaddeus.’
As she let herself be dragged through his family home, she wasn’t sure if finding Thaddeus was a better solution to facing the monsters outside. As far as she was concerned, they could open the doors and Thaddeus and the banshees could have a war to end it all, as long as she and Tom had returned safely to her realm first. She knew that wasn’t an option. Thaddeus had already made it clear that returning her home wasn’t a priority and she was sure he wasn’t going to let Tom leave, especially now.
Sarah had a feeling that his interest in keeping his son close wasn’t due to any sentimentality. She recalled Thaddeus saying he would need Tom’s help to break the spell and wondered how recent that knowledge was or if he had known for a while that he would need his son’s magic to help defeat the threat to their kind. Was it a concern for his son’s safety that had been his real reason for compelling Tom to return home or was Tom simply a tool that Thaddeus felt he might need close at hand? After meeting Thaddeus she was pretty confident of the answer.
Thinking of the threat facing them she felt sickening defeat rise in her at the thought that Thaddeus might need help. She had felt his overwhelming power firsthand and had seen him wield it easily against the creatures in the building, incapacitating them in one move. Yet if he had been telling the truth he was worried that all the power he possessed wouldn’t be enough to stop the banshees and their masters.
‘Do you have a plan?’ she asked Tom hopefully.
‘I need to help him protect the building and keep them out,’ he stated, hardly puffed with their scramble around. ‘Hopefully, he’s already found what we need to break the spell that’s holding the banshees. If not, we will just have to fight them.’
She didn’t feel any relief at his words and refrained from commenting that his plan sounded a little sketchy.
‘Couldn’t you have just teleported us?’ her words came out in a puff as she felt her chest start to burn from the exercise mingled with fear.
Tom moved easily as he replied. ‘I’m going to need my magic. I can’t risk exhausting myself.’
Refraining from mentioning that she thought the run would be more exhausting than using his magic, she again noticed her ignorance towards all things magical as she hadn’t realised that he could get exhausted using his ability. She had assumed there was just a useful supply of magic to be tapped easily whenever he needed it. Now she wondered just how much strength, physically and mentally, would be required to use it. She didn’t ask, partially because of her loss of breath but mostly because the noise from the banshees had become so loud it was nearly impossible to think let alone talk.
The shrieking and the nearness of the creatures weren’t having their usual effect on Tom and she guessed that the building was still shielding them from the worst of it – so far. It was probably why she was being forced to run from one end of the mansion to the other instead of being transported, as the house had a habit of doing without her permission. She allowed herself a small smile at this, she had never expected to become accustomed to the unusual conveniences of both the building and Tom’s magic but was now willing to be manoeuvred at their will as long as it saved her a bit of a run. She wondered if she would miss it if she was ever able to return to her normal life.
As they entered the main room downstairs Sarah could see the fear on all of the faces nearby. It appeared that everyone had gathered, fearful of what was to come and probably looking for some form of safety or support from the closest thing they had to friends. Now they stood awkwardly in a large group unsure of what to do. No one looked at her like prey anymore, they were all prey now. She could see it written on their expressions, recognising the paralysing fear that went with the mind-numbing assurance that something was hunting you.
The monsters seemed to have the primal urge to survive still hardwired in their being. It sharpened their fear. Although they knew that the creatures hunting them wouldn’t bring their deaths they knew that their powers would be bound, they would become helpless, empty shells of the beings they were now and she wondered if they feared that more. She took no joy in seeing her predators displaying these overwhelming emotions in their dark soulless eyes.
She felt their fear. Knowing what the creatures would do to her if she were captured by the banshees again, she sympathised with the gathered mob a little, although for her there was nothing supernatural to bind. There was nothing attractive about her to the creatures other than a tasty little morsel. She remembered the crazed creature discussing the best way to prepare a human and his glee at once more tasting human flesh and again felt her stomach become unsettled with the nausea of revulsion that since arriving in this realm had been her almost constant companion.
Sarah noticed Tom’s father entering the room, the crowd parting for him as he moved purposely towards his son. Heads turned towards him at his approach and she could see the hopeful look the creatures gave their self-appointed leader. She knew a similar look was plastered on her face. As much as she disliked Thaddeus, he was the only one that could save them now.
Her look was returned with a cold glare that made her stomach turn to ice and her heart feel like it had momentarily stopped. She felt his assessing gaze rake over her, feeling as if she had been flayed by the intensity of the look. He didn’t need to say the words out loud for her to know that he blamed her.
She resisted the urge to drop her gaze. Although she couldn’t accept his unwarranted hatred towards her at least she could understand it after being in the room he had shared with his young human wife and after speaking to his half-human son. Thaddeus saw her as just a human, weak and powerless, a dangerous distraction. He felt that any relationship with someone like her would inevitably lead to pain. She knew that after the loss of the woman he adored, he would never allow himself, or someone he cared about, to get close to a human again.
His eyes moved from her as he yelled towards his son, ‘Tom I need your help with the book!’
Tom nodded as Thaddeus began to turn away from them, his message delivered and the urgency acknowledged. Immediately Tom stepped forward to follow his father, hand still clasped to hers tightly. As one their movements halted and every creature in the room stood statue-still as the noise outside painfully intensified. Sarah gasped and nearly fainted with fear as the noise surrounded, enveloped and eventually with a thunderous crash broke through.
She barely had time for her eyes to adjust to the boiling, dark smoky aura that filled the room before she felt Tom’s lips against her ear imparting one word. ‘Run!’
She did. Any feelings of betrayal at leaving Tom were roughly pushed aside as she bolted from the safety of his touch and through the crowds of monsters that for once weren’t a threat to her. They were too fearful to worry about her now. An expression of mesmerised shock was replicated on each face she passed, as they stood staring at the banshees entering their safe domain.
Sarah knew the shock wouldn’t last long and didn’t want to be around when it wore off. She couldn’t imagine what a fight with all these powerful creatures would be like and she didn’t think it was beneficial for a mortal to try to envision it, let alone to hang around and witness it. That was if they even got the chance to fight. She had seen before what the banshees were capable of, they had incapacitated Tom twice before and he was one of the most powerful beings in the room.
The guilt tried to overwhelm her as she thought of Tom. She knew what the nearness of those creatures would do to him and she hated the thought of him being in that much pain. There was also the debilitating loss of his magic that he would have to endure and if the creatures had their way this time it would be permanent. She could imagine him, helpless, with his magic once again bound.
Swallowing down the sob that threatened to undo her resolve she pushed herself forward. Tom had wanted her to run and knowing she would be powerless to stop them from hurting him she kept the simple act of moving forward the only thought that was allowed to enter her mind. It wasn’t long before she was beyond questioning her motives, her actions primal, a need to survive surpassing any other instinct in her body. Her brain felt like soup with the noise and chaos and marinating it all was her fear.
She gave in to her primal instincts, making her way to the stairs in any way she could as the banshees advanced and attacked the crowd. Some of the creatures from the building were trying to fight while others were instantly paralysed by the horrendous unnatural screams. Dodging claws and fangs, climbing over prone bodies and liquid substances she couldn’t even guess at Sarah tried not to think about what was going on around her, her only thought was to make it to safety. She made it to the base of the stairs and started to make her way up, crawling on hands and knees while obeying an unsubstantiated impulse that higher ground would be safer.
She knew her room was warded against creatures. If she could make it to her bedroom hopefully it would keep her safe from the banshees as well. It was a flimsy plan at best, there was no way of knowing if the warding would continue to work, but it was still a plan. As she moved upwards, she assured herself that she would be safe if she could just get to her bedroom.
Looking back over her shoulder at the room behind her she tried to get a glimpse of Tom and instantly wished she hadn’t. Instead, her view was almost completely obscured by a black shapeless void that contained one of the creatures. The banshee’s glowing eyes of the evilest red fixed on Sarah as the monster began to move forward purposefully. Sarah’s heart hammered as she felt the monster’s anger reaching out toward her.
Not wasting another moment, she found her feet and mounted the stairs two at a time. Focusing on the landing in front of her she kept her mind fixed on the act of getting there, while with every step she expected to feel the impact of the creature capturing her from behind. It wouldn’t be like when she had been captured before. She knew this time there wouldn’t be any peaceful floating while she stared at the strangely hypnotic flames.
This time the banshees were angry. She could feel the emotion mixed in with the mist rolling throughout the room, hear the difference in the banshee’s screams and she had seen it clearly in every aspect of the monster chasing her. They wanted their revenge on the creatures that the building had been able to keep hidden so well for so long and by the sounds of the howls and groans and screams coming from below she guessed they were being quite successful at getting it. Their masters might want the creatures from the building alive so they could strip their powers but she assumed by the madness surrounding her that they didn’t necessarily have to be healthy.
She could see the first floor in front of her now and reaching out her foot she propelled herself forward off the last step, expecting to feel the solidness of the carpeted wood beneath her. Instead, she felt a shuddering, odd sensation that wasn’t completely unfamiliar and felt a hollow void where the ground should be. Barely able to comprehend the situation in her fear she felt like she was falling for an eternity before she landed ungracefully on a dusty floor.
It seemed the building still had enough power to transport her after all and as she lay there, she ungraciously wondered at its timing and intent. It didn’t have to shield the guests from the banshees anymore but she wondered at it transporting her and not Thaddeus or Tom in their time of need. Realising that she was thinking of the building as a conscious being she felt foolish. Still, with all the strange things she had seen recently, she couldn’t help wondering if the building was aware of what it was doing.
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Remembering the time she had been transported into the kitchen while it was occupied by a hungry vampire, she stiffened wondering where she would find herself this time. Whoever it was transporting her around obviously didn’t mind the danger it put her in. She hoped she had been wrong and that Tom had been transported too and that he would be there with her but there seemed to be very little logic when it came to transporting as far as she could tell. Knowing that speculation would get her nowhere she groaned at the thought of having to get up off the ground and see what was in store for her this time.
Spitting out some of the dust that had ended up in her open mouth when she landed, she momentarily wished the building had still been too busy to relocate her. Remembering the scene she had left and the banshee chasing her up the stairs she chastised herself knowing the relocation had saved her life. A few bruises and some dust were a small price to pay. Still, she found it hard to be fully appreciative of anything in this realm, as she could never be sure that she was in a better situation than the one she had left.
Sitting up to get her bearings her first thought was that it was quiet and dark and that she was alone. She didn’t know how she knew that the dark emptiness around her was uninhabited, it was a certainty that she couldn’t explain. The knowledge was bittersweet as she was grateful that there were no hags or hungry vampires nearby but it also meant there was no Tom.
Feeling conflicted about the relocation she uselessly tried to wipe the dust from her eyes before allowing her other senses to take over in the darkness. She couldn’t hear anything, the deafening silence almost painful to her ears after the earlier assault of noise. There was a mustiness to the room that made her think she was in a disused area of the house but there was something else to the smell, something familiar, which piqued her curiosity.
Climbing ungracefully to her aching knees she looked around cautiously. The room was in complete darkness. The fear that never seemed far from her mind started to crowd in on her again. She was alone, afraid, and had no idea where she was or if anyone would ever find her.
As she peered out, she slowly became aware of the darkness receding slightly in one area of the room. It was as if her vision was becoming stronger in the gloom but she knew her gradual ability to see had nothing to do with her own eyes. A strange light had slowly appeared nearby, illuminating a small space not far from where she fearfully crouched. The glow was pale and thin and she couldn’t make out from her position what was causing it but she had an odd sense that there was power contained within the light.
Looking upwards she could see that the light didn’t come from the ceiling, she couldn’t see a ceiling above her in the darkness. Not wanting to stare into the shadows too long she returned her gaze to the comforting glow. It did little to penetrate the blackness that closed in around her in the room but as she kept her gaze on it she felt secure with its presence. The longer she stayed kneeling on the hard floor the more reluctant she became to move from the safety of the light.
Suddenly the room moved slightly, or so Sarah thought at first before realising that it wasn’t the room that was moving but rather her light. It was leaving her as it moved deeper into the room, slowly easing itself away from where she crouched. Panic rose in her at the thought of being alone in the darkness but it was caused by more than a fear of the shadows. There was a security to the light that touched her deeply.
Quickly rising to her feet she moved forward, bringing the glow a little closer again. Relief washed over her as she felt once again enveloped in its presence. The fear quickly abated. She began to feel bolder and when the darkness started to encroach on her again, this time she stepped forward with the light.
She breathed deeply as she slowly moved step by step behind the light. Her interest in the room increased as she was able to place the familiar smell; books. She knew the dusty smell of old books, it was something that she looked for, and she felt a thrill of excitement. Her fingers twitched to touch the hard, worn covers and carefully reveal the delicate, aged paper within.
She glanced around the room eagerly but was unable to make out anything in the gloom, not even the exit. Biting down on her rising panic Sarah’s gaze moved back towards the light illuminating a space a few steps from her. She felt bereft when it left her and as she stepped closer to the glow there was a feeling of accomplishment. It was like she was a child again and was being congratulated for doing the right thing with a sticker from the teacher or a kind word from her mother. As she slowly followed the comforting presence she felt a calmness overtake her fear.
Her mind wandered back to the books. She could almost see them as if the musty smell was helping her mind to paint a picture of what they would look like. The odd excitement returned, more intense than she had ever felt before, becoming like a living thing inside her. Compared to the books she could smell and the comforting light she could see everything else seemed unimportant.
Momentarily forgetting the battle outside Sarah moved slowly and steadily forward in the room. Her sight never wavered from the mesmerising glow that was always one step ahead of her leading her onwards. She wondered at trusting it not to take her into danger but she was beyond doubting it. Within her there was an eagerness to please the light, she needed to feel that affirming sensation that she was being granted with each step forward.
The illumination stopped in front of her again but this time it was different. She could see in the pale light that there was something in her path, a path that had been unhindered until now. As Sarah took the gratifying step towards the glow that seemed to be calling to her she found herself directly in front of the unknown object. Barely paying her surroundings any attention she became aware only of the light as it intensified around her.
The glow was brighter now as it surrounded her and also illuminated a small part of the room around her. It was almost like someone had switched on a lamp above her and if she hadn’t followed her light into it she would have thought that it was a different light altogether. Sarah felt her panic return as she feared that she had lost her glow, had got it mixed up with another and followed the wrong one, but as she reached out her senses again she could feel it still there. She recognised the sense of affirmation that she was doing the right thing.
Still, there was this new light to contend with now. It was too bright, too powerful above her and it felt harsh compared to the comforting glow she had been following. She looked up at the source and instantly regretted it as it burnt her eyes and spots appeared in her vision.
Turning away in pain she blinked her eyes a few times before trying to focus on the room around her. The pain had helped to clear her mind and she mentally shook herself from her daze. With the new light’s intensity, she was able to make out more in the gloom. She was surprised to find that the room wasn’t very big even though it felt like it had taken her ages to walk the small distance from where she had fallen.
The light didn’t reach out into the far corners of the room and the darkness crouched around the edges as if waiting for its chance to return. She felt a flutter of confusion that there appeared to be nothing else around her in the seemingly empty chamber. Her limited view of the walls was unbroken by furniture, windows or even pictures and she had to smother her unease when she also noticed the absence of a door. Absurdly what felt more important to her was that there were no bookcases to house the old dusty tomes she had been expecting. She looked around the room again, almost feeling as if she had been lied to.
Any disappointment was short-lived as she once again focused on the object right in front of her. Looking at the book she knew that it was the reason for the new brighter light and also for the strange sensations she had felt in the room. There was something powerful about it that she had never felt from an object, but as the light bathed over both her and the book she had a feeling of being in the presence of something commanding. The thrill of finding the exciting book, as well as locating the source of the musty book smell, temporarily overruled any concern she had about reading something so powerful.
Sarah reverently took another step closer to the innocent-looking stand that the book sat upon in the centre of the large room. The stand was unadorned and simple, made of a strong dark wood that she couldn’t identify. Looking closer at the resting place of the book she realised that the stand had been made for this volume alone, it was almost as if the wood and the book were one. She moved her finger over the small ridge that ran completely around the top of the stand and she could only just make out where the open cover attached to it in a blurring of dark colour and fastenings. Even this close she could barely tell where the book’s cover ended and where the dark wood began.
Someone had wanted to make sure this book wasn’t going anywhere, not unless the thief was going to steal the heavy stand as well. Looking at the solidness of the dark wood she had a feeling that lifting it wouldn’t be an easy task. Also, she knew the stand wouldn’t move, it would be anchored firmly to the floor although she couldn’t see any bolts. The book was too important to risk thievery. She knew this not only because of the heavy stand and the lengths that someone had gone to for it to be kept safe but because of the overwhelming power she could feel emanating from the old pages.
The book itself was open nearly halfway through, the pages resting at an odd angle as if an invisible hand was holding it. The light illuminated the open pages and as she looked into them, she felt overcome with emotion and power. She found she could read the words quite easily, except they weren’t in a language she recognised. Trying to turn away Sarah realised that she wasn’t able to take her attention from the book, it was as if suddenly the book owned her and was controlling her.
Panic welled up inside her as she felt once again imprisoned by a force outside of her own. Her memories flashed to being trapped by the mesmerising flames of the banshees and the effects they had on her unresponsive body. It was a memory she would have preferred to remain buried, she never wanted to feel that way again let alone so soon. Still, as she tried to resist and force movement into her body she knew it was pointless. She couldn’t fight it, the source of the paralysis might have been different but the effects were just as destructive.
As she opened her mouth to scream or cry for help, although she wasn’t sure if anyone would be left in the building to help her, she sensed more than saw Catherine in the room with her. Feeling the woman’s unthreatening presence beside her Sarah was overcome with relief. She was sure that Tom’s mother would be able to save her from whatever it was that had bound her to the book. The bindings might have been invisible but there was no denying that she was shackled to the book and its stand and would not be free until it wished her to be.
Sarah remembered how Catherine had sent the little boy to save her before and knew she was going to be rescued again. She wasn’t sure why the ghost seemed to be intent on looking out for her, maybe it was because they were both humans, as Catherine had been originally, and therefore she might know some of what Sarah was going through. Still, whatever her reasons Sarah was grateful for the help as she allowed a small smile of relief and thanks to touch her mouth. She was unsure if the ghost beside her could see her gratitude as she was still locked in the book’s power and unable to turn her head towards the apparition.
The smile quickly died on Sarah’s lips and her spirits sank as she felt the ghost’s hand rest lightly on her shoulder. The touch might have been light but there was a leaden feel to it that seemed to anchor her more firmly to the spot. Even if she had been able to remove herself from the book’s tangle, she knew there would be no escape from Catherine. There was no pain in the touch, no tearing of skin or wetness of blood, but there was something in it that scared her even more. Any thought that Catherine was there to save her quickly fled as she felt the woman’s intent.
Seeing the familiar glow of light from the ghost beside her didn’t help Sarah’s feelings of betrayal. This time the glow didn’t have the sensation of acceptance or praise, it was a cold hard thing of manipulation. Even though Sarah could see it for what it now was she still recognised it for what it had been. She knew that it had been Catherine that had led her to this place and she wondered if whatever it was that was going to happen next had been part of the woman’s plan from the start.
Sarah’s eyes were still firmly trapped on the book in front of her and as she stared into the unfamiliar text on the page she suddenly began to understand it. Catherine spoke into her mind through the touch, not in words but in emotions that Sarah could vaguely understand. Her primal instincts comprehended the message, yet it left her conscious mind in confusion. The instincts won and Sarah felt her reasoning diminish as she was completely overtaken by the impulses of another, foreign to her own.
They stood there, side by side as Sarah began to speak the written script, her words a whisper in the air. The fatigue that she usually felt at Catherine’s arrival was absent as her presence emanated a power that coursed through her touch and into Sarah’s soul. A compulsion beyond any felt before forced the sounds through her lips and into the dark room. It consumed her as she read on, it flowed through every nerve in her body, sparked off every hair and swirled through her very being.
As Sarah’s body filled with energy, her senses intensified to undreamt-of abilities, empowered by the forces around and through her. Suddenly she could hear the fighting again, it sounded louder, closer and fiercer outside her sanctuary and she felt a moment of anger that they were interrupting her concentration. The magic and the book had her completely beyond her own will, she could not blink, could not straighten or turn away and could not stop the strange words from flowing out of her mouth. The noises outside, the sensations within all became one as she read. She felt the power within her resonate more fiercely than anything she had experienced.
Her voice grew stronger as her resistance grew weaker and a part of herself deep within started to drift. Sarah knew instinctively that continuing would kill her, or worse, but still, she couldn’t stop. She wondered fleetingly why Catherine would do this to her and felt a sorrow touch her mind in a strange caress. It felt callous. There was nothing of apology in the touch, it was just a feeling of sorrow that was there fleetingly before it was gone. Acknowledged and discarded without full comprehension.
Still, the words came. There was an odd repetition to them that Sarah felt rather than understood as she continued to read aloud the unknown language with the last of her strength. The sorrow that had fleetingly touched her mind flooded her body as she suddenly knew that her efforts hadn’t been enough. She wasn’t sure what the words had been trying to achieve but she felt despair that was both internal and external as she realised she had let everyone down, especially Catherine and the book.
She wanted to tell them that she would keep trying and that she could do better. The childish part deep inside her that had been awakened by the power of the light was desperate to please, but she knew she lacked the strength. Although the words still hadn’t stopped pouring from her she knew it wouldn’t be long before she had no choice. The writing on the page began to dim before her eyes and her voice started to falter through the words, as her essence ebbed and the power waned.
Sarah wasn’t sure if she blacked out as darkness tried to claim her but before she could move from her place in front of the book everything snapped back into focus. Her voice continued on the strange words and she knew instinctively that she hadn’t faltered on a single syllable. She could feel the power from Catherine’s touch as before but there was something different - something more - that was making Sarah stronger. She was no longer merely reading the words, she was empowering them as they marched boldly from her lips.
She knew that whatever was strengthening her was external to the two figures in the room but at that moment she didn’t care. It only mattered that it was there as she mentally grabbed onto it as a drowning person would grab onto a raft.
The sounds she had heard outside the room began to fade as if recoiling from the maelstrom within. Catherine’s hand on her shoulder was less of a touch and more of the grip of someone desperately trying to hold on. She felt no sympathy for the spirit, Catherine had wanted this and had been willing to sacrifice Sarah to get it. As she felt the urgency of the power calling to her Sarah picked up the pace of the reading, her voice nearly hoarse from the exertion, as she greedily absorbed the power and poured it out with every ounce of her being.
The words began to take on a presence of their own as a vortex of power opened up within her that seemed to encompass the room. It threatened to blind her but she held on to the book stand in front of her, never faltering from the words on the page that were becoming streaky with the watering of her eyes. Her entire universe condensed until it only consisted of the power and the sensations that went with it. She gave until she had nothing left and with a sigh uttered the words again and again knowing she couldn’t stop.
Abruptly the words ended. Sarah gasped with the suddenness, her throat constricting as she came back to consciousness and full physical ability with a jolt. The invisible shackles were broken. She was free.
Slowly she became aware of her surroundings again. There was nothing to indicate that the power had done anything. There was no sound or motion in the suddenly silent room to signify an ending or an accomplishment of any sort. Still, she knew it was over.
The page in front of her emptied itself, as if all the words, once spoken, no longer existed. The power was torn from her in much the same way as if it had never really been there. Sarah no longer felt powerful and strong. Suddenly she felt exhausted and empty as if loneliness, sadness, confusion and fear were the only emotions she had ever known. It was as if happiness had never existed, joy was a fairy tale and peace was just a cruel joke.
The book in front of her appeared to be just an ordinary, old, dusty book. The light extinguished instantly with the disappearance of the words and Sarah found herself alone in the darkness. Catherine had left as soon as they had finished their task, her abandonment adding to Sarah’s despair. She had no compulsion to move, the darkness in the room seemed appropriate for all that she had lost and for all that she now was. She felt as empty as the blank page in front of her.
Sarah gripped the edges of the podium and tried to hold on to her sanity the same way. She barely noticed the unnatural jolt she received from her touch against the wood, something she hadn’t noticed earlier. It was all she could do not to cry out with the pain and misery she felt. Her weak grip gave way as she plummeted to the floor, barely aware of the door to the room opening nearby and the figure rushing towards her.