“I feel like this is aimed at women?” Sunny inquired, and we turned to look at him.
“What?” I demanded.
“Does this seem as if it’s about to amp up?” Sunny asked.
“Yes, it does,” Chey agreed.
“And we discussed earlier that Jack’s group was coming, and they were all men. Now we’ve this,” Sunny pointed out.
“Well, I said I was staying,” Michelle interjected.
“Yeah, but Callie and Chey are leaving. I believe women are the targets. Everything has either been aimed at them or isolating them,” Sunny replied.
I thought back to what we’d captured. Damn, Sunny was right.
“This thing wants the women?” I asked.
“Yes,” Sunny said.
“I can’t disagree,” Callie drawled.
“Then it’s a good job we leave in the morning,” Sunny stated.
Famous last words. Throughout the house, we heard shutters and doors slam. We hurried into the foyer.
“I didn’t say we were leaving now, asshole,” Sunny growled out.
There was no reply.
“Are we trapped?” Chey asked with fear in her voice.
“No. We’ll get out,” Michelle replied confidently.
Laughter rang out, making us all jump.
“Stay,”the voice rolled through the house. It sounded masculine.
“Not happening,” Michelle announced.
“Wrong!”
“What the hell is that?” I snapped.
Everyone stared at the top of the stairs. A black mass was forming there; it was shapeless yet so dense that you couldn’t see through it.
“Is that a manifestation?” Sunny demanded.
“No. I don’t sense it is. I think it’s playing, but just in case… salt circle,” Michelle said to Callie. Callie nodded and began sprinkling a liberal dose of salt around us. Michelle grabbed her Bible and held it out.
“Sunny, use the Holy Water,” she ordered.
Michelle stepped outside the circle, and I moved to grab her.
“Celt, trust Sunny and me,” Michelle stated. Confidently, she headed up the stairs as we all watched. Sunny was behind her, flicking Holy Water over her shoulder as they moved closer.
The mass kept growing, and I yanked Callie and Chey close. I’d lay my life down to protect them, but how the fuck did I fight that?
As the entity lunged, even bigger now, Michelle held her Bible up. She began speaking, ordering it to leave, and it shrieked as Sunny flicked Holy Water over it. The evil thing lunged at Michelle again, nearly grabbing her. Sunny picked Michelle up as her prayers got louder, and he dumped his entire bottle over the black blob. It screamed, making us cringe and cover our ears.
