Page 115 of Black Hollow: Awakening

Abigail crouched down beside it.

“Give me time!” the creature screamed. “I’ll go on my own! I’ll go, just not yet! I need to gather my energy!”

“We’re done negotiating,” Norma stated firmly.

“No, please! I just wanted to help! I did the right thing! The right thing! You have to understand!”

Abigail touched the pale cheek.

“Don’t be afraid,” she whispered.

She felt the souls pulsating inside the frail body. Two of them. Both terrified, though in different ways. Both woven from different matter. Neither one was unequivocally good or evil, but one was constantly racing toward chaos, like a moth drawn to a candle flame.

Today, Abigail was to be that flame.

She focused all her energy on driving out the source of chaos.

“NO!” the demon screamed furiously.

The pain it felt forced it to leave Christine’s body, but it still fought. With the last of its strength, it tried to possess Abigail. She felt the dark energy desperately digging into her, but she cast it out without much trouble. Only a particle remained. One always did. That was why it was better to leave demons to their own devices or persuade them to leave voluntarily, but that wasn’t always possible in this world.

“Are you okay?” Blake asked with concern, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She answered him with a quiet hum and slowly straightened up. She looked at the unconscious Christine. She knew it would be a long time before she woke up.

“Okay, since we’ve got that out of the way, let’s move on to the second issue,” Norma said.

Abigail looked at her questioningly.

“We found the demon in its hideout,” Liam explained. “Right at the edge of the forest. The problem is, I smelled something decomposing, so we did some digging and uncovered two bodies.”

“Whose?” Blake asked uneasily.

“A man and a woman. Christine’s parents, I assume,” Norma stated. “That explains why they weren’t particularly involved with their daughter.”

“For God’s sake…” Blake groaned.

“Can your father handle this somehow, or will we have to involve the Agency?”

“We’ll see.”

For a moment, there was complete silence in the room.

“Don’t tell Morgan,” Blake said suddenly.

“About us banishing the demon?” Norma snorted scornfully.

“About Christine’s parents.”

“Why?”

“He’s just been through a lot, he doesn’t need to hear stories like that.”

“It’s not his fault. These things happen. It’s part of our world. He has to get used to it.”

“You tried to get him used to it once before, and how did that end?” Blake hissed, losing his composure.

Norma shot him an indignant glare.