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“Yeah, that was kind of our thinking too,” Callie sighs.
Raven lets out a soft squeak, “This. This is it.”
She plops one of the old books in front of them. The pages are tattered and torn. The handwritten notes are scrawled gracefully across the page in a flowing script rarely seen after 1950. The words are hard to decipher except for the big bold heading that reads, POSSESSION.
Raven runs her finger along the lines, “The deceased can inhabit the body of the living in situations of great grief or extreme anger. Those taking refuge due to feelings of loss merely want a chance to see those they love and will simply ride along in the body with the living. A sentient passenger. Those adhering to the living out of anger will take over the entire being during the course of three days until they have full control. They truly possess the body entirely.”
The women all look at one another knowing full and well why Willow has been missing for three days.
Callie glances back down at the page and reads the next line as further confirmation of their fears, “The angry soul comes back for one reason and one reason alone. Vengeance.”
All at once they scramble to reach the door and remove Emily from her lone encounter with him in Willow’s body. As they tear open the door all hopes plummet. Emily is gone. Willow’s body is gone. The kitchen stands totally empty and still. The only remains are the thick waves of fear radiating from all their bodies.
Emily has often wondered what magical plant Willow sprouted in this greenhouse to make it the one and only spot on the entire property with cell phone service. She smiles to herself at the absurd thought and runs her fingers over the smooth leaves of long sprawling vines while her cell trills a ringing tone in her ear. With each ring, she becomes more and more anxious to hear Garrett’s voice.
He knows very little of the story he played a small part in all those years ago and he doesn’t ask questions. He respects that it is not his story and enjoys knowing it allowed him to meet his wife, no details necessary, and that makes Emily love him even more. He knows he wasn’t the one to truly save her and gives her and her best friends complete credit for saving themselves, though he has no idea how. She’s certain he would be receptive to the entire crazy saga, but it just would never feel right bringing male energy into the secret. This would always be a solidarity in girl power kind of thing.
After a final ring, Garrett’s phone goes to voicemail and Emily frowns to herself, feeling let down that she doesn’t get to share the good news of Willow’s return with him yet, but she will just try again later. Slowly turning toward the exit and admiring all the beautiful greenery around her, Emily catches the shape of a person in the doorway, blocking her way out. The sight knocks her off balance and she jumps, letting out a shriek of terror before realizing it’s just Willow.
“Jesus Christ, woman,” Emily laughs, “You about gave me a heart attack!”
Willow gives no answer in response. She merely stares back without making a sound. Her gaze feels heavy and intense on Emily’s skin. It is almost as if her eyes are burning into Emily’s flesh as Willow stares her down. Emily never imagined feeling this way in Willow’s presence, but something in her squirms with discomfort. She doesn’t know why but she suddenly needs out of this hot, sticky room and into the cool, open outdoors.
Trying her best to hide this sudden aversion to being in the same room as Willow, Emily puts on a smile and tries to walk towards the door, but Willow blocks her. Unease mounting now, Emily’s smile falters as she tries to push past her friend. Willow stares directly into her eyes as she pushes back against Emily’s body, causing her to stumble backward into a table covered in sage trimmings.
Emily gasps at the impact on her body and stares back at Willow now approaching her. She swallows past a growing lump in her throat and leans away from this person who must be an impostor. Willow leans into Emily’s body, their entire torsos pressed into one another, faces nearly touching. Emily can feel Willow’s breath put a sheen of hot moisture across her face. It is sticky and makes a thick queasiness crawl up her throat.
Willow smiles a chilling grin as a necklace falls from her shirt. Hanging from the delicate links around her neck is a thick, chunky men’s class ring, the likes of which Emily hasn’t seen since high school, but she recognizes it the second her eyes land on it.
The large, citrine stone catches a ray of sunlight and shines bright, illuminating the letter’s to the owner’s name, his name.
The eerie growl of the car’s engine fills the air as it sits, stuck in place halfway in the house. The girls stand in a half circle around it, staring blankly.
“So… how are we going to do this?” Callie asks.
“Very carefully,” Willow says, “Let’s start with shutting it off.”
They all nod in agreement, but no one makes a move.
“Let’s not all rush to do it at once,” Sam quips.
There is nervous laughter all around.
Emily places a reassuring hand on Sam’s trembling shoulder, and locks eyes with her friend, “We should all do it together.”
Nods of agreement again and they all slowly make their way to the wreckage. As they get closer, they can hear music playing softly over the roaring engine. Blondie’s voice fills their ears, singing, “One way or another”.
Callie sighs, “Fuck him. How dare he use a feminist icon against us.” With this anger fueling her, Callie pulls open the driver side door and turns the ignition off. The car continues to rev in defiance and the music blasts louder against them. Callie tosses the keys out to the others, “Well, that didn’t work.” She tries to shift the car out of drive and pull the emergency brake, but nothing will budge.
“Pop the hood,” Sam yells over the blaring stereo.
Callie scrambles for the hood release, but it is also stuck in place.
Raven runs to Callie’s side and helps her yank and pull on it. Sam, Emily, and Willow all three try to pry open the hood. Finally, with all five girls engaged in the fight against this hood, it flies open. Willow falls back, but Emily grabs her just in time to keep her from impaling herself on a jagged board torn from the house.
Sam stares down at the car’s insides, everything moving in rhythm as the car continues to try and accelerate right over all of them. She wants to reach in and pull the battery like she’s done a thousand times while helping her brothers work on their project of the month, but she is frozen with fear. What if the hood slams down on her and traps her against all these moving parts that she is sure will chew her to pieces and spit her out? What if he uses this car to finish what he started in her barn yesterday?
Callie and Raven have come to her side now.
