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Sam scrambles to her feet and braces herself on her knees. The others rush to her, but she waves them off, “Let’s just get this over with.”
They all take their places around the car again and push. Music comes blaring through the windows again. The low melodic strains of “I’ll Be Watching You” by The Police leak out around them.
“Just keep pushing,” Willow says.
A whoosh of air surrounds them as all four tires go flat at once.
“Keep pushing,” Raven calls out through gritted teeth.
Little by little, they get the car to the edge of the hole. Shoving with all their might, it begins to go over. The metal crunches and groans in protest as it teeters on the edge. One more solid push and it begins to fall. They all back up and away as it slowly begins its descent. Celebrations begin as smiles spread across their faces. They are joyous, so much so that they miss the long metal trim that has freed itself from the side of the car and is snaking its way toward them. As Raven turns to her sister and Callie hugging beside her, she gasps as the cool metal wraps itself around her ankle and pulls her feet from beneath her.
Like some kind of cruel magic trick, Raven vanishes before them as she is yanked down toward the cavernous hell hole before them. Fear and panic grip every soul standing in those woods. Like in slow motion, they see Raven being dragged down into the whole. They all rush to grab her but no one seems to be fast enough.
Callie’s body falls to the ground just inches from the hole and makes connection with Raven’s hand. They grip one another as if their lives depend on it and, it seems, they do. The weight of gravity continues to pull Raven down and causes Callie’s body to scrape across the rocky earth. Callie holds tight, swearing to herself that she will pull Raven back up or go down with her, but she will not let go.
The others are on Callie now, holding her body to the ground and helping keep them both here with them. Finally, Callie’s hold on darling Raven feels secure. She reaches out with her free hand and grabs hold of Raven’s arm, trying to pull her upward and have her safe again, but she will not budge.
Slowly, this heap of desperate bodies moves toward the opening in the ground, all hoping they can reach down to Raven and pull her up together. As they approach the hole, Raven cries out in fear. They peer down at her and see him.
He is dead and decaying, but somehow alive.
His skin is deathly pale and tinted ever so slightly with a sickly green. His eyes are sunken into the rotting flesh of his face and he is bloated with decay. The reek of death permeates the air around them as he climbs the rocky wall toward them and grabs Raven. They all shriek and scramble to pull against his hold on Raven’s ankle. He yanks and pulls at her, trying to take her to hell with him.
Bile rises in Emily’s throat as she stares into Willow’s eyes, knowing it isn’t her friend staring back. How had she not noticed earlier, the darkness of his presence in those eyes?
The impostor seems to enjoy Emily’s swelling discomfort and leans in close to her face. His breath is hot on Emily’s face and smells of old dirt and decay. Emily cries out in terror as he slides his sticky tongue down her cheek, reveling in the taste of her.
He whispers in her ear, “I’ve missed you, Lover.”
Emily’s entire body trembles with the weight of repressed memories now rushing her senses. It’s like it was all just yesterday. She feels like she is sixteen again. Sixteen and powerless against his need to have her. Tears roll down her face as he places his cheek against hers and moans into her ear. Her torment is erotic to him.
Emily ducks her head, trying to escape his intimate hold on her. Gazing toward the floor, the glowing citrine stone catches her eye again. Without thinking, she reaches for it, but he feels the movement of her body and knows exactly what she is after.
With a growl, he tosses her across the greenhouse. Her body collides with a shelf and she crashes to the hard, dirt floor. Flower pots and gardening tools clatter to the ground around her. She is dazed for a moment, but finds the strength to stand, grabbing a gardening shovel in the process. It’s not much of a weapon, but it will do. She holds it like a knife for good measure.
He sees her feeble attempt at self-defense and laughs out loud, “Oh, lover. It will take a lot more than that to fend me off.” He walks slowly across the space toward her. She tenses as he approaches, but then something catches her eye.
Slowly snaking across the ground, Emily sees bright green vines crawling toward his feet. She smiles and says out loud, “Bless you, Willow, you sweet, wonderful, witchy woman.”
His confusion at her words twists Willow’s face into a frown, “Willow’s not here, remember?”
The vines crawl closer and Emily just knows they are coming to her rescue, “It will take you a lot more than possession to get rid of Willow.” She smiles broadly and the vines grab hold of his host’s body.
He gasps and stares down at his feet in disbelief as the plant climbs up his body, wrapping him in twirling tendrils. He pulls at the vines and struggles to remove himself from their grip, but they only work harder to hold him in place. Within seconds, he is fully engulfed in their grasp and unable to move from the spot.
Emily turns without a second thought, running from the greenhouse. Her friends are running toward her from the house and they all embrace.
“He’s in Willow,” she exclaims as they hold her tight.
“We were coming to tell you the same,” Sam says.
Raven holds Emily’s face in her hands, “Are you okay? Did he hurt you? I’m so sorry we left you alone with him. So, very sorry.”
Emily waves her off, “I’m okay. One of Willow’s plants literally tied him up. She’s amazing, by the way.”
They all nod in agreement.
Raven tells her everything they learned about possession in the last ten minutes as quickly as possible and then adds, “Now we just have to find out how any piece of him was able to get out here to even get into Willow.”
