They all nod.
“Again, once we link hands, you do not let go. Eyes open or closed. They will be close to us. Don’t panic. If I do everything properly, then no harm will come to any of us. Don’t let go. Do. Not. Let. Go.”
They link hands. Elodie holds onto Ellis and Fletcher. Fletcher holds onto his mum and aunt. Ember holds hands with Fletcher and Ellis. Fletcher nods to Ellis and mouths the word ‘okay?’ She nods back, taking a visible, deep breath. Fletcher closes his eyes, and Ellis follows suit. Ember and Elodie keep theirs open.
Elodie nods at her sister, who nods back. They are ready. If they can get the demons back in the portal, it will be a huge win for them. With Zeta and Efa gone, the other rebels dead or leaderless, losing the demons will mean that things have a chance of going back to normal.
The air turns colder as Elodie chants. She is speaking in several languages, allowing the words to come to her, the commands to come to her, via the familial magic they invoked at the house.
She pauses, looking to the sky, same as Ember, looking for a sign of incoming demons. She shakes her head and begins again, her words more forceful, her tone more strident, the words themselves louder.
There’s a rustle of leaves as a wind whips through the middle of them. Elodie chants again, calling the demons forth, almost taunting them, ridiculing them, refusing to give up.
The evil magic got them out of the portal, it’ll get them back in. She changes her tone, calls out to the darkest of magic to help her, opens up the place in her heart which is closed to evil magic and lets it out.
There’s a shriek in the quiet, a manic, echoing shriek. The hairs on the backs of the witch’s necks rise collectively.
There’s another rustle as the wind whirls through.
Elodie’s calls get louder, her chants get louder, her tone is harsher, the shrieking intensifies, other voices joining it; a cacophony of shrieks, screams, cries. The wind is like an entity now, rushing through them, lifting their hair, ruffling their clothes.
The portal is pulsing.
Ember nods at her sister, encouraging her to keep going.
She does.
She calls. She taunts. She teases. She scolds. She swears. She yells.
The screams answer her. Unworldly, unearthly, and not human.
Elodie stamps her foot. The sky is still empty; despite the noise, there are no demons close. Not yet.
Ellis
Good lord. I am glad I am holding onto Fletcher’s mum and aunt’s hands, otherwise I’d have fallen to the floor.
Elodie – who hates swearing and is prim and proper – is swearing like a sailor, goading demons, who as far as I can tell, haven’t even shown up yet.
I keep itching to open my eyes, but I know what happened last time I did that – Zeta and Efa paid me a visit.
But the darkness of my mind is making this even scarier than maybe it is.
A shriek, a cackle, a howl. The hairs all over my body stand on end, and I feel that talon make its way down my spine again.
I do not like this.
Another scream. It’s like being in a nightmare. Some cries sound like they are coming from children and it’s making me want to cry. Are they the cries of the demons themselves, or the souls they have murdered? I have no idea.
Christ, why did my parents buy me a stupid dog in the first place? Without Macaroon, I wouldn’t have got roped into this palaver and I’d be sitting in my bedroom crying over Molly and my pathetic life.
Instead, I’m in the middle of the woods, next to a portal, trying to conjure demons out of thin air, listening to the bloodcurdling, gut wrenching, stomach churning screams of unidentified monsters.
Aaaaaarrrrgggghhh!
I open my eyes. I cannot bear the darkness, the images my imagination is showing me. Maybe reality will be better.
Elodie spots me and smiles, despite the filth spewing from her mouth, and Ember nods, her face a picture of serious business, eyes going back to the sky.
Fletcher’s eyes are closed. Sensible boy.
Despite the noise, the woods are empty. Only us, only the portal, only the wind.
Another scream followed by a nasty insult from Elodie. She’ll need to wash her mouth out after this.
Then the sky turns inky. Not like dusk, not like the sun going down, but like someone turned out the lights. I yelp, I cannot help it. I feel Elodie and Ember tighten their grip on my hands.
It’s starting.
The dark is moving, tiny lights are flashing through the woods – fireflies? Fairies? Anything is possible in my new reality.
The wind rushes through again, but this time it feels different, it has weight to it, it’s pushing us, shoving us. I brace myself, feet apart, still holding hands, never letting go, wanting to scream, wanting to add my voice to the mix, but biting my lip so I don’t cry out again.
This is nasty.
The darkness lifts. It’s not full daylight again, but it’s not pitch black either. I can see Fletcher. He’s opened his eyes. He smiles at me, but it doesn’t hit his eyes. His eyes look like I imagine mine do – petrified. He keeps his gaze on me though, silently conveying something. I have no idea what. I’m too scared to figure it out.
The wind is still butting at us; the darkness has lifted, but the sky is filling with shapes. Demons?
I don’t know.
Elodie is still cursing, sweating too, and she looks exhausted. I can see Fletcher’s concern for his mum, and I know why she warned us not to let go of each other.
He wants to go to her side, to support her, hold her and help her. I
