Three shots rang out, and the creature toppled off the professor to lie hunched on the floor, quivering and jerking in its death throes. The professor moved weakly, and I was about to crouch beside him to offer my help when I realised more of these creatures might yet emerge from Edgar's contraption. I loaded the gun, fully this time, and then set it beside myself as I checked the professor. He looked dazed, but I was pleased to see a flicker of recognition in his eyes. I was no medical expert, but when I checked his body for wounds there were none that I could see.
"Look out, it's coming apart!"
Roberta's cry was barely in time. I turned to see one support from the machine's outer frame flapping wildly, the six-inch oak beam moving like a twig in a hurricane. Roberta was scrabbling backwards on all fours, trying to get clear, but had barely gone six feet when the entire ramshackle machine was torn apart. Solid oak beams flew outwards like oversized javelins, scattering smaller pieces all over the floor. One of these struck Roberta on the side of the head, luckily just a glancing blow, but it was enough to knock her unconscious. Others slammed into the walls, some piercing the brickwork with ear-shattering blows. Just as I thought the worst was over, the spinning array of orange-segments at the heart of the machine lurched free.
The core spun like a top, moving first this way and then the other. I thought it was going to run into Roberta's unconscious form, and feared the fast-spinning segments would chew her body apart. Fortunately, it ran into fallen debris, and changed direction. Still spinning at hellish speed, the core moved towards the nearest wall, where it struck with a chattering sound before disintegrating against the brickwork. Fragments flew the length and breadth of the warehouse, and it was a miracle none of us were struck.
I began to breathe again, until I realised the only illumination in the room had come from the machine's core, and now that it was destroyed the warehouse was in near darkness. Worse, I could see a dozen phantasms advancing on us, splitting up so as to reach the three of us at once. The large demons were dead, but it seemed the spirits had not finished with us yet. These were visible to the naked eye, and I guessed they were more powerful than any phantasm I had encountered before.
I looked around for the professor's sword, but it was hopeless. Why, I could barely see a hand waved in front of my face! And as for the pistol, it was worse than useless against ghosts. I began to back away from the encroaching spirits, but to either side of me I knew the professor and Roberta were both lying helpless. I had a vague idea of the professor's location, and as he'd been carrying the sword I decided to try and reach him. Movement was next to impossible, and I stumbled over fragments of the machine, tripped on pieces of wooden beam, and almost rolled my ankle on a stray metal bolt, which skidded from underfoot as I trod on it.
Then my foot encountered something soft, and I crouched to feel the professor's unconscious form. Working outwards, I sought the weapon he must have dropped nearby. All the while I glanced over my shoulder at the spirits, which were steadily moving closer. They made no sound, and to me that was all the more frightening.
I got further and further from the professor, while the three groups of spirits advanced on each of us. Even as I felt around, my desperation growing, I saw the first group reach Roberta. I prayed the awful fish-scented elixir would deter them, but either it had worn off, or these phantasms were stronger-willed. They didn't even hesitate, their ghostly fingers reaching for her, clutching at her unconscious body, and I saw one phantasm reaching right into her chest. I wanted to run across, screaming at them, but I knew that sword was our only hope. Without it, we were all doomed.
To my horror I saw that ghostly hand withdrawing, and a gleaming strand of light came with it. Roberta's back arched, her chest thrusting upwards, and I saw her moving uncontrollably as the very soul was torn from her body. Then I heard the professor groaning nearby, and I turned to see a spirit perched above his chest also, tugging and pulling at a similar strand of light.
I knew instinctively that once the bond between that strand of light and the host body was broken, there would be no coming back. At that point, Roberta and the professor would be dead.
I cast around frantically, with no thought for my own safety, and I cried out with relief as my fingers encountered something cold and narrow. I felt along the thing in both directions, and when I felt the leather-wrapped grip I realised to my delight that I had finally located the professor's sword. Standing up, I activated it and brandished it at the closest spirits, all of which drew back in fear.
That's when the true horror of the situation dawned on me. Already, the strand from Roberta's chest was weakening,
