A disturbingly oppressive energy commands the space, pulling away any sense of peace and tranquility held in my body. Instead, it feels as though dread is the fuel that feeds it, making it stronger. Or perhaps, it’s all it knows. Regardless, it crushes down on me, making it incredibly difficult to breathe.
Wade rushes to my side, bending down and reaching for the stone. When he has it, he extends his arm and holds out a hand for me to grab onto.
“Come on, Autumn, we need to finish this,” he commands with a strange level of authority and calmness I can’t even muster.
How is he not scared out of his mind?
I take his hand, pulling myself up, but I can’t remove my gaze from the creature’s grotesque features. Its skin is a flakey, opaque gray, and its eyes are bottomless black pools, lacking any sense of empathy. My legs tremble and it takes an enormous amount of effort just to stay upright. The creature’s fury slams against me, as it circles the two of us, not even touching the ground.
“She thinks she can defy it. Thinks she can escape fate. The audacity,” it spits in the same strange, distorted way.
“What is it? What can you see?” Wade asks as I press myself against him, following the movements of the creature as it continues around us.
Understanding sweeps through me. He can’t see it.
“It’s a…” My voice quivers and I can’t seem to get my brain to form words. And even if I could, I have no words to describe what it is. I’ve never seen anything like it before.
“Get out,” the creature repeats, continuing its circumference around us.
The hairs all over my body stand on end as absolute terror takes hold of me. What will it do to us? Can it hurt us? I freeze, unable to make any movement, even if I wanted to.
“You cannot stop this,” it says, lunging forward at me. “It can never be stopped. Should have known. Should always have known.”
Shaking uncontrollably, I squeak, “What can’t be stopped? Wh-why are you doing this?”
As if the simple question itself infuriates it, the creature’s fists close and its arms tighten against its body. All around us, tree branches snap from their source and fly through the air as if caught in a tornado’s current.
“Cursed. Damned…it is her fate,” the creature mocks. “It has always been her fate. She cannot escape it.”
The ground beneath our feet rumbles and small shrubbery, trees, rocks, and dirt dislodge themselves. They rise into the air, joining the branches already swimming around us in a wide, undulating circle.
Flecks of sand and stone whiz past us, making their way to the cyclone and peppering my face and body. Wade and I each raise an arm, shielding our eyes.
“We need to finish the ward. Whatever the entity is, it has to be cast out fully,” Wade says, thrusting the stone into the front pocket of my jeans. “It has to be you, Dru. This is your home.”
Terrified, I shake my head. The final location is far on the other side of the creature, at the edge of the pond. There’s no way I could make it without being attacked or hit by the cyclone of trees. Our time is almost up and I have no way to stop this.
The creature is right. I can’t stop this. I’m completely useless.
Reaching around to me, Wade grabs my shoulders and shakes my gaze free from the creature. “Autumn, look. Look at me,” he cries out, his silver eyes wide. “You have to run. Get the stone in place and finish the damn ward. It’s the only way to expel it. We won’t be safe otherwise.”
“I can’t,” I whimper, shaking my head. The level of repugnance coming from the creature is some next-level shit. I’d rather stay right where I am than risk increasing the vehemence of its anger. There’s no telling what it will do to us.
“You have to. We only have minutes left. Run, run,” he says, trying to urge me forward.
My feet, on the other hand, feel like lead weights have replaced them. I barely move a muscle and Wade lets out an exasperated gasp.
“Dammit,” he curses. His hands fly to his hair as he spins in the spot, watching the cyclone of greenery building in intensity.
“She cannot stop what’s coming. No one can,” the creature’s warped speech rings out.
The items caught up in the orchestration of the creature begin to crisscross in front of us, getting closer and closer. Despite the intensity of the vortex, the creature flits in and out of materialization, showing up in one place, then a moment later, in a slightly different location. It’s almost as if it can’t quite maintain its grip on reality.
“She must know, she must understand,” it repeats, as if talking to itself rather than to anyone in particular. “She must learn she is not in control. Never in control.”
The level of anger in the creature’s energy rises another notch and the branches and shrubbery are no longer held back in a cyclone. Instead, they hurl themselves in our direction and new additions are wrenched from the trees to join in.
The smaller trees and brambles reach us first, clashing against my skin, cutting open my sleeve and jeans, and assailing my face. I cry out, groping at my arms as one of the enormous tree branches is heaved directly at us.
Wade ducks, groping for my hand to move with him, but my reaction speed is still too slow. I’m struck across the shoulder and face by one of the massive branches. The force of it knocks me backward and the landing claims all the air in my lungs. My vision blurs and bright white and blue stars explode behind my eyelids as I sputter to take in oxygen.
“Autumn, oh my god, Autumn, are you okay?” Wade cries out somewhere
