In an instant, both Rex and Bill stood straighter and their bodies began to glow brightly. The thin man laughed manically as Bill kept his eyes closed and enjoyed the sensation. Rex raised his right arm. His fist looked like a ball of fire encased in electricity.
“Eliminate the young ones! The rest are mine,” Edna said as she twirled the knife and smiled.
Chapter Nineteen
Jett raised the .357 magnum and fired twice. Each bullet struck Rex in the forehead. His body seemingly absorbed both bullets without them doing any damage. Rex’s head didn’t even move.
“Shit,” Bud muttered in disbelief.
Rex aimed his hand at Linda Sue and Matt stepped in front of her.
“No!” Mallorie shouted as she held up her left hand. Rex was knocked off of his feet and slammed back into the wall, creating a new crack in the drywall.
Bill started to raise his arm.
“Don’t even think about it,” Mallorie said.
Edna stepped back.
“You’re finally starting to realize what kind of power you possess. But you don’t appreciate it and never have – just like you,” she said first to Mallorie and then Marie. She then turned her left hand palm up and her hand glowed. Edna then aimed her palm at Marie and what Jett could only describe as raw energy erupted. The concentrated blast struck Marie in the chest and knocked her to the floor. A second blast hit Mallorie and took her off her feet as well. She landed beside Marie and both were stunned and groggy from the violent blasts. Bud kneeled between to check on them.
Again Edna drew the knife and rushed toward the two women, shrieking louder as she ran. Jett stepped to block the attack but a bright swirl appeared before him. He saw the only woman he had ever loved threw a vicious left hook that caught Edna under the chin and knocked her off feet. The knife slid across the floor.
Suddenly Al charged forward and slammed into Rose with such force it almost knocked Jett down when he caught her.
Al immediately retreated behind Edna who was in the process of standing up.
Still wheezing and holding his ribs with his left arm, Rex grabbed Edna’s right arm and closed his eyes tightly. She started to jerk as though two hundred thousand volts were shooting through her body.
Like Rex earlier, she started to glow as though her insides were ablaze.
“You can’t stop me! The power of hell is within me!” Edna screamed.
“I kept my word! Just remember I kept my word!” Al screamed from behind her.
“Why?” Jett asked Al.
Edna then turned her right hand palm up then aimed and fired an energy bolt at Jett. Rose stepped in front of it. It slammed her backwards in Jett and both hit the floor.
Dazed, Jett saw Rose on the floor next to him. He was barely aware of his sons shouting “Mom! Dad!” He reached for her pulled her into his arms.
He saw Edna standing in front of them preparing another volley as Rose stirred. Jett cradled her in his arms and rolled over shielding her with his own body. As Marie and Mallorie climbed to their feet, Bud stepped in front to act as a shield.
“Boys, get the ladies out of here!” He yelled.
Edna fired a bolt into the wall next to the door blocking their exit.
“Oh no, no one is leaving. I’m finishing this,” she grinned cruelly. “Dear granddaughter, thank you for bringing them all to me. You led everyone into my trap as I hoped.”
“We’ll stop you,” Marie said.
“How? You can’t match the power of Lucifer,” Edna said with another cruel laugh.
Another bright swirl appeared.
J.D. stood next to Jett. He turned and winked at Alicia and Maggie.
“Another one to destroy? This is getting better by the second,” Edna said.
Jett was standing but still holding Rose tightly to his side. J.D. slapped him gently on the back.
“You’re right. We can’t match your power,” he said before turning to everyone else. “Sorry I’m late guys. I had to make a stop and get someone who can stop her.”
“No one can stop her! She will soon be Satan’s priestess on Earth,” Rex wheezed.
“You’re only buying time,” Bill huffed.
“And very soon I’ll claim your souls for my Master,” Edna said.
“No, you won’t,” said a voice from behind Edna.
“Earl?” Bud asked.
Earl Atkins stood behind Edna, Rex, and Al. He wore a tattered old gray bathrobe with matching threadbare pajamas.
Edna smirked.
“You old fool, you gave up on your gift years ago. You didn’t want it and you lost it,” she said.
“You’re right. I am an old fool,” he said, staggering as he walked slowly. “I let you take everything from me. My little girl, my granddaughter, my friends, my health, and even my mind.” Earl coughed and struggled for a deep breath before continuing. “So I made a promise that I’ll carry out in my last minutes on Earth. I’ll stop you,” he said as he moved slower.
“Want to finish him off?” Rex asked.
“Let me,” Bill said.
“No. I’m curious as to what makes him think he can even dare to approach me and speak to me in such a tone,” Edna said.
“The powers you have...the powers of hell...can’t match theirs...or mine,” he managed to gasp in a loud whisper.
“Oh really? Bill dear, perhaps I was hasty. Maybe you put this tired old man out of his misery,” Edna said.
Bill closed his eyes and focused. He turned his right palm up and then aimed at Earl.
“Granddaddy, no!” Mallorie screamed.
But Bill simply stood aiming his hand at Earl with nothing happening. Rex joined with the same result.
The old man coughed out a laugh and put a hand to his chest.
“Feel it yet Edna? Your power is fleeing,” Earl said as he dropped to one knee.
Jett looked at Edna. In a matter of seconds she aged twenty years.
“What did you do?” She shrieked.
“Look at them. They’re not worried about power. They’re worried about love. My power never came from the same place as yours,” Earl said weakly. “The powers of hell can’t prevail over the one true gift of God – the gift of love. I asked God to give me one last chance to show my daughter and granddaughter my love. I offered my gift and my life in return,” Earl said as he tottered back and forth on his knees before collapsing.
Marie and Mallorie rushed to him, past a rapidly aging and drawn Edna. Rex and Bill stepped away from her horrified.
Al looked at her anxiously.
“What about our deal? You made a promise!” He shouted.
Edna stared at him.
“Look at me! What do you expect me to do?” She asked in a weathered voice.
Bud rushed over next to Earl, kneeling beside Mallorie.
Earl’s face was suddenly ashen and gray – his skin cool to the touch. He gasped for air.
“My girls,” he whispered as tears formed in his eyes and weak smile appeared on his face.
“Oh dad,” Marie said as she too started to cry.
“Never meant to let her,” Earl said with a cough.
“I know dad, I know,” Marie said.
His eyes turned to Mallorie.
“So...proud of you,” Earl whispered between gasps.
“I love you granddaddy,” Mallorie said as her tears flowed.
Earl looked at Bud.
“Take...care...of...” he said softly.
“You have my word,” Bud said.
Earl’s body went limp and his eyes opened with a glassy look.
“He’s on the other side now,” Marie said.
Mallorie looked up at Edna who had turned pale and stared with widened eyes. Her body slightly weaved back and forth and Rex moved as quickly as he could to hold her shoulders and keep her upright.
Edna looked down at her now age-withered hands and then to Rex.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” she whispered.
<
br /> Now, all eyes turned to her.
“You lied. You said you would help,” Al said angrily.
Edna made a raspy sound that sounded like bitter laughter.
“I can’t even help myself,” she said.
Al stepped toward her, his rage obvious.
“What’s that sound?” An obviously worried Rex asked as he and Bill looked in all directions.
Edna looked horrified.
“It’s too late – they’re here,” she said.
Blood curdling screams filled the house and the choking smell of sulfur was strong to burn the eyes of everyone in the room. Rex turned Edna loose and tried to run. She fell into Al and it appeared the center of the room opened. Flames shot up from the opening and Al fell backward. Edna tried to hang on but lost her grip and stood flailing her arms for balance.
Rex screamed and grabbed at arms of flames as they wrapped around him.
“No! No! I served you! Nooooo!” He screamed as his soul was visibly pulled from his body and dragged into the abyss. The lifeless shell of a body collapsed onto the floor.
Bill ran straight at Jett, trying to get past him to the front door. The instincts of an old linebacker kicked in and slammed into Bill’s midsection, lifted him off of the floor, and drove him backwards toward the flames.
“Having fun yet?” Jett asked.
Bill slapped at the flames trying to keep them at bay. He screamed until the flames wrapped around his throat and squeezed him silent. His soul was dragged out down into the fiery pit.
Edna – and everyone else – watched in terror as the flaming arms headed toward her. Just before they reached her the flames started swirling like a small funnel cloud.
In seconds, the cloud transformed into the shape of a man.
“Remember me?” A ghostly voice asked.
Edna’s eyes widened again and she screamed as loudly as her lungs would allow.
“Lee?” Marie asked quietly.
The flaming figure shook its head.
“Not Lee. Not anymore,” he said.
Just as with Rex, her screaming soul was pulled from body and down into the flames. Edna’s body dropped to the floor and just as suddenly as it appeared the opening in the floor closed and gone was the flames, screams, overpowering smell of sulfur.
Al stood amid the three bodies as Marie, Mallorie, and Bud stood over a fourth body.
Jett held onto Rose tightly and stared at Al.
“Why? You owe me – you owe us,” he said gesturing to Rose, Alicia, and J.D. “At least tell me why?”
Al looked down at the floor and then back up to Jett.
“I owe none of you anything. My dear friends, you always had anything you wanted. Success, money, and girls – all you had to do was want it and it was yours. Did you ever think about me?” he asked bitterly.
“You’re jealous?” J.D. asked.
“No! It’s not jealousy. You never cared,” Al snapped.
“What do you mean we never cared?” Jett asked.
“Do you know why you haven’t seen Jackie and the girls since I came back to Crystal Springs? Didn’t you wonder why I never showed you any recent pictures of them?” Al asked.
Jett and J.D. looked at each other blankly and back to Al.
“They’re dead. They were killed last year in a car accident down in Tennessee. You didn’t even know. You were too busy thinking you were the only one to lose a wife,” Al said.
Jett stood silently as Rose gripped his arm.
“And Edna offered to help you see your wife and kids again,” Mallorie said.
“She helped me get this job for the sole purpose of killing you,” he said to Mallorie. “She promised that she could bring them back to see me every night. I didn’t know if it was possible but I wanted to believe.” Al looked at Rose and J.D. “Now I know it’s possible. Figures it would happen for you,” he said.
“You’re mistaken. Edna had nothing to do with bringing them back. The only one Edna helped bring back is me – and that was only to seek justice,” Marie said.
“It doesn’t matter now,” Al spat.
“But how did Edna know to make the offer to you?” Jett asked.
Al shook his head.
“Jackie’s aunt was a good friend of Edna’s once. She had Alzheimer’s and was in a nursing home. We used to visit her and on one of those visits we ran into Rex and he kept Edna informed of any visitors. When she heard about the accident she called me,” Al said.
“Bertha Stone was your wife’s aunt?” Bud asked.
Al looked surprised that Bud would know that.
“Yes. She was always talking about Edna and the gift. I thought she was just talking out of her head,” he said.
“I don’t know how to tell you this but I suspect your family wasn’t killed in an accident and Edna was responsible,” Bud said.
Al’s shoulders sagged.
“So I was helping the woman who murdered my family?” He asked before slumping to the floor on his knees. He started to cry – tears of anger, tears of frustration, and tears of disappointment.
“No, no, no,” he repeated.
Rose pulled away from Jett and approached Al. She knelt down next to him and hugged him. Alicia joined them.
“We know what that kind of loss means,” Rose said.
“From both sides,” Alicia said.
Jett and J.D. looked at each other.
“I am so sorry,” Al said.
“I understand why you did what you did and I know you were manipulated. But you were willing to destroy my family,” Jett said.
“And mine,” J.D. said.
“Just give me my gun back and let me kill myself,” Al pleaded. “I just want to rejoin my wife and kids.”
Marie nodded to Mallorie.
“Stand up,” Mallorie said.
He did as Alicia and Rose stepped back.
Mallorie joined hands with Marie and they started to focus. A swirl of energy appeared and a door-like opening appeared in front of Al.
Out stepped his wife and three daughters.
They mobbed him as he hugged and kissed them.
“You only have a few minutes,” Marie warned.
Everyone backed away from them both to give them a little privacy and to confer.
“What’s the next step?” Bud asked.
“You’re asking me?” Jett asked.
“Mallorie and I have one job left to finish,” Marie said.
“And when it’s done you’ll be gone again,” Mallorie said.
“It won’t be immediate, but yes,” Marie said.
“How about mom and Uncle J.D.?” Dan asked.
“They’re here through a natural channel that was opened to them. As long Jett or Alicia live, Rose and J.D. can appear as they do now,” Marie explained. “And by the way, I’m sorry I scared you two,” she said to Matt and Linda Sue.
“Which reminds me, you and I need to have a talk kid,” J.D. said to Dan who grinned.
“I look forward to it,” Dan said.
“What do we do about Al?” Bud asked.
Jett shook his head.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“What he did was wrong but I really believe he was manipulated beyond the scope of comprehension by that evil woman and I truly believe he is sorry,” Rose said.
“You’re a forgiving soul,” Bud said.
“I agree sweetheart but we can’t trust him – not anymore,” Jett said.
“Time’s almost up,” Marie called out without looking toward the foursome huddled on the other side of the room.
“No, the trust is gone forever,” Bud said.
“I’m sorry, time’s up,” Marie said.
Jackie and the three girls stepped back away from Al as her hand lingered in his for a second more. The door – Jett supposed it was more properly called a portal – appeared and they stepped through it and disappeared.
Al wiped his eyes with his sleeves and looked at Marie and Mallorie.
“Thank you,” he said.
They nodded silently in acknowledgement.
“Now what happens?” Al asked.
“Let Marie and Mallorie do what they need to do and we’ll see,” Bud said.
“Let’s go,” Marie said to Mallorie as they left the living room.
As they walked out of the room, Rose took each of her sons by the hand.
“It’s going to be okay. I’ll see you soon,” she added looking to Maggie and Linda Sue, “and the two of you as well.”
J.D. kissed Maggie on the forehead.
“See you soon Magpie,” he turned to Dan and placed his hand on his shoulder, “And you too.”
“I’ll see you later tonight,” Rose said as she reached up to kiss her husband.
“I can’t wait,” Jett said with a lopsided grin.
“I didn’t realize how dull my family is until tonight,” Linda Sue said.
“Are you kidding? This is tame compared to Christmas,” Matt said.
***
Marie walked toward the special room with Mallorie following her. Marie opened the door and stepped inside. On the wall was the framed symbol so revered by Edna.
It glowed brighter and brighter the closer Marie and Mallorie got to it. Mallorie stopped and took a deep breath. “I can feel it amplifying my thoughts,” she said.
“That’s the draw it holds,” Marie said.
“That’s why it has to be destroyed,” Mallorie said.
“We do this together,” Marie said as she reached for the left side of the frame and Mallorie reached for the right side.
Pulling it from the wall, the framed symbol continued to grow brighter until the room was illuminated so much it was blinding. They raised the frame and together smashed on the table. The glass shattered exposing the fabric symbol.
“Now,” Marie said as they touched the fabric at the same time. Suddenly the brightness disappeared and the fabric crumbled into dry-rotted particles.
“That’s it?” Mallorie asked.
“That’s it. No one will use it again – in this world or the next,” Marie said.
They stood silently for a moment looking at the dust on the table.
“All of those years I wondered what was in this room,” Mallorie said.
“I know. Me too,” Marie said.
“It wasn’t just jealousy. She really hated us,” Mallorie said.
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