Legacy & Spellbound

by Nancy Holder

  “I told you not to let the bedbugs bite,” she tried to tease her mother.

  The joke fell flat, but her mom gave her a sickly smile. Not sure what was going on but convinced they weren’t going to talk about it, Holly ate quickly.

  Finished, she headed for the stairs to get her backpack. She was halfway up the stairs when she heard her mother say, “She doesn’t remember anything about last night, what she saw, what she did.”

  “I told you she wouldn’t,” her father said.

  She froze, listening. What happened last night? she wondered, her pulse beginning to race. They had stopped talking, though, and she slowly finished climbing the stairs. In her room she picked her watch up off her dresser.

  She turned to go but froze in midmotion. On her dresser was a candle made in the shape of a horse that her best friend, Tina, had given her for her birthday. It was beautiful, and Holly had never used it, happy to have it more as a figurine.

  The top of the horse’s head had melted, the wax dripping down and covering its eyes. Someone burned the candle, she thought, stunned, and the horse is blind— just like me.

  Tri-Coven: Over the Atlantic

  On her stool in the corner, Holly dreamed, and she remembered. Isabeau had come to her long before, and her father had hidden it from her. Her mother had been frightened, so had he. That was why they had fought. That was what had happened.

  Still sitting perfectly upright on her stool, Holly slowly opened one eye and looked around. The demons were all sleeping, crashed out on the floor, lying in heaps, some atop one another. Past them, now that they were lying down, she could see more, she could see outside, and she saw Amanda.

  The hairs along the back of Amanda’s neck lifted on end, and she had the sudden and unnerving sensation of being watched. She turned her head sharply and saw Holly, her eyes open, staring at her. “Tommy,” she whispered, “look!”

  Tommy did, and came to the same conclusion she had: “It’s Holly.”

  Amanda quickly unbuckled her seat belt and moved over in front of Holly. “Holly, it’s Amanda. Do you recognize me?”

  Holly blinked her eyes once, strongly and clearly.

  In a moment, Pablo was beside Amanda. “I can feel her,” he said.

  “Holly, can you help us get rid of the demons?” Amanda asked.

  Holly just stared straight ahead, and Amanda wasn’t sure she had understood her.

  “She can’t,” Pablo said. “She’s afraid.”

  “Holly, honey, don’t be afraid. We’re going to help you, we’re going to get them out of there. Do you understand?”

  She blinked. Then, slowly, her eyelids closed.

  “No, Holly, come back, come back to us,” Amanda begged.

  Pablo laid a hand on her arm. “She’s retreated. I can’t feel her anymore.”

  “But at least we know that she’s in there,” Tommy said.

  “We need to find a way to bring her back,” Jer said.

  “We tried exorcism. It didn’t work,” Sasha told him. “That’s how Tante Cecile was killed.”

  “I believe I can do it,” Armand said.

  Amanda turned to him. “Armand, I’m not sure we can risk losing another person.”

  Philippe interjected. “Let him help. Armand studied to be a priest before he began to explore the ways of the Goddess. He knows things and has seen things that none of us have. I believe he can do it.”

  “I say we take the risk,” Jer chimed in.

  Amanda turned on him. “You weren’t there last time. You don’t know what it’s like. We have to find a way to help her, but I’m not sure an exorcism is it!”

  “Amanda, if he’s willing to try, I say we let him.”

  She looked from face to face. They all looked so earnest, so hopeful. At last she turned to Alex. He hadn’t said a word. “What do you think?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “If multiple demons are in there, they might not all be from the same faith paradigm. Someone who has experience with multiple religions might succeed where others have failed. I say you let the priest try.”

  It made sense. She wasn’t sure if that’s because it was what she wanted to hear or because it really did. She looked at Holly. We need her back. We’re returning to the mouth of hell, and we need her with us. She turned to Armand. “What will you need?”

  ELEVEN

  MARY

  Time now to make our move

  Deveraux have much to prove

  We show them now all our power

  We rule them all in this hour

  God and Goddess hear our cry

  We lift our hands unto the sky

  We cast out those who cause us fear

  Enemies both far and near

  Tri-Coven: London

  Amanda’s nerves were frayed. Getting from the airport to the safe house had been harrowing. They were treading on Supreme Coven ground. Moreover, at least one member, the woman Eve, knew that they were here. What’s to keep her from alerting the others to our presence? I know Jer trusts her, but that doesn’t mean I do.

  As soon as they had landed Eve had taken off, thanking them flippantly for the ride. She was hunting Michael Deveraux, and in that, and only in that, they were on the same side.

  She looked around the house where they were now. It was located just outside of London and was quite large. Armand had roamed through it like a lion, until he had found the room where he wanted to perform the exorcism. Everyone had spent the last hour stripping the room bare so there would be nothing Holly or her demons could use as weapons.

  The witch who owned the house had left before they’d arrived, but had left them with all the supplies they could use and carte blanche to use the property as they needed to. I don’t blame her for taking off. I would, too, if I could.

  Her father had left half an hour before, to get … something … he hadn’t said what. He had had a hard look in his eye when he’d left, though, and it had made her nervous.

  Tommy came up beside her and kissed her cheek. She smiled and turned into his arms. It felt so good to have him hold her. She just wanted to be held, forever.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” she whispered.

  “We’d better see if Armand needs anything else.”

  She looked up at him. He looked like a man. Where was the boy she had once known? How had he managed to change before her eyes without her noticing? He smiled, and she saw the boy again, but it was only part of him now. There was something good and strong about him. He was more than she had ever known, more than she had ever dreamed. He was everything she needed and wanted. I will do anything to keep hold of him.

  Arm in arm, they walked into the room. It was empty. Even the paintings were gone. It was more than just furniture and paintings, though. Pablo and Sasha had worked hard and scrubbed the room clean of any psychic imprints as well. She had never felt a place so hollow. It chilled her. Is this what death is like? No, it can’t be. I refuse to believe that it’s emptiness.

  They all stood together in the room, gathered around, staring quietly at Holly. She was slumped in the middle of the floor. She hadn’t come to again on the flight, or in the car ride here. Amanda had begun to fear she wouldn’t wake up again.

  “When you leave, close the door and stand ready with the swords we prepared. If anything comes through that door, kill it,” Armand instructed.

  Pablo spoke. “The demons are beginning to stir.”

  “Everyone leave,” Armand said quietly.

  “I want to stay,” Amanda protested.

  “No, you must go, quickly.”

  “Come on, Amanda, it will be okay,” Tommy said, half-dragging her from the room.

  Armand turned back to Holly and breathed in deeply. In a strange way, he had been preparing his whole life for this. His grandfather had been a priest and an exorcist. Armand himself had studied to be a priest. Then, on the eve of taking his vows, he had turned aside to study the ways of the Goddess. Still, in his he
art, he had never betrayed his first God. Instead, he worshiped them both, and he had found others who did the same.

  Holly’s eyes snapped open, though it wasn’t Holly who stared at him from their depths. Gazing at Holly as she sat shivering, madness flickering in her eyes as untold demons battled one another within her, Armand thanked both deities for all the years of training. It was all that was going to save him and her.

  He lit the purple candles and began.

  The words flowed off his tongue, though it had been years since he had studied their meaning and memorized them. “Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine Dei.” He made the sign of the cross over her. “Patris omnipotentis, et in noimine Jesu.” Another cross. “Christi Filii ejus, Domini et Judicis nostri, et in virtute Spiritus.” He inscribed a third cross in the air over her. “I exorcise thee, every unclean spirit, in the name of God the Father Almighty, and in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord and Judge, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

  “Filthy creature, you are of witchblood and have no right to invoke that name,” a demon hissed, speaking through Holly and twisting her face into a hideous reflection of its own features.

  “God loves all His children, and He aids those who have faith in Him and call upon His name.”

  “He won’t listen to you,” another spirit taunted. “He will not share you with the Goddess.”

  “I don’t believe that’s true,” Armand forced himself to answer calmly. “But even if it is, he is also a merciful God, and I am sure He will forgive me. Depart from her, all you demons within, in the name of the Goddess who rules her heart, you have no place within her.”

  “She likes us,” a third demon spoke in a high, shrill voice. “She wants us to stay.”

  “I command you to leave. Sancti, ut descedas ab hoc plasmate Dei, Holly Cathers, per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos, et saeculum per ignem.” Depart from this creature of God named Holly Cathers through the same Christ our Lord, who shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire.

  Holly began to thrash back and forth as the demons fought her, one another, Armand, and the Deities he invoked. There was a sudden scream, and one flew out her mouth, a tiny, red-spotted thing with a tale like a dragon and wings like a sparrow.

  Armand drew his sword from his belt. He sliced through the creature’s body. “I send you back to the hell from which you came.”

  The creature exploded in a small, sulfurous cloud of red dust. It sprinkled to the ground.

  Only one. This is going to take a long time.

  He picked up a large wooden bowl filled with frankincense, crushed garlic, peppermint, cloves, and sage. He touched the flame of the purple candle to the mix and then set it on fire. He blew on it gently until the flame went out, but the mixture continued to smolder. The scent filled the air, and the demons inside Holly began to squeal.

  Armand walked to Holly. He spit carefully into his hands and then touched her right ear then the left. “Ephpheta, quod est, Adaperire.” Be opened. Next he touched her right nostril, then the left. “In odorem suavitatis. Tu autem effugare, diabole; appropinquabit enim judicium Dei.” For a savor of sweetness: And to you, O devil, begone! For the judgment of God is at hand.

  “Holly,” he commanded her. “Holly, listen to me. Help me cast out these demons.”

  There was a flicker in her eyes, a moment of what he could only call understanding, before the demons pushed her back down with a roar.

  “You cannot have her, priest. We shall not leave this body. We are grown … comfortable … here,” one of the voices hissed.

  “How many are you?” Armand demanded.

  “Hundreds.”

  “Then hundreds of you shall die.”

  Holly sat on her little stool and watched in surprise as a little red demon left. It went, crying the entire way. She almost felt sorry for it, but she remembered it had spit on her earlier, so she didn’t feel so sorry anymore. Rather, she was glad it was gone. There was one less voice ringing in her ears, one less body blocking her view.

  Then she heard a man, commanding her, pleading with her to help him get rid of the demons. The demons were busy, looking out, talking to the man. They weren’t looking at Holly. She moved her little toe, and this time no one noticed, no one cared.

  She sat very still again. In a moment, she would try moving her entire foot.

  Armand took the holy water and sprinkled salt in it. Demons were supposed to fear salt water—it was supposed to hurt them. That was what he had learned. That was why, when Jesus had cast demons out of a man and let them enter a herd of pigs and the pigs had stampeded into salt water, the demons had died. At least, that’s what was said. He confessed in his heart that he didn’t know. But then again, that’s what this is all about: It’s all about faith.

  He picked up the bowl of water and crossed over to Holly. He looked down at her. Her hands and legs were bound with rope—something you’re never supposed to do to an exorcism recipient, but, then, nothing about this was normal. There was magic binding her as well, courtesy of Alex. It made sense. Holly knew what the rest of them knew, practiced the same magic, knew the same spells. Alex, at least, was a bit different, as were his ways.

  He poured the water over her head in the shape of an X. He did it three times. Demons screamed, and he could smell sulfur and burning flesh. A dozen demons poured out of her, and he let them go. They were dying—he could tell it by the way they rippled, as though they were fading in and out of being. If they even made it to the door, Philippe would handle them.

  He put down the bowl and picked up another filled with herbs. He pressed his thumb into the dried herbs and then anointed Holly with them, touching first her forehead, then her chin, then her right eyelid, then her left.

  “Pax tibi.” Peace be unto you.

  “Blessed be,” Holly wanted to say, but she didn’t. She was afraid. The stench of death filled her nostrils. More demons had gone, but the ones who remained were growing more agitated, more dangerous. She twitched her left foot. None of them noticed, though. She exhaled slowly, and no one turned to look at her.

  She licked her lips; maybe she should try speaking, maybe it would help. Her heart began to pound louder, so very loud and so very fast. She parted her lips, and nobody stopped her. She flicked her tongue across her teeth. The demons were all jumping up and down, shouting and screaming at the man outside.

  They hated him, and she could feel their rage; it bubbled around her, making her heart pound faster. It frightened her and exhilarated her at the same time. It had been so long since she had felt something other than fear. I’m going to do it!

  “Blessed—” a dozen demons jumped on top of her. One clamped a hoary hand over her mouth while the rest began to hit her and spit on her. They whispered vile things in her ears, told her that she was nothing, no one. They must be right. After all, they would know.

  * * *

  A wizened, dying demon slid underneath the door, and Philippe stabbed it, sending it into oblivion. “Something he’s doing is working,” he noted. “That demon was all but dead already.”

  Amanda paced in front of the door, playing with her sword as though it were a baton. He felt sorry for her as he watched her. She has lost much, and stands to lose so much more.

  “Have I mentioned how much I hate waiting?” she asked.

  “You have mentioned that,” Alex commented. “We need to start gearing up. As soon as Armand is done, we need to move out. Half of us will go to Avalon to rescue Nicole. The other half will begin the assault on the Supreme Coven.”

  “Isn’t it dangerous to split up like that?” Tommy asked.

  “It’s dangerous not to, at this point. We need to move, and do so quickly. We can’t brook anymore delays. We must strike before we are expected.” Alex glanced at Jer. “For all we know, we’re already expected.”

  Philippe noticed that Jer bristled, but said nothing. He turned his att
ention back to the door. Goddess help him, he prayed for Armand as he kept watch for more demons.

  * * *

  Armand heard Holly speak, or at least try to. “That’s it, Holly, work with me, fight them off, you can do it. You are stronger than they are. Cast them out. You have the power.”

  “She has no power over me,” a voice hissed. A wind suddenly whipped through the room, and Holly seemed to be at the center of it. “Neither do you.”

  “Who are you? What is your name?” Armand demanded.

  “Bunyip.”

  Bunyip? Where have I heard that? The wind continued, and that seemed familiar. Bunyip. Whirlwind.

  “You’re an evil spirit that lurks in the whirlwind. Stories are told about you amongst the aboriginal people.”

  “You know of me, good. Then you know to be afraid.”

  Armand gestured to indicate the wind. “So far, I am not impressed. So, unless you have plans to turn Holly into a bird, I think you should leave.” He stood, awaiting the creature’s response and racking his brain as to how to expel it.

  In aboriginal legend, the rainbow serpent shaped the land and created all the spirits. It’s a start, at any rate.

  “I command that you part, Bunyip, in the name of the spirit that breathed life into the people of your land. In the name of the rainbow serpent, I bid you depart!”

  There was a howling as the wind picked up in the room. Armand saw the demon flow out of Holly’s mouth in a rush. Then the whirlwind began. Round and round, the wind swirled, harder and faster. It tore at Armand’s clothes and stung his eyes.

  He opened his mouth to shout out an incantation, but the wind ripped the words from his lips and they were lost even to his own ears. Goddess help me, he thought as the wind continued to pick up speed, twisting in upon itself, else it will rip both Holly and me apart.

  In the corner of the room, a tornado began to form. Fear raced through Armand as he realized the creature could destroy them all.

  The door suddenly opened, and Alex stood in it, his arms lifted. He was screaming something, but Armand could not tell what it was. The wind died instantly, leaving an eerie stillness in its wake. The door slammed back closed, and Armand was once more alone with Holly and all her demons.