Deceived

by Lynda O'Rourke

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Kassidy

  “Give me her body!” yelled Trabek, his tall, scrawny body shaking. He kept his eyes trained on me, fearful that while he screamed at Doshia, I would leap forward and grab one of the knives.

  I laughed, filling the chamber with echoes, only it wasn’t me, it was Doshia. And as I stood there helpless, unable to move for myself, I could feel this evil demon move through me and seep through every part of my body and mind. Doshia stepped forward and I found myself moving toward the stone plinth.

  Etta, I cried inside. What had Doshia done to her? Was she even in me anymore?

  “Doshia,” spoke Nellore, standing slightly back from Trabek. “We are all the same. We have come from the same place. You do not have to fight against us. We can all share the power… bring in more Cleaners and…”

  Nellore broke off. She turned her head toward the entrance of the chamber. Trabek followed her gaze.

  I could hear some kind of commotion approaching the entrance. Footsteps. Running. Voices. And as I listened carefully, my heart sank like a dead weight. I had longed for Ben to fulfil his promise—to meet me—for us to walk away from this together, but now that he was here with the others, I felt and knew that my world was soon to fall apart. A tear fell from my eye. Ben would die believing that I was Doshia and I couldn’t bear it. But more so than that, he would die by my very hands.

  I opened my mouth to scream. I wanted to warn them. I had to tell them the truth, but my voice had gone. I felt blocked in every way. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t speak—I couldn’t be me. All I had left was my inner thoughts and voice.

  I felt a sudden stab of pain and a shifting inside me as Doshia seemed to gather more strength. I could feel his poisonous excitement at the sound of the voices approaching the room. He could hear Ben and Jude.

  The chamber fell silent as my friends came bursting through. I held my breath, fearful to even breathe—scared that if I did it would be Doshia they heard and not me. My tearful eyes met with Ben’s and he smiled before disappearing behind those black eyes of Quint’s. Jude stood behind him and he looked in my direction, nodded his head at me, and then became Eras. Peering over his shoulder was Raven, Max, and Robert.

  Please don’t come near me, I begged inside. Turn and run before it’s too late.

  Reaching out my arm, Doshia beckoned to my friends and using my voice, Doshia called, “Help me! Ben… Jude… I need you… here… come over here!”

  Don’t listen to me, I cried inside. Ignore me… please don’t be fooled. I watched in fear. They had no idea what Doshia had in mind—that he was using me to trick them. Did they even realise that he was here in this chamber? And as I stared like a frightened animal, I heard Etta cry out for Quint. But her breath was wasted, as like me, we were both trapped inside.

  “Quint,” spoke Trabek, “that is not Kassidy. That creature over there is Doshia. Now help me to contain him.”

  I watched, helpless from within my own body. I could see Quint narrow his eyes and stare at me.

  Doshia shifted again and once more used my voice to speak. “He’s lying, don’t believe him. How could I ever be Doshia?”

  Turning back to Trabek, Quint said, “You only tell me that so I will kill the one I love. You think I’m stupid?! You think I don’t know who is inside that body of Kassidy Bell?”

  I could feel myself smile, snigger. Doshia was fooling them. They had no idea that he was hiding in me.

  “I’m telling you now,” shouted Trabek. “That is Doshia!”

  Quint looked back at me. Was he wavering? Was there a little seed of doubt pushing through his head? If he was, then I wasn’t the only one who wondered. Doshia was thinking the same. I could hear his thoughts—his plans. I looked at Max through Doshia’s eyes. Poor Max. He cowered behind Eras, his green eyes peering about the chamber. And then I saw what Doshia was thinking, and all I could do was stare in horror as Doshia split, travelled across the ceiling unseen, and placed a part of himself into Max. I watched Max jolt and shake his head. Doshia was diverting the attention from his hiding spot in me to Max. He was going to make everyone believe that Max was Doshia.

  Frozen to the spot, my breath trapped in my throat, I stared, frightened and full of alarm. What was Doshia going to get Max to do? My mouth dropped open as Max suddenly leapt up. He scrambled up the wall of the chamber and scuttled across the vaulted ceiling. He stopped above the stone plinth where the knives lay, his head hanging down, green eyes replaced with black.

  Nellore stepped forward, eyes pinned to Max, an invisible force pummelling into him, causing him to sway back and forth. Her eyes narrowed as she concentrated on trying to dislodge Max from the ceiling.

  I saw Robert dart forward, his eyes scared as he looked up at his brother, alarmed and shocked. “No…!” he cried. “No. Max… he isn’t some demon… he isn’t…” He turned on Quint and Eras, pleading. “Help him please… this can’t be happening!” Robert then turned toward where I still stood, unable to do anything. He looked angry—incensed—full of fury. “You… it’s you… you’re doing this. You’re doing this to Max!”

  With a look of confusion across Quint’s and Eras’s faces, they rushed forward. I watched as their forms turned into the dark shadows of their demons. Quint’s eyes were full of evil as he used them against Nellore. It broke her hold over Max and she stumbled back. Clearly, Quint and Eras didn’t believe that Max was Doshia and as I thought that, Doshia thought it, too. Mingled within his evil mind, I saw snippets of what he was planning. He was going to up his game and show them, once and for all, that Max was Doshia.

  I could feel more movement inside of me as Doshia gathered more momentum. With tears rolling down my face, I watched helpless as Max, under the control of Doshia, leapt from the ceiling, snatched a knife, and then shoved it straight through the fleshy skull of one of the corpses. He thrashed his arms up and down, both hands gripping the knife. His attack was savage. His blonde hair whipped about and I could hear him hiss with each stab of the knife.

  Feeling sick, I stared in horror. Which demon was he destroying? My eyes looked to Quint… to Eras… and then I feared for my own life. But Doshia wasn’t going to kill me. Not yet, anyway. I would be last.

  The corpse began to disintegrate and then the chamber filled with a deathly cry. My eyes franticly searched each demon and then I saw who it was. Nellore seemed to topple over. Her screams filled my ears. She raised her hands to her face and cried, “Trabek!” And then she was gone. The body Nellore had stolen collapsed to the stone floor and withered away, leaving behind nothing but bones.

  Max stood tall on top of Nellore’s coffin. He cackled a deep, guttural laugh. I watched unable to help him. I knew he must be feeling like me. Pushed down, trapped, and unable to stop himself from doing what Doshia wanted. I knew he would be frightened, just like me.

  Max raised his arms, knife still held tight in both hands. He stared down at the coffin next to him and screamed, “Which one next? Who shall I kill now? Etta, maybe?” He looked up and stared at Quint.

  Now believing that Max was Doshia, and that Etta was in danger, Quint, using his eyes, knocked Max flying from the coffin. He smacked against the stone walls. Eras was on top of him before I could even blink.

  There was nothing I could do. He’s innocent! I cried from inside. Max is innocent. I was useless. Tears flowed from my eyes as Quint and Eras, trusting they were doing right, took the life of Max, believing they were destroying the body Doshia had taken. I closed my eyes to the horrific sight of Max’s head as it dropped to the floor. His body now lay limp and slumped against the wall.

  “No… no!” screamed Robert. He rushed forward and threw himself onto Eras. He lashed out with his fists, pulling and yanking, tears falling from his eyes. “You’ve killed him… you’ve killed my brother…!”

  Inside, my grief ripped through me, but it was muddled up with a sick, poisonous excitement from Doshia. From where I stood, I could see a shad
owy form seep from Max’s corpse. It floated, unseen by the others, up to the ceiling, where it lingered amongst the shadows. I wondered who it would go to—who would Doshia take over next?

  The chamber echoed with screams, shouts, and cries. Robert, on his knees, slumped over the body of Max, Raven stood petrified like a statue, still just inside the entrance to the chamber.

  “You fools!” screamed Trabek, his body trembling with anger. “You idiots! You’ve killed one of my volunteers! I asked you to contain Doshia!”

  Quint turned sharply and faced Trabek. Eras got up and stood beside Quint. They took a couple of steps toward Trabek and stopped.

  “This is all your doing, Trabek,” spoke Eras. He had grown in size and his shadow swarmed angrily about him.

  Quint, his dark aura surrounding him, appeared taller and wider. He loomed over Trabek, filling the room with a sense of unease. “You must pay for what you have done… you—”

  But Quint was cut short. Robert sprang up, his grief for Max pushed aside, as he rushed up behind Eras.

  “I hate you! I hate you both!” screamed Robert.

  Pushing him away like he was nothing more than a tiny insect, Quint flicked his hand and Robert fell back. He fell to the floor, but jumped up again, his face ravaged with sheer anger. But this time, he turned and faced me.

  “You!” he screeched. “You did this!” He rushed forward.

  Unable to move still, I watched as Robert came at me. Believing I was going to be struck, I closed my eyes and braced myself for the attack. But a voice filled my head, and it wasn’t Etta’s, it was Doshia. My eyes sprang open. My own thoughts vanished as I waited—wanted—Robert to reach me.

  Please don’t, I shouted inside. I don’t want to do this… please… But my cries went unnoticed. Doshia rose up again, overpowering me. Robert, his arms outstretched, raised his hand to strike me. I could feel Doshia’s energy rush through me as I reached out, feet leaving the ground, and fingers grasping hold of Robert’s throat. I felt a rush of air as I left the ground, Robert hanging from my hand.

  The ceiling came toward me at a terrifying pace and I almost believed I would smash into it and crack my head open. I flipped the lower half of my body up with ease, my feet coming to a rest against the ceiling. With my free hand, I placed it against the cold stone.

  Robert hung from my other hand. I could hear him choking and gasping for air. His face had turned a sickly blue, and he struggled with his hands to release my fingers that pierced his flesh. I peered down into his face and watched with pleasure as the life began to fade within him.

  From below, I could hear Raven scream. The voices seemed to fade in and out as my attention was too caught up in killing Robert.

  I smiled as his eyes began to bulge, and then I opened my mouth and said, “We never did like Robert, did we?”

  And as I pressed tighter still against his scrawny neck, watching Roberts’s life drain away, I cried deep inside, even though I laughed out loud.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Ben

  As Quint stared up at the ceiling, I, too, watched Kassidy as she swung the body of Robert above our heads.

  The chamber had fallen silent, as the shock of seeing Kassidy kill Robert filtered among us. His body swung to and fro, legs floppy and arms drooping down by his side. And then my eyes fell to Max, whose headless corpse sat slumped against the chamber wall. I held my hands up and looked, sickened at the blood over my skin. It had happened again. Another death caused by these hands. But could it have been helped? Seeing Max scuttling across the ceiling, stabbing the knife through Nellore’s corpse, and then threatening to destroy Etta’s corpse was enough to make Quint believe that Doshia was hiding inside Max. And he had been, although I didn’t believe that Doshia had been inside Max right from the start. It seemed, now looking at Kassidy, that Doshia had been jumping from body to body. That would maybe explain how Raven had killed Charlie. Doshia had used her to kill the security guard. And now, as I stared up at Kassidy, my grief for her was as strong as if she had died—gone forever. With Doshia in her, I couldn’t see a way out for her. How could we ever dispel Doshia from Kassidy, and even if we did, wouldn’t Kassidy die?

  I turned to Eras and our eyes met. And as Quint appeared to grow stronger inside of me, I could feel his anger, his hate for Doshia. But not only that, I could feel his love for Etta as flashes of them together from the past, flipped through my mind.

  I began to feel more on edge as Quint’s feelings were that of discontent and an uncertainty of what to do. He believed that Etta was inside Kassidy, and by destroying her, would destroy the one he loved. But how could this be fixed?

  Through Quint’s stare, I found myself looking at the coffins.

  “The only way, Ben,” spoke Quint, “Is to destroy the corpse of Doshia.”

  “But won’t that kill Kassidy?” asked Eras, his body surrounded by dark shadows.

  Turning to Eras, Quint replied, “Not if Etta is in her. As long as Etta’s corpse is kept safe, then I believe Kassidy will survive. She has to. Otherwise, Etta will die.”

  How sure are you that Etta is in Kassidy? I spoke from deep within myself, now unable to talk out loud. If she is, then why has she not spoken? Why stay hidden in Kassidy for all this time?

  “Because, Ben, if Trabek or Doshia had known she was in there, then your precious Kassidy would have been dead long ago and Etta would have been put back in her coffin forever.”

  I understood now, why Quint had been so obsessed with Kassidy right from the moment he had come across her at Cruor Pharma. He had sensed Etta’s presence, maybe he had seen Etta stare back at him from Kassidy’s eyes, but he had kept quiet—allowing Kassidy to escape, and then he, too, had followed.

  Cutting into my thoughts, Trabek stepped in between us and the coffins. He looked at Eras, and then at me. “I know what you are planning. I know you intend to destroy Doshia and myself. But I won’t let you. Doshia may be out of control, but he will soon see sense. He will soon come back to his loyalty for me. After all, it was I who raised him. He wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for me. And neither would you two. I have a bond with Doshia. He was once my son long ago.”

  “And we were your nephews before you turned us into the monsters that we are today!” snapped Eras. “If you are looking for loyalty from either of us then you’re more fucked than I realised. I’m not the demon you hoped that I would be. There is too much of Adam in me—too much of Jude Middleton. And that’s just how I like it.” Peering up at Kassidy still hanging onto the ceiling, Robert still swinging about, Eras continued, “I have a message for you. It’s from Adam. He says, go fuck yourself, Uncle!” Eras lifted his arms. A black shadow shot from his hand and smacked into Trabek, lifting him from off his feet. He flew back and hit the ground. But no sooner had he fallen, he was back on his feet. His eyes narrowed and his body seemed to shake. Trabek stared at Eras and I watched as the power from Trabek pulled Eras up into the air. Then, I, too, joined Eras. My feet left the floor and I was suspended, left to hang, while Trabek turned his attention to Doshia. I could feel the struggle inside of me. Quint seemed to be frozen—unable to do anything.

  Through my eyes, Quint turned and looked down at the floor below. Raven was crouched by the entrance, cowering away in the shadows. Her arms were wrapped tight about her and her face covered in shadow. Her silence had kept any trouble from her. She had almost been forgotten. But not by Quint.

  “Eras,” said Quint. “Raven is the only one left who can destroy the corpses. Tell her to take a knife. Tell her to stab through the bodies then take the burning torch from the wall and set light to them.”

  “She won’t listen to me,” said Eras, suspended in mid-air. “She won’t listen to anyone. She hates us!”

  “But she doesn’t really hate Jude,” replied Quint, focusing back on Trabek as he approached Doshia. “It’s all an act. Get rid of your shadows and speak to her as Jude. Hurry!”

  Eras seemed to fade back into Jude�
��s body. He looked down over his shoulder and called out. “Raven… Raven!”

  I watched as she peered up from out of the cover of her arms.

  “You have to destroy the bodies… take a knife… stab them.”

  Too scared to speak, Raven shook her head.

  “You have to,” pleaded Jude. “Can’t you see? We will all die! You are the only one now.”

  “Silence!” shouted Trabek. He looked at Raven and I watched as Trabek used his eyes again to manipulate Raven. Her black hair seemed to be pulled by unseen hands and she was dragged across the stone floor toward Trabek.

  “Please!” she cried, hands flapping about her head, legs kicking out. “I don’t want to die… I don’t want to have a demon in me!” She looked up at Jude, her eyes filled with fear.

  Trabek pushed her down onto the ground and held her still by placing his foot across her neck. He applied extra pressure with each attempt Raven made to move. And then, when she lay still, Trabek held both arms out. His voice echoed through the chamber as he called out. “Come… it is time…” His eyes fell upon the entrance to the room.

  The chamber began to fill with fog. The Cleaners were here, ready to take their hosts, and as the sound of creaking leather could be heard, I looked at Kassidy and wondered what her fate would be.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Kassidy/Doshia

  I had finished playing with Robert’s body. I had picked at his flesh, popped one of his eyeballs, and ripped out his tongue. I dropped his corpse and watched it splatter on the ground below. My attention was drawn to Trabek as he summoned his Cleaners into the chamber. With only two volunteers left, I knew Trabek would want me out—out of this body. But that wasn’t going to happen. I glanced over at Quint and Eras fixed mid-air.