HOURGLASS

CHAPTER ELEVEN - Oh, Just Your Everyday Exorcism 0:00

The queen of evil was tied down to the dusty floor of a haunted house, and bubblegum haired Nessa stood over her, chanting nonsensical words. I opened the door and closed it, as if I had just walked in. Zephyras couldn't see me until I walked right up to her head.

"What are you wearing, boy? It is hideous! Please, take it off at once!" she hissed at me. I bowed and said, "M'lady, I cannot. It is part of the ritual. I apologize profusely if it bothers you, though." I smirked to myself. Just a little while longer.

Nessa place her hand out for me to douse it with holy water. After we finished that, Nessa placed her hand on the queen's forehead. "God, whose nature is forever merciful and forgiving, accept our prayer that this servant of yours, bound by the fetters of sin, may be pardoned by your loving kindness."

Zephyras squirmed and shrieked, "NOO! You cannot! I command you to release me!" Charlie dropped down from the abyss above us and placed the gag in her mouth. Before he could tie the cloth around her head, her mouth started fizzing and smoking. I sprinkled more of the blessed water onto her night black form and cringed as she wriggled in agony. Nessa took a deep breath and finished the words. "Depart, then, impious one, depart, accursed one, depart with all your deceits, for God has willed that man be his temple." She then dumped the rest of our bottle of water on top of Zephyras' head. She screamed a cry of pain that resonated throughout the room. I then performed the sign of the cross over her body and mine. Nessa and Charlie followed my example.

Zephyras' body rose into the air and began spinning. A black goo oozed from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. It floated and formed a shadow version of the queen. Her body, wellm host body, fell back to the floor. The black pigmentation left her skin and returned to her hair as I remembered, and her healthy light tan returned. When the last of her hairs touched the ground, her eyes shot open. The last bits of amber left them and her natural milk chocolate irises flooded with light.

"Robin? Is-is that you? Darling, it's you! Oh, oh turn around! Watch out!" I turned slowly just in time to see the goo fly into my face and turn my world into a deeper night than I'd ever imagined.

. . .

When I finally became conscious enough to open my eyes and look around, I nearly fainted. I was above my fallen body and Zephyras was trying to get into it. Her hands were dripping black goo and her eyes were pure white. Her blond hair was floating as if we were underwater, and her entire body sported cracks as though she was a porcelain doll that had been dropped. She had a black dress and choker that were all grayscale other than the blood red that matched her lips and fangs.

She turned to me and hissed in a voice that I could scarcely comprehend. "Your body will be mine." She attacked my unconscious body with renewed force. I knew that I couldn't let her steal my body. I had just gotten my life back together, and not even a being that scared the devil himself was going to stop me.

I flew my incorporeal body at her with all the force I could muster. She flew back, her hair swinging wildly. I grabbed a handful of the golden rope and twisted it around her neck. Our ghostly battle wasn't totally unnoticed in the physical world, however. Gusts of air and strands of hair intermingled with blood and goo and appeared in my mom's sight.

"Robin! Robin, I know you can hear me. You can fight her, and you will win! You are the most powerful being, Robin! Just believe!" she screamed. Nessa and Charlie joined in and cheered me on.

"If anyone can do it, you can!"

"I believe in you, mate!"

"Robin....I love you."

I pushed Zephyras off of me and clasped her hands together. I looked her straight in the eye and said, "Not today. You already stole my life once, I will never let you do it again." With that I grabbed my now ghostly white glowing Brown Scapular and put it around her neck. She began to disintegrate and break along the cracks of her form. I shoved her away from me, and she struggled to remove the necklace from her neck, all the while seeming as though she was drowning.

I swam through the air back over to my body and glanced one more time before I got back into it. The queen of darkness, lover of evil, the chiller of hell was gone. All that was left was a red stone that had been in her necklace. I plucked it from the air and entered my body.