Encounter

Chapter Twenty Two

"You've got to help me, Delia, there must be a way to stop Diafol," Sarah said, trying to reassure herself it was possible. Delia looked at her, her face not a good sign that this may be true.

"I'm afraid the Diafol's curse is unyielding. Once he has been summoned upon a soul, there is not much that can be done to stop him," she murmured in a sorrowful tone. Sarah buried her head in her hands and began to cry. Her tears stung as they rolled down her now cold cheeks.

Delia stood from her chair and walked over to Sarah, putting her hands around her. "My dear, look at me," She said. Sarah could not bring herself to look up; she was too upset. She just wanted to retreat into a little cave somewhere and live the rest of her days up there alone. "Sarah look at me." This time her voice was more forceful.

Sarah felt the old woman's wrinkled hand rest underneath her cheek. She pushed it upwards with surprising strength for an old lady. Sarah's eyes were brought level with hers. She looked into the woman's eyes which shone like emeralds in the light.

"I said not much could be done; I never stated that we couldn't try," she said with a smile. Sarah felt a slight feeling of hope. "I just need to look in a book; I have to see what sort of things we could try."

Delia slowly got to her feet and walked back over to the bookcase. She whispered to herself, as she ran her bony finger along the leather back spines of ancient looking books. The woman stopped her finger on a large one with a puce purple colored spine and pulled it out. Waves of encrusted dust fell from the cover to the ground. Delia inhaled a large mouthful of air, before blowing hard. The dust whirled into the air spreading its ancient aroma around the room.

"Now let me see," she said moving over to her chair, pulling out a pair of horn-rimmed reading glasses.

Sarah stood up now, feeling the need to move around, her legs had gone numb. She needed to get the blood flowing again. A sudden thought came to her mind.

"Hold on, I've seen it before in stories of Demon possessions and so on, that an animal sacrifice can be offered to tempt the spirit, what do you think," Sarah said, glancing over at Delia reading away in the large book. Delia stopped for a moment as if she was thinking over the idea carefully and then shook her head.

"Animal sacrifice would not work, Diafol cannot be tempted with an animal to stop him for tormenting you, no it would not accomplish anything," she said, seeing that Sarah was going to try and push this idea.

Sarah stopped and thought back to some movies she had watched some years ago. She remembered one particular film about a young boy possessed by a demon, he had gone into a graveyard and caused a lot of damage to some of the headstones. In turn, he was cursed by God and tormented by the devil. She gulped as she remembered that nothing saved the boy in the end, despite the best efforts of his family and their family priest who attempted an exorcism. He was killed by the dark souls, and his spirit burned in hell for eternity.

The film brought Sarah back to her nightmare. That cannot be my fate; I am not deserving of this curse. She thought to herself trying to push the images of burning tombstones and giant monsters out of her mind.

Delia was still looking through the book. And then she gasped, stopping on a page which appeared from view to be somewhere in the middle of the book.

"What is it?" Sarah asked, her hope growing ever so slightly. Delia said nothing she continued to read the text and her eyes dancing from side to side. She then looked up at Sarah and smiled.

"I think I have got it," she said, getting to her feet, still holding the book.

"Really, what is it, what do we do?" Sarah asked excitedly.