Cursed

12. A New Start

Amanda

The call was distant, but she was convinced it wouldn't be long before she was taken over. She looked up in the sky. Her vision was cut because of the thick canopy of the woods. Little sun light broke through the dense canopy, but there was no hope in this sunshine. It wasn't warm. It was cold and full of despair. Just like the heavy drops of water that had began to fall on her.

Within moments, she was utterly drenched in rain. The woods seemed eerier than ever when the winds, and the rain began to play with the wild.

The rain sent shivers up her spine. It was too cold. And yet there was something soothing in the cold shower. For once the calls of the evil couldn't reach her ears, and the sound of the rain filled the air.

Blinking away her tears, she closed her eyes. She focused all her attention on Jesus, and hoped one last time for a miracle. She questioned him why this was happening to her. What terrible thing she must've done to deserve such a plight? There was no answer, except for the calls of the darkness now gaining on her.

Wiping tears off her eyes, she glanced backward. Except for the dense woods, she could see nothing. But her eyes could still hear the distant whispers. She knew she didn't have long. She knew the demon was going to bind her, and make her do its cruel, sinister deeds.

Noo! Amanda screamed with agony, and with every last bit of her energy, she sprinted deep into the woods. She hoped the voices were a figment of her imagination. She hoped she was never possessed, that all her recent life was a part of a big bad nightmare.

Amanda

The call made her freeze. The voice was playful, and full of evil. Something dark, something diabolical resonated with it. The voice wasn't fictitious. It was as real as the forest through which she was running.

Amanda closed her eyes. The realisation of the evil being so near her made her lose all hope. She placed her hands on her knees, and let out a terrible shriek. Her rage then turned into a cry of frustration, and then the word help left her mouth, as her spirit broke.

Amanda

Instead of a message from God, instead of any help, the demon's voice answered her.

Terrified, she looked over her shoulders. However, through the raging rain she couldn't make out much. Slowly, she turned and looked everywhere. She could see the tall trees penetrating through the sky. She could see small plants and grass coating the ground. She could also spot the terrain she was yet to scale, the rocky terrain.

But nowhere she saw the dark shadow she had always seen when she'd get possessed. Could it mean she was free? Had the demon left her?

Amanda

She flinched. The voice was like an earth quake to her senses. The rain seemed to feel a lot colder, and she had to wrap her hands around herself to keep from shuddering. Perhaps her sight couldn't see the demon, but all her other senses could now sense it. And that too everywhere.

Amanda screamed and broke into a run. Her naked feet ran along the treacherous path of the forest. Sometimes they splashed in a puddle formed between the thick roots of the trees, and sometimes they landed straight on small splinters of stone. She felt warm blood trickling out of the cuts on her feet. She could see her blood mixing with the rain water. And the pain, oh the pain. She let out a whimper every time a stone would dig into her feet. But she wouldn't stop. She didn't have the luxury to stop and examine her wounded leg. This was her one chance to freedom, and she wasn't going to let the demon win. Again.

Something flashed across her eyes. The intense beam of light momentarily blinded her. But when she opened her eyes again, and focused to where she was running, a warm spark of hope rekindled in her heart.