February 29

Chapter 26

Dean bustled out of his room and almost fell in his race to Ethan's room, a boulder of fear sinking in his stomach. He didn't know why he was so surprised though - he'd had a feeling that there would be trouble even before Ethan started to cry out like that, right after the moment Mark warned them. He'd tried to avoid it for some time but realized that it made sense. The Aura, from what he knew, wasn't last making Ethan do crazy thing to get its way. He didn't have to hear agonized screams to know that whatever the thing was was already attacking, and that making it stop wouldn't be as easy as it was last time. He walked swiftly and stiffly towards the other end of the house, the walls and pictures of a beautiful smiling woman and a young boy who looked a lot like Mark melding together into one multicolored mesh. Finally, he rounded a corner and laid eyes on two shapes, the other two, Mark and Stacey, looking inside the room from the doorway. In less than a second he was next to them, looking around them into the area.

Dean wasn't too religious - the most experience he had with Christianity was Sunday school once a year or something -but he had no doubt that he was witnessing firsthand what had to be a full scale demonic possession. Or, at least, that's what he could describe it as. Everything in the room - the night stands, the dressers, the mirror, the curtains, even the bed - was in absolute disarray. The absurd feeling of invisible power and pressure fluctuated throughout the place, and the creeping feeling of a precede lingered like a bad smell. He had no idea where the force could have come from, outside of Ethan. The night stands jumped and crashed against the floor, the sound resembling that of a giant's footsteps. A gust of cold wind sent goosebumps running along Dean's skin. So the window was open, and he realized that the weather that was gentle just a second ago was now a tumultuous windstorm, with enough force to blow papers away. But to his greater amazement, he noticed that small items - jewelry, bottle caps, post-it notes - were floating in the air and flying towards Ethan, only to be vaporized into thin air when they got within a yard of him. But Ethan, Ethan was taking the worst of it. His body flailed and convulsed against the bed as if he were having a violent seizure. Each time he struck the mattress, the whole bed frame shook with such violence that Dean wondered how he was still alive, being hit like that. His eyes were wide and lightless, staring at something on the ceiling that didn't seem to exist.

Dean ripped his gaze from the sight before him and instead looked at Stacey and Mark, wondering how they were reacting. He saw the same emotions flying across Stacey's face, but Mark looked stoic and concentrated. Suddenly, Stacey glanced at him, nodded, and made moves to enter the room.

"No!" Ethan barked, catching everyone by surprise. His eyes left the ceiling and swiveled to meet Stacey's, turning wild. "Don't come in here! Get away!"

She grit her teeth and continued to move towards the door. "Do you realize what you're--"

"I SAID GO!" Ethan bellowed, raising his right hand and pointing his palm at her. As if she were being thrown by a juggernaut, she went flying in the opposite direction, arcing in the air while yelling in alarm. She slammed against the far wall with a shuddering jolt, slumping unconscious.

The attack seemed to stir Mark from his trance. He tore his eyes away from Stacey and rooted his eyes on Ethan. A calm, reassuring mask shrouded his face. "Ethan, let us help you," Mark said soothingly, but shakily. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"No! Stay away from me!" His eyes rolled. "It's going to kill you." A beam above the room suddenly shattered and fell across the bed at Ethan's feet, dangerously close to his body.

"That's what it's telling you, but it can't kill us if you don't let it," Mark pressed. Swallowing, he took a cautious baby step towards the room. "We'll work together, make it go away together. Just let me help you." Another baby step.

"Mark, I swear," Ethan hissed savagely. Another ceiling beam cascaded from above and clattered heavily to the floor. "I will break both of your legs if you take another step near me. I'll make sure you never walk again!"

Mark looked aghast. "You don't mean that," he whispered. "Just--"

Ethan cried out, his body jerking upwards. This time, Dean knew he had to do something. He looked frantically at Mark and grabbed his arm. "You have to do something. Do the mind thing. Help him before he tears the house apart!"

"I can't," Mark hissed, looking distressed. "The Aura isn't trying to let me in, and even if he were, Ethan is barring me from his mind. He's not letting me help him." He cursed. "I knew this would happen. I knew that thing would make its move." He gripped his hair and closed his eyes in deep thought. "I don't know how to get to him."

This time, Dean cursed. "I don't care! We have to talk to him or something. This is like something out of the Exorcist!" With that, he rushed to the doorway and poked his head through. "Ethan!"

Ethan's head whipped to the side. Gasping, he noticed the eye color change happening, with one eye the familiar brown and the other a fiery, hateful red. "Get out of here," he hissed. "Go back to your room." Instead if hearing him, Dean tried to comprehend the sights before him. The pale, writhing boy that he called his friend. The flying projectiles hitting everything but the boy himself. The fluttering curtains and the strong icy wind. He knew that if something didn't happen, Ethan would die.

Realizing that, he gulped, collected his emotions, and suddenly bolted into the room, his eyes closed.

"Dean, no!" he heard Mark cry distantly, but he was beyond comprehension.

As soon as his feet touched the wooden floor of the room, Dean knew he wouldn't be coming out.