Mind's Echo

Mark

Mark had been quietly observing the scene, wondering what was making the banging noise and wanting to really go check it out, when Quincy went off the rails. He and Shelly watched in familiar awe as Alex seemed to turn into someone else before their eyes.

It was scary as shit, but, at this point, not a new thing. Mark wasn't too freaked out. Mostly he was concerned. He hadn't experienced a possession, himself, but he'd heard some pretty gnarly tales about his colleagues going through it.

Not only was Mark worried about Alex, he was worried about himself and the others, too. He could tell there was evil lurking in this ruined hospital. It felt like a black sludge sliding across his skin, searching for a way in. He didn't like it. He knew he had to do something before things went all to Hell.

Possession and guns in a loony bin. Hell couldn't be too far away, Mark thought darkly. 

He rolled his shoulders, not looking forward to what he was going to do next, but still determined to see it through. Offering a silent apology to Alex, he marched over to the struggling men and clocked Alex on the jaw. The smaller man slumped to the floor. 

When Shelly screamed, asking him why he did it, Mark decided to be honest with her: 

"I think the man's possessed, Shelly. That," he pointed at the unconscious Alex, "was not Alex. You know I'm right."

Shelly shook her head. She wasn't denying it, she was just in shock. Mark could understand. He had heard bad stuff about this place, but he never imagined things would go down like this. Possession was no laughing matter.

"Look, I don't want to freak you guys out, but ..."

"As if talking about possession isn't already freaking us out," Eva grumbled.

Mark nodded sympathetically. "Yeah. Um, but anyhow, if a spirit has tapped into Alex's energy, it could also happen to us. This place is ..." He looked around the dark hallway, knowing that all its shadows hid very bad things. "This place is bad news. I'd heard stuff, but being here ... Yeah. I get it now. We need to get out of here, and find our way back to town, ASAP. We do not need to be messing with this stuff. Shelly needs a doctor and Alex needs space."

Everyone nodded in agreement, even Quincy.

"Before we leave, though," Mark continued, "I want to try to do a cleansing on Alex. If we just take him out like this, he might take something with him."

Quincy looked skeptical, but offered, "I have some cuffs. I think it might be safest to restrain him right now."

"Yeah," Mark agreed. "We could do that."

Together, he and Quincy dragged Alex into a nearby room and handcuffed him to an exposed pipe. Mark noted that they had moved closer to the area from where the bangs had sounded. There hadn't been any more unexplained noises since, and Mark had lost his desire to investigate the previous ones. He just wanted to get Alex taken care of and make tracks. 

He grabbed Alex's satchel, remembering the white emergency candles he'd seen in there. He took a few out and sat them around Alex. He had tucked a sage smudge stick into his back pocket earlier without anyone noticing. He had wanted to be prepared. Good thing I like being ready for any and everything, he thought smugly. He used his Zippo to light the tip of the sage. While the others watched, he began a cleansing ritual a former colleague had taught him.