his side, glued to every word. Somewhere along the line I had grabbed his hands and held them tightly. “Go on,” I whispered, holding in a breath as he raised my hands to his lips to place a gentle kiss on each palm. Carefully he placed them back into my lap and pulled his away, continuing with the rest of his story.
“Candles flickered around me, making the darkness shift in horrible ways. Faces flashed and danced with demonic patterns. The chants continued until I could feel something strange happening to my insides. My mind started to buzz, and my breath . . . I could feel all the breath being sucked out of my lungs.
“I looked at the one called Marshall and I could see hesitation, perhaps compassion for my ordeal. Something told me he wasn’t a true member—he just didn’t seem to know what his place was in the group. All the others, Marcus, Alistair, Quinn, Vincent, and Cyril were deep in the meditation, but not him. When his eyes met mine, I pleaded for release and saw a flicker of response, an inner struggle.
“The eclipse had gone through half of its phases at this point, with the room becoming brighter. I saw Marshall hesitate again, then suddenly he grabbed the coin and whispered for me to take it, fast, and hide it somewhere if I could. He said he didn’t mind what they might do to him in punishment for setting me free—it no longer mattered.
“He placed the coin my hand, cold and electric, and explained the reason being that part of my soul was now trapped inside. He stressed again that I hide it somewhere, that if the rest of the group ever found it, they would finish the job. I clasped the coin tightly in my hand and made a quick exit, following a tunnel he pointed to. My body was weak, and I had a difficult time making the trek, but I knew—I could feel—something evil inside those caves. It frightened me. You can’t imagine how happy I was to see the bluffs when I made it out a few hours later.”
Cold. The coin was frigid as ice in my hand every time I held it. It was half of William’s soul I’d been holding. How delicate and precious it now became to me! My father’s trick box didn’t seem anywhere near safe enough of a hiding place. Here we were, both of us in the house together and the coin just a short distance away. The thought made me feel sick. When William cocked his head at me, I tried hard to block any images of where I’d hidden it.
“What did you do after you escaped?” I choked out, hoping to distract him from my paranoid thoughts.
“I ascended the bluffs. At one point, I felt a sharp dagger of limestone stab through my jeans into my thigh, but when I looked down, there was no stain of blood. I didn’t register this as strange; I assumed my brain was in too frantic a state to know what was happening. Someone shouted my name from below, and I made the mistake of looking down—a horrible thing as I was struck with a wave of vertigo. My vision blurred and everything began to spin. I forced myself to focus and climb the rest of the way up to the cliff’s edge. I figured I had a great lead, but didn’t realize how agile they were—how used to this whole terrain their minds and bodies are. Emma, they know every inch of the valley, as if they were created from its very stone.
“I ran out on the lake drive, bracing myself when I saw a car coming around the curve. It would be too late for him to stop, and I watched in shock as the car approached. It passed right through my body and drove away. The driver hadn’t even noticed me standing there. The realization of what I had become cut into my brain. I remember Marshall telling me half my soul was inside the coin, but still . . . it couldn’t be possible.
“Five men crawled over the cliff, closing in on where I stood. I turned, helpless in their chase, my knees trembling in defeat. I could give in to them then, knowing I was a mirror of a real human being. It would have been easy to surrender. But then I thought,
“Candles flickered around me, making the darkness shift in horrible ways. Faces flashed and danced with demonic patterns. The chants continued until I could feel something strange happening to my insides. My mind started to buzz, and my breath . . . I could feel all the breath being sucked out of my lungs.
“I looked at the one called Marshall and I could see hesitation, perhaps compassion for my ordeal. Something told me he wasn’t a true member—he just didn’t seem to know what his place was in the group. All the others, Marcus, Alistair, Quinn, Vincent, and Cyril were deep in the meditation, but not him. When his eyes met mine, I pleaded for release and saw a flicker of response, an inner struggle.
“The eclipse had gone through half of its phases at this point, with the room becoming brighter. I saw Marshall hesitate again, then suddenly he grabbed the coin and whispered for me to take it, fast, and hide it somewhere if I could. He said he didn’t mind what they might do to him in punishment for setting me free—it no longer mattered.
“He placed the coin my hand, cold and electric, and explained the reason being that part of my soul was now trapped inside. He stressed again that I hide it somewhere, that if the rest of the group ever found it, they would finish the job. I clasped the coin tightly in my hand and made a quick exit, following a tunnel he pointed to. My body was weak, and I had a difficult time making the trek, but I knew—I could feel—something evil inside those caves. It frightened me. You can’t imagine how happy I was to see the bluffs when I made it out a few hours later.”
Cold. The coin was frigid as ice in my hand every time I held it. It was half of William’s soul I’d been holding. How delicate and precious it now became to me! My father’s trick box didn’t seem anywhere near safe enough of a hiding place. Here we were, both of us in the house together and the coin just a short distance away. The thought made me feel sick. When William cocked his head at me, I tried hard to block any images of where I’d hidden it.
“What did you do after you escaped?” I choked out, hoping to distract him from my paranoid thoughts.
“I ascended the bluffs. At one point, I felt a sharp dagger of limestone stab through my jeans into my thigh, but when I looked down, there was no stain of blood. I didn’t register this as strange; I assumed my brain was in too frantic a state to know what was happening. Someone shouted my name from below, and I made the mistake of looking down—a horrible thing as I was struck with a wave of vertigo. My vision blurred and everything began to spin. I forced myself to focus and climb the rest of the way up to the cliff’s edge. I figured I had a great lead, but didn’t realize how agile they were—how used to this whole terrain their minds and bodies are. Emma, they know every inch of the valley, as if they were created from its very stone.
“I ran out on the lake drive, bracing myself when I saw a car coming around the curve. It would be too late for him to stop, and I watched in shock as the car approached. It passed right through my body and drove away. The driver hadn’t even noticed me standing there. The realization of what I had become cut into my brain. I remember Marshall telling me half my soul was inside the coin, but still . . . it couldn’t be possible.
“Five men crawled over the cliff, closing in on where I stood. I turned, helpless in their chase, my knees trembling in defeat. I could give in to them then, knowing I was a mirror of a real human being. It would have been easy to surrender. But then I thought,
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