Alice Isn't Well (Death Herself Book 1) (17 page)

“And who might Hannah be?”

“She's -” Another pause, as Wendy realized she didn't really know how to explain. She felt certain that none of the nuns would understand Hannah. “She was just a friend I made. She's gone now.”

“I'm sure she doesn't know anything about demons,” Sister Julia continued. “Not as much as Mother Superior, anyway. Mother Superior studies these things. She has helped many young girls deal with dark forces in the past, and many of have gone on to live productive lives.”

Wendy nodded. She knew Sister Julia was probably right, even though she felt deep down that no amount of mud was going to drive a demon from her body. Then again, Sister Julia and the other nuns were adults, and adults always knew best.

“I think you're ready now,” Sister Julia said finally, stepping back to admire all the mud that she'd caked over Wendy's body and face. “You must be brave, Wendy, do you understand? This is going to be the hardest part, but if you're brave and strong, Mother Superior might be able to drive Drexial from your body tonight.
Can
you be brave and strong?”

Wendy nodded.

“Are you sure?”

“I think so.”

Sister Julia leaned closer, as if she was searching for proof in Wendy's eyes. “I hope so,” she whispered finally. “For your sake.”

***

Screaming again, Wendy tried to pull away, only for the leather straps around her neck and waist to hold her in place. She lashed out, trying to scratch at the nuns with her fingernails, but they quickly grabbed her arms and legs and slammed them against the bed.

Leaning over her, with the white-hot iron in her hands, Mother Superior stared down at Wendy as the little girl continued to shout and moan.

“The demon is strong in her,” Sister Julia said, struggling to keep Wendy's arms flat against the bed. “Whatever shall we do?”

“We shall drive it out,” Mother Superior replied, lowering the iron toward Wendy's face. “We shall do whatever it takes. The girl would be better off dead, than alive with this wretched beast in her soul. The Lord does not want such foulness to pollute his kingdom.”

With that, she pressed the iron against Wendy's cheek, causing the skin to sizzle and burn as the little girl screamed again.

Chapter Twenty-Six

1941

“You seem troubled, my child,” Mother Superior said a few days later, as she walked with Sister Julia across the courtyard at the rear of the monastery. “Tell me what is on your mind, so that I might ease your burden.”

“It's just...” Sister Julia paused, clearly reluctant to speak her mind.

“Is it the child? Is it Wendy?”

“It has been a week now since she was brought back to us,” Sister Julia replied, “and she seems no better. If anything, the demon seems to have tightened its grip on her soul. After everything you have tried, her suffering just gets worse and worse, and I almost feel as if...”

Her voice trailed off, as Mother Superior stopped and turned to her.

“You think the child has passed the point where she might recover?” the older woman asked finally.

“I worry about the pain we're inflicting upon her,” Sister Julia replied, with tears in her eyes. “Every night, she cries and screams. Every day is the same. I don't doubt your work or your scholarship, Mother Superior, but I worry that the demon is so strong, it won't leave Wendy's body without ripping the poor child to shreds first. What if the cure...” She paused. “What if the cure is so horrific, it would be better to let the child pass into God's embrace?”

“I must confess,” Mother Superior replied, “that I too have contemplated these things. That is why I asked the Lord last night to give me guidance, and this morning I understood what we must do.”

“And what is that?”

“We must persevere,” Mother Superior said firmly. “When Wendy screams, it is not really the child who cries out at all, it is the demon, using her mouth. No matter how pained she seems, we must keep working, because this blessed soul must not be allowed to slip away. Be strong, my dear, and trust that the Lord would not allow an innocent child to be lost so easily to a demon.”

“Of course,” Sister Julia replied, turning and looking up at the window to Wendy's room. “I know you're right. You're always right.”

***

“And Mother Superior has been reading more texts,” Sister Julia said a short while later, as she dipped a sponge into the bucket of water, squeezed it, and then wiped more sweat from the less-burned side of Wendy's face. “She thinks she knows how to drive the demon away now. It just takes time, that's all.”

Slowly, Wendy opened her mouth. Dried skin crumbled at the edges, flaking away onto her neck, as she tried to whisper something. The room was lit by just a single candle, which cast a flickering light across Wendy's damaged body.

“What is it, my child?” Sister Julia asked, leaning closer. “Is there something I can fetch for you?”

“I want...” Wendy whispered.

“What do you want? Water?”

“I want...” Wendy paused, with her eyes barely open, as if she had almost no strength left at all. “I want to go home.”

“You can't go home,” Sister Julia told her, using the sponge to clean dried skin from the side of the girl's face, while taking care to avoid the areas with the deepest burns. “Your home is gone, remember? Try to remain sensible, Wendy. Don't let your fear cloud your judgment in your darkest hour.”

“I just...” Turning her head slightly, Wendy looked over toward the window, and at the bright sky beyond. There were tears in her eyes now. “I want to go home.”

***

“I always like to welcome new sisters to the monastery myself,” Mother Superior explained as she led the new arrival, Sister Henrietta, across the courtyard. “I want everyone here at Barton's Cross to feel very much at home. Which monastery did you say you were at before, my child?”

“Saint Barnaby's,” Sister Henrietta replied, keeping her head bowed meekly. “I studied under Sister Natasha Ilmanov, and I would be there still were it not for her desire that I venture out into the world a little.”

“Sister Ilmanov is a very wise woman,” Mother Superior said with a smile. “I do hope she is keeping well. She tends to take on such heavy burdens, with no thought whatsoever regarding her own health.”

“She has a good soul,” Sister Henrietta agreed. “She -”

Before she could finish, an anguished cry rang out from one of the rooms overlooking the courtyard.

“Do not be alarmed,” Mother Superior said calmly, turning to her. “I'm afraid we are currently dealing with a particularly distressing case in which a demon has attached itself to a young girl and absolutely refuses to leave her alone.”

“May the Lord have mercy on her soul,” Sister Henrietta replied, making the sign of the cross against her chest.

“The case is most testing indeed,” Mother Superior continued, “but I am convinced that we will be able to rescue the child, provided we continue to work according to the Lord's guidance. I do not know why, at least not yet, but he has chosen to test us all with the suffering of this poor girl. I can only assume that he has some other purpose in mind for her, one that has not yet become clear to us.”

“Can I be of any help?” Sister Henrietta asked. “A few years ago, I helped Sister Ilmanov rid a young boy of a demon.”

“And was the boy saved?”

“He was.”

“Then perhaps you would like to join us tonight for our next session with the girl? I don't mind admitting, there are times when -”

She winced a little as another scream rang out from above.

“There are times when I fear the worst,” Mother Superior continued, with sorrow in her eyes as she looked up at one of the windows. “Wendy is still just a child, and I worry that by the time we drive the demon out, there will be nothing left of her to save.”

***

She squeezed her hand tighter still, even though the crucifix was digging deep beneath her flesh.

***

“You will gain nothing from this child,” Mother Superior said calmly, as she stood at the head of Wendy's bed and looked down at the girl's burned and broken body. Holding a hand over Wendy's face, she sprinkled a mixture of dried herbs, which landed in the pools of blood that filled the cracks in the girl's skin. “Can't you see the damage that you've caused? Leave her now, so that we can try to save what's left of her.”

She waited.

All around the bed, the other nuns waited too. The room was silent, and everyone was engaged in silent prayer that the demon would finally be drawn from the child's body. Keeping their eyes fixed on Wendy's face, they waited for some sign that their work was having an effect, but as Mother Superior sprinkled more herbs on the girl's face, it became increasingly apparent that the demon wasn't stirring at all. Wendy's belly rose and fell slowly, and her breathing – which had become erratic in recent days – now seemed a little calmer.

“Leave her,” Mother Superior continued, leaning closer with a hint of desperation in her voice. “What value does the child hold for you now? What can she possibly give you?”

Again, she waited.

No response.

“Would you really torture a child just to amuse yourself? Would you not rather be out in the world, witnessing its destruction as this war continues to rage? I have read about you, Drexial, and I know that you are not one for dwelling too long in one place, so why stay in this child's body? What does she offer you that -”

Suddenly Wendy's eyes flicked open, staring up at the old woman's face.

“Do you hear me now?” Mother Superior asked. “Speak to me, demon. Tell me what you want.”

Wendy continued to stare, before slowly a smile began to creep across her damaged face.

“For what dark purpose do you linger in this place?” Mother Superior continued. “Speak now, demon, or leave forever. You are not welcome here, Drexial, and I will not allow an innocent child to be possessed by your foulness.”

She waited for a reply.

“You have a voice, do you not?” Mother Superior asked. “Then us it, coward!”

“Old woman,” Wendy whispered finally, still smiling as her voice echoed slightly, “you are wrong. My name is not Drexial. Drexial is but a lesser demon, a creature of the margins. Your words do not harm me, your methods do not work. They might have worked on Drexial, but wherever he is, he is not in this girl's body. You have made a terrible mistake.”

“Then what
is
your name?” Mother Superior asked. She sprinkled more dried herbs across Wendy's face; some of the herbs fell into the girl's eyes, but she didn't blink them away.

“Why should I tell you?” Wendy's echoing voice whispered. “So you can go and look it up? So you can maybe find some weakness of mine? I think not. For as long as my name remains hidden to you, there is nothing you can do to drive me out of here. I can stay as long as I wish, and I can do whatever I want.” As the words left Wendy's lips, her remaining skin began to blister and turn a pale shade of yellow, even as her smile widened.

“Be gone,” Mother Superior replied. “Be -”

Before she could finish, she began to gasp, as if she was having trouble breathing.

“I was just minding my own business,” Wendy continued, her voice starting to sound harsher now, “high above this miserable city, watching the fires burn. I didn't ask for some fool to fly his plane right into me and bring us both crashing down, but then once I was on the ground I saw this little girl and...” He sniffed. “At first I thought to rise again, back up above the city, but the girl seemed like such a perfect fit, I had to take her. It's not my fault if temptation drops right into my lap. Or rather, if I drop into
its
lap.”

“Be gone,” Mother Superior spluttered, as some of the other nuns hurried to help keep her on her feet. She was clutching at her throat now and losing color from her face. “Be...”

“Miserable bitch,” Wendy sneered, as the blisters all across her face became larger, spreading beneath her skin. “I'm going to enjoy burning each of you one by one.”

“No,” Mother Superior gasped. “I will not let you!”

“Let me?” Wendy began to laugh. “You have no idea what you're dealing with. You can't stop me.”

“Get her out of the way,” Sister Henrietta said firmly, pushing the others away before looking down into Wendy's eyes. “Recognize me?” she continued, pulling her habit away to reveal a familiar mop of black hair. As Hannah now, she leaned even closer. “Don't worry about the nuns. Nuns are easy to deal with. What about me? Are you -”

Before she could finish, Wendy let out a loud hiss and reached up, grabbing Hannah by the neck and pulling her closer. Twisting away, Hannah dragged the girl off the bed and threw her to the floor, as startled nuns scattered and Mother Superior took deep, gulping breaths.

“This thing is really itchy,” Hannah continued, pulling the rest of her habit away to reveal her regular clothes. Stepping toward Wendy, who was down on all fours and staring up with an expression of pure fury, she allowed herself a faint smile. “Drexial, huh? It's almost funny that they thought you were Drexial. I know your real name, though. Would you like me to say it out loud, or are you going to scurry away like a good little demon?”

“You don't know what kind of enemy you're making here,” Wendy sneered.

“And you think you do?” Hannah asked, stepping closer. “Wendy's just a girl. Leave her body now or face the consequences.”

“I really don't think you want me to do that,” Wendy replied, her voice echoing more than ever. She added something else, in a tongue that no-one in the room could understand.

“Don't push me,” Hannah said firmly.

“If you know my name,” Wendy replied, “then surely you know my natural form.”

“Why don't you go back to floating harmlessly above London?” Hannah asked. “Sure, it was morbid the way you enjoyed watching the bombs fall, but at least you weren't getting actively involved.”

“You don't think I steered some of the bombs now and again?” the demon asked, its echoing voice still speaking through Wendy. “You don't think I nudged a few, pushing them so that instead of falling on empty commons they ended up on houses and orphanages?” She began to laugh. “This body is useful, but if you really want to get me out and into my natural form, I don't suppose I can argue. Don't say I didn't warn you, though.”

“Wait -”

“You know my name,” Wendy sneered. “You know my form.”

Before Hannah could say another word, Wendy leaned back and opened her mouth, allowing a vast burst of light to rush out and crash against the ceiling. Ducking down, Hannah hit the floor and put her hands over her head for a moment as flames roared through the room. Nearby, the nuns had all dropped down and were covering their faces as they tried to crawl away, but Hannah looked in the other direction, desperately trying to spot Wendy. Finally, spotting a familiar figure slumped on the stones, she crawled over and grabbed Wendy by the hand before starting to pull her toward the door, while the inferno burned just inches above them both, filling the room.

“She's mine,” a voice whispered from the heart of the flames. “Leave her to me.”

“She's not yours,” Hannah grunted, hauling Wendy to the door and finally getting her out into the next corridor. Turning, she looked back into the room and saw that the flames were already starting to expand beyond the room's walls.