All Hallow's Eve (34 page)

But
then,
something
changed.

Abruptly
, t
he way she pressed against his
raging
desire became the only sensation that existed
—the only thing that mattered. T
he principles that he lived by were completely
discarded.
William’s advances became more urgent and intimate
. H
is kisses
turned rough
,
his
caresses became insistent, and
his
hands began to wander more freely.
As she struggled to free herself from his grip, h
er movements
intensified his gluttonous appetite
. The more she resisted, the
greater his
demand
became
.
He could not pull her close enough!

I
must
take
her
now
!

P
art of hi
s
mind
cringe
d
and
recoil
ed
, horrified as the thought reverberated through
him
.
The
very core of his personality—
gentle, loving,
and perhaps
even
overly proper
—
had
obviously
lost out to
pure
lust
.
He must reign himself in!
H
e
had
already
frighten
ed
her—without a doubt, he
had
dishonour
ed
her—and
he would regret doing so for the rest of his days
.

W
ar
waged
within
th
e
shell that had once been his
alone to rule
—
a battle
, which, at first, he thought was simply between his scruples and his baser
urges
.
Soon
he
came to
comprehend
that
,
al
t
hough
he was
completely
aware
of what was happening, he
had lost every bit of
control o
ver
his body.

His
Elizabeth
,
cherished above all else,
who had given him the greatest gift imaginable—her love and trust—
was
begging
him to stop
.
William’s
heart squeezed
painfully
;
his
focus
changed
completely
.
The
fear
for himself
was
pushed
aside,
toward the
recesses
of his mind
. H
e
redoubled
the
attempt to
become governor of his
body
once
more
,
to
reposition
his limbs, to
pull
himself away from
her
.
But, h
e
c
ould
do
nothing!
H
is eyes were being held open wide, and h
e could not even
block
out
the sight of
her struggl
ing against his body’s advances
.

W
hen he
began to
hear thoughts
that were most certainly not his own,
William became aware of
the other
consciousness sharing his body
. T
he direction of the
se
premeditations
spoke of just
how evil this being was
.

T
his
Thing
wa
s
going to
us
e
hi
m
as a weapon
to
harm
Elizabeth
!
William
wrestled
desperately
to
re
gain
power
of his limbs
, but he did not know
of
any way
that
one
could
accomplish such a task
.

We all
assumed
that the
Olc
would be huma
n!
How do I
battle
a
S
pirit
inhabiting the same
body
as I
?
He could not tell her... warn her... or ask for advice!

M
ovement off to
both
side
s
caught his attention
. Not only
c
ould
he
make out
two
huge
tails
move from behind him
, slightly opaque in appearance
, but
William
could
feel
them!
The sensation was surreal; it
was
as if they were attached to him
, as if they
belonged there
!
They
wrap
ped
around Elizabeth,
holding her in place
even more firmly than his own arms had
been able to do
,
freeing
both
of
his hands
.

Abruptly
,
Elizabeth’s
countenance changed completely
, and when he saw the results
,
he knew that
the tails
encircling her body
were influencing
her
as well
.
Her eyes closed
,
and
she
ceased
all
resist
ance
; arching her back,
she reclined against the tails
in complete surrender
—to him
.

The
incredible
sight
of
Elizabeth’s exquisite beauty
in
this
inviting
attitude diverted William’s
mind away from the situation at hand—
s
o completely mesmer
ized
was he
that
,
for several
moment
s,
every
corner of his mind
considered
anticipating their vows.

Something in the way the
W
icked
Spirit
snickered in response to his impuls
ive thought
made
William
believe that
this
was
exact
ly the
result t
hat
it
had been
hopin
g for
.
But the creature had not counted on the discipline of William’s mind.
H
e
pulled his
contemplations
away from the path they had taken.

He tried to speak to her, but his thought was limited to the mind he shared,
Elizabeth
,
do
not
submit
to
this
B
east
!

T
he
Evil Spirit’s
answer
reverberated
throughout his mind
,
“
You cannot stop
this
!
She is
MINE
!
”
William heard his own voice twisted into an unfamiliar laughter as it echoed through the trees.

~

That laugh
ter!
Elizabeth
shuddered
, and the tranquil mystification
that had wrapped itself around her
consciousness like a blanket
dampening her awareness, began to lift.
H
er mind
somewhat
cleared, she
could
feel hands upon her and
recall
ed
her
previous
attempt
s at
bring
ing
William
to his senses
. Grappling with the
heaviness of her eyelids
, she
was able to lift them enough to see
William’s
expression
. His eyes were
wild and cold—
t
his
was
not
her William!

Elizabeth raised the sieve
and the obstruction of her thoughts cleared immediately
.
She
straightened her countenance and
placed her hands flat against
William’s
chest
,
push
ing
away from him.

“
Who are you?
”
she whispered
tentatively
.

For an instant
, she could recognize
her
William
with
in
. Th
e
man sh
e
adored
was
present
, seemingly imprisoned
,
but
somehow
another overpowered his will
.
While William’s fleeting reign lasted, the
expression
in his eyes
was
both
tortured and incensed,
and
there was a touch of relief mixed in.
She assume
d that
the last
was from her recognition that
he
was
not
the
only
one
encased in
t
his body
, and that he was not responsible for the
liberties that
his form
had been
taking
.

Elizabeth
could
detect a
vaguely
familiar
vibration surrounding her
, but
she could not place it.
She had a much more serious problem than she had originally thought!

F
ocus
ing
her
awareness
on the vibration
,
she reached within and found a way to
separate
her thoughts from the physical sensations th
is
E
vil
S
pirit was trying to induce in her.
Suddenly
,
she could
see
the
H
armful
O
ne
e
ngulfing William
—
the
shadow of another
being;
its appearance was much like drawings she had seen portraying d
ragons
, its head
rising
just above William’s
.
Protruding from behind
him
were two long tails,
one
twisting around
each side of him, wrapping themselves
around
her
entire body
!
Her head snapped up,
their eyes met
, and again for an instant she could see
her William
once again
, but the
B
east
quickly
regained
control
and
began to laugh.
A
lmost unnerved by this cackling laughter coming from the
lips
of th
e
man
she
loved
,
Elizabeth
then forced herself to concentrate on the
expression in the
eyes.