All Hallow's Eve (35 page)

Briefly, her curiosity was piqued. Had she made an error and allowed an
Olc
spirit through the sieve?
It could not be
!
S
he was sure that she would have known had
any
passed through
since
she
could
feel
their personalities as they moved through her
. I
t was unlikely that
even
one would get through
without her knowledge of it
.
That possibility was quickly discarded.

T
his
Olc
was spirit only.
H
ow
had
it
avoid
ed
The Return?

S
he focused
again
on the
eyes.
This
expression
was not completely unknown to her—it was
vaguely familiar
but
w
as definitely
not William’s
. I
t was
very much
like…

Full u
nderstanding dawned as
anger
—no
,
rage
—
welled
up within her.

Glaring at the
alien
eyes,
she declared
,
“
I see you for
exactly
wh
at
you are
.
W
e can be of no further amusement to you.
You
will
leave
William
be
,
Olc
!
”

The E
vil
O
ne attempted an imitation of something William had said earlier,
“
But, my love, you seemed to greatly
enjoy
our time together!
”

“
You
could never
emulate
a man such as William
.
Nobody who knows him could ever be fooled by
the likes of
you.
”

Having r
egain
ed
her
clarity of thought
well
enough
,
Elizabeth
quickly formed
a plan to help her
Soul Mate
.
Placing
a
hand on
the
side of his face, she began to speak to
the flicker of
William
that she could see regain control momentarily every now and then
.
He was there
. S
he
had to speak directly to him
!

“
I
know in my heart
that you can hear me
,
William
.
I
love you so very
much
!
The reason
the S
pirit
chose to
possess
you
is that
it
knows that we are strongest when we are together
.
It is
a coward—
afraid
of what we can do together
!
”

A growl filled the air surrounding her
.

“
Y
ou will not frighten me!”

Something pressed against
her protective shield
, almost as if
it
were testing its str
ength, giving her insight into i
ts intentions. Elizabeth pushed back, glaring at the
foreign light
shining from William’s eyes.

She waited another few moments until she saw William again. “This
b
eing
has tried to turn my
opinion
against you, but
it
does not understand
t
hat
t
his
would be impossible!
It does not understand love.
Our love is too strong for the
Olc
to destroy with trickery,
g
estures
,
and comments.
I am here.
W
e are together
.
W
e
can
defeat
this
T
hing
.
”

The
S
pirit
crashed
against the
sieve, with so much force, she was
momentarily
surprised that it had held. “You will not get through!”
s
he confidently asserted.

William’s soul
entered
his eyes more often and for longer bits of time.
Feeling a tugging, Elizabeth smiled as t
he memory of something her grandmother had told her years ago flickered to
the forefront of
her mind
.
“
Do not allow
your distress
to overtake you—
the
Olc
is evil
. I
t
feeds on
terror and will only try to make you fear
it
further.
Concentrate on
your love for me, William.
You and I
will
chase
it
away, together.
”

A
nother
memory was triggered
.
Elizabeth hear
d
Jane’s
voice saying,
“
I know it smells unpleasant
, but it will cause evil
to
flee in terror
!
”
Reaching
into her pocket,
she
hop
ed
that the
vile smelling sachet
would work as predicted
.

Elizabeth s
lowly brought the sachet upward. As
her hand neared
William’s face, she quickly placed it near his nose.

William was breathing heavily at this point
,
and he took a deep whiff of the disgusting odor
.
Elizabeth covered her ears as th
e wicked
Olc
screeched
.
A dark fog lifted and took flight through the woods.
She watched
it
flee as trees rustled and bowed, felling a sapling in its wake.

William did not release his betrothed, but
his hands
instantly
move
d
to a more proper location on her body
, showing t
hat
this
was
what
he
had been attempting to do
whil
st
the
S
pirit had possessed him.
His legs would no longer
support him
,
and the couple sank to the ground
in the tall grass
.

Throwing her arms around his neck, she exclaimed,
“
William!
It worked!
”
Her tension
release
d
in
the form of
nervous laughter
amid tears of happiness
.
“
Jane’s sachet worked!
”

“
Elizabeth!
”
William whispered hoarsely.
He
held her close for several minutes before he could speak again
.
“
I did not know how to defend myself from this sort of attack.
I
tried
so hard
to regain control, but
I did not know
h
ow one
c
ould
do such a thing
.
N
ever
in the past
had
I been required
to
think
about how to m
ov
e my
limbs
.
”
He moved to look deeply into her eyes.
“
Can you ever forgive me?
”

Propping herself on one elbow, s
he
smoothed
his furrowed brow.
“
There is
naught
to forgive, my love.
You did nothing.
I could see that it was not you.
”
Elizabeth kissed him sweetly.

William pulled her
against him for
a
nother
gentle embrace
, breathing in her scent
.
“
I am
glad
that you know it!
”
He turned his eyes towards the heavens and said,
“
I am thankful that J
ane had
been
giv
e
n the knowledge to
chase
that
thing
from us
!
”

Elizabeth nodded.

William
asked,
“
May I ask w
h
y you were carrying
the sachet?
”

“
Jane made it for me to wear around my neck, to keep evil away.
It is
filled with herbs
.
Since
it smelled so
awful
,
I refused to wear it,
but
she had me promise to keep it in
m
y pocket instead.
”
She
titled her head a bit
and then
continued
,
“
I think we all must begin wearing
these
sachets around our necks
, no matter the
horrible smell
!
Perhaps if we are all wearing them, we will not notice it on the others.
”

William
raised her hand to his face and
sniffed it
. His nose
wrinkl
ed as he
pull
ed
away quickly.
“
If that is the case, we must make certain that everyone we come into con
tact with
on a regular basis
wears them as well.
It is a good thing that the locals are very superstitious.
Perhaps we can spread a few stories that will
make it easier to get the servants
to wear these herbs.
”
He hesitated before
saying
,
“
Elizabeth
, w
e must find a way to send
that
M
onster
back to the Otherworld.
We cannot allow
it
to inhabit anyone else!
”

Elizabeth
leaned
onto her elbow
again
so that she could see his face, her hand with the sachet coming to rest above his heart
.
“Even though I have the sachet, I am not comfortable
remaining
here.
Are you well enough to walk
now
?”

He
nodded.

They both rose and turned toward Netherfield, walking slower than
was
usual
for the pair
. Elizabeth spoke softly.
“
Being in contact with this Wicked
S
oul,
I have
been able to
see much
.
The
vibration
when
it
touched the sieve
—
once I opened my senses to
it
,
through my experience with the Otherworld
in
the
Sanun
, I
was able to
understand
.
When my thoughts
we
re moving in the correct direction, I c
ould
see
further into the past
and
fel
t
i
ts intentions
for the future
.
I
did not
blame you for anything that ha
d
occurred
, my love
.
I underst
oo
d what
wa
s happening more fully than even you
could
have
, though that was only after those tails..
.
”
S
he shivered and looked up at him
.
“
I cannot imagine how confusing
and frustrating
this
experience
was
for you
.
”
Elizabeth remained quiet
as his expression changed to one of
tortured
contemplation.