The Banishing (28 page)
Authors: Fiona Dodwell
Tags: #Fiona Dodwell, #horror, #demon, #paranormal, #abuse, #supernatural, #banishing, #Damnation Books
Suddenly, the room, the violent spasms of the house, shuddered to a stand-still.
All was quiet. All was still. Motionless.
The cold, damp, earth-smelling entity seemed far off, somehow.
Melissa sat up and stumbled over to the light switch. She found it and slapped it on. Bright light flooded the room around her. She looked around, surveying the damage.
The house was a wreck. Broken. Damaged. Ugly. A shell of itself...a symbol of how she felt.
She shuddered, then looked down at her body. Her clothes were torn, and her skin was red with blood and bright purple where bruises showed against her skin. There were long, deep gashes along her arms and legs, small open wounds seeping small pools of blood.
So much blood.
She turned to the candles, still alight—somehow—on the coffee table and saw they had almost burned down.
Almost.
Melissa sat there on the floor of her lounge, curled up like a baby, and waited for the last flame to flicker and die.
Epilogue
Two Months Later
Melissa held the phone to her ears, waiting. Mark cuddled up behind her, pressed his face into her neck, and kissed her tenderly as she waited to make the call.
Finally, Sharon picked up.
“Hi! How is everything?” Melissa asked, nudging Mark, motioning for him to stop messing around as she tried to talk. He playfully nudged her back and fell back onto the bed, waiting for her to finish.
“I’m good,” Sharon answered at last, her voice flat.
“Are you sure?” Melissa pressed.
“Yeah, of course. I’m happy with the house.”
“What about you?” Melissa said. “You okay?”
“I am. It’s Jonathon, though.”
Melissa felt her heart turn to ice. “What about him?”
“I just don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s not been himself over the last few weeks...”
Melissa didn’t know what to say. She turned to Mark and knew. The deal was done.
About the Author:
Fiona Dodwell lives in the UK with her husband, Matthew. Her passion for dark fiction started when she was a child, and she was raised on a steady diet of horror novels and movies which inspired her to create dark works of her own. She has written several short novels, stories and poems over recent years, but The Banishing is her first full length work of fiction. Fiona is currently working on her second novel.
She can be contacted on her email address:
Visit Fiona Dodwell online at
www.fionasfiction.wordpress.com
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