The heat beat down on Agnes as she shuffled across the sand. She ran as far as she could before exhaustion overcame her. Now she forced one foot in front of the other, desperate to put as much distance between herself and the compound as possible.
All the while, it continued to squirm inside her. It knew her plan, but at the moment, it had no foothold. That would change soon enough.
I only need to get far enough so that I won’t survive.
She had no provisions with her and there was no water nearby. It took half a day for it to take Gretchen. She only needed to last a little longer than that and her plan would work.
The desert lay before her, no sign of anything on the horizon but more sand. They chose this place for exactly that reason – so they could remain hidden. To the people in town, they were an order of nuns, running a missionary, but the reality was very different. As witches, they had been persecuted through the centuries and if the people in town found out what they were, they’d burn the compound to the ground.
Why are humans so obsessed with burning women?
She heard the tales of those that came before, tortured, burned, hung and more because men feared they were witches. Of course they feared that. Women having any kind of power at all terrified them. It was why they had to keep their secret, to protect the coven from that kind of hatred.
If they only knew what we do to keep the world safe.
The Shadow Coven fought to keep demons at bay. They were everywhere, trying to infiltrate this world. Some had form, but most chose a body to possess. Her coven had dedicated their lives to stopping them. And while no one liked to admit it, they were losing. Demons were so hard to kill. Those they sent back returned not long after.
This one won’t.
She’d make sure of that. Though it pained her that it came at the price of her own life. Still, better her than Gretchen.
You won’t succeed…
The voice in her head was not her own. That thing was talking to her. That’s how they worked, breaking you down while they looked for an opening to take control.
She ignored it and kept walking. Already she had sweated through her dress, but it would get a lot worse soon enough.
I will take control and when I do, I’ll go back and slaughter them all. Starting with the girl.
Agnes almost reacted but caught herself in time. It was lashing out, trying to scare her. She wouldn’t fall for its tricks.
Return to town now and I will let them live.
Another lie. It would kill them and everyone in the town. For a moment, she wondered if she should have chosen a better method. Dying of thirst would take time and there was always the chance she would lose control beforehand, and it would make it to water. Maybe she should have gone to town and done something to get herself killed. If she turned a gun on the Sheriff, he would shoot to defend himself.
No, I can’t risk it. I need to keep moving.
She comforted herself with the thought that every step she took was one step further from help.
I will win. You will lose.
For a moment, she wasn’t even sure if she thought that or if it did. Either way, it didn’t matter.
Trudging on, she tried to think of things to distract herself from what was to come. Like the fact that Gretchen would live, hopefully a long life, and continue their coven.
I will find her and rip her apart.
Agnes shook her head. The voice was louder now. She hadn’t been walking for very long, maybe a couple of hours. She couldn’t let it take control yet.
She spotted some birds in the distance and wondered if something had died nearby. That would be her soon.
Better the birds have me than risk hurting the coven.
The only thing she worried about was that the other women might try to come after her. She saw no sign of them yet, but if they did, they’d tie her to a bed like Gretchen and exorcise her. She didn’t want that. She couldn’t stand the thought of this parasite getting another shot at it when it recovered. Exorcisms did weaken them, sometimes it took years for them to return, but they always did.
We cannot be stopped.
The thought of it listening to her thoughts scared her. How much did it have access to?
Everything.
Agnes pushed on, stumbling slightly as the heat started to affect her more and more. How long before she collapsed? If she lost consciousness, would this thing take over?
I don’t need to wait.
Her right arm shot out from her side against her will. She came to a stop and her leg shot up, tipping her over. Landing on the ground with a grunt, she lay there for a moment feeling dazed. The voice in her head laughed.
With an angry screech, Agnes got back up and walked on, moving as quickly as she could. “I won’t let you win. You have no power over me.”
Yes, I do, Agnes. We are not that different.
“Like hell we aren’t.”
It laughed again.
You forget I see all. I know what you did. You are as bad as any demon. Shall we take a look?
Suddenly her vision was overwhelmed as memories of the past flooded her brain. Memories she’d sooner forget.
Screaming in pain, she fell to her knees.