"You told them?!" Elizabeth hissed, creeping closer to Victor who stood his ground.
"Yes, I told them,"
"And what exactly gives you that right?!" She was seething and he could tell, he could she was edging dangerously close to disclosing his own secret. He moved towards her, his head down as the words leaked out of his mouth.
"Elizabeth, please," He whispered.
Elizabeth's wide eyes darted around the room, she nibbled on her fingernail and slipped back towards the door. She did not know these people and these people didn't understand her, they lived in mansions and had afternoon tea and wore dresses with no rips in them. They had probably never experienced the things she had. Fear, pain, death.
"It's alright, Elizabeth," He tried to placate her using her name, "Will you sit down?"
She moved achingly slowly to a wide, leather armchair and sank down into it, "Why?" She hissed once more.
"Not for my own benefit, but for Vanessa's," Victor looked up at the stately woman stood in the corner of the room and Elizabeth felt a pang of pain in her chest, like she'd been struck by a dart.
"Whatever does she need from me?"
Vaguely, in the back of her the room, she heard Sir Malcolm clear his throat. Victor placed his hand on her arm and the wrenched it away as if her skin was red hot, he then stared embarrassed at the floor.
"I think you have some catching up to do," Ethan chuckled from the background.
And so they began to tell her.
...
Elizabeth found everything hard to believe at first but they were kind, and they let her sit dumbfounded for a good half hour and she suspected that they would have let her sit for longer if Vanessa hadn't fallen face first on the bed and started growling,
"Grab her arms!" Ethan yelled, flocking to her side and grappling with her wrists
Victor took her shoulders and shook her hard. "Elizabeth, Elizabeth we need you to tell us what to do,"
S[ells raced through Elizabeth's mind just like she was flicking through them in one of her books, some she didn't dare attempt, others they didn't have what they needed.
Elizabeth spotted Vanessa's metal jewellery box and two burning lanterns on her bedside.
"We need a circle," Elizabeth jumped up, tripping as she stood on the folds of her long dress, Victor caught her hand to steady her but also to guide her round into a circle.
"I need a sedative, just in case," He dropped her hand and flocked to his medicine bag.
"No!" She shouted and pulled him back to stand around the bed.
Victor looked at her quizzically and pulled on his curls in a frustrated 'science is so easy to trust ' manor but Elizabeth hushed him and assured him to take hands with Sir Malcolm.
"I can sedate her if it comes to it," She admitted, slightly coyly.
"Mr. Chandler is it? I need you to take my hand,"
"What will us all holding hands do Miss. Hare?!" Sir Malcolm asked gruffly.
As Elizabeth went to the reply, Ethan took her hand, firmly.
"It wouldn't kill you to have a faith in the girl," Ethan growled, his other hand clutching the cross on his neck.
"Sir Malcolm, Mr. Chandler, I'lll need you to join hands across Vanessa,"
Vanessa had begone to chant her regular incantations, writhing around on the bed, her eyes rolling backwards and her back arching as her mouth curled into a hideous grin but Elizabeth was about to rival the words spiralling from Vanessa's mouth.
The small woman at the head of the circle wracked her brain for the words.
"Regna terrae, cantata Deo, psallite Cernunnos,
Regna terrae, cantata Dea psallite Aradia.
Caeli Deus, Deus terrae,
Humiliter majestati gloriae tuae supplicamus" Elizabeth stumbled over the words, and watched as Victor turned his gaze to her with a look of expectation.
"Keep your attention on her!" Elizabeth yelled. "Um, shit." She just couldn't grasp the words she needed and now the three men were all staring at her. Again, she demanded for them to keep their attentions on Vanessa...and also to excuse her language.
"It's no use, it isn't working!" Victor yelled and dropped her hand, almost turning to get a syringe when Elizabeth snatched it up again.
"Ut ab omni infernalium spirituum potestate,
Laqueo, and deceptione nequitia,
Omnis fallaciae, libera nos, dominates.
Exorcizamus you omnis immundus spiritus
Omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio,
Infernalis adversarii, omnis legio,
Omnis and congregatio secta diabolica.
Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, dominates,
Ut coven tuam secura tibi libertate servire facias,
Te rogamus, audi nos!
Ut inimicos sanctae circulae humiliare digneris,
Te rogamus, audi nos!
Terribilis Deus Sanctuario suo,
Cernunnos ipse truderit virtutem plebi Suae,
Aradia ipse fortitudinem plebi Suae." Sir Malcolm could see Vanessa was now drooling, she had relaxed completely and was only rolling slightly from side to side like a wounded animal.
"Benedictus Deus, Gloria Patri,
Benedictus Dea, Matri gloria!" Elizabeth finished the incantation and broke away from the circle, snatching a piece of paper from Vanessa's writing desk and them shoving her hand into the pocket of Victor's trousers, his eyes widened in shock and awkwardness, she produced a matchbook. Elizabeth stole a match and lit it, then she guided it to the piece of paper that began to burn and then she started to collect the embers on the wooden floor.
"I need that jewellery box," She held out her hand and Ethan kindly delivered it to her. "You all need to watch out now,"
"Why?" Sir Malcolm asked, lowly, confused.
"I'm about to trap the demon inside of her,"
There was a loud bang, like the popping of balloon or the firing of a gun and Elizabeth dropped the box onto the embers. turning to see what had happened she shielded her head as what looked like a large ball of black smoke bounced from service to service around the room. Ethan was sprawled on his back on the floor, his head slumped by the wall. Victor was leaning over him but instead of tending to the unconscious man he was also attempting to protect himself from the flying black smog. Sir Malcolm was kneeling by Vanessa who seemed oblivious to the world, his hand feeling her forehead.
Elizabeth backed away from the box, the embers of the paper slowly burning still, her back hit the bed that Vanessa was lying on. Suddenly, the black fog rushed past her and she felt a stinging sensation of her face.
"Ow," She winced and put her hand to her face, it was wet with blood.
The black sank into the box, and Elizabeth leapt foreword and shut the lid. Snatching the candle from Vanessa's bedside and dripped it onto the box, watching the white wax bubble and leak into the decorative surface of the box.
It was done and Elizabeth sat back against the bed.
"Vanessa. Vanessa, it's done, it's over,"
Elizabeth heard Vanessa groan wearily as she sat up but continued to look at the wall in front of her with determination.
"Miss. Hare," Came the sultry, tired voice of another woman and Elizabeth slowly turned her head.
Vanessa gasped, "Your face, you've been scratched by something!"
The older woman tried to move to take her hand but Elizabeth shrank back, dabbing at the congealing blood on her face. "It's really alright Miss. Ives, please, stay lying down,"
Vanessa was concerned, it seemed the girl had been scratched by claws, but she was so tired, she had no energy for anything but sleep right now.
Elizabeth looked for Victor, waiting for him to run to her and check she was okay.
"Mr. Chandler," Victor's voice alerted Elizabeth to the figure in the corner of the room, Victor was prying open his eyelids but was greeted by only a blank stare. There was dried blood that had leaked down onto his lips. He had a concussion and possibly worse.
"Doctor?" Sir Malcolm asked, though he was still preoccupied by Vanessa's clammy forehead then Ethan's possible brain damage.
"There's not much I can do for him, he needs a hospital..." Finally, Sir Malcolm rose from Vanessa's bedside and went to the door, he nodded at the comatose body of Ethan and exited.
"I'll ring for an ambulance," The remnants of his voice petered out.
Elizabeth finally stood up and walked tentatively towards Victor who had placed Ethan into a position to aid his airwaves. Victor stood up from his position of crouching and barged past her, he swept up his doctor's bag and exited with a smiling nod towards the dozing Vanessa. Elizabeth followed like a lost puppy, almost stepping on his heels as she tried to catch up with him.
"Victor," She whistled and stumbled back when he whipped round to face her. He advanced on her, his face a stone, a picture of suppressed anger.
"That was not how it should have been done. You nearly killed someone! You might have killed someone!"
Elizabeth's chest heaved in air, she stood, frozen in the hallway and Victor strode away from her once again. Elizabeth's lip trembled, he hadn't even mentioned the deep scratches in her cheek, her own sacrifice to help his friend. How could he blame her when it was his idea that she should try it?!
Possibly angered now, she followed him to the doorway where he fiddled with the brass locks.
"Miss. Hare, Doctor. Frankenstein," They both straightened up, acting as if nothing was wrong, not even remotely, "Thank you, for what you have done today. I cannot thank you enough, especially you Miss. Hare,"
Sir Malcolm took her hand and kissed her knuckles, his weathered hand moving to cup her youthful face, a fatherly smile graced his lips.
"I'd like to invite you both to a ball I'm hosting. I hope you can both attend. You most of all Miss. Hare,"
Victor scoffed, shook his head like he was trying to snap his neck, wrenched open the door, and swept himself out into the cold air.