AN: The top portion is italicized since it's from the end of Chapter 24, we backtracked in the last chapter to see what was happening in the barn with Bella and Edward while Reya distracted Marcus.
Chapter Twenty-Six
A man with bronze hair, the one the brown-eyed witch was attached to, clenched his transparent hand around his wrist. Confusion furrowed his brow, not understanding what was happening. A human was touching him, physically. It wasn't possible.
Desperate, he searched for another source to steal energy from, but his call for the others went unanswered. The man and his wife's doppelganger were too protected to collect from, but he sensed another. Someone hiding in the fireplace, watching with glee at his impending destruction.
His granddaughter would be of no assistance, the betrayal from his own bloodline angering him further. He tore away from the strange man, and in a desperate attempt to save himself, to salvage whatever souls he could keep under his control, he flew toward the exit.
It was like if he'd been shot the moment he tried to pass through the threshold, falling back with such a force, it affected the two humans in the room. He watched as the man helped lift the enchanted chair still holding the woman up. Something else drew his attention, along the floor of the living room exit was a line of salted tape.
They had him trapped.
Edward held onto Marcus as the old bastard cackled, his fingers resembling claws. They had no effect on Edward's phased arm. He couldn't help but smirk. A hundred years earlier, in another life, he had the ability to phase like Bella. His memories now intact, he remembered how to harness the gift, but couldn't hold it for long.
Edward felt Marcus trying to drain the energy he needed from his surroundings. His fingers started to flicker from transparent to flesh and it was not a comfortable feeling. Sensing Bella's presence, Edward looked back to see her leaning against the doorway. She was nowhere close to full strength yet, but together they could send the bastard to hell. With a nod, she told him she was ready. "Now, Reya!"
Reya started to chant a spell, sending the chair she sat on flying across the room to the safety of a second seal. Safe for the moment, Reya watched Edward and Bella in complete fascination. She had never seen anything like them.
Bella stalked further into the room, radiating a power that was almost predatory. Something that commanded attention, respect, and a healthy dose of fear. Edward dropped his hold on the ghost's form as she approached, his hand opening and closing into a fist as if he was in pain. If he was, his distress wasn't visible on his face. He looked almost at ease for the first time since they met. Reya wasn't sure what happened, but she sensed a change within the couple. Edward's transformation made him almost equal in power to Bella, almost.
They circled Marcus, not too close, but enough for him to cower away from them. He was a mere shadow of himself, skin hanging off his bones, eyes so sunken in, Reya believed there was nothing left but the darkness that came over them earlier.
"You've depleted your energy," Bella hissed, stepping toward him. Marcus tried to lunge away, fearing her. For some reason, Reya believed he had every reason to be afraid. "You've used up all your energy."
"Got more," he growled, reaching for Edward. Before he could put his hands on him, Marcus hissed and backed away, as if Edward was enclosed in a protection spell, too. "I'll swallow their souls' whole."
"I don't think so." Edward stepped closer, his hand reaching for the ghost's throat, but Marcus flew out of reach at the last moment. "There's nowhere to run."
"There's always a way out," Marcus spat. A hum, soft and almost childlike floated across the room from the direction of the fireplace. "Heidi, girl you come help your grandfather."
"I'm searching for the thing to make me whole inside of you," Heidi sang softly. She remained unseen, but her voice filled the room. Bella shared a look with Edward, shaking her head. It was the song Marcus played to his victims, the same song they were singing outside. "Time for you to go, Grandfather."
Marcus didn't seem to like the defiance in Heidi's voice, his form losing shape and he became nothing more than a black mist. The room rumbled, glass rattling in their frames, the wood floorboards lifted beneath their feet.
Edward grabbed a hold of Bella, keeping her upright.
"Fuck, they're fighting all around us." Heidi was finally standing up to her grandfather.
Bella called out for Jason for help, Reya watched helplessly as her boyfriend ran into the room. He was unprepared to see the chaos with his own eyes; a television screen could not compare to the real thing. Jason stood immobile until Marcus suddenly reappeared right in front of him, from a shapeless black fog to something much more real. The ghost appeared as a rotting corpse, his jaw hanging on by the sinew of his cheeks.
Marcus roared in Jason's face. Reya screamed, hoping the amulet Bella gave Jason would protect him long enough to do what he set out to do, be a distraction.
Riley managed to enter the room unseen by the ghost, grabbing Reya and tossing her over his shoulder. They made it to the door before Marcus realized he'd been fooled again.
Jason had stood his ground, not backing down even when facing evil. He smirked, only angering Marcus further, he swung a bony fist toward him, and though the amulet took the brunt of the hit, it sent Jason off his feet.
"Get out of here, Jason!" Bella screamed. Marcus took the form of a shadow again, circling the room, his mass increasing in size and taking up half the room.
Edward helped Jason to his feet, but his ankle had twisted on his way down. Reya watched from the hallway, reaching her hand out for Jason and Edward. Everyone praying they'd reach safety in time.
Riley's hand latched around Jason's arm, pulling with all his strength, but it was little use. It was like trying to pull someone out of quicksand. The harder they tried, the deeper Jason sank in the darkening room.
"Bella!" Edward called out. His feet felt like lead weights, his knees nearly buckling under the pressure in his limbs. He had no idea where the asshole got the energy to hold them inside. He had to get Jason out of the room before opening a gateway to hell. "He's not letting Jason out of the room!"
"On three," she whispered through Edward's thoughts. He shivered, the intimacy of sharing thoughts was unlike anything he ever felt. Something he'd make sure they had a chance to explore soon, but it was not the time.
Edward repeated Bella's words for Reya and Riley, each of had a hold on Jason. He counted down and the moment he said 'three' Bella sent a wave of energy toward them, sending Jason and Edward tumbling into the hallway and into the others.
"No, no, no!" Edward crawled toward the doorway, the force keeping him out of the room was too strong for him. "Bella!" He watched helplessly as the shadow started to grow, circling her in a sort of tornado of darkness and misery. The asshole's face formed long enough in the shadow for Edward to realize something was wrong.
Marcus was harnessing energy, but from where? Bella once said that sometimes a spirit could drain a living thing, a human, the same way they harness power from other ghosts.
If the darkness inside Bella had nowhere to go and it remained stored inside her, could it be something Marcus was tapping into? Was Bella Marcus's new, seemingly limitless source of energy. She screamed as she cut her palm with the small knife in her hand, she chanted over and over, sending Marcus scrambling to find another form. He resembled something more demonic than man, with arms and legs too thin and long to be human, over seven feet tall. It crawled like a creature of the deepest oceans, across the floor as far from Bella as possible, still trapped within the room.
The force keeping Edward from the room weakened, as hell started to open near Bella's feet. He kept pushing through, screaming at her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered in his mind again. "I love you."
She phased partially, gliding toward Marcus, capturing his writhing form in her arms, and pulling him into the gaping hole in the center of the room. Edward realized what she was doing, she was willing to sacrifice herself to put an end to the victims' torment.
"Bella! No!" As the last of the force fell away, he tore away the salted fly tape, running toward her. Riley and the others screamed at him, but he couldn't afford a distraction. He grabbed Bella by the hair, nearly yanking her back as dark, thin arms from hell latched onto Marcus. "Let him go, baby. They got him."
"I'm not your baby!" Bella screamed, but her voice was way off.
"It's Heidi," Reya screamed at Edward, watching from the hallway, Jason keeping her with him. "She's influencing Bella."
Edward nodded, holding onto Bella, whispering in her ear. "Come back to me, Bella. Please, please, please." She screamed in pain, as Marcus held onto her legs to keep from descending into the pit. Between Edward pulling her against him and the arms from hell holding onto Marcus, she was literally being pulled in two different directions. If it didn't stop soon, they'd break her.
He felt the heat of the pit, the red-hot glow nearly blinded him as he wrapped his arms around Bella partially corporeal body. His chest tight against her back, their hearts nearly level, his soft words in her ear. "If you're going to hell, I'm going with you."
"No!" she screamed, her body thrashing within his arms. "Help me!"
Who was asking for help? Bella or Heidi? He heard the others screaming, he had no doubt what they were witnessing would send fear through them. Those arms, the sounds coming from hell would undoubtedly visit them in their sleep for months to come.
It wasn't long before Edward realized they weren't screaming because of the gateway to hell, or that a dozen arms were reaching out for souls to snatch. They reacted to the spirits entering the room, each of them glowed an ethereal golden white light, the remaining victims were fighting back. They circled Edward, each placing a hand on his back, giving him the strength he needed to pull Bella away from hell.
Marcus hung onto the edge with only the tips of his fingers, horror-stricken. Edward realized for the first time, Marcus felt true fear, something his victims knew a lot about because of him. With the last twist of his lips, he glared at Edward. "I'll meet you in hell, boy!"
Then he was gone, as he let go and fell back into the fold of a thousand arms, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Edward and Bella were tossed away as the hole closed with the speed of a bullet. The force of it sending them tumbling in opposite directions. Edward's head struck the wall, his vision blackening for several seconds. A trickle of blood was warm on his cool skin.
"Bella?" he called out.
He opened his eyes in time to see her surrounded by the victims, each whispering something to her and disappearing in a flash of warm light.
Riley was there in front of Edward, helping him to his feet. Whatever Riley was saying to him, it fell away, too distracted by what he was witnessing. In all his time sending spirits packing, he had never seen them crossing over like this. The warmth of the light they radiated seemed to cleanse his soul, making all his worries float away.
As the last of the souls disappeared, he recounted them in his head. There were still two spirits missing. Bella's best friend Vicky, and Heidi.
Bella stood shakily on her feet, offering a soft, "I'm okay."
He couldn't be sure. "Heidi?"
"It's me, Edward. I swear. She's gone, she was willing to sacrifice me to send her grandfather to hell, but not herself."
Jason groaned. "Sounds like she's more like her family than she realized."
Bella sighed, nodding. "She'll be a problem, but not for a while. We'll have to do a follow up in a few weeks, see if I can get her to crossover then."
"She tried to kill you, Bella," Edward reasoned, pulling her into his arms. "If you must do it the hard way, do it. We can't have her deciding she likes hurting people." She looked up at him and agreed.
"Look at this place," Jasper said, walking into the room and joining them. Keeping his voice low, not wanting the others to hear their conversation. "Where did he get all that energy from?"
"Some from Heidi, some from me," Bella whispered, shrugging. "Edward and I need to do some experimenting. He can keep the darkness inside from surfacing, but I think it's obvious it's temporary or like a Band-Aid."
"Are all of them gone?" Riley asked, scratching his head. The poor man looked around the room in complete awe, a little fear, too. The ends of a few dozen floorboards were twisted and gnarled into strange shapes. The walls were stripped of plaster, even exposed wires hung like thin streamers, ripped from the walls and ceiling. "Not sure how I'm going to explain this."
"How about the truth?" Jason said, rolling his eyes. "This is why I hate working with cops, even with all the evidence, everything you've seen, you'd cover all this up to protect your precious career."
Edward wanted to intervene, but Bella swayed, going limp in his arms. "I'm okay," she lied, her eyes struggling to remain open.
"I suggest you all settle this later," Edward said, lifting Bella into his arms. She didn't even protest, resting her head against his shoulder. "I'm taking Bella home, we'll meet in few days to go over the videos and reports. Until then, have Jasper give you instructions to make sure you're clean and don't have a spirit riding you."
Reya looked at Jason. "He's right, we shouldn't linger considering Heidi is still out there. She could latch onto any one of us."
Jason didn't need to be told twice, he grabbed Reya's hand, using his walkie to tell his crew to turn on the lights and pack it all up.
Edward headed outside and walked toward the truck, knowing Jasper was right behind him. "I can't deal with you right now." He couldn't even look at him, he was still too angry.
"We need to talk."
"No shit," Edward hissed after carefully placing Bella inside the truck. "You think I don't know that. You knew who I was from the moment we met, knew what I was capable of for years. You've known that Bella and I are destined to die at any moment. Don't get me started on the fact that you're keeping one hell of a secret from my cousin. Alice doesn't deserve your lies."
"She knows I'm different."
"Different is like Alice, or me, but we're not fucking immortal. What does that even mean for Alice?"
Jasper didn't get to answer, as Bella moaned in the truck, her head falling against the window. She shifted enough for Edward to notice the blood in her hair. "Fuck, I got to get her looked at and cleaned up."
"She'll be too weak to use her powers to heal, get her stitched up, and some food for you both. You're going to feel like utter shit tomorrow, like a hangover, only much worse."
Edward nodded. "Give us a few days, you can come over then, but only because we need answers."
Jasper nodded.
"And you need to tell Alice, because if you don't, I will." He left Jasper behind in a cloud of dust, wanting nothing more than to crawl into a bed with Bella beside him and hide away for weeks.
It was exactly what he intended to do once his uncle Carlisle checked on Bella. Once she was safe, and on the mend, he would put whatever protection spells he had stored in his memories to make sure they weren't disturbed for a few days, at least.
Maybe a week or two.
