Oh no, very bad, I forgot to give credit where credit is due. The Shadow Goddess is an original character created by a friend of mine, Butterscotch. I have permission to use the character and the chapter meets Butterscotch's approval. So, she's not mine. Just want to clear that up. I think it's clear enough in the chapter, but essentially, the Shadow Goddess is the counter to the Harvest Goddess. Like Jesus and the AntiChrist. Similar concept.

To the reviewer who simply said, WTF, just keep reading. To anyone else who read it and declined to say the same thing, just keep reading. Everything will return to normal in chapter 41. I'm going to try to put up the next 3 all at once. I posted them somewhere else all together, and everyone was like "Yay,"apparently, posting them seperately isn't a good idea because all I get is "WTF."

Chapter 39: The Creature Before Me

Jack had yet to look upon her face. He was too terrified. Her voice boomed out again, "Look upon the one you called for!"

Jack's voice echoed the fear he had, "I. asked for the Harvest Goddess."

"Your words asked for a blessing from the Harvest Goddess. Your black heart, the evil which consumes your mind, unwittingly spoke those words to me."

Jack cried out, "I'm not evil!"

"Silence!" The Shadow Goddess shouted with unparalleled power. Jack was knocked backwards by the strength of her voice. He clasped his hands over his ears in pain. Somewhere up on the cliff behind her, a rock was jarred loose and fell into the pond. The sound of the splash went unheard as the echo of her word ripped forth through the air again. Her voice took on something closer to her normal tone, "How dare you come before me, request my presence, and then try to lie to me? Now look at me!" Thunder crashed in the sky.

Jack dared not to look at her, but he feared more to disobey her. He finally looked fully upon her face. To his horror, her face resembled a skull, yet somehow, disgusting though it was to even consider it, there was a disturbing hint of underlying exquisite beauty clinging to it that some part deep inside of Jack still found attractive. Her soft smooth skin was nearly transparent, and Jack could see dark shadows under her cheekbones, and dark hollows highlighting her eyes. The eyes that burned round and red like living flame. It was in those eyes that Jack saw with ease the inner beauty her soul possessed. He could not deny it, something in those eyes felt warm and comforting to him, boosting his confidence.

Jack knew of her great power. He remembered Carter talking about the Shadow Goddess in church. He needed to stall for time while he tried to think of some way to escape her. Was there even a way to escape omnipotent evil? "And who exactly are you Shadow Goddess?"

She smirked, "I am who I am. I have been called the dark counterpart to my sister the Shadow Goddess. My powers are, as you would term it, evil. I hold dominion over the night, plagues, death, and the darkness in human souls. But I'm not really evil, you see. I'm just doing my part to cleanse this world. And yes, I do know you are stalling for time. To answer your unspoken question, you cannot escape me. For I know everything intimate detail about you, maybe even more than you know yourself. We are very much alike you see."

"I'm nothing like you." Jack's voice faltered, his confidence fading away so quickly after he had found it.

"Oh no? How are you going to defend your actions? The poor people who died as a direct result of your actions. Won. Harris." When she exclaimed each name, she spoke in a perfect impression of the victim's voices, as if they were partaking in a roll call of the dead, calling out to Jack through her, "Manna. Kai. Popuri. Lillia. Rick."

"I'm not evil! I was doing what had to be done! I was." His voice trailed off.

"Just doing your part to cleanse the town of their evil? Oh yes, we are so very much alike indeed." She laughed a laugh eerily similar to Anna's, "And what of the others. That one close to you that you hurt. He was a close friend of yours. Carter. Why did you hurt him?"

"I don't know why! Everything was just so out of my control. I lost control. Carter is my friend."

"And there was another, you had the intent to hurt. I do believe that her name was-"

Jack started crying, pleading with the Shadow Goddess, "Stop it! Leave her out of this!" He couldn't bear to hear her voice come out of that demon's mouth.

"Mary!" Her voice rang true in a perfect impression of Jack's fiance. With the calling of the name, the Shadow Goddess once again changed form. Jack stared intently at her face despite himself. He watched as one by one her features clicked into place. The last thing to change were her eyes. The red seemed to fade away, becoming diluted in a sea of blue. Jack had to remember, remember it wasn't her. Yet, her form was so perfect, so exactly like Mary's, how could it not be her in the flesh? "Jack?" Her voice called out, sad, pleading, seemingly reaching out for him, "Why? How could you even consider hurting me? I thought you loved me."

Jack sat down, crying, instantly forgetting everything but Mary before him, "I'm so sorry. I love you. Mary, I love you so much."

"How can I ever believe it Jack? You were going to hurt me, take delight in it. You can't take it back."

"Please, forgive me. I was so wrong Mary."

Slowly, Mary floated towards him, landing gently on the ground with first one foot, then the other. She walked to the pitiful form before her. Jack looked up at the object of his affections. She knelt down beside his quivering form, "I love you too Jack, but do you love me? How can you prove it? Prove it to me with a kiss. Show me how much you love me. Give yourself over to me. Surrender to me."