"Is this necessary?" Hope's voice trembled, her eyes fixed on Grace's face, searching for some hint of hesitation or doubt.
Grace's expression remained implacable, her features hardened into a mask of righteous certainty. "We need to know!"
Hope did not look away, meeting Grace's fervor with growing defiance. "Don't do this."
"We must find out if the Demon has left her." Grace spoke with the calm assurance of someone interpreting divine will, her tone leaving no room for debate.
Hope yanked up her sleeve with sudden violence, exposing her forearm where the bandage had come loose. Beneath it, angry purple bruises surrounded two puncture wounds, the flesh around them swollen and discolored. "There's no demon in me!"
Grace's eyes narrowed as she studied the wound, her lips curling into something approximating a smile. “Debatable."
In the hallway, Erik edged his face around the corner, the knife still gripped in his sweating palm. His breath caught at the sight before him.
Faith stood facing Madison's door, her posture rigid with tension. She cradled something in her arms, something that shifted and moved with a sinuous, undulating motion.
Erik lingered in the shadows just outside the hall, peeking in unseen. A low, unmistakable sound slithered into his ears—something primal that bypassed thought and scraped against the raw center of his brain.
Hisssssss.
Inside Madison's room, horror dawned on Hope's face like a slow sunrise, the blood draining from her cheeks as she realized what Faith had brought. Madison's eyes widened, the whites visible all around her irises, her pupils dilating with pure, animal terror.
Hisssssss.
Faith approached the bed with the careful movements of someone handling nitroglycerin. In her arms lay a diamond-patterned snake, its scales catching the lamplight as it twisted in her grasp. With deliberate slowness, she lowered the reptile onto Madison's legs.
Madison froze, not even daring to breathe. Her eyes locked onto the snake as it began to move, its sinuous body undulating as it slithered up her torso, heading inexorably toward her face. Sweat beaded on her forehead, mingling with the tears that continued to leak from the corners of her eyes.
Hisssssss.
"God, Creator, and defender of the human race," Grace intoned, her voice dropping into the cadence of practiced prayer, "look down in pity on this your servant, now in the toils of the unclean spirit."
Hope's eyes welled with tears as she took a step toward the bed, her hand outstretched as if to snatch the snake away. Grace's arm shot out, blocking her path, her fingers digging into Hope's flesh with bruising force.
Hisssssss.
"Repel, O Lord, the Devil's power," Grace continued, her voice rising in volume. "Let him break asunder his snares and traps; put the unholy tempter to flight."
Madison remained perfectly still, not even her chest moving with breath. The snake slithered past her stomach, its forked tongue flicking out to taste the air, sensing the fear and sweat that soaked through Madison's nightgown.
A thin, breathy whistle bled from the snake, slicing through the air like a needle through skin.
"Depart, then, transgressor. Depart, seducer, full of lies and cunning, persecutor of the innocent."
The snake reached Madison's chest now, its diamond-patterned body contracting and expanding with each forward movement. Madison's pulse was visible at her throat, beating frantically like a trapped bird.
"Give place, abominable creature, give way, you—!” The snake reared back suddenly, its head lifting, tongue flicking rapidly. It let out a low, growling vibration—a sound that throbbed in the air and under the skin—slicing through Grace's incantation like a blade. Madison's scream was muffled by the gag, but her terror was unmistakable, her eyes growing impossibly wider.
Hope brought her foot down hard on Grace's instep. Grace howled in pain, her grip loosening just enough for Hope to break free. The snake recoiled, its jaws opening wide, preparing to strike at the nearest movement—Madison's face.
Hope launched herself onto the mattress in a single desperate movement. Her hand closed around the snake's tail just as its head darted forward toward Madison's nose. With a strength born of pure adrenaline, Hope yanked the snake backward and flung it to the floor. The reptile hit the ground with a soft thud and immediately slithered away, seeking the shadows beneath the dresser.
Madison's scream tore through the gag, raw with terror. Tears streamed down her face, cutting clean tracks through the ash and blood that stained her skin.
In the hallway, Erik pressed his eye to the crack in the door, his knuckles white around the knife handle. Inside, Faith confronted Grace, her voice tight with restrained fury.
Hope stepped beside Faith, forming a united front against Grace's madness. "It tried to bite her, just like your snake bit me!" She gestured to her bandaged arm, proof of the danger they'd just exposed Madison to.
Grace's expression remained unchanged, her conviction unshaken. "That was a sign from God. It is time to cleanse her of her sins."
Faith knelt down and, with practiced movements, recaptured the snake. She cradled it in her arms once more, the reptile seemingly calmer now as she walked toward the bedroom door.
Erik withdrew silently, melting back into the shadows of the living room, just as Faith exited Madison’s room. His heart hammered in his chest, the sound of it loud in his ears.
Madison's muffled pleas continued to echo from the hallway as Erik ducked behind the living room couch, pressing his body flat against the floor, as he strained to hear what was happening.
Grace burst into the living room, her hand clamped around Hope's upper arm. She yanked Hope into the room with enough force to bruise, then hurled her forward with disdain.
Hope stumbled, nearly falling onto the couch before she managed to regain her balance. She turned to face Grace, her expression a mixture of fear and growing resolve.
Grace and Hope whispered furiously to each other, their words indistinct to Erik from his hiding place, but the tension between them was palpable. Finally, Hope turned away, heading for the front door.
"I'm not doing it," she declared, her voice steady.
"Stay!" Grace's command cracked like a whip.
Hope spun around, drawing herself up to her full height. "I'm not a dog, and this... whatever this has turned into, is over! If you hurt her one more time, I swear to God, I'll... I'll—!"
Grace took a deliberate step toward her, entering her personal space with threatening intent. "You'll what?"
Hope's anger seemed to crystallize in that moment, coalescing into something solid and irrevocable. Before she could second-guess herself, her hand flew up and connected with Grace's cheek in a sharp, resounding slap. The sound hung in the air like an exclamation point.
Grace stood frozen, her hand rising slowly to touch her reddening cheek, shock evident in her widened eyes. Hope turned to leave but found her path blocked by Faith, who had entered silently from the hallway.
"I haven't asked much of you," Faith said, her voice soft yet somehow more compelling than Grace's commands, "but I need you now."
Hope's gaze moved from Grace to Faith, weighing loyalties, calculating costs. "I'll stay, for you."
She glanced toward the hallway, toward the room where Madison lay bound and terrified. "And for her."
Hope turned her attention fully to Faith, her voice dropping to a near-whisper. "Are you sure this will work?"
Grace scoffed, a sound of pure derision, and stormed off toward the kitchen, the floorboards creaking under her angry footsteps.
In his hiding place, Erik shifted slightly, calculating his next move. The knife lay cold against his palm, a talisman of violence. The house seemed to hold its breath around him, waiting.
Chapter 35