Darkness in Appalachia
Chapter 14

David and Puk watched Robyn helplessly from the other side of the barrier. Puk kept hold of Robyn’s hand, mildly disturbed by how limp and cold it was. She could almost believe she was holding the hands of a corpse rather than someone who was still alive. She kept squeezing it and rubbing it between her hands trying to force some warmth into it. What she really wanted to do was grab it and drag Robyn outside of the barrier but, like David said, that wouldn’t solve the problem for long. All she could do was offer support through that meager contact while Robyn did what was necessary to protect them all.

David was sitting next to Puk with nothing to do but twiddle his thumbs and grind his teeth. He had tried to take Robyn’s hand and pull her out but Puk had stopped him saying that this needed to be done. She seemed to have reached some kind of agreement with Robyn so he didn’t argue,even though he wanted to. He split his attention between Robyn’s prone form and Puk’s, wanting to scream at both of them. He couldn’t believe that they weren’t fighting back. Surely, there was something that could be done but neither of them were doing it. Part of him knew that he was really angry that there was nothing he could do. This situation was so far away from anything his life had prepared him for that he was left scrambling just to keep up.

His attention was drawn to the creature in the chamber with Robyn. It was unbuttoning the shirt it wore to reveal it’s chest and stomach. David’s stomach lurched at what the shirt had covered. Below its chest was a void that seemed far darker and deeper than should have been possible on a physical body. On either side of this void was an atrophied arm that ended in a three clawed hand. These arms started out clasping each other across its body but began to move once their covering was removing. They flexed and stretched in a way that was somehow obscene and caused disgust to twist his stomach.

It dropped to its knees next to Robyn and leaned over her, bringing the claws into close proximity but not quite touching her with them. The movements they made suggested that they were cutting and pulling something that he couldn’t see.

Robyn’s eyes flew open and she began to scream, her shrieks echoing off of the walls around them. At the same time, some substance began to form between the two claws. David squinted but couldn’t discern just what it was. I was gray and gold sometimes but would then change to be blue or red. At first, it seemed solid but then it turned into a liquid before turning into something else. It seemed to change every time he thought he had found some recognizable feature but there was one thing he could tell. It was coming from Robyn.

David covered his ears and closed his eyes, unable to bear the anguished look on Robyn’s face and the pain filled shrieking that filled the chamber. The sound stopped and he opened his eyes to replace her still screaming but silently now, which was somehow worse. She had screamed so loud and hard that her vocal cords had ripped under the strain and her throat was bleeding, as evidenced by the blood she sprayed every time her mouth was opened. He found himself unable to look away, horrified and entranced by what he could only assume was her death mask.

His attention was jerked away when Puk grabbed him, digging her fingers into his arm and pulling him toward her. “Something’s not right.” She pointed into the chamber, trying to get him to look at what was going on with Ameet. “That’s not how the contract spell should look.”

He looked at the substance collected between the two claws. It had began to coalesce, changing into a uniform red color and forming a tight ball. He had no idea what was happening but trusted that Puk was right.

“What do we do?” He took his eyes away from that tight, red ball and looked at Puk. Hoping that she would have some idea of what was going on.

Her eyes had widened and a surprised smile split her lips. She turned towards him and he saw that she had stopped crying and a new look had come into her eyes. One of triumph.

“Robyn came through. She’s going to save us all.”

David was even more confused. “So, she made the contract? He’s going to be expelled from the reserve?”

Puk shook her head, tears spilling over her cheeks. “No. She didn’t make a contract for him. She did something even better. Watch closely and do what I say.”

David turned back and watched, not sure what he was supposed to be looking for. The red ball became larger and streaks of yellow began appearing. They swirled around the ball, flickering into and out of existence. Their movement reminded him of something but he couldn’t quite place what it was.

“It’s almost done.” Puk spoke from beside him and he turned, intending to ask what she was talking about. She was looking at the ball intently and seemed to be unaware of anything else that was going on around her. She didn’t respond when he said her name, simply held up a hand and pointed at that ball.

He looked again to see that it had changed once more. Flames had begun shooting from the ball at irregular intervals and there were more yellow streaks than before. As he watched, the ball began to expand before exploding into a massive fireball that completely engulfed Ameet and filled most of the chamber. Ameet’s screams filled the air as the chamber filled with smoke and flames.