“Damn it!”
Charlie stared at the decaying woman as the final bullet dropped from her body and struck the carpet.
Every round had torn through rotten flesh and bone, yet the wounds were already beginning to close.
The creature refused to die.
Charlie had carefully wiped several cartridges with holy water before loading them.
He had hoped the priest’s blessing would give the ammunition some power against supernatural creatures, but the bullets appeared no more effective than ordinary lead.
They could slow the corpse and knock it to the floor.
They could not destroy whatever force kept it moving.
Charlie raised the Glock and fired again.
The shots struck the corpse’s shoulder, chest, and forehead.
Its body jerked with every impact before collapsing backward, but Charlie no longer felt any relief when it hit the floor.
He knew it would rise again.
The priest had warned him that sacred objects were not magical charms.
Charlie had ignored the warning because crosses, holy water, and scripture always seemed effective in horror movies.
Reality was proving much less convenient.
As the corpse began pushing itself upright, Charlie glanced toward Madison.
“What do priests say during an exorcism?”
Madison stared at him in disbelief.
“How should I know?”
“You’ve never heard anything from the Bible?”
“If you asked me about this season’s collections, I could give you every important designer and trend.
The Bible isn’t exactly part of my daily reading.”
Charlie fired once more and struck the corpse between its blood-red eyes.
The impact snapped its head backward but did nothing to stop its advance.
“Anything would help.”
Madison hesitated before offering the first words that entered her mind.
“Tell it that you command it to leave?”
Charlie looked at her.
“That’s your expert advice?”
“I’m a witch, Charlie.
Priests usually aren’t interested in sharing professional secrets with people like me.”
He had no better option.
Charlie fired another shot and knocked the corpse onto its back.
Before it could recover, he holstered the Glock and pulled the crucifix and pocket Bible from his bag.
Fear made his hands tremble, but he forced himself to move closer.
He pressed the cross and Bible against the corpse’s ruined chest.
“In the name of God, I command you to leave this place and return to Hell!”
The words sounded impressive enough to Charlie.
He repeated them while pressing both objects harder against the creature.
The corpse released a piercing shriek.
Its rotten body twisted beneath him as though the sacred objects were causing genuine pain.
Charlie’s fear briefly gave way to excitement when he realized the improvised exorcism might be working.
“That’s right.
Go back to Hell!”
The corpse’s screams became louder.
Charlie pushed down with all his strength.
A sudden gust swept through the room.
The creature swung its remaining arm and struck both sacred objects from Charlie’s hands.
The cross flew beneath the bed while the Bible hit the wall and landed among the broken glass.
Charlie scrambled backward before the corpse could grab him.
“So much for blessed protection!”
He rolled across the carpet, found his footing, and drew the Glock again.
“The priest warned me not to treat these things like weapons.
I should have listened to him instead of watching so many movies.”
The corpse climbed upright with no sign of weakness.
Its red eyes fixed on Charlie before it charged with terrifying speed.
He retreated while firing, but the creature continued through the bullets.
“Madison, now would be an excellent time to help!”
An invisible force erupted across the room.
The corpse was lifted from the floor and hurled backward.
It struck the wall with enough force to crack the plaster, leaving its decaying body embedded several inches into the surface.
Madison lowered her hands and curled her lip in disgust.
Charlie’s desperate resistance had given her enough time to recover from the initial shock.
Now that she understood the creature could be struck and moved, her confidence had returned.
The corpse tore itself free from the wall.
Its ruined mouth opened in a furious roar, and it rushed toward Madison.
She did not retreat.
One flick of her hand sent the creature flying across the room again.
It crashed through a chair and rolled into the remains of the bedside table.
Each time it tried to rise, Madison struck it with another wave of telekinetic force.
The corpse bounced between the walls and floor like a broken doll trapped inside an invisible storm.
Charlie released an impressed whistle.
“That’s more like it.
You’re at your most attractive when you’re throwing monsters through walls.”
Madison glanced toward him and winked.
“So this is the kind of woman you prefer?”
“Right now, absolutely.”
Their confidence lasted only a few minutes.
Madison clearly controlled the fight.
The corpse could not approach her, and every attack caused more damage than Charlie’s bullets had managed.
Unfortunately, none of it lasted.
Broken bones straightened beneath the creature’s skin.
Torn flesh pulled itself together while shattered pieces of its body crawled back into place as if drawn by invisible threads.
Madison eventually twisted the corpse’s body into a grotesque knot.
Its limbs bent at impossible angles while the spine curled until the creature resembled a ruined human pretzel.
Even that failed to kill it.
The corpse’s body began correcting itself almost immediately.
Madison’s confident smile disappeared.
“We need another plan.”
Her breathing had grown heavier, and sweat formed along her forehead.
She possessed tremendous power, but a witch’s energy was not limitless.
Keeping the corpse pinned while repeatedly tearing it apart was exhausting her.
Charlie understood the danger.
“I know.
Give me a second.”
He searched the room while desperately considering every possibility.
The Glock could not kill the creature, and his improvised exorcism had only angered it.
Charlie summoned the Book of Containment inside his mind.
The crimson volume responded to the creature’s presence, but it did not open a path or pull the corpse inside.
It merely waited, as though Charlie were expected to defeat or subdue the target before the Book would act.
Apparently, being the master of the Book did not mean it would perform the difficult work for him.
Madison threw the corpse into another wall.
The impact shook the room, but her hands were visibly trembling afterward.
“If you don’t have another idea, we need to leave.”
She took a step toward the destroyed doorway while keeping her attention on the creature.
Madison could have abandoned Charlie and escaped on her own.
Instead, she warned him and continued holding the corpse back, which proved that saving her at the fraternity party had not been wasted.
Charlie was about to agree when he noticed the travel bag lying near the overturned table.
The Golden Arm had caused the haunting.
It might also provide the solution.
Charlie rushed toward the bag and pulled the artificial limb from inside.
“Madison, hold it down!”
She clenched her teeth and extended both hands.
The corpse had nearly repaired its twisted body when a crushing force slammed it flat against the carpet.
Its remaining arm clawed at the floor, but Madison kept it pinned.
Charlie ran forward and raised the Golden Arm like a club.
“You want this thing so badly?”
He brought it down against the corpse’s head.
“Then take it back!”
The Golden Arm struck the creature with a heavy metallic crack.
Rotten flesh and insects scattered across the floor.
Charlie swung again.
Every blow was accompanied by another furious declaration.
The elegant golden object became a hammer as he struck the corpse’s face, shoulders, and ruined chest.
From outside the room, the scene would have looked less like an exorcism and more like an enraged criminal attacking a dead body with stolen artwork.
The corpse suddenly stopped roaring.
Its blood-red eyes remained fixed on the Golden Arm.
“My Golden Arm…”
“Yes, it’s your Golden Arm.”
Charlie struck it again.
“My Golden Arm…”
“You keep saying that.”
He continued swinging until his shoulders burned and his breathing became ragged.
Each blow crushed more of the corpse’s decaying body, yet the creature no longer attempted to attack him.
Madison eventually exhausted her remaining strength.
The telekinetic pressure disappeared.
Charlie did not notice at first.
He continued beating the corpse until his arms became too weak to lift the Golden Arm again.
Only then did he realize the creature had been free to move for several seconds.
Charlie immediately stepped back.
The corpse did not follow him.
It slowly raised its remaining hand and pointed toward the golden limb he held.
“My… Golden Arm.”
The words left its mouth as a quiet whisper.
Its body collapsed inward.
Rotten flesh, burial clothes, and exposed bones dissolved into dark mist before vanishing completely.
Within seconds, nothing remained except stains, broken furniture, and the lingering odor of decay.
Charlie stood motionless with the Golden Arm hanging at his side.
“That worked?”
He had attacked the corpse out of desperation and frustration.
He had not expected the same object that bound the creature to the living world to become its weakness.
Perhaps returning the Golden Arm had satisfied the obsession that kept the woman’s spirit from passing on.
It was also possible that striking her with the object had broken the supernatural connection sustaining the corpse.
Charlie lacked enough experience to determine the truth.
He looked inward at the Book of Containment.
The crimson volume remained closed.
There was no new numbered entry and no explanation of what had happened.
For a moment, Charlie feared that the creature’s disappearance did not count as containment.
Then he opened his own page.
[Number: 000]
[Name: Charlie Taylor]
[Type: Human]
[Physical Body: 1.1]
[Spirituality: 0.1]
[Abilities: None]
[Containment Points: 10]
Charlie stared at the final line.
His Containment Points had increased from zero to ten.
The Book had clearly recognized his victory, but the corpse had not received its own numbered page.
That left him uncertain whether he had contained the entity, destroyed it, or merely released its spirit.
Would the result satisfy his ten-day assignment?
The Book offered no answer.
Charlie shook his head and looked around the devastated hotel room.
Although he was the Book’s master, most of its rules remained hidden from him.
Madison approached and stopped beside the place where the corpse had vanished.
Her hair and dress were disheveled, while exhaustion had replaced her earlier confidence.
“Nice work.”
She looked at the Golden Arm in Charlie’s hand.
“I suppose that settles everything.”
Charlie glanced at the unchanged pages inside his mind.
“Maybe.”
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