Extreme pressure could sometimes force a witch’s dormant abilities to awaken, especially during a genuine life-or-death crisis.
Madison had just experienced exactly that.
The descendants of Salem did not learn magic the same way ordinary people studied a profession.
Their abilities came through inherited bloodlines, and training mostly involved discovering, strengthening, and controlling gifts that already existed within them.
Among every generation, the witch with the greatest potential could eventually rise as the Supreme.
Madison might not yet compare with Fiona Goode, but her natural talent was unquestionably among the strongest of the younger witches.
After already awakening telekinesis, being dragged beneath the floor by Heather had forced another power to surface.
Pyrokinesis.
One of the Seven Wonders.
“Are you okay?” Charlie asked as he finished pulling Madison through the broken floor.
“I’m fine.” Madison was still pale from the attack, but excitement slowly replaced the fear in her eyes.
She looked down at the flames still burning beneath the floor and seemed almost fascinated by what she had just done.
A loud crack suddenly came from below.
Charlie and Madison had already learned their lesson.
Both immediately backed away from the damaged floor before another section collapsed.
A few seconds later, Heather crawled back through the opening.
Her rotten body had been badly burned, and the smell coming from her was worse than before.
Blackened flesh hung from her bones while smoke drifted from her ruined clothes.
Heather raised her head and prepared to attack again.
Madison stepped forward first.
“You disgusting old corpse.
Just burn already.”
Her eyes focused on Heather.
Flames erupted across the dead woman’s body.
Madison’s newly awakened pyrokinesis was nowhere near Fiona’s level, but she continued feeding power into the fire without letting it weaken.
Heather dropped onto the floor and rolled violently while shrieking in pain.
Charlie watched as pieces of the corpse blackened and collapsed.
Madison gave him a confident smile.
“Looks like Fiona’s exorcism spell won’t even be necessary.”
Heather immediately proved her wrong.
A scream like something dragged from Hell tore through the abandoned house.
Her burning body suddenly collapsed into itself before exploding into a cloud of ash that smothered the surrounding flames.
Something emerged from the remains.
A translucent woman hovered where the corpse had been.
She appeared around thirty years old and still possessed the beauty the townspeople had described.
Her right arm was missing below the elbow, but the hatred twisting her face transformed what should have been attractive features into something terrifying.
Cold wind swept through the house.
The temperature plunged.
Charlie understood immediately.
The corpse had only been Heather’s physical shell.
This was the true evil spirit.
After everything they had already endured, Madison did not wait for Charlie’s warning.
She raised her hand to attack, but Heather vanished before the telekinetic force could strike.
Madison froze.
Cold air brushed against the back of her neck.
She slowly turned.
Heather’s distorted face appeared inches away from hers.
Madison screamed.
No amount of arrogance or courage could completely suppress instinct when a dead woman suddenly appeared directly in front of someone’s face.
Madison went pale, and that single moment of fear gave Heather the opening she needed.
The spirit lunged forward and disappeared into Madison’s body. This story is hosted at g.com.
Possession.
Madison’s blonde hair rose around her head without any wind.
Dark veins spread beneath the skin of her face while strange words spilled from her mouth in a voice that sounded like several people speaking together.
“Damn it!”
Charlie stared for only a second before forcing himself to react.
Everything had happened too quickly for him to prepare, but standing frozen would only give Heather more time to take control.
He grabbed Madison by the shoulders.
“Madison!
Fight her!”
Her body jerked violently in his hands.
“This is your body.
She doesn’t belong here.
Don’t let some dead woman take it from you!”
Possession was ultimately a struggle between two wills.
Most hostile spirits weakened their victims first.
They frightened them, exhausted them, and gradually destroyed their resistance before attempting to enter.
Heather had no time for that.
Her physical body had been destroyed, and Madison’s exorcism spell threatened her existence.
She had been forced to attempt possession while her target was still strong enough to resist.
Madison was also a witch.
Once the initial shock passed, her own consciousness began fighting back.
Charlie could feel her body trembling beneath his hands.
“You want to become the Supreme, don’t you?
Then act like it!”
Madison’s expression twitched.
Charlie immediately continued.
“Think about Hermès.
Chanel.
Louis Vuitton.”
The black veins across her face pulsed.
“Think about every dress, handbag, perfume, necklace, watch, and pair of heels you’ll never buy again if Heather takes your body!”
Charlie had no intention of using some dramatic speech about the power of love.
He knew Madison far too well for that.
“Think about Hollywood!
Are you really going to spend the rest of eternity as some forgotten has-been?”
Madison’s fingers clenched.
“And look at Heather.
Do you want to become a rotting corpse like her?
No career, no beauty, and no man willing to come within twenty feet of you?”
A violent howl erupted from Madison’s mouth.
Invisible force exploded outward in every direction.
Charlie released her and stumbled back as furniture, broken wood, and dust blasted across the room.
Heather’s spirit was violently expelled from Madison’s body and thrown several feet away.
She looked far weaker than before.
Her translucent form flickered.
“My…
Golden Arm…”
Heather abandoned Madison and turned toward Charlie.
She rushed forward.
Charlie tried to dodge.
He was too slow.
Heather disappeared into his body.
Before Charlie could even understand what had happened, another change occurred.
Heather immediately fled back out.
Her ghostly face was twisted with terror.
Charlie stared at her in disbelief.
Heather had entered him for less than a second, yet her spirit now looked even weaker than after Madison forced her out.
For the first time, Charlie saw genuine fear on the face of an evil spirit.
He immediately looked inward.
The Book of Containment floated silently inside his consciousness.
At the instant Heather attempted to possess him, one corner of the crimson book had lifted on its own.
Whatever force existed within its pages had struck the invading spirit without requiring Charlie to command it.
Apparently, the Book did not tolerate uninvited guests inside the territory it already occupied.
Charlie almost laughed at the unexpected discovery.
He returned his attention to the room.
After two failed possession attempts, Heather could barely maintain her form.
Her body flickered continuously while the edges of her spirit dissolved into mist.
Madison had recovered as well.
She did not know exactly what had happened when Heather entered Charlie, but the spirit’s weakened condition was obvious.
Madison immediately raised her hands and resumed Fiona’s exorcism spell.
This time, Heather had nothing left to interrupt her.
The words echoed through the abandoned house.
Heather screamed and struggled, but her translucent body became fainter with every line of the incantation.
The power sustaining her was finally collapsing.
Charlie watched closely.
The evil spirit was about to disappear completely.
Then the Book of Containment moved.
The crimson cover opened inside his consciousness for the first time since he arrived in this world.
A strand of pale spiritual light separated from Heather.
No one except Charlie could see it as the light crossed the room and vanished between the Book’s pages.
A notification immediately appeared.
[Ding!]
[Supernatural Entity Contained.]
[Book of Containment Updated.]
[Initial Containment Target Completed.]
Charlie released a long breath.
It was finally over.
Heather’s curse was finished, but that was not the only reason he felt relieved.
The first containment assignment had been hanging over him since the Book awakened, constantly reminding him that failure might carry consequences he did not understand.
Now the task was complete.
Only temporarily, of course.
More assignments would eventually come.
Still, the first step was always the hardest.
After successfully completing one containment, Charlie finally had a real understanding of how the Book worked.
The second and third should be easier.