Chapter 43
“We need to go,” Frieda grabbed Haatim’s arm and tried to draw him back into the car. “It’s over.”
He refused to believe that; it couldn’t end like this. Somewhere in the horde of demons, he could feel Abigail. She trembled with weakness. The fight raged inside her, like two titans battling for survival where one of them would, eventually, get destroyed. They clashed against one another for control and domination.
He could also sense that Abigail stood on the losing end.
“She’s still in there.” He pulled his arm loose and took a step toward the demons. The ground shook underfoot, but not from the portal. Now, the cracks in the pavement expanded, and the entire town neared collapse. It became difficult to keep his balance while the rifts collapsed in on themselves. “She needs my help.”
“She’s gone,” Frieda said. “It’s over; we need to go. Before it’s too late.”
“We can’t leave her!”
“She’s right,” Arthur said, with heaviness in his voice, and eyes full of pain. “Abigail has gone.”
Frieda grabbed his arm once more and dragged him toward the car. Haatim glanced behind. Dominick sat in the driver’s seat, frowning at him. He didn’t say anything, but Haatim could tell by his eyes that he, too, had given up.
He didn’t have any hope. He believed, like Frieda and Arthur, that Abigail had become lost to them. They all believed that the demon had control now and that the integration had completed. They couldn’t imagine a way in which they might help her, and they remained right that it had come time to leave.
Not for him, though. He refused to accept that Abigail would lose this fight and her identity. Though this could only stay as her fight, he wouldn’t let her face it alone. He could help her, if only by offering support and encouragement. After everything that had happened, everything they had been through, it couldn’t end this way.
It wouldn’t.
Haatim jerked free once more and rushed forward, running to the throng of demons and Abigail. Frieda called something behind him, stepping out of the vehicle and trying to follow.
“Go,” he shouted. “Leave me.”
He recited a sutra chant, something that had always made him feel calm and relaxed, and focused on the words. Haatim drew strength from them, using them to focus what remained of his energy and tapping deep into his reserves. The chant made him feel stronger.
The rift expanded, and the ground tore asunder as the Earth weakened and collapsed. It acted as a giant sinkhole, and everything fell into it. Already, jagged cracks had split apart and now widened and expanded. At this rate, in no time at all, it would have swallowed the entire town.
Haatim rushed toward the demons, and they parted before him. They fled from him, climbing over each other to get away, and the ones that proved too slow disintegrated when they reached about a meter from him. They let out cries of pain and lost their hold on this world, collapsing to the ground.
Coldness stole over him, but he couldn’t stop. Determined, he continued to force his way through the horde. They closed in behind him, cutting him off from his friends. As soon as his barrier fell, they would attack and rip him to shreds.
That didn’t stop him, though, and he kept going, pushing to the center. Abigail stood right in the middle of it all, near one of the rifts. Her open eyes glowed red, and her face bore a mask of pain and rage.
Haatim stumbled toward her, not sure of his plan. He doubted he could drag her away. Doubted he could even hold the barrier for more than few seconds. Out of ideas, he continued chanting, finishing the sutra.
Surgat wouldn’t let him get close to her. Most probably, it would kill him just for trying. Still, he had to make the attempt.
A violent shudder rocked the ground, and he tripped, falling forward and landing hard on his chest. He hit his head on the pavement and lost focus on his chant. Dazed, he forced himself to sit up. The demons hadn’t approached yet, still afraid, but he wouldn’t manage to recreate the barrier. Once they realized it, they would eat him alive.
He stood and hurried toward Abigail. She spun, staring at him, face contorting violently.
The demon had control of her body once more. Whatever remained of Abigail had almost lost the fight and would soon get snuffed out. He could barely sense her anymore, and the internal battle wound down. Haatim would find it difficult to reach her.
However, he had to try.
“Abigail.” He took a step toward her. The ground continued to shake, and he had to raise his voice. “Abigail, please. I know you’re in there.”
“The girl has gone,” Abigail said, her voice deep and guttural. The piercing red eyes bored into him, digging through his soul. The sheer confidence and evil of the demonic presence made Haatim quiver. “This body is mine.”
“Not so. I can feel her in there, fighting. Please, Abigail, I know you can hear me.”
“You know nothing. Not yet, at least. Soon, though.”
Abigail stood next to one of the rifts, and it went further down than the light could reach.
“I know you’re in there, Abigail,” Haatim said. “I don’t want to speak to this demon. I want to speak to you.”
It took a step toward him, and he fought down the urge to flinch.
“I told you; she’s dead.”
“Then, so am I. If Abigail has gone, then just kill me. You should find it easy, right? I won’t even try to stop you.”
The demon took another step, then hesitated midstride. A confused expression crossed Abigail’s face. A flash of fear came from the demon, quickly replaced by rage.
“I knew she remained in there,” Haatim whispered. “Abigail, please. If you can hear me, you have to fight this.”
A moment passed. The ground continued to shudder. The cracks in the pavement widened. It sounded like thunder in the distance as different sections of the town fell into the rifts. They expanded near him, and all too soon, this section of the town would collapse as well.
Time had all but run out.
“You can do it, Abigail. I know you can. You can push it back.”
“I can’t,” she said, panic in her voice. And it had become her voice once more; the demon forced aside temporarily. “Please, run, Haatim. Don’t make me kill you.”
“I won’t go anywhere. I know you can do this. You can gain control.”
“It’s too much. I tried and lost. The demon has won.”
“It hasn’t won while you remain.”
“I don’t have strength enough.”
“No, I refuse to believe that.”
“It’s inevitable,” the demon said, regaining control. It took another step toward Haatim, only a few meters away. “She will fall to me.”
“You won’t fail,” Haatim said, still speaking only to Abigail. “Don’t listen to the demon; focus on my voice. Only on my voice.”
Another step from the demon, but this one wavering. It held a knife, which looked jagged. Haatim imagined it ripping into his stomach, cutting him open. He envisioned himself, lying on the pavement and bleeding out only moments before the town collapsed, and he disappeared into the world below.
He thought to try and channel again, to call upon whatever power coursed through him to help Abigail. Maybe he could help her push back the demon.
However, something inside him knew that as untrue. For one thing, he felt too weak to channel right now. And trying it again would prove dangerous, if not deadly, to him. More importantly, it would be wrong to try and interfere. Whatever this battle was, he couldn’t help with it. This had to remain Abigail’s fight, and hers alone.
“I … can’t … Haatim. Please, I beg you. Run!”
“No,” he said, speaking softer now. “I shan’t go anywhere. Either you’ll win this, or the demon will kill me. You have to choose.”
“Not a choice! I can’t stop it. The last time Surgat came to Earth, they tried everything possible to control him, but nothing worked. What chance do I have?”
“The difference between last time and this time.” Haatim stepped forward and put his hand on Abigail’s arm. The muscles tensed, but she didn’t pull away. “You. Abigail, you are strong enough to handle this. When we first met, you saved my life, and you didn’t even have to. You are the most amazing, selfless, and caring person I’ve ever come across, and if anyone can overcome this and win, you can.”
The hand holding the knife moved up, shaking, and stopped an inch from Haatim’s throat. He refused to move or flinch, staring straight into Abigail’s eyes. They remained red, but now flecks of brown had mixed in as she tried to regain control.
A crack spread near them, only a few meters away. The ground under his feet became unsteady, soon to fall, and Haatim doubted he could get away from it even if he tried. The building to his right ripped apart, fragmenting from the foundation up to the roof, and collapsed into the nothingness below.
The crevices seemed to go on forever. He imagined falling into one of the holes and held no doubt it would take a long time for him to reach the bottom. Abigail had more strength, but they’d run out of time. He needed to reach her and convince her that she could do this.
“You risked your future to try and save Arthur from hell, and then you risked your life saving the people of Raven’s Peak from a demonic threat that you didn’t even have responsibility for. You didn’t know those people. You didn’t owe them anything, and yet you still felt willing to give up your life to save them.”
“That doesn’t make you intelligent,” the demon said. “It makes you a fool.”
“It makes you brave,” Haatim said. “It meant you had the willingness to stand up to any threat and protect anyone no matter what the cost. It makes you a hero. You don’t think you can beat this demon, but I know you can because you are the most selfless and courageous person I’ve ever met. If anyone in the world can deal with this, it’s you.”
“I failed once already.”
“You hadn’t readied for it then. This time, you have.”
The eyes grew unfocused while the battle raged inside Abigail’s body. Next to them, the crack came dangerously close, but Haatim didn’t move. The rift had cut him off from his only avenue of escape and made it impossible to get away.
“If I have it wrong, Abigail, then just let go. Let the demon kill me. If I have it wrong, then just give up and stop fighting.”
“Haatim, please, leave. I don’t want to kill you.”
He closed his eyes, sure that death reached for him, no matter what happened. The ground shuddered, the crevice expanded, and he had just a few centimeters of solid ground left on which to stand.
“I know,” he said. “But, will you save me?”
He took a step back, to the edge of the crevice, and let go of Abigail’s arm. Then, with a sad smile, he fell back into the rift.
The darkness swallowed him.
