Chapter 16 Part 3

    Gertie ran up the stairs as everything exploded beneath her in the kitchen. She didn't make it too far before she had to slow down to a crawl to catch her breath. Old women like her didn't run anymore and she needed to remember that. She stopped a few feet from the top while she swallowed thick pockets of air to listen to the sounds around her. The screaming had stopped and that was a good thing and although she didn't know who had stopped Georgia she had heard the slap of skin on skin and knew it must have been someone strong enough to shut her up. In that case it wasn't the smaller mouthy one and although she didn't approve of the assault on her Mistress she couldn't help but smile that the Vessel would feel the pain when she woke up.

     After a few breaths things stayed quiet so she continued up the rest of the stairs only to stop at the top and crouch down behind the railing that would not have hidden her in any way if they had chosen to look up.

    She watched all of the Guardians and the boy shuffle into the front room. The largest one walked by carrying the sleeping vessel. Only briefly did Dominic halt in the foyer causing Gertie to hold her breath and pray. If she moved now he would see her immediately, but all he did was cock his head slightly before he continued into the room. She could feel that her Mistress was no longer in control and that was not a bad thing at this point because with them distracted they weren't focusing on her. She was free to roam even if it was only for a few minutes. She had to find the energies she was feeling in the house. One felt good and the other felt dark...very, very dark. As they moved into the room she remained unnoticed.

      She straightened, her body stiff and opened her mind only to feel the energies she was seeking coming from two different directions. From where she stood she could feel the pull of the dark energy to the left and the good energy was above her. The pull from the left was so strong that before she knew it she was taking involuntary steps in that direction, the energy tugging at her mind and her body. Gertie felt the dark energy pulsate like a heartbeat and with every beat her feet moved forward. She fought it, only barely restrained herself but it was enough that her feet moved mere inches at a time so she didn't move very quickly.

    The energy felt wrong on all levels. It felt thick like she was moving through mud but also enveloped her like smoke that wrapped itself around her whole body pulling her towards the door at the end of the hall. She started to panic when she tried to plant her feet and pull backwards, away from the horrible feeling that was smothering her every inch of her. Her mind screamed for her to stop and to run but her body wouldn't listen, the screaming in her head got louder as she tried to harder will her legs to stop and turn around.

     Horrible images sprang into her mind of screaming misshapen mouths, contorted faces and abnormally large hands that turned in to claws as they grabbed and pawed at her. The result of the images only strengthening her resolve to break free of the hold the energy had on her but she was too weak and her panic took a firm hold. Her body continued to only move forward but her eyes were wide with fear. The door ahead was covered in shadows writhing in and out of the doorway, caressing the frame and walls. Until a sound from above her snapped the hold briefly and she could breathe again. Not that she had been aware that she wasn't breathing and she stumbled backwards a few steps panting as her gaze rose to the ceiling at the scraping noises above.

    The noise stopped and before she knew it once again the beating and pulsating resumed taking a hold on her body, once again moving her forward to shadows. In her mind she begged for something to break the hold again. No sound would come from her like her voice had taken a vacation the only noises she could make were small shallow rasping breaths . 

    Tears lined her eyes as she began to think the worst. The energy was malevolent and soaked with darkness, feeding off of her fear and then once again the scraping noise from above broke the hold it had on her. Whatever it was couldn't seem to concentrate, like it was distracted by the noises itself. Gertie had the brief thought that if it could be distracted then it was taking a hell of a lot of concentration and control to hang on to her. It seemed to her that the shadow didn’t like being interrupted as the hold was cleanly broken and she slumped to the floor, gasping for breath as a violent shudder coursed through her body.

    She felt rather than saw the dark energy crawl up the wall behind her and float along the ceiling carefully before it retreated back into the bedroom at the end of the hall and then she didn’t feel it at all anymore. She leaned her head against the wall and let the tears fall freely from her eyes.