Until the End Do We Part BOOK ONE

Chapter Three III

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CHAPTER THREE
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November 12th, 2023
7:59 PM

Arthur decided that he would stay in Alfred's house for some more time. He felt like the recent... activity needed to be investigated, at least some. After a call to his Boss and having a few more pairs of clothes delivered, Arthur was ready for a few more weeks' stay.

Of course, he didn't tell his leaders why he was staying. They would never had believed him.

So Arthur sat in Alfred's living room with a bag of all the supplies he had scraped up from the estate. He had a torch, a large container of salt, silver, charcoal, chalk, ash, iron shavings, an iron cross, medical supplies, and his magic book. (On his little clothes-recovery trip to London, he was able to smuggle all that into his suitcase without incident.)

He cast a spell to make any and all electrical, energy, and presence fields visible. He had turned off the electricity at the breaker box earlier, but there may be some remnants. Surprisingly, the house was aglow with the remains of dark presences. Deep red spots glowed in various parts of the room, getting strangely brighter the higher up they were.

Arthur climbed the stairs, wearing the cross pendant just in case. As he expected, when he got to the second floor, the imprints were noticeably stronger. He made his way across the house, and discovered that the closer he was to Alfred's room (the same room he had been sleeping in for the past week), the stronger the imprints were.

Arthur put his ear up to the door, which gave off a humming or vibrating sensation. He could hear growls coming from the other side, and the repugnant stench of sulphur leaked from underneath the door.

Arthur turned off his flashlight, and created a floating, energy-less light so what he believed to be a demon couldn't draw power from it. He cursed himself for not bringing holy water, but the iron shavings and salt would have to do. He could get more tomorrow, anyway.

Arthur readied his various weapons, and opened the door swiftly. There were no imprints in the room except the dark red glow coming from beneath the closet. Arthur closed the door behind himself, drawing a ward on it, the floor, and the window with charcoal while keeping an eye on the closet.

Walking towards the offending part of the room, Arthur slowly spread a dual circle of iron shavings and salt outside the closet door, and drew a Devil's Trap on the floor with chalk.

Considering himself as prepared as he could be, Arthur held tightly onto the iron cross around his neck before opening the closet door and quickly scrambling backwards.

Red light burst from the closet, and a dark black shape swirled and writhed in the closet. It tried to throw itself at Arthur, but was stopped in a shower of sparks by the Devil's Trap and the salt-iron mixture on the floor. The smell of sulphur quickly filled the room, and Arthur began to breath exclusively through his mouth.

The demon shrieked and growled at Arthur, throwing itself at the barrier again and again. White cracks appeared where it struck, and Arthur cursed.

"I knew should've brought the chains..."**

The Dark Mass*** broke through the barrier, salt and iron shavings scattering. It lunged at Arthur, who in a flash cast a igniting spell at it. It shrieked as its body made contact with the pure heat and light, and recoiled. Arthur threw more iron at it, waving his hand to create more balls of light in the air, cornering the Black Mass.

It writhed in a corner, blood-freezing screams coming from it as it was surrounded by the light, shrinking back. Now in a fully lit room, Arthur muttered a exorcism chant, wrapping the chain of his iron cross pendant around his fingers and stepping forward. Before he could complete the Banishing Ritual, though, he felt a foreign presence enter the room.