Consuming Darkness, Arising Light

Chapter 29: Death Is Not An Option

(A/n: Trigger Warning: blood is mentioned a lot later in this chapter)

Sharon

Sharon, Clyde, and Craig stop by the porch, having no other choice since the Nullification Barrier is blocking further advancement. It's clear, invisible even, but exudes strong magical energy. Sharon places a palm against it, able to feel its solid texture. She furrows her eyebrows, aware that she must take down this powerful spell herself. Even if Clyde hadn't overexerted himself, neither his nor Craig's magical strength are equivalent to the Being of Darkness'. But Sharon is hesitant. She knows it's going to take a lot of energy to dismantle the barrier, she'd rather use that much energy against the enemy itself, not its spell. It would be a huge waste.

"Mrs. Marsh?" The concerned voice came from Craig. "You okay?"

"Yeah, you're tensed," Clyde says.

Cognizant of her rigid posture, Sharon relaxes while heaving a soft sigh. She shouldn't be reluctant, Kenny is in desperate need of assistance. "Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking of a way to dispel the barrier."

"I'll help," Craig says.

Sharon almost shakes her head, but after quickly thinking it through, her mind hasn't changed and she says, "No, save your strength."

"But-"

"Don't worry, I can handle it."

"...Okay."

Sharon closes her eyes and puts her other palm against the barrier. A purple aura emanates like a mist from her body as she concentrates on discharging her magical energy onto her target.

Slowly, similar to haze shrouding a glass window, purple begins to color the barrier.

******

Kenny (Fifteen minutes ago)

It's cold.

So...

So...

Cold.

The pain hadn't dulled, instead it felt like the coldness from the hard wooden floor was making it worse. The scent of blood was making Kenny nauseous. He wondered how much he'd lost.

Gradually, he realized someone had been talking to him inside his head, screaming at him to open his eyes. They had also mentioned something about healing. He's too tired to distinguish the voice.

Footsteps approached him, thudding like drums in his ears. Once the sound stopped, a heavy menacing pressure pushed down against his body.

"Oh, yer still alive?"

Kenny winced when he felt a cool metal press against the side of his temple, then the item emitted a clicking sound.

"Let me put you outta yer misery then."

Kenny braced himself. He had no strength to fight back. For the first time in a long while, he's afraid to die. He had experienced this same kind of fear back when he had faced off against the first Being of Darkness as a child. His addled mind could not recall how he overcame it. But the one thing he's certain of was that he would deeply regret leaving Stan here to fight both the Being of Darkness and its minion without any help—physical help. He felt warm tears building up behind his eyelids. When he thought about Stan losing his life because of him, because he wanted to know if his siblings were still here or not even though he knew this house was a trap, a teardrop managed to slip out from underneath his eyelid and plop silently to the floor. He weakly curled one of his hands into a fist.