ANGRY SPIRIT PART 2 Chapter Four

Three days and three nights passed uneventfully after Miranda took up temporary residence in the spare room. However, a heavy air of suspicion and expectancy still hung over Nathan and his resident medium. The silent and uneventful atmosphere began to tear at their nerves. Innocent sounds took on an air of imagined mystery. Innocuous shadows became manifestations of evil forms ready to consume unsuspecting victims in their path. Closed doors were opened reluctantly and fearfully lest they concealed hideous intruders waiting to pounce on any one foolish enough to pass beyond.

The lull in activity provided no relief; both were convinced it was most certainly the calm before the onset of a terrifying storm.
Miranda sat, idly thumbing through magazines, though here attention was clearly captivated by her inner thoughts. The preceding days conversation had become something to be avoided, however, by mid-afternoon the mounting tension reached eruption point and with it the inevitable cessation of frustrating calmness.
As Nathan crossed the room, an action motivated by the sight of a small damp patch forming on the wall beside the door that separated the living room from the dining room, he announced his discovery to Miranda.

'It could be condensation forming," she replied, though her voice was far from convincing.
She too began to approach the offending mark. Both seemed intrigued, more than surprised. Neither shifted their gaze as the patch slowly increased in size.
'That doesn't look like condensation to me,' Nathan said, raising a finger to inspect the area closely.
'Maybe there's a burst pipe in there?' she replied.
'There are no pipes in that wall. What's more, it doesn't even feel damp!'
'Maybe, it's just a stain from something that's been splashed on the wall? I'll get a cloth from the kitchen and wipe it off.'

Nathan stood transfixed as the strange blemish continued to grow. By the time Miranda had reached the kitchen, Nathan felt his heart pound and the now familiar feeling of horror when he realized that the shape of a letter 'J' was forming on the wall before him.
A second letter was beginning to form when Miranda returned, cloth in hand;
'It's a message!' she gasped.
'I don't care what it is! Get rid of it!' Nathan's words were laced with an eddy mix of anger and panic.
'We should wait. If it's a message we need to know what it says.' The calmness of Miranda's reply did little to quell Nathan's panic. 'I don't give a damn what it says. I want rid of it!' He grabbed the cloth from Miranda and began rubbing the wall frantically, however, his efforts proved in vain. Despite his efforts, the letters continued to form, until the initials 'J.E.' remained proud and prominent in front of them.

"He's playing with us again! It's Joshua Edwards! Nathan yelled angrily, throwing the cloth to the floor and burying his head in shaking hands.
"Don't let it get to you, that's the reaction he wants. He feeds on your anger and fear.'
"Is that a fact? He feeds on my anger does he? Well if he wants to play, he's picked the wrong playmate, because he's got me more than angry now!"
"No. Nathan, don't rise to it." Miranda pleaded and grabbed his arm, in a misguided attempt to calm him. She needed no mediumistic skills to predict what was about to follow.
"Come on, Joshua Edwards, you sorry excuse for a spirit, or whatever you think you are... Come on, bring it on... it's playtime ..."
"No Nathan! ... stop!"
"Come in here now and show yourself. Let's really see what you can do!'

No! You idiot! ... You damned idiot, Nathan! You have no idea what you've done." Miranda fell into the armchair, completely horror-struck. The color drained from her young face as she contemplated the consequences of Nathan's fool hardly invitation.
"I'm fed up of these stupid games; he doesn't scare me any more ..."
"Don't you realize what you've done?" Miranda screamed at him, 'You've just invited him in here. There's no telling what he will do now."
"Look around you Miranda, you're the medium. He didn't need inviting; he's been here all along. Who do you think has been causing all this shit?"
Once again the medium rose from the chair and stood facing her companion. Making sure her angry glare met its mark when she finally voiced a dire warning. "I said from the beginning, Nathan that all this was not the work of Joshua Edwards, he doesn't waste his vital energy playing games, he leaves all that to the poor lost souls around him whose energy he saps."

"What difference does it make who is causing it, Joshua Edwards or his army of stupid servants. I've had enough. It's time we stood up to this and took on whatever it is face to face."
"Oh yes, let's take them all on." Miranda's face flushed crimson red, as her uncontainable anger boiled within her veins. 'Thanks to you and your damned stupid arrogance we have no choice. You've given him exactly what he wanted, he now has free access to your home and he can reap whatever havoc he feels fit. If you think things have been bad up to now, believe me Nathan, you haven't seen anything yet."
Should he have needed verification of her words he soon got it in spades when the heavy curtains either side of the window bellowed, horizontally into the room, as if propelled by an almighty blast of wind, despite the windows being firmly latched and closed.

With painful and uncanny precision the trailing edge of the fabric caught Nathan with a devastating blow about his face, the force of which launched him in an air-borne arc across the room. His graceless flight ended abruptly when his helpless body crashed onto the coffee table, which instantly gave way and showered the room and its two occupants in wood splinters and shards of shattered glass.
For a moment Nathan lay motionless, and miraculously uninjured. Miranda stared on in stunned disbelief.
Once the shock had subsided and the power of speech returned to her, Miranda picked her way through devastation with her hand outstretched, to make a feeble attempt to help Nathan to his feet.

"Are you all right?" Her words were broken, and struggled to pass her trembling lips. "You could have been killed ... Oh Nathan! What have you done?"
The shattered victim offered no reply, his expression of shock quickly transformed to obvious and painful regret, when his eyes met hers.
Feeling a mutual compulsion, the two of them turned slowly to face the wall where the initials had formed. Each gasped in horror at what they saw. Above the letters and slightly to the left, almost touching the 'J' a shard of glass had embedded solidly into the plaster surface. From its razor edge a trickle of what appeared to be fresh blood flowed down the wall, absorbed by the letters, rendering them crimson red.

Words still escaped Nathan when he slowly stumbled towards the kitchen, picking up a packet of cigarettes from the worktop en route. His actions were slow and stiff, almost robotic. His senses had clearly not yet returned sufficiently to perform calculated movement. Only habit drove him forward towards the outer door, the cigarette dangling loosely between his dry lips.
"Nathan!" Where are you going?" Miranda called after him. "You need to sit down for a while. Please come back in. I'll pour you a drink."
Pausing only for a brief Moment, Nathan turned, but offered no immediate reply.
"Please Nathan! Please come back inside and sit down for a while," she repeated.

Framed in the doorway, and illuminated by the brilliant sunshine, the effect the incident had on Nathan was agonizingly clear. No trace of healthy color remained in his face; instead a grotesque grayness masked his features, emphasizing the redness of his watering and bloodshot eyes.
Miranda's initial concern was quickly turning to consuming panic as Nathan's unseeing eyes starred back her; still he made no attempt to move.
"Nathan?"
Still no reply was forthcoming.
In that horrifying moment, Miranda's mediumistic instinct reminded her of the obvious. She may well have been facing Nathan's helpless figure, yet the nerve shattering was about to be revealed;

"Oh my God!" she issued in a whisper, the realization too devastating to accept. 'It's you ... Joshua Edwards?"
This time the reply came instantly, and with an impact far greater than she could have ever imagined.
Nathan's ashen face cracked into a fiendish glare. His eyes bulging wide and red, his parched bluish lips parted and curled into an evil smile before gapping wide and emitting a fowl stench, akin to rotting flesh awash in raw sewage, concluding with a deep guttural laugh, so deep that kitchen utensils danced to its vibrating influence before clattering to the floor.
"No!" she screamed, "You can't take him! I won't let you."

The guttural laugh resounded once more, louder than before and mocking in its evil intent. "Are you going to stop me? The same way you stopped me, when I took your precious Max Deacon. You had no power over me then, and you have none now, you pathetic bitch!"
As anger, fear, shock and numbing horror ravaged Miranda's whole body; a gradual weakness began to wash over her. At first she resisted, fearing that the angry spirit of Joshua Edwards was draining the life force from her. Locked in the overwhelming will of evil before her, she stood almost statue-like, captive to its evil influence, until, in her final moment of worthless resistance she allowed the faint inner voice, calling faintly in her swirling, confused mind take its desired course.

'Have no fear, sweet Miranda. Even Joshua Edwards can not defeat the power of mutual love and innocence. Together we can send him back to the depth of dark evil nothingness where from where he has crawled."
The calmness grew stronger as the soothing, gentle voice drew nearer and louder.
"Max?" Her mind screamed out, yet her lips remained still and silent. "Is it really you?"
"I'm always here, place your trust in me now, I shall come back to you one day soon, but this is not the time, nor is it the right place."
"I need you now, Max! I can't fight him alone; he is too strong for me."

Joshua Edwards looked on through the pain filled eyes of his helpless victim. Nathan was no more than an immobile host for an evil so strong it ruled his will and actions with its unbreakable shackles. However, despite this awesome power, the Evil Spirit was unaware of the inner conversation taking place between the young medium and her beloved Max.
The sight of Miranda's sudden calmness confused Edwards. The realization that suddenly, he had no control over her angered him to the point of bellowing out a deafening roar, louder than that of any mortal beast, yet the medium remained unaffected.
The voice within her urged that she should recite the Lord's Prayer, and continue to do so regardless of what was to follow. "Focus your mind on the light of good and righteousness and you will be protected by a host of a thousand good spirits. Close your eyes to the mortal world, my love and you will be safe."

Following the guidance of the one person she had never had reason to doubt, Miranda allowed her eyes to close, blocking out the horrors that surrounded her. The result was instant, a subtle smell of jasmine drifted in a warm breeze about her face. A brilliant white light engulfed her, with it came a sense of embracing comfort and security, akin to a babe nestled in its mother's loving arms.
The journey she took seemed vast, yet its duration but the blink of an eye. She had passed beyond the limits of time and space. Visited places where earthly affects were irrelevant. And listened to words of wisdom from entities whose identity and status she cared not to question.

Slowly, the brilliance of the light dimmed and hints of reality returned to her senses, as once again consciousness reclaimed her being.
After opening her eyes, she was immediately confronted by the sight of Nathan's prone form, lying motionless by the door. The kitchen was strewn with wreckage as if a mighty typhoon had passed through destroying everything in its path.
Picking her way though the devastation she knelt beside Nathan and nestled his head in her lap. Feeling no urge to voice concern or fear, she remained silent, soothing his temple with the stroking of a gentle hand. Max had kept his promise, he had battled the evil that Joshua Edwards had mercilessly metered down on them, and the moment at least sent him back to his lair in the darkness.

When Nathan eventually emerged, aching and confused, he too was compelled by silence. The ordeal they had both endured and survived, defied all explanation by a rational mind, however, they both shared a mutual certainty that their ordeal was far from over. A battle had been won, but a long and bloody war still lay ahead before any claim of freedom could be made. The evil Joshua Edwards would return, angrier than ever, and they must be prepared and ready to take on his wrath.