Thad laughed softly. "Watch this."
He drew a handful of the herbs from the bag and waved the smoking sage sticks over them. Opal hovered, curiously, almost as if she was actually interested to note the direction her final demise would take.
"Fod yn mynd, ysbryd."
Thad threw the handful of herbs at Opal and spoke those words clearly. Zed had no idea what they meant or in what language, but Opal shimmered. She now definitely understood what Thad was doing. Her hands moved toward herself, looking like she was gathering energy.
"You think that is going to stop me?" Opal shouted. The funnel cloud reappeared, with Zed and Thad right in the eye of the storm. The wind whipped around them gathering dirt and debris from the lawn. Zed tried to stay positive as the funnel grew, picking up tree limbs along the way.
"Relax," Thad murmured and dropped his arm around Zed's shoulders. "It can't hurt us. We are safe as long as we're in this circle."
The smoke from the sage singed Zed's nostrils, but he welcomed the human contact. Staying positive was becoming harder when ghostly tornadoes hurling real objects swirled around.
Thad threw a small handful of herbs into the tornado. It disappeared, the dirt and debris falling back to earth, the stones pittering cheerfully. "Grab a handful of herbs," Thad told Zed. "When I say, throw them at her. Clear your mind, stay focused."
"When are you going to realize you can not escape me?" Opal waved her hand over one of the fallen tree limbs. It hovered a few feet off the ground before spinning wildly. Her gaze fixed on Zed's. "Do you really think he'll stay with you? Love you forever? He won't! He'll never trust you, never love you the way I do. He'll leave you. He'll hurt you."
"No. He won't," Thad whispered fiercely against Zed's ear. "Stay positive. He loves you. You love him."
Zed nodded. "He won't leave me," he shouted. "He's mine; I'm his. That's the way it is... always has been." He swallowed nervously. What was the crazy, angry ghost up to? "He's already loved me forever."
"But he doesn't trust you. See how easily he doubted you, thought you had strayed." Opal looked smug. "All it takes is one grain of mistrust and your whole life is shattered." The tree limb spun wildly and started to swing toward the salt circle and back to Opal, a horrifying display of a pendulum.
"That was you. You causing trouble. You made him doubt me." Zed crushed the herbs in his fist, wishing he held a grenade.
"I didn't have to try too hard. You're faithless, always have been. I'm the only one who will love you forever."
"No." Zed shook his head. Stay positive, stay focused... believe. He glanced at the house. "Alex has saved my life twice. He... No, he won't leave me."
Opal's smile sent a shiver down Zed's spine. The tree limb swung toward the circle and back to Opal and kept on going. The ground shook under Zed's feet as the backdoor exploded with a thundering crash. Splintered wood flew and landed several yards away. The bricks toppled around the door frame, revealing parts of the kitchen -- the kitchen where Rhys and Alex would be. "Think he can save you now?"
"Alex!" Zed was horrified. He took a step towards the partially demolished kitchen only to be yanked back, Thad's grip on his forearm almost wrenching his shoulder from its socket.
"Stay inside the circle." Thad held Zed close to him.
"But Alex..."
"She wants you to leave. Look, most of the damage fell outside. They'll be fine."
Zed wondered how Thad could be so calm. He was shaking, with fear as well as fury; he'd lost focus but was more positive now than he had ever been. Positive he was going to send Opal packing and wishing it would be more painful for her.
Aware that he had compressed the herbs in his hand into a lump by now, Zed threw them at Opal's laughing visage. A few pieces separated from the clump, but the main flew through the center of Opal's forehead, where Zed wished he could put a bullet.
A shrill metallic screech was Opal's reaction. The herb mass flamed briefly and disintegrated. Opal shimmered and faded, her second screech fading with her.
"Is that it?" Zed whispered, hardly daring to believe she was gone.
"I doubt it. I can still feel her malevolence." Thad let go of Zed's arm. "Sorry 'bout that."
Zed rubbed at the red mark caused by Thad's grip. "No prob. I guess I should thank you for not letting me do something stupid. Again."
Thad shrugged. "It's not like I had anything better to do." He kept mixing the herbs in the bag. "Rhys, Alex! You guys okay?"
Rhys appeared at the destroyed doorway. "I thought this was going to be peaceful."
Thad laughed. "Never said that, love. If there's more salt, make a circle round you and Alex. It won't be blessed, but it should help a bit."
Rhys nodded. "I don't know what you're doing out there, but could you keep it down a bit, huh?"
"Where's Alex?" Zed called.
"He's fine." Rhys called back, then ran a hand through his hair. "He's injured, Zed, but he'll be fine. It was like Opal knew where he was."
Before Zed even took a step towards the salt, Thad grabbed his arms. "Stay in the circle, for fuck's sake. Rhys is a doctor. Trust him."
"But she's gone." Zed pulled against Thad's grip. "I want to see him, I'll be right back."
"You'll be lucky if you even make it to the house."
"She won't hurt me."
"Maybe not before, but I think she will now." Thad tightened his grip. "There's nothing you can do to help Alex. He knows you're safe, and you know he's okay. And Rhys is fine." Thad's arms went around Zed and held him close, squeezing him tightly, then letting go. "Empty the negativity. C'mon, I need you with me if we're gonna do this. Don't let her get you."
Zed took another handful of herbs from Thad's bag. Considering what the last handful had done, with the anger he'd poured into them, these should explode. He realized he was pacing and, in a circle as small as this, that was bound to annoy Thad and frustrate himself. "How long d'you think this will take?"
"Not sure."
"But you are sure she isn't gone?"
"Uh-huh." Thad sank to the ground, sitting cross legged, and motioned for Zed to join him. "Ever meditated?"
Zed sat, mimicking Thad. "Nah, me and sitting still don't often work well together."
Thad smiled and nodded. "I get that." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "Try to settle, then."
The sage stick that had been dropped when Thad grabbed Zed still smoked gently. The smell no longer singed his nostrils and made his eyes water. Why hadn't Alex appeared with Rhys? "Rhys?" he shouted.
Thad's eyes opened and focused on Zed. Thad shook his head before closing them again.
Rhys appeared. "What?"
"You wouldn't lie to me? Alex is okay, right?"
"I'm fine, not dying," Alex's voice came from behind the wall still standing. "Zed, I love you."
"Love you, too." Zed settled, but was loath to close his eyes.
It was too peaceful, too quiet. Thad was right. Opal was still around, and whatever she was doing, she was making them wait. She could wait 'til they were so exhausted they were in no state to fight her. Then what? Zed just hoped that Rhys and Alex had salt, and enough of it, to protect them.
"Why aren't they out here with us?"
Zed didn't realize he'd asked out loud until Thad answered.
"An error on my part. I didn't think she'd use Alex the way she is. I thought she'd forget he was here since she couldn't see him. A lot of spirits only use what they can see." Thad sighed. "I want to protect them, too."
Zed nodded and silence settled over them again. Occasionally Rhys and Alex's voices reached them. That reassured Zed, relaxing him. He had no idea what they were talking about, but Alex's voice had an almost somnolent quality. Calming, sedating. He'd always hated when Alex had to give a presentation in class. He'd either fall asleep or get so horny he'd have to find his current fuck for a quickie between classes.
"You think you can vanquish me," Opal's voice thundered in the silence. The wind whipped around the circle once more. Opal spread her hands and fallen bricks rocketed into the house. "Before I vanquish him?" The picnic table flew off the ground and into the kitchen.
Zed jumped and wondered if he'd fallen asleep. There was a lot of noise. Crashes, splintering wood, shattering glass and yelling. Tania's picnic table lay broken right where Rhys had been standing moments -- maybe half an hour -- before. Time almost seemed irrelevant.
Thad thrust the sage sticks at Zed. They'd been left unattended too long and were no longer even smoldering. "Relight them. Let the flame burn for a minute, and then blow it out. Let the smoke cleanse you." Thad nodded. "Just know that you can do this." He turned to face the house. "Rhys? Alex?"
"We're okay." Rhys shouted. "Just hurry it up."
"You can't hurry something like this," Thad muttered, more to himself than Rhys.
"You better hurry." Opal whipped her head around toward the barn. The pile of junk rose off the ground. Tools, tractor parts and planks hovered menacingly with their jagged edges and rusty nails.
A concrete bird bath, chairs, an artificial Christmas tree, a massive lump of string lights, an outdoor penguin ornament, and hay from inside the barn zoomed to join with the other more deadly objects. Items were drawn like a horrific magnet in an equally horrific B movie. Zed guessed where it was headed and didn't think a salt circle would protect anyone from that landing on them.
"Fuck!" Zed's instinct was to run and haul Alex and Rhys out of the partially dilapidated kitchen. An instinct he immediately quelled. It was exactly what Opal would want him to do. He knew damn well she was using his love for Alex to try to lure him out. He had to have faith. Looking down at the sage stick and bag of herbs, Zed wished he had something more substantial to throw at her -- like an M16.
"Focus." Thad held the bag between them. "Throw the herbs at her. Keep doing it, and clear your mind. Don't think of anything but getting rid of Opal." Thad took a decent handful, and started to chant.
Don't think of anything but getting rid of Opal. Now, that Zed could do.
The monolithic mass hovered -- just as it shouldn't, which made Zed all the more worried about where it wasn't going to hover anymore -- and lumbered toward the house. Zed grabbed some herbs -- it was his turn to save Alex -- and hurled them at Opal at the same time Thad, chanting fluid words under his breath, threw his. A double whammy. The fury in Opal's eyes deepened as she flickered.
"It's working."
Thad nodded, never faltering in his chanting. Feeling empowered, Zed threw a healthy dose of herbs. Thad followed suit. Opal dimmed but didn't break her stride either, the murderous mass getting closer to its target.
"I'll win. You could make this easier on everyone and just come to me."
"Fuck you." Time was of the essence. Zed dropped the sage and reached into the bag with both hands. He threw the herbs as if he was pitching at the World Series, feeling more than justified in sending this bitch straight to Hell. Hopefully, they had enough to outlast Opal.
With each throw Opal dimmed more and the mass stuttered in its path. The herbs were working, slowly but effectively. Zed grabbed another handful, and managed to step on the burning sage sticks.
"Ow! Fuck." But an idea dawned on him. The herbs were good, but if he threw the smoking sage at Opal, would it work better?
"Can I throw this?"
Thad broke his concentration for just a second and nodded. "We're so close."
This time, Zed took careful aim. This was the only sage they had and he wanted it to do as much harm as possible. He aimed the smoking herb bundle and threw it, straight through where Opal's heart would have been, if she'd ever had one.
Opal screamed like a banshee, or what Zed thought one would sound like. So shrill, Zed covered his ears to protect his ear drums from imploding. Thad, seemingly unshaken by the noise, flung the rest of the bag's contents.
Opal gave one last fading scream and vanished into spectacular nothingness. The silence still rang with her shrieks; they resonated from the trees and buildings. The gathering mass just dropped, littering the lawn with junk.
"Fuck, I've already picked most of that up once already," Zed grumped. He looked at Thad, hopefully. "Is she gone?"
He was afraid the answer wasn't going to be the one he wanted to hear. They were out of herbs and sage sticks after all. It wouldn't be good if Opal came back for an encore.
Thad closed his eyes and sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity to Zed. "Yes, she's gone. Rhys, Alex, you can come out now."
So, Opal was finally gone. There weren't any tell-tale signs rejoicing that the coast was clear, but there was a definite change in the atmosphere. Subtle, but Zed felt it. The birds sang and a gentle warm breeze caressed instead of destroyed. This nightmare was finally over.
Thad blew out the candles and gathered his supplies. "I'll give the area a once over to make sure nothing else is lurking."
"Cell phones are working," Rhys said as jogged over. "Fuck, Zed, when you piss someone off, you don't do it by halves."