5 . The Faceless man

Sue trembled with fear as she felt the presence of someone standing behind her. The blood continued to gush out from her neck as she tried to stop it with her hand , her heart was throbbing louder than usual and sweat beads formed near her brow. Sue was so scared that she felt as if her legs were paralysed making her unable to move. Suddenly the tense situation was broken with the sudden revival of the T.V . Sue threw the flower vase which she was holding so long in the direction of the T.V breaking the screen into thousands of shards. The T.V screen came down with a large thud scattering the glass splinters every where. She started breathing heavily as the person behind her came in front of her. Sue could not believe her own eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks . It was James ........ he had come back for her ..... Without thinking any further Sue leapt into his arms sobbing terribly , holding him tight as if she would never let him leave her again.
James hugged her back sending shivers down her spine. Something wasn't right ............ James' hands were awfully cold as if ............................................................ as if she was held by a dead man. Sue sensed no life in him. But when she lifted  her head to see his face , there was no doubt it was James. Maybe she was imagining things............ she thought as she looked down at the glass shards. Each shard reflected her image with a faceless man ...................................... she could not believe as she stared in horror at the glass shards ............................. there was no mistake the man had no face !
Sue pushed him away breaking away from his embrace and struggled to walk as she felt dizzy due to lot of blood loss. She struggled her way to the kitchen to find something to protect herself from this phantom but, she was too late............... The phantom was already in the kitchen, now with a burnt face which exposed the flesh underneath , he had a strange mark on his neck which resembled a serpent.

                           

Not knowing what to do , Sue picked up the forks from the shelf and darted them towards him with all her leftover strength. But none of them hit him as he disappeared leaving a black mist behind . This was no ordinary phantom but an evil spirit ................................................... But how could she ward him off ? how could she protect herself ? Sue whacked her brain to find a solution desperately as her vision blurred with every second.
" What should I do ? How can I fight an evil spirit ? ! " she yelled thinking hard . She needed some holy object................. where would she find something holy ?  Sue dashed back towards the living room as an idea struck her. She could use the Crucifix she had bought earlier. It was the only option she could think of . Although the idea seemed bizarre she had no option but to try it out as it was the only way that could save her.
She pulled out the Crucifix from the bag and held it with both her hands as she confronted the man again. The man laughed at her knowing her intentions .
" Begone you evil ! " she yelled holding the crucifix in front of her as a shield .
The man and dropped on the floor as if in pain . It was working ! Maybe it wasn't the end......... maybe she could come out of it safe........... she thought. The man who was now lying on the floor began laughing hysterically. Puzzled with all the drama Sue stood there trembling as the man regained his posture and walked towards her. The Crucifix in her hands was now glowing red as if drenched in blood. Before she could understand what was happening the man's spirit entered into  her body turning her skin pale and her eyes black.
Sue then started laughing hysterically in his voice as she looked at the crucifix in her hands.
" Stupid woman .......... you tried to vanquish me with this piece of metal ................. how naive ! " She laughed.
" That piece of the metal is the very reason why I'm here. But don't you worry ....... I won't kill you tonight as I need you as a sacrifice for my lord on the day of lunar eclipse."
Then with the crucifix in her hands, she made another mark on her neck. The moment the mark was completed , Sue dropped on the floor unconscious.
                                                     

Next day when she woke up , her head was hurting so bad that she felt it would burst any time. She was lying on the floor covered with glass splinters , so it wasn't a dream after all ..... she thought. She had cut herself at various places and went into the bathroom to get it treated. On her way to the bathroom she came across the kitchen where the forks stood on the walls . That's right she had used them to protect herself. As she tended to her wounds she wondered if it would happen again with her. Sue put the first aid kit away and looked at herself in the mirror. The mark on her neck had grown and it appeared like a serpent , similar to the one on the man's neck.