101. Let The Battle Begin

"We can't give up now!" Emily roared encouraging the spirits to carry on.

They all were just a few distance away from the Church but along the way, it was a battle between the souls and Diana's pawns.

Nearly a quarter of their army was wiped out by the pawns but the fire inside each and every soul - living or dead - to end the sufferings and the evil burnt brighter than the fear of their final deaths.

Suddenly, Emily heard sounds of barking and familiar voices calling her name. She turned towards the direction of the sound and was delighted to see Mr. and Mrs. Jackson along with Tom.

"We're here to join you," Rose said keeping a hand on Emily's shoulder with a warm smile.

David nodded as Tom circled around Emily.

If Tom is here, it means only one thing. "Where's mom and dad?" Emily asked looking around.

Emily's excitement to see her parents after a long time slowly faded as Rose and David kept their silence.

"Emily," David said breaking the heavy quietness, "we don't know,"

Emily looked at them hopelessly.

"It's true that we had sent Tom to live with your parents but when Rose and I were just about to leave the motel, we met Tom and then along the way we met you."

"David and I are as confused as you." Rose said stroking Emily's arm, "We looked around in the hope to see Mr. and Mrs. Watkins but as far as we could see, there was no one in sight. It was like magic when Tom approached us."

"Believe us or not," David began, "but it was Tom who was guiding us to you."

"You are really smart, you know that?" Emily began petting Tom as she held back her tears.

"Look," Clyde pointed out a building not far from them, "Father Murphy must be inside the Church."

"We should warn him," Ryan followed, "before Diana gets here."

"Do you think Diana knows about all this?" Helena asked Ryan referring to them and all the souls they have conjured.

"She's not naive, Helena," Ryan replied.

"Let's just hope we get there before her," Clyde said turning towards Ryan and Helena.

- - - - - - - - -

"Diana," one of Diana's pawn addressed her who had her back towards the pawn and stood a few feet away, "they're bringing the souls from the realm of the dead and they all are marching towards the Church. Some of your pawns are keeping them away but -"

"Stop," Diana said in a calm and soothing tone, interrupting the information that one of her pawns had brought.

There was a brief moment of silence and then Diana scoffed. The pawn stood there - not saying a word - obeying its master.

"They are just making my work easy," Diana mocked. "If they are so eager to die, I'll let them have it."

Diana laughed and then turned around to face her pawn. "Are you sure they are heading towards the Church?"

"Yes,"

Diana scoffed with a smirk. "People say a Church is a safe place but what they don't know is that tonight they all are heading towards their vortex of death."

Diana began walking towards the pawn, "Tell my army of pawns to get ready. Let the battle begin!"

The whole place was filled with evil laughter as the pawn nodded its head with a smile.

- - - - - -

"Ah, we meet again," Diana greeted Emily, Clyde, Helena, Ryan, and all the souls of other dimensions with a welcoming smile near the Church gate with her army of pawns behind her.

Emily gave one look at Diana's pawns - lifeless, soulless, zombie-like, still - waiting for Diana's command.

It was a sight to see. On one side there were Diana and her pawns ready to kill, waiting for her command. On the other side stood Emily, Clyde, Helena, Ryan, Alex, and the souls from another realm.

Amidst a dead town, under a moonlit sky, no one could've ever imagined that a fight for everyone's life, a fight for justice, a fight to end all the sufferings, a fight that was sure to turn into a battle was just waiting to happen. It was anyone's game at that point. The battlefield was getting ready. A match was just waiting to be lit up like an inevitable disaster.

And then Emily's eyes fell upon John, then Skylar, and then Scarlett - standing in front - if only we knew before, we could've stopped her from gaining control over you all.

Emily looked behind her. The souls of Grandma Lily, Uncle Max, and Harry looked devastated looking at John. Everyone is in a place they don't wanna be at. Everyone is seeing a sight they don't deserve to see.

Then she spotted some familiar faces - her school friends, her neighbors, her teachers, and the same thing raced in her mind - if only.

Suddenly she saw someone which made her strong heart melt but she kept a straight face of bravery despite screaming inside. No, no, no! This can't happen. She closed her eyes and looked away to get herself together from not breaking down after seeing her parents among the army.

"And who do we have here?" Diana commented looking at Alex.

Alex just kept quiet looking at the ground. Her legs trembling. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back - startled - and saw her mom, dad, and her sister looking at her - smiling and encouraging her. Alex smiled back and looked up to face Diana.

"Oh, so you are a part of Olivia's family?" Diana snarked. "It was fun to see her giving her life up to suicide."

"Stop it!" Alex screamed in defense. The wounds of the death of her family were still fresh and Diana was only pouring salt on it.

But soon Alex regretted her decision to raise her voice as Diana's face got stiff with anger. She kept looking at Alex with an unwavering gaze.

Alex suddenly began screaming in pain with her hands wrapped around her neck. To anyone, it would appear as if Alex was suffocating herself but everyone knew it was Diana.

"Please, leave her alone!" Olivia yelled seeing her sister helplessly dying with agony.

Diana growled and constricted Alex's neck with more force. Just then Diana's concentration got broken by the opening of the Church gates and the sound of Father Murphy.

"Quick! Get inside!" Father Murphy yelled standing near the gates.

That quick distraction was enough for Diana's grip to become lose giving a window of a few seconds to Alex to run as fast as she could inside the Church.

Emily, Clyde, Helena, Ryan, and all the souls did the same with Diana and her pawns right behind them.

When everyone got inside the Church, Father Murphy closed the door with the help of Father Williams and both of them began chatting something while pouring holy water on the door.

The pawns charged at the door with full speed but the door didn't break. They kept on doing it but nothing happened to the door. Everyone only heard the loud bangs.

"What is Father Williams doing here?" was the first thing Emily asked Father Murphy after catching her breath and watching Father Williams pour holy water all around the Church from the inside.

"I'll explain everything later, Emily," Father Murphy said. "but all you need to know right now is that he had come to help us all fight Diana."

"I highly doubt that," Emily said with a concerned look. "Father Williams was possessed by Diana before. Don't trust him."

Father Murphy looked at Father Williams who was still pouring holy water and putting guarding spells against wall to wall. "He had helped me a lot. The reason why Diana and her pawns cannot enter this Church is because of him, because of his holy barriers."

Despite being assured by Father Murphy, Emily still held Father Williams as a suspect.

"Now what?" A voice of one soul echoed.

"We don't know," Clyde replied on behalf of everyone. "We don't know for how long we could keep Diana outside and us safe. But embrace yourself for the battle for it's about to begin."