104. Black Smog

"Father, look out!" Emily pulled Father Murphy in the nick of time.

Father Williams regained consciousness and reached for the knife still covered with the dried blood of Father Murphy. He got up with an effort and was about to stab Father Murphy on his back when Emily pulled Father Murphy out of the way.

"Thanks, Emily," Father Murphy said looking behind him to see Father Williams lying on the floor face down, again.

"Don't mention it," Emily smiled.

As Emily was taking Father Murphy to a pew, Father Williams twitched which no one noticed.

He got up, again, grabbed the knife, and this time with a firm grip. He aimed at Father Murphy but he got imbalanced and the knife was now heading towards Emily.

Neither Emily nor Father Murphy was aware of their death right behind them. The tip of the knife touched Emily's back as she startled but soon Emily didn't feel anything piercing through her.

"Not when I'm here," Clyde held Father Williams's hand.

Emily and Father Murphy looked around. Emily smiled at Clyde and thanked him.

"Don't you know it's dangerous to play with knives?" Clyde said in an innocent tone like he was making a baby understand the basics.

Then the tone of his voice changed to a more stern note as he said, "You've crossed the line, Father Williams."

Saying that he took the knife from a weak Father Williams's hand and stabbed him instead as Emily watched the scene with her eyes wide.

This was the first time Emily had seen a bold and a serious Clyde. Well, it was the second time. The first one was when they both were fighting the pawns together.

Emily remembered how Clyde had slowly changed from a comedian ghost to a more responsible one. He was always there for Emily. Always there to protect her. She shivered remembering what could've happened that day if Clyde didn't come to rescue her from the pentagram or that time when he helped to find her when her car was charred and more such incidents and now saving her from the knife. He surely had his moments of fun but no one can deny the fact that he always protected her.

"What?" Clyde replied looking at a surprised Emily. "What needs to be done, needs to be done."

Emily giggled. There we go again - back to being a comedic ghost.

"Emily, Clyde, we need you here," Came the sound of Uncle Max who was fighting John and Scarlett alongside Harry.

"I'll just come," Saying this Emily left Father Murphy to rest on the pew while she and Clyde went to help.

Emily and Clyde fought with Scarlett while Uncle Max and Harry began fighting with John. None of them wanted to hurt either Scarlett or John. It wasn't their fault that they became Diana's pawns.

They just kept avoiding their attacks.

"We gotta come up with a plan," Emily suggested.

"True," Harry agreed, "We cannot go on like this forever."

"Clyde and I will distract Scarlett," Emily began,

"While Harry and I will take care of John," Uncle Max suggested.

They all placed their hands, one on top of the other and screamed in unity, "Let's do this!"

As planned, Emily and Clyde distracted Scarlett away from the scene, separating her and John.

Meanwhile, Harry and Uncle Max began fighting John. Both of them tried to make John remember the good times, the happy memories, the real John inside him.

They told him to fight the demon. But nothing was working. John was only continuing to injure both of them. They wanted to fight back, but John was Uncle Max's nephew and Harry's best friend. How can they fight him?

All they were doing was constricting John, making him unable to do any movements.

Both were in a dilemma when Harry suggested something. "Uncle Max, is it possible to combine our powers together?"

Uncle Max nodded and asked him what was on his mind.

"It's true that we can't die with a heavy heart if we attack John and in the process kill him, which is very likely. What if the good inside us can make John snap back to reality?"

"Son, I'm not sure, but it's worth a try."

Saying this, both stood on either side of John and held hands. They closed their eyes as they began focusing. Slowly the surrounding noises faded away - like there were only three people in the room.

John began moving his body - still constricted. He was feeling pain. His eyes were still black but his whole body was trembling.

Uncle Max and Harry focussed more and more and more till a white light began radiating from beneath them. John screamed in pain as his mouth got wider and wider.

Suddenly, black smog began coming out of John - making its way from John's body to the body of Uncle Max and Harry. As the smog began entering their bodies, they began losing their strength.

Slowly, the smog made them so weak that they weren't able to stand or hold hands. They collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

John blinked his eyes several times getting his vision from blur to clear as he looked around to gather information regarding where he was and what was happening around him.

He looked around. He saw people and spirits fighting, the Church getting destroyed, corpses lying on the floor, the sacrifices, his mom and dad, and Tom hiding behind a pew. Scared looks on everyone's faces. Blood rushing down, coloring the floor, the pain, the scars, the bruises, and the wounds.

It didn't take long enough for John to realize that this all was happening because of him. He was the reason.

He looked around him on the ground and found his uncle's and best friend's spirits lying unconsciously.

"No, no, no, no! Uncle Max! Harry!" John cried and cried. "You died because of me, because of my stupidity, and now you died saving me. I let you down again. I lost you again."

John wiped his tears as the spirits of Uncle Max and Harry began fading away.

"John!" Rose ran towards him with tears of joy. She took him in her arms and held on tight. David and Tom stayed behind.

"I'm so sorry, mom," John sobbed. Rose wiped his tears and said, "It's ok, John. It's ok."

"No, it's not," John gave a quick look where he last saw his Uncle and his best friend. "I let everyone down, everything's my fault."

John and Rose went towards David who was sitting down with a broken and twisted ankle near Tom.

"John," David began, "son, we are glad to see that you have returned back. Your Uncle and Harry sacrificed themselves in order to save you.

You have two choices - either sit here and sob all the way till your end and everyone's end, repenting and regretting everything, which won't change, or you can make these emotions your strength, make the sacrifices of Max, Harry, and every soul count, end this thing you started 'cause it's not over till it's over, John."

Tears streamed down his face as he hugged his father tight." You're right, dad," John wiped his tears as he petted Tom. "I won't give in this time."

I won't let their sacrifices go to waste.

He knew that he will end the thing he started. This could be his last fight, but he will give his all.

Painful screams kept echoing inside the Church as Diana's rage was brutally killing people and the spirits.

The glasses of the Church windows were shattered, the pews were destroyed, some spirits were killed while others were brutally injured.

John then saw two familiar faces entering the Church - running - stopping just a couple of inches inside the Church, panting, looking outside the door several times as if they were on a lookout, making sure whatever they were being cautious about wasn't following them or behind them but seeing those two made John smile.

They were Emily and Clyde. Their eyes fell upon John. At first they were cautious seeing him standing too close to the Jacksons. But seeing that his eyes weren't black anymore and seeing the smiling and relieved expressions of his family around him confirmed that he had indeed gone back to normal. They reciprocated the smile as they were delighted to see him back but had no idea how.

They had many questions on their mind -  Were they successful in distracting Scarlett? Was Scarlett still coming behind them? What is happening? What did they miss? Was that really the old John? When did that happen? How did that happen? If John's link is broken, does that mean Diana is gone?

Even though they wanted to ask, they knew that it wasn't the right time to know the answer. All they knew was that it was the right time to end all this.

"You have survived long enough." Diana began as she closed in on Rose and David. "Isn't it too sad when you have to face the consequences of the dreadful act your son started?"

"Leave them alone, Diana," Came the sound of John.

Diana turned to face him, raised an eyebrow, and said, "I see you have changed back to normal? You do know it wouldn't take me long to get control over you again, right? You are so easy to manipulate. All your guilts and regrets - it's fun to play them against you."

Diana was about to control his mind again when Emily pushed him causing him to fall on the floor. "Leave him alone, Diana,"

"Well, well, well, look who's taking the side of the kid who started this misery."

"You are wrong! He's not the one but you are. You are the reason for this misery. You are the reason for the deaths of the innocents. You are the reason for everyone's suffering. You are the reason people lost their loved ones. You are the reason people are dead. You are the reason the spirits sacrificed themselves. You are the reason for everything. You are the reason for this destruction. You are the reason the Jacksons got separated from their daughter. You are the reason Hannah is possessed. You are ominous. You are the one to blame. You are - "

"ENOUGH!" Diana roared in anger causing the entire Church to shake.

"Get out! Run!" Yelled someone feeling the roof shake as the building continued to rock in Diana's fury.

"The Church is going to collapse!" Yelled another.

Everyone rushed outside. John carried David on his back as the family ran. The pawns, spirits, Alex, Helena, Ryan, Clyde, Father Murphy, and each and everyone was outside except the corpses, Diana, and Emily.

"Emily, run!" Clyde screamed.

"I can't move!" Emily cried helplessly from inside.

"C'mon Emily, you gotta try," Helena and Ryan screamed.

"You have to fight her!" John encouraged. "You can do this. C'mon Emily!"

Soon one by one the Church started falling apart. It was only a matter of a few seconds before the Church turned into debris.

Everyone was screaming for Emily but Diana made sure Emily couldn't move. Slowly, no one could hear Emily's voice anymore. The roof of the Church was just about to fall as the walls were about to collapse.

"I can't let you die, Emily!" Saying this, Clyde flew as fast as he could inside the on-the-brink-of-collapsing Church.

"Clyde! No!" Helena screamed and went after him.

Soon they saw the Church crumbling down in the blink of an eye. There was an explosion of the cement smoke. Everyone closed their eyes and coughed. When the smoke faded away, what once was a Church now was nothing but debris.

Everyone looked around, but no sign of either Clyde or Helena or Emily or Diana. Tears started flowing down from everyone's faces. It was over.