THOR - Chapter 3: The Vanishing Shadows
The Finch living room was no longer a place of family gatherings. It had become a battlefield of unseen forces. Father John stood his ground, his voice rising in a steady rhythm of Latin prayer, but the house itself seemed to fight back. The air thickened with the smell of sulfur and ancient dust, pressing against their lungs like invisible hands.
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the chaos stopped.
Maria lay limp on the carpet, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths. The windows ceased rattling, the bookshelf lay toppled in silence, and the oppressive wind vanished. Yet the silence that followed was more terrifying than the noise.
"Is she… is she okay?" Martha whispered, rushing forward.
Father John raised a hand. "Don't touch her yet." He knelt beside Maria, studying her face. The scars on her left cheek pulsed faintly with a sickly purple glow, as though something beneath her skin was alive.
"The entity has retreated for now," he said gravely. "But it hasn't left. It's digging in. It's using her anger as an anchor."
Logan's voice cracked. "What do we do?"
"You must watch her every second," Father John replied. "Do not let her leave this house. Whatever she invited in through that ritual is using her as a bridge to our world."
Marcus's Torment
While Maria lay in a trance-like state at home, a different kind of horror unfolded at Merry International High School.
Marcus swaggered through the cafeteria, bragging about how he had humiliated Maria. His friends laughed, egging him on. But as he sat down, a sudden pain stabbed his leg. He winced, pulling up his jeans. A massive purple bruise was blooming across his thigh, as if struck by an iron bar.
"Yo, Marcus, you okay?" one of his friends asked.
Marcus didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the cafeteria window. In the reflection, he didn't see the bustling lunchroom. He saw a dark, windowless chamber—the Dead Room.
And standing in the center was Maria. Or something that looked like her. Her face was a swirl of shifting shadows, her eyes hollow pits.
She raised a finger to her lips. "Shhh," the reflection whispered.
Marcus's heart lurched. He knocked over his tray and sprinted out of the cafeteria. Teachers shouted after him, but he didn't stop. He ran toward the exit, but the hallways stretched unnaturally, doors slamming shut before he could reach them. It was as if the school itself was funneling him toward the basement.
The First Disappearance
Back at the Finch house, Maria stirred. Her eyes opened, but they were not the eyes of the girl her parents knew. They were cold, calculating, predatory.
"Where is Samantha?" she asked, her voice eerily calm.
"She's in her room, honey. She's scared," Martha said softly, trying to soothe her.
"She should be," Maria muttered. "Everyone should be."
Logan entered, his face pale. "I just got a call from the school. There's a lockdown. A student went missing—Marcus. They found his backpack in the basement, but the boy is gone."
Maria didn't look surprised. A cruel smile touched her lips. The lights flickered, and on the wall behind her, her shadow stretched unnaturally. While Maria sat still, her shadow reached out, its fingers elongated into claws, stretching toward the kitchen where Samantha hid.
The Priest's Warning
Father John returned that evening, carrying a heavy leather-bound book and a silver satchel. His eyes were bloodshot, his face lined with exhaustion.
"Logan, Martha, we don't have much time," he said, pulling them into the kitchen. "I've been researching the ritual Anni described. It's called the Vessel of Vengeance. It promises justice to the bullied, but it's a trap. It provides a body for a Devourer—a spirit that feeds on spite."
"How do we stop it?" Logan asked, gripping a kitchen knife as though steel could fight shadows.
"We need the other two," Father John said. "Anni and Hanna. They were part of the circle. To close the door, the original circle must be reformed. But there's a problem."
"What problem?" Martha asked.
"The entity knows this," Father John replied. "And it will do everything in its power to keep those three girls apart. It has already taken Marcus as a sacrifice to gain strength. Next, it will go after the ones who broke the circle."
As he spoke, a loud crash came from upstairs. A scream followed.
"MARIA! STOP! YOU'RE HURTING ME!"
Samantha's Terror
They bolted upstairs. Samantha's room was a nightmare. Furniture hovered a foot off the ground, spinning slowly. Samantha was pinned against the wall by an invisible force, her face turning blue.
Maria stood in the center, her hair floating as if underwater. Her eyes glowed with purple fire.
"Maria, let her go!" Logan shouted, lunging forward.
Maria turned to him, and for a split second, her face transformed. The scars vanished, replaced by a void of pure darkness.
"Maria is gone," the entity boomed through her. "There is only the Debt. And the Debt must be paid in blood."
With a flick of her wrist, Logan was hurled backward through the doorway. Father John raised his crucifix. "In the name of the Father—"
"Your God isn't in this house, old man!" Maria shrieked.
Suddenly, the front door slammed open. Hanna stood in the entryway, sobbing, her clothes torn and her face scratched. "It's Anni!" she screamed. "The shadows… they took Anni into the woods!"
The Spreading Curse
The horror was no longer contained within the Finch home. The ritual was spreading through Merry, seeping into its streets and forests.
Father John's face hardened. "It has begun. The Devourer is gathering strength. If Anni is taken, the circle cannot be closed. We must act now."
Logan staggered to his feet, clutching his ribs. "What do we do?"
Father John looked at Hanna, trembling in the doorway. "We go to the woods. If Anni is still alive, we bring her back. Without her, Maria is lost—and so is this town."
Closing Image
Maria stood in the center of the room, her body trembling with unnatural energy. Her shadow stretched across the walls, multiplying, each copy of her form whispering in unison:
The Debt must be paid. The circle must be whole. Blood for blood. Shadow for shadow.
And somewhere in the woods beyond Merry, Anni screamed.