A seed of thought was already beginning to grow within my mind, but I was not about to let Elizabeth know, not just yet. I had a strong hunch that whoever or whatever carried the scent of rotting flesh was indeed a female fallen angel, and a very powerful one at that. I knew that the next time the opportunity arose I would know for sure.

I was certain that the supernatural forces within the Blackwood Manor where in fact most assuredly ready to do battle for the two of us, but why? That answer could take longer than we had to figure out, and I doubt we would survive very long. How long would these two supernatural beings play with our lives were any ones guess.

I knew one thing for sure, and that was, I was not about to sit around helplessly while we waited for one or the other to win. The stakes were much too high. We would have to put off any further confrontation with these supernatural beings. At least until we knew if Alexandrea was either terminally dead, or I released the supernatural force that had taken her body hostage. Deep down I knew that I could not accomplish this terrifying task. The end would be a bitter one when it came, and I sure hoped that the battle did not require more power than I had to give. My mind whirled with questions to which I had no answers. I also knew that unless I somehow found those answers we were in for a rough ride in a hellish nightmare that could very well lead us both to our death.

However, if I could find a way to relinquish this evil supernatural force from Alexandrea’s body, would she be the same person she had once been? I said nothing to Elizabeth, as I did not want to cause her anymore-needless worries.

It was around four o’clock in the morning when the two of us finally went to bed. The ticking of the clock was intensifying, keeping me from going to sleep. I felt as though its ticking were a time bomb just waiting to explode. All that I could think about was, even if I could manage to rid Alexandrea’s body of this supernatural entity, was she going to be her old self again? I knew that Elizabeth would feel even worse if I brought her back and she was not completely herself again. I had seen that happen before, and it was not a pretty sight. I was not going to alarm Elizabeth about this. It would kill her to have her last shred of hope striped away from her now. There was always the slim chance that I could be wrong. All I could do now was wait and pray that what I was going to do would turn out to be the right thing to do.

Somehow, I managed to fall sleep with the ticking of the clock, but it was short lived. I suddenly awoke from a deep sleep to the strong smell of roses. My eyes popped open as wide as they could possibly be, but in the darkness, I could see nothing. My ears strained just listening for the sound of any movement when I heard a voice, a dull and whispery sound of a woman’s voice saying, “Leave this place now, leave this place while you still can, before it’s too late. I will try to help you if I can, but you must go this instant. Alexandrea cannot leave with you, she belongs to Bastelet now.”

I jumped up onto my feet and yelled, “Who the hell are you, and why have you invaded the Blackwood Manor? What do you want with Elizabeth and Alexandrea?”

I heard the voice again, but this time it said, “The answers you seek go back thousands of years,” and then all was silent. I ran over and flipped the bedroom light on but to my surprise, there was absolutely no one in the room with me but myself. There was one thing that I knew for sure, and that was there was something peculiar about the voice that I just heard. I could have sworn that I heard it somewhere before, but where, I did not know.