Page 1 of Possession

Prologue

ADA

Twenty-one years old…

I wasn’t particularly religious, but I had nowhere else to turn.I was desperate.

Since my sixteenth birthday, I had been plagued with nightmares. The shift began as a subtle impression, a preternatural feeling that lingered long after I awoke. As timeprogressed, my unconscious mind became susceptible only to one—dedicated to me and me alone.

The haunting had become a part of my identity. Impossible to escape the endless torment, my life was now consumed in fear and hopelessness.

But as I lay in the centre of a candlelit circle, with the priest chanting gibberish from the pulpit, I couldn’t help but second-guess my choices.

After nearly three years of attending Everlake Girls University, I had finally plucked up the courage to set foot in the campus church.

With that first action came the unravelling of my secrets, eventually bringing me to my own exorcism not long after.

I didn’t care about the particulars of the ritual; all I wanted was to be free. And that’s what the priest promised me.

However, as the coarse rope dug deeper into my sides and his voice grew louder, more aggressive, nerves and terror soon crept through my body, infecting my senses.

“Please,” I called. For what, I didn’t know. I was lost in a stagnant space, where the atmosphere was claustrophobic and clawing, my throat closing up, cutting off any form of reprieve or call for help.

Tension built ever higher as the ritual reached its climax. The priest’s brown eyes bore into mine with conviction and condemnation, prayers flying from his mouth at rapid speed, like he was speaking another language.

Then, as if he couldn’t help himself, he approached closer. One assertive step sounded after another until he breached the barrier of flaming candles surrounding me—which, in turn, triggered our annihilation.

I immediately felt the tearing, a soul-deep rending that caused a high-pitched scream to rip up my ravaged throat. The painfulkeening was endless and powerful, creating a sinister energy that envelopedeverything.

My senses were overtaken, making me blind to all as I was submerged into oblivion.

I was paralysed, my body refusing to listen to commands. My lids felt heavy, yet I managed to force them open by sheer will. The night sky stretched above me, black and endless.

Surprise took hold as my surroundings bled into awareness. I was outside, cool grass cushioned beneath my body as a blazing heat warmed my side.

Movement was difficult and frustrating, but I eventually managed to pivot my head, searching for the abnormal source of heat—and wished I hadn’t.

The church I had just been in was entirely ablaze. The foundations cracked under the pressure of an overgrown fire as it danced higher in ravenous wanting.

My gaze caught on the one stained glass window that was half shattered, and in the free space stood the priest. However, his once-brown eyes were shining luminescent white…And when those orbs locked with mine, I knew it was my fault.

I wanted to run in there and grab the man. To save him, do something—anything.But my useless carcass was rendered empty, void of any instruction.

All I could do was watch as the priest’s mouth contorted into a possessed, maniacal smile before he was enveloped in the bright red flames.

Chapter 1

ADA

The world outside was hazy and dim as the car ascended through the clouds to the top of the mountain—my new home.

I could just make out the spires of Bartholomew Castle in the distance, the black brick foundation formidable with our impending approach.

The whir of the motor lulled me into a state of semiconsciousness, sleep dragging me down—wherehecould reach me.

A distant touch told my senses I wasn’t alone in the back seat. I rolled my head to the side to find him next to me.Always next to me.

My own personal poltergeist to haunt my dreams. He never left my side…despite my best efforts.