Page 28 of Be With Us: An Urban Foursome Love Story

‘For it is the power of Christ that compels you,’ said Mark, joining in.

The doll seemed to falter, and then there were flames coming from inside it’s mouth.

‘For it is the power of Christ that compels you,’ said Amy, holding the book up in front of the doll.

‘For it is the power of Christ that compels you,’ said Emilia and as soon as she had spoken, the flames in the room around them went out, leaving the screaming, flaming body of Annie the only source of light. Her eyes were melting, her mouth falling open, the clothes burning away from her body. The doll fell onto the floor and the flames went out.

There was a final hiss in the darkness, like gas escaping from a pipe, and then a voice.

‘Well done guys, great job.’

Ceiling lights flickered on over their heads and the room was suddenly lit up as bright as day.

‘Oh my fucking goodness,’ said Amy. ‘Are you kidding me?’

The door at the far end opened and in walked the old man.

‘That was fantastic, well done to you all. If you could follow me out this way, watch your footing? We’ll need to start resetting for the next booking. If you need to take a minute there’s a little room up ahead, and if you want to buy the tape of your adventure it’s just twenty pounds per copy.’

Emilia was still shell-shocked and shaking.

‘I’m never going to sleep again,’ she said, and started laughing.

Her laughter caused the other’s to smile and in turn, they began to laugh too.

Amy walked over to her and hugged her tightly, and Emilia hugged her back, squeezing her hard as though she might run away. They both felt like they had been through some sort of battle and come out the other side, stronger for it.

‘Good work, mate,’ said Mark to Cassian, slapping him on the shoulder. ‘You’d have made a good soldier.’

They started to make their way towards the door, Amy holding Emilia’s hand. In the next room were four cups of herbal tea, freshly made and steaming. A young lady appeared at the threshold and invited them to settle themselves down and take a moment to breathe and relax and enjoy the brew. ‘It’s all part of the experience,’ she said as she left them alone.

‘That was too scary,’ said Emilia after a sip of the tea.

‘I have never been so scared in all my life,’ said Amy.

‘I’ve had worse moments,’ said Mark. ‘But not many.’

‘Shit, I think I understand what you used to talk about now,’ said Amy. ‘About going through a firefight with someone, how you bond with them. I feel like we all just went through an intense shared experience and we’re now bonded for life.’ She laughed, but there was a part of her that meant it. Everything had seemed much too real, right up until the moment the lights went on.

‘Thank you,’ said Emilia, reaching out her hand for Amy’s again. ‘You really looked after me in there.’

‘I wasn’t looking after you, I was petrified and you were my crutch,’ she laughed. ‘I would have sacrificed you without a second thought, if that fucking doll got any closer.’

Emilia feigned shock and laughed.

‘Fine, I would've missed you terribly,’ said Amy winking.

‘Cass was a badass,’ said Mark and Cassian was visibly humbled by this suggestion.

‘Thanks, mate. It was fun.’

‘Fun? Fun?’ said Emilia. ‘I don’t even know you right now, who are you?’

‘Shall we get going? I’m hungry,’ said Amy, standing up. ‘Table’s booked for eight so we should start walking.’

‘I’m not sure I can eat food after that,’ said Emilia. ‘But let’s give it a shot.’

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