Read Online Satan's Mirror by Roxanne Smolen - Free Book Online Page B

God.”
    Emily grabbed his flailing arm, leaning backward, pulling with all her might. His hand slipped from her grasp, and she snagged his camera strap.
    Behind her, the other devil boomed, “Do you fear me now?”
    “Dan!” she cried. “Dear God!”
    “Don’t let go,” he wailed.
    Emily doubled her grip on the strap. She felt heat on her face, smelled a foul, sulfuric odor. The demon was so close she saw creases in its leathery skin. It had yellowish, cat-like eyes.
    “No!” Dan screamed, nearly folded in half. “Emily!”
    The strap snapped. She fell into the pentagram with only the camera in her hand. For an instant, all she saw was Dan’s horrified expression.
    With a faint pop, both Dan and the mirror disappeared.
     

NINE
     
     
    Emily gaped at the place where Dan had been. A scream edged up her throat. She bolted out the door and down the stairs. The streetlamp shone through the front window like a beacon.
    Still running, she slammed into the front door, pounding with her fists before realizing an old-fashioned key was in the lock. She opened the door and burst outside into the damp night air.
    Utter panic shortened her breath. She wheezed between her teeth. Once down the porch steps, she cut across the tangled lawn toward the wrought iron fence.
    The impact of what she’d seen struck like a physical blow. She doubled over, grasping the fence for support, not sure if she would retch or explode with fright. Dan was gone. How could it be?
    The Mirror was real.
    Padlocks and chains covered the gate. She shook them noisily. “Help!” she screamed. “Help me!”
    Sobs stole her voice. She slid to her knees, her face pressed against the metal bars. Unable to stop herself, she looked back at the house. She’d left the door open. Dear God! Anything could come out. She was trapped in the yard.
    Eyes trained upon the black maw of the unlocked door, she dialed her cell phone. “Pick up,” she pleaded.
    “Nine-one-one. What is the nature of your emergency?”
    Emily gasped in relief. “My name is Emily Goodman. I’m at an abandoned house on Weeden Street.”
    “ The Emily Goodman?” the operator asked. “From that television show Do You Believe It? ”
    “Please. I need help. My cameraman.” Tears coursed down her face. “It took him.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Something moved in the doorway. A shadow. Black on black. “Oh God,” Emily whispered. “I think it followed me.”
    “Ma’am, you aren’t making sense. Who’s following you?”
    “Satan.”
    Silence. “Is this a stunt?”
    “No. I swear. Please send someone to help me.”
    “You say you’re on Weeden Street?”
    Emily felt faint. She gave herself a mental slap. She couldn’t lose consciousness—it would get her, too. Defiantly, she brushed tears from her eyes. Only then did she realize she still had the strap to Dan’s Olympus wrapped about her hand.
    She cradled the camera, wracked with sobs. “He’s gone. I couldn’t save him.”
    “Stay on the line,” said the operator.
    “I couldn’t pull him back.”
    She saw again the look of horror on Dan’s face as the strap broke and she let him go. The air swallowed him. How could he disappear like that? How could it be true?
    A shadow shifted inside the house.
    Emily’s thoughts froze. “It’s coming. It’s coming.”
    “I’ve put in the call, ma’am.”
    She dropped the phone, pressing backward as if she could pass through the bars. The devil was coming. It would take her, too. She clutched the camera. Before she died, she would document all she could.
    She raised the Olympus to snap a picture of the door, but the media was full. She pulled out the microdrive and, rummaging with one hand through her backpack, replaced it from the stash Dan asked her to carry.
    Fighting to keep her aim steady, Emily took picture after picture. The camera flashed like a strobe light. She didn’t know how much time passed, but after a while, she became aware that the night had turned