Henry Neville: The Geist Therapist

The Demon and the Fair

The thin, delicate frame of the young woman named Miss Estella Bonham stood, staring in awe at the lights and sounds of the traveling fair as it was unveiled to the people of Ealing in extravagant fashion.

A man in a tall, shiny top hat and a wonderfully bright red coat cut the ribbon and greeted the first few dozen or so guests personally as they entered. By his side sat a magnificent lion, a chain around its neck prevented it from reaching anyone.

"Greetings, young beauty," he beamed at Estella as she approached, "Be sure to join me and Max 'ere over there in my circus."

"You own the circus?" Estella asked excitedly.

"Aye, missy, that I do, I am Mr Funsie, at your service, miss. Bring the whole family when you're done at the fair, Coco the clown would love to entertain the little ones," he smiled at Peter and Penny as they stood huddled between Estella and their father behind.

"Sounds wonderful, sir. We will have to pay a visit to the circus," Estella's cheeks glowed a peachy red as she admired the large red and white striped tent in the distance.

"All welcome, sir," Mr Funsie bowed respectfully to their father.

Mr Bonham nodded stiffly and followed his children through towards the fair, paying careful attention to the "dangerous" beast close at hand, muttering to himself, "Don't mind me providing the pennies for no worth."

"Lighten up, Donald Bonham," Bonnie chuckled, coming up the rear of their group. "This is exactly the kind of fun you and the children need right now."

Mr Bonham raised an eyebrow, "Donald? How about addressin-"

Bonnie cut him short, "Come on now, sir. Let's see a smile under that mustache and loosen that stiff pose. Do it for the children."

Mr Bonham grumbled before attempting to raise his cheeks to feign a smile. However, he deemed it pointless as he had already lost sight of his three teenage children.

Estella was not allowed to leave the house often. At nineteen she still had no male suitors or respectable education. Her father did not acknowledge the Shade business outside the family home; whenever a suitable gentleman enquired about the status of the growing Miss Estella, her father would dismiss them claiming she was too under the weather for visitors at the present time.

She would be regarded as small and pretty, even though she was thin and pale; years of torment from the demon took its toll on her health and at times, she did look very unwell. She had Bonnie to thank with keeping up with appearances.

The nanny always kept Estella's hair fashionable with the latest styles and trends and this evening was no exception, Estella looked beautiful behind her dark chocolate eyes and deep brunette braided hair. Bonnie always took time and care doing Estella's makeup, making sure she had covered up the darks of her eyes and blemishes on her cheeks and forehead. She looked one ready for the approach of a suitable young gentleman, if only she did not have such a haunting background preventing her from becoming approachable.

Peter and Penny were now fourteen and well equipped enough to look after themselves but Estella still felt a certain responsibility for them, despite never really as close to them as she was once with George.

Estella ran ahead with her twin siblings, leaving their father and Bonnie somewhere behind. As expected the fair was busy and the twins had trouble navigating their way through the crowds to get to their favourite stalls and games tables. Peter had promised to win Penny a soft toy and had been practicing throwing beanbags at tin cans most of that morning, full and empty to stand the best chance. Only neglecting to consider the level of light on the closing evening.

The stalls were lit up with a combination of gaslights and basic bulbs powered by electricity, although dimly lit and unpopular with the older crowds, "The fair does not need all this modern jimbo jambo," they would point out.

Estella however, was in love; the bright lights, the smell of the animals, even their pens. She adored the travelling families who work the fair and even exchanged a few blushing smiles with some of the young men manning the stalls trying to use their charm to entice her to play. She finally gave in and accepted the challenge of one boy; the challenge was to knock coconuts off of sticks with a ball. Coconut shy he called it, a name Estella found most amusing to hear.

She keenly took the ball from the boy, admiring his features as she did so. His skin was dark compared to her porcelain own flesh; his hair a dark brown, almost black under the dim lights and his eyes a deep, confident brown that are up her features. He was around her age she guessed and muscular, his arms were bare under his vest, a fashion her father would never approve of.

"How do I do this?" She asked shyly.

"It's easy, miss. Here, let me show you," the boy took another ball. "I will do the first one for you," he grinned and raised his arm up behind his shoulder. There were six coconuts on sticks and it took him very little effort to make it five. Estella cheered, clapped ecstatically and hopped lightly on the spot. "Your turn now, miss," he spoke soft, politely and with a slight accent Estella could not place.

Estella held up her ball and studied it, she suddenly gasped as a faint shadow passed over it, "No," she whispered. Looking up she was horrified to see a black silhouette of a man standing behind the remaining coconuts, crisp lines of smoke irradiating from its shoulders,  "No, no, no, not now," she stammered.

"I'm sorry, miss. No what? I'm not trying anything," the boy said worryingly.

Suddenly remembering where she was, Estella turned to him, "I'm sorry, sir. Not you, you are a wonderful host. Do you not see the man stood behind your coconuts?"

"I see no one, miss," he replied with a confusing look.

Estella turned back and shared a staring gaze with Shade, she started to shiver and felt a sickness in the pit of her stomach.

"You belong to me," Shade hissed. "No one can have you."

Without giving it any thought Estella instinctively threw the ball at Shade, apologised to her new friend and turned to run.

As Estella wrestled through the crowd awaiting their turn on coconut shy she heard a loud screech from Shade and knew he would soon be in pursuit.

Everyone around her cowered at the shriek and looked in every which direction trying to locate the source of the horrid, unnatural noise. Knowing others could hear and potentially see Shade brought little comfort to Estella, she was all too aware of what he was capable of, caring little for witnesses.

The screaming soon started and muffled shouts of men soon shook Estella's core as many began running alongside her. She knew he had made himself known to the onlookers and was most likely in pursuit of her.

Estella tripped over what may have been a rock and fell face down into the trampled mud. Her blue dress now crumpled and stained, effectively ruined. She rolled over and was slightly relieved to see everyone was managing to stay clear of her as they ran down her flanks. The reason becoming clear as she watched Shade approach, somehow everyone knew she was the one he wanted and no one wanted to stand in his way.

"No, please. Leave me alone!" She shrieked, tears began running down her cheeks.

"You disappoint me, girl," Shade hissed harshly as he stood over her thin, trembling frame.

Estella searched desperately for help across the faces of those nearby who were watching in horror, whether through frozen in fear or curiosity with the anomaly was hard to guess. No one was going to help, at least no one that Shade or Estella could see.

Shade raised his arm and Estella was lifted into the air by an unseen force. Unable to move nothing but her flailing legs Estella hung like a trapped animal, tears soaking her cheeks and top of her dress.

"Leave her alone!" Came an adrenaline fueled voice of a young boy. Shade turned and smiled at the sight of Peter Bonham standing stoutly with pitchfork in hand. "Let my sister go!"

"Peter," Shade chuckled, "You are weak and powerless against the dark. Crawl home and pray I don't kill you or Penny next."

Through his anger Peter charged at Shade, however, Shade snapped his fingers and Peter was thrown backwards, smashing into a barrel of wine.

"Peter!" Estella screamed. Her own situation was about to get worse as she was raised higher into the air, now above everyone else. Shade directed her to a tall twenty foot pole used for bunting and lifting her arms above her head, the unseen force tied her hands with the bunting and disappeared, leaving her to hang freely against her own weight, causing her to cry more through the sudden change in gravity. The onlookers could only gasp or scream as they watched the horrifying event unfold, no one was willing to step in after watching what happened to Peter.

"You belong to me," Shade spoke more softly in her ear but still sharp. He hovered next to her for a while, she could feel his hand on her waist, the smoke-like vapour he bore whispering across her face.

Before she could answer, his head flicked from side to side, something else had caught his attention. He growled as he saw someone who he had taken a great dislike to.

Henry, Polly and Bonnie were stood on a bank near the edge of the crowd. Henry wore his goggles, his rod was fired up, emitting sparks of blue electricity, evident of a few more enhancements made.

Polly came armed with bottles of Henry's liquid dynamite, purposely designed to blow holes in any ectofield where spirits lingered.

"Shade! Let's talk, release the girl!" Henry shouted, deliberately making his voice deeper and more intimidating. He pressed the button on the rod and two bars of metal flung out to the sides turning his rod into a holy cross.

"Release her or there will be hell to pay!" Screamed Polly.

Henry and Bonnie looked at her awkwardly.

"This is my first combat with a demon," Polly shrugged, "I'm feeling a lot of emotions all at once here."

"It's exciting to see you pumped for the challenge," Henry responded.

"Silence, you insignificant insects!" Shade boomed. He snapped his fingers releasing the bunting and allowing Estella to fall with a scream.

No one would ever know if Shade was aware of the stacks of hay some brave people were placing underneath Estella in case any such thing occurred, but she was saved with few bruises by those waiting to catch her fall. Shade's attention was very much full on the imposing trio.

Henry stood his ground, "You should know, insects very much aren't insignif-"

"Do shut up, Henry! Now is not the time for querps," Polly snapped.

"Right'o, let's do this then," Henry grinned through his large goggles. "If you're waiting for permission, now is a really good time to throw that bottle."

Polly glanced down at the bottle then back at Shade. Bill's face appeared on the spirit's own faceless head. She hesitated, but as Shade neared them she launched the glass bottle into the oncoming demon. It smashed on impact and with a cry, Shade fell to the ground. She faced Henry, "Did I?"

"Barely a scratch," Henry remarked as he watched Shade stand to his feet. "You've marked him, he cannot escape. Whether that's good for us or not remains to be seen."

"What do I do, Doctor?" Asked the almost silenced Bonnie.

"Get to the girl. We'll handle Shade," Henry replied. He subtly waved his cross to keep the spirit's attention on himself. Bonnie looked nervously at Shade then fled the bank to get to Estella.

Shade ignored Bonnie for now and stopped when he reached within twelve feet on Henry, "You're a self proclaimed therapist, a joke; a disgrace to your peers and a courter of death to those around you. Why do you think you are worthy enough to challenge me?"

Henry held the cross at arms length, he stood firm, daring Shade to come nearer, "I may be all those things but I am also the bringer of peace and new life, and the taker of dark happenings. I'm afraid you're time is up, Shade."

In response Shade stretched his arms out to his sides and a sword made of black emitting smoke appeared in his right hand, "You will not come between me and my bride."

"I'm sure the girl feels differently to your views," Henry retorted.

Shade scoffed, "She has been chosen to be the mother of the darkened future, none will stop the master's plan."

Henry smiled, "Tell your master I'm sorry to disappoint him."

"You can handle this right?" Polly questioned while stepping backwards.

"Of course... Probably," replied Henry confidently.

A loud echoing roar brought their attention back to Shade. Henry stared his opponent down and debated whether he should strike first or not.

Luck was in his favour for as soon as Shade stepped forward he was struck by a large explosive and was wrapped in a blanket of thick smoke. Henry and Polly were pushed backwards by the force.

The smoke was beginning to evaporate and Henry could now see a man in a red coat and tall top hat standing on the far side of the bank. He was holding a firearm, smoking at the barrel, and smiling at Henry.

"A lion joins the fight?" Henry mused as he saw the great predator at the showman's side.

***