To escape the dangers of wartime London, Millie has been sent away to Wickford Hall, but what lurks there is far more sinister than anything war might bring.
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THERE'S SOMETHING WICKED STALKING WICKFORD HALL...
As war rages on, Mildred Cunningham...
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Millie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Possessed?"
"Yes. You've been possessed by a demon," the Mother Superior confirmed, "for a while now."
Possessed. It all sounded so implausible, impossible.
And yet...
Her gaze travelled to the charred remains of Matthew, then to the broken staff still stuck in her leg. She thought of how she had ripped it out of Sister Marion's hands without even trying. She had been so outside herself, as though she wasn't the one doing it at all.
In an instant, her mind flashed through all the strange things that had haunted her stay at Wickford.
Her double in the shadows at night, staring at her with eyes full of hate...
Her headaches, her constant nightmares, reliving the bombing, over and over...
And then the strange stirrings in her gut, especially when Matthew was near...
Had that...
Had all that been the doing of the thing inside her?
"How?" Millie sputtered. "When?"
"After you were struck down by a bomb during the Blitz," the Mother explained. "In your weakened state, something found you and... took hold."
Her fingers went to the long scar at the side of her face. Because of the head injury, her memories of that time were all blurred together.
"No," Millie muttered, shaking her head. There was nothing in her memory that could explain the Mother Superior's wild story. Her head was starting to ache again, and she gripped it as though she had to hold it together or it would crack open. She half-hoped it would to spare her the suffering. "That can't be true..."
"It is," the Mother said plainly.
"Then why don't I remember any of it?" Millie challenged. "I'd remember something like that. Surely someone would remember being possessed—"
Millie stopped, and glanced back at the char and ash that was left of Matthew, his words echoing through her head. This would be so much easier if you could remember!
Was this what he wanted her to remember?
That there was something evil burrowed deep inside her?
But something told her that when he'd said that, he hadn't be speaking to her...
"We couldn't let you remember," the Mother continued. "Suppressing your memory allows us to suppress it. We've created this place for you to live your life as it was, ignorant of the truth until we could figure out how to get the demon out of you. I acknowledge that it was an imperfect solution, but we have no other choice. If either you or it grows too aware, we risk it breaking free and lashing out—"
