The Wraith's Grasp

The dark, heavy atmosphere of Blackwood Mansion suffocated the room as the creature known as the Wraith descended on me. I braced myself, hoping to stand firm against it. In the haze of adrenaline, I thought maybe I could hold my ground, that I could fight back. But the tragedy unfolded with terrifying speed.

The Wraith didn't meet me head-on. Its bloody, spectral claw twisted unnaturally, like a snake made of pure malice. It grabbed my wrist, squeezing with an inhuman strength. Pain shot through me, cold as death, and my entire arm went numb. The protective charm I had clung to—a silver medallion etched with sacred symbols—slipped from my fingers, clattering to the floor. My red string bracelet snapped, torn away like a brittle thread.

I felt sweat bead on my forehead, cold like ice water, and the pain was too much to bear. I let out a string of curses as I thrashed, my body instinctively leaping away. "Goddamn it, let go!" I yelled, the words leaving my mouth in a frantic rush.

Desperate, I twisted and jerked, kicking wildly. It worked—at least for a moment. The Wraith was thrown off balance by my erratic flailing, but then its strength reasserted itself. With a violent tug, I was pulled down, hitting the ground with a dull thud. I watched helplessly as its ghostly foot swung toward my chest.

The air around me thickened with the metallic scent of blood, and I knew the Wraith's kick was coming with the force of a sledgehammer. Instinctively, I tried to roll away, but my wrist was still locked in its iron grip. Just as the blow was about to land, Ethan Blackwood, who had been silently chanting a spell, finished his incantation.

In his hand, a golden scepter flared to life, shimmering with radiant energy that banished the darkness clinging to its surface. With a swift motion, he threw a yellow talisman at the Wraith.

The talisman ignited mid-air, glowing fiercely as it collided with the Wraith's assault. The creature screeched in fury, momentarily blinded by the burst of light. Ethan's movements were quick, precise. His feet moved in complex, deliberate steps that I later learned were part of an ancient Daoist practice—invoking celestial forces through the "Star Stepping" technique.

The Wraith's attack faltered, and it was thrown back, howling in rage as Ethan advanced. He moved like a dancer possessed, spinning and weaving between shadows with an uncanny grace. But the Wraith wasn't about to give up so easily. It snatched Rose, the poor woman caught in the middle of this nightmare, pulling her along as it fled.

I struggled to my feet, still reeling from the encounter, my right wrist swollen and throbbing. "Damn it," I muttered, scratching at the itching burn spreading across my arm. The pain was maddening, like fire ants crawling beneath my skin.

"Don't scratch it!" Ethan barked as he sidestepped another of the Wraith's attacks. His voice was steady but firm, cutting through the chaos. "The venom will spread faster if you break the skin."

My hand froze mid-scratch. My eyes darted toward the Wraith, who was still clutching Rose, now with a grotesque glee. The creature was gnawing at her arm, consuming her flesh as she moaned in horror. Ethan had warned us about its hunger—the way it devoured its victims piece by piece, slowly, sadistically.

"We need to do something!" I shouted in panic, desperation creeping into my voice as I watched the life draining from Rose.

Ethan, never breaking his focus, glanced at the corner of the room where another figure stood motionless. It was Nick, Rose's husband—a ghost himself. Though freed from the Wraith's control earlier, Nick seemed too dazed to act. His spirit hovered in the background, watching helplessly as his wife was being consumed.

Ethan's voice broke through the tension like a whip crack. "Nick, he's eating your wife! Are you really just going to stand there and watch?"

That snapped something in Nick. His pale, expressionless face twisted in fury. With an unearthly roar, he charged at the Wraith, his ghostly form rippling with raw energy. Fueled by rage and grief, Nick slammed into the creature, trying to pry Rose free from its grasp.

Ethan seized the moment. His hands moved swiftly, pulling out another talisman from his robe and chanting under his breath. With a precise flick of his wrist, he sent the talisman spinning toward the Wraith. But the Wraith was prepared this time. Its bony hand shot out, intercepting the charm mid-air. With a wicked smile, it conjured an orb of dark energy, using its twisted power to block Ethan's spell.

"Not good," Ethan muttered under his breath. His eyes were sharp, scanning the room for any advantage. The Wraith was growing stronger, its dark energy pulsing ominously. I could see it in the way its blood-red eyes gleamed with malevolent delight as it continued its gruesome feast on Rose.

Nick, still desperately trying to free his wife, was thrown back again and again, his ethereal form bouncing off the Wraith's protective aura. Each time he flew into the shimmering barrier, he was thrown back harder, his frustration boiling over. The Wraith laughed—a chilling, grating sound that echoed through the chamber.

"Ethan, we need to stop it!" I shouted, my voice barely holding steady as I watched the horror unfold.

"I know," he replied calmly, though his focus never wavered. His eyes were locked on the prayer beads wrapped around the Wraith's neck—beads that once held it prisoner within the mansion's cursed walls. Now, they seemed to be acting as both its shield and weapon.

Ethan's hands worked quickly, tracing intricate patterns in the air with the glowing scepter. "These beads... they're not just a cage, they're a conduit," he whispered, as if piecing together an ancient puzzle. "If we don't break their hold, the Wraith will tear through every soul in this house."

He drew in a sharp breath, shifting his weight as he prepared for his next move. The talisman in his hand shimmered with the same golden light, and he positioned himself directly in front of the Wraith's shield.

In a sudden, fluid motion, he threw the talisman, but instead of aiming for the Wraith, it latched onto the floating prayer beads. For a brief moment, the entire room seemed to hold its breath.

The talisman pulsed, sinking into the blackened beads. The once corrupt and decaying aura began to shimmer with faint streaks of light. Ethan seized the moment, raising the scepter high above his head. In one final chant, his voice thundered with power.

"Om mani padme hum!"

The scepter struck down, piercing through the air like a lightning bolt. Each bead on the necklace began to tremble, and as Ethan's spell took hold, the one fully blackened bead started to glow again, slowly restoring to its original golden hue.

The Wraith let out a deafening shriek, its grip on Rose weakening. With each strike Ethan delivered, the Wraith's form flickered and warped, the darkness it wielded unraveling like threads in the wind.

Nick saw his chance. With renewed strength, he rushed forward, knocking the Wraith back as Ethan continued to break its defenses.

Rose collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath as Nick held her tightly, his ghostly form flickering with exhaustion.

The Wraith, now weakened but far from defeated, snarled in frustration. It glared at Ethan, dark energy crackling around it in a final desperate attempt to lash out. But Ethan stood his ground, the scepter glowing brightly in his hand.

"You've lost," he said quietly, and with one last strike, the Wraith's form shattered, dissolving into the ether, leaving behind nothing but silence.

The air was still.