Chapter 62: The Soulstorm

The house groaned in agony, its very foundation trembling beneath the weight of the battle raging inside. The air was thick with fury, charged with something unnatural, something beyond death itself.

Victoria and the entity inside Ellie's body were no longer just fighting—they were tearing reality apart.

Ben staggered to his feet, his heart pounding against his ribs. He had seen Victoria angry before, but this? This was beyond rage. This was war.

"You took everything from me!" Victoria shrieked, her ghostly form surging forward, her hands clawing through the air like knives of pure vengeance.

Ellie's body—or whatever was inside it—did not flinch.

"And you abandoned me to die," the entity sneered, its voice a distorted echo of Ellie's, laced with something… ancient. Sinister.

Then—a violent clash.

A force so immense it sent shockwaves through the walls exploded between them. The floor cracked beneath Ellie's feet as the two spirits collided like colliding worlds, their energy sending objects flying.

Ben barely managed to dodge as a bookshelf snapped in half and crashed beside him. The room darkened, shadows twisting unnaturally along the walls as if the house itself was suffocating under their power.

Victoria lunged, her essence crackling like electricity. She tried to force the entity out, her spectral hands gripping Ellie's face, fingers digging deep into the flesh.

Ellie—or the entity inside her—arched backward in pain, but it did not yield.

"You are nothing but a pathetic, bitter soul!" the entity spat, its voice splitting into two tones—one mocking, one filled with something inhuman.

Victoria let out a guttural scream and pressed harder, her form flickering like a candle in a storm.

The house shook violently.

Ben felt his stomach twist—he knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Victoria, STOP!" he shouted, his voice lost in the chaos.

But she didn't.

She couldn't.

She was past reason. Past mercy.

And the entity? It was enjoying this.

With a sickening grin, it threw its head forward, colliding with Victoria's. A shockwave rippled through the room—a soundless scream that sent Ben to his knees, clutching his head as pain split through his skull.

Victoria reeled back, her form flickering wildly. She was losing strength.

And the entity knew it.

It laughed, a horrible, chilling sound that did not belong to Ellie.

"You should've known, Victoria," it purred, tilting Ellie's head to the side, eyes glowing with an eerie, golden light. "You were never meant to win."

Then, with a flick of its wrist, it sent Victoria hurtling backward.

She crashed into the far wall, her ghostly body splintering like shattered glass.

For the first time, Ben saw fear in Victoria's eyes.

She had underestimated the thing inside Ellie.

And now, it was her turn to be haunted.