Chapter 16.2: The Banshee (9)
The banshee’s screams and cries of pain broke Everly’s heart. In comparison, the exorcist who had come to “save” her seemed unforgivably cruel. Everly refused to give in. She opened her mouth and, using her tiny gums just beginning to sprout teeth, bit down on Wester’s hand with all her strength. But the exorcist’s skin was thick and tough, and she, toothless as she was, could not harm him.
The baby’s struggling and resistance were no more threatening than the hiss of a kitten in Wester’s eyes. His emerald eyes scanned the restless infant from top to bottom with cold indifference. Adjusting his stance, he opened his hand like a trap and gripped Everly by the neck.
A baby’s neck bones are extremely fragile. Suspended in midair by Wester’s grip, Everly’s blood rushed to her head, and she struggled to breathe.
She hung limp like a dead dog, head drooping, limbs suspended, as Wester carried her before the banshee. Just as in the dream, a tense negotiation unfolded between the exorcist and the banshee. Pressured by Everly’s life, the banshee looked at the baby with reluctant affection, lowered her head, and ceased resisting, allowing Wester to raise his dagger and aim for her wide-open left eye.
“Eh…”
After the oil lamp went out, the chamber fell into darkness. Even with specialized training, the exorcist’s vision was somewhat limited. At first, he did not notice that the banshee’s left eye had been swapped. But as soon as the dagger pierced, he realized something was wrong—the eyeball bouncing on the floor seemed less like it had been extracted and more like it had rolled out on its own after being levered by the dagger!
But there was no time to investigate further. The banshee had not yet lost the ability to act, and with the hostage still in his hands, removing her other eye as soon as possible was the priority.
Thus, Wester only gave a casual glance to roughly note the landing spot of the “left eye,” then gripped the dagger and struck, extracting the banshee’s intact right eye from its socket.
The moment both eyes left her sockets, the banshee’s body turned gray-white, and within moments, she was completely petrified.