"Easy there, buddy! I got nothing to do with you or your chick!" The man stammered as Richard grabbed him by the collar and shoved the pistol into his face.
"I want you to think about it real hard. It's hard to miss her! Think. You got 5 seconds," Richard snarled.
"Whoa! Rich! What's wrong?" Gunner slowly approached Richard, hands up in the air to appear non-threatening.
Richard threw the patient he was interrogating back and waved the pistol at Gunner. "You!"
"Me, what?" Gunner offered a goofy grin as he stopped short of Richard. "There's no reason for that. Why don't we talk about what's bothering you?"
Roxy knelt on the tile behind the chairs, it was only a matter of time that Richard noticed she was hiding there. She needed to be quick before Richard realized what she was doing or hurt anyone else. Her eyes flicked up to the lights, trying to decide on where she was pulling the energy from to power her magic.
She could pull the electricity again and hope the emergency generators kicked in before a black out caused any damage to patients on life support. She didn't have anyone or anything to sacrifice so that was out. It'd have to be electricity.
She pressed against her bandage, reopening her wound as Richard's voice took on a feverish pitch. Roxy ignored what he and Gunner were doing to intone her spell. It helped that she had no intention of letting Richard walk away, he was covered in blood and waving a gun around. If there was a fragment worth saving, she didn't see it now. This world had crisis counsellors but he'd already crossed the line.
Her hand drew hot and wet with blood as she pressed it against cool tile, using her blood as the medium to draw the sigils. The overhead lights flickered as Roxy drew the power into a glowing sphere in between her hands. She felt eyes on her, and heard shouting through what sounded like water. When her eyes flicked up, Richard was glaring at her. The gun was pointed at her head.
Her hair floated upwards as she lifted the sphere up as she rose from the floor. Recognition sparked in Richard's eyes as he recognized her for the first time.
Everything moved in slow motion, distantly she heard the thundering report of the pistol going off before the corona of fire exploded at the muzzle break. Gunner tackling Richard. The nurses and patients scattering for cover. The ceiling shook as an explosion of light erupted in a large circle from the sigil at Roxy's feet.
It was a race against time, which was faster, the speed of the bullet or her spell?
"Roxy, get down!"
"Ayla?! I'll make sure you stay dead this time!"
"Get down!"
"Call the police!"
The emergency room exploded into chaos and darkness as time caught up. Gunner slammed Richard against the ground, the gun clattering out of Richard's hand. An arc of lightning vaporized the bullet into smoke as it surged into Richard. Richard howled and spasmed as Gunner pinned his hands behind his back in the sudden flash of illumination.
Sirens shrieked in the distance. Roxy glared at Richard in the darkness as she felt the pulse of his heart through the residual effects of her attack. Roses and goldenwood mingled with the stench of burnt atmosphere following a lightning strike as Roxy walked towards her prone antagonist. She felt something writhing inside of Richard, trying to break free of him as its aura bristled against her skin.
Her eyes narrowed, it was familiar. It reminded her of the totem in the swamp more than the demon at the crypt. Roxy had been correct, Richard had brought something back with him when he returned home. Wind brushed against her skin as she gathered the residual energy lingering from her last attack. She heard a boom deeper within the hospital as red emergency lights flickered on.
Strange shadows struggled under Gunner's grip as he kept Richard pinned.
"Ayla, this isn't really me!" Richard stared at Roxy with wild, out of focus eyes, his voice pleading. "Come on. I didn't want to do any of that to you! I... I was tricked! I just wanted to get home!"
"Welcome home." Roxy crouched down, grabbing a handful of Richard's hair with her injured hand. She needed to isolate her spell so it didn't hurt Gunner. She considered the options. They were in a hospital. It wouldn't take much to restart Richard's heart if they responded fast enough.
Roxy was certain that the hospital staff were true dedicated professionals that would at least make the attempt to save Richard's life but that other worldly presence on the other hand... Her eyes flashed as she surged electricity directly into Richard's head and the entity possessing him. "Let's see if this kills you," she hissed.
Richard's eyes glazed over as he went limp in Gunner's grip. Roxy waited, staring at the foreign presence that had latched onto Richard's body. It was too simple, she didn't think it was really over. Car doors slammed outside as police rushed into the waiting room, shouting instructions. Gunner and Roxy retreated to give the officers access to the gunman that was having a heart attack on the floor.
A mote of shadow rose from Richard's body and darted towards the exit doors. Roxy ran after it, Gunner on her heels. She couldn't let it get away. If Richard survived, he'd be in police custody. If he died, he was no longer her problem but that foreign entity was going to be her newest problem. She tried to remember what they taught her at the academy about demonic possession.
"Roxy! What are we chasing?" Gunner yelled as he caught up to Roxy, squinting ahead of her, not seeing the object she was chasing.
"Demon!" Roxy called back as she rounded a corner. The orb zipped into field to the left of the hospital. "We can't let it jump into a new host!"