The Last Customer

by Daniel Coughlin

  He opened his eyes.

  There was nothing. No breathing and no shoes shuffling. It was dead silent.

  Something must have happened to Timmy.

  He knew it. That crazy guy was alive and he’d killed Timmy.

  Terrance opened the front door. As he stepped outside, he met Cherri’s gaze and said, “We need to leave. Timmy or no Timmy, shit’s about to go down in a bad way. I’ve only had a feeling this bad once in my life, and it was fuckin’ bad. So let’s go.” He finished, grabbed Cherri’s arm and pulled her off the curb.

  Cherri moved forward, shrugged, and stopped. Terrance was suddenly tugged backward. Cherri tried to shuck her arm free. With three quick jerks, she finally yanked her arm from Terrance’s grip. She tore away from him and disappeared into the darkness of the store.

  Shaking his hands as he left, Terrance continued across the parking lot toward the truck. “Better off on my own, anyway.”

  Chapter 7

  1

  Father Leslie Gardner sat in the darkness of his living room staring out of his picture window. The panoramic view of cornfields lightly rustling in the wind soothed him from where he sat. Beyond the stalks of yellow and green, he could see miles of rolling hills, Highway 26—until it disappeared into the largest of the hills, the radiant light of the small downtown area and he could see Buggy’s Liquor.

  The moonlight gave the room a bluish hue, and illuminated Gardner’s distinguished face. Often, when he couldn’t sleep, he’d sit in his reclining chair and watch the world through his window. It calmed him, while relaxing his aging mind. But tonight was different. Something was happening at Buggy’s Liquor, the small mom and pop joint that sat four hundred yards from his property line. Leaning forward, he ran his calloused fingers through his silver hair. He thought he heard screaming. Gunshots rang out, he was quite sure of it and the lights at the store were out. Was there a power outage? If that were the case, then his lights would be out too but they weren’t. Turning in his creaky gray reclining chair, he assured himself that his kitchen lights were on. The dim light bounced a glare off the lime green walls in the hallway—the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room.

  Gardner turned to the window. Again, he heard screaming. Maybe it was the air conditioner? Sometimes, the vents let out a slow hum. The vent at the base of the hallway hissed and the flow of air whistled. But he didn’t want to call the police unless he was sure that something bad was happening.

  Straining to see beneath the tall lampposts that cast spots of halogen light throughout the parking lot, Gardner witnessed a black man—holding a pistol—barrel out of the liquor store. The man had a bald head that glimmered in the moonlight. He ran toward an old pick-up truck that was parked near the back of the lot.

  “What’s going on down there?” Gardner whispered to himself. His forehead scrunched into a frown. He was concerned. Misguided as they were, he appreciated the Gasper boys. His concern turned into something stronger. He felt eyes watching him. He’d felt this upsetting intuition many times during the course of his career as a holy man. It was evil’s eyes upon him. He felt the same intuition when he met his wife, Donna. His wife wasn’t evil, no. But she’d been possessed by an evil similar to what he felt now. He wanted to wake her, but she was asleep in their bedroom, upstairs.

  Donna was thirty-two years old when Gardner was called-in to exercise the unholy presence that had invaded her body. She was his twenty-seventh exorcism; that was thirty years ago. Now, the memory seemed close. He remembered the day well and that it had been his last exorcism.

  For years, Gardner traveled across the country fighting evil. Some cases were fraudulent. The twenty-seven that he counted were authentic. The ceremony and rites of exorcism which were written in the holy books were not as useful as he’d been educated to believe. The power to expel the unholy was in the strength of one’s faith; faith in goodness and Gardner had much of that. Sure, he had impure thoughts. He was a self- proclaimed sinner, but he fought for good. He acknowledged its strength. He denounced the weakness of evil. When someone saw as many miracles and demons in their life as Father Leslie Gardner had—they had no other choice, but to believe in the higher power of good and evil. With Gardner’s faith came strength. He could pull the unholy parasite from its prey. A demon could only inflict as much damage as God allowed and if God allowed Father Gardner to seek out and help the possessed, then usually He had said enough to the Unholy One.

  Donna Shaney spent her youth as a drug addict. She laughed in the face of God until one day she looked in her mirror and didn’t recognize her appearance. The reflection was only a resembled image. There was something evil living inside her. She could feel it gnawing at her soul. Her eyes were black. Her reflection laughed back at her. She was being taken over and couldn’t stop it. Finally, she was unable to battle the evil which possessed her.

  The decision to get alternative help occurred on the day she nearly devoured her brother’s infant child. Silvia Shaney, Donna’s grandmother, discovered Donna wondering the streets and brought her home. The Shaney’s hadn’t seen Donna in a long time. She’d been reported missing years earlier, but her family knew she was around. She’d been spotted by relatives and acquaintances, lurking in the darkness with her criminal friends. She was a drug addict, a fiend.

  Donna’s brother fainted when he witnessed his sister’s eyes bulge forward from their sockets. Her face stretched forward, pulling her skin. Later on, when asked about that horrible day, he said that he thought her skull was going to rip through her face. Donna’s sister-in-law grabbed the infant. She ran out of the house with the baby. The evil that possessed Donna wasn’t able to harm the child.

  Silvia called the first Catholic Church in the Yellow Pages. Silvia ended up calling many churches and finally, through the network of priests, she found Gardner.

  He flew in the next day from Miami. He’d been working with survivors of a very sinister cult. They had met for lunch, but neither of them ate their food. Then he met with Donna.

  Upon their first encounter, he became aware that the demon Sammael had possessed her.

  Many of Gardner’s counterparts disapproved of Gardner’s unstructured methods, and in turn, he disagreed with some of their organized beliefs. But they let him conduct business. None of the other priests could deny that Gardner carried out the lord’s supernatural work. He was special. Many of the Priests and Cardinals determined that Gardner was no longer catholic. He’d gone through the process and been educated as such, but his line of work had taken him to a higher state of holiness. He only believed in God and his son. There was no difference between religions. There was God and Jesus and everything else was human interruption. God dwelled in the hearts of all his children. The strength of evil was only as strong as the Father permitted. Why would he permit this kind of evil? To test. Like a professor tests his students in the classroom, God tested his children in life. By testing high, his children could fulfill greatness. There were no certainties in life, never. But Gardner believed that striving for goodness was the way to eternal happiness. Tests came every day. They ranged from white lies to murder.

  Gardner was placed in the presence of Donna Shaney for more than one reason. One of them being that she’d ignored the goodness inside of her. She had been seduced by darkness. She had let her gift of life shrivel up and burn. The gift of life was fragile and now, her life was draining with each passing second. Gardner didn’t know if he could save her, but he would try. He hoped that he would be successful.

  After a person was exorcised, they usually came around to believing again. Often, they strived for goodness. The latter—insanity—didn’t set well. If the victim accepted their possession as insanity, in the end, insanity would take them and the Evil One would be pleased.

  Donna was near death when Sammael was extracted. When the unholy got close to killing its host, its anger was overwhelming and it was frightening when it failed. But evil had no strength over the greatness of God
.

  Sammael had to go.

  So Gardner studied Sammael and upon first meeting the unholy demon, Sammael tried to convince Gardner that he was anyone but Sammael. He said that he was the devil. He promised that he was Saint Christopher. He even claimed to be Donna’s aborted child.

  The true identity of the demon was revealed to Gardner in one of his visions. His strength created a tunnel of communication in which God spoke to Gardner. Only a few possessed this gift. It was revealed that Sammael inhabited Donna. Gardner knew this, because it was revealed to him through the purity of God’s voice.

  The exorcism didn’t last very long. After Sammael left, Donna was severely dehydrated. She was unable to hold liquids or food. Her tendons, bones and organs were fighting ultimate failure. The twisted physical agony and torment was too much for her physical body. Gardner had made it just in time. Donna fought to keep her life.

  One night, about a year after the exorcism, Donna tracked down Father Gardner. She wanted to thank him. She found him by way of the priest who had originally assessed her situation, Father Denton. Having been in the area, Gardner agreed to see her.

  He was taken by her beauty. They met at a small diner on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River, which separated the state from Wisconsin.

  Gardner barely recognized Donna. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been weary and beaten. When one is borrowed by the unholy, their physical features change. Donna didn’t look like the woman he’d seen in pictures before the exorcism either. She was stunning. Gardner’s heart rate began to speed. He was used to witnessing great evils, and his ability to stay calm was strong. But Donna managed to stir him.

  The diner was bright. Gardner sat in the back at a table was near the exit. He drank black coffee while staring out the window. He looked to the front of the diner when the glass doors opened. The cold air vacuumed out. He looked up from his brown table, locking his eyes on her. Her skin was vibrant, no longer pasty and dry. There was a touch of sun to her skin, appearing lightly tanned. Her shoulders were freckled and her hazel eyes danced with life. Gardner was nervous. His heart fluttered. He couldn’t turn away from her. It seemed that she was sent from heaven. In that moment, Gardner knew that Donna would be his wife. She would take him away from the underworld and the demons that he fought. She would become his destiny. She would show him how beautiful life could be.

  She wore a light yellow dress with straps over her tanned shoulders. Her shoes matched in color. She wasn’t made-up with blush, mascara or any other dressings. Still, it was apparent that she’d taken her time in front of the mirror. There was a natural art to her appearance.

  She smiled as she entered the diner. His cheeks burned. He stood, showed her to her seat.

  “Thank you for seeing me,” Donna said.

  It was odd to hear her speak kind words. Before and during the exorcism, she’d only said foul things to him. But that wasn’t her. That was the demon.

  Stunned, but slowly settling his attraction, he said, “I think maybe I should be thanking you. You look better than well. You look wonderful, lovely.” And for the first time, in a long time, he was embarrassed that what he’d said sounded corny, and maybe inappropriate.

  “Thank you,” she said, reaching out and wrapping her slender fingers around his hand, squeezing gently.

  The warmth of her hands felt good. He felt life beneath the skin of her palms. Her fingers held a touch of callous. It was comforting.

  Donna looked down at their intertwined hands, at the center of the table. When her gaze lifted, he saw tears spilling down her cheeks.

  “I’m thirty-three years old now…but I have only lived for one of those years, this past one. I’ve been clean, sober and good. I work in a garden nursery. The sun feels good on my back when I plant flowers and I know that God is shining his light upon me. I never knew that life could be so wonderful,” she said. There was a wild amazement swimming behind her moist hazel eyes.

  Gardner allowed tears to spill down his cheeks. He couldn’t help it. Watching Donna—full of life—explaining true happiness was a rich feeling. He didn’t know if he was crying because he was happy for her or if he was sad because he wanted to live life as she did.

  “It sounds like this last year has made up for the past.”

  They sat, silent, for nearly ten minutes enjoying each other’s company. They were comfortable, as if they’d known each other their entire lives.

  After lunch, Donna sat up straight. She looked out the window, and then said, “When I was taken…I was weak. I wanted to kill myself. I was miserable every day that I was alive. I took drugs. Not to feel good, or because my body depended on them, but because I wanted to torture myself... slowly. I wanted to punish myself and when I was taken, I went to a place where I couldn’t escape the pain. I was in a place where I felt extreme sorrow. It tormented me.” She peered up at Gardner. “And then you helped me…”

  Out of habit, he cut her off by saying, “It was God…working through me.” He realized he was being rude. “I’m sorry, please continue.”

  “I was able to come out of that place; where pain was everything. It burned where I was. When I came back to life, I felt its beauty. In an instant, I knew how precious life was and that I’d taken it for granted. The first thing I saw was frightened faces, but everything was better. I walk in the light, now. Life is exciting. It’s a gift.”

  Over the next few weeks, Donna Shaney and Leslie Gardner met for breakfasts, lunches and dinners. They went for walks. They talked about life and faith and finally, he asked her out on a date. It was the most nerve racking question he’d ever asked. He’d gone to battle with demons, the most unimaginable evils; they were nothing compared to the fear of asking this beautiful woman out on a date. Everything had to be perfect. He didn’t want to push her away, or be unprofessional. He had to be careful. He was a professional man of faith. If this went wrong, he would embarrass the church, himself, and his faith. Added to the fact that if they continued courting each other, he would have to leave the church.

  Donna didn’t skip a beat. She was delighted and their first kiss occurred on the back patio of a nice Italian restaurant in Genoa, Wisconsin. They sat near a cozy fire pit looking out at the Mississippi River. It was sunset. The warm evening wind gently caressed their bodies. Her lips were careful, magical and filled with love.

  Donna and Leslie were married on May 30, of 1985. His constituents were unhappy with his decision to leave his practice. They held a job for him, but the job was more of a courtesy than real work. They called him a consultant and there was no one to replace him. No one else could do what he did. There was evil to fight and the church had lost their most valuable weapon. They were aware that he couldn’t fight forever. The evil that he battled would have eventually broken his will. It would have exploited his weaknesses and attacked him and destroyed him. In the bottom of their hearts, they were glad that he’d been given Donna.

  Now, they lived in their nice country home in the rolling hills of Wisconsin. Gardner’s pension from the church wasn’t much, but he and Donna were people of faith. They were enriched and rewarded by their fellowship. They had opened a garden nursery. It did okay, enough to live off of, and they were happy.

  But now, looking out the picture window of his lovely home on the hill, Gardner felt an evil presence residing below.

  Turning toward the staircase, Gardner stood from his chair. He walked upstairs, shuffled down the hallway, pushed the bedroom door open and lightly shook his wife’s shoulder. She was startled, then rolled over to face him.

  Donna focused when she saw Gardner’s seriousness.

  “What? What is it? You look scared.”

  He didn’t know if she was fully awake yet. She obviously knew that things were going bad. The severity of his expression told all.

  “I need you to pack only what you need, get in your car, and drive away from here—now.” Gardner explained. He was calm yet silently frantic.

  “Wher
e will I go? When can I come back?” she asked calmly. He knew that she trusted him. She wouldn’t argue.

  “I wish I had time to explain, but I don’t. You’ll have to trust me. Go as far away as you can and call me in a day. If you can’t get a hold of me, call the police.”

  “I’ll do as you say,” she agreed while caressing the side of his cheek. “Are you sure that I can’t help you with…whatever this is?”

  “You cannot and I would not ask it of you. The less you know. The better off you’ll be.”

  She got out of bed, put on a pair of jeans and a white tee-shirt.

  “I’m not scared. I have faith,” she said as she walked to him. She kissed the side of his head, below his temple.

  “You have nothing to fear…if you go. But I feel that there is a fight ahead. Something evil is among us and I won’t put you in harm’s way.”

  Gardner hoped that he wasn’t contradicting himself. If there was nothing to fear, then she shouldn’t have to leave.

  She got ready, quickly, anyhow. She trusted him on a deep level. It didn’t matter if he contradicted himself or not. He knew what he was doing and he knew that she understood this.

  Walking her to the door, he couldn’t help but to stop at the window and look to the store. Evil resonated in the air. It was like an invisible tornado, dangerous and undetected. There was something very familiar about this evil. This was an evil he’d fought before. He’d known that this day would find him. Still, he was taken back and knew that the evil waited for him.

  Gardner stood in the garage. The door opened, and then Donna drove her Jeep onto the driveway. He heard another scream from the liquor store.

  Gardner watched Donna drive down the hill. Cornfields surrounded her Jeep on both sides. Unaware that he was doing so, he held his breath.

  She stopped at the octagon shaped stop-sign that reflected in the moonlight.