by mike Evans
“We don’t have time to screw around, come on, Carter.”
Nathaniel walked across to the chair, pulling a bottle of holy water and sprinkling it on the steel. Smoke began to rise and neither of them had any doubt they were burning the evil and forcing it out of the object. The chair began to buckle when he threw a second handful of water onto it. They took the chair throwing it into the living room. Mrs. Milton now free fell to the ground. She brushed the black hair from her sweat-drenched face. "You have any idea how long I have been here like this. He either forgot about me or just didn't care."
“Is your son still here?” Nathaniel asked.
“I don’t have any idea. I saw him go by the kitchen a few times unsure what he was up to and then I haven’t seen him since. I don’t know what happened, he’s such a good boy, I don’t know what they want with him. Can you free him, can you get that damnation from hell out of my son and our house?”
“Is it just you here and your son?” Nathaniel asked.
"I don't know if Pat is home or not. I'd say not. We just thought that he had the stomach flu. He'd been in his room for two days, he'd never been so quiet. Finally, I couldn't bear to wait any longer to see what was wrong with him. I went into his room and there he was on the bed, well he wasn't exactly on the bed. He was floating above it. How was he doing that?"
"Your son more than likely is possessed. It is the only way that I've ever seen it done before. I am sorry to tell you that, but I think for sure that’s what it is. We will do our best to get him back. Is there another door that you can leave through before he comes back?" Carter asked.
“Yes, I’ll try going out the back-sliding door.”
They nodded, watching her go to the door. She reached to unlock it when a laughing came from upstairs. It bellowed, filling the house until it was all that could be heard. The deepest voice they’d ever heard screamed at the top of its lungs. “No one leaves, not even the woman!”
She put both hands on the door, pulling on the knob until it finally snapped off. She flew backwards, landing on her rear in between the two priests. They knelt to help her up when a dark shadow came from behind them wrapping its hands around her throat. Mrs. Milton's eyes turned from shocked at falling on the floor to those being killed from suffocation. Carter screamed, "Holy water, now!"
The two reached into their breast pockets biting the corks from the vials filled with the blessed water and spitting them to the side. They turned the vials downwards aiming it directly at her throat, but the water did not so much as spill a drop. They looked at each other confused, never having a demon do this before the woman slid from between them. They each reached for her feet at the last second missing and losing their balance falling onto the floor. They looked up, watching as her heels disappeared around the corner to the kitchen. The two stumbled up to their feet clumsily, dropping the vials, the water finally coming free from it spilling on the floor. “Get up, Carter, we need to go, now!”
The two ran around the corner following her blindly with no regards for the two of themselves. The demon stood at the top of the steps smiling, it’s face a mixture of pale white with red veins that almost glowed even in the shadows from the top of the steps. The two looked at each other watching as Mrs. Milton went up the staircase. The demon did little if nothing to keep her from banging her head on each of the steps as she flew up and out of sight. It started laughing a hideous sound if ever they’d heard one.
“What do you want to do?” Carter asked.
“What do you think we do? We send it back to hell! Come on, let’s get going. She needs our help.”
The two marched for the stairs and the demon lifted his hands pulling the royal oak banister from its place. He brought up his hands and then back down quickly; Carter had mere seconds to leap out of the way before the wood almost impaled him.
He hit hard rolling and pulling out a vile not taking a minute to think about it and hurled a bottle of holy water up to the top of the staircase at him. It dived out of the way, but he hadn't been aiming for it. Carter's throw landed exactly where he wanted and that was three feet above him. The glass shattered on the hardwood that lined the ceiling and walls. It cracked open and rained down upon the demon. It screamed as the holy water covered its skin, giving it an unwanted blessing. It screamed a yell filled with agony and torture, making both priests cover their ears. Carter went to pull a second vial when he watched the ground beneath him become very small and far away.
The demon raised his arms, sending him to the ceiling where he hit with enough force to knock the wind from him. Carter tried to say something, but the demon waved his hands again sending him to the glass chandelier, ruining and breaking it, leaving shards of glass protruding from everywhere. He tried to say something, but the demon took him around in a circle and back into the glass stabbing him in many spots. He tried to hold the wounds, but there were too many for his hands to cover. He looked to Nathaniel, who looked like a lost puppy. He sprinted for the stairs, but the demon waved his free hand, sending him into the wall breaking the drywall all the way down to his feet. He got back control not ready to give up on his friend.
The demon yelled, “Die you puppet, die, die now!”
Nathaniel took his coat off and the demon smiled, playing with him. Carter watched as he was being played like a puppet suspended in midair. The demon yelled, “you’ll do no damage with such a foolish thing, what were you thinking stupid boy?”
Nathaniel never lost his grin, trying to hide exactly how fearful he was for his friend’s fate. He brought the jacket down on the ground, smashing it into the wood steps, to be sure he was getting what he wanted he smashed the heel of his dress shoe onto each one of the coat’s pockets. Carter yelled, “Put me down you abomination!”
The demon looked at him and that was when Nathaniel knelt to take his coat and sprinted up the last three stairs leaping onto the demon. The coat was soaking wet with holy water. Nathaniel hit him hard covering his face with the suit jacket. The two of them crashed hard into the floor, sliding to a stop. When the demon tried to rise Nathaniel brought up one single fist wrapped with a crucifix around his hand and brought it down into the nose of the demon, it groaned when the punch collided sending it back hard where it struck the back of its head.
Carter screamed this time as he fell. Nathaniel looked over his shoulder and saw the outcome happen a thousand times before gravity could finish its job. Carter kicked and screamed in the air as he fell to the ground below. The banister now missing, left a line of railing poles that had been snapped off and left jagged. Carter closed his eyes, trying to cover his face as he came down, he might as well have had wood arrows shot at him because when his plummet ended, so did his screams. Nathaniel tried to say something, but choked on each scream. Carter jerked wildly once before he came to a rest. The wood poles once white were now a crimson red, which protruded out of the back of Carter’s neck, spine, gut, and hip. Blood dripped from Carter’s mouth and down the poles, Nathaniel watched as a tear made its way down his eye and rolling off his nose dripping into a growing pool of blood.
A laughing came now, the demon could sense his hate and pain and fed on it. He loved every second of this and was growing stronger with it. Nathaniel tied off the coat so that he wouldn’t be able to shake it loose from his head. Nathaniel screamed, “You’re going back to hell, tell Satan that we said hello!”
"The Devil will see you soon," Nathaniel said. "My Lord, you are all powerful, you are God, you are Father. We beg you through the intercession and help of the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, for the deliverance of our brothers and sisters who are enslaved by the evil one. All saints of Heaven, come to our aid. My Lord, you are all powerful, you are God, you are Father. We beg you through the intercession and help of the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, for the deliverance of our brothers and sisters who are enslaved by the evil one. All saints of Heaven, come to our aid."
The demon screamed now and this was a screa
m that was worse than anything he had ever heard at least since his last exorcism. A red light exploded from under the jacket and his mouth, going up above him and then straight back down. The scream subsided and he realized that the horrific scream that had been there was no longer.
This scream was a new one, one that sounded like it was coming from a teenager, one scared, tired, and very confused teen. Nathaniel unwrapped the coat, the boy looked at him with blue eyes, not a red stain in them. His skin went slowly back to normal until he had the normal olive complexion. Nathaniel reached to pat the kid on the head, but he crab walked backwards trying to figure things out in only seconds. The priest whom he'd never seen before was bloodied and sweating profusely. "Robert, Robert, is that you, are you back, baby?" Mrs. Milton asked with tears filling her voice.
“What, what is happening, mom? Who is this guy?”
"Oh, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Fathers-"
She stopped speaking when she saw Carter limp and still in place. Nathaniel turned around slowly walking down the steps. His chest was getting tight with each step to where his partner and friend lie suspended. He ignored the boy, there was nothing else that they needed. He placed a hand on his friends back, kneeling next to him, resting his head on him, unconcerned about the blood dripping from his body. “Dear Lord, Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.”
Mrs. Milton kissed her son on the head squeezing his shoulder and engulfing him into a hug that she'd been wanting to give him for days. "I am so happy that you are back, I love you, Robert. I love you so much, you were so different I...I...I was so scared, so terrified of you. You stay here, we are going to call the doctor to come for you."
“I feel fine, mom.”
“You floated, you did horrible things, you are getting looked at. You stay here for a minute.”
She walked down nervously trying to take in visually what she was seeing. The guilt and pain, knowing the men had risked their lives to save her and her son was not something easily dealt with. She placed a hand on his shoulder, “I am so sorry, Father, I never would have called if I thought that anything like this could have possibly happened.”
He looked up to her nodding his head. He said matter of factly, “You would have died, he would have killed, the world would have been a darker place for it, ma’am. Or he would have taken you and your husband over.”
“Is there someone I can call; is there something I can do?”
“You can call the hospital. He needs to be pronounced, time of death and then he’ll go to the morgue and then be delivered to the church where we can put him to rest.”
“Father, thank you, I, I didn’t, I never would, I mean…I'm so sorry about the priest.
“Thank you for saving me from whatever it was. The last thing I remember was getting home from school. I don’t have any idea what happened after that,” Robert said.
Nathaniel looked back to the boy. “Go with God, and pray that you stay in the dark. I fear you would not want to share any memories with the demon in your head.”
Nathaniel squeezed Carter’s shoulder one last time wishing it was himself and not his best friend. When he reached for the door, he was able to open it this time. He thought of how many times the two of them had been locked inside of demon possessed homes together and wished this was just like any other day.
He walked outside to the home’s front step, sitting down, he’d been trying to quit, but felt this warranted a cheat smoke. He pulled one from the pack looking around in a daze and not paying attention to the bystanders that had gathered around the house. He let out a long drag tapping the ashes in the yard, the sound of the sirens coming brought him out of his daze. When the ambulance and officers arrived, he let them in the house, staying for a statement. The police were skeptical until they saw the railing to the stairs and the bloody prints on the ceilings where they were twenty feet high. After he saw that Carter was properly taken care of and given the care that he respected, he headed back to their car, this time carrying both of their briefcases hand in hand, head and shoulders sunken.
Chapter 14
Route 66 Motel Los Angeles, California
Mr. Kirby had the phone on his shoulder running his finger down the list of rooms. He’d heard from eight this morning and it was only eleven. Most guests preferred to get an early breakfast because no one ever wanted to skip a free meal, especially when they didn’t have to exit their pajamas to do it. Stephanie walked by, smiling when she saw Jack walking through the lobby. He nodded and Mr. Kirby whistled to her to wait for him. Jack set down his briefcase on the counter, pulling out a fifty-dollar bill to take care of the night. Mr. Kirby looked at it rubbing his hands on it. “Church must be doing pretty good nowadays, Father Smith, is it?”
Jack nodded, Smith was his favorite name, and there were a billion of them. Jack smiled, “The church is always the best place to be my son. God knows all and sees all, therefore He is divine.”
Mr. Kirby, who had not been to church in twenty years suddenly got wet and clammy hands. He smiled nervously for he had absolutely no clue what in the hell to say to something like that. He nodded slowly and Jack pushed it further taking his hands in his. “Do you believe in our great and holy leader, the man who shows us our way? You know it is never too late to take the path of the church, are you married?”
Kirby shook his head no. “I’m not catholic, Father Smith. I haven’t been to church in so long that I don’t even remember what denomination I am, bless my mother’s heart, I couldn’t think of it if my life relied on it.”
Stephanie was standing in the corner biting her lip and trying not to laugh aloud. Kirby looked to her shooting daggers. “You come to church if you ever feel like enlightening your life my son.”
Jack thought he deserved an Oscar for his performance. Hired by Satan to go around and kill the priests on this list. He couldn’t be further from what he was pretending to be. It would not take very much to start off laughing at this point.
Kirby pushed the receipt toward him with his free hand praying the stranger would remove his hands from his. “I’ll keep service in mind later today, who knows, maybe I will get off in time to make it happen.”
Stephanie choked on her laugh, “You know Mr. Kirby, I’m sure that I could give you a ride in our carpool. You know that Laurie is quite kind about it, maybe the three of us could all go to church together, sing songs, hold hands, thank God for all that he is.”
Jack clapped his hands together, taking the receipt and making it disappear. “Now that is something, isn’t it, I love to see faith at work.”
He looked up at the cameras feeling a quick wave of nausea. Jack wasn’t stupid and wouldn’t be surprised if this came back and bit him in the ass. He had two issues here to deal with and then would be on his way to somewhere new and leave this all behind.
Stephanie brought him back out of it, “What church are you out of, Father?”
He tried to come up with a name and smiled. “I come from St. Mary’s Church, Las Vegas, Nevada diocese. I’ll hopefully be heading back there very soon.”
Jack took his belongings and headed out the door. Kirby stared at her, Stephanie was confident that she had never seen his face so red before. “Mr. Kirby, are you okay?”
He gripped the sides of the counter and veins which she had not seen on the man began to pop out of his forearms and head. “Go find Laurie before I strangle you in the towel closet, I can’t stand you! You would burn at the cross if you tried to walk into the church. You mock me in front of a priest and try to belittle me…do you have any idea how embarrassing that is?”
“Probably no more than what I deal with on a daily basis from you. You stay back here behind your little counter and think of what you will get for lying to a priest.”
“You just make sure that you tell your buddy Laurie that I want to talk to her the minute you find her. I don’t know what the hell she’s been doing all morning, but it is
ridiculous. I won’t stand for it whatsoever. She should have done way more rooms by now!”
Stephanie wanted to say something, but could already see the look that first Laurie would give her and then her husband would give her if she got fired again for her mouth. She spun around, hurrying down to Laurie’s side of the building. She walked slowly down the three halls looking for her, but didn’t see her cart. She checked all the rooms on the floor that didn’t have a do not disturb sign on them. She went down, finding which ones that were not occupied the evening before and started going through the ones on her cart that had already been checked off. She was beginning to worry something fierce about her best friend. She looked at the sheet seeing the room the priest had been in and opened the door slowly.
Chapter 15
Tony opened his eyes, but it was dark. He tried to wait patiently for things to come into focus, but they didn’t like the darkness that was like the black of night and there was no light to be seen. When he tried reaching for the lamp he found his arms would not work. Tony could feel something tight around his wrists, but wasn’t sure what it was. He started feeling nervous when a licking sensation began on each of his fingers, not one tongue running across each fingertip, but many tongues and what he could only assume were multiple mouths.
