Deliver Us From Evil (Demons Beware Book 2)
Page 20
Tony didn’t waste time but couldn’t help himself, his emotions were racing wild from adrenaline. He gripped his brother practically breaking his back when he clenched onto him, squeezing him in a bear hug. “How did you know that was going to work?”
Billy let out some air, trying to squeeze back but his hands were almost shot and in need of some very serious medical attention. “I had absolutely no idea if it would work or not but it was the only thing I had going for me as an option.”
Alecia cleared her throat, “Hey, Tony, are we getting out of here or not?”
Tony let go quickly of Billy holding up his outstretched arms to his girlfriend. She practically leapt into them and he gracefully took hold of her, setting her down being careful of the holy water. The bus boy got down as well and the four made their way back to the car wasting no time. Joan smiled when she saw Alecia safe and sound, knowing if Tony never made it into the priesthood as he wished that he would at the very least have a woman that was good by his side and would care for him and give her the grandbabies that would fill her own life with joy.
Tony opened the door, Billy and the bus boy both slid into the back. Alecia into the front with Dursky waiting behind the wheel and Tony slammed the door as he punched the gas. Dursky smiled, running the engine at screaming decibels. “Now that we got your girlfriend can we get to the church?”
Tony’s relief and joy felt like it had been lessened for the simple fact that he had knowingly put the life of others after that of his girlfriend’s. He tried to think and rationalize with himself why it was okay to do that and if it was something that meant he truly didn’t need to be a member of the church, given that he lived through the night.
They sped with Dursky looking around trying to make his way through the town. The dead were beginning to be a nuisance, each of them dressed from a different decade it seemed and then to have them stumbling arms out and mouth clicking in the street. He’d been hesitant the first few, trying his best to respect the dead but it grew old quick and any of them in front were taken out.
When they were within a block of the church they had to stop the car. The dead were everywhere, with demons in front of the church. It was quite literally hell on earth. Billy leaned in between Tony and Alecia peering at the numbers in front of them. The holy water he had in his pockets wasn’t enough to make a dent in this. Tony saw Billy trying to figure things out and asked, “So what do you wanna do, Billy? I don’t think we have enough of anything to help out.”
“You are the demon killer right or whatever it is, you send these things back to hell, you know where they belong?” Dursky asked.
The bus boy cleared his throat asking, “Is there a reason that you brought me here? I don’t think this is any better than what was at the restaurant. I didn’t think I could feel any worse but you-”
Billy opened the door, letting the boy out. He quit midsentence sprinting off into the night, never happier than to be out of work and away from a church in all his life. The small group watched as his white uniform disappeared into the darkness. Tony said, “What if we go down through the tunnel? Is there a way to get into the church from there, were there contingency plans put in place when that thing was built?”
“I don’t think there’d been any reason to have any secret tunnels put in place. The front is the only way to get in,” Billy said reluctantly.
Billy put his head down, pulling out his rosary beads, praying that there was something the man upstairs could do for him. It would not take much to make him even more thankful than he’d already been. He thought back to how God had sent all these things back to hell once tonight and wondered if there’d be another opportunity to see him flex his almighty power. A voice whispered after a few minutes of praying. He could feel a hand on his shoulder, one that made all his pain temporarily go away along with his fear and worries. When he opened his eyes, he saw the two priests that had helped him as a boy. One was Father Joseph who’d been alive at the time and the other who’d been for lack of a better word a ghost or spirit, Father Andrew. Billy smiled, watching the blue light float from their outlines, he could see through them to the outside. “Father Joseph, I need your help, more than you could imagine!”
The man’s face lightened as he smiled, nodding, saying nothing. Father Andrew and Joseph walked into the street. Billy looked to the others to see if they were able to see what he was and quickly concluded by their mouths agape that they very well could. Tony whispered, “Is that the priest from our church when we were little?”
“I guess you all can see him, huh?”
Dursky rolled down his window as if it would give him a better view. Billy could tell instantly that he was now a believer and that there was a very strong chance he always would be. Father Joseph and Andrew made their way up to the steps of the church summoning the power from their protector and savior. They looked like they almost pushed a power through the air. The light began to grow blue again. Those in the car covered their eyes trying to protect them but it still made its way through the protection of their hands and forearms trying to cover them. The car shook and pieces of the dead began to rain down on top of the car.
When the light dissipated Billy opened his eyes to see the dead were gone, and the humans who’d been taken over were out for the count on the ground. Billy squinted waiting for them to come back but the two only stared at each other motioning for the others in the car to come forth. When they did Joseph said, “There is something dark still within the church.”
Billy followed behind the two holy ghosts. They got to the door, finding it locked, which didn’t necessarily surprise Billy given there were demons and zombies from hell trying to enter the church. Billy brought out a key but there was something keeping the knob from opening. Dursky pulled his revolver firing off three shots into the bottom hinge of the door and three into the top. The rounds tore through the wooden door and when he yanked it again it finally gave enough that they could pry it down off its frame.
They entered the church looking around for James. Billy wanted to scream but was unsure if it was a possibility. When they entered the main hall, they found James and Father Michaels or what was left of him. Billy felt a knife of pain, guilt, and loss running through his heart. Father Michaels lay on the floor, hands outstretched like he died trying to catch himself and the side of his head had been blown off. Tony tried to run but Billy took hold of the back of his jacket yanking him backwards off balance. James looked up to them shaking his head, unsure what else to say. Billy screamed, “What happened, what are you doing, James?”
James stood slowly, keeping his hands away from his sides. The draped curtains moved and Jack stepped out from the shadows of it. He had a silenced pistol raised and pointing at the back of James’ head. Billy stopped walking forward, feeling like this might be the end. His faith was seriously being tested, he wondered why God being almighty had not stepped forward. The two ghosts rushed at him and Jack was blind to the fact that they were there. When they tried to pull the demon from his body they stopped, looking back at Billy shrugging as if there was nothing he could do.
Jack said, “If you brought holy rollers here they aren’t going to do anything. Satan has promised me everything if I kill all of you and there are only two of you left!”
The list of young and old demon hunters ran through Billy’s head. James had already heard the news earlier from him as he tortured and beat Father Michaels making sure that all of the information he needed had been gathered before killing him. Jack cocked the pistol aiming it point blank at the rear of James’ skull walking forward until he made the tip of the barrel disappear in his hair.
“You don’t want to do this,” Billy pleaded.
“You are right, I don’t but I don’t have any choices in the matter. It is better to have an invitation by your maker than to be forced to go there,” Jack said, looking like a psychopath.
“Just don’t do anything stupid!” Dursky yelled.
James was s
lowly moving his hands to his pockets, hoping that Jack wasn’t seeing what he was doing. He winced when he smashed the balls of water in his hand. The glass shattered quietly and his blood mixed with the holy water. He waited until Jack was looking at the rest and brought his hand up and his head to the side, making the barrel move out of the way. James screamed, “Go back to hell, demon!” as he let the water go free into his face.
Jack yelled, but only out of annoyance. “What the hell did you throw at me, you idiot?”
“It was holy water, you barely flinched,” James stammered.
“I’m not possessed you moron. Free will is what I have and Satan just gave me a choice, an advanced warning of the things to come. Hell is going to take things over and there won’t be any need for demon hunters because there won’t be any holy to worry about saving when he’s done. So, your ridiculous water won’t do anything for me! All your other priests are dead. To put it lightly it has been a busy last couple of days.”
Billy said, “You killed all of them?” He looked to James, who was holding his hand that was now bleeding.
Jack stepped forward, bringing the pistol up to the back of James’ head again. Dursky screamed at the top of his lungs holding his hand behind his back. Jack sighed in annoyance. “You must not be listening to me, that stupid water isn’t going to do a damn thing, you freak!”
Dursky smiled, pulling the barrel of his revolver up aiming it at Jack’s head and pulled the trigger a single time. The gun barked once, echoing through the church making each person’s ears ring instantly. Jack’s head snapped backwards and he stumbled into the pew. The statue of Mother Mary dripped with his brains and pieces of his skull to the ground. Relief and sorrow filled their hearts as they walked up looking down at Father Michaels, all of them but Dursky felt like they had lost a piece of their soul.
Dursky walked over stripping the pistol from him and checked his sides seeing that they were filled with gold coins. He looked at the back of them seeing the devil’s face on them and on the front the fire of hell was embossed. Dursky hobbled to the pew sitting down, shaking his head at the day that they’d had. He asked quietly, “Is there anything that I can do for you, for any of you?”
They shook their heads slowly. James and Billy walked side by side to Father Michaels’ corpse where they knelt and began praying over his body, hoping that they were not too late to give him the prayers that they needed to bless him with. Tony pulled one of his crosses from his jacket and knelt next to his brother and James. The three recited the prayer in unison and they watched as the light came through the window and his soul left his body going to heaven at the invitation of God.
Chapter 21
Two weeks later Parker House
Tony came down the stairs. He’d begun having nightmares again, the ones like when he was a boy. Billy had stayed over trying to help him through his troubles. He and James had been spending every day since trying to come up with a plan. The news about the other priests being murdered for their specific job had done the absolute opposite the devil had wished for. The applications to become a demon hunter apprentice had been overwhelming. James and Billy had begun a training schedule and arranging for the possessed to be brought to their church so that they could first hand give classes and give a solid foundation. The attacks had dried up immediately after Jack had been taken out. Dursky had spent a few days in the hospital properly letting his leg heal or at least begin to heal. Billy had let his hands finally be treated and was the other part of the reason he’d been staying at his mom’s place because he looked like he was wearing oven mitts.
Tony made his way into the kitchen. Billy looked up smiling, wondering how he was doing. “You doing any better? I think that you slept at least a few hours last night.”
“It feels like I am six again, Billy. I hope it doesn’t take years to get back to normal again.”
“You weren’t ever really normal, Tony, I think you forget that I’ve known you your whole life. I think there is something here that you might want to take a look at.”
Tony pulled a coffee cup down and filled it. He sat down at the table looking up at his brother’s very serious face when he opened the diocese’s envelope seeing the words, we happily accept you into the church priest's program, congratulations Anthony Parker.
The end
Mike Evans
A quick note from the author, if you enjoyed this book I would very much appreciate you taking a minute to head to Amazon to review this book, or at the least give it a star rating please.
Books by Mike Evans
The Orphans Series
The Orphans: Origins Vol I
Surviving the Turned Vol II (The Orphans Series)
Strangers Vol III (The Orphans Series)
White Lie Vol IV (The Orphans Series)
Civil War Vol V (The Orphans Series)
Divided Vol VI (The Orphans Series)
Gabriel Series
Gabriel: Only one gets out alive
Pitch Black (Gabriel Book 2)
Body Count (Gabriel Book 3)
The Uninvited Series
The Uninvited Book I
The Stranger Book II of The Uninvited series
The Unwelcomed Book III of The Uninvited series coming soon
Buried: Broken oaths
Demons Beware
Deliver Us From Evil Book II of Demons Beware
Zombies and Chainsaws
Dark Roads Book II of Zombies and Chainsaws
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