The Altar

by James Arthur Anderson

  It could reignite itself and resume its fiery flaming shape and burn its way through the door. But it was enjoying the physical thrill of crushing and maiming in this form-hands-on, it thought. It leaped into the air once again and flew to the door of the building. The door was strong. But not strong enough. It reached out and grabbed the heavy iron handles and pulled. It resisted for just a few seconds, then popped off with a thud and a clang as it fell to the ground. The door swung back easily on its hinges now.

  It could smell the fear of the woman and the child inside. It could also sense the unborn, which had no fear, only innocence. It would break, corrupt, destroy that innocence at that perfect moment of birth, just as an insult into the face of all that was good. It would do this because it could and because it must.

  The last soldier made a feeble attempt at resistance. He shot the demon and tried to stab him with a bayonet. The demon grabbed his gun and twisted it into an obscene shape around the man’s neck. Then it smashed his nasal cavity up into his brain. The soldier dropped to the ground, senseless and dying, blood flowing from his nose and mouth like a river.

  The woman and the boy tried to run. But there was no place to go. They retreated further into the main hallway, then tried to run up a staircase. The demon took to the air and was halfway up before they made it to the top step.

  It stared at the woman with its hypnotic gaze. She paused and looked back. Her eyes grew wider as she stared into the endless depths of its eyes. It could feel her mind, could feel the infant inside her. It was not ready to be born, not just yet, but it was close. It would happen very soon, and he would be waiting. He could take it out himself with a single swipe of a claw, but it wouldn’t be the same. It wanted the baby to be born into its embrace, to know pure evil as the first, and last, moments of its human existence.

  It would take this woman with him and keep her until the time was right. Now the boy was another matter.

  It turned to stare at the boy. This was the one that had defied it earlier, had tried to swipe at it through the very portal back when it was on the other side and calling to the child. The boy still held that feeble hammer in his hands, and was lifting it over his head as if to strike. The thing had hurt him before, but that was before he’d gained strength and substance. That had been when it was trying to enter this world of men. Now it was here, in the flesh so to speak, and this hammer would be useless. It would show this boy a thing or two before it killed him. But first, the prize.

  It reached around to its own wing and tore a strip of the leathery appendage off. Then it leaped towards the mesmerized woman, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards it. The boy whacked at it with his hammer, but it only glanced off its rock-hard skin. It then took to the air, holding the woman tightly and binding her limbs into a ball as it flew, much like a spider might tie up its victim with silk.

  It watched in amusement as the boy raved and screamed down below. It’d take care of this one soon, and make him pay for his insolence. It might take its time with this one and let the mother watch. That would make things even more interesting.

  Carrying the mother in one arm, he leaped forward and dove down at the boy, grabbing him in the other arm and flying directly out the front door of the building. The boy screamed and flailed but the mother was still in shock. It felt her labor contractions beginning again and knew the birth would happen soon. It’d kill the boy that had caused him so many problems and then enjoy the rest. It landed on the grass in front of the town hall and looked over its handiwork. The bank was in flames, a helicopter was ruined, and two tanks were overturned and helpless, like turtles on their backs. It had been so simple it was almost funny.

  It put the woman down on the ground and turned back to the town hall. Still holding the boy under its left arm, the demon strode up to the building and kicked a hole in the front wall. It moved over and kicked another one. The walls began to collapse around it, until the entire front wall was nothing but rubble. The boy was still struggling, trying to hit it with his hammer. It grabbed the weapon from the boy and crushed it into a glob of steel on a stick, then tossed it away. Then, just as it was about to finish the boy off, a new distraction entered the picture.

  A car had pulled up to the front of the building and a man got out and walked purposefully towards the demon. It stopped what it was doing and looked at him. This was different. The man didn’t have any weapons and didn’t seem the slightest bit afraid.

  Instinctively, the demon picked up the woman-it wasn’t taking any chances that this man would take its prize away, or that she would be killed in a fight.

  The man walked up to within six feet of the demon, walking with an intensity and confidence that the monster wasn’t used to. Mortals were supposed to be afraid of it. The fact that this one wasn’t made it angry, but also a little nervous. Did this human know something that the others didn’t?

  It would kill the man quickly and be done with it. But before it could take the first step to launch itself forward towards the man, he had pulled a small cross from his pocket and held it out in front of him. The demon stopped. It remembered this symbol from the church and detested it. In fact, it still felt the pain of the upside down cross that had been branded onto its chest. No, this man would have to die right now.

  But the cross held him back for just a moment, and that moment was enough.

  “I drive you out of this place in the name of Jesus Christ, our true Lord and the Son of God!” the man said. “In the name of Jesus I banish you from this place!”

  The demon stopped, immobilized by the words and by the sign of the cross. It felt the upside down cross on its chest ignite in pain, burning deeply into it, scorching it again with the fires of hell. The demon doubled forward in agony and suddenly it no longer burned with wrath but with pain. It forgot about the pregnant woman and the boy, forgot about death and destruction and making the world dread and fear its presence. All it could think about was escape.

  It took a step backward and the man stepped forward towards it.

  “In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, I command you to be gone from this place, to return to the depths of hell from where you came!”

  The demon Wrath was no longer in control of its own body. It felt its wings begin to flap of their own accord and its knees bend to take off in flight. It willed its body to stay and fight, to destroy this weakling of a mortal who had the audacity to stand up to it. It wanted to smash this man with every ounce of strength and power that it had. But instead of fighting, the demon felt itself being lifted into the air. Only by fleeing would the pain diminish. Only by returning to the altar and going back through the portal to where it had come from. It didn’t want to go back, but it must. There was no other way. The altar called for it now, needed it.

  Then the demon realized that, somehow, it had managed to hang on to the boy and the pregnant woman. It still held them tightly, one under each arm. So, maybe it couldn’t stay here-at least right now. But it could take these two back to hell with it. It would bring them back and destroy them. But not until the baby was born. That would be the ultimate victory over that cross-thing. To have the innocent baby born into the bowels of hell.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  1

  Pastor Mark watched in shock as the monster took to the air, carrying Todd and Vickie, one under each arm. He held his cross up over his head, and followed the path of the demon with it as it disappeared into the night sky. He could see the brand of the cross upside down on the thing’s chest. The brand glowed like hot coals as the thing disappeared into the night. He watched with his mouth open, then looked down at the destruction around him.

  The soldiers had either fled or been killed or wounded. Several maimed men lie scattered about, moaning in agony from various wounds. Some appeared burned. Others were bleeding from hideous wounds. Several appeared to be missing limbs.

  If only he had arrived a little sooner. He might have prevented all of this. But tracking the demon had not
been an easy task. The rumors of its whereabouts had outrun its actual presence. Finally, he had followed the trail of destruction, which led him to the town hall.

  Now that it was done, he didn’t know what to do next. He dropped down to his knees on the ground and tried to pray. His hands were shaking as if he were having some sort of fit, and he realized that he could no longer find any words to say, not a single word. His mouth was dry and he felt tears streaking down his cheeks. His legs collapsed beneath him and he lay down on the grass and wept openly, without shame.

  Despite his faith, he hadn’t really been sure this plan would work. He knew in his heart that God had dominion over all things, and that He had given man strength and power over evil. He knew it in his heart. Yet his mind had questioned, and he had been forced to make his mind be quiet. He had listened to his heart. Now his mind stood by in bewilderment of what he had done.

  As he had banished the demon, he had really felt God’s power within him. It hadn’t just been the Sunday sermon designed to sound good for the congregation. This had been the real deal here. The power of the Lord had filled him to the brim, giving him a faith and confidence and strength that he could never have imagined.

  “Thank you, Lord,” he said at last, struggling to say even those simple words. His body felt as if it had been used to fight a war. In some ways, he guessed it had been.

  But the war was not over. This was just the first battle. And the thing had escaped with Erik’s wife and son-and the unborn baby. If he had only been here sooner, he could have prevented that, he thought once again. He could have saved Erik’s family and prevented this death and destruction around him. How many lives had been lost because of his hesitation?

  But that was his mind speaking. And once again, his heart took control, soothing and calming him. This was not his fault, it told him. God knows all and allows everything to happen, all in its own time. His heart knew this. Now his mind would have to accept it.

  “Thank you, Lord,” he said again. “Now help us to finish the job we have just begun.”

  Then, slowly, he stood up and returned to his car. He’d follow the thing back to the altar. Perhaps there he could be of some help to his friends.

  2

  Erik was now fully convinced that Todd and Vickie were in serious trouble. He couldn’t think, couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t keep still in his hiding place in the brush.

  “This is driving me crazy,” he said. “I can’t just sit here any longer. I have to do something.”

  “You’ll get your chance soon enough,” Dovecrest said. “I have the feeling the demon is heading our way.”

  “And I have a feeling that my family is in trouble! I’ve got to help them! I can’t just hang around here waiting for something that might happen. I never should have left Vickie.”

  Erik stood up from his hiding place in the brush and Dovecrest was beside him, holding him back.

  “No, you can’t leave.”

  “Why not?”

  “First of all, where are you planning to go?”

  “I’ll find a phone and call the hospital. Then I’ll know if Vickie made it there or not.”

  “And if she’s not there? Then what do you do?”

  “I’ll…I’ll go find her. I’ll retrace her steps.”

  Dovecrest shook his head. “You don’t know which way she went. She could have gotten turned around and gone anywhere. The military might have evacuated her. She might have even gone to a different hospital. You wouldn’t know where to begin and you wouldn’t be doing her or Todd or yourself any good.”

  “You just don’t understand,” Erik said. “You don’t have a family….”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I did have a family.” The Indian dropped his head and looked at the ground. “But that was a long time ago.”

  “I…I didn’t realize….”

  “Well what did you think? Of course I don’t have a family now. I’m over 200 years old, for God sakes.”

  “Don’t you have…grandchildren? Some connection to them?”

  Dovecrest sat down on the ground and was silent for awhile.

  “I had a wife and a daughter,” he said. My wife was beautiful. Running Moon. Long, dark hair. Big eyes. Slender and trim. A wonderful cook. We loved each other like no one else. And my daughter, Little Dove. So small and timid. And very smart.”

  Dovecrest was silent again. Erik thought the story was over, and then he spoke again.

  “My daughter was just six years old when she and her mother were killed.”

  “What happened?” Erik asked, sitting beside him.

  “I haven’t told this story in over a hundred years. No one would believe it. Although maybe now they would.

  “It happened when the devil worshippers tried to call to the demon the first time, and tried to bring it here. They didn’t really know what they were doing, thank God. But they had learned some rituals that would attract spirits in the underworld.

  “It was the beginning of August. My wife and daughter were out gathering blueberries. The blueberries here used to be as big as cherries, and Running Moon would mix them up with white corn flour to make journey cakes. They were out in the forest when they were taken.

  “The tribe formed a search party, but we could not find them. There were no traces. That night I went out again-many of the men did. That’s when I first saw the altar. The devil worshippers were around it. They had my wife and my daughter. I tried to save them, but I was caught. They forced me to watch while they were sacrificed. They planned to kill me, too, but I later escaped. That’s when I spoke to the chief and he spoke to Roger Williams and his men. The colonists had lost women and children too.

  “So we joined forces and put a stop to it. The colonists had laws that they could use. And we had our own set of laws. We killed them and the colonists burned the leader at the stake. When he cursed the land, my people made me the watcher. It was my job to wait and watch in case the demon should try to reappear.”

  “And you’ve been waiting for over 300 years.”

  “That’s right. I did not know I would live so long. I thought I would pass the job on to someone else, but it seems I outlived all of my apprentices. And so here I am.”

  “So that thing got your family.”

  “Yes. That’s why it’s personal. That’s why I have to get rid of it for good. I cannot move on as long as this thing can come back. I’m trapped here in this old body, and I can’t join my family.”

  Erik nodded. For the first time, this was beginning to make sense, in a weird sort of way.

  “Thanks,” Erik said. “Then I need to wait with you and help you destroy it.”

  3

  Todd thought he was going to die. In fact, he wished he would just die. The smell alone was enough to kill him. Let alone the fear. The demon was crushing him under its arm, holding him tightly on one side, and his mother on the other. It seemed to know just how much to squeeze to create unbearable agony without actually cutting off his breath. He couldn’t see his mother’s face, but he could hear her breathing. She was having those labor pains again.

  When Pastor Mark had arrived, Todd thought he was out of his mind. He couldn’t believe how the pastor had walked right up to the demon and had driven it away. He didn’t think the pastor expected it to take him and his mother with it, though. Judging from the look on the pastor’s face, Todd didn’t think he’d expected anything to happen, except maybe that the monster would kill him. The pastor had been as surprised as Todd had been. The demon, too, had been surprised.

  Todd knew where it was taking them. It was going to the altar where it would sacrifice them and kill them as part of some demonic thing. He knew where they were going even before the monster had taken flight. And, sure enough, the street lights below were gone and they were flying over the woods. He couldn’t actually see anything in the darkness, but he knew. He could sense the altar’s presence, even from here.

  Sure enough, the demon turned arou
nd and began to circle. Todd could imagine the open field below them, with the altar in the center. He’d been there before and it had tried to get him. Now it looked like it was going to get him-and his mother, too.

  For some reason the demon seemed cautious now as it circled lower. The pastor had frightened it, all right, with his cross and his demand in God’s name. Todd wondered if he could banish the demon like the pastor did. Then he decided that even if he could, it would just make the monster drop him and he’d just crash to the earth. He remembered what the soldier had looked like after he had been dropped, and he decided he didn’t want any of that. He’d take his chances right where he was for now.

  He tried to call for his mother, but she didn’t seem to hear. He wanted to ask her if she’d seen what the pastor did. Maybe if they both did the same thing after they landed, then the demon would let them go. But his mother didn’t respond. She either couldn’t hear him, or was in too much pain of her own to reply. Besides, he dared not give away his plans until the thing was back on solid ground.

  The demon slowed its descent and came down towards the ground. Todd could vaguely see the clearing in the woods by the moonlight. His guess had been right. Once they landed he was determined to begin the fight on his own. His geologist hammer hadn’t worked this time. But he’d seen what the pastor could do and he wasn’t about to give up. He just wished he could get his mother’s attention. Otherwise, he didn’t know how he’d get her out of the thing’s grip.

  He felt the demon put on the brakes-they were about to land. Todd prepared himself for the showdown that would follow.

  4

  Erik felt it coming before he actually saw it. Dovecrest must have felt it too, because he heard the man stiffen up and get into a position of readiness. Then, after the feeling, he saw it cross in front of the moon.