Night Mares

by Janine R Pestel

  Robert shook his head then suddenly remembered he did find something.

  “Wait. Yes, I did find something. I found the church cemetery. All the grass was alive there, so I don’t think it’s part of this unholy ground thing.”

  “That’s a good thing. That’s all we would need. A bunch of spirits brought back against their will,” Johann said. “Come on. I think it’s about time to head back. I don’t think we’re going to find much more here.”

  As they walked over the area of the slab that would have been where the front door to the church was, Johann suddenly stopped and put his nose in the air. He took a few sniffs and turned to Robert.

  “Do you smell that?” Johann asked. Robert sniffed. He detected a very slight odor in the air.

  “Almost smells a little like sulphur or something,” Robert said. His muscles tensed, and his face went ashen. He could feel his limbs begin to tremble. He knew full well what the smell of sulphur implied, and he scanned the area with his eyes. He expected at any second to see some horrid face with black eyes staring at him. Johann looked down at his EMF detector. All the lights were off. He looked at Robert.

  “It is sulphur. But there’s no reading on the detector. That means all we’re smelling is the residual odor from the demon. He was here, but now he’s gone. I’d like to see a photo of this place before they took away the debris. If this is where the demon was, I want to know what was holding it here,” Johann said, pointing to the ground.

  Robert brought one of his trembling hands up and covered his mouth. His muscles seemed to relax all at the same time as every bit of tension left at once. His legs flexed as his knees were about to buckle.

  “That’s the best thing I heard all night,” Robert said. His voice sounded a little shaky.

  “The mayor’s daughter Becky has friends that are into the occult. I’ll bet one of them has a picture of this place before the debris was removed. I really want to see what it was that was holding the son of a bitch here. I think we need to meet some of her friends,” Johann said.

  “With any luck, maybe we’ll end up with a lot of help on this one,” Robert said.

  “I wouldn’t count on that. Wouldn’t be a good idea to include people who don’t know what they’re doing. Ya gotta remember a lot of these kids get into it because they think it’s ‘cool.’ They don’t really understand how dangerous these things are. They don’t know what they’re really playing with,” said Johann. “Put most of ‘em in a room with a real spirit or demon, and they’ll end up crying like babies…if they survive. And the chances are pretty good that they won’t.”

  As soon as they stepped out of the unholy area Johann’s cell phone rang.

  “This is Johann,” he said. He furrowed his brow as he listened to the woman on the phone. His heart pounded, and his adrenaline surged through his body. He looked at Robert and nodded toward the Mustang as he began to jog. “Hang on. Don’t go in there until we get there. We’ll be there in a few minutes,” his voice was urgent.

  “Belinda?” Robert asked

  “Yep. That lady in the room next to Belinda and Dave is screaming again. We gotta hurry. It may be trying to kill her this time.”

  -9-

  Johann and Robert arrived back at the motel. As they pulled into the parking lot they saw a small crowd of people assembled at the door of Emily’s room. The sounds coming from the room were so violent, Johann could see it was obvious why nobody was trying to get in to help.

  Johann slammed his foot down on the brake pedal, and the tires screamed as the car slid to a stop. He and Robert were thrown forward in their seats as the tires screamed and the car stopped.

  “Grab your gun,” Johann said as they got out of the car.

  The two men ran over and pushed their way through the crowd. When the people saw the shotguns, they made room for the demon hunters. Emily’s muffled screams could be heard coming from the room.

  “Emily. Open the door,” shouted Johann. He pounded hard on the door with his fist. The shrieks of terror from the woman inside tore through his ears. He stiffened his upper lip and pounded harder on the door.

  “Emily. Miss Thomas open this door,” shouted Robert. Johann raised his eyebrows when Emily suddenly became silent in mid-scream. Robert looked at Johann, bewildered.

  Johann and Robert took a step back from the door. Johann turned to Robert.

  “I’m going to break the door in. You keep everybody out here. I think I know what we’re going to find in there. Whatever you do, don’t let anyone in. Got that?” Robert looked at him sideways and gave a quick nod.

  Johann reared up on one leg and in one motion he kicked open the door. With his trusty shotgun at the ready he charged into the room.

  Robert quickly walked in behind him then turned and blocked the doorway. The crowd pushed forward to try and get a better view of what was happening. Robert crossed his chest with his shotgun.

  “Everyone stay back,” demanded Robert. His skin tingled with pride when he saw everyone do as he said. I think I’m gonna like this.

  Johann walked into the bedroom. His senses were heightened. He felt like he could hear or smell anything. Detecting a slight odor of sulphur mixed with blood and death in the room, Johann tightened his finger on the trigger of his shotgun. His hands felt damp from the nervous sweat on them. He breathed slowly and didn’t blink.

  “Come on you black-eyed son of a bitch. Show yourself so I can send you back to hell,” he muttered to himself.

  He slowly looked around, expecting any second to see a demon’s face in front of his own. When he found Emily, the first thing he saw was a spatter of blood on the wall. It led his eyes to her lifeless, mutilated body.

  Johann slowly lowered his weapon. He lowered his head and swallowed hard. One hand held on to his shotgun and the other clenched into a fist in frustration.

  “We’re too damned late,” he murmured to himself. He looked at the sight before him.

  Emily was pinned to the wall. She was upside down in an inverted cross position, halfway between the bed and the ceiling. Her eyes and mouth were still open. There was blood streaming from large open gashes in her chest and belly, as well as dripping from her mouth and eyes. Blood spattered on the wall and pooled on her bed and the floor beneath her body.

  He looked around and saw that the sliding glass door was open. He walked over and noticed powder on the ground. He knelt down and picked some up with his fingers. He had a good idea what it was but had to confirm it anyway, so he smelled it. As he suspected, it was sulphur.

  It was a truly horrific scene but not one he had never seen before. I hope Bob never has to see anything like this. I know someone had to have called the police. This is gonna be fun. How are they ever gonna explain this? Why did the demon even come after her? What connection could she possibly have to it? This was the best time to get anything that might help—before the police came. He stood back up and looked around to see if there was anything in the room that would tell him anything.

  Johann quickly realized he could see no demons in the room, so he decided to get outside before the police arrived. The last thing he wanted was to be found in the room with a corpse and a shotgun. At least we have witnesses that could vouch that we’re not the bad guys. But before I go outside, there’s one more thing I need to do.

  Johann walked over and touched one of Emily’s still slightly warm hands. He looked down at her lifeless eyes which had already started to glaze over with a milky film.

  “I’m sorry we didn’t get here in time. It’s over for you now. At least you’re in a place with no more pain and suffering,” he whispered. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer as he did when he was still in the priesthood.

  “Johann. Everything okay?” Robert shouted over his shoulder. When he didn’t get an answer right away he became anxious and raised his voice. “Johann?”

  “I’m coming out. No. Everything’s not alright,” Johann answered as he walked back to Robert. Robert turne
d and came face-to-face, locking eyes with Johann. He furrowed his brow. His heart was breaking, knowing what the look on his friend’s face was telling him. He slowly shook his head in denial.

  “We were too late, Bob. Trust me you don’t want to see it,” Johann said somberly.

  “Was it the demon?” Robert asked. Johann looked at him and swallowed hard.

  “Yeah. The son of a bitch turned her into an inverted cross,” Johann answered. Robert looked at him and drew his eyebrows together. He wasn’t sure at first exactly what Johann meant. Johann took the cross from around his neck and held it in mid-air then turned it upside down. Robert raised his eyebrows and his mouth fell open.

  “That prick,” Robert whispered when he understood what Johann was saying. Johann walked by Robert who stared blankly into space while his brain struggled to comprehend the situation.

  Belinda ran up to Johann and took him by the arm. She looked at his face. She could see his jaw muscle twitch from being clenched so tight. Johann looked at her.

  “Johann. Is she…?” the reporter asked. David stood behind Belinda and watched. His stomach hardened as he watched Belinda fawn over Johann. He found himself looking for any weakness in the demon hunter and cursed himself when he could find none. Oh. Christ. Get a room already.

  Johann didn’t answer Belinda’s question. Instead, he placed his hand on her arm then turned his eyes to the ground. After a moment he cleared his throat then looked back at Belinda.

  “We’re gonna get this bastard. We can’t let him do this to anyone else,” Johann said.

  The sound of fast approaching police sirens pierced the night air. Johann looked toward the parking lot entrance. Three police cars entered the lot, bathing the whole area in blue and red. As the first officer got out of his car, he saw the shotgun Johann was holding.

  The officer quickly drew his service revolver and aimed it at Johann. The other officers followed suit.

  “Drop the weapon. Now,” commanded the police officer. Johann slowly laid the shotgun on the sidewalk and put his hands up. At the same time, Robert started to move toward Johann. This took some of the officers’ attention off Johann and on to him.

  “You, too. Drop it. Now,” shouted another officer. Robert stopped and did the same as Johann. His heart pounded in his chest. He had heard so many stories of people being shot by the police simply because they moved too fast. He was very careful to move very slowly if he had to move at all. He very slowly brought his hand to his forehead to wipe some sweat away.

  “Okay Miss. You can get away from him now,” the first officer said to Belinda.

  It was all happening so fast the reporter wasn’t sure what was going on. She looked at the officer, confused.

  “Lady, move away from the perpetrator,” the officer said. “He won’t hurt you now. We got ‘im.” Belinda looked at Johann then to the officer. It was coming to her what was going on. They thought he and Robert were the killers. She turned toward the police officer and started to slowly walk toward him with her hands up to show him she was unarmed.

  “Officer, I think there’s been a mistake. I know you probably hear that a lot but this time it’s really true,” she started to explain. The officer switched his eyes from Johann to her then back to Johann again.

  “I don’t think so. I see two guys with guns here,” the policeman said.

  “One is a coroner and the other, believe it or not, was a priest,” Belinda said. She tried to smile at the officer in hopes it would help him to relax. It didn’t work. He looked at her then back to Johann again.

  “They’re friends of mine. They were out doing something, and I called them when I heard the lady in the room screaming. I called them, and they came to try and help her,” Belinda said.

  “Friends of yours, you say? Who are they?”

  “That one is—” she said, pointing to Johann.

  “I remember you guys, now,” interrupted one of the other officers. He walked over to the officer who was talking to Belinda.

  “They’re okay Sarge. I met these guys at Mayor Benson’s place this morning. That tall one is Agent Kirk and the shorter one is Agent Picard. They’re Secret Service,” the officer said, almost whispering to the sergeant.

  The sergeant, a little surprised, raised his eyebrows and looked at the officer as though he just said something impossible.

  “Now why would Secret Service be here, Jeffries?”

  “The mayor was going to be chosen to be in the president’s cabinet,” the officer answered. “They showed me their ID and everything. I’m tellin’ ya, they’re legit.”

  “Can I put my arms down now? They’re really gettin’ tired,” Johann said.

  The sergeant thought for a moment then decided his officer was telling him the truth. Besides, he didn’t want the extra paperwork anyway. He holstered his weapon and signaled the other officers to do the same.

  “Yeah. You can put ‘em down,” the officer said.

  “Thank you,” Belinda said smiling.

  “Just leave your guns on the ground and everything’ll be fine,” the sergeant warned.

  “Thanks. No problem,” Johann said as he started to slowly walk toward the police officer.

  When he reached the officer, Johann reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet. He opened it and flashed his fake Secret Service ID.

  “I’m Special Agent Kirk, and this is Special Agent Picard,” he said, as Robert walked up to the small group.

  “I thought this lady said you were a coroner?” the officer said to Robert.

  “I was. But that was before I joined the Secret Service,” Robert said, not making eye contact with the police officer. The sergeant scrutinized him for a few seconds.

  “Like Officer Jeffries said, we’re here to investigate the death of your mayor because she was a candidate to replace a member on the president’s cabinet. We were out investigating a lead when we received a call from Miss Carstone here, and she said the lady in that room was screaming. We got here as quick as we could, and she was still screaming. She wouldn’t, or possibly couldn’t, open the door. When she suddenly stopped screaming I broke the door in and entered the room to apprehend the perp,” Johann explained.

  “Did ya get ‘im?” the officer asked.

  “Unfortunately, by the time I got in, whoever it was made their escape through the rear sliding glass door.”

  “So, what do we have in there?”

  Johann looked at him and swallowed hard.

  “We have one deceased individual. But prepare yourself. Whoever did this is some kind of a psycho or something. I mean it’s really bad. Never seen anything like it. Not even when I was on a beat in New York City,” Johann said.

  “Okay boys. Get to it,” the officer said, indicating for the other officers to enter the room. He turned his attention back to Johann and Robert. “Where can I find you if I need you two?”

  Johann pointed to their room.

  “We’re staying in that room,” he said. The officer looked at the room, then at Johann, and a broad smile crossed his sun-chapped lips.

  “Are you shittin’ me? The government has you boys holed up in there? I’da thought they’d put you up in a classier place,” the officer said.

  “Yep. That’s where they put us. Budget, you know,” Johann answered. He kept as serious an expression as he could. He was amazed at how easy it was to carry on his façade. No one questioned him. It certainly did seem like it was going to be easy for him and Robert to do what they had to do in this town.

  Johann and Robert turned to walk back to their room with Belinda and David in tow. Johann turned to look at Emily’s room. He nudged Robert and nodded to the female officer he saw going in. The officer was Barbara Willets, one of the officers who picked up the vice mayor and brought him to city hall the night the mayor died. Robert looked then turned his eyes to the ground and smirked.

  “Three, two, one…” Johann whispered, counting down.

  “Hey Sarge. Com
e here,” yelled Officer Willets, who quickly came running out of the room. Her complexion was pale, and her eyes were full. It was obvious she never saw anything like this before.

  The middle-aged sergeant walked over to her, and the officer led him into the room. As they disappeared inside, Johann heard the officer say, “Sarge, I never saw anything like this. That guy was right. Whoever did this was a real psycho. This is worse than what happened to Mayor Benson.”

  As the four went into Johann and Robert’s room the forensics van was just arriving. Johann looked at it as he closed the door. A wave of sadness washed over him when he thought about how many times that van must have been called to a scene in the last few weeks. It surely was far more than this town was used to.

  The blue-and-red strobes from the emergency vehicles in the parking lot came through the curtains and danced on the walls of the room. Johann looked at Belinda. Her puffy red eyes shined with moisture. The red tinge of her cheeks and the tip of her nose almost made it appear she had a cold. But Johann knew she had been crying. He walked over to her and their eyes met.

  “You okay?” he asked. The reporter nodded.

  “I’ll be okay. It’s just so sad that this is happening to these people. I feel so helpless to do anything,” she said, fighting back sobs. “She was such a nice lady.”

  “Yes, she was. You don’t have to do anything. Robert and I will.”

  Johann and Robert sat on one bed, and Belinda and David sat on the other. The four faced each other.

  “So, Bob and I went to the old church tonight,” Johann said.

  “Did you find anything?” asked David. Johann looked at Robert.

  “We sure did,” said Robert. “We found out that the place has been turned into unholy ground for one thing.”

  “Unholy ground?” asked Belinda. She looked at Robert, then to Johann.

  “Unholy ground. That’s when something so evil happens that it takes over the area. One way to tell you’re on unholy ground is if all the plant life is dead. I can tell you one thing. If something was able to turn consecrated ground into unholy ground, we’re not dealing with your run of the mill, bargain-basement ghost here,” Johann said.