With the demon now facing them, Johann and Robert repositioned their crucifixes on it. Johann placed his cross on the demon’s forehead, and Robert placed his on the demon’s heart. He didn’t know why, but he somehow knew that he should do that. Johann smiled at him.
“Atta boy,” Johann murmured. He looked at the notebook and began to recite the exorcism ritual again. The demon writhed and struggled to get away, to no avail. When Johann was finishing the ritual, the demon opened its mouth.
The roar that came from deep within sounded like a freight train or a tornado. At the same time, a black cloud of smoke came out of the mayor’s mouth and escaped out the smashed window.
The room shuddered violently. Johann and Robert pressed their crucifixes into the skin of the beast. While they were engaging in the exorcism, Johann heard a voice at the door. He turned and saw Officer Jeffries standing there with his gun drawn and a look of disbelief on his face.
“What the hell is going on here? Secret Service or not, release the mayor,” Jeffries demanded. Johann turned. Pieces of drywall fell from the walls in the outer office. The room had become completely unstable.
“Jeffries. Get out of there,” Johann shouted. “Get out of there. Run.”
It was too late. As the officer tightened his finger on the trigger to fire, the outer office collapsed on him and the other officers with him. They let out screams of terror as several tons of building collapsed on them with a deafening crash.
Johann closed his eyes as their bodies were squashed like bugs. Blood mixed with organic material oozed out of the rubble. Jeffries’ hand protruded from the carnage. The gun it held fell to the floor. With the hand that held the notebook, Johann made the sign of the cross.
“Rest in peace Officers. At least it was quick,” Johann said. Robert swallowed hard to fight back the tears. Anger welled up inside the two demon hunters and they pressed their crucifixes harder into the mayor’s skin.
Suddenly everything was quiet. The officers were all dead. Crushed by tons of rubble. The roar coming from the mayor had stopped. The building ceased trembling. Johann looked down. The mayor was looking at him with terror and confusion in his eyes. The demon was gone.
“What happened? What’s going on? Who are you two?” the mayor asked. He noticed the makeshift bandage on Robert’s face. “What happened to you?”
“Oh, it’s just a little injury. It’s not as bad as it looks,” answered Robert. He touched the bandage where the wound was and winced.
Johann and Robert allowed the mayor to sit up on his desk. He looked at the rubble that was once his outer office.
“Oh my god. Was there an earthquake? Are the girls alright?” The mayor got to his feet and tried to get to the outer office. Johann stopped him. The mayor looked down at the floor and saw the blood seeping out of the rubble. He recoiled from the sight and brought his hand up to his mouth. He caught his breath.
“Someone died,” the mayor said. Johann looked at the blood.
“Yes. Officer Jeffries was a good man,” Robert said.
“Marjorie and the girls are okay. Everyone is outside. No, there wasn’t an earthquake,” said Johann. He looked at Robert then back to the mayor. “An earthquake would have been a lot more fun.” The mayor looked at him and knitted his brow.
Johann looked around for a way out of the room. The rubble from the outer office blocked the door, so they obviously couldn’t get out that way. He looked at Robert then the mayor.
“Come on. Let’s get out through the window. We’ll explain everything to you about what happened. I just hope you believe it, Mister Mayor,” Johann said as he placed his notebook in his briefcase.
Johann went out the window first, carrying his case, then Robert helped the mayor out. After the three were safe outside, they walked to the small wooded area where they could be alone to talk. When they finally stopped walking, the mayor looked at them with a mix of confusion and suspicion.
“Why did we have to come here to talk?” asked Mayor Tibbs. Johann turned and looked at him. He reached into his pocket and took out the small pouch he retrieved earlier from the top of Mayor Benson’s coffin. He opened his hand and showed it to Mayor Tibbs.
The mayor looked at it and grimaced. He recoiled at the sight of it and looked at Johann.
“You know what this is, don’t you?” asked Johann.
“Yes. That’s a gris-gris bag. Those things are used in voodoo. Where did you get that?” the mayor said. “More importantly, what are you doing with it?”
“You mean, you don’t remember?” asked Robert. The mayor looked at him and shook his head. He looked back at the small bag. It was obvious he and the pouch were not acquainted.
“Should I?” asked Mayor Tibbs. He sounded indignant at the insinuation that he would know about it. To the mayor’s relief, Johann put the pouch back in his pocket. He looked at the mayor.
His eyes reflected the sympathy he had for the man. Anyone who was possessed by a demon rarely remembered what happened. It was almost like being in a trance and Johann knew that. This man was surely well confused about everything right now.
As much as he didn’t want to do it, Johann knew he would have to tell the mayor about everything that had happened. Especially if he wanted himself and Robert to be able to walk away free men.
“I didn’t think you would remember,” said Johann. “You placed this bag on Mayor Benson’s coffin this morning.”
The mayor looked at him with terror in his eyes. He couldn’t imagine why he would do such a thing. He was a good friend of the deceased mayor. He grieved heavily on her passing. For this stranger to insinuate that he would do something so heinous was unforgivable. His look of terror faded into a scowl.
“Why the hell would I do such a thing? I loved that woman. I cried like a baby the night she passed away,” the mayor protested. Johann reached out and put his hand on Mayor Tibbs’ shoulder. It was a gesture of kindness. He locked eyes with the mayor.
“I’m sure you did. There’s something you need to know.” Johann proceeded to tell him the whole story about what had happened. After a half hour of talking and convincing, the mayor finally believed what he was being told. It was time for the three to join the crowd at the front of the building.
-16-
Belinda caught her breath when she saw Johann, Robert, and the mayor walk around from the side of the stricken building. The mayor looked fine, but Robert had a large bandage tied around his chin, and Johann had some gashes on his face and arms. Oh, my god. How bad were they hurt?
Before she could react and run to them, the three men were surrounded by police officers. They all had their weapons trained on Johann and Robert.
Johann had been expecting this. He and the mayor had worked out—he hoped—what the elected official would tell the police. If the mayor didn’t do what he promised he would, Johann and Robert would have a lot of explaining to do. Explaining that they knew wouldn’t be believed.
The two demon hunters stood with their hands in the air as Mayor Tibbs explained to the police officers that they were innocent of any wrongdoing. He told the officers that Johann and Robert had seen him collapsed in his office and came through his broken window to rescue him from the building caving in. The captain ordered the officers to holster their weapons. Johann and Robert relaxed.
“If it weren’t for these two fine gentlemen I would be dead now,” the mayor said. He took a cigar out of his jacket pocket and lit it. He turned to the captain. “I’m sorry about your officers, Captain. I believe some of them were killed when the outer office collapsed on them.” He placed his hand on the captain’s shoulder. “I promise you and their families that the city will give them full honors. They were brave men. The city’s finest. We’ll have a memorial service befitting their great service to this city.”
“Thank you, Mister Mayor. I’m sure their families would appreciate that,” the captain said. His voice trembled as he fought back his emotions. He had a hard time shaking the
feeling that he sent men to their deaths.
While the mayor had an impromptu press conference, Johann and Robert walked back toward the Mustang. If they could slip away unnoticed, that would be best. They were almost to the car when Johann noticed someone running toward him. It was Marjorie.
She ran up to him, her arms outstretched. Tears were streaming from her eyes. When she reached him, she hugged him so tightly she almost knocked him off his feet. She buried her face into his shoulder, sobbing heavily.
Johann looked at Robert, who had a look of disbelief in his eyes. Johann’s face broke into a smug smile. Robert knitted his brow and shook his head.
“Doolittle. We heard all the noise. We thought you were all dead. Thank God you’re okay.” Marjorie was crying as she spoke. She looked up at him. Johann smiled at her and gently wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Everything’s fine, Marjorie,” he said. Robert looked over at them and rolled his eyes.
Belinda’s mouth fell open, and she raised her eyebrows when she looked over during the makeshift press conference and saw Johann and Marjorie. Their bodies and lips were locked. David, seeing the reporter’s reaction, looked over to see what she was looking at.
“Go get ‘er, Johann. Oh, baby,” David muttered. He looked back at Belinda who was now scowling at him with her eyes narrowed. She heard what he said and didn’t appreciate it. “Yes, boss lady,” he said as he brought his full attention back to the news conference.
Belinda returned her attention to the mayor but kept careful watch of what was going on with Johann out of her peripheral vision. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Marjorie walk away from Johann.
“The poor girl doesn’t even know your real name, for God’s sake,” Robert said. He took great pleasure in chastising Johann whenever he could. Johann looked at him and half smiled.
“So? That’s not important. She’s too young for me, anyway. But still, it does feel good.” He gave Robert a confident smile. “Besides. All she’s doing is showing that she has great taste.”
“Whatever,” Robert said, again rolling his eyes. The two leaned against the Mustang. Johann looked at his friend. The concern showed in his eyes.
“You okay, Bob?” Johann asked. Robert raised and lowered his eyebrows quickly.
“Okay as I could be, I guess.”
“You know you look ridiculous with that thing tied around your face, right?”
“Come here. Let me see,” Johann said as he reached up and untied the bandage. He lowered it and smiled. The deep laceration the demon made on Robert’s face was now reduced to a small scratch. “All better.”
Robert reached up, expecting to feel a deep cut. His mouth dropped open when all he felt was a scratch. He looked wide-eyed, at Johann.
“But. It was a deep cut. There was a lot of blood. I don’t understand,” Robert said.
“Once the demon vanished and went back to hell, the cut that he inflicted healed,” Johann explained. He looked at the building. A look of sadness came over him. “Unfortunately, it won’t bring back the ones he killed, or repair the damage to the building. That stuff is permanent.”
Johann turned his attention back to Robert. He could see that something was bothering the coroner.
“What’s wrong?” asked Johann.
“Johann. Something happened to me. I can’t explain it.”
“Try.”
Robert looked around nervously. He had just had a very spiritual experience. Something he wasn’t used to. He struggled to try and put it into words.
“Well. After that demon knocked you out, he grabbed me by the throat. I don’t really know what happened. I felt myself getting weak. Then everything got blurry. I couldn’t tell anymore if it was hot or cold, day or night. Nothing like that seemed to matter.
“All of a sudden I started seeing stuff. I saw Johnny and me when we were kids, playing by a lake mom and dad always brought us to. What really scared me was that I saw mom and dad. They both passed away years ago. But there they were. Right in front of me. Smiling. They were holding their arms open like they wanted to hug me.”
Johann looked at Robert. From what he was being told, he knew exactly what happened to his friend. He put his hand on Robert’s shoulder to comfort him.
“Did you see anything else? Like maybe a bright light?” Johann asked. Robert looked sideways at him. It was almost as though he was embarrassed about something.
“As a matter of fact. I did. There was a bright light in front of me. Someone stood there. I couldn’t see the guy’s face because he was backlit by the light. He spoke to me.”
“He spoke to you? What did he say?”
Robert looked down at his feet and scratched his cheek. Before he spoke again, he cleared his throat. He knew that his friend would believe him, but it still sounded silly.
“He said I was a soldier now. He said I had to go back and fight.” He looked at Johann and they locked eyes. “Any idea what was happening?”
Johann looked away for a moment then back to his friend.
“Yeah. I know exactly what was happening. So do you.” He locked eyes with Robert and drew his mouth into a straight line. “You were dying, Bob. So, now you know who it was you were talking to. But I suspect you thought that all along and just wanted me to confirm it for you.”
Robert’s eyes grew wide, and he brought his hand up to his mouth. His heart and his mind raced as he digested the information his friend just gave him.
“Um…He said…He said one more thing to me,” Robert replied, hesitating. “He said he was giving me a gift.”
“He said he was giving you a gift? Did he say what the gift was?”
“No. He just mentioned he was giving me one. He said I would have it as soon as I got back to the battle we were fighting, and that it was going to help us win the war. Then I felt like I was falling, and suddenly I was back in the room with you. Maybe that was why I went after that son of a bitch so hard when I came to. Maybe it was because of the gift I was given.”
“I dunno. This kind of changes things,” Johann said. Robert looked at him with his brow furrowed.
“Why does that change things?”
“It changes things because now I don’t know who you were talking to.”
“Why not? Isn’t it always Jesus who appears in the light?” Robert asked.
“Usually. But he usually doesn’t tell someone if he gave them a gift. He wants them to discover it on their own. If this thing, this creature, this being told you he was giving you a gift, we need to question who it was and why he told you.”
Robert looked at Johann, his eyes wide. A moment ago, he felt sure that the best thing in his life had happened to him. Now he was wondering if it really had, or if Johann might have another reason to destroy that feeling. Then a third alternative popped into his mind.
“Johann. You don’t think that was actually a demon I was talking to, do you?”
“No. Not at all. I just think that this war is bigger than we imagined. It may not have been Jesus who spoke to you, but it was someone close to him.” Johann looked at him and pursed his lips. He patted Robert on the shoulder and smiled.
“Congratulations, buddy. Looks like you’ve officially been drafted,” Johann said.
The press conference ended. Belinda and David walked up and stood next to Johann.
“Hey Romeo,” Belinda said, punching Johann in the arm. Johann grabbed his arm and looked at her in surprise.
“What?” asked Johann, wincing at the unprovoked outburst.
“You know what,” Belinda said, her eyebrows pulled together to feign anger.
“Wait till you hear what the mayor told us,” David said. Belinda looked at him and quirked her mouth. There was that reporter’s instinct again.
“Hear what?” asked Robert.
“Well for one thing, the mayor was very thankful that you two pulled him from the collapsing building. He said he would probably be dead right now if it weren’t for you two. But mo
re importantly, he said he is going to order that the rubble from the church be put back as it was. In particular the cross. He wants it placed in the same spot where it fell.
“He said that after giving it a great deal of thought, he realized he was wrong to have just gone ahead and cleared the site. He said he was going to declare it an historical site, so no one can ever clear the rubble again. He also said he’s going to let the town council decide on where to put the new water treatment facility.
“And as it turns out, he was a very wealthy man when he lived in New Orleans. He said for every dollar the city raises toward the cost of the new plant, he will personally put in ten dollars.”
“Wow. He must be pretty wealthy,” Robert said, raising his eyebrows. Belinda looked at him.
“He is,” she said.
“Guess he wasn’t such a bad guy after all,” Johann said.
“No. He’s not. He actually seems to be a really nice guy. I think the town is going to be very grateful to you two for saving him,” David said.
“Whoa,” Robert said as he brought his hand up and covered his face. Johann looked at him. Robert was slumping down as though in pain. Robert placed both hands on the sides of his head. His face was distorted as though he were in agony. His eyes were tightly closed, then he opened them wide. A sense of urgency rushed over Johann as he reached for his friend.
“Bob. What’s wrong?” Johann asked. Robert put a hand out as though to stop Johann.
“I’m fine, I think. Just feeling a little funny,” Robert said. He moved his hand from the side of his head and looked at Johann. “Maybe it was all the excitement. Maybe it was too much for me.” He kept closing then opening his eyes as though trying to get debris out of them.
“What does it feel like? You’re not having any chest pains, are you?” Johann asked.
“No. Nothing like that. I just… I dunno…saw stuff. Just a funny feeling, that’s all.”
“Sort of like intuition?” Belinda asked. She was looking at Robert as though she knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Yeah. Sort of,” answered the coroner. He looked at Johann. An expression of urgency came to his face. “We have to go to Buck’s County.”
Night Mares Page 16