by Wood, Rick
His arms dropped.
Slowly, he bowed his head.
The devil simply waved his arms away and shook his head pitifully.
“You did not fool me.” It shook its head, a sly smile growing on its face.
Eddie looked to the restraints around Derek’s wrists and they fell to the ground. Derek dropped to his knees, blood dripping from various parts of his body.
Isn’t it strange? Eddie thought. How this isn’t real, yet we still see blood. Whatever we are, we still can’t see past what we were made to be.
“I didn’t think I had,” Eddie spoke nobly. “I know part of your evil is in me. I can feel it. It drives my powers. Every demon I fight can see my true form. But we are what we become by choice.”
“You are wrong.”
“Look at my hands.” He lifted his hands up to show the burns on his palms from the flames he had produced from them. “This is not real; the rules of the natural world do not exist here. Yet my hands still burn. What you think I am can throw flames, but where I come from, flames burn us.”
“I do not understand.”
“Whatever we were made to be… some demon wielding fire at will… we still show parts of what we have become,” he smiled, looking down at the burns that he felt painfully warm in his hands. “And you can’t change that.”
“Then you will stay here forever until you become hell!” it roared, its voice thundering so loud it made Eddie’s rib cage shake.
Eddie hadn’t thought this far ahead. He didn’t know what he would do. The devil would keep him here, for eternity if it wished, until he became what he was supposed to become.
And he would stand no chance against him.
Then he remembered. The spell he had done with Jenny. The one that rose fire. It hit him, and Derek’s earlier words echoed in his head.
“Remember – if your powers come from hell, that is where they will be at their strongest.”
If his powers were at his strongest here, then surely…
He locked eyes with the devil, each of them sending their bloody rage at each other.
He rotated his hands around each other, not taking his eyes off his opponent for a moment.
“Igne egredientur,” he spoke. “Igne egredientur.”
A flame sparked within the circle. This had happened before, it wasn’t enough yet.
“Igne egredientur. Igne egredientur.”
His fingers felt scalding pain. Light flickered around his hands. Flames appeared, small, a round ball of them, within the circle he was creating.
Then the ball of fire disappeared.
Come on, Eddie. Focus. This is where you are strongest.
“Igne egredientur. Igne egredientur.”
The ball appeared again, this time larger, turning in circles, growing in size until it filled the whole space between his encircling hands.
He focussed his eyes fiercely on the devil and grinned.
“Et ignis furorem!” he spat.
With a sudden, jolted movement, he flew his arms forward.
“Converte ad lucemvitae!”
The fire glided from his hands in a grand burst of flames, consuming Satan and those that surrounded him. Eddie did not see what happened beyond the blaze, but he knew they were safe for a moment.
“Derek, grab my hand!”
Boom boom.
He felt something, in his chest. His heart. It was beating.
Boom boom.
He felt his lungs fill with air.
Jenny! You wonderful, smart woman.
From beyond the flames, a lasso flung toward him. He ducked, turning on his heel toward Derek.
He needed Derek’s soul. He didn’t know how long he had, but he needed to take him back.
He felt the flames flicker off the lasso at his feet as the devil withdrew it again and threw it out further. He could see it in the corner of his eye, feel its heat behind him, smell its burning, approaching him. And once it was around him, he belonged to Satan.
He would belong to hell.
He jumped out for Derek, holding his hand out, about to reach him, when he felt the lasso tie around his ankle.
It had him. The devil had Eddie.
He was dragged back slowly, but he put up as much fight as he could, clinging onto the dips of the stone beneath him.
“Derek, you need to grab my hand!”
Derek clambered forward, his legs unmovable, the power of his limbs having been taken from him.
He could see Lacy in his eyes. He could see her above him. He could feel her hands against his chest.
“Almost there!”
Derek reached out again, but Eddie was dragged away once more. He dug his fingers into the ground again, resisting with all he had the force of the flaming rope that was restraining him.
He could see Jenny above him. She was crying furiously, whimpering please over and over.
“You need to do it now, Derek!”
With one final push, Derek leapt out and took hold of Eddie’s hand in his.
“Now close your eyes!”
The roar of the devil shook the ground he was on, splitting it in two. The hot air from its breath blew Eddie’s hair back and he scrunched his eyes closed and prayed.
Then nothing.
No sound, no feeling, no pain.
Nothing around him but silence. He felt at peace, content, resolute.
He was snapped out of it with a large intake of breath as his eyes flew open. He breathed quickly and repeatedly, in and out, in and out. He did not let up. He took in as much oxygen as he could, feeling his head pounding, knowing he had been deprived of oxygen for a while.
His heart was going a million miles an hour. He could feel it barely being kept within his chest, punching his rib cage with vigour.
He looked around. Lacy was sat over him, staring at him, hopeful eyes. Jenny held his hand so tightly she practically broke it, but he didn’t mind. She did not stop crying. She just stared at him, her face in a scrunched-up mess, tears exuding from her eyes.
Eddie turned his head and looked across the room. Derek was there. He was laid on the floor in just as weak a position as Eddie, but he was there. Looking back at him. Smiling weakly.
39
31 December 2001
Two years since millennium
Eddie thought Lacy looked quite cute in her nurse’s outfit, hair tied back and scrubs on. She looked professional in a way he had never seen before.
“Right, we’re all done,” she smiled at him, finishing his checkup and recording his pulse on her form. “You’re doing great. You seem to be recovering far quicker than a normal person.”
“Well, that’s because I’m not a normal person, remember?” he smiled at her. “I’m the son of the devil.”
She laughed as if he was joking and opened the curtain, allowing him to step out into the hospital wing. He strolled down a few curtains and peered into one.
“Knock, knock,” he spoke.
“Come in,” replied Kelly.
He opened the curtain and walked in, taking her side. She was bruised. Her ribs were in a cast and her eyes looked drugged-up. Still, she appeared far better than she had done a few weeks ago.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“Fine,” she smiled sweetly. “You know, if you keep visiting me like this, people are going to talk.”
Eddie chuckled to himself.
“Well, we’d best not disappoint them. How about when you get out of the hospital, we go get a beer, go on a proper date?”
“Well, you saved my life, I guess it’s the least I owe you,” she smiled.
“Until then, I guess you’ll have to do with these awkward visits.” He kissed her delicately on the forehead and sat beside her, taking the chocolate box he had bought the previous day and helping himself.
*
“So how’s Kelly doing?” Derek enquired.
“Whatever do you mean by that? What are you implying?”
“I’m,
er… I’m implying, how is she doing?”
Eddie nodded and put his feet up on the table of the office. “She’s doing great. Few more weeks and I reckon she’ll be out.”
He looked around his office, then peered out into the lecture theatre through the office door. He didn’t know how they had been cleared. He didn’t know how the university board had decided to drop their investigation, but he was glad they had.
And, in all honesty, he thought the more they didn’t ask about these rumours of a young woman claiming they’d helped her from being possessed by the devil, the better.
“So, Derek, I’ve got to ask, seeing as it’s two years on from my first coming, so to speak,” he spoke, glancing to the date of New Year’s Eve in the calendar. “What did that prophecy say?”
Derek hesitated and looked to the floor.
“Derek, man, I need to know.”
Derek nodded and lifted his head up. He forced a fake smile and looked Eddie in the eyes.
“It said that you are to the devil as Jesus Christ was to God. That you were to bring forth the devil to this world. It said your powers were from a place of pure evil.”
“Wow,” Eddie nodded, trying to take it all in. “That all?”
“But it’s only a prophecy,” Derek offered softly, if only to himself. “It’s open to interpretation. It’s like you said, that might be what you are on this earth, but… well… you are what you have become, not what you were born to be.”
They shared a moment of silence until Eddie sighed, brought his feet off the table, and turned his body to Derek.
“But what if I’m not?”
Derek didn’t have an answer, so he just let the question linger in the air.
They both watched the clock tick. They watched it tick from 11.56 p.m. to midnight, sharing mutual silence in the darkness of the office.
“Well.” Eddie took a bottle of wine from his bag. “Happy New Year I guess. At least we’re not spending this one fighting any demons.”
He poured the wine into a paper cup and handed it to Derek, then poured one for himself.
“What are we toasting to?” asked Derek, lifting his cup in the air.
Eddie considered this. What could they toast to?
“To the devil,” he announced. “Wherever he is on this joyous night. He lost the battle and I’m sure he’ll be wounded.”
Derek smiled, but did not laugh. They both drank.
“This won’t be over, you know,” Derek offered. “He didn’t lose the battle. He just didn’t want to kill you once and for all, so he went easy on you. He wants you for himself, to do his dirty work on earth.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I mean – God killed Jesus, right?”
“I’m being serious.”
“I know you are,” Eddie nodded. “I know this isn’t over. I’m not a fool.”
“Good, I’m glad you know that.”
“Oh, I do. He’s got a whole hell full of demons to send after me, legions of loyal beasts ready to die in his name and claim as many victims as he can.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
Eddie didn’t answer. Instead, he finished his wine, screwed up his paper cup and threw it in the bin. He stood up and went for the door.
“Where are you going?” Derek asked.
“Out. I could do with a proper drink. You coming?”
Derek nodded. He finished off his cup of wine, screwed it up and put it in the bin, and took his coat from the hook off the door.
“Where we going?”
“I don’t know,” Eddie answered. “But I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”
Book Three
An Exorcist Possessed
“Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.”
2 Thessalonians 2:3
1
20 September 1984
Sixteen years before millennium
Eddie heavily desired to punch this kid square in the jaw.
He knew he shouldn’t. Jenny had told him he shouldn’t. His teacher had told him he shouldn’t. Hell, even his disgrace of a mother had told him he shouldn’t.
But he wanted to nonetheless.
He wanted to so, so much.
“Your sister’s dead,” Billy sang, his fat belly jiggling and his wide, merciless smirk spread across his chubby face. “Your sister’s dead, haha!”
Jenny clutched onto Eddie’s arm, pulling him away, doing everything she could to avoid him getting hurt.
“Come on, Eddie, just ignore it.”
He couldn’t just ignore it.
Not when that fat idiot, Billy, was talking about his deceased sister.
Eddie paused, darting between thoughts. He could go with Jenny and ignore Billy. Or, he could turn around and land his fist straight in this kid’s mouth.
Eddie’s dad did it all the time. He punched anyone he could find when he was angry.
Eddie’s mum in particular seemed to annoy his dad. Eddie had seen it. Ever since Cassy had died, it was all the old man did – besides drink and moan.
But he hated him for it. He dreaded becoming like his dad. He dreaded becoming someone who took his aggression out on others.
“Eddie, please, come on.”
He considered Jenny’s distraught eyes. She cared for him. She was his family. He should listen to her.
Fine. I’ll walk away.
Turning his back to the hefty little bastard, he allowed Jenny to grab his arm and drag him away.But he could feel the kid’s smirk radiating against his back. Despite knowing Jenny was right, despite knowing it was the right thing to do, he felt sick letting Billy get away with it.
“Yeah, that’s right. Let your bitch drag you away.”
He froze.
Had he just called Jenny a bitch?
Jenny’s eyes begged him to move. He couldn’t. He was frantically immobile. Furiously still. Adamantly undecided.
“Just like you let your bitch sister die.”
No.
Eddie spun around and pulled his arm out of Jenny’s grasp. He charged toward the cocky, obese prick, who was standing there guffawing away.
Eddie was determined to shut his gob once and for all.
“You shut the hell up, you arsehole!”
A crowd had gathered. A crowd that was laughing at him. Laughing at Eddie.
Their sniggers and jeers made him shake with rage and he couldn’t control it.
Eddie aimed his fist straight at Billy’s fat face. But Billy was quicker than his appearance suggested and he dodged the blow, countering with one of his own that landed square in Eddie’s stomach. Eddie doubled over, and Billy slammed a second punch into the back of his head. Eddie fell to the ground, vision blurring, shock skittering from the base of his skull and down his spine.
Hysterics surrounded him. The circle of mocking fits of laughter encompassed him in a sore, humiliated mind. It felt like every kid in the school was there, determined to celebrate his misery.
Billy had insulted Jenny. Billy had insulted Eddie’s sister. And now, Billy had just knocked Eddie to the floor in front of the entire school.
Jenny was by his side in a flash, stroking back his hair and checking his bleeding nose.
“Oh my God, you’re killing me!” Billy snorted, having to bend over from laughing so much.
“Why don’t you just piss off!” Jenny venomously aimed at Billy.
A dramatic “ooh” resounded from the surrounding crowd.
“Just ‘cause you’re fat as fuck, doesn’t mean you have to take it out on everyone else!” she continued, leaping to her feet. She stormed forward and squared up to him.
“Oh, you gonna fight me too?” Billy beamed. “This what it takes Ed’? Your slut doing your fightin’ for ya?”
“I am not a slut!” she spat into his face, an inch away, her eyes livid. “And if you so much as harm one hair on his
head, or even think about bothering him again, then yeah, I’ll fight you. And I will destroy you, you fat bastard.”
The laughs continued; not in aid of Jenny, but at her expense. A ridicule of her feeble attempt at sticking up for her best friend.
With a last glare at Billy, who still looked irritatingly smug, she turned back to Eddie, who still lay on the ground, blood dripping from his face. She put her arm around him and helped him to his feet. He fumbled forward dizzily, her arm the only thing keeping him steady.
“Don’t worry, Eddie,” she whispered in his ear. “We’ll get you to the nurse. We’ll tell the teacher.”
“I don’t want to tell the teacher.”
“You’ve got to tell someone.”
“Just help me to the bathroom, I’ll be fine.”
But this wasn’t the end. Eddie could still hear Billy shouting in the background, continuing the vile, contemptuous insults.
Eddie daren’t fight. He’d just be humiliated again.
Instead, he would limp away with his only friend and cry in the cubicle of the toilet. Cry over the words that wounded him, over the black eye he could feel throbbing.
Cry over the memory of his sister who had only died mere months ago.
He missed her so much.
“You wimp! You pussy!”
The words continued.
“Your sister was a bitch too, a pathetic little bitch!”
Eddie fell to his knees. Jenny rushed to his side, putting an arm around him, but he pushed it off.
The rage inside of him grew. It rose like a mouthful of sick, filling him, flooding through him like a tsunami of wrath.
He was not letting Billy talk about his sister like that.
Eddie could feel his veins pulsating, the blood coursing through them like the waves of a furious ocean. The anger rose within him, a volcano of hostility about to spew over.
He did not feel like himself. This was not him.
He was not in control.
He didn’t know what this was, but he hadn’t ever felt this before.
