He spoke slowly enough for them to be able to repeat the words. They all mumbled along and when they were done, Father Alba switched to a white stole and took up what looked like a deep bowl of water.
Talitha was first and he poured the slightest amount of water on her forehead and made the sign of the cross over her. Will thought he would move on but instead he repeated the water and the sign of the cross twice more before saying, "Talitha, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Adrina stood next to him holding a small container and the priest dipped his finger in it and again made the sign of the cross, but this time it was near the top of her head.
This he repeated on all of them and part of Will was impatient at the elaborateness of the ceremony, but the greater part of him saw this as his only protection against the demon so he waited his turn patiently. He wondered if the protective nature of the sacrament was diluted by the fact that his baptism was occurring in a garage with a kidnapped witch in attendance.
Henny went last and acted for all the world like a real catholic, but it was an obvious front and no one was fooled.
After Henny was finished, Adrina again helped the priest, this time preparing the Eucharist for communion. Father Alba zipped through barley heard prayer while William struggled mightily to keep from passing out from the heat of the garage. His head kept nodding up and down as he caught himself falling asleep every few seconds.
"Can you move over Brian," Will said. The boy had never left Talitha's side and had been blowing gently into her tube the entire time. Brian slipped around the end of the car and Will wheeled his father to the door and opened it halfway.
The night suddenly felt wonderfully cool and refreshing. Will took a deep breath and heard the priest say, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper."
Suddenly his favorite part of the Mass came to mind and he said aloud, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." This earned him a nod from Father Alba, who was now ready to start communion.
"The witch first please, Father," Adrina said; Henny looked up nervously.
"The body of Christ," the priest intoned solemnly and held out the wafer of unleavened bread to her. Henny looked blankly at it.
"Say amen and then eat it, don't worry, it's not poisoned," Adrina added with a smile.
She did as she was told and then the priest took up one of the Dixie cups that held the wine. "The blood of Christ."
"Amen," she said with a little more enthusiasm and knocked it back as if it was a shot of whiskey. Father Alba gave her a tired look and then went to the rest in turn.
Will took his next and when William, who was last in line, was finished, he said from his wheel chair, "Ok, are we all done?" The priest nodded and William continued, "Then it's time to get moving. Boys, you need to get your game faces on. If you have any fear you'll need to toss it aside now, because in there, it'll freeze you in place."
Will felt his butterflies kick into high gear but now there was a little something extra that he tried to ignore. Without realizing it, he began to rub his stomach and within moments, he knew he was going to be sick. He tried to fight it, but it was losing battle and a second later, he ran for the side of the house. There, he heaved up the tiny mushed wafer and the teaspoon or so of wine, he had drank. His body didn't think it was done and retched loudly for a few minutes, but nothing of substance came up and he finally sat back in the grass shaking.
"You ok, Will?" William asked from a discreet distance.
"Yeah, just give me a minute." His need to relieve himself came on him urgently and due to his shaking hands his zipper seemed very hard to work. After a short struggle, he got it down and urinated against the demon-infested house. When he was done he felt almost giddy with relief.
"Do I have to take Communion again," he asked Father Alba, who stood hunched over, leafing through a leather bound book.
"No, once is enough, even if you get sick. But..." he paused and licked his lips nervously. "Like your Father said...I guess now is the time to get going." He sounded terribly unenthused at the idea.
"We cannot go yet," Adrina stated, focusing her gaze on Henny. "I have to know how she's done this. The manner of the summons may be of great consequence."
Henny looked about her, surprised at the question. "I don't remember all of it but I wrote it down. This isn't a trick, I swear. It's in my house." She laughed a slightly crazed laugh. "It's in the freezer! Funny huh? I couldn't keep it near me, it just gave me the creeps. I drew symbols and...never mind...you can see for yourself. Send one of the boys to get it."
Adrina looked at her in a peculiar way. "You put the instructions for summoning a demon in your freezer?"
"Yeah, I really did, funny huh? It's in a bag of coffee...no one drinks it but me. Greg is such a...I mean all he drinks is tea, like one of those British ladies."
Will realized if anyone was going to get the summons, it would have to be him, and the idea of heading into the witch's lair, as his mind suddenly saw it, filled him with secret dread. "I...I can get the summons if you want it," he said trying his best to sound natural.
"No, I think we won't need it after all." Adrina looked down at Henny, contemplating. Seconds went by with the garage still and quiet. Will was terribly antsy to get started. He worried he'd lose his nerve and chicken out if they didn't get moving fast. Still, Adrina delayed. She squatted down next to Henny and looked into her eyes. "Tell me how this all started."
William also grew impatient and sighed loudly at the delay, but there seemed to be no hurrying Adrina. Henny didn't seem to mind, in fact she appeared very relaxed. "It was an accident. A friend of mine had a Ouija board and we were just pushing the little pointer around scaring each other. Then she went to the bathroom and I was just messing with it when I noticed my hands were spelling out words. The pointer would tug just the slightest bit under my fingers, it spelled out: Who are you? I wish I hadn't answered. But I did."
Henny stopped talking as if that was the end of the story and she blinked in surprise, or so it seemed to Will. Adrina said, "And it had you, didn't it? You kept going back for more."
Henny nodded. "Yeah. It was slow at first. Like it was just learning how to spell words. Then it got faster and faster...hey, can I have shum more of that wine?"
Father Alba looked offended at the question. "No, of course not, that is Sacramental wine."
Adrina waited on Henny to continue but she was slow in answering and Will felt his butterflies pick up their tornado like action in his stomach, this happened at every break in Henny's story.
He had time to take a glance at Brian who appeared interested in the story, and looked serene giving Talitha her sips of air. This confirmed what Will already knew: he—Will Jern was the most afraid of them all. Even the priest had relaxed during his rituals, and Will was suddenly jealous that the man wouldn't have to go into the house.
"Come on, finish what you're saying," Adrina ordered, and Will saw that the big gun was back in her hand. However, it jittered about slightly, etching an erratic course over Henny. If the old lady shot the thing, it would be only a guess as to where the bullet would end up.
Henny was having trouble beginning her story again and her eyes, black and beautiful, danced in tune with the barrel of the gun, following it wherever it went.
"Bell...I mean uh, well," she started to say but blinked largely, her eyes running to catch up to the barrel of the gun. "I didn't do it hall really. The uh demon...It..." She paused blinking more, "It wush telling me what tuh do you she...It would shay...ya know, go get thish from..." She blinked stupidly, as if she couldn't recall exactly what she had been saying. She forgot about the gun and looked around, her head twisting about jerkily. "It uh, toad...what tuh...Hey! You did shumpin..."
Adrina nodded and put the gun away. "Bless me, Father for I have sinned. It has been about twenty-five minutes since my last c
onfession. I desecrated the sacramental wine and used it to drug the witch..."
"Wha? Huh?" Henny interrupted, her head lolled to the side, she had trouble keeping it upright on her shoulders.
William wheeled himself closer, his face hot with anger. "That was totally unneeded. You had the gun..."
Adrina held up her hand to silence him, and continued, "I also lied to everyone here. I told them that a simple exorcism was all that was needed to save their Talitha. I should have told them the truth, one of them will have to kill the witch. It's the only way to close the gate and the only chance the girl has of getting back. I beg forgiveness, Lord."
3
A silence settled on the garage. Will looked down at Henny; she had fallen asleep. Amazingly, she was more beautiful asleep than she ever had been while awake. He didn't think he would have the guts to kill her.
"I can't do it," the priest said with finality.
"Neither can I. Aren't we supposed to be the good guys here?" Will asked.
"No, I meant I can't absolve you of your sins, Mrs. Fortini. You have to be truly sorry."
"Oh I am!" she spoke sharply. "I'm sorry I got out of bed this morning, or even let you four into my home! I'm sorry to have any part of this...I didn't ask for any of this. God knows how much I'd rather be home in bed right now. So don't presume to tell me, what I'm not sorry about!"
Father Alba looked chagrined. "You're right...the Lord sees into your heart, Mrs. Fortini and only through his power and blessing can I absolve you of your sins...unless you have some more you forgot to mention?" She shook her head with great weariness, and he finished, "Then I absolve you."
"Amen. Breathe for the girl, Brian." He had been staring at them; opened-mouth and the tube had slipped out. Quickly he grabbed it up as Adrina continued, "I lied because I had to. Because, as Will stated you're the good guys. Now, I will tell you the truth of what we must do." She startled the priest by reaching up and removing the broad white stole he wore around his shoulders during the sacraments. "This has to be bound to both the witch and to your Talitha, wrapping it around their hands should be good enough. The witch is connected to the demon. The connection runs through her black heart. Brian you have the sword?"
Brian took out the sword, which had been tucked into his jeans at the hip and held it up still wrapped in the cloth. Adrina nodded. "Good, hold onto it. It will be enough to stab the witch through the heart, but..."
"Wait!" Will cried, angrily. "Is this what you were talking about? Is this the tough decision that makes me a man? Stab a sleeping woman through the heart?"
"Don't do it then." She turned to Brian. "Will you do it?" His head went down and he studied the floor. "Commander, what about you?"
William looked aghast at the idea. "I uh, I..." was all he could say.
"Good for me then. I'll kill the witch now and the gate will be closed. Your Talitha will have to find her own way back." She raised the gun at the sleeping girl.
"Wait please," Will begged. His emotions were everywhere. Was this what it came down to? Murderer?
"Kill her up there, or I do it here." Adrina's eyes were black gun barrels pointing right at him. "Innocent...guilty," she motioned indicating the two sleeping females. "Good...evil. Choose! At least one of these girls will die tonight. Choose—the life of this murderous witch or your Talitha."
"I'll kill her," William announced forcefully. "I promised that I'd do anything to bring my little girl back and I will."
His strength bolstered Brian who nodded seriously. "I'll do it if I have to." Now all eyes turned to Will and he never felt further from being a man than at that moment.
"I don't think I can let this happen," Father Alba broke in. "I mean, I'm not supposed to, right? I should call the police or something."
Adrina spoke to him calmly, "You won't be a part of any killing, Father. You'll need to wait outside the house and under no circumstance are you to go in."
"But the police...this is illegal."
William, the Commander spoke, "You can call the SPs, we won't stop you, but it won't change the fact people are going to die here tonight. You'll only make it worse on everyone."
Father Alba licked his lips as sweat ran down his collar, "People? I thought it would be just the witch...I mean Mrs. Harris."
"Yes, her for certain, but also," William turned to look at Adrina. "You're going to die tonight as well, am I right?"
"Yes. I have foreseen it," she intoned quietly and apart from a grimace and a small shudder that went down her back, she seemed calm. Her death was what she had seen when they had first walked into her apartment. It had been horrible to watch and as he relived the moment again, his butterflies went into over drive. It seemed like a horrendous death judging by the way she'd acted and Will wondered if his own would be just as bad.
Despite the fact he'd just gone a couple minutes prior, the need to pee came over him again. It was terribly urgent—Will clutched his legs and tried not to think about it. Instead, his mind went to the death of Father Menning, he pictured the black face, and the eyes a white goo mixed with blood running from the gaping sockets in his head. At this Will's bladder let go; it was only a few small drops and stupid relief swept over him just as before.
Father Alba looked at the tiny lady. "What should I do then? What can I do to help?"
"This is important...you must burn the bodies, the witch's and mine, and any others."
"No I meant in the house. What can I do in there?"
"Nothing. You'll die if you go into the house. The demon's not stupid and it'll focus on you first. You'll die before we get ten feet into the place. This fear you have, the demon can kill you with it—but first it will drive you insane."
The priest paled at the notion. Will suddenly felt lightheaded and had a great desire to breathe the cool night air. With his heart thumping madly in his chest, he turned toward the garage door.
"Oh jeez," he said quietly to himself.
If the priest could be killed so easily by his fear, Will wouldn't stand a chance. He'd be the first to die. Excuses why he couldn't go into the house blossomed up in him like blackened roses. They were childish and pathetic and he strove to think of better ones, but nothing came to him except the vision of Father Menning and his ruined face. Will wanted so badly to run away that his feet moved in the direction of the ferry before he even realized it. Brian said something to him but Will was now picturing the ferryboat, seeing himself on it; the warm night air running over him as the boat sped away and he barely heard.
"What did you say?" Will asked.
Brian gave a small breath and pulled the tube from his mouth, his hand shook obviously. "I asked, what did you say? You said something just now." Will felt confused and didn't think he had said anything.
"I said something?" he asked blankly, his eyes fixed on Brian's shaking hands.
Brian noticed what Will was staring at and said sheepishly, "Man, I'm scared to death."
Will's eyes bugged at the sentence and he spoke in a rush, "Me too! I thought I was the only one." The idea that Brian was afraid also, ironically seemed to give him a touch of courage. "It'll be ok. I think so at least," he said to encourage the smaller boy.
"I hope so," Brian said. "But the idea of dying...like that priest makes me want run home and hide in my mom's bed."
Will had a sobering thought. "Do you love Talitha that much...you know, to risk this?"
"I do," Brian replied simply. He stuck the tube in his mouth and gave her a little more life.
Adrina watched them and Will began to wonder about her as well. "Mrs. Fortini, why are you doing this? I don't see how your fate could get that much worse."
"Yes, I worry over the physical pain but...I have not been a good person. A lot of times yes, I have been good. But I have done some things, some very bad things and now I have to consider my soul. This will be my last chance to balance things out. Which reminds me...Father, I said you'd have to burn the bodies of the witch and mine, but not toge
ther! Her remains, the ash and bones, have to be dumped into a river or a very large stream. As for me, I want somewhere nice. One of those pretty little towns upstate that looks like it belongs on a postcard. I want to be around people...find me a hill where the trees will turn orange and gold in the fall, maybe one that overlooks a park or a school, so I can watch the children run and play. That sounds nice doesn't it?"
She seemed to be talking to Will so he answered, "Yes ma'am, but what about heaven?"
"I hope so. I hope that's where I'll go, but I better cover my bets." She looked to the priest. "You can do it. Just use lots of wood and gasoline and don't stand down wind. Oh! I almost forgot, if we all die, burn the house down, ok?"
"What?"
"Yes. If we're not back in twenty minutes, burn it down. The gate has to close or there'll be more deaths. In fact if we all die that will mean Mrs. Harris will be alive, and I guarantee she'll come after you, Father. And, she'll come after your wife, Commander and your other daughter as well. It's another reason to be strong and do the hard thing."
Father Alba looked sick with fear, but he nodded and mumbled something that sounded like an Ok.
"We shouldn't wait any longer," Will's father declared with his characteristic fearlessness. The words made Will tense up quickly. The small spark of courage he had felt earlier was draining fast and he began to rub his hands together as if they were cold.
"This is the plan," Adrina's slight accent became noticeably thicker. "First, I go in. After comes big, strong Will...you carry the witch. Then Brian you carry your Talitha and finally you, Commander. Make sure the boys don't dawdle, I don't want to be up there all alone."
"Will it be in the attic?" William asked from his wheelchair and for once Will saw his father slightly unnerved.
"Yes, up at the top. Now as I said, I will challenge it first...and when I die, then one of you must confront it. Keep it occupied while the others tie stole and kill the witch."
The Trilogy of the Void: The Complete Boxed Set Page 33
