by Jill Cooper
Mike did have a problem with that, a very big problem with that. There was no way out without violence and Mike took an oath to protect God’s children, not harm them. Demons were one thing; they were the mission, but people? Mike was supposed to help them, misguided as they sometimes were.
“Yes…” Mike cleared his throat and patted his overcoat. “My ID, I’m afraid I left it in my sleeping quarters. If, however, you were to follow me there, I’m sure we could work this out.”
The cop came close to an eye roll, and Mike’s stomach plunged into his feet. He raised his hand to put on Mike and in that instant a bolt of electricity flew out from the door and struck the cop.
His back arched, arms extended, his mouth fell open. His breath erratic was a scream that couldn’t be heard.
Mike backed away and grabbed his gun from beneath the counter. The cop’s body fell with a thump twitching involuntarily like a dead fish. Sweeping his gun toward the door, Mike saw a woman step from beyond the darkness. Her hair still tied back in a yellow bandana and her hands were zotting with electricity.
Gwen. Or the woman who was once Gwen.
“They can be so much trouble now, can’t they?” Gwen tilted her head toward the fallen cop. “A simple thank you, will suffice.”
A long time ago he had known her. Despite how age had weathered his heart, it still hurt to see her used like this. Mike gripped the gun and his lip curled. “Back away, she-demon. Or I’ll make you.”
Gwen’s boots echoed across the floor. “You won’t harm this host. I have full access to her memories. I know what you both did.” Placing a hand over her heart, Gwen’s face twisted with mockery. “So touching. Young, forbidden love. A man like you, well I can see what she saw in you.”
Mike licked his lips and didn’t much appreciate the snarl Gwen wore. She was a hard woman, even in those early days, but she was fair. A great woman who took up the mission just like he did, their styles were just…different. What the demon was turning her into was a damn shame. “What do you want?”
“I need into that church and you’re going to help me.”
Gwen going after Amanda seemed blasphemous. Mike’s lips drew together in determination. “Never.”
She pouted as if she expected that answer. Her hand swirled in the air and a single bolt of lightning shot out and struck Mike’s gun. With a yelp, he dropped it and cradled his hand. Quickly, he bent down to pick it up, ignoring the popping in his knees.
Gwen shouted out a curt warning. “Don’t!” her words were punctuated with a crackle of electricity. If he went for the gun, he was a dead man.
Ready for death, maybe, but Mike wasn’t welcoming it at his door. He straightened up slowly and held his hands out to the side. Play along with her and find a way out; that was Mike’s plan. He just hoped he’d survive that long.
Gwen circled in close from the side with a small smile. “Glad to see you can be reasoned with, Father Mike.” Her boot kicked his gun away under a prep counter against the wall.
Mike followed it and searched the room for something he could use against the demon. There was no way he was helping to bring this demon into the church where Amanda was, but to hurt Gwen—Mike stifled a sigh when he realized the only way to win against a she-devil such as this was to exorcise Gwen.
The spirit needed to be forced out of her body, but the last time Mike had done such a thing, it had nearly killed him. That had been with days, weeks of preparation, with the right supplies, the strongest of prayers and a three day fast. How Mike was going to approach such a thing here with only his bible, such an idea was ludicrous. The church wouldn’t approve, but then again Mike didn’t either.
“Don’t try anything funny,” Gwen said with a lift of her hands. “I can make this go very badly.”
Mike nodded. “After you.”
Gwen gave him a sideways glance. “As if I’m really that stupid? I’m a demon from Lourdes’s inner circle, not some foot soldier.” With a sneer, she pushed him forward. “Get moving.”
Mike stumbled and braced himself on the counter. “Forgive me,” he spoke dryly as his hand went for the container of salt, “but these knees, they’re an old man’s.”
She laughed at his remark. “I guess I should’ve made you kneel.”
Gripping the shaker in his hand, Mike pivoted toward her and with a thrust threw granules of salt into her face. Gwen shrieked and was driven back, her eyes misted green as the demon inside of her recoiled.
“You will be the one who kneels!” Mike threw more salt into her face as he approached her. Gwen’s back slammed into the edge of a metal prep table with her arms up defensively. Her hands lit up with an electrical charge, but it was sporadic. Her concentration had been weakened and Mike couldn’t afford to let her get it back.
He tore the rosary he wore under his shirt free from his neck and held it against Gwen’s head. With a shrill scream, she fell to her knees, the green smoke of the demon circling closer to the surface. Mike used an open palm to Gwen’s head to keep her steady.
“Forgive this woman, Father, for she knows not what she does.”
“You…can’t…exorcise me!” Gwen gritted her teeth as smoke rose up from her flesh. “You’re not strong enough, old man!”
Old? Who was this demon to call him old?
Gwen grabbed his ankle and the electrical bolt flattened him on his back. His Rosary beads went flying and Gwen cackled with delight. Mike rolled on his side and gripped the edge of a cast iron pan just in the nick of time. Gwen’s hands went around his neck and Mike swung the frying pan against the side of her head.
Blood splatter flew from her mouth and Gwen fell to her side. Rolling away she crawled toward the door. Mike couldn’t let her get away. God forgive him, he lunged for her with outstretched hands and slammed her face into the floor.
She moaned and fell still on the ground, her fingers twitching, eyes closed. Blood flowed from her possibly broken nose. Her face had seen better days, thanks to the salt burns on her flesh.
Heaving for breath, Mike leaned on the counter. There wasn’t time to rest. The demon in Gwen wouldn’t allow her to be unconscious long. “I’m sorry, Gwen,” Mike whispered and made the sign of the cross in the air, but turned from her quickly.
He had a job to do.
Mike turned the faucet on and under the sink found an empty giant jug. He stuck it under the running water. While it filled he snatched his bible and Rosary beads. For what he was going to do, he needed holy water and lots of it.
Once filled, Mike kissed his bible and made the sign of the cross in the air, muttering a silent prayer.
Taking off his jacket and his collar, Mike searched the kitchen for some kitchen twine or some rope. What he was going to do wouldn’t be sanctioned by the church. Barely even sanctioned it himself, but he had no choice but to try.
Even if it led to both their deaths.
19: Jessica Blood
Her cage was a prison and her tormenter was Amanda Blood.
Pressed up against the rear wall of the cage, Jessica’s sat with mouth twisted and eyes squeezed shut. She turned away from the all-encompassing light wielded by her sister. Once, she had been in awe of that power. Then its gentle light had been like a warm bath, but now it was like a thousand razors.
Lourdes’s compulsion had sunk its claws into her and was desperate to stay. Like gnashing teeth, it gripped Jessica, but Amanda’s power was strong.
The mark Lourdes singed upon Jessica’s soul lifted from her skin as if drawn toward a black hole. Struggling to hold on, to keep it all inside. Did she want to be free or did she want to resist?
Jessica groaned under its intensity and struggled to roll away, but couldn’t. She was helpless. The pain was as if her arms were being torn from their sockets. Leaning back, her heart pounded so fast, she couldn’t catch her breath. She was going to die and if she died…
Lourdes would just bring her right back.
Biting her lip, Jessica pounded her legs o
nto the cage bars and screamed. Would her rage be enough to drive Amanda back; get her to stop?
The light flickered and she cracked an eye open to see her sister had collapsed at the foot of the cage. Lying flat on her stomach, Amanda’s hand hovered in the air, but it quaked. Amanda’s mouth twitched open, as she tried again, but only blood flowed from her nose. “Hurts…” she struggled to form words, “…too much.”
Jessica touched her nose and her fingertip became wet—stained red. “You’re going to kill us both. Except I’m the one who will come back. You won’t.”
The light shined again, back on bright and Jessica yelped as the purity of it tore through the bars of the cage. The tugging, the pulling at Lourdes’s marks burned her tattoos bright. Jessica screamed, the cage glowing brightly as her skin turned red as fire.
“I,” Amanda gritted her teeth, “can’t endure this. I’m sorry, Jess.” The light dimmed and Amanda fell at the door of the cage. Collapsed unconscious.
She should’ve tested the strength of the cage, but Jessica was too weak. Too tired. She was just glad for the respite, so she closed her eyes and her mind took her far from that place. Her body still a prisoner, Jessica welcomed the warm presence of Lourdes, in the underworld.
“Look now, Jessica. Look and see what Amanda has cost you from the very beginning. You’ll see why you need to fight. You’ll see why you must continue to resist her cleansing.”
Her soul, trapped in the hellish dimension, was Lourdes’s play thing. Lourdes’s open palm gripped the shimmering light of her soul. Jessica moaned in pain as her consciousness left Earthly time and space. She flew through the trees like a bird until a sprawling home came into view.
A two-story yellow home where the windows on the ground level were illuminated a bright yellow. Jessica’s mind pushed through the exterior wall and she found herself in a den.
Familiar and warm, there was a fire raging in the fireplace. Surrounding walls were covered in stacks of books and in the center of the room, brown leather recliners that Jessica could smell—rich and vibrant. Across the room, was a cluttered desk with a globe that a man hunched over, someone that she never thought she’d see again.
Dad.
She never thought she’d return to this place.
The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up and his black vest was unbuttoned. His dark hair was disheveled and on his face the beginning of a scruffy beard that Jessica didn’t remember him having. A watch dangled from his pocket and as he gathered up a bundle of papers in his hands, Jessica saw the tattoo on his forearm.
Black, with red ink in the center. She recognized it now, because she was no longer a kid. It was the crest of a demon clan, but if Dad was inking a demon crest on his arm that would mean—No, Jessica wouldn’t believe it. There was no way he’d been a demon hunter. Slaughtering demons? There was no way.
Dad walked purposefully to the fireplace and threw the papers in. He grabbed a poker and bent down, prodding the papers to make sure everything burned. His jaw was set as tight as anything Jessica had ever seen and that worried glint in his eyes, Jessica had seen it in Amanda’s eyes.
The door to the den opened and Mom sprinted in. Jessica went to her right away, “Mom!” But Donna Blood couldn’t see her any more than Dad could. She was in a pink silk nightgown and her red hair spiraled around her shoulders. Jessica shivered; this was what Mom wore the night she died.
Her heart skipped a beat as she realized this was the night it was all going to end—this was the night they were going to die.
“Get out of here,” Jessica hissed at them both, but it was just a memory. Like someone rewound and pushed play on the past. There was nothing here that could be changed or stopped and Jessica was helpless, forced to watch them rush to their deaths.
“They’re asleep,” Mom said with a nervous shake in her voice. “Did you find it?”
“I burned it,” Dad went back to his desk and opened a book, thumbing rapidly through the pages. “Burned every bit of evidence we have, but it was clear, Donna. It’s our girls. We always knew it’d come to this, didn’t we?”
Jessica’s heart panged to see the lines of heartbreak on his face. Donna squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “No. It can’t be. It can’t be her. It just…it can’t, Jacob. Please.” Jessica thought she might collapse, but Mom gripped Dad’s arms and stayed upright.
She wanted to help them. Save them. Jessica didn’t want to watch them die—once had been enough.
“You think I want this for Mandy?” Dad whispered with furor in his eyes. “You think I want this for either of them? You’ve seen the signs, just as I have. And the family cabin and that crazy sister of mine aren’t going to be enough to protect them. Hell knows, she has enough of her own problems.”
Mom covered her mouth to stifle a sob. “They’re just babies, Jacob! Babies. If Lourdes thinks we’re just going to hand them over—.”
They knew about Lourdes? My God, they knew everything? Aunt Gwen had hidden this knowledge from Jessica. One more lie, she couldn’t stand.
“Lourdes has had it out for Bloods for years, but with Mandy…” Dad didn’t finish his sentence. Instead he just shook his head, but Jessica wanted to know what he meant. What the hell were her parents up to?
Dad took a long laboring breath. “We can’t run. Amanda is growing, maturing. She’ll call to them like a damn homing signal and they’ll know where she is every hour of every day.”
“Then what do we do?” Mom asked with a shaking breath. “Tell me what we do and I’ll do it.”
Dad picked up a book and showed it to her. “A sacrifice. If we…do this, Amanda’s light will be hidden from the legion as they hunt for her until her powers fully manifest. Until then it’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack.”
Mom let out a deep sigh. “Oh Jacob,” she smoothed his cheek with her palm. “Are you sure it’s the only way to protect her? What of Jessie?”
Dad glanced away and there was doubt, a struggle in his mind. “She’s strong. I’ve seen it in her too. They’re both gifted, in different ways. They need each other. If you agree, I need to start setting up for the ritual. We need to be ready before they get here.”
“Tonight?” Mom’s face was stricken with grief.
“I’m surprised they aren’t already here.” Dad put the book down and took off his vest, throwing it into the corner of the room. “With our deaths, this place will be clouded in confusion. It’ll be potent and strong. Jessie won’t be sure what’s happening and the demons, they won’t be able to find Mandy, even if they bumped right into her.”
With their deaths? Jessica just realized what they were talking about. No—they couldn’t. That wasn’t fair. “Mom, Dad, no—stop!” They couldn’t die so she and her sister could live. If only they knew what awaited Jessica and Amanda. No…they had to be made to stop.
Please, don’t go.
Mom took a shaking breath, but did she realize what she was agreeing to? She was going to die! How was that—
Dad grabbed her arm and there were tears in his eyes. “There’re consequences for spells like this, Donna. Our souls, we—we aren’t getting into heaven.” His chin quivered. “We’re going straight to her. The one I’ve been desperate to avoid all my life.”
Mom’s face was crestfallen. “Then we’ll find another way. I won’t let her sink her claws into you. Into me. You’ve gotten so far, Jake. You’ve left it all behind. I can’t ask you—I can’t!”
Overhead the lights flickered and Jessica felt panic rising in her chest. Above them was the sound of a rush of footsteps.
“They’re here,” Dad gritted his teeth as he grabbed Mom’s arms. “There’s no time to argue. Barricade the door. We have work to do.”
Mom grabbed a dagger off the desk and then pulled Dad in for one final kiss. Her face was full of longing, pain and she clung to him like she’d never see him again. Jessica realized she wouldn’t and Mom knew it. Willingly she gave it all up.
&nb
sp; “What are you doing? Donna!” Dad screamed as Mom ran for the door.
“Buying you time. Hurry!” Mom opened the den door and slipped outside, locking it behind her.
With a longing glance he stared after her, his body leaning forward as if he would dash after her, but he must have realized he couldn’t. If he wanted to save his kids, he just couldn’t.
Dad grabbed another knife from his desk drawer and sliced his hand, squeezing blood into a bowl he kept on the corner. His eyes cast down to the framed photo of young Jessica and Amanda, tears filling his eyes. “I’m sorry, girls. You deserved an old man better than me. That bitch Lourdes will never get her claws sunk into you. I swear my life on it.”
“Dad,” Jessica whispered, a sob rising in her throat. She hadn’t felt the pain of her parent’s murder so intensely in a long time. It made her want to gut Lourdes. To think of what he had sacrificed himself for them. And now, still trapped in the underworld he was being tortured?
Jessica couldn’t stomach that. She just couldn’t! They gave their lives that night, on purpose, so Jessica and Amanda would live? But they couldn’t have known what would follow, the foster homes, the abuse? How the demons would follow them everywhere? But if their movements were supposed to be hidden from demons, how did they follow them all the time?
Jessica watched Dad chant and raise the bowl up in the air, which brought a crackle of thunder. Outside in the foyer, Mom screamed and Jessica realized this was it. She was impaled, killed, with her own dagger. She didn’t live long enough for the ritual to take place. Only Dad had, which maybe meant the spell only had half potency?
Maybe it was only Dad who was trapped in the underworld and not Mom? Did that make any of it better?
Lightning crash through the window and struck Dad. His body lit up bright as an x-ray and his body fell as the den door burst open. Demons descended upon his location and Jessica was ripped out of there and straight back into her body. She had more information than she knew what to do with.
