by Terri Grimes
During the course of our conversation, the demon’s features had changed. What was once a nondescript face, was now—I hated to even believe what I was seeing—a goat’s head. It was just as Timmy had described and was a perfect match to the drawings in the book. Sharp, pointy teeth protruded out of the hair covered snout. The two hair covered nubs that had popped out of his forehead earlier were now full blown horns, so long they curled inward at the ends. I shuddered in disgust as his beady red eyes locked with mine.
“Stay with me,” Orcas pleaded again. “Find the darkness within you, Gertie, my pet and stay with me. Be my princess of the third level.”
“I don’t have darkness in me, you vile freak and I wouldn’t be your princess of any level.”
“My dear,” he crooned. “Everyone has darkness in them. Some hide it better than others. Close your eyes and search your soul and you will find it.” He wriggled what was once an eyebrow, causing his left horn to quiver in an unusual, fascinating way. I found it difficult to tear my gaze away from it.
“Bullshit,” I spat, forcing myself to look away from the horns. For whatever reason, they made me nervous. I rested my hands on my hips. “I’m not like you. I’m a good person.”
“Really? Bullshit, you say?” His voice was smooth as butter. “Think back to high school gym class. Remember how Mary Ellen Protrowski teased you when you tried to walk the balance beam?”
I fought against the wave of embarrassment as I thought back to that day several years earlier. Emotions rose in the back of my throat like thick putrid yellow bile. With each step I had made on the beam, Mary Ellen made a slobbery fart noise with her mouth. Then she would break out into gales of laughter. Before I’d reached the center of the beam, the rest of girls in the gym had joined in with Mary Ellen, all of them laughing at me, including the gym teacher, Mrs. Donahue. My arms and legs had shook as I struggled to finish walking the balance beam. Two steps before reaching the end, I slipped and fell, causing them to laugh even harder even though I had a gash in my leg that required twelve stitches. My face burned with anger as I remembered the humiliation I had suffered that day.
A chuckle resonated through the dankness of the pit, forcing me back to the present.
“Ah, you are finding your darkness, my pet. How wonderful,” the demon said in a low tone, far too close to my ear. “You see, I told you it was there. All you had to do was find it.”
As he spoke, gooseflesh peppered every inch of my skin and the tiny hairs on the back of my neck electrified. I had to come up with a plan and I had to come up with it fast. I didn’t know what length of time a living, breathing mortal could last in the pits of a lower realm almost close enough to feel the fiery flames of hell, but I’d guess it wouldn’t be long. I had to find a way to get out of this realm while at the same time leaving the demon here. But how? What had my grandmother done when she faced down this demon? Whatever she had done worked since she lived to a ripe old age and, to my knowledge, the demon had been trapped on a lower realm that entire time. She didn’t get stuck in the lower realms with a third level demon. As I tried to wrap my mind around my situation, the demon spoke again.
“My precious, would you like me to show you your new home?” Orcas grinned wide. Gone were the brilliant white Brad Pitt teeth he had sported previously. They were replaced with sharp, pointy, rancid green and yellow teeth, their horrid landscape broken by the occasional black moldy spot. I found it strange that they seemed to compliment the goat like features he had now morphed into.
I wrinkled my nose as the stench of his breath wafted by in a thick unpleasant fog. The seriousness of the situation had long since sunk in. This was no game. I was in Hell with a demon and the odds of getting out alive were looking pretty slim.
Why Grandma? Why didn’t you teach me your craft when you had time, before it was too late? I silently beseeched her. What would Grandma do if she were in my position?
An idea exploded in my mind. It might work. There were no other options. I had to give it a try. What was it Grandma had said the last time I saw her in the bathroom?
The love is in your heart, use it. Your loving heart will set you free. Don’t be tardy for the party, my girl. Love will save you.
I had no idea what Grandma had meant at the time. I thought it was just the ramblings of an old lady, a year in the grave. It was all clear to me now. Crystal clear.
I clasped my hands together in prayer.
“Dear God, hear my plea,” I said, my voice timid.
Orcas laughed. “Your God can’t help you here, my pet. I’m your god down here, haven’t you figured that out yet?”
My legs shook so bad, I was afraid they wouldn’t support me. I closed my eyes and tried to summon all the courage I could muster. I could hear my grandmother’s words as she spoke to me in the bathroom that first night. “You come from strong stock,” she had said.
I said a quick, silent prayer before giving myself an internal pep talk. I could do this. I knew I could. It had to work.
“You going to stand there all night, sugar britches? Come on over here, baby. Let’s get this party started.”
The demon was right. It was time to get this party started. I smiled. I had my plan. It was time. I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. “By the light of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, I renounce you, demon. I pray to my Holy Father that the empty dark void where your soul should reside, be filled with the light and love of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
The demon snarled, while a red, acrid foam bubbled from his twisted mouth. He howled in pain. “Shut up, bitch. There is no light. Revel in the darkness, my pet.” Gone was his silky tone. It was clear he was attempting to be smooth and suave, but it was coming out forced and painful.
I watched as the redness continued to bubble and spew from his lips. I was in a train wreck where I didn’t want to watch but couldn’t turn away,
“Lord Jesus,” I shouted, looking upward as I stood in the dark pit. “Have mercy on this misguided demon and show him your divine love, Heavenly Father.”
“No,” the demon shouted in response, his pain apparent. “There is no love, only darkness.” He howled in anger.
“Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name—”
Orcas screamed as he fell to the floor writing in pain. “Shut the fuck up, whore. The hell with your Father, my father will claim you both!”
I willed myself to feel love and compassion for this suffering creature. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Even in the lower realms of darkness,” I added, giving my own spin to the Lord’s prayer.
“Your Lord can’t help you here, whore of Babylon!”
Smoke filled the small cave. It appeared to be coming from the demon. The smell of sulfur, which had been overpowering before, was now diminishing, replaced by what the odor of burnt feathers. I didn’t know which scent was worse.
“Have mercy on this pitiful misguided demon, oh Lord and release him from the chains of hatred so he too can feel your loving, forgiving power, dear Lord Jesus Christ. Deliver us from evil, my wondrous God, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.”
The demon lay, weakened and whimpering on the floor of the cave. Gone were all semblances of human form. His body was that of a man goat, his features hideous. He lifted a hand to me, his expression pleading.
I had to finish what I had started. I couldn’t take pity on this spawn of Satan. Love would set me free. By filling this little corner of hell with love, it would set me free. Of that I firmly believed.
I continued, “I renounce this pit, Jesus and will you to fill it with your light and love. I give this demon to you, Oh Heavenly Father. Show this creature your love and forgiveness.”
The demon’s whimpers were replaced by angry, painful sounds.
My voice rose in pitch as I shouted over the frantic howls and screams of the demon. “Fill this demon with your infinite love and mercy, my Lord S
avior. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen,” I shouted. My limbs shook as I finished, my energy spent.
As I watched, the demon morphed into the form of the man he had appeared as when we first fell into the pit. I clutched my chest as I watched with expectation. Had my prayers worked?
The man opened his eyes. “Thank you, Gertie. You’ve driven the demon from my body.”
“You were human? I don’t understand.” I squatted on the cave floor next to the man as he rose to a sitting position. His eyes were filled with what appeared to be gratitude.
“The demon invaded my body, possessing me. I have been trapped for all these years with the demon controlling me. You have set me free.”
“Oh my gosh,” I exclaimed. “How long did the demon possess you?”
The man shrugged a shoulder. “A month, a year, a century— I don’t know. Time ceased to have meaning for me ages ago.”
“What’s your name?”
Confusion marred his features. I was filled with empathy for him.
“I don’t know what my name is. I can’t recall.”
“Do you remember anything? Did you have a family? Maybe you have loved ones looking for you?”
He flinched when I mentioned loved ones.
A hint of suspicion spread through me. If the demon was gone, shouldn’t we have been transported out of this realm? How were we going to get out of this pit? I licked my dry lips as I regarded the man. It was obvious he would be no help in getting us out of here; he didn’t even remember his own name.
His face shone with obvious hope as he spoke. “I have nowhere to go. If—when— we get out of where ever this place is—” He waved an arm at the expanse of cave. “—would you help me?”
“Help you?”
“Yes, help me,” he repeated. “Perhaps you would allow me to stay with you for a day or two?”
I stood, my eyes fixed on the man.
“Just for a short time of course,” he clarified. “Until I can find out who I was, or um… who I am.” His lips curved into a tentative smile. I fought the urge to step back as his vile breath assaulted me, almost hanging like a fog between us.
I returned his smile as I extended a hand, pulling him to a standing position. Our eyes were level as we stood next to each other in the damp, musty cave.
“Let me clarify. You want me to invite you into my home?”
“Yes,” he said with a hint of relief as his smile widened and his bad breath intensified.
“I see,” I said, reaching behind me. With a swift movement, I withdrew the backup Saint Ubaldus medal from my back pocket, brandishing it for an instant before plunging it into the man’s chest.
His screams filled the cave. “Why? How?” he screamed in pain.
I watched the man drop to the floor as the religious medal melted into his chest cavity like he was made of play dough.
“Easy,” I said without emotion as I stood over him. “I almost forgot one important aspect. Demons lie. I had a slight suspicion when you flinched at the mention of loved ones. But when you tried to get me to invite you into my home, I knew it was all a ruse. Any demon hunter worth their salt knows that once you invite a malevolent entity, demon or otherwise, into your life it is almost impossible to rid yourself of it. You’re forgetting, Orcas, I’m a demon hunter extraordinaire.”
I smiled down at the man as his eyes glowed red. His face was a mixture of pain and anger. The medallion still sticking in the center of his chest glowed with an unnatural otherworldly essence as the man—the demon’s—moans intensified. An overwhelming odor of rotting flesh mixed with sulfur and singed feathers filled the cave. It was a horrid stench and one I hoped to never experience again.
In the blink of an eye, the odor dissipated and there was silence, total silence. My soul was filled with a great peace, despite my current surroundings. I looked over at Orcas as he lay in the fetal position amid the dirt and debris on the ground. His face was filled with shock and surprise. His gaze fixed at a spot high above my head.
I lifted my face to look upward, wondering what held his attention so raptly. My heart caught in my chest at the beauty of it. Tears welled, blurring my vision. A brilliant bluish white light hung high in the pit. It expanded, filling the dank, barren space with incredible warmth. Love reverberated off the cave like walls so vehemently that the walls began to softly glow from within. How I knew it was love I didn’t know, but I had no doubt it was. The wetness pooling in the corners of my eyes turned into huge crocodile tears, which streamed down my face, soaking the front of my shirt. I was too in awe to care.
“Thank you, God,” I said in a hushed tone.
Even if I never made it out of this pit, the beauty and love my Lord was showing me made it all worth the journey. I looked down at the demon. Spots of light popped through his skin, like my front porch screen door when the summer sun hit it in the early afternoon.
“Peace be with you, demon,” I said, speaking from my heart.
With a sudden crackling pop, the demon exploded into shards of light. The points of light shot to the top of the pit only to fall like a hundred thousand fireflies to the dirt covered floor. They scattered around me as I stood in the center of the cave.
The medallion, which had been sticking out of the center of the demon’s chest, fell with a thud. Bending, I retrieved the magnetized medallion, shoving it back in my rear pocket as I relished the resonating love reverberating in the cave. I reveled at the beauty of it all, willing my brain to remember every second. That such beauty could be found in a lower realm in the pits of hell was beyond my hope or imagination. It gave me a promise at how much better Heaven would be.
I turned my tear stained face to the ceiling of the cave, where the skies should have been in my world. “Thank you, God.”
All I heard in answer was rocks cracking and pieces of earth falling as the cave began to break apart around me. This was the end, I knew, for the only place to go was down once this level shattered. I was okay with that. I had seen God’s power and I wasn’t afraid to die. My body might lie in the pits of hell for the rest of eternity, but my soul would soar in Heaven with the angels. I stood calmly, reverently and waited to meet my maker.
My last thought was of peace and acceptance as a big chunk of musty cave fell from the ceiling, hitting me firmly on the head.
Everything went silent and black.
Thirty One
“Gertie, wake up,” Sam’s voice pleaded. “Baby, can you hear me?”
Then I heard Timmy’s voice, its pitch high and frantic.
“I think I should call 911.”
“No. Give her a minute.”
Sam shook me by the shoulders as I lay there on the dusty wooden floor.
That’s when the realization hit me. I wasn’t in the pit of hell anymore. I was lying, prone, on a dirty wooden attic floor with one totally hot ghost hunter and a worried light-in-the-loafers BFF bent over me. I forced one eye open.
“Gertie,” Timmy squealed so loud, my ears started ringing.
I attempted to speak. “Oohhh…” was all I was able to get out.
“Sweetie, do we need to get you medical attention? Are you all right?” Sam brushed my hair away from my face.
I covered his hand with mine, pulling it close to my cheek. His fingers curved the contours of my face, caressing it. Just a simple gesture, but it felt so right.
I opened the other eye. “What happened?” I managed to squeak.
“You tell us. All I know is I’m sitting in the van getting my freak on with a cup of steaming hot chocolate I snagged from the kitchen after you two pulled that radio silence bit on me, when suddenly all the way outside I could hear Sam screaming your name.” Timmy’s voice lowered, “by the way you are out of hot
chocolate.”
“Forget the hot chocolate,” I snapped. “What happened while I was gone?”
“Gone?” Sam and Timmy’s voices were in stereo.
“You weren’t go
ne, Gertie. You were here the entire time. You just passed out, sweetie,” Sam said with the gentle, patient tone I had come to love.
“No I wasn’t. Orcas pulled me with him into hell. I was with a third level demon in the pits of hell.”
“Shhh,” Sam coaxed as he pressed a finger against my lips.
I pulled myself to a sitting position, wincing in pain as I did. “Oww,” I moaned, holding my head.
“Here’s some water,” Timmy said. I looked over to my right to see him handing me a bottle. “Drink a little water, you’ll feel better,” he insisted, uncapping the bottle.
I accepted the container from him and took a tentative sip.
“I will not be shushed,” I protested weakly as I handed the water bottle back to Timmy.
“Gertie, I have to side with Sam on this one,” Timmy said. “While I admit your form did flicker and waver a couple of times, you were here the whole time, kiddo. Maybe you were dreaming.”
“No,” I snapped. “I wasn’t dreaming. It was real.”
Timmy reached around Sam and patted me on the shoulder a couple of times as I sat on the cold hard floor.
“We wouldn’t lie to you, you know that. Trust us when we say you were laid out on the attic floor the entire time you were passed out.”
I shifted my focus from Sam to Timmy and back again. I rubbed the knot on my forehead with my fingertips. “Wait,” I said with excitement as it suddenly occurred to me. I pushed the hair back from my forehead to show them where I had been hit by the chunk of falling cave. “How do you explain this?” I asked pointing to the knot.
Both men moved in closer to take a better look.
I winced in pain and drew back as Sam grazed the lump with his fingertips. “You must have hit your head on something when you fell.”
“No I didn’t. A chunk of cave ceiling fell and knocked me out cold just after I obliterated Orcas.”
I could see pity in both of their faces and it pissed me off.
“You obliterated Orcas?” Timmy twittered.
