by Justin Sloan
“You all stay here, get protected,” he said. “Nora and I have something to take care of.”
“Like hell,” Tess’s father said, his voice like rolling thunder over jagged mountains.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Nora said to Rohan. They walked over to the entrance to the kitchen. “What are you doing? We need their help, remember? To put down the demons?”
“I don’t think so,” Rohan said. “We need the books, whatever Tess has. Maybe her help.”
He sighed, knowing how crazy this was going to sound. But he was putting all the pieces in place and saw no other way.
“Out with it,” she said.
“We have to hunt down the demons, banish them if we can. “If it’s not within our power, we’re going to have to find a way to call upon the Lich King.”
“Is that even possible?” she asked.
Rohan shrugged. “You still have the Eye of Gilgamesh?”
She nodded. “I thought I’d lost it back there, in the water, but… it seemed to find its way back to me, like we were attached.”
“Good, I think,” he said, eyeing her quizzically. Then glanced over to see that Tess’s dad was watching. “When there aren’t eyes on us, let’s see what else it can do.”
They agreed and rejoined Tess and Beverly, and soon Tess’s mom, who introduced herself as Dorris, had them all sitting around a long, oak dining table and digging into a feast. There was pot roast, mashed potatoes, a platter of roast carrots, broccoli, and mugs of sparkling, homemade cider. Rohan ate the pot roast as if he was a ravenous animal, and didn’t care that Tess’s parents were eyeing him with interest.
“Gregory, would you pass him some more?” Dorris asked her husband.
Gregory frowned but did as he was asked.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” Rohan said, but eyed the platter greedily. He knew his manners, but he was famished.
“So… Rohan,” Gregory said, as he passed over more pot roast. “I supposed we should be thanking you for bringing our daughter home safely.”
“Believe me, she was as big a part of ensuring my safety as I was of hers.”
“Is that so?” Gregory shifted in his seat to see his daughter. “You been playing with that devil’s magic stuff again?”
“Exorcism is so not ‘devil’s magic,’ Dad,” she said. “If anything, I’ve seen it’s godlier than anything you’ve ever done.”
Gregory bit into his pot roast, eyes narrowed and staring at his daughter. A moment later he threw his fork onto his plate with a clatter, and then stood and left the table.
“I’m sorry about him,” Dorris said. “We’ve been listening to the radio, hearing about everything that’s happening, and well, he’s a little upset. Me personally, I don’t know if I believe it all. If we had a television to see what’s happening, that would be one thing, but the radio says the television waves are cut off anyway. One has to wonder whether it’s the ghosts doing it, or the government so as to keep us all from being too scared. If that’s so… it’s certainly not working.”
“We can assure you,” Rohan said, “it’s really happening. We had to put down more than one spirit or demon or whatever they are, and plan on putting down a whole lot more before this is all over.”
“You would all risk your lives for this? For us?”
“This is what you came for, right?” Gregory said, stepping back in with a thick stack of books. He placed them roughly on the table. Tess stood up and picked out a red, leather-bound book.
“This is the one. Thanks, Dad.”
Gregory looked at Rohan. “Take it, as long as you don’t take our Tess.”
“Gregory, can you just calm down?” Dorris said.
“They can stay the night, then they’re out of here,” he said, tossing the book onto the table in front of Rohan, before leaving.
Beverly touched Rohan’s arm. “I hate to say it, little brother, but maybe he’s right.”
Rohan was still wondering what had just happened, but eyed the book with interest. “How’s that?”
“You know. Tess, and me too, honestly. This isn’t our fight. We should stay here.”
“We could watch after them,” Dorris said, hopeful but doing her best not to appear pushy.
He shared a contemplative look with Nora, but then nodded. “Can we chat about it while we look through this book? Figure it out tonight?”
They agreed, and concluded dinner so that they could retire to the sitting room, while Dorris went upstairs to join her husband and sleep.
Rohan opened the book to images of hell, angels above it all, and various stories that seemed to read like fiction.
“So what exactly are we looking at?”
“This book in particular was one that I read when I was younger,” Tess said. “I always thought they were religious.”
Rohan flipped back to the title page and traced the raised words, “Death and Resurrection Through the Ages: A Study by James Fletcher.” Then he flipped through the pages, Nora looking over her shoulder.
“It talks about the resurrection of famous figures throughout history,” Tess said. “Jesus is in there, of course, but there was always another story that inspired me.”
She reached over, taking the book from Rohan. She flipped toward the back and then handed it back to him. The page she’d opened it to was titled, “The King of Death.”
“It’s about a king searching for immortality. He finds it, but not in the way he imagined.”
Rohan and Nora looked at each other.
“He ends up becoming the king of death, living forever—but it’s a pretty crappy gig,” Tess said. “I think it’s an incredible metaphor for life. You can ask for anything, and anything is possible, but you’re not always going to get it how you want it.”
“We know this story,” Rohan said.
“You do?” Tess asked. “This book is pretty rare. I found it at an old garage sale once. An estate sale. Back during my college days when I was super spiritual and thinking about going into a seminary. I really admired the author, James Fletcher, for writing something that most people would stay away from.”
“I don’t mean in the sense of this book,” Nora said, scrunching her face in embarrassment. “The king of death you mentioned. We know him.”
Tess went pale.
“It’s the Lich King,” Rohan said, scanning the story. It read exactly as Tess described it, but nowhere did the names Gilgamesh or the Lich King appear.” He laughed to himself as he had a realization. “This book had to have been written by a necromancer.”
“So what do we do with this information?” Nora asked.
“We need a way to summon the Lich King,” Rohan said. “It’s our only chance.”
“We can’t exactly call him by phone,” Nora said.
Tess flipped to the back of the book where a pristine, yet old, envelope was tucked between the pages. It had a return address, with the name—James Fletcher.
“He might be able to help,” Tess said. “I thought it was a coincidence that this envelope was left in here. But maybe now I’m starting to think it was fate.”
“Holy cow,” Rohan said. He felt like he could hug her, but thought better of it with Nora standing right there. Instead he just smiled and said, “You’re a life saver.”
She beamed. “It was just a silly whim, when I was younger. Um, don’t read the letter.”
“What?” Nora frowned. “Why?”
“I kinda had a ‘younger me’ crush on him,” Tess said, blushing. “There, now the whole world knows.”
Rohan laughed and handed over the letter, but kept the envelope.
“I just spared you eons of embarrassment,” Rohan said, laughing. “Let’s get some sleep. Nora and I will drive off to find Mr. Fletcher in the morning.”
Nora glanced at the address on the envelope and said “I recognize it. I think he’s still at this address. At least he was when I last saw him.”
“Wait,” Rohan said. “You know
him?”
Nora shrugged. “Told you he was a necromancer. I’ve done my research, after all.”
“Well, it’s decided, then,” Rohan said.
“You’re sure about this?” Beverly asked.
He nodded.
“In that case,” Tess stood and motioned for them to follow. “I’ll get you two set up in the guest room,” she said to Nora and Rohan. “But Beverly, I hope you don’t mind a girl’s night slumber party style in my room?”
Beverly laughed at that. “Only if we get to have a pillow fight like in the movies.”
“Enough,” Rohan said. “I don’t want to imagine my sister jumping around having a pillow fight. It’s… just a weird image.”
Beverly laughed and hit him in the shoulder, then pointed to Nora in a joking way and said, “You two behave.”
“Um, okay?” Nora clearly wasn’t sure if she was joking or not.
But when they’d settled into their room and Rohan lay down in bed and patted the spot next to him for her to join, she hesitated.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”
“I’m just… not sure we’re ready?”
“Do you honestly think I’m going to try anything in a pastor’s house, which also happens to be the house of a girl I went on a date with, which also happens to be a house where my sister’s sleeping?”
“No?” She smiled and curled up next to him, but her expression almost looked let down. He shook his head and closed his eyes, totally confused about all of this, but letting the strategies for fighting demons percolate in his mind.
Chapter 11: Soul Experiment
The drive out to Shenandoah National Park was quiet and dark. Rohan was already missing his sister, but trusted she’d be safer back at Tess’s place.
As he drove, Nora watched the rising sun as they drove into the national park gates, past an empty park ranger squad car and into a long, tree-lined street.
“Too bad we couldn’t linger here and just enjoy ourselves,” Nora said. “I hear it’s amazingly beautiful.”
“I imagine Tess came here all the time as a child.”
“Yeah,” Nora said. “I guess.”
He thought about Tess and Beverly. They’d decided to stay behind, and honestly, it was getting so dangerous that it was probably a good idea. He was glad they were safe now.
“Well, if we survive this thing, I’ll take you up on a date to come here,” Rohan said. “After all of this, we’re going to need some lovely sights to block all the craziness we’ve seen.”
“What’s the plan?” Nora asked.
“Not yet,” Rohan said.
The road became bumpier as they drove toward a picnic area. A deer bounded in front of them but Rohan flashed his lights at it and it jumped away. He followed a winding path through the forest and rolled the truck to a stop near a wooden pavilion.
He shut the ignition off. Then he grabbed the book and turned through some of the pages.
“Hello?” Nora asked.
“One moment,” he said. He stopped at the chapter about Gilgamesh. “Here we go.”
Nora folded her arms. “We’re wasting quite a bit of time, Rohan.”
“I have a theory,” Rohan said. “For our last few encounters with the demons, we found them, right?”
Nora nodded.
“What if, instead, we brought the fight to us?”
“Like, right now?” Nora asked.
“There’s only six of them, and from what I can tell, three are banished already.”
“And how do you suggest we summon them?” Nora asked. “What happens if we summon all of them at once? How are we going to survive that, Rohan?”
“They’re looking for necromancers,” Rohan said. “We’re the ones threatening their power. Once all of us are gone, it’s over for the world, right?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t answer the question.”
“The only way we win this is if we find Fletcher and summon the Lich King,” Rohan said. “You know that. Once we have our army, it’ll be a lot better if we have to fight two demons instead of three.”
“I don’t like any of this,” she said.
“If this little experiment doesn’t work, then sue me.”
He climbed out of the truck before Nora could respond.
He found a spot in the grass and he shut the book. Then he looked up at the skies and yelled. “Hey! I’m Rohan! I’m a necromancer, I’m here, and if you demons want me, come and get me!”
Nora looked around. “There aren’t exactly any demons here, hun. Do you think the screaming is going to work?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rohan said.
“What?”
“Did you just call me hun?”
“So what?”
“Since when did we graduate to terms of endearment? I didn’t think this was part of the progression.”
“You already kissed me, so I can call you whatever I want,” she said, shoving him.
Then, thunder sounded in the cloudless sky, and thunderclouds appeared out of nowhere, billowing across the treetops. The ground shook fiercely.
The clouds parted and another demon in a tattered cloak descended from the sky, its face full of crooked yellow teeth. It laughed.
“You’re making this too easy, Rohan.”
Rohan pointed his hands at the demon. Nora did the same, and they began to call all the neighboring spirits.
“You have summoned your death,” the demon said, brandishing a sickle.
The area brightened. Souls flew over the treetops and swirled around Rohan and Nora. Through the shimmering light, Rohan saw old Civil War uniforms. Together, they formed a long line and lashed the demon with it. The demon howled in pain. Then he swung his sickle, sending a blast of energy into Rohan and Nora, knocking them backward.
POW!
The demon struck him again, knocking him into a tree. He slid down. A soul swirled into his fingertips, and he aimed at the demon, but it was flying toward Nora.
A cracking sound hit the demon on the back.
A rock.
Nora stood in the distance, her arms still in mid-throw. Her eyes widened as the demon laughed hysterically.
Rohan grabbed a line of souls and lashed the demon again, striking several times, as if he were whipping it.
Nora took another line of souls and struck the demon on the other side, and they took turns trading blows. Smoke rose from the demon’s face.
“Foolish humans!” it yelled.
It grabbed Nora’s line of souls, ripped her into the air and then he struck Rohan with it.
Nora crashed into the grass. The world spun around Rohan as he rolled several times across the ground.
The demon seized on him. Its hot, fiery hands seized around his throat. It hissed as it brought its face closer to him.
“With your death to my name, I can rise to be the Chief Demon of the apocalypse,” it said.
“Hell suits you better,” Rohan said.
Nora ran at the demon but it reached out a hand and grabbed her too. It held both of them double-fisted in front of its face.
“I will relish your deaths.”
Rohan and Nora struggled.
Behind his back, Rohan held out a palm. A lone spirit surged into it.
Rohan saw something glint in Nora’s hands. She had a rosary. Tess’s rosary.
Nora began to utter a prayer.
Rohan swung the soul at the demon’s face. It connected, and it let go of him and Nora.
Rohan and Nora created two more lines of souls and they bound the demon with the spiritual ropes.
Nora continued her praying. The demon struggled against the ropes but Rohan and Nora pulled tighter and tighter. The souls moaned, a powerful reverberation through the trees that sent a chill through the air.
And then the demon crackled and erupted into flames, burning rapidly before vanishing into smoke.
Rohan and Nora let go of their ropes and the souls dissipated, fly
ing off rapidly into the night. The two collapsed into the grass.
Rohan put his arm around Nora. “Will you just trust me now?”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “You’re still crazy.”
“Okay,” Nora said. “Now we just have to do that two more times and then hell on Earth is over, right?”
Rohan laughed. “Yep. Though I’m gonna need a break after that.”
“We’re getting better,” Nora said. “He was tough, but we beat him.”
Rohan kissed her on the cheek and then helped her up.
“So the theory worked,” Rohan said as they walked back to the car. “What do you say we summon the next demon?”
“What?” Nora said. “Rohan, no. That’s a death wish.”
“So was this.”
“We need to find more necromancers to help us. That way, when we summon the next one, it’ll be a more than fair fight. Anyway, who’s first for a hot shower?”
They had just reached the sedan when a spotlight shone on them.
A pickup truck blocked the only path out of the clearing. Several men in flannel cutoff shirts were inside, watching.
They stepped outside and brandished hunting rifles.
A man with short brown hair stepped forward. He had a tattoo of a mountain range on one arm.
“Y’all just beat that thing?”
Rohan held up his hands. “Hey, buddy, we’re not your enemy.”
“I said, y’all just beat that thing?”
“Yeah, we did.”
The men cocked their rifles.
“I was thinking you’d say that,” the leader, said. “We was barbecuing nearby when we heard you screamin’ like a crazy man. We saw the whole thing.”
“Then you know we’re not the bad guys here,” Rohan said.
“You’re the one whose name the demons have been calling out. You done gone an’ pissed them off for some reason, and we can put a stop to all this crazy crap.”
“You think you know what’s going on,” Rohan said, standing now, realizing this wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d hoped. It was supposed to be the demons and ghosts that gave him a hard time, not some rednecks. “But trust me when I say you have no idea.”
