Jessica arrived on the crime scene and held Janie close to her. Her touch was so comforting. The second she bounced out of her car Jessica was wrapping Janie in a tight embrace. It felt for a moment that everything was going to be OK. It was so nice that she didn’t want it to end.
They got into Jessica’s SUV and began the short drive to Jessica’s house. Janie almost dozed off a few times on the trip over. She was just so tired after everything that happened. She felt so drained and like she was just about to pass out. She had not been sleeping well and she needed some good rest. She was hoping that at her sister’s she might finally be able to get some peace.
Janie’s phone began to ring. She looked at it for a second trying to figure out if she was mistaken, but an incoming call was there. She did not recognize the name or the number. Who would be calling her at one in the morning?
The caller ID said the name was Gail Woodyard. She ignored the call. It was too late for wrong numbers or telemarketers.
“Who the hell is calling at this hour?” Jessica said.
“I don’t recognize it. Must be a wrong number,” Janie replied.
It stopped for a moment. Janie relaxed.
The phone began to ring again. It was the same number and the same name. Who the hell was that? Why did they keep calling?
“What the hell?” Jessica said.
“I know… should I answer? Just to see who it is and tell them to stop calling?”
“Yeah, tell them all about your sucky night”
Janie answered the phone mid ring.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“Janie Brewer? Is this Janie Brewer?”
“Yes… who are you?”
“Thank God I’ve found you! My name is Gail Woodyard. I need to talk to you.”
“OK, it’s really not a good time. Do you know what time it is?”
“I apologize for the hour, but this is of grave urgency. I must speak with you.”
“Look, I don’t know you. I’ve just suffered a tragedy,” Janie said as the tears began to well up in her eyes.
“It’s going to get even worse if I don’t talk to you.”
“What? Are you threatening me?”
“What?” Jessica said. “Who the hell is threatening you?”
Janie held up her hand. She had this.
“No, I’m not threatening you. I know about what’s been going on.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You went to see him didn’t you? The Miracle Man?”
What? What had she said?
“How do you know about that?”
“I know everything. I know what they did to you. I know why you are being terrorized. We can stop this thing, but I need your help. Please, you must believe me.”
“Stop the car,” Janie said to her sister.
“What?”
“Just stop the car.”
Jessica pulled over to the side of the road.
“What are you talking about? How do you know all of this?” Janie asked.
She listened while Gail Woodyard told her the story about Kira Reid and what was going on. There was so much stuff that was unbelievable but she knew in her heart that it was true. She knew that this woman was going through the same thing.
“OK, let’s meet,” Janie said. She told Gail Woodyard to meet her at JR’s Donut Shop. It was open all night and was only a few blocks away. Gail was close by and she agreed to meet her in an hour.
“What the hell is going on? You are just going to meet some random person in the middle of the night at a coffee shop?” Jessica exploded. She had some valid points, but she was going to have to understand.
“I have something to tell you,” Janie began.
Jessica cast a strange look on her face, but she listened quietly as Janie told her the whole story.
“Oh, my God. There has to be a rational explanation for this. You are not crazy. You don’t hear voices. Voices did not tell you to kill Hal. He attacked you. It was plain to see. Did you not hear what the cops were saying?”
“I know it’s crazy. That’s why I didn’t tell you any of this weird stuff that’s been going on before now.”
“Janie, there has to be a rational explanation. And why would you ever be afraid to tell me anything? I am always here for you. I will always be here for you.”
“I don’t know. I just didn’t know where to begin.”
“It’s OK. You should always come to me with any problem, no matter how crazy it sounds. I will be there for you.”
Janie hugged her sister tightly. She had been wrong to keep this from her. It was so comforting to know that she would always have her.
“But how do you know this woman? She just called you out of the blue to tell you that she can help you. This is what sounds crazy,” Jessica said.
“She knew things. She is working with others who are going through the same thing. There were other women with me where I was held during that psychotic ritual. They are experiencing all of the same trauma and weird shit. There is no way she could have told me about any of that stuff otherwise.”
“Honey, she is just like The Miracle Man; she is a fraud. These charlatans have ways of tricking your mind. They are master manipulators of the sickest kind. You can’t believe this. You are my big sister and I know you have a stronger head on your shoulders than this.”
“Please. You say you want to help me and that I can come to you with anything. Please just come with me tonight. I’m not asking you to believe it, but I just want you there with me,” Janie said.
Jessica looked deeply into her eyes. Janie saw the love and the concern. She knew that her sister wanted to help her and that she wanted to protect her at all costs, and she wished there was a way to make her believe, but there was none. She would have to show her.
“OK, I’ll go with you,” Jessica said.
Chapter Four
“You have blood on your hands. You have killed an innocent man.”
Gail Woodyards voice was slow and steady. If she had not been surrounded by a group of women Janie would have been terrified. There was something off and crazy about the older woman, but she also seemed to make an impact with everything she said as if she were talking to you directly. It made you feel like you were important and included in everything.
Janie looked around the table at the other women she had just met. Kira and Emily were sisters, but did not look much alike. It reminded her of herself and Jessica; it had always surprised people to learn that they were sisters.
“I had to; it was self-defense.”
“It does not matter for the demon’s purpose. By taking another life you have just given the demon the permission it needs to take your child.”
“What? How? What was I supposed to do? I had to protect myself. Besides the voices were telling me what to do. I think Hal was possessed too. I saw this crazy red in his eyes—they were glowing bright red. There is no way he was himself.”
“I know, he was under the influence of the demon. He was not fully possessed, but he was enthralled. That is what we call someone who has been talked into a form of hypnosis with the demon pulling the strings. The person’s own free will is still there, so they are not fully possessed. But they are buried so far beneath themselves that they have almost no choice in the matter. Very few people have ever been able to beat it and refuse the influence.”
“Give me a break. This is all nonsense. I don’t know what your angle is lady, but my sister and I are leaving. Never contact us again,” Jessica said as she grabbed Janie’s arm in a strong grip. Janie refused to budge.
“You need to hear this. If you don’t help your sister then you are helping her and the baby both to die.”
“Give me a break! You can peddle your insanity someplace else,” Jessica said.
She started to jerk on Janie’s arm again. Janie refused to move.
“No, Jess. I came here to find out what is going on. These people can help me. You promised you would h
elp me too,” Janie said.
“But Janie—this is crazy. Are you listening to the insanity spewing forth from this lady’s mouth?”
“Sit down!” Janie said.
Jess belligerently sat back down and tried to tune the group out.
“How come the demon hasn’t made me try to kill anyone?” Kira asked.
“This is a different demon. Each demon has its own job and its own strengths and weaknesses. Some demons, depending on their level in the circle of hell have to incur human sacrifices. They get their power not just from someone’s mental energy, but by forcing innocent people to do horrible things. Usually that is murder. By committing this act the demon has proven to Satan and the other high ranking demons that it deserves to be here and it deserves that child.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Janie said. It made her feel stupid and weak to be used that way, like she was some sort of a pawn.
“You can’t blame yourself. This is not your fault. You are the one who was victimized. You are the one that is being destroyed here,” Gail said.
Her words made Janie feel a little bit better.
“So what is the plan?” Janie asked.
“There is still one more girl we have to find. I only hope it is not too late. The spell upon you three was cast using your energies together; to unbind the spell we have to use your energies together again. The fact that you specific three were chosen was not random.”
Gail took a sip of her coffee before she spoke again.
“This has been planned for a long time…”
The End
Part 3
About the Book
The Finale has begun!
Blair James is a pretty twenty-three year old woman living in Phoenix, Arizona. She is very mild mannered, laid back, has a great job working from home, and has an all round nice life. But she has always suffered in the romance department. Starting with her high school boyfriend she has suffered abusive relationship after abusive relationship. So much so that she has pretty much called it quits with men altogether.
For the most part Blair is happy, but there is one thing missing in her life; a child. She has always wanted a family and to be a great mother. While she has struggled with men her whole life she knows that she will be a great mother. But when she goes to her doctor to explore her options she is told that she is unable to have children.
While watching late night television she is lured into the world of The Miracle Man’s Crusades, plus the fact that he is coming to her town soon. Blair decides not to miss this opportunity. Yet she will regret it forever more.
Blair is one of the chosen three women to give birth to the three men who will bring about Armageddon.
Meanwhile the other two women, Jessica and Kira, who have already been terrorized by demonic forces who want to possess their unborn babies in order to bring Satan’s plan to completion are trying to track Blair down. With the help of Clairvoyant Gail Woodyard, will they get to her in time? Or will it be too late?
Will Blair be the deciding factor in the ultimate fight of good vs evil?
Chapter One
Blair James leaned back from the toilet and sat down on the cold linoleum floor, her head resting against the wall. The pains in her stomach were starting to subside just a little bit, but the spasms that rocked up and down her spine were still there, like being given twenty shots in a row in the same place before moving to the spot right beside it.
She had just vomited for the sixth time that morning and now they were amounting to little more than dry heaves since she had emptied all of the contents of her stomach. The vomiting was supposed to start getting better according to her doctor, but it had only gotten worse. It started every morning and lasted until dark. Then she finally started to feel a little bit of relief and she had even been able to eat a bit at dinner without feeling nauseous, but she didn’t dare try to keep anything down before then.
This pregnancy is going to kill me, she thought as she tried to relax a moment and enjoy just a few moments of peace and rest. She wondered how long it would be before the next round of vomiting fits would start up. It always seemed to happen in starts and stops. She would be OK for a while and then she would be vomiting almost nonstop for a bit. She wished it would go away. She wasn’t sure she could stand four more months of this before the baby came.
Blair thought about standing up and walking around. Sometimes that helped the nausea, like she remembered from her hard partying hangover days. But other times it just sent her running to the toilet again and sometimes she didn’t make it in time. She wanted to just relax and sleep for a few days, but she knew that was a fantasy. That was not going to happen anytime soon.
It seemed as if the waves of nausea were over for the time being—it was getting near sundown—so Blair forced her feet to push under her and rise to her standing position. She looked hard at herself in the mirror and was taken aback by the ghastly image that was reflecting back at her. She looked forty-five; not twenty-three.
The pregnancy had been the kiss of death but she was excited for the baby to arrive all the same. Ever since she was a little girl she had wanted a child. She had always assumed that one day she would have the perfect family with kids, a husband, and the white picket fence. Reality had a different idea in mind for her.
Blair had discovered early on that she had a horrible track record with men. For some reason she found herself chasing after the bad boys, who hid how bad they really were. Her high school boyfriend had been the captain of the football team and he had been very jealous and controlling. On occasion he was even violent. This was when she had drawn the line and tried to get out of the relationship. He began to stalk her and harass her at every opportunity until the school board and the police got involved. He was kicked out of school and he even lost his football scholarship. Last she’d heard he had begun selling drugs and been arrested during a drug bust. He was serving a lengthy prison sentence now.
This experience had scared Blair away from men for a while, but during her first year at college she had become romantically involved with a graduate student. Despite the seven year age difference the two became inseparable. His name was Joe Pilson and the two of them had everything in common. Looking back now she could see just how utterly impossible it was to have that much in common with anyone who wasn’t trying to scam you.
Joe said all the right things, he made all the right gestures, he was romantic and sweet at the right times, and strong at other times. He was the perfect man. That was the problem, she now realized—no one is that perfect.
She had eventually walked in on Joe cheating on her with another freshman student. He had not answered his phone all afternoon after telling her he was not feeling well and had to break their date that day. Blair became concerned when he didn’t respond and she decided to check in on him. So she swung by the store and picked up some soup.
She let herself in with the key he had given her and made her way to his bedroom. She felt like someone had punched her in the stomach; to see him moaning in the throes of passion with another woman. It was disgusting and shocking all at once, but the worst part was the way Joe acted about the whole thing.
She had gasped and he looked right up at her. He paused for a second and she was waiting to hear how he planned to explain this to her. Instead he just smiled at her and continued to screw that girl harder and more passionately. The girl didn’t know that Blair had walked in, but Joe had looked right into her eyes and he had thought it was hilarious. It was almost like he had been proud of it.
Blair had dated only sporadically since then. She refused to let herself get close to a man and she knew that it was silly to allow a few bad experiences to scar her for life and keep her from what could have been some very fruitful relationships, but she was just not ready to take down the walls.
She’d had a few short-term relationships that easily could have turned into long-term if she had not bailed on the guy and backed away. A few of those men
were really great guys and they had been devastated. Each time it happened, seeing the looks on their faces broke her heart a bit more, so she just decided it was not fair to any man to get involved with him and then break it off before things got too serious.
So she decided to be alone.
But she had still felt there was something missing in her life. She felt that even though she had graduated college with honors and had secured a great job that allowed her to work from home and set her own hours; it wasn’t enough. She had great family and friends in her life, but she wanted something more and she had a lot of love to give to someone. Blair still wanted a child. She still wanted that family, even if a dad was not going to be a part of the picture.
So she decided that artificial insemination was the answer for her. She did her research and she found a way to pay for it that didn’t require her to go into the poor house. She had been left a very nice check from a great aunt who passed away the year before from cancer. It seemed like a lot of things were coming together for her to make this happen.
But when she went to the doctor's appointment she was mortified. She was told that there was a very slim chance that she could become pregnant, even with artificial insemination. She had a condition called PCOS, which was Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. She learned that it was becoming more common nowadays and that there was not a lot to do to combat the thing, but that she might never be able to conceive a child.
She had driven home in tears. For days the tears had fallen and had not let up. She felt that there was nothing left for her and Blair had seriously thought about taking her own life. She was just full of so much pain and emptiness that to hear she could never have a child of her own was the final straw. She had considered adoption of course, but the more she looked into that she knew that it was very difficult for a young, unmarried woman who wasn’t rich or famous to adopt a child. Even under the best of circumstances adopting a child could take years. There was just no other option for her, she thought.
Thriller: Horror: Conceived (Mystery Suspense Thrillers) (Haunted Paranormal Short Story) Page 7
