Whispers in the Woods (Firemountain Chronicles Book 1)

by Victoria Lynn Osborne

  “What do you mean?” Jake said, flipping open the file and scanning the contents as he rifled through the paperwork.

  “Esmae Lostean. She has a history of fraud, counterfeiting, racketeering, extortion. She even has an assault charge or two. Her last conviction was possession with intent to distribute.”

  Jake slowly laid the file on the desk. “Ah, well, she had a knife to her throat, but no, I didn’t see her get killed.”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me if she set you up. However, you ran when you realized you were outnumbered. She probably thought you’d stay to help her. Either way, I think this new drug, Melody, was introduced by her.”

  “Caedon wrote in his journal that a woman named Esmae worked at the Chehalis quarry, and appeared to be a major figure in the Gleebelix cult,” Dinah said.

  Dobrowski interrupted. “Our investigation revealed as much. I don’t like it, Jake. We don’t have any proof that she set you up, but we’ll continue to investigate.”

  Jake heaved his bag. “I brought iron ammo, iron blades, and several vials of holy water, which you just have to throw at the demons.”

  Laya blanched. “Iron will destroy the handguns.”

  Jake nodded. “It’ll be effective against what we hunt. So, how many volunteers do we have?”

  “Five,” Laya replied. “Mahogny and Declan, who are partners, Janelle and Farrleigh, who are also partners, and Felix is the fifth volunteer. I’m assigning him to you.”

  “We’d better get ready then,” Jake said, opening his bag.

  Jake and Dinah followed Laya out into the squad room, where the five deputies stood at attention. Felix was wearing a gold crucifix necklace in addition to his usual tie tack. The other deputies wore standard issue uniforms, and they huddled together in a group, whispering and casting nervous glances at Jake and Dinah.

  “This is Jake Willis and Dinah Steele. They’ll be joining you on your hunt tonight,” Laya said. “I’d listen to Jake, he knows more about what we're hunting than anyone.”

  Jake took her cue and stepped up. “A portal in an unknown location is releasing demons into Firemountain again. We need to hunt down as many as we can tonight. They’re getting bolder and more people are dying. Additionally, we still have an escaped mental patient from the Futhark Institute. You need to get new sidearms from the sheriff because we’re going to use iron ammo. Also, if any of you have articles of faith, bring them. You never know when you’ll need them.”

  They filled out paperwork for temporary firearms.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Laya said as she handed her deputies their temporary guns.

  “So do I," Jake replied with a twinkle in his eye.

  As he handed out boxes of iron ammo and vials of holy water, Felix touched the holy water with reverence and carefully stored it in his own bag. “Felix, Dinah, and I will take downtown and Grove Stand Park. Mahogny and Declan will take the University and The Spot. Janelle and Farrleigh will take Founders Row and Medical Road. Be careful, what’s out there won't stop for you. You’ll have to kill it, and, if we're lucky, we'll find the portal and close it tonight.” Yeah right, he thought to himself.

  “If you have crosses, be sure you take them with you, and may God have mercy on our souls,” Jake added as they left the squad room. He glanced over his shoulder as the door swung shut behind him. Laya stared at the closing door, her face unreadable.

  Dinah rode in the back of the Mercedes as they drove to Grove Stand Park. “We’ve seen demon attacks in the park before,” Jake said to Felix.

  The park was unnaturally quiet when Felixthe three of them slunk into its leafy depths. The moon hung overhead, giving a silvery light to the paths as they made their way to the stones. They stood back to back in the center of the circle, surveying the landscape.

  “There’s nothing here,” Jake whispered.

  “It’s early, let’s move to the bushes,” Dinah whispered back.

  They were almost to the bushes when a growl behind them stopped them short. Turning slowly, they came face to face with four of the wolf-things that had chased Dinah down the street. The wolves were six feet tall at the shoulder, with hide made of iron bristles. Saliva dripped from gaping maws, and the ground sizzled wherever it landed. Every breath was a noxious green cloud smelling of rotting meat and sulfur. Sliding silently out of the trees, several robed and hooded figures formed a half-circle behind the wolves, chanting as they took their stations.

  Crap, Jake thought as he aimed his gun at the wolves. Felix and Dinah both dove out of the way as the things leaped upon them.

  “Per invocaacionem domini nostri Iesu Christi,” the robed figures chanted. A scarlet aura surrounded the chanters and gave strength to the demonic wolves that stalked them. The wolves grew massive as they circled around the trio, snarling in otherworldly growls.

  Jakes fired his pistol, and the muzzle flashed brightly in the dim moonlight. A bullet tore through one of the wolf-things. The iron hide was not covered with fur, but armor, and it gleamed cruelly in the moonlight. The wolf was thrown back, and black blood oozed out of its hide.

  “Imperatoris et agni inmaculatie, quod inde arguant te angelie et archangeli,” the figures continued their chanting.

  When Dinah and Felix fired their weapons, Dinah aimed for a cultist and hit one of them, and he collapsed as blood soaked his robes. Felix fired at the wolves, his bullets doing more damage, and they flew back in pieces, disappearing into smoke. As he fought, Jake wondered what was happening. Why did his bullets barely make a scratch, when Felix’s bullets tore massive holes through the wolves’ heads?

  “Deficiant ergo artes tue de die in hora et in mense et moneto.” The wolves that were not dead began to heal, their wounds closing. Jake continued to fire at them.

  As one of the things leaped on Dinah, she screamed and collapsed under its bulk. She brought up her cross and forced it off her. It yelped in pain, and a cross-shaped burn formed on its iron flesh.

  Felix fired at the thing, and its head blew apart and it collapsed.

  Dinah struggled out from under it.

  The chanting stopped when a cultist closed in and shot at Dinah. Jake fired a round into the man and he flew back, slamming into a stone and collapsing in the grass. Felix targeted another of the creatures and fired, and its chest was blown apart; black ichor dripped sizzling into the smoking grass.

  There was only one left now, the one Jake had wounded earlier, and it had backed off, circling them, fully healed. The cultists continued to fire their guns, as Jake and Dinah shot back, diving behind rocks. Two more of them fell while Felix finished off the last creature when it leaped on him; a bullet caught it mid-chest. Its shattered body was flung across the circle and slammed into one of the stones. The remains oozed down the stones, making a black smear and scarring the stones with its blood.

  The cultists fired again. A bullet grazed Jake’s left arm. He returned fire as blood trickled down his arm. Felix and Dinah fired twice each, and the remaining cultists fell.

  Dinah, white-faced, slumped to the grass, and Felix scurried to her side, his lips moving in a silent prayer. Jake grabbed a cloth and was binding his arm when, from behind him, a roar split the night. The three of them turned to face the newest threat.

  It rose from the bushes and towered over them like a black wall of hell. Jake looked up, craning his neck as he strained to see what it was. Its twisted horns thrust into the night sky, and its disproportionately small bat wings flared out, while its arms ended in three massive claws. The porcine face contorted in rage, and it roared and pounced for an attack.

  Chapter 7

  When Dinah woke in her room in Jake’s mansion, her head throbbed, and she reached up and rubbed her temples. She was disoriented; the light was all wrong. Then she noticed Jake lounging in a chair by the window.

  “Good to see you back among the living,” Jake said, looking up from Caedon’s journal.

  “What happened?” She rubbed her head where it
hurt the most.

  “Well, whatever it was that attacked us knocked you against the stones in the first round. Felix and I continued to fire at it. At first our bullets didn't do anything. When Felix grabbed a vial of holy water and heaved it at the thing, it hit the creature in the chest, and, with a flash of bright light, it screamed and vanished.”

  Dinah replied, “That makes sense. I remember that his bullets seemed to flash silver when he fired. I wonder what it means.”

  Jake grinned and stood up. “I don't know, but if you’re up to it, I think we should visit Crenellian University to get the analysis of the residue, and then we should go to the Chehalis quarry. I think I want to talk to Father Conrad about this book. He might know what the writing is and be able to read it. If my calculations are correct, tomorrow night is when the gate will open, and we need to know where it will happen.”

  Dinah’s head throbbed as she moved. “I’m going to have a massive headache, but I think I can make it. Why didn’t I go to the hospital?”

  Jake shrugged. “Because I figured we could take care of you here. You didn’t have any major injuries, so I brought you home. Dr. Olson came by to check on you, but didn’t think you needed to go to the hospital either. He told me to make sure you took it easy for the next couple of days.”

  “And that means running around western Washington looking for a portal to a demonic dimension.”

  “Well, it’s easier on you than being eaten by demons.”

  “I suppose you have a point there.” Dinah started to pull back the covers of the bed. “Do you mind? I’d like to get dressed.”

  A short time later they were in the Mercedes driving to the Crenellian University science lab. Jake pulled into a reserved parking space next to the science building and jumped out of the car.

  “Isn’t this spot reserved?” Dinah asked.

  Jake smiled at her and ambled into the building. They wove through the halls until they arrived at the occult chemistry lab. “Sounds better than alchemy,” he said, opening the door for her.

  A lab assistant straightened from bending over a microscope. Her flaming locks of auburn hair were pulled back in a neat ponytail. Her skin was like ivory, and her emerald green eyes missed nothing. She wore a white lab coat with ‘Jolene Warden’ printed on the name badge.

  “What can I do for you?” she asked, coming around the lab tables. “This area is off limits to the general public.”

  “My name is Jake Willis. I turned in a couple of residue samples a couple of days ago. I was hoping you would have the results.”

  “The new Willis. Pleased to meet you,” Jolene said, her voice soft like summer rain. She rummaged through a pile of papers, then opened a folder and looked at a printout. “It says that both samples had a sulfur base, but you already knew that. They also had an unstable matrix, and a sound component.” She furrowed her eyebrows. “When it was run through the planar scope, it resonated from a frequency. It is unusual for a sample to make sounds when it decays. I guess that is why the demonologists in the mystic department stated the residue was from Occipitone.”

  “Occipitone?” Dinah asked.

  “Yeah, the report states that it’s a sound dimension in the Abyss. A lot of auditory hallucinations come from sound planes. This does explain the increase in difficulty with the mentally ill patients.”

  “Do you mind if I photograph the samples?” Dinah asked.

  Jolene glanced at Jake. “I don’t see why not.” She pulled out two vials. The residue was still intact. Dinah snapped a couple of pictures, and Jolene put them back in the locked cabinet.

  “This is really bad, Mr. Willis,” Jolene said. “Something is coming, and, from the written descriptions, the attacks are getting more ferocious. This usually means that a way is being prepared. It also means that whoever is behind the summoning is trying to distract the authorities with attacks.”

  Jake said, “We know. Dinah and I found the reference. If we can’t find the portal site tonight, we won’t be able to stop it. I was hoping for more information.”

  Jolene finished reading the report. “The demonologists suggest starting at the beginning, if that helps.” She snapped the folder shut.

  Dinah and Jake thanked Jolene and headed back to the car. “Let’s go talk to Father Conrad, and then we head out to Chehalis,” Jake suggested.

  Dinah popped a couple of Tylenol. Her head still throbbed, so she dry-swallowed them as they drove to the church.

  Father Pervis greeted them at the door, his hair in disarray, and he fidgeted with his pectoral cross. “He's been expecting you,” he said, ushering them into the foyer and marching them up the stairs to the rectory.

  Dinah and Jake headed up the stairs. They gently rapped on Father Conrad's door. Sister Agnes opened the door and let them in. With one final stern look, she glided out of the room.

  Father Conrad struggled to sit up. His eyes sparkled when he saw them. “So, do you have anything new for me?”

  Jake pulled out the book from his bag. “Dinah found this in the Red Dawn Temple library.”

  Father Conrad reached for the tome. His eyes widened, and his breath came in shorter gasps. “Do you know what this is?”

  Dinah and Jake shook their heads.

  “This is a firsthand account of the first angel war.”

  “That would be the one fought between angels and demons, before Lucifer rebelled, before there were humans.”

  Father Conrad read. “Yes, there were several angel commanders, and one of them made his way to the Occipitone plane in the Abyss. This is written in angel script. I studied this at the Vatican. There are very few surviving examples of it. This one was written by a principality named Nisroc. He witnessed a ferocious battle between cherubim Sandalphon, and the demon lord Gleebelix. This battle raged for one hundred nights. When finally Sandalphon’s angelic greatsword struck the demon’s black heart, the demon exploded into the night and a million stars, taking the angelic prince with him. The sword flared bright and remained suspended in mid-air. The rest of Sandalphon’s army built a shrine around the sword since none could touch it. They inscribed on the tomb the words, ‘Here this symbol shall remain until one worthy of its power returns for it’.”

  “Does that mean that the only weapon available to us is in the Abyss?” Dinah asked. “But how are we supposed to get there?”

  “Well, do you know when the gate is supposed to open and herald the arrival of Gleebelix?”

  “According to Caedon’s notes, the stars will be right tomorrow,” Jake said, taking out the notes that they had found in the library.

  Father Conrad studied them for a moment. His forehead crinkled as he read the paper. “Things are worse than I’d feared. I don’t know what to tell you. The biggest thing you need to have in the upcoming battle is a true believer. I doubt if that sword, even if you do find it, will be released unless it is touched by a true believer.”

  “We figured as much,” Dinah said. “I know that I can’t do it, and Jake feels the same.”

  Father Conrad leaned back in bed and closed his eyes. “You need to have faith. I believe that God will send you a savior. Someone that truly believes in the death and resurrection.”

  “Faith is easy for you to speak of, Father,” Dinah said. “However, faith isn’t so easy for me. I’ve seen too much to really believe in it anymore.”

  Father Conrad’s gaze pierced her to the soul. “You can’t believe in one without believing in the other. You have fought demons and have seen the horrible side of the world. Though God has given us a path to freedom, all of his soldiers are still there. You need to look for them. I don’t believe that God would show you this book if he didn’t mean for you to use it.”

  “Thank you, Father,” Jake said. “We need to find the portal and retrieve the sword. At least we have an option where there was none before. If you are right, then a true believer will make his presence known.”

  Father Conrad smiled. “In nomine Patris, et Filii, et
Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Go with God, and may the blessing of the Lord fill you with peace.” He leaned back into his pillows, his face peaceful in the early afternoon sunlight. Outside the bells rang terce, though they sounded distant and faint to Dinah.

  They made their way back downstairs, to where Father Pervis waited for them on the landing. “This is for you.” He pressed a rosary into Dinah's hand. “This rosary was created in 1413 in France. The decades are those from the Middle Ages, and the crucifix on it is over 500 years old. I hope this aids you on your quest. This is a prayer book with the prayers in Latin. Though I can't say I always agree with Father Conrad, there are some things that even I can't argue with.”

  Dinah thanked him and closed her fist over the ancient string of beads. She slipped it into her pocket, feeling a sense of peace as she did so. Her special sight revealed nothing strange about the beads, but their age and history made her feel better.

  The drive to Chehalis was uneventful. The forests on either side of the road pressed in on the highway, their secrets obscured by the tangle of trees. The woods seemed more malevolent and alive than before. Dinah shuddered in the June sunshine. A thin veil of clouds started to cover the sky.

  After the perfection of Firemountain, Chehalis was a dreary-looking town. It clung to the I-5 corridor, a remnant of a torn-down nuclear plant. The buildings were gray and tired, sagging in their foundations—a testament to Washington's heavy rains. They found the quarry with little difficulty. Yellow police tape crisscrossed the gate.

  Dinah and Jake ducked under the tape and jogged to the office. The door was locked, but it hung loosely on its hinges. With little effort, Jake forced it open and they stepped inside. It was a dusty room with dark red stains spread across the concrete floor. They searched the desks and cabinets, and Dinah snapped several pictures as they ransacked the office.

  “What’s this?” Dinah asked, holding up a pile of financial statements.