by Tim Miller
I stumbled back into my room and climbed onto the bed. As I did, I heard a man screaming, then silence. There was also no sign of the police officers, doctors or priests who had been helping me earlier. Maybe they really were bad, and The Doctor was just trying to help me. Anymore, I didn’t know what to believe. I closed my eyes to try and sleep again. Everything was so much easier when I wasn’t awake for it. They gave me some drugs earlier that helped me sleep. I wished I could have more of that. Thinking about this night only made me scared.
Through my closed eyelids I could see things as if they were a dream. I saw the police officer who shot me earlier. He was in the ER and I was talking to him, then he shot himself in the head. I didn’t remember that, but I was seeing it as plain as day. Then I saw one of the priests and the woman cop in the stairwell. I knew that guy officer was bad. He killed his mom for money. How horrible. My mom had been dead for years. I’d bring her back if I could. Maybe The Doctor could bring her back. This is why I had to listen to him. He was very strong. He was trying to help.
Chapter 30
Officer Sanders, 5:45 a.m.
After running up the stairs, I checked to make sure both priests were still behind me. I had no idea what just happened. Hospital staff and patients started coming out of nowhere, attacking me. One of them punched me in the side of the head. I’d tried to hit him with my baton, but it had no effect on him. So I shot him. Then others came and I had to shoot them too. They all acted as Amanda had earlier, but with even more violence.
Once at the fifth floor, I slowly pulled on the door handle. The creatures behind us were still a flight or two down, but their screams were plenty loud.
“Get behind me,” I said to both priests, as I pulled the door all the way open. It was pitch black and dead silent. My gun was aimed in front of me, as I scanned the hall from one side to the other. It was as if the whole floor was abandoned. We stepped inside and pulled the door shut. The screams behind us died down, as the door closed.
“Is anyone up here?” Father Harlan asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “It doesn’t look like it.”
“Why’d we come up here? Why not go down and get out of here?” Harlan asked.
“When I came in, those things were all over the lower floors. So I figured we’d buy some time up here.”
I walked along the corridor, to each room, clearing each individual room. After checking all of one side, there was still nothing.
“Maybe they all went downstairs,” Father Pierce said.
I checked the end of the hall toward the elevator.
“Officer,” Harlan said. “Look!” He pointed toward the top of the elevator. There one of the lights was on, highlighting the floors. The power was still off, so there was no way the elevator could be moving.
“What the hell?” Taking several steps back, I pointed at the elevator door as it slowly went up, lighting up at each floor.
2…3….4
It felt like an eternity between each floor. It was hard to keep my hands from trembling, as I waited for the elevator.
5
The elevator sounded with a ding as the doors slid open. My finger began to squeeze the trigger as the doors opened all the way. Standing there was a man in a police uniform, but something wasn’t right. Half of his head was missing. There was a small hole on the right side of his head, with blood caked around it. The left side of his face and head was completely missing.
“Roman?” I asked. I couldn’t read his name tag since it was also covered in blood.
“Yes, it’s me,” he replied, as he stumbled out of the elevator. He reached his hand out to me, but I stepped back. He stumbled toward the nurse’s station and leaned on the counter. I had no idea how he was even alive, or why the elevator was working.
“What happened to you?” I asked.
“The girl, Amanda. She has a demon with her. A very powerful one. He did this to me.”
“Not to sound insensitive, but how are you still alive?”
“I don’t know. Somehow it made me hold my gun to my head and shoot myself. Next thing I knew, I was on the elevator headed up here. But the demon is inside me, I can feel him.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“He’s in control here. The demon. There are thousands of them in the hospital, they control everything and everyone. They said that’s why I’m not dead, and they won’t release me until they’re ready.”
“Ready for what? Why aren’t the rest of us possessed?”
“Because you’re with the priests. They hate the priests. They’re trying to kill them.”
“What do they want?” Roman sounded strange. It was his voice, but he sounded distant, almost like an echo. I wondered how much of him it actually was.
“They want to destroy,” he said.
“Destroy what?” Nothing he said was making any sense. From behind me, Father Harlan spoke up.
“Everything,” Harlan said. “They want to destroy everything, and everyone.”
“Why?” I asked.
“It’s just what they do. Why do bees sting? Why do lions attack? Demons are destructive beings. They are usually harmless because they are limited in the spiritual realm. Since they’ve had an opening into our world, they can wreak all sorts of havoc.”
I turned to look back at Roman, who had his gun out, pointing it at me.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“It’s not me. It’s them. I can’t do anything they don’t allow. I’m sorry.” I dived to the ground, just as he pulled the trigger. Fortunately Father Harlan was standing off to the side. He jumped back as I hit the ground. The shot exploded through the silence, sounding like a cannon as it went off. I drew my weapon and fired at Roman’s legs, striking his kneecaps. He toppled over, losing his gun as he fell. I fired two more rounds into each of his legs as he lay there looking at me.
“They’ll still kill you,” he said. He rolled onto his stomach and began to crawl toward his gun. I walked over and picked it up. Using his gun, I shot each of his arms several times until he was lying there motionless. “You bitch!” he screamed. “You know what you’ve done? They have no use for me now! They’ll just let me die!”
“Good,” I said, as I handed Father Harlan the other gun. I knelt down and took the extra magazines off Roman’s belt and put them in my pocket.
“I’m gonna cut your tits off you bitch!” Roman screamed. It was his voice, but I knew it was no longer him. It was the demons talking for him. By disabling his body, I at least made him useless to them. He was already dead.
Chapter 31
Father Harlan, 6:15 a.m.
I stood silently, as Officer Sanders shot the walking corpse several times. The corpse was once Officer Peter Roman. Now it was just some walking carcass being desecrated by the demons. It had been over an hour since I’d prayed, or even attempted another exorcism. In all my years of ministry, I’d never seen anything like this. It was as if God had left the hospital entirely.
“Any ideas, Father?” Sanders asked, as she holstered her weapon.
“I’m all out of ideas I’m afraid.”
“I think we need to exorcise the whole hospital, if that’s even possible,” Father Pierce said.
“How would we do that? There are multiple demons all over,” Sanders said.
“The girl,” I answered. “We need to get back to her. She is the key, like I said earlier. She’s like the control center. The main demon controls everything from her.”
“What if I just shoot her?” Sanders said. “If we kill her, isn’t the demon exorcised?”
“Officer! Are you kidding? She’s a child!” I scolded.
“She’s not just a child. If you still think that after all this, then you’re not much of an exorcist.”
“You know what I mean,” I said. “We’re not going to kill her. I don’t even know what effect that would have on the demon anyway. When a demon is exorcised, he succumbs to the power of God and is
cast back into the world, weakened. If we kill her, he’s not any weaker. He could just jump into someone else.”
She stood there a moment, considering my explanation.
“Okay, for now,” she said, “I’ll keep that as a last resort.”
“Great, but how do we get back down there?” Pierce asked. “And is it even safe? That whole floor was overrun with demons just a few minutes ago. Then that thing just now with Roman, and the elevator?”
“It’s toying with us,” I said. “It knows it can’t possess us, at least not as easily. I’ll go alone.”
“Absolutely not,” Pierce protested. “You need us with you.”
“No. It won’t kill me. I’m confident of that. You stay here with Officer Sanders.”
“Please, just call me Leah,” she said.
“Ok, Leah. You two stay here. Keep praying Father. Pray as you would if you were in the room with me. Leah, if you pray, go ahead and pray too. I’ll need all the help I can get. I have a feeling this thing wants a one-on-one with me.”
“You don’t think you’re playing right into its hands?” Pierce asked.
“I don’t have much choice. If I’m not back in the next two hours or so, just get out of the hospital completely.” Before either of them could reply, I walked to the elevator where Roman had just appeared before. I had a feeling it would work. I pushed the down button, and sure enough, the doors popped open. I stepped in and hit number “3,” as the doors slid closed.
The ride was short and uneventful, and the doors opened at the third floor. I stepped out into the darkness, waiting for something to jump out at me, but all was clear. It was as if the demon were clearing a path for me. I went into the hall, and found my way back onto Amanda’s unit. It was still dark and cold. There were no windows in this part of the hospital. Despite it being early morning, no sunlight would shine in here.
The morning shift should have been coming in by now, as well. I had no idea why they hadn’t. It didn’t matter. The hospital wouldn’t be safe until this monster was removed. As I walked down the corridor toward Amanda’s room, I could hear a loud growl coming from inside the room. The growling got louder as I approached. It was neither human nor animal. It was something not of this world.
Before entering, I knelt down, and said a prayer, asking for God’s strength and protection, as I went to battle the demon. I didn’t sense the usual comfort and strength I did as I prayed. It was normally a calming, and rejuvenating process. This morning there was nothing. I feared it may have been due to a lack of faith. With everything that had happened during the night, there was no way I didn’t believe. Then again, perhaps I felt abandoned by God.
“He can’t hear you!” the demon yelled from the room. “Now get in here and take your medicine!”
I did my best to ignore it, and continued to pray. I said my prayers of protection and deliverance, and rose to my feet. As I turned, and pushed the door open, I couldn’t help feeling as if I would not make it out of that room alive. Strangely, I was at peace with that. I wasn’t afraid. As a priest you never fear death. You know there is an afterlife with God and you generally know what to expect. Despite not feeling God’s presence, I stepped into the room, trying to appear as confident as possible.
“Well, hello Father,” Amanda said, in the demon’s voice. She was sitting on her knees, smiling. I wasn’t sure why, but every demon possessed person’s teeth always appeared rotten. “Are you ready to play?”
Chapter 32
Amanda, 6:40 a.m.
He was starting to come back, I could feel it. I didn’t bother fighting when he did. I used to, but it was pointless. Besides, sometimes when he took over, I felt so powerful. Even though he was in control, I could see and feel everything. Sometimes it was amazing. Other times it was scary, but The Doctor told me not to worry. He said when he is not in control of me, he was in charge of others like him, throughout the hospital. As he took over, he told me we were going to have a visitor.
“I cleared a path for him. He’s going to come visit us,” The Doctor said.
“Who?” I asked.
“One of the priests, the young one.”
“Why’s he going to visit us?”
“He is trying to cast me out of you. But we have something special in store for him.”
I didn’t ask what that was. The Doctor always knew best. So I would just let him handle it. Sometimes if things got too scary, he could sense it and would put me into a trance-like sleep. So I’d come to later, and he was doing whatever. I hoped he’d do that here, if it came to that. It wasn’t long before the priest walked into the room.
“Hello Father,” The Doctor said. “Are you ready to play?” When he spoke, through me, he sounded so much different than when he talked directly to me. With me, he was soft spoken, gentle and had a slight accent. When he spoke through me, it was loud, raspy, and scary. He told me he did that so people wouldn’t hurt us.
“You can’t have her,” the priest said.
“I already do. Nothing you can do about it!” The Doctor spat at him.
The priest began praying in another language, I think it was Latin. That’s what they’d done earlier. He flung holy water on us again and made signs of the cross in the air. He made one on our forehead, but The Doctor knocked him away. The priest tumbled to the ground and slid into the wall.
“Is that all you’ve got Father?”
The priest ignored him and stood, chanting again, this time even louder. Blood was running down his head, from where he’d fallen. He stumbled toward us, continuing to yell, as The Doctor let out a loud, high pitched howl. It sounded like a siren, but ten times louder. The priest covered his ears and fell to the ground. The wailing should have hurt my ears too, but it didn’t for some reason.
“Enough!” the priest yelled. “Stop!”
Finally, The Doctor stopped and we looked at the priest. He was lying on the ground, pale, bleeding from his head, and the look of defeat was in his eyes.
“What do you want? What will it take for you to leave?”
“How about a trade?” The Doctor said.
“A trade?”
“Yes. Her for you. I leave her, and take you instead. Then we leave here for good.”
He was going to leave me?
No! I cried to The Doctor.
Don’t worry my dear.
“I can’t!” The priest said. “There is no way.”
“Then I guess I have to kill you, keep the girl, and destroy the rest of the hospital. Then move on from here,” the Doctor said.
“No! No! Please! All right! Take me! Come into me and leave her!”
“So it shall be done,” The Doctor said. He withdrew from me, letting me take over again. I couldn’t tell if he was gone though. The priest looked at me, but then looked around silently before flying backward, slamming into the wall, as if he’d just been hit by a car. He lay on the ground, motionless, for a moment.
“What is this?” he yelled. “Who are you? This wasn’t the deal!” After the last words, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he began to growl. He took his fingers and dug his nails into his cheeks and began clawing away the skin, until his face was dripping blood everywhere. I moved backward onto my bed, and pulled the covers over me. If The Doctor was now in him, I was afraid he might hurt me. He looked really scary like this.
I’m still here my dear, I heard The Doctor say, from still inside me. The priest fell for my trick. One of my associates has him now. He can’t hurt us.
Chapter 33
Father Harlan, 7:00 a.m.
How could I have been so stupid? Once the demon was inside me, I knew right away it wasn’t the same one who controlled Amanda.
You’re a fool Father. You really thought we’d release her? It mocked.
I didn’t even reply. I was amazed that I was even aware of anything. It was like I was a passenger in my own body. The demon was in full control of me as I walked right past Amanda, and down the hall. For some rea
son we bypassed the elevator, and start walking up the stairs. Fortunately, I couldn’t feel where it made me scratch my own face apart. I had no idea why it did that.
I felt as if I put forth no effort at all in climbing the stairs, as I reached the fifth floor. I pulled the door open and stepped into the hallway. There was Leah and Father Pierce, waiting for me. Leah turned, shining her light on me.
“Father Harla—Oh my God!” she said. “What happened? Did it work? Are you okay?”
I wanted to speak, and tried, but I couldn’t. The demon controlled everything about me. So I just stood there, silently looking at them both. “Father?” Leah said. “You okay?” She began to reach for her gun, at which point the demon in me charged her. Helplessly, I ran toward her, faster than I ever knew I could move, and punched her in the face. I could hear a crunching sound as my fist connected, sending her flying backward. She fell to the ground unconscious.
I turned and saw Father Pierce running toward the stairwell. He burst through the doors as I pursued him. I couldn’t believe he was running. He made no attempt at delivering me from this demon. As I ran after him, he made his way down the stairs. The demon’s speed was no match for his. We caught up to him as he was at the top of a flight of stairs, and hit him hard in the back, sending him toppling down the stairs.
I stood at the top, looking down at his body. I wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead. It was such an odd feeling. I felt horrible for what my body had just done, yet I felt so detached.
You lose Father, The demon said.
Just leave us, please? I pleaded.
And why would we do that?
It had me turn and walk back up the stairs and onto the fifth floor. Leah was no longer lying on the floor. I could tell the demon was agitated by this. We both thought she was out cold. It started walking down the hall, looking back and forth.
“Oh officer!” it called out. Though it was speaking through me, the voice was not my own at all. It was high pitched and gravelly, like someone who had been smoking for too long. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
