The Satanists

by Philip R Benge

  “We should probably move inside of that old church there, at least it is out of the rain, we can consider our options there.” Rob said, indicating the small ruined church.

  Father Pritchard looked at Rob and saw that he too was worried that they were now out of options, so he decided to make the best out of the only option they seemed to have. “Well before we leave the second wrecked vehicle in as many days, you can all help me by carrying our essential supplies from the car and into the church; we shall need them to protect us against any demons that the Satanists send our way.” Father Pritchard ordered.

  The five stranded travellers each took a bag or a box and carried it to the church, much to their surprise they found a pair of new solid wood doors, which were locked and barring their way. However, Rob soon had the lock open, and once inside Father Pritchard wasted no time in drawing their protective pentagram onto the floor of the nave of the church.

  They were all soaking wet, water dripping from each of them, forming small puddles around them, and making them feel very despondent. Evelyn looked desperately around her, for she knew what fate awaited her and her sister, should the Satanists catch up with them. With the three men up for the idea of staying in the church, Evelyn panicked. “We cannot stay here, my uncle and his mad friends will find us, we must run, hide from them, anywhere but here.” Evelyn begged in fear.

  “Gerry, the nearest village is some ten miles further along the road, why don`t you try and get help, and a phone, we will stay in the church and pray for divine help.” Rob suggested.

  “No, Rob, we did not come across anyone earlier on and at this time of night and in this storm the chances are even worse. In any case, while there is a chance that David will be able to protect you from any demons sent against you, the Satanists are not going to leave it there. From what you and David have told me about them, they will be able to locate us in minutes, in fact that vanishing lady was obviously sent by them, so you will need me here to help you when they launch a physical assault upon us.” Gerry Handley argued.

  “He is right, Rob, we need him here, not trudging along a lonely road looking for some non-existent help. In any case, the Satanists will pick any one of us off who tries to go for help, they will simply send a demon after them; they are not going to give up now, not after forcing us off the road.” Father Pritchard said.

  “I hope that you two are right, but remember, Gerry and I have both lost our weapons, while our opponents have at least four shotguns.” Rob said grimly.

  “God will provide us with a way of defending ourselves, if we are worthy.” Father Pritchard declared.

  Rob looked at his friend and wondered where this extra gush of faith had come from, he had always preferred the one that read, god helps those who are better armed, unfortunately this time the other side enjoyed that advantage. “Ok then, but do not blame me David, Gerry, when all hell breaks out here.” Rob said smiling rather doubtfully at his two friends.

  “We won`t Rob, in any case I do not have the right to complain.” Gerry Handley said, and then he turned to the others in the group. “I am sorry everyone, for not getting us away, it is just that the woman appeared out of the blue.” Gerry said desperately searching for a reasonable excuse to exonerate himself, and failing.

  Everyone was quiet for a moment before Gerry Handley asked a question that the two young sisters also wanted answered.

  “David, they called that thing the Goddess Hekate, was she for real or what?” Gerry Handley asked quizzically.

  “I do not know Gerry, she may have been Hekate or she may just have been a minor demon impersonating the goddess, sent to impress the troops.” Father Pritchard replied. What he did not say was if she was the real thing, and she now agreed to assist the Satanists, then they were all in real trouble.

  “Now listen carefully Evelyn, Stephanie, there is a chance that your uncle might send a demon after us, this is why David is drawing a pentagram upon the floor. Once we are within the pentagram you must not leave it, no matter what you might see outside of the pentagram, anyone caught outside of it by a demon will be killed and their soul taken down to a realm of hell. Do you understand?” Rob asked.

  His answer was two pair of frightened eyes and two nods of the girls’ heads and one from Gerry Handley too.

  “David, how long have you been fighting the forces of evil, and how on Earth have you survived?” Gerry Handley asked, for he wanted to know just what the chances were of their surviving the night, but without actually asking.

  “I have been fighting the good fight for some thirty years Gerry, but I have only come across the likes of the Bourbons since John Ryman called on me two years ago. Even then it was only when Rob entered the scene that Ryman and myself dared to fight so powerful a Satanist, I would never have been so foolish as to do such a thing before then.” Father Pritchard replied grimly.

  Gerry Handley looked from Father Pritchard to Rob, as too did the two young girls. “So you are saying that it is going to get a might dangerous around here, and quite soon?” Gerry Handley said just a little fearfully.

  Father Pritchard looked at the others, he saw the fear in the young girls` eyes and in Gerry`s too, and so he lied. “We have won through before; I see no reason to think that we shall not do so again.”

  In fact he now thought that the three men would likely die trying to protect the girls, and that they would then die as satanic sacrifices. Doubts about the outcome had now filled his heart, and his belief that good always prevailed had suddenly crashed through the floor.

  Rob had found some weapons within the ruined vehicle, a wheel wrench and a small fire extinguisher, not much to set against four shotguns. ‘If only MacGyver was here.’ Rob thought.

  ***********

  The old ruined church that they have chosen to hideaway in was just five miles away from Parkston manor house, and as Gerry said, the Satanists knew their exact location.

  Towers now ordered Veigel to let them see inside of the church, and through the veil of smoke they first saw the entrance of the ruined church of St. Martin`s in Lower Keston. Then the view changed, and now the Satanists could see into the nave of the church, and sitting there within the nave they saw the two girls, and the three men who had rescued them. Parkston swore loudly and turned to the other minor demon, Mughasar.

  “Be gone foul one until we need you again.” Parkston commanded. But the demon didn`t go immediately, instead it looked up at Parkston, its red eyes radiating with the evil that oozed like water from the demon`s presence here on Earth.

  “I need paying Master.” Mughasar`s voice now sounding much happier than before, much less servile.

  “Here take it and be gone.” Mrs Knightly commanded wondering why she could not be called Mistress rather than Master, would it kill them.

  The demon rushed at her and took his payment, when sufficiently satisfied with his payment he disappeared from view, leaving behind him the foul stench of hell, and a very tired Satanist.

  Moira already knew who had ruined their Halloween celebration and black mass, however, on seeing them through the veil of smoke she screamed out in anger, and she now called upon the demon Skargel, who had appeared to take his fee for his work earlier that day.

  “Demon, the three men must die, and within the hour, but be sure to leave the two girls unharmed, we need them as sacrifices in tonight`s mass to our Lord Lucifer and the Goddess Hekate.” Moira ordered.

  **********

  The small ruined church began to cool rapidly, on the edge of the nave of the church, a large figure had taken shape in the corner, and it now moved forward towards them. It was in the form of a huge man, but it had bulging eyes and a strange hissing sound came from it. Its tongue was enormous, but forked like the tongue of a serpent and it flicked in and out of its wide mouth. The two young girls screamed out in fear at the sight of the demon and moved over to hold onto the three men, who also felt fear rising up inside of them.

  The demon before them smiled gro
tesquely; and on this creature, the smile looked almost surreal. Its eyes then began to grow, bulging even more than before, Rob turned his eyes away from the demon, but even so, inside his head Rob could hear something compelling him to walk forward, to leave the circle of blessed salt and to journey with the demon to paradise. However, Rob and Father Pritchard had been through this before and they each instantly pulled out a small laminated card from their jackets and then began to read from them, very loudly.

  “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed is thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.”

  The demon`s concentration was broken as the words echoed around the church, and Gerry and the two sisters, who had been about to leave the protective circle of salt, on realising what was happened immediately retreated back to the centre of the pentagram and held on to one another.

  Rob and Father Pritchard though continued reading the prayer. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

  Father Pritchard then pulled out a bottle of holy water and threw it at the demon, the bottle smashed against Skargel`s head, covering his head and face with the water. Skargel screamed in pain and immediately disappeared in a cloud of black smoke, leaving nothing behind but the terrible stench of hell.

  “Although that demon is a nasty brute, he is still only a middle of the road demon; if they have the time they may well send one of the major demons, although Lord Asbaritch may well refuse to answer their summons, there are plenty who will obey it. If so then we can expect to receive a visit from one of the more ferocious of his kind, so all of you, keep on your toes.” Father Pritchard said grimly.

  **********

  Simon Parkston and Moira Bourbon were dismayed when the demon Skargel returned unsuccessful, they had hoped that the three men would now be dead, or had at last taken the hint and ran off, leaving the two girls behind. Instead, they obviously intended to fight on to the very end, well that was ok, for the two Satanists were more than happy to kill the three men themselves. The demon Skargel, although unsuccessful, hung around and Parkston knew that it still wanted paying for its services, not only for now, but also for earlier that day.

  “Follow me Skargel, you failed us miserably this time, so you do not get the blood of she who commanded you, no, however, one of our coven has consented to give you your fee.” Parkston led Skargel outside to where a middle-aged woman, Agnes Parsons who was his maid, was sitting on a wooden bench, and it was her who Skargel was to feed upon, the woman closed her eyes and paled, she attempted to think of the power that her coven would acquire, anything but the rather annoyed demon feeding upon her blood.

  As he left the demon to take his fee, Parkston could feel the demon`s large hypnotic eyes upon him, until finally, he was back inside the manor house.

  “Moira, we do not have the time to call upon a major demon, we will have to have our black mass at the church. Collect anything we may need and then follow me, quickly though for time is already short.” Parkston said and he immediately began to pick up those items that may be of use to them at the ruined church, he did this while speaking to Towers.

  “Assemble the troops Jonathan, make sure they are armed with the shotguns and plenty of ammunition, we are declaring war upon Rob Hinds and his friends.” Parkston ordered.

  Towers and Mrs Knightly immediately headed for the stairs, and they were almost immediately followed by Parkston and Moira Bourbon. He took a quick look around the rain-drenched courtyard, for Hekate, but there was no sign of her, she had obviously departed, angry and disgusted by their feeble attempt to open the gates of Tartarus. Annoyed at himself, he rounded up four of their followers who were still within the Great Hall and sheltered from the rainstorm. They were now fully clothed and using the time to pack up the satanic regalia that had been taken down from the altar when the storm had first exploded above the manor house, for it would be needed when the black mass was held. They all now headed en-masse for the gatehouse, determined to make those who had disrupted their black masse pay in the most painful of ways. Walking through the arch under the gatehouse outside they found Towers and the remaining Satanists waiting for them, four of them were carrying their shotguns.

  “Come my friends, we have to punish those who disrupted our devotions to our master, and make amends to Hekate, this I swear to Lord Lucifer himself is going to happen.” Parkston said to the members of his coven, and he immediately got into his Mercedes SUV, his wife sat beside him while, Moira Bourbon and Mrs Knightly took the rear seats. The other Satanists got into the other the waiting vehicles and the convoy sped off to the small ruined church.

  **********

  Rob found that there was not much left in the church to build a barricade with, so he and Gerry Handley braved the weather and went in search of something to use. They found that the builders who had installed the new doors had also been recently carrying out some other badly needed repairs upon the walls and roof of the building. The church dated back to the Norman Conquest, this of course made it of historical value, and after the National Trust had taken over responsibility for the building, they had allocated funds to pay for some much-needed repairs.

  They soon found and requisitioned six scaffolding boards, and a small quantity of discarded nails left alongside the church, these they took inside the church. Their next task after relocking the doors was to use three of the boards on the front door, and the other three on the newly installed rear door, using a heavy stone found just outside as a hammer. Unfortunately, they could do nothing with the windows, which had been freshly glazed just two days prior.

  The Satanists arrived soon after, and those inside of the church heard the screech of brakes as the Satanists pulled onto the area in front of the church, freshly cleared by the builders for use as a place to park their own vehicles. Luckily for the Satanists, the rain now stopped, and they leapt from their vehicles and ran to the pair of new installed wooden doors without getting wet; and found them locked. Towers attempted to break it down; however, after hurting his shoulders by using them as a battering ram, he stopped trying to gain admittance that way and looked to Simon Parkston for a lead. Parkston decided against summoning up yet another demon when a quicker and easier alternative was at hand.

  “Park the vehicles under the windows; we will smash our way in.” Parkston ordered angrily.

  He wanted the black mass to start as soon as was physically possible, and the fact that the three men inside were delaying the mass enraged him as never before. The four vehicles were soon in position, with eight of the fitter Satanists scrambling up their sides. When all were in position the four windows on the eastern side exploded inwards as the Satanists smashed the stocks of their shotguns against them. Those inside groaned, for with four shotguns aimed at them, and with nothing to defend themselves with, they could only surrender.

  Parkston looked down into the church, and he smiled when he saw Evelyn and Stephanie both faint; obviously, their fear of what they knew was in store for them being far too much for their young minds to cope with. He then looked at Rob and Gerry, who stood over the fallen girls, and Parkston thought that never did the two men look so impotent, Parkston laughed his humour returning now that all was going their way.

  “Hinds open the front doors now, or we start shooting, and that will mean death for you and your two friends, then we will only have to ram one of the vehicles into the locked doors and enter.” Parkston ordered angrily.

  Rob could see no way of resisting the Satanist, no matter what the future held, he had to obey, or see the others shot one by one until only the two girls survived. At least this way there was always the hope of something happening to reverse the situation. Rob walked back to the pair of doors at the entrance to the church and began to pull the scaffold boards away from the wooden doorframes. Gerry
Handley and Father Pritchard followed him, and they too helped to pull apart their barricade, none of them said a word as defeat ate bitterly into their very souls, his two friends looked even more despondent that Rob. They soon had the barricade down, and then the doors were opened, and they moved back as two armed men entered the church, closely followed by most of the other Satanists. There was an air of excitement amongst the Satanists as they contemplated the coming black mass, after the earlier disappointment it was really about to commence.

  Towers and two other heavily built Satanists moved quickly across the ruined church towards the three friends. As Towers grabbed a hold of Rob`s arms, to turn him around so that he could tie his hands together, Rob suddenly came to life, he hit Towers so hard that the Satanist collapsed to the ground unconscious. With the attention on Rob and Towers, Gerry snatched one of the shotguns out of the hands of its owner and struck the Satanist with the weapon`s solid stock, pole axing the man. Father Pritchard threw himself at another of the Satanists, knocking him to the floor, and turned to attack another of the Satanists. Evelyn and Stephanie Parkston leapt from the floor to attack two of the female Satanists, for they had feigned their act of fainting. All seemed to be going well until a heavy rock struck Gerry Handley on the back of his head, and just before he was about to fire upon Simon Parkston. Moira had stayed with two of the other Satanists at the windows of the church, both men armed with shotguns, she had armed herself with her missile, just in case the handsome Rob tried something, and her aim had been perfect. For one second only, Father Pritchard stopped to look down at his fallen friend, and then he too was struck from behind, by the second Satanist armed with a shotgun; he groaned in pain and collapsed to the floor. With these two out of the fight Evelyn and Stephanie were easily contained, and Rob surrendered when two shotguns were shoved painfully into his stomach.