Descent into Darkness (Crystal Sphere Book 1)

by Ingrid Fry

  ‘Tapakah. You brought Tapi in?’

  I breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Oh! Oh, yes, of course.’

  ‘My name’s Luca.’

  ‘I love that name. My uncle was called Luka. Spelt L U K A, pronounced ‘Loo-kah. Is yours the same?’

  ‘Mine’s spelt with a C, but pronounced the same. It means ‘light’.

  ‘That’s a wonderful name for someone doing God’s work.’

  Luca was dressed in the standard garb of a catholic priest; black habit buttoned at the front, raised black collar with a cut out at the front highlighting the stiff white collar underneath. It sat right under his chin. That had to get annoying.

  He looked Italian, broad face, square jaw, short black hair, trendy cut, thick eyebrows over big brown eyes.

  ‘Would you like to take confession?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m not Catholic. I just brought Tapi back.’

  ‘Have you been in this church before?’

  ‘No, I haven’t. It’s beautiful.’

  My bones vibrated as the organ blasted out a few more notes before falling into silence.

  ‘Amazing! So loud.’

  ‘Practice session,’ Luca said.

  Footsteps sounded out behind me, and I turned to see a row of priests approaching.

  ‘These are my colleagues. Allow me to introduce you. Here we have Roberto, Giovanni, Leon, Gaetano, Francesco and Luigi.’

  I had an Italian dude convention on my hands, and seriously, since when did priests look like this? Maybe I needed to take up religion. They were hot.

  ‘You know how they have a calendar for fire fighters?’ I said.

  Luca smiled. ‘Yes.’

  ‘You should seriously think about doing one for the Vatican.’

  He laughed. ‘It’s already been done.’

  ‘Really? I’ll have to get myself a copy. Do they sell them in the shop?’

  ‘You’ll find them online.’

  The sunlight streaming through the beautiful stained-glass windows suddenly ceased. It was as though someone turned off a switch. Darkness brewed outside. Shadows arose inside the church and played in the inconsequential light, running their fingers over the holy relics.

  I shivered. The church didn’t seem so beautiful anymore. ‘Looks like we’re in for a storm.’

  ‘It’s already here.’ Luca nodded to his brothers and they departed wordlessly in different directions. Heavy doors slammed shut and metal creaked as bolts were latched.

  ‘Hell, I mean, sorry, I’d better go. My friends will be worried. They’re waiting outside.’ I made a move toward the door.

  ‘No hurry. Why don’t you join us for a cup of tea?’

  Seven stiletto shoes. I needed seven stiletto shoes. The words kept running through my mind. They would make a good song.

  ‘She had seven stiletto shoes and she wanted to pay her dues, thrust them deep into their eyes, whilst ignoring their pitiful cries’— sung to the tune of “Is There Life on Mars?”. There certainly wasn’t going to be any life here unless I did something, and fast.

  It must’ve been mid-afternoon, but outside, it seemed like night had fallen.

  ‘It’s been a pleasure, but I must be going.’ I hurried away. A hand gripped my shoulder—Luca either had very long arms or could move like lightening.

  ‘Why don’t you come with us?’ he said. ‘I’ll show you the gallery; it’s quite high.’ He pointed halfway up the cathedral. ‘It’s a beautiful view. You’ll have to be careful not to fall, but we’ll look after you.’ He smiled. ‘We wouldn’t want an accident. Or a suicide. Like your mother.’

  Jerking myself free, I bolted along a pew. As I ran, I opened my mind and reached out for Drom. I felt an instantaneous connection.

  Gaetano stood at the end of the pew. I vaulted across to the next one, but I was seriously outnumbered. Giovanni, with his perfectly groomed goatee and slicked back hair, was waiting for me.

  Seven to one. They closed in. I must’ve been channeling Drom as I leapt onto the back of the next pew and balanced there, rocking backward and forward. Surprising myself, I leapt to the next one.

  The pews were long and before they could get to me I jumped to the next, and the next. It was like playing a computer game, trying to anticipate who would go where in response to my move. Fortunately, I was excellent at computer games. Unfortunately, my physical abilities were more suited to sitting in a chair in front of a computer.

  By the time I reached the final pew I was surrounded. The priests advanced. I jumped onto the seat and ran along it to the opposite end. They followed. I dashed back. They followed.

  The priests were closing in and I froze watching them advance. Their creepy black tunics and white collars made them appear like floating heads in the falling light.

  Thoughts of Drom focused my mind as they approached ... six feet, five feet, four feet, three ... go!

  Leaping onto the back of the pew in front of me, I sprinted across a whole congregation of pews. Flying with God’s grace—no thought, perfect coordination, totally in the moment. My sights were set on the front door.

  I rocketed off the last pew. Footsteps resounded through the church as the brothers raced to head me off. Focusing on the front door, I tried to see how it was bolted. Glancing back to see how much time I had, I slammed right into the arms of brother Luca.

  ‘Impressive.’ He gripped my arm and twisted it hard behind my back. ‘Come, we’ve wasted enough time with your games. We’d like to play a few of our own.’

  ‘I’ll tell you where the crystal is, and the location of all the tanks and infantry.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter; we have you.’ His voice sounded disconnected, as though it belonged to someone else. His face contorted, rippling with opposing forces. He wasn’t himself. Just like the guy who attacked me in the hospital, Luca was possessed. He was roached. He had to be.

  ‘Luca! Listen to me; you don’t want to do this. You know you don’t, it goes against everything you believe in. Let me go. You can fight this! Fight it!’

  His head twisted violently from side to side, as though some invisible thug was beating the daylights out of him. He groaned, and muttered, ‘Down. Down to the crypts.’

  I didn’t like the sound of that.

  ‘What happened to the gallery?’ I said, trying to make conversation, all the while surveying the area for possible weapons. ‘I liked the idea of the gallery.’

  ‘Crypts,’ he said flatly.

  The brothers grim were bringing up the rear, while Luigi and Leon stepped ahead to open the door to the crypts. We descended rapidly, my boots slipping on the worn marble steps as Luca shoved me forward.

  Giovanni and Roberto pushed past us, racing on ahead, their faces stony and expressionless.

  We reached the bottom which opened out onto an area containing various large crypts. The light was dim and the temperature cool. Giovanni and Roberto hadn’t simply been counting their rosary beads. At the end of the chamber, they’d prepared a cross, an upside down one an’ all. Serious stuff.

  Giovanni appeared stricken and Roberto was shaking. A puddle of vomit glistened at his feet.

  ‘Don’t do this!’ I screamed with all the psychic force I could muster. They rocked backwards and for a split second their beautiful faces reappeared before being swallowed again by the darkness.

  Luca and Giovanni pushed me against the cross and tied rope around my wrists and ankles. They pulled my wrists above my head and secured them to the cross, ditto with my ankles. My mouth was secured with tape and a bag was placed over my head.

  A hand touched my chest. I flinched. Fingers ran between my breasts and played around in little circles as though trying to decide what to do.

  ‘Ten years it’s taken me to become a priest and I’ve never had a woman.’

  It was Luca. His fingers continued to play their circle games before finally stopping.

  He ripped the bag off my head, tore the tape from my mouth, and tied the bag around my eyes
as a blindfold. What the hell was he doing? One minute I was going to be a priest’s plaything, then letting me go?

  The priests retreated; their footsteps moved away. Then silence—just the sound of my heart thundering in my ears, my breathing, and a sound like—approaching rain?

  What was that noise? It sounded like fairies gently tapping on the keyboard of my MacBook. Hundreds of them—Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. It filled the room.

  The sound of retching and the splatter of fluid hitting the floor.

  ‘Help! Help! Fire! Fire!’ I screamed my lungs out. I’d read somewhere people are more likely to respond if you yell fire rather than help, so I gave it my best shot. Something weighty clung to the bottom of my jeans. Tiny pinpricks radiated up my legs as the weight shifted upwards.

  Jason! Ashley! Drom! Help! I’m down here, help!

  Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic.

  The sound was all around me, all over me. An erratic scuttle scratched along my bare arm and I knew what it was.

  Cockroaches.

  I shut my mouth tight. No more screaming for me—except in my head.

  Thousands of antennae and insectile legs prickled and scratched at my face, exploring every crevice. Probing insects rustled in my ears and tickled my nose. My blindfold shifted as they crawled underneath and the pinpricks of their stick legs pried into my eyelids. I squeezed my eyes tight. Insect legs poked and prodded at my mouth. They were trying to get in and I knew roaches could squeeze into the teensy tiniest of crevices.

  My body was a clicking, hissing mass of insects. It was hard to breathe with them burrowing into my nostrils. I expelled the air through my nose trying to blow them out, but I barely had time to get another breath before my nose was blocked again. Smart. They were trying to get me to open my mouth by suffocating me.

  They moved as one unit making their way under my clothes. I pushed out my stomach trying to stop them going into my pants, but they were already climbing on the inside of my jeans. My mouth and nose wasn’t the only passageway into my body, and the thought made me retch as they crawled up my legs.

  My head whipped from side to side as I tried to shake them off. I rocked my body and pulled frantically at my bindings. Side to side, backwards and forwards I jerked and tugged with frantic mania.

  Unexpectedly, the cross jolted and cracked, slipping sideways, screeching across the wall. When it came to a stop, I was face up, nearly horizontal. The roaches piled on top of me. I flicked my head to shake them off, but at this angle, it made no difference.

  The gallery would’ve been a better way to go. I was running out of air. They’d find a way into my body—it was only a matter of time. Would I implode into a black hole or turn into a roach controlled Maggie zombie? I wasn’t sure which option I preferred.

  There was a different touch. A touch of hands scraping bugs from my face and working on the ropes around my wrists.

  My wrists were freed!

  Sitting up, I flicked my head and scrabbled at my face. Neck deep in roaches, I kept my mouth shut tight. I ripped off the blindfold as someone worked to free my feet.

  It was Luca.

  Wild eyed, muttering, he tore at the ropes around my ankles.

  ‘Burn all these evils in hell, that they may never again touch me or any other creature in the entire world.’

  My ankles were freed. He took my hand and pulled me to my feet.

  ‘God the Father commands you. God the Son commands you.’

  He dragged me behind him, our feet flying through the crypt towards the marble staircase.

  ‘God the Holy Ghost commands you. Christ, God’s Word made flesh, commands you.’

  Behind us, the sound of a tide of cockroaches turning in pursuit, and the shouts of the other brothers.

  ‘I command and bid all the power who molest me – by the power of God all powerful, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior’

  We made it to the door at the top of the stairs and Luca unbolted it.

  ‘... through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary – to leave me forever...’

  Luca took my hands, looked into my eyes, and then shoved me out through the door, slamming it shut behind me. Bolts clanked ominously on the other side as he sealed his fate. A prayer roared out through the door.

  ‘...and to be consigned into the everlasting hell, where they will be bound by Saint Michael the archangel, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, our guardian angels, and where they will be crushed under the heel of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Amen.

  I banged frantically on the crypt door. ‘Luca! No!’

  Cockroaches streamed out from under it, flowing like a river of resin up my legs.

  Smash! An earsplitting noise thundered through the church. The sound of wood splintering, metal shrieking and tearing, the screaming roar of an engine. A Toyota LandCruiser exploded through the door of the church. It braked hard and the car spun wildly towards me in a cloud of smoke. It stopped three inches from my body. I held the bumper bar to steady myself.

  The smoke cleared to reveal the stricken faces of Jason, Ashley and Drom in the front seat. Better late than never, I guessed.

  The car doors were stuck. The guys kicked at them, metal shrieked, and the doors gave way. They leapt out of the car.

  Shoulder deep in roaches, my mind raced. Luca! We had to save him. And what about the others? Maybe they were dead, the crypt as clean as a whistle. But what if they weren’t?

  Jason jumped over the debris to get to me. ‘Maggie! Jesus Christ!’

  The door behind me rattled, bolts clunked. The door opened.

  ‘Get back!’ Ashley screamed.

  The guys took out their guns and trained them on the door.

  It was Luca.

  ‘Don’t shoot him!’

  Luca staggered out, pale and bloodied. He leant against the door jamb and ripped off the remaining shreds of his clerical habit entangled around his muscular physique. He stood there naked apart from his clerical collar and a pair of tight Homer Simpson jocks. He clutched a large bloodied crucifix in his hand.

  I gasped. What a tremendous shot for the Vatican calendar.

  In a trance, he continued his prayers. ‘Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in our battle against principalities and powers ... against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.’

  ‘Luca!’ I held him by the shoulders and shook him. Nothing registered. I slapped him hard across the face. Focus returned to his eyes, and he looked at me. I could tell it was the real Luca.

  ‘Hold this!’ He thrust the crucifix into my hand. His face was fixed with grim determination as he began scraping handfuls of insects off my body. The roaches clung on with tenacious resolve, my body a crawling mass of chitinous shells.

  ‘Luca, the others?’

  ‘Gone. I think they’re all gone.’ He dragged me by the arm over to a pew and plunged his arms into the mass of roaches to lift me off the floor. He stepped onto the pew, held me over the edge of the seat and shook me, dislodging clumps of roaches.

  Drom scattered holy hand grenades into the midst of the cockroach stream, which seemed to disorient and scatter them. Jason and Ashley found fire extinguishers and blasted the roaches with clouds of vapour. I could barely make out the guys through the haze.

  Luca shook roaches off me with violent intensity—my head was going to snap off any second. I opened my eyes in time to see Giovanni standing behind Luca. He had a dagger raised and it glinted gold in the soft light of the church. I screamed.

  Luca moved to one side and held me tight. I thrust my arm over Luca’s shoulder and rammed the crucifix into Giovanni’s eye—just as he thrust the knife blade into Luca’s back.

  The top of the crucifix made a handy grip, giving me extra purchase as I thrust it in, again, right to the hilt. ‘An eye for an eye!’

  Giovanni fell backwa
rds and smashed onto the marble floor. I had a strong feeling of déjà vu. Again. Well, that’s what déjà vu is, isn’t it? Again, and again, and … again.

  Luca let me go. I leapt over the back of the pew and retrieved the crucifix from Giovanni’s skull. It made a slurping noise as I pulled it out. Not good.

  The guys materialised out of the mist—three strapping, burly, able-bodied silhouettes—like gorillas, I reckoned. The image lifted my spirits.

  ‘Drag him into the crypt,’ I yelled. ‘He’s going to blow. Barricade the door!’

  Most of the roaches had left my body, and now, with only a couple of hundred crawling over me, I felt a rising tide of hysteria. Many of them were inside my clothes and caught in my hair. I brushed frantically at my scalp trying to flick them off. My head was filled with a loud, frantic rustling as they lodged in my nose and ears trying to settle in.

  Screaming and slapping at my head, I jumped up and down, and ran on the spot like some hysterical psycho. I tore off my top. ‘Get them off me!’

  Luca snatched my top from the floor and wiped the roaches from my face. He plucked them out of my hair. ‘Shhh, stop. I have them.’ He held my head and extracted them from my nose and ears.

  ‘They’re in my clothes! Get them out!’

  Jason undid my jeans releasing a flood of bugs.

  Luca lifted me. ‘Take her jeans off! Everything, off!’

  Clumps of roaches fell to the floor. Jason brushed them off my body as Luca held me. He carried me away a few steps and deposited me in a roach free zone. The only remaining item of clothing was my bra. Ashley disengaged it with one flick of his fingers and yanked it off. Luca appeared impressed and shocked all at the same time. The bra was alive with bugs.

  Ashley threw it on the floor in disgust. ‘Jesus!’

  Drom moved forward with his orgonite power wand, which resembled a bucket with protruding copper pipes. He pressed a button on an attached power pack and a blast of blue light flamed out from the pipes and enveloped us. Roaches scattered everywhere.

  Another wave of roaches poured out from under the crypt door. I tried to run but my legs wouldn’t work. Luca picked me up under the armpits and walked along the aisle a safe distance, careful to avoid any unnecessary body contact. His arms trembled from the effort and blood trickled down his body.