The Parish

by Clare Midgley

  “He’s here...” Cornelius slammed his book together and as Paul kissed his bride lovingly their minds pondered over what was to come. Walking back up the aisle Eve pushed him into the small corridor near the front entrance.

  “Keep everyone inside, and if they ask where I am…, I’m nauseous ok.”

  “Eve you can’t do this on your own…”

  “Paul this is my fight, and this is for our child. Please just close all the curtains and keep everyone away.” Taking off her shoes she ran out into the violent weather sensing the darkness around her. Closing her eye’s she could feel the evil searching for her trying to reach out into the blackness and pull her from safety. As the circles gathered she realised immediately that they could feel her presence

  “I know you feel me. I know you feel me every time I let my guard down. I’m not your's Jacob not anymore.” Taking the small ivory stone and the simple wooden cross from her bra she placed them at her feet.

  “The hour has come

  Defend me now

  Protect me with your light

  Cast out my enemy

  Death has no end

  Life has no beginning

  Consecrate my vow

  And take my soul…” As the Latin poured from her lips, her eyes glistened purple as the rain hit her hard.

  " Venit hora,

  Defende me

  Custodi me cum lucis Eice me inimicus

  Mors non est finis

  Vitam non habet initium

  Consecrastis manus mea

  Et anima mea" A vast dome seemed to rise from the ground and as the thunder cracked louder Eve seem to will the light covering the hall in a pale lilac shroud. Murmuring her prayer, she continued building the dome until it completely covered her and all that was surrounded in the building. As the dark shadows fell one by one it, seemed to twist contort under her spell. The blackness from above dripped with blood and violence and as the waves cracked harder and pounded the dome Eve’s eyes seem to glaze with lilac fire. Feeling the putrid blood drip onto her she forced more of herself into the dome.

  “I will not have you take my family, and I will not lose.” As Eve fired her words into the sky, the light seemed to emanate bright like a beacon, and as the blood burnt hard into her skin, it peeled back the flesh on her neck and hands. As she screamed out Eve knew she was unable to hold on any longer, the pain and anguish of fending off the evil trickled its way down forcing her to her knee's.

  Paul looked onto the green anxiously as his wife fell to the ground and seeing no movement he shifted towards the door trying to claw his way to her. As Cornelius pulled him back, he forced him to see the rest of the fight.

  “It’s not finished…”

  “She needs me. I love her you need to understand that.”

  “I understand that she will never be free Paul can you live with that. Are you happy living a half-life with a Halfling….” Dropping go of his hold, Paul stared blankly unable to understand what he meant.

  “Halfling! Half of what exactly.”

  “Well, Paul if it’s a boy I’m sure everything will be all right.” As he faded into the shadows, Paul refused to spend any more time on his useless witterings. Lying in the dirt Eve could feel the rain on her skin and the taste of blood in her mouth.

  “Eve….” Wrapping his arms around her, he saw the burns and the blood running from her nose and as her eyes flickered open the lilac glow still lit up the night sky.

  “Close your eyes baby I need to take care of you...” Doing as he said Eve’s body ached endlessly, she looked like a doll as she flopped over his arms. As he carried her through the door, he knew there was no way to hide her and no way of explaining her injuries.

  “Paul….”

  “Babe people are coming what do I say?” Pointing outside Eve sucked the air violently down her ravaged throat feeling the blood congeal in her mouth.

  “Lightening tell them it was lightening…take this.” As she handed him her necklace, she fluttered her eyelids once more trying to hide the light which was now starting to die. Alan saw the burns on her hands and neck and the distressed look on Paul’s face, and as he grabbed hold of his phone, he immediately dialled for an ambulance.

  “What’s happened…?”

  “She…she went out for this I don’t know.” Cupping hold of her mother’s necklace Paul clung to Eve as if they had been stuck together with glue.

  “Yes, ambulance, please…Paul, you need to tell them...” Handing the phone over Alan crouched at Eve’s side surveying the devastation.

  “There was a lightning strike, and I don’t know I came out, and she was laid on the ground. She’s been in and out of consciousness, and there are marks. Ok, thank you...” As he handed the phone back to his dad, Paul tried to calm his nerves as his hands had begun to shake furiously.

  “Where’s Eve we are about to cut the cake.” Stopping mid-sentence Brenda gasped placing the back of her hand across her mouth.

  “What’s happened?”

  “The ambulance is coming now Bren we don’t know we’re just waiting for some help.”

  “I knew it. I told you before something bad was going to happen I felt it at the house and you didn’t believe me.” Paul wiped his brow and as he settled his hand on Eve’s chest he counting the repetitions of her breath. The clock seemed to echo each second, and as the blue lights filtered down the driveway, a certain amount of relief washed over him.

  “Eve there here babe…”

  “Pau…Paul where’s the necklace?” As Alan dropped down to his knee, he took hold of her hand.

  “I’ve got it in my top pocket sweetheart just rest now the doctors going to take a look at you.” As the guests gathered at the doorway, Brenda sat quietly in the corner shaking her head and throwing back a double brandy. The paramedics bemused by the situation hurriedly bundled Eve into the back of the ambulance and without much noise sped off into the distance leaving the guests jumping to conclusions.

  Reaching the hospital Eve seemed a lot more lucid, and as the paramedic checked her pulse, he stepped back quite uncertain of what he had just seen.

  “Sorry….Eve can you look into the light again for me and follow my finger.” Opening her eyes again a small lilac tinge seemed to glow and as he got caught in her gaze darkness surrounded him.

  “That’s…..I’m sorry. I” Collapsing he dragged himself to the edge of the ambulance and slid out. As he vomited violently, Eve closed her eye’s knowing her stare had caused it.

  “What was that...?”

  “You don’t want to know. Help me down?”

  “Eve please….” Opening her eyes, the paramedic huffed loudly unable to catch his breath, and as she stepped past, the fear was palpable. As Eve was quickly whisked by wheelchair into a cubicle, Paul could still hear the commotion behind him. As the nurse made Eve, comfortable Paul found a chair trying to make himself comfortable and as the doctor whisked back the curtain making her dramatic entrance.

  “I’m Doctor Wallace. It says here you’ve been struck by lightning.”

  “No doctor.” Eve seemed stubborn, almost defiant to the questions which were being asked.

  “So what happened then...?”

  “I went outside as I’d dropped my mother’s necklace and the lightning struck the tree, the next time I woke up I was in the back of the ambulance.” Paul more distressed by her calculated response placed a bemused look onto the doctor. As he wiped his face and ripped off his jacket, the frustrations and complications of the day were obviously wearing him down. As the doctor started to check Eve the commotion which had begun in the ambulance had now followed them into the middle of A & E. Hearing the strained calls and unable to concentrate she excused herself waiting to see what had manifest.

  “Karl I am quite busy…”

  “Cath it's Jody. One minute he was examining her and the next. He’s sick Cath, and he’s saying some odd things, and it’s only after treating her.”

  “Get Greg to brin
g him in six, and I’ll be there as soon as.” As the doctor entered the room Eve didn’t seem to flinch, Paul, on the other hand, looked like a nervous wreck almost joining the paramedic in his vomit marathon.

  “She’s pregnant…”

  “Sorry what was that”

  “She’s pregnant she’s been acting odd since it happened and this isn’t like her doctor, and I’m really concerned.” Watching Eve’s stare, Paul could feel her bearing down.

  “How many weeks?”

  “Sixteen…”

  “Any pain or bleeding?”

  “No…I don’t know.” As the questioning tailed off from the doctor, the noise from the corridor seemed to ignite the department into chaos and destruction. As the black foul vomit cascaded along the floor and through the department, Paul looked back at Eve knowing this was the paramedic.

  “That bitch will kill us all she will bring the reigning fires of hell upon us. All that comforts us will turn to ashes and food will not give us nourishment. Cath! Kill her Cath! She mustn’t live. While she lives the darkness consumes all.” Grabbing hold of her arm blood violently dripped from his nose and mouth and as he vomited again, thick black sludge dropped at her feet.

  “She’s doing this to me! I’ve seen it in her eye’s she’s the death that will consume us. Cath you have to believe me!”

  “Take him into six and get Greg now!” Naturally distressed both Paul and Eve felt her footsteps leave the department.

  “I have to go to him…”

  “Eve you can’t do...... What about the baby?.” Paul paced the floor unable to listen to the screams from cubicle six.

  “Paul I invoked what I needed to stop Jacob. It’s touched him, and I need to help, or he’s going to die.”

  “How can I trust…?”

  “I’m sorry…I don’t blame. This is all my fault, and I need to put this right so are you with me or not.” Nodding his head the tears avidly flowed down his cheeks staining more than his shirt.

  “What do you need me to do?”

  “Get a priest….not a vicar…a Catholic priest and get Cornelius.” As she rose from her bed, she pulled back the sheets seeing the full extent of her injuries. The burnt, scorched open wounds seem to ooze with life, and as she examined more, she whispered softly under her breath.

  “It’s the least of what I deserve.” As she stood at the edge of the bay, she closed her eyes and saw the box reopen. The sudden buzzing of the lights rang out through the department, and as the lights dimmed, she waited for time to slow. Walking across the lights flickered and turned off one by one with her steps until she was left in complete darkness and outside of bay six. Opening the curtain the scared witless man shivered in his bindings and restraints.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to take away what you saw. Then this will be as if it never happened.”

  “I saw you…I saw what your kind did he will not stop, and you will not defeat him.”

  “I’m sorry…but that wasn’t my kind. But I need you to hold still.”

  "His beating wings and the sacred sword will smite you and when it does death will come looking for all of us." As she climbed onto the bed, she straddled the man.

  “Keep Still.” Grabbing hold of his throat, she squeezed hard until she heard his breath being choked. Seeing the darkness build behind his eyes she stared deep homing in onto his soul.

  As Paul ran into the accident and emergency ward he could see everyone stood around like statues and the darkness enveloped around.

  “Where’s Eve?” Unable to catch his breath Paul pointed to bay six. Opening the curtain, Cornelius laughed uncomfortably knowing what she was attempting to do.

  “Start praying priest! Start praying for your life and don’t stop until I tell you to” Eve stared manically into the paramedic's eyes completely focused on what stared right back. Opening his mouth Eve bared down heavily tempting what was within to come out. Unable to comprehend what he was seeing the priest dropped to his knees and shouted out his prayers to God and as the darkness from within started to appear from the paramedic's throat Eve pulled at its hand outstretched to greet her. The small demonic head gasped crying out into the night. Eve kept her stance bearing hard and violently down on the creature almost paralysing it in her trance. Seeing its claw and bite its way through the paramedic’s skin the blood gushed down her arm.

  “NOW!” Throwing herself back Cornelius through the cross onto its head and as it burned into its skull, the wall cracked with the sounds of its screams. Eve dragged the priest up from his knees throwing him into the path of the dark figure.

  “Absolve him…”

  “Who? I”

  “Both of them now!” As the words exited his breath Eve took hold of the figure dragging it from his soul and with her hands singed and burnt kept a firm hold knowing the priest’s words hadn’t been completed.

  Paul sat in the corridor unable to watch or understand. He could hear the noises in and around Bay six, but most of all he could hear the priest shouting his prayers of absolution. As Paul rested his head on his hands and seeing a flash of light and a loud screeching coming from the ward, he felt he was unable to stand by and observe any longer. As he ran into the cubicle, he feared for his wife’s safety. Eve, Cornelius and the priest stood transfixed on the figure that writhed in the bright light. A voice echoed around the cubicle its inhuman quality and its high pitch squeal pierced all who witnessed.

  “You will be mine damned, black and dead along with Jacob…your eternity is fucked and your cunt will be seated at the right side…”

  “Cornelius...” Joining hands Paul could feel the Priest tremble. Eve, on the other hand, stood firm.

  “Your sins are absolved, and your plight has been heard. Amen.” As the crackles of light split the creature into shards, the lights seem to flicker off and on.

  “Does anyone want to tell me what the fuck just happened? What was that? Why...?” Cornelius patted him patronisingly on the back, and as he pushed him from the cubicle, it was evident that he wasn’t interested in giving Paul answers.

  “You need to get back to your cubicle, and I need to take my lovely friend here for a stiff drink.” Eve slipped to the floor clutching at her hands. The pain and burning had got so intense that she seemed to move in and out of consciousness and as Paul picked her up off the floor Paul looked back at the paramedic.

  “What about him...”

  “He lives… but that was just a warning. Imagine what they could do together.” Rushing out of the curtain the world still operated in slow motion and as he placed her back on the bed her hands were covered in blood and burnt till they were black.

  “Tell me what I need to do baby…”

  “I need the holy water…” Rushing back to Bay six he picked up the vile and knowing it would be required he also took the stainless steel dish on the way back. Placing her hand in the bowl, he started pouring a little bit at a time over the burns. Taking her other hand, he soaked the bandages in the water and placed them over the worst of the areas.

  “Thank you…”

  “Eve…baby.” As Paul kissed her furiously, he wiped away the hair that had started to stick in the blood on her face.

  “I thought…I don’t know what to think.”

  “Is he ok…I mean is he alive?”

  “Yes…yes just but...”

  “I should have never dragged you into this.” Kissing her bandaged hands, he could feel the tears once again well and lump appear in his throat.

  “I’m not going to lose you I don’t care what we have to battle I love you.” As the words escaped his mouth, all the lights flickered back on, and it was as if someone had taken the world off pause. As the doctor re-entered the cubicle, she seemed more calm and sedate than before.

  “Is he ok…I mean?”

  “Yes, looks like a head injury they can make you see and do things a little bit funny. Anyway, we need to get you sorted.”
As she smiled graciously, Eve took hold of Pauls' hand placing his other on her small perfectly formed bump.

  “I’m not giving us up for anything either.”

  Chapter 16

  Tom was the image of his father and after a relatively quick birth, four months had passed exceedingly fast without a hitch. Eve had found her joy and Paul was the doting and loving father she expected him to be. Packing up her bag for the afternoon and pushing more nappies and wipes into an already oversized bag she pulled out a small note.

  “You’re an incredible mum, and I’ve never seen you look more beautiful. Paul xx” Biting her lip she knew that all her attentions had been focused on the baby and Paul had been the bystander in her all-consuming mission of being the best mother in the world. She also knew that while her focus was on Tom, they were safe. Hearing the phone ring and Paul bounce down the stairs Eve found her opportunity to escape.

  “Ok I’m off I’ll see you later.”

  “Hold Von...” Placing his hand over the receiver he pulled Eve in for a kiss and as his soft hands caressed her back, she knew he had a way of making her feel safe. She could also feel he wanted more and knew a quick exit would quench those feelings leaving him to his conversation.

  “Yvonne’s going to meet you and my mum for a coffee after.”

  As Paul placed down the receiver, he ran over to the buggy kissing his son lovingly on his temple.

  “Have you got your phone?”

  “Paul we are fine packed and ready for an afternoon with Grandma. Bye...” Exiting the door, she could still feel his stare, and as she turned and waved for the third time, she couldn’t help but feel he was hiding something.

  Since the wedding, Paul had been more cautious and every time Eve stepped out he panicked, and now Tom had arrived she knew that protectiveness was only going to get worse. The baby, however, seemed to have calmed the situation down a little and knowing nothing had happened in the four months since his birth family life had become quite standard. Hearing the buzz of a text, she knew who it was and instead of answering she kept on walking not wanting to relinquish any more freedom.

  Reaching the waterfront, she pushed the buggy proudly regularly checking on Tom’s status. The sun warmed both of them as they strolled down the promenade and life for that brief moment was perfect.