by Michael Todd
Apostle
Damian’s Chronicles™ Book Three
Michael Todd
Michael Anderle
Laurie Starkey
Apostle (this book) is a work of fiction.
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Copyright © 2018 Michael Todd, Michael Anderle, and Laurie Starkey
Cover by Ryn Katryn Digital Art
Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing
A Michael Anderle Production
LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
LMBPN Publishing
PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV 89109
First US edition, November 2018
Contents
Prologue… Ten Years Before
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
Author Notes - Laurie Starkey
Connect with Michael Todd
Books by Michael Todd
Books written as Michael Anderle
The Apostle Team
JIT Readers
John Ashmore
Kelly O’Donnell
Paul Westman
Nicole Emens
Angel LaVey
James Caplan
Danika Fedeli
Peter Manis
Thomas Ogden
Editor
Lynne Stiegler
Dedication
To Family, Friends and
Those Who Love
to Read.
May We All Enjoy Grace
to Live the Life We Are
Called.
Prologue… Ten Years Before
The gravel crunched under Damian’s boots as he walked carefully behind Calvin. He ducked, and a branch whipped over his head. The team moved toward their target, a run-down amusement park from the fifties, far off the beaten path.
Korbin put his hand up to slow the crew as they turned the corner. Large wrought-iron gates were rusted in their tracks. Johann’s long blond ponytail slipped off his shoulder as he nodded at Mary. She clutched her med bag and drew her gun.
Calvin joined them and crouched behind the bushes to the left of the gate to peer through the metal rails. “This place is fucking creepy.”
Damian chuckled and focused his binoculars. “Apparently, it was the place to be on a Friday night out here.”
“Looks like the place not to be now.” Calvin wrinkled his nose at the derelict buildings and trash scattered around. “And look where I am, spending Friday night with the fucking carnies.”
Johann grasped two bars and stared between them. “It’s derelict now, but why did they close it? In its heyday it would have been awesome.”
Mary smirked. “You thinking of investing in some property, Jo?”
Johann shrugged. “Yeah, but more like a hut on the beach than Nightmare Central.”
Korbin chuckled. “In 1963, the place was hopping. They installed new rides, new lights, and modernized it. Then, in November of that year on this very date, the morning maintenance crew found a body. A girl had been strung up on the Ferris wheel, and there were obvious signs of demonic ritual sacrifice. Management announced the closure of the location—something to do with the land rights, but that was clearly bullshit.”
“Nothing like a good ol’ demon sacrifice to ruin the damn party,” Damian said grumpily. “Seriously, they should have cleaned up and kept going. When we close shit down, we tell the demons that they won.”
Calvin inhaled deeply through his nose and glanced at the priest. “You gotta understand the fear a demonic sacrifice put into them. God-fearing folk don’t want to play where demons hang out.”
“That’s right.” Korbin nodded and drew his gun. “The rumors had already spread. The only way they could hide the whole truth was because the girl wasn’t from the town or even the state. The owners would have spent more money fighting the rumors than they lost shutting down. I think they were freaked, too. They abandoned everything, and didn’t even dismantle it. The family still owns the property, but they don’t come here.”
Mary stretched her neck to ease the tension. “Let’s get this show on the road. I don’t need any freaky carnies coming out of the woodwork. I’ll crawl through the bushes and see how many guards are at the front gate.”
Damian put his bible in his jacket pocket and climbed the fence. “I’ll check the park out from up there. Be right back.”
Korbin glanced at Calvin, who raised an eyebrow. “What? Hell, no. My black ass is staying right here on the ground. I’ll work when we get inside.”
The team leader laughed and nodded. “Sounds good.”
Mary and Damian finished their respective reconnaissance and returned. The priest hopped off the fence and brushed twigs from his jacket. “There is a building to the right and directly inside the gate with two gun-toting Damned pacing the roof.”
Mary nodded, breathing heavily. “There are two demons at the front gate and another pair about a hundred yards down at a service entrance.”
Korbin nodded and rubbed his hands together as they huddled. “Damian and Calvin, take the front gate. Mary and Johann, clear the service entrance. I’ll move to the gravel road and snipe the two on the roof.”
The team nodded agreement and readied their weapons. Their leader sprinted along the tree line, waiting for Damian and Calvin to make their move. The latter drew his gun and glanced at his teammate. “You exorcising?”
The priest grabbed his bible in one hand and his pistol in the other. “You know it.”
They moved furtively forward. Calvin stepped to the side and Damian rushed the first target. He grabbed it by the neck, slammed it to the ground, and held the bible in its face. He’d started a prayer but quickly saw that there was no human left inside. The demon had taken the soul, and the body was simply a husk.
He punched the beast in the face with his bible and growled with irritation as he shoved the book into his pocket. Flipping his gun to his right hand, he stood and aimed, giving Calvin the signal. He pulled the trigger twice as his partner ran past, already firing at the other guard. With both targets eliminated, the fighters glanced at the service entrance, where Mary laughed loudly.
She straddled one of the demons and maintained a choke-hold. “You like that, asshole? You demons are into that kinky shit, aren’t you?” She pulled the trigger. �
�Is that kinky enough for you?”
The creature turned to dust, and she glanced at Johann. He just shook his head, and she shrugged. “What?”
Her teammate rolled his eyes. “So dramatic.”
Two shots rang out from the road, and the guards on the roof dropped. The team watched as Korbin jumped to his feet. Mary slapped Johann on the chest. “That’s what I’m talking about. Pure talent.”
The team leader met the others at the service entrance and knelt to spread a map on the ground. He checked the number over the service entrance and pointed to its location. “We’re here. The main area amphitheater is through this service entrance, down about halfway, and out to the left. We should see the main area from there. I don’t know what we’ll walk into here, lock and load.”
The team huffed in unison, a silent battle cry. Korbin took the lead and walked slowly through the entrance with his gun ready. Johann and Mary fell in behind him to watch their flanks, and Calvin and Damian brought up the rear. The service hallway was silent, and lights flickered from an entryway ahead. Korbin put his finger to his lips, and the group huddled against the green tarp that separated the spaces. They inched to the opening and poked their heads around cautiously.
Mary gasped quietly, and Johann shut his eyes and stepped back. Damian pushed forward and peered over Korbin’s shoulder. Four crosses on the stage each held an older person dressed in worn staff maintenance uniforms. The bodies were nailed in place, their entrails spilled. They were obviously dead.
Korbin pushed the priest back and swallowed hard. “Okay. There are eight demons in that main area. We’re obviously too late for the people. Still, these monsters need to be stopped. Damian, do your thing. Save as many as you can. The rest of you, stay alive and eliminate the rest. Mary and Johann, take those three on the right. Damian and Calvin, those three on the left. I’ll handle the two onstage.”
The group surged into the main area. The priest curled his lip at the foul stench of demon and old blood. The bodies weren’t fresh. He grabbed a demon by its throat and slammed the butt of his gun into its head and launched into an exorcism prayer. “Domine tolle istorum simulatione fallatur. Deiice illos...”
He exorcised the two demons he could and laid the human bodies gently on the ground. The rest, though, were too far gone. The team dealt with them quickly and easily and watched Korbin battle the last beast onstage.
Calvin chuckled as the fighter roundhouse-kicked his adversary’s chest. “I swear the dude never ages. He’s like fucking Chuck Norris.”
Damian holstered his gun as Korbin decapitated his opponent. “I was waiting for one of them to slip on a liver or something.”
Calvin tried to stifle his laugh. “Bro, that’s…too soon, dude. Go tend to your sheep.”
The priest smirked as he moved to the two young men passed out in the dirt. He checked each pulse and nodded to Mary. “They should be fine. We’ll load them before we go, but do me a favor and check their vitals one last time.”
She gave a thumbs-up. “Might as well practice my medic duties on someone. You boys keep it clean out here.”
Johann walked past. “Complaining?”
Mary chuckled. “Nope, observing. You could at least get a fucking papercut every now and then.”
Damian walked away from the conversation and studied the stage. The corpses on the crosses didn’t make much sense to him. The amusement park had a reputation for child sacrifices, not adult.
Calvin joined him and folded his arms. “It’s a damn shame.”
Damian nodded, and his gaze shifted into the distance as he strained to listen. “Do you hear that?”
The other man listened closely, then nodded. Music played faintly from the shadows. The priest frowned. “Sounds like a music box.” He headed immediately toward the sound, drawing his pistol.
Calvin groaned and hurried beside him. “Dude, this is stuff you don’t chase down. I’m serious.”
They headed between the wrecked rides and past the crumbling game booths. Damian’s gaze roamed the scene quickly, looking for any sign of demons. The music ended abruptly, and the men halted, looking around. Calvin shuddered, staring at a torn picture of a clown hanging on a post by one corner. “Where did it go?”
Damian was about to respond when a deep, eerie chortle sounded from their left. The priest turned quickly, his pistol ready, and studied the old funhouse. Calvin tilted his head back and tightened his grip on his weapon. “Come on, man. Are we really going in there?”
“Hey, who says you can’t continue the fun of Halloween into November? Come on. Let’s check it out.”
They inched their way into the structure, noting the striped wallpaper peeling in ragged strips. They stepped into a room full of old mirrors, and Calvin turned his flashlight on. As they crept forward, he gasped and fired a round instinctively into a reflection. He turned quickly to catch a demon’s arm before its claws raked his body.
Calvin wrestled with his attacker and crashed into one of the mirrors. His gun fell from his hand, and he snatched a glass shard, grimacing at the flesh melting from the fiend’s face. “Fucking creepy.”
He stabbed the demon’s throat, almost severing its head. The creature squealed and turned to ash.
Behind him, Damian cleared his throat. “You done playing around?”
The fighter scoffed and stood. He brushed remnants of glass from the front of his pants and retrieved his gun. “I’m about ready to get the fuck out of here.”
The chortle sounded again, and they raced through the next door into an area where the walls slanted and a central platform shifted continuously from right to left and back. An old, dirty clown sat on the moving dais with his back to them. His costume was riddled with holes and covered in small, bloody handprints.
Damian raised his eyebrows. “Fuck. Hey! What are you doing, Bozo?”
The demon’s laughter ceased, and it turned slowly to reveal a disfigured, painted clown face. The beast roared, and rows of sharp teeth dripped with saliva. The priest’s gaze shifted and settled suddenly on the faces of five children sitting cross-legged on the floor. Their eyes all glowed bright red.
Immediately, the fighters raced toward the clown. Calvin caught the creature in a choke-hold. Damian held his bible up for a moment but dropped it at his feet. The demon bucked free, and Calvin fell against the side of the room. He grabbed his pistol, but the enemy struck it from his hand. Stepping back, Damian tripped and fell off the platform. His hand grazed his bible as he prepared for the inevitable. The fiend raised his claws high, ready to strike, but two shots rang out.
The priest opened one eye and stared at the bullet holes in their adversary’s forehead. The beast screeched loudly and burst into a cloud of dust. The two men glanced at Korbin who had entered ahead of Mary and Johann. His smoking gun barrel told the story. Damian nodded in thanks and ran to the children. With his bible held gently in front of them, he began the exorcism prayer.
The words spilled from his mouth, but he could tell the demons were too strong for their tiny little host bodies. They ripped the children apart with every word.
Calvin walked up, knelt beside him, and put his hand on the open bible. “Brother, they’re too far gone. I’ll take care of this one.”
Damian shook his head, his gaze fixed on the bouncing blonde curls of a small girl. “No. No, they can’t be gone. No.”
Korbin grabbed the priest’s arms from behind and hauled him to his feet. He grabbed his shoulders and turned him away from the children. “Damian! Let it go. Come on.”
He stared at the team leader for a moment, tears welling in his eyes. Unable to speak, he followed Korbin as Mary and Johann joined Calvin on the platform. He stepped through the doorway and recoiled involuntarily when several gunshots echoed through the funhouse and his soul. Against his better judgment, he glanced into the room. A small hand peeked from behind the platform, stained with blood.
He closed his eyes and drew a harsh breath. That fight had change
d him forever.
Chapter One
Thunder crackled across the London sky, and lightning lit up the living room where Damian sat clutching his book. The fire shimmered as a breeze gusted down the chimney. His gaze locked on the front door and he wondered if he had imagined it. Slowly, he closed his book and scooted closer to the edge of the chair. He hadn’t actually heard a knock, surely. It was only the wind playing tricks.
As his shoulders began to relax, thunder rumbled again, and the front door shook with another pounding demand. Damian swallowed hard. He hadn’t imagined it. There actually was someone at the front door that late at night.
Ravi hissed. I don’t like this. I can’t sense if there is something out there you should worry about.
The priest set the book on the table. What choice do I have but to open it?
The demon chuckled nervously. Uh, how about you don’t go to the door? Whoever it is will think you are asleep or not home and go away. Maybe they’ll come back at a more appropriate time, like daylight.
Damian shook his head. Whoever is here obviously thinks it’s important. I can’t not answer it.
She huffed, using her strength to immobilize him. Hear me out. You are in here, your guns are out there, and you slay fucking demons for a living. That could be some badass demon, ready to mow you down as soon as you open the fucking front door. Seriously, think about this.