by David Clark
A blood-curdling scream echoed down the stairs from Sarah’s room. Edward leapt off the sofa and sprinted up the stairs, taking two at a time. He knocked through the door without even turning the door handle. Standing on her bed was the creature, holding Sarah above its head. She appeared to be unconscious.
“Hello, Edward,” it said to him.
Edward commanded, “Put her down.”
Defiantly, it shook its head, and then spun it all the way around. “Not going to happen. Seems she has inherited the same ability you have. Can’t let this continue.”
The creature forced Sarah’s back into an unnatural arch above its head. The sight of his daughter being broken in half caused something to snap inside of Edward. Fear, anger, or something deeper surfaced and his voice boomed through the house, “Put her down!”
The creature took notice and stopped. “I didn’t think you had it in you. You don’t know what to do with it, though.” It bent Sarah again.
Edward felt a warmth flowing through his body. He lunged for the creature. It jumped away, dropping Sarah down on her bed. When she hit the mattress, she woke up and screamed. She clawed her way to the headboard of her bed, as far away from the creature as she could get. Edward had it trapped in the corner.
Edward wished he had the book in his hands. With no option at all, he attempted to create his own prayer. “Foul creature, you have invaded my home and my realm. I condemn you back to the depths of hell you came from. In the name of God Almighty, the protector of heaven, earth, and all that is just, I command you out.” At that moment, Edward made a cross with his right hand in front of the creature. While finishing the cross, a fingertip contacted its torso, creating a burning singe they both felt. The contact created a mark on the creature. It fell to the floor writhing in pain, making the most inhuman sound Edward had ever heard, like a thousand souls screaming all at once.
“Out with you, Abaddon. Back to the bowels of hell with you.” Edward pressed his right hand on the creature. Its skin felt like worn leather. In appearance it looked hot, but it felt freezing cold at first and then sizzled under his palm. The smell of burnt flesh permeated from the corner of the room and a cloud of steam developed around it. Edward continued to press while he repeated, “I command you to leave this world. I command you to leave this world.”
The cloud of steam grew large and dense, obscuring the creature for a second. When it cleared, the creature was gone. Deep down Edward knew it was not gone from this world. Just gone from his daughter’s room. This was not over.
Edward turned his attention to his daughter sitting at the head of her bed, still screaming hysterically. He embraced her warmly and told her she was ok. She stopped screaming, but he did not let go. He sat there holding her, rocking back and forth for several moments, telling her it was ok. Then he stopped and whispered, “I need to go. You will be safe now.” She said nothing. She let go and watched him walk out of the room.
Edward pulled out his cellphone and dialed. “Father Murray, where are you?”
Over the sounds of screams and howls, Father Murray screamed, “At the high school, hurry,” and the call disconnected.
Close to the school, Edward passed groups frightened people running away. They had abandoned their cars in the road, making it unpassable. He drove as close as he could get and then stopped and ran toward the school, weaving his way through the masses.
Edward fought through the crowds and finally reached the gate of the football field. He ran through and emerged out on the field. From there he could survey the scene. There were people injured and bloodied laying on various spots of the field and surrounding track. There was a circle of red spirits and demons about thirty feet away. Father Lucian was on the ground in the center. Father Murray stood over him holding the cross. They had not noticed Edward yet.
He crossed himself quickly and silently prayed, “GOD as my protector, guide me tonight in the protection of others.” He felt what he felt in Sarah’s bedroom, but this time it was stronger, much stronger. There was a pulsating glow around his hands.
Edward walked toward the circle and yelled, “Leave them alone.” His voice appeared to echo as if it came from above. The creatures all stopped and looked at him.
Father Murray finally saw him and pleaded for Edward to stop. “You are not ready!”
Edward ran toward the group of spirits. He felt a strength building within him. Something unlike anything he had felt before. The power surged through every fiber of his body, while inside he had doubts about how to use it. The bodies littering the ground were all he needed to convince him he had to try. Which one should he go for first? The time to think was at an end. The time to act was now. They were on top of him.
Edward ran through the horde, throwing his hands at as many as he could. Each one he contacted staggered backward. He felt a slash on his shoulder and a quick stabbing blow to his lower back. The adrenaline of the moment blocked the pain. The cold touch of a spirit trying to grab his neck caused him to leap out of the way. A demon wildly swung at Edward’s head. Its claw grazed his left temple, sending a trickle of blood across his vision and down his face.
“O Father…” he started a prayer, but stopped to dodge another attack. The demon’s claw ripped across his right thigh, digging into the tissue, sending Edward down to one knee. As the creature passed him, Edward hit him with his right hand, causing it to howl in pain while it retreated to the circle that had formed around him.
“Edward, here!” Father Murray yelled with both the book and cross in hand. Edward held up his hand to tell him to wait, but Father Murray threw them anyway. Edward reached to catch them, but a creature covered in scars jumped up and used its body to knock them away. It fell to the ground, limp, with a thud following the contact.
The circle closed in on Edward. Outnumbered and injured, he was running out of options. But as hopeless as he felt, the confidence and strength inside him built to a level of that made Edward want to scream and jump out of his own skin. He held up a hand and prayed, but couldn’t get a word out before a small four-legged creature ripped into his forearm with a claw. Edward yanked his injured arm back and held it close to his chest. When he looked down at it, he took notice of his other hand, now on the ground supporting him. The glowing he saw coming from his hands was now radiating out along the ground. Father Lucian told him the power to deal with all of this was inside of him. Maybe he was right.
Out of options, and now a wounded prey being circled by predators, Edward placed both hands firmly on the ground. The ground below his feet and knees shook. He began, “O Divine Eternal Father, I, your humble warrior, beg your strength to cast out the forces of your greatest enemy. Send them to the darkest depths of hell, where they will be imprisoned for all eternity. Use my body as your weapon against them.”
The glowing circle on the ground shot out away from him across the field. The creatures and spirits reacted violently as they come into contact with it and then froze, unable to move. Edward pushed through the pain in his right thigh and stood up. He walked through the frozen beings and touched each, one at a time, repeating “In the name of God and Christ Almighty, I condemn you to hell, foul creature.” One by one they disappeared in a puff of fog.
Edward left one for last, one he knew intimately. First, he retrieved the cross from off the ground. Then he walked over to the frozen creature. Its soulless eyes watched him the whole time. Edward pressed the cross against its cold leathery flesh. Flames emerged at contact. “Abaddon, in the name of the son, the father, and the holy spirit, I condemn you to the darkest depths of hell for all eternity.”
The creature did not howl or make any sounds of pain as it disappeared. From the darkness its voice made one last proclamation. “I always return. The seed has been sown.”
Edward limped over to Father Murray, who was helping Father Lucian to his feet.
“Everyone ok?” he asked.
Father Lucian picked up his black wide-brimmed hat and put it back on
. “I am ok.”
Edward and Father Murray looked around the ground. Paramedics rushed in to help many of the injured. Others were being covered in sheets, as they had succumbed to their injuries. Father Murray lamented, “Not everyone was so lucky.”
A great sadness and feeling of guilt came over Edward. He looked at both Father Murray and Father Lucian. “I am sorry. I could have prevented all this.”
“No you couldn’t. This started long ago. You stopped it from getting worse,” Father Murray said. “There is hope now that this darkness that has shrouded our community is coming to an end. We have you to thank for that.”
Father Lucian cautioned, “Father Murray, don’t be lulled into believing this. This is not over. It never is. Abaddon gave up too easy. This may be just the beginning.”
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Coming Soon
Miller’s Crossing : Origins – Follow the Miller’s adventures as they travel from Scotland to the Vatican for training and depart for a whole new life in the New World.
About the Author
David Clark is an author of multiple self-published thriller novellas and horror anthologies (amazon genre top 100) and can be found in 3 published horror anthologies. His writing focuses on the thriller and suspense genre with shades toward horror and science fiction. His writing style takes a story based on reality, develops characters the reader can connect with and pull for, and then sends the reader on a roller-coaster journey the best fortune teller could not predict. He feels his job is done if the reader either gasps, makes a verbal reaction out loud, throws the book across the room, or hopefully all three.
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Other Works
If you enjoyed this book, be sure to check out his other works. Feedback and reviews are always welcome.
Series
Game Master – An escape room themed horror series. - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T3HQJ97
Anthologies and Short Stories
Dark Water Syndicates – Postcards from the Void - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G8YBY9Q
Hellbound Books’ – The Big Book of Bootleg Horror 4 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C2N9ZL
Hellbound Books’ -Shopping List 2 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0776LFHJM
Highway 666 And Other Tales to Speed your Descent into the Abyss -https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F64HP4X
The Splurge – A collection of Horror Inspired Holiday Parody -https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JMSPMRY