by Amy Cross
“She's coming,” Liam says behind me. “I finally did it. I finally freed Shaltak from this wretched place.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mark
The nearest set of pews flies up into the air. I look up, horrified, as they slam into the church's high vaulted ceiling and are then sent thudding into opposite walls. Turning, I watch as one of the pews shatters against the stone and then falls to the floor, and then I feel something brush against my shoulder.
Shivering with fear, I turn and look up. I don't see anything, but I swear I can sense a presence moving up the steps and going to join Liam at the altar.
“Let's have some light,” Liam says as he lights a couple of large candles, brightening the gloom as rain continues to fall outside. “It's getting cold in here as well, don't you think?”
Turning, I try to drag myself along the aisle, but I immediately stop as I feel a tightening, burning pain in my gut. I wince and try to find the strength to keep going, and then I reach out and try to pull myself a little way from the altar. The pain immediately returns, however, and I let out a faint whimper as I slump back down. I can feel hot blood soaking the front of my shirt, and I'm already starting to get weak.
“I freed you!” Liam calls out behind me. “You called for help, and I answered. You killed the girl and then you let the boy go, so that he could tell others. You knew someone like me would respond, that I'd come here. I know you'd become entwined with the ghost of Judith Prendergast, that she was desperately holding you back and preventing you from escaping. I'm surprised that a foolish woman was able to do that, but I suppose she was frantic. She's gone now, though. I've banished her, so you're free. Of all the men in this world, I'm the only one who came to serve you. I'm your truest follower.”
After taking a series of slow, steady breaths, I get ready to drag myself again. This time I know it's going to hurt, but I figure I can force my way through the pain, so I reach out and steady myself on my elbows and then I drag myself along the aisle.
The pain is so intense, I scream for several seconds, and finally I slump back down just half a meter from where I started. Whimpering as the pain ripples through my belly, I can feel tears in my eyes.
“I bow down before you with but one request,” Liam continues. “Return my wife to me. She was a good woman, and she was cut down in the cruelest manner possible. Until that moment, I believed that good would always overcome evil. I still believe there is good out there somewhere, but it has abandoned us. And if we have been abandoned, then we must serve whatever masters remain. Please, Shaltak, I beg you, grant me this meager reward in recognition of all that I have done for you. It's all I ask.”
I can do this.
I can drag myself to the corridor and then out of the church, and I can call for help. I don't know whose job it is to come and deal with demons. Liam didn't exactly do too well, but I guess he went a little rogue. Whoever sent Liam can send someone else, and then this Shaltak asshole will be sent away. And then, I guess, the whole world's going to have to reckon with the fact that demons are real.
After taking a moment to gather some strength, I reach out to steady myself. At the last moment, however, I glance over my shoulder, and to my horror I see that Liam isn't alone at the altar. Caught in the flickering candlelight, he's on his knees as a dark figure towers over him. The candlelight briefly grows a little, revealing the twisted, hate-filled face of Judith Prendergast. The demon must have kept her form, even now that the ghost herself is gone, and I watch as she stares down at Liam with an expression of disgust.
“No-one else came to help you,” Liam tells her. “I'm the only one. The rest of them saw you as something to be feared, something to be contained here in the church, but I recognized your power. I saw that you -”
Before he can finish, Shaltak screams. The candles are blown out, and I watch as Liam is thrown through the air. He cries out as he rushes past me, and I turn just in time to see him slam into the wall next to the archway. As his body crumples down to the floor, I can already see that he's broken.
Filled with fear, I start dragging myself along the aisle, trying desperately to get to the archway and to then reach the door. Every inch of movement is agony, but I manage to shuffle along on my elbows until finally I reach Liam's body. He's shivering on the floor, and I hear the creaking of broken bones as he turns to me and tries to get up.
“I just wanted to get her back,” he sobs. “I have to make Shaltak see that I'm worthy.”
He reaches out to grab me, but I pull my arm away.
“I understand why you hate me,” he continues, “but I did what I had to do. You've never been in love, Mark. You don't know what it's like.”
“You're a liar!” I spit back at him.
“I prayed so long and so hard for my wife,” he says, as a dribble of blood runs from the corner of his mouth, “and she still died. She still suffered for so long as the cancer ate her away. Then, when she was gone, I prayed for some sign that she was waiting for me, that I'd see her again if I ended my life. After a while, Mark, praying into silence feels hopeless. So I decided to worship something that might actually talk back to me. To something that might actually acknowledge what I've been through. To something that might actually help.”
“Everything you said was bullshit!” I shout. “You used me!”
“I told you what I used to believe,” he replies, before looking past me.
Turning, I see that the dark figure of Judith Prendergast has come down from the altar and is now slowly stalking toward us. Whereas the ghost was, at times, quite frail-looking, the demon form stands tall and menacing, and I can feel the floor shaking slightly beneath me with each step that the creature takes this way.
“What does it want?” I ask.
“To cause trouble,” Liam replies. “To hurt people. To watch people suffer.”
“And you chose to release it?”
“I've spent years trying to do the right thing,” he explains, “and all that time, I was aware of the Briarwych case. I knew there was something trapped here in the church, something that could help me. At first I dismissed the idea, but gradually I began to think more and more about coming here to Briarwych and releasing Shaltak. Then, when I heard about your friend's death, I realized that maybe the demon knew that I was out there, or at least that someone was out there. She was sending a message, hoping that someone would come and release her. I answered that call. I gave her what she wanted. I'm sorry I lied to you earlier. I already suspected that Shaltak would be here.”
“You abandoned everything you used to believe in!”
“I still believe in part of it,” Liam continues. “I believe that there's good out there somewhere. But wherever it is, it's too far away for any of us to feel it. So why not turn to the bad instead? Why not barter and negotiate with these creatures, to get what we want? That's the problem with pure faith. After a while, it just wears you down.”
“Or maybe you never really felt it in the first place,” I reply, watching as the demon gets closer and closer, then turning to Liam again. “Maybe you were full of hot air.”
“Maybe I'm just a man who wants his wife back,” he says, “and who'll do anything to get her.”
He looks along the aisle.
Following his gaze, I turn and see that Shaltak is getting closer and closer.
“She has to bring her back for me,” Liam whimpers, his voice filled with sobs now. “That's what all of this is for. She has to bring her back!”
Turning, I start dragging myself through the arched doorway and out into the corridor, and then toward the main door. I can hear rain still crashing down outside, and I know that I have to get out of this church before that creature gets to me. Realizing that crawling isn't going to be fast enough, I reach up and put a hand against the cold stone wall, and then I take a moment to steady myself. For a few seconds I feel weak again, as if I can't keep going. As if I can only stay down here on the ground and wait to die.
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“I bow down before you!” Liam shouts behind me. “You're free now! You've been trapped in this church for more than seventy years, but now you can leave! You can do whatever you want in the world, and in return I ask only that you grant me the one thing that I need. Please, bring her back. I know she didn't just vanish into nothingness after she died. Her soul has to be somewhere. Bring her back, I -”
Suddenly he lets out a gurgled, agonized cry.
I force myself up, tottering on my unsteady legs, and then I limp toward the door.
Behind me, Liam is still crying out. I don't know what Shaltak is doing to him, but somehow I get the feeling that there aren't going to be any rewards tonight. Reaching the door, I wince as I feel the pain bursting up from my gut, but then I force myself to keep going. I start pulling the door open, and almost immediately I feel cold wind and rain blasting against my face. I take a step forward, determined to get out there and call for help, but at the very last moment I stop, and then I make a terrible mistake.
I turn and look back, to see what's happening to Liam.
Shaltak is gripping the sides of Liam's face and is slowly ripping his head free from his body. Liam's struggling and trying to fight back, but already part of his neck has been torn open and I can see blood spraying out across the darkness. And then, as I continue to watch, I see his head being lifted higher, until strings of flesh are just about visible clinging either side of the exposed upper section of his spine. Still gasping, still shaking, Liam lets out a pained gurgle as his head is lifted even further from his neck, and finally the last pieces of connecting flesh and bone are broken.
In the darkness, I can just about see that Liam's eyes are still blinking.
Suddenly Shaltak starts crushing the head, squeezing it hard until I hear the skull crack.
Turning, I limp out into the rain, which is so strong that it almost knocks me straight back down. I stop and look out toward the lights of the village, but I don't see anyone nearby.
“Help!” I call out, but I already know that nobody will be able to hear me over the sound of the rain.
Hoping against hope that Shaltak isn't ready to follow me just yet, I hurry out across the cemetery, limping as fast as I can through the rain.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mark
“Help!” I shout, clutching my bloodied belly as I limp along the street. “Somebody help me!”
It's dark now, and rain is crashing down. Reaching the first cottage in a row, I stumble through the garden gate and start banging my fists on the door.
“Help me!” I yell. “Call for help! You have to get someone here!”
I look over my shoulder, but there's no sign of anything or anyone following me. Turning back to the door, I bang again, and then I look at the window and see that there's a light in the front room.
I wait, and then I limp back out of the garden and along to the next cottage. I need to find someone who's actually home.
“Help!” I shout, slamming into the next door and then banging with both fists. “You have to call for help!”
Again I wait. For a moment, I think I hear movement on the other side of the door, but then there's nothing other than silence. With rain still falling all around, I'm drenched and shivering now, and finally I knock again on the door.
“Please!” I sob. “Somebody open the door!”
Realizing that maybe there's nobody home here either, I limp back out onto the road. I take a moment to look back toward the church. For a few seconds I see nothing but the dark lane winding up the hill, but then I spot something moving in the darkness. Panicking, I turn and start hurrying along the lane, and finally I spot the Neills' cottage up ahead. I manage to speed up, and somehow I'm able to reach their front door.
“Help!” I shout as I start pounding on the door. “It's me! You have to open the door!”
Spotting movement at the window, I turn just in time to see Brian Neill staring at me from the other side of the rain-spattered window. And then, suddenly, Caroline Neil steps into view behind him and pulls the curtain shut.
“Are you kidding?” I stammer, before starting to hammer the door again. “I'm hurt! It's out of the church! I need help, you have to let me in!”
I bang on the door for what feels like an eternity, until finally stepping back as I realize that they're not going to let me inside. Stepping back onto the road, I look at the row of cottages and see that most of them have lights on in their windows. Despite the rain, these people must be able to hear me, they must know what's going on out here. And then, one by one, the windows start to fall dark, as if the people inside simply want to pretend that there's nobody home.
“Come on,” I whisper, horrified to realize that even now they're not going to acknowledge what's happening. “What's wrong with you all?”
Looking back along the road, I tell myself that there's nothing there, that nothing's coming for me through the darkness. After a few seconds, however, I spot something moving along the lane, and somehow deep down I instantly know that it's the creature from the church.
I turn to run, but at that moment I spot Brian's bike resting against the garden wall. I rush over and grab the bike, swinging it over the wall, and then – despite the pain in my belly – I climb on and start pedaling. Bursts of agony dart up across belly and into my chest every time I move my right leg, but I know that the creature will catch me if I stop. So I force myself to ride, moving slowly but surely along the dark street, and finally I manage to pick up the pace a little. By the time I've reached the bottom of the lane, I know what I have to do.
Nobody in Briarwych is going to help me. They're all too fucking scared, and too used to hiding away in their cute little cottages. Which means I have to go and find help somewhere else.
I take the next left and start cycling out of the village. I know the way to Crenford, although I'm not sure I can make it that far. I'm sure there must be other villages along the way, however, and maybe a few scattered houses in the countryside. Once I'm out of Briarwych, I can find someone who's not a goddamn coward, and I can get help. I glance over my shoulder, but there's no sign of anything following me so I look ahead and start pedaling as hard as I can, trying to push through the pain.
After a few minutes I reach the crossroads just outside the village. There's a sign, but in the dark I can't make out anything that it says. I look around, and the only lights are from Briarwych behind me. And then, suddenly, I realize I can hear something just a short way off in the distance. Something's coming this way, moving quickly through the darkness. I can't see it, but I can feel it watching me, the same way I felt it watching me in the church.
I turn and start riding again, speeding as fast as I can manage along the pitch-black road, struggling to even make out where the road ends and the grass verge begins. For the next few minutes I keep expecting to hit a patch of grass and go flying, but somehow I'm just about able to spot each turn as it arrives. I don't dare turn and look back, and I have to focus on trying to burn through the pain. I don't know how I'm managing to ride with a stab wound in my guts, but I keep telling myself that any other choice means instant death.
And then a little while later, just as I feel as if I can't go on, I spot a light ahead.
It's just a small pinprick, burning in the darkness, but at least it's something. Realizing that I've found a house, I start pedaling faster, and after a couple of minutes I see a couple more lights beyond a distant treeline. Whatever fucked-up shit is going on in Briarwych, it can't have reached this far outside the village, so I keep going until I reach a turn-off that heads toward the lights and then I start cycling that way. All I have to do is get help, and make sure someone calls the police and the authorities, and then everything will be okay.
Reaching a fence, I find that there's an old wooden barrier in the way. I dismount and duck under the barrier, pulling the bike through too, and then I climb back on and reach my foot down to start pedaling again. At the last second, however
, I stop as I look ahead, and I realize where I am.
I'm at the old airbase, except it no longer looks abandoned. There are lights along the runway, and more lights in one of the buildings. I don't know why or how, but suddenly there are people here.
“Hey!” I yell, before realizing that in the wind and rain they're never going to hear me.
I start cycling furiously toward the building. As I reach the runway, I see that there are regular lights on either side, marking the way. The bike's tires almost slip in the rain, but I manage to keep going until finally I get to the building. After climbing off the bike, I pull open a door on the side of the building and then I run inside. The corridor is well lit and I can hear voices in one of the rooms ahead. A man is barking out orders, and other men are replying to him. I don't know what they're on about, but finally I reach the doorway and hurry into the room.
“Help!” I shout. “There's a -”
In that instant, the voices stop and the light goes, and I'm left standing in the darkness.
As rain pounds against the roof, I look around and see that the place is exactly how it was when I first came here a few weeks ago. It's clear that that building was abandoned long ago, and there's no way a bunch of people can have just vanished in the blink of an eye.
Spotting an old-fashioned phone on a desk, I hurry over and pick up the receiver, but of course there's no signal. I try a couple more times, just in case by some miracle the phone might connect, but then I set it down as I realize that there's nothing here that can help me. I have to get back on the bike and keep going.
Hurrying back outside, I pick the bike up and try to climb on, only for a sudden pain to twist in my gut. I almost fall, but I just about manage to stay upright. I can't quite clamber onto the bike's seat, however, so for a few paces I simply push the bike and limp along until I'm at the edge of the runway. The lights are still burning on either side, but as I try to climb back onto the bike I feel another burst of pain and I once again have to stop for a moment.