by B. Groves
I grabbed the first flight out of Tampa and landed in Sacramento six hours later after speaking to Ben over the phone.
It was a relief to know I wasn’t alone anymore. I’d been reading books about the occult. I was studying the Bible, the Quran, and other religious works to learn more about what I’d become, as Ben suggested.
Amanda is the Oracle to Ben’s Batman since she’s in a wheelchair. It was crazy, but the way they worked together amazed me.
They had been through a lot together and Ben was entering his early fifties. He was thinking about retiring.
Ben was not only a seer but a hunter. He answered calls from around the world. People who needed help with their demonic problems. He explained that hunting was taking a toll on his health and Mandy suffered from pneumonia while he was away one time and it almost killed her.
These two were my saviors. They brought me back to sanity when I thought I’d lost hope.
I stayed with them for six months, and Ben taught me how to stay mentally and physically strong.
He warned me about my life. He said I would face my gift alone with most regular humans not understanding us.
It’s a lonely world for us, he said, but we have a lot of support. There are others like us. Other people who don’t understand what they see, but connecting with each does us all a world of good. We might be outcasts in the normal world, but we always have each other.
Ben gave me hope during those six months. I appreciate him and Mandy so much. He even put me in contact with his friends in North Carolina. Both of them were victims of a shadow years ago.
Chapter 5
Present day. Charlotte, North Carolina
Kick-kick-punch. Breathe in and out.
Alison steadied her punching bag while Simon settled on his doggy bed in the corner.
The golden and black German shepherd lifted his head when Alison grinned at him and he wagged his tail waiting for her to take him for a run.
“You ready, boy?” She asked.
The three-year-old dog got out of his doggy bed and wandered over to her. His eyes were a golden color that Alison loved. His fur was thick and shiny, and his face showed every emotion. He was also well-trained to protect Alison from any danger.
She adopted him at eight months old from a local shelter. His former owners had abused him and he feared people. It took Alison months to gain his trust as he cowered in a corner when she brought him home, and although he learned to love Alison and trust people.
Simon was eager to learn when Alison trained him. She got pointers from other hunters who owned dogs for protection. “Dogs can sense what we can’t,” someone told her once. “It would be in your best interest to find a dog willing to die for you.”
Simon wagged his tail patiently waiting for Alison to strap on his leash.
Alison lived in an apartment complex in northern Charlotte. She loved this place. It had everything Alison could want in a neighborhood.
It was small and quiet with a mall, restaurants, and grocery stores within three miles of her home.
The best part was the nature path about 100 yards from Alison’s front door situated next to a pasture. Some mornings she would spot deer grazing in the tiny pasture.
The path itself was 10 miles long, winding its way through residential neighborhoods that disappeared for marshes and lakes.
It was her favorite spot to walk Simon on the weekends.
“Let’s do some cardio,” She said, smiling at her dog.
Simon half whined/half barked his reply, making Alison laugh. Yes, he was ready to leave and he proved that by leading her to the front door.
“Hang on big guy,” Alison said.
She paused by the door and grabbed her keys, her ID, and her switchblade. She had her cell phone in the workout band already around her arm and her earbuds already placed in her ears.
It was stifling hot in Charlotte today. She already turned her air conditioner down and her run would be short.
She slipped the switchblade into its sheath and hid it under her t-shirt. Satisfied, she was about to open the door when Simon whined again and Alison’s ears perked up.
She heard the heavy footsteps coming up the wooden staircase and stopped to listen. Another benefit of this apartment complex was that you heard everyone coming and going above and below you from the way the management company designed the entrances.
Alison looked down to see Simon’s body tense. She patted his head and said, “Don’t worry. They’ll pass in a minute and we’ll be on our way.”
She waited for the footsteps to move on, except they stopped at the landing.
Alison backed up and nudged Simon to join her. Sometimes she felt silly being so paranoid, but she made many enemies over the years and she could never be too careful.
Simon’s ears perked up and he barked when the footsteps moved closer.
Alison drew in a deep breath as she looked down at her dog. If there was danger, Simon would have growled.
Hoping the person would move on, she tried to calm her nerves.
Except the footsteps stopped again and the knock came at her door.
Simon barked even louder, but he wagged his tail.
Alison was more annoyed now than afraid. She coaxed Simon to calm down and sit still. She walked over to the door and gazed through the peephole.
It surprised Alison to see a man with thick dark hair, trimmed beard, and wire-rimmed glasses waiting on the other side of the door.
He wore a white-collared shirt and tie and Alison couldn’t help but think what a good-looking guy he was.
What did this guy want? Was he selling something?
Alison hesitated at the lock. She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing her mind. Sometimes the shadows were sneaky little bastards and could hide behind their meat suits.
She opened her eyes, her mind focused on the man she stared at through the peephole and scanning his head and shoulders. Nothing showed from her vantage point.
Alison let out the breath she’d been holding, but still, her hand hesitated to unlock the door. She avoided humans and shadows alike and tried not to engage in conversations when she didn’t need to.
Alison was about to turn away from the door and ignore the man when he knocked again.
Simon barked again, but Alison signaled him to stay in his corner.
She rubbed her face and shook her head. He heard Simon bark. He knew she was there.
“Hello?”
That made Simon stand and bark up a storm and made Alison have to open the door.
Alison placed one hand behind her and held her switchblade. She unlocked the door with her free hand and only opened it a few inches.
She had a perfect view of the man now.
He blinked a few times when his gaze settled on Alison. She turned back to Simon who had come up behind her and told him to shush. He sat down with his tail wagging.
Satisfied, Alison asked, “Can I help you?”
The man adjusted his stance and asked, “Are you Alison Stark?”
“What do you need?”
The man tried to hide his surprise at her curtness and said, “I’m Reverend Kyle Ellis. I emailed you last week about helping me with a problem. ”
Alison took a step back. Was this guy some kind of psycho? She told him in no uncertain terms that she was not interested and he shows up at her door?
“Are you kidding me? What are you doing here?” Alison asked. She didn’t hide her anger or her annoyance that this man showed up at her home.
The man looked frustrated, but his face showed some pleading. “I’m sorry for showing up uninvited, but you don’t understand—”
“I understand,” Alison interrupted. “I told you I don’t work these kinds of cases anymore.”
“I know, but I’m desperate. No one else responded and this little girl is very sick,” Reverend Ellis explained.
“Take her to a doctor,” Alison said.
Kyle tilted his head, his ang
er warping his face. “You know what I mean.”
“I can’t believe you’re here at my door,” Alison said.
“Miss Stark, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think you could help me, and I have no one else,” Kyle said.
Kyle reached into his pocket and brought out his cell phone. He tapped a few buttons and pointed the screen towards Alison.
Alison’s gaze turned to the cell phone video. She knew it all too well because she’d seen it a thousand times before. The little girl’s body contorted into unnatural positions, bloodshot eyes, growling, and screaming. The lips were dry and cracked, a face mottled by lesions and cuts.
The little dark-haired girl grinned at the camera and spoke in a voice that was not her own, cursing and calling the person filming it all kinds of nasty names.
Reverend Ellis held out a cross and the demon laughed at him.
Alison kept her emotions behind the mask she learned to use over the years, although on the inside, her heart broke for the little girl in the video.
Alison turned her gaze away from the little girl banging her head against the wall.
“That’s why I need you,” Kyle said, stopping the video and putting the cell phone back in his pocket. “This demon is killing this child.”
Alison opened her door a little more to face the Reverend better. “I already told you I don’t do that anymore. I’ll contact someone who can help you.”
The Reverend cursed and said, “You don’t care? This little girl is dying. This thing inside her is killing her. I don’t know how much longer she has. Like I told you in the email, it already killed her mother, and now her body is deteriorating. Don’t you even want to help a child?”
“I will find someone for you—“
“They told me to contact you,” the reverend said, his frustration coming through his tone. “They’re away on another case.”
Alison quieted. Thanks, guys, she thought. No one was supposed to contact her anymore. She’d have to remember to send them a reminder later.
“Good God, don’t you people want to help? Do you think this is a game?” Kyle asked.
Alison felt her anger build. She didn’t have to do anything. She had no obligation to anyone.
“No, Reverend. We don’t think this is a game,” Alison said. She opened the door to make sure the man saw Simon in the background.
The reverend eyed Simon and looked back at Alison. She could tell by his body language that he was trying to calm his temper.
“I don’t enjoy seeing children hurt, but I have my reasons why I don’t take these cases anymore, besides you showing up at my door is weird,” Alison said. “There are others.”
“They’re not close enough. I am losing time,” he answered.
“Then you will have to come up with another solution,” Alison said.
Alison wanted out of this conversation. This reverend may have been a handsome guy, but it was creepy that he would show up at her door out of nowhere.
Alison started to shut the door when Kyle’s hand reached out to stop her.
“What the hell are you doing? Let go of my door,” Alison said. Simon growled lowly behind her.
“So, you’re just going to walk away? Not even try to help a child who is suffering?” Kyle asked, not taking away his hand from the door.
This was not the first time someone tried the guilt trip with Alison. People have tried to guilt trip her before and she walked away with no regrets. They didn’t understand what she’d seen over the last eleven years. They never would.
She quieted Simon, feeling the reverend was no threat to her well-being. It was strange that he showed up to her door, but he was a desperate man and desperate people did strange things.
Kyle’s eyes turned to Simon who was trying to poke his head through the door. Although Alison calmed him, he would still protect his mistress no matter what.
“I drove three hours for nothing,” Kyle said, not taking his eyes away from Simon.
“I guess you did,” Alison answered.
She would not back down no matter how much this guy begged.
Kyle’s expression turned to defeat and his shoulders slumped. He then shook his head and the defeated look turned to anger.
He reached into his pocket and took out his wallet and pulled out a business card. He held it out for Alison and she took it just to be polite.
She glanced at it and said, “Do you think this will change my mind?”
“No,” Kyle said,” but if you decide you don’t want to be a selfish bitch, then this is where the girl is.”
Alison’s eyebrows rose in surprise at his words. “That was godly of you, and since you want to call me childish names then you can leave.”
Alison didn’t wait for a response, she closed the door in his face and muttered, “Asshole.”
She waited for the footsteps and relief washed over her when the reverend’s steps retreated but not before he cursed when she closed the door.
Alison turned and walked over to her balcony. She opened the screen door and saw the Reverend get into his car and drive off with a slight screech of the tires.
Their conversation pissed him off and if she were him, she would be too. You call for help from someone who knows they can help resolve the situation only for that person to tell you to piss off.
Alison inhaled a deep breath and tried to calm the guilt building inside of her. The video of the little girl crawling around the walls and the ceiling, taunting the person filming and the image of Kyle perplexed in the video made Alison feel sorry for him.
She turned when Simon walked up beside her waiting for her to do something. She smiled down at him and said, “You liked him, didn’t you?”
Simon cocked his head to the side and Alison turned away with a smile as a warm breeze caressed her face.
She glanced down at the business card in her hand.
First United Church of Wolfpine
Reverend Kyle Ellis
Ordained Minister/Officiate
The card contained the address of the church and Kyle’s email address. It was a simple black and white printed card.
Alison walked into the apartment and placed it on her side table with the guilt still swelling inside of her.
The little girl’s pain haunted Alison. She looked pale and sickly. The demon was killing her from the inside out and soon the child’s body would give out if the Reverend didn’t find some help soon.
You could save that girl, the voice of reason nagged.
Alison paced back and forth inside the apartment. She didn’t want this. She walked away for a reason from that life. It was a thankless, dangerous, and heart-wrenching job. When it became personal, Alison had to walk away.
The flashes of Heather came to the forefront of her mind and Alison stopped pacing long enough to pull the hair tie out of her hair and run a hand through it.
She rubbed her eyes trying to stop the tears from forming as the visions kept coming of the lifeless eyes, the tongue hanging out, the wire wrapped tightly around her neck.
Alison sat down and grabbed her laptop and flung it open. She needed to take her mind off Heather and that little girl.
What was her name? The Reverend never told her.
Alison tried scrolling through websites to take her mind off the video but it kept nagging her like a mosquito buzzing in her ear.
Alison closed the laptop and sat back on the couch pissed off that she was letting her emotions cloud her good judgment. She didn’t want to take another case. She’d found some peace in the last three years, and wanted to continue that path.
Alison didn’t know how long she sat on the couch listening to her kitchen clock tick in the background or Simon moving restlessly around her, but her mind changed in those minutes and she knew she had a job to do. The inner battle she fought between logic and wanting to help were now in a raging war within her mind.
Alison sat up and opened her laptop again. She typed in the address and found she c
ould make it to the town in three hours. She could spend the night at the outskirts of the town and drive back home early in the morning.
Alison gazed at Simon and asked, “Wanna go for a drive, boy?”
Simon barked his response and wagged his tail.
The Reverend called her a selfish bitch. She would prove him wrong.
Chapter 6