The Soul Healer

by B. Groves

  She’d shown up to help Olivia, but that didn’t mean she would return to finish the rest of it.

  He didn’t want to assume she wouldn’t, but he didn’t want to assume she would return either.

  Kyle swiped through his phone and skipped over Alison’s number. He called the hospital to check on Billy Wilson.

  Billy answered the phone in his room.

  “Hi, Reverend,” Billy said.

  Billy sounded weak but recovering. This was Kyle’s point. The demon was gone and now Billy’s soul was free.

  “I was calling to check up on you,” Kyle said.

  Billy sighed. “These bandages are itching my eyes, but the doctors are positive about my eyesight.”

  Billy’s emotions changed. “Reverend, I’m sorry I attacked your cousin. I… I don’t remember doing it. My wife… I can’t see her… but I hear it in her voice. I did something to her, too, and she won’t talk about it. Reverend, I work hard for my family, and my mother taught me to never hit a woman. I… I don’t know…”

  Billy sounded like a shattered man.

  “Billy, you’ll get the help you need. God will guide you down the right path. My cousin is fine. You took her by surprise when we were out there and she’s been taking self-defense classes. She never wanted to hurt you,” Kyle said, trying to keep up his lie. “You work on healing inside and out. If you need help, call me.”

  The church doors opened. He needed to cut the call short before the person or persons discovered his secret.

  “I will, Reverend. Thank you,” Billy said.

  “Get some rest,” Kyle said and hung up the phone.

  Kyle got up from his desk and headed out to the church. Clara was quiet, but he didn’t know for how much longer and that meant he needed to chase the visitor away.

  He walked into the church and stopped dead in his tracks. He struggled to hold his composure while dread spread through his body. He didn’t know how to react or what to say to the two men standing near the pulpit patiently waiting for him to make an appearance.

  Kyle’s dread turned to fear, a deep instinctive fear that he only experienced once before and that was during his time in Iraq. That kind of primal fear made you stand still because you didn’t know if in the next few minutes you’d be alive and walking. His sympathies to what Alison must have felt every single day made him her despite their disagreements on how to proceed with exorcisms.

  Samuel Manes and his assistant, Jason, stood by the pulpit with expressionless faces. Kyle wished for Alison’s gift at that moment, because he wanted to see what they were hiding beneath their human hosts. Was Samuel Manes Satan? Was his assistant one of his dark princes who’ve come to reign Hellfire down on the quaint little town of Wolfpine? Kyle wished for that gift, although Alison referred to it as a curse.

  “Mr. Mayor,” Kyle said trying to hide the apprehension in his voice. “What an unexpected… umm… surprise. How may I help you?”

  “Good afternoon, Reverend,” Samuel answered with a friendly smile. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  “I was… writing notes for my sermon this coming weekend,” Kyle said.

  “Good,” Samuel turned and pointed to his assistant. “I don’t think you’ve ever met my assistant, Jason McBride.”

  The man held a smirk that Kyle didn’t like. He walked up silently to Kyle and shook his hand, his deep brown eyes never leaving Kyle’s.

  “Nice to meet you,” Jason said.

  “You too, Jason,” Kyle answered.

  Jason let go of his hand and walked back to stand by his boss.

  “So, what can I do for you, Mr. Mayor?”

  Samuel smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant smile. It was one that could cast fear and doubt into the heart of the toughest man… or woman.

  He strolled past Kyle and over to the entrance to the hallway that led to the storage closets and Kyle’s office.

  Kyle only slightly turned as he kept one eye on Jason and one eye on Samuel.

  “Reverend, it’s been a fantastic show with you,” Samuel said.

  Kyle froze in place. His eyes searched for a weapon, any weapon but all he had were pews behind him and the pulpit in front of him.

  “I’ve enjoyed watching you try your best with these people. Your dedication to your religion and this town is commendable,” Samuel said.

  Clara was banging on the door again. Samuel’s smile turned wider.

  Kyle’s breathing turned heavy and his body was ready to explode from the tension in his muscles.

  Samuel scratched his head and turned to face the hallway. Kyle realized that Jason had taken a few steps closer to him and held his hand in his pocket.

  Samuel turned back to Kyle and shrugged. “I came here to take back what was mine, but I’m not sure. Sounds like she’s going feral again.”

  Kyle tried to keep his composure, but after years of watching other people’s lives destroyed by the powers of darkness, he was at the end of his rope. What he’d suspected all along came true the moment Mayor Samuel Manes stepped into his church.

  “I worked hard on her and you had to ruin it,” Samuel said. “Like you’ve ruined others.”

  Kyle was aware of Jason standing directly behind him but he was ready to risk it all to get at Samuel.

  “What is it you want, Samuel? What is your endgame?”

  Samuel raised his hands in the air and pivoted on his feet. “For starters, this town. You see, Kyle…” Samuel lowered his arms and placed his hands behind his back. “We have to start small, sometimes we have to hide in plain sight. I’ve been assigned to Wolfpine as a kind of test if you will.”

  “A test?”

  Samuel shrugged. “That’s what I call it. You are a man of God, you may call it something else.”

  “What’s the test?”

  “Start small. Gain the trust of people who believe the ridiculous stories in your book of lies,” Samuel explained. “Become a beacon of light in the darkness. Bring a small town on the brink of failure and turn it into a successful place. Bring jobs, hope, and goodwill. Stir up loyalty and boost morale. It’s so easy to fool those who are looking to be fooled.”

  Samuel cocked his head in thought. “We’ve failed before. I’ll admit to that. Our enemies are the ones who possess the power to see us. When we appear, they appear. It’s very irritating.”

  Samuel lit up with his next words. “However, they have to be born. All we have to do is drop inside the body. Eventually, their numbers will dwindle and ours will grow.”

  Kyle was stunned by Samuel’s confession. Kyle thought about the weight of Samuel’s words, the magnitude of what could happen if the demons made their way onto the Earth. He said the end times are a bunch of nonsense, but was it? Surely, if the demons ruled the Earth, it would be the end times and the Book of Revelation would come true.

  “Why, though?” Kyle asked. “Why do you want to? Don’t you want to continue to punish human souls for committing sins?”

  Samuel chuckled. “It’s more complicated than that, Reverend. We are on orders to come here and cleanse the Earth of human filth.”

  Kyle gritted his teeth at Samuel’s smug look. He wanted to run and attack the man but with Jason practically breathing down his neck he wouldn’t make it five feet.

  “There will always be people like Alison to stop you, and people like me to help her,” Kyle said.

  Samuel lost the smile on his face. “Alison Stark is a problem that I can resolve. You’ve been warned, Reverend. Do yourself a favor and look the other way.”

  Samuel walked up and put a hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “Enjoy your life, it’s the only one you get.”

  The older man took two steps back and Kyle felt a hand wrap around his forearm. Kyle flinched in pain from Jason’s strength.

  “As for Clara, she’s been compromised,” Samuel said.

  Unearthly screaming came from behind the closet door. Before he could react, he was punched right in his left kidney.

  Pa
in in Kyle’s back hit him like fire. A blinding whiteness exploded in front of Kyle’s eyes and he couldn’t remember when he hit the floor. He rolled around in agony and tried to take a deep breath, but it hurt too much.

  Despite Kyle’s pain, he felt the kick in his stomach and then another. He grunted and groaned.

  Blackness overtook the blinding whiteness and Kyle struggled to keep from passing out.

  He gasped for breath and rolled over onto his back. His vision was blurry and a face appeared closer to his.

  “Preach about this, Reverend and see how fast you lose your precious church,” the voice said.

  A boot came down on his chest and held him in place. He turned his head and watched as Samuel walked into the hallway.

  He heard Clara scream from beyond the walls of the church. He didn’t know what Samuel did.

  Samuel walked out and nodded to Jason who released his boot from Kyle’s chest.

  “Have a nice day, Reverend. See you at Founder’s Day,” Samuel said.

  Kyle coughed and wheezed as he tried to stand up. The church doors opened and closed and all Kyle could do was stare at the cream-colored ceiling.

  Kyle coughed again and he flinched from the pain in his belly. His vision cleared enough to where he could reach for his cell phone.

  He thought of calling 9-1-1, but what would they do? He thought of Miguel but he was busy with Olivia and who knew where Markus was.

  The only other person he had was Alison, but she was three hours away.

  Wood cracked in the hallway. A low growl came from behind the wall. That’s when he decided he needed help.

  Kyle’s vision cleared enough for him to see Alison’s number.

  First, he had to see how bad Clara was.

  Kyle cried out in pain as he got to his knees. He lost his breath when he leaned against the pew to come to a standing position. He thought he would drop right back to the floor, but he managed to stay in a standing position. The room spun around for a few seconds before Kyle was able to recover long enough to stumble over to the hallway.

  Tiny splinters of wood lay on the floor, and Clara’s voice came through loud and clear.

  “Don’t you leave me, Samuel!” She screamed. “No, Samuel! Come back here.”

  Kyle pressed the button to Alison’s phone number. She answered and spoke to him, but Kyle was having a hard time speaking.

  Wait? Did she say she’d be there in fifteen minutes?

  He frowned despite the pain and questioned her answer.

  Kyle didn’t care, though. The throbbing from his mid-section was too overwhelming. He sank to the floor and waited for Alison to arrive.

  Chapter 28

  July 15, Early 2010s

  Heather has been getting her life back in order. She found a job and is attending school again, part-time much to the relief of the rest of the family, except me. I refuse to leave her alone until I know for sure that her depression is under control.

  Dr. Rodriquez has been amazing with her therapy, and Heather is responding to his treatments and advice.

  I’m happy she’s responding, but I have my doubts. I’m living with her until she gets back on her feet. She often complains that Mom and I are smothering her too much.

  She drank excessively at Chris’s wedding and caused a scene. That’s not like Heather. She’s always been sweet and shy and never partied that much when she was younger. It’s worrisome, but I’m optimistic that as time passes, she’ll return to normal.

  Until then, I’ll continue to live with her and monitor her.

  Chapter 29

  Alison arrived at the church and ran inside with Simon. Simon growled and barked when they entered through the doors.

  Alison heard yelling to her right when she spotted Kyle struggling to stand near the doorway.

  “Kyle!” Alison called out.

  He turned and looked relieved to see her.

  Alison ran over to Kyle and kneeled in front of him. Sweat formed on his brow and he was holding his midsection.

  “What happened?” Alison said trying to hold back Simon.

  “I’m okay. Samuel’s brute kicked the shit out of me,” Kyle said. “Clara Reid is in the closet. She needs help.”

  “I’m calling an ambulance first,” Alison said.

  Kyle put up a hand to stop Alison. “Can you please take care of Clara first?”

  Alison frowned as Kyle reached into his pocket and handed Alison a key. He shook his head in regret. “I made a mess.”

  Alison stood up and said, “I’ll say.”

  Alison held Simon and peeked around the doorway. She moved into the hallway with Simon who was moving and barking at the door.

  Alison stepped in front of the door. There was a huge hole towards the side that knocked out part of the hinges with wood fragments scattered over the floor.

  Alison leaned closer and tried to peek inside the darkened room. Not seeing any movement, Alison stepped back and called, “Clara? Clara Reid?”

  “Yes?” A voice said from the darkness.

  “I’m Alison Stark—”

  “I know. I felt you comin’ in here.”

  “I’m gonna open the door. If you try anything, I have an attack dog here ready to bite your hand off. Do you understand?”

  “I won’t do nothin’.”

  Alison ordered Simon to stand down although he continued to growl and bare his teeth. He took a few steps back as Alison ordered.

  Alison placed the key in the lock. “Turn on the light, first.”

  “I broke it.”

  “Nevermind.”

  Alison turned the key and removed the lock. She pulled the remains of the door open and grabbed her switchblade.

  “Come out. Slowly.”

  A haggard auburn-haired woman emerged from the darkness. Her hair was tangled and sticking out on all sides. Her mascara and makeup were smeared all over her face. Her hands were bloody, her clothes were messy, and she’d scraped away a few fingernails.

  The shadow appeared over her face and swirled around her body before re-entering her chest.

  Kyle struggled through the doorway behind Alison, and Clara turned to eye him.

  “You’re an asshole,” she spat at Kyle.

  Alison put her hands up before Kyle could speak. “What happened here? Do you want an ambulance?’

  Clara shook her head and said, “I’ve never done anythin’ to hurt anyone and the Reverend here takes it upon himself to lock me up. Now, Samuel thinks I’m compromised. I’m so screwed.”

  She inhaled a shaky breath. “Clara—the real Clara is gone—and you couldn’t leave it be.”

  Alison lifted an eyebrow. “Is she? Demons say that all the time.”

  Kyle mumbled something behind Alison and Clara turned to him. “You preach righteousness and goodwill towards other men. You preach about following the Lord Jesus Christ and being a better person but look what you did. You kidnapped me and now Samuel will come after me. He’ll send his little goon boy after me. He’ll kill the real Clara and send me back to hell. You’re a fool, Reverend.”

  Clara turned back to Alison and said, “You can’t ask Clara, so you’ll have to take my word for it. She was a hoarder before I came along. Her sister abused her after her mother died. Her sister lied and said it was the other way around.” She turned back to Kyle and said, “That’s bullshit. It was Audrey who was the abuser. She let their mother starve and Clara couldn’t stand up to her.”

  Clara’s eyes filled with tears. “I liked it here on Earth and I hope Clara’s at peace, but it’s gone because of you.”

  Clara put out her bloody hands to Alison. “If you want to take me out, go ahead, hunter, but I’m tellin’ the truth.”

  Alison didn’t touch the woman in front of her. She made Simon back down a few more steps. She didn’t need to exorcise her. The demon wasn’t lying, and since years had passed, Clara’s soul was too far gone for her to save. It would only make Clara’s situation worse at this point. Th
ere were times Alison understood that she had to back off and it was up to the demon to leave or stay inside the body. She made exceptions all the time for different scenarios. She learned the hard way that sometimes the exorcism wasn’t what was best for the human.

  Heather’s face flashed before Alison’s eyes as if she were standing in Clara’s place. She would never make that same mistake again.