The Soul Healer

by B. Groves

  He was not only her protector, but the one who’d gotten her through the death of her sister, although Alison still had her moments when finding Heather caused her panic attacks. Simon was always there to soothe her soul and deal with her grief.

  Alison watched from the front window as Miguel pulled away with Kyle inside the car. She gave Simon one last look and told him she’d be back later.

  Alison locked the door behind her and made her way to her car. She thought about Samuel Manes and wondered how powerful of a demon he really was. There were rumors through The Network throughout the years that certain demons held the power to open the veil and let the dark souls through to take possession of humans.

  He must have been one. She would find out soon.

  Alison found her way to City Hall. The town was jumping from summer traffic as tourists roamed through the streets looking for their next impulse purchase or a bite to eat. There were signs from businesses that advertised things like beautiful log cabins, zip lining, and jeep tours through the Great Smoky Mountains.

  There was a huge banner hanging in the middle of Main Street advertising the annual Founder’s Day Festival.

  Alison had a hard time finding a parking space and had to end up parking three blocks away from City Hall.

  She checked her phone and didn’t see a text from Chief Carter.

  Alison locked her car, fed the meter with some quarters, and trudged through the crowds of people until she came upon Main Street.

  While she was parking her car, a small crowd had gathered around the steps of City Hall and to her left, in a reserved parking space, sat Chief Carter’s Ford Bronco along with several police cruisers.

  Alison could see the steps of City Hall and wandered through the crowd of onlookers as she got closer to the small brick building.

  She listened to conversations going on around, opened up her mind to feel any dark presence in the area. She turned when she felt one off to her right. She glanced over that way, and the man stared back at her. He was tall, maybe in his mid-fifties, bald, and thin. She saw the demon appear and swirl around his body. Alison waited for him to act, but instead, he tried to blend deeper into the crowd.

  Alison pushed through the crowd to find the demon watching her, but he disappeared.

  Alison turned around just as the double glass doors to City Hall opened and a collective gasp reverberated through the crowd.

  She watched as two police officers escorted Mayor Samuel Manes out of the building with Chief Carter behind them.

  This was the first time Alison laid eyes on the Mayor except for pictures she’d seen on her internet searches. Kyle had been right. He wasn’t tall, or intimidating. He wasn’t anything special. He looked like one of Alison’s older co-workers from the accounting firm.

  The crowd went from whispers to excited talking. She stood off to the side as the crowd became upset about their beloved mayor being arrested. She heard a few angry shouts and saw one man giving the police the middle finger.

  Alison stared at the mayor as the police officer stopped him to open the car door. She took a deep breath and let her mind expand.

  The shadow around Samuel Manes appeared to Alison. It swirled in and out of his chest.

  Alison breathed heavily as the whispers penetrated her ears, the cries from the darkness of damned souls rushed through her brain.

  Alison had experienced many powerful demons in her life but Samuel… he almost took her breath away from the power that emanated from him.

  As the police officer opened the door, Samuel looked and Alison realized he’d caught her eye. A sneer appeared on his face, but he changed it to a friendly smile.

  “Don’t worry, citizens of Wolfpine. This is a casual misunderstanding. I will explain it all later,” he announced as the officer pushed him into the backseat of the police vehicle.

  Alison took her eyes from Samuel and saw his assistant Jason standing on the steps of City Hall speaking into his cell phone.

  Alison wouldn’t have much time to speak to Samuel. She waited until the police cruisers pulled away and listened to the murmurs among the crowd about their beloved mayor.

  She smirked from the exaggerated stories people were passing around, each one adding or deleting a detail as the rumors took on a life of their own.

  Alison had enough of the crowd and made her way back to her car. She glanced behind her and out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the thin man following her.

  Alison’s muscles tensed, but she tried to keep a steady walk as if she didn’t realize he was following her.

  She reached around to her trusty switchblade, feeling better when the warm metal touched her skin.

  When she reached her car, she stopped and swung around to confront the demon.

  Chapter 33

  “Are you ready for extraction?” Alison asked in a defensive stance.

  The demon swirled around the man and then entered back through his chest. The man’s lips curved into a smile.

  “I’m only the messenger.”

  “Spill the message before I exorcise you,” Alison said.

  “Samuel is looking forward to your meeting with him,” the man answered, his small smile turning into a grin. “He’s waiting for you.”

  Alison released her stance and stood up straight, but still held her knife at the man.

  “Oh? Who says I want to visit him?” Alison asked.

  The man laughed. “You know you can’t resist. You want to meet him.”

  Alison scoffed. “You’re right, but what does he want from me?”

  The man reached his hand up and scratched his neck. “He wants to meet you.”

  “Will he have his goon serve me tea? Will we gossip about the latest celebrity affair?”

  The demon shrugged at Alison’s sarcasm. “Whatever. I’m only the messenger.”

  Alison lowered her arm with her knife and said, “You realize I can’t let you stay, right? But I’m in no mood to fight you, so you better leave.”

  Alison closed her eyes and opened them to glow in front of the demon to warn him that she was serious about returning him to the darkness. The demon swirled around the man faster, worried that she’d attack.

  “Now.”

  The man’s eyes widened and the demon once again entered his body. “I’m leaving, but it’s not over, hunter.”

  The man turned around and fled.

  Alison placed her knife into her back pocket. She could have caught him and extracted the demon, but she was more interested in what his leader had to say.

  Alison made sure there wasn’t another demon around. When she was satisfied that all was clear, she started her car and left the parking lot, thinking about how powerful Samuel was and how she could handle it.

  Alison’s phone beeped. It was Chief Carter letting her know she could drop by anytime but hurry before Samuel’s lawyer arrived.

  Alison drove through the streets and made it to the police station in no time.

  She parked her car in the small parking lot and turned her gaze to the street. No crowds had gathered to protest the mayor’s arrest.

  The police station was a large, red brick, one-story building about one mile from City Hall. She thought she heard Carter mention that the building was new, courtesy of their mayor bringing the town back from the brink of collapse.

  Alison sent a text to the chief to tell him she arrived, and he answered, saying he would meet her outside.

  Alison watched as the obscure back door opened. The Chief walked outside and motioned for her to come with him.

  Alison left her car and walked up to him. “Is this the secret entrance?”

  Carter laughed. “No, but it’s where you can see him without many people knowing. He took his phone call already; his lawyer is on the way.”

  Alison nodded as Carter led her through a dark hallway, only illuminated by dim yellow lights.

  “We bring everyone back through here. It’s easier to throw them in a cell and book th
em later,” Carter explained.

  Carter rubbed his eyes as he walked down the hall. “I won’t be able to hold him for long. It’s his word against Kyle’s.”

  “I know.”

  Alison and Carter made a left and the hallway lit up brighter.

  They came upon a locked door, which Carter had to scan a badge to get in.

  Alison heard it unlock and said, “Oh, crap. I forgot to take my knife off. Do you want to hold it?”

  Carter shrugged as he stood to let Alison inside first. “Don’t kill him.”

  Alison smiled. She entered another hallway. This time, bars spread out on either side of her.

  Carter looked up and made a motion with his hand. “I’m turning off the cameras until you’re done.”

  “Thank you. We don’t need ammo for him to use,” she said.

  Alison and Carter passed three cells before they reached the last one on the corner. She noticed another door leading out of the cell block.

  Alison took a deep breath. The darkness penetrated her skin as she entered the building, and the whispering of blackened souls screamed inside her head. She smelled the sulfur. It was strong and took her by surprise because she didn’t think she’d ever smelled it that strong before.

  Carter stopped in front of the cell. There was a wooden chair sitting outside.

  On the inside, Samuel Manes sat on a bench with a slight smile playing on his lips.

  “Ah, a visitor already,” he said. “How nice.”

  Chief Carter placed the humongous key in the lock and opened the door. “I’ll come back when his lawyer arrives.”

  Carter turned to her in concern. “Stay safe. Remember they’re turned off.”

  Alison nodded. “He won’t hurt me and I won’t hurt him.”

  “Of course not! I would never hurt her,” Samuel laughed.

  Carter shook his head as Alison walked through the cell door. He brought in the wooden chair and locked the door behind him.

  Carter and Alison nodded to each other and Carter walked out through the other door.

  Alison turned back to Samuel Manes. He sat up straight, gazing at her with knowing eyes.

  He opened his mouth and the thick black smoke of the demon swirled out of his mouth and circled his head.

  Alison squinted her eyes. This demon’s spirit was different from the ones she’d seen before.

  Instead of the thick black smoke, this one changed from black to gold whenever it circled around Samuel’s head.

  The demon reentered Samuel’s body and Samuel smiled at her.

  Samuel Manes dressed in an expensive Armani suit, his snow-white hair was perfectly combed, his face as smooth as a baby’s butt. His blue eyes regarded Alison knowingly as he sat pin straight on the bench with his legs casually crossed and his hands resting on his knees.

  “Welcome Alison, I’ve been waiting to meet you,” Samuel said.

  Alison looked Samuel over and said, “I’m guessing you don’t expect to be here long.”

  Samuel chuckled. “You and I both know the good Reverend’s charges are shaky.” Samuel reached up and picked off a piece of lint from his suit. “It’s his word against mine, and I can afford a better lawyer.”

  “Let’s have our conversation because we both know you’ll be free in less than an hour,” Alison said.

  Samuel nodded and waited for Alison to speak.

  “Why did you request to see me?”

  “I couldn’t wait to meet you, Alison. I’ve heard many great things about you. I’ve read about you through other hunters in your secret network.” Samuel raised his hands to make quotes with his fingers.

  Alison scoffed. “So, you found us and you knew I was coming.”

  Samuel nodded. “Yes. You stated that you retired because of your sister, but you couldn’t resist the call of a little girl in trouble.”

  Alison pulled up the chair and sat down to face Samuel at his level. The smoke swirled around him, but the demon stayed inside his body. His blue eyes stayed steady on Alison as she adjusted in the chair.

  “It’s shitty when you guys drop into children,” she said.

  Samuel shrugged. “We don’t choose where we land. Some are lucky enough to get that twenty-five-year-old bodybuilder, others are unlucky enough to land in the eighty-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer’s, but there is one thing they all have in common.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We drop into the mentally vulnerable. Maybe they’re suffering from depression, have a disease, or when it’s children, well they have the most open minds on Earth, so it’s easy to take over.”

  Alison thought of her sister. Heather suffered from depression when the demon landed in her body. It made sense that her mind would be open to the evil that inhabited her body.

  Alison swallowed and pushed the thoughts of her sister aside.

  “And, what are you? I know you’re not like the others.”

  Samuel never blinked, but a smile touched his lips. “My ranking is higher than what you’ve experienced in the past. I guess you would call me a General in human terms.” Samuel’s smile grew wider. “I can order my soldiers to go to war, or I can acclimate them to their time on Earth. Some take a little longer than others to adjust, as you’ve witnessed countless times.”

  “I have.”

  “Once they get over their initial shock of the human body, they become feral,” Samuel explained. “Their original instinct is killing, insult, torture, antagonize because that’s what we were made for. Once they adjust, they’re no different than the average human except some powers.”

  Alison quieted for a moment because she dreaded asking the next question. She studied every religious text she could get her hands on when she first discovered her powers, and it had been hard for her to accept all these years.

  She ran a hand through her hair as Samuel spoke again. “I know you want to ask it, Alison. I’ll answer the best I can.”

  “I could have asked any of them over the years, but you seem like you’re the most knowledgeable.”

  “Let’s say, I’m privy to classified information,” Samuel replied.

  Alison scoffed again. “What am I?”

  Samuel leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. He raised one eyebrow and his lips turned into a smirk.

  “You know what you are, Alison. You’re a smart woman. You’ve studied ancient and modern religious texts,” Samuel said. “All hunters have one thing in common.”

  Alison swallowed. It was true. Every single hunter she’d ever known had one thing in common. A missing parent. It didn’t matter if it was the mother or father. Brady never knew his father just like her. Her friend, Jasmine, never found her mother. She’d been adopted because her birth father couldn’t handle a newborn baby and she, like Alison, had searched for years to find her birth mother.

  “My father used a fake name when he met my mother,” Alison explained, thinking back to her mother’s stories of the time she became pregnant with Alison. “My grandparents took my mother to discuss the pregnancy with my father’s parents, and all they found was an abandoned house at the address my mother knew of.”

  Samuel nodded. “You’re special Alison. Unfortunately, those that made you, don’t like procreating with humans.

  Alison drew her eyebrows together. Confused by Samuel’s words. “What do you mean? Others hunters have told me repeatedly that we’re doing God’s work.” Alison knew she sounded sarcastic and she meant it to sound that way.

  Samuel looked up at the ceiling and raised his hands to the sky. “Yes, you are according to the enlightened ones.” He lowered his hands and met Alison’s gaze again. “You are a necessary evil to keep Earth ruled by humans.” Samuel shook his head in disbelief.

  Alison sat back and asked, “As we should be. What do you think? That we would let you take over. It would cause the end of the world. The apocalypse and destroy us.”

  Samuel laughed. “You defend your human brothers and sisters, but
ask yourself, Alison, what are you defending? Are you defending more famine, war, and destruction of this lovely planet? Are you defending the man who comes home from the bar drunk and hits his wife as she holds their newborn child? Or the homeless killed by some unruly teenagers because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time?”