The Second Coming

by J. Fritschi

  She backed away from the photo with a large knot in her throat as she tried to catch her breath. She began to hyperventilate and took short quick breaths trying not to let her fear overtake her. She had to get a hold of Mike and let him know what was happening. When she looked down at the screen of her phone, to her surprise, there was one bar showing on the signal indicator. Her heart filled with relief and as she was about to call Mike, she heard a door slam. Kate jumped as she let out a quick hick-up of a scream. Someone was coming. She could feel the presence of evil disturbing the aura of the room. She would have to wait and be sure it was safe before calling Mike. She couldn’t risk talking and revealing her location. She needed to find a place to hide where she could send him a text.

  She quickly shuffled to the closest door in the hallway and tried to open it, but there was no play in its stiff, cold knob. She tried the door across the hall, but it was locked as well. Panic began to grip her heart like a clenching fist as she heard footsteps echoing from across the room as they got closer. She went to the next door and tried it, but the knob was unforgiving. There was one door left and she was now fighting back tears of terror as she grabbed the cold handle and closed her eyes. It didn’t budge.

  There was only one thing she could do. She had to go back into the room with the large tables and find some way to get out or somewhere to hide. Not wasting anytime, she ran on the balls of her feet towards where the light was coming in through the windows. The footsteps were getting closer and faster as she frantically looked around for an escape, but there wasn’t enough time and just as she was certain the killer was entering the room, she ducked down and crouched below one of the large tables.

  The Sterling Killer found Kate’s bloody footprints in the outside corridor and followed them to the cafeteria. He was at a distinct advantage having lived at the orphanage and knowing that there was no way out of the cafeteria except the way she came in. He made sure of it when he set his trap. The Sterling Killer followed her tracks across the cafeteria and when he got to the other side he realized she had back tracked over her steps. He followed her trail to the edge of one of the long tables he used to eat at when he was a kid. There was no where for her to go.

  Kate sat trembling like a bird under the table as she watched the Sterling Killer’s black shoes and pants walk on the far side of the room and then stop. She tried to control her breathing; trying to keep it slow and even as she began to frantically type a text Message to Mike. Help me oakland orphanage sterling killer. She hit send and as she waited for the message to go through, she watched the Sterling Killer’s dark legs continue walking towards her. She held her breath in the silence as he paused only a few feet away from her and then slowly stepped into the hallway where the photos were.

  She thought he was gone and she was getting ready to make a run for it when she heard his feet shuffle back towards her. She watched as he entered the room and deliberately moved toward the table she was hiding under. She scurried to the end of the table by the door to the entrance and waited for her chance to escape.

  “Don’t make me bend over to get you,” he warned her with a snarl. “Come out and I will spare you the pain.” Silence. The Sterling Killer stepped up to the end of the table and in one motion, lifted the table and threw it to the side with an echoing roar as it crashed into the benches and came to a rest next to the other table. Kate was gone, but she left traces in the dust on the floor that gave her escape route away. The Sterling Killer followed them with his eyes to a wood plank door that led to the court yard. He looked out the window and saw Kate running to the building on the other side, right into his trap.

  chapter 71

  MIKE STOOD NEXT to Big Pete with his arms folded indignantly as he watched in awe as Father John and his dad talked about the story of the Satanic Codex and how it was Father John’s destiny to stop his twin brother. He glanced at Big Pete with raised eyebrows as Big Pete shrugged at him with a twisted frown. Mike motioned with his head to the door and Big Pete nodded with approval. Mike was about to interrupt the two brothers and their dad as they talked quietly amongst themselves when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He fished it out and saw that there was a text message. He clicked on his texts and saw that it was from Kate and smiled as he opened the message. The words that he read him hit in the gut like a mule kick. Help me oakland orphanage sterling killer.

  At first he stared at the message with disbelief. What the hell was going on?

  “What is it?” Big Pete asked.

  “Look at this,” Mike said as Big Pete looked over his shoulder at the text.

  “Who sent that to you?” Big Pete asked with stunned realization.

  “It’s from Kate’s phone,” Mike said as he looked up at Big Pete’s sunken eyes.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m fucking sure.”

  “What is it?” Father John asked.

  Mike glared at the father with Piercing eyes. “Your fucking twin brother has Kate at the Oakland Orphanage,” he grumbled between gritted teeth.

  A hush fell over the room as Mike looked at the father with a menacing scowl.

  “The time has come my son,” the old man said with a weak voice as he stared at Father John with glossy eyes. “You are the only one who can stop him and put an end to this. It is your destiny.”

  “I don’t have time for this shit,” Mike snapped as he nudged Big Pete. “We’ve got to get to the orphanage before anything happens to her.”

  “Take me with you,” Father John said suddenly. “It is me that he wants to confront. He is using her to lure me to him.”

  Mike paused and looked at the father’s pious face. Maybe he was right? Maybe the Sterling Killer abducted Kate and sent him the message knowing that he would bring Father John with him to the orphanage. At this point Mike would be only too willing to trade the father’s life to save Kate’s life.

  “I’ll take you with us Father, but you are going to have to do exactly what I tell you,” Mike cautioned him. “I can’t guarantee your safety and I will not be responsible for anything that happens to you.”

  chapter 72

  AS KATE GRABBED the door handle and tried to open it, she looked over her shoulder and saw the Sterling Killer standing in front of the window watching her with a menacing grimace on his blood stained face. Shit! She fumbled with the door and yanked it open and then pulled it shut hard from the other side. She stared at the bar handle of the door as she backed away looking for a way to lock it. There was nothing. As she spun around looking for somewhere to hide, she saw the dust covered pews of the sanctuary of Father John’s mother’s church. The Sterling Killer’s mother’s church. Suddenly she felt as if it was not an accident that she was there.

  It was cold and dark and the high ceiling and stained glass windows cast ominous shadows. She raced up the aisle between the pews, looking either way for some way to get out or some place to hide. At the end of the aisle, there were two large, wood doors shaped in the form of an arch and Kate ran slamming into them, but they didn’t budge. She pushed on the door handle again and again, rattling the bar with an echo that reverberated throughout the hollow sanctuary.

  As she turned around, she glared anxiously at the side door where she entered expecting the Sterling Killer to suddenly open it. She made a dash to the far side of the room and squatted down next to the outside of the pews. Her heart was pounding and she could feel her lungs burning as she tried to catch her breath. The jarring sound of the door being kicked opened startled her into silence as she held her breath and concentrated on listening. Silence was followed by deliberately slow, crunching footsteps that seemed to be moving to the back of the sanctuary. She listened intently as every muscle in her body clenched with tension.

  The Sterling Killer entered the sanctuary that for so many years he went to church in, not realizing that it was named after his biological mother. It was the perfect place for the final confrontation with his twin brother and so far Kate was
unknowingly acting as the perfect bait to his trap. He had locked all of the doors before hand so there was only one way out. Now all he had to do was find her and finish what he started. The stalked the aisle listening for any sign of movement.

  The footsteps stopped and Kate could sense that he was near. She squatted frozen with fear. She kept telling herself to move, but she was afraid if she did, she would give herself away. Finally she got down on all fours and began crawling, ever so cautiously, towards the front of the stage. As she got closer to the stage, she noticed a narrow hallway on the side of it. Maybe there was a way out? She snuck a peek over her shoulder, up the rows of pews, to the back of the sanctuary. She couldn’t see anyone in the shadowy darkness and decided that she was going to have to risk making a dash for the hallway.

  Slowly, she raised herself into a crouch and darted towards a pillar to the side of the room. Her heart pounded in her chest. From there she made a dash to the hallway without looking over her shoulder. She didn’t have any idea where the Sterling Killer was or if he saw her. She just hoped there was a way out.

  When the Sterling Killer got to the end of the isle, he turned just in time to see Kate scurry toward the side hall where she would be trapped. The stupid bitch was so predictable. He loved playing this game with her.

  The hallway was lined with opened closets where robes and other garments were hanging. At the end of the hallway was a door. She prayed that it was unlocked and there was a momentary sense of relief as she sprinted to the door, only to find it locked. She let out a whimper as her body sagged. She was losing her will to continue on. It would be so much easier just to give in and let him finish her.

  Kate slipped into a closet, disappearing behind the musty robes. She could hear the faint footsteps of the Sterling Killer getting closer to her. When she thought he was passing right outside of the closet, she held her breath and closed her eyes as she waited for him to pass by. Suddenly, the ring tone for her text message vibrated, barely audible, in her pocket. She grimaced as she carefully slipped her hand into her pocket and silenced her phone.

  The Sterling Killer’s footsteps stopped and Kate bit her bottom lip as she waited breathlessly for him to continue on. She could feel the blood in the veins of her neck pulsing in thick surges and as her body shook uncontrollably, she could feel a warm sensation trickling down the insides of her legs as she lost control of her bladder.

  The Sterling Killer eased his way down the hall knowing full well that Kate was hiding in one of the closets. As he approached the first open closet, he noticed the robes shaking from her trembling and then he heard the unmistakable vibrating of a cell phone and watched amused as a pool of urine trickled out from under the robes. This was going to be easier than he thought.

  Suddenly the Sterling Killer’s hand reached in through the darkness and grabbed her violently by the neck, lifting her off the ground as he pulled her out of the closet and held her in the air like a prized fish.

  Kate’s eyes bulged as if they were going to pop out of their sockets and as he crushed her larynx, her feet dangled precariously over the floor as she grasped and clawed at his arm to no avail.

  The Sterling Killer reached into her pocket and retrieved her cell phone and held it in his opposite hand. “It is a good thing you are so predictable,” he hissed as he glared menacingly at her red, trembling face. “Just like all of the other women I killed, I knew I could count on you to do my bidding and lead your boyfriend and my brother to me. I couldn’t have choreographed it any better,” he told her proudly. “I am going to enjoy this last part of my plan more than anything. I’m going to give you something to remember me by for the rest of your life.”

  The pressure in Kate’s eyes and ears made it impossible for her to hear a word he was saying. All she thought was that she was going to die without getting a chance to say good bye to her father and tell him how much she loved him. She regretted that she worked so hard and put so much time and effort into her career that she didn’t make enough time for him or for any other man to have a meaningful relationship with. She hoped Mike might have been the type of man she could have developed a loving relationship and started a family with, but now it was too late.

  chapter 73

  AS KATE SLOWLY regained consciousness, she rolled her head from side to side and tried to blink the lazy haze from her head. At first she didn’t know where she was or how she got there. It was like waking up from a heavy, feverish sleep. The room was humid and her breath was thick and labored as beads of sweat trickled down her flesh like tiny tsunamis.

  As her vision faded in and out of focus, she lifted her head and realized with despair that she was lying on top of an altar in the sanctuary of the Oakland Children’s Orphanage. The distant glow of the setting sun was radiating through the stained-glass windows casting an ominous, reddish hue that blanketed the dust covered pews as candles flickered on top of tall wrought iron holders that lined the wood paneled walls. Kate tried to sit up, but her wrists and ankles were bound to the altar. She pulled and tugged on the ropes, but the harder she tried to get free, the more the ropes cut into her flesh. Hopelessly resigned, she laid her head back and stared at the wood beams of the ceiling with her heart racing as she tried to catch her breath.

  What was she going to do? How was she going to get out of there? Where was Mike? Did he get her text? Was he on his way to save her right now? Is that where the Sterling Killer was? Did she inadvertently lead Mike into his trap when she sent him the text? What happened to her phone? Was the Sterling Killer using it to send Mike text messages to lure him into a trap? Her mind was racing and her heart gripped with fear as she began to struggle to get free. She had to find a way to escape before the Sterling Killer returned.

  And then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move like a blur in the shadows. As she raised her head and looked towards the pews, she saw the Sterling Killer dressed in a dark robe with the hood pulled ominously over his head descending down the aisle like a looming phantom.

  “What are you going to do to me?” she asked with a trembling voice.

  The Sterling Killer approached the altar silently and as he stood by her side, he ran his fingers lightly over her sweaty flesh. “The same thing I do to all my victims,” he said admiringly from under the shadow of his hood. “Do you think Detective McCormick will still want you after you have been defiled?” he asked with a curious whisper.

  “What are you talking about?” Kate whimpered.

  “You know what I’m talking about,” he replied with a sinister hiss as he ever so slowly ran his fingers down her legs as he crept towards the foot of the alter. “Once you are damaged goods, will he still want to make love to you like he did last night or will he find you repulsive?”

  Oh Jesus, he’s going to rape me. Her chin quivered with fear as she struggled against her bondage. “Please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded with tears in her eyes.

  “You are such a naughty girl,” he hissed under his breath as he climbed up on the altar and knelt between her legs. “I enjoyed watching you and the detective have carnal knowledge last night. You are such a tease. What do you think your daddy would think if he knew that you are such a slut?”

  Kate felt like she was going get sick as her stomached churned with fear and disgust. What was taking Mike so long? Did he already come and not find them or did the Sterling Killer kill him? How long had she been unconscious?

  “Do you really think he can save you?” he taunted her chillingly. “You don’t really think I’m going to let you both just walk out of here do you?”

  Kate turned her head and stared at the doors of the church hoping against all that was reasonable that Mike would barge through and rescue her any second now.

  “Don’t look away from me,” the Sterling Killer growled angrily. “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”

  Kate reluctantly turned her head and looked up at the Sterling Killer’s face which was concealed by the shadow of his hood. Her fa
ce trembled and her eyes were blurry with tears as she waited for his next move.

  “Don’t bother trying to fight me,” he told her menacingly. “Your boyfriend isn’t going to get here in time to save you and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

  Kate clenched her eyes shut as the Sterling Killer penetrated her with tearing force and began to rape her repeatedly. At first all she could do to bare the pain was clench her teeth, but then she thought of happy memories to distract her from what was happening. She remembered Christmases and birthdays and swimming with her dog Rocky in their pool. She remembered summers at Tahoe waterskiing and playing tennis and dancing with her dad under the stars next to the shimmering lake. She remembered her Junior and Senior proms and being crowned the prom queen. She remembered the night she went swimming in the pool with little Jimmy and how she was saved from drowning by an invisible, levitating force; the peaceful force of divine intervention. How she wished the force of divine intervention would come to her now and carry her away from here.

  When it was over, she turned her head to the side and gazed vacantly at the flickering flame as it danced on the wrought iron candleholder.

  “You are just like the rest of them,” The Sterling Killer said breathlessly as he crawled down from the altar. “You think you’re better than me, but I am not going to kill you. I’m going to do something worse to you. I’m going to let you live with this memory.”