by Helen Phifer
‘In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’
He crossed himself and Beth copied. A rumble underneath their feet made her let out a small shriek. She reached out and grabbed a handful of his robes; he had the cross from the church tucked underneath one arm and he thrust it towards her. ‘Here, you hold onto this.’ He sprinkled holy water onto the front door and the paint began to bubble and steam as if he had just sprayed it with acid, then he stepped inside the house. Beth followed, holding her hand up to her nose. John went through each downstairs room sprinkling his holy water and saying his blessing, the last one he blessed was the living room and when he stepped out back into the hall the air felt cleaner. The smell had faded and wasn’t as eye-wateringly bad, it still lingered but it wasn’t making their stomachs clench like before. Beth grinned at him, ‘It’s working, can’t you feel how much better it is and that smell isn’t as bad.’ She threw her arms around him from behind, hugging him tightly and completely breaking his concentration. Until that point he had been so focused on bringing in the power of good to fight the evil that it had been working. He had forgotten about his dilemma, about his feelings for Beth and how torn he was over his love of God. He turned to look at her and a low voice laughed into his ear and he felt every hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Pulling away from her he began to climb the stairs. ‘We’re not finished yet, not by a long way.’
Beth followed behind him.
John struggled to climb each stair, his feet were so heavy that he had to drag them. As he neared the top he couldn’t go any further, two invisible hands placed themselves onto his chest and they were pushing him back down. He leant forward, turning to the side slightly and pushed forward. His teeth began to chatter and he shivered but he kept on pushing against them. The smell was worse than ever up here and he heard Beth groan behind him. He lifted the aspergillum, sprinkling water in front of him, and began praying. There was a loud hiss and the pressure lifted from his chest. He carried on. It was dark up here, even though the sun should have been shining through the windows. A blanket of darkness covered the entire place.
‘I’m scared.’ Beth whispered from behind.
John nodded his agreement, not daring to speak it aloud. He went into the first bedroom which was Sean’s; continuing with his blessing. As he sprinkled the water around rays of sunshine began to filter through the window into the darkness, chasing the shadows away. Beth let out a small whoop of delight. John made his way out of the door and walked past Sophie’s room – he would save that one until last. He knew that the thing was in there, waiting for him to go in and meet him face to face once more. If he blessed the rest of the house, filling it with God’s light, he may just stand a fighting chance. Beth’s room was full of shadows and he saw movement in the thick, black fog which filled the room. He walked in and carried on with his blessing, throwing holy water in the direction of whatever it was that was squirming in the corner. A low growl echoed around the room and terror filled John’s mind as he imagined some huge, demonic beast in the corner, waiting to pounce and rip his head from his shoulders. He made the sign of the cross and threw more water in its direction and it was gone. Sunlight began to pierce the darkness in here as well. Two more rooms to go, the bathroom and Sophie’s. As he led his way towards the bathroom he could hear someone splashing in the bath. A vision of Beth, naked and lying in a tub full of bright red water filled his mind. Her eyes dull, glassy, dead. He didn’t want to look past her beautiful face to see the gentle swell of her breasts but he did, he couldn’t stop himself. ‘Look hard priest because that is as near to the real thing as you will ever get,’ a voice shouted down his ear, ‘Unless you give me the girl. Let me have her and then you can have whatever your heart desires.’ This time an image of Beth alive, standing naked in front of the bath, flashed before his eyes; her arms wide open, inviting him towards her. John roared, ‘Get your filth out of my mind Demon.’ Beth jumped backwards and he began praying harder than ever. Throwing water at the door he stepped forward and threw it open, expecting the shadow man to be inside waiting for him but he wasn’t – it was empty. The bath was also empty and he felt relief, although he had known it would be because Beth was standing right behind him. He turned to look at her but she wasn’t there and he felt the skin on his arms begin to prickle with cold, hard, fear. He knew this had all been too easy. Fuck.
He went back out. Sophie’s bedroom door was ajar; it had been closed minutes ago when they passed. He stepped forward and kicked something hard; he looked down to see the cross he had given to Beth lying on its side. Stooping down to pick it up, he continued towards the door. Before he could push it open the smell overwhelmed him and he baulked. It was concentrated evil, if he had to say he knew what evil smelled like it would be this. He took the plastic bottle from his trouser pocket and unscrewed the cap, no time to mess around sprinkling tiny amounts, he might have to douse the bastard from head to foot in one go. John had never felt so terrified in his life; he made the sign of the cross and sprinkled the water onto the door into the same shape. There was a loud hiss as steam rose from the wood and the outline of the cross burnt itself into it. Kicking the door open he stepped inside. It was dark but he could make out Beth, she was cowering in one corner, her eyes fixed on the opposite corner. He rushed towards her and placed his hand onto her head; sprinkling water over her he began to pray. She shook his hand from her head and let out a high-pitched screech. John spun around to see the shadow man who had haunted his dreams standing in front of him and he almost lost control of his bladder.
He stared in horror at the dark figure; its body was formed from a black mass that was almost fluid. It rippled and rolled slightly as if it couldn’t stay still and it was much taller than him, almost seven foot, but the thing which scared him to the very core was its piercing red eyes. They were so bright he could feel them staring right through into the depths of his soul. He was frozen to the floor, he knew that he should be throwing his bottle of holy water straight into its face but there was something so horrifyingly hypnotic about it that he couldn’t do anything but stare into its eyes, and it stared right back. Beth let out a whimper, which broke his trance. John shuddered at the overwhelming stench which emanated from the thing and then he remembered what he had to do. He jerked back the hand which was gripping the bottle and watched in slow motion as the liquid travelled towards the thing. Then he lifted the heavy cross and began shouting his prayers to his God. The shadow opened its mouth, exposing a row of razor sharp, pointed teeth. The water hit its target, going straight into the gaping mouth and its eyes. The noise which came from it was deafening but the shadow began to disintegrate in front of his eyes. It started to fold into itself and then it disappeared. Beth was on her knees, clinging onto John’s legs, her whole body was trembling. John sniffed the air, the room felt clean and the sun’s rays began to filter through, piercing the darkness, turning it from a black hole and back into a little girl’s bedroom once more. John crossed himself then turned and made the sign of the cross on Beth’s forehead, holding out his hand, which she clasped and he pulled her to her feet. ‘I think it’s over, come on let’s leave God to reclaim his house and fill it with light, we need to check on the children.’
She nodded and followed him as he led the way back to the stairs. He didn’t look around, he wanted to get out of there to make sure that Sophie and Sean were okay. Beth ran down the stairs behind him. He pulled open the front door and they both stepped out into the brilliant sunshine. Neither of them looked behind and saw the two red eyes watching them from the gap in the attic trapdoor.
18:00
Sophie and Sean finished their tea and asked if they could go and play upstairs. Beth, who had almost recovered from the afternoon, nodded. ‘If it’s okay with Father John then you can, but go and ask him first. He might be tired and not want to listen to your racket.’
They ran off to find him. He had been in the church ever since they’d returned and dis
covered the children were fine. Sophie had heard him come back to the presbytery a short time ago and he’d gone into the office to make a phone call. He’d been speaking in hushed tones on the telephone to someone but it was all quiet now. Sophie knocked on the door.
‘Come in.’
She opened the door and peered at the priest, who now had a thick, white streak of silver running through the front of his normally dark brown hair. She stepped inside. Sean who was bored of waiting ran off upstairs to go and get his action figures from his room.
‘What happened to your hair?’
Father John shook his hair, ‘Nothing, what makes you say that?’
‘Part of it has turned white.’
He stood up and walked past her to go into the hall and take a look in the mirror which hung on the wall above the sideboard. He lifted his hand and ran his fingers through his fringe. He didn’t look too long at his face because he felt as if he had aged by at least twenty years and he wouldn’t know what to do if his face looked exactly how he felt. ‘I don’t know Sophie; I guess God thought I needed a different hairstyle.’
She giggled, ‘Well I hope he doesn’t decide that I need a new one. I like my hair how it is.’
He winked at her. ‘How do you feel now Sophie, do you think he’s gone?’
She paused for a moment, ‘I feel better. But I also feel the way when I’m watching television and I know something is going to happen but I don’t know what.’
‘I feel exactly the same. I think I managed to make him go away, he disappeared before my very eyes.’ He wanted to tell her that everything would be wonderful now but he couldn’t say the words because in his heart he didn’t quite believe them. The images of Beth in the bathroom had had a profound effect on him, leaving him feeling unsettled. The shadow man had known all about his internal conflict and John was worried that it had left him open to something. When he had walked back to the presbytery from the church he could have sworn he got a whiff of him but it had gone as quickly as it had arrived and he couldn’t be sure.
Sophie walked over to him and stretched her small arms around him, hugging him tight. ‘Thank you Father John, you have tried to help me and I’m very glad that you did. I’ll always be grateful that you cared that much.’ She let go and turned and ran out of the room to go and find her brother to play with.
John felt a big, wet tear roll from his eye and down his cheek. It felt as if she had just said goodbye to him. Why were kids so accepting of everything? Well he wouldn’t ever let the shadow man hurt a hair on Sophie’s head. He had refilled his bottle from the font just in case he needed it. He looked up to the ceiling: Please God, let this all be over. I beg of you let that family be okay.
John knew he needed to face Beth, he had been hiding from her for the last couple of hours but he didn’t want to talk about the images he’d seen in the house or about what might happen next. He didn’t need to go looking because Beth came and knocked on the door. He could hear the children running around upstairs, their laughter echoing throughout the house, and it made him smile.
She walked in. ‘I don’t know how to thank you John, I know it must have been so hard for you.’
‘You don’t need to thank me Beth; I would have done the same for anyone.’
She walked over and perched on the corner of the desk, directly in front of him. ‘Your poor hair has gone white.’ She lifted her hand to touch it and he felt as if an electric current had just been passed through his body. Just being in such close proximity to her made him feel alive, truly alive. She moved closer until her face was inches away from his. He tried to contain himself and told himself to pull away. Instead he groaned and reached out for her. He pulled her down onto his lap, she leant forward and kissed him so hard that it took his breath away. He had never felt this way before about any woman; he wanted her more than anything. She began to unbutton his shirt, the whole time kissing him, her tongue darting inside his mouth. He reached up and began to unbutton her blouse, the sight of the black lacy bra she was wearing was almost too much for him to bear and he buried his head into her cleavage.
An almighty scream and a deafening thud made John’s blood run cold. Beth jumped off him and ran for the stairs, ‘Sophie, Sophie, what’s the matter?’ John ran after her taking the stairs two at a time overtaking Beth. Sean was standing at the top, his face ashen and his eyes staring at something that they couldn’t see. They were locked with fear and then he turned and ran for his room, slamming the door shut behind him.
‘Sophie.’ Beth ran towards her daughter’s room and the stench hit her, she screamed in frustration. John passed her and threw the door open. His eyes watered the smell was so bad but it was nothing compared to the figure that towered over Sophie, pinning her to the bed. It turned to stare at him, ‘I told you to give her up priest; you are a disgrace to the God that you serve. Where was your God when you had your tongue down her throat?’ It lifted a finger and pointed towards Beth, the thing’s eyes were much redder than before and Beth ran towards her daughter, John followed, rushing towards the shadow. Sophie opened her mouth to scream and the shadow began collapsing inwards, making itself so small that it hovered above her head. John swiped his hand towards it but it disappeared into Sophie’s open mouth and down into her throat. Sophie began to convulse, her eyes rolled to the back of her head until only the whites were visible and she began foaming at the mouth.
‘Hold her arms now, we need to bless her. Has she been christened?’
Sophie was flailing her arms all over and as Beth tried to grab one, she shook her head. Sophie was trying to claw at John’s face. For a little girl she had the strength of three grown men and Beth had to fight with her to pin her arms down. John pulled out some rosary beads from his pocket and placed them onto Sophie’s forehead, her skin began to sizzle and burn where the cross touched and Beth began screaming at him to stop it. John withdrew his shaking hand, he wanted to throw up, shut his eyes, faint, die. He wanted to be anywhere other than here. He carried on praying and Sophie began to choke.
‘Please, you have to do something to help her, he’s killing her.’
John didn’t know what to do, he needed divine intervention and he needed it now. Then the little girl, who had turned grey, began to choke even more. They tried to sit her up, one on either side, grabbing her arms, but it was impossible, she was a dead weight and it felt as if her body had been glued to the bed. She made a strangled sound and just like that her heart stopped beating, the choking stopped and the room was silent. Beth threw herself onto her daughter and began to sob uncontrollably. John felt gravity finally claim his legs and he stumbled backwards, falling to the floor. He kept tight hold of the rosary beads, ‘We need to phone an ambulance Beth.’
He pulled himself up on shaking legs and made his way to the landing; the phone was in the office and he began to run down the stairs on unsteady legs. He didn’t care if he fell and broke his neck. His life had just ended along with Sophie’s; there was nothing left to live for. His God had deserted him in his hour of need and he had failed Beth and her children, all because he had doubted his faith and fallen in love.
Chapter 19
Annie had started yawning ten minutes ago and couldn’t stop. ‘Sorry guys, I’m worn out and need my bed.’
Jake went to get his car keys. ‘Come on you hardcore party girl, I’ll drop you off and then I’m going to take a food parcel to our friend Will. He’s going to be in a bit of a state and I bet he hasn’t eaten all day.’
Annie smiled at Jake, ‘You’re an amazing friend Jake, that’s really sweet of you.’ She wondered if she should offer to run into the station with it but the office would be full and it might be a bit awkward. She felt her phone vibrate and read the text from Will, what was she going to do? She didn’t know what to say so she didn’t reply. She had put up with so much crap from Mike while they were married, there was no way she was stepping straight into another doomed relationship. The thing was she knew that Will hadn�
��t done anything wrong except get drunk and let Laura go home with him so he could snore down her ear all night. The fact was it hurt deep inside her chest, like a physical pain that she couldn’t describe but it was there. She wanted to stay friends with him but it would have to be just that unless he proved himself otherwis. She also knew that he was going to be so busy now that he wouldn’t have time for his own life, never mind her.
They drove to her house in comfortable silence. When Jake stopped outside her gate she leant over and kissed him on the cheek, ‘Night Jake and thank you.’
‘Night Annie, do you want me to come in and check the house.’
She laughed, ‘No thank you, I’m a big girl. I think I can manage, anyway who would be mad enough to break into my house?’
Jake didn’t reply, just smiled, and she had to stop herself from thinking about last year when a man had got into her brother’s house when she was looking after it. A man who had wanted to kill her. She shook herself and lifted a hand to wave at Jake and turned to walk along the path to the front door. Jake didn’t drive away until she got her key out and let herself in, locking the door behind her. He still didn’t drive away until the hall light, then the living room light came on. Satisfied that she would have been out on the front street screaming by now if anything was amiss he drove down the street, making his way to the police station to see Will.