Demon

by Ellis Everley

  “Help me!” James gasped, crying out to his brother, but Archie had gone into shock. The possessed guard turned back to James and the sound of breaking bone came as James’s chest collapsed inward, the guard’s hands now pressed into a disgusting hollow in James’s shirt. James let out a sorrowful ear-splitting scream. The noise riled the other inmates in the block into a collective frenzy. I don’t know if they had any idea of what was going on, but they started roaring alongside him, banging and thudding against whatever they had to hand; the hollers and screams created an endless echo of noise around us.

  Of course, by now the alarms were going off, security cameras alerting the other guards to what had just gone down. The demon guard, omitting a horrible wheezy screech, lowered its head over James, its mouth opening wider as it began to suck his very soul from his body. I couldn’t move. My head was spinning. Archie staggered a couple of steps backwards. I can’t imagine what he must’ve been going through. A spurt of blood spread under the guard’s hands and across James’s chest, as he continued to scream.

  Then the entire corridor flooded with uniformed officers. The guard was pulled away from James and quickly cuffed and restrained. James lay on the floor; eyes wide open and still. The guard was jabbering confused and shocked. He had no idea what was going on. The sense of demon was gone it’d used the guard, used him and when it had finished it left; the guards life ruined and James dead.

  Archie and I were quickly jostled out of the way, as the officers tried to contain the scene as fast as possible. Archie looked numb. He was bundled off down the corridor, as I was checked over by a medical advisor. We were kept apart for hours, each of us having to give a statement, fill out forms, and verbally go through the whole ordeal again. We weren’t suspects at least. The whole sordid episode was caught on a camera after all. I didn’t get to watch it, but the officers made it very clear that this was an open and shut case. No one could believe it. The guard was well liked, a decent guy, never showed any signs of snapping like this before. The poor bastard, he was an innocent pawn who had been sacrificed for game he knew nothing about. To his friends and family, he had committed a senseless act that none of them would ever understand. And what could we say, ‘he was possessed?’ where was the evidence, the real concrete evidence for that?

  When we were eventually reunited, Archie looked a broken man and was clearly still in shock; his face pale; his hand cold, as I grasped it on the way back to the car.

  “I can’t believe I didn’t help him,” Archie said, his voice small and far away.

  “You can’t think like that, it all happened so fast,”

  “Not to me. It felt like it was happening in slow motion. And I just stood and watched.”

  “Nothing, no one, can prepare you for what you’ve just witnessed.”

  “You were. You were prepared, Cait, I should’ve been too,” he said sharply. I wanted to correct him, but didn’t. Fact was, yeah, my training had prepared me for exactly what had just happened. That was my job, or at least my former job, to battle the demons and protect the exorcist. But I hadn’t.

  “No, that was my job. It was me who failed.”

  I was still feeling wobbly, but had lied to the medics about the seriousness of the bump to the back of the head. I didn’t have time to spend a night in hospital under observation. My legs buckled just as we reached the car. Archie caught me, it was just a slip really, but he thought it was more.

  “I’ll take you home.”

  “You sure you can drive? Archie, leave the car, we can get the bus into town.”

  “No, I’ll drop you off, that way I know you’re safe.”

  “Then where are you going?”

  “I need to talk to my family, my little brother. I want him to hear it from me, not some stranger.”

  “Okay, I’ll come with…”

  “Thanks, but I really need to do this on my own,” he cut me off.

  “I understand that, I really do. I know how hard this all is, but this is serious, Archie, don’t you see? Anyone around us, anyone at all, including your little brother, is susceptible to possession. Mary wants our souls, and she’s just proved she’s doing everything in her power to get them.”

  “I get that, but the answer is still no,” his head wasn’t in the right space. He wasn’t seeing reason.

  “Detecting demon activity is my thing, you need me with you,” I pleaded. He didn’t realize what danger he’d be putting himself in.

  “Not this time. Please, let me take you home.” And that was that. Nothing I said convinced him. I gave up in the end. My heart went out to him; he looked broken, poor kid. I think he was trying to hold it together for my sake, as he shied away from a parting hug and sped off as soon as I was out of the car. And, as much as I wanted to chase after him, wave the car down, wrap my arms around him, and tell him everything was going to be alright, I knew my best hope of fixing things was to get back to Gabe and try to fish that nugget of information he had lost inside his brain.

  Chapter Five

  Even though it was late, the trio of witch, medium, and vampire were all waiting for me back at Tabernacle. I had to deliver the shocking news to them. Someone actually dying brought it home to them. They’d all been great and really supportive, but, other than Gabe, none of them had any first-hand dealings with Mary or her minion demons. And, at this point, I was even debating whether Gabe could even remember meeting her.

  “That’s one down, three to go.” I said. “And now she’s using underhand tactics. I’m scared for Archie; he’s in a dark place; I don’t think he’s thinking right. If Mary can get to someone who’s locked up in solitary confinement, there’s nothing stopping her from picking us all off one by one.”

  “Someone should be with him,” Sheila agreed.

  “I know, but I’m too close. He maybe needs a professional,” I replied, immediately thinking of her. She took the hint.

  “I can pop round, that’s not a problem. He’ll need all the support he can get; he just doesn’t realize that yet.”

  “The demon repellent? Is there any way you can use it on Archie?” I don’t care if that means I can’t go near him, if it stops these Hunters from ripping his soul out, it’s worth it.

  “Yes of course, I’ll see what I can do,” Sheila was just glad to do something. I got the feeling she didn’t like to be idle, which thankfully had resulted in her sorting out the electricity problem. Simon’s place now had power and I could charge my phone and maybe get on the Internet, if there was a decent signal. I gave her Archie’s address, thanked her with a hug, and she left.

  “Has Gabe been able to remember anything about the teeth yet?” I questioned Dan on the sly.

  “No, he’s going back through books in the study, convinced that’s where he read somethin’. Personally, I think he’s losing it.”

  “Right now, he’s our only hope though.”

  “Maybe not,” Dan answered. “There’s something I found that might help.” He dragged me up to the study, where Gabe was indeed sitting in the corner, leafing through a massive leather-bound book. “Over here,” and he pulled me towards a table in the corner. On top, lay an ancient-looking Ouija board.

  “Really?” I shook my head. This was the last thing I’d thought Dan would go near.

  “Just watch,” It was carved in the shape of a plaque, rather than a straightforward rectangle, but that was about the most ornate thing about it. The rest was the usual alphabet, numbers, yes, no, and goodbye inscriptions. Four simple triangle shapes had been etched into each corner and that was it. All fairly basic. The planchette on the other hand was a lot more sinister. A heart-shaped piece of wood with a hole in it, as you’d expect, except there was this creepy face gouged into the grain of the wood, making it look like the hole was a mouth.

  “Where’d you find this?”

  “Locked in the cabinet over there.” That annoyed me, and I’m sure it would’ve annoyed Simon too, having someone rummaging through his stuff like t
hat. I mean a stranger. I’m sure he’d be okay with me doing it.

  “You ever think it was maybe locked in there for a reason?”

  “I was just looking for something that might help. Gabe’s got the book stuff covered; this is more up my alley.”

  “Since when? I thought you were trying to avoid this sort of thing?”

  “Since the coven’s been teaching me to embrace my gift, not suppress it, that’s when.”

  “Ouija boards are just made up Dan, they don’t really work,” I argued.

  “It does. I’ve tried it.”

  “Stop shitting me, we’ve don’t have time for this.”

  “I’m serious! I think I’d know if I was pushing it by myself.” He was like an excited puppy. “I’ll show you, go on, ask it something,” I decided to humor him, if only to prove him wrong.

  “Tell me what Gabe’s surname is,” not that I knew the answer, but I thought I’d call his bluff and get him off my case. He sat down on a chair and readied himself, placing the planchette into the center of the board, putting both hands on it, and closing his eyes.

  “Alice? Alice are ye there?” I nearly burst out laughing.

  “Oh, here we go,” This was the old ‘gypsy rose’ routine I was familiar with. Dan remained seated; his eyes shut.

  “Alice?” he asked once more and the planchette forcefully flew to the ‘YES’. He opened his eyes, beaming. “See, I told you.”

  “You’re having me on,” I was suspicious.

  “Let’s see shall we,” Dan was confident. “Nice tae speak to you again Alice. Hope you’re well.” Then I really knew he was bullshitting me.

  “Well? She’s presumably dead, Dan.”

  “I’m afraid my friend here isn’t a true believer, for which I apologize. How about we prove her otherwise Alice? Can you tell me the surname of Gabe, the gentleman sitting in the corner over there?” Gabe didn’t even look up at the mention of his name. He was engrossed. The planchette moved slowly towards the line of letters. “You’ll have to spell it out for me,” Dan asked, claiming that he couldn’t see, which I doubted. I followed the planchette’s steady movements.

  “G…R…A…Z…I…A…N…I... that’s not even a word.” I’d had enough of this time-wasting joke.

  “Graziani,” Dan tried to pronounce the garbled jumble of letters.

  “What did you say?” Gabe sat up, now interested in our conversation.

  “What’s your surname Gabe?” I asked, wanting to put an end to this.

  “Dawson,” I looked at Dan with a smarmy grin.

  “Nice try.”

  “Gabe Dawson?” Dan was disappointed. “I had you down as something a bit more exotic than that.”

  “A generic name makes it much easier to blend in.”

  “So that’s not you real name?”

  “No.”

  “Well, what’s your original name?”

  “Gabriel Alexander Garaziani the Third,” Dan’s mouth fell open.

  “Now do you believe me?” I didn’t.

  “He could’ve told you that earlier.”

  “Gabe, have I ever asked you what your name is before?” Gabe had gone back to his book, already bored with us. He shook his head.

  “He could’ve told you and then forgotten,” I whispered accusingly.

  “C’mon, Cait, why would I make it up?”

  “I’ve no idea.”

  “Here, I’ll ask Alice about Mary.”

  “Clutching at straws a bit isn’t it?”

  “You got any better ideas like?” Truth was I hadn’t. It was getting late and I didn’t have the energy to wade through the tons of books that might or might not have any useful information in them.

  Dan, eyes shut once more, proceeded to contact this so-called spirit for help. “Okay, Alice, this one’s a bit harder. We’re trying tae find information on someone who’s already passed on. She’s in a dark place and she wants to hurt my friends. Does the name Bloody Mary mean anything to you?” He was still the only one touching it. Real or not, I wasn’t keen to be in contact with something from another dimension, but the planchette moved all the way back to ‘YES’ in that same steady glide. Now it had my attention.

  Dan blew his breath and glanced at me. “What will I ask now?”

  “How do I kill her?” was my immediate response. Dan repeated the question, directing it to Alice. The planchette didn’t move.

  “That means that she either doesn’t know or it’s something she’s not willing to tell us,” Dan declared.

  “Ask her how we get out of this contract.” Again the planchette didn’t move. “This is pointless.”

  “Spirits aren’t see-all entities, they have their limits y’know. Alice, hun, we need to find out more about Bloody Mary. Can you give us anything that’ll help?” The planchette sprung into action straight away. I read out the letters.

  “B…A…R…O…N…Y” and then a slight pause before “H…O…S…P…I…T…hospital?” The planchette whizzed back across to ‘YES’.

  “Barony Hospital?” Gabe was now lingering behind my shoulder, watching the show. “There wasn’t a hospital as such, but there was a poor house.”

  “Could that be it?” Dan asked. I unlocked my phone and Google searched it.

  “Yeah, there was, in Barnhill,” I was surprised. “There’s loads of results about something called The Barnhill Asylum Experience. It’s a tour or something.”

  “We’ve got to check it out,” Dan was ecstatic that the board had come up trumps. He was about to get up when the planchette sprung back into action. “C…O…N…N…O…R. Does that mean anything to you?”

  “No. Could be her surname, a street, someone we need to talk to?” It could literally have meant anything.

  “Is there anything else you can give us, Alice?” The planchette didn’t move. “In that case, thank you for your help,” He disconnected from the planchette and stood up, grabbing my hands. “Well?”

  “There’s a late-night tour at twelve. We can make it if we get a taxi,” I showed him the website on my screen.

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Dan was way too excited about this. A midnight tour around an abandoned, probably haunted, asylum?

  “Have you been at the whiskey again?”

  *****

  I had to get a sub from Dan. Without my wallet, I had zero cash. We reached Barnhill in good time, but the place looked dead. “You sure it’s open?” Dan definitely wasn’t looking so keen now; the broken building loomed out of the darkness; the surrounding grounds were as silent as a graveyard.

  “The sign says so,” I pointed to the poster board hanging on the outside of the gates.

  “We’re early, should we wait here, or go up to the doors?” Dan indicated the main doors at the end of the driveway, they weren’t exactly inviting.

  “Guess so,” I shrugged, and headed into the large grounds that hadn’t seen a gardener in years. The place was full of overgrown bushes and litter.

  “Maybe we should wait,” Dan paused.

  “You’ve changed your tune. Scared Alice is about to throw you down the rabbit hole?” Which was a point. The fact that I’d followed the advice of a moving bit of wood from someone who’d spent their fair share of time in mental-health facilities himself, wasn’t lost on me. But hey, I’d nothing better to do that night, so.

  “No, I trust her,” he said, running to keep up. I didn’t know if Dan’s faith in Alice was a good thing, but his newfound confidence in facing his demons was refreshing. He arm-linked me and we headed for the door.

  “Hello?” I shouted into the open entrance. There didn’t appear to be any signs of life. Taking a step in, my eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness when we heard a scream that had my heart in my mouth, and then...

  “BOO!” a tubby pensioner with specks and a goatee.

  “A could’ve hud a heart attack there,” fumed Dan; his hand was crushing mine so hard I thought he was going to break bones.

  “
Ha ha,” the guy chortled. “Sorry about that. Just a little something to get you in the mood.” I don’t think he was expecting the hostile reception. “I’m Neil. I’ll be your tour guide for tonight.” He looked at his watch. “We’ll give it another few minutes in case there’s any stragglers. Here, take these,” and he handed us each a hefty torch. We waited longer than necessary. Neil seemed a bit desperate for other people to turn up, but no one did. I wondered how much business he actually got. I’d never been on one of these types of tours before, and even though I had a job to do, I was kinda looking forward to it. It’d been a long time since I’d had some actual fun.

  “Okay dokey,” Neil clapped his hands together, “looks like it’s just us.” He snapped his flashlight back on and thrust it under his chin. “Battery check everyone.” Getting in the spirit, I did likewise, making a ghoulish face at Dan, who fumbled about trying to find the on button on his.

  “Mine’s fine,” he said weakly. It was quickly dawning on him that an asylum tour at night where there were likely ghosts that would try to contact him was a bad move.

  “Righty-ho, let’s begin, shall we?” Neil was suddenly in his element. The guy loved his job for sure. “Let me tell you a little about the history…” and he led us into a creepy corridor; shadows played on the walls where the paint was peeling. He told us how it was initially built as a workhouse for the poor, later converted into a hospital, and subsequently abandoned in the early nineteen fifties. “I know it doesn’t look it, but the building is structurally sound. Just mind where you put your feet. There’s still plenty of debris lying about,” Neil advised. It wasn’t as bad as all that. The hallways had mostly been cleared out; the lack of furniture causing his voice to echo loudly.

  We were taken through several grand halls, which were close to being something out of a horror movie. I mean the place looked big from the outside, roughly the size of an old mill or factory, but inside it was like the Tardis. Neil took us through several huge, open expanses. Massive rooms where hundreds of wretched people had eaten, slept, and worked.