“Fuck you, Priest,” the demon spat. He lashed out with one arm and cut Johann on the arm. A small crimson stream ran down the demon hunter’s arm and fell to the floor. He looked at it, then at the demon. The monster chortled as it stared at the blood on the floor. Johann grabbed the cross that was hanging around his neck and lunged at the demon.
“You bastard,” Johann shouted as he touched the cross to the demon’s face. The skin sizzled, and the stench of rotting flesh wafted through the room. Robert put his hand over his nose and mouth.
“Oh my god. That’s awful,” Robert said. He took his cross and touched it to the demon like Johann did. “This is like that smell from that thing in Mountainview.”
“It is the same thing. It’s the demon’s flesh rotting,” answered Johann.
The creature screamed in pain. It raised one of its arms, and Robert flew backward into the wall. A few photographs fell from the wall and crashed to the floor. The glass in their frames shattered. The demon turned its attention to the office door.
The creature extended both of its arms toward the door. The wood door bulged outward, then inward. It finally exploded outward into the waiting area. All the women in the office screamed as they were showered with wood splinters from the explosion.
Parts of the door crashed into the light fixtures in the ceiling, showering the area with fine glass shards. Ceiling tiles and aluminum framework from the suspended ceiling collapsed to the floor. Along with the ceiling tiles came two light fixtures that hung in mid air by their wires. They swung precariously, just missing anyone who was standing nearby.
Out of the corner of her eye Marjorie saw Ellen, the oldest woman in the office, clutch at her chest and slump over her desk as a large piece of the door slammed into her head. Blood immediately spattered on the wall and matted her medium-length, gray hair.
“Ellen,” Marjorie shrieked. The woman didn’t answer nor move. Marjorie began to cry, fearing her workmate was dead. “Ellen. Please answer me.”
Johann heard the office clerk and looked out into the waiting room. From where he was he could see the elderly woman gasping for air and clutching at her chest. Her eyes were open, but it was a blank stare. It was obvious her heart was failing. He turned his attention back to the demon.
“You mother—” Johann started to say. He splashed the demon’s face with holy water and followed it up with a good handful of salt. Large gashes appeared in the now pale skin of the mayor’s face. No blood came out, but Johann could see the gashes were deep. Deep enough that if it were the mayor himself, they could have been life-threatening injuries.
At this time, Robert began to regain consciousness. He held the back of his head and looked at Johann.
“What happened?” Robert asked.
“Bob. There’s a woman out there having a heart attack. See if you can help her. Get her out of the building. Get them all out of the building.”
Robert quickly got to his feet. He ran out the door and wasted no time finding the woman in distress. He looked at her for a moment to decide the best way to pick her up without injuring her further. It didn’t take him long to figure it out, and he gently picked her up. He held her limp body in his arms and looked down at her. His heart sank when he saw that she looked as though he was too late.
Her eyes were half open and staring nowhere in particular. Her mouth was open as though gasping. Her skin was pale from the loss of blood. He put his head near her mouth and could hear a rasping sound. She was still breathing. He looked into her half-open eyes.
“You’re going to be alright. Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you,” Robert said. He saw Marjorie and turned to her.
“Is anyone else hurt?” he asked.
“No. I think we’re all okay. At least okay enough to get out of here ourselves. Is that other guy alright? What happened? Marjorie shouted.
“Yes. He’s okay. I’ll tell you later what happened, and I hope you believe me. Right now, we have to get everyone out of here quick. As soon as we get outside, call 9-1-1 for this lady.” He turned and started taking the woman out of the room.
Marjorie gathered the rest of the office workers, and they all scrambled out to the lobby with Robert. As people entered the building, Robert and Marjorie stopped them from going down the hall toward the mayor’s office.
The whole time, the sound of the fight raging in the mayor’s office could be heard in the lobby. It sounded like a wild animal was loose in the building. People were coming out of the other offices and gathering in the lobby—panicked, and confused.
“What happened?” Marjorie asked Robert. Her eyes were wide, and she was trembling. Robert looked at her and tried to remain as calm as he could. He was beginning to like this playing the hero stuff. He puffed his chest out.
“I’ll tell you when it’s over. But, I’m not sure you’re going to believe me,” Robert answered. He looked back at the office. “I have to get back in there. Believe it or not we’re trying to save the mayor. Whatever happens don’t let anyone, and I mean anyone, go down that hallway. If you can get everyone out of the building, that would be best.”
He walked over to the one couch that was in the lobby and laid Ellen gently on it. Marjorie came over and began tending to the stricken woman. Robert turned to the young woman.
“You should all be safe here. Remember, no matter what happens or what you hear, do not go back into that office,” Robert said.
“Don’t worry. We won’t.” Marjorie said, her voice shaking. She took her cell phone out of her purse and dialed 9-1-1 to get help for the woman. As she spoke to the dispatcher she wiped the sweat from Ellen’s forehead.
-15-
Robert’s heart pounded in his chest as he approached the battle scene. In the room, he could hear the most violent fight he had ever heard. His mind was filled with all kinds of horrific images of what was happening.
The beast roared, glass shattered, and something hit a wall hard enough to vibrate the door in the hallway. He could hear Johann shouting the exorcism chant at the top of his lungs. At least he knew Johann was still alive. That brought him some relief. Unfortunately, all the noise meant the demon was also still there.
He blessed himself quickly and opened the door to the hellish fight. As he closed the door and turned to go to the mayor’s private office, he saw something flying through the air at him. He didn’t have time to make out exactly what it was. He only had time to get out of the way before the projectile smashed into him.
He ducked just in the nick of time to miss being hit by half of a bookshelf. He followed the projectile’s trajectory and winced as it smashed into the wall and exploded into pieces.
Christ. I don’t know how we’re going to get out of here. Someone is bound to call the cops with all this going on. We’ll probably be arrested for murdering the mayor, or at least for attempting to murder him. Robert stood upright and deliberately walked into the room where Johann and the demon were.
Johann had the demon laying on its back on the desk. He had it pinned down with the crucifix on its face. The skin of the demon was scarred. Its face and arms were covered with imprints of the crucifix. They were seared into its flesh as though put there with a branding iron.
The room wreaked of the foul odor of rotting flesh. Robert gagged when he walked in. His stomach retched and he fought to keep himself from vomiting. He brought his hand up and covered his mouth and nose. It was so bad his eyes began to tear.
He noticed the yellow stains of sulphur were everywhere. It looked like someone came into the room and randomly threw the chemical around. He grimaced when he saw the wounds that Johann had sustained in his absence.
Johann was standing over the demon. He was holding the book in one hand and reading the ritual, while he tried desperately to hold the crucifix on the demon’s face with the other.
Blood was streaming down both of Johann’s arms. He had some pretty large gashes on his face as well. Robert shook himself out of his shock and grabbe
d the crucifix that was around his own neck. He ran over and placed it on the face of the demon, so now two crosses were holding the beast down. This should end pretty quickly now… I hope.
“Johann. Are you okay?” Robert asked, not sure he really wanted an answer. He held his breath dreading what the answer to that question was going to be. Johann didn’t want to stop reciting the ritual, so he quickly nodded. Robert let out an exhale and wiped some sweat from his forehead with his free hand.
Suddenly everything went quiet. Robert looked at Johann, confused. Johann shook his head to let him know not to trust anything. A sound came from the demon. A sound like it was trying to breathe but could not. Robert looked down at it.
The demon’s eyes rolled back, and his mouth opened. Robert raised his eyebrows. He was sure the mayor just died. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could utter a word, he felt movement. He looked down at Mayor Tibbs.
The mayor sat upright. He was quiet. The beast turned its head to Robert and stared at him with pure white eyes. Robert cocked his head to the side and knitted his brow.
Without any warning the mayor opened his mouth. His tongue lashed out at Robert like a leather whip, striking his neck just under his chin. The demonic skin was like hot razor blades. Robert could feel the burn as the smoke rose from his wound.
Robert reached up and put his hand on the wound. The gash was deep, and blood rushed out, flowing over his fingers. The coroner staggered backward, dropping his crucifix on the floor. He reeled from the pain and the shock of the sudden attack. He reached down and grabbed the bottom of his shirt.
Giving a hard pull, Robert ripped a strip of fabric from his shirt with his free hand. He then brought the fabric up and tied it around his head, covering the open gash. Pulling it as tight as he dared without losing consciousness, he tied it on top of his head. He knew it probably looked ridiculous, but he hoped it was going to stop the bleeding and quite possibly save his life.
He picked up his cross and charged at the demon sitting on the desk.
“You son of a bitch,” Robert spat through clenched teeth as he slammed the crucifix into the demon’s forehead. He removed the crucifix for a moment and slammed his fist into the monster’s face. He brought his arm back and launched a barrage of punches. He quickly ran out of breath and placed his crucifix back on the beast’s forehead.
Breathing hard, he looked at Johann and smiled.
“That felt good. This bastard had that coming,” Robert said.
Johann raised his eyebrows and stared in disbelief at his friend. Maybe I shouldn’t piss him off anymore.
While they were momentarily distracted, the two didn’t notice that the demon’s eyes had turned back to their normal black color. The beast stared at them, grimacing and breathing hard. The two demon hunters became aware of the change in sound from the demon and turned their attention back to the monster.
“Oh crap,” Johann said when he noticed the demon’s appearance. “Get ready, Bob. Here we go again. It’s gonna be bad this time.”
“Gonna be bad this time? You mean it wasn’t bad yet?” Robert asked through his clenched jaw. He was barely able to speak with his jaw tied shut by his makeshift bandage.
The demon let out a bellow, and the whole room shook. It was like a small earthquake. The windows exploded outward, heavy-framed photographs fell from the walls. Bookshelves collapsed and spilled their contents onto the floor. Lights flickered on and off. Sparks flew from the light fixtures in the ceiling. The whole building trembled.
All the other offices in the building emptied, and everyone ran out into the street. The confused crowd gathered out front, and everyone asked each other if they knew what was going on. The popular rumor was that it was a gas leak, given that the smell of sulphur was permeating the entire structure now.
The EMT’s had arrived and were in the process of stabilizing Ellen and loading her into the ambulance for transport to the hospital. She was still breathing, but barely. Marjorie elected to stay, so one of the other office workers accompanied Ellen to the hospital.
The police had arrived and set up a barricade to keep onlookers from venturing too close to the building. No one could give the police any information about what was going on.
From the perspective of the police, their only information led them to believe something had happened to the building, and it was getting ready to collapse. Reports were that the mayor was still in his office, and there seemed to be something violent going on there.
As the white van from KMTN News pulled up, the police were sending in some men to make sure everyone was out of the building and investigate what was happening in the mayor’s office.
Belinda looked at David, her eyes wide. They had been monitoring the police scanner and knew that something was going on here. They had a pretty good idea what it was. Belinda caught her breath when she saw Johann’s Mustang parked in front of the building.
“Oh, damn. It’s Johann and Robert. They must be in there,” Belinda said. David turned and gave her a consoling look.
“God help them if they are,” David said. He looked around at all the police in the area. “I have no idea how those guys are going to get out of this one.”
“Come on. We have to get out and cover this,” Belinda said as she opened her door. David nodded in agreement and got out of the vehicle.
Inside the building, a small band of policemen led by Officer Jeffries cautiously made their way through the trembling structure. They could hear all the noise coming from the mayor’s office. Jeffries signaled for some of the men to make sure the rest of the building was empty. Then he and three other officers went down the hall toward the mayor’s office.
Inside the office, the beast was trying its best to kill the demon hunters. It had managed to get to its feet. The demon glared at Robert. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, it was in another part of the room.
Johann and Robert looked around. As soon as they saw it, it changed position again. They looked around to try and find where it went.
“Watch out, Bob. It’s gonna attack,” Johann shouted.
As the beast rushed past Johann, it knocked the demon hunter off his feet. He crashed headfirst into the corner of the desk and fell to the floor, unconscious.
“Johann,” Robert shouted. “Johann are you okay?” He was about to go to the aid of his friend when the demon appeared in front of him, only inches away. Robert stopped in his tracks and stared at the beast’s face. It appeared to be distorting and changing while he looked at it.
“You’re an ugly son of a bitch,” Robert muttered.
The demon glared menacingly into Robert’s eyes. Startled by this action, the coroner backed into the wall. Before he could react, the demon grabbed him by the throat.
Robert’s eyes grew wide as the beast tightened his grip, cutting off his breathing. Robert’s mouth opened in an attempt to breathe but could not pull in any air. His skin was turning pale. He kicked as hard as he could.
As his body ran out of much-needed oxygen and began to weaken, Robert’s kicking diminished. Everything started to go dark, and his mind began to race. He saw himself and his brother Johnny when they were children. He saw his mother and father. What’s happening? I thought mom and dad were gone. The last thing Robert saw before he lost consciousness was Johann starting to stir.
Johann weakly got to his feet. He saw the demon holding Robert by his throat. Robert was a full foot off the ground. To Johann’s horror, Robert’s eyes were open, but he did not appear to be conscious. It looked to the demon hunter as though Robert was not breathing. The demon was killing his friend.
Johann grabbed the notebook with the exorcism ritual and a crucifix. He stumbled over to the demon and slammed the cross and the notebook, with the words exposed, onto the back of the demon’s head. The creature let out a scream and collapsed onto the desk. The monster instantly released Robert, who fell to the floor.
“You’re goin’ back to hell you fucker,” Johann shout
ed. He turned his attention to his friend. “Bob. Bob, are you okay? Bob. Wake up.”
Not getting any response from Robert, he pressed the book and the cross into the demon’s head. He knew that would hold the monster in place for a few minutes while he tended to Robert.
Johann fell to his knees at Robert’s side. He checked the coroner’s pulse and found nothing. He listened to his breathing, but there was none. He clenched his two hands together and pounded on Robert’s chest.
“Come on, Bob. Wake up. I need you. We need you.” He pounded several times on the coroner’s chest, stopping every few times to check for a pulse and give him mouth-to-mouth. When he didn’t find a pulse, he went back to pounding. “You’re not going to die on me.”
Johann pounded on Robert’s chest for several minutes. All the while, he kept an eye on the demon who was writhing in pain on the desk. Even the printed version of that ritual keeps you in your damned place. Good to know.
Robert suddenly gasped. As his lungs started working again, he coughed. His skin started to regain its normal color. Johann got back to his feet and turned his attention back to the demon.
Robert’s eyes slowly focused. He saw Johann struggling to keep control of the writhing beast. He looked around and found his cross. Picking it up, he got to his feet and stumbled to Johann to once again join in the fight.
Robert was like a different person. Gone was the fright. Gone was the timid coroner. He felt like he had one agenda—to kill this demon. As he smashed his crucifix into the side of the demon’s head, he had the expression on his face of a man on a mission. He looked at Johann, who knitted his brow.
Robert reached under the demon and forced it onto its back.
“I wanna watch your ugly face when we send you back to hell,” Robert spat.
Night Mares Page 15