by Tim Miller
“I don’t know. Let’s get indoors. We know Simon will be fine for now, at least physically.”
They walked a short ways down the street, knocking on some doors. No one was home at the houses they tried.
“I wonder if the cops evacuated people.” Bernard asked.
“It’s possible,” Dietrich said. He walked around the back of one of the houses and found a sliding glass door. He pulled on it and sure enough, it was unlocked. He stepped inside and walked through, opening the front door.
“No one is home, but we’ll just have to hole up in here until we figure out what to do.”
“Can’t you just do an exorcism?” Sharon said. “That’s what you do, right?”
“It doesn’t exactly work that way Sharon.”
“Then how the hell does it work? What good are you? An exorcist who can’t cast out demons?”
“Because demons aren’t what everyone has been led to believe. They’re much worse.”
Chapter 9
Once Laura got Cynthia’s arms taped up, she sat back and took a deep breath. It had taken two rolls of tape to subdue her. She had torn her way out at one point. The officer sat looking at Laura.
“You ok?” He asked.
“I think so. She didn’t hurt me, if that’s what you mean.”
“Yeah. What the hell is going on?” He said.
“I don’t know. So do you have a name?”
“Oh, right. Derrick McCain.”
“Hi Derrick. I’m Laura if I haven’t told you already.”
“Hi, this is fucked up,” Derrick said. “And no other cops are back by now.”
Laura noticed Cynthia was asleep.
“Is she ok?” Laura asked.
“I think so.” Derrick put his hand on the girl’s chest as he looked her over.
“She’s breathing fine. She’s lost some blood, but it stopped.
Laura knelt down looking at the girl closer. She looked like a sweet and cute little girl. Just moments ago she was the complete opposite. Suddenly Laura felt strange. She stood and backed away from the girl and looked at Derrick.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
I don’t know. Her face felt warm as overwhelming sexual arousal suddenly took her over. This wasn’t like her. She had just had sex the night before with one of her guy friends. She wasn’t the kind to just get horny out of nowhere. But for some reason, she was so turned on, she could hardly stand it. She undid her jeans and pulled them off as she jumped onto the counter.
“What the hell are you doing?” Derrick said standing up.
“Shut up!” Laura said as she pulled her panties of and began rubbing her clit. She rolled her head back as her fingers massaged her clit faster and faster. It felt so good. Masturbation was a regular thing for her, but it had never felt this good. Within seconds she was in the midst of orgasm. Once she finished, she continued massaging her clit, but a little slower. She looked up and saw Derrick standing in front of her stroking his cock.
“What am I doing?” He said. He looked confused, but his cock looked so good, she didn’t care. She grabbed it and pulled him toward her. “Why are we doing this?”
“Just put it in me, come on.”
“But—“
“Shut the fuck up and put your cock in my pussy!” She grabbed him and pulled him close as he slid it inside her.
“Oh! Oh God! Holy shit!” She yelled as she leaned back while he pounded her. She was instantly coming harder and faster than she ever had in her life. Derrick began to tremble as his cock grew inside her. Within a minute, he was erupting inside her, causing her to get off yet again. Once he finished, he stayed hard as he continued to pound away. Laura couldn’t even see straight. As she looked up at him, for a moment his face didn’t look normal. His face looked twisted and distorted. She even thought she saw horns coming out of his head. But she looked again and it was just Derrick making his fuck face. She was beginning to orgasm again when someone called out from behind Derrick.
“What in the holy fuck is going on?”
Derrick jumped away as Laura sat up. There was an older police officer standing there.
“Sgt. Henderson! Hi, um. Yes. Hello sir.” Derrick said as he fumbled with his pants. Laura casually hopped off the counter, walked past Sgt. Henderson and pulled her panties and jeans back on. She knew he was watching her, but didn’t care, though she was visibly shaking, both from the orgasms as well as whatever it was that had come over the both of them. She wondered if it had anything to do with the little girl.
“And who the fuck is this whore?” He asked.
“Hey fuck you. At least he can get it up.” Laura said. Though as she looked around, she realized how horrible a situation this appeared to be. There was a little girl covered in blood and lying duct taped on the floor, while the two of them fucking on the front counter. She could only imagine what it must look like. Derrick began to explain, but Henderson silenced him.
“Yeah, I’m sure that kid was doing something crazy. The whole town has gone fucking nuts. I came back to get some more flares and crime scene tape. DPS just got here too.”
“What is going on?” Laura asked.
“Beats the shit out of me. People are tearing each other apart. Literally. I saw a group of them tear some guy’s arms and legs right off.”
“Jesus.”
“My dad is in holding back there. We got to get him out.” Laura said.
“That might be the safest place for him right now.” Henderson said.
“Bullshit. He’s helpless back there. If those people are as strong as you say, they could rip the bars right off and he’s cornered.”
“She has a point,” Derrick said.
“For fuck’s sake, I don’t have time for this. Fine. Derrick, you go get him out. And while you’re back there, grab a duty belt and a weapon from the armory. Here’s the key.” Henderson unhooked a key from his key ring and handed it to him. “May as well grab a shotgun while you’re there too.”
“What about me?”
“What about you?” Henderson said.
“What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t give a shit. Go home, stay here. Whatever. We got our hands full as it is.” He turned and ran toward the back of the station. In a few minutes, Derrick came walking up with her dad.
“Daddy!” She said as she ran and hugged him tight.
“What’s going on?” He asked.
“I don’t know. The whole town is going nuts. They told us to go home and stay inside.”
“Ok. They’ll probably want me to turn myself in once this is over.”
“I don’t know. I’m just happy to have you with me now.”
“We better get home and check on your mother.”
Laura noticed Derrick standing behind them. He was holding a shotgun that looked bigger than he was. Suddenly she felt embarrassed about their little encounter earlier. She had never been shy sexually, but she wasn’t one to fuck guys she barely met in public places, either.
“I can give you guys a ride I guess,” he said.
Laura had brought her car, but with everything that was happening, didn’t mind a ride with an armed escort.
“Yeah, that would be fine,” she said. As she spoke she noticed he wouldn’t make eye contact with her.
Her dad looked back and forth between them as Laura walked over and picked up Cynthia in her arms they began walking to his car. Her dad looked at Cynthia, and then up at her.
“Long story,” she said.
As they got into the car, the sound of gunshots rang out. It wasn’t close by, but close enough to get their attention. There were dozens of repetitive shots, then silence.
“What the fuck?” Derrick said. Laura didn’t have a lot of faith in him with that shotgun. It would probably knock him down in one blast.
“Let’s just go,” Laura said as they all climbed into the car.
Chapter 10
Ted managed to climb onto a fence, and then onto
a rooftop, which bought him a little time. The afflicted chasing him began climbing the fence as well, but he took his gun out and began shooting at them. He really wasn’t aiming. There were more than a dozen of them all screaming profanities at him and describing things they wanted to shove up his ass. He climbed to a higher spot on the roof. From there he could see the other police cars coming from a few blocks away. At least his call went out.
Finally several squad cars pulled up to his street and got out. The officers used their shotguns to open fire on the bizarre mob. It distracted them enough for him to climb down. Gilbert Salazar was the closest officer to him. He ran to Gilbert’s car and jumped in the passenger’s seat.
“Go! Gil! Come on! Let’s get out of here!” He yelled.
“Go where? They’re still coming?” Gilbert asked.
“Anywhere! Just get the fuck out of here.”
Gilbert got back in and floored it. Ted looked back and saw several of those afflicted running toward him. A few blocks down the road, there were more. A woman ran up to the squad car and began banging on the window.
“Help me! Please! Help me!” She screamed.
“Unlock the doors,” Ted said.
“No way man, we got to keep moving.” Gilbert replied.
“We’re cops! We’re supposed to help people.”
“Not if it means getting fucked up by these things,” Gilbert said.
“Help! Please?” The woman kept screaming and banging, but one of the afflicted tackled her as Gilbert stepped on the gas again. Ted watched as the thing tore the woman’s head off and began fucking the bloody stump on the bottom of the severed head.
“What the fuck?” Ted mumbled as he looked ahead.
“What?”
“Those afflicted, people, whatever. Some of them look familiar, like they are people from here. I don’t know what’s gotten into them.”
“Maybe this is the zombie apocalypse, man,” Gilbert said.
“Those aren’t fuckin’ zombies. Never seen a zombie movie where they fuck severed heads.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind,” Ted said.
As they got to the edge of town, there were county and DPS police driving past them from the other direction.
“They got here fast.” Gilbert said.
“I guess so.” There was another group of DPS officers setting up a barricade ahead of them. Gilbert slowed the car down as they reached them. Several of the officers around the barricade approached them with rifles pointed at them. Ted stepped out but put his hands up.
“Hey guys, we’re on the same team here.” He said.
“Not right now you’re not,” one of the troopers said. “We’ve been ordered not to let anyone out of town.”
“What? Why not? Have you seen what is going on here?”
“Yes sir. They think it may be some kind of outbreak. So everyone stays put.”
“Outbreak? Outbreak of what? It’s more like mass hysteria or something. Not a virus.”
“Well that is not for us to determine. Now get back in your car and head back into town. Find a place to hunker down until its safe.” The trooper said.
“What in the hell?” The other officer said as he lowered his rifle. Ted turned and saw Gilbert on the hood of the car, with his dick out jacking off. “What the fuck is wrong with you son?” The older trooper said. “Put that shit away.”
“I can’t,” Gilbert said. “I can’t stop, I don’t know what’s wrong.” He was moving his hand faster and faster, beating it harder and harder. Ted cringed watching. There was no way that could have felt any good. After a minute, Ted saw blood coming through Gilbert’s fingers, and he showed no signs of slowing down.
“Hey, that’s enough man, stop that shit.” Ted said, but Gilbert wasn’t answering. He was focused on his task. Ted took out his Taser and walked closer to him. “I’m telling you, stop doing that. Something is messing you up.”
Still no response. Ted shot the Taser hitting Gilbert in the legs with both prongs. He could hear the current surging through, but Gilbert just looked up at him. This time, his face was different. He looked like the rest of the afflicted around town.
“Oh shit,” Ted said backing up. Gilbert took out a pocket knife and waved the blade around a second. He then took the knife, cut off his own penis and stuffed it into his mouth. Once again, Ted fell to the ground and threw up. He wasn’t watching when the troopers opened fire on Gilbert. When he finally looked up, Gilbert’s body was lying in a bloody heap on the hood of the car. Ted was starting to wonder which would be worse, getting killed or turning into one of those afflicted.
Chapter 11
A little over two hundred miles away in Houston, Texas, seventeen-year old Amanda Ross sat on the porch of the halfway house she’d been staying at since that horrible night the year before. Despite what several doctors, social workers and therapists tried to tell her over the past year, she had been demon possessed. She knew it, she felt it. She had even spoken to the demon named K’rall and he spoke back.
Under its control, she did horrible things and many people died as a result. Several priests came to help her, including Father Harlan, who was able to help her. He helped her by showing her how to rid herself of the demon, and that’s what it came down to. There was no prayer, no magic words or holy relics that could make the thing inside of her leave. She and she alone could make it leave, and she did.
Since then, her mind had been at total peace. She spent a few weeks at a psychiatric hospital in Chicago, before coming to Houston to the halfway house. No other place would take her due to her violent past. Though now that the demon was gone, she had no violent episodes at all. She stayed, though, since she had no family and was still a minor.
“Sure is nice out today isn’t it?” Mrs. Parker said from behind her. She ran the hallway house, helping take care of between six and ten girls at various times. She had been the closest thing to a mother Amanda had ever had.
“Yes it is,” Amanda said. “Very peaceful.”
“I heard you got your GED last week. I’m so proud of you.” Mrs. Parker said.
“Oh yeah I did. Thank you.”
“You give any thoughts on college or what you want to do?”
“I thought about going to school to be a therapist. But then I realized most therapists I’ve had only pissed me off. So maybe that’s not the best route.”
“You could be one of the good ones. Be that one who makes a difference.”
“Maybe. Have to pay for college somehow anyway.” Amanda said.
“You’re very bright. There’s lots of scholarships and financial aid out there. You’ll...are you ok?” Mrs. Parker said as Amanda had pinched her eyes shut squeezing her temples.
Sharp pain had shot through her head, something she’d never felt before. In an instant she saw Father Harlan running and yelling while some horrible looking afflicted chased him. There were others with them, including a little boy. Though there was something wrong with the little boy, he was shrouded in black smoke. The vision went away as she awoke with Mrs. Parker shaking her.
“Amanda, are you all right?”
“Um, I uh, I think so.” She’d never had a vision before, not like this one. There was no way she was going to tell Mrs. Parker what she just saw and get herself locked up again. “I.... I need to go.”
“Go where?”
“I have to run to the store. I need to pick up some things. Can I use the car?” Amanda asked. The halfway house had an old car the residents who could drive were allowed to use for running errands. It was all part of the independence thing.
“I suppose. The keys are hanging up inside. You sure you’re ok?”
“I’m fine. I just need to get out of here for a bit. I’ll be back.” Amanda said as she went back inside and grabbed the keys. Parked out front was the brown car. She climbed inside and pulled out of the driveway. Though she wasn’t headed to the store. In her vision, she saw exactly where Father Harlan was, a little t
own near San Antonio. She had no actual plan, just the feeling she had to be there.
The last time she’d seen Father Harlan was in the hospital after the demon had left her. He told her he was leaving the priesthood, but she wasn’t sure if he had or not. Either way, it was only a few hours away. Whatever was going on, it was bad. Very bad. She had visions of the people or afflicted that were chasing him.
After her ordeal, she had seen videos of herself from when she was possessed. She’d had nightmares for weeks after seeing what she looked like. She couldn’t imagine what those around her had felt. The faces she saw in the vision, however, looked ten times worse. They didn’t look demon possessed. They looked like something straight out of hell. She was not an exorcist and had no idea what she’d do when she got there. All she knew was Father Harlan had helped save her. Now it was her turn to return the favor.
Chapter 12
Dietrich looked out the window as the others looked around the house.
“It’s quieting down out there. I don’t know what Simon did, but he seems to have control of them.” Dietrich said.
“Do you think they’ll hurt him?” Sharon asked.
“I don’t think so. If anything, they looked afraid of him, or whatever is inside him.”
“How do you not have constant nightmares with this shit, Dietrich?” Bernard asked.
“Who says I don’t? I’m just telling you what I know, which isn’t much. But with the hospital case last year, there were some similarities. The girl, Amanda, was initially possessed. From there she, or the demon inside her, commanded a whole fleet of other afflicted. Once she was able to drive him out of herself, they all left as well”
“Drive him out of herself?” Sharon asked.
“Yes. Ultimately that was how the thing was exorcised. One of them had even taken me at one point. I figured out, if I could keep control long enough to command him to leave, then they had to leave. So I told Amanda, who did the same thing and it worked.”
“So all Simon has to do is tell it to leave?”
“Yes, but that’s where this gets a bit complicated. Amanda was fifteen and it was difficult for her. Simon is only four, so it may be more difficult to take enough control, or even realize what is happening.”