It moved quickly, found a woman, and said rhythmically, “Rape, rape, rape.” The woman stopped singing and frowned. Grat smiled and moved to another and another and another, whispering and shouting into the ears of as many people as it could reach. It circled back to the pianist, “Rats are eating your flesh.” The pianist again missed a note. Moving back to the guitarist and the drummer, it spoke words of evil. The worship team lost its rhythm and stopped in confusion.
The church fell silent. The guitarist apologized, “Sorry, folks, even the musicians mess up sometimes.” Turning back to the worship team, he said something that only they could hear, and they started on a new song. It was obvious that things weren’t right. Grat worked quickly, moving from person to person, speaking vile descriptions of murder, rape, molestation, infections, and disease into the ears of as many people as it could. Though the music continued, it was slightly disjointed and out of sync.
Outside, the circling demons could faintly hear the musical discord. They became energized and began to dip and rise, striking each other, growling and spitting in their excitement.
Finally, after two more songs, the congregation was finished. As they sat down, people were looking around at each other, aware that something was wrong. Most of them felt a little unsettled.
The five original demons knew it was time to move. They entered through the roof and clung to the walls of the sanctuary. They watched Grat as the demon continued its malevolent work and then they joined in, slithering to the floor and mingling with people, speaking words of evil, filth, and hatred into their ears.
Right on cue, the pastor entered through the door of the sanctuary and walked down the center aisle. He was surprised that it was filled to capacity. There were people there whom he hadn’t seen in weeks. They watched him. He could feel their curious eyes upon him.
After ascending the three steps to the platform at the front of the congregation, he moved behind the pulpit. He laid his Bible down quietly and then tested his lapel mike with a gentle tap, tap, tap. He picked up the bulletin and opened it, the crackle of paper amplified by the mike. Grat approached him from behind, and spoke into his ear, “Today you die.” Tim experienced an immediate flashback to his dream. He glanced down at the Bible and then up at the familiar faces in his congregation. They were all looking attentively at him.
Tim adjusted his sermon notes and Bible on the podium. He was having difficulty concentrating, “Today you die,” came the words again from behind. A trickle of fear began to scrape across his spine. He tried to ignore it.
“Today is the day of your death, vile pig.”
Pastor Tim’s heart began to beat faster. His mouth was dry. So far, he’d not said anything and the congregation was waiting. He prayed quickly and silently. Lord, please give me the strength. Please give me the strength. I need you.
Grat jerked back suddenly, as if slapped. It kept its distance and retreated to the congregation where it began again to speak words of fear to whoever was vulnerable. The other demons were there as well, mingling among the people.
“Please be seated.”
Everyone sat down slowly and quietly.
Pastor Tim finally began to read the bulletin announcements.
***
Mark was at a stoplight, waiting impatiently for it to turn green. He knew where the church was. At least he thought he did. He’d been there a couple years before on a visit to his father-in-law. Had he missed a turn? Things weren’t looking familiar. Was it because he was so tired and having trouble concentrating? Heavy, heavy eyelids and shallow breaths were testament to his fatigue. The lack of sleep made his mind drag. He shook his head to clear it.
The light turned green. He hurried through the intersection, anxiously examining the streets, looking for the right one.
“There it is,” he said to himself. He turned onto Twelfth Street. Just a couple blocks down on the right would be the sanctuary. He could see the white cross brightly reflecting the sun as it pointed upward into the blue sky.
Above it the demons were circling. They saw him approach, but they were more interested in Leech, who was walking towards the church.
***
Pastor Tim finished the announcements. Opening his Bible, he took his notes out and placed them on the right side of the pulpit. He cleared his throat. It was time to talk about why the prayer team had been activated so early in the morning. Of course, the collective dream had been related to everyone by now. That was obvious. He looked to the congregation. Everybody sat silently, watching, waiting. Nervously, he cleared his throat again.
In the front row sat John and Kathy. Tim nodded to them and smiled politely. John nodded in return.
“As many of you know, just a few hours ago we activated the prayer team. Normally we don’t do this in the middle of the night, and since everyone is curious about what is going on, I thought it would be best to fill you in.” He paused for a moment as he considered where to start. He gulped a drink from the fresh water bottle inside the podium.
“A few days ago, John had emergency gallbladder surgery.” He looked at John. “I stopped by the hospital Friday afternoon to pray for him. His daughter, Kathy,” he nodded towards her and smiled, “was in the room visiting. We talked for a little while. It was nice to meet her, as John had told me so much about her. We chatted and I was about to leave when I felt I received a word from the Lord. It was about Kathy’s husband, Mark. As I was leaving, I had this distinct impression that Mark was somehow important spiritually. This struck me as odd since Mark isn’t a believer.” He looked at Kathy, “I mean no offense.” Kathy smiled back politely. Tim continued, but only after weighing whether or not to tell them what happened next.
“After I excused myself from the room, I was walking down the hall when I had the strong impression that my own life was in danger.” He glanced over at Susan, his wife. This was the first she’d heard of this and she showed obvious signs of concern.
A soft murmur erupted in the congregation. He raised his hand towards them and waited for it to die down.
“Don’t worry. I have committed everything to the Lord and am in his hands.”
***
Leech entered the front door of the church. He fingered the ski mask he had in his back pocket and looked around. Luckily, no one was in the foyer. He peered through the windows of the doors that led into the sanctuary. He could see Pastor Tim at the pulpit. Leech reached under his shirt and felt the gun. He swallowed hard and focused momentarily on his pounding heart. He licked his lips nervously and checked around the foyer again. It was still empty. From his vantage point, he could see most of the congregation and, so far, no one knew he was there. He swallowed again as he thought about what he was about to do. Did he really have the guts? He moved away from the doors and looked at his hands. They were shaking.
Paraptome sensed his doubt and immediately spoke into Leech’s mind. “Do it. It is the right thing. You will not get caught. Do it.” Paraptome tried to numb the place in Leech’s brain that dealt with fear. “Do it. Do it.”
Leech started to feel better, more confident. He reached for the ski mask. Unexpectedly, the door to the sanctuary opened and a young girl, perhaps six years of age, entered the foyer. She glanced at him, smiled, and headed off down the hall where she disappeared into the bathroom. He had been seen.
She was young, but she saw him. He thought about killing her but he knew it wasn’t a good idea. Besides, he would be far away after it was all over and what could a little girl tell the police? He decided to take a chance and wait until she went back to the sanctuary. He found a corner with a table and literature on it. He walked over and picked something up, blankly staring at it, pointing his face away from the sanctuary and out a window.
***
Mark had trouble finding a place to park. “Come on,” he said to himself as he kept driving. He gripped the steering wheel frantically, peering through the windshield looking back and forth. “Not now!” he exclaimed in frustration
. He could see only a few spaces at the far end of the lot. “Of all the bad luck!” Maybe he could find a spot closer to the church on the street.
***
“The dream I had,” said Pastor Tim, “was very disturbing. Normally, I wouldn’t wake anybody up in the middle of the night to ask for prayer. But this was different, so I called Allen, the head of the prayer team. To my complete surprise, he told me that he’d had the same dream.”
Tim could hear another low whisper move through the congregation.
“Needless to say, that shook me up. But Allen was very kind and said he would activate the prayer team. We both thought it was important enough to do that. So, to those of you who lost some sleep, I hope you’ll forgive me.” He took another drink of water.
“When I got to church this morning, I began to pray. Allen showed up and we talked about everything.” He looked over to where Fran was sitting. “Fran, who is on the prayer team, also came in early. She had been calling others to pray, as had been Allen, and she said that three other people had had the same dream.”
The congregation again began to murmur. Tim had to wait for about fifteen seconds for the sanctuary to become silent again.
“Who was it?” asked someone in the congregation. “Who were the others who had the dream?”
Tim looked quizzically at Fran. He nodded. She stood up and turned towards the congregation. “Could those of you who had the dream raise your hands?” Two women and one man responded. Tim decided to let everyone talk for a bit until they were ready for him to continue.
***
Mark saw a spot on the side of the road. He pulled into it quickly and within seconds was jogging towards the church.
***
Leech was growing apprehensive. He did not like waiting in the foyer. He began to think about leaving, about forgetting the whole thing. Leech glanced back at the hallway, hoping that the little girl would come back. He didn’t want any surprises. “Forget the little girl,” said Paraptome. “She’s nothing.” Paraptome tweaked Leech’s mind, subduing his fear and caressing the pleasure center. “You can do this,” said Paraptome. “You are strong, and this will prove to everyone just how strong you are.”
Leech realized he didn’t need to wait for her to return and that his nerves were getting to him. That’s it! He had decided. He was going through with his plan. Just then, the door opened. The little girl skipped down the hall and disappeared back into the sanctuary. He watched as the door slowly closed behind her. He strode to the doors and peered through the windows into the main sanctuary.
***
Pastor Tim looked at John and Kathy and then back at the entire congregation. “I don’t know how all of it works, but the good Lord has it figured out. It seems to have a lot to do with Mark, Kathy, and John.” He looked at them again. “John, Kathy, would you two mind standing up?”
Kathy felt a bit embarrassed, but she complied with the pastor’s request. John moved more slowly, still hampered by the soreness from his surgery. Pastor Tim decided to step down from around the pulpit to stand beside them in order to make the discussion more personable.
***
Leech saw the pastor step down. “Perfect.”
He slipped on the ski mask. It wouldn’t take long before someone spotted him. But, if he moved quickly, that wouldn’t matter.
Mark was just outside, about to open the door to the church. Leech’s heart was pounding and has hands began to shake. “Go!” said Paraptome. “Become free. Kill him!”
Leech pushed the sanctuary doors open and charged in.
Mark opened the outside door and entered the foyer. He saw the doors in front of him closing slowly. The church was quiet except for a single muffled voice. He surveyed the foyer before walking to the sanctuary door.
Leech strode quickly. A few people noticed him but could only see him from behind so they didn’t know his face was covered.
Mark peered through the sanctuary door’s window in time to observe a man walking down the center aisle. He glanced beyond the man and saw John and Kathy standing next to the pastor. Why were they all standing there?
He watched them as he tried to decide what to do. Should he walk in and surprise Kathy, sit in the back of the church, or wait here?
Mark was tired and his mind wasn’t functioning at its best. He strained to find clear thoughts.
Leech reached into the waistband of his pants and fingered the revolver.
Pastor Tim was only now realizing that Leech was approaching and that he had a ski mask on.
Mark was still gazing through the door, trying to make a decision. Nervously, he looked behind him into the foyer.
Pastor Tim immediately thought of the dream. His heart skipped and he took a step backwards. Instinctively, he wanted to run, to hide himself, but he knew that he could not. He watched the masked man reach under his shirt and pull out a gun. Someone in the congregation screamed and Leech nervously reacted by swinging the gun towards the shriek. Everyone saw it. Someone shouted, “He’s got a gun!” And that is when chaos erupted. Another woman screamed and people nearest the aisles started to move towards the walls, scrambling past each other. Some indistinguishable cries of fear rose in the sanctuary as the erratic rumble of moving bodies cascaded through the church. The mayhem caused Leech to look around frantically. He did not want to be jumped.
Leech pointed the gun back and forth from the pastor to the crowd. The screams and commotion continued to cause him to jerk the weapon in different directions.
“Kill the pastor!” yelled Paraptome into Leech’s mind. “Shoot him now!”
Leech actually heard Paraptome’s voice inside. It startled him. Confused, he looked around, waving the gun. He was panting heavily, his hands shaking.
“Kill the pastor!” came the words again.
People were yelling and scrambling, making it difficult for Leech to focus. He had to shoot the pastor and get out. But he saw the people running out of the door that was to be his escape route. He wouldn’t be able to get out cleanly. For a split second, he scanned the room in search of another exit.
Mark had seen the commotion and heard someone shout something about a gun and instinctively reacted to protect Kathy. He forced himself into the sanctuary and was fighting against the flow of exiting people.
By now, Pastor Tim had put himself in front of John and Kathy and was backing up with them. Paraptome yelled into Leech’s mind, “Kill the pastor! Kill him!” Leech turned. He took aim and pulled the trigger.
A tremendously loud crack echoed in the sanctuary above the screams and scuffling. But something was wrong. The pastor was still standing.
Leech had missed.
From the rear of the church, shards of a stained glass window fell noisily to the ground. Leech aimed his gun again and, as he began to pull the trigger, he felt a hard blow on his back. The gun went off but this time it discharged into the floor. Mark had launched himself through the last few feet separating him from the gunman, and caught Leech just as he pulled the trigger. The impact almost sent both of them to the floor, but Leech was surprisingly nimble and managed to remain on his feet.
Pastor Tim extended his arms in a protective stretch in front of John and Kathy, who were quickly backing away. Kathy was shocked not only by the mayhem and the gunfire but also by seeing Mark. It didn’t register. It was impossible for him to be there. “Mark!” she cried out and instinctively started to run towards him. Pastor Tim held her back.
Mark and Leech struggled over the gun. Mark punched Leech once, but it didn’t do much. The gun was waving in all directions. John took a step forward but Pastor Tim pulled both him and Kathy out of the way.
Paraptome, realizing that it was about to fail its mission, cursed into Leech’s mind. Leech grunted loudly as he fought for control of the gun. It went off again in the direction of the pastor. All three of them ducked and hit the floor. There was another shot, this time into the ceiling. People were scrambling and screaming.
&nbs
p; Paraptome decided to risk damaging Leech and took over as much of his body as it could. Leech felt a surge of power swell within him while, at the same time, he sensed coldness and weakness. It was bewildering, disorienting. Paraptome muscled control of the gun as they tumbled on the floor.
Crack! Another gunshot. A life-and-death struggle was in progress. Mark was, of course, outnumbered and overpowered, as Leech was not only inhabited by a demon but also was the beneficiary of its strength.
Nonetheless, Mark was fighting the most ferocious fight of his life. In the struggle, Leech’s ski mask came off. Leech, oblivious to his disclosure, was still desperately wrestling for the gun. Fear of another shot kept everyone at bay.
Mark kneed Leech in the ribs but the blow was ineffectual. Leech looked into Mark’s eyes and easily forced the gun towards his stomach. Mark tried to push it away, but Paraptome squeezed the trigger. Another loud crack echoed in the sanctuary and Mark’s eyes opened wide as the metal slug slammed into his body.
Paraptome threw Mark aside. It slid a few feet down the center aisle and quickly turned towards the pastor again, but Tim was right in front of him and slammed into Leech, catching him off guard. The collision forced Tim to topple over one pew and it sent Leech careening onto the corner of another, cracking a rib.
Then Sotare slammed into Paraptome. The impact didn’t have much of an effect on the demonic giant, but it was felt.
Leech jerked as if slugged in the gut. He fell to his knees and grabbed his side.
Paraptome growled furiously. Leech grunted in pain and waved the gun aimlessly as he tried to get up.
Pastor Tim had regained his footing and was about to tackle Leech. But Leech raised his gun and pointed it dead center at Tim’s chest and pulled the trigger. Click, click, click. Tim reacted by diving into the pews before he realized the gun was empty.
The Influence (Supernatural Thriller) Page 29