by G. P. Ching
Malini froze, as did Grace who was just outside the door and poorly positioned to help. “Please, sir, we need your help.”
“No help here. Only death. You want help, you need to leave the city and get as far away from the demons as you can.”
“But that’s why we’re here,” Malini said, “to kill the demons. They’re called Watchers actually.”
“You can’t kill those things,” the man said. “I’ve tried.”
“We know how. We can teach you.”
A click preceded a warm wash of light. Malini stared at the gun in the man’s hand. Lillian would have known what kind it was, but Malini was never good with guns. Holding the weapon was an elderly man wearing the black clothing and white collar traditionally associated with priests. Hollow cheeks and a thin frame gave the man a sickly appearance.
“Who are you?”
Tell him the truth. The voice in her head was not her own. God’s? She wasn’t sure. But she chose to trust the voice.
“I am a Soulkeeper, a human being chosen by God and genetically gifted to protect other humans from fallen angels.”
Silence stretched between them, then the man laughed a few times. “I suppose I can’t blame you for going a little crazy. The first time I saw one I thought I was.”
“You are ill. I can heal you.”
He snorted. “Thanks for noticing. No, you can’t heal me. No one can. I have cancer.” He jiggled the gun. “Anyway, all of us are risking our lives staying around here.”
“My name is Malini Gupta. What’s yours?”
He considered her for a moment. “Father Jonas Raymond.”
“You can see Watchers?”
“Yes. Clear as day. Not everyone can, you know. Half the staff and congregation thought the other half had gone mad.” He lowered the gun, set it down on the side of an overturned desk. “They all left. The ones who couldn’t see, to flee the bombings; the ones who could, to flee the demons.”
“Why did you stay?”
“Dying anyway. Might as well go down fighting.”
“I’m glad you stayed. We need your help.” Malini stepped closer, reaching tentatively for the man’s hand. “You know I’m not a Watcher,” she said. “You would see if I was.”
Father Raymond softened, and finally, slowly, accepted her handshake. Malini poured her healing power into him. Closing her eyes, her gift curled inside the man, tendrils wrapping around the cancer in his liver, sifting through the organ, healing him.
“What are you doing?” Father Raymond tried to jerk his hand away.
Malini gripped harder, the rancor of her burning flesh filling the room. The burn traveled up her arm.
“Dear Lord, you’re on fire!” he yelled.
“I’m fine,” Malini said through gritted teeth. “Grace, get Jacob.”
She heard Grace retreat from where she’d been waiting outside the door.
“Who is that?” Father Raymond asked, but his words floated away unanswered.
When it was clear to her that her healing was successful, she let go of his hand. His eyes locked onto hers and then trailed to the burn that had spread from her hand to her cheek. At that moment, Jacob ripped the door off its hinges and doused her with water. Very subtle, Jacob.
“Who are you?” Jacob asked.
“Father Raymond.”
“It’s your lucky day, Father Raymond. Whatever it was you had is officially cured. My girlfriend doesn’t heal everyone she meets.”
“Liver cancer,” Malini said. “And yes, you’re cured.”
Father Raymond rubbed a spot over his heart, his face glowing with the hope that his miracle was real. He swallowed. “Who are you people? Why are you here?”
“We need you, Father Raymond, and we need this place. Will you help us? We can pay you, enough that when this is all over, you can restore your church to what it once was.”
The priest looked up at the ceiling and crossed himself. “What do you need from me?”
“We need a place to make camp. A place the Watchers won’t expect us to be.”
“You need sanctuary.”
“Yes.”
“How many of you are there?”
“Twelve.”
He shook his head. “This isn’t a hotel, but if you’re looking for a place to make camp, I may have something.”
Malini gathered the others. Father Raymond led them through the rectory, down a flight of stairs to a tunnel that led to a massive basement room. “We used to use this for wedding receptions and potluck dinners. There’s a kitchen, and if you can dig them out, there are beds in the rectory you can use. Bathroom’s over there.”
Turning in a circle, Malini pictured the place as a campsite. It wasn’t Eden. It wasn’t even comfortable. But it would have to do.
The others didn’t seem happy about the idea. Samantha leaned on Ghost while Bonnie was openly teary-eyed. Dane and Ethan hovered near the entrance, shoulders slumped. Cheveyo stood in the middle of the room, staring at a blank wall. Abigail rubbed reassuring circles over her swollen belly while Gideon whispered encouraging words in her ear. Ever the practical ones, Grace and Lillian headed straight for the kitchen to take inventory.
Jacob cleared his throat. “I feel …” He shivered. “There’s something upstairs.” He started for a door at the back of the large room.
“You don’t want to go up there, son,” Father Raymond said. “It’s not safe. Rubble everywhere.”
The words fell futilely around Jacob. Malini followed her boyfriend up the stairs into a mess of cracked marble, toppled pews, and broken glass. Statues of Mary, Joseph, and a selection of saints had fallen from their stands and shattered on the floor. Depictions of the Stations of the Cross hung at odd angles from the walls. The marble altar was cracked down the middle. Jacob wove through the mess to the front of the building, the part that must have been the foyer. Malini heard Father Raymond pick his way through the mess behind her.
“There,” Jacob said, pointing at a large, square marble fixture the size of a hot tub.
“What is that?” Malini asked.
“Baptismal font,” Father Raymond said. “We occasionally performed full emersion on adults. It’s filled with holy water.”
Jacob clapped his hands together and turned smiling eyes on Malini as he approached the edge and sunk a hand. The water rippled like a long lost friend.
Father Raymond’s eyes widened.
“This is the place,” Malini said, more certain than ever. “This is our sanctuary.”
Chapter 26
Lament
Malini grunted as she carried her end of the twin-sized mattress she and Jacob had recovered from a half-destroyed room in the rectory. Her biceps burned with the weight and angle of the load. If they could get the bulky object past the staircase, things would get easier.
“Why can’t we just sleep in the rectory?” Samantha whined from behind her.
“Because the walls could cave in at any moment,” Ghost said softly from the other end of the mattress they were carrying. “The building is half burned. It’s not structurally safe.”
“Father Raymond is staying there.”
“Father Raymond is one man in one small room that survived the damage,” Ghost said.
Malini was glad Ghost answered her. She was sure her response wouldn’t have been half as patient. One by one, the Soulkeepers had moved the beds, chairs, and other homey accouterments they could dig out from the rectory into the multipurpose room under the church. Slowly, the large open space had taken on new life. Lined up as they were, the beds reminded her of antique pictures she’d seen of orphanages or hospitals. No privacy. No amenities. But better than sleeping on the floor.
“One, two, three,” Jacob counted, then let the mattress fall on the box spring. As soon as it was in position, Malini flopped on top of it, so tired she barely cared about the poof of dust that rose up from the fabric. Jacob tossed a set of the linens they’d found on top of her. She didn’t move.
No on
e said anything about separating the boys from the girls. Then again, it was a moot point. Exhaustion ensured no one would be doing anything but sleeping.
“I’m going to go make use of the shower,” Samantha said, grabbing her bag. Malini cracked an eye, wondering how she had the energy.
“Hey, look what we found!” Dane said. He backed into the room holding one end of a huge flat screen television. Ethan grinned from the other end.
“So much for believing priests took a vow of poverty,” Ethan said. “We found this thing in the living room.”
“Excuse me,” Father Raymond said from behind them. “It wasn’t like we each had one. And it was donated to us.”
Dane shrugged and began setting it up. “Let’s hope the thing still works.”
“And that the cable’s not cut,” Ethan said.
Abigail, Grace, and Lillian peeked out of the kitchen and took a seat on the side of one of the beds next to Gideon and Cheveyo as the sound of static filled the room. Ethan punched some buttons and plugged something in, and the screen blinked to life.
“Lucifer!” Cheveyo yelled. “What the hell is he doing on television?”
“Shhh.” Abigail pressed a finger to her lips.
Exhausted, Malini forced her body into a sitting position and her eyes open. Dressed in a tailored navy suit and standing on a street corner, Lucifer addressed the camera. “Is your home overrun by demons?” He pointed to a suburban home in ruins. The yard was on fire and a Watcher bolted past the picture window. “Is the apocalypse getting in the way of your daily routine?” A mother backed out of her driveway only to have her car swarmed by hellhounds. “You don’t have to live this way! I’m Milton Blake, CEO of Harrington Enterprises. Thanks to the best research and development team in the world, we’ve patented a state of the art security system to keep you safe. Using cutting edge spiritual and scientific principles, we’ve developed a foolproof system to repel and eliminate otherworldly beings from you and your property.”
Lucifer waved a hand toward a home that seemed impervious to the assault. An octagonal sign in the front yard read PROTECTED BY HARRINGTON and a father, mother, and child stood smiling on the front porch. “See how the demons avoid this home? Our system repels demons from your lawn, house, and even from yourself.” The camera zoomed in to the black amulet around each family member’s neck. “What are you waiting for? Let the apocalypse happen to somebody else. Sign up today and join the growing number of survivors.” A URL blinked on the screen.
Ghost jabbed at his phone. “The URL leads to a website for the Harrington Demon Eradication System. In order to buy one you have to sign a contract swearing allegiance to Milton Blake, any of his identities, and related associates.”
“Does it really say that?” Grace said. “The allegiance and identities part.”
Ghost held up his phone.
“Why are you surprised, Grace? Lucifer makes a virus in order to cure it, takes control of the education system to ensure nobody learns anything, and now brings about the apocalypse in order to pretend to protect people from it.” Malini bounded out of bed and paced in front of the television, which was now playing a Hooters commercial. “This is Lucifer at his best, or worst depending on your perspective. The Lord of Illusions never stops misrepresenting himself. He will cheat and lie and mislead until we are all his damned slaves!” Her voice echoed in the large room.
All eyes rested on her, widening at her tone.
It was Father Raymond who piped up first from his place near the door. “I thought you people killed the demons? What’s the plan? What are you going to do about this?”
Malini was all charged up to tell him she had no flipping idea what they were going to do when she was distracted by a series of urgent, demanding tones issuing from the television. The words SPECIAL REPORT scrolled across the screen.
“The White House pressroom,” Bonnie said. “Looks like the President is going to make an announcement.”
The President approached the lectern. “Good evening. Today, our great country came under attack by true, unadulterated evil. Men and women, of all walks of life, confronted massive winged creatures intent on consuming human flesh. Some people say these monsters are demons from Hell. Others claim to see only other human beings. Our government experts are not certain where the creatures came from, what they want, or why they’ve come now. One thing we can all agree on is this: they are due justice. This is terrorism. Human or not, these beasts are attacking our homes and our very way of life. That is why, in response, I am forming a new group of experts to determine our best course of action against the invasion.
“The Council for the Eradication of the Unholy will unite the brightest political, scientific, and corporate minds to find a way to end this invasion. The devastation our country is experiencing at the hands of these demon terrorists is unforgivable and requires immediate action.”
“Immediate? It’s been going on for over a day?” Jacob griped. “I guess it’s good they’re doing something.”
“The new council will be headed by Senator Bakewell,” the President said.
“Bakewell?” Malini said, alarmed. Bakewell was the one politician they knew for sure was under long-term Watcher influence.
“Harrington Enterprises, the leading supplier of demon eradicating products, will work closely with government experts and comprise an important part of the team,” the President said. “CEO Milton Blake has agreed to donate unlimited company resources to the problem and will be working closely with Mr. Bakewell.”
“Ugh!” Samantha groaned. “He’s everywhere.”
“Turn it off. I can’t listen to this. Has he already won? How can we possibly recover from this?” Bonnie said. The panic in her voice rattled through the room.
Malini shook her head and spread her hands. “It’s not over. There are three more curses and four more gifts to go. He hasn’t won yet.”
“But what can we do? He’s got the ear of the President. People think he’s going to save them.” Gideon pointed a hand toward the screen. Abigail shook her head and whispered something in his ear.
Malini glared at the image of the President. The room seemed to tilt and sway as she tried to process the implications. The President finished his speech and began taking questions from reporters, but Malini couldn’t hear anything. Her ears were ringing.
Gideon had asked what they should do. Malini had no idea. She’d just been to the In Between. She should have seen this coming, but she hadn’t. Everything was out of control.
Eventually, Lillian crossed the room and turned off the television. She gave Malini a long, hard look before addressing the others. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We are going to get some sleep. Tomorrow, Malini, Grace, Abigail, Gideon, and I will convene as we would in Eden. We’ll discuss what we’ve learned and form a plan.”
Malini nodded and mouthed thank you to Lillian. The older woman gave her an almost imperceptible nod. Malini plopped back down on the bed Jacob had thoughtfully made up while she was panicking.
Father Raymond said goodnight. He’d decided to stay in his room in the rectory despite the obvious risks. Lillian turned off the lights. After a period of squeaking hinges, rustling covers, and whispered “good nights,” the room quieted. Malini wasn’t sure how much time passed before a deep snore came from Dane’s direction.
“You look tired,” Jacob whispered from the pillow next to her. He was still wearing his muddy sneakers but Malini didn’t have the energy to tell him to kick them off.
She glanced at her watch. “It’s four in the morning, and we haven’t slept yet. Of course I’m tired.”
He rubbed a knuckle under his nose. “I don’t mean that kind of tired. You look tired to your bones, to your soul.”
She stared up at the ceiling, her thoughts swirling with the gold Celtic design. She’d wanted to bury this, but like always, she couldn’t keep her real feelings from Jacob. Nor could she deny that those feelings compromised her ability
to lead. She turned on her side.
“We’re not going to graduate,” she said.
“No.” Jacob tucked his hands between his head and the pillow. “But nobody else will either. Are they even holding classes anymore?”
“I don’t know.”
“Anyone who can see the Watchers will pull their kids out of class faster than you can say ‘homeschool.’ Those who can’t might attend classes, but if the Watchers are teaching them, they won’t be learning anything. They’ll have to repeat the year when God wins the challenge.” Jacob shrugged his shoulder.
“If God wins,” Malini murmured.
“Malini Gupta, as Healer you of all people cannot lose faith.”
“Optimism is my job, eh?” She frowned, sighing deeply through her nose.
Jacob stared at her for a few minutes, eyebrows pinched over his nose. He examined her face as if he was seeing her for the first time. “I know you’re disappointed, Malini. You’ve done everything right academically and sleeping in the basement of a church is not what you planned for yourself. You climbed on a bus to California and ended up in New York. But you know what? New York needs you more.”
She smiled. “I thought I was in Chicago?”
He swallowed and licked his lips. “I’m speaking figuratively. Life didn’t turn out the way you planned. You’ve told me like a million times that you want to be a journalist. A citizen of the world you called it. You wanted to help people by providing honest reporting around the globe.”
Malini nodded.
“Your life is here, Mal. You don’t need a degree to help people. You’re already here, in your future, helping people. You are going to heal the world.”
“But—”
“No buts. Maybe you need a good cry. Maybe you need to grieve the future you lost. That’s okay. I’ll support you. I’ll even wipe your tears. But what good is a degree in a world ruled and ravaged by Watchers. Whatever you expected for your life, this is the most important thing you will ever do. Look around this room. Every life here is in your hands. You are seventeen years old and the leader of the best chance this world has of surviving the apocalypse.”