The Defiance

by Laura Gallier

  I finally came to grips enough to realize the student leaders were all staring at us.

  “What were you doing?” Ethan asked.

  All I could manage was a shrug.

  They were content to look away at that point and resume their conversation, which had thankfully returned to the subject of prayer yet somehow escalated into a full-blown conflict. Brandon insisted he’d already developed prayer guides we could use while Shelly argued that if we were going to start meeting regularly and praying together, we should use the prayer program her church had followed for years.

  Ethan tried to suggest a compromise but got nowhere. After all, Strife was still there, hunched over, growling and whispering in people’s ears. Brown sludge dripped like sweat from his face as he pitted them against one another, inciting their pride as if they were puppets on strings in his huge hands.

  All the student leaders except Ethan had spirit-world cobwebs clinging to them, left behind by the paddle-carrying warden of religion. And no doubt true to her assignment, they kept defending their own specific traditions, unwilling even to listen to others’ point of view.

  I watched like an outsider as the disagreement intensified, and death dust mixed with tiny black chunks began spewing from their mouths—only from the Lights’, though. No matter how often the shackled two chimed in with remarks as inconsiderate as the others’, no grossness came out through their lips. The stuff kept flinging off the Lights’ tongues, sticking to all of our faces and chests and also hovering in the air, but they couldn’t feel the sting like Ray and I could. They couldn’t rinse off in our auras either, and I was sure, stopping to pray together was out of the question now.

  Within minutes, the spiritual airspace around us turned dim and ashen gray.

  Once again, my nightmare in living color.

  “Please, guys.” I was done downplaying the real issue. Even if they weren’t predestined to join us, they deserved to know the truth. “There’s a demonic Ruler of Strife here, and he’s provoking us. I feel his effects too. We have to resist him.”

  Brandon laughed, even though he was a Light. “Good way to ease the tension, man.”

  I glared at him, then spoke the straight up truth to the group as frankly as I ever had with anyone, besides Ray Anne. “I’m dead serious, you guys. Our town—make that our whole nation—is counting on us to overthrow a reigning Spirit of Death named Molek and seven Cosmic Rulers that have descended on Masonville. They’re out to destroy us, and there are thirteen people—students, I think—marked to die any day now unless we find a way to intervene.” All they did was stare. “Look, I get that I sound crazy, but the Bible has plenty to say about ruling powers of darkness.”

  That’s when Strife charged at me, crouching down on all fours and snarling in my face.

  “Jesus!”

  That got him to back away from me, but so did everyone else.

  “Was that really necessary?” Shackled Shelly. On my last nerve.

  Several Creepers rose up from the concrete steps and swarmed her and the shackled guy, covering their ears—that white-noise technique I absolutely loathed.

  Ray Anne finally stepped forward and stood beside me, even though she was still shaking all over. Ethan looked at her and gasped, his lingering feelings for her on full display. “Ray Anne . . . are you okay?”

  She was pale. “Do you believe what Owen just said, Ethan?”

  All heads turned to Masonville’s most eligible young bachelor. He eyed the group before answering. “I believe we’re in a spiritual battle. So, in a sense, yes.”

  It’s hard to explain the relief that came over me, hearing someone actually say they believed me, even somewhat—someone smart whose opinion carried weight. For the first time, I thought, Maybe, just maybe, this guy and I could actually be friends. I could have used one.

  But no, there was way too much awkwardness between us.

  Brandon tossed his hands in the air like he’d had enough, and the webs clinging to his sleeves swayed with his every move. “Sorry, guys, but this isn’t what I expected.” He hightailed it toward his car in the parking lot, calling back at us, “No hard feelings, but I can’t be a part of this.”

  One by one, others followed. Strife abandoned the scene too, until it was just Ray Anne and Ethan and me in front of Masonville High, engulfed in a blanket of dark haze Ethan couldn’t see.

  So much for worshiping together like we’d seen the Watchmen do here.

  Ray Anne clung tight to my hand when all six of Molek’s brown bats descended on us, flying in circles above our heads. They swooped down, flapping their bony wings, stirring the haze. Then they opened their mouths and inhaled the paranormal pollution, sucking it out of the atmosphere. Every last bit was gone in seconds.

  They flew away in a lopsided formation.

  Ray Anne elbowed me in the ribs, pointing behind us, at the school building. Custos was on the roof, mounted on his breathtaking white horse, his armor shimmering. His gaze followed the bats. Then he looked at me. Really looked at me. I got the hint.

  I turned to Ray Anne. “I’m sorry to run like this, but I have to go.” I started sprinting to my motorcycle. “Go to your house and wait for me—I’ll be there soon!”

  I wouldn’t normally leave Ethan and my girlfriend alone, but this couldn’t wait.

  I sped past the Masonville city limits sign, then parked and ran through the cornfields, using my GPS pin to show me the way. It took half an hour, and the sun had nearly set, but at last, I spotted the dim shape of the run-down little house.

  I shined my phone light, and just like I thought, the bats were clustered where I’d seen them the first time. They took turns craning their necks down, making gagging sounds that made me want to gag too.

  I charged toward them, and they took flight, allowing me to stare down at my opponent. Molek was still buried in dirt up to his chin, but his clawed fingertips had breached the soil, his disturbing eyes wide open now. Slowly, he was chewing and swallowing, ingesting the potion the bats had slurped out of the air and regurgitated into his mouth. His tongue and chin and thin lips were covered in the stuff.

  In my nightmare, I’d had no clue what that substance was or why it coated Molek’s mouth. But I did now. The Lord of the Dead was feasting on Lights’ conflict, nourished and strengthened by the discord among God’s people.

  I shuddered.

  Hadn’t I feared this all along? That no matter how hard I tried, I’d never succeed at getting people to believe in the mission and cooperate? Not one person tonight had been on board. Well, except Ethan. He seemed to be holding up well under the Rulers’ concentrated influence. Better than me, honestly.

  I took a final gaze at Molek. “You’re defeated in Christ’s name.” He groaned like I’d stepped on his face but kept chewing.

  I’d seen enough. I walked away, ignoring the threats and insults the bats spoke over me, still soaring above their master’s recuperating body. I passed through the rows of corn, looking in every direction for the wise old man. My circumstances were more complicated than ever—surely he knew it and cared enough to show up and give me the guidance I desperately needed.

  But he never came.

  I parked in Ray Anne’s driveway and knocked on her garage apartment door. Why wasn’t her car there?

  “Coming,” she called out.

  Okay, so she wasn’t out with Ethan. I felt the tension leave my shoulders. As far as I knew, she still hadn’t seen his defender seal. I was grateful for that—and felt a tad guilty for keeping it from her. But it was one less thing she could admire about him.

  Ray Anne opened the door with Jackson on her hip. Her eyes were bloodshot like she’d been bawling.

  “Are you alright?” I imagined the sight of that two-faced Ruler had really freaked her out.

  She nodded, but her frown gave her away.

  I eyed the driveway. “Where’s your car?”

  “I didn’t want to be alone on the drive home. So Ethan drove m
e.”

  This was no time to be jealous, and I should have appreciated that he’d been there to help her. But what I knew and what I felt didn’t always line up.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “My parents just left to go get my car.”

  It was like she was a little kid, afraid to be home alone.

  I started to step inside, but just then something purred really loud, like a bobcat curled up inside a megaphone. I looked toward the sound, and on my left, a mega-sized cardboard diaper box was wedged behind the front yard shrubs. The open lid flaps jostled.

  I pointed to it. “What’s in there?” Her mouth moved, but nothing came out. “Tell me you didn’t put that box out here for that pathetic Creeper.”

  She swallowed hard. “He was getting chewed up by ants.”

  My mouth fell open. “Ray Anne, you know earthly insects can’t bite a spiritual being.”

  “But they did.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  She didn’t say anything.

  “He’s a Creeper, Ray Anne, and he keeps coming back to pull at your heart strings. He’s deceiving you, the same way Molek tricked me.”

  She switched Jackson to her other hip, and, off topic as it was, I noticed how good her figure looked in her leggings and T-shirt.

  “It’s not like he talks to me,” she said. “He just hides there and sleeps.”

  I huffed. “You swore you wouldn’t feel sorry for it.”

  She huffed harder. “Can we please just drop it?”

  Drop it. Great idea.

  I didn’t ask her permission, just traipsed behind the bushes and hoisted the box off the ground. I hadn’t expected it would weigh anything, but it felt like a bowling ball was in there. I stepped through the hedge of bushes into the Greiner’s front yard, and Ray Anne came running outside, still holding Jackson. “What are you doing?”

  I held the box straight out, then let it go, drop-kicking it. The box sailed all the way into the street, but the Creeper passed through the cardboard and hunkered in a tight ball in the grass a few feet from me. It covered its head with both scrawny arms and squealed. Immediately, a stampede of Creepers came advancing down the street.

  “Look what you did!” Ray Anne said. “They’re coming to hurt him.”

  “Good!”

  She tucked her chin and winced. Jackson eyed her face with his miniature brow furrowed, like he knew his favorite person was sad. I hurried to her, careful not to squeeze her arm too hard while leading her inside.

  She pulled away from me, then practically barked, “Shut the door.” She set Jackson on a blanket on his belly. “I don’t want to hear the torture.”

  I shook my head, marveling at how deceived she was—at how the kingdom of darkness was managing to use her merciful nature against her.

  I asked her to come sit by me on her futon. She grabbed some tissues and eventually lowered beside me, leaning away.

  I did my best to talk some sense into her, the same way she’d pled and tried to warn me a few months ago, when I’d fallen for evil in disguise. But she stared at her shaggy rug the whole time, rocking back and forth, like she was in a trance.

  “Are you even listening to me?” I asked.

  “Veronica’s going to kill me.”

  “What?” I moved to the floor and faced her on my knees. “Why would you say that?”

  “She was back today. Over there.” She pointed at Jackson’s crib. “She looked straight at me and told me.”

  A sense of hatred toward Veronica welled up in me, expanding like a poisonous vine taking over my chest, but I worked to tame it before it wrapped around my soul.

  “There’s no form of evil we have to fear,” I told her. “Nothing can harm us.”

  Ray Anne slid to the edge of the futon and vented like a pot boiling over, like there was no truth to what I’d just said. “She swears I’m gonna die young, just like my uncle. My mom’s brother was only twenty-three when he died. And my brother was only fifteen when he . . .” She swallowed instead of saying it. “Veronica said early deaths run in my family, and she promised I’m next. She vowed to end my life when I least expect it, then she’ll get Jackson, and there’ll be nothing I can do about it.”

  There are moments when divine revelation comes so swiftly, so obviously, it’s as if the earth stops spinning. That’s what happened as I knelt there, listening to my girlfriend pour out her petrified heart.

  The kingdom of darkness had overplayed its hand.

  I clutched her clammy fingers. “Ray Anne, what if that curse is fear? That snake in your neck was moving the whole time you talked about every scary thing you dread. Maybe your family does struggle with fear more than most, and maybe it even has something to do with the premature deaths, but you don’t have to give in. All we have to do is figure out how to break the curse off you.”

  I couldn’t exactly rip the snake out of her neck and dump it in the pond with the ones from my room, but I was sure there was a way she could be delivered. I knew evil masquerades as having the upper hand yet never truly does.

  Ray Anne gripped the back of her neck, nearly hyperventilating.

  “It’ll be okay.” I said it over and over, but it didn’t help. “Should I go get your mom?” I couldn’t just sit there, watching Ray Anne gasping in panic.

  “No. She overreacts to everything.”

  True, but I didn’t want to make the mistake of underreacting either. I’d never seen my girlfriend this distraught.

  Ray begged me again not to involve her mom, so I hugged her and did my best to coach her through some calming breaths. Then I bolted off the floor, inspecting the place, looking under her bed and beneath the crib. “Have you seen any bones and yarn, like, in a nest of hair?”

  She shook her head.

  “Someone planted one in my room at the church. It was a witchcraft curse.”

  “Who would do that?”

  “I have no idea.” I kept searching. “If you happen to find something weird like that, get it out of here immediately. Throw it into a drainage ditch in the street or something.”

  I went back to my same pose on my knees in front of her, leaning in close. “I don’t know how to break curses off people yet, but I’m absolutely positive God has a way. And I’m telling you, I will figure it out, Ray Anne. I won’t rest until I do.”

  She released her head into my chest and cried on my T-shirt. “Where’s all my faith gone?”

  Honestly, I’d been wondering the same thing. I ran my finger over her defender seal, still as vibrant as ever. “It’s still here. Your destiny hasn’t changed. You’ve just let the voice of evil paralyze you.”

  “Thank God I have you.” She pressed her soaked cheek against mine. “I . . .”

  I thought this was it. She was going to say she loved me.

  “I’m so sorry I can’t get it together,” she said.

  I kept holding her, swaying with her. “You don’t have to apologize for anything, Ray.”

  I stayed there until she finally relaxed enough to fall asleep in my arms.

  Back at the church, I took Daisy outside. I gazed up at the moonlit balcony attached to my room, then eyed the pond a short distance from where my dog was sniffing around. All was still. No sign of Custos or his warriors and no waterlogged witches. No squalling babies either, thank God.

  I’d promised Ray Anne I’d uncover how to break curses, and I intended to keep my word.

  I couldn’t think of a single person to call on for help. Betty didn’t need all this stress, and my father was no longer an option. I actually considered Ethan but immediately shot the idea down. My situation had to be far beyond anything Mr. “Sheltered All My Life” had ever experienced. As noble and spiritual as he was, he wouldn’t know how to fix this. They didn’t exactly teach how to disarm curses at choir practice.

  It was time to take the training wheels off my spiritual maturity and figure this curse-breaking thing out myself. With God’s help, of course.
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br />   I didn’t need more motivation, but some came anyway. I spied a brood of spirit-world snakes slithering in and out of the pond at the exact spot where I’d dumped the cursed objects. So, even though I’d removed the curse from my room and submerged it under water, it hadn’t drowned out its power.

  I popped my knuckles, sensing it was going to be another sleepless, intense night.

  NINETEEN

  I SAT ON MY BED WITH MY LAPTOP. “Lord, show me how to break curses—how to get rid of the snakes, starting with the one in my girlfriend’s neck.”

  I knew if I did an online search for articles, I’d have to weed through all kinds of New Age, mystical websites—as if trendy witchcraft is an effective way to combat overt witchcraft. So, I pulled up the Bible online and searched the Scriptures.

  It turned out nearly 170 Bible verses address curses, confirming what I already knew—they’re a real thing, not some hokey superstition. I clicked through the list of Scriptures and nearly fell off my bed when I saw that the King James Version describes curses as a hissing.

  Yes, people could attempt to curse others through spells, rituals, and cursed objects, but based on all I was reading, no snake—no curse—was allowed to penetrate a Light without cause. And get this: throughout the Old Testament, there were examples of people—and even God—declaring that whoever attempted to loose a curse on a person who served God evoked a curse in return. That would mean whoever put that hairy-yarn thing under my bed had invited those same snakes on herself. Or himself. And same for all the covens cursing Elle and Ray and me.

  Was it wrong that I was happy about that?

  Yes, I quickly learned. A verse in Luke said to bless and pray for those who curse us.

  There went my biblical backing for revenge.

  I also learned that curses could come on people without any use of witchcraft, when people live in stubborn defiance to God. Acts of rebellion could open a spirit-world snake hole of sorts for serpents to slither into people’s circumstances and work against them, binding them to ongoing failure and misfortune—the exact opposite of blessings. And if I was interpreting the Scriptures correctly, curses could even be generational, meaning parents could pass down their serpents to their children, grandchildren, and so on.