by John Lyman
“I have no idea,” Morelli said. “My best guess at this point is that ancient Christians transported the stone here somehow and used it to construct this chapel with a definite purpose in mind.”
Morelli quickly spotted the section of the wall they had sealed back up when they first discovered the chapel. “The stones are just piled on top of each other with mud in between, so the wall should be easy to push in.”
Alon put both hands against the wall and shoved. It gave way quickly, the stones falling into the chapel with the muted sound of stone hitting stone. In their excitement and haste to gain entrance to the chapel, the men began knocking more bricks loose with little thought to the structural integrity of the surrounding wall. Suddenly, a loose stone fell from a spot above, striking Morelli on the head and knocking him unconscious.
Everyone stared in disbelief at the limp figure of Father Morelli lying on the tunnel floor, blood running from a small gash on the top of his head. Leo rushed to his side. “Oh, my God. I can’t believe it. We’ve got to get him to a doctor.”
Lev grabbed Leo by the arm and lifted him to his feet. “There’s no time for that now. Ariella was a field medic in the army. Let her tend to him.”
“I’m not letting him die in this tunnel with help only a few stories above us.”
“I’m afraid the help above is from God now, Leo. If we don’t get that book into the chapel right now the whole world will suffer. Father Morelli is a Jesuit, one of God’s soldiers. Soldiers get injured in battle, but the others must keep going. I promise you, Ariella will take good care of him.”
Leo was torn but realized that Lev was right. Time was running out, and they had to go forward without Morelli. Leo made the sign of the cross over his friend and said a prayer for his recovery before turning away to face the gaping hole in the wall. Ariella cradled Morelli’s head in her lap and held pressure on his wound while the others found themselves shining their lights into the dark, empty space of the ancient chapel. They paused to collect themselves before stepping across the rubble into the large room beyond.
Leo, Alon, and Lev stood silently inside the chapel, while John began frantically looking around.
“Where should we put the book?” John said.
Leo took in the surroundings. He had no idea. He set the backpack down and slowly pulled the Devil’s Bible from within. It was still sealed in plastic covered by the outer case filled with holy water. The group formed a circle in the middle of the chapel and stared down at the book. No one had a clue as to what they were supposed to do next.
Alon rested his hand on the radio strapped to his belt, inadvertently pushing the antenna wire farther down until it clicked into place. The radio suddenly came to life as they all heard the strained voice of the yacht’s captain calling them. “Lev, Alon, anyone ... can you hear me?
Alon keyed his mike. “Yes, Alex, we read you. What’s wrong?”
“Oh ... thank God I finally reached you. A missile was just launched a short time ago from Pakistan. It’s heading straight for Israel ... probably Jerusalem!”
“Oh, my God,” Lev said.
Alex shouted into his radio again. “They think it might have a nuclear warhead.”
The team stared at one another in disbelief. Not again.
John grabbed Leo by the arm. “I thought bringing the book here would stop these kinds of events from happening in the world.”
Leo was lost, all emotion draining from his body. Nothing in the Bible code had told them what to do next. Would it even matter? “Lev, do you have any ideas?”
“Give it to God.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We have to give it to God ... place it on the altar.”
Leo was staggered by the response. Why hadn’t he thought of that himself? Lev had stated the obvious. Without waiting a second longer, Leo picked up the case holding the book and began walking toward the altar. A rush of hot wind suddenly blew against their faces while, at the same time, the acrid smell of sulfur filled the air. The same reddish glow they had seen in the desert began to radiate around them. They could hear low, guttural growling coming from every side of the room as they jerked their heads around, realizing to their horror that they were surrounded by six black-robed entities advancing on them, their yellow eyes staring out from behind the slits of their black robes.
Leo and the others froze. There wasn’t enough holy water in the world to defeat six demons bent on retrieving their master’s unholy book. Father Leo began to pray. Their time had run out and they were obviously defeated before they had even begun. Six against four. The odds mattered little to Leo in what he believed were his last moments on earth. He cast a final helpless look at the demons surrounding them. God, please let death come quickly!
Chapter 46
Above ground in Vatican City, people were gathered shoulder to shoulder in Saint Peter’s Square. Many had gathered to pray in the aftermath of the attack on America, sensing the worst was yet to come. Several of the older Italian people seeking comfort in front of the huge church had lived through the horrors of World War II, and they knew how fragile peace was in a world so engulfed by fear, evil, and suspicion. One small flame could ignite a whole forest, and they had lived in the forest before.
The clear blue skies were beginning to be replaced by an army of rapidly moving black clouds flowing over the city like a dark curtain. A hot wind began to blow, while an eerie haze formed in front of the church, causing people to shrink with fear. Dust and paper flew from every crevice and swirled about Vatican City, forcing people to shield their eyes and seek cover.
Without warning, a young girl fell to the pavement and her eyes rolled up in her head. She began to speak with a strange, otherworldly voice in a language those close to her knew was not Italian. Two priests nearby grabbed the girl and began carrying her toward the church.
The people began to shout. “What’s happening?” They began to pray ... Father, deliver us from evil!
The skies became darker as the wind grew in its ferocity. Solid objects like trash cans and chairs bounced across the pavement as people instinctively began running across the square in the direction of the church. Mothers grabbed small children as whole families ran from their homes toward the Basilica. They were blinded by the swirling dirt and debris, groping their way forward in the darkness until they reached the steps of the world’s largest church.
Together, the multitude stumbled and fell through the gigantic doors while turning to look back over their shoulders at the scene outside. It was now as dark as night, and the wind had a reddish cast to it.
Chapter 47
In the chapel below, Leo and the others drew together in a tight circle. This is impossible, Leo thought to himself. This chapel is holy. God would not allow Satan or his demons to enter this sanctified place. He grabbed a bottle of holy water from his shirt and began dousing the floor around them. “In the name of Jesus Christ our savior, we command you to leave!”
A garbled voice echoed around the room. “We are too many for you, priest. Give us our Bible!”
The others huddled behind Leo as he clutched the book and continued to throw the last of the holy water around them in a circle. They knew their weapons were useless as the temperature in the room began to soar and the choking smell of rotting flesh filled the air. The men began to retch, falling to their knees, facing the altar.
A hollow, cruel-sounding voice suddenly came from behind them. They turned their heads and saw the chilling sight of the demon, Agaliarept, his hideous winged form rising in the reddish smoke that drifted upward in the chapel. Satan’s greatest and most malevolent demon was towering above them in the darkness. Hell’s general was standing in a holy chapel, unfazed by his surroundings.
The demon flickered, like the image of something moving in the rapid pulse of a strobe light. “Your holy water is no use to you here, priest.” The demon lowered his head, his glowing red eyes boring holes through Leo. Why is this happening
? Leo thought. Was it possible the chapel had never been sanctified?
Alon had had enough. He brought the pistol from beneath his shirt and fired at the demon. There was no effect as Alon emptied the gun. “Curse you, you evil thing from hell!”
The demon became furious, rising even higher. Alon was suddenly flung through the air by an invisible force, his body slamming against the wall of the chapel, where he sank to the floor, unconscious. The case filled with holy water enclosing the book shattered in Leo’s hands, forcing him to drop the Devil’s Bible to the floor. The sound of laughter echoed through the chapel. “Run, priest, run. You’re no match for those of us who now inhabit this church. Where is your God now?” The voice changed and mimicked a deep-voiced human chanting a guttural litany in an ancient language that had existed before time.
John inched his way over to Alon’s limp form. He tried to lift him up and attempted to shield him with his own body from any further harm. He felt the probing eyes of the demon piercing his very soul and wanted to flee from the chapel but stood his ground between it and Alon.
Darkness was enveloping the men as they began to lose their vision. They were overcome by weakness, the life force slowly ebbing from their bodies.
Lev grabbed Leo by the shoulder. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
Leo looked up, the demon mysteriously appearing and disappearing in their field of vision. “What are you talking about? We have to put the book on the altar.”
“We’ll never make it. We’re all going to die if we stay in here.”
Leo staggered to his feet and headed for the book. Lev grabbed him from behind. “You’ve got to leave, Leo. You’re not the one.”
“What? But if I’m not—”
The demon suddenly appeared next to Leo. The smell was overpowering. Leo and Lev were forced to back away, unable to stand up against this embodiment of pure evil any longer. They moved back and huddled against the chapel wall by the entrance, averting their eyes from the sight of the demon.
Lev grabbed Leo by the arm and began leading him out of the chapel. John saw what was happening and lifted himself to his feet, staggering toward the book. “I’ll do it, Father.”
The demon turned on him in a fury. “You’re not even a priest. Your soul is mine.”
Leo pulled loose from Lev and instinctively lashed out at the demon, trying to physically punch him as hard as he could.
The demon laughed as Leo’s body flew through the air, his head hitting the floor. Lev grabbed him under the arms and began dragging him toward the opening in the wall. John wisely began to back away. Because of Leo’s intervention, he had temporarily been spared from the demon’s wrath. He moved to Alon’s side and began to inch him out into the tunnel by himself when he realized that two more pairs of hands were helping him. Morelli had regained consciousness, and he and Ariella were helping John pull Alon to safety.
The heat and wind escalated in the chapel while, outside in the tunnel, Lev laid Leo on the floor beside Alon. Away from the presence of the demons, Alon began to wake up and slowly regain his senses. They knew they were powerless in the battle with the demons, and it was useless to try to return to the chapel in the face of such overwhelming odds.
The terrified group sat huddled together, lost in the haze of battle and thinking of retreat, when they saw the lights of men approaching from out of the darkness of the catacombs. Leo lay on the tunnel floor, drifting between consciousness and the black void enveloping him. He lay there, breathing in and out, his vision cloudy, when he saw the light in the distance ... a golden light in the sign of the cross. With his last ounce of strength, he lifted his head and looked upward at a sight he never expected to see. Striding toward him was the unmistakable image of a tall cardinal, his black and scarlet robes flowing behind him. The large golden pectoral cross hanging from his neck reflected the light from the group’s flashlights. It was Cardinal Lundahl.
Several priests and cardinals were following behind him. They stopped and stared in open-mouthed horror through the hole in the chapel wall. The sight within caused them to take several unconscious steps backward.
The black-robed entities flew about inside the chapel, screeching and wailing as the huge demon moved to the front of the altar, growling and forcing everyone except Lundahl to move even farther away from the opening with a strong, evil-smelling wind.
Slowly regaining his strength, Leo was trying to stand. He looked at the cardinal with disbelieving eyes.
Cardinal Lundahl stepped forward and put his left hand on Leo’s shoulder while making a sign of the cross with the other. “We’re glad you made it back to us, Father.”
A strong movement within the chapel shook the ground beneath their feet, and bricks and rocks began to fall from the ceiling above.
Morelli looked up at the cardinal. “We don’t have much time, Marcus.”
Leo was completely baffled. He looked from Lundahl back to Morelli, not knowing what to believe anymore. “Time for what?”
Morelli looked Leo in the eyes. “Cardinal Lundahl is the one.”
“The one for what?” Leo shouted.
“He is the only one mentioned in the code who must face the demon in the chapel. You and the others were only meant to retrieve the book and bring it here. Marcus is the one who must face the evil within that room on the other side of this wall. That bump I got on the head prevented me from telling you that before you all entered the chapel.”
“But Lev knew. I remember him telling me in the chapel that I wasn’t the one.”
“Somehow, he sensed in the midst of the encounter with the demon that you weren’t the one chosen to deliver the book,” Morelli said.
“He’s right, Leo,” Lev said. “That’s the first time I’ve ever retreated in battle, but I knew we weren’t supposed to be there this time. We needed reinforcements, and I believe they have arrived.”
The ground shook violently again as more bricks fell around them and a series of hideous growls could be heard inside the chapel. The cardinal looked at Morelli and the others with a mixture of sadness and resignation. “I must go now.”
“May God be at your side, Marcus,” Morelli said.
The solemn chant of men praying in Latin echoed in the tunnel as the priests and cardinals doused Lundahl’s clothing from their vials of holy water before he walked to the entrance of the chapel. Without looking back, the cardinal ducked and squeezed his tall frame through the opening in the wall before disappearing into the red mist beyond.
Chapter 48
After the cardinal had disappeared into the chapel, the demon could be heard laughing with a hideous cosmic voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once, like an echo connected in a never-ending stream. With the fearlessness of youth, Alon and John wanted to follow, but Lev and the others held them back. Morelli stood beside them and looked through the opening. “He has to do this alone. Whatever you do, don’t enter the chapel.”
“But why?” Alon asked, his voice trembling and his body shaking. “We’re the ones who found that damned book and brought it here. Why does he have to go in there alone? You heard what that thing said; one priest is not enough.”
Morelli winced and pulled at his Roman collar. “He’s a cardinal, a Prince of the Church and the one God has chosen by name to enter and face the demon. We must not interfere.”
They all stood looking through the opening as another series of violent quakes shook the ground and the crumbling ruins of the catacombs around them. A few glanced up at the ceiling above, not knowing how much more shaking the ancient tunnels could withstand before the entire area caved in.
Leo stuck his head into the chapel, momentarily catching a glimpse of the cardinal standing before the demon and speaking to him. The creature’s hideous face was now inches from Lundahl’s, breathing in and out and filling the air around them with a warm and nauseating stench. The Devil’s breath. Time seemed to stand still as more rumbling and growling noises could be heard from within. Su
ddenly, the cardinal cried out.
In the blink of an eye, the room filled with a brilliant light, and the foul smell of the demon was replaced with the aroma of roses. Leo stared unbelievingly at the sight that began to unfold around Lundahl. Seven enormous angels encircled him, bathing the cardinal in their golden light. They were beautiful. Their shining brilliance made it difficult to look at them. Their features were blurred, but Leo could still see their faces and the kindness that flowed from within.
Leo’s mind was barely able to absorb what he was seeing. Somehow, he knew that these were no ordinary angels, but archangels, God’s most powerful and faithful soldiers. The others gathered around the opening and stared at the astonishing sight before them. The priests and cardinals who had accompanied Lundahl immediately dropped to their knees and began to pray. Leo, Morelli, Lev, John, Ariella, and Alon stood transfixed in front of the opening, unable to speak or move.
The cardinal was now standing with his arms outstretched. The dazzling light emanating from the angels reflected off the cardinal’s golden cross as they spoke to him in inaudible tones. Only Morelli seemed to know what they were saying and began to tell the others. “They’re identifying themselves one by one to the cardinal and the demon.”
Morelli paused for a moment, a smile spreading across his face. “The first and tallest one is the archangel, Michael, meaning he who is like God. He is God’s most faithful angel, and his main function is to rid the earth and its inhabitants of fear.” The angel spread his long wings and held his sword high before turning to face the demon, his mere presence forcing Satan’s most powerful soldier to recoil in fear, for these two had met in battle before.
Morelli paused again. The otherworldly voices of the archangels that only he seemed to hear had caused his entire facial expression to change. “The next one is Ariel, the lion or lioness of God. This archangel is a fierce protector.”