He patted me on the hand. “You are the teacher now, bambina.”
The bell above the diner door rang as John walked in. Padre Ricci stood and gave me a warm smile. He passed John with a nod, but John didn’t look at him. John’s eyes were on me. He slid into the seat the padre had vacated.
“Morning,” he said.
I nodded and peered around for Padre Ricci, but he had disappeared. “Buon giorno.”
John glanced behind him. “What are you looking at?”
I shook my head. “What did you want to tell me last night?”
“I got information on Menrazine back,” he said. “The drug resembles some basic antipsychotics with a few subtle differences.”
“Such as?” I asked.
“The sulfur used has been compounded differently than normal. Probably brimstone.”
Ah, brimstone, another rare element that was mistaken for a common one, sulfur. I’d come to be quite familiar with the smell since demons reeked of it. It became especially strong after exorcisms.
“So, what does this drug do?” I asked.
John shook his head. “Without a blood sample of someone taking it, I couldn’t tell you for sure. For all intents and purposes, it is an antipsychotic.”
I crossed my arms and leaned on the table. “So this got us nowhere.”
“Well, I did find an interesting reaction,” he said.
He pulled out a small Petri dish and put one of the pills in it. He held his hands out, as if doing a magic trick. With a flourish, he produced a vial of holy water. He poured a few drops onto the pill. The reaction was immediate. The pill began to sizzle when the water touched it. Soon, it became a white fizzing mess. I jumped back when one of the bubbles popped and flung its contents at me.
The waitress rushed over. “You can’t do that in here.”
John smiled up at her and covered the dish with a lid. “Sorry, dear. I wanted to show my friend here my science project.”
“Well, take that outside.”
“I’m done for now.”
A chill crept up my spine as he pushed the covered dish to the side of the table. The contents continued to bubble and pop until all of the pill had dissolved, leaving a small residue at the bottom. There had to be a highly concentrated amount of brimstone for that kind of reaction. What was Ose attempting with Menrazine? One thing I knew for certain, I didn’t want Esais anywhere near that drug.
“Listen, Gabby, I want to apologize for the way I’ve been acting.” He scratched the back of his head. “I guess I’ve been a little jealous. I mean, you always go on about Dimitri.”
“What?” I tore my eyes away from the dish. “Oh, don’t worry about it.”
“No, I’m sorry.”
I smiled. “Apology accepted.”
“You’re distracted again.”
“Just trying to wrap my mind around the drug.”
Bob and his family walked down the street. Their clothes were slick with blood, but they had no wounds. They stared at me with dead eyes through the windows of the diner. I swallowed hard as the hair rose on the back of my neck. Why was this happening now? I wasn’t even using my second sight. They turned and continued their walk. I craned my neck until they passed the last window. I pushed my chair back and grabbed my purse.
“I need to go. I’m not feeling well,” I said.
He half stood, one leg resting on his chair. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ll call you later.”
I rushed out the door and down the sidewalk. People glared at me as I pushed past them, but I was too late. Bob’s family had disappeared.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The setting sun blazed against my back as I held my sundang out in front of me. Beads of sweat ran between my shoulder blades. Even at twilight the air was thick with a heat you could drown in. I drew a long breath and focused. The back-yard of the safe house receded. Soon, nothing existed besides me and my weapon. We became one. I let my body go through the motions as my mind traveled elsewhere.
I was starting to see the dead. I’d seen ghosts throughout my long existence. Restless spirits existed all over the world, and their temperaments depended on each individual. However, I’d never seen personal ghosts. Padre Ricci should have received his eternal reward four hundred years ago. Had he returned because I was fighting Ose? This afternoon had been the first time I’d seen him, though. Ose’s hand covering my face flashed through my mind along with the sound of shattering stone. He’d crippled my defenses. I had to face the fact that he’d had a deeper effect than I first perceived. So how would I be able to tell reality from delusion? Father Ricci was most likely not real, but my next vision might be less obvious. Perhaps Esais was skilled enough to aid me in getting rid of this insanity.
Someone cleared their throat. I spun around with my sword raised. Tres leaned against one of the pillars that held up the porch awning. His arms were crossed, and one corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk.
“You’re truly a thing of beauty,” he said.
I straightened and wiped the sweat from my brow. “I hope you didn’t come to flirt because I’m not in the mood.”
He held his hands up. “Easy. I just came to see if you wanted to visit Esais.”
I frowned. “At the hospital?”
“Unless he got out and you didn’t tell me.”
“I don’t think that is wise right now. If Ose sees any of us, it could lead him right to Esais.”
He scowled. “Well, how will we know if he’s all right?”
“You could mentally reach out to him.”
“That doesn’t work out so well. He hides things from me.”
“It’s the best we have at the moment.” I closed my eyes, sending my thoughts out. “Esais?”
The choir blared with a sforzando and gradually lowered until I could hear an almost whisper. “Yes?”
“Are you all right? You sound weak.”
“I’m fine. It’s just . . . trying being in this place.”
“Tres is worried. He wants to see you, but I’m afraid that will lead Ose to you.”
“Good point. One moment.” The choir faded, briefly. “There. I believe I have everyone?”
“You couldn’t use a damn phone?” Marge’s voice sounded like she was shouting into a microphone.
“This is currently the most secure option,” I said.
“When are you leaving that place?” Tres asked.
“Not yet. They moved Nancy to the restricted ward two days ago,” Esais said.
I sat on one of the patio chairs and drank the bottle of water I’d brought out. Tres came to sit beside me, folding his hands together. His brow was furrowed at his brother’s response.
“What have you learned?” Adrian asked.
“Whatever is on the third floor has the orderlies frightened. Their thoughts are chaotic and jumbled. I can’t make a lot of sense of them,” Esais said.
“What about the drug?” I asked.
“Navotny’s keeping it tightly locked away. He prescribes it only to the third floor. The nurses don’t even know what it is. Security has been a lot tighter since a bottle was lost last week,” Esais said.
Pock-face had died during his break-in last week. We’d obtained the drug instead, but I could see Ose wanting to take precautions. We needed to find out what he was doing with that drug.
“Do the nurses administer the drug?” I asked.
“No, they think it’s odd that only Navotny does so,” Esais said.
“I checked out the doctor’s house. Looks like no one has lived there in months.” Marge’s voice pounded in my head. How she could be louder than everyone else was beyond me.
“We need to get into the third floor. He has to be developing the drug there,” I said.
A chill raced down my spine at the thought of facing Ose alone in those dark hallways. His hand rose to cover my vision again, and I plunged into darkness. My chair tipped over. I landed on my back, gasping as the air in my lungs rushed
out. Tres rushed to kneel beside me. I pushed him aside and sat upright. I pulled the walls up on my thoughts so only what I projected would get out.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Does Navotny ever leave?”
“For the past few days, he’s left around midnight. He stays gone until four am.” Esais said.
He was probably at the carnival with his lackeys, like we’d seen the night before. “That’s when we do it. Tonight, then?”
“So, how do we get in?” Tres asked.
“The less people we have in there the better. I’m going alone, with Esais to help me get in,” I said.
“You’re not leaving me out of this. You can’t even sit in a chair without falling out of it right now.”
“I don’t want a repeat of what happened at the carnival. Besides we need people on patrol for Ose and the two demons that are unaccounted for.”
Tres glared at me for several moments before getting up. He slammed the door behind him as he entered the house. A few minutes later, the front door slammed shut as well. I think he did it just to make more of an impression on how mad he was.
“I’ll talk to him,” Esais said.
“Babysitting as usual,” Adrian said. “If you can spare me I have a project I need to finish. Something special I have planned for Ose.”
“Fine,” I said. “Marge, can you handle patrolling?”
“Yeah, whatever. Now get the fuck out of my head.”
“Gladly. Everyone get some rest.” I waited until the connection between all of us had been severed and send my thought out to Esais. “Are you sure you can handle this?”
“I’ll be fine, Gabby. Besides you’re going to be doing most of the work.”
“True. I’ll see you tonight, then.”
I headed inside the house. I needed to center myself for the mission. Despite what he said, Esais sounded strained. I couldn’t let him waste energy on me now when he may need it later. My mental issues were small at the moment. I just had to be on guard for any slipping. I’d be fine, right?
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
At twelve-thirty in the morning, I walked through the front doors of the asylum with my sword strapped to my back. Thanks to Esais, the guards had turned off the security system and cameras. Then they and the orderlies decided to take a nap. I crept down the dark hall to one of the slumped orderlies and took his keys. I wrinkled my nose at the acrid smell of medicine and pine cleaner.
“I’m in,” I said. “I’m heading to the third floor now.”
“I’ll watch through your eyes,” Esais said.
I felt no change, but I knew he would be able to see what I saw. I opened the door to the inside emergency stairs and stared up. The inside of the stairwell was as silent as a tomb and just as tight. I swallowed hard and headed up. The door to the third floor opened with a creak, and I peeked into the hall. The lights were dim, and besides the buzz of electrical equipment, silence filled the hall.
I walked to the nurses' station and inspected the map of the floor that hung on the back wall. If I continued down the hall, I would run into a set of doors. Past the doors was a hall set in a U-shape blocked off by another set of doors. Ose’s lab was probably behind the blocked-off section of the floor. The rest appeared to be open.
One of the orderlies lay with his head against the corner, snoring away. I pulled his set of keys off his belt. They jangled as I sifted through them, testing for the right one. The click of the lock echoed through the hall. The doors swung in and I stepped through. Names were posted on the middle of the doors I passed. D. Martin, L. Brickman, N. Parkins. I stopped at the last door and opened the small window above the name tag on the door. The room was made up as if no one had stayed there.
“Nancy isn’t here,” I said.
“They couldn’t have released her early. It’s only been a few days.”
“Maybe they moved her to the lab. We’ll keep an eye out.”
I stopped at the next door, labeled M. Navotny. The sliding window in the door was bolted closed. I took the clipboard that hung on the wall and scanned the papers. The name read Mark Navotny, age eight. Almost everything else was blacked out except for one line that read: “Patient in sole care of Dr. Navotny. Do not open door.” I put the clipboard back and turned to the doors across the hall. Each of them had a bolted window as well. Interesting, but not what I was here for. I’d come back if I had an opportunity.
“I think we’ve found the son,” I said.
“Most likely,” Esais said.
I shivered as the choir echoed through my head. “Do you want to rest? I could slip in and out.”
“I’m not going to leave this all to you. What if something goes wrong?”
“Just don’t push yourself too much.”
“I won’t. Don’t think I didn’t notice you’re hiding something from me.”
“We can discuss it later. When this is over and you are rested.”
I pushed any worry to the back of my mind and continued down the hall. More rooms with names. I turned right and stopped. The only door in the hall was a metal one with no handle. I moved closer to inspect the door. On the wall beside the door was a plastic device that had a slit running vertically along the middle. I held up the ring of keys. All were metal and too thick to fit in that slot. Small bolts framed the edges of the thick metal. Trying to break in would be like storming a castle. I’d come all this way to be foiled by a door.
“Well, hell,” I asked. “What now?”
“Hold on, I’ll contact Adrian.” The choir faded.
The sound of squeaking metal, like a rusty hinge, echoed down the hall. I peered around the corner I’d come from, but it remained empty except for the sleeping guard at the end of the hall. I moved to the other end of the hall. That side was empty as well.
“So you’re having trouble with a door.” Adrian’s mental voice sounded amused.
“It’s connected to a key card scanner,” I said, annoyed he could pick up on my defeats so easily.
“Move closer. Esais is showing me what you see.”
I moved back to the machine, taking in every detail with my eye. “Is that enough?”
“It should be simple to break in,” he said. “Do you have a screw-driver? We could try to short the electrical current.”
“No. Would this involve wires?”
His exasperation reverberated through my mind. “Never mind. I don’t think you have the time nor do I have the patience to guide you through it this way.”
Heat rushed through my face. “I could probably figure it out.”
“No, this is supposed to be quick and quiet, right? Hmm, the nanites could do it.”
“The tiny robots.”
“Yes.”
“So, we can’t do anything tonight. This was a waste.”
“How long will it take to break into the machine?” Esais asked.
“I can have it finished in a few hours,” Adrian said.
“We try again tomorrow,” I said.
I spun around at the sound of slithering. My arms fell to my side, and a dull roaring filled my ears. The creature shuffled down the hall, one shoulder hanging lower than the other one. His right arm extended down into a tentacle instead of a hand. His skin was an inky black. The frame and torso remained a boy, but his face had no eyes, no nose, and no mouth.
“What the hell is that?” Esais exclaimed.
A chill ran up my body, and the hairs rose on the back of my neck. My heart pounded in my chest.
“Something that shouldn’t be,” I said. “The demon’s true form has mutated the boy.”
“What? How?” The choir faded as he faltered.
“It takes more years than the boy has lived.”
The demon child shuffled forward. It paused, its body going into a shaking convulsion. A whistling wheeze came out. He hunched over, his limbs twisting in odd directions. I took a few steps back as he reached for me.
“He’s in pain,” I said.
“We have to
do something,” Esais said. “We have to save him.”
“I will try to banish the demon, but I don’t know what that will do to the child.”
“Oh, God. Is this what Menrazine does?” The choir hit a crescendo that reverberated through my head.
“Esais, I need you to calm down so I can concentrate.” I rubbed my temples. “El Shaddai, Elohim, Elohi, Tzabaoth, Elim, Asher Eheieh, Yah, Tetragrammaton, Shaddai, which signify God the high and almighty, the God of Israel.”
Nothing happened. My stomach plummeted. Banishment didn’t work. I’d heard about this phenomenon from books, but in all my time I’d never come across one. When a demon spent time in a human host, the body started to take the form of the demon. However, demons rarely stayed for so long, and the ones that did stayed out of public sight. They tended to set up cults around themselves in third world countries, the heavy religious kind of cults, not the sophisticated ones like the Hellfire Club or even the D-boyz.
I shifted to my aura sight and choked back the small scream that rose in my chest. Instead of colors, I could see the spirit form of the boy. He reached for me with his left hand, his face a mask of agony. His right shoulder melded with the black form of a faceless demon. It writhed, trying to tear away from the child. It was no use because from the waist down, they were one. I tore my gaze away, allowing my vision to return to normal. This couldn’t be real.
“Is this a delusion? It has to be one, right?” I asked
He didn’t answer immediately. The child moved closer. “No, it’s really there.”
“Dio È misericordia,” I whispered.
“Gabby, we need to do something.”
“There’s only one thing left to do.”
I took two steps forward and drew my sword. His tentacle hand elongated and attempted to entangle my legs. I sidestepped and moved close.
“He’s just a child. What are you doing?” Esais’s voice pounded in my head.
“I have no choice. The child’s soul is becoming part of the demon. If we don’t stop it, we will never get another chance.”
The arm lashed out at me again. I leaned to the side, letting it pass by me. I wrapped my arm around the child’s shoulders and drew him to me. This close I could see the tiny slit where his nose should be. This was the source of the wheezing. I fought to keep the lump down in my throat.
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