The whole time in the lift, Johann stared at the keyhole. If they only possessed the key, it could take them to Raum's lair. The little slit taunted him. Almost like a treasure, he couldn't quite reach. The music coming from the small overhead speakers did little to calm the demon hunter.
At long last, they reached the fifth floor. The door opened, and Johann couldn't contain his disgust, and frustration, any longer. He clenched his hand into a fist and punched the button, once again splitting open the wound on his hand from his earlier outburst in the parking lot at the Mountainview Food and Fuel. Some small drops of blood smeared onto the buttons.
“Johann,” Robert said.
“God damn it,” Johann said, as he cradled his hand, and exited the car, kicking at the door as he passed through. Robert glanced at the blood on the wall as he, also, exited into the hallway.
“I think someone might need an anger management class here,” Robert muttered to himself, not wanting Johann to hear, “I hope I stay on his good side.”
They entered their room and eyeballed the area to make sure they were as alone as possible. No one was there - no one visible, at least. Johann still held his wounded hand and went into the bathroom to take care of the damaged appendage. Robert went into the room and sat in a chair next to the coffee table near the bed.
A few minutes later, Johann emerged from his makeshift emergency room, his injured appendage wrapped in gauze. A little blood showed through the bandage.
“How's your hand,” Robert asked, as Johann came into the room.
“I'll be okay,” Johann answered, as he took a quick look at his hand, “This ain't nothing. Just a small split in the skin. It'll heal.” Robert followed his friend with his eyes. He wanted to say more but remained silent.
Johann turned on the television, and once again, the news story was about yet another suicide in the town of Mountainview. Only, this time, the story had a twist. This time, a whole family died. It became apparent that suicides had increased in the last few days, and this made Johann not only worried but angry as well. He stood, and stroked his mustache, as he often did while deep in thought.
“Okay, let's review all of our facts,” Johann said, as he an Robert sat down at the coffee table near the bed.
“Okay. Good idea,” Robert said.
“We know that Raum and Malphas are both here. Raum might be an Earl of Hell, but Malphas; that slime ball's a Prince. Second in command to Satan himself. Important to remember. He wouldn't be here if something important weren't about to happen,” Johann said, “We thought that homeless guy -,”
“Blake,” Robert interrupted. Johann glanced at him and adjusted his glasses on his face.
“Blake. Whatever,” said Johann, “We thought he was the conjuror, but that didn't turn out to be true. So, an important part of the puzzle still needs to be uncovered. Malphas said a war was coming. Is the war on the people of this town? Our world? Is it gonna be between heaven and hell, or something totally different that we can't see?”
Robert shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
“All we can be sure of, is,” Johann said, while he eyeballed the ceiling, “The son of a bitch took my sister. His slimy ass sits only a few feet away from us, and we can't reach him. Or -,” he stopped, as a thought came to him, and he placed his fingers into his shirt pocket, “Can we?”
Robert shot his friend a puzzled expression.
“Well, he probably can hear what your thoughts, but I don't have the slightest idea,” Robert said, his finger pointed up. Johann looked at him and smiled smugly. Robert cocked his head to the side, as a dog does when trying to understand something.
“I forgot about our secret weapon,” Johann said, as he took the talisman Father Nelson gave him, out of his pocket. Robert smiled when Johann produced the round, metal object.
“How is that gonna help us,” Robert asked.
“Watch, and learn, my friend. Watch, and learn.”
Johann stood up and climbed onto the chair. He touched the amulet to the ceiling. Robert's mouth dropped open in amazement, as the small, blessed piece of metal attached itself to the Styrofoam of the dropped ceiling in the room. After a moment, the little disc made a slight hissing sound, and a small wisp of smoke became visible, as the consecrated disc began to melt the material. He didn't want the foam to burn all the way through, so Johann removed the Cimeries Talisman from the polystyrene, and placed it back in safety of his shirt.
“Why did you stop it,” Robert asked, puzzled why Johann would stop the progress of the miniature metal disc.
“I stopped it because I thought he put some sort of 'barrier,' or something here,” Johann answered, “And, I wanted to test my theory.”
“Did he,” Robert asked.
“What do you think? Of course, he did. I thought that might be the case, but I thought it would be better to make sure. Now I know how we can get to that bastard.”
“How?”
“Follow me,” Johann said, as he got down from the chair and walked to the door of the room.
“Won't he know what we're doing,” asked Robert, as they walked through the hallway.
“No,” Johann said, as he held up the tiny metal object, “This little charm protects us. With this in our possession, he can't read our minds. This thing puts a barrier around us. A barrier he can't break through,”
Robert followed as Johann headed for the door to the stairwell at the end of the hallway. He opened the door and entered the stairwell. The stairs went down to the right, but to the left was another door, a glass door. Johann and Robert could see the steps behind this door went up, to the sixth floor. Robert tried the door but found it to be locked.
“Damn it. Locked. We can't open it,” he said, as he turned to Johann, who gazed at him.
“No,” said Johann, “You might think that, but deception's at work here.” Robert moved to the side and allowed Johann to gain access to the door. Father Gunter once again took the amulet out of his pocket. He glanced at Robert, then placed the small metal disc on the doorknob. The click of the door, and slight squeak of the hinge as it opened, alerted the two that the talisman worked its magic, and unlocked the door.
“Better than a key,” Johann said, as he pushed the door fully open, to allow the two men to pass through easily. Johann put his finger to his lips, as they proceeded up the staircase.
“No shit,” Robert whispered.
They walked up to the first landing and stopped. Johann peered upward and listened intently for any sound that might come from the floor above. All his well-tuned ears detected, was pure silence. When the two walked, their footsteps made no sound, as though they were walking in a vacuum.
A slight odor of Sulfur was the only thing that teased any of their senses. They began to walk up toward the next landing, which would be the top floor. The nearer they came to Raum's apartment, the stronger the Sulfur odor became.
“That smell's awful,” Robert said, his face contorted in disgust.
“Demon body odor,” Johann said, “Pay no attention to it.”
“Easier said than done,” said Robert.
They reached the end of the stairs and found Raum's suite had no door. The stairwell ended at a landing. The walkway continued along a wall, then straight into his living room. The two demon hunters backed up against the wall, and carefully made their way to the doorway. Johann felt his pulse quicken, as he took his pistol out of his shoulder holster and cautiously peeked around the corner into the living quarters. A pang of disappointment caused him to make a facial gesture when he did not find the demon he had hoped would be there.
With his free hand, Johann took a handkerchief out of his pocket and covered his nose, and mouth with it. The odor that permeated the area since they arrived, was quite strong here, and he gagged as he tried to breathe.
“Oh, God,” Robert said, as he also entered the room. He masked his face with a bandana.
“I guarantee you, God's got nothing to do with this place,” Johann said, “I
guarantee you that.”
The exceedingly cavernous room made up most of the suite, which took up the entire floor. What little which was visible to Johann and Robert, was ornately furnished, and the colors were dark. The small, wall mounted lights, made one think of candles, which lined the passageways in a medieval castle.
This did not provide a great amount of light, and the room was dimly lit. The two men considered themselves lucky, however. The now setting full moon shone its dim, ghostly white light through the windows, and cast a few eerie shadows on the ceiling, and walls. If not for this small bit of illumination, they would not be able to see much at all.
To the right, windows faced out onto the parking lot, and the edge of town. Although the sun wouldn't rise for a little over an hour, the horizon was already brightening. To the left, one could peer out into the main part of the town. The white orb of the moon hung in the sky and almost touched the mountains. Both sets of windows had curtains and balconies.
Except for the tick of a clock, no other sound came from the room. The clock became so loud in the silence, Johann couldn't help but look for it. The sound gave the impression it came from everywhere, as it bounced off the walls in the enormous room. Finally, his weary eyes found it sitting on the mantle of the fireplace. The time was now four-thirty in the morning. The two had been up for almost twenty-four hours now; all their activity began to take its toll.
The two ventured further into the suite. They expected, at any moment to find Raum, and engage in a monumental struggle. At least, that was what Johann hoped would happen.
“Come on, you bastard. Show yourself,” Johann said, as he searched the room, “I wanna kick your ugly ass back to hell.” Robert blessed himself, as he walked behind Johann. He wasn't as keen on a confrontation with the demon, as his partner was.
Although the hearth had no evidence of having had a fire in it recently, the room had become uncomfortably warm. Johann reached up and used his handkerchief to wipe some sweat from his brow, as he slowly moved toward a door which allowed entrance into another room. Robert stayed close behind.
Johann cautiously peered into the next room. It was a bedroom, also extravagantly furnished, like the room the two just left. It had a large bed with many pillows and a canopy.
The walls had the same medieval candle-like lighting, but while the previous room had many windows, this room did not. Johann took careful note that not one window adorned any wall, and the whole room gave one the impression of being a tomb. The air in the room had a definite chill to it, unlike the room the two had been in a few minutes before, and Johann shivered slightly, as he entered. He half expected his search of the room to reveal, at any moment, a casket.
“Notice anything missing,” Johann asked. He briefly removed the handkerchief from his face, to enable his words to be heard clearly. Robert looked around and shook his head.
“No cross on the wall. Or anywhere else, for that matter,” Robert said, through his face covering, just taking a guess. Johann gave him a slight look, not knowing how he did not see what, to Johann, was so obvious.
“No mirrors,” Johann said. Robert, realizing this to be true, nodded in agreement.
While Johann and Robert searched the sixth floor, several floors below, Belinda, and David were in their room, having a discussion.
“So, we grab a few hours' sleep, then hit the road back,” said David, as he lay down on his bed.
“No,” Belinda said, sitting in a chair near the bed, “No, something tells me we need to stay here a couple more days. At least one more day, anyway.”
“Lin, we gotta head back. I think as far as the network's concerned, we no longer have a story here. We're not gonna find out anything from the cops. They won't give us much information,” he rolled onto his side, so he can better see Belinda, “Plus, none of the families of the people who committed suicide want to talk about it. I think the time has come for us to leave.”
“I disagree. I think we should stay,” said Belinda. She lay on her bed, and faced David, “You heard what I told Johann. There's a war coming. I think, when it starts, it would be in everybody's best interest if we were here.”
“Why? What do you think we could do about it,” David asked. It frustrated him that Belinda, as the reporter, could make these decisions. She pondered the question for several seconds.
“I don't know, David. I don't know that there's anything we'll be able to do about it. I just think we need to be here to tell the story to the world, that's all. Besides -,” she thought for a moment.
“Besides, what,” asked David.
“Johann might need our help.”
David gazed at Belinda. The fact she found the demon hunter attractive was obvious and irritating. He knew he wouldn't win this argument.
“Okay,” he said, after a few moments, “We'll stay if you think we should.”
Back up on the sixth floor, Johann and Robert continued their exploration of Raum's suite. They moved out of the bedroom, and back into the living room.
“Where do you think he went,” Robert asked, briefly moving his handkerchief from his mouth to speak.
“No idea,” Johann answered quickly, so as not to inhale too much of the Sulfur in the air, “Not sure he went anywhere.” The faint light coming into the room told Robert that it would soon be sunrise. He felt a little panic build in him. He dreaded being caught by the demon when he returned.
“It's gonna be daylight soon. He'll be coming back, I'm sure,” Robert said.
“He's a demon, Bob, not a vampire. Two different things.”
They walked into the kitchen, Robert inspected the area. He almost seemed amazed at the pots and pans hanging on the wall. He opened the refrigerator and, to his surprise, found the shelves stocked with food.
“He has food in the 'fridge,” asked Robert.
“Of course, he does,” answered Johann.
“I wouldn't think that demons had to eat.”
“They don't,” said Johann, “When they're in their demon form. But, when they manifest as a human, the human body needs the food.”
They made their way back into the living room, where they started. Having found nothing, Johann was about to give up the search, when he noticed the small table, with two wine glasses on it, near a window that looked out onto the parking lot. He walked over and picked up one of the glasses, which still contained a little bit of the red liquid. Johann raised it to his nose and smelled the liquid.
“Definitely wine,” he said, as he placed the glass back on the table, “But, why two glasses?” He glanced at Robert, as though he expected him to answer the question. Robert shrugged his shoulders.
“The son of a bitch isn't alone,” Johann said, “The only question is… was it the conjuror, or someone else we need to know about, and where are they now?”
“You think it was that Malphas guy,” Robert asked.
“Bingo. We got a winner,” Johann answered.
The demon hunters speculated, and the sound of a door pierced the quiet of the suite, as it slid open. Johann turned to face the other side of the room. The curtains on the windows were moving, as the cool, early morning breeze from the outside blew in. The two rushed to the rustling curtains, to find an open balcony door. They peered out into the morning light, as two enormous black birds were flying away from them.
“You better run, Raum,” shouted Johann
-12-
The two weary demon hunters arrived back at their room. They had now been up for more than twenty-four hours, and they were ready for some well-deserved sleep. It seemed, to Johann, the minute he laid his head on his pillow, the familiar ring of his cell phone broke the silence in the room. He let out a small groan, and with his eyes still closed, Johann's fingers fumbled in his shirt pocket until they retrieved the noisy, and vibrating device.
“This is Johann,” he said, as he opened his eyes, and glanced at the clock on the end table. He rolled his eyes when he saw the time now only read six o'clock in the mo
rning.
“Johann. Father Gunther,” the woman on the phone sounded hysterical as she fumbled the words, and tried to speak. Johann didn't even try to correct her for the mispronunciation of his name. “Help us. Please. You have to come and help us. They're going to kill my uncle.”
“Calm down,” Johann said, as he sat upright, on the edge of the bed, “Who is this?”
“Sharon,” she answered, “Please come. They're trying to kill him.”
“Who? Who 's 'they,' and who are they gonna kill?”
“Birds. Hundreds of them. They're all over the church. I'm afraid they'll kill him. Please…Hurry.”
Johann's expression changed to one of deep concern, as the fog lifted from his mind, and he began to realize that it was the waitress from the restaurant. The uncle she referred to was obviously the man the two demon hunters met two days before; Father Nelson.
Robert moved from his bed and was now sitting next to Johann. Listening to only Johann's part of the conversation still made it easy for him to figure out what was going on. He, too, became very concerned.
“Sharon. Listen to me,” Johann said, “Stay away from there. Robert and I will be there as soon as we can, but you have to stay as far away as possible.”
“Please hurry,” Sharon said, as she started to cry, “I don't know if he's even still alive.”
“Where are you,” Johann asked.
“In my apartment. I live in the building across the street from my Uncle's church. On the third floor.”
“Okay. Close all your windows. Wait for us to get there. Don't let anyone in until we're with you. Understand?” His eyes met Robert's, as he waited for Sharon to answer. The silence on the line ate at his nerves and made him even more anxious.
“Sharon,” shouted Johann, “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she answered, very weakly, “Please hurry.”
Johann ended the call and glanced at his friend. He detected the nervousness in Robert's eyes. He had a lot of sympathy for his friend's nervousness, but there was no way around what they had to do.
“Well,” Johann said, as he put his cell phone back in his shirt pocket, “I guess this is it. This is how it starts.”
The Raven Flies At Night (Father Gunter, Demon Hunter Book 2) Page 11