by Tim Miller
It pushed in the door to one of the rooms, and we walked through, looking around. There was nothing there. We turned and started across the hall when gunshots rang out. I collapsed forward onto my face. In an instant, I felt incredible pain. I rolled onto my back and saw a large hole in my stomach. Blood was gushing out, as I cried out in pain.
“Father!” Leah shouted running over to me. “Father, are you okay? I’m so sorry. You attacked me.”
I wanted to answer her, but I couldn’t speak. This time it was because I just couldn’t breathe.
“Was it a demon? Were you possessed?” she asked.
“Yes,” I struggled to say. Something was wrong though. Through the pain, something wasn’t right. The demon wasn’t gone. I could tell he was still there.
“Stay here,” she said. “I’ll be right back.” She ran down the hall for what felt like hours, but was probably just a few minutes. She returned with an armful of supplies and some pill bottles. She took out a couple of the pills and held them to my mouth, as she held my head up. She also had a bottle of water with her. “These are pain pills,” she said. “Hopefully they’ll help you. I’m going to try and clean you up. I thought you were gone, it was trying to kill me. That’s why I shot you.” I just nodded, as she went to work. It only took a moment for the medicine to kick in.
Looking up at the ceiling, it began to sway up and down, as the walls appeared to be made of Jello. I tried to look up at Leah, but everything was blurry. She said something to me, but I couldn’t make it out. I tried to ask her what she said, but instead I just lay my head back down. I couldn’t feel any pain. I couldn’t feel anything at all, as the world got fuzzy and my eyelids grew heavy. I didn’t want to sleep for fear the demon would come back. At this point, nothing about my life was my choice.
Chapter 34
Amanda, 7:15 a.m.
Once the priest was gone, The Doctor made me climb out of bed and walk to the closet. There my clothes were in a plastic bag. I got dressed, and walked into the hallway. He was still with me, but letting me be in control. At the same time, he would guide me to what he wanted me to do. Once in the hallway, I saw a few of the other staff walking around. They were all waiting for something. I walked away from the unit and into the main corridor.
For some reason, the Doctor wanted me to leave the hospital. I headed to the stairway entrance and started down one of the flights of stairs. When I turned the corner a gunshot went off, ricocheting off the wall, just inches from my head. I stumbled down the rest of the stairs, and looked up to see where the shot had come from. A few flights up there was a female police officer leaning over the railing with her gun aimed right at me!
“Don’t shoot!” I screamed. She fired another shot anyway, this one missing inches from my leg. I climbed to my feet and started running back down the stairs. I didn’t know why she was shooting at me unless she thought The Doctor was going to hurt her. I could hear her footsteps coming down the stairs. I ran down a few more flights until I was on the ground floor. I burst out into the ER, with the officer closing in behind me. I could see daylight from the outside coming through the glass door of the entrance. The ER was abandoned. Where had everyone gone?
I ran to the door and pushed on it, hitting it full speed, but was knocked to the ground. It was locked. I reached up to undo the lock, when the door exploded, raining glass down onto my head. I turned and saw the officer about twenty feet behind me. I crawled through the broken door and to the outside. Some of the glass shards cut into my knees and hands, but I ignored them. Once through the door, I stood.
Another gunshot rang out, as the back of my left thigh screamed in pain. I went down hard, my face bouncing off the pavement as I landed. The officer was walking toward me with her gun out and pointed right at me. Tears streaked down my face as the pain intensified through my entire body, as if I was on fire. I wondered where The Doctor was and why he hadn’t taken over. Why wasn’t he protecting me?
“Please stop?” I cried. “Why are you trying to hurt me?”
“It’s not going to work,” she said, walking closer with the gun trained on me. “You’re the cause of all of this.”
“It’s not me! It’s him!”
“Him who?” she asked.
“The Doctor. He’s the one who controls me. He said he was protecting me.”
“Doctor? What doctor?”
“The demon or whatever. He’s still inside me. He takes over sometimes. I can’t stop him.”
“But I can,” she said, as she leveled the gun toward my head. I closed my eyes as I felt The Doctor come screaming awake. Before I knew what was happening, he had taken complete control and we were diving at the officer. We knocked her to the ground as her gun went flying. The Doctor controlled me and we began punching her in the face repeatedly. I held her down by her throat, as The Doctor spoke.
“No priest with you this time. How would you like to join your partner?” The Doctor asked, in a wicked voice. Her eyes widened as he leaned back. Just like with the priest earlier, he was summoning another to come and take the officer.
“Stop!” A man yelled. From the doorway, the young priest was standing there. His face was bloody with chunks of flesh hanging from his face. “Let her go!”
“You gonna throw some more holy water on me Father? We all know what good that did!” The Doctor yelled. The priest approached, and stood over us. The officer just lay there, helpless.
“No, no holy water. It’s time for a more direct approach,” he said, as he kicked me square in the face, knocking me backward. I could tell even The Doctor was shocked at the attack.
“Amanda,” he said. “I need you to listen to me. I know you’re in there. I know you can hear me. Only you can stop this. He can’t stay there if you don’t let him.”
Why would I want The Doctor to leave? He was my friend. He always protected me.
“He’s not your friend,” The priest said, as if reading my mind. “He doesn’t care about you. You’re just a vehicle to him. Without you, he’s helpless. You can make him helpless.”
“Shut the fuck up!” The Doctor yelled at him. “You don’t know shit Father. You just want her to suck your dick, like the little prostitutes you love so much.”
“Do it Amanda, tell him to leave, take control of your free will. He can’t control you.”
Don’t listen to him. He’s a liar. I am part of you, and always will be.
Can you make him leave us alone?
I sure can my dear, I will do just that.
The Doctor had me crawl over the officer, and toward the priest.
“Amanda! You have to trust me! Who’s been hurting people?”
He had a point, the priest hadn’t harmed anyone. The Doctor only hurt bad people. That’s what he told me.
Don’t listen to that priest. He doesn’t care about you! I do! I’m here with you to stay!
It was starting to be too much. I was so used to The Doctor being there, I didn’t know what I’d do without him.
Chapter 35
Father Harlan, 7:15 a.m.
After I passed out, I could still feel the demon’s presence. He was working on healing the bullet hole in my stomach. I had no idea how they did that, but here he was doing it. Through my dreams, the demon was trying to seduce me.
There you go Father, just sleep. We are one now. You will be stronger than you knew possible. Your God is a lie, he won’t save you. There’s nothing to save you from. It assured me. I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to talk to it. I had exorcised many demons in the past, or so I thought. I now questioned whether any of those people were even really possessed. Nothing about these possessions was like any of his previous exorcisms.
I tried to reach out to the Lord in prayer, but once again, there was no response. Maybe I had been corrupted, so God wasn’t present. Perhaps I’ve been wrong this whole time. I could hear the demon laughing at my attempts at prayer.
He’s not there Father. I’m your god now. I shall fulf
ill your every need. No one will harm you now. You will know power like you’ve never known, the demon said.
This isn’t power. It’s slavery. I won’t be your slave.
Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, Father. I can cause you intense pain if you push me.
After some time, I woke up to the sound of gunshots. I was amazed at how alert I was. I couldn’t have been asleep for very long. The gunshots came from down the stairwell. The demon took control and began to run down the stairs. Leah was shooting at someone, but I didn’t know whom. There was a scream, then more shots. The demon was going to hurt Leah again, and I didn’t want to let him.
I reached out with my mind, trying to take control of my body. The attempt must have surprised the demon, for a few seconds I did regain control, but the demon took it back, sending a jolt of pain through my body.
I warned you. It taunted.
We kept doing the stairs, as I battled for control. He kept hurting me, but I tried to ignore it. I had to be free of this thing. We were halfway through the stairwell when more shots rang out from the ER. I had to break free. Then the thought hit me. I had to invite the demon into myself. That’s how he came in. It had nothing to do with me being a priest. A demon had to be allowed in.
If he had to invite the demon in, then maybe he could kick the demon out.
I know what you’re thinking. It said. It won’t work. I’m here forever. This world will soon be ours.
Get out of my head! I screamed in my mind. Get out! Get out! Leave me now!
“Get out!” The last scream was out loud. I suddenly felt weak and collapsed to my knees. Excruciating pain radiated through my face, where I’d clawed myself. I still had no idea why he did that. I sat on my knees and closed my eyes, trying to clear my head. My mind was quiet. The demon was gone.
Chapter 36
Father Harlan, 7:45a.m.
I pulled myself up, and stumbled down the stairs, and into the emergency room. From there, I saw the broken door hanging open at the entrance. I ran over there where I saw Amanda, with the demon manifested on top of Leah.
“Stop!” I shouted. She looked at me as I tried to convince her how to get rid of the demon, how to be herself again. She struggled and screamed as whatever battle raged on inside her. After several minutes the demon looked at me and screamed.
“She’s been mine for centuries! I’ve been in her families for generations! Nothing can make me leave!”
“She can, she has more power over you than she realizes. It’s always been there.”
“Fuck you! You’re a shitty priest. What kind of exorcist are you! You wanna come over here and fuck her don’t you.”
Before I could reply, Leah pistol whipped her on the side of the head, knocking her to the ground. Leah jumped up and hit her several more times with the butt of the gun. I ran over and grabbed her arm, pulling her off. Blood was coming from the side of Amanda’s head as she lay motionless.
“My God Leah. Is she dead?” I asked. There was no response right away. Her eyes looked wild, as she looked at me and stepped away.
“Is that you, Father?” she asked
“Yes, it’s me. The demon is gone.”
“Gone? How?”
“Long story, if you heard what I told Amanda, that’s how. I basically told it to leave, but it’s difficult. They really screw with you.”
“Can’t you exorcise it from her?”
“No, I can’t. Don’t know if I ever could. It has to come from within her.”
“I’m confused,” Leah said, still breathing heavily.
“Tell me about it. What do we do with her?” I asked.
“I’m not going back in the hospital. Speaking of which, where is everyone?” We both looked around and noticed the parking lot was empty. Most of the hospital staff from the night shift was either dead, or possessed. I had no idea why no morning staff or patients or anyone had come in.
“Something is really weird,” Leah said. “Wait a minute, now that we’re outside,” She switched on her radio. “Dispatch, Sanders here. I have an update at the hospital.” There was no answer. She called out again, but there was nothing but static. Looking at the roads, I noticed there was no traffic either.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You lose,” The demon’s voice said from the ground. “You lose Father. We have been unleashed into this world. There is no stopping us.
I grabbed her by the arms and began screaming.
“Amanda! Tell him to leave! You can beat him! He’ll destroy everyone you know if you don’t.”
Her whole body shook, and she screamed as I held her. I could hear both Amanda’s and the demon’s voice, as they fought against each other.
“You can’t have her! She’s mine!” It screamed “All of them are mine! This is my domain now!”
“No it isn’t,” I said. “You were a guest here. That time is up.”
Leah watched, holding her hands out to her sides as if to ask “what do I do?” I shook my head indicating I didn’t know.
The demon let out a loud cry, one that hurt my ears so badly I had to let go to cover them with my hands. I stepped back, as Leah began pointing toward the hospital.
“Look!” she said. There, coming out of the entrance, were dozens of others. Hospital staff and patients, all heading our way, all with the same cracked skin and yellow eyes that Amanda had. They were all demon possessed. The demon had unleashed his army. There were even more coming from around the sides of the hospital building, and others from across the street.
“Soon,” the demon said. “We won’t even need your rotten bodies. We’ll be able to move freely in this world.” A twisted smile came across Amanda’s face, then without warning, the smile disappeared. Her eyes rolled back into her head, as she screamed again. “What are you doing? Stop that! Don’t do this you cunt!” She fell backwards, arching her back while letting out a roar that made the ground beneath us shake.
Chapter 37
Amanda, 8:00 a.m.
The more the priest talked, the more I started to hurt. The Doctor was hurting me and I didn’t know why.
Why are you hurting me? I asked. The pain in my head was the worst ever. It was like someone was driving a nail through my skull.
I’m not doing that to you! The priest is! The Doctor told me.
You said he couldn’t hurt me? Reality was starting to set in that the priest was right. The Doctor wasn’t trying to help me. The priest seemed like a nice man, yet The Doctor caused half his face to get ripped off. Why would he do that? Since he’s been with me, The Doctor has made me do lots of mean things to others. I hurt people in my foster homes, and in my group home. That’s why I was always in trouble.
You’re not really The Doctor are you? I told him
Well no shit. Look at the little fucking genius.
Then who are you?
None of your fucking business bitch! Now shut up!
You’re really mean! You lied to me!
And you’re really stupid, now shut the fuck up!
No! I want you to leave!
What?
I want you to leave! Leave me alone! Now!
No, you bitch! You’re not strong enough!
Just get out! Go away!
The pain in my head got worse as I tried to push back against him, to make him leave. He started screaming at me more, as the pain became dizzying. I thought the priest said he’d leave if I told him to. So I told him to leave, and he was still here. The pain in my head got so intense I felt like I was going to throw up. I tried to ignore the pain, and move my arms without his control. I couldn’t do it. He was trying to push me back into my own head. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to sleep while he controlled me. Not anymore.
Get out of me! Get out now!
He began screaming at me in my head some more. It was a streak of cursing and words in some other language I couldn’t recognize. I’d really angered him. I
felt like I couldn’t keep at this much longer. If I gave up now, I didn’t think he’d ever leave, or even rest. He’d keep control of me for good. Among the things he was screaming at me, one word jumped out: K’rall. It sounded familiar, as if I’d heard him say it before? No, one of the others like him, one of the demons said that to him. It was his name!
K’rall! Get out of me, right now!
“K’rall! Leave me now!” I screamed, this time it was out loud. I looked around, and suddenly the pain was gone. But I felt so weak. The priest was standing in front of me, along with that lady cop. They were looking at me, confused, but they were getting fuzzy. Before I could say another word, I passed out.
Chapter 38
Father Harlan, 8:15 a.m.
Amanda let out a long scream, the ground shook as her voice and the demon’s voice alternated. I had to put my hands over my ears, it was so deafening. It went on for at least a minute, then everything went totally silent. Leah and I both looked up, and saw Amanda on her knees looking back and forth at each of us. She no longer appeared to be possessed. She looked like a scared and lost little girl. Before I could say anything to her, she collapsed. I ran to her in time to catch her so she wouldn’t crack her head on the pavement.
Leah tried her radio again, this time there was someone on the other end. The crazed, demon possessed mob that had been running toward us, was now standing and walking around looking confused. Whatever Amanda had done, had gotten rid of all the demons. I sat down and held her as Leah spoke on her radio.
“They’re going to airlift her to another hospital. The chopper should be here in ten minutes or so,” Leah said.
“Good,” I replied. “I’m not setting foot in this one again.”
After a few minutes, the helicopter did arrive, and landed in the parking lot. They tended to Amanda and loaded her into the helicopter. One of the EMTs told me they were taking her to St. John’s, across town. They also patched up my face the best they could. The paramedic told me to go to St. John’s as well, and check in at the ER. He asked what happened, and I only told him I was assaulted. I did not envy Leah, who would be tasked with writing a police report on this mess.