Settling in for the short drive to our next location, I fastened my seatbelt and turned up the music. “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Metallica blasted from the speakers as I mentally prepared myself for whatever we’d find in the church.
The church came into view as we turned onto Caroline Street. Tattered blue plastic sheeting, once fastened to the windowsills to cover the broken windows, flapped in the breeze. Invasive ivy covered the bricks, working its way through the cracks in the mortar. The traditional arched red doors were chained and padlocked in a failed attempt to deter squatters.
We both noticed immediately that while the location marked on the map was in fact abandoned, a new church had been erected not half a block away. And it was currently in use.
“Should we wait? Come back tonight?” Dane pulled alongside the curb and put the car in park. “It looks like there’s people inside the new building.”
“We’re here, might as well get a closer look. The original grounds are large enough that no one will notice us.” Turning the radio off, I put my window down. “Choir practice.” Glorious gospel music poured out onto the street from inside the modern church structure. Keyboards, guitars and a full choir joined together to put their prayers to music.
“That should be enough to drown out any noise we make.” Dane pulled away from the curb and drove around back, parking the car as far from sight of any passersby as possible. “They’re getting bolder.”
“I don’t know if it’s boldness or just necessity. It seems like every other building on each block in the city is abandoned. We’ve shut down the more secluded locations already. This is what’s left.” Hitching my bag over my shoulder, I came up beside Dane.
Out of the car, we both stared up at the decrepit rear portion of the church looming over us. Years of weather and decay had taken more of a toll on this side of the building, leaving its structural integrity compromised. Half of the back had crumbled away and lay in piles in the parking lot. Exposed pipes jutted out from the torn walls and busted floors. Electrical boxes and lighting hung precariously from the original wiring. The remains of the church looked more like a bomb site than a victim of the elements.
“Door number one or door number two?” Dane pointed to the two interior doors that had been exposed when the rear of the building had collapsed.
A third door, which most likely led to the rectory, was blocked by debris and piles of broken folding chairs. Weighing our options, I tried to picture what little remained of the interior that we couldn’t see.
“We go in through there.” An opening between the first and second floors large enough for both of us to squeeze through was just off to the side of the blocked doorway.
“You want to scale a crumbling wall when we could easily kick in one of those doors?”
“What if we can’t clear the church and have to come back? There’s definitely activity here. I can feel it.” So could the Elioud. She stirred at the first lick of dark energy along my skin. “We don’t want anyone to know we’ve been here, especially the demons. Busted doors are kind of a clue someone’s been snooping around.”
“Point taken.” Following me over to the opening, Dane squatted down and made a basket with his hands, anticipating my needing a boost to get inside.
Without hesitating, I leapt, hooking both hands on the exposed framework, and hoisted myself up. Swinging one leg over, my torso pressed against the top of the wall, I shimmied until I was centered and straddling the top of the wall. In one swift motion, I swung my other leg up and through. Dropping the rest of the way, I landed on my feet in what was probably the pastoral offices.
“That was pretty impressive.” Dane dropped down behind me.
“Meh, I did some roof-jumping when I was younger. It helped with the parkour training Thomas had me do.”
This was far from the first church Dane and I had broken into, but it was the first time I’d basically scaled a wall.
With a click, Dane’s Maglite came to life, illuminating the dark corners of the room. The overpowering scents of rot and mold made it almost impossible to detect the tell-tale odor of a demon. Something scurried up the wall to our right. Dane swung his light in the direction the sound had come from but turned up nothing.
“Probably just a rat or something.” He stepped further into the room, broken stained glass and chunks of drywall crunching beneath his feet.
Not for the first time, I sensed something. Something other than the demons we typically had run-ins with. This was different, stronger, momentarily drowning out anything else. Uncertain if I was imagining it or if it was some side-effect from the awakening of the Elioud, I shook it off and focused on the task at hand. Closing this godforsaken portal.
“Or something. This place is straight out of a dystopian novel.” I followed him deeper into the church.
To our left, the hallway opened up, partly because the wall had collapsed into the back parking lot. Careful to avoid any rusted nails when stepping over some broken beams, we turned right at the fork in the hall. Crumbling brick stairs, slick with moss and algae, led us down into the basement of the church.
Standing water covered the floor and the portal I felt humming somewhere in the room. Stepping down off what remained of the stairs, I made my way across the basement. Murky water lapped over the tops of my boots as I tracked the source of the portal’s power.
“How the hell are we supposed to paint the symbols with all this water?” Stopping when I felt energy radiating though the soles of my feet, I reached into my bag for the spray paint I used to write the angelic script on every portal we sealed.
“Maybe that’s why they risked opening a portal so close to an active church?” Dane came up beside me, staring down at the brown water covering the portal.
“Probably. This isn’t going to work.”
Frustrated, I tossed the can of spray paint across the room. Instead of the expected clank of metal against brick, I heard a fleshy smack as a demon caught the can in its meaty palm.
Unsheathing my daggers, I dropped into a fighting stance and motioned for the demon to come at me. It stepped forward, grinning as half a dozen more of its brethren came up behind it. Seven demons. We’d taken on more than that and walked away unscathed, but the churning water at my feet where the portal was gave me pause. Shuffling back a few steps, I put some distance between me and the portal.
The first demon made a sound close to a laugh, mistaking my backward movement for retreat. With my back literally to a wall, the monstrosities crawling out of the gateway thought they had me at a disadvantage.
They were wrong.
Dane pulled his gun free of the holster and unloaded a clip of holy water rounds into the crowd of demons gathering on the once consecrated grounds. Two dropped to the ground in a smoking pile of rotting flesh, the holy water eating its way through them.
Covering my mouth and trying not to gag, I readied myself for an attack. The first demon sprinted across the room, water splashing as its feet pounded against the stone floor. Bouncing on the tips of my toes, I half turned, leaning back to dodge the impact. Slashing out with my blade, I sliced through its biceps. Roaring in pain, it lashed out. The backhand felt like a sledgehammer as it connected with my temple. My vision blurred for a moment and I dropped to one knee. Pain shot through my leg as my kneecap hit the floor.
Grabbing me by the hair, the demon yanked me to my feet. Two shots from Dane’s gun connected with the beast’s shoulder, forcing it to release its grip. Thrusting upward with my left hand, I drove my other blade under its chin, through its mouth and into its brain. Propping a foot against its chest to keep it from collapsing on me as its legs buckled, I yanked the dagger free of the demon’s head and readied myself to fight the next one.
Clip emptied, Dane quickly reloaded and blasted his way through two more demons even as two more started to crawl out of the gateway. Rushing forward, he unloaded his gun into their heads before they could get all the way through.
One of the two remaining demons came up behind Dane. Claws drawn, it slashed him across the back, shredding his coat and tearing into his skin. Doubled over in pain, Dane still managed to shift to the side, putting a few precious feet between him and the demon. Palming the hilt, I eyed up the beast and sent my dagger flying across the room. Slightly off target, the blade wobbled, only nicking its intended mark. The power pulsing through the room set my teeth on edge and wreaked havoc on my concentration. I reached for my gun, switched off the safety and emptied the clip center mass into the demon, dropping it at Dane’s feet.
Adjusting my grip on my last dagger, I said a little prayer and aimed for the only demon left. But I never followed through. I froze, just stood there watching it watch me. Watched as it called more demons through the portal and commanded them to converge on Dane. The demons looked at me, or maybe through me, and saw something they recognized. Something akin to what they were. Some dark, deviant creature that could have just as easily crawled out of that portal with them. Apollyon’s mark on my palm itched. The Elioud stirred, recognizing the call of her master and his ilk.
Surrounded by her brethren, she gained strength as I struggled to keep her from taking over. While over-exposure to the gateways seemed to weaken my resolve, she was able to draw more energy from the power leaking out of the portals. The Elioud gained control long enough to watch through my eyes as Dane fought for his life against four demons. She relished his pain and the pain it caused me to watch him suffer. Dane called my name, shouted for help while she just smiled at him.
While I just smiled at him.
Dane shouted. With the sound of my name still ringing in my ears, I fought to regain control of my mind. Dane was fighting for his life while I stood there and did nothing. Quickly losing ground, he collapsed under a heap of demons. He was going to die and it was going to be my fault.
No. The word came out in a whisper at first, barely audible over the sound of Dane struggling against his attackers. Within seconds the word gained power, built inside me until it came out on a roar. Screaming until I was on the brink of losing my voice altogether, I raised my gun again. My right hand trembled, the effort of fighting back the Elioud to save Dane overwhelming. With my left hand under the butt of the gun, I solidified my grip and pulled the trigger.
The only blood on my hands would be demon blood.
The back of the demon’s head exploded, pieces of its slimy, black flesh splattering the wall. It went down, sliding off the side of the mound of demons still piled on top of Dane. I took a shot, and another. Two more demons fell facedown in the fetid water, but more had come through while I’d been fighting my own personal demon. The ammo would run out before I killed them all. And even if it didn’t, that still left the little problem of closing a portal beneath a foot of standing water. I let another hail of bullets fly, emptying my clip in the hopes it would buy Dane some time and he could fight his way out from the bottom of the pile.
We were running out of options. Think, think. Digging through my bag for another clip, my hand brushed against a glass vial. Slightly larger and rounder in shape than the one that held my supply of holy water. Blessed oil. That’s it! Cleansing by fire. A holy fire. Reaching deeper into my messenger bag, I found my Zippo lighter and a vial of holy water. Time to put an end to this shit.
The oil shimmered as it slipped across the surface of the water, swirling around the demons’ calves. Hoping to create an opportunity for Dane to get out before I lit the basement up in holy fire, I tossed the glass jar of holy water up and fired a shot. The bullet shattered the glass into a million little pieces. Glass and blessed water rained down on the gang of demons. Howling in pain, the Devil’s minions turned their attention to me. Just as I’d hoped. Broken and beaten, Dane barely crawled away from them before I set the oil aflame.
Rushing to help Dane and get us both out of the basement before we were trapped alongside the demons in the fire, I didn’t see the demon coming at me. Its claws sliced through my thigh. Searing pain arced through my body. Out of bullets and blades, I placed my hands on its temples and started the banishing spell. Bloated hands with skin cracked from the flames wrapped around my throat in an attempt to cut off my air, ending the banishment and my life in one fell swoop. I wasn’t about to let that stop me. I kept repeating the words, over and over again.
The demon’s strength waned with each repetition. It dropped to its knees, taking me with it. The son of a bitch was strong – stronger than most of the demons I’d encountered before. It must have been the commander, leading the legion through the portal. It backed me up against the wall, slamming me against the bricks. Fumbling the words as what little air I had left rushed out of my lungs, I tried to pry its fingers from around my neck. As the demon readjusted its grip for a better hold, I was able to pull in enough air to keep from blacking out.
“I can smell her on you. In you.” The demon leaned in, ran a tongue along my neck. Wet and rough like sandpaper, I cringed as it lapped the blood trickling out of the small punctures from its nails. “If he only knew how sweet you tasted, how delicious she is. You are everything my master talks about and more.”
Apparently I’d become something of a legend in Hell. Dinner table conversations, bedtime stories, that sort of thing. Fan-fucking-tastic.
It released me, its head snapping back in the direction of the portal, listening to some voice or sound I couldn’t hear.
And then its head exploded.
After I wiped the demon gook from my eyes, I saw Dane propped up on the algae-coated steps, chest heaving, gun still raised in my direction.
“You okay?” Head slightly cocked to one side, he eyed me warily, still uncertain if I was entirely myself again.
“I’d be better if you’d lower the fucking gun.” Hunched over with my hands on my thighs, I gulped in a little air – and a lot of smoke. “We need to get out of here.”
Flames followed the oil as it spread across the water, closing in on us even as it consumed what was left of the demons. The more demon flesh that burned, the thicker and more toxic the smoke became. Making my way over to Dane, I slipped an arm around his waist and helped him up. Leaning on each other for support, we stumbled out of the basement and back into the parish offices. Heat followed us up the stairs and through the hall as the fire intensified. In the condition we were in, the flames would reach the main level before we could climb out the same way we’d come. I steered Dane in the direction of the nave, and we crossed the pulpit and made our way down the aisle and past the pews and into the narthex. There was still the problem of the chain-locked doors. Motivated by the desire not be become human barbeque, Dane and I rammed with our shoulders and kicked the door repeatedly until the rusted chain finally gave way and we stumbled out onto the front steps. In plain sight of the choir leaving practice.
A few gasps and calls for the police in addition to the fire department could be heard throughout the small crowd gathered on the sidewalk. Prayers in hushed tones swept through the choir as we stumbled down the steps. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out the two cans of red spray paint and started marking the angelic script on the concrete like I should have done the minute I realized the portal was underwater. Dane pulled out a can of paint and followed suit. We made our way around the building to the sound of sirens approaching and the protests of the congregation on the walkway who were too afraid to approach us.
Not that I blamed them.
Chapter Eleven
We managed to mark the last of the inscriptions on the pavement just before the police instructed us to get on our knees. Dropping the empty cans of spray paint, we knelt slowly with our fingers locked behind our heads. Two uniforms rushed in to zip-tie our hands behind our backs, followed by two more to search us and help secure us in separate cars.
“So you and your friend like setting fires, huh? What are you, some kind of wannabe devil worshipers? All the shit going on in this city, and you go and spray-paint a church with something straight out of a
horror B-movie.” The officer looked at me through the rearview mirror before putting the car in reverse and backing out of the lot.
Ignoring his efforts to get me to talk, I closed my eyes and tried not to think about when exactly the back of this patrol car had last been cleaned, as I laid my head back on the seat and exercised my right to remain silent.
The ride to the precinct was short if not quiet. Apparently I’d been arrested by an officer with a mental database of occult movies from Rosemary’s Baby to The Ninth Gate that would rival IMDb. By the time he opened the rear passenger door, I all but jumped out of the car.
“Never seen someone in such a hurry to get processed before. Don’t worry, you’ll be moved to central booking soon enough.” With an easy grip on my wrists, he led me into the station.
Dane was nowhere in sight, but I had no doubt he’d be arriving shortly. Another officer took over, seating me at a desk and asking a slew of questions about my pedigree. Rather than try to explain who I was, I gave the more traditional version of my upbringing. The one including a mother in prison for murdering her husband. The officer gave me an “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” look and continued processing me. Since the charges included arson as well as vandalism, I was fingerprinted and posed for a few photos before being taken to a cell to await my public defender.
An hour or so later, Dane was tossed into a cell diagonal from mine.
“You okay?” Forearm over his head, he leaned against the bars to try to get a better look at me.
“Yeah, you?” Ignoring the cat-calls from a couple of ladies who obviously worked nights and had been occupying the cell prior to my arrival, I gripped the iron bars and rested my forehead against the door to my prison.
“Yeah, I kept my head down and my mouth shut. I guess they’re pressing charges.” Dane sighed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been on this side of the bars.”
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