Ingress

by Mary Ann Poll

  “You too?”

  “Just give me a minute, then take him,” she said, feeling so foolish and yet unable to not pray.

  “Dear Jesus,” she started in a halting voice, “I know I don’t have the faith of so many I know and love. It just isn’t who I am. Still, if you are there, I am begging you to save this man. He loves You faithfully and proves it every day. Please make him well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.” She mumbled the final part, anger filling her being toward the God that would let this happen to this kind messenger of His word.

  “Feel better now?”

  “Not really.”

  Doc’s eyebrows shot up. He shrugged. “Help me move this man, time counts.” Ken, Bart, Josiah, and Doc each grabbed an arm or leg and lifted. The heat of the infection radiated through Paul’s clothing. It was hard to carry him. He felt like he’d burn through the gloves they wore.

  Well that was sure worthless, not to mention demeaning. Thanks for nothing.

  Paul moaned and his eyes opened. He looked to his left and saw Ken. He looked to his right and saw Bart.

  “What are you guys doing? Put me down.”

  “You’re sick. We need to get you to the hospital.”

  “I think I can walk myself. Have since I was ten months. Put me down.”

  “He’s delirious. Keep walking.”

  “I’m not delirious. Put me down.” Paul yanked one arm free.

  Doc nodded and they lowered him to the floor. Confusion darkened Doctor Billings’ features when Paul sat up.

  “I’ve never seen an antibiotic work that fast.” He rubbed his chin and stared at Paul.

  Paul shot a smile to Doc before he headed to a standing position.

  “Whoa, friend, you are very ill. Not such a good idea.” Ken pressed down on Paul’s shoulder.

  Paul gave Ken a “How stupid do you think I am” look and pushed up off the floor. He stood and stayed upright.

  “So now you can walk to the car for the ride to the hospital. Good thing. You’re a bit heavy when you’re out cold.” Bart quipped, trying to buy time to make sense out of what was happening.

  “I feel great.”

  The doctor walked back to Paul and snatched his shirt up.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Does this look great?”

  Paul looked down and saw a few streaks of pink up the middle of his abdomen.

  The doctor looked at Paul and then at the rest of them. “What’s going on here? This man was at death’s door.”

  “Seemed like it.” Josiah backed away from Paul and smiled at Doctor Billings.

  “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d say you had pulled a nasty trick on me.”

  “Would I have been involved in such a trick?” Alese stepped in front of Billings.

  “I would have no reason to believe you would, Mrs. Bricken. I’m going home now.” Doc ran his hands through his disheveled mop of hair.

  “You okay, Doc?”

  “Just need rest. I’ll be back to look at you tomorrow, pastor.”

  “We can talk then.”

  “Yeah, we’ll talk then.” He walked to the door and out into the night.

  Paul looked at the others. “Thanks for coming.”

  “Welcome. What happened?” Josiah was the voice for the small group.

  “I was mugged—by an invisible assailant.”

  “Who?”

  “Don’t know. But when the last pain hit my stomach, I saw, just for an instant, an ochre yellow light hanging over my shirt.”

  Josiah, who had been saying a silent prayer of thanks for Paul’s recovery, shot his head in Paul’s direction.

  “You know it?”

  “I know it,” Josiah said firmly. “That horrid color belongs to one of Iconoclast’s demons. I had the honor of meeting him in person, right before Iconoclast tried to eat me for dinner. He is called Gambogian and is one of Iconoclast’s eight.”

  Bart let the reality of his words sink in. “So, he is really back.”

  “What do you mean by really back?” Tanya asked.

  “I believed we had a sick copycat on our hands. I was hoping the Anchorage M.E. would confirm that. There were enough differences from Iconoclast previous attack, I was sure someone was emulating him. The last body was missing his heart and throat. But that purple and black liquid was all over him.”

  “When were you planning on letting us in on this bit of news? After one of us dies?” Tanya’s voice held a threatening edge.

  “I wouldn’t let that happen.”

  “Really? My husband’s illness says different.”

  “Enough!” Grandma Bricken scolded Bart and Tanya before the interchange erupted into an all-out screaming match. “These brutes would love us to fight. Divide and conquer is one the most tried and true tactics in any battle. Who do you think perfected it?”

  “I know, I know. If you’ve told me that once, you’ve told me a thousand times.” Bart gave his great-aunt an impatient look.

  “And I’ll keep saying it until I get it through that thick skull of yours.” They locked eyes. Bart broke contact first.

  “Truce.” Bart looked at Alese.

  “Truce.” She pulled Bart to her.

  “Not to interrupt a Kodak moment here, but we need to find out how Iconoclast found a way to return to Ravens Cove.”

  “It began with Old Town. Let’s start there.” Kat snatched her coat from the floor.

  Ken caught her hand. “Not at night. Bart and I found out what can happen out there at night.”

  “The Kumrande,” Grandma said decisively.

  “How did you know? Another dream?”

  Grandma nodded.

  “And, it gets crazier and crazier.” Kat shook her head and looked in the direction of Old Town. “Hey, tell me you see what I’m seeing.”

  “That can’t be good.” Bart watched as a black fog rose, exploded into a mushroom cloud and then descended like grave clothes over the buildings. A murderous shriek issued from a wispy shape that shot out of the mist and flew toward the ravine.

  Chapter 11

  Near Completion

  Gambogian had not anticipated weakness. The attack on the man of God had taken so much from him, Caitiff was given the job of finding Pet. He sped to Ravens Ravine to search for the missing demon.

  The old hag tree shook as Caitiff came close. A sickly grin exposed jagged carnivore teeth that protruded outward from his ebony face. His leathery hand touched a snarled limb. “Soon, friend, soon.”

  A dull burst of yellow light dropped like stars from the tree before it turned deathly grey.

  “Those vile mortals have taken the energy from us all. Our revenge is near.” Caitiff headed down the path. Nihilist blocked his way.

  “You are not welcome here. Iconoclast promised this land to the Kumrande.”

  “I belong anywhere I am directed to go by the Commander.”

  Nihilist and his tribe drew their swords and rushed forward. In a rapid move, Caitiff cut through the air with his four-inch claws and dissected the Kumrande on Nihilist’s right. The small being fell to the ground; a look of surprise contorted his dying face.

  “I will pass and take my chances with Iconoclast. I believe he would appreciate my killing all of you—as you are becoming more of a nuisance than a help.”

  “We shall see.” Nihilist, begrudging this weak demon’s victory, stepped aside. His warriors did the same. Caitiff unfurled and snapped emaciated wings to the side. He took flight. Bony trees, carbon copies of the one at the opening to the ravine, lined the path’s walls. Each gave an imperceptible shake when he passed. Caitiff nodded his head side to side. He came to a burn mark in the path.

  “A place of holy fire.” Caitiff flapped faster. Any demon perished if he even touched such a place by accident.

  He reached the bottom of the path and landed in front of the rock wall that now separated the footway from the ravine floor. He walked from one side of the boulder to the oth
er, scouring the ravine path as he went.

  He growled, then shrieked. No answer.

  “Pet, you loathsome shapeshifter, come out. I have no time for your tricks! I know you escaped the return to the Abyss. I did not. But, I am back. And, your master is at the door. Come out. Iconoclast commands it.”

  A bush rustled, Caitiff walked to it. Nothing. Another bush rustled on the far side of the ravine. Caitiff stomped to the other side and looked. Still nothing.

  He heard a mischievous laugh, this time coming from a few feet up the ravine wall. He scoured the area and caught a brief glint of lavender. A small vine trembled.

  Caitiff pushed off with his strong back haunches and took flight. He pounced on the vine in one move and held it with ease as it wrestled in his grip.

  “Iconoclast needs you and Gambogian needs you, too.”

  The vine’s dull brown shade faded and a black and purple mist took the form of a one-footed being.

  “Why would Gambogian need me? He’s a strong demon.”

  “Gambogian has been weakened in an attack on that self-righteous preacher. He is recovering but not soon enough. He needs you to form the trio with Iconoclast.”

  “Iconoclast has been banished to the abyss.”

  “There is an ingress. Why else would I be here?” And why do we put up with your ignorance? Caitiff thought.

  Purple and black pulsed as Pet considered the risks. He was not complete without his fellow demons but the abyss was a horrible fate. The hatred over defeat at the hands of those inconsequential bags of bone and dust won out in the end.

  “I have missed the hunt so I will come. But I must choose a form so I am not vulnerable.”

  “Might you hurry this somewhat?” Caitiff loathed this little pip-squeak’s need to show off at any opportunity. He hated it even more that he had no choice but to be a captive audience— if he came back without Pet, he would be shackled in the abyss at the hand of Iconoclast.

  A wicked smile crossed Pet’s misty features. As Caitiff watched, Pet’s purple and black form condensed until it was an inch in diameter and round. His small claw popped out from the middle of the sphere. He bent it into a V and it disappeared into the other side of the ball, forming a hanger. When he was done he was a black, translucent, and miniature shape of a glass fishing ball, iridescent purple swirling in five different directions to the top claw disguised as a hook.

  “Thank the trees.” He wouldn’t admit it, but even Caitiff was impressed by the small being’s creativity. He picked up the ornate ball and flew to Old Town.

  The small troop, minus Paul Lucas who chose to rest, settled at the familiar meeting place of grandma’s kitchen table. Bart arrived late. He had stopped by his house and retrieved BC at Kat’s request.

  Wendy Hareling breezed into the kitchen. “Alright, something really odd’s going on here and I think you guys know what it is.”

  All eyes focused on Wendy. Kat weighed the options and what truth, if any, she could tell her. Wendy could easily whip the townspeople into frenzy with just a sliver of information.

  “What makes you say that—other than the fact that you are bored beyond belief and need to stir things up?”

  Wendy glared at Kat. “I just ran into Brandon McGill. He was flying down the library stairs, like the place was on fire. Then,” Wendy looked at Kat, then Grandma, “then I saw two trails of black, like a wild-looking fog, come up beside him. One on either side. If I was a swearing woman—and I’m not,” she said to keep Grandma from launching into her tirade on swearing, “I would swear that they took the form of two men and began talking to him. He looked pretty shook up.”

  Kat set her coffee cup down with a thud. “And, you expect us to believe you why?”

  “I would never make others think I’m a loon to get information.”

  Kat lifted her eyes, hooded beneath her lids, letting Wendy know she didn’t believe her.

  “Okay, I don’t have much pride when it comes to getting a good story. But, this time, I’m telling you what I saw.”

  Visions of a night not so long ago swam before Josiah. A night full of murder and violence. A night that had almost taken the lives and souls of those sitting at the table and the whole of Ravens Cove.

  “Tell me what these beings looked like again.”

  “They were mists, solid and dense—like the thickest fog I’ve ever seen.”

  “How’d you get away without being seen?”

  “Pure luck? I was almost in front of the library when Brandon ran down the steps. He turned right. If he’d turned left, he’d have run smack into me. I still don’t know how he missed me, though. That’s the first time in my life I’ve felt invisible.”

  “Okay. Go on.”

  “Anyway, these mists got more and more solid. They took on the shapes of men. As the shapes grew more visible, they placed hands under Brandon’s elbows and slowed him down. It was the freakiest thing I ever saw.”

  “The question is why you could see them. They should not have been visible to the human eye—most human eyes, anyway.” Grandma pondered this.

  “I know what I saw.”

  “I believe you.” Kat remembered the lights that had mesmerized her not so long ago, and talking to an animated rock. She remembered seeing a huge, fiery blue man. She patted Wendy’s hand and smiled. “Welcome to my world.”

  “You believe me?”

  “Oh yes.”

  “Thank goodness.” Wendy grabbed the stepstool by the stove and dragged it to the table. “That was just the icing on the cake. I was walking past Willowbend Circle earlier and I saw lights flicker from Old Town. I stopped to get a better look but the buildings were dark. I started back for Main when a weird noise brought me back to the town. Imagine my surprise when I saw these weird three-foot tall animals, walking on two legs dragging something big over to that icky skull rock. There’s some kind of hole underneath that rock— did you know that?”

  Bart leaned over the table and looked Wendy in the eye. “Two-legged creatures. You’re sure?”

  “Oh, yeah. Those ugly little things are hard to forget because they were giggling—what animal giggles? She shuddered. “It was a deadly sound.”

  “Wonder what they were dragging?” Bart looked at Ken.

  “You know I don’t scare easily.”

  “No—I’m the scaredycat. You’re just a Nosy Nellie.”

  Wendy shot a sizzling look to Kat. “I’ll forget you said that— for now.”

  “You two never change. Save the character barbs for another time, will you?”

  “Is tomorrow good for you?” Kat looked at Wendy.

  “I’ll need to check my calendar.” They burst into laughter at the same time.

  “Look guys, I don’t know what’s happening but I’m scared to walk the streets of Ravens Cove for the first time in my life. I really don’t want to go back out tonight—she looked at her watch. It was approaching two—“this morning.”

  “No one needs to be going anywhere right now. I have plenty of room. You girls take the sewing room upstairs. Bart and Ken can take the couch and floor in the living room. Josiah knows where he sleeps.” Grandma stood up. The white band on Kat’s finger caught her eye.

  “Why are you wearing a paper band?”

  Kat looked at her hand and her heart sunk. She had forgotten to tell Grandma before Grandma found out on her own.

  “Isn’t it great that she and Ken are engaged? Isn’t that the craziest thing!” Wendy blurted out.

  Kat’s eyes opened wide, her mouth went into a straight line. “Thanks so much,” she mouthed at Wendy then grabbed Grandma Bricken’s hands.

  “I meant to tell you earlier. Then then the pastor got ill and Wendy showed up. I am so sorry.”

  Grandma looked at Josiah. He smiled and shrugged. She looked at Kat.

  “That is not a proper ring.”

  “It’s the best I could do at the time.”

  “He proposed at Jo’s. Isn’t this sweet?” Wendy said h
oping to help.

  “Not really.” Grandma got up and left the room. Kat rose to go after her. Josiah grabbed her wrist.

  “Let her go, Kat. She needs a minute.”

  Kat sat back down and leaned into Ken for comfort.

  “I, for one, think this is great news,” said Wendy. “I’m going after her.”

  Wendy walked to the kitchen doorway just as Grandma Bricken was coming back. She had a small, grass basket in her hand. Deep red and hunt green patterns snaked through the natural grass container. Grandma set the basket in front of Ken. He gave her a questioning look.

  “Open it.”

  Kat’s heart had started to race. She wasn’t sure what Grandma Bricken was doing. She was afraid it was a ritual of disownment or something.

  Ken opened the small basket, looked inside, and pulled a black felt package from within. A broad smile straightened the frown of a moment before. He handed the fabric to Kat. Nested in the middle was a small gold band, with a tiny diamond glinting at her. Tears filled her eyes. She ran to her grandmother and threw her arms around her neck.

  “You aren’t going to disown me?”

  Grandma hugged Kat close. “Why would you ever think such a thing? You are my blood. I will never disown you. Your mother ran off and your father was killed. I know you are waiting for anyone you love to do the same thing. I will never do that to you.” Grandma said this as much for Ken’s benefit and understanding as for Kat. She pushed Kat back so she could look her in the eye.

  “Do you believe me?” Kat sniffed and nodded.

  “This was my engagement ring. It was my mother’s before that.”

  “I never knew you had it.” Wendy had handed a tissue to Kat while she was in the process of blowing her own nose. She grabbed another and dried her eyes.

  “There was no reason for you to know until now. Kenneth, put that ring on her finger and make this right.”

  Kat walked over and sat down next to the man she had fallen in love with such a short time ago.

  Ken removed the paper ring and set it aside.