Moments later, Enkaz slowly withdrew his icy hands from their foreheads before adding with his characteristic cruelty:
“You mustn't wait until the other two babies are born. You only have a few hours. The second delivery is about to begin.”
After his last sentence had been spoken, he disappeared as silently as he had appeared, leaving Tara and Diane alone on the edge of the cliff.
“You heard him,” said Diane in a grave voice. “It’s time to go.”
“You just said we're not supposed to fight against demons.”
“Yes, but these demons have taken on human bodies. It's not up to the guards anymore. You need to learn not to question the decisions of the Congregation.”
On these words, the entire scene disappeared and Tara woke up. Lying on her bed still fully dressed, her heart pounded wildly. This mission wouldn't be easy, she didn't trust Enkaz. Three live baby demons located in a place that made her feel uneasy... She would have to take all her missionaries with her.
Without waiting another second, she jumped out of bed and ran into the hallway: all the lights were off. It was dark, not a sound could be heard throughout the apartment. Tara had a bad feeling about this mission. She didn't want to execute it.
Suddenly, she felt Diane pushing her into action, dissatisfied with her thoughts. The others were asleep, all she needed to do was wake them up.
Holding her breath, Tara turned on the light in the corridor. It had never seemed so long and deserted to her. First, she went to Hugo's room where she found him fast asleep in his bed. She shook him with all her strength:
“We have a mission and only a few hours to accomplish it, get up!”
Still asleep, the young man turned over and covered his head with his blanket. Realizing that he wasn’t going to budge, she turned on the light and jumped on the bed:
“Get up Hugo, we have a mission!”
Surprised, the handsome young man woke up with a falsely annoyed look on his face.
“Couldn't you have waited until morning?”
“If you don't want your seraph to be annihilated by the Congregation, we have no choice but to do as They say.”
On these words, Hugo opened his eyes wide and instantly jumped out of bed.
“Help me wake up Mark and Nina,” Tara said. “I'll take care of John.”
The next moment, she rushed down the hallway and abruptly entered the teenager's bedroom. A few minutes later, all five of them were gathered in the corridor, ready to leave. However, despite their presence, Tara still didn’t feel safe. The night seemed darker than usual. She had the feeling this mission would be nothing like the others:
“Tonight, our mission is to kill three possessed infants,” she explained, looking each one of them in the eyes, one by one. “We’ll need our spheric weapons.”
After a short silence, she added, weighing each of her words:
“This mission is dangerous. If it were up to me, we wouldn't go anywhere until daylight.”
“Why are the Decision-Makers giving you a new mission?” Nina wondered, “I don't like the fact that They’re not respecting their commitment.”
With these words, Tara understood that Nina didn't know she had failed. None of her missionaries knew. Embarrassed, she hesitated for a moment before confessing:
“I didn't kill the child Nina...”
Wide-eyed, her missionaries were shocked by her confession, but Nina’s eyes shone again with hope.
“You mean you failed?” asked Hugo, who’s face had become pallid.
“It doesn’t feel like a failure to me,” replied Tara dryly. “But yes, technically I failed. In the eyes of the Decision-Makers at least. That's why I’ve been asked to accomplish a very dangerous mission right now.”
John covered his mouth in horror while Mark nervously scratched his chin. Everyone knew the consequences of such a failure.
“It must be a trap,” said the Viking. “If you failed your first mission They're likely making you run headlong into disaster.”
“Indeed,” Tara acknowledged. “However, it's the only chance we’ve got left and I refuse to let it slip by for fear that it's a trap. Enkaz showed me the demons inside these infants. As difficult as the mission will be, I know we can succeed. That's why I'm calling on all of you.”
“You can count on us,” said John faithfully.
As a thank you, Tara smiled at him. Hugo and Mark on the other hand, seemed much more disconcerted. However, she didn’t hold it against them: they were right to worry, it proved they still had their common sense... Nonetheless, it didn’t prevent them from going into battle with her. She needed all her young missionaries with her if she was going to succeed.
With her heart pounding, she gave the order to leave and was the first to run down the stairs. She did her best to hide her concern from her missionaries. But, despite her apparent determination, she struggled to proceed, knowing deep down inside that it wasn’t a good idea.
“I can feel it too,” Diane whispered in her ear. “But They’ve left us no choice. We need to be stronger than our enemies, it's our only chance to survive.”
Diane was right. Failure wasn’t an option. It was up to them to emerge victorious from this ordeal.
The missionaries went down to Van der Worthen's private parking lot. As a precaution, Mark and Hugo each decided to take a motorbike so they wouldn’t all have to depend on the same means of transportation, just in case.
“You go with Mark,” ordered Nina as she looked in John’s direction.
“I'd rather ride in the four-wheel drive with you and Tara.”
“I want to be alone with Tara,” she said, ending the discussion. “Take him with you,” commanded the coach, throwing John's helmet to Mark. “Tara and I will take him with us on the way back.”
Even if being treated like a child didn’t please him, John wasn’t one to provoke confrontation. Going by car or by motorbike with Mark wouldn’t make any difference, so he took the helmet from the Viking and climbed on the back of his motorcycle.
“What do you want to say to me?” asked Tara, walking towards the driver's side as the boys left the parking lot.
“I'm driving,” ordered Nina, who ignored her question.
“No, I'm driving.”
“No, I'm...”
“I know,” Tara interrupted, “that you won't take me to the Dominican convent if I let you drive.”
Nina froze, surprised that Tara had guessed her intentions: indeed, leading her to her death had never been part of her plans.
“I'm driving,” concluded Tara, while abruptly opening the door and getting behind the wheel.
Distressed, Nina got into the passenger seat without saying another word. The boys had already left. They were on their way to join them.
When they had been driving for several minutes, Nina broke the silence with her accusing, razor-sharp voice:
“Why didn't you kill the child?”
“Because I didn't want to kill an innocent being.”
Nina raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by her answer:
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that he's an infant, he hasn't done anything yet!”
“Yes, but you know that no one escapes their fate.”
“Almost no one,” she corrected. “Diane already gave me that lesson, thank you...”
They both stopped talking. They were almost there.
“You know you don't have to go through with this mission, don’t you?” Nina repeated, turning to her again. “We can run away.”
“Run away? Where? And from what?”
“From the Decision-Makers’ death sentence. We can go anywhere... After all, you're the pro... You've been on the run for two hundred and thirty-six years.”
“And why would you want to go with me?”
“Because I love you Tara.”
On those words, Tara almost lost control of the vehicle. Trying to hide her surprise, she kept her eyes on the road, ther
eby avoiding Nina's gaze. She could feel her whole body tremble and her throat tighten up.
“I don't want to lose you,” said the coach, “and I don't trust the Sages. The only solution, in my opinion, is for both of us to desert.”
“Okay,” replied Tara in a broken voice. “But why do you want to go with me knowing that I'm not in love with you?”
“Of course you are,” replied Nina as she approached her. “You think I haven’t noticed how you look at me… since the very first day we met... You think I don't know that you followed Emily that day just to be able to see me again?”
Shocked, Tara was barely able to concentrate on the road. As the coach spoke, her feelings resurfaced. What if what she was saying was true...
“Let's run away together Tara,” Nina begged. “Let’s leave the angels and their battles...”
“No!”
Tara replied in such a grave and authoritative voice that Nina was stunned. No, she wouldn't give up. No, she wouldn't run away for the umpteenth time!
“I’ve already made up my mind,” she explained in a voice that left no room for discussion.
“But you don't understand how much danger you're in!” Nina despaired. “They won’t hesitate to kill you!”
On these words, Tara suddenly pulled over to the side of the road:
“You can leave if you want,” she said in a stern voice.
“Tara, what are you...”
“Whether you like it or not, I’m going to that convent to carry out my mission. So either you’re on my side and you come with me, or you’re against me, in which case I kindly ask you to get out of the vehicle. We’ll accomplish this mission with or without you.”
Wounded by this ultimatum, Nina looked at her with the sad eyes of a woman who had just been betrayed. Nonetheless, she made it clear with an arrogant sign of the chin, that Tara could restart the vehicle.
“Good,” said Tara with a sigh.
Despite her apparent strength, she was relieved to not have to part with Nina.
“We’re going to win this.”
She restarted the vehicle, pretending to still be upset in order to hide the anguish she felt inside.
The night was particularly dark: no moon in the sky, not a light penetrating from the windows. Paris was asleep, as if sedated, deprived of movement and life. The whole city seemed to be plunged into a deathly torpor.
After driving for a few minutes in total silence, they reached the convent where they parked behind the motorcycles. The boys were already waiting for them. The place was even gloomier than the rest of the city. The sinister building was standing before them like a tomb, imposing and deformed.
“It's haunted,” observed Nina, without taking her eyes off the bell tower. “This place isn’t safe. We should send the guards in first.”
“This mission for us,” Tara insisted, reminding Nina of her ultimatum. “The Decision-Makers know very well that it’s haunted. If They sent us here without the protection of the guards, it's because They want to put us to the test.”
“That’s reckless,” Nina replied matter-of-factly. “You can even tell from the outside that there are far too many of them; I know you can feel it. The guards need to clean this place before we can kill the demon babies.”
Tara refused to answer. She knew that Nina was right, but they had already had this discussion: they would carry out the orders of the Sages as directed by Them, with no further discussion.
“How do we enter this place?” asked Mark after a short silence.
He too was aware of the danger, but he knew it wasn’t his place to disagree. It was time for action.
“There's a small door in the alley on the right,” Tara answered, examining the building. “They replaced the old lock with an electronic code, 1911. It leads to a large staircase which heads directly to the back of the chapel on the top floor. Three nuns live with the priest right now. They’re trying to hide the sins that were committed within the convent walls. His room is situated on the highest level of the building.”
“How long have they been living here?”
“The first one arrived about six months ago, the last one about four months ago. They all moved here when the changes to their bodies could no longer be hidden. They pretended they were being transferred to another convent and they’ve been here ever since. They’re all waiting to give birth and regain their figures before showing themselves again to their fellow nuns.”
“What do they intend to do with the babies?” asked John.
“They’re planning to abandon them as wards of the nation. Then, they’ll claim to have discovered them outside the convent door.”
Hugo nodded and smiled. Despite the imminent danger, he seemed intrigued by a small detail. Discreetly, he turned to Tara and asked her, amused:
“And... Did he screw all of them at the same time?”
His question, as always, lightened the atmosphere. Tara smiled, amused herself by the facts that she was given:
“Apparently they were playful bunch... So yes, it happened more than once.”
“I should have worked in a convent!” exclaimed Hugo with a grin.
“I hope they made the most of it,” Nina said, as she turned her spheric weapon Doss into a bow and arrow, “because the games are over now.”
She led the way, silent as a panther in the night. As Enkaz had predicted, there was a wooden door in the alleyway to the right of the convent that led directly to the chapel staircase. When Nina entered the code, the door unlocked with a dull sound and opened slightly. She pushed it gently and entered the stairwell; the evil presence immediately made itself known; she knew they weren’t welcome.
The wooden staircase, dark and very narrow, spiraled up several feet. The only door was at the very top of the staircase and led directly to the chapel on the top floor of the convent. It was pitch black inside the tower.
“Get your weapons out,” ordered Tara, as she turned towards her missionaries.
They did so immediately. Mark held his revolver, and John his sword. As for Hugo, he had two weapons integrated into his fists, controlled by his spirit. They were wrapped around his fists like metal boxing gloves, covered with a multitude of sharp and deadly spikes.
In turn, Tara held her pendant in her hand and the crystal instantly lit up. When she lowered her arm again, she was holding her long crystal sword firmly in her hand. Knowing that these infants were possessed, killing them didn’t bother her in the least.
Silently, she took the lead, climbing the stairs with caution. She barely breathed as she crept up, hoping to avoid being noticed. A few seconds later, they were facing a large and moldy wooden door.
“How do we get in?” asked Nina, who was covering her back.
“Mark!”
Without saying a word, the Viking stepped forward and kicked in the door with one powerful blow. The rusty metal hinges gave way without much resistance, causing a deafening clamor to echo throughout the chapel.
“Now I know why we made so much effort to sneak up quietly,” said Hugo ironically, as he followed in Mark’s footsteps.
Tara entered the chapel first, a gigantic, dark and humid room with ceilings several yards high. Her first reflex was to press the light switch she found next to the wooden door. Almost immediately, the chapel was illuminated by the pale and sinister glow of the neon lights that hung from the stone ceiling. The walls were high and painted in a dingy pale blue color. Behind them, a stone statue of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus seemed to be begging for mercy. From the gloomy atmosphere in the room, they guessed that this place of prayer had been abandoned by the light angels eons ago.
“Why aren’t there any angels here?” asked Nina uncomfortably. “The light angels are supposed to be present in every place of prayer...”
“They must surely have abandoned this place long ago,” replied Tara who was inspecting every square inch of the chapel for danger. “We're not welcome here... and the Decision-Makers knew it all alon
g.”
“Why didn't They send the guards to clean this place out long ago?”
“I don't know,” answered Tara, puzzled. “Maybe They were saving it for our mission tonight.”
Without warning, a large black shadow moved at full speed across the ceiling and sat down in Mary's arms, on top of baby Jesus.
“Did you see that?” asked John, looking at the statue.
“Yes,” replied Tara, who was still looking ahead. “This place is haunted. We're treading on their territory now, we need to be quick. Let's find the three nuns.”
Putting her words into action, she rushed to the main door of the chapel, holding Hagen more firmly than ever. Behind the large door that stood in front of her, she knew there was a long corridor that would lead them to Father André's apartment where his mistresses lived.
As she ran across the room, the spirits of the chapel finally appeared; shadows from the corners of the room began to swirl across the ceiling with sinister moans. They were making their presence known.
Ignoring them completely, Tara grabbed the big metal door handles and pulled on them with all her strength, hoping to open it and pass over to the other side, but the door was so heavy it didn’t budge. Immediately, Mark came to the rescue and pulled with her, while the others stood guard behind them, watching as the black shadows slowly moved across the ceiling.
“They don’t seem very happy,” remarked John, as he watched the spirits gathering in the center of the chapel ceiling.
Suddenly, Tara froze. She felt a danger so close that she knew they wouldn’t be able to avoid it. She understood then that something evil was waiting for them behind the door:
“Stop!” she whispered, tetanized. “They’re all there on the other side! They’re waiting for us...”
“Impossible!” answered Nina. “How could they have known we were coming?”
Tara closed her eyes and tried to visualize what was on the other side. Without warning, she became violently dizzy as she envisioned Father André, possessed and waiting for them in the corridor with an axe in his hand. He was accompanied by five demons, all tall and massively built. They had enormous skulls with two large horns curving upwards. They were made of a material that resembled tar.
HAGEN: 1. Revelations Page 33