“He must’ve felt this was the best way,” I said, trying not to panic them any further. I doubted that the exorcist’s motivations were quite so altruistic, but telling this crowd wouldn’t help anything. “Conjure the demon so you could all jointly confront and destroy the monster. But something went wrong.”
“Talk about a fucking understatement if I’ve ever heard one.” Maddox shook with growing rage. “You all know what the fuck we’re up against here. I’m not letting that fucking thing back in my head.”
Nora leveled a steely gaze at Maddox. “Pull yourself together! Andara wouldn’t throw us into the meat grinder unless there was a way to stop this monster.”
Nora sounded more assured than I felt.
“Father Andara tried to impose his will on a creature that eats souls for breakfast,” Maddox snapped. “You can’t tame a great white shark. And neither can you make a demon your bitch.”
I might not have opted for such colorful language, but the soldier had hit the nail on the head. My attention shifted back to the circle, taking in a chair we’d knocked over while clearing the area. Stepping closer, I realized there was something unusual at the bottom of the chair.
Picking up on my reaction, Detective Tomkins followed my line of sight and let out a low whistle. I approached the chair and saw that someone had taped an object under the seat. It appeared to be a bottle of Valium.
I liberated the pills for the others to see. Courtney Star reacted as if slapped. This was her chair, and the drugs held a deeper meaning for her. She’d spent months in rehab trying to kick her painkiller habit. This item was symbolic of the demon’s lingering hold over her.
Dark understanding filled my heart.
“Everybody, look under your chairs and tell me what you find.”
To my surprise, no one raised any protests. There was an urgency to my request that touched everyone, even Sergeant Maddox. One by one, the group did as instructed and held up their items.
“Jesus Christ, how did that bastard pull this off,” Maddox marveled. He was holding up a metal flask.
I remembered reading about his problems with alcohol. A failed marriage, arrests for disorderly conduct, and multiple DUIs had defined the years following his possession. Maddox had cleaned up—but judging by the loving way he now eyed the flask, the SEAL hadn’t entirely conquered this particular demon.
My gaze turned to Father Ambrose, who held up a tattered, well-worn copy of the Bible. He opened the book, eyes wide with amazement as he revealed highlighted passages.
“How did Andara get his hands on my Bible?”
I couldn’t answer that question, but I knew how stubborn the exorcist had been. If he’d set his mind to something, good luck trying to talk him out of it.
More personal items followed. Sister Nora was up next. She held up a dark tome on demonic rituals. This was the same book she had used to conjure the demon back in her college days, when she was fooling around with black magic.
Not surprisingly, Detective Tomkins refused to reveal his item. The former detective didn’t like to show weakness.
I turned to my chair. The bottom was bare.
Andara didn’t need a personal totem for me, I realized. The exorcist knew I’d bring my totem to the meeting myself. He’d wanted the athame all along.
Existential dread knotted my churning stomach.
For twenty years, Andara had driven the demons out of people.
Today he’d conjured one.
Chapter Eleven
It quickly became apparent that the possessed were more interested in escape than a rematch with the demon.
“I’d say we head to our vehicles and get the fuck out of this hellhole before it’s too late,” Maddox said, giving voice to what most everyone here was thinking.
“I thought you liked to fight,” Father Ambrose said.
“I like to fight smart. You can’t win this battle.”
“Andara went through a lot of trouble so we could face this demon together. We should… should honor his final wishes.”
Father Ambrose was showing a surprising level of courage. This is his chance to redeem himself, I thought—his chance to be a priest again.
The Navy SEAL shrugged. “Be my fucking guest, padre.”
Detective Tomkins chuckled and took a deep puff from his cig.
The soldier whirled toward Tomkins and glared at the cop. “What the fuck’s so funny?”
“You think you can run away from this demon?” Tomkins asked, seemingly untouched by the stress of the situation. “You can’t outrun it. You can’t hide from it.”
“I’m not hiding from anything!” Maddox roared.
Tomkins flicked ash from his cigarette. “Newsflash, buddy. If the demon wants to find you, it won’t matter where you choose to make your last stand. There’s no running, no hiding—and sorry to break the news to you, Father Ambrose—there's no way to fight this thing. We all spent time with this monster in our heads, so we all know the score.”
“What do you suggest we do then? Just fucking wait for this nightmare to come after our asses?”
Maddox’s granite features had turned beet red. I could see a vein pulsing in his neck.
“Now you’re getting the idea, brother,” Detective Tomkins retorted with a dark smile. “The only way to win this battle is to show the beast that it doesn’t have a hold over you anymore. Sit back, enjoy whatever is in that flask, and accept the inevitable. Even if we can’t beat this creature, we can at least go out with our heads held high.”
Maddox loomed over the homicide detective—two burnouts who handled stress very differently. Aggression versus cynical detachment.
I worried that Maddox was going to plant his meaty paw in the cop’s face, but the soldier deflated, his shoulders slumping forward. The fight drained from him, leaving behind a shell of a man. The soldier was struggling to keep it together. Despite his in-your-face attitude, the demon’s scars ran deep. After all, the monster had destroyed his entire squad back in Iraq. Seeing your friends get slaughtered in front of you could push even the toughest man to the brink.
Everyone in this room had gone through Hell and back. And they were about to experience their worst nightmare all over again.
I regarded the group, my voice taking on a commanding edge.
“I know you’re scared. You have good reason to be. You all know what you’re up against. But we can’t give up and let the demon win. I’ve faced creatures such as this entity before. If we stick together, we’ll make it out of here alive. The beast isn’t all-powerful. There are ways to defeat these creatures. Demons can be exorcised. And they can be destroyed.”
I had the full attention of the room. To lend weight to my words, I held up my athame.
“This knife can stop the beast. We just have to keep our cool and work together. Only then do we end this nightmare once and for all.”
Hope flickered in their haunted features for a moment. Only Maddox’s face hardened.
“You think poking him with that butter knife of yours is going to do the trick?”
I clenched my teeth. This was hard enough without the ex-soldier’s attitude.
“You’ve all heard rumors about me. Dealing with demons is what I do.”
That part was a bit of an exaggeration. Yes, investigating paranormal phenomena was my gig, but that didn’t mean I went up against all-powerful demons every day. Identifying the cause of a haunting wasn’t the same as going a few rounds with a demonic lord.
The group didn’t need to know that. Fear was a far greater enemy than the entity stalking the monastery.
Maddox shook his head, eyes blazing with newfound determination. “I’d rather take my chances on the road. If you guys have any sense, you’ll do the same.”
And with these words, he turned toward the exit. Courtney Star almost immediately trotted after the Navy SEAL, apparently considering him her best bet now that her bodyguard had gone MIA.
Tomkins took another drag on hi
s cigarette, signaling that he wasn’t going anywhere. “Looks like no one wants to dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight,” he quipped.
I stared at the cop, who was treating the whole situation as one big joke. Famous movie quotes, sarcasm, and a Zen-like indifference were his way of dealing with this nightmare.
I held his gaze for a beat then went after Maddox and Courtney without saying a word. With the reanimated Andara still running around the monastery, it was best if I kept my eyes on them. Nora and Father Ambrose swiftly fell in step with me. Only Tomkins appeared determined to sit this one out.
We caught up with Maddox and Courtney at the colonnade that encircled the courtyard. I warily took in the marble statues of the saints that surrounded the reflective pool. Earlier, I’d felt drawn in by the environment’s sense of peace and calm. That emotion felt far away now. Even the saints projected a menacing quality in the unnatural darkness.
I turned my attention away from the statues and focused on Nora.
“Tell me more about this demon. What do you know about it? Is there anything we might use to our advantage?”
Nora shook her head, lips tight with frustration. “I wish I knew what to tell you. I know how cruel and powerful this monster can be. It knows all our secrets, all our weaknesses, yet reveals nothing about itself.”
Shit, this wouldn’t be easy. I had to trust that my athame was powerful enough to handle the entity.
We made our way through the darkness in grave silence. As we passed the church, my thoughts turned to the dead woman splayed on the altar inside. I was grateful that no one appeared interested in stopping by the place for a quick prayer.
My dread intensified as the parking area jumped into view. I doubted the demon would let these souls just leave the desert monastery. I would need to be ready for anything.
Maddox and Courtney reached their rental cars. Car doors creaked and echoed as they climbed into their vehicles, clearly determined to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the desolate sanctuary. The pop star seemed to have no qualms about leaving her missing bodyguard behind.
Engines revved and belched and sputtered. Car lights flickered, lanced the night, and then went dark. Curses and sharp cries of angry disbelief followed. Neither of the cars were starting, and the resulting frustration in the air was palpable. Even though I knew it was a waste of time, I tried to fire up my own rental. The engine choked and whined, letting out a final death rasp.
Then the lights went out, almost as if some invisible creature had sucked the energy from the automobile.
Silence fell over the parking lot.
No one was going anywhere without the demon's permission. The otherworldly entity was in full control.
I traded a long look with Nora. She stood next to my vehicle, eyes locked on something off in the near distance. I followed her line of sight, and my face fell.
Beyond the darkness of the parking area, a billowing wall of spectral fog was rapidly closing in on the monastery. The mist had appeared out of nowhere and was creeping toward us from multiple directions, determined to cut us off from the rest of the monastery.
If the growing knots in my stomach were any indicator, something bad lurked inside the mist.
“I think we should get back to the guest house,” I said, struggling to sound calm.
I got out of the car and turned toward the others. Their fear was palpable, minds hypnotized by the ghostly clouds of condensation closing in on us.
“Let’s get out of here!”
My sharp voice broke their trance-like state, and a moment later, we were rushing back to the guesthouse. Even Maddox didn’t protest. We all knew that the fast-approaching fog was bad news. Out here in the open, we were vulnerable.
Our pace quickened as we sprinted back to the guest house. We were about to pass the church, not far now from the shelter of the guest house, when events took another unexpected turn.
Courtney suddenly broke off from the group. Don’t ask me why she would pull such a stunt with the fast-moving mist hot on our tail. What had gotten into her?
The pop star turned toward the church, almost as if the structure was calling out to her on some secret frequency. She sported a trance-like expression as she ran toward it.
I called after her in dismay, knowing that the house of God had already been compromised. She would find no safety there. The forces controlling this now-infernal place had no problem desecrating a church, as Father Andara had found out the hard way.
I stormed after Courtney, hoping to catch up with her before some fresh horror emerged from the thick mist swirling around the church tower. For some reason, I was losing her. No matter how much I picked up my pace, Courtney stayed ahead of me, the distance growing between us with each passing second.
I sensed that something terrible was about to happen. A moment later, my fears stood confirmed.
A fork of blood-red lightning speared the starless night sky, engulfing the church in its crimson mantle. With a loud sizzling noise, a beam of energy found the steel cross resting atop the church tower.
An explosion of sparks followed, and the cross tilted forward in slow-motion before it plunged toward the ground below. Poised at the church entrance, Courtney stood still, eyes leveled at the giant cross now rushing straight for her.
My legs pistoning, I threw myself at the pop star.
I slammed into Courtney, pulling her out of the pathway of the incoming cross. It cratered into the ground next to us in a blinding cloud of desert dust. If not for my little maneuver, the hunk of metal would have buried Courtney under its enormous bulk.
For a disorientated beat, we both lay in the sandy ground. And then Courtney hit me in the stomach with a force that belied her small size. She jumped to her feet and continued toward the entrance to the church.
I was still stumbling erect when I saw her vanish inside the church, the heavy oak doors slamming shut behind her.
Somewhere in the starless darkness, it felt like the demon was laughing at my helpless rage.
Chapter Twelve
Courtney Star watched from behind the wheel of her SUV as Sergeant Maddox let out a sharp curse, got out of his Jeep, and slammed the door.
The sound echoed through the spooky night.
The former soldier was losing it. Courtney could relate. She was struggling to get a handle on her own seething emotions. She felt vulnerable, especially without Dwayne, her trusted bodyguard, by her side.
Most folks thought Dwayne was a stone-cold badass, but the highly decorated Marine was also a big softie once you got to know him. Dwayne had kept Courtney safe for years, and she considered him a real friend. Sadly, she didn’t have too many of those. Years in the media spotlight had forced her to create a protective bubble around herself.
Nowadays, she ventured nowhere without a team of guards and an extensive entourage. At least not until today.
The exorcist had insisted she bring only one guard to the monastery. Her entourage might draw the wrong attention, and if she showed up with the media in tow, the monks would shut down the whole thing. The brothers were open to guests as long as they respected their traditions and followed their rules.
Rules! Did Andara realize who he was talking to? Courtney Star didn't play by no rules. Her entire persona was about rebellion. Half a lifetime of being treated like a diva was a hard thing to leave behind, but she was desperate. Father Andara had offered her a way out of her private little hell.
Ever since her exorcism, her life had been in shambles. Father Andara had cast out the demon, but it hadn’t stopped the memories, the voices, the nightmares. The scars on her body paled compared to the ones the beast had left on her soul. She barely left her sprawling mansion in New York, hadn’t released a new album in years, and had declined all offers to go on tour again.
Her career was in freefall. She’d forgotten how to channel the bubbly, brazen siren of her youth. She was a mess, and she needed help beyond what rehab could offer.
When Andara pitched her the spiritual retreat she’d sparked to the idea, a drowning woman reaching for a rescuing hand. She’d swallowed her pride and only brought Dwayne to the monastery, as instructed. And now the priest and her massive ex-Marine had gone missing. He was supposed to wait for her outside the meeting room, but he’d vanished.
Jesus, why did everyone pull a disappearing act when she needed them the most? Courtney’s willingness to climb behind the wheel of the SUV came from pure desperation. Even though she hadn’t operated a car in years, she was willing to hit the road alone—anything to get away from this evil place.
God, why had she ever agreed to venture out to this godforsaken monastery in the middle of fucking nowhere? She gripped her steering wheel a little tighter the moment she noticed the fog bank closing in on the parking area. The undulating cloud radiated an eerie yellow light, and she thought she could make out spectral figures in its billowing mass.
Courtney fished her jewel-encrusted cell phone out of her purse and dialed Dwayne’s number with trembling hands. She stopped herself midway, reminding herself that her cell didn’t work out here in the desert.
As she stared in despair at the blank screen, her photo app opened by itself… and horrific images from her past assaulted her. She was looking at herself, circa seven years ago, when the demon had seized complete control over her. She was bald, stray clumps of hair sprouting from her bare scalp, eyes turned up into white crescents, foam bubbling from the jagged slash of her lips. The face looking back at her wasn’t her own. It belonged to the demon.
Courtney gasped and dropped the cell. Fueled by mortal fear, she followed Maddox’s example and jumped out of her SUV.
She was shaking all over, and her breath came in a staccato burst.
Get a grip, she urged herself as she supported herself against the open door of the SUV. Her horror grew as the sickly yellow mist crept closer.
“I think we should get back to the guest house.”
Kane’s words pulled her out of her thoughts, and she automatically followed along with the others as they retraced their steps back to the guest house. How she wanted to run off in the opposite direction, anything to get away from this freaky place. For all she knew, Kane had set this whole thing up. She’d read stories about him—he was almost as much of a fixture on the tabloid circuit as Courtney.
The Possessed (The Paranormalist Book 5) Page 7