Back Before Dark
Author: Tim Shoemaker
Date: 2013-03-19 07:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Mystery; Young Adult; Adventure
Description: Praise for Code of Silence “Deliberate, plausible, and gritty whodunit.” – Booklist Starred Review Praise for Back Before Dark “The climax? You will not have any fingernails left by the final page. – Booklist Taken! A detour through the park leads Cooper, Gordy, Hiro, and Lunk straight into a trap, and Gordy is abducted! The kidnapper, a brilliant high-school student with a bitter agenda, thinks it’s all a big game, but evil has a way of escalating and consuming. Despite the best of police efforts, the hours tick by without a clue or a ransom call, leaving everyone to their own fears. Gordy is
Publisher: Zonderkidz

Dark Exorcist

2

Tim Miller

Tim Miller

Dark Exorcist 2

© 2014, Tim Miller

San Antonio, TX

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Cover Design by A.M.R. Publications

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Epilogue

Special Bonus! | Here is a preview to Tim’s upcoming book, Welcome to Happytown. It is the second book in the April Almighty series.

Chapter 1

Also by Tim Miller

About the Author

Prologue

New Dublin, Texas

Sharon put the baby down for her nap. Little Isabelle was only six months old, yet she had already grown so much. It seemed like just yesterday Sharon brought her home from the hospital. It’s too bad Isabelle’s dad didn’t want to stick around. He and Sharon had only dated for a few months when she got pregnant. Once he found out, he couldn’t leave town fast enough.

She would just do this herself. Being a single mom wasn’t new to her, but some days it felt like too much. This day was one of them. Isabelle had been fussing all day, and Simon was constantly in need of attention. She didn’t think Isabelle would ever fall asleep, but she finally did. Simon had just turned four and was playing in the living room with his Legos. He was such a good boy, she hoped Isabelle grew up to be just as well-behaved. Since Isabelle was born, he tended to act extra needy though. She had read that wasn’t unusual after a new baby is born.

“Simon?” She said as she looked in on him. Legos were scattered all over the floor as he intently built some kind of multi-colored structure. He looked up at her without saying a word. “Hey honey, I’m going to put some clothes in the washer, ok? I’ll be right downstairs, so just yell if you need me, ok?”

“Ok mommy!” He said, smiling. She smiled back and went into the bedroom to grab the laundry basket and carried it down the hall. A sharp pain shot through her foot causing her to almost drop her basket. She sat it down and lifted her foot to find a small Lego stuck to the bottom of her foot. That was the problem with those things. They never get picked up completely.

She made it to the washing machine in the basement and began to load the washer. For a second she thought she heard Isabelle crying. She stopped and listened, but it was nothing. It had been the same way with Simon when he was a baby. She was always expecting to hear him cry the instant she stepped away. Once the washer was started, she walked back upstairs. Before checking on Simon, she stopped by the kitchen and grabbed a Dr Pepper. She popped the tab and walked into the living room. Legos were still scattered everywhere, but Simon wasn’t there.

She walked over and looked around, thinking he may be hiding. He would do that sometimes. It always scared the crap out of her, but he got a kick out of it for some reason.

“Simon?” She called out. “Simon? Are you hiding?” No answer. “Simon! Come on, this isn’t funny anymore!”

She walked to the hall and looked in his room, he wasn’t there either. Her chest tightened as a terrible feeling came over her. She tried to dismiss it, knowing he had to be in the house somewhere. She walked to her room where he liked to hide in the closet sometimes, but there was no sign of him.

Finally, she walked toward the nursery. If he was in there, he was in serious trouble. He had been told not to go in there unless she was with him. She opened the door and fell to her knees the instant she saw the inside.

Her heart sank as a feeling of dread and then nausea overcame her.

“Oh my God! Simon! What did you do?”

Simon was sitting on the floor in front of Isabelle’s crib. There was a large kitchen knife sitting inches away from him, soaked in blood. He was also covered in blood, and there was blood splattered along the walls and carpet around him. On his lap was a lump of blood soaked clothes. Sharon knew that lifeless lump in his lap used to be her precious baby. Simon had blood smeared around his mouth and appeared to be chewing something.

“Hi Mommy!” he said, smiling. “Isabelle is yummy!”

Chapter 1

Dietrich Harlan sat in the library looking through a stack of books on demonology. Ever since incident the year before at the hospital in the Midwest, Dietrich’s life had changed in numerous ways. He was no longer a priest. Although, many who knew him still called him Father Harlan. Not only had he left the priesthood, he didn’t even consider himself a Catholic these days.

In the hospital incident, he’d had to help a young girl named Amanda. The girl had been demon possessed. Despite all the crazy things he had seen in his time as a priest, this had been the first all out, full blown demon possession he’d ever seen. Not only was she possessed, but the demon was one nasty customer. His name had been K’rall, and he not only possessed Amanda, but had taken over the entire hospital. Dietrich hadn’t thought he’d make it out alive. Several people hadn’t.

Fortunately he managed to get the demon out of the girl. Actually, Amanda had been the one to get it out of herself. He had been possessed himself for a short time, but literally had to exorcise his own demon. After learning that pretty much everything he had been taught or thought he knew was wrong, he left the church. He was now living in South Texas just outside San Antonio. He was teaching at a local college and even made a few appearances on the History channel.

He’d gained some notoriety over the past year. One publisher offered him a lucrative book deal over his experience, but he declined. The last thing he wanted to do was re-live that whole mess. He’d become the go to demonologist for every paranormal investigator under the sun. In truth, he wanted nothing to do with them. Most of them wanted so badly to find something they would twist facts to mean anything. Personally, Dietrich was not impressed with creaking doors or sliding chairs. He’d seen the real thing up close and personal, and it wasn’t just parlor tricks.

“You’re one of the only people I know who still uses a library,” A man said from behind him. He turned to see Bernard Wayne behind him. Bernard was a psychology professor at the school.

“I like it. It’s quiet here and they have the books I need,” Dietrich said.

“So does Google.”

“It’s not the same. What’s going on?”

“Well, I was wondering if you could take a look at something for me. Or someone, I should say.”

“About what?”

“Well, I have a patient. More like a patient’s mother. The kid is only four. Mom is sure the kid is demon possessed or something.”

Dietrich rolled his eyes and closed the book.

“I’m not a priest anymore. Even if he was demon possessed, what do you want me to do? Exorcise him?”

“Look,” Bernard said. “This is a weird case. The kid ate his baby sister.”

“I’m sorry?”

“He ate his baby sister. She was six months old, he cut her open and started chowing on her as if she were a T-bone.”

“For God’s sakes, Bernie.”

“I’m serious. I don’t think he’s possessed either. But he’s not falling under anything else. By all accounts he seems normal. There are no signs of abuse in the home. CT scans are all negative. I’m just asking you to talk to them. I know you’re the biggest skeptic of them all. I’d just like you to rule it out for me. They will listen to you. You’re the demon expert and all,” Bernard said.

“You don’t think this will feed into whatever illness he may already have?”

“I discussed that with the boy’s mom. She understands and is ok with it.”

Dietrich sat back and sighed.

“All right. When do you want me to meet with them?” He asked.

“I’m seeing them tonight. They’ll be at my office around six.”

“Ok. I’ll talk to them,” Dietrich pointed a finger at Bernard. “But just this once. Then you owe me a favor.”

“Of course! Thank you so much. This will help a lot.”

“No problem,” Dietrich opened the book back up. “See you at six.”

“I still think you should take the book deal.”

“Bye Bernie.” He said as Bernard walked out.

Once Bernard was gone, Dietrich looked up and thought about what he’d told him. The kid had eaten his sister? He wondered why he wasn’t in jail, but realized they probably can’t put four year olds in jail. Looking at his watch, he saw it was just after four. He had a couple hours before heading to Bernard’s office. Closing the book he stood and headed out of the library. The sun was still bright as he walked to his car. The one thing he’d yet to get used to in Texas was the heat. Even in the winter months it was hot. All those years he’d believed in Hell, which probably wasn’t as hot as Texas.

Before he reached the car, another thought hit him. Something he’d remembered hearing years ago. He turned and went back into the library and pulled out one of the demonology books. Looking through the index, he found references to cannibalism. There was only one page listed. He flipped to the page and started reading.

Once he got about halfway down the page he stopped, closed the book and walked quickly to his car. He’d go meet with Bernard and this little boy, but there was no way what he just read could be right. If it was even half right, they were all in a lot of trouble. He wasn’t one to be dramatic, so he sat in the car and took a deep breath.

“Get ahold of yourself,” he said looking in the rearview mirror. “You shouldn’t have even read that. It’s nothing.”

He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, wishing he’d told Bernard no.

Chapter 2

Manuel ran the mower over his front lawn. The lawn didn’t really need mowing, but it gave him an excuse to see what was going on across the street. A few days before, the little boy had killed his baby sister there. Rumor had it the kid ate the baby, or some of her anyway. The house was now surrounded with crime scene tape. There had been a patrol car sitting outside of it, but it had left the day before. The tape remained though.

There had been some local and national media come around. Some of them even asked him questions. He stood before the camera and talked about what good neighbors they were, even though he really hadn’t known them. The woman kept to herself and was always inside taking care of the kids. It was too hot in the summer for them to play outside.

The rest of the neighborhood had been freaked out by the incident. The whole town was freaked, actually. It was a small town and these kinds of things just didn’t happen. No telling what was wrong with the kid. Some suspected the mom actually killed the baby and blamed it on the boy. Others said the mom cut the baby up and fed her to the boy. It was all pretty horrible to even think about, but Manuel had always been fascinated by such things. He’d tried to become a police officer years before, but could never pass the physical. He had a genetic heart condition, and cops can’t be running around with bad hearts, at least not twenty-two year old cops.

So he made his living in construction. It paid well, but was hard work. Though it allowed him to have this nice house in this town. It was a good place to take care of his family, at least most of the time. As long as neighbors didn’t keep eating each other, it would be ideal. He killed the mower and walked over to take a drink from his water bottle. As he drank the couple next door began screaming. He couldn’t make anything out. They fought from time to time, but nothing worth getting excited over. He’d never heard them yelling this loudly though. He went back to his water, until he heard something crash. It sounded like glass breaking from next door.

Setting the water down, he walked next door and tried to look in the window but the blinds were drawn. He knocked on the door, but it had grown quiet.

“Hello? Doug? Judy? Everything ok in there?” He called, but there was no answer. He tried the door handled but it was locked. After waiting another minute, he turned and headed back to his yard. Just before he got to his own property, he heard a blood curdling scream and something else crashing.

This time he ran to the door and rattled the handle, shaking the whole door.

“Hey! Doug! What’s going on in there?” He called. Nothing but more screaming coming from inside. He stepped back and began kicking at the door. It took him several kicks before the door gave way and flew open, splintering the door jamb. As he stepped inside, he heard more screaming, but it actually sounded more like grunting coming from the kitchen.

“Doug? Guys? Everything ok?”

“You fuckin’ bitch! Take it bitch, fucking take it! Take it!” He heard Doug screaming.

He stepped into the kitchen and found Doug and Judy both naked. Judy was bent over the table, her face bloody, cracked and distorted. Doug was fucking her from behind with a rolling pin.

“You motherfucker!” Judy screamed.

“Fuck you bitch!” he yelled.

Manuel stood in horror and stared at the crazy spectacle before him. The rolling pin was bloody and had chunks of skin on it as Doug rammed it in and out of her vagina. As he fucked her with it, Judy began to shit, which plopped onto Doug’s hand on the rolling pin. He switched hands and took the shit covered hand and shoved it into Judy’s mouth. Judy ate the shit out of his hand so feverishly, she bit into his hand, and even chomped one of his fingers off. Doug didn’t even seem to notice as blood squirted out of the stump where his index finger used to be.

“Guys!” Manuel yelled. “What the hell is going on?”

They both turned and looked at him. Doug’s face was also cracked, bloody and distorted.

“Jesus!” Manuel said. “What happened to you guys? You need an ambulance?” He took a few steps back as the couple inched toward him.

“Look who’s here! Nosy neighbor cocksucker!” Doug yelled, but he didn’t sound like himself. His voice was low and sounded more like a growl.

“I’m gonna eat your cock motherfucker!” Judy yelled in a high pitched squeal.

“What the fuck?” Manuel said as they started moving faster toward him. He tried to turn but Doug tackled him from behind. Manuel cracked his head on an end table as he went to the ground. Slightly dazed from the blow to the head, he tried to get to his feet, but Doug was right on the middle of his back. Judy came in and ripped his shorts off as if they were made out of paper towels.

Judy then grabbed his left arm and began pulling. She placed one foot against his ribs and used that foot as leverage as she pulled on his arm. Manuel couldn’t believe how strong she was. He could feel the muscle and tissue beginning to tear in his shoulder as Judy continued to pull. Doug had mounted Manuel and began fucking him in the ass. Manuel wasn’t even aware of what was going on until Doug’s dick was pounding Manuel’s asshole.

“Holy shit! What the fuck, man! Get off me!” Manuel tried to struggle and fight, but they were too strong. Doug’s dick felt like a soda can being shoved up his ass as he was and rammed repeatedly. He could feel the tearing in his asshole as Judy continued yanking on his arm. Suddenly he felt the most excruciating pain he never knew existed shoot through his shoulder as his arm tore free of his shoulder. Blood, muscle tissue and bone fragments sprayed as Judy swung the arm around as if it were a club.

Manuel screamed, mostly in pain, but also in shock that she just ripped his arm off with her bare hands.

“Fuck you cocksucker!” She screamed. “Fuck you!”

Doug continued pounding away, grunting and panting as if he were a dog in heat. Manuel began to feel, and the room became blurry. Before he passed out, his vision cleared. He no longer felt weak or tired, but strong and rejuvenated. And angry, he felt so angry. He didn’t know why, he just wanted to hurt someone, badly. He threw Doug off himself and stood. The two were looking at him, almost with amusement.

“What the fuck you fuckers looking at?” Manuel yelled. His voice no longer sounded like his own. Judy was standing in front of the doorway. Just outside the door, a woman was jogging down the street. Manuel ran after her, shoving Judy out of the way.

“Die you fucking cunt!” He screamed. “I’m gonna rip your tits off!” He plowed into the woman, taking her to the ground. He ignored her screams as he ripped her clothes off.

Chapter 3

Laura reached the New Dublin city limit sign, but not before almost getting run off the road by a wave of police cars. There were at least four of them. She hadn’t even seen or heard them coming, next thing she knew they were streaking past with full lights and sirens. She pulled over as quickly as she could, but one of them almost took her mirror off.

She figured there was a fight at a bar or something, even though it was early afternoon. Nothing exciting ever happened in this town. Classes had let out at San Antonio State College the day before, so she was headed back home to her parents. It wasn’t a crazy long drive, even though it felt like it. New Dublin was maybe an hour away from San Antonio, but you go from the city into complete nothing rather quickly. When sitting in the tiny downtown of New Dublin, it’s hard to imagine the second largest city in Texas is just an hour away.

An ambulance went screaming past just as she was sitting at an intersection. Once it was clear she turned and headed down Crescent Street. In her mirror, she saw another ambulance goby. What the hell was going on? Five police cars and two ambulances. At the next block, she found her parent’s home and turned into the driveway. As she pulled in, her mom was coming out the front door.

“Oh thank God you’re ok!” Her mom said as Laura climbed out of the car and hugged her tight.

“Mom, hi. Of course I’m ok. What’s going on?”

“Something terrible. Some little boy in town killed his baby sister the other day. They just said on the news that a group of people attacked some jogger just a few blocks from here. I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m terrified. Let’s get inside.”

Laura followed her into the house where her dad was on the couch watching the news on TV. The reporter was standing in front of a police car giving the story.

“No one is sure what caused the attack. Witnesses say the assailants came out of this house right behind me,” she turned and pointed to a house in the background. “And attacked a female jogger who was running by. According to the witnesses, the assailants were pulling on her arms and legs while one of them tried to sexually assault her. Thankfully a neighbor came out with a shotgun and says he hit at least two of the three assailants. He said one of them was missing an arm, but all three ran away. There is no word yet on the jogger’s condition. Police are searching the area for the attackers.”

“Jesus Christ,” Laura said.

“Laura! Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain!”

“Sorry mom, this is just crazy.”

“Yes it is. And we need the Lord on our side.”

“And Smith and Wesson,” her dad said from the couch. Those crazies are still on the loose. Make sure the doors are all locked, and the windows. I’m gonna make sure my guns are loaded.”

“Dad?” Laura said as she watched her dad walk in the back. This was far too much to take in. People got attacked and killed in San Antonio all the time. The crime rate wasn’t horrible there, just typical for a big city. They get a couple of attacks here and everyone freaks out.

“Wait?” Laura said. “Did she say one of the attackers was missing an arm?”

“That’s what it sounded like.” Her mom said.

“What the hell?”

There was a knock on the door, causing all of them to jump. Laura walked to the door and looked through the peephole.

“It’s a cop,” she said and opened the door. It was a young Sheriff’s deputy. He looked around behind her, not sure what he was checking for.

“Afternoon ladies. Sorry to bother y’all. You heard about the attacks today?” He asked.

“Yes, just saw some stuff on the news about it.”

“Ok, good. We’re asking everyone to stay indoors while we look for these lunatics, whoever they are.”

“Why did they attack that lady?” Laura asked.

“I can’t tell ya ma’am. Sounds like they’s crazy.”

“I guess so.”

“Well, we’re just going around letting people know not to worry, but to be careful and stay inside until...” he was interrupted by a series of gunshots behind Laura. She turned around, but the deputy pulled his gun and pushed past her. She followed him through the sliding glass door into the back yard. Her dad was standing over a body holding his handgun.

“Dad! What did you do?” Her mom was sitting on a lawn chair nearby looking at the ground.

“He was running through our yard. I yelled at him to stop. He just kept running. I thought he was one of those nuts. I was just protecting my family.” Her dad said.

Laura walked over to him and looked. The body was that of a kid, a teenager. The boy was lying at an unnatural angle with his back twisted around and his leg underneath him. There was a large bloody hole in his chest. The deputy came up behind her dad and took the gun away.

“I need to place you under arrest sir,” he said.

“What?” Laura said. “You heard what he said!”

“I heard. But you can’t shoot someone just for running through your yard,” the Deputy said.

“You’re the ones who have everyone all freaked out over these fuckin’ nut jobs running around. How did you think people would react?” Laura said.

“Laura! Language!” Her mom said from the chair. Good thing to know she was paying attention at least.

“He’s right, honey. It’s ok. We’ll get this sorted out.” Her dad said as he put his hands behind his back. The deputy placed handcuffs on him and walked him over to the steps and sat him down.

“I’m gonna need you ladies to go back inside. This is a crime scene,” the deputy said as he got on his radio and called it in.

Over the next hour, more police cars arrived, more officers tromping through her parents’ house. They placed her dad in the back of a patrol car while crime scene techs walked around the back yard taking pictures. She’d barely gotten home and her whole world was falling apart. Her mom sat across from her on the couch staring up at the ceiling.

“What’s happening Laura?” She said. “What is happening to our town?”

Laura didn’t answer, because she had no answer. All she knew was she wished school was still in session.

Chapter 4

Officer Ted Hatch sat in his squad car looking around the quiet neighborhood. He’d been an officer in New Dublin for five years, and up until today the worst crime he’d seen was a shooting during a drunken bar fight. And that person was only hit in the leg. There’d been that crazy attack on the jogger, now a homeowner shot some kid cutting through his yard, not to mention that horrific business with some kid eating his sister. He could feel the tension in the town building. They needed to find these freaks and fast before the whole town came unglued.

He put the car in drive and he slowly rolled through the neighborhood. He was happy to see everyone was following the police request to stay inside. Once he reached the end of the street, he turned right and started down another block. In between two houses, he saw something and stopped.

“What the hell?” he said as he put the car in reverse and backed up to look again.

He saw it, but couldn’t believe he was seeing it. A man with one arm was in between two houses, humping a dog. The dog wasn’t moving. Was it dead? Was this nut humping a dead dog? Ted put the car in park and stepped out. He pulled his gun out, holding it against his leg as he approached the man. There were supposed to be three of them, so he looked from side to side repeatedly, but there was no sign of the others.

“Hey buddy,” Ted said as he reached the man. “Why don’t you stop right there. Put your hands—er, your hand on your head. Don’t do anything crazy now.” As if you’re not already, Ted thought.

The man ignored him and continued to hump away. Ashe got closer to the dog, a black lab, he could clearly see it was dead. The man made weird grunting sounds as he thrust his dick into the dead dog’s anus over and over.

“You hear me now? You stop that! Back away from the dog.” This time Ted pointed his gun at the man and inched closer. He got within just a couple feet and used his other hand to pull out his Taser. Slowly he lifted the Taser and shot it at the man, both prongs hitting him in the middle of the back. He could hear the electric current going through, but the man didn’t fall down. Instead he jumped to his feet and spun around..

“Motherfucker!” He screamed.

Ted almost dropped his gun when he saw the man’s face. His eyes were red as if they were filled with blood. His face was cracked and split all over and in place of the missing arm was a bloody stump, as if the arm had been ripped off. The man began stalking Ted, like a lion ready to pounce on a gazelle. Ted dropped the Taser and pointed his gun back at the man.

“Stop right there!”

“I’m going to fuck you in the ass with your gun, you fucker!”

“I’ll shoot!”

“You’ll suck my cock until you choke!” The man screamed and began running toward Ted.

Ted opened fire, pulling the trigger until the slide on his gun locked back. The man fell to the ground, landing on his back, but immediately hopped back to his feet.

“Oh shit!” Ted said as he turned and ran to his car. The man ran close behind him, getting his fingertips into Ted’s gun belt.

“Get back here you fucker! I wanna skull fuck you!”  The man screamed.

Ted reached his car and jumped into the driver’s seat. The man was right behind him, grabbing the door handle, yanking on it as Ted threw the car in reverse. As he backed up, the man fell on his face in the middle of the street. Ted threw the car in drive and stomped on the gas, running over the guy. The car rocked as it went over the man’s body like a large speed bump.

Ted sped away looking in his rearview mirror. He couldn’t believe it, but the man was back on his feet running after him, though falling further and further behind. He took out his cell phone and called the Chief directly, not wanting to put what he just saw on the airwaves. The Chief answered on the second ring.

“Chief, you’re not gonna believe this,” Ted explained. He went on to tell him about the entire encounter. Once he was done speaking, the Chief was silent on the other end for what seemed like several minutes.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” The Chief finally said.

“No! I wouldn’t fuck around about this! Get over here at Duhurst and McDermott. You’ll see, that nut is probably still running around. I don’t know what to do with him.” Ted pulled the car over once the man was out of sight.

“I’m at the scene of the shooting from earlier.”

“This is one of our guys! It has to be, he’s only got one fucking arm. How many one armed lunatics are running around town?” Ted asked.

“Yeah yeah, Ok, I’ll have Hernandez come by. Keep an eye out for the other two while you’re at it, and be careful. If you’re not totally nuts, then these guys are dangerous as hell.”

“Yeah, no shit. Ok, I’ll be here when Hernandez gets here.” Ted hung up the phone. Shit. Assistant Chief Cleo Hernandez was a fucking prick. On top of his other flaws, he hated Ted. Though Ted didn’t care much for him either. He had no doubt, Hernandez wouldn’t believe any of it and just shit all over him to make Ted look bad.

He looked back in his mirror, but the one armed guy hadn’t caught up to him. The guy must have given up or found something else to run after. Before he looked down, the sound of exploding glass made him jump. He turned to his right to see a woman whose face was cracked and bloodied like the one armed guy’s leaning through the passenger window grabbing for him.

“Hey pig fucker! Let’s play! Ya want some pussy?” She yelled.

He threw the car back into drive and hit the gas. The woman held on to the cage and was hanging halfway in and out of the car as he sped down the road. He swerved from side to side, trying to shake her, but she wouldn’t let go. He cut down an alley without slowing down. There was a utility pole on the right side of the alley. He pulled to his right and scraped the right side of the car against the pole at full speed.

She still didn’t let go, at least not right away. She had stopped screaming and flailing; instead, she fell face down into the passenger seat. He stopped the car and looked closely at her. It was only her torso that was in the seat. There was blood splattered along the door and her entrails were dangling out the window. He climbed out of the car and threw up in the grass. As he heaved his lunch onto the ground, another squad car pulled up and stopped in front of Ted’s car. It was Hernandez. The Assistant Chief stepped out of the car, put on his cowboy hat and stuck his chest out like he always did, walking over to Ted, who was still on his hands and knees.

“Well, aren’t you looking fit for duty today? Up drinking all night?” He said.

“Look in my car,” Ted replied.

“At what?”

“Just look.”

“I’m the one who does the order givin’ Patrolman, but I’ll humor you this once.” Hernandez stepped to Ted’s door and looked inside. He opened the door, apparently to get a closer look. After a few seconds, he dropped on the ground next to Ted and began throwing up.

Chapter 5

Dietrich sat in Bernard’s office as he waited. After several minutes, Bernard stepped inside, with a woman and a little boy. Dietrich stood to greet them.

“Sharon and Simon, this is Father Harlan, the man I told you about. Father Harlan, this is Sharon and Simon Masters.” Bernard said.

“Thank you, good to meet you.” Dietrich said. “But I’m not a priest anymore. You can call me Dietrich, or Professor if you must.”

“Thank you. It’s fine. I heard all about what you did at that other hospital. I can’t even imagine.” Sharon said.

“Oh, that wasn’t all me. But thank you.” Dietrich knelt down and looked at Simon. “And how are you there big guy?” He said.

“I’m fine, sir.” Simon said.

“You don’t need to call me sir. Call me Dietrich. I’m here to be your friend.”

“Ok.” The boy wasn’t smiling, but wasn’t frowning either. He seemed to just sort of be there. That troubled Dietrich, as kids that age should be expressing some type of emotion.

“Why don’t you all have a seat and we can get started,” Bernard said.

Sharon and Simon sat on each of the large easy chairs in the office. Dietrich sat just across from Simon.

“Now Sharon, I went ahead and filled Dietrich in on what happened a few weeks ago. When did they let Simon out of the group home?”

“Just a few days ago. They said as long as we keep him in treatment he can stay out as they’re not prepared for someone so young.”

“Ms. Masters,” Dietrich said. “I’m very sorry about your little girl. I can’t imagine how that must have been.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Now, Simon, I know you’ve talked to Dr. Wayne. So I apologize if you have to repeat anything. But I need you to tell me everything that happened that day. Including things you may have thought about, heard or anything else. Can you do that for me?”

“I think so,” the boy said.

“Ok, go ahead.”

“Well, I don’t remember a lot. Mommy went downstairs to do some laundry. I was playing with my Legos. After mommy went downstairs, I heard Isabelle crying.”

“Was she crying loudly?” Dietrich asked.

“No. Just sort of sniffling crying. Mommy was in the basement, and I was gonna go and get her. But then that guy started telling me not to.”

“What guy?” Dietrich said as he looked at Bernard.

“I don’t know exactly. I couldn’t see him, but I heard him. He said Isabelle was evil, and that she would hurt mommy.”

“How could she do that?” Dietrich asked.

“I dunno. He said she had super powers even though she’s a baby. He said if I ate her heart then I’d have super powers too.”

“Why didn’t you talk to your mom? Like go get her in the basement.”

“The man said there was no time. He was kinda scary. He had a mean voice. I was afraid of what he’d do if I didn’t do what he said.”

“How did you feel when you were cutting your sister open?” Dietrich asked.

“Excuse me?” Sharon said. “How do you think he felt?”

“I’m trying to get an understanding of his mindset at the time. Understand his experience.” Dietrich explained. “Go ahead Simon.”

“Well, at first I was scared. When I stuck the knife in her, she screamed, but then she got quiet. She went all limp. So I kept cutting. The man told me how to do it and where her heart was. When I found it, I cut it out and then ate it. That’s when mommy came in.”

“Yes, I understand. What can you tell me about this man, Simon? Has he ever spoken to you before?”

“Sometimes. Usually at night. He’ll tell me he’s my friend. He says if I do what he says, I’ll be the strongest boy ever, like a super hero.”

“That must sound pretty exciting.”

“Yeah, I guess he was lying though. I don’t feel any stronger. I did everything he said. I can’t fly or anything.”

“Yeah, that is a shame, son. Has the man talked to you since then?”

“Only once, just before I left the group home.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he’ll make sure all those cunts choke on their own shit.”

Sharon gasped as Dietrich and Bernard looked at each other.

“Simon,” Dietrich said. “Did this man, does he have a name?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me what it is?”

“No. He told me not to tell anyone.”

“You can tell us. We’re your friends, its safe.”

“No it isn’t. You’re not always with me. He is. He’s everywhere I go.”

“We’ll protect you,” Dietrich said.

“I don’t think you can.”

“We had a priest come over and seal our home. He poured holy water around and blessed his room and everywhere. So I think it might be ok.” She said.

“I’m sorry, but if this is who or what I’m afraid it is, none of that will do any good. I know from experience.”

“You think it’s that demon you fought before?” She asked.

“No, I wish it was.”

“What do you think it is? You’re scaring me.”

“I’d like a bit more evidence, if we can dig a little deeper. I have a few more questions for Simon if that’s ok.”

“I guess so,” she said.

“Simon, when was the first time you heard from this man?”

“Not long after the baby came home.”

“Had anything happened prior to you hearing from him? Like, had you guys just moved? Or did you maybe get a new toy, or did you meet strange people?”

“I don’t think so,” Simon said.

“I think I might know.” Sharon said. “Or at least have an idea.”

“What is that?”

“When he was digging in the yard, he found this little clay statue. Well, part of one. It looks like a dog or wolf and had some weird markings on it.”

Dietrich sat back and thought for a second.

“A wolf you say? Could it be a coyote?”

“I guess it could be that too. Why?”

“I believe what he found was a symbol used by the Karankawa Indian tribe that used to live in this area. They became extinct in the mid-1800s. One of the things they did was eat the flesh of their enemies to gain their strength and power. They are believed to have worshipped the wolf or coyote. To them those animals were sacred. The coyote is a symbol of strength and power. The symbol you found was for the coyote god, Yeshto’th, which means war and mayhem.”

“Oh my God.”

“I was just reading up on it earlier. But this god was most likely some kind of demon. When Simon found that clay statue, he somehow released him.”

“I didn’t mean to!” Simon said.

“We know, Simon. No one is mad at you. Where is the statue now?”

“It’s at home, I think I put it in a drawer.”

“I’d like to see it if that is ok, and maybe look around your home as well.”

“Yes, of course. Do you think you can help stop this guy or thing?”

“I don’t want to alarm you more. My understanding is Yeshto’th is a vile and disgusting being, but I will do my best.”

Chapter 6

Laura sat in the police station while the cops processed her father. She tried to see him, but he was still being questioned. She still couldn’t believe what had happened. Her dad had always been so peaceful. He’d always kept guns, but this was Texas. Almost everyone had several guns. This was the first time he’d ever used it on a person. She didn’t blame him for being frightened. She was frightened as well.

“Do you know when I can see my dad?” She asked the officer at the front desk.

“You might not be able to see him at all. Why don’t you just go on home?”

“From the way today has gone, this might be the safest place to be.”

The officer shrugged and went back to his computer. Laura sat playing with her phone hoping to hear something soon. What she found strange was how quiet the police station was. It was a small department. They only had maybe a dozen or so officers. The only sound in the place was the static of the police radios. With all that had happened, there was almost no chatter at all.

That all changed after a few minutes. There was a loud scream over the radio. She couldn’t tell what had been said, but instantly every officer in the station ran out the door and to their cars. She watched through the doorway as every squad car and several unmarked cars peeled out of the parking lot. She turned around and saw everyone was gone. Looking around, and finding no one, she walked behind the front desk and through the second set of double doors into a hallway.

As she walked down the hall, there was a set of cubicles and desks in one large room. There was another large room with a podium and a few rows of chairs.

“Hey! What are you doing back here?” Someone yelled from down the hall. She turned around and there was an officer walking toward her. “You’re not supposed to be back here.”

“I’m sorry. Everyone ran off. You guys are holding my dad, I wanted to make sure he’s ok.”

“Yeah, an officer called for help, so everyone had to go.”

“So why are you here?”

“Don’t worry about me. You need to go back out front.” He said as he tried to take her by the arm. She pulled her arm away and backed away. She noticed this officer was much younger than any of the other officers she’d run into. He was skinny and looked like he was barely out of high school.

“Don’t touch me! Where is my dad? Is he being charged?”

“He’s in holding. I don’t know what’s going on with him. The detective who was talking to him left. So you’ll just have to wait.”

“I’ve been waiting all day! What is going on around here?”

“Look, I’d tell you more if I could.”

“Then why can’t you?”

“Because I don’t know, ok? I’m new, like brand new.”

“I can see that. How old are you?” She asked.

“I’m 21. They just hired me last week. I haven’t been to the academy yet, I’m supposed to go next week.”

“Great. That’s why you stayed behind?”

“Pretty much. I been just answering phones and shit.”

“So you’re not even a fucking cop.”

“I am, sort of. Look, cut me a break ok. You want me to take you to your dad?”

“Yes! Please!”

“Ok, come on,” he turned and she followed him down the hall. He took out a key and opened a door leading to a detention area. There were a couple of holding cells. Her dad was sitting on a bench in one of them.

“Dad!” She said.

“Hey honey!” He stood and reached through the bars. She held up her hand and touched his.

“So what did they say?”

“Nothing yet. I was still telling them what happened and they all ran off. Said officer needed assistance,” he said.

“What are we gonna do dad?”

“Where’s your mom?”

“She’s at home. She was all freaked out so she took one of her sleeping pills and went to bed.”

“Oh, well probably just as well. She doesn’t handle stress too well.”

“I know.”

“So did all the cops here leave?” He asked.

“Yeah, except for this guy. Not sure what is going on unless they found those attackers from earlier.”

“Ok, let’s wrap this up,” the officer said. “I could get in trouble if anyone finds you back here.”

“It’s ok,” her dad said. “Go home. Keep an eye on your mom. When they get back I’ll ask for my phone call, ok?”

“Ok dad. I love you.”

“Love you too honey.” They touched hands again as he sat back down.

Laura followed the officer out of the detention area. As he walked her back to the front of the station, there was a little girl standing just inside the main door.

“Is she with you?” The officer asked.

“No,” Laura said as she approached the girl. The girl was small, maybe five or six years old. She had long blonde hair and was wearing a dress with flower patterns. Laura walked over to her and knelt down.

“Are you ok?” Laura asked. “What is your name?”

“Cynthia,” the girl said.

“Hi Cynthia. Where are your parents?”

“I don’t know. I can’t find them. I got scared so I came here.”

Laura looked over at the officer who looked like someone just asked him to split the atom. He was shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.”

“Can you find my mommy and daddy?” Cynthia asked.

“Um, I guess we can try?” Laura said as she stood.

“Hey kid,” the officer said. “Can you sit down over there for me until I can call someone who can help?”

Cynthia just stood there staring at them both.

“Kid? Did you hear me?”

“How about I rip your cock off and fuck your ass with it!” Cynthia screamed. Her face instantly distorted as she jumped onto the counter in one leap. She grabbed a letter opener from behind the desk and began stabbing herself in the crotch with it. “Oh yeah! Fuck that pussy! Fuck that pussy good!” With each thrust, there was more blood and chunks of flesh clinging to the letter opener as she pulled it away.

The officer pulled his gun and aimed it at the girl, but Laura chopped his arm, knocking the gun out of his hand. The gun went off, firing a shot into the base of the counter as Laura grabbed the girl, trying to pull the letter opener away. The girl hissed at her and spit in her face as she screamed.

“Let go of me you cunt! Let me fuck your rotten pussy!”

Laura backed away as the officer clocked the girl in the face with his baton. The girl tumbled to the floor but jumped back to her feet. He jumped on top of her, holding her down as she struggled. Laura watched as the kid almost overpowered the full grown man.

“Help me!” He said. “Grab the duct tape behind the counter. Let’s tape her up, handcuffs won’t fit her.”

Laura grabbed the tape and ran over to them. The girl’s eyes were red, almost bloodshot looking. Her face was cracked, with blood oozing from each split in her skin. Laura knelt down and began wrapping the tape around Cynthia’s arms. She wondered if this was what the attackers from earlier in the day were acting like. If grown adults were in this same condition, they were all in big trouble.

Chapter 7

Ted stood up while Hernandez continued throwing up. He walked around the squad car and looked at the woman’s torso in his front seat. About thirty feet behind the car were her legs. Hitting the pole had ripped her in half.

“Jesus Christ.” Ted mumbled as he walked back around the front of his car. Hernandez was gone.

“Assistant Chief?” Ted called out. “Where’d you go?”

Ted heard a scream behind him. He spun around and Hernandez leaped onto the roof of Ted’s car. However, he didn’t look like Hernandez anymore. Apart from the uniform, he looked more like the one armed guy who had chased Ted earlier.

“Chief? What the hell! You ok?”

“I’m not your Chief you fuckhead! Come and suck my dick!” Hernandez yelled as he leaped onto Ted, knocking him to the ground. He held his face inches from Ted’s, tearing at his clothing. “Come on and let me fuck you good! You’ll love my cock up your ass! Hahahaha!”

“What the fuck man! Get off me!” Ted struggled against Hernandez, but he was too strong. Ted reached to his side for his gun. He wasn’t sure how he’d explain shooting the Assistant Chief, but for now, the guy was trying to rip his clothes off to fuck and kill him.

“Don’t fight it big boy. Just relax. You might like it!” Hernandez cackled.

Ted got to his gun and held it against Hernandez’s head.

“Get off me! I’m warning you!”

“Shove that gun up your ass motherfucker! Hahahaha!”

Ted closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger. The shot was so loud, his ears rang like crazy. He felt something soft and warm splatter on his face. When he looked up, the top of Hernandez’s head had been blown off. Hernandez’s body went limp, as Ted threw him off and scrambled to his feet. He stood looking down at the Assistant Chief’s body. He was about to get on his radio when Hernandez jumped to his feet.

“Now Ted! That wasn’t very nice!” Hernandez yelled as he lunged for Ted once again. This time he was less coordinated. He still moved quickly, but was off balance. Ted struck the side of his head with the butt of his gun, knocking Hernandez to the ground.  “What’s wrong buddy? You don’t think I’m your type?” Hernandez started to get to his feet, but Ted opened fire, this time shooting him through each eye and once through the nose. By the time Ted was done pulling the trigger, Hernandez had almost no face or head left. Only then did he finally stop moving.

Ted holstered his gun and leaned on the back of his car.

“Fuck me! Holy shit!” He looked around and knelt down next to Hernandez’s body. How the fuck was he going to explain this shit? Looking over at his car, he decided he wasn’t getting back in there with the severed human torso in the front seat. Hernandez had left his car running, so he walked over to the driver’s side, but the door was locked. Great. He went back over to Hernandez’s body and began looking through his pockets for extra keys. Before he got far, he thought he heard someone behind him.

Ted turned and looked, but there was nothing but a row of bushes and a few houses. The yard closest to him had a chain link fence around it, but no one in sight. He turned back around and stuck his hand in one of Hernandez’s pockets. He felt around, but felt no keys. Just some change and a stick of gum. As he removed his hand, he heard something again. This time he turned around and saw someone standing in the yard. It was a man, his face also mangled and twisted. Ted stood, and the man actually waved at him. Behind the man, several more people walked up, also with faces twisted and distorted.

Ted began to back up slowly, but the afflicted just stood there. He almost tripped over Hernandez’s body as he moved back. He got his footing under him and continued moving back. The afflicted started moving toward him slowly, until the man in front took off toward him at a dead run. The other afflicted started with him. There were at least a dozen of them. They jumped the chain link fence and cleared it like Olympic hurdlers.

Ted turned and ran at a dead sprint down the alley as fast he as could go. He got onto his radio as he ran and screamed.

“Officer down! Officer needs assistance! Send everybody!”

Chapter 8

Bernard drove them in his SUV back to New Dublin. Simon was sitting quietly next to his mom. Dietrich kept an eye on him, trying to get some kind of read but the kid’s face was completely blank. He didn’t have a good feeling about going back to the house. The boy seemed normal for the moment, but no telling what was really going on in his head.

“What the hell is going on up here?” Bernard said as they approached the town limits.

Dietrich looked out the window and saw several police cars along the road. Behind the cars several barricades had been set up. An officer approached as Bernard pulled up. Dietrich noticed he wasn’t local, it was a DPS officer.

“Sir, I need to ask you turn the vehicle around and go back,” the officer said.

“Go back where? These people live here. I’m taking them home.”

“No sir. Town is closed for right now. You need to go back.”

“Closed? How is a town closed? What’s going on?” Bernard asked.

“Sir. I’m not gonna tell you again. You either go back, or you’ll all be arrested for disorderly conduct.”  “Are you serious?” Dietrich chimed in. “You can at least tell us what—,” Dietrich was cut off by the other officers’ screaming. The officer at their vehicle ran back toward the barricades. Several of the officers had high powered rifles and were shooting at something, but Dietrich couldn’t see anything.

“Does this have anything to do with Simon?” Sharon asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Simon killed his sister. You told us all about this Indian spirit or whatever. Now they are shooting at something.”

“I wouldn’t jump to conclusions. There could be anything happening here,” Dietrich said as there was a scream from outside. He looked up and saw several people on top of the barricades. The officers were shooting them, but as some were going down, others kept coming. One of them twisted off an officer’s head and kicked it as if he were punting a football. The officer’s body fell to the ground as another officer shot the man from behind. Dietrich noticed how distorted the people’s faces were.

More and more of them came over the cars and barricade. The officers were outnumbered, and their guns weren’t all that effective against the approaching horde. One afflicted tore an officer’s rifle away and began hitting him in the face with it. The officer’s head split open after several blows, blood and brains pouring out onto the street.

“Go back,” Dietrich said.

“What?” Bernard said.

“Go back. In reverse. Now! Go!”

Bernard threw it in reverse and started the car backwards, just as Dietrich saw several of those afflicted starting after them. They were fast too; one of them almost got a hand on the SUV. Simon hadn’t moved an inch. His expression was still blank as he stared out the window at the melee.  Bernard kept driving in reverse until the SUV slammed into a utility pole. Glass and metal crunched as the pole teetered and fell onto the top of the SUV. The top of the car had caved in, mostly in the backseat near Simon, who was small enough to avoid it hitting him. The doors all flew open as they all climbed out of the vehicle. Sharon ran around and grabbed Simon, pulling him out of the SUV.

Several of the afflicted were closing in on them. As they got closer Dietrich could see just how messed up they all were. They were all grunting and screaming profanities. They started to run from the afflicted, but Bernard was hobbling on his right foot.

“I think I broke my foot,” he said. As Dietrich put his arm around him, the afflicted surrounded them.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!” Sharon kept saying.

“Father, give me Last Rites please.” Bernard said.

“I’m not a priest anymore.”

“Just do it. Please?”

The afflicted began closing in on them. Sharon held Simon close to her, but he pushed away.

“Simon! What are you doing?” She tried to grab at him but he moved toward the afflicted.

Dietrich cringed, waiting for the afflicted to mob them and rip their limbs off and swallow up the boy. Instead, the afflicted moved back as Simon approached them.

“Stop,” Simon said to them. “None of them are to be harmed.”

The afflicted all backed away and started to gather around him, all looking at him intently.

“Let’s go. Back into town,” he said as he began walking. They all followed behind him.

“Simon! Where are you going?” Sharon screamed. “Simon! Get back here now!” She began to run toward him, but Dietrich grabbed her.

“Don’t, let him go,” he said.

“No! He’s just a little boy!”

“Not right now he’s not. Yeshto’th is controlling him now.”

“Is he gone? Is my little boy still there?” She asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s get indoors. We know Simon will be fine for now, at least physically.”

They walked a short ways down the street, knocking on some doors. No one was home at the houses they tried.

“I wonder if the cops evacuated people.” Bernard asked.

“It’s possible,” Dietrich said. He walked around the back of one of the houses and found a sliding glass door. He pulled on it and sure enough, it was unlocked. He stepped inside and walked through, opening the front door.

“No one is home, but we’ll just have to hole up in here until we figure out what to do.”

“Can’t you just do an exorcism?” Sharon said. “That’s what you do, right?”

“It doesn’t exactly work that way Sharon.”

“Then how the hell does it work? What good are you? An exorcist who can’t cast out demons?”

“Because demons aren’t what everyone has been led to believe. They’re much worse.”

Chapter 9

Once Laura got Cynthia’s arms taped up, she sat back and took a deep breath. It had taken two rolls of tape to subdue her. She had torn her way out at one point. The officer sat looking at Laura.

“You ok?” He asked.

“I think so. She didn’t hurt me, if that’s what you mean.”

“Yeah. What the hell is going on?” He said.

“I don’t know. So do you have a name?”

“Oh, right. Derrick McCain.”

“Hi Derrick. I’m Laura if I haven’t told you already.”

“Hi, this is fucked up,” Derrick said. “And no other cops are back by now.”

Laura noticed Cynthia was asleep.

“Is she ok?” Laura asked.

“I think so.” Derrick put his hand on the girl’s chest as he looked her over.

“She’s breathing fine. She’s lost some blood, but it stopped.

Laura knelt down looking at the girl closer. She looked like a sweet and cute little girl. Just moments ago she was the complete opposite. Suddenly Laura felt strange. She stood and backed away from the girl and looked at Derrick.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

I don’t know. Her face felt warm as overwhelming sexual arousal suddenly took her over. This wasn’t like her. She had just had sex the night before with one of her guy friends. She wasn’t the kind to just get horny out of nowhere. But for some reason, she was so turned on, she could hardly stand it. She undid her jeans and pulled them off as she jumped onto the counter.

“What the hell are you doing?” Derrick said standing up.

“Shut up!” Laura said as she pulled her panties of and began rubbing her clit. She rolled her head back as her fingers massaged her clit faster and faster. It felt so good. Masturbation was a regular thing for her, but it had never felt this good. Within seconds she was in the midst of orgasm. Once she finished, she continued massaging her clit, but a little slower. She looked up and saw Derrick standing in front of her stroking his cock.

“What am I doing?” He said. He looked confused, but his cock looked so good, she didn’t care. She grabbed it and pulled him toward her. “Why are we doing this?”

“Just put it in me, come on.”

“But—“

“Shut the fuck up and put your cock in my pussy!” She grabbed him and pulled him close as he slid it inside her.

“Oh! Oh God! Holy shit!” She yelled as she leaned back while he pounded her. She was instantly coming harder and faster than she ever had in her life. Derrick began to tremble as his cock grew inside her. Within a minute, he was erupting inside her, causing her to get off yet again. Once he finished, he stayed hard as he continued to pound away. Laura couldn’t even see straight. As she looked up at him, for a moment his face didn’t look normal. His face looked twisted and distorted. She even thought she saw horns coming out of his head. But she looked again and it was just Derrick making his fuck face. She was beginning to orgasm again when someone called out from behind Derrick.

“What in the holy fuck is going on?”

Derrick jumped away as Laura sat up. There was an older police officer standing there.

“Sgt. Henderson! Hi, um. Yes. Hello sir.” Derrick said as he fumbled with his pants. Laura casually hopped off the counter, walked past Sgt. Henderson and pulled her panties and jeans back on. She knew he was watching her, but didn’t care, though she was visibly shaking, both from the orgasms as well as whatever it was that had come over the both of them. She wondered if it had anything to do with the little girl.

“And who the fuck is this whore?” He asked.

“Hey fuck you. At least he can get it up.” Laura said. Though as she looked around, she realized how horrible a situation this appeared to be. There was a little girl covered in blood and lying duct taped on the floor, while the two of them fucking on the front counter. She could only imagine what it must look like. Derrick began to explain, but Henderson silenced him.

“Yeah, I’m sure that kid was doing something crazy. The whole town has gone fucking nuts. I came back to get some more flares and crime scene tape. DPS just got here too.”

“What is going on?” Laura asked.

“Beats the shit out of me. People are tearing each other apart. Literally. I saw a group of them tear some guy’s arms and legs right off.”

“Jesus.”

“My dad is in holding back there. We got to get him out.” Laura said.

“That might be the safest place for him right now.” Henderson said.

“Bullshit. He’s helpless back there. If those people are as strong as you say, they could rip the bars right off and he’s cornered.”

“She has a point,” Derrick said.

“For fuck’s sake, I don’t have time for this. Fine. Derrick, you go get him out. And while you’re back there, grab a duty belt and a weapon from the armory. Here’s the key.” Henderson unhooked a key from his key ring and handed it to him. “May as well grab a shotgun while you’re there too.”

“What about me?”

“What about you?” Henderson said.

“What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t give a shit. Go home, stay here. Whatever. We got our hands full as it is.” He turned and ran toward the back of the station. In a few minutes, Derrick came walking up with her dad.

“Daddy!” She said as she ran and hugged him tight.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“I don’t know. The whole town is going nuts. They told us to go home and stay inside.”

“Ok. They’ll probably want me to turn myself in once this is over.”

“I don’t know. I’m just happy to have you with me now.”

“We better get home and check on your mother.”

Laura noticed Derrick standing behind them. He was holding a shotgun that looked bigger than he was. Suddenly she felt embarrassed about their little encounter earlier. She had never been shy sexually, but she wasn’t one to fuck guys she barely met in public places, either.

“I can give you guys a ride I guess,” he said.

Laura had brought her car, but with everything that was happening, didn’t mind a ride with an armed escort.

“Yeah, that would be fine,” she said. As she spoke she noticed he wouldn’t make eye contact with her.

Her dad looked back and forth between them as Laura walked over and picked up Cynthia in her arms they began walking to his car. Her dad looked at Cynthia, and then up at her.

“Long story,” she said.

As they got into the car, the sound of gunshots rang out. It wasn’t close by, but close enough to get their attention. There were dozens of repetitive shots, then silence.

“What the fuck?” Derrick said. Laura didn’t have a lot of faith in him with that shotgun. It would probably knock him down in one blast.

“Let’s just go,” Laura said as they all climbed into the car.

Chapter 10

Ted managed to climb onto a fence, and then onto a rooftop, which bought him a little time. The afflicted chasing him began climbing the fence as well, but he took his gun out and began shooting at them. He really wasn’t aiming. There were more than a dozen of them all screaming profanities at him and describing things they wanted to shove up his ass. He climbed to a higher spot on the roof. From there he could see the other police cars coming from a few blocks away. At least his call went out.

Finally several squad cars pulled up to his street and got out. The officers used their shotguns to open fire on the bizarre mob. It distracted them enough for him to climb down. Gilbert Salazar was the closest officer to him. He ran to Gilbert’s car and jumped in the passenger’s seat.

“Go! Gil! Come on! Let’s get out of here!” He yelled.

“Go where? They’re still coming?” Gilbert asked.

“Anywhere! Just get the fuck out of here.”

Gilbert got back in and floored it. Ted looked back and saw several of those afflicted running toward him. A few blocks down the road, there were more. A woman ran up to the squad car and began banging on the window.

“Help me! Please! Help me!” She screamed.

“Unlock the doors,” Ted said.

“No way man, we got to keep moving.” Gilbert replied.

“We’re cops! We’re supposed to help people.”

“Not if it means getting fucked up by these things,” Gilbert said.

“Help! Please?” The woman kept screaming and banging, but one of the afflicted tackled her as Gilbert stepped on the gas again. Ted watched as the thing tore the woman’s head off and began fucking the bloody stump on the bottom of the severed head.

“What the fuck?” Ted mumbled as he looked ahead.

“What?”

“Those afflicted, people, whatever. Some of them look familiar, like they are people from here. I don’t know what’s gotten into them.”

“Maybe this is the zombie apocalypse, man,” Gilbert said.

“Those aren’t fuckin’ zombies. Never seen a zombie movie where they fuck severed heads.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” Ted said.

As they got to the edge of town, there were county and DPS police driving past them from the other direction.

“They got here fast.” Gilbert said.

“I guess so.” There was another group of DPS officers setting up a barricade ahead of them. Gilbert slowed the car down as they reached them. Several of the officers around the barricade approached them with rifles pointed at them. Ted stepped out but put his hands up.

“Hey guys, we’re on the same team here.” He said.

“Not right now you’re not,” one of the troopers said. “We’ve been ordered not to let anyone out of town.”

“What? Why not? Have you seen what is going on here?”

“Yes sir. They think it may be some kind of outbreak. So everyone stays put.”

“Outbreak? Outbreak of what? It’s more like mass hysteria or something. Not a virus.”

“Well that is not for us to determine. Now get back in your car and head back into town. Find a place to hunker down until its safe.” The trooper said.

“What in the hell?” The other officer said as he lowered his rifle. Ted turned and saw Gilbert on the hood of the car, with his dick out jacking off. “What the fuck is wrong with you son?” The older trooper said. “Put that shit away.”

“I can’t,” Gilbert said. “I can’t stop, I don’t know what’s wrong.” He was moving his hand faster and faster, beating it harder and harder. Ted cringed watching. There was no way that could have felt any good. After a minute, Ted saw blood coming through Gilbert’s fingers, and he showed no signs of slowing down.

“Hey, that’s enough man, stop that shit.” Ted said, but Gilbert wasn’t answering. He was focused on his task. Ted took out his Taser and walked closer to him. “I’m telling you, stop doing that. Something is messing you up.”

Still no response. Ted shot the Taser hitting Gilbert in the legs with both prongs. He could hear the current surging through, but Gilbert just looked up at him. This time, his face was different. He looked like the rest of the afflicted around town.

“Oh shit,” Ted said backing up. Gilbert took out a pocket knife and waved the blade around a second. He then took the knife, cut off his own penis and stuffed it into his mouth. Once again, Ted fell to the ground and threw up. He wasn’t watching when the troopers opened fire on Gilbert. When he finally looked up, Gilbert’s body was lying in a bloody heap on the hood of the car. Ted was starting to wonder which would be worse, getting killed or turning into one of those afflicted.

Chapter 11

A little over two hundred miles away in Houston, Texas, seventeen-year old Amanda Ross sat on the porch of the halfway house she’d been staying at since that horrible night the year before. Despite what several doctors, social workers and therapists tried to tell her over the past year, she had been demon possessed. She knew it, she felt it. She had even spoken to the demon named K’rall and he spoke back.

Under its control, she did horrible things and many people died as a result. Several priests came to help her, including Father Harlan, who was able to help her. He helped her by showing her how to rid herself of the demon, and that’s what it came down to. There was no prayer, no magic words or holy relics that could make the thing inside of her leave. She and she alone could make it leave, and she did.

Since then, her mind had been at total peace. She spent a few weeks at a psychiatric hospital in Chicago, before coming to Houston to the halfway house. No other place would take her due to her violent past. Though now that the demon was gone, she had no violent episodes at all. She stayed, though, since she had no family and was still a minor.

“Sure is nice out today isn’t it?” Mrs. Parker said from behind her. She ran the hallway house, helping take care of between six and ten girls at various times. She had been the closest thing to a mother Amanda had ever had.

“Yes it is,” Amanda said. “Very peaceful.”

“I heard you got your GED last week. I’m so proud of you.” Mrs. Parker said.

“Oh yeah I did. Thank you.”

“You give any thoughts on college or what you want to do?”

“I thought about going to school to be a therapist. But then I realized most therapists I’ve had only pissed me off. So maybe that’s not the best route.”

“You could be one of the good ones. Be that one who makes a difference.”

“Maybe. Have to pay for college somehow anyway.” Amanda said.

“You’re very bright. There’s lots of scholarships and financial aid out there. You’ll...are you ok?” Mrs. Parker said as Amanda had pinched her eyes shut squeezing her temples.

Sharp pain had shot through her head, something she’d never felt before. In an instant she saw Father Harlan running and yelling while some horrible looking afflicted chased him. There were others with them, including a little boy. Though there was something wrong with the little boy, he was shrouded in black smoke. The vision went away as she awoke with Mrs. Parker shaking her.

“Amanda, are you all right?”

“Um, I uh, I think so.” She’d never had a vision before, not like this one. There was no way she was going to tell Mrs. Parker what she just saw and get herself locked up again. “I.... I need to go.”

“Go where?”

“I have to run to the store. I need to pick up some things. Can I use the car?” Amanda asked. The halfway house had an old car the residents who could drive were allowed to use for running errands. It was all part of the independence thing.

“I suppose. The keys are hanging up inside. You sure you’re ok?”

“I’m fine. I just need to get out of here for a bit. I’ll be back.” Amanda said as she went back inside and grabbed the keys. Parked out front was the brown car. She climbed inside and pulled out of the driveway. Though she wasn’t headed to the store. In her vision, she saw exactly where Father Harlan was, a little town near San Antonio. She had no actual plan, just the feeling she had to be there.

The last time she’d seen Father Harlan was in the hospital after the demon had left her. He told her he was leaving the priesthood, but she wasn’t sure if he had or not. Either way, it was only a few hours away. Whatever was going on, it was bad. Very bad. She had visions of the people or afflicted that were chasing him.

After her ordeal, she had seen videos of herself from when she was possessed. She’d had nightmares for weeks after seeing what she looked like. She couldn’t imagine what those around her had felt. The faces she saw in the vision, however, looked ten times worse. They didn’t look demon possessed. They looked like something straight out of hell. She was not an exorcist and had no idea what she’d do when she got there. All she knew was Father Harlan had helped save her. Now it was her turn to return the favor.

Chapter 12

Dietrich looked out the window as the others looked around the house.

“It’s quieting down out there. I don’t know what Simon did, but he seems to have control of them.” Dietrich said.

“Do you think they’ll hurt him?” Sharon asked.

“I don’t think so. If anything, they looked afraid of him, or whatever is inside him.”

“How do you not have constant nightmares with this shit, Dietrich?” Bernard asked.

“Who says I don’t? I’m just telling you what I know, which isn’t much. But with the hospital case last year, there were some similarities. The girl, Amanda, was initially possessed. From there she, or the demon inside her, commanded a whole fleet of other afflicted. Once she was able to drive him out of herself, they all left as well”

“Drive him out of herself?” Sharon asked.

“Yes. Ultimately that was how the thing was exorcised. One of them had even taken me at one point. I figured out, if I could keep control long enough to command him to leave, then they had to leave. So I told Amanda, who did the same thing and it worked.”

“So all Simon has to do is tell it to leave?”

“Yes, but that’s where this gets a bit complicated. Amanda was fifteen and it was difficult for her. Simon is only four, so it may be more difficult to take enough control, or even realize what is happening.”

“Oh my God.” Sharon said and turned to Bernard. “Can you find me a real exorcist? One who can actually make these things go away?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But what he’s the closest thing to it. I mean, I can find you an actual priest who can do a bunch of chants and read a bunch of Latin. It might make you feel better for a bit, but it won’t actually help. Father, er, Professor Harlan here is the real deal. If anything can be done to help your son, he will figure it out and make it happen. Trust me. He’s the only one I’d want on my side if it were a member of my family.”

Sharon looked at them both, as Dietrich looked back outside. He didn’t really care if she believed in him or not. The truth of the matter was, her son was in serious trouble, which happened to put everyone else in even more danger. No telling how many had died so far.

“I have an idea,” Dietrich said as he headed for the door. “Stay here.”

“Where are you going? Are you crazy?” Bernard asked.

“Probably, but I have to try something. You should be safe here. But I can’t just sit here.” Dietrich said as he stepped outside.

The streets were eerily quiet as he walked past the police cars and dead bodies while he tried to ignore the carnage all around him. It was almost two full block before he saw the first ones. It was two women who came charging toward him. Against his every instinct, he stood his ground. As they approached, he held up a hand and called out.

“In the name of Yeshto’th, I command you to stop!” He pinched his eyes shut as he called out the command, fully expecting them to pummel him into nothingness. Instead, he opened his eyes and they were standing there, staring at him, looking confused. “Ok. Thank you then.” He said as he walked past them. Perhaps he should have brought a change of underwear. He wasn’t sure if it was his command that had stopped them. Simon had ordered the others not to do any of their group harm, but no telling how far his reach was or if there were other spirits at work here.

He walked for another half block when a police car tore around the corner. He went to wave at it to signal, but quickly dropped to the ground as the driver opened fire at him. The car skidded to a halt and turned around coming back toward him. This would be just perfect, to have dealt with everything else today only to get killed by a trigger happy cop. He saw the car slowly roll up and a girl got out.

“Are you ok?” She asked.

“I think so,” Dietrich said. “Why were you shooting at me?”

“They thought you were one of them. I told them you weren’t. Why are you here? Who the hell are you?”

“I’m Dietrich Harlan, I’m a demonologist.”

“Are you serious?” She asked.

“I’m afraid so. Who might you be?”

“I’m Laura. So you think this thing is demons?”

“I’m sure it is.”

“Ok, well this isn’t the place to argue. Climb in I guess,” she said.

He got into the backseat of the car where there was a man a few years older than himself holding a little girl wrapped in duct tape. He looked toward Laura in the front seat who must have known what he was going to say.

“I know it looks weird. Long story. So what are you looking for Mr. Demonologist?”

“I’m trying to find a little boy named Simon. I believe he can stop this.”

The officer driving the car stopped and turned around.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Demons and a little boy and what the hell? Is the Omen or something?”

“I certainly hope not,” Dietrich said. “Look, it’s a lot to explain. I don’t even know where he may be. There are some people stuck in a house just a few blocks away. You can just go pick them up if you’d like and get them to safety. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“I want to see what he does. What if it is some demon shit or something?” Laura asked.

“You all watch too much TV. I’m surprised the kooks made it out here this fast. The psychics will be next.”

“This is Texas,” Dietrich said. “The government conspiracists will be the next ones out. Unless I can help out first. So you gonna help me or are we going to wise crack at each other?”

“Fine,” the officer said turning back around in his seat. “Not like I have anything better to do.”

Chapter 13

Ted looked on at Gilbert’s dead body. The DPS troopers had unloaded their rifles into him and were now aiming at Ted.

“Not gonna tell you again officer. I know this sucks, and I don’t wanna hurt you. But if you take another step in this direction, I will shoot yer ass. Do you understand?”

Ted tried to nod, but was shaking so badly he wasn’t sure it came across. He backed away and climbed back into Gilbert’s car and turned around heading back into town. As he drove, he tried to put what he had just witnessed out of his mind. Gilbert went nuts and cut off his own dick and ate it. The troopers then opened fire, hitting him in the face, body and all four limbs. By the time they ceased fire, all that was left of Gilbert was a bloody torso.

He turned down a side street to find a group of the afflicted walking toward him. Once they saw him, they broke into a dead run. He stopped and threw the car into reverse, stomping on the gas as he did so. It was difficult to see where he was going, but he tried to keep the car straight, though not straight enough. The car slammed into a utility pole, buckling the back end completely. He put it in drive and tried to go forward, but the rear axle had been damaged and the car barely lurched forward.

“Fuck me!” He yelled as he watched the mob charging toward him. He grabbed the shotgun from the rack next to his seat and climbed out, firing a few shots into the mob. He saw a few of the afflicted go down, but there were at least twenty of them. He wouldn’t have enough ammo for all of them. Lowering the shotgun he turned and ran. While speed was never one of his attributes, he was moving faster than he ever had before. Problem was, he couldn’t keep it up. Their footsteps and shouting got louder behind him as his legs began to burn along with his lungs. He gasped for each breath on every stride, literally running for his life. After a few blocks, his calf cramped up. The cramp hit so hard and so tight, he had no chance to react. He flew face first to the ground, crying out in pain as his chin bounced off the sidewalk.

He turned and looked up to see the afflicted surrounding him. Closing his eyes, waiting for them to rip him to pieces, he curled up in a ball. Yet instead, he began to feel weird. First it was a burning, splitting headache. After a minute the pain subsided and instead became a surge of adrenaline. He opened his eyes and saw the other afflicted standing around staring at him as the energy turned to a combination of sexual arousal and complete unadulterated rage.

One of the afflicted near him walked up and was about to speak, but Ted grabbed him, threw him to the ground and tore the man’s clothes off. He couldn’t figure out what he was doing. A second ago they were about to kill him, now he was overpowering one of them, but wasn’t even trying to. Once the man’s clothes were off, Ted slammed his penis into the man’s ass, raping him repeatedly. The realization of what he was doing horrified Ted, but his body was no longer under his control.

He finally stood and pulled is pants up. His cock was covered in blood as the man he’d just butt fucked stood as well and ran way, but with a limp. The other afflicted had stood around watching, but some of them had run off into other directions. “Oh shit. I’ve become one of them! What is wrong with me?” The thought terrified him as it hit. Especially since he was still aware of what was happening.

The anger burned inside of him, getting worse with each second. What the fuck was wrong? Where are those motherfuckers? He didn’t know who, but someone, somehow had to pay. Had to ease his rage. He took off running down one street; as he did he saw someone looking at him from a window. It was a child, a little girl. He stopped and made eye contact with her. Once she saw him, her eyes grew wide and she stepped away from the blinds letting them snap shut.

“You little cunt!” He screamed and raced to the house. Without any hesitation he dove head first through the window. As he landed, he could see his own blood splattering into the floor and onto his hands, yet he never felt the glass cut his face. There were screams just feet away as the little girl and her mother were watching him. He looked them both over as the rage took over, his vision blurred as he screamed. “I’m going to rip your fucking hearts out, you bitches!”

Chapter 14

Laura sat in the front seat trying to figure out what this demonologist guy’s angle was. Derrick had launched into the guy right away, but the guy seemed to know what he was talking about. It was beginning to get dark outside and they had been driving around rather aimlessly.

“So you have any idea where this kid is at?” Derrick asked.

“I’m afraid I don’t. Last time I saw him, he was on foot with a group of those afflicted following him. I assume if we find a group of them, we’ll find Simon,” Dietrich explained.

“Right. Makes perfect sense.” Derrick looked at Laura and rolled his eyes.

“What’s gotten into you?” She asked. “You’re all attitude all of a sudden. Earlier you were scared of your own shadow.”

“Nothing has gotten into me. I just want to get the hell out of here.”

They drove by one house and Laura noticed several of the afflicted in the yard and hanging out on the porch.

“Look! I’ll bet that’s it.” Laura said. “They are all just hanging out there.”

“Great, so what? We just go knock on the door?”

“I will,” Dietrich said. “I’ve dealt with demons first hand before. I don’t think they’ll hurt me.”

“I’m sure that guy thought the same thing,” Derrick pointed at the remains of a dead body lying in the front yard. Several of the limbs had been pulled away and Laura noticed some of the afflicted were walking around the yard carrying arms and legs as if they were clubs.

“Well, if that happens, at least you’ll be rid of me,” Dietrich said. “You can stay in the car.”

Laura ignored his wishes and climbed out after him. Derrick and her dad all climbed out. Her dad left Cynthia on the backseat. Right away the afflicted looked at all of them. Dietrich held his hand up and said something to them that she couldn’t understand. Maybe it was another language or something. He looked straight at the thing closest to them.

“Let me speak to the boy, Simon,” he said. The thing turned and he and several others went inside the house. After several minutes the door opened and a little boy came walking out. Laura couldn’t’ believe it. The kid was so tiny. He could barely be four or five. Was he behind all this? The boy approached Dietrich and stopped.

“Is my mother safe?” The boy asked.

“Yes. She is fine,” Dietrich said.

“You shouldn’t have come here. I gave you safe passage to leave. I will not extend it again.”

“I understand. I need to know, Simon. What is going on? What are you trying to do?”

“I’m trying to do what He commands me. The god of chaos and mayhem.”

“Where is he? Is he inside of you?”

“Your exorcist’s ways won’t work on me, Dietrich. I won’t answer that.”

“Ok. Sorry. What do you want from us? How can we make the killing stop?”

“The killing won’t stop until everyone who is susceptible is under His control.”

“Everyone where? Here?”

“Everyone is everyone,” the boy said.

“And why does he want them under his control?”

“He’s the god of Chaos, why do you think?”

Laura couldn’t help but feel like the conversation would go nowhere. She saw Derrick walking behind some of the afflicted, he was apparently thinking the same thing, except he was getting his gun out and starting to draw on Simon. She wanted to scream and stop him, but one of the afflicted threw him to the ground and snapped his arm holding the gun. Derrick screamed as the other afflicted closed in around them.

“So you thought you could lure me out here to have me killed?” Simon asked.

“No! Not at all,” Dietrich said as he held his arms out. “I had no idea he’d do that. Please! I just came here to talk, I mean you no harm!”

Laura stood perfectly still as one of the afflicted walked up to her. She actually recognized him. He was Mr. Miller who owned the pharmacy. Though he barely looked like himself now. His face was twisted into an evil grin, his skin and face were dried and cracking. Even though she was sure Mr. Miller “wasn’t home,” the way he looked her up and down while licking his lips made her want to take an immediate shower.

“Simon, please. Let’s end this. How about you and I just have a talk,” Dietrich was saying. All of their attention was grabbed by another car pulling up. Its headlights nearly blinded all of them as it sped to the edge of the driveway and stopped. It just sat there a minute before a girl got out. Laura had a hard time seeing what she looked like in the dark after having just been blinded.

“Oh my God,” Dietrich said.

“Not quite,” the girl from the car responded.

Simon’s eyes grew large as he took a few steps backward.

“You!” He yelled to the woman and then looked at Dietrich. “Why did you bring her here?”

The girl walked up closer to Simon but both he and his afflicted moved away from her. Laura couldn’t look at Dietrich, but he was focused on the girl who was approaching Simon.

“You’re afraid of me, aren’t you Simon?” The girl said.

“I’m not afraid of you. Neither is he!” The boy yelled. “He’ll sodomize your ass until it’s inside out!”

“Now, that doesn’t sound like a little boy talking,” the girl said.

“Get away from me!” Simon yelled as he turned and ran into the house. The afflicted followed close behind him and the door swung shut. Cynthia even jumped awake and broke free of the duct tape restraining her. She looked around, and then followed Simon into the house.

“What the fuck was that?” Laura asked. “You just scared the shit out of those things.”

“I guess I did, didn’t I?” The girl said.

“Who are you?” Laura asked.

The girl turned and looked toward her. Her face was mostly shadow in the moonlight, so Laura couldn’t make out any of her features. Somehow, she could tell the girl was smiling.

“I’m Amanda Ross.”

Chapter 15

Skip Taylor new an opportunity when he saw one. If New Dublin wasn’t ripe for opportunity, then he didn’t know what was. Since his release from prison on burglary charges a few months earlier, he had pretty much kept his nose clean. Not because he’d turned over a new leaf, but he wanted to wait for the right moment. If he was going to risk going back inside, it wouldn’t be over petty bullshit. He’d make it worth his while.

Since his release, he’d been staying with a girlfriend, Anita Gomez. Well, she wasn’t really a girlfriend. She was more like a convenient piece of ass who happened to have her own place. The local TV had coverage of the goings on in New Dublin, which was only a few minutes from Anita’s place.

“’Nita!” He yelled from the living room. “Nita! Wake yer ass up!” He was sitting on the couch in a t-shirt and boxers. Finally Anita emerged from the bedroom in one of his Cannibal Corpse t-shirts.

“What Skip? Jesus Christ.”

“Don’t back talk me bitch. Where’s your cell phone?”

“I think it’s in my purse.”

“Well, go get it. I need to make some calls.”

“Why don’t you get your own phone man, quit using mine.”

He was wondering why he put up with her shit. For whatever reason, he had a thing for Latina women, even though they almost always had a mouth on them. Maybe he liked the challenge. They were also animals in bed. So he figured if he wanted the fun part, he had to put up with their shit too, but only so far.

“I told you why. I don’t want the cops tracking my ass.”

“You watch too much fuckin’ TV. Let me get my fucking phone,” she mumbled something in Spanish as she walked back into the bedroom.

He got up and followed behind her. As she bent over the bed to go through her purse, he lifted her shirt and threw her onto the bed. Against her protests he slid his boxers down and entered her from behind. First she fought against him, but as he felt her pussy moisten around his cock, she began moving with him. He was always amazed at just how tight she was. He’d known her for years and she’d had dozens of boyfriends in that time. Yet, her snatch was just as wet and tight now as it was the first time he fucked her. He continued pounding into her as she grinded against him until they both came together.

“You fucking asshole. I haven’t even showered today,” she said.

“I like to fuck your stinky pussy. Makes my dick smell like tacos.”

“Yeah, fuck you.”

“I just fucked you, and you know you liked it.”

“Maybe a little. Here’s the fucking phone,” she said as she handed it to him. He took it from her and dialed a few numbers. After a few rings someone finally answered.

“Hey Dale. It’s Skip.”

“What’s up man?” Dale asked.

“You been watching the news?”

“No man, I don’t watch that shit.”

“Right. Stupid question. Look, some crazy shit is going down in New Dublin.”

“What kind of crazy shit?”

“I don’t know. Riots or something. But I know they got a bank up there and some pawn shops. All for the taking.”

“Well shit. You sure, man?”

“Sure as I can be. Get some of the guys together. Not too many, only need maybe three more besides you and me. Get in there, load up and get out with all the commotion.”

“Sounds awesome, man,” Dale said.

“I hope so. Then I can get out of this shithole.”

“All right. I’ll make some calls.”

“Cool. Meet me at the gas station in an hour.”

“The usual place?”

“Yes, sir.” Skip said.

“Got it. Later man.”

Skip hung up the phone and tossed it back to Anita.

“Where you going?” She asked.

“Nowhere,” he said as he pulled on his jeans and slid his boots on.

“You’re gonna go rob some shit again aren’t you?”

“Don’t worry about me. Stay here and eat some bon bons or some shit.”

“Fuck you, I’m sick of your shit. You go out and rob some fucking shit, you don’t come back here. I’m tired of you getting locked up.”

“I ain’t getting’ locked up. Just cool your perky little tits.” He stood and headed outside and climbed into his pickup and sped off. As he headed to the gas station, he tried not to think about what cash, jewelry and valuables may be lying around New Dublin for the taking. This could be his biggest and best score yet. If he got away clean, he’d blow this town and state for Florida and maybe get a little cabin out on the Keys.

Enough fantasizing though. There was plenty of work to do before he reached that point. Hopefully Dale would get enough of the guys together they could all come out with plenty for each. Whatever happened, it was going to be fun. Fun times indeed.

Chapter 16

“Amanda?” Dietrich said. “What are you doing here? I barely recognized you.” The last time he’d seen her, she was a malnourished fifteen year old girl who could pass as a twelve year old. Now she had put some weight on, and was much taller.

“I knew something was wrong. So I had to come help,” she said.

“How would you know?”

“How about we talk about this somewhere else. And I need to go find my mom,” Laura said. “Last I knew, she was at home sleeping, but that was hours ago.”

“I’ll go check on her,” her father said.

“Good idea,” Dietrich said. “There’s a house just outside town. I have some friends there waiting on me. It’s safe there. We can head there and regroup.”

They got into their cars and headed out. Laura’s dad found a bicycle near the house and hopped on it, riding toward his home. Dietrich wasn’t sure what was going on with that family, but he had a feeling the father was riding to his own death. He climbed into the police car and they drove back to the house. Amanda followed behind them.

Other than his directions, everyone was quiet during the short drive. Within a few minutes they arrived. The house appeared quiet. When he stepped inside, they found Bernard and Sharon both sitting in the living room. He was sitting on a chair, while Sharon was on the couch with her arms crossed. She jumped up as soon as she saw Dietrich.

“Did you find him? Is he ok?” She asked.

“I found him. But I’m not sure how he is.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“The demon has him, and it has a firm grip on him. So he talked to me, but it wasn’t him. If that makes sense,” Dietrich explained.

“No it doesn’t. It doesn’t make any sense at all! Why didn’t you cast him out? You’re a fucking exorcist! Do an exorcism, dammit!” Sharon screamed.

Bernard gently took Sharon’s arm and pulled her back toward the couch.

“Sharon, please. He’s trying to help. He’s not the problem here,” Bernard said.

Sharon took some breaths and walked away, turning her back to both of them.

“Who are these folks?” Bernard asked.

“This is Laura, Officer Derrick, and Amanda,” Dietrich said.

“Amanda. Amanda Ross? The girl you told me about?”

“That’s her.”

“Wow!”

“Yeah,” Dietrich said. “So Amanda, tell me about what brought you here.”

Amanda grabbed a chair and straddled it in the middle of the room.

“Ok. Ever since the whole possession thing, I haven’t been normal, or whatever. I mean, I tried for months afterward to just put it behind me. But I always had these dreams, crazy dreams. I had dreams of that demon coming back for me, or sending others. It was really scary.”

“I can imagine,” Dietrich said.

“Well, they were really lucid. I mean it’s like they weren’t dreams. Then one night during one of these, some other demon came after me. It was like he was this floating, drifting plume of smoke, with a hideous face that looked like a skull. And I kept running, it was like through some long creepy tunnel. I knew if that thing caught me then it would either kill me or possess me again. Then I noticed in this dream or whatever, I could run really fast. Like faster than normal, faster than any person could run.”

“Interesting. So this was all in the dream?” Dietrich asked.

“That’s just it. I realized I wasn’t dreaming. I could move around this tunnel and there were different doors. I went through different ones, one of them led back to my bedroom. I saw myself lying there sleeping. It was like some out of body experience I guess. So somehow, over the past year or so, I would practice this on my own. And basically, I can leave my body and visit the demons on their own turf in what I call Purgatory.”

“Purgatory?”

“Yes, but not like the Catholic Purgatory. It’s not heaven or hell, it’s like this place the spirits move in between realms, they have to cross through Purgatory. Or they can stage there for an attack. So once I figured this out, I stopped running. I would practice moving around in Purgatory. Since it is a spiritual place I taught myself to float, teleport and even to fight back at the demons. They can’t enter this realm without a body to inhabit. I can go back and forth. When I started to stand up to them, I never have had to fight back. I stop running and walk toward them and they run away.”

“So why come after you to start with?”

“They haven’t been lately. Not for a few months. I think as long as I was scared and running, they had the upper hand. Once I figured out I’m stronger than they are, they left me alone.”

“So how’d you know to come here?”

“Well, through my connection with Purgatory. Everything in this realm is connected to it. Ever since you left after saving me, I was able to go there and look in on you. I saw you were in trouble. I could feel it. But I couldn’t help you from there, so I drove here.”

“Wow. That is really amazing Amanda.” Dietrich said. “No wonder those afflicted feared you.”

“Yeah, it can be pretty intense,” she said.

“So you think you can stop this one?”

“I can try. I’ve never ran into one that was already manifested. So not sure how it will work.”

“Well it can’t hurt to try I guess. Do you have to fall asleep to do it?”

“Yeah, usually.”

“Um, guys?” Derrick said walking over to them. He’d been standing by the front door. “I hate to interrupt, but you all might want to see this before doing some hypnobullshit.”

“Look at what?” Dietrich said.

“Get over here and look!”

Dietrich stood and walked over to the front door. When he saw them, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Every door in the town was opening and all the afflicted were filing out into the streets. There were already hundreds in the street. Their eyes were all glowing white. Some were walking, others were running. All of them were headed in their direction.

Chapter 17

Dale drove up in a large flatbed. There were four other guys in the back, and some girl. He’d never seen any of them before. Skip hopped into the passenger seat.

“Ready for some fun, boss man?” Dale asked.

“Who are these assholes?” Skip said, ignoring Dale’s question.

“Some pals of mine from the last time I was inside. They’re good. You can trust ‘em.”

“I don’t trust nobody.” Skip said. “Who’s the bitch?”

“That’s Cody’s sister, Asia.”

“Who the fuck is Cody?”

“He’s the skinhead in back.” Dale said.

“Fucking great.”

“What man? You said get some guys together.”

“I meant our guys. The guys we work with. Not a bunch of white power assholes. You ever work with them before?”

“Only Cody.” Dale said.

“They are unhinged as fuck. So full of rage and shit. We don’t need that.”

“Cody’s not like that, man. He’s good.”

“If he’s not, I’ll put a bullet in him,” Skip said.

“I got no doubt you will. There’s the town. Holy shit, look at that mess.”

As they drove up there were several police cars parked in a road block, but there were mutilated bodies of several dead officers strewn about. One of the bodies had no head. Several were missing limbs.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Skip said. “What the hell happened here?”

“This doesn’t look like rioting and looting.” Dale said as he slowed the truck.

“Keep going, man. Just drive through these cars. Not gonna get out here. Fuck.”

“You sure you want to do this? Looks like shit’s a lot heavier than we thought.”

“Nah, fuck it. Let’s make some money. No one can stop us if everyone is dead.” Skip said as he laughed.

They drove a few blocks without seeing anything, until a man on a bicycle appeared just ahead in the middle of the road.

“Hey, Skip. Watch this.” Dale said as he stepped on the gas. The truck accelerated as they closed in on the bicyclist. As they got closer, Skip could see it was a middle aged guy and the bike was way too small for him. The man looked back at them and tried to swerve to his right, but not in time. The truck plowed into the back of the bicycle, knocking the man off. He disappeared under the front of the truck as it bounced over him like a human speed bump.

Dale’s laugh bellowed through the cab as Skip glared at him.

“What the hell is wrong with you man?” Skip asked.

“Nothing. I mean, look around. This town is like a free for all. See?” He pointed to a strip mall which was dark and abandoned, but looked as if no one had bothered it. Dale pulled the truck in front of the electronics store and parked. They climbed out and Skip saw Cody and Asia walking toward him. Cody had on a wife beater that showed off his giant swastika tattoo on his chest and an iron cross on his upper arm. It was too dark for Skip to make out the rest.

Asia had long blonde hair and was also wearing a wife beater. He wondered who was dressing who in that couple.

“”Sup man. I’m Cody.”

“Yeah, I know who you are,” Skip said as he turned toward the store.

“Hey, you got a fuckin’ problem? Turnin’ your back on me?”

Skip turned as he pulled his gun and shoved it in Cody’s face.

“Yeah I got a problem. I don’t know you or your little skank here and I didn’t invite you to this party. So how about you do your job here and mind your fuckin’ business and we’ll all be good.”

“Hey!” Dale said. “No need for that Skip, I told you he was cool man. Let’s just do our thing and hit the road. This place is weirdin’ my shit out.”

“Good idea.” Skip said and lowered his gun.

Dale walked over and tried the door which swung open.

“Shit ain’t even locked,” he said.

“Be careful. Who knows who might be in there?”

“It’s all dark. Come on. Let’s go clean this place out.”

Skip stood by while Cody, Asia and the other three goons who looked like Cody followed behind. Skip walked in last, letting the door swing shut behind him. The store was dark, but there were huge TV’s mounted on the walls and computers up on stands throughout the store. Dale was already toward the center at the counter busting open the registers.

“Why you think they left the door unlocked?” Dale asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe they left in a hurry,” Skip said. He watched as Cody, Asia and their crew began hauling TV’s out to the truck. Dale pried a drawer open and started stuffing cash into a bag.

“Dude, there’s a few thousand dollars here.”

“Good, get all of it.”

One of Cody’s guys came walking back inside. Skip didn’t know his name and didn’t care.

“I’m gonna go look in back. Maybe there’s a safe or stuff back there.” He said. Skip just nodded as he grabbed several laptops. As he headed out to the truck, there was a scream from the back room.

“What the fuck was that?” Skip asked. “One of Cody’s guys went back there.”

Dale turned from the register as Skip sat down the laptops, drew his gun and headed to the back. When the door swung open, Dale fell to the ground and threw up. Skip stood trying to figure out what exactly he was seeing. There were several people who looked insane on top of Cody’s guy. He was lying on his stomach reaching out to Skip. His eyes were almost coming out of his head as he screamed.

Several of the crazies had ripped off some of his clothes and were gnawing at his legs, and one was tugging on his arm as if it was trying to rip it off. There was an older man on top of him humping away at his ass. All of them were covered in blood and looked and acted like wild animals. One of them looked at Skip.

“You! Hey you! Fuck you! Hahahahaha!”

Chapter 18

“What the fuck do we do?” Laura asked. “The whole damn town is possessed.”

“I see that,” Dietrich said.

“Is Simon doing this? Is he controlling them?” Sharon asked.

“Yes and no. Whatever is controlling Simon is controlling all of these people,” Dietrich explained.

The sound of a siren came from down the street. Dietrich looked out the window and saw a police car with its lights and siren on, flying down the street, plowing over each of the afflicted. Bodies flew in the air as some disappeared beneath the car. Derrick ran outside waving his arms. The car slowed down and pulled to a stop on the sidewalk. Two DPS officers stepped out.

“You folks better get out of town. These afflicted are all over!” one of them shouted.

“Weren’t you guys watching the perimeter?” Derrick asked.

“There is no perimeter. They shredded the other officers and a bunch are headed into San Antonio.”

“Where are you guys going?”

“Dallas. I would too if I were you.” They got back into the car and sped off.

“Well, to protect and serve I guess,” Laura said. “Looks like you’re it.” She nodded to Derrick.

“I’m it what?”

“You’re the whole police department.”

“Wonderful.”

“So what’s the plan, Chief?” Laura asked.

“Fuck if I know. Fighting demons isn’t exactly in our job description.”

“We all have to do it,” Amanda said. “You guys fight them from here. I’ll have to enter Purgatory to get to Simon and Yeshto’th.”

“What will you do when you find him?” Dietrich asked.

“I don’t know yet. I’ve never actually fought one in Purgatory.”

“But to do that, your body will remain here. You’ll be vulnerable.”

“We’re all vulnerable now anyway.”

“Why would they be going into the city?” Laura asked.

“Yeshto’th is all about mayhem. His whole purpose is to spread it. A small town like this isn’t enough for him. He’s looking to expand.”

“Expand what?”

“Hell on Earth.”

“Isn’t that what K’rall was trying to do to me?” Amanda said.

“Yes. It seems to be a common thread among all of them. They are like a force of nature. Locusts go through and annihilate everything in their path and move on. These afflicted don’t seem much different,” Dietrich explained.

All of them jumped at pounding at the door. In the window there was a hideous, misshapen face looking at them.

“Peekaboo! I see you! Hahahahaha!” It squealed. “Come out and play!”

“Jesus Christ!” Laura yelled as she jumped back. The thing began pounding on the door as they moved back into one of the other rooms.

“Come out! Come out! Wherever you are! We don’t wanna hurt ya! We just wanna fuck you in the ass! Hahahaha!”

Dietrich led them to the back of the house and out the back door. For the moment, none of the afflicted had come into the back yard. Dietrich and the group ran into the yard and each climbed the fence into another yard. Sharon had trouble climbing over, but Bernard helped her. They crossed through the yard into an alley which seemed quiet.

“Where we going?” Derrick asked.

“Away from here,” Dietrich said. They ran down the alley, which had almost no lighting at all. Dietrich stopped suddenly. There was a set of glowing eyes just ahead of them.

“Holy shit,” Derrick said. “Is that one of them?”

“I think so.” Dietrich said. “Don’t move.”

The thing stepped out from the shadows. It was a man, but he was hissing and snarling. Unlike some of the others, his jaw was elongated, making his snarl look more animal than human.

“We just want to see Simon,” Dietrich said. “He’s given us safe passage.”

“Safe passage has been revoked. You’re all meat!” The thing squealed. Dietrich took a step forward, and the thing lunged. Dietrich got out of the way, but Bernard was standing behind him. The thing knocked Bernard to the ground and tore his head off as if it were paper Mache. Sharon screamed as the thing punted Bernard’s head like a football, and then began smearing Bernard’s blood all over itself. Laura took off running as the rest followed her.

The thing took off after them. They turned left out of the alley and onto another street. The thing wasn’t even trying to catch them. It ran behind them, mocking them as it skipped along.

“Run, run, run just as fast as you can! Can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man! Hahahaha! Bring those cunts back here! I’m gonna fuck those cunts in the face!” It screamed.

As they ran, dozens of glowing eyes appeared up ahead. They stopped in their tracks as several more of the afflicted came toward them, yelling something their pursuer stopped as well.

“Oh looky there! Nowhere left to go! Hahaha!” He howled, just as his head exploded.

A flatbed truck had driven up behind them. Dietrich never heard the gunshot, until the second one was fired into the crowd, hitting another of the afflicted

A couple guys and a girl were in in the back of the truck, and the bald man in the back yelled “Come on! Get on!” Sharon climbed up, and the rest of them piled on. Once they were all on, the bald guy pounded on the roof of the cab and the truck sped right into the crowd. Bodies bounced off the truck as it plowed through.

“Thanks for helping us out,” Dietrich said. He was still catching his breath, and haven’t even processed Bernard’s death. That would have to wait. “I’m Dietrich. This is Laura, Derrick, Amanda and Sharon.”

“Hey guys. I’m Cody. We just happened to be in town.”

Chapter 19

Cody was with a couple of other guys, and a girl.

“You guys from town?” Dietrich asked.

“Nah. We’re from San Antonio. I guess Skip has family here, so we came to check it out.”

“Who’s Skip?”

“Oh, he’s in the passenger seat. He kind of runs things,” Cody said.

Dietrich nodded. Looking around the back of the flatbed, he saw there were stacks of TVs, computers and other electronics. Chances are they weren’t in town to see anyone’s family. They were there stealing crap. Great. They just got rescued by a bunch of looters. Dietrich also noticed the shotgun in Cody’s hands, as well as each of them having guns in their waistbands. He just hoped they hadn’t just run into something worse than those afflicted.

They drove for a bit until they reached the police station. The place was dark and deserted.

“Come on. We’re gonna load up on their guns here,” Cody said as he jumped out.

“Where is all the police?” Sharon asked.

“I’m it.” Derrick said. “The rest have either left town or are dead or are one of those afflicted.”

“Can’t they bring in the National Guard or something?” She asked.

“I have no clue lady. You know as much as I do,” Derrick said as he jumped out of the truck. Two other men got out of the truck. One was a large man with long hair and a beard.

“How ya doin’? I’m Skip. Hope you all are okay,.” he said.

“We’re fine. Thanks for bailing us out of there.”

“No sweat, man. This is crazy shit. The news in town said there was rioting and looting.” Yeah. You’re the ones doing the looting. Derrick thought.

“Really? How strange,” Dietrich said.

“Exactly. Let’s head on in. We were here earlier. It’s pretty secure,” Skip said as they walked inside. They filed in through the main lobby, then through a set of thick double doors. Once the doors closed behind them, Skip turned around.

“Ok. Now!” He said as each of his men struck Derrick and Dietrich while the others grabbed the three girls. Dietrich was taken by surprise and tried to resist, but he was not a fighter, and the guy just flung him to the ground like a ragdoll. Derrick pulled his gun, but the girl already had hers out and stuck it to his temple and pulled the trigger. The women screamed as the thugs held them down. Someone was stomping on the back of Dietrich’s head. The blows made him lightheaded but he didn’t pass out. He pretended to hoping they’d stop and it worked.

“Okay, let’s get them in back,” Skip said.

Dietrich felt someone dragging him by the ankles as the girls continued to scream. After a few minutes they stopped. He opened one eye, and saw they were in a locker room. Someone forced his hands behind his back and handcuffed them. He opened both eyes and looked up to see Skip standing over him.

“Okay, bud. Here’s the deal. Sorry about your cop pal back there, but he should have known he didn’t stand a chance. Now you got three fine looking ladies over there. We’re just gonna have a little fun with them. You play it cool, and all of you can walk out of here. You try to be a hero, and I will cut their fucking pussies out and make you wear them as a hat. You got it?” Skip said.

Dietrich just nodded as he looked over at the girls. Amanda seemed unusually calm. Sharon was freaking out while Laura looked like they had knocked most the fight out of her.

“All right, strip ‘em and get them in the shower,” Skip ordered as the men all began cutting the girls’ clothes off. They dragged Laura into the shower and turned on the cold water. She jumped and screamed as the water hit her skin. The other guy with Skip named Dale had a fistful of her hair as he pulled his pants down while fondling her pussy with his fat, sausage fingers. She tried to struggle against him, but he punched her. For such a big oafish man, he seemed to have quite the manual dexterity where sexual assault was concerned.

“Bitch, you don’t want to fight me. Hold still and you might like this shit,” he said as he bent her over and jammed his dick into her. She tried to hold still, but he was clearly hurting her. Dale pulled on her hair, bending her neck way back as he continued thrusting. The whole thing only lasted a couple minutes, though Dietrich was sure it felt longer to Laura. He struggled against his cuffs, but he couldn’t move. They had them on so tight, his fingers were falling asleep.

Once Dale finished, he backhanded Laura sending her toppling to the floor. She just lay there sobbing as Skip and the other guys applauded.

“Good show! Good show! Looks like I’m next! I like mom over here. She’s got the whole MILF thing going on,” Skip said.

“No! Please no! Please?” She cried.

“Oh it’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt ya.”

“Just let me go. Please?”

“Okay. I lied, I am gonna hurt ya. A lot. I’m not as gentle as Dale.” Skip said as he shoved her into the shower. She slid across the wet tile and smacked her face into the wall. Blood ran from her nose as she staggered to her feet. Skip walked in and tripped her, sending her back onto her face.

“Stay down, bitch,” he said, as he undid his pants and dropped them. He rolled her onto her back as he entered her. As he began fucking, he also started punching. It was a bizarre display. He fucked her while ground-and-pounding her like an MMA fighter. Dietrich had to look away. As he looked over to Amanda, he saw they’d stripped her to her underwear. She was sitting on a bench, with one of the men holding her arms, but she wasn’t resisting or screaming. She had her eyes closed.

Chapter 20

Skip beat on the woman until his arms were sore. He got his nut about the same time she stopped breathing. Sometimes they died before he could nut inside them, but this one he timed perfectly. That was always the best. Once they were dead, it wasn’t as much fun with them just lying there. It still felt pretty good as long, as they were warm. The other girl just lie there while the older guy screamed. The teenager was next. He was sure Cody would want a piece of her, or his girlfriend would.

“Leave them alone!” The Dietrich guy yelled. At least Skip had been able to tune him out. Nothing more annoying than trying to get your nut with some dude screaming in the background.

“Will you shut the fuck up?” Skip finally yelled back. The guy piped down for a moment. For some reason the young one was just sitting there with her eyes closed, probably praying or some shit. “Okay, who’s up next?” Skip asked.

“I want this one.” Asia said. “I want her to eat my pussy.”

“Hell yeah, baby. That’s hot as fuck,” Cody said, licking his lips. Skip still didn’t trust that asshole. He and Asia were always glancing at each other like they were up to something. Skip didn’t like shit like that. Do your thing and get the job done. No stupid fucking glances or weird looks to each other. Dale was sitting there playing with the Laura chick’s hair. He was weird like that. He already fucked her unconscious, now he was all caressing her like she was his girlfriend. Asia began stroking Amanda’s hair, and running her fingers along her stomach.

“She’s so young and soft. What’s she doing? She asleep?”

“I don’t know. She’s been like that for a while.” Dale said. “Think she might be praying.”

“Well, she can pray to my pussy. Wake up, kid,” she said as she slapped Amanda across the face. Amanda moved a little, but didn’t make a sound and her eyes remained closed. Asia looked around at Cody, who just shrugged his shoulders.

“What the fuck is wrong with this little cunt? Wake up!” This time she punched Amanda, sending her toppling to the floor. Still, Amanda just lay still, her eyes remaining closed. “I’m about to cut this bitch if she doesn’t do something.”

“Leave her alone! She just a child!” Dietrich said.

“You shut the fuck up, or I’ll gut her like a fish and make you watch, asshole.” Asia said pointing a pocket knife at him. “Come on bitch! If I have to hit you again, you’ll never wake up!” She took the knife and poked it into Amanda’s side just enough to draw droplets of blood.

Amanda didn’t wake up, but her body started convulsing. Foam came from her mouth as she twitched and gyrated on the floor.

“What’s wrong with her?” Asia asked.

“I think you broke her, baby,” Cody said.

“Fuck. I barely touched her!”

Amanda gurgled and twitched for several more minutes before she went still. Lying completely motionless, Asia nudged her with her shoe.

“Is she dead?” Asia asked.

“Fuck if I know. She ain’t movin’. ” Skip said.

One of the lockers behind them flew open, banging the door against another locker. The crew jumped at the sound.

“What the fuck was that?” Dale said.

“Guess that locker swung open,” Cody answered.

“Well no shit, Sherlock. What fucking made that door swing open like that?”

“I don’t know. The wind maybe?” Cody said.

Every locker door opened and closed repeatedly, filling the room with metallic banging over and over. It was so loud they all had to cover their ears.

“What the fuck is going on?” Skip yelled. He pulled his gun and fired two shots into one of the lockers, but the banging continued.

“Put thing away!” Dietrich screamed over the noise. “You can’t kill her! No matter what you do!”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Skip asked.

“Amanda has left her body. That girl is stronger than all of us. You might be in big trouble.”

Before Skip could reply, Asia grabbed her own throat and began gagging.

“Asia? What’s wrong baby? Asia? Answer me!” Cody cried, but Asia couldn’t reply. Her feet left the ground as she gagged and struggled. After almost a minute she flew backward into the wall and hit the ground motionless.

“Asia!” Cody rushed over to her and knelt by her side. “Fuck! She’s dead! She’s fucking dead! What happened? What just happened?” Cody’s eyes darted around, but Skip and Dale just had blank expressions. He stood, pulled a gun from his waistband and ran over to Dietrich, shoving it in his face. “Did you do this? What the fuck did you do?”

“It wasn’t me. It was Amanda. I think you’ve made her angry.”

Chapter 21

As the men tormented Laura and Sharon, Amanda realized they would never break free. At least, not in the usual sense. She closed her eyes and focused. It was difficult with all the screaming and commotion going on. Every other time she’d entered purgatory it had been from the quiet of her own room. Never in a desperate situation such as this. But she had to try.

Clearing her mind, she focused on Purgatory. She imagined leaving her body and entering that third realm few knew existed. The realm where only demons could move about while watching this world and finding ways to enter. Soon the noise went away. It was just her. Finally she came to the tunnel. It was like going down a water slide, except slowly. Passing through a thick membrane from one existence into the next. Finally she was there. The whole realm was like being under water.

Looking back, she could see her body sitting on the bench. She could also see the others. All of them moving slowly. Their voices slowed down and distorted. Her movements were slow and deliberate, but not difficult. She had no body and was free to move about. Skip had just finished beating on Sharon. Amanda knew Sharon was dead. She could sense it. Though the dead did not enter purgatory. Amanda didn’t know why. They just weren’t there.

Asia had started smacking her body around. It was difficult to watch, but she felt no pain from Asia’s abuse. That was when she got the idea. In the past she had been able to manipulate objects in the physical realm. Just by reaching out and sending her thoughts through the watery membrane of the realm, one of the locker doors opened, and then she slammed it shut.

After taking a few moments to watch them react, she did it with all of the lockers, repeatedly. She was surprised at how effortless it was to manipulate the realm. It was almost amusing to watch them all stumbling around through all the noise she was making. It wasn’t loud to her. She could hear it, but it sounded like it was off in the distance. She decided to try something else. Reaching out through the membrane, she began choking Asia. Though Purgatory she was able to lift Asia off her feet, and finally hurl her into a wall. Her own strength impressed her as Asia was dead on impact.

As Skip ran over to question Dietrich, she started on Dale. Using the membrane, she snapped his fingers one by one. He doubled over and she could hear him screaming. Skip turned around and ran over to Dale. Cody tried to run out of the room, but she had the membrane close in around Cody, pick him up and slam him into the wall. He grunted and screamed as she slammed him into the concrete wall repeatedly. She pulled him away and prepared to slam him one final time, when a gunshot went off. This was incredibly loud.

It sent a ripple through the realm causing her to drop Cody and even shook her whole being. She looked where the shot came from and it was Skip, standing over her own body. He’d fired a single shot into her skull. Amanda looked at her motionless body. Getting a closer look, her eyes now stared lifelessly at the ceiling. She was dead. Even though she was in Purgatory, time still felt like it stood still. What would happen to her now? So far nothing to her current self. She was still in Purgatory, she just had no body to return to.

Cody was walking back up and began kicking her dead body. He then undid his pants and knelt down between her legs. He was going to rape her dead body? What a sick asshole. Using the membrane, this time she reached out and twisted his head all the way around. Even in the realm she could hear his neck snapping as she slowly twisted his head until it was facing in the wrong direction. His lifeless body fell to the ground.

Skip was standing there with his gun out. He began firing in random directions. One passed right through her, or would have, had she been real. She lunged at him and slid inside of his body. Unsure if she could actually possess him, she drifted around until she was able to take hold of his mind. He knew right away she was in there.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He said.

“I’m killing you.”

“What are you? We just killed you! Get out of my head!”

“You should have just left us alone. There’s enough death out there today. But you had to try and use it for your own desires. But that was a fatal mistake.” She said.

“What are you going to do to me?”

“You’ll know it when I do it,” she said as she sent her will out from his body back into the membrane of Purgatory. It grabbed hold of him and began to pull. First it was barely noticeable, but then he felt it and began to scream as it strengthened its grip, began pulling into different directions. His face became distorted as he tried to fight against it.

“Stop it! You’re tearing me apart! Please stop!” He screamed but she ignored his screams as she continued to push against his body. After almost a minute it happened. Skip exploded. His body burst into hundreds of chunks of bone and flesh as blood sprayed throughout the locker room. Much of it showered onto Dietrich who sat there helplessly with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Amanda looked around at the blood and the bodies. She had to laugh at the irony. Not too long ago, something else was possessing and controlling her. Now, she was the one doing the possessing. Drifting over to Dietrich, she used the membrane to break the handcuff off him. He stood and looked around.

“Amanda?” He called out. “Amanda? Is that you? Are you here?” She tapped twice on a locker to signal “Yes.”

“Did you do this? You’re still here? They killed you.”

She tapped on the lockers again. She wasn’t sure of another way to communicate from here.

“Can you help us from there? You’re in Purgatory now. Can you help us save Simon? And stop these afflicted?”

She tapped twice on the locker again, though she wasn’t herself sure. Especially after she heard Him.

“Well hello old friend. Fancy seeing you here” a voice said. Looking up she saw him. This was the first time she’d seen him as his true self. He was large and hideous with an elongated jaw, long and twisted horns coming from different parts of his head and hollow blackness where his eyes should be. It was K’rall.

Chapter 22

Dietrich went over and helped Laura up and walked her over to a bench. He went through a locker and found a large shirt for her and some towels so she could dry off. She was shaking and shivering, but probably not because she was cold.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Everyone is dead.”

“All of them?”

“Well, Amanda is kind of dead.” Dietrich said.

“What do you mean kind of?”

“She did that thing she talked about earlier. Going into Purgatory. That’s how she killed these thugs. It’s like she became a ghost. They killed her body, but she’s still in Purgatory.”

“Holy shit. That is insane.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’ve been better.” She rubbed the knot on her forehead where she’d hit the floor. There was dried blood under her nose.

“I tried to stop them. They handcuffed...”

“Don’t. I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just get out of here,” Laura said.

Dietrich nodded, relieved, and helped her to her feet. She found her shoes and pulled them back on as they walked out of the locker and back to the main lobby.

“We still looking for Simon?” She asked.

“That’s the plan. Though we might want to get some sleep and wait until daylight. I’d rather not get cornered by those afflicted in the middle of the night again.”

“Good point.”

“We’re pretty secure in here. There are some couches in one of the offices. You can go rest there. I’ll stay up for a bit to keep watch.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll stay up,” she said, but her eyes were sagging as it was.

“No, you go ahead and lie down,” he said. She nodded without further argument and lay on the couch. He found a blanket and helped tuck her in. Once she fell asleep, he went back to the locker room and grabbed a couple of guns from the floor, then went back to the office. He found a comfortable chair to sit on while keeping an eye out.

“You should sleep too,” Laura said. He jumped and turned around.

“I thought you were sleeping,” he said.

“She is. This is Amanda.”

“What the hell?”

“I had to use her body so I can talk to you. But I assure you, Laura is sound asleep.”

“You’re possessing her?” Dietrich said.

“Sounds horrible when you say it like that. But I guess so. More like I’m borrowing her.”

“So what is going on?”

“Well, I think I stayed in purgatory since I was already there when they killed me. It’s like being under water, for real. So just figured out how to manipulate the waves, I guess you’d call it, to move stuff around. I been working on it before, but I kind of went crazy with it with those guys.”

“Yeah, I’ll say you did.” Dietrich said.

“In the morning, I’ll follow you guys to Simon. I’ll help clear a path for you if I can. But there’s something you should know.”

“What is that?”

“K’rall is here.”

“What?”

“I always knew he was around somewhere. I’d never seen him in Purgatory before. But he’s here. He approached me.”

“Did he, say or do anything?” Dietrich asked.

“He said it’s been a long time. Said he’s been watching me and now I’m one of them. Was really creepy. But I don’t think he can hurt me now. He said that, then laughed and drifted off. I never actually saw him before. He’s really ugly.”

“I don’t doubt that. Well, this complicates afflicted. Not sure what his relationship is with Yeshto’th.”

“You mean like they could be friends?”

“That’s not likely. They are both extremely powerful beings. Maybe K’rall doesn’t like that Yeshto’th has gained so much power. Something he couldn’t do.”

“Wow. So we might be in the middle of some demon war?” She asked.

“God I hope not.”

“Me too. Not sure what I can do against K’rall from here. I’m not even sure what happens to me now. I mean, I’m dead. I’m not even twenty years old and I’m dead. I’m dead, but I’m still here. How do I even process that?”

“I don’t know Amanda. We can talk about it later when we have more time. And I mean that. I do want to help you through this if I can.”

“Thank you Father.”

“Please, call me Dietrich.”

“You’ll always be Father Harlan to me.”

“I know.”

“You should get some sleep. I can stay up so both of you can rest.”

“Really? You’re not tired?”

“I don’t get tired. I’m dead.”

“Right. Okay. I’ll try and get some rest.”

He walked to the other couch and lay down, pulling his legs up to his chest and closed his eyes. As he tried to sleep, all he could see was the carnage he’d seen throughout the day. So much death, blood and mayhem. Tomorrow would be full of even more. He wasn’t sure he would survive it. His only friend, Bernard was gone. For some reason, demonic events were so rare, yet he’d been involved with two major ones. Hard to say why the universe picked him to be the champion against demons. He was more than willing to pass that torch on to someone else.

In the meantime, darkness closed in as sleep finally came. Part of him was afraid to sleep with those afflicted right outside, but his body and mind were exhausted. He would need every last ounce of energy in the morning. This wasn’t an exorcism at all. It was war.

Chapter 23

Dietrich woke up to sunlight pouring through a window. He sat up and looked around. Laura was standing at the window, looking outside.

“Hey,” she said brushing her hair back over her ear. “You were really out.”

“Laura?”

“Yeah. Who you think I am?”

She didn’t even realize Amanda had possessed her overnight. He wondered if Amanda were still with them or if she’d floated off somewhere.

“Yes, of course.” He said. “Sorry. Feeling groggy. What time is it?”

“It’s almost ten. It’s been really quiet outside.”

“It has?”

“Yeah. I mean I haven’t gone out, but I woke up a couple hours ago. I haven’t seen any of those afflicted out there. Not since I woke up.”

“Strange. The cops last night said some were headed into the city. I wonder if they all went down there.”

“God I hope not. Can you imagine?” She asked.

“I actually can. That’s the bad thing.” He said as he stood. “Amanda? Are you with us still?” He called out. Laura looked at him strange as he looked around. In the corner of the room a chair lifted up and dropped to the ground. “There she is.”

“That is intense.” Laura said.

“Yeah. Among other things. We should go.” Dietrich put his shoes on as they headed out of the police department and into the street. The air was warm and sticky but the streets were quiet. No one was in sight.

“I don’t like this,” Laura said.

“Me either. Here.” Dietrich handed her one of his guns. “You might need this.”

She nodded as she held it to her side. There was a woman standing on the street corner up ahead. As they got closer, she didn’t look possessed or crazy. She was just staring off into space.

“Ma’am,” Dietrich said training his gun on her. “Ma’am? Are you ok?”

The woman turned and looked at them. Laura gasped.

“Mom!” She said running up to her.

“Laura be careful!” Dietrich shouted, but she had already grabbed her mom in a tight embrace. The woman still looked lost, as if she didn’t recognize Laura.

“Mom? Can you hear me? Where’s Dad? He went to find you a while ago. Mom?”

“They’re all dead,” her mom said.

“Who? Who’s dead?”

“Everyone. You will be too. He’s coming. I saw him.”

“Saw who?”

“Yeshto’th, he’s here. He’s everywhere.”

“Shit. Mom? Dietrich? What’s wrong with her?”

“I think he has her. She’s just not acting like the others. Not sure what she’s doing.”

“He knows you’re here. He knows you’re coming.”

“Shit. She’s a lookout,” Laura said. “Mom!” She shook her. “Mom! Snap out of it! Wake up!”

“It’s okay baby. Mommy’s here. I’m here for you.”

“Can you hear me? You’re talking crazy.”

“I’m fine. I hear you fine. I’ll hear you better when Yeshto’th shoves his huge cock up your cunt!” She said as she lunged at Laura, grabbing her around the neck.

“Laura!” Dietrich yelled as he jumped on her mom’s back, putting her in a chokehold, but it had no effect no matter how tightly he squeezed. “Get off her!”

Laura’s face turned bright read as she struggled against her mother’s grip. Dietrich went to readjust his grip when a gunshot went off, splattering his face with blood and brain chunks. Shards of bone and skull stung his face as the back of her head exploded. The woman’s body fell limp as Dietrich let go. Laura was holding the gun in her shaking hands.

“Laura!”

“I—I killed my mom.”

“It’s okay.” Dietrich took the gun from her and tucked it into his jeans. She was trembling and crying as he sat next to her and put his arm around her. “It’s okay Laura.”

“I just killed my mom. I blew her fucking brains out.”

“It wasn’t her. She was long gone.” He wasn’t sure that was all true, but he was sticking with it to keep her together. “She would have killed us both. You did the right thing.” He held her tight for several minutes until she stopped shaking. Finally she was able to get her bearings.

“I’m sorry. I had already thought she was dead. Then I saw her and got so excited, but then it wasn’t her.” Laura said.

“I know. It’s okay.” Dietrich said. “Can you walk? We should keep going.”

“Yeah. I’m okay I think.” She stood as they both began walking again. “Are we going back to where Simon was before?”

“That’s the idea.”

They didn’t speak again until they arrived at the house. There were no further encounters since Laura’s mom and they saw no other signs of life at all. Finally they reached the house Simon had been staying at. There was no one outside and the front door was standing open. Dietrich walked up the steps as Laura followed behind. Once inside, they found the place was empty. It was also incredibly clean, as if no one had even been in there recently.

“Where’d they all go?” Laura asked.

“I’ve no idea. I hoped Amanda would know. She’s supposed to be following us.”

Just as he spoke, a door opened and closed behind them. They turned as the door opened again. Dietrich walked to the door and into the room. The floor was covered with dead bodies. Dozens of them. All of them had been decapitated and dismembered. But their limbs hadn’t been cut off, they had been ripped apart.

“Jesus Christ,” Laura said.

“I’m pretty sure he didn’t do this.”

“Fuck. What happened here?”

Dietrich looked around. There was no sign of Simon, however. So hopefully he was still alive. Though when he reached the far wall, he realized exactly what had happened there.

“That is what happened.” He said pointing at the wall. There was writing in blood:

K’RALL WAS HERE

Chapter 24

Amanda drifted through Purgatory, though it had been a rough ride. It was like riding a small raft as a speed boat went by. Whatever was happening throughout purgatory, was sending a ripple through the whole realm. Every few seconds a wave would send her up and then down. When she saw the house, she realized why.

She could barely look at the carnage K’rall had caused, but needed to take it all in. K’rall had declared war on Yeshto’th and it was about to get uglier than she could imagine. She didn’t want to leave Dietrich and Laura behind, but she drifted off toward the city. The highway between New Dublin and San Antonio was a mess.

Cars had crashed and pulled over blocking the highway. There were people in the streets fighting each other in the most brutal display Amanda had ever seen. One group of men each had a tire iron and were beating a woman senseless. They stood around her in a circle wailing away at her.

There were others in fist fights. One man was pouring gasoline on another and lit him on fire. The man continued fighting as if he could feel nothing. He picked up a loose tire and hurled it at his assailant, striking him in the face with it. The man fell to the ground while the burning man picked up the tire and used it to smash in the man’s head. Shortly after, he collapsed but continued to burn.

A woman had a man bent over a car and was fucking him in the ass with a baseball bat. His asshole was ripped up and bloody as she thrust the bat in and out. The man didn’t seem to be giving much resistance. She continued thrusting until another man ran up and knocked her over and tore her head off with his bare hands. He ran off holding her head tucked under his arm like a running back carrying a football.

“Enjoying the show?” A voice boomed from behind her.

“K’rall,” she said.

“Indeed. I couldn’t let Yeshto’th have all the fun. I have to say he’s gotten a bit carried away. Sleeping for all these years has made him testy.”

“Why are you here? We defeated you. I defeated you.”

“You simply cast me out of your body. I can’t be defeated. Though it looks like you’re helpless one. Not dead, not alive. Whatever will you do?”

She had to focus and not get caught up in debate with him.

“No matter. I’m trying to decide which of these apes I should jump into. So many to pick from. Simon is such a smart little boy. Yeshto’th knew what he was doing when he took him.”

“Stay away from them. Why can’t both of you just go away? You have all this power. What the hell do you want from us? All you do is destroy!”

“Precisely. That’s what we do. Birds fly, pigs play in their own shit, and we demons as you call us, we destroy because it’s what we do. When we’re not destroying afflicted, we are looking for something to destroy. If we had blood, destruction would be in it.”

She tried to think of something she could say or do, but there was nothing. Here in Purgatory, she was little more than a cloud with a conscience. No matter what she wanted to do, she couldn’t do anything against him.

“Oh, there we go. She’ll be perfect.” K’rall said. Before Amanda could respond, he drifted into a little girl. The girl was hunkered down behind a car, holding onto a teddy bear and crying. Though once K’rall went into her, her demeanor completely changed. The girl stood, still clutching her bear and started walking toward the city. While the madness continued around her, everyone moved out of her way, clearing a path.

Amanda looked ahead where she saw Simon standing on top of a tractor trailer. His eyes moved back and forth as he surveyed the damage. Though at this point, he was less Simon and more Yeshto’th. It wasn’t long before he recognized K’rall inside the little girl. She was headed his direction. Simon climbed down from the trailer and began toward the girl. It was hard to believe two of the most powerful beings in the universe were about to do battle inside the bodies of a couple of children.

She retreated back into Purgatory, to the house. Dietrich would know what to do. It’s too bad he couldn’t be the one in Purgatory. He would know how to fight these afflicted. She was just a kid. Though she’d grown up a lot in the past year or so. Then she realized she was not even a kid anymore. She was dead. As she arrived back in New Dublin, Dietrich and Laura were walking toward the highway. She had to warn them to avoid it. They’d be torn to shreds otherwise.

There wasn’t a way to communicate with him. At least not directly. She’d have to possess him or Laura, and she didn’t want to do either. She decided to go into Dietrich and talk to him directly. Though she felt guilty after possessing Laura. When she possessed someone, she immediately knew all of their thoughts and feelings. It felt so intrusive.

She decided the need outweighed her own guilt as she moved into Dietrich. He knew she was there immediately.

“Amanda?” He said. “Please tell me that’s you.”

“It’s me,” she said. “Stay off the highway. K’rall and Yeshto’th have taken it over. It’s horrible. People are crashing into each other, tearing each other apart. I saw K’rall again right before he possessed some little girl. She and Simon were headed right for each other.”

“Great. Okay. We need to do something. I can’t just let them tear the whole city apart,” Dietrich said.

“What should we do? I can’t do anything from here. I’m just a ghost. I’m literally a fart in the wind.”

She heard Dietrich actually laugh.

“You’re much more than that Amanda. I saw what you could do earlier in that locker room.”

“That was just against other people. What can I do with these guys? They’re demons!”

“Since I can’t go into Purgatory, I have no idea what it’s like. But you beat him once before. You’re far stronger than K’rall is and he knows it. He’s just louder to scare you.”

“You think so?”

“I’m sure of it. We’ll still head for the highway. Hopefully it won’t be too late when we get there.”

Amanda left Dietrich and hovered over them, watching their every step. Occasionally one of the possessed would run toward them, but Amanda flung them away easily. There had to be a way to defeat K’rall and Yeshto’th before they tore everything apart. She just had to find it.

Chapter 25

Dietrich felt lightheaded after Amanda left him. Laura was looking at him both confused and concerned.

“You okay?” She asked.

“Yeah. Amanda had just like possessed me a moment ago.”

“Are you fuckin’ serious? That’s creepy as hell.”

Dietrich didn’t want to tell her that Amanda had possessed her in her sleep.

“Yeah, it’s a bit strange, but she had to talk to me.” He explained about K’rall and the little girl.

“Holy shit.” Laura said. “So these two super powerful demons are gonna fight using the bodies of little kids?”

“It would seem so.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Let’s hope not.” Dietrich said as they reached the highway and continued walking. He noticed there was almost no traffic and before long, there were cars crashed in the middle of the road, into the guardrails and even flipped over. A helicopter flew overhead as they walked. He looked up and saw it was a San Antonio P.D. helicopter. He was amazed there weren’t police or emergency crews. There was nothing.

“Why aren’t they stopping or doing anything?” Laura asked.

“I have no idea.” Dietrich said shielding his eyes from the sun as he watched the helicopter. It flew around in wide circles as if they were looking for something. It was on the third pass when he noticed it. The helicopter wasn’t steady. It was pitching and bobbing from side to side. It was subtle at first, but got more obvious each time around.

It went straight up for a few seconds, then angled downward into a dive. It picked up speed as it was coming right for them. They stood by watching, frozen by the bizarre spectacle. As it got closer, Dietrich finally grabbed Laura and pulled her out of the way. They ran further down the highway as the helicopter zipped just over their heads and crashed just over a hundred feet behind them. The whole road shook as the craft burst into flames.

As it flew by them, Dietrich saw why they hadn’t landed. The pilot’s eyes were open wide with a maniacal grin on his face. He only saw him for a couple seconds, but Dietrich was sure the man was laughing. Somehow the demons even got to the helicopter pilot. He had no idea how or why they got to the pilot but hadn’t affected either him or Laura. It troubled him that Amanda moved in and out of his body so easily.

“You think Amanda is protecting us from them?” Laura asked, obviously thinking the same thing.

“It would appear so. I can’t even imagine what these people are going through. I was possessed a short time when I helped Amanda during her ordeal. You are aware of every single thing. You can see and feel everything that is happening. The pain can be immense because the demon doesn’t feel it.”

“My God. How awful,” she said.

“That’s putting it mildly,” he said as he watched the helicopter burn. Out of the wreckage he saw something moving. Sure enough it was the pilot, or what was left of him. He was engulfed in flames and crawling out of the wreckage using his elbows. The pilot made it a few feet from the helicopter before his body gave out.

Dietrich and Laura turned and made their way through the maze of demolished cars and dead bodies. They hadn’t gotten far when they heard a metallic thumping sound.

“You hear that? What is that?” Dietrich asked.

“I’m not sure,” Laura said.

The sounds got louder, followed by a girl giggling. Just ahead Dietrich saw her. A little girl, carrying a teddy bear running on top of the cars, skipping from roof to roof of each car, laughing gleefully as she did so.

“What the hell?” Laura asked as the girl approached them. She had to be possessed. She was leaping at least ten feet on some of those jumps. Something no regular child could do.

“It’s him. It’s K’rall”

“Oh shit.” Laura said, raising her gun.

“No! We need to try to get him out without harming the little girl.”

“We killed these other people attacking us? Just take her out and he’s out.”

“That’s only a temporary fix. We need to annihilate him.”

“How do we do that?” Laura asked.

“I’m still trying to figure that out.”

“Well, think fast.” Laura said as the girl took a final leap, landing right in front of them. As she looked up, she smiled.

“Well hello. Father Harlan. I guess we meet again,” she said. “Though you’re not a priest any more. Such a shame. What fun times we had.”

“Leave the little girl alone K’rall. She’s no threat to you.”

“Give the former priest a fucking medal!” She said. “Which is exactly why I took her. Plus a demon possessed kid is so much creepier, don’t you think?”

K’rall seemed much more refined since his previous encounter with the demon. Though Dietrich had figured that last outing was mostly theatrics on K’rall’s part. He was evil through and through and would change his approach on a whim.

“Stop with the games. It’s not just me this time. I have help.” Dietrich said.

“Who, our little Amanda? Yes, I ran into her earlier. My, how she’s grown.”

“This isn’t a game, K’rall.” Dietrich said.

“It’s always a game. Didn’t you know that by now?”

“Fuck you!” Laura yelled. “You two are killing everyone! All this you call a game?”

K’rall looked at her, but didn’t reply.

“Were is Simon? Amanda saw you headed toward him.” Dietrich said.

“Oh you mean Yeshto’th. Yes, I thought we could have a fun little face off. Our underlings were having it all the fun. But he turned tail and ran.”

It really creeped Dietrich out talking to the demon who still used the little girl’s voice.

“Into the city, I imagine. I was just headed that way myself when you all showed up.”

“What is it you want, K’rall?”

“The same thing I always want, to be in charge.”

Chapter 26

Amanda watched Simon head down the highway. Yeshto’th was fully in control of him and what looked like hundreds of others walking into the city. For the first time since she’d been watching, police and National Guard vehicles were racing through the city and arrived onto the interstate heading off Simon and his minions.

“Oh, no,” she said to herself as she watched the soldiers and police dismounting their vehicles, aiming their weapons at the group. The soldiers opened fire as several of them fell to the ground. Others charged at the men. Simon was safely in the middle of the group. Many of them had to be shot repeatedly before going down. Before long, the mob was all over the police and soldiers. There were more vehicles coming in and helicopter gunships on the way.

The sound of the rotors thundered through the air as the helicopters approached. Suddenly Amanda noticed the police and soldiers were turning on each other. Some of them opening fire, others just beating each other with the butts of their rifles. Several opened fire at the helicopters. One shot hit the tail rotor one on helicopter sending it into a spin. It twirled and twirled before crashing into the side of an overpass, breaking into pieces, the tail falling onto the road below.

Men, women, even children went at each other. The soldiers and police were now possessed and part of the mayhem. One officer had ripped a woman’s leg off and was humping it in the middle of the road. Though before he got very far, someone came up behind him and smashed his skull in with a crowbar. All over there was blood and death. People being raped, having their limbs torn off, and heads being beaten in.

Amanda had seen enough. She had to do something, but had no idea what she could even do to stop a demon. Drifting down, she watched as Simon stood on top of a car, smiling at the carnage around him. There were literal streams of blood running down the highway. As she came closer to Simon, he looked up in her direction as if he could see her. His face changed from a smile to a look of rage. His face cracked and split apart into a horrific snarl as he let out a scream.

She entered into Simon’s body against Yeshto’th’s resistance. He pushed against her as he screamed. Amanda wasn’t even sure if it was possible for two entities to inhabit one body. She feared killing Simon in the process, but had to end the destruction. He couldn’t kill her, she was already dead. Forcing her way past him, she made it inside. The scream turned into a roar as she was able to actually see him from inside of Simon’s mind.

His face was like that of a hideous clown, except it wasn’t makeup. Yeshto’th’s mouth hung open as if in a perpetual scream.

“Who are you, you little cunt?” He yelled. “What have you done?”

“I’m Amanda. And it’s time for you to go.”

“What are you? You’re no demon! Go fuck yourself! Hahahaha Fuck you!”

He was more vulgar than she’d figured, but should have expected as much.  She felt him pushing against her, but this time she pushed back. Even though they were little more than energy and consciousness, they were somehow locked in a grappling match for control over Simon’s body. Her own strength impressed her. She didn’t know how or why but even Yeshto’th seemed shocked and if she didn’t know better, she’d think he was frightened.

Suddenly they were both tumbling through the air, outside of Simon’s body. The little boy collapsed as they ascended into the air. Amanda wasn’t sure who was lifting who. As they went up, there were other demons around them, hundreds of them. They had to be the ones helping Yeshto’th in possessing so many. None of them interfered though, they just watched the struggle taking place with strange curiosity.

“You’re just a child! You can’t win!”

“I’m not a child anymore!”

“Demons!” He shouted. “Rip this fucking cuntbag to shreds! Then tear her friends apart!”

But they didn’t, they just watched. Amanda swirled around Yeshto’th, forcing him higher and higher into the sky. He began laughing like he was insane. She didn’t know if demons could be insane, but if they could, he was. Finally she backed away from him. He glared at her with that disgusting grin and let out a roar. It was the strangest sound she’d ever heard. So loud and booming. It sounded like a jet engine of a 747 screeching nearby.

Testing her own limits she responded with her own roar. Much to her surprise and Yeshto’th’s, hers was louder and longer. Her voice thundered through the sky. The other demons even backed away as she let out a second, and a third. She wasn’t sure why she was doing this, but felt like she had to show her strength. This was the only way she thought to do it in this realm.

Her roars sent ripples through the membrane of Purgatory, shaking everything around them. It was then when it opened. A black hole tore open in the membrane of Purgatory. Yeshto’th looked and tried to move away but it began pulling him in. He struggled against it, but the pull was too strong.

He even changed form, and became a mist, trying to drift away. But that made it worse. The hole sucked him into the darkness as he let out a final, but pathetic roar, but this one was little more than a squeal. The mist disappeared into the hole and he was gone. The hole closed up behind him as Amanda turned around. The other demons stood and looked at her. One of them drifted toward her. She prepared to roar again but he stopped.

“I am Sigmemoth. You are the one who was said to come,” he said.

“Who was said to come for what?”

“The prophecies from millennia past. K’rall has ruled over us with an iron fist since the beginning of time. His master hides and lets him run wild so they can both rule us all.” He gestured to the destruction beneath them. “This is what will keep happening if he’s not stopped.”

“Weren’t you all just helping Yeshto’th out doing all of this? He’s done more of this than K’rall.”

“Yes, those two hate each other and believe it or not; Yeshto’th is the lesser evil. He was just crazy but powerful. K’rall is pure evil. You destroyed Yeshto’th. You banished him. Only the master can banish demons, until now. So we are at your service.”

She looked past him and saw thousands more demons drifting around, while they were all hideous, they each had a hopeful expression on their faces. Looking to her as some sort of Messiah. This was the last thing she was expecting.

Chapter 27

Dietrich watched the little girl skipping away from them. K’rall still had complete control over her. Though he noticed some of the commotion on the freeway had stopped. There had been some kind of battle toward the city, but it had gotten quiet. Wrecked cars, helicopters and body parts were strewn about. Dietrich and Laura ran down the road, looking for Simon.

When they found him, he sitting by a car, crying.

“Simon?” Dietrich said. “Can you hear me? Are you okay?”

“Where’s my mommy?” Simon cried.

“Is he like, normal now?” Laura asked.

“I’m not entirely sure. He seems normal.” Dietrich said. “Simon? What is the last thing you remember?”

“I don’t know! I just want my mom! Where’s my mommy?” He said as Laura knelt down and took him in her arms.

“We need to get you to a hospital son. Then we can talk to you about your mom. First we need to get to safety.”

“What about K’rall and that girl?” Laura asked.

“No telling where he is now. It looks like Amanda stopped Yeshto’th, but I have no idea how.”

They stood as Laura carried Simon and ran toward the city. Before they got far, a little girl began laughing from nearby. Looking ahead, Dietrich saw the little girl, K’rall, standing on top of a car looking at them.

“You make it too easy Harlan!” She yelled before laughing again. This time, the dead bodies lying on the road began to tremble before rising to their feet. Some had no arms, some were missing heads, but all of them were heading toward them.

“It’s been fun Dietrich. Looks like I win this round! Too bad there won’t be another round,” K’rall said.

Dietrich looked around as the lurching corpses closed in. He wasn’t sure how K’rall was doing it, not that it mattered. One of the bodies that still had its head looked as if it were smiling at them. Another had half its head blown off and was missing an arm, but still moved as quickly as the others. Simon screamed as he looked up, but Laura hugged him close to her body.

“What do we do? They’re all over?” Laura asked.

“I don’t know. Get on top of one of the cars!” Dietrich said as he ran to a crashed SUV. He climbed the bumper then onto the top of the car. He leaned down so Laura could hand him Simon. She then climbed up the vehicle as well. The corpses continued to close in on them, making a loud, squealing sound. Dietrich realized they were laughing like a pack of hyenas. The sound was horrid and constant.

The corpses pressed against the vehicle, when they began pushing the car, trying to flip it over. The shaking continued, making them all lose their balance. Dietrich almost dropped Simon as he tried to keep his footing on the shaking car. Before it got any worse, the corpses stopped as a deafening roar filled the air. The whole ground shook as he looked around to see where it came from.

Looking straight up, he couldn’t believe what he saw. It was Amanda. Though she had huge wings, like a giant bat. Her body was like a black smoke cloud from which the wings protruded. Her face was clear through the cloud, her mouth open in the primal roar. Behind her were thousands of other afflicted, most of them much smaller than Amanda but with a similar appearance.

Dietrich had never actually seen a demon before and wasn’t sure how or why Amanda was a demon, if that was in fact her. She and her horde were racing toward them. Dietrich looked at K’rall and he was gone. The little girl was sitting on top of the car, crying and clinging to her teddy bear. As they swooped in, a huge gust of wind blow, almost blowing them off the car again, but they each kept their footing.

The corpses fell to the ground, lifeless once again as the wind died down and the squealing and screaming stopped. Dietrich felt disoriented with all the commotion. His vision blurred for a few moments before it cleared. Just hovering out in front of him was Amanda, this time she was smiling. It was slightly twisted and distorted, but still her smile.

“Hi, Dietrich,” she said. “Guess this is who I am now.”

Chapter 28

“Are you a demon?” Dietrich asked.

“I’m not sure. Apparently K’rall had most of these guys enslaved. They followed Yeshto’th because he’s the only one who could stand up to K’rall. Somehow I banished him to somewhere, or nowhere. So now they all follow me.”

“Holy shit,” Laura said. “So you’re like a Demon Queen?”

“Not sure that is what you call it. But get this. K’rall has a master. He’s not even doing this on his own. You think that’s the Devil?”

Dietrich considered this for a moment.

“I’m not sure. A few years ago I’d have said yes for sure. Now who knows?” He said.

“Well these guys all think I can defeat K’rall and his master. I’m not sure how. I’m not totally sure how I banished Yeshto’th.”

“Perhaps because you were in Purgatory as a human when you died you’re in between. Half human, half demon or something.” Dietrich said.

“Is that possible?” Amanda asked.

“God. I don’t even know what is or isn’t possible anymore. K’rall seems to be gone.”

“Yeah. He left that little girl and took his minions with him. I felt them slip back into Purgatory and drift away. I’ll find him.”

“How is it we can see you now?” Laura asked.

“I’m also not sure. I think when I roar that triggers something. Same thing happened when I banished Yeshto’th. I roared and he was gone.”

“Well don’t fuckin’ banish us,” Laura said.

“I won’t,” Amanda said, laughing. “Is Simon okay?”

“He doesn’t seem to be hurt physically. Other than that I’m not sure. We need to get him to a hospital,” Dietrich explained.

“You should do that. I need to find K’rall.”

“How will you do that?”

“I have a whole legion of demons wanting to help.”

“Be careful. If you could banish them, then they can banish you.” Dietrich warned.

“I’m always careful. Bye, Dietrich. I’ll come visit you soon. Thank you for saving me again.”

“Save you? Amanda, I failed you. You were killed.”

“No, I wasn’t. I was just reborn,” she said before fading into the sky.

*                                                *                                                      *

Hours later they arrived at a San Antonio hospital. Laura had been able to flag down a police officer who drove them to the ER. The cop had said the reports on the freeway had gone out as a riot. Emergency crews had moved back in for cleanup. News trucks and national media were showing up as well. Dietrich was glad he’d already gotten out of there. He’d rather face more demons than explain to the press why a “world renowned exorcist” was on site.

Simon was sleeping soundly in his bed. Other than some scratches and dehydration, he would be fine physically. It would be a while before anyone knew how much the ordeal affected him emotionally. They hadn’t even told him about his mother yet. His grandparents lived in Houston, they had been notified, at least.

Laura finally broke down once Simon was checked into the ER. She sat in the waiting room crying inconsolably. She’d lost both her parents through this nightmare.

“Where will you go?” Dietrich asked Laura.

“I don’t know. I have an aunt and uncle in Lubbock, but haven’t spoken to them in years,” she said without looking up from the floor. Dietrich nodded as he put his arm around her. He could go back to the university, but really didn’t want to after all this.

“What about you?” Laura asked.

“I think I need a vacation.”

Epilogue

In the Lower Region of Hell, Beyond Purgatory

“What do you plan on doing with this girl?” The Master asked. He sat on a huge throne made of granite. A pair of skulls were carved into the armrests where his hands rested. The rest of the Master’s Lair was dark and dank, like a musty cave. Through the back of the Master’s Lair was what most would call Hell. It was where demons lived and thrived. Purgatory was simply a barrier much like the River Styx. Except there were no dead here.

“She’s an annoyance. Less than a mosquito,” K’rall replied.

“That Mosquito just took down one of the most powerful and insane of our kind.”

“Yes. That was pure luck. She has no idea what she’s doing.”

“There’s never been one like her before. We have no idea what she’s capable of,” The Master said.

“Neither does she. Don’t worry. I will handle it.”

“Like you’ve handled everything else so far? Your job years ago was to possess her and use her as a conduit for the rest of us. Not bring her back here and let her take over the whole thing!”

“Your excellence. She doesn’t even know this place exists. I could just leave her chasing her tail around Purgatory for a while.”

“You won’t. You’ve shown me you can’t do his alone. Send them in!” The Master called. Through the corridor walked two of the most hideous things K’rall had ever seen. K’rall knew he was ugly, but these two made him look handsome.

They were both huge, towering over K’rall and the Master. Both had lower jaws that protruded far past their faces with jagged teeth sticking up. Neither of them had wings, and both had a set of horns coming out of their faces, through their cheekbones. K’rall was sure the room temperature dropped a few degrees as soon as they entered.

“K’rall. This is Negron and Dimitri. They are bounty hunters. You’ll continue to do your work. They will find this girl and bring her to me,” The Master explained.

“Are you going to banish her?”

“I’m going to make her suffer. This is Hell, after all,” The Master said as he laughed.

The End

Special Bonus!

Here is a preview to Tim’s upcoming book, Welcome to Happytown. It is the second book in the April Almighty series.

Chapter 1

April Kennedy sat in the car looking out the window. They had been on the road a little over an hour. She didn’t want to be on this trip, she wanted to be home. It had been almost eighteen months since she’d been abducted and tortured by a family of psycho rednecks. It was only by some miracle she had escaped. And it was a literal miracle.

After watching those animals torture, rape and mutilate several other people, she had attempted to escape. During her attempt she fell into a dirty swamp that smelled and looked funny. It had a greenish glow to it. Once she emerged, she had the strangest ability she’d ever heard of. All her life she’d read in comics about super heroes who get super strength, flight, telekinesis, and other cool powers. Hers, making men ejaculate without touching them.

That’s right, she can get guys off anytime she wants. At least she doesn’t have to touch them. Though an interesting side effect is once they get off, she can control their minds. She hadn’t used the ability at all since she escaped. Well once. One of the killers and his cousin came after her at her home. She made do horrible things to each other before they died. That was the last time.

Since then, she’d become a bit of a recluse. She didn’t go online or even have a cell phone. All she was sat around the house reading all day. Her friend Stacy decided it was finally time to get her out of the house.

“You awake?” Stacy said from the seat next to her. She looked back toward her.

“I’m fine. I came along didn’t I?” April said.

“Yeah, but you haven’t said shit since we left.”

“Sorry. Just not used to going out I guess.”

“Yeah I know. You’re a fucking hermit. That’s why you’re coming with us to Dallas.”

“Whatever. Dallas is overrated anyway.” April said.

“Oh my God! How can you say that?” Kimberly said from the front passenger seat. She was one of Stacy’s friends, but April had hung out with her a few times. “I fucking love Dallas. So much more to do than San Antonio or Austin.”

“Like what?”

“You know. Lots of stuff.”

“Come on. Stop being so emo.” Stacy said. “I’m gonna make you have fun dammit. Maybe even get you laid.”

“Oh Jesus. Just what I need. I nameless drunk guy humping my shit.”

“You make it sound so romantic. Stacy said.”

“It’s just the truth.” April answered. Though she didn’t want to explain she could get the guy off without him having to hump anything. Before her incident, she had been a very sexual person. Since the incident however, she didn’t like being touched at all. While her assailants never did rape her, she watched them rape everyone else in horrible ways. That and just the fact she was naked and they had their hands on her at all. The mere thought of anyone touching her body at all made her want to scream.

“Whatever we do, it’ll be fun.”

“You know, if you have trouble getting laid, I can help you out with that?” Todd said. He was the driver and also Kimberly’s boyfriend. Kim smacked his arm. April never had trouble getting guys. She usually had the opposite problem, guys wouldn’t leave her alone. Todd had been flirting with her since the drive had started. She had often been told she could or should be a model, with her long black hair and bright blue eyes. Modeling wasn’t something she desired to do. Though anymore, she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life.

One thing she didn’t miss about social media was the constant messages from guys trying to pick her up. She didn’t mind the “Hello beautiful” messages so much. It was the “Wow, you are so hot. I just want to lick your pussy until you cum all over my face,” messages that drove her crazy. Though even in public guys would occasionally act stupid.

Todd being the perfect example. She had just met him today, and this was at least the third time he’d referenced having sex with her. Kim was very pretty and seemed like a sweet girl. Yet he just disrespects her to her face like that. April wondered what would happen if she used her power on him while he was driving.

“Don’t take that shit from him Kim,” April said. “Cut his ass off.”

“That’ll just make me work it even harder. She knows better.” Todd said as he smacked Kim’s thigh. “Don’tcha babe?”

Kim brushed his hand away without saying anything. He laughed, looked back at April and winked. She just glared at him as Stacy gave him the finger.

“Don’t mind him. He’s just messing around.” Stacy said.

“Yeah, I know.” April said just trying to change the subject from anything other than Todd.

“Fuck,” Todd said.

“What’s wrong?”

“Look at this traffic. There’s an accident up ahead. Goddammit look at that!”

April looked and ahead and saw cars in stand still traffic as far as she could see.

“How far up is the wreck?” She asked.

“I have no idea. Probably miles. Shit, this is gonna take hours.” He said hitting the steering wheel. “Fuck this.” He pulled off the shoulder and drove past the line of cars.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Kim screamed.

“I’m getting us out of this traffic. There has to be a way around.” After a quarter mile they reached an exit ramp where he pulled off.

“Where are we going?” Stacy asked.

“I’m trying to get around all this shit.”

As they drove, the access road was closed off to construction. April took a deep breath. This is why she hated road trips, especially to Dallas. There was always an accident or construction, or both. Todd turned off on a side road.

“I’m taking this detour. Fuck this traffic and shit. They were working on this last summer when I came out this way. Fuckers.” Todd grumbled.

“So do you know where we’re going?” April asked.

“Yes I know. We’re fine. This road loops right around and back onto the interstate.”

April looked back out the window. Todd was a douchebag and she had a feeling he had no clue where he was going. After almost an hour when they passed a sign that said “Welcome to Happytown” that feeling was confirmed.

Also by Tim Miller

The Hand of God

Revenge of the Three

Dark Exorcist

Blood Slayer

Family Night

Hell Texas

Night of Vengeance

Bloody Bank Heist

The Country Club

Road to Darkness

Dead to Writes

About the Author

Tim began writing at a very young age. As a teenager he would write short stories of horror to entertain himself and his friends. Not knowing at the time this would one day lead to his dream of becoming a published author. Tim has studied various religions and psychology as evident in the "Hand of God" books and "Dark Exorcist."

From there, Tim began to venture into the realm of splatterpunk and extreme horror, which kicks the gore factor into overdrive. With the release of "Family Night" Tim has been off to the races. He has released several bestselling titles that are sure to turn your stomach.

In addition to writing, Tim is also trying his hand in acting. He has been cast in in the feature film, "Zombie Reign" which starts filming in the fall of 2014.

You can follow Tim on his website at http://timmiller.org and on Twitter @TimMiller2011