Absence of Faith (42 page)

"Chantress, you go that way and
count to thirty and then stop. Carson, do the same in that
direction. I’ll start then Carson then Chantress."

"Okay, let’s do it," Carson
said.

Chantress and Carson vanished into
the woods in different directions and Husk moved closer to the
warehouse. He counted to fifty, and then turned on the
bullhorn.

"This is the police. You are
surrounded. Come out and no one will get hurt."

He immediately ran back to the clearing where they had agreed
to meet. A few seconds later, Carson’s voice echoed through the
woods from a different direction with the same message; seconds
after that, Chantress’ voice filled the silence from her position.
Several minutes later, all three were back at the original
clearing.

"Okay. They should be rushing out
soon," Husk said. "We’ll approach from the rear and hopefully get
in."

"Craaaaack!" an explosion pierced
the silence and Husk twisted to the left and fell to the
ground.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" he
screamed.

Chantress instantly darted away
into the dense woods and vanished like a spooked deer. Carson
crouched down near Husk.

"What happened?"

"Ugh! My shoulder!" Husk
cried.

Carson looked and saw a tiny hole
in Husk's shirt near his shoulder. The material around the hole
darkened. Carson touched it. The shirt was warm and wet.

"You've been shot!"

"Get out of here! Now!" Husk said.
"Go before they come. The bastards must have night vision
goggles."

Husk tried to get up, but Carson
easily guided him back down.

"Got to slow the bleeding first,"
Carson said.

He gingerly removed Husk's shirt
and Husk protested painfully. Then Carson tied the shirt in a tight
knot under Husk's arm and around his shoulder.

"Can you stand?"

Husk nodded.

Carson helped Husk to his feet
nearly collapsing from his weight.

"Oh, man does it hurt!" Husk
gasped.

Carson and Husk walked slowly
stumbling through the darkness with only the light of the full moon
illuminating their way.

"Where's Chantress?" Husk
asked.

"She took off into the woods over
there," Carson said.

"I hope she knows what she’s up
against," he said.

A shadow suddenly appeared about
thirty feet ahead, and then another seemed to materialize next to
it out of the darkness. Carson and Husk stopped. The shadows moved
closer. They moved back, but the dark figures continued to approach
them. When the shadows were close enough, they turned into two men
dressed in black with rifles aimed at them. Their faces were
covered in ski masks.

"Oh, shit!" Husk said.

"Move it," one of the men said and
he moved his rifle forward.

Carson and Husk turned around and
began walking; the men in black followed. The clearing turned into
a narrow path and Carson continued to help Husk walk. A few minutes
later, Carson noticed a strange object attached to one of the trees
ahead. When he was closer, he saw it was a black cross, nailed to
the tree about five feet from the ground.

"It's to keep the bad in and the
good out," Husk said in a low voice.

Carson nodded.

The group reached the old warehouse
a few minutes later. One of the men moved in front of them and
opened the large door. They walked into a wall of hot, stuffy air
that smelled of burning candles and incense. Many red candles
placed on several small shelves illuminated the large room. A small
portable fire pit burned in the center of the room inside the large
circle. The live embers and smoke curled its way upward and escaped
through a large jagged hole in the roof. Everyone was dressed in
red robes. The air was acrid and the candles and the fire cast an
eerie light on everything.

"We have guests," Kyle said turning
to see the group as they entered.

"You?" Kyle directed at Husk.
"You're a traitor! A traitor!"

Kyle spit on the ground.

"Fuck you, asshole," Husk said. "I
was never one of your kind. Your kind is everything bad and evil in
the world, scum, the lowest of the earth. Your kind took my
brother, and I'm going to take you to hell with me!"

"Ha, ha, ha. You talk bravely for a
man who won't see the sun again," Kyle replied. "You have caused
enough trouble for our coven."

"Wrong! I've just begun," Husk
said.

Kyle ignored him and walked closer
Carson.

"We also have a healer among us,"
he said. "A doctor, the very doctor that has been doing harm to us,
the one who has been trying to undermine our efforts. This will
surely be a glorious night for Satan and his followers."

Carson was silent. The crowd
applauded.

"We heard your feeble attempts to
scare us off, but we were one step ahead of you. We knew you were
there."

Carson gave him the
finger.

"Bring out Satan's bride," Kyle
ordered.

Two men appeared holding a woman
under both arms. The woman could barely walk and her head drooped.
When the men came closer, Carson began to shift on his feet. The
man in black moved the barrel of his rifle in front of
Carson.

"Linda!" Carson
screamed.

Linda slowly picked up her head and
half opened her eyes. He noticed a flicker in her eyes,
confirmation that she knew he was there.

"What did you do to her?" Carson
yelled lunging forward.

The man with the rifle pushed him
back and jammed his foot into Carson’s stomach.

"I'll kill you, you son of a
bitch!" Carson yelled holding his stomach.

Several of the guards instantly
jammed their rifles into Carson's chest. Carson stopped moving and
stared at the men his eyes filled with hatred. They pulled the guns
away and then motioned Carson and Husk to the side of the altar, a
crudely constructed wood platform with a red satin sheet placed
over the top. They trained their rifles on the two men. The others
huddled inside the large pentagram. Nurse Doherty then moved out of
the crowd of eight and approached the altar. She smiled at Carson.
Carson eyes burned into hers.
You bitch. You're responsible for
this
, he thought. The nurse removed Linda's robe. She was nude.
Carson pushed forward towards Linda.

"You degenerates!"

The two men pushed Carson back with
their rifles. Linda was placed on her back on the altar. She moaned
and then fell silent.

Kyle picked up a large, brass bell
from the altar and whipped it in the air as if he might catch
something. The crowd went silent and still. Kyle lifted a silver
chalice off the altar and drank from it and then he handed it to
nurse Doherty. She took a drink and passed it to the others. The
others drank from it one by one. Kyle faced the small
gathering.

"Emperor Lucifer, master of
rebellious spirits, we command you to place your seed in this woman
of the flesh through me. Take her as your bride and let her bear
your child."

Carson shifted on his
feet.

"You fucking low life!" he yelled
and lunged for Kyle with his hands outstretched.

One of the men swung the butt of
his rifle into the side of Carson's head. Carson collapsed like a
rag doll. Husk caught him as he fell and both slowly slumped to the
dirt floor. Drops of blood trickled out of Carson's head and ran
down the right side of his face.

"You, asshole! You didn't have to
hit him!" Husk yelled at the man holding the rifle.

Linda moaned again and Kyle
continued.

"We want the Prince Beelzebub to
protect our newborn. O Astaroth, great count, be favorable likewise
and make it possible for the great Lucifuge to appear through this
child. O great Lucifuge, we command you to leave your dwelling
wherever it may be to come here and speak with us."

Kyle took a pinch of red powder
from a small pouch on the altar and sprinkled the dust over a lit
candle. The dust sparked and flared as it touched the small
flame.

"In the name of Satan the ruler of
the earth, the king of the world, I command the forces of darkness
to bestow their infernal power upon me. Open wide the gates of Hell
and come forth from the abyss to greet me as your brother and
friend. Grant me the indulgences of which I ask."

Kyle took more of the powder and
sprinkled it over the small fire burning in the center of the
circle.

"By all the gods of the pit, I
command that these things of which I speak shall come to
pass."

Two men left the circle and went to
a far corner of the warehouse. They returned with a middle-aged man
pale and catatonic. His eyes were closed and he mumbled and moaned.
Blood oozed from two large cuts on each side of his body just above
the waistline.

"Prepare the sacrifice," Kyle
ordered.

Another man brought a long rope
over that was attached to a ceiling crossbeam.

"That's Nick!" Carson
gasped.

The men put Nick on the floor and
then tied the rope around his ankles.

"Go ahead," the man
said.

Two other men pulled on a rope near
one of the walls. The block squeaked as the rope ran through it and
Nick was slowly raised into an upside down position.

"I call upon the messengers of doom
to slash with grim delight this victim I have chosen," Kyle said to
the small group.

No one moved. Then Kyle moved
towards Nick and stood there staring at the naked man. He pulled
out the athame, the ceremonial dagger, and thrust it into the
existing wounds on the side of Nick’s body and turned the knife.
Nick squirmed and moaned louder. More blood oozed out the
cuts.

Kyle returned to the altar and
removed his robe. He was nude. He climbed up on the altar and moved
over Linda. The nurse moved her legs apart. She helped Kyle get
ready by touching and stroking him.

Carson moved to get up and Husk
held him down and shook his head. Husk moved his eyes down towards
his hand to show Carson he had gathered a small pile of dirt with
his good hand. He slowly scooped the dirt near him until he had a
couple of large handfuls. Then one of the men with the rifles
stepped closer to Husk. Husk stopped moving and closed his eyes as
if that would ward off the blow. He waited several seconds
wondering where he would feel the pain. Nothing. He opened his eyes
cautiously and then slowly looked up at the man. The man was
mesmerized by the activity on the altar.

Kyle was on all fours posed over
Linda when one of the large doors swung open. Chantress stood in
the doorway holding a large silver revolver. She quickly looked
around the room and when she spotted Kyle, she aimed and fired. The
gunfire was so loud it seemed to numb everyone. Chantress’ arm
jerked upward from he kick of the gun and she stumbled and fell.
When she hit the ground, the gun went off again and the bullet went
through the roof. Kyle jumped off behind the altar and vanished.
The two gunmen instantly raised their rifles and aimed them at
Chantress. Husk kicked the gunman's feet closest to him, knocking
him down. The man fell forward onto his face and the rifle went off
- the bullet slamming into the portable fire pit sending sparks and
flames everywhere. The robes of several people near the pit caught
on fire and they ran out in a panic. Then Husk threw a handful of
dirt into the face of the other gunman, and Carson jumped forward,
grabbed his ankles, and pulled. The man fell backward, his gun
going off and tearing a hole in the roof. The man struck his head
on the edge of the altar and collapsed. Husk quickly moved on top
of the first gunman, no longer feeling the pain in his shoulder,
and pushed the man's face to the floor. The man struggled to push
him off, but Husk grabbed his hair and used it as a handle to smash
the man's face repeatedly into the hard dirt. When the man no
longer moved, Husk stopped. Nurse Doherty and the others ran
towards the rear of the building and disappeared into the darkness.
Husk took both rifles and kept one trained on the unconscious men.
He turned towards the door, but no one was there. Carson got up and
rushed towards Linda.

"Oh, baby. Are you all right? Are
you all right?" he said holding her head up.

She opened her eyes and smiled.
Carson hugged her. He took one of the robes lying on the floor and
covered her.

"You’ll be fine. Don’t worry. It’s
all over now. You’ll be fine," Carson said while lightly kissing
her on her face.

"Boom!"

"What was that?" Carson asked
fearfully.

"Another gunshot!" Husk added.
"Could have been Chantress. It was loud enough."

Seconds later two patrol cars
pulled up piercing the night with their sirens. Red and blue light
flashed on the front of warehouse. Frank pulled up behind the
patrol cars and then a fourth car followed by two more patrol cars.
Two uniformed police officers rushed into the warehouse with their
guns drawn and flashlights shining.