Rapture (29 page)

“I believe I can. Angels like Gabriel, for instance, cannot come to this place. Even if she could, the rules state that she cannot help you. I, on the other hand, am a free agent. The others consider us as neutrals and generally ignore us.”

“But why would you help us? What’s in it for you?”

“It is not in our interests for the Antichrist or Satan to control the earth. Neither is it in our interests for Heaven to triumph. We merely seek a balance and a return to the Earth the way it was thousands of years ago. A simple time when there was less sin in the world. A place where we would be free to do what we do best – love women.”

Sam shook his head in confusion. “I’m not sure how I can help you.”

“I can help you leave this place. When you do, you will confront the Antichrist. If you win, you will help our cause. If you lose, you’ll be dead, so it won’t matter now, will it?”

Sam remained silent. The Watcher had a way of putting things that was slightly disagreeable.

Samyaza was watching him carefully, observing his reactions. “I take it you’ve figured out that churches are portals to earth, yes? And that all demons can travel directly to these portals? I can see that you have. Then the rest is easy. All you have to do is create a portal, visualise your destination and will yourself there. You’ve already felt the Lemure do it. It is that simple.”

“There’s a slight problem with that,” said Sam. “The only churches I’ve seen the inside of are the one back in Jacob’s Ladder and the one that we just came from in Vegas. I doubt that either place is going to help me get to the Antichrist in Los Angeles. I’ve never been to Los Angeles so I certainly can’t visualise a place I’ve never seen.”

“But I have,” said Joshua, breaking his long silence. “My uncle took me to a church when we were in L.A. I remember it clearly.”

Samyaza nodded happily. “See? You have your solution.”

Sam sheathed his swords angrily. He clenched his fists, keeping a firm grip on the familiar feeling of frustration that threatened to break loose into something else. “What? That’s not a solution! How am I meant to visualise a place that only Joshua has seen?”

“Have you noticed anything different while you’ve been here? Anything different about yourself?” the Watcher asked.

“Sure,” said Sam. “I feel stronger.”

“Anything else?” Samyaza asked archly.

Sam shrugged. “No. I don’t think so.”

“As a demon – or half-demon – your body and your mind is quickly adapting to this place. Demons, especially high ranking ones such as Princes, have certain powers - powers which you haven’t even started tapping yet. Being here is enough for some of these powers to start coming to the fore. One of those powers is a limited form of telepathy.”

“You mean mind-reading?” asked Joshua, apparently alarmed by such a suggestion.

“Sort of,” nodded Samyaza. “Demons can read simple visual images in human minds. The image has to be particularly strong but it can be done with concentration. All Joshua has to do is visualise the inside of that church in L.A and Samael will do the rest.”

“Wait a minute,” said Sam. “What’s this about me being a Prince? That’s the second time someone’s mentioned that. And what about these other powers you just told me about?”

Samyaza laughed, a beautiful, musical sound that elicited a giggle from Grace’s lips. The Watcher, Sam thought sourly, was really starting to get his goat.

“It really isn’t my place to divulge too much at this stage, but think on this: only the rulers of Hell beget Princes. They are the sons of the most powerful demons and you are counted amongst them. You have more power than you know, Samael. ” He glanced at his bare wrist. “Is that the time? Gracious, I must get going.” He nodded and smiled at the three teenagers. “Good luck with your endeavours. You’re certainly going to need some of it. Samael, you might want to prepare yourself. Certain demons have excellent senses – particularly smell. Very shortly, you are going to have company. Quite a lot of it, I expect. Be warned; if you die in Hell – particularly if you are mortal – you will remain here forever.”

With that, he launched himself gracefully into the air, his wings borne aloft by the thermals rising from the pit. In moments, he was gone. Next to him, Sam heard Grace sigh.

“What do you think he meant by that?” asked Joshua. “Company?”

“I think we’re about to get attacked. Josh, you better start thinking about that church while I work on developing mind powers that I didn’t know I had. I’ve got a feeling that we’re going to need them shortly.”

They set to it, but Joshua had only half-completed the pentagram when the first of the expected ‘company’ arrived. It was an Astaroth, landing on the small open space before the precipice with a heavy thud. It folded its huge wings and moved forward menacingly.

Sam, busy trying to locate the image of a church in Joshua’s head, quickly changed focus to the intruder. Even while he drew his swords, his mind still sought out Joshua’s. The boy’s mind kept flickering from the church to the task he was currently engaged in; all Sam could get was a fuzzy outline of a pentagram. Trying to get into Josh’s head and capture an image was like wrestling an eel – the image constantly tried to slip away from him.

Sam charged towards the Astaroth, conscious of keeping it away from Joshua and Grace, the latter crouching down behind a rocky outcrop. The Astaroth didn’t seem particularly interested in either of them in any case. More intelligent by far than the Lemure, it automatically sensed who was the greater threat and its fiery gaze sought out Sam immediately.

Sam had faced Astaroth before and defeated them but it had never been easy. This time, however, was different. Sam had never felt so powerful, so strong. His blades seemed positively eager to taste the creature’s blood or whatever it was that ran in its veins, darting out in cuts and parries seemingly with a will of their own.

The Astaroth was forced to retreat from Sam’s furious assault, no match for his incredible speed and whirling blades. It made the mistake of glancing behind to see how far the precipice was from its giant armoured feet. That was all Sam needed. Both his blades bit deep into the heart of the mighty demon and it disappeared in a plume of ash.

Sam looked up. More Astaroth were circling but he felt something else approaching. Something even more dangerous. “Hurry up,” he yelled.

“I’m doing my best,” grunted Joshua.

Working furiously with the chalk Sam had provided, Joshua had almost completed the outline of the pentagram. Sam had no idea whether they needed it or not – the Watcher had been rather vague about the details – but he knew that the Lemure used one so why not? Perhaps it would help to focus his thoughts.

Joshua finished and stood up, looking pleased with himself.

“Now focus on the church,” said Sam.

As his mind sought out the connection with Joshua’s, his body was instinctively moving to the narrow opening in the passage. Whatever was heading towards them was coming from that direction and moving fast.

The fiery glow on the walls of the passage announced the proximity of the creature before it emerged. This time, Sam knew exactly what he faced. He’d read about these demons countless times before, and every account spoke of them with terror and awe. Even Astaroth feared them. They were often bonded to even greater, more powerful demons of Hell who used them to track down wayward prey, and were so prized and rare that even the rulers of Hell only possessed a handful each.

It was a Hellhound.

With a wave of heat and glare, the Hellhound appeared from around a corner, shaking the walls as it scraped along the narrow passage. It was a giant dog, eight feet high at the shoulder, with a raging coat of flames and eyes that spat molten sparks. Each of its teeth was as long as one of Sam’s fingers. Behind it, Sam could see a horde of Lemure, struggling to get past the giant dog but unwilling to get too close to its burning flanks.

As soon as the Hellhound saw Sam, it roared and belched out a ball of fire that completely immolated him in flame. Sam stood completely still; amazingly he was untouched by the fire that would have made a normal human a pile of scorched bones in seconds. He felt the heat but only as something mildly discomforting – certainly not life threatening.

His clothes still burning, Sam attacked, bringing both swords down onto the head of the huge beast with all the force he could gather. His swords clanged off it like they had just struck the side of a tank. He retreated a step, desperately warding off the massive jaws that snapped out at him like giant traps.

A part of his mind was still with Joshua, trying to cling to an image of a church he had never seen. Another part was trying to ignite the pentagram the way he’d felt the Lemure do, while yet another was trying to focus on the flaming giant creature that was doing its best to sever him into several small pieces. He didn’t know if he could accomplish all three things even under the best of conditions, and now was certainly not the best of conditions.

He retreated another few steps. This was a major blunder on his behalf. The Hellhound was able to fully emerge from the passage, giving room for the Lemure to skirt around it and into the small clearing. Circumstances had suddenly gone from bad to worse.

Behind him, Joshua had picked up his baseball bat and was holding it like he was expecting to hit a home run. Grace had selected several small rocks that were lying near to her hiding place. She set them in a small pile at her feet and hefted the first one experimentally.

The Hellhound attacked again and this time Sam was not quite quick enough to avoid its huge jaws. They found his shoulder and he was savagely wrenched off his feet. The pain was intense this time, not only from the bite but also from the creature’s burning jaws. He stifled a scream and thrust with his one free hand. It was the right, the one that held his katana. The blow was straight and true, slicing cleanly through the Hellhound’s flaming right eye and into its skull. Immediately, its jaws went slack and he found himself sprawled at its feet.

The Hellhound wasn’t out of it yet. Howling, it waved its head around frantically, desperately trying to dislodge the sword still buried in its head, spreading molten fire in its wake. Some of the fire spilled onto the surrounding Lemure, forcing them back with yelps and shrieks. Others sprang forward, reaching for Sam with clawed hands. The closest suddenly flew back, howling in agony as a rock slammed into its face. Sam turned his head and saw Grace standing nearby, another rock already in her hand.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Sam surged to his feet and fought off the attacking Lemure with the wakizashi in his left. Two circled around behind him and entered the pentagram, ruining the outline with their clawed feet and Joshua swatted at them with his baseball bat, keeping them at bay.

The Hellhound was still baying in fury. It lowered its head, using one massive paw to try and dislodge the sword embedded in its skull. Sam saw his chance. He hurled himself forward, leaping onto its head and thrusting his sword up to its hilt into its other eye. It emitted one mighty roar and then slumped down at his feet, dead. Curiously, unlike other demons Sam had encountered, it remained stubbornly solid. Greater demons like the Hellhound were obviously not subject to the same rules as their lesser brethren.

He pulled his blades out of its flaming skull. Both seemed to be undamaged by their contact with the beast but were glowing dully with the intense heat they had been subjected to. Sam used this to his advantage, scattering Lemure and creating ash piles whenever one of his blades bit true. He vaulted over the outline of the pentagram and directly into the symbol, destroying the two Lemure that had beset Joshua.

“Fix the outline,” he yelled. Joshua nodded and bent down, frantically scraping with his piece of chalk.

Above them, at least ten more Astaroth were looking for a place to land on the ledge. For some reason, the presence of the Hellhound had served to keep them away but now, they began angling down.

Several Lemure also remained. They split up; some charged towards Sam and Joshua, while the others went for Grace. Grace threw rock after rock at them but the blows only stunned them, incapable of destroying their bodies. Sam threw himself in a somersault over the heads of the five Lemure who were about to scurry over the pentagram. As he did, his swords lashed out. Five hillocks of ash joined the others as he landed on his feet, sprinting towards Grace.

He was almost too late. Grace was on the ground, desperately warding off the demon’s claws with her arms. One was poised above her, its jaws startlingly wide as it brought its head down to tear out her throat with its savage teeth. Sam had only one chance. He threw his sword by its hilt. It twirled, end over end and sank itself in the head of the Lemure, throwing it six feet into a nearby rock wall.

With his last remaining blade, Sam polished off the last of the Lemure and helped Grace to her feet as an Astaroth attacked from above. Without hesitating, Sam leapt up, spearing the creature in mid-air, both of their bodies crashing down to the ground in a writhing heap. He forced the blade deeper into the creature and suddenly, it was gone, nothing but dust floating on the hellish breeze.

Grace retrieved the blade he had thrown and handed it to him wordlessly. Nearby, Josh had finished the repairs to the pentagram but was busy fending off an Astaroth with his baseball bat. It was hovering just above him, the wind from its wings buffeting him about mercilessly. Sam took a run-up and leapt higher than he thought possible, landing on the creature’s back. He stabbed both swords into its neck and it disappeared, leaving him clutching air. He fell to the ground, landing with the assurance of a puma next to Joshua.

“Joshua, focus!” he cried as Grace hurried into the symbol, careful not to tread on the outline.

Suddenly, the image of a large church with stained glass windows and weathered floor boards surged into his mind. He concentrated on the image floating in Josh’s head. The chalk outline of the symbol suddenly burst into flame as he applied his brainpower, willing them to be gone from this place.