Shadows (13 page)

‘Come on, Jess, please look.’ Eve gently tugged Jess’s hands away from her face. Her eyes were screwed shut. ‘We’re the only ones here, just you, me and Luke.’

Jess cracked open her eyes, took a breath, then opened them all the way. ‘I thought … Eve, they were … They had my mother.’ She shuddered.

Eve wished she had a sweater to wrap around her friend. But the night had been so nice, she hadn’t worn one. At least, it had started out nice.
It doesn’t really matter. A sweater wouldn’t help
, Eve thought.
She’s not cold on the outside. She’s cold inside
. Eve felt the same
way, as if the voices had left icy slime trails in her body.

‘No they didn’t. It was in your head,’ Eve said gently. ‘Even outside, there was nothing really there.’

Jess’s eyes darted frantically around the church. Finally she seemed convinced she was safe. She moved slowly towards the closest pew and sank down onto it, exhausted and pale.

‘What happened?’ Luke asked, baffled. ‘Did those guys come after you again? I’m so sorry. We needed to meet at the church, but I should have walked you over here.’

‘No, it was shadows,’ Eve answered. Which sounded like nothing. ‘It was like the shadows had a life of their own,’ she tried to explain. ‘They were pulling at us, grabbing for us. And they were whispering all these horrible things.’

‘Whispering?’ Luke repeated doubtfully.

‘Well, screaming but in whispers. Or … I don’t know,’ Eve said. ‘That’s what it was like for me, anyway. Like the shadows were talking, but I didn’t really
hear
them. They were whispering right into my mind, filling it up.’

Luke didn’t answer, but the look on his face was enough to make Eve squirm. She knew she sounded crazy, but it was all true.

‘It was worse for Jess,’ she went on. ‘I just heard voices, but somehow Jess was seeing what the voices described.’

‘No. It was more than seeing,’ Jess corrected her. ‘It was smell, touch, everything. I could smell my mother’s blood.’

For a moment none of them said another word. Luke stared back and forth between the girls, his eyes wide.

‘Coffee,’ he finally said.

‘What?’ Eve asked.

‘Coffee will help. Great smell. Great taste,’ he answered. ‘I brought some.’ He grabbed his backpack from the floor behind the last pew, and produced a big plaid thermos and three Styrofoam cups.

‘It does smell good,’ Eve said as Luke poured them all coffee.

‘I don’t think I’ve seen anyone with a thermos since fourth grade,’ Jess commented. She took a sip of the hot coffee and forced a smile. ‘The plaid has kind of a fun, retro vibe. I can see it as a cute little skirt.’

Eve felt her shoulders relax. Clearly Jess was feeling a little more herself.

‘That’s why I bought it,’ Luke answered, his snarkasm showing. ‘Actually, my dad bought it.
He almost never wears cute little skirts.’

They all laughed, but the sound seemed to get swallowed up by the heavy silence of the church. Luke took a gulp of coffee. ‘So … shadows.’

‘Yeah,’ Jess said softly.

‘But as soon as you stepped inside the church, everything was OK. Is that right?’ Luke asked.

‘For me it was,’ Eve said. She cradled the cup of coffee close to her body, trying to absorb that small amount of warmth.

‘For me too,’ Jess agreed. ‘It just took me a couple of minutes to realize it was over.’

‘So the gargoyles are working,’ Luke observed.

‘Huh?’ Eve said.

‘Yeah, huh?’ Jess added.

‘
Gargoyles
,’ Luke said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Eve glanced around the church. It bristled with gargoyles. Dozens and dozens – gleeful, sneering, snarling – gazed down at the three of them as if they were listening to the conversation. And there were even more outside. She remembered them staring at her through the shadows.

Jess cleared her throat. ‘I hate to repeat myself, but huh?’

‘Gargoyles are supposed to scare off evil spirits,’ Luke explained. ‘And demons. I thought everyone knew that.’

‘No, only ministers’ kids know that,’ Eve teased him.

She’d never thought much about the gargoyles, although the church was famous for them. Tourists even came to see them. Eve had never understood the appeal of the stone monsters, but if they kept demons away, she was now a fan. A big fan.

‘Makes sense. Some of them are pretty scary,’ Jess commented. ‘There’s one over there that has a skeleton in its mouth.’

‘It’s weird that we have a church with the most gargoyles anywhere in the world,’ Eve said slowly. ‘I mean, the town used to be called Demondene.’

‘It can’t be a coincidence,’ Luke agreed.

‘Do you think the town founders put all the gargoyles here because Deepdene – Demondene – because it’s some kind of demon magnet? I mean, the place attracts them?’ Eve asked.

‘Cheerful theory,’ Jess muttered, her head tilted back as she continued to look up at the gargoyles.

‘But a good one,’ Luke said. ‘The old minister’s diary confirms there have been demons in Deepdene before now.’

‘Really? What did it say?’ Eve asked. ‘How come we never heard anything about demons before?’

‘Are we talking about Reverend Simon?’ Jess asked. He had died of pancreatic cancer just after Christmas.

‘Yeah. He kept a diary,’ Luke answered.

‘Reverend Simon was like three feet tall,’ Jess put in. ‘There’s no way he was dealing with demons.’

Luke took a plain brown leather journal out of his backpack and sat down on the pew next to Jess. ‘Well, Reverend Simon mostly talked about ideas for sermons and thoughts about how to help parishioners in here.’ He tapped the book.

‘Oooh, gossip. Anything juicy?’ Jess asked. Eve smiled. Her friend was definitely feeling better.

‘I’ll let you read the whole thing later,’ Luke said with a wink. He flipped open the journal to a page he’d marked with a little piece of paper. ‘But here’s what I wanted you to see. Starting right here.’ He pointed to a paragraph more than halfway down. Silently they all began to read.

The Time of the Demon

Throughout my time here in Deepdene, I have prepared myself for it, yet now my resolve is as weak as
my failing body. I wonder if I will live to see the dark time I’ve read so much about.

As the time of the demon approaches, my mind turns to the evil in the world more and more often. I know I should turn away from such thoughts. I believe that thinking about the demons – fearing them, to be more honest – is unhealthy. Unholy. I must turn my fears over to God. I must pray for the strength to help protect my town when the time comes, when the master demon comes through the portal again. Who will it take the form of this time?

Can such things be true? I sometimes pray that it is a strange dream, all of it, the writings of those who came before, everything. It’s not so unreasonable that it could all be a strange and intricate delusion brought on by my medications, is it?

But in my heart I know the truth – as I have always known it. I have read in the Dark Book compiled by the other ministers of this church – a book I will add to, if I survive – that the master demon rises every hundred years and assumes the form of any human it chooses, coming, with its demon minions, to feed on the people of Deepdene. Innocence and faith will be no protection.

Soon – in less than a year, if the pattern holds – the
master demon will begin to feed on the souls of those living here, using those precious souls to strengthen its power. Soon there will be an epidemic of insanity, as each person fed upon is driven mad. A person without a soul can’t have reason. Losing a soul means losing sanity.

Again, all I can do is pray. Pray for strength, and pray for the appearance of the Deepdene Witch. If history repeats itself, and there is a witch who has come into her powers during the time of darkness, she will have the power to fight the demons.

Perhaps I know the Deepdene Witch already. Perhaps she is one of my parishioners. Perhaps she is just reaching the age when her powers begin to express themselves. I wish I could be there to support her in what must be a frightening and confusing time. I hope her presence is revealed to me soon – her power will be known by the fire that flows from her hands.

If I am gone, then I can offer only this. There is still hope. The church is old and strong, and it holds secrets that are key to destroying the demon. The devil knows, where the secrets are hidden.

‘After that, he goes back to regular stuff – like the pancake breakfast,’ Luke said, closing the
journal. ‘And his cancer treatments,’ he added sadly.

Eve stared down at her hands, then put down her coffee and lifted them in front of her. ‘I asked my dad if he’d ever heard of the Deepdene Witch,’ she said, still looking at her hands. Hands that could kill a demon. ‘He thought I was asking about her because I’d found out she was my great-great-great-grandmother.’

‘Evie’s great-great-great-grandmother! How amazing is that?’ Jess exclaimed.

‘Interesting,’ Luke breathed. ‘So that means …’ He paused, seeming reluctant to go on.

‘… that I’m the new Deepdene Witch,’ Eve finished for him.

‘It’s just … wow,’ Jess said.

‘I know,’ Eve replied.

‘No, I mean
wow
,’ Jess said. ‘You are
so
going to change the image of witches! Once everyone gets a look at you, no one will think witches are all hairy moles and black hats or grungy, hippy, vegan Wicca chicks ever again!’

Eve lowered her hands, laughing, actually laughing. Luke laughed too, and Jess joined in. Their laughter didn’t last. The terrifying events of the past few days were too big to ignore for long.

‘The demon is already here,’ Eve said. ‘I don’t know
where it came from or what that portal was the minister talked about, but …’

‘But we all know it’s here,’ Jess said, sounding more serious than Eve had ever heard her.

Eve nodded. ‘And it’s feeding on souls. That’s why Megan, Rose and Shanna’s mom are already in the mental hospital. We have to find whatever secrets Reverend Simon was talking about—’

‘Rose too?’ Luke asked.

‘Yeah. We found out after I talked to you,’ Eve replied. ‘And now Belinda’s talking about demons too. She could be next!’

Luke just shook his head.

‘I can’t believe Reverend Simon knew all this was coming,’ Jess commented. ‘Whenever I saw him around town, he always just looked normal.’

‘Well, we know all this is here, and we look normal,’ Luke said. ‘Actually, I’d give both of you a normal plus.’

Jess rolled her eyes. ‘Gee. Thanks.’

‘What was that part about where the secrets are hidden again?’ Eve asked. There wasn’t really time for joking around any more. The demon could be sucking someone’s soul right this second.

‘Here’s all it says.’ Luke read from the journal:
‘
The devil knows, where the secrets are hidden.
’

Eve looked back and forth between her friends. ‘But what does that mean?’

‘I don’t know,’ Luke replied. ‘But we’d better figure it out fast. Because right now, in the battle of Deepdene, the demons are winning.’

‘
The devil knows where the secrets are hidden
,’ Eve said. She’d repeated the sentence about twenty times. She tried again. ‘
The devil knows
where
the secrets are hidden
.’ It didn’t help. She’d reached the point where the words were a meaningless jumble of sounds.

‘I got nothing!’ Jess called, her voice echoing off the high ceiling and marble floors. She’d been circling the interior of the church, checking for hiding places. Somewhere in this draughty, gargoyle-filled old building was the key they needed to defeat the demon.

‘I’ve spent hours looking,’ Luke commented. ‘Pretty much all day. I even crawled around on my hands and knees, feeling for loose stones. They always hide things under loose stones in the movies.’ He set down the old minister’s journal and stood up from the pew next to Eve. ‘But that doesn’t mean I didn’t miss something.’ He stared up at the ceiling. ‘I didn’t check up there. But
I’d need some kind of scaffolding to get high enough.’

‘I feel like my brain has been exfoliated,’ Eve complained. ‘I’m sure there’s a clue in what Reverend Simon wrote, but it’s just not clicking.’ She picked up the journal. Maybe seeing the words again would give her some new ideas.

‘Exfoliation scrubs away the dead cells. That would make you think better, not un-better,’ Jess pointed out. ‘Hey, did you know that in the Middle Ages they used wine as an exfoliator?’

‘Why do you know that?’ Luke asked. He turned to Eve. ‘Why does she know that?’

‘
The devil knows, where the secrets are hidden
,’ Eve read aloud from the journal.

‘Please don’t start that again,’ Jess begged.

‘
The devil
knows,
where the secrets are hidden
. Huh. The comma is weird,’ Eve said, running her finger over the little mark after the word ‘knows’. It looked like a comma, but was it just a splotch of dust or something? No, it didn’t come off.

She frowned. ‘
The devil knows where the secrets are hidden
. That’s the sentence. So there shouldn’t be a comma after “knows”, right?’

‘Comma means a pause.
The devil knows … where the secrets are hidden
,’ Luke said.

Jess gave a loud mock scream. The sound of the cry echoing through the empty church made Eve’s skin itch.

‘I wish I hadn’t done that,’ Jess told them. ‘It was creepy. But I couldn’t stand hearing that “devil knows” thing one more time.’

‘Putting a pause in that sentence doesn’t change the meaning,’ Luke sighed.

‘Commas are also used after certain clauses,’ Eve said.

‘But there shouldn’t be a comma. It’s not a compound sentence,’ Luke said. ‘Anybody know if Reverend Simon got good grades in English?’

‘I didn’t notice any other mistakes.’ Although Eve had to admit that she hadn’t spent all that much time thinking about grammar when she was reading about demons and portals and witches in the journal. ‘
The devil
knows,
where the secrets—
Shoe City!’ she cried.