The Appeal of Evil (The Road to Salvation) (10 page)

“It in there?” Wes whispered as they slowly opened the trunk to pull out their weapons.

“Yep. And it’s active.”

“We’d better hurry then.” Wes reached frantically into the trunk for his crossbow and holy water bombs.

Randy shared his desire to get the job done quickly; while he focused on grabbing his own weapons, he neglected to hear the soft footsteps coming up behind them. After arming himself, he turned to walk back to the house and was backhanded, sending him flying across the forest floor.

“Dad!”

He barely heard Wes calling him as he landed hard on the ground, the air knocked out of him. He rolled to get to his feet, sensing a presence extremely close. Rough hands wrapped around his collar, and he was jerked upward. Black dots danced in front of his eyes. Between the dots, he caught a glimpse of his attacker. The demon stood close to seven feet tall, its black leathery wings folded behind it. Red eyes burned into Randy’s soul. Yellowed teeth dripping with spit snapped at him It must have been the demon coming through the portal. He and Wes weren’t fast enough. It hissed and threw Randy backward. Pain radiated up Randy’s spine. His head flew backward. For a moment, he was suspended against the car, thinking his back had been broken and he was going to die. As he slid to the ground, the pain renewed through his body, making him aware of every bone, muscle, and joint. He would have preferred not to be in agony, but that meant one thing, and he said a quick prayer of thanks that he was still alive.

Gun shots echoed all around him. He turned to his left and saw Wes’s legs coming around from the back of the car. The muzzle flashed at the corner of his eyes. Guns were an effective tool against demons, especially when the bullets were blessed, but they weren’t the best. Believe it or not, demons were fast enough to dodge most bullets, and they could see them coming. A few from Wes’s gun hit the mark, but more often they sailed into nature beyond. The demon advanced toward them.

Randy had to get to his feet. He had to take the demon down. He knew Wes was more than capable of doing it, but he didn’t want him to do it alone. Mustering all the strength he could find, and using the car for support, he pulled himself up and grabbed a holy water bomb from his belt. He threw it at the demon, but his aim was off; his eyes wouldn’t focus. The bomb hit at the creature’s feet. Some droplets splashed onto its taloned toes, causing wisps of smoke to curl in the air. The demon screamed. Randy’s vision cleared, just in time for him to see the demon lock him in its gaze. It charged forward, spreading its wings and taking flight. Randy grabbed another bomb from his belt. The creature was within ten feet. He cocked back his arm and threw. The water hit it square in the face at the same time a crossbow bolt skewered through its head. A gasping scream escaped its lips before it fell out of the sky onto the car. Randy jumped out of the way to keep from being hit. The weight of the demon crushed the roof in. Randy slowly got to his feet and stared at his son. Wes panted, the crossbow still raised. He circled the car toward Randy, making sure the demon was dead.

“You all right?” Wes asked.

Randy nodded. “Just need to catch my breath.”

The sound of crunching metal echoed through the woods. The demon on top of the car slid to the ground. Randy instantly jumped to his feet, grabbing at the crossbow on his back. He wasn’t fast enough. The car flew at them. Wes and Randy jumped sideways in opposite directions. Randy didn’t make it far enough. The hood clipped his leg. Burning pain traveled from his knee up to his thigh. For the second time that night, he landed hard on the ground. He rolled over, frantically searching for Wes. All he saw was another large demon looming over him. He tried to back away, to grab any weapon from his belt, but there wasn’t time. The creature slashed his clawed hand downward, catching Randy across the face. Blood splashed from the gash onto the forest floor, into his eyes, blinding him.

“The honor is mine, Praesul.” The demon’s voice crackled around him. Its hand reached out and grabbed his neck.

Randy fought to stay conscious. Pain radiated through his entire body. It was the only thing that made him realize he was still alive. Thinking of Wes, he once again fumbled for anything on his belt. The demon’s hot breath tickled his neck. He felt the points of its teeth ready to penetrate his flesh. With the little strength he had left, he smashed the holy water bomb into the side of the demon’s head.

Squeals of agony penetrated the night. Randy flopped onto the ground. The last thing he was aware of before passing out was the stench of burnt flesh.

***

“I awoke in the hospital. Wes was seated by my bed.” Randy shook his head. “He looked awful. Thankfully, though, the demons hadn’t hurt him. I suffered the brunt of their wrath. He saved my life.”

Katie nodded. “He showed up in my room later that night covered in blood. Stained everything he touched. I thought he had killed someone.”

“He was pretty distressed that night. I wanted to comfort him, assure him that everything was going to be all right, but they had me doped up on so many painkillers. I was in and out of consciousness.”

“You weren’t in the hospital for very long.”

“Why would they keep me? Nothing was broken, no internal damage. They patched me up and sent me home with a bottle of feel-good pills.” He shifted awkwardly in his seat. “I hate that I have to go back to see Wes in there.”

“Do you worry about him in there? I mean, what if Josh wants to finish what he started. Wes is defenseless.”

Randy shook his head. “Josh can’t hurt Wes.”

“What’s to stop him? Do you have someone guarding him? The hospital is a public place. Anyone can walk in there.”

“Any human can walk in there. Demons in disguise can’t.”

“Are they like vampires and have to be invited in?”

Randy chuckled. “No. They are free to go wherever they please, as long as it’s not holy ground.”

Katie pushed her eyebrows together. “Is the hospital holy ground?”

“What hospital is he in?”

Katie had to think for a moment. She hadn’t paid that much attention to where they had been taken. If finally came to her.

“Saint Mary’s.”

Randy nodded slowly. “It is tied to and blessed by the Church. Josh can’t set foot in it. But even if Wes weren’t at Saint Mary’s, there are things that could be done to ensure his safety.” He pointed at her. “Things you might consider doing to protect yourself.”

Katie refrained from rolling her eyes. Randy was trying to be nice and protective, but why had it taken him so long to act that way? Why wasn’t he concerned about her well being years ago? If he wanted to make sure she was safe, why didn’t he make his son stop hurting her? The only thought that ran through her mind when he talked about protection was hanging a garlic wreath around her window and a cross on her wall. Would that really do any good? It might keep Josh out of her house, but it wouldn’t stop him from contacting her on the street or at school.

Randy narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. “You don’t know much about demons, do you?”

Katie shrugged her right shoulder and picked at an invisible string on the couch. “Just what I’ve seen in the movies.”

Randy leaned his head back in an “Ah” gesture. “Well, unfortunately, the movies aren’t always right. I assume you’re referring to possession films?”

Katie didn’t look up but nodded. She felt foolish, unprepared. Should she know more about demons? Should she have paid closer attention in Sunday School? Did they even talk about demons in Sunday School? It seemed like a topic that might cause some distress in the kids.

“Possessions do occur,” Randy continued. “But they aren’t as rampant as those movies would lead you to believe. And only certain types of demons possess.” He leaned forward in the chair and placed his elbows on the arms. “What do you think the ultimate goal of a demon is?”

Katie stopped picking at the couch and looked up. “I don’t know. To torture and kill humans?”

“That’s a good guess, but not exactly true. Demons do torture and kill, but usually only individuals who have a close connection to God.”

“Like you.”

Randy smiled. “Yes, like me. Otherwise, a demon wants your soul. It’s a lot easier to tempt you into sin if a demon appears as your friend. Most people can be talked into doing anything by someone they trust. Demons will do and say whatever it takes to make you trust them.”

Katie thought back to the texts Josh had sent and the things he told her on the street. He seemed so sincere, so genuine. He almost did seem trustworthy. He made her question his motive and nature. That was incredibly cunning on his part. Not that Katie was all that good at picking up when people lied to her. Wes had done it for years and on several different occasions and she never figured it out. Did that make Wes better than Josh or just the same? How was she supposed to tell the good guys from the bad if they acted exactly the same?

“I don’t want to keep you for too much longer. I’m sure you would rather do anything but hang out with me.” Randy smiled.

Katie cleared her throat. If Randy only knew how right he was.

“Wes is coming home tomorrow, and I think he’d really appreciate it if you were here.”

Katie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Well, um, you see…”

What was she going to say? Did she want to see Wes tomorrow? She was still trying to figure some things out—things on her own.

“I can get you out of school.”

That made Katie pause. She might not be sure she wanted to see Wes, but she was sure she didn’t want to go to school. She couldn’t stand floating through another day pretending to pay attention. She could stomach a few hours of Wes to get a whole day away from school.

She sighed, trying to play it cool. “I suppose if it will make him happy.”

“It will. I’ll pick you up at nine.” He pushed himself out of his chair. It took several moments and a grimace of pain on his face to get to his feet.

For a moment, Katie wondered if she should help him. Her thoughts drifted to earlier in the night when her mom tried to help him and he waved her away. She didn’t want to emasculate him though, so she stayed where she was. If he asked for assistance, she’d help him.

When he was on his feet, Katie got to hers and headed for the door. She was several steps in front of him and intended on leaving without saying much more. She stepped into the darkness and focused her gaze on her house.

“See you tomorrow,” Randy called from the door.

Katie turned and waved to acknowledge him, but never slowed her pace until her front door was closed behind her.

MOM GLANCED AT KATIE
from the couch, craning her neck around.

“You get everything taken care of for Wes’s return home?” Mom wondered.

Katie nodded. “Yeah.”

Mom turned back around. “Good.”

Mom’s phone rang, and Katie assumed it was Randy calling to ask if Katie could get out of school tomorrow. Katie was confident Mom would say it was fine, especially if Randy was the one asking. She smiled slightly. At least there was one thing to look forward to in this whole mess.

She headed up to her room. Exhaustion surged through her body; her arm still ached. She needed to take some ibuprofen and climb into bed. Even if she wasn’t going to school tomorrow, she wanted to get as much sleep as she could. The weekend was coming up, and even though she didn’t have any plans, she wanted to be ready for anything. Well, at one point, she’d had plans to go to a movie with Josh, but after the warehouse debacle, Katie was sure those plans were cancelled. Maybe she would call Deb and they could go somewhere. Shopping sounded like a good plan. Or maybe just a hike in the woods. Anything to get away from the craziness and people. Some alone time was really what she needed. But not too alone. If she was a target for demons, she didn’t want to make it easy for them to get her.

After closing the door to her room, she pulled on her pajamas. Her phone buzzed on the desk. She stared at it. She had forgotten to take it with her. That wasn’t very smart. What if she had needed it to call for help? She shrugged. It didn’t matter. She hadn’t needed it. Scooping it up, she glanced at the display. Wes had called again. Twice. But he didn’t leave any messages. She rolled her eyes. That guy was persistent. He’d contacted her more in the last few days than he had the entire time she’d known him. She strained her mind to remember the last time he had called her. Had he ever? Maybe once or twice, but never that many times in a day. She flopped onto her bed. She’d see him tomorrow. No sense wasting time talking to him now.

Katie opened her browser. She typed in “demons” and waited for the pages to appear. She frowned. More than she had expected, and more varied. She didn’t need to read the definition–she knew what a demon was–but there were multiple encyclopedias and disciplines that dealt with the evil creatures. Were they really that big of a blight on society? Where had she been that she hadn’t noticed the problem? She clicked on a link of demon names. Maybe that would give her some answers.

She read the opening paragraph. It explained how different cultures from around the world had different demons that functioned in different ways. Some were tricksters, some were here to torment the living. There was list after list of names and descriptions of demons from around the world. Katie shook her head and closed the browser. That wasn’t helping. It was making things worse. She didn’t know what Josh was, so how was she going to find him in the list of names? If the list were shorter, that would be a different story. But it wasn’t, and she wasn’t any closer to understanding demons than she had been before being attacked by one. As much as she hated to admit it, she was going to have to learn about them from Wes and Randy.

That thought made her shudder slightly. She knew she was being unfair to both of them. In their own twisted way, they were only trying to protect those around them. At least Randy was open to share the story of his accident with her. He didn’t have to, and he wasn’t nearly as scary as she’d imagined him to be. Maybe she needed to rethink her attitude toward him. After all, she really couldn’t blame him for not interfering in Wes’s business. She would’ve hated it if her mom butted in to her life. Randy was just trying to let his son do what he needed to do. It was unfair for her to be upset with him. She sighed. It wasn’t worth worrying about at the moment.