The Day of Legion (21 page)

In this dream, she saw herself sitting with Albert on the steps of the cabin reading a huge book. She couldn’t remember much of it, but remembered being told it was as old as any book in the world and that it spoke of angels, dragons and demons. She remembered some of the illustrations. There were beasts slaying women and children, burning huts, children crying and reaching for their mothers. There were evil black-winged creatures with twisted, cruel faces circling groups of people huddling together.

She remembered sitting with Elizabeth and being taught to meditate for hours on end. She was taught how to reach inside and use her power to defeat whatever may come. She remembered being able to call up an energy so powerful that it frightened her to release it.

She sat with Elizabeth projecting a white light from her hands into the sky. She saw the smile on Elizabeth’s face when she used it to heal a sick bird they had found in the forest.

A knock at the door startled her. She called out, “Come in!” and the door opened, revealing David holding a tray of fruit and freshly brewed tea. He placed it on the bedside table and poured her a cup of the tea.

He passed it to her and sat beside her on the bed. She looked tired. She took the tea and sipped it.

“Thanks, I needed that,” she said. “How long have I been sleeping?”

“About an hour and a half. Elizabeth said you’d wake soon.”

“I’m starting to remember things,” she told him. “Things about this place, as well as about my parents. I see Elizabeth a lot in my memories, but I have no idea who she is. Some sort of guardian here?”

David smiled. “She’s basically the opposite of Clara. Elizabeth was originally born in 1546 and died of polio. While she was alive she was an example of the light. She performed many selfless acts and looked after so many others. She went through extremely hard, violent times, but her faith in the light and the goodness of man never weakened. She came back to us about a hundred fifty years ago, near as I can tell. Other than that we don’t know much.”

Patricia looked at him. Along with her awakening powers was an awakening of her heart. She felt lonely and afraid, and wanted to be held. It was an almost unbearable yearning, like a woman dying of thirst and spotting a river in the distance. She leaned forward and touched his hand.

He twitched, hesitating, but he kept still, allowed her to gently stroke his fingers. He returned the look and smiled. She pulled him closer and kissed him lightly on the lips. He returned the kiss, wrapped her in his arms and pulled her tightly to him.

She exhaled, feeling the tension, fear and uncertainty flow from her. For the first time in years, she felt wanted, even needed. She felt comfortable and safe with David, even though they were strangers just days ago.

She whispered in his ear. “Stay with me.”

He arose, closed the door and returned to her on the bed.

* * * *

Elizabeth sat at the ancient table in the bunker, writing in one of the leather books. She could feel the energy building around her. She felt Matthew on his journey. She felt David and Patricia coming together and knew that their destiny was unfolding, as foreseen long ago. She could feel each one gaining strength and the angels gathering on both sides.

Patricia would be the strongest when she was ready, and David would prove to be an asset to her. Jason was also gaining in strength and would prove pivotal. He was somebody the darkness certainly wanted to control or eliminate.

She could also feel the rumbling darkness. It was getting impatient. She would be seeing them soon.

She knew what was coming would be so violent, it would rival the times when the monastery originally on this site was destroyed all those years ago.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Clara squeezed the man’s neck and delighted at the fear in his eyes as he realized he was dying. As her hands squeezed his windpipe, she could feel him twitch between her thighs. She sat on top of him still, naked, his penis inside her. He was tied to the bed, hand and foot, and had no way of fighting her. He tried to push her off with his hips but was already too weak.

Slowly his life faded. His eyes glazed over. His lips turned the blue of death and his body temperature plummeted. As she released her hands, his body expelled the air he held in his lungs; his head rolled gently to the side.

She had picked him up earlier in a bar across the road from her motel room. He had been easy. He was a lonely man, drowning his sorrows from a failed relationship. She walked in and captured his heart. She was wearing enough makeup to hide the burn on her cheek and wore a filmy dress to show off her body.

After a few drinks, their conversation turned to sex. He drunkenly confided in her, that he had always wanted to be tied to a bed while a beautiful woman rode him. She offered to accommodate him, and mentioned she had a room just across the street.

As soon as they walked in, she slipped off her dress. He turned around and was so excited he stripped and threw himself on the bed, allowing her to tie him up using his belt, necktie and shoelaces.

At first she rode him. His loneliness melted into pleasure instantly. He felt wanted again. He smiled and started to imagine this beautiful woman as his partner, and all the things they would do together.

Then he felt the pressure of her hands on his throat. She chanted softly to herself. First he felt confusion. Maybe she liked it rough. Reality then set in as he started to choke. Then he was dead.

Clara got off him and stood by the bed. She was excited. She didn’t have long to wait. The man’s body arched its back and inhaled loudly.

The face turned to look at her and she knew the demon was in him. His eyes were completely black and the odor of the darkness began to fill the room. The chest heaved as the demon relished the pleasure of breathing air, something it hadn’t done for hundreds of years.

Clara released the bindings, allowing the demon to sit up and look around. He smiled. She was instructed to acquire a strong body, and she hadn’t disappointed. He could feel the strong muscles covering solid bones. He breathed in the air and could smell the sickly scent of a world with too much light.

He stood up and looked at her. She fell to her knees. She had never met a demon with so much power. This beast could wipe her off the face of the earth with a sweep of its hand. She could sense his cruelty, but she also knew she had done well and was needed.

She had helped other demons inhabit bodies. It was easy, as long as she controlled the kill. Make them feel pleasure and lower their guard in passion and the body would be bristling at the time of death. The soul would depart and the waiting demon would take over, powered by the energy she raised to surround the body.

Sometimes, she could feel many demons waiting for the opportunity for rebirth. They fought each other, pushing and pulling to get into the body she offered. She could feel the anger and rage surrounding her as they fought for her offering. It excited her.

Those were lesser demons, sent to prepare the way for greater demons like this one. She remembered back. The possessed victims’ families had no idea; As far as they were aware the person was still alive, but they couldn’t explain the sudden change in behavior. One day they were decent, loving individuals, the next they were unexpectedly committing gruesome crimes.

Her favorite, previous to this one, took over the body of an office worker who had just been laid off. The worker went to a bar to drown his sorrows. She picked him up and killed him. The demon went straight home and killed the man’s wife and three children, then took his own life. It was brilliant; short and sweet. The pain and havoc that that one act caused was awe-inspiring.

Some of the others had killed over years before being caught. They had left a trail of destruction and death behind them. Seemingly loving people were suddenly being arrested for impossible acts: serial killings, rapes, degrading cruelty.

Of course, the ones she liked most were those like her, humans willing to be cruel and violent, with little help or encouragement from the darkness.

This demon was different from the others she had brought into the world. He had come to her in a dream and told her to get a body ready. In her dream, he was the blackest and largest form she had ever seen. She knew he thought highly of her to be using her. There were plenty of others he could have used. She was determined to do it right.

They both dressed and left the room. Outside, his black eyes reflected the street lights, causing an eerie glow that Clara found most pleasant. She had to remind herself not to stare at him.

A police car pulled up and stopped at the curb. An officer got out and opened the back door for them, before returning to the driver’s seat and pulling away. Clara smiled at the officer as he looked at her in the rearview mirror. They had worked together many times. She often paid him in sex, drugs or money, whatever he wanted. He was the perfect accomplice, and was one of many in her network.

He had been seduced by the darkness when he and his partner beat a suspect to death and decided they enjoyed it. With Clara’s help, another officer was framed for the act and sentenced to life in prison. Since then, this officer had been killing and raping on a scale that impressed even her. He left no leads or suspects and the separate crimes were rarely linked. Often, he was on the team investigating his crimes. Once he was even given the job of controlling the physical evidence of one crime scene.

No words were spoken. Both were in awe of the presence sitting in the vehicle with them. The power he radiated was staggering, and they could feel it crawling over their skin like maggots enjoying rotting meat.

They could both feel other presences in the vehicle. The officer was scared, but Clara knew what was happening. The demon had arrived with companions; an entourage of helpers. They remained invisible, but their presence could be sensed by most people, especially in these numbers.

Clara knew they were beings who inhabited the space between life and death. They were the sickly feeling people felt when they knew something malevolent was in their home. They were that disconcerting feeling that someone was watching and listening, but couldn’t be seen.

They constantly travelled the world unseen and unheard, looking for people to manipulate, to push into a life of hatred and violence. They passed through peoples’ lives, sometimes remaining to possess the weak, but more often than not, their potential prey never knew they had been observed.

These beings were the black angels who took possession of the souls of men and women destined through their actions to enter the darkness. At the time of death, they snatched the dark human souls as they were released from their bodies and guided them to their destination, willing or not.

Some evil people embraced the darkness, happy at the outcome, and they went willingly with the black angels. Others fought when they realized their actions were sending them to the cold afterlife of the dark. They repented in vain; calling on whichever God they should have called upon while alive. For them it was too late and the eternity of the afterlife would literally be hell.

The car pulled up to a house just outside the city. The area was perfect as there were no close neighbors, so no one would notice anything that went on.

Clara and the demon got out and went in the house. The officer drove away. Clara watched as the demon nodded, as though someone was talking to him. He turned and looked at Clara.

“The police officer will die tonight. His usefulness is at its end and we can’t risk him talking. He is weak.”

She nodded. She couldn’t have cared less and wasted no more thought on the man.

Chapter Twenty-Four

David and Patricia were the first to awaken. Patricia was restless through the night, dreaming of a monstrous mass suffocating them. The smell, heat and suffering were very real when she woke up. She was sweating and could still smell the foulness in her nostrils.

They showered together, then went downstairs. Elizabeth was waiting for them. She had prepared breakfast for them and had it spread out on the table: bacon, eggs, toast, cereal, platters of fruit, coffee, tea and juice.

“You can feel it, can’t you,” she said. It was a statement, not a question.

Both David and Patricia nodded.

“I’m not sure what I see,” Patricia said. “I just sense a dark mass suffocating us.”

“I can see many black forms coming this way,” David said.

Elizabeth smiled. “Excellent. You’re both seeing the same thing, only in your own way. Jason has been restless all night, so I know he feels it too. Your combined energy draws them.”

“If they, whatever they are,’ are on the way here, what are we going to do?” Patricia asked.

“You have to go and keep going, until you figure out what it wants and what will defeat it.” Elizabeth replied.

“You don’t know?” David asked.

Elizabeth shook her head slowly. “You have to figure it out and defeat it yourself, or the victory means nothing. It gives no strength to the light.”

“Surely the light could just wipe them away.” Patricia protested. “Why are we just waiting for something to happen?”

Elizabeth smiled. “That would be a battle between the darkness and light, not man versus evil. Man has to deny evil himself before the darkness will truly be defeated. The goal of the darkness is to corrupt man completely, and only man can stop it, like all the times in the past and, probably, the future.”