Hidden Thrones (18 page)

        A
steady rain fell
relentlessly
 
across northern Virginia as Frank’s
car pulled up in front of Jack’s house. The weather forecast predicted thunderstorms
and heavy rain off and on all through the day, which only added to the
atmosphere of the day’s assignment.

      
Jack locked his front door and ran out to the car trying his
best not to get soaked. He opened the car door and jumped in.

      
“Unbelievable. We’re on our way to investigate a ghost
sighting and it’s pouring rain with thunder and lightning in the forecast. You
can’t write this stuff.”

      
Frank shrugged his shoulders. “Some people do.”

      
Jack couldn’t wait to ask, “So how did you make out
yesterday? Did your shadow follow you all day?”

          “I
don’t think so. Once we got back into D.C. I think he gave up for the day. I’m
not sure if we’ll see him today, but you never know.  I feel a face-to-face
coming on real soon. I’m not going to let this go on for too much longer. How
did you make out with Emily last night?” Frank quickly caught himself and added,
“You know what I mean.”

          “She’s
a great girl. I told her about the person tailing you and she didn’t seem too
surprised. I guess she figured since you’re an FBI agent, things like that
happen all the time. Oh yeah, and let me tell you - that girl can kiss.”

          Frank
glanced over at Jack. “You didn’t tell her that we’re both under surveillance,
did you?”

          Jack
made a face and shrugged his shoulders. “Why get her all freaked out before we
really know what’s going on? Maybe it will just blow over. They won’t find
anything and that will be it.”

          “I
can’t believe what I’m hearing. This guy is connected to Senator Wellsenburg,
remember? I don’t know how far he will go to find out what he wants. You need
to tell her what’s going on.”

          Jack
knew he was right. He loved Emily, and of course he wanted to keep her safe,
but he didn’t want her to live in fear and have to be looking over her shoulder
every five minutes either. He stared straight ahead for a moment then said,
“Yeah, I know. I’ll tell her tonight over dinner. If she sticks with me through
all this then I guess there’s no doubt that God handpicked her just for me.”

          Frank
laughed. “Are you kidding? This is my job and I can’t believe the things you
get me into. I told you from the beginning at CJ’s that the girl likes you, my
friend. A woman can fall in love with you, but it doesn’t always mean she likes
you. You buy this girl a big diamond ring and make it forever.”

          Jack
couldn’t believe that he just said that. “You know I’ve only known her for a
short while, right? I can’t ask her to marry me just like that.”

          “You
love her, right?”

          Jack
smiled as Emily’s face flooded into his mind. There was no doubt about how he
felt. “Yeah, I do,” he said with certainty.

          Frank
continued, “You told her you talk to demons and angels and she still can’t get
enough of you. Let me ask you this - have you slept with her?”

Jack snapped his head around and glared at Frank. “What? No,
I haven’t slept with her! You know how I feel about that. That’s what I would
have tried to do in my old life, but that’s not going to happen until we’re
married.”

“Well, I wouldn’t wait too long. I see the way you look at
each other. There’s fire there, brother. Just saying.”

“You’re too much. Can we change the subject?”

Frank nodded. “So, what do you think is going on in this place?”

“I don’t know, but a lot of this stuff is usually bogus. You
know, people love to say they saw this or that and it turns out to be nothing
but their overly active imaginations. We might be wasting our time or... ”

Frank jumped in, “Or, we could be dealing with a real live
demon.  All I know is something or someone attacked that cameraman. That part
we know is real.”

Jack took a deep breath, sat back, and rested his head on the
headrest and closed his eyes. He didn’t like to think there was a demon around
every corner, but unfortunately that seemed to be the case lately.

Frank knew Jack needed some time to get his thoughts together
and he needed a little time to clear his own mind as well. He tuned in to his
favorite satellite station and the two men continued silently down the highway
on their way to Hardon’s Inn.

Half an hour later, they came to the turnoff for Hardon’s
Inn. Frank nudged Jack who had fallen asleep after staying up late the night
before with Emily.

“Hey, we’re here. At least, I think we are. I almost drove by
it. Take a look at that sign, will you?”

An old beat up wooden sign hung from one side on a worn out
post that would have fallen over years ago if not for the overgrown brush that
had wrapped itself around it. The sign swayed in the windswept rain like a
scene out of an old Alfred Hitchcock film from the 1950s. Frank turned down the
long, dirt driveway that the heavy rainstorm had transformed into a trail of
mud and slop. There was an old style, ranch fence on either side of the driveway,
which led to a large oval pull around in the front of the old stone inn. It was
a Georgian style, two-story building with multi-paned sliding sash windows in a
6 light over 6 light pattern, many of which had broken glass, and a gray slate
roof that appeared to be in decent shape.

Jack scanned the building as they pulled up to the front of
the inn. “Wow, are you kidding me? Look at this place. Are we sure it’s not
going to fall down the minute we get inside?”

Frank stopped the car, but kept it running if, for no other
reason but to keep the wipers going so they could see out the windshield. The
rain continued to pour down and Jack took note of the lightning off in the
distance.

Jack turned and looked at Frank like a lawyer cross-examining
a witness. Frank was notorious for leaving out a detail or two.

“Is there anything else I should know before we go in there?”

“Well, the reason the other team was called in was because a
real estate agent named Nancy Stonehouse...”

Jack interrupted. “You’re making this up. Nancy Stonehouse?
Really? Can you please be serious? I need you to be serious right now.” 

Frank laughed. “I am serious. I’m telling you the truth, he
said as he looked at Jack’s face and started to laugh hysterically. The last
couple of days had been so intense that it was like a dam of emotions had
broken loose. Jack kept staring at Frank, which only made him laugh that much
more. Jack couldn’t keep a straight face any longer either so he burst out
laughing along with him.

Finally, Frank got a hold of himself and said with a big
smile, “I’m not kidding. I’m telling the truth. This real estate agent came to
look the property over before listing it, and she said she heard a growling
sound coming from the second floor. When she looked up, she said she saw a dark
image peering out the window. She called the police and they searched the whole
building, but they came up with nothing. When the story got out, that’s when
the paranormal team found out about it and showed up to do their thing.” 

“Wow! That would have been nice to know before this. Maybe if
you weren’t so busy getting into my love life, you could have shared that
information.”

“Maybe,” Frank shrugged.

Frank reached around to the backseat and grabbed two
flashlights. He handed one to Jack, then pulled his 9mm Luger pistol out of his
shoulder holster and gave it a quick check. Jack gave him a glance.

“Do you think you’ll need that?”

“Well if I do, I want to make sure it’s ready to go. We don’t
know who or what is in there, so better safe than sorry.”

“Okay, you’ve checked your weapon, now let’s ready our other
weapons. We need to pray before we go in there and hopefully this rain will let
up a little bit before we get out of the car. I prefer not walking around
soaked, if possible.”

Frank placed his gun back in its holster. “I’m still learning
how to pray you know, but I’ve been working on it.”

Jack smiled and said, “There are no magic words. God just
wants to hear what you have to say. Remember, it’s a matter of the heart.”

Jack and Frank sat in the car and prayed intensely for about
fifteen minutes, asking God to guide and anoint them as they searched the inn
for whatever attacked the other team. Although Jack had faced similar
situations a number of times, he always felt totally dependent on the power of
the Spirit of God to get him through.

The rain had let up slightly, but the lightning and thunder
seemed to intensify as they approached the large wooden door. Frank pulled out
the key and opened the door. They looked at each other and both wondered why
anyone would bother to lock the door considering the state of the windows.
Frank braced his gun and flashlight in his two hands, sweeping the area from
one side to another as they entered the foyer. Jack prayed silently for
discernment as his eyes scanned his surroundings.

The air, which had been sweet outside,
 
became
stale and reeked of decay. There was a
double staircase that went up to an open hallway that connected the second
floor rooms. Frank motioned to Jack for him to follow up the stairs. If there
was someone up there, they weren’t going to surprise them because each step
moaned and groaned from age and neglect. As they reached the top of the stairs,
they heard an eerie sound coming from one of the rooms to their left.  They
walked slowly down the hall until they got to room 204. The door was only open
a crack, but they could clearly hear a low-pitched whining. Frank motioned to
Jack that he was going to kick the door open the rest of the way.

Frank raised his foot and kicked the door open identifying
himself, “FBI. Don’t move!”

Both men shined their flashlights around the room nervously
searching for the source of the disturbance, when suddenly something jumped out
of the open closet. Frank spun around, flashlight and gun securely gripped in
his hands, and pointed them at the closet. They heard a squeal and a large
black cat came flying past them and ran down the steps. Just then, a huge clap
of thunder rattled through the old inn.

Frank glanced back at Jack with a look of both relief and disgust,
shook his head, and said, “Damn cats. Did I ever tell you how much I hate
cats?”

Jack took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead. The two men
continued down the dark hallway. The only light besides their flashlights was
an occasional bolt of lightning that split the sky overhead, which was followed
by a huge clap of thunder. As they approached room 210 at the end of the
hallway, Jack felt the
spiritual atmosphere
change dramatically. He
couldn’t put his finger on it, but it felt like a mixture of depression and
hopelessness. It was so strong, that it was nearly suffocating. He motioned to
Frank to let him take the lead. The door to room 210 was shut, but not locked.
Jack slowly opened it with Frank right over his shoulder, gun in hand.

Suddenly, they saw it standing by the window. The room was a
murky gray, the dark stormy weather barely letting enough light in for them to
see the outline of the huge dark figure, its head only inches from the ceiling.
It had an appearance like a man, but its eyes glowed an eerie orangey-red that
cut through the gray shadows. He had what looked like two large wings that were
folded at his side. He stared straight at Jack who was standing in the open
doorway. When Frank saw it, his heart began to pound in his chest and his mouth
became dry, making it hard to swallow. He knew at that moment that his gun was
not going to be the weapon of choice. They pointed their flashlights at the creature
to no avail. To their amazement, the darkness just seemed to swallow the light
up.

Jack stared right back at it. He could feel waves of
depression trying to wrap around him like a giant python. He addressed the
creature, “Who are you and what’s your name?”

The creature moved a little closer. A trail of reddish mist
swirled behind him. “I am Despair. What are you doing here? Have you come to
die?” It hissed at them, “Or don’t you realize you’re being hunted.” Its eyes
grew larger and glowed red, then orange, and then back to red.

Jack straightened up knowing that demonic spirits always challenge
first then try to intimidate with fear.

“No, I have not come to die! I have been sent here by the
Lord Jesus Christ to cast you out of this place. Do you dare to stand against
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?”

The creature hissed again, only louder and his breathing
became labored and more intense. When it spoke, it was like a loud whisper, every
word ending in a hiss like the sound a snake would make, “You have a target on
your back, Jack Bennett. You and your apprentice.”

Jack knew better than to have a conversation with an evil
spirit. The longer he stood there, the greater the danger and the deeper the
darkness felt.