Rise of the Nephilim (3 page)

The priest descended the stairs with Jude tagging close behind. The walls leading down to the basement were lined with stained wooden paneling, a relic of the seventies that soaked up most of the light from the single naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. The stairway opened up into a larger area under the house. It had been converted into a den and wet bar, a relic of when Mister Hawkins had been alive. The paneling continued around the room, making Jude feel as if he were in a giant tree trunk. Taxidermy deer heads and fish hung above a bar on one side of the room. Two old couches and a camouflage-pattern armchair faced an old Panasonic cathode ray tube television set on the other. Jude could see a small bathroom next to the bar containing only a sink and a toilet. In the middle of the room sat the subject of their current mission.

The scene could easily have been interpreted as a sad story of parental torture and neglect. The boy sat upright in a stout wooden chair. Both of his wrists were tied to the chair arms, and his ankles were tied securely to the legs. Dark bruises and cuts had formed around the ropes holding him down - evidence he had struggled against his bonds and lost. His dark hair was oily and hung in thick, nappy locks from the lack of grooming. His clothes were stained with dried urine and stank of feces. His mother had not taken care of him for at least a couple of days, it seemed. Jude doubted how much Danny cared, however. His unblinking eyes stared, unfocused, into the distance. His skin had taken on translucent and corpse-like pallor.

Jude walked to the bar to sit down and gagged at the stench. One side of the boy’s mouth twitched upward as if to smile, but he otherwise maintained his catatonic state. Father Gallo prayed quietly to himself while unpacking his tools, unfazed by what he saw. After he had laid out a crucifix, an exorcism manual, holy water, and other tools of his trade, he gazed at the boy and began instructing Jude.

“Normally, I try conversing with the afflicted person, before I begin the rite. In the state this poor boy is in, however, I feel as if we should start as soon as possible. The spirit should present itself once we are underway, and then you may ask your questions. You must forgive me, but I will continue to perform the ceremony, as you converse. It is the only way we can be sure to maintain control.”

Jude nodded his understanding, and Gallo opened his manual and approached Danny.

“
Ecce crucem Domini,
” he recited as he touched the hem of his stole to the boy’s neck and placed his hand on Danny’s forehead. Danny jerked away slightly, as Gallo circled him. He sprinkled holy water on youth and quoted the opening verses of the ritual in Latin. “
Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii…
”

Jude watched with intensity as the boy’s eyes slowly began to focus and display signs of fierce intelligence. Gallo continued his intonation for a few minutes, as the boy began to writhe against his restraints and hiss at the pair. The priest laid his palm on the boy’s forehead again, and it was immediately knocked away as if by an invisible hand. Danny’s head turned to Jude; the whites of his eyes were all that he could see. Before Jude could react, the prisoner’s mouth opened to release a banshee scream, which drove Jude to his knees in pain and breaking several glasses on the shelf over the bar.

A deep, inhuman voice emanated from Danny, as his head continued to whip around. “What do you hope to accomplish here, priest?”

Gallo rubbed his limp hand and arm, trying to revive them. “I will drive you from this boy and back to hell where you belong, demon! His life is not yours!”

The being began to laugh maniacally, as Gallo resumed his invocation. “This one is mine until death. You can never take him from me!”

Jude decided it was time to begin his investigation. “Why do you want this boy?”

Danny’s eyes turned to him and licked his lips. “I want him, because he is delicious. You should really give him a try.” His hips began wiggling suggestively. “I bet you’d like it.”

Jude ignored the demon’s ploy to unsettle him and pushed on. “You say he’s delicious. Does that you mean you literally feed off of him?”

The demon spat at him in contempt. “When I have my fill, I’ll feast off of you!”

“Sorry. My body is a demon-free zone,” Jude countered defiantly. “What kind of parasite are you, really? I know that Christian ceremonies aren’t the only ones that can drive your kind out. Where do you come from?”

The spirit answered in a voice that sounded more like a lion’s roar, “We are the twilight of mankind. We are the fire that will consume you all. No god can save you. We are coming.”

Jude sat speechless for a moment. Father Gallo continued his rhythmic chanting, oblivious to the conversation near him. The monster inside Danny laughed softly to itself in an almost animalistic manner. Father Gallo stopped in front of the child and pressed a crucifix dipped in holy water to his forehead. Danny’s eyes rolled into the back of his head again, and the monster screamed. Gallo shook, but this time the priest remained standing.

“Release the boy, vile spawn! What is your name?” Gallo stared down with authority.

“Akheron,” the demon replied between clenched teeth.

Jude found his voice again and commanded, “Akheron. We command you to leave this boy and return to whence you came!”

The only response was a hiss and deep laughter.

“Obey us!” Jude demanded.

The boy’s head rolled to the side at a contorted angle.

“You two are fools! You don’t understand anything. You think you are so advanced, but that only makes you weak. All of you are cattle, and the time for slaughter has come!”

Jude had heard enough and stood up to join Father Gallo next to Danny. They both laid their hands on the boy and began reciting from Gallo’s book, “
Deus, in nómine tuo salvum me fac...”

Danny convulsed and gurgled something incoherent, as a trickle of blood traced its way down his cheek from his nostril. Jude stared in fearful wonder at what he was experiencing, but continued to fervently recite the passages from the pages Gallo held in front of them. He focused all of his energy through his hand and into the boy. Suddenly, the boy was still.

The two men stopped to inspect the boy. He slowly opened his eyes. They had a feral, terrified look about them. He slumped over as far as he could with his restraints and began crying, as the men bent down to comfort him.

“Who are you?” the boy managed to say in between sobs. “I want my mom,”

“We are here to help you, Daniel,” assured Gallo. “My name is Father Gallo, and this is Mr. Sullivan. Jude, will you go fetch Daniel’s mother?”

“I’ll be right back with her, Danny,” Jude promised, as he rose from the boy’s side. “She’s right upstairs.”

He bounded up the stairs as fast as his joints would allow and burst through the basement door. “Mrs. Hawkins! Come quickly! Danny is asking for you!”

The woman emerged from the kitchen with a huge smile, looking as if she had just won the lottery. “Oh, thank God! Is he okay?”

“There is still some work to do to make sure he is completely recovered, but the worst should be over,” Jude replied.

They both descended into the basement. Once Danny and his mother’s eyes met, they both began crying anew. She rushed to her son and cradled him to her shoulder, despite the filth that covered him.

Father Gallo and Jude both retreated to the bar, where they could talk and give mother and son some room.

“What do you think?” Jude whispered, turning to Gallo, as the priest wiped his forehead with a bar napkin.

“He still needs observation, but if the demon has released control of the boy, then he should be over the worst of it. What did you learn from your inquiry? Forgive me if I was not paying much attention.”

Jude mused for a second, “I’m not sure what to make of it. The demon was being pretty vague, but I have some things to think about now. We should return to the Vatican as soon as possible. Would you like me take Mrs….?”

He was interrupted by a wild scream behind them. The two men wheeled around to see what the matter was. Danny’s mom had untied his arms in an attempt to free him from his bondage, and he had instantly gripped her into a tight hug and drawn her close. Blood was gushing from her neck, where the boy had bitten her in a blind frenzy.

Jude ran to the boy and reflexively punched him across the temple, causing him to release his mother. In a flash, Jude situated himself behind the chair and placed the boy into a Full Nelson maneuver to prevent him from moving.

“See what you made me do, Mother?” The child laughed maniacally. “Father says he misses you. He’ll see you soon!”

Gallo performed a hasty triage to ensure the wound on the woman’s neck wasn’t critical and stood up with a righteous fury in his eyes.

“This time we do not stop until you are gone, beast.”

He rested his rosary around Danny’s neck and traced the sign of the cross on the child’s forehead. He looked directly into Danny’s eyes as he spoke every word of the ritual.

The boy wriggled and screamed, trying to break Jude’s hold, but his frame was too slight to break the grip he was in. The amazing strength the possession had granted him was waning. Small cuts appeared all over his body, as if he were being attacked by a thousand tiny razor blades. The lights flickered off and on like a strobe. Objects around the room shook and fell from shelves. The television came to life and began changing channels at a break-neck pace. Father Gallo continued, sweat pouring from his brow.

With a fervent final flourish, he thrust his hand forward to grip Danny’s forehead and yelled the final words of the passage, “…
Ut inimicos sancta Ecclesia humiliare digneris, te rogamus audi nos. Amen.”

The flashing lights continued for a second or two, but everything subsided into darkness as Danny’s screams faded. Jude felt the child’s body go limp and let go of him. .

“Are you okay, Antonio?”

“Yes, Jude. Do you have a light? We need to see to Mrs. Hawkins. She may need an ambulance.”

Shaking, Jude pulled his phone out of his pocket and held down the power button in hopes that the demon’s energetic effect had not drained the battery. Luckily, it booted up.

“This should work,” he claimed, as he turned on the flashlight and placed the phone face down to offer faint illumination to the room. “You see to Danny, while I take care of her.”

He navigated his way over to inspect Mrs. Hawkins. She was still unresponsive, but the bite didn’t look especially deep, even if it was messy.

“We need to find some antiseptic. I don’t trust the kid’s oral hygiene. She probably needs to go to the emergency room, but I think we can wait until we get Danny taken care of. How is he?”

There was no response.

“Antonio… how is Danny doing?” Jude asked a little louder to make sure he’d been heard.

Again no response.

“Antonio!”

Jude looked over his shoulder to see what was wrong. Father Gallo was simply standing in front of Danny, staring down at him. A knot began to form in his stomach, as Jude approached and saw the tears welling in the priest’s eyes. Gallo confirmed his dread suspicion.

“The boy is dead.”

The flight back to Rome was filled with an awkward silence. Neither Jude nor Father Gallo had spoken much after leaving the Hawkins house. Mrs. Hawkins was in the hospital and would likely be jailed for child cruelty and wrongful death. From what Jude gathered, the Catholic Church had pulled some strings made it as if the two had never even set foot in the United States.

Father Gallo was shaken by his experience in the house and was slowly slipping into a depression. He had never botched a case so badly before. It was even worse that it has been a child. Jude had tried to talk to him about what happened and assure him that he did all he could, but Gallo refused to discuss any details or even look him directly in the eye. Jude was worried for the man, but realized that only time would possibly heal his wounds.

He had instead tried to keep to himself and was currently on his laptop typing up his notes regarding the experience. The entity’s comment about an upcoming reaping worried him. Was it a bluff, or was it something more? He shuddered at the memory of what he had seen. It was one thing to hear stories or watch a video of an exorcism, but to witness such an event was the stuff of nightmares.

The pilot announced the beginning of landing procedures, so Jude started the process of stowing his belongings. Gallo continued staring outside the window, oblivious to the world around him. Jude gave him a small tap to gain his attention.

“Antonio, we’ll be landing soon.”

Gallo gave a non-committal grunt and began buckling his safety belt.

“Listen…” Jude said haltingly, “I know you’re being pretty hard on yourself right now, but there is nothing you could have done. The boy was already in bad shape before we got to him. I promise you, we’ll come up with some answers.”

The priest gazed forlornly at him with watery eyes. “I hope so, Jude. I hope so for all of our sakes.”

Emily stirred from under her sweat-laden sheets and moaned at the sound of the house telephone. The ringing stopped shortly after a sudden commotion arose in the kitchen downstairs. Images of an ethereal goddess faded from her mind. The bustling sound of London traffic generated a constant drone outside her window, as if to punctuate the fact that she was back in reality.

Emily crawled out of bed to do some stretching, peered out into the hall, and gave a shout. “Mum! Are you downstairs?”

Her mother was a regular in her house ever since her father had passed away. The arrangement was mutually beneficial. Her mom was able to feel useful to someone, and Emily appreciated having a maid and confidant.

“Yes, Dearie! I’ll have breakfast ready for you soon” was the sing-song reply.

Emily rummaged through her dresser and pulled out a T-shirt and pajama pants. Her mother ascended the stairs and walked in with a tray full of food.

“Here you are, Love. Brunch is served! How did you sleep last night? Are you still having odd dreams?”

“A little,” Emily answered cryptically. She hadn’t told her mother the details of her recurring dreams, but had felt like she needed to share it with someone. “I don’t know what it means, though. Who was that on the telephone, by the way?”

“It was the school,” her mother replied. “They were calling to check on you and let you know Dr. Earnhart is covering your classes, until you are feeling better.”

Emily placed her hand on her forehead in feigned pity, “My poor students! How will they ever learn with such a terrible old bore? I’m sure the boys will be utterly distraught!”

Her mother laughed and playfully slapped her shoulder, “Don’t be such a tart! I’m sure your admirers will make do until you’re back on your feet. Now, I’m going to run to market for a tick. Honestly! You are twenty-eight years old and your cooler is absolutely barren! How do you eat? Lie back down and get some rest, ok? I can’t cover for you forever, and I’d like to see you rid yourself of this dark cloud hanging over you.”

“Yes, Mum,” Emily said reluctantly.

Her mother stood up and walked out of the room. Emily listened to her move throughout the house, until she heard the front door shut. She placed her empty breakfast tray on the night stand and settled back into bed to reflect on her nightly adventures. Sleep slowly began to sneak up again. She closed her eyes and waited for her goddess to reclaim her.

Emily…
called out a voice that reverberated within her head…
It’s time…

Her eyes shot open in shock…

Emily’s mother came back a couple of hours later to an empty house. No one had seen Emily leave her Chelsea townhome. If anyone she knew had seen her, they would have commented on the child-like expression she wore on her normally terse, face before she disappeared into the midday crowds of the city.