The Minnesota Candidate (37 page)

The Ford veered hard to the left and Tom was
shocked to see that they were pulling up to the gate. Tom climbed
out and swiped his card. He got back inside and rolled his eyes as
Sam raced around the S curves. Tom noticed a pair of tire tracks
that left the driveway and headed down behind the big house. Was
someone back there? If so, who could it be? He was thinking about
this when the truck stopped and he stepped outside. The driveway
was littered with cigarette butts. Tom looked at the squashed BMW
and things fell into place. Shari hadn’t left her car out in the
driveway, Tom was sure of it. He ran into the house to find his
mother.

Chona met him at the door. Her face was frantic
and she shoved one of the journals at him. “You need to read this,”
she said, nearly shouting at him.

“Where is my mom? I need to see her, right
now!”

Chona shook her head. “I haven’t seen her. Tom,
you need to read this before you see Shari. Something has
happened.”

From upstairs, Tom heard the sound of something
heavy bouncing on the floor. Tom gasped and tried pushing Chona out
of the way, but she had been waiting for that and she grabbed him
by the arms. “What is going on up there?” he asked, struggling to
break free. “Let me go!”

“Not until you read this part in the journal.
You need to trust me, Tom!”

Senator Levitz stepped inside, complaining about
something, when he heard the thumping. “Dear God,” he snapped,
“what the hell is that?”

“Go see for yourself,” said Chona, “but don’t
you dare untie her.”

Hearing this, Tom became a madman. He thrashed
his arms and used his legs to crush Chona against the wall. The
next thing he knew, Sam had waded into the fray. Sam held Tom by
the neck. “Let me go,” he squawked. “I need to get up there.”

“Sam, he has to read this part in the journal,”
shouted Chona. She stepped away from Tom and set the journal down
on top of the table.

Alice Kindersley walked inside. “Oh, what a
beautiful house,” she said. From upstairs, the thumping became a
booming and Alice’s expression became sad. She looked at Chona.
“The demon is here?” she asked.

Chona nodded. “It got here as soon as the guys
left. The thing is really pissed off. I’m glad Shari was tied
up.”

Tom struggled to break free of Sam. “What the
hell are you talking about?”

“The poor girl,” said Alice, adjusting her
glasses. “Tommy, I’m afraid your wife is possessed. You would have
seen it coming if you had read the journals. How did you ever
graduate high school?”

Senator Levitz scrambled down the stairs. His
face was chalky white. “The bed,” he grunted, “it’s bouncing up and
down!”

“Hello,” said Chona, dragging out the last
syllable. “I’ve been here all afternoon while you guys have been
out gallivanting around.”

“Ah Jesus,” said Sam, “I didn’t know. I never
would have left you alone if I knew that was gonna happen.”

“You would have known if you had done some
reading,” said Alice.

Tom, using the last of his energy, twisted free
of Sam. “Will you all just shut up and explain to me what is going
on?”

“Read the damn journal!” shouted Chona. “It’s
all in that book!”

“Yes, Tommy,” agreed Alice, “read the damn
journal.”

“Shouldn’t we call a priest?” asked Sam.

With the crashing sound ringing in his ears, Tom
sat down at the table and took the journal. Chona jabbed her finger
at the top of the page. “Start there,” she ordered.

And Tom read. When he finished the first page he
looked up. “Wine,” he said. Sam nodded and walked towards the
kitchen.

“Wine sounds wonderful,” said Alice.

“Yes, it certainly does,” agreed Levitz.

Sam stopped and looked at Chona. She nodded her
head. Tom continued to read, but the words were so terrible that
they brought tears to his eyes. If what he was reading were true,
Shari had become possessed by the demon,
Naamah.
He stopped
reading and said the name out loud.

“Naamah?” asked Levitz, pointing upstairs. “That
thing inside Shari is Naamah?”

Alice nodded her head. “You would have known
that if you had read the journals,” she said, wagging her finger at
Levitz. “So, you’re familiar with Naamah?”

“She and Lilith came to Adam after Cain killed
Abel,” said Levitz, sticking his big nose in the air. “I’ve studied
the Zohar. When Adam and Eve were separated, for like a hundred
years, I think, Lilith and Naamah bore Adam’s children.”

“A hundred and thirty years,” said Alice, “but
go on, I’m very impressed.”

“Well, their kids became the Plagues of Mankind.
Am I right?”

Alice nodded and clapped her hands together.
“What does this mean?” asked Tom. “Who is this Naamah?”

“She’s one rotten bitch,” said Alice.

“She sure is,” agreed Levitz. He then turned to
Chona. “You should have warned me. I could have been killed up
there!”

“Why is she inside my wife?” roared Tom.

“I hate to be a spoiler,” said Alice, “but your
wife is pregnant.”

“Are you kidding me?”

The booming grew to a feverish pitch. Glass
shattered and the dining room suddenly grew chilly. And then things
went silent.

“No,” said Chona. “And if we don’t find a way to
get rid of her, your baby will become the next Plague of Mankind.
It’s all in there, just keep reading.”

“Oh my God,” groaned Tom, “could things get any
worse?”

Chona and Alice exchanged an odd look, but they
said nothing. Sam came out with two bottles of wine and a stack of
plastic cups. “Looks like everyone could use a happy hour,” he
said. “This ought to cheer you up.”

Tom sipped his wine as he continued reading. He
read thirty pages while the others talked about the weather and
other such nonsense. When he finished reading, he slid back from
the table and finished his wine. “Something isn’t in here,” he
said.

“Don’t be silly,” said Alice. “Everything we
need to know is in those books.”

“No,” said Tom, shaking his head, “it isn’t.
There’s a wild card in the deck. Actually, there are two of
them.”

Alice Kindersley gave him a puzzled look. “Spit
it out, Tommy. Or I’ll whack it out of you with a ruler. I can
still do that.”

Tom pointed toward the far wall in the living
room. “Unless I’m very wrong, I think my ma and Marie are inside
the big house, as we speak.”

“I’ve been wonderin’ where they were,” said
Sam.

“Don’t fool around with me,” said Alice. “You
can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m very serious. I think they used a
ladder to climb in one of the back windows.”

“They would do somethin’ like that,” agreed
Sam.

Alice slammed her bony fist onto the table. “You
have got to get them out of there! That house is the portal to
hell! They could open doors that could never be closed. Three
thousand years of fire and brimstone! Damn it, I’ll bet it was
Marie who put her up to this. She’s no good.”

“That’s the understatement of the year,” said
Sam. “I hate that bitch.”

Chapter 27

By this time, Marie and Doris were nearly out of
their minds with frustration. They seemed to have discovered the
temple of gold, but they couldn’t see past the end of their noses.
They stood in the pale light of the staircase, wringing their
hands. “This is just great,” said Marie. “You couldn’t have hung
onto those matches, could you?”

“I was frightened,” sniveled Doris. “I didn’t
know what I was doing. I just had to get out of there.”

“I’d send you back up there, but you’d just get
lost in the dark. Shit, we’ve got to figure out a way to get some
light down here.”

“If only you would have remembered to grab some
new batteries...”

“Shut up!”

“Then you shut up about the matches. Why do you
always have to be so mean to me?”

“Quit your whining and let’s think about this. I
think we need to go down there and find the next stairway. We still
haven’t found the living area.”

“What, stumble around in the dark?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Doris shook her head. There didn’t seem to be
any windows on this level and there was no way they would survive
jumping from the upstairs windows. They had to move forward. She
put her hands up in front of her and began to walk. Marie followed
behind her, pressing her hands against Doris’ back. “Don’t push
me,” said Doris.

“I’m not pushing you. I just don’t want us to be
separated.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.”

Doris stumbled into this and she crashed into
that, but she managed to keep her feet under her as she probed the
blackness. Her fingers clawed at cobwebs and the giant room began
to reek of rotting meat. “Was that you?” grunted Marie.

“No, whatever it is, it’s getting stronger. I
think something got in here and died.”

“We better hope that doesn’t happen to us.”

“Will you stop it? I’m scared to death.”

Doris ran one hand along the wall as she blindly
plodded forward. Marie planted her hands on Doris’ hips and she
followed along. “You really should go on a diet,” she said,
grabbing handfuls of goopy flesh. “You’ve really let yourself
go.”

“Like you should talk, you fat cow,”

“Can you see anything up there?”

“Not a thing,” said Doris, feeling the greasy
wall as she walked.

“What is that awful smell? My God, I think I’m
gonna barf.”

The wall suddenly disappeared and Doris stopped.
“I think I found the stairs,” she whispered. She took a tentative
step and felt for a stair. She dragged her foot over the edge until
she found the next step. “Yep, I found the stairs!”

“Keep going,” said Marie. “I’m right behind
you.”

Clutching the rail, they inched their way down
the first flight of stairs. The passageway was barely wide enough
for two people to walk side by side. Thankfully, the stink stayed
upstairs and Doris commented on it. “I think I smell fresh
air.”

“That was me,” said Marie.

“Oh, you’re so funny,” said Doris and the two
women laughed. Doris felt better after they laughed. She felt her
way around the first landing and they started down the second. “I’m
getting kind of hungry,” she said. “I wonder if they got anything
to eat.”

“Are you crazy? Nobody has been in here for five
years.”

“They might have some Spam. I can eat that stuff
right out of the can.”

“Spam,” grunted Marie. “Do you really think
these people ate Spam?”

“You never know. I think if I was a millionaire,
I’d still buy Spam.”

“When you
are
a millionaire, sister. Like
sometime later today.”

Doris liked the sound of that and she nodded her
head. “What are you gonna do with your share of the loot?” she
asked.

“Ya know, I’ve been thinking about that. The
first thing I’m going to do is buy a real fancy car. Then I’m gonna
park it right outside Clyde Bauer’s patio door. He’s a big car guy,
ya know. If he’s lucky, I’ll let him take me for a ride.”

Doris reached another landing. She clawed her
way around it, only to find another flight of stairs. “I think I’m
going to get a place on a lake; a little cabin on a secluded bay,
with a dog and a fishing boat.”

“But you already have that,” said Marie. “Not
the dog part, but all you have to do is get Shari and Tommy to move
over here. That house is as good as yours.”

Doris thought about that. She could see herself
living in the little house. She would have to gut the place and
start over, but she had plenty of time and she would have plenty of
money. “I was thinking about getting a Chihuahua,” she said. “You
know, little dog little mess.”

“I hear ya there. I have this friend who has a
Great Dane. Let me tell ya, I couldn’t do it.”

Doris reached yet another landing. This time she
slapped at the walls as she worked her way around it. Like the
others, the landing only led to another set of stairs. “How many
flights of stairs are in this place?” she asked.

“Just chill out, girlfriend, I bet this one goes
all the way to the first floor.”

Doris continued walking down the stairs, seeing
only blackness. “Shouldn’t we be at the bottom by now?”

“No, I’ve been keeping track. The first floor
should be at the bottom of this flight.”

“I hope you’re right. This is creeping me
out.”

“Think about your dog. Have you thought of a
name?”

Doris had thought of a name. “Tinker-bell,” she
said.

“Oh my God,” chuckled Marie, “that’s so gay.
Tinker-bell, are you kidding me?”

“What do you mean? Tinker-bell is a great name.
Didn’t you watch any Disney shows?”

“Of course I did. That’s just an awful name for
a little dog. You should give it a tough Italian name, like Vito or
Rocky.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“Because the poor dog will get a complex, you
gotta give little dogs big names.”

“I didn’t know that. Hey, we’re at the next
landing.”

“Thank God. Find the door, it has to be
here.”

Doris dug her fingers into the concrete wall and
scraped them along as she walked. She hit a corner, followed by
another. And then she felt another railing. “Argh!” she shouted,
“another flight of stupid stairs!”

“Calm down,” said Marie, patting Doris on the
back. “I must have miscalculated. Quit freakin’ out on me. I don’t
like this any better than you do.”

Doris took a deep breath and tried to gather
herself. Just then, from somewhere high above, echoed the sound of
insidious laughter. The laughter seemed to come from several
different voices. Doris froze as her heart threatened to explode.
And just as suddenly as it had begun, the laughter stopped. “What
in the hell was that?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” hissed Marie, “but I don’t think
we should wait around to find out. Book it, Doris!”