The Second Coming (49 page)

“Start walking toward me Brother,” the Sterling Killer instructed him as he pointed the pistol at Mike.

Mike looked at Father John with reluctant eyes as he nodded to him. “Be careful,” he warned him under his breath.

Father John touched Mike’s shoulder reassuringly and then began to slowly walk towards Kate.

Kate couldn’t help but notice that from a distance, in the shadows of the flickering candles, that Father John looked like the Sterling Killer but as he got closer, she could see that there was something inherently different about him. At first she couldn’t figure out what it was, but as she slowly approached him, she could see the peace and compassion in his eyes and then she felt the force of divine intervention emanating from within him and she knew instantaneously that Father John was the force that saved her from drowning in the pool and now he was going to save her again.

As they drew closer, Kate’s heart began to burn with fear for Father John. She realized that he was sacrificing his life for hers and that the Sterling Killer was going to kill him unless Father John killed him first. As they were about to pass each other under the ominous glare of the glimmering candles, Kate looked Father John sympathetically in the eyes.

“Kill him,” she whispered passionately.

Father John smirked understandingly as he passed her.

Time seemed to be moving in slow motion as Mike watched helplessly by the flickering glare of the candles not knowing what to do as Kate staggered passed Father John. The suspense was gnawing at his gut. Was the Sterling Killer really going to let Kate and him walk out of there together or was he just toying with them? Did he really want to kill his brother so bad that he didn’t care about anything else?

Where the hell was Big Pete? Oh shit. What the fuck would happen if he came barging through the door right now? He could fuck everything up. Come on, hurry up Kate. We’ve got to get the hell out of here before things take a turn for the worse.

chapter
76

T
HE LONGER
B
IG
Pete stood outside the back door of the church with his back pressed up against the wall and his gun drawn, the more apprehensive he became. He looked at the time on his digital watch that was strapped tightly around his thick, hairy wrist. What the hell was taking Mike so long? Why didn’t he signaled for him or chase the Sterling Killer out the door? Everything was too quite for his liking. Why didn’t he hear anything the whole time he was waiting there? Something wasn’t right. Mike should have cleared the room by now. He was starting to get the uneasy feeling that something must have happened to Mike and Kate. Did he wait too long? It was time to make a move.

He took a deep breath as he looked to the darkening blue of the evening sky. He gritted his teeth, crept over and stood in front of the door with his head cocked, listening intently. It was eerily silent. It was now or never.

Reaching down with his left hand, he cautiously clicked down on the door handle until it disengaged. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he readied himself for what was waiting on the other side of the door.

As he yanked the door open, sending it crashing into the wall, he stormed into the sanctuary with his pistol held out in front of him. By the time his eyes adjusted and he figured out who was standing where, it was too late. He saw the flash of the muzzle as he heard the gun shot ring out and then felt an intense, searing pain strike him in the ribs like a bolt of lightning, sending him reeling into a wrought iron candlestick holder, knocking it over as he collapsed to the floor.

Mike dove for cover behind a pew and was waiting anxiously for the next gunshot, when he watched in amazement as the candle ignited the
brittle old wood wall of the sanctuary. The flames quickly climbed the wall, the tendrils tickling the wood beam ceiling.

There was another crashing sound as the Sterling Killer knocked over more of the candle holders and Mike watched in disbelief as the other wall of the sanctuary began to crackle in flames. The Sterling Killer was attempting to light the church on fire with everyone still in it. Mike had to find Kate and get to Big Pete before they were all trapped.

Mike sat with his butt on the floor and his legs stretched out in front of him with his back against a pew. Where the hell was his gun?

“Pete?” he called out breathlessly. “Are you alright?”

There was no response, just the roar of the crackling fire. Where the hell are Kate and Father John?

Mike carefully knelt on one knee next to the pew and peered over the top of it as he scanned the perimeter. The Sterling Killer was in there somewhere waiting for his moment to attack. What the hell happened to Kate and Father John? Did the Sterling Killer get them?

“Kate?” Mike shouted above the roar of the blazing fire. “Where are you?”

“I’m over here,” Kate cried out desperately.

Mike bent over and began to creep down the aisle in the direction of her voice under the roiling smoke and flames that were engulfing the church like a bon fire.

“Kate,” Mike shouted again over the crackling fire.

“Right here,” she yelled and as Mike looked in the direction of her frantic voice, he saw her scampering in his direction in a crouch. Mike met her in the middle of the aisle as ash and embers began cascading around them.

“Are you alright?” he asked when he saw the dark smudges on her face from her mascara and the soot. She looked defeated.

Kate nodded her head unconvincingly. “I’ll be alright,” she replied urgently. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

“Where are Father John and the Sterling Killer?” Mike asked as he tried to formulate an escape plan.

“I don’t know,” Kate said gasping. “I didn’t see what happened after he fired the shot. I just ran.”

“We’ve got to get to Big Pete,” Mike informed her with encouraging eyes. “Follow me. Stay right behind me.”

Kate nodded reluctantly and then Mike crouched down as he hurried down the aisle toward the back door where Big Pete was shot, looking back over his shoulder ever now and again to make sure Kate was still behind him.

He darted across a row of pews and came out on the perimeter next to where the fire started. The flames were surging up the wall. As Mike turned to move down the outside of the pews, he saw with alarm, someone dressed in a dark robe kneeling next to Big Pete’s prone body. He couldn’t see if it was Father John or the Sterling Killer and he didn’t have time to figure it out. They had to get out of there before they became trapped and were engulfed by the raging fire. He would have to deal with whoever it was when he got to Big Pete.

Mike glanced back at Kate who was bent over panting behind him and then scurried towards Big Pete.

When he got to Big Pete’s body he looked down at his chubby face and saw that his eyes were wide open. At first he thought he was dead, but then Big Pete turned his head and looked at Mike with startled blinking eyes.

“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Mike heard the voice next to him shout and as he turned he noticed Father John’s hand covered in blood, pressing firmly on Big Pete’s wound. “We’ve got to get him help immediately,” Father John urged him.

“Where is your brother?” Mike asked with a scowl on his face.

“I don’t know,” Father John replied perplexed. “If he’s smart, he got out of the building.”

“Son of a bitch,” Mike muttered as he looked at Kate and Father John with troubled eyes. How the hell were they going to get Big Pete out of there? He was heavy enough under normal circumstances.

He locked eye contact with Big Pete to make sure he had his attention. “Alright partner,” he yelled intently. “We’re going to drag you out of here by your arms. Are you ready?” He watched worriedly as Big Pete responded with a lazy blink.

Mike glanced at Kate. “Keep your eyes open for the Sterling Killer,” he admonished her. “He could be waiting to attack us as we try to get out of here.” Kate nodded with a look of distress.

Mike glared at Father John with steady eyes. “Get on the other side of him Father,” he instructed him as he stood behind Big Pete’s right shoulder. “Grab him by the shoulder, under the arm like this,” Mike demonstrated as
he lifted one side of him up and to his surprise and relief, Father John did the same on the other side. “Ready? 1, 2, 3.” Both men began to pull him towards the back door like a large burlap sack of sand. The flames were roaring up the walls around them like mad snakes searching for a way out.

Kate followed the three men with the crook of her arm over her mouth and nose, coughing as she advanced determinedly, all the while keeping watch for the Sterling Killer.

Mike kept glancing over his shoulder through the roiling smoke at the nearing flames that were fluttering around the dual back doors, wondering if they would make it out before the fire enveloped the exit. His throat was singed and he began to cough as he struggled with all of his might to tug Big Pete’s dead weight to safety.

Where the hell was the Sterling Killer? Was he waiting outside the door to attack them or did he escaped and lock them inside the sanctuary so they would burn to death? It was hot as a motherfucker and Mike knew he had to get out of there before it was too late and Big Pete bled to death and the Sterling Killer got away.

chapter
77

M
IKE GLANCED AT
Father John as they trudged on, dragging Big Pete laboriously by his underarms. Father John’s face was smeared with soot and his hair was matted with sweat. He looked like a coalminer. They were only a few feet from the exit. Mike’s lungs were burning and his heart was pounding.

Kate followed behind at the feet of Big Pete’s body as she skittishly surveyed the surroundings looking for the Sterling Killer, preoccupied with whether they were going to make it out alive or if they were going to burn to death.

“Kate!” Mike yelled frantically. Kate looked at Mike with shell-shocked eyes of despair. “I’m going to need you to open the door for us,” he instructed her as they neared the flame blocked exit.

Kate scurried around them and reluctantly maneuvered between the slivers of space between the walls of flames that led to the dual doors. She didn’t think there was any chance they were going to be able to make it through the flames and out the door. Hesitantly she stepped around the flames as their tendrils flicked hotly in her ears and singed her hair. She felt as though she was going to spontaneously ignite if she didn’t open the door.

She reached out cautiously for the push handle on the left side door worrying that it would be too hot to hold. As she placed her hand on the metal of the push handle, it seared the skin on the palms of her hand with stinging pain as she pushed on it. The handle moved forward, but the door stayed firm. She began to rattle the handle in and out hoping the door would budge as the flames danced menacingly around her. Her hands screamed like the skin was melting from her bones, but the door stood unyielding.

“Please don’t let me die like this,” she pleaded terrifyingly to herself as she let go of the handle and moved over to the other door. “Please let this be unlocked,” she prayed desperately as she reached for the handle. She grimaced as a jolt of electrifying pain shot through her hand as she pushed the handle. Again, it moved forward, but the door was as solid as a wall. That was it. The Sterling Killer must have locked them all inside and they were all going to burn to death.

Kate panicked and started thrashing back and forth on the handle and as she screamed with frustration, the flames began to engulf her. Suddenly, the door burst open and she was awash in a wave of raging fire that hurdled her out the door with a voracious eruption.

Mike watched in disbelief as Kate was engulfed in a ball of fire that violently catapulted her out the door. Mike’s heart ached with despair. There was no way anyone could survive such a horrendous explosion. The ball of fire retreated into a wall of flames that now blocked the doorway.

“Let’s get out of here,” he hollered over the howl of the fire.

Father John nodded affirmatively and then with no regard for the raging flames that stood between them and their escape, they pulled Big Pete’s slackened body as quickly as their fatigued muscles would let them into the depths of the blazing fire.