As Close as Family
Disclaimer: see chapter 1
Summary: see chapter 1
Warnings/Ratings: see chapter 1
Author's Note: Thanks as ever to Rae Artemis for encouragement and advice and everything ...
Author's Note 2: Reviews continue to be welcomed
Chapter 11 – Bloody bunnies and exorcisms
So we'd staked out the clearing. It was strange being there without Sam, I've become so used to him being there by my side again, I miss him but there isn't anyone I would trust more to watch over Suzi. Even as a kid, he wouldn't have let anything truly evil harm her, other kids were a different matter then, but they've both grown up now.
I knew where Bobby and Jordan were or I hoped I did because I couldn't see them from where I was hidden.
The plan was to wait. We'd wait until Callan and the others were there and starting their rituals. From what we'd worked out, the demon had possessed some guy who didn't live in that town but just used to turn up when they were sacrificing to him. Suzi said he always entered from the same side so Bobby hid near there to block any attempt at escape.
Suzi had recounted the night Selena had died: they'd made their usual sacrifices, then the guy had turned up and he had led the way when it came to her death. We figured it would be the same again.
And so we waited…
I'd been there about an hour and a half when the first people wandered in and began setting up for the evening. Over the next half hour the clearing gradually filled, then Callan, Suzi and three others entered and a hush fell over the congregated people. From Bobby's and Suzi's descriptions, I could identify these three – Luke, Leanne and Danielle. Leanne, looked to be in a similar state to Suzi, bruises, stitches and bandages abounded on the visible parts of her body and she walked favouring one leg, although it wasn't an all-out limp, more of a wince as she walked.
Things started to move along more quickly at that point. Danielle looked petrified, justifiably so I admit, she obviously had no idea who these people were or why they'd brought her here.
Luke moved over to the altar area and placed something on there although I couldn't see exactly what. I found out later it was a bag with rabbits in, their initial sacrifice, the warm-up act you might say. Meanwhile, Callan had taken hold of a rope from Luke, it appeared that despite her fear, Danielle had not been going willingly with them and they had tied her hands together. Just behind and to either side of her are Leanne and Suzi. He dragged her to the centre of the clearing and everybody turned to look at them as the two girls went too. There appeared to be some sort of altercation between Callan and the two girls, he lashed out at Suzi and I tensed ready to leap, it may not have been part of the plan, but there was only so much I could have watched before I would have had to step in.
Suzi and Leanne appeared to have reached an agreement and both stepped back and sit down, just away but still one to either side of Danielle. I wondered whether it was the fear in Danielle's face, or just her petite stature, but she looked so much younger than the other two. It might even have been the amount the other two have been through, aging them faster than they deserve. They were amazing girls, and that night they had obviously agreed in their own way to try to protect Danielle to the best of their ability.
Callan started to speak and the others in the clearing drew closer to him and then to the altar where Luke had drawn out a huge knife with elaborate markings on it. He held up the first rabbit over the altar and as Callan's voice rose in some sort of ritualistic formula, he slashed its throat. Blood spurted out over the altar in a crimson fountain, Luke and two other men dipped their hands into the blood and each began to mark another with symbols drawn in blood on their skin, Luke turned and made the same marks on Callan. Callan spoke again and with that Luke slaughtered a second rabbit, and the same marks were now drawn on a further round of people. This continued until the only person left unmarked was Danielle. As the last rabbit was drawn from the bag, another figure entered the clearing. This was the demon.
With his entrance, the flames from the fire leapt higher, then slumped back as a chill descended. All the people, bar Callan, Luke and the restrained Danielle fell to their knees – some in horror, some in worship. As his eyes settled on Danielle, a sinister smile settled on his features and he moved forward. As he reached them, he nodded to Luke who slashed the final rabbit, he held his hands out as the creature bled, catching the blood in his hands and bringing it up towards Danielle's mouth. She tried to back away and I could take no more, I left my hiding place and entered the fray.
As I entered the clearing, I realised that Bobby and Jordan had reached the same decision and were also closing in. The only person I couldn't see was Sam. I had to rely on him knowing what he was doing, at that point I had to trust that Sam was okay, I had to get the girls out first before I could worry about him. Much as I have always put myself in danger before Sam, I've always known he can take care of himself, so when the crunch comes on nights like this, I can focus on those who are truly defenceless. Bobby was already reciting the exorcism as he entered blocking the demon's exit, 'Crux sancta sit mihi lux'.
I went straight for the centre of the clearing, aiming to disable as many as possible on my way to Callan, Jordan seemed to have decided on the same course of action from his direction – as much damage to as many threatening people as possible as quickly as was feasible. 'Non draco sit mihi dux' Bobby's voice was still going strong.
The guys were not much for fighting, picking on girls was obviously the limit for most of them, only a couple put up any real resistance, Jordan dealt with them. By that stage, the demon was looking distracted from his enjoyment of the rabbit's blood and his torment of Danielle. 'Vade retro satana'
The demon turned to face Bobby; I could see the fury evident in his features as I headed for Callan and Danielle. I saw him draw back his hand and swing at Bobby as he said the words 'Nunquam suade mihi vana' before the hand struck and knocked him backwards.
Panic flared in my mind, if Bobby was out of the game, we needed Sam and I still hadn't seen him. That was when I heard his voice, 'Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde,' I hadn't realized how worried I was about Sam until the relief hit when I heard his voice
Bobby had regained his feet and carried on his chant, 'Sunt mala quae libas'. All of a sudden the demon didn't seem to know who was the greater threat, Bobby or Sam.
It was the distraction they needed to be able to continue, Sam's voice was unrelenting, 'in nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in nomine Jesu Christi Filii ejus'.
I focused again on Callan, Luke and Danielle. Callan was holding her in front of him, like some form of defence, a wall through which we couldn't hurt him. I couldn't stand for that, it didn't matter how much I wanted him to suffer, how much I wanted him to pay for what he had done to these girls, to Suzi, I couldn't allow him to use Danielle and to risk her life. I focused again on Sam, 'Domini et Judicis nostri, et in virtute Spiritus Sancti'.
I changed the focus of my hearing and listened as Bobby finished his chant, 'Ipse venena bibas'. I spared him a brief glance. As his eyes flicked to mine, I nodded towards Danielle and raised my gun. He watched and at the right moment shouted, 'Danielle! Drop!', she did as he said, I shot one bullet. It did exactly as I intended. The hole was dead centre between the eyes and as he hit the floor, the back of his head was already long gone. It wasn't enough pain and suffering for what he deserved but it had saved Danielle further torment and in that I had had no choice.
I didn't move to help Danielle; instead I turned to find Luke. Sam's voice continued,'ut descedas ab hoc plasmate Dei, quod Dominus noster ad templum sanctum suum vocare dignatus est'. I moved towards Luke, gun still raised and saw his eyes lock with mine.
I didn't flinch, just slowly tightened my finger on the trigger, I barely heard his 'Please, no.' before the retort from the gun echoed round the clearing. I stepped forward and took Danielle by the arms to lift her back to her feet.
Sam continued on, 'ut fiat templum Dei vivi, et Spiritus Sanctus habitet in eo.' I didn't spare a thought for the demon, I turned back to the humans, the cankerous evil this town had spawned, we were going to finish it. The girls were getting out of here for good. Jordan had seen to the majority of the problems and Suzi and Leanne were rounding up the girls, drawing the ones they knew wanted out to them and away from the others. The few who had fought them were already subdued. For the first time, I wondered what the hell we were going to do with them.
'Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos, et saeculum per ignem.' I recognized the end of Sam's exorcism in time to shield my eyes and ears from the demon's parting from the body of the man it had been using. The body slumped to the floor, broken and bloody, and above all else, empty. It was dead, how long dead, I couldn't have said, but nonetheless, gone.
Relief washed over me, the dead guys were the bad guys, and apart from a few cuts and bruises, Jordan and I would be fine, Bobby was going to have a few bruises and lumps from the demon's hit. The girls were going to leave with no more bruises than they had arrived with. Only one problem remained, the captured girls who were there by choice.
We stood still, as calm settled back over the clearing, the only sound a few muted sobs from some of the girls. A moment passed, then another, then reality dawned and the need to finish what we had started returned. It seemed as if the four of us were hit at the same time with the need to finish and get out of there. Bobby moved to take Danielle into his arms as Suzi moved to my side. She looked up at me briefly, then her eyes hit the floor. I waited, she didn't look up again and she didn't come any closer. Sam and Jordan moved to the other girls, I saw them begin to check for injuries, no one looked at the girls who were tied up. None of us was ready to deal with them; we didn't want to face what it was going to be necessary to do. There was no other way but it could wait until we'd got the innocents away.
I looked back at Suzi, her eyes still firmly looking at her feet. 'They're still there babe, those feet aren't going anywhere without the rest of you.' she didn't look up as I spoke. 'Suzi?'
She took a step back, away from me. I reached my hand out to halt her retreat. She twisted away from me and as she did, I saw the silent tears coursing down her face. I didn't wait any longer; she wasn't going to come to me so instead I stepped forward and took her into my arms. Her body was tense and rigid, she tried to struggle away and I just held tighter until she finally relaxed and I could feel her tears still flowing, soaking through my t-shirt. We stood there until, 'Dean…I'm sorry…' she murmured into my chest.
'Sssh! Suzi Q, you did good, we're fine. We'll talk later, come on. I need you to round up the girls we need to get out of here, split them into groups, who we can take with us.'
She drew back, nodded and whispered 'sorry' before setting off to help the others. I made a promise then to her, one she didn't need to hear before I would carry it out. We were going to take her back to Max and Jason but before we did, I was going to make sure that she didn't start everything she said with 'Sorry'. I was going to find the real Suzi inside, the one we knew, the one they knew.
Author's Note 1: The words spoken by Bobby translate approximately as:
"May the Holy Cross be my light
Let not the dragon lead me
Step back Satan
Never tempt me with vain things
What you offer me is evil
Drink the poison yourself."
The reference was found on Wikipedia.
Sam's exorcism ritual translates approximately as:
"I exorcise thee, every unclean spirit, in the name of God the Father Almighty, and in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord and Judge, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, that thou depart from this creature of God, which our Lord hath designed to call unto His holy temple, that it may be made the temple of the living God, and that the Holy Spirit may dwell therein. Through the same Christ our Lord, who shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire." "
And the references were found at logoschristian dot org