When the taxi came to a stop in front of the hospital the sun had already and those dark and ominous clouds now hid the stars and the moon. The sky couldn't be any darker tonight. Adam figured it would be hard to set his eyes upon Rey this time. If any part of the story he was told was true, then he seriously didn't know what to expect. How had it come to this? When? But despite how incredible it sounded, his heart and soul somehow believed it. If it hadn't been for his fainting in the arena and the weird incidents involving Rey, he would have laughed it off as a joke. But unfortunately those things did happen and he was scared as hell. Or so he thought.

They entered the hospital without too many words. When they exited the elevator, Chris started to lead him to Rey's room but a female voice stopped them.

"Excuse me sirs, where are you going? No visitors are allowed at this late hour."

A nurse standing behind the reception desk looked at them austerely. Chris quickly found an answer.

"Actually we are not here for a patient. We are looking for Mr. Guerrero. He should be in Mr. Gutierrez's room."

She kept staring at them.

"Yes. Mr Guerrero is inside his room. I'll go get him for you. I don't want him to disturb my patients any more."

When she was gone, Adam looked inquisitively at his friend and he lifted his shoulders showing how clueless he was as well. A few moments later she returned with Eddie right on her heels.

Adam only saw the eyes of Eddie to understand how serious this was. The fire was gone; the passion that blazed within him was put out. He looked so sad and afraid. They walked together far from any indiscreet ears and stood in front of a wide window. Only then did they notice the bruises around his neck.

"Eddie what happened?" Benoit asked.

"He happened…." And pointed his head towards Rey's room.

"Meaning?"

"I found a sedative and when I went to inject him, he tricked me… he… um… he tried to kill me… and he almost did… almost" he smiled bitterly to himself rubbing his bruised neck.

They let a few moments pass without speaking a word just to let the news sink in. They weren't prepared for any of this. Really what would they do if Rey tried to kill one of them? What if possessed by this demon he woke up and tried to murder them? Would they have the strength to fight back? Would they have the courage to kill him? Neither man wanted to think about this alternative.

"I want to see him" Adam broke the silence.

"I know…" Chris tried to console him "But not now… we have to get him out of here."

"How?" Eddie turned and looked at them.

"I have something in mind, but I'll need your help on this. One of us needs to distract the nurse while the other two sneak out with Rey."

"Yeah, but what do we do?"

"I have an idea" Benoit stated. "We know that you, Eddie, are allowed in his room. You will go back and while we talk to the nurse, you won't go inside Rey's room but in someone else's, someone far from him. Use the button to call the nurse. She'll have no choice but to leave her station and check on the patient. Me and Adam will go and get Rey and take the stairs down. We'll be waiting for you at the parking lot underground. We cannot take the front exit and we can't be seen, not with Rey unconscious."

"Then?" Eddie asked impatiently.

"When we leave, you take the elevator and leave from the front entrance, find a taxi and meet us at the parking lot near the stairs. Alright?"

To Eddie it seemed like a good plan. Adam didn't think of anything. At this moment he was plainly numb and his mind didn't seem to be working at all. His eyes were fixed on the night and the city lights down below. Chris shook his shoulder and brought him to his senses. They had to act quickly. They watched as Eddie made his way back to Rey's room and grab the sedative and then they walked towards the nurse.

"Excuse me nurse?" Chris asked to get her attention.

"What is it this time?"

"We were wondering, when will Mr Gutierrez be released from the hospital?" Adam in his turn enquired her.

"And you are?" she asked back looking at them from behind her glasses that stood dangerously to the tip of her nose. In any other circumstance Adam would have found this sight hilarious, but not tonight.

"We work with him."

"I see. He will be released possibly tomorrow, or the day after at the latest. You'll have to speak to Doctor Strauss."

"I'm sorry miss for disturbing you" Adam interfered and when Chris turned to him, he lifted his eyebrows in surprise as he saw Adam lean over the reception desk smile lovingly at her. He was flirting with her! This was brilliant! And she was buying it! She was flattered and it showed by the way her posture and attitude changed when she saw the tall Canadian purr at her.

"I have travelled a long distance to come here and see my friend. I know it's late and I hate to be a nuisance, but would you please be so kind and tell us what happened to him? What did the doctor say?"

"Well… I really shouldn't…"

Adam flashed a big smile but Chris thought that what cracked her in the end was the sadness he tried to hide behind his eyes when he begged her for some kindness.

"But in your case I'll make an exception… but don't tell anyone I told you…"

"Thank you…" he said and instinctively reached and touched her hand in gratitude. She was surprised from the contact but she smiled back and reaching she took out Rey's chart. She flipped some pages and began reading what the doctor had scribbled.

"The patient was transported with several wounds on his back, multiple cuts and stabbings on his chest and severe loss of blood…" she paused.

"Nurse… Oscar had problem with his lungs in the past… were they effected by this?"

"Um… let me see… from the doctor's notes I don't see anything concerning his lungs. But he is scheduled for some more tests tomorrow, so we will have to wait for the results to come out before deciding whether we should keep him in or release him."

At this moment, a faint buzzing noise sounded and the nurse turned her gaze away from Adam. Thankfully Eddie had hurried and done as he was told.

"Excuse me… a patient is calling. I'll be right back."

"We'll be here" Adam assured her.

As soon as they saw her turn at the corner and walk down the left corridor, they ran to Rey's room. Adam was not ready yet, but Chris' nudge told him he had no other choice. He couldn't carry Rey all the way down to the stairs. Adam was big enough to do it. In the semi darkness of the room, they saw Rey lying on the bed, his body heavy and limp from the strong medicine.

"Come on we have to hurry" Chris whispered and Adam followed. The only light in the room came from a small fixture on the wall just above Rey's head. When Adam saw him, he lost his breath. He looked so different; so tired; he looked sick. Carefully he removed the sheets and rapped his arms around him. He wanted to stay there with him, kiss away the pain… he wanted to wake him up, look into his eyes one more time and tell him how much he loved him. But he understood there was no time. He tightened his arms around his body and followed Chris to the door. They were both startled when the door opened and he almost dropped his precious cargo. Eddie's face appeared behind the door.

"Jesus Eddie you scared the living hell out of me…"

"Go… go…" he whispered hurriedly.

They stood by the door for a few moments to make sure no one was around and when he waved at Adam, they exited the room and made for the stairs. They closed the door behind them just in time before the nurse came back.

Eddie was still in the room arranging Rey's sheets so as to appear he was sill sleeping in them. His heart was racing and his hands trembled.

'So far… so good' he mumbled. He decided to count to one hundred before leaving the room too.

Carrying Rey down all these stairs was not an easy task for Adam. True, Rey was much lighter than most wrestlers, but that didn't mean that he was able to carry him down all these sets of stairs. Soon his arms went numb and his back ached terribly. He wanted to stop and rest but Chris would pressure him to keep going. He had offered to carry him but Adam didn't want to let him go.

He wouldn't let him go… ever again…

The coldness in Rey's face, the lack of expression, the pale grey colour of his skin were enough to make his skin crawl and send shivers up his spine. And only urged him to keep moving and hold onto him tighter.

He had no idea how long they had been descending but it seemed forever. They opened the door and the closed polluted air of the parking lot invaded their noses making them squint. Fortunately they didn't have to wait long.

Eddie couldn't wait any longer. He had reached his count up to fifty and then he had left in a hurry. Grabbing the first taxi he had led the driver in the parking where he saw the three wrestlers waiting for him.

They entered in the cab, Chris in front, and the others in the back seat. They were probably a weird sight no doubt, three huge wrestlers and one unconscious in a taxi sneaking out from a hospital, Eddie thought, but he didn't care. So when the driver asked casually,

"Where to mates?"

he understood that the driver didn't care either.

When Mark left the hospital, he returned to his hotel room where he stayed alone preparing. He had opened his suitcase and was staring at it for some time. He wasn't looking at his clothes. That suitcase was still closed and at the feet of the bed. No, the one he was looking was special. It was quite small, but it contained a few useful and dangerous items.

He sighed when he began to realise that not many of them would be helpful tonight. How he wished his mentor was here with him. He admitted he was scared. He had done exorcisms many times before, but this was the first time the person involved was so close to him; this was the first time he was emotionally involved. He was certain that Asmodai would use this against him and the others, but he had to try. He had to forget his emotions and face this with cruelty and force in order to cast this demon back to the abyss where he belonged.

He reached his hand and took a small glass bottle containing holly water. He held it in his hand and put it aside. He continued looking. There was nothing else. He already wore a silver cross under his t-shirt, so there was no need to take another one. He only picked up the holly bible, but paused when he saw what was underneath.

A dagger; it was old and the fine carvings on the handle had faded long ago from the use. His mentor had given it to him just before he died. It had been passed to him from his own mentor… Mark had no idea how old it was, and he could only guess how many had died under its blade. Only God knew he himself had killed many with it.

And that was another thing that bothered him. He had killed in His name. There were nights, long bitter ones, where he couldn't sleep because of his guilt. Somehow, he thought there had to be another way to do this without killing the innocent. He had tried many times to cast away the demons without blood shed, but with time they had become stronger… they just wouldn't let go of the souls they were after. And Mark was forced to kill.

Demons shouldn't pass into our world.

They shouldn't. They don't belong here. They have to be sent back no matter what.

But… what about Rey?

Mark sighed and sat heavily on the messy bed. He had to rest if he was going to do this. Rest was always welcome in times like these. He fell back and rested his head on the cold pillow. Sleep didn't come right away. It never did. Not any more. Sometimes it brought bad dreams but with time he had learned to ignore them. He had to.

The ringing of his phone woke him up. It was Benoit. He gave him the coordinates of the motel he had found. It was outside of London, and from what he was told, it was pretty isolated. Mark didn't say much. He would go there and wait for them to come. That would give him time to prepare the ground properly.

He still had a few more hours to sleep.

The drive was long and tiresome but nobody slept. Adam was still holding Rey in his arms but it was easier now. The darkness outside didn't allow him to look at Rey clearly but he didn't care. Holding him was enough. Rey's face rested against his neck. He felt cold. As if Rey's body temperature was below normal standards. He had wrapped him with his coat to keep him warm and had taken his hand in his. He wanted to feel him as much as he could.

How had it come to this? He felt so guilty. He wanted to scream and cry but he did neither. He just sat there waiting.

For what? What were they going to do? When Benoit had told him, he couldn't believe it. There was always a little hope in his heart, a little voice that told him that maybe they were wrong. But all that dissipated when he saw his love.

He felt Rey stir a little on his lap and his heart skipped a beat. He let out a soft moan.

"Rey Rey?" he tried to get through.

Chris turned to look at them and his panicked eyes crossed Eddie's. They couldn't let him wake up. Not now… not yet.

"I've got it" Eddie assured him and took out the syringe from his pocket.

"What are you doing?" Adam asked surprised. "No…" he voice came out a whisper.

Eddie silenced him with a look.

"It's OK. This will help him relax, that's all. He will wake up but not yet. Not before we arrive."

He took Rey arm and stuck the needle in his vein emptying the content. Adam felt him shift and his muscles tense up as a harsher moan escaped his lips but immediately he slipped again to unconsciousness.

"That's the last drop… it won't last but a couple of hours."

Adam didn't respond. He didn't want to look at them. He was furious.

'What are we doing? God forgive us' he prayed silently.

TBC