Chapter 36 Moving Demons
Hi again.
I'm rather proud of this chapter, cause it gets really creepy.
Sorry for the wait. Please leave a review after you read. And Lilay? Its good to see you again.
I could not see them, but I knew they were here. Shadowy, demonic shapes moving slowly through the town, passing through homes, trees, even bodies. Suddenly I felt something pierce my courage, and I found myself afraid of what the Spirits could do to me. They wouldn't stop moving. I could feel them in my heart, in my soul. They were coming. My courage would not stand against them. They moved around me, moved through me, touching me, like the cold wind in Antarctica. Each time one touched me, my courage diminished even more. I could see in the eyes of my friends, that the same thing was happening to them. But I knew what I had to do.
"We need to get out of here," I said, "there are demons all around us."
"Lets go to the Inn," Doug said, "I'll let you all stay there for free."
"No," Gotz said.
"No?" we asked.
"No," Gotz repeated. "Cliff lives there. He has a demon."
Elli and Ann gasped. I was certain they didn't understand what he meant, they being new Christians and all, but something instinctual told them that that was bad.
"I always knew something felt wrong about him," I said, "that voice he always speaks of."
"Perhaps we can call the demon out of him," Kai said.
"Zach, you have already had to perform exorcisms."
"Yes," I said, "but I am no expert. Some demons are quite strong. The ones I called out of May were weak demons. Spiritloosener. Was strong, but he wasn't the strongest. That Soulthrasher guy, I don't think I would have been able to stop him if it hadn't been for Gotz. The demon that Cliff has is a very strong demon, I think. Perhaps even stronger than Soulthrasher was. Maybe all of us could do it together, but we have a couple of new Christians here. Those of us who have been Christians longer have stronger faiths, and are more equipped to fight demons. We have developed really strong faiths. And Cliff likes his demon. He wants it to stay with him. We can't really remove a demon from a person who wants to keep the demon. Now May, she didn't even know that she had those demons. She just knew that she could see the future somehow. Anyways, we'd better get to my farm. That's the safest place. It is furthest from the Church, and Won. Did you see how his chest absorbed those bullets?"
"Oh yeah," Captain Bates said, "I think this here Goddess person has been given him powers."
"But is that possible?" the Doctor asked.
"I don't know," I replied. "I know that the Boxers in China believed that if their false Gods came upon them, that they would be endowed with powers, like resistance to bullets."
"You think that maybe their Gods were demons who possessed them, and gave them abilities?" Kai asked.
"Perhaps," I replied. "Come on," I said, "lets get home."
The spirits continued moving through us as we walked, sending chills through our bodies. Evil Spirits were cold, surprisingly enough. And dark they were to. With every step I took, I sometimes thought that I could see Shadows moving along through the air around us. Suddenly I felt something prick my shoulder. I turned, and looked behind me. There was nothing behind me. I turned, and continued. Then I felt it again. I drew my sword, and turned around.
"Show yourself!" I said.
"It's a demon Zach," Gotz said, "its best to just keep walking."
I sheathed my sword, and continued walking back towards the farm. But it felt like a cold hand was gripping the back of my head.
"Do you guys feel it?"
"Do we feel what?" Kai asked.
"The feeling of cold hands gripping you?"
"Something is grabbing my shoulder," Gotz said.
Then the hands began to multiply. Soon I felt cold hands grabbing my arms, my back, and my neck. I kept walking, fighting against the Demons.
"Resist them," I said. "They would have us fall into darkness."
Suddenly an alarm went off in my head, and I felt myself retreat further into my body.
"Run!" I shouted, and the other seven complied.
But the hands Spirits chased after us, and the hands did not loosen their grip on me. They cut us as we ran, making us afraid. It was a struggle to keep myself from panicking, and I knew that was what the Spirits wanted. When we reached my farm, I opened the door, and beckoned everyone in. When all were inside, I slammed the door shut against the Spirits of the Goddess. But not even doors can hold them back. The lights of my house failed, and the Spirits began to enter my home. Outside, we heard shrieks, and howls, much like the screams of the dead. It was then that I heard something chuckle over in my kitchen.
"Stay calm," I said, "it's probably just a trick the Spirits are playing on us."
The Spirits outside giggled evilly, as if laughing at the wrongness of my answer. I struck a match, and lit a candle which was resting on my nightstand. Amidst the sounds of demons coming from outside, strange things began to happen inside. In the darkness, my bookshelf loomed, appearing dark and foreboding in my mind. Suddenly the books which rested upon it began to lift up, and move through the room. I drew in a breath, and held it. The TV suddenly turned on, but it wasn't on any of the normal channels. Instead, it showed a frightening picture of a dark shadow stepping up to the door of a house in the middle of the night. The shadow, barely visible, was reaching for the door knob with its void like, claw like hand. It was about to enter the home of some poor, sleeping victim, and drag them off into darkness. Then, the TV shut off, and we heard something chuckle in my kitchen again.
"What is that?" Ann said, petrified in fear.
"It probably is just a trick the Spirits are playing on us," I said, disbelieving my answer.
"I heard something like this once," Doug said, "it was a Ghost story that I was told as a child. Something about a dark creature, entering a home, and waiting for people to come, so it could... drag them away into the dark night."
"Dad!" Ann said, with a shiver, "this is the wrong time to be telling Ghost stories!"
"Did you ever wonder if Ghost stories were true?" Doug replied.
"Somethings in there," I said. "I have to find out what it is."
I stood up, and drew my sword before walking off towards the dark kitchen, my candle providing much less light than I would have wanted. I head the chuckle again. I held my sword out towards the darkness, as if challenging whatever creature lived in there.
"Dark being, come out and fight me!" I shouted.
More laughter greeted my challenge.
"Come and fight with honor," I said, "I challenge you to single combat."
The demon, or ghost, or whatever it was wouldn't listen to me. More books lifted off the shelf, and floated up in front of me.
"You seek to scare me," I said, "but you will not fight me straight out. You are a coward!"
But the creature would not listen to me. Suddenly, I heard the sink in my kitchen turn on. I could here the water splashing in it, but I couldn't see what had turned it on. Then, it stopped, and I heard water dripping onto the ground. I took another step forward. A book shot out from the bookshelf and hit me hard in the head. I fell to the ground, dropping my sword and my candle, which went out as it hit the floor. Suddenly something leaped upon me! Whatever it was, it was angry, slamming me to the ground, and sending hard blows upon me. Suddenly it was gone, but I was unable to move. Something shot through the air. I could not see it, but I knew it was there. Drawers opened and closed, and books continued moving through the air. I heard a girl scream.
"Creature!" I shouted, "I command you to stand back! In the name of Jesus Christ!"
Suddenly the presence of it left the room, and I was able to move again.
"Are you guys okay?" I spoke into the darkness in the general direction of my friends. But all were silent. There was no answer.
"If there is anyone alive over there," I continued, "speak now!"
No one spoke. The house was filled with silence. I fumbled around, searching for either the candle, or my sword. The darkness surrounded me, so dark that I couldn't even see my hand when it was right in front of my face. I had often heard that when trapped in darkness, the other senses began to become heightened. I crawled across the ground, feeling my way through. Then, my hand touched something cold. I drew it back, afraid of what it might be. But then realization struck, for it was my sword hilt. But then something else touched me. I swung my sword out, without thinking, hoping to strike down whatever creature was stalking me, but it connected with nothing but air.
"Zach?" said a soft voice below me. I immediately pushed my sword down against whatever it was that was below me.
"Who are you?" I said, when my sword blade barely touched whatever being was there.
"Its me," the voice said, frightened, "Ann."
"Ann?" I replied, "but I called out, and no one answered.
"I couldn't move," Ann said.
"What happened to the others," I asked.
"I don't know," Ann said, her voice quivering in fear. I drew back my sword, and held my hand out to the girl below me. Immediately something cold seized my wrist, and knocked my sword out of my hand. Then, by some unseen force, I was lifted off the ground, and tossed through the air. I landed in a heap on the ground, crying out in pain. I didn't know if I was in the kitchen, or the main room, for darkness obscured everything. But I knew the direction from which I had been tossed. The creature must be over there. As if to answer this, I heard the same evil chuckle coming out of the darkness. I got to my feet, and looked out, searching for the creature's identity. What did I know about it? It could laugh, it was cold, and it was a physical being. Or maybe it was only physical some of the times.
Whatever it was, it sure didn't seem to like me. No matter how many times I stumbled around in this darkened room, I would get just about as far as before. If I found my sword, it would take it away again. If I found my friends, the results of what happened to them could be terrifying. If I found it, then I would be in trouble. But I wouldn't find it. It would find me. I couldn't allow that to happen. It was then that I realized that the only way I could fight this creature is if I went to it. If I stayed here, it would come to me. If I tried to escape, it would stop me. If I tried to find my sword, it would take it away. The only way to survive was to fight it. I took a deep breath, and ran towards the Darkness which stood before me.
"Come fight me you demon!" I shouted as I ran. In my mind, I sensed that I was close to something dark, something evil. I leaped towards it. I found myself struggling with some creature. Two strong, cold arms locked with mine, wrestling me to the ground. Six more touched my back, holding me tight in an unbreakable grip. The arms lifted me off of the ground, before tossing me away again. I rolled across the floor, before getting back to my feet again. I leaped for the creature again. The arms caught me again, this time at the front. All eight lifted me straight up into the air as I struggled. I grabbed the arms, and was surprised to see that they felt differently than before.
No longer were they cold and clammy. Now they were hard, and covered with an insect like exoskeleton. The arms tossed me again, and I crashed painfully against the wall. I didn't get it. The creature was toying with me. It could have killed me easily at the beginning, but it didn't.
"Show yourself!" I shouted at the darkness. "You continue to hide from me!"
Something moved in the darkness, but otherwise nothing happened. This wasn't working well at all. If I attacked the creature, it just tossed me away, like a sack of potatoes. But if I stopped attacking it, and began searching for my sword, I was sure it would come to finish the job. The creature started chuckling again. It clearly knew what I was thinking. Maybe I could get out of my house, and escape. But no. I had no clue where the door was. The whole house was pitch black, for no lights were on, and all windows were shut. I felt along the wall behind me, and found out that I was in the kitchen. I was leaning against a counter, which had drawers in it. I opened one, and reached inside it. I pulled out a large knife. This would have to be my weapon.
Suddenly I heard a door slam, and I thought that I barely made out a small creature run across the room. Small? How could a small creature have so many large arms? Suddenly a hand touched me from behind. I whirled around, and struck with my knife. I felt the knife go into the hand, but the creature didn't cry out. Suddenly the hand was gone, and I was left clutching the knife. How that creature had gotten behind me, I didn't know.
It was then that the front door opened. It was over in the family room, on the opposite side of the house. If I could reach it, then I could escape. I took a step forward, and then rethought this. No, the creature had probably done that on purpose. It probably wanted me to run for the door, and then it would grab me as I ran. But then that must mean that it was waiting for me just to the side of the door. This was my one chance to defeat this thing. If I were to run, it would think I was running for the door. Imagine its surprise when I attacked it. I held my knife out, and ran for the door. Darkness flew by me as I ran, holding the knife over my head. I then leaped towards the side of the door, and swung my blade. But no creature was there to take the attack. My knife buried itself right into the wall, doing nothing to the creature, but damaging my home. I turned and faced the darkness, expecting hands to reach out and try and grab me from the darkness. But no. Two arms grabbed me from behind, right from the exact spot I had just slashed with my knife. I tried to look behind me at the creature that had grabbed me, but I couldn't. Three more arms reached out of the darkness in front of me, and grabbed me as well. I noticed that one of the arms had a wound in it. It was the same hand that had touched me unexpectedly from behind. I slashed my knife against one of the arms, cutting into the hard carapace, causing it to bleed.
But the hands did not let go of me. A sixth hand reached out of the darkness and grabbed my knife from me, and tossed it away. The arms then tossed me back into the kitchen again. As I flew through the air, I heard a whoosh, and something shot under me as I flew. When I landed, I was caught by six arms of the same creature. The arms turned me around, before slamming me down against the kitchen counter. The creature held me there, as if deciding what to do with me. As it held me, I reached down, feeling the shelves in the counter. I found the right one, and quickly opened it and pulled out a lighter. I flicked it on, and held the new light source towards the hands which grasped me. Now I could see them. They were dull yellow in color, colored like wheat, or dead grass. They were human like, but were attached to long, spidery arms. I couldn't see what the arms were attached to.
"What did you do to my friends!" I shouted at the creature. Then, the arms lifted me off of the counter, and began carrying me through the kitchen towards the main room. I held the light out in front of me, lighting the way. As the hands carried me, I noticed my sword lying on the ground right at the front of the main room. I made a mental note of this. But when I arrived at the far side of my house, I nearly screamed. There were all of my friends, all lying on my bed. But they were all held in long, cold green arms which seemed to extend out from thin air. The green arms covered their mouths, which explained why none of them had cried out when I had called to them. Many of them were struggling against the grip, but Doug and the Doctor had appeared to have given up. Ann looked at me with a pleading expression, and moaned softly, which was the only sound she could make through that green hand's grip.
"Let them go creature," I said.
I then pushed the lit end of my lighter against the flesh of the monster. The flesh burned, and I heard a shriek. The arms let go of me, and I tumbled to the ground. I held the lighter out towards the arms, warning them not to move any closer. Then, slowly, the arms moved back away from me, disappearing into the darkness. I got to my feet, and walked over to my bed. The green hands slowly withdrew from my friends as I walked towards the bed, disappearing into thin air as I walked. When I reached the side of my bed, all the arms had left.
"Oh my gosh," Doug said, breathing hard, "that was frightening."
The lights of my house then all turned back on, and the noises from the Spirits outside stopped.
"Are you guys all okay?" I asked.
"Those were two plagues," Gotz said, as sweat dripped down his forehead. "First the moving Spirits, didn't you guys feel them attacking us as we ran? Then, those arms. Didn't you see that? They were just arms which materialized out from the air. They weren't attached to anything."
Suddenly a shriek erupted from outside. I ran outside to see what it was, closely followed by the others.
