Chapter Seven
TJ Kincaid stared at the threesome crowded into the small bathroom and shook his head. He wondered once again what the hell he was doing there. He wasn't a professional well versed in the supernatural. He was just a cop. But then, he took one look at Peter, catching Peter's haggard gaze so full of torment, and he knew exactly why he was there. He only prayed he was capable of succeeding with Peter where he had failed Lydia in the past.
"It's about time you got here," Kermit groused.
The ex-merc threw a couple thick towels around Peter's shoulders as Peter trembled from shock. TJ didn't even bother locking horns with Kermit. Kermit was in full protective mode, so TJ bypassed the anger in Kermit's statement by changing subjects.
"Your sister's been trying to get hold of you," he said without expression.
Kermit looked surprised by the announcement, and a rare blend of worry, fear, and vulnerability crossed the man's expression before he hid it away.
TJ continued, "Your cell phone is dead like Jody and Peter's. Mine's probably dead by now, too. She was trying to reach you and Broderick knew of the problems you guys were having with your cell phones, so he transferred the call to mine, knowing I had just checked in with our requests for time off tomorrow."
TJ's gaze went back to Peter, and he leaned forward enough to pull back the towels. He frowned and picked up a candle, bringing it closer to Peter's torso for closer examination. Peter didn't make the task any easier, mostly because his discomfort was so great he was barely able to sit still.
TJ whistled and straightened, replacing the candle to its previous perch. "I bet that stings," he said softly.
His understatement made Peter laugh despite his pain. "Yeah, you could say that."
Kermit cut through the humor. "Can you help him?"
TJ didn't answer, only motioned toward the bedroom. "Move him in there and bring all the candles you can find."
TJ went to a small duffle bag and unzipped it. He pulled a few items from it as Kermit escorted Peter to the bed, nearly carrying him along as his weakened state rendered him unable to walk on his own.
Jody carried the rectangle trash can that had held burning messages earlier, holding it so that its longest side could hold several of the lit candles. She distributed the candles around the room, and then went to help with Peter.
Peter groaned as they settled him. Jody was about to help him lie down when TJ stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. He knelt before Peter with several small bottles in one hand.
"Peter, those scratches of yours aren't anything modern medicine can help. They will bleed and fester until you die of blood loss or a raging infection for which there is no earthly cure. That's because they were created by something not of this earth. At least, not any longer."
Peter swallowed and nodded to let TJ know he was following the conversation.
TJ glanced downward for a moment before looking back at Peter again. He lifted the hand with the small glass bottles up for Peter to see. "This is the only cure I know for removing the demon's touch."
Peter looked at the bottles, then back to TJ in confusion. His expression grew more serious as he asked, "Okay...what's the catch? Why do you seem hesitant to use it?"
TJ closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Peter, if you think the pain you are feeling right now is bad, pouring this holy water on the cuts will probably launch you into orbit."
Peter flinched, as if the thought of more pain was something he simply couldn't comprehend. TJ put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "If it's any consolation, you'll be feeling a lot better when it's over."
Jody sat down beside Peter, concern marking her features. "TJ, isn't there something else we can do? Peter's already been through enough."
TJ cut her off. "No, I'm afraid not. At least, not that I know of and I've been studying the subject for years – "
Peter's voice was filled with determination as he interrupted. "Just do it."
TJ glanced up at Kermit who nodded once. TJ sighed and stood. He placed the bottles on the night stand and spoke without turning back to face him. "Peter, I'm going to have Jody and Kermit hold you in place. We are going to have to do this with you sitting up, so I can do the front and back as quickly as possible."
He turned to them, pausing from his task of changing the caps on the bottles to speak to them. "You two will have to hold him tight. He's going buck like a wild bronco and if he gets loose, it's only going to take that much longer to finish the job. Jody, can you please remove the bandages from his shoulder?"
Jody silently began the task and Peter barely acknowledged the pull of the adhesive on his skin, almost as if that small insult was nothing compared to what he had already endured and he was about to suffer.
Peter was deep in thought when TJ approached him. His expression seemed on the verge of losing his resolution when he looked up at TJ. "There's no other way?"
TJ shook his head. Peter shrugged slightly, visibly pushing away his fears as he whispered. "I won't accidentally hurt Kermit or Jody, will I? I won't be that out of it to hurt them, right?"
TJ felt a great rush of pity for Peter; it figured the man would be more concerned for his friends than himself.
Peter continued to stammer, "It's just...it's just that today's been overflowing with accidents. Wouldn't it be easier to just knock me out, and then do it?"
TJ smiled sadly. "No, because you have to be a willing participant in this rite. Peter, you realize I'm not an officially sanctioned representative of any church or religion. If you wish, I can call someone – "
"Stop, TJ, let's just get it over and done with," Peter whispered through clenched teeth. "Who knows what could happen to any of us in the time we would waste to get someone else here?"
TJ motioned to Jody and Kermit to assume their positions at Peter's side. Once they were in place, TJ spoke softly, but couldn't keep the tone of authority from his voice.
"Peter Matthew Caine, do you rebuke the power of this demon over you?"
Peter answered, though his voice trembled with trepidation. "Yes, I do."
TJ raised the first bottle with the specialized caps he'd added, one designed like a saltshaker cap to facilitate the spread of the blessed liquid. "Then, in the name of the most holy God on high, I proclaim you cannot harm this body any longer, demon! Your touch can no longer pierce his skin now that this holy water is protecting him!"
He looked at Jody, then to Kermit and they tightened their grip on Peter. Without another sound, TJ began sprinkling the water over the front of Peter's chest and things started happening quickly.
Peter's hoarse cries of pain cut through the room and TJ's heart, with the intensity of his suffering, but he consciously ignored Peter's screams and kept sprinkling the lifesaving water over each and every cut.
TJ had been expecting a battle from Peter, but the first attack came from elsewhere. A book flew through air without warning and knocked the glass bottle from TJ's hand, causing it to shatter against the wall.
TJ whirled around, realizing the danger to all of them had just mushroomed into something much more menacing. Not hesitating, TJ scooped up another bottle and resumed his task. Objects started flying around the room as a wind from hell began to pick up.
"Here we go again," Jody whispered as she adjusted her hold on Peter.
As TJ continued to douse the front of Peter's chest, he spoke words of grim encouragement to the others. "It must be working for the demon to fight us outright like this."
"How damned long is this going to take?" Kermit asked through clenched teeth.
"As long as it takes," TJ answered as he ducked a wooden paperweight.
"Great, we've got a Zen exorcist in our midst," Kermit grumbled.
Jody gasped when a book hit her squarely on the elbow, but she didn't loosen her hold on Peter.
Kermit glared at TJ in frustration. "Isn't there anything we can do to stop this windstorm?" he barked right before a picture frame hit him in the back.
TJ answered him without stopping. "We're doing it."
"That's reassuring," Kermit growled as he shifted on the bed to shake off the impact on his back.
"Oh my God, look!" Jody exclaimed, finally getting a view of the effect of the holy water on Peter's cuts. The cuts were bubbling as if TJ was pouring hydrogen peroxide over an infection instead of holy water on freshly bleeding wounds.
The smell rising from the reaction was a sickening blend of roses and sulfur, something that would have normally turned TJ's stomach if he hadn't been so involved in accomplishing his goal.
Peter had been reacting to the initial contact of the water on the upper levels of the skin, but as the holy water worked its way deeper, Peter's involuntary responses became more violent.
"Arrrrrrrrghhhh!" he cried.
TJ ducked a flying ceramic Buddha and focused the spray of water onto Peter's shoulder. Those cuts were the deepest and would be the most difficult to heal. The resounding crash of the Buddha against the wall told TJ the impact against his body would have been staggering.
Still, he couldn't stop now even if he wanted to. Peter was trying to come up off the bed and Jody and Kermit were having a tough time restraining him.
"Arrrrrrrrghhhh! Stop, you're killing me! Please, God, stop them!"
Kermit went up on one knee and forced Peter back down. "Can't we knock him out now? The case for voluntary participation is about to fly right out the window."
"No, there's nothing we can do but keep going. I'm done with the front. I need another bottle and I'll start on his back."
"Dammit, Kincaid, just do it and cut the commentary," Kermit growled.
TJ nodded and rounded the bed, only to be hit in the back of the head with a thick wooden dish. The blow knocked him to the floor, but he was careful to shield the holy water to keep it from shattering.
TJ staggered to his feet with his thoughts focused solely on Peter. It was hard to ignore the sight of Peter's writhing body and the difficulties Jody and Kermit were having, not to mention the increased speed of the flying objects in the room.
"We're almost there, Peter. Hang in there," he said, wondering if the comforting words were said for Peter's benefit or his own.
There was a mighty rumbling in the four walls surrounding them right before the air was filled with unholy shrieks. The screams merged into one echoing voice. "Leaaaave, Peeettteerr alonnnnnne. Leaaaave himmmmm."
"Demon, say your name and purpose for choosing Peter!" TJ commanded.
A maniacal laughter filled the air. "I ammmm Deeeeemon. I ammmm Leeeegion. I ammmm invinssssible."
A vile stench filled the air, affecting all four humans enough to make them grimace. "Peeeeterrrrr issss minnnne."
"I cast you away in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," TJ began reciting the memorized passage he'd studied so long ago.
His voice caught in his chest as he turned to find a bodiless head floating before him. TJ reacted in fear, but it turned out to be the best course of action he could take. Using the holy water, he shook it at the apparition.
A howling borne of hell shook the room and its occupants as the blasting windstorm picked up speed. Looking down, TJ saw Peter's skin continue to boil with the visual battle between good and evil and TJ found himself praying for the side of good. If he could pull Peter back from the demon's clutches, maybe there was hope for freeing Lydia one day.
He shook the bottle so fast that his hand seemed to be a blur of motion. His gaze was constantly searching for the next site to work on, but there came a moment when he realized he was done.
He stood gasping with spent adrenaline, but the battle wasn't over by any means. The maelstrom enveloping them was continuing to increase in speed and deadliness. Peter was out of his mind with pain, along with all the emotions associated with it.
Jody and Kermit were still managing to keep a grip on Peter but their hold was tenuous at best. TJ dropped the empty bottle and moved in from the rear to help hold Peter in place.
Moments crept into minutes and TJ could feel his own muscles quivering with exhaustion, but without warning, Peter's body tensed into a massive spasm. His body arched off the sheets as he screamed a frightening cry that reminded TJ of a banshee's death cry. As his lungs emptied with the scream, he slumped back to the bed like a dead weight.
The three dropped down to the mattress with him, suspecting a possible ploy from Peter to escape their hold – that he might bolt forward as they relaxed their hold, but nothing happened. In fact, Peter didn't move again. Even the objects that had been flying in the air fell to the ground in defeat.
"Is he still alive?" Jody whispered breathlessly.
TJ felt for a pulse and was rewarded with a strong, racing heart rate. He nodded as he rubbed Peter's sweaty skin. There was an oily coat of residue left, the final remnants of the battle of holy water and demon's touch. Miraculously, the cuts were gone. All of them. Even the deep festering ones on his shoulder.
TJ smiled victoriously, but his deep gasps for air kept the celebration to a minimum. Peter's physical afflictions had been healed, but he hadn't been able to force the demon to say two vital statements that were usually required before a demoniac was free of its haunting.
A small voice inside of TJ warned things might actually get worse before they got better, especially if they couldn't convince the demon to leave Peter alone.
"We did it?" Jody asked hoarsely.
When TJ didn't answer her right away, Kermit grabbed his arm. "Are we done or not?"
"I couldn't get the demon to say its name or why it was trying to claim Peter," TJ said, almost apologetically.
"We know the reason why, because of what we were doing at the Gables. And I don't give a damn about the demon's name," Kermit shot back at TJ.
TJ sighed and fidgeted for a moment. "Trust me, Kermit, it's important in making sure the demon leaves Peter alone. It's very important. Maybe we should get a real priest over here, someone well versed in exorcism. I know a few. I could call – "
Kermit interrupted him. "We don't have time for that and you know it."
"Isn't there something else we can do here ourselves, TJ?" Jody asked as she moved to her feet.
TJ paused, pushing himself away from Peter and stood. "For the moment, this holy water has burned the unholy presence from Peter's wounds, but..."
"But what?"
"It won't remove the demon's mark from Peter's neck."
"The demon's mark?" Kermit repeated, "I thought you said the holy water got rid of it."
TJ shook his head. "We removed the demon's touch, but not the mark. We can't do that here."
Jody joined the conversation as she stretched out sore muscles. "What the heck is the demon's mark?"
TJ moved to Peter and raised his limp torso so the others could see the red, inflamed area at the back of Peter's neck. "That is the demon's mark."
Kermit glanced at it, then to TJ. "Looks like a weird burn. Why didn't the holy water heal that like it did the scratches?"
TJ returned Peter to his previous position. "Because this is how the demon was able to stay with Peter. And it's how Peter was subjected to the brunt of the demon's ire."
"How's that?"
TJ sighed and walked to a nearby window. "The demon must have place its mark on Peter while you were at the Gables. It doesn't take much, the briefest of contacts will do it. Then it was tied to Peter. The next step was for it to claim Peter as his, but when you left the Gables before the demon could complete the process, the demon was forced to go with you and became lost."
"How can you be so sure about this?" Kermit asked, doubt creeping into his voice.
"Because Lydia had the same mark, but at the time, I had no idea what that meant."
Kermit's gaze darted downward briefly before going back to TJ. "Sorry, I don't mean to doubt you, but we've had a tough time and I want to be sure we're on the right track."
TJ smiled sadly. "We're on the right track."
Jody leaned forward. "Excuse me, but who's Lydia?"
TJ sighed and scratched at his eyebrow as he looked at Peter's still form. "Someone who didn't survive what Peter's about to face. Someone who shouldn't have ever been placed in harm's way."
His voice dropped off. Long moments passed without TJ noticing it until he felt Jody's hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, TJ, that you lost someone you cared about, truly I am, but we don't get our act together, we're gonna lose Peter, too."
TJ nodded and took a deep breath to gather his courage. Lydia would still be there in his thoughts when he had more time to reflect about the past.
"TJ, can you explain all those messages Peter's been getting?" Jody asked.
"The notes? I heard about those."
TJ gave her his full attention, but couldn't keep the sadness from his expression. "Do you have any of them left?"
Jody shook her head. "No, the ones I found on the bed burst into flame."
Kermit reached into a pocket and pulled out one in a plastic evidence bag. He handed it to TJ without comment. TJ walked over to the dresser mirror and shone the flashlight for better viewing.
Jody and Kermit followed him. Jody read the word visible in the mirror's reflection aloud, "Lost."
TJ nodded. "A mirror image. Visually, everything is reversed to the lost demon. It was trying to communicate with Peter in its limited way – but if Peter returns to the Gables as requested, if he returns to the site of the initial contact and the demon is successful, Peter's soul could be lost forever."
"Forever?"
TJ hesitated. "Well, possibly. I have been studying everything I could find on the subject and the one thing I've discovered is there's no absolutes when dealing with the netherworld."
"What happens if we don't return to the Gables with Peter?"
"The demon will continue to inflict torture upon Peter until he dies, thus freeing the demon to return to the Gables on its own."
"Even with the holy water's protection?" Jody asked with hesitation, the wealth of new information clearly overwhelming her.
"Yeah, unfortunately. The demon will resort to more drastic measures... something like what we saw with the flying objects – death by blunt force, so to speak."
Kermit spoke first. "Well, that's encouraging. The complete opposite of a win – win scenario, if I ever saw one."
"I told you it wouldn't be easy."
TJ shifted to ease the pain at the base of his skull where the object had struck him, then glanced up at Kermit. "Kermit, your sister's family is in real trouble."
Kermit swung around and eyed TJ ominously. "Why?"
"Your niece is in peril." He paused and locked onto Kermit's gaze before he said, "Many of the things your sister described are similar to what Peter has been dealing with."
Kermit cursed under his breath, reacting like a self-contained detonation, one burning with an internal fire. TJ kept on talking, hoping it would give Kermit enough time to cool down.
"The situations are similar, but not identical – "
Kermit had other ideas. "I'm going up there," he announced, but before he could leave, TJ caught his arm.
One withering glare prompted TJ to remove his hand, slowly and carefully, but he left the hand hanging in Kermit's direction as he said, "You need to know what's going on before you rush out."
Kermit's gaze darted around the room in quiet desperation before he took a deep breath and folded both arms in front of him.
"Enlighten me," he said, then added, "And do it quickly."
oOoOoOoOo
Chapter 7