Authors: Tim Miller
Chapter 24
Officer Roman, 4:20 a.m.
I stood outside Amanda’s room as the two priests went back inside. I heard Father Harlan shouting, and chanting something, while the girl went absolutely berserk. It sounded as if there was an all-out fight in the room. Even though she was restrained to the bed, she’d broken loose before. I stayed close by, in case things got totally out of hand in there. While I considered myself an atheist, I couldn’t deny something really weird was happening. I figured the priests were up to a bunch of hocus pocus, but it had to help more than anything I’d done all night.
I heard a strange sound coming from down the hall. I walked in that direction, and heard a door opening and closing. Drawing my gun, I moved against the wall and crept toward the sound. It was still pitch black and I kept my flashlight off, to remain tactical. I could still hear the girl screaming as I moved the other direction, down the hall, but whoever was approaching from the stairs was also noisy. My steps were silent, as I worked my way there. The footsteps had stopped, so I stopped and listened. I could hear someone breathing, whoever it was sounded out of breath, from climbing the stairs.
I came around the corner with my gun leading the way, and turned the corner, aiming toward the sound of the breathing.
“Police! Stop right there!”
“Shit Roman! Fuck me!” A female voice called. It was Officer Leah.
“Leah?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Remember? I went in that side door. What the hell is going on? Get that fucking gun out of my face.”
I holstered the gun, and approached her, looking around.
“Did you see anything?” I asked.
“I saw lots of weird shit. People downstairs are like zombies and stuff. One of them, who was dressed in scrubs, chased me all the way up the stairs. I hit him in the face with my baton and dropped him, ran up here and you found me.”
“I almost shot you, damn. Been enough spooky shit going on.”
“I know, you care to fill me in?”
I explained the events of the evening to her, including Amanda’s behavior, what I found out at the group home, and all the details of everything I knew. She took it all in rather well.
“My God,” she said. “An actual demon?”
“Hell if I know. I don’t believe in shit like that, but after what I’ve seen tonight, I’m rethinking my position on a lot of things.”
“Well I do believe in that stuff. Is that what the screaming is?”
“Yeah, that’s the priests doing the exorcism now, they’ve been in there for awhile.”
We walked down to Amanda’s room where the screaming and banging got louder and louder. After several more minutes of the commotion, both priests came out. Even in the dark I could see Father Harlan’s face was soaked with sweat, although the entire building was now cold. The closer you got to Amanda’s room, the cooler it felt.
“Everything okay Father?” I asked.
“This creature is very powerful. We’re going to take a break. This is going to take awhile.”
“So what’s up with this thing? It’s taken over the whole hospital.”
“I know. I think I know why. It has seriously manifested itself. Like I told Father Pierce earlier, this is a powerful demon who has control over the girl. It seems to be in charge of several other demons that are running loose all over the hospital.”
“So what’s its deal? You know its name or anything?”
“Not yet. I do think I know why it’s so powerful. I’ve seen something similar, just not to this degree. Last time I saw something even remotely this strong, it was a generational curse.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“It means that this demon has been terrorizing Amanda and her family for generations. Chances are, one of her parents was possessed, and probably her grandparents, and no telling how far back.”
This was getting pretty thick, but I just went with it.
“So, did the demon get stronger?”
“In a way. Early on, a weaker demon probably took control. The longer it stayed, and with each generation it would get stronger, and then a stronger demon would come in. Demons have a hierarchy just like priests and police officers do.”
“So, what do they want with her? I mean she’s just a kid.”
“Yes, but with the hold they have on her family, look at what they did to this hospital. She’s like a conduit. She’s like mission control, and the rest of the hospital
, staff and patients, are the outposts.”
“Jesus Christ. So what do they want?”
“What every demon wants. It wants to be in control, and to cause as much human suffering as possible.”
“Can you help her?”
“I will do my best. The rest is up to God.”
“Well, I think it’s pretty fucked up that God would let a little girl go through something like this,” I said. Harlan just nodded.
I could tell he didn’t want to get into a philosophical argument with me about the nature of God. Instead he turned, and went back into the empty room he’d been using. Leah was standing next to me. She’d been silent this whole time, but in the dark I could see her eyes were wide as saucers. She was mumbling something.
“What did you say?” I asked.
“I’m praying.”
Chapter 25
Father Pierce, 4:45 a.m.
As we stepped outside of Amanda’s room, I saw another officer had joined Officer Roman. This was a woman. She was short, and had dark hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Her name tag said “L. Sanders.” She was very tiny for a cop. Standing quietly, she stared wide-eyed, as Roman and Father Harlan spoke. After a few minutes, we went into one of the empty rooms to take a break.
The last round of the exorcism had been incredibly intense. I could see the toll it was taking on my colleague. Despite the cold, he was dripping with sweat, and already looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
“So what do we do now?” I asked, trying to sound hopeful.
“I need to lie down for a bit.” He kicked his shoes off, and sat on the edge of one of the beds.
“You’re going to take a nap?”
“Yes, I need to get my energy back. You saw how crazy it was in there. It’s exhausting. I need to rest, but not for long. I just need about twenty minutes or so, and then we’ll get back to it.” He stretched out on the bed and put his feet up. I stepped out of the room to give him some quiet. He’s the expert, so I figure he knows what he’s doing. The two officers were still in the hallway. Amanda was quiet, and may have fallen asleep as well. The demon didn’t need rest, but her body had to run out of energy at some point.
“Everything okay Father?” Officer Sanders asked.
“Oh yes, Father Harlan is just resting for a bit. I thought I’d give him some quiet.”
She walked toward me, while Officer Roman stayed near Amanda’s room.
“Father,” she said. “I’m not Catholic. At our church, we aren’t even supposed to call priests ‘Father,’ but this stuff that’s happening, it’s very troubling.”
“Yes officer, it is indeed.”
“Do you think---” she stopped, and took a serious look around.
“Do I think what?”
“I’m on duty, so this is going to sound weird.”
“In light of tonight’s events, I doubt it. So go ahead.”
“Can you pray with me? I mean, I pray too. I just figured if a preacher prayed with me it would be better. You’re a priest so you’re the best I can do at the moment. No offense or anything.”
“None taken, of course I’ll pray with you. Let’s go out in the hall so as not to disturb Officer Roman.”
We walked to the back of the unit and through the door into the stairwell. It was still pitch black in the hospital, with no lights on anywhere, but my eyes had started to adjust. Once in the hall, I took the officer’s hand.
“What’s your name?” I asked her.
“Leah.”
“I’m Father Pierce, my colleague is Father Harlan. I’ll begin here.” I prayed a prayer of protection with her. It was a short one, but I could tell it was putting her at ease. As we opened our eyes, the lights came on. We both squinted in the bright lights. Standing behind Leah was Amanda. In the light, I could see her face was more twisted and distorted than I had remembered.
“Officer Leah,” I said. “Look behind you.”
She slowly turned on her heels, as we both looked at Amanda, who was just a few feet behind her. Amanda was bent forward slightly and wearing a hospital gown.
“Amanda,” I began. “I know you’re in there, I know you can hear me. How’d you get here? Why are you out of bed?”
“Father? What’s going on?” Leah asked. I had to ignore her at the moment.
“Amanda, can you hear me?” I continued.
“She can’t hear shit Father. Why don’t you go take care of your pal out there, the murderer? He killed his mother, she’s here with us!”
“You said that earlier.” Father Harlan told me not to engage the demon, but I had to know what this was about. “What are you talking about?”
“Peter Roman. His mother was sick, but not that sick. He poisoned her, slowly, so she’d die. Go ask him yourself.” Her voice was deep and guttural. It was weird talking to this thing, this shell of a girl.
“If I ask him, will you give us back Amanda?”
Instead of a reply, it burst out laughing, just as the lights went off again. No sooner were the lights off, and it was quiet again. She was gone.
Chapter 26
Officer Roman, 4:55 a.m.
I was getting really tired of the power switching off and on. You’d think a hospital would have a backup generator. Of course, they probably did but hadn’t planned for a demonic attack screwing up the power. Not sure if Home Depot sold something for such an event. I heard something from the stairwell where Leah had gone with the priest. Sounded like they were talking to someone, but I couldn’t make anything out. The night had been filled with so many strange events, and I was more than ready for it to end.
It was pitch black in the hallway again, when I heard someone calling my name. It was coming from behind me, barely above a whisper.
“Peter,” it said. “Peter, help me.”
I rolled my eyes as I spun around to see who it was. It was a woman’s voice. I thought it might be Leah trying to fuck with me, but this woman appeared more terrified than anyone I’d come across all night.
“Who’s there? Is this a joke?”
“Peter, why did you kill me?” it said.
“What? I’m a police officer!” I drew my gun, and pointed it in the direction of the sound. “I will fucking kill you, if you try anything stupid!”
A figure began to emerge from the darkness. The “being” was short, incredibly skinny with patches of hair around its head. I shined my flashlight in that direction, as it moved toward me.
“Stop right there! That’s close enough!” I said, pointing my gun.
“Oh Peter, you’d kill your mother twice?”
I lowered my gun.
“What? Mom?”
“Why did you do it, Peter?”
“It wasn’t like that. I wasn’t trying to kill you.”
“You shouldn’t lie to the dead, Peter.”
I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation with my dead mother. I had to be completely losing my mind.
“Roman?” Leah said, from behind me. “Who are you talking to?”
“What?” I said, I turned to look at her.
“Who are you talking to? You said you weren’t trying to kill someone.”
I turned back around and my mom, or whatever that was, had gone. I wanted nothing more than to get out of the hospital right then and there.
“Motherfucker,” I said.
“What? What’s going on?” she asked.
“I’m sick of all this weird shit. If I told you what I just saw, you’d think I was nuts.”
“I doubt that. Father Pierce and I just saw something bizarre ourselves.”
“What did you see?” I asked.
“You probably wouldn’t believe me either.”
“Whatever. I’m outta here. You all can have fun chasing devil child around.”
I holstered my gun and walked to the stairwell, pushing on the door, but it wouldn’t open. The handle would turn, but the door was stuck. I threw my shoulder into it, trying to bust it open, but no movement. I took a step back and turned to see Father Pierce standing there.
“Does everyone around here sneak up on people? Jesus Christ.”
“You’re the reason this is happening,” he said.
“Whatever. I’m trying to leave. I’ll find another stairwell.”
“They won’t allow you to leave,” he said.
“Why don’t you pray about it?” I asked.
“God is allowing this to happen. You’ve sinned against him. Now he’s allowing Satan to come for you.”
“Then Satan is gonna have his hands full,” I said.