Hades (41 page)

someone had been dragged back inside after putting up

one hel of a fight. My mind immediately thought of the poor

human who had been possessed to act in such a way. The

scratches in the porch were deep enough that shards of

wood must have been driven beneath her nails. I shuddered

to think what other damage had been done to the afflicted

sister.

The wraparound porch was long and sheltered with pretty

white awnings and posts. A pair of wicker rocking chairs

sat beside a table stil set for afternoon tea. Insects had laid

claim to the biscuits on the plate and the tea in the china

cups had grown moldy. A string of rosary beads lay on the

ground as if someone had dropped them in a great hurry.

The screen door looked scratched and the mesh torn as if

someone had tried to rip it from its hinges. Xavier and

Gabriel exchanged uncertain glances.

“Here goes,” Xavier said with a heavy sigh. He reached

out and lightly pressed the brass doorbel . Immediately the

sound of chimes echoed dimly from within. For several long

minutes they were met with nothing but silence.

“They can’t ignore us forever.” Ivy folded her arms across

her chest. “Ring again.”

Xavier obliged, holding the bel down longer. The chimes

reverberated more loudly this time, sounding almost

ominous as if heralding a message of impending disaster.

If only the sisters knew that help was waiting outside. There

was a rustling sound in the foyer, but the door remained

unopened. Ivy or Gabriel could have blown it apart in a

heartbeat, but I supposed that wasn’t the best impression

to make when trying to convince a nervous nun that you’re

on the same side.

“Please open the door.” Gabriel leaned against the fly

screen, his words coaxing. “We’ve come to help.” The door

opened a crack, the security chain stil on. A face appeared

and surveyed my brother with caution.

“My name is Gabriel, this is my sister and these are our

friends,” he continued soothingly. “May I ask your name?”

“I’m Sister Faith,” the nun replied. “Why are you here?”

She was soft-spoken, but I could hear her voice was

distorted with fear. Ivy decided to step forward and declare

their intentions.

“We know about Sister Mary Clare and the cause of her

il ness,” she said in a voice fil ed with compassion. “You

don’t have to hide anymore. The creature that has

overtaken her—we can send it away.”

“You can do that?” Hope crept into the nun’s voice, but

only for an instant before she became suspicious again.

“I’m sorry I don’t believe you. We’ve cal ed on every priest

and minister in the county. They’re powerless against it.

What makes you any different?”

“You have to trust us,” Ivy’s said solemnly.

“Trust is somethin’ we’re a little short on these days.” The

nun’s voice broke off with a quiver.

“We know things,” Ivy pressed. “We have knowledge

others cannot possess.”

“How can I be sure you’re not one of
them
.”

“I take it you believe in God, Sister,” Gabriel said.

“I’ve seen things …” Sister Faith’s voice faltered, as

though she were unsure what to believe anymore. Then she

remembered herself. “Of course I do.”

“Then believe that He is here now,” Gabriel said. “I know

your faith has been tested in the extreme, but it is not

without cause. You have been touched by darkness, but you

have not been broken. Now you shal be touched by light.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shal see God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’

sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us in, Sister;

let God return to your home. If you turn us away you are

succumbing to darkness.”

Mol y stared openmouthed at my brother and there was a

dead silence from inside the house. Then, slowly, the

security chain was released and the front door of the abbey

swung open. Sister Faith stood in the doorway, her eyes

fil ed with tears.

“Oh my stars,” she whispered. “So He has not forsaken

us.” Sister Faith was a robust-looking woman in her sixties

with pale skin and a fresh-scrubbed face. Faint wrinkles

were etched around her eyes and mouth and I wondered

how many of those she had accumulated over the last few

months. A lamp on the hal table il uminated the wide foyer

and curved staircase, but there was a stale smel in the air.

While Gabriel and the others made their introductions I

moved away to study the framed black-and-white

photographs on the wal . The glass in every frame had been

shattered so the images were blurred, but I saw they

recorded the official opening of the convent in 1863.

Original y the convent had been built to house a group of

Irish nuns who ran it for half a century as an orphanage and

refuge for young women who’d fal en into disrepute.

Sister Faith led us silently past a parlor where rows of

thin mattresses had been lined up on the floor—the sisters

were clearly too afraid to sleep upstairs. As we climbed the

sweeping staircase I caught a glimpse of the storerooms,

infirmary, and a rustic-looking kitchen al located on the

ground floor. The place would have been beautiful once;

cozy in winter, bright and airy in the summer, but now it was

a broken home. The kitchen floor was littered with broken

utensils as if someone had thrown them around the room.

Broken chairs were stacked in a corner and torn linen lay in

a heap by the door. I guessed from these observations that

the sisters had tried to expel the demon on their own with

little success. I looked away from the shredded pages of a

Holy Bible. The sight made something deep inside me

churn. It was strange to visit an earthly location so damaged

by demonic activity. Something fierce and terrible had

shaken the house to its very foundations, knocking over

ceramic vases and toppling furniture. It was also stiflingly

warm, and even in my spirit form I felt the heat crawling

across my skin as though it were alive. Mol y immediately

tore off her jacket, but the others didn’t move, despite their

discomfort.

On the second floor we passed the sleeping quarters

with rows of cel -size bedrooms now stripped of their

mattresses and the communal bathrooms. Final y we

stopped at a winding mahogany stairwel leading to the

attic where Sister Mary Clare had been isolated for her own

safety as wel as the safety of others. Sister Faith hovered

uncertainly at the foot.

“Can you real y return Sister Mary Clare to the hands of

God?” she asked.

“We’l need to assess her condition before we can

answer that,” Gabriel replied. “But we wil certainly try.”

Ivy touched Sister Faith gently on the arm. “Wil you take

us to her?”

The nun peered worriedly at Xavier and Mol y. “Al of

you?” she asked in smal voice. “Are you sure about that?”

Gabriel gave a tight smile. “They’re tougher than they

look.”

At the top of the stairs was a single locked door. I could

sense the evil pulsing behind it even in my astral form. It

was like a physical force, trying to repel the presence of Ivy

and Gabriel. In addition to the mustiness there was another

smel seeping from under the door, the smel of rotting fruit

when the flesh has turned saggy and gray and insects have

begun to burrow into it. Xavier flinched while Mol y coughed

and covered her nose. My siblings showed no reaction.

They stood together, shoulders touching in a gesture of

complete unity.

“I do apologize about the smel ,” Sister Faith said self

consciously. “But there’s only so much air freshener can

do.”

Outside the door, only a candle lit the tiny landing. It sat

on an antique dresser dripping wax onto its silver holder.

Sister Faith dug into her deep pockets to produce an old-

fashioned brass key. Behind the door we could hear

muffled thumps, ragged breathing, and the screech of a

chair being dragged across timber boards. A sound like

grinding teeth and a sharp crack like snapping bone

fol owed. Sister Faith crossed herself and looked

desperately at Gabriel.

“What if you can’t help her?” she whispered. “What if the

Lord sent us his messengers and that fails too?”

“His messengers do not fail,” Ivy said calmly. She

produced a black hair tie from her pocket and methodical y

pul ed her curtain of golden locks into a ponytail. It was a

smal gesture, but I knew it meant she was preparing for a

violent struggle.

“There’s so much darkness in there.” Sister Faith’s face

was creased in pain. “Living, breathing, tangible darkness. I

don’t want to be responsible for the loss of life—”

“Nobody is dying tonight,” Gabriel said. “Not on our

watch.”

“How can I be sure?” Sister Faith shook her head. “I’ve

seen too much now … I can’t trust … I don’t know how I’m

supposed to …”

To my surprise, Xavier stepped forward. “With al due

respect, ma’am, there’s no time to waste.” His voice was

gentle but firm. “You’ve got a demon tearing apart one of

your sisters and we’re on the brink of an apocalyptic war.

These guys wil do everything they can to help you, but you

need to let them do their job.”

His gaze went blank for a moment as if he were

remembering something that happened a long time ago.

Then he refocused and put a hand on Sister Faith’s

shoulder. “Some things are beyond human understanding.”

If my spirit form had al owed it, I would have cried at that

moment. I recognized those words as my own. I had

spoken them to Xavier that night on the beach when I’d

taken a blind leap of faith and thrown myself from a cliff,

letting my wings break my fal and revealing my true identity.

When I had convinced Xavier it wasn’t al a bizarre prank,

he’d been ful of questions. He’d wanted to know why I was

there, what my purpose was, and if God real y existed. I’d

told him:
Some things are beyond human understanding.

Xavier hadn’t forgotten.

I remembered that night as if it were yesterday. When I

closed my eyes, it al came flooding back to me like a tidal

wave. I saw the cluster of teenagers around the crackling

bonfire, embers spitting from the flames like fiery jewels

until they sank into the sand. I remembered the sharp smel

of the ocean, the fabric of Xavier’s pale blue sweatshirt

beneath my fingers. I remembered the way the black cliffs

had looked like looming puzzle pieces against the mauve

sky. I remembered the exact moment I had tilted my body

forward and left gravity behind me. That night had been the

beginning of everything. Xavier had accepted me into his

world and I was no longer the girl pressed up against the

glass looking in on a world I could never be a part of. The

memory of it made me ache with longing. We had thought

facing Gabriel and Ivy after I’d exposed our secret was a

chal enge. If only we’d known what lay in store for us.

The sound of the key turning in the lock drew my attention

back to the present. Xavier’s words had encouraged Sister

Faith to reveal what lay behind the closed door. Everyone

seemed to hold their breath as the smel of rotting fruit grew

stronger and a ripping snarl shot though the air. It seemed

that time stood stil as the door swung open in slow motion.

The room was rather ordinary; sparsely furnished and

only somewhat larger than the cubicle-size bedrooms on

the second floor. But what we found crouched inside the

room was anything but ordinary.