Heaven Sent (26 page)

“Yes.”

I thought so. She seemed drugged until I tried calling the demon out. Seems my calling him out, woke him up. I had one final question. “Will Danny kill Erin when Satan doesn’t rise tonight and take her as his bride?”

There was a long pause. “I don’t know.” There was a sadness in Mert’s monotone response that led me to believe that while he may have been a molester, he wasn’t up for murder.

“We’ve got to get down there,” I said to Maudrina in a loud whisper. I again peered into Mert’s eyes. “Mert, I know you’re tired. I need you take a long nap right now. A very long nap.”

“Okay.”

Mert dragged over to the chaise, moving like a zombie. He lay down and curled into a fetal position, stuck his thumb in his mouth, and in seconds he was snoring like my grandfather on the couch after Thanksgiving dinner.

Our first stop was the closet under the stairs where we slipped into the robes we’d wear into the chapel. We pulled the humongous cowls over our heads, hoping to blend into the crowd. No sense taking the chance that Millie or anyone else might recognize us.

We needed to get Erin out of the chapel before something horrible happened to her. We figured we’d call out the demon later, after we’d gotten her to safety. The hope was that I could create some kind of wind diversion, and while the Satanists were dealing with the wind, Maudrina would smuggle Erin out. We realized it wasn’t much of a plan, especially if Erin resisted, but it was the best we had.

Danny must have assumed Mert had taken care of us because no one else came looking for us. That was a stroke of luck.

I marveled at how things had changed as we passed through the empty ballroom en route to the chapel. A short time ago, the lavish ballroom had been alive with music and guests. Now it was like a ghost town. The eerie silence filled the empty space with an air of despair. I wondered if we were too late.

We hurried through with my ankle feeling as though I’d starred in the movie
Misery,
and someone had taken a sledge hammer to it. We moved down the short flight of stairs and into the ante room. As we entered, we were greeted by excited murmurs from the crowd up ahead in the chapel. My adrenaline began pumping as if through a supercharger, and I said a short, silent prayer that we weren’t too late.

We threw open the large wooden chapel doors and entered. The chapel was packed, like an SRO crowd at a rock concert. Of course this crowd was more like monks at a Gregorian chant concert, but still. We couldn’t see the altar through the knot of robed guests, but we could tell the ceremony was about to begin. I was filled with relief that we weren’t too late, but couldn’t hang onto the feeling for long. We were in time, which meant we had work to do.

“Can you see anything?” I asked. I was anxious and nervous and worried that Danny would kill Erin before we could stop the ceremony.

“No. We need to get closer.”

Most of the crowd had their hoods up, framing their faces in sinister shadows. The fragrance of incense was in the air. I privately commended Danny for all the little touches he’d added to pull off his charade. He may have been a roughneck, but he wasn’t as dumb as he looked.

We tried pushing through the robed throng to get to the front. “I’m standing here,” an angry man said. “Stop shoving,” said someone else. Excited Satanists were clustered in front of us, blocking the path to the front. There was no way they were letting us through.

“We can’t get by,” I said to Maudrina, my hope of rescuing Erin beginning to fade. “We’re trapped back here.”

Organ music began to play, piped in through speakers throughout the chapel. It wasn’t the wedding march. The music crackled with discord, like something out of a horror movie. While this excited the crowd even more, I was feeling just the opposite, knowing the show was about to begin.

“Coming through, members of the wedding party,” Maudrina announced, raising her voice. She grabbed me by the wrist and began pulling me through the crowd. We stepped on toes and elbowed people in their ribs. My ankle continued to throb as we slashed our way forward. “Wedding party, coming through,” Maudrina announced again and again as she shoved her way to the front. Reluctantly, the crowd gave way.

I again realized how lucky I was to have Maudrina by my side. There was no way I could have gotten this far without her.

The discordant song came to an end. A reverent hush replaced the excited murmurs. The air was flush with anticipation.

As we pushed our way forward, the altar came into view. It was made of a highly polished wood, like mahogany. Demonic drawings were carved into its sides and up the walls to its rear. Erin stood before the altar, straddling a pentagram that had been expertly painted onto the floor. She was wearing the robe we had helped her into and was now wide awake.

She wasn’t saying anything, but she was eyeing the crowd with fright in her eyes. She had every reason to be afraid. She was being held against her will by two giant bruisers with thigh-sized biceps. The bruisers gripped each of her arms, pinning her to the spot. She squirmed in their grasp, but there was no escaping them.

Danny stood before Erin facing the crowd. He was wearing a black robe with bright red piping. The hood was down, draped over his shoulders. He was holding the butt of a golden dagger in both his hands, the slightly curved tip pointing toward the floor. His eyes were shut as if in prayer. Then suddenly they shot open, and in them I saw madness.

“My dear followers, the time for darkness is once again upon us,” he announced.

An exalted cheer rose from the crowd.

“Quiet!” he commanded, and they quieted.

I gazed into the frenzied faces around me and realized these people wanted blood. Either give them Satan, or give them blood, nothing else would do. For a moment I allowed my thoughts to wander back to when Erin and I were little girls.
Smart girls rule.
Neither of us seemed so smart right now, did we?

“He’s going to kill her,” Maudrina whispered.

“Danny!” we heard Erin whine. “Danny, what’s going on here?”

Danny’s back was to her. He didn’t turn to acknowledge her. Instead, he smiled at the crowd and winked. Once again the frenzied Satanists erupted into loud cheers, and once again he silenced them with a single word. “Quiet!”

It was then I noticed a black lacquer casket to the left of the altar, illuminated by many candles. After silencing the crowd, Danny faced the casket. “The year is one,” Danny murmured. “Rise, oh, Satan. Rise.”

The crowd took up the chant: “Rise, oh, Satan. Rise… Rise, oh, Satan. Rise.”

I glanced into the face of a woman nearby. Her lips were moist, and she appeared hungry, like a wolf waiting to devour its prey.

“How long before they give up this chanting and sacrifice her?” Maudrina asked.

I didn’t answer. I was too busy conjuring up a belly full of anger.

I could tell by the freaked out look in Maudrina’s eyes she realized that I was about to use my abilities, and was well aware of the possible consequences.

“We don’t have to do this,” she whispered urgently. “We can sneak out of here and come back with the police,” she said, making a final, futile appeal. Then her eyes moved to Danny on the altar, with the golden dagger clutched in his hand, and a resigned look came over her. “You’re right. We’d never make it back in time,” she said, her voice cracking. She gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

“Rise, oh, Satan. Rise! Rise, and claim your bride,” Danny called with all the flair of a storefront preacher.

The wind came in from the rear. It ripped open the chapel doors, slamming them against the walls. The crash of the doors echoed throughout the chapel as the wind shot through the crowd. It was a steady wind that made a frightening sound. The wind reached the front and knocked out all the candles, bathing the chapel in near darkness.

“He’s here!” someone shouted. “Satan is among us.”

We were consumed by shadow as the wind hit the wall behind the altar. When it did, it changed course and began blowing back into us, head-on, knocking over candelabras and throwing people to the floor as if they were plastic toys.

“Get her!” I whispered loudly. Maudrina started for the front, fighting against the wind, moving toward the altar like a mime in fake slow motion. Something in my consciousness shifted, and Maudrina was no longer fighting the wind. It was as if a bubble had formed around her. She moved easily to the front and began helping a frightened Erin off the floor.

“They’re getting away!” someone called loudly.

They were both inside the bubble now, and began moving back through the crowd toward the rear. One of the bruisers appeared in their path. He reached for them, and as he did, the wind yanked him up from the floor and tossed him across the room like a paper cup in a windstorm. He went crashing into the wall then, crumpled to the floor where he lay motionless. The other bruiser must have gotten the message, he was nowhere in sight.

The over head lights came on.

With the room bathed in light, I observed total chaos. Satanists were scrambling for their lives. Danny was on his knees on the chapel floor before the altar, his hands covering his head. The golden dagger lay discarded a few feet from his trembling body. He appeared every bit the coward I knew he was.

Maudrina and Erin made their way to the chapel entrance with little resistance. The Satanists were too busy trying to save their own skins. After the girls had left the chapel and cleared the anteroom, the wind slowly died, like a campfire consuming its last twigs, then stopped. The chapel became eerily silent, and I thought of how it must be in a Midwestern town minutes after a tornado had departed. It was so quiet. The Satanists who remained appeared dumbstruck as they peeled themselves off the walls and floor.

Fatigue began settling over me like a blanket. Every muscle in my body was spent. I was more tired than I’d been in my entire life. I wanted to lie down right there on the chapel floor and sleep for a week. I knew it was because I had taxed my abilities to their limit. My abilities were spent as well, at least for now.

Danny got up off the floor and attempted to regain control. “It’s all right now, my people,” he said in an uneven tone.

“What happened?” a dazed voice called.

“Satan took his bride,” Danny called back. A hopeful smile settled onto his lips.

“That wasn’t Satan,” a woman with wild eyes called, “that was a girl took Erin out of here.”

“Yeah, I saw it. A girl took her out of here,” someone else said.

“And wasn’t Satan supposed to come out of that casket?” The Satanists were starting to get unruly.

“It’s Satan’s choice in which form he appears, and how he chooses to claim his bride,” Danny offered as an explanation. He continued to smile, but his eyes had become wary.

Just then, the lid to the casket opened.

“It’s him,” someone called. The wild-eyed woman fainted.

I was in total shock.
Could Satan have actually come to claim Erin… or me?

As we looked on, one leathery hand and then another emerged from the coffin and latched onto its sides. A hideous creature pulled himself up and rose into a sitting position. The creature was swathed in black linen, but his horrible face lay bare for all to see. Several of the Satanists gasped.

“I am an emissary of hell,” the creature called in a booming voice. He pointed to Danny with a monstrous finger. “And this man is a liar.”

I recognized the emissary in the casket. It was Orthon.

Orthon rose to a standing position inside the casket, towering over us all. Several of the Satanists bowed down to him. “He is not whom he pretends to be,” Orthon proclaimed. “Do not follow this imposter. Instead, you must deal with him.”

Slow outrage began to rise in the Satanists that remained.

“Danny’s an imposter,” a young male Satanist cried out.

“No! Don’t listen to him,” Danny called. But it was hard for them not to listen, since it was obvious a demon from hell was standing in their midst, proclaiming they must deal with Danny.

Danny began scanning the room for a friendly face as the Satanists closed in on the altar, encircling him. His trusty posse had already vacated, leaving him stranded.

Orthon’s eyes picked through the crowd and found mine. In his eyes, I saw both pain and pride. “Go,” he mouthed. “I love you,” he said with an anguished expression.

A tear found its way into my eye and began rolling down my cheek, as I realized Orthon had come to rescue me. I didn’t need rescuing, but he hadn’t known that. I thought of how adamant he had been that I not come to this place, and that if I did come, that he be allowed along.

I was overcome with mixed emotion. In that moment I both loved and hated him. A part of me wanted to thank him for coming to my rescue, but another, larger part felt a thank you would be a betrayal of Guy. Orthon had tricked me into believing he was the angel I loved. That thought alone erased any kindness that may have wormed its way into my heart.

I steeled myself, sucking back any tears that might fall, and returned his words of love with a searing glare that did its job of increasing the anguish in his eyes. Then I turned and started out.

Angry accusations greeted my ears. “It’s some kind of a trick,” Danny whined, raising his voice over that of the complaining Satanists. “That’s a mask!” he cried out. The next sound I heard was that of punches landing.

I didn’t look back to see who was winning, but I could guess. I limped from the chapel keeping my eyes straight ahead, through the anteroom, and up the short flight of stairs. Once in the ballroom, I could see the front door hanging open, beckoning me to hurry,
hurry
from this evil place. With total disregard for the pain in my ankle, I sped up my gait and fled Tavares Castle.

A gibbous moon hung low in the night sky.

Dazed Satanists were slowly making their way through the shadows and down the hill toward the castle gates. I discarded my robe on the ground and limped along after them.