Sam: A Novel Of Suspense (26 page)

Angela
seemed to ignore the man’s ignorant tone.  “Basil has been used for centuries
to ward off evil spirits – even the church itself uses it.  If it works, Graham
will not be able to pass.”

“You
hear that, Balrog?” Tim shouted into the darkness.  “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”

Angela
edged everyone back and stood in front of them, facing down the dark hallway
like a sentinel.  Everybody waited behind her in silence.  Tim could hear his
own heart beating.

Graham’s
moans continued in the shadows.  The noise got louder, closer.

Eventually
the shadows parted and Graham appeared.  His head was still twisted around the
wrong way but had started to go limp as the cartilage in his spine weakened.  A
viscous meld of fluids dripped from his nose and swung in front of him like a sickening
bungee cord.

Angela
stood her ground, but Tim couldn’t help but shrink back.  The sight of Graham
made his stomach clench in revulsion.  He could feel his heat beat faster as absolute
terror finally took a familiar hold; it was an old friend he knew would never
be rid of.

“Angela,
come on,” he urged.  “Let’s just get away from here.”

Angela
ignored him.  She held up a crucifix around her neck and began quoting the Bible
– several passages over and over – so fast that she was almost speaking in
tongues.

Graham
kept coming.  His blood covered everything.  His smell filled the air.

“I
sentence you to Hell,” Angela growled.   “You will approach no further.”

To
Tim’s surprise, Graham stopped at the line of basil on the carpet.  It was
almost as if there was a string attached to his waist that had just reached its
maximum slack.

Angela’s
plan actually worked.

Then
Graham reached across the line and grabbed Angela’s throat.

Maybe
not.

Angela
squirmed and tried to break free, but she was caught in a vice.  Graham’s arms
had dislocated from their sockets and rose up behind his back at an unnatural
angle.  His bleeding face grinned.

“Help
her,” said Jessica.

Tim
didn’t move.  Couldn’t move.

He
stood and watched as Angela struggled with Graham; watched as her face went
red, her eyes began to bulge.  Then Tim saw his brother, the old woman, the
hotel room.  His heart froze in his ribcage. His knees turned to cement.

“I
said, somebody help her,” Jessica demanded.  “Now!”

Reluctantly,
Mike ran forward.  He barrelled, shoulder-first, into Graham and managed to
knock his former colleague back down the corridor.  The fact that Graham’s body
was facing the wrong way meant that his legs tangled up and he tumbled to the
floor.  Angela was dragged to the floor with him. 

Mike
raised his boot, brought it down on Graham’s head.  There was a vile
crack!
as
boot met skull and, thankfully, it was enough to make Graham release his grip
on Angela.  Angela scurried away, choking and spluttering.

Mike
brought his boot up again and again, stamping on his former colleague until
there was barely anything left of his head but pulp.

Angela
clambered to her feet.  Her cassock was twisted and dishevelled.  Tim could see
the anger in her eyes as she stared at him.  “Got my back, huh?” she said.

Tim
averted his eyes to the floor.  “I’m sorry.”

Angela
sighed.  “Don’t worry about it.  No harm done.”

“No
harm done?” Jessica echoed.  “A member of my staff is dead.”

“I
had no choice,” said Mike.

“I
know,” said Jessica.  “But that doesn’t make the situation any better.  We need
to call the police, or go for help, or…
something!
  I feel like I’m going
insane.  I need a drink.”

“I
don’t think that will help,” said Angela.

“Right
now, it’s the
only
thing that will help.  Mike, try the phones again.”

“Sure
thing.”  Mike took off down the hallway and disappeared.  Tim was uncomfortable
to see him go.  He didn’t trust the guy, didn’t like the thought of him
sneaking around, but also Tim didn’t want Mike to leave in case there was
another situation in which he froze.

If
Mike hadn’t been here to deal with Graham, Angela would be dead now.  Even
after all these years I’m still nothing but a coward.

Angela
rubbed at her throat.  “The dead are walking, the night is eternal; I don’t
like what’s happening here.”

“No
shit,” said Tim.

“No,”
said Angela. “I mean that this is more than just possession.  No demon has this
kind of power.”

“No
poltergeist either,” Tim added.  “So what the hell are we dealing with here?”

“I
don’t know.  The Devil?  Or one of the other fallen angels?  Only the princes
of Hell themselves could affect the world in this way.”

“You
sound like a mad woman,” said Jessica.  “You’re talking utter nonsense.”

“I
think the time for scepticism is over,” said Angela.  “It is clear that we are
dealing with an ancient evil here.”

“Ancient
evil, the Devil, poltergeists – I’m stuck in a nightmare.”  Jessica rubbed her
palms against her eyes and then looked at Tim and Angela.  “So what do we do?” Despite
her scepticism it seemed she was onboard with whatever plan they came up with.

Angela
smiled at Jessica reassuringly.  “We find Sammie, and then you let me perform
another exorcism, but this time we go all the way.”

Jessica
swallowed audibly.  “What do you mean:
all the way?
”

“I
mean whatever it takes to end this.  We cannot let this evil remain.”

“I
won’t let you hurt Sammie.”

Angela
shook her head.  “Jessica, sweetheart, your son has already been hurt.  The
only chance he has left of living a normal life again is for me to take this as
far as I need to.”

Tears
fell from Jessica’s eyes, but she nodded.

Angela
patted the woman on the arm.  “There’s one thing we need to do first.”

Jessica
wiped the wetness from her cheeks.  “What?”

“We
need to find out what Mike is hiding from us.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Sitting
in the piano lounge, Mike didn’t intend on trying the phones (he knew they
wouldn’t be working for one thing) but he wouldn’t have used them even if they
were.  Mike’s function at the house was as a recruiter. That meant staying
around to ensure that his employer’s predictions were correct, that Sammie
really was who they were relying on him to be.  Sammie was changing, and it was
Mike’s job to make sure that the boy knew where his destiny lay.

So
why the hell am I being hit in the face by exploding television screens? I’m here
to help the little brat.

The
wound to his eye hurt, but Mike tolerated it.  He’d been cleansed by pain as
part of his initiation into the Black Strand – a secret, off-the-books
organisation including all of the most powerful individuals from Black Remedy’s
numerous sub-divisions.  Mike was just a cog in a very large machine, but he
took his membership seriously – it was a rare honour bestowed on very few. 
Even Joseph Raymeady had known nothing of the Black Strand.  His father and
grandfather had been key figures, but they saw the weaknesses in Joseph and kept
him in the dark.  Joseph’s morals would have only caused problems.  Which is
why it had posed such problems when Joseph’s father passed away.

With
Joseph inheriting controlling interest of Black Remedy, he’d quickly begun an
ethical crusade, turning over every one of the company’s rocks to see what lay
beneath.  It would have only been a matter of time before Joseph discovered the
existence of the Black Strand and their purpose – and the true purpose of Black
Remedy Corporation itself.

Joseph
had never seen it coming when Mike strung a rope around his neck and hoisted
him over the balcony.

But
where has that gotten me?  I’m beginning to feel like a lamb at the slaughter. 
Sammie was never meant to be any danger to me, but nearly being blinded
disproves that.  Not to mention the never-ending night and Graham getting up
and walking like a member of the living dead club.  None of this was supposed
to happen.  There’s something I don’t understand.

Mike
poured himself a drink from the nearest bottle, which turned out to be rum.  He
filled up a low-baller glass halfway and then downed the contents immediately,
enjoying the pleasant burn at the back of his throat.

“Drinking
is bad for you, Michael.  The body is a temple and it is a sin to defile it.”

Mike
jolted, dropped the glass.  It smashed on the floor.  “Sammie, shit, where did
you come from?”

Sammie
stepped out of the shadows and grinned.  His teeth seemed even more crooked
than usual.  “I’ve always been here, Michael.  What are you doing here?  Little
early for a drink isn’t it.”

“Usually,
yeah, but in case you haven’t noticed the night’s gone on a little longer than
usual.”

“Yes,
I did notice that.  Beautiful, isn’t it?  Everything seems so much more…
intimate…
in the dark, don’t you think?”

“If
you say so.”

“What’s
the matter?  You seem irritated, Michael.”

“Are
you surprised?  You almost blinded me earlier.”

Sammie
giggled.  “Not me.  My friend.”

“Yeah,
whatever,” said Michael, making himself another drink.  “You know I’m here to
help you, right?”

Sammie
tilted his head like a confused puppy.  “Help me with what?”

“Help
you realise who you are –
what
you are.”

Sammie
stepped closer.  The shadows seemed to flee from his presence.  “I don’t know
what you mean.  I’m just a boy, nothing else.”

Mike
downed a gin from a new glass and slammed it down on the bar.  Then he laughed
bitterly.  “Oh, you are far more than that, and you know it.  A harmless little
boy doesn’t have the power to raise the dead like you.”

One
side of Sammie mouth slid up in a smirk.  “Ssshhh, Michael, it’s a secret.”

“Not
from everyone.  There are those – a select few – that know exactly what you are. 
They welcome you with open arms.”

“My
father’s company?”

Mike
shook his head.  “No, Sammie,
your
company.  Tonight you must kill your
mother, the Jezebel.  Bathing in her blood will be the mortal sin that truly
awakens your destiny.”

Sammie
spoke like an innocent child.  “But if I kill my mommy, who will look after
me?”

“Your
late father’s business partner, Vincent Black, will adopt you.  Together you
will change the world.  You were born to be great, Sammie.  You just have to
accept our help.”

Sammie
looked upwards as if to think about it.  Then he looked back at Michael and
said, “No, thanks.”

Mike
spluttered.  “What?”

“I’m
thinking I’ll just take control of the company myself.  I don’t see what Mr
Black could offer me that I can’t do for myself.  Perhaps I should kill him
instead?  Then I would own the entire company.”

Mike
shook his head and approached Sammie from behind the bar.  “No, you don’t
understand.  You won’t be in charge until you are eighteen years of age.  In
the meantime, Mr Black will teach you about the business and about your destiny
while you mature.  You’ll be lost without him.”

Sammie
put a fingertip against his chin.  “Perhaps you’re right.  I still have one
question though.”  Sammie stepped closer to Mike, only a few feet away now. 
Mike could feel his skin prickling.  “What exactly do I need
you
for?”

Mike
didn’t like where this was going.  The ungrateful little shit was turning on
him.  “I have been helping you from the beginning, Sammie.  Watching you and
keeping you safe.  I deserve your loyalty.”

“I
disagree.  I think Frank is the one who has been keeping me safe since your
murdered my father.  Not that he ever really was my father.  Still, I loved the
man all the same; he used to make me smile.  I think I owe him more loyalty
than I do you, wouldn’t you agree?  And what better way to show that loyalty
than to avenge his death, by gutting his killer like a sickly little pig?”

Mike
had heard enough.  The fear was so thick in his veins now that his heart was
threatening to burst.  He was trapped inside the house and now Sammie wanted to
kill him.  There was no choice but to act.

Mike
slipped his blade from the holster beneath his belt and placed it to Sammie’s
throat.  The boy stayed calm, but one false move and Mike was ready to slice
his fucking throat out.

If
it’s between you and me, oh great Messiah, then I choose me to live.

Sammie
started laughing.

Jessica
and the others entered the room, surprised by what they saw.  Mike didn’t blame
them.  The game was finally up.