This Present Darkness (72 page)

SANDY COULD SEE
other beautiful beings emerging from the tunnel behind Madeline.

“Oh …” she asked, “who are these?”

“New friends,” said Madeline. “New spirit guides to take you higher and higher.”

ALEXANDER KASEPH BEGAN
to exchange important documents and contracts with the regents and the attorneys. They were discussing all the little loose ends that needed sewing up. Most of it was minor. It would not take long.

THE CLOUD FINALLY
formed a complete enclosure around the town of Ashton. Tal and his company found themselves trapped under a thick, impenetrable tent of demons. The spiritual darkness became deep and oppressive. It was difficult to breathe. The steady drone of the
wings seemed to permeate everything.

Suddenly Guilo whispered, “They’re descending!”

They all looked up and could see the ceiling of demons, that boiling red and yellow tinted blanket of black, starting to settle downward, coming closer and closer to the town. Soon Ashton would be buried.

Several cars were just turning onto College Way. The first carried County Prosecutor Justin Parker, the second Eldon Strachan and State Attorney General Norm Mattily, the third Al Lemley and three federal agents. As they passed through an intersection, a fourth car turned right and joined the procession. This car just happened to carry that true-blue accountant Harvey Cole, with a sizable stack of papers beside him on the seat.

TAL NOW HELD
a golden trumpet in his hand, gripping it very tightly, every muscle and every tendon tensed.

“Get ready!” he ordered.

MARSHALL, HANK, SUSAN,
and Kevin walked quietly down the hall, listening for any sounds and checking the numbers on all the doors. Susan gestured toward the conference room, and they paused just outside. Susan recognized Kaseph’s voice. She nodded to the others.

Marshall put his hand on the doorknob. He gestured to the others to wait. Then he opened the door and stepped inside. Kaseph sat at the head of the big conference table, and the regents and the four attorneys were seated around it. The demons in the room immediately drew their swords and backed up against the walls. Not only was this the very unexpected newspaperman, but he was accompanied by two very mean-looking heavenly warriors, a huge Arabian and a fierce African who looked more than ready for a fight!

The Strongman knew this meant trouble, but … not that much trouble. He looked at the intruders defiantly, even grinning just a little, and said, “And just who are you?”

“The name is Marshall Hogan,” Marshall told Kaseph. “I’m the editor of the
Ashton Clarion
—that is, as soon as I prove to the right people that I still rightfully own it. But I understand you and I have had a lot to do with each other, and I think it’s time we met.”

Eugene Baylor did not like the looks of this at all, and neither did any of the others. They were speechless, and some looked like frightened mice with nowhere to run. They all knew where Hogan was supposed
to be, but now, suddenly, shockingly, he was in the worst possible place: Here!

The Strongman’s eyes took on an icy stare, and the demons attending him drew strength from the thought that the Strongman was invincible and diabolically clever. He would know what to do!

“How did you get
here?
” Kaseph asked for them all.

“I took the elevator!” Marshall snapped. “But now I have a question for you. I want my daughter, and I want her unharmed. Let’s deal, Kaseph. Where is she?”

Kaseph and the Strongman only laughed derisively. “Deal, you say? You, a mere man, wish to deal with me?” Kaseph took a few side glances at his team of lawyers and added, “Hogan, you have no idea what kind of power you’re dealing with.”

The demons snickered along. Yes, Hogan, the Strongman cannot be tampered with!

Nathan and Armoth were not laughing.

“Oh, no,” said Marshall. “That’s where you’re wrong. I do know what kind of power I’m dealing with. I’ve had some really good lessons all through this thing, and some good lectures from my friend here.”

Marshall opened the door and in came Hank—and Krioni, and Triskal, this time under no orders of peace.

The Strongman jumped up, his jagged jaws gaping. The demons in the room started trembling and tried to hide behind their swords.

“Relax, relax!” said a lawyer. “They’re nothing!”

But the Strongman could feel the presence of the Lord God enter the room with this man. The demon monarch knew who this was. “Busche! The praying man!”

And Hank knew whom he faced. The Spirit was crying it out very loudly within Hank’s heart, and that face …

“The Strongman, I presume!” said Hank.

SANDY ASKED MADELINE
again, “Madeline, where are we going? Why are you hanging on to me so?”

Madeline would not answer but kept pulling Sandy deeper and deeper into the tunnel. Madeline’s friends were all around Sandy, and they did not seem kind or gentle at all. They kept pushing her, grabbing
her, forcing her along. Their fingernails were sharp.

THE PEOPLE AROUND
the conference table were shocked and nonplussed, suddenly finding themselves in the presence of a hideous creature; they had never seen such an expression on Kaseph’s face before, and they had never heard such a vicious voice. Kaseph rose from his chair, his breath hissing through his teeth, his eyes bulging, his back arched, his fists clenched.

“You cannot defeat me, praying man!” the Strongman bellowed, and the demons around him clung with desperate hope to those words. “You have no power!
I
have defeated
you!
”

Marshall and Hank stood their ground unflinchingly. They had tackled demons before. This was nothing new or surprising.

Kaseph’s attorneys could not think of anything to say.

Marshall reached over and opened the door. With her head held high and her face full of determination, Susan Jacobson, the Maidservant, stepped into the room, followed by the very angry Kevin Weed, and four more towering guards with them. The room was getting crowded, and tense.

“Hello, Alex,” said Susan.

Kaseph’s eyes were full of shock and fear, but still he gasped and sputtered, “Who are you? I don’t know you. I’ve never seen you before.”

“Don’t say anything, Alex,” an attorney advised him.

Hank stepped forward. It was time for battle.

“Strongman,” Hank said in a firm and steady voice, “in the name of Jesus, I rebuke you! I rebuke you and I bind you!”

MADELINE WOULD NOT
let go! Her hands felt like icy steel as she pulled Sandy along. The tunnel was getting dark and cold.

“Madeline!” Sandy cried. “Madeline, what are you doing? Please let go of me!”

Madeline kept her face forward and would not look back at Sandy. All Sandy could see was that long, flowing blonde hair. Madeline’s hands were hard and cold. They were hurting Sandy’s wrists, cutting into them.

Sandy cried in desperation, “Madeline! Madeline, please stop!” Suddenly the other spirit guides pressed in all around her. They were clamping onto her, and their steely hands hurt. “Please, don’t you hear me? Make them stop!”

Madeline turned her head at last. Her hide was soot-black and leathery. Her eyes were huge yellow orbs. Her jaws were the jaws of a lion, and saliva dribbled off her fangs. A low guttural growl rumbled out of her throat.

Sandy screamed. From somewhere in this blackness, this tunnel, this nothingness, this altered state, this pit of death and deception, she screamed from the depths of her tortured and dying soul.