Slaying demons, p.5
Slaying Demons, page 5
part #2 of Damsel Series
Instead of saying that would be foolish, the nun in the white habit, with blue trim around the sides in two lines, nodded.
“That is an unfortunate thing. The current Pope has proclaimed the Lord to be against those who show unnatural talents or skills, of late. They might not allow magic to be used on them, fearing it will taint their immortal souls.” She looked at Lash then, but it was John, rubbing at his face, who spoke.
“That isn’t always wrong, love. It depends on what kind of magic, doesn’t it?”
The old, well wrinkled and tiny woman nodded.
“Certainly. The church hasn’t made any allowance for that with the public, however. It is understood that certain things must be allowed, in secret. That won’t aid us in this. Still, God has called on his servant, and he must answer, even at the cost of his comfort and relations. The path set is not always an easy one. That doesn’t mean it must not be walked.”
Hannah didn’t love the defeatist attitude, but didn’t want to wrestle with a nun, even if she didn’t believe the same things the woman did. Especially since the old woman had been one of the people pointed out as being well versed in magic.
Plus the tiny woman would probably kick her behind, or pull out a ruler to smack her around with.
“Okay. We need to be ready for that, then. Wisp, can you get me to Springfield, Illinois? I’ll draw a map of the area. I have a food bank there, so...”
She felt horrible, but after grabbing a bit of paper and a pen, she sketched the location out. For some reason, as she finished the design, both John and Sister Eustace stood, and walked over to join herself and Wisp. The nun had her hands folded in front of her body, and seemed humble.
The man looked ready to sell someone a used car.
His voice was smooth, even.
“Right then! I’ll just go along and smooth things over. I have a special trick I use in situations like this.”
Hannah nodded, since she had a feeling that she understood what that would be. It wasn’t magic, really.
“Is it called lying?”
There wasn’t even a smile in response.
“That’s the one, Damsel. Good. We’re on the same page. Is it all right if we go? Sister? Not to tell you what to do, but if you could maybe stand back, and mutter about God for a bit? You know, how you types do when you get out of your depth and don’t want the rubes to catch on?”
The old woman glared at the man, but gave a single nod.
“It is as God wills.”
Grinning, the man pointed at her.
“That’s the spirit. So, that doable for you, Wisp?”
The blue man pretended to look at the map, which was decently done, and then took them to the bakery, standing out in front of it. The building was closed, when Hannah got there, a soft pop directly next to her, as Wisp left, instantly. Without even pounding on the door to the shop, it opened up, before John got in. Alistair, blond and fit, from all the sports he played, had a mask on. She nearly panicked, but realized that she had one in her pocket, as well. She put that on, so that it wouldn’t seem like she was being a moron, right from the start.
“Hey, Hannah. Sir.” There was a bit of a troubled look, as Wisp and Sister Eustace came into existence. Seemingly out of nowhere. Only the change in air pressure gave them away.
From inside, there was a voice. A familiar one, being Alistair’s mother. Hannah had met her before.
“Al? Why are you opening the door? The lockdown...” She stopped talking when Hannah and the others came in. Interestingly, they all had masks on them. True, John had an all-black thing that was more of a bandana than a surgical mask, but Sister Eustace had the same thing that Hannah did, only in white with a red cross on the front.
The poor woman was truly baffled by who was there.
“May we... help you?”
Then, smoothly, John spoke. His voice was slightly different, his accent going from a half cockney sounding thing to something very cultured and refined. Received pronunciation. Hannah had learned that when she was in boarding school, as a girl. It had been an actual class. She could use the posh version of it, as well as the more middle class one, thanks to that. A thing that had never come up in her life at all, for some reason.
“Pardon the intrusion, Madam. We are here, representing the Holy Church of Rome. There is an issue, and we have been instructed to gain aid in this matter, from this man here. Alistair Marks.”
That sounded ridiculous, but Sister Eustace crossed herself and pulled out some rosary beads, starting to mutter as she worked through them. How that was going to help anything, Hannah didn’t know. She shrugged.
“Hi, Mary. It’s me, Hannah de Peyser? I...” She didn’t want to screw with the lies being told, but also didn’t want to trick people into doing anything against their will. Not if they were the good guys.
The mom went wide eyed, her mask moving into a smile.
“Hannah? I didn’t think anyone would be coming, right now. We’ve been making the baked goods for the food pantry, but... Is anyone using it?”
She nodded then.
“They are. More than we figured on. We’ll need to increase the order, given that. Anyway, we need for all of you to come and take part in a ritual, that will protect you from Tri-D. It... isn’t a virus. It’s a magical contagion. Clearly an evil one. Not that it won’t still kill you. Al has a gift, from God, that will allow him to aid with this. We can’t tell you a lot more than that. Church secrets.”
The old woman moved forward then, and nodded.
“My order is directed to preserve humanity, all of it, from the forces of darkness. At times there are those with gifts from the heavens, who are called on in times of dire need. This is one such. We found him and of his gift, through this woman. We will not leave his parents unguarded, however. One of our agents waits outside, to take us to the needed location.” She simply stood then, and resumed her prayers, or whatever her mutterings were.
John simply grinned. It made his mask move. A thing that left him seeming sinister, no matter what his intent was.
“Good. Settled then. Now, don’t be shocked when you see who’s helping us. Not everyone is against the Church as much as you might assume.”
He waved, getting Wisp to come in, then locked the door, as the father, Gerald Marks, came out.
His face was good, being clean shaved and while he was a few pounds too heavy, she could see where Al got his looks from. There was a bit of the mother in there as well, but they all managed to be just above average as far as appearance went. Healthy and clean.
“What’s going on here?” The man didn’t seem upset at least.
Hannah waved.
“A few things. The order for the food bank is going up again. You’ll get paid more for it. Also, the Catholic Church is claiming Alistair for a bit. There’s a magical problem and they need to use him to help fix it. We’d tell you more, but the truth is that you’ll just have to have faith in the Church. At least that’s what they told me about the subject. First though, there’s a ritual that we all have to undergo. To keep us safe from part of the magic.”
That, it seemed, simply wasn’t a good enough explanation. Not at all. They were polite about it, but both of the older Marks’ started to argue then. The big point was that they couldn’t see why Alistair, their son, had anything to do with it. John and Eustace both kept going over that he was special, and touched by the Lord, in a good way, but that wasn’t enough for them, at all.
Finally, Al closed his eyes, dropped his head and spoke. Gently.
“When I was nine, I started to hear voices. It was constant. At first, I thought that I was going insane. Really, I thought that for a long time. It wasn’t just coming from inside, though. I could hear what everyone was thinking. I knew, even back then, that you’d both be afraid of me, if I told you about it. God spoke to me, and said that I would be needed, to do good works, and that I also needed to be humble about it all. That it wasn’t a power, but a gift, to be used to help those in need. I’ve tried. Now I need to go and listen to those hit with Tri-D and see if I can find anything out about it.”
His father rolled his eyes.
“This is some kind of trick? To, eh... Get out of the house, or something? Not that I blame you there, if it is, but this lockdown was put on us for a real reason.”
Alistair shook his head. Then he heaved a rather resigned sigh.
~No, dad, it really isn’t. I’m the same person that you knew, only now it’s time for you to understand that I’m also slightly different.~
Hannah heard the words, too. They all did, apparently. Instead of seeming a little shocked, like she would have been if someone around her showed a weird power, the parents started to cross themselves, as if afraid of their own son and his clearly God given talent.
Then Sister Eustace did the same thing, with John copying it. Wisp did that too, but Hannah didn’t, as everyone looked at her funny.
“What? I’m a Protestant. Anyway, when you all decide that we aren’t going to flout the word and commands of God, we can go? We need to hurry, since we’re starting to shoot Life of Kate, season two, in the morning tomorrow. I doubt I can get out of that. I mean, no one came to me because God has plans that I need to help with, you know?” She tried to keep a straight face, but Sister Eustace nodded, rather gravely.
“And yet you gave aid to those in need, regardless. It is not the lesser part of things, even if it lacks in certainty.”
Hannah nodded, since, weirdly, the parents in the room seemed to be more focused on God and what he wanted, than on the rest of them. Including their telepathic son.
That didn’t last, though once Wisp took them all away to the giant Cathedral. Now, how it looked, suddenly made perfect sense to Hannah. How the room knew to decorate itself that way was beyond her, but it clearly matched what the parental units needed to see, first thing.
Which didn’t stop them from staring, glaring and asking questions. There was more crossing, several times, as well. Each time the nun, and John, did it as well. Showing solidarity.
Mary actually stopped breathing, for a moment, holding her breath, as Hannah had come in with Wisp. Going last, for some reason. Again.
“This... Is it really all right? Some of these... I recognize them, from the news.” There was a wave at the people around them, so Hannah spoke, her voice soft.
“The world is very different than you might think. Not everyone who wears a mask is against God or the Church. I mean, clearly I’m a heathen, myself, sure... but when the chips are down, these are the people who always come to help. Now, not to be a pain in the behind, but we need to get to that ceremony, and then get you two back home. Let’s... Double the baked goods order? Even if you have to hate me in the morning for all of this, people still need the food. Alistair will stay with me for the time being. Oh, don’t talk on the phone right now. Not for anything important. Casual conversation is probably fine, but you will be overheard, so keep that in mind. Don’t talk about this event here, or where Alistair is or why. Everything is being monitored. Magical communication is out as well. I... don’t know if prayer is, honestly.”
Several of the people there looked at her funny, as if that was just a strange thing to say. Sister Eustace however, slowly, started to nod.
“That... Prayer is magical in nature. Of the Lord, but these dark magics might be able to tap into that sort of communication ritual, yes. It might be best to hold off on that, in more than a rote fashion, for the time being. Still do it, but do not ask or suggest anything specific?” She actually looked out at the whole room, instead of just at the Marks family. There was even a glance at Hannah, meaning the woman truly didn’t get who she was.
Lashondra, still at the front of the room, nodded.
“A good point, then. Now, this ritual isn’t going to be easy or simple. It will also hurt, part of the time. Steel yourselves to that. Come this way. We should begin now. Once it’s started, do not break the circle. No matter what happens.”
It turned out to be a good point, since a simple circle was drawn on the floor in white chalk powder and all of them were placed around it, on the inside, standing about two feet from the next person. She was near Alistair on her right and Tyler on her left. Tinner was next to Jaime, so it wasn’t a boy girl breakdown or anything. Wisp was directly next to Veronica, for instance.
In the center of the circle, on a stone pillar, a thing that was low, being only three feet high, there was a golden bowl, a single candle and a knife. Lash spoke then, in a language that Hannah couldn’t place at all, with only a few words making sense, from the book she read. Those were mainly names, but they weren’t being involved. They were being rebuked, which was a very different. That was good, considering they were all demons.
Then, picking up the knife, Lash moved forward, the sharp blade coming out. She spun in place, then fixed on Hannah, for some reason. Moving forward, she rather solemnly tilted her head.
“Present your left arm.”
Hannah didn’t love the sound of that, since there was a knife involved in whatever was coming next. Still, she got the idea. If the soft heiress did it, without balking or crying out, then everyone else would have to. To that end, trying to sink into a trance that might well not do anything for her, she did it, sticking her left hand out. That was taken by Lash, her hand not grasping tightly at all. As if trusting Hannah not to be a wimp.
Little did she know how wrong she was.
Except that she couldn’t be that, any longer. To that end, she emptied her mind, and let go of all concern, or tried to.
The blade drew a design, two straight lines, about an inch long, a half circle over the top of it. Then the whole thing was crossed out, with a single swipe. Left to right. It felt painful, and icy, but she didn’t scream or pull away. Really, she was kind of certain that she didn’t even make a funny face over the whole thing.
“Incoheese, etha neg.” Lash whispered the words, seeming to be concentrating at the same time. There was a response, since the mark suddenly began to glow, with a bright white light.
A thing that burned as if touching a hot stove. There was even the smell of cooking flesh, as Hannah shook, refusing to pull away from it. Trying to be strong. Failing, most likely. Still, several of the others looked at her, and Carl, her shooting instructor, his lanky and tall form across from her, wearing both a mask and a cloak like robe, spoke.
“That doesn’t hurt?”
It did, even after the light faded, the whole thing was a raised blister, with a cut below it, to the sides. Hannah shrugged. Then she faked a grin.
“It’s not more than anyone here can bear. Just remember not to scream too loud. That would be annoying.”
Not everyone made it without sound, when it was their turn. Tyler was the one to go next, and he hissed at the pain, when it came, but no more than that. Some of them were completely stoic when it was their turn. The costumed types all pulled that off. Mrs. Marks nearly ran out of the circle, before it could happen, but Lash held her in place. Mr. Marks however, did better.
The last one to go was Alistair, who managed at least as well as she had. Probably a bit better, to be honest. Given that a few of them had screamed in pain, and writhed, with two of them actually falling to the floor, that wasn’t too bad.
Lash went to the center and finished the ritual, washing the blade in the water, which had taken place each time, and then using a chemical wipe on it. They still probably all had AIDS, but Hannah had gone first, so she might be safe that way. Lash wasn’t, since she made the mark on her own arm then, not reacting to pain at all. Then, when that was finished, she called out.
“Brace yourselves. We need to finish this. Ergo esse knet!”
The warning wasn’t enough and she had to drop into a trance while the pain ripped through her again. This time there was a grunt, groan or even screams, from everyone there. There was no light, this time, but her entire being was suddenly on fire. She managed not to go down, but it was close. Half of them actually did that, falling to the floor. The rest mainly had to take a knee, and gasp. Only the guy in the goofy black costume managed to hold to his feet. Other than Hannah. He seemed nearly fine. As if nothing was happening at all. She was trying desperately not to be the victim of the pain and hold herself up.
When that ended, about twenty seconds after it started, people began to get back up. John laughed a bit, as he pulled himself off the floor. His voice was still fairly cultured sounding, in a British way. Keeping to his act for the parents. It showed a certain presence of mind that Hannah had to admire. She’d forgotten there was a ruse going on at all.
John was smooth again, even with blisters on his arm.
“That was a trifle less than fun, wasn’t it? Still, it should keep us from being taken down by Tri-D, which would be even worse, so had to be done. Now, we need to get everyone to their proper place. Hannah, you and Alistair are working on information collection? Who’s going to be watching you?”
The man looked around, but Veronica raised her hand.
“I can do that.”
Nate did that too, if a bit more tentatively.
“Me too. That won’t stop magical threats, but we have enough power to protect them from anything normal. Who do we get for the mental stuff?”
Interestingly, Debbie waved, getting his attention.
“For that one, we need Alistair. I’d like to have a magic user there as well, if that isn’t out of place?”
Zip, moving around a bit too much, nodded.
“We can’t pull anyone from the work they’re doing that way. Damsel, you’ve read a book that way?”
It wasn’t a thing that she’d told the speedster. She had mentioned it to Pleny though, since they talked about things like that. Instead of making a big deal about how his alter ego knew that, she simply nodded.
“I have. I don’t really have any magical talent, though. Not innately. I can recognize some signs that it’s happening, though?”
