A dampness covered the massive foyer; something more than years
of neglect and decay. Dust covered everything. The particles pierced Kaycee’s
nostrils in warning; like even the atoms feared what lurked down the halls and
up the grand staircase. She couldn’t help but glance over the once rich décor.
The evidence of the Hanovers’ wealth was apparent, even with the years rotting
away at the tables, the chandeliers. Kaycee caught her reflection in a
full-length mirror at the foot of the staircase. She saw her pale skin, her
brown eyes turned black in the dim light. She saw Norma… and she saw it!
Her head whipped around, looking down the hall that led to the
left. But it was gone. If it had even been there to begin with. Norma leveled
her flashlight at Kaycee and understanding flushed her otherwise dry cheeks.
“Which way?”
Kaycee tried to swallow her pounding heart. “Down… the hall.”
Norma tapped the Bible reassuringly. “Psalm 44, Kaycee. We’ll
start there.”
“Start what?” Kaycee’s whole body shook. But Norma was already
moving down the hall, her flashlight creating a narrow tunnel. Kaycee somehow
found the motor skills to open the Bible and follow her at the same time. Her
fingers moved stiffly with unexplained cold. Vague moonlight gave her minimal
guidance through the pages. She tried to remember the Bible book song from
Sunday school; anything to take the terrified edge off her nerves.
They inched along the hallway, Norma’s flashlight the only
beacon of life. But Kaycee knew there was something else… she could feel it no
matter how hard she tried not to. Nehemiah,
Ezra, Job… The pages continued to flutter softly. Kaycee watched them in
hope and desperation. If God was going to send them thunder or lightening, now
would be the time.
“There!” Norma’s beam shot into a doorway just off the hall.
Kaycee almost dropped the Bible when she saw Jane, pressed and clawing at the
doorframe, sunken into a ball on the grimy floor. She cried out as the light
hit her. Her eyes focused on nothing. Saw nothing. They were as round as
baseballs, the whites popping out in terror and torment. Her fingers clenched
the wood with rigid, white knuckles, shoulders shaking beneath her coat.
“I see you, you overgrown slug!” Norma shouted beyond Jane and
Kaycee felt the wind again. Jane pulled into herself even more, feeling the
same power Kaycee felt in the wind. Power and… annoyance? Could wind be
annoyed? Ignoring her own question, Kaycee looked back at Jane, starting for
her. What comfort she could offer, she didn’t know…
Norma stopped her with a touch to the shoulder. “Leave her.
We’ve got to deal with them first.
It’s the only way any of them will be able to walk out of here.”
Oh, Lord God, help me!
Kaycee grid-locked her knees. Sweat from her hands stained the Bibe, making it
slippery and she pressed it to her chest.
“Start reciting.” Norma cautioned, stepping up beside Jane, only
to look beyond into the dark belly of the room. The dark of the foyer had been
nothing compared to this. If there were any windows, they’d been sealed long
ago. Kaycee looked back down at the Bible, squinting her eyes at the print.
Psalm 118! She’d gone too far!
“AAAGGHHH!” a tortured voice screamed from the room and Norma
turned her light toward it. They now saw that they were in a once spotless
dining room. And lain on the rotting carpet was Van; hovering over him, was the
enemy. Even years later, Kaycee couldn’t remember the sight of it. Maybe she’d
blocked it out because it was so hideous. But, she’d always remember the smell.
Thick and sooty, like burning oil, only more poisonious. It was up her nose and
in her eyes before she could even think.
“Kaycee!” Norma called from somewhere. “Read!”
The page was before her eyes, but it was blurry… the words and
spaces had blended. Just like they wanted! Kaycee’s head jerked up, seeing it
coming for her. “Lord, save us!”
The shadow fell back as though it had been stung. It hovered
between Van’s still form and the edge of Norma’s light. It held no real form or
features, but Kaycee felt its eyes on her. Eyes so cold, they burned. And with
their deadly rays came voices. There were too many at first, but then they came
clear as they took turns insulting her. Hypocrite…
traitor… liar…
“Kaycee, keep going!” Norma cried amid the whispers. “Our God
did not give a spirit of timidity, child! Use it!”
A slithering voice came at her, but Norma only thrust her
flashlight farther in. “Uncomfortable yet, you worthless heap of hellfire!”
Kaycee would’ve wondered at the wisdom of that, but she only
forced her eyes back down to the Bible. “You… are my King and
my God, who decrees victories for Jacob.
Through you we push back our enemies; through
your name we trample our foes.
I put no
trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you give us
victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to
shame. In God we make our boast all day long, and
we will praise your name forever.”
The demons shrieked, she now noticed,
every time His name filled the air. It was like an acid to their ears, a flame
of higher bite then theirs.
Because
it is. Kaycee’s mind and eyes
widened with the realization. There were so many in the room still, but the
battleground had shifted. It was God’s now and He was pushing them farther and
farther back!
“There now.” Norma had come to kneel
beside Van, touching a trembling shoulder. “It’s alright now… you hear me?”
Van didn’t answer, only whimpered, like
Jane had. A whimper that was far from alright, but he allowed Norma to sit him
up. She looked up to Kaycee. “There were six of you… who’s left?”
“Cain.” Kaycee’s heart quickened and she
looked around the dining room. The boarded windows only let in a few splinters
of moonlight, hardly enough to see around the busted and broken furniture.
Somewhere though was her friend; her non-Christian friend. Would Satan claim
him? Panicking, Kaycee stepped further out with the Bible. “Cain?”
“Kaycee wait!” Norma cried, but the
flashlight’s beam had already left her. Kaycee hadn’t noticed how it had been
on her this whole time... Instantly, the wind and voices rushed in. From every
side the pressure hit Kaycee, making her gasp in surprise and pain. In her
jerk, the Bible fell to the floor. Her eyes followed it in shock. Pick it up, Pick it up!
She would’ve, she really would’ve, but
there was a hot iron against her chest, keeping her from doing so.
It
won’t save you… the hissing came back. How could it, a lying, deceitful wretch like
you?
The words bit deep into Kaycee’s chest,
seeped in sadness, loneliness, and fear. Fear at the truth and how they could
so easily claim her through it. You came
here when He didn’t want you to… You ignored Him, failed Him…
Her legs were going weak as the last year
traveled back through her mind. Visual accusations of the betrayals to her
faith; not just the one tonight. In Kendall’s car, in the high school’s halls,
around the fire… Kaycee’s eyes suddenly lifted. The campfire. She didn’t see it
amidst all the choking black smoke, but she remembered. Remembered her fear
there, and what she’d done to conquer it.
“God!” she squeaked out, trying to get
past the flam in her throat. The pressure on her pulled in tighter, but she
forced her voice to be faster. “Our God is greater… o-our God is str-onger.
God, You are higher than any other!”
The shroud on her back fell away, feeling
returned to her limbs and organs. It gave her courage and another octave. “Our
God is healer… awesome in power, our God.” She took a breath. “Our God!”
The flashlight found her again, brighter
then she remembered. She kept up her tune, taking up the Bible, and searching
among the few rays for Cain. She’d almost reached the end of the chorus when
she spotted him. He laid flat like Van had, motionless and senseless. The
shadows weren’t over him, but they were there. They glared from under the
chairs, crouched in the corners of the ceiling, and slinked up and down the
walls. Kaycee couldn’t see them all, but she felt them there, looking her over
like a ripe cherry to crush between their teeth.
“Keep singing!” Norma ordered and it
jolted Kaycee into a different song as she kneeled beside Cain. “Here I am to
worship, h-here I am to bow-w down… Cain?”
“Kaycee.” He surprisingly answered her. A
slant of light from the nearby window gave her only half of his face, but
Kaycee ignored the details, grabbing his hand. It was like ice. “We gotta go,
Cain. We gotta get out of here.”
His voice shook. “Th… They’re
e-ever-rywhere! They’ll t-t-take turns eating us!”
Kaycee didn’t allow that image to settle,
yanking on his arm. “No Cain. God won’t let them.”
“You, maybe.” He became stoic then, yet to
have blinked. He stared at the ceiling, stared at them. Kaycee didn’t dare
look. “Cain, stop talking and start walking.” She finally pulled him up to a
sitting position. “We need to…”
Don’t
think sooo… A cackle of evil filled
the air and something hit them both from behind. Kaycee sprawled forward,
almost losing the Bible again. Norma’s beam lost them; she felt its warmth
leave her and her eyes scrambled for Cain. He was right beside her, on his
stomach, but he wasn’t what Kaycee registered first. It was the gnarled, skinny
fingers digging into his shoulder. Fingers or claws she couldn’t be sure, but
they dug into Cain either way, drawing blood through his coat. At Cain’s
scream, the cackle came again. Mine! All
mine!
“NO!” Kaycee shrieked fiercely. She
reached out, her own nails digging into the claws. “I have been crucified with
Christ and no longer live in the body! We are conquerors through him who loved
us! What can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord!?!”
At her tri-fold of holy words, the claws
dispersed like ash and bright light hit Kaycee full in the face. But it wasn’t
Norma’s trusty flashlight. The shine was pale blue and it sent the shadows
shrieking like never before. Hand still on Cain’s shoulder, Kaycee looked up in
the direction of the blinding rays. They came from the window, where the broken
boards and glass shook. As they shook, they began to fall away, revealing more
of the white-blue light. The moon!
Their evil weight lifted from her and
Kaycee pushed up, pulling Cain with her. The voices snapped at them, but Kaycee
dragged her friend fully into the light before their claws could reach them.
Somehow her legs supported her and Cain and she braced them both. “You are Lord
of Lords, You are King of Kings! You are Mighty God, Lord of everything…”
The moonlight burst through the windows
with every word, brightening the dining room in its blinding hues. Shrieks
became howls, howls became moans. Kaycee tried to keep her breathing up with
her singing. “You’re my saving grace, You will reign forever…” She charged then
through the demon-freed path to Norma and Van. “You are ancient of days!”
The chain of blessings and praises she
kept repeating until her voice echoed like an archangel’s. They came to Norma, who’d
snapped Van back to earth enough to walk, and they headed back for the door.
Kaycee went on. “My Savior, Messiah, oh Redeemer and Friend!”
The moonlight’s florescence matched the
power of her voice. They were all running from the dining room now, Kaycee
nearly colliding with Jane who stood, but still trembling and stared. Kaycee
merely grabbed her arm and she followed. “You’re my Prince of Peace!”
“Run!” Norma screamed above her as the
light exploded behind them into an unimaginable brilliance. Only instead of a
resounding boom, it stole away all sound. By the time Norma was shoving them
all back out the front door, all was silent and dark again. Jane went flying into
Linda’s arms, Van fell onto the steps and Kaycee crumpled to the ground along
with Cain’s weak limbs. His breath came heavy and cautious, like he’d only
risen from a fitful sleep. Feeling her own exhaustion, Kaycee sat next to him;
her mind still reeled. She looked back, catching Norma looking at her. The old
woman stood as wilted as them, the relief on her face the first emotion she’d
shown all night.
Lord, was it only just a
night? Kaycee turned back at the sudden sensation to her hand. She pulled it
away from Cain’s shoulder and stared at the dark stains. His blood, from where
the demon had grabbed him. Kaycee stared back once more, further up at the
house. The famous Hanover house. All the moments of a chill or a tremble
through her life came flooding back to her; they’d all been substantial… had
they been warnings? Had they been God’s protection? A lot of good they’d done
on her stubborn ears. Kaycee looked away from the house, sitting, deceptive in
its silence. Yeah, it’d only been a night. A night between Heaven and Hell.
~To Be Continued~
