Chapter 7 — Elijah | That One Commands the Others.
1050 Words
Chapter 7 — Elijah | That One Commands the Others.
We've been walking for an hour.
Maybe more. I've stopped counting time — in this forest, the darkness is total and my sense of direction disappeared a long time ago. The creature ahead of us moves without hesitation, like it's following an invisible path we can't see ourselves.
I think about Lisa. I miss her. I think about our wonderful moments.
I don't know why. Maybe because this is exactly the kind of situation where you realize what you left behind. The fear has something to do with it too.
Her warm apartment. Her smile in the morning. The way she looks at me like I'm someone normal. The way we kiss. I miss all of that.
I'm not normal. I should have told her that from the beginning, before getting myself into this.
"What are you thinking about?" Arthur asked.
"Nothing," I said.
"I know you're in your head," Arthur murmurs beside me.
"I always am."
"This isn't the time."
"I know."
I come back to the present. The forest. The darkness. The smell of cold earth and something else — sulfur, always that sulfur — getting stronger as we move forward.
They're close.
The creature raises its hand. We stop.
She turns toward us for the first time since we left the rock. In the dark, her yellow eyes are the only thing clearly visible to us.
"We're getting close," she says. "From here, you do exactly what I say. Not a word. Not a single unnecessary move. Otherwise, we're all screwed."
"What exactly is this place?" I ask.
"An old farm. Abandoned for twenty years." She looks behind her. "They took it. They transformed it." A pause. "The inside is protected by symbols. Your silver bullets will work on the werewolves. But the possessed..." She pauses. "I don't think so. Because demons have possessed humans," she says.
"Demons in human bodies," says Arthur.
"Yes. For them, it's different." She looks at us. "Do you have holy water?"
"Yes."
Arthur reaches into his bag. He pulls out a small bottle.
"Always be ready in life," he says.
The creature nods.
"Sprinkle it on the possessed. It weakens them. It gives the demon a reason to leave the body." A pause. "But it hurts the human inside too. Keep that in mind," she says.
I keep that in mind.
We move on. Still in the darkness. It's like time doesn't pass quickly. Everything is static here.
"Let's move," says Arthur.
We follow the creature, still ahead.
---
Ten minutes later, I see the light.
Faint. Orange. Like candles or an inner fire filtering through the windows of a building through the trees. The farm is large — two floors, a barn beside it, a yard surrounded by an old wooden fence. The most ordinary-looking house.
And silhouettes moving around it.
I count. Two outside. Maybe more inside.
"How many?" I whisper to the creature.
"Four possessed. Three werewolves." She stops. "And something else."
Arthur looks at me.
"Something else? What do you mean?" Arthur asked.
"What kind of something else?" I ask her again.
The creature hesitates one second too long. You can feel she's afraid of something.
"A higher ranking demon. Not in an ordinary human body." Her yellow eyes narrow. "This one commands the others. It's the one holding your father captive. He's really very strong."
The silence that follows is heavy. Very heavy.
"How do we kill it?" asks Arthur.
"You can't." Her voice is flat. Factual. "Not tonight, anyway. Not without preparation."
She looks at us.
"You go in, you get your father, you get out. That's it. You don't fight it. Because it's too powerful for you," she says.
Arthur opens his mouth.
"Arthur," I say.
He closes it.
I know my brother. He was about to say something like "we'll see." But the creature is right. Tonight is not the time to be heroic. Tonight, Dad is the priority, I tell him.
"How do we get in without them coming down on us?" I ask her.
The creature looks at the farm. Then at us. You can feel she's really scared to go in. I wonder silently what could scare a creature like her. It's really strange.
"There's a cellar. At the back. The door is old — no symbols on it. That's how they bring the prisoners in." A pause. "That's how you go in too," she says.
We both stare at the farm in the dark. I tell myself silently that this is where our father is. I'm confident that tonight we're going to get Dad out, no matter what it takes. Because he's truly important to us.
"What do you think, bro?" says Arthur.
"I think we've made the journey. Now all that's left is to get past this last step, which is nothing more than going into that cellar, getting Dad out, and the five others," I tell him.
"You're right. We promised their families we'd bring them back safe and sound. And the Voss family keeps its promises," says Arthur.
"Bro, whatever is in there, we have to give it everything we've got. Because I can see things are about to go down," I tell him.
"Yeah, yeah, you're right. Let's check that everything is in order — the bullets, the holy water. Because we're only getting one chance tonight," says Arthur.
"Yes, your brother is right. Be careful. I promised to bring you here, so you'll let me go now, because this isn't my fight," she says.
"We thank you very much for your help. But that doesn't mean we're friends. If we cross paths again another day, it'll be your funeral," says Arthur.
"I know. Anyway, be careful. They're too organized and powerful. For small-time demons," she says.
"Don't worry about that. We've been prepared since childhood," says Arthur.
"In any case, thank you very much for everything," I tell her.
The creature no longer follows us.
The farm that smells of sulfur from kilometers away — proof enough that demons are inside.
Dad is in there.
We breathe.
We move forward.
"Alright, let's go free Dad and the others."
"Let's go, bro," I tell him.
And we started moving toward the door...
———
- Writer
