The basement of the old Catholic church was a sight to see. Walls completely bare of any religious symbols, shelves filled with nothing but various jars of liquid, and a large pentagram drawn across the entire floor in red chalk. If someone were to wander into the basement without knowing the building they stood in was a church, then they would never find out.
“Watch your step, madam.” Spoke a priest as he descended the cobblestone steps into the basement. Father Johnathan Chambers was one of the half-dozen priests of Saint Balthasar’s Catholic Church in Atlanta. Thick, billowing robes white as a pearl hung down from Father Chambers, finally stopping just above his ankles. Draped over the priest’s shoulders and stopping at his chest, was a gold-trimmed crimson sash.
Following behind Father Chambers are a man and wife appearing to be in their early thirties. The husband, a data entry clerk for a popular shoe company by day, is named Michael Carpenter but goes by Mike for short. His wife, Emma, works the morning shifts at their local daycare where, conveniently as well as cost-efficiently, their five-year-old twins go to school.
“This doesn’t look very churchlike,” Emma said softly to her husband. The priest, currently removing a thick book from the shelf, overheard the seemingly concerned wife and laughed quietly.
“If it looked like a church then it would be, no pun intended, a hell of a lot harder to bring forth a Demon,” Father Chambers replied.
Mike patted his wife on the back and winked at her.
“What do you mean by bring forth a demon?” Emma asked.
Father Chambers placed the thick book on a desk then went back to the shelf and grabbed a handful of the liquid-filled jars. “What I mean is that I summon them. It was on the pamphlet you two looked over.”
“I understand that, but how do you get rid of them afterward, again?” Judging by Emma’s sudden anxiety, Mike worried that his wife may be having second thoughts about the tour. That wouldn’t be good. Not now, at least. They had already purchased the nonrefundable tickets from the priest earlier.
“Don’t worry, he knows what he’s doing,” Mike cut in.
Father Chambers smiled at the husband, silently thanking him then he too reassured her: “Your husband’s right. There’s nothing to worry about; I’ve done this at least two hundred times before.”
Emma smiled weakly, “Thanks.”
“So, how many demons are there?” Mike asked.
“I’m afraid I can’t answer that with a specific number, but I can tell you that it is somewhere around the hundred-thousands.”
“Hundred-thousands?” Mike raised his eyes in disbelief. Father Chambers simply nodded.
“Many of them haven’t been named or discovered yet. But a lot of them have,” Father Chambers said as he opened the large, unnamed book on the desk to the first page. He beckoned the man and wife over.
“This is called a Demonology book. This large piece of non-fiction contains the list of every known demon who you can summon, as well as giving step by step instructions on how to do so.”
“Wow,” From Mike.
“Wow indeed. It is all organized alphabetically by each demon’s name. I know you’re more than eager to get started, Mr. Carpenter. Are you ready to begin, miss?” He was talking to Emma, who silently had her eyes fixated on the old, stained pages of the book.
“Yes,” She quickly replied, immediately being snapped out of the trance-like state.
Sensing the wife’s unease but ignoring it, Father Chambers continued. “Any demon in particular you would like to see?”
Emma shook her head meekly. The priest turned his attention to the husband.
“How about we pick randomly?”
“Good idea. In fact, that is what quite a few of my clients have done before. Some of them pick a random letter then I select a demon whose name begins with it. Or some…”
“Can I pick a random number?” Mike interrupted.
“Sure.”
Mike thought about it briefly then said: “The fourth demon on page three-hundred-and-twenty-one.”
Father Chambers complied with a nod. He flipped through the pages at a lightning fast pace, until stopping on page three-hundred-and-twenty-one as Mike had stated. The priest’s fingers danced delicately along the upper left-hand side of the page until he got to the fourth name down.
Father Chambers’ index finger pressed gently against the name: Deaxor. It immediately stuck out to him as he recalled hearing the name before. Where had he heard it and why does the mere sight of the name fill him with anxiety?
“De-uh-zor?” Mike said questioningly, leaning over the priest’s shoulder.
Without taking his eyes off the book, Father Chambers replied, “It’s pronounced how it looks.” Then he emphasized, “Dee-ak-sore”
Merely saying the name caused the priest to shiver as if a cold draft had entered the room by just speaking the demon’s name.
“Are you alright, father?” Emma asked nervously, “You look a little pale.”
Father Chambers flinched when she broke the silence, then turned back to her. He was trying to conceal what he had hidden inside, but his eyes gave away his fear. Emma looked to her husband worriedly and tightened her grip on his arm. Suddenly, Father Chambers knew where he had heard the name before. Deaxor is said to be a fallen angel or better known by some as an Archdemon. Had he summoned a demon of this magnitude before? The father wasn’t sure. Nor was he sure if he would even be able to summon such a powerful entity.
“It’s nothing. I was just reading the ritual,” Father Chambers lied.
Mike let out a bellowing laugh which caused the priest to flinch once more, “You totally sold fear in your eyes. Have you ever considered being an actor on the side? You even had me a little worried.”
Father Chambers nodded courteously, “Thank you, Mr. Carpenter.”
The father’s lie may have fooled Mike quite easily, but it didn’t fool Emma in the slightest. Emma could sense that the priest was having doubts about this particular demon. She was about to speak up and ask her husband to leave until she saw the gleam in his eyes as he watched the priest begin to set up the ritual. Mike had the look of pure childlike wonder painted across his face. Not wanting to ruin her husband’s fun, Emma stayed silent.
Father Chambers pushed his slight-to-moderate paranoia into the back of his mind like a driver forces their car’s registration into the glove box. He read over the instructions to summoning Deaxor once more then grabbed one of the labeled vials from the desk and placed it in the center of the pentagram.
“What’s the liquid for?” Mike asked gleefully.
“It’s a vial of water with a drop of lamb’s blood in it, which gives it the pinkish color it assumes. Because lambs are a sacred symbol in Christianity as well as Catholicism, mixing lamb’s blood with regular water will create something called unholy water.”
“Wow,” Mike stated, the childlike wonder growing inside like a forest fire.
Father Chambers knelt down inside the center of the pentagram and removed the cork from the vial. It slid out with a pop. Then he exited the devilish symbol and crossed the room so he was on the opposite side of the pentagram as the husband and wife.
“Now we begin the ritual. Don’t worry, it’s rather fast.”
“Don’t you need like a drop of our blood or something?” Mike asked. Emma shot him an accusatory glare at this and gave him a firm elbow to the ribs.
This amused Father Chambers slightly, who replied: “No I don’t. That’s just in the movies.”
The priest grabbed the book of demonology from the desk and began to read a Latin phrase written under Deaxor’s name. Mike and Emma could have sworn they felt a draft enter the room while Father Chambers continued to read. However, each assuming it was their imagination, neither of them spoke up. Like the couple, Father Chambers had felt the draft. He wasn’t concerned, however, because this happened during most summons.
After thirty long seconds, Father Chambers finished reciting the chant. He closed the book and placed it back on the desk. Mike and Emma looked around the room slowly. The hairs on their necks were at attention, but nothing seemed to have happened. Their skin felt tingly to the touch as if they were standing amidst a lightning storm. Suddenly, the sound of cracking glass or breaking ice was emitted from the center of the pentagram which was now glowing a bright red like an ember. A single, long crack ran up the vial of unholy water. Then, what sounded like an exhale burst from the vial as the liquid inside it turned into smoke and floated into the air, briefly forming the shape of a very tall and eerily slender creature before dissipating.
“What in the world?” Mike whispered, both intrigued and creeped out.
Emma found herself unable to respond. There was a lump of fear in her throat that tightened with every swallow. Father Chambers stood in silence.
“Did it work?” Mike asked, “It looks like it did.”
Father Chambers nodded as he simultaneously looked around the room cautiously, arms at a defensive posture by his sides. “It worked. But we are supposed to be able to see the demon.”
“Is it bad that we can’t?” Emma asked, almost whispering as if trying not to wake an infant.
“No, but I don’t like when I can’t see them.” Father Chambers replied, “Make sure to keep an eye on the pentagram. It’s drawn with a special chalk made of a material similar to that of holy salt. This causes it to glow when the demon is standing in it.”
As soon as the priest said this, the brightly lit pentagram went dim, changing back into the crimson color it was before the ritual began. Father Chambers’ face went blank. Before anyone could say a word, the shelf behind the priest began to shake violently. The vials of liquid flew off in various directions. Three-fourths of them struck either the wall to the left or right or fell to the floor. One of the vials, however, was flung towards Father Chambers, who ducked under the projectile with catlike reflexes. Also acting fast, Mike pulled his wife out of the way. The vial flew past where she was standing and exploded on the stairs behind them.
“Is this normal!?” Mike shouted in fear.
Breathing heavily, Father Chambers said, “Sometimes the demons lash out. But they’ve never been able to leave the pentagram before.”
Behind him, a similar groan to that of a tree beginning to fall in the forest rang out.
“Look out!” Mike and Emma shouted simultaneously.
Father Chambers spun around to look behind him as he jumped out of the way. The now-barren shelf crashed to the ground. At this same moment, the hands on the clock began to spin backward, picking up speed with every rotation. Finally stopping with all three hands pointing downwards at the number six.
“What do we do?” Emma cried out.
“Get up the stairs, maybe Deaxor won’t follow us to the Sanctuary!” Father Chambers replied.
“I thought you did this before!” Mike spat as they ran for the stairs. Now the desk with the demonology book began to rock back and forth. The book slid from the desk. It opened upon hitting the ground and the pages began fluttering as if caught by a breeze. One of the pages was ripped from the book by the invisible force and balled up then thrown across the room. Father Chambers caught it, quickly unfolded it and saw that it was page three-hundred-and-twenty-one that had been removed. The name Deaxor immediately popped out to him. The priest dropped the paper from his hands. Its gentle descent was stopped halfway when it was torn into hundreds of pieces. Father Chambers quickly pulled a steel crucifix from his pocket. It immediately began to grow warm.
“The power of Christ compels you!” He shouted. All that happened was the feeling of dread and darkness grow inside of him. Father Chambers began to repeat, “The power of Christ compels you!” as he walked backward up the steps, rejoining Mike and Emma in the sanctuary. Both of them stood frozen in place, not sure if they should leave the cathedral or not.
“I’m glad you haven’t left yet. If you tried, I have no doubt that Deaxor would follow you.” Father Chambers said.
“Is it gone?” Emma whispered.
“No. But I’m working on it,” Father Chambers rushed to the altar where he grabbed what looked like a golden salt shaker from the top. The candles began to flicker, causing the cathedral to go dim then bright, dim then bright.
“The power of Christ compels you!” Father Chambers repeated once more, pointing the crucifix in the direction of where he thought Deaxor stood. However, he was growing doubtful of this working. He rushed back to the terrified man and wife and knelt at their feet with the golden object in hand.
“What are you doing?” Emma asked.
“Surrounding you both with holy salt. Although the pentagram failed to contain the demon, this should provide you with a safe barrier. Just keep praying; that’s key. As long as you believe in God then the demon won’t be able to penetrate the circle!”
“Aren’t you going to make a circle around yourself?”
“No can do. I have to banish Deaxor.” Father Chambers removed a small vial of holy water from one of the front pockets of his gown, then quickly unscrewed the top and dipped his finger in.
“Hold still,” He said as he moistened Emma and Mike’s foreheads with the shape of a cross.
The candles continued to flicker as all three of them immediately felt the presence of Deaxor among them. Father Chambers spun around. Although he was unable to see the demon, he did notice an area of the room that was slightly darker than those around it. The darkness began to spread across the floor towards the priest and couple behind him. Everything except the crucifix Father Chambers held in an iron tight grip grew ice cold. Emma and Mike embraced each other out of both fear and to keep warm.
“In the name of Christ; demon be gone!” Father Chambers shouted, holding the warm crucifix in front of him. In this position, he looked like a lion tamer warding off one of the golden beasts with a chair. Except archdemons are a lot harder to hold back than a lion and are a lot more dangerous. The darkness continued to approach him.
“In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I banish you!”
Suddenly, Father Chambers noticed blood dripping from his palm. It wasn’t his own blood, however, the deep red liquid which stained the carpet beneath his feet was coming from the crucifix itself.
“Stop this sorcery!” Father Chambers shouted, now fully doubting his ability to banish the demon by himself.
Following Father Chambers’ last demand, which sounded more like a cry for help, a deep laugh echoed throughout the cathedral. The disembodied voice then said loudly; “You of little faith.”
Then the bleeding crucifix was plucked from Father Chambers’ hand. The symbol levitated in front of the terrified priest before being bent out of shape and tossed across the room into the candles on the altar. The candles toppled from the altar, quickly setting the carpet aflame. The rapidly growing fire quickly spread up the aisles to the oak pews.
“What do we do?” Mike shouted.
Father Chambers spun around, with a look of defeat and terror on his pale face. He darted his eyes to the open doors in the front of the church. The chandelier sitting high above the floor began to shake. The priest looked around the room frantically as the hairs on the back of his neck continued to stand in salute. Then a lightbulb went off in his head.
“There’s a fire extinguisher near the front! Stay in the circle. No matter what Deaxor says, don’t leave the barrier!” Father Chambers said as he rushed up the aisle, flames growing on his left and right.
“Mike, I’m scared,” Emma moaned. Her face was buried in her husband’s chest. He felt his collar grow wet with his wife’s tears.
“It’ll be okay,” Mike whispered as he kissed her temple.
“Mommy? Daddy?” came a child’s voice.
“Dillon? Is that you!?” Emma shouted, unburying her face from her husband’s shirt. The frantic woman would’ve rushed out of the circle if Mike hadn’t caught her before she could do so.
“Dillon what are you doing here!?” Emma shrieked as she squirmed in Mike’s tight grip.
“Emma, honey, it’s not Dillon,” Mike said sternly but softly, “the demon’s trying to lure us out, but it won’t work.”
Emma broke into tears and Mike began to shout at the invisible demon.
“You hear that you b*****d? It won’t work!”
On the other side of the cathedral, Father Chambers found that the fire extinguisher was missing, of course. He looked back to Mike and Emma and saw that they both remained in the circle as he had instructed. After the demon had plucked the crucifix from his hand, Father Chambers realized that the only thing he could do was call 9-1-1. The priest pulled his phone from his pocket only to see that it was completely void of battery. This didn’t surprise him; negative spirits are known to drain the battery from technological devices. Luckily for him, there was a phone charger in his car. If he could get to the parking lot in time, then he would be able to call for help with it plugged in. He rushed for the exit.
To Father Chambers’ dismay, the doors to the church slammed shut before he could reach them. When he reached for the handle, the metal necklace he was wearing was yanked back violently, causing him to choke. Father Chambers pried at his neck with his hands, as he struggled for air.
From the safety of the circle, Mike and Emma watched the priest’s struggle in horror.
“What’s happening to him!?” Emma cried frantically. For good measure, Mike restrained his wife once more.
“We have to do something!” Emma shouted as she managed to break free from her husband’s grasp.
Emma sprinted from the circle towards the choking priest. As she neared him, Father Chambers turned his face to her; lips blue from cyanosis, and eyes bulging from their sockets in terror. Both of the father’s eyes were a bright red from vessels that had burst in them due to the crushing pressure of the necklace against his windpipe.
He began shaking his head slowly. Doing so caused him tremendous pain as if the metal line was cutting into his skin. With one hand now beginning to turn purple, Father Chambers pointed back towards the ring of holy salt. He mouthed; go back to Emma, who stood frozen in shock and unable to move.
“Emma!” Mike screamed from the circle.
She didn’t appear to be able to hear him.
Finally, Father Chambers managed to pry the necklace away from his throat for just enough time to take in one last breath and say in a hoarse voice; “Mrs. Carpenter, don’t let this happen to you.”
Immediately after saying this, the necklace slipped from his fingers and constricted around his throat like a snake around a mouse. Father Chambers was pulled back with enough force to cause his neck to snap. His body went limp and dropped to the cathedral’s floor. Emma sprinted back to the circle. As she ran, she felt the cold embrace of Deaxor’s long, invisible hands wrap around her shoulders, sending a chill down to the bone. She cried out. Finally deciding he could take no more, Mike sprinted from the circle and grabbed Emma by the hands. He ripped her from the demon’s grasp. They fell back into the salt circle where they sat huddled in a terrified embrace. The fire had now spread to the ceiling. The chandelier above them began to shake once more.
“I got who I came for, the priest. I will allow you to leave,” The disembodied voice returned.
Emma looked to her husband doubtfully but desperate.
Mike shook his head solemnly: “He lies.”
“What do we do!?” Emma cried out.
“I don’t know.”
“We can’t just sit here and wait for the walls to cave in on themselves!”
“But if we leave the circle we will suffer similar fates as the father,” Mike’s eyesight had gone blurry upon finishing the sentence. He was beginning to weep.
“Have it your way, then.” The disembodied voice bellowed, “I’ll just seek out he who is most vulnerable.”
Emma looked to Mike with a bewilderedly terrified expression, “What’s that mean?”
“He who is most vulnerable,” Mike thought aloud. Suddenly, he realized what Deaxor meant. But before Mike and Emma could make one final mad dash for the closed doors of the cathedral, the chandelier hanging directly above them came crashing down.
Eugene and Mary Carpenter received the news around midnight.
“What happened to Mike?” The sixty-seven-year-old man asked. His voice was almost a whisper. He paused for a moment, allowing the policeman on the other line reveal to him that his son and daughter in law had been found deceased in the remnants of a church which had burned down. Then, he burst into tears and broke the bad news to his wife.
“What do we do about the boys?” Mary asked through tears.
“We’ll have to pick them up and bring them over to stay the night,” Eugene replied.
“But we can’t tell them what had happened,” Mary bit down on her lower lip until it bled, “Not yet, at least. Their birthday’s tomorrow.”
The old couple decided this was best. They would go to Mike and Emma’s house to pick up their twins from the babysitter. If the children asked why they were going back to grandma and grandpa’s house, then they would lie and say it was for a birthday surprise. The following day they would break the bad news to the children. Eugene grabbed the keys to his beat up old Chevy and head out the door.
A twenty-minute drive away, the Carpenter twins were playing in their room. It was one in the morning now and the babysitter had fallen asleep on the couch. Both of the boys were unable to sleep. They each had had a nightmare about a lanky black figure, darker than the depths of space towering over them as they slept. However, both of the brothers were afraid to reveal to the other what they had dreamt about. Now they sat cross-legged on the floor playing Jenga. Dillon, the twin who was technically older by a matter of mere minutes, had created an impressive tower that hovered around two-and-a-half-feet tall. Jacob began to reach out for the tower to knock it over when his twin slapped his hand away.
He cried out: “Ouch, Dillon! What’d you do that for?”
“You were going to knock down my tower!”
“Was not!” The pouting brother argued.
Their bickering ceased when they saw the glow of headlights come through their window. They rushed to it and peered out. There they saw their grandparents’ car pulling into the driveway. While they were preoccupied, the room had gotten about ten degrees colder, but neither of the brothers immediately noticed. That’s when Dillon’s tower of Jenga pieces was thrown across the room, where it struck the closet door with a loud clap.
They spun around. Jacob was afraid, but Dillon was furious.
“I told you not to do that!” Dillon shouted at his brother.
“I didn’t!”
As the brothers continued to argue, the lightbulb burst like a firework. The young brothers screamed and rushed for their door, carefully sidestepping the broken glass that littered their bedroom floor. Dillon grabbed the doorknob, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Hurry up, open it!” Jacob shrieked.
Outside, grandpa and grandma Carpenter had cut the engine and were getting out of their car.
“I can’t! It won’t move!”
“Let me try!”
As the brothers took turns trying and failing to open their bedroom door, the closet flew open. The brothers turned their attention to the more than visible figure that stood in the doorway and shrieked.
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