ELIJAH
“I hate to admit this, Father Hayle, but I had my doubts about what you were telling my brother. Now, seeing this for myself, I don’t doubt any longer. I think you may be on to something.”
James spoke as I tended to our possessed man, readying him for the moment we would free him of his evil, regardless of the fact it would strip him of life. He screamed and wailed, begging for someone to believe I wasn’t actually a priest. Richard laughed it off, and so did the sheriff, one who knew the truth, and the other sinking deeper into the illusion that I was a good man.
Splashing out another few drops of the holy water onto the wounds left behind by the lashings of a whip, the idiot beneath me screamed bloody murder swearing to anybody who would listen that he was just some perverted jerk and not a demon like I claimed.
Sadly, he was being honest, but the sheriff wouldn’t believe him. Why would plain water cause so much pain if there wasn’t a demon inside?
I’ll tell you why that water hurt, and it had nothing to do with the fake blessing. I’d added bleach just to ensure it burned as it soaked into the lacerations and scrapes left by the beating and whipping he took after we had to fight to drag him back out here.
The sheriff was steadfast in his belief that holy water was cleansing the body, meanwhile I was hoping the son of a bitch wouldn’t get too close and wonder why the condemned man now smelled like a house that was freshly cleaned.
I hadn’t used too much, just enough to make it burn. I doubted it would be a problem.
“So, what do we do next? How to get rid of the demon?”
Richard smiled when I shot a glance at him, shrugging his big, bulky shoulders and waited for me to answer the question.
“We crucify him. Kill him in the same way our Savior was killed by the Romans who were infected with just as much evil as this man. It’s God’s way of getting even for what was done to the Son.”
The sheriff grunted out his approval. “Sounds a hell of a lot easier than that shit you see on television. What’s the point of exorcisms if it’s easier just to nail their asses to crosses and leave them there to die?”
Face practically purple, Richard fought not to laugh. One would think I’d drugged the sheriff for as easily as he swallowed down the lies I was feeding him. Didn’t anybody ever think for themselves anymore? Or was the Faith crammed so far down their throats that it somehow compressed the arteries and cut off the blood flow to their brains?
“Don’t believe the lies Hollywood tells you, Sheriff. All of that stuff is put there by the Devil to deceive you. That’s why there’s so much graphic sex and violence in the big blockbuster movies. The world has slipped in to the depths of Hell and nobody realizes just how bad it’s become.”
“Not in my town,” he growled out. “I won’t let this place fall to the Devil. Not now that I know the truth.” Glancing up from the man on the floor who was writhing over himself and crying, James locked his eyes with mine. “When do we involve the rest of the townspeople? When do we let them know how much evil surrounds them and what can be done about it? I think the sooner the better. I don’t want to see another young woman die like poor Annabelle. I was there when they cleaned up the scene-“
I smiled and placed my hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me, James. I was there, too, remember?”
He nodded his head, the grief of that girl’s untimely death still weighing on his shoulders.
Having never intended for Annabelle to die, I didn’t feel guilty for being the one that pushed her to it. In fact, if I’d known then what I knew at this moment, I would have shaken her hand and thanked her for the favor. Without her, this town wouldn’t have been so stunned as to be deceived. Sure, they may have believed eventually that evil was what affected their fields and had the banks breathing down their necks with the threat of foreclosure, but Annabelle’s death only broke them down more, making my job a hell of a lot easier.
“I guess there’s nothing to do now than to grab the nails and string this poor bastard up.”
James nodded his head in agreement. “How long will it take for him to die? Will it be as quick as Jesus?”
My grin widened. “No. The Son of God died quickly because a soldier pierced his side. Unfortunately, this poor son of a bitch will have to go out a lot slower.”
“What? What the fuck are you talking about? This is insanity! I’m not a fucking demon!” The condemned attempted to sit up, but Richard kicked him in the chest to knock him back down. Even the blow to his ribs didn’t stop him from claiming his innocence. “Listen, Sheriff, just take me to jail, okay? I’ll confess to the rape today and to several more you don’t know about. Hell, I’ll even confess for crimes I didn’t commit if it means you won’t do this! I’ll spend the rest of my fucking life rotting in prison, if that’s what it takes. How the fuck do you believe this crazy son of a bitch? He’s not even a priest!”
James scoffed at the accused and said, “You were right, Father Hayle. All demons do is lie. You’ve been the parish priest in this town for twelve years and this guy thinks I’d believe him? Let’s do what we have to do in order to finish this up. I have more criminals to catch and bring to you. By the time we’re through, there won’t be any crime anywhere near this town and I’ll be hailed a hero.”
I laughed at the thought. Of course it would be his over inflated ego that would drive him to nail a man to a piece of wood and leave him there to die slowly.
As for myself, I had far more important reasons for pulling this off, and within a few months, all would come to fruition. I wouldn’t call my reasoning evil by any means, just a necessary course of action that would lift the veil of secrecy and expose the true evil in this world.
“Richard,” I said, “help me bring one of these crosses down so we can nail this son of a bitch to it. Tomorrow I’ll give a sermon explaining to both the family and the townspeople who attend that the war we’re fighting for the Almighty has finally started.”