undergo physical and psychiatric examinations to eliminate natural causes.”
“And what if we don’t have time for that?” she asked.
“Well, after that we have to see if the person displays unexplainable physical phenomena, you know, levitation, moving objects, knowledge and use of archaic language, unnatural strength.”
“Unnatural strength. They have that,” Joanna said as she rubbed her neck.
“In spades,” Stephen added. “They run faster than humanly possible, that’s for sure.”
“So if we proved they were possessed, how do we help them, cure them, whatever you call it?” Joanna asked.
“You’re talking about an exorcism, which would only be authorised after all the evidence was weighed, and then a priest would be appointed.”
Joanna stared at him. “Could you do it?”
“What, an exorcism? Goodness, no.”
“I thought all priests could perform them,” Stephen said.
The priest shook his head.
Stephen grimaced. “That’s not what we wanted to hear.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is. If you want to take the matter further…”
“Of course we have to take it further. People’s lives are at stake – including ours. These people, they’re trying to kill us.”
“Kill you! Then I would suggest you first contact the police.”
“We can’t. They’re possessed too.”
The corners of the priest’s mouth lifted in a grin that he tried to hide.
“This isn’t goddamned funny,” Joanna said.
The priest shook his head. “Of course not. I’m sorry. It’s just a lot to take in.”
“Then take this in. Whether you believe it or not, the evil that you renounce every week with your bloody sermons, well, it’s here. And as far as we know, this could be it, the end of days, the coming apocalypse between good and evil, and I don’t think you’ll be laughing then.”
CHAPTER 16
Malachi stared down at the people scurrying past the window of his hospital room on their way to the various departments. He smiled to himself. If they thought they were in pain now, before long they would know true suffering.
Although he could have set up residence anywhere he liked, the hospital provided him with an easy source of vessels for his demon brethren. Once possessed, whatever ailed the human host was no longer a problem as they acquired the strength of the damned. Hell, he was doing the pathetic scum a service.
“Have they found the girl yet?” he asked, turning away from the window.
“No,” Robhartach, the demon who occupied Nina’s body replied.
Malachi exhaled loudly and clenched his hand. Although Joanna Raines was a mere irritant at the moment, he knew an itch could grow into a veritable rash.
A muffled moan emanated behind him. He turned and stared at the naked, dark-haired woman strapped to the bed, her legs held open by stirrups. Robhartach sat beside the bed, looking on eagerly. Malachi knew that Robhartach felt humiliated being in possession of a female vessel, but he didn’t have any control over which of his brethren came through to occupy the host.
The woman wrestled against the straps, making the veins stand out in her arms and neck. A gag muffled the sound of her incessant screams. Her large breasts wobbled as she struggled. Sweat dripped down her face and coated her chest, a visible indication of her fear that heightened Malachi’s excitement.
He licked his lips and walked towards her. With many of the hospital staff now part of the demonic legion, he didn’t have to worry about being discovered and he found hiding in plain sight the best option for the time being.
Despite his revulsion of the human race, defiling them gave him immense pleasure in more ways than one.
As he reached the bed, he shucked off his dressing gown. If it wasn’t for the loss of his arm, Lincoln’s body would be an excellent vessel. Strong, fit, and not altogether repugnant, he was getting used to the confines of the flesh into which he now lived.
He rammed his cock between the woman’s spread legs, enjoying watching the human squirm in revulsion with each thrust. He leaned forwards and grabbed her breast, squeezing so hard that the flesh swelled between his fingers as though about to pop like a boil.
The woman closed her eyes, but couldn’t stop the tears that ran as freely down her cheeks as the blood between her legs. Each drop of which aroused the demon even more. Suffering was his drug.
He dug his nails in, drawing blood from her breast like obscene mother’s milk. The woman screamed behind her gag, veritable music to his ears.
At the moment of ejaculation, he sprayed her with his seed, relishing in her revulsion as she squirmed.
Spent, he tugged his dressing gown back on and stared down at the woman. It was time to bring another of his brethren through.
“Kill her,” he said.
Robhartach stood, approached the bed, wrapped his hands around the woman’s throat and squeezed until her eyes bulged. Malachi started his chant, summoning dark energy. At the moment the woman’s spirit departed, he introduced another minion into the woman’s corpse.
Exhausted by the undertaking, Malachi staggered back and collapsed into the chair beside the bed. He hated the fact that bringing his companions through tired him so much. He also hated that he didn’t have full possession of Lincoln. If he did, the demonic legion would be further advanced than it was.
The woman on the bed arched her spine, turned her head to the front with a crack of bones, and her eyes snapped open.
Robhartach tore the tape from her mouth.
“I take it you’ve finished having your fun with my body. Now untie me,” she ordered.
Malachi nodded and his cohort undid the straps, allowing Julitta to remove her legs from the stirrups and stand up, making her breasts wobble. The sight of the human’s naked flesh lost its appeal now that one of his brethren occupied the carcass.
Julitta stretched, manipulating the joints and testing her new vessel. She looked down, grabbed her scratched and bruised breasts and stared at them. “Humans are such vile creatures,” she said, releasing her hold. “I don’t know how you can bring yourself to touch them.”
Malachi snorted. “To defile them, you have to touch them. It’s all part of the fun.” He grinned.
“Well, can someone get me something to cover this revolting shell? As the less of it I can see, the happier I’ll be.”
“Give her those clothes,” Malachi ordered. He laughed at her disgruntled expression when Robhartach passed her the short skirt and skimpy t-shirt the woman had been wearing.
“At least I suppose my vessel is in one piece,” Julitta said, glancing at Malachi.
The demon ground his teeth. “Just remember, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be here. Now enough of the small talk, I need you to find a girl for me. Her name’s Joanna Raines. Robhartach will bring you up to speed. And you’d better find her, or else…” He left the threat unspoken and watched as his cohorts left the room.
Bone weary, he felt his command on Lincoln fading. If only he could keep control.
That’s when the idea came to him. There must be drugs that would keep Lincoln comatose. Failing that, there must be another way to keep him asleep, perhaps an overdose. As the thought manifested, he lost control.
Lincoln stared at the bed and wondered why the stirrups were attached, and how he found himself in the chair without knowing how he got there. He stood up, alarmed to see blood and semen on the white sheets.
