And the cold. Lambert felt it once more, seeping into his bones, a cold the like of which he had never known, and with it, came the overpowering stench of rotted flesh.
Mathias was grinning, those blazing pools of blood glowing with even more vehemence.
There was an explosion as the stained glass windows shattered inward as if pushed by some giant hand from the outside. Huge jagged shards of coloured glass rained into the church, some remaining intact, others splintering again as they hit the ground. The wind rushed in through the holes, drowning out all other sounds. Lambert tried to stand and found the effort impossible. Debbie too, found herself pinned to the ground by the enveloping force which was invading the church with each second. She could only gasp as she saw her husband dragging himself across the church towards one of the broken windows.
Lambert felt as if he had lead weights secured to every limb and the act of crawling seemed an impossibility. His teeth were chattering, the combination of the driving rain and unbearable cold making his task all the more difficult. Glass cut his hands and knees as he crawled but he ignored the pain and reached out to grasp a long shard of glass which bore the face of Christ. The policeman gripped it, disregarding the blood which ran from his cut palms. He wanted to scream. He felt the cold growing more intense. The sound of the rain and the intensifying storm outside deafened him but he crawled on. Finally, by a monumental effort of will he dragged himself to his feet.
'Our Father, who art in Heaven,' he began, under his breath. Each agonized step brought him closer to Mathias who still stood with his arms outstretched. His back to the advancing policeman.
'Hallowed be thy name.'
The cold wrapped itself around Lambert like a blanket, slowing his already faltering steps. 'Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done.'
He drove himself on, tears of fear and frustration now coursing down his cheeks. The blood from his head wound still dribbling down his face. His hands, slashed open to the bone, gripped the dagger-like shard of glass. The face of Christ suddenly ran red with Lambert's blood as it cascaded over the coloured crystal.
'Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those…'
Mathias was no more than a yard away, his back still to the Inspector.
There was another resounding explosion as a further crack appeared in the central roof support pillar. More masonry sped down, shattering on the stone floor and spraying out like shrapnel.
'… Who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'
Mathias turned, bringing the full fury of those burning red pools to bear on Lambert.
The Inspector gave a last despairing scream and lunged forward.
Mathias couldn't avoid the thrust and, as Lambert drove forward, the Black Magician opened his mouth in silent agony as the razor sharp shard of glass pierced his heart. Lambert twisted it, indifferent to his own pain. Blood from Mathias' torn heart sprayed him, a thick, almost black ooze which stank of corruption. Lambert staggered back, watching the pus-like fluid spouting from the creature's chest.
Mathias made a desperate attempt to tear the glass free but his hands could gain no firm grip on the slippery weapon and he staggered drunkenly for a second before toppling back.
The blazing red of his eyes dulled momentarily before glowing even stronger and then, as Lambert watched, twin fountains of blood, brighter than that gushing from the creature's heart, spurted from the empty eye sockets. Mathias opened and closed his mouth, speaking silent curses, then, that too filled with dark blood.
Lambert swayed, thought he was going to faint, but Debbie's screams brought him back to his senses and he looked up in time to see that the central roof column was crumbling.
Finding new strength, he ran, vaulting the transfixed body of Mathias and reaching the door of the church just as the roof folded inward.
Debbie and he ran outside, the rain and wind buffeting them about like leaves in a gale, but they fought against it, not even turning to watch as the last remnants of the church roof crumbled inwards. Tons of old stone and rubble crashed down, shattering pews, altar, everything. Burying the body of Mathias for the last time.
Lambert collapsed on the wet grass, finally aware of pain in his hands and head. Every muscle in his body ached and, even with Debbie supporting him, he could hardly make it to the car. She helped him in and then went and hauled back one of the heavy gates at the cemetery entrance.
The engine spluttered as she started the car, and for a second, she wondered if it would move. Its wheels spun only for a second before catching and she guided it out of the cemetery.
Beside her, Lambert was barely conscious. He was covered in blood, his own and that of Mathias. The stench in the car was unbearable and Debbie wound the window down, ignoring the rain which spattered her. She looked across at him every few seconds, the tears filling her eyes.
He smiled weakly and reached for her knee with a blood-stained hand.
'Now it is over,' he croaked, the smile still on his lips.
When she looked back again, he'd passed out.
Time passed slowly in Medworth and it was nearly two years before the town finally returned to something like normality. It grew in size, its small industries expanding and attracting new inhabitants, becoming a part of the progress which it had always resisted.
Those who moved there never knew anything about what had happened. Nothing had been printed in any papers about it. The deaths were never explained. Indeed, how could they be?
Lambert was promoted. He and Debbie moved further North where he took over command of a force three times the size of the one in Medworth. Once a month they returned to the town to visit the cemetery, to plant fresh flowers on Mike's grave. Lambert had finally found the peace within himself which he had always sought.
The church was never rebuilt. It remained a roofless shell, home only to those animals who would enter it. Moss and lichens invaded it, and, some said that there were rats as big as cats in there. Visitors to the cemetery gave it cursory glances as they passed by.
As time passed, it was forgotten.
EPILOGUE
The boy was frightened. Not only of the church but of what his mother would say when he got home. He looked at his watch and saw that it was approaching eleven p.m. God, she'd skin him alive when he got in. She'd warned him before about hanging around with those Kelly boys. They were always in trouble with the law, she'd told him. The boy knew she was right but he also knew that if he ducked out of this prank, he'd be a laughing stock at school next day. That fear overshadowed anything his mother would say. So now, he stood in the ruined church staring around him, his body coated in a light film of perspiration. But this was part of the initiation ceremony. The Kelly brothers had told him so. Enter the church and bring something out to prove that you've been in there. All the other gang members had done it at one time or another.
The boy was sixteen, his imagination vivid. He had heard the stories of the giant rats nesting in the ruins and that thought was strong in his mind as he rooted amongst the' rubble, shining his torch before him as he tried to find a likely prize.
The beam alighted on something golden lying at his feet. He bent to pick it up.
It looked like a medallion of some sort and there were funny signs on it. This would do perfectly. The boy snatched it up, anxious to be out of the church. It was only as he lifted it that he felt the heat.
It intensified until he dropped the gold circlet. He rubbed his palm against the seat of his dirty jeans and picked it up again, more cautiously this time. No trouble. No heat. He dropped it into his pocket and ran out.
The Kelly brothers accepted him as a member of the gang and that pleased the boy. He kept the medallion in his pocket, careful to hide it from his mother when he finally did get home. She shouted at him just as he'd expected and so did his father. The boy ignored them and went to bed.
He sat up for a long time looking at the medallion, but finally he switched off his bedside lamp, surprised at how much the light hurt his eyes.
Besides, he had a terrible headache.
