Driven (20 page)

“You knew that?” Amy asked.

“Yes. I’ve dealt with Sabah in the past, so I had already done my research. Sabah is also a gabber by nature. A babbling drunk.”

Gavin almost laughed. Buck had to be making this up as he went along.

“Sabah pleaded with me to allow it to stay in the young man, but when I insisted it come out, the demon threatened retaliation.
Threatened to return with Krogan. Of course, I knew what that meant. I had never met the demon personally, but Krogan’s reputation
preceded him. I refused to back down.”

“Why?” Gavin asked.

“Demons lie a lot and will sometimes say anything to stay in a host they enjoy. I hoped this was another lie. I was wrong.”

There was a moment of awkward silence. Gavin hadn’t believed a word Buck said, but he could relate to the pain the old man
must have gone through.

“You’re saying Sabah, the demon in the young man, was cast out and found its way into Karianne before the first crash. And
that it’s still there,” Amy said.

“Yes.”

“And this Sabah thing is what we’ve been following through the annals of time,” Gavin said.

“It would seem so, Detective.”

“Are the things we’re being told by Karianne—I mean Sabah— really true or is it all a lie?” Amy asked.

“Sabah, like most demons, is very crafty, an expert at confusion. It deliberately confuses the truth, conveniently vague and
informative at the same time. My friends, you are being played with by a master. In short, Sabah was giving you a guided tour
and enjoying
every minute of the deception. It will take you anywhere and to any time you want to go, even to before man walked the earth.”

“Before?” Amy said.

Buck nodded. “All you would have to do is ask.”

“Wonderful,” Gavin said. “Amy, you have to promise me Katz never finds out Karianne is capable of going back to the freakin’
dinosaurs. We’d lose him for good.”

Looking annoyed at his remark, Amy refocused on Buck. “
Shadahd,
Buck. When Gavin mentioned it you gave me the impression you’ve heard it before.”

“Unfortunately, yes.
Shadahd
is not just an ancient Hebrew word, my dear.
Shadahd
was Krogan’s battle cry from the beginning. And don’t ask when that was, for it was a time before time as we know it. A time
of initial spiritual clashing between darkness and light—or more accurately between reality and unreality.”

Gavin decided not to ask him what he meant by reality and unreality.

“What do you mean by reality and unreality,” Amy said.

“Simply, God can only abide with perfect truth. When Lucifer, a great angel at the time, wanted to be worshiped like God,
he stepped into unreality. God will not have unity with unreality. Lucifer’s delusion spread to other angels and a war broke
out. Although much ground has been gained and the outcome decided, the war continues. Krogan’s total disregard and contempt
for God’s creation stems from a basic perverted belief that everything should be his, if I may refer to the gender he presently
embodies, to enjoy and destroy as he sees fit. Complete unreality.”

“But not to Krogan.”

“That’s right. Krogan sees himself as a god.”

“And
shadahd
is a word that means ‘to go out to ruin,’ as if to rub in God’s face that Krogan has the right to do whatever he wants whenever
he pleases.”

“Exactly. Frankly, I’m a little surprised you got to meet Sabah through Miss Stordal. When Krogan gets together with his friends,
their hosts usually wind up dead.”

“Then why do they get back together with him if they know they could die?”

“They live for death, even their own host’s.” Buck paused and glanced at Gavin. “Detective, you’re very quiet.”

“Oh, don’t mind me. I just have an easier time believing things I can see.”

“In my business, Detective, you often have to believe in order to see.”

“We’re in different businesses,” Gavin said.

“You and I are not so different as you might think, Detective. We’re both working our way through calamities. We’re both experienced
in helping others in crisis and we both understand authority. Fortunately, I am not familiar with all you’ve seen and you
should be equally thankful not to have seen what I have.”

“I’ve known a few priests and ministers, but I don’t recall any of them speaking the way you do concerning demons.”

“I’d be surprised if you had, Detective; there are different types of preachers just like there are different types of other
careers. My particular area of expertise is not that prevalent. But like you, I would get the call, show up, and go to work.
I was what you might call a hired gun. My job was to corner demons, interrogate them, and escort them out of town, so to speak.
When they leave, they remember… and never forget. You ever worry about the ones you’ve put away getting out someday and visiting
you, maybe with their friends, Detective?”

Gavin remained silent. He knew cops who had changed their names for just such a reason.

Buck continued. “They don’t all retaliate, but some do.”

“Krogan?” Amy said.

Buck sighed. “Krogan doesn’t wait to retaliate. He strikes first.”

“So, for the record, you believe this has nothing to do with past lives or reincarnation,” Gavin said.

“Oh, my, no. Not as you understand it. Sabah was just reminiscing about old times. Like most demons, it enjoys masquerading
as human thought. Sabah doesn’t die and come back to life as someone else. Sabah can’t die. It’s just homeless until it finds
another body to inhabit.”

“And when it finds a new home or host it tells them what to do?” Gavin said pointedly.

“It suggests. Sometimes strongly,” said Buck sympathetically.

“You speak as though they’re victims,” Gavin said, the faces of Grampa and Garrity and hospital emergency rooms flashing in
his mind.

“Well, they are victims.”

“And I suppose you have compassion on the poor host?” Gavin said.

“I try to. Charity comes from knowing the truth.”

Gavin’s tea glass slammed on the table.

T
ime out,” Gavin said, making a T with his hands. He’d never been very good at passive observation and this mock interview
had gone on way too long. “You know how many guys I’ve locked up who claim the devil made them do it? I should believe them?”

“Some people, for whatever reason, are influenced more than others. Demons can’t make people act, but if someone lays out
the welcome mat often enough they can attract company and eventually a kind of partnership can be formed, often without the
person knowing it.”

“Partnership? Why doesn’t God corral these things if they’re really there? I mean, didn’t God make them in the first place?”

“We’re living in a detour in time that is cursed because of misplaced faith. If you have another hour or two we can get into
it.”

“You must have had a cheery congregation.”

“Maybe you find your hypnotist’s explanation of reincarnation easier to believe?” Buck said.

“Katz—the psychologist—is convinced. I’m not,” Gavin said, wondering what would happen if the lieutenant, not to mention the
media, heard about any of this.

“Spirits are often misperceived as a past human life,” Buck said. “Does it make sense that Karianne and Krogan and others
were meeting each other in life after life after life? That Krogan wanted to keep his name in every life and that his happiest
moment was at the crucifixion? And by the way, how did you know he meant Jesus?”

“It was obvious,” Amy said.

“Obvious, how? Did she say ‘Jesus’?”

“Well, not exactly.”

“Not exactly?” Buck said with a smile. “What happened was you asked her who was on the cross and she refused to say his name
… didn’t she?”

“How did you know that?” Amy said, surprised.

“Demons hate to say God’s name, unless they’re being derogatory. They love to mock and they enjoy it when humans take God’s
name in vain. They want us to associate the almighty God with the lowly and common. They find it comforting.”

“Comforting?” Amy said, then pulled her notebook from her purse.

“You mean like, ‘God, that’s the best French fry I’ve ever tasted,’ ” Gavin said.

Amy wasn’t amused. Buck smiled gently.

“I think you know what I’m saying,” he said.

“But that’s just normal,” Gavin said. “Everybody does that.”

“Exactly, but why?”

“Because, well, because everybody does. They always have.”

“Hmm,” Buck said, arching his brow. “I wonder why that is?”

“Ah, here it is,” Amy said, looking at her notes. “Karianne was asked what she was searching for after one of her lives had
died. She said she was,‘looking for comfort.’ ”

“Oh, yes! Like people, demons strive to be comfortable,” Buck said. “Most people work hard all year long so they can have
a week or two of relaxation. The home is designed for comfort. Some are very particular, some aren’t. Some live alone while
others live in a group. Demons are very much the same. When an evil spirit leaves a body that has just died, Jesus told us,
it goes through formless places searching for somewhere to rest. These spiritually arid periods aren’t any more comfortable
for them than the Sahara Desert
is for you or me. They want comfort. In Sabah’s case, comfort meant someone who likes to drink a lot. Like people, demons
can be lazy. In Sabah’s case, why build a heavy drinker when you can find one?”

“Kind of like house hunting,”Amy said. “Everyone has their own personal preference.”

“Exactly, and decorate as desired, Miss Kirsch,” Buck said. “In the end a demon’s favorite home is furnished with weaknesses
and perversions that match its own individual tastes. Anger, fear, depression, confusion, violence, power, wealth, fame…
Our own vanities can make a demon’s work very easy. And they don’t like it when someone messes up their house. Or worse, evicts
them.”

“Enough about Sabah,”Amy said. “I want to know about Krogan. How do you mess up Krogan’s house?”

Buck put his glass down on the table as a solemn look passed over his face like the shadow of a storm cloud. “You don’t.”

“Explain,” Amy said. Surprised at her level of interest, Gavin looked at her, but remained silent, letting the conversation
play out.

“Sabah is content to get high and die, but Krogan thrives on hatred and the ruin of God’s creation. Krogan is of a different
caliber. Stronger. He isn’t content to simply mess with people’s emotions and addictions. He wants to make his host a living
abomination of hellish destruction. Krogan’s hosts aren’t tortured as much as they’re torturers.”

“That’s why the host takes on Krogan’s name and tattoos it into his flesh,” Amy said.

“Tattoos of his name do seem to be a trademark. A possession thing, like the branding of cattle.”

“For whom to see?” Amy asked.

“Other demons. Krogan is envied and many will call on him for a… ‘date.’ They’ve been doing it for thousands of years, maybe
longer. They call it
shadahd
to signify what their ultimate intent will be. The demon—Sabah, for example—will plague its host with irresistible, sometimes
unexplainable, temptations to drink. When the host has had so much to drink it can no longer mentally resist, the demon takes
control. Krogan typically entices the other demon’s host to drink until only the demon can function. Krogan says ‘
Shadahd
’ as a sort of password. If the host doesn’t understand, Krogan gives the host more alcohol. Eventually the password is returned
and their fun begins. The next day, if there is one, the host usually remembers nothing, except maybe a bad dream.”

“Why Karianne? She seems so different than Krogan. In fact, she’s horrified by what Krogan does,” Amy said.

“At some point in her life Karianne looked very comfortable to Sabah. The fact she stopped drinking probably upset Sabah,
but time was on Sabah’s side. To wait five years is nothing to a being that’s been around for millennia.”

In spite of himself, Gavin was intrigued. “So then why didn’t this Sabah just leave and find another alcoholic that’s not
on the wagon?”

“Sabah cannot leave. When a demon takes up residence, it is there either until the host dies or it is cast out. There is an
example in the Bible where Jesus came across a demoniac known as Legion who was a virtual hotel for demons. The demons were
petrified when they saw Jesus, but didn’t leave… because they couldn’t. They begged him to cast them into a herd of pigs.
He did, and the demons immediately rushed the pigs into a nearby lake where they drowned, freeing the demons.”

“Are there other demons like Krogan?” Amy asked.

“There are many arranged meetings. Dates where the demons pair and gather for
shadahd.
More than you can imagine. But Krogan is one of the worst.”

“Can you cast Sabah out of Karianne?” Amy asked.

“Katz wouldn’t be very happy about that,” Gavin said.

Buck paused. He got out of his seat, walked over to the sink, and leaned on it, staring ahead. Gavin noticed a row of small
picture frames, containing photos of what he assumed were loved ones, arranged on the windowsill above the sink. Buck had
his own picture graveyard, he thought.

Buck turned and swallowed. “I’m retired. In Norway, I was caught off guard when Sabah retaliated with Krogan—and it meant
the lives of my family. I won’t endanger the life of my granddaughter by casting out another demon. Sabah alone would not
have been a problem, but Krogan is different. Krogan is too strong. To cast Krogan out one needs special preparation.”

“What kind of preparation?” Gavin said, hoping he might finally hear something practical he could use.

“Jesus warned his disciples that sometimes they would face demons of great strength—that they would need to rely on more than
their faith. He said they would need to pray and fast. I think Krogan is one of the very demons he was referring to.”

Gavin shook his head. “Jesus may have been speaking to his disciples about Krogan?” He couldn’t believe this. A large share
of a detective’s work was spent interviewing people who might somehow know the criminal. Gavin’s current list included the
likes of Attila the Hun and Richard the Lionheart… and now Jesus and the disciples. He wondered if there was something he
might have done to his tenth-grade history teacher to deserve all this.

“It’s very possible,” Buck said. “At the very least he was speaking to them about demons
like
Krogan—demons that require more than simple faith to cast out.”

“But how does that help us?” Gavin said, raising his palms to the ceiling in exasperation. “Your story keeps getting crazier
and crazier. If Krogan has his pick of the bad guys when he’s in the dry land, why doesn’t he pick someone with access to
nuclear missiles?”

“Krogan doesn’t push buttons, he pushes the hosts. The chance
of someone in such a position giving his life over to the kind of reckless, irresponsible lifestyle Krogan prefers is unlikely,”
Buck said. “Krogan enjoys the physical sensation of power and the actual sight of the ruin caused by the host’s own hands.
He will use a car, boat, or plane as long as the host physically operates it. His carefully picked body must also be able
to endure impact and pain. Although if the body dies in the act, so be it.”

“I suppose you’re going to tell me that the terrorists that flew the commercial jets into the Twin Towers were demonized,”
Gavin said.

“Would that be so hard to believe?”Amy interjected. Gavin eyed her. Was she actually buying into all this?

“I suppose you’re going to tell me Krogan was flying one of those jets?”

“No,” Buck replied. “He was probably already in his present host at the time. But whatever demons did orchestrate that event,
they were free at that point to search for other hosts. Which, by the way, is why you must be careful not to kill Krogan’s
host, Detective. If you do, the one you’re after will escape your reach and the destruction you are trying so hard to eliminate
will continue.”

In spite of the fact Gavin categorized Buck’s analysis under F for Fairytale, the old man’s words hit Gavin like a bucket
of ice water. “I have to be careful not to kill the man who killed my grandfather? I
fantasize
about how I’m going to kill him. If you think for one minute I’m gonna give him more than two seconds to comply after ‘Freeze
or you’re dead,’ you’re crazy.”

“Then you’ll be setting the real enemy free,” Buck shouted, surprising Gavin.

Buck visibly worked to calm himself. “Please understand me: you have to capture him and then keep him from being able to kill
himself. Krogan is not one to sit in a prison if he has the choice. If able, he will commit suicide to escape—a common practice
for
demons who dread the limitations that jail brings. I’m sure you’ve seen killing rampages that end in suicide. The body dies
but the demon simply moves on. The difference with Krogan is the vindictiveness. Krogan will come after you for imprisoning
or killing the host.”

“Great,” Gavin said. “Okay, let’s pretend for a minute all this demon stuff is true. How
do
I kill Krogan?”

“You can’t. Krogan is immortal.”

“Right. Then I would have to capture Krogan alive.”

“Yes, but you wouldn’t have him for long. At the first opportunity Krogan would overpower his host and convince him to commit
suicide.”

“You mean I’d have to keep him locked up in solitary in a strait-jacket?”

“Something like that. For the rest of his life. And pray the host outlives you.”

Gavin stared at him blankly, then at Amy. Her expression matched his. He sighed and stood up. “Well, Buck. I thought when
I pulled into your driveway I couldn’t feel any more tired or frustrated. I was wrong.”

“I’m sorry, Detective. I wish there was more I could do. You do look tired. Maybe you should take a nap before driving back.
I’m sure you’d feel better.”

Gavin ignored him. “If you think of something, here’s my card. If you lose it, I’m in the phone book.” He dropped his card
on the table and escorted Amy to the door with his hand on the small of her back. She was sweating and Gavin wasn’t sure it
was from heat or fear.

Outside, Buck followed them to the car. Gavin opened the door, then paused and turned around, meeting the former preacher
eye to eye.

“Hired gun, huh?”

Buck said nothing.

“One thing confuses me more than anything else. You’re supposed to have this great faith.”

“I’m not going after Krogan with you, Detective,” Buck said emphatically.

“Krogan retired you?”

Buck looked to the ground. “If I cast it out, it will quickly return to find me. If he finds me he could find my granddaughter.”

“Even knowing it will mean others would die?”

“Detective, I got the impression you didn’t really believe anything I said.”

“But you believe it,” Gavin said. “What does that say for your belief in God? Isn’t walking away from Krogan the same as walking
away from God?”

Buck was silent for a moment, motionless, avoiding eye contact. Then he looked to the horizon. “It isn’t fair for you to question.
You don’t know what Krogan is really capable of.”

“Obviously, more than you think God can handle,” Gavin said. He got into his car and sped away, leaving Buck in a cloud of
dust.