Rapture (13 page)

You don’t have to do this. Join us and there will be no more pain, the voice inside his head whispered again. We can make it go away.

He suddenly knew what it was that was watching him. A demon. One of his own kind. He took another step, focusing on how it would feel to kill it. The thought filled him with strength. It would feel good, he decided. That was how he had answered Father Rainey’s question. It would feel good. The thought of plunging his blades through a demon’s body would bring a great deal of satisfaction. It wouldn’t bring his mother back – nothing would - but revenge would certainly make him feel better.

Two more steps. For a brief second, the demon’s thoughts filled him with temptation. He knew that they could take away the pain, but at what cost? His soul? He was already half demon; would this take away the goodness of his human side? Other thoughts flashed through his brain - thoughts of Aimi, Hikari, his mother. They gave him strength. The whispered thoughts in his head were suddenly gone, as if acknowledging his resolution.

The pain had reached his abdomen now, mingling with the churning sensation in his stomach. He ignored it. The steps to the church were in front of him. As soon as he laid a foot on the first one, the pain intensified so much that his lips could not contain the cry of pain that shot from him. Shame suddenly overrode every other consideration - shame at his weakness.

Especially in front of Aimi.

Before he could think, he hurtled the last two steps and stood tall before the open doors. For the first time in his life, he saw the inside of a church. The pain was so incredible now that it had become an abstract thing – too terrible and intense to even begin to describe. He locked it away at the back of his mind, lost in the vision before him. At the far end was the altar. Stained-glass windows glowed faintly in the moonlight streaming through, illuminating the sculpture of Christ on the cross that hung above the altar. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Then the sculpture seemed to move, and Christ’s body twisted on the cross to look directly at him.

The pain suddenly grew even more intense, so great that Sam’s mind had no recourse but to retreat into unconsciousness. Before his body hit the ground, he remembered one thing. Jesus, the son of God and his saviour, seemed be smiling at him.

Sam had often thought that the front porch was a good place to sit at night. With the lights out, he could watch people going past without being seen himself. A pleasantly cool breeze was coming down from the Rockies. Autumn was definitely on its way, Sam reflected.

He wasn’t alone. Aimi had joined him and the two sat in the two wooden armchairs, enjoying each other’s company. They weren’t saying much. Sam wasn’t a dynamic conversationalist at the best of the times, but he just enjoyed being in her presence.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” said Aimi, finally breaking the silence.

Sam nodded thoughtfully, even though he disagreed. “Yes, I did,” he said quietly.

It had been two days since the horrific experience at the church. When he’d come to, Sam had found himself lying on the couch in Father Rainey’s house. Hikari and Aimi had to support him during the short walk home. Both had seemed extremely upset. Hikari had kept apologising, even though Sam didn’t know what he was apologising for - he understood why the test was necessary.

He still wore bandages over his palms, even though Hikari had said the injuries from the iron spikes had healed. The rest of his body felt like he had really unpleasant sunburn. Taking cold baths had hardly helped. He had expected to see his legs completely covered with burns when he had finally taken his clothes off. Curiously, there were no marks at all other than the ones on his hand. It made no sense. But then again, lots of things weren’t making sense lately.

He still felt exhausted though – drained both mentally and physically. Hikari had thought it prudent to give him a couple of days respite from his training in order to recuperate.

“You shouldn’t listen to everything Father Rainey says. I don’t like him.”

Sam didn’t like Father Rainey either, but that was beside the point.

“Why did you do it?” Aimi asked, touching his arm gently.

Sam sighed. Aimi could be like this sometimes. If she didn’t get an answer immediately, she would persevere until she did.

“Because I had to see for myself. I had to see inside the church. To see who it is that I’m fighting for.”

“And did you see?”

Sam smiled. “Yes, I most certainly did.”

He hadn’t told anyone about what he’d seen the sculpture of Christ do. He thought maybe they’d laugh at him. It was his little secret and one that gave him a little glow of pleasure. The pain and suffering had been worth it for that one little gesture – the knowledge that Christ really appreciated what he was prepared to do in order to ready himself for the battle ahead.

“Besides,” he said, “Hikari and Father Rainey really needed to know the effects of holy ground on my body. They both seem to enjoy testing my limits. I think Father Rainey expected my body to go up in flames. He almost looked disappointed when I didn’t. Well, now they know. As Hikari would say, knowledge is … “

“Power,” Aimi finished for him. She laughed. It was one of Hikari’s favourite sayings, almost a mantra. She looked thoughtful for a moment. “And how do you feel about the other thing – you know, about killing other demons?”

There was a long moment of silence before Sam answered. “I feel good,” he said truthfully. “Even though part of me is demon, I won’t hesitate.”

Aimi shook her head. “Part of you isn’t demon,” she said. “You’re all human – you just have those horns for decoration.” She laughed again, forcing another smile from him.

She always did that. Always made him feel good about himself. There were precious few things that could do that: Hikari and the sense of accomplishment he felt with his training and … Aimi. Lately, he’d found himself daydreaming about what the future had in store for the two of them. What happened if the Rapture never occurred? Did that mean that Aimi and he might have a future together when they were older? Even at this young age, he knew he loved her and sensed that she felt the same way about him.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious and shy, he reached carefully into his pocket. His hand wrapped around the object he found inside. Luckily, the bandages prevented any contact with it.

He brought it out slowly and showed it to Aimi. Her face lit up with pleasure.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, examining the necklace with the silver cross without touching it.

“Take it,” he said. “Try it on.”

Nervously, she reached out and lifted the delicate necklace from his palm. As much as he could, he helped her put it on.

“Where did you get it?” she asked, looking down and fingering it with obvious delight.

“It was my mother’s,” he said. “I want you to have it.”

Immediately, her face fell. “I can’t accept this,” she said, reaching up, already trying to unclasp it.

He grabbed her hands, gently enfolding them in his. “Yes, you can. I’m giving it to you. Besides,” he said, shrugging, “I can hardly wear it.”

She looked at him for a long moment before finally relenting, then reached over and gave him a hug.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, kissing his cheek.

He felt himself reddening with embarrassment and pleasure. It was the right thing to do, he knew. His mother would have wanted this, and he knew of absolutely no-one else who he would rather wear it.

They sat together for a while in companionable silence. Finally Sam spoke. “When we were at the church, did you … did you notice anything unusual?”

Aimi looked surprised. “Unusual? You mean apart from a teenage boy moving in slow motion while in horrible pain?”

He shrugged. “It’s just that I sensed something.”

“Something? Like what?”

“Like something was watching me. I even thought I saw it. It was saying things in my head.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“I think it was a demon. It was making me promises. Promising that it could make the pain go away.”

Aimi looked genuinely worried now. “A demon?” She looked around nervously.

He nodded. “I think I’ve sensed it before but thought it was all in my head.”

He didn’t want to tell Aimi where he’d felt that presence before, but something about the figure he had glimpsed seemed familiar. He’d realized it was because he’d seen it in his dreams. They’d been getting worse lately, too. Hikari said he’d been thinking of a solution. Meditation was fine, he’d said, but hardly an answer. Sam still needed to sleep at some point and Hikari accepted the suffering the boy went through every time he did.

There was something else, something he hadn’t told Aimi or Hikari. When he thought about it, it seemed that the demonic presence had always been around. Ever since he was a boy. It was only now that he’d seen it at the churchyard that he’d made the connection. A demon was watching him. Even now, it seemed like something was out there. Watching. Listening. Waiting.

He scanned the street. There were a few pedestrians out for an evening stroll but nothing suspicious. Street lights provided a great deal of illumination, but even so, Sam knew there were many shadows where anything could be hiding - even from his eyes.

He tried to dismiss the feeling, trying to banish it to the back of his mind, but it was no use. He just knew it was out there.

From across the street, concealed by shadows that were part natural and part something else entirely, a figure watched. It saw Sam give Aimi the necklace. It observed the way they acted around each other and the obvious feelings that flowed between them.

And then it smiled.

“Experience itself, to our own great loss and bane, affords us sad proof that Satan seizes as many opportunities of deceiving and destroying mankind as there are different moods and affections natural to the human character.”

“You wanted to see me, Joshua?” said the man, not looking up from the map he was studying on the makeshift table.

Joshua shuffled his feet, looking sideways at Sam before answering. “Yeah. I’ve got someone here I think you should meet.”

Sam suddenly felt very nervous about meeting this man. Joshua had explained that Adam was the unofficial leader of the Black Ridge survivors and as such, someone he should be very careful around. Joshua, he knew, was familiar with his unusual and sinister heritage and had had years to come to terms with it, but Sam was unsure exactly how much he should reveal to someone he didn’t know or trust.

Adam finally straightened up, running a meaty hand through his greying hair. He looked Sam up and down, carefully studying the newcomer.

“Adam, this is Sam – a friend from my home town in Jacob’s Ladder,” said Joshua.

Adam held his hand out to Sam who took it with only a moment’s hesitation. The grip was extremely firm. Sam instinctively realized that the man was not trying to dominate him; he was just very strong. The palm was covered with hardened skin - clearly Adam’s leadership style was a hands-on one.

“Pleased to meet you, Sam. Another fighter is always welcome here.”

Despite his obvious strength, Adam only came up to Sam’s shoulder. It was easy to overlook the lack of stature though – everything about Adam oozed strength and solidity. Leadership. His torso and limbs were much larger than Sam’s though, corded with muscle visible through the tattered remains of the t-shirt he was wearing. One of his arms was almost as big as Sam’s leg. He had a calm, even featured face that was at odds with the ferocity he had shown the previous night. If Sam had to guess his age, he would have said that Adam was probably in his forties, even though physically, he was in better shape than most men twenty years his junior.

He looked Sam in the eye, frowning momentarily as he took in Sam’s black eyes. Then he seemed to dismiss it as a trick played by the dim light from the flickering hurricane lamp that was the only source of illumination in the small alcove.

Sam sighed inwardly, feeling self-conscious and very uncomfortable. The last thing he needed was for this man to judge him before he knew him. Without a doubt, Adam was not a man to you wanted to get on the wrong side of. Sam remembered him from the previous night. Adam had fought harder than anyone he’d ever seen. What he’d lacked in skill (compared to himself), he had made up for with determination and strength. At one point, a group of Lemure had successfully managed to climb the palisade and hurl themselves at the defenders on the fighting platform. Most of the humans had been out of ammo – including Adam. While many retreated in terror, Adam had not hesitated. Sam could vividly recall Adam roaring wildly as he picked up one of the Lemure with his bare hands and hurled it at a group of its fellows, toppling them all off the platform.