Requiem (32 page)

Jared stopped, looked above us, and not a
second later, a loud crash sounded on the roof, followed by the
sounds only demons on the hunt could make.

“
We’re not going to make
it,” Jared said, looking to me, and then to Claire. “Take Nina and
Ryan out.”

“
No!” I said, gripping his
arm.

“
There are too many,
Jared!” Claire said. “Half of them will slip past you.”

They both looked to Ryan, and then Jared
grabbed Ryan’s coat with both fists. “Get Nina out of here. Get her
to the alley.” Ryan looked at Claire, and Jared jerked him again,
demanding his full attention. “Get Nina out! We’ll hold them
off.”

Jared pushed Ryan back, pulling two Glocks
from their holsters. Claire threw the duffel bag to me. “Make sure
he doesn’t get himself killed, all right?”

“
Okay,” I said, tugging on
Ryan’s coat.

We descended the stairs, leaving the Ryels
behind. Ryan didn’t take his eyes off Claire until she was out of
sight, and then he focused, taking two steps at a time.

The screeching grew louder, more excited,
and then the gunfire began.

Ryan stopped, held his pistol to his chest,
and then slammed his back to the wall. “Shit!”

“
We can’t stay here! We
have to go, Ryan. We have...to...go!” I pleaded, tugging on him
with each word.

“
I can’t leave her,” he
said, looking up.

“
The only way you can help
her now is to stay alive!” I said, emphasizing each
word.

He closed his eyes tight, and then grabbed
my arm, pulling me down the last two flights of stairs.

“
This is the door to the
alley!” I said, pointing.

Ryan tugged on the handle a few times. When
it wouldn't open, he aimed his gun, shooting a few rounds into the
handle. I looked away, protecting my eyes from splinters flying in
every direction.

Ryan rammed his shoulder into the door,
forcing it open. I ran out into the alley, struggling for breath.
The darkness outside was so quiet, like we had entered a new world.
The normal sounds of Providence were all around us: car horns in
the distance, motorcycle engines revving as they pulled away from a
stop light, the last bit of rain water falling into the gutters—it
was like I was caught in one of my dreams.

“
Wake up,” I whispered,
closing my eyes. I focused on my bed, and Jared's warm body next to
mine. I opened my eyes, but the same scene was before me. I shut my
eyes tighter this time. “Wake up!” I screamed.

Ryan gripped my shoulders, startling me.
“It's not a dream this time, buddy. We need to move!”

Something dark and swift caught the corner
of my eye. Not smoke, and not a shadow, but thicker than the night
air.

“
What the hell is that?”
Ryan yelled, shooting once. The bullet ricocheted off the brick of
the building.

“
Watch out!” I screamed as
the cloud rose above both of us, positioned to attack.

Ryan shoved me out of the way, and I landed
hard on my knees and hands. His body flew backward, hitting the
building on the other side of the alley, and he then fell the
fifteen feet to the ground.

“
Run, Nina!” Ryan said,
stunned.

I scrambled to my feet, but before running
off alone, I hesitated. Ryan was human, and I promised Claire to
keep him safe. The blackness focused on me, and Ryan shot another
round to return its attention to him.

“
RUN!” he yelled, shooting
again. The invisible enemy dragged him back into the building by
one foot, and he held his gun in front of him, shooting at what he
couldn’t see.

Everything inside me wanted to stay, to try
to help somehow, but I held the duffel bag close and dashed down
the alley, into the street. Tears filled my eyes, blurring my
vision, finally spilling over my cold cheeks.

Another alley was ahead, dark and
forbidding, but it seemed the right way to go, so I kept
running.

When my lungs couldn’t take in enough air, I
stopped, hunched over and puffing. Whatever it was that had Ryan
couldn't be far behind, so I leaned against the back entrance of a
building, working up enough courage to move. A bus stop was just a
half block away.

“
Take a step, Nina,” I said
to myself, willing courage to move my feet. “It's right there,” I
breathed, “Go!”

The door opened, causing me to lose my
balance and fall back. Something grabbed me from behind, wrenching
me inside with so much force that my hands, legs, and head all fell
behind, jutting straight out in front me.

“
Ssshhh!” Bex said,
covering my screams with his hand.

More tears streamed down my face, and I
threw my arms around his neck, sobbing with uncontrolled
relief.

He held me at bay, searching my eyes. “Where
is everyone else?”

I shook my head. “I don’t…I don’t know,” I
choked out.

“
The book?”

I held up the duffel bag.

“
Okay,” he said, hugging me
to him. “Okay, let’s get you out of here.”

He led me to his Ducati that was parked
around the corner, and we sped off, fishtailing down the street. As
Bex took roads that would lead us to Woonsocket, I fantasized that
Jared, Claire, and Ryan would be at St. Anne’s waiting for us.

I replayed what happened over in mind,
wondering if I could have done something different, or if I should
have tried to help Ryan. Risking his life—and ultimately Claire’s
life— to steal a book that would save me was the epitome of
selfishness…until I remembered that it would spare Jared as well.
Even knowing that, I wasn’t sure I’d made the right choice. Even if
I was part of some kind of prophecy, our lives weren’t anymore
valuable than Ryan’s or Claire’s.

Father Francis held open the door, waving
for us to come inside.

“
Are they here?” I asked,
already knowing the answer.

The priest closed the door, and then shook
his head, sad. “Not yet. You have it?”

“
I do. It’s here,” I said,
opening the duffel bag. I handed the leather-bound book to Father
Francis, and he held it gingerly, as if he were holding a
bomb.

He retreated to the front of the cathedral,
sitting on the first pew. “The Naissance de Demoniac of Shax the
Duke,” he whispered. He completed the sign of the cross, and then
prayed over the book.

Bex closed his eyes, and then smiled. “They
didn’t like that.”

Chapter
Eighteen

The Mistake

It was my turn to pace.

Father Francis and Bex poured over the
pages, searching for something to present to Jared upon his
arrival. But it had been almost an hour, and we were still the only
ones that had made it to the church.

Every parishioner that entered the large,
wooden door was politely turned away by Father Francis. It was
harder for me to be polite, because each time the door opened, my
heart stopped.

After my hopes had been dashed for the sixth
time, anger took over. An older woman pushed her way through the
door, only to be startled by the sight of me charging down the
aisle. “Can't you see the sign? The church is closed!”

The woman scrambled to reach the door handle
to escape.

“
We need a bigger sign,” I
said, crossing my arms.

“
Patience, child,” Father
Francis said, approaching me with a look of understanding. “He will
come.”

“
When?” I said
emphatically. “He should be here by now. I feel like I'm going
crazy.”

Father Francis gently guided me back to my
pew, patting my shoulder. “Faith is what you need.”

“
I used to have faith. It's
hard when everyone tells you that your death is
inevitable.”

“
Death is inevitable for us
all,” the priest said.

Bex looked up, his eyes narrowing.

“
What?” I asked. “Is it
Shax?”

“
No,” Bex said, his eyes
fluttering. “They've been crowding us since we got here, but
they're....,” he opened his eyes, “all gone.”

“
But...why?” I said,
incredulous. The theme of the night had been that Shax had let us
get away with his precious book far too easily. Their retreat only
set me on edge, wondering when he would decide to put up a real
fight.

Suddenly the door opened, cracking against
the wall. Bex stood up, pulling me with him, using his body as a
shield.

“
You got a bathroom,
Father?” Kim asked.

Father Francis scurried down the aisle,
shutting the door behind Kim. “Of course, child. Just through
there,” he gestured.

“
Not funny,” Bex said,
frowning at her as she walked past.

“
What?” Kim said,
oblivious. “Just because you're being chased by hundreds of demons,
a girl can't pee?”

Bex just shook his head, laughing once,
absent of humor.

I collapsed into the pew, exhausted.
“Something is wrong. They should be here by now.”

Bex glanced at me, and then turned a page of
the book, choosing to ignore my words.

“
I should have helped him.
Ryan was dragged to his death, and I just ran away,” I said,
feeling the sting of salty tears well up in my eyes.

“
I'm trying to read,” Bex
grumbled.

A door slammed down the hall, and then Kim's
loud footsteps announced her arrival before she came into view.

“
Oh, geez. Are you crying?”
she asked. “And where is everyone? They go out for ice cream or
what?”

I dried my tear-stained cheeks with my
sleeve. “Jared and Claire stayed behind to give me and Ryan time to
get out. When we got to the alley, something took Ryan.”

“
Something?” Kim said,
eyebrow raised. “Like what?”

“
I don't know. I couldn't
see it. It was kind of like a shadow...but it was more...,” I
trailed off, unable to find the appropriate word to describe
it.

“
Shadowy?” Kim said,
unimpressed.

I rolled my eyes. “Not everything's a joke,
Kim. Ryan's dead.”

“
No he's not,” she replied,
confident.

Her words peaked my attention. “Why do you
say that? Have you heard something? Do you know where they
are?”

Kim nodded to the door. “He looks like crap,
but he's right there.”

I turned, gripping the top of the pew. Ryan,
Claire, and Jared all stood near the entrance, dirty,
blood-stained, and badly beaten. Before I registered that I was
moving, my legs were carrying me down the aisle at full speed, and
I crashed into Jared's chest. He wrapped his arms around me tight,
and sighed with relief.

“
Easy,” Jared smiled,
returning my repeated kisses as best he could. He kept his weight
on one leg, and his pants were torn.

“
What happened?” I said,
crouching down to get a better look.

“
We won,” Claire said with
a tired smile.

Ryan limped slowly down the aisle, his arm
around Claire. Blood trickled from the outside of his eyebrow, and
he was favoring his bad shoulder. They settled into a pew behind
Bex, and Father Francis scurried away, waving back at them.

“
I'll get the first aid
kit!” he called to them as he disappeared down a dark
hallway.

Jared smiled down at me. “We did it.”

I leaned up on the balls of my feet to touch
his lips to mine. Jared's words were empty. Winning that small
battle was only part of the war we had just started.

Jared led me down the aisle, sitting beside
me in the pew behind Ryan and Claire.

Ryan leaned back, holding a folded piece of
fabric against his eye. “Next time we get into it with Hell, I get
dibs on Mr. Puff.”

Claire smiled, licking her split lip. “Your
effort was impressive, even if that thing did hang you in the air
by your ankle...and use you to open two doors...and make you scream
like a girl.”

“
I didn't scream like a
girl,” Ryan protested.

“
Maybe I was just hoping
you would,” she grinned.

“
Thanks,” he said, reaching
out to touch her dirty face. His thumb gently grazed her cheek.
“Again.”

Claire's eyes met his for a moment, and then
she pulled away. “Just get used to it. You don't need to thank me
every time I save your stupid ass.”

Ryan nodded, and then relaxed against the
pew.

I watched Claire for a moment, as she
desperately attempted to feign indifference. I could recall that
expression well; Jared used it many times in the beginning.
Unfortunately for Claire, Ryan was far more confident than I was
stubborn, and he was certain she would come around.

My eyes settled on Jared's beautiful, dirty
face. His eyes were tired, but bright blue, excited and amazed that
we had the book and our lives. Seeing his expression only made it
more real that he didn't expect any of us to make it to the church
alive. A fact that, to me, was more unsettling than relief.

“
Did you find anything?”
Jared asked Bex.

Bex handed Jared the book. “Not yet. It
keeps talking about the birth, the birth, over and over. How it
disturbs the balance and how Hell will stop it and prevail.”

Jared flipped through the pages,
increasingly frustrated with each one. “Every prophecy has a loop
hole. That is why the Nephilim were created, to try and stop the
bloodline from King David to Jesus.” He slammed the book shut.
“What did Father Francis say?”

Bex's eyes shifted toward me for just a
moment, and then he shook his head, looking down. “He doesn't see
anything, either. But we've only looked at it once. We could have
missed something.”