The Second Coming (46 page)

The trail meandered through the woods until she came to a clearing and there in the distance, perched at the top of a hill surrounded by sprawling Oak trees, was the Oakland Children’s Orphanage. She gazed at it in wonder. It was a large brick building that reminded her of a Southern plantation.

Maybe her phone would get reception at the orphanage or maybe there was someone there who could help her? She didn’t have much choice. She couldn’t go back the way she came from and the hill going down was too treacherous for her to climb. She looked over her shoulder and then made a dash over a clearing for the shelter of a large oak tree that stood at the outskirts of the building.

She hid in the shadows of the tree as she investigated the building for any signs of life. It was quiet. The only sound was the gentle rustling of the leaves in the wind as she looked down at the screen on her phone. There was still no signal. She peered back in the direction from which she came and didn’t see anyone and realized if she didn’t keep moving, she was a sitting duck.

Her bare feet were bleeding and throbbing with pain as she took off towards the side of the orphanage and darted through one of the archways into a corridor. She leaned up against the wall, panting with exhaustion, her adrenaline keeping her on high alert. Her thighs were burning and shaky with fatigue, but she knew she couldn’t stay in one place. She had to keep moving until she was able to find help or get a signal.

Kate headed down the stone corridor slowly, with soft deliberate steps, until she reached a thick wood plank door at the end of the hallway. She stopped to listen. The wind howled gently as it whistled through the corridor. Pushing the door open slowly, she peered into a long cafeteria like room. Dust particles danced in the sunrays beaming through the windows as she entered the room and closed the door carefully behind her. There were two long wood tables end to end next to another two tables, one which was tipped on its side. There were wood benches askew and tipped over on the floor. Everything was covered in a layer of dust that looked like ash.

Kate was eerily fascinated with the building as she moved across the room, placing her hands on the table and the wall alternately, being careful not to trip or make a sound. It was silent except for the occasional scratching
of trees brushing against the windows in the wind. Kate took a deep breath as she began slowly walking down a long hallway with arched doorways on either side of it. She moved cautiously, halfway expecting the Sterling Killer to jump out at any moment.

In between the doorways were old black and white photos of children in school uniforms sitting at the cafeteria tables or at their desks in the class rooms not smiling. They were like Old Russian photos. She passed another doorway, stepping lightly as the dirt and dust crunched quietly under her tender feet. She gazed at a photo of important looking adults, men with slicked back hair and round spectacles, and women with long dresses and proper stances. She examined the photos for any sign of when they were taken.

She crept to the end of the hallway where she found a large photo of children of different ages lined up in rows, one in front of the other with the nuns and priests and two men dressed in business suits standing to their sides. At the bottom of the photo, at the feet of the children, was the class sign that read OAKLAND CHILDREN’S ORPHANAGE 1976. She was examining the faces of the photo when she noticed that one of the men in the business suits standing to one side of the children was Father John’s dad. She wondered why he was in the photo and what his connection was and then she noticed the little boy standing next to him looked like Father John when he was a child except his face was sad and lost. She glared at him and realized it wasn’t Father John; it was his twin brother, the Sterling Killer.

She backed away from the photo with a large knot in her throat as she tried to catch her breath. She began to hyperventilate and took short quick breaths trying not to let her fear overtake her. She had to get a hold of Mike and let him know what was happening. When she looked down at the screen of her phone, to her surprise, there was one bar showing on the signal indicator. Her heart filled with relief and as she was about to call Mike, she heard a door slam. Kate jumped as she let out a quick hick-up of a scream. Someone was coming. She could feel the presence of evil disturbing the aura of the room. She would have to wait and be sure it was safe before calling Mike. She couldn’t risk talking and revealing her location. She needed to find a place to hide where she could send him a text.

She quickly shuffled to the closest door in the hallway and tried to open it, but there was no play in its stiff, cold knob. She tried the door across the
hall, but it was locked as well. Panic began to grip her heart like a clenching fist as she heard footsteps echoing from across the room as they got closer. She went to the next door and tried it, but the knob was unforgiving. There was one door left and she was now fighting back tears of terror as she grabbed the cold handle and closed her eyes. It didn’t budge.

There was only one thing she could do. She had to go back into the room with the large tables and find some way to get out or somewhere to hide. Not wasting anytime, she ran on the balls of her feet towards where the light was coming in through the windows. The footsteps were getting closer and faster as she frantically looked around for an escape, but there wasn’t enough time and just as she was certain the killer was entering the room, she ducked down and crouched below one of the large tables.

The Sterling Killer found Kate’s bloody footprints in the outside corridor and followed them to the cafeteria. He was at a distinct advantage having lived at the orphanage and knowing that there was no way out of the cafeteria except the way she came in. He made sure of it when he set his trap. The Sterling Killer followed her tracks across the cafeteria and when he got to the other side he realized she had back tracked over her steps. He followed her trail to the edge of one of the long tables he used to eat at when he was a kid. There was no where for her to go.

Kate sat trembling like a bird under the table as she watched the Sterling Killer’s black shoes and pants walk on the far side of the room and then stop. She tried to control her breathing; trying to keep it slow and even as she began to frantically type a text Message to Mike.
Help me oakland orphanage sterling killer.
She hit send and as she waited for the message to go through, she watched the Sterling Killer’s dark legs continue walking towards her. She held her breath in the silence as he paused only a few feet away from her and then slowly stepped into the hallway where the photos were.

She thought he was gone and she was getting ready to make a run for it when she heard his feet shuffle back towards her. She watched as he entered the room and deliberately moved toward the table she was hiding under. She scurried to the end of the table by the door to the entrance and waited for her chance to escape.

“Don’t make me bend over to get you,” he warned her with a snarl. “Come out and I will spare you the pain.” Silence. The Sterling Killer stepped
up to the end of the table and in one motion, lifted the table and threw it to the side with an echoing roar as it crashed into the benches and came to a rest next to the other table. Kate was gone, but she left traces in the dust on the floor that gave her escape route away. The Sterling Killer followed them with his eyes to a wood plank door that led to the court yard. He looked out the window and saw Kate running to the building on the other side, right into his trap.

chapter
71

M
IKE STOOD NEXT
to Big Pete with his arms folded indignantly as he watched in awe as Father John and his dad talked about the story of the Satanic Codex and how it was Father John’s destiny to stop his twin brother. He glanced at Big Pete with raised eyebrows as Big Pete shrugged at him with a twisted frown. Mike motioned with his head to the door and Big Pete nodded with approval. Mike was about to interrupt the two brothers and their dad as they talked quietly amongst themselves when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He fished it out and saw that there was a text message. He clicked on his texts and saw that it was from Kate and smiled as he opened the message. The words that he read him hit in the gut like a mule kick.
Help me oakland orphanage sterling killer.

At first he stared at the message with disbelief. What the hell was going on?

“What is it?” Big Pete asked.

“Look at this,” Mike said as Big Pete looked over his shoulder at the text.

“Who sent that to you?” Big Pete asked with stunned realization.

“It’s from Kate’s phone,” Mike said as he looked up at Big Pete’s sunken eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m fucking sure.”

“What is it?” Father John asked.

Mike glared at the father with Piercing eyes. “Your fucking twin brother has Kate at the Oakland Orphanage,” he grumbled between gritted teeth.

A hush fell over the room as Mike looked at the father with a menacing scowl.

“The time has come my son,” the old man said with a weak voice as he stared at Father John with glossy eyes. “You are the only one who can stop him and put an end to this. It is your destiny.”

“I don’t have time for this shit,” Mike snapped as he nudged Big Pete. “We’ve got to get to the orphanage before anything happens to her.”

“Take me with you,” Father John said suddenly. “It is me that he wants to confront. He is using her to lure me to him.”

Mike paused and looked at the father’s pious face. Maybe he was right? Maybe the Sterling Killer abducted Kate and sent him the message knowing that he would bring Father John with him to the orphanage. At this point Mike would be only too willing to trade the father’s life to save Kate’s life.

“I’ll take you with us Father, but you are going to have to do exactly what I tell you,” Mike cautioned him. “I can’t guarantee your safety and I will not be responsible for anything that happens to you.”

chapter
72

A
S
K
ATE GRABBED
the door handle and tried to open it, she looked over her shoulder and saw the Sterling Killer standing in front of the window watching her with a menacing grimace on his blood stained face.
Shit!
She fumbled with the door and yanked it open and then pulled it shut hard from the other side. She stared at the bar handle of the door as she backed away looking for a way to lock it. There was nothing. As she spun around looking for somewhere to hide, she saw the dust covered pews of the sanctuary of Father John’s mother’s church. The Sterling Killer’s mother’s church. Suddenly she felt as if it was not an accident that she was there.

It was cold and dark and the high ceiling and stained glass windows cast ominous shadows. She raced up the aisle between the pews, looking either way for some way to get out or some place to hide. At the end of the aisle, there were two large, wood doors shaped in the form of an arch and Kate ran slamming into them, but they didn’t budge. She pushed on the door handle again and again, rattling the bar with an echo that reverberated throughout the hollow sanctuary.

As she turned around, she glared anxiously at the side door where she entered expecting the Sterling Killer to suddenly open it. She made a dash to the far side of the room and squatted down next to the outside of the pews. Her heart was pounding and she could feel her lungs burning as she tried to catch her breath. The jarring sound of the door being kicked opened startled her into silence as she held her breath and concentrated on listening. Silence was followed by deliberately slow, crunching footsteps that seemed to be moving to the back of the sanctuary. She listened intently as every muscle in her body clenched with tension.

The Sterling Killer entered the sanctuary that for so many years he went to church in, not realizing that it was named after his biological mother. It was the perfect place for the final confrontation with his twin brother and so far Kate was unknowingly acting as the perfect bait to his trap. He had locked all of the doors before hand so there was only one way out. Now all he had to do was find her and finish what he started. The stalked the aisle listening for any sign of movement.