Pastor Mark waited for the soldier to open the helicopter door, and then he jumped out and ran to his friends who were huddled near the altar. Spotlights flooded the area. The demon was gone. It’d taken Vickie with it and, as far as Mark could see, Todd had leaped in after his mother and was gone as well.
Erik was banging his fist against the stone; his hands were bleeding and raw almost to the bone. Dovecrest stood next to the altar with his head in his hands.
“What happened?” Mark asked. “Did the boy go in?”
“Yeah,” Dovecrest said. “Only now we can’t get in. He’s locked us out.”
“How?”
“It’s complicated. But once someone follows the demon, the doorway closes. If we could have gone in at the same time….”
“So what do we do now?”
Dovecrest shook his head. “I need to look at the manuscripts. I’m sure there’s a way to unlock the door. I just have to find it.”
Mark nodded. “Then we’d better get working on it.”
He walked over to Erik and put his arm around his shoulders. Even after all these years of being a preacher, of going to funerals and being with people during their most troubled times, even after all these years he still never knew what to say. He’d memorized all of the catch phrases, and may have even believed in them. But the words never seemed enough, could never offer the comfort that was needed.
“We’ll get them back,” he said. But in his heart, he didn’t know how.
“I…I had her in my hands. I just…I just couldn’t hold on. She just evaporated right there in front of me. And then Todd….”
“It’s going to be ok,” Mark said. “We’ll figure out something. We’ll get them back. We need to have faith. Now more than ever.”
Dovecrest came over to stand by them.
“We’ve got work to do,” the Indian said. “I think I can get us back into that portal to go after them. Are you coming?”
— 2-
Erik looked up at Dovecrest but couldn’t even hear his words. His system had suffered such a shock that even listening had become a task. He just wanted to bury his face in his hands and die. He didn’t want to think. He didn’t want to remember. But all he was left with was the memory of holding onto his wife’s arm with all of his strength and then feeling it just dissolve right there before him. It was as if she had just evaporated into thin air. No, he didn’t want to think, didn’t want to remember. He just wanted to go to sleep forever. But this voice was shouting at him, insistent.
“Erik, come on. We have to move fast or we’ll be too late. Come on. I think we can do this thing.”
“What…thing?” he asked.
“We can get them back. Come on. I think I have a way.”
“What do you want me do to?”
“We’re going to go through that portal and bring them back out. And we’re going to destroy that thing once and for all while we’re at it.”
“Go to hell!” Erik said. He felt the tears running down his cheeks, tickling a little as they flowed over his cheeks and burning his eyes. “I don’t want to do anything. I just want to die.”
“We are going to go to hell. But no one’s going to die to get there.”
He felt the two men pulling him along by the arms, the pastor on one side and the Indian on the other. His legs moved by themselves, and slowly he became aware of his surroundings. There were soldiers here now, and a helicopter. He had no idea where they had come from. There were flashlights everywhere, and the spotlight from the helicopter burned his eyes. His friends brought him over to the edge of the clearing and sat him down in the grass. One of the soldiers came over, shined a flashlight into his eyes, and opened a medical kit. The man started wrapping some bandages around his hands.
That was when he realized that his hands were cut open and bleeding from where he had pounded on the altar stone. He also realized that they hurt quite badly. He looked into the eyes of his two friends and saw their concern, not only for his family, but for him.
“Mark and I can go in,” Dovecrest said. “And you can stay here. We need someone on this side in case it comes back. But I thought you might want to come and find your wife and son.”
Erik hadn’t realized how dry his mouth felt until the soldier offered him a drink from his canteen. He took a long swallow, then another. The water was cold and helped to clear his brain.
“You think you can get me in there?”
Dovecrest nodded. “I think I know how to open the portal. But just for a moment.”
“Then I have to go. My wife’s in there. And my son. And my baby.”
“All right then. It’s you and I. Pastor, you’re going to stay here and if that thing tries to get back out, you’re going to seal this end and keep it in.”