Erik had no idea how he found his way through the woods and back home. His survival was strictly due to luck and not based on any special skills or abilities of his own. As far as he could tell, the entire SWAT team had been destroyed in a horrible attack of flame, molten lava and brimstone. It was as if the gates of hell themselves had opened and exploded like a volcano into the woods. The demon was definitely ready now, having absorbed the power from the stone as well as two new victims and the body of the cult leader.
He found the path leading to his backyard, and only when he saw the lights from the house did he realize where he was. He had suffered burns on his right arm, and had scratched himself badly on his flight through the woods. His clothes were covered with a coating of black ash, and his pants had been ripped in several places. In short, he looked like he’d survived a fierce battle. In point of fact, he had.
Vickie saw him first, as she looked through the glass sliding doors in the kitchen. Though he couldn’t hear her, he saw her throw her hands up in the air and come running out. Pastor Mark followed. Todd, he guessed, was already in bed.
She ran through the haze of the backyard flood lights and wrapped her arms around him.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, looking at him. “Erik, what happened!”
“It’s a long story,” he said. “The…the demon. It is real. It destroyed the SWAT team. I don’t know how I got away.”
“Erik, what are you talking about?”
“Vickie, this thing is much worse that just a cult. I should have told you sooner….”
“There will be time to explain all of that later,” Pastor Mark said. “Right now we need to look to our own safety.”
Erik struggled to find the right words. “It…came to life. Took form. It was…fire and brimstone. I think they’re all dead. All of the police.”
“Did it follow you?”
“No. I don’t think so. But I don’t know what it will do next.”
“Ok,” Mark said. “I’m going to call the State Police and put them on alert. Vickie, you go and get Todd ready.”
“Where are we going?”
“For right now at least, I think we’d be safer at the church.”
Vickie nodded. “Erik, go clean up as best you could and put something on those burns. Just do it quickly.”
“Ok. But Mark are the State Police actually going to believe us?”
“They will when they can’t raise their SWAT team on the radio. And when they don’t come back out of the woods.”
“Right. Let’s go, then. I’m afraid we’re too close to the action here.”