The demon left the bus smoldering and in ruins and headed back to the shopping plaza. It was time to get rid of its last vestige of humanity, the growth that had once been Seti, the cult leader.
It circled over the shopping plaza, now littered with dead, dying, and wounded, and saw what it had been looking for-the cemetery where its predecessor had been buried. The demon’s first effort to come to life on earth had been stopped before it had ever begun. This previous leader had started a colony out here in the woods, and though his worship and ritual sacrifice, had gained the demon’s attention. A final sacrifice had been planned that would have brought the demon to life where the coven would serve it and it would prey on both the colonials and the Indians.
But the primitive people of that time had been more understanding than those of the modern world. They had learned of the plot, destroyed the coven, and burned the leader at the stake just as the demon had appeared to take over his body. The demon was granted the briefest glimpse through the doorway from hell, and then flung back into the flames just as quickly. This time, things had gone better. And it wasn’t finished yet.
It landed beside the largest headstone. The ancient spells still held some power-it could feel their force surrounding the gravesite in an attempt to contain the spirits within. Once this site had been disturbed again, the demon had been aroused, had been given the power to reach out from beyond once again. The curse had been set off and the demon had been able to kill. This had given it the power it needed to search for a human conduit. Seti had served that role. But the human had outlived his usefulness now. The demon had granted him immortality, of sorts. Then again, everyone in hell was immortal.
The demon grabbed the huge, extraterrestrial headstone and pulled it from the earth as if it were a mere popsicle stick used to mark a flowerbed. This was a place of death. There was the ancient death of the coven. And the modern death that had started it all over again. The demon pushed back the earth to reveal the shattered coffin and bones of the one who had originally given him life.
The demon merged his mind into what was left of Seti’s. The man was completely insane now, with no conscious thoughts or desires. The proximity of the demon coupled with the eternal pain had rendered Seti’s mind nothing more than random nerve impulses.
It felt no regret as it reached over and plucked the deformed head from its own shoulders, then tossed it like trash into the newly-opened grave. The lump of flesh died without a whimper as the soul of Seti went from one hell to another.
“May you rest in pieces,” the demon said.
Then, from behind, it heard the sound of a vehicle. It turned just as the SUV stopped, noticing the carnage at the shopping plaza. It was the woman who was with child. And her son. This was just too perfect. They would come back to the altar with him.