The sun set and it was beginning to grow dark as Erik and Dovecrest settled in near the altar to wait for the demon’s return.
“If Mark finds the thing and banishes it, it should be back here pretty soon.”
“I think it’ll be pretty easy to find, don’t you?”
“Finding it will be the easy part. Standing up to it will take faith and courage.”
“And if Mark fails?”
Dovecrest was silent for a moment. “It will come back here, eventually. To recharge its batteries. I don’t know when, though. And it probably won’t need to actually travel back to the other side.”
“How will we know if Mark drove it back or if it came back on its own, then?” Erik asked.
“Oh, we’ll know. If it’s driven out it will definitely be on the run. It’ll be afraid. Just imaging the fear you’d feel meeting God face to face on your worst day. I suspect it’ll also be angry. It won’t like being sent back, even if it’s only temporary.”
“Temporary?”
“Mark can drive it back. But it’ll gather strength again and come back. That’s why we have to follow it and destroy it once and for all.”
“That’s the part I’m really worried about.”
“Me too,” Dovecrest admitted.
Darkness was quickly covering the area. Though they each had flashlights, they didn’t need them. Erik was surprised by how acute his night vision had become, and the stars did illuminate the open field in front of them. Knowing that they’d need to stay quiet and out of sight, they settled down with their thoughts.
Erik wondered what might be going through his friend’s mind. The Indian had been alive for almost 300 years. He had seen so much-had seen the world go from the stone age into the space age. Erik couldn’t imagine what might be locked in that ancient man’s brain.
Then his thoughts turned to his wife and his son. He wished he knew that Vickie was safe. He had no idea if his baby had been born yet. He had no idea if it were a boy or a girl. The doctors knew-but Erik and Vickie were old fashioned and had asked them not to tell. The temptation had been strong. But they had held out.
Erik wanted a girl. A little girl to spoil. He had a son to toss the ball around with and play games with. Now he wanted a daughter to spoil with pretty clothes and with love. He might already have a daughter, right now. They would name her Christine. And he would spoil her with toys.
He remembered when Todd had been born. He’d bought the kid a tiny baseball outfit with a little cap and everything. He remembered how big the kid’s eyes had been, how he’d looked right at him, as if he recognized him as his Dad. Todd had been a good baby, though very active. He had hardly ever cried, though. Hardly ever got sick. And smart. He’d been reading in kindergarten. One day he knew the letters and the sounds they made and the next day he was reading his picture books. Erik thought he’d memorized them. But then when he wrote down words for the kid on a piece of paper, he’d read them too, just by sounding them out. The teacher didn’t know what to do with him, so she had him help her teach the other kids to read.
God, how he prayed that they were all right. They had to be all right. They were everything to him. So many times he had wished for things and prayed for things that weren’t really important. He’d wanted so badly to sell his book. Then he’d wanted it to be successful. And then if only he could have more money, if only they’d option his book for a movie….
Now, none of it seemed important. He’d trade in everything just for the knowledge that his family was all right. If only he had a cell phone and could call. He swore that if he ever got out of this mess ok that he’d break down and get a cell phone. And he’d get Vickie one, too. If only he had one and could call her right now.
Then he remembered where he was. He looked out into the open field and saw the altar looming out there, a terrible relic from another world and another time. No, a cell phone wouldn’t work out here anyway, not near this awful thing.
“Dear God,” he prayed silently, “Please, please let them be all right. Please stay with them and protect them.”