The darkness was complete now; the last of the setting sun had disappeared, and the moon was low on the eastern horizon. But Erik didn’t need any light to see. He could feel the presence of the altar stone standing across the field. In fact, it called to him, attracted him now.
“Come,” it seemed to say. “Join with us. There’s no need to fight. You can be on the winning side.”
Erik shook his head in an attempt to clear it. He wondered if the thing was calling to Dovecrest, too, or if this piece of fun was just for his benefit.
He thought about Vickie again and this time he had a sudden bad feeling. They hadn’t made it safely to the hospital. He didn’t know how he knew, but he was sure of it.
“Join us and your family will be safe,” the voice seemed to say in his head. “They will be taken care of. You won’t have to worry anymore.”
It was almost tempting. How many times had he seen evil rewarded during his lifetime? It seemed that those with the least amount of good in them were often the most successful. Some of these people just seemed to have a knack for getting ahead. He, on the other hand, had to work for whatever he got. It hadn’t come easy. Even now, though he certainly had achieved success, there were those whose work was half as good and who earned ten times what he made….
Stop it, he told himself. You’re listening to this thing. You’re letting it get to you. You have a good home and a decent living and a great family. Stop being jealous and enjoy what you have.
“You won’t have that family for long,” the voice said. Then it sent him an image of the demon clutching Vickie and Todd by the hair, dragging them along Main Street.
“Stop it!” he said, and only when Dovecrest turned to look at him did he realize he had spoken out loud.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Don’t let it turn you,” Dovecrest said. “It’ll try to show you things….”
“It already has,” Erik said softly. “The things it shows me-are they real? Will they happen?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“How will I know?”
“You won’t know.”
“Vickie and Todd are in trouble. I know it. I feel it. It’s not just that thing getting to me.”
“We are all in trouble, my friend. If you really want to save your family, we have to finish our work here.”
“I know. It’s just that…waiting is so hard.”
“Waiting is harder than doing,” Dovecrest said. “But that’s what we have to do right now. We have to wait.”
“How much longer?”
Dovecrest laughed. “I don’t know. But if that thing is trying to get to you, that’s a good sign.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because if it didn’t fear you, it wouldn’t be trying to convert you.”
“So now it’s afraid of us, right?”
“Maybe fear isn’t the right word,” Dovecrest agreed. “But we have its attention and it’s worried.”
“Then why doesn’t it just come here and destroy us before we have a chance to act?”
“I don’t know,” Dovecrest said. “But I never said it wouldn’t try.”
Erik just shook his head. “That’s what I’ve grown to love about you,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“The way you can be so comforting in times of stress.”
Dovecrest laughed. “Hey, at least I got you to stop worrying about your family, didn’t I?”
“Yeah,” Erik said. “Only now I’m worried again.”