DitD 29 ghost hunters

 We walked swiftly and quietly through Father Damon’s office. The man lead me to the door then held it open. I peered out the door. 

“This way,” the man said. 

“You first.” I had a sneaking suspicion that the man was the priest and that he was leading me to a trap. 

“Very well,” the man said calmly. He searched the hallway back and forth and then stepped out. He hugged the wall as he walked searching behind me. He almost had a room clearing walk and search pattern. Like a soldier protecting an asset he would check behind me and then ensure I was on his six. We got to the snack room and he said, “that door at the other side of the room is our target.”

I walked behind him playing dumb. He hugged the walls as he moved around the room checking each corner frequently. We got to the door and he slowly opened it with extreme caution. He checked the room and then moved into it silently. It was a prep room with a small electric stove and mass coffee maker. He pointed to the door next to the fridge with an open hand. I posted up against the door frame with my back to the door frame. The priest looked at my stance and paused for a moment. He posted on the other side. He gently turned the handle and pushed the door quietly. He searched the room. It looked a living room and he walked in and sat down on a plush chair. “Please, sit my son.”

“Father Damon?” I asked. 

“That’s correct.” Damon said. “Let me tell you a story.”

“This is all you. You are the leader of this… whatever it is.” I raised my firearm and pointed it right at his head. “You killed Tom.”

“You have no idea how wrong and right you are. Please sit so I can explain.” Damon said calmly. 

“Have your people release Pat!” I yelled.

“Please sit and keep your voice down. I was a captive as well.” Damon said. “The nuns lurk throughout the building. You don’t want them knowing we are here.” I thought about it for a second. He was a captive and I didn’t want to alert the rest of them. 

“Ok padre. You have five minutes and then I’m fucking going in hard for my brother.” I said as I slowly sat down. 

“You’re siblings?” Damon asked.

“Brothers in arms. We served in Iraq together.” I responded.

“Interesting, when and where in Iraq?” The padre asked leaning forward slightly. 

“2024 to 2025.” I said. 

“Let me guess a nine month tour that turned into a fifteen month tour.” Damon said shaking his head. “The army loves to extend the tours.” I nodded my head smiling slightly. The army’s politics were pretty fucked. “I served in Iraq during that same time. I was an infantry soldier while I was taking my seminary online. The army sent us in to examine a specific set of ruins in…”

“Cuthah…” we said together. 

“That’s correct. How did you know?” Damon asked. 

“Because that’s where we lost Captain Miller.” I said as I began to be filled with equal parts anger and sorrow. 

“I’m sorry for your loss. I also lost a battle buddy in Cuthah. The thing is that it was no coincidence that your lost his life in that temple. Was it in May? Near the fifth?” Damon asked. I nodded, I couldn’t speak with my intense emotional state. “Five five two zero two five. Was it at 0202?” Damon asked.

“I didn’t check my watch padre!” I said annoyed with the question. 

“Certainly you put the time on his two tag.” Damon said. “What time did you write?”

“0207 was when I arrived at his limp corpse.” I replied. 

“Don’t you see the significance?” Damon asked not waiting for the reply. “ five five two zero two five at two zero two. This was preparation for today. Today is the bridge to the underworld. Everything has been leading to this moment. If they succeed the Nergal will emerge onto this plane and the cult of Nergalites will inherit the earth with mankind as slaves. I had been collecting blasphemous materials from parishioners children for a while. But when I found the nuns had an ancient Babylonian knife, i began to worry that the cult had infiltrated the church. I did some digging and when i was in Iraq this group of nuns were there as well. They were there on a special mission from the pope. But all documents are redacted or not available even to me as a priest.”

I pulled out the documents about Nergal. “My team printed this off.”

“Yes but that was written by someone who only read the texts and monitored by Nergalites. We need to get your friend and get out of here before another one dies. Is there anyone else in your team? We need all the help we can get.” Damon said. 

“Steve but the doors are locked.” I said. Damon stood up and walked over to a door. He twisted the handle and opened it. 

“Nergal has no effect here. I have had this room covered in the pages of our lord and savior. Then I painted over the pages. Use my phone to call your battle buddy and get him over here. I have holy water and a few extra bibles.”