I stack up on the door. The priest stacks up behind me and puts his left hand on my shoulder with his bible in his right hand. Steve stacks up on the rear with his gun in his right hand and his left hand on Damon’s shoulder. Steve squeezed Damon’s shoulder and he in turn squeezed mine. I grabbed the door handle and twisted it slowly opening the door. I went to lean towards the kitchen but the priest kept me from leaning with his grip.
“Loosen your grip padre,” I whispered.
“Oops, I’m so sorry. I just didn’t know how hard to…” Damon tried to say but I interrupted him.
“I don’t need your life’s story padre, just loosen your grip.” I said. I leaned in to look in the kitchen. There was nothing in there with exception of the standard kitchen appliances. I lean back pushing Damon’s arm back into his chest. I felt Damon lean back into Steve. Shortly after I felt Steve lean back into Damon. I can only assume steve squeezed Damon’s shoulder because Damon leaned into me and then squeezed my shoulder slightly. I moved into the kitchen and up to the door that lead into the snack room. I stacked up on the door. Steve walked past the door to stack up on the other side. It was just like Iraq. The only difference was I didn’t have Pat on my shoulder with his left hand. Instead it was the hand of someone I didn’t know from Adam. Steve looked over at me. I gave a slight nod and he nodded back. I slowly opened the door and checked the room quickly. Still nothing out of the ordinary was in that room. The problem that was bugging me was less then half an hour ago the room had something chasing Pat and I with tables being thrown about the room. I moved into the snack room and I swept the room with my eyes clearing corner after corner after corner. I started clearing the corner diagonally across from me and then sweeping towards the corner in front of me. As i walked towards the hallway hugging the wall to my left. Steve did the same process but hugging the wall to my right. Steve arrived at the hallway about the same time that Damon and I did. I looked at Steve and nodded. Steve leaned out into the hallway checking it with his eyes. He looked back at us and nodded. I headed to the far wall of the hallway. Steve fell into formation behind us. We hugged the wall until we got to the fathers office. I stopped stacking up on the door. I leaned back and Steve stepped out of formation and slid to the other side of the door. He looked and nodded. I opened the door and began room clearing like before. Steve followed suit and the priest walked in his office closeing the door behind him.
“Sancte Michael Archangele,”Damon began to say. This was a prayer of protection. “qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo. Amen” he said finishing the prayer as Steve and I finished. Steve leaned against the cassock closet door and bowed his head out of respect. I posted against the corner and bowed my head as well. Then Damon opened his bible and flipped frantically.
“Jesus, why didn’t you have that ready before we entered padre?” Steve whispered annoyed.
“We are in a church please refrain from the profanity. Ah. Here” Damon said putting his finger to the page. He began to read, “The lord is my shepherd” it was sad to me that I knew psalms 23 when I heard it. Moreover it was sad that I knew most of the words. Damon continued as I heard what sounded like the room creaking out of annoyance. I looked at Steve who happened to look up at me simultaneously. It was the look of ‘Oh Fuck’ but we quickly bowed our heads again. Damon finished and then repeated the prayer as the room stopped creaking. Damon looked up and said. “Amen. This room is clean.”
“Just this fucking.” Steve said.
“Just our fucking luck.” I replied to Steve.
“Gentlemen, please.” Damon said.
“Sorry padre.” We said simultaneously. We stacked up on the door repeating our previous formation. And I opened the closet.
We walked down the steps as I asked in a whisper, “Hey padre, what is this room under the church for anyways?”
“It is for preparation and leads behind the alter in the nave. We also use it for storage.” Damon said.
“Makes sense.” Steve said.
“How the fuck would you know Steve. Your an atheist.” I said to Steve
“I used to be fucking religious you asshat.” Steve replied.
“When the fuck were you religious?” I replied. We were starting to get a bit loud.
“In my youth my mom…” Steve said
Damon promptly interrupted, “Gentlemen please!”
“Sorry padre.” We said again. We entered into the room at the bottom of the stairs and just did a quick search. Steve walked over to Tom’s body.
“Tom you pudgy bastard, why couldn’t you wait for John and Pat to save you?” A small tear formed on Steve’s cheek. Damon walked over to Tom’s body. Tom’s left arm and leg were hanging off the table so Steve gently moved his leg straight and crossed Tom’s arms over his chest. Damon started last rights for Tom and Steve said, “He wouldn’t care for that padre.”
“That maybe so but if we don’t do it then Nergal will use him against us.” Damon replied.
“Fine but hurry.” I said. Damon conducted the last rights as quick as he could. After completing the last rights he began to clean the room. The room creaked louder then before.
“Do you think we are going to be fighting Nergal and the nuns in the next room?” I asked after Damon had finished.
“No. I believe the nuns may have moved into the nave.” Damon said. “Nergal’s spirit is strong in here and only gaining strength.”
It was strange but I felt like he was right. My anxiety was slowly getting worse and I assumed that was the effect of Nergal. We stacked up against the next door. And the priest took a deep breath.
“You ok padre?” Steve asked.
“I just have an intensely bad feeling about getting into the nave.” Damon explained.
“We still have the next room to clear before we get to the nave.” Steve said.
“I know. Let’s just go.” Damon said. I opened the door. This was a room I hadn’t seen before. There was an alter that was made out of black marble in the center of the room. Around it were red candles on silver candle stands. The stands were chest high. Around the room in a triangle shape was three more candles on stands. These candles were decorative red candles with black figures etched on them. Even thought they were lit the candles had no wax around the base suggesting that the candles weren’t let at all. But they candle flame was a green flame that flickered like a copper wire was in the way of the flame. And the light danced around the room as the candles flickered. The floor had a brown carpet. It looked like sandstone flooring. There was no one present but on the alter was a book flipped to a page. Damon ran to the book and read it silently then he proclaimed. “Shit, no no no no no.” He looked at us. “This isn’t right. My research. It said… no. That’s not right.” Damon turned pail.
“Speak up priest.” Steve said.
“According to this, there are to be four sacrifices. All from a team but my research said three individuals.” Damon said still confused.
“So what, four or three? Who cares. These witches are still going to burn.” I said.
“Maybe you’re right.” Damon said and then began the room cleaning. This time the room didn’t creak or make any noise whatsoever. Maybe the church is clean I thought to myself. We stacked up against the door to the nave. Now my anxiety was through the roof. My heart was racing and I my skin began to tense up. My muscles began to ache as if I just worked out every body part. I leaned against the wall next to the door.
“Ready?” Steve asked. Damon nodded and Steve looked over to me.
“As ready as I will ever be.” I said. I put two hands on my side arm. Steve tightened his grip on his side arm. I slowly opened the door and leaned through the doorway. Behind the door was a stairwell that lead up two flights of stairs with a door at the top. I felt stupid. Of course there was stairs. Room was down two separate flights of stairs. I looked back at Steve who also looked as though he felt the same way I felt. I walked up the stairs slowly. Each step made my feet feel heavier. Putting my foot down quietly became harder and harder. I looked towards Steve at the top of the first flight.
“Why are we so out of shape?” Steve whispered but it might as well have been at a screaming volume. The hallway echoed every word and almost seemed to amplify his voice. Damon put his finger over his lips. I lifted my foot onto the next step. It almost didn’t lift off the floor. I grabbed the railing with my left hand taking it off my pistol. Each step drained me further of any energy. When we reached the door at the top of the stairs I felt as though I had nothing left. The priest huffed as he got in place behind Steve and I. Were we ready? I don’t think we were. I looked at my watch:
0204-
Steve grabbed the handle of the door and I gripped my gun with both hands. Steve twisted the handle and opened the door slowly. Pat was on the alter in the chancel of the nave. Blood dripped down from the alter. A brass knife plunged in the center of his chest. Are you fucking kidding me? We were too fucking late. I grabbed my pistol and aimed at the nun next to Pat. I fired two shots towards her chest and one at her head. I then aimed at the next nun and fired off two more rounds before dropping my magazine into my hand and grabbing another magazine from my pocket. I slapped it into place and pulled the slide of my pistol back firing another round towards the nun I was trained on. Then moving towards the next nun and firing three rounds. Steve was firing at nuns as well. I knew Steve’s aim was good so I assumed I wouldn’t have to shoot the nuns he shot towards. Damon began reading. The nuns didn’t appear to be hit. The rounds passed through their body’s. It was like in the movies when someone shoots at a hologram. The nuns turned their head and then I noticed the giant shadowy figure that was looming over Pat’s body.
The figure lifted a hand towards us and the priest was thrown down the stairs as if being pulled by strings down the stairs. I heard what sounded like a body falling onto concrete with a thud. I can only assume the thud was Damon. I fired at the figure but it only seemed to laugh it off. The gun grew heavy in my hand to the point that I could lift it or even hold onto it anymore. Steve and I dropped the guns to the floor by our feet. My knees grew weak and I noticed Steve fall to a kneeling position. A nun went over to Steve and lifted him up carrying him towards the alter. I reached out for him but collapsed under my own weight. I could no longer see what was happening but I could hear every terrifying thing. The nuns began to chant in some language that I didn’t understand.
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