The Last Customer (26 page)

Jezebeth took the image from Cherri’s terror—locked away in her subconscious. Jezebeth recognized it right away. She had pried the lock and connected with the vile image of Cherri’s stepfather. It wasn’t hard for the demon to find Cherri’s most intimate darkness. She quickly manifested into the rotting man and brought the fear into form.

Jezebeth wanted to laugh. Cherri’s horror ridden face amused her. She couldn’t wait to inhabit Cherri’s body. But she took pleasure in the terror surmounting upon Cherri’s face. The illusion of the Cherri’s stepfather didn’t consist of matter. It was an illusion. It could scare her, but it couldn’t touch her. Still, Jezebeth enjoyed the torment that the illusion was causing. Cherri experienced ultimate horror as her mutilated stepfather crawled toward her. The image was working. Cherri was frozen and in this vulnerable moment, Jezebeth could possess Cherri.

Cherri’s body would make a fine suit for Jezebeth to wear, a wonderful mask.

           
Jezebeth’s presence vacuumed into the open space. It attempted to penetrate Cherri. It was cut short. She couldn’t take her body. Cherri had more strength than she’d anticipated. Frustration seized Jezebeth. She’d seen the life that Cherri had lived—thus far—and was certain that she would be an easy target. It shouldn’t have been a task for her to inhabit this body. But Cherri had hidden strengths and her strengths wouldn’t allow the possession. Jezebeth was furious. Her anger increased when Donna pounded on the door.

Donna’s insistence to help had increased Jezebeth’s inordinate amount of rage.

           
Cherri moved toward the image of her dead stepfather. Her face filled with blood, red.
 
Her fists clenched. She drew her foot back and kicked at the laughing, bloodied man, on the floor.

Cherri’s feet sifted through the image.

3

Donna stood in the hallway, pounding on the bathroom door, lunging into it. She was frightened. It didn’t matter how loud she was anymore. The demon had discovered Cherri and she was being attacked. Something very bad was happening behind this door. Donna didn’t want anything to happen to Cherri. It would kill her if she were hurt. Donna didn’t know Cherri well, but they were fighting on the same team. She cared, but her hope was diminishing. Mentally, Donna didn’t know how strong Cherri could be.

If the door were to open, Donna didn’t know if Cherri would come out, or if it would be the demon. Cherri was a
good person
. Donna could sense that about her, but she’d been through a lot. Her misfortune in life was painted on her face. She wore it like a hat. She carried her defensiveness in her gaze. She could still fall victim, if seduced or attacked in a customized way. She could be manipulated. They all could. Donna didn’t know if Cherri was able to keep the vile spirit from corrupting her body.

           
Quick footsteps scurried down the attic stairs. Donna spun around. She watched her husband lurch down into the hallway. He darted toward the bathroom. Donna knew he could see the fright on her face.

           
“What’s happened? Is Cherri all right?” he shouted.

           
“She’s in there. She won’t come out. Something is with her. I can feel it.” Donna answered.

           
Gardner grabbed the doorknob, and then twisted it. Calmly at first, and then he began to push and pull, hard.

           
Donna watched-on. Gardner stepped back. His back was flat against the wall. He faced the door. His head bolted upward. His eyes shot to the back of his head.

He was having a vision.

4

Gardner tensed. His vision brought him into the bathroom. The image was vivid, as if he was watching the attack unfold from a close distance. He could see Cherri standing near the sink. She lunged forward repeatedly. She slammed her foot through the bloody creature as if it weren’t there. It cackled each time she kicked it. Blood erupted from the creature’s mouth and chest. It spread across the floor. Gardner saw the rage in Cherri’s face. Then she closed her eyes and unleashed hell on the man grabbing at her feet.

Cherri’s kicks swung right through the man, like he was an illusion. He
was
an illusion. Gardner had seen this before. It was the demon he’d expelled from the young woman in the backyard.

Upon realizing what was happening, Gardner saw Jezebeth. Not the body she inhabited earlier, but her presence—the make-up of the demon. Beneath the surface-realm of reality, the bathroom was filled with slimy tentacles, vines and black goo. Her vile presence seeped from the cracks in the walls and the spaces between the tiles. They were living vines, twisted with barbed hell. He was certain that it was the demon Jezebeth. Gardner could feel her unique evil. She was trying to possess Cherri.

Hope seized Gardner when he felt Cherri’s strength. Its warmth emanated in the room. The demon wasn’t able to possess her. Cherri was strong. Her anger hadn’t weakened her mind yet and that was enough, for now.

           
The vision left Gardner. He opened his eyes. He looked forward at the door in front of him. The brightness that he’d once known well was building within him. His strength increased and he was filled with fight. He kicked the bathroom door. A long crack ran up the center of the door as it flew open. The gored man on the floor looked to Gardner. Anger burned in its yellow eyes as the demon hissed at him.

Cherri continued kicking. Jezebeth snapped her blackened snakes back, toward Cherri.
 
The demon wanted to be inside her body.

Jezebeth was not granted access.

           
“Cherri, stop. It can’t hurt you. Walk out. Don’t look back.”

5

Cherri’s mouth was dry. Her throat burned and her breathing was erratic. A moment’s comfort came when Gardner’s voice drifted in. She stopped kicking her stepfather. She was slow at first and confused. It took a moment to catch her breath—another to open her eyes. But when she did, her heart fluttered heavy before it slowed. Standing in the doorway, Gardner stared past Cherri. When she turned to see what was behind her, she felt the awful presence again. Her stepfather had disappeared. Frantically, her eyes searched the room. It was empty. The blood was gone. So was her stepfather. His cackles wiped out. It struck her that it wasn’t her stepfather. It was the demon in the form of an illusion.

           
“It’s that thing, isn’t it? I thought you killed it?” Cherri asked. Her anger settled.

           
Gardner’s attention swept toward Cherri and he said, “You can’t kill this kind of evil. First, you must accept it. Then, you do your best to fight it. But it never dies. And you can only suppress evil…for a short time. I thought I’d sent
it
back to Hell when I exorcised the woman in the backyard, but I was wrong. For now, I need you to go back upstairs. I’ll handle this.”

           
And with that, Cherri ran from the bathroom.

In the hallway, she ran into Winny and he startled her. When she recognized his face, she wrapped her arms around him. She was relieved to see him. He ran his hand through her damp hair and whispered, “
Shhh
” over and over into her ear.

Finally, they separated. Winny grabbed Cherri’s hand and pulled her down the hallway. He practically threw her up the staircase and into the attic. The last thing Cherri saw before Winny came barreling up the stairs was Gardner walking into the bathroom.

6

Gardner stepped slowly into the dark bathroom. Once he was inside, he stopped and turned back to Donna and said, “Go with them. I’ll be up in a moment.”

           
Donna nodded. She turned and hurried down the hallway. She didn’t ask any questions. Gardner continued into the bathroom. He closed the door behind him.

In the bathroom, he saw the black ooze. It slithered along the walls. It draped across the ceiling and snapped at Gardner, threatening to tear at him. It was a living evil.

Gardner knew that Jezebeth couldn’t hurt him. She’d been denied of possession. The brightness within him radiated, beneath his skin. He closed his eyes. Confidently, he extended his hand toward the massive manifestation—the demon. His lips began to quiver as he prayed. High pitched screaming rang out and stabbed at Gardner’s ears. The demon felt the pain of goodness rip at its being.

Before the mass—that was Jezebeth—melted into a wave of bloody ooze, Gardner turned and stepped out of the bathroom. The destruction of Jezebeth was loud. She imploded from this plain of existence.

Gardner was satisfied. He’d been used by the divine, controlled by the goodness within him. Earlier, he’d doubted his gift. He knew that he’d disappointed the Holy One. But now, his gift was fueled and renewed. He walked with confidence into the hallway. The demon Jezebeth had been sent away and was descending into the place where the foul dwelled.

           
 
Gardner walked to the dangling staircase and ascended into the attic.

Chapter 24

1

Sammael walked past the liquor store. Nothing could stop him. He was going to finish this. He would kill Gardner. The gravel crunched beneath his feet as he walked up Gardner’s driveway. He could taste the battle ahead. He’d destroy everyone hiding at this farmhouse. Then he turned to the liquor store. The small store had only served as bait to lure Gardner in. Killing everyone else was a satisfying bonus and he would continue to kill. He’d make the rest of them suffer. They slowed him down and that shouldn’t have happened. It irritated him and he should have destroyed these simple humans with ease. But he hadn’t. They were fighting well against him. It took an enormous amount of will for a human to do that. He hadn’t planned on these
simple beings
possessing such strength. They must have been given help from the Divine. That was the only way this was possible. Still, he would take what was promised to him by the Unholy One.

Earlier, he’d taken delight in killing the thieves. It had been fun eviscerating them. But they weren’t enough. They had been weak and no challenge at all. He wanted to kill Gardner and slay that bitch he called his wife.
Donna
. They were a worthy battle.

Step after step, he walked up the gravel drive. He found himself standing in front of the farmhouse staring, maliciously, at the brick structure. He sensed the fear harbored inside. They were in the attic and he would take them one-by-one. He stopped walking. From a distance, he looked into each dark window. He could feel the walls breathing. The house took-on a life of its own—it was a living thing.

           
His plan of attack needed revision. He would need to separate each one of these filthy humans. From there he’d tear at their souls before he tore at their flesh. He would need to obsess their thoughts and then, he would rip into them physically. From the inside out, he’d grind them to shreds.

Jezebeth had been
sent back
. He felt it. Earlier, he’d been able to feel her rage. Even after she’d been expelled from the body she’d taken. Jezebeth manifested her energy into something—he assumed—that was powerful. That’s how he could feel her. Gardner must have defeated her. Sammael could no longer sense any trace of her presence. Her rage, anger and filth had evaporated.

Oh well, she wasn’t that powerful.

He’d known all along that she didn’t possess the amount of power that he did.

           
Standing at the foot of the driveway, leading to the Gardner’s farmhouse, Sammael’s smile stretched across the face which had once belonged to Garth Gasper. The evil cycling through him culminated into a massive energy of rage.

           
He hurried to the house.

2

Donna paced back and forth. When she past the window again, her attention was drawn outside. She stopped in front of the attic window. She looked out into the night. Tiny bumps lifted across her arms and the back of her neck. She saw
him.

 
Sammael stood at the base of the driveway. Sure, it looked like Garth Gasper, but Donna knew, judging by the maniacal grin spread across his face, that he was consumed by the evil demon, Sammael. Even his eyes were full of evil. They were glossy and they flickered. They weren’t Garth’s eyes and the way that he just stood there watching the house, analyzing it, judging it, made her shudder. He looked like a snake preparing to eat a small white mouse. Then he looked up into the window and she swore that he was staring into her thoughts.

           
Donna jumped. Her husband stepped behind her. She turned to him, seeing that he was frowning and an intense look seized his face. It reflected the gears of thought cranking through his mind. He walked toward her and peered out the window. He watched as Sammael walked toward the house. Immediately, Gardner turned to Winny Gasper.

A lost look of helplessness overwhelmed Gardner’s face.

Donna knew that her husband didn’t know how to handle this. There were no words to express what needed to happen. He wouldn’t be able to contain Winny. There was nothing he could do. Winny wouldn’t turn against the evil
thing
that was eating away at his brother’s soul. Plain and simple, Sammael was using Garth’s body. She had to shake off the awful thought of Winny dying. He wouldn’t fight his brother. Sammael would manipulate Winny and then kill him. Still, she thought,
they could make it through this night.
They could find a way. She had faith and she had hope.

           
“That isn’t your brother,” Gardner informed Winny.

           
Without hesitation, Winny stepped away from Cherri. He shuffled to the window and eagerly looked down at the driveway. His brother walked toward them. Garth’s eyes found Winny. He smiled from below. Garth waved, innocently, and then hurried around to the back of the house.