Chapters Twenty and Twenty-one

CHAPTER TWENTY

Richie, Roger, Josh, and Sean’s brother Gary were in the basement when the boys came barreling in. Before anyone could say a word they started pulling over everything they could move to block the door.

Josh started to laugh, “Real funny guys. Is a monster chasing you?”

When they turned and looked at him Josh knew something was really wrong. They all sat in a circle around the pool table/card table as the four told their tale of terror. Roger and Richie believed them but Josh and Gary not so much.

Gary said, “It has to be some kind of hallucination. It was probably just some gas in the tunnel.”

Tommy said, “Yeah you think so look at this, I filmed the whole thing.” Tommy set up his movie projector. First they saw the grainy footage of the chamber as Tommy walked around. That got them interested. When they ran to the side tunnel and turned off all their lights the screen turned black. The candles and torches looked like fireflies on film and the black robed worshipers merely dark shapes. When the fire was lit and the demon appeared it was still dark and fuzzy but it was enough to scare the hell out of them all.

Gary said, “But you got away and it was dark so they couldn’t have seen you clear. We should be okay.”

Ryan looked at him, “No we’re not. I could feel it in my mind. Digging away and calling for its flock. They are pissed and they’ll be coming for us.”

Gary again said, “Yeah, but they don’t know who we are. They have no way of finding us. Let them be pissed who cares.”

Sean shook his head, “it’s not like that. They were in our minds and we were in theirs. They know all about us just like we know all about them. They have to kill us. We know what they have planned. Tomorrow they are going to sacrifice a twelve year old virgin girl to that thing.”

Josh, “You mean they’ll feed her to that thing?”

Sean responded, “In a way. It will suck the soul out of her when she is thrown into the fire. Then they will eat her body. They are cannibals. It is a soul eater. It is their dark communion.”

Josh said, “Holy shit, we better go to the cops.”

Sean said, “And what are we going to tell them? That we went down into secret tunnels under Red Hook and found demon worshipers. That they made a fire and the smoke turned into a monster. That they are going to sacrifice a twelve year old virgin to it because she is having her first period and that is a powerful thing to them. It sounds like a Bela Lugosi movie. They’ll put us all in the nut house.”

Gary responded, “I guess you’re right. Maybe we should all go home and make sure everything is okay there. We can meet here tomorrow morning and try to figure out what to do.”

The guys all agreed. They removed the barricade from the door and straggled home always looking behind them.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Tommy was the last to arrive the next day.  He came in shaking, “I think they found us. There are two weird looking guys across the street just staring at the house. One of the bastards waved to me.”

They all went outside to check. The two men stood across the street. They didn’t move they just smiled at the boys. The guys went back inside.

Freddy said, “That’s them I just know it.”

They all agreed.

Ryan said, “Okay what do we do? They know where my parents live.”

Roger said, “They know where all our parents live.”

Sean said, “We have to fight it. Try to kill it.”

Gary shook his head, “How? You said it was made of smoke. How the hell do you kill smoke, or even hurt it?”

Sean said, “We can hurt it and maybe kill it when it becomes solid. We have to try to save the girl too.”

Freddy said, “Come on, how do we save the girl. We can’t even save ourselves.”

Sean smiled, “I have a plan.”

Freddy, “Do you have a bazooka too. As soon as we go into that chamber they will feel us. We can’t sneak up on them.”

“No bazooka, but we do have the other coffee can. Remember what it did to the park house.”

“So what we can’t throw that thing in from around the corner of the tunnel.  At least not and have it land where we need it.”

“We don’t throw it in. We bury it.”

“What?”

“We sneak in early tomorrow and bury it in the fire pit. We didn’t feel the creature when there was no fire. Maybe it’s only there when the fire burns. When they start the fire it should appear and then the can blows.”

“Should blow, why not just say maybe? The odds are that won’t work at all.”

“What else can we do? It’s the only chance we got. Anybody got a better idea?”

No one did.

Freddy said, “Okay why not, we are probably all going to die anyway. What’s your plan?”

“Me and Roger will break into Jensen’s boiler shop and sneak into the chamber.”

Gary said, “Don’t bother breaking in. I’m going with you. I work there, I got a key.”

“Better yet, we’ll put the coffee can in the middle of the fire pit and cover it with ashes, just enough ash so that they can’t see it. They are supposed have the sacrifice at midnight. I guess it is their midnight black mass. After we hide the can we’ll go back into the tunnel maybe thirty yards. Meanwhile the rest of you go there by way of the pier hatch. When the can goes off make a lot of noise and distract them.  When they go after you, Ryan, Gary, and I will grab the girl. She should be in the small tunnel on the left. They don’t want her to see the demon until he is in his full glory. We’ll head out through the shop.”

“That sounds like a suicide mission for us.”

“NO it’s not. Each of you carry a can of gasoline into the tunnel and when they start to come after you pour it out and set it off. By the time the flames die out you should be out the hatch. We will do the same on our side. Don’t forget to barricade it again.”

 Josh said, “No problem there. I am going to bring a couple of steel bars to wedge it closed.”

Richie said, “I’m going to the store and buy all the jacks they have.”

“Jacks, you mean like the little girls toys? What for? That’s stupid.”

“Yeah, they’ll be chasing us in the dark, they had no shoes on remember. Those jacks will be like spikes when I drop them behind me.”

“Get me some too.”

“But we still have to figure out how we get rid of the two across the street. We can’t sneak up on anybody if we can’t get out of here. They’ll follow us and let the others know long before we get there. We’ll be walking into a trap. Plus there will be a couple more guards on the girl.”

Josh said, “Maybe they’re gone. I’ll check. I hope they left.”

When Josh came back he said, “They left but there are two others standing there.”

Richie said, “That’s just great. They are watching us in shifts.”

Ryan said, “I guess we should all meet here early tomorrow. How about five?”

All agreed for tonight they would watch and protect their families.