Faith: An Angel's Fall From Grace

Prologue The Catalyst

"I... I can't let this go on. I have to help him, I'm his teacher. I have an obligation to keep him safe."
She still has nightmares of her first run-in with the possessed Jonah.
It was the day of Halloween.
He came late to school that day wearing a full mask, he didn't say much of anything either.
Mostly kept his head down and seemed to draw symbols in crayon.
When it was over and parents and went with their kids, only he remained there. He sat huddled by his desk, and with his Halloween mask on the top.
"Jonah? Jonah dear, classes are over.... Is everything okay?"
"..."
"Is everything okay at home Jonah? We can talk about it if you'd li_"
Jonah seems to mutter something...
"I... I can't hear what you're saying Jonah."
"Am I holey now Miss Gabby?"
Gabby gasped seeing the gaping red hole in Jonah's face. "Jonah! What happened to you??"
"I made some new friends, They opened my mind. and now? I am stronger Miss Gabby, no one will hurt me anymore." Jonah's body seemed to move like a puppet held by a single string.
"Jonah please, you're scaring me..." Gabby stuttered out, watching drops of blood pool out of the hole and down Jonah's chin.
"Don't be scared Miss Gabby. I am safe. I can keep you safe too. You can be strong like me. Join us Miss Gabby, Gary would love you like he loves us."
Gabby stepped back in fear. Her curiosity peaking for a brief moment.
"Who's Gary?"
"Gary is a normal human being, just like you and me. He showed me thks strength was inside me all along, I just needed to let 'Them' in…”
Gabby considered calling the police, but they wouldn't be of much help. Maybe she could see if any fellow teachers were still here and get them to help.
She gripped the cross necklace she wore and began to back away from the possessed body of Jonah.
"Why are you leaving me Miss Gabby? Don't you love me like a son?"
The demon taunted, as blood red fingers passed through the hole in his head where his face once was. Revealing an arm of something that wasn't human.
Gabby fled the demonic creature and ran for the exit, she'd look back to see Jonah's body on all fours crawling on the ceiling towards her.
Barely making it to the exit she slammed the door shut behind her, and propped it shut with a chair as Jonah banged on the door.
"I can hear you breathing Gabrielle. . . you can't escape THE UNSPEAKABLE!"
Gabby backed away from the door, her heart pounding in her chest as tears flowed from her eyes. She was gripped by a primordial fear that she had felt only once before.
Getting away from the door she ran towards her car, getting in and driving away from the building. She drove farther and farther away, before eventually pulling over on the side of the road.
She put her hands on her face and began to sob, one of her own students was being tortured and tormented by this otherworldly creature, and she believed it was all her fault.
She would cry for a while in that car, her guilt and fears dripping onto her pants till she began to calm down.
She took her bag, which she still had in her car, and took out her inhaler before taking a hit of her medicine.
Quickly her lungs felt lighter, and she could breathe easier, starting up the car again and heading home…

End of Prologue

Chapter One To Fix What Was Broken

A year passed, Saint Matthew's Sunday School was shut down.
The public statement on its closure was a freak bear attack, one that led to 5 deaths.
Gabby knew the real reason, as she was to be their latest sacrifice.
Her sight was plagued by visions of hooded figures chanting.
The pounding of drums, accentuated by writhing shadows that bray and shout in languages not meant for the ears of mortal men.
She feels herself being dragged to an altar by humanoid forms that hoist her upon the cold stone. The thralls stand aside when two new figures enter her vision.
One the limp figure of Jonah, held aloft in the air by the large red arm of an unnameable horror.
The other is a hooded figure she hasn't seen before, holding a metal mask and a ritual knife.
It seems to speak to the crowd in words Gabby could not comprehend. Before placing the mask upon Gabby's face.
A searing hot pain shot through her whole body as she screamed and jostled about.
The bite of the knife carved into her head, and in that moment of agonizing pain Gabby awoke from her bed. Awash in a cold sweat, and breathing heavily.
Another nightmare, she had been having them ever since that day.

_________

Gabby had sought out different forms of employment after the incident. She had a few jobs as a babysitter and a substitute teacher in the interim.
However, those who knew her personally could tell she wasn't the same person she once was.
She’d visit a shrink and it did seem to help for a while, but there was always lingering guilt that hung like a carrot on a stick.
Just outside her reach, she’d get so close to being free of it. Only for it to come back.
One day, she gathered the courage required for her next move.
She locked the door to her house, entered her car, and drove to the center of her suffering.
And the embodiment of her failures.

_________

The windows were shattered and the entrance barred by planks of wood.
All over were signs of teenagers and homeless having frequented this place for shelter or a place to dare their friends to enter.
Gabby stepped in through a window and turned on a flashlight, holding a crucifix close to her heart she traversed the halls of this once honorable place of knowledge and religious belief.
She found a note within one of the old classrooms.
”What a steal, whatever caused this place to close down so quickly left a bunch of cash in the charity boxes. With that and the recycling this could be my lucky day.”
Her heart sank knowing the depths some would turn to for a financial boon, but there were more pressing matters to take care of. Mainly that of the location of Jonah.
Her every step reminded her of her old job here. The smiling faces of the students as they sat in her class.
The calmness of the teachers lounge and the liquid ambrosia that was the coffee machine on a particularly stress filled day.
All those memories were no more than the dust that floated about the air when Gabby entered her old classroom.
She saw what remained of an apple a student had gifted her once. Now long past the point of being edible.
Something caught her eye. Jonah’s old backpack, ransacked of most things except old drawings by the boy.
Gabby sifted through them to get an idea of what Jonah might have been thinking at the time.
The images didn't bode well for Jonah, even long before he was being puppeted by a demon.
Drawings of an adult male figure throwing a bottle at a depiction of the child, of him shouting curses, and holding what seemed to be a belt.
The art only became more troubling as Jonah was soon depicted being surrounded by darkness, alone in a void.
The final one sent a shiver down Gabby’s spine, a depiction of Jonah standing next to a figure clad in a red robe…

_________

Gabby stumbled away from the pages of children's drawing. Beginning to put some of the pieces together.
As she backed away, a voice piped up from behind her.
”Gabby!”
She jumped up and turned around holding her crucifix out. “Get away from me!” She stammered out in shock.
”W-woah woah calm down Gabby it's just me.”
The voice was familiar, someone she knew well.
”F-francis? What are you doing here?”
”I-I was tryin’ ta call you but ya never picked up, a-and I figured you’d be here. Is everything alright Gabby?”
”Francis… You, you shouldn't be here. It's not safe.”
”Why not? There's no one parked out here besides you and me.”
”No, Francis. You need to leave, I have something to do here.”
”B-but Gabby.”
”I said no, Francis. I don't want you around here."
”...A-ahlright, I'm sorry Gabby. I shouldn't have been so pushy.”
Gabby sighed and put a hand on the man’s shoulder, “It's okay Francis, I know you're worried about me. I’ll be out quick Francis, maybe we can hang out afterwards.”
”You, you really mean that?”
”Mhm. Just wait outside and I’ll see you soon.”
The portly little man smiled and walked out of the derelict classroom. When he was out of earshot Gabby sighed.
”I’m sorry Francis, but I have to do this alone."

_________

She continued to search through the ruins of the school before coming across a door to the basement. That's where the Nativity Set and other items were stored.
She pushed the door open with a slow and drawn out creak. Before her led a flight of stairs down into the dark.
Gabby gulped nervously, she always hated these stairs. They creaked and bowed with every step she'd take, alas she'd have to descend them once more.
Step by step she carefully walked down the steps. Until one suddenly snapped underneath her weight!
Leaving her to tumble down the stairs and land stomach first on the dusty floor.
When she came to she got up, her head hurt and had bruised her leg a bit. Other than that she was fine.
Dusting herself off she grabbed her flashlight which she dropped in the fall, and looked around to find Jonah... Or any way out.
Her searching was cut short as a book was thrown at her head. Gabby barely dodged it as a scrawny figure ran towards her with a pair of scissors held up high.
"We are many!" the figure screamed as it charged Gabby. Gabby screamed and held out her crucifix before hearing the being cry out in pain, dropping its weapon and run away as it yelled.
"I had no choice!" It shouted as it ran into the darkness. Gabby panted and shuddered in fright while still gripping onto the crucifix that saved her life and drove back the figure. Pulling out her inhaler she took in some medicine to soothe her lungs and keep her asthma at bay.
Delving deeper she found a wide tunnel has been dug into the basement of the school.
Gabby took in a deep breath before entering the tunnel. Crouching down to climb through, into the unknown depths beyond...

_________

Meanwhile above ground.
Francis had been walking back to his car.
"I wish I knew what's been eatin' at her inside..."
He opened the door to his car and sat down in the drivers seat before leaning back.
"Well, at least she'll be back soon." Francis said to himself, turning on the radio in the dashboard. The smooth sounds of Jazz music permeating through the car.
While Francis unwound and sat back. Two arms appeared from behind his seat, as a red emaciated figure with wiry hair rose from the back seat of Francis's car and put a rag to Francis's face.
"Mmmph! Mmm-mmmph! Mmmmph! Mmph... mph... ..."
Francis kicked and squirmed trying to escape the clutches of this entity before quickly succumbing to the chemicals soaked into the rag, falling unconscious as the figure grinned in demonic glee.
"Sleep fat one, sleep~" It mockingly soothed as Francis fell into his intoxicated slumber.
"Now, let's get you back to your little friend..."

_________

Gabby continued to explore, finding a damaged and trampled note.
"Some freaks wearing red paint on their body tried to jump me in the basement. I managed to hurt them but they made off with that weird doll I was gonna sell and the rest of my stuff. Bastards are gonna pay for that, it's my stuff and I found it first!"
Gabby looked over the note in before entering a decrepit chamber, braziers with well-maintained flames flanked her sides as she looked around for a door or way out.
She could see one on the other side of the room. In front of it was the figure that has tried to stab her.
It noticed her presence and immediately ran into the opening behind it, "She is here!" It cried as it ran away.
Cautiously Gabby looked around and found the door it ran through, slipping in she came into a cavernous room. Small torches sat on the walls, dimly lighting the man-made chamber as the sound of bones crunching and flesh ripping echoed throughout.
Before Gabby in the center of the room was a hunched over creature with grey skin, chewing on the remains of the figure that tried to stab her.
Its singular eye, partially shrouded by two bloody dismembered hands that held onto its face, shot a glance at Gabby.
"MOTHERRRrrrr...?" It gargled out as it stood upright and shuffled towards Gabby.
Gabby stood there frozen in fear as it came closer...
And closer...
Yet closer still...
Until its face almost touched hers as Gabby prayed silently for rescue and clutched her cross.
It stared at her... Before it walked back to its latest kill, and dragged it into the star-shaped hole in the center of the room.

_________

Gabby's legs wobbled and caved as she fell on her knees in fright.
Her confidence to continue was faltering after a sight like that. The urge to run filled her head, she looked to her crucifix.
"Lord, help me. I fear I can go no farther." She said as she prayed to God in this unholy place. "I need a sign. A sign that I can carry on. Please Lord."
"Gabby? Gabby is that you?"
Gabby rose to her feet, that was Francis! What was he doing here?
Her strength to carry on was revitalized by hearing her friend was in trouble.
She took a left into an antechamber, where five statues laid out in a star formation, in the center was Francis. Looking around with his back to Gabby.
"Francis? What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay in the car!"
"Gabby... Where are you? It's so dark, I can't see the light anymore. Everything is so cold."
"I'm right here Francis, let's go before things get worse."
"I'M. NOT. FRANCIIIIIS." Francis seemed to gargle out in a voice that wasn't his own.
Francis(?) turned to look at Gabby, his eyes were wild and bloodshot, his skin paler than before, and started rushing towards Gabby.
Gabby held out her cross while Francis came after her, and watched him convulse as a black mist exited his mouth.
He fell to the floor limp, the cloud formed into a goats skull, one with the symbol of brimstone carved on its forehead. It screeched in an ancient fury as its empty eye sockets burned with red hot fire.
It split into five small clouds and flew into the statues.
Gabby rushed towards the limp body of Francis.
"Hold on Francis. I'll get you out of here."
As she attempted to lift her friend up suddenly she felt something shoot into her back.
And like that. Her vision went dark...

_________

Gabby woke up in a dark room, her vision on a creature that defied logic.
Wings covered in goats eyes, a serpentine lower body of sickly green scales.
And its head, a towering pillar of featureless grey skin, save for one large mouth that sat vertically upon its face.
It stared at Gabby, and then it spoke.
"Hmm, soft skin, innocent yet troubled spirit, luscious eyes, and an educated mind. Yessss, you will be just the meal I have waited millennia for~"
Gabby couldn't move, her actions were not hers. She watched her own body approach the demon slowly, as its mouth opened to reveal what looked like an endless abyss of sharp teeth.
Suddenly her vision had changed, and she was in that same room she was in before. Only kneeling above Francis, and holding onto her flashlight as if she was about to smash his head in like that of Cain & Abel.
She backed away in shock, whatever this demon was doing it was trying to get her to kill Francis!
The black fog flew back into Francis and lifted him back to his feet.
Quickly Gabby pulled out her crucifix and pointed it at Francis.
And once again the fog left through his mouth and nose, forming into the same skull as before.
Gabby used this chance to try and banish it. She pointed her cross at it as it began to scream!
"I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL!" It proclaimed as it dissipated into nothing, save for a single key.
Gabby quickly ran to Francis and tried to wake him.
"F-francis! Wake up! Please tell me you're okay!" She checked his pulse, he was still alive. Just unconscious, her worries were slightly relieved.
After a bit, Francis finally woke up.
"G-g-gabby? W-what are you doing here? W-where are we?"
"Oh Francis!" Gabby hugged Francis tightly, her heart pounding in her chest, "I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried you were hurt."
Francis blushed as he was hugged by his best friend, "I-I'm fine Gabby. C-could we get outta here?"
"Yes, yes we can." She helped Francis up and took the key that the demon had left behind. "Just be careful as we leave."
"Alright, but can you please tell me what's going on once we leave?"
She nodded while the two left, passing the star-shaped hole, and ascending a flight of stairs and into a clearing in the forest.

_________

A while later, the two made it back to the abandoned school.
"So, what do you want to know?"
"Well, why did you come to this place?"
"I... I wanted to see if I could find Jonah here."
"I understand, but he's probably long gone by now."
Gabby looked down in shame, "I know he's still out there, he's looking for me."
"Well, I'd be happy to help you. If that's okay with you."
Gabby sighed before looking up at Francis, "Thank you." She gave him a smile before hugging him again.
Francis smiled and hugged back, glad to help a friend in need.
The two began to part ways as they drove home.
"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. I shall not be afraid of the terror in the night, nor the evil that walketh in darkness." Gabby recited as she drove home.
"Because I," Gabby stopped for a moment to take a puff of her inhaler and breathe a sigh of relief.
"Because I have made the Lord my refuge. Because I have set my love upon Him, therefore He will deliver me. I shall call upon Him, and He will answer me. He will be with me in trouble. He will deliver me and honor me." Gabby finished as she stared at the road ahead.
When Gabby got home, she flipped through a phone book before finding a number she circled before.
Zachary Wylde, Private Investigator...

End of Chapter One

Chapter Two The Wylde Detective

A haze of cigarette smoke hung throughout a small office, a lady sorted papers at a shiny oakwood desk as soft jazz played from a radio in the back.
The cream-colored landline on her desk vibrated, with the noise of a caller on the other end. The lady sighed and lifted up the phone.
”Zag Wylde, Private Investigator’s office, how may I help you?” The dame said with a tone that was well and truly tired of the monotony of the job.
She listened to the voice on the line, “Uh huh… uh huh… Ma’am… Ma’am please calm down…”
She sighed again and put her thumb and index to the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
”Look, if you really wish to see him in person I can put you down for an appointment at 10am tomorrow morning, okay? … Okay, see you later. Buh-bye.”
She hung up and groaned before getting up from her desk and knocking on the glass window of the door near her desk.
”Come in Francine.” A gruff voice replied from inside as the secretary opened the door to a nearly pitch black room.
The only light sources were from the window in the corner of the room partially obscured by the Venetian blinds that sat in front of it, and a singular lamp that sat on the large wooden desk in the center of the room unlit.
”A lady called in, said she's looking for a kid who went missing.”
”I take it that isn't all she said?” The man at the desk responded, his eyes peering through the dark like gleaming daggers.
The secretary was used to that look and shook her head, “Quite so, mentioned something about the kid being possessed by a demon, and that the last place she saw him was being repurposed as a center for unholy rituals.”
The man seemed to be interested in this development, and leaned forward. “What do you think of this case Francine?”
”Personally? Sounds like the ravings of a lady off her rocker, but I ain't getting paid to judge your potential clients.” The secretary chided before letting out a puff of smoke from her cigarette.
”That is a possibility, in the meantime I’d like you to look into any recent kidnappings and supposed satanic activities.” The man in the shadows ordered.
”You got it sir.” Francine responded before exiting. Meanwhile the man cloaked in darkness looked out into the night…

_________

10 AM rolled around and a nervous dame dressed in a yellow dress shirt with pale yellow sleeves and collar.
A pale yellow belt around her waist that led to a long skirt of the same color as the main body of her shirt, she wore black women's shoes with white socks.
She opened the door to the building to hear a little jingle from the bell that hung from above, with meek steps she entered the lobby to see a middle-aged woman looking through files.
”You must be Gabby. The detective is just through that door. Make sure to knock before you enter.” The aged lady spoke in a tone that had done this multiple times before.
”Y-yes ma’am. Thank you very much.” Gabby said before she headed towards the door. With a knock to the tune of Shave And A Haircut she alerted the man inside to her presence.
”Come in.” A graveled voice responded as the door creaked open, the lady poking her head into the darkened room.
”Y-you must be Detective Wylde.” She squeaked out nervously. The eyes within the miasma of blackness the detective inhabited.
”That I am, and you must be Gabrielle Thompson. Former teacher at Saint Matthew’s Sunday School, am I correct?”
”H-how did you know?” Gabby asked, feeling like she was a mouse walking into a lion’s den.
”A good detective checks the background of his clients. Take a seat Ms. Thompson, we have much to discuss.”
The demure dame scurried into the room and sat in the chair before the wooden desk of Detective Zachary Wylde, The Shaded Sleuth.
The man of legend leaned forward, and stared at the lady before him. “You have come to me so that I may find this child have you not?”
”N-no sir- M-mister Wylde. I-i wanted to, h-hire your s-services, t-to join me i-in finding J-jonah.”
The man cloaked in the night let out a laugh that shook Gabby to the bone, a laugh she had heard many attempts to copy, but none were as chilling as the real deal.
”Hire me Ms. Thompson? That's a laugh, but I am not for sale in that regard.”
”P-please Mr. Wylde!” Gabby said getting on her knees, “I-i have no one else t-to turn to, and I can't let Jonah su-suffer any more like this. I beg you Mr. Wylde, I need your help in this.”
The man looked at the begging broad before him, “Do you know what my line of work entails?” The man asked his potential client.
”Y-yes sir, y-you so-” Gabby said before being interrupted.
”NO. You only know what the papers say of my exploits. My career is not something I can put down at a moment's notice, it is one I am bound to.” The man waxed poetically, “It’s one one of danger and perils, of sacrifice, one you are not cut out for. So no, with all due respect I cannot allow you to join in my work.”
Gabby sat there on her knees, tears formed in her eyes as her pleas were rejected by someone she was desperate and vulnerable in front of. “P-please, h-he’s only a b-boy. I-i’ll do anything to s-save him, anything I can.”
He sat there and reflected on her words, after a short pause he responded.
”Very well. I will accompany you in your desire to save this kid.”
The waterslides flowed as Gabby hugged the detective, tears ran down her cheeks. “Oh thank you! Thank you so much!” Zach was a bit uncomfortable by this action, but knew it’d appease his emotionally vulnerable client.
”Don't mention it. Now tell me, where were you the last time you saw Jonah Whitman?”

_________

The sun hung high as two cars pulled into the driveway of Saint Matthew's Sunday School.
The meek yet faithful lady and her newly hired detective rendezvoused at this place to search for further clues.
Despite the sun that shone down on both of them, Zach’s eyes still remained obscured in shadow. Like a visor over his eyes that kept his real identity a secret.
Gabby took notice of this phenomenon, but felt it was rude to ask so she elected to keep it to herself.
”So this is the place?”
”Yes,” Gabby responded, “This is where I last saw him two years ago.”
”Hmm.” Zach took a few steps towards the boarded up door before he looked for an alternative entrance.
”O-oh! There's one right here.” Gabby said, she walked towards the window she had once climbed through.
”Hmm. That’ll do.” Zach said before he leaped over the windowsill like a professional, one leg over the other.
He landed on his feet and looked back at Gabby on the other side, who slipped in through the window. Not as gracefully as the detective but she did so without cutting herself in broken glass.
The two split up to look through the individual rooms once more. Zach found the crayon drawings and flecks of dried blood, of which he’d scrape up a sample for later use.
Meanwhile Gabby entered the rooms of other teachers to find one with the freshly decomposing body of a man covered head to toe in dried blood, wearing only tattered shorts and worn shoes. The smell caused her lungs to burn and her stomach to turn.
”D-detective Wylde!”
The man rushed to the lady’s side before looking upon the corpse. He stepped towards it and began to examine it, he pulled a pair of rubber gloves from his coat and began to thoroughly search the man’s remains.
He took notes of the state the body was in, despite being freshly killed the body seemed to have been in a state of decay before death.
There were claw marks on the back and legs, the man must have bled out in this room.
Clutched in one of its hands the detective produced a slip of bloody paper from the body, it read the following.
”I was deceived by that whore who took Gary’s place. She said I’d have a new purpose in her plans, but apparently it meant being a sacrifice to that thing in the basement. At least Jeremy got to die painlessly when it jammed its claws into his brain. I can feel the blood pooling in my lungs. Lord, if you are still watching over me despite my sinful actions. I beg you for forgiveness.”
Zach took the paper, and placed it in a small plastic bag he produced from his coat. He checked the body for fingerprints only to see they had been burnt off.
”Damn it.” Zach cursed under his breath before he rose back to his feet, “It appears we are not alone here, have you been into the basement?”
Gabby nodded, “There was a secret tunnel that led into a chamber. Which led to a cave with a pit in the center.”
”Hmm. Mind leading me there?” Zach requested to which Gabby nodded.
”Although the stairs to the basement have broken…” Gabby said, as the pain of her falling down crept back into her mind slightly. “There is another entrance.”
”And where might that be?” Zach said looking back at the former teacher curious.

_________

The duo had found the secret entrance Gabby left through when Francis had been freed of his possession.
It was a park bathroom with a false wall. From the outside it seemed completely normal, but on the inside it was in fact a door. The shadows of the room hid the doorknob, blending it into the rest of the door.
Remembering what lay down there caused Gabby’s asthma to flare up again, it shortened her breaths by a bit and had her make a small yet audible wheezing noise.
She rummaged in the small purse she brought with her and produced her inhaler. Taking a hit of the medicine relaxed the muscles in her throat and her lungs, and with that her worries began to melt like snow.
”Are you sure you wish to continue with this Ms. Thompson?” Zach asked his employer, he rightfully inferred that should she lose that she’d be at best a liability and at worst a dead woman walking.
”I’m fine Detective Zach, and no need to be so formal,” Gabby smiled as she conversed with the detective, “my friends call me Gabby.”
”Very well then Ms. Thompson.” Zach responded, a clear message that he was not interested in making friends out of clients.
Gabby’s heart sank as the two descended the stone stairs, back into the chamber where Gabby encountered the unholy creature that would've devoured her flesh had she not stood still.
”B-be careful,” Gabby stuttered, “There's something d-down there. Something that's n-not human nor a-animal.”
The detective produced two items, one being a flashlight to light the darkened path down. The other being a handgun.
An M1911, with fine wooden grip panels on the grip. The rest of the gun was a polished silvery color that reflected the light of Gabby’s flashlight.
”.45 ACP, 7 rounds per magazine, 1 in the chamber.” The detective spoke, a brief hint of giddiness to speak about his arsenal seemed to betray the detective’s stone-cold exterior.
”Oh, I-i have never seen a gun like that. Then again I have n-never used one.” Gabby stammered, feeling a little safer knowing the detective had some firepower.
Zach nodded as the two reached the chamber. He scouted the room, and the antechamber ahead.
Before Gabby could even notice he had disappeared he reappeared by her side.
”Both rooms are clear, dried blood near the star-shaped pit. I found footprints that appeared to pass through a wall in the antechamber.” While he spoke he took notes in a pad he had in his hands.
As the detective spoke, a chill went up Gabby’s spine, her legs froze in place as a familiar figure crawled out from the pit.
”I KNOW YOUR SECRET.” It gargled in an ungodly voice, it caught the attention of Zach who pulled his gun on the demon.
A shot blasted out, illuminating the room. If the shot did hit the demon seemed to be unaffected.
”PULL OUT YOUR EYES!” It screamed as the hands gave away from its face to reveal it had two bloodshot eyes that stared directly at Gabby. The fingers spread out and elongated like tendrils, eager to tear into its prey.
”Ms. Thompson! Run!” Zach shouted as the demon got closer, but Gabby stood there in paralyzed terror.
”Ms. Thompson?! GABBY! Snap out of it!” Zach yelled, as Gabby came to her senses and pulled out her crucifix in an attempt to drive away the beast.
The demon’s approach began to slow, flakes of foul skin peeled from it like poorly glued wallpaper.
This sight gave Zach an idea as he fired round after round into the creature's head. With one last cry it shouted, “YOU CAN'T HIDE ANYMORE!” before it fell back into the pit it came from.
Panting slightly Zach looked at Gabby. “Ms. Thompson, what was that thing?”
Gabby’s eyes looked at the hole the entity fell into. “A d-demon.” she stammered.
The eyes of the detective seemed to be in disbelief at that statement, but what he had witnessed was nothing he could explain at this moment. “Come,” he said looking towards the antechamber. “Our investigation is far from finished..."

_________

The darkened antechamber was illuminated by the flashlights of the duo, who entered to find a large cave wall at the far back. It appears the statues that sat in there were still there, except for one.
Gabby approached the wall, there were six small protruding stones with symbols carved in them in a circular shape.
Zag came up behind her and looked over the same stones. "Hmm..." He seemed to be deep in thought as he looked over the stones.
"These symbols, perhaps they're be numbers. If only I could tell what language they come from." He muttered to himself as Gabby looked around.
As she walked by the statues, her gaze was caught by a line in the sand that covered the floor. The lines seemed to be made of a black powdery substance.
She followed the lines until she began to see a symbol made in the sand of the room. It was two lines in an X formation with a line between the bottom left & right diagonal lines near their ends.
"Zag! I think I got it!" Gabby shouted as she ran towards the wall. She pressed the top left stone, the marking began to glow a faint red.
"Ms. Thompson, be careful. We don't know what we're messing with. Why don't I do it?"
"I, I understand. But I don't want to feel like I'm weighing you down." Gabby responded, looking ashamed.
"No..."
"Huh?" Gabby asked, then looked up at her compatriot.
"You are not weighing me down, that demon would be chasing us out of here if you didn't have that cross. Just tell me the code, I'll punch it in."
"I-... It's a right triangle with its hypotenuse laying horizontal. And where the two legs intersect you continue to the top left and right stones up there."
Zag would look at the stones before he realized what she meant. He walked to the stones and pressed the top right stone.
All of the stones turned off.
He pressed the top left, then the bottom right.
The two lines lit up with a faint red light.
He pressed the bottom left stone, then the top right stone.
The four stones then shone a bright red light as the wall began to rise.
"Heh, well done Ms. Thompson." Zag congratulated his client, patting her shoulder.
Her confidence boosted, she smiled as the two continued forward as the stone wall slid down behind them.

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