Evil Agreement (32 page)

Miss Beacon moved forward.

A low guttural growl rumbled in their direction. The sound
was much closer now. Because of the dense low brush, tree branches, and the
onrushing darkness, the women couldn’t see more than ten feet ahead.

Miss Beacon whispered, “It’s a dog, a big dog.”

“What does it want?”
Korie
whispered back.

Just then the dog bolted out of the darkness directly ahead.
It was a German shepherd, it was very big and it seemed very angry. The dog
lunged towards Miss Beacon, who was surprised by the suddenness of the dog’s
charge. She half stumbled backwards and bumped against
Korie
.

Korie
was about to draw the pistol
she was carrying when Miss Beacon stuck out her right hand, palm side facing
the dog, fingers pointed upward.

The dog stopped in mid-charge, as if it had just slammed into
a wall. It let out a small yelp. The dog backed up a couple of feet and baring
its teeth, leaped directly at Miss Beacon. This time the dog stopped in mid-air
and then fell to the ground. It quickly collected itself. The dog now crouched
down facing the women, its ears laid back, teeth showing. This time the dog
didn’t charge at them.

Miss Beacon formed a fist with her right hand and held it out
in front of her as she knelt down in front of the dog. The dog crept forward a
couple of feet and sniffed at her hand. Its ears began to move slowly forward.
Korie
noticed its tail was moving slowly from side to side.
The dog inched forward just a bit more and it playfully licked at Miss Beacon’s
hand. She opened her hand and reached over and scratched the dog’s ears.

“That’s incredible, just incredible,” said
Korie
.

“No, it’s not. It’s just a matter of trust.”

“All right, so now what?”

“We take him along,” said Miss Beacon.

With that, Miss Beacon bent over and kissed the top of the
dog’s head. She then whispered something into the dog’s ear. The dog licked her
face once and stood up. He turned around and began to walk slowly ahead.

“Let’s go,” said Miss Beacon.

“What did you say to the dog?”

“I asked him to help us save the life of a young girl.
Besides, he knows these woods better than either of us.”

“Like I said, incredible.”

The dog looked back at the two women. They were right behind
him. He turned to his left, down what seemed to be a well traveled path. The
women continued to follow the dog’s lead. The path taken by the dog was
smoother and easier to travel. They were making good time now.

The dog stopped in the path and sat down. Miss Beacon bent
over and patted the dog.

“This is as far as he is going. If I’m not mistaken we will
be coming out of the woods up ahead.”

“So, where are we?” asked
Korie
.

“You’ll see,” said Miss Beacon.

The dog stood up, walked past the two women, and in a moment
it disappeared into the woods.

Miss Beacon walked on and
Korie
followed right behind her. In a moment, they emerged from the woods. They were
standing in what appeared to be, the back yard of someone’s house. There were
no lights on in the house.

Miss Beacon signaled they needed to be as quiet as possible.
Korie
nodded her agreement.

Slowly the two women crossed the backyard. They moved along
the driveway until they were standing on the sidewalk at the end of a
cul-de-sac. The overhead streetlight cast its eerie yellow haze over the
glistening surface of the street. From where they stood, they could see clear
up the street to the connecting road, at the end of the street. The rain had
let up a bit but still fell as a steady drizzle.

Miss Beacon motioned for
Korie
to
follow as she crossed the street. The two women walked side by side, along the
sidewalk. In a few moments, they had reached the gravel drive leading to an old
church. There was a ground based spotlight which illuminated the church,
especially its steeple. The church windows were as black as the night sky.

The only sound
Korie
could hear was
the sound of cars traveling along nearby Interstate 89. She had no idea where
they were, but the unmistakable whine of tires speeding down a superhighway was
quite recognizable to her. This neighborhood was completely silent. While some
houses had lights on and their windows partially opened, strangely there were
no sounds, emanating from any of the homes.

Miss Beacon moved carefully down the gravel drive to the rear
of the church.
Korie
followed.

Miss Beacon stopped next to a bulkhead at the rear side of
the church. It was locked with a padlock. She removed her backpack and set it
down. She opened it and soon removed a small tool, which she used to work the
lock. After a moment the lock opened and Miss Beacon pulled it off and set it
on the ground. She stood up and with
Korie’s
help
they opened the bulkhead heavy doors. She took out a small flashlight, turned
it on and shined it down the stairs, which led to the church cellar.

“Why didn’t you just command the lock to open, instead of
picking the lock? You must have powers to open locks and things.”

“God only gave me the powers he believes I need. I’m on my
own for the rest.”

“But I would have thought.”

“Don’t dear, have faith, its stronger.”

With that Miss Beacon descended the stairs.

Korie
followed behind. Miss Beacon
stopped at the bottom of the stairs. She picked the lock at the bottom of the
stairs. She pushed it open and stepped into the blackness of the basement.
Korie
watched her disappear into the darkness. The
flashlight beam cut through the darkness. From where she stood,
Korie
could see that there was an old cast iron furnace to
the rear of the cellar. The light also revealed that, along the walls were
wooden shelves filled with boxes of various sizes. There was also a pile of
folding tables, along with two stacks of folding wooden chairs.

“
Korie
, come here.”

Korie
haltingly stepped inside of
the basement and headed towards the area lit by Miss Beacon’s flashlight.

“Here, hold this,” said Miss Beacon as she handed the backpack
to
Korie
.
Korie
took the
backpack and slung it over her shoulder with the one she had brought with her.

Miss Beacon focused the flashlight beam on a door at the rear
of the basement which was just beyond the large cast iron furnace.

She leaned against the door and listened with her left ear.

She gently knocked on the heavy wooden door.

“Kelley, Kelley, are you in there?” she whispered.

“Wait a minute. We came all the way here, through a soaking
rain storm, breaking into a church and you’re not sure if she’s in there?”

Miss Beacon turned towards
Korie
as
the glow of the flashlight illuminated her face. There was no mistaking the
look on her face. It fully conveyed her annoyance.

Miss Beacon pulled a key out of her dress pocket. She
inserted it into the lock and turned. The lock “clicked” open.

“Where did you get that key?”

Looking back at
Korie
she said,
“You ask too many questions, but if you must know I used to attend this church.
As for the key, let’s just say it came into my possession one day.”

Miss Beacon pulled the door open and shinned the flashlight
inside the darkened room beyond. She suddenly put her right hand up to her
mouth and gasped.

“Oh, dear. Oh, dear God, what have they done to you?”

Miss Beacon rushed inside the room.
Korie
was reluctant to follow her inside, but soon had no choice in the matter, as
Miss Beacon called for her help.

“
Korie
, you’ve got to help me.
Hurry!”

When
Korie
stepped inside the small
room she wasn’t prepared for what she saw.

Chained to the wall was a teenage girl who hung limply
against the wall. Her entire body seemed to be covered in thick spider webs.
Large, thick-legged spiders scampered everywhere. The room reeked with the
smell of urine. Miss Beacon, while holding the flashlight with one hand, pulled
away large bats of spider webbing. As the webbing was brushed away, the girl’s
skin was revealed. Her arms, face, neck, the exposed areas of her body, were
covered in large reddened welts from the hundreds of spider bites that she had
endured.

“Hold her up for me while I work on these locks,” commanded
Miss Beacon.

Korie
reached out and tried to hold
the girl’s body up. She didn’t have much success. The girl’s limp body was too
heavy.

“You’re going to have to put your arms around her and under
her arms.”

“Okay, okay.”

Korie
reached around the girl and
clasped her hands together and lifted. She managed to hold the girl up enough
for Miss Beacon to start working on the locks.
Korie
could see from the flashlight glow that the girl’s eyes were completely closed.
She noticed the girl was breathing, ever so faintly. She also noticed one more
thing. Spiders were beginning to crawl along her arms, and they were biting
into her own skin. She could feel the light touch of their legs as several of
them scampered along her arms.

“Hurry up,” said
Korie
.

“I am.”

“
Hurrieeee
!”

“I said I am. What’s wrong?”

“The spiders are biting
meeeeeee
!”
said a panicked
Korie
. “I hate fucking spiders.”

“There, I’ve got this one off. Hold still while I try this
one,” said Miss Beacon as she went from unlocking one of the wrist manacles to
trying to unlock the leg shackles. In a moment all the locks were opened, the
girl was now free.

“Carry her into the cellar,” said Miss Beacon.

Korie
half-carried and half-dragged
the girl into the cellar. Miss Beacon followed right behind. Once inside the
cellar Miss Beacon took one of the old wooden folding chairs and opened it up.
Miss Beacon helped
Korie
set the girl into the chair.

“Turn around,” said Miss Beacon.

As she did Miss Beacon began to rummage around inside the
backpack
Korie
had been carrying.
Korie
kept her hands on the girl to hold her up in the chair.

In a moment, Miss Beacon turned
Korie
around and handed her the flashlight. She opened a bottle of what appeared to
be some kind of medicine. Miss Beacon held the girl’s head back, and slipping
an index finger into the girl’s mouth, she was able to get her to slightly open
her mouth. Miss Beacon poured a couple of ounces of the bottle’s liquid
contents into her mouth.

“Benadryl,” said Miss Beacon. “It will help with the spider
bites.”

Miss Beacon poured another couple of ounces into the girl’s
mouth. She recapped the bottle and put it back into the backpack. Miss Beacon
next removed a water bottle from the backpack. She pulled its squirt top open
and proceeded to pour some water into the girl’s mouth.

“She seems unconscious,” said
Korie
.

“Not exactly, it’s more of a cationic-like state. It’s a sort
of a defense mechanism, like a trance.”

“Will she come to? You know, be alert. We can’t possibly
carry her back to your place.”

“I know.”

Miss Beacon knelt next to the girl and whispered softly into
her ear. She whispered again.
Korie
couldn’t hear
what Miss Beacon was saying but it seemed to work. The girl’s eyelids began to flutter.

“Who is she?”

“Her name is Kelley. Her brother, Samuel, is new leader of
the coven.”

“Is he responsible for this—his own sister chained up in a
cellar hole left to die? Left with all those damn spiders.”

“Not left to die. No, rather you could say, she was being
stored for use later on. Samuel needs her for the welcoming ceremony. She was
going to be offered up to either Moloch or Lucifer.”

“Uh, uh, I ah,” said Kelley as her eyelids fluttered.

“She’s regaining consciousness?” asked
Korie
.

“Maybe. Kelley, Kelley, listen to me. We’re here to help you.
Do you think you can stand? Can you walk?”

“He’s dead. He was my friend. He…”

“Who’s dead?” asked Miss Beacon.

Just then
Korie
and Miss Beacon
heard a car door slam shut.

Miss Beacon turned off the flashlight. She held onto Kelley
who was beginning to slump down off the chair.

Now they heard a second car door slam shut. Outside the
cellar there were voices, men’s voices and they sounded angry.

Miss Beacon whispered to
Korie
to
move over against the wall next to the cellar doorway.

“Get that gun ready. It looks like trouble is heading our
way.”

Korie
didn’t answer Miss Beacon.
She wasn’t sure
Korie
had the courage to follow
through. She could only hope that the confidence she had in her would prove to
be correct.

The men had spotted the open cellar door

“I’ll go first,” said one man’s voice, “and you cover me.”

“I’m right behind you,” said the other man.

The men slowly and carefully went down the cellar stairs.
When the first man reached the bottom stair he quickly reached around to the
right side cellar wall with his left hand, and flicked on the overhead lights.
Miss Beacon caught a glimpse of his arm retreating back behind the cellar door.

In the light Miss Beacon could see
Korie
,
who had managed to position herself directly behind the cellar door. She had
removed the pistol from her waistband, and now held it firmly with both hands
in a classic shooter’s grip. She held the gun pointing upward, her hands next
to her left cheek.