Immortal Memory (Book One) (28 page)

Zach’s lips tugged into a slight smile,
and he nodded with approval. “Yes, he came, but Mandy and Jeff
stayed. They still want to help but have done everything they can.
It’s up to us now.”

Zach could see the house now and walk
inside of it. Loud hammering came from upstairs, and Simra squeezed
Zach tighter in desperation. Did Tristan return already? Was he
trying to hurt Jeff and Mandy? The angel released Simra, took her
hand, and they hurried up the stairs.

Peeking around the doorway, Simra
gasped in surprise. Jeff tore apart the walls with an ax without
wearing his shirt. Mandy stood on the other end of the room with
another ax. They tore big holes in the wall. The corpse's rotten
stench burned Simra’s throat.

The body couldn’t be inside the walls.
Mandy and the detective must have searched the entire place while
she was gone. They revealed the same amount of determination to
destroy him as she did. However, only Simra and Zach could do the
job.

Simra stopped her friend and cousin in
the middle of their intense work. “I appreciate the hard work
you’re doing for me, guys. But you shouldn’t still be at this
horrible place.”

Jeff turned around and dropped his ax
onto the floor. Perspiration beaded across his torso. “Sim, you’re
all right! Where’s Tristan?”

Simra returned Mandy’s gentle hug after
her cousin dropped the ax onto the floor. “Yeah, I’m all right.
Tristan’s in pain for now. Zach wounded him, but I don’t have much
time. Guys, I’m the only one who can destroy it. The ritual won’t
succeed if you two do this.”

Mandy rested a soft hand across her
cousin’s cheek. “Maybe that’s so, but we’ll at least help you find
the body. So far, we’ve searched the entire house. Grandma kept
looking at a spot in the ceiling when she was here. We think she
knows where it’s located. This place has an attic, but we can’t
find an entrance.”

Simra cast all thoughts of the body
aside. “Whose idea was it to bring Grandmother to this horrible
place?”

Jeff and Mandy exchanged troubled
glances, and the detective spoke up to her. “It was my idea. She
spoke to us and begged us to bring her here. She knows where the
corpse is hidden. We believed she could lead us to the body. This
is why we brought her with us. I apologize.”

Mandy interjected before Simra had the
chance to speak. “It’s strange because she only remembers and
senses things about you and Tristan. It puzzles me how she has such
a connection to you two.”

Simra refrained from arguing with Jeff
about their grandmother being brought to the place. “It's the curse
that connects her to me and Tristan. Jeff, it might’ve been good
for Grandmother to come, but it’s too dangerous. Regardless of how
much she wants to help, please don’t do it again.”

Jeff picked up the ax to tear at the
walls again. “Sorry, Sim. It won’t happen again. For now, we’ll at
least help you find the body. You can destroy it. There’s another
ax beside Mandy. I have a feeling there’s a way to the attic behind
these walls. I believe it’s in this room. The disgusting odor is
more powerful in here.”

Simra grabbed the detective’s arm and
pointed to the trap door across the room. “You’re right! The
smell's stronger in here. I think I know how to get into the attic.
Tristan locked me in here the first time, and I escaped through
that trap door. I hardly saw the way through the small passageway
to get to the other room. It was so dark. There might be an
entrance above it.”

Jeff and Mandy’s phones buzzed at the
same time. They dropped their axes to answer them. Simra turned to
Zach with her erratic heart pumping. Why would anyone call them
both at such an odd hour during the morning?

Who
would be calling them at this time and at the exact moment?
Shivers of dread raced down her spine at the thought of the angry
demon. Tristan would be coming to stop them any minute
now.

Zach framed Simra’s face, and his eyes
filled with concern. “We must hurry.”

The phone slipped from Mandy’s hand,
and she turned her worried gaze toward Simra. “Grandma escaped.
How’s that possible? The place is secure. They said she was very
sneaky about it, and they have no idea where she went. Sim, I have
to search for her. She could be in danger.”

Sickness churned the pit of
Simra’s stomach at the idea of her grandmother wandering the
streets alone. Her vigorous heart pumped with fierceness. She ached
to leave the house
now
and help Mandy search for Lucinda.

Zach framed Simra’s face.
“This is what Azazel wants. To distract you. Focus. There’s not
much time. We
must
destroy him now!”

Simra's blood ran cold through her
veins, and her feet froze to the floor. She had no choice. “Find
her, Mandy! I’ve got to stay here and end this. I’ll help you find
her when I’m done.”

Jeff hung up his phone and hurried into
his shirt. “The drug dealer escaped again. His prison guard fainted
mysteriously, and Quint got out of the prison cell. The police have
no idea how it happened. They’re still trying to discover how he
did it. I’m joining them to search for him. He’s shot a couple of
cops already. What else happened?”

Mandy told him about Lucinda escaping,
and the detective paled. Jeff grabbed Mandy’s hand and rushed
toward the exit of the room. “Be careful, Sim. We’ll come back to
help you and Zach when we’re done. This is serious and must be
dealt with now.”

Simra felt the blood rush from her face
when she realized how more danger closed in on them. “Please be
cautious. Both of you.”

She scanned the place for a can of
gasoline and matches. Relief flooded her senses when she saw all of
them together in the corner of the room with an extra ax. She
grabbed the matches and gas can and opened the trap door. Simra
held her breath as long as possible to avoid the rotten
stench.

“Zach, do you think Tristan’s close and
that he caused Grandmother and Quint to escape?”

Zach followed behind Simra before she
dared crawling into the tiny mildewed trap door. “Very likely. I
think he’s close. Hurry before he arrives.”

Her stomach leaped to her throat when
the door downstairs slammed shut, and footsteps brushed into the
house. Jeff and Mandy were already gone. Only one creature would
arrive to pay the house a visit. Tristan.

Chapter 34

"And they have conquered
him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,
for they loved not their lives even unto death." -Revelation
12:11

Zach gave Simra a gentle shove toward
the tiny entrance of the trap door. “Go! Start without me. I’ll
keep Azazel away.”

Simra nodded, held her breath, and
began crawling through the small passageway. Her frantic hands
searched for an opening above her head to get to the attic but
found nothing. Simra’s hips nudged a thin board by accident. It
opened a small door to a hole in the wall with an ascending
ladder.

She climbed to the top where tiny
lights of dawn broke through the attic vent onto Tristan’s body. He
rested still in a coffin. An evil symbol encircled it. His rotten
stench drew several choked coughs from her.

The disgusting odor burned her throat.
They searched for his body too long now. Simra took hesitant steps
toward the body with the ingredients in her arms. She soaked the
corpse with gasoline until she heard footsteps behind
her.

Jerking around, she expected to find
Tristan standing over her. A smile quivered across her lips when
she saw Zach carrying Lucinda instead. She dropped the can of
gasoline. “Grandmother! How’d she get here? Did someone bring
her?”

Zach placed Lucinda onto her feet, and
she took small hurried steps toward Simra. “I don’t know. It’s a
mystery with her condition. She couldn’t have walked. Maybe Lucinda
spoke to a driver on the road.”

He paused and added, “It’s possible she
could’ve told him which street to take her. She’s been here several
times. The curse connects her to Tristan and you, and she’s aware
of many things. She wants to be certain you’ll be all right. She
wants to protect you.”

Lucinda reached to pat Zach
on the arm with a wide smile. Why would her grandmother still seem
so fond of him? Especially now that he wanted her soul. Perhaps
Lucinda
didn’t
know everything.

Simra wouldn’t allow him to take anyone
but Tristan. Maybe Zach changed his mind about taking Lucinda. They
were too worried about destroying the dangerous demon of late.
Ending Tristan was all that mattered right now. Simra would talk
him out taking her grandmother once Tristan got
destroyed.

Then, what of Zach? Tears misted her
eyes at the nagging thought of never seeing the angel again. Zach
came here with one mission from God. There might be nothing left
for him to do after this. She would never see him again.

Simra took one last
lingering gaze at Zach before completing the ritual.
“
In the name of Jesus, I cover you,
Azazel, with the blood of the Lamb and bind you in His name. I
forgive this demon for what he’s done to me and my loved ones.
Lord, cast this demon into the burning pit where he
belongs!
”

Simra jolted back when her grandmother
whimpered from fright. Dropping the matches, she rushed to Lucinda.
Lucinda’s lips quivered while mumbling vague words. Only her
grandmother would know if trouble approached. Tristan must be
coming.

Simra reached for the matches and
almost dropped them again. The floor shuddered with violence from
an earthquake. Simra squeezed the box and rushed back toward the
corpse.

Lucinda almost fell before Zach caught
her. Simra stumbled to the floor. Her ankle fell through the thin
ceiling. She stifled a sharp cry of pain. Simra must have broken or
sprained the thing.

Tristan’s bitter voice thundered across
the room. “Drop Lucinda, brother. This fight’s between me and
you!”

Simra struggled to free her throbbing
ankle from the hole in the floor. The demon’s eyes glowed with his
fists clenched. Zach set Lucinda down next to her granddaughter.
The creaking wood floors still shook with brutality.

Lucinda took an unlit match from the
box and threw it into the coffin. The curse must have caused her to
forget how to light a match. She seemed to still know the purpose;
however.

Before Zach could turn around, Tristan
placed his hand on the angel’s head. He began mumbling in rage at
Zach. Simra pulled her ankle to free it from the tiny hole in the
floor. It did her no good to try.

The angel jolted away and pulled down
his brother’s arms. Zach restrained Tristan to pray over his
brother. The demon’s seething anger made him stronger and more
powerful. It was worse than any other time they battled each other.
Tristan jerked around with clenched teeth to get the best of the
angel again.

Simra moaned in agonizing pain and
relief at once when she finally pulled her ankle free. She cried
out when someone’s rough hands pulled her to stand. Quint placed a
gun to her with the floors quaking. Jeff and Mandy needed to be
there at once. Both of the people they wanted were at the
house.

Quint pressed the gun into Simra’s
waist, and she steadied herself against the wall. “Come wit’ me,
woman. You ain’t got no business here. Step away from his body and
come wit’ me.”

Simra noticed Lucinda struggling to
stand. The woman grasped a board attached to the wall to steady
herself. Her grandmother slapped the pistol from the drug dealer’s
hand. Lucinda struck Quint across the face.

The gun slammed onto the floor, and a
bullet pierced Simra in the stomach by accident. Simra fell onto
the floor when the bullet burned through her flesh, and she cried
in pain. More than anything, Simra's body became weaker as though
she was about to faint again. Then, she realized how long it had
been since she'd eaten. Lucinda kicked the drug dealer, and tears
fell from the woman's tired eyes.

Zach held Tristan down with
determination heavy in his eyes. “Simra, burn the body! Burn it now
before it’s too late!”

Simra’s vision started to blur. She
cried out when the drug dealer knocked Lucinda onto the floor.
Lucinda was motionless with her eyes closing. No, she wouldn’t let
her grandmother die here in such a horrible way! Quint would pay
for the rest of his life.

Simra grabbed a match and lit it in a
rush. The match was tossed into the coffin. Zach’s eyes turned
solid white as he lifted his arms to the heavens. The angel cried a
sacred prayer in an unknown dialect. He must have been finishing
the process.

Tristan screamed when he burned up in
hot flames and turned to dust. The floors stopped shaking. Silence
filled the entire house. Rays of light beamed through the attic
vent.

The demon was gone from their lives
forever. Simra reached for her grandmother, but the drug dealer
stopped her. She reached toward the thug to grab him but was
unable.

Sirens whirred in the distance. With
her blurred vision, she watched Quint escape. Agony filled her, and
she lay helpless across the floor. Lucinda also lay very
still.