The streets were completely abandoned as we drove to the same park we had planned to end the first exorcism at. No one was out driving, on a walk, or even in any of the shops and restaurants. Everyone there had simply accepted that this was a night on which to stay home. Which was a pretty good move on their part. We were only halfway there when an enormous feral dog with glowing green eyes slammed itself against the side of Michelle's van. We all decided to get out and fight now that the nasties were beginning to introduce themselves. Michelle got out of the van as the dog began a second charge and decapitated it with a single, effortless stroke of her katana. Yosef yelped and dodged out of the way a half second before a ghoul with long, sharp teeth and longer, sharper claws tried to pounce on him from the roof of a shop. Paranormal levels of intuition are extremely helpful in this line of work. Anyway, Roland brought his axe down on that one. Then eleven or so other monsters (most of them from some movie or other) came out to greet us. It was little scary until the velociraptor and the clown started attacking the others.
"I was wondering if that would take," I said as the others looked on in bafflement. "It's a little something I slipped into the summoning ritual."
Michelle gave me a mildly impressed and said, "You are a very scary man, Mr. Underhill."
Then she waded in and cleaned up the mess. I think that might have been the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Anyway, we went through town like a buzz saw after that. Most of the monsters were actually kind of easy to beat. There were too many of them for Mr. Ash to exert any kind of control or focus, so they were all just running on what he had already put into them. Michelle and Roland were more than a match for them. At the same time, I dealt with the dead. I would "rebuke" Mr. Ash's hold on them in the name Adonai and by the blood of Yeshua. At the same time, Yosef ripped his presence out of the living minions who came after us. He was considerably more capable now that we had done a bit of damage to Mr. Ash's presence in the town and then focused the rest into the vessels we were now dealing with. The whole operation took about two hours, and it was exhausting. But we didn't have time to rest that night. We still had to finish off the big bad before he could recover.
It was Yosef who found the way. We went back to our cars and he led us to the old mine the little girl had supposedly disappeared in. Big surprise there.
I don't like caves. In fact, I don't like going anywhere I don't have the advantage. But we came there to kill the thing, and it hadn't shown any intention of coming out to us. So in we went.
It wasn't long before the mine ended and Mr. Ash's lair began. A few of the charms I had brought were for light, and Michelle had some small lanterns which caused irritation to vampires and other nocturnal nasties which she tossed around as soon as we entered it's lair. His hole had a more natural, cavernous feel. And there were a lot more bones. I don't remember the first thirty seconds or so very clearly. I know Yosef shouted a warning. I know we scattered as the wendigo fell from the ceiling. And it was indeed a wendigo. Mr. Ash stood at about eight feet tall by my estimate. He had grey skin; bloodshot, yellow eyes; six fingers complete with iron claws on each hand; bestial feet with hooked claws designed for climbing; a mane of coarse, dark hair; and a pair of thin, black antlers that followed the curve of its head. Much of it's body seemed emaciated, but then there were parts that bulged with muscle. The hands in particular were absurdly large compared to the mostly spindly limbs they were attached to. I remember that form quite well. I remember emptying my gun at it, although I still don't know if I hit anything. I do know that I got it with my rod. There was a rippling in the air and then some bruises or perhaps burns appeared on the creature's side. It opened its mouth and howled at me, and I could smell rotten meat on its breath. I tried to turn up the juice at that point, and the rod blew up in my hand. I think it still sent a blast at the wendigo, though, because I'm pretty sure that's when it swatted me away and broke a few ribs in the process.
Roland and Michelle were both trying to get the better of it, but it was too fast for them. At one point Roland got his axe stuck in Mr. Ash's shoulder, and he had to snap the handle off when he saw the blood flowing up the head and towards him. He wound up jamming the handle into the creature's side before it sent him flying. Then things took a turn for the worse as Yosef crumpled over. He had been trying to bind Mr. Ash, and the effort had been costing him dearly. There was blood flowing freely from his eyes and nose. He was probably the only reason it didn't kill us all in the first two seconds of combat. Soon it had Michelle on the floor, her sword lying a few feet away. It raised one arm to finish her off, and then Roland emptied his gun into it. A lot of things would have been splatter across the wall by that, but it just got knocked back a few steps. Michelle was still dazed, so it moved back in to finish the job. This time Roland was back and his feet and he tried to tackle the wendigo. That didn't go very well, but it bought Michelle a few more seconds before Roland hit the ground and was occupied with trying to stuff his entrails back inside. I saw the kanji on her blade glowing as the thing turned its attention back to her. And then it charged.
I can't tell you exactly what she did. I think there were four distinct movements that ended with Michelle standing behind the wendigo as it crouched down in agony. She had cut off its arm, but the dark blood was reaching out and dragging the severed limb back to the main body. Then the blade came down one more time. It was a high cost for that stroke. It cost decades of research from Tom Yukimura. From what I read, it cost the lives of a few brave souls who'd had some clue about the true history of this town. It cost bringing a band of supernatural experts together. It took all my experience and skill and that of everyone else on the team to put that sword in place. It fell on the neck of Mr. Ash, and it cut cleanly and easily until it was all the way through.
* * * * *
I think Yosef got us out somehow. I know I definitely didn't walk out when the stalagmites shattered and the walls trembled. However we got out, there was a helicopter there within twenty or thirty minutes. Straub had been waiting for some sign of the creature's demise. He got us all to a safe house and sent some people to collect our cars and our things. He likes to maintain a reputation as a good man to do deals with. I recovered quickly enough, and I wanted to be done with it all, but I also wanted to talk to him before I left.
"Why?" I asked him. "You said Tom Yukimura asked you to take care of this, what were you paying him for?"
The smug bastard folded his hands together and looked me over for a few seconds before he answered.
"I want Tom's help for a job I'm planning," he said. "Tom told me that he wouldn't allow me to break him out of prison for it unless I did this."
"Why not just send in a team, knock him out, and then put the pressure on once he's yours?" I asked. "Don't tell me you don't have a shapeshifter or two you could call up."
"I tried that," said Straub. "He put them all in a hospital."
"Such a badass," I muttered.
"I know, right??" said Straub in return.
That was the most I got out of him, so I decided to head out after one more stop. We're all going out to dinner to celebrate after everyone's recovered a bit more, so I didn't feel bad about skipping some goodbyes. Roland was propped up in bed with a pair of glasses and a kindle when I knocked on his door.
"I'll be gone in a second," I said after he invited me in. "But first, I just have to know. What are you?"
The old man smiled, gestured me to come closer, and then put his face up next to my ear.
"I'm Santa Claus."
I still have absolutely no idea if he was joking or not.
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