Could this be their weakness? With no time to lose, she scooped up a handful of the holy water and threw it at the nearest demon. The creature gave an almighty hiss, and recoiled as though struck. It scurried back, flesh bubbling.
“You can’t get away,” Nina hissed.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” another said.
Remembering the bucket that the priest had been using to carry the dead flowers, Joanna looked around the font until she found it. She tipped out the contents as she regained her feet and then dunked the bucket in the font, filling it with as much water as she could.
“What are you doing? Stephen asked.
“It’s holy water. It seems to keep them back. Now hold still.”
Before Stephen could argue, she tipped the water over him. Stephen cried out in shock.
“I’m not here to be bloody baptised,” he squealed.
Without bothering to explain, she refilled the bucket with as much water as she could, and then tipped it over herself, shivering as the cold liquid soaked through her clothes. Then she dunked the bucket back in the font, hoping to obtain whatever vital drops she could.
“They shouldn’t be able to touch us now that we’re soaked in holy water, so let’s go.” She grabbed Stephen’s hand, and then pulled him behind her. It wasn’t the version of walking down the aisle she had envisioned for herself as a little girl.
As she hoped, the demons cowered away, the holy water providing a temporary barrier. She knew it wouldn’t last long, as the water would evaporate, and she doubted that any lingering effects would be sufficient to keep the demons at bay, so they needed to get as far away as they could. Fast.
When she reached the church doors, she yanked them open and stepped into dazzling sunlight. The sudden brightness made Joanna’s eyes water after the muted interior of the church, and she blinked rapidly.
Behind her, she heard the demons roar, and the sound chilled her more than the water.
“What do we do now?” Stephen asked.
Joanna glanced back into the church where the demons lingered.
“I’ll find you,” Nina said.
“We need to get as far away as we can, as fast as we can,” she said, tugging him towards the car.
Once they were safely seated inside the vehicle, Joanna felt a little more secure. Although the cars bodywork would probably prove useless against an attack, its presence felt like a protective barrier.
She looked at the bucket at her feet, disappointed to see less than an inch of water sloshing in the bottom.
“So what’s so special about that water?” Stephen asked as he started the car up.
“It’s been blessed, so I guess the demons don’t like it.”
“Well being holy didn’t seem to stop them entering the church or killing that priest.”
The remembrance of seeing the priest’s neck snapped was not something she wanted to dwell upon. “Let’s just get out of here.”
She looked through the window at her side and saw the demons gather outside the church.
Most terrifying was that instead of looking angry, they were grinning.
“Where to?” Stephen asked.
Joanna clenched her teeth. “Back to Temple hospital.”
CHAPTER 19
“This is crazy,” Stephen said. He stared at the hospital. Once just a place of work, it now made him shake in terror.
“It’s no good running. They’ll only find us. You’ve seen that.”
“So why come back here?”
“Because this is where Lincoln is.”
“So what are you saying, that we save them the trouble of finding us and just hand ourselves over to them?”
“Of course not.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Being a demon’s plaything isn’t high on my list of things I’ve always wanted to do.”
“We can’t run and we can’t go to the police. We’ve got to find a way to defeat them.”
“Great, you, me, two water pistols and an almost empty bucket of water. Where’s Rambo when you need him?” He looked at the red plastic gun that they had purchased from a newsagent en route to the hospital.
“Have you got a better idea?”
“Yes, let’s just get away and let someone else deal with it.”
“No one else knows about it.”
“We could make an anonymous call to the police.”
“They’d think it was a crank.”
Stephen put his face in his hands and rubbed. How the hell had they ended up in this mess?
“So how do we defeat them?” he asked.
“We’ve got to record their meeting at midnight. I can use my phone to record it, and then forward it to the press offices and the police.”
“It sounds too dangerous.”
“It’s either that or become one of them.” Joanna grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I love you,” she said.
“I should hope so too. Who else would take on a den of demons armed with a water pistol for you?”
“My hero.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Now we need to check out that basement and find somewhere in there to hide before midnight.”
Stephen glanced at his watch. Midnight seemed a long way away; this was going to be the longest few hours of his life.
They filled the water pistols, exited the car and walked hand in hand towards the entrance. Stephen stuffed the pistol down the waistband of his trousers and felt a little of the water trickle down his leg. It made it appear he had peed himself. Although he wished it was a real gun rather a kid’s toy, he had seen the effect the water had on the demon in the church, so it reassured him a little that they might be able to hold them back.
But then he thought about the demons superhuman strength, and the fact that somehow, they had managed to track them down like supernatural bloodhounds. So if that was the case, what other talents might they have? The grim thought made his gun seem more and more like a toy again.
“It might help if you can still obtain the other cornea recipients details, just in case this doesn’t work,” Joanna said as they walked along the corridor.
“I will. But first, let’s check out the basement. And keep your head down. We don’t want anyone to see you.”
When they reached the door to the basement, Stephen took out his water pistol and led the way down the steps. He was thankful that the corridor was brightly lit as it meant he could see if anyone was lying in wait, which they weren’t.
Once inside the room where Joanna had overheard the demons, they searched for a place to hide. Panels on the walls contained fuses and switches for the hospital’s main supplies. As well as these, the room housed the heating controls, and various tanks and bottles supplying air and various gasses to the emergency rooms above, along with the central heating system.
Along one wall was a door into a small storeroom containing old mops, brushes, buckets and other cleaning supplies.
“What about hiding in here?” Stephen asked as he surveyed the storeroom.
“It stinks,” Joanna said, wrinkling her nose.
“Yes, but those slats in the door will allow us to look out without being spotted.”
Joanna didn’t seem convinced.
“If you want to do this, it’s the best option as far as I can see and there’s plenty of room for both of us to fit inside.”
“It just seems too obvious.”
“What do you mean?”
“If they’re going to check for anyone eavesdropping on them, then this will be the first place they look.”
“But they probably won’t check.”
“Probably isn’t good enough. We need to be certain.”
“Well we can’t be certain of anything, but unless you can find somewhere better, then this is it. Anyway, wait here while I see if I can get those records.”