Chapter Six

 When the Padre said ‘out the back’, he didn’t mean the knave. He meant in a house he lived in out the back of the church. He led the two behind the pulpit and through a back door with the rifle slung over his left forearm, cocked and still loaded.

“Do you hunt?” Mary asked.

“I live in the country, we all do.” he replied off-handedly, “And besides, we get some really weird people out this way.” the man stopped outside the modest house, looking at them - trying not to judge them, as he was a man of God - and he unlocked the door with a key on a large ring of keys, and let them in as he pushed the door inwards. He engaged the gun and hung it in its place above the mantle over the fireplace on two large hooks which supported the rifle.

“Shouldn’t that be locked away?” Thomas stared at the very open place the weapon was being stored.

“Yes, but I’ve been caught short before and had to smash my weapons cabinet in with a hammer. So above the fireplace is the best place for it right now.” he said, “And please call me Frederick. All the official titles get on my nerves - or Fred is better.”

“Okay, then, Frederick.” Thomas smiled, “We need your help, if you’re willing to give it.”

“Well, we helped a young woman with a Fire Drake last year, so, why not help somebody who can barely stand in my presence without bursting into flames?” he smirked.

The smile fell from Thomas’ face as fast as it was on there, “Oh, you know who I am?”

“Not who - what.” Frederick locked eyes with the young lawyer for a few seconds, then turned his attention to Mary, “And why are you with somebody who is working for a high-level demon like Balthazar?”

Her mouth dropped, “You know?”

The man sighed, “We’ve had some lightning storms and weird shit happening here for about a week, before you two showed up. And only that happens when a high level demon is coming here, or somebody who works for them.” he sat sideways at his desk, resting his arm on the back of his chair, “So, spill. What are you two doing here really?”

“We told you about her mother.”

“And I told you she’s out west with a lot of land.”

“We need to find her.”

Frederick nodded, “And the place is cloaked.”

Mary frowned, “Not from me it isn’t.”

Thomas turned to her, “How do you know?”

A smile grew on her face, “I just do. I know I’ll be able to find it.” she turned to Frederick, “I have the deed to the place, but there’s no address on it - which is what I was looking for, it wasn’t on there. It has a street name, a town, but no property number and no property name.” she pulled open her book bag, and unfolded the deed, “See.” she pointed to it.

Thomas looked at it, and saw she was right. Then, giving it back, he looked over at Frederick again, who had stood and was trying to peer over their shoulders at the deed, “Okay, you tell us the address - and we’ll be out of your hair.”

The man pursed his lips, sitting down again, “And if I don’t?”

Mary blinked, “Well, we’ll do a location spell and find her. Or we’ll do a truth spell and make you tell us… and I’ve never been trained in spell-casting, so if I do a truth spell, it might turn you into something awful, or make you explode.”

Both Thomas and Frederick stared at her, “What?”

She didn’t back down, “Well, what will it be?”

 

She looked at her phone and found the directions Frederick gave her to be right: they led them to a property just outside of town which showed a simple driveway at a couple of posts and a large metallic letter box in the shape of a purple and blue peacock.

She laughed, “Well, that’s my mother alright. She’s always wanted a letter box like that.” then she squinted, and noted there was a post next to the letter box, “Hang on.” putting down the phone, Mary got out of the phone and walked up to the letter box and looked at the post, which was half the size of the letter box, and noticed a carving on the top of it.

“Mary, what is it?” Thomas asked from the driver’s side of the Kombi they were now driving, “What did you find?”

She turned, “A marker.” she turned back and looked at the massive block of land, which looked empty and barren, but she could smell on the breeze something sweet - Sweetpeas. Walking back to the car, she looked at Thomas, “She’s here, and Frederick was right, the house is cloaked. But we can’t reveal her, not with Balthazar on our heels.”

He nodded, “We have to deal with him first.”

 

He took up the last bible and wiped it over before placing it into the box at the back of the church. Damned dust got everywhere, even into the bibles. The sanitising wipes were something of a god-send when they were invented; he didn’t have to worry about people having a cold - and the dust and dirt came right off them with one wipe after each service.

Frederick took up the broom in the corner and walked to the front of the church and began to sweep the new floorboards. He had to work hard to get this place back to what it once was after last year’s invasion of the government - after the town pull together to protect one local man and his city girlfriend and an egg. He snorted: “And egg.” he realised the sacrifices they had all made; and not once did he regret taking over from the last padre from here. And he had some big shoes to fill from him.

The doors opened and shut behind him.

A hot breeze came inside.

Looking up, but not turning, he was sure he had locked that door. Why do people always find a way to unlock it? “We’re closed until tonight’s service. It’s on the noticeboard at the footpath.”

“Oh, yes, you give sermons now, don’t you Freddie.”

The hair on the back of Frederick’s neck stood involuntarily, “Oh shit.” he whispered.

“Oh shit, indeed.” the voice said.

He turned, the broom’s bristles in a pile of dirt in the middle of the aisle, recognising who this ‘man’ was, “Balthazar. I age like any Human, but you never do.”

He flashed a grin as he began to walk down the aisle of the small church looking around, “Well, being a demon, why would I do that? And where’s is God right now? Is he going to protect you from me?”

“He’s always watching on, as he’s always got a plan.”

Balthazar snorted, “A plan… oh yes, God was always the man with the plan. But he never let you Humans in on it, did he?”

“But then, I’m not Human, am I?”

Fiddling with the edge of one of the pews, making it smoke as he did, he chuckled, “Well, no. You’re a Grigori, and you chose this profession to hide who you are.”

“So, why are you trying to threaten me?”

“I want to know where Mary Wilson and my employee is.”

“Oh, your lower form of demon who has the hots for her?” he laughed, “You know, she has enough power inside her to flick your kind from this dimension, don’t you?” leaning on his broom, he watched the demon, “And that’s probably why you haven’t destroyed her. You’re after her mother, Diane.”

The demon snapped a glare at the Grigori, “You watch your step. You may be hiding from Daddy right now, but I can…”

“He knows where I am; and he’s happy to see that I’m not eating the Humans - unlike my brothers who enjoy sipping on the Human soul just to exist.” Frederick grinned, “What I eat is the dark souls of demons; that’s why my congregation are so, nice and pure.”

“You wash their souls clean completely.”

“And you’re not running yet? Such a pure demon as yourself?” Frederick grinned, “Ever wondered why I never use a vacuum cleaner for the church?” he took hold of the broom, shook it slightly and it shimmered, turning into his sword. The light caught it, as it glimmered brilliantly in the sunlight which shone through the windows of the church, “Like I said, you’re not running yet?!”

Balthazar’s eyes widened as he stumbled back towards the door of the church, “Oh, shit!”

 

“I think we have to keep driving.” Mary said leaning into the vehicle.

“I think we have to talk to her.” Thomas said.

“Why?”

“Do you have any idea who - or what - we were talking to back in town?” he threw a thumb over his shoulder.

“Well, a priest.”

“That’s what he wanted you to think.” he said, “You and I were talking to a Grigori. They are a very rare, very vicious race of Angel which God put on the planet millions of years ago. They eat Human Souls if they have the taste for it.”

“If they have the taste for it?”

“The one we ran into wanted to eat mine.” he said, “This is why I don’t think we should go anywhere near him again.”

“Crap… crap… crap.” she mumbled frowning into her phone.

“What?”

“Nothing. I have a radar thing on my phone, for the weather and there’s been lightning storms around the place today.” she looked around, “But the skies are clear.”

“It’s not Balthazar then.”

“How do you know?” she looked at Thomas.

“Because Frederick freaked him out back to his corner in Brisbane.” he said. Then, he looked out the windscreen, “It’s… um… do you remember staring at the gargoyles on the building in the city, and how they made you nervous?”

“Yeah… what are you looking at?” she looked out in front of the Kombi towards the low hills on the horizon, and thought she was hallucinating, “Are they the…”

“Two of the gargoyles who took a great interest in you as you walked into the building a few days ago.” he said, “Get in!”

She glanced down at her phone, saw the storms getting closer and tossed it into her bag and closed the door and stepped back, “Drive!”

“What?! Are you out of your mind? They’ll…”

“They’ll what?” she asked, “There’s a storm coming. If I harness the lightning from it to blow them up, it’ll hurt Balthazar!”

He shook his head, “You’re crazy! You haven’t been taught any of that… get in!”

“No! I have to learn how to control my powers at some point… why not start now? And I’m not going onto my mother’s property until we have gotten rid of those bloody things!” she pointed up at the approaching creatures, “Drive!”

He pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, turned it off and got out. After cloaking it, he walked over to her, “You’ll need help. Sure you could do probably one, but not three.”

“There’s two.”

He pointed past the two they could see, “Three.”

“Oh… okay. Stay here.”