No Way To Escape | Novel

CHAPTER 45: 'PUNISH ME'

I would have literally fainted at the scene if I had seen it but now Edward was down at the preliminaries, with the pistol in one hand and the silver coin in another, and with the look of a hungry hound on his face, he was tossing the coin occasionally. Between the tosses, he would observe the coin minutely sometimes, perhaps, admiring its shine.

He was facing the front door which had still not been banged open despite repetitive attempts. An idea of fierce premonition was resurfacing my mind. The sequence was seeming to me like an old western movie, with the hero behind the door, banging and getting impatient for a shoot-out. The bad guy would be standing before him with his blood-stained face with a pistol in his hand, using which he had just murdered his entire family. He was grinning and was looking closely at the door. I was imagining a tense gunfight when the door swayed open. He could have tried through the windows - I thought. But yes, they were at a height, and you never know if the door could break open on another shove. I could imagine and the mysterious person point guns at each other in slow-motion and then start firing at each other with smoke rising out into the air from their guns.

And then the man outside finally managed to break his way in. The door broke at the locks and swayed open fast. But then my imagination disappeared. The man looked like a young clergyman. Not much old, probably in his mid-thirties. He was dressed formally alongwith a long full-sleeve coat. The plain hair on his head and his medium-length beard were all black with just some of them being white.

As he barged his way in, Edward pointed the pistol at him. He stopped at once where he was standing. Edward pulled the trigger. The man squinted and ducked for a while before realizing that the pistol was already emptied. He gave out a sigh and looked back at Edward. There was a faint smile. The look over the Catholic's face was not of fear, but of shock. The blood on his face was reflecting that something terrible had already happened.

'What did you do?', he asked Edward.

'The Awakening', he replied. And then the man looked at the living room, where he saw the old woman dead on the floor, surrounded by blood all around her. He gasped and moved back.

'What the... Ah... So it was what they were planning... Listen to me, Edward. You have been deluded. There's no such path to the Devil which will give you anything. It only takes. And by following the road, you have done what you should never have. Just look around and see the consequences. God!' Droplets of sweat had started appearing on the man's forehead which he wiped away with his hand. Edward was looking at the man's face, expression-less and passive. But the smile, still faint was still just around the corner of his lips. 'I am Shaun Cooper, a chaplain at the Ministry Church. Last week, you had been reported to be in association with two men who were earlier reported to be indulged in acts of blasphemy... Oh Edward, why?'

'You're mistaken, man. Edward is gone. He has been remunerated for his devotion for the Satan. We are his men and we have been assigned our job on what to do. Step aside or you know what's gonna happen'

'Edward Warwick! I know you are listening to me. Don't let these spirits subjugate you. They--'. Then the by-body Edward, throwing the gun and the coin away, scoffed and sprang upon him.

Both of them fell down on the wooden floor, with Edward over the chest of Shaun. 'Edward. Edward...'

'He, our Lord, he's the rightful ruler of this world. The world's waiting for him. Love him, he will take you to the gates of bliss! There's nothing anyone can do to stop us. We are here to teach you a lesson. A lesson to love the Satan. To acknowledge his divinity. He will rule this terra and you shall be his slaves as an offering'. Edward brought his hands onto Shaun's neck and started choking him. 'Our mission will finally be accomplished now. This is not the first time we are here after the Wars. No soul was able to sustain us. Never in all these years. Oh, you humans are so feeble! But after all these years, we finally got the right man. Edward. He will be our pawn. The first pawn for the uprising. And then we will turn to hundreds and then to thousands. We shall be the deadliest parasites in the history of mankind!'

'List--... listen to me... they killed your family, Edward. Come... come out... do not let them--' Shaun's eyes had started rolling. He was holding Edward's hands in desperation to free himself but he was too strong to be overpowered. Even I was desperate myself to stop all these but it seemed like I hadn't ever been there. Just my eyes.

It was when a portly old man rushed into the mansion. From his attire, I could assume he was a priest; though it seemed he was not some other priest. He was neatly dressed in his black padre vestment with a bracelet on his wrist which had a small silver cross fastened to it. Almost all the hair on his head and face had gone white but he didn't look too old. He also had a small brass Holy water sprinkler bottle in his hand.

Rushing into the room and watching the two men struggling, he immediately opened the lid of the bottle and flung the water in it towards Edward. The water fell onto the side of his neck and cheek. He screamed as soon as the water touched him and then fell back, holding his neck.

Coughing and gasping for breath, Shaun got up on his feet in haste and walked back to the priest. 'Thank you for being in time, Mr. Frank. I would have been dead by now if not for you', he said.

'Look what he has done', the priest, Mr. Frank, said. Edward's skin was burning. His screams had filled the mansion. Screams were echoing all over the place. All the spirits were screaming in unison. The shrieks were deafening. His eyes had reddened, so had his skin. He was grunting and struggling. The real Edward was flaring himself up.

'Please pardon me for what I have done. I never wanted to do any of this...'. He was crying. 'I never wanted to do this. They made me do it. Punish me Father. Punish me!! Do-do... do something... Stop them. They are very hazardous... stop 'em. Please'. His shoulders were down. Tears were flowing down his cheeks and his hands were shaking.

'Punishing you won't help, Edward. It's the broth we have to collect. And for that--'. He sighed. The look on the eyes of both Edward and Shaun were frighteningly curious.

'Then what Mr. Frank?', asked Shaun. Mr. Frank sighed and looked again closely at Edward and then contemplated. He looked distraught.

Then came a sharp whoosh and Edward was on his feet now. The horrific look in his eyes were back and he pounced onto the priest. And then again came the sprinkle just before Edward could touch him. This time it was straight on his face.That made him fall down again with a thud, screaming with pain, as if it were acid.

'I can't contain it for much time. It's way too stronger than I had anticipated... and also diabolical', saying so, Mr. Frank pulled out a cross from his vestment and clasping it between his thumb and curled forefinger, showed it towards Edward, who was on his kness now and was silent, with his eyes closed and head down. He was all sweaty and looked exhausted.

With his lips trembling a bit and his hands shaking he started, ' In the name of the Father--'. Edward roared. That was not just a roar of a man. That was the roar of a multitude. A huge, freaking roar. His nerves seemed stretched from over his skin and his eyes had widened with his mouth open. Anyone could see the uvula in his mouth vibrating fiercely. His head was up and he was facing the ceiling, staring at it, red-eyed. His hands were outstretched horizontally to his sides and his fingers were curled in to fists. The floor and the walls started trembling and now Edward stood back up and gave Mr. Frank a stare, followed by a huge roar again.

Mr. Frank didn't want to stop but in his desperation he had forgotten that Edward had to be contained. He shouldn't be let free. 'Cooper!', he called out. Shaun shifted his confused gaze at him. 'I need you hold him or tie him up'

Shaun seemed shell-shocked. 'Hold him?', he asked, gulping, pointing at Edward.

'You need to be fast!'

Before Shaun could move forward, Edward ran towards Mr. Frank and then as he was going to knock him down, Mr. Frank placed his hand over his forehead and started muttering something. It made Edward calm again and close his eyes.

'I have him. I wish this works... Still be prepared', he said to Shaun, faintly. Shaun still seemed to be in a baffled state. Perhaps, he had never seen something like this.

Mr. Frank went on mentally reciting something, closing his eyes. His hands were over Edward's forehead, undisturbed. Some scriptures I guess. All the time, Edward's mind and body seemed calm and he was cooperating.

But suddenly there was tension over Edward's face. There was agony. The skin over his cheeks had started twitching. After a while, when it seemed that the evil was somehow contained, by some simple scripture recitation, things took a turn.