A Righteous Fury

By Max Drewitt

Born to families with polar views of faith, Michael rejected the concept of anything spiritual...that is until the nightmare came after his niece and nephew. Plagued with blackouts and a voice that only he can hear, Michael turns to new friends as he is hunted by demon and demon-slayer alike. No longer able to deny the truth, Michael must decided what to believe in, before the darkness takes him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Max Drewitt
• Release date: Mar 20, 2022

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

It was cold, very cold.

It started in my chest, in the place where I imagine my soul would reside. But the fear was not content with just my chest. It wanted all of me, quickly spreading everywhere, sapping me of strength and robbing me of any hope.

Come out and play, the horrors sang, their otherworldly voices ringing with deceitful sweetness as they approached the van.

Looking into the pale faces of these two nightmares, I could feel my will being sucked into the black orbs that were their eyes. Under their unholy gaze, I could not move, I could not resist. I could only wait for the darkness to take me.

A piercing scream sliced through their seductive song. I jumped at the sound and turned to look at the source of my salvation. Sandy sat petrified behind the wheel.

Self-preservation finally broke free. Drive! I shouted.

The engine revved and the minivan lurched forward. Recklessly, it tore through the florescent lit parking lot, barely avoiding a host of obstacles as it jumped over a curb and onto the one-way street.

I grabbed frantically at the dash, trying to keep myself in the front seat as I had failed to latch my seat belt. A stop sign blitzed past the window and instinctively, I turned to look at my older sister.

Her ‘10 and 2’ grip on the steering wheel denoted some measure of control, but the horrified expression on her face betrayed a complete lack of composure. I...we needed her to calm down.

Might want to watch for stops, Sis, I advised as gently as my racing heart would allow.

Sandy relaxed a little, letting up slightly off of the gas.

I took this opportunity to remedy my seat belt mistake.

What the hell were those things? she asked.

That was something I didn’t want to think about. Fervently, I stared into the rear view mirror counting the seconds as time gave us more and more distance.

"You know what they are," Voice advised.

The unseen speaker made me jump, choking me with panic. A generously wide range of hostile emotions took over as I recognized the Voice that only I could hear. Turning to the side, I glared at my reflection in the glass and snarled quietly through clenched teeth. Not now!

There was a moment of silence before I started counting down from ten.

Frustration bled away slowly as Voice graciously remained silent. Not that this would last. I had been trying to rid myself of it since high school. And while the guidance counselor had told me that we all have an inner voice that speaks to us, I suspected that this was probably a little more literal than what she had implied and could think of two people who were most likely responsible for it.

Mom, my zealously devoted pagan of a mother. A woman who believed that all life came from the nurturing gifts of the Earth Goddess and was not above showing her appreciation by dancing naked in the moonlight - a ceremony that I was grateful I hadn’t been allowed to attend. Mom was all about homeopathic treatments and natural healing long before they were trendy. And then there was Dad; the old-school kind of southern minister, always preaching fire and brimstone, or at least he had been before he was killed by a drunk driver. How those two had ever managed to fall in love was a mystery for the ages. Unfortunately their union had sent more than a few shock waves through both of the deeply religious families, eventually leading to them being shunned.

Aside from Gamgam, my maternal grandmother, moving in to help out after Dad’s death, no other family member had ever reached out. Not one in my entire twenty-three years. I guess that’s what it means to be shunned, my sister had tried to explain to me, to have all of your blood relatives pretend that you don’t exist.

That hadn’t made any sense to me then, and as I got older it made even less sense. How exactly does this match the concept of love and acceptance? But hey, if you can’t practice then I guess all you can do is preach, right? The whole ordeal had left me jaded to the concept of faith and I refused to believe in anything relative to the supernatural. Or at least I had until just a few moments ago. Contrary to what Voice was saying, I wasn't completely sure what those unholy things were or where they had come from. But the one thing I did know was that they were not the humans they disguised themselves as. And, more importantly, I knew what they were after.

Fear gnawed away at me as I spun to face the back seat where my adoring niece and nephew were sure to be in need of some reassurance. Incredibly, they were both fast asleep.

Oh this can’t be good, I muttered in alarm. Confusion at this impossibility festered into worry.

"It is an induced sleep," Voice offered.

My inner irritation gauge pegged out at the input and the hostility I felt earlier returned. But as I looked at my sleeping kin, I knew that I needed to know more. Induced by who? I asked quiet enough as to make sure my sister wouldn’t hear.

"By the guardians afforded to all small children."

Great. More religious stuff that I don't understand. Turning back around, I looked forward just in time to see another stop sign go by. Three more and we'd be at the on-ramp.

"You have to stop them."

As if I could. 

"They have set their eyes on the children, Voice continued. It matters not how far you go. Distance is irrelevant to their kind. So long as they remain in this realm, your niece and nephew will never be safe."

Knots formed in my stomach at this revelation. Closing my eyes, I let my head fall back against the headrest. You just had to say that.

Somehow, I knew Voice was right. As much as I would have liked, as much as I would have wished for, there was no way I could outrun this. Oh, how much easier it would have been to continue on, hiding behind all of the chaos and pretending I didn’t know the truth. But Voice had denied me that.

One of these days, I’m going to learn how to shut you up, I vowed.

Another stop sign came into view.

Now was the moment and knowing it filled me with a mixture of sorrow and dread as I turned to look at my sister.

Stop the car.

What? Sandy asked confused.

Stop the damn car!

Tires screeched and the seat belt pressed hard into my chest as the vehicle skid to a stop. A heartbeat later I was unbuckled and out of the minivan.

What are you doing? she shrieked.

Leaning in through the open door, I looked my older sister square in the face and ignored the fearful whisperings of how this might be the last time I ever saw her. Get to Mom's.

The confusion she wore was replaced by panic as she understood what I was planning. Michael, you can't.

Gamgam will know how to deal with these things, I explained. But she'll need time.

I'm not leaving you here!

You have to, Sis. They're after the kids.

Sandy gripped hard at the steering wheel, torn between worrying for her children and leaving her only sibling to a fate beyond imagination.

Michael, please! There has to be something... she pleaded.

Go.

Unwilling to abandon me, she still hesitated.

Go now! I shouted.

Even still, she was refusing to leave me. Her mouth opened once again in protest and I found myself slamming the door shut and walking away from the vehicle.

The engine revved once again as the minivan lurched forward.

Turning, I watched as the best sister in the whole world sped off with her precious cargo. Be safe, I whispered.

Compared to the commotion of the previous moments, the quietness of the night was deafening. The only sounds to be heard were the soft hum of the distant highway and the steady buzz of an overhead streetlight. Melancholy overwhelmed me as I stared upward at the street lamp. Moths flitted in and out of the light. Am I really going to do this?

Voice remained silent leaving me to struggle with the seclusion of the situation. But the loneliness did not last long. A familiar cold embraced me.

"They're here."

Resigned, I turned and faced the horror. Hello demons.

Two young teens, twins in appearance, held hands as they stood close together. Their youthful faces, cut from a pleasing mold, were outlined with thin angular features. Their hair a flawless blonde, glistened under the street light accenting their pale skin with a sort of golden halo. If not for the unnerving way that they stared at me with their solid black orbs, I might have mistaken them for a normal brother and sister. Might have, but probably not.

The girl looked longingly to where the minivan had just left. I wanted to play with them, she pouted.

I guess you get to play with me instead, I said, instantly feeling like a schmuck for saying it.

Yuck! she grimaced. No one wants to play with you.

The souls of the innocent are much, much sweeter, the boy explained, his face painted with cold malevolence.

The evil I felt from these two was vile in a way that I could have never imagined. A shudder ran through me at the thought of children suffering in the hands of these two nightmares. But there was also something about their haughty attitude that penetrated the nausea I was feeling, just enough to be irritating.

Come, the boy said to his sister, let us pursue our prey and drink of the despair of the innocent.

Oh let's, the girl said giddily, and together they stepped forward.

Incredibly, I moved to stand in their way.

Step aside mortal, the boy commanded.

I will not.

The steel in my voice surprised me. Where it came from, I couldn’t guess. It certainly did not reflect the hollow trembling in my stomach.

This one is beginning to annoy me, the girl said, glaring.

I winced at her icy venom. With their full attention now directed at me, the demonic aura emanating from these two ravaged my self-confidence. Desperately, I tried to steady the trembling in my legs as the bravado that had put me in their way waned.

A wicked smile crept up on the boy’s face sending a flash of heated panic through me. Had he noticed my growing fear?

Perhaps we should play with him a bit, he said, his leering voice filled with the promise of horrible suffering. It's not as if the children could ever escape us.

A spark of anger ignited in me at the mention of my niece and nephew and I was amazed to discover how caring for their safety kept me from complete paralysis when the basic instinct of personal survival did not.

Do whatever you want, the girl snipped. Just hurry up! I want to play with the children.

The boy gave his sister a slight nod and stepped forward.

I watched with morbid fascination as the boy slowly opened his mouth, farther and farther, his lower jaw extending well beyond human limits to reach the center of his chest. A mouth filled with hundreds of black needle-shaped teeth glistened in the street light.

Oh this can’t be good, I cringed.

The boy exhaled and a black cloud spewed out, enveloping me in a world of darkness.

Unable to see, panic gripped me savagely. The urge to run screamed through every part of me nearly driving me insane. But how could I? How could I run anywhere as blind as I was?

A mocking voice grew louder as my tormentor stalked slowly closer. What's the matter? Don't you feel like playing with us anymore?

My eyes were clenched tight as I lowered my face towards the ground. Even blinded by the demon's cloud, I couldn't bring myself to face the terror that was advancing on me.

Seconds ticked by in agony before a voice whispered from directly in front of me.

Know this mortal, the boy sneered. Your place is only slightly above the animals, yet you challenge us as if you were our equal. You have angered me with your ignorant arrogance and your young friends will suffer dearly for it.

A familiar spark of anger ignited again at the mention of my niece and nephew.

"There it is, Voice said. Use it!"

The culmination of fear and outrage exploded and I lunged forward blindly, arms outstretched, desperately reaching for my attacker.

My fingers closed around something cold.

The world of sight returned in an instant and I found myself blinking at the hands that had, just for a moment, been wrapped around the throat of a demon.

"Wow."

The demons looked at each in confusion, albeit safely out of reach.

What's going on brother? the girl asked. I thought you were going to finish him so that we can go and play with the children.

I am going to finish him, he snapped back. Be patient for once.

The girl pouted at the retort, but watched in earnest as her brother opened his maw once again to spew another black cloud, this one much larger and more intense than before.

Despite my every ounce of will, my eyes clenched shut and my face turned downward again as a familiar fear wrenched at sanity and reason.

"Focus, Voice advised. Your niece and nephew are depending on you."

Images of their admiring faces shone out from treasured moments past. Echoes of laughter and stirrings of emotion danced through my core as precious memories reminded me of what my heart valued most. I was the child of an unsanctioned union and mine was the legacy that would be forever despised by those who had shunned me. But none of this mattered to my niece and nephew. They didn’t care about the actions of my mother and father. And the opinions of others meant nothing to them. To them, I was cool Uncle Mike. And the love and adoration that they gave me meant more to me than I had understood.

At the realization of this, the spark that had been so small and insignificant flared hot, filling me with heat. Gone was the cold fear that had paralyzed me and in its place was a determination unlike anything I had ever felt before. For them, I would do anything. For them I would face this horror... and fight!

Eyes still closed, I lifted my head slightly, still focused on the heat that was growing.

A footstep sounded out in front of me and instinctively my eyes snapped open.

The darkness disappeared in an instant and I found myself staring without fear, directly into the face of my opponent.

The boy hastened backwards in alarm.

What is this? the girl asked.

How is it that you are able to dispel the darkness? the boy demanded.

I said nothing, completely clueless as to how I had managed such a feat.

It's a trick, the girl accused. He is pretending to be weak in order to lure us in.

What are you? the boy asked.

I took a determined step forward. I am the one who is going to send you back to hell.

The otherworldly duo looked at each other and shared a smile, the fear fading from their human facade. Only a lesser would say something like that, said the girl.

And here we were actually concerned, the boy mocked.

Inwardly I cursed as I realized what I had done. These two had been ready to run and hopefully leave me and my family alone forever. But my big mouth had screwed things up again. I could hear the words of my departed father ringing out from the past. Even an idiot can be assumed intelligent if he just keeps his mouth shut. So if you must, be that kind of idiot!

You’re not even around anymore Dad, I whispered, and you’re still schooling me.

The girl looked at me in perplexed disgust. This one mutters.

I’ve noticed, the boy replied. I don’t think that he is right in the head.

Obviously. He’s still standing there trying to challenge us.

Their mocking laughter had me scowling.

You will find lesser, the boy began as if he were speaking to a bug, that ‘sending us back to hell’ might be a little more difficult than you imagine.

Really? I challenged.

As I stood there, my scowl threatening to become permanent, the boy closed his eyes and with his feet fixed in place, began shifting his legs back and forth.

I heard a painful grunt of concentration followed by a cracking sound and then watched in shock as the boy’s right leg bent backwards at the knee.

Oh, this has got to be bad, I muttered.

With his full weight now on the left leg, he repeated the process, snapping it the wrong way. His body from the knees up, fell forward and the demon in the human facade reached out with his hands to catch himself.

My eyes went wide with astonishment and my stomach threatened to lose its contents as I stared at this prone posture. But the boy wasn’t done. Forcefully, he contorted his body with sick jerking motions, his torso sinking lower and lower to the sound of breaking joints until it was aligned horizontally just a few inches off of the ground. I shuddered as legs and feet realigned themselves at impossible angles, his knees and elbows now being the tallest part of his new form.

The boy’s head which hovered just inches off of the ground, craned upwards and back. Farther and farther it bent, his neck bones crunching in protest until it rested atop its back.

I grimaced at the grotesque collection of body parts. Oh, that's just disgusting.

A floating laughter rang out to my left and I turned to observe the girl as her body stretched taller and taller, her blonde hair turning black as it grew longer, wrapping around her in strange floating wisps. Upwards her head rose, her arms and legs retracting until all that I could see was her face and the long fluid body of living hair.

She looked down at me and mocked my fearful astonishment. You are not the only one with surprises tonight, she laughed and then flew through the air, her black locks flowing like streamers behind her.

What are these things? I asked Voice.

"A spider and a wraith. These two are very old and very powerful. This is most sad."

Sad?

"In order for them to have reached this kind of power, they must have consumed a very large amount."

Consumed? I puzzled over this for a moment before the soul-rending truth revealed itself. You mean they consumed children.

"Yes."

I swallowed hard as the acknowledgment slammed me, the cold truth of it bearing down on me like a mountain of ice. The idea of a single child in the hands of such malicious monsters was bad enough. But knowing that this had happened before and that it had happened a lot, it sickened me in a way I had never before experienced.

I thought children were given guardians against this sort of thing. So how could this have happened?

"Why do bad things happen to good people?"

Yes, but to children?

Voice made no reply.

I don't believe this, I protested. I've never really put stock in things like heaven or hell, at least not till today. But I have a really hard time accepting the idea that the 'good guys' would let something like this happen.

"It is written that all bad memories will be taken away, leaving only happiness in the hearts of the blessed."

Absolute rage seared through me burning at my sense of reason. And that makes it okay? We're talking about children; innocent helpless children. Tell me Voice, who was listening when these victims cried out for help? Will the memories of their tortured cries be erased as well?

Voice made no response and I seethed with anger at such an unforgivable injustice. As much as I wanted to, I could not see the logic of this ‘master plan’. Hate began to fester in the dark and wounded corners of my soul.

The spider demon skittered about menacingly, while a taunting laughter from the wraith swirled about from somewhere above the streetlight.

"They will begin their attack soon."

My chest churned with turmoil leaving me unsettled, confused and angry. This entire situation was beyond me. In a matter of just a few moments, I had been forced to acknowledge the presence of demonic nightmares in my world and had come to rely on a Voice that I had been trying to ignore since high school. But worst of all, the idea of an infallible good watching over and protecting the innocent had been shattered.

The fire within me faltered.

"Do not focus on those who have fallen. Focus on the ones you can save!"

Images of two smiling and adoring faces sliced through the confusion and the righteous fire flared hot as purpose filled me once again. It was unlikely that I would ever understand or even imagine a justifiable reason for it all. The more I thought about it, the more I doubted I would ever be able to forgive the power that had allowed this to happen. But one thing I knew for certain, I was damn sure not going to let it happen again!

Voice, I don't know what your attachment is to me. I'm not sure if you can even be hurt, but be warned, I am going to send these two back to hell tonight or I am going to die trying.

Voice remained silent, but for a moment, I thought I could feel excitement from my unseen speaker.

But there was no time to contemplate this as the demons began their attack.

•  •  •

Eyes looked down at the scene, their presence unnoticed by the trio below. A lesser versus two fallen, the figure mused. The odds are not good for you mortal.

But there was something different about this lesser being. This one, while aware of his weakness, was determined. He was filled with a fire, a righteous fury. He was resolved to protect and, if necessary, give his own life for the ones he loved.

"Since the beginning, there has never been a greater or more noble act than that of laying one’s life down for another. Will you be the miracle I have been searching for, or will you