Battle of the Cherubs

By Tezi Beach

Tia Menendez is a special cherub created by God to fight battles against evil. She has the ability to see and speak with the beings in the spiritual world. She also possesses powerful spiritual gifts bestowed upon her by God. Tia's story continues with her facing a new enemy, Corrigan, a very powerful cherub who practices the occult and participates in sacrificial ceremonies. This cherub is the head of a psychic foundation in Cassadaga, Florida, where demons roam free, and the locals are bewitched by Corrigan's powers. With the help of her coven of worshippers, her henchman, and her pet jaglion, Corrigan kidnaps humans and offers them to her gods through a grueling and barbaric ritual. Once captured, no one escapes the confinement of the foundation.

When Corrigan discovers that Tia is a cherub and attending classes at a nearby university, she enlists the help of Charmo Vetr, a very old and powerful demon. Together, they devise a plan to destroy Tia. But God has confidence in Tia's devotion to Him. Using two of His mightiest angels, Alcander and Azimi, and Tia's friends, God sets forth His plan to rid the world of the evil presence of Corrigan and the demons that influence her actions.

This story is full of nonstop action and cliff-hangers that leave the reader desperate to find out what is going to happen on the next page. It is a fight for survival with humans, angels, and demons battling for good versus evil. Who will win? Is Tia strong enough to overcome Corrigan's powers? Can Tia's friends rely on God's guidance to save the people they love from an excruciating death? Read this story and find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781639033898

Book preview

1

Five Years Later

They were lost. Yep, no doubt about it—lost in the endless swampy forest that surrounded Lake Colby in the central part of Florida. It was early evening, and the enormous orange sun had just completed its daily drop below the horizon, leaving the skyline brushed with a multitude of brilliant colors. The stars were beginning to peek through the atmospheric veil that was slowly fading away along with the sunlight as if God had pulled the shade over the window, thus ending the day. The air was stifling from the heat that refused to dissipate as nighttime unfolded. The humidity was thick and heavy, leaving their skin wet and dripping. The persistent insects buzzed around their ears and mercilessly pierced their skin, injecting venom that itched and stung as they hiked through the tangled underbrush.

Earlier that day, Kenny and Darlene had decided to spend a day in Cassadaga, Florida, because Kenny heard there was a haunted mansion located somewhere on the outskirts of town. They drove from their hotel in Orlando northward. One minute, they were rolling through the acres of pasture and cypress preservations, and the next, they were entering the small town along Cassadaga Road. Darlene wasn’t sure what she had expected, but this didn’t even come close.

The town was old-fashioned and dilapidated with numerous two-story homes lining the cracked and overused streets. The narrow sidewalks were split with large fissures that erupted as the plant life tried to push through the concrete, reaching upward to catch the rays of sunlight.

Most of the homes were weather-beaten and needed new paint. Large screened-in porches surrounded the homes and were attached by narrow wooden planks that were cracked and peeling. Some homes had been boarded up long ago, and the yards had been left to the strangulation of weeds and native plants. There were numerous dead trees with thick, twisted, and knobby branches. They stood stark and lonely along the roadway with Spanish moss dangling in the wind. It gave the town an ominous vibe.

They drove past a post office that had probably been built in 1920, a welcome center, one hotel, and a Spiritualist Camp, or so the sign read. Kenny pulled into the parking lot of the camp. Darlene opened her car door and immediately regretted it. She was instantly blasted with a heatwave. Her pores immediately reacted by emitting tiny droplets of perspiration.

Great, she commented without enthusiasm, I’m already sweating. Seriously, Kenny, this town is like nothing. It blows. Do we have to stay?

He responded, Yes, Darlene. We have to stay. You promised we could spend the whole day here as long as I had you poolside with a mai tai, umbrella included, by nightfall.

Kenny looked around. This place was awesome. Old battered homes that were worn out and had seen better days, dead trees with creepy swamp moss blowing in the breeze, psychics in every home on every corner, peering out through the dirty cracked windows at the naïve visitors—he could almost feel the ghosts wandering around, waiting to be summoned. He stepped up to the curb just as a black cat walked across his path and scampered off into the alleyway. How much better could it get?

After much protest, Kenny convinced Darlene to visit one of the psychics at the Spiritualist Camp. He enjoyed the performance; Darlene was skeptical. She thought the woman was a fraud. Her theatrics were exaggerated and unbelievable. She didn’t tell Darlene anything she didn’t already know. Afterward, they wandered around the two streets that intersected at the town square. They ate lunch in one of the diners because it was supposed to be haunted. Nothing interesting happened. Kenny was like a little kid in a candy store, soaking it all in. Darlene concluded that he was nuts.

Kenny began to nag Darlene about the haunted house. He wanted to find it. No one in town would discuss it with them. They tried to talk to the server in the restaurant. They questioned the clerk in the small store. They even walked into the welcome center but received little to no information. No one would tell them exactly where the house was located or if it even existed. Darlene was tired and wanted to go back to Orlando. They were on vacation and planned to visit Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom the next day.

After lunch, they left the immediate town area and decided to walk over to Colby Alderman Park. They found the park to be rather boring as it only contained one small rusty playground that had withstood too many rainstorms and one boat dock weathered by the elements. Wandering out to the edge of Lake Colby near the boat ramp, they saw a sign that read:

BOAT TO S.H.I.T.

PLEASE WAIT HERE FOR ASSISTANCE.

"Boat to shit? What does that mean?" Kenny questioned as he swatted away a swarm of mosquitos. Thinking the sign was weird, he decided to do an Internet search for S.H.I.T. He pulled out his cell phone. Rapidly, his thumbs flew across the screen. He discovered that it was a foundation that provided spiritual guidance through a famous psychic named Corrigan. The more he read, the more interested he became. There were pictures of a massive home on the website that resemble the haunted mansion he heard about. He was stoked.

Excitedly, he said to Darlene, Let’s try to find this mansion. It can’t be that far. We can see the other side of the lake from here.

Darlene complained, Seriously, Kenny? I’m not walking in this heat around a lake that is probably crawling with alligators, lizards, and snakes. Are you crazy?

Kenny just laughed and replied, Darlene, look around. We are standing on the edge of the lake. There are no critters to be worried about. Why would they build a park with a playground if there were dangers of animal attacks?

Darlene mulled over his logic. She wasn’t convinced. From the look of the playground, not too many children came to the park to play. She decided it wouldn’t hurt to walk north until the lake began to turn eastward, and then she could decide if she wanted to go any farther.

They hiked several miles northward and reached the point where the boundary of the lake began to turn east. Darlene was hot and itchy from the insects that were swarming around her head. Luckily, earlier that morning, the clouds had kept the temperatures below eighty. She had put on long pants, sneakers, and a ball cap. Now that the clouds had burned off and the sun was high in the sky, the air was stifling. She didn’t want to go any farther. She didn’t want to get lost in the freakin’ middle of nowhere, but Kenny was persistent.

Kenny told her to look directly west. She did and realized she could just barely see the outline of a home resting in the woods. He pulled out his cell phone and showed her that he still had reception. If they got lost, they could just call 911, have them ping their GPS, and be rescued. Kenny really wanted to find this haunted house. These things were his passion.

Darlene gave up her argument and began walking around the north end of the lake. After a while, she noticed the vegetation getting thicker. Navigation around the edge of the lake became harder to manage. Again, she wanted to turn back, but Kenny persuaded her to continue just until they reached the point where the lake began heading south again. If she had known how far that distance was, she would have protested harder. They walked in silence. The hike was more treacherous, and they needed to concentrate on placing one foot in front of the other to avoid getting tangled in the underbrush.

It was late in the afternoon by the time they reached the northeast corner of the lake where it began to head south. Darlene was about to call it quits when they stumbled onto a very tall metal fence with coiled barbed-wire wrapped around the top edges. It was hidden by the underbrush that had grown over the years. They could see that the fence extended at least twenty feet beyond the edge of the lake directly into the water. Most of the portion of the fence in the water was covered with green and brown algae, suggesting it had been there a long time and mostly left unattended.

Kenny stopped and said, Why would someone need a fence this tall? And why would it need to extend that far into the lake?

Darlene didn’t care. She just shrugged her shoulders and whined, "Kenny, let’s head back. We can’t go any farther around the lake unless we want to get in the water and swim around. I’m definitely not going to get in that water."

Kenny scrubbed his face in frustration. He didn’t want to give up. They still had a few hours of sunlight left. Surely, they could find a way around the fence and continue heading south until they found the S.H.I.T. compound.

He compromised, You sit and rest. I’m going to walk a little way along the fence to see if there is any way to get inside.

Darlene plopped down on the grass, happy to have partially won this battle.

She said, Go for it, but don’t get lost.

About an hour passed, and Darlene was beginning to worry about Kenny. He shouldn’t have been gone this long. She took out her cell phone and saw that there were still a few bars remaining.

Good, she said. I have some reception.

She dialed Kenny’s number. He answered immediately.

Where are you? Darlene asked in a whiny voice.

I’m heading back, he responded. I found a place where we can get past the fence. It’s not too far. We can go inside and explore, look for the house.

Darlene waited a few more minutes until she saw him heading toward her along the fence line. By this point, she was done hiking in the Florida wilderness, even if it wasn’t that remote. She just wanted to leave and head back to the relaxation of their hotel and drink fruity cocktails.

When Kenny approached her, he was excited and out of breath. In between gulps of air, he blurted, Darlene, this fence belongs to the S.H.I.T. compound. There are signs all along warning people against trespassing. About twenty yards that way, the fence becomes electric. He pointed in the direction he had come from. I can feel the static radiating from it. I say we go and find this place and see if it really is haunted.

Darlene looked at him like he had asked her to climb aboard an alien spaceship and head to Mars.

Seriously? Are you crazy? she complained. "If the sign says ‘No Trespassing,’ then why would we trespass? It clearly was put there to keep people like you out!"

Kenny smiled and responded, Nah, they just put those signs up to look important and keep people from hunting on their property. They don’t care if we explore. We aren’t going to do anything.

Darlene didn’t like it. Ken, let’s just go back and sit around the pool and have some cocktails. I’m done with the nature hike. I get it. Florida has lots of trees, bushes, and plants that grow so thick it is impossible to walk through. The bugs are horrendous, and the ground is either sandy or mucky. I saw a large alligator swimming in the lake while I was waiting for you. How much nature do I need to experience?

Kenny was exasperated. Why didn’t she get it? He was so emotionally pumped. They were so close to finding this haunted house. She would just have to deal with a few discomforts for a few more hours.

Look, he said with irritation, we’ve come this far. The house can’t be located that far from the fence line. Let’s go inside and walk for a little bit. If we don’t find it, then we can turn back and be in the car before it gets dark. Come on, pleeeeaassee.

Darlene could never resist his pitiful pleadings. What if we get caught? she questioned.

Kenny responded, We will just say we got lost. What can they do except escort us off the property and take us back to the car which will save us the hike back?

Darlene still wasn’t convinced, but she had to admit she was a little curious about the haunted house, especially after seeing the fence. What would they be hiding inside?

Her curiosity won the internal battle in her mind, and she relented, Okay, just a peek, then we head back.

Excitedly, Kenny turned around and helped Darlene navigate through the thick plants and small trees that had invaded the land with a vengeance. They reached the place where they could access the property and get over the fence.

Pointing to a branch high in a tree, Kenny said, See? Look up there.

Darlene turned her face upward and let out a sarcastic chuckle. "You can’t be serious? Climb that tree, shimmy across that limb, and drop down on the other side? Is this your grand plan? I thought there was a gate or something."

Kenny grinned, Yep, it’s an adventure. I know you can climb trees and I know you aren’t afraid. Let’s do this.

Darlene’s ego took over her common sense as she grabbed a low-hanging limb and hoisted herself up to a notch in the huge trunk of the tree. She didn’t know what type of tree it was, but it had hundreds of vines hanging down with many of them buried deep into the ground. She carefully maneuvered up and over to the limb that hung over the fence and extended to the other side. She could hear Kenny’s labored breathing as he followed her up the tree.

She placed her bottom on the limb and straddled her legs on each side. Using her hands to push herself forward, she inched along the limb until she cleared the fence. Once she was far enough away, she looked down for a spot where she could drop without breaking a leg. She saw a small clearing, swung around the limb, bent over, grabbed the limb by her hands, and flipped off the branch, gracefully landing on her feet. She waited for Kenny to complete the drop, and they headed into the deep canopy of the forest.

Kenny decided it was better to walk close to the edge of the lake so that they would not lose their bearings and get lost. After a while, this proved to be an impossible task because the ground was too muddy, and it sucked at their feet, leaving deep depressions that quickly filled with water. Gradually, the underbrush became too thick along the waterline, and they were forced to move away from the lake and navigate deeper into the woods.

Darlene stopped walking and said, This isn’t working. We’ve been walking for at least an hour, and the trees are getting thicker, and I have no idea where the lake is. Are we lost?

Kenny replied with a little more irritation than he meant to, "Seriously, Darlene, stop complaining. We aren’t lost. I have GPS on my cell phone. I was a Boy Scout at one time and I do know how to hike in the woods. Besides, the lake is only about fifty feet in that direction," he pointed with his hand.

Darlene didn’t realize this then, but there were several problems with Kenny’s retort. First, they were lost, and Kenny suspected so. Second, his phone died about twenty minutes ago—so no GPS. Third, he had been a Boy Scout, but he didn’t remember anything from his training about how to hike in the woods. Last, the direction he had pointed toward the lake was incorrect. He actually pointed north instead of west. They were slowly heading southeast, deeper into the woods, away from the lake, and away from where they crossed over the fence.

Dusk was settling into the thick forest. Along with the increasing darkness, hordes of mosquitoes emerged. They could hear the night calls of the animals as they began to awake from their slumber to hunt. Darlene was becoming more anxious by the minute. She could hear a whippoorwill off in the distance calling to another one close by. The sound was haunting as it echoed throughout the branches of the trees, bouncing one way and then the other. Her ears were ringing from the constant chirp of the crickets while numerous bullfrogs joined the chorus. The sounds in the swamp were eerie and did nothing to ease her mind.

Kenny, she whispered, This place is creeping me out. We need to head back to the fence and leave. It’s getting dark.

Kenny had become increasingly more annoyed the farther they hiked. He knew they were lost and knew he had no idea how to get back to the fence or the lake. He thought if they just continued moving forward, they would eventually reach the grounds of the house. He was obsessed with seeing this haunted mansion.

He finally relented to Darlene’s nagging and said, Darlene, do you have any signal out here on your phone?

She took out her phone and realized it had run out of battery power at some point. She replied, Nope, mine’s dead. How about yours?

Kenny, not wanting to admit that both phones were dead, replied, I had a few bars a while ago but nothing now.

Darlene responded, A while ago? What’s that mean? Are you telling me we have no reception out here and no way to determine where we are?

Kenny hung his head low and pulled out his phone. He saw nothing but a black screen. Darlene, the truth is that my phone died too. I thought I knew which direction the lake was, but now that it’s almost dark, I have no idea which way we should travel. I can’t see the sky because the trees are too thick, and I can’t determine east from west.

Darlene freaked. "What? We are out in this swampy forest, hiking deeper into the woods, and we have no idea which way is out? Are you serious?"

Kenny tried to diffuse the situation. No reason to get upset. I’m sure if we keep walking, eventually, we will find the house. Let’s just keep moving forward until—

Kenny’s sentence was abruptly cut off by a high-pitched feral roar coming from above their heads in the trees.

Darlene’s eyes widened, and she hissed, Ken, what was that?

The roaring immediately stopped.

Darlene grabbed Kenny’s arm and looked around for any sign of movement. The trees were thick, dark, and sinister with vines gently swaying in the breeze. They reminded Darlene of phantoms as they cast shadows and blocked any remaining rays of sunlight. Panic began to overload her senses as it energized her veins with adrenaline. She began to say something to Kenny, and he hushed her by placing a firm hand over her mouth. He closed the distance between them until his face was inches away from her face. She could see the whites of his eyes and the fear that enveloped his expression.

Kenny moved over to her ear and whispered, Something is in the trees. Can you see it?

Darlene could feel his hot breath, and she nodded her head as she continued to scope their surroundings with wild eyes. Suddenly, a quick movement could be seen out of the corner of her eye off to the left in a tree several paces away. She jerked her head in that direction to focus more clearly, but nothing moved.

Grrrrrrrrrgh. She heard a deep growl interrupt the quiet of the swamp. It was coming from the direction where she thought she had seen movement.

Kenny, something big is moving in the trees over there, she breathed as she tipped her head in that direction.

Kenny slowly turned around and scanned the trees over to the left. He thought he could see the dark outline of something large, although it could have been a trick of the shadows. He wasn’t sure.

Darlene, let’s move slowly and quietly in the opposite direction, he whispered.

They both turned around and began making their way through the underbrush and around the large trees in their path. Abruptly, swift movement caused the trees overhead to rustle. Then they heard that same eerie low snarl erupt from another tree directly in their path. Kenny and Darlene froze mid-step.

Darlene was petrified. She whispered to Kenny, Did you hear that? Something moved through the trees, and now it’s in front of us. What can move through trees like that?

Kenny quietly responded, Monkey? Bear? Big cat? I don’t know. Do they have any of those animals in Florida?

Darlene thought for a second and said, Well, it’s a tropical environment, so probably monkeys. Big cats live in Africa, and I’m positive there are no bears in Florida.

Kenny acknowledged with a nod of his head and replied, If it’s a monkey, then he’s just playing around with us. We need to keep moving in the opposite direction of where he is.

Once again, Kenny and Darlene gradually turned around and headed back in the direction they came from, away from the animal in the trees. Grrrrrrgh. The sound was mean and nasty, causing Darlene’s anxiety to increase. She felt like some creature was ready to tear the flesh from their bodies and devour them alive. They continued walking southeast, carefully listening for sounds of movement or growling. They could barely hear the deep snarl behind them. It seemed to be farther and farther away. Kenny was glad about that. Maybe the animal lost interest and was headed back into the woods to hunt smaller prey.

The creature hid in the tree canopy above and behind Kenny and Darlene. It watched with penetrating red eyes. It could clearly see the couple lumbering across the thickets and maneuvering around the trees. It recognized their smell. These two were drenched in fear. It sniffed the air and caught a whiff of their perspiration as the heavy humidity soaked their pores. It let out a rumbling growl to warn them of its presence. Its haunches were raised, and the hairline on top of its back was standing on end. It flexed its massive paws, causing piercing talons to emerge as it pressed against the trunk of the tree, leaving claw marks that caused the tree to weep fluids. As it licked its chops, huge pointed teeth protruded from its enormous jaw. It was patient. It would wait.

Kenny and Darlene’s shaking bodies continued to move forward away from the growling sound. Darlene couldn’t help sneaking peeks behind them to see if anything was following. It had only been minutes, but she felt like it had been hours. She searched the trees and suddenly stopped in her tracks. Are those eyes? She wondered. About fifty feet behind them located about twenty feet off of the ground, she could just make out the silhouette of something large. In the dead center of the shadow were two large red dots that glowed in the darkness. Nothing else moved. She continued to stare until the volume of the animal’s growl intensified, sending her scrambling to catch up with Kenny.

The terrain was treacherous as they tried to work their way through the banyan and rubber trees, causing them to trip over the massive root systems and hanging vines. Sawgrass sliced their skin, cutting micro slithers that bled and mixed with their sweat, leaving a trail of odor too irresistible for any predator. They came upon a section of underbrush that was too difficult to cross, so Kenny turned them eastward to go around. The instant they shifted direction, there was movement in the trees, and the growling intensified. The creature moved in the direction they were headed.

Once the creature had positioned itself in a tree that blocked their path, it again grumbled with a fierceness that said it meant business. It clearly did not want them traveling in that direction. The growl was longer and louder and was meant to stop them in their tracks. It waited to see what they would do while it crouched on a branch about fifty feet away.

When Kenny heard the animal, he stopped so suddenly that Darlene slammed into his backside, causing them both to bumble forward and almost lose their balance.

"Damn! What’s the deal? I almost fell over. We could have been hurt!" he snapped at Darlene.

Sorry, she replied, you just stopped. I didn’t see you in time. Kenny, did you see the trees moving again and hear that growl? It sounds like it’s in front of us again. Can you tell?

Kenny looked up into the trees, and he could definitely see a large shadow lingering on a branch. He could also see two red dots. Are those eyes?

Darlene, can you see that dark shape up in that tree? Can you see two red dots that look like eyes? he whispered.

With a shaky voice, Darlene responded, Yes, I can, and I saw them earlier when we were headed the other direction. Kenny, I’m scared. Is there more than one of these things? What do you think we should do?

Kenny was pondering that exact question. When they headed north, the animal moved in the trees to block their path. Now that they were headed east, it seemed like the animal was doing the same thing. Maybe it knew they were lost and was helping them find their way out?

Highly doubtful, Kenny breathed out loud.

Huh? Darlene asked.

Nothing, never mind, he replied. I think there is only one, and it doesn’t want us to go this way either. We should turn and head the other way and hike a little farther, past that stand of bushes up there. It looks brighter over that way.

Kenny, this is not right. What kind of animal gives directions on which way to go in the woods? Darlene snapped.

I don’t know, he hissed, but I’m not going to find out what happens if we continue in this direction, knowing it is right out there in front of us.

Kenny moved aside and headed in the opposite direction, and Darlene followed. They could hear the animal’s grumbles begin to fade as they continued walking southward. They had only traveled a few minutes when they approached an area that seemed lighter. Pushing through the bushes, they came upon an old service road. It was muddy and full of potholes, but a road meant people, and people meant salvation. Kenny stepped out onto the road first and looked both ways. The road was worn, unused, and overgrown in many places, but it was still a road. He motioned for Darlene to step out of the woods and follow behind him.

They began walking south down the road, although they had no idea that was the direction they were heading. Comfort overtook their anxious emotions as they realized they were on their way toward help. Kenny figured it wouldn’t be long before they were safely back at their car and driving back to their hotel.

Kenny, Darlene said, breaking his thoughts, Where do you think that animal is? I haven’t heard any rustling in the trees or that nasty snarling.

Who cares? Kenny responded. I’m just glad that it left us alone and decided not to attack or something.

Darlene let out a large sigh. I guess you’re right, but I don’t know. It seemed like it was following us. Don’t animals become very quiet right before they attack?

Kenny chuckled with nervous laughter. You’ve been watching way too many Animal Planet shows. Most animals attack with ferociousness to scare their prey so they won’t fight back. I don’t think we will see it again.

Darlene wasn’t so sure. Although only a few minutes had passed, she still felt like its evil eyes were burning holes in the back of her head. She scanned the trees along the roadside to see if she could see those red dots blazing a trail through the shapes in the trees. Nothing. Everything was completely engulfed in darkness. Even the moon was hidden behind the clouds. She was having trouble seeing Kenny who was only a few feet in front of her. She wanted to hurry but knew it was dangerous.

In the thicket of the trees about twenty feet from the edge of the road, the creature waited. It could hear the heartbeat of the people it had been stalking. As instinct kicked in, the creature’s heart adjusted its rhythm to match that of its prey. Now its heart was beating exactly at the same time as the male walking in front of the female. It was soothing to the animal as it prepared to launch from the bushes.

Darlene suddenly realized she could no longer hear the normal nighttime sounds in the swamp. As a matter of fact, she didn’t hear anything except the quiet crunch of their footsteps on the dirt road. Maybe Kenny was wrong. Dead wrong. Maybe that thing was sulking in the bushes, waiting to pounce and rip—

Darlene’s thought was never finished. Out of the bushes to her right, black fur, slicing claws, and piercing snarls blasted onto their path. The huge animal lunged from the darkness and landed on the roadway directly in front of Kenny. Darlene screamed. Kenny scrambled backwards, tripped over Darlene, and they both tumbled to the ground. Darlene looked up and could barely see the contours of the massive body that followed the red eyes. The creature slowly paced back and forth across the road blocking their way. She grabbed Kenny’s arm and held tightly, trembling in fear. Nothing happened at first as the animal paced from one side of the road to the other while panting and snorting.

Neither Kenny nor Darlene could move. They were huddled together, afraid to do anything. Suddenly, the animal lifted its immense head and roared. The sound was deafening. Darlene thought it sounded like a lion or some type of large cat, but she couldn’t tell. She was terrified. Within seconds, she jumped up and bolted in the other direction. Kenny tried to stop her, but the adrenaline in her bloodstream was fueling her muscles as she outmaneuvered his attempt. She burst down the road as fast as her legs could pump.

The animal instinctively began pursuit. It vaulted around Kenny and raced after Darlene with huge strides, quickly covering the distance.

Darlene was sprinting away from the horrifying animal. Her eyes were wild, and her face expressed full blown terror. She risked looking behind her and saw the animal quickly approaching. She screamed, lost her balance, and pitched forward, falling flat on her abdomen. Her hands were scraped raw from trying to break the fall, and she received a nasty a bump on her chin that began to bleed. Terrified, she watched as the animal closed in for the kill. Darlene knew she was going to die. There was nothing she could do but wait.

When the animal was ten feet from Darlene, it halted the pursuit and roared again. Simultaneously, Darlene screamed, but her voice was drowned out by the magnitude of the animal’s cry. She was face-to-face with the largest creature she had ever seen. She could now see it in full detail. It looked like a lion or some type of large wildcat, only different. The animal was deep ebony and had spots similar to a jaguar or leopard down its back. The spots were large but not round in their shape. Instead, they resembled grayish white splotches with uneven edges that varied in size and faded out around the edges. The animal began to pace back and forth, pawing at the ground and growling at her.

Darlene didn’t dare move. She knew wildcats were big, but this one had to be an extreme exception. Standing in front of her, it was nearly four feet high, and its head had to be at least three feet in diameter, including the huge mane of black fur. She glanced down at its paws and saw fists full of razor-sharp daggers extending about three inches from each appendage. When it growled, curved saber-like teeth spiked out of its jaw, and saliva dripped from its jowls. But the eyes were the worst. Two large flaming red balls of fire set deep into its skull were watching her as she waited to be killed. Its face crunched up in a wicked snarl, leaving Darlene with no doubt as to its intentions.

The feline knew its prey was afraid. It could smell the fear radiating from the female’s pores. It could smell the blood that was seeping from the wounds she suffered in the fall. The odor was intoxicating. It wanted the girl to run. It enjoyed the chase. It continued to paw the ground and fiercely snarl while spraying spittle. It dared the female to run. But she just sat there, whimpering with a horrified expression—paralyzed with fear.

Down the road from Darlene, Kenny witnessed the entire scene in a state of increased alarm. He wasn’t sure what to do. Why did Darlene take off running? Surely, she didn’t think she would be able to outrun that beast. She just made herself an easy target. He stared at the events happening before him as the big cat pawed the ground and threatened Darlene. He couldn’t see around the huge animal, so he had no idea if Darlene was conscious or not until he heard her scream in tandem with the animal’s roar.

He couldn’t just sit back and watch a wildcat maul Darlene. He scanned the area for anything that resembled a weapon. A large tree branch lay on the side of the road, and he cautiously moved over to pick it up. Then he slowly began to advance toward Darlene with his weapon in hand.

What was he thinking? How could he possibly defend them with a tree branch? This animal was enormous. One swipe of its paw, and they would be wiped off the face of the earth. But he had to do something. Maybe he could cause a diversion so Darlene could escape to safety.

At the exact moment Kenny was considering his heroic plan, the cat sensed his movements. Rapidly, it swiveled its head toward the sounds coming from behind. Defensive instincts kicked in as the cat took notice of the weapon in Kenny’s hand. Viciously roaring, the cat pivoted and charged. It covered the distance between them in seconds. In one swoop motion, the cat’s powerful claw swiped the tree branch from Kenny’s hand, knocking it up in the air and sailing into the underbrush. The cat was furious as rage took over its reactions. It responded out of self-defense and attacked this human who dared to provoke it.

With its senses on overload and the scent of fear and blood consuming its nostrils, it instantly became nothing but a honed killing machine. It quickly jumped forward, pouncing on the man, knocking him on his back. Its powerful paws dug deep fissures into Kenny’s chest and abdomen. Kenny screamed in agony as muscle tissue was torn from his body when the cat clamped its fangs on the rich meat dripping with blood. The pain was unbearable as Kenny tried to squirm free from the animal’s grip. He could hear Darlene screaming but was unable to do anything except wait for death. Then without warning, the cat shoved against Kenny’s body with its massive weight, vaulted forward, and sprinted into the dark cover of the underbrush.

Kenny’s breathing was labored as he attempted to suck oxygen into his ruptured lungs. His body was on fire with the pain of being ripped to shreds. He remained motionless, praying for death to envelop his body and release him from the nightmare of his agony. He could hear Darlene’s whimpers and a soft rustle in the bushes to his right. Darkness was beginning to fade out of his field of vision. He felt as if he was looking into a tunnel as the diameter of the walls slowly began to close.

He had to get up. If he stayed here, he would be finished. He had to save Darlene. He slowly pushed what was left of his shredded body up from the crumbling asphalt. Staggering forward, he was able to take one painful step after the other. His sad sorrowful eyes searched the darkness for Darlene. There she was, standing in shock in the middle of the road. She wasn’t moving. He could hear the creature snarling in the bushes to his left. How was he ever going to save Darlene? He could barely breathe, let alone run to her side and defend her against that monster.

Darlene had watched the cat attack Kenny as if in slow motion. She could hear every shred and tear of his skin and muscle fiber. She could smell the coppery scent of his blood. Then suddenly, the feline had vanished into the woods. She was so frightened her body simply froze in the middle of the road. Then she saw Kenny’s laborious attempt to walk toward her. Was he okay? Maybe he wasn’t hurt as bad as she thought. What was he doing? She was about to yell his name when she noticed movement to her right.

Slowly from within the underbrush, the creature’s massive head emerged. Its face was scrunched into a malicious sneer. Each exhale of breath was accompanied by a feral growl as it exposed its pointed fangs. It looked directly at Darlene, paused, and then looked away. Prowling along the edge of the road, it set its sight on Kenny. It approached the weakened prey cautiously, placing one foot in front of the other.

Kenny saw the cat emerge from the darkness of the forest. Deep in the pit of his stomach, he knew it was coming for him. Darlene wasn’t its target…yet. Using his last bit of strength, Kenny tried to warn Darlene.

"Run!" he screamed.

Then he collapsed. He felt his body slowly fall to the ground. He didn’t care. Death by impact would be better than suffering any more pain at the jaws of that thing stalking him. Shards of intense pain shot through Kenny’s body as it hit the gravel road. He remained motionless as bloody foaming bubbles leaked from his nose and mouth.

Darlene watched in anguish as Kenny collapsed on the road. She could see the animal creeping along the side, approaching Kenny. She didn’t know what to do, but she knew she needed to run, climb a tree, hide under a rock, sprout wings and fly—anything but sit here and watch as Kenny was mutilated in front of her eyes. Her body flinched as she bolted for the woods on the opposite side of the road. Crashing through the trees, bushes, and leaves, she found the nearest tree she could climb. She grabbed a low-hanging limb and swung herself up. She reached for another limb and continued the climb until she was far up into the tree. She paused to catch her breath and see if she had been followed. No sign of the cat. Now what?

The silence was deafening.

All the night creatures in the forest had become instantly silent as if any little peep would alert the predator of their existence, causing them to become the next victim. Darlene searched the darkness but couldn’t see Kenny on the road. The tree branches were too thick. She felt horrible leaving him out there, but what could she do? He couldn’t run, and she couldn’t carry him. He had warned her to run. She waited on the limb, barely breathing as her eyes began to adjust to the increased darkness of the tree-covering. Nothing moved in the forest, not even a puff of air.

Every pain receptor in Kenny’s body was an inferno of scorching fire. He could see the cat step up from the grass onto the road. He closed his eyes, no longer wanting to watch. Seconds later, he felt the creature’s teeth sink into his leg. His bone cracked and crumbled under the pressure of the animal’s powerful jaws. He felt a strong tug and then the sensation of being dragged off of the road into the forest. He moaned in agony as his skin was scraped along the dirt and gravel. He tried to resist by digging his fingers into the gritty ground, hoping to latch onto anything. The loose stone in the road only chipped and broke, leaving his fingernails raw and bleeding.

Kenny’s pain magnified as he felt the weight of his body being lifted from the ground. The back of his head slammed against the trunk of a tree, sending shards of agony through his skull. He felt more tugging sensations as his body was pulled up the base of a tree. He could see the ground becoming farther and farther away. Blood was gushing from his wounds and pouring across his face, leaving large puddles in the dirt and mulched earth below.

More tugging, and then Kenny felt his torso rest on top of a large tree branch. He could see the ground below and surmised that he was about fifteen feet up in the tree. The cat released its hold on Kenny’s leg, allowing the blood that remained to gush out of the wound. A rough tongue lapped up the dark red liquid as the cat slurped the rich nutrient dripping from Kenny’s body. Screaming from the searing pain, Kenny’s mind checked out of existence. The cat roared and then began to feed.

Darlene had been able to hear Kenny’s screams as they abruptly interrupted the quiet of the forest. Then she heard shredding noises and slurping sounds. She couldn’t imagine how much Kenny had suffered. She covered her ears and screamed one long gut-wrenching cry. She began to sob. She swore she could hear bones snapping. She knew Kenny was dead when his screams were cut off and everything went silent again, except for the gruesome sounds of smacking and crunching. Darlene sobbed in misery as she tried to see anything from her spot in the trees. She was so scared but couldn’t will herself into action. She could only hope the creature did not know where she was hiding.

The slurping, tearing, and bone-breaking noises slowly faded away and were replaced with the sickening sound of licking as the animal’s rough tongue slowly slid over its thick fur in a repetition that was maddening. It was at this point that Darlene’s sense of sanity left her rational mind. She was on the verge of complete denial while having trouble registering what had just happened. What kind of nightmare was this anyway? Why did the state of Florida allow such a dangerous creature to roam the woods?

Then she remembered the electric fence that had been erected in the swamp, that same fence that she and Kenny had made the decision to climb. It had been erected for a reason. Unfortunately, she and Kenny had to find out the hard way. Darlene didn’t miss the irony of her situation as she hung tightly to the trunk of the tree. These thoughts were the last thoughts she had for the night. She remained attached to the tree in a state of shock until little rays of sunlight began to trickle down from the treetops, announcing that morning had arrived.

2

Corrigan

She was ugly; plain and simply ugly. The type of ugly that a mother would have trouble loving, and her mother did. Weighing in at just under ninety-five pounds, Corrigan consisted of nothing more than skin and bones. Her muscles had no form or mass. They hung from her bones—useless chunks of meat stretching her skin as gravity took its toll on her body. Her skin was wrinkled and dark brown like she had spent too much time in the sun and smoked one too many cigarettes. Her joints jutted out at odd angles and shifted back and forth with robotic-like movements. Emaciated arms and legs had trouble supporting the weight of her overly large hands and feet where severe arthritis had set in, causing knotty and swollen appendages. Nothing about her appearance was appealing, both inside and out.

Wild, bushy, thick strands of hair stuck out in an unruly display from on top of her head down to her waist. It was severely parted down the middle of her head, and one side was completely white while the other side was jet black. She seldom washed or brushed her hair, and the years of being unkempt had caused clumps of nasty snarls to nestle in patches where the hair was frizzy and uncontrollable. Long wiry bangs hung down across huge, bug-like green eyes that bulged out from her skull in a hideous manner that was inconsistent with the petite facial features that encompassed the remaining portions of her face.

Her nose was a small notched hook that hung from her eyes to her mouth; the end turned inward toward her face. The edges of her mouth naturally drooped downward below her pointed jawline. She always wore dark red lipstick that was never evenly applied. It caused her mouth to look like she had just finished sucking the life out of some victim’s carotid artery. The skin on her cheekbones hung in loose patches that resembled large jowls, and a permanent scowl was plastered across her facial features. She seldom smiled unless it was an evil grin full of malice.

Corrigan was not only ugly on the outside, but she was equally as ugly on the inside. She was brought up in an abusive home in Indiana where her parents molested and abused her and her sister until the authorities took them away. She spent the remaining years of her childhood in and out of foster care. This type of environment left Corrigan angry and bitter. She despised all of mankind and blamed everyone for the troubles she had suffered as a child. The years of constant abuse caused her heart to become blackened. It slowly began to seep a wickedness that surged through her bloodstream. It crept into her brain by the time she was a young teenager, causing severe damage to her young fragile mind.

The darkness that had begun to envelope Corrigan’s mind lurked in her thoughts, desires, and actions. As a school student, she always wore long billowy black blouses covering flowing black skirts and black boots. Makeup was applied liberally using heavy black eyeliner, white powdered foundation, and dark red lipstick. Once she hit puberty, she grew her fingernails to an unnatural length and filed them to points. She painted them black. She began to see herself as Gothic in her appearance, although she did not choose to hang with this stereotypical group in school.

Years before she began neglecting her grooming needs, Corrigan’s best feature had been her smooth, silky, ebony hair. It was thick and sleek and cascaded down her back, just past her tailbone. Students in her high school swore she was a vampire or a witch. She would walk through the halls of school with an evil smirk on her face, causing the students to move aside, daring them to make eye contact. She scared them with her appearance. She reveled in their terror and would not have hesitated to slash a throat and suck the blood if it didn’t mean spending her life in prison. She simply enjoyed terrorizing the students.

It was her scary appearance that kept students from befriending her, even though she preferred to be alone. Teachers avoided her in school, if possible, because she wrote dark sinister papers about gruesome unearthly beings that wreaked havoc on mankind. She was the topic of discussion at many staff meetings. Teachers and students both felt it was in their best interest to avoid the girl.

Growing up, Corrigan was fascinated with the occult and studied the subject at every opportunity. She began to dabble in witchcraft and simple devil-worshipping practices. She learned to cast spells, although they seldom worked as she had anticipated. She prayed to Satan to amuse herself but didn’t have enough faith, time, and energy to truly become a devoted follower. She wasn’t sure if she even believed in God, angels, and demons. However, learning evil had become her little way of avenging the abusive lifestyle she had been tormented by for years. She felt she could avenge those who were responsible through dark magic.

Once she reached high school, her mind had matured into a state where she could better understand black magic and occultism. She spent a large amount of her time trying to summon ghosts, demons, and monsters through tarot cards, palm readings, and séances. Her desire was to create a connection between her world and the spiritual world where these entities supposedly dwelt. She wanted to see if these beings existed. If they did, she wanted to immerse herself in their evil, learning how best to destroy the people that had caused her harm.

While working on a school research paper, Corrigan discovered the website of the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp in Florida. She read that people could contact spirits from the other realm. The website boasted the presence of sorcerers, witches, psychics, and others who claimed to participate in a plethora of hocus-pocus practices. Corrigan had reached a point in her life where she was determined to discover a way to interact with the spiritual dimension. She felt she had been led to the Cassadaga website by a spirit, although she didn’t have any evidence to support her theory. She was convinced the little town was her ticket out of Indiana. When she had only six months left of high school, she made a promise to herself to leave Indiana and move south as soon as she turned eighteen and graduated.

During her senior year, Corrigan walked to the school bus each day with a neighbor girl who lived a few houses down the street. After a few months, the girl asked Corrigan to attend a youth service at her church. Corrigan still wasn’t sure how much of the whole God-thing she believed in, but she thought maybe this might be an opportunity to open a door into that realm of the unknown where spirits supposedly resided.

During the church service, a youth pastor explained to the students about God, love, and salvation of their souls. He explained how sinful the world was and how easy it was to get caught up in the teenage emotional roller coaster and just go along for the ride, do what everyone was doing, and not seek God’s guidance for their lives. He told the youth they needed to separate themselves from the ways of the world, to be individuals and unique. Don’t follow the crowd. He urged them to follow God, be different in this way, and refuse the temptations of evil.

Corrigan listened to his entire message and arrived at her own conclusions. If God was real, then Satan must be real too. If God and Satan were real, then demons and angels must be real. If demons and angels were real, they had to exist somewhere either on this earth or in another dimension. She was convinced by what that pastor had said that these creatures could interact or at least influence decisions that were made in her world.

She left the church service, contemplating her choices. Should she listen to the advice of the youth pastor and seek a godly life doing what was good and righteous? Or should she devise a plan that would allow her to step into another realm and experience evil on a more intimate level? Corrigan’s past fascination with the occult was the determining factor that caused her to decide to follow the practices of Satanism. She felt if she could figure out a way to communicate with demons, she would be able to discover the secrets of black magic and necromancy. She dreamed of becoming a powerful witch who could cast spells that actually worked. The first step to pursuing her fantasy was to plan her move to Cassadaga.

That was many years ago, and Corrigan had lived in Cassadaga since she turned eighteen. She had worked as a professional medium only out of necessity to arm herself with information and reap valuable benefits. She spent the first few years trying to conjure up spirits, using practices she first learned from the local population. However, she discovered that most of the people in the small town were fakes with canned music and smoke. They had never really had a true encounter with a spirit from another world.

Corrigan’s persistence paid off when she met an older lady who lived across the lake. Corrigan discovered this woman by accident and soon recognized that she was the real thing. They were both in the town library one quiet afternoon. Corrigan was researching Satanism and noticed the old woman sitting at a nearby table. The woman was holding a conversation in a hushed whisper. However, there was no other person sitting at the table. In fact, she and Corrigan were the only two people in the building, except the librarian who was too far away to be engaging in the conversation with the woman.

Corrigan moved to a bookshelf closer to where the woman was sitting. She listened to the one-sided conversation. The woman was not babbling to herself nor was she talking without meaning. She and another entity were clearly discussing the details to an intriguing spell that would make people surrender their will and follow the commands that were given to them, regardless of how ludicrous the directions seemed. Corrigan could only hear the responses that the woman made, but that was enough to convince Corrigan that this woman possessed the type of power she needed.

She followed the woman out of the library and across town to a small playground that sat beside a boat dock on the lake. The woman got into a small boat, started the engine, and cruised to the other side. She disembarked, tied her boat to the other dock, and walked into the woods.

Corrigan spent the next two weeks trying to figure out a way to get across the lake. She finally rented a small canoe and paddled across to the other side.

Once she arrived on the dock, she followed a rickety old service road that led directly to a small wooden shack in the middle of the forest. Corrigan knocked on the door and was invited inside. She spent the next several days questioning the woman about black magic, conjuring spirits of the dead, casting spells, holding séances, and any other occult practices she could think about. The woman answered these questions without reservation. She also explained to Corrigan that she would just be another psychic in Cassadaga with parlor tricks, content on fooling the tourists, unless she devoted her life to Satan. Through this allegiance, the woman could teach Corrigan dark magic that was real because it came directly from demonic forces.

Corrigan stayed on at the woman’s shack. They were inseparable for several more years as they spent hours communicating with demons, opening rifts into the spiritual world, and channeling energy from the entities that dwelt within. Eventually, the woman passed away. Before she died, she summoned her personal host of demons. She bestowed them upon Corrigan along with the power they possessed, leaving Corrigan with the necessary tools to become very accomplished in dark magic.

It only took two more years for Corrigan’s occupation to become very lucrative. She used her magic and honed her skills by practicing on the unsuspecting townspeople and tourists who visited Cassadaga. She eventually became a well-known psychic. People were on a waiting list and paid top dollar to spend a weekend with her and participate in a séance where she contacted spirits of dead people for them.

However, being a psychic was only her hobby. In her spare time, she divulged herself into the spiritual realm where she engaged in heinous acts with demons of the vilest nature while worshipping Satan in barbaric rituals. Over time, the constant interaction with the demonic world left her mind half-baked at best and her body a poor excuse for a human. Most of the townspeople went out of their way to avoid any interaction with her.

However, it was Corrigan’s loathsome appearance and personality that made her such a successful psychic. She had a reputation for delivering scary, depraved readings and creepy séances that fueled the evil nature of the people who participated. The majority of the people assumed it was all a theatrical hoax and left her haunted home well-pleased with the performance they received for their investment. However, some were so alarmed at the events they had witnessed they eventually needed therapy to recover, while others became instant believers and immediately indulged in occult practices in their hometowns.

One night many years later, Corrigan was sitting on her porch, conversing with some of the spirits who helped her obtain information she needed. Her séances were successful because she spoke with actual demons who had witnessed events that her patrons had experienced. These demons were able to tell Corrigan through her channeling the specific details of the events of people’s lives. This gave her credibility as her guests were sure no one other than themselves knew their specific information. But demons were real, and they had been around since the beginning of time. They had seen all that had happened in the physical world. Therefore, they had been able to give Corrigan the necessary information to convince her guests of her authenticity.

While listening to the spirits, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head. She heard a crack of lightning, and a huge bright light flashed before her eyes, momentarily blinding her sight. She grasped her temples, closed her eyes, and screamed in agony. Then the pain subsided as quickly as it had arrived. She cautiously opened her eyes. Floating in front of her, she saw four apparitions. They didn’t look like ghosts or spirits of people. In fact, they were the most hideous creatures she had ever seen—deformed, foul, and putrid. Their stench was revolting, making her throat gag as it threatened to eject the contents of her stomach.

Then one of the beings spoke directly to her. It told her its name, and she immediately recognized it as one of the same demons she had been speaking to before the lightning flashed. How was this possible? Did the lightning bolt somehow open a fissure into their dimension? She could clearly see their spiritual bodies, but she could also see the forest behind them. It seemed more like they had been transported into her world. Within moments, a hundred more of the demons had appeared before her eyes. They were popping into her airspace with rapid speed.

Corrigan was reeling in the new revelation of being able to see spiritual creatures. How was this happening? Why was she suddenly able to see these beings? She hadn’t been practicing any spells or summoning dark magic. She had simply been conversing with a few demons. This was nothing out of the ordinary for her. She had been doing this for years but had never been able to actually see the demons. She had only been able