Jason felt the evil strongly as he stepped back into the house. It was like the difference between night and day. He shook his head. The thought of the two priests waiting outside, filled him with a peace and confidence that was disconcerting.
He made his way to the stairs that led to the basement, and went down them. Shortly, he was confronting the demon once again.
"I see you have returned," the demon said.
"Yes. I can't release you to this world. You must return to your own place that you have made for yourself with your kind," Jason responded firmly.
"Release me!" screamed the dark formless entity inside the pentagram.
"I WILL not!"
There was a moment of silence as the two watched each other, Jason from outside the safety of the pentagram, and the demon from within his prison.
"I can no longer access that place from which I came. When he who summoned me died, part of the spell died with him. My only way back, was closed. I am here to stay until the way is reopened, or the pentagram is broken," the demon finally stated.
That answer was totally unexpected. Jason thought for a moment.
"How can I send you back then? I have priests outside who can probably send you back to where you belong," Jason responded after a moments thought.
"You mean the two priests that are at the top of the stairs, listening to us? They cannot affect me much while I am constrained within this prison," the demon answered with a chuckle.
Jason turned and looked. Sure enough, while both priests were coming down the stairs even as he looked, it gave Jason a cause for concern. Father Ignatius was a man in his late seventies. His companion was around sixty, but in better physical health.
"I thought I told you two to wait outside," Jason said, concern in his voice.
"Forgive me, Jason, but I have been a priest for most of my life. I had to see this demon, as it is proof beyond shadow of a doubt that all the naysayers were wrong. God exists, and is in his place," Father Ignatius said with awe and wonder in his voice.
"You doubted your own belief?" Jason asked, just a bit concerned now.
"No. My faith has always been strong. But to know with your mind, to work with just faith, is different than seeing the proof with your very own eyes," was the response.
The demon laughed. "Oh this is most amusing. Now that you three are here before me, I have no need to talk with you any longer," the demon finished, then launched a mental attack on all three.
Jason gasped, and stepped backwards a step. Father Ignatius fell to his knees, and slowly grasped his cross. His companion, Father Plimpton was not fairing as well. He started screaming and held his hands to his head.
Father Plimpton walked to just short of the pentagram. Then he fell, flat and erect, across it; thus breaking the continuity of the demon's prison.
"FREE!" the demon screamed in glee, and flowed out of his prison. Jason struggled to regain control over his mind, and was able to summon the sword, Vengeance. It appeared in his hand, and the demon recoiled, recognizing it instantly.
"YOU!" the demon screamed in rage and fear, while pulling itself together and starting to form a most hideous body.
"I abjure you! Leave this place that is not yours! Return to your own place which you have forged with your own deeds!" Jason said in a voice that sounded full of doom.
All this time, Father Ignatius had been standing to the side quietly, but now was speaking in Latin and pulling a bottle out of his pocket. Father Plimpton did not move, but neither Jason nor the good Father Ignatius could spare time or energy to look to him as yet. The demon was fighting with renewed strength, coupled with fear.
Father Ignatius started sprinkling holy water in the direction of the demon. When the droplets fell upon it, it screamed. A strange glow was seen to start from wherever those drops hit the demon.
The demon screamed in rage and pain, and held out its now scaly hands. A darkness flew from his hands, that enveloped both Jason and the priest. Jason cut through his section with his glowing sword.
Jason cast a glance at Father Ignatius, and saw that he had a glow of some sort keeping the darkness off him. Jason was reassured that he was safe for the moment. Father Plimpton was lying immobile on the floor.
The demon was now fighting for its very existence. It now knew exactly who this annoying human had to be. Only one being had this sword, and it was confused. God rarely sent his angels to the earth, and when he had, they were never in a human body.
Jason was busily attacking, while the demon dodged. The demon threw items at Jason, trying to hit or distract him. It was also still in Jason's mind, talking to him, reasoning and saying soothing things even as they fought.
Finally, the demon was between Jason and Father Ignatius. The good father used the occasion to sprinkle a lot of water directly onto the demon. The demon screamed and turned its attention to the Father. This gave Jason the opening he had been looking for and he drove the sword directly into the demon's side.
There was a flash, and a concussion! It knocked down both the priest and Jason, who lost his grip on his sword. The demon started shaking. It was screaming, as it started to dissolve.
With a final scream of "NO!" it lost its body, and became a drifting cloud of glowing... something. Then even that faded, and the demon was gone. The sword that had been embedded in the demon, and then within the cloud, started falling to the floor. Then it, too, disappeared from view before touching the floor.
Silence.
Both men picked themselves up off the floor, and went to see how Father Plimpton was.
"He is dead," Jason told his companion. "I'm sorry."
"He was a good hearted man, just not as strong in faith as he should have been. The demon found his weakness," Father Ignatius said sadly.
"I will call for an ambulance," Jason said, and went upstairs, leaving the good father alone with his friend to perform the last rites.
Two hours later, both the body of the priest, and the remains of the previous owner, had been removed. The police took both Jason and Father Ignatius statements to the fact that the priests were here to bless the house. Jason and the priests discovered had then mummified body of the previous owner. They said that the dead priest had just keeled over, possibly a heart attack. They had both decided against relating the actual events. The police would not want to hear about demons. An elderly man having a heart attack was much more believable, particularly when the group had stumbled upon the remains of a body. That was a much more plausible explanation; and, in a way, it was true. After all, the dead priest's heart did stop beating, and there was no 'outwardly visible' cause.
Father Ignatius returned to the 'home' where he had been living. Jason started to get on with his life. The coroner's verdict of the death of the priest, was heart failure. The body they had found, while preserved to some extent, could not provide a determination of the cause of death. No blame was attached to Jason or Father Ignatius.
For a couple weeks, Jason lived his life normally. He went home, and tried to better relations with his mother. His main problem was that emotions, with the exception of anger and joy, were foreign to him. He was still trying to process the feelings of humans.
It was during his second week at home that he noticed the car following him. It always had two men in it. After they showed up everywhere he did one day, he finally decided to ask them point blank who they were, and why they were following him.
While the men seemed to change from time to time, it was always the same car. He drove to the parking lot of the local Wal-Mart, and parked. He went in, and noted that one of the men was also coming in, after he stopped to get a shopping cart.
He went down one aisle and browsed the condiments section, keeping a look out for the guy. Sure enough, he came by slowly with his own cart. As the man drew nearer, Jason smiled and spoke.
"Hi. I think it's time we had a talk. You, me, and your friend out in the car need to get together. After all, you have been following me for some time, and I am very curious as to why," Jason said pleasantly.
The man sighed. "I was afraid you were going to spot us. May I ask what tipped us off?" he asked curiously. There was no denial, no blustering.
"Well, the same car, three different times. And there were always two men, never one or three. It became obvious. I decided it was time to find out who you were, and what you want," Jason answered.
The man introduced himself as monsignor Douglas Patterson, and his partner was Father Carl Lewis. They quickly returned their carts to the front storage area. Both went out and approached the other man. He was leaning against their car's trunk, watching the pair coming.
More introductions were made. They all piled into the priest's car, and drove to Red Lobster restaurant. Jason offered to pay. He was still savoring the flavors that delighted him, and he had not yet tried lobster.
What emerged from that lunch, was that Jason decided he loved lobster and shrimp, and that the two priests were a part of a team directed to watch over and help Jason if he needed it. That is, until Vatican security showed up. They were expected in two days time.
Apparently, the good Father Ignatius had reported the entire episode of the battle with the demon to his superior, who in turn reported everything he had been told to his superior. The Vatican got the story three days later, and instructed the good Father Devons to watch over the purported 'angel', until proper security showed up.
"What did you mean by proper security?" Jason asked curiously.
"We assure you, we have no plans of interfering with you. We just want to document what you do, and offer you protection if need be, or cleric help. The Vatican is sending specialists from Rome to help you in anyway you may need it," the monsignor said.
"Yes, you present something of an enigma to us. You are a fascinating glimpse into something that in all frankness, scares us silly, and brings us great joy at the same time," the other priest stated.
"We assure you, our orders are to remain as unobtrusive as possible, while still staying close enough to be of help to you, or to gather information on what you do," the monsignor said, pushing back the remaining few crumbs of his cheesecake.
Jason thought about that. He looked at the two priests, and thought about what they had said, and why they said they were here.
Of course, it was an obvious conclusion to draw, once he thought of it. Well, this might be an interesting time, to say the least.
With that, he signaled the waitress and ordered another strawberry
shortcake, with extra whipped cream.