Page 57 of Splintered
“Liar! You seducer of men! Besilent, demon!”
“It isn’t me!” Evan bellowed again. He pulled on the restraints, so hard his muscles bulged out of his arms, his veins bursting from beneath his skin. Ben could see the pounding of his heart in the wild pulsations, the thrum racing through his body. “It isn’t me that you want!”
“I adjure you, ancient serpent, by the judge of the living and the dead, by your Creator, by the Creator of the whole universe, by Him who has the power to consign you to Hell, to depart in fear along with your savage minions from this servant of God!”
“It isn’t me! I’m not the evil in this house!” Evan twisted, searching, and then stared at Ben, terror and panic filling his gaze. “Ben!Help me!Ben!It’s not me!I swear!”
“Tremble before that mighty arm that broke asunder the dark prison walls and led souls forth to light. May the trembling that afflicts this human frame—” Father Mathew drew the sign of the cross above Evan. “—descend on you.”
“Ben!” Evan roared. He seized again, violent shakes after the sign of the cross drawn over his chest. His eyes flickered between hazel and black. “Ben! Make itstop!”
“Father–“
“The demon is trying to stop the exorcism!” Father Mathew grabbed his elbow. “We must continue, for Evan. We’re weakening it. We’re succeeding. It’s trying to trick you because this is working!”
“It’s not me that you want! It’s not me! I’m not the one who is possessed!” Evan flung his head back and forth, writhing on the bed, pinned by some force like a butterfly skewered against the mattress. “I’m not the evil here!” He jerked his restraints again. The lights around the room burned brighter, almost too bright, almost blinding.
“Depart, transgressor. Depart, seducer, full of lies and cunning. Give way, you monster, give way to Christ, in whom you found none of your works. For He has already stripped you of your powers and laid waste your kingdom, bound you prisoner and plundered your weapons. He has cast you forth into the outer darkness, where everlasting ruin awaits you and your abettors.”
“Fuck you!” Evan screamed. “I’ll show you darkness!”
Every bulb in the room exploded.
Donna screamed. William cried out to God.
Dr. Kao shouted that she was digging out the flashlights.
Father Mathew kept going. “To what purpose do you insolently resist, demon? To what purpose do you brazenly refuse? For you are guilty before almighty God, whose laws you have transgressed. You are guilty before His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, whom you presumed to tempt, whom you dared to nail to the cross. You are guilty before the whole human race, to whom you proffered by your enticements the poisoned cup of death.”
They couldn’t see in the darkness, a darkness so thick Ben thought he was breathing it in, that it was becoming a part of him, that it was infecting his organs and his soul. He almost choked, coughing. “Evan!”
Dr. Kao’s flashlight clicked on. She aimed the beam at the bed.
It was empty. The restraints hung loose and undone.
Evan was gone.
“Evan?” Ben yelled. “Evan, where are you?”
“I resist because it’s not me you really want.” Evan’s voice, right behind him.
Ben whirled. Dr. Kao’s flashlight panned over Evan’s face, a twisted mask of rage, sneering, fixated on Father Mathew with his jet black eyes.
Ben gasped.
A moment, him staring at Evan, frozen, was all it took. Evan reared back and swung, driving something that flashed into Father Mathew’s shoulder. He heard the wet hit of it, the sound of skin tearing, blood spilling. Heard Father Mathew cry out and fall to his knees.
“Evan!”
Evan’s eyes flicked to Ben.
Evan fled, darting past his parents and Dr. Kao and racing out to the landing.
Ben followed, leaping over Dr. Kao as she crawled to Father Mathew. William shouted for Ben to wait, that he was coming too.
Footsteps ran down the hallway toward the stairs, sounding like a heard of runners, not just one emaciated man. Lightbulbs burst in every room, in the bathroom, in the bedrooms, wreathing the quaking house in darkness.
A shadow stilled beneath the amber chandelier at the top of the steps. The light pulsed, beat like a heart.
