Warning: Animal abuse, drugs, alcohol.
They arrived a block from the bar at an abandoned building. The abandoned building was eight stories tall and looked to have once been a parking garage. They drove inside it, and Noah gasped in shock and fear.
"Isn't this thing abandoned? Why are we driving in it?"
Jonas laughed as he looked at Andrew. "Looks like little man is scared."
"I'm not scared!" Noah said with determination in his voice.
Andrew looked at his son through the rearview mirror. "Noah, you should trust us, we know what we're doing, and I told you that you dont need to be questioning everything we do. There will be time for questions after we purify the demon."
Noah nodded his head. "Yes, Father!"
Noah then looked out the side window of the car as they were going through the parking garage. There was shrubbery and weeds all throughout it. On the walls, floors, and pillars, everywhere. And at one point, Noah could have sworn he saw a shadow. In fear, he looked away and toward the front window of the car. 'You can't be scared.' Noah repeated in his head.
It wasn't long before they made it to the top of the parking deck. During the day Jonas had arrangements with Harry and Tom to discuss all the tad bits of details, including where they would stay until they were able to capture the demon. So seeing their vehicle already there at the top of the parking garage was not a shock to Jonas or Andrew. However, Noah was shocked to see another car. Their vehicle was a large rusted red truck beside the truck were two men with flashlights on. Noah recognized them from church. They were around his father and Jonas quite often, but he did not recall their names.
"I've seen them two at church before. What's their names, father?"
"The tall skinny one with dead eyes is Harry. The muscular one with his hair tied back is Tom." Andrew replied.
Andrew and Jonas opened their door, which also led to Noah opening his door. They went to the back of the car and popped the trunk open. Inside were white masks with black crosses and weapons. From what Noah could see, there were knives, machetes, wooden bats, and a container that contained some kind of liquid. Andrew skipped through the items and to the large black box with a lock on it that was behind the items. By this time, Tom and Harry arrived, watching as Andrew opened the box.
Inside the box were four pistols and ammo for them. Noah gasped in shock, which resulted in all four men glancing at the boy. Noah's face reddened with embarrassment, but what could Noah do? He had never seen his father with a gun and had only once seen one at a shooting range that he wasn't allowed to shoot at. The men went back to watching Andrew load the gun, and as he did, Jonas questioned, "Do you think those will work. A glass bottle couldn't penetrate his skin, so why would these?"
"They may not work, I've some glass bottles in here as well. We're going to fill them up with gasoline and put a cloth halfway in it and halfway out. Light it on fire when you think you have the chance and then throw it at the demon." Andrew replied as he passed each person a gun before going for the glass bottles.
"Was there a reason to bring the firewood and the cross then?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, I would rather use the glass bottles as a last resort. To make sure the demon is purified before dying, it needs to die on the cross. I would rather we purify it than just outright kill it." Andrew replied.
Noah felt cold sweat form on his body as he realized that his father and these men were really here to kill someone. It wasn't just about purifying a demon; they were going to take someone's life, no matter what.
"We- Were going to kill someone's father?" Noah asked, and there were tears in his eyes.
Noah was never good with the concept of death. He could remember when he was really young, around five years old, when his mother told him that bacon was from pigs. Noah, at that young age, would ask how pigs make bacon. He could remember his mother's laughter as she corrected him. "We kill pigs to make bacon out of their skin and meat." Noah had tears streaming down his face as he spat the bacon out of his mouth.
His father was there as well, and he did not like how Noah was acting, so he explained that all the animals that die are made into food. Noah reacted badly, saying that he would never eat animals again. His father's anger grew, and his face became red. He would not accept a son who was this weak. So he took the boy outside with him to one of the pet bunnies that were kept at their house. His father had a large knife in his hand as he grabbed one of the bunnies by its scruff. "We eat animals, son! That is just how it is, and you will accept that now!" Noah shook his head. He was partly scared, but he was also determined that he never wanted to eat an animal ever again.
Andrew then shoved the knife through the bunny's head. Noah screamed in shock and sorrow, and his body fell to the ground. "We're going to have rabbit stew tonight, and if you dont eat it, then another bunny will be killed tomorrow." Tears streamed down Noah's face, and he watched the ground, trying to forget what had just happened. "Do you understand, son?" Noah nodded, but that did not seem to be enough for Andrew. "I need a verbal answer that you will eat the rabbit stew tonight." Noah looked back up at his father. "I- i will e-eat the s-stew father." Noah said with a stutter. Andrew nodded as he replied, "Good, it's time for church. We need to clean you up, as you will be portraying an angel."
Noah shook his head, trying to keep the memories away as his father looked at him with surprised eyes. "What did you think purify the demon meant? Of course, we're going to kill the demon, that's the only way to purify it!" Noah nodded back at his father, "Oh, of course, that's what you meant," he said, trying to play it off, but on the inside, he was freaking out.
The men went back to setting up everything while Noah was in full panic mode inside. He took deep breaths to try to calm himself, but seeing the excited looks on everyone's face, including his father's, was not helping at all. Noah never saw his father this excited, not even when he was teaching worship at church.
Harry passed everyone a pair of binoculars and flashlights, including Noah. They went to the edge of the parking garage, where there was a clear view of the bar. Andrew glanced at his watch, "8:45, nearly time for the demon to show up. Jonas and Tom, you two will go to the bar and try to lure the demon here. Keep your guns and a knife on you just in case the demon finds out what you two are really there for. Harry and I will stay on the roof. We will set up everything for the demon. Noah, your only job is to keep watch of everything. Once Jonas and Tom lure the demon into the parking garage, Harry and I will come with the car to help with the ambush."
"Alright, boss!" Jonas said as he and Tom left on foot to go to the bar. Once they left, Andrew told Harry to prepare the cross and the firewood as he kept an eye on the bar.
The walk to the bar wasn't long, and Jonas was glad to have Tom with him over Harry. Harry was a little on the crazy side, in his opinion. "I'll do the talking, you just have to be a yes man or just follow along with what I'm saying, you know, common sense kind of thing." Tom nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I know the drill." Jonas smiled; he much preferred Tom over Harry. Harry would try to take charge in the middle of the operation, that is, unless Andrew was babysitting him.
They walked into the bar at 8:55 and went to the barstools. According to his intel, the demon named Denzel sat at the barstools every night. Denzel is black and works at a McDonald's. He was almost done with his master's degree and wanted to be a lawyer. Would have had a promising future if he had not made a contract with a demon. Now he must be purified. Jonas sighed, hating that a perfectly able man ruined his life.
Jonas ordered two drinks from the bartender before nine o'clock hit and took a large sip while motioning for Tom to do the same. Jonas wanted to make it look like they had been here longer than a few minutes. And then he saw him out of the corner of his eye. A nice-looking young man who no one would believe had a demon inside him.
Denzel took a seat, skipping the chair beside them to have one chair in between them and himself. It had been a long day today, even longer than usual. The customers are stupider than normal. Where are the straws one customer asked as they stood at the drink stand where there were cups, lids, and straws. Denzel had to stop himself multiple times from calling out these idiots, but instead, he endured the pain with a smile on his face as he told himself, Only two more years, then I can get out of this small town and become a lawyer's apprentice.
Denzel relaxed in the barstool, his body hunched over the counter with his elbows on the counter and his hands taking on the weight of his head. The bartender came up to him with a smile as he said, "Denzel, you're back! Didn't know if you would come back after that fight that happened last night. Thought you might fear for your life after a whole glass bottle smashed into you."
"Yeah, well, there aren't many bars in this godforsaken small town, and this one has the best drinks, so ain't nothing stopping me from coming back," Denzel said, having his southern accent leak heavily through from how tired he was. The bartender laughed an unusual, nervous-sounding laugh that made Denzel look up in confusion.
The bartender coughed awkwardly before addressing Denzel one last time. "You want the usual Denzel?" Denzel nodded as an innocent smile formed on his face. "Nothing would be better than that right now."
The bartender nodded before replying, "Alright, coming right up." The bartender did his usual thing, grabbing drinks and doing a few tricks, but Denzel did not focus on him even when he slipped something that did not belong into his drink. Instead, Denzel was concentrate on the conversation happening beside him.
"The boss said we can make 5k each tonight!" Jonas said his voice was energetic and a bit slurred. Denzel assumed it was because of how much alcohol the man consumed.
The bartender put Denzel's drink in front of him, and Denzel thanked him before reflecting on the conversation.
"Are you sure this isn't anything illegal, man?" Tom asked with worry, filling his voice.
"Naw, I've done this business before, it's simple. We meet up with the boss at the abandoned parking garage, and then he instructs us on what to do. The man hiring us for the job will be there as well. Usually, it's some rich man who wants something simple done, like throwing away the trash in his house and putting it somewhere no one will find. He has some secrets. So what? Not like we can get into trouble, even if we are caught, we just rat on the rich man."
Tom nodded in understanding, "Oh, that doesn't sound so bad."
By the time Denzel had listened to all the essential parts of what the two men had said, he had finished his drink, which seemed to give him courage that he had never felt before. "You need another man?" Denzel asked.
Jonas and Tom looked over to the source of the question to see Denzel, their target, taking the bait. "Well, I guess we could use another hand. The boss did say to pick up one or two guys for the job, and since I've already got Tom here, I could pick up one other, but the problem is that the more people I pick up, the less money we get. So why would I want to pick you up?"
Denzel, not wanting to miss out on this opportunity, replied, "I will do most of the work, and you guys won't have to do nearly as much. It will almost be like a free job for you. Please let me join, I need this."
Jonas looked unconvinced and stayed silent for a minute before sighing as he said, "Alright, fine, you can join in." Jonas looked down at his watch. "Alright, it is 9:20 now we leave the bar at 9:30."
Denzel smiled as he replied, "Thank you so much for this opportunity!"
Once 9:30 hit, the three men got up from the barstool. As Denzel got up, however, he nearly fell over. Denzel quickly straightened himself, not wanting to look weak in front of these men; they may not let him join the job if he showed weakness. Denzel was also confused. One drink had never put him in this state before, and he was having a difficult time thinking straight, and his movements were sluggish. Denzel shook his head, trying to get sober himself, regretting drinking at all. He needed this job, and he would be damned if mere alcohol stopped him.
"You good man?" Jonas asked with an odd smile on his face.
Denzel didn't question his smile or that his friend laughed at him. "I'm fine!" Denzel snapped. Denzel noticed that he didn't know either man's name, and they also didn't ask for his own name. Maybe they were waiting until they were at the parking garage, Denzel told himself.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go! The boss will be mad at us if we are late. If Denzel here can't make it, then who cares? It's just extra money for us." Tom said.
Jonas nodded in agreement, and the two men walked to the exit of the bar. Denzel quickly followed after them, struggling to walk in a straight line. Our frustration and the fact that the two were getting further away, Denzel stopped trying to walk straight and didn't care when he bumped into someone.
The three made it outside the bar. Denzel looked at Jonas, the one who seemed to be in charge. "It's good that you made it out of there," Jonas said, and then added. "We just have to cross this street to get to the parking garage. You think you can do that, Denzel?" Denzel nodded his head in determination, not even noticing that the man had called him by his name, even though he had not told him his name.
Sorry guys, another cliff hanger, but if I continued this chapter, it would be around 3500-4000 words long, and if I'm writing every day, shorter chapters are better for me! What do you think of the chapter? Please tell me if you see spelling errors. I will fix them as soon as I can. Don't know if you noticed, but in the first chapter, I misspelled Virginia a couple of times, and it was thanks to someone commenting that I fixed it.
UPDATE: This chapter has been Grammarly checked!