Chapter 87

Patrick and Emily were reluctant to leave the house. Although they did not know their neighbour, Craig had told them good things about him. Surely he would understand when they told him about their situation. One thing bothered Emily though. Something was about to happen and Andrew was quite adamant about them not being part of it. It was not like her brother at all.

Andrew stood in the kitchen staring at the floor. He was proud of Craig who handled the conversation with Francois pretty well. At least it was one step in the right direction. He could sense Craig's eyes upon him. He knew his dad had so many questions in his disorientated mind, but Andrew would not have an answer to any of them. He did not even tell Craig about what happened at school earlier today. He knew the only reason why his dad allowed him to lead the situation was that he was desperate. His dad was confused, cursed, and he had no choice, but to let Andrew help. Although Andrew had told Craig about the power he had received from the wooden cube, Andrew knew it never materialised within his dad's mind. For all he knew, Andrew was making up stories which could not be proven mathematically or scientifically. He knew his dad's perception would have changed forever after this day.

'I hope you know what you are doing Andy,' Craig said.

'This is all I have, dad and I hope this works out according to plan. I don't have much but faith and a good sixth sense. There is not much to explain, but we'll figure this out as we go along. From here onwards, nothing will ever be the same again.'

'Nothing's been the same since we came down here in any case,' Craig said.

'I have changed into another person. I hardly feel human anymore. Something happened to me I cannot explain. I've seen visions that I never chose to see, but they were chosen for me to see. I didn't want for these bastards to take mom and I didn't choose to be who I have become.'

'I know son. None of this is your fault. This place is evil. I wish we never came here,' Craig said shaking his head.

'I can stop these bastards,' Andrew said. He paused for a moment and looked at Craig. 'We need to do this for both you and mom's sake. We have to stop the curse on you and find mom before anything else happens to her. There is so much more you don't know, but now is not the time.' He wanted to show Craig the weapon he had brought back from his vivid dream, but he knew the time was not ripe yet. The axe would play a large role from this day forward, but he was not certain when and how. The one thing that bothered Andrew was the staff with the strange amulet. He did not have the slightest idea what to do with it and where Patrick fitted into the plan, but he was sure the old man in his head and the man in the mirror would tell him when the time has come.

'So are you going to let me in on this plan of yours,' Craig asked.

Andrew shook his head, 'not yet. Let's wait for Francois to arrive.'

Craig dropped his stare to the floor looking at nothing particular for a moment. He looked up and met Andrew's eyes upon him. 'You know son, I love each one of you differently. You all have different qualities and I'm sure mom would have said the same if she was here. One thing I never saw coming was the man you have become. Something changed in my boy and I realised you are not a boy anymore. I sometimes wish my children could have stayed at the age of five forever. Soon, you will have kids of your own and you might know what I'm talking about today, but just know the same blood that's running through me is also running through you and I will give my last breath for my children. I trust you completely my boy.' Craig paused for a moment choosing his next words carefully. 'What happens here tonight, I will not judge you. Do what those visions told you to do and let's do it together. I will never understand any of this, but I will never turn my back on you.'

Andrew noticed the weight upon his dad's shoulders and felt sorry for him. He knew Craig was a good man who always tried his best to protect his family and give them the best in life. Things were not always easy moving around from place to place. It was not easy when his mom found out about the affair his dad had many years ago, but Andrew never judged him and maybe he got the quality from his dad not to judge people. He knew that people were full of mistakes with many weaknesses, depending on the nature of the situation, but he also knew that people were strong with good qualities. 'Thank you, dad,' Andrew nodded.

Andrew knew he had to prepare himself. He needed to get things in place in case his plan failed. He walked past Craig and went into the garage. He was looking for something specific which he found in one of the sealed boxes. If his plan failed, he knew he would never see his mother again. He heard a knock on the door and his heart jolted. He had mixed emotions of hate and sadness.

Andrew came from the garage when he heard his father talking to someone. He also heard a voice not familiar to him and his heart sank. It was not who he expected, and he knew his plan was a failure. For his plan to work, Francois had to be here.

When Andrew walked into the TV room, he realised his plan was not a total failure after all. Maybe a little harder to accomplish, but not impossible. Francois was in the TV room, but he was not alone. It was something Andrew did not account for. He was joined by another stocky police inspector with spiky brown hair. There were several white scars on his scalp. To Andrew, size did not matter, it was the inconvenience to deal with two people at the same time. Andrew hoped that the other police inspector was not involved in the bad things, but he had to be sure.

'Good afternoon,' Andrew said extending his arm to the stranger since he knew the evil Francois was part of already. 'Andrew is the name.' He introduced himself.

'Hi, I'm Morgan,' the stranger said. He shook Andrew's hand. Surprisingly Andrew could not sense any bad vibes from the man. He expected the surge of demon power running through his veins, but there was nothing, not even a hint. This made matters even worse than Andrew had expected. If they were both evil, then they could both go down quickly, but not before Andrew found out what he needed to know. Andrew's mind was racing with many thoughts. He knew he could not hurt the man who called himself Morgan. Somehow he had to separate and try to convince him that his partner is into some bad shit, but that would be like trying to tell a person that the sun was purple.

Andrew stuck out his hand towards Francois. He knew what was coming, 'Hi.'

Francois had an expression of uncertainty when he stuck out his hand to meet Andrew's. He remembered what happened the last time when his hand was almost crushed, 'how are you doing?' Francois said. Andrew felt the familiar evil surge running through him just like the previous time. He tried to feel if there was more, maybe a location or origin of the evil, but there was nothing. Andrew made sure he did not crush the man's hand although he wanted to get started with him already. He wanted to crush him to a point of submission. He wanted to know where his mother was and where Francois's evil friends were hiding.

Andrew stood back and let his dad do the talking. He knew he had to make a plan with Morgan, just enough to shut him up for now, but not to hurt him too seriously. He looked at the blood on the floor again and wondered how badly they had hurt his mother.

'So you got home first,' Morgan asked.

'Yes, I did,' Andrew said.

'And the door was open when you got here,' Morgan asked with a frown. Andrew noticed his open face. The way a police inspector was supposed to look like.

Andrew explained the series of events as they had occurred. He deliberately looked at Francois. He was looking for any signs or clues that Francois's face might give away. He noticed how Francois avoided eye contact with him and he knew something was going on. Morgan was making notes of everything he said.

'What time was that?' Morgan asked looking up from his notepad.

'I just got home from school. It was about 2:40 this afternoon,' Andrew said. He deliberately kept Patrick and Emily out of his story. They did not have to be involved.

'Did you see anything else in the vicinity? Maybe on your way home,' Morgan asked shaking his head suggesting any additional information might help the case of his missing mother.

'Yes I did,' Andrew said. 'I saw a brown car coming down the road on my way home.' Andrew said and gauged Francois's reaction. He noticed how Francois tried to hide his uneasiness. Although Andrew had seen the car speeding on its way back to Vredenburg, he had to bend the truth just a little to test Francois's reaction.

'What kind of car was it,' Morgan asked making notes.

'I think it was a Ford, but I can be sure. The car had three people inside,' Andrew said. He noticed how Francois's uneasiness grew. 'I've seen this car before. I've seen it at school and the driver had many tattoos, almost as if he escaped from jail.' Although Andrew could not be sure who drove the car earlier, he knew the guy with the tattoos played a major role in Francois and Victor's Satanist clan.

'At school? What was the car doing there?' Morgan asked surprised.

'Yes. There are some kids in school with me that usually drive together in this car,' Andrew said, and he felt excitement grow around his heart. He knew he was making things almost unbearable and impossible for Francois to avoid.

'Who are they?' Morgan asked. 'Have you got any name for us?'

'Sure. These guys are into some bad stuff. The kids in school call them Satanists. They are pretty hard to avoid, you know, always hitting on the younger ones, spitting and making trouble. One guy is called Victor. He seems to be the leader of the pack.' Andrew looked at Morgan for a brief moment before looking at Francois.

'You seem to be very observant Andrew,' Francois said. 'Are you sure about these things? I don't mean to disrespect, but this might have major implications where innocent people might get involved. We will be conducting interviews with these people you mention here today and I don't want to distress their families unnecessarily. I want you to be sure of the things you are reporting here today.'

'By nature, I am quite observant and I know what I saw,' Andrew said containing his anger. 'There is no mistake in that.' It was a game he was busy playing although he knew the outcome already. He wanted to kill this man who they called Francois with the face he never liked from day one. There was something about it despite the evil Andrew knew he was involved in, the same evil that kidnapped his mother. 'I am sure of my statement,' he said with finality.

Francois looked at his partner Morgan who was making notes. He did not want to go deeper into questioning because he knew he would be exposed if the statement carried on. He would let a single slip through and it would be the end of him and his friends. It would blow their cover and underground network. He wished for his partner Morgan to finish up, but Morgan was persistent.

'So you say you know these kids from school. You mentioned Victor. Who are the others?'

'Well, there's Victor to start with, then the others are Mike, Andreas, Herald and John,' Andrew said. 'Oh sorry, there's another one called Tommy.' He deliberately mentioned Tommy's name last for a reason. He knew Tommy was dead and maybe Francois would know about it by now. Anyway, he deserved to die. He met his fate that would soon be the fate for the rest. Andrew noticed how Francois started looking around the house moving away from the conversation. He knew the heat was too much for him to bear. What did you promise your fucked up friends? Andrew wondered.

Andrew looked at his dad and noticed he was expecting something to happen, but he was not sure what exactly. He had a blank expression on his face.

'Satanists you say,' Morgan continued.

'Yes,' Andrew said. 'Morgan, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?'

'Sure,' Morgan said with uncertainty for they were supposed to ask the questions and not the other way around.

'Do you have children?' Andrew asked. He could see Craig's body language out of the corner of his eye. He seemed confused.

'Yes, I do. In fact, I have 2 girls,' Morgan said, which seemed to lift the frown off his face a little.

'Do you love them, Morgan?' Andrew asked.

'Of course, I do,' Morgan said. The frown was back.

'Do you consider yourself a good man and a good provider for your family?' Andrew asked. He could see Francois's concern and uneasiness about the strange turn of events.

'I would like to think so. Why do you ask?'

'I believe you, Morgan,' Andrew said. 'I am very sorry for what is coming next, but believe me, it is for you and your family's own safety.'

The room was quiet and all three men regarded Andrew with confusion. He knew he could not waste any more time. He had to seize the moment before anything else happened. Andrew stepped closer to Morgan and let his elbow fly. He felt the hard bone structure of his elbow connecting with Morgan's face. Andrew felt sorry for Morgan as he fell to the ground. He knew he had hit him hard and the chances of Morgan getting up from the ground was very slim, at least for now that was. Andrew's brain was working overtime and his senses were heightened with adrenaline. He noticed Francois reaching for his gun on his right hip. Andrew moved quickly and grabbed Francois's hand, preventing him from pulling his gun from the holster.

'Andrew!' Craig shouted. The animal was back inside his boy.

Andrew pulled Francois's hand away from his gun and forced it downwards. He could feel the evil energy running through his veins which fuelled his anger even more. Andrew felt Francois's bones breaking with dull clucking sounds. Francois screamed in agony as he submitted to the floor. With his left hand, Andrew removed Francois's pistol from its holster and handed it to Craig. Craig did not know whether he should accept the gun or not. He did not want his fingerprints on a police inspector's gun.

'Take it,' Andrew said sharply. He noticed the confusion on Craig's face and turned his head towards Francois again. He liked to see the agonizing expression on his enemy's face. 'Dad, take Morgan's gun as well.'

Andrew applied more force and heard more bone breaking which was followed by horrible screams of agony. 'This is only the beginning you evil fucker.' Andrew grabbed Francois by the hair and sent a knee into his face forcing Francois's head down for maximum impact. He knew he had to get his hate under control otherwise he was going to kill him without finding what he had planned, especially with the newfound power. Andrew needed answers, which he planned on getting while having fun.

Andrew noticed that Francois was disorientated. Morgan was still unconscious, but not for long. Time was running out. Andrew grabbed Francois by the hair and dragged him across the floor into the garage. He turned around for a moment and kicked Francois hard in the stomach, incapacitating him for a while longer. Andrew knew Francois would not get up any moment soon which gave Andrew enough time to attend to Morgan. He grabbed some ropes from the box labelled other and headed back inside the house. Craig simply stared at him with a blank expression. 'Keep an eye on Francois for me for a moment. I'll be back soon.'

'Andrew, what are you doing – '

'Not now,' Andrew interrupted.

Andrew lifted Morgan off the ground as if he weighed no more than the school uniform he was wearing. He carried Morgan to his bedroom and tied him down. He made sure Morgan's hands and feet were properly secured, Morgan had nowhere to go. His business was not with Morgan after all.

Andrew walked back towards the garage where Craig was watching over Francois. 'Dad, I think you need to wait by Morgan's side for when he wakes up again. I want to have a word with Francois for a moment,' Andrew said. He noticed that Francois was back on his feet holding his right hand with his left. His face spelt pain as he regarded Andrew entering the garage.

'Son, what have you done?' Craig asked. 'Why are you doing this?'

'No time for questions now dad, please go check up on Morgan in my bedroom. I won't be too long.' Andrew watched as Craig reluctantly walked towards his bedroom, almost stumbling. Andrew switched on the garage light and closed the door leading to the house behind him.

'Please, I don't know what you're planning to do, but this is a big mistake,' Francois defended as he regarded Andrew approaching.

'So Francois, tell me, what does it feel like to be such a corrupted fuck?' Andrew asked ignoring Francois's complaints. He came to a halt from a casual walk and stood inches from Francois, looking into his eyes.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' Francois said expressing the pain from his broken hand.

'You know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm not here to fuck around. Since you guys took my mother, you started something that cannot be stopped. The sooner you talk the sooner it would be over for you. You do not want to waste my time any longer than you already have.'

'I'm here to help you find your mother. I'm a police inspector for fuck's sake. What you are doing is against the law. You will get punished for it. If you let this go now, I can help you make the punishment less severe,' Francois pleaded.

Andrew smiled, 'How many people did you fuck over in the past few years, innocent people who trusted you. Why did you abuse your power and uniform to cover your friend's tracks?'

'As I said, I don't understand what you are talking about.'

'The fuck you do,' Andrew said. 'Give me your phone.'

'What do you want my phone for? That's my private business and you have no rights to –'

'I think my patience is growing slimmer every second listening to your bullshit,' Andrew interrupted. He grabbed Francois's broken hand again and twisted. Francois roared in agony.

'This is fuck-all in comparison to what is coming your way.' Andrew's eyes spat fire. He twisted some more and heard another dull cracking sound.

'Please, stop this,' Francois cried as he went down to his knees trying to reduce the pressure Andrew placed on his hand.

'Well, I'll just get the fucking phone myself then,' Andrew said reaching for Francois's pockets. He patted both front pockets and found something bulging in his right. 'Ah, what's this?' Andrew stuck his hand in Francois's pocket and retrieved his cell phone. He released Francois's hand and regarded the phone for a moment. There was no pattern or pin code on it, which struck Andrew as strange since Francois obviously had many secrets to hide. He swiped the screen of the phone and went through the call register.

'Please, for the last time, you can still walk away from this,' Francois complained.

Andrew ignored Francois's complaints and probed Francois's phone. Something caught his eye. He noticed the name, Victor. He looked at the time when the call was received. It was made after he had seen the brown car heading to Vredenburg. 'Now this is what I call coincidence,' Andrew said looking up from the phone. 'The name Victor alone tells me something, but what is more important here is that he called you moments before you arrived here. Now, why would that be?'

'Victor is a friend of mine.'

'Sure he is. I believe you,' Andrew said squatting so that his eyes were level with Francois. 'I don't understand you guys. Why are you worshipping Satan? Why are you doing bad things to innocent people?' Andrew paused for a moment. 'Why did your friends take my mother?'

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

Andrew gave Francois three quick slaps through his face as if chasing away annoying flies on a hot summer's day. 'Wake up. You need to start focusing. I'm done fucking around here. I'm going to ask you one more time before I start breaking more shit in your body, okay. Where's my mother?'

'I don't know where your mother is, I promise,' Francois cried.

'But you know who took her don't you,' Andrew pushed on. He knew he was on to something when he did not get an immediate response from Francois.

'Please, Andrew let me explain.'

'Keep it short though, the clock is ticking.'

'Do you know what sort of salaries we get as police officials?' Francois said looking at the garage floor for a moment. He looked at Andrew again. 'It's not much at all. I was approached by these guys when I was at the lowest point in my life. They promised to give me money if I covered their tracks. I asked them what they meant, and they said they were dealing with drugs.' He paused a moment to regard his hand. 'At first, I did not want any part of it, but they offered me a handsome amount of money. I knew when I accepted it that I was just as wrong as they were, but by then it was already too late. I thought about handing myself over and telling the truth. I was ready to deal with the consequences, but then they started threatening me. They mentioned that they were very powerful and feared by many. Their master was Satan and they can make very bad things happen to me and my family. This somehow intrigued me and I wanted to know more about this power they had. Soon I found myself at one of their ceremonies and that is how it all started. I soon felt like a new person, untouchable. I knew then what my duties were, to protect the cult by using my uniform. That's the truth.'

Andrew could tell by looking at Francois that he was indeed telling the truth, but it did not take away the fact that he had a hand in his mother's kidnapping, maybe not directly, but somehow he had been involved. 'Okay, Francois, that I believe and I somehow feel sorry for you, but you have made the wrong choices in your life and I'm going to kill each one of your friends, do you understand me?'

Francois shook his head. He smiled and said, 'you don't know my cult. We are more powerful than you can ever imagine. You will not get too far and believe me, if they find out about what is happening here today, your life will be over sooner than you can blink. You see, we are everywhere. In schools, the police force, major companies and we are strong. We are more in numbers than you can imagine.'

Andrew nodded, 'So where do you usually gather?'

Francois smiled, 'Unfortunately I cannot tell you.'

'We gonna have to see about that don't we,' Andrew said. He grabbed Francois's left hand and applied pressure. He felt the pleasure of bones breaking and cracking and another roar of agony from Francois's mouth. 'That's power you fucker. In fact, that is a fraction of what I have for your kind.' Andrew released Francois's hand and noticed the expression of pain on his face as he held both useless hands in front of him, too scared to touch anything else. Francois's right hand already started to swell with a bluish colour protruding from underneath his skin, internal bleeding that was caused by the shattered bones cutting the veins and flesh underneath his skin. 'You like that don't you? All that fucking pain you caused innocent people with your useless life. The families you destroyed and ripped apart, all for the price of cheap money.'

Andrew got up and pressed Francois on his chest with his shoe, forcing him to fall backwards. Francois was unable to block his fall because of his broken hands. Andrew bent down and grabbed Francois by his boot pulling him closer. 'Let's see how you like this. I guess you gonna have to take this one for the sake of your clan and Satan.' Andrew pressed down on Francois's knee while his boot was suspended over his shoulder. He heard another clack. Francois once again bellowed in agony. His leg was bent backwards in a V-shape. Andrew had enough of Francois's agonizing screams. He placed his shoe on Francois's mouth which caused the sound to come out muffled. 'How long do you think you can endure this fucking pain for those useless cunts?' Andrew shouted.

'No more please, stop,' Francois cried from underneath Andrews's shoe.

Andrew grabbed hold of Francois's foot again and gave it a twist. Another muffled roar came from Francois's mouth. Andrew dropped Francois's leg letting it bounce on the floor. He grabbed Francois by the hair and sent a fist into his mouth shutting him up for a moment. 'I will give you pain you never knew existed. Now talk. Where is your meeting place? You have many more bones in your body. I will fucking break them all.'

'There's an old warehouse,' Francois cried. He tried to hold on to his broken knee with two broken hands in an attempt to rid himself of the extortionate pain.

'Warehouse where?'

'On a farm outside Vredenburg. Please, I will tell you everything I know,' Francois cried.

'Where's this farm? What does the place look like?'

'It's one of the farms on the way to Port Owen. It sits on the right. The warehouse sits deep on the farm. You can't see it from the road.'

'What's happening there?'

Francois hesitated for a moment and said, 'It is the portal of hell. It only opened the other night. The demons are here to destroy a power that exists on earth. It was said that the power is great enough to destroy us.' His face was filled with fear and agony.

Andrew thought about what Francois had said for a moment and knew they were looking for him. He was the one who inherited the power. They wanted him destroyed. 'Do they know where the power is and where it came from?'

'I don't know. All I know is that Victor had good news which he was going to tell me later, but he wanted me to handle the case of your missing mother to cover their tracks. I promise you I don't know where they are keeping your mother,' Francois cried.

Andrew nodded. He thought about it for a moment. 'Is there anything else I should know?'

Francois tried to get his pain under control. 'Yes, they are not alone. Two powerful demons came from hell to help destroy this power. I've seen what they can do. One is a large guy, and the other is a pretty lady. They will do everything to have this power destroyed and they will not stop until the deed is done.'

Andrew looked at Francois. There was fear on his bleached face. 'Francois, where are your friends now? None of them is here to help you. Where is your Satan now? Not here to help you. Why do you think they took my mother?'

'I don't know,' Francois cried.

Andrew smiled and said, 'I'll tell you. That power your demons felt. I think they found out where that power is, but they don't know what it is and what it can do. Do you know where that power is Francois?'

Francois shook his head. 'I don't.'

Andrew's face grew sombre. 'It's inside of me.' He noticed an expression of wonder and surprise on Francois's face. He clutched Francois's head in both hands and gave it a quick turn. It was followed by another crack sound and Francois's head spun around on his shoulders hundred-and-eighty degrees, forcing him to look backwards. His legs and arms jolted for a brief moment where their nerves have been cut off from the brain. Andrew released Francois's body and watched as he fell backwards only to land on his face.