Chapter 112

Patrick had been dragging Victor towards to the large portal in the cracked warehouse floor. Victor had been trying to resist while the blood squirting from his right stump had formed a bloody trail. Patrick remembered praying to God for his mercy while ignoring Victor's attempts to escape Patrick's grip on his collar.

Patrick noticed a set of steps from the ground level descending to an endless glowing hole in the ground. He had taken out the staff and noticed it glowing brighter than before. The voices in his head were amplified, screaming and hissing.

Patrick walked down the steps not knowing what to expect. He prayed to God as he descended the steps. That was when he noticed a pair of dark claws appearing at the bottom of the portal. They shot up towards him and grabbed Victor. It had taken only a few seconds for the claws to tear Victor's body apart, shredding his flesh while he screamed in agony. Soon there was nothing left of Victor to scream with anymore.

'Please God, help us!' Patrick shouted.

Drop the staff into the portal son. A voice vibrated in Patrick's head.

Patrick looked at the staff one more time admiring its beauty before sending it tumbling down the hole.

Get out of the portal. Now! The voice spoke again. Hurry, leave this place at once and don't look back.

Patrick climbed up the stairs as quickly as he could and headed for the warehouse door where he had seen Craig leaving earlier. That was when he saw something much more fearful. He knew he was too late to escape the warehouse. This was the end of the road for him, but at least he had done what the voice in his head had told him to do and hopefully that was enough to close the portal and rid the world of evil. Please, God, don't let our deeds be in vain Patrick prayed. He fell to his knees. His whole body ached.

Meters away from him approaching the portal a dark figure stood over five meters high floating only inches above the ground. It was looking at the portal with orange glowing eyes. Patrick could have sworn he saw something fearful in the entity's eyes and facial expression. There was something else and Patrick thought that he must have been hallucination from the loss of too much blood. Maybe his brain was busy shutting down all the channels to pain throughout his body that caused him to lose touch with reality, but there were two entities with him in the warehouse, not just one. Patrick blinked the only half-good eye just to be certain. Next to the large entity, another witch-like spirit floated in the air. The second spirit was much smaller than the first one. It had feminine features like a lean naked woman. She had the same fearful expression as the larger spirit. Patrick realised that they were not concerned about his presence. In fact, it seemed like they did not even know he was there at all. Patrick could hear voices behind him coming from the portal. They were hissing sounds, but soon they turned into whispers. The whispers grew into one angry voice which seemed to be constructed by millions of different demonic voices. Patrick was surprised that he could understand what the voice from the portal was saying and he thought that it had to do with the bloodline of the north and the gift that Andrew received from the Vikings.

Centuries of hard work to dominate the human race and you failed us. Your failure to accomplish a simple task will not go unpunished by our master. He awaits.

More claws appeared from the portal. This time there were many, and they were far greater than the ones that tore Victor apart. They shot out of the portal and headed towards Hecate and Mormo like tentacles. They started tearing at the two spirits. Patrick had to cover his ears from the intense screaming coming from the spirits. He witnessed the claws tearing at the two spirits. Although Patrick's ears were covered with his hands, he could hear more voices coming from the portal.

You have been downgraded to the lowest ranks of hell where you will be raped and tortured by the slaves. You have doomed us all. Your powers have been revoked never to be yours again.

Patrick did not know how long he was watching as Mormo and Hecate were being torn apart by the claws from hell, dragging them down the pit, but he knew he had to get away from the portal.

Patrick had just stumbled to his feet when the warehouse floor started to vibrate. The screams were intense and agonizing. Patrick covered his ears again and headed towards the warehouse door. It was dark outside and for a moment he did not know where he was or where he was supposed to go. He waited for a moment to allow his good eyes to adjust to the darkness. The earth started to vibrate a little more and Patrick felt the urgency to find his brother and father if they were still alive. He scanned the landscape until he noticed something familiar not too far from the warehouse. He stumbled forward and saw Andrew sitting on the ground next to Craig. He ran towards them as quickly as his wounds allowed.

'We need to get out of here, now,' Patrick shouted as he approached them. He saw Andrew struggling to his feet.

'I need some help here Pat,' Andrew said. 'Dad is in a bad way.'

Patrick helped Craig up from the ground. His weight bore down heavily on Patrick when he forced Craig's arm around his neck. Andrew slung Craig's other arm around his neck and they headed towards the road where they had parked the kombi. They were far from the road, but with their condition, it seemed impossible to reach. Craig's head hung but at least he was able to help a little. They struggled forward one step at a time. They covered only a few meters when they felt a vibration deep underneath the ground, faint at first but then it started the rumble and shake more violently.

'Hurry!' Patrick shouted as he picked up the pace. He was almost dragging Craig and Andrew along.

After what seemed like hours they reached the fence and Patrick helped them through one by one. The ground was shaking violently now, almost like an earthquake was occurring. Patrick did not know how much pain he could still endure when he helped Craig and Andrew into the kombi and got in behind the steering wheel. He turned the kombi around and spat away. The earth shook again, more violent than before. There was a rumble in the distance and Patrick noticed a huge fire where the warehouse had been.