John Saul - The Right Hand of Evil

Then a longing seized her-a terrible longing to banish the cold that had enveloped her the moment she'd entered the house by stepping into the blaze. Abruptly, the French doors were no longer painted on the wall, and she knew all she had to do was step through them and she would be warmed by the fires.

The fires of Hell.

She took a step toward the doors; they opened of their own volition, as if to welcome her.

Another step.

Then another.

Only one more, and-

Seizing control of herself, Kim turned away from the flaming eternity beyond the doors and moved instead to the door that led to the basement.

A door that slammed behind her, plunging her into inky blackness.

The cross clutched in her hand, she began descending the stairs.

Janet felt the tip of the dagger at her throat, but even the threat of its plunging deep into her neck would not have stopped her had she been able to force her body to obey her will. But instead of responding to the commands of her mind, everything below her neck had gone numb. It was as if some alien force had wrested control from her, compelling her to stand where she was and watch.

Ted had by now opened the skin of the dog, unwrapping Molly, who now lay naked upon the altar.

Molly, too, seemed in the grip of the same force that had paralyzed Janet, for she made no move to escape. But she was crying, and Janet could hear her terror.

Ted had lain the child on her back, and she looked utterly helpless in the candlelight. Her eyes were fastened on the image on the cross-Janet's own image-and Janet was certain Molly thought that what she was seeing was real.

"Stop," she begged Ted. "For the love of God, Ted! What are you doing?"

Ted turned to face her. Though she still recognized him, his handsome features were bloated, his skin blotched and mottled. Sores and pustules were erupting on every part of him that she could see, and as he turned to her, his robe fell open.

His skin was rippling strangely, and then Janet saw the source of the rippling as swarms of maggots began to break through his skin, wriggling free, dropping off him to creep across the floor toward her.

She sobbed, and with every cry that emerged from her throat, a hideous peal of cruel laughter boiled from her husband's mouth.

His glittering eyes flicked toward her as the knife in Jared's hand moved. Janet felt the point slip through her skin.

"Wait!" Ted commanded.

Jared froze. The knife stayed, quivering, its point still in her flesh.

"Molly," Ted whispered. "Molly first, and then your mother."

"No," Janet whispered. It was a nightmare-it had to be! And yet, despite its impossibility, Janet knew it wasn't a dream. "Oh, please…" she moaned, her voice breaking.

The point of the knife withdrew as Jared moved away from her, leaving a bead of blood on her neck. But still Janet was held in the thrall of the unseen force, and could do nothing to save her youngest child. As she watched helplessly, Jared approached the altar until he stood above Molly, the dagger poised above her naked belly.

"Do it, Jared," Ted's menacing voice whispered. "You know you have to, Jared. You know you want to! Serve your master, Jared! Serve him as I promised you would!"

An explosion of pure rage erupted from Janet. "What!" she demanded. What master? What did you promise? "Tell me what you did!"

Ted's glittering eyes fixed on her. "I did what I had to do," he spat. "I did what I needed to do for me, and for you, too!"

Janet gazed bleakly at him, her mind reeling, trying to grasp what he was saying. But nothing made any sense. Everything she was seeing, everything she was hearing-all of it was impossible. Yet deep inside, she knew it wasn't impossible. Deep inside-in some way she would never be able to fathom-she knew what Ted had done.

He had given up his soul.

And his son's soul, too.

Not his son! Their son! "No," she screamed. "You can't do it. You can't give Jared away! He's not yours, Ted!"

"Isn't he?" Ted taunted. "Watch him! Just watch him. He'll do exactly as he's told." He turned away from Janet to face the altar, and raised his arms.

Before her the inverted cross-and the agonized image of Janet herself-disappeared. In its place a visage of pure evil materialized, a face with features torn from a nightmare. The eyes, sunk deep within suppurating sockets, glittered in the hard, cold light. They were fixed on Janet, and she could feel them boring into her, searching deep within her, looking for-what?

Weakness!

What do you want? Though the question was spoken silently, Janet could hear the menacing-yet somehow seductive-voice as clearly as if it had spoken directly into her ear. You can have it. You can have anything you want.

Now the image began to change, the vile face softening until she was looking at Ted.

But not Ted the way he was.

Ted the way he'd been, many years ago.

Except even that wasn't true. The Ted she now beheld hovering above the altar wasn't Ted as he'd ever been; he was the Ted she'd always dreamed of.

Perfect in every way, his features handsome and even, his eyes clear.

Everything about him idealized.

The image of Ted smiled at her. It spoke again with Ted's voice, caressing her, soothing her.

Promising her.

"Anything, Janet. You can have anything you want. Your life can be as perfect as you've ever dreamed…" The voice went on, whispering, murmuring, reaching deep within.

"No," she whispered, but this time it was more a plea than a command, and as the voice continued its siren song, the image's perfect eyes fixed on her. She felt the deep pull of temptation. "Please," she begged. "Don't do this to me… please don't do this…"

But now she was feeling Ted, too, feeling his hands on her body, his warm fingers exploring every part of her, touching her, stroking her. She felt a surge of warmth grow in her groin and begin spreading through her, and her words turned to soft moans of ecstasy.

"You want it, Janet," the voice purred. "You know you want it. Anything and everything. Just give yourself to me, Janet. Open yourself. Let me in. Let me possess you. Let me-"

Suddenly, a single word resounded through the vast cathedral, shattering the seduction. "NOOOooo…!"

For a moment Janet had no idea where the sound had come from, but then she heard it again, from behind her. Tearing her eyes loose from the perfect image of Ted that hung suspended above the candlelit altar, she twisted around.

She saw her elder daughter coming toward her. Kim's face was ashen, her eyes wide with a combination of terror and wonder. Her right hand was clutching the cross that hung from a golden chain around her neck. Her left arm was extended straight out before her, and from her fingers hung the second cross, the one Janet herself had put away for Molly. As Kim drew near, Janet reached out to take the cross, but Kim passed by her, her eyes never wavering from-

– the image above the altar! Kim was gazing at it, and the expression on her face was enough to tell Janet that it wasn't she to whom Kim would offer the golden cross, but to the terrible being floating over the glowing candles. Then, as Janet watched, the visage of a perfect Ted changed again, mutating into something else, something with eyes that glittered with hatred. The soft skin that had been so perfect a second earlier turned red and scaly, and Ted's full lips thinned and hardened until Janet was staring at the mouth of a reptile.

The mouth opened, and a two-headed serpent shot out, each of the serpents writhing individually, each of their maws gaping wide to exhibit venom-dripping fangs.

Whimpering with terror, Janet cowered back from the terrible being.

Kim, though, walked steadily forward.