~
Sergeant Joshua continued driving round the city till the church came into view with its old bells hanging on the roof and oil stained shutters from age and weather. He swerved into the parking lot and stepped out of his car, Detective Kol was already waiting out front with hands in pockets. Joshua hadn't really worked much with Kol on cases but they were good friends outside work and see eye to eye once in a while at work. Kol turned smirking as he walked towards him.
" Should we kick that smirk off your face Kol?". Josh said with irritation etched in his voice.
"I guess the Devil is finally visiting" . Kol said laughing.
" Let's just get this over with" . Josh mumbled and walked towards the front door.
They both walked into the church and followed the sign with arrows facing different directions. They went in the direction that pointed office and came to a small room with a frail door. Josh knocked twice and a voice came from inside asking them to come in. Josh and Kol walked into the office carefully like the floors were going to give way under their feet.
" Good afternoon father". Josh greeted while studying the office.
Kol bowed slightly to the priest and smiled.
" Good afternoon officers, your Chief was here today and left few minutes ago". The priest said scrutinizing them.
" Well we weren't aware of that " . Josh said giving Kol a questioning look.
"I didn't know either ". Kol answered with a shrug.
"Well what can I do for you gentlemen?". Father Jonas asked.
Josh brought out pictures of the dead man in the Alley and Riya's house and dropped them on the table for the priest to take a look.
"Like I said to your Chief, haven't seen this since the conjuring". Father Jonas said picking up one of the pictures.
"The conjuring though happened thousands of years ago is still an intriguing topic of this town, the days when men felt dark powers were all one needed to be revered, men joined bodies with demons with a contract written in blood and paper, one to be called master, the other servant, it was a bloodbath everyday as the demons after gaining more knowledge took full control of their masters minds and brought havoc wherever they went, many lives were lost, the whole town reeked of death and pain". The priest told the officers as he stared into space.
" So what can you make of these photos". Josh asked having an eerie feeling about the connection between what the priest just said and the pictures from Riya's house on the table.
" This body was obviously vacated by a demon or entity, the longer they stay in the body of the host, the more they feed on the soul and body, leaving it almost deteriorated and empty in their absence". The priest said scrutinizing the photos.
"Anything else you can tell us". Kol spoke up again breaking his silence.
" I don't know much, but I know someone who does, he was once a priest but he lost his way and went into dark stuffs, he'll know more about this". The priest said giving Josh a card .
" Thank you father" . Josh said with a slight bow and left the office with Kol on his heels.
" Any idea why the Chief was here?". Josh asked Kol when they exited the church.
" Not sure, probably got curious like us too, we should report back to him before going to see this guy" . Kol said with a shrug.
Josh looked at the card in his hands that had Jimmie Cooks written on it with a shop address and descriptions of goods.
"This dude a shaman or something?". Kol asked chuckling.
"Well we'll find out". Josh said thoughtfully.
*********************************
Riya stared at the book Voleth Meir gave her and opened it, she scribbled pages for minutes upon minutes and all she saw were predictions of her birth and how she'll only bring chaos to the world.
"The Voodoo Child, a child born of the Devil and a Witch". Elijah said coming to stand behind her.
" How do I bring chaos to the world, this just doesn't make sense ". Riya said looking up at him.
"It needn't be intentional, you have powers, forbidden powers that every twisted person would want to go for or harness to their advantage, and because of this many will come after you with all they've got no matter the cause, the damages all of these leaves behind is what the prophecy meant by chaos " . He said.
"Makes sense, just like the incident at the palace thousands of years ago, so many people died that day". she said lost in her thoughts.
"That night at your house when the demon went for you, you banished it". Elijah said.
" How?, I basically just screamed at the fucker". she said looking confused.
" Meridith had the power to banish demons back to the underworld to be received by Nephele who sent them back to the pits, when she did that, a magical protective mark instilled on her forehead by Nephele glowed". He said coming to sit opposite her.
"And?". Riya asked
"That night, the mark glowed when you screamed, I didn't get rid of that demon, you did, that was the first time I heard Nephele laugh". Elijah said smirking.
"So that means my powers are coming back?". She said wide-eyed.
"No Meridith, your powers are fully back, you just need to learn how to master it". He said.
" By the way, where's Rick?". She asked
" I sent him somewhere nice". Elijah said waving his hands dismissively.
"What do you mean you sent him somewhere nice". Riya asked between gritted teeth.
" Don't worry he's comfortable". He said smiling sheepishly.
" Drop the creepy smile and tell me where he is". Riya said rolling her eyes.
Elijah grumbled and flicked his fingers, a portal opened and Rick ran through it screaming with a lion on his heels, Elijah closed the portal before the lion could fully step in.
"Well look, I told you he's safe and comfy". Elijah said with a straight face.
Riya glared at him and ran to Rick, he seemed like he was paralyzed with shock, she held him close and glared at Elijah again.
"You good Rick?". She asked with concern etched on her voice.
" He sent me to Africa". Rick said in a whisper.
"Any lessons learnt?". Elijah asked.
" Shut up Elijah". Riya said still glaring at him.
He raised his hands feigning defeat.