Earning him the curses of his fellow students, he pushed everyone out of the way and charged into the crowd, following this feeling of dread. The students were pouring out into the grassy campus like a waterfall and spreading, but Thane could sense the presence of the dark figure. He was dead ahead, a man this time. Maneuvering through the spreading crowd, he ran across the quad, each person he passed narrowing the selection of perpetrators. His eyes locked on to a target, his soul telling him he had found the source of this evil. It was a student, tall like him and dressed in the black coat of a priest. He was far ahead of the other students and had just ducked into the science building. Thane sprinted after him, reaching the door the student had passed through and wrenching it open. Down at the end of a hall, he saw the student turn around the corner, just barely catching sight of the hems of his coat swishing behind him. How had he gotten down there so fast?
Thane pushed the thought out of his mind and continued running, his footsteps echoing through the hall. The shutting of a door drew him to a stairwell, telling him that the student was going to one of the upper levels. By the time he set his foot on the lowest stair, the student was stepping off the highest. The young exorcist sprinted up the stairs, feeling like his lungs were filled with smoke from the exertion. Reaching the top level, he looked down the hall, again spotting the figure turning a corner at the end of the corridor. For several minutes, the chase continued on like this. Every time Thane entered a staircase or hallway, the student left it, and after his target stepped out of the science building and into the nearby middle school, Thane could tell that the student knew he was being tailed. Regardless, he continued running, chasing this evil being all across the campus.
At last, he stormed back in to the cafeteria, where the student was waiting for him. The kitchen staff was gone, leaving the two of them alone. Xavier stared at him, an inhuman darkness in his eyes and an insidious grin on his face. Thane knew it was him, not because of everything that had happened until this moment, but just from looking at him. If he were to meet this man at any other time or place and see him like this, he would get the same feeling of terror.
“Well, that was certainly fun. I’m surprised you were able to keep up with me for so long. It’s good that you and I finally meet face to face.”
Xavier’s voice hit Thane like a punch to the face, using his paranormal sensitivity against him. During exorcisms and investigations, he had heard the voices of demons, but this was a whole new level of evil. Regardless, Thane charged towards him, reaching into his pocket and drawing his rosary. He wrapped it around his hand like brass knuckles and then lunged forward to punch Xavier. Calmly, Xavier grabbed his wrist and stopped him like a seatbelt. Thane screamed as the rosary melted on his hand, the plastic and metal turning into molten ooze and fusing to his fingers.
“Trying to punch me with your rosary, I’ll applaud you for your ingenuity and spirit. However, mere trinkets and physical attacks will never bring me down.”
He forced Thane back, the young exorcist gripping his burned hand, now stiff from the melted rosary hardening on his skin.
“What the Hell are you?”
“I am the nightmare that has invoked fear in men like you for eons. The darkness is coming, soon to eclipse this world and allow all mankind to achieve death.”
“Are… are you the Antichrist?”
“The very same, and let me tell you, hope has left you behind. There is nothing you can do to stop me. What can you, a mortal man, do against the son of the Devil?”
“I can bring about a power far greater than my own!” Thane pulled a small bible out of his pocket and crossed himself. “Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in our battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places!”
Xavier began to laugh. “You think your words can hurt me, boy?”
“Come to the assistance of men whom God has created to His
likeness and whom He has redeemed at a great price from the tyranny
of the Devil! The Holy Church venerates you as her guardian and
protector; to you, the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led into Heaven! Pray therefore the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our
feet, that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church! Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His mercy down upon us; take hold of the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit that he may no longer seduce the nations!”
A visible twitch crossed Xavier’s face, his grin disappearing.
“In the Name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints! And powerful in the holy authority of our ministry, we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and deceits of the Devil! God arises; His enemies are scattered and those who hate Him flee before Him! As smoke is driven away, so are they driven; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God!”
Xavier vomited on the floor with his body jerking violently. “Stop it! I order you to stop!”
“Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee bands of enemies! The Lion of the tribe of Juda, the offspring of David, hath conquered! May Thy mercy, Lord, descend upon us! As great as our hope in Thee! We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies, and sects!”
Black flames began to curl around Xavier and his skin was peeling. He again threw up, this time producing a vile puddle of blood and black venom.
“In the Name and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, may you be snatched away and driven from the Church of God and from the souls made to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb! Most cunning serpent, you shall no more dare to deceive the human race, persecute the Church, torment God’s elect and sift them as wheat! The Most High God commands you, He with whom, in your great insolence, you still claim to be equal! God who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth!”
Black wings stretched from Xavier’s back and claws grew from his fingertips. His cheeks and lips disappeared, revealing rows of needle teeth while his eyes became like coals. He lunged for Thane, screaming like a table saw.
“Christ, God’s Word made flesh, commands you; He who to save our race outdone through your envy, humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death; He who has built His Church on the firm rock and declared that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Her, because He will dwell with Her all days even to the end of the world! The sacred Sign of the Cross commands you, as does also the power of the mysteries of the Christian Faith! The glorious Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, commands you; she who by her humility and from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception crushed your proud head! The faith of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and of the other Apostles commands you! The blood of the Martyrs and the pious intercession of all the Saints command you!”