Demons Ascension - Light Rain

[Posted by Ted H]

workworkworkworkwork

on the other hand, I might change the ending to Demons Ascension. Nothing major, but def important detail wise...sucks for those who might be reading the original version...

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[Demons Ascension - Light Rain]

            By the time James and John reached the house, it was starting to rain. A light drizzle, definitely nothing that would cause anyone to run for cover, but a precursor to the torrential downpour the sky was threatening. Lyle was waiting for them when they arrived, and motioned for them to follow him to the side of the house. He used a flashlight to illuminate  the peak where a small, red symbol was. The same thing on the napkin and in the alley.
            "Anyone else ready to say cult ritual? Cuz I'm barely holding back over here," James said as John produced his own flashlight and lit up the area around the symbol. "No marks in the vinyl," he said "No indications anywhere that  someone climbed up. How the hell did this guy scale the siding?" Lyle shook his head "You guys found the same thing at the Williams-Allanson scene?" he asked as the rain picked up. "I think Bradford might listen to your theory now, James," John said.
            "A couple cut out hearts and some silly symbols does not make a cult," Lyle protested. "Well someone went to great lengths to set this up," James said "And the knife used wasn't your run of the mill kitchen utensil. It was a dagger with a curved blade," he said, remembering what he read in the autopsies. "Either way," John broke in "Bradford needs to know about these. Maybe they're relevant. And maybe they'll help us figure out who's behind this." Lyle shrugged. "Whatever," he said "At least it'll keep this guy from hindering the investigation anymore."
            James was about to protest when the skies opened up and rain started to fall by the bucket. All three men sprinted to the front and in the door, but were soaked upon entry. "Holy cow, it sounds like the world is ending out there!" Brittany exclaimed as she ran in from the living room. "No, not yet at least," James said as he peeled off his jacket and dropped it near the door. He was soaked to the bone and freezing to boot, not an ideal situation.
            James went to call in the symbols to Bradford while Lyle left with Brittany to change, leaving James alone in the kitchen to mourn the loss of his waterlogged cigarettes. Everything on him looked like he just pulled it from a flood. Thankfully he left the napkin of the symbol in the car. "I bet this is a dry house, too," he said as he checked the fridge to find zero alcohol. The freezer had a colorful bottle of vodka, but James figured it best not to touch. This left him only once vice to fall upon, so he fired up a pot of coffee.
            "Good news is they'll look into it in the morning when the rain breaks," John said as James poured his first cup. "What's the bad news?" James asked.
            "With this rain? It'll wash away any blood on the side of the house or up high in the alley."
            "We still have the napkin, and you, Lyle and I can all attest to how the symbols look. So it's not all bad."
            "Still, Bradford would like to have had a photo of the symbols at the scenes. He's pissed they were overlooked for so long."
            "It's a start we didn't have before. You describe the symbol to him so he can try to see if it matches any known cults?"
            "Yeah, but cults aren't exactly commonplace. And Bradford would like to know what made you even think to look for that symbol."
            "It's..." James began before stopping to sip at his coffee. It was bitter, and no amount of milk and sugar would help that, but he didn't let it bother him. "It's a long story," he said before taking an additional sip "Let's just follow the clue where it leads first, then worry about how crazy I sound when I explain how I found it."
            John shrugged. "Well there's not much we can do today now," he said as he motioned outside to the pouring rain "What do you think our next move is?"
            "Figure out what that symbol is to, and go from there," James said as he raised his mug up "Until then, let's wait out the weather."
            Brittany allowed all three men to stay the night in the house with her, despite Lyle objecting to anyone staying, and fired up the fake fireplace space heater on the far side of the living room. Lyle had already changed, and John had some old clothes to change into, leaving James as  the only person still in wet clothes. Brittany produced a towel for him to sit on while everyone else sat and enjoyed the fake fire, trading random life stories.
            Neither James or Lyle had any particular interest in the conversations, but John and Brittany kept up with each other with particular enthusiasm. Both kept the conversations far and away from family. Things eventually drifted to the house, and apparently how lucky the girls had been to get it at such a good deal. This was the only conversation that interested James since apparently the house had been inexpensive, but each prospective home buyer eventually looked elsewhere for different reasons; some found better neighborhoods to live in while others claimed the house was haunted. Brittany claimed there was a higher power at work that wanted her and Stephanie to buy that house together. James suggested that the neighborhood being more than a little black was the reason behind the steal of an asking price, a suggestion that earned a pillow thrown his way.
            The conversation turned to other topics and James quickly lost interest. Hours later, as Lyle began to nod off, Brittany bid everyone goodnight and dragged Lyle off to bed with her. The rain outside had barely let up and John decided to stay put for the night. He decided to take the spare bedroom, leaving James to sleep on the couch.
            James had dried off enough to not soak through anything, but he craved a cigarette more than anything else. He threw himself face first into the couch and tried his best to ignore the craving digging itself through his brain, telling himself he'd buy a new pack first thing tomorrow. Make that ten. Ten packs of cigarettes. Each of them waterproof.