| Chapter 40 Nick and Leighanne walked through the door of the hospital room to find everyone awake and talking to Brian. "Rok, you finally woke up," Nick said, happy to see his friend back among the living. Leighanne just smiled at him and found an empty seat. "OK Bri, everyone is here, now what happened?" Kevin asked. Brian took a deep breath and looked at Tara for reassurance. She took his hand in hers and nodded her head that it was OK. Brian focused his stare down toward his feet, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes. "Well, when I woke up, I was in the room you guys found me in. My hands and feet were chained to the sides of the mattress, and Gary was hooking up all the monitors," Brian started. "Monitors, what monitors?" Kevin asked. "He had a hidden camera in each room of the house, complete with sound. There was a monitor for each room. He said that before he killed me, he wanted me to suffer, to feel some of the pain that Lee was feeling," Brian said. Everyone looked at Leighanne. She too was staring at the floor, not wanting to see their faces. "Then what happened?" Howie asked, trying to break the tension. "Then he left me alone in the room. I watched his every move through the house, until Leighanne showed up. That's when they started tormenting me," Brian said. "They? Who's they?" A.J. asked. "The demons," Brian answered, still not looking up. "The what?!" Nick asked shocked. "The demons. There were three of them, two stayed with me all the time, while the third stayed with Gary. They tormented me the whole time I was watching Lee and Gary. I finally got so angry that I pulled my hands out of the cuffs, and sat up to try and get my feet free. They told me they wouldn't let me escape, and they attacked me. First one of them choked me while the other held me down, then they let me sit up, and Tiras touched the back of my head and I got an instant headache, so much so that I passed out," Brian said. "Tiras? Was that one of the demons names?" Kira asked. "Yes, it means longing, then there was Hathath, which means fear, and Shaaph, which means division," Brian answered. "So then what happened?" Tara asked. "When I woke up it was morning, and Gary had come to give me something to eat. He had left one of my hands free so I could eat, we talked for a few minutes. I tried telling him that all he had to do was let me go, but with Shaaph with him, there was no reasoning. When I got done eating he went to put my hand back in the cuffs, and I fought with him. That's how he got that split lip, anyway, he got the ether out and knocked me out again," Brian said. Everyone was looking from one to the other, not wanting to believe what Brian was telling them. "Later on that day, Gary came back down. I pretended to still be asleep and when he checked to make sure the cuffs were still tight, the key fell out of his pocket. So I moved my head to cover it until he left. When he did leave, I managed to get the key in my mouth and scoot down the bed and unlock my right hand. When I finally got free, I still couldn't get out of the room, so I decided to wait until he came down again and try to jump him," Brian said. "Where were the demons? I thought you said they stopped you the first time?" Kevin asked. "They did. I guess they weren't there. They showed up later, about the time that Lee got back, and you guys showed up. When I saw Tara, I picked the chair up and started banging it on the door, that's when they attacked me again. I don't remember which one, but one of them threw me against the wall, then they picked me up, and said that they were tired of me. That's when Tiras grabbed my head again. I think if Gideon hadn't showed up when he did, that Tiras would've killed me," Brian said. "OK, who's Gideon?" Kira asked. Brian smiled, "He's an angel. Him and Jade showed up. Gideon and Tiras fought, and Gideon killed him. Hathath disappeared before Jade could get to him, and that's when you guys came through the door," Brian finished. "Brian, what happened when Howie found you?" Kevin asked. "Gary showed up. He had a gun and was gonna kill me. I pulled all the wires off and tried to fight him, but I wasn't getting anywhere. Actually, he was beating the hell out of me. That's when it hit me, I had to get rid of the demons before I could have any chance of fighting Gary. So I challenged Hathath to show himself and bring Shaaph with him, which he did. I finally realized that I wasn't relying fully on God, I was still waiting for one of the angels to come rescue me, putting my faith in them, and not in God. When I realized what I was doing, that's all it took," Brian said. "What do you mean that's all it took?" A.J. asked. Brian looked up for the first time, "When I finally put my faith fully in God to help me, the demons couldn't touch me anymore, and they knew it. I told them to leave, and Hathath did, but Shaaph turned around and was heading back to Gary. I told him to leave Gary alone, and he challenged me. That's when Gideon and Jade showed back up, they made him leave. I think Gary was a bit overwhelmed, I told him that I understood that it wasn't all him doing what he did, and that I forgave him." "You forgave him for doing that to you?" A.J. asked. "Yeah, cause I know he was being controlled. I mean I never really liked the guy, but I know that he would've never done what he did out of his own free will. He was being controlled, like a puppet, only he didn't realize it until the demons showed themselves," Brian said. "So, how did you get knocked unconscious?" Howie asked. "Well, when I told Gary that I forgave him, Gideon said that's what they were waiting for, and he took my head in both his hands, and that's the last thing I remember," Brian said. "Bri, we didn't find a gun in here, and how'd Gary get out of the hospital without someone seeing him?" Kevin asked. "I can answer that," Tara said, "You see Gideon took the gun, and Jade walked Gary out of the hospital so no one would see him. I don't think Gary will bother us again." Everyone sat there in shock, not knowing what to say. Leighanne was trying to hide her tears, when Nick walked over and whispered, "You need to talk?" She got up and walked out of the room, Nick following. "What's up with those two?" Howie asked. "I don't know, they've been really secretive lately," A.J. said. Brian and Tara looked at each other, not knowing what to think. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Lee, what's wrong?" Nick asked when they were in the hall. "He saw us," she said. "Who Brian?" Nick asked. She nodded her head, "He saw us Nick. He saw everything we did." Nick finally realized what she was talking about, "Oh damn Lee, you didn't?" She said nothing but just nodded her head. "Lee you didn't know he was down there, don't put all the blame on yourself," Nick said, truly not knowing if he was helping or not. "You don't understand, I should've never done it, even if I did know he was watching. I just let my emotions lead, and I should've never......," she said. Nick took her by the arm and stared into her eyes, "Did you love Gary?" She stared at him for a long time, "I thought I did. Now I just don't know." Chapter 41 |