A Natural History of Hell: Stories Read Free Page B

up. The last was the most spectacular. Morrison Zeck, that lanky kid, who ’ d not shown himself all night, appeared. He pushed Ina onto the floor and helped the bleary Grace stand by putting her arm over his shoulders. The two of them headed for the front door. That was the last Tom saw before he and Helen passed into the dining room and on to the kitchen.
    Outside, it was still drizzling. They ran into Bill Stewart, standing amid a clutch of neighbors on the front lawn. “Did you see it?” he asked Tom.
    “I thought you were asleep in the dining room.”
    “No, I woke up when the second act got under way. I caught most of it, but once he started shooting I took off.”
    “Remind me never to doubt the existence of demons again,” said Tom.
    “Unbelievable,” said Bill.
    “ I don’t buy it, ” said Helen.
    “Well, you may not, but Emanuel Kan did,” said Tom.
    Twenty minutes passed, and yet the neighbors remained on the lawn in the fine drizzle, waiting for a sign that all was well. Eventually the front door opened and the reverend appeared in the porch light somewhat blackened and frayed, but on his feet. He carried his black bag in one hand and his pistol in the other. Crory and Ina appeared behind him in the doorway. Kan turned and yelled back at them, “You ’ ll be hearing from my lawyer.” As he passed toward the road and his car, he glowered at the crowd. “Ignorant sinners,” he shouted.
    “If that ’ s an act,” said Bill, “he should be on America’s Got Talent. ”
    “He ’ s a menace,” said Helen.
    Tom looked to the house and saw Ina weaving across the lawn toward the neighbors. He barely heard her voice as she thanked Jake and Alice and Oshea. Behind her, Mr. Crory sat on the porch, his powder-blue jacket and bowtie gone, his face in his hands, elbows resting on knees. It looked like he was sobbing.
    “Check it out,” Tom said to Helen and nudged her.
    She turned and looked. “What a mess,” she said.
    “I ’ ve been exactly there more than once,” said Tom.
    Ina staggered over to them in her rounds. “I ’ m so sorry about tonight,” she said. “Please forgive us. The last thing we wanted was to put you in harm ’ s way. The exorcist came highly recommended.”
    “Recommended by who?” asked Bill.
    “He had four five-star reviews out of six on Yahoo,” she said.
    “No sweat,” said Tom.
    Ina said to Helen, “Can I talk to you for a second,” and took her wrist. They moved away from Tom and Bill.
    Fifteen minutes later, Tom and Helen were in their CRV, moving slowly along the twisting suburban night streets. Helen drove. Tom squinted and scanned the hedge-lined properties, the oak thickets and trim lawns.
    “Why didn ’ t they just call the cops?” Tom asked.
    “You know what that ’ s like from our own kids.”
    “Yeah, I remember.”
    “They can ’ t have gone far on foot.”
    “That Zeck kid rescuing Grace reminded me of the end of The Graduate. ”
    “Well, she ’ s got to get home now. Ina ’ s distraught.”
    “Even the weird old man looked on the verge.”
    “What are you doing on your phone? You ’ re supposed to be keeping an eye out.”
    “How are we going to miss her? She ’ s dressed like the fucking Snow Queen. I ’ m looking up if there ’ s such a thing as self-inflating balloons.”
    “I ’ m telling you, it was all tricks gone wrong,” she said.
    “Here it is. There is such a thing as self-inflating balloons, but they don ’ t look anything like that stuff the Blameless was pulling out of Grace. That shit seemed alive.”
    “Remember Jurassic Park, the dinosaurs? Did they look real?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Case closed.”
    “Why don ’ t you check over by the lake? That ’ s where our guys always went to get in trouble.”
    They drove slowly, in silence, till they arrived at the dirt parking lot near the playground at Halloway Lake. The rain had stopped and the moon played peek-a-boo from behind the clouds. Helen put the car