Ancestors of my father and his father, ancestors of my mother and her mother, I have always held your memories in the highest place of honor. Please, do not let I, your servant in the physical world, be put asunder by this evil which defiles both your names and memories. Please, elder ones, protect my friends in honor of their ancestors, who were also honorable, do not let us die this night.
Shouts and stifling heat rose from the lower room, and William suggested that we resume our prayer outside, for he feared that the house would be destroyed. Josie wanted to go down the stairs and help Catherine, but I forced her outside, back out after them to protect against any sneak attack.
In the driveway I saw Pierce, face burned, lying on the ground. A large hole in the stone wall smoked, and I realized that he’d been blown right through. Fortunately, he stood, healing himself even as he was going back to the fight. William dragged Yvonne to their car, and entreated Josie and I to flee as well.
"Josie, please, go with them, save yourself!" I cried, but the girl wouldn’t relent, and insisted on staying to help Catherine. The demon was very powerful, I knew this, and I knew that I might not be able to survive if he attacked. How could I ensure Josie’s safety if I was killed? Since we were standing on the grass, I held her arm and tried to Earthmeld. I sunk into the ground, she didn’t. What else could I do? The cold night greeted me as I returned to the surface.
"Please, run away, I can’t afford losing you to him," I said.
"Eternus, don’t worry. Catherine is in there, and if she is, that’s where I want to be. He can’t hurt us if she’s there, and she needs us to be behind her, to make her stronger," the Daughter of Cacophony replied.
Pierce looked over, and I stared deep into his brave eyes, seeing there such a look of stony resolve that I lost my fear. Josie and I walked over to him, and all three of us walked through the hole in the wall, into the oppressively hot lower room.
Archie’s chair was in a corner, and surrounding him was, kneeling, Catherine, Mary Catherine, the child Malkavian, and then Josie. Mary Ann and Lady Meredith were standing near the stairs, and Kyle and Jack Lupus were flanking the outer door. Pierce and I stood behind Josie. All I remember hearing was Archie’s voice, chanting sweet, cajoling, words, tempting us to trust. The acrid smoke from the wall blended with that of his foul cigarette; it smelled like burning souls.
Suddenly, Catherine began singing ‘Amazing Grace’. Archie demanded silence, but soon Mary Ann, Mary Catherine, and Josie joined in. The voice of the demon turned dark and cruel, ordering them to stop. I knelt by Josie, and she looked to me, the message clear. Even though I didn’t know all the words, I took to singing also. Archie looked irritated, and started appealing to those in the room, telling them that he knew what they believed, and what they secretly wanted.
"Oh, by the way, Lady Meredith," he said causally, "Lord Sebastian says hello and send his best wishes."
A look of long-suppressed, absolute terror crossed her face and the Tremere bolted up the stairs to the ‘safety’ of the kitchen and front room. Catherine started swaying, glowing with a soft, white light, and the singing picked up. I saw Jack Lupus standing in meditation, and Pierce mouth words, but whether it was the song or a hurried last words, I did not know.
"So, you all think that you’re brilliant with your faith, don’t you? Well, children, I’ve got news for you, I don’t feel belief from all in this room, and there are others just like them. Why, I’ve already done some deals in your city, and I expect to do more. Don’t think that I won’t be back."
The blast of fire threw as all back, but when I forced my eyes open, despite the already dissipating heat, the chair was empty and the wall and floor were unscorched. I was still kneeling, and Josie was lying in front of me, partly on my one knee. A sudden fear ran through me like a current, and I touched her shoulder, but all fears were dispelled when she opened her eyes and smiled.
Slowly, we all reconvened in the upper part of the house. I came into the front room and found Catherine lying on the floor in the position of Christ crucified. She looked exhausted, and was being attended by Josie, Lady Meredith, and Slavo. Though all other rooms in that house must have been filled with chaos and confused Kindred, I remember that the front room was calm, warm.
Myself, I couldn’t stop shaking. I didn’t know quite what had gone on, what Catherine had become, for she certainly was no longer as we were, or even if it had all really happened.
"What magic made that Ghoul if his blood is so powerful that it changed her?" I wondered out loud.
"No, Eternus," Josie said kindly, as one would talk to a small child, as I had been talking to her, "Catherine is an angel, she was before you cut Shawn, remember?"
I nodded, but still had not rationalized everything. One thing I did know was that there existed a terrible evil in the city, and that he would probably come after me next. Wen Fu, if it was him, would not pass up a chance to hurt me if he could, and I knew he would.
Catherine had been singing lowly, and was joined by Josie. Charles, a Ventrue that I didn’t know very well, Slavo, Mary Catherine, and Mary Ann began singing what I can only describe as a pre-Civil War Southern hymn about ‘slamming de door to keep de debil outside’. Lord Brendon walked into the room and knelt by Catherine’s side.
"My Lord Prince?" I asked timidly, "Was that guy, was Archie, well, was he Wen Fu?"
Lord Brendon shook his head. "What Archie was, I believe, was pure, unbasterdized evil. Your husband, though I have sensed his madness and malice before through the mirror, was no where near that monster, though he is still a serious threat."
I felt my heart lift in relief, and I smiled. Josie turned and grinned too. "See," she said, "I told you Catherine would save us, she just needed our faith."
"Then, then that means Wen Fu can’t get me if she’s protecting us," I realized, my face breaking into a look of pure joy.
"No, he can’t," Josie replied, laughing, and hugged me. I’d have kicked that demon across the earth three times over if he’d have even tried to hurt her.
More people came into the room, all exhausted by what they’d been through, what they’d witnessed. Lady Meredith was unsettled, and kept saying that Archie wasn’t gone, that he was in each of us. Kyle crouched, huddled up in a corner, and seemed to be wiping tears from his face; I guess everything had just been too much for the boy.
Catherine started to moan and writhe in pain. Not knowing what to do, I took to singing an old folk rhyme that my mother sang to me when I was a child in Yiban, China. It sounded so sweet in the native Chinese, and I knew that at least, Catherine could hear that I was singing to help her. Presently, I switched to the English words, just so others could join in if they wanted.
When the sun come up, the snakes will go, when the sun comes up, the snakes will go, and there’ll be no more dragons anymore, no more dragons anymore.
The fit got worse, and Catherine’s cries carried through the house. Pierce picked her up, but that only seemed to make it worse.
"Think about it, she’s an angel. Turn her over," Josie said.
In front of all of us, a glow came from Catherine’s back, which bulged and rippled under her shirt. Jack Lupus pulled his claws and cut a slit along her spine. Light shone from the fissure, and pure white wings emerged and lay, folded on Catherine’s back. Unsteady and wearied, she stood and spread out the two miracles. Mary Ann had to duck, and some small nic-nacs were knocked off shelves.
"Go ahead and touch them, Eternus." Josie whispered in awe.
I stretched out my arm, hesitant, almost afraid that once my fingers reached them, the wings would become tainted, or even disappear all-together. My hand brushed one of them, and it was the softest, cleanest thing I’d ever touched. Warmth spread through me, and I felt safe.
Lord Brendon took Catherine outside to council, and people started to leave, as dawn was not far off. Some were scared, thinking that the demon would come back, some didn’t believe that Catherine was an angel, or that she’d saved them, and others just didn’t know what to think; I guess I belonged to the latter group.
I heard Josie tell Pierce that she wanted to get the orphanage out of Mace’s name as soon as possible, for she believed the Ventrue corrupted, and when Catherine returned, the girl asked her to live there with her and the children. The former Malkavian readily agreed. Kyle, who was staying with Pierce, left to feed before dawn, which was not far off, and I’m quite sure I saw Josie smile when he said good-bye to her.
Finally, I had to leave, but was loathe to go back to my apartment, since, even after all that had happened that night, I hadn’t forgotten that Wen Fu or an ally of his knew where I lived. No one was out on the streets, so I was forced to feed from a large dog, although I thanked him afterwards, and he seemed not to bare me any ill will. The sky was starting to turn blue when I sank into the ground, and thus protected, slept.