Chapters (16)
Across the street a window opened and a man cried out, but Thorn continued on through the driving rain, his face a mask of terror as he struggled to make it to the massive front steps of the church. A howling wind rose up around them, hitting Thorn square in the face, holding him in place as he leaned in, struggling inch by inch to move forward. The child spun in his arms and bit into his neck; Thorn screamed in pain as he fought to continue. Over the thunder came the sound of a police siren, and from the window across the street a man's voice shouted desperately for Thorn to let the child go. But he was unhearing, moving ever closer to the stairs as the wind howled around him and the boy tore at the flesh of his face. A finger plunged into his eye socket and Thorn fell to his knees, clinging hard as he dragged the struggling child to the threshold of the stairs. Lightning seared down, ripping a path of asphalt as it shot toward them, but it stopped. Thorn was on the stairs now, pulling with every ounce of strength to drag the screaming child upward. But he could not. His strength was ebbing and the child's was growing; fingernails raked across Thorn's eyes, knees pummeled into his stomach as he gasped and fought to hold on. With superhuman strength he forced the child to the ground and reached into his coat, fumbling with the package of knives. With a blood-curdling cry Damien kicked it from his hand and the stilettos scattered onto the stairs around them. Thorn grabbed one while trying to hold the child in place. The police siren reached its apex and stopped, the child screaming as Thorn raised the stiletto high above him.
"Stop!" shouted a voice from the street, and two policemen emerged from the rain, one drawing a revolver as they ran from their car. Thorn glanced up at them, then down at the child, and with a sudden cry of rage plunged the knife downward, the child's scream coming simultaneously with the sound of a gunshot.
For a moment, everything was frozen: the policemen immobile, Thorn sitting stiffly on the steps of the church with the body of the child stretched before him. Then the church doors swung open and a priest stared out at the scene: a tableau behind the veil of down-pouring rain.