"I have examined the old scrolls and the ancient legends of my people. The secret is buried away in our songs and our dances. The only way to destroy the demon is to destroy it in its own world, not this one."

"So you're saying that we have to go...go to Hell to kill this thing?"

Erik almost laughed at how ridiculous it sounded. How many times in his life had he told someone to "go to hell?"

But Dovecrest did not seem amused by the idea.

"Yes. One of us must go into the other world and kill the demon before it fully appears in this world. Or, if we fail and it does enter our world, then we must once again send it back to its domain. Only this time we must go in with it and finish the job by destroying it where it lives."

"How do we do that?" Erik asked.

"That is not for you to know yet," Dovecrest replied. "Let us take things one step at a time. I will be the one to go into the other world. But I will need the help of others here in this world."

Erik nodded. "I'll share this with Pastor Mark. And the sheriff."

"Any help we get would be needed. But we need people we can trust. People who will believe. That is why I must show you how to find the stone. Are you ready?'

"Yes."

"Good. Close your eyes and relax your body completely."

The dark was so complete that closing his eyes made no difference to Erik, but he complied. The night air suddenly felt cool. He could feel the soft breeze and hear the sound of the crickets.

"Just relax," Dovecrest said. "Relax and feel all that the forest shows you. Reach out your mind and your heart."

Erik felt almost embarrassed to be out here alone with this Indian. It was actually quite creepy. But the complete darkness also made him feel invisible.

"Relax," Dovecrest said again, in a soothing, hypnotic voice. "Just experience your surroundings."

It took a few moments, but Erik could experience the forest without seeing it. He felt the canopy of leaves overhead. He heard the breeze and the movement of insects. He felt the strong, earthy attraction of the ancient oaks, huge living creatures themselves, an primeval part of the very earth.

And then, quite suddenly, he felt something else. He snapped his eyes open and flinched.

"You found it," Dovecrest said."

"What...."

"You found it. You sense it. I could tell."

"It was...it is...unnatural. Not of this place. It doesn't belong."

"No. It does not belong. Now, take me to it."

"Can't you...just draw a map or something? Put up signs?"

Dovecrest laughed softly. "No. You do not understand. The stone is of this world, but not of this world. It's locationa"herea"is not always the same."

"You mean it...moves?"

"Yes. It moves. But if you use your senses, your instinct, it cannot hide. You will find it."

Erik did sense it and began moving forward. It wasn't very far away now, and he would find it.

-4-.

Erik had taken just two steps forward when a huge spotlight burned into his eyes. He held his arms up over his face and instinctively dropped to one knee.

"F.B.I.! Put your hands up!"

Erik could feel rather than see Dovecrest launch into a run, and then a gunshot cracked in the air.

"Stop and put your hands up!" the voice shouted.

Erik squinted through his fingers and saw that Dovecrest had complied. The shot had been a warning. Then he saw that a half-dozen camouflaged men were surrounding them, with M-16 rifles trained on him and the Indian. He very carefully put his hands up over his head and wondered what he had gotten himself into.

He felt his hands lowered behind his back and a pair of handcuffs being placed on his wrists. The leader of the men turned him around and looked at him by the light of the flashlight.

"Am I under arrest?" Erik asked.

"You are being taken in for questioning."

"Then why do we need these," he said motioning to the cuffs.

"Those are for your own protection," the agent said.

"Don't forget what you learned tonight," Dovecrest said. "You are going to need it."

"Right now, I think I'm going to need my lawyer," he replied.

"You can call him as soon as we reach town," the agent replied.

-5-.

The Demon had been fairly content once it has gotten over the shock of the first botched sacrifice. Being a parasite on this other one wasn't as bad as it had thought. It was like having a foothold into this other world, at least, and once the foot was in the door the rest could squeeze through rather easily.

The man himself, this Seti, had quickly become an annoyance, though. Unlike the first body it had used so long ago, this one didn't understand the big picture, and was not able to control his own urges and emotions. All this creature thought about was pleasurea"food, sex, drugs, alcohol, and punishing others. Not that there was intrinsically anything wrong with these things, but they must be used and controlled in order to achieve the large objective. Pleasure had to be measured with patience, or else it lost all meaning.

And now that it was so close to the influence of this new one, this unrefined creature who didn't know how to act, it found itself losing patience. It felt its own cravings taking over. It began lusting for another victim now, and just about any victim would do. It needed to climb through that gate and closer into this world. It wanted to free itself from the world of fire and live in the world of air. It wanted to feast on pain, punishment, and suffering, and it sensed that there was plenty of that to go around in this world. There were victims everywhere, just waiting to be takena"wanting to be taken, even.

He would give them what they wanted, and much, much more. This world fed on violence and suffering, just like he did. He was their reflection. He would be their mirror and show them what they were really like.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

-1-.

It was almost ten o'clock by the time they arrived at the State Police barracks, which had become a makeshift headquarters for the F.B.I. investigation.

"Can I call my wife?" Erik asked. "She'll be worried sick."

The agent motioned him to a phone and then left.

Erik tried to remain calm as he explained the situation to Vickie, and told her that they were just asking questions and that he'd be home soon. He wasn't sure if she bought the story or not, but he told her that since he was the one who found the missing girl's sneaker, they were trying to get as many details out of him as possible in their search for the killer. He also told her that Dovecrest had been arrested.

"Should I call the attorney?" she asked.

"I think you should alert him, just in case," Erik replied. "If I'm not out of here in an hour I'd like him to come by."

"Erik, are you going to be ok? They don't think you're involved in this, do they?"

"No. I think they're looking at Dovecrest. They probably want to know what I know about him."

"I'll call the lawyer anyway and tell him what's happening," she said. "Just in case."

"Ok," Erik said. "Thanks, Vic. Love ya."

He hung up the phone and waited. Although he wasn't technically under arrest, the whole situation had been designed to put him ill at ease. He sat on a hard chair at a table. The room was small and rectangular, with three drab white walls and a mirror on the third. Erik had watched enough crime drama to know the mirror was a window on the other side and that people were probably watching him. He fidgeted in his chair and tried to look inconspicuous. He wondered how long they would make him wait.

After about five minutes, the door opened and a man wearing a blue suit entered. Erik stood up as the man extended his hand.

"I'm so sorry to inconvenience you, Mr. Hunter. I'm special agent Thralls. I've been put in charge of this case."

Erik nodded and took a good look at the man. He seemed vaguely familiar. He had short, close-cropped hair, a light complexion reddened by the sun, and piercing blue eyes.

"Would you like some coffee?" he offered.

"Ah, no. Thanks."

Erik sat down and Thralls took a seat across from him.

"Could I speak to Sheriff Collins?" Erik asked.

"Sheriff Collins isn't available tonight," the agent said. "This case has involved a kidnapping and crosses state lines, so the F.B.I. is handling the investigation now."

"I see. So how do I fit into this investigation?"

Thralls laughed. "Well I can tell you that you are not a suspect. However, your friend Johnny Dovecrest is. That means that if you are withholding any information, you could be charged as an accessory."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, Mr. Hunter. It is simply a legal fact."

Erik looked at the agent for a long moment. "Ok. What is it you want to know?"

Thralls sat back in his chair and folded his hands on the table. "Good. I'm glad that you're willing to cooperate. As you know, this has been a very serious case. The stakes are always much higher whenever children are involved."

"I understand. I have a child of my own and I'm very worried."

"Then let me ask you about Johnny Dovecrest. How well do you know him?"

Erik told the agent that he'd met Dovecrest just a few nights ago when he'd warned him about the woods and asked him to hang the amulet at his door.

"Do you believe he could be involved in supernatural rituals?"

"Frankly, I don't know what the man believes in, or how he worships," Erik replied. "But I know he isn't involved in murdering children."

"How do you know that?"

Erik told him about how Todd had become lost and how Dovecrest had found him.

"Mr. Thralls," he said. "I'm going to tell you something that may be difficult to believe, but I don't know who else to tell."

"Go for it."

"I think there's a Satanic cult living in those woods and I think they have killed the missing girl."

"That's not so hard to believe, Mr. Hunter. We also believe a cult is behind the murders. We've been following them for some time now. And we think Johnny Dovecrest is part of that cult."

-2-.

When Erik got home, he explained what had happened to Vickie, then took a sleeping pill to try to relax. The next thing he knew, the sun was shining in on his face through the bedroom window.

"Hey, Sleepyhead," Vickie said.

"What time is it?"

"It's almost noon."

"I guess those pills were more powerful than I thought."

Vickie smiled. "You want something to eat?"

"No. Just coffee."

"It's already made," she said. "Sheriff Collins called about a half hour ago. He said it was very important."

"That's one person I really have to talk to," Erik said. "Let me call him back."

Erik grabbed the cordless phone from its cradle and dialed as he made his way to the kitchen. Collins picked it up on the first ring.

"I need to see you," Erik said. "Can you stop by the house?"