Who Prays For Satan?: A Short Story

Chapter 1

Father Daniel pulled up the driveway, and parked in front of Father Raymond's house. He got out of the car, and felt the cold night air wrap around him. The young priest cursed himself as he walked up to the front door. If it'd been anyone else, he'd have told them to stuff it. But Raymond was Raymond. He was an eccentric man, but not an inconsiderate one. If he called you in the middle of the night, it was because he had a good reason.

The door opened before Daniel had a chance to knock, and there stood Father Raymond in the doorway; a tall, well-built man of fifty-two, with a thick head of black hair. He had bags under his eyes and a haggard, yet enthusiastic grin on his face.

"Daniel!" Raymond came forward, and kissed Daniel on both cheeks, before pulling him inside.

"Is something wrong Father?" Daniel eyed Raymond. The old man looked exhausted, yet absolutely manic.

"Wrong?" Raymond laughed. "Are you kidding me? Let me get us a drink."

"Father..." Daniel watched helplessly as Raymond walked into the kitchen. He shrugged, and looked around the living room. The place was a mess, covered in stacks of old books and papers. Not too unusual for Raymond; the man was brilliant but a total slob. Raymond had said those two things often went together, but Daniel was pretty sure that was just an excuse not to tidy up.

Raymond reentered the room with two glasses filled with whiskey.

"It's way too early," Daniel said.

"It's never too early to celebrate." The old man thrust a glass into Daniel's hand. "To the greatest moment in the history of mankind. Amen."

"Amen," Daniel shrugged. He took a sip of the whiskey and watched as father Raymond down his whole glass. The old man sighed as he put it down on a nearby table.

"Raymond, what is this about?"

"Come with me."

"Raymond please just tell-"

"Daniel, you have to trust me. This is not the kind of thing that can be explained. Please."

Daniel sighed and nodded. Raymond grabbed Daniel's hand, and pulled him toward the kitchen. A small brown door leading to the garage sat next to the refrigerator.

Raymond approached the door, and slowly began to turn the knob. He opened it and the two priests stepped inside. The garage was dark, save a large red heat lamp in the middle of the room.

Something was standing under the lamp.

It was four-feet-tall, with thin, scrawny arms hanging on either side of its sickly-looking body. Its skin was greenish-yellow, and translucent around its bony rib cage.

A pair of all-white, pupil-less eyes sat on the bulbous oval head that was too big for its body. Daniel could make out the curved horns on top of the creatures head. They were the last thing he saw before he fainted.

***

Daniel woke up on the couch in Raymond's living room. He felt groggy as he sat up. Raymond sat on the coffee table next to him.

"You feel okay?" Raymond asked.

"Yeah," Daniel said. It was a lie, but he could hear the guilt in Raymond's voice, and didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"I'm sorry that Patrick frightened you."

"Patrick?"

"The fellow you met in the garage."

Daniel's eyes went wide. "You mean that thing was real!"

"Keep your voice down. He can hear you."