Redemption Prep - Samuel Miller Page 0,6

Eddy,” Dirk explained. “He’s a weird boy. Very messed up.”

“I think he’s possessed,” someone else whispered.

“Oh . . . oh!”

The lights of the chapel began to flicker violently, much faster than before, waves of power drops coming in and out like a storm cell was descending on the mountain. Up and down the congregation, students shuffled restlessly around the old pews creaking and cracking below them. Aiden could hear their panic in the grinding of their teeth, coming from all around him. Why was it so loud?

“Well . . .” Father Farke spoke over Eddy’s moaning, his microphone still working. “We’ll have to wait for the Lord to allow us to continue.” He stepped back from the pulpit and made his way to the window, watching the sky like he was waiting for something to happen.

And something did happen, but it didn’t come from above. It came from the fifth row. The moaning turned into screaming, and the screaming turned into a recognizable word—

“No!”

Students in the front started to crash into the center aisle, screaming and knocking over the candles. With no light, Aiden couldn’t see where they were running, or what they were running from, but the screaming just got louder.

“Go, go, go!” Next to him, Dirk started shouting and shoving. Aiden backed up, standing on the pew to let them pass. Two huge candles at the front of the chapel roared to life, and Aiden got his first clear look at the chaos.

Eddy was standing above the herd, swinging his arms wildly, screaming like he was in pain. He had a Bible in one hand and his other balled into a fist, lashing at the bodies around him. Those bodies had fallen over each other trying to get away. A bigger kid tried to subdue him and Eddy squared up the Bible against his head. The kid fell backward, holding his eye.

At the front, Father Farke and the other clergy members were huddled, scared. The rest of the instructors were still assessing the situation from the balcony. No one was moving toward the center aisle. Someone needed to stop this. Aiden saw his moment, and he charged.

The backs of the pews were about five feet apart, only a few inches of wood but enough for him to catch and propel himself to the next. He leapt around students, row to row, straight for where Eddy had picked up another Bible and was throwing it into the crowd.

He landed on the pew next to Eddy, catching him by the arm before he could swing forward again. Eddy tried to bring his other hand in to help, but Aiden curled over to receive the blow with his back. Eddy was a small kid, but his fists were surprisingly fast and strong, burying themselves below Aiden’s ribs before pulling back and hitting him again, two, three, four times. Aiden snaked his left arm around Eddy’s chest, and with a half-nelson grip, he lifted, driving Eddy off the ground, off the pew, sending them both crashing into the center aisle.

Eddy’s body writhed in pain, and Aiden used the moment to look up for a staff member. He could hear them shouting, but a wall of students surrounded them, standing on pews to create a grandstand. Eddy cowered below him, his gray Metallica T-shirt stained with blood. “No,” he was still shrieking. “No! No! No!”

“Can somebody help him, please?” Aiden shouted. The crowd just roared in response.

Aiden turned back. “Relax!” he shouted down at him. “Eddy, you have to relax!”

Eddy snapped back and Aiden took no chances, capturing both of his hands and driving them backward into the carpet until Eddy stopped trying to fight.

His body went limp, and for a moment, Aiden felt his advantage. Maybe he’d lost his shit for a second, but at this moment, Eddy was a defenseless student, half his size, collapsed and bleeding underneath him, squashed like a bug against the chapel floor. The worst part was his eyes, now bruised and lost in a mess of hair, were staring straight up into Aiden’s, terrified.

Aiden stood again and spun to face the crowd. “Come on! Let somebody through!” A few staff members had fought their way to the front of the crowd, Dr. Richardson and three men in maintenance uniforms. “Does anyone know what’s wrong with—”

He heard it before he felt it, the crowd screaming, a second before Eddy’s shoulder snapped into his spine, pile-driving him forward into the holy water basin in the center aisle. He