Sister Cross

Only By Prayer

    Sister Therese (also known as Sister Cross) sat in a small office space with Sister Michael and Sister Frances. It was a small room set up with one large wooden desk. The sisters sat around this desk together, replying to prayer requests that had been mailed to them.

    Each prayer was written down in a large notebook by Sister Frances. Sister Michael write short notes on the printed response cards. Sister Therese simply put a stamp on them. They prayed a Hail Mary for each person, and later they would pray as a community for the requests. Most of the prayers were from local addresses though some were from a bit farther away.

    "Sisters, please pray for my father. He has been acting very strangely. My mother thinks he is possessed by a demon. I am not sure about that but we could use some prayers anyway. I told my mom I would write you." Sister Frances read aloud.

    "Where does this person live?" Sister Therese asked, "We should go fight that demon tonight!"

    "Let us pray for this man and his family now." Sister Frances replied, "Prayer should always be our first attack."

    Together they prayed, as for every other letter, a Hail Mary.

    ...

    Later that night, the nuns were leaving the convent in pairs as usual. Sisters Therese and Michael were the last to leave that night. Before leaving, Mother had blessed them and said, "Guard yourselves especially well tonight, my daughters, for I sense something is near and strong."

    Creeping out from the shadows just outside of their small, hidden door came a large white face with deep black eyes. The face appeared like a mask made of white stone. The moonlight glinted off of it's body, which was also stone that shone brightly. The body somewhat resembled an owl but there were no feathers but only markings in the stone that appeared like wings. Black lines curved around it in every direction.

    "Fools!" It roared.

    Sister Michael immediately drew her sword. Sister Cross sent large thorns right to the demon's eyes. The eyes swallowed them up like a black hole.

    "Those masks cannot hide your identities!" The demon exclaimed, "I know who you are."

    "Who are you?" Sister Cross asked.

    "I am the destroyer of joy. I am the empty stare. I am the one who turns humans into empty stone corpses that yet live." It replied.

    Sister Michael slashed forward with her sword. She was careful not to aim for the eyes. It barely scratched the stone. A loud clanging noise rang out but nothing more.

    The demon sped forward, trying to knock the nuns to the ground. Despite looking very heavy, it was quick and light. Sister Michael tried to block the blow and succeeded for the most part; she was still standing but had been pushed back toward the wall.

    Sister Cross had ducked out of the way. She was near the demon's strange, bird-like feet. She wrapped a vine of thorns around his ankles. Some of the thorns broke off when they attempted to latch into the stone.

    "Do you think, Sister Cross, that your flower tricks will have any effect on me?" The demon laughed.

    "Why are you after us?" She questioned, "You waited here for us specifically."

    "I am here to gain a new home because I was evicted from my old one." It roared loudly, "So many tried to get rid of me but I stayed. They couldn't do it. Then you, pathetic as you are, exile me in a moment as though it was nothing."

    "What are you talking about?" Sister Michael said, as she pushed back against the demon. She managed to get him off of her and then jabbed at his blank face with her sword. The blade went in and then seemed to pull Sister Michael forward.

    "I've never seen you before, demon," Sister Cross was confused. She latched another vine of thorns around Sister Michael's sword and tried to help her pull it out of the demon's eye.

    The demon rushed forward again, swallowing up the sword and the vine. Both sisters let go of their weapons at risk of being sucked up themselves. Sister Michael was hit in the arm very hard.

    "Where were you when we were vacuuming the convent?" Sister Cross frowned.

    She grabbed the first vine and pulled with all her might. Sister Michael raised her leg and kicked hard. Her sandal made contact with the demon and it fell backwards. Sister Cross pulled him closer as he began to lift himself again.

    "What do we do?" Sister Michael asked.

    Suddenly a small silver blade flew through the air and hit the demon in the back. Another zipped toward them and made contact with the black lines. The nuns heard a crack and then a scream from the demon.

    "Who is there?" The demon demanded.

    Silence.

    The metal of the blades shone bright in the moonlight but their source made no sound. The demon roared again in pain. Sister Cross looked at Sister Michael and smiled.

    "First you cast me out of my home and now you aim to destroy me all together?" The demon's eyes had grown wider. The sisters' habits began to be pulled toward them.

    Suddenly, out of the shadowy trees nearby, a third nun flew through the air. She didn't make a sound until she landed on the demon's back. Then a loud cracking noise was heard. The demon's stone body was cracking in the pattern of the black lines.

    "Just tell me how you did it!" The demon roared, "How did you do what nobody else could do? The human that I was possessing wasn't even fighting back."

    Sister Frances, standing on the back of the demon, spoke quietly before pressing her foot down hard, "Your kind is only cast out by prayer."

    The demon exploded into a billion pieces and then disappeared.

    "Wait, did we know that demon?" Sister Michael asked when they were back inside the convent.

    "No, but we prayed for the family of the man he was possessing."