Unholyverse

~Part 11~

"What is he doing?"

They were sitting on Craig's couch, using the security channel to watch Gerard moving through the house. He would stop periodically and run his hands over windowpanes, around doorframes, sometimes over random patches of wall.

"He's looking for a way out," Mikey answered Brian's question. "A weak spot in Ray's spell."

"He won't find one," Ray said confidently. He was holding Mikey's hand.

Bob sighed loudly. "I guess we're not going with my ass-kicking plan, then."

"He's still in there, Bob," Mikey said quietly.

"How do you know?"

Mikey shrugged. "I know."

Brian was kneeling by the coffee table, shifting piles of books around. "So I'm guessing we're dealing with some kind of possession, right? Of course we don't know what he's possessed by, that would be too easy."

"Xaphan," said Frank.

Brian looked at him. "Excuse me?"

"The symbol on the sphera," Frank said. "It's the mark of Xaphan. That's who the Hoods were trying to raise."

Brian grabbed a book and leafed through it, muttering, "Xaphan, Xaphan," under his breath. "Xaphan! Fallen angel, rebelled with Satan, demon of the second rank, yadda yadda..." the excitement faded out of his voice. "Had the genius idea to set fire to Heaven, and is now responsible for putting the 'fire' in 'fire and brimstone'. Awesome."

"Huh," said Bob. "Guess the garage fire wasn't so inexplicable after all."

Brian closed the book and looked at Frank. "How the fuck did you know that?"

It was a long time before Frank could answer. He'd never felt so stupid, so ashamed, his whole life. Remembering the way he'd behaved was like recalling an episode of TV or a story somebody had told him about a total and utter fucking jackass - but at the very least, he owed it to them to be honest with them now. "The Cardinal told me," he said, unable to raise his voice above a mutter or tear his eyes away from his knees. "I answered Gerard's phone and spoke to him."

"But I thought Gerard-"

"He never called the Vatican like he said he did," Frank went on dully. "And he told me that they would take him away if I listened to them. So I didn't."

The couch dipped and shifted, and Mikey's hand came into view, creeping over Frank's lap to find Frank's own hand and hold onto it.

"Mikey," Frank started, forcing his tongue to form the words. "I'm-"

"Don't apologize to me," Mikey said fiercely, bringing his knees up onto the couch. He tucked himself in tight against Frank's side. "Don't you fucking dare."

"When did this happen?" Brian wanted to know.

Frank's eyes burned and his vision was blurred. He couldn't seem to let go of Mikey's hand. "Right before the kids showed up on the cameras."

"So we probably couldn't have done anything between then and now anyway," Ray said gently. "Don't beat yourself up, Frank, this isn't your fault."

Yeah it is, Frank thought miserably, but he kept it to himself. Instead he pulled Gerard's phone out of his pocket and tossed it onto the coffee table. "It was a private number. I don't know if you can call the one Gerard has stored and they can tell us how to reach the Cardinal."

Brian took the phone and turned it on. He gave Frank a sideways glance and stood up. "Maybe I should take this outside."

Bob cleared his throat as Brian left. "So let me get this straight. This Xaphan dude can make fires happen with his brain, okay, I get that. But what's with him pulling this lobotomy shit on Frank?"