Mr. Rayburn is Into Nurses, Apparently (RB Vs. The Shadow God, Chapter 10)

Previously, on The Shadow God:

Indecent exposure!

And now:

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Craig and Mark are on the road, headed for Spiers' church. Craig decides now's as good a time as any to ask Mark what his sister knows.

Mark kept his eyes on the road, even though he wasn’t driving. “Oh, yeah? Like what? Like how she wants to fuck you or something?”
“No, something a little more serious.”
Mark turned toward him and shrugged. “What’d she say?”
“She said she knew all about it,” said Craig, trying to watch Mark’s expression and keep his eyes on the road at the same time. “You have any idea what she’s talking about?”
Mark shrugged, shaking his head. “None.”

Craig asks if Mark had ever mixed blood with Margie.

“I mean if my blood is in your system and it, somehow, got into Margie’s …”
“Yeah, I know what you’re saying,” said Mark. He pursed his lips, considering the possibility. After a moment, he shook his head. “No,” he said. “There’s no way, unless …” he trailed off, looking directly at Craig. “You or Todd fucked her.”

It's weird blood magic, Mark, not an STD. Well, I say that, but Kristy got blue-lighted in the last chapter, so maybe it is an STD. Maybe the whole thing is an extensive HIV metaphor.

...Nah. Mr. Rayburn's not that subtle.

Speaking of Kristy, Mark wonders if maybe she's seen the blue light.

Mark shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just asking. Maybe she’s too afraid to tell anyone, you know, like we were. She’s in that psychology class and all. She probably doesn’t want people to think she’s a nut.” He looked back at the road. “I’d look into it more if I were you.”
Craig stared straight ahead in wonder. He should look into it. Maybe when he was explaining it to Kristy, she thought he was trying to break her down into telling him what was going on. Granted, the idea was way in left field, but those psychology people were weird. They think things like that.

Ooh, hard burn on "psychology people".

Craig pulls up to the curb, and they spill out of the car. They retrieve a duffle bag of tools from behind the truck's seat. And, of course, they're both packing heat.

“If Spiers is a werewolf, shouldn’t we be using silver bullets or something?”
Craig regarded him incredulously. “You can’t be serious?” he said. “The bullets that’re in the gun will stop anything that’s living. Remember that.”
Mark gave him a thumbs up, knowing damn well that he put three of the Magnum’s bullets into the werewolf’s skull. And still the wolf carried on.

Pointing out how much of a death wish your characters have does not make them any less stupid.

The two take cover under an oak tree in front of the church. As they scope the place out, a light comes on in a window at the top of the building. The silhouette of a figure can be seen peering down from it. After a few moments, the light goes out, and the boys make their way to the church's main doors.

“We can’t go via the window,” said Craig. “We’ll have to pry open the doors.” Craig grabbed the crowbar and placed its end between the wooden doors.
“Wait a minute,” said Mark. “Before you do that, don’t you think we should use one of the side doors …” He turned toward the street. “So we don’t look so obvious?”
Craig looked toward the street at the houses on the other side. There were, perhaps, seven houses facing the church. How many of the occupants could see them? Which one of them had already called the police? He hadn’t even checked the vicinity for video cameras. Spiers was probably watching them right this second, on the phone with Underwood.
Craig hung his head shamefully. How could he have put his plan under such scrutiny? How could he be so careless? Mark was right again. And more importantly, he knew he shouldn’t be standing here, dwelling on how stupid he was. They were here for one reason and wasting time wasn’t it.
“That’s a good idea,” said Craig, not looking at Mark. “Let’s go check it out.”

Whoa, Craig, no need to beat yourself up so bad. It's only your first time breaking into a church in the middle of the night, after all.

I hope.

They move around to one of the church's side doors and break out the crowbar again. Which is, as we all know, the tool of choice for anyone looking to sneak up on someone. Craig pries the lock off of the door. They head inside. After a little bit of walking, Craig thinks he see a figure pass by a window in a door. They head through, guns at the ready.

The boys soon found themselves in the sanctuary. It was, by far, the largest room Craig had ever seen in a church. He let the full force of his flashlight shine. He zoomed it around, both of them gazing deeply at the magnificent beauty that stood before them.
There were fake candles with electric lights that were dimmed and which glowed dully alongside the walls that led to the altar. Behind the altar there were several rows of red-cushioned pews apparently used for the choir. And just above the pew on the front wall was the most breathtaking scene put to stained glass Craig or Mark had ever seen. It seemed that every color in the spectrum was utilized in the scene.
The glass depicted Jesus sitting on a patch of green grass, hands fastened together on top of a gray rock, while gazing into the brightly lit heavens. The orange-red sky portrayed a huge, gray cloud radiating down a bright light, which illuminated the empty balcony of the church.

Moving along, the boys head up a staircase to the next floor of the church. Eventually, they find the ladder and trapdoor that Todd found back when he was exploring this place. Craig climbs the ladder, Mark covering him with his gun from below. When there's no sign of Spiers, the two head up.

They find themselves in a sort of living room area. It all looks pretty normal. That is, aside from the words written in blood on the walls.

The words: I KNOW NOT. AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER? WHAT HAST THOU DONE? THY BROTHER’S BLOOD CRIETH UNTO ME FROM THE GROUND.

A FUGITIVE AND A VAGABOND SHALT THOU BE IN THE EARTH … AND DWELT IN THE LAND OF NOD, ON THE EAST OF EDEN. MY PUNISHMENT IS GREATER THAN I CAN BEAR. VENGEANCE SHALL BE TAKEN ON HIM SEVENFOLD. WHERE IS THY BROTHER?

This appears to be in reference to the biblical story of Cain and Abel... I think. I'm not a believer, myself, and I don't have much biblical knowledge, so bear with me.

Also, Craig finds the words familiar, but he can't place why.

Looking around again, Craig spots a small, dilapidated staircase. He shines a light up it and sees only darkness. Furthermore, he shines the light down and sees only darkness. The stairs seem to be situated over a bottomless pit.

Craig takes a few steps up the staircase. Mark is hesitant to follow. Craig calls him a chickenshit. They make their way up the stairs.

“I can’t go any further!” cried Mark, holding tightly onto the wire railing.
“Yes you can!” said Craig, holding his hand out to him. With the both of them yelling, he knew Spiers would definitely be able to hear them, but he didn’t care.

They continue to climb. The staircase begins to break under them. Craig makes it to the top, but the stairs continue to fall. He barely manages to grab Mark's hand before the entire thing falls into the depths below.

Fortunately (or, in my case, unfortunately) they both come out of this unscathed. Unfortunately (or, in my case, fortunately) Mark has lost both his flashlight and his gun.

“Did you ever hear your flashlight or gun land?” Craig asked.
“No,” said Mark.
Craig hadn’t either. Mark’s answer confirmed to him that the staircase was draped over a bottomless pit.

But, like, why though? Why does Spiers just have a rotting staircase over a bottomless pit in his living quarters? My guess is that Mr. Rayburn thought this chapter was running a little slow, so he invented this in order to add a bit of action to keep the readers invested.

Anyway, they go through a door and...

The walls on either side of them were lined in bones, skulls, partial skulls, and thick, heavy spider webs. It looked like a long entryway to an ancient tomb.

Someone please get Father Spiers the number of a good interior designer. His tastes seem to date back to eighteenth-century Paris.

Just then, a door slammed behind them.
Craig quickly shined his light toward the sound, but could see nothing in the thick gloom. He discovered that the hallway to the door was a lot longer than he thought. He thought he and Mark had only taken a couple of steps from the door, but now it looked as if it were forty or so feet away. “Who’s there?” he demanded, knowing whoever or whatever was there didn’t get there by way of the rickety staircase. After a few seconds, a man, the largest man Craig had ever seen, emerged from the darkness and into Craig’s cone-shaped light. “Oh, my God,” he mumbled. “Who the hell is that?”
Mark saw the man and his eyes grew huge. “Sledge?” he whispered.

Well now that's a surprise. Sledge yells at them to go through a specific door; the two boys just stare at him, slack jawed. So he pulls out a rifle and shoots past Craig's head, which is enough to get them to put their asses into gear.

Inside the room, they discover an old mirror.

Craig’s light shined dully on an old mirror in front of them, casting back their tired reflections. And then suddenly, a bright, blue light emanated from its smooth sheen.
Craig and Mark shielded their faces from the mirror’s radiance, and then heard a deep voice from somewhere in the room congratulating them on a job well done.
“Who’s there?” asked Craig, having a good idea of who it was.
“This is Spiers,” said the voice. “And I have some things to tell you.”

But you'll have to wait a little bit for your scheduled exposition dump, because first we have to check back in with Todd.

He exhaled deeply, grabbed the remote to the TV and flipped it on.
There was an episode of Three’s Company on. He watched it mindlessly, while trying to ignore the worry of his friends by watching Chrissy prance around the room in a pink pair of tight butt shorts. He felt himself stiffen. He looked toward the bathroom. It seemed like such a hassle to get in there and do his common duty. He slipped his hand inside his shorts and began to play with himself, watching Chrissy exercise on the small screen.
Todd was in the midst of jerking himself off and was almost there when he caught a glimpse of an oncoming shadow from out in the hallway. He immediately stopped and turned sideways, hiding himself, grimacing against the pain and frustration.

Gross.

Seconds later, a nurse walked in and smiled brightly at Todd. He was in sudden ecstasy as he caught a glimpse of her gorgeous figure.
Much better than Chrissy’s, he thought.

Even more gross.

This girl wore a white, button-up top with the three topmost buttons undone, revealing the swell of her lovely breasts. She wore tight, white slacks (Todd’s favorite on a woman) that rose up her crotch, giving her a slight camel toe. Her hair was blonde, straight, and hung just past her shoulders.

Mr. Rayburn, your erection's showing.

This woman turns out to be a former classmate of Todd's, by the name of Ginny Cook. He's two years her senior, making her eighteen.

“Did you ever get married?” Todd asked.
Ginny shook her head.
Todd was amazed Ginny wasn’t married yet. He thought someone would’ve picked up on those amazing set of titties by now.

Remember when Todd's narration called Mark a "male chauvinistic pig" and Todd a helpless "romantic"? Those were good times.

“Are you single right now?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Ginny toyed with him. “Do you want me to be?”
Todd couldn’t help but smile. “Hell yes,” he said, hoping the word “hell” made him sound somewhat cool.

Don't look now, but I think Mr. Rayburn just self-inserted.

“What have you been doing these days?” Ginny asked, pulling up the same stool Underwood had parked his butt on.
“Uh, you know, just boring old school stuff,” he replied.
“Oh, yeah? What are you studying?”
How to get into your pants, he thought nastily.

Ginny eventually asks Todd how he got injured. He tells her he was in a fight with two guys wielding knives. Then:

Todd’s voice was cut off abruptly as a bright, blue light sprang to life from underneath the bathroom door.

Which will prevail? The Shadow God, or the author's horny writing? Todd tries to ignore the light, but he can't block out the whispers. So he goes a little crazy. Looks like it's the Shadow God's victory after all.

“Todd?” said Ginny in a tiny voice. “What are you doing?”
“Make them go away!” he yelled. “Just make them go away!”
Ginny stood from her chair, slowly backing away from Todd. “Todd, what’s going on? Why are you doing that?”
“Just make them go away!” he yelled again, slamming his fists against his ears. “Please!”
The whispers rasped louder, buzzing in and out of Todd’s ears, through his skull and into his deranged mind.
“Make what go away?” Ginny asked, alarmed and panicked.
“The buzzing!” Todd nearly screamed. “MAKE IT GO AWAY!”
Ginny, perplexed and genuinely frightened, ran from the room screaming for the head nurse.

Not the best nurse, Ginny. Oh well. At least we know for sure her fear is genuine.

Now alone, Todd starts to feel the voices take control of his body. He watches in horror as he slips out of bed and walks towards the light.

After six full steps, Todd Harris faced the brightly shining blue light once again. He was about to go through.
And this time, he had no choice.

We cut back to Mark and Craig, still in the church, still standing in front of the mirror.

“Where are you, Spiers?” Craig asked, extracting the Special from Mark’s pocket.
“There’s no need for that, I assure you,” came a voice from the other side of the room. “Though, it is a pity Mark lost his.” The voice echoed minimally in the sizable room.

Mark slapped him across the arm. “Sshh,” he hissed. “Do you want to get us killed?"
Mark put Craig in mind of Todd. He had no idea what Mark’s sudden problem was. Just yesterday, he was commanding around in the woods with just a pistol and a flashlight; the same thing they had now. But this time, Mark was acting like Todd; like a coward.

Oh good, now even the narration is noticing how inconsistent their characterizations all are.

“Why don’t you tell us what you want?” said Craig.
Spiers bowed from the shadows. “Very well,” he said. “I would like the two of you to venture back into the light. Back into the Dark World.”
Both Craig and Mark eyed the incandescent blue light suspiciously.
“We’re not doing it,” said Craig.
“Oh?” replied Spiers. “And why not? The world in there is much better than this one.”
“You can take that Dark World and shove it up your ass, Spiers!” said Mark[...]

So previously the characters had only been referring to the Dark World as "the Dark World" because that's what Craig decided to call it at the time. But now Spiers is calling it that, too, so I assume Craig hit the nail on the head. With guessing skills like that, he should be on The Price is Right.

There's a whole bit here of Spiers being really cryptic and dancing around in the shadows of the room while he shapeshifts into the werewolf, so I'll just summarize what he tells them. Spiers reveals that his master is the Shadow God, that the Shadow God may or may not be in the Dark World, and that his purpose in being in the church is so that he can recruit an army for the "final battle" in which the Shadow God will break free of his imprisonment.

Mark is scared out of his mind because that's the emotion Mr. Rayburn assigned him this scene. Craig reassures him, then fires all six shots from his revolver into Spiers and drags Mark towards the door on the other end of the room.

“C’mon, Craig! Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ! Oh, Lord!” pattered Mark, prancing his hands along Craig’s back in a fear-induced manner.

First time I've ever seen hands prance.

The two run through the halls of the church. They find themselves on a balcony two stories up the side of the church. They can hear Spiers behind them, so they jump. Mark goes first.

Craig watched Mark fall, bounce, and then roll.

Craig jumps after him. He lands, mysteriously injury-free once again. Mark, on the other hand, is rolling around clutching at his knee. Craig manages to prop Mark up and the two book it to Craig's truck. They get in and turn the key in the ignition; it starts up with a roar.

They watch as the werewolf emerges from the church.

Craig revved his motor, sweat pouring profusely from his pores. “Okay, cocksucker,” said Craig. “You wanna play? Then let’s play!” He jumped on the accelerator, his ass coming up off the seat, and his truck screeched forward with a heavy jerk.

Not a bad line. Not very imaginative, but it gets the job done. However, the great confrontation between truck and wolf is not meant to be:

As the wolf collided into the windshield, the huge impact was nothing Craig and Mark would have expected it to be. Instead, the creature disappeared into the glass as if it wasn’t there, as if it was some kind of mirage.

Craig looked from the church to the residential street stretching out before them. “I think we’d better go back to the hospital,” he said.
Mark looked at him curiously. “Why?”
“Because I think Todd may be in trouble.”

Convenient thing to just know. He gets it from his father, I guess.

We cut back to Todd, still in the hospital, still being drawn towards the blue light.

“I don’t understand,” said Todd. “What do you want with Craig? Why is he so important to you?”
The whispers grew louder still. It sounded like the buzz of a television station that had gone off the air.
Todd smiled as if he understood at least what the voices were saying to him. “That is why?” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t believe it. You can’t make me believe it. There’s no such thing.”
Just then, Ginny returned to the room alone and saw Todd standing at the bathroom’s threshold staring into darkness. “What are you doing, Todd?”
Todd didn’t hear her nor did he turn to look at her. It was as if Ginny wasn’t even there.
“There’s no such thing,” Todd repeated. “Don’t you understand?”

Then, we cut to Ginny's POV. She doesn't see the light at all.

Ginny inched cautiously toward him, looking through the threshold of the bathroom door. She saw nothing but a toilet and a rack of white towels.

...Or does she?

Ginny tiptoed back to the main hallway, looked up and down it to see if anyone was coming. When she decided the coast was clear, she rushed back to Todd. She planted her hands firmly below Todd’s shoulders and with one good, hard thrust, shoved him through the bathroom’s threshold … and into the blue light.
Once Ginny saw the blood, she went to get help, smiling all the while.

And on that note, the chapter ends.

See you tomorrow, folks.

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Comments

[PresentPerfect]

rather than a twist ending, it just feels more like inconsistent writing :|