The Unexpected Exorcist: Episode 25

Trouble At The Terrible Tilly?

Recap

Last week on The Unexpected Exorcist: Special Agents Uziel Axe and Sister Catherine Queally were headed to Portland, Oregon, aboard a United Airlines flight. While onboard, Uziel spotted another possessed passenger. The plane landed without incident, but Sister Catherine used the opportunity to exorcise and capture the demon as a training exercise.

Today, the exorcist duo is pulling into the city of Seaside, Oregon. There have been reports of a demon on the island lighthouse, The Terrible Tilly.

If you’re just starting out reading The Unexpected Exorcist, CLICK HERE for Episode 1

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New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday at 3 PM PDT!!

- Adam Lutzi Rockwell

Seaside, Oregon

The city of Seaside sits on the north coast of Oregon. The city has a concrete promenade and a huge tourist industry, but in January, there are almost no tourists and many of the attractions and restaurants are closed.

It was midnight and both Uziel and Sister Catherine had barely slept in days. The drive from Portland over the Coastal Range was long. Heavy downpours came in bands as they drove through the heavy pine forest. Quick turns and banks of fog. They were exhausted when they pulled into town.

“We can’t get out to the lighthouse until morning. If the weather is clear for the helicopter. I really don’t want to be stuck here all week waiting for the weather to clear,” said Sister Catherine.

Uziel woke up when she started talking but only caught the second half. “The weather is clear?” he asked.

She shook her head, “Hopefully we’ll get out to the lighthouse in the morning, but I want to take a look before we go to sleep.”

Sister Catherine had reservations at a Best Western right on the coastal dunes.

“What do you mean, take a look?” asked Uziel.

“The hotel manager at the Best Western told me we could see the lighthouse from there, so that’s where we’re staying.”

“But what do you mean you want to see it?” asked Uziel. He broke out a Power Bar he’d bought at the airport and scarfed it down.

“I have a man with a telescope. He’s waiting for for us.”

Uziel shook his head. “I’m really not dressed for this weather.”

“You need a waterproof overcoat. The DED doesn’t provide that.” The rain began coming down again. Micro-bursts coming off the Pacific.

“All the good that does me now. If the demons don’t get me this damn weather will. What a beautiful state,” he said, motioning his arms to nowhere.

A flash of lightning.

She rolled her eyes. “Get out the dossier.”

He reached into the back seat and pulled out the manila envelope.

He looked up, “Looks like we’re here.”

They sat in front of a four-story Best Western. They parked in the empty lot, got out, and went straight to the front desk and showed their badges and credentials.

“The man’s waiting for you on the roof,” the night manager informed them. “Just take the elevator to the fourth floor. Staircase to the roof will be on your right.”

“Thanks,” said Sister Catherine. They got the keys to their rooms and immediately headed into the elevator. They were on the roof a few minutes later.

---

The roof was a big open space. Off to the seaward side of the building was a man in all black holding a large pair of binoculars and a red flashlight. A black tent was set up.

“What is all this?” Uziel asked Sister Catherine.

“Just follow me.” She walked right up to the man. “Commander, I’m Special Agent Catherine Queally. This is Special Agent Uziel Axe. Can we have a look?”

“Just in the tent, Agent.”

Inside the tent was a large telescope and binoculars set up on tripods. The tent protected them and the equipment from the rain. The magnifying devices pointed out to sea. Behind them was a table with two computers.

“I got you hooked up directly to your headquarters. Watch for the gusts of wind, almost blew the tent over a few minutes ago. Please let me know if you need anything. I’ll wait by the stairs.”

“Thank you,” said Sister Catherine and he left abruptly.

She paced in the tent for a moment. “Take a look through the binoculars, Uzi, would you?”

He stood behind the binoculars. The tent was opened just perfectly to allow for viewing. The wind came up but then dissipated.

The Best Western sat just to the east of the dune. The waves could be heard crashing on the shoreline, but it was too dark to see the water.

Uziel pressed his head to the binoculars and gazed out to sea but could only see blackness. A bolt of lightning thrust out of the sky into the open water a few miles out. A deep thunder rumble followed.

“What the hell is that?” he asked, seeing a light out at sea.

“You tell me,” she said, yawning big.

He hunched a bit and took off the demon-glasses. The lightning flashed again, and he could briefly make out the little island. After his vision returned, he could make out a green light that seemed to be sending green auric signals into the sky. The signals dispersed in all directions.

“Some kind of signal light?” The sky flashed with electricity again. “What’s out there?” he asked.

“That, Agent Axe, is The Terrible Tilly. A lighthouse that was decommissioned in the late fifties. Almost impossible to get to. I think what you’re seeing is a demon-call. The more powerful demons can communicate over the entire globe.”

“Why?”

“Only way they can get a message out to their compatriot demons on the Earth-Realm.”

“Of course, the demons on the Earth-Realm,” he said sarcastically. “Why didn’t I think of that.”

By that point Uziel was not surprised by anything. They could have shown him pictures of the Loch Ness Monster and he wouldn’t have blinked an eye.

“How’d a demon get out there?”

“Didn’t you read any of the dossier?”

“Um…”

“I knew you were sleeping that whole time.”

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

“The aura appeared two days ago,” said Sister Catherine. “One of our local seers spotted it.”

“Local seer?”

“We have a network all over the country,” she said. “They are very useful. This spotter was on vacation down from Portland when she just happened to spot it.”

“Nice place to vacation… How’d a demon get out there?”

“That rock is actually a DED holding stone storage facility. First of its kind. After the lighthouse was decommissioned, it was taken over by the Federal Government. They gave it to the DED in the sixties. We did a test run on storing demon stones on the island. Thought it would be a good idea since demons can’t cross saltwater in spectral form. After some time, leadership decided it was too much of a pain in the butt to service the place and changed locations. We abandoned it.”

“And just left the stones out there?”

“That’s what they tell me.”

Uziel shook his head. “The DED just buried demons out there and hoped nobody would bring their boat out and do some exploring?”

“Pretty much. We put a story out in the press that a rich heiress bought the island and turned it into a columbarium.”

“A what?”

“A columbarium. A place for people to bury the ashes of the deceased.”

“Nobody would know what a columbarium is!” His temper was always up when he was tired.

“Well, you don’t what it is. It’s almost impossible to land a boat on that island. Most people avoid it. That’s why they put it out there and why we need to see what’s going on.”

“If it’s impossible to get out there, then how the hell are we going to get out there?”

“Chopper. Only way. Boats can’t land, especially this time of year.”

“You gotta’ be kidding me,” he said.

“I kid you not, but they won’t attempt it in a storm. Weather reports have it letting up by the morning. They’re choppering us out at eight AM.”

“How well have you thought this through? Doesn’t seem like a great idea.”

“No, it doesn’t. I don’t like the idea of being stuck on a little island with an angry demon and a trainee. This is why I didn’t want you with me.”

“Gee, thanks.”

The lightning flashed in the sky. Two separate bolts hit the water near the island.

“When was the last time you were out there?” asked Uziel.

“I’ve never been. Just read about it and seen pics.”

“That’s just great.” Uziel shook his head and moved to the high-powered telescope. He messed around with the focus. Distant lightning illuminated the lighthouse from the west, silhouetting it nicely and giving him a good look. A bright point of the aura was up in the lantern room. The demon call was coming directly from the top of the lighthouse.

“That demon is sticking to the top of the lighthouse.”

The thunder rumbled over them.

“It’s called the lantern room, Uzi. We have our verification. Should be an interesting morning. It’s Ahriman out there. Come on, I need to get some shut eye.”

“It’s who out there now?”

“Ahriman. A nasty Zoroastrian deity the DED caught a few decades back. The Legion has been trying to free him since he was put in cold storage.”

“Interesting… interesting… Do they have free breakfast at this hotel?”

“No clue.”

“Do you not eat?”

“Not as much as you.”

“I’m going to sleep.”

They headed back down to the rooms.

The mystery man with the tent moved to take it down.

As they walked past him, Sister Catherine shook his hand and said, “Thanks.”

“No problem, I’ll be on-site if you need anything else.”

The Best Western - Uziel’s Room

Uziel’s room at the Best Western was a small single queen. It overlooked the ocean but was so dark he could only hear the roar of the waves. Sea lions cried in the distance.

He had an adjoining room with Sister Catherine, but she warned him not to even think about knocking on the door.

He took out the round stone he’d found at the Milwaukee airport and set it on the rickety little nightstand. Right next to his phone. The phone immediately flashed “Power” and promptly died.

“This God damn thing,” he mumbled, shaking the phone. “Piece of shit.”

The phone might have been junk, but the stone was growing on him. He loved the thing. A symbol of his victory over The Demon. Everybody was jealous, he thought.

He picked up the stone and threw it from hand to hand for a moment. It was cold and perfectly round. Made him feel good. Special. He set the stone on the bedside table.

He didn’t even take a shower, just stripped down to his boxers and jumped into bed. He briefly considered the possibility of bed bugs.

He flipped over and looked at the stone again. Could he see it in the dark?

Weird. Must just be my imagination.

Just before he closed his eyes, Uziel thought again about the previous night. He wished he had some of his CBD gummies, but sometimes they made him groggy in the morning. Plus, they might show up on a drug test if they ever did one. Full spectrum. Who was he kidding, he wouldn’t pass a drug test if they gave him one anytime in the next month.

He looked at the clock. One AM. Okay, he was scared of falling asleep. But he was NEVER afraid of sleep. The occasional sleep paralysis and night terror was freaky but never stopped him from getting eight hours.

Sister Catherine had told him to meet her at seven AM sharp in the lobby. He needed at least seven and a half hours to feel decent and knew he wouldn’t get it.

He rolled around for a few minutes, tired as hell.

Screw it, I have to sleep sometime. Might as well be now.

Uziel never had trouble falling asleep. He worked out whenever he wasn’t at work, and he pushed himself hard, so he usually fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The room seemed to be light, but it was absolute darkness. He looked over at the blinds, but there wasn’t any light coming in.

“Hey, Todd,” he said to himself out loud. “You awake?”

“Yes, Uzi, I’m awake. I’m always awake. I’m your guardian angel. Wouldn’t do you much good to be sleeping on the job.”

“Guess not. Just wondering… are you picking up anything weird in this room?”

“What do you mean by picking up?” Todd asked.

“Are there any ghosts or demons up in this room?”

“Let us see if I can sense anything. One moment, sir.”

“You don’t have to call me sir.”

“One moment, Uzi.”

A few moments passed. 

“I am getting a faint feeling of… something. Sorry, not quite sure what it is. Never felt it before. I don’t think there is anything here. Might be some spectral activity in the hotel, but further out. Might be Ahriman’s demon-call. He is said to be quite powerful.”

“You ever meet him?”

“No, guardian angels don’t get together with demons.”

“You learn something new every day.”

“You should get some sleep, Uzi. We could use it,” said Todd.

“I thought you didn’t sleep.”

“I don’t. Don’t let the bed bug’s bite.”

“It’s not the bed bugs I’m worried about. Wait, do you sense bed bugs?”

“By the looks of this room… it is a strong possibility.”

“Thanks.”

Uziel finally fell asleep.

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New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday at 3 PM PDT!!