The Unexpected Exorcist: Episode 3

Incident At The Airport

Last week on The Unexpected Exorcist: Exorcists Sister Catherine and Father Williams arrived at The Lake Geneva Supper Club to find a level-one demon having a steak dinner. Chaos, murder, and mayhem ensued. Sister Catherine would have to pursue the fiend on her own.

If you’re just starting out, CLICK HERE for Episode 1.

<Episode 2 | Table of Contents | Episode 4>

- Adam Lutzi Rockwell

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport - Concourse E Security Checkpoint

TSA Officer Uziel Axe was a large presence in any room. Six-foot-four with powerful but lean muscles. A dark bruise decorated his left cheek. He had thick, black hair and a short, trimmed beard.

Passengers moving through the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport often took notice of Uziel. Sometimes they made comments about his size. He ignored the comments the best he could. As a TSA Assistant Transportation Security Manager, he tried to keep everything he did professional.

Uziel wore the standard dark blue TSA uniform with a shiny gold badge. The only thing he hated more than his TSA uniform was January in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

He stood behind a basic podium monitoring his agents as they went about their work of questioning and screening travelers. Uziel was always vigilant and on the lookout for trouble. His eyes darted from person to person as they paraded past him.

His manager had called out sick so he had been kicked up to managing the entire concourse by himself that evening. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t done before.

The Concourse E Security Checkpoint was nothing more than a long-enlarged hallway. Floor to ceiling windows gave a good view of the planes on the taxiways and runways.

A crowded line of passengers slunk down the long, carpeted hallway. Uziel glanced out the windows and watched a Delta 737-800 labor through the snow which was accumulating on the tarmac. There were going to be cancellations and it was going to get interesting fast.

The sun had already set. Pitch black at six in the evening. The storm didn’t help. Typical Milwaukee January.

The airport bustled with activity and chatter. It was Friday night and people were scrambling to get out of Milwaukee before everything closed down. Lots of them were going to be spending the night in Milwaukee and Uziel knew it.

Officer Axe frowned as he watched the snowflakes drift down, past the windows. Big thick flakes. Wet.

He glanced up at the electronic flight status board that hung near his station. Another “Delayed” notice popped up on the board and a groan went up from the line.

The crowd was building and the line was backed up almost to the main terminal. The carpet was soaked from passengers dragging in snow. Uziel hated the snow and the messes it caused.

Did these people not understand the concept of stomping their feet before entering the God-damned airport?

Khallid Omar, a TSA Screener and one of Uziel’s best friends, moved through the crowd. Uziel knew Khallid was going to try to get him to go out after their shift. Khallid loved women and he loved to dance.

“Uzi, my man, the big manager tonight, eh?” Khallid had a thick Somali accent. He had immigrated to the US fifteen years earlier. They had been friends since high school.

“Yeah, Jones called out again. Big surprise. Just so happens there’s also the league finals at ‘First & Bowl’ tonight.”

“You gonna’ report him?”

“No. I could give a shit.” Uziel liked Jones, but Jones had a habit of giving him orders in front of other agents to show his rank.

“You think we’ll be out of here by ten?” asked Khallid.

Uziel just laughed and his mind drifted to the muddy wet carpeting. “Look at these slobs, dropping snow and mud everywhere. Jesus. I’m going to have to call janitorial.”

Khallid just smiled. “You’ll make a good manager one day. You actually seem to care!”

Uziel cared, but not the way Khallid assumed. The thought of the carpet being wet and muddy made his skin crawl. “One can only dream. Manager with the TSA...”

“Pays better. You want to hit the clubs tonight, Uzi? Lucid is gonna’ be banging.”

Uziel cringed. He hated clubbing. He hated dancing. He hated it when Khallid said ‘banging.’ Even so, Uziel was often Khallid’s reluctant wingman a couple times a week.

“No, I can’t. I have to be at the gym at five. The fights next weekend,” said Uziel. “You still coming?”

“I have the tickets. I’m always happy to watch you get kicked in the side of the head.”

Uziel felt his bruise with his right hand, “Yeah, yeah, I was about to—”

Khallid cut him off mid-sentence by holding up his finger. “Look at that guy at the back of the line. What is he doing back there?”

Uziel craned his head to the right and was hit with a bolt of pain right between his eyes. A dark, enormous vibrating purple aura emanated from the entrance. He rubbed his temples.

Great. A fucking migraine. Always right when the action starts.

“God damn it,” said Uziel.

“I’ll check it out,” said Khallid, already walking away towards the disturbance. Uziel couldn’t even see what was happening. The aura was so strong it overcame all of his senses.

Uziel knew that working security wasn’t the best career choice for him. His doctor had called his migraines a disability due to their frequency and intensity. But it was the only thing he had ever wanted to do. Not TSA, but law enforcement. Criminal justice. The doctor told him to avoid stress. Not an option in his profession.

He slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small migraine tablet and popped it under his tongue. The aura only increased.

At the back of the queue, a stout, balding man in a blue suit stood holding a twelve piece bucket of KFC Crunchy Recipe. The man wore a pair of smart rimless glasses, but they hung off one ear. His hair was disheveled and he only had on one shoe.

The man had a chicken breast in his left hand and proceeded to bite into it, bone and all. He crunched and groaned while he feasted on the chicken and swallowed the whole mess down. The travelers gave him a wide berth.

I get a Goddamned world-class migraine everytime something happens.

Uziel spoke into his shoulder mounted walkie, “Khallid, what is that dickhead doing back there?”

Uziel pushed his in on his left temple with his thumb as the pain washed over him. He had suffered from migraines since he a kid. On his twelfth birthday he ended up in the hospital one migraine had gotten so bad.

Khallid slowly walked up to the man, took a long look, and got back on his walkie, “Uzi, this guy… I think he’s drunk… or high.”

“That sounds about right. Pull him out of line, Khallid. Take him to secondary.”

Secondary screening was usually reserved for slow days or actual possible threats. This guy was neither, thought Uziel, and would probably just end up stalling the line.

Khallid gently took the man by the shoulder and guided him to the secondary screening area.

Ignoring his pain and the blinding purple aura, Uziel walked over to join Khallid. The man had just put the last bit of the chicken into his mouth and swallowed it hard.

“Good meat,” the man said. His voice was strange. It almost sounded like static. Uziel couldn’t tell if he was having an auditory hallucination. It happened. On occasion.

“Put the chicken in the receptacle, sir.” Uziel ordered, pointing to the garbage can. The man did nothing, just stared at him with a greasy smirk.

“Now! Throw that shit away!” he snapped.

The last of his patience was gone. Uziel grabbed the bucket from the man and tossed it into the garbage for him.

The man growled at him. Actually growled. Dog-like. Both Uziel and Khallid instinctively took a step back.

“No need for that, sir,” said Khallid in his professional tone. Uziel knew that Khallid would try to diffuse the situation. Khallid had seen Uziel blow up a couple times in the past and always covered for him.

Khallid reached into the man’s pocket and pulled out his passport and paper ticket which was sticking out. He opened it and read it. “Uzi,” said Khallid, “Says his name is Gunther Schnell. German national. Headed to DC.”

“German? Big surprise.” said Uziel. The migraine pounded and he had a sudden urge to vomit which he somehow suppressed.

Uziel grabbed Gunther by the arm, a bit rough, and moved him into the full body scanner. “Put your hands up in the air and touch your fingers together. Like this…” Uziel did the motion.

Gunther did not put his hands up. He just stood in the machine sniffing the side of the scanner.

Uziel shook his head and moved to the monitor. “Put your arms up into the goddamned air!” he ordered.

Gunther still didn’t move, but his grin changed to something else. Something grotesque. Khallid moved back. “Do as you’re told or you’re going to airport jail!” yelled Uziel, on his last nerve. The vein on the side of his head pulsed.

Gunther Schnell slowly turned his head sideways. He bared his teeth and hissed. The sound pierced the air and Uziel grabbed his head.

To Uziel, the world turned a pulsating purple. The entire concourse. He couldn’t see through the aura.

Uziel’s hand hit the big SCAN button without thinking. What he saw on the screen in front of him was nothing short of astonishing. There was no Gunther Schnell on the image board. Just a monster. Wings. Hoofed feet. An over-sized head with six-inch long teeth. Sharp, jutting teeth. Uziel shook his head.

“What the hell?” Uziel muttered and moved quickly around to the front of the scanner. Only the man stood in the machine. No monster.

Gunther Schnell turned crookedly toward Uziel. One side of his mouth went up in a half smile.

“You will not get me that easily, Exorcist,” said the demon through Gunther’s mouth.

The world flashed. Everything went purple again. Uziel covered his eyes. He was blinded. Gunther Schnell exited the machine rapidly, and with an open, one-handed punch, hit Uziel in the dead center of his chest.

Uziel was thrown five feet into the air. He landed flat on his back, hitting his head on the floor. Hard. Everybody in the checkpoint area screamed and lurched back away from the fight.

The punch had a strange effect on Uziel. As soon as the hand of Gunther touched him, the purple aura immediately vanished.

Gunther briefly stood above Uziel. He growled down at him, “You will not trap me, Exorcist! I will destroy you and all of your kind!” Gunther lifted his bare right foot off the ground and brought it down quickly, aiming for Uziel’s face.

One inch before his heel sent Uziel’s nose into his brain, Uziel caught Gunther’s foot with both of his hands and held it. His fighting instinct had kicked in.

Gunther was stunned. Uziel threw him off balance and stood.

The migraine meds must’ve finally kicked in.

In an instant, Gunther turned, howling, and got on all fours and galloped away fast. Away from Uziel. He disappeared up the hallway back into the main terminal.

The crowd panicked and screamed.

Uziel YELLED into his shoulder walkie, “We need back-up in the main terminal, now!”

He turned quickly to Khallid, “Shut it all down, Khallid! I’m going after that thing!”

“Thing?” asked Khallid.

Khallid was about to say something to Uziel, but he was already gone, chasing Gunther up the hallway.

Blood dripped down the back of Uziel’s head. He disappeared into the main terminal behind the possessed German.

Khallid walked over and pushed a big red button. Red emergency lights flashed and a siren blared.

“This is gonna’ be a long night,” Khallid said to the agent standing next to him.

She shook her head in agreement.

<Episode 2 | Table of Contents | Episode 4>

Thanks for reading!

- Adam Lutzi Rockwell

---