The Hammer Commission Read online

  “And you’re not going to either,” Mark smiled at her.

  “Super secret government stuff?”

  “The less said the better. Well I need to take care of a few personal things myself, then I have a flight to catch. Take care of yourself.”

  “You take care of your self,” She said. “It sounds like you’ll be needing it a lot more than I will.”

  “There is some truth in that.” Mark said softly.

  Of course the flight to Paris got canceled almost as soon as Mark had booked it. The Archdiocese sent a courier over with a local issue that needed to be handled immediately. When Judith got back she found him sitting at the table with papers spread all over.

  “Change in plans,” he said.

  “What is this?” she asked motioning at the papers on the table.

  “Our first job as a team. Apparently someone uncovered a minor devil of some kind or other and we need to get rid of it. Think of it as a training exercise.”

  “A demon?” Judith said looking surprised.

  “No, a devil.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “All devils come from hell. Demons on the other hand can come from many places. They can also be created. Devils can only be summoned, not created. It’s a moot point to the lay people, but in this business it’s a big difference.”

  “Just what exactly is this business?”

  Mark looked up at her surprised. “No one told you?”

  “They just said that I would be working for a Commission that was run by the Catholic Church, that it was prestigious and that it would be a good career move.” Judith sighed then, “Also I needed a job, I knew the PD wasn’t going to be keeping me around much longer, and Mitch, the guy I worked with on that religious case, told me that you guys are an international team that goes around fighting the bad guys and specialized in religious crime.”

  Mark nodded. “Actually we deal mostly with people who summon devils or demons, devils or demons that have already been summoned, and evil supernatural creatures. You know devils exist, right?”

  “Weeeellll, I know I’ve seen some strange stuff as a cop, and I saw a few strange things working with Mitch and his team. But he said its all small stuff these days, nothing big any more, mostly just wannabe’s and the like.”

  Mark nodded, Mitch worked one on the more mundane aspects of the job, dealing with items and drugs and potions used in ceremonies. He wasn’t a demon killer, but Mark wasn’t going to tell her that just yet. Instead he gave her the same speech he had gotten when he’d first joined. The one that had changed his life, for the better he had hoped.

  “Okay, some history; in December of fourteen eighty four, Pope Innocent the eighth published a Papal Bull dealing with the pursuit of, and the punishment of witches. This was to deal with an ongoing and spreading problem of witchcraft in Germany. It was less than successful and the members of the team of inquisitors sent to deal with it wrote a book after their return to Rome. It was called The Hammer of Witches, or Malleus Maleficarum and was published in the Church in fourteen eighty six.

  “The Hammer of Witches however was incomplete, it dealt with the witches as best as they were able, however it did nothing about the devils and other fell beings the witches summoned or created, or which already existed. Also it was rather crude and a good deal of innocent folk fell afoul of it as well as the guilty. So before his death Innocent signed the decree that formed a commission to study the problem and improve upon the Hammer of Witches, to deal with the devils and the demons in our world, and devise a plan to be rid of them. Pius the third renamed the commission the Hammer Commission in his rather brief reign before his death, and Julius the Second invested a good deal of effort in having the order trained so that they could actually perform the services that they’d been only studying up to then.

  “You are now the newest member of the order, also known as the Hammer Commission. As it is primarily an order of lay people, led by members of the Church, you do not take any vows beyond those I gave to you when you signed up. Unless of course you are fully accepted into the order and desire to be a full member, at which time you will swear fealty to the Church as a knight of the Commission.”

  Judith took a few moments to digest that. “So what am I now?”

  “You’re a neophyte of the order.”

  “Are you a full knight?”

  He nodded, “Yes.”

  “How long until I become a knight? Or is there something I must do? Some test or something?”

  “I have no idea,” Mark replied honestly. “It’s different in every case.”

  “Isn’t that kind of strange?” She asked him looking puzzled.

  He smiled again, thinking of when it had come to him. “Extremely.”

  “So we go around torturing witches and killing demons? Is that it?”

  “We don’t torture anyone; the inquisitors were never part of our order. Also such crude methods aren’t needed anymore. Mainly we find those people who were once called witches and are now called summoners. We do what we have to, to stop them from summoning anymore, and we get rid of any of what they have summoned.”

  “And that’s it?”

  “Most of it. We also deal with other paranormal or supernatural beings, when we find them, and sometime function as intermediaries with the same or for those not considered evil.”

  “Paranormal beings?” Judith asked looking confused.

  “Monsters, spirits, demons, what have you. Some are good, some are bad, some are in between. Not all of the bad guys are allies with Hell, just as all of the good guys aren’t allied with Heaven.”

  “So we work for the Catholic Church then?”

  Mark shook his head, “Well yes and no, the Catholic Church takes care of us, helps us and pays us. They also provide leadership, support, and training. But a lot of us tend to think of them as just the management, technically you work for them but the reality is you don't really, they're not the ones we ultimately answer to.”

  She looked at me a moment, not understanding. “Then who do I work for?”

  “The kingdom of Heaven, or if you'd prefer, you work for God. The Church is just the management. Middle management I guess you could say. We have the same boss in the end as the Priests and the Nuns do, and while we may get our orders from those Priests and Nuns in the end we all answer to the same authority, and sometimes that authority will deal with you directly. We’re just in a different division of the same big organization you could say.”

  “So how come I’ve never heard of any of this?”

  “Because who would believe it?”

  4

  “So how long has this all been going on?” Judith asked as him as they drove out to Rainier.

  “I think fourteen eighty-four was when it got started, but we’re just another group of soldiers on the front lines of a war that stretches back to the initial revolt that Lucifer led against God in Heaven.”

  “Revolt?” Judith looked lost.

  “Didn’t you pay attention in Sunday school?” Mark laughed.

  “Ummm...”

  “That’s okay, I didn’t either. Hell exists because one of the Arch-Angels, who was unhappy with his lot in Heaven, revolted against God. There was a war, Lucifer and his supporters lost and they were all cast out of Heaven and down into Hell. Lucifer is now the ‘devil’, or ‘Satan’, the ‘prince of Lies’, or whatever you want to call him.”

  “So we’re fighting against him?”

  “Not directly, none of us would stand a chance in a direct confrontation, same for a lot of the major demons. But there are rules to this war. Some seem to be by an unwritten agreement, some are due to the laws that govern creation.”

  “Why doesn’t God just destroy him? Can’t he do that?”

  “Probably,” Mark shrugged.

  “So why doesn’t God do that?”

  “Because there are other things involved, the biggest is free will. Every person, every being, has to journe
y either into the light, or the darkness on their own. Free will is the biggest gift that our God ever gave to us, and he does everything he can to continue to protect that gift.”

  “I’m not sure I understand.” Judith said after thinking about it for a couple of minutes.

  “Few people do I suspect. Oh the Pope and most of the other religious leaders do I'm sure, and some of the scholars probably as well, but all I know is what I’ve been told and I don’t worry myself about the high level strategy, I just accept it and move on.”

  “So where exactly are we going?”

  “There’s an old movie house of some kind in the town. Abandoned or just in disuse, I’m not sure. But the local parish has heard enough and seen enough that they’re pretty sure there is a devil occupying it. So we get to go in there and root it out and make sure there aren’t any others.”

  “Is this safe?”

  “Nope. But it sounds like a pretty small guy. Not as small as a pocket demon, but not much bigger.”

  “What’s a ‘pocket demon’?”

  “Oh, just a slang term for the smallest demon that can be summoned. They’re pretty easy to kill, and any religious item at all will turn one away. Holy water or a simple abjuration will get rid of one.”

  “Abjuration?”

  “Abjuration: to renounce: ‘In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit I order you back to the pits of Hell!’ Or something similar.”

  “That easy?”

  “If you’re strong in faith, yes it can be. Otherwise, I suggest you hold up a cross.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Good, because we’re almost there. Now let’s see if the directions I got were any good.”

  Mark found the place on the second pass around the block, it was boarded up, and someone had drawn a number of crosses and other holy symbols on the boards to try and keep whatever was inside, inside. Probably the priest who had called them in.

  He found a spot across the street to park the car and getting out walked around to the trunk. Opening it he got out two small bags and handed one to Judith.

  “Okay, follow me. Anything that comes at you, use the cross in the bag. Hold the cross at it and order it to be gone in the name of God.”

  “Don’t I get a gun or anything?” Judith asked looking around a little nervously.

  “Do you see me carrying one? Now just watch and do what I tell you.”

  "Okay."

  Mark crossed the street and looked at the door, trying it, he found it was unlocked. "Let's check the outside first, you wait here and I'll go around back."

  "What should I say if anyone comes along?"

  "Tell them Father Joe sent you to check out the building and just wait for me to come around and I'll deal with it."

  Mark did a slow circuit of the building then. All of the windows were boarded up, and the boards had crosses drawn on them. He suspected they'd been blessed as well. The back door was locked, and except for what smelled like a skunk living under the building it looked deserted.

  "Okay," he said to Judith as he finished his circuit and came back around to the front. "This should be pretty cut and dried. I'm going to go in and dispel it. You stand in the doorway and block its retreat if it gets around me. Remember what I told you."

  Judith nodded silently at him. He noticed she had a death grip on the cross.

  "Try to relax."

  "Easy for you to say!" he heard her mutter as he opened the door and went inside. Turning to the left he started to slowly work his way through the building. The ground floor was clear, so was the small stage. When he started up the narrow stairs to what was either a projection room, or where they had set up the spot lights he saw something jump down from the balcony, and run for the front door.

  He ran down the stairs while pulling his cross out. There were two objects in the hallway one was the devil heading for the door. The other was black and white and definitely wanted nothing to do with the door or the devil.

  "Don't let it..." He started and then looking up he noticed two things:

  The first was that somehow, Judith had gotten a sawed off shotgun.

  The second was that it was pointed in his direction.

  He swore.

  “I can not believe you did that,” Mark said between clenched teeth as they left the town of Rainier behind them. Judith was driving.

  “I said I was sorry!” Judith said trying to be contrite. “But I panicked! It was my first time okay? I’d never seen a devil before.”

  “If you had held your cross up and stood your ground instead of screaming like a little girl it would have stayed in the building.”

  “I was just shocked okay? Weren’t you scared the first time?”

  “Terrified, especially as three of my best buds had just been killed. But I didn’t run off screaming. And just where did you get a shotgun from?” Mark could see why nobody wanted to be Judith’s partner, she just didn’t have bad luck, she didn’t listen very well either.

  “Well at least it was only full of rock salt.” Judith said looking embarrassed.

  “Have you ever been shot with rock salt?” Mark growled.

  “Um no...”

  “Why am I not surprised. Turn right at that next intersection.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I need to deal with this rock salt you have so graciously peppered me with. I also need to deal with the skunk spray that was the other part of your failure to listen to orders.”

  “Look, I’m sorry, I’m really really sorry. At least we got the devil, right?”

  “Just drive quickly and stop apologizing. That does not make it better, or okay. Just listen to what I tell you and do what I tell you to. If that had been a larger devil, you’d be the one hurting right now. They don’t scare all that easily.”

  Judith sighed and blushed again. “So where are we headed?”

  “To my wife’s house.”

  “You’re married?” Judith said surprised.

  “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

  “In a manner of speaking?”

  “It’s complicated. Turn right at the end of the road, then make the first left. Follow it around to the end.”

  Judith followed the directions and after going through a gate they ended up at a rather nice looking house that could have been in any suburb, only this one was in the middle of a clearing on the edge of a large stand of timber. Mark reached over and tapped the horn twice, then once and got out of the car.

  Judith was surprised when a rather attractive brunette came out of the door, wearing a set of cut-offs and t-shirt. She stopped about ten feet from Mark, standing upwind of him.

  “What in the hell happened to you?”

  “I got shot with a load of rock salt by my new trainee, and then sprayed by a skunk that caught the rest of the blast,” Mark grumbled. “I need to soak out the salt and get rid of this stink!”

  “Yeah, I can see that. Well strip right there, I’ll get the boys to haul a barrel around front for you to soak out the salt while I go find the skunk-off.

  “I’m Hope, his favorite.” She said turning to Judith with a smile as Mark swore. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Judith.”

  “Well unless you want to stare at a stinky bloody naked man I suggest you come inside with me.” Hope said and led the way back to the front door. Judith noticed that Mark wasn’t hesitating and was already down to his underwear.

  Blushing Judith looked away and followed Hope into the house.

  “Have a seat while I go roust the boys,” Hope said.

  As Judith sat down in the living room she heard Hope tell her sons about their dad’s predicament, and what they were to do about it. She was rather surprised when two rather large teenagers hustled by and went outside. Obviously growing up in the country had put some muscle on his sons!

  “Okay, can I get you some coffee? Tea? Beer? Soda? Whiskey? Whatever you want, you’re going to be here a while so might as well
get comfortable.”

  “A beer would be nice,” Judith said with a sigh. “Any idea how long this will take?”

  “Getting the salt out probably won’t take more then a twenty minute soak. The skunk stuff will take a bit longer than that. He’ll be fine by the time you leave tomorrow.”

  Judith blinked, “Tomorrow?”

  Hope grinned a shockingly predatory grin as she came over and handed Judith a beer. “He doesn’t get to leave until I say so. Seeing as he’s been gone nearly a year this time around, you better believe he’s not getting out of here until I have seriously used and abused him!”

  Judith blushed furiously at that, but she was also surprised, “You haven’t seen your husband in almost a year?”

  Hope nodded and sprawled out on the easy chair across from her. “Usually he doesn’t stay away that long, but I think we were all getting on each other’s nerves and needed the break. Shame about his partner though.”

  “Did you know him?”

  “Jake?” Hope shook her head, “Nope. Except for Father Gregory you’re the first one from work he’s ever brought around here.”

  “Really? That’s... strange.”

  Hope laughed, “Not when you think about it. Half the people he works with are priests and the other half are killers. We’re a little ‘unconventional’ here and he thinks the first group has to be protected from us, and that we need to be protected from the second.”

  Judith digested that a minute. “So you and Mark have two sons?”

  “Two sons, three daughters,” Hope said smiling. “The girls are out right now, you’ll probably get to meet them after dinner.”

  Judith was impressed; Hope didn’t look like she’d given birth to one, much less five! Her body was incredibly toned and fit. They talked a little about local subjects after that, Judith wasn’t sure Mark would appreciate her giving his wife the third degree. She was on her third beer when Mark finally came inside, wearing a loose pair of pants. He smelled a bit perfumed, but at least didn’t stink anymore.

  He went and got a beer and then joined Hope on the easy chair, Judith was impressed by what she saw, Mark was as built as his two sons were, thought he had what looked like some interesting scars. She was also impressed at how well he and Hope fit together. There was some love there obviously.