Scott said, "is my daddy doing this?" Gabriel looked past the boy and closed his eyes. The answer which screamed in his head could not be silenced.

Gabriel thought, 'yes, your dad did this,' but he could never tell the truth. He rested his hand on Scott's shoulder and pulled his attention from the scene behind them.

Gabriel closed his eyes and pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. It was dry, and he hesitated as he said, "it's the demon," he heaved and then continued, "not your dad. The demon. I didn't have enough time to save your dad, but soon I will be able to."

Scott blinked hard a few times and gagged as he pressed his hands together and leaned away from Gabriel. The smell of rot and the idea that his father could be the culprit behind this gruesome act caused his stomach to turn.

He felt vomit roil in the back of his throat as his skin ran cold, and the world seemed to shrink around him. An indescribable pressure manifested in his ears, and for a moment, he thought he could feel it: the heat of his skin, the coldness of the air, the tension prickling the nape of his neck.

Scott leaned forward and said, "how? Look what the demon did to that alien. He wants to do that to me. Save my dad!" Gabriel noticed Scott begin to wobble. He scooped the boy into his arms and held him.

Gabriel said, "listen to me. Trust in God, and he will deliver us from this place. Please, Scott, listen to me. The three of us will get through this. We will, I promise." Scott pulled away from Gabriel's embrace and began to walk down the hallway.

Scott pointed at the crimson streaks as he followed them. He paused and said, "how?"

Gabriel caught up to the boy, and together they walked aimlessly through the hallway, turning left or right at random, only to push deeper into the maze in which they were lost.

Minutes of searching for an exit became hours of discovering different halls, and doors, and cells, and though they were different, Gabriel felt they were walking in circles — everything looked the same. They traversed the vast ship, from one narrow corridor into another and found little.

The hum and scent of machinery no longer gripped their senses, and upon further exploration, the duo followed random paths. They approached what appeared to be a dead end. Gabriel couldn't remember the turns he took to end up where he was, but as for now, they stood at the end of a long narrow hall.

A heavy metal door stood between them and a room unknown. At waist height there was a metal turn wheel. He turned it and the door unlocked. Gabriel pushed upon the door, and they found themselves at the edge of a vast hangar.

The ceiling hung high. Pipes, large and dirty, ran parallel to each other in a single direction. Black cables draped slightly low and swayed against the breath of the air vents. Dirt had collected to such a point that it took the shape and appearance of rust. Lights, suspended three feet from the ceiling, buzzed and illuminated the hangar in a dim orange glow.

Three walls, tiled and forgotten, reflect soft glimmers of light. The floor was a single sheet of solid steel and the pathways many walked gleaned against the light. Grime had clawed its way up from the floor and at least two feet up the wall.

The hangar was wide and fit many ships inside of it. Gabriel studied the ship closest to him. It was the size of a car and could fit four people. The top half of the ship appeared to be made of glass, and the bottom was jet black. Its shape reminded him of an elongated egg, and it floated inside of a dock. There were more ships like this one, and here they rested.

Gabriel approached the ship and didn't see a control panel, or anything else indicating how to operate them. He felt that searching for them may be fruitless, as the instructions would not be readable. At the opposite end of the hangar was a vast rectangular opening. A thin veil of transparent blue light stood between the hangar and open space.

Once he reached the end of the hangar, he investigated the endless void of space beyond the blue forcefield. There he saw an ocean of galaxies which punctured the blackness. Some were orange, others were blue, and many were white, or red. Gabriel's faith faltered as he stood before the splendor of the universe and felt something terrible pull at his heart.

He thought, 'did God really make all of this?' He tried to count the galaxies he could see but failed to do so. There were too many, each of them had billions of planets, with millions of creatures for at least a few million of those planets. He could see the galaxies in which they lived, but they could not see him. He wondered if this is how God felt whenever it viewed its creations. His head swirled as he wobbled to one side and fell over.

Scott pulled at his arm and quietly pointed toward the west part of the hangar. Gabriel followed the direction of Scott's finger and found that the demon was feasting in the distance. The gray arm of an alien flopped from side to side as the demon consumed it.

Shadows encompassed the demon as it remained hunched over its kill, and it lapped up the skin of the alien. The eyes of the lifeless alien gazed into Gabriel's, and for a moment, he pitied his abductors.

Scott noticed his father feasting on the alien. His mouth fell agape as he felt his skin crawl. While his heart sank, and the world faded away, he tried to remember how to breathe. He knew that a demon had taken possession of his father, but it was still his father's face he saw. Keith's skin had split, and it had started to drape onto his bones, and his skull. His skin looked more like curtains than flesh. His hair was still the same, as was his eyes, but Scott knew that wasn't his father.

As Keith lifted his head, his eyes fell upon Scott. The flesh of the alien draped from his mouth. Shadows inched out of the pores of his skin, and eyes, and ears, and engulfed him entirely. He heaved as he became no more than a black void. He shirked away from his catch.

The shadows collapsed inward on themselves and then retreated to the hangar wall. Gabriel grabbed Scott by the shoulder, and as his hand trembled, he pushed him toward the hangar exit. As they retreated, the shadows spread themselves thin and wove through the air, reminiscent of a sea serpent gliding through water.

As they left the hangar, Scott pushed against Gabriel. He shrieked, "that's my dad! Save him! You're an exorcist!"

https://youtu.be/ZoltmTANsk4