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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Horror
- Subject: Creatures & Monsters
- Published: 11/25/2020
Part Three
‘Trinity of the Un-Dead’
On the way we talked about our plan again, I was to let him out a short distance from the house and then call him on my phone; by leaving it connected he would be able to hear me at all times. That way he would know when I was ready to let him in.
When we got to the drop off point it was already dark apart from the moon which lit up the road with a silvery light. There were no clouds in the sky to block out the stars. The Professor nodded silently when he exited the car with his case after gently clicking the door closed. ‘Remember the plan’ he said.
As I drove away I began to think, what if he was wrong. What if Reinfield and Ruthven are just who they say they are, a very important government aid and his valet? Holding them at gunpoint would most likely land me jail. But what if he was right? If I didn’t do this and Ruthven came after Dad once more I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
Emerging from the shadows as I slowly approached Sweetheart Nook I was surprised to see it was nothing like I had expected. In my mind I had envisaged a gray Gothic Victorian house with withered ivy on its dreary walls and darkened windows like dead hollow eyes in a human skull. Instead I saw a pleasant Greek revival two story house with its original rosewood woodwork and a row of grand shade tree’s leading up to a spacious sleeping porch complete with white picket fence.
Parked in the driveway was Reinfield’s vintage 1948 blood red Tucker which seemed to glow an eerie blackish tint in the moonlight. I slowed my car down and pulled alongside it sitting quietly for a moment to gather my thoughts. All the way through the journey the heavy lump of the gun digging into the lower of my back reminded me why I was doing what I was doing. If I didn’t follow through I knew when this hideous creature and his familiar were finished with us he would move on and slaughter many others like us. I readjusted the weight of the firearm took a deep breath and walked to the door. Somewhere on the distant lake a lonely loon cried out for his partner. I knocked twice and the door opened. For the first time my eyes fell upon Reinfield as he stuck out his hand in search of mine.
‘ Ahh! You must be Jamie’ he smiled an ordinary smile. And just like the house he was not as I expected. ‘Welcome to our home please come in’ his grip firm and confident.
My head was racing as we stood briefly without talking on the stoop looking deeply into each others eyes. Was he capable of reading my mind I feared, could this normal middle aged man dressed in regular gray pants and Burberry shirt able to look into my very soul? Could he see what I had planned? ‘Let me make you some tea’ he at last said ‘and while you are enjoying it I will let Lord Ruthven know you have arrived. He’s been dying to meet you’
‘Are you from England?’ I asked following him in. ‘Your accent, London maybe?’
‘How very astute of you, Mr. Penrose, now please won’t you sit’ he said offering me a chair. ‘Your Father always found this one quite comfortable. How is he by the way?’
‘Getting Better’.
‘Good, good, and now I’d best get you that tea I promised’
Reinfield left through one of two doors I could see and with him gone it gave me a chance to whisper into my phone which I took from my pocket. Before I spoke I let my eyes run around the room to look for any unusual signs or something out of place. It was relatively sparse apart from the easy chair I’d just rose out of; a black leather couch took up one side wall and in a dimly lit corner sat an old oak writing desk. Two tall lamps of ornate brass illuminated the rest of the area. There was no T.V that I could see. ‘Everything is happening just like you said Professor; he’s gone to make some tea. If you can hear me tap on your handset twice’
Two faint clicks a few seconds apart confirmed he was listening ‘I have to say he sure doesn’t look like a Murd-‘
‘Calling someone Mr.Penrose?’ A voice from behind me interrupted. Reinfield had come back into the room while my back was turned. ‘Your tea’ he said and placed a silver tray carrying a single cup and saucer on a small coffee table.
‘It, it,-it was my Mom’ I stammered trying to think ‘Shhee, was calling me from the hospital to let me know about Dad’
‘Funny, -I didn’t hear it ring’ he said and took a step towards me ‘it’s such a humid night, would you like me to take your coat. I’m sure it’s much too hot with it on. Look at you; you’re positively drenched in sweat’
‘No, No I’m fine’ I said backing up ‘You’re not joining me, with the tea I mean?’
‘More of a coffee man myself, now drink up and I’ll go and let Lord Ruthven know you are soon ready to meet him.’
This time I watched as Reinfield left by the other door followed by the sound of footsteps climbing stairs. I waited for a moment then lifted the cup and raised it to my nose. It did smell of tea; however I could also detect an underlying sweet aroma like honeysuckle. ‘Just like the Professor said’ I whispered to my self again in disbelief of how naïve I had been. ‘Come now I’ve a bad feeling about this’ I said in a low voice into my phone and hurriedly went to the door. To my alarm when I tried to turn the handle I found it locked. I pulled and pulled on it as hard as I could but it wouldn’t open.
‘Didn’t you like your tea Jamie?’ The sound of Reinfield’s voice sent a shiver down my spine. He had quietly returned and was now behind me.
‘Why is the door locked’ I said spinning round and at the same time moving my hand onto the gun, only to find him brandishing a large kitchen knife. His initial warm smile now evil and menacing and he began to shake his head and the shining blade in a rhythmic fashion.
‘I just knew you weren’t going to be like your Father, he trusted me too easily and wouldn’t stop talking which distracted him from seeing what was occurring around him. So I took advantage of his good nature. You however are much stronger, my master will enjoy being with you’
‘I know what you are’ I said.
‘Oh you do, do you’ Reinfield smirked while still waving the knife. ‘And just what am I Jamie’
‘A Familiar’ I said ‘a servant of iniquity, perhaps a warlock or a low life that feeds off your masters bloody table scraps. You’re only aspiration in your pathetic life is to do his bidding’
‘Maybe, but you will be the only one at his dining table tonight’ he screamed and unexpectedly lunged forward. That’s when everything seemed to tumble into slow motion. Somehow I managed to pull the gun from the back of my trousers, and in that same stumbling moment cocked and fired a single round. Reinfields knife caught me on my right arm as he fell opening up a long bloody wound. Both of us were sent crashing against the door with a dull sickening thud taking the air from my lungs. His body now lay limp on top of me and was oozing blood from a gaping hole in his back. I pushed him off and he rolled over, his arms flopping to the floor, his eyes closed.
‘I’ve killed him’ I said out loud scrambling to my feet with my mind and body in a tidal turmoil ‘Jesus Christ, what have I done?’ I was unable to move, none of this should be happening I kept thinking. Yesterday I was just a writer, a simple student now I was a murderer.
‘Shoot the lock Jamie’ I heard a voice shout which instantly jolted me back from my confusion. It was the professor and he was outside on the porch. I aimed the pistol and fired blowing a hole the size of a fist out of the wood taking with it the lock.
‘I heard it all’ He said pushing his way in ‘you had no choice Jamie you know that, now come son we must finish what we came here for’ Handing me his pocket handkerchief he said ‘But first wrap this around your wound’
Van Hesling placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and nodded silently. Slowly both of us turned our eyes to the door on our right.
When we stepped into the hallway beyond the door it was dimly lit from just a single candle flickering gently in the disturbed air as we moved stealthily along. I with the gun raised fell in behind the Professor as we came to a set of narrow stairs. Like the hallway they too were illuminated in a soft light. ‘Can you smell it?’ the Professor whispered ‘The odor of death’ I must admit there was an underlying stink in the air not familiar to me. ‘He is here’ he said ‘ Now we must follow our noses to where the aroma is strongest Jamie, stay behind me’ I watched as he took a hand sized gold crucifix from with his bag and held it out in front of him. ‘Huius Deus ex malo defendat’
‘What does that mean?’ I asked.
‘I am petitioning to god to protect us from this evil’
‘I was never religious’ I replied.
‘Perhaps, but you must put your faith in this holy cross for it maybe the only thing that could save you from this wickedness. Now listen to me, when we encounter Ruthven he will try to deceive us, he can take many forms. He will prey on your weakness; he may be a crying child cowering in the corner telling you he’s lost and pleading with you to help him get back to his mother. Or a beautiful young woman ready to seduce you, on no account look into her eyes. He may turn into your Mother begging you to come home because your Father has died. You must not be fooled by his lies, hold your pistol steady and aloft and god will guide your aim if that moment comes’
I nodded I understood and we began to climb the stairs.
We soon reached a top landing on which there were three doors. ‘Which one Professor?’
‘I do not know’ he replied ‘He could be waiting behind any of these or perhaps a trap of some deadly sorts’
‘Then we must try each one in turn’ I said laying my fingers on the door handle to my left. ‘Are you ready?’
Gently I twisted it and slowly pushed open and as I did so the room seemed to gasp as if it was breathing in air for the first time in a long while. Inside the atmosphere was much colder than the landing so much so our breath was turned to vapour. At first I could see nothing in the semidarkness then slowly as my eyes began to adjust I became aware of a presence. ‘Something or someone is in here with us’ I whispered to the professor who was now closely behind me. ‘Look Jamie on the bed….there’
He’d pointed to a corner of the room with his cross to what looked like an elderly woman dressed in a long white night gown. Her long gray hair lay down around her shoulders and covering her face, her hands and feet tied to the brass frame. As we drew closer she seemed to be spewing gibberish or a language so strange I’d never heard it before. ‘Biblical Hebrew, Jamie’ the professor said coming along side ‘she is praying to Astaroth, in demonology he is the great duke of hell in the first hierarchy with Beelzebub and Lucifer he is part of the evil trinity’
‘We should help her’ I said. But as I spoke the professor thrust out his cross ‘Populi Tui Annimam meam Domina Satanas’ his words made the woman writhe and scream. She turned her head to reveal a hideous pallid face its skin loose and thin on its skull. Eyeless hollows stared at us as her snake like tongue hissed and screamed profanities. ‘She is beyond help I’m afraid Jamie, she is one of the un-dead. Only here to serve her master probably young and beautiful when she was first abducted’
‘What should we do with her?’
‘To kill a serpent we must cut off its head, take my cross and hold it close to her face’
I did as he asked and could barely look on as he took a knife from his bag and severed her jabbering head. ‘Nunc erit in pace’ he said placing it reverently on her breast. ‘Only now we will have made him angry’
Returning to the landing we quickly reviewed our options, two doors remained and the likely hood of finding another abomination like we’d just witnessed was strong. ‘Why didn’t I think of it before? It is my opinion Ruthven would have placed his un-dead brides on both his left and right’ the professor gasped ‘Much like Astaroth’s hierarchy he is attempting to create his evil trinity here in the real world’
I pointed to the middle door. The professor nodded quietly still holding the bloody knife now dripping onto the floorboards beneath our feet as we stepped into the room.
Similar to the first it too was pitched black like a moonless night ‘Keep close Jamie’ I heard the professor whisper. ‘I will challenge Ruthven to show himself’ I cocked the gun I was holding; its solid click was disturbingly loud in the silence. Seconds went by with only the sound of our own breathing unsettling the stillness. Then just ahead two disembodied eyes appeared as if strangely hovering. I could feel the air beginning to change around us; it seemed tighter, denser than before. I began to think of Tyler Brannon and how he must have felt when he first encountered the shadow man in his home, petrified beyond description.
The professor made the sign of the cross ‘Ostende Te Ipsum Abominationi’ he declared his voice sounding stern and direct. A faint grunt came from the darkness like he’d disturbed a dog from its sleep. Still the eyes stared unblinking. ‘So you prefer to hide in the shadows like the coward you are’
I looked at the professor in disbelief ‘You’re taunting him?
A yellow glob of mucus appeared and hit him in the face and ran down his cheek followed by a guttural hiss. ‘Take out the Holy water vial from my bag Jamie’ he said coolly wiping of the spittle with his coat sleeve. I reached over and fumbled inside until I found it. ‘Now remove the glass top and hand it to me’
Trying to hold the gun and do what he asked was difficult but I managed to place it in his left hand while he still held the crucifix aloft with his right. Again he made the sign of the cross but this time with the vial.
‘In the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit I command you to show yourself ‘
The bone chilling response to his request was immediate the eyes where fixed now on him. ‘Ah! Yes! the holy urine now’ A demonic voice rasped ‘How predictable’ The professor started shooting the holy water in sprinkles ‘Be silent’ he said, his words flung forth like thunderbolts.
From inside the darkness a body began to emerge, pale and sickly white with eyes as red as blood. Its two arms out stretched with fingers flaying as if searching for an embrace.
‘He’s hurting me Jamie’ it said pitifully. ‘Why won’t you help me?’
‘Mother?’ I replied softly, mesmerised by its contorting face and began to lower the gun, only to be jolted quickly back to reality by the sudden intensity of Van Heslings voice in my ear. ‘Jamie! Look at me! It is not her! Remember what I said!’
I stumbled backwards accidentally firing off a round as I tried to gain my footing which made the hideous likeness sink back into the shadows. ‘What is your true name?’ The professor spoke into the emptiness, only to be answered with a low growl.
‘Shall I tell you what you are!-you prince of murders, you creator of obscenities you are the enemy of the human race, you-‘
‘Wait’ I said raising my hand ‘A child, a child is crying cant you hear it? It’s in there with him we have to help’ I took a step forward only to be jolted back by a firm grip on my arm.
The professor was shaking his head as he held me back ‘It’s a trick, just another lie from the master of deception, there is no child Jamie’
‘But I heard it’
‘As did I, but trust me he is trying to weaken our resolve, make us fight each other rather than him. We must be united in our quest to destroy him. Now raise your pistol again’
The child’s crying ceased as I did so and was instantly replaced with a frightening deep demonic laugh. ‘Your Father’s blood tasted sweet on my tongue, like any vintage wine I’d ever had’ the voice mocked from the cover of darkness.
Rage began to flow through me making me cock the gun in heated anger. I could not allow this monster to escape of that I was now certain. So I took aim at the hovering eyes.
But before I could shoot the professor was firmly pushing my arm down with his.
‘That moment has not come yet’ he whispered to me ‘But it will soon, trust me’
Again he marked the cross with the holy water bringing forth this time a squeal like an injured cat.
‘If you are so powerful why don’t you show yourself’ he said calmly.
‘Fuck you!’ the voice growled.
‘Then you give me no choice’ the professor smiled at me. ‘Inside my bag you will find a candle Jamie, I want you to take it out and hold it tightly in your right hand’
I looked at him in puzzlement but switched the gun to my left and reached in.
‘Each year on the day preceding Orthodox Pascha, Easter, A holy fire occurs in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. During this time blue light is said to emit within Jesus Christ’s Tomb rising from the marble slab covering the stone bed believed to be that upon which Jesus’ body is to have been placed for burial. The blue light is said to form a column of fire from which candles are lit. The fire is then used to light the candles of the clergy and pilgrims in attendance. Others then light up spontaneously around the church. This I have seen with my own eyes Jamie, and in your hand you hold a sacred candle given to me by one of the Patriachs. Now we must kneel but don’t be afraid the Holy fire will not burn you, it is a fire from heaven’
We both got down on our knees while the voice ridiculed us with a string of profanities; I held the candle outstretched as did the professor with his crucifix. Gradually he began to chant as if in prayer speaking in a bizarre idiom, one I assumed long since lost to time. At first nothing seemed to be happening. Ruthven continued to swear and laugh with promises to feed on us just like he did to the woman tied to the bed in the next room. He pledged to turn us into the un- dead, to live for eternity only to do his evil bidding like Reinfield. Then little by little I began to feel tiny vibrations in my fingers, followed by a sensation of pins and needles shooting through my arm. Minute blue sparks of light soon traversed the candle like orbiting planets around a moon. Bit by bit coming together to form a flame. Which was pushing back the darkness before us to the obvious contempt of Ruthven whose vulgarity intensified as the flame grew. Steadily his protection within the shadows was eroding and we began to see him in his true form. His hideous face was slender its skin pale almost corpse Gray. Bat ears pointed and curved on an elongated bald bulbous head, an unsightly beak nose and snake like fangs protruding from a narrow mouth of snarling teeth which growled like a cornered rabid dog. Dressed in a long blood red coat his skeletal hands and fingers a kin to talons writhed and scraped at the air resembling a frightened cat. As the light grew stronger he became more and more anxious, pacing the room like caged animal.
Van Hesling suddenly broke away from his chanting and flung a volley of holy water at Ruthven who screamed out in pain instantaneously covering his face as it began to burn his hands like acid. Acrid smoke erupted from the gaping wounds as it ate away at his fingers. Melting bloody flesh dripped to the floor like candle wax and pooled around his feet. All the while the Holy flame grew brighter. ‘Speak your true name!’ he bellowed at Ruthven lashing him again with the vial, this time striking him across his face which tore deep lacerations. ‘I will not ask again’ he shouted raising the small bottle once more. ‘Lilith!’ a deep rasping voice replied, I looked at the professor.
‘Lilith or Lilitu was the first wife of Adam’ he began ‘since both were created out of dust she considered her self his equal and refused to lie beneath him. Adam complained to god who sent three angels to reason with her but she would not obey them. Eve was then created for Adam as a replacement and when they together ate from the tree of Knowledge both good and evil she did not. Because of this she was rewarded by the demon of lechery Asmodeus, many believe her to be immortal, the first vampire. ‘’Her house sinks down to death and her course leads to the shades, all who go to her cannot return and find again the path of life’’ Proverbs 2:18-19, it would seem Jamie she is now encapsulated within this contemptible creature which allows her to roam within our world’
‘Holy shit!’ I exclaimed ‘Can we kill her?’
‘No,… regrettably she is an eternal entity, but we can destroy this depraved being, and send her vile spirit back to the underworld’
The flame was now at its brightest penetrating every corner of the room and as the professor drew back his arm to strike again with the holy water Ruthven let out a frightening growl like an angry lion. Quickly rushing forward his teeth bared and his eyes narrowed with hate. The room suddenly shook below our feet sending plaster from the ceiling crashing down around us. He seemed to grow taller as he swiped at the professor sending him plummeting to the floor and spilling the last drops of the vial. Instinctively I fired a round hitting him in the left shoulder as he stood over the professor ready to strike him with his sharp pointed finger nails. Again the room trembled like some outside force was trying to rip it from its foundations. Ruthven glanced at his wound and dismissed it instantly before turning his attention to me.
A muffled pounding jolted the room, then another. Steadily more, shuddering through the walls, through the floor, from the ceiling, splintering and throbbing at a cumbersome rate like the beating of a massive heart. I tried to cover my ears to blank out the pulsating noise. Ruthven pounced with his hideous skeletal arms outstretched and his talon like fingers grasping at the air as he tried to knock the flame from my hand. Somehow I managed to keep hold of it as I stumbled backward but my distraction had just been long enough to allow the professor to get to his feet. I knew now I must keep him preoccupied because this could be the only chance we might get. So I thrust the flame at his face and began taunting him. ‘Come on you bastard!’ I screamed above the throbbing noise.
‘I’m going to rip your throat out’ he snarled grabbing me by the neck. His grip was powerful and I could feel his pointed nails cutting into my skin like burning hot knives. Droplets of my blood began to run down through his fingers lighting up his repulsive grin as if he was looking forward to gorging on my ebbing life force. Slowly I could feel the air being squeezed from my lungs and I began to pray to god imploring him not to let my final vision be this abhorrent creature. All I could do was watch in horror as his mouth began to widen, more and more, extending his jaws which creaked and fractured every un-dead muscle and vein in his face. Bit by bit his black serpent tongue flicked and thrashed out of his esophagus, the stink of it putrefying the air between us with a vile smell. The same stench I remembered from that morning I found Ray at his apartment. I felt the candle drop from my hand spinning wildly as it hit the floor and then the pistol. I was drifting into death, ready to give in. His mouth was now stretching enough to consume my entire head as I slipped into unconsciousness when I heard the professor scream ‘Swallow this mother fucker’ as he thrust a wooden stake through the back of Ruthven’s head. The point of which exploded inside his gaping mouth in a rupture of teeth and blood-spattered skin. Stunned he immediately dropped me to the floor where I lay gasping for breath watching in terror as Ruthven clawed at his throat trying desperately to pull the stake free. Beside me where I fell I could see the holy candle and my gun; I grabbed them both and scrambled awkwardly to my feet. The house was shaking even more I could hardly stand, the pulsating thunderous heartbeat so loud my ears ached. ‘This is for my Dad you bastard’ I shouted into his panic filled eyes as I plunged the column of blue fire deep into his chest.
Above the noise and the screams of Ruthven who had now burst into flames I heard the professor shout out ‘Finish him Jamie’ he called and pointed to my hand. Slowly and steadily I raised my arm and aimed at the vampires head. ‘Fuck off back to hell’ I whispered and pulled the trigger. Instantaneously his skull exploded covering the walls and my face with black brain matter. He dropped to the floor his legs twitching and writhing. Only then did I realize the room was now also ablaze around us. ‘I think he’s dead Jamie’
‘And Lilitu?’ I asked. ‘Who knows’ he replied shrugging ‘There are more things in heaven and on earth than we can ever hope to understand, now we must hurry’
We fought our way down the burning staircase and listened to the blood curdling screams coming from the bedrooms as we ran, jumping the last few steps. ‘Don’t look back, it is merciful end for them’ the professor nodded as flames licked at our heels. When we reached the hallway he unexpectedly clutched my arm. ‘Go Jamie, get out, there’s just one thing more I have to do’ he said before disappearing into the smoke. I tried calling after him but he was already gone.
Out on the drive way the night had changed, the air was cooler the sky now covered in rolling thunderheads crackled with static. I staggered back towards Reinfield’s car and stood anxiously watching as Sweetheart Nook was quickly being consumed by neon blue flames. ‘Professor!’ I cried over the din of shattering glass and falling timbers. All feeling of hope he would survive was slowly evaporating. Then just as I thought all was lost a figure, a dark limping outline of a man emerged from the flames clutching something in its arms, a book. A heavy bound leather book untouched by the burning was in the professor’s hands. ‘I-I, don’t understand?’ I said shaking my head as he wearily approached. ‘You are unscathed by the fire how can that be? I was certain you were dead’
‘The holy flame protected me, don’t you remember what I told you, it is a fire from heaven. It will only consume that which is unclean’
‘Even so, the book you are carrying, why is it so important that you put your life at risk to go and find it?’
‘Do you have any idea what this is’ he said placing his palm gently on its cover.
‘Liber inmortuorum Jamie, the book of the un-dead, while Reinfield was out of the room earlier I saw it as I peered in, I couldn’t believe it at first, but there it was just sitting on his coffee table. Inside these covers are the names of all the known vampires, changelings, warlocks, witches and their familiars. Eternals and immortals, take a look’
He handed me the heavy book and I opened it at random. On each of the pages I read they were full of names in various languages. Some I recognised immediately, Powerful people in our own government, rich and famous celebrities, some present and past, Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein to name a few all evil men of their times.
‘The last person who allegedly possessed this was John F Kennedy; it is believed he had it with him as he travelled in his motorcade down Dealy Plaza, Dallas Texas the day he was assassinated. Some venture on November 22 1963 he was going to use his meeting with the feuding democrats to warn them of a bigger threat. The book of the un-dead was found in Hitler’s Berlin bunker after the fall of the Reich. Secreted away by soldiers to the United States it was later deciphered and its significance realized, woven within the Republican Party were familiars, men and women highly placed in the senate willing to do anything to keep their immortal masters in power. Dangerous people who thrived on anarchy and wars, demons feeding of the misery of others, like those you mentioned.
Kennedy was going to expose them and they found out subsequently paying the ultimate price, His brother Bobby also knew and they killed him too. I believe the man with the black umbrella in the famous photographs captured near the grassy knoll was Rienfield, there to oversee the assassination. Most of the others privy to the book have either disappeared or are dead.’
‘So what do we do with it?’ I asked him.
From inside the house as we both talked a hideous cry rose up into the night sky. And for a brief moment as we stared through the window we thought we saw Reinfield looking back, his face blackened by the inferno breaking into an evil smile.
The End
15,232 words Oct 10th-Nov 21st 2020
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The Familiar (Conclusion)(Will Neill)
Part Three
‘Trinity of the Un-Dead’
On the way we talked about our plan again, I was to let him out a short distance from the house and then call him on my phone; by leaving it connected he would be able to hear me at all times. That way he would know when I was ready to let him in.
When we got to the drop off point it was already dark apart from the moon which lit up the road with a silvery light. There were no clouds in the sky to block out the stars. The Professor nodded silently when he exited the car with his case after gently clicking the door closed. ‘Remember the plan’ he said.
As I drove away I began to think, what if he was wrong. What if Reinfield and Ruthven are just who they say they are, a very important government aid and his valet? Holding them at gunpoint would most likely land me jail. But what if he was right? If I didn’t do this and Ruthven came after Dad once more I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
Emerging from the shadows as I slowly approached Sweetheart Nook I was surprised to see it was nothing like I had expected. In my mind I had envisaged a gray Gothic Victorian house with withered ivy on its dreary walls and darkened windows like dead hollow eyes in a human skull. Instead I saw a pleasant Greek revival two story house with its original rosewood woodwork and a row of grand shade tree’s leading up to a spacious sleeping porch complete with white picket fence.
Parked in the driveway was Reinfield’s vintage 1948 blood red Tucker which seemed to glow an eerie blackish tint in the moonlight. I slowed my car down and pulled alongside it sitting quietly for a moment to gather my thoughts. All the way through the journey the heavy lump of the gun digging into the lower of my back reminded me why I was doing what I was doing. If I didn’t follow through I knew when this hideous creature and his familiar were finished with us he would move on and slaughter many others like us. I readjusted the weight of the firearm took a deep breath and walked to the door. Somewhere on the distant lake a lonely loon cried out for his partner. I knocked twice and the door opened. For the first time my eyes fell upon Reinfield as he stuck out his hand in search of mine.
‘ Ahh! You must be Jamie’ he smiled an ordinary smile. And just like the house he was not as I expected. ‘Welcome to our home please come in’ his grip firm and confident.
My head was racing as we stood briefly without talking on the stoop looking deeply into each others eyes. Was he capable of reading my mind I feared, could this normal middle aged man dressed in regular gray pants and Burberry shirt able to look into my very soul? Could he see what I had planned? ‘Let me make you some tea’ he at last said ‘and while you are enjoying it I will let Lord Ruthven know you have arrived. He’s been dying to meet you’
‘Are you from England?’ I asked following him in. ‘Your accent, London maybe?’
‘How very astute of you, Mr. Penrose, now please won’t you sit’ he said offering me a chair. ‘Your Father always found this one quite comfortable. How is he by the way?’
‘Getting Better’.
‘Good, good, and now I’d best get you that tea I promised’
Reinfield left through one of two doors I could see and with him gone it gave me a chance to whisper into my phone which I took from my pocket. Before I spoke I let my eyes run around the room to look for any unusual signs or something out of place. It was relatively sparse apart from the easy chair I’d just rose out of; a black leather couch took up one side wall and in a dimly lit corner sat an old oak writing desk. Two tall lamps of ornate brass illuminated the rest of the area. There was no T.V that I could see. ‘Everything is happening just like you said Professor; he’s gone to make some tea. If you can hear me tap on your handset twice’
Two faint clicks a few seconds apart confirmed he was listening ‘I have to say he sure doesn’t look like a Murd-‘
‘Calling someone Mr.Penrose?’ A voice from behind me interrupted. Reinfield had come back into the room while my back was turned. ‘Your tea’ he said and placed a silver tray carrying a single cup and saucer on a small coffee table.
‘It, it,-it was my Mom’ I stammered trying to think ‘Shhee, was calling me from the hospital to let me know about Dad’
‘Funny, -I didn’t hear it ring’ he said and took a step towards me ‘it’s such a humid night, would you like me to take your coat. I’m sure it’s much too hot with it on. Look at you; you’re positively drenched in sweat’
‘No, No I’m fine’ I said backing up ‘You’re not joining me, with the tea I mean?’
‘More of a coffee man myself, now drink up and I’ll go and let Lord Ruthven know you are soon ready to meet him.’
This time I watched as Reinfield left by the other door followed by the sound of footsteps climbing stairs. I waited for a moment then lifted the cup and raised it to my nose. It did smell of tea; however I could also detect an underlying sweet aroma like honeysuckle. ‘Just like the Professor said’ I whispered to my self again in disbelief of how naïve I had been. ‘Come now I’ve a bad feeling about this’ I said in a low voice into my phone and hurriedly went to the door. To my alarm when I tried to turn the handle I found it locked. I pulled and pulled on it as hard as I could but it wouldn’t open.
‘Didn’t you like your tea Jamie?’ The sound of Reinfield’s voice sent a shiver down my spine. He had quietly returned and was now behind me.
‘Why is the door locked’ I said spinning round and at the same time moving my hand onto the gun, only to find him brandishing a large kitchen knife. His initial warm smile now evil and menacing and he began to shake his head and the shining blade in a rhythmic fashion.
‘I just knew you weren’t going to be like your Father, he trusted me too easily and wouldn’t stop talking which distracted him from seeing what was occurring around him. So I took advantage of his good nature. You however are much stronger, my master will enjoy being with you’
‘I know what you are’ I said.
‘Oh you do, do you’ Reinfield smirked while still waving the knife. ‘And just what am I Jamie’
‘A Familiar’ I said ‘a servant of iniquity, perhaps a warlock or a low life that feeds off your masters bloody table scraps. You’re only aspiration in your pathetic life is to do his bidding’
‘Maybe, but you will be the only one at his dining table tonight’ he screamed and unexpectedly lunged forward. That’s when everything seemed to tumble into slow motion. Somehow I managed to pull the gun from the back of my trousers, and in that same stumbling moment cocked and fired a single round. Reinfields knife caught me on my right arm as he fell opening up a long bloody wound. Both of us were sent crashing against the door with a dull sickening thud taking the air from my lungs. His body now lay limp on top of me and was oozing blood from a gaping hole in his back. I pushed him off and he rolled over, his arms flopping to the floor, his eyes closed.
‘I’ve killed him’ I said out loud scrambling to my feet with my mind and body in a tidal turmoil ‘Jesus Christ, what have I done?’ I was unable to move, none of this should be happening I kept thinking. Yesterday I was just a writer, a simple student now I was a murderer.
‘Shoot the lock Jamie’ I heard a voice shout which instantly jolted me back from my confusion. It was the professor and he was outside on the porch. I aimed the pistol and fired blowing a hole the size of a fist out of the wood taking with it the lock.
‘I heard it all’ He said pushing his way in ‘you had no choice Jamie you know that, now come son we must finish what we came here for’ Handing me his pocket handkerchief he said ‘But first wrap this around your wound’
Van Hesling placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and nodded silently. Slowly both of us turned our eyes to the door on our right.
When we stepped into the hallway beyond the door it was dimly lit from just a single candle flickering gently in the disturbed air as we moved stealthily along. I with the gun raised fell in behind the Professor as we came to a set of narrow stairs. Like the hallway they too were illuminated in a soft light. ‘Can you smell it?’ the Professor whispered ‘The odor of death’ I must admit there was an underlying stink in the air not familiar to me. ‘He is here’ he said ‘ Now we must follow our noses to where the aroma is strongest Jamie, stay behind me’ I watched as he took a hand sized gold crucifix from with his bag and held it out in front of him. ‘Huius Deus ex malo defendat’
‘What does that mean?’ I asked.
‘I am petitioning to god to protect us from this evil’
‘I was never religious’ I replied.
‘Perhaps, but you must put your faith in this holy cross for it maybe the only thing that could save you from this wickedness. Now listen to me, when we encounter Ruthven he will try to deceive us, he can take many forms. He will prey on your weakness; he may be a crying child cowering in the corner telling you he’s lost and pleading with you to help him get back to his mother. Or a beautiful young woman ready to seduce you, on no account look into her eyes. He may turn into your Mother begging you to come home because your Father has died. You must not be fooled by his lies, hold your pistol steady and aloft and god will guide your aim if that moment comes’
I nodded I understood and we began to climb the stairs.
We soon reached a top landing on which there were three doors. ‘Which one Professor?’
‘I do not know’ he replied ‘He could be waiting behind any of these or perhaps a trap of some deadly sorts’
‘Then we must try each one in turn’ I said laying my fingers on the door handle to my left. ‘Are you ready?’
Gently I twisted it and slowly pushed open and as I did so the room seemed to gasp as if it was breathing in air for the first time in a long while. Inside the atmosphere was much colder than the landing so much so our breath was turned to vapour. At first I could see nothing in the semidarkness then slowly as my eyes began to adjust I became aware of a presence. ‘Something or someone is in here with us’ I whispered to the professor who was now closely behind me. ‘Look Jamie on the bed….there’
He’d pointed to a corner of the room with his cross to what looked like an elderly woman dressed in a long white night gown. Her long gray hair lay down around her shoulders and covering her face, her hands and feet tied to the brass frame. As we drew closer she seemed to be spewing gibberish or a language so strange I’d never heard it before. ‘Biblical Hebrew, Jamie’ the professor said coming along side ‘she is praying to Astaroth, in demonology he is the great duke of hell in the first hierarchy with Beelzebub and Lucifer he is part of the evil trinity’
‘We should help her’ I said. But as I spoke the professor thrust out his cross ‘Populi Tui Annimam meam Domina Satanas’ his words made the woman writhe and scream. She turned her head to reveal a hideous pallid face its skin loose and thin on its skull. Eyeless hollows stared at us as her snake like tongue hissed and screamed profanities. ‘She is beyond help I’m afraid Jamie, she is one of the un-dead. Only here to serve her master probably young and beautiful when she was first abducted’
‘What should we do with her?’
‘To kill a serpent we must cut off its head, take my cross and hold it close to her face’
I did as he asked and could barely look on as he took a knife from his bag and severed her jabbering head. ‘Nunc erit in pace’ he said placing it reverently on her breast. ‘Only now we will have made him angry’
Returning to the landing we quickly reviewed our options, two doors remained and the likely hood of finding another abomination like we’d just witnessed was strong. ‘Why didn’t I think of it before? It is my opinion Ruthven would have placed his un-dead brides on both his left and right’ the professor gasped ‘Much like Astaroth’s hierarchy he is attempting to create his evil trinity here in the real world’
I pointed to the middle door. The professor nodded quietly still holding the bloody knife now dripping onto the floorboards beneath our feet as we stepped into the room.
Similar to the first it too was pitched black like a moonless night ‘Keep close Jamie’ I heard the professor whisper. ‘I will challenge Ruthven to show himself’ I cocked the gun I was holding; its solid click was disturbingly loud in the silence. Seconds went by with only the sound of our own breathing unsettling the stillness. Then just ahead two disembodied eyes appeared as if strangely hovering. I could feel the air beginning to change around us; it seemed tighter, denser than before. I began to think of Tyler Brannon and how he must have felt when he first encountered the shadow man in his home, petrified beyond description.
The professor made the sign of the cross ‘Ostende Te Ipsum Abominationi’ he declared his voice sounding stern and direct. A faint grunt came from the darkness like he’d disturbed a dog from its sleep. Still the eyes stared unblinking. ‘So you prefer to hide in the shadows like the coward you are’
I looked at the professor in disbelief ‘You’re taunting him?
A yellow glob of mucus appeared and hit him in the face and ran down his cheek followed by a guttural hiss. ‘Take out the Holy water vial from my bag Jamie’ he said coolly wiping of the spittle with his coat sleeve. I reached over and fumbled inside until I found it. ‘Now remove the glass top and hand it to me’
Trying to hold the gun and do what he asked was difficult but I managed to place it in his left hand while he still held the crucifix aloft with his right. Again he made the sign of the cross but this time with the vial.
‘In the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit I command you to show yourself ‘
The bone chilling response to his request was immediate the eyes where fixed now on him. ‘Ah! Yes! the holy urine now’ A demonic voice rasped ‘How predictable’ The professor started shooting the holy water in sprinkles ‘Be silent’ he said, his words flung forth like thunderbolts.
From inside the darkness a body began to emerge, pale and sickly white with eyes as red as blood. Its two arms out stretched with fingers flaying as if searching for an embrace.
‘He’s hurting me Jamie’ it said pitifully. ‘Why won’t you help me?’
‘Mother?’ I replied softly, mesmerised by its contorting face and began to lower the gun, only to be jolted quickly back to reality by the sudden intensity of Van Heslings voice in my ear. ‘Jamie! Look at me! It is not her! Remember what I said!’
I stumbled backwards accidentally firing off a round as I tried to gain my footing which made the hideous likeness sink back into the shadows. ‘What is your true name?’ The professor spoke into the emptiness, only to be answered with a low growl.
‘Shall I tell you what you are!-you prince of murders, you creator of obscenities you are the enemy of the human race, you-‘
‘Wait’ I said raising my hand ‘A child, a child is crying cant you hear it? It’s in there with him we have to help’ I took a step forward only to be jolted back by a firm grip on my arm.
The professor was shaking his head as he held me back ‘It’s a trick, just another lie from the master of deception, there is no child Jamie’
‘But I heard it’
‘As did I, but trust me he is trying to weaken our resolve, make us fight each other rather than him. We must be united in our quest to destroy him. Now raise your pistol again’
The child’s crying ceased as I did so and was instantly replaced with a frightening deep demonic laugh. ‘Your Father’s blood tasted sweet on my tongue, like any vintage wine I’d ever had’ the voice mocked from the cover of darkness.
Rage began to flow through me making me cock the gun in heated anger. I could not allow this monster to escape of that I was now certain. So I took aim at the hovering eyes.
But before I could shoot the professor was firmly pushing my arm down with his.
‘That moment has not come yet’ he whispered to me ‘But it will soon, trust me’
Again he marked the cross with the holy water bringing forth this time a squeal like an injured cat.
‘If you are so powerful why don’t you show yourself’ he said calmly.
‘Fuck you!’ the voice growled.
‘Then you give me no choice’ the professor smiled at me. ‘Inside my bag you will find a candle Jamie, I want you to take it out and hold it tightly in your right hand’
I looked at him in puzzlement but switched the gun to my left and reached in.
‘Each year on the day preceding Orthodox Pascha, Easter, A holy fire occurs in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. During this time blue light is said to emit within Jesus Christ’s Tomb rising from the marble slab covering the stone bed believed to be that upon which Jesus’ body is to have been placed for burial. The blue light is said to form a column of fire from which candles are lit. The fire is then used to light the candles of the clergy and pilgrims in attendance. Others then light up spontaneously around the church. This I have seen with my own eyes Jamie, and in your hand you hold a sacred candle given to me by one of the Patriachs. Now we must kneel but don’t be afraid the Holy fire will not burn you, it is a fire from heaven’
We both got down on our knees while the voice ridiculed us with a string of profanities; I held the candle outstretched as did the professor with his crucifix. Gradually he began to chant as if in prayer speaking in a bizarre idiom, one I assumed long since lost to time. At first nothing seemed to be happening. Ruthven continued to swear and laugh with promises to feed on us just like he did to the woman tied to the bed in the next room. He pledged to turn us into the un- dead, to live for eternity only to do his evil bidding like Reinfield. Then little by little I began to feel tiny vibrations in my fingers, followed by a sensation of pins and needles shooting through my arm. Minute blue sparks of light soon traversed the candle like orbiting planets around a moon. Bit by bit coming together to form a flame. Which was pushing back the darkness before us to the obvious contempt of Ruthven whose vulgarity intensified as the flame grew. Steadily his protection within the shadows was eroding and we began to see him in his true form. His hideous face was slender its skin pale almost corpse Gray. Bat ears pointed and curved on an elongated bald bulbous head, an unsightly beak nose and snake like fangs protruding from a narrow mouth of snarling teeth which growled like a cornered rabid dog. Dressed in a long blood red coat his skeletal hands and fingers a kin to talons writhed and scraped at the air resembling a frightened cat. As the light grew stronger he became more and more anxious, pacing the room like caged animal.
Van Hesling suddenly broke away from his chanting and flung a volley of holy water at Ruthven who screamed out in pain instantaneously covering his face as it began to burn his hands like acid. Acrid smoke erupted from the gaping wounds as it ate away at his fingers. Melting bloody flesh dripped to the floor like candle wax and pooled around his feet. All the while the Holy flame grew brighter. ‘Speak your true name!’ he bellowed at Ruthven lashing him again with the vial, this time striking him across his face which tore deep lacerations. ‘I will not ask again’ he shouted raising the small bottle once more. ‘Lilith!’ a deep rasping voice replied, I looked at the professor.
‘Lilith or Lilitu was the first wife of Adam’ he began ‘since both were created out of dust she considered her self his equal and refused to lie beneath him. Adam complained to god who sent three angels to reason with her but she would not obey them. Eve was then created for Adam as a replacement and when they together ate from the tree of Knowledge both good and evil she did not. Because of this she was rewarded by the demon of lechery Asmodeus, many believe her to be immortal, the first vampire. ‘’Her house sinks down to death and her course leads to the shades, all who go to her cannot return and find again the path of life’’ Proverbs 2:18-19, it would seem Jamie she is now encapsulated within this contemptible creature which allows her to roam within our world’
‘Holy shit!’ I exclaimed ‘Can we kill her?’
‘No,… regrettably she is an eternal entity, but we can destroy this depraved being, and send her vile spirit back to the underworld’
The flame was now at its brightest penetrating every corner of the room and as the professor drew back his arm to strike again with the holy water Ruthven let out a frightening growl like an angry lion. Quickly rushing forward his teeth bared and his eyes narrowed with hate. The room suddenly shook below our feet sending plaster from the ceiling crashing down around us. He seemed to grow taller as he swiped at the professor sending him plummeting to the floor and spilling the last drops of the vial. Instinctively I fired a round hitting him in the left shoulder as he stood over the professor ready to strike him with his sharp pointed finger nails. Again the room trembled like some outside force was trying to rip it from its foundations. Ruthven glanced at his wound and dismissed it instantly before turning his attention to me.
A muffled pounding jolted the room, then another. Steadily more, shuddering through the walls, through the floor, from the ceiling, splintering and throbbing at a cumbersome rate like the beating of a massive heart. I tried to cover my ears to blank out the pulsating noise. Ruthven pounced with his hideous skeletal arms outstretched and his talon like fingers grasping at the air as he tried to knock the flame from my hand. Somehow I managed to keep hold of it as I stumbled backward but my distraction had just been long enough to allow the professor to get to his feet. I knew now I must keep him preoccupied because this could be the only chance we might get. So I thrust the flame at his face and began taunting him. ‘Come on you bastard!’ I screamed above the throbbing noise.
‘I’m going to rip your throat out’ he snarled grabbing me by the neck. His grip was powerful and I could feel his pointed nails cutting into my skin like burning hot knives. Droplets of my blood began to run down through his fingers lighting up his repulsive grin as if he was looking forward to gorging on my ebbing life force. Slowly I could feel the air being squeezed from my lungs and I began to pray to god imploring him not to let my final vision be this abhorrent creature. All I could do was watch in horror as his mouth began to widen, more and more, extending his jaws which creaked and fractured every un-dead muscle and vein in his face. Bit by bit his black serpent tongue flicked and thrashed out of his esophagus, the stink of it putrefying the air between us with a vile smell. The same stench I remembered from that morning I found Ray at his apartment. I felt the candle drop from my hand spinning wildly as it hit the floor and then the pistol. I was drifting into death, ready to give in. His mouth was now stretching enough to consume my entire head as I slipped into unconsciousness when I heard the professor scream ‘Swallow this mother fucker’ as he thrust a wooden stake through the back of Ruthven’s head. The point of which exploded inside his gaping mouth in a rupture of teeth and blood-spattered skin. Stunned he immediately dropped me to the floor where I lay gasping for breath watching in terror as Ruthven clawed at his throat trying desperately to pull the stake free. Beside me where I fell I could see the holy candle and my gun; I grabbed them both and scrambled awkwardly to my feet. The house was shaking even more I could hardly stand, the pulsating thunderous heartbeat so loud my ears ached. ‘This is for my Dad you bastard’ I shouted into his panic filled eyes as I plunged the column of blue fire deep into his chest.
Above the noise and the screams of Ruthven who had now burst into flames I heard the professor shout out ‘Finish him Jamie’ he called and pointed to my hand. Slowly and steadily I raised my arm and aimed at the vampires head. ‘Fuck off back to hell’ I whispered and pulled the trigger. Instantaneously his skull exploded covering the walls and my face with black brain matter. He dropped to the floor his legs twitching and writhing. Only then did I realize the room was now also ablaze around us. ‘I think he’s dead Jamie’
‘And Lilitu?’ I asked. ‘Who knows’ he replied shrugging ‘There are more things in heaven and on earth than we can ever hope to understand, now we must hurry’
We fought our way down the burning staircase and listened to the blood curdling screams coming from the bedrooms as we ran, jumping the last few steps. ‘Don’t look back, it is merciful end for them’ the professor nodded as flames licked at our heels. When we reached the hallway he unexpectedly clutched my arm. ‘Go Jamie, get out, there’s just one thing more I have to do’ he said before disappearing into the smoke. I tried calling after him but he was already gone.
Out on the drive way the night had changed, the air was cooler the sky now covered in rolling thunderheads crackled with static. I staggered back towards Reinfield’s car and stood anxiously watching as Sweetheart Nook was quickly being consumed by neon blue flames. ‘Professor!’ I cried over the din of shattering glass and falling timbers. All feeling of hope he would survive was slowly evaporating. Then just as I thought all was lost a figure, a dark limping outline of a man emerged from the flames clutching something in its arms, a book. A heavy bound leather book untouched by the burning was in the professor’s hands. ‘I-I, don’t understand?’ I said shaking my head as he wearily approached. ‘You are unscathed by the fire how can that be? I was certain you were dead’
‘The holy flame protected me, don’t you remember what I told you, it is a fire from heaven. It will only consume that which is unclean’
‘Even so, the book you are carrying, why is it so important that you put your life at risk to go and find it?’
‘Do you have any idea what this is’ he said placing his palm gently on its cover.
‘Liber inmortuorum Jamie, the book of the un-dead, while Reinfield was out of the room earlier I saw it as I peered in, I couldn’t believe it at first, but there it was just sitting on his coffee table. Inside these covers are the names of all the known vampires, changelings, warlocks, witches and their familiars. Eternals and immortals, take a look’
He handed me the heavy book and I opened it at random. On each of the pages I read they were full of names in various languages. Some I recognised immediately, Powerful people in our own government, rich and famous celebrities, some present and past, Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein to name a few all evil men of their times.
‘The last person who allegedly possessed this was John F Kennedy; it is believed he had it with him as he travelled in his motorcade down Dealy Plaza, Dallas Texas the day he was assassinated. Some venture on November 22 1963 he was going to use his meeting with the feuding democrats to warn them of a bigger threat. The book of the un-dead was found in Hitler’s Berlin bunker after the fall of the Reich. Secreted away by soldiers to the United States it was later deciphered and its significance realized, woven within the Republican Party were familiars, men and women highly placed in the senate willing to do anything to keep their immortal masters in power. Dangerous people who thrived on anarchy and wars, demons feeding of the misery of others, like those you mentioned.
Kennedy was going to expose them and they found out subsequently paying the ultimate price, His brother Bobby also knew and they killed him too. I believe the man with the black umbrella in the famous photographs captured near the grassy knoll was Rienfield, there to oversee the assassination. Most of the others privy to the book have either disappeared or are dead.’
‘So what do we do with it?’ I asked him.
From inside the house as we both talked a hideous cry rose up into the night sky. And for a brief moment as we stared through the window we thought we saw Reinfield looking back, his face blackened by the inferno breaking into an evil smile.
The End
15,232 words Oct 10th-Nov 21st 2020
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