0 comments/ 5906 views/ 1 favorites I Will Repay By: madengineer3 Copyright 2004-2011 All Rights Reserved [A Note to the reader. This is a horror story written from a Christian perspective. A Christian "world view" is present in the protagonist. If you are offended by characters who are truly dedicated Christians this is not the story for you. However, Christian or not, if you like horror stories you might like this one.] The Story. My name is John Murphy. I have a strange tale to tell you. You won't believe it, and I don't expect you to. It is my understanding that several other sources will be added to my record. Being only one person I can't have seen all the events, but my friends will fill in the gaps. Here is what happened last fall. Chapter One, The Awakening Saturday, 1 November The first thing I remembered was the damp earthy smell around me. It wasn't unpleasant, just the strong clean odor of dark rich soil.. It was early morning and the faint brightness of the early morning sun, filtered through clouds, was the only light to be had. About this time I realized that I was lying down. I apparently had somehow fallen asleep in a thin part of a small wood. That confused me. I was having a bit of difficulty concentrating. I had a bit of a headache and that groggy feeling that one has after a good deep sleep. I decided to get up. As I started to get up I felt a branch brush against my bare chest. It was then that I realized that I had no shirt on. I was laying on top of my shirt and jacket. I felt a bit numb so I struggled to get my damp shirt and jacket on. That is when I first noticed that all things were not right. I saw the blood on my clothes. Thick dried brown stains and dried heavy clots of blood. I looked like I had all but taken a bath in blood and then been set out to dry for many hours. Man, was I a mess. I started to do a quick survey of my body to determine if I had sustained any injuries. It didn't take long to determine that there was a massive cut in my chest and that I had no pulse. I struggled to get into my shirt and jacket, as if that mattered at the moment. It's funny how habits stick with you. Why should a corpse have to worry about modesty? Do you know how hard it is to accept a clear truth when it runs against what you believe? I looked more carefully at my hands. They were a greyish white. I checked my pulse again hoping that I had been wrong the first time, there was no pulse! This can't happen! It might be fine in old horror stories, but this is the twenty-first century. Things like this violate all the physical laws that we know. As a trained high school science teacher I knew that it was a scientific fact that I was a dead man. But I was still functioning! How could this happen? I could be hallucinating, I could be dreaming, I could be ..........what? If this were a dream, it was a dream in full color with smells, sounds, and feeling. This didn't feel like a dream. How about hallucination? I didn't feel feverish, as a matter of fact my body temperature seemed to be about the same as the surrounding air. This made no sense unless I was dead. But how could I be dead as well as conscious and mobile? Clear logic said that I had obviously been attacked and killed. But clear logic also said that dead bodies tend to be very, very immobile and totally unaware. In the process of assessing what damage I might have sustained I had noticed that my boot heels and the back of my boots were caked with mud. That was unusual since the bottoms and tops of the boots appeared to be no dirtier than usual. I wondered where the mud could have come from. I started to take stock in my surroundings. Having spent two hitches in the Navy Seals I was quite good at reading tracks. I first examined the place where my body had been left. Under the leaves that had covered me I found a large, knife with a blade that curved like a sickle. The blade was black and the handle was made of bone. The bone had been carved so that the hilt of the blade looked like a goat's hoof. On one side of the handle was a five sided star with the fifth, and longer, point aimed away from the blade. On the other side of the handle was carved a 'face on' view of a very stylized goat's head. This knife was no hunting knife and it was caked with blood. I had never seen this particular knife before, but remembered seeing a picture of one like it. But, where had I seen it? I looked around. A small clearing was next to where I had been laying. I could clearly see the tracks of two people walking in dragging someone. Only two sets of tracks left the site.. From seeing the drag marks of what looked like the heels of a pair of boots I now understood why my boots were so scraped up on the heel.. The heel of my left boot had a distinctive mark. It was a standard issue military boot. But, my left boot had a deep vertical score mark across the very back of one heel. It left a distinct mark in the soil. These drag marks showed the presence of that score mark and were between the two sets of footprints that came into the clearing. My skill in hunting told me what had to have happened. Two people had dragged me, into the woods and only they had walked out. My heel tracks stopped at the pile of brush and leaves. Their tracks showed much walking around but in a funny pattern. Then the tracks walked back out toward where the road should be. There were faint traces of blood on their boot marks and on the trail that they made away from this spot, but the tracks coming to this spot showed no signs of blood. I started to look around more carefully. Was there some clue that would help me understand what was going on? It was only at this point that I noticed some other strange things about the clearing. In the center of the clearing was the remains of a fire. This, in itself, wasn't strange. However, the setting was strange. It had five black stones placed about six feet from the center of the fire pit and a ring of small stones around the fire pit itself. There was an indication that there had been blood spilled over each of the five stones and in the area of the fire pit. The ground had been cleared a bit and someone had done some scraping on the ground and then used their boots to try to erase the marks. At this point none of this made any sense to me. There was something else that didn't make sense. The fire pit had a funny residue in it as well as what appeared to be a metal deposit. On closer examination I saw that the metal looked and felt like silver. It was as if someone had taken a crucible of molten silver and poured it into the fire. I took a few large leaves and gathered some of the strange residue and a couple of pieces of yet unburned wood. I took the lighter out of my jacket pocket and held the flame under the yellow residue. It was Sulfur as I had suspected. I needed to think. Did Divine Providence have a reason for me to be a walking, thinking corpse? Was there a purpose for this? Why had I been cut the way I had? It was only at this point that I began to put together the pieces of the puzzle. From my reading of history and good horror stories I remembered the purported rituals of those who worked with black magic. Blood, sulfur, and five sided stars, or pentagrams, were all part of most of the accounts. The evidence suggested that the clearing had been used for some evil sacrament. I know that this sounded silly to me, but it was the only answer that fit the evidence that was currently available. There was something else. I had the feeling that this answer also was the clue to who was involved. As I had said, I taught in the local high school. I knew that there was a small group of boys and girls that I had heard were very interested in witchcraft. The boys in that group were not members of the scout troop I led, but were active in sports. I didn't know, as fact, all the members of the group, but I had a pretty good idea who the chief ones were. The leaders were from two of the richest families in the area. If I had to characterize those families I would have to call them amoral. They didn't seem to recognize any of society's rules at all. The two families were both well to do and their two family businesses worked together whenever possible. They never did anything that could be proved to be illegal, no one could prove that they cheated customers or the government tax agencies. But, their businesses gave a discount for cash, and rumor had it that they provided a better price if a receipt wasn't required. These two families were the Marshyls and the Pryces. No one had ever proved that they were doing anything illegal, but there is no question that their businesses have raised more than a few eyebrows. I snapped back to the situation at hand. What should I do next. I needed guidance from Someone who had a complete knowledge of what had happened and who knew why I was in this strange, unbelievable state. I turned to God and asked Him for guidance. At some point after praying a strange thought came to mind. That knife that was left under that pile of branches was too good a knife to throw away. Perhaps they had lost it. In that case they might come back to find it. I needed to built a blind cover from which I could watch the clearing without being seen by anyone but an exceptionally good tracker. My skill from the Seals was going to come in handy. I put some extra forest litter in the spot where my body had been placed and tried to make it look like I thought it probably looked before I arose. Then I used a leafy branch to carefully smudge all the tracks that I had made in the clearing. The next question was where to make the blind. The answer was the remains of an old low stone wall. It was in a sorry state of disrepair and the ground over which it was built was uneven. I found a shallow depression on the side of the wall away from the clearing. The "frost heave" of many winters had worked some of the stones loose so that there was a small opening between some of the rocks that formed the base of the stone wall. It didn't take long to arrange a pile of leaves and fallen branches so that the shallow depression looked like the level forest litter strewn ground. From my depressed shelter I had a clear view of the clearing. Now I waited. It would have been nice to say that the people who killed me showed up right away. But they didn't. I had started waiting for them at about ten in the morning, At what I believed to be about six or seven in the evening I finally heard the sounds of approaching feet. I am sure that they considered their movement stealthy, but it was obvious that they had no idea about how to move stealthily. They stepped on old twigs that snapped. They sometimes didn't lift their feet enough when they walked through leaf debris, so that the leaves made a rustling sound.. They were talking with each other, and occasionally laughing. Their idea of quiet would have gotten them killed by any half way knowledgeable adversary. And worst of all, they were smoking and using a flashlight to watch the path for their footing! Anyone who knows the woods knows that tobacco smoke is identifiable in very small amounts and at relatively significant distances. This is especially true when the wind is blowing from their backs carrying the scent ahead of them like a warning signal to any who are interested in smelling the air. A bright flashlight is a giveaway that anyone would be able to spot. These people had very little wood craft. Into the clearing came two people. I was surprised to see that one of them was a girl. She was large for a girl, but not exceptionally large. I recognized her as one of the track and field girls, a senior. The boy was the captain of the football team and also a senior. His name was David Pryce. He was the only child in the Pryce family. The girl was Sue Marshyl, the youngest child in that family. They went right to the spot where my body had been left and started to move aside the branches and leaves. They might have been trying to be quiet before, but the scream from Sue would have waked the dead. (I silently chuckled at that comment. After all I was already awake.) They started frantically pulling branches off until they were down to the bare ground. They had a look of abject horror on their faces. All they could seem to say was "it's gone" and "who could have taken the body?". By this time night had arrived. They started to look further away from the clearing to see if there were any tracks that might tell them something. Their walk took them away from where their vehicle had to be parked. As soon as they were about fifty yards away I stealthily moved from my blind and quietly worked my way along the old stone wall and then made a path roughly parallel with the path that they had taken into the clearing. I knew how to move quietly in the brush.. It wasn't long before I saw their SUV. It had a fair amount of junk in the back most area of the cab. It was obvious that the junk had been there for a long time. There were a couple of old tarps, a blanket, air mattress and pillow. I fit nicely underneath the junk, and since I didn't need to breathe I didn't make a sound. You could say that I was as silent as the grave, pun intended. It was about an hour later that I heard them climb into the cab of the SUV. They weren't saying much. I heard the engine start and they drove out onto the highway and back toward town. I wasn't sure where they would go, but wherever it was it should be closer to my old house than I was at the moment. They finally stopped the SUV and got out. I waited for half an hour or so before trying to take a look at where we had stopped. It was next to the garage behind the Pryce house. It was dark, and I knew exactly where I was. I quietly exited the SUV after making sure that the dome light wouldn't come on when I opened the door. Then I was gone. My house was about three miles from where the SUV was parked. On the way there I avoided being seen. I kept a spare house key hidden in my back yard. It was hidden almost in plain sight. I had posted signs up around the property and one of the signs had a third nail on the top edge. The nail wasn't truly nailed into the tree, it slid into a drilled hole. The nail passed through the hole in the house key which was directly behind the sign. It took me two minutes to get the key and quietly enter my house. I turned on no lights. I quietly filled the dishes for my pets and dug out my night vision gear. This was standard issue military equipment, not cheap commercial knock offs. I then did the thing that I had most needed to do. I called a friend on his cell phone, using my cell phone. After several rings a voice came on the line. "Hello, this is pastor Jennings." "Hi Paul, this is John, I need to talk to you very badly and with complete confidentiality. Can we arrange that?" "Hi John, I missed you last night. You were going to tell me what the Elders had to say about the candidates for membership in the Church. Where were you? Is everything o.k." "I can explain that later Paul. Things are not o.k. I need you to quietly and very discretely come over to my house and come in the back door. Do not turn on any lights. In fact, I remember that you had been a green beret, use your old skills as you come over. In case you are seen you might even want to come armed. You can't be seen, for your own sake." "O.k. John, I can be there in half an hour. Is there anything that I need to bring?" "Yes Paul, be praying on your way over for the Lord's covering and protection. Paul, you were in Nam. You have seen things for real that civilians haven't seen in their worst nightmares. Be prepared for a shock." "John, how much of a shock should I expect?" "Well, you might consider the effect that the Resurrection had on the first disciples." His voice took on a grim businesslike tone; "I'll be there John." The line went dead. Paul and I had been through the same hell during our tours in Nam. Paul was made of good stuff. He'd handle it. Not having the lights on was important. If those who got to me thought someone else was on to their actions, that person's life wouldn't be worth a canceled postage stamp. It was about twenty minutes later that the back door opened a crack and pastor Paul slithered in. I say slithered because he was flat on the floor and made no more noise moving than a snake. He had his old 1911 Colt automatic in his hand. He had taken my warnings to heart. I very quietly whispered, "I'm here Paul". He moved over to where I was sitting on the floor. "What's going on?", he said. "Paul, I need help. My theology isn't up to handling the present facts. I need you to promise me that you will keep your mouth shut and make no noise while you determine the problem at hand. Can you do that?" "I'll try John. What do you want me to do.?" "As an opener, come over here and take my pulse." Paul moved quietly over and placed two fingers on my carotid artery. It was only a moment later that he said: "What's going on, is this some kind of trick? I can't find a pulse, and you are very cold. What's happening" "Put your hand just below the sternum on my chest Paul" Paul moved to place a hand on my chest near the diaphragm. He withdrew his hand as if he had touched a poisonous snake. "John, that should be a fatal wound.. What in God's name is going on?" So, I told him the entire story. "Paul, I stopped believing in supernatural horror stories a long time ago. How can I be functioning and be dead? How can I be damaged this badly and not be in total agony? Does the Bible say anything about a case like this?" Paul sat there in the dark for several minutes. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the pendulum clock down the hall in my living room. He finally broke the silence. "In a way it does, John. Do you remember the bad prophet Balam? He was riding on his donkey to go somewhere that God didn't want him to go and God spoke to him through his donkey. Donkeys don't talk, obviously, but that one did because God had a reason for him to speak. The donkey was a tool in God's hand. Do you remember Belshazzar's feast, a hand appeared and wrote letters on a wall. The hand wasn't connected to a visible arm. That hand was a tool in God's hand. Remember that the Lord Himself said that if the crowds didn't shout hosannah that the very rocks would cry out. Those stones would have been tools in God's hand. Of course you remember the resurrection. A body dead for three days was brought back to life. I don't know what the Lord has in mind, but you are here and moving for a definite reason. God is going to use you as a tool, I don't know how, but that is what it has to be. Let's pray about it and seek the Lord's guidance." All I could say was, "Thanks pastor." "Heavenly Father, you are so far bigger and beyond anything that we can imagine. You do things that no man can understand. We ask your guidance. John is obviously dead, by human standards, but alive by Your Will. We don't know what you would have John do. Lord please provide John the guidance that he needs. He wants to do your will in your way. Lead him and then bring him to the rest that you have for him. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen." "Thanks pastor. I apologize for the shock that I have given you. I know that I cannot use any method to find out what has happened that runs contrary to the Lord's teaching. It is God, probably through the police that must settle this matter. Maybe I'm to find a way to break loose some needed information. I just don't know much at this point in time." "John, I hate to remind you of this, but when Pharaoh's magicians and priests were working against Moses, up to a certain point they were able to use real magic, demonic magic, against him. You may well find that you are up against real powers and authorities that will seek to do you harm. . Last night I heard a story from reliable people about being confronted with a daemon. Watch yourself. I Will Repay "I want to get the board of Elders to pray for covering for you, as well as all the members of our church.. I won't identify you or your condition but will let them know that a real spiritual battle is taking place.. Is that o.k. with you? "O.K.????? It's more than I could have dared hope for. I need the presence of the Holy Spirit for guidance, wisdom, strength, and most of all to keep me from doing anything that would dishonor Jesus' Name. Paul, would you mind taking my pets and getting good homes for them? They need a place with a real human who can love them. I'm sort of on greatly borrowed time now and don't want them to suffer. While waiting for you I wrote out a note asking you to look after my pets and house while I am off on some business. I dated it a week ago. My will is in my lawyer's safe. He's an Elder as well so you can tell him to start implementing the will at the appropriate time. Please let the Principal know that I was called away on emergency business and apologize for me. I've made a note to that effect and it's here with your note. I'm sorry to dump all this on you, you have a hard enough job without having to help a walking corpse." "You've got the prayer and the help with the pets and the principal John. It's a pleasure to help you, I just wish that the situation were not so serious. I'll carry my cell phone and receive calls from you. I don't want to call you since I could give away your position at the wrong time. I'm going to leave now. The Lord be with you". "And with you too pastor." Chapter Two The Marshyls and Pryces What John Murphy didn't know was the extent of the evil that centered around the Marshyl and Pryce families. The businesses of the Marshyls and Pryces had all the trappings of successful small businesses to anyone except an insider. From the inside, the businesses were large, complex, highly profitable, and both illegal and immoral. Their location in rural Vermont was no accident. The location was less than four hours drive to Montreal Canada, Boston or New York City. For their line of work this was perfect placement. Other states could have been used, but all of them had disadvantages. New York was closer to Ottawa Canada, but the border crossings were more carefully guarded. On top of the border problems, the New York State Police were very well staffed and had the facilities for handling organized crime. No, Vermont was a good location. The American customs officers in Vermont were as efficient as they could be but they were very undermanned. When a small local business made regular trips for the same basic commodities there was a sort of relaxed atmosphere as long as all the paperwork looked o.k. and the items coming in looked like what the paperwork described. Unfortunately, the paperwork descriptions and the external view of the items didn't always tell the truth. One of the items that was imported on a regular basis was transformer oil. This oil has a high value of electrical resistance. Opening it and putting anything in the drum could lead to ruining the electrical characteristics of the oil. Because of this, the drums of oil were seldom, if ever, inspected. It was even less likely that they would be inspected when they were sealed with the manufacturer's seal over the barrel's threaded plugs. The source of the oil was a Canadian distributor. Most of the material in the drum was indeed transformer oil. However, in the bottom of half of the drums there was a chemically inert foam plastic insert that contained large glass tubes that were sealed at both ends. In these tubes were drugs. Not the street drugs that narcotics agents would look for, but counterfeit medicine. Most of these were either designed for cancer or heart conditions and carried brand names and lot code numbers that looked reasonable. They were, however, manufactured by a shady Japanese firm.. The drugs were made more or less to try to match the formula of the real drug, but purity was not an overly important issue. The family that owned chemical company had gained much of their skill during W.W.II in Korea and Manchuria developing poison gasses. They had managed to avoid being indicted as war criminals. Another branch of this company made and packaged the transformer oil. It was made and sealed for shipment to the distributor in Canada for one particular customer. The cost to make and ship the counterfeit drugs was insignificant. The cost to the patient was what the market would bear, and in the United States that was a significant sum. Each drum's contents and shipping cost the Marshylls and Pryces about twenty-five hundred dollars. Their intermediary paid them fifteen thousand dollars for the drums medical contents. The final customer's price would add up easily to one hundred thousand dollars. This was a profitable business, but not their only business. The Marshyls owned a Ski Resort. The resort had two relatively high class motel sections each with its own restaurant and bar. One section of the motel, and one bar and restaurant are for general visitors. The other section of the motel along with the other bar and restaurant section were for the resort's "key club" members. That section includes very pretty waitresses and maids who are attired in tight short shorts and peasant blouses without bras. The maid service provided all sorts of "extras" for people who were known to be "reliable". Unknown to the guests the rooms in the adult section of the motel had hidden room cameras for future blackmail. The images were taken digitally and edited later to remove any evidence that the shots were taken at the motel. The motel indirectly supply blackmailers with photos, videos, names, and addresses. They also indirectly supply other criminals with customer's credit card numbers, address, names, and other information to allow for identity theft. The resort also ran a ski club replacement for a country club since this is a somewhat rural area. On the quiet it also ran a BDSM club and had the "dungeon" or "play room" on the property. This also was a strictly private, by invitation only, club. The Pryces owned a small specialized trucking firm. This firm had several interesting sidelines. It owned a vehicle detailing shop. The shop facilities included full paint booth, and metal working equipment including a small smelting furnace The firm also provided vehicle transport services. It is the Pryces' truck firm that handled all the cars as well as the transportation of the transformer oil smuggling. The drugs they transported were then sold through cut rate wholesale houses in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. In addition to these operations the detailing shop processed stolen jewelry from big city fences. It melted down the jewelry for its precious metal content, and remounted the stones for resale via a jewelry business owned by a relative in a distant state. Lastly the Pryces run a large web site advertising links to used car lots, advertisements for the trucking firm, links to the ski lodge and hosted a large number of pornographic web sites that specialize in BDSM and Satanism.. One of the very smart things that Phil Pryce and Jim Marshyl had done was to compartmentalize their operations. In neither case did any other family member know the full extent of the real business. In terms of operations, the person who handled the smuggling operation didn't know anything about the jewelry fencing operation. The person who handled making tapes for blackmail didn't know about the drug operation. The common link was found in the files on Phil Pryce's and Jim Marshyls' computer networks. Needless to say the data and links were well encrypted. Chapter Three The Drug The morning of the previous day, Friday, 31 October Dave Marshyl drove his SUV into the driveway at Sue Pryce's parents house to pick her up for school. He had done this innumerable times. This morning, however, Dave was quite tense. He was worried about Sue and a task that she had to perform. Sue came out of the house at the normal time and jumped into the SUV. They kissed before saying good morning. Sue and Dave were very close friends, and lovers in a bizarre sort of way. They were witches of the Satanist hue. That is they really believed in the old Canaanite religion as it has been passed down generation to generation to today. Sue was in fact the high priestess of a small coven. She lacked one thing that she needed to solidify her power. She needed a familiar. "Did you get it Sue?" "Yeah, my friend went to Canada for a large rock concert and party. She bought the stuff back for me. The kids use it for a good time. It will make a date cooperate and then not remember what has happened. It's called GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate). It has no odor, no flavor and in large doses leads to unconsciousness in a relatively short time. The person who takes it doesn't usually remember anything that happened during the period between the drug starting to work and its wearing off. It's dangerous though. Just a bit more than is needed to knock someone out can kill some people. The cops call it a "date rape" drug. But I'd bet that they have never seen it used to kidnap someone for a sacrifice. The stuff may damage his brain but he's going to end up dead anyway. " "Which plan have you decided on?" "Well, tonight is the Halloween dance party at school. Mr. Murphy is one of the chaperones. He loves diet cola and I know he loves cheese crackers. I took a bottle of diet cola and heated the cap with my hair drier, set on high. I got one bottle to let me take the cap off without breaking the security seal ring. I heavily dosed it with GHB and put the top back on and put it in the refrigerator. Tonight at the dance it is likely to get very warm in the gymnasium. We'll all be in costume. I'll bring him a bag of cheese crackers and the cold bottle, that is obviously unopened. I'll tell him its sort of a thank you for being willing to be a chaperone. Then I'll hang out with him for a while. That should be easy. I've been being extra polite in class and asking the right questions. He thinks I actually like physics. He may be smart, but he can't imagine what I have in store for him. When the drug starts to work, look for my cue. When you see it, open up the warm bottle of cola that you have shaken up. It will spray all over the place, and all over you. While people are looking at you, I'll guide him outside 'for some fresh air'. Then we have him." "Sue, do you really want to go through with this? I mean, this is really serious stuff. Are you really going to kill him?" "Dave, you know that the only thing that keeps me from having full power as the high priestess of our coven and full witch authority is the need for a familiar. I don't want a dog or cat as a familiar, I want a demon. There is only one way to get a demon and that is to call on Satan himself to provide me with one. According to all the old books that I have been able to find only a blood sacrifice of a clean life will provide the leverage I need. In fact, if I follow the lead of Aliastare Crowley the optimum sacrifice would be to 'get it on" with the sacrifice and kill him at the point of his climax. I know we won't be able to talk Mr. Murphy into that, but there is a second best approach. If the GHB does its job as I have been led to believe he will be at a point where he doesn't know who he is or what is happening. I should be able to get him to have an erection. I can then manually manipulate him until he reaches climax and kill him at that explosive moment. That sacrifice will be acceptable to our lord below. Tonight is the night. Dave, tonight is Samhain. That's the night for the blood sacrifice. I'm serious about getting the all the power that is available. I don't want you to chicken out on me and don't get jealous because of what I need to do. I'm going to do it. We'll keep Mr. Murphy knocked out until the sacrifice itself. One other thing Dave; I'm going to use the chalice tonight. we will be using the strongest form of the ritual. I'm using a form of worship that dates back to the Mayans and to the cult of Aphrodite Ourania. The Mayan high priest would pierce his foreskin to get a drop of blood for the ritual. Tonight I will take seven drops of blood from you and then I will take seven drops of my own blood for the chalice. When I kill Mr. Murphy I will cut out his still beating heart and let it drain some of the blood the into the cup. I will then take the chalice and pour a small amount of blood from it on each of the five stones.. Don't you dare chicken out on me Dave." "I won't, but you don't give a guy much room to disagree. I really wish there was another way." "Get over it Dave, that's why I am the high priestess and you are a simple warlock." "Do you think that you'll actually be able to call up a demon to act as your familiar?" "I don't see why not. After all I'm leaning heavily Crowley's book on the black arts as well as the writings of modern pagan historians. In Crowley's book he indicates that the way to gain maximum power is to have maximum emotional energy. In fact he recommended having a ram couple with the high priestess and then killing the sacrificial ram at the instant it reached climax. The difference is we'll be using a human, which is the sacrifice the Dark Lord loves most of all. Tonight will be cold so we can't do the sacrifice as they did in the old days. Back then they drew some of the magic symbols on their nude bodies and performed the sacrifice like we did at the summer solstice. They called that being "sky clad". Tonight calls for warm robes. Be ready for tonight. Chapter Five The Kidnapping That evening, Friday, 31 October (the costume party and dance have been in full swing for over an hour) "Hi Sue, what is that costume supposed to be?" "I'm dressed as a witch high priestess Mr. Murphy. You know, it's really getting hot in here. I thought that you might be sweating in that jacket and tie so I brought you a cold bottle of cola and a small bag of cheese crackers." "Well, that was very thoughtful of you Sue. But, that's your snack isn't it?" "Oh no Mr. Murphy. I got these especially for you. You have been very helpful lately and I wanted to do something small to say thank you." "Well, I have to thank you Sue. I am indeed sweating to death in this suit. I had hoped that they would have opened the upper gym windows and some of the outside doors, but with the present political concerns about terrorism around it wasn't considered to be prudent. You picked the very things that I was wishing I had. How did you know that I liked cheese crackers and diet cola?" "Well I've noticed that three or four times a week you have brought diet cola and a bag of cheese crackers for lunch and left them on your desk so I assumed that you liked them." "You are observant! I have to thank you again, this was a very thoughtful thing to do. If you don't mind I'll open the drink right away, I am thirsty. The crackers won't last long either, I skipped supper tonight to get some papers graded before this dance started. I am hungry." "If you don't mind I'll hang out with you for a bit Mr. Murphy. I've been dancing a lot and am tired out. I need a breather." "That's fine Sue, boy this cola sure hits the spot. I haven't seen much of David, is he here tonight?" "Yes, he's been dancing with some of the other girls as well. He has a lot more stamina than I do when it's as hot as it is in here. I think its because he's used to playing football in all those pads and heavy suit." "Whoa, I'm feeling a bit funny. It feels like the room just got hotter.. Do you notice it?" "Not off hand Mr. Murphy. Are you coming down with a cold or something?" "I don't think so, but I do feel weird. I'm having trouble thinking straight." "Oh, Mr. Murphy you dropped you empty soda bottle, let me get it for you." Sue retrieved her soda bottle. While doing so she flashed the sign to Dave. Across the gymnasium a commotion broke out. David Marshyl had just opened a bottle of soda and it all but exploded, there was soda everywhere. David was soaked. While all eyes were on Dave Sue made her move. "Mr. Murphy, you don't look so good. I think you need to step outside and get some fresh air. You look like you could keel over at any moment. Here, let me walk you to the door to make sure that you make it o.k." "Thanks Sue, I really feel strange.. My legs feel very rubbery." "Watch your step on these stairs Mr. Murphy, you don't want to slip and end up in the hospital." The door opened, and Sue and Mr. Murphy stepped outside. The cool air was not enough to make Mr. Murphy feel better. He was almost reeling when Dave came out the door. Dave took Mr. Murphy's right arm and Sue took his left arm just moments before he collapsed in an unconscious stupor. "Quick Dave, we've got to get him into the SUV while there are no witnesses around. Someone is sure to try to see why we left so early and we don't want them to see us with Mr. Murphy. " The two got John into the SUV, bound him, taped his mouth shut, and then Sue hit him behind the left ear with a sock filled with sand, and covered him with a tarp. "There, Dave, that ought to hold him for at least a couple of hours. Let's go back in and if someone asks us if we have seen Mr. Murphy we'll tell them that he felt light headed and went outside for some fresh air. We can tell them that we have no idea where he went. I've already got his empty cola bottle. It will stay here in the SUV. Dave and Sue quietly re-entered the building through one of the locked doors that lead to the playing fields behind the school. David, as captain of the football team, was occasionally given the key to the field when he wanted to hold extra practices on the weekend. That way he could have everything set up when the coach showed up. This wasn't a truly approved practice, but the coach trusted his star player. They quietly slipped back in rejoining the party individually. After a quarter hour or so they went over to one of the other chaperones and indicated that they would like to leave because Dave was all wet and the soda he got soaked with was becoming very sticky Sue indicated that she wasn't feeling at all well. The Chaperone had them phone their homes to tell them that they were leaving the dance. The numbers that they called, however, were to their cell phones which they had delivered to trusted friends houses. Each of the friends were seeking membership in Sue's coven. They were clued into the fact that magic was to be done tonight and that they were to speak as if they were either Sue's or Dave's parents. Shortly after the phone call Sue and Dave were on their way out. Chapter Four The Sacrifice In the SUV they headed out to the woods. When they got there Dave changed his wet clothes into his set of robes for the ritual sacrifice. He didn't worry about privacy since most satanic ritual work was very much also a sexual exercise. After all, the key to successful spells was to have the maximum power available, and there were few things as powerful as the release of sexual tension. When Dave was changed he and Sue put on backpacks, took Mr. Murphy's arms and dragged him to the clearing. David's backpack also had a small broom tied to it. After a few minutes of heavy effort they reached the clearing. From the backpacks came black candles in wind proof holders, a chalice with the baphomet(inverted star), a silver bowl with a gallon capacity, Sulfur, dry wood that had been soaked in strontium salts, kindling, the Athame, or magical knife and the Boline, the sacrificing knife. In the center of the clearing David "purged the floor" by sweeping clear a twelve foot by twelve foot area. The Athame was used to scribe a nine foot in diameter circle on the ground, and then the Athame was used to scribe the circle in the air. This circle represented the meeting place of two worlds, the earthly and the satanic. Inside the circle was drawn the baphomet. In the star a smaller circle was drawn that touched the center of the pentagon formed from the intersecting lines used to form the star. In the center of the inner circle (in the pentagon) was the fire pit. Five large rocks were found and one was placed at the point where the points of the baphomet touched the outer circle. Chalk was used to write a name on each of the large rocks such that the name faced the center where the fire would be. The names were Lucifer, Set, Pan, Ahriman, and Issis. Black candles, in wind proof holders, were placed on the top of each of the stones with the names written on them. I Will Repay The kindling and wood were laid in the fire pit. The incantation was started with Sue dedicating her body, mind, and spirit to the service of the Dark Lord. She then proceeded with the lighting of the five candles, the sacred names were called out as each candle was ignited. "Dave, wake up Mr. Murphy, we need him to be at least semi-conscious if we are going to use the sex blood sacrifice." Dave walked over, took a "smelling salts" ampoule, broke it and held it under John's nose. Nothing happened. He hit John across the face, hard, several times, but there was no response. Unknown to the two witches the combination of the excessive dose of GHB and the concussion that had been caused by Sue's use of the sand filled sock had left Mr. Murphy totally and deeply anesthetized as well as in a deep coma. "I can't wake him up!, I think the blow you gave him to the head plus the stuff you gave him have really put him out. In fact, his breathing is very shallow. I think we gave him too large a dose. He might not live long enough for the sacrifice." It was then that Sue had to change plans. "We'll simply do a simpler form of the blood sacrifice then. We can get the blood. Remove his jacket, tie, and shirt and then bring him into the circle ." Dave obediently removed Mr. Murphy's jacket, shirt, and tie and then carried his body into the circle. Sue took a sterile needle and drew seven drops of her blood for the chalice The silver cup had a small crimson pool in it. Sue then took another sterile needle and seven drops of Dave's blood joined hers in the chalice. She tilted the chalice to make sure that the blood was mixed. Sue then took the Boline to made a large cut just below John Murphy's ribs.. She sliced through the diaphragm and cut out the still beating heart, just like mesoAmerican sacrifices were done. The still beating heart pumped its last blood into the chalice. Sue went to each of the five stones and in turn poured out a small libation calling on the god who's name had been written on that particular stone. The heart was then put in a bag with sulfur and dropped on the fire. Then, with the scarlet and blue flames dancing in the fire Sue plunged the blade of the athame into the chalice symbolizing the union of the magical knife with the life's blood offered in the cup. Dave, in shock at what he had just witnessed, took the remains of Mr. Murphuy's body and dumped them with his clothes, covering them well with branches and leaves. He didn't even notice the Boline partially shoved into the top edge of Mr. Murphy's pants. But, he did notice the change in the clearing when he turned around. The air in the clearing was lit by the scarlet flames of the wood and the blue fire from the sulfur. It was now being filled with a blue and scarlet mist that filled the area inside the circle. The most perfectly beautiful being that either Sue or Dave had ever seen was standing there. Dave collapsed face down outside the circle. The beautiful being smiled took the chalice from Sue's hand and drank its bloody contents. The chalice turned to molten metal in the being's hand and the molten metal dripped into a pool at his feet. The being then pointed into the flame. Something large and black, like solid smoke, appeared in the mist. It didn't speak, but both Sue and Dave heard the words, "my name is Hekatos, what does my mistress wish?" as clearly as if they had been spoken verbally. Sue's was ready with an answer. "Pray thee, go and kill the sheriff's chief criminal investigator, he is a risk to me when it comes to the kidnapping of Mr. Murphy". "Yes, mistress" was the response. Sue then prostrated herself before the beautiful being. The being reached down and touched Sue where the drop of blood had been taken. There was a brief sharp burning feeling followed by the knowledge of acceptance. As the beautiful being disappeared Sue started the peacemaking and withdrawal portion of the complex spell that she had used to conjure up her familiar. It was over within fifteen more minutes. "Dave, when I was face down on the ground the beautiful one touched me where I drew the drop of blood. It felt like I was on fire for a minute. Get the flashlight." Dave retrieved the flashlight and turned it on, he then all but screamed, "Sue, you have a brand! There is a small pentacle surrounding the place where the needle prick was made. You have a permanent pentagram as a part of your body! That's freaky!" "Dave, I want to see if you were also marked." Sue looked down at Dave, there was no mark. "You were outside the circle. It must be that you weren't ready for a complete acceptance by the powers that be. Blessed be the beautiful one for meeting with us tonight. Blessed be the scarlet and blue fire that has given me my familiar, Hekatos. I won't need to use this ritual to call him. From now on he will come when I call him with a simple spell. Dave, from now on I am the most powerful person that you know because I can summon an immortal to do my bidding." Dave wisely didn't say anything, he wasn't so sure that he was comfortable with that idea. Chapter Five The Demonic attack against the Sheriff's Criminal Investigator The sheriff's chief criminal investigator, Bob Schwartz, was at home with his wife and young children. Bob was relaxing with his wife, Judy, and watching an old movie that they had on tape. The children were both asleep in their bedroom. The family had gone to church to celebrate "All Hallow's Eve" the Church's true celebration that was corrupted to become Halloween. "Hey Judy, how does a pizza and some soda sound to you?" "I'm mostly full dear, but if you want one we have a pizza in the freezer." "Yeah, I think I'll cook it. Let me stop the tape while I put the pizza in the oven. I don't want to miss any of the movie." Bob walked into the kitchen and was unwrapping the pizza at the same time that Sue was sending Hekatos to do her will. Bob was suddenly aware that he felt like he was in danger. He turned around in time to see the blackness appearing in the room with him. His first response was to pray out loud. "Lord Jesus, I call upon your protection. I am a child and servant of yours. You have told me that greater is He who is within me than he who is in the world. I call on you for your protection for me, and my family. Lord Jesus, I put all of our lives in your hands." Bob had spoken loudly so Judy was aware that some form of spiritual warfare was in progress. She immediately started to pray, and headed for the children's room. Her prayer was all but identical to Bob's, not because it was a memorized set of words but because the same Holy Spirit was directing both of them. Judy didn't stop to shut the door, she just went over between the children's beds and placed a hand on each child and prayed. Bob noticed that the blackness seemed to be shaking. It tried to move toward Bob but seemed to be stopped by an invisible wall. It tried several times to reach out and touch him but with no effect. Apparently exasperated the blackness then headed through the house looking for others to hurt. As it approached the children's room it again found that it could not move toward them. Judy saw the demon and was given peace from God that it couldn't hurt them. The demon was violently shaking at this point. With an audible wail, it disappeared in a mist that quickly evaporated. Bob called the pastor right away. Bob was an Elder in pastor Paul's church. He explained what had happened. Pastor Paul came over immediately and prayed with Bob and Judy. He indicated that he believed that they had been face to face with a real demon. Bob and Judy stayed in the children's room that night. One of them was always awake and in constant prayer so that they were spiritually covered. The demon was not going to come back. He had run into something that no demon could possibly win against, the Almighty God of the Universe was guarding some of His children. All Demons well knew that their power was useless in the face of that kind of opposition. Chapter Six The Church Meeting At the end of the Sunday service pastor Paul asked everyone to stay for a few minutes for an emergency meeting. Most of the congregation in the fellowship were true followers of Christ, and they stayed. The meeting was to be one of the strangest meetings that any of them had ever attended. Pastor Paul first requested that the Elders go to the doors of the sanctuary and make sure that they were closed and locked. Each Elder was to stand in front of his door praying for covering. The Elders knew what was about to be discussed. The pastor read the report found in First Samuel 28:3-19; the story of the witch at Endor calling up a spirit. He then told them of the time that Martin Luther, in his study, threw the ink bottle at Satan. "Although you have sung these words many times I ask you this morning to hear the words that Luther wrote". A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing; Our helper he amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing: For still our ancient foe Does seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great, And, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal. Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing, Where not the right Man on our side, The Man of god's own choosing: You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth his name, From age to age the same, And he must win the battle. And though this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us, We will not fear for God has willed His truth to triumph through us: The prince of darkness grim, We tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, For Lo! his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him. That Word above all earthly powers, No thanks to them, is standing; The Spirit and His gifts are ours We answer His commanding, Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also; The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still His kingdom is forever! "That word was, and is, Jesus". "Luther wrote this in 1529 but it may as well have been written this morning. Only in Christ Jesus can the enemy be defeated." The pastor continued: "Let us pray. Almighty Father we gather together and call upon your great Name to shield us here in our deliberation this morning. You have shown me what we are faced with and we need your protection because it is not flesh and blood that seeks to do us harm. Lord God, we trust you to provide the protection that you have promised through your Son Jesus, our Lord." Amen. "Now I know that most of you know that I do not rattle easily. You also know that I work very hard at telling things the way that they really are. Brothers and sisters we are under attack by Satan and his demons. I do not mean this figuratively. I want Bob and Judy Schwartz to come up and tell you what happened the night before last. In turn, Judy and Bob told them what had happened. You could have heard a pin drop on the floor during the narrative. As Dave finished the pastor continued to speak. "Now, some of you might be thinking that this isolated incident could have been a bad dream or such. I want to prevent that thought from entering your mind. Last night I had reason to speak with someone I know and trust. That man had faced demon activity as surly as had Bob and Judy. Unfortunately he had been knocked out. I will not give you the name or what has happened but I will tell you that Satan is indeed doing a powerful work in this area. I need to ask you to divide yourselves into twenty-four groups. I am going to ask that each of those in group one pray for God's protection of our entire church and town between midnight and five minutes after one each morning, those in group two should cover the hour of one to five minutes past two each morning, etc. The extra five minutes are to guarantee that there is no break in coverage. Some of you may think that I am over reacting. I have to tell you that from actual physical contact I have seen the results of the Lord doing a miracle in this situation. I have seen with my own eyes God's power to such effect that I would have told you that you were dreaming had you reported the details to me. ......People, we are under attack. I don't know why and I don't know who is behind it but what I do know is this: God is the Sovereign of the universe. He has promised to help us and protect us. He has told us that when two or three are gathered in His name that He will be there. I want no fewer than two people praying for this congregation and this town at any time around the clock. Until this is finished, your very lives may well be at stake. I am not permitted to tell you, at this time, why I say your lives are at risk, but believe me your lives depend upon God's protection." "Another thing is that I would refrain from telling anyone other than those who are in this room about what I have said. According to a completely honest source there are people in, and around, this community who are dealing with dark forces. I can tell you that they have already done serious physical harm to one person. For the next week or so I would strongly urge you to avoid any social situation where you will not have a fellow believer along with you. The person who was physically harmed was hurt by people that he didn't think would be dangerous." "There is no one here today that can oppose Satan in his or her own strength. We need to put on the whole armor of God from Ephesians 6: 10-18." "Do you have questions that I can attempt to answer?" The meeting went on for another half hour. All the expected questions came up, and they were handled as openly and honestly as they could be. The worshipers left the church building in a subdued manner. Most of them had never really given thought to the fact that there is true demonic evil in the world. Some of them finally remembered that reality can be sobering. Chapter Seven The Cell Phone Call on Sunday Sue was in her room, ostensibly studying, but in reality trying to figure out what could have gone wrong. She was agitated. The fact that there had been no news about the Sheriff's chief investigator being found dead, and the fact that Mr. Murphy's body had turned up missing along with the Boline had left her feeling very uneasy. Sue's phone rang. She answered it. "Hello?" "Sue, it's me Dave, I'm scared. What if someone has found out about what we did? What if we are caught? Your prints are all over that knife and my fingerprints have to be on Mr. Murphy's skin, after all there was blood all over the place and I had to move him. What are we going to do? What can we do? What ...." "Shut up Dave, you're acting like a little kid. I'm warning you, get your act together or you will put us both at risk." "But Sue, you said that you had it all worked out. You said that nothing could go wrong. Things couldn't have gone much more wrong than they did. I didn't actually do anything to kill him. I provided a distraction and helped you move him but I'm innocent when it comes to killing him. I need to find a way to keep from getting involved in this." 'Dave, quiet down, you are getting hysterical. I will take care of this. Don't worry about it. Why don't you get in your SUV go back out to where we were and see if you can find that knife in the daylight." "O.k. Sue I'll give it another try, but I don't want to be tossed in prison for something I really didn't do. I mean I don't have a lot to hide and I never really agreed to kill him. If I'm questioned I'll just have to say it wasn't me, I'm innocent regarding his death." "Is that a threat, Dave? Are you saying that you would rat me out if anyone started to ask you too many questions?" "I don't know Sue, I'm sort of coming apart at the seams right now. I think I'll take your advice and go out to look for that knife." "Yes, you do that Dave, ........ Good by." As Sue hung up she went over and locked her bedroom door. She turned to her spell book and started the invocation that would summon Hekatos. Dave would never weaken and tell people what had happened. Dave was about to have a fatal "accident". Forty-five minutes later a Sheriff's department patrol car came around a curve and saw tracks leaving the road and going into the woods. He also saw smoke billowing above the tree tops from somewhere just inside the woods. He radioed for the fire department and advised them that he was going in to see what was going on. The road entered the wood with a slight curve, As the deputy rounded the curve he saw the SUV. It was upside down and was in the center of the fire. He couldn't get close to the vehicle but was struck by a very unusual thing. He had seen car wrecks and rollovers but he had never seen a car on its roof crushed almost as if a construction roller or crawler tractor had rolled over it. There were no other marks going into the woods. The only vehicle that had come this way was the SUV. But it couldn't have gotten into this location damaged like it was at the moment. The deputy returned to his car and radioed in that there would be need for the lab boys and the coroner. .... The deputy had seen what was left of the arm sticking out through the window. The fire, police and coroner's people arrived and did their jobs. It was quite a while before the SUV was cool enough to allow anyone close to do any examination. It's always hard to do an examination after people have used foam and water to stop a fire. The fire investigator on the scene was confused. The fire had been hot enough so that parts of the SUV were melted. One of the items that would later lead to a lot of head scratching was that the fire had been hot enough to melt some of the glass in the windows. The fire boys had indicated something else that was most unusual. According to them the fire had started on the outside of the vehicle. Not only had it started on the outside, it appeared to have started everywhere at once. There was no place above or below what had once been the SUV that still retained any paint, on the outside. The body was another matter. The coroner's men hadn't yet recovered the body but what they could see through the window openings told them that they were going to have a really bad time of it. From what they could see of the body some of it had been burned to ash, including the bones. The area of the body from the belt down to the thighs was essentially ash. The rest of the body was simply horribly burned. . There were obviously some unique features to this body. The state crime lab and probably the FBI crime lab would have to help with this one. It was going to take a fair amount of time just to get the body removed from the vehicle. People were bringing in jaws of life and a cutting torch. This was not going to be fun. The license plate number had already been traced and a deputy had been sent to the Pryce house. Notifying parents of a child's death was never a job that anyone would want to have to do. But it had to be done. * * * The sheriff's patrol car pulled up to the Pryce house within an hour of the discovery of the burning SUV. The officer went to the door of the house and rang the bell. The door opened revealing Phil Pryce.. "Hello officer, is there a problem?" "Yes, sir, could I come in and talk to you for a few minutes? It is very important." "Well, I suppose so, the game on t.v. wasn't all that good. Come into the living room and have a seat." They proceeded into a spacious room that was furnished in very expensive, very tasteful style. "Now, what do you want officer?" "Is your wife here sir?" "No, she's at the store picking up a couple of things." "Sir, is your son David around?" "No, earlier he mentioned something about going out to see if he could find something that Sue had lost the other night when her car had a problem. He didn't say exactly where he was going to look but indicated that he would be back in a couple of hours." I Will Repay "Is there any chance that he lent his SUV to someone else? "No, that vehicle is his pride and joy. He didn't even let Sue Marshyl drive it." "Sir, I am sorry to have to tell you that there has been an accident involving your son's SUV." "How is David? Is he all right? What happened......." "Sir, I don't know the best way to put this. We're not yet sure if the body in the SUV is your David or not. The coroner hopes that there will be enough of the dentition to identify the body by dental records. If there isn't we'll need to use a DNA test. It was a bad one, sir." Phil's face looked ashen and his shoulders sagged. "What happened to the SUV? David was a good driver. He didn't speed. What happened?" "Sir, we don't know. Something very strange has happened. I have never seen an accident like this before in my life. The SUV had pulled off the road, slowly driven through the grass onto an old path into the woods. After it was about fifty yards off the road, out of sight from the road it suddenly caught fire. The fire was intense. There was no sign of fire while the vehicle was moving from the road to where it was found, but it was suddenly engulfed in flame from above and below. There is something else that we do not understand. The SUV had been crushed as if some giant thing had stomped on it. The car is less than three feet high from where the wheels should have been to the roof right now. There was nothing in the area to indicate how such a thing could occur. Sir, has David been involved with any strange experiments lately? I mean has he taken up interest in pyrotechnics or explosives, or such? The fire in this case was hot enough to remove all the paint from the vehicle as well as hot enough to melt some of the body panels together. Normal vehicle fires don't do that. Can you think of anything that might explain the intense heat from that fire?" Phil sat there in shock. Not only was he ashen, but he was staring off into space seeming to be unaware of anything around him. After a couple of moments he turned to the deputy and nodded his head no. Then he spoke, or whispered, "I have no idea what could have happened. Dave has never been interested in explosives, or such. His only real interests right now are football and Sue Marshyl. I can't think of anything else to tell you. When will you know if it was David in the SUV? Will it be soon?" "I don't know sir, the coroner has his work cut out for him. It may take a couple of more hours to open the vehicle enough to allow them to extract whats left of the body. I will let you know when we have a better idea of the identity of the body." At that moment Mrs. Pryce came in from the attached garage and called out to her husband. He responded and called her into the living room. She was talking lightly as she entered the room, and froze when she saw her husband's face. "Phil, what's happened? Is David safe? Has something bad happened?" "You need to sit down honey. Now, listen and don't interrupt for a minute. Deputy, would you please repeat what you just told me?" The deputy repeated the questions and the statements. Mrs Pryce sagged, biting her lip and fighting back tears. She didn't say anything. When the deputy finished he gave his business card to Mr. Pryce. "If you think of anything that might help us figure out what happened, my number is on the card. Again, I am sorry to have to bring this kind of news, but that is unfortunately what I sometimes have to do." Mr Pryce opened the door for the deputy and thanked him for letting them know. When he returned to the living room his wife was crying. "I'm going to call the Marshyls. They are going to have to tell Sue about the wreck." Chapter Eight At the Marshyl's house The phone rang in the Marshyl's living room. "Hello" "Jim, this is Phil. We have just had bad news and need to have you pass the news on to Sue. It looks like David has had an accident. If what I have been told is correct, David is dead." "What happened Phil?" Phil recounted what he had been told. Jim listened intently. Phil couldn't see it, but Jim's face was taking on a hard look as if he were very angry. "Phil, did you say that the fire was so hot that the paint was all gone and that the car looked like it had been stamped flat?" "Yeah Jim, that pretty well sums up what the deputy described. It makes no sense to me. It would be one thing if the car had been hit with some form of incendiary weapon, but this doesn't sound like anything I have ever heard of before. Does it ring a bell with you?" "I'll have to get back to you on that one Phil. I'm going to let Sue know. Give me some time to think over what you have said. In the mean time all I can say is that I am very sorry to hear about David.. If there is anything we can do to help, let us know, o.k.?" "Thanks Jim, I'll do that." Jim hung up the phone. He went up to his daughter's room and knocked on the door. He had to make a rather hard hearted experiment. When Sue opened the door he asked her what she was working on. "Oh, just homework. I need to get an essay finished for English." "Did you ask David to go find something you lost the other night?" "Why do you ask?" "I was wondering what you were doing in the woods Friday night. I heard from one of the other parents that they heard their kid pretending to be one of us giving you permission to leave the dance party early. What were you doing?" "Well, if you must know I have taken up a strong interest in what used to be called the "black arts", you know magic. That night was Halloween and I thought it would be neat to try to do some magic and see if it would work." "Come off it Sue, your mother and I have known that you have had a serious interest in magic for a long time. We heard about your summer solstice party last summer. Nobody got hurt so we weren't concerned. This time things are different." "What do you mean, this time, is there something going on?" "Let me tell you an interesting thing. David is dead, and I think you know something about it." Sue fumed: "How can you say that?" "Did you notice that you got immediately mad, and didn't act shocked? I suspected a problem when I heard the condition of the SUV. You must have been very angry with David. The SUV was stamped flat and burned with fire so hot that it removed all the paint from the metal. You don't get that in a normal vehicle fire. The fire started on the outside of the car, not the inside. And I suspect that you know what happened. Now spill it." "There's nothing to spill. David went looking for a ceremonial knife that I dropped. If there has been a wreck I couldn't have had anything to do with it. I've been here all day." "Look here young lady, I know just enough about what magic is supposed to be able to do to be suspicious that you have opened up a door that you should never have opened. We play at the idea of a "fertility religion" as a cover for our "key club" business. People are fascinated when there is a hint of the occult along with their sex games. But, we haven't been foolish enough to try to really do anything with the dark arts. I think you have taken this a bit too far. Until we find out what you have been up to, you are grounded." "You don't want to do that dad, it's a bad idea." "Oh, what are you going to do, put a curse on me?" "That's an idea. I would suggest that you quietly back off. I now have power that you can't even dream of. If you try to ground me or punish me in any way you will be truly sorry that you did." "That's does it, young lady, you are grounded and I am going to get rid of any witch type garbage that you have. You are going to wish that you never said those things. Now, start gathering up all that junk. I'll be back for it in an hour and I want all of it, do you understand?" "Yes, I understand father, as I said before, this is a bad mistake. By the way, does mom feel the same way about this?" "She will as soon as I have talked to her. Your freedom has just been greatly limited until we think you are responsible enough to act in a reasonable manner again." Sue's father stomped out of the room. Sue shut the door and locked it. She remembered Crowley's dictum "There is no law, do as thou wilt." Her familiar was going to be busy today. If she was going to preserve her freedom certain obstacles and risky things had to be taken care of. Her parents were on the short list as were the two girls, and their families, who had pretended to be their parents to let them get out of the dance party early. But, if someone asked Dave's parents about the permission she would also be in trouble. That was it, both sets of parents had to go. That was a small price to pay to retain the power that she had. After all, Crowley all but said that power was everything. With that settled in Sue's mind, she started the incantation. Yes, it was going to be a busy afternoon. Chapter Nine The Morning papers The headline in the papers read, "Deaths Strike Four Families". The report was a bit vague about what had happened because the sheriff's department was not exactly sure what to make of it. The plain facts were indisputable, the parents of David Pryce and Sue Marshyl had died and all the members of two other families had died.. The coroner said his first guess was that they had died of heart attacks. . The full autopsy results would take a couple of weeks because a full toxicology screen had been requested by his office. The other strange thing noted by the paper was that all the deceased appeared to have died of causes that looked a lot like a heart attack. The papers noted that no minor children of any of the families were left alive. Sue Marshyl was eighteen years old and as such needed no supervision. She was old enough to look after herself and was the only person alive from those four families. She thought that she was calling all the shots. Little did she know that she was living in a "fool's paradise" where the bills were about to come due. Chapter Ten The Call to the Pastor The call to the pastor came at ten o'clock in the morning, the day after the bodies had been found. John wanted to know what was going on and also wanted to tell the pastor what he had been doing. The phone rang: "Hello, pastor Paul speaking how can I help you." "Hi pastor, this is John. I've called to touch base and find out if anything new is happening." "Happening is a mild word for what has been going on. First David Pryce was murdered on Sunday. The police say that his SUV looked like someone had stomped it into a three foot thick pancake. Whatever did that also burned the car so completely that there was no paint left on the metal of the body. I've talked to Dr. Bill Gregson, from our congregation. He's the assistant coroner and helped with David's autopsy. They retrieved all body parts, or the ashes of all body parts with one exception. His entire groin area was burned to powder. The coroner is very, very confused. Dr. Bill also indicated that the cause of death for Mr. and Mrs Pryce and Mr. and Mrs Marshyl and that of the other two families was very strange. He says that they appeared to have died of heart attacks. The problem, according to Dr. Gregson, was that the protein that normally would be in the blood if it was a heart attack was not present. However, in all cases the heart muscle itself showed severe damage as if it had been burned by something. The doctors are at a loss. I have my own theory about what happened, but I have no proof. Even if I had proof, nobody in their right mind would believe me." "Paul, tell me your theory, if I were a betting man I would wager that we have the same idea." "John, I think that we have seen a satanic attack. I believe that there was an evil power conjured up in that clearing and that Sue Marshyl is the one who thinks that she controls it." "I agree Paul. I'm not sure what to do about it, but I feel that I must do something. There is no court in this country who would believe what we suspect to be true. There has got to be a way to see justice done, without taking the law into our own hands." "John, I have an idea. What if you were to .........." Minutes passed as the conversation went on. "Paul, as I do this please have as much of the congregation praying for me as you can. I'll make the call at midnight. Phone Bob from the Sheriff's office at ten after and have him go to the Marshyls with you riding along for prayer covering." "You've got it John." Chapter Eleven Call From the Grave It was midnight on that same night. Sue Marshyl was soundly asleep in her bed.. When the phone rang, she was a bit groggy but managed to pick up the phone: "Hello" "Hi Sue, are you still looking for your knife with the curved blade?" Sue was suddenly wide awake. Only she and David knew about that knife yet here was a caller who knew about it. What should she do? "I didn't catch your name, who is calling please?" "This is John Murphy Sue, you remember taking me to your clearing with David the night of the dance party don't you?" Sue's head was reeling. She was as close to panic as she had ever been. She knew the voice was that of Mr. Murphy and she also knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was dead. How could this be happening? What was going on? She forced her head to clear. "What do you want Mr. Murphy? What is it that you are after?" "Well Sue, I know what you have done to your parents, Dave, and his parents as well as the two girls families. You didn't think that you could get away with it did you?" Sue was almost hysterical at this point. "What is it that you are after? What can I do to make you go away?" "Oh, that's easy, you can write a full confession for the police and ....." Sue interrupted, "Screw You! You're crazy. I'm not going to do any such thing. Those people had to die because they were a threat to me. You have no idea of how much power I have. If you don't go away I'll fix you good." "I'm sorry to hear that Sue. Let me tell you one thing before I hang up. I'm only going to tell you once so please listen. You are dealing with very evil spirits who do not know the meaning of mercy or forgiveness. They will not tolerate anything that 'complicates' their existence unless it has more power than they do. There is an Almighty God just as surely as there is a fallen angle named Lucifer. Lucifer was made by the Almighty God, not the other way around. Evil separates people from the Almighty God. If that evil is not forgiven a person is doomed to spend all eternity in hell. Hell is a real place by the way. God sent His only Son into the world to pay the penalty for our sins, that includes your sins. He will forgive you if you will admit that you have sinned and recognize that Jesus died to pay for those sins and rose again from the dead to prove that He had the authority to forgive sins. Will you take that step and ask for forgiveness from God before it is too late?" "Go to hell Mr. Murphy. I serve a powerful master, neither you nor your God can touch me." "Let's put that to the test, shall we? I am standing in your front yard right now, with the knife that you dropped that has your finger prints all over it. The sheriff's chief investigator should be here in about ten minutes. Let's see if your magic can stop me from telling him everything." Sue started the incantation to summon Hekatos. She was filled with the blind pride that her power was unlimited. Soon, Hekatos was standing before her. She wanted to watch him do his job. She ordered him to go down into the front yard but not do anything until she got there because she wanted to watch as he destroyed Mr. Murphy and the knife that he had. As John stood in the front yard, the yard light came on, and Sue was at the door. John saw the black smoke like being coming out the door with her. It was at that point that John started to speak out loud: "Almighty Father, the Creator of all that is and has been and will be, I call on you to destroy this evil that is present. Lord God, in Jesus Holy Name I call on you to send this foul being into the abyss to be held for final judgment." Sue was shocked to see Hekatos trying to move away from Mr. Murphy. "Hold fast there demon, you cannot flee from God. It almost appeared that Hekatos wanted to run but was held in place against his will. Sue began to be afraid. "Whether you run to the mountains or the bottom of the Sea, He is there. Whether you go the extremes of the earth, He is there. And you cannot hide." At this there was a pitiful howling coming from the inky blackness. Sue was suddenly quite afraid. After all, her own private demon was acting like a wimp. Suddenly the demon spoke to Sue. "My master has just said that you are not worth the trouble that you have given him. You have solidified the opposition to him in this area. For that you must die." As the demon said these last words he touched Sue and she fell to the ground. Two minutes later the sheriff's patrol car pulled into the Marshyl's driveway to find two dead bodies. Sue Marshyl was laying there and in the front yard was the body of Mr. John Murphy. He was wrapped in a bloody shirt was holding a strange knife and there was a gristly wound in Mr. Murphy's chest. The sheriff's deputy called for the coroner and the lab technicians. Chapter Twelve The next day The forensic boys were sure about one thing. The fingerprints on the knife belonged to Sue Marshyl. The problem was how did the dead body of John Murphy get onto the front lawn without any tracks other than his own? This was especially confusing since the body had neither a heart nor blood. What was also clear was that it proved impossible to determine the time of death. The body was at the same temperature as the surrounding air, but the body showed no signs of decay. Sue Marshyl's autopsy proved to be very unsettling. Her heart was burned just like the her parent's had been. Stranger still was the inverted five pointed start brand that was found on the skin over her heart. With Sue being clearly implicated in the murder of John Murphy the sheriff obtained a search warrant to see if any information in the Marshyl house, or in files stored on their computer would give them a motive for the murder. When they began to see what the Marshyl's business really was they obtained a second search warrant for the Pryce's house as well. What they got was a clear picture of the real businesses of the Pryces and Marshyls. Many riddles about their wealth suddenly became clear.. Only pastor Paul and his flock really knew what had happened. Several families had been destroyed, or damaged, by evil. But the congregation finally understood that God's power was indisputably stronger than that of the devil. As Martin Luther had said, hundreds of years before, our God is a mighty fortress, and he will stand between His people and those of the evil one. Amen.