Sanctum Arcanum

by Alexander Kautz

  “By God, you’re absolutely right!” I climbed from beneath the covers and leapt to my feet, “We can fight these things—all that I need is the cane….”

  “What cane?” Caitlin’s glanced between us, the fear and confusion over-whelming her, “What Grim? What’s he talking about?” She looked to me in absolute horror!

  “Please—I’m sorry, my love, but I just can’t explain right now…”

  “We should be fine—nothing can get into the halls or rest of the house.” Rich advised, “As long as we stay clear of those upstairs bathrooms.”

  We had both looked to the hallways and darkness before the stairs, realizing that it had been forgotten in my office. Swallowing hard, I had looked sorrowfully back to Caitlin, who assuming my thoughts had leapt up and grabbed at my arm! “Please, don’t go up there! Don’t risk your life—don’t leave me alone!”

  “You stay with the women--,” Rich’s eyes revealed his desperation, as trembling, he patted my back, “I’m lighter and a lot faster than you—let me do this, I’ll be just fine.”

  “No—you can’t--,” I took hold of his arm in parting, “It’s hidden in a secret place, a concealed compartment that only I know about.” It had been a lie, but it was enough to have halted him. I wasn’t willing to risk permitting him in doing this alone. “I’ll get it—you know that my chances are far better than yours.”

  The raven had lifted from its perch, drifting across the room, and landed upon the bannister before the stairs. Norman had cowered as the great bird had done so, but now appeared relieved with its departure.

  Maya had moved closer to Caitlin as I gently forced Rich back and in between the girls, “Keep them safe, I won’t be more than a few moments.”

  Realizing that we had little choice, he had silently nodded and looked away in despair.

  “I need you to be here—to stay and watch over them--,” Insisting that he look into my face, I glared with a burning determination, “I’m not alone--,” I motioned toward the awaiting black bird, “Just sit tight….”

  “Don’t be long--,” He warned, “Or I’ll be right behind you.”

  “I’ll be back before you even notice that I was gone.” Leaning down and kissing Caitlin, I picked up one of the oil lamps and promptly made my way across the room.

  As I passed through the shadows and into the hall I stepped back while caught in a bitter chill. It was an icy gust that was blowing in through the broken window from the stairway above. The wind whistled eerily as the ravens feathers ruffled in the frozen draft.

  “When I asked you about the book and cane—you said there wouldn’t be any need for it—why?” I had looked to the demon as the bird gazed back, whispering, “And, the lost have no use of such things. You would be ill-advised to call upon the Grim on this night…”

  “It’s our only chance--,” Determined, I refused the demon’s counsel, insisting, “I’m going to send these things back to Hell…”

  “Beware—choices made in haste. And that which now waits in the darkness above…”

  Raising the lantern high and gathering what courage remained, I forced one foot before the other. Cursing under my breath as gripping the bannister tightly, I hurriedly made my way up the stairs. As shivering and shaking in the icy gust, I watched the breath become mist in the golden lamp-light before my face. The shadows were creeping, retreating ever so slightly with each and every advancing step, closing tightly behind us while the raven, now walking, followed along the railing directly beside me.

  I had reached the upper landing and noticed the snow blowing from out of the open bathroom door. Aside from the obvious, this would not have been any reason for alarm. But in the several years that Caitlin and I had lived together, we had never left that door open before…. It was only several yards ahead in the dark hallway, and to the immediate right. Looking beyond the bathroom, I gazed quietly upon the partially open office door. The bird had hopped off the bannister and onto my right shoulder, “Beware--,” It whispered, “Beware that which awaits us in the darkness ahead….”

  Raising the lantern higher in my left hand, I strained to see into the long shadows of the hall. As stepping ever so lightly, I began moving slowly but steadily toward that open door. The snow drifting inward ever so lightly, the chill bit through my flesh and to the very bone.

  The weight and the bitter, biting cold of the raven’s claws vanishing from my shoulder, I looked down and saw the pale boy who now walked softly beside me. My heart raced, beating faster as my steps increased and carried me faster and ever faster toward the office door. But, as I had attempted to slip past that bathroom opening and step over the drifting snow, something had reached out and, with an icy claw, torn me backward as it dragged me down!

  I had narrowly avoided smashing the lantern and setting the house aflame! Fighting desperately and pulling free of the fiend, I took the light and leapt back, horrified to discover that it had not been a single entity, but a growing accumulation that now filled the bathroom! The shapes and shadows were flowing in through the broken window. Coming together, they were conjoining and congealing into a singular and slowly solidifying mass!

  The boy had leapt between where I had stood and the horrifying thing that now bore down. As spreading his arms wide and facing me, his eyes burned like twin beacons through the frozen blackness! There was an emerald electrical field, much like the storm that I had previously experienced! A barrier that the accumulating fiends now struggled against! “Go now and do as you will--,” He stood as they seethingly fought and struggled from behind, “Your fear had granted them power—and I now weaken….” There was an unfamiliar expression upon the demon’s face. It revealed a sudden sorrow and unspeakable terror that I had never before seen!

  Scrambling into my office and dropping beside the chair, I drew the cane from where it had been concealed between the book-case and desk. But, just as I had done this, I heard a horrendous shrieking! A deafening screaming that now came from just below. It was Caitlin, Maya and Eva, as something unspeakable had somehow gained access to our home!

  I now took up the cane and pounded it three times upon the floor! My thoughts reeling, heart screaming, as I listened to the nightmare happening in my own home! Rushing from out of the office with the lantern and cane, I rushed to the demon’s assistance at the bathroom door.

  The hideous thing had fallen back to the glowing blue fire of the cane, the overwhelmed boy slipping free of the flailing limbs and claws! The ground was shaking beneath us, the very foundations quaking to the distinct sound of tolling bells! The Grim’s wailing howl now resounding like a thousand trumpets calling from beyond the very gates of Hell!

  The boy became the raven and took to the air, leading me down the darkened corridor as we now raced for the stairs. I fell, stumbling to the screams of my loved ones in the chaos! Catching myself not a moment too soon, as praying, I pleaded for their lives! Racing madly into the room, I found them huddling in the protective symbol before the hearth. Rich had guarded over everyone while standing in the center of the tightly clustered group.

  They were encircled by a frozen horde of horrors, a shambling decay which crept and crawled from all corners of the house. The vile and malformed nightmares dragged their twisted and broken bodies as they gathered from all about.

  But how had they managed to gain access into the sanctified house? That was when I saw him! Having obviously panicked and tried to flee the house, Norman attempted to go out into the storm! He stood utterly still and before the open front door, still screaming as he must have realized his mistake. Norman had paid with his life as his fear had released the horrors into the house!

  “He tried to escape!” Rich cried out, “He ran from the circle—I tried to stop him!”

  “Just keep everyone together—they can’t harm you as long as you stay right there!”

  The fiends had gathered all about me as I stood beyond the circles protective power. With the raven having taken its place upon my right sho
ulder, I wielded the cane as I fought back the ghouls!

  The bells rang as the hound appeared, exploding in blue ethereal flames from out of the hearth! It leapt high over my trembling loved ones, and crashed into the midst of the ghoulish and shambling things. They were scattered about like rag dolls as the Grim tore them limb from rotting limb! Whatever vile life had remained in those moldering bones now erupted from their battered shells and vanished into the hound!

  Rich had held everyone down, shouting desperately while forcing them to look away. But I could see the horror in his gaze as he dared to glance back and looked upon the nightmarish scene, the phantasmal flames and beast reflecting in the lenses of his glasses, and his wide, staring eyes!

  I had rushed toward the front door, as the hound pursued Death’s wailing horde out and into the storm, shoving poor Norman’s frozen corpse aside while slamming the door closed and quickly locking it. In a second thought, I had turned and hurried through the hall and back up the stairs. Making my way to the partially open bathroom, kicking at the snow, I pulled the door closed.

  When I had returned to the living-room I found only dismay and endless tears. The raven returning to its place upon the mantel, silently watched with those crimson-jeweled eyes. Wailing for the loss of Norman and the horrors they had seen, Caitlin turned and fell into my arms, weeping.

  We had all slowly found our places, returning beneath the blankets upon the couches near the hearth. Eva had moved close to us as she was protectively embraced in Caitlin’s loving arms. A strange silence had now befallen everyone and seemingly everything. I could no longer hear the winds wailing or the storm that had raged beyond. All that remained was the crackling embers of the hearth and the sorrow-filled sniffle of tears.

  “Has it gone?” Swallowing hard, Rich had looked over from where he sat beneath heavy blankets, while holding Maya close, “Have they been taken away?”

  Slowly nodding while looking between the hearth and my friend, I contemplated the flames and the words which the demon had said, my thoughts drifting as the embers crackled and hissed. Poor old Norman, I had thought, if only he had listened and not panicked and gone for that door….

  “It was not his actions that released the evil that cost the old man his life.” Marlowe replied in little more than a whisper, “But the fear generated in unison while returning for the cane—and summoning the hound. You would do well to accept counsel from those offering wisdom in dark times…”

  “You would be ill-advised to call upon the Grim on this night.” The demon’s words now haunted my thoughts as the guilt became clear in my mind. “I caused panic in that last moment. I made them all believe in what was happening around us, without a doubt….”

  “There is little to fear beyond the illusion--,” Marlowe warned, “Until granting it power to manifest in this dimension…”

  “But they saw both you and your servant--,” I had thought the argument valid, “And that was enough to set them off—and believe almost anything.”

  “They only saw through your eyes—because you allowed it,” He explained, “Do not trust all that you see—and do not see what you do not wish others to share. The eyes covet all that we know and desire—and the mind governs all.”

  “Rich--,” I had whispered, avoiding looking to where the raven rested upon the hearth, “Is anything missing from this room?”

  Quietly looking about, he shrugged and then pointed toward the mantel, “Our little feathered friend seems to have vanished.” Turning to peer over, I saw the black bird and Rich stared in disbelief, “No—my mistake.” Rubbing at his eyes, he quietly said, “It’s still there. I’m just losing my mind—I’m totally beat…”

  “It’s okay—I’m not doing much better.” Realizing to have completely forgotten Norman in the chaos, I peered into the darkness of the adjoining hall, deeply saddened, troubled with the thought of his frozen corpse. Resting face down, it had just been shoved off to the side in the panic of closing the door, and while thawing, was slowly leaking out across the tiled floor. The pity swiftly turning into horror, I contemplated as to whether anything might use his corpse as a tool against us? No, I thought to myself, it was sanctified ground and all were safe within these walls, even the dead….

  “It’s cold enough in here that he will keep.” It was as though Rich had pulled the thoughts out of my mind. He had refrained from being too descriptive as the others now slept soundly, saying, “And, we need to see about those bathroom windows as soon as possible.”

  “It’s funny how we never think about the one place where we are most vulnerable.” Gently drawing the covers closer about Caitlin and Eva, I looked back at my friend, “I’ll be awake—try to get a little rest if you can. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a very long day….”

  Tuesday, December 24, 1974.

  4.35 a.m.

  It had taken hours, but Rich had finally fallen asleep. The house was bitter cold, and though I had slipped off the couch and tended the hearth, nothing helped. After gently covering Caitlin and Eva, I had brought a chair to the hearth and sat between my sleeping companions. The wind moaned down the chimney as I was casting the embers about behind the screen, and seemed to whisper my name in the darkness.

  Looking to all the bright and beautiful decorations that Caitlin had spent days hanging and arranging, it utterly broke my heart. I remembered the laughter and good cheer as Norman and Eva had helped her, and Rich had assisted with all the lighting. Our tree was decorated in silver and blue, and multi-colored lights flashed from behind countless ornaments. It was Christmas Eve, and not a living creature stirred. Should anything attempt coming down that chimney, I was quite certain that it would not be Saint Nick….

  Merlin slept soundly in his carrier near the hearth. And though confident that the Grim had reclaimed the lost, I had remained vigilant through the night. I knew from the crystal revelations that the evil would seek out and destroy all involved. And now, I silently suffered with the knowledge of where it might certainly go next… Only two had been forgotten, only two were left without protection and alone out in that storm.

  “It’s still out there somewhere—isn’t it?” Rich whispered, careful not to disturb the sleeping women. Retrieving his glasses from where they had fallen from his face as he slept, he said, “Watching, waiting for another opportunity to catch us off-guard.”

  “It can’t reach us during the day—as long as we avoid dark places. And it can’t get to us in here in the evenings. So, we’ll just have to monitor the time very closely, until we can figure this whole thing out.”

  The statement seemed to pacify Rich, as settling back down into his place beside Maya, he nodded, “Well, Merlin doesn’t seem to feel threatened—so that’s good enough for me.”

  I had looked down to where my old friend’s cage had rested near the hearth, carefully testing the surfaces to make certain that he was neither overly warm nor too cold.

  “Well, the one thing that we know for certain--,” I slowly leaned back into my seat, “Is that it can only harm us if we allow it.”

  “There might be other things that we don’t know--,” He countered the thought, and raising an eyebrow, warned, “Let’s face it—we still have no idea why this damned thing is even after us?”

  “Look at it this way--,” Attempting to explain, I thought briefly before saying, “At some point we have all chosen sides in a dimensional struggle of the elements through eternity, and have inherently become targets of the enemy. So, we have no other choice than to fight back or die, over and over again….”

  “So, we really had no choice--,” Rich swallowed hard in reflection, “Because, this was our destiny to begin with—choices that we all made right from the start.”

  “If you consider this for even a moment--,” I looked curiously to my dismayed friend, “And were given the choice again as to which side to take. Would you have honestly done anything differently?”

  “No--,” He whispered, “I would still be r
ight here, and with all of you.”

  “In the end, none of us ever truly die--,” I felt inner warmth, a fascination and fear with the concept, “We just continue into other dimensions as we move toward the end-game and become part of everything, a balance and order in space and time.”

  “Then why am I still scared?” His eyes flashed as he frowned in the presiding stillness.

  “Because--,” I shrugged, “You’re human like the rest of us, and born into a physical reality. We all fear losing everyone and everything that we love in this life. It’s part of the human condition—and what makes us able to function in this reality,” Sighing deeply, I thought for a moment, and admitted, “If I claimed that I totally understood things and wasn’t frightened, I would be lying, because this all scares the hell out of me, too.”

  “The dawn--,” Rich drew my attention to where the morning light now shone pale above the drawn draperies, “We made it through the night.”

  “We can be thankful for that--,” I gently placed the cane down beside the couch, and with the raven watching over us as we slept, muttered, “And only wonder, and pray for those who did not….”

  Tuesday, December 24, 1974.

  11:45 a.m.

  The telephone service had been restored shortly after ten, at which point we had contacted the authorities and reported poor Norman’s unfortunate demise. Although we had discussed the matter with all involved, the only thing that we could agree upon was avoiding the truth. As terrible as it might have seemed, we had reported to have found him in the snow near the tool shed after an assumed stroke. The event had been terrible enough for everyone, and something that no one else would have ever believed.

  The storm had passed with the coming dawn, leaving a trail of misery and chaos on Christmas Eve. Rich had picked up Danny and Dennis, and between the three of them they had managed to plow my driveway and walks. It had taken less than an hour to replace that bathroom window, and both upstairs washrooms were fitted with unique and custom designed frames.