Gateway to Hell

by Dennis Wheatley

  ‘The acts of violence will continue. Every day the situation will deteriorate. People will no longer dare to travel. Communications will have been cut, trade will have been brought to a standstill, factories will lie idle, cities will be threatened with starvation. In the end the white governments will be forced to capitulate. In the meantime, as in a war, the younger generation will have been purged of its degenerate tendencies. Wise leaders will emerge and insist that the only way to save civilisation is to agree to the just demands of all races. Thus we shall bring about a new era, and the real Brotherhood of Man.’

  All the time the Prince had been speaking, his dark eyes; had never left the Duke’s face; but de Richleau knew that the eyes of such a man could send out most powerful hypnotic suggestion; so, to avoid the danger of falling under it, he had kept his own eyes cast down. He lifted them only when the Prince put the question to him:

  ‘Now do you see the error into which you have fallen, in believing that we, who serve the Old God, have entered into a conspiracy for evil? The explanation I have given will, I trust, cause you to re-orient your beliefs, and join us.’

  For a full moment there was silence, then de Richleau replied, ‘I have been fascinated by your dissertation, Prince, and there is much truth in what you have said. Two world wars within a quarter of a century have destroyed the foundations of society. Those who returned from them have acquired a new, and not altogether desirable freedom. Instead of pursuing a normal course of marrying and rearing a family, a high proportion of girls and men had become promiscuous. Although great numbers of them were scarcely out of their teens, they refused to submit again to parental control, or take advice from people older than themselves. They had become used to danger and excitement, and continued to crave the latter. But their new independence gets them nowhere. Owing to their frustration, crime has increased to a degree never before known; addiction to drugs, almost unheard of before the first world war has, in both Europe and the United States, become a menace; a gap is developing between the generations which, in the future, could bring about violence.

  ‘Yes, the world is sick. But many a patient has been killed by a bad doctor. Sometimes it is better to let nature run its course, and the body works the poison out of the system. The medicine you propose would, in my view, eat away the tissues to a degree that would give the patient no hope of recovery.’

  For a moment the Prince’s handsome face was contorted by a spasm of anger. Then he regained control of himself and said, ‘Then you persist in your blindness? You refuse to give us your aid?’

  The Duke nodded. ‘I do so because, all else apart, there is a great fallacy in your predictions. Even given that dozens of acts of sabotage, carried out day after day, would eventually force the white governments to accept the terms of the mixed leaders, that could bring about no genuine rapprochement. Their cities half-ruined, their trade destroyed, innumerable cases in which loved ones had been killed or injured through the activities of your saboteurs, would leave the white populations harbouring an unquenchable bitterness. And vice versa, too, having for year after year to see the bravest among them become victims of the whites’ furious reprisals, would be equally unlikely to forgive and forget.

  ‘There would ensue no Brotherhood of Man. But you would have done the work of your master, Satan, well. Yes, I said Satan the Lord of Misrule. The Destroyer, whose objective it has always been to bring about disruption to such a degree that mankind will be plunged into darkness and misery.’

  Again the Prince revealed his seething rage. His hands trembled and his mouth worked, until he rasped out:

  ‘I can use your help, and I mean to have it. Since you refuse to give it willingly. I must make you. I have already said that I am indifferent to the fate of your friends. Either you will agree to serve me, or I will send them back to von Thumm, to vent his sadistic hate on.’

  Simon drew in a sharp breath. Richard’s hands were clasped and he clenched them until the knuckles stood out white, while waiting for the Duke’s answer. It seemed an age in coming, then he said:

  ‘I dearly love my friends. If you carry out your threat, thinking of them in that man’s hands will cause me greater mental torture than they will suffer physically. But this issue is far too great to allow the fate of individuals to weigh in the scale. And, if it is decreed that they should forfeit their present lives, both they and I will be fortified by the knowledge that their martyrdom will be rewarded in lives to come.’

  The Prince’s dark eyes narrowed as he stared at the Duke. A silence ensued, so tense that it could be felt. At length he said. ‘Where I have failed, perhaps another may succeed.’ Then, raising his left hand aloft, he snapped his first finger and thumb together.

  For perhaps three minutes none of them moved or uttered a word. Then the door opened, and framed in it stood Rex Van Ryn.

  14

  The Horrors that came by Night

  Rex’s friends had expected that, if they did find him at the Sala de Uyuni, it would have been as a prisoner, held there against his will for some reason they could not guess, by the Satanists into whose hands he had fallen; a prey to great distress and, perhaps, dreadful thought, even mentally deranged after being exposed to the horrors that his captors could bring from the Outer Circle.

  But here he was, a splendid figure of a man, wearing the easy but expensive clothes that rich Americans favour when they are at leisure, his slightly curly hair neatly brushed, exuding as ever abundant health and bonhomie. He gave them a delighted smile and said:

  ‘Well now, it’s certainly good to see you folks again.’

  They had all come to their feet. Simon’s jaw had dropped and his short-sighted eyes were open to their maximum extent. Richard stared at his old friend with a puzzled frown. De Richleau said:

  ‘We have spent quite some time and considerable exertion in endeavouring to find you, Rex. Now that we have, I am much relieved to see you do not appear to have suffered from your recent experiences.’

  Rex beamed at him. ‘No, I’m as fit as they make ‘em, and haven’t a worry in the world. I’m only sorry that you three should have been so concerned about me, and have come all this way to satisfy yourselves that I hadn’t got out of orbit without good reason.’

  ‘That we have yet to see,’ the Duke returned sharply.

  The Prince smiled and said, ‘Rex will soon set your minds at rest about that. Since you would not accept the truth from me whom, I admit, you have no reason to trust, I felt that you might alter your views when you had talked with Rex, knowing as you must his complete integrity.’

  ‘If he can tell us that he has freely subscribed to your views, I shall be amazed.’

  ‘I take it you are referring to the Black Power movement?’ Rex said, sitting down in an armchair and stretching out his long legs.

  ‘Yes,’ the Prince told him. ‘I have explained to your friends how important it is to cure the people of the sickness that has resulted from two world wars and in that, they … or at least the Duke who, I assume, speaks for them … agrees with me. Where we are still at issue is whether Black Power would prove a remedy which would not only stop the rot but, ultimately, bring about the Brotherhood of Man.’

  Rex turned to the Duke. ‘I know that on many questions you’re a real old-fashioned die-hard. You’d like to see Britishers still running a third of the world, and playing polo in their off-time, with a Two-Power Navy to back them up. But you’ve liberal views where human relations are concerned. Surely, if it lay with you, you’d not deny equal rights for all?’

  ‘My dear Rex,’ de Richleau gave a sad little smile, ‘amazed as I am to find you here, being used as a cat’s paw by our, er, host, I have no objection to discussing these matters with you. As you say, my views in many ways are old-fashioned but I do not regard non-white people as inferior to whites, and would like to see them enjoy a true equality with us.’

  ‘So you’ve admitted my point in principle.’

  ‘I have, but I
am unshakably opposed to the Prince’s plan for bringing it about.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because it would cause immense suffering to millions of people and, in the end, fail to achieve its object.’

  ‘Sure it will entail suffering. Riots, street-fighting, arson, murder, the lot. But you can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs and, when our omelette’s cooked, it’ll be a better world.’

  ‘I disagree. After your movement has brought about the deaths of thousands of people and ruined the lives of countless others, no permanent reconciliation between whites and blacks will be possible. Only a world in ruins will be left, with its inhabitants scraping a bare existence; each side blaming the other for its fate and obsessed with bitterness and hatred.’

  ‘Oh come!’ Rex gave a laugh. ‘You can think that only because you haven’t gotten the full picture. For a time the whites will naturally show resentment. That’s to be expected. The white governments will be stunned, nearly bankrupt and incapable of clearing up the mess. But everyone else will rise up, with both money and organised labour. They’ll move in, rebuild the gutted buildings, erect refugee camps for the homeless, and become the source from which all blessings flow. Once the whites realise that we are all really on the same level, prejudice will disappear. They’ll let bygones be bygones, and genuine friendship all over will result.’

  ‘You are talking through your hat,’ said Richard sharply. ‘Even if you could succeed in organising hundreds of thousands of people into labour corps to restore the status quo, where is the money coming from to feed them, let along purchase the materials needed for a world-wide rebuilding programme?’

  Rex laughed again. ‘We’ll have it, old chap. Not a doubt about that. Remember, we don’t intend to blow the works for fifteen or maybe twenty years. We have already started our fund and have over a hundred thousand contributors who are each anti-ing up a few dimes a week. Nearly half the workers down on the Sala are employed in increasing the number of subscribers. In a few years’ time, we’ll number them by the million.’

  ‘Was it to support this fund that you stole a million from your bank?’ asked the Duke.

  ‘Well…’ Rex hesitated a second. ‘Yes. But we’re not relying only on contributions. Maybe you know how the Bolsheviks raised the money to organise the Russian Revolution? They made armed raids on the banks. Stalin began his career as one of the bank robbers for the Party. We’ve started that already in a small way. But our big time for that will come after the blowup, when our sabotage campaign is in full swing. With law and order gone for six, there’ll be any number of opportunities to lift cash from the banks and hold up vans carrying pay-rolls for big factories. Don’t you worry. Well have plenty of money to replace everything we have destroyed, and lots over to distribute to white people who have been rendered homeless by the upheaval.’

  De Richleau shook his head. ‘Rex, my dear friend, I can only suppose that you have fallen completely under the influence of these evil people. Not consciously, of course, but by their exerting their dark power to distort your mind. They are using you as their mouthpiece. Otherwise you would never countenance this terrible plot to bring wholesale anarchy into the world. It is totally against your nature and everything you have ever stood for.’

  Suddenly the Prince spoke. His handsome face had become contorted with rage. In a spate of berserk fury, he stormed at de Richleau:

  ‘So you refuse to be persuaded! You have the impudence to defy me! To thwart my will! I have been patient with you. Given you an opportunity to play an important role in our great crusade. To use the powers you have to further the intentions of the Old God–the True God. And you have spurned it. Very well, then. I will show you who is master here. I will break your stubborn spirit and force you to obey me. You shall spend a night that you will never forget, and in the morning you will be chastened.’

  Rex had come to his feet. ‘No, Prince,’ he pleaded. ‘Have a heart. These are old friends of mine. What you have in mind might send them off their rockers. Let them have a night’s sleep and, maybe, tomorrow they’ll see how wrong they are.’

  ‘Silence!’ stormed the Prince. ‘They need a lesson. If they survive it, they will be eager to do my bidding for fear of the power I wield. If they have gone mad by morning, no matter. I can do without them.’ As he spoke he raised his hand and snapped his fingers twice.

  In less than a minute the door was opened by an immensely fat Babu. Behind him stood two of the silent, green-clad servitors. With a sweeping gesture, the Prince indicated the. Duke, Richard and Simon, as he snapped:

  ‘Kaputa, take these people down to the Hall of Divination and leave them to face what I shall send them there.’

  De Richleau knew it would be futile to resist. Without a glance at the Prince or Rex, he walked towards the door, Simon and Richard followed. The Babu squeezed past them and led the way along several corridors, down two flights of stone stairs and into a dimly lit, empty, circular room some forty feet in diameter.

  The ceiling was low, not more than eight feet high, and the floor was an elaborate mosaic of an eight-pointed star within two circles that contained many strange hieroglyphics. The walls were of smooth, dead-black stone, undecorated except at the four corners. At these, standing out boldly in white were the reversed swastika which Hitler had taken for his emblem, the Star of David upside down, the Mohammedan Crescent with its horns pointing at the floor, and the crooked Cross. The place was dimly lit. As soon as they were inside it, Kaputa closed the door behind them.

  The Duke gave a heavy sigh. ‘My friends, I am afraid we are in for a very bad time. All we can do is to pray for fortitude and hope that we may survive.’ Standing between them, he put his arms about their shoulders and drew them to him, then he went on:

  ‘We shall not kneel. Only slaves make supplication in that attitude of humility. In each of us resides a tiny spark of the Eternal Light, which makes us the little brothers of the Lords of Light: so we address them as children who hope one day to become their equals. After me, repeat in silence the words I am about to say.’

  For the next few minutes he spoke quietly and clearly, sending his winged words out into the silent night.

  When he had finished his appeal for succour, he said, ‘We must now prepare to face the evil entities the Prince will send against us. I would give half my remaining years to have here the holy water, horse-shoes, candles and other things that I collected while in Santiago and which we had to leave in the aircraft on the Sala. Then we could have made a pentacle. But at least the mosaics on which we are standing do not make a Satanic diagram. It is an Inca calendar and the two circles, together with what I have here, will at least protect us from lesser horrors endowed with little intelligence.’

  As he spoke, he took from his pocket a handkerchief in which were wrapped two cone-shaped objects, an inch and a half thick and three inches in height. ‘These,’ he said, ‘are salt containers. Fearing rhat we might have to face some such ordeal as this. I managed to get away unobserved with one at dinner last night and another off my breakfast tray. Salt being essential to the well-being of man, is anathema to all entities sent by Satan to do men harm. We shall have to use it very sparingly; but I think there is just enough to sprinkle round the inner of the two circles on the floor here. A circle in itself is some protection, and this inner one must be about nine or ten feet in diameter, so there will be ample room for the three of us inside it.’

  Exercising great care, he spread very thinly the grains of salt along the line that formed the circle; then, although he had nothing with which to write the letters, he traced just inside the circle, with the forefinger of his right hand, the words: IESUS + NAZARENUS + REX + IUDAEORUM +.

  He had hardly completed this preparation when the dim light became still dimmer, until it had faded completely and they were plunged into total darkness. Drawing the two others to him, the Duke sat down with them in the centre of the circle and said:

  ‘Now, there is nothi
ng we can do but wait. I need hardly remind you that, in no circumstances, should you allow yourselves to be lured out of the circle, or even move more than a foot or so in any direction, in case, inadvertently, your foot makes a breach in the ring of salt.’

  For a while they sat in silence, back to back, their legs stretched out in front of them. The stone floor was very hard and uncomfortable. Every now and then they shifted their position to ease one buttock or the other. AU of them were conscious that it was gradually getting colder. From previous experience they knew that it was not a natural drop in the temperature, but that the place was becoming pervaded with the chill of evil which always precedes a Satanic manifestation.

  The cold increased until their teeth began to chatter. A faint glow appeared near the place on the wall where they had seen the upside-down crescent. Its radiance increased until it lit the room with a reddish light. Their hearts began to beat faster as they watched it, expecting that it would take the form of a demon conjured up from Hell. Instead, black bars appeared across it. The light coalesced into flickering flames above them, and they saw that it was a glowing brazier heaped with red-hot coals. But no heat from it penetrated to the ice-cold circle.

  As they stared at it, they yearned to warm their hands and limbs at its tempting glow, but they knew it to be a device to lure them outside their frail defences. Rigidly they kept their places and the fire in the iron brazier began to burn down until the big room was again in semi-darkness.

  They still had their eyes on the brazier when, behind them, there came a slithering sound. Swivelling their heads, they peered in that direction. A creature was squatting outside the circle. It was as large as a medium-sized turtle, and had a body of that shape; but, instead of a shell, its humped back was covered with rough, pink skin which gave out a pale light. The thing was sitting still, but the skin on its back slowly pulsated so that little ridges rippled along it. Low down in front, it had a long slit that was obviously a mouth; from it there drooled a yellow liquid. Above the mouth there rose what, at first glance, appeared to be two nine-inch-long horns; but, when looked at again, could be seen to have beady eyes at the extremities. Slowly they swayed from side to side, obviously examining the inmates of the circle.