"How do you know where I live?"
"Chantress told us," the red-haired woman said.
Kyle hesitated and then moved aside to let them pass.
The woman smiled seductively at Kyle.
"What do you want?" Kyle asked impatiently.
"May we sit?" the Magus asked moving toward the sofa.
"Go ahead."
"Your future, of course," the Magus said. "Can you come to the house tomorrow around seven?"
"I don't know. What for?"
"We've decided that you really belong in our group and we have a little initiation ceremony planned," the Magus explained. "It would definitely be worth it."
"You won't be sorry. It's for you," the woman said her green eyes titillating Kyle's most primitive desires.
Kyle looked around the room and then frowned.
"Okay, I'll come, but I can't stay long."
"Whatever suits you," the Magus replied. "Then it's settled. You won't be sorry. I'm looking forward to this."
The Magus took a tiny piece of yellow folded paper out of his shirt pocket and gave it to Kyle. Kyle opened the paper and saw it had an address written on it in pencil. He noticed the address was different than the house where the first meeting was held.
* * *
A blood-red sun slowly dipped out of sight when Kyle left for the Magus' house. He arrived at the house about fifteen minutes early so he sat in his car and listened to the radio. A black car pulled up in front of a two-story house and a heavy, bald man got out. It was the Magus. The Magus went to the door and rang the doorbell. A young couple, both with jet black hair walked out, and got into a car in the driveway. The Magus nodded to the couple as they passed him. Kyle approached the house.
"Good evening, Hermes," the Magus said opening the door. "Come in, come in."
Kyle was silent and walked into the living room where the furniture like the surroundings, was clean, neat, and simple. Several small Chinese paintings of colorful birds hung on the off white walls.
"Sit down, sit down. Would you like some tea?"
"No." Kyle sat down on the far right of a small light blue sofa. The Magus slumped down on a matching easy chair.
"Well, as you know some members of my group have left including your friend, Methos," the Magus explained.
"How do you know that?"
"Simple. They didn't show up at last week's meeting, and I knew for some time that they weren't happy with us," he explained.
He reached up with his right hand and scratched the side of his puffy freshly shaved face.
"It doesn't matter anyway. Let them do what they want. I'm only interested in loyal followers."
"So what do you want to talk to me for?" Kyle asked.
"Well, I sensed something different in you, something unique," the Magus explained. "And I wanted to know how you felt about our Black Mass."
"I liked it," Kyle said.
"I thought so. I could tell from your eyes. But what about Methos? Are you and her an item?"
"Why do you want to know?" he said.
"I could tell she hated the Black Mass, and I know she's formed another group. Are you part of it?"
"Yeah," Kyle said staring down at the rug.
The Magus sat back his round, overweight body crushing the pillowed cushions beneath him. A frown formed on his large round head.
"You know, you could be a member of both. Methos' group is about New Age and ours is about devil worship," the Magus explained. "I don't see a conflict, do you?"
"Well maybe, but she doesn't like what your group has become," Kyle said.
The Magus paused to gather his thoughts.
"Yes, but you do," the Magus said. "You like what we're doing, don't you?"
"Yeah, sort of..."
"Well, then it's settled. You could be one of us. Come to the next meeting. I'll work out something very appealing to you," the Magus said.
"I don't know..."
"What have you to lose? You know, you will always be a second fiddle in Methos' group - that's her thing. This could be your thing."
Kyle looked at him intensely. The Magus seemed to suck his mind out through his eyes.
"What are you saying?"
"You can go places with us."
Kyle’s eyes were in another place. A small smile creased his face.
"Well...okay."
"Great. We'll see you Sunday at seven thirty."
* * *
Kyle left his apartment that Sunday feeling that he had made a big mistake. He slowly drove past the Magus' house and parked his car on the next block. He sat there thinking about what he should do. He got out and started walking towards the Magus' house. I'll tell him I don't want to be in his group, he thought. He took a deep breath and sighed. He looked at his watch – it was 7:35. He started walking again and a chill ran over his head and down his spine. He slowly turned to see who was following him on the empty street. It was the dark figure of a tall man only a few feet away. Kyle ran.
"Kyle! Stop!" the dark figure echoed.
The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere. Kyle stopped and turned around. The man stepped into the mercury orange light from the streetlight. It was the man he saw in the restaurant, the man he saw in his dream, the man he saw in his apartment.
"Who the hell are you?" Kyle shouted.
"Kyle, you know this is evil. You know the Magus is evil. Don't go," the voice echoed.
The man's face did not move and his eyes remained fixed and trance-like.
"You're my..." the voice faded away. Then the figure dropped back into the darkness and vanished.
"Holy shit! What the hell is happening to me?" Kyle darted off like a spooked deer back to his car. When he opened the door to his apartment, he glanced at green glowing numbers on the stove and saw it was 9:20 p.m.
"What's going on?" he shouted into the empty apartment.
He couldn't account for the lost time.
The Decision - Chapter 21
The rain fell steadily in straight lines dashing all of Chantress' hopes of getting to the beach that day with Kyle. The sky was covered in dark gray clouds indicating that the rain would stay for hours. She was sad because it would have been their first time together on the beach and she felt in touch with nature lying on the hot sand and listening to the roar of the waves. She looked forward to having Kyle's hot skin touch hers, to his touch as he rubbed suntan lotion all over her, to his kisses and his contained passion. She was still wearing the black T-back bathing suit she purchased especially for him. Her thoughts excited her. She stared at the long silver slivers of rain hitting the bay window and dripping off like endless tears - tears for the sun. She was anxious for Kyle to arrive - they had planned to spend the afternoon in her house since her parents had gone to their vacation home in the Pocono Mountains in nearby Pennsylvania.
She watched every car hoping that Kyle's would be the next one. Then a green car appeared and she watched it slowly make its way up the suburban street. She watched him pull into the driveway and try to duck the rain as he ran to the front porch. The doorbell chimed its familiar sound and Chantress got up.
"Hi," she said as she opened the door.
"Hi," Kyle said looking her over from head to toe.
"I bought it just for you," she said turning around to model her backside.
"Wow! I love it!"
"Me, too," she replied breathing the words instead of speaking them.
"Come on in."
She led him to the living room sofa and they kissed long and hard, then she stood up.
Kyle took hold of one of her shoulder straps and moved it down. He did the same with the other, then grabbed the suit and pulled it down to her ankles. He undressed quickly and they embraced.
"Now, I want you to put suntan lotion all over me," she said. "Then I'll put it on you."
Kyle looked at her strangely.
"Well, if we can't have the beach and the sun, we can pretend," she explained matter-of-factly. "B
esides, the smell of suntan lotion makes me horny."
"Anything you say," he said.
Kyle grabbed the large brown bottle of lotion and squirted some on her shoulders. He worked his way down from there slowly rubbing the lotion into her smooth, silky skin. He moved down her back to her backside and rubbed there for a long time. Then he turned her around and squirted more lotion on her shoulders. His hands worked downward. When his hands reached her thighs, she pulled him close to her and down onto the sofa.
"What about me?" Kyle asked.
"What?" she breathed out.
"You didn't do me!" Kyle protested.
"I am doing you!" she replied.
She pulled him into her and they made love several times. When they had finished, Kyle got up and looked at the family photos on the fireplace mantel.
"Is that really you?" Kyle said staring at a photo of Chantress and her parents at the beach taken a few years ago.
Chantress had short hair with yellow streaks and wore black lipstick.
"Don’t look at that. That was my ugly stage."
"I think you were cute."
"Thanks. I think you are, too."
"Whoa! Look at that! I’ve never seen a gun with a barrel that long!" Kyle said looking at the .44 magnum stainless revolver locked in a glass case in the middle of the mantel.
"That’s my dad’s. It's his prized possession. He's won several tournaments with it."
"Why is the barrel so long? It looks hard to hold."
"I think for accuracy and speed. It's a target shooting gun. You wouldn’t hunt with it or use it for self defense."
"How do you know so much?"
"My, dad, he took me to all the competitions. I guess he really wanted a son and since I was a tomboy growing up, I was the next best thing."
"Do you still go now?"
"No. My dad doesn’t shoot much anymore. He’s into golf now. We should go upstairs and shower."
"Okay."
She led him upstairs to the bathroom and they got into the shower together.
"Can you stay the night?" she said while she washed his lower body.
"Yeah," he said barely getting the word out.
They lathered each other into a frenzy, and let their love flow like the constant streams of water that bounced off their soft bodies. After the shower, they lay on the bed and slept. When they awoke several hours later, Chantress prepared a salad and put a pot of water on the stove to boil some spaghetti while Kyle read the sports page of the local Ocean Village newspaper, The Sentinel.
"You know, the Mets have never had a fair shake," he said. "Since day one they have been the underdogs."
"What do they play basketball?" Chantress asked.
"I can see you're a big fan," he said. "Baseball."
"Oh."
Kyle finished the sports section, and then turned the paper over and glanced at the front-page headlines. The lead headline caught his eye.
Pastor dies at Bingo then burns
Parishioners flee in panic
By Julie Watson
Ocean Village Sentinel
Special to The Associated Press
OCEAN VILLAGE - A retired pastor died at a Bingo game Friday at Ocean Village Methodist Church, sparking a stampede, resulting in the injury of five senior citizens.
Pastor Herbert Wilcox, formerly of the Grace United Methodist Church of Red Bank, died yesterday while speaking before the Friday night Bingo crowd at church here on First Avenue.
More than 100 parishioners fled the church in a panic when the pastor's skin began to mysteriously burn and blister. The fleeing crowd trampled five seniors and three suffered minor injuries, according to a representative at Ocean Village Hospital.
Many of the fleeing parishioners claimed it was the work of Satan, and that the pastor was taken to hell, according to an eyewitness.
"It's definitely the Devil," said Homer Whitehead of Atlantic Avenue. "His skin burned black - that's all the proof I need. The Devil took him to hell, and if he can get a pastor, then he can get anybody."
The pastor's body has been taken to Ocean Village Hospital for an autopsy, but the results are not available at this time, a hospital representative said.
The representative had no comment when asked about the pastor's skin.
In a related report, an Ocean Village woman claimed she died, went to hell, and came back with burnt skin as proof of her journey.
Mrs. Martha Whitehead of Atlantic Avenue said she was taken to hell by the devil.
"I was there. I know I was there. The devil is going to get us all," she said. "This is the end of the world."
An Ocean Village Hospital doctor, who declined to be identified, reported several cases of unexplainable near death experiences, where patients claimed they went to hell.
The mysterious symptoms have been labeled, the Hellfire Syndrome, and include being pronounced clinically dead, coming back to life with burnt skin, and having memories of entering a dark tunnel and falling downward, according to the doctor.
The origin of the symptoms is not known at this time, according to the doctor.
"Many patients have awoken hysterical, claiming that they went to hell. All develop burnt skin, similar to severe sunburn shortly after they awaken," the doctor said.
One religious leader reportedly said, "This is definitely the beginning of the end of religion as we know it."
(See related story on Page 3)
Kyle opened to page three.
Hundreds of seniors
flock to hospital; 2 die
By Julie Watson
Ocean Village Sentinel
Special to Associated Press
OCEAN VILLAGE - An elderly couple from Cherry Blossom Boulevard was killed last night in a stampede of seniors who rushed to Ocean Village Hospital in a panic claiming they were fearful of dying, according to police.
The crowd swarmed the hospital emergency room demanding to be admitted for ailments as minor as the common cold, according to hospital staff.
The crowd pushed on the emergency doors until the glass burst sending a couple through the doors killing them, police said.
John and Mary McBride were pronounced dead on the scene and 5 others reported broken limbs and multiple cuts, according to a hospital spokesman.
"The devil is going to get us all!" Mrs. Jerry Washburn shouted from the unruly crowd. "We need to be in the hospital to make sure we don't die."
Many seniors said that they wanted to be in the hospital so that when they became ill, the hospital staff was immediately available to prevent complications and death. Many said they would pay anything. One man reportedly told the staff they could have his house as long as he could stay in the hospital.
"Satan has regained his power and he is more powerful than God now. He has taken some of us already," explained Homer Whitehead of Atlantic Avenue. "He took Pastor Wilcox and he almost got my wife! The poor pastor burned right in front of our eyes!"
Mr. Whitehead's wife, Martha, had a near death experience and claimed she was pulled into a fiery hell. When she regained consciousness, her skin began to burn and blister, according to Mr. Whitehead.
The mysterious symptoms have been labeled, the Hellfire Syndrome, and include being pronounced clinically dead, coming back to life with burnt skin, and having memories of entering a dark tunnel and falling downward, according to a hospital doctor, who refused to be identified. Other cases have occurred throughout the county, sources said.
However, Doctor Matthew Stokes, chief of staff at Ocean Village, and Doctor Carson Hyll, a neurologist, said an undetectable and mysterious disease that attacks the nervous system, and later skin cells has caused the symptoms.
"No one is going to hell and coming back," Doctor Hyll said. "The burnt skin is a symptom of the disease and the experience is a chemical imbalance in the brain due to the disease."
Doctor Hyll told the crowd that the symptoms were caused by a medical problem since he was ill with it six weeks ago
and had the same reactions.
"Everyone is jumping to conclusions," he said. "I know there is a medical explanation for all of this. The devil is not rising up and taking souls to hell."
Doctor Stokes, a town elder and former mayor, said he agreed with Doctor Hyll.
Absence of Faith Page 15