by N. P. Martin
“Yes it is,” Dimitri says. “And you seem to have a lot of it, Lucas Rameses.”
“Like I said-”
“Yes, yes. You’re just a business man right? Like me?”
Lucas nods. “We’re not in Hell anymore.”
“No, we are not. A day never goes by for which I am not eternally grateful for that.”
“Then you know neither of us need the heat from the Hellwrathians. I’m sure you haven’t avoided them this long by being stupid.”
“Stupid?” Dimitri walks right up to Lucas, looks him straight in the eye. “Far from it. One hundred years into my second tour here.”
“More than me. Forty years ago I got here.”
Dimitri smiles like he suddenly feels superior to Lucas, which is exactly how Lucas wants him to feel. “Alright, Lucas Rameses. Why don’t we settle on fifteen grand a month, considering you put most of my minions on the down elevator.”
Lucas smiles inwardly. He was prepared to go as high as twenty grand if it meant keeping Dimitri on his side. Fifteen would do. “You have a deal,” he says. “But I arrange to have the money taken to you each month. I don’t want your goons coming around my club and scaring the humans.”
Dimitri stares hard for a moment. “Fine,” he says eventually. “Though I may visit you myself from time to time. You interest me, Lucas Rameses. I’ll bet we have a lot in common, you and I.”
I sincerely doubt that, Lucas thinks, but smiles. “I have no doubt we do. Just remember the terms of our agreement and we can both share in a profitable arrangement.”
Dimitri’s eyes flash a deep orange color for a second, his instinct obviously to continue the power struggle, but something quells his instinct and he merely smiles and nods. “Of course.”
Lucas smiles back one final time and then teleports out of Dimitri’s lair.
CHAPTER FIVE
Right from an early age, Lucas was fascinated and strangely drawn to the dark arts. While his eight brothers spent most of their time trying to be great warriors and learning to be leaders so they could one day become Pharaoh after their father, Lucas spent most of his time studying the ancient texts and scrolls locked up in the palace vaults and great libraries, texts that documented the history of the world, strategies for war and battle and the many philosophies that went to back it all up. The knowledge in the books--the books themselves--drew him in, fascinated him by the world of ideas and imagination they ignited in him.
The palace contained many books related to the dark arts of the time. It was a different world back then and the supernatural forces of the universe had not yet been trampled down and forced into the darkness by those who were either afraid of them, or wished to keep them secret so they could avail of such power for themselves in order to rule over the masses, as is the case in the modern world today.
Back in ancient Egypt, magical arts were widely practiced and many supernatural forces--characterized as gods and other figures in the hieroglyphics--were regularly tapped into by those that knew how. Every king in ancient Egypt had their own master of the dark arts to help them keep their reign and be successful in their duties as kings and leaders.
King Rameses II, Lucas’ father, had his own practitioner of the dark arts. A mysterious man called Eppin Ho Tepp, who spoke to no one but the King. Eppin Ho Tepp lived in the very lower levels of the palace—the catacombs--and was rarely seen by anyone. Those who did catch a glimpse of him reported only seeing a tall hooded figure who seemed to blend with the shadows of the great hallways as he glided by.
When Lucas read all the books on the dark arts he could find, he decided to seek out his father’s dark adviser. The books in the palace libraries were not enough to satisfy his curiosity or quell his insatiable thirst for knowledge, so Lucas thought Eppin Ho Tepp might be a new source of knowledge for him. He went to Ho Tepp’s quarters in the lower reaches of the palace, which were dark and mostly unused. Certainly no one lived on the lower levels. Except Ho Tepp. Barely sixteen years old at the time, Lucas felt deeply frightened as he wandered around the labyrinthine hallways of the dark lower palace, jumping at every strange sound he heard, trying not to drop the torch he held out in front of him like a weapon in case he encountered anything dangerous or unearthly down there.
Eventually, the young Lucas made it to the lowest level of the palace, a damp and squalid place that was hard to even breathe in, a place that was just passageways and great openings with nothing in them except sand and rock. Who would want to live down here? he thought at the time. Only vermin could live in such a place.
Ho Tepp found Lucas before Lucas found him. The sorcerer appeared in front of Lucas out of the darkness--a hooded figure as everyone had described, his face covered by deep and strangely moving shadows--causing Lucas to cry out in shock and drop his torch. When he picked up the torch again with shaking hands, he held it out in front of him, expecting to see the hooded figure of Eppa Ho Tepp standing before him, but there was no one there. It was like his fearful mind had somehow conjured the figure out of the shadows by itself.
But then he noticed the book on the rough stone floor. A thick book, bound in a dark leather cover, strange symbols and designs imprinted into the leather itself. When Lucas finally bent down to open the book, he realized most of what was written in it was written in a very ancient language, but one which Lucas could understand thanks to his studies in the library. Written across the front of the book in embossed blood red lettering were the words, “Book Of Universal Darkness”. Even through all his fear, he couldn’t help but smile when he discovered the book contained information on aspects of the dark arts that he had never come across before, even giving spells and incantations that he had no idea even existed, even with all his prior studies.
Picking up the book, Lucas ran back to his quarters in the palace and locked himself in there for the next two days so he could study the book that he assumed Eppin Ho Tepp had left for him. Perhaps Ho Tepp sensed his potential as a dark practitioner, Lucas didn’t know. Though he couldn’t help but get excited by the thought that such a master of the dark arts would take an interest in him, and he soon entertained notions of becoming Ho Tepp’s apprentice.
As it happened, his notions were misplaced. After studying the book for two whole days, Lucas decided to try out some of the spells he found there. He tried conjuring an entity from the spirit world first, something he thought would be easy and fairly low risk for his first foray into conjuration.
He excitedly gathered together the things he needed to make the spell work and put them together in the way the book described. Then he recited the spell to conjure the spirit. His grin of excitement never left his face as he composed the spell, his pride at finally getting a chance to practice some real dark magic blinding him to the danger of what he was doing. By the time he realized, it was too late.
He managed to conjure the spirit alright, but the spirit was far from being the benevolent one he thought it would be. The entity materialized in a cloud of dark smoke, accompanied by a great wind and a horrendous screeching sound that penetrated even the thick stone walls of the palace, its unearthly screams and wails echoing from room to room like a nightmare made manifest. Even the King heard it.
Once released, the spirit went on a rampage around the palace, surrounding people in its dark cloak of energy and causing them to melt instantly like candles under a great heat. The evil spirit killed many servants in this way, and also two of Lucas’ brothers who tried to stop the thing. It took Eppa Ho Tepp to finally bring the spirit into heel so he could send it back where it came from.
Lucas was banished from the palace and his family after that. King Rameses II said he did not want any son of his practicing the dark arts, so it was better for him to have no son at all than risk any more incidents in the palace or elsewhere.
Lucas was turned out into the streets of Memphes with nothing but the clothes on his back.
He never saw his brothers again after that, and his father only o
nce.
Though he did encounter Eppa Ho Tepp again. Twice actually, the first time being one night while sleeping in a alleyway a few days after his banishment. Lucas awoke to find the hooded figure of Ho Tepp standing over him. Startled and full of fear, Lucas nonetheless recognized Ho Tepp straight away. “What do you want?” he asked the dark sorcerer. “Why did you give me that book? I am without a family or home now.” Despite his fear, he was also angry.
Ho Tepp stared down at him, only two pale blue eyes visible in the darkness of his hood. It was enough. When he spoke, he did so in a whisper. “I gave you what your heart desired.”
“I did not desire to kill my brothers!”
“I think you did, but that is not your true desire. Your true desire is to know the darkness, to use its power.”
Lucas could only stare back. Ho Tepp was right on both fronts. Deep down, he did want his brothers dead.
He also wanted to master the dark arts. At any cost.
Ho Tepp produced a book from out of his cloak and handed it to Lucas. It was the same book as before. The Book Of Universal Darkness. “Your heart’s desire lies in that book.”
Lucas was about to ask what that meant when Ho Tepp suddenly vanished into the night, leaving only a gust of wind behind him.
CHAPTER SIX
Over the next couple of weeks, Lucas puts his efforts into firmly establishing himself in Mercy City. The renovations on the club are done within the week thanks to the bonuses he promises the builders for completing their work on time. The Filthy Ecstasy club soon becomes the Demon Ecstasy club. A little obvious maybe, but Lucas renames the club because he likes the irony of it. Plus, the club needed a name change. Demon Ecstasy club is as good as any. As well as the interior overhaul, Lucas also cuts more than fifty percent of the original staff, hiring in his own staff with the help of Janice, who is now the manager of the club and loving it. Lucas even hires a few werewolves to do security. They don’t mind working for a demon as long as the money is right, and werewolves make good attack dogs when needed.
Outside of the club, Lucas has been subtly extending his influence throughout the streets of the city. He spends many days going around recruiting spies and paying people to be his eyes and ears around the city. Most of the people he approaches agree to work for him after he reaches into their minds and makes them compliant through some gentle persuasion. He also promises to pay them well for their information, giving each recruit five hundred dollars from the get go. No one he offers the money to turns it down.
Lucas approaches both humans and non-humans to be his spies. Eventually, when he secures himself against his mortal enemy Grand Duke Leonard, Lucas will expand his business interests in the human arena, so he will need information on the humans he inevitably will do business with. As for the non-human recruits, he needs them to firstly wire him off about any Hellwrathian activity in the area, or any activity related to Leonard and the Grand Duke’s personal guards, who were always on the hunt for Lucas. The spies will also feed him whatever information he needs on other non-humans.
He sits now in his newly renovated office upstairs in the Demon Ecstasy club, standing by the wide plate glass window, looking down at the busy activity below. There are now three stages in the club, one larger center stage and a smaller stage either side. The center stage is reserved for only the most special of girls, a few of whom are non-human girls that he hired in. Like the girl on stage now, mesmerizing the crowd with her act. The girl is tall, dark haired, finely built. She is also a vampire. On stage now, she is draining the blood from a chicken, allowing the crimson fluid to drip down her succulent body, baring her fangs at the crowd of men who stand transfixed in a state of wanton desire. The men in the crowd (most of them anyway) think they are just watching an act. A few know better. Regardless, everyone is turned on and entertained and happy. That’s all Lucas cares about.
Smiling, Lucas goes and sits down on the brand new red leather couch in his office. He takes out his phone and dials a number that one of his newly hired contacts gave him earlier that day. It is the fourth time he has called the number in the last twenty minutes, getting no answer the first three times. Then, on the fourth attempt, the person he has been trying to call picks up.
“Whoever this is, it better be fucking good to ring me four times in a row.”
“Frank Swanson?” Lucas asks.
“Who wants to know?”
“You’re a hard man to track down, Frank.”
“Who is this?”
“Someone in need of your particular skill set.”
“Oh yeah? What skill set would that be then?”
“I have a bit of a demon problem. I’m told you’re the best man to sort that out.”
There is a snorting sound down the phone, then silence.
“You still there, Frank?”
“Tell me where to meet you,” Frank says finally.
It has come to Lucas’ attention that a group of demons in the city have a certain item that Lucas needs. The very item in fact, that brought him to Mercy City in the first place. Said demons are currently conducting soul-stealing rituals on humans around the city. The demons kidnap an unsuspecting human, perform the ritual to steal the human’s soul and then release the human again. The human has no real memory of what happened to them, but pretty soon, having no soul has a bad effect on them. Inevitably they become violent--murderously so--and they take their violent urges out on other innocent humans. Lucas knows of at least three incidents involving such humans who killed a few people when their violent urges got the better of them. The death toll was not that high, but Lucas knows it will only be a matter of time before there is a full blown massacre, and then the human authorities will start to get worried. What is worse for the humans involved in the rituals is that once they die, they go straight to Hell. To say they will be in for a shock after they die would be understating it. Suddenly finding yourself in a terrifying place like Hell is just something you never get over, no matter how long you spend there.
The ritual being used by the demon gang is a rare one. Some high level demons have the ability to steal souls by their own power alone. Lucas is one of them, a skill he learned in Hell not long before he vacated the premises. If a demon does not have the power to steal the soul themselves, then they must perform the ritual, and to do the ritual, you have to use certain items that are hard, if not nearly impossible to come by on Earth. Quite a few of the items involved--black energy from the Great Adversary, for instance--have to be shipped in straight from Hell. Smuggling such contraband out of Hell is not easy unless you have the authority to bypass the stringent security surrounding the doorways and portals leading to Earth. A demon would have to be very high level to do that, which is why Lucas is thinking that there is a high level demon behind the stealing of all these human souls. Exactly who, he doesn’t know yet.
The only thing he is really concerned about is the one item he knows is required for the soul stealing ritual to work. The item Lucas wants so badly, the item he has been searching high and low for over the last two hundred years. And yet somehow, a gang of scumbag demons has gone and gotten their infernal hands on it.
Lucas is perplexed by the whole matter. His first instinct is to hit the demon gang and steal what he wants so badly. But then he thinks that would be a bad idea, especially if the gang is working for someone higher up than them, which is highly likely the case. So he has to come up with another solution, which is to get someone else to do the job for him, someone who would not arouse too much suspicion.
The best person he could think off for such a job, the only one capable of it, is a Watcher. Ironic that Watchers are the bane in most demons’ lives on Earth. Watchers are Nephilim, half angel, half human. It is the job of the Watchers to police the supernatural world, to ensure the non-humans follow the human laws, which of course, they never do, which usually leads to the death of the non-human. Watchers are like the Judge Dredds of the supernatural underworld--judge, jury and
executioner all rolled into one.
Lucas did some digging around the city and one name kept cropping up more than any other.
Frank Swanson.
Frank was well known in the supernatural underworld of the city. Very good at his job, most said. Not to be messed with, all of them said.
He sounded like the man Lucas needed.
And now, Frank Swanson is sitting at the bar downstairs in the club.
Lucas stands by the window in his office, looking down at the surprisingly unassuming guy at the bar. Average height and build, dark hair that needed cutting, clothes that probably needed throwing out years ago. Frank Swanson looks more like a down at heel drunk than a Watcher with a big reputation for being scary and dangerous. In fact, the only thing that seems scary about Frank Swanson is the amount of whiskey he is currently necking, which only backs up what Lucas is now thinking. The man is a burnout. Perhaps not right for the job after all.
Then Lucas sees Frank turn to the two city finance guys at the bar beside him. Words are exchanged, then Frank knocks one of them out cold with a single punch, done with a speed that surprises Lucas and makes him smile. He watches as Frank grabs the other guy by the tie and headbutts him. The city guy crashes to the floor beside his buddy, both now unconscious. Lucas heads downstairs when he sees the bouncers move in towards the Watcher.
It takes a bit persuading before Frank agrees to join Lucas upstairs in the office. The promise of whiskey finally changes Frank’s mind.
“Take a seat,” Lucas says, gesturing to the red couch. “My name is Lucas, by the way.”
Frank stands over by the window, ignoring Lucas’ offer to sit down. “You got that drink there...Lucas?”
“Sure.” Lucas pulls a bottle of whiskey out of a drawer in his new antique oak desk, along with two glasses. He pours a sizable amount into each glass and hands one to Frank, who smells the whiskey in his glass.