Skybound Satanists

by Spark, Luc

  The clock was ticking as now an hour had passed and Viorel had only chipped down a few feet nowhere near deep enough to expose any chest or container that may perhaps be protecting the scroll. He had noticed in the storeroom area a few kegs of gunpowder that may have been kept in reserves to fend off approaching battalions. His mind was made up it was all or nothing and frankly, if this scroll was so special and written by some advanced alien species then surely it can hold up to some offset gunpowder explosion. With haste like a cheetah on the hunt, Viorel sprinted back to the storeroom. He grabbed a nearby chisel and hammer and cautiously with the grace of the Alset watching him he slowly began to prise off the lid. Grabbing only a handful of the black powder, he also needed a method of ignition and some kind of timed fuse.

  A substantial coil of rope was nestled in the corner of the storeroom.

  ‘That will do as my timed fuse; I don’t want to blow myself to pieces even as a vampire I don’t want to push my luck on that one. There is more than adequate length there to allow me to ignite from distance’

  Now all that was required was the item that could spark the ignition in the first place, Viorel was going to leave no stone unturned in getting this task done and would be damned if he would be undone on simply finding an ignition device. Once again he did not have to spend too much time on finding the final piece of the puzzle. Mounted on the walls were some torches and viola they were already lit and raring to go.

  With the gunpowder tentatively placed on the spot where he had been chipping away, Viorel then unraveled the rope and it stretched back a good 10 meters, this would give him sufficient time to get out of harm’s way. With nothing left to do other than hope for the best Viorel took a lit torch and lighted the rope.

  Hiss went the advancing flame as it traveled down the length and on its way to destiny.

  Our vampire ducked down behind a rock in order to shield himself from the blast.

  KABOOM ! BANG!

  The makeshift bomb went off and would now surely alert any patrolling soldiers in the area. Viorel had to move fast if he was to retrieve the scroll, and this was provided he had not blown that to kingdom come. Once he was through the cloud of dust that had been produced the revelation was revealed!

  There it was, as grand and opulent as the day is long, a thousand Sunshine’s could not outdo its exuberant aura.

  “Praise be to the Alset, for they have delivered on their prophecy!” Viorel exulted.

  The taller guard off in the distance was beginning to crawl towards the blast spot with a highly disgruntled expression on his face. He rasped

  “You cannot do that for this is sacred ground… you will be damned for all eternity! You will be caught and you will suffer for your insolence…have you seen where my toe went?”

  Indeed the taller guards toe had been ripped off by the blast

  ‘I guess I should have moved him to safety first…what about Xuthos?’ Viorel cackled to himself.

  Xuthos was luckily outside the range of the gunpowder explosion and was miraculously still out cold and now snoring like a baby.

  ‘Some folk will never cease to amaze me. Right time to leave this place and return to castle Dracula’ decided Viorel.

  That thought was a wise one as just as predicted an approaching horde of Ottoman soldiers had heard these shenanigans. They were ascending on the Parthenon with increasing speed, there had to be at least twenty of them.

  Viorel dropped to the floor and grabbed the scroll which was relatively unscathed aside from a few scorch marks on its exterior surface. He leaped over the crawling guard and shot out of the west doorway and down the hill heading to the cities stables where Lapis would be waiting for him.

  Sure enough, Lapis was tied up and chomping on some feed, his tail was swishing away the flies that were trying to bother his bum.

  The alerted legion was now at the top of the hill at the Parthenon trying to figure out what had caused the explosion, this bought Viorel some valuable time but he still had to move rapidly as to avoid capture.

  He asked Lapis

  “Where on earth is Thomas? We must leave right this minute, for I had to do something rather naughty to finally retrieve this scroll.”

  Lapis, as usual, could not be bothered to raise any kind of feeling of readiness. He was in his own little world and enjoying his grazing. He looked Viorel square in the eye and said

  “Do I look like a babysitter to you? That wretched fool has gone off to town to search for wenches and ale… he could be so far intoxicated it may take hours to get him back here”

  Viorel’s blood was beginning to boil with the pressure of a million volcano’s, he was becoming a little bit fed up with the attitude of his time traveling steed, coupled with the liability that was the rock shagging Thomas… how was he going to achieve anything with these two troglodytes in tow?

  “Right to hell with you Lapis… I’ll go get Thomas and then can you just do me one final favor and then I will vacate your life?… it’s my final request and then I release you from my command. You can go back to your monotonous existence” Viorel granted.

  This shook the cantankerous horse and made his ears perk up… perhaps he was being a smidge unhelpful…but then again he had dark matter inside him so he had every right to be as moody as he saw fit… but he decided to be cooperative.

  “Okay mister vampire what is your final demand?” said Lapis.

  The timing could not better as Thomas the filth hobbled and limped around the corner; he was covered in straw and stank like a pig farm.

  “Ah, my masters sorry I have been gone for some time, I found this rather nice tavern you see and… well, let’s just say the women were very friendly to a man with enough physical charm… Burp”

  Lapis nearly keeled over with laughter, and he himself let out a huge cloud of noxious gas. He quipped

  “You! The most despicable and deplorable creature on earth … you possess enough physical charm do you?”

  Thomas did not take offense, however, Viorel had to cut this flirting short.

  “Guys enough, for now, it’s time to return to the castle for I have what I came for… let us be gone and don’t spare the horses!”

  “Oh, very funny vampire man!” Lapis snorted

  With a crash of thunder and the trail of angry farts the three of them whooshed off and out of harm’s way…have to love that dark matter.

  Milan Cathedral, Milan, Italy 1981

  The initiation into the Lucifer cult had gone off without a hitch; all three men were stood by the sarcophagus of Marco Carelli and enjoying some cigars. For some time the two flatmates reminisced about life back in Berlin with Dmitri looking on pretending to be remotely interested. The moderate army of followers Marcello had built up had got both Jürgen and Dmitri to swear allegiance to Lucifer and to accept any consequences that may come about from their future actions in the world.

  Marcello was now ready to lay out his plan to ever expanding evil congregation.

  “My friends the time has come to move the pieces across the board and onto the next level!” he announced.

  The flock gathered around to get the details, they formed a close huddle.

  Above the group, the chandeliers were rocking from the strong breeze coming in from the open main doors.

  “Will somebody please shut that door… we can ill afford any would be enemy’s to expose our movement now… we have achieved much thus far let’s not lose our composure now people!” Marcello snorted.

  One of the latest additions to the group went on over closed and bolted the main doors.

  “It is done father you may speak freely!”

  With the concern about potential premature exposure alleviated Marcello began his “Sermon”.

  “It has been deemed by the higher powers within the cult that we shall have a base of central operations from which to conduct our evil doings…this cathedral is way too public and tainted by the gods that to render this our base would not suffice. What is
needed is a remote location, well away from the reach of law enforcement and the stench of corrupt cash cow milking politicians. We need somewhere that will provide my old friend Jürgen the tools and equipment he needs to see his concept developed to completion. He has laid out his terms and conditions and I accept them because I trust in his genius, to facilitate this may not come cheap but to make an omelette you have to crack some eggs. Currently, I have no clear idea on the exact location we can allocate for this base; I am open to suggestions…so let’s hear them”.

  Dmitri was first to offer a proposal

  “Father if I may I would like to suggest the very facility I escaped from back in Russia…the security is well staffed but they are inebriated most times and would not be too taxing to overpower provided we have access to firearms”

  Jürgen offered his suggestion next

  “Although I can see where Dmitri is coming from with the simplicity of overpowering drunken staff… is this facility not within easy access of local law enforcement? I feel we would be sitting ducks just waiting to be plucked… My proposal is the very base I took leave from to come here… General Kozlov is not a well man, and I have his trust and of course, that’s where my team is located, the base has a plethora of firearms and even a scud launcher… it has all the minerals and ingredients for a base of evil goings on… I believe I could have us gain complete control within a few hours of arrival. Yes there is a link to the government in Moscow but I’m sure with Father Marcello’s influence we can easily corrupt a few select politicians in the Kremlin to shall we say…turn a blind eye to things.

  With two suggestions down the question was did anybody else have anything to offer?

  Marcello’s wheeler dealer associate Lodovico Rossi was next to relay his thoughts.

  “Father whilst I can understand where our two new initiates are coming from in their thought processes, I have a better proposal one that will surely be the winner. One of my very wealthy clients who hails from Kazakhstan just so happens to be the owner of a rigid airship which he keeps at a local hangar nearby. This will allow us to have an almost constantly mobile floating platform from which to conduct our activities. I am certain that we can persuade this guy to give up his zeppelin…I’m sure he can always purchase another one after all he bought a Ferrari 250 from me like he was shopping for groceries.”

  This was the magic suggestion that the group had required… what better than an airship that could be moved from one location to another?

  The group rejoiced in this moment of clarity… but then suddenly behind them, a creaking could be heard from the vestry door. It could not be from the weather outside as they had closed that front entrance, the wind was making the huge stained glass windows rattle a smidge but this was not the cause of the creaky door. This had to be investigated. Marcello gave the order

  “Will somebody go and see what the cause of that noise is!”

  Dmitri took the chance to show his commitment to his new found “friends” and walked slowly towards the offending door. He looked around himself in a cautious fashion for he could sense that there was another presence in the cathedral and not one that was solicited. As he got closer and closer to the door he began to visualize the quivering of a small human, a being of not adult size.

  The door was now within arm’s length and ready to be swung open when all of a sudden out came a furry looking rat with big buck teeth and a freakishly long tail. It scurried along the cathedral floor and off into a mouse hole leaving a nasty trail of droppings in its wake.

  Dmitri was now fully aware that the rat was not the cause of the disturbance and as he swung the door ajar in entered the vestry who should he come across but the rattled and nervous looking figure that was one of the cathedrals altar boys. It was obvious that the altar boy had not gone home at the designated usual time and had got himself bolted in with the group. This gave Dmitri a dilemma as he felt a certain sympathy for the young lad but in the same vein, he had a duty to his new family. He could feel his blood pressure rising as he pondered his next course of action. Was he still the same man who wanted to free his old cell mate back at the facility in Moscow?

  Even though that scenario had not ended as he had hoped with the death of Fyodor, did that give him due course to now completely lose all sense of humanity? The altar boy was becoming more and more visibly nervous and agitated; Dmitri imagined that the poor boy just wanted to get home to his no doubt worrying mother.

  With the normal Catholic set up being two altar boys in service besides the priest why was this particular altar boy not long gone when the other had left?

  Dmitri did not have much time to make a decision would it be spare this boys suffering and allow him to sneak out the back or hide away till the next day’s service.

  That would be the humanitarian option… the satanic option was to grab this boy and bring him before the group to await judgment…the clock was ticking. Tick tock would he bring this boy to the flock?

  “What are you doing in here boy?” Dmitri asked

  The boy did not dare to look in Dmitri’s questioning eyes

  “I’m sorry sir I lost track of time doing my chores… before I knew it the main doors had been bolted closed and all I saw was a group of people huddled together… I never heard anything, sir, I promise!” the altar boy replied.

  Outside the vestry, things were getting excitable… Marcello yelled out again

  “Dmitri what in Lucifer’s name is going on back there?!”

  The choice had to be made the humanitarian way or the Beelzebub worshipping way. Dmitri looked deep into the altar boys saucer like eyes and declared.

  “Right you hide in the closet I will lock it and do not make another sound until I come to open it before tomorrow’s service… if you make the slightest decibel of noise then I cannot help you any further yes?”

  The altar boy was now shaking like a leaf and in a heightened state of shock and confusion and would need to be gagged to ensure he could not cry out. Dmitri also decided to bind the boy’s hands also. This would ensure the boy would not begin to bash on the closet door in the event of claustrophobia. During all this thought making the altar boy had now passed out on the vestry floor. With no time to spare Dmitri snatched a handkerchief from the vestry table wrapped it around the boy’s mouth. The boy made no attempt to resist in his passed out state, this gave Dmitri the chance to grab some duct tape from the vestry maintenance toolbox and get the boy’s hands tied up.

  ‘This is insane because once this boy is released he is surely going to run his mouth… I am going to have to empty his mind using some telepathy…get in there and erase a file so when he comes out in the morning I better be ready to manipulate his memory otherwise I’ll be out of this group and back to the frosty impeller before I can blink’

  With his to do list sorted Dmitri scooped the boy up and opened the closet, it was very spacious and was almost empty barring some priesthood apparel which had been under some light moth attacks. He laid the boy into the corner and very discreetly closed and locked the door. With his choice now done Dmitri walked back to the group head held high as to not raise suspicion.

  “Father Marcello I could not see anything untoward or out of place… only thing I will say is your door hinges need some lubrication… you do not have oil in this great building no?”

  The satanic group all looked at each other and paused for a moment… then like a well-rehearsed theater performance they all laughed out loud

  “Ha-ha Dmitri you funny guy” chortled Jürgen.

  “Oh my lord Satan below, you are a card my Russian friend I’m glad we have your allegiance… now let’s press on with business… let’s get this airship in our possession!” Marcello decreed.

  With everything set in stone regarding the future base of operations, it was time for some big servings of Prosecco fermented from the finest glera grapes and devil dancing to the sound of Black Sabbath.

  Castle Dracula, Romania, 1460

 
The vampire coven was now in full titillation as to the scrolls revelation. Nothing about the scroll suggested any aura of magic or dreamy like alien technology, it was just simply a paper scroll. But the words contained within it should give a definitive message as to what this proposed doom prophecy was.

  The throne room was once again the central hub for all vampire meetings at the castle and Dretore gave the order for the scroll to be unraveled.

  “Viorel you may proceed with the grace of the Alset in unraveling this fastidiously hidden scroll. For whoever buried it below the statue of Athena unquestionably did not want any mere mortal to uncover it”.

  Viorel took up the call and read out the words in front of him which went as follows.

  ‘WE THE ALSET CAME TO THIS PLANET MANY CENTURIES AGO FROM A NOT TOO DISTANT STAR SYSTEM. WE CAME WITH THE INTENTION OF CREATING A MASTER RACE. ONE WHICH COULD BE THE EMPOWERING RACE TO HAVE DOMINION OVER ALL OTHER CREATURES OF EARTH INCLUDING MAN. WITH OUR IMAGE ENGRAVED INTO THE MASTER RACES PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES WE ENDEAVOURED TO ENSURE THE MASTER RACES SURVIVAL. FOR WE ARE IMMORTAL AND SUPREME. OUR TECHNOLOGY FAR BEYOND ANYTHING THAT THE CHILDREN OF EARTH GODS COULD EVEN BEGIN TO COMPREHEND. OUR ONLY WEAKNESS IS THE NEED TO HAVE A HUMAN BLOOD HOST TO FEED ON. WITHOUT THE EXISTENCE OF HUMANS ANY ALSET OFFSPRING WILL BE DOOMED TO FEED ON ANIMALS WHICH WOULD RENDER THE OFFSPRING INTO A STATE OF DEGENERACY.

  WE HAVE ALSO THE ABILITY TO SEE INTO THE FAR REACHES OF THE FUTURE AND WE HAVE FORESEEN A TERRIBLE SCENARIO ONE THAT WILL POTENTIALLY BRING ABOUT THE AFOREMENTIONED TRAGEDY TO THE ALSET OFFSPRING. ON EARTH THERE ARE MANY DIFFEREING RELIGIONS FROM HUMANS WHO WORSHIP ANIMAL LIKE GODS TO HUMANS WHO WORSHIP DEMONS. HUMANITY BELIEVES ACROSS THE BOARD IN ONE CHIEF DEMON.

  THIS DEMON IS KNOWN AS LUCIFER OR SATAN.

  BEELZEBUB IS ANOTHER OF HIS PSEUDONYMS AND HE HAS MANY DEDICATED FOLLOWERS WHO ARE WILLING TO BRING ABOUT THE APOCOLYPSE IN HIS NAME. WE HAVE HAD AN IMAGE BROUGHT TO OUR ATTENTION CENTURIES BEFORE IT’S PROJECTED OCCURRENCE.

  A DEVOUT GROUP OF SATANISTS WILL SEEK TO DESTROY ALL HUMANS WHO DO NOT FOLLOW THE ORDER OF THEIR CULT. THIS GROUP WILL BE HEADED BY A ONCE HONOURABLE PRIEST WHO HAS FALLEN INTO DARKNESS… THE DATE WILL BE CIRCA 1981 AND WE ALSO SEE A YOUNG VAMPIRE LEADING THE CHARGE TO BRING A STOP TO THE CLEANSING OF HUMANITY… HE WILL HAVE COMPANIONS TO AID HIM IN HIS QUEST…NOT ALL HUMANOID… WE THE ALSET CREATED VAMPIRES… WE THE ALSET CREATED VAMPIRES TO BE THE MASTER RACE… WE THE ALSET WATCH OVER EARTH AS A PARENT WATCHES OVER IT’S CHILD…THIS APOCALYPSE MUST NOT COME TO PASS’