The voice continued, “This is not a problem with which to concern yourself at this time, I assure you. Someday when you walk among the humans, you will have the power to mask your appearance. You will appear to them as they do. They will see you as a young and handsome man. In fact, women will find you quite attractive if not irresistible. Men will want to be your friend and get to know you. Believe me Dan; you will have all the necessary bait for the traps, which you will set on my behalf. They won't be able to see what you really are, underneath. The only time that you will reveal your true form is when you are stealing their souls for me.”
Dan tried to speak, “But... but...”
Ignoring him, the demon continued, “You see, Dan, you’ve been so busy complaining about your new appearance that I’d wager that you haven't even noticed that you are not weak or dying anymore, are you?”
This caught Dan completely by surprise. He hadn’t thought about it, but he did feel much stronger. He slowly tested his enormous upper arm and croaked, “You're… you’re right! ….I am no longer weak. ….In fact…. I feel stronger than I have ever felt in my life…. I feel like I could dig my way out of this hole bare handed.”
Dan pivoted on his knees toward the rubble wall and began rapidly sending dirt and rocks flying in all directions. It was amazing how strong he felt. In a few minutes, he had a large bowl dug in the debris wall. It was amazing to him. He realized that could do the work of twenty men in just a few moments.
Then before he could resume the creature spoke, “Alright, Dan, now it’s time to finalize our agreement, to seal the deal so to speak.”
The shadowed, hulking creature that had once been Dan O’Boyle slowly turned back to face the dark specter. Interestingly, Dan did not feel fear of the creature any longer. He was huge, and he was strong. He believed that if he chose to, he could run across the chamber, grab his creator and break him in two with one hand.
Dan asked defiantly, “Seal the deal? What do you mean? ‘Seal the deal?’ I've already promised you my immortal soul; I've allowed you to turn me into this creature and now I must gather souls for you. What else can you possibly want from me?”
Chapter 15
The voice said slyly, “I need just one soul to finalize our agreement. For example, look at that creature over there lying in the water. He will do. However, you had better hurry because he hasn't much time left.”
Suddenly all of the strength left Dan’s body. His voice began to quiver in horror and disgust, “But that's… that’s… Mickey. We've been friends for years. I can't possibly hurt Mickey.”
Then more defiantly, “I won't do it. I won’t hurt Mickey. You can't force me to. The deal is off. I'd rather die in this hole than lift a finger to hurt one of my friends.”
The shadowed creature quickly lifted his cloaked arm again and another stream of light shot across directly into the Dan creature’s corner where it exploded and filled the entire chamber with blood red illumination.
From deep within Dan howled painfully as his dark master screamed in anger, “This deal is never off! You cannot ask me for death now. Death will never come to you! You may beg for death to come! But it NEVER WILL! The pain you feel now is just a small sample of what your future will hold if you even think of disobeying me again. Endless pain! Endless torture! Endless agony for eternity!”
Then the light instantly sucked back into the corner from where it came, the mine becoming darker again.
The Dan creature was whimpering, breathing heavily as it curled in the fetal position, its skin damp with perspiration. It realized that this strange demonic being had power the likes of which it could not imagine and that defying him would do him no good. So, this was how Dan was to spend eternity, working as a slave for a demon such as this.
The demon calmly continued, “Very well then. Let's get on with this. If you will be so kind as to finalize this agreement, so we can continue with the rest of our business.”
Reluctantly, the massive Dan monster slowly rose and turned to face the sleeping body of its former friend. “But, but… what…. do…. I…. I…don't…. know... how…. what… to ….do. Dan slowly drug himself toward the unconscious man, sobbing as he got closer, water splashing around its massive feet.
The voice from the darkness reassured the beast, “Don't think Danny, boy. There is no longer a need to think. You are a creature of instinct now. A fawn does not need to think about how to stand and a lion does not need to think about killing. They know these things from instinct. You will know the ritual and what needs to be done each time and you will do it instinctively.”
Mike Muldino lay in a puddle of water, faintly visible in the illumination from the oil lamp. The light turned to shadow as the huge creature hulked over the unconscious body.
Without forethought, the beast raised its massive arm and the air filled with a swooshing sound as six-inch long gleaming deadly talons plummeted toward their target. At the last second, Mike Muldino opened his dying eyes only to look down at his aching stomach where his shirt lay in tatters, revealing four gaping wounds from which his own blood and entrails were flooding.
The man was in shock and perhaps unaware of the reality of what was happening. When he opened his mouth to scream not a sound could be heard, but instead something else more peculiar occurred. From Mike's silent screaming mouth white sparkles of light came out forming interlacing tendrils, flowing directly into the hulking shadowed body of the Dan creature. For a moment the creature stood in silence as the sparkling light stream entered its body.
Then the beast turned as if in automatic motion and pointed its massive clawed hand toward the far wall of the mine as the light passed through the monster, out of its hand and through the wall of the mine. When the sparkling light stopped flowing, Mike's body was a barely visible heap lying on the ground.
The beast fell to its knees, bowed its head and began to devour the insides and entrails of its former friend. The chamber filled with the sickening wet chewing and slurping as it completed the ritual, then stood up slightly staggering back into the shadows, almost as if intoxicated, its breathing was regular, slow and heavy.
With some effort, the creature asked, “What… what …was that light? Was that… his… soul?”
From across the room the voice responded, “Soul…. yes, that was exactly what it was.”
The beast continued, “I …felt it…. pass… through my body… for a moment… I had his memories…his loves… his fears….his life… I … I felt as though he was…. alive inside of me. Then he… was gone… just as quickly. I wanted to hold him… inside…. but I could not.”
“Not to worry,” The voice assured, “Eventually you will get much better at holding onto these 'souls'. Soon you will be able to hold them almost indefinitely. Then when you are ready, you will bring them back here.”
The creature cocked its head in a questioning gesture and inquired, “Back... here? To the mine… But where did he… it go? It seemed... to go…. right through that… wall.”
The voice from the shadows explained, “That is precisely where it went, through that solid wall and into another chamber much, much deeper in the earth and larger than this one; one I created while you were… shall we say… busy. Think of the chamber as a vault, one of my many banks where I store these souls… temporarily.”
Again, the hulking creature questioned, “Temporarily? What do you mean temporarily?”
The demon explained with some impatience, “I mean temporarily, as in not forever. I will return from time to time and retrieve them as I choose; perhaps every hundred or thousand or ten thousand years or so. Time is irrelevant to me. I am eternal. I have been here since the beginning of time. A day, a year, a millennium, it matters not to me. I will get them as I choose. Your job is simply to collect them. That is our bargain.”
The Dan creature hung its head in the shadows in defeat, then asked, “For… eternity... yes... But I always heard that someone had to…. offer his soul to you…. as I d
id.”
“That is only partially true,” the voice continued, “at least as far as I am concerned personally. I cannot steal or take someone's soul unless he first offers it to me. Yes, as you did. However, you are a very special demon indeed; one that I have created many times before. I created you to steal the life force of others. And since you have offered to do this for me you in turn can offer me their souls and I can take them as I choose.”
The hulking creature sat contemplating, thinking to himself, “I am a soul thief - a creature that can and must constantly hunt, kill and disembowel its victims to collect their souls. This is what I have become.”
The voice interrupted his train of thought. “In your current form you have nothing to fear. You can steal the soul of a killer, a priest, an innocent baby, an old man, anyone. Almost, no power no matter how holy it may be deemed can stop you.”
“Now let’s get back to the business at hand shall we. As you may or may not recall, I said earlier that you would have your chance to get out of this place and claim your vengeance on Coogan and his descendants. I said this would take place ‘upon completion of a few minor additional terms’ of our agreement.”
Chapter 16
The Dan beast’s head rose in surprise, “Additional terms? But… but … you said… I sealed the deal. I ……took Mickey’s… I got his….it… for you.”
The voice continued, “There were a few more incidental conditions that need to be met, and unfortunately for you, in your quest to survive, you neglected to ask what those additional conditions were. Not very intelligent on your part, I must say. Regardless, I am a creature of my word. You will actually leave this mine someday. But before you can leave, you must gather the souls of one hundred more individuals and place them in my vault.”
The creature argued, “But… you never said anything about… one hundred souls? How … how can I … where… will I get….”
“You will have to use your cunning and your powers to lure humans into this mine, then collect their souls.” The voice explained. “I cannot have you just out there charging and stumbling around like a wild beast. There are certain balances that must be kept that are far beyond your limited intelligence to understand. Besides, you still have no idea of how to control the powers you now have, not to mention the powers that you will develop over time.”
The creature asked, “Powers? What powers? How can I? What are these powers?”
“You will have to learn of your other new powers on your own I'm afraid,” The sinister fiend explained, “Remember your instincts. Your instincts will direct you to try new things and to learn of the powers you have. Practice will help you to develop these powers. You need to develop the wisdom to use these powers, and that is another reason why you must stay here for a while. You see, you will have plenty of time. After all, you are now immortal so you have an eternity to learn. What is your hurry?”
The creature was angry. “What is my hurry? I don't want to be stuck here in this hole…. I can't be. It's not…. It's not right... It could take decades, centuries to gather one hundred souls. I can't do it! I am strong now; I will just dig my way out of here and then go outside to gather your stinking souls. What's wrong with that?”
The voice replied amusingly, “That is not exactly the best idea you have come up with Danny boy. But, by all means I encourage you to try it sometime if you must. But you may want to just stick a finger or two outside first as a precautionary measure to shall we say, test the waters.”
The creature looked on in confusion and uncertainty. “What? Finger? Test the waters? What do you mean?”
“I can't imagine that you would want to watch the flesh bubble and burn off your body, before your very eyes. I guarantee you the pain would be excruciating. And since you are immortal, you won't die, you will get to enjoy that sweet pain for a very, very long time. I have made sure of that, and when it does finally heal, you will be even more hideous than you are now. You see, you will not be able to hide this type of damage from the humans when the time comes. True, you may not appear like a giant hulking beast to them, but any such scars will be visible. You will appear a scarred and disfigured human to them. Not a very nice option I would think. That is what will happen if you ever try to leave this mine, day or night, before I get my one hundred souls.”
The Dan creature was now furious. “You bastard! You lied to me!”
“Actually, I didn't 'lie' to you at all,” the voice insisted, “but even if I had lied, so be it! I am the lord of all darkness, the master of all that is evil and unholy, the great deceiver. What would one small falsehood to a mere human insect mean to me anyway?”
The creature hung its head in defeat. It opened and closed its fists in anger but knew its anger was inconsequential.
Then the demon announced, “So Danny boy, time is a wasting. You had better get cracking and start your work if you ever want to walk out among the humans again. And I would recommend starting right there with that pile of soon-to-be rotting meat that I believe you called Joseph.”
The Dan beast hung its head, defeated, weeping.
“Oh come now, Danny boy. Don't take it so badly. Soon you will only have ninety-nine more souls to go. Ninety-nine souls. You will be well on your way…ha ha.”
The Dan creature hulked over toward the sleeping body of its former friend Joseph. The screams of Joseph were horrible as he was disemboweled alive, his soul stolen. These sounds blended sickly with the slurping and guttural sounds of the creature and laughter of the mysterious demon from the darkness.
Chapter 17
Elizabeth looked at Willie with her mouth agape in fascination at the incredible tale he had just told, switching off the tape recorder. In all of the years she had been listening to folk tales, this was the first time she had ever heard such a tale with such explicit details. At the very least, she could tell that he had gotten this information from someone who either had close firsthand experience with the events described or a person who had made up one incredible whopper of a tale.
Elizabeth exclaimed, “Wow! That is one of the most amazing stories I have ever heard. But, I must admit, it is completely beyond belief! And even if I don't buy one single word you’re selling, this story was truly fascinating, none the less.”
Willie looked at Elizabeth seriously. “You don’t have to buy what I am saying, because I ain’t trying to sell you nothin’.”
Willie explained, “I’m just telling you what I believe to be the gospel truth. It is as my father told it to me when I was younger. I have gone over this story time and time again in my mind. The details will never be forgotten until the day that I am no longer walking among the living.”
Elizabeth looked at Willie as if trying to determine if he was attempting to put one over on her. Surely, this old codger could not really believe what he was saying. But when she looked into those ancient eyes she understood that he really did believe.
”But, Willie, this is completely ridiculous. Most of what you told me was not even witnessed by anyone and was only presumed and fabricated though years of telling and re-telling. That is how legends work. Somebody makes up a story. Then they tell someone else. Then that person passes it on to another and so on. Every time the story is told the details are embellished and added a bit more excitement until the original details have been completely obliterated. And an entirely new tale results. Are you sure this is not what might have happened here?”
“Miss Elizabeth. You are the first person on this earth that will hear every single detail of this story, since the time my Daddy told the story to me.” Willie explained, “It ain’t had a chance to get turned around and changed. It is exactly, and I mean exactly as my Daddy passed it on to me.”
“But again, I have to ask,” she questioned, “Were any of these so called ‘true’ events actually witnessed?”
Willie continued, “A lot more was witnessed than I've told you about so far. You see, I ain’t quite done yet. And all the missing pieces in th
is story were filled in based on things that actually WERE witnessed. So they ain't far off from the truth as you might think.”
Elizabeth wondered how Willie could possibly believe that any of the story could be anywhere near the truth. Demons? Satan? Soul stealing? This man told a very convincing tale, but it was obviously that, just a tale. No matter how much he might want to believe otherwise, she knew from what she had witnessed that he was very probably a nut case. She also knew that if you tell yourself a lie often enough you might start to believe it yourself. Perhaps that was the case of this poor delusional old man.
“Please, Willie,” Elizabeth questioned, “Do you honestly expect me to believe that this fellow, Dan O’Boyle made a pact with Satan, and that right now, he is down there in the mine in the form of some kind of beast, collecting the souls of those unfortunate enough to get lured into the mine? That this creature took the soul of that poor unfortunate young boy last night? Please do not try to make a fool of me or insult my intelligence!”
Willie argued, “I ain't one to be insulting no one's intelligence. And I never would try to make a fool of you neither. You may believe what you will and don’t believe what you won’t. But I know in my heart it is true. And I only hope to Jesus that he still is down in that mine. Because if he managed to get his final soul then that would mean that he would be out here walking among us. And believe you me missy, that is the last thing any of us would ever want.”
Elizabeth slowly shook her head for a few moments, deciding whether to end this interview right here or to try to pursue it further. She thought for a few more seconds and then asked, “What about the bodies? Weren’t they ever recovered? What else was actually witnessed? What did your father claim to see that prompted him to come up with the rest of this fantastic story? I suppose you will have to tell me more.”
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