by R. Twine
‘Everything’s all right, follow me.’
We followed him into an adjacent room. The manager walked over to a fingerprint scanner and pressed his palm against the scanner’s optical surface. The device beeped and started blinking blue.
Stein turned round and said invitingly.
‘Now is your turn, please. Put your right palm over here.’
After the scanning of our fingerprints was over, the door behind the scanner opened to reveal the elevator. We descended to the basement where a small train was waiting for us. The manager took the seat of the engine driver and started the engine with a skillful hand. The train started off smoothly.
‘There’s only one way out of here – the one through which we entered,’ Stein explained. ‘If sensors detect an unauthorized entry attempt, the space will be filled with a nerve gas. The entrance door will be blocked immediately and nobody will be able to leave the place.’
‘I should think so!’ I said. ‘There must be very important things on deposit here. Well then, how are those who found themselves blocked here supposed to leave?’
‘The entrance can only be unblocked by the so-called keeper. He’s in charge of all the treasures. This is a mysterious person; I don’t even know what he looks like. But don’t worry: intrusion from outside is absolutely out of the question.’
‘Are you sure?’ Michael asked.
‘Yes, certainly. It cannot be otherwise,’ Stein said slowing the train down.
As we proceeded, I noticed niches in the cave – these must have been the entrances into other chambers the manager had been telling us about. The train stopped and we got off. The place looked like a derelict cave, the small LED bulbs being the only evidence of its artificial origin. It was hard to breathe: the oxygen content in the air was clearly low. I wondered how deep underground we were. Such a weird place… How many years had it existed?
The stone wall parted to reveal an armored door behind it and another scanner.
‘Put your palms on it, each of you in turn,’ Stein requested, breaking the silence.
There was a buzzing sound, the manager looked at the small screen of a portable phone and then keyed in a code on a control panel. A green light went on; the manager turned a steering wheel installed in the wall – and a thick door went sliding slowly to one side.
Stein turned to face us and said, smiling.
‘Only the manager of the bank can have the code. The combination is different every time, it is sent to the manager immediately before opening the bunker. As you might have understood, it is only with me that you can descend here. Now you go in, and the door will close again behind you. I’ll be waiting for you here. Here’s the remote control device,’ the manager said handing a small black bar over to Michael. ‘You can use it when you’re through with your business. When the time comes to leave the bunker, call me through the intercom. This time each of us will get the code simultaneously. We’ll have thirty seconds at our disposal to key it in. Then the door will open. Good luck,’ he said, turned on his heels and made for the train.
We entered the bunker. The door closed slowly behind us, the light went on… Michael whistled in admiration.
‘Holy Shit! These are golden bullions from all over the world, right?! Where did Phil get treasures like this? And now what am I supposed to do with them all?’ Michael kept on saying in bewilderment, looking around.
I went further ahead – and froze in my tracks. It was a jaw-dropping sight.
‘Look, there are several more rooms here!’ I called out to him excitedly. Just look at this, Michael, a month won’t be enough for us to look through all this! There’s everything you can only think of!’ I said opening the lid of a chest filled up with golden coins. ‘But we don’t have to forget why we’ve come here! One can easily go nuts at the sight of such a treasure…’
Michael was running joyfully around the chambers looking into crates and iron boxes.
‘Miriam, my darling! Just look at me!’ he yelled like a madman, running out of the far section of the vault with a crown on his head.
Under his arm he was holding a golden wreath; various pieces of jewelry were sticking out of his bulging pockets. Michael was looking like a real crackpot, as if he’d gone crazy at the sight of the treasure. He waved a staff, shouting excitedly.
‘This used to belong to kings but now all this is mine! Well, whom are you going to marry now? Me, the King, or Samuel, the beggar?'
‘Pray, Michael, let’s forget about him for the moment!’ I begged him.
He put the wreath on my head and started laughing wildly.
‘We are the kings!’ he yelled. ‘Now we have wealth and power!’
He put his hands into his pockets and started throwing jewels about the chamber.
‘My goodness!’ he cried out in admiration. ‘Where has my family gotten all of these? I cannot believe my eyes! The thing is, you can buy the whole world with these!’ he said, fishing out a handful of jewels out of his pocket and showing them to me. ‘Perhaps, even Ali-Baba couldn’t have seen such a treasure even in his dreams! Certainly, he couldn’t have, that’s for sure! That beats hands down Ali-Baba and his treasure trove! The entire world doesn’t have what I have now!’
He ran to another room again, and I soon heard muffled exclamations and clattering sounds coming out of there. I couldn’t rely on him any more; I had to find what we came here for all by myself.
A special temperature condition was maintained in the bunker involving a predetermined amount of oxygen in the air. The place was somewhat cool and dry. This must have resulted from certain storage specifications. The treasures kept in the chambers could really make any visitor lose his head. Stacks of golden bullions lined the walls. Standing on the floor were huge chests and boxes field with all sorts of things: jewelry, golden coins, glittering precious stones, ancient books, figurines. Lying on the shelves were paintings safely packed into transparent glass envelopes. All this was really like a dream…
Michael forgot outright about the main goal of our visit and kept on running about the rooms opening every box and chest. In the process, he emanated wild yells and weird laughter, looking like a possessed person. From time to time he would run over to me and boastingly thrust a newly found precious thing under my nose. He jumped from one crate to another like a monkey gone mad and kept saying.
‘Everything stored here is mine! That’s what real happiness is! This treasure is worth hundreds of billions! Nay, not hundreds – thousands of billions! I’m the richest man in the world!’ he shouted, totally out of his mind. I watched him, waiting for him to calm down. ‘Look, Miriam!’ he said grabbing me by the hand and forcefully dragging into an adjacent room. ‘There’s even a sphinx stored in this chamber! And many precious statues of the Alexandrian Age! There are also the relics of the Roman Empire and Greek culture! Look, no art gallery in the whole world can be compared to what is being kept here!’
‘Michael, we’d better be looking for what we’ve come here for,’ I said, trying to make him come to his senses.
‘Look here, Miriam, I’ve already found here everything I need. Here it is, right before your eyes! And I don’t give a slightest damn about the rest! You’ve heard what the banker’s told you, haven’t you? Sometimes the secrets shouldn’t come out. Let us leave everything as it is without complicating our lives further. Just have a look at these precious things! Choose anything you can take away and you’ll never need podiums, films, nor Samuels till the end of your days!’ Michael uttered feverishly, his eyes bulging.
I couldn’t recognize him. This was a totally different man.
‘Michael, please! Come to your senses!’ I called out imploringly and slapped him heavily on the face.
‘Listen, Miriam,’ he said, rubbing his cheek in bewilderment. His eyes flared up with hatred. ‘Leave me alone, okay? It’s just dawned upon me that there is too big a difference between us; we’ll never be able to get along. I think, you’ll do the right thing by ma
rrying your weakling Samuel. You’re not the kind of woman I need! And I won’t let you take a single goddamn document from here, understand?! Phil and his problems must become the thing of the past! Bullions and jewels are everything I take interest in!’ Michael yelled, foam in his mouth. Then he grabbed me by the shoulders and started to shake me. ‘You’ve brought nothing in my life but troubles and misfortunes! It’s because of you that I’m afraid to go out! You’re a dangerous woman! Leave me alone!’
‘All right, Michael, I got your point,’ I said, wriggling out of his hands. ‘You can go on making excavations in your gold and jewels while I’m going to look for something I need.’
‘Do as you like! And leave me alone. My treasure waits for its master,’ he said, embellishing himself with huge necklaces. ‘Every piece in here bears the name of its former owner!’ he yelled again. ‘This thing belonged to the Queen of Egypt! It’s simply incredible!’
I didn’t pay attention to him any longer, and started looking for documents, letters and securities – anything that could get me interested. In one of the chambers I discovered a cabinet containing flat iron boxes with papers in them.
I reached out for a shelf at the top – a white envelope was lying there along with a large pendant on a massive chain in the form of an inverted pentagram made of cast gold. The pentagram had a ruby heart in its center while its opposite side had some mysterious engraved letters. There was an inscription on the envelope: “To Michael”. I fumbled it in my hands: the envelope had been sealed. I looked around and noticed a small emerald lying all alone in the very corner of the room; it seemed as if it had ended up there quite by accident. I took it up and started studying closely; then I scrutinized the floor once again – and suddenly discovered some sort of a plate built into a floor. I pressed it with my finger, and the plate went up. I pulled a piece of paper out of there; wrapped in the paper there were two small keys. Looking around in fear, I quickly put the small parcel into my handbag. I didn’t feel like sharing my find with Michael.
I started going methodically through the flat iron boxes but quickly found out that they only contained the descriptions of the bunker’s treasures. There weren’t any other interesting things in them.
‘Michael,’ I called to him. ‘There’s a letter for you.’
But he didn’t hear me – or wouldn’t hear. I went looking for him and found Michael in a distant room. He sat on a chest marveling at the edged weapons; there was an entire arsenal of them: swords, knives, daggers, spears, sabers…
‘Look how beautiful they are!’ he exclaimed boastingly without even turning his head towards me.
He took a sword and carefully touched its sharp cutting edge. Hundreds of specks of light scattered all over the room as the light of the lamp reflected from the glittering deadly weapon.
‘Take care, Michael, these things are dangerous,’ I said quietly and handed him the envelope and the pendant.
Reluctantly, Michael put the sword down and took the letter from my hand. He also took the pendant and laid it nearby without paying much attention to it.
‘Did the pendent belong to Phil?’ I asked.
‘Maybe, I’m not sure,’ he shot back and then tore the envelope open, unfolded the sheets of paper and started reading them. The expression on his face changed with every passing second: his bewilderment was turning into anger. As he finished the letter, Michael gritted his teeth and fell silent for a long time, clearly turning something over in his head.
‘What an idiot I am!’ he finally said.
‘What’s wrong?’
He handed me the letter, and I began reading.
“Michael, if you are holding this letter in your hands it means I’m no more. I want to tell you that I’ve always loved you as a son though you weren’t my son. You left and started building the life of your own far away from me. Years have passed since then, and I’ve gradually put up with your choice. But time has come for you to know the truth, too, and when you do your life will never be the same. This confession of mine breaks the oath I’d given to a demon in the flesh many years ago and by doing so I doom my soul to eternal suffering. I loved your mother very much and when we got married I became the happiest man on earth. Several months later you were born into this world; your mother died shortly after your birth, and my father followed her to the hereafter without much delay. I found out that I’d become the inheritor of uncountable wealth. My father had never told me about these treasures so I have a perfectly good idea of what you feel now. You must have as many questions swarming in your head as I did back then.
I inherited my father’s library, the treasures that you have now before your eyes, and his throne as the master of a secret satanic society. It took me some time to give my consent to becoming the master, but I did it without even suspecting what consequences I would face in the future. After my death, the inheritance right will go to you, while after your death (and after your death only) the right of inheritance will go to your brother whose name I swore not to disclose. But if you have a son, then he will inherit everything…
Shortly after we were married, I discovered that I was sterile. When your mother became pregnant, I knew that the father had to be someone other than me. The truth soon came to light and I found out that my own father had been having an affair with my wife. Michael, you have been a son to me, but in reality you are my brother. I have barely been able to cope with the trauma of this betrayal. Indeed, there have been times that I did not want to go on living. Although the events surrounding your birth were tragic, whether you are my son or my brother does not change the way I feel about you.
Apart from me, Michael, you have one more brother. He’s the son of Sean and the woman who’d been his mistress. Afterwards, I had a fleeting affair with her, too. In full secrecy, this woman gave birth to a baby-boy. He’s a half-brother – mine and yours. This woman abandoned her baby. She got married to a very important person, and her husband wanted to get rid of the unwanted child. She never disclosed the name of the baby’s father; she’d lied to him that the baby was the result of a fleeting affair. She was very afraid of potential consequences because Sean and her husband knew each other very well. But Sean never found out that he’d had one more son; the third one.
On the night when that woman was delivering a baby, the baby was taken by a hairy hand. The baby-boy had little horns on his head. But that woman didn’t share the same fate with the women who gave birth to suchlike children, because she was a real devil woman in human disguise. That night one of the birthing mothers delivered a dead baby-boy, and the devil woman seized the opportunity. She paid midwives for their silence, and they swapped the children. The midwives died shortly afterwards, one after another… The unsuspecting woman had been raising the child as her own son. The devil woman told her husband she’d delivered a dead baby. She had a well-thought-out plan and she decided to keep secret the existence of her own son until an opportune time…
The devil woman’s husband died fifteen years later and she married again; her husband was another member of The Star of Baphomet. By that time she’d become an immensely rich and influential lady. The boy whom she’d given to another woman became her only inheritor. She never let him leave her sight and saw to it that he had no problems in his life. It was easy for her to make sure he had a glittering career: it hadn’t been long before he became a famous actor. This woman’s name is Agella, and Samuel is her son.
But there’s something more I want to tell you, Michael. Apart from The Star of Baphomet, there exists another secret organization. I managed to find out that some of the Star’s members serve the second, invisible, Master. I don’t know who he is, but I know that he’s very dangerous and has already succeeded in subjugating many people. He instills paralyzing fear even in those who’ve never seen him! It may well be him who takes out all those who happen to stand in his way and prevent him from reaching his goal. It’s highly likely that Satan himself sent him here. His intellect, slyness and insi
diousness have no limits. He seems to be invincible. Beware of him!
The power and recourses The Star of Baphomet wields are enormous. We hold an incontestable sway over much of the world and we own two Books of Shadows!
Michael, for as long as you live, Samuel will not be informed of his inheritance rights. After I’m dead, it is precisely you who must become the head of The Star of Baphomet, but if you refuse the offer, Agella will try to hand the power over to her son which will greatly complicate carrying out the task ahead.
While you’re hesitant about what to do next, here’s my advice: leave the treasures as they are. They are capable of destroying far more than one life. Take only what you may be in urgent need of. Stored in this vault are golden bullions, priceless jewelry and many other things including documents which will help you intimidate and rein in the powerful and the influential of our world. Be reasonable and careful, Michael. The Black Angel doesn’t favor those who are not devoted to him. And he will not have mercy on those who reject him.
Mind the following, Michael: there are no incidental things in this life; everything is predetermined. Don’t believe those who claim the opposite. Remember that you always have to rely only on your instincts and your own capabilities. Everything you may consider as truth can turn out to be only an illusion.
My library’s become yours. Many of the books are priceless, take good care of them!
Phil’’
‘Incredible! It’s even hard to believe it! Samuel is the son of Agella and Sean, he’s also the brother of Phil and your brother, Michael!’ I said in bewilderment. ‘Phil says in his letter that if you refuse to become the head of the secret society, Agella will try to transfer power to Samuel. But for this to happen – do you have to be removed from their way? Do you have to perish altogether? I wonder when this message was written. And what exactly is the “task ahead”? Why did Phil break his oath? And who is this invisible Master? Does Samuel himself know anything?’ I said, bombarding Michael with questions.