According to the “Bible of the Dead” there is a ‘World of Demons with unspeakable evils of power’
which is believed to be Hell in most religions. By mass harvesting innocent souls it’s possible to merge the two worlds together using sacrilegious text and appeasing the off world Lord by granting him the souls of the innocent. There are according the Bible of the Dead, two parts to the ceremony.
Six corrupted souls must be sacrificed in six very specific ways, and then their remains are mixed and pledged to the Demon World in exchange for a tool, device, weapon or knowledge to begin the second part of the ritual known as the ‘Great Harvest’. Then, when contact is made with the Underworld, the main offering (The Great Harvest) is made, in Hitler’s case, the Jews.
The Nazis were according to historic research, were half way through the ritual when they were stopped by the ‘Susceptor Custodis’ which means ‘Guardian’. According to the ancient scripts whoever sets in motion the Two World Mergence MUST appoint a Guardian for the ritual to be legal in both worlds. The Guardian is granted abilities, power and knowledge to combat the Five Judges of Libellous which represent the five points of the Pentangle and a sixth Warlord in the middle. Some scripts say the Warlord is Hades himself and the five Judges are in fact his five children Hypnos, Minos, Moirae, Persephone, Rhadamanthus, Hecate and his Guardian the Ceberus (often a depicted as a three headed hound, but some religions’ say this is a metaphor for three faces of judgment).
If the mergence were to succeed the heavens will fall, black would become white, up would become down and the dead will walk and the Demons would plague the Earth.
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Alex folded the document and put it in her rucksack and investigated further. Also inside was a plastic bag containing Alex’s mobile phone and Sarah’s stuffed toy; caked in blood and dirt - its fur hardened and sullied. Immediately, she reached for the ruined teddy and held it in front of her as a cascade of sadness lowered all around her, the room suddenly turning dark and the cries of the dead fell silent as her mind slipped away. She smiled through her tears as she was rewarded with memories; instant images flooding back to her like a torrent of overwhelming happiness. Small and precious moments that Alex never even thought were worthy of remembering, instantly returned to her as her eyes welled up in a bizarre mixture of happiness and grief. As Sarah’s happy and innocent face played before her, Alex shed a tear of acceptance as she held the toy to her chest, her eyes shut tight and for that moment, the big sister and Mother she was born to be, merely stood enjoying the collection of moments that were mercifully given back to her. After what seemed like a lifetime, the darkness arose and her memories faded, Alex found herself back in the Evidence Room and although saddened, she also felt happy, choked by the gift of memories that she never even knew was possible. She attached the teddy to her belt and pulled out her cell phone.
Calmly, she tore the bag open and removed her phone before switching it on. As she waited for the phone to start, she turned and crouched against the lockers and just happily stroked the teddy, she didn’t know why, maybe in some way it was like having Sarah with her in spirit. Alex couldn’t explain half the things she was doing that night; but that stuffed toy, that made her feel happy and less alone, a connection to the little sister she loved unconditionally, and a connection that was the best gift she could ever have.
All of a sudden, her cell phone rang and vibrated. Alex jumped in fright and gazed upon the phone in bewilderment; the screen readout jumbled and unreadable, like all the other phones in the city.
How was this even possible?
She stared at the phone as it continued to ring endlessly - she didn’t know whether to ignore it or answer it, but nevertheless, it rang and rang with no sign of stopping. Alex raised the phone as curiosity got the better of her; pressing the button and instantly accepting the call, slowly and fearfully holding the handset to her ear and waited silently.
“It comes like a fleeting ghost. From some distant creepy coast; and no footsteps will you hear; as that beast draws ever near. Not a whisper, not a word; from that fearful thing is heard. By the pale moon’s eerie light, with a heart that is full of spite, in the depths of darkened skies - comes the thing with burning eyes.” A child’s voice whispered, sending instant chills down her spine.
“Who is this?” Alex mumbled in anxiety, “where are you?” she continued as her dark eyes blinked nervously. A cold silence followed as she heard the child fumbling on the other end. “Hello?” Alex whispered timidly, the phone shaking as she trembled in a fear of the unknown; until suddenly…
“Where am I?” the voice giggled creepily. “I’m outside the door, Silly!” it said with a clear and obvious tone. Suddenly, there was a clanging of metal as if something fell to the floor out in the corridor and Alex jumped in fright. “Come and find me, Alex!” the child said playfully as the line went dead. Alex took the phone away from her ear and stared at the door in fear, her eyes jittering and her lip quivering as she realized there was only one way out of the room.
Chapter Nineteen: Hide and Seek
Alex pulled open the door slightly, peering through the gap as she held her breath fearfully. Nothing was around - or at the very least it seemed to have gone. The corridor was filled with scorching steam; the condensation crawled down the stone walls and the damp air glazed across her sleepless eyes. Slowly, she opened the door wide, peering further into the fog with irrepressible doubt, stepping out into the corridor and glaring through the mist. She immediately noticed the pipe she had barred the Mortuary doors with - twisted and bowed; it gently rocked on the ground. The iron shutters on the windows tapped, occasionally banging as if something was on the other side trying to get in with very little effort. Alex stood for moment or two, the steam soaking her skin as she tried to get a grip on the morbid atmosphere around her.
“Fuck!” she mumbled as she stepped closer to the Mortuary frosted glass windows, trying desperately to see through. The glass squeaked as she wiped the water away - all that resided within remained hidden and a complete mystery; but strangely, it was deathly silent on the other side. She looked down the corridor cautiously, the voices in her head whispering and cursing as she walked along the wall towards the Mortuary door. “Walk away, Alex you daft bitch!” she stammered as she clasped the door handle; her eyes tightly shut as the fear squeezed through her heart and crushed her stomach. Suddenly, her eyes flashed open, and she pushed the door hard, slamming it into the wall with a deafening crash. Alex walked in slowly, blindly shutting the door behind her as the steam around her slowly vanished.
The room was surprisingly empty, its grey stone walls cast in shadows from the network of water and gas pipes the crawled the ceiling. Twisting compressed air hoses hung from above, their thick metal valves hanging over the steel plated metal floor as the red light beamed through the barred windows. Everything was made from stainless steel, square sinks and severe edges of glistening metal, worktops and expensive looking hi-tech corpse tables sulking within the red dimness all around her. As Alex moped further into the room, her reflection flashed within every surface, gadget and tool; the intimidating and somewhat demoralizing morgue sinking its macabre atmosphere further into her consciousness. In the corner of the room was an opening, leading into wash area, more metal sinks and blood-stained latex gloves filled the basin; the wall hanging with scrubs and protective coats, some clean while others appeared massacred and stiff with blood. Alex took out her lighter, flicking it and illuminating the wash area cautiously. On the back wall was another sink, filled with soapy water that sat almost still. Alex turned away, suddenly looking back as something within the water caught her eye. She immediately pulled the plug and looked around with a paranoid feeling, quickly looking back into the sink as the plughole gargled and choked. As the last of the murky water slipped away, Alex waved her flame over the darkened sink revealing police badges, all glistening and glowing with gold under her flame. Alex slowly pushed a few aside, re
vealing more underneath; twenty or thirty, maybe more – all representing a life lost. Alex shivered suddenly, backing out of the cold room and back into the Mortuary, looking over the freezer compartments, taking in the feeling of it. She could feel the long-gone souls around her, her heart almost weeping as the air conditioning relentlessly replaced the air she breathed.
She looked over at the back end of the wall, a hundred or so drawers and body compartments that sparkled with a frost elegantly. She shivered as she stared over them, most were open and bled a fog of ice that carpeted the ground below them. Alex stood spellbound, gazing upon the area with strange feeling of unease; as for many, this was the final stop in their lives and being situated where it was, it was one last journey the victim didn’t intend on taking.
She walked towards the compartments, her attention immediately drawn to the only one that appeared shut; her curious and troubled mind suddenly full of intrigue. After a few moments, she reached for the handle and with a crunch of metal; she released the lock, stepping away cautiously as the door slowly swung open. Alex sighed as it appeared to be empty, except for a piece of paper.
She approached the compartment and took the file, reading it quietly.
Memo to Staff, Memo to: (All Officers on Duty): From: Acting Chief Michael Mann: Date: 29th July 2012
As of 01:00am 28th July 2012, all departments and all shifts have been called on duty to assist the Blackwater Curfew and Lockdown of the city, spearheaded by the Beaumont Corporation and Military Forces. All paperwork and documentation has been frozen and all officers, despite being on duty are to aid and assist in finding possible infected citizens and helping to gather the uninfected for transport to a safe location as briefed earlier. All citizens MUST provide a blood test without protest, anyone failing or refusing to do so well be met with deadly force and is used to the officers discretion.
Anyone misusing this authorization will also be met with deadly force. If any of the public is clear of infection then you must stipulate the importance of staying in their homes, attempting to leave the city will too result in deadly force as it is unclear as to the Legacy Virus’ methods of infection and the Beaumont Corporation has stressed that the virus must be contained at all costs. B.S.C.S Agents are currently leading all Law Enforcement operations within the city.
It has come to my attention that some of you have decided you would rather leave to be with your families. You are free to do so but obviously your contract of employment will be at risk of review after the Legacy Virus Epidemic passes, risking your retirement polices, bonuses and awards.
When you encounter the infected it is important to take the following measures as supplied by the Beaumont Corporation.
1 – The infected WILL NOT respond to any warnings, if you believe without a doubt the target is infected, full deadly force is authorized WITHOUT the need to give warning – to be used at your discretion.
2 – Shooting at the infected will just result in loss in ammunition, all weapon usage including firearms, batons etc. MUST be applied to the targets head and you MUST avoid contact with the targets blood, saliva and any other bodily fluids, recommended distance is at present 6 feet/ 2 yards/
1.82 meters.
3) - Unarmed combat/Physical Intervention is STRONGLY advised against and to be used in emergency situations only as it is a risk of infection.
4) – If a fellow Officer or member of your crew is injured through a bite or scratch, inform your team and that Officer will be stripped of authority and his badge temporarily on the spot and treated as an infected individual.
As harsh as these directives seem to be, we must pull together to stop the infection claiming more lives than possible.
Good luck officers and stay safe!
Acting Chief Michael Mann
Alex put the memo in her rucksack and just rubbed her head in bewilderment; the chaos in the city must have been biblical, and the suffering of her people crippled her heart. As Alex processed the report in her tired mind, more burning questions were raised. Now a new thread of evidence had appeared - the Legacy Virus. It would appear that the ruinous city was full of dark and imminent death-dealing secrets, this Legacy Virus, whatever that maybe, was just another key to what happened. Alex thought over any possible connection between the Swine Flu and the Legacy Virus but thought of nothing, frustrated she put it to the back of her mind and gazed upon the sadistic room blankly. She turned and looked over the corpse tables inquisitively, quickly noticing the sets of handcuffs that hung from the rails. She approached silently, inspecting their cold metal teeth and locks as they glistened with blood in the red light. She shivered coldly, wandering the room and looking over a blood-stained whiteboard on the wall, full of notes, scribbles and morbid photos.
Suddenly, she found a Dictaphone. Alex looked over it in the palm of her hand, rewinding the tape before pressing play.
Dictaphone: Morgue in Police Precinct East
There was a long drawn out static and the sound of people walking around, the tinkering of equipment, running water and mutterings. Alex merely listened, the Doctor suddenly speaking.
Mortician “The autopsy has begun at 12:30 P.M. on July 25, 2012. The body is presented in a black body bag. The victim is wearing a standard issue Blackwater Police Department Uniform with standard Riot Protection attachments. The body is that of a normally developed white male measuring 79 inches and weighing 130 pounds, and appearing generally consistent with the stated age of twenty-nine years. The body is cold and unembalmed. Lividity is fixed in the distal portions of the limbs. The eyes are open. The irises are black and corneas are cloudy. Petechial haemorrhaging is present in the conjuctival surfaces of the eyes. The pupils are broken and appear to be bleeding into the rest of the eye. The hair is dark brown, wavy, approximately 2 inches in length at the longest point. At first glance, I would assume the victim would have been dead no less than five weeks, however, I have recently been told the victim was perfectly healthy less than forty-eight hours ago before receiving the obvious bite to the forearm. The rate of decomposition is almost unheard of and my theory is that the virus heats the body constantly by over compensating the victims core temperature, forcing the tissue into a further state of decay. That is strange? – I have found a…”
The tape stops.
Suddenly, a door slammed out in the corridor and Alex dropped the Dictaphone in fright. She swiftly approached the door, listening as the sound of a clumsy dragging noise came from the misted hallway. Alex took a quick look around in panic, hastily rushing over to the freezer compartments and inelegantly climbing inside one. As the fear engulfed her soul, she shivered, pulling the compartment door shut slightly, hiding away and watching the entrance to Mortuary in growing anxiety. She trembled as the cold bit into her skin and the noise drew closer, her eyes blinking as her breath steamed, waiting for whoever it was to open the door. Alex waited, quivering in the cold, her skin sticking painfully to the icebound metal as she waited for the door to open, the anticipation held her numbed in apprehension. The lights outside hummed and faltered, casting spiteful shadows around the Mortuary walls. As the room waited for the arrival of the unknown; Alex watched and prayed within the darkness, the fan above her pouring in a fog of ice-cold air.
All of a sudden, there was a crunch of metal as the door steadily opened, steam swiftly pouring into the room as a tall svelte silhouette stood halted in the doorway. Alex covered her mouth in fright as she peered through the tiny gap, her stomach turning over inside as the shadow looked inquisitively into the room. As Alex quickly froze, she shut her eyes, pleading for the shadow to walk away, but it never did. As her black eyes burned in the bitter cold, she watched the figure as it swayed and scratched, its body heaving in painful broken breaths.
Suddenly, the shadow grumbled and sauntered in clumsily, almost drunk looking yet graceful as if he was slithering around the walls. As the frightening and macabre sight heaved itself from the clouded doorway, she gasped and covered her mouth
in sheer terror. The strange man stumbled as his tall and slender frame swayed and wheezed, the steam swiftly falling away from its skin with each laborious step.
His boots were bulky and heavy, seamlessly blending into his over baggy black leather looking trousers. His loose belt hung with chains, morbid straps and buckles; decorated with a string of jaw bones that dangled behind him. His torso was naked and scarred with markings, streaming with dirt, blood and tidemarks; but physically, his body was strangely healthy and well built, his skin as grey as stone. The man’s head was bound in layer upon layer of tightly wrapped clear plastic film; blood-soaked from the inside and his features almost invisible. As he stumbled into the room dragging a corpse behind him, the wrapping pulsed as his mouth gasped, sucking the plastic in and out creepily as he huffed. Alex waited, shivering silently as the Asphyxiated man cumbersomely hauled the body across the floor by its feet, callously leaving thick smeared blood drag marks across the metal floor.
She watched in a morbid sense of curiosity as the man gasped constantly from behind the wrapping, his chest rapidly contracting and panicking as his body faltered and stumbled.
Suddenly, he threw the corpse to the ground and stood up straight, violently pulling at the plastic film on his head before abruptly stopping, gazing around his surroundings inquisitively. She watched as the insane looking man looked upon the room with a strange sense of bewilderment, his dead and dirt afflicted skin glimmering in the red light that poured through the windows.
Alex covered her mouth in increasing paranoia as her breathing got heavier, the cold metal biting and sticking to her skin unsympathetically. Suddenly, the corpse groaned and started to grumble on the floor, the Asphyxiated staring down at it as he pulled at his painful plastic wrapped face in confusion. He took a step back and watched the waning body as it painstakingly writhed across the ground, his featureless head tilting to one side as he scratched at his bare chest calmly. All of a sudden, he lunged forward and snatched the female cadaver from the floor, slamming it onto the table and locking its wrists into the cuffs as it struggled.
Among the Fallen: Resurrection Page 22