Evil Agreement

by Richard L Hatin

  Moloch, having temporally taken on physical presence, raises his arms up over the altar, palms side up. He takes the dagger from Samuel and cuts his own scaly wrist. His own blood begins to drip from this cut. Samuel holds the cup underneath Moloch’s wrist and collects this new blood into the cup, which was nearly filled with Brittany’s blood. Once the cup is filled Samuel carefully places it back upon the altar. Moloch next lays his hands palms side down, above the body of Brittany, not quite touching her. He begins to lift his hands higher into the air. The now dying body of Brittany rises into the air, like some sort of grand illusion. Her body next turns right side up, facing the crowd. Blood still runs down from her cut wrist, dripping from the ends of her fingers. She is nearly drained of blood and life. Her complexion is ashen gray. Slowly her body begins to fade from view. In its place is a specter of her body. This specter now appears to move towards Moloch. Lightning flashes in the sky overhead. In a flash of bright white light, Brittany’s specter and Moloch’s disappear. Her red silk, blood stained robe falls from the sky and lands upon the altar.

  Samuel, now called Upuaut, picks up the large cup from the altar. The blood within is still warm. He takes a small drink. He next passes it among his fellow coven members, who also drink from the cup. Soon the cup is passed to the crowd, who continue this unholy ritual.

  The lightning is exploding all around the mountaintop.

  As the cup is returned to the altar, Samuel, still Upuaut, leads the gathered in a closing chant.

  “Hec uq nim olo braq, sy ter sca hur.”

  With the repeating of this chant three times, the ceremony comes to an end. During the chanting, the coven members evolve back to their human form. The crowd applauds one last time.

  The coven members now approach Samuel, one by one. They nod as they pass him by. The last to approach is the Reverend. He nods like the others and passes by. Samuel, however, can see into his heart and he sees a boiling tempest of anger and hatred.

  Samuel is not in the least alarmed by what he sees in the Reverend. Anger and hatred can be good, especially if channeled the right way.

  Samuel smiles to himself with the thought, what is bad can be good, could it be that what is good can be bad?

  The faithful are lined up to meet and greet the newest leader of their coven.

  A new coven leader, along with news of a male Powell about to be in their midst has generated a powerful and urgent sense of optimism. The people are excited, almost giddy in their glee over these two events. Together, they were taken as powerful omens, signs that their day of triumph was drawing near.

  After a while, the crowd began to disperse and trail back down the mountain.

  Another series of heat lightning flashed about. The night sky was exploding with lightning bursts as if it were a Fourth of July fireworks grand finale.

  The last to leave is Samuel.

  17

  Aaron and Korie stayed late in the restaurant. By the time they finished their dinner, desert and then after dinner drinks, it was nearly eleven o’clock. They were the last two customers in the restaurant.

  “It’s late, Aaron, why don’t we head back to our room? I’m sure the wait staff would like to close up.”

  “I guess you’re right. Their vacuuming is sort of a signal, huh?”

  “I am quite sure it is.”

  They rose from their table. Aaron left a generous tip on the table. They stopped at the register. No one was around. Aaron looked into the kitchen’s round windows and got the attention of someone. In a moment a young woman, their waitress, stepped through the kitchen doors and headed to the register.

  “Did you enjoy your dinner tonight?” asked the young woman.

  “We did, thanks,” said Korie.

  “I left your tip on the table,” said Aaron.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Taking his change, Aaron stuffs it into his pocket. Taking Korie by the arm, they head back to their motel room.

  “Want to go for a swim?” asked Korie.

  “Again?”

  “Sure,” she responds as she pulls his arm and him closer.

  “Okay.”

  Moments later they are swimming in the pool. It is nearly midnight. Northwest of their location, the night sky explodes with brilliant flashes of lightning. There is no sound of thunder. Korie swims over to Aaron, puts her arms around him and kisses him passionately. She presses her body against his. He responds to her initiative with his own. He pulls her closer to him, lifting her partly out of the water. His face becomes buried between the swells of her breasts. She plays with his hair, running her fingers through his wet clinging hair. Her own hair dangles across his forehead. She kisses the top of his head. He slowly allows her body to slide back down. She begins to kiss him all over. He does likewise.

  Their passion is approaching a point of no return. The lightning storm is moving slowly towards their location.

  Aaron tries to unhook her top.

  “No, Aaron, not here, please.”

  With those words they release one another, exit the pool, grab their towels and break into a half run back to the privacy of the motel room. Aaron closes and locks the door to their room. When he turns around, Korie is standing directly behind him, naked.

  Before words could be spoken she helps him out of his swimming trucks. They both tumble onto the bed.

  Earlier, Aaron had left the window to their room wide open, with the air conditioner off. He had pulled back the curtains to let the summer breeze blow in through the open window.

  The open window now framed the arriving lightning storm. Brilliant flashes of light streaked across the night sky. With each burst of lightning, the dark purple clouds of the storm were outlined in several dark shades of red, gray, yellow, pink and purple.

  Korie and Aaron’s lovemaking was the most intense they had ever experienced as they alternated positions. The rhythm of their passion was feverish and powerful.

  Outside their window, the storm was now directly overhead. Lightning bolts traced their irregular web across the sky. The lover’s room was frequently illuminated by these pyrotechnics.

  One earthshaking explosion of thunder shook the motel.

  ***

  Ed Townsend had arrived too late for Samuel’s welcoming ceremony. The faithful were already coming down the old logging road.

  “Ed, have you heard the news? There’s a male Powell,” said one of the overjoyed faithful.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Isn’t that exciting?” said another.

  Bob Senecal spotted Ed up ahead. He walked over to him and took him by the arm over to Ed’s car.

  “Ed, have you heard yet?” asked Bob.

  “What is it that I’m supposed to hear?” asked Ed.

  “Moloch has replaced Reverend Mitchell with a new leader.”

  Surprised, Ed asks, “With Who?”

  “Samuel Porter.”

  The name sinks is.

  “I wonder why?”

  “Beats me,” said Bob.

  “Where’s the Reverend now?”

  “Back there, somewhere,” nods Bob over his shoulder.

  Heat lightning flashes overhead.

  “And Porter?”

  “Still up there, I believe.”

  “Interesting.”

  “You could say that again. Well, I’ve got to be going,” said Bob as he heads toward his tow truck.

  The crowd moved past Ed as he stood in the road waiting for the Reverend. Spotting him, Ed walks over.

  “Simon, I just heard,” said Ed.

  “It is the will of Lucifer. I shall continue to serve,” said a stoic Simon.

  “What about the Powell male?” asked Ed?

  The Reverend looks up at the newest burst of heat lightning.

  “See Samuel for directions. He is now the chosen one. He speaks for Moloch and for all of us now.”

  His eyes are moist as if he is about to shed a tear. He turns his head down and silently moves off to hi
s car.

  Ed watches him leave.

  This sudden change in leaders for the coven has unsettled Ed. He is a man who is accustomed to strong decisive leadership.

  Shit, the boy is only fourteen, maybe fifteen, thought Ed.

  “I am almost fifteen Mr. Townsend, but why should that matter?” said a voice from behind him.

  Ed turns around and sees no one on the path coming down the mountain. He looks to his left, his right and now behind him, still no one.

  “Mr. Townsend, we still serve the same master. Our mission is unchanged,” said the voice.

  Another flash of heat lightning, and then another. The logging road leading up the mountain is lit up like daytime. There, standing alone in the middle of the road, is Samuel Porter. He is about fifty feet from Ed. He silently walks towards Ed.

  Now they are standing an arms length apart.

  “Take me home,” said Samuel Porter.

  Without question, Ed obeys his new leader.

  Neither spoke another word all the way back to Samuel Porter’s house.

  ***

  Korie has fallen asleep. Aaron carefully rolls himself out of bed. He walks over to the open window and stares out at the last traces of the heat lightning storm. There are now breaks in the cloud cover. After a few minutes the night clouds are gone and the night sky sparkles with millions of stars. The three-quarter moon is now visible, high in the southwest sky. Aaron reached down and picked up the wet swimsuit and heads into the bathroom to hang it up. Along the way he picks up Korie’s as well and hangs her suit up on the shower bar alongside his. Naked, he heads back into the room and pulls a pair of boxer shorts out of the dresser drawer. From his luggage bag, he removes the Powell family diary.

  Aaron turns on the desk lamp and sits down at the small desk and begins to read the diary, this time cover to cover. The stories within are compelling. He finds time just flies by. Reading the dairy, he begins to understand the sense of mission his ancestors have felt and lived all of their lives.

  What is ahead for me? he thought.

  Aaron is beginning to appreciate his heritage. His great grandmother several times removed and her family showed unbelievable courage in standing up to the coven and its evil leaders. Their courageous stand prevented the devil from taking on human form.

  Why did the devil want to take on human form? What was the rush anyway? Why then? Why was his family still hunted? Why doesn’t this coven just move on and find someone else? Will it ever end? Is it over now? Was his mother clever enough to have thrown them off of his trail? What risk was he taking coming to Vermont? Would he be able to recognize these people? Would they recognize him? These questions and hundreds more swirled around in his head.

  Gradually, a sense of purpose was forming for Aaron. His ancestors had suffered and were hounded for over a hundred years. Somehow he felt he could bring this to some sort of end. He felt a wave of confidence sweep through him. He began to form the outline of a plan. But first, he needed more information. As he thought about his possible plan, he experienced a temporary fugue. Deep from within, his mind’s eye sent him a message.

  Aaron could see an altar sitting in a field along side a hill. Next to this altar are two huge burning bonfires. There were several people standing behind this altar. He couldn’t see their faces because they were wearing robes with hoods pulled up over their heads. Each of them gestured to him to come forward. He could feel his body gliding up the hillside. As he came closer, he could see a woman’s shroud covered body lying upon this altar. The shroud was pulled over her face. Robe covered people now surrounded him. They were placing their hands all over his body. A couple of the hoods were tossed back to reveal that the person within was a woman. These women began to caress his body with sensual strokes. They removed their robes and began to rub themselves against his body. A couple of other hooded people tossed their hoods off. These were men who were smiling. These men were speaking to him, but he could not hear any spoken words. Standing to the back of this group of people was a hooded, cloaked one who was much larger then the others. This one now reached towards Aaron to hand him a large shiny dagger. He could feel himself take the instrument in his hand. He looked at the handle of this dagger—it seemed to be embossed with tiny figures.

  As he looked closer, he could see that these tiny figures were moving, they were alive. Somehow these figures were bound to the dagger’s handle.

  The naked women had managed to arouse him to a sensual pitch. As he looked at them, they smiled at him with a sinister look that both frightened him and aroused him as well. Suddenly, he noticed their eyes. Their eyes were shiny, cold black. He now turned to face the altar. The large hooded person pulled back the shroud uncovering the woman. She was naked. He looked down at her. Something was familiar. He forced himself to look at her face. It was Korie.

  The large hooded person now pulled his hood back to reveal himself to Aaron. This was no human. It was a scaly, fearsome creature. Its head had two horns jutting from its forehead. Its eyes were a smoldering red. This creature smiled at Aaron. Its smile revealed yellowed misshapen teeth. The creature took Aaron’s hand that held the dagger into its own. The creature was raising Aaron’s hand with the dagger pointed down at the body of Korie. The tiny, but alive figures on the daggers handle squirmed inside Aaron’s hand. One such creature managed to push herself through. She had squeezed between Aaron’s second and third fingers. Aaron was struggling against the grip on his hand. He glanced at this tiny human figure between his fingers. It was his mother. She shouted at him.

  The only sound his dream experience allowed was her shout.

  “No...”

  Aaron was resisting with all of his strength.

  “Mom, help me,” he responded.

  His hand holding the dagger began to descend. He struggled mightily. The other hooded people were clapping their approval. The naked women that had been seducing him just moments before were pressing against him. Their arms had joined the hideous creature in pushing Aaron’s hand downward.

  With all of his might he let loose a scream, “No...”

  Korie was now knelling beside him.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  He turned to his left and looked at her and for a moment he wasn’t quite sure whether he was still dreaming or whether he was awake. Korie was wearing a white terry cloth robe loosely tied at the waist.

  She stood up, pulled Aaron to his feet, and held him in her arms.

  “You must have been having a nightmare.”

  He couldn’t answer her, not yet.

  “Why don’t you come back to bed? It’s nearly five o’clock in the morning. Have you been reading the dairy all night long? It’s no wonder you had a bad dream?”

  Aaron stared at her in disbelief. His dream had been so vivid, so real to him.

  He suddenly broke fully free from the fugue that he had been in. He grabbed Korie by the arms and looked deep into her eyes.

  “Korie, I could have...”

  She pulled herself free and took hold of his head. She kissed him before he could continue.

  “You need to get some rest, we’ll talk later,” she said.

  “You’re probably right,” he said slumping down onto the bed.

  Korie pushed him back onto the bed and tucked him in with the bed sheet. Korie now turned and headed towards the bathroom. As she walked towards the bedroom the light shining from under their motel room caught her attention. Something or someone moved just on the other side of their room’s door. The light was broken by a shadow, which moved across the light.

  Someone has been listening at our door, she thought.

  Korie ran to the door. She stood on her tiptoes and looked through the door’s peephole. She couldn’t see anyone outside the door. She unlatched the door chain, unbolted the door lock and pulled the door open. She looked to her left, no one. She quickly looked to her right and she noticed someone turn around the corner of the hallway.

  “Hey,
wait up,” she shouted.

  She ran after the mysterious person.

  When she rounded the corner, she didn’t see anyone. There was a sound below her. The person had taken the stairway to the floor below and had exited the motel. She ran back to her room and tiptoed past the now sleeping Aaron to the open window. Korie surveyed the parking lot for any sign of the person who had been listening at their door.

  Across the parking lot, in the dawn of the soon to be rising sun, she spotted someone sitting in a pickup truck. The truck started up and pulled quickly away. She couldn’t see the license plate. All she could note was that it was an old truck, dark green or black in color. She thought the person driving the truck was a man, but even to that she couldn’t be sure.

  What the hell was that person up to? she wondered.

  Her mind began to fill with all sorts of possibilities. Meanwhile, she still had to use the bathroom. Before she did, she locked their motel’s room deadbolt lock, the chain latch and the sash lock. She wasn’t going to take any chances.

  When he gets up later, we’re going to have a little talk and settle up on a plan, that’s for sure. No more free wheeling, she thought as she closed the bathroom door behind her and flipped on the light switch.

  18

  Ed Townsend couldn’t wait to consult with the other coven members. He had cultivated sources, spies and informants, all over the greater Sutton area. Many were fellow church members. Others, mercenary by nature, provided tips to Ed for a fee or a favor. One of his paid informers had been driving around the area’s motel parking lots. Ed had obtained Aaron Powell’s license plate number from the State of Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Registry. He had a friend, whose daughter Ed had once saved from a life of crack and prostitution, who worked high up in the ranks of the Registry. He was only too happy to oblige Ed’s need for information.

  The informer, Teddy Hawkins, was a nervous sort. He had spent half his life as a patient of Vermont’s State Mental Hospital, in Waterbury. With drugs he could generally keep his bad habits under control. His bad habits included torturing small animals and petty larceny. Ed would frequently settle Teddy’s problems before they landed in court. During his drive back to Vermont, Ed had placed a call to Teddy and another couple of “scouts,” as he often referred to them, to be on the look out for Powell’s car. It was Teddy who had come through.