by Joe Vadalma
* * * *
After Morgaine was interviewed by the police, she went directly to her room and did not come out, even for meals, until McGuillicutty's funereal two days later. After the horrible crime she had committed, she became wretched with guilt and remorse. She could face no one, especially Melody and Michael. She contemplated killing herself but realized that it would bring even more scandal and misery to Michael. Besides, she still needed to solve the puzzle of how to save Michael from Asmodeus. For this reason, she did not destroy the diskettes she made of the demon's book, although she had seen firsthand what dangerous sorcery it contained. In fact, she became more convinced that with her knowledge of magic from the University of Wizardry and the information from the Asmodeus diskettes, she could discover a way to save the man she loved, no matter what black magic she had to perform or who else got hurt. The goal of saving Michael obsessed her. She barely thought of anything else.
Her dark mascara ran down her cheeks in black streaks as McGuillicutty's coffin was lowered into the earth. As she watched, Melody threw a single rose on it. Michael held an umbrella, shielding her from a slow cold drizzle that rained down on the grave site. Michael and Melody turned away from the grave and slowly walked back to an awaiting limousine. Morgaine stayed behind, staring at the grave as though she could cause the priest to rise from dead.
* * * *
Two days later Michael had it out with her. He glared around her room after she let him in. She had been doing a lot of occult research. Several arcane books and papers were on the floor and her bed. Her laptop was on and connected to the Internet. “Sit down, Morgaine. We need to talk about what you did. And about whatever other sorcery you have planned."
She gazed at him wide-eyed in an attempt to look innocent. “What do you mean, Michael? What is it that I've supposed to have done?"
"You know exactly what you did. You used information from the Asmodeus files to summon an unholy spirit to possess Lance's body. Don't lie, Morgaine. You're the only person who could've possibly done that. You stole my files with the demon's secrets. You must destroy them. It's madness to unleash such power."
Morgaine hung her head. “Okay. I admit it. The demon I summoned was only supposed to take over temporarily while I got Lance to help me do something I couldn't do by myself. But thanks to the interference of your robot, things went awry. I had no inkling that the demon could transfer itself into someone else."
"That someone else was Father McGuillicuty?"
"It's the only explanation for his suicide. As a Roman Catholic priest, he would've believed that to kill himself would've sent his soul straight to hell. Before the exorcism, he was not suicidal or in any way depressed."
"You're right. In that case, the demon must've returned to the void. Okay, now tell me what is it exactly that you wanted Lance to do that you went through so much trouble?"
Morgaine stared at Michael for a long time without saying anything.
Finally he said, “Well?"
She lit a cigarette before replying. “I sent him to abduct Melody."
Michael's face showed his rage, but his voice was steady. “And what were you going to do with Melody?"
Morgaine's voice dropped to a whisper. “I was going to sacrifice her to Asmodeus.” She snuffed out the cigarette and got up. “Don't you see, Michael. Your time is almost up. She's the perfect candidate. She loves you. She's precious to you. Isn't another thousand years of life worth losing her? You've loved other women. You'll love still others in the future."
Michael raised his fist as though to strike her, but held back. Instead, he squinted at her through narrow eyes, ground his teeth together and shouted angrily, “You're insane. Who gave you the right to make such a decision for me? You're playing God, Morgaine. I wouldn't sacrifice anyone's life for another thousand years, much less the woman I love. Do you think the last thousand have been all happy? During most of them, I was miserable, pining away for someone I loved, wasting away in a dungeon, working at back breaking labor or being tortured in ways you can't even imagine. I'm ready to die, to meet my maker, or his adversary if that be my fate, or perhaps become a slave to this Asmodeus.” He took a deep breath and screamed, “Get out of here, Morgaine. Leave this house, and leave my life. I'm breaking all ties with you. You can have the damn Institute. Send me a check for what you think my portion's worth.” His voice dropped into a menacing growl. “And if I ever see you again, I may be tempted to kill you. How dare you conspire to murder someone I love in the name of saving my life?” He stalked out of the room, leaving Morgaine sobbing with her face buried in her hands.
Morgaine left Moonwood, and Michael and Melody moved to New York. Michael's other permanent guests stayed on. Every so often Melody and Michael returned to Moonwood during pagan holiday celebrations, but never stayed more than a day or two. There was no communication between Michael and Morgaine, not even about her buying out his interest in the institute. That was handled through lawyers and agents. All Michael's friends and acquaintances except Morgaine, thought that Michael's troubles were over, that he and Melody would settle down to live a normal life. But Morgaine knew better. The day was approaching when the demon, Asmodeus, would appear to claim the man it had granted such a singularly long life.
CHAPTER 7
MIRROR IMAGE
Using every magical means known to her, Morgaine reckoned that it was Michael's last day on earth. In her calculations she took in consideration the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian. She did not rely solely on mathematics to determine that this was to be Michael Ellul's last day on earth unless the demon Asmodeus’ condition was met. She consulted the Tarot, astrology charts—his, hers and Melody's, psychic insight and other methods, especially fragments of the demon's own book. Although she swore to Michael on everything she held sacred that she had destroyed the computer diskettes, she had retained a copy of that profane manual of sorcery. She had thrown blank diskettes into a flaming fireplace while Michael watched, telling him that these contained the Asmodeus files. The actual fact was that she had spent the last three years studying the contents of the files, along with ancient and modern occult manuscripts. She tried to recall everything she had learned about necromancy, demon summoning and other magical arts while at the University of Wizardry. She made copious notes in her Book of Shadows. She felt completely prepared for what she was about to do. All of her mystic resources reported the same information—that Asmodeus would appear briefly upon this plane of existence at the exact moment that Jupiter reached the zenith that night.
She arrived at Moonwood during the wee hours in the morning of the day the demon was to appear, parked her car away from the entrance of the estate on a dead end trail in the woods where it could not be seen from the road, hiked along hidden pathways and entered the mansion through a seldom used door. Everything she needed to carry out her plan was either in her backpack or readily available in the house. She slithered through the silent and abandoned hallways to the secret passage that led to the basement laboratory. There, with the help of the robot, she prepared the black magic that she intended on brewing.
All day she paced nervously, chaining smoking. She had consumed two packs by the time she heard Michael's limousine pull into the driveway around seven in the evening. She snuffed her latest one out and began the first stage of her plan. She had the robot clear a large area in the center of the room and with chalk draw a perfect circle and inside the circle a pentagram, with each of the points touching the perimeter. Robots have their uses, even in ancient magic, she thought. In the center she burnt several types of incense in a thurible and performed a ritual to cleanse the room of evil influences.
Once this was done, she replaced the thurible with an athame, a double-edged stiletto with a black handle, and a chalice filled with red wine. Since this was to be sex magic, she stripped naked to perform an erotic sinuous dance around the objects and chanted the words of power that she had memorized from Asmodeus’ book. At the end
of her dance she laid a hand mirror inside the inner pentagon and rubbed the athame against the rim of the chalice while she continued to chant. After a while she spoke a spell in English.
"Oh lover with your lover become hard and strong. Make the one loved want your great sword to enter her lush wet garden to make it bloom with ecstasy."
So saying she dipped the dagger into the cup and moved it sensuously up and down and along the sides, stirring the wine all around. When she was finished with this ritual, she left the dagger within the cup and picked up the mirror.
Her eyes rolled back, and she muttered words in the language of demons. Then, she chanted, “Oh mirror of magic and mystery, you show things reversed. So it is that you can also reverse objects and persons. Make it so with the lovers."
Something strange happened to the knife and chalice. Like some illusionist's trick or optical fluke or perhaps an Einsteinian inversion, it appeared as though the cup was inside the athame.
* * * *
A mysterious psychic current pulsated through the house. The magic that Morgaine had performed had a strange affect on Melody and Michael Ellul, who had come to Moonwood to celebrate Samheim. They became extremely amorous and lustful toward each other. Their sexual feelings toward each other grew stronger, so strong that by the time they entered their room, they began to rip each other's clothes off. While they were in the spasms of ecstasy, their auras changed bodies. Melody's psyche was in Michael's body; Michael's, in Melody's. The strangeness and disorientation of what happened to them was overwhelming. They each stared into her and his own face. Melody saw Melody, Michael looked at Michael. Michael, through Melody's lips, whispered hoarsely, “My God, somehow we've exchanged bodies."
Melody in Michael's body rolled off of herself and stared at that familiar, yet unfamiliar face with wonder. “How could this have happened,” she cried.
Her face showed a terrible anger. “Black magic. Morgaine has used the demon's sorcery to exchange our auras."
Melody gazed at her own face to ask Michael, “Will the effect wear off?"
"I don't know. Morgaine has used magic that I know nothing about."
Melody suddenly got the giggles. Michael laughed along with her. After a few minutes, they sobered.
"Do you think Morgaine did this to break up our love affair?"
"If that were the case, she would've lost already. I'd love you as a man, woman or beast. But I'm afraid she has something more nefarious in mind."
"What?"
"I think she has a plan to save me from Asmodeus. C'mon Melody, get dressed. We've got to get out of here."
But it was already too late. The light in the room went out and an odor of burning sulfur permeated it. Hundreds of cat eyes and shadows within shadows surrounded the couple. Hands that were not hands but talons gripped their arms and encircled their bodies. They fought the things that had them in their grip with all their strength. It was useless. The beings were too powerful. Melody yelled in Michael's voice for help as she was dragged away, until a powerful leathery hand covered his mouth.
The demons carried the couple to the basement laboratory and tied them into chairs with bonds so tight they bit into their flesh. Although their mouths remained uncovered, it was useless to scream. No one outside that cellar would hear them. The room was in total darkness. After a few moments, however, the door opened, and the florescent bulbs flared up. Nonetheless, they were alone, positioned so that they faced an empty area where Morgaine had drawn a five-pointed star inside a chalk circle on the floor.
Melody turned Michael's head toward her body. “Michael, what will Morgaine do now?"
Morgaine entered at that moment and replied, “Nothing for now. We must wait for Jupiter to reach the zenith. That will be a little before midnight.” A silver cord around her waist contained a dagger with a black handle. Around her neck she wore a long silver chain with an attached quarter moon pendant that hung between her breasts. Her hair was plaited into a single braid that fell to her waist. Her eyes glistened with excitement.
She strolled over to Melody's body and kissed it passionately on the lips. “Greetings Michael. How does it feel to be a woman? I must say Melody keeps her body in good shape for her age.” She turned to Melody in Michael's body and said, “And Melody, you're quite handsome."
"What are you going to do to us, Morgaine?” Melody asked.
"I? Nothing. I'm simply going to raise the devil and allow Asmodeus to take the soul from Michael's body. See you in hell someday, Melody darling."
"It'll never work, Morgaine,” Michael said. “Do you think an archfiend like Asmodeus is so stupid that it'll be fooled by a simple trick like switching my soul into Melody's body."
"Perhaps not. But if that is the case, once I have the demon contained, I'll go to plan B.” Morgaine gave Melody a sinister look.
"What's plan B?” Melody asked through Michael's quivering lips.
"You'll see. Look Melody, I'm sorry about this. If there were any other way to save Michael's life and soul, I would choose that way. I know you've given him happiness, and that he'll never forgive me for what I'm about to do. Hell, I actually like you as a person. Had circumstances been different, we might've been friends."
"Then don't do it,” Michael cried in Melody's voice. “Playing around with entities like Asmodeus is too dangerous. Anything could happen."
Morgaine shook her head sadly. “I know. And I would never do black magic if I had another choice."
"But you have a choice. Reverse whatever you did to transfer our auras and take Melody away from here. Let Asmodeus take me. I've lived more than fifteen lifetimes, enough living for any man."
"But its not just that you'll be dead. Think Michael, what it will be like to spend eternity in hell? I can't allow that to happen to you. You're too good a man."
Michael argued with Morgaine until she became exasperated and said, “Shut up Michael. I won't be dissuaded. If you don't keep quiet, I'll gag you."
Melody asked, “When are you going to do whatever it is you're going to do? What are you waiting for?"
"Impatient to spend eternity in the dark pit, eh Melody? Well, I'm afraid you'll have to wait. Timing is important. Asmodeus will appear at the precise moment that the planet Jupiter reaches the zenith."
She lit a cigarette, came over by Melody in Michael's body and allowed her to take a few puffs. “Relax. You're a Christian. Pray to your God to save you."
"You're mad to do this,” Michael cried. Morgaine tried to silence him with a look. Nevertheless, he persisted. “What will our friends think when Melody and I don't show up for the celebrations?"
She shrugged. “Makes no difference what they think. They'll probably figure that you're making love or fell asleep. Even if they go into your room and see that you're gone. What then? They might call the police. Or they might not. None of them knows about the secret rooms down here."
* * * *
Hours later Morgaine glanced at her wristwatch and said, “It's nearly time.” She wrapped kerchiefs around the couple's mouths. “I hate to do this, but I need for you to be silent.” She removed several items from her knapsack—bottles of liquids, something wrapped in an expensive-looking silk cloth, a medieval cap decorated with astrological symbols, a charcoal crayon, string, measuring instruments, some nails, black candles, a brass brazier and some gruesome objects. She put on the cap, poured the contents of a bottle into the brazier and lit it. Soon the room was filled with the evil-smelling fumes of camphor, sulfur and other substances in the mixture.
After the liquid burned away, she hammered the nail into a crack in the floor, attached the string to it and used the charcoal at the end of the string to draw a large circle. Inside this circle, she drew a smaller one. Neither circle was complete. In each she left a small gap. In the rim between the two circles, she wrote alchemical symbols and Hebrew letters. She drew two triangles, one inside the smaller circle so that its points touched its circumference: the other, two carefully measured m
eters away from the outer circle.
Along the outer circle's perimeter, she placed the skull of a dead cat, a dead bat, an animal horn and a human skull ninety degrees apart. She took the rest of her paraphernalia with her inside the triangle within the inner circle. With the black chalk, she drew in the missing arcs, as though closing a gate. After she lit the candles and placed them on two sides of the triangle, she filled the brazier with herbs and poured liquids from two bottles over the mixture which she lit with her cigarette lighter.
She picked up a wooden wand with a metal tip, sprinkled another liquid over it and chanted, “Wand of magic, I command thee to obey my will, to attract all substances I wish to attract and to sunder and reduce to chaos all things I wish to destroy.” With the wand in her left hand, she raised her arms over her head. In a loud commanding voice she said words in the demon tongue and, “I conjure thee, O great lord of the dark regions known as on this earthly plane as Asmodeus, strengthened by the power within me. I command thee by the most powerful prince of the ninth region. Appear forthwith and show thyself to me, without delay."
The electric lights dimmed and went out. The flickering candles and the flames in the brazier cast looming shadows on the walls and ceiling that resembled demonic dancers.
Morgaine continued to chant in a louder and deeper voice. “Come at once from the lowest part of the nether regions in which thee reside. Come and bargain with me for the spirit of the one you granted so long a life. Come at once, visibly and awfully, for I conjure you in the name...” Here she pronounced a word that seemed all consonants. She repeated the entire ritual three times.