by Joe Vadalma
"Oh Michael, it is complicated. I cannot sustain contact with Rhami more than a few moments. Only by making me corporeal can I help you."
"How can I do that?"
"What you seek is in the Necromantic under Simulacrum. I cannot say more. Good-bye, Michael."
Deju opened his eyes, the men let go of each other's hands, and Longfeathers turned on the overhead lights. After Michael filled in Deju as to what occurred, Longfeathers said, “You're not actually going to perform such an act, Michael?"
"I don't have any choice if I want to achieve my goal."
Deju said, “Please don't do it. It would be very dangerous. You could be dealing with a demon."
Longfeathers said, “I agree with Rhami. Bringing spirits of the dead back to the earthly plane is nothing to fool with. Every case I ever heard of turned out badly."
"I know that. In my long life, twice I brought a demon out of hell. I lost a woman I loved very much because of the one time. Also, there is the example of Morgaine herself. Lance Flebert and Father McGuillicuty were her victims. She, herself, then became a victim of a demon."
"So you will give up this search for a way to make Melody immortal?” Deju asked.
"Not yet. Perhaps I will find another way.” Michael did not look either man in the eye.
* * * *
"The time is drawing near for thy return to the dimension where mortals dwell, Morgaine,” said Lilith.
Morgaine bowed to the demon before replying. “As a mortal, will I get my man back?"
Lilith laughed lightly. “Thou will not be exactly mortal, but something not quite spirit and not quite flesh. As such, thou will have great power. Whether thou can regain the love of thy man and stay in the plane of matter is up to thee. Thy rival, the one thou call Melody, will have allies. It is they thou need to overcome."
"What are their names?"
"One is woman called Raven Lenore. She is the more dangerous of the two."
"I knew her when I was a living person. She is young and daring and very cunning."
"The other is the man she loves. Keith is his given name. He is strong, but weak-minded."
"You say she loves him. Perhaps I can use that emotion against her.” Morgaine had already formulated a plan to regain Michael when she returned to the land of the living.
"I can aid thee in that respect. While this Keith sleeps, I will bring his essence here to meet thee."
Lilith transformed Morgaine into her exact twin, including her leathery wings and talon-like fingers. She also showed Morgaine how to control the reptilian beast she rode. Morgaine left Lilith's palace riding the beast into the labyrinthine caverns beyond. While Lilith gave the lizard exact directions to where Raven's lover would appear, Morgaine became curious as to what sort of man this Keith was.
* * * *
In the middle of the night, Keith jabbed Raven in the back, groaned and muttered in his sleep. Raven glanced at the alarm clock. It was after two. She turned toward her lover, bracing herself on one elbow so that she observe him. His forehead was beaded with sweat, and he had thrown off the covers. He made small jerking movements like someone with a twitch. She worried that he might be ill, maybe feverish.
Raven glanced at his crotch. His penis was erect. She giggled and thought, The son-of-a-bitch is having a wet dream. It better be about me. She shook him. “Hey, Keith."
He raised his arms as though fending off an attacker. “No don't. Not that. I'm afraid."
She shook him harder. “Keith, Keith."
His eyes finally opened. “Huh, uh. Oh, Raven. Jesus, what a nightmare I had."
She raised her eyebrows. “Nightmare?” She pointed at his raised member. “I don't think so. Anyone I know?"
Fully awake now, he sat up and turned on the lamp on the night stand on his side of the bed. “Wait. I gotta piss.” He headed for the bathroom.
After he crawled back in bed, he told Raven his dream. She sighed and lay back on her pillow as he related his vision.
"When it started, I was walking through an underground cave. It was hot, like maybe a hundred degrees or more. There was no direct light, just a dim red glow from the rock walls. Tunnels led off in all different directions and I had no idea which way to go. The sides of the tunnels was dripping and covered with green crud. And there was strange sounds, like creaking, scraping rocks and distant screams like people in horrible pain. There was other sounds too, animal sounds, y'know growling, screeches, but not like any animal I ever heard before, really weird.
"Naturally I was scared shitless and getting ... y'know, clausta ... , clausta..."
"Claustrophobic."
"Yeah, like the walls was closing up, and I couldn't breath. So's I start walking down one of the tunnels, slow and creepy like, twisting my head around a lot so nothing could sneak up on me, looking for a ways out. I had that feeling, y'know, like somebody or something awful was following me. Then I heard it too. It sorted of slithered along behind me, breathing heavy and snorting—something really big. I could hear its hide scraping along the cave walls.
"I walked faster, glancing back every once in a while, but saw nothing, just heard those awful sounds it was making. I knew though that it was catching up to me. I ran like a son-of-a-bitch. But suddenly I had nowhere to run to. The tunnel ended in a blank wall. I was trapped.
"I turned to face the thing. It was some kind of huge reptile, like a dinosaur. Not a T-rex or anything. More like one of those things that got down in South America."
"An iguana?"
"Yeah, only much bigger. The thing was though, a lady was riding on its back."
"A lady?"
"Well, a woman. She was no lady. Not exactly a woman either. She was in the buff. Naked as a Jay bird. And gorgeous, with long black hair, big tits that stood straight out.” He demonstrated with his hands. “Her skin was white as ... I dunno ... maybe marble. And..."
Here Raven interrupted him. “She was gorgeous you say? Beautiful? Sexy? Very attractive?"
"Yeah, all of that."
"More beautiful and sexy than me?"
He blushed and stammered out, “Babe ... nobody ... not even a dream girl ... can, uh, compare to you."
She gave him a suspicious look. “You'd better mean that. Okay, go on. What happened then? Did you just stand there staring at her big tits that stood straight out while the monster ate you?"
"No! I hardly looked at her tits. There was..."
"You? You didn't stare at her tits ... and she was naked. How come you stare at women's tits when they're fully clothed?"
He frowned angrily. “Hey Raven, what the shit are you doing? Trying to pick a fight. I'm trying to tell you my dream."
She hit him on the arm. “Just pulling your chain, big boy. Go on, tell me the rest."
He grinned. “One of these days, Raven, one of these days.” As though he was Jackie Gleason and Raven was Audry Meadows in The Honeymooners. “Well, she wasn't really human, you see. She had these strange eyes that looked at you as though she could tell what you was thinking. And she had enormous wings, bat wings they was, but big, really big. Her hands were claws, with long nails like thin stiletto daggers.
"'Who are you?’ she asks me, not really friendly, but not mean either, like she doesn't often see people in those caves. “I answers, ‘My name is Keith. I don't know how I got here, but I sure would like to find a way out.'
"'I am Lilith. There is no way out of this place.'
"She hops off the big lizard and comes up to me so close that her nipples are touching my chest. She looks into my eyes, and it was like I was hypnotized. I couldn't move. She puts her arms around me and draws me close, her claws ripping into my back so's I could feel the blood flow. Those big wings folded around me like a cocoon, and she kisses me. It was French kiss, but she didn't have a regular tongue. It was like a snake's tongue, slipping in out fast like. Then her mouth goes down to my throat and I could feel teeth on my jugular. Then I realize that she's some kind of vampire, and she mea
ns to drain my blood until I'm dead. I start to scream, and then you woke me up.
"It was very real. About the realest dream I ever had. What does it mean, Raven? You witches know about dreams and stuff."
Raven laughed at him. “Jesus Keith, you've probably just got a case of the hots. And that stuff that Ellul woman who hired us to find her husband was spouting got mixed in. You're suffering from a case of lacka nookie."
He grinned at her and slipped his hand inside her nighty. “You're probably right, honey."
"Wait a minute. What did you say the name of your dream-girl-monster was?"
"Lilith."
"An elemental."
"A what?"
"According some occult traditions, Lilith was Adam's first wife before Eve. But she wasn't human, she was an elemental, like an angel or a demon or cherub."
"Oh yeah. You learn something new every day,” he said without interest and slid the straps of her nightgown down her arms. They made love then.
Afterwards, with Keith snoring to beat the band besides her, Raven thought about his wet-dream nightmare and shuddered. She had a premonition that it meant something—something not good.
CHAPTER 10
RAISING MORGAINE
An owl hooted as Michael entered the enormous graveyard. It was past midnight on a moonless, starless night. He crept around this city of the dead that late because he did not want Deju and Longfeathers to do anything to prevent him, nor did he want any witnesses to the ceremony he was about to perform. A light drizzle fell. Only the light from his flashlight penetrated the gloom, and Michael had only a vague idea of where to find Morgaine's grave. He had been there only once before—at her funeral. The ground was damp and soft, and his feet sunk into the muck with every step he took. The mist rising from the earth like phantoms in this place of death and monuments chilled him to the bone. Nonetheless, he shuddered as much from dread of his objective as the cold and damp. After searching a couple of hours, he found Morgaine's headstone. A few wilted flowers lay in front of it, probably put there by her mother. He took several mysterious items from his backpack; black candles, a human skull, a dead cat's head, an antique cup, an earthen jar which he carefully placed in the proper positions according to the text that Morgaine's ghost had pointed out to him. He recalled trying something similar hundreds of years ago. The result had been disastrous. He felt ill even thinking about the horror of that experience. Nonetheless, he continued his preparations, shivering feverishly, not sure whether it was from the cold, the damp, the vague odor of death and decay—or fear of the unknown.
When all was prepared, he lit the candles and chanted the incantation to call the spirit of Morgaine back from wherever her soul now existed. As he pronounced the last syllable, a dark gray mist rose from the grave, which slowly grew until it was human-sized. Michael raised his staff and loudly called out certain words and phrases and made peculiar motions with his hands, head and body. The gray mist coalesced into the shape of a naked woman, but not an ordinary woman, for she had great huge wings and hands like claws. Michael stopped chanting, and made a mystical sign to keep a thing of evil from harming him. “Go back foul demon,” he cried. “You're not the one buried here."
"But I am,” said the apparition. “I am she whom in life was Morgaine Fabiano. Do not fear me, Michael. My appearance is a disguise. Oh, these wings and claws. Got to get rid of them.” The wings disappeared and her hands became normal human hands. “Oh, and it wouldn't do to go around in the buff.” Clothing appeared on the woman.
"Why should I believe you? If you're really Morgaine, why not appear in the form you had before you died?"
"Because, my darling Michael, Morgaine is dead. It wouldn't do for you to be seen in the company of a dead woman. And you should believe me because I know things that only I know.” She told of an incident that only he and Morgaine had witnessed.
"You could've got that from my mind."
"Have faith. Even if I had appeared as I looked while alive, you couldn't be sure that it was me.” She reached toward him.
He backed away a step. He was in a quandary. He could be placing himself in mortal danger by believing this creature. On the other hand, if it really was Morgaine, this is what he came here for. Besides, he was under the protection of Asmodeus—he hoped. If this was a lesser demon, it would not dare harm him. “Very well. You know what I want. Will you help me?"
"Of course, Michael dearest. But before we perform the operations that will make your Melody young again and make her live as long as you, I must tell you that Melody has hired detectives to find you. We need to deal with them first."
"Why?"
"Because they will most certainly find out your secret—that you're a thousand years old."
"By golly, you talk like Morgaine."
"I really am."
"Are you corporeal?"
"Touch me.” Michael carefully laid a hand on her arm. It felt like flesh. “But, alas, I can hold this form only temporarily and with great concentration. After a few months I'll fade like a snowman on warm spring day."
As they walked back to his car, Michael asked, “What is the other side like?"
"Not so bad, except that I'm a slave to a demon. But you know all about that."
"Asmodeus."
"At first. But he gave me to another whose name I may not reveal."
* * * *
Michael took her to institute, where they spent the night going over printouts from the Asmodeus files. At one point, he said, “There's much that I don't understand. For example, what is this fifth element, the text keeps referring to?"
"Phlogiston, the philosopher's stone, the primal element. A mixture of fire, water, air and earth."
"But there is no such thing. It's a myth."
She placed her hand on his shoulder. “Not true. Think back to your past, your persona during the late eighteenth century, early nineteenth."
"The great experiment that went wrong. With Victor Frankenstein. The thing we brought to life. But, how do you know about that?"
"I'm a spirit, remember. We who have passed over know many things. Time, space and memory are different for us."
At first Michael's eyes narrowed at her reply, but his thoughts went back to the time Morgaine had reminded him about. His forehead creased as he tried to recollect the exact sequence of events that brought the inhuman thing to life. “Yes, I believe Victor used a substance which he claimed was the fifth element in his procedures."
"How did he make this fifth element?"
"I don't know. He was very secretive about it."
"You've got to find his notes. Meanwhile, I need to thwart those detectives your wife hired. I sense that they're close to discovering certain truths about you which you wouldn't want to disclose to Melody.” She kissed him on the cheek. “See you. I must go now."
He gazed up at her startled. “Go? Go where?"
"I just told you. To do something about those detectives."
"Wait, I'll go with you. I don't want you out of my sight."
"Too late for that, Michael. You've let the cat of the bag, or should I say, ‘the ghost out of the grave.’ See y'later."
"Later? When?"
She did not reply, but simply vanished. He shook his head and wondered whether Deju and Longfeathers had been right. Had bringing her back from the dead been a terrible mistake? Well, he thought, once you let the Djinn out of the bottle, it's hard to put her back. I may as well do as she suggested and try to find Victor Frankenstein's notes.
* * * *
Morgaine appeared in an upscale neighborhood of Manhattan as suddenly as she had vanished from before Michael's eyes. She used her demonic powers to open a locked red Camero parked on the street. She slipped in and with a short incantation started its engine. She smiled with satisfaction. This is going to be fun. I've always wanted to be able to do things like this. I've become a real sorceress. Gretchen and Nostradamus would be proud. She drove to a location where the detectives would be,
parked the car near a bus stop and pretended to be waiting for a bus. By fate or some manipulation of Asmodeus or Lillith, Melody had hired an old friend of Morgaine's, Raven Lenore, and her hunk of a partner, Keith Borgensen to locate Michael.
A few minutes later, a dilapidated ancient Pontiac parked near the Camero. Morgaine followed the private investigators a discrete distance to a basement antique shop in the middle of the block. When they entered, she pretended to window shop in a nearby women's apparel store. After several minutes, they left the antique shop and returned to their car. Morgaine heard Raven say, “What did you think of that?"
"That guy d'Encausse was probably a relative of Ellul's. Remarkable resemblance though. He probably noticed it himself . That's why he wanted the picture."
"You're probably right. I must tell Melody about it though."
As soon as they drove away, Morgaine entered the antique store and said to the proprietor, “That couple that was just left, did they buy anything?'
The old man looked at her curiously from his newspaper. “Friends of yours?"
"Sort of."
"Nah. They were lookers not buyers. They asked me to put away an old daguerreotype for them. Said that they'd be back with the cash in a day or two. Probably never see them again."
"May I see the photograph please."
"Sure, why not. It's here, back of the counter.” From an unseen shelf somewhere under the counter, he removed a large fading daguerreotype in a fancy frame. It showed three people standing rather stiffly staring into the camera. Morgaine assumed from the style of their clothing that the photograph was taken in the nineteenth century. The man in the middle was Michael. Careless of you, Michael, to allow such a thing out of your hands, she thought.
The proprietor remarked, “The man on the left is Ambrose Bierce, the horror story writer. The woman is Sarah Winchester. You know, the widow of the guy who made millions off of the Winchester rifle and who built that crazy mansion in California. The guy that sold me the photo said the guy in the middle it was a psychic by the name of Geraud d'Encausse."
"How much were my friends going to pay you for this?"