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The early evening was upon them although Christina and Cassie didn`t know anything about that, they did know that their bodies ached from the lack of exercise, and that the cellar that they were imprisoned in was not very warm. It was rather damp in fact, and they had begun to fear that their health would suffer if they were kept confined there for much longer, unfortunately they were going to be unchained and taken to another part of the cellar all too soon.
Christina was beginning to recover from her terrible ordeal, and Cassie`s wild eyed look had almost disappeared, although both of them feared another visit from the terrible creature that had fed on Christina.
“He only fed on you Christina, why is that, why not on me, what has that horrible man planned for me?” Cassie cried once again. She had asked this same question six times since the demon had attacked Christina, and each time Christina could only shake her head, for the only reason that she could think of was far too terrible to repeat to Cassie. She shuddered just to think of it, of Cassie being offered up to Satan in some sort of horrible black mass.
On the floor above them Bourbon had just entered his study, he walked quickly over to small table and took the remote control device and used it. The small panel within the interior wall slid back and then sideways revealing the wooden staircase that went down to the concealed cellar. He then walked through the secret opening and down to the cellar. Bourbon laughed as he saw Christina and Cassie, he derived a sadistic pleasure in seeing the two sisters chained to their beds. They had begun to smell a little after their incarceration down in the cellar, away from all the modern conveniences, but no matter Bourbon thought, for mid summer`s eve was here and soon he would be performing the sacred celebration of their dark lord. He was followed down the staircase by his two heavies and the woman who was his daughter`s nanny, his daughter Moira having just arrived from England along with her nanny. The group walked across to Christina and stopped before her, Christina looked up at the group around her and fear flooded into her now rapidly beating heart.
“We will inject her first and then her sister.” He ordered the nanny who produced a hypodermic needle and a small glass bottle.
“What are you going to do to me?” Christina cried in fear sitting up.
The two heavies gripped her firmly and forced her back down onto the cot while the nanny filled the hypodermic and leaning over, injected her.
“Right now we are ready for the other one.” Bourbon said and the procedure was repeated on Cassie.
“Fine that should keep them groggy during the ceremony.” Bourbon said and the group then split up. The two heavies returned to the ground floor while Bourbon and the nanny went through to the second room that was Bourbon`s satanic temple. Prior to Rob and the others looking into his affairs, the satanic celebration was to have been held within the woods on the French estate, at a site used long ago for pagan celebrations. Now it would be held within the temple.
“Right Sybil, you must contact Veigel to locate our annoying friends, so that we can arrange a suitable reception for them. I would do it but I need to keep my strength up for the ceremony.” Bourbon commanded. He was annoyed that his paid assassins had failed him, as had his demons, but he would take some pleasure out of the act of killing them himself, when they arrived at the estate.
Sybil Thorndyke was Moira`s nanny, but that was only a part time job; she was also a full time witch and a member of Bourbon`s satanic coven.
“Of course sir, have you fully recovered now?” Sybil asked. Bourbon always kept a large amount of type O blood on hand, he was type O, as was she, and he used it to refill his abused veins after each payment was made to a lesser demon, for they would only accept payment direct from the witch or wizard that made use of their many talents. Both Lord Asbaritch and Skargel allowed him to provide another`s blood as payment in full. For them the blood was just a token payment, a form of tribute to them, they only did Bourbon`s bidding because he was looked on favourably by Lord Lucifer.
Sybil called on Veigel who duly appeared behind the veil of smoke. Sybil saw within it the form of Rob appearing, he was driving along the narrow country lane that she recognised would eventually pass close by to the rear of the woods that ran around the southernmost part of the grounds within which the old chateau sat.
“Keep a watch on them Sybil and report their whereabouts, I will take Rochelle and his two men with me and we will await our annoying friends, if they do make an appearance it will be their last.” Bourbon commanded.
Sybil wasn`t too happy about this at all, if she was forced to watch the veil for too long then she would have to give more in return to Veigel for his work.
Bourbon collected Rochelle and the two heavies and was soon walking through the woods. On the opposite side of the woods, Rob and his two friends also entered the woods, hoping that they had done so without any unseen watcher. Guided by Sybil, Bourbon was able to pick his spot and settled down to wait for his prey.
Rob was leading, he moved through the gloom of the woods at a slow pace so as not to walk blindly into any trap set by Bourbon. Father Pritchard suddenly put out his hand to stop Rob.
“Someone is watching us Rob, can you feel it?” Father Pritchard asked softly.
“Yes, David, I`ve felt it for the last two minutes but for the life of me I can`t see even a sign of our watcher.” Rob replied just a little angry at his inability to catch a sight of their hidden foe.
“You won`t Rob, it`s someone using a demon, it`s why I can feel them. Both of you recite the Lord`s Prayer quietly to yourselves, it will confuse them, for they will only be using a very minor demon for such a task.” Father Pritchard advised his two friends.
Unfortunately Bourbon had already been able to find an ideal place to launch his ambush from, and had he employed more intelligent help it would have been the end of Rob`s quest. Unfortunately for Bourbon, one of the heavies wasn`t endowed with an awful lot of that particular quality, and he chose to fire his pistol a second too soon, and just at that particular moment.
Rob heard the crack of a pistol firing just milliseconds before a bullet crashed into the large tree, which was only inches from his head.
“Scatter!” Rob cried out to his friends.
Ryman and Father Pritchard turned and ran from the scene of the ambush; the premature attack on them giving them the chance to escape.
Ryman swore loudly as he charged to the right, his course taking him through bracken that came up to his waist, the sound of gunfire coming from both his friends and enemies was soon far behind him. He had fled the ambush as he had reasoned that, as he was unarmed, to try to help his two friends would have been foolhardy and may even have endangered their lives, in this he was right. He didn`t stop running until he was sure that he was safe from Bourbon, the one person in the world who really scared him. His lips were moving all of the time as he quietly recited the Lord`s prayer over and over again, hoping that this would stop the unseen demon from following him. Five minutes later and he knew that he was lost, but he kept walking until he reached the edge of the woods, and by a miracle, it was at a point that was very near to the chateau, he saw what looked like the servants entrance ahead of him. He sank down to the ground and decided to wait until darkness fell, and if neither of his friends showed up, to then try to approach the chateau alone. Minutes later, he had to crawl back into the ever-growing darkness beneath the trees as Bourbon and Rochelle hurried by just ten feet from him, as they headed back to the chateau. More time slipped by and he saw some limousines begin to draw up, and the occupants walked into the chateau. He looked about him for signs of his two friends but without success, his sisters’ safety might now depend upon him alone. Steadfast in his desire to free them he put aside the fact that alone he would stand no chance at all in surviving such an attempt. Lights were coming on in the chateau and Ryman had noted which rooms held only a single guest, if only he could make it to one of them before he was seen by Bourbon. With the sky growing ever
darker, and with fear eating away at his insides, Ryman decided that his chance to move forward had come, and he slipped through the grounds towards the chateau. He had decided to enter via the kitchens, for he was sure that the guests would all be strangers to the servants of the chateau. He would walk through the kitchen and by the servants as if he owned the chateau, and then walk up the stairs used by the servants. Once up on the first floor he would make his way to the first of the rooms that he had earmarked, and hope for a little help from the angels.
Father Pritchard had seen Rob throw himself to the ground with his pistol already out and aiming in the directions of their attackers, but he too had raced off leaving Rob to defend their escape, Father Pritchard though ran to their left. As he sped away, he heard what he thought was Rob’s automatic pistol firing, as he gave his friends the vital time they would need to get clear. He too recited the Lord`s prayer to throw their evil watcher off. Ahead of him, the woods ended abruptly and he stopped to take in the open ground ahead. There was what looked to be an enclosed garden only a hundred feet away from him, with a fallen tree giving him access to it. He decided that he would hide within it and wait for darkness to fall. He could still hear sporadic gunfire from within the woods and smiled, for these sounds told him that Rob was still alive. He sped forward and climbed over the fallen tree and into the same labyrinth that had aided Ryman`s sisters so ably, and not so very long ago. Walking forward he got lost amongst the false trails of the labyrinth, but Father Pritchard finally came to the entrance that was on the other side of the labyrinth. He sat down here to await the safety that only the darkness of the night could provide. He watched as the Satanists arrived in their expensive cars and smiled, one of these foul people would be his means of entry into the satanic temple. He knew that what he was about to try and do was all the more dangerous, now that they had been discovered in the grounds of the chateau, but he was still determined to go ahead with the plan outlined earlier by Rob. He too had noted the lights coming on in the bedrooms of the chateau, and chosen a suitable one. He now offered up a prayer to god, asking his help for himself and his two friends, who were all fighting against the evil that was before them. The sun had set when he moved off across the garden towards the chateau, the ground floor rooms were ablaze with light, but he was hidden from prying eyes by the darkness of the cloudy night. He had decide to enter through one of the many open French doors of the chateau and try to ensure that Bourbon didn`t catch sight of him. He would then walk up the main staircase and knock on the door of his chosen room.
Rob had cursed when the bullet that flew by his head told him that their arrival had indeed been anticipated, he had realised the possibility, but he had hoped that Bourbon would be too busy preparing for the coming night to organise anything like this. His hand was pulling out his automatic pistol even as he threw himself down to the ground. A single moment after his body hit the hard earth his pistol was firing threw the bracken that filled this part of the wood, five shots left his pistol in as many seconds as he slowly traversed it across an arc that he calculated their attackers lay. He needed to stop any pursuit of his two friends, and if he were lucky, maybe even narrow the odds. Rob slowly raised his head above the green foliage and saw part of one of his attacker`s body, the man was hidden behind the trunk of a tree, but he had not fully returned to the position he held before the ambush was sprung. Rob aimed carefully and fired his pistol, and he was overjoyed to hear the man cry out in pain as his bullet sped through the side of the man`s stomach.
“Are you alright Pierre?” Bourbon called. The concern in his voice was more for his need to deal with the intruders than the health of his hired muscle.
“Yes, I`ll live Sir, the bullet just creased me.” Pierre replied. He was bent over in pain and biting back the urge to complain. Pierre may have been a little premature in his assessment of his injury, for a stab of pain went through his body as he stood erect, and he felt a little faint. He looked down at his wound and saw that now that he was standing erect his blood from his wound was flowing much faster, he groaned and slumped down to the ground and put a hand to his wound in the hope of slowing his loss of blood.
“I think I need a doctor Sir, help me back to the chateau please. He cried out to Bourbons retreating back.
Father Pritchard must have been correct when he had mentioned a demonic watcher, Rob reasoned, for how else could Bourbon have been waiting for them at just the right location to mount an ambush. He swore to clear out this nest of vipers before the night was over.
Rob had been edging away from his initial position, and he too began to recite the Lord`s prayer, not only to ensure that Bourbon`s secret watcher would be seen off, but also to hopefully stop any attempt by Bourbon at hypnosis. Rob circled around the ambush site to put more distance between him and his assailants, in doing so he caught site of the second of Bourbon`s heavies. He was lying behind a fallen tree with only his head and pistol hand fully exposed to view. Rob had no desire to kill the man even though the man wouldn`t hesitate to kill him. Instead, he aimed for the hand holding the pistol, and he was just about to fire when a well-aimed bullet whizzed by his head, once again it ploughed into the side of the tree that was only two inches away from his head. Rob whirled around to see Rochelle not twenty feet away. Rob hastily retreated around the trunk of the tree and out of sight of both of Rochelle and the man who he had been targeting just a few seconds earlier. This was the second near miss that he had had over a very short period of time, and Rob thanked whoever was looking over him for saving his life. Putting his silent thank you aside for the moment he now pulled out one of the tear gas grenades, he then lobbed it towards the position last occupied by Bourbon. This had been but a precaution, but Rob was delighted when he heard a man cry out, and then came the sound of bracken being broken as someone hastily retreated. Rob then lobbed his final tear gas grenade over towards Rochelle, and as he heard him cry out Rob moved forward, it was just as the other of Bourbon`s heavies rushed forward towards him. Both men saw each other instantly, but Rob reacted that much sooner as his bullet tore into the heavy’s shoulder stopping him and sending him crashing to the ground. Rob collected the injured man`s pistol and then moved further to the left before heading forward after the retreating giant. He thought it likely that Bourbon would return to look for him, and that the first heavy might still pose a danger, this meant that he had to constantly stop to scan the area around him. It was a minute after he had thrown his final grenade that he saw Rochelle far to his right talking to Bourbon, of the other heavy there was no sign. Bourbon and Rochelle must have come to a decision for they both moved back towards the chateau, and away from him.
With this part of the battle over Rob was able to sigh with relief and he returned to the man he had shot in the shoulder. He was still lying up against a tree and appeared to be unconscious. Rob tore two strips of cloth from the man`s shirt and folded one up into a wad and pressed it against the wound. The other strip he only folded once and put it over the first, and then taking the man`s trouser belt off he put it around the man`s chest and pulling it tight and used it to keep the wad pressed tightly against the man`s shoulder. This was all that he could do for the man. Rob then went in search of the first man that he had shot and found him slumped against another tree, his wound had been worse than the man had thought, and he was also a little weak from the loss of blood. Rob dressed his wound as he had done earlier with the man`s comrade, and Rob also relieved the injured man of his weapon. Rob had attended to his two wounded enemies as he didn`t want the French police to come looking for him, should Rob be left with their dead bodies after the battle was won. With Bourbon short of two heavies Rob hoped that Bourbon now only had the giant left to stand between him and a swift death at his hands, the Satanists he discounted as scum who would flee when the action got too hot.
Rob now moved forward, ever alert for signs of an enemy, but he was also on the lookout for his two friends who had escaped the ambush and, he hoped, were alre
ady proceeding with his plan to free Christina and Cassie. Ahead of him was the chateau and like his two friends he settled down to await the night, which soon came.
Kidnapped and Bound for Hell Page 25