The Storyteller of Pain

by Loren Molloy

  He felt Nurse Pergru kick him in his stomach and then tie his hands and feet.

  “Very good, Viggo. You shall be rewarded for your success,” Charles said to Nurse Pergru.

  “Thank you sir! I live to serve you and the soldiers of Satan,” Viggo Pergru said with a reverent bow.

  “Yes I know you have been faithful to the cause since the beginning and it won’t be forgotten. Now, I’m almost done here, so why don’t you bring him where he belongs. When you come back, she’s all yours.”

  “Yes Sir. Thank you, sir!” Viggo said with delight and excitement.

  The woman screamed frantically again as Viggo began dragging John behind him.

  “I thoroughly enjoy the boss’s leftovers. They are always in the perfect condition, alive but unable to think. Breathing but completely docile, until I’m done with them that is. After that, all they’re good for is the morgue and the crematorium.” Viggo Pergru laughed darkly.

  John tried to struggle free from Viggo but his grip was like steel.

  “Relax! I thought you said you wanted to see your precious Lily. I told you I’ll take you to her and that’s just what I’m doing.” Nurse Pregru laughed heartily again.

  Viggo was dragging him further down the dark hallway and further into the basement. The smell of rotting corpses was overwhelming. The screams and howls seemed to come from every direction, filling every inch of space around them. There were sounds of scratching, and voices whispering in his ears in many languages that didn’t sound remotely familiar to him. It was a kaleidoscope of noises that were maddening to him, yet Viggo seemed completely unphased by them.

  Faces kept appearing and disappearing into the darkness around them. Distorted, even mutilated faces. Most weren’t even human looking, others looked as if they were rotting and melting in front of his very eyes. It was a constant phantasmagoria of horrors seemingly for John’s eyes only. Viggo seemed to be completely untouched by all of it. John tried closing his eyes but it was as if the images didn’t need him to have his eyes open to continue. The sights and sounds were truly terrifying to all of his senses.

  Finally, Viggo lifted John up, propped him against the wall next to a door, and got his keys out. Viggo unlocked the door and pulled John into the room.

  “John!”

  John looked up to see Lily tied to a chair.

  “Lily!” John cried in relief.

  “Where do you want him?” Viggo said to a man standing in the corner.

  “Tie him to that chair over there,” the voice said from the darkness. The man stepped out of the shadows to reveal Mr. Wurthington.

  Viggo did as Mr. Wurthington commanded and then looked at him for his next command.

  Mr. Wurthington walked over and whispered something to the air, it seemed. Then with a foot, he brushed a gap in the white circle that John had only just noticed was surrounding Lily.

  “Put him in the circle facing his dear Lily.”

  Viggo silently did as he was told, then stepped carefully out from the circle.

  “Very good, Nurse Pergru. You may now go and seek your rewards. I’m sure Doctor Page has them waiting for you,” Mr. Wurthington said.

  “Yes sir. Thank you sir!” Viggo bowed and excitedly sped out of the room.

  Mr. Wurthington smiled an evil grin as Viggo closed the door behind himself. He then walked over with a container of salt and poured some while whispering some kind of prayer to close the circle of salt once again.

  “Don’t you worry. I’m sure Charles will be here soon. I’m sure he just had to clean himself up a bit and get himself presentable before arriving for the ceremony,” Wilbur Wurthington laughed maliciously.

  “Ceremony?” John asked

  “Oh, Charles will explain, but you didn’t think she was alive by sheer dumb luck did you? Ha! No, certainly not. The spell needed Lily, the object of desire, and a male sacrifice to make it complete,” Wilbur said with a sneer.

  The door opened and in walked Charles and eleven other people in robes. It had to be the same men as in Lilian’s premonition. They were the same color robes as she described. The eleven men were all in long black hooded robes and Charles was in a burgundy robe with a black hood.

  He was holding the book she had seen as well. It was just as she saw in her premonition and just as Wilhelmina’s diary described. It was a yellow-golden color that looked like it was made from different kinds of old flesh. Each piece was a different variegating color of flesh tones. Each piece was also stitched to each other, making it look like a massive patchwork of scars, and it had writing on it in blood red ink. Looking back at Wilbur, he was donning his own hooded black robe.

  The group of men all pulled out blood red candles and lit them. It illuminated the room in a ghastly and eerie manner.

  “Please Sir; get The Storyteller of Pain so we may begin,” Charles said to Wilbur

  Wilbur smiled and nodded. He quickly left the room.

  “What?” Lily cried

  “Oh yes, beautiful. She is needed as the witness to the final act. Then when all 13 demons have had their debts paid, they will all leave and we thirteen men will have all the power and rewards we have wanted without any repercussions. That’s how this works, my silly woman,” Charles explained.

  “I am not your woman and I never will be!” Lily roared at him in fury.

  “Oh, that’s where you are wrong. Strange how all the other spells we tried failed to make it so, but this one won’t fail. When we are done here, your dear friend John will be dead, and you will belong to me, body, mind, and soul.”

  “No.” Lily said horrified.

  “Oh yes! You see this spell calls for a white goat to be sacrificed. It’s quite obvious you desire this neanderthal. I can’t fathom why but by the time the spell is over, this pathetic ‘white goat’ will have his blood poured out all over this floor as well as all over you and me. You will then no longer have any feelings for this lower life form and want only me.

  We will then become husband and wife. The most brilliant, successful, and powerful couple the medical world has ever seen. I will be famous and revered. You will do anything and everything I ask you to, because you will belong to me in every possible sense of the word,” Charles cackled with delight.

  “Seriously, all this just to make her your wife?” John exclaimed in dismay.

  “Every man, including Mr. Wurthington has been rewarded with what they wanted most. Each will have power, fame, and tons of money when we have finished, as will I. I will also get to claim the crown jewel as my own. No one rebukes Charles Page and gets away with it. No one says ‘No’ to Charles Page and doesn’t suffer for it.

  Look at dear Delia. She has learned full well what happens when you try and say no to my advances. Her husband is dead and she has become a living meat bag and vessel for a powerful demon; one who will turn her into a page in this grimoire, just like all the other pages in this spellbook.

  I have wanted Lilian to be mine since I first saw and heard of her from Vincent. Why do you think I demanded she make a diagnosis on Delia DelaCour? So that, when she didn’t have a medical diagnosis, she would be fired and free to be solely my wife. The disgraced Crown Jewel who I, out of the kindness of my heart, take into my life and my bed. I would then once again be the smartest and most revered person at that hospital.

  Vincent tried to keep her from me and now he’s dead; food for one particularly vicious demon. I will have everything I ever wanted; money, fame, success, and a brilliant beauty as my wife. Men will wish to be me and wish they could have even one night with my beautiful wife. They will all wish and long for my life,” Charles shuttered with desire and lust at the thought.

  “You’re crazy! You should be a patient in this lunatic asylum. Not a doctor!” John yelled at him.

  “Say whatever you’d like, it makes no difference. You’re just a white goat waiting for the slaughter,” Charles said coldly.

  The door opened and in walked Delia DelaCour and Wilbur Wurth
ington.

  The thirteen men bowed at Delia.

  “Storyteller, we are honored you are here.”

  Wilbur put Delia in a chair in the corner before walking back to Charles.

  “Let’s get going! Yours is the only one to have been such a problem. We can all feel the powerful spirits becoming extremely restless,” Wilbur said very worried.

  “Yes. Yes. I don’t know how she has resisted all the spells we have tried. I can’t understand how it has taken this long either!” Charles said in fury.

  “Love, faith, and blood,” The Storyteller said.

  “What?” Charles exclaimed in anger and confusion.

  Delia’s eyes were two black, blank orbs floating on seas of vast white. It was the demon speaking through her.

  “Your spells didn’t work because she is already claimed in the three most powerful ways... love, faith, and blood.” The demons voice was like a symphony of eerie female voices, altos and high sopranos all together, speaking as one but as if all the voices were being tortured at once. It was disturbing to hear to say the least.

  “Impossible!” Charles cried out in fury

  “Are you claiming I don’t know what I am speaking of?” The Storyteller’s voice asked menacingly.

  “No! No. Of course not. I just don’t understand how that’s possible!” Charles said frustrated and fearful.

  “Easy. We love each other fully and completely. We are a true loving couple. I love her and she loves me. We have faith in each other. We have faith that we will be true to each other. We have faith in each other’s words and actions. We have faith in the fact that we will fight and lookout for each other no matter what. We also have laid together- slept together. If it wasn’t for this kidnapping you have orchestrated, we would be living together and married by the end of the year. That’s what we were on our way to do. Leave this state and go live together somewhere else. I even planned on getting married to her when we settled down,” John said defiantly with a loving but sheepish look towards Lily.

  Lily smiled ear to ear. She was beaming at him and at that statement.

  Charles’ face looked like it was turning into a plum, it was turning so purple from rage. He looked like he was going to explode any second.

  “And BLOOD?” Charles screamed at them

  “When Edwardo sliced Lilian’s arm open! I gave her a large transfusion of blood, my blood! You fucked up there. I don’t get why you wanted to kill the object of your desire. You even removed all her blood supply, which would have probably killed her if it wasn’t for my blood. That was a seriously stupid move. Doesn’t make any sense doing that Doc!” John said.

  “I DIDN’T DO THAT!” Charles bellowed at him and turned wildly to Wilbur.

  “They had stolen the diary! They knew too much. Besides, I figured with her dead our deal with the demons would go more quickly. You had become so obsessed with this one woman. There would have been so many to choose from when we were finished with this. It wouldn’t have mattered. How was I to know that man was a match to her? There wasn’t any record of him or anyone in the hospital having her rare blood type. I figured she’d be dead and then we could all move on and finally finish our pact,” Wilbur said sheepishly.

  “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING? No one told me about it being his blood used to save her! She is part of my deal. I have lusted after her since I saw her in her college classes. I have wanted her to be mine since before she even graduated. How could you imagine we could have moved on and finished without me getting part of my pact? YOU IDIOT!” Charles screamed at him in rage.

  Wilbur just shrugged looking very embarrassed.

  “UGH! No matter. Thankfully she is still alive and we can now finish my part of the deal,” Charles said forcing himself to calm down, smoothing back his hair in an attempt to regain his look of composer.

  Lily stared down at the ground silently throughout all of it. She was concentrating on the knots that held her hands in place behind her. If she could only untie herself, she could somehow stop this madness and save them both. She unfortunately was having no luck. She glanced behind her as best she could. Her chair was very close to the ring of salt. How will that help her stop thirteen men? She didn’t know but she had to think of something.

  “Let’s begin!” Charles commanded

  Wilbur looked very embarrassed and raised his hood. The twelve men begin to chant in some strange, foreign language while holding their lit blood red candles. The air changed drastically. All the hair on Lily’s body rose at once. The air felt dense suddenly, almost as if you could touch it.

  Charles went to the circle of salt and spoke in the same language as the other men did and wiped a spot clear with his foot allowing him entrance into the circle. Wilbur whispered some strange words again as he poured salt back in the empty spot, resealing the circle. John looked at Lily in fear and desperation. He was trying to hold back the tears that he felt flooding his senses.

  “I love you, Lily,” John said choked up on all the emotions that were consistently building within him.

  Charles smashed John across the face with the grimoire. “SHUT UP!” Charles screamed at him.

  “I love you too, John.” Lily said, tears streaming down her face.

  “You won’t even remember him by the time I’m done here.”

  Charles opened the evil spellbook and began reciting something the two of them couldn’t understand.

  Lily began to cry harder, louder while hanging her head down low and rocked in her chair. It wobbled with every rocking motion. Lily looked up at John, still crying and rocking. John saw a look in her eyes that wasn’t sadness or fear but determination and fury. She rocked harder in the chair. He suddenly realized what she planned to do and nodded every so slightly that he understood. John looked around the room. All the men had their heads down chanting, except Charles who was staring at the book, reciting whatever it was he was reciting.

  Lily was about to rock her chair all the way back but she saw Wilbur move and it forced her to wait. Wilbur handed Charles a strange looking knife to which Charles then slit his own palm wide open allowing the blood to drip onto the floor beneath him.

  John and Lily felt a shutter throughout the room. The ground even seemed to quake in reaction to it. Delia gasped and shuttered too.

  “It has begun. This sacrifice pleases us. What has begun cannot be undone until the last one has had its fun and I am only number One. The last one is now to come.” The Storyteller of pain exclaimed with a sigh of relief.

  “Oh Great and powerful Beelzebub, I call to you with a mighty sacrifice. Come to me, your faithful servant of darkness to claim your prize and allow me to fulfill my debt to you,” Charles cried out.

  “NOW!” Lily exclaimed

  Both Lily and John pushed themselves as hard as possible backwards, forcing their chairs to crash backwards and smash against the circle of salt. The impact forced their chairs to break and the circle of salt to be broken.

  Lily rolled over and jumped up. The chair was broken but her hands were still bound. John was still on the floor and kicked Charles’ legs out from under him, causing him to smash into the concrete floor. John then rolled onto his side and kicked Wilbur as hard as he could in the kneecaps, completely shattering them both. Wilbur went down in a blink of an eye, howling in agony.

  John saw the strange knife on the floor near Charles and maneuvered himself so that the knife was pressed against the rope. He wiggled back and forth for several seconds until he felt the rope break. He then picked up the knife and went quickly to Lilian and freed her hands.

  The eleven other men were standing, frozen in place from shock and fear.

  Charles screamed at the men to get Lily and John but they couldn’t. They were too afraid of what had just manifested while the commotion had commenced.

  A horrible smell was suddenly present. Flies were buzzing around the room as well. A massive and foreboding figure was hovering behind Charles. It was the demon himself. Lilian was m
ore terrified than she had ever been in all her life. Its presence caused a feeling of icy water to flood her veins. The saliva ran dry from her mouth and there was a huge knot of fear in the pit of her stomach. The smell of decaying corpses was worse than she had ever smelled. She was sure she was going to throw up. John was shaking from head to toe. His breathing was ragged and he was definitely hyperventilating.

  The demon was the color of the blackest tar with eyes the color of the ripest lemons. He had two huge horns on top of his head and the sharpest looking razor-like yellow teeth imaginable. His hands were talons and he had hooves for feet.

  “You summoned the Prince of Darkness and I am here to collect my debt.” His voice boomed and vibrated through them. The Demon looked down at Charles in contempt and contemplation.

  Lily put her hands in her pockets and felt nothing. The items were gone. She had no weapons to protect them. John looked over at what she was doing and remembered the items he shoved into his pockets earlier.

  John felt his pockets from the outside and gave her a small nod. He still had his. Lilian smiled and leaned into him. She hugged him while reaching into his pockets.

  “Him! I called you because I am giving that man to you as a gift and in payment of my debt.” Charles cried in fear at the demon. He was pointing at John.

  Lily looked at John with a smile and pulled out something from each pocket. He heard the tops being popped off of glass containers.

  She looked back at the demon and at Charles and said, “You can’t have him!”

  Lilian then put the glass container to John’s lips as well as one to her own and poured the contains down their throats.

  “Nooooo!” Charles screamed.

  It was holy water.

  Lily quickly pulled out another two vials. One which held the brick dust and another that held the holy oil and poured some of each on them both.

  Charles screamed again. “Nooooo!”

  Lilian looked at the demon and said, “But I offer up thirteen men instead for your payment. Afterwards I ask you to leave. Return to whence you came.”