by Tanya Simon
“Hello, I am Raevanne, Shivana of the Roodmasi.” Raevanne began as she sat in the chair by the bed.
Harry Ballinger, stretched his calf muscles, checked his pedometer and set out jogging easily down the curving, wooded trail. It was another wonderful, clear Colorado morning and the birds were chirping happily in the trees. He raised his hand in greeting to two women who were jogging in the other direction and picked up his pace. He slowed his breathing as the trail began to incline, the trees were thick enough to block out the morning sun. Harry took a deep breath as he prepared to kick into high gear and gagged as a horrible stench filled his lungs. He stopped gagging and tried not to breathe too deeply. Bile burned the back of his throat and he knew he was going to vomit, so, he moved off the trail and leaned against a tree, retching, he threw up his guava-mango smoothie and vitamins. He leaned his back against the tree, still trying not to breathe too deeply, and saw crows feasting on some carrion. He gave in to his curiosity and went to see what would be big enough to leave such a stench in the air. As he moved closer to the crows, they shrilled an alarm to back off from their meal. Fascinated, Harry walked closer. He grabbed his ear as one of the crows, swooped in and pecked it. He looked down, and froze; dozens of crows were feeding on the dead body of a woman. Her face was a mess, but he could see her breasts with rings through the nipples and the gaping hole where her insides should be. Harry shakily walked back to the trail and shouted at a man running by. Harry managed to gasp out that there was a body in the trees before blackness swarmed over him.
Annie told the twin who lived in her ear, to wait with their cart and she would go and look in the dumpster for breakfast. She shuffled her old, tired body down the dirty alley and climbed up on a crate sitting by the dumpster. She looked over the side and began to sift through the throwaways from last night’s business at the diner, they always found good ‘eatins’ in the dumpster. Her hand touched something squishy and she shifted her position so she could get a better hold on it. She yanked with all her might, cause it was stuck under ‘somethin’ heavy. Annie let out a squeal and fell backwards off the crate, when she realized breakfast was the arm of a dead girl. Annie put her hands over her ears as her twin burst out screaming.
Sam Jefferies and his partner, Naomi Calabrese sat at their desks, drinking horrible coffee and staring at the pictures of two dead teenage girls.
“Did you find anything they had in common?” Sam winced at the coffee.
“Other than both of them going to South High and living about ten blocks apart, nothing. They weren’t friends. Victim number one had short, spiky red and black hair, multiple body piercings and tattoos. She had been suspended twice this year and had track marks. Victim number two, had long, straight brown hair, was a straight A student and was on the student council and the debate team, she sang in her church choir.” Naomi pushed her mug as far away as she could and have it still be on her desk. “They probably didn’t even know the other existed.”
“As far as I can tell, they both were ambushed on their way into their homes. Number one was returning from a rock concert. Her car was parked in the driveway and the driver’s door was open.” Sam closed his eyes and chugged his coffee. “Number two was returning from the library there were library books in her parked car, in front of her house. Both of her parents were downstairs watching TV, and neither one heard anything.”
Naomi looked at the mug on the edge of her desk, yawned, and decided to bite the bullet. She reached for the mug and chugged the contents, hoping her taste buds wouldn’t register the taste, they did, and Naomi coughed and sat her mug down. “The first girl’s parents were getting high at the time of their daughter’s abduction, so they wouldn’t have heard anything.” Naomi stretched her neck and shuffled through some papers on her desk. “No neighbors saw anything suspicious. Victim number one was well fed, showed no signs of torture, and she was smiling. Victim number two was malnourished and had been tortured significantly, she had burn marks on her torso and she had been whipped. The second victim died from having her throat ripped out, her organs were removed postmortem. Victim one died from an incision through which her internal organs were removed. The incisions match, which is what is letting us know they were both done be the same guy.” She flipped some more papers. “Both tox screens came back clean.”
“There wasn’t any trace to speak of at either dump site. Both girls weren’t sexually abused; in fact both were virgins, with hymens intact. But, why tear out one’s throat and not the other’s? What did she do to tick him off?” Sam sighed. “This guy is one sick bastard.” Sam looked at number two’s smiling, happy face in the picture her parents had given him.
“Yep. And he knows his game. He’s done this before.”
“I don’t think he’s finished, either.” Sam put her picture down.
“Me either. Let’s go talk to the friends again maybe they’ve remembered something, anything.” Naomi stood.
“Okay.” Sam followed her through the double doors and out to her sedan.
As they pulled out, each one had a bad feeling about this case, they both knew the sicko was just clearing his lungs, he hadn’t yet begun to sing.
3
Silently, the robed figures made their way down the worn rock steps to a fire lit antechamber, no one looking at each other or at their surroundings. When all had entered the room, the tallest member of the group closed and bolted the door. Each figure made its way to the center of the large room and joined hands with the figure closest to it and bowed its head.
“Master, hear our plea, show your children the right road to the Ascension, help us stop the Beast, before he exposes your people and brings about our downfall. Guard our number and our deeds. Give us strength to walk through the coming trials. Natas Sevil!” A strong, masculine voice whispered in prayer.
One by one, they pulled their hoods back to show troubled faces. The one who had prayed, Daniel, cleared his throat and spoke.
“We must do what our Shivana would do, if not for Cain. We must stop the sacrifices until closer to the Ascension. We must keep attention off of us until the Master can obtain this plane. I want you to work on finding those who would willingly without conditioning, die for the master. Perhaps, we can offer them to the Beast, to quench his blood thirst.” He looked into each worried face. “Though we are less than thirty in number we must not fail, the future of our entire people rests on our shoulders.” He walked to a small, black-haired woman, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Belinda, you are closest to the Shivana among our group, I charge you with talking to her, trying to free her from Cain’s spell, so she can see the danger to her people.” Daniel turned back to face the group, “Remember if we are caught the punishment will be horrible death, so please use caution and keep yourselves shielded at all times, even with your loved ones. We will not meet again in our full number; I will communicate with a small number of you at a time.” He walked to the door and unbolted it. “May Satan guide your steps always, goodbye.” Daniel opened the door and one by one the group filed out. Daniel turned to the candles and waved his hand in their direction, each one winked out. He and his wife, Abigail went upstairs to return to their duties.
Belinda tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths as she climbed the stairs to the Shivana’s office. Her small, elfin face was pale and made her big blue eyes stand out; they were full of worry. She said a quick prayer she would not betray her friends and, therefore, her people, and gently knocked on the door.
“Come in, Belinda.” Raevanne stood from behind her desk and went to her.
“Shivana, we must talk. I fear you will not care for what I have to say, but I must say it.”
Raevanne went back to her desk chair and beckoned for Belinda to take a seat in a chair against the wall. Belinda tried to sink back into the overstuffed easy chair and relax as she had on prior visits with her friend, but she couldn’t. So, she took a deep breath and waited for Raevanne to look up at her.
“What is it, old friend? Yo
u seem terrified.” Raevanne rose and went to sit in the chair next to her.
“Shivana, Raevanne, I fear we are in danger of being exposed before the Ascension can take place. The constant sacrifices by the Beast are drawing national attention; they must stop before they are our downfall.” Belinda looked down at her clenched hands, unable to look Raevanne in the eyes. “I am only thinking of our people, my Shivana. We could feed Cain’s blood lust with the fringe which is always willing to die for the Master, and when the Master ascends we will rule and be able to feed all of our blood lusts from the spoils of war.” Belinda looked up, “Please, Shivana heed my warning.”
“I understand your confusion, Belinda, but Cain acts under his father’s orders.” She took Belinda’s face in her hands, “He is well aware of the attention we are getting and it is exactly what the Master wants. He wants all eyes focused on us when the Ascension begins, he will feed off the terror. You will see, we will have a grand celebration as he takes his place on his throne.” She pulled Belinda to her feet, and walked her to the door. “Do not speak of this again, if Cain were to hear he might misinterpret your loyalties.” She gently pushed her out the door and closed it.
Belinda walked a few steps and leaned against the wall, until the worst of the shaking had passed, breathing as normally as she could when she was so terrified, she hurried down the stairs to find Daniel. There would be no convincing the Shivana Cain’s plan would not work, they would have to stop Cain on their own and it meant finding the girl and bringing her to their side. She was their only hope.
Belinda flew through the halls until she reached the kitchens where Daniel was bent over a giant cauldron, stirring aromatic, creamy mushroom gravy. He looked up at her, and when he saw the terror in her face he stopped stirring and motioned her to follow him. He stepped into the pantry and walked to the back. The pantry was huge and someone would have to be deliberately looking for them to see or hear their conversation.
“I see from the expression in your eyes, sister, we will not be able to convince the Shivana to stop the killing.” He patted her shoulders. “I figured as much. We are closing in on the girl; we know she is here in the state. She will help us. The Shivana’s blood, Roodmasi blood runs through her veins, she will not fail her people.”
Daniel seemed so certain, but staring into his confident eyes, she could smell the brimstone and bale fires of the Master’s dungeons and she feared they would all be roasting in them before long.
Daniel stood next to his wife and tried not to rush her. He looked up at the door, they had charmed it and Manuel stood guard just inside the room. They shouldn’t be bothered, but the longer they were in here the greater the chance they would be discovered.
Abigail closed her eyes and swung the huge crystal on a silver chain back and forth over the map of the state on the table. She blocked out her husband and their friend and concentrated on finding the princess. The heavy crystal plunked down on the map.
“Where is she, my love?” Daniel asked impatiently.
Abigail looked at where the crystal had landed on the map. “She is attending the university at Boulder. She also lives in Boulder; I can’t get exactly where. It has been blocked by a powerful protection spell.” She turned worried blue eyes to her husband. She may not want to be found.”
“It is more likely whoever took her all those years ago placed the protection spell around her to keep us from finding her.” He put his arm around her shoulder. “I will find out what her schedule is, and Manuel you will go to her and beg her to help her people.”
“Agreed.” The big man guarding the door nodded and turned to unbolt the door.” He placed a huge hand on the doorknob. “Are we ready?”
Daniel gently pushed Abigail toward the door and followed. He looked at her. She nodded.
“Yes.”
Manuel opened the door and they walked down the corridor. Each lost in thought. Each praying for forgiveness. Each hoping the princess would listen.
Daniel looked up at the clear blue sky and the towering evergreens, and he believed anything was possible on a beautiful day like this. He believed they could save the Roodmasi from the destruction the insane Beast was about to bring down on their heads. Somehow, the Shivana would finally see what he was doing to her people. Sighing, he walked across the compound to the guardhouse at the gate.
“Good afternoon Brother Manuel.” As Daniel reached the gate he extended his hand to the tall, bald man guarding the gate.
“Good afternoon Brother Daniel,” he answered in a deep voice.
Daniel looked around to make sure they were alone.
“As you know, we have found the princess, my brother.” He silenced his friend. “She is attending the university.” He reached into his robes and took out a piece of paper. “Here is her class schedule.” He handed the paper to Manuel.
“I will talk with her, my friend. My shift ends soon, and I will go. It will take a couple days for me to determine the best time to approach her.”
“Good. Report on your outing at our next meeting. Be careful.”
“I will.”
Daniel turned around and headed for the aerie. He bowed his head and begged the Master for guidance.
Mystery Williams raced down the stairs, she had just enough time to return her library books and make it home to get everything ready. She smiled to herself as she looked at the beautiful blue sky and the perfect fluffy clouds. Of course it could be raining and she wouldn’t care, she had her fiancé, Seth, for an entire night. She hadn’t spent any time with him in over a week; she would be very glad when he was rotated out of this shift.
As she cut across the quad, she hummed to herself. She had just started up the library stairs when someone grasped her arm. She turned to see it was a tall, bald man. Instinctively, she pulled back and he released her arm.
“Your highness, please forgive me for deigning to touch you. However, I needed to speak with you without calling too much attention to us.” He bowed his head slightly, “Your highness, Melusine, you must help your people before it is too late. You are their only hope. If you don’t help Cain will bring us all to destruction!”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She inched up the steps, trying not to panic when he followed. “You have the wrong person,” she said quietly, patiently.
“I have the right person.” He smiled a kindly smile. “You just don’t remember.” He bowed and began backing away. “I am sorry, your Highness; please forgive me.” He turned and walked away.
Mystery leaned against the railing and caught her breath. After checking to make sure he was gone she went inside to turn in her books.
As she climbed in her car and backed out, she decided to keep her rendezvous with a psycho to herself. Smiling, she shook it off and drove home, she had Seth and nothing was going to spoil her time with him.
Manuel hid his thoughts, as he drove through the gate and into the parking lot. Schooling his features to show nothing, he got out of his car, locked it, and walked toward the aerie.
Once inside he went to his quarters. He unlocked the door, anxious to be inside so he could be as worried as he wanted to. He turned on the light and stepped into the chamber. He let out a little shriek, when the dresser mirror showed him there was someone sitting in his chair.
“I apologize for scaring you, brother. I thought it best we talk as soon as you returned.” Daniel barely disguised a chuckle with a cough.
“Satan save us!” Manuel took the other chair in the room. “She remembers nothing. As far as she knows she is Mystery Williams, daughter of David and Sarah Williams. She thinks she was born in Denver. The only sign she might somewhere in her subconscious remember something is she is majoring in parapsychology.”
“Do you think we might be able to jog her memory, with a few dreams of her life with us?” Daniel asked, worry showing for the first time in his handsome features.
“It might be worth having Abigail invade her dreams. Howev
er, my brother, I do not think gentle memories of happy times will do. If we show her all the horrors the beast is committing it might jar her into remembering us. They might trigger her very dormant blood lust.”
“We have little time, my brother.” Manuel stood and began to pace the large stone room. “The Beast plans to steal another sacrifice tonight.”
“We will stop him, we will release her.” Daniel stood and went to the door. “A few of us will meet in the usual place in half an hour; I want you to tell the others what you told me.”
“I will be there, brother.” Manuel said as he closed the door.
He went into his bathroom and showered, washing the outside world off of his body. He thankfully dressed in his robes and went out to meet with his friends. He wished he had better news to report. He went down a dark hall and when he reached the end, he knocked on the closed door, two short raps, followed by three more.
The door opened and he went inside to report.
