You don’t know?” Sam asked.
No,” her reply was open and honest. Sam searched her face for a sign of a lie, but could find none. How could we know?”
But you people did that!” he almost shouted the words, pointing toward the open casket.
Her face registered her shock. No, Sam . . . we didn’t. Falcon was telling the truth. We did not. But our Master did.”
Satan?”
That . . . pig! Roma spat the word with such venomous hatred Sam was stunned. She spoke it as if clearing her mouth of something nasty.
But he is your God, your Master,” Sam said. How can you call him a pig?”
He may or may not be our Master,” Falcon injected.
That is something we both want to speak to you about. But first,” he sighed, I must go offer my apologies to Nydia. Whether she can hear them or not, it is something I must do.” He walked to the casket and gazed down at the face of death. There were tears rolling down his cheeks. Genuine tears.
I ... don’t understand,” Sam said.
Is it too late for us?” Roma asked, all the while gently leading the young man to a room off the large mourning room. There she sat him on a couch and shut the door behind her, blocking out all sounds of the weeping, the sad melodious notes of the organ; only the soft scent of incense remained.
All that,” Roma flung her arm toward the door and the scene behind it, has come home to us, Sam. Reluctantly, at first, I have to admit it, but finally with more conviction than I have felt in ... well, might as well be truthful, hundreds of years. I began to admire your God.”
Sam stood up. This is a trick!” He turned to leave the room.
The sounds of Roma’s weeping stopped him. He turned, real tears were streaming from her eyes. Oh, Sam, I’m so confused. I don’t know what to do, where to turn. None of us do. Do you think we would be, to a person, weeping and mourning if we did not feel a terrible sense of loss and of guilt over this tragedy? We have spoken of nothing else for hours: repentance, the coldbloodedness of the creature we worshiped, yes, even admired for centuries. We want,” she sighed, . . . out.”
Sam returned to his seat on the couch, beside Roma. I don’t know what I can do.”
Nydia said you took her into the arms of your God. Can’t you do the same for us?”
Baptize you?”
If that is what it takes, yes.”
You would have to renounce all other gods, and you would have to be sincere in that renunciation, for my God can see into your hearts.”
I know,” she said softly. ”And for Falcon and myself, and a few of the others, it would mean instant death. We are willing to do that.”
Death?”
Yes, Sam Balon King. The instant holy water touches the flesh of a witch, warlock, or the undead, we die.”
You’re willing to go that far?”
Yes,” the softly spoken one-word condemnation touched him as might a velvet-encased hand gripping his heart.
He cut his eyes to the door. You’ve discussed this with all the people out there?”
Every one of them, Sam. That is how severely this . . . tragedy has touched us all.”
I just can’t believe it,” Sam leaned back in the couch, closing his eyes. This is just too much . . . too much in one day.” Test her, the thought came to him, but it was his thought, and not spoken from any outside source. He rose from the couch. I’ll be back in ten minutes. Who wants to be baptized first?”
Her smile was warm and sincere. Anyone in that room.”
The line on the east wall, the third person from the end.”
As you wish, Sam.”
He went to his room and filled a small bottle with blessed water from a church in Montreal. A member of the Coven sat beside Roma when Sam returned to the room, one of the newer members from New York. He smiled at Sam.
I don’t know all the right words,” Sam told him. But maybe this will work. You’re sure you want to go through with this?”
I am certain.”
This is no guarantee you’ll get into Heaven,” Sam told him.
It’s a guarantee that I will die, however,” the man said gently.
Sam glanced at Roma. She smiled sadly. I told you we were all sincere.” She rose from the couch to stand beside Sam.
Sam looked at the man, sitting quietly before him. Sam sighed, and said, Lord, I believe this man is sincere, and I’m asking You to help him. I . . . don’t know what else to say.” He wet his fingers with holy water and touched them to the man’s forehead.
The man recoiled backward in pain, his flesh bubbling as the blessed liquid ate into his face. The man began a series of regression, as his body flew back in time. A horrid stench filled the room. Soon there was nothing but a pile of rotting rags on the floor in front of the sofa.
Sam stood, stunned by it all.
Roma gently led him across the room, to another couch. This is going to be a terrible ordeal for you, Sam. I think you had better have some coffee, a sandwich before you continue.”
Yes,” he said. You’re right. Please, that would be nice.”
He must have dozed for a few moments, for when he opened his eyes, Roma was beside him on the couch, smiling at him. Sam thought he had never seen such a sad, tender smile in his life. On a coffee table, a small steaming pot of coffee, two cups, and a thick sandwich.
Eat,” she urged him, pouring the cups full of rich-smelling coffee. Then we’ll talk about your God.”
This is not a dream?”.
No, Sam. It’s very real. And in case you think the food or drink is drugged, choose what cup you want and give me any part of the food.”
He shook his head. I believe you.” He looked at the pile of rags across the room. After that.”
The sandwich was delicious, the coffee as good as the first cup he’d had in the dining area of the mansion—it seemed so long ago. He listened to Roma speak, her words tearing at him as he suspected they were to her.
Satan broke all the rules, coming here, speaking to us. He told us he would no longer abide by any rules of the game.”
The game?” Sam questioned.
Of course, it’s a game, Sam. A game between the two mightiest players in all the universe. This universe and all the others. A game they have been playing for thousands of years.”
A game,” Sam said dully.
A very ugly game, and a very profane one. The Foul One returned, appearing behind you. He is seldom seen in his natural form—even by us. He is ... grotesque, hideous. His very presence often kills should human eyes fall on his ugliness. Nydia’s did.”
Sam touched the side of his head. Who hit me?” The Dark One. He is everywhere at once, as is your God—my God, I hope. Sam?” she leaned forward until her face was only a few inches from his. Will you teach me how to pray to your God before you baptize me?”
If ... you would like that, sure.”
Oh, yes, I would like that. More than anything in this world, for I know my time remaining is very short, and growing shorter.”
My God might . . .”
No,” she shushed him, placing a soft finger to his lips. I know things you do not. Now finish your sandwich, Sam, and then teach me how to pray.”
Sam finished the hefty sandwich and drank another cup of coffee. I feel so guilty, Roma, sitting here eating while . . . she is ...” He could not bring himself to say the word: dead.
Don’t be,” she slipped a bit closer to him. Do you think Nydia would want that?”
No, I suppose not. You’re right, of course. She would be happy for you. Is Satan still here?”
He is everywhere.”
That’s not what I meant.”
I know. Yes, I can feel his presence. He is furious, but unable to do anything about his anger—at this time. You see, Sam, by merely talking with you about . . . our decision to reject Satan and accept your God . . . well, that puts the Dark One in a very bad position. Now he can’t make any moves against you; all his earthly allies—tha
t is, we at Falcon House—have switched sides, and the Prince is fearful of your God’s powers should he break any more rules.”
It’s all very confusing, Roma. But I’m happy for you, if you’re sincere, and I believe you are.” Sam waited for the mysterious voice to hammer at his brain, but his head remained free of any silent vocal intrusion.
I don’t resent your doubts, Sam,” she said, moving a bit closer to him. He was suddenly very much aware of the woman heat of her. Of course you have suspicions, why shouldn’t you?”
The perfume she wore was a scent Sam had never smelled before: very pleasant, not too heady, not too light. And as it assailed his nostrils, the essence seemed to relax the young man, wrapping him in fragrant invisible arms.
You’re very tired, Sam,” he heard her say. He nodded his head in agreement as fatigue hit him hard. Why don’t you sleep for a while? The rest will do you good.”
Sam struggled to remember why he was here, but his mind drew a blank. He could but vaguely remember soft music and the scent of lighted candles and incense. Everything was blocked out of his mind. What does it matter? he thought, as arms of incredible sweetness and softness slipped around him, cradling him gently.
Here, Sam,” Roma whispered, amid the rustling of clothing, the soft snick of a clasp opening. Rest your head here.” She pulled his head to her breasts.
Somehow, Sam thought, I knew they would be bare and beautiful. He opened his eyes, no more than a slit, and found the breasts to be more than beautiful: the nipples were stiff and erect, set amid half dollar sized rose-colored circles. And it seemed only natural his lips would find the papilla, encircling it.
Her hands were at the back of his head, gently holding his mouth to her breast, silently encouraging the young man to suckle her as a child.
Sam felt feverish. Not the unnatural heat of sickness, but that his clothing was an encumbrance he did not need.
Here,” she said, let me help you.” Her fingers worked at the buttons of his shirt, and Sam quickly felt the coolness of air on his bare arms. Pillowing his head against her breasts, he could not think of one single reason why he should object as she worked at his belt buckle, loosening the snap at his waistband. The snick of the zipper followed, and he moved his legs, assisting her in the lowering of his jeans.
She held him close to her for several moments, one hand resting on his flat belly, where his T-shirt had pulled up, exposing just a few inches of bare skin.
He heard her say: It will be wonderful, Sam. You and I, together.”
Yes,” he replied, in a voice that seemed strange to him, alien, not from his larynx. He added, At last.” Although he did not know why he said that.
She moved slightly, and her skirt was gone. She was naked. Sam started to protest that this was wrong, but that strange perfume stiffled any objection forming within him.
Why is it wrong? he asked himself.
It isn’t wrong,” she said.
Yes,” he said. It isn’t.”
Sam was conscious of cool air on his groin, but he felt it wasn’t worth the effort to open his eyes and look. Then he realized his underwear shorts had been removed and that seemed all right, as well. Everything seemed all right. Natural. Perfect. A man and a woman together. He moved his head to the satiny smoothness of her naked belly and kissed the indentation of navel, aware of the woman scent of her.
She moyed her hand, fingers encircling his growing thickness, stroking him into surging hardness, bringing him, through the manipulation of her skillful touch, almost to the point of ejaculation.
Then, with one swift movement, she mounted him, laughing as she did so.
Everything returned to Sam . . . coming in such a rush it almost overwhelmed him with its magnitude: his father’s warnings, the warnings of the mysterious voice. Nydia! her memory leaped into his brain. Where he was; what had happened; what was happening. He recalled the vision he had shared with Nydia: the scene of his father fighting with the witch . . . this woman who now had impaled herself on his maleness, driving her way frantically toward completion.
He began fighting the witch, attempting to dislodge her from his erection, but her strength was incredible. Despite his feelings of revulsion and self-disgust, knowing he had been tricked like a schoolboy, Sam was very close to exploding his semen into her wetness.
She held his hands to her waist with no more effort than if she were pinning a helpless baby to its crib. And despite himself, Sam felt his juices boiling. They began to spill over, then exploded. Using her inner muscles, Roma milked the last drop of precious semen from him, pulled away from him, and padded naked to a table. There, she picked up a vial of dark red fluid, opened the small bottle, and drained it into her mouth.
Sam was too weak to move as she began speaking in a language he did not understand, the incantation evil as it rolled from her tongue. Lightning licked around the mansion, as thunder ripped the countryside, the smell of burning sulfur strong in the stormy air.
Laughter reached Sam’s ears, spilling from the other room. Hot, wild rage filled him, causing his blood to run strong, giving him the strength to claw on his clothing and stagger from the room where he had been seduced into an unwilling paramour.
The scene that greeted him was of the vilest imaginable: a grotesque real-life panorama more vivid than anything Hollywood could ever produce in its most brutish moods. Nydia had been lifted from the casket, pillows placed under her. She was naked, her lifeless white arms hanging over the sides of the brass entrapment. Her lovely legs spread apart, knees to feet hanging out of the casket. Falcon was between her thighs, his gross maleness erect, pumping in and out of the young woman.
Shouting his rage, Sam charged the sickness before his unbelieving eyes. He was tripped, sending him tumbling to the floor, where he was kicked and beaten into semiconsciousness. He lay bloodied on the carpet, unable to stop the hideousness taking place.
Falcon’s hardness became slick with blood, and Sam could not understand that, for Nydia was dead. Then he decided in his near delirium it was not blood, merely the way the candles cast their dubious flickering light.
Nydia’s head was thrown back, her mouth a black gaping hole, eyes closed in surrender on her voyage to the stygian shore.
Falcon continued to ram his maleness into her.
Why don’t you pray, mother-fucker?” a female voice screeched at Sam.
He looked up through his pain into the wild eyes of Lana, squatting half naked beside him.
Sam shook his head as the taunts began, profane and loud, exhorting him to call on his God for help. He fought to get to his feet, but hands turned into fists, pounding him back to the carpet. He watched as the ugly act of necrophilia drew closer to completion, Falcon lunging in earnest, burying his long thickness into the dead flesh of Nydia. The man howled like an animal as he ejaculated, spilling into the young woman.
Falcon arrogantly rose from the satin-lined casket like some monster from the grave, and stepped onto the floor, wiping his softening penis with a towel handed him from one of those as lost as he.
Sam put his head on the carpet and wept.
Oh, don’t be such a crybaby, Sam!” Roma’s voice cut at him as a cat-o’-nine-tails would rip the flesh of its victim. You may have her now.” She raised her hand and performed a ritual that was too quick for Sam to follow.
He shifted his eyes to the sounds of someone suddenly weeping and thought he was going utterly mad as Nydia’s eyes opened and she looked around her, a bewildered expression on her face, as if she not only did not understand where she was, but why she was crying. She looked down at her nakedness, then at her temporary home, and screaming joined the tears.
Roma laughed. There is your darling, Sam. Take her, and witness what marvelous parturient pops from her womb. You won’t have a long wait, for when my Master takes a hand, events such as the one now growing within Nydia’s womb develop rapidly, such wonders to perform. Take your darling, Sam, and both of you carry your sniveling selves
from this room. So we lost a member from your application of holy water,” she answered the puzzled look in his eyes. No great loss—it is an honor to die for the Master.” She cackled like the witch she was. How does it feel to be beaten, young man and woman of God?”
The room of lost and damned souls howled with laughter.
Sam pulled himself to his knees and wiped blood from cuts above his eyes. When he turned to look at the witch, she hissed with fright and drew back from the sight of his burning eyes. We’re not beaten, you whore. I’m whipped for now, but I’m not down for the count. I don’t understand what has taken place here, for I know Nydia was dead; no one could look that dead and not be dead. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand it. But I know this: for some reason you can’t or won’t kill us ... yeah,” he said slowly, his eyes shifting to Nydia. She’s got to be kept alive, right? Sure. I see that. Me . . . I don’t know why you didn’t kill me after you screwed me ... maybe I’ll never know. But I’m going to beat you, bitch.” His eyes lashed at the witch. Some way, somehow, I’ll win this battle. Bet on it.”
Sam rose to his feet and walked to the candle-lighted bier; helping Nydia to the floor. No one tried to stop him, no one attempted to interfere. Sam ripped a drape from behind the bier and wrapped it around Nydia, covering her nakedness. They walked from the room amid the jeering, ugly sounds of the Unbelievers. Party music began playing, a loud raucous noise as the people began dancing in a hunching fashion around the room, the dancing more a lewd profanity than any type of graceful movement of partners.
Sam?” Nydia spoke in a whisper, even though the room and all the evil of its occupants was farther behind them with each step. I was ... dead!”
I know, honey. And don’t ask me to explain it, ’cause I can’t.”
Sam?”
He looked at her, taking her offered hand.
I know what you have to do.”
They were on the second floor of the great house, walking down the corridor to their rooms. What, Nydia?”
You have to make love to me, as quickly as possible.”
Devil's Heart Page 20
