The trees surrounding the home were also lighted from two sides; the house-facing side and the property-facing side providing an area around the home in which movement can easily be spotted and identified.
The chauffeur drove into the circular driveway with the passenger’s side of the car facing the front door. After parking Vic seemed anxious and nearly opened the door to exit without allowing the chauffeur his duty of opening the door for her. But she maintained composure and stepped out onto the pea-gravel driveway as he held the door for her. She politely thanked the chauffeur for the hand he offered as she stepped out. As the chauffeur closed the car door behind Vic a butler opened the front door of the home and stepped out onto the white granite steps leading to the door.
“Good evening, Miss Nyles. My name is Cecil. May I show you in and announce you?” He’s an older butler who’s obviously one of several generations of family who’s worked this discipline. Or at very least he has that air about him. He’s clean-shaven and has a full head of gleaming silver hair the lights reflect off easily. His attire is typical, stately livery with clean, white gloves, tails, and shoes so perfectly polished one could signal to aircraft overhead with them. Just as the butler finished speaking a young valet popped out from the warm dimness of the home’s interior. He went to take the one piece of luggage the chauffeur had just taken out of the Bentley.
“Please put the bag back in the car,” Vic asked in a somewhat authoritative tone, “I suspect I’m not actually going to spend the night here,” Vic then looked to the chauffeur, “Please keep the car warm and ready to go unless I come out and say otherwise.” The valet looked to the chauffeur and the chauffeur looked to the butler who then nodded an approval. The valet gently placed the bag back into the Bentley and jaunted back into the house. What all of this seems to tell us is either the house staff is not in on any of this, or they all have instructions to appear as if they’re not a part of this. Whichever the case may be, Victoria entered the house, and the butler relieved her of her coat and hung it in a closet.
Journal entry LV
The interior of the home was heavily laden with hardwood design, paneling, trims, and floors all in warm honey tones bordered with darker golden brown tones. The ceiling tiles were a somewhat shiny metal with gold tipping on the ornate raised design of each tile. The lighting was warm but most definitely white hue which lighted the rooms nicely with the reflection from the metal-tiled ceiling but without a harsh glare. There were several animal trophies and numerous framed photos; most were black and white. In short, no real shadows or hidden areas; a kind of contrast from what we saw at Katrina’s abode telling us we're not in angel territory either.
The butler opened a pair of sliding wooden doors and announced Vic’s entry in a formal manner. A man stood from a leather high back armchair, set his brandy down, and stepped forward from his shadowy recline to greet Vic and shake her hand. Our minds quickly flashed back to the flight coming here, and then to all the materials we read to pass the time. This gentleman is Malcolm Healy; U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. It was now obvious this house is his home away from home when conducting his foreign affairs abroad. Supposedly he’s mysteriously missing, but there’s nothing mysterious about it as he has two Ebony Demons attached to his soul.
Healy is an older man, but seems fairly fit and strong. I suspect his physical fitness masks a greater age than one would first presume. He seems tired though, like he’s out of breath, and there are dark circles under his eyes, all obviously from the strain and fatigue the two demons are putting on his soul. Malus is close, we're sure of it, and the butler just closed the sliding doors to this room.
I almost gave Vic the sight she needed to see the two demons, but had I done that her reaction may have given away that she could suddenly see them. I withdrew my hand and bit my tongue to wait for a more opportune moment. Ambassador Healy invited Vic to have a seat as he poured her a brandy. Vic sat in an identical armchair to the one Healy was sitting in. At her ten o’clock was a warm fire; her twelve o’clock the Ambassador’s chair, and to her immediate two o’clock was a small but ornate table with a clean ashtray and now her glass of brandy. With the exception of who sits in each chair it seems the room was set up to mirror itself from one end to the other. This had us questioning if Malus if this room was part of Malus’s plan. Some sort of psych-out with Vic sitting across from as if the two were somehow mirror images one another. More likely we’re reading too much into every little thing and questioning those things too trivial to bother questioning.
I reached into Vic’s mind at first to just let her hear me from within …
“The Ambassador has two Ebony Demons attached to him. I’m going to help you see them, but you can’t react. If you understand please shift in your seat.” Vic adjusted and crossed her legs, and with that I gave her my sight. The muscles in her neck tensed for a moment, but she caught herself and forced them to relax. She could see the two hulking beasts with their tendrils anchoring into the Ambassador’s shoulders, upper chest, down his back, and most importantly into his mind. Each of the demons was anchored into each hemisphere of the Ambassador’s mortal brain giving them each more control than one demon alone can manage with a person’s mind. This means Malus has become far more intelligent in an evolutionary way. Katrina said there are three Ebony Demons infecting Vincent. So this would mean one for each hemisphere of his mind, and one for his soul specifically. Malus is obviously a somewhat progressive thinker in the ways of soul manipulation and collection.
Healy sat down in the other armchair with his refreshed drink, but rather than sitting back to relax he slouched forward and tried to make himself look comfortable. This slouching is literally because of the weight on the soul from the two Ebony Demons. One of those is difficult for many people to deny, but two of them on the average person will achieve almost instant control even though the demons can still only influence, not command directly, the influence of two must be akin to almost thinking for the person they're attached to. Vincent supposedly has three of these, and it was reported they hadn’t completely broken him when we got our initial report on his situation. The closer I look the more I see the absolute control the two Ebonies have over the Ambassador as their movements become his own right down to the little facial twitches.
“Thank you for the ride and drink, Ambassador. It was a surprise and a bit of a befuddlement being that there's so much commotion back home over your supposed disappearance, but here you are.”
“You’re very welcome, young lady. I've grown very fond of this house. On many occasions we've brought women your age — and younger — out here from the city and raped them silly,” he stated this with a twinkle in his eye and an almost boyish look of innocence and playful fascination, “Some never left this beautiful estate, but many were taken back into the city, under threat of torture and death if they reported anything. They were kindly dumped within a block or so of the hospital.”
“That's very considerate of you.” Vic nearly choked on that response but managed to keep her mind focused. She knows this isn't what we’re here for and presses on logically rather than emotionally. We’ll see how long that lasts.
“Y’know, we sure thought we were being courteous by doing so. There’ve been a few who wanted to make things more difficult than they needed to be. We buried them way out on the back end of the property. I have a collection of milk cartons with their photos on them if you'd like to see?” His boyish demeanor carried on as he was almost giddy by this point.
“I suspect this isn't why you invited me here this evening. I'm looking for someone. His name is Vincent. Do you know of him?” Vic is white-knuckling the arm of the chair trying to stay focused. She knows we can deal with this, but that's not why we're here. We can call the authorities once we leave, though obviously the Ambassador doesn't expect Vic to be leaving at all being that he's sharing this info so openly.
“Strangely enough I do know of the boy. A handful he's been from what I'm tol
d. But why would you want to bother with him when more mature men with far more experience at their disposal must be in great abundance for you to choose from?” Healy smiled broadly making sure to show off practically all the teeth in his head.
“Isn't it wonderful how one can say almost anything with a smile on their face, Ambassador?”
“Yes, I suppose so, young lady …” Vic and I both heard the growl in his voice as he ended his response. We're quite positive all of the staff we'd seen thus far are in on all of this. By the wonderful aroma in the air we suspect there's a male cook in the mix also. But we're not here for a dinner with the Ambassador after having had dinner with a deity recently, I believe we’ll pass. The ambassador just doesn't compare.
Vic sat forward in her chair, almost to the edge, with her ankles spread, her knees knocked and her elbows resting on them while clasping her hands together. She grinned slightly and seductively with her head at a slight tilt.
“There's a favorite word I like to say which makes me feel all safe and warm in situations like this. Would you like to hear it, Ambassador?” Vic said in a seductive tone. We looked over and saw the shadow beneath the sliding doors was broken. At very least it was the butler listening in, perhaps awaiting a cue from the Ambassador to come in.
“Yeessss. I believe I would like to hear it.” He became transfixed and hung on her words like a puppy waiting for a treat. Vic grinned in the sweetest coyest manner, and with a little giggle she let the Ambassador in on this favorite word …
“Valkyries.”
“Valkyries?” He questioned.
“Valkyries!” She only would've said it if she didn't believe Malus was in the room. Vic’s Valkyries stormed from the shadow of the high-back chair Vic was sitting in. Their force and speed was great enough it caused Vic’s hair to carry aloft on a breeze blowing past her from their wake. The Valkyries slammed into the two Ebony Demons causing the Ambassador to fall back into his chair and the demons to loosen their grips on Healy. The Valkyries circled around and hit the two demons again before they could re-strengthen their holds; one of them lost hold and was quickly launched by the impact somewhere out onto the property. The wave of Valkyries concentrated their assault on the remaining demon. This one’s tendrils were much more rampant in the Ambassador which meant it had been with the Ambassador the longest. This was the one who influenced the rapes and murders to take place, and the other demon was sent later as reinforcement. It's very possible the other members of the staff have Ebonies attached to them as well, but they hid themselves upon our arrival.
The third pass of the Valkyries nearly removed the demon from Healy and the Valkyries quickly spun around to hit the demon again. The demon’s tendrils tore and snapped until finally this demon also launched from the house. The force was so great the Ambassador had been tossed back into his armchair hard enough to cause him to tip back. Vic was quick enough to get to his chair and stop it from falling back entirely as it would've been the only noise audible outside the room alerting the staff.
One of the Valkyries stepped up to Vic and alerted her to Vince was upstairs. I quickly poked through the wall to see who had been standing at the door and found it was just the butler and Ebony Demon had come out of hiding. Clearly these Ebonies have gotten far better at hiding themselves since I didn't see this one earlier. We have to assume the chauffeur, the valet, and the chef are infected as well.
The Ambassador was passed out from physical exhaustion and the stress he had endured. Vic instructed the Valkyries to wait till she opened the sliding doors, which she did quickly, but without letting them slam into their door frame. As the doors opened there was an unleashing of a torrential flood of her collected souls onto the butler’s demon has Vic grabbed his hands and held him from falling or collapsing loudly onto the floor. As he collapsed Vic guided him down and eased his impact. From here we could hear the valet was assisting the chef in the kitchen, so Vic elected to just avoid them and make our way to Vincent.
Three Ebony Demons are now loosed on the property, and will be converging back here at any moment. Vic followed her scout upstairs, as quietly as she could, to the room Vincent was in. She quickly but quietly opened the door. Standing across the well-lit room was Vincent with three Ebony Demons well attached to him. I didn't dare let Vic see, but I did verbally confirm they were there. Vincent recognized Victory immediately. His will must be awesome to have kept from breaking during all this time, but physically the demons had control of most of his body. No doubt with three of the demons attached Vin was hearing them speaking to his mind in unison, which must be absolutely tormenting.
Without hesitation Vic ran across the room and threw her arms around Vincent before I could stop her. Of course this was a trap. We're upstairs; three Ebony Demons inbound, and all the way across this bedroom from the door is Vic’s prize. Yeah. A trap.
Vincent started crying saying he couldn't raise his arms and there were horrible voices in his head telling him to do things he wouldn't allow himself to do. He began getting a bit hysterical, which was completely understandable considering the massive stress he's been under for some time now. Vic told him she was going to do everything she could to fix this and was crying by then as well. Vic couldn't see the Ebony Demons smelling her and making crude gestures concerning the things they wanted to do with her.
Out of the corner of our eye we see four black, smooth-as-glass, talon-tipped fingers grip the top of the door as it started closing.
I yelled to Vic telling her to get out of there. I yelled we’re not ready for this fight. She wasn't listening. She was just staring into Vincent’s eyes, telling him she loved him while stroking his hair, and holding his face. The fingers on top of the door retreated, and then the door slammed shut. I passed through the door into the room, but Victoria’s Valkyries were somehow being blocked out. I could hear them systematically trying all the walls, the ceiling and the floor trying to find a way in. Nothing would give. They just couldn’t enter.
“Gooood eeevening, Victorrreeeyaah.” Malus’s voice was rough to say the least. Vic spun around and pressed her back to Vincent purposely putting herself between Vincent and Malus. She was obviously too distraught to think that through as any of the three demons on Vin could transfer to Vic, and this was her very first time seeing Malus. She shouldn’t be able to see him at all. She's not as prepared for this as she believed herself to be.
Malus is on the gaunt side of a medium build, and tall — about seven and a half feet when he’s not stretching himself out to devour a demon. He has no mortal physical features aside from the basic shape of a human, though I have seen him form details on the surface of his form, including facial features. However, his skin, or rather his surface, is like polished obsidian, but a darker black. Even when he gives himself eyes and a mouth none of it changes color. An onlooker will only see the contours of the features. This is his being all the way through his core. This isn't to say he's one hundred percent smooth and glossy. There are small, craggy fissures here and there, but they're not easy to see accept in brighter lighting, not unlike what we have in the Ambassador’s house. So here, in this room, we're seeing Malus in his full glory for the first time.
Malus wanted Vic to see him clearly and unfettered by shadows or disguise. Who would ever imagine a demon — a Devil — being so honest?
The Book of the Damned was in his possession for a very short time, during which he never touched the book even to turn the pages; he used a finger he snapped off of one of the damned and it wiggled in his grip as he turn the pages with it. Since I did not have the abilities then that I have now, we never touched him to learn more. We also never saw him experience his daily suffering. We came to believe that somehow his lack of identity was his suffering, but now we know Malus is something different from the other demons in Hell.
“LEAVE HIM ALONE! GIVE HIM BACK TO ME!” Vic’s eyes poured out tears and her voice broke from screaming at Malus. Her game face was gone and her composure completely
broke down in the face of Hell’s current Devil.
“Child, I spent far too long alone in the dark to give up on something this special now.”
To be honest, Malus doesn't say much, but when he does he speaks slower and elongates his words, but I'm not writing out all those extra letters like I did with his greeting. Malus, not having any fleshen features or well distinguished features at all, appears to produce his voice and the words he speaks very differently than any other creature with the ability to vocalize. The surface of his entire form reverberates, though it’s difficult to discern visually, but his words emanate from the surface of his entire form.
Vic, you'll remember what you heard; I don't need to spell it out. We were all there.
After his statement concerning his loneliness, Malus used one of his talons to slice open his middle finger where is fingerprint should be. His black essence bled out just like a human bleeds. He flicked his middle finger over the heads of Vic and Vin and gave the Gateway Command. As Malus waited for the opening to form two of the Ebony Demons climbed off Vincent. I've never seen anyone open a tear between Hell and the mortal realm so effortlessly.
From the tear between the realms of humankind and the damned … quills. Vic turned to look where Malus was focusing, but wasn't able to see anything. I approached her from behind and like before I warned her to be on guard against her own reactions, and then I gave her sight. Her body went rigid almost instantly at the sight of it.
A Thorn emerged from the tear. Hulking. Unemotional. Economical in its movements. Purposeful. Due to its size it hunched down, arms folded before it, and step through looking almost like it was emerging from a nearly fetal position and blossoming into a macabre flower with great quills for pedals.
This was a show. Theatrics. While still giving Vic sight I turned my own back to Malus. He was leaning against the wall by the door looking casual of all things. His hand with the pierced finger was raised in front of him looking as if he were smoking a cigarette. His bleeding finger was curled and dripping into a pool in the palm of his hand, and drizzling off onto the floor.
Legacy of Judas - Book One Page 31
