by John Moralee
Opposite the entrance was another doorway, leading into another room. I could have spent several hours studying each exhibit, but I felt as though my host was waiting for me to come to him.
Therefore, I walked on.
The next chamber was the same size, but the exhibits were even rarer and more unusual. The most mundane of them was at the entrance, a pair of dodos, male and female, standing like guards, which was a startling sight, but the other exhibits left me flabbergasted. There were sabre-toothed tigers, a woolly mammoth, giant bats with the wingspans of eagles, an anaconda one hundred feet long and as wide as a beer barrel, a white ape-like creature from the Himalayas ... and there was another chamber beyond it, waiting for me.
It contained creatures only known in myths and legends.
And another doorway ...
... which led into a room that was entirely different.
It was circular and had a domed ceiling covered with an astronomical map of the stars made out of precious jewels. Each jewel was the colour and size of the star it represented in the northern sky. Five exits were at the points of a massive gold and silver pentagram. In the centre of the pentagram was a five-sided table with five high-backed chairs. There was a globe of the world on the table - easily the largest globe I had ever seen. Its diameter had to be four yards, which was remarkable because it appeared to be made of either solid glass or perfectly transparent crystal. The surface was etched with incredibly intricate and accurate topographical details. The globe was slowly spinning on its axis without making a single sound.
Another person was in the room, sitting on the other side of the globe, leaning on the desk, looking straight through the transparent globe. It was a hooded monk. His robes were brown and hid his face. His hands were pressed together as if in prayer. He wore a large ring on one finger of his right hand. There was a book on the desk in front of him. My eyesight was not as strong as it had been when I was young, but I recognised it as my own.
“Good morning,” the monk said. “I am The Great Collector.”
Something about his voice stirred my memories. It sounded familiar. I wondered if I had spoken to the man at one of my clubs.
“Good morning,” I said.
“What did you think of my collection?”
“It’s ... big.”
“You haven’t seen it all yet,” The Great Collector said. “The rest is kept in the other rooms behind us. The really interesting things.”
Suddenly I recognised the voice, but didn’t believe my ears for a couple of seconds because he was not speaking with an American accent. My heart thudded wildly in my chest. I felt as though I were having a heart attack. I clutched my hand to my chest until the beating calmed down. My lips were dry. My breathing was ragged. I looked up at monk striding towards me, reaching up to remove the hood.
“Gideon Hunter?” I said.
“Darn, you ruined my surprise. Yeah, it’s me.” He lowered the hood, grinning ear to ear as he walked right up to me. It was Gideon Hunter, without doubt. His fake English accent vanished, replaced by his ordinary voice. An American accent seemed strange on a man dressed like a monk. “Long time, no see. You’re looking real old, Lucas. Real old. What are you – a hundred and fifty?”
“I’m eighty-three,” I said. I was an old man. I wished I could have said the same about him. He should have been dead and buried long ago, but he still looked young. His scar had gone, which was impossible. No scar that severe healed. But his had, completely, leaving his face looking handsome.
“You haven’t aged,” I said. “How is that possible?”
“It’s a miracle, Lucas. A miracle!” He laughed and rubbed his clean chin as he approached me. His eyes glinting mischievously, he pulled off the robe and casually tossed it across the floor, where it landed rumpled. He was dressed underneath like a gentleman, in a bright-red waistcoat made of the finest silk. “Gotta tell you, I hate wearing that lousy robe, but I’m now a religious man. I’ve found God – literally. I’m now an official member of the Brotherhood of Ascension.”
“Never heard of them,” I said.
“You shouldn’t have. They secretly rule the world, Lucas. They are more powerful than kings. The Brotherhood made me a member of their order when I was about your age, well, a little younger – when I was sixty. They cured that little nick I got from the Red Devil. They made me young again. They needed a man with my skills, you see. They needed the world’s greatest hunter. Now I work for them, hunting down demons like the one you let escape. Do you remember the day you did that, old man?”
Old man. The words hurt.
“I remember,” I said. “Is that why I’m here? You want revenge because I let it escape? Are you going to kill me?”
He laughed. “Lucas – I ain’t gonna kill you. I could have done that already, if I had wanted to. No, Lucas, I owe you my life. You made me a rich man, thanks to the connections you gave me in India. That money allowed me to pursue my passion for collecting the rarest, most unusual animals on Earth. It also brought me to the attention of the Brotherhood. They showed me the error of my ways. I am now a man of God. I believe we can be allies, if not friends.”
“You want us to be friends?” I was sceptical and unafraid of showing it. “Tell me, what did you do with my friend Manjit?”
“The boy? I released him unharmed, as I promised.”
“Really? I spoke to the guard. He told me he was abandoned in the jungle without food and water. That’s hardly keeping to the spirit of our agreement.”
“Yes, that’s true. I’m sorry about that, Lucas. My men did that. I wasn’t there when they did it. I instructed them to let him go through a messenger. They should have given him enough food and water to make his way back to civilisation. I didn’t want him to die in the jungle. The boy didn’t deserve to be treated badly. One day, I hope you’ll forgive me.”
He seemed genuinely apologetic, but I suspected it was an act. Could a man like Gideon Hunter change?
“Let me show you something.”
He walked over to the globe and waited for me.
I didn’t move.
He sighed like a parent talking to a child. It was weird being aware of how old the young man standing beside the globe really was. “Lucas, in my note I promised to give you the answers. Do you want them or not?”
Reluctantly, I followed him. I took a seat at the table, resting my aching body. I wasn’t used to walking so far. My arthritic knees and hips were aching.
“Do you see the points marked with diamonds?” he said.
“Yes?” I said.
“They are special places like Stonehenge and the stone circle in India. There are over six hundred of them that we know about. We believe there are actually 666, the number of the Beast. The stones themselves don’t have any function, but the locations are unusual, which is why ancient men marked the places with stones. Stonehenge is the most famous example. Do you know what Stonehenge really is?”
“No,” I said. “What is it?”
“It is a portal. An invisible gateway.”
“A gateway?”
“Yes,” he said.
“A gateway to where?”
“Other worlds,” he said. “For thousands of years, creatures from other worlds have been coming to Earth through the gateways. You’ll know them by the folklore stories based on the accounts of human witnesses. All the stories about vampires, werewolves, ghosts and demons are based on true accounts. They exist. They are invaders from other worlds, who come and go as they please, using our world like a picnic basket. They are evil, Lucas. Totally evil. I know you don’t want to believe anything I have to say, but it’s true. I am sure you have read all about Jack the Ripper?”
“Of course,” I said.
“Jack the Ripper was not human.”
“Was?” I said. “You mean –”
“Yes, he is dead. I killed him myself. He was of the same race as the Red Devil. He was living under the streets of London, coming out at n
ight to feed off innocent humans. I traced him to his secret lair – which was filled with the gruesome spoils of his killings – and there I destroyed him with a special weapon the Brotherhood invented. Lucas, the Red Devils and the other unearthly invaders would take over our world if given a chance. They see us as meat. The one you and I met in India was a scout for an invasion force. It tricked you into letting it go, didn’t it? I bet it pretended to be your friend?”
I didn’t answer, but he saw my eyes widen.
“Lucas, I can assure you, it was not your friend. It befriended you because it saw you as weak and gullible. As much as you learnt from it, it learnt more from you. The Red Devils are a vicious predatory race. They are as intelligent as humans, which makes them extremely dangerous. The only reason they haven’t invaded our world already is because we currently outnumber them. They are afraid of our numbers, but one day they will come as an army, ready to enslave mankind. They will turn us in cattle. Unless we stop them.”
I didn’t want to believe him, but he showed me into another chamber where he kept the dead body of the Red Devil that he said had killed so many women in London. It looked uncannily like Dragnok. Its talons and tail were perfect weapons for the kinds of wounds Jack the Ripper had inflicted on his victims. Indeed, there had been no more murders in London since Gideon Hunter had killed it, which was proof of his words. I didn’t want to believe Dragnok had tricked me, but what if he had? What if I had released a creature as dangerous as Jack the Ripper?
“What is the Brotherhood of Ascension?” I asked Gideon Hunter.
“The Brotherhood of Ascension was created a long time ago with one goal: the defence of mankind against the gateway invaders. They believe in making the human race stronger, so we can better defend ourselves against invasion. We work in secret because the world is not ready to know the truth. We need you to help us, Lucas.”
“Why me?” I said.
“Your book brought you to the attention of the Brotherhood. You could have only gained your knowledge of the runes by learning what they meant from the Red Devil. That makes you the only person to have ever communicated with one of its species, Lucas. You have unique experience. You are a gifted linguist and I believe you are capable of breaking the codes left behind in the rune language. We need you to help us discover how to close the gateways so no more invaders can come to Earth. We want you to join the Brotherhood. If you join us, we can grant you the life of your dreams. You will have access to the vast archives of the Brotherhood and the time in which to study everything in them. You will have a life that will never end because we can make you young again.”
“How can you do that?” I asked him.
“I’ll show you,” he replied. “After I have given you the grand tour of my collection.”
Gideon Hunter showed me around the five sections of his vast museum, where I saw so many mind-blowing exhibits my head ached afterwards. I could have spent a lifetime studying any of the exhibits, but my tour lasted only a few hours. By then I required a rest. We resumed the tour after lunch. Once I’d seen all five chambers, Gideon Hunter returned to the domed room with the stars on the roof. He called it the Globe Room. He put on his robe, handing me one, too.
“Put that on,” he told me. “I’d kinda cold were we’re going. You’ll need it.”
He pressed a button on the table. A bell rang far away. Then we sat down and waited five minutes until three monks entered. They said nothing to us, but they took the other seats at the five-sided table. They placed their hands on the table.
“Do the same,” Gideon Hunter advised.
I placed my hands down on the table, hearing a click when my palms touched the surface. A pressure pad had sunk, triggering the spinning globe to rise to the ceiling, where it seemed to hover in space. Simultaneously, the five doors closed automatically. When the chamber was sealed, the floor inside the pentagram started changing. Parts sank into the floor in a ring, forming a descending staircase. The staircase led down into another level. The monks descended first, lighting the way with glowing lanterns emanating a greenish light. Gideon Hunter and I followed them down the stairs. It felt cold down there, bitterly cold. At the bottom there was an archway, leading into an underground passage. The walls were solid rock, the ground wet. We walked until my legs were aching along passages heading deeper and deeper under the ground.
Our destination was a room locked with an iron portcullis. Gideon Hunter raised it by pulling some levers in a specific order. I noted the order to myself. Then we walked into a chillingly cold chamber. The sounds of our footsteps echoed off the stone walls. The monks walked into the middle, where there was a well. An iron chain hung over the well, going down and down. It was connected to a winch.
“What’s down there?” I wanted to know.
“The Holy Grail,” Gideon Hunter replied. There was no humour in his tone. He meant it. The real Holy Grail was down there.
I looked over the side, down into the depths. All I could see were the dark walls and the inky blackness. I could not see the bottom and my old eyes would not adjust to the darkness. Even with the heavy robe on, I felt the numbing cold chilling my bones.
“The Holy Grail is down there?”
“Yes, but it’s not what you think. It’s not the cup used by Jesus at his Last Supper. That’s not what it is. It’s a living thing.”
He nodded to the monks. Two of them started winding the winch, pulling up the iron chain link by link. Eventually an iron cage rose out of the well, dripping with icy water. It contained something black and snake-like. The thing banged against the cage, showing rows of teeth.
“This is the secret of eternal life. The Holy Grail.”
“It’s a snake?” I said.
“It’s a tapeworm,” he corrected. “The largest tapeworm ever discovered. The history behind it is incredible. Do you remember the Bible story about Jonah and the whale?”
“Yes,” I said. “He was swallowed by a whale but he survived.”
“Absolute nonsense,” he said. “There was no such man. But, like many stories in the Bible, it was based on historical truth. The real story is this. About two and a half thousand years ago, an old fisherman was fishing on the shore of the sea of Galilee when he saw something washed up on the beach. It was a huge whale, which had beached itself and died. The fisherman had never seen a whale before, so he approached the huge, rotting carcass. He could see something wriggling inside its open belly. It was the massive tapeworm you see now. The fisherman was curious and stepped closer and closer until he was so close the tapeworm attacked him, latching itself onto his face. He felt sure it was going to eat him, but it did not. It released something slippery down his throat, then released him. The old fisherman staggered away from the creature, collapsed on the beach and passed out for several hours. When he woke up, it was night. For a few moments, he thought he had dreamt the attack, but then he saw the dead whale on the beach and knew it had been real. After a night in the cold air he should have felt weak – but the old man felt stronger than he had in many years. He noticed his hands were no longer those of an old man. His whole body had been transformed into how it had once looked when he was a young man. He ran back to his village, where he went to tell his wife the miraculous news. Unfortunately, she didn’t react how he expected. First of all, she didn’t believe he was her husband because he was no longer old. She thought he was an impostor trying to trick her and started screaming for help. To stop her alarming the whole village, the fisherman put his hand over her mouth. It was then he discovered the tapeworm’s second gift.”
“What’s that?” I asked him.
“His touch made his wife go into an immediate trance. Relieved she had stopped screaming, he told his wife to sit down and be quiet. She did as he commanded. The fisherman soon realised the transformation had given him control over her mind. The fisherman realised how important the snake-like creature was – it was too valuable to risk letting the wrong people know about it. He knew he could n
o longer live in the village without the secret getting out, so he made his wife forget seeing him, then he returned to the beach. This time the tapeworm did not attack him. It seemed to recognise that he had changed. He could tell it was slowly dying without its host keeping it alive, so he moved it off the beach to a nearby cave. He put the creature in a pool of water, where it recovered. It liked cold water. From that day, the fisherman kept the tapeworm’s existence as a secret to be shared only with his most trusted friends. He brought his loyal friends to the cave to be implanted with the tapeworm’s young. The fisherman was the founder of the Brotherhood. His name was Jonah. The Jonah tapeworm has been kept alive and safe by those men and the ones they recruited into their secret society over the centuries. The members of the Brotherhood are immortals. You can be one of us – if you pass a test, Lucas.”
“What’s the test?”
He smiled. “I can’t tell you. You’ll find out tomorrow.”
The next day I was taken into another chamber – a huge underground cathedral lit by thousands of votive candles - where the Brotherhood had gathered for the initiation ceremony. There were about a hundred hooded figures in the room, chanting in Latin. Gideon Hunter brought me in wearing a white robe, the robe of initiates. In the centre of the room, I saw a small Red Devil locked inside an iron cage suspended over a vat of boiling oil.
“This infant devil was found in Jack the Ripper’s lair,” Gideon Hunter told me. “We believe it was being fed on the human flesh its mother collected during its hunts. Prove you are worthy of joining our Brotherhood. Lower this monster into the oil by cutting this rope.”
He handed me a ceremonial dagger.
All I had to do was cut the rope to destroy the beast. But I didn’t see a monster. I saw a child of a creature like Dragnok. An innocent life. A baby.
