Evil Agreement

by Richard L Hatin

  Samuel could see the twisted misshapen teeth and smell Moloch’s breath. It reeked with an odor that reminded Samuel of rotting leaves.

  “I understand,” said Samuel. “But what about the traitors in the coven?”

  “They will show their hand. Of that you can be sure. Only then, will you settle with them.”

  “But, I need to know who they are?”

  “When you need to know, you will know.”

  “Moloch, I haven’t asked this before, but I was wondering...”

  Stepping back from Samuel, Moloch stood up straight saying, “Speak no more. Lucifer will show you his eternal gratitude for what you have done. As you know, many have tried before and many have failed. I can not say any more.”

  Moloch suddenly was surrounded by a swirl of pulsating light. He stood still and closed his eyes. The swirling lights spun faster and faster. Moloch’s form began to appear as if it had turned into a sort of liquid state. It lost its human shape, and began to shrink down into a small dark mass. Suddenly, there was a flash of light as the shape, and swirling lights disappeared. Lingering about in the room was a strong odor of burnt sulfur. The temperature in the room had to be nearly a hundred degrees. Samuel was drenched in sweat. The temperature in his bedroom began to slowly drop.

  He felt a slight breeze. He turned, and noticed his window had been blown away.

  ***

  Korie was lathering up her body as she stood underneath the warm spray of water coming out of the showerhead. She applied a generous amount of soap. She rinsed herself off. Next she poured some shampoo out of the bottle into her left hand. She placed the shampoo bottle on the shower shelf and applied the shampoo to her hair.

  She heard a “click” sound. It startled her. She was still jumpy from all that had happened earlier.

  “Aaron, is that you?”

  There was no answer.

  She pulled back the shower curtain and looked around the bathroom. The air in the room was already fogging up from her shower. There was no sign of Aaron. She quickly surveyed the room and didn’t notice anything out of place.

  Korie returned to washing her hair.

  Suddenly, she felt as if someone was watching her. The feeling was very strong. She slowly turned to look at the shower curtain. She was looking to see if there was a shadow of someone in the room. She saw nothing. She decided to pull the shower curtain partially back, in a sudden move, to surprise whoever had come into the bathroom.

  She snapped the curtain partially back.

  No one was there.

  “Damn,” she said.

  She looked over at the pistol she had left on the toilet tank shelf. She could reach it, but she would have to leave the shower to do so. In the back of her mind she had an odd feeling about the gun. She couldn’t quite settle on the reason. She looked at the gun again, and then she noticed that it was not lying in the same position she had placed it. She had put it down, with the handle lying away from the shower. Now it was sitting there, with its handle pointing towards the shower. Someone had moved it. She was sure of it.

  She surveyed the room again.

  Where could someone hide? she thought.

  She considered calling out to Aaron but decided against it. She didn’t want him thinking she was loosing it. Not after coming this close to settling this long standing Powell family fight, against these minions of the devil.

  She finally decided it must be her mind playing tricks on her. After all, she had been through a great deal too, and she was very tired. She and Aaron would exchange stories tomorrow morning about their individual adventures. Tonight everyone needed to just get whatever sleep they could.

  ***

  Miss Beacon applied a cold compress to Kelley’s forehead. She was still running a slight temperature, perhaps as a reaction to the spider bites. Nevertheless, Kelley was responding well. After her shower, she had briefly laid down on the couch in the living room. She just sat up, sipping some lemonade that Miss Beacon had brought her.

  “Would you like something to eat, dear?”

  “Sure, that would be fine.”

  “Good, then come with me,” said Miss Beacon.

  The two women headed into the kitchen. Kelley sat down at the table. Miss Beacon took a large bowl out of the refrigerator and began to scoop out fresh cut fruit into a bowl. Then she put the large bowl back in the refrigerator and removed a can of whipped cream. She shook the can and applied a generous amount on top of the fruit.

  Miss Beacon put the bowl down on the table in front of Kelley. From a large mug on the table she removed a teaspoon and handed it to Kelley.

  Kelley began to sample the delicious cream covered fruit.

  “Do you have any idea what is about to happen here in Sutton?” asked Miss Beacon.

  “I think I do. That’s why I was trying to run away.”

  “I see.”

  “I thought about that again tonight as we walked through the woods. I guess there really isn’t any safe place to run away to if Samuel wins, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Why my bother?”

  “He was chosen.”

  “By who?”

  “The devil himself.”

  “Then this isn’t really his fault.”

  “I’m afraid he’s responsible for his share. He still has a free will.”

  “But he’s changed,” said Kelley as a tear ran down her cheek.

  “I know dear, I know.”

  They both heard a stumbling like sound coming from the floor above them.

  It caused just a momentary distraction.

  “Kelley, tomorrow, the young man you saw in this kitchen earlier will be faced with the challenge of stopping your brother. His girlfriend, Korie who helped both of us tonight, and I, will be by his side. We will join him in this battle. And make no mistake about it Kelley, it will be a life and death battle. It is one that we must win, or Lucifer, the most evil one, will have his way and the entire human race will face Armageddon.”

  ***

  Korie was finishing up with her shower when she spotted a spider climbing up the shower wall. She killed it with a slap of her right hand. She watched it fall into the swirling shower water at her feet and disappear down the drain. Her gazed fixed upon the shower drain and then she noticed three spiders just like the last one scamper out of the drain.

  How is that possible? she thought.

  She tried stepping on them but they were too quick. Then, she noticed dozens of spiders pouring up from out of the drain. She stumbled out of the shower, tearing the shower curtain from its hanger, as she fell onto the tiled floor. The shower was still on. The entire shower wall was now crawling with spiders. She stood up and reached for her towel, which she quickly wrapped around her.

  She began to back away from the tub, her wet feet slipping under her as she tried to steady herself. She spotted the pistol and grabbed it out of instinct. Suddenly, she felt something crawling up her left leg. She looked down and was horrified to see several spiders making their way up her leg. There were dozens more crawling out of the shower, which were now also heading in her direction. She frantically slapped away at these determined insects.

  She despised spiders. She loathed spiders. She was completely terrorized by spiders.

  She felt something moving in her hair. She swatted at her hair and then noticed a spider clinging to the back of her hand. Korie clutched her towel. She wanted to scream.

  She looked up and froze. Looking into the steamed haze of the bathroom mirror she could see someone standing directly behind her. It was a man. And then again it wasn’t human. The eyes were glowing, a deep yellow-red. It was as if the eyes were embers from a campfire. The reflected image smiled at her. It was a look of lust and evil all rolled into one.

  Korie remembered she still had one bullet left in her gun. She was prepared to use it. She turned around and fired at point blank range. The sound of the gun going off was deafening in the closed confines of the bat
hroom. Korie, more out of panic than anything else, pulled the trigger a total of three times, in rapid succession. To her great surprise, the gun fired each time. To her greater surprise there was no one behind her. She spun around and looked for the spiders. They were gone. The shower curtain was still on the floor where it fell when she tumbled out of the shower. Otherwise everything looked normal.

  She suddenly felt weak. She let the gun fall from her hand. It landed on the tile floor with a loud “thunking” sound. She let her towel fall next. Her mind, once filled with the terror of the spiders, then the mysterious stranger, was now totally blank.

  ***

  Aaron had entered deep sleep. He was drifting off in a dream about a time when he was a small boy and his mother, who he believed then to be his aunt, had taken him to a long sandy ocean beach somewhere in Maine. He was standing in the shallows where the waves washed up on the beach. The water was cold. His teeth were chattering. He turned to look back at the beach. He saw his aunt frantically waving to him and shouting something that he couldn’t quite hear.

  Bang, bang, bang.

  The thunderous sounds exploded in his dream. In a reflex action Aaron bolted awake, rolled off the bed and fell to the floor.

  ***

  Kelley jumped out of her seat. Miss Beacon did the same.

  “What was that?” demanded Kelley.

  “It was gun shots! They came from upstairs.”

  Without waiting for more conversation, Miss Beacon turned around and scampered towards the stairs. Kelley was right on her heels. The two of them reached Aaron and Korie’s room. They looked in and saw Aaron lying on the floor against the foot of the bed. He gestured towards the adjacent bathroom.

  Miss Beacon nodded.

  “Korie, it’s me,” said Miss Beacon. “Are you all right?”

  There was no answer.

  Miss Beacon gestured to Aaron to call her.

  “Korie, please answer us. Are you okay?”

  Still there was no answer. Everyone could hear the shower running. Nevertheless there was no other sound coming from the bathroom.

  Miss Beacon slowly and carefully looked around the door jam towards the bathroom. The door was closed, and there were three holes in the upper middle of the door. Streaks of lights shone into the bedroom from these holes.

  Miss Beacon stood up and walked to the bathroom door and slowly tried to open the door. It was locked from inside.

  “Korie dear, please unlock the door for me?”

  Silence.

  Miss Beacon stood up on the tips of her toes, and removed a key from the top of the door. She put it into the lock and opened the door.

  As the door swung open, she found herself looking straight ahead at Korie, who was standing before her totally naked. Her towel had fallen away after the gun shots. Korie had a blank expression on her face. She looked lost.

  Miss Beacon picked up the towel, and wrapped it around her. She picked up the gun and led Korie out of the bathroom.

  “Kelley, please be a dear and turn the shower off for me.”

  Kelley moved past her into the bathroom.

  “Here, hold this for me,” said Miss Beacon as she handed the pistol to Aaron.

  He took it by the handle. He turned it around and rotating the cylinder he noticed that the six shot cylinder appeared full.

  29

  The bodies of the Fecteau brothers were removed from the church just as Samuel had directed. Ed Townsend remained at the church after the bodies had been removed. He was now doing some investigating on his own. He was looking for the bullets that had passed through the Fecteau brother’s bodies during the shootout. He had no trouble locating the bullets or their fragments, which came from the Fecteau brother’s own guns.

  He spent the better part of an hour looking. He found nothing. It puzzled him. Finally he left the church after turning out the lights and locking up.

  As he walked over to his car, he noticed the early morning sun was beginning to light up the sky to the east. The sky radiated a soft pink. There were only the faintest traces of clouds. Birds were already awake and chirping. There was also a cool dry breeze blowing in from the northwest.

  He climbed into his car. He started it up, rolled down the front windows, and then turned around and drove out of the driveway. He didn’t feel like getting any sleep. He decided that what he needed was some coffee. He headed into town.

  ***

  Aaron, Korie, Kelley and Miss Beacon had stayed up all night. Nobody wanted to go to sleep. They had decided to share information. Aaron and Korie told their story and then Kelley told hers. Miss Beacon, with a nod to Aaron and Korie, withheld the important detail of who she was. Nevertheless, she was able to add much to the unfolding story, by relating things she had learned about the coven during her time in Sutton.

  “I am frightened,” said Kelley. “I told you what they did to my friend. Their power is awesome. How can we stop them?”

  “We can’t, remember I told you, only Aaron can,” said Miss Beacon.

  Kelley looked at Aaron and said, “Do you think you can?”

  “I don’t know. All I do know is that I’m going to try.”

  “Can’t your mother and your ancestors, you know those ghosts or whatever help? They must be able to do something,” said Kelley.

  “I don’t think so. I guess this struggle with Lucifer over his plans for Armageddon has always been between him and just one human being.”

  “It’s not fair. He’s got the coven, he’s got Moloch and he’s got all his other devils. What have you got?” Kelley said with exasperation in her voice.

  “Now, now, Kelley. Aaron’s got more than you might think. You must have faith,” said Miss Beacon.

  Korie sat quietly throughout this exchange. She sipped at her coffee. Her eyes looked away, towards the kitchen counter at the gun Miss Beacon had given her. She pushed herself away from the table, and went to the counter, and poured what was left of her coffee into the sink. She poured herself a fresh cup of coffee. While she was doing this she looked again at the gun. It seemed to be fully loaded. At least she could see five bullets in the cylinder.

  She turned around and rejoined the others.

  Early morning sunlight was beginning to fill the sky. Outside birds were chirping. A slight breeze blew into the kitchen through the open windows. The morning air felt cool and dry. The lace curtains swayed in the breeze.

  “We should have something to eat. Would you like some waffles or eggs and bacon?” asked Miss Beacon.

  Everyone opted for waffles.

  Miss Beacon went over to the kitchen counter, and began to busy herself making waffles.

  A cicada bug buzzed somewhere off in the distance.

  “Aaron, can I ask you something?” asked Kelley.

  “Sure!”

  “Do you know what you’re going to do, you know, do you have a plan?”

  “Not yet.”

  Kelley looked down at the table for a moment then she looked up at Aaron. Her eyes were all watery as if she was about to cry.

  “I want to help. I want to be there with you,” she said.

  “But it will be very dangerous,” answered Aaron.

  “I know, but I just can’t run away from this, not now.”

  “I understand,” said Aaron.

  Korie spoke up for the first time in awhile “What do you think Miss Beacon?”

  Miss Beacon turned towards them while still mixing the waffle batter in a large blue bowl “I think God will be pleased. It is certainly her choice to make. Choosing to fight evil is the righteous thing to do.”

  “So how do we do this? You must have some ideas. Don’t you have some knowledge of how the others defeated Lucifer in the past? Can’t you share some of that information with us?” asked Korie.

  “Each time was unique.”

  “I can’t buy that.”

  “Korie ease up a little. We both know Miss Beacon can’t help me in this. Her role, if any, must be limited and
that’s just the way it is. Now look, I promised Samuel I would meet him today. Any suggestions people?” said Aaron.

  “Only one,” said Miss Beacon. I recommend you meet him at the ceremony and not before. The less chance he has to size you up the better.”

  “I agree,” said Korie.

  “Me, too,” said Kelley.

  “Then it’s settled. I’ll call him and tell him I’ll meet him at the ceremony and not before.”

  “But he’s going to want to know if you’re going to join the coven and help bring Moloch to human form. What are you going to tell him?” said Kelley.

  “She’s right,” said Korie.

  “I don’t know,” said Aaron.

  “Come on, Aaron. Think, think! Of course you’re going to tell him you will join the coven,” said Miss Beacon. “To defeat him you’re going to have to get close to him. You can’t do that unless he believes that you’re with him.”

  “You’re right,” said Aaron.

  ***

  Judge Fairchild had just picked up the Reverend. The two were heading out for breakfast, before the meeting of the coven Samuel had called for later in the morning.

  The Judge pulled his car to a stop in the parking lot next to the Green Mountain Diner. The restaurant was a throw back to the diners once popular across the country. This diner had been in business since the Great Depression. Its chrome trim counter top and chrome tube chairs had been polished thousands of times over the years. It served the best breakfast in the area. The lunch and dinner cuisine was basic, generous, and reliably excellent. Everything was made from scratch. The owner and head cook, Nick Karagiotas, would tolerate nothing less.

  The two men entered the diner and moved to a booth at the far end. Sitting at the counter across from the booth was Ed Townsend. He was reading a newspaper. The waitress refilled his cup of coffee.

  “Thanks, Angela,” said Ed.

  “Morning, Ed!” said the Judge. The Reverend said the same.