“As far as I’m concerned, it is,” said Ed out of the side of his mouth.
“Good, we shall be truly rewarded for keeping the true faith with the covenant.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.”
Some of the men coven members began to leave the tent.
The Judge headed into the tent just as Samuel was exiting. The Judge smiled at Samuel who returned his smile.
Samuel walked over to Ed and asked him, “Any word yet?”
“No, not yet.”
Samuel accepted the answer and walked away.
Judy Perrillo came over and stood next to Ed.
She leaned into him and whispered, “I’m not wearing anything under my robe.”
“Judy, look I’m really not interested,” he said. Ed had seen Judy in her altered state of being and it was not a pretty sight. The thought of sex with her repulsed him.
“Okay. Ed Townsend, just you remember when I’m a big movie star, don’t you come running to me looking for a piece,” she said as she stormed off.
“These people are fucking delusional. They have no idea what Armageddon is going to be like. I’ll bet they have never even read the Bible.”
Samuel looked over at Ed who gestured with his arms out and palms extended upward, that he hadn’t yet heard from the last spotter down on the trail.
***
Kevin Culpepper was sitting in the tree stand that he had placed up in a pine tree, about fifteen feet off the ground. From this position, he could take in a 270 degree radius look at the lower end of the trail. He was getting anxious.
Miss Beacon had stopped the Land Rover next to the first car they came upon along the side of the dirt road. They were about a quarter of a mile from Yandow’s place.
“We’ll have to walk from here,” said Miss Beacon.
Everyone climbed out of the Rover. Miss Beacon handed the keys to Aaron.
“You take them. I don’t think I’m going to be in the mood to drive this thing, after this is over.”
Aaron slipped the keys into his pants pocket.
Miss Beacon opened the back of the Land Rover and rummaged around for a moment, before she found what she was looking for.
“Aaron, think you know how to use this?” said Miss Beacon.
She held out a small reed like tube that was approximately two feet long.
Aaron took it from her.
“This goes with it,” she said as she handed him a small tin. “It’s a blow gun and the tin contains a couple of small tranquilizer darts.”
“What am I supposed to do with this?” he asked.
“Up ahead on the trail road will be a lookout. I figure if you can use this to knock him out, it will give us a little edge. That way, when we arrive, it will be somewhat of a surprise.”
“I like that,” said Aaron.
“Well then, let’s go.”
“How will we know where this lookout is?” asked Kelley.
“I think I have a good idea where he might be. After all, I’ve learned a thing or two since I’ve been in this twisted little town.”
The four headed off up the trail road.
They walked past Yandow’s cabin. After they had gone about another 150 yards Miss Beacon signaled for everyone to stop and be quiet.
Then she whispered, “Korie, you and Kelley stay here for a few minutes. Aaron and I have to leave the trail and sneak up behind the spotter. I think he’s somewhere in a tree stand, up there on the left, at the turn before the small bridge over the brook.”
“I don’t like the idea of being left here,” said Kelley.
“Don’t worry, Korie’s pretty tough. I think she can handle any surprises. And I don’t think there will be any. These people want us to get there. They sure don’t want to stop us. Ready?”
At that, Miss Beacon led Aaron off the trail into the woods. They quietly slipped into the thick woods and soon disappeared.
Kelley and Korie waited in silence.
Meanwhile, Miss Beacon walked carefully through the woods. Aaron tried to mimic her every step. Some ten minutes later she stopped and gestured to a tree about thirty feet ahead. She pointed to a spot about fifteen feet up into the tree. At first, he didn’t see anything, and then he spotted what she had seen. On either side of the tree trunk were a man’s legs covered in green pants and wearing hiking boots. He was sitting on a tree stand on the other side of the tree. From where he was he couldn’t see them unless he stood up and looked around the back of the tree.
Whispering she said, “You’re going to have to move up closer to the tree. See that blue spruce over to the right. It should provide you with enough cover. Start heading over there. I’ll try and divert his attention. When he looks away you make a move to the spruce and set up. You should be able to get a good look at him from there. Try and get him in the neck. The medicine will work faster that way. All you need to do is to hit him with one. Now go!”
Aaron nodded his acknowledgement and headed forward, careful to keep the spotter’s back to him.
When Aaron was about twenty feet away from the spotter’s tree and about ten feet away from the blue spruce, he crouched down and examined the exact route his steps would need to take him to quietly reach the spruce.
He turned to signal Miss Beacon he was ready. She wasn’t there. She had disappeared. He turned around and looked up at the spotter and waited.
Just then, about thirty yards away from the spotter, in a small clearing, a large deer stepped forward from the nearby dense bushes. This was a very large buck. It had a huge rack of antlers. Aaron counted at least twelve points. It was a true trophy deer. The deer pawed at the ground. When it did so the noise reached the spotter who stirred a bit as he noticed the deer.
“Holy shit,” whispered the spotter.
Aaron could clearly hear him. Then the spotter stood up slowly, to get a better look at this incredible deer. As he did so, Aaron moved as quietly as he could to set up next to the spruce tree.
“The things you see when you don’t have a gun,” whispered the spotter.
Just then, the deer looked up directly at the spotter and turned and scampered away into the woods. Its exit made a crashing sound as it quickly broke through low branches in a hasty retreat.
The spotter sat back down.
Aaron knelt and opened the small tin. There were three darts. He put one carefully into the end of the reed. It fit perfectly. He aimed it at the spotter. Inhaling a deep breath he blew into the end of the blowgun. The dart flew out and stuck into the tree just behind the spotter’s head. It hardly made any noise.
Damn, he thought.
Aaron reloaded the blowgun and tried again. This time he held the blowgun as steady as he could and took aim. The dart missed the spotter completely and flew into the woods beyond.
Aaron closed his eyes and prayed for help. Then he reloaded the blowgun for one last try. He took aim and blew into the reed. The dart flew true this time and landed in the spotter’s neck, just behind his ear. It stung him. He slapped at the stinging sensation. He felt something on his neck and removed it. It was a tiny, feathered dart. It was the last thing he saw as his mind shut down completely. His head slumped forward. If he hadn’t buckled a safety line to the tree, he would have fallen out of the tree stand. As it was, he slumped forward so much that his forehead was now nearly touching his knees.
Aaron stood up.
There was a cracking sound coming from behind as a small branch broke underfoot.
Aaron turned suddenly and there was Miss Beacon again.
“It safe to make noise now. He’s out cold. Should be out at least a few hours anyway. Let’s go.”
Aaron followed her through the woods where they soon exited the woods and were back on the trail road again. Looking back down the road, Miss Beacon got the attention of Korie and Kelley as she signaled for them to come along.
When Korie and Kelley arrived the four joined hands and headed up the trail road. In a few moments, they cross
ed over the wooden bridge that spanned the adjacent stream. It was nearly completely dark now. The woods themselves were completely quiet except for the crunching sound their shoes made on the hard exposed surface of the trail.
At this time they were about three-quarters of a mile from the clearing adjacent to the offering altar. The lower level of the night sky, in the general direction they were now heading, reflected a reddish, yellow hue from burning torches.
Each had a different idea of what lay ahead. But even their separate ideas had one thing in common. Each was certain they were about to face something that was monstrously evil.
***
The gathered faithful began to grumble as they checked their watches. It was a few minutes past nine and nothing had even begun.
“What’s the hold up?” shouted someone from the back edge of the large group.
“Yeah, where’s Moloch?” said another.
“Let’s get started,” shouted someone else.
Samuel heard these calls. He checked his own watch. He was growing angrier by the moment.
“Has your man seen anything?” Samuel asked of Ed Townsend.
“Look, why don’t I go check?”
“No.”
“Just give me a minute.”
“All right, you’ve got exactly one minute.”
Ed ran over to the changing tent and picked up his hand held radio, his backup communication device. He quickly checked with the other men he had set up at the various checkpoints along the way here. Each confirmed Powell had moved past their locations and they had not seen him backtrack. He quickly threw on his black robe and hurried back.
Ed ran to Samuel and said, “I am certain he’s on his way. I’d bet my life on it.”
“You have,” said Samuel sternly. “You already have.”
With that Samuel moved over to the altar. He stood behind it and raised his arms.
The crowd quickly became silent.
“Fellow members of the Church of Everlasting Faith, I now call for the members of our coven to join me at this, our offering altar.”
One by one the coven members moved to stand with Samuel. They divided themselves so an equal number stood to either side of him.
Already set out on the altar was the Book of Final Covenants, a knife, and a cup.
“Please raise your hands with me as we now begin the greatest of ceremonies. Tonight, together, we will complete a journey begun by our ancestors long ago. Our ancestors, faithful disciples of Lucifer, entered into a solemn agreement. Their word, their bond, was to help bring Moloch, Lucifer’s closest and most faithful of all his servants, to human form. Moloch, with their help, would prepare the way for Lucifer to walk upon the earth. Our ancestors were promised that in return, each would have eternal life and would enjoy the riches and pleasures of this world. Join me now as we fulfill that long ago covenant.”
There were shouts of, “Amen, and Praise Samuel,” and “Praise Lucifer.”
Samuel closed his eyes and began to sway. The coven members looked at each other and the crowd before them. There was a nervous expectation in the air.
“We now call upon the great Moloch, Lucifer’s most faithful servant, our counsel, our guide, to rise up before us.”
The night air began to swirl up, in front of the altar.
“Oh, almighty Moloch, slayer of the enemies of Lucifer, we are prepared, this night, to fulfill our great covenant. We call for your presence.”
The swirling air now contained sparking explosions of different colored lights.
“Moloch, show yourself before us now. Let the unfaithful fear you in life, as they should in death, and let we, your faithful, share in the promises once made.”
Inside the swirling lights, a shape began to take form. This shape was dark and kept shifting inside the swirling lights.
The crowd continued to sway. Some people even murmured their own personal prayers. Young children sat or stood in silence, mesmerized by this metamorphic spectacle. Infants, held by their parents were completely silent.
The shape now began to take on a definite form. The air around the swirling lights became electric. Small lightning like charges of twisting, cracking light snapped in the surrounding air.
Just then Ed Townsend looked over at the Reverend and the Judge. According to their prearranged signal he folded his arms. As he did so, he reached inside his cloak and unlatched his pistol from his shoulder holster.
The Judge looked over at the Reverend and nodded.
The Reverend knew his time had come. It was now or never. His convictions were strong. He firmly believed he was about to do the right thing by Lucifer.
The Reverend suddenly clutched his upper left chest, and let out a huge moan, “OooooooH!”
So Samuel couldn’t look into his eyes as he slumped forward onto the altar, he turned his face away.
Samuel took notice of what the Reverend was doing. He had expected something like this would happen.
Ed quickly pulled his pistol out and raised the weapon up with both his hands, and took aim.
The Judge hesitated.
Samuel turned at that moment and in a flash held out his right hand palm side facing towards Ed.
Ed was suddenly frozen in place. Every muscle in his body was suddenly beyond his control. Only his mind was his own. He instantly knew he had failed. His only hope now was that the Judge would follow through while Samuel was occupied with him.
Samuel kept his arm extended towards Ed even as he returned his attention to the imminent arrival of Moloch.
The Reverend was still bent over the altar. There had been no shots fired. That could mean only one thing. Their planned coup had failed.
I’m still alive, must be a good sign, thought the Reverend. Maybe Samuel hasn’t connected me to the planned assassination. I’ve just got to keep faking this heart attack.
The Judge was now frozen by his own hesitant choice. Somehow Samuel had anticipated Ed. How? thought the Judge. What tipped him off?
Moloch’s shape was nearly complete. This shape began to reach and stretch, much like one does upon rising from an extended nap.
The swirling lights began to extinguish. Moloch was now fully formed.
“I am here!” he bellowed to the assembled.
Everyone opened their eyes and lowered their arms. Applause and cheering broke out.
“I am here to fulfill our great agreement. Tonight you shall be rewarded, but first we must deal with the traitors in our midst.”
The crowd began to murmur. There was confusion and concern.
“Here Moloch, is a traitor,” said Samuel.
Moloch turned and extended his long right arm, then his hand and finally his long gnarled index finger directly at Ed Townsend.
“Traitor, the lowest of fiends, you were planning to kill your coven leader, and then you planned to destroy me. By your deed you would have denied Lucifer his rightful place, here on earth.”
“What is to become of this traitor?” asked Samuel sardonically.
Moloch turned to the crowd and gestured to them that it was their call to make.
“Destroy him,” said some.
Others shouted, “Kill him.”
Even the children joined in with this populous demand.
“Samuel, the faithful have spoken,” said Moloch in a mocking tone.
With that, Samuel now faced Ed and extended his two arms towards him. Ed dropped his gun. Now his body begins to rise into the air. He moves through the air until he is hanging in front of the cross to Samuel’s right.
“Tie him to the cross,” commanded Samuel. Several men standing in the front run forward. Samuel reaches under the covered altar and tosses a bundle of rope towards them. Some of the men use their pocket knifes to cut the length of rope and then tie up Ed Townsend.
“Samuel, what of the other traitor?” asked Moloch.
Both the Judge and the Reverend froze upon hearing those ominous words.
“Yes, the other t
raitor,” said Samuel as he turned and looked directly at the Judge. The Judge lowered his arms to his side. He looked back at Samuel and nods.
Samuel now raises his arms together, as he had done with Ed, just moments ago. Upon doing so the Judge’s body stiffens from the paralysis induced by the Samuel’s powers. His body rises and moves through the air until it hangs suspended, in front of the cross to Samuel’s left. Samuel retrieves another length of rope from beneath the altar and tosses it towards the foot of the cross. The same men cut this rope and tie the Judge to the cross.
The Judge looks over at Ed. The Judge seems more resigned to his fate. Ed on the other hand is angry and defiant.
“What seems to be the trouble with our Reverend?” asked Moloch mockingly.
Upon hearing Moloch speak of him the Reverend lifts his head slightly and speaks in a faking sickly tone “I, I think I’m having a heart attack.”
The other coven members don’t know quite what to make of these events. They stand rigid in their positions, unsure of what is about to happen next.
“So you say you are having a heart attack. Tell us what it feels like,” said Samuel.
“Uh, feels like I don’t,” spoke the Reverend when suddenly his heart felt like someone had just stabbed it with a jagged edged knife.
“Oh, God,” said the Reverend as he grabs at his chest with both hands. His left arm tingles and aches.
“He dares to speak of God,” bellowed Moloch. “God is not here Reverend. Does he care about you, a sinner?” hissed Moloch.
Moloch walks towards the Reverend who was now in excruciating pain.
The coven members step aside to let Moloch move closer to the Reverend.
Moloch lifts the Reverend’s chin with his left index finger. His fingernail pierces the tender skin just beneath the Reverend’s chin.
The Reverend’s face on its right side begins to droop, as if he no longer has any muscle control over that part of his face. To add to the Reverend’s humiliation, his bowels let go, as he soils himself.
With his one finger Moloch has now lifted the Reverend high over the altar.
“Please, Moloch?” pleads the Reverend in a whispered voice.
“He asks for mercy,” shouted Moloch.
Evil Agreement Page 36
