The Serpent and the Light

by Bo Luellen

  Heavy smoke billowing from the exposed roof, the fire quickly spread at an alarming speed. An officer came stumbling out of the smoky stairway and landed on all fours coughing. His hearing was starting to return, and the first sound he heard was Dr. Lanyon’s scream as her husband was the next to emerge. The man’s large frame came flying through the entranceway as he was dragging Johnston by the vest behind him. He let go as both her and the other officer sprinted towards them.

  Larry’s face was covered in soot, and he was gagging heavily from the smoke. It took Utterson several minutes to manage his way over to his friend's side. He looked down and saw Johnston’s right arm was burned severely, but the man’s vest had taken the bulk of the explosion. Large pieces of metal were sticking out of his flak jacket, making Utterson worried that one of them might have found its way into a major organ. John’s hands were shaking as he called out to his friend but received no response. He put a trembling two fingers on his friend's neck and frantically searched for a pulse.

  Chapter 11: Richard III

  Tulsa, OK - Thursday, October 18th, 2018 – 10:31 a.m. CST

  He walked out of the Library and breathed in the crisp morning air with a smile on his face. Daniel Harris lit a cigarette and took a long inhale next to him. Richard Enfield coughed at the dense smoke that wafted into his face and walked down the pavement towards his car.

  The short thief caught up to his Elder and jested, “I thought the Master was going to give you a handjob, the way he went on about you in there.”

  Richard sighed and reminded him, “Don’t use that name in public.”

  Daniel leaned his head towards him and whispered, “It’s a good thing you put that concealment spell on us, or we’d be crucified like that poor bastard Aaron Holland.”

  Richard admitted to himself, Thanks to Samuel teaching me how to magically hide everyone from the Demon, my team was able to take it by surprise. The deceased Uber driver’s autopsy was delayed thanks to Amy Howard. It gave the Pearce Brothers the time they needed to coat the walls and frame Henry Jekyll.

  Stopping on the street corner, he told Daniel, “I have a mission for you to complete before tonight’s ritual.”

  Daniel rolled his eyes and pleaded, “Boss, look, I haven’t slept in over a day. Can’t this wait?”

  He turned on his heel towards him, saying, “You will need to head downtown to pick up Amy and bring her to her father’s old estate.”

  The man’s eyes narrowed at him as he asked, “You don’t want to face her, so you send little old me to do it for ya? Wow!”

  Richard buttoned his Brooks Brothers coat and ordered, “Once you both arrive, you may rest in one of the guest rooms until I’m ready to leave for the ceremony.”

  Daniel nodded begrudgingly, “Okay, so to be clear, you want me to get the daughter of the man you murdered. Then bring her to the house she grew up in, which you inherited through the assassination of her father? Got it. No problem. I’ll just stop by and grab a tank and a bulletproof vest from the house first. You know how wicked strong she is, right?”

  Enfield ignored his insolence and continued his walk toward his Lexus. It had been a long day, and his mind drifted towards the notion of getting some sleep before nightfall. He found that the run towards power was becoming more of a marathon than a sprint.

  The thief yelled after him, “You know you might win a few people over if you did things like this yourself.”

  Without turning, he replied, “I have your life and soul in my hands. I own you. So, this is me doing it myself.”

  He braced himself against the cold gusts and thought, These followers of Samuel’s might be mine by the Brotherhood’s Rite of Inheritance, but I wonder how much resentment they hold towards me for doing away with him?

  Samuel floated down beside him and replied, “I would imagine quite a bit, I suspect. I was their teacher and provider. Not to mention the father to one of them.”

  Richard jumped a little at the sudden appearance of the semi-transparent ghost, Stop doing that! You will warn me from now on when you plan on appearing! Why are you so… thin?

  The specter maneuvered in front of his old Apprentice, replying, “When I’m on ground sanctified to Cthulhu, I appear more substantial. Consequently, my spells and wards are more powerful to boot.”

  The drive to the Howard estate was spent mostly in silence, as Samuel floated above the passenger seat. Watching the apparition break the physical laws was unnerving to Richard and was something he was having issues adjusting to. Samuel used the time to go over basic defensive ritual work with him. Now that he saw the usefulness of such incantation work, he was fully tuned in and repeated the Latin phrases as he was told them.

  As they approached the front gate to the enormous three-story Howard Estate, he stopped his car. The sentry at the guard shack identified him and waved Richard on. The paperwork for inheritance had been solidified years ago through Samuel’s small legion of New York lawyers. The details were still to be processed, but the documents allowed for an overnight shift of ownership to the designated successor.

  Driving up the long path towards the valet, Ruby called his phone, “I have a work crew packing and moving your belongings to the Mansion. The boys are doing fine, and I have the nanny occupying their time.”

  Richard pulled the car to a stop and asked, “And Mrs. Enfield?”

  Ruby Cook continued her professional demeanor and replied, “The Madame has left to attend to some personal matters.”

  He understood what that meant and replied, “I see. Very well, keep me informed through text and take care of Mrs. Enfield when she arrives back from her boyfriend’s house.”

  He hung up the phone, handed his keys to a butler, Ruby will keep her sedated and happily out of my way.

  Mid-thought Samuel floated up next to him and replied, “If you think she will be a problem, I will arrange for an accident.”

  Richard climbed the steps to his new front door and thought, She is my responsibility. If Teri becomes a problem, I’ll take care of it.

  The ghost seemed to pulse with energy as it exclaimed, “Boy, you don’t seem to fully grasp the gravity of our situation. In the time that you decided to end my life, until the moment you saw me on the Preserve, I was a guest in Epshuggog, the home realm of Cthulhu. In that place, I was ripped apart, inch by inch, by alien creatures who deny description in human terms. Once they finished every piece of me, time would reverse, and I would reappear whole again. The monsters would likewise have an empty belly, and the feast would begin again. They only spoke in a shrieking sounds that would cause my mind to split into fits of madness as the gnawed at my entrails. The will of the slumbering Cthulhu is the only reason I was given another chance. This is our fate if you fail to deliver Hyde!”

  Richard scoffed as he walked onto the marble floor of the foyer thinking, Your failures will not be mine. I’ve learned the magic and captured Hyde. It didn’t take decades of research. You are overestimating your usefulness.

  The aged apparition mocked, “Since you are such an astute practitioner of the mystic arts, could you perhaps tell me where those that are sinners go after death?”

  He looked over and replied, “Hell, I would think.”

  Samuel gave a belly laugh as he remarked, “Why would Lucifer be interested in punishing those that displeased Odin, Zeus, or Buddha? He has the keys to Hell, as all Angels do, but it is the plane of existence where he welcomes in those who do not find their way into the gates of Heaven, where the Hebrew God resides.”

  Richard shook a finger in the air and observed, “So, when a Christian soul passes over, it goes to one of those two places?”

  Samuel locked his fingers together and answered, “Most of the time, yes, but not always. At times, they will not be taken by either Heaven or Hell, and land in some deities’ afterlife or simply wander the cosmos as a lost spirit.”

  They approached a one-story garage that was situated in the rear grounds as Richard asked, “Why
would they do that?”

  Samuel tilted his head forward in a look of deep contemplation and replied, “The will of a god is as alien to us, as ours would be to a bee. It's impossible to grasp the will of a being as vast and unimaginable as a deity. Those cosmic entities have machinations beyond any childish writings in books of faith. Perhaps the soul was claimed by some other pantheon, maybe it was passed over, or it could be something beyond our reasoning. What you can always count on are contracts. The gods, of every pantheon, always follow through on their pacts, and they expect the same from us. Where we can understand our part in a bargain, the Otherworld mind of a being from beyond the Void might very well see it much differently. This is why we must take great care in completing our task. Any diversion from tonight’s sacrifice of Henry Jekyll or the subjugation of the Demon Hyde could result in our contracts being extended, or we could be found in violation.”

  Richard walked into the broken-down car garage and noticed that the wood was rotted, with several planks missing from the roof. Hanging on the walls were yard rakes, old chainsaws, and broken down weed eaters where the help had been using it as a storage shed. He looked over at Samuel, who directed him over to the poorly maintained doorway that the ghost unlocked with a quick flick of his hand. Inside, he found a cramped space that was no larger than a five-foot square, with unoccupied hooks on the walls. The ghost gestured to the floor, where Richard saw a small metal ring that was barely visible against the old wood flooring. With a heave, Richard lifted the trap door to discover a long metal ladder that went down into pitch blackness.

  Samuel waved his hands in the air and commanded, “Mgn'ghft!”

  Some thirty feet below, flames sprang to life and light danced on blackened surfaces. The ghost sank into the concrete floor beneath him and beckoned his old Apprentice to follow him down. With a heavy sigh, Richard tested the stability of the ladder and then made his descent.

  When he reached the bottom and sat his foot on the black granite flooring, Richard saw there were candles lit all around the circular chamber. On the far end was a desk, painted black, with the faces of laughing demons carved into the ancient oak. The walls were lined with full bookshelves, written in various languages, that stretched up twenty feet in the air, with a rolling ladder on a track sitting next to him. The floor was covered in a blood-red carpet with the pelt of a lion situated in the center. A dormant fireplace hung below a mantle that held pictures of Samuel with Richard, Amy, Daniel, and the mysterious Pearce Brothers, Adam, and Logan.

  He walked over and picked up the photograph of Samuel and the Brothers, then asked, “I’ve only met them once.”

  The ghost was looking over his books as he answered, “That is one more meeting than most get. You should feel honored that they came to help you and Daniel capture Hyde. They are bound to your will as their Elder, but they can be… elusive. Although, I’ve rarely seen such a talent for violence as those two possess.”

  Samuel pulled a book out with his spectral force as Richard asked, “I know where Daniel and Amy fit into your house, but where did the Pearce Brothers come from?”

  Howard gave an aggravated sigh and put the book back as he answered, “I found them in their teens, and brought them into the Crimson Brotherhood. I made a contribution to their families in return for accepting my guidance in their education. After they graduated from The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, then went on to become Navy SEALs. Shortly thereafter, they were recruited into a black ops team for the CIA, mostly doing wet works for the Agency. A year ago, I brought them in for… Ah-ha! I found it!”

  As the spirit floated downward, Samuel pointed to the tomes saying, “This library contains some of the best works of magic this world has seen in the last 500 years.”

  Richard pulled one from the shelves that was written in French and remarked, “I didn’t know you spoke so many languages.”

  The ghost flipped through the pages and answered, “Really? That shocks me that there is something you don’t know.”

  Richard snapped the book closed and stormed up to the desk, yelling, “Look! If you intend to make me into some kind of Mage, then do so. You can keep the degradations and jabs. You need me as much as I need you, and if I’m correct, you are here to assist me! I suggest you remove your bruised ego from this equation and dedicate yourself to this.”

  Samuel stood up through the desk and relented, “Perhaps so. Indeed it is a waste of time. Let us call a truce and address the more particulars of the evening's training. So let me begin again.”

  The ghost held out the book and offered, “This is The Book of Honorius. Take it.”

  Richard started to cool down, and asked, “What is this, some kind of spellbook?.”

  Samuel paced through the desk and answered, “That, my boy, is the famous Book of Honorius of Thebes. It is second only to the written works of Solomon in fame and infamy. That is a true copy made by a descendant of the arch-magician Honorius. It contains prayers and invocations designed to give you visions from the ancient gods from distant stars and to see other dimensions. With these visions, you could learn alien spells, lost sciences, and forgotten histories of the universe.”

  Richard flipped the pages and mused, “With power like that, you could achieve anything. You could gain the knowledge to outwit enemies, turn lead into gold or become immortal!”

  Samuel pursed his lips together and replied, “Yes, if you were in charge of what you learned. This book only allows you to receive visions from the gods, not dictate what they will teach you. They have designs so enigmatic and unfathomable, that they might inspire you to conduct a ritual that could devour your body in flame or give you phenomenal powers. Without knowing how or why, you could be infected with an extra-dimensional parasite, or they could simply crush your mind. You cannot reason their will, as they are truly strange to our reality. These visions are not simply glimpses of beneficial brilliance, they are messages from the minds of Otherworldly powers. These beings are so chaotic and ancient that just looking at their true form would turn you mad for the rest of your cursed days.”

  Richard’s face grew stone as he looked at Samuel and asked, “Did the Master give you this?”

  His old mentor smiled and answered, “No, I’ve had other teachers. One of the first things I learned from that book was how to access the Dreamlands. Tonight, I will teach you the basics of how to travel there, and more importantly, how to protect yourself once you arrive.”

  Richard looked up from the pages and asked, “What're the Dreamlands?”

  Samuel sat down on one of the leather chairs and answered, “Physically, it is an alternate version of our earth, but that is only because we make it that way. You see, the Dreamlands are only found in our dreams, and it is a place where the mind of Cthulhu resides while he slumbers under our oceans. It is inhabited by immortals, monsters, and other gods.”

  For the next hour, Richard learned how to ground himself and the fundamentals of protective magic. The intricate hand gestures were the hardest for him, as he had never been musically inclined nor could he carry a tune. The R’lyehian, on the other hand, came more natural to him, as it seemed to make more sense.

  Samuel instructed his student, “Protective magic is more than just keeping someone from cursing you. The keen study can mask their presence from creatures that dwell beyond the Veil. As a human, living in the Mundane world, you are constantly vulnerable to magical attacks. Still, you’re deaf and blind to it.”

  With sweat on his brow, Richard asked, “The Veil?”

  The ghost gave him an empathetic look and answered, “The Veil. Well, that is a complicated answer. The Master told us of Hyde and how he was one of God’s Fallen Angels. You saw the spellwork involved in the preparation of the Athame dagger. You witnessed the beginning of the transformation from Jekyll to the entity called Hyde. All these things you saw because your mind was slowly conditioned into believing through performing rituals, taking of elixirs, and your pact with Cthulhu. When
you plunged that dagger into the side of Henry Jekyll, the magic of the item worked because you were in tune with its energies. The Mundane could pick up the same Athame Dagger, and find its greatest use would be to spread butter on their toast.”

  Richard seemed perplexed and inquired, “If spells are powerful and humans are so vulnerable to it, why do we need guns at all? Why not hex our enemies or charm them?”

  His ghostly mentor nodded in agreement and replied, “Yes, that would be more effective, but unfortunately, living humans have limitations. Defensive arts are relatively simple, require a little sacrifice, and mortals learn to pull them off. For the most part, it only takes a token, a little blood, and some skill to make it work. High magic, such as Transmutation, Necromancy, Divination, Conjuring, Evocations, and Charms, were made by creatures that live beyond the Veil. Some upstart magicians dare to use Latin in an attempt to cast such spells, but it nearly always leads to their death. Although there are rare exceptions, such as Merlin, Rasputin, and others. For the Mages and Seers of The Crimson Brotherhood to tap into these higher magical energies, we need extraordinary means and measures. That book you hold is just one of many that give an audience to ancient powers who have the wisdom to cast the spells for us. This is why we say our spells in R’lyehian. We are the priests of Cthulhu, and by using his language, The Great Dreamer casts the High Magic for us.”

  Richard held up his hand and exclaimed, “You can stop trying to lecture me! I get it. I saw Hyde, or whatever it was, coming out of that Jekyll. I understand there is a larger world. I’ve got this under control!”

  Like a shot, Samuel bolted towards him with fantastic speed and phased into the space he was standing. It took Richard entirely by surprise as a rush of electricity flowed over his body, and he lost the ability to control his limbs. The ghost had possessed his body entirely, and in less than a second, Richard was a passenger in his own mind.

  He heard the thoughts of Howard say, Don’t resist me, boy, or you’ll pull a muscle. Let go and let me teach you how to see your arrogance.