Absence of Faith (38 page)

"Disgusting. What about the
bodies?" Yanni asked.

"They have ways. They burn the body
parts and get rid of the ashes or they find an open grave in a
cemetery, dig two or three feet down and put the body in. Then the
cemetery has the funeral and places the real coffin over the body
they put there. No one ever knows. There could lots of bodies
buried under coffins. How do you find them? Dig up every
grave?"

"Gee. How awful," Yanni said. "How
could you be in with them?"

"I wasn't. What I'm talking about
is the outlaw cults. My group didn't do any of those things.
Besides, I quit," Chantress said. "I have my own group now, and
it's not Satanism."

"What should we do?" Yanni
asked.

"I don't know. Maybe call the cops.
Tell them what's happening," Chantress said.

A frown formed on Yanni's face and
Chantress noticed. Then Chantress looked at Husk. He sat
contentedly and watched the guitar player strum another
ballad.

"This is really scary," Yanni
said.

"We're going there," Chantress
said.

"Going where?"

"To the place of the sacrifices,"
Chantress said. "We have to warn someone first."

"It should be one of these houses,"
Chantress told Yanni. "Have you seen any numbers yet?"

"I'm looking...I'm looking! I still
think this is a stupid idea. We could be on the beach instead of
looking for some doctor's house. How do you know he'll talk to
you?"

"Quit complaining. He'll talk to
us. Did you see the news? His wife is missing, and I think I know
where she is. He'll listen," Chantress said.

She slowed the car down and looked
at the numbers on the houses.

"I'm not so sure. He may just slam
the door in your face thinking you're some kind of nut
case."

"Just keep looking and have faith.
Is that it?"

Chantress pointed to a freshly
painted Victorian house.

"I don't know. Could be," Yanni
said.

"What was the number of the last
house on that side of the street?" Chantress asked staring at the
large, old house.

"Fifty two."

"Then that has to be it!" Chantress
said.

She pulled the car next to the curb
and parked.

"Well, are you coming?" Chantress
asked.

"No way! This was your idea. You
go. I'll stay here."

"Chicken."

Chantress walked up to the porch,
and rang the doorbell. After a minute, she rang it again and turned
to look at Yanni.

"Maybe he's at work," Yanni
yelled.

"I called the hospital. He wasn’t
there," Chantress said.

She turned and rang the bell a
third time. A few minutes passed. Chantress turned and watched
Yanni get out of the car and walk down the hill towards the beach.
She watched Yanni climb the narrow weather-beaten stairs to the top
of the sea wall and vanish over the wall. She rang the bell again.
Its muffled chimes squeezed through the thick wooden door. She
waited a few more moments, and then left to find Yanni on the
beach. Yanni had already kicked off her sandals and waded into the
cold ocean. Chantress approached as close as she could without the
ocean rolling up and soaking her shoes. Yanni turned
around.

"Isn't this great! We should be
hanging out here soaking up some rays," Yanni yelled.

She looked past Chantress and
stared at the sand dune behind her.

"I thought this was a nice
neighborhood. Look at that bum sleeping over there," Yanni said.
"I’m surprised the cops haven’t gotten him yet."

Chantress turned and saw a body
slumped against the side of the dune. Its right arm was extended
and the hand held a glass bottle. Chantress walked closer. It was a
young man dressed in green hospital scrubs. Yanni came up behind
her.

"He's no bum," Chantress said.
"He's a doctor!"

The man slowly opened his eyes and
squinted at the two women.

"Doctor Hyll?" Chantress
ventured.

"Huh? Where am I? Oh my head," he
said, letting the empty whiskey bottle fall out of his hand. "Who
are you?"

"Chantress and I think I know where
your wife is."

"Nothing like getting right to the
point, Chantress," Yanni said.

Chantress frowned at her and Yanni
shrugged her shoulders.

Carson sat up and held his hand
over his brow to block the sun.

"Where?" he said slowly managing to
stand up. "Oh, my head."

He took a few moments to stabilize
himself, and then stared at Chantress and Yanni in their tie-dyed
t-shirts.

"Come on. Let's get out of the sun.
I can barely see you."

Carson turned and slowly walked
towards the wooden steps. He took each step with great difficulty.
The two women followed.

Carson approached his front door,
reached into his pocket, and produced a large key ring with twenty
or more keys. It took him several seconds of fumbling before he
found the right key and unlocked the door.

"Come in," he said as he held the
door open for the two women.

He left them in the living room and
told them to have a seat. A few minutes later, he returned - his
face fresh and alert, despite his pounding head. He sat in the love
seat adjacent the sofa where the two women sat.

"You know where Linda is?" he asked
looking at Chantress and Yanni as if he saw them for the first
time.

"Yeah, she was taken by a cult
called Daimon Seclorum to be used as the bride of Satan in a
special ceremony only a few days from now," Chantress explained.
"The name means demon generations, demon centuries, demon ages or
ages of demons.

"Daimon what? How do you know
this?"

"I used to be a member, and I still
have friends there," Chantress said.

"How do I know you're still not one
of them and coming after me," Carson said.

"You don't know, but listen Doctor
Hyll, you're wife is about to be publicly raped by a bunch of
sickos and kept prisoner until the baby is born. After that,
they'll kill her!" Chantress said.

Carson put his face into his hands
and began to cry. Yanni went over to him and placed her hand on his
shoulder.

"We're only trying to help," she
said in a low voice.

Carson cried for several minutes.
Yanni rubbed his back.

"I'm sorry you have to see me this
way," Carson said. "I normally don’t get wasted and sleep on the
beach all night. It’s just that this has been so awful. I haven’t
slept in days. Raped...publicly? What are you talking about?
Linda?"

"They will have a ceremony for sex
magick. They believe it's a way of influencing nature or people by
supernatural means. Magick is spelled with a "k" at the end to
distinguish it from magic done by a magician." Chantress explained.
"They light red candles and wear red robes because red represents
affairs of the heart, lust, and sex. They will place your wife up
on a wooden table - sort of like an altar and she will be nude in
front of all the members. Her significance is that she represents
carnal power and lust and Satan represents indulgence rather than
abstinence. The Magus will then approach her and rape her in front
of the members. They will chant and recite secret sayings asking
that Satan enter the Magus and plant his seed in your wife. Then
they will kill off an animal or a person and drink the blood as a
sacrifice to the devil. They will keep your wife a prisoner and
take good care of her until the baby is born. If she does not want
to join them after nine months, they will sacrifice her and drink
her blood or eat her organs. I've never been to one, but I've heard
this is what happens."

"Really?" Yanni said.

"What's a Magus?" Carson asked
trying to hold back more tears.

"The leader...the high priest...the
guy that calls the shots," Chantress replied.

"Are they really capable of this?"
Carson asked.

"They are capable of anything at
this time because of what's been going on here with everyone
believing they've been to hell and back," Chantress
explained.

"The Hellfire Syndrome," Carson
added.

"Yeah, that's it. Whatever it is,
it has given the cults an edge...sort of like they're coming out of
the closet now, and they no longer feel threatened. They have new
confidence in themselves, a new faith, and more followers. Satanism
was there all along like a weed, but no one really noticed because
there weren't that many, but as times get harder, people's lives
get more complex, more troubled, Satanism grows. Now, it's
spreading everywhere because it is hard to resist when a lot of
people feel down and out...powerless. Satanism is the easy way out.
It appeals to one's desires to do what they want rather than to do
what is right or expected. It is a selfish, self-indulgent religion
that glorifies the self as the most important aspect of human
existence. It gives confidence in a dangerous way to those who had
none. But now it has gotten out of hand and this particular group
feels it can do anything without consequence," Chantress
explained.

"When did you become the
philosopher?" Yanni asked.

Carson shuddered as if he caught a
chill.

"Do you know where my wife
is?"

"Yeah, they are using an abandoned
farm in Howell as a coven stead. It's the place they meet to
perform their ceremonies. They are holding her there," Chantress
replied. "The marriage ceremony will take place Saturday night at
midnight."

"How do you know that?" Yanni
asked.

"Husk told me," she
replied.

"How would he know?"

"Believe me. He would know,"
Chantress said.

"Do you know where the farm is?"
Carson asked.

"No, only Husk knows. He said he
would lead us there, but he's not going anywhere near
it."

"We should call the police," Carson
said.

"I've already been there, and they
don't believe a word. Besides, if they see the police around that
farm, they'll disappear and we may never find them."

"Who did you talk to?"

"I don't know some detective. He
wasn't listening," Chantress explained. "I could tell."

"Did you talk to a Detective
Vandergarde," Carson asked.

"I don't know. I don’t remember his
name."

Carson looked towards the front
window.

"Why do you want to help me?" he
asked.

"I have my reasons," she
said.

Carson stared into her emerald
green eyes. She stared back just as intensely.

"Let me have your phone number.
I'll call you," Carson said. He got up, went into the kitchen and
returned with a small pad and a pen. Chantress wrote down her name
and phone number. When she finished, she pushed the pad towards
Carson. He looked at the number and nodded.

"Is that your wife?"

Chantress reached over and picked
up a small-framed wedding photo of Carson and Linda.

"She's very pretty."

"Can I see it?" Yanni
asked.

Chantress handed the photo to
Yanni, but it slipped from her fingers and crashed onto the coffee
table. The glass shattered and the frame broke apart.

"Oh no!" Carson yelled. "Linda!
Linda!"

He picked up the photo as if the
image would suddenly vanish. His face flushed.

"GET OUT! GET OUT! NOW!" he
screamed. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Chantress and Yanni stood up and
rushed to the door. Yanni went out first. Chantress
stopped.

"I'm the only one that can save
your wife!" and she closed the door.

Carson sat on the couch, stared at
the photo, and then felt an intense pressure building in the pit of
his stomach. The pressure moved upward like a volcano into his
chest and mouth until he could hardly contain it. He ran into the
bathroom and leaned over the toilet until it stopped.

"The door! Someone's knocking on
the door," he yelled. "It's Linda! I know it is! She's come
back!"

Carson raced towards the door and
opened it. He was greeted by sunlight so bright that it hurt his
eyes and he had to squint. The bright light slowly lost its
intensity and he found himself looking off the edge of a steep
cliff. Sand colored boulders dotted the bottom and gray jagged
rocks were wedged between the boulders. He instinctively knew that
if he fell, he would die. As soon as he thought it, he felt himself
falling, and he had to use all of his strength to hold onto the
doorknob to keep from falling. The door swung open wider and he
pulled it back using all his strength. He began to sweat copiously.
It was as if something was pulling the door open from the other
side. Still, the knocking continued and it was louder
now.