Evil Agreement (25 page)

“And what truth are you referring to, good Reverend?”

Opening his hands he said, “That Lucifer wants Samuel to lead
the coven during this time of fulfillment.”

Smiling he responded “Why Reverend Mitchell, is it possible
that you are envious of young Samuel?”

“Look, this isn’t about envy, or jealousy. Our church members
have been loyal for over one hundred and sixty years, to the tenets of our
Malum
Pactum
, our Agreement. This
could be the time that we finally triumph. I can surely feel it and I know you
feel it, too. We are poised to be the coven that delivers Lucifer. But if we
fail, how much longer must the faithful wait? Could failure strengthen the hand
of the other side and lead to extinction for Lucifer, for all of us?’

The Reverend inched a bit forward.

“What if Moloch, not Lucifer, picked Samuel?”

“To what end?”

“Maybe, he is using this opportunity to depose Lucifer.” He
let this point sink in for a moment.

“Why would he risk his place in the dark side?” said the
Judge, as he placed his half finished juice glass back on the tray.

“Think about it,” said the Reverend.

“My spirit partner harbors no such fear. Does yours?”

Without hesitating, the Reverend said, “Yes.”

“So you believe Moloch is deceiving all of us in a plot to
depose Lucifer, and this plot will fail because he has chosen a child to lead,
and that somehow Lucifer doesn’t know about all of this? Incredible, Reverend,
that’s quite a tangled web.”

“Look I am taking a big risk even talking about this.
I...needed to get this off my chest. Maybe you’re right. Perhaps it’s my own
paranoia.”

“Perhaps it is,” said the Judge. His keen mind was now
running in overdrive.

The Judge sent out a mental message to his spirit partner,
Pontris
, who had been listening in on the entire
conversation.

“
Pontris
, was an evil spirit who
catered to nurturing the evil tendencies of powerful people from throughout
history. He had instigated people to poison, torture, stab, and shoot lovers,
spouses, family members, opponents and enemies. His very handiwork had inspired
several of Shakespeare’s plays.

Kings were murdered, lovers vanquished, rivals destroyed as
kingdoms and empires rose and crumbled throughout history.

Can it be?
thought the Judge.

Pontris
’ response was revealing and
to the point.

“In my world we never speak directly to Lucifer or him to us.
All of our conversations with Lucifer flow through but one demon, Moloch.”

So Moloch is in a position to deceive not only your world,
but ours as well,
thought the Judge.

Pontris
’ answer was swift. “If it
can happen in your world it can happen in mine.”

“Reverend, let’s suppose, for the sake of discussion, you are
correct. How do you propose to prove your theory, without alerting Moloch and
incurring his wrath?”

“That’s where I’m stumped, Judge. I can’t figure out how. I
was hoping, that with your counsel, I could come up with a possible way to test
my theory.”

The Reverend was a clever man. His appeal for advice would
allow the Judge to help, without becoming directly involved, at least, not yet.

The Judge stood up and walked over to a wicker stand of ivy
that sat in the corner of the patio. He picked up a spray bottle and began to
spray the plants.

“Perhaps a test isn’t necessary. It is written in the Book of
Covenants that Lucifer’s predecessor, in this instance, Moloch and his faithful
coven, shall destroy anyone that threatens the fulfillment of Lucifer’s triumphant
return. Am I not correct, Reverend?”

“Yes, that is correct,” said the Reverend as he stood up from
his seat and approached the Judge’s side.

“Then, how is it that Samuel is allowing his sister to live?
How is it, that Moloch is allowing Samuel this exemption from the covenant? How
is keeping her, as a prospective concubine, fulfilling our Book of Final
Covenants? What are we to make of this Reverend?”

Reverend Mitchell was inwardly smiling. He knew he now had an
ally.

Just then the phone in the kitchen rang.

“Excuse me,” said the Judge as he put the spray bottle down
and headed into the kitchen.

He was gone for only a couple of minutes.

“Samuel is calling for a meeting. We are to meet at Phyllis’
offices in one hour.”

“Then I’d better be going. I’ll see you at the meeting,” said
the Reverend.

The Judge, who is a least a foot and a half taller than the
Reverend, put his hand on the Reverend’s shoulder.

“What you came to me about shall remain between us. I believe
you may be quite right about Samuel and Moloch. We are bound by our hearts and
soul to uphold the Book of Covenants. For now let us see what is being planned.
We will speak again, Reverend.”

“Thank you, Judge. All I want is to do is what is right.”

“I understand.”

The judge showed the Reverend to the front door.

***

Miss Beacon pulled her Land Rover out of the garage. It
looked terrible. It had dents and dings everywhere and the color was no longer
uniform due to fading, scrapes and some rust. The tires were new, the engine
sounded good and the windshield had a crack on the left side that traveled from
top to bottom.

Aaron and
Korie
climbed into the
back of the vehicle, and pulled a blanket over themselves as Miss Beacon had
instructed them to do. They also slid as low in the seat as they could.

Miss Beacon put the Rover in gear and turned around in her
back driveway. She pulled the vehicle out onto the road and headed south. A car
passed her heading in the opposite direction, it was Shirley Carter. She was a
beautician and a coven member. Miss Beacon and Mrs. Carter exchanged a brief
wave with one another.

It was getting hot under the blanket.

“How much longer must we stay under the blanket?” asked
Aaron.

“Not much. We’ll be turning off this road in a couple of
miles. You can come out then.”

In a few minutes, Aaron and
Korie
were suddenly jolted by the bouncing of the Land Rover, as it pulled off the
paved road onto a path through high grass. Miss Beacon’s Rover drove straight
over a piece of split-rail fence that long ago had been knocked over. She
didn’t slow down one bit. Still traveling about thirty miles per hour she
reached over the seat and pulled back the blanket cover.

“You can come out now.”

“Thanks,” said Aaron as he tossed the rest of the blanket off
him and
Korie
.

“Why don’t you slow down a bit?” asked
Korie
as she and Aaron bounced around in the back seat.

“Not until I get to the tree line.”

Miss Beacon was a small woman, and the steering wheel was
oversized on the Land Rover. She could barely see over the steering wheel as it
was.

Korie
and Aaron looked out the
windshield and saw the trees rapidly approaching. Neither could discern a road
or even a path. They both looked at each other, while the same question popped
into their heads.

She is going crash this thing!
they thought.

“I am not going to do any such thing,” said Miss Beacon.

Neither was surprised at her telepathic power.

“Climb into the front seat, Aaron,” said Miss Beacon.

Aaron started to when the car suddenly veered sharply to the
left. He fell back into the rear knocking
Korie
back
at the same time.

Miss Beacon deftly pulled the Land Rover to the left, barely
threading it between two large pine trees. She spun the steering wheel to the
left and right with ease. Suddenly she stopped the Rover.

“Sorry about that little turn. You can get into the front
now. Oh, and
Korie
, would you be a dear, and hand me
that small pistol from the satchel under the tarp in the back? Take the other
two pistols for you and Aaron and leave the shotgun alone. I don’t think we’ll
be needing it today.”

“Pistols?” asked Aaron.

“Yes. You may have powers but you sure can’t stop a bullet,
at least not yet anyway. We’re dealing with some powerful and motivated people,
Aaron. We can’t take any chances. Too much is at stake.”

“She’s right, Aaron,” said
Korie
as
she turned around from having retrieved the weapons. She handed a small pistol
to Miss Beacon, who slipped it into her dress pocket.
Korie
handed Aaron a pistol. It was larger and held a clip that loaded the bullets from
the bottom.
Korie’s
pistol was the same.

“Do either of you know how to use one of these?” asked Miss
Beacon.

Aaron shook his head no.
Korie
, on
the other hand, said, “Sure, I’ve had some experience with guns.”

For the next several minutes Miss Beacon explained the
features of the weapon to Aaron. She showed him the safety, how to choose
single shot and how to select semi-automatic. She also showed him how to load
the gun and the rudiments of aiming the weapon. Satisfied he understood the
basics, she had
Korie
locate the extra clips of
bullets, making sure they each had two extra clips. With the safeties now
engaged, she put the Rover into gear and once again began to weave her way
through the dense woods.

The Rover began to climb upward through the woods. The
windows remained rolled halfway down. The scent of the forest drifted through
the half open windows. The air was filled with the blended aromas of pine,
hemlock, beech, birch, maple and sumac. Underneath this was another fragrance.
It was the odor of decay. What lives in the forest also dies there! The dead or
dying parts of the forest contributed their own smells.

It was dark and cooler here in the woods. The Land Rover
bounced up and down and even sideways, as Miss Beacon followed an unrecognizable
trail.

“Do you know where we’re going? I don’t see any signs of a
road or trail,” said Aaron.

“Yes, I do. We could just drive up the front walk and
announce our arrival, but I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

Korie
wasn’t speaking. She didn’t
dare. She was sure the bouncing of the Rover would loosen her teeth, which kept
clinking with each bounce.
Korie
could also feel her
ears begin to pop from the change in elevation.

Miss Beacon slowed the Rover down as she maneuvered it in a
tight turn so it was pointing downhill in the direction they had come from. She
turned the vehicle off, opened her door and climbed out of the Rover, stepping
on the step bar beneath the door before she set foot on the pine needle covered
forest floor.

Aaron and
Korie
climbed out of the
Rover as well. They joined her next to the drivers’ door.

“We’ll walk from here. We must be careful. Now take it real
slow. We don’t want to meet up with anyone. If we do, we’ll have to be ready to
eliminate them. No one must know we were here. Can you handle that?”

“You make it sound like we’re a SWAT Team,” said Aaron
jokingly.

“This is life or death, Aaron, deal with it,” said Miss
Beacon in a stern tone of voice.

Aaron looked at Miss Beacon and then at
Korie
.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Can you tell us more about what we’re here to see? You were
kind of vague back at the Inn,” said
Korie
.

“Of course. About three hundred yards from here, further up
the mountain, is an old barn. It holds some terrible secrets. I want Aaron to
see it for himself. After that, further up the mountain is a clearing, with an
altar where the coven comes to worship. It was built on the ground where the
Powell family home once stood. Next to this clearing is the Powell family
cemetery. We’ve come in, sort of the back way. We’ve climbed the mountain on
its southeast side. The barn, clearing, altar and cemetery are all on the
northwest side.”

“Well, I’m ready. Let’s go,” said Aaron. The three of them
began to head through the woods, up the mountain’s steep slope.

They moved slowly and as quietly as possible. The woods were
filled with the sounds of life. Birds chirped and squirrels scampered from
branch to branch in the tall trees overhead. A steady breeze pushed against the
taller trees causing them to sway and twist about. The breeze added a sort of
“swooshing,” sound to the noise of the forest. At ground level there was barely
any air movement.

Pine needles softly crunched underfoot.

After a slow and careful advance that took over forty
minutes, the outline of an old barn was noticeable. They continued moving from
low scruff pine to low scruff sumac to camouflage their advance. In a few
minutes, they were standing at the south side of the barn. Its old, wooden,
weather worn side had sizable gaps between the planks. They looked inside
through the planks, but were not able to see anything. Since the barn was
closed up, the only light that managed to squeeze between the planks or through
the dust clouded, small windows provided a sort of deep twilight effect.

“I don’t see anyone,” whispered Aaron to Miss Beacon.

She acknowledged his comment with a gesture to keep quiet.
She moved cautiously along the side of the barn until she was next to the front
corner. She looked carefully around the corner for a moment, and then motioned
for Aaron and
Korie
to move up.

“I’m going to open the barn door. You two cover me from here.
If you have to shoot don’t hesitate. If I can’t get away, you two will have to
go to the car and get out of here. Here are the keys,” she said as she handed
the keys to Aaron.

“Be careful,” said
Korie
.