Evil Agreement (34 page)

“And, have you told Samuel?”

“No, I haven’t, not yet.

“Why did you come here first?”

“I’ve been thinking about things, you know. Look, its no
secret I can’t stand that little bastard. I’ll tell you what I think. I think
he’s going to find a way to screw this up for us. I also think it’s a mistake
to have him in charge. We should have just grabbed this Powell and made him
cooperate. There are ways you know. Instead we’re told to just let Powell run
around town. Keep an eye on him, he says. Shit!”

The Judge leaned back in his chair and folded his fingers
together as he studied Ed.

“Judge, don’t you think Ed’s right?” said the Reverend in an
attempt to lead the Judge.

“Perhaps. Listen, Ed, suppose we agree with you on this. What
are you prepared to do? What are you prepared to risk?”

Ed looked at both men. He was about to step across the line.
He knew it.

“Look, I’ll tell you what. I’m prepared to help replace him.
And if that means killing him, I’m prepared for that, too. What am I prepared
to risk? I’m prepared to put my life on the line here. If you want, I’ll pull
the fucking trigger myself.”

There was silence in the room. No one spoke for over one
minute. The only sounds to be heard, was the sound of light rain still falling
against the window, on the westerly side of the room, and the sound of the
bookcase clock.

“You have presented us with an attractive proposal. As you
might have surmised we too are, shall we say, disappointed with Moloch’s choice
of Samuel as the coven leader. However before we go much further, I suggest you
proceed to inform Samuel of what you found at the church.”

“Yes, Ed, remember he sent you to check on things. He knows
how long it takes to get to the church. He’ll wonder why it has taken you so
long to inform him. He’ll be suspicious.”

“Indeed. Ed, go inform Samuel. You can come back here
afterwards. We’ll be here waiting for you. We can discuss our options when you
return.”

“I understand. Okay, I’ll head over to his place right now.
I’ll tell him what happened. He might want to send me off to do something, I
don’t know. If he does, I’ll give you a call and let you guys know what’s
happening.”

With that, Ed stood up and quickly left the room. In a
moment, they heard the front door close, followed by the sound of Ed’s car
starting up.

“Well, Judge, it seems we now have a powerful and committed
ally.”

“Perhaps an ally or perhaps a decoy. We shall see, won’t we?
The end game is so very important Reverend, very important.”

***

Samuel was standing in his room looking out his window into
the blackness of the night.

He had much to think about. Tomorrow was the day, the day of
the Covenant. It was the day hoped for long ago, denied all these years and now
about to be fulfilled.

He also knew there was treachery somewhere in his coven. Who
the traitors were, what they might be planning, and when they planned to spring
their dark plan, intrigued Samuel. He looked forward to assisting Moloch in
punishing the offenders. Their punishment would have to be great, certainly as
great as the treachery they perpetrated.

Samuel heard a commotion coming from downstairs.

Then he heard someone bounding loudly up the stairs. Suddenly
his bedroom door burst open. He turned to face whoever it was, that was in such
a rush to see him.

“Samuel,” said Ed slightly out of breath.

“Yes, Ed. What is it?”

“Kelley’s gone, and the
Fecteau
brothers are both dead. They were shot to death.”

Samuel’s eyes opened about as wide as humanly possible. He
looked clearly angry.

“What happened?”

“I just told you. Those assholes you sent over there must
have walked into an ambush,” said Ed savoring the moment.

“I don’t understand.”

“What part don’t you understand?”

“Besides our people, who else knew she was there? I’ll tell
you, no one. I personally saw her locked up. She certainly didn’t escape on her
own. This Aaron Powell is too weak to have done this. His woman friend is weak
like him. The only other person is their friend, Miss Beacon. She is an old
hag. No, no, no,” said Samuel as he began to pace, “there has to be someone
else, someone we have overlooked. Ed, I want you to return to the church. Get
rid of the bodies. Get Foley and
Yandow
to help you.
Check the church and the area thoroughly. See if there is anything, anything at
all, that might give us a clue as to who is secretly helping this Powell.”

“You’re the boss!” said Ed as he turned and headed for the
door.

“And Ed?”

“Yeah,” he said turning back.

“If you get a lead on who our traitor is, remember come to me
first. I want them alive. Moloch and I will deal with them.”

“Sure,” said Ed as he left the room.

“Moloch and I, Moloch and I,” repeated Ed under his breath as
he went down the stairs.

***

Aaron had been sitting in the darkened living room ever since
the phone conversation with Samuel. He felt he needed to get this thing over
with before he lost his mind. He hated being alone.

Miss Beacon,
Korie
and Kelley,
along with the dog, arrived at the rear of Miss Beacon’s barn. Everyone was
soaked to the bone. Overly aggressive mosquitoes had been attacking them
steadily, ever since they had entered the woods.

Miss Beacon knelt down on one leg, and scratched the ears of
the German shepherd that had so reliably led them though the dark wet woods.

“Nice boy, yeah, nice boy. I’ve got a treat for you.
Korie
, in your backpack is a dog chew bone. Will you get it
for me?”

“How did you know? Oh, never mind,” said
Korie
.

“What do you mean?” asked Kelley.

Korie
removed the backpack and
opened up the top flap.

“I mean, how did she know ahead of time, that we would meet
up with a dog, who would lead us back and forth through these woods? I’ll tell
you how, she’s a...”

“Now
Korie
, don’t you go and spoil
our surprise.”

“What surprise?” asked Kelley as
Korie
handed the chew bone to Miss Beacon.

Miss Beacon handed the chew bone to the dog, which took it in
its mouth, turned and padded back into the dark woods.

“You’ll just have to wait a bit.”

“Come on. We’re almost there,” said Miss Beacon as she opened
the barn door. “Kelley, take my hand and also hold
Korie’s
hand, too. Good, now follow me.”

The three women entered the barn.
Korie
closed the rear door. Once inside, it was hard to see because it was completely
dark except for the soft glow that entered the south side barn windows. That
was the side of the barn that faced the road, which passed by the front of Miss
Beacon’s property. The glow came from the two nearby streetlights, which lined
the road.

With Miss Beacon leading the way, they quickly moved through
the barn. Miss Beacon stopped at the front side door. She slowly opened it and
looked out.

In a moment she said “Good. It’s all clear. Let’s go.”

The women left the barn in quite a hurry.
Korie
barely had time enough to close the door. They half ran across the back yard
driveway and scampered up onto the back porch. A flash of lightning lit up the
back porch. The storm was beginning to wind down.

The three women stepped off the porch and entered the
kitchen. There were no lights on.

“Where’s Aaron?” asked
Korie
.

“I’m sure he’s here,” said Miss Beacon.

Just then Kelley looked past Miss Beacon. From the soft glow
of the street light filtering in from the windows, she noticed the silhouette
of a man coming through the doorway. The figure seemed overly large and
menacing. She felt a rush of panic. She let loose a scream.

The scream startled the other women.

“Miss Beacon, look out,” shouted Kelley.

At the sound of their screams, Aaron reached out to the wall,
and flipped on the overhead light. Standing in front of him was Miss Beacon
with her arm around a teenage girl. Stepping out from behind these two, was his
girlfriend
Korie
, with a gun raised up and pointed
directly at him. The three of them were soaked and dripping water on the floor.

As a reflex action he raised his two arms into the air.

“Shit, Aaron, you scared the hell out of us,” said
Korie
as she lowered the gun to her side.

“Indeed,” said Miss Beacon.

“Who’s he?” asked Kelley.

“He’s the man who’s going to defeat Samuel,” said Miss
Beacon.

“Oh,” said Kelley as she fell from Miss Beacon’s arms onto
the kitchen floor. She had fainted.

“Take her into the bathroom please,” said Miss Beacon.

Korie
put the gun back into her
waistband, and with Aaron’s help, managed to carry Kelley into the bathroom.

“Hold her,” commanded Miss Beacon as she turned on the
overhead light. Miss Beacon then opened the medicine cabinet and reached for a
small bottle. She opened it and removed a small vial. She broke the vial and
held it up to Kelley’s nose. It was smelling salts. The odor immediately caused
Kelley’s head to snap backwards as she regained consciousness.

“There now, sit right here,” said Miss Beacon as guided
Kelley to sit on the closed toilet seat.

“I’ll help her take a warm shower as soon as she feels alert
enough.”

“She looks like she could use one,” said
Korie
.

“I’m sure, now
Korie
you should go
and take a shower. Aaron, please stay with Kelley while I go get her some dry
clothes to change into, for after her shower.”

Korie
left and headed upstairs to
take a shower.

Miss Beacon left as well.

Aaron knelt down next to the girl. He could easily see her
skin was marked with dozens of dark red spots. A purple colored bruise
surrounded each spot.

“Her name is Kelley,” shouted Miss Beacon from another room
at the back of the house. “She’s Samuel’s sister.”

Aaron froze.

Miss Beacon returned to the bathroom with a large bath towel
and some clothes.

“What happened to her?” asked Aaron.

“It seems, she has been chained up in a cellar back room for
a couple of days. Those marks were caused by dozens of spider bites.”

“Did Samuel do this?”

Kelley moaned softly. She was still a little light headed.

“Yes, now get out of here while I help her out of her soiled
clothes.”

Aaron left the room and headed upstairs to the bedroom he and
Korie
shared.

After he left, Miss Beacon began to undress Kelley and change
her out of her wet clothes.

Korie
was already in the bathroom.

Aaron could hear the shower running. He sat at the foot of
the bed and then fell back onto the bed.

How can I tell her? What will she say?
thought Aaron
as he pondered how to tell
Korie
about what had
happened to him today.

What had happened to
Korie
, Miss
Beacon and this young girl, Samuel’s sister, Kelley?
he thought as his mind
raced along.
What about tomorrow? I still have no idea what to do.

His mind began to freely drift along. He was tired, stressed
out and deeply in need of a good night’s rest. He quickly dropped off to sleep.

***

Samuel stood at the foot of his bed. He closed his eyes and
extended his arms in front of him. He held his hands out, palm side up.

“Moloch, our counsel and leader, I call for you to appear.
Our coven needs your help. I need your help. Moloch hear my words and answer my
call,” said Samuel.

The room temperature began to immediately rise, as if the
thermostat had been cranked up to its maximum. The carpet that covered the
pentagram painted on the floor, slid across the room. A twirling mass of pulsating
lights formed in the air above the pentagram. The lights spun at ever
increasing speed. The air in the room felt heavy. The light from the overhead
light, and the light on the nightstand seemed to be literally sucked into this
spinning vortex.

Samuel continued to stand as he did before. The hair on his
head was pushed back, as if he were standing in front of an oversized fan.

The lights now stretched from the floor to the ceiling. The
pulsating lights began to take on a shape. They formed an outline of a large
figure. The figure was human like in shape but not in proportions. The figure
itself was not spinning. This dark figure appeared at first without any detail.
In a few moments distinct details began to appear.

A large head appeared first. The head had no hair but had two
horns. Its skin seemed to move, as if there was something beneath, trying to
find a way to break through and escape. Details now began to take form
throughout the rest of the shape. The figure stood nearly seven feet tall. Its unclothed
body was covered mostly with a scaly skin, whose color seemed to change from
green, to brown, then black, and then back to green. This shape had two massive
and powerful looking legs. In place of feet were two cloven hooves. The shape
had a snake like tail that twisted constantly. Its hands were very large, with
long fingers, and long misshapen nails.

The shape opened its eyes, revealing two deeply set red
colored orbs that now looked about the room.

The swirling lights began to fade away. The shape had
transformed itself into Moloch. Moloch took a deep breath, his chest swelling
from the effort.

Moloch let Samuel remain in his trance-like state for a
while. Meanwhile, Moloch walked around Samuel’s room, his hooves clicking
against the hardwood floor. He wanted to look out the window. The window was
closed because of the passing summer storm. Moloch extended his right hand, and
in a flash the entire window, casing and all blew off, crashing on the ground
below. The nighttime air was still humid despite the effects of the storm.
Clearer, drier air was expected to arrive on the backside of this storm. Its
arrival was a couple of hours away. After drawing a breath at the window,
Moloch returned to stand in front of Samuel.