Paranormal Research Club Ch. 06

Cardinal Imamu smiled, but said nothing.

Father David Continued. "The Spear of Lugh would pose far too much risk to the public if it were kept anywhere near large numbers of people. Not even I know exactly where it is kept, and I am second in command of our entire Order. I am the highest-ranking member of our Order in North America."

"During the 18th Century, when Bishop Thomas was bringing treasure to King's Chapel in Boston, he foolishly grabbed the Armlet of Dionysus and the Golden Apple of Eris from the charnel house beneath St. Bride's in London while the vicar in charge of protecting them and his assistant were both mortally ill from smallpox. Being a clergyman with benevolent intentions, he wasn't bothered by the ghouls in the charnel house that might have frightened away or even killed other intruders. Bishop Thomas had no idea regarding the nature of these items, but could guess that they were made of gold and simply threw them in a wooden chest along with several pounds of precious metals that he had scrounged from other various sources. His records indicate that he had hoped to have local congregations melt them down and use the materials to make communion sets or other items, depending on the needs of the church. He thought that pretty churches would help inspire Americans to act in a civilized manner. As an interesting side-note, I'm pretty sure that he later had to flee back to Great Britain in fear for his life."

"Bishop Thomas managed to get the relics to Boston before members of the Order figured out what had happened and caught up with him. Our order recovered the relics and returned them to hiding in new places in the new world rather than risk a second month-long transatlantic voyage with them on board. I assume that you know by now what the Armlet of Dionysus does." He stopped and frowned, pursing his lips together. His brow was wrinkled with care. He took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. His gaze was hard and unwavering. "By the way, is my daughter Erin still a virgin? She cares an awful lot about saving herself for marriage, and as a trusted friend of hers I'm sure you know that."

"Yes, Erin is still a virgin. And I haven't had sex with Naomi, either." I felt about as honest as a politician. Yes, Erin's hymen was still intact, but technically I had put my penis inside of the opening into her vagina. Her virginity existed more-or-less as a technicality. Also, based on what Heather had told me, I was soon going to get to take Erin's virginity in the alternate reality that Acratophorus had created for me. Not to mention the fact that I had finger-fucked Naomi's wet hole until she had climaxed. If only these priests could ever understand how hard it had been not to do much, much more than that, and what an effort I had put into respecting the women!

Cardinal Imamu was pretending to devote his full attention to the last bite of homemade biscuit and his coffee. A chill ran down my spine as I somehow felt aware of the fact that the Cardinal knew of almost everything that had occurred since I had put on the armband.

Father David nodded and smiled thinly. "I believe you, and I appreciate that. I should have just trusted Erin when she told me the exact same thing you just said; that girl has always been completely open and honest with me." He paused, his thoughts clearly troubling him. "John... That's why you want to come with us today, isn't it? To protect the women from yourself and the armband?"

"Yes," I replied quietly and with a bit of embarrassment. I had always prided myself on my personal discipline and self-control, both of which I had felt slipping in recent days. It was humbling to admit that I needed help in governing myself. After a moment, I asked, "What about the other relics that you're protecting? What do they do?" I really wanted to change the subject from Erin and Naomi.

"Well, considering how deep you're already in this, it won't hurt for you to know as long as you never mention them again. The Necklace of Tlazolteotl belonged to a powerful succubus that was worshiped by the Aztecs as the goddess of sexual sin, venereal disease, adultery, rape, sexual molestation, or any other kind of sexual cruelty or victimization. She basically presides over any sick or depraved sexual act imaginable, and many sex acts that frankly aren't imaginable to sane mortals. Anyone who wears the necklace can and inevitably will fulfill their deepest and darkest sexual fantasies as often as they would like with anyone they would like, but its powers will drive them to seek acts of deeper depravity each time they use it. The spiritual energy produced using the necklace goes directly to Tlazolteotl, just like the energy you produce with your armband goes to the deity you call Acratophorus. Eventually, for those unable to resist the necklace's corrupting influence, those who wear it begin to desire horrifically vile and destructive things in order to achieve sexual gratification. It almost always destroys those who wear it and all those whom they love."

"You mistakenly referenced Hiawatha, who was a legendary American Indian leader and founder of the Iroquois league. He has nothing to do with any of our relics. What you meant to refer to was The Fist of Hahgwehdaetgah, which is a club that is shaped, as the name implies, like a mummified fist at the end of a severed, shriveled human forearm. Just looking at it is enough to give you chills even if you don't know what it is. Since it's indestructible, a sample can't be removed for testing and it's not reactive with chemical reagents, so there is still some debate regarding whether it is made of wood or unnaturally hardened mummified flesh. It fills whoever uses it with superhuman strength said to rival the gods themselves and near invulnerability to being injured, but it also fills their heart full of rage and hatred. Those who wield it seldom put it down before many people are dead, and that almost always includes themselves. That club has literally destroyed entire civilizations. Hahgwehdaetgah is an evil spirit that uses the spiritual energy of those killed with the club more-or-less as though they were human sacrifices, and their life force goes to empower him."

"The Golden Apple of Eris is the same apple that she tossed into the room full of the other goddesses to ignite the Trojan War. It was marked 'to the fairest', and the jealous vanity of the goddesses drove them to fight over who should claim it until the conflict spilled over into the mortal realm. The gods cursed it for what it had done to the pantheon, causing it to be capable of driving mortals and even most gods literally insane with bellicose rage. Demons quickly realized the power of the apple and stole it. They began using it to spark constant war and bloodshed among gods and mortals so that they could glut themselves on the spiritual energy they derived from the fear, anger, and hatred that it caused. Humanity would have perished altogether if Heracles himself had not recovered it from the dark pits of Hell and returned it to the gods in a leather bag so that his hands never touched it. The gods did not risk keeping it among themselves on Olympus, but they did try to nullify the curse on the apple with a blessing so that it could only be used by a pure soul who desires neither violence nor conflict. Therefore, although the Apple of Eris is theoretically the most dangerous object we guard, it can only be used to start universal warfare by someone who does not desire for universal warfare to start. That's a comforting thought."

I thought about what Father David had said for a moment. "What if that's the role that Eris wants her new daughter to fulfill? A newborn goddess would still be innocent, and hopefully wouldn't desire to start a universal conflict. Still, she's going to want to fulfill her mother's wishes."

Cardinal Imamu nodded sadly to me before he looked at Father David and spoke calmly. "Dave, I don't want to hear specifics. Is the Apple well-guarded and safe? Would Eris or her daughter be able to access it?"

Father David smiled. "I know what you're getting at, Cardinal. For the last hundred years, the apple has been hidden deep inside of a system of fumaroles in Yellowstone National Park. A blacksmith rigged up a device out of jointed iron bars to run the Apple about two-hundred feet back into a tunnel with about an 8 inch diameter. It was decided that the primordial nature spirits that inhabit the fumaroles would defend their territory from any demons, gods, or goddesses that might enter it with any sort of hostile intentions. The fact that it's a tunnel that's too small for a human being to enter, not to mention that it's filled with scalding-hot poisonous gasses, should help dissuade warmongering mortals, although there have been concerns about remote-controlled robots in recent years. It's going to be hard for us to put additional security on site without attracting unwanted attention from the National Park Service. We do have three of our guys that have managed to quietly infiltrate Yellowstone as full-time park employees which should help, but it's going to be hard to beef up security for more than a few days without attracting far too much attention. Once Bishop Frank turns up, I'll talk to him and see if we have anyone that could pose as state seismologists or graduate students studying the fumarole. Three or four million people visit that park every year, and hardly any of them have a clue that there's even scarier stuff beneath their feet than the most powerful supervolcano in the world."

The elderly cardinal nodded. "Would these nature spirits attack an innocent, newborn goddess that has no hostile intentions at all?"

Father David didn't answer for a long moment, his face pale. "We were counting on their adamant neutrality in the struggle between Light and Darkness to drive them to attack anyone that infiltrated the tunnel for the sake of furthering either side. Eris' daughter would be a goddess, so they might attack her, but I don't know. She wouldn't have any sort of agenda that would provoke them into defending their territory, and I don't know if they would attack an innocent newly born goddess. Nature spirits can be difficult to understand, but they are fiercely honorable in their own way."

The elderly Cardinal looked grim. "Perhaps we should increase the amount of human security we are keeping there. Since nobody can reach Bishop Frank, I think that perhaps I should send some of my own people over this morning. Most of my priests don't mind working with Episcopalians, and I could probably get a team there in about an hour."

With a smile, the old African attempted to lighten the mood. "So, old friend, do they allow campers in that part of the park?" he asked. "An emergency response team could defend the area for a few days without leaving anything else unguarded. We must, after all, consider the possibility that the apparent attempt on the Apple is a diversion to get us to divert resources away from another relic. Still, the Roman Catholic Order has no shortage of good people that would dearly love to be assigned to camp out in Yellowstone for a few weeks. That would certainly be a better assignment than the Nameless Plague God's temple in the Congo."

"You'll have to take that up with Bishop Frank after we find him. He's the only one in our organization that is authorized to approve joint operations with personnel outside of our own Order," said Father David returning the smile. He looked at me, an exhausted grin on his face. "You're really sure that you want to come along for an exorcism? This is a pretty bad one. In fact, it's the worst demonic haunting I've ever dealt with. It's at least one succubus that sexually abused the man of the house for two years, until he literally became sick at the thought of sex. Meanwhile, his wife and daughters spent their nights in sexual frustration and dealing with tormenting urges that few women could even comprehend, but they were unable to gain any sexual satisfaction at all. The demon- or demons- scared off all of their potential suitors even outside of the home. Even at school, the daughters said that there was something about them that kept boys from even talking to them for more than a few seconds at a time. I honestly have no idea what would happen if a succubus caught wind of your armband. We could drop you off somewhere else if you would like."

Cardinal Imamu looked at him calmly. "John will be fine with us. If we put him elsewhere, we don't know what would happen with that armband. It has a mind of its own, and a will to serve its master regardless of the desires of mortals. With us, he will have time to master it with our help and supervision. He already survived an encounter with Eris herself. If he takes the demon seriously and stays outside, he should be fine. Not to mention, I know something of these relics. Dionysus is a clever deity. He would have certainly thought of instructing Hephaestus to create this armband so that a demon couldn't use it."

Father David looked unconvinced, but nodded. He clearly trusted the older man. "Just so you know, this isn't a normal demon, and I'm not even fully convinced that there's just one. The demon that just about killed me last night somehow felt... it just felt different than the entity that I was used to seeing there. I've been trying to get it to leave this family alone for weeks. The last I heard from Bishop Frank was nearly a week ago, and he said that he was going to fly in from London to help me. Now, of course, nobody knows where he is. The Episcopalian church doesn't normally perform exorcisms, although we still keep the rites handy. Cardinal, I've honestly never felt so tired or drained before in my life. And last night... dear God, Cardinal, I didn't even know if I would make it home alive. I've been fasting for days on just water, and spending hours a day in prayer, but nothing seems to work." The priest let his voice trail off. He looked at his lap and sadly shook his head.

The old man nodded gravely. "This all sounds very bad, my friend. But greater is He who is within us than he who is in the world. We need to spend some extra time praying before going in there today. I'm sorry, but I'll need you to bring your own communion. You know how my church would feel about me sharing mine with you. Since neither of us can hear confession from the other, we'll both have to settle for a prayer of contrition. John, if you don't mind, could you stay in the car for this? Exorcisms aren't good to be around."

Father David clapped me on the shoulder. "Well, John. Why don't you run get ready to go? We'll meet you back here in fifteen minutes and we'll be on our way to your first exorcism."

I nodded. I headed upstairs and brushed my teeth, placing my toothbrush back into a well-worn toiletry case that I used for traveling. I headed into my room, tossed the toiletry case onto the well-rumpled bed, and then glanced around the room for my hat and sunglasses. Spotting them on the dresser at the front of the room, I moved to retrieve them before heading downstairs to join the two priests.

As I slipped the sunglasses into the neck of my t-shirt, I glanced in the mirror ahead of me. I was certain that I had left the door open, but it was now closed. And reflected in the mirror, I could see an astonishingly beautiful angel-like creature sitting on the bed. Startled, I whirled to face her. I had neither heard the noisy hinges on the door as it had closed, nor had I heard anyone enter. I had not even heard the creak of bed-springs as she had sat down, and I knew from this morning's experiences that this was a very noisy mattress.

The newcomer laughed cheerfully at my surprise. It was a beautiful, melodious sound. Her dusky olive skin spoke of Middle Eastern ancestry, and her long, glossy black hair cascaded down in beautiful curls that softly framed a heart-meltingly adorable face. Almost hidden in the hair, I saw two points rising up from her head, although I could not tell whether they were horns or some sort of crescent-shaped headdress. She was the very epitome of a cute, petite, perky young woman with voluptuous curves that spoke of ripe sexuality despite her small stature. I had never seen anything more beautiful than her before in my life. Modesty was clearly not one of her virtues, though. She was entirely naked, confident in her beauty almost to the point of arrogance, and making no effort at all to cover herself.

The newcomer was short, perhaps only five feet tall, but astonishingly well-proportioned with wide hips, a narrow waist, and large breasts with dark, puffy nipples. Curly black hair adorned her perfectly shaped vulva. My gaze traveled down her statuesque thighs to the curves of her calves, and I was shocked to see that her legs terminated in wickedly clawed dinosaur-like feet that contrasted sharply with the gentle curves of the rest of her body. Neatly folded behind her back, she had beautiful, majestic-looking brown and white wings that resembled those of a gigantic hawk.

Even though her dark, lovely eyes were squinted in joyful laughter, there was still an indescribable quality to them that spoke of something ancient, powerful, primal, and somehow frightening. It was as though I might loose my sense of self in the immensity of her presence if I were to look into her eyes for too long. They inspired the same heart-stopping awe that I had felt the first time I had gone scuba-diving off of the shelf of an island. I remembered feeling myself swallowed up by the cold, deep, dark blue waters of the ancient, eternally measureless ocean and I touching the unbounded, infinite forces of nature that governed them. At that moment, I felt truly aware of how insignificantly tiny I truly was in relationship to the world around me, and how smaller still I was in comparison to the immeasurable vastness of the universe.

The goddess that sat on the bed before me was a being that had walked the earth before the dinosaurs were born, who had personally known the men of the world's first civilizations and remembered them as though they had lived yesterday. Here, I instinctively knew, was a mighty being who could crush a mortal with little more than a thought. Next to her immense spirit, human life was of little significance.

Still, she was so tiny, so cute, and so beautiful! She barely looked twenty years old as mortals measure time. But her eyes and her wickedly clawed feet spoke of a fearsome being that was never to be taken lightly for even an instant.

She smiled as my eyes met hers, and the angelic being pressed down with her hands against the soft mattress until her delightfully bare bottom was suspended a few inches off of it. Silently and gracefully, she came to her feet. She stood there, her elegant, shapely legs slightly spread and her bare chest puffed out in a fearless display of unsuppressed feminine sexuality. She walked towards where I stood, speaking with a mesmerizing voice that was far more exquisitely beautiful than words could ever hope to convey. There was only a faint hint of a Middle-Eastern accent to her perfectly formed words.

"Hello, John. I'm Inanna, but you can call me Ishtar if you prefer. Mortals have described me as a goddess of sexuality, fertility, lust, love, and war, but I think it's more accurate to describe me as the goddess of uninhibited passion." She smiled at me, her hypnotically beautiful face only perhaps a foot and a half away from my own. "Remember that sniper's bullet that grazed your helmet in Baghdad? If I hadn't re-directed it, it would have taken most of your head off. Remember that roadside bomb that went off right beside your vehicle in the middle of the convoy, and you and your men all walked away without so much as a scratch, even though your vehicle was riddled with shrapnel and fragmentation? That was me again. I didn't even let the shockwave of the explosion blow your eardrums out."