Victorian Dreams Pt. 02

As usual, her self-castigation calmed her down and she continued. When she reached the door it stood ajar as it had since the night the board had fallen free. She straightened the boards on the floor around the door, so if she needed to make a hasty retreat she wouldn’t trip over them. Then she continued her descent into the chamber, prepared, or so she thought to face the evil that might lurk there.

Reaching the bottom step, she stopped, and scanned the room with the flashlight. The burnt smell she had smelt the first day she toured the house and when the raven-haired woman appeared in her room was intensely strong here.

In one corner the gargoyles that had apparently adorned the gables stood in silent testament to the events chronicled in Clarice diary. One broken, apparently the one Christian Johansson had successfully removed with the sledgehammer, the other its horny adornments on its head tinged with a red color, no doubt the blood from the impalement Christian Johansson had received in the fall from the roof, after having been pushed when he tried to remove this adornment from the edifice of the roof on the house.

The table Chirsty Johansson had been shackled to in the accounts in Clarice’ diary was there against the wall, and like the other things in the room it was covered in dust and cobwebs, appearing to indicate it hadn’t been used recently.

It occurred to Haley perhaps the reason the pressure had seemingly been turned up on the persuasion techniques the concubines were using was the Master desired a flesh and blood woman rather than his raven-haired concubine.

Clarice had said in her accounts of being taken prisoner by the ogres to the chamber they had lamented “Thank you Master, but the concubine women are never as satisfying as real flesh and blood women.” It was perhaps the same way for the Master, so this might explain the pressure being increased.

Though the sun was now on the west side of the house, very little light penetrated the dirty windows on the west wall. She walked to the west wall and ran her finger through the accumulation of dirt and dust on the windows. Yet, the outsides of the windows were just as dirty as the insides, so her efforts produced no discernable effect.

She returned to the center of the room and got her bearings, based on Clarice’ diary accounts of the room. As Haley faced the windows, the chains the common concubines hung from must be behind her. That meant the spot where the brick and mortar appeared fresh to Clarice must be to her right. She went to the wall directly behind her and the shackles hung there menacingly and as described. She touched one of them and what appeared as caked blood came off in her hands. She brushed her hand on her overalls to get most of the material off, but then ran her hand across her wet T-shirt. Where her hand traced along the garment, a bloody red handprint smear appeared and started to bubble as if hydrogen peroxide had been poured on an open wound. The effect of the Holy Water on the evil residue on Haley’s hand she supposed.

She turned to her left now, and walked over to the wall, shining the flashlight on the brick there. Just as Clarice diary had noted, the brick appeared new and the mortar appeared still wet to the touch.

Haley’s hand still had a little bit of the Holy Water moisture from cleaning her hand on her shirt and when she traced her finger along the mortar line between the bricks, the trail her finger left began to smolder briefly. Another indicator this was an area touched by the hands of evil.

Haley had all of the ‘casing’ she had wanted to do accomplished and she hastily retreated from the room unscathed.

Back on the ground floor, she calmed herself, regained any lost composure, poured a glass of iced tea and went to the verandah.

The beginnings on an idea were starting to form in Haley’s mind, and she reviewed what she knew as she sat and sipped the tea, her T-shirt drying in the warm afternoon breeze. She had hung the alter vestment over a chair in her room to dry so she could drape herself with it at bedtime. She did a mental inventory of what she knew.

The brick was freshly mortared just as it had been nearly 100 years earlier in Clarice diary account of her visit to the room the day after she had been taken there forcibly. That must be some kind of portal she assumed that the Master and the minions used to come to earth from the underworld each night.

The minions were only a meager power in comparison to what the Master must be. Their reactions to the religious accoutrements must be minor in comparison to how it would be for the Master. Either that or the religious items wouldn’t faze him. She made a note to ask Clarice about that possibility.

She must figure out a way to get more sunlight into the room. This fact resonated in Haley’s mind. She retrieved the diary and reread where Chirsty Johansson had instructed her daughter to burn the house down and destroy the evil there. The words, “The best way would be to get sunlight into the chamber below, but that is too risky, so the next best way is to destroy the house by burning it.” seemed to take root and form a crucible of understanding for the woman. She didn’t know what made flooding the chamber with sunlight more risky than any other method, but she would certainly respect the words of warning from the woman and only use the sunlight as an adjunct to whatever plan she finally formulated.

Besides, wouldn’t flooding the chamber with light by day only be effective during the daylight hours when the evil entities were in the underworld, anyway?

Perhaps the cleansing effect of the sunlight would make the chamber untenable to the creatures when they returned at night. Haley understood Clarice observations that each answer only seemed to produce another half dozen questions.

These facts were rummaging around in her head as she pondered the possibilities the rest of the afternoon. The day remained cloudless, and still only a couple of days past the full moon, Haley didn’t figure she would get any visitors tonight, but she still prepared, just in case.

Chapter 41

At bedtime, the T-shirt she had worn down stairs was dry and the handprint smear that had bubbled up on the shirt where she had wiped her hand was gone completely, so she decided to wear that T-shirt to sleep in. The alter vestment was dry, so slipping out of the overalls leaving only her T-shirt and panties she again donned the vestment as if it were a muffler. She knelt and prayed her routine 23rd Psalm prayer. And went to bed.

Around midnight she hadn’t yet fallen asleep and called for Clarice.

“Clarice are you here?”

Haley felt the familiar draft on her cheek as the spirit of the courageous young girl appeared to her.

“Yes, I am here.”

“I have been thinking on a plan to rid the house of the evil for good. Is it safe to discuss it here, or anywhere for that matter?” Haley was beginning to grasp the gravity of the situation and the abilities of the powers arrayed against her.

“No I think you would be wise to keep any plans you have to yourself. Though the minions can’t materialize here while I am here it doesn’t mean they aren’t lurking close by and could hear. And any attempt must succeed on the first try, or you place yourself in grave danger. The Masters servants will thwart any subsequent attempts as they learn of your tactics should a first attempt fail.”

“Would it be safe to ask questions?”

“Yes, as long as your questions weren’t so obvious they made your plan apparent. Again, though I must remind you I cannot answer a question, I can only confirm or refute something you already know and understand.”

“I understand and I do need for you to confirm a couple of things for me.”

“I will try.”

“When I threw the Holy Water on the common concubine and when the raven-haired concubine was exposed to the alter vestment, they reacted to the things that represent the Holy Father. Would the Master’s reaction be similar? I would think either he would be stronger so the effect would be minimized, or because he is the worst and the source of the evil, his reaction could be even more pronounced, and perhaps dangerously explosive.”

Chapter 42

“The Master is affected by the things that represent the Holy Father, as well. He has no greater strength against them, but to say he would react more intensely might be an overstatement, but yes, he is under the same influences to them any of his servants are.”

Haley continued her query, “Sunlight is fatal to all those who frequent the chamber?”

“Yes, unless their power is unleashed by a virgin girl in a special ritual, they cannot tolerate the light of day. You read what happened to my mother when she was touched by sunlight.”

“If sunlight were present and bathing a human person in the chamber, I assume they would be safe?”

“Yes, that would serve as an effective shield, for even the reflection of sunlight would have a negative effect on the Master and his servants of evil. This is why moon light bothers then, for it is a reflection of the suns light on the other side of the earth.”

“The area in the chamber that appears to have been bricked recently, is that a portal of some sort, where the Master and his servants depart each morning and return each night?”

“Yes, each night at sunset the bricks are removed and the Master and his people are set free to rain terror on the unprepared of this earth. Then each morning, they return to the underworld, leaving the appearance they have never been here, to the unsuspecting.”

“Is the portal just that one spot or does it appear anywhere in the earth.”

“That is not a question I can answer.”

It occurred to Haley it was an attempt to gain information, and not a confirmation, so that was why Clarice was restrained in her answer.

Haley’s plan was taking shape, but she wished she could confirm its efficacy without revealing too much. She would certainly feel safer that way. She recognized she would need to reword her query in such a way as to get an answer that was more a confirmation. She felt she was like a trial attorney, and had to word her questions in such a way as to not ‘lead the witness’.

Chapter 43

At the moment Haley felt certain she could proceed with a plan without having to seek concurrence from Clarice, especially since that concurrence would likely not be forthcoming.

The next day, Haley went to the hobby and crafts store and purchased several packages of plaster of Paris. When she returned home, she used the Holy water in the basin she had used to drench the shirt and Alter vestment the day before with the plaster powder and made a smooth heavily liquefied paste. She had to use tap water to get it as liquefied as she wanted it, but the presence of holy water was sufficient she hoped to serve the purpose.

It was already after noon by the time Haley’s preparations were concluded, so she decided to proceed with her plan. She draped herself in the alter vestment and headed down to the chamber with the plaster preparation.

She had no brushes or putty knives to apply the plaster with, so she merely smeared it on the wall with her hands. Once she had applied most of the substance she spread it around to cover the portals freshly bricked area completely.

Her assumption the small amount of Holy Water would do the trick was seemingly confirmed when the wall began to smolder as the Holy Fide paste was applied, coming in contact with the evil residue that was present there.

Haley finished the task in a matter of minutes and retreated from the danger the chamber presented. Now it was only a matter of waiting for night fall to see if the task had accomplished the goal of sealing the portal as a point of ingress for the Master and his evil.

She received no visitors for the next several days, either of the good variety or evil, and felt no need to call for Clarice in the night. Then late that week when heat storm clouds obscured the moon’s glow, she got the first indication her plan had failed.

The raven-haired lady appeared to her at the foot of her bed as she had before. Haley still wore the muffler of the alter vestment and the raven-haired concubine didn’t go to her side as before, but spoke to her from the foot of the bed.

“Your attempts to prevent the Master coming to earth have been foiled. Surely a foolish human like you can understand your powers and abilities in upsetting the Master’s plan to rule the world and provide it with the decadence it desires can’t be undone?”

Haley lay trembling, expecting the concubine would get physically aggressive as she had on her last visit. She had no Holy Water left to throw at the evil spirit and felt quite vulnerable at that moment.

She vowed to herself to never let her supply of protective measures run low again. As it turned out she didn’t need them this night. The raven-haired concubine spoke again and then left.

“The Master cometh and no feeble attempts by man or beast will prevent this inevitable truth.”

The raven-haired lady dematerialized and the hazy yellow-glow and terrible burnt odor that so typified her presence left the room. Haley lay scared for several minutes, expecting a return visit from the army of evil she was used to and then thought to summon Clarice to preclude their return.

“Clarice, I need to speak to you.”

Immediately the cool draft appeared on her cheek and the spirit of the girl once again hovered over Haley, her placid features and the deep blue pools of her eyes, focused just inches away from Haley’s fear contorted face, producing a calming effect for the human friend of the spirit girl. “I am here.”

“I tried to defeat the evil in the basement by not allowing them a point of ingress and I failed. Are my attempts thwarted?”

“Your attempts were successful, but as you have discovered, only temporary.”

“I assumed the things that represent the Holy Father, are good down through eternity, and not of limited endurance. As an example, the shirt I wore when I plastered the portal was drenched in Holy Water I assumed that even after it dried it would protect me until I washed it. I thought blocking the portal with things that represent the Holy Father would end the evil from being able to gain worldly access. It appears my assumptions were invalid.”

“No, you aren’t thwarted. That was a valid assumption to a point. The garment actually took several days to dry and for the Holy Water to be thoroughly dissipated from the fibers, though the shirt felt dry to you, in actuality residual moisture remained. Until all that moisture was gone, it was protective. After that point it no longer is of any protection from the evil in this house or else where in the world. That is what happened with your attempts to seal the portal before. As long as the plaster was wet with the Holy Water it succeeded in preventing that place from being used as a portal, but now that it is dry, the protection no longer exists.”

“If the area that is bricked in the chamber were somehow blocked with things that represent the Holy Father, that were enduring, it could no longer be used as a portal and no other portal could be created?”

“Yes that place could no longer be used as a portal, but another could be established next to it or anywhere along that north or east wall, as you have seen. Now I must go, I cannot give you any more confirmations. You seem to understand the situation, and what is necessary, now I must leave you to do what must be done, but again I caution you do not under estimate the powers of evil and their attempts to thwart you. Now that you have made one attempt and failed though successful temporarily, the minions and sources of evil will be even more vigilante against your efforts. Use what you have learned and continue in your efforts to defeat them and prevent their aims at the downfall of mankind.”

Apparently Clarice had stepped over a line with the last answer, and now wouldn’t be allowed to answer any more of Haley’s questions, for just as suddenly as she appeared, she disappeared. She hadn’t given Haley the usual caress of her cheek when she left this time either.

Chapter 44

Haley had difficulty falling to sleep as she pondered the possibilities of how to permanently evict her unwanted and unwelcome guests. She even tried to make light of the situation when she was pondering it too heavily, by saying, “After evicting these tenets, evicting any of my B ‘n B guests should be a piece of cake.”

Haley pondered how to mix the things she knew, sunlight to protect her, block the portal and all other available portal possibilities with enduring things that represent the Holy Father. After work the next day, she returned to the Catholic Church to refill the bottles of Holy Water, and encountered the priest she had seem the week before. She thought to avail of him of his knowledge.

“Father, may I ask you a question?”

The priest immediately recognized Haley by the sharp outfit she wore and the too-short skirt.

“Yes my child.”

“Where does Holy Water come from?”

“It is regular water that has had a special prayer said over it.”

“Can you do large quantities?”

“It depends on what you consider large quantities. We typically do up to 5-gallons at a time if we are baptizing a baby or something, but usually it is a gallon or two at a time.”

“If I were to bring water to you would you bless it for me?”

“I guess I probably could, why do you ask my child?”

“I want to paint my house with water based paint and I want the water I use to mix it with to be Holy Water, kind of to bless my house and ward off potential evil spirits.” Haley was intentionally being vague. She didn’t need her only human ally thinking she was a few French-fries short of a Happy Meal.

“Usually a blessing would be applied directly to the house, but I guess you could bless the house in that manner.”

“Would you bless the water for me father if I bring it to you.”

“Gladly my child.”

“Thank you father.”

Haley left the church, but the thought was going through her head she needed something more permanent than just water. As Clarice had said, though the water would take several days, and perhaps in the dark, dank basement even a couple of weeks to evaporate, then it would no longer serve as a barrier once it was thoroughly dry.

As Haley considered the possibilities, it occurred to her a manner that might work. Just as she had placed an arc of crosses around her basement door, if something like that could be conceived it might work. Though the crosses around the basement door and the crucifix above her room hadn’t stopped the evil from appearing there, they never just walked through the door.

Haley felt certain if a plan that employed something that wouldn’t just evaporate away was devised an effective barrier could be positioned to prevent the evil access to the basement chamber from their daily retreat to the darkness of the underworld. Surely some way could be devised. Haley was an intelligent woman, so surely she could devise something.

At the same time, though a new plan would be similar, it had to have enough variation to prevent the danger that existed from her having failed in her first attempt.

Chapter 45

That night she returned to her computer and started a new a search of the Internet for information she might possibly use. On one of her search engine queries, she got a link to Ebay.

She didn’t know how that applied but followed the link anyway. She knew Ebay was an Internet auction site and the query that had produced the link was on religious artifacts.

When she logged into the auction site, and followed the link further into the pages there, she found she was on a bid page for religious articles such as chalices and goblets. These were all up for sale from a person that had collected them on numerous trips to the Holy lands. They were reportedly used in the times of Christ, and one was even purported to have been used in the Last Supper. The Apostles Paul and John supposedly used several of them as they went about their ministries to spread the gospel of Christ after his death and resurrection.