Victorian Dreams Pt. 03

She pointed to the west side of the house as she came off the porch. When the man backed his truck up, and then got out, she thanked him for being so punctual.

She had gotten rather abrupt with the man at the cement yard when he had charged her premium for delivery on Sunday, and had told him under no uncertain terms he better be punctual.

She queried the driver regarding the viscosity of the mix. He told her he had never delivered a load as viscous as this. He said that wasn’t a problem, it would still dry, but he had never seen a project that required concrete this loose.

Haley told him it was to seal the basement so she needed it soupy to find all the corners. She also gave each of the drivers 3 of the 5-gallon jugs of holy water and a bag of the metal dust and asked them to mix them in with he contents of their mixers.

She then had each of the trucks back up to the window and empty their load of concrete into the basement. As the liquid concrete flowed down the chute and into the window, she watched the room fill. As the loosely viscous concrete sought the corners and filled every space in the room, she sighed a sigh if relief and thought that perhaps finally she would be able to see her plans for the completion of her B n B reach fruition.

As the concrete reached the gargoyles standing in the corner, they burst into flames when the concrete contacted them and Haley felt certain of the Holy characteristics of the concrete. It was strange to see something as non-volatile as clay or ceramic or whatever similar substance had been used to create the hideous little statues spontaneously burst into flame and burn so readily in the corner.

The concrete flowed so quickly into the chamber the statues were covered quickly, so even the fact they were burning at no point placed the house in jeopardy of catching on fire.

The next morning on her way to work, she dropped the alter vestment at the cleaners to have it cleaned.

When she got home, she went to the west side of the house and checking on the progress of the drying, found the concrete had almost completely hardened to a solid mass. Yet she could still feel heat coming from the surface as she reached through the window to test the concrete.

What was really surprising but an extremely pleasant surprise was the thorny vine was completely gone. In its stead a full mat of Bluebonnets and Indian Paint Brush covered the beds where the thorny mass had grown. This wasn’t too strange as the Bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas, and grew wild all over the state.

Usually the bright blue flowers were accompanied by the yellow and red Indian Paint Brush, also wild and native flowers.

What was uncharacteristic was the plant was a short day bloomer and only had a brief period where it bloomed and flourished and that was in the spring, in late April and early May. Yet, it was September. Yes the days and more importantly the nights were approximately the same length as they would be in the spring, but the heat this time of year in Texas was just starting to abate from the relentless high temperatures of summer and usually after the bloom in the spring you never saw these two species again until the next spring.

Chapter 62

That night Haley received visitors again. Five in total, four she recognized, but the fifth had to be introduced to her. The first to appear was Clarice. The familiar cold draft on her left cheek brought her out of that floating state you feel right before sleep overtakes you.

Haley opened her eyes to see the deep blue pools of Clarice eyes looking into her own. The look on the girl spirits face was different, somehow happier. As she came awake, she noted three spirits standing at the foot of the bed, as well.

The two common concubines and the raven-haired lady were standing there.

Usually the common concubines would be in the corner of the room when the raven-haired concubine appeared and only come to the foot of the bed after she had moved to Haley’s side. It was as if their ‘station’ in the scheme of things was lowlier than that of the Master’s concubine and they were held to a more servile position in the room. But this time all three stood at the end of the bed as if ‘station’ or caste or whatever it was had changed.

Though they wore the same style of diaphanous clothing as before, the color of all three women’s garments was now white like Clarice’.

They stood at the foot of the bed making no attempt to come any closer to Haley. Perhaps they thought she might recognize them, as she had, but not recognize the uniform change, which she had.

She felt no fear at all. Only the magnificence of being in the company of so many benevolent spirits apparently with no possibility of being visited by evil, spirit or otherwise.

Besides had not Clarice said the servants and minions of the Master couldn’t visit while she was in the room. All these thoughts raced through her head, as the spirits hovered at the foot of the bed, casting off enough pure white light to appear it was daylight, instead of the minimal light that normal prevailed less than a week after the new moon.

Then Haley noticed another spirit, hovering just behind and beside Clarice. The lack of recognition on her part to this fifth being caused Clarice to speak.

“Dear friend, this is my mother.” Clarice spoke, her arm embracing the spirit that floated beside her.

“Your selflessness and you diligence to destroy the evil here, has given her back to me. It has earned you a special place in The Holy Father’s presence, as well. These others were also freed with your success.” Clarice gestured to the three at the foot of the bed.

“Now they too can take their rightful place in heaven with the Holy Father and his Son.”

“When you destroyed the evil in this house, you broke the bonds of servitude the master had over these women. Their weakness has been recognized and their transgressions forgiven, by a God who knows no ill intent toward any of his true believers.”

Haley finally spoke, a touch of irony in her voice.

“How can they be called ‘true believers’ if they served the Master of consummate evil?” Clarice response was simple.

“In order to believe and follow absolute evil, you must first believe there is absolute good. The Holy Father and his Son understand the wiles of the Master are treacherous and powerful. They love all his children, and want all to have a place with them in heaven. They are incapable of bearing ill will. He will punish those who don’t believe though, as what purpose would it serve to have those around him that don’t believe in his divine greatness?”

While Clarice explained, the concubines slowly drifted to the side of the bed. An explanation having been tendered to the woman, they probably felt she would feel no threat if they moved closer. Standing next to her, the Raven-haired lady took her hand and stroked it gently, then spoke once Clarice had finished.

“You freed us from the bonds of service to the evil Master. For that we are all three grateful. When you find your place in heaven after your time here on earth is done, we will all be united again and we must certainly celebrate the great good you have done.”

The common concubines almost in unison offered their appreciation to Haley.

“Thank you Miss.”

Haley blushed at the accolades she was receiving. Thinking to say something to make light of her efforts, and to point out her principal purpose, at least in the beginning, was to merely secure her investment in the house. But understanding the only way to graciously accept a complement or apology, she simply replied, “You are so welcome.”

The concubines slowly dissipated out of existence, at least in the room anyway. At almost the same instant the concubines disappeared, the spirit of Chirsty Johansson appeared at her side where they had hovered the instant before. She took Haley’s hand as the raven-haired lady had, and held it tenderly in her own. Haley noted warmth to her touch she hadn’t experienced with the others.

“Thank you for restoring my soul and allowing me to be with my precious daughter again.” Haley felt the drops of moisture on her arm as the spirits tears dripped from her face.

Clarice spoke again.

“You have earned a place in the Holy Father’s kingdom equal in stature to that of the Apostles and the other sainted ones. You have prevented a Great evil from being unleashed on all mankind. Your service to the Father and the Son and the protection you have provided his children is great in his eyes and your reward shall be eternal. But not like the eternity promised by the evil Master. The Father’s eternity is real and one worth being proud of and worthy of the greatness you have achieved. You are Seraphim in God’s eyes now. You need no longer to fear the evil. From this day forth, evil will tremble in your presence. You have been designated by the Holy Father as a warrior equal to or greater than the great warriors of his Kingdom, like Michael the Archangel. You need fear nothing, my friend.”

Clarice had a huge endearing smile on her face, as she bent and kissed Haley on the cheek.

“Will I ever see you again?” Haley asked the spirit of the girl.

“I am here as always if you need me.” The spirit said as her and her mother slowly faded away. The room was suddenly dark, and Haley just as quickly felt completely alone.

Also occurring in her mind was she knew nothing of the concubines existence before they had become minions of evil for the Prince of darkness. What had their lives been like? The lives of Christian, Chirsty and Clarice Johansson had been fairly well documented in Clarice Diary and in the gaps she had filled in, in the discussions the two had participated in.

Yet, Haley had no idea regarding the other three women. Had they been robbed of rich lives and consigned to lives devoid of ‘normal’ happiness after falling victim to the seduction of the Master or some of his evil hoard? Had their destiny been slated toward significant discovery that would have benefited all mankind?

Haley could see where a young scientist poised to discover a cure for cancer or an ambitious young leader positioned to prevent a war might become the target of evil, for these results, favored by all mankind, would run contrary to the plans of the evil lord. It seemed to fit his agenda, to not only bring evil and ill will to all mankind, but to stand in the way of discoveries that might serve to benefit man.

The accounts of his evil deeds spoken of in the Bible and less credibly in the fiction and lore that came down through time giving testament to his sole purpose of preventing man the comfort he sought and the goodness the Father and his Son promised to those who followed his teachings of goodness of character and obedience to the basic tenets of living life following the right path and doing the right thing for all of his fellow men.

It was comforting to know despite their transgressions, if falling to the temptation and the wiles of the devil could be considered merely a part of the fallibility of man, and not a transgression, that the Father and his Son were willing, out of an abundance of unconditional love, to accept them back into good graces and the promise of eternal salvation. At that moment she felt a new appreciation for those who felt it their calling to spread the word of God to those who would listen with an open heart.

Having fought with the devil, Haley couldn’t help but wonder what the lives of these unfortunate women had been like before they fell into the evil Masters trap of lies and deception.

She lay in her bed for hours, not sleeping, not afraid, and yet feeling somehow incomplete. Then something miraculous occurred.

Chapter 63

Across the room from where she lay, an image appeared. This image was of two men, looking ancient and wise, one sitting on a great throne, the other sitting at his feet. Cherubs, laughing and giggling and having a merry time, surrounded them. Some tumbled and rolled around on the floor, while others hovered on gossamer wings, on the sides and above the seated men. The older one seated on the throng spoke, his voice seemed to shake the very earth itself.

“Go in peace my child, I am with you always.”

Haley felt a warmth steal over her and sleep came.

Haley awoke the next morning, feeling as if the world had been whitewashed pure and clean. When she arose from her bed, she noted the limp was gone and there appeared to be no infection in the wound created by the evil vine. When she removed the bandage, there wasn’t even a hint there had been a nasty wound there the day before. There wasn’t even a scar, yet the wound had been almost to the bone in a couple of places and had bled profusely, soaking first her sock, then one bandage and almost soaking its replacement.

She went to work, and everyone commented on her freshness of spirit. At lunch she went to the dry cleaners and picked up the alter vestment.

After work, she went by the Catholic Church to return it to the priest she had befriended during the ordeal she had just passed through. When she explained to him she had stolen the garment and why, and started apologizing profusely, he stopped her and in an almost reverent tone spoke.

“My child, I knew you had taken the item the day you took it. The night before your first visit here, I had a dream, and in that dream an angel of the Lord appeared to me and told me not to seek its return. I was reminded of the story where the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him not to divorce Mary for being with child, for the child she carried was of the Lord.”

“The angel told me a Holy Warrior had been born and had use of the item. The angel advised me to support you in whatever way you needed, and said you were sent to me by God because of my deep faith. I was complemented by the message. It is yours to keep and I thank you for coming to me when you sought the Grace of Our Lord, the Holy Father and his Son our Savior.”

Haley was again astounded at the reverence in which her meager fight for Good over Evil had elevated her to. This characteristic humble nature seemed to complement the humble nature God looked for in his warriors. It was the same humble attitude exhibited by Father Andrew.

She stayed and talked with Father Andrew for a couple of hours that night and visited with him from time to time in the days and months that followed. They became good friends, and she learned a great deal from him regarding religion, though she had no intention of pursuing a faith-based lifestyle.

In fact, she was rather disappointed with Judeo-Christian beliefs and the fact they stumbled forward in a kind of blind optimism, choosing to ignore the fact the evil that counter-pointed the good of God and Jesus existed. This was a regular topic of discussion between Father Andrew and herself.

Father Andrew was really at a loss to explain why things appeared this way. He stated the Catholic Church had rites and masses that were designed to rid demonic possessions, and similar occurrences, and even had priests who specialized in administering these rites.

The only explanation he could give as to why followers weren’t routinely given instruction on how to rid their surroundings of demonic presence was it required a precise approach and the danger associated with an attempt was too great to subject lay believers to.

Moreover, he felt the Lord would rather have people coming to him for the rewards of eternity in heaven rather than to avoid the potential of eternity in the kind of satanic hell that was the other side of that coin.

Chapter 64

Haley had continued to study the Bible after her harrowing experiences with the evil bent on its downfall. This to better prepare her should another occurrence present itself that required she do battle with the forces of evil. She was supposedly a ‘holy warrior’ now, so she needed to arm herself should another call come. She felt the ‘rose-colored glasses’ approach of the church was a selfish approach. or immature at the very least, because the bible clearly stated and graphically depicted the results of not being found faithful in the end.

Father Andrew didn’t whole-heartedly agree but he didn’t disagree either, having pursued an independent study of Biblical doctrine. Yet, he explained he was constrained from deviating from the doctrinal teachings of the church, time tested through Centuries.

When she arrived home that night, she placed the alter vestment, in its protective dry cleaning bag in the top of her closet in the ground floor bedroom of the house.

The evil vanquished, Haley set about the restoration of the house. She never moved to Clarice old room, finding comfort in the ground floor room that had been witness to the battles she had just won.

When the concrete in the basement dried, Haley went to look at the result of her handy work. The level of the concrete was about two feet below the level of the floor above, so she could crawl around and move in the space that remained. She wished it had filled completely. But the extremely loose concrete that had been used to fill the basement would not have easily been contained with the window gone.

She was disappointed but not alarmed to discover the space behind the stair had not filled completely with concrete. The liquefied mixture had streamed into the area at first, but once the floor around the stair had started to fill, the flow had been stemmed somewhat.

This left a gap under the stairs. She wasn’t overly concerned about it, but would rather to have had it completely blocking all the walls in the chamber. The stairs were on the south wall, and the north and east walls were the ones that had apparently been used as the portals. Yet the point where the south wall met the east wall, directly under the stair, wasn’t filled in with the Holy mixture she had concocted.

In the corner where the north and west walls came together and the Gargoyles had stood a depression existed in the level of the dried concrete.

Haley rightly figured this was because the statures hadn’t completely disintegrated until after the concrete had been poured and started to set. Then when the space below became empty, the depression occurred. It wasn’t filled with adjacent flow as it had set hard enough it didn’t flow into the newly formed space left when the concrete with the aid of gravity settled into the newly formed space created as the statures were reduced to dust. The only thing that bothered her was this left a rather large space on the north wall, where her understanding left her feeling a new portal could be established.

Not to mention the fact the north and east walls had two-foot gaps from the top of the layer of concrete and the floor above that made up the ceiling of the room.

Haley used the entry to the stair as a storage room, building a floor, level with the adjacent floor and shelving along the walls that were used to mark the descent path into the chamber below. When she was finished you couldn’t even tell it was once anything other than the storage room she had created.

The similar treatment was performed on the window space in the west wall of the house. She covered it, and other than looking newer than the adjacent walls, it looked as if a window had never existed there. The flowers that had spontaneously grown on that side of the house covered the space effectively, as well. So you had to get on your hands and knees next to the house to see the non-weathered appearance of the repairs contrasting with the appearance of the adjacent foundation walls.

She finished restoration of the house and it opened as a B n B the next spring. The actual restoration work the house had required had diminished from her original estimates. It was almost as if the evil had run the house down to prevent interest in it and now that the evil was gone the house was restored almost to its pristine beauty. Haley thought it remarkable the difference in her notes she had made to what would be required and what had actually been necessary to restore the house.