Fallen

Det. Moore tried to catch his breath. He had been through one of the most horrifying interrogation sessions of his life. He couldn't believe all of what he had heard; yet there it was on tape. He had hear the rumors about this little town being a nexus of evil, but he had discounted those stories as just that. Rumors. He thought that this criminal investigation would be like countless others he had been a part of. But it wouldn't be. It was much more.

His hands shook as he placed the headphones onto his ears. He knew that he had to listen to the words of the man once more. As the recording began to work, Moore was transported back to yesterday evening & recalled the vivid image of the other man who talked and told him of the most terrible news that he had ever heard.

"Sorry to bring out here at such a late hour. But this is a lively one, Det. Moore." Sgt. Tony Everest commented to his superior officer as he entered the crime scene.

"How so, Tony?" he asked tiredly. He hated to be called out so late at night, especially to a hick town such as this. But since the sudden disappearance of the sheriff De Pounce and his staff, it fell to the state police to investigate any crime in this town. "It seems to be just another murder. Remington is a small town, but it has its crime."

"True, but it was never expected that this person would have done such a crime. I mean, a man of his profession committing such a violent crime."

"Who is this guy? What makes him so special? Is he God?" Moore asked in a sarcastic tone.

"No, but he works for the Big Guy."

"What?" Moore hated to be left in the dark. "Fill me in, Tony."

What Tony told the detective was enough to churn his stomach.

"Hello,I am Det. Stanley Moore of the State Police. I have some questions to ask of you," He looked down at his notebook, "Father Volkstag."

"I will answer any and all questions you may ask, sir." A small & frail looking man with tiny wire rimmed glasses about early fifty answered him. He didn't look capable of killing a fly let alone a double murder. "But don't call me Father. I am longer a man of God. I am one of the fallen."

"OK, I just never expected to question a priest about a murder that he committed." Moore shook his head, "Please tell me you doing this to protect someone in your flock."

"No, I did it. I admit that I didn't really intend to do it, but I was overcome by rage." He toyed with the beads of his rosary, "I just could help myself. I killed them both in a single incident. I mean do you think you wouldn't do the same if you were in a similar situation. I feel, at this moment, that anyone is fully capable of murder."

"I don't know." Moore shook his head, "I have killed criminals in the life of self defense, but I don't feel that I would ever commit a murder like you did. It is that you just don't fit the profile of being a murder. You are a priest. You are supposed to save lives, not end them."

"True, Det. Moore, I was. I have spent the past thirty years of my life dedicated to the service of Jesus Christ and God, but the moment that woman, that siren, Wanda Winkler entered my life," there was a haunted look to the former priest's eyes "I fell from grace and would do so gladly again."

"Father, I can't believe that you would have been tempted by a woman."

"Detective, please call me that name." Volkstag frowns, "I am not worthy of the title."

"Okay." Moore makes a mental note, "So you were drawn to this by a mere woman?"

"Have you seen Wanda?"

"No, just the picture of the crime scene. She didn't seem to be that wonderful."

"That is because the spell was broken." Volkstag nodded, "I suspected that it would be once she was dead."

"Spell? What are you talking about, Father –er- Mr. Volkstag?"

"You may call me Helmut, if you wish." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Ms. Winkler wasn't what she seems to be. A vile being that lives to do what her kind has done for centuries. She steals the lives of the young and promising returns only empty shells once they are done."

"What?"

"Perhaps I should begin the story when I first met Wanda Winkler."

"That would be very good." Moore switched on the tape player on the table next to him and began to recite the Miranda warning.

"I know my rights, Detective. I have no desire to have a lawyer with me. I wave all of my rights freely. For I admit that I killed Wanda Winkler and Douglas Stout freely of my own will."

"I have to tell you this first." He waved the Miranda card, "It is the law."

"I know this, Detective." And Det. Moore finished reading the card while the former cleric sat calmly in front of him.

"Okay, I am ready now. Why don't you start from the beginning?"

Volkstag thought for a moment. His face had a happy look on it as if he was remembering something very pleasing.

"What I am about to tell you is something that you won't believe, but it is true. I have forsaken my immortal soul on it" He sighed in disappointment, "And lost everything for a dream that I was not destined to have."

"I have known Wanda Winkler ever since she was a child. I even christened her as a baby twenty two years earlier. But her parents were killed when a drunk driver drove into their car. She was only a child of twelve back then. She went to live with an aunt on the outskirts of town. The Aunt wasn't of the Catholic Church. I didn't know what or who she truly was until it was far too late or I would have never allowed her to go to that vile home in the woods."

"When Wanda's Aunt came for her, she told me that she would be raising her in a New Age belief. As much as I didn't want her to take the child, I had no choice. She was Wanda's sole relative"

"Wait a minute, are you claiming that Wanda's aunt was some sort of a witch?" Detective Moore interrupted.

"A witch? Oh, how I wish that she were only a witch. Wanda's aunt was one of the Skin Walker clan."

"Skin Walker?" Moore wrote this down into his notebook, "What in the hell is that?"

"The Skin Walkers are one of the many clans of Faerie folks that have live with us human since the dawn of time. Wanda's aunt had one of the faerie living inside of her."

"Wait a damn minute!" Moore slammed down his hand onto the table, "Are you claiming that you killed this Wanda and Douglas because they were some sort of Pixies?" he switched off the tape player and he stood up, "I am going to call the loony bin to come pick you up."

Then Volkstag stood up. The small man commanded a powerful presence. His eyes burned with a fire that Moore was frighten of. Only once in his life had he ever seen a fire like those. It reminded him that there were forces in this world that normal science could understand. It told Moore that Volkstag was telling the truth.

"I AM NOT INSANE!" The former priest's voice boomed; cause Moore to sit back down. "WHAT I AM TELLING YOU OCCURRED. THERE IS NO LIES TO MY WORDS."

"Okay, father –er- Volkstag." Moore wished that he had carried his service revolver and another officer with him into the interrogation room, but he didn't think that the small man would have been a problem, "Just sit down and tell me about it."

"WILL YOU NOW LISTEN AND NOT QUESTION ME UNTIL I AM FINISHED?"

"Sure, just sit down and I'll listen."

"ALRIGHT!" Volkstag sat down and returned to his former calm appearance. He turned back on the tape recorder and spoke in a controlled tone "Let's begin when Wanda retuned to my church six months ago.

"It began six months ago. There isn't much of a catholic parish in this town about fifty or so. Most have moved away to San Francisco. But I had a few older members that were unable to travel to Raleigh. The bishop believed that I would end out my career in Remington. I felt that way too. I had never been an ambitious priest. I just wanted a flock to guide. I had it here, but that was before Wanda Winkler returned."

"I had finished my sermon and had been giving out the Eucharist. I didn't have an alter boy, so I had to give out the wafers myself. It was the same old, tired faces. But then a young woman bowed before me. That usually didn't have that happen. It was so old fashioned, pre-Vatican two. I wanted to bend down and let the help the woman up to her feet, but something caught my attention. Something that I usually never notice about people. I could see down her blouse where the most beautiful breast was kept. I found myself getting an erection. Something that I haven't had in years."

"I forced my eyes away and spoke to her. 'Arise, my child. That practice isn't done anymore.'"

"Forgive me, father." The young woman spoke still with her head down, "It has been so long since I have received communion. I have forgotten him ways."

"When was the last time that you confessed your sins?" I asked my voiced crackled, as I looked away from her. I felt my unexpected desire began to cool.

"Nearly ten years, father."

"Then I can't give you the body of Christ until you has." I took a step back, "You must go Confession, my child."

"When is confession?"

"Saturdays at two."

"Could I," her voice took a sultry tone, "Request a private session with you alone?"

"I –er- don't know." My erection was back in full glory, clouding my mind. "You will have to call the rectory and ask Mrs. Tilton about my schedule." I suddenly realized that people were staring at us. "Please go away now, I have services to finish. I will talk to you later."

"Then you will see me and let me bare my soul to you?"

"Yes," my head told me not to agree to her, but my body yearned for her deeply. "But only in the confessional."

"The woman stood up. She was radiantly beautiful. She had curly flame red hair that framed her face. Her eyes were fiery emerald. Her lips were the fullest and brightest red. She wore a black form fitting dress that accented her flawless body with a black blazer. She turned away and walked down the center pathway, swinging her hips in such a way that hinted raw sexual energy. All the males watched her, yearning for her to be theirs. All the females were jealous that they no longer had the same sex appeal. But I knew that that she was meant to be mine. I would have her in ways that I had only dreamt I would do. My oath of celibacy will be damned."

"The next few days were tense. I had expected to hear for this mysterious woman, but nothing. Mrs. Tilton was concern about me asking constantly. I explained it as I felt this woman was making a cry out for salvation. She had come to me for assistance and I had sent her away. Mrs. Tilton accepted this. She had no reason to disbelieve me. I had always been a model of piousness."

"But most of my waking hours were spent thinking about her. I wondered what the feel of her flesh was like. The taste of her lips and her inner self."

"You don't mean." Moore interrupted, as he pointed toward his groin "down there, do you?"

"Of course, I do. I know those acts are frown upon by the church, but I could help but think would it be like to experience those act with her. I had thoughts that I didn't think I was capable of. The most profane and vilest acts popped into my head. I imaged that she was always a willing partner to them. She would do them all to please me. This passion of mime became all consuming. I began to masturbate once more. I hadn't done that since I was a teenager. I would to that 5 to 6 times a day to relieve the pressure that I had been building about this woman."

"I suspected that the woman was a lady of the evening that wanted to find peace in her life. I would go out at night and try to find her. This wasn't unusual for me to do so. I had been known to try to bring these soiled women away from that foul existence. But I only found the usual whores, willing to give me sex for money, but I found them unappealing. When I asked about this mystery woman, I would only receive blank stares."

"But my duty as a priest brought me back. One of the members of my parish passed. I began to arrange her funeral. I forgot about the mysterious woman and began my work as a priest once more. I found that prayer eased the longings that I had. I was back to a normal life that I have lived for nearly thirty years. Yet, on Saturdays, when I did confessions, I wished that woman would come into the booth, but it didn't occur."

"After three months, I gave up hope and fell back into my usually routine. I did the boring rituals and masses as I had done so many times before. I no longer had the passion that I once did about my job. I loved God, but I wanted more. I wanted the woman, but I knew that it was wrong. I began to spend long hours reciting chants and prayers to rededicate myself to the church."

"Then late one Saturday, about two and a half months ago, I had done most of the usual lame confessions about using God's name in vain and activities that they regretted after the fact. Then passed out their punishments."

"It was near the end of the allotted time and I had listened to most of the weekly visits. It was warm in the church and I had begun to dose off. I didn't hear the door to the confessional open or close. It took the rapping on the screen to bring me back. I immediately smelt the most allure scent in the world fill the booth. Despite my training and new resolve to the priesthood, I became instantly aroused. I looked toward the privacy screen and attempted to see who had entered the booth, yet the damn thing was far too good. I didn't see anything."

"Forgive me, Father. For I have sinned repeatedly" The voice of the woman I had been longing for spoke. "And will do so again."

"I can't tell how excited I was to hear her voice. Yet I calmly told her to go ahead and tell me what she has done. She would talk for over an hour and I listened to her confess all sorts of sins. From petty thief to sodomy, nothing seemed to be profane to her. Then she turned to her sexual exploits. There must not have been an hour that she hadn't done something sexual, masturbation to domination, she had done it all. When she had finished, I was too stunned for words."

"Don't you want to tell me that I have been bad?" the sultry voiced asked.

"Yes, you have been very bad." I barely croaked out.

"Do you think that God will forgive me for what I have done and will do again and again?"

"God is forgiving to all of his children."

"So I am absolved of my sins?"

"As soon as you do your penitence."

"And what would that be?"

"You need to give up those sinful ways of yours." I struggled with my words, having a difficult time from keeping my hand out of my pants. "You must embrace the teaching and love of Jesus Christ."

"OH, I would love to do that, but then I wouldn't have to come to see you."

"What?"

"Later, father." I heard the door of the booth open and close and then she was gone.

"I struggled to get out of my side of the booth, but by the time that I was able to open the door, she was gone from the church. I felt so confused. I cancelled the Saturday evening & Sunday masses, claiming that I had the stomach flu and didn't well. I spent the time in my room, masturbating to the image of Wanda.

"The next week was a living hell. I couldn't keep my mind on anything. I tried to return to pray, but I found myself praying that God should bring that mystery woman to and to would forgive me for the sins that I wanted to commit with her."

"When Saturday came, I was like an excited and impatient virgin on his wedding night. I couldn't wait for the time that I would hear confessions. I was very lean on the penitence for the sins that these old people. A few Hail Mary's was all I gave out. I quickly cleared out the church, thinking that the woman might show up sooner if I did. But I ended up waiting up it was nearly time to wrap it up. I could help but dose off again. Then I hear the booth door open and close. That incredible scent filled the air. I knew at once that the woman I had been lusting for had returned."

"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. And I will again." Her sultry voice spoke, and she proceeded to let me more of her sinful and erotic adventures. They were even more perverted then the last times. She began to tell me of another dark fantasy of hers.

"Wait, before you tell me of that sinful desire. I have wished to know who you are. You breeze into my church asking for forgiveness and I don't have a clue to who you are!"

"Why would you care? I am just another sinner who loves to sin." Her voice took on an angry tone. "Just like all of the old fools in your church. I see how all of the men want me in their beds and some the women secretly wish the same thing. You don't ask them of their names when they are confessing their sins, do you?"

"No, I don't I know most of them by their voices. But I don't even know who you are."

"I see." She paused for a second, "My name is Wanda Winkler."

"Wanda? Didn't you go to live with your Aunt in the woods?"

"Yes, I did, until she died several months ago."

"I am sorry. You should have come for me. I would have given her last rites."

Wanda laughed, "She wouldn't have wanted that. She liked the way she lived and eventually died. She had no place for your religion."

"And do you have a place for my religion?"

"Maybe, I have certain things I want to get out from you."

"What things?

Wanda laughed a deep throat laugh, "I was about to tell you."

"Wanda proceeded to tell me how as a child she had always been attracted to me. She even imagined that one-day I would leave the priesthood and marry her. But she knew that I was far too set in my ways to leave now. She now wanted something else from me. I suspected what that might be, yet I had to hear it from her."

"I have a few questions for you."

"And what might that be?"

"What made you want to become a priest?"

"A personal tragedy occurred and I turned to God."

"Are you still a virgin, Father?"

"Actually, I was briefly married, but my wife died less then a year after we were married. I turned to the church to ease my grief. I found out that I had a calling and became a priest."

"Did you like making love to your wife? Did you really like it? Did you have fun sticking your cock deep into your wife?"

"Yes." I had no idea why I was telling her this.

"Do you miss it?"

"Miss what." Silently wondering what it would be like to do what she had just suggested to her.

"Making love?"

"Sometimes, but I have my prayers to ease my desires."

"Too bad. I have other thoughts on how I could help relieve you of those desires."

"She then told me in graphic detail how she would make love to me in several ways over the course of an hour. I knew I shouldn't listen, but I was so spellbound on what she had to say. It was all so titillating to me. I found myself doing the most unimaginable thing. I opened my pants and began to masturbate to her telling of the fantasy. I was nearly to my orgasm when she stopped her tale."

"What are you doing in there?" she asked.

"Ah-"I fumbled with pulsating maleness in my hand, desperately attempting to get it back into my pants, deeply embarrassed by my lapse of control. I decided to lie. "Nothing."

"Liar!" she took a deep breath and sighed, "I can smell your excitement. You are close." She sniffed and laughed "And I have to go."

"WHAT!" I cried out, "But you can't leave."

"Why, Father?" her voice took an inquiring tone, "Why should I stay if you can't tell me the truth. If you tell me the true, I might say and tell you more that I wish to do."

"But…"

"Time is running out."

"I was…"

"Yes?"

"I was" I panicked and blurted it out, "masturbating while you were talking. Your story had me extremely…" I heard the door of the confessional slam shut. And I finished my sentence weakly, "excited."

"I stood up and straighten my clothing. I realized that the woman was shocked and had left because I had confessed such a vile deed to her. I was thankful that the church was empty. I was such a moron to believe that a woman would be in the slightest bit interested in an old and imprudent man that I was."