Digging the Bones (section II: parts 5-8)

Digging the Bones 2 5: Ancient Lore I've never been one to believe in psychic phenomena or anything supernatural. If I can't hold it in my hand and sell it for a profit it doesn't really exist for me. Needless to say, this new twist was quite disturbing to me. Hal brought out some dusty books from the back of the museum in an attempt to identify our strange bones and shed light on our mutual dreaming. Some of the titles were creepy - books I would never have gone near without this burning need for answers. The "Book of the Dead" didn't have much, other than some drawings of gargoyle-like creatures it described equally as angels or demons. The "Necronomicon" had more stuff, but it was a scary as hell! At last he found one that seemed to fit our needs - a tattered book, written in manuscript and hand-illustrated. The title was "Grimoire" by Elephas Raven. His section on "The Ancient Ones" had drawings of skulls identical to the ones I had found and brought back to the museum. These "Ancient Ones" were also referred to as "Dark Angels". The part I particularly hated was the quote, "Whosoever shall disturb the resting place of the Dark Angel shall suffer the consequences of awakening its immortal spirit." Hal and I decided the whole affair was a silly coincidence and shrugged it off ... or rather, tried to do so. 6: Manifestation? In the next few weeks things started to take a turn for the worse - more coincidence? Three of my excavating crew died under mysterious circumstances. One was found in his bed, decapitated... they never did find his head. The other two sere seemingly mauled by some wild beast while they were camping. Hal didn't talk any more about the dreams, but I continued to have them several times a week. I determined I had to find someone with some answers. I had heard about a local gypsy who "knew everything", so I wrapped up one of the skulls and paid her a visit. We spoke for some time as I recounted my story. She seemed to become more and more disturbed at my words. Finally I unwrapped the skull and set it on the table between us. She started backwards, uttered one word... "Baphomet!" and fainted in her chair. When the gypsy recovered, she had me wrap the relic once more. Then she told me a strange, fantastic tale of a race of demonic creatures that shared our physical world. 7: Historical digression Aeons ago there roamed this plane, along with the sons of man, seraphs and shaitans - creatures that separated amongst themselves the rulership of light and dark. These beings fed on the power of psychic energy and pure emotion. We would come to call them angels and demons, though in truth they were actually of the same pre-human stock. The more chaotic, demonic shaitans gravitated to the dark netherworld - a place of pandemonium created by their dark overlord, Hades. He and his zombie queen, Hel, had three devilish sons, Baal, Mephisto, and Astaroth. These three used the earthen plane as their juvenile playground, plaguing the world of man with their havoc until they were defeated in a horrifying battle between light and dark. However, Hades and Hel had a fourth son, Baphomet - the horned one - who survived the sentence of exile afflicting his siblings. He continued, quietly, becoming known as Satan, ruler of the underworld and all its demonic legions. In time, though, Man changed. He became more independent, less susceptible to psychic energy due to his own forces of industrialization and globalization. The remaining shaitans, in this realm of diminishing foodstuff, retreated underground to lie dormant until man's self-destructive urges should plunge him once more into a more receptive state. I had stumbled on their resting place. Skeletal though they may have appeared, they were far from dead! 8: Necromancy I left the gypsy, not at all convinced, and definitely not appeased. Too many questions remained unanswered, and the whole story was so much mumbo-jumbo it could scarcely contain any credibility. "Ridiculous!" I told myself, and headed back to the museum. Hal let me in the side door - he was more agitated than usual. "What's going on?" I asked. "I have a plan." he said, "There is a tome on necromancy I have found, and I want you to help me use it on the bones." I laughed, "Raise the dead? Surely you have lost your senses, Hal!" He only shrugged, and led the way into the basement. There he had set up three adjoining, yet separate, circles of salt and chalk. Each had a pentagram carefully drawn in the center, and candles lit around the edges at the points of the compass. One circle had a small pile of the bones in it - minus a skull. I chuckled maliciously as I unwrapped my prize and set it on the pile. Hal positioned himself in a circle and indicated I should do the same. I humored him - but my skepticism was effusively obvious. He had a little cauldron that exuded thick smoke - it smelled of sage and frankincense. he opened the book, made some signs in the air with his hand, and intoned a strange incantation. Rhythmic, and strangely familiar - yet no language I had ever heard before! He threw something into the cauldron and it flared up. As the smoke dissipated, a red glow began to emanate from the pile of bones. Hal looked at me. "For God's sake," he said, "Don't move from the circle - whatever happens!" I was convinced, and not about to go anywhere. The bones began to jiggle and twitch - they separated and rejoined in different patterns. At last they took on the form of a standing creature, with the skull aligned atop the vertebral column. Muscle and flesh crept over the bones, like a fungus attacking bread, and a dark grey leathery skin spread and covered it all. It opened its eyes - the same stare as in my nightmares - and glowered at me. 4/7/2002Section two here... not as tight as I'd want it, but probably the best I am going to be able to do. One more section in the works, but I don't know when it will be ready. Written April 8th, 2002 © on Apr 07 2002 05:40 PM PST, Heinz Scheuenstuhl    0 • 10