Читать книгу The First Darkness - Mitchell Boone's Gibson - Страница 9

Driving home from the manor, Mitchell was struck by the suddenness of the tragedies that claimed the lives of the Morton family. The force that had taken the soul material of these victims was powerful. Soul material was sacred to the powers that ruled this world. After the death of a human, certain angels are assigned the task of collecting soul material and transporting it safely to the next world.

Granted, the angels did not always arrive at the most opportune times, nor did they always arrive on the day of the victim’s death. For the most part, however, the system worked and soul material was kept out of the hands of demons, elementals, energy parasites, and other lower-class soul feeders. Thus far, the force that had claimed eight lives in the Guilford County area had moved in before the Angelic Protectors could salvage their souls. This act alone required a tremendous amount of spiritual knowledge and power. Guilford County, North Carolina was not likely to be home to such evil.

Prior to relocating to North Carolina, Mitchell and Kathy had lived in Phoenix, Arizona. Kathy was an executive sales person for a large telecommunications firm in Scottsdale. She was born in Madera, California. Her father was a master brickmason and pastor at a local church. He was a strong-willed man who also championed many civil rights causes. He found it necessary on more than one occasion to shutter the blinds and stand by the doorway with a shotgun throughout the night to protect his home and family. Nothing ever happened that truly endangered the family, but Kathy had been with him on many of those occasions. Her father passed the time during those nights by telling her Bible stories. From that time, she developed a deep love for the sanctity of home and the protective power that came with a strong father. Her father died 25 years ago from complications secondary to pneumonia.

Her mother was a powerhouse of strength and love for the family. She cooked, cleaned, and made the clothing for her growing family. She was an expert singer and she imparted a deep love of music and art to all her children. Her greatest gift to Kathy, as far as Mitchell was concerned, was her gift of cooking. Kathy’s mother was one of the best cooks to ever grace a kitchen. Her recipes had won numerous accolades throughout the state of California. Kathy had watched and learned to cook from the best. As a result, Kathy’s cooking was superb. She had taken care of her mother during the final years of her battle with pancreatic cancer. That struggle had emotionally devastated the family. Kathy had been quite close to her mother. Even now, 12 years later, the anniversary of her passing was a difficult time for the family.

Kathy attended the University of Southern California on a track scholarship. She was a champion long jumper and was an All-American basketball player. She had started for the women’s USC basketball team that played in the final four. Kathy had planned to attend the Olympics and participate in the long jump, but American politics had precluded any team participation in the Olympics that year. Kathy finished college and worked briefly as a nurse in a hospital in Philadelphia. That is where she met Mitchell. Marriage and two children quickly followed.

Tiffany, the youngest, was a precocious young girl with a flair for languages and a love for all things television. She was tall and very petite, just like her mother had been at the same age. Tiffany was the noise in the house. She loved to laugh, joke, make fun, sing, and do everything she could to let everyone around her know that she loved life. Her main aspiration in life was to become a lawyer. At the moment, she was focused on convincing her parents to get her a dog, despite the fact that both Kathy and Mitchell were allergic to dogs.

Michael, their eldest, was very tall and strikingly handsome. He was very athletic and played on the school basketball team. He also played AAU basketball and was team captain. He was quieter than Tiffany but his sense of humor was extraordinary. He loved pretending to be different characters in an ongoing series of plays that he would create in his head.

Sometimes, he would adopt an Italian accent and pretend to be a street person looking for a handout. He also liked pretending to be a peculiar aristocratic character who sported a thick Russian accent and had a penchant for drinking diet cola. His favorite character was a country farmer with a deep southern accent who followed Mitchell around the house asking for dipping snuff. Michael was an honors student and he wanted to major in a science field. He hadn’t decided whether he wanted to major in mathematics or physics. Mitchell always thought he should consider the theater. Michael was a great accomplice to Tiffany’s case of the moment. Together, he and Tiffany had decided that the Gibson family needed a dog.

As Mitchell entered the driveway, he saw Michael and Kathy shooting hoops. Tiffany was keeping score in what seemed to be a rather heated game.

“Who’s winning?” Mitchell asked.

“Score’s tied, 19-19!” Kathy shouted.

Michael grinned and prepared to drive the ball toward the basket. He looked up briefly and waved to his father. In that moment, Kathy stole the ball, backed up behind the three point line, and drained a perfect jumper.

“Game time!” Kathy shouted.

“What do you mean ‘game time’?” Michael asked.

“Three pointers are worth two points in 21, Michael!” Tiffany shouted.

Michael stood transfixed in shock as Kathy ran to Mitchell and kissed him on the cheek. Tiffany ran to pick the ball up and then threw in a perfect layup shot.

“Did you see that, Dad?” Tiffany asked.

“I did, sweetheart. Now let’s try that with someone guarding you.”

Tiffany took the ball and began to dribble toward her dad. She faked right and backed up slightly to assess her defender. Mitchell had never played organized basketball, but at six feet one inch, 215 pounds, he was a formidable defender. Tiffany grinned, bit her lip in determination, performed a perfect crossover dribble, switched the ball behind her back, and blazed toward the left-hand side of the basket. Mitchell followed and blocked her path while planting both feet firmly under the basket. Tiffany stepped back, squared off, and drained a clean ten-foot jumper.

“In your face, Dad!”

“You looked like your mother doing that shot, young lady. Good one,” Mitchell replied.

“Let’s go eat supper, guys. Everything should be ready in about twenty minutes,” Kathy said.

Michael took the ball and ran behind the three-point line. He drained a clean shot and peered over at his mother.

“Next time, Mom...next time.”

“Whenever, wherever, Michael...just bring it,” Kathy replied.

Tiffany grabbed the basketball and raced toward her father.

“Dad, we have got to do something about those ants! There are billions of them all over the kitchen!”

“Billions? You counted them, sweetheart?” Mitchell replied.

“You know what I mean, Dad! They’re everywhere! We gotta get some kinda exterminator or something in here to kill them.”

Mitchell paused for a moment as they walked toward the house. He looked up the hill toward a large crepe myrtle tree that grew near the edge of the driveway.

“Before we talk about killing all the ants, let me show you something. Come with me, Tiffany. Michael, you are welcome to come along if you wish.”

Both children knew the look on their father’s face. He was about to show them something. They never quite knew what, but they knew it was going to be different, and very, very weird.

Mitchell led the children up the hill to the crepe myrtle tree. Kathy went into the house to finish preparing supper. She had a good idea what the children were about to see.

The children saw a large, conical object attached to the north side of the crepe myrtle. The object was about three to four feet long and about two feet wide. It was made of a material that appeared to be an amalgamation of paper, sawdust, and wood. The material had been laid down in a layered spiral pattern. As they neared the object, the children could hear a loud buzzing emanating from its center.

“What is that, Dad?” Michael asked.

“It’s a white-faced hornet’s nest. I just spotted it a couple of days ago. Don’t get too close. These hornets are very aggressive and there are likely to be thousands of them in that nest.”

Tiffany stepped back from the nest and placed her hands over her mouth in shock. Michael stood transfixed in awe.

“How did we not see this?” Tiffany shouted.

“They must have built this some time ago. Let me show you why I brought you here. And no, Tiffany, we are not going to call the exterminator,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell calmly held his hand out over the nest. He projected a cool beam of blue light into the center of the hive. The children had not developed significant vision at this point. All they could see was their father holding his hand out over a large hornet’s nest.

Mitchell then recited an ancient Aramaic prayer over the nest. The prayer was over 2,800 years old and held the secret to the 42-letter Name of God. All creatures in creation knew the energy of the prayer and obeyed any command accompanying its use.

A-na B’cho-ach

gdu-lat y’min-cha ta-tir

tze-ru-ra

Ka-bel ri-nat am-cha,

sag-vei-nu, ta-ha-rei-nu no-ra

Na gi-bor,

dor-shei yi-chud-cha,

k’va-vat sham-rem

Bar-chem ta-ha-rem ra-cha-mem,

tzid-kat-cha ta-mid gam-lem

Cha-sin ka-dosh b’rov tu-cha,

na-hel a-da-te-cha

Ya-chid ge-eh

l’am-cha p’neh,

zoch-rei k’du-sha-te-cha

Shav-a-tei-nu ka-bel,

ush’ma tza-a-ka-tei-nu,

yo-de-ah ta-a-lu-mot.

As he spoke, invisible fingers of golden energy filled the nest. A couple of sentinel hornets emerged from the nest to investigate the disturbance, but they remained calm and unalarmed. None of the normally aggressive hornets approached Mitchell or the children.

Mitchell then addressed the nest in English.

“My name is Dr. Mitchell Earl Gibson. I am the current owner of this property and I come to you in peace.”

Michael and Tiffany looked at their father in total disbelief.

“Dad, do you think they understand you?” Michael asked.

“Yes, Michael, they do. Now, give me a moment to show you why we’re here.”

A giant sentinel hornet emerged from the nest and gathered three equally large guards to accompany him. The hornets crawled to the lower tip of the cone and sat motionless. They seemed to be listening intently to Mitchell’s words.

In his mind, Mitchell could clearly hear the words of the queen hidden deep within the nest. The sentinels and the guards were her eyes and ears. She alone, however, spoke as the voice of the nest.

“I hear you, One Who Speaks the Name.”

Mitchell knew instantly that he had gotten the queen’s attention. He decided to continue in English and to direct his thoughts toward her.

“I come in peace, Great One. Your presence in this place will bring danger to my children and to the humans who live near this land. I ask that you move your people to another tree nearby. There are many for you to choose from.”

“We have chosen this tree, One Who Speaks the Name.”

“It is my desire to resolve this matter with you peacefully. I will personally guarantee your safety in transfer. I will ask that your new home be blessed with much food and many healthy young.”

“You will use the Name of the One on our behalf?”

“You have my word.”

“Such a blessing would bring great prosperity to my people.”

“Upon your agreement to these terms, I will place this blessing upon your people.”

“You have my word, One Who Speaks the Name."

Mitchell raised his hand once again and repeated the prayer three times. After the third repetition, the hive began to pulsate and shake. Mitchell pushed the children back and asked them not to move.

One by one, hundreds of hornets began to emerge from the nest. Each one was about the size of a penny. First, the largest sentinels emerged. Once they saw that the hive was safe, they circled the nest in a large swarm. The sentinels freed the nest from its moorings in the tree. Then the main body of the hive emerged. Guided by the sentinels, the hive hovered over the nest in a swarm. Within seconds, the swarm descended onto the nest, lifted it into the air, and flew away. As they ascended, the conical shape of the nest was enveloped by the mass of the hive. The nest climbed higher and higher into the sky. After a few moments, they were gone.

Michael and Tiffany stood in silence. Tiffany was the first to speak.

“Dad, how did you do that?”

“I asked them to leave.”

“You don’t just talk to insects and tell them to leave. That’s not possible,” Tiffany answered.

“It’s only impossible if you don’t try. By the way, Tiffany, that is what I am going to do with the ants,” Mitchell replied.

“You mean you’re gonna talk to them and make them leave?” Tiffany replied.

“Yes, in the same manner that you saw here.”

Tiffany looked at the tree and gently touched the spot that used to anchor the nest. She approached it cautiously, as if the hornets might return at any minute. She poked it gingerly and looked back at Mitchell. Mitchell nodded, smiled, and motioned for her to continue.

Tiffany shook the branch and, within moments, the whole thing was covered in a shower of leaves and flowers. There was no movement or any sign of the hornets.

Both children looked at Mitchell, looked back at the tree branch, shook their heads, and ran down the hill toward the house. Sometimes, the attention span of a teenager could be a blessing, Mitchell thought to himself. He knew that the children would regale their mother with every detail of the event.

After supper, Mitchell and Kathy sat together quietly downstairs by the fireplace so that they could catch up on the day’s events.

The Gibson home had three levels. Each floor had its own personality. The bottom floor had been designed to play host to their love of movies, meditation, and fireplaces. The previous owners had built a large wine cellar in the center of the bottom level. The room had been lined with volcanic rock and was climate controlled. Mitchell and Kathy immediately decided to turn the room into a meditation space. Directly across from the meditation room, they had installed a large movie theater and fireplace for long, cozy evenings such as this one.

“I wish that I could find the answers to these murders as easily as dealing with the nest. This string of murder-suicides has me baffled.”

Mitchell slid toward the end of the black leather couch that sat in front of the fireplace.

“Eight people in such a short time. What do you think it means?” Kathy replied.

“The first four cases all involved former mental patients who had previously attempted suicide. The Brown case was the first one to involve a non-mental patient. Doris Brown had no history of mental illness,” Mitchell said.

“But she did own a gun. Actually, she owned several guns,” Kathy remarked.

“The papers never miss a trick. She did have that particular piece of history in common with all the victims. They all owned guns. Mr. Morton, the man I just saw, was no exception. He owned antique as well as modern weaponry. Even though suicide by handgun or rifle is not the most common method employed by most people, it is not unusual. What is unusual is that so many people in such a short time, in such a small geographic area, would choose to kill themselves that way,” Mitchell answered.

“Did you see something clairvoyantly at the Mortons that might help you to find some answers?”

“Just like the other cases, there were no soul fragments present in any of the victims. It is as though the bodies were sucked dry before the angels had a chance to get to them. I have never seen that before.”

“What kind of force could do that to a human...in defiance of Angelic Providence no less?” Kathy questioned.

“Something quite powerful...and if we don’t identify it and stop it soon, there is no telling who or where it will strike next.”

“You don’t believe these people are killing themselves voluntarily do you?”

“No, I don’t. Something or someone is behind this. I picked up a faint reddish glow at each of the crime scenes. I saw the same thing at the Morton place this evening. I wanted to investigate it further, but Gerald interrupted.”

“Well, you know Gerald.”

“I do. He almost caught me before I had a chance to return to my body.”

“What do you think this reddish glow means?”

“Not quite sure. The intensity and charge of the glow seem to point to a rather potent source—someone or something that has access to the Higher Powers.”

“You mean a demon?”

“Perhaps. I will need to go back there later and check it out properly. Care to come?”

Kathy often accompanied Mitchell on his occult investigations. She had spent the last six years honing and developing her own clairvoyant gifts. Her empathic ability combined with the ability to see entities had proven invaluable on more than one occasion.

“I would come with you, but I have so many emails to catch up on, and Tiffany wants me to go over a presentation that she has for AP World History on Friday.”

“I will be very happy when she finishes that class,” Mitchell replied.

Suddenly, the fireplace began to hiss and roar. The flames changed into a brilliant blue torrent and leaped out of the fireplace. The long tongues of flame formed a spherical iridescent shape that hovered above the table in front of the couch.

Mitchell leaped to his feet and formed a protective mudra. Kathy began to draw a protective rune in the air. Bluish-gold energy shapes formed in the air around them as they feverishly invoked a protective ward.

The shape grew in size and began to take the form of a large man. The figure sprouted wings and a flaming sword appeared in its left hand. Mitchell instinctively lowered his defensive mudra posture and fell to his knees. Kathy gazed upon the figure for a moment, glanced over at Mitchell, and soon fell to her knees.

The figure grew in size and soon filled the room with a bright golden light. Its wings glistened with raw golden energy that rippled throughout its form. The figure was covered in armor that seemed to be composed of a material that was at once metal and sunlight. The material seemed to pulsate with a life of its own. The figure solidified and floated in front of the fireplace. The room seemed to dissolve slightly as the figure materialized.

The entity’s head was humanoid in form, though one could not tell whether it was male or female. The head was surrounded by a soft nimbus of light that revealed the shimmering outlines of a nose, eyes, and lips. Its eyes blazed with the fury of a thousand blue-white stars and the entire room was soon filled with their glory. A large silvery-gold medallion added dazzling energy and power to the figure’s presence. It looked exactly like the medallion that Mitchell had worn earlier.

“Mitchell Earl Gibson, your Creator summons you.”

Mitchell and Kathy briefly raised their heads and gazed upon the figure. The words spoken by the entity were loud and clear, though neither Mitchell nor Kathy could see movement around its mouth or head. The words flowed into their minds like the gentle breeze of a warm midnight wind flowing over the ocean. As the entity spoke, they both became overwhelmed with sensations of indescribable joy, warmth, and power.

Kathy’s eyes were already brimming with tears of joy and elation.

Tears began to form in Mitchell’s eyes but he fought them back and held his composure. Long years of meditation had helped him maintain his focus in the presence of this being.

“I hear the words of my master, and I will obey,” Mitchell replied without moving or rising to his feet.

“Shall I accompany him?” Kathy asked reverently as she composed herself.

“Know this, soon shall your services be required, my child.”

The figure flashed a brilliant incandescent white for a moment, and just as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished.

Mitchell and Kathy sat transfixed in awe and wonder for a few moments. Mitchell rose to his feet and reached his hand out to Kathy. She slowly rose to her feet and reached out to hold her husband.

“I will return as soon as I can,” Mitchell said softly.

“I know you will, my love. We need to prepare.”

Kathy and Mitchell made their way to the master bedroom. They both knew that a formal summoning from the Creator must be answered quickly. Several points of preparation and decorum were, however, essential to one’s proper presentation to the Most High.

Mitchell removed all of his clothing and took a quick shower. As he exited the shower, Kathy anointed his body with jasmine, cinnamon, and myrrh oil. Mitchell walked into the master closet and removed a long white and gold robe. The robe was simple in its design. The outer arms were lined with two golden roses, which were small and had been hand sewn into the garment by Kathy herself.

The children were both in their rooms busily catching up on homework and emails, though not necessarily in that order.

Mitchell and Kathy made their way down the stairs into the meditation room. Before they reached the bottom flight of stairs, Kathy stopped in the kitchen, opened the large set of doors under the sink, and retrieved a wide-mouthed tin bucket. She filled the bucket with water and carefully placed it on the floor beside the sink. She then traced two rune signs above the water. The air above the bucket seemed to crackle with power as Kathy focused on the working. Mitchell recognized the first rune as Thurisaz, the rune of blessing. The second rune was Ingwaz, the rune of power. After she completed the rune working, Kathy plunged her right hand into the water and uttered a final Word of Power for protection. She then took the pail and carried it down the stairs.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Mitchell opened the door to the meditation room and removed his robe. He quietly sat on the meditation couch, closed his eyes, and began to pull himself down into trance. Kathy removed a clear container of blessed rainwater from the shelf near the couch. She poured two drops of the water into the bucket. The blessed rainwater mixed with the water in the bucket, which then turned a soft blue-gold in color. Kathy knew that they were ready.

Mitchell was already deep in trance. She lifted his feet and placed them into the water. She removed the large bronze medallion from its spot on the wall where Mitchell had placed it earlier that evening. She held the medallion in her hands briefly and whispered a Word of Power over it. The medallion sparkled with a shimmering blue light. She then placed it around Mitchell’s neck. Within minutes, the medallion began to shimmer and pulsate with new life. Kathy seated herself comfortably by Mitchell’s feet and held the bucket steady. She watched intently as his spiritual body rose from his physical form. She closed her eyes and followed her husband’s journey with her vision.