“What nonsense!” Santa shouted, losing his temper abruptly “Leave my room instantly!”
“Oh yes, I will!” Ruprecht shot back angrily, unable to hold back his frustration any longer. “Sir, I wish you had showed this same bold attitude while dealing with Moroz as well” Ruprecht’s voice rang with adamancy.
Mr. Santa stood dumbstruck and stunned by the attitude of his normally submissive secretary.
Ruprecht left Mr. Santa’s room with a heavy heart, sighing disappointedly. When he reached his own office, he immediately issued orders to his subordinates to search and arrest as many spies and agents of Ded Moroz as possible. He ignored Mr. Santa’s decision and granted refuge to that anonymous spy. Ruprecht felt proud of himself for acting tough and completely disregarding the possible consequences.
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Chapter 2
The Prophecy
Before surrendering to his horrific twist of fate, adolescent Jack desperately wanted to consult the village oracle. She lived in an abandoned forest-cave, on the village outskirts.
Jack walked through the curtain of waterfall to step into the secret entrance of the cave. He was welcomed by swarms of aggressive bats, fluttering with a menacing gesture, ready to attack his face. The smell of rotting flesh mixed with pungent dampness flooded his nose. Heaps of bones, possibly from sacrificial altar, lay scattered here and there. But his mind was too clouded with the devilish blackmail, for him to focus around. He proceeded to the end of the cave, walking along the long passage, lighted with oil torches, which protruded at an angle from the walls.
Jack avoided stepping on the deadly poisonous vipers and cobras on the moss covered, slippery floor. “I have to find a way out of my terrible doomed fate. I must meet her,” Jack muttered to himself as a way of boosting up his courage to step forward, through the hissing and slithering snakes.
Soon, Jack found himself at the entrance of a large, dimly lit, central hall. Its walls were made of huge boulders. He couldn't fail to notice the sharp needle shaped rocks hanging from the ceiling of the cavern.
Jack entered the hall silently.
At one end of the hall, Jack saw an old wooden table, on which was placed a glowing crystal ball, a human skull, dried monkey’s paws, one Ouija (planchette) board, a pack of a tarot cards and a bloodstained dagger.
A deer was also lying on the table, with its belly slashed. Fresh drops of blood still oozed out, and occasionally its limbs trembled very slightly. A raven and an owl were pulling out the blood-covered entrails and laying them carefully on the table. The cavern smelt strongly of burning myrrh and incense sticks.
The oracle was sitting in a squatting and meditating position on a wooden board, facing the opposite wall. Jack felt guilty at the thought of interrupting her meditation. I should have taken an appointment Jack thought or intimated her beforehand. Jack hesitated and appeared in a dilemma.
Without turning her head, she addressed calmly “Ah Jack! I was expecting you”.
Jack’s eyes widened and his jaws fell in astonishment.
The oracle turned her head and stared at Jack “What I didn’t expect though was that you would be so young-barely in your late teens, and so handsome”. She kept staring at Jack’s fair skinned muscular body, his broad shoulders and shiny-black wavy hairs.
Jack quickly observed that the oracle was dressed like a hippy and partly like a gypsy. She had dirty brown plaited hairs, interlaced with tiger and crocodile teeth and was wearing a necklace of beads. On her back, there was a tattoo of ‘Grim Reaper’, the personification of death, carrying a scythe in one hand, and a coiled cobra in the other.
She got up from her squatting position. It was only then that Jack noticed she was sitting on a small wooden board with pointed iron nails, instead of cushion!
She stared piercingly at Jack’s eyes through her thick glass spectacles, as if trying to get right inside Jack’s mind. “One visiting Indian Fakir had gifted this to me” she said, “he taught me to meditate while sitting on this. It is indeed a pleasant experience; it gives complete peace of mind”.
Jack barely managed to stammer “pleasant experience?!”
The oracle seemed deeply resentful of Jack’s disbelief. “Believe me!” she said with a hurt feeling “uneasy lays the butt that sits on the throne. You shall find complete peace of mind if you sit and meditate on this. Would you like to try?”
“No thank you” Jack refused politely, eyeing it with fear. He was not dying to sit on that luxury piece of furniture! He was desperate for some advice; some urgent solution to his pressing problems.
But the oracle didn’t seem at all happy with Jack for refusing to try a recommended pleasant experience. She changed the topic and asked grumpily “Would you like some herbal tea, Jack? I shall prepare you some fresh tea with herbal extracts of cocatine, gilmine and nicasone”.
Poor Jack! He was wary of drinking unknown potion-laced tea. “No thanks” Jack replied with irritation. Jack felt that the oracle was deliberately delaying in asking Jack about the reason of his visit. She enjoyed playing with his helpless situation and with his emotions.
This time, Jack’s refusal of a ‘friendly cup of tea’ turned her from grumpy and resentful to visibly angry. “Well then…there! That’s for you” she said and offered Jack a toffee.
Jack felt deeply insulted. Treating me, the spiritual leader of all Halloween creatures, like a child? Jack’s ears turned red with anger, and his face flushed with blood as he tried to digest this deep insult. Does she even know about my unnaturally long experiences? Did my external adolescent look invite this treatment, or did she insult me intentionally?
While Jack burned with rage and insult, the oracle calmly watched Jack and seemed to savor and enjoy every moment of it. Her suppressed, cunning smile only added fuel to Jack’s burning anger. Does she realize that ghosts and ghouls and vampires and all other dark Halloween creatures had bowed down before my pumpkin lantern?
The oracle grew serious. “You seem to have lots of powers Jack” she said with a cold emotionless voice “you shouldn’t need my advice”. She pointed at the direction from which Jack had entered and said “exit is that way!”
Jack felt shocked and even deeply insulted at this harsh behavior. He felt like a fish that had swallowed the hook, and the fishing reel was in her hand. He was in deep dilemma: whether to swallow his anger and stay, or leave instantly. He started wondering whether he had come to the right place at all.
“You have come to the right place, Jack!” she responded telepathically, and smiled; displaying her blackened metallic teeth “I can trace my ancestral roots to the ancient ‘Oracle of Delphi’. I have the blood in me”. Her voice had softened a bit by now.
Jack felt some trust and confidence. He thought it wise to consult her.
Jack opened his mouth “I have come to-”
“I know why you have come, Jack!” The oracle interrupted Jack, and then she reflected wisely “Anyone visiting me comes for seeking my advice!” She stared at Jack’s eye and whispered, “He, who can outwit the devil, ought to rule the world.”
Jack’s eyes widened and he stood mesmerized. Does she really know about my encounter with the devil, or is it just a general remark or a wild guess perhaps! Jack remained dumbstruck; evidently he had not expected so much. But at the same time he was somewhat skeptical of oracles and soothsayers, and was determined to test the water first. It appeared like he had dipped both his hands in a bucket of water and felt it hot with one hand and ice cold with the other.
“You know about that incident?” Jack asked, unable to control his curiosity.
The oracle simply ignored Jack’s question, or maybe chose not to answer it. Instead, she took out a small silver box and a bracelet from her drawer. She took out a pinch of red vermilion powder from the silver box.
“Apply this vermilion on your forehead, and wear this bracelet. It is charmed” she offered them to Jack.
“You know about that incident
?” Jack persisted.
“You expected less from me?” the oracle snapped, and then continued in a casual tone “yes, I know it, like everything else”.
She paused, and then spoke with a tone of great importance “you must understand Jack- you are stepping into a deadly game, and there is no going back. Whether you like it or not, you are a part of the game now. You have to play your part bravely.”
By now, Jack was fully confident that he had approached a competent oracle. She knows her trade. Jack started narrating his story very briefly: the meeting with the Devil in Public Bar; how he tricked the Devil; about his gaining of eternal youth coupled with his eternal punishment.... and about the blackmail by Devil’s assistant Beelzebub to join Devil’s servitude. Jack also mentioned how Beelzebub took out a ‘voodoo’ doll with a face resembling Jack’s and a needle and played menacingly. Jack also mentioned the embarrassing part when Beelzebub jabbed the needle in the doll’s butt, sending Jack dancing around madly and rubbing his buttock for half an hour.
“Does Beelzebub really intend to carry out his threat, or is it merely a bluff?” Jack asked impatiently “What if I refused to join Devil's service?”
“Oh yeah? Really?” she sneered. She looked at Jack with utter contempt. Then she turned away her face, as if Jack was too drunk to ask any sensible question.
“But till now you have obeyed Devil’s command by roaming the lonely paths at night with a pumpkin lantern in your hand” she said “Why did you obey Devil's command so long in the first place? Why didn't your revolting spirit wake up long ago?”
“I had always feared being chained in the darkest circle of hell” Jack answered “the circle of eternal torture”.
“Continue Jack, I am listening”.
“Though roaming alone at night was an eternal punishment, at least I had my freedom”. Jack looked down at the floor gloomily “But now, Devil is trying to snatch away my freedom and make me an eternal slave. I shall be exploited to satisfy his whims, which I am sure will be nasty. The punishment I have already suffered is far worse than my deeds. Therefore, I must disobey to avoid more suffering!”
The oracle picked up a birch rod and waved it menacingly at Jack. “Never attempt that, even by mistake, till Devil has the parchment” the oracle warned “you had put your thumb impression with Devil’s red ink”. She continued with a threatening tone, “You think being chained is the worst punishment? Or do you believe jabbing the ‘voodoo’ doll with a needle is the worst thing he can do?” She gave Jack a stern look “you are not even aware of what harm he can do with that parchment”.
“What harm are you talking about?” Jack asked in a frightened tone.
She took a deep breath “I wonder why Beelzebub did not elaborate!” She glanced sharply at Jack and taking out a matchbox from her drawer, she continued “if Devil throws the parchment in the eternal fires of hell, in the burning embers, then…” she paused and passed the matchbox to Jack.
“Then what…?” Jack asked impatiently.
“I can tell you the consequence Jack. But it is better to show. Light a matchstick Jack”.
Jack obeyed.
She watched silently as the fire approached Jack’s fingers.
“What do I do now?” There was urgency in Jack’s voice, as the fire almost touched his fingers.
“Hold on!” she commanded sternly.
“It will burn my finger” Jack pleaded.
“Just hold it on!” she screamed.
All of Jack's attention was now intensely focused on the matchstick as he watched the approaching flame with fear in his eyes.
“Oouuuchhh...!” Jack screamed in pain as the fire touched his finger. He threw away the matchstick and placed his finger in his mouth.
“Aha! The tea is already boiling!” The oracle exclaimed in joy, without paying any attention to Jack. She got up and brought back the kettle from the stove.
“The herbal tea is ready,” the oracle said. “Now let me pour you some hot tea”.
Before Jack could react, she had poured some boiling tea on Jack's shoulder.
“Oooo...ooh!” Jack jumped four feet in the air and went dancing around the hall, rubbing his shoulder with his hand.
“Oh my God! Are you mad?” Jack screamed in agony at the oracle.
“Now calm down Jack!” The oracle replied in a very casual and calm voice.
“I think I have made my point”, the oracle continued “if you can't tolerate this for a few minutes, what shall happen if you are engulfed in the flames of embers till eternity” the oracle paused, and then spoke slowly, pausing several times “You shall be roasted like a turkey in the oven…your skin peeling off…your flesh grilling from inside…till eternity’s end!”
“But couldn't you have simply told me without demonstrating?!” Jack was still burning with anger.
“You think roaming in the dark lonely paths till eternity is the greatest punishment?” the oracle said “What if Devil really throws the parchment in the hellish fires of ember? Now is it clear, what is at stake?” the oracle emphasized.
“Considering the ever looming danger, what is the best step I can take?” Jack asked wisely “and that's why I came for your advice” he added.
“If ever you can, just throw the parchment into a normal fire, say a wooden fire” the oracle said “that shall be the end of the agreement. In fact, that's exactly what you should have done in the village pub as soon as Devil changed into a coin, rather than throwing the parchment carelessly in the dustbin” the oracle said in a sagacious tone. “I advise you to bow down before the Devil, temporarily. You are an underdog now. You must rise in power, before thinking of challenging the mighty Devil”.
“In that case, my future isn’t particularly bright” Jack observed gloomily “I might never succeed in breaking Devil’s chains, leave alone-”
Both of them were startled by the bright flash, which emerged from the crystal ball as it started glowing all of a sudden. The oracle hurriedly pulled out a small bottle and forcibly swallowed the entire content. Then she held the crystal ball in her hand.
“Let me gaze in this crystal ball. Silence! Let me concentrate…Show me crystal ball…show me…” she started slipping in a trance and her voice changed into an unearthly one.
Several minutes passed. There was a hushed silence in the hall, broken only occasionally by the sound of the water droplets dripping from the roof and some distant hissing sounds.
The drink seemed to take effect. Her eyeballs were almost pushing out of her socket; her pupils were dilated to twice their normal size and she was sweating profusely with a suppressed moan.
“The crystal ball shows two bright objects in your hands Jack…one glowing orange object in your left hand, like some pumpkin lantern…and a silvery shining object in the other, looking like the handle of a dagger…both emitting purple hue now…as if engulfed in a halo…both signifies power…great power…Noooooo! Don’t fade away…show me more…showwww meee moooore!” she yelled frantically as the glow started fading. And, as if on cue, the raven turned madly violent, cawed and croaked loudly and chased the owl.
She breathed heavily, with her eyes closed, slowly returning from her trance to normalcy. “You have two great powers with you” she announced loudly as she recovered “Your future is glorious. You shall have unprecedented fame and glory. My prophecy shall surely come true”.
Jack stood motionless, his eyes dazed by the bright light after being exposed to the dark for some time.
You shall have unprecedented fame and glory. Your future is glorious. Those words were still ringing in Jack’s ears. For a brief moment, Jack forgot about his impending doom and gloom. He was feeling ecstatic-an electrifying sensation ran down his spine.
You shall have unprecedented fame and glory. The word echoed in his ears and resonated in his mind. His heart was thumping with a burst of excitement. Your future is glorious. This magical sentence drove away the melancholy and filled his mind with hope and
determination, even if it was for brief moments. His ambitions had already been aroused.
“I ask a favor from you” Jack pleaded.
“Yes, Jack? What’s it?”
“You are a great oracle. Will you be my mentor?”
“Sorry Jack” the oracle shook her head “but I must refuse. Approach some other mentor for help. I recommend ‘Baba Yaga’, the great and world famous Russian witch. She lives in a hut resting on huge chicken legs, and all the poles of her fence have human skulls, except one. She guides and advises lost souls. But you must approach her with caution. She always puts the advice-seeker in some really tough test. And whoever shall fail to complete the assigned task shall end up with his head on that reserved pole!”
“I shall follow your suggestion” Jack said “but I request you once again to become my first mentor” Jack pleaded.
The oracle hesitated and remained silent.
“I accept to become your mentor” she broke the silence “but, on one condition”.
“What?” Jack asked.
“Your brief story has really piqued up interest” the oracle said “and after what I saw in the crystal ball, I want to hear your incredible story in more detail”.
“Is that your only condition?” Jack asked in disbelief. “Is that all you ask in return to become my mentor?”
“Well, there is something else I must mention” the oracle said, unable to bear the questioning look in Jack’s eyes. “There is something absolutely charming about you that I can’t hide the truth” she sighed deeply to imply the weight of the burden she was trying to conceal.
“What are you trying to hide?” Jack asked.
“When I tried to delve into the crystal ball, I saw a swarm of ravens, cawing loudly and flying in circles over my head. It portends bad omen. Terribly bad!”
“Oh my God!”
“That’s why I want to hear about your past to see if I can do anything for you”. She picked up a sharp knife and aimed at her pet raven.
“Are you sure?” Jack asked in panic.
“I am absolutely sure that a terrible misfortune shall befall upon you soon” the oracle sighed “but I am not at all sure if I can do anything for you. Now narrate the fabulous and amazing events of your life”.
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