Rob instantly imagined a crossbow and pointed the weapon at the demon lord. “The bolts are all coated in holy water so I suggest you do as I say.” Rob said threatening the demon lord. “Bring Christina here, now, and I will not kill you.”
Rob had an idea that the demon could instantly move out of reach of his weapon, if he so wished, but Rob thought that the demon`s remark regarding needing to be coerced was his way of saying OK, without actually using the word and breaking the rules of his domain.
Christina appeared by his side in a bright flash of light that dazzled both Christina and Rob, but Christina was the first to realise that she was free from the small tower room.
“Rob, thank god you`re here!” Christina exclaimed joyfully. “But what on Earth is going on, who is after us this time?” She asked fearfully, moving to Rob`s side and putting an arm around him.
Rob groaned as pain once again ripped through his injured body, and Christina looked anxiously at her husband. “Rob you are injured.” She cried out.
“It is nothing darling, a cracked rib or two from an angry Cyclops, once we get back I will get it attended to, until then I will have to live with a little pain.” Rob replied, smiling weakly as the pain slowly subsided. “Moira Bourbon is behind it all, we finally know the reason why she escaped from the hospital.” Rob replied and quickly updated her about the problems facing them.
It was now that an old oil lamp appeared out of thin air, and it had a dragon motif on either side together with a letter T set in the middle of the motif, it was sitting on the floor by Rob`s feet.
Rob noticed that the dark lord looked a little surprised by the appearance of the oil lamp, even though Lord Asbaritch did his best to hide it from his two guests.
“Have no fear Rob Hinds, that is not the original, we would have instantly felt the evil pouring off it had it been that one, however, if you attempt to pick it up, then I will crush you like a bug, and without moving.” Lord Asbaritch said feeling very unsettled by the appearance of the oil lamp, and just a little fearful of its possible implications. “And do put that crossbow down, I have created an impenetrable energy field all around me, just in case you tried anything, this time there is no escape for you.” Lord Asbaritch said and sounding very bored, but then he brightened up.
“Rob Hinds, I find that I am able to offer you a deal, agree to stay here as my guest and I will promise not to drain you dry of the life-force that is so tempting. In return for this I will send your wife back to her own world, what do you say, it is a good deal and you know it?” The dark lord asked affably.
Christina jumped in before her husband could get out a single syllable. “No way buster, either we leave together or we stay together, no deal.” Christina roared.
“And what of Cassie, she is in the hands of Moira Bourbon, and will die unless I can return to our world with a Key of some sort?” Rob added, however, he did lower the crossbow.
“There is no way out for the young girl, I told you that already Rob Hinds, forget her.” Lord Asbaritch said sorrowfully.
As Rob struggled to come up with a solution to his problem, he and Christina suddenly disappeared from the fortress, the last words he heard were from the dark lord exclaiming. “No! Not again.”
**********
Moments later Christina opened her eyes to find a relieved Father Pritchard looking down at her, she was in her own bed, and back in her own dimension. Rob woke next and finding Christina and himself back home, breathed a sigh of relief, and then realising just what had happened felt extremely alarmed. He made to sit up and groaned in pain when his cracked ribs told him that his injury had also crossed dimensions.
“Are you OK, Rob?” Father Pritchard enquired anxiously.
“I tangled with a Cyclops, and cracked some ribs Dave. Look what the hell happened, was it you David, did you bring us both back?” Rob asked and then called for the doctor to unhook him from the IV drip.
“No, not me Rob, I am not a warlock, or a Satanist, why do you ask?” Father Pritchard enquired anxiously
Doctor Wilson and Nurse Simpson rushed into the room, and after checking Rob and Christina over, they unhooked them from the drips. When they had returned to the front room, Rob answered his friend`s question.
“Lord Asbaritch had just finished saying that we were to be his eternal guests, then we woke up here. As you are not responsible Dave then someone else is responsible, and there are a number of other possibilities. Maybe it was Moira Bourbon; somehow she saw the Key at my feet and brought us both back, although that possibility does not sound all that likely.” Rob said.
“What about the Key, David, did the Key come with us, without it Cassie may be lost to us?” Christina cried out in anguish and interrupting Rob and Father Pritchard.
“No, Christina, sorry no oil lamp, you mean you had it with you?” Father Pritchard replied and then turned back to Rob. “Rob, did you just say that you tangled with a Cyclops?” Father Pritchard asked when he realised just what Rob had said.
“Yes, David, one straight out of Greek mythology. As for the Key of Tartarus, it appeared by my feet as if by magic, I suppose Moira could have made that happen too, but I don`t think she has that sort of power, not yet.” Rob replied and held Christina`s hand, for she looked very worried, she was thinking about Cassie and wondering if she would ever see her again.
“One thing is certain; whoever made the Key appear also brought us back home.” Rob said grimly.
“Who else could have brought you back Rob, because as you say, it is very unlikely that Moira Bourbon has that ability.” Father Pritchard asked.
“Maybe the good guys rescued us, however unlikely that is. A more likely answer, and the worst scenario, is that the pulsating mass of matter made the Key appear and sent us back. This pulsating mass has grown into a sentient life-force, and one that provides Lord Asbaritch with some of his power, and sometimes it acts according to its own reasons. If this is the case then we can probably expect the Key to appear here soon.” Rob said.
“But why is that the worst scenario Rob, personally, I think it is great?” Christina interposed.
“Because, it means that the Key might really be a mechanism for creating a portal within the energy barrier of Tartarus, either that or the pulsating mass is actually a good guy, and that is also very unlikely.” Rob replied.
“Oh, my head is spinning Rob, any of your possibilities could be true, the trouble is finding out which one it is.” Christina said not knowing whether to be happy or worried now.
“For the moment let us forget which scenario brought us back, let us just thank god that we are back, and we should move into the pentagram, before Moira Bourbon finds out that we are back.” Rob said looking anxiously for an antique oil lamp.
The three friends now walked, or to be correct, Rob hobbled, into the front room where they found the doctor and his nurse packing up their equipment. “Well Mr Hinds, we will leave you to your strange case, and from the pentagram on the floor I imagine it is a very dangerous one, good bye.” The doctor said as he and his nurse walked to the front door of the apartment, however, Rob stopped them from leaving.
“Not so soon Doctor, I think that I may have damaged my ribs while I was away, I need you to sort me out until I can get to the company clinic and get an X-ray.”
It was now that Gerry Handley made his presence known. “Rob, I knew that there was something that you were not telling me in France, but I would never have guessed that it was so weird, or so very dangerous.” Gerry said and walked forward to greet his friend and his wife.
“Christina, I am Gerry Handley, we met briefly in France, and I am glad to see that you are ok.” Gerry said with a smile.
“Yes Gerry, yes thank you, we are fine now, but I should warn you, the danger is far from over, as Rob said a moment ago, we should enter the pentagram.” Christina replied.
Gerry looked distinctly worried by what Christina had told him, and hurriedly followed her and the others into the p
entagram; Father Pritchard now lit the candles, and charged the pentagram. Looking extremely puzzled, Doctor Wilson with the assistance of Nurse Simpson now checked Rob out.
“You may have cracked a couple of ribs Mr Hinds, but I do not think that they are broken, however, from the colour of the bruising I am a little surprised that they were not broken. As you say you will need to have an X-ray, until then I will lightly bind your chest, but only for rest of this night, it should help and you should also take two of these extra strength painkillers.” Doctor Wilson said taking out a box of paracetamol. “Your ribs will heal of their own accord, in fact binding the chest is no longer considered necessary, it could even hamper your recovery in the long term, simply take it easy for the next six to eight weeks. Try to remember to take a deep breath at the end of each hour; it will help prevent pneumonia setting in. Nurse Simpson and I will stay the night and then we can drive you over to the clinic and get you checked out.” Doctor Wilson said and got to work wrapping bandages around Rob`s chest.
“Rob, it could have been the vast distance between the Dreamscape and here that saved your ribs from really serious damage.” Father Pritchard ventured.
Doctor Wilson and Nurse Simpson both looked a little sceptical on hearing Father Pritchard`s words, but neither of them laughed at the suggestion, the appearance of the oil lamp at the edge of the pentagram, while Father Pritchard spoke, had unsettled them both. Now they would not even think of scoffing at his words, their minds were in too much of a turmoil. On seeing the lamp, Rob hurriedly picked it up and checked it over for any possible inter-dimensional damage, not knowing quite how to feel about its appearance.
“Mr Hinds, you will have to sleep sitting up, or risk getting an infection on your lungs, it will not be comfortable, but it is necessary, and during all of the recovery period. You will also find it beneficial if you take some pain killers, they should reduce the pain and allow you to sleep.” Doctor Wilson advised Rob after forcibly pushing all thoughts of the oil lamp from his mind.
“Whatever you say Doctor.” Rob replied, resigned to the problems he would have to cope with on his way back to recovery, he would just have to nap during the daytime, when the need for the use of a pentagram was reduced.
The night passed without any satanic visitations, and during this time Rob told Father Pritchard and a worried Gerry Handley all that they had learned from Lord Asbaritch about the Key of Tartarus, and how they had secured a Key, which was definitely not the original and was, they hoped, just a fake.
“Just how do you know that the oil lamp in your hands is not the genuine Key of Tartarus?” Gerry asked anxiously, edging nearer to the edge of the pentagram and away from Rob, who had decided that either he or Father Pritchard would safeguard the Key until they had secured the release of Cassie.
“Lord Asbaritch would have followed us home to retrieve it; if he had thought that we had the genuine article, he would be far too scared of the consequences should he allow us to keep it. In any case he told us that the original Key reeked of evil, David would have noticed the odour of evil the moment that the oil lamp appeared.” Rob replied.
“You are quite right Rob, it is definitely not the genuine article; I should have felt it otherwise, from what Lord Asbaritch said we all would have noticed that amount of evil pervading the apartment.” Father Pritchard agreed.
“If it is that easy to tell the difference, then we may not be able to get Cassie back, surely Moira will know immediately that we only have a copy of the Key.” Christina said anxiously.
“I do not think so Christina, if the real Key is now a gateway to a hell dimension, she obviously knows very little about it. The fact that Moira heard about it, and knew where to find it, when I had never heard even a rumour about its existence, well it baffles me.” Father Pritchard assured Christina and the others.
“She must have read about it in one of her father`s books David, he did possess a large library of ancient books dealing with the paranormal, many of them were first editions.” Rob said and then turned to his wife. “Christina, if Moira knew everything that we now know about the Key in its original form, she would never have contemplated stealing it, the amount of evil that it is said to emit would have turned her into a satanic monster. She might be a Satanist, but she is not that insane, even if we did send her to a psychiatric hospital for treatment.”
While the four friends talked about black magic and Satanism, the doctor and his nurse listened, fear striking into their hearts as they realised that what they had thought of as fiction, might just be fact.
**********
It was still dark at the Parkston manor house, although there was a full moon shining down upon them, lighting up the house and the courtyard, but it was now that Moira knocked at the bedroom door of Simon and Marjorie Parkston. Grumbling a little, Simon Parkston called out for her to enter; she opened the door and leant against the doorframe.
“Simon, we need to power up the device, and we need to conduct the sacrifice while it is still dark, so that we will have the Mist of Glairmore when we need it tonight.” Moira said coolly.
“Ok, Moira the tramp must have rested enough by now, time for him to meet his maker.” Parkston replied wearily.
“I am looking forward to seeing the device in action Simon; to see if it as good as we are led to believe.” Moira said.
“Yes, you are right Moira; I would not like to be in Tartarus only to find that the device is nothing more than a damp squib.”
Simon Parkston got out of bed and dressed, then he collected a small case from his bathroom, before following his wife and Moira to the barn, they found the old tramp fast asleep and snoring loudly. They were joined there by Johnathon Towers; Simon Parkston had phoned him to request that he join them at the barn to help them with the mass. Parkston now opened the small case and took out a hypodermic; he then uploaded a clear liquid into it.
“This will ensure that the old tramp does not cause any trouble when we move him down into the temple.” Parkston said quietly so as not to awaken the tramp, and then injected the tramp with the liquid.
“Well he certainly will not wake up now, with the two drugs in his system.” Moira said laughing quietly.
The four Satanists then carried the tramp out of the barn, and over to the Great Hall, from there they struggled with the weight of the tramp down the narrow staircase to the temple beneath the Great Hall. The tramp was no lightweight, and so they had a little trouble placing him upon the altar, but finally his was lying flat out on it, and still snoring. Simon Parkston pulled out the Mist of Glairmore from its hiding place and placed it beneath a spout carved into the top of the granite altar; he then picked up his sacrificial dagger and called out to the creator of the satanic device.
“Oh glorious Goddess Hekate, please accept this humble offering to your most illustrious being, and power up your magnificent device.” Parkston then put the dagger against the throat of the tramp, cut it.
A stream of blood poured out of the neck of the tramp and down the spout into the bronze device that had opened just as the first drops of blood touched it. The device began to vibrate, a whirling ball of energy rose from the artefact and circled around every person within the small temple, a small thread breaking of the main ball of energy to enter into each person it touched. The Satanists groaned in ecstasy when they felt the energy touch them, taking away their tiredness and leaving each of them feeling refreshed. The temperature in the temple dropped, but the goddess did not make an appearance this time, not for the blood of a tramp.
“We are now ready to take delivery of the Key of Tartarus.” Moira declared amid the loud laughter and rejoicing of the other Satanists.
**********
It was still dark outside of Rob`s apartment when the temperature in the room dropped, and caused them all to shiver.
“Doctor Wilson, Nurse Simpson, Gerry, we are about to have a visit from a demon, please ensure that you stay within the pentagram. Rob hurriedly warned them. r />
The doctor and the nurse looked anxiously around the room, and Gerry pulled his pistol out. Frost began to form on the floor around the pentagram, and seconds later that the minor demon Mughasar appeared before them in a thick veil of black evil smelling smoke, Gerry unsure as to what to do looked to Rob for instructions, and just then the telephone rang.
“You may safely answer the telephone Rob Hinds, I want to talk to you, and it is so much easier using the telephone.” The demon said in a perfect imitation of Moira.
As the demon was on the other side of the room Rob felt safe to reach out a hand for the telephone, which was outside of the pentagram.
“Good morning Rob, it`s good to hear your voice, I can see that as well as rescuing the lovely Christina, that you also have my oil lamp.” Moira said in a syrupy voice, and then laughed. “This is almost as good as Skype, better because you cannot see me, or trace this telephone call.”
“Yes, Moira I have the lamp, now tell me, where and when do we make the exchange, and if Cassie has been hurt in any way, I will make you wish...”
Moira interrupted Rob`s threat. “Save your list of threats Rob, young Cassie is fine, and as soon as you give me the Key of Tartarus, you can have her back, untouched. Please do not fret for Cassie, I have nothing against her, she was my friend.” Moira said in her syrupy voice.
“You do not know anything about friendship Moira, now, tell me when and where.” Rob demanded.
“Hmm, when and where? Let’s us say tonight at midnight, and on the Waterloo bridge over the River Thames, see you then Rob, bye.” Moira then put the telephone down and looked over at Simon Parkston with a huge smile.
“It is all set Simon, later this morning, let’s take little Cassie for a ride on the river.” Moira said.