Chapter 6: Party at the Cemetery

Jennifer Skavin walked out of the candle store at the mall. If she noticed the two teenage boys that were checking her out, she gave no sign.  “See, Ernie… She’s the one I told you about…Kinda cute and dressed all in black… I bet she’d like to party with us!”

“You idiot! You think ANY girl would like to party with us… But she is kinda cute…”

“Go ask her! I’ll buy you a soda if you ask her!”

“TWO sodas!”

“OK. I’ll buy two. But go ask her!”

“Too late. She’s leaving. Now, about the sodas that you owe me…”

“I don’t owe you any damn… Wait… She’s stopping… Now’s your chance! Ask her!” Jennifer had stopped in front of the electronics store and was watching the newscast:

  …Latest reports from Mars indicate that a serious catastrophe has occurred. Most experts think the disaster to be natural in origin, but we have a counter-terrorism expert here who proposes that the Jerusalem-Bombay connection may be behind the events. We will go to Mr. Adeli shortly. To repeat, over 200 reported dead in a mining disaster on New America, near Fort Dix II. We will bring the news directly to you as soon as we have confirmation. Now, Mr. Adeli…

 “Excuse me… My buddy… We would like… Uhmm… We… He think’s your cute!”

Jennifer looked the gangly teen up and down, as if scanning him for bugs. “Uh,  right. I’m really busy. Good bye.”

“See my buddy! Over there. He wants to party! He has a car.”

Jennifer glanced and saw an even skinnier teen who was about a foot shorter than his ‘buddy’ with his face covered in acne. “No wonder he wears that baseball hat down so low,” she thought. “Oh, crap… I looked too long… Here he comes.”

“Hello. My name is Ernest. And his is Robert. Do you know what everyone calls us?”

“Idiots?”

“Haw haw. See Ernie, she’s got a sense of humor. I bet she’d like to party tonight.”

“NO, they don’t call us idiots… Everyone calls us ‘Bert and Ernie… You know, like on Sesame Street…? With Big Bird…?”

“I’ve seen the show. I bet you watched it this morning. And no, I don’t want to ‘party’. I have a… thing… to do tonight.”

“What sort of ‘thing’? After we do this thing, then we could party. I have my dad’s car and we stole some of his beer. See, we know how to party.”

“No, I don’t want to party. This… thing… is very important. And I have to do it tonight. Now, leave me alone.”

“Wait… We’re sorry. We just wanted to… Hey, maybe we could help? Ernie, Would you like to help? If we help real good, then maybe she would party with us.”

“I donno. What sort of thing are you gonna do?”

“It’s a secret. And I can do it all by myself. Now, leave me alone.”

“We can keep a secret. Please, tell us. We’ll help.”

“OK… I’ll tell you… But you HAVE to keep it a secret!”

“We promise… What’re you gonna do?”

“OK… Remember you promised… I’m gonna get on my bike and go home and leave you two here!”

“What? What’re you talking about? That doesn’t sound like any fun.”

“I don’t understand… How can we help you do that? And, then where would we party?”

“OK, Look guys! I don’t want to party. I have something very important to do. Please leave me alone.”

“We have money… and a car… and beer…”

“OK… I’ll tell you what I’m REALLY gonna do… Just don’t tell the police or anything…”

“Now we’re getting somewhere… They know my father so I stay FAR AWAY from the police.”

In conspiratorial whisper…”I’m gonna do a Druidic ritual at midnight and summon a demon to Earth...”

“What? A what? A demon? How are you… Do you Think you’re a witch or something…?”

“I KNEW you guys were idiots.” Jennifer turned and started to walk away. “Just don’t tell the police”, she called over her shoulder.

“Wait. I’ll help. Bert’s too scared to help but I will…”

“I’m not scared… I’ll help, too…” The boys called out as they ran after Jennifer.

“IF you REALLY want to help… I’ll have to test you first…”

“What sort of test? I didn’t do very good on tests…”

“It’s easy… All you have to do is hold this crystal over your chest and lower it to your stomach…”, she said drawing a oblong crystal on a leather strap out of her book-bag.

“Awww, that’s an easy test. Even Bert can pass that test.” Ernie took the strap and held it up to his chest and dropped it to his belt buckle. “Is this here where you want to test…?”, he asked holding the crystal over his groin. “Haw haw.”

Bert grabbed the crystal out of Ernie’s hands saying, “I did better’n you an every test we had in school.” He waved the crystal in front of himself and tried to hand it back to Jennifer.

“No, You have to hold it here and lower it to here, slowly. Or it doesn’t tell me what I need to know.”

“Like this?” Bert handed the crystal back to Jennifer.

“Yep. That was perfect. I could use a couple of ‘helpers’ tonight…”

“What sort o’ test was that? There was no spelling or adding or nothin’.”

“That ‘test’ told me if you guys were virgins or not.”

“What? Uhm… I know… Uhm… I have a cousin in Canada… I know how mine turned out.”

“I saw it when you did it! You don’t have no cousin, butt-munch. That thingie was spinning more for you than it was for me…”

“I do too have a cousin… I’m gonna kick your ass…”

“WAIT! GUYS! IF you want to help me tonight, meet me at the cemetery out on Lydon road.”

“I’m still gonna kick your ass. Is it the one by that old church?”

“Yes. Meet me at the gate by the gas station at… say 10:00?”

“10:00? We’ll be there. At least I’ll be there. He might not survive his ass-kickin!”

“Whatever.” Jennifer turned and walked out the exit of the mall thinking, “Not only did I get the right kind of candles, I got TWO virgins to sacrifice tonight. Now, what would be the best way to kill those idiots so that my Lord can feed when he gets here? After my Lord gives me power, there are many I’m gonna kill all by myself…”

10:15 behind Jim’s Texaco, closed for 15 years.

Jennifer stood by the gate and checked her watch again. “Oh, well… If the idiots don’t show, I still have the cats I can kill… Mrs. Prescott will never miss ‘em. I’m gonna kill her first… call the cops on me… I just wanted some nails out of her shed… That was over a year ago and I still hate the woman.” The sound of a car approaching could be heard. Jennifer ducked behind a tombstone and peeked around the edge. The car pulled into the station and paused, pulled around back, pulled back around the front, then started to go around back again. Yelling could be heard coming from the car. “Has to be them,” she thought. Jennifer jogged over to the gate and waved her arms at the car as it made another pass around the station, narrowly missing a stack of old tires in back. The car stopped and the driver’s window rolled down.

“This where we gonna party, baby?” Ernie leaned out the window and asked in a slurred way.

“Oh, great… They’ve already started to ‘party’.” “Yep. Over here. Park your car back there and help me carry this stuff out by the pond.”

Bert and Ernie stumbled from the car. Ernie grabbed a cooler and a blanket. “What we gotta carry? I gots the beer right here!” So saying, Ernie upended the beer and finished it off.

“Still with Bulls**t”, Jennifer thought. She noticed that the ‘beer’ was actually empty by the way he put it to his mouth. “Trying to impress me with their drinking ‘skills’. The world will NOT miss these two idiots.” “Here. I need this case carried and we need some wood to build a fire.”

“Fire? Are we gonna roast marshmallows?” Haw haw.

“Here. You carry this. And you get the wood. I’ll bring the case.”

“I’ve already got ‘wood’. Haw haw.”

“I might just kill these idiots, myself,” she thought. “No, have to save them. My Lord will be hungry when he gets here. Then I’m gonna kill them real slow and watch them die as He feeds.”

“Here, baby. Youse let me carry that. You drink a beer now and we’ll start to party.”

“I GOT it. You carry the wood and the blanket. Hey guys… I also have some wine…”

“Wine? I’ll drink it!”

“He’ll drink anything.”

“It’s special wine. It’s for after the ritual.”

“Ritual? I’ve never been to a ritual-party before.”

“He’s never been to a party that had a girl at it before!”

“I’m gonna kick your ass!”

“HEY! GUYS… Look, You help me with the ritual… and afterwards… I’ll take off my robe and let you look…”

“I’ll help! What do you need carried?”

“I’ll get the wood. Do you have anything else?”

“Virgins, for sure”, she thought. “The crystal read their aura’s correctly. Probably never seen a naked girl before ’cept in the stack of Playboys under the their beds.” “No, that should be about everything. Carry it up to the pond and then we need to make a fire by the walkway.”

“A fire. Won’t someone see and call the cops?”

“Even if they do see, the cops won’t have time to get here before my Lord gets here."

“If this ‘ritual’ don’t work… do we still get to see…”

“It’ll work. I promise. You do what I tell you and don’t drink the wine before the correct time… Then you’ll see…everything.”

11:35 

The fire had burned down and Ernie added more wood. Bert jumped up and yelled, “I’m sick of this! All this chanting… and the dances… I’m not a fag, I don’t dance like that…”

“I’m sorry. Please, just keep chanting and remember what you’ll get to see later.”

“I don’t want to chant anymore… I want to party… Give me the wine… I knew we should have bought more beer.”

“NO! Don’t drink the wine yet. It’s not the right time!” Jennifer jumped up out of her Lotus position and ran over and tried to grab the bottle from Bert’s hand.

“WITCH!”, He yelled, backhanding her across the face, knocking her to the ground. “I’m sick of you. I’m gonna party NOW. He flipped the cap off the bottle and took a long drag. Here, Ernie, drink some of this. It’s not to bad, even for witch-wine.”

“Bert, You shouldn’t done that! She’s bleeding. Now we’re not gonna see…”

“Oh, yes we are!” Bert stepped over Jennifer and grabbed the lapels of her robe. With a savage yank, he split the material down the middle, exposing her breasts.

“NO! Don’t do that! Let go of me!”

“Shut up,”, Bert yelled again and backhanded her across the face, twice. “We’re gonna party the right way, now.”

“Uhh, Bert. That’s not right. Let her go, Bert.”

“Ernie. Shut the hell up. I thought I told you to drink the wine! Now, drink up and get ready to forget your cousin up in Canada.”

“No, not the wine,” Jennifer mumbled through swollen, bloody lips. “Not for now. For later.”

“I thought I told you to shut up.” Bert slapped her again, chipping a tooth. Ernie looked fearfully at his friend and upended the wine bottle, taking a long drag. “This is how we party,” Bert grabbed the vials of power and scrolls that Jennifer had spent hours copying in the library and threw them into the fire. Then he picked up her book-bag and threw that in too. Taking the wine-bottle he took a long drag and spit the last swallow into the fire. Unknown to anyone the fire had started to build and the wine didn’t quench it at all; instead it added to the blaze.

“Please, let me go. I’ll give you what you want. Just don’t hurt me anymore.”

“Shut up! Dammit, shut up. Bert slapped her again and the blood from the back of his hand flew into the fire. The fire blazed up, tripling in size. Bert jumped back. “What the hell? I’ve never seen a fire do that before. What was in your bag, gasoline? Ouch, OUCH, My stomach!” Bert doubled over and grabbed his stomach. Ernie looked terrified and held the wine bottle away from him like a writhing serpent. “DEAR GOD, MY STOMACH.” Bert was on the ground, curled up in a ball. Ernie grabbed at his stomach and started yelling, too. Soon both were vomiting all over themselves, holding their swollen abdomens.

“A**holes”, Jennifer thought as she struggled to sit up. “I wondered how I was going to get you to drink the poisoned wine.” She struggled to her feet and walked over to Bert, holding her spilt robe together. Walking behind him, she kicked him between the legs, as hard as she could. Bert moaned even louder and tried to hold both swollen areas. “My Lord is going to feast well on you pitiful slugs.” Reaching down into her Ree-boks, she pulled out a razor blade. She grabbed Bert by the arm and dragged him closer to the fire. “Thank my Lord he fell above the fire… I could never drag this much human waste up here to get the blood to flow right…” She settled down into a Lotus position and closed her eyes and tried to do the chant as she remembered it. She could feel the power building inside her. “It’s gonna work this time, I know it is.” Opening her eyes, she glanced at her watch: 11:59! “Dear Lord, I’d better hurry.”

Grabbing Bert’s arm and pulling it out straight, she slit it across the wrist. Bert was unconscious and never felt the cut. The blood ran in a getting stronger stream down into the embers of the fire. When it hit a red hot ember, the fire blazed even higher…

POWERRRR TOOOO YOUUUUU,

Jennifer heard in her head. The words that she was chanting weren’t coming from her head and they hurt her mouth and throat as she said them. The smoke over the fire turned a sickly greenish color…

FEEEEEEEDDDDDD. WEEEEEEE OFFFFERRR POWERRRRR TOOOO PUNISHHHHH ALLLL

Jennifer’s mind flashed back…

“---NO UNCLE LARRY, GET OFF ME, THAT HURTS, STOPPPP…

 --- BUT DADDY, HE DID TOO. HE HURT ME THERE…

--- BUT, MRS WILSON, I WASN’T CHEATING. THE TEST WAS EASY. I DIDN’T NEED TO CHEAT…

--- OFFICER, I NEVER WENT IN THERE. I DON’T KNOW HOW THE WINDOW GOT BROKEN…

---I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE MY SISTER, JESSICA. HE WAS MY BOYFRIEND. YOU HAD NO RIGHT…

--- MOM, DAD DID TOO HIT ME. IT WAS CAUSE OF UNCLE LARRY…

--- I WASN’T SPEEDING OFFICER…

--- KEVIN’S THE ONE WHO STOLE MY BRA AND HUNG IT IN THE GYM?…

--- MOM, I DIDN’T MEAN TO KILL THE CAT… IT JUST… HAPPENED

--- AN ’F’? I GOT AN ‘F’ IN MATH? I DIDN’T DESERVE IT…

--- KEVIN WANTS TO GO OUT WITH ME? REALLY? I’LL ASK HIM,SURE…

--- MOM, DON’T HIT ME ANYMORE. PLEASE STOP DRINKING, PLEASE…

--- JESSICA, KEVIN MILLER WANTS TO GO OUT WITH ME!…

--- GODDAMED DOG CRAPPED IN THE HALLWAY AND I STEPPED IN IT AGAIN…

--- KEVIN… I WAS WONDERING… I HEARD THAT YOU… WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO OUT WITH ME…

--- YOU WOULD? REALLY? A CAR RIDE? OK…

--- NO! GIVE ME BACK MY CLOTHES! GIVE ‘EM BACK…

--- LET ME IN! OPEN THE CARDOOR! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE! PLEASE GIVE ME MY CLOTHES BACK! PLEASE LET ME BACK IN THE CAR!…

--- UNCLE LARRY! THANK GOD YOU CAME ALONG. KEVIN STOLE MY CLOTHES…

PUNISHHHHH THEMMMMM ALLLLLLLL

Jennifer’s head snapped back and her eyes rolled back into her skull. The fire seemed like it was a thousand feet high now. The words and sounds she chanted made her mouth and tongue bleed. Picking up Ernie’s body with one unnaturally strong hand, she flung it into the fire. His body arched up and he let out a scream as he hit the flames, not from the flames, but as his soul was devoured. The smoke shimmered even more and the Elder God stepped out directly onto the fire. He ignored the embers and stepped directly in front of Jennifer. Only the whites of her eyes showed as she stood and threw her arms back, offering herself to the demon. Tentacles whipped out and surrounded her body. Picking her of the ground, the demon bit her head off. The last thought Jennifer had before her soul was devoured was that Kevin was going to pay………

Continued in War of the Blood Gods #6