Summer Shorts-Four Short Stories (9 page)

Craig's clothing and laptop computer were all
that remained in the little house. He never came to retrieve them.
There was only one place for him now: the Gressil mansion.
Immediately after the funeral, he had Botis drive him there.
Phoenix and Edon did not attend the funeral or the service before
it.

******

Upon entering the mansion, Edon was waiting for him
on the staircase. "How was the service?" she asked mockingly.
"Lovely" he smirked, walking towards her.

"Are you ready for the final phase?" Edon asked.
Craig anxiously applied "Times wasting. Let's get to it."

This time the circle and candles were on the
master bedroom floor…Phoenix's bedroom. Phoenix lied on his bed
wearing a black plain robe. From one door; Craig entered, again
naked. From another door, Edon entered wearing her ceremonial white
robe, carrying a goblet. As before, she commanded Craig to drink.
He remained standing, but drained the cup. Botis in his black robe,
took the goblet, and then held out his arm to Edon. She removed her
robe, placed it over Botis' outstretched arm, then nude she lied in
the middle of the circle staring at the ceiling. Craig mounted her
and the two engaged in furious intercourse as Botis recited an
incantation in a strange, unrecognizable language. Edon screamed as
she climaxed, at which time Botis left the room and reappeared with
Phoenix's black embroidered robe. Craig stood and Botis put
Phoenix's robe on him. Then Edon stood and Botis put her robe back
on her.

Although Edon was long past being a virgin,
there was a small puddle of blood on the floor in the center of the
circle. Botis handed Edon the black-handled dagger, and she swiped
its blade length wise into the blood until the blade was completely
red. Botis led Craig to the bed and had him lie down beside
Phoenix. Edon took the blade of the dagger and spread a line of the
blood first on Phoenix's forehead; then turning the blade over, she
did the same to Craig. Botis then handed her two plaster cast
masks: one smiling to represent life; the other frowning to
represent death. She placed the smiling mask on Phoenix, and then
placed the frowning mask upon Craig. Edon and Botis then left the
room for the night.

The sunshine and clear sky of that summer day
gave way in the evening to a fierce, fiery thunderstorm; the type
that frequently hit the Midwest triggered by the collision of hot,
humid air and cooler air descending from the north. As the thunder
shook foundations and lightening frightened animals and humans
alike, two women in two separate locations sat alone reading on
their laptops. One read about concert scheduling for the season,
the other read about Black Sabbath ceremonies that invoke
Mephistopheles.

Craig awoke at the crack of dawn and went
downstairs to the kitchen for coffee. Edon was having her coffee on
the deck, so he joined her. She anxiously leapt to her feet and
greeted him with her arms around his neck. "Are you? Are you?" she
asked. "I am" replied Craig, then he burst into laughter having
just mocked the Bible. "It's a new day, dearie" he replied in a
British accent. Faking surprise, he added "Oops, I'll have to watch
that!" Edon settled back into her chair and sighed "Then it's
complete". Craig sat down, took a drink of coffee, gazed up at her
and declared "Almost complete. There is one last loose end that
needs to be eliminated". Edon put her hand on top of his, grinned
sardonically and replied "I will attend to that personally. It's
going to be fun." Craig asked in a business like tone "When?" Edon
smiled "Why; this evening, of course…and then it will truly be a
new day."

******

Terri had been expecting Edon's phone call. To
Edon's surprise, Terri readily accepted Edon's offer to meet for a
glass of wine and to "bury the hatchet". Terri suggested they meet
in the bar of her motel where she had been living since the week
after the funeral. Edon agreed.

Edon showed up in one of her nearly
transparent black silk shirts and black leather pants. To her
shock, Terri was dressed almost identically…a look Edon would never
expect from a housewife, particularly a square like Terri. She was
smoking too, something that Craig said she did when she was
troubled or nervous…yet this Terri did not seem at all troubled or
in the least bit nervous.

Terri had taken a seat on the bar's patio, as
far from the bar as possible. She waived to Edon to join her; and
upon doing so, she offered Edon a cigarette. Edon accepted it. "I
took the liberty of ordering a bottle of Merlot" Terri said as Edon
glanced at the bottle. "I noticed at your party, it seemed to be
the favorite of the night". Edon poured herself a glass and then
asked "How are you doing these days?" Terri exhaled from her
cigarette, glanced at Terri and stated "Liberated. I feel
liberated." Again Edon was taken aback by Terri. She continued
"After the years of playing the role of mother, maid, boss, and
nurse to that overgrown child; I am actually thankful to you for
giving me my life back."

Terri interjected "But Libby?" Terri sighed,
leaned back into her chair and agreed "Yes, Libby...my dear, dear
Libby. She was trapped between our daily tug of war…the poor
child." After a brief silence, Edon asked "What will you do now?"
Terri laughed and replied "Tonight, I'm getting drunk. I earned it.
I deserve it. Drink with me!"

After a few more glasses of wine, Edon asked
Terri "Do you still love him?" Terri put her hand on Edon's...
looked her in the eyes and answered "I did once. We were very young
and life was one continuous party. When I became pregnant for
Libby, I grew up. Craig never did. To him, adulthood was a prison
sentence he never could quite accept. Boyishness can be such a turn
on…and such a turnoff. "Edon studied Terri's face carefully, but at
the same time with one hand under the table, she felt around in her
purse for something. Terri didn't seem to notice as she concluded:
"From now on, men are for marriage---not boys; and sex is for sex's
sake. Wouldn't you agree?" and with that, Terri leaned in and
kissed Edon on the cheek. Edon smiled in agreement. Terri announced
"I'm going to the little girl's room, and when I get back we'll
move this party to my room." She got up and walked away.

Right on cue, Edon slid a small envelope up
to the table, reached for Terri's glass, and emptied the contents
into it. She then filled the glass to the top… sloshed it around a
bit…and slid it over to its original place. Peeking through a tall
shrub by the corner introduce to the bathrooms, Terri remarked
"Edon, Edon …so predictable."

As Terri returned to their table, Edon held
up her own glass and said slyly "Let's finish these up and go have
some fun." Bending over to get her purse, Terri bumped the table
spilling most of her wine. "Oh shit…don't worry, I have more in my
fridge". She then drained what was left down her throat. Edon
watched anxiously; then attempted to stand but found herself a
little woozy. She hadn't had that much to drink, she
thought…definitely not as much as Terri. She took a step,
staggered, and then Terri caught her by the arm and led her from
the patio down the hall. "It must be the heat and the leather
pants" Terri wise-cracked as she fumbled for her pass card. Edon
was getting more incoherent and hard to hold up with each step.

******

The room spun round and around in Edon's
head. She mumbled and seemed to lose control of her arms and legs.
Terri laughed "Feeling a little numb, Edie? It's on the rim of your
glass...the venom of a South African toad. It causes paralysis but
leaves the victim conscious. Real bitch when mixed with alcohol…it
gives it a nasty kick and makes you dizzy as Hell. Oops, I said
"Hell"…how appropriate!" Edon moved her head up with all of her
strength. It moved very little but just enough for her to see that
she was naked and lying face up on the floor…surrounded by candles.
"Just like home, eh Edie?" Terri said, standing over her and
wearing a black robe. "Oh, I'm sure you'll recognize these." She
held up the black handled dagger and the two porcelain masks. Terri
continued "Gris brought them along with the toad venom. It turns
out that he loved Libby almost as much as he loved Sykes…and he
blames you for both their deaths."

Terri placed the articles on the dresser
behind her. "Let's see. I'm new at this. First a little wine…then
what comes next? Oh yes, a little music." She turned on her iPad
and played "Fire Dance" as loud as she could without disturbing the
neighbors in the next room. "And now we call a special guest…The
Master himself" Terri then read from tablet she held in front of
her:

"I invoke and conjure thee, O
Lucifer,

Ouyar, Chameron, Aliseon,
Mandousin,

Premy, Oriet, Naydrus, Esmony,
Eparinesont,

Estiot, Dumosson, Danochar,
Casmiel, Hayras,

Fabelleronthon, Sodirnot,
Peatham.

Come, Lucifer. Amen.

Do thou forthwith appear and show
thyself unto me, here before this circle.

Do thou come without
tarrying;

Come, fulfil my desires; persist
unto the end, according to mine intentions.

Come, Lucifer!
"

Heavy footsteps came from the hallway, slow
and deliberate. A sudden gush of air extinguished all of the
candles and the door burst open. In stepped a figure so large that
it ducked its head and turned sideways to allow its folded wings
and massive ram horns clearance into the room. Its head was that of
a deranged goat with the upper body of a heavily muscled human, but
with the breasts of a woman. The lower body was also that of a
goat, down to its cloven hooves.

Tossing off her robe so that she too was
nude, Terri lied down next to Edon and shouted
"Master…take us…fulfill my desires. Accept my
sacrifice!"
The Beast mounted her first, and she screamed.
When sated, he mounted Edon, and then departed. Terri reached for
the dagger and the masks, but then paused to slip the wedding ring
off of her finger and place it onto Edon's finger.

******

It was just after midnight when she returned
to the Gressil mansion. Craig emerged from the study with a glass
of wine in his hand. She dashed to his arms, they kissed and
embraced.
"And now is it finished?"
She
looked up into his eyes and replied
"Finally it
is finished. We'll be together now for eternity
". As she
kissed him again, behind his back she slipped off her wedding ring
and eased it into her pocket.
"Just us"
she whispered.

###############

Thank you for reading my short stories.

If you enjoyed them, won’t you please take

a moment to leave me a review at your favorite
retailer?

Thanks!

Jan Earl Miller

Acknowledgements

1."Mephisto Waltz"
Author:
Fred Mustard Waltz,
Publisher:
 Coward Mc Cann (June
1969),
ISBN-10:
 9997541243,
ISBN-13:
 978-9997541246

About the Author

Jan Earl
Miller is a semi-professional guitarist, composer, lyricist, poet,
amateur author, health insurance technical analyst, and web master.
In 2013, He published his first ebook,
"The
Boys Next Door”
, which has maintained a five star rating
on Amazon Kindle. Read Jan’s Smashwords bio at
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/najrellim