 
The Return of the Bitch from Hell

A Story By

Philip R Benge

Smashwords Edition

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Published by

Philip R Benge on Smashwords

The Return of the Bitch from Hell

Copyright Philip R Benge 2017

Cover Art Copyright Philip R Benge 2017

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Thank you for downloading this eBook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form, with the exception of quotes used in reviews.

Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author`s imagination and used fictitiously.

Authors note: This story was originally to be entitled The Harvesters, as advertised; however, I later decided that the present title was more appropriate.

The Return of the Bitch from Hell

Contents

Contents:

Prologue:

Chapter One: The Arrival

Chapter Two: Another Mission for Rob Hinds

Chapter Three: Plans are made

Chapter Four: They are Satanists, just Extra Terrestrial Ones

Chapter Five: Kidnapped

Chapter Six: Moira Bourbon

Chapter Seven: Moira wants her Revenge

Chapter Eight: Rob Fights Back

Chapter Nine: The Fight to the Death

About the Author:

Other Books by the Author:

Prologue

Moira Bourbon was the archetypical Hollywood villain, three times she had been given the chance of killing the Special Intelligence Service Agent, Rob Hinds. Three times she had captured him, and each time she had chosen to devise a very painful and long winded method to kill him, rather than just shoot him there and then. As any dead Hollywood villain would say, if such a thing was possible, this is where they all went wrong, for each time Rob Hinds had escaped and had turned the tables on her, and in the second of those episodes he had actually killed her. However, by then Lord Asbaritch, a powerful demon lord, had fallen deeply in love with her, and using his powers had set her death aside by turning her into a demon human hybrid, one who was the most powerful Satanist that ever walked upon the Earth, or anywhere else. She was at the height of her powers, having slain two Greek gods and had even been about to best Lord Lucifer himself, however at the last moment Rob Hinds had stolen her victory from her so that he and his friend, David Pritchard, could escape from Hell. The result had been spectacular and unplanned, even by Rob Hinds. In the final battle back on Earth, her black evil heart had been wiped clean and she had become pure of heart, for the moment anyway, and she chose to live and study theology in a convent with no memory of her immense powers or of her evil past.

With the world saved yet again, Rob Hinds had returned to his normal life, and he and his wife had decided that the time had come to begin their family; all he now desired was a peaceful life, one without any satanic episodes.

Unfortunately, for him, in defeating Moira Bourbon he had of course angered Lord Asbaritch, who ruled over the Dreamscape and the Netherworld. One year later and he still grieved over the loss of his consort and would do anything to see her returned to him. Fortunately, for the world, he was bound by a treaty signed by Lord Lucifer and the all-powerful god worshipped by the Christians, amongst many others, so anything he did would have to be covert.

Chapter One

The Arrival

Rob Hinds was about to endure a couple of very bad weeks, beginning now, and if he was not careful he could end up being killed, or tortured, or both. At the moment, he was playing in the garden with his two children, they were twins, Gerry and Julie, and they were just three months old. However, as he smiled down at them, the scene suddenly and inexplicitly changed from the sunny warm day that it had been, to a cold wintery one. Now a cold wind was blasting through his light cotton shirt to attack his rapidly cooling body, and he was no longer in his garden, now he found himself running through the streets of London. He could not think why, and he was about to stop when he saw three ill kept men reflected in the large shop window before him, they were chasing closely behind him, and each of them was carrying a large knife. Rob felt instinctively for his automatic pistol before remembering that he was not carrying it, not to play with his children, suddenly the scene changed again and he found himself in a dark forest, and a deep sense of evil folded around him. His mind was in a turmoil as he attempted to explain what was happening to him, in fact it refused to work, one thought did come to him though, that it was time to increase the space between him and his pursuers. It was now that he tripped over the leg of a fourth man and went sprawling painfully to the ground. Before he could do anything the four men pounced on him, and turning him on to his back, they held him down. One by one, they smiled at him and then opened their mouths, and he saw their long sharp teeth, they were vampires. I t was now that a strange thought entered his mind, where was David, why was he not here to save him?

"Do not worry Rob Hinds you will feel nothing, not after we have drained your blood, but we want to thank you in advance for the tasty meal that you are about to provide us with, for we are going to eat your brain as well my friend." The largest and ugliest of the vampires said with his smile seemingly fixed to his dirty pock marked face.

Just as their teeth sank painfully into his body he woke up, his body was covered in sweat, his mind still in a turmoil, it was now that he realised that he had only been having a nightmare. As he looked about him he heard faint laughter that slowly faded away, and it was only then that a frightening thought occurred to him, what if his nightmare foretold his immediate future, was he about to be pulled into yet another black magic case? Instinctively his hand went to his neck to check to see if he had been bitten, but of course, he had not, for it was only a bad nightmare.

Beside him was his wife, Christina, and he saw fear in her eyes. "Rob, it cannot be happening again, not now!" Christina exclaimed fearfully.

Rob instantly squashed his terrifying thoughts and strove to reassure his wife that all was well.

"No sweetheart, it was just a dream, maybe Lord Asbaritch just wanted to remind us that his world is so very close, do not worry, I am not going to get involved with another coven of Satanists, that I promise you." Rob promised.

He just hoped that he could keep his promise, for his life was filled with the times when he found that he had no say as to what he would become involved in, or with whom. This past year had begun well, and with the birth of the twins everything seemed to be as near to perfection as is possible, he only had December to get through to complete his best year ever. Please, Rob begged silently of the Fates, let peace prevail.

**********

It was early December, and just days after Rob Hinds` nightmare, one that still haunted his waking and sleeping hours, when the Fates turned against him. To the east of London was a new religious cult, the Church of the Second Coming, one who believed that the Messiah was due to return to Earth in the spring of 2018, the Messiah they say having left Earth after his crucifixion to journey to other worlds that needed his help. They had purchased a disused church, one built in the late seventeenth century, and had restored it to its earlier architectural beauty and it was now ready for his arrival, should he choose to return to Earth. It was set within its own large meadow, which was also owned by the Church, a large and mostly empty warehouse was set on the edge of the meadow, the Church used it as a storeroom and a workshop, however soon it would be put to another use. They had added a cloister to the rear of the church, and this was where the Elders of the church, and any family members who chose to do so, now resided.

Their leader, Jeremiah Jones, was a tall heavily built man who ruled over his flock with a will of iron, his twelve disciples were of a similar breed with little tolerance for those that followed a different road. They had converted a number of people to their cause, ones who were faithful to Jones and his Church, and who put in a mass of voluntary work for their Church. The Church was different from other Churches, for it had spent the last six months sending a message into space; one necessary if the Messiah was to return, for without it he might think that the people of Earth had forgotten him. The message stated their devotion and their readiness to serve the Messiah, when he returned to create a new kingdom on Earth, one where peace and goodwill would be the norm. This their message said and much more, enough to provide someone who received the message with more than enough information to enable them to reply, be they good, extremely evil or just plain hungry.

**********

Unknown to the people of Earth, a lightly armed starship from the planet Amaymon was approaching the Sol solar system, their people, the Amaymons, known by worlds who had met them as the Harvesters, had sent them on a reconnaissance mission to find out what sort of defences they could expect to encounter, if they decided to call en masse. They were termed Harvesters because that is what they did to the inhabitants of the worlds they called on, they harvested them, but not as normal cannibals uses to do, no they drunk the blood of their victims and ate their brains.

Through his dreams, the leader of Amaymon had been seduced into planning this mission by Lord Asbaritch, he wanted something to occupy Rob Hinds and David Pritchard`s time while he attempted to seduce Moira Bourbon away from her theological studies and back to the side of the demons, and more importantly back to him.

"Magnus One, I have intercepted a message being broadcast from the planetary system that we have been ordered to investigate." Linguia, the communications officer, reported to the commander of the vessel.

Linguia was the youngest member of the coven Walpurgisnacht 12, the designation of their coven, and he had been so very proud when he had been selected to join the coven for this deep space journey, he knew that his family had felt this too and that they expected much from him.

"Put it through the translator and then play it back Linguia." Magnus One ordered.

After the message had been played, Magnus One smiled. "Timoni, I require a slight change of course when we enter the planetary system ahead of us, follow the signal that we just received to its source." Magnus One ordered his helmsman.

Soon the alien starship was in a geostationary orbit above south-eastern England. Magnus One has decided to go down to the land mass directly below them and visit the sender of the signal, seeing it as a way to blend in while they looked into the possibilities of the planet, with this plan in mind he contacted the Church.

"Timoni, plot the exact coordinates of the earthman when I contact him, then see if there is a suitable landing site close by." Magnus One instructed the helmsman.

Magnus One was now ready to speak to Jeremiah Jones.

"Jeremiah Jones, hear me, for my vessel has come in answer to the message that you have sent to the Messiah, the Chosen One, are you ready to receive his answer?"

Jones, who was sitting at the radio preparing to send another message out into space, almost fainted with shock after he had heard the voice coming through on their radio, and what it was saying. For a long moment he was unable to form a reply, however, finally he mastered his emotions and turned his radio transmitter over to the send mode.

"This is Jeramiah Jones, yes I hear you, please give us the Messiah`s reply to our message so that we can pass it on to our followers."

"I am called Magnus One; I sit on the left hand side of the Chosen One. He has asked me to tell you that he is happy with the work that you have done so far, that he has sent us on ahead to prepare the way, for we must determine whether Man is now worthy of his return." Magnus One said. "However, no one must know of our coming, no one except for your closest followers."

"I understand Magnus One; tell me what can I do to assist you in your work?" Jones asked while trying to contain his jubilation.

Magnus One ignored this question for the moment; instead, he asked one of his own.

"Tell me Jeremiah Jones, is there a suitable area where we can land in our shuttlecraft, one where we can conceal our craft?" Magnus One asked.

"Yes there is Magnus One, follow our signal to our church; you can land in the meadow that surrounds it. We have an empty building that should be large enough to suit your requirements." Jones replied in barely contained excitement.

"Thank you Jeremiah Jones, please await my next call, I will tell you then how you may assist us." Magnus One replied and then cut off the transmission.

"Scientia, this planet has a rudimentary radio scanning system, as we need to land unnotice, create a powerful electrical storm around the south east coast of the land mass where the signal originated from, ensure that the storm encompasses the entire sector so as to hide our arrival from the authorities." Magnus One ordered his scientific specialist.

The scientific specialist now began to create a massive electrical storm that soon raged around the coast of the south east of England and North Western Europe, and when Magnus One was satisfied that it would suffice, he ordered his helmsman to take them down through the planet`s atmosphere. Hidden by the storm the alien starship dropped down through the atmosphere and disappeared beneath the North Sea. There were thirteen humanoids aboard this vessel, a coven as the Amaymons term such a group, and they took their starship down to the seabed, from here their leader, Magnus One, would contact the Church again when his preparations were complete.

Magnus One now researched many things, such as the most suitable dress that his people should wear so that they would be able to fit into their adapted parts. He read about the Messiah, the Bible, and finally the English language, which the message was sent in, within the planet`s internet system. They also found the website of the Church, and the photographs and the information contained within it gave the aliens enough information to ensure that they did not make any errors as regards their supposed parts in the coming drama. Learning the English language might have presented an alien race with another problem, but one the Amaymons easily overcame. Any of the Amaymon race who was sent to a new planet carried a portable translation device linked mentally to their brains; the device translated what was said to them in English and sent the translation to their mind. To reply they only had to form each sentence in their mind and the correct words in English would be sent to them, again mentally. Their starship`s main computer soon had both the English language and the Aramaic language uploaded into its memory banks, for Magnus One had decided to use Aramaic so as to impress the members of the Church of the Second Coming, it being the language of the Messiah. Their new attire was soon ready, for they had the technology on board their specially fitted out vessel to make clothes to suit every occasion, and so he was now ready to speak to the Church of the Second Coming.

"Jeremiah Jones, this is Magnus One, we will be arriving in our shuttlecraft in one hour. However, when we do arrive it must be in secrecy, for the Chosen One was most insistent on secrecy until the time comes when we are ready to tell your world of his imminent arrival, only then can they know of his coming." Magnus One declared solemnly.

"We will be waiting for you; and fear not, we will have everything prepared for the arrival of your craft." Jones replied, his excitement having returned and it was still making speech very difficult for him.

"Goodbye for now Jeremiah Jones." Magnus One said turning off the radio.

Over the next hour the followers of the Church of the Second Coming were busy making room within their old barn of a warehouse, it was so that it could be used to garage the shuttlecraft, assuming that their warehouse was large enough. When they were finished, they waited alongside it, looking into the night sky for their first sighting of a craft from not only another world, but also one sent to them by the Messiah.

Half an hour after their last message, a small shuttlecraft left the starship and headed towards the Church of the Second Coming. The followers of the Church did not notice the thick fog drifting towards them, although it was a mile in diameter and completely hid the shuttlecraft. They only became aware of it as the shuttle craft approached the meadow, the craft finally hovering silently just feet above the meadow. The members of the Church were ecstatic on seeing the small craft shrouded in its veil of fog, for everything they believed would now be vindicated. Jeremiah Jones could just make out their guests through the forward windows of the shuttlecraft and he too was awed by the arrival of the Extra Terrestrials. Knowing the need for stealth, he pointed silently to the open doorway of the mostly empty warehouse and waved them forward. The shuttlecraft silently moved forward into the old building and here it finally came to a rest.

A door in the side of the craft opened with a quiet hiss and a figure appeared, in his hand he held above his head a foot long metallic tube, his Lampada, from which a red plume of smoke slowly curled upwards. The other Amaymons now appeared, they too held a Lampada from which a plume of red smoke slowly curled upwards giving off a smell that resembled Jasmine. The Amaymons were all dressed in a religious habit, a white tunic covered by a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves, and brown in colour. The hood covered their heads and the followers of the Church could not see much of the wearer`s features, however this did not stop Jeremiah Jones from rushing forward to greet their guests.

"My Lords, I am Jeremiah Jones and these people are the Elders of the Church, we, your devoted friends, welcome you to our Church."

The alien did not immediately reply for he and the other aliens were all chanting as they left the shuttlecraft, slowly they encircled the humans. Their chanting filling the minds of the people, dulling their senses, the plumes of smokes having joined together to form a small cloud that hovered over the heads of the humans until it slowly drifted down covering their heads and shoulders, and also the upper bodies of the taller people. The humans did not realise that their minds were partly under the control of the aliens, a control that stopped many of the questions that formed in the minds of the humans, but were never spoken. Only Jones seemed capable of independent thought, and his face suddenly filled with wonder, for he had recognised both the words of the chant and the language in which it was sung.

"My people, they are chanting in Aramaic, the language of the Messiah, they are truly his messengers." Jeremiah Jones exclaimed and fell to his knees before the aliens. "It is a chant composed by our lord Jesus Christ!" Jones exclaimed in awe.

His words seemed to break the spell that the rest of the followers were under, actually, the Amaymons had returned most of their mental faculties to them, and suitably impressed by what Jones had said they too fell to their knees before the aliens. However, the aliens still controlled part of the humans` mental faculties, for the aliens feared that they might be exposed as frauds if they were subjected to too many questions about the Messiah. It was now that Magnus One spoke.

"Followers of the Chosen One, I thank you for your greetings and I think it apt that we meet in a building much like a barn, for was it not in such a building that our Lord was born here on Earth." Magnus One said and then carried on before Jones could reply. "I am more than impressed that you recognised the Messiah`s own language, the one that he uses when he speaks daily to us."

"My knowledge of it is poor my Lord, but I will persevere now that you have come to us." Jones replied.

"Come my friends, get off your knees, such gestures should be kept for one man alone, the Chosen One, the Messiah, Jesus Christ." Magnus One said gently admonishing the followers of the Church who immediately got to their feet and moved closer to their guests.

"Do you require food, or something to drink perhaps?" Jones offered graciously.

"Thank you no; we have eaten, perhaps though you can show us to our sleeping quarters, for we are tired after our journey?" Magnus One asked.

The aliens were led to the cloister where they were given rooms, some formerly occupied by the Elders. Early the next morning the aliens awoke and they soon washed and dressed, and after breakfasting with Jones and the Elders, Magnus One spoke to Jeremiah Jones.

"I need for you to hire for us two large vehicles so that we may travel into the large city nearby, we saw it from space. Only when we are totally immersed within the city will we get some sense of the sort people who now rule over Earth, and of course their citizens, only in this way and after many such trips will we be able to fulfil the task given to us by the Chosen One."

"Of course Magnus One, I will immediately send two of the Elders of the Church to do this, we will be only too happy to be your guides." Jones replied graciously.

"No, we need to do this task alone, so that we are not swayed by your company, your ideas, but thank you Jeremiah for your kind offer." Magnus One replied graciously.

During the rest of the day Magnus One, when he was not talking to the followers of the Church, was on the internet researching the defences of Earth and in particular, those whose task it was to defend the people of the city, what he found made him smile for he saw them as archaic.

**********

That night the thirteen Amaymons boarded the two large MPV`s that the Church had hired and they then drove towards the bustling city of London, parking their vehicles on the road in front of the church of St Luke in the Fields. Magnus One had decided on using a church for their feast for this one night only, for it appealed to his warped sense of humour. He even wished that he could be there when their own unique donations were found the next morning, but he knew that he would have to be content with merely watching it on the news programs shown on the Church`s quaint television set.

Magnus One led one party of six Amaymons around the old streets of the ancient city of London, while Scientia led the remainder. It had been late by the time they had parked their vehicles, now only the serious revellers were left and when the rain began to fall they too began to leave for home.

The first targets the Amaymons came across were two young men who were staggering home along the wet London streets; they were heading for the late night tube at Liverpool Street station. There were plenty of CCTV cameras along their way, but as the two men approached Bishopsgate, all the cameras ahead of them recorded, was static, and it was here that they saw seven people who looked to them to be monks, and very tall ones at that, and each of them carried a small metallic tube resembling a lightsabre.

"Jim, those fellows up ahead, they look like something out of a horror movie." The younger of the two men said anxiously.

"What are you going on about Bob, they are probably in fancy dress, or maybe they work at a theme restaurant." Jim replied scoffing.

"Maybe Jim, but let`s cross the road anyway, OK?" Bob said for the closer they got to the monk-like figures the worse his feeling in the pit of his stomach became.

"You`re not scared of them, surely, they are just walking on stilts, they are not really that tall." Jim replied contemptuously, however he followed his friend across the road for there was something decidedly weird about the monks.

As the Amaymons drew nearer to the two young men they too crossed the road and they then began to chant, however the words sounded foreign to the two men. A plume of red smoke now began to rise from the tubes that were now held high above the heads of the monks, the smoke snaking lazily upwards before flattening out, almost as if it was a sentient being. The Amaymons slowly encircled the two men, blocking their way, even Jim was now a little anxious about their immediate future. However, he decided that a show of bravado was the best way out of what could turn out to be a nasty situation, so he edged forward towards Magnus One who was immediately in front of him.

"Look guys we`re cold and just a little wet, and if you are after money then you are out of luck, we blew what little we had on a couple of drinks, so how about you move out of our way and let us return home to our beds, OK?" Jim said with Bob moving up beside him in what he hoped was a show of strength while he tried to wave away the red smoke that had sunk down over the heads of himself and his friend.

However, the protests from the two men were ignored for the Amaymons continued to chant and when the two men looked into the red blazing eyes of Magnus One and the team`s third in command, Technic, Jim and Bob became automatons, zombies with no will of their own. Behind their eyes, they silently screamed out in pain, for this time the Amaymons mind control also allowed the two men to see the thoughts of the aliens, and horrifyingly they saw what the aliens had planned for them, but however much they tried, they could not break free from the mind that was now controlling them. Glazy eyed and fearful, and now fully under the control of the aliens, they meekly followed Magnus One and his six Amaymons along the dark wet streets of London. Magnus One was pleased with how things were unfolding on Earth, if it continued this way then this planet could become a new home world for his people, and one that would last far into the future.

As the early morning grew ever colder and wetter the two teams of Amaymons had accumulated seven people in this fashion, and as agreed, they met up at the church of St Luke in the Fields to feed upon their victims. Magnus One easily unlocked the doors of the church and entered first, with the victims and the other Amaymons following him inside the dark cavernous building. He then had his coven set up tall black candles around the centre of the church, and when lit they provided enough light to enable the aliens to be able to see by, but not enough to bring any unwelcome attention to them. The seven victims, five men and two women, were then lined up against the wall, and even though they were under the control of the aliens, this mind control did not stop their fear from reaching new heights within their hearts, especially when Bob saw their eyes looking directly at him, and he again noticed the colour, red. When he had been taken, the part of his mind that registered such things had not conveyed this information to his cognisant mind, now it did. He recalled various Draculas movies and his fear went through the roof, however next to him was a young woman and Bob could see that she too was scared, and even through the combination of mind control and fear he managed to speak.

"Stay close to me; I will make sure these goons do not hurt you." Bob promised although he knew that he would not be able to do as he had promised, for he had seen the end planned for them in the minds of their captors.

The woman turned to him and managed a weak smile, she knew that he could do nothing to help her, for she too had seen their end, but even so, his words did comfort her, a little.

It was now that seven of their captors took off their outer garments, for it was not thought proper to kill their sacrificial victims while clothed in anything but the lightest of garments, and the humans got their first glimpse of the aliens. What was revealed to them were seven tall gaunt people, four men and three women, all with pallid complexions and red eyes that glowed whenever they looked directly at one of their captives. These seven aliens now pulled out their Satan energy weapons, named after a powerful mythical figure from their planet`s distant past. Bob saw that they held what looked like Star Trek Phasers to him, and he almost freaked, for he realised then that his death was imminent, he just hoped that it would be painless. The others must have also reached this conclusion, for the fear of imminent death allowed them to break through the mind control, and the first, and only, thing to enter each of their minds was to escape their nightmare deaths. However, not one of them managed to out distance the powerful energy bolts that screamed through the air and tore into their bodies, lighting up the church for a moment before the dim light of the candles returned, for the aliens had anticipated their victims attempt at escape, they had even looked forward to it.

Magnus One then had the bodies of the humans strung up by their legs using specially anointed rope that they had brought with them, the ropes being tied to a long thick wooden beam that crossed from one wall to the other. Their victims` heads dangled six feet from the floor for easy access, and large sacrificial buckets, ones superbly decorated with sacrificial scenes, were put beneath the humans` heads. Under the central bucket, unnoticed by the humans when they had entered the church, was a pentagram which formed part of the church`s floor decoration. The Amaymons had noticed it though, for it was a holy design on their worlds, although few of them remembered the way that their distant ancestors had used it or the reason why.

Those humans who were not quite dead watched as the life slowly ebbed away from their fellow victims and cried for their own rapidly diminishing life-force. Magnus One now stripped off his own outer garment, and he went to each of the victims to check on their condition, those still alive cried out weakly as their personal angel of death pulled out his Satan energy weapon and used it on them, killing them this time. The time had come for the sacrificial part of the night's gruesome activities, and he now cut all of the seven humans` throats. All the while he called out to his gods, gods that very few of his people now believed in, however they all enjoyed the ritualistic part of this sort of meal and so they continued to practice them.

"Oh mighty ones who rule over the universe, please look favourably upon this gift, a gift comprising of these unbelievers` life-force, and that we dedicate to you." Magnus One cried out.

The blood from the humans dripped down into the buckets, quickly filling them as the aliens looked on in anticipation of drinking it. As the last drops of blood fell into the buckets Magnus One ordered the seven men to once again use their Satan energy weapons, this time to cut off the top of each victim`s skull and then to take out the brain. With this grisly task done the remainder of the Amaymons removed their hooded garments so that they were not soiled by their meal. The Amaymons now slowly walked around the line of bodies, chanting as they did, their words were thanking their victims for their blood and their brains, and once again, they each held above their heads their Lampada that looked so much like a lightsabre except that only a red plume of smoke came out of it.

From outside of the church the red glow coming from the Lampadas shone through the windows, luckily no one investigated it, for had they done so they would surely have been killed, citizen and constabulary alike.

It was only after the ceremony was completed that the Amaymons cleared the top of the altar and placed four pewter plates upon it, they had found these within the church itself. The plates were laden with the seven brains and it was now that the aliens dined on the brains of their victims, for even as advanced as they were they still clung to the barbaric idea that eating their victim`s brain would in some way increase the power of their own brain. It was not that they did not like the more normal forms of food; it was just that they liked to munch on a brain when they could find a supply of them. Finally, they washed their dinner down with the blood that they had collected in the large buckets, another idea left over from their own very dark ages, which still seemed to be with them, for to them blood was equated to life itself. Any blood remaining would be drunk over the new day, the Amaymons, their nights work done, now returned to the Church of the Second Coming and their beds.

The aliens planned to enjoy many more nights such as this one, they would always arrive in London late at night, and each time they would take seven victims, and drink their blood and eat their brains. During the day, the Amaymons would content themselves with the normal food supplied by the Church, and in this way, they would not slight their hosts, not yet anyway.

Chapter Two

Another Mission for Rob Hinds

It was a cold and windy December night, however Rob Hinds was feeling good, for he had just arrived home, and the first thing that he had done after kissing his wife was to look in on their twin babies, Julie and Gerry, and at the moment they were asleep in their cots. At this age, they needed a lot of looking after, luckily for Rob, his wife Christina bore the brunt of this work, with a little help from her sister Cassie. Rob had just walked into the kitchen when his mobile phone rang, it was Sally Chambers on the phone, she was the secretary of Sir Willoughby Brown, the man who led the Special Intelligence Service and she had a message for Rob.

"Rob, Sir Richard wants to see you here in the office at seven tomorrow morning, he asked if you can also arrange for your friend, David Pritchard, to come along as well." Sally Chambers informed the senior agent of the SIS.

Rob`s stomach now did flip flops, for Sir Richard to want his friend along meant only one thing, another black magic case, he hoped that Moira Bourbon had not reverted to her previous state, where she was the most powerful Satanist on or off the planet. Ms Chambers now interrupted his thoughts.

"He said to assure you that it has nothing to do with the Bourbon family, in fact it will probably prove to be a non-case as far as we are concerned. Rob, the Yard want you to look into the massacre at the church of St Luke in the Fields early this morning, they want you to find out if this is the work of a satanic cult or not." Sally Chambers said.

"Tell our lord and master that we will be there, goodnight Sally." Rob replied.

"Goodnight Rob, give the twins a kiss from me."

Rob now called his friend David Pritchard, up until a year ago, he had been a catholic priest, albeit one who was frowned upon by the Church, however his former Archbishop had been a friend and had always looked the other way when he had involved himself in cases involving demons and all things to do with the devil. Then David had met Rob Hinds and he had been thrust much deeper into the satanic world, one that included amongst other things travel to two hell dimensions. In fact David Pritchard had been involved in all of Rob`s black magic cases, which was just as well for Rob, because initially he knew next to nothing about Satanism, he had learned about it on the job. When David`s friend the Archbishop had died, he had been replaced by one not willing to overlook his apparent eagerness to go against the will of the Church, and just six months ago he had been told to leave the Church or face being officially defrocked. David Pritchard had bowed to their wishes and now worked full time for the SIS, as a consultant into all things to do with Satanism. Rob Hinds had been responsible for this, he had demanded of his superior, Sir Willoughby Brown, that as his friend was out of work because he had assisted them in stopping the most powerful Satanist ever from becoming even more so, that it was only right to employ him now that he was out of work. In any case, Rob argued, they should hire him to ensure that he was always on call should another satanic problem come their way, and now it had, and that evening Rob was in luck for his friend answered immediately.

"David, how are you?" Rob asked rather than dive right into his reason for calling.

"Fine thank you Rob, are the family well?" Dave replied while waiting for Rob to tell him why he was calling when they had seen each other just the day before, for David had stayed the weekend on one of his periodic visits to meet up with his favourite family.

"David, Sir Richard`s secretary has just called, he wants to see the two of us in his office at seven tomorrow morning. I can assure you that it is nothing to do with the Bourbons, it seems that the Yard want us to look into the massacre at the church of St Luke in the Fields, the Yard wants to know if it could be the work of a satanic cult." Rob said.

"I did wonder myself when I first heard about it Rob." David replied thankful that Rob had not become involved in another black magic case that could see both of their lives endangered and have them both whisked away to yet another hell dimension.

"David, do you know of any way to tell if a satanic mass has taken place in the church of St Luke's over the last couple of days?" Rob asked.

"Yes there is a way Rob, I came across it in one of the volumes we confiscated from the Bourbon library, after Ulysses Bourbon died. Luckily, I have all the necessary items that I need to conjure up the past for you; I will bring them along with me. Is it OK if I drive over to your apartment now, so I do not have to get up too early tomorrow morning to beat the traffic?" David asked as he lived in deepest West Sussex.

"You know that you are more than welcome David." Rob said.

"In that case I will be there in two hours, three at the most." David replied.

**********

Moira Bourbon was sitting in the small library of the convent that she was residing in now, she was reading a large leather bound book about the life of St Paul when she heard the faintest of whispers, and strangely enough, she could have sworn that the voice that she heard was her own.

"He killed our father Moira, Rob Hinds killed him."

Moira immediately stood up and searched the large room for the owner of the voice; angry at being the victim of such a wicked joke, however she found that the room was empty save for herself.

Lord Asbaritch had now commenced on his seduction of Moira away from the ways of the righteous and back towards the ways of Lucifer. He had spoken to her from the Dreamscape, known to some as the astral plane, a dimension that Lord Asbaritch used as his own personal larder. He would visit a dreamer and turn the individual`s dream into a nightmare, and the dark lord then fed off the emotions given off by the dreamer.

This time he had simply used the Dreamscape to literally fly to her and so was able to speak to her mind without the need to materialise in the room and thereby warn her of the presence of one of Lucifer`s dark lords.

"Moira, remember that your dark lord loves you and only you, he is so very sad and lonely now that you have forgotten him. However, you must keep his love a secret for now, but do not fret for later you can scream it from the rooftops." A soft tenor voice whispered from the very walls of the room where she sat.

She searched for the owner of this new and no less mysterious voice, a voice she decided she liked very much, but try as she may she could not find him. She should have been afraid, for a man in this part of the convent was forbidden, but she was not, in fact the knowledge that somebody from her past had feelings for her made her pulse quicken and her temperature rise. She wished that David Pritchard would tell her about her old life, however he had always said that it would be unwise for her to look into the past, however he would not say why.

*********

At exactly seven o`clock the next morning Rob and David entered the large office of Sir Willoughby Brown.

"Sit down both of you. David, good of you to join us. I have a new case for you both, one in which you will be working on with Inspector Humphreys." Sir Willoughby Brown said introducing the elderly detective who looked tired and rather annoyed, and who was slouched in a chair that was in front of the large mahogany desk behind which Sir Willoughby Brown sat.

After the usual greetings, Sir Willoughby Brown explained why he had sent for them.

"The case that Scotland Yard has asked our assistance on is the one involving the deaths of seven people near to the city of London. You must have heard all about it both on the television and the radio, the victims` corpses were left hanging from one of the beams in the church of St Luke in the Fields." Sir Willoughby Brown said grimly. "This morning's newspaper headlines have likened the city of London to a war scene featuring those murdering bastards the Daesh, and they have all demanded instant action. What I am going to tell you now was not mentioned on the news or in the newspapers, and it is not very pleasant." Sir Willoughby Brown said. "It is believed that they were killed with what can only be described as some sort of energy weapon. Then the top of their skulls was cut cleanly off with some sort of laser and their brains were removed, and finally their bodies were drained of blood. All seven victims died over one night, leading the inspector to believe that the murders were carried out by a cult." Sir Willoughby Brown said and once again indicated Inspector Humphreys.

"His view is similar to the ones voiced by his colleagues; one scenario thought out by Scotland Yard is that it might have been carried out by a Satanist cult, for some grotesque ceremony known only to them. This is why they asked for our help; well your help as you are the only men we have who have been involved with the real thing." Sir Willoughby Brown said.

"Sir Richard, surely this is the work of psychopaths, even Satanists are not that sick." Rob protested as his stomach did flip-flops again at the thought of being involved with more Satanists.

"I agree Rob, but the commissioner is very worried, so many horrific deaths with no leads means that if the newspapers got hold of the whole story, it could see questions being asked in the House and heads rolling." Sir Willoughby Brown argued. "The Yard is looking into all the other more mundane theories and they will keep us fully apprised, however after your success in battling real life and very powerful Satanists, the commissioner has asked for your personal assistance in this case, but only on the satanic angle."

Minutes later Rob led David and the detective back to the office he shared with the other agents of the SIS, and where they could talk at length about the case and any evidence that the murderers had left behind. The first thing that Humphreys showed them was the scene of crime photographs, which included the grisly pictures of the topless and very empty skulls. Rob looked at each of the grisly photographs but saw nothing that offered even a partial answer except the one that he had already given, namely that it was the work of a group of psychopaths. Rob started the discussion.

"Inspector Humphreys, you may have heard some weird stories about me and David, and how we are both loopy, well at times we both wished that that was in fact true, but it is not. However, for the sake of those who believe that we are loopy let us get the usual Hollywood villains out of the way. First up is the vampire, now if the perpetrator was found to be some sort of an actual vampire why have we not come across it until now, and in any case Vampires do not cut the top of their victim`s skull off. No, it is much more likely that the sick bastards behind it are a bunch of psychopathic killers, and it could be that they want to make out that this terrible crime has been committed by a vampire." Rob said. "As for the empty brain cases, some aboriginal people had been known to eat their enemies' brains, but if some lost Amazonian tribesmen are behind it then why have they suddenly appeared in London? That just leaves our friendly neighbourhood Satanist, the one your chief has asked us to look for, and in the time that I have spent chasing such people I have never heard of them committing such large scale barbarity, what about you David, you have been fighting them for much longer than I have?"

"No, Rob, this is something far removed from your usual devil worship." David replied grimly. "They go in for the odd virgin sacrifice but nothing like this."

Inspector Humphreys was surprised to hear Rob and David talk this way, he had expected the two men before him to twitter on about vampires and black masses, not to poo-hoo the very idea.

"I agree Mr Hinds, Mr Pritchard." Humphreys began as he tried to get his mind away from Dracula. "Unfortunately we have not found a single witness to any of the seven murders, and as yet we have not found anybody who even saw the back of a group of men acting strangely, or seen any large low flying bats come to that." Humphreys complained and adding the last as a way of breaking the ice with the SIS agents. "Even the CCTV cameras came up empty handed, and that should have been impossible unless all of the murderers live very local to the murder scene or found their way down into the sewers, and without passing a single camera. In fact Mr Hinds that is not quite true, a number of the cameras did record something, static, but only for a short time, however not one camera recorded the static at the same time, which might give us one lead, of a sort. The static only affected each camera for the time it took for a small group of men to walk past it; my colleagues are following this static trail to see if it will lead us to our madmen. In my opinion this one fact, regarding the cameras that is, it proves that the men behind these sick killings have money and very up to date technology, to be able to mess with the CCTV cameras in such a way is beyond the normal Sicko. More of my colleagues will be out tonight talking to any late night revellers to ask them if they saw anything unusual early yesterday morning. A request for help is also being broadcast on the main television channels." Humphreys said.

For a moment Moira Bourbon came into the minds of Rob and David, for they knew that when she had been a powerful Satanist, she could easily have managed to make the cameras eat static, however they both quickly pushed such thoughts away, the thought that Moira could be back was too scary for words. Instead, Rob spoke of things that were more mundane.

"I would be surprised if you find that the men behind these grisly killings actually do live nearby, no; as you say it is much more likely that the killers were able to get their hands on some hi-tech equipment to temporarily take out the cameras. I take it Inspector that the Yard have now moved men into the surrounding areas to ensure that another seven murders do not happen over one night?" Rob asked.

"Yes, but not over the whole of London, we do not have the manpower or the money to pay for the overtime to cover such a large area, or for any extended length of time." Humphreys replied defensively. "We need to come up with something, anything, and soon, or it might just happen again, and with it the chance that the full facts are leaked onto the internet, that would cause panic and shut done London and the nearby towns during the hours of darkness."

"What did you do to draw the short straw then Inspector?" Rob asked Humphreys, "Being sent here to spook central?"

Humphreys smiled. "I am what they think of as a dinosaur; they sent me here to get me out of the way while they dash round in ever decreasing circles in their hunt for whichever poor deprived souls committed these terrible crimes. After they are caught, the psychiatrists will find reasonable excuses as to why they committed such a crime and advise that they should be treated sympathetically. The bastards will live out the remainder of their lives in the lap of luxury, with Sundays off so that their human rights are not infringed in any way." Humphreys replied bitterly. "Sorry about that but of late I have begun to wonder if it is worth staying in the job. Oh! And I am Joe to my few friends who still acknowledge that fact." Humphreys finished with a weak smile.

"Well Joe, I am Rob and this is David, and to seal our new friendship why don`t you take us on a tour of the crime scene, maybe something will inspire us?" Rob said and smiled at the detective, who seeing someone who he thought he could relate to, smiled back.

**********

They arrived at the crime scene a little after 9 o`clock that morning, the city was now fully awake and was beginning to fill with a myriad of people hurrying to work, beginning their shopping trip or sightseeing. The first thing that Rob noticed on entering the church was a priest, for this was his church, with him were his bishop and three other men of the church. They were standing at the rear of the church, and each of them looked very pale and they looked to be in various stages of shock. For never could any of them have imagined in their most terrible of nightmares that their church would be used so blasphemously and in such a violent way.

The next thing that Rob noticed were the bloodstains on the floor, he immediately noted that there was not that much blood for seven people, but then unknown to him most of the blood had either been drunk by the aliens or taken away for use later. Rob knew they were lucky to arrive here after the crime scene had been partially sanitised, after the removal of the seven bodies and the remains of the horrific meal, and the smell of blood had mostly been vented into the atmosphere through the open doors of the church.

They were also lucky to meet one of the scientists, who was part of the forensics' team, just inside the doors, and he went through all that they had found up until that morning, which was precious little.

"The rope used to hang the poor sods is not your usual stuff, although it is made of a manmade fibre, unfortunately we have not decided which one as yet. This means of course that we have not attempted to track down the manufacturer or supplier. One thing that I can tell you about it though, it is very strong and very thin. There is an abundance of shoe prints of various types and sizes, however we narrowed it down to one type, an assortment of prints found on the many small patches of dried blood, we might be able to come up with some sort of a lead there, in time. They were killed here, that we know, but the lack of blood means that the killers must have used some kind of receptacle to collect the blood, maybe to make us think that this was the work of some want-to-be vampires, but whatever the reason the Yard are checking up on that particular lead. The receptacles they used to collect the blood did leave their own marks, one under each victim, but apart from the width of the base of the receptacle they offer us no leads to follow. Finally there are thousands of finger prints which means it will be some time before they will be of any help to us." Alan Powers said, who was the scientist leading the forensics' team.

"What about the pentagram itself, did you find anything on it to show whether the murders might have been part of a ritual of any kind?" Rob asked pointing to the design under the rafter used to hang the bodies.

"You think that they could have been satanic murders, well we did search the area thoroughly, however we found nothing to point towards such a thing, except that the central receptacle was set on it." The forensics' man replied.

Rob now turned to Humphreys. "Joe, the pentagram is directly beneath the murder scene, this fact increases the chances of it being a satanic killing, however having said that I still think that the Yard will find that the killers are some sort of sick bunch of psychos."

Rob noticed the five men of the church leaving, so he spoke again to the detective. "Joe, David might be able to answer the question the Yard asked of us, and very quickly, namely were Satanists behind the atrocity committed here."

Humphreys turned to David. "And just how are you going to do that David, hold a séance?" Humphreys asked facetiously.

"Not quite Joe, although I am no longer a catholic priest I still would not do such a thing." David replied sternly although he then smiled to show that he did not take the question seriously.

"If it means that we can draw a line under this nonsense David, then please do whatever you like inside of the church and I will OK it." Humphreys replied.

"Joe, can you clear the area around the murder scene of people, just for ten minutes while I try my experiment?"

"Yes I think that will be all right, they have just about finished anyway, but this thing that you are about to try, it will not destroy any of the evidence that they have found here, not that they found that much." Humphreys replied.

"No, nothing like that, probably nothing will happen anyway." David replied while strangely hoping that he was correct in this.

David took a glass bowl out of the holdall that he was carrying, the bowl had a lid pressed on to it to prevent the potion that was within it from spilling out, he put the glass bowl in the centre of the pentagram.

He then handed a sheet of paper to Rob. "Rob when Joe light`s the potion, we must recite this spell?"

When Humphreys heard the word spell mentioned, he did not know if he should laugh loudly or get very worried. In the end, he chose to wait and see.

"David, you want me to light the stuff in the bowl?" Humphreys asked just a little anxiously.

"That`s right Joe, but do not worry, it does not explode, it will just give off a little light smoke." David said reassuringly.

Humphreys walked hesitantly into the centre of the pentagram and bending over he struck a match and lit the potion, which as David had said began to emit a narrow plume of white smoke, however Humphreys hastily backed up, just in case.

Rob and David were on their knees when Humphreys turned to look back at them, and they were both reciting the spell. Humphreys looked on just a little shocked by this, he seriously wished that he had chosen to act rather than to wait. However, he had not expected the two SIS agents to get involved in such tomfoolery, even after all he had heard at the SIS offices, as for the forensic team they were openly laughing at Rob and David.

"We, champions of the right hand path, call upon the angels upon high to show to us any black rites that have been conducted over the last two day within the walls of this holy place. I beseech you to aid us so that we may stop those who follow the path of evil from using this holy church again for such blasphemous rites." Rob and David said together.

Their voices rang out across the church, and even those who had not noticed Inspector Humphreys` actions looked up surprised, and a little annoyed, that someone was using the church for such rubbish, especially after the terrible murders. Rob now pulled out his iPhone and began to video the scene before him.

The white plume of smoke rose almost up to the ceiling and then began to fill the area in and around the pentagram; everyone within the church had moved forward to see what was happening, and to take Rob and David to task for doing this within a church where seven people had been viciously killed. As the smoke began to thin out seven figures could be clearly seen hanging by their feet from the wooden cross beam, and at least three members of the forensics' team gasped in fear mixed with a little dread at what they might see next. Thirteen figures were clearly seen walking around the hanging figures, each of them holding a smoking metallic tube above their heads, the red plumes of smoke showing clearly through the white, their chant coming through time to scare many of those standing within the church, and with the smell of Jasmine accompanying it. It was now that David, himself feeling fearful at what he was watching, strode forward and cried out.

"Reveal the faces of those who have done so terrible an act."

The smoke cleared and the Amaymons were clearly seen, tall thin figures with gaunt pallid faces, and dressed in just a white tunic. As they turned their heads to look on the interlopers, those within the church saw that the faces of the figures were filled with anger, anger at being discovered. However, the most terrible thing about them was their red blazing eyes, eyes that were staring straight into the eyes of those closest to the pentagon. Rob began to feel the power within these blazing eyes and it scared him, he decided to end this fantastic vision that he and his friend had initiated, and immediately, for it reminded him of the power used to great effect by the powerful Satanist Moira Bourbon. Thrusting his iPhone into the hands of Inspector Humphreys he strode into the pentagram and picking up the bowl threw it at the far wall, the bowl smashing to pieces and the vision of the past disappeared from the church as a long drawn out howl of anger rang round the church, a howl that had come from Magnus One.

No one was laughing now, some broke down in tears, others were exhausted by the power of the Amaymons, even though it had crossed time to affect them, and only for the briefest periods of time at that. Inspector Humphreys finally closed his gaping mouth to turn on the two agents in anger.

"What the hell did you just do, look at the people around us, they are either terrified, exhausted, or both, and you promised me that nothing would happen to the crime scene." He snarled.

"I am sorry Inspector, I never expected this to happen, like you I too felt it was a group of psychopathic killers." Rob said. "However, I think that you will find that the crime scene is intact Joe, but who or whatever we just saw were very real, look, we have a video of them on my iPhone." Rob said taking his phone back.

Rob too had been affected by what he had seen, and terrible as it had been he knew that the effect had been lessened by coming across time through the thin veil of white smoke. Thankfully, the bloody scene they had viewed had occurred in the poor light given off given off by the black candles, ones that had been visible through the veil of smoke, so the terrible image had been muted somewhat. To be present back then must have been worse than even Hollywood could have portrayed, with the jagged slit around the victims` throats and the mutilation to their heads.

He now replayed the recording he had made, and on the iPhone the figures and sounds of the terrible scene were no less real, and Inspector Humphreys and some of the forensic team, those not too badly affected by what they had seen, watched in horror as they saw the Amaymons glaring angrily at them. In fact, Rob had to stop the playback as he could feel the malevolence behind those glowing red eyes even through the iPhone.

One of the forensic team, John Rivers, strode forward angrily. "It is all a trick, the smoke was their screen for a hologrammatic show." He snarled angrily.

"John that was no show, the evil and power behind those red blazing eyes were real, you felt it too, I saw your reaction." Alan Powers said contradicting his man.

Powers then turned on Rob. "Just who the hell are you and your friend, you certainly are not from the Yard."

"They are from the SIS, they are experts in the paranormal, the Yard called them in, however no one really expected them to come up with anything, themselves included." Humphreys said stepping in front of Powers. "What we all saw here must stay within these four walls, what these two men have recorded must first be analysed by our people. I, personally, have no idea what just happened, or what it proves as far as this case is concerned, but my god I believe that it proves that evil really exists as a malevolent force, and one that we here have all now felt, and been affected by. I for one am seriously contemplating changing my lifestyle." Humphreys said in a tone that told those around him how serious he was.

It was now that Humphreys received a phone call, his face drained of its entire remaining colour as he attempted to take in what was being said to him over the phone. When the caller had finished he turned to Rob.

"They have found another seven bodies, they believe they were killed early this morning, this time the bodies were strung up in a deserted warehouse in North London, it is why they have only just been found, some kids found them while playing war games." Humphreys said grimly. "We have been asked to go there and join the investigating team."

Humphreys now walked briskly from the church with Rob and David following behind him and they drove over in silence to the new crime scene.

**********

Magnus One had been stunned when he had been transported back into the church of St Luke's, and not only were his victims of the previous night still hanging there, but within the church were a dozen very live humans, and all of them were staring in revulsion at the scene before them. It took him only a moment to realise that he and his team were not in fact there, they had not gone back in time, he was having some sort of a vision. Someone amongst the humans had done this, but how? In seconds he had identified three people who could be responsible for it, a tall young man and two slightly older and shorter men. His eyes bored into those of the tall human, his mind delving inside the human`s mind. He was just on the point of identifying Rob when Rob smashed the glass bowl and the vision dissolved in front of him, once again he was back within the Church of the Second Coming.

He knew immediately that this could change things radically for his nation, if there were more humans who could see into the past then his nation could only ever be tourists on this planet, he would have to find these three men and take them prisoner, and then interrogate them to find out who amongst them had done this thing. He learned the answer to part of this far sooner than he expected, from Linguia, who had been connected to the mind of Humphreys, and he had learned quite a lot. That he was a police inspector working for Scotland Yard, a major human law enforcement force; he had also learned that the other two men were agents of the Special Intelligence Services. However, when he had delved further into the mind of Humphreys he had also learned that it was the other two men who had made the connection across time possible. When he informed Magnus One of all that he had taken from Humphreys` mind he was congratulated on his success and ordered to learn all that he could about the two human law enforcement forces.

**********

When they got to the warehouse in North London, Humphreys stopped just outside the building and after getting out of his vehicle, he waited for Rob to join him.

"Rob, how on Earth do we give the senior investigating officer your evidence without him kicking us out of here and me out of the force?" Humphreys asked.

It was now that some of the forensics team who had been at the church of St Luke's arrived, and they gave the three men a wide berth, out of fear of what they seemed to be, practitioners of the black arts, and what they could apparently do. Powers on entering the disused warehouse immediately sought out the investigating officer in charge of the case, Chief Superintendent Mark Reynolds, and he told him all that they had just witnessed at the church.

"Dr Powers, are you honestly asking me to take you seriously, at best it was some sort of a magician`s illusion. Please get on with what you are here for, serious police work, and I will get on with mine." Reynolds said angrily.

When the three men entered the warehouse the first thing that Rob noticed was the smell of blood, it was so strong that it attacked his senses; he could almost taste the blood. He then saw the four men and three women strung up exactly like those at St Luke's had been, their blood drained and their heads mutilated, and beneath their hanging bodies was a freshly painted pentagram. He stopped walking, he just wanted to run from the building, away from the horrific scene before him, however he knew that secret agents were not allowed this luxury, they had to stay and work. He would have to live with what he saw and smelt, force it into a separate compartment and not allow these experiences to affect the way he reacted when amongst his young family.

Rob forced himself to look again at the crime scene, at the pentagram beneath the bodies, he immediately noticed that just as the scene at St Luke`s there were no signs to show that the pentagram had been charged. This simple fact told Rob and David that they had not been murdered by Satanists, a group of people even more foul than Satanists had killed these innocent people. It was now that Chief Superintendent Reynolds made his presence known.

"What are you trying to do to my investigation Mr Hinds; you are here on sufferance as the commissioner personally requested your help in this terrible matter. However, if you try any more stunts like the one you staged in St Luke's, then I will have you charged with wilfully destroying evidence and attempting to pervert the course of justice, do I make myself clear?"

Rob was still reacting to what he had seen earlier that day and what was still on view here at the warehouse, and he was ready to explode, especially when an insufferable bore forced his way into his face.

"Chief Superintendent, I will not take umbrage for your insulting behaviour, however I will demand an apology when you come crawling to us for our help, now please leave us alone to continue on with the only lead likely to come up with a result." Rob said scathingly. Only just able to contain his anger after what he had seen, he turned away from the fuming police officer and spoke to his friend.

"David, do you feel anything here?" Rob asked. His anger at the rudeness of the senior policeman and his revulsion of what he was seeing before him apparent in both his face and his voice.

Reynolds saw that Rob could easily explode violently if he said another word, and this sent a shot of fear straight to his heart. To be fair to Reynolds, he too had felt sick when he had seen the dead people yesterday at St Luke`s, but this did not excuse the way he had gone for Rob. Reynolds turned hastily away and walked off towards his junior officers. Reynolds too was almost ready to explode, but his anger was generated from the way that Rob had treated him, his face turning purple with rage he looked for someone nearby upon whom he could vent his anger.

David resisted the urge to shake his friend`s hand for standing up to the bully, instead he closed his eyes to feel for any latent satanic evidence.

"No, Rob just as at St Luke's there is no mental sign that Satanists were behind this massacre, however Rob, if you look at the pentagram you will notice that this one is inverted, and it too has not been charged." David said quizzically.

An inverted pentagram is similar to a regular one except that two of the points project upwards instead of one for a regular pentagram; it is also exclusively used by Satanists and others of that ilk. David pondered this conundrum for just a moment before putting it to the back of his mind for at a more convenient time.

"Even so Rob, there is no doubt in my mind that our sick villains are the very same monsters we saw in our show at St Luke's, they just did not have a ready painted pentagram to use here in the warehouse, so they had to construct one." David replied after making a second mental search of the area for any satanic residue, and once again not coming up with anything.

David had become attuned to the residue left behind by Satanic ceremonies, it had helped him more than once during the time that he had stubbornly gone against the Catholic Church`s wishes to help those he knew to be in danger from evil.

"If you two gentlemen want to stage another of your little shows then we will all have to wait until the early morning, when the circus has returned to the Yard or their beds. There is no way that the chief super will allow you to put on your show while he is here, even the commissioner would not blame him, not without first witnessing your act; the video on your iPhone would be put down to a clever piece of special effects." Humphreys said in a low voice that would not carry beyond its intended recipients.

"Agreed." Rob replied. "What time do you suggest Joe?"

"There will always be a police guard on the place, until the case is completed that is, but I should be able to get the constable to agree to your putting on your show, as long as his part in the proceedings remains our secret." Humphreys replied. "Let us say five o`clock tomorrow morning, our people will be too busy for you to try before then. I just hope that those sick bastards take a night off; fourteen such murders are more than enough. Tell me Rob, David, can either of you explain exactly what happened in St Luke's, that is to say just how did your stage act work?" Humphreys asked.

"Not the mechanics Joe, we are just interested amateurs; however I did hope that someone on our side, an angel or whatever, would be looking down upon St Luke's after the way it was used, and from the result we got I must have been right. The spell itself is one that I found in a book once owned by a real Satanist, one thankfully no more. Of course using what we do not fully understand is dangerous, but I thought that in this case the benefits would outweigh any possible dangers, and I was correct, don`t you agree Joe?" David replied.

"I do up to a point David, however I am not so sure that the dangers are so small, those red staring eyes blazed hatred when they saw the two of you. There is even a chance that the leader of our madmen realises that you are on to him, if so he might just try to kill you?" Humphreys asked anxiously.

"You may be right Joe." Rob replied. "It is a danger we have had to face before when dealing with very powerful Satanists. Initially I put this down to a group of very sick individuals, however after having those blazing red eyes searching deep into my soul I need time to think, to go over all that we know about them. Maybe you should keep your distance Joe, in two previous cases we lost friends to the dark unseen forces that wait in the night for those unfortunate enough to be noticed."

Joe looked hard at Rob, to see if he was making fun of him, but when he saw that Rob was serious his blood ran cold.

"Rob you and David here, and your boss, you talked about Satanists this morning, but just so there is no misunderstanding, you are saying that real Satanists do exist. That is ones who follow Satan, rather than people who just play at it, who dance around a bonfire and are just after kinky sex, that there is a hell complete with demons and the devil?" Humphreys asked incredulously.

Rob and David looked at one another and as one they replied. "Oh yes Joe."

"It is all very true Joe, we know for we have been there, got the tee shirt and seen Lucifer himself, and we were both lucky to get away with our lives and souls still intact." David added.

Joe looked at the two agents expecting to see their faces smiling at him, hear them break into laughter, but he saw that they were being serious. Since being teamed up with the two SIS agents he had seen so much and learned a great deal more, much of which he wished he had never learnt because he was sure that he would suffer from the worst ever nightmares for weeks, if not months, into the future. Before pushing these thoughts aside he wondered just who he had pissed off so much, to put him on this case, however he knew that anyone above his rank would have to be included on the list.

Chapter Three

Plans are made

It was just after three in the afternoon and Rob, David and Inspector Humphreys were sitting in the offices of the SIS, Sir Willoughby Brown had called them in to speak to them.

"I have had an angry phone call from Chief Superintendent Reynolds, he has accused you Rob of attempting to pervert the course of justice, you had better have a good reason for doing so or else you will be facing a very long suspension, or worse."

Rob knew that he should have anticipated such a call, his one failing, not suffering powerful fools gladly, had been the cause of this interview, but he did not feel anger towards his superior, he knew that Sir Willoughby Brown had to ask him if the complaint held water.

"I could have called the man an idiot to his face Sir Richard, however I confess that it would have been a little unfair to him, seeing as how he has not faced up to Satanists, demons and Lucifer himself. However, he is certainly not the man to run this investigation; he mind is far too closed. I will not say anything more about the subject Sir Richard until you have watched the video that we took at St Luke's, and which prompted the complaint. I am sure that everything will then become clear to you, after that I will gladly answer any questions so as to fully clear up the matter." Rob replied evenly and without resorting to insults, David was very proud of him.

"This video Rob, I assume that it shows everything that angered Reynolds so much?"

"Yes, Sir Richard, everything." Rob replied. "Although he never asked to watch it, he just assumed that we are attention seeking jokes."

"OK then Rob, let`s see what you and David came up with, and it had better be good." Sir Willoughby Brown said and feeling sure that it was just that.

Rob had transferred the video onto his computer, as the small screen on his iPhone would not have done the subject justice, and he now played it back. As Sir Willoughby Brown watched the video, Inspector Humphreys spoke on behalf of Rob and David.

"Sir Richard, I saw this video taken, it is not a fake, I saw no hologrammatic projector and in any case neither Rob nor David had the opportunity to set one up, they have both been with me ever since we were introduced. Also, with the forensic team working at the church no one else would have had the opportunity to do so." Humphreys began. "Sir Richard the seven people that you see hanging there, that is exactly how I saw them before they were taken down, their bodies were actually in the mortuary when this video was taken. Now if you will look at the thirteen people who are looking at us, especially the one in the centre, even on the video you can feel the power behind their red blazing eyes. I might add that had you been at St Luke's this afternoon you would know just how awesome that mental power actually was, and no projector of any sort can do that. It has been further suppressed by transferring it on to the computer, for we were even affected when we watched it replayed on the iPhone, in fact Rob was forced to turn it off."

The video got a little jumpy now as Humphreys continued with his narration. "If Rob had not run forward here and smashed the glass bowl which held the potion, and which ended the spell, I fully believe that these beings could have made me do anything. I personally felt someone delving into my mind; I could feel the control of my mind slipping away from me, Sir Richard it was an extremely scary experience. I call them people, Sir Richard however I am positive that there was nothing human about them, Extra Terrestrials maybe but not human."

Sir Willoughby Brown turned to Rob.

"Rob, play the video on your iPhone, let`s see if it affects me, or whether it was just your location that magnified the effects of what you witnessed from across time." He asked.

"Of course Sir Richard." Rob replied.

He then searched through his iPhone for the video, and when he found it, he played it back. After the video had finished Sir Willoughby Brown knew that Humphreys had been correct, for even though it was but a recorded video, something of the power used by the aliens had still given him a headache, although he had not felt anyone attempting to take control of his mind. However, it was the real thing that had affected Humphreys, not the recording that had only given him a headache.

"I see what you mean Inspector, and I imagine the real thing must have been far worse?" Sir Willoughby Brown said.

"It certainly was Sir Richard." Humphreys replied.

Sir Willoughby Brown was quiet for a moment while he took it all in, and it was now that a thought occurred to Sir Willoughby Brown.

"Inspector, you said that these 'Extra Terrestrials' were actually taking control of your mind, that they were only stopped by Rob smashing the glass bowl with the potion in?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked wanting this verified before he continued.

"That is correct Sir Richard, I felt an alien presence, alien as in not my own thoughts but something terrifying in the extreme, I then felt my own control of my mind slipping away, and I was truly afraid that my end had come." Humphreys replied grimly.

"Then these 'aliens, or Extra Terrestrials as you term them' knew you were looking in on their past actions and they were attempting to take control of your minds across time, something truly awesome, and had Rob not acted so promptly they would have read everything in your mind and maybe the others too?"

"Yes Sir Richard that is exactly how it was, in fact I cannot say categorically that they did not read parts of my mind." Humphreys replied feeling more than a little exhausted by his strange day.

"Thank you Inspector, Extra Terrestrials you say, you may well be correct, what do you think Rob?"

"It is a possibility, but then at the moment anything is, we just need more information than we have Sir Richard, before we can make a more informed judgement." Rob replied before continuing.

"Although it might explain one of the things that I do not understand Sir Richard, the power that we all felt, a power that seemed to come from their eyes. It could be that these aliens are telepathic and one that are able to use this power to get inside the minds of non-telepathic beings. It was the one thing that made me think of Satanism, especially as there was a pentagram under the bodies at St Luke`s, it being part of the church`s floor design, and there was an inverted one painted by the monsters directly under the bodies at the warehouse. However, David felt for a satanic signature at both crime scenes without finding even the merest hint of one." Rob replied.

David now spoke to Sir Willoughby Brown.

"Had it been a normal satanic sacrifice then I am sure that I would have felt something Sir Richard, as it was there was only the sort of atmosphere that all such psychotic crime scenes generate, which of course is one of unleashed evil." David said.

"Surely that is exactly the sort of atmosphere that Satanists leave behind them?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked quizzically. "And there were thirteen of them walking around their victims, and that means a coven in my book."

"You are correct up to a point Sir Richard, but it is different here, the Satanist in command of the coven also leaves a personal mark on the proceedings. At both of these two murder scenes I only felt an animal like hunger, no I believe that here we have come across an entirely different type of evil, an alien one from another world maybe, as Inspector Humphreys suggested, but one with ritualistic overtones." David explained before continuing.

"One other point Sir Richard, if Satanists had been involved then they would have charged both of the pentagrams, as we have done ourselves in the past when needing their protection against the forces of evil. As they went to the bother of constructing a pentagram but did not charge it, this tells us that they are not Satanists." David replied.

A charged pentagram is a five-pointed star drawn upon the floor and enclosed by a circle; the circle is then covered by blessed salt. The next part of the procedure is to draw the correct mystical signs at the apexes of the star, the signs at each of the points denote the five elements, four are of matter, and they are fire, air, water and earth, the fifth element is not of matter it is of spirit. To finish charging the pentagram five white candles are set at the apexes of the star and are then set alight, and finally five goblets are set in the valleys of the star and are filled with holy water. Satanists of course use an inverted pentagram and when they charge it, they use blood instead of salt to encircle the pentagram, wine in lieu of holy water for the chalices and black candles in lieu of white ones.

"There certainly wasn`t any sign that they had ever charged the pentagrams, there wasn`t even candle wax on the floor, and they would hardly have cleaned that away, not after the crimes that they had just committed, the blood stained floor and the remains of their gruesome meal." Rob added.

"One explanation is that it was a group of psychotic murderers, with satanic leanings?" Sir Willoughby Brown suggested looking for something easier to come to terms with and one that his superiors could more easily understand. "Rather than aliens from beyond this world?"

"I have been thinking about that Sir Richard, and I agree that it could be a group of people, a cult, but it would have to be led by some very dangerous and psychologically disturbed individuals, ones who control everything the others think and do." Rob replied. "However, that still does not explain the power that we all felt, that means Satanists or something beyond our present understanding, telepathic aliens seem the best bet."

"Hmm, yes we keep coming back to the power that everyone felt from across time, the more you tell me Rob, the less I seem to understand it." Sir Willoughby Brown said before turning to David.

"Tell me David, just how did you make the shooting of this video possible; was it more of the Bourbon satanic magic?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked knowingly.

"Yes it was Sir Richard, it was amongst the section that allowed us to set up that simple protection spell that saved all our lives, yours included Sir Richard, when Moira Bourbon sat in the reception area of these very office waiting to kill or enslave us."

Inspector Humphreys was agog as he listened to this easy conversation regarding Satanists and black magic, yesterday he would have openly laughed at them, but after this afternoon`s show all he felt was a burgeoning fear as he listened to Sir Willoughby Brown speak again.

"What I have seen makes me a believer, but as you say Rob, Reynolds is not the sort of man to believe that your little bit of magic is actually possible. Let us leave him to conduct his investigation, to patrol London in an attempt to prevent any further atrocities; he has the manpower, which our small department does not. I will speak to the commissioner and bring him right up to date; I will suggest that you three are left alone to conduct what could well be the main investigation, free to use your magician's tricks without any obstructions from Reynolds. When are planning to try your bag of tricks at the warehouse Rob, I will need to inform the commissioner beforehand if we are to prevent Reynolds from intervening?"

"We thought tomorrow morning at 5 o`clock Sir Richard, there will be fewer people about to complain at that time." Rob replied and then went on to offer up a plan that had just occurred to him.

"These, well let`s call them aliens for want of a better title, I believe they may attempt to capture one or all three of us when and if we attempt to use our little parlour trick again." Rob mused. "If they do so then we could make use of their attempt to snare one of us, the Yard could have a score of marksmen concealed within the warehouse ready to take them all down the moment they show."

Sir Willoughby Brown made to interrupt Rob here but Rob waved him down.

"No hear me out Sir Richard before you attempt to shoot me down in flames." He began. "It seems to me that their mind control must be similar to the one that Moira Bourbon used so well, so why should the protection spell that we used against her, not work equally well against these Extra Terrestrials?"

"The fact is Rob, there are thirteen of these 'aliens' and we must assume that they all possess some of this mental power that you have already run up against. However, there was only one Moira Bourbon; it could mean that when they attempt to use their mind control that they will be able to tear right through your protection spell." Sir Willoughby Brown argued.

"You are correct up to a point Sir Richard, however she was an extremely powerful Satanist, and we really do need to find out who they are and just what is their agenda." David argued in turn.

"If you are both wrong we could see a massacre happening in and around that warehouse, if the 'aliens' are able use their mind control against the marksmen." Sir Willoughby Brown replied anxiously.

"Well we cannot go up against our villains without them, although they could not immediately gain control of our minds they would simply walk into the warehouse and overpower us, then any of us that survived their initial attack would be taken away and made to answer any questions that they care to put to us. Within a very short period of time they will have acquired all that we know about Satanism, if they are able to make use of it, and if there is a planet full of telepathic beings just waiting to be called, then we would have made them invincible." Rob argued convincingly.

His argument had the effect of scaring Sir Willoughby Brown; he now had to decide whether he could dare to use his two agents against their new enemy, for to do so could make matters much worse. However, he was a believer in attack being the best form of defence, and to roll over would only give this new vicious enemy permission to do as they like with the people of England, maybe even the world.

"Therefore what you are saying is that we wager everything on the protection spell or we do nothing, that is to say we surrender?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked.

"Moira Bourbon was at her most powerful when she sat waiting for us to leave the protection offered by the spell, the demon part of her could not go up against it, so I say go for it, the alternative could leave us bitterly regretting our caution if we decide to wait and see." Rob argued. "Remember Sir Richard, it is only the 'aliens' mind control that we are talking about here, not their physical presence, from within the safety of the protection spell our marksmen can take them down before the aliens become aware of their existence."

"Why oh why Rob are all of your cases so damnably dangerous." Sir Willoughby Brown lamented before coming to a decision.

"OK then we will go ahead with your plan, as you say we need to find out who we are up against, we will be putting so many lives at risk but this time I feel that we have no choice, I just hope that we are not signing the death warrants of twenty SCO19 officers." Sir Willoughby Brown decided, SCO19 being the Yards special armed squad of police officers.

"What about you Inspector, are you OK with it, it is the lives of your people that we are talking about?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked pointedly.

"I decidedly do not like it Sir Richard, however as you yourself pointed out, what choice have these 'Things' given us, so yes, I think that we should go for it." Humphreys replied grimly.

"I will send the recording to the language experts, to see if they can interpret the words chanted in your recording Rob, you never know they might be able to find something." Sir Willoughby Brown said more in hope than belief, for they would have precious few words on which to work with and such a little time given to them to succeed.

"OK leave a copy of the recording with me, I will need it to show the commissioner, in the meantime I want you three men to go over Rob`s plan, we cannot afford any slip ups, too many lives will be at risk." Sir Willoughby Brown said dismissing them as he picked up his phone to speak with the commissioner of police, he needed to arrange an urgent meeting with the Yard to update them and get their agreement to Rob`s audacious but dangerous plan.

Those present at the meeting at the Yard, initially, were Sir Willoughby Brown and the metropolitan commissioner of police, Sir James Hardwick, who had only held the position for the last month. Sir Willoughby Brown expected that the initial part of the meeting between them would be cordial, for they were old friends, and Hardwick had known about the strange cases conducted by the SIS, having been a senior police officer on secondment to the Home Office as an adviser to the Home Secretary before taking on his present position. Sir Willoughby Brown began the discussion.

"James, my team has ascertained that the murders at St Luke`s have nothing to do with Satanists, however they believe that they now know just who is behind the atrocity and they have a plan in mind to take out the sick bastards." Sir Willoughby Brown explained.

"Has this anything to do with the stunt they pulled at the church?" Hardwick asked apprehensively.

"James, it was no stunt, it was the real thing, and had Chief Superintendent Reynolds stopped for just one minute to think, to view the video before damning it out of hand, he would have realised that." Sir Willoughby Brown replied. "They used one of the spells that they found in a book from the Bourbon library, and it worked, and before we go any further I want you to watch the video they made." Sir Willoughby Brown said pulling out his laptop and playing the video to the commissioner.

As Inspector Humphreys had done, Sir Willoughby Brown gave a running commentary, using much of what Humphreys had said.

"Inspector Humphreys, your man from the Yard, saw this video taken, he confirmed to me that it is not a fake, he saw no hologrammatic projector and swore Rob and David never had the opportunity to set one up. Not only were they were with him from the moment that I introduced him to them, but one of your forensic teams was working at the church, so no one else would have had the opportunity to do so. James, the seven victims were laying in the mortuary when this video was taken, however Humphreys said that the seven victims looked exactly as we see them here, when he saw them before they were taken down. Now look at the thirteen figures, especially the one in the centre, even on the video you can feel some of the power behind their red blazing eyes. I am informed by Humphreys that had we been at St Luke's, then we would know just how awesome that mental power actually was, and no hologrammatic projector of any sort can do that."

Sir Willoughby Brown stopped the video here to make a point.

"James, I can still feel their power coming through the video, even though this video has been downloaded from Rob Hinds` iPhone, and I am sure that you too can feel it. When I watched it on the iPhone itself the affect was slightly greater, and according to everyone who was at the church the real life affects were very powerful in deed."

Sir Willoughby Brown now restarted the video.

"Ah this is where Rob Hinds ran forward and smashed the glass bowl; it effectively stopped the hypnotic spell that everyone at the church had begun to fall under, even though as I have already stated, it was coming across time. Inspector Humphreys fully believes that these things could have made him do literally anything, he actually felt the control of his mind slipping, the power of these bastards is simply awesome." Sir Willoughby Brown declared grimly.

Hardwick was a little stunned by now, he damned Reynolds for not giving him the complete story, even so had he not already known about the extra dimensional trips taken by Rob, his wife and David Pritchard, then he too would have ridiculed the video and everything that he had heard about it out of hand.

"You do realise that I cannot openly come down on your side Richard, to do so would see both of us out on our ears?" Hardwick finally said.

"Of course James, but your people can be told that we are going up against a terrorist hit team, with Rob Hinds in command of the operation. One dead sick bastard looks much like another one, don`t they?" Sir Willoughby Brown replied.

"You may be right Richard, but tell me just what do Rob Hinds and David Pritchard think we are up against this time?" Hardwick asked grimly.

"The best that they can come up with, and your man Humphreys agrees with them, is that they may well be Extra Terrestrials with a telepathic ability second to none." Sir Willoughby Brown replied.

"Tall grey Extra Terrestrials, well Richard that makes a change from Satanists and telepathic aliens certainly answers what the power that they say they felt actually is." Hardwick replied. "You do realise Richard that this could become very tricky if this goes wrong. What about the mind control that these 'Extra Terrestrials' are said to use, does your man know how to combat it?" Hardwick asked apprehensively.

"Rob Hinds does have a plan to counteract it; if it works then we should be able to take them all out." Sir Willoughby Brown replied.

"If it works, if not then we could lose a lot of brave officers. OK tell me the plan and all the risks that go along with it." Hardwick said suddenly sounding very tired.

Sir Willoughby Brown now went over the plan, stating that he needed a score of the best marksmen that the Yard could supply, they were essential to ensure the success of the whole operation.

"There is one other point Richard, my men will need to shoot to kill from the outset, they may well hesitate, seeing as how they have been made to account for themselves each and every time that they have used their weapons." Hardwick lamented angrily. "However, rather than making out it is the Daesh that they are after, I think that we should tell them about the Extra Terrestrials from the outset, getting them to sign the official secrets act should make it even more believable, but nothing about the video or the spell your man used, that they would not believe." Hardwick decided.

**********

It was six o`clock that same evening and Jeremiah Jones was sitting cross-legged in his private meditation chamber. Ever since the aliens had arrived, he had felt slightly troubled about them, although he knew that he should be happy, for they had confirmed everything that his Church stood for and preached about each day. However, he felt that there was something not quite right about them, if only he could think what it was, but for once, his brain refused to work. He had decided to meditate on the problem, he was sure that if he worked hard and long enough on the problem the answer would become clear. To aid him in his task he began to chant softly to himself, this had always helped him in the past; he prayed to god that it would do so this time.

**********

Magnus One had felt concerned about the vision that he had experienced, the one showing him and his coven in the church, now added to that feeling was one of surprise, for he had not had a similar vision from the disused warehouse. Could he have imagined the whole thing or had the earthlings learned from their mistake and had looked in on him without his knowing. He had just finished searching the internet for such a power; however, the only mention of anything even approaching it was in the past, when an organisation designated the CIA had become interested in remote viewing, if they had in fact perfected it then his team would be in grave danger of being taken out and his starship captured. He would have to find the two men who had been responsible for the connection between the two races across time, only then would he be able to learn the truth behind his vision and what actions he would have to take in the future to eliminate any risk posed by the humans.

While Magnus One had been busy reading about remote viewing, Linguia had learned the location of Scotland Yard and its purpose; and he found that it appeared to be a normal law enforcement agency. However, there was little on the internet about the Special Intelligence Service, and what information Linguia had found seemed to be mostly rumours about their possible links to black magic. Magic, be it black or white, had long been regarded by his race as merely myths, and so he disregarded it, and so Magnus One did not come to hear this vital piece of information. Linguia on reporting the little he had found out was ordered to listen into all scrambled calls to either of the two law enforcement agencies, and to report to Magnus One on anything that related to them, the Amaymons.

Magnus One considered remote viewing as the most likely reason behind the visions, and with this in mind he decided to put off that night`s hunting trip and instead he sent Scientia, along with two more of his team, over to the disused warehouse to stake it out in the hope that these two humans would show themselves. He also sent two of the Elders from the church along with them, for there was no way of knowing when an actual human might come in handy. For with their own great height, their colouring and clothing, his team would stand out, and to go and about when the streets were full of humans could risk the entire mission, especially if the CIA was involved, for they were said to be a powerful organisation. The presence of the two humans with Scientia was unknown to Jeremiah Jones, or anyone else, for they were both under the mental power of the Amaymons and would remember nothing of their trip.

It was early evening when Scientia and his team arrived at the warehouse; the police presence was still there in a large enough number to force Scientia to take care. He decided to send his two humans, dressed in normal daywear, to walk around the outside of the warehouse looking for Rob and David, although he could only provide the roughest of descriptions. However, he had provided them with video cameras, with the video streamed directly back to the computer that he had on his lap. The two Elders were instructed to walk around the outside of the building taking a video of anyone who roughly fitted the descriptions given to them. Scientia would tell them if they were to keep their camera fixed on any particular individual or, to move on, his instructions given via an earpiece that he had also supplied. One man walked clockwise around the warehouse while the other walked counter clockwise. When no sighting was made after two circuits Scientia ordered the two men back to the vehicle, it looked as if it was going to be a long night; Scientia just hoped that it would be worth the wait. He and his two people using their mental powers sent out a mental camouflage net that ensured that anyone coming close enough to their vehicle walked by without noticing its occupants. The Lampada and the chant not being necessary as his team were merely deflecting attention rather than attempting to take control of a person`s mind. When the nearby church clock struck ten o`clock, Scientia was at a loss to explain the events at St Luke's and the non-events at the warehouse, if they had such technology surely they would use it?"

**********

It had been a long night and of course it was still dark at half past four the next morning, but it was then that Scientia saw a black coach and a battered saloon car arrive at the warehouse, the double doors being opened moments before so as to allow both vehicles to enter without any delay. He immediately contacted Magnus One, who on hearing about the coach full of humans now knew that he had underestimated his quarry; the humans he felt had in fact laid a trap within a trap. Even though he was confident that his team would be victorious in a firefight, the authorities of Earth would then learn of his arrival on their planet. Knowing that this was unacceptable he cancelled his planned raid, instead he instructed Scientia to follow the smaller vehicle when it left the warehouse, and he was to keep on following it until he received orders to the contrary.

**********

Inside the warehouse the elite squad of police officers followed Rob, David and Inspector Humphreys up to the offices at the far end of the building, here they unpacked their weapons and prepared for action. The only way into the warehouse was through the doors that they had entered by, and from their vantage point they had a clear view of the whole of the area in front of the doors, the killing ground, when and if their quarry appeared.

Holy water had always been a major weapon in their arsenal, when going up against demons and Satanists, and when David had been forced to resign his post as a priest in the Catholic Church, Rob had wondered where they would get enough supplies for their needs. However, it seemed that the forces of good had given the matter some thought as well, as David had found out two months later. It was when an old friend had contacted him complaining of a slight problem with a minor Earth demon, an Earth demon being a demon who dwells on Earth and not in a hell dimension as is the case with most demons. Needing a supply of holy water David had decided to see if he could still make it, rather than use the bottle that he had brought with him, suffice to say he found that he still possessed the ability even though he was no longer a catholic priest, for it had worked when he had used it against the demon.

Which was lucky, as they would need a large quantity of it this morning. Right now the hard part of their mission had begun, the waiting, however the officers` minds were diverted when Rob and David began to spray holy water upon the walls of the offices and then to read out aloud the protection spell. However, the commissioner had already primed them about this, and although puzzled as to why a senior SIS agent would go through such a charade, they said and did nothing, except to glance at one another and ask silent questions. With the protection spell in place Rob and David went down into the warehouse as the bait to draw their murderous enemy into their web. Unusually for them they both wore a large hat; this was to conceal the string of garlic around their heads, which would help protect them against the mental powers of their enemy. They also carried on their person a small bottle of holy water, a bottle of blessed salt, a small bottle of mercury and finally they now wore a wooden cross hung around their necks. With their own protection assured, they now drew a regular pentagram to one side of the inverted one; this would offer them some protection, especially after they had mystically charged it, which they now did to the consternation of the watching police officers.

They hoped that by charging the pentagram the mental powers of their enemy would be enclosed within it when they tried out the spell once again; however, they were not at all sure that the pentagram would work, for they had only ever used it against Satanists before. They had collected all of the necessary items that they would need from Rob`s home after leaving the office of Sir Willoughby Brown, to the consternation of Christina Hinds who began to worry about Moira Bourbon. Seeing the worry on her face Rob had assured her that they were not going up against a Satanist, merely a group of aliens who had powerful telepathic abilities, which was why they needed the items.

It was now time to use the spell that would show them their vile enemies, and David now walked into the centre of the pentagram and placed a new glass bowl on the ground. He then removed the lid and lit the potion, which as before began to emit a narrow plume of white smoke; he then walked out of the pentagram and joined Rob. They now knelt down and began to recite the spell that David had altered slightly to fit the new circumstances.

"We, champions of the right hand path, call upon the angels upon high to show us the terrible black rites that were conducted today within the walls of this place. I beseech you to aid us so that we may stop those who follow the path of evil from continuing their murderous ways."

Their voices rang out across the empty warehouse as the white plume of smoke began to rise up towards the ceiling and then began to fill the area in and around the pentagram. The angels upon high must have looked kindly upon the two friends because within this thin veil of smoke that hung before them they first saw the seven bodies hanging by their legs from a metal beam that stretched across the warehouse. They next saw the thirteen murders walking around the horrific scene, their smoking Lampadas held above their heads, their chant crossing time to fill the air around the two friends along with the powerful scent of Jasmine. David was filming the scene this time, for Rob held his automatic pistol, for if the charged pentagram did not work he was going to fire at the glass bowl so as to break the spell and prevent the murderous 'Extra Terrestrials' from taking control of their minds. From their vantage point the twenty police officers looked down at the terrible scene being re-enacted, they said nothing but their minds were in turmoil, they no longer looked at the two agents with derision. Inspector Humphreys was there to snap them out of their state of shock and to ready them for action when the time came.

"Listen up, for I do not want to have to repeat myself." Humphreys` began, and when he had all of their attention, he continued. "I have no idea how long it will take for our targets to react to the sound and light show down there, it could be minutes it could be an hour. However long it is I need you all to focus, not on the scene below but on the door, the holes in the roof of the warehouse, the windows, watch for those thirteen sick bastards to show themselves. Remember, they will not give us the time to think, when one of you catches sight of those sickoes you tell me, or you tell one of the two SIS agents. We will give the order to fire and when the order is given you will do so without thinking about it, you have been given permission to shoot to kill, nothing else will suffice, your lives and those of your colleagues will be in danger if you hesitate for even one second." Humphreys stated firmly and loudly. "Do I make myself clear?" His voice boomed out loudly in the quiet of the night.

His question was answered by a few grunted OK`s and a lot of slow nods, then their commander gave each officer a place to watch and silence settled over the warehouse. Down below the show had finished, the charged pentagon had protected Rob and Dave, for they saw the consternation appear on the faces of the aliens when they mind control powers failed to work, and so Rob and David returned to the office and settled down to wait for their enemy to show themselves.

**********

Magnus One still felt surprised when he suddenly found himself looking down upon the scene at the disused warehouse, even if he had been expecting this very thing to happen. As for Scientia and his two Amaymons, they had to work hard to stop the shock that they felt from appearing upon their faces, for it would be noticed by the two Elders, even beneath the hoods, and it would be hard to explain away. Magnus One had focussed on Rob, while the rest of his team focussed on whomever they chose. All the aliens were amazed when they failed to enter the minds of the humans, as they had managed to do at St Luke`s, finally their amazement turned to anger when they realised that something was blocking their mental energy from reaching the two humans. There was one other emotion, concern, concern that the humans were more advanced than they had initially believed.

**********

Another SIS agent, John Agers, was watching the area around the warehouse from a high vantage point in a nearby office building. Agers being so far away from the vehicle that held Scientia and his team was unaffected by the mental camouflage net the three Extra Terrestrials were sending out. This meant that he soon noticed movement within the vehicle, curious as to who was spending so much time there, especially as the early morning temperature was approaching zero, he zoomed in on them using a pair of night vision binoculars. Agers smiled as he moved the binoculars along the side of the vehicle, and he now decided to call Rob.

"Rob, there are at least three monks and one guy in a suit parked in a MPV on the corner of the street opposite the L'Oréal advertisement, they have been there for some time, and at this time in the morning when the temperature is almost touching zero, I would say our fish are looking at the bait." Agers said.

"Acknowledged John, please be sure to keep an eye on them, but be careful, please ensure that they do not catch sight of you." Rob replied.

"I will take care Rob, never fear." Agers assured his friend.

Chapter Four

They are Satanists, just Extra Terrestrial Ones

Rob called the operation off when the nearby church clock struck eight o`clock and the streets were filling with people hurrying to their jobs; it was obvious to him that the 'Extra Terrestrial' leader had seen through his plan. Rob pondered over why the 'Extra Terrestrials' were still staking out the warehouse though, if they were not going to act, and he finally came up with a possible answer. The 'Extra Terrestrial' in charge of the band had decided to have his team follow him when he left the warehouse, hoping for a quieter spot where he and David could be taken without the risk of discovery and away from his armed protection. Well two could play at that, for it was also obvious to Rob that the 'Extra Terrestrials' did not know that their reconnaissance team had been spotted. It was now that David intruded on his thoughts.

"Rob, you know that I initially dismissed the idea that Satanists were behind the murders, well I have begun to wonder if I was correct to do so." David began. "First off the spell we used to look back in time worked, why when it was only meant to work against Satanists? Secondly the charged pentagon worked when again it is a protection against the forces of evil, Lucifer and his minions, why?" David asked.

"You think that these vermin could be devil worshippers David, but from another planet?" Rob asked incredulously.

"I really do not know for certain Rob, but yes I am beginning to think just that, I also wonder if this might be Lucifer`s or Lord Asbaritch`s way of getting their own back. Maybe one of them put the idea into their heads, maybe even lured them to Earth, I mean with almost seven billion people on Earth it would be a tempting apple to hang before them." David replied despondently.

"If that is so David, then we can treat them as ordinary Satanists, ones that just happen to have some extra powers curtesy of Lucifer. If we can defeat Moira, then with only three of them to go up against it should be a whole lot easier." Rob replied joyfully.

Inspector Humphreys had been listening in on this bizarre conversation, however he did not even try to join in, it was only last Sunday that he had declared to his father that he did not believe in the existence of God. It was at this point that Rob turned to him to tell him what he wanted to do next.

"Joe, we need to send your guys home so that they can catch up with their sleep, as for us three, well we have work to do."

"I could also do with a little shut eye Rob." Humphreys complained.

"Later Joe, first we must earn our crust, tell your lot to go and then we will drive off to a nice quiet spot where we can ambush the vermin staking out the warehouse, assuming that they follow us." Rob replied unfeelingly. "Tell the commander of the SCO19 team just what we have planned and instruct him to keep an eye open for anyone following their vehicle, I could be wrong about their intentions."

Joe just gave a shrug of acceptance and then he told the elite squad of police officers to head for home, after repeating Rob`s words of warning to the commander of the elite police force. Rob, Dave and Humphreys followed the police coach out of the warehouse, once again using Humphreys` vehicle. As for the single officer whose duty it was to guard the entrance against sightseers, they sent him home to ensure that ET did not move against him.

As they drove away from North London, Rob called Sir Willoughby Brown and updated him, and even he sounded a little more cheerful after hearing the latest thoughts on their quarry, however he did have one question.

"I thought that David said that he found no satanic signature, that they had not left their personal mark at either of the two crime scenes.

As Rob had the speaker on both Humphreys and David could hear Sir Willoughby Brown`s remark, and David now spoke.

"Normally that is so Sir Richard, however I believe that we are indeed dealing with a race from another planetary system, and one like Mankind that became the dominant animal on their planet. The reason why they did not leave a personal mark is because they are part of a race that must roam the stars looking for new prey to feed their people`s warped desires, and not for self-advancement, as is the norm with Satanists here on Earth. The only difference between them and the Satanists on Earth is that our Satanists are completely normal in all other respects, Mankind left cannibalism and the like behind as our civilisations grew and advanced, it would seem that the Extra Terrestrials did not."

"My god David, if you are correct in your belief then we need to end this threat quickly, and before they slip away to another town or country, and certainly before they send a post card home asking that their family and friends join them." Sir Willoughby Brown replied shocked at what he had just been told.

"What we need is an ambush spot Sir Richard, to take out the small group tailing us." Rob said. "And a number of SIS men to back us up. John Agers is already trailing behind the Extra Terrestrials, Simon Markman is no stranger to our spooky side and Malcolm Palmer was involved on the fringes of our first operation against the forces of evil. We will also require the services of Doctor Wilson; we need him to give the Extra Terrestrials a powerful sedative to keep them under on the way back to HQ."

"Rob, these things used an energy weapon to slice off their victims skulls, holy water will not protect you from a powerful energy bolt." Sir Willoughby Brown.

"No it will not, which is why I want our people to be armed with Tasers, that way we can capture them and not kill them." Rob replied.

"When they recover they will still be able to use their mind control, if so we will need some way to neutralise them, any ideas Rob?" Sir Willoughby Brown asked.

"Yes, first off as I just suggested we knock them out with the Tasers and then Doctor Wilson can give them with something to keep them under until we get them back to headquarters. Once there we will put each of them into separate cells, we then strap them into a chair and have a powerful sedative connected up intravenously to their arms, if they try anything then we can pump the drugs into them, that should be enough to prevent them from tapping into anyone`s mind." Rob replied. "When we begin to interrogate them we can use a truth drug on the aliens; at the least it should keep their minds` hazy and maybe even susceptible to answering our questions."

"So where do you propose to ambush them Rob, it will have to be a place with only the minimum of the general public around? If these Extra Terrestrials open fire with their energy weapons, assuming this is what they used on their victims, we could have a blood bath on our hands." Sir Willoughby Brown asked anxiously.

"I suggest that we make use of Hampstead Heath, we can enter it from Spaniards Road at the Heath Street end. Inside about half a mile the way turns sharply to the right, have a road block set up there, and to stop them from reversing I will get John Agers to ram them from behind. We can then rush them before they recover and Taser them before they think to resist our attack. You had better have a Black Maria on hand to transport the prisoners back to headquarters." Rob replied.

"It will all be laid on Rob, allow sixty minutes before entering Hampstead Heath, I will have cleared the area of the public by then so you do not need to pull your punches when you launch your attack. Do whatever is necessary to take these three bastards prisoner." Sir Willoughby Brown said, once again allowing his feelings to show by using an expletive.

"I only hope that we can keep them on our tail that long before the leader of their group begins to smell a rat and orders them to run for the hills." Rob replied signing off.

"Joe, take the longer scenic route to the heath, if your rust bucket of an automobile can keep going for that length of time." Rob jested. "Best to keep to the busier roads Joe, so that we do not tempt the Extra Terrestrials to make a move on us too soon." Rob advised the detective, for he had no wish for the tables to be turned against them.

"My car might look a little passed its best but I can assure you that it passed its MOT last month, and Rob, it has hidden depths." Humphreys replied in a hurt voice.

Humphreys had grown rather fond of his aging vehicle over the years, even though it had occasionally let him down, today though it appeared to be running smoothly. It took all of Humphrey`s skill to ensure that the Extra Terrestrials did not lose them, and finally just over one hour later he took his vehicle along a narrow road on to Hampstead Heath. After two hundred yards they drove round a blind bend to see a group of people waiting for them, Joe pulled past them and stopped his aging vehicle as an SIS agent drove a large van across the road, and none too soon for the MPV in which the Extra Terrestrials were using came round the bend at speed.

Scientia was convinced that they would be able to take the humans within the countrified area that his quarry had turned down. As he drove his large vehicle around the bend his spirits were actually rising, then he found a large van parked across the road, and unable to stop in time he swerved to the left, crying out in fear as he crashed the vehicle into a large tree. The crash knocked him unconscious and threw everyone else forward stunning them. Behind him, John Agers drove his pursuing vehicle into the rear of the MPV, further stunning the occupants of the MPV and also ensuring that it would go no further. Agers then jumped from his vehicle and joined the other SIS agents who were storming the crashed vehicle. Rob pulled open the driver`s door while on the other side of the vehicle Simon Markman pulled open the front passenger door. Firing their Taser weapons they immediately incapacitated two Extra Terrestrials whether it was necessary or not, while Malcolm Palmer took care of the third one. David Pritchard and John Agers used their Taser weapons on the two Elders, for they did not know if they were Extra Terrestrials or humans, and in any case they could still be a danger to them and themselves.

It had taken just seconds to capture the Extra Terrestrials, and with the danger over Rob waved Doctor Wilson forward. The doctor now gave each of their captives a powerful sedative, using a hypodermic needle.

With time to breathe now that the action was over, Rob pulled back one of the hoods of their captives to see a gaunt pallid alien looking face, and one obviously alien to Earth.

"Well that answers one question David; they are Extra Terrestrials and very tall humanoid ones at that." Rob said surprised, for although he had acknowledged that they might well be Extra Terrestrials, somewhere deep inside he had still thought it improbable.

Rob and David now entered the rear of the Black Maria, and while Rob sprayed holy water over the walls, David read out a prayer. With the chance of the Extra Terrestrials coming too while on the way back to headquarters and taking control of the driver`s mind now over, they loaded their five captives within the van and headed back into London escorted by three other vehicles. As for the aliens` MPV, Rob arranged for it to be towed back to their headqwuarters so that the forensics team could get to work on it.

When the Extra Terrestrials were safely back within the headquarters of the SIS, and Doctor Wilson had checked them over to ensure that they were healthy, as far as he could tell that is, and not about to come round, Sir Willoughby Brown entered the cell block to look at each of them. As was the case with everyone in the cellblock, he too wore a string of garlic about his head to prevent the aliens from getting inside of his brain, covered by a hat to hold it in place.

"They are all very tall specimens Rob, and as they all appeared to be about the same size on that video you recorded, it means that the others are also just as tall." Sir Willoughby Brown noted.

Then he and the others inspected the strange devices carried by the three Extra Terrestrials, they were on a table outside in the corridor. "This is obviously the energy weapon they used so horrifically on their victims, but what do you think this device is, could it be yet another satanic device to add to our collection?"

David Pritchard was looking at another of the devices and he disagreed with Sir Willoughby Brown. "I do not think so Sir Richard; I took it as read that the Extra Terrestrials communicate with the humans that we found with them. However, unless they rely solely on their telepathic power, which as they all have a rather prominent Adam's apple I feel that is unlikely, maybe it is a portable translator, if so there might be a sign of a receiver on each of the Extra Terrestrials` heads." David suggested.

He then went into the nearest cell to look for a sign of such a device, either on the head of the Extra Terrestrial or within the Extra Terrestrial`s ear. On inspection he found an old scar behind the ear of the Extra Terrestrial, he found a similar scar on the other two Extra Terrestrials, which went some way to proving his hypothesis.

"I will have the boffins of MI6 look at two of these, to see if you are correct in your hypophysis David, I will leave the other one with you. If you are correct then it must use a form of Wi-Fi to communicate with the Extra Terrestrial, that or they use their mental powers to allow them to communicate through it. However, you must keep it on your person to ensure that they will not be able to use it against you, if in fact it is a weapon of some sort.

**********

The three Amaymons woke to find themselves the prisoners of the humans that they had been following, each of them incarcerated within a different cell and strapped into a chair. An intravenous needle was attached to their arms, this carried a powerful sedative ready to be pumped into them should they try to use their mind controlling powers. However, the three Amaymons refused to say anything, even though Sir Willoughby Brown had decided to leave one of their translation devices with David. They sat in their chairs and chanted in the hope that in this way they could conjure up enough power between them to have their captors release them, and without the humans activating the sedative. With his prisoners being so uncooperative Rob asked Doctor Wilson to inject them with truth serum, to see if this would work, however although it relaxed them they still refused to answer any of the questions put to them. Th doctor keeping his eyes away from the blazing red eyes of the aliens at all times, to ensure that there was no danger of his losing the control of his mind.

Having no luck with the Extra Terrestrials, Rob spoke to John Agers and Simon Markman who were questioning the two Elders, however they too were saying nothing, this time it was their conditioning that was preventing them from speaking.

**********

Magnus One was sitting within the shuttle craft and he was feeling rather worried, for he had lost contact with Scientia and the other two Amaymons, he now assumed the worst, that they had been captured by the humans. If this was so he knew that he and the remainder of his coven must leave the Church of the Second Coming, for it would not take their adversaries long to find the them once they had tracked down the rental company that had leased his human followers the two MPV vehicles. It was as he prepared his plans to move that Linguia hurried over to him.

"Commander, I have located the headquarters of the Special Intelligence Service, it is near to the same river that flows near to this church."

"Good work Linguia, we may need to pay them a visit to find out where our three missing comrades have got to, however for the moment we must begin our preparations to move to a new base of operations." Magnus One replied joyfully. "Have the rest of the coven come here immediately."

When all the Amaymons had gathered aboard the shuttlecraft Magnus One spoke to them.

"Early tomorrow morning we are going to beard our human adversaries in their den, we need to find out where they are keeping Scientia and his two acolytes prisoner, we are going to find them and release them." Magnus One said to the nine Amaymons gathered about him. "Who knows, maybe we will find our two human targets still there, attempting to, and failing, to learn about us from our three missing friends."

A grim smile now appeared on Magnus One`s gaunt face "However, before then we must take care of our human hosts, show them our appreciation for their work, coven Walpurgisnacht, we have missed our breakfast so we must make do with brunch and today we dine on the humans whose message brought us here to their church."

**********

The morning Mass being over that day they only found four of the Elders at the church, along with two women whose task it was to clean the church, for feminism did not play a large role in the Church of the Second Coming. Jeremiah Jones was in his sanctuary, so that as long as he stayed there he would not be invited to the dinner that his guests had planned. Seeing only six humans in the church Magnus One was a little disappointed, he just hoped that another human would turn up as seven was considered a lucky number amongst their kind, but speed was of the essence, Magnus One thought, for they needed to be away before the authorities of this backward planet arrived. The ten Amaymons entered the central aisle of the church, the nave, and walked slowly down it while chanting in Aramaic, the six humans stopped what they were doing and moved towards the aliens, wanting to be a part of whatever ceremony the messengers of Christ were about to begin, little knowing that their participation was extremely necessary.

The aliens slowly walked around the group of humans until they had encircled them, then they turned the full force of their minds upon the six people. The humans' now experienced real fear, for it was now that they found out what the aliens had planned for their immediate future, but not orally, no they saw it in the minds of their alien guests.

Magnus One led his victims back along the church until they were standing beneath the gallery at the front of the church, then two of the aliens left the group and walked up the stone staircase and up on to the gallery. Once up there dropped the ends of six lengths of rope down, they came to rest amongst the six humans, who stood there waiting for their end but not being able to prevent it.

Magnus One quickly painted upon the stone floor an inverted pentagram, however as before he did not attempt to charge it, the Amaymons only used the pentagram at part of the ritual involved in the killing, the eating of their victims` brains and the drinking of their victims` blood. The Ropes were now tied around their victims` legs and now each of the humans was told to lie down upon the floor. Once there, six of the Amaymons joined the two men up on the gallery, the six humans were hoisted up off the floor, and left to dangle just six feet from the ground, the killing time had arrived.

The Amaymons all gathered around their victims and began to chant in their own language, as they did so Magnus One and six of his coven pulled out their Satan energy weapons and killed their waiting victims, the whistling energy bolt reverberating around the church and reaching the sanctuary where Jeremiah Jones was meditating.

Within the church, the Amaymons placed the sacrificial buckets beneath each of the dead bodies and then Magnus One cut the throats with an ornate bronze dagger, one that he kept for just this purpose, while calling out to his gods to look favourably on his gift to them, the unbelievers` life-force. The blood from the humans dripped down into the buckets, quickly filling them as the aliens looked on in anticipation of drinking it. All the while the Amaymons had continued to chant, for anyone listening outside of the church the sound would be most pleasing, within the church Magnus One stood back to look at the scene before him, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he watched as the blood drained into the buckets.

When the flow of blood lessened, Magnus One ordered the seven Amaymons to use their Satan energy weapons, this time to slice off the top of their victims` skull. With this grisly task done the remainder of the Amaymons removed their hooded garments so that they were not soiled by their meal. The Amaymons now slowly walked around the line of bodies, chanting as they did, their words were thanking their victims for their blood and their brains, and once again, they each held above their heads their Lampada that looked much like a lightsabre, except that only a red plume of smoke came out of it. It was only after the ceremony was completed that the depleted coven now made ready to begin the feast, setting out their meal on three gold plates that they had found in the church and placing the plates upon the top of the altar.

Hearing the strange whistling sound for a second time Jeremiah Jones hurried down into the church, there he saw the gruesome scene at the same time as Magnus One saw him. Jeremiah Jones was too shocked to run, or even to scream, one moment later he fell silently to floor, dead, for Magnus One was a very good shot with a Satan energy weapon.

Their feast was delayed while a seventh rope was dangled from the gallery, then the throat of Jeremiah Jones was cut and the Amaymons waited impatiently for the flow of blood to lessen so that they could slice off the top of his skull and add his brain to one of the plates that already contained the six other brains.

**********

Across town, Sir Willoughby Brown rang up the metropolitan commissioner of police.

"James, I have some news for you, we have taken three of the killers' prisoner, and as I informed you before they are not Satanists, as such, they are Extra Terrestrials whose people we now believe may have satanic roots." Sir Willoughby Brown said and then waited for Hardwick to react, which he now did.

"You have three of them prisoner Richard, where, at your headquarters?" Hardwick exclaimed joyfully, having not taken in the latter part of what Sir Willoughby Brown had said. "I will be over in thirty minutes, and I will bring Chief Superintendent Reynolds along, it is about time that he faced up to the reality when dealing with your ace agent."

They actually took thirty-five minutes, and the Home Secretary was with them, and when they saw the three aliens they were initially struck dumb, it was Reynolds who recovered the power of speech first.

"It is just make-up, oh they look very real I grant you, but they are not Extra Terrestrials." He declared loudly.

They were now standing in front of the one of the three cells that held an unconscious alien, for Rob had foreseen this reaction from the senior police officer; he now unlocked the cell door.

"Come in Chief Superintendent." Rob said politely, for he did not blame the police officer for refusing to believe what he saw. "It is quite safe, this one is harmless for now, and if you can find any sign of make-up on the face of this creature then I will eat your hat."

Reynolds walked hesitantly into the cell followed by the other two men, he stopped just inches away from the alien and began to touch the alien`s face, first softly and then roughly, and ignoring the fact that the alien was so very tall, he only stopped when the Home Secretary spoke.

"Chief Superintendent, give it up, the man is not wearing make-up and also he and the other two prisoners are at least seven feet tall. These three creatures are the real thing; either that or I belong to the opposition." He now turned to Sir Willoughby Brown.

"Sir Richard, you obviously realise that this find is of international importance, everything that we thought we knew has been altered from this point on, the first thing that I have to do is contact the Prime Minister, keep yourself free for the PM will want to speak to you and your two agents."

Sir Willoughby Brown led his guests back to his office and once there the Home Secretary put a call into the Prime Minister on a secure line. After informing the PM of the prisoners in the headquarters of the SIS, he was ordered to keep everything that they saw or heard a state secret, and to bring Sir Willoughby Brown and his two agents to Number 10 at 10 o`clock the next morning.

**********

Two hours later the aliens` shuttlecraft had just arrived back at the starship, having been forced to take it slowly due to an ebbing tide and a large amount of shipping on the surface of the River Thames. It was just as after Linguia had returned to his station that he learned some very important news regarding their three missing friends.

"Commander, I have intercepted a message from an American organisation calling itself the National Security Agency, they have sent a scrambled message to the Special Intelligence Service demanding that that one of our three missing members is transferred to them along with one of our weapons and a translation device." Linguia exclaimed unable to control his youthful excitement. "The British Government has agreed to their request and has instructed the Special Intelligence Service to have one of our people given over to them; the Americans are to collect our man from their offices."

"It will take them some time to get there; and when they do they will find the cupboard bare." Magnus One replied.

**********

Rob left the powers that be and got back to the case, he went to the large underground garage beneath the MI6 building where the boffins of MI6 were going over the vehicle that had just been drooped off by the recovery vehicle. So far they had found nothing except a large quantity of bloody fingerprints, ones that should connect the aliens to the murders. Not wanting to stop them working Rob returned to his office and one minute later he had run Luxury Cars to ground, for their name and telephone number were on the side of the vehicle used by the Amaymons. It took him only a further minute to get the name of the person who had rented it; he was told it was one of two such vehicles rented to two of the Elders who belonged to the Church of the Second Coming. He immediately crossed over to the office of Sir Willoughby Brown and spoke with him and the commissioner of police, telling them of this new lead, then he requested assistance from the senior policeman.

"Sir, I need some of your officers to meet me at the church; with any luck we will catch the rest of the aliens before they can escape!" Rob exclaimed.

"Get moving Mr Hinds, you will find your backup waiting for you when you get to the church." Hardwick replied in a state of suppressed excitement.

Rob immediately collected David and Detective Inspector Humphreys and headed off for the Church of the Second Coming, this time in an SIS vehicle, for Rob refused to travel in the detective`s vehicle again. Following behind them in a second vehicle were John Agers, Simon Markman and Malcolm Palmer; all of the agents were armed. It was almost mid-day by the time they neared the church, here they were met by twelve officers from the SCO19, all of them were also armed, and a local police inspector was there too to offer whatever local knowledge could be of help. The commissioner had spoken to the commanding officer of the SCO19 team, and he had told him to obey every order that the SIS agents gave him, however strange it might seem. They were told that they were to accompany the SIS agents to a church and that the earlier order regarding the aliens still applied, it being shoot first, ask questions later. On the way Sir Willoughby Brown had ordered Rob to take charge of any Extra Terrestrials that were found alive at the church, and that he was to bring them back to headquarters, after contacting him first to tell him how the raid had gone.

Inspector Marsden from the local police force met up with Rob and his team, and he gave them a rough description of the church, the residential block and the old warehouse.

"I did not realise that there was so many buildings to search Inspector, it is lucky for us that you came along." Rob admitted.

The inspector smiled at the secret agent and then he told him of the excitement taking a hold of the locals that very morning.

"This is not the only piece of excitement that we have had today Mr Hinds, we have been inundated with calls from the locals, they all reported seeing a UFO entering the Thames, and which was just after the tide had begun to ebb, whereupon the craft was seen to submerge without trace." Marsden told his guests with a smile upon his face for he thought that the calls were all hoaxes.

Rob looked sharply across at Marsden; it was obvious to the inspector that Rob was very interested in what he had been told, and this surprised him.

"When was this Inspector?" Rob asked.

"About half an hour ago Mr Hinds, maybe a little longer, but surely it is just a lot of hoax calls, it certainly cannot have anything to do with your case, can it?" Inspector Marsden replied quizzically.

David and Rob looked at one another but said nothing as Rob quickened his pace, they were soon entering the church. With the news of the UFO he had decided to leave the other buildings until later, he asked for just two of the SCO19 men to keep watch on the cloister and the warehouse.

The smell hit them as soon as they entered the church, it was the smell of blood, and it warned Rob, David and Inspector Humphreys of what they were about to see. There before them were seven mutilated bodies hanging from the gallery of the church, having seen such a sight before they managed to keep their breakfasts` down, some of the others were not so lucky. All of them were affected, but in different ways, it was Inspector Humphreys who called the Yard, and he told them that they had yet another atrocity on their hands, of the perpetrators there was no sign, but Rob expected this after Inspector Marsden`s recent comments regarding the UFO sightings.

Sending the police away to check on the rest of the buildings Rob and David quickly constructed a charged pentagram, David refusing to make use of the inverted one drawn by the Extra Terrestrials. With this done, they then proceeded with the ceremony, and once again, they watched as the Extra Terrestrials circled their victims while chanting. It gave them nothing new to work with but they had to try, and Rob, when they had erased all trace of their work, decided to leave the police in charge of the crime scene. He reported back to Sir Willoughby Brown and then they left, Chief Superintendent Reynolds was already on his way and Rob decided not to wait around to greet him, Inspector Marsden along with the SCO19 officers could guard the scene until then.

The SIS agents along with Inspector Humphreys returned to the SIS headquarters to be met by Sir Willoughby Brown, who on hearing their report in full gave Rob just one order.

"Rob you must find these Extra Terrestrials and exterminate them before they bring their brethren to Earth." Sir Willoughby Brown said.

"When that is done we will need to destroy all traces of them so that word of them does not get out about them. These beings are not a friendly intelligent race that will bring peace to our planet; they are the opposite, they will only bring more fear to an already troubled world." Sir Willoughby Brown said grimly.

Rob took his agents along to the cellblock and once again attempted to get some information from the three Extra Terrestrials and the two humans, but without any success. It was while he was busy that agents from the National Security Agency turned up and whisked away one of the Extra Terrestrials along with one of each of the Extra Terrestrial devices found upon the Extra Terrestrials. When the Americans finally departed, taking their loot with them, Rob called a halt to the proceeding and sent everyone home, he and David arriving at his apartment as the local church clock struck ten; they finally had what was to them was an early night.

**********

The Amaymons had changed into their normal attire, and after a quick meal Magnus One told his team of his plan to free the three men who had been taken prisoner by the SIS, it was audacious but he reckoned that the surprise and speed of the raid would give them success.

It was in the early hours of the next morning, well before sunrise, that they took their shuttlecraft back along the river Thames. When they reached Vauxhall, the Amaymons created a small bank of thick fog. With this to hide their craft the shuttlecraft rose from the river and moved slowly across to the Vauxhall pleasure gardens, they landed in the centre of the gardens and from here Magnus One led four of his coven to the MI6 building and the SIS headquarters. With the assault team on their way Timoni was left in charge of the shuttlecraft, he felt rather exposed as he waited anxiously for the return of the assault team, and always keeping one eye on the local weather, for if a stiff breeze blew in off the river, it could easily take their fog bank with it.

The Special Intelligence Service had their headquarters in the MI6 building, along with MI6 the building also accommodated the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) making for some confusion, however the Special Intelligence Service as well as being an offshoot of their better known service, was unknown to most everyone. When they flashed their identification, it was assumed they were part of the outfit that the fictional James Bond worked for and this suited them, especially now that they had become entangled with all things to do with the paranormal.

The entrance to the MI6 building had many security devices in place, however the technology of the aliens was far in advance of that on Earth, and they had soon turned off all of the security devices and were soon standing in the reception area. Before the two guards had realised just what was happening, that the building had been invaded, the aliens had used their Satan energy weapons on them, the sound of their weapons not carrying far as Magnus One had ordered his people to set them at the lowest level for just this reason. They were soon at the entrance to the SIS offices, two men were manning the graveyard shift and they looked up as the aliens entered the main office area. The agents were expecting to see their own people, on seeing the aliens standing there they made to rise, their hands reaching for their weapons. They never made it for two Satan energy weapons fired at them, once again using their lowest power setting; the hum of a swarm of bees filled the area as the two agents fell to the floor unconscious.

The aliens immediately released their two men; however, Magnus One was angry to find that Scientia was missing. He correctly assumed that the American intelligence agency, the National Security Agency, had worked faster that he had expected, however Scientia could be anywhere, he could still be in England or maybe in the United States of America, or even somewhere in between the two countries.

With time being an enemy of the aliens, they hastily left the MI6 building, however the aliens had forgotten that the two Elders were also detained there, which probably saved their lives. When the aliens departed the offices of the SIS they took the two agents with them, for they had only been stunned, Magnus One wanting to find out just what was known about his coven. He had decided against trying to get into the computers, as he needed to get back to his shuttlecraft before the winds that were getting stronger by the minute, blew the concealing bank of fog away and exposed his shuttlecraft.

**********

It was only minutes after the aliens left the MI6 building that their raid was discovered, two MI6 agents working late had found the two unconscious guards in the reception area and had called their immediate superiors, and it took only five minutes for someone to call Sir Willoughby Brown. When he could not contact his people on duty at the headquarters, he first rang Rob and then, after hurriedly dressing, he drove to his office, while silently damning himself for underestimating his enemy.

When Rob arrived at the headquarters of the SIS he found that the two agents on the graveyard shift were missing as well as the two Extra Terrestrials, however he was not surprised to see that the two Elders from the church were still there, the Extra Terrestrials obviously did not consider them worthy of their attention.

Rob thought that he now had a way of breaking through their conditioning, he sat them down and ran his latest video, definitely X-certificate, and the two Elders watched as their friends were murdered and their bodies defiled. It was some time now that the two men had been under the direct control of the aliens, and this coupled to the terrible scene that they saw on the video wiped away the mental conditioning that had controlled their minds. However, they knew precious little, apart from telling Rob about the transmission that the Church had sent out into deep space asking for the Messiah to return to Earth.

**********

The next morning found Rob and David at number 10 Downing Street; there they were subjected to a very comprehensive cross-examination. They first told the PM and the cabinet all about their black magic cases and then about their new case, and of the raid on their headquarters, of the rescue of two of the aliens by the murderers and the subsequent kidnapping of two SIS agents.

The Prime Minister spent the next hour talking to a stunned cabinet, and with a decision agreed upon the defence minister was asked to contact the armed forces; he was to instruct each branch to appoint a liaison officer within the next hour, their task being to work with the SIS. This mission had priority over anything else and of course was top secret. Sir Willoughby Brown would take executive command of the operation while his two agents would be in command in the field, no matter what the cost in materials, the Extra Terrestrials had to be located and terminated, and before more aliens made the journey to Earth.

**********

The Amaymons were soon back aboard their starship, they decided that a change of location was in their best interests, and anyway Magnus One had not forgotten about Scientia, so he sent his starship skimming across the Atlantic Ocean, just feet above the waves, his destination the North American coast.

While Timoni handled the spacecraft, Magnus One interrogated the two SIS agents, using a combination of a truth drug and, more importantly, the power of his mind. However, to his disappointment he soon learnt that the two SIS agents knew little about the black magic cases that Rob and David had been involved in, only the rumours that had sped around the office and that the villain was supposed to be a Satanist. However, they both thought that their target used Satanism as a cover for something else, just what they did not know, but they both thought that Satanism was usually just a cover for wild orgies. The only fact they knew for certain was that the third man in the present case was a police detective who certainly knew nothing about black magic, as for remote viewing they treated the subject as laughable.

Magnus One disagreed with them, for the visions had actually happened, his whole coven had experienced them. Then he recalled the ancient myths of his own planet, he now wondered whether there might be some truth behind them, could it be that this had nothing at all to do with remote viewing, could it in fact mean that black magic was indeed the answer. Magnus One sighed, for it was obvious to him that only the capture of the two men he had sought back in England would give him his answer. One other thought entered his mind, if they had used black magic, could the use of it give one, such as he, real power amongst his people.

Magnus One immediately stopped his charge across the ocean, even though it meant that Scientia would have to remain in their enemy`s hand, and he turned the starship back towards England, heading now for the Yorkshire coast. They were soon back at the English coast and he took their starship down to the bottom of the North Sea. This time they were situated just a little to the south east of the seaside town of Scarborough that was in the county of Yorkshire. First, they used Google Earth and then one of their drones; within twenty-four hours, they had identified a suitable base to commence their next operation. They were once again wearing their monk`s attire as they boarded their shuttle craft with the two SIS agents and headed for the coast of England. It was just past midnight when they passed over the coastline and journeyed across the Yorkshire countryside to a small empty farmhouse that had a derelict barn opposite it. Here they hid their craft within the barn and made it and the farmhouse liveable before resting for what was left of the day. Later that evening they visited the seaside town of Scarborough where they kidnapped five more humans. With the two SIS agents, they now had their next seven victims and it was almost time to begin their celebrations.

Chapter Five

Kidnapped

With the Amaymons much closer to the new abode of Moira Bourbon, Lord Asbaritch decided to step up his game, but still in a way that could not be traced directly back to him, for he did not want Lord Lucifer to know what he was doing until it was a fait accompli, for Lucifer was still angry with Moira. Only then would he face Lucifer`s anger, and with Moira Bourbon by his side he was sure that Lucifer would back down and agree to her taking her place as one of his major demons, who just happened to also be a mortal woman.

**********

Magnus One and his followers used their limited powers upon their latest five victims, making their victims subservient to their wishes and unable to fight back. Meanwhile, Lord Asbaritch had magnified the satanic vibrations coming off the Amaymons and sent them pulsing through Moira Bourbon`s brain, impacting upon her immense but latent powers and causing a tingling sensation in her brain that created a feeling of déjà vu in her mind. Even though she was initially bewildered by the vibrations, these vibrations, and earlier one sent to her by the dark lord, had kick started parts of her brain that Rob Hinds would have preferred to have kept closed. Moira decided to investigate this new set of vibrations, and she watched as the strange looking creatures took control of their victims` minds and made them zombie-like, people with no control over their actions. However, although interested in her vision, initially she did not intend to follow the strange vision up, she did however look into each of the strangers` minds to find out more about them and what she found both revolted her and intrigued her.

Lord Asbaritch had not finished with Moira`s lessons yet, he now sent her into a deep sleep and in this state he visited her on the Dreamscape, the dimension that dreamers visit, and here he unlocked images in her mind that had been locked away until now. However, he realised that too much too soon could affect her mental wellbeing, so to protect her mind he had already decided to limit the time that she spent looking at such visions. This time she saw herself looking at a blank wall that suddenly became a video monitor, on the monitor she saw Rob Hinds walk into the hallway of an apartment block, then she heard a voice that she knew to be her own, it was just above a whisper.

"He killed our father Moira, Rob Hinds killed him."

These softly spoken words sent feelings of hatred through her mind and down into her heart, initially confusing her, for up until now she had regarded Rob as her friend, but she felt something else, something deep within her was agreeing with the message. As she struggled against this new and strange feeling, she watched as the Satanist Moira smiled and then spoke so softly Moira had to strain to hear the words.

"Remember your nightmare Rob Hinds, when you enter this building you will be entering the Victorian house of your nightmares."

Unknown to the watching Moira a spell had been cast, one second she watched Rob as he entered a modern hallway, then everything changed, the modern hallway was now Victorian. She had been surprised at the sudden change, and it was obvious to Moira that Rob was both confused and a little scared by what had just occurred. Rob turned around and looked back through the open doorway; however, the doorway now looked out on to the burnt and blasted land of his nightmare world.

Once again, she heard that terrible whisper. "He killed our father Moira, Rob Hinds killed him." Once again that whispered voice sounded like her own voice and she wondered if it was coming to her from the time in her life that she had forgotten.

The dreaming Moira was jolted back into the dream when she heard a loud thump thump thump of approaching footsteps, each one louder than the one preceding it, and now the house began to shake with each new thump. The monstrous creature, whatever it was, was coming from the nightmare world on the other side of the front door, which suddenly blew wide-open letting in a blast of hot air which the sleeping Moira felt and from which she shrank away. The land beyond the doorway was suddenly filled with a thick fog, however the footsteps stopped, instead she heard what sounded like the roaring of a lion, only a very large and angry one, and it sounded as if it was almost at the open doorway. Rob seemed to think so too for she watched as he turned around and bolted up the staircase.

"He killed our father Moira, Rob Hinds killed him." The soft voice whispered to her again.

The sleeping Moira smiled as she watched Rob running for his life and her laughter followed on behind him. The whispering had finally changed her heart forever, gone was her cosy little world revolving around a life of study in a nunnery, it was replaced by one that was rather exciting and very much to her liking.

"Let Rob Hinds` nightmare house disappear and normality return, but when he sees me, I will appear to him only as an old crone." The Satanist Moira whispered from the bottom of the Victorian staircase.

Moira watched as Rob, on reaching the top of the staircase, found the building change yet again, now he was back in a modern apartment building. Rob looked confused as he turned to look down the staircase, expecting to see the dragon climbing the stairs, but all he saw was a woman in her sixties struggling up them. What Rob did not know, but the sleeping Moira did, was that this old kindly woman was Moira Bourbon.

"Are you all right young man, you seem to be rather befuddled, and even a little scared?" The old woman asked anxiously and then she turned and looked directly into Moira`s eyes and whispered.

"He killed our father Moira, Rob Hinds killed him."

Tears filled the eyes of the Satanist Moira, tears that the sleeping Moira felt streaming down her own face. Rob did not seem to hear the old crone`s accusation or see the tears, instead he replied to her question.

"I am fine thank you, just a little light headed; I will be OK after a bit of a sit down." Rob replied and walked along the hall to number 24, the apartment of Colonel Masters.

The sleeping Moira by now was sobbing; tears were streaming down her sleeping face as she remembered her father, reborn as a young man thanks to her but killed just weeks afterwards by Rob. She watched as Rob knocked politely on the door and she heard someone inside call out that the door was open, apparently he did not know that it had been the Satanist Moira who had answered him and unlocked the door.

The Satanist Moira now continued with her fun. "Let the nightmare world of their dreams appear within the home of Colonel Masters." She whispered in the softest of voices.

Moira watched tearfully as Rob walked into a small hall to see a man, who the sleeping and who Moira assumed to be Mr Masters, he was sitting in his front room. Something woke Masters who looked up in anger, surprised to see a stranger standing in his apartment, but on seeing Rob he did not tell the stranger to leave his apartment, instead he stood up and screamed out in terror. Suddenly the clean white walls disappeared and they were replaced by the burning rocky landscape of Hell. Rob began to choke as a sulphur-laden air filled his lungs, his knees buckled under him as his strength was mysteriously drained from his body. From out of nowhere flashes of electricity crackled over their heads, and then electricity was running all over his body causing him to cry out in pain. The sleeping Moira smelt burning hair and she saw smoke rising from Rob`s head, more smoke began to rise up from his shoes, she was helpless to go to his aid, even if she now wanted to do so. A blinding bolt of lightning struck without warning, and the two men found themselves hurled hard against the nearest solid object by the force of it, the rumble of accompanying thunder deafening them.

"Let their nightmare world disappear and normality return." The Satanist Moira whispered from the hallway outside of the apartment and then she turned again to the sleeping Moira and spoke directly to her.

"Remember Moira, he killed our father, Rob Hinds killed him."

Immediately the apartment changed back to its original form. Masters had been thrown to the floor by the powerful blast and now found that his back was against the far wall, not a hard piece of basalt rock, and he looked terrified as he looked over at Rob. Rob was picking himself up from an armchair while feeling equally confused, and looking out for an attack by one of the denizens of Hell.

Lord Asbaritch had easily arranged the small pieces of special effects, the whispered accusations, and by the look upon the Moira`s face he knew that his messages were having the desired effect upon her. It was now that Lord Asbaritch ended the vision, to continue could easily cause his beloved to lose her mind, and that he did not want, so he returned to his fortress in the Netherworld, later he would show her more of her old life, but for now, she needed to sleep.

**********

Magnus One had been concerned when he saw the power demonstrated by the two humans. However, fear ran through his veins on realising that he was powerless to stop whoever was searching through his mind.

When the searching mind left him Magnus One took a deep breath, as did the rest of his coven who looked at him for an answer, not having one he merely led them and their five new victims back to their new base. However, his fears did not lesson with time, or distance travelled, he knew that he and his coven were in grave danger from the being who hasd so easily entered his mind. One question ran through his mind, if this being was part of the SIS then why had they only now used this awesome power. He debated whether to return to their starship, for if the newcomer was a member of the SIS then the farmhouse would soon be surrounded and he had no idea if they would be able to escape this new intrusive mind, one that, he thought, might be capable of stopping them in their tracks. In the end, he decided to stay, for they were on a mission of discovery, and he had learned far too much to leave before he had found answers to the many questions that had built up so fast.

The new base was a deserted farmhouse, one in which the supporting beams were now fully exposed by them. Opposite the old farmhouse was the large but derelict barn in which they garaged their shuttlecraft, ready for them if they needed to depart in a hurry. He had Linguia construct an inverted pentagon while Timoni and Technic readied the shuttlecraft for immediate lift-off. Four more of the coven sat and guarded their latest seven victims while the remaining four kept a lookout for any signs of their enemy. With the pentagram ready, they strung their victims upside down from the exposed rafters of the old farmhouse, using the last of their specially anointed rope.

Magnus One now called in the other members of the coven, for the time had come for the ceremonial part of the nights gruesome activities, and he now killed and then cut all of the seven humans` throats while calling out to his gods to look favourably on his gift to them, a gift comprising of the unbelievers` life-force. The blood from the humans dripped down into the buckets, quickly filling them as the aliens looked on in anticipation of drinking it. As the last drops of blood fell into the buckets Magnus ordered the seven men to once again use their Satan energy weapons, this time to cut off the top of each victim`s skull and then to take out the brain. With this grisly task done the Amaymons removed their hooded garments so that they were not soiled by their meal. The Amaymons now slowly walked around the line of bodies, chanting as they did, their words were thanking their victims for their blood and their brains, and once again, they each held above their heads their Lampada that looked much like a lightsabre, except that only a red plume of smoke came out of it. Only after the ceremony was completed did the Amaymons clear the top of an old sideboard. One left there by the previous occupant and upon this they placed four pewter plates, they had taken these plates and others from the churches that they had visited. The plates were laden with the seven brains and it was now that the aliens dined on the brains of their victims. Finally, they washed their dinner down with the blood that they had collected in the large buckets.

**********

Lord Asbaritch returned to find Moira still asleep; a small spell had caused the nuns of the convent to forget about her until the demon lord allowed them to remember her. He watched as the Amaymons began their terrible ceremony and so he woke Moira and linked her mind to that of Magnus One, and she witnessed almost the whole of the ceremony. She watched the terrible proceedings, initially shocked by the killing of the victims she was also confused, were these visions showing her what was actually happening now, or was it showing her the past, as she assumed the other visions in which she herself had appeared had done, or was she simply going insane.

**********

Magnus One now notified the authorities anonymously by phone, telling them that he had found seven dead bodies; he also gave them the location of the bloody scene. On investigating the call, they immediately notified Chief Superintendent Reynolds who set off for Yorkshire with his full team. By now, Reynolds trusted the agents of the SIS, so he in turn called Sir Willoughby Brown who sent Rob and David up to Yorkshire, which is precisely what Magnus One wanted.

**********

Scientia arrived at Fort Mead in Maryland, USA in the early morning, and because of the hour, he had been led to his cell to sleep until the day shift arrived to question him. He soon found that his new guards had not taken the many precautions that the SIS in London had taken, so he decided to educate them, especially as there was only the graveyard shift present at this late hour in Fort Mead. He soon had a plan of escape worked out, thankfully, they had left his translation device turned on and it worked over the short range between him and the device, which was sitting on a desk in a nearby office.

"Guard, guard, help me!" Scientia cried out.

Twenty seconds later a tired looking agent, Miles Larson, appeared at the cell door. Agent Larson had been told very little about this particular prisoner, just that he was special; well he could see that from his height, his gaunt looks, his pallid complexion and red eyes, Agent Larson thought as he looked through the bars at the prisoner. It was now that Agent Larson noticed how bright the red eyes were, how they glowed, he noticed that he was opening the cell and walking inside, but little else, then he was laying down upon the bed and he was soon fast asleep.

Scientia took the agent`s keys and weapon, he debated about searching for his translating device and his Satan energy weapon but decided against it, he could easily be seen and shot should he dally too long in this building. He had no particular idea as to where he would go after escaping from the building, unfortunately his plan stopped just short of perfect, he would just have to play it by ear. He quietly made his way to the staircase and followed the fire exit sign that led him down to the large reception area at the entrance to Fort Mead. So far, he had met no one, so he now took a moment to familiarize himself with the percussion weapon before he was called upon to use it. It took him but a moment to work out how it worked so he proceeded on, opening the door he saw two men sitting behind a desk, they were the night security for this level, levelling his weapon on one of the men he used his mind to take control of the other guard. It took him a little longer because the guard was not looking directly into his eyes, but finally he was in control of the guard, who just stood there immobile.

The two agents in the reception area were as tired as the one that Scientia had already taken out, but while one of the agents, Johan Muller, went into a daze, due to Scientia focussing his mind control on him, the second agent, Mitch Wayling, was looking out through the glass doors at the car park beyond. It was he who saw Scientia reflected in the glass of the door, and it was this agent who reacted even while Scientia attempted to aim the strange weapon at the second guard.

Agent Wayling threw himself to one side while twisting around, even as Scientia attempted to react to this sudden movement, Agent Wayling had landed on the hard floor and taking only a fraction of a second he aimed and fired his Taser weapon, the only weapon that the two guards were allowed to use in the reception area. Scientia felt the electricity run through his body, he recalled crying out in pain, but that was all, moments later Agent Wayling has handcuffed Scientia and hauled him over to the lift. While Agent Muller struggled through the mind control that had suddenly gone, Agent Wayland returned Scientia to his cell where he found the sleeping guard, who on being awoken and released him from the cell looked a combination of baffled and deeply shamed. Wayland now ensured that their prisoner would not awaken too soon, for he pumped him full of a strong sedative always kept on hand to quieten unruly prisoners. Wayling had one more task to complete before he headed back down to the reception area. He contacted his chief, Agent Colin Charles, who on being awoken from a deep sleep swore, then after listening to everything that Agent Wayling had to say about the episode, he fired out some quick instructions, Agent Charles then dressed and drove quickly over to Fort Mead.

Here he was once again told about the way their prisoner had taken control of two of their agents' minds, he was also told that Agent Wayling had pumped the alien full of a powerful sedative to ensure that he did not come round too soon to try his tricks on them again. On hearing the strange tail Agent Charles called his superiors, who in turn finally remembered the warning given to them by the SIS, they quickly realised that they needed expert help and so they called Sir Willoughby Brown and asked him for help. David, who up until then was heading for Yorkshire with Rob, was diverted to the city of Maryland, USA.

**********

The Amaymons had moved to another farmhouse just a couple of miles away from their latest crime scene, Magnus One was using it as a very temporary land base, within it the aliens were busy setting their trap to capture Rob or David. They had used their superior technology to hack into the CCTV cameras around the MI6 building, Then to follow Rob as he drove across London to the M11 motorway that would take him North and Scarborough. Even when Rob turned off onto one of the narrower roads they kept track of him, Magnus One following him using the smallest of drones. The crime scene was still three country lanes further on when the countryside alongside the lane opened up, the lane cutting through open farmland for a short distance. There was just row upon row of cabbages, and it was amongst these that the aliens were concealed as they waited for Rob.

Rob was given a clue to their being near to him when the engine of his vehicle cut out, but Rob put this down to a genuine fault in his vehicle as he guided the vehicle to the side of the lane. It was not until the aliens suddenly appeared on both sides of his vehicle that he realised what the fault actually was, the aliens had used their technology to stop his leisurely drive through the lanes of Yorkshire. There were four of them, each armed with one of their Satan energy weapons, all of which were aimed at him through the closed windows of his vehicle, the one looking at him through the driver`s side window spoke to him.

"Rob Hinds make no attempt to reach for your weapon or we will open fire on you." Linguia ordered. "I am going to open your door, you will get out slowly and carefully keeping both of your hands in view at all times. Please understand Mr Hinds, there are four of us, should you not follow my orders precisely, should you choose instead to attempt anything reckless, then at least one of us will shoot you, do you understand?"

Rob nodded slowly. "Yes, I understand, I will play nice." Rob replied softly.

This phrase seemed to stump Linguia for a moment but seeing it as words of compliance he reached down and opened the door of the vehicle.

Rob had considered ramming the door into the alien`s body, but with three other dangerous looking weapons trained on him he resisted the urge to play rough, later maybe, but for the moment he would simply wait until the odds had shortened. As he slowly got out of his vehicle he cursed himself for a fool, the aliens had guessed that he would be sent to the scene of their last atrocity, why had he not taken greater care as regards his personal protection. The answer of course was that he was in England, he always felt safer here, had he been anywhere else in the world his natural survival instincts would have kicked in. Now though he was their captive, and they would use their technology coupled to their mind control to learn everything that he himself had learned about black magic, of Moira Bourbon and his friend David Pritchard. This would make them unbeatable when added to the power that they already possessed, that of being able to control the mind of anyone not suitably protected, it was while Rob was thinking the worst that Linguia cut into his thoughts.

"Take your weapon out of its holster and drop it onto the ground, carefully though or you will end up dead." Linguia ordered.

Rob pulled his weapon out of his shoulder holster using just two fingers and tossed it to the ground. Linguia now had another order for him.

"You communications device, lose it." Linguia ordered.

"My device is still in the vehicle." Rob said indicating his car.

Linguia nodded and then pulled out a device and waved it all over Rob`s body looking for anything else that could be of use to Rob, when he did not find anything he put his device away and then spoke.

"Move off Mr Hinds, across the field."

The aliens led him away from the country lane across the field and into another large barn, and here he saw what could only be a small space vehicle, it was in fact their shuttlecraft, Magnus One was also in the barn and he instructed Linguia to take Rob to the waiting dungeon.

The barn belonged to a local farmer, who along with his family had been sent into a shallow sleep so that the aliens could make use of his barn without the family causing them any further problems. They could have killed them and eaten their brains; however, Magnus One knew that they really did not have time to indulge themselves, so they merely kept them prisoners within their own farmhouse. Should someone call at the farmhouse then the farmer`s wife would be woken from her sleep and forced to get rid of their guest, whoever it was. The aliens too were forced to stay there, but only until the early hours of the next morning, that or their shuttle craft would be seen leaving and its progress followed, this Magnus One did not want for it might just put their starship at risk.

Rob was led to the farmhouse, and after entering it via the kitchen his escort stopped at the door to the cellar, and after opening it, they forced him down into the room that the family stored various items including vegetables, homemade wine and various items necessary for the running of the farm. A small amount of light entered the cellar through a small barred window; Rob noted this as one escape option, if he could remove the bars. As he investigated the items kept in the cellar he came up with another option, even if it would be a highly dangerous one, he carried on with his search for a safer option, one that would not endanger his life.

This was not the first cellar within which Rob had been imprisoned, Moira Bourbon had made use of one when she had captured him in this very county some two years ago. With him that time had been David and their friend Gerry Handley who had unfortunately died later in the mission, it had been after they had all been taken to a Hell dimension by Moira Bourbon. They had been able to escape from that particular cellar using Rob`s talent at picking locks, that and a bucket full of holy water to throw at their demon guard, this time he would have to escape using just his own wits.

As he stood in the cellar Rob allowed his mind to wander, he wondered why the aliens were still wearing their monks` outfits, but on thinking about he realised, it was because the hooded outfit hid their distinctly alien features so well. He then wondered why they had not used their mind control on him, why they had given him this small chance to escape. He decided to take advantage of their mistake and he investigated his dungeon again, looking at everything that was stored there in the hope of finding a suitable tool that he could use to assist him in his task, luckily, he still had his lock picking set on him.

**********

Two of the aliens were stationed in the farm house, they were there to watch over Rob and the farmer`s family, and to wake the farmer`s wife should a caller appear, the rest of the aliens were in the barn. Magnus One had just finished off his report on all that had happened since they had left the base near London and journeyed north, it would be transmitted back to their home world when they returned to the starship. His next task was to interrogate Rob Hinds, and as he prepared to stand, he shivered as the temperature in the shuttle craft fell sharply. Magnus One and the other aliens felt a wave of exhaustion flood over them, they put it down to the many late hours that they has been working, this coupled to the amount of mind control that they has been using. In fact, it was because the dark demon lord Lucifer was in the vessel and it was he who had caused them all to feel so very tired. With his minor task completed, he took one final look at Magnus One before he returned to his hell dimension. Magnus One was yawning, the dark lord smiled, even he did not know why he had decided to intervene on behalf of Rob, but then he owed the champion of the light a debt that he had now repaid in full. He hoped his intervention would give Rob the necessary time to affect his escape, if not he thought then it was just too bad. In fact, Lucifer was extremely annoyed with the Amaymons, for eons ago their people had turned their backs on him; they had forgotten their vows to worship him for eternity. They no longer held black masses to him, now they were pale cruel creatures who possessed just one power amongst them, compared to Satanists such as Moira Bourbon at her more powerful they were no hope barbaric beginners.

Magnus One did not notice the rise in temperature after Lucifer left, he was too tired, he yawned again as a single thought ran through his mind, one put there by Lucifer. That he would go ahead with his attempt to scare their prisoner into co-operating with them. However, if, as was likely, he refused then the actual interrogation of the earthman would not start until the next morning, by then they would be back aboard their starship with the time to drag everything out of the earthman without the fear of being interrupted.

Magnus One walked into the cellar and stared at the earthman, one who would be made to tell him how he had viewed part of their feast from across time, both in the church, the warehouse and finally in the Church of the |Second Coming. The last two times the earthmen had made use of a protective screen to combat the mind control, this he was even more interested in, for he could make good use of it when amongst his own people back on the home world. Finally, he needed to know who had invaded his mind, this should have been impossible, but then his people were unable to do any of the things that some of the people of Earth appeared to be able to do.

"Tell me Rob Hinds, how were you able to view us through time, and how does your protective screen work, the one that kept us out of your minds?" Magnus One demanded to know. "Tell me everything that I want to know and you will be freed, unharmed, when what you have told us proves to be true. Otherwise, earthman, I will drag the information out of you piece by piece using the most painful method I can devise."

Rob looked at the alien and laughed. "Boy did you get the wrong man." Rubbed bluffed. "I am only the hired muscle, the guy who knows how to do all that clever stuff, was the short scruffy scientist who is in command of the team." Rob said meaning Humphreys, for to say it was his friend David would put Earth in an even more dangerous situation that it already was, with David tortured for all of the black magic knowledge that he possessed.

"Look friend, if you promise to let me go unharmed then I will help you capture the scientist, OK?" Rob offered in the most smarmy voice that he could produce, mixed in with a whole amount of fear.

Magnus One looked at Rob and all of a sudden he felt weary, tomorrow he would find out the truth, tonight he was far too tired to mind wrestle with the earthman who he knew was lying following his interrogation of the two SIS agents. Magnus One turned and left Rob in his dark dank cellar to wonder about his future. He had decided to sleep, early as it was, so as to be refreshed for the journey back to their starship.

**********

Unknown to Rob he now had until midnight, at most, in which to affect an escape, and he owed this time to the enemy of all Mankind, he owed it to Lord Lucifer. However, Rob was not one to sit around and wait to be tortured, he meant to make his escape now. He walked up the steps to the cellar door, but to his annoyance, he found that the aliens had fitted a temporary lock of their own, one that he could not hope to open. His hopes dashed he once again looked around the cellar for some other way to escape while pondering as to why the aliens had taken the time to change the lock, could it be that they feared he would be impervious to their powers. In no time, he had amassed a collection of chemicals that would blow the farmhouse sky high, for he did not intend to give the aliens any information, death before dishonour. However, this was but a fall back plan, his escape plan was to use just a small amount of the chemicals to blow the door open, and while he was escaping the main bomb would hide his disappearance, and it may even send some of the aliens to hell. His one problem was in estimating the exact amount of explosive to use on the door, too much, he could die in the attempt, too small, and he would have to detonate the main bomb when the aliens investigated his abortive escape, if the smaller bomb had not knocked him unconscious. Unfortunately, for the farmer and his family, Rob did not know of their presence, and so their lives did not enter into the equation.

**********

Lord Asbaritch had left open the part of Moira`s mind that would tell her when black magic was being used whenever it was being practiced nearby, the part that dated back to the time when she was the most powerful Satanist that had ever existed . This time the user of magic was Lord Lucifer, when he had made the aliens feel so very tired aboard their shuttlecraft.

Moira Bourbon was still living in the convent, although she was preparing to leave it and to return to her chateau in France where she wanted the time and space to think, and without the incumbency that came with her present lifestyle.

When she felt the same tingling sensation in her head, the same one that had preceded her last vision of the strangers but much stronger this time, she tuned her massive latent powers into it. Moments later she found herself at a farmhouse, and she watched as one of the aliens visited Rob Hinds in a room that she assumed was a cellar from its decor, or lack of it, that and the many things stored in it.

Then she remembered the voice in her head that had whispered it message of hate to her.

"Remember Moira, he killed our father, Rob Hinds killed him."

Moira smiled grimly and shut the vision down, if the killer of her father was worthy then he would get himself out of his present fix, her heart was now as hard as granite, but she did not notice, she was thinking of her future, thinking about leaving the convent for her family chateau in France, that she now remembered quite well.

**********

As Rob was preparing the smaller of the two bombs, he heard a soft voice whisper to him.

"Rob, listen to me, I have come to help you, never mind the explosive device, keep trying to take out the bars of the window, they will yield to one who perseveres."

Rob looks around quizzically for a sign of the mystery speaker, finding no sign he spoke.

"I have tried; whoever put them in made a very good job of it."

"Rob, it is only your brain that is preventing you from escaping, let go of what you know and try again."

Rob was a little stunned by this turn of events, but he had been offered a way to escape, even if it sounded as if he was now an actor in a Star Wars film. Therefore, he returned to the window and once again tried to move the bars, however they seemed as firmly set in as before.

"Have faith in the power of the lord, Rob and you will succeed." The soft voice whispered in his ear.

Rob looked about him and was about to swear when he felt a warmth run over his cold body and so he kept silent. Instead he closed his eyes and thought of his young family, and as he did so he felt the first bar move and then come away from the window, this was quickly followed by the other two bars. He stood there for a moment looking at the open window, his mind filled with confusion. He knew that he alone had not moved the bars, there was no way that even he would believe that, no he must have received help from a higher plain, and this was unprecedented. David had told him that God never interfered with what was happening on Earth, it was up to Man to overcome adversity, if he was worthy. If he moved beyond that then what did it tell him about the future of Earth, and of his young family. Feeling a little scared by where his thoughts had led him to, he scrambled out of the small window, he was free again and then he heard the soft voice whispering to him again.

"Your future is fraught with danger Rob, yes you must fight these monsters but be sure to look after those you love, they are in great danger."

Rob stood still when he should have been running away from the farmhouse; it was because his insides had been turned to ice by the latest message from beyond. He determined to look after his family first and allow others of the SIS to chase the alien monsters down, he would return to the chase only when his family`s security was just that, secure.

The sun had set many hours ago, and so it was dark as Rob made his way out of the farmhouse and then down the country lane that passed by the farm, minutes later, he was back at his vehicle. It took but a moment to find his pistol and return it to his holster and then he slipped back inside his vehicle and immediately put a call through to Sir Willoughby Brown, who on hearing Rob`s story, and of his paranormal saviour, said he would immediately organise a massive raid on the old farmhouse. If anyone else had called him with such a tale he would have sent for a psychiatrist, with Rob and David he knew that anything was possible.

"Rob, drive on up the road to the crime scene, you will find some of our people still there, I will get a team of SCO19 officers to meet you there, and as soon as they arrive you can lead the assault on the aliens." Sir Willoughby Brown was saying when Rob interrupted him.

"Sir Richard, I cannot do that, I need to get my family to safety, I have been told by my saviour that they are in great danger."

"Ok Rob, you go home and see to your family`s safety, John Agers can lead the assault." Sir Willoughby Brown replied. "Let me know when you get there Rob, and that your family is safe."

Rob now called his home; it was Christina who answered the call.

"Hi Rob, when will you be home tonight?" She asked cheerfully on seeing her husband`s phone number appear on their digital telephone

"Christina, is Cassie there?" Rob asked without taking time to say hello, his tone telling his wife that something was very wrong.

"Yes Rob, she is here, why, what is wrong?" She asked as an ice cold chill ran through her body.

"Maybe nothing Darling, but we cannot take the chance that something might be about to go very badly wrong." Rob replied grimly.

Rob then told her of his capture and subsequent release, and then of the warning from his saviour.

"I will be there as soon as possible, in the meantime do not answer the door to anyone, use the protection spell that David gave us and prepare a pentagram." Rob ordered. "Remember darling, I love you, and I will never let any harm come to you, see you in a little while." Rob said and then he rang off before Christina could say anything more.

As Rob drove off towards his home, he called David on his mobile to tell him about his capture and subsequent release from his prison by an unknown presence; however, David was now in the USA and could only advise him to be careful when he once again took the fight to the aliens. However, he did promise to think about what Rob had told him, for his mind too was now in turmoil. Never had they received this kind of help before and he too feared for their immediate future, he determined to return to England as soon as he had shown the NSA how to protect themselves against a real Satanist, thankfully one with very limited powers.

Chapter Six

Moira Bourbon

It was while Rob was driving towards the M25 motorway that would take him home that Lord Asbaritch decided to pay another visit to Moira, something had told him that time was running out. Once again he made her fall into a deep sleep, he then entered her mind and released more of her past to her, this time Moira saw that her other self was standing within an ancient Greek temple and calling out to someone.

"Hear me wondrous goddess Circe, I have done all that you asked of me, I have set offerings upon your altar and I promise to do so each month, please bestow upon me your favour so that I might be victorious against those who are my enemies."

A purple plume of smoke began to form to one side of the statue and Moira knelt down before it as a supplicant, the sleeping Moira gasped as she saw Circe appear from out of thin air.

"You have done well Moira Bourbon, you have done all that I asked of you, and as a favour I now make you my priestess, look after my temple, make offerings to me to show your devotion and in time I will give you the thing that you most desire, my Circle of Circe." Circe said graciously.

"Thank you my goddess." The Satanist Moira said between gritted teeth. "However, could you not show me your great favour now by giving to me your wondrous device?"

"No, demon, you must win such a gift from your goddess by showing her your devotion." Circe replied angrily.

"Well if that is how it is." The Satanist Moira said lightly.

The sleeping Moira watched as she then pointed her right index finger at the ground beneath Circe and said. "Ignite."

The goddess realised immediately that she was in danger, but just a second too late, for she was held tightly in an energy field that flared up around her even as she attempted to attack Moira. Moira walked out of the temple, but she returned seconds later carrying a golden chest, it was the golden Ark of Ba'al Berith, she placed it on the altar and aimed it directly at Circe.

"It is no use attempting to struggle Circe, you are not going anywhere until the potion that I buried in front of the statue is fully incinerated. Now tell me where your device is, for otherwise I will open the lid of the Ark and you will then become my dinner, do you understand, goddess?" The Satanist Moira said grimly. "Now I am going to allow you to speak, but if you try to say anything other than the location of your device I will introduce you to my own device." She said patting the lid of the golden Ark of Ba'al Berith.

"Speak, Circe or die." The Satanist Moira ordered as she gripped both sides of the lid of her Ark in readiness for opening it.

While Moira spoke, Circe had no option but to listen, however she might not have been able to move so much as an eyelid, but she could think. She did not think that she would be able to say anything that could stop Moira Bourbon, not without certain preparations and certainly not before Moira raised the lid of the Ark. Circe was still unable to move; only the use of her vocal cords had been returned to her.

"The device is beneath the floor of my temple in the city of Troy." Circe replied feeling extremely humiliated at being treated so discourteously by a mere human/demon Satanist.

Having obtained the information that she needed Moira quickly said. "Stop speaking Circe."

Circe was once again unable to hurt Moira using whatever powers the goddess possessed.

"Circe, I would have been quite content to lay offerings at the feet of your statue, but now that is impossible. We both know that the moment that I release you, you will attack me, sooner or later you will kill me, so I am compelled to act first, sorry." Moira said lightly.

With that, Moira opened the lid of her Ark, and the last thing that the goddess felt was this tremendous pain all over her body, then she was sucked into the Ark, and then the lid slammed firmly shut. The beautiful young Satanists laughed so much she almost collapsed onto the floor, but finally she regained her composure, and she looked at the Ark in awe. Her fingered lightly touched the sides of the Ark, and this time the power that shot up her arms and into her body was so much that she almost fainted. She did sink to her knees, her eyes closed in ecstasy, and on her face was the look of a woman who had experienced the most terrific orgasm in her entire existence. It took her a full minute to regain control of her mind and her body, she then opened her eyes and smiled, never had she looked so beautiful, for a glow emanated from her face, and her eyes sparkled with such energy.

"Oh my but that was one bloody good trip." Moira cried out in pleasure. "I must find another god to introduce to my toy, and soon, but for now I am off to Troy."

The sleeping Moira awoke moments later, her eyes were filled with wonder, she had just seen herself kill a goddess using a wondrous golden chest. A chest that she then used to make herself as powerful as a goddess.

"Remember Moira, he killed our father, Rob Hinds killed him and he also killed us Moira, he gave us no chance to surrender Moira, he shot us dead."

These whispered messages were unnecessary for Moira was now converted back to the dark side, and it was now that Lord Asbaritch appeared in the flesh in front of her. Anyone else would have screamed when a major demon of Hell appeared, however Moira smiled for she suddenly remembered all the good times that she and the dark lord had enjoyed together.

"Moira, listen to me, Rob Hinds is your enemy, he killed you and your father when you were both simply resting in your chateau in France, and he betrayed you. I will now show you how he chose to save Lord Lucifer, the epitome of evil to the human world, when you Moira were on the brink of defeating him." Lord Asbaritch moved his hand to the side of her head and gently touched it.

Moira now saw and heard in her mind the terrible episode that her dark lord had spoken of, the setting was the very centre of Hell and the players were herself, Lucifer, Rob and David.

"Aid me my Lord, give me back my father and then lend me some of your most terrible demons and I will take on the Christian god and defeat him, then you will be supreme ruler of all creation." Moira saw herself declare boldly.

"I believe that if anyone could do such a thing then it would be you Moira, but to openly go against God would be foolhardy. The consequences of which could even see me hurled into the dark abyss. His forces are far too strong to bet against, I am sorry Moira but you are too dangerous to my wellbeing, and that is another reason why you must be put down." Lord Lucifer replied sadly.

The Satanist Moira faded away to be replaced by the present one, she was looking directly at Lucifer, and feeling the utter contempt that she had felt on that occasion, she remembered her thoughts, that he too was house trained by the Christian god. She found herself letting out a loud scream of anger as she launched herself at Lucifer, landing on his upper body and staring right into his blazing red eyes; she then grabbed his head and actually began to drain him of his powers.

While Lucifer screamed out in pain and attempted to dislodge the angry Satanist, behind her Rob, who had been frozen in place by Moira, found that he could move his hand to his squirt gun and aim it at the back of Moira, who was gaining massive amounts of energy with each passing second. Rob pressed the trigger and sent a jet of holy water at Moira who screamed out in pain and dropped from the body of Lucifer. She turned to face her new attacker, but this only brought her face and body under the attack of two jets of holy water, for now both Rob and David Pritchard were free from her mind control, free to act in the best way that would see them live and escape from the kingdom of Hell.

Lord Lucifer, who was no longer being subjected to such a painful attack, picked up Moira`s light body and held it for a second above his head before he hurled her into the black abyss, a bottomless pit of the utmost evil that tormented those unlucky enough to be introduced to it, and made to stay there for eternity.

The vision ended here and Moira found herself back with Lord Asbaritch who now spoke to her.

"Moira, you clawed your way out of the abyss, something no one else has ever done before, only to lose at your moment of triumph to Rob Hinds, a man who will forever be your enemy." Lord Asbaritch began.

"In fact Moira, none of the people associated with Rob Hinds care for you. His wife Christina has never visited you at the convent because she has always hated you. Young Carrie is the same and the Popist, David Pritchard, only comes to see you to ensure that you are not reverting to your former fearless self, after each visit he reports to his friend Rob Hinds. Only I love you my darling." Lord Asbaritch declared. "I gave you life when Rob Hinds killed you, and now I am freeing your mind of the restraints imposed upon it by Rob Hinds and the Popist. Look at this final vision, it is not one of your own but one of mine."

Moira watched her father and herself walk into the study of their chateau in France, then two pops broke the silence of the night, Moira watched as she and her father fell to the floor dead. Then she heard Rob`s voice coming from through the now broken window, broken by the two bullets passing through them on their way to their targets.

"Come on we need to ensure that they are dead." She heard Rob say.

Her vision had not ended though, for from around the corner of the building three large mastiffs appeared, however, these killing machines were no match for the two marksman who quickly shot the dogs. Rob and the two officers rushed inside the chateau, and were soon looking down upon the still bodies of the two Satanists. Rob took out his automatic pistol and put a bullet through each of their heads.

Although these two episodes had lasted quite a while, the replay of the two visions had only taken seconds, when they had finished Moira stifled a sob and looked up at her dark lord, her eyes filled with tears but she had a grim determined look upon her face. Lord Asbaritch understood how she felt and he moved towards her, however he no longer appeared to her as the dark demon lord, now he looked more herculean, he now took her in his arms and kissed her passionately and seconds later, she felt her body respond to him, as it had done before her defeat by Rob Hinds.

"Come back to my fortress in the Netherworld, I can give you back your demon powers and we can fly together in the Dreamscape, and there we can look in on the dreams of the humans and turn some of them into nightmares, and we will feed upon their emotions." Lord Asbaritch beseeched the only woman to steal his heart away from him.

"Yes my Lord, I will come with you." Moira promised.

"Moira, I must warn, if you intend to go up against Rob Hinds again, then the only way is to send the demon Skargel after him, for to use a drawn out plan of revenge is to court disaster, as has happened to you in the past. Why not take the world first and only then rid it of Rob Hinds and the Popist." Lord Asbaritch urged.

"Rob Hinds and the Popist are the two reasons why I might fail to win the world my Lord, as soon as I launched my power grab they would be the only ones able to oppose it, which they would do, instantly. No they must be got rid of first before they even know that I am back." Moira explained. "I want them to die thinking about me, not killed by a minor demon; I want them to suffer as my father suffered in the hell dimension of Tartarus."

To win her over completely Lord Asbaritch now told her of his plans for Rob.

"Moira, my love, I thought you would answer as you have, and so I have planned for you the ultimate revenge for your father`s death, and the evils that Rob Hinds has committed against your own body Moira." Lord Asbaritch said passionately.

"We will send his wife Christina to the Satanist Shekhar, he lives in India, in the city of New Delhi, he can train her to become a hand maiden of Lord Lucifer. She might not like it but she will obey, for her sister will be your hand maiden in our fortress, we will tell each of them that if they rebel we shall kill everyone they love, their sister, the two young children and finally Rob Hinds." The dark demon lord crowed.

"Would you like a hand maiden my love, one who dare not disobey you for otherwise she too would be forced to watch the death of all those she cares for, starting with her niece and nephew?" Lord Asbaritch declared evilly.

"What of Rob Hinds and his friend David, they will not sit ideally by while we kidnap the two women, they will turn the world upside down looking for them?" Moira asked. Her face was full of innocence but all that her dark lord had shown her had rekindled her desire for retribution again Rob Hinds.

"Rob Hinds will be powerless to act against you my love, for he cannot journey unaccompanied to our domain, only you and I, and of course Lord Lucifer can bring him here, so they can never get to you or rescue young Cassie. Think about the pain he will suffer when he discovers that you have left the convent and that both his wife and Cassie are also missing, his torment will be equal to those who dwell in Tartarus." Lord Asbaritch replied joyfully. "Only when you are fully sated will we send the demon Skargel to kill them both in the most violent way possible while you look on laughing at the agony he endures."

Talking to her dark lord, Moira found that she remembered even more of her personal history, such as how she stole the golden Ark of Ba'al Berith away from the god Kronos.

"We must first arrange the deaths of those repulsive creatures that are killing people for no better reason other than to eat their brains and drink their blood, after we have dealt with them my love, I will be ready to make Rob Hinds pay for what he has done to me and my father.

Lord Asbaritch`s face lit up, never had he been so happy as of this moment, but he was puzzled.

"My Love, the alien creatures are a race of Satanists, crude and who possess very little power, but they are Satanists, of a sort." Lord Asbaritch said quizzically.

"They are monsters from a dark age who eat brains My Love, if we do not kill them soon their brethren will follow them, and that would be too ghastly for words, in any case the Earth is my domain, I certainly do not want such monsters roaming about it freely." Moira declared.

Lord Asbaritch nodded his head in agreement, for he thought that if more of the aliens arrived the world would become a very violent place. His world was hot and arid, full of sand and rock but nothing much else, he particularly enjoyed the relative peace he found in parts of the human world when we roamed its forests and mountains that were full of life.

"Moira my love, the alien creatures can wait a day, first we must kidnap the two women in Rob Hinds life and deposit them in our fortress, it is essential that we do this first to prevent him from learning of our plans from those who fight for the Christian god. You know that he has friends there who may once again be listening in on our plans, we must move before he can respond to such a warning, for even now they gather in readiness to assist him." Lord Asbaritch advised.

"You are correct my Lord, as usual, I will do as you advise, as you say the alien monsters can wait until tomorrow morning, but first My Lord we must check to see if Rob is still alive, for earlier this evening I saw the alien creatures capture him, who knows they may already have killed him." Moira replied.

Lord Asbaritch was surprised to hear this but moments later Moira found herself at the farmhouse listening to Magnus One berating his coven for allowing their captive to escape. The demon lord knew where the alien Satanists were because of the amount of satanic energy that followed their movements, and it had taken him but a moment to locate it. With Rob free once again, Moira turned to her dark lord and said.

"My Love, will you please take me to Rob Hinds` apartment." Moira asked with a smile now playing around her mouth, for she was looking forward to meeting the two women again, but under much different circumstances than they would ever have imagined.

Moments later, they arrived in the front room of the Hinds` family apartment, much to the surprise of Christina Hinds and her sister Cassie who both screamed in fear on seeing them appear out of thin air. Christina had been in the middle of preparing a pentagram following Rob`s telephone call, and Cassie had only just begun the protection spell, unfortunately neither of them were quite quick enough. Christina made to rush across the room where the bottles of holy water were sitting on the floor by the wall, and unfortunately Cassie had just emptied her sprayer and had been about to refill it. However, before either of them had moved even two feet towards the bottles of holy water Moira had frozen them in mid stride.

Cassie seeing that they were unable to move still managed to voice her protest to this invasion from Hell. "What the hell Moira, have you once again become the bitch from hell even after all David Pritchard has done for you, after Christina and I tended to your poor burned body after the battle at Rob`s office?" Cassie asked angrily as fear began to spread through her young body.

Christina said nothing for she was afraid for her two children and did not want to draw attention to herself, for she knew what Satanists used them for, human sacrifices to their dark Lord Lucifer. She just hoped that this was just a warning visit; however, she knew that Moira normally did not do such things; this would be a much more serious visit, one that she and Cassie would live to regret.

Moira took the time to write a quick note to Rob, which she put on the coffee table in the front room, then she smiled at Christina and Cassie and finally she turned back to the dark lord.

"My Lord, I think it is time that we were leaving." Moira said ignoring Cassie`s comment.

Moira had decided against taunting the two women, that she could do when they were safely back at the fortress, for she thought it would be dangerous to stay within the apartment for longer than necessary. She had been bested by Rob on too many occasions, and always because of her need to get as much enjoyment as she could from each situation.

Lord Asbaritch smiled at his consort, for she was showing a wisdom that had she not possessed before, if she had, it would have meant that Rob would never have defeated her in their earlier battles. Saying nothing at all in reply to her request, he transported the four of them to the imposing Fortress of Asbaritch in the hell dimension of the Netherworld. Here, Christina and Cassie were deposited in a circular room at the top of one of the tall imposing towers, Christina remembered it from her last visit there and she knew that escape was impossible without Rob first coming to this terrible world to defeat their enemies, but how could he?

**********

Magnus One had been very angry when he had found that Rob has escaped, however he contented himself with screaming a few insults at his coven, their punishment would have to wait, Rob`s escape meant that they had to leave this base of operations and return to their starship, which was hidden at the bottom of the North Sea. For not only would the authorities soon raid this farmhouse in search of them, but also his computer aboard the starship has just notified him that naval vessels from the Royal Navy were closing in on their starship.

**********

David was met by a NSA agent as he went through passport control, and he was whisked off to Fort Mead, the NSA headquarters, his task, to show some sceptical agents how to prevent their prisoner from taking over the mind of his jailers and then escaping. On arrival there he demonstrated the protection spell, and when Scientia awoke, the NSA agents first saw his baffled expression and then his anger when he realised that one of the Englishmen was not only there, but had shown his new jailers how to stop him from taking control of their minds.

"The protection spell will prevent him from being able to control your minds, however, I suggest you strap him into a chair and attach an intravenous tube to his arm. This will allow you to pump a powerful sedative into him, should he attempt to escape again by using his mind control powers." David advised. "At all times any of your people who are in the vicinity of his cell should wear a garland of garlic around their heads, this will also help prevent him from taking control of their minds. When you enter his cell you must be careful to not make eye-contact with him, because otherwise he will take control of your mind though your eyes. One last thing, at all times you must treat him with respect, because he is very dangerous."

"David, wouldn`t the tranquilizer negate the need for the protection spell?" Agent Charles asked quizzically.

"You should never under estimate these aliens, he might be able to overcome the effects of it, just enough to take control of one of your men, the protection spell will always prevent that, however I do recommend that you renew the protection spell each day. You do not need to enter the cell to apply it; it can be applied onto the outside. You would only have to apply it on the plastic sheet you have just fitted across the front of his cell and likewise to the door of his cell; otherwise, you may well lose him again. The walls of the cell appear to be more than ample to prevent him from using his mind control power through them." David advised. "I just did the whole cell for good measure."

The plastic sheets had been fitted at David`s suggestion when he saw that it would be impossible to protect the agents without them, the front of the cell being constructed out of bars.

**********

The lights were all on when Rob arrived home, he found the twins crying but there was no trace of his wife or Cassie, he felt his blood run cold, for he feared for their lives in the hands of such monsters as the aliens had shown themselves to be, vampiric Satanists. He had assumed that the aliens had taken them, or he had until he saw a note on the coffee table, a note that was addressed to him. It was from Moira Bourbon, she had left it to make his punishment begin all the sooner.

'Hi Rob, just a note to tell you that sweet Christina and Cassie will be my guests for a while, we have plans for them that will keep them busy for eternity, bye for now. PS, the twins need changing.'

Rob`s heart rate now shot up, he could hardly breath as he read and reread the brief note, one thought rampaged through his brain like a mad bull, why had he not killed her the last time that they had met, it had been insane to believe that she could change so completely, and stay that way forever. His next thought was to check at the convent where Moira had been living; however, on speaking on the phone to the convent he was told that Moira had been missing for the last hour, maybe more for no one could remember seeing her for some time.

**********

The authorities raided the farmhouse only to find that the aliens had flown minutes earlier, leaving the farmer and his family wondering why they had slept away the whole day. The aliens had left nothing behind that could be of use to the agents so once again, they were left waiting for a lead that might never come, and when it did blood would almost certainly be attached to it.

**********

For the last two days Sir Willoughby Brown had thought that the aliens` starship must be hidden beneath the waves of the North Sea, and when the latest atrocity had occurred just off the Yorkshire coast he had ordered the Royal Navy to move operations from the south east coast to there. Cruising just off the coast of Yorkshire, and just south east of Scarborough, three type 23 frigates of the Royal Navy were using their world beating sonar to search for the alien` starship. Three more frigates were moving south from the Durham coast towards their comrades, it was hoped that between them they would find their elusive prey. Only the frigates` captains knew their real target, the remainder of the officers and the crew had been told that the Daesh had somehow got hold of a submarine and a crew and that they were in the UK`s territorial waters with very bad intentions. The crews had been told that the vessel must be found before it carried out its mission, which was thought to include an attack on one of the two new British aircraft carriers, either the Queen Elizabeth or the Prince of Wales, which is being built at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth, Scotland. The frigates` orders were to destroy the vessel immediately that it was located; it was thought to be submerged under the North Sea off the eastern coast of England. They were informed that there was no allied submarines in the area; even the Russians had notified the Prime Minister that the area held none of their submarines. This information was freely given as the leaders of the free world and Russia had all been notified of the alien presence in the UK and of the terrible murders of so many innocents by these monsters from deep space.

**********

Lord Asbaritch already knew that the alien starship was hidden somewhere beneath the North Sea, and when he gave this information to Moira she decided to use the minor demon Veigel to track down their exact position. To this end, she had her dark lord take her to her satanic temple beneath her chateau in France where she kept the necessary items to prepare a potion, this she needed to conjure up the demon. However, before she conjured up the demon she decided to make up a powerful alcoholic drink, called Rakiremanin, to give to the demons that she would require for the task she had in mind, it would make them more ready to assist her. The items had always been kept at the chateau so it was a quick an easy task for her to make up a ready supply.

Rakiremanin is a green drink much liked by demons; the ingredients include a large cask of white wine, a generous mixture of molasses, some herbs and spices to give it its exotic flavour and colour. The next batch of ingredients came under the heading of slugs and snails and puppy dog's tails, enough to say that it took a strong stomach to drink such a concoction knowing just what was in it. Finally, a special preparation of wood alcohol was added to the concoction, it gave it strength and a certain something extra.

With the strong alcoholic drink ready, she now prepared to conjure up the first of the demons. When she had finished mixing the necessary potion, she lit it and watched as a yellow plume of smoke began to rise from the potion, and when it reached the ceiling of the room, it spread around it, thinning out as it went. Moira now called to the demon.

"Veigel obey my call." Moira ordered in a voice that rang loudly within the confines of the small laboratory, which was to the rear of her satanic temple.

Veigel must have been close by, for moments later a thin plume of smoke began to rise from the rear of the laboratory, however he did not immediately appear, which was usual for most demons, so she impatiently called out to the demon again.

"Veigel come to me now, I, Moira Bourbon command you." Moira ordered the demon.

The room quickly cooled and the plume of smoke turned into a thin veil of smoke within which Veigel, a minor demon that she used on such occasions as this, appeared, his stunted body bent and his face terribly misshapen. The stench of the beast also reached her, but she did her best not to show any outward sign of it, and knowing that it always preceded the arrival of a demon she had been ready for it.

"Mistress, how good it is to see that you are back, I missed you." Veigel cried out when he saw her.

However, he was surprised to see Lord Asbaritch also there, even though he had heard that the Dark Lord had lost his equally dark heart to the powerful Satanist. Bowing deeply to the powerful demon he said. "My Lord, it is always a pleasure to see you."

Lord Asbaritch did not reply, however Moira did.

"Thank you Veigel, I also missed you." Moira replied in a voice that was quite civil for her and which caused the demon some surprise.

"Veigel beneath the North Sea, and probably just off the human seaside town of Scarborough, a vessel containing some alien creatures is lurking, please locate it for me and when you return here you will be given a large cask of Rakiremanin. As for your usual blood fee, you can take it from your quarry; I think that you will find it much to your liking." Moira ordered.

"I obey oh mistress." Veigel said and then disappeared in a flurry of smoke.

"It is strange to be at this end of the conjuring my love, and I now see just how much time is spent in the preparations, it really is amazing." Lord Asbaritch said to his beautiful consort.

**********

Veigel soon found the starship, and without the need for sonar, however boarding it caused the vessels sensors to kick in and then the starship`s computer called out a warning to the crew.

"Warning, warning, intruder alert, intruder alert, there is an intruder in the engineering department."

The computer`s message was broadcast all over the ship and brought an immediate response from the crew who made for their security stations. On reaching the bridge, Magnus One turned off the message and then he interrogated the computer.

"Computer, give me a detailed report on the intruder." Magnus One ordered.

"Captain, an alien being tripped my sensors in the engineering department, however I have no idea how the intruder got aboard, the intruder just appeared on my internal sensors for the briefest of time." The computer reported in a metallic drone of a voice.

In engineering Veigel came across one of the aliens who had no time to react to the computer warning. The demon latched on to his back and then dug his sharp teeth into the alien`s neck and began to drink his blood. Amid the screams from the Amaymon, Veigel was surprised to find that his victim was a minor Satanist, and finding the blood much to his liking, he drained the body completely. With the sound of many approaching footsteps Veigel left the starship, for he was not up to taking on so many beings, even just two adults would have stretched him, especially with the element of surprise no longer on his side, for Veigel was merely a minor demon of the lowest order. Veigel now returned to the laboratory beneath the chateau in France, whereupon he reported to Moira.

**********

"I have found the alien vessel mistress, however I should tell you that one of the creatures died while I took my blood payment." He said with a look of satisfaction upon his face.

He then showed Moira the image of the starship, the image appearing in a thin veil of smoke that he conjured up.

"That is perfectly all right Veigel, it was your right. Will you please hold the image there Veigel, while I summon Skargel?" Moira replied.

Veigel was almost in shock at being treated so well by Moira Bourbon, as she had never been so nice to him before. As Veigel tried to come to grips with the new Moira Bourbon, she now mixed up the potion that would help her to conjure up Skargel. With the image of the starship still visible, Moira lit the potion and then summoned up the demon.

"Skargel, obey my call, I Moira Bourbon summon thee to appear before me."

Moments after she had finished speaking, a black plume of smoke appeared in the corner of the laboratory, and then the demon Skargel appeared. He was in the form of a huge olive green man, with bulging eyes and a large nose, and as usual when in the company of a human, strange hissing sounds came from the demon`s enormous teeth filled mouth. He had an enormous tongue that was forked, just like the tongue of a serpent, and it flicked in and out of his massive mouth tasting the nearby scents.

"What can I do for you mistress, you who are the most powerful Satanist of all time and favoured by Lord Asbaritch?"

On catching sight of the dark demon lord Skargel bowed and said.

"It is always a pleasure to see you my Lord."

Lord Asbaritch ignored the minor demon`s greeting so Skargel turned back to Moira to hear what she required of him.

"Skargel, look at the image brought to us by the good and faithful demon Veigel, it shows a vessel that lies beneath the North Sea. In it you will find eleven strange creatures, you will kill them and take your blood fee from them. As a token of my affection for you I will present you with a cask of Rakiremanin when you return her to report that you have completed your mission." Moira ordered.

"To hear is to obey oh wondrous one." Skargel replied before vanishing in a cloud of black smoke.

Lord Asbaritch looked anew at his beautiful consort. "You have changed my love, you are a people person now, or should I say a demon person, you will go far with if you deal with all your demons in this fashion."

"As with everything in life My Lord, I learn from you." Moira replied sweetly.

**********

Pandemonium ruled aboard the alien starship, the death of one of their coven was bad enough, however to find that his body had been drained of blood, their own particular thing, was very disturbing. The coven immediately began to search the starship for the intruder, but one thought lurked in the back of all their minds, had there been an intruder, could the killer be one of them. It was into this situation that Skargel materialised into the engineering section of the starship, and with his arrival, the computer screamed out its second warning.

"Intruder alert, intruder alert, there is an intruder in engineering."

Skargel had appeared in all his demon finery and he rushed forward snarling, his hand grabbing the only man in the section, the first engineer, who had been preparing the craft for flight while the other Amaymons searched for the murderous intruder. Easily lifting the heavy man off the floor by his throat, for Skargel was both larger and heavier than the alien; Skargel began to shake him like a doll. The Amaymon could not cry out for help with the hand crushing his larynx, instead beat frantically at his attacker, but to no avail, Skargel merely shrugged off the attack and bit into the alien`s neck. Skargel now drunk his victim`s warm blood, for once again he had been instructed to take his payment from his victims, which he did while the alien was still alive, in fact he took all of his victims blood. It had taken less than a minute for the Amaymon to die, in that short period of time he only managed to make a strange gurgling noise, but that was all, no one heard him die. With the alien now dead, Skargel continued squeezing his victim`s throat until it was crushed by the force of his powerful grip and then he howled long and loud, for the blood had been much to his taste.

The crew of the starship quaked in their boots as the howls from the demon reverberated around the starship, stopping their rush towards the engineering department as they debated what could be the cause of such a terrible cry. Finally they put their fears aside and renewed their hurried dash to engineering, and their crew member. Meanwhile, Skargel had left engineering and he now materialised upon the recently vacated bridge of the starship, vacated by all but one alien that is, for here, he found the one person left to guard the area. Nereid sat fearfully in the far corner of the bridge looking at the only entrance, her Satan weapon aimed directly at the door. For his next victim Skargel took the form of a demonic chimera, a creature that had the front end of a lion, a goat`s middle and a snake for a tail, and he appeared by her side. Grabbing her gun hand, he held it away from his body while he bit into her soft neck and drank her warm fresh blood that gushed into his large capacious mouth. Nereid would have screamed long and loud before she died, but the demon had bitten clear through her larynx, silencing her screams before they left her, except for a few weak gurgles that escaped from her body right up until the moment that she died. Nereid`s body, drained of blood was slumped in her chair; her gun had fallen from her limp hand to the floor.

Before he left the bridge Skargel decided to see what would happen if he pressed some of the icons on the starship`s main computer terminal, for he had always been fascinated by the technology that the humans, and now the Amaymons, possessed in abundance. One icon operated the starship`s defence shield, he touched it and unknowingly turned it off, the shield had been activated when the Royal Naval frigates began to draw ever nearer, to prevent their percussion weapons from destroying the starship. Another icon operated the forward energy weapon, after charging the weapon it blasted the massive rock in front of the starship to a thousand pieces, pleased by this he pressed the icon repeatedly and he was delighted as the starship destroyed the cliff-face directly in front of it. The resultant pressure waves, caused by Skargel`s repeated use of the weapon, struck the starship a series of heavy blows resulting in a dozen minor hull breaches, for without the defence shield there was nothing to stop them. Water began to pour into the vessel from the breeches, putting interplanetary flight well and truly beyond their reach until repairs had been made.

When Magnus One finally returned to his bridge to investigate the many explosions outside of the starship, he found Nereid's dead body, and he came to an instant decision.

"Linguia, call Amaymon, tell them to stay away from this world, the inhabitants are slow to act but when they do they are invincible." He said in a quiet beaten voice.

As Linguia obeyed his commander`s instruction, Moira, who had asked Lord Asbaritch to take her to the starship to witness its destruction, smiled in satisfaction. Then seeing the demeanour of the defeated commander she laughed out loud causing Magnus One and Linguia to tremble in fear and search the bridge for the being who had penetrated their starship`s defences so easily. On seeing Moira materialise in front of them they both reached for their weapons, however neither of them were able to use them, for they were stopped by Moira who held them motionless using her immense powers.

"This is my domain alien, yet you dared to come here and kill and mutilate at will, you even dare to attempt to use your puny weapons against me." Moira shrieked in anger. "Now you despicable aliens see how I, Moira Bourbon, punish such acts." Moira declared regally as she glared with contempt at the two Amaymons.

Magnus One and Linguia now quaked in fear as Skargel, who had one of the Satan energy weapons in his hand, and who was standing in engineering as it slowly filled with water from one of the hull breeches, now began to fire the weapon at any likely looking piece of technology. Each blast of the energy weapon brought with it a warning from the starship`s computer, one such blast finally took out the hyper drive, which was already damaged by the water running over its controls, and another blast took out the second engineer who had come charging through the door to see if he could save the engineering department.

**********

Far above them, and aboard a type 23 frigate, Lieutenant Sanders in the Sonar department contacted the bridge.

"Captain, we have found our quarry, but there is something queer about it, instead of staying silent it sounds as if they are throwing some sort of a party, and they are firing at something."

Captain Marshall now contacted his weapons officer, Lieutenant Carson. "Lieutenant, launch two Sting Ray torpedoes, ten seconds apart; Sonar will give you your target."

**********

As the Amaymons not on the bridge still searched for their unknown attacker, the computer noted the two torpedoes coming their way. However, with no one in engineering they could not escape them, nor could they defend against them for their weapons system was disabled by one of Skargel`s blasts from his new toy, and their defence shields no longer had any power to activate them. The two torpedoes ended the danger posed by the aliens; for they were all killed either by the blasts or drowned by the water pouring into the starship. On their home world, their leaders decided against sending another starship to Earth when they heard the message sent to them and then found that they could no longer contact their reconnaissance vessel.

Chapter Seven

Moira wants her Revenge

Moira gave the two demons she had employed to rid the Earth of the alien presence their large casks of Rakiremanin, and then she and Lord Asbaritch left the chateau in France and returned to the Netherworld. Here they celebrated Moira`s victory over the alien monsters, the dark lord had a large drink of Rakiremanin and Moira had a glass of vintage wine, then they headed up a steep winding staircase to speak to their two guests.

As usual on the Netherworld the sun was up, and now it was lighting up the tower room and making it difficult for Christina and Cassie to sleep, even though they were exhausted by their hours of terror as they each wondered what their fate was to be, something that they would soon find out.

"Good morning girls, another beautiful day on the Netherworld, and after you have had your breakfast you will both take up your new posts." Moira said cheerfully.

Breakfast appeared on the only other furniture in the tower room, except for the cots that is, it was a full English affair that made both women forget their fear as the sight of it reminded them of their hunger. This was because neither of them had dined the evening before due to the preparations that they had been involved in prior to being kidnapped. Cassie was too busy eating to voice any protests at Moira, as was Christina; in fact Moira was forgotten for the moment. Therefore, Moira left them to it and returned to the Great Hall with her dark lord, here he gave her back her demonic powers and then he led her up to his sleeping quarters to celebrate their love for each other. However, when the sun reached its highest point above the arid landscape, Moira returned to the tower room to inform the two women of their fate.

"Girls, I have nothing against either of you, no it is the handsome Rob who I want to suffer, and not only for killing me in cold blood but also for killing my father who I had just taken great pains to bring back to life. So you see sweet Christina, Cassie, your kidnapping is all Rob`s fault, because I want him to suffer for the evils that he has put me through. Until the day that he dies, he will know that because of him you two are a prisoner to my whims. Now I want to hear no more complaints from the two of you, if either of you attempts to escape then everybody that you love will die, do you both understand? The twins will be the first to be visited by a demon, then one of you two and finally Rob and the Popist. Do I make myself clear?" Moira asked in her sweetest voice.

Christina looked at Moira and watched to launch an attack upon her, to scratch her eyes out, to finally kill her, but all she could do was to nod her agreement, to do anything else would see her babies killed, Cassie killed and finally Rob and David. Tears flowed freely down her face when she realised that she would never see her two children again, and never hold Rob in her arms.

Cassie bit back the verbal attack that she wanted to make, and she too simply nodded as tears also slid down her face. She reached out and held her sister`s hand tightly, they would win through, surely Rob and David would find a way to rescue them.

"Good, then I will now tell you what your fate is." Moira said coldly. "Christina, you will be returned to Earth, to the city of New Delhi in India, there you will train to be a hand maiden of Lucifer under the Satanist Shekhar, he is not as powerful as me but he is a devoted follower of Lord Lucifer and a suitable teacher. Should you disobey him he will punish you, cruelly, so do not say that I did not warn you, if you attempt to contact Rob, or anyone else I will know it, for I will have a demon watching over you, your punishment will be the death of one of those you love. If you attempt to escape then more of them will die, and should you actually escape then all of them will die, do I make myself clear?"

Christina was on the verge of fainting however, she managed to reply.

"Yes Moira, I understand, I will do exactly as you say." Christina said in a weak voice that made her sister burst into tears.

It was then that Christina saw the triumphant glint in Moira`s eyes and she determined then not to show any more signs of weakness before this monster, obey yes, faint most certainly not and her chin came up and her eyes flashed rebellion, however Moira merely laughed at her before turning to Cassie.

"Cassie, you will stay here in the Netherworld as my hostage to ensure your sister`s good behaviour, you will be my own hand maiden, however do not anger me for the people who you love will be the ones to pay the price for each act of disobedience." Moira said triumphantly.

**********

David flew back into Heathrow the next morning, thankfully he had managed to get some sleep on the aircraft as Sir Willoughby Brown had insisted he fly Club Class, even so he was still suffering from jet lag after two trans-Atlantic journeys. He found Rob at an all-time low, for he had found no trace of his wife or her sister, in fact he looked to be beaten. However, Rob had not forgotten his main responsibility; he looked after the twins while attempting to keep the twins inside a charged pentagram whenever possible. Rob had slung over his back a 20 litre capacity garden pressure sprayer filled with holy water, wooden crosses hung around his and the twins' necks, and he had used the protection spell to stop demons from entering his apartment, Moira would have crowed loudly if she had witnessed it. However, David had some good news for his friend, something that was guaranteed to bring him back into his normal fighting spirit.

"Rob, I took another of Ulysses Bourbon`s books with me for the long flight, on the return journey I found a most interesting spell." David said and smiled when he saw Rob look across at him with interest and a slight gleam coming back into his eyes.

"I found within the heavy volume a spell that will hide us away from demons and Satanists alike, Rob, we can use it to hide ourselves and the twins away from evil eyes while we find out where Moira has taken Christina and Cassie, then we only have to find a way to get to them, simple Rob. However, we will need a new base of operations; there will be no point in using the spell if we are based at either of our houses or the SIS offices." David said.

Rob felt his spirits rise as he listened to his friend, maybe with his help they could still win through.

"Thank you David, as always you are never beaten by the demons of Hell, and I believe that I have a suitable base." Rob replied. "My dead mother in law`s house, Christina and Cassie have been unable to sell it as the locals all know about its bloody history. If we use the spell at a suitable location we can then travel down to Lower Boulding and be invisible to all except those who are within visual sight of us."

David smiled at his friend and nodded his approval of his plan, and then he said.

"Then we just need the suitable location to drop out of sight Rob, inside a multi-storey car park would be best, we can arrange to have a different car waiting for us there. An MPV would be best, not only to give us enough room for everything we will need for the twins, but it will also give me elbow room to work the spell." David said.

"Yes if we are going to do this then it needs to be done right, and a change of vehicle is definitely a requirement." Rob agreed sounding more like his old self.

Rob called Sir Willoughby Brown who took the opportunity to tell him of the successful attack by the Royal Naval frigate and the utter destruction of the starship and its bloody crew. With the case over he was now in a position to agree to Rob`s request, he would have John Agers and Malcolm Palmer drop off the MPV at the local multi-storage car park in two hours' time. This would give Rob time to pack all the things necessary for a long stay away from home, the two cots took the most amount of time to disassemble, and because they took up so much space they went in David`s estate car. Rob did not tell Sir Willoughby Brown of their intended safe house, it being on a need to know basis, for Moira could easily appear before Sir Willoughby Brown and after entering his mind obtain their new address. Sir Willoughby Brown knowing this did not even ask for this or any other information, he merely trusted Rob and David to do whatever was needed to protect the twins and to find Christina and Cassie.

David had another of the garden sprayers that held 20-litre of holy water; it was slung over his back. After ensuring that none of Rob`s neighbours were in the hallway he sprayed the hallway, the lift and the parking area under the apartment block with holy water while saying the Lord`s prayer, this would protect it against demons and chase any watching demon away with its tail between its legs.

Mughasar was such a demon, one who looked more humanoid than monster, although his head was quite large and he had horns growing out of the top of his head; he was jet black in colour with huge red eyes that seemed to glow, and he had large sharp teeth within a cavernous mouth. Moira had charged him with the task of watching over Rob to ensure that she knew everything he was doing in his attempts to find his wife and Cassie. He was positioned on the staircase, but had not fully materialised, which meant that he could watch but not be seen unless the light was coming from just the right angle, however he was still able to feel pain when the correct weapon was used against him. The first that David knew of the demon`s presence was when Mughasar screamed in pain, for he had received a blast of holy water right in his large mouth. With his mouth feeling as if he had gargled with acid, Mughasar returned to his modest hovel in one of the hell dimensions to tend to his painful wounds. Moira was not to know of Rob`s disappearance for a full 48 hours.

With the way now clear, Rob, David and the twins drove to the local multi-storey carpark and found John Agers and Malcolm Palmer waiting for them, also with them were Simon Markman and Angela Collins, two more SIS agents.

"Sir Richard thought that Simon and Angela could watch the twins when the time for action finally arrives." John Agers said.

The need for extra help had not been overlooked by Rob and David, they had just felt that it was not fair to endanger any more lives, and in any case, most of the SIS agents preferred to stay away from their spooky cases.

"Before you say anything Rob, I should add that these two brave souls volunteered for the job." John Agers said smiling at the other two agents.

Rob looked at the two volunteers and smiled. "Thank you Simon, Angela, your help will mean that David can join me when we have to go to war, wherever it might take us."

"No problem Rob and you should also know that these other heroes here also volunteered, but Sir Richard decided that Simon and I should join you, he felt that we both needed the rest." Angela Collins replied.

It was now time to get to work and David began to mix the necessary ingredients for the potion that went along with the spell, all he would need to do when the potion was ready was to light it and then recite the spell, and they if all went well they would disappear off the demon/satanic radar. Along with various common and not so common minerals, roots and leaves, this potion called for some exotic items. David had found everything that he required within a shop named The Magic Shop, it was one that catered to people who thought that they were witches or who were in fact Satanists, and it was known to very few people not into the subject of witchcraft or the satanic arts.

David had decided to change some of the words as the original spell called upon a powerful demon named Pairmon to come to their aid, and not only could David not call upon a demon, but to do so would might well negate their aim to disappear from evil`s radar, when he told Rob he was not happy.

"Why on Earth did you not say so sooner David, the spell may not even work with the changes that you want to make." Rob complained angrily.

"I know that it will, something has ensured our success up until now, why would it leave you when you need it most?" David replied in defence of himself.

He knew from the moment that he had read the spell when still over the Atlantic that it could mean failure, but something deep inside of him had told him that he was wrong to doubt, it would still work, he must rely on his faith, and he now determined to do just that.

"Ensured our success David, that evil bitch has taken Christina and Cassie; it was not around then, was it?" Rob replied angrily.

"I know Rob, but it did try to warn us." David argued. "Rob, let us at least try the spell, if it works then I will know, if not then you must decide whether to recite the spell in its original format or not." David declared.

He was equally as angry as Rob was, but mostly with himself for not coming clean before now.

"OK then David, we will give it go." Rob said as he got his anger back under control. "As you say, the angels have been with us so far, why not one step more. If only I had not been chasing aliens then I would have been able to get back in time to protect them." Rob replied guiltily even though he could hardly be held responsible for what happened. "Simon, Angela will you watch over the twins?

Of course Rob, no problem." Angela replied.

All four SIS agents knew about the black magic cases, knew about the spells recited that had shown the aliens as the culprits behind the horrific murders. However, they felt very uneasy to be so near to their two colleagues when they were actually going to recite a spell, but then they knew what hung on its success. This being so they forgot their worries and while Angela and Simon played with the twins, the other two Agents kept watch for both the enemy and for innocent shoppers.

Rob knew that if his friend failed then he would have to decide whether to recite the original spell, or not, with the dangers to his soul and of the demon tricking him. David had finished stirring the potion and he now lit it, causing a white plume of smoke to curl upwards towards the roof of the MPV. It was at this moment that a couple of shoppers returned to their vehicle, and they stopped to look nervously at the group of six people in and around the MPV. John Agers walked across to them and showed them his identity card to put their minds at rest.

"There is no need for alarm but if you have finished shopping then we need you to drive away, please say nothing to anyone, it could put lives in danger."

The two shoppers quickly got into their vehicle and drove off, both of them wondering what the plume of smoke had to do with an anti-terrorist operation.

David and Rob had ignored the two shoppers and had proceeded to recite the amended spell in the MPV.

"We, champions of the right hand path, call upon the angels upon high to look upon the six adults and the two young children gathered here. We beseech you to protect us all from evil, make us invisible to demons and Satanists alike so that we can continue the fight against Lucifer and his minions."

David knew that it was not so much the words of the spell that counted as the potion and the power of those who called upon the higher powers, so he hoped that the substantial changes that he had made to the wording of the spell would not matter. He realised that Moira would have had no problem with such a spell, he and Rob on the other hand thought of themselves as ordinary men with no power at all to call upon, they of course were wrong, unknown to them they had acquired quite a lot of psychic power during all of their battles against evil. The four SIS agents watched with mouths open in awe as a glowing light fell upon them and their two colleagues, and then a tingling sensation spread over their skin, finally the power of speech returned to Agers.

"Guys, I think that maybe you were successful."

Rob looked across at his colleague and smiled. "I think that you may be right John."

For he and David had also felt the same tingling sensation spread over all of their skin, and when Rob went to check on the twins he saw them quiet and smiling, for they too had felt it.

"Thank you David, I am sorry that I doubted you." Rob said apologetically.

"No, Rob, I am sorry for not telling you everything about the spell back at your apartment." David replied.

With the spell a success Rob and David climbed into the MPV, it was now full with half of their belongings, the rest being in the Range Rover driven by Simon Markman.

John Agers and Malcom Palmer watched as their friends drove off, then they went window shopping, one hour later they drove Rob`s and David`s vehicles back to the SIS headquarters, in this way even if their foe was there to notice the switch in drivers it would be too late to get on the track of Rob and David.

One hour later Rob stopped off at a fair size town to pick up more essentials, this time in the form of ten bottles of Scotch whisky. David had told Rob that they would have to make use of a demon, if they were to stand any chance of locating the two women. This in turn meant that they would need a large bribe, especially as neither of them was a Satanist. With this item loaded aboard the MPV, Rob drove on towards Lower Boulding. One hour later and Rob was letting them into their new base of operations in Lower Boulding, David would use John Ryman`s old bedroom, he had been Rob`s brother in law and had died a heroes death in the first of Rob`s black magic cases. Rob was in Christina`s and the twins were in Mrs Ryman`s bedroom, they could also use it as a playroom as it was quite large. Angela Collins had been given Cassie`s old bedroom and Simon Markman had to make do with the settee in the front room.

They had debated whether to use the protection spell but David had thought that it could actually attract attention to themselves, it being to ward off evil when their location was known to a demon or a Satanist, so they had decided against it.

It had been quite late by the time they had settled the twins down in their cots, so Rob had decided to put off their campaign meeting until the next morning, after the twins had been cleaned and fed.

When the sun finally rose upon a new day, and with the twins cleaned and fed, Rob and David settled down in the kitchen with a coffee to talk about a plan of campaign. While they did so, Angela watched over the twins and Simon Markman ensured that no one was taking too much of an interest in the house.

"David, how can we make use of a demon if we cannot trust it?" Rob asked.

"From what I understand about such matters Rob, once they have accepted a commission, they are bound to complete it, as long as we do not attempt to renage on the contract." David replied.

This seemed to satisfy Rob who now had another query.

"David, where will we conjure up the demon, we can hardly do it here, not only because of the danger to the twins but this place is supposed to stay off the demons` radar?" Rob asked.

"No of course not Rob." David replied. "I have been giving this some thought and the only way that I can see would be for us to drive back along the M3 motorway towards London, we can stop off when we find a likely spot and conjure up our demon and then wait around until it returns with the information we need."

Simon Markman had been listening in on their conversation in between keeping watch and he now spoke.

"Rob, shouldn`t you have contacted the demon before you used your other spell, then you would not have had to travel far afield this morning?"

Rob looked up at him and smiled at his friend.

"Whichever way we chose to do things Simon, it would have caused its own problems. Moira had set a demon to watch over us, one that we had already given the slip before we met up with you and the others. However, had we contacted a demon then we would have had to wait for the demon to get back to us before we attempted to disappear off the radar. Moira would have already got back on our trail by then, attracted at the very least to the satanic activity near to our house, and she would have then followed us to this house. Although the way we chose has its own problems at least we have escaped our watchers, even if we will have to repeat yesterday`s spell again and again, and at least the twins are safe as long as we are all very careful." Rob replied.

Simon had not considered the point made by Rob, but then he knew nothing about demons or more importantly about Moira Bourbon.

"I see Rob; well in that case I believe that I have the ideal place for you to conjure up your demon." Simon Markman replied. "My Aunty died not long ago and her house which sits on a fair amount of ground is about to be pulled down. It has been purchased by a builder who wants to replace it with an apartment block, and the sale goes through tomorrow at noon, today though I still own it. It is in a small cul-de-sac in Walton on Thames, if you think it might be appropriate then I have a set of door keys on me."

Rob almost snatched the keys from Simon Markman hands as he gave his thanks to him, the house sounded perfect.

After ensuring that the twins were all right Rob and David headed off towards Walton on Thames. Although Rob really did not like leaving the twins, he knew that he had no choice in the matter, if he was to get their mother and Aunty back to where they belonged. In any case, the two agents would be more than adequate in babysitting the twins, for the forces of Hell had no idea of their new location. They were soon driving through the streets of Walton on Thames, the house that Simon Markman had offered to them would be an ideal spot to stay out of view of the citizens of South East England, and using the vehicles Satellite-navigation unit they were soon pulling into its large front garden.

Once inside they did not waste time in getting to work, they went into the kitchen at the rear of the house and constructed a pentagram, in case the demon took umbrage to their calling him, then they unpacked everything that they would require to conjure up a demon. From David`s investigation into the library of the dead Satanist, Ulysses Bourbon, he knew that the demon Veigel would be able to help them find Christina and Cassie, if he was prepared to do so that is. David had no qualms about using a demon to aid two innocents, the Catholic Church might frown upon it but in this instance, he did not,which was probably why they went their separate ways. They now added the necessary ingredients of the potion in a deep glass bowl on the kitchen worktop and mixed them together. Rob then lit it, and a yellow plume of smoke began to rise up from the potion, and when it reached the ceiling of the room it spread around it, thinning out as it went, David now called upon the demon Veigel to appear.

"Veigel obey my call." David ordered in a loud voice that rang loudly within the confines of the room.

Much to their surprise, it was only moments later that a thin plume of yellow smoke began to rise from the rear of the kitchen, and he now spoke again.

"Veigel come to me, I command you." David ordered the demon.

The room quickly cooled as the plume of smoke quickly turned into a thin veil of smoke within which Veigel, a minor demon appeared, his stunted body bent and his face terribly misshapen. The two men were almost sick as the stench of the beast reached them, but they did their best not to show any outward sign of it, for they needed the demon`s help not his anger.

"Who is it that dares to command a demon belonging to the terrible Lord Lucifer to appear before them, you are not Satanists, who are you, tell me before I punish you for believing that I am yours to command." Veigel called out in an angry voice that did not go with his sad looks.

"I am David Pritchard and this gentleman is Rob Hinds, feared by Satanists everywhere, you know us demon, and while we are not lowly Satanists I demand the right to ask of you a favour, one that will be handsomely repaid."

Rob now lifted up the box full of bottles of whisky and placed it on the kitchen worktop, on seeing such bounty Veigel`s eyes grew very large.

"What is it that you require of me Masters?" Veigel asked in a subservient voice.

"Moira Bourbon, that troublesome Satanist who we have bested so many times before, and allowed to live, has kidnapped my wife and her sister to show her evil thanks for our mercy. I am sure that you know them by sight demon, being one of the demons that Moira Bourbon commands obedience from, I need you to find them for me and tell me of their present location, that is all. Moira took them from my apartment in the human town of Reigate, I am sure that you know its exact location, having more than likely visited it while working for Moira Bourbon." Rob said angrily.

Rob did not beg, for that would have seen the demon disappear, no he had to appear more powerful than both the demon and Moira Bourbon, if he was to obtain any help from a minion of Hell.

"Aid us demon and we will give you all of these bottles, a gift more than commensurate for the small task we set you." David said in an offhand manner.

"Moira Bourbon is very powerful Masters; if she heard that I had assisted you she would be most angry." Veigel replied slyly.

"If she is so powerful then we, who have beaten her so many times, must be more so. However, if you are not interested in what we offer in payment for so easy a task for a demon as clever as you are, then we will command another demon to aid us, Mughasar for instance, he is almost as clever as you are." Rob replied seemingly bored by their interview with the demon.

"No Masters, I merely mentioned Moira Bourbon by way of expressing the dangers associated with the task; however I will ensure that the Satanist does not know of my interest in her business. I will gladly obey your command and will return here when I have the information that you require." Veigel said hastily for he had only been trying to up the price as he saw them as mere humans who were inexperienced when dealing with his kind.

Veigel disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, this time in a flurry of yellow smoke, leaving behind him the stench of Hell.

**********

In a suburb of the Indian city of New Delhi, Christina was once again locked up in a cellar, as she had been after her first encounter with the Bourbon family. She was sitting at a small table with a book in front of her, the title of the book was the Codex Shekhar, written by the Satanist holding her prisoner and who was instructing her in the ways of a handmaiden to Lord Lucifer. The book contained everything the Satanist thought relevant to Satanism, demons and the rituals involved in black masses, and although the original book was written in Hindi, Christina was reading an English translation, for the Satanist wanted to spread his fame around the globe. Tears began to slide down Christina`s cheeks, for she had just read the part relating to the initiation of hand maidens during their first black mass, which as far as Christina was concerned would happen in the near future. When not studying the book she had to clean the satanic temple, a task that terrified her as she could feel the cold coming off the floor and walls that had been generated by the evil beings, both human and demonic, that had visited the temple. She was certain that some of the minor minions of hell frequently visited the temple when she was there, even though she did recall hearing David say that they could only come when called by either a Satanist or a person of a similar ilk. She was only left unmolested because she had been promised to Lucifer himself as his handmaiden. She knew that Rob would be searching for her, however even if he found her she could not leave with him, not without condemning the twins, her sister and Rob to a ghastly death. The flow of her tears increased and now she was openly sobbing, for she saw no escape for her from a terrible future that Moira had ordained for her. A part of her knew that her very soul was in danger if she took part in the coming black mass, but what other choice did she have?

Christina wiped her tears away when she heard the Satanist Shekhar enter the room; he was a giant of a man who might once have been handsome, however his looks had gone now, his evil lifestyle and the amount that he ate being the primary causes, aided by the amount of alcohol that he consumed. As he had entered the room he had cast lascivious looks upon her, ones that Christina could feel even though he was behind her, but then he always looked upon her in this manner, soon she would be forced to allow him to enjoy her body at the Christmas Sabbath. If the dark lord Lucifer attended the Sabbath then he would take her first, meaning that the Satanist would have to be content to be the second one to enjoy her that night, and by then she hoped to be unconscious.

Shekhar, feeling his feelings of lust growing for the English woman, hurried back to his study, he knew that only by continuing his work would he stop thinking of her, otherwise his lust filled mind might forget that the woman had been promised to Lucifer himself. He was working on an extension for his Codex Shekhar, the new copy would include the minor demons, their functions and how to summon them, this he thought would allow more Satanists to use these demons and in doing so accomplish their aims with ease.

**********

Cassie was feeling very tired from her labours, as her young body was not used to toiling for such long hours, she mouthed another insult aimed at 'her lady' Lady Moira Bourbon, the queen bitch of the universe and beloved of the demon Lord Asbaritch. Cassie held her tears back, she had told herself that she would only cry when she was alone in her cot, she would never allow Moira to see how terribly afraid and unhappy she was, never mind being on the point of exhaustion. At the moment she was down on her knees scrubbing the floors of Moira`s suite of rooms, earlier she had been washing Moira`s clothes by hand, later on she had to clean and polish the furniture. Her life revolved around Moira and this suite of rooms, which were located on the second floor of the Fortress of Asbaritch. The only room belonging to the suite that she could not enter was Moira`s private study, Moira hardly wanted her reading her book of spells in case she tried a few of them out in an attempt to escape from her clutches. The study had a spell on it forbidding anyone entry into it except Moira Bourbon, similarly there was a spell on the door that otherwise would have allowed Cassie to venture out into the rest of the fortress. The only other room she could visit was her tower room, where she ate and slept, she accessed it from the small kitchenette that in turn was off the lounge area of the suite. As she toiled away Moira entered the room from her study where she had been busy reading.

"I am so glad to see that you are working hard Cassie, I would hate to have to punish you, perhaps put a boil on the end of your nose, or maybe even break your pretty nose." Moira said maliciously.

Cassie did not bother to reply, she did not even look angrily up at 'her lady'. A little miffed at her apparent disinterest in her, Moira strolled into the kitchenette and poured herself a cup of coffee. Moira had no fear that Cassie had interfered with the food and drinks within the room, for she had created yet another spell, this time one of her own design, it prevented Cassie making such attempts, all such thoughts would be swiftly punished by giving Cassie the worst Migraine ever. Moira stood at the doorway into the kitchenette smirking at Cassie; she was enjoying herself, even if Cassie controlled her thoughts and reactions so well, for she had never had a slave before. She hoped that Rob was in the depths of despair because of her actions, but then it was his own fault, in fact Moira thought, he was getting off lightly. He should be toiling away now within the hell dimension of Tartarus, where her father`s soul had finally perished, but that was something she had to look forward to seeing in the near future.

Moira retreated into her study and once again she began to read the large heavy book upon her magnificent Oak desk. She was studying a book of spells that her dark lord had found for her, one that was written centuries ago and was written in an early demonic language. However, she had no trouble reading it, for once again Moira was part demon, able to visit the Dreamscape and able to suck energy from the dreamers of the human world.

Chapter Eight

Rob Fights Back

Moira had screamed long and loud at Mughasar, who had travelled across the dimensions to her fortress to tell her that Rob Hinds was missing. However, on hearing the demon`s sorry tale Moira did not blame the demon for rushing home to tend to his wounds, so much holy water hitting a demon, or indeed a Satanist who was part demon, was painful. Therefore, she had excused him after he had gone on to explain why he could not enter the apartment to check on the human, the human had used the protection spell to prevent just that. It was only after two days had gone by that he realised that no one had entered or left the apartment in two days and that was not normal for the likes of this particular human and his Popist friend. Moira had scowled at Mughasar, however then she laughed and looked up at the sky and cried out loud.

"Well Rob, you will never find the pretty Christina, not unless you employ a mystic, and even then the mystic had better be good because I too have used the protection spell, this time on a dungeon in New Delhi, and soon the Satanist Shekhar will be enjoying her."

Only now had Moira turned to Mughasar and order him to search the human world and not to stop searching until he found out where Rob Hinds was hiding. Just before he had departed he had caught sight of Cassie scrubbing Moira`s floor, and looking very weary. Instead of returning directly to Earth, Mughasar had first dropped into his local tavern, just for one drink, he had told himself.

Moira knew that as well as hiding from her Rob would be actively working against her, while scouring the Earth in his search for his women. If however he wanted revenge upon her he would be gravely disappointed, for this time she was safe within the Fortress of Asbaritch, and there was no way for the handsome Rob to find a way in, for that, as before, he needed her.

**********

The demon Veigel, although only a minor demon, enjoyed a much better lifestyle than most of the other demons, for he belonged to the demons of Lucifer who could travel from their own dimension to that of the humans, thus making them valuable tools for the Satanists of Earth. The bulk of the demons were Neolithic farmers, a few were artisans who provided tools and other trades to the farmers. One race of demons was used as guards and torturers in the only hell dimension known to most of the human race, Tartarus or Hell as it was generally known. The inmates of which tainted the reputation of the human race, which was why humans were looked down upon by all demons. It was in one of the hamlets where the farmers lived that Veigel had gone after leaving Rob and David. For here, he might find some information regarding the location of the two humans he had been commissioned to find, for with a world full of humans he needed a much smaller area to search if he was to stand a chance of obtaining his payment. Veigel walked into a local tavern and sat at the bar.

"A jug of your best ale landlord." Veigel said to the tall demon behind the bar.

"How goes your work Veigel, still working for the Satanist Moira Bourbon, the new consort of the Netherworld and hated by all, be they demon, human or tortured soul?" The landlord enquired politely as he served one of his best customers, one who had met Lucifer himself.

"A demon has to earn a crust Landlord; I cannot afford to be choosey especially when she is so well regarded by Lord Asbaritch." Veigel replied sullenly. "Tell me Landlord, has Mughasar been in today?" Veigel inquired for he hoped to hear the latest gossip from the demon in the hope that his friend had heard something concerning Moira and her latest activities.

"Here he is now Veigel, another demon bound to Moira Bourbon." The landlord replied as he moved along the bar to greet his new customer.

"Allow me Mughasar; I am feeling generous today after serving my mistress." Veigel boasted." "Landlord, two more jugs of ale please."

Mughasar looked across at one of the few demons that he could call a friend and smiled.

"What did the dark mistress want of you this time, to find Rob Hinds or to spy on Christina Hinds to ensure that she is not causing the Satanist Shekhar any problems?" Mughasar asked sullenly. "You heard what the human did to me, and now he has disappeared with his two children and the Popist, disappeared into thin air."

Veigel had not heard anything about the disappearance of the Rob and the others, for Mughasar had only just informed his mistress of the calamity, but Veigel did not put him right, instead he replied commiseratingly "So I heard my friend, come on drink up and then you can buy me another drink." Veigel replied without answering his friend`s question. "Landlord, two more jugs of ale, my friend Mughasar is paying this time."

"Of course the other one, the younger sister, Moira has taken her up to the Netherworld to act as her handmaiden, and as a captive in the Netherworld there is not much that she can do but obey her dark mistress."

Veigel noted this second piece of information, thinking that soon his task would be completed and the payment his to drink or trade. However, he could not leave too early or it would be noted by Mughasar who just might wonder why, no, he would leave only when his friend was too drunk to notice anything.

**********

Moira left her study, she needed to amuse herself after learning that Rob had given his watcher the slip, and she knew just how to do that. Cassie was busy polishing her furniture when Moira walked in on her.

"Maid, you call this floor clean, Moira screamed, I cannot see my face in it, do it again, there will be no food for you until you have done it correctly, understand girl?" Moira screamed at Cassie angrily.

"Yes my Lady." Cassie said who had just finished cleaning the wooden floor, now she began to polish the floorboards while wondering why the bitch would want to see her hag-like face.

Cassie would have liked to have told the bitch from hell just where she should stuff her cleaning utensils, instead she said nothing, for to do otherwise would have brought swift punishment upon her, punishment of the very painful kind. Cassie knew this because she had tried it once and then she had suffered for it. Some might say the pain would have been worth the effort, but Cassie knew better, she just prayed to god to save her, to save Christina and to ensure that nothing happened to the twins, she knew that Rob could look after himself. Cassie did not know it but the prayers of the righteous, when coming from Hell, carried more weight than if they had been said on Earth.

**********

Veigel was in New Delhi investigating the report that Christina Hinds was in the house of Shekhar, a relatively powerful Indian Satanist; he had visited the house before so he knew exactly where it was. Veigel also knew the layout of the large house, having been summoned to it by the Satanist Shekhar, and he guessed that Christina was being kept in the cellar beneath the rear of the house. To ensure that he was not spotted, for Moira would make him pay dearly if she learned that he had been working against her, Veigel meant to stay only fleetingly within the cellar, he certainly did not need to materialise, however to his consternation he was stopped from entering by a similar protection spell to the one that Rob used. However, Veigel knew the house quite well, so he quickly went around to the rear of the house and looked through the small window of the cellar. There was just enough light for him to see her, and also the demon watcher who being a very minor being did not notice him.

It was growing dark when Veigel, still feeling very delicate after his drinking session, and now tired from his travels around the planet and across dimensions, returned to the house in Walton on Thames, here he found Rob and David growing more and more impatient.

"Masters, I have located the woman named Christina Hinds, she is in India, in New Delhi learning to be the hand maiden of the great lord Lucifer, however the younger one, Cassie, is in the hell dimension of the Netherworld, there she too is a hand maiden, but in service to the powerful Satanist Moira Bourbon, your sworn enemy." Veigel declared loudly and happily for he was only moments away from receiving his prize. "You should be aware that a very minor demon guards the cellar where Christina Hinds is imprisoned, although it is quite large and very strong."

Rob knew that they could easily deal with a minor demon and so he just breathed a sigh of relief, for he knew that he would soon have Christina back, however he knew that he would have to think long and hard if he was going to find a way to get Cassie back. Pushing this problem to the back of his mind, he cross-examined the demon.

"Where exactly in New Delhi is she being held Veigel?" Rob asked.

Veigel waved his hands and a veil of mist appeared to one side of him, within the veil Rob could see the city of New Delhi appear, and just like Google Earth, the demon slowly zoomed in on the house of the Satanist.

"Hold that picture Veigel while I identify it on my computer." Rob ordered the demon.

Soon Rob had Google Earth on his laptop screen and zooming in as he had seen the demon do; he had soon identified the area where the Satanist lived. It took a bit of fine-tuning, with Veigel zooming out again and then back in, but Rob soon had the exact house on his screen.

"Good work Veigel, now tell us exactly whereabouts in the house they are keeping my wife, and then all of the Scotch whisky will be yours." Rob said.

"Thank you Master, your woman is in the cellar beneath the rear of the house, it can be reached from the store cupboard just before the kitchen door. One other thing Mr Hinds, the whisky is just a bonus, you still have to pay me the blood fee." Veigel replied happily.

Rob looked at David and asked quizzically. "The blood fee?"

"I am afraid that it will have to be paid, the demon employed by a Satanist must be paid with one pint of the Satanist`s blood, or else the demon is liable to become angry, Veigel may decide to let Moira know where we are and what we have learned. Once paid however, the demon cannot reveal to anyone his dealings with the Satanist." David replied guiltily. "I am afraid my jet lag is still playing havoc with my mind."

"Veigel, I will pay the blood fee, but no more than one pint mind you." Rob said.

Veigel moved quickly to Rob`s side and bit into his neck, Rob winced as the sharp teeth cut into his neck and then he felt his blood being sucked out of his vein. True to the deal, Veigel had soon taken his blood fee and moments later, he and the box of Scotch whisky disappeared.

Rob and David now demon proofed the one room they were using so that Rob could use his mobile phone without being overheard.

**********

Sitting in his office within the headquarters of the SIS, Sir Willoughby Brown was working at his desk when his phone rang, picking up the phone he just said yes, it was Rob on the other end of the line.

"Sir Richard, I know where Moira has taken my wife, New Delhi, I need passage for David and me of the express kind, can you help me?"

"New Delhi, yes Rob I can, I happen to know one of the senior men in India`s intelligence agency, Rahul Chowdhury. Tickets will be waiting for you two at the British Airways desk at Heathrow, you will be met there by the head of security for the airport, he will give you further instructions." Sir Willoughby Brown replied.

"Thank you Sir Richard." Rob replied gratefully,

"Tell me everything Rob and I will give Rahul what I think he should know."

Rob was loathe having this information given out to anyone, let alone a stranger, but he told Sir Willoughby Brown everything, if Sir Richard vouched for him then he must be all right. After making a few notes, Sir Willoughby Brown said.

"All right Rob I will have Chowdhury supply you with a weapon, as you are unlikely to get one through security these days." With that, he ended the call.

Rob had no fear of a demon overhearing their conversation for Rob knew that Sir Willoughby Brown would have personally demon proofed the whole of the area within and around his office to ensure this, having noted the procedure when Rob carried it out. Sir Willoughby Brown had also ensured that Rob always kept an adequate supply of the necessary items in the store cupboard for just such an occasion as this.

**********

From within their secure room, Rob now told David what had transpired over the telephone, and after ringing Angela Collins and checking on the twins, they left the house and drove off for Heathrow Airport.

On arrival at the British Airways desk, they were given their tickets and an envelope containing their instructions. Ruhal Chowdhury had agreed to have them met at the airport by an agent of the Indian intelligence agency as they passed through passport control, there would be no written sign in the arrivals lounge to give their arrival in India away to any potential enemy.

The flight was long, boring and Rob thought that it would never end, but finally they were sitting in an office speaking to Rahul Chowdhury.

"I have checked Shekhar out on our computer Mr Hinds, and also on the IPS computer of our Police Service, but I did not find anything, however if he is a serious player of the black arts then he would keep it a dark secret. Tonight I will have two of my best men accompany you and Mr Pritchard to Shekhar`s house, there you will be met by a third man, an expert in by-passing alarm systems. The operation will be an extremely covert affair as Sir Willoughby Brown would not tell me what proof you have that your wife is actually there, nor how you found out her precise location within the building. However, I have been hearing strange things regarding your agency, and especially lately, so maybe I would have believed whatever it is that your department is hiding. I also heard that it was your agency that was behind the attack by your Navy on the supposed Daesh submarine. One that was supposed to be within your country`s waters, and the attack was carried out with the full agreement with not just the NATO countries but also Russia, this I find most intriguing."

Rob merely smiled at Rahul Chowdhury, and as he was bound by the official secrets act, he could do no more.

"I realise that you are eager to free your wife from the clutches of a Satanist, however as I just said, your refusal to offer any proof whatsoever means that this operation must be covert, so at 2am tomorrow morning you will be taken to Shekhar`s house where my two agents will help you to rescue your wife. Remember Mr Hinds, this is not your country, it is mine, Agent Aghari will be in charge of the operation, the two of you will do as he says, is that understood?" Chowdhury asked of Rob and David.

"Yes Sir, we fully understand and we will comply with your orders." Rob replied politely.

And he would keep to his word, if at all possible, but he was not going to leave the Satanist`s house without his wife, he would do whatever it took to ensure that.

"In the meantime gentlemen you will be our guests, you will be escorted to our guest quarters where the two of you can catch up on your sleep; you will be called when it is time to leave." Rahul Chowdhury said firmly.

Rob Stood up angrily and asked. "Do I understand that we are to be kept here whether we like it or not Sir?"

Chowdhury looked up at Rob and simply replied yes, he then rang a bell and two agents entered the large office.

"Mr Hinds, these are the two agents who will assist you tomorrow morning, I am told that you use a Walther P99, Agent Aghari will provide you with one." Chowdhury said before turning to David. "Mr Pritchard, I am told that you do not use any weapons except your mind, I am impressed." Chowdhury said and then he turned to Aghari. "Agent Aghari please escort these two agents to the guest quarters and ensure that they stay there until it is time for your team to set off.

**********

It had just turned one o`clock the next morning when Rob and David were woken from their sleep, for despite their eagerness to rescue Christina Hinds, they both fell into a deep sleep, caused by the sleeping draft they had inadvertently taken when they had a cup of tea after their meal.

It was just a minute after two o`clock when their vehicle stopped in a street at the back of the Satanists house, Agent Sanjay Aghari now told Rob and David all that the two agents had discovered about the house and its grounds.

"Rob, Manu and I scouted out the place while the two of you slept. The place has two male and four female servants, there are also three very large Rottweiler dogs that have the run of the grounds, we will have to take them out quietly before we can break into the house." Sanjay Aghari began. "Manu here has been trained to use a tranquillizer rifle; he will take them out before they wake up the Satanist."

"Good to hear it Sanjay." Rob replied.

"More good news is the fact that the staff all live away from the place, apart from Shekhar the place should be deserted, I suppose he does all his black arts during the night and he does not want any of the servants around to talk about what they might witness." Sanjay said.

"As you say Sanjay, more good news." Rob replied a lot happier.

"The place is alarmed of course but an old friend of mine will get us inside the house and from there all we have to do is find your wife." Sanjay Aghari said and then he smiled.

Just then, a very short man appeared out of nowhere to tap on the side window of their vehicle.

"Ah, this is Arun Ram our alarms expert, he is an ex-con, but he owes me so much that he has agreed to help us out, he also never talks about his jobs so no one will get to hear of our covert operation, at least not from him." Sanjay Aghari said. "Right you will be glad to know Rob that it is time to move out.

The moon was out, lighting up their way, which was something that Rob was happy about seeing as there were three large dogs in the grounds of the Satanist`s house. Sanjay moved off in the lead carrying a large bag with Manu Patel following on behind him carrying a similar bag, then came Rob carrying a large holdall, David carrying a similar bag and Arun Ram who just carried a black attaché case. Sanjay stopped at a high wall and here he put his bag down and on opening it, he pulled out a stout piece of rope with a large hook on the end, this he threw to the top of the wall and pulled it tight. He then climbed up the rope to the top of the wall, David followed, although he needed some help from Rob and Manu. Once at the top David dropped down to the other side of the wall, Sanjay now threw the five bags down to him and David was soon joined by the others of the team. The ground on the other side of the wall was mostly open with just the odd tree and decorative bush. It was behind one of the bushes that they first caught sight, and then heard the three guard dogs that were worrying an Asian palm civet that was trapped up a Mulberry tree. This was why the dogs did not hear the five men enter the garden and it allowed Manu to set up his rifle. The first of the dogs fell silently to the ground, but this had the other two animals looking around them for the reason why. Manu now took out the second dog and while the third animal headed his way, he took it out. Rob and his team could now approach the side of the house where Arun Ram would deal with the alarm system. It took the retired burglar fifteen long minutes to ensure that their entrance into the house went unnoticed.

Arun Ram led the way into the kitchen of the large house, and using a powerful torch he was soon standing before the door that led from the kitchen to the rest of the house. Instead of just opening the door he first checked to ensure that it was not connected to an internal alarm system, finding that it was not he opened the door and stepped through into a long hallway, which he scanned with his torch. Moments later, he located another door, it was to a cupboard, once again he checked it to ensure that it was safe to proceed and then he stepped inside the cupboard to search for the hidden entrance to the cellar. Suddenly there was a loud click and the secret door swung inwards into blackness.

"Sanjay, Manu, perhaps the two of you should stay here on guard, we have been told that a minor demon is on guard down below, and when we deal with him he is sure to scream long and loud." Rob advised.

Hearing about the demon caused Arun Ram to step back into the hallway, however Sanjay had been ordered to establish whom or what was in the cellar, and to establish that Christina Hinds wanted to be rescued.

"I will lead the way Rob, you two can follow me." Sanjay said in a commanding tone.

"Sanjay, perhaps I should lead the way." David advised. "You can follow and Rob can bring up the rear. If there is indeed a demon down there then it needs another expert to deal with it."

David put down his own large holdall and pulled out a large 20-litre garden pressure sprayer, it was filled with water that David had blessed before that had their meal, Rob was now similarly armed, they both slung them over their shoulders.

Sanjay looked quizzically at David and then Rob and then he shrugged his shoulders.

"All right then, Manu you stay here with Arun Ram while we three go down and rescue the lady in distress." Sanjay said with a bemused smile upon his young face.

Rob looked across at Manu and gave him some advice.

"Manu, the Satanist will probably appear when he hears the demon scream, use your tranquillizer gun to take him out immediately he shows, it may not be necessary but if he is half as powerful as the other Satanists we have met, he will not need a weapon to take you out, just his mind." Rob said.

Manu looked as bemused as Sanjay had done as he looked from Rob to David; Sanjay merely nodded his head in agreement and said.

"Do it Manu, just do it, we already knew that this operation would be a weird one."

With everyone happy, if bemused, David led the way down to the cellar, his garden sprayer over his back, his right hand on the trigger, and a powerful torch in his left hand.

At the bottom of the wooden staircase they came to another door, which was bolted on their side. Sliding the bolt across with his torch David pushed the door open and stepped forward into a dark and very cold room, his torch swinging across the room as he looked for the demon, and of course Christina.

**********

Christina Hinds had been woken by the voices of people talking on the floor above; however, their voices were too indistinct to make out who they were or what they said. Then she heard the bolt on the only door that provided access to the room, slide across, and in the dim light coming through the smallest of grilled windows she saw the door swing open. First the light of one torch blinded her followed by a second and then a third; the torches stopped searching the room when they reached Christina. However, before they could react to the sight of her, they heard a noise, for behind the three men a sleeping demon had awoken because it too had heard their voices followed by their descent to the basement. However, it was only after the light from the powerful torches lit up Christina that it realised that the intruders had come for her. The demon leapt to its feet growling threateningly, the three men swung round to confront it just as the demon charged towards them. Rob and David were sent flying to crash down heavily upon the floor, winded, as Sanjay, who almost froze at the sight of the demon, reacted to the danger. Firing his automatic pistol, he emptied his magazine but to no effect, the demon howled in pain, knocked his weapon from his hand and then picked him up and began to shake him. Manu hearing the shots and roars coming from the cellar rushed down the staircase screaming out the name of his friend. However, Rob and David had both recovered enough to aim their high-pressure garden sprayers at the demon and they sent the full 40 litres of holy water shooting across the room to hit the demon fairly upon its demonic back. It stopped its shaking of Sanjay and instead it screamed in pain, and then it disappeared leaving only the ghastly smell of hell behind it.

Sanjay fell to the floor in a heap as Manu using his torch quickly found the light switch, temporarily blinding them all.

"Sanjay, are you all right?" Manu gasped out looking for whatever thing, person or demon, or whatever the others had been fighting.

"I`m fine Manu." Then Sanjay saw Christina standing by the small cot, "Everything is fine Manu, just go back up and keep watch for the Satanist, and take him out immediately you see him." Sanjay advised for he now believed all that Rob and David had said to them, even if it turned all of his previous thoughts upside down.

Rob and David both got painfully to their feet, Rob emerging from behind a large pillar, and it was now that Christina saw him standing there and she screamed out in joy. "Rob, Rob." Then her voice faltered. "But Rob..." Christina sobbed. "You cannot rescue me, Moira has sworn to kill the twins and then Cassie followed soon after by you and David." She finally managed to cry out in anguish.

Rob rushed across the room and taking her in his arms spoke soothingly to her.

"No she will not Darling, David has found yet another spell, and he has used it to make the twins, me and himself invisible to all demons and Satanists alike, unless we happen to be standing in plain sight of them."

"But what of Cassie, she can still kill her." Christina cried out miserably.

"Yes she can Darling, however we cannot allow that possibility to rule our lives, in any case Darling, why would she do such a thing, she will get far more enjoyment out of having Cassie as her own private slave. No, whatever she might say she will not actually kill Cassie." Rob said gently.

Seeing the sense in this, and clinging hard to the reasoning behind it, Christina hugged her husband furiously while saying.

"But we must find a way to free Cassie from that bitch, and Rob, make sure that you kill her and that this time she stays dead." Christina begged of her husband.

"I will Sweetheart, but before we leave this house David will have to use that new spell he found, to ensure that no demon or Satanist can find your location using black magic." Rob said softly.

Sanjay was simply standing there with his mouth open, he knew he had seen a demon, had been shaken like a leaf by it, but now it was gone, and all because two jets of water had drenched it, he wondered if he had been having an hallucination. Moreover, what about what he had heard Rob and his wife say, his mind in a whirl as he asked.

"Did you spray the creature with acid, is that why it fled?" Sanjay asked quizzically.

"No it was just plain old water Sanjay, well holy water to be exact." Rob replied smiling at the agent.

Still confused by all that had happened Sanjay walked back up the wooden staircase to find his friend looking down at a giant of a man. Sanjay looked down at the man lying unconscious on the floor with a tranquilizing dart in his chest. Sanjay knew the man was the Satanist, for a neighbour of the man had identified him to the two Indian agents and promised to not to say a word to anyone about their interest in him. Manu looked quizzically at his friend and asked him.

"Well my friend, what were you firing at down there, was it a demon?"

"I thought it was a demon, I know it was a demon, a giant of a creature, and it stormed towards us and sent the two Englishmen flying through the air like leaves in a gale. However, even though I emptied a full magazine into it, it was still able to pick me up and shake me like a leaf. I was only saved when the two Englishmen sprayed it with what they called holy water. It screamed and then disappeared; now all there is to tell of its presence is the stench that it left behind." Sanjay replied bemusedly. "And I suspect that the smell too will soon disappear."

"Well I can vouch for the screams and roars that it made; they were enough to terrify me." Manu said.

Rob now led Christina up to the main part of the house where they were confronted with the body of the Satanist.

"That is Shekhar, the Satanist who was to give me to Lucifer at midnight on Christmas Eve, I think he was looking forward to the festivities from the lust filled looks he was always giving me, thankfully he had to wait until after the official ceremony before he could enjoy himself." Christina said disgustedly.

Sanjay now spoke to them.

"From what you said down in the cellar Rob, Mrs Hinds, you will be wanting to disappear rather than hang around New Delhi while Shekhar is officially charged with his part in Mrs Hinds` kidnapping, am I correct?"

"To stay on here for longer than it takes for us to get back to the airport could mean our death. The woman who organised the two kidnappings will soon find out what has occurred here, we dare not stay here for she will send more demons to hunt as down, sorry Sanjay." Rob replied.

"That is what I thought Rob, although your talk of demons, even after my own experience in the cellar, is very hard to accept. Already my logical mind is attempting to dismiss what I saw and endured in the cellar as a hallucination." Sanjay began. "It means that we will not be able to charge Shekhar, not with our victim no longer present to accuse him, however Manu can give him a powerful sedative to enable you to escape to wherever you intend to hide away."

"Understood and thank you for your help Sanjay, Manu, when this is all over I will willingly assist you in any way possible, should the need arise." Rob declared solemnly.

"Rob, if you are so worried about your enemy tracing you here, will not the demon immediately report your rescue of your wife?" Sanjay asked quizzically.

"In time he will Sanjay, but first off he will be nursing his wounds, although we certainly do not have too much time to waste." Robe replied.

While the others were talking David had been busy making up a fresh batch of holy water to refill their sprayers, it was only when he had finished that Rob noticed how troubled his friend looked.

"What is up David, you look worried?" Rob asked.

"The house, it still feels wrong, the cold is penetrating into my bones, we need to deal with whatever it is and quickly, or else Moira will home in on us, and you know what that means." David replied concerned that everything that they had accomplished might be for nothing.

"You're right David, it is cold, we need to investigate it, but quickly for we do not know just how much time we have." Rob replied.

Christina hung on to Rob, her fear returning twice fold, for now her husband and her friend were also in danger. With their weapons primed Rob and David split up, David searching the ground floor while Rob headed up the stairs to the first floor. Sanjay and Manu moved into the kitchen along with Arun Ram who now made a request.

"Sanjay, can I please leave now, this talk of demons is doing my stress levels no good at all, and you know my doctor ordered me to avoid too much stress?"

"No Arun, you can leave when we all do, help yourself to a drink, Shekhar has left out a bottle of wine." Sanjay replied pointing to a bottle of wine on the countertop beside the ex-burglar who immediately grabbed the bottle and set about opening it.

Rob and Christina found the cold seemed to grow less as they walked around the first floor so they returned to find David opening a door that led down to another cellar, and here the cold was that of the Antarctic. Switching on a light revealed a satanic temple, and in the middle of the room sat another demon, one very large and very angry looking, The demon roared loudly and launched itself at them, however this time they were not taken by surprise, although it was only the holy water and a hasty retreat that saved them.

"It must be a guard set up by the Satanist." David finally said when he had his breathing back under control. "He will not be one of Moira`s demons so we need not fear that he will report us, even so Rob, I really think that we should leave, and soon." David urged.

Christina wanted the exact same thing so they returned to the kitchen and their new friends. David quickly mixed up his potion in the kitchen and when it was ready he lit it, a white plume of smoke slowly spiralled up from the glass bowl that held the potion and climbed up to the ceiling. Rob and David now recited the spell that went along with the potion.

"We, champions of the right hand path, call upon the angels upon high to look upon the six adults gathered here. We beseech you to protect us all from evil, make us invisible to demons and Satanists alike so that we can continue the fight against Lucifer and his minions."

The three Indian men looked a little uncomfortable with this alien ceremony, until they saw a glowing light fall upon them all and felt a tingling sensation spread over all of their skin.

"Rob, I am speechless, I could never tell anyone about whatever just happened to us, for they would never believe me." Sanjay finally managed to stammer out.

Christina began to feel a little safer, and at least she would soon be seeing her two young babies. Rob now got back to the subject of their safety.

"Sanjay, Manu, can you take us to the airport? We really must be leaving before the enemy realise what is happening and send more demons to follow us home."

"Of course, and this time we can use the front door."

With that he led them all to the front of the house and then around to their waiting vehicle, except that is for Arun Ram who disappeared into the night complaining bitterly that his pay was not worth all the stress he had endured due to the two Englishmen.

Rob, Christina and David were soon at the airport and just two hours later boarding a British Airways flight to England, which would take them to Heathrow airport. Later the next day they were walking through the door of Christina`s house in Lower Boulding, and enjoying their reunion with the twins, and finally Christina felt her level of tension falling, for she could see that the twins were both well and safe.

The following morning Rob called Sir Willoughby Brown and asked if the two SIS agents who had been babysitting the twins could stay on for a few more days while he and David pondered on what to do next.

"They can stay, but only until the end of the week, I have an urgent case waiting to be attended to, and as I am without you Rob, I will need to use your two baby sitters." Sir Willoughby Brown replied.

"Thank you Sir Richard, in any case Simon and Angela are going a little stir crazy and will be glad to get back to normal duties." Rob replied.

Over the next couple of days everyone rested, especially David who was still suffering from acute jet lag, however they were no further forward in coming up with a way to rescue Cassie or how to kill Moira Bourbon.

**********

Moira was silently fuming, she cursed Rob Hinds and the Popist, how the hell had they found out the location of Christina Hinds, had she been betrayed, but how, the Popist would never use the sort of magic required, to call on a demon would go against everything that the Popist believed in? She turned angrily on the demon guard who had been bested by Rob and David, and who cringed away in fear from her.

"You my brave demon will go to the SIS offices and wait there until Rob Hinds or the Popist make a visit. You will then come and tell me before you do anything else, even if your body is on fire you will report to me or I will track you down and take you to Tartarus myself and once there I will have you tortured for eternity." Moira screamed angrily. "Do you understand demon?"

The demon hastily nodded, he knew that he would not be paid for this job; to raise the matter would see him killed. Therefore, he disappeared, and made his way to the human world, and sat in front on the MI6 building, the demon did not fully materialise of course staying invisible, but he did create a cold spot that was remarked upon by passers-by, and initially a terrible smell told of his arrival.

Moira knew that it would be dangerous to underestimate Rob, as her dark lord had told her countless times. It was why she had spent so much time in the Netherworld instead of travelling to her chateau in France, for she knew that there was a distinct possibility that Rob could be staking it out, waiting there to kill her, and this time she feared that he would destroy her body. Lord Asbaritch could not resurrect her then, her soul would be imprisoned within the Hell dimension of Tartarus, as her father had been, and it would be there that she would be tortured for all eternity, Lucifer would see to that. Maybe she would go to Paris or Vienna, for the Christmas holidays that were only a week away, otherwise she would get stir crazy stuck in the fortress with nothing to do except torment Cassie. Maybe she should take Cassie with her as bait, and have the demon Skargel waiting there to kill Rob and the Popist when they turned up to rescue her.

Moira thought about it for some time before deciding that she would travel alone to both Paris and Vienna, to enjoy herself before worrying about Rob Hinds. She materialised in one of the most expensive perfumery establishments in Paris with a bandit eye mask to cover her face around her eyes. Her appearance was accompanied by the screams from the customers, which she regally ignored. Approaching one customer she took the scent bottle that the customer had just purchased, who about to complain found that she was unable to even move, luckily for the woman Moira did allow her to breathe. Moira now put just a smidgeon of the scent upon her wrist, however on lifting her wrist to her nose she screamed in anger.

"What are you trying to do to me; this rubbish is not even fit for the dogs."

Moira immediately pushed the scent bottle back into the woman`s hands.

"Sorry to have to cut short your shopping trip, however, I find the need for more room deary." Moira said lightly as she reached out her hands.

From out of nowhere the golden Ark of Ba'al Berith appeared in her arms, smiling at all of the customers and staff she cried out gleefully. "Smile everyone."

Then she opened the lid of her casket and laughed out aloud as everyone in the shop was sucked into the Ark, and then the lid slammed shut. Stopping only to smile up at the CCTV camera, she helped herself to her favourite perfumes before disappearing. She next appeared in Vienna where she visited a jewellery shop; here she carried out a similar raid before returning to her fortress in the Netherworld.

"Who needs a platinum visa card when you have a golden Ark.?" Moira cried out exultantly as she looked at her new acquisitions.

The police forces of Europe were in shock when they viewed the CCTV recordings, at first they believed that the recordings were fake, until Sir Willoughby Brown saw a copy of the recording. He immediately knew that the recordings were not faked, he knew whose face was hidden behind the mask, for he had seen both the Ark and Moira before. He recognised her well-proportioned physique and her face, even when partly concealed behind a mask. He immediately called Rob and sent a copy of the recording by email to his temporary home. As soon as Rob, David and Christina saw the recording, they agreed with Sir Willoughby Brown, it was Moira using her golden Ark of Ba'al Berith to add to her physical and mental powers.

A conference was called and Sir Willoughby Brown flew to Paris with the home secretary to speak to the ministers of the interior of France and Austria, and their advisers. The first thing that he did was to show them a video of Moira sitting in the reception of the SIS office, waiting there to kill amongst others himself.

"The woman that you see on the video is Moira Bourbon, she was born of French and Scottish parents, both dead now, and she is the most powerful Satanist that has ever lived, one who really can call upon the demons of the night to aid her. She has a chateau near Montpelier and a manor house in the south of England, however currently she is thought to spend most of her time in her fortress in the Dreamscape, one of the dimensions of Hell." Sir Willoughby Brown said poker faced.

It took a few moments for the ministers of France and Austria to react to this statement, and it took the Home Secretary to hush their violent protests, for they thought that with the UK going through with Brexit, they wished to insult the leaders of those countries still holding on to the idea of a united Europe.

They had heard rumours of the black magic cases worked upon by the SIS, now Sir Willoughby Brown told them that the rumours, well some of them, were actually true.

"Our two experts of black magic, demons and the hell dimensions would have come to the meeting but they were currently working on ways to travel to the Netherworld where they will attempt to assassinate Moira Bourbon." Sir Willoughby Brown explained. "To prevent Moira Bourbon from killing them, for she knows that they are the greatest threat to her wellbeing, they are doing this in a location known only to them."

"What assistance do they require, name it and it is yours, a company of Foreign Legion troopers, anything?" The French minister asked.

"When they have found a way to travel between dimensions I might well take you up on that offer Sir." Sir Willoughby Brown replied.

With everyone at the meeting finally accepting that Hell was a real place and not a fairy tale, Sir Willoughby Brown reckoned that the ministers would be having many a late night wondering if they had done enough to ensure that they went to a better place when they finally died.

The meeting broke up following recriminations from all at the meeting; it was because the requests to speak to the two agents had been turned down because of security concerns. The television companies across Europe now began to show the picture of Moira Bourbon that Sir Willoughby Brown had provided, however they merely said that she was a dangerous terrorist, and the next day the front pages of all the national newspapers also went with this line.

Chapter Nine

The Fight to the Death

The sun was just rising as David walked into the front room of Christina and Cassie`s house, he was feeling much better with his jet lag just about over. He had been awake for an hour but had lain there pondering their current problem, how to rescue Cassie from the Netherworld while also killing Moira. There was one more thing to take into consideration, Lord Asbaritch, what would he do if they killed his consort. Needing a break from it, he had showered and dressed, and he was now in need of breakfast and a coffee. Rob and the SIS agents joined him for a leisurely breakfast, and it was just a few minutes after they had all finished that David looked again at the current volume he was studying. It was another of the books that had belonged to the late Ulysses Bourbon, and right in front of him was part of the answer to the first part of the puzzle. He hurried to find Rob who was with Christina and helping to tend to the twins, the twins both needed their nappies changing but were quiet having just been fed.

"Rob, I have found a way to get us to the Dreamscape." He cried out joyfully.

"It is not called the Dreamscape, David, it is called the Netherworld, or at least that is what Moira called it when she was explaining to Cassie and me what our future held in store for us." Christina interjected.

"That is another name for Hell, Christina, but if the Dreamscape actually goes by the name the Netherworld then we now know that Hell is made up of different lands. So maybe the Netherworld and Tartarus make up, or are part of, one large Hell in which travel between the parts is normally impossible, unless you happen to be Lucifer himself or Moira who stole the secret from him." David replied thoughtfully before adding.

"Interesting as that may be at a less pressing time Christina, may I now continue?" David asked.

"Of course David, go right ahead." Christina replied sweetly being only to anxious to hear what he had to impart to them.

"In this volume on the satanic arts that we confiscated, along with many others, from the late Ulysses Bourbon, I have found a spell that will take us to the Netherworld as Christina has now named it. However, the curious thing is this spell was not in the book last night, someone has inserted it there for me to find along with a list of everything that we will need to make the spell work?" David declared quizzically.

"The answer to one of our problems mysteriously appears and you rightly wonder who put it there David, but if it was Moira then she would not need to lure us to the Netherworld, she could either have her dark lord beam us up or she could despatch a killer demon to take us out." Rob mused.

"So what you are saying Rob, is that the angels, for want of a better term, have inserted it there for us to find and use against the forces of evil." Christina interjected again. "But that means that we can free Cassie, this is wonderful Rob, simply stupendous." She cried out joyfully.

Rob and David looked at Christina and nodded and then David mentioned the rest of the problem that he had been working on before getting out of bed that morning.

"Christina, while we can now travel to the Netherworld, we now need a way to rid the world of Moira and deal with her dark lord, only then can we rescue Cassie."

Christina`s shoulders slumped and she looked decidedly sorry for herself until Rob asked a question of his friend and then she perked up.

"Tell me David, is it just our astral body that will be transported to the Netherworld with this spell, as when Lord Asbaritch transported us there, or will our physical body be transported as when Moira took us to Tartarus, if so can we take some weapons with us, some very tangible things?" Rob asked.

David looked at his friend and smiled. "Let me re-read it again, it will not take too long but I want to answer your question correctly." David replied realising just why his friend had asked the question and feeling very hopeful about the answer.

He then began to carefully read through the spell and the explanatory notes that always accompanied anything written by the late Ulysses Bourbon, as this particular spell appeared to be, for whoever had inserted it had copied his system, obviously they did not want their identity to be known. Ten minutes later and David was ready to answer Rob`s question.

"Rob, I would say that we could drive a Chieftain tank through it, if you wanted to, although I imagine that the dark lord would hear it coming and blast it into atoms."

Rob then crossed the room, took Christina in his arms, and after kissing her spoke so everyone could hear him.

"Christina the impossible part of our problem was getting to the Netherworld, we already knew that we can deal with Moira, even if we are playing on her turf, as for Lord Asbaritch, I have thought of a way to even up the odds." Rob declared boldly. "When we enter the Netherworld we do so in a Water Cannon full of holy water, one of those vehicles they use abroad to quell riots." Rob explained. "We can also take with us all of the protections that we used against her in the SIS office, only this time it must be enough to protect us and the Water Cannon against the dark lord as well. We will also need to issue an automatic rifle to each person who accompanies us on our trip to Hell. These foolhardy heroes will also need a 20 litre garden sprayer filled with holy water, this they can use when they are not under the protection given by the arc of water coming from the cannon, or if we are there for longer than planned." Rob promised. "No contest Darling, I tell you that it is all over bar the shouting, put up the welcome home banner for Cassie."

David hoped that Rob was correct, and seeing as how the portents seemed to indicate that Rob was, he did not put a damper on the hopes of those assembled there. However, he would only begin to celebrate when they had Cassie back home and the forces of evil had been overcome. He now spoke to his two friends about the many other things that he would require.

"We will also need a long list of items from the Magic Shop, the emporium which has supplied many of the items that we have used in the past. I am pretty sure that it will carry all of the items in stock along with a certain statue that adorns its window." David said.

"Why will we need a statue, are we about to bow down before a god other than our own one?" Rob asked.

"I would never do such a thing Rob, you know me better than that, no this statue has always been thought of as just a rather ugly decoration for The Magic Shop`s front window. It is only now that I find that it is another lost and very ancient device created by an equally forgotten Satanist who wanted to enter the Netherworld in search of treasure. Whether he succeeded I do not know, but his device survived his attemp, and we know where to find it." David replied.

Rob immediately called Sir Willoughby Brown and told him what he planned to do and what he required to accomplish what had seemed impossible earlier that morning.

"Rob, your words have taken a great weight off my mind, for we are one day away from disaster. Moira visited Rome this morning; she used her monstrous machine again, killing ten of Rome`s citizens, and then went on to loot a clothes store. Rob, before she left she made a demand over their CCTV system, that you and David are delivered to her by breakfast tomorrow or she will make the danger posed by the alien monsters seem trivial by comparison.

That is how long we have to defeat her and my god now we can do just that. As for your requirements Rob, I know where I can lay my hands on a Water Cannon, I will arrange for it to be delivered to Salisbury plain as soon the exact position of your departure point and the time have been confirmed, which will be after I have spoken to the Ministry of Defence. Luckily, the army are conducting manoeuvres on Salisbury plain so you will be able to open your portal without an audience. As for the automatic weapons, the army can supply those along with enough ammunition to take out a dozen Satanists. I will also arrange for your own list of rather unique munitions to be waiting there for you. Ten kilos of salt, six of the large garden pressure sprayers, eight strings of garlic, eight small bottles of mercury. Finally there is the list of some very peculiar items that not even a witch would touch. They all sum up to a very strange list of weapons to wage a war with, but ones in this case that I know to be very essential." Sir Willoughby Brown promised. "Oh and don`t worry Rob, I will ensure that the departure point has a large enough area of level concrete for both the extra size pentagram and also for the water Cannon to drive over."

"Thank you Sir Richard, and as you say a very strange arsenal with which to wage a war." Rob replied.

"Rob, she must be stopped, quickly and for good." Sir Willoughby Brown declared grimly before adding some instructions. "Rob, I cannot stress this enough, when you have finally killed Moira Bourbon, bring her body back with you and personally witness its destruction, her body must be destroyed, no matter how saintly she may appear when she is overcome. I will ask the army to construct a funeral pyre; it will be waiting for the body when you return. As for the extra men you need, we cannot send any of our agents, for Moira will probably have our offices watched, but I will arrange for seven members of the SAS to join your team, explaining to their officer that it is the most dangerous mission they are ever likely to go on."

One hour later and Sir Willoughby Brown confirmed to Rob the exact position where the portal was to be opened, and the time, it was to be at five o`clock the next morning. The Water Cannon, the automatic weapons and the other items on his list, and his team would meet him there.

"Rob, the governments of the three countries that Moira has visited have offered to provide a company of their best troops, if you can use them that is?" Sir Willoughby Brown offered.

"Thank them all for the offers but I really think that the fewer the better, they will only get in the way Sir Richard. Surprise and the Cannon will give us our victory, taking more troops will only see them slaughtered by Lord Asbaritch or Moira, if either of them escape the initial attack." Rob replied.

"You are probably right Rob." Sir Willoughby Brown replied. "I will be glad when this is all over, and not only for the world, my wife and I are both prisoners in my office to ensure that Moira learns nothing from me, although I did feel a little self-conscious when I used the protection spell in front of her, but at least we are both alive."

Rob smiled when he thought of Sir Willoughby Brown speaking the words of the spell while his wife sprayed the walls with holy water, and he wondered what she had thought about it all.

**********

It was an hour before midnight that Rob and Christina said their tearful goodbyes, for neither knew if he would live through the next few hours, however both of them knew that he had no choice at all but to take on the task, one that would once again take him literally into Hell.

Rob, David and Angela left Lower Boulding for the drive to Salisbury plain and after arriving there, they were escorted to their departure point by a squad of soldiers, and while it was still dark enough to hide their activities. It was then that Rob got his first view of the green Water Cannon, the driver informing him that it carried 9000 litres of water, the water being pumped out at a pressure of 5 bar andcould reach a target up to 65 metres away operating at 2200 litres per minute.

The seven SAS men arrived minutes later and introduced themselves, they were led by Lieutenant Alan Jones and Sergeant John Tucker, none of the men appeared to be in the least worried by their latest mission, but Rob thought that this was probably more to do with their training, for he, David and Angela were all very worried. They had brought with them all the items that Rob had asked for, and they too must have thought that these weapons of war were very strange. Rob and David now began their initial preparations for war.

Their concrete base was a derelict building used by the army for training, it had been swept and washed and was ready for their own peculiar needs, and thankfully it was a dry morning for the building did not have a roof. Upon this flat base David and Rob drew a five-pointed star and enclosed it with a circle; they then covered the circle with blessed salt. The next part of the procedure was to draw the correct mystical signs at the apexes of the star, the signs at each of the points denote the five elements, four are of matter, and they are fire, air, water and earth, the fifth element is not of matter it is of spirit. To finish off the pentagram they set five white candles at the apexes of the star and these they set alight. Finally, they set five goblets in the valleys of the star and they filled the goblets with holy water, the pentagram was now fully charged and ready for use, and with just one hour left to departure time. It was now that they set up the strange statue that David had talked about, one that in some ways resembled the four-armed Indian goddess Kali, but a very demented one carrying a large bowl held above her head. The statue was set in the very middle of the pentagram.

It was under a cloud-filled sky that Rob and his team were shown how to operate the Water Cannon, and when they were all au fait with it, Rob took his team to one side.

"Listen up, our two opponents are quite capable of taking us out without even raising a sweat, the only advantages that we hold are first of all surprise, for they think their domain is impregnable, as it was until we received help from what we can only assume was from the side of the angels." Rob began.

At one time, his opening statement would have produced some raised eyebrows, now they merely nodded acceptance of his statement, even the seven SAS men managed to accept it without comment.

"The second advantage is the Water Cannon, it holds 9000 litres of water that David is about to bless, this is our main weapon, for as with the vampires of Hollywood it also burns demons. Powerful as they are the amount of holy water that we will send their way should protect us and also provide us with our victory. I pray that the holy water, when coupled to the other protections that we will also take with us, will keep us safe while we are away and allow us to return home in one piece." Rob continued.

"Now listen carefully team while I tell you how I hope our mission will go." Rob began and then turned to speak with one of the SAS men, Corporal Miles,

"Corporal you and three of your men will stand guard over the other end of the tunnel that David and I hope to conjure up, you are to protect it against any of the locals, the Shades, who might attempt to travel through it. I have called them Shades after the ancient Greek ghosts; they are small pale ghost-like beings who have been condemned to live in the Netherworld because of the evil they have committed during their mortal lifetime. They cannot be permitted back to Earth, nor any other of the locals, whoever they are." Rob said to the SAS men who were now riveted to his every word in disbelief that any of what he said could ever turn out to be real.

"Your first task will be to use some of the salt that you have in your Land Rover, lay it down in a large arc that encompasses your vehicle and the tunnel, you are to stand within this arc which should keep you safe form the local inhabitants, should they appear. Your best defence against them will be to repeat the Lord`s prayer in a loud voice, this has usually worked in the past, although the creatures can be persistent. If this is the case you can use the holy water in the pressure sprayers against them, but sparingly for we do not know how long this operation is going to take."

Rob now turned to the officer.

Lieutenant, there is no telling where our main opponents will be, I hope to find them in the Great Hall, Lord Asbaritch likes to sit upon his large throne and play the great Lord, however we will have to play it by ear. Our main aim is to find and kill Moira Bourbon, we cannot fail in this, otherwise she will take a terrible revenge on the world for our attempt on her life."

Rob then turned to the sergeant.

"David, Angela and you Sergeant Tucker will make for the upper floor, partly in a search and rescue operation, young Cassie being the damsel in distress. However, your main reason for being up there is to search the floor for Moira Bourbon and then to take her out, if she is not in the Great Hall. The rest of us will initially invade the Great Hall in the Water Cannon, if the enemy is there then that is where the main battle will take place, if not then we will join you in a search of the fortress to find and kill Moira Bourbon. When we are successful our orders are to return her body to Earth to be burned on the funeral pyre that is about to be constructed. As I have just said, we cannot fail in this, as for young Cassie, if we fail to locate her we can always return there and try again. That is it team, anyone who would rather sit this one out please say so now, for once we go through the portal there is no turning back." Rob said hoping that none of his team would chicken out, as it would leave him begging the army for even more men who would be brave and foolhardy enough to accompany him.

"If you and David are willing to go to Hell again, then how can I refuse Rob, this is my world as well as yours." Angela Collins announced with a quiet confidence as to the outcome.

The seven SAS men looked anew at Angela, respect showing upon their faces, and they all announced their intention of going along with the SIS agents, even if most of them thought that it was some sort of prank being played upon them.

**********

Back at Lower Boulding, Simon Markman did not know whether to be happy or annoyed, for having lost the toss of the coin, for it meant that he had to stay behind to guard Christina while she looked after the twins. As for Christina, she was unable to go with Rob as he had insisted that the twins needed her there, for neither of them knew whether things would go right or go horribly wrong, and if she accompanied him, they could lose both of their parents.

**********

It was getting nearer to departure time and David had already begun the preparations that they hoped would protect them against the worst that their enemy could throw at them. With the Water Cannon already full of water, David climbed up to the top of it and began to bless the water in the traditional way, even if it was not traditional to bless a Water Cannon full of water.

"Blessed are you, Lord, Almighty God, and blessed is your only son Jesus Christ. As you blessed this salt may you use its holy powers to cleanse and bless this water and also its container. This we beseech of you oh Almighty God, so that we may use it in the eternal fight against evil." David said sprinkling the salt into the water.

He then made the sign of the cross above the water. "We really should use fresh spring water, but once again I am sure that it will be all right." David said to Rob with a weak smile.

Just then the area around the Water Cannon was filled with a bright white light that almost blinded them, then it slowly faded back to normal.

"Err, David, does that normally happen when you bless water, because if so you might have warned me, I nearly fainted in fear." Sergeant John Tucker asked in wonder at what had happened.

"It has happened once before John, but no normally it never happens, the fact that it did gives me added hope." David said brightly.

The soldiers now began to worry, for the chances of it being a prank had just reduced considerably.

"OK David, everything is going well, let's begin the final preparations and then you can light the potion and we will recite the spell." Rob said.

David then began to paint the sign of the cross upon the foreheads of those about to cross over to the Netherworld, using holy water as the paint and Christina`s make up brush. While he did so, he said the same words to each of them. "May almighty God bless you and keep you safe." To which they each replied. "Amen."

He then put a string of garlic upon their heads, which they covered with metal helmets. "Hopefully, this will keep the forces of evil from taking over your mind; make sure that you keep it there, this is not a joke."

Then he gave each of them a glass Phial of mercury and a bottle of blessed salt, all of which they put in their pockets, he finally gave them a wooden cross which he had made at Lower Boulding and these they hung around their necks.

It was now time to mix the potion that would help them to get through to the Netherworld, David began to put the various minerals into the bowl that Kali held in her upraised hand, some of the minerals were well-known to those who practised witchcraft, and some unknown to most everyone except a few powerful Satanists. To these he added the juice of the Hawthorn berry, petals from the Calendula flower, crushed garlic and many other items that have long been used to ward off evil or to strengthen the conjurer. He then called Rob across and after lighting the potion and waiting from the plume of white smoke to slowly climb up towards the sky they recited the spell.

"We, champions of the right hand path, call upon the angels upon high to open a portal to the Hell dimension, the Netherworld. Make the other end of the portal open before the Fortress of Asbaritch and the portals and tunnel large enough for our vehicles to drive through with room to spare. We ask that the portal is kept open until one of us calls for it to be closed shut."

The soldiers who were working with them almost broke into laughter when they heard what they had assumed were government agents reciting what to them was garbage. That is until they saw a small very bright light appear in two of Kali`s other hands which were held together to form a cup, a light that grew in size, slowly hiding the statue, until the light was the size of a large tunnel. Stunned and silent they watched as the agents and soldiers boarded the Water Cannon and the Land Rover and drove the vehicles through the portal, of the statue there was no sign that it had ever existed.

Once passed the portal the vehicles were whisked briskly along a brightly lit tunnel, lit by what could have stars, what could have been almost anything, one minute later and they found themselves driving through another portal into a desert world, they had arrived in the Netherworld. Before them was a massive fortress with cyclopean walls constructed of gigantic stone blocks of limestone.

The four men in the Land Rover stopped at the end of the tunnel and although badly shaken they got on with their own task, but as they watched the others drive over to the fortress the four soldiers felt very alone and very vulnerable. Their only protections were the arc of blessed salt, their 20 litre capacity garden pressure sprayer and a sheet of paper upon which David had written the Lord`s prayer, in case any of them had forgotten it.

The Water Cannon pulled up near to the massive gates of the fortress and then everyone except for Private Stringer, who was the driver, climbed down to push the massive gates open, the dark lord had not bothered to lock them for he had thought his kingdom impregnable. With the way open to them, Rob climbed back into the cab of the Water Cannon to man their main weapon; Lieutenant Alan Jones sat in the window seat next to him. David, Angela Collins and Sergeant Tucker stayed on the ground in readiness for their next task. Private Stringer then drove the vehicle through the now open gates and into the empty courtyard. After allowing David, Sergeant Tucker and Angela Collins time to start up the stone staircase to the first floor, he drove the vehicle straight into the Grand Hall of the inner fortress.

The dark lord, Lord Asbaritch, was indeed sitting upon his throne and Moira was sitting upon his knee, they had been preparing to retire to his bed chamber when they heard the Water Cannon`s engine. Turning to the doorway they were both shocked to see the human vehicle drive into their fortress, they were even more shocked to see that it was Rob who was inside the cab of the vehicle. Rob used the Water Cannon immediately, he fired a powerful jet of water at them, knocking both of them off the throne, and he smiled when he heard their curses as their bodies hit the hard stone floor, and their cries of pain as the holy water attacked their demonic bodies.

With the attention of the owners of the fortress upon Rob, David along with Sergeant Tucker and Angela Collins hurriedly searched the first floor of the fortress for Moira or Cassie. They knew that they had less than five minutes to accomplish their tasks before they would have to re-join the others, for after that the water from their Water Cannon could have run out.

Leaning out of the window of the cab of the Water Cannon, Lieutenant Jones fired his automatic weapon at Moira but Lord Asbaritch leapt in the way fearing that she could be taken from him again. His anger rising as the holy water drenched the two of them, the dark lord ignored the pain from the large amount of holy water hitting his body to fling mystical bolts of energy at vehicle, which was struck repeatedly, however it survived thanks to the protection spell that David had put upon it.

In response to the dark lord`s assault upon the vehicle Rob turned up the pressure of the water and once again knocked both Moira and the dark lord off their feet. As he fell to the floor one of Lord Asbaritch`s mystical bolts of energy hit a supporting wall destroying it, and bringing down part of the ceiling. Lieutenant Jones, who had climbed down from the Water Cannon, was preparing to launch his own attack upon Moira, aiming his automatic weapon at her, however he was hit by some of the falling debris, and knocked to the floor unconscious. Rob swore as the odds swung towards the side of evil, but he could do nothing except to drench the two evil monsters with holy water while looking for another opening that would allow him to take out Moira. Beside him, Private Stringer picked up his automatic rifle and began firing towards Moira but seeing his rifle swinging towards her she leapt to one side and hurled an energy bolt towards him. Rob had known what she was about to do and he pulled Stringer back inside the Water Cannon as the energy bolt was absorbed by the metal of the vehicle.

**********

On the first floor of the fortress David was to use his pressure sprayer to give protection to the other two, should they meet Moira, while they fired their automatic weapons. Thankfully, she was on the ground floor and screaming in pain as the holy water burned her demonic part. David, Sergeant John Tucker and Angela Collins found Cassie at the doorway to Moira`s suite of rooms, she immediately told David that she could not escape because of the spell that Moira had put on the only doorway into the room, Sergeant Tucker smiled and pulled out some plastic explosive.

"Stand back Cassie, I am about to create another opening."

The small explosion was lost amongst the explosions that were occurring in the Grand Hall, and when the smoke had cleared, Cassie screamed excitedly and scrambled through the new doorway. Just then, they heard a massive explosion behind them and on investigating, they found that they could not escape back the way they had come. An energy bolt hurled by the dark lord had ricocheted off the Water Cannon and exploded against the far wall, and in doing so, it had also destroyed the staircase that they had used. On looking for another route, they found themselves standing upon a small gallery, one that overlooked the Grand Hall, beneath them they could see Moira standing by the massive throne. Angela Collins and Sergeant Tucker realised that they had a great opportunity to take her out, maybe the only one they were ever likely to get.

**********

When Moira had been hit by the Water Cannon and knocked back against the massive throne of her dark lord, lying on the floor at the foot of it, her anger exploded. However, it was aimed mostly at the fates rather than at Rob, for her massive amount of power has been negated by the thousands of gallons of holy water that Rob has brought with him. The demon part of her body was now wracked with pain as the holy water attacked her, burning her wherever it touched her now red and very sore body. Even so, she struggled to her feet determined to kill Rob if it was the last thing that she ever did. It was just as Sergeant Tucker and Angela Collins emptied the magazines of their automatic weapons, Moira screamed out in pain as she felt the bullets entering her body and then she fell to the floor dead, her blood mixing with the holy water and turning it red.

**********

Lord Asbaritch turned in grief when he heard his beloved scream out in pain and he unleashed a thunderbolt that took out the gallery. However, David, Sergeant Tucker, Angela and Cassie had already hurried away, for David knew how the dark lord would react. They did not see the fury on Lord Asbaritch`s face, fury that was aimed directly at them and the other humans who had invaded his realm. They finally found the second staircase that climbed down from the first floor and hurried down it, their aim now was to escape the terrible wrath of the dark lord.

With the death of his beloved, and because of the amount of holy water hitting him and painfully burning his tough skin, the dark lord decided to transport himself to another part of his kingdom, he was running away from the battle but he was not yet beaten, he was merely marshalling his strength, he told himself. However, he knew this was not the real reason why he was leaving the scene of battle, he needed time alone to think, to grieve. He knew why they had been beaten, why his fortress was in ruins and why his beloved was dead. It was because he had forgotten the advice that he himself had given his beloved, if you want revenge against Rob Hinds then simply kill him, do not go in for a long drawn out affair, for to do so is to underestimate him. Instead they had kidnapped the two people in Rob`s life that meant the most to him and they had left him alive, assured that he would be suitably punished in this way as he grieved for the loss of his wife and his sister in law. Instead, he had done the impossible; he had found his wife, breached the impenetrable kingdom of the Netherworld and killed Moira Bourbon whilst rescuing young Cassie. Lord Asbaritch slumped down upon a hard rock, one roasted by the never setting sun of his realm and cried, a major demon lord grieving for his lost love and wishing that he could go back in time and change it.

**********

Rob knew that they had almost run out of time, and after Sergeant Tucker had gathered up the limp body of his fallen officer, and he the fallen body of Moira Bourbon, they climbed back into their vehicle and drove back to the portal, only stopping to check up on the four soldiers. Rob quickly told Cassie not to fear for her sister or the twins, for he had already rescued Christina from the Satanist, and that the twins were healthy and safe. One minute later and they were all standing upon Salisbury plain looking at the stunned soldiers who had just completed the construction of a large funeral pyre. David now looked up at the heavens and called to their unknown helpers, asking them to close the portal before the forces of evil attempted to follow them through it. After it had closed all that was left of the pentagram was the statue of Kali, looking to be undamaged and shining like a new pin.

Rob immediately had Moira`s body put on to the funeral pyre, and then he set the pyre alight, only while he stood there watching it burn did Cassie finally get the opportunity to throw her arms around him, and after giving him a kiss on the cheek, and thanking him, she burst into tears of joy and relief. As for the statue of Kali, Rob was under orders to bring it to the offices of the SIS where it would be locked away in their vault with the other satanic artefacts.

Later that day there was a joyful reunion in Lower Boulding, when the two sisters were re-united, quite safe with the agents of the SIS there to provide protection, for Angela Collins had been ordered by Sir Willoughby Brown to ensure that Rob and Cassie got safely back to their temporary home.

**********

The black twisted soul of Moira Bourbon found itself in a line of other similar souls walking along the tunnel that was beneath the Fortress of Asbaritch. It would take her soul to Tartarus, however it had no idea where it was heading, no longer was it the soul of a fearless Satanist, now it was in a state of shock, and when it finally got to the end of the tunnel, it found Lucifer waiting. Lucifer laughed when he saw her pitiful soul and then he turned to two of the guards of Hell.

"Take it to my personal torture chamber; I will introduce it to a few of my tools of torture that it will have to endure for the rest of eternity, a fitting punishment for one who not only continually failed me but also turned against me."

Lucifer was not taking a personal interest in the soul of Moira because of the crimes that she had committed against the humans, it was because Moira had attempted to kill him, and now she would have the time and opportunity to regret her actions.

The End

If you enjoyed this story then please leave a positive revue, your support really does make a difference.

Also, why not visit my author page by clicking on the link. Smashwords Books.

About the Author

I was born in London, England. Like most of the world, I had to work hard to pay my mortgage and all the other bills, so I only had the time and the energy to write some short stories. My wife and I have a son who is now married to a lovely wife and they have five children of their own. Since retiring to the Greek island of Crete, I have finally found the time and the energy to write some full-length Science Fiction stories.

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Other Books by the Author

Colonies of Earth Series in order

Galaxy Spies

Time Storm

Rebirth

Trial by Ordeal

The Colonies of Earth Collection

Horror Stories

Strange tales; three short mild horror stories

Rob Hinds black magic stories

Kidnapped and Bound for Hell

The Satanists

Dreamscape

David Charlton stories, a science fiction series

Rescue Mission to the Stars

The Treasure of Altaraus

Return to Mazere

Other science fiction stories

Quasar

The Venetou

Invasion Earth

Short children`s stories

Three Journeys of the Scary Kind

