The Curse of 1977 (Book 2)

Chapter 37

"I must say that this is truly a great opportunity and honor for you two to have us here this morning." The young, white, dingy-clothed and bearded Barry smiled and nodded his head while seated Indian- style on the floor.

"Believe me when I say, de pleasure is all ours, my friend." Arthur smiled back while he and Akoni, with Isaiah in her arms, sat across from Barry and two other ladies that were seated on both sides of him, all Indian-style on the floor inside one of the empty apartments on the eighth floor of the middle building at Hollis Estates.

"I have to say that this arrangement you two have here is quite elaborate, but simple." Claudia, a young Native American, commented as she gazed all around at the bare room. "And you both have such lovely eyes. They must be a trait where you're from."

"My sister and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts." Arthur's face shined with delight.

"Like I said, we're so glad that you invited us here today to share in the feast of Satan with other brothers and sisters." Barry happily stated. "We're grateful to be here with our new brother and sister and their lovely young one as we usher in a brand new day of unity for our beloved father Lucifer."

Still smiling, Arthur purred, "Yes...Satan is his name."

"How old is your son, might I ask?" Naomi, the white lady, asked.

Holding a sleeping Isaiah in her arms, Akoni replied, "He is nearly three."

"Man, that's super, it really is." Barry pushed his glasses back on his face before brushing his curly hair.

"Yes, my sister would not grant me a child, so we were forced to borrow someone else's instead." Arthur commented.

"Incest, I can really dig that." Claudia marveled. "Keep it all in the family."

"Yeah, we don't allow this fascist society to dictate to us how we should live." Barry indignantly remarked. "No one is gonna tell me that I can't marry two of the most beautiful women in the world at the same time. I spent four years in Da Nang fighting for this country, I deserve my pleasure."

Both Arthur and Akoni sat and grinned at the three across from them. Their silent stillness could be felt all around the disheveled apartment like thick smoke.

"Allow me to fill you two in on just who we are and what we represent." Barry said. "We are faithful followers of Brother Manson. And even though he is currently behind bars as we speak, unjustly I might add, his spirit is with us nonetheless. Brother Manson's message was for unity amongst the white race, but I happen to believe that unity must first be established with all races, which is why I have a white and Comanche wife. Why we are here with our Afro-American brother and sister in Satan."

"You do know who Brother Manson is, don't you?" Naomi asked Arthur and Akoni.

"We are somewhat familiar." Akoni softly answered.

"Good, because much like him, we too are visionaries." Barry said. "We too, believe that a war is coming, but not the aforementioned war that Brother Manson refers to. Instead, it's a war between the saints of Lucifer, and of the so called saints of that fascist Christ."

"Ahh, we know him very well." Arthur folded his hands together while batting his eyelashes.

"Yes, it seems that everyone does." Claudia rolled her eyes.

"But now, this war must be fought with the might and power of Satan supreme." Barry added. "We as believers must be willing to stand up and say we are here now!"

"Which is why we are so glad that you invited the three of us here," Naomi spread her arms wide open. "It doesn't matter your color or nationality, Lord Lucifer sees us all as equals, even if this society does not."

"Tell us again, where are you both from?" Claudia asked.

"We are from a far off land called Jamaica." Akoni replied.

"Wow, what a beautiful place it must be." Barry smiled.

"It is, my friend, it truly is." Arthur insisted. "But we were forced to leave our homeland in order to come here and complete what our master has charged us to do."

"Speaking of your master, would they happen to be in conjunction with ours?" Barry asked.

Arthur only smiled from ear to ear before saying, "I assure, mon, he is closer dan you tink. You see, we brought you three here today to partake in de feast of dose who came before us."

"Long ago, our master came to our island and blessed us." Akoni stepped in. "De least we can do as servant's is repay his kindness by sharing in de meal dat he set before us."

Pointing his finger, Barry said, "You know, I always said that the blacks were some of the most misunderstood people in the world. Maybe I should take on a black wife. Whaddya girls say?"

Both Claudia and Naomi smiled and nodded in approval while Arthur and Akoni just sat and grinned on and on.

"Now, you mentioned that you had something very important to show us, which is why I brought my camera to film it all." Barry said as he got up from off the floor with his handheld camera. "I want this experience to be captured forever and for all who believe in the power of Satan. We've traveled all over

this country. We just got back from a journey to Maine just a couple of weeks ago, right before all these animal attacks started up."

"The folks out in San Francisco will be so impressed!" Claudia jumped up from off the floor in excitement.

Standing above Arthur and Akoni, Barry cut on his camera and focused it on the siblings. "Okay, guys, we're ready whenever you are."

Arthur only glanced at Akoni before getting up and walking over to a nearby corner. He then knelt down on both knees in the corner before rising up and down in a bowing fashion.

"After we're done with this, we can all head over to Burger King and have lunch." Naomi whispered into Akoni's ear.

Akoni never bothered to look back at the zealous woman; she just kept her attention on her brother as to say the woman's offer was absolutely insignificant.

Arthur then took off his shirt and tossed it behind him. Before long, a vapor emerged from the corner that eventually elevated to the grimy ceiling.

"Whaddya got back there, buddy, some incense?" Barry inquired as he continued to film the event.

But Arthur would not reply. The mist that hovered above everyone's heads began to settle before Barry and his camera. Barry backed up a slight bit, somewhat taken off guard. He, Claudia and Naomi all watched as something within the vapor took on a sound that resembled a multitude of people humming all at once.

"What...what's happening?" Claudia shivered.

Soon, two dark, orange eyes appeared inside the mist. Barry nearly dropped his camera to the floor at that second. The mist then took on the form of a head, arms and legs that stood directly in front of Barry in an imposing fashion.

"Is this...is this really happening?" Barry stammered.

"Do you recall dis past winter when de little girls were eaten inside deir own home?" Akoni asked.

"Yeah...I remember that." Barry stuttered while keeping his camera tuned to the figure in front of him. "This is absolutely amazing." He nearly lost his breath. "Father Satan, is that really you?"

Barry, Claudia and Naomi all stood in total awe at the apparition that only stared right back at each of them. "Are you capturing this?" Naomi's mouth hung wide open.

"I...I don't think we should be here anymore." Claudia began to shake from head to toe.

"No, no, honey, this is what we've been waiting for all our lives." Barry panted. "I never imagined I would see our master face to face in my lifetime."

Just as Barry was about to adjust the volume on the camera, he, along with his wives began hearing a growl emanate from somewhere within the apartment.

"Hey, uh, do you guys have a dog around here or something?" Barry asked while still rolling.

The growling grew more intense, so much so that Barry managed to take his camera away from the mist and scan the rest of the room until he captured Akoni standing behind him with a pair of white eyes and foaming fangs.

"Oh my God," Barry shouted as he fumbled with his camera before dropping it to the floor completely.

Akoni reached down and picked up the camera. She then examined the strange contraption before dropping it back down to the floor.

Before long, Arthur came out from his corner and approached the three. "Is dis not what you desired?" He shined his own fangs at them.

Dropping to her knees, Naomi begged, "Please, don't kill us!"

"We need not a full form to devour you." Arthur snarled.

Holding up his shaking hands, Barry implored, "Hey...we were only joking about the devil worshipping bit!"

Seated in another corner of the room Isaiah awoke from his deep slumber to the shrill yells and screams of three people being torn, shredded and whipped from one end of the room to the other.

In his little, unknowing eyes all he saw was redness being flung onto the filthy walls, and peoples 'tummies' being split wide open. In his ears were the sounds of puppy dogs that sounded like those who had carried him away from grandma and papaw. In his mind, mama was nowhere to be found.

Once the melee was complete, Arthur and Akoni, with their clothes and faces dripping with blood, approached the child and stood over him. Blood dribbled down from their mouths and onto the floor in front of Isaiah.

All the boy could do was cry his eyes out while trying to crawl in the opposite direction. But Arthur managed to grab a hold of him and pick him up. He held him in the air as high as he could lift him.

"I can smell his blood." Akoni hissed.

"I...I can't breathe!" Barry squealed from the other side of the room. "Please, God...help me! I can't breathe anymore!"

"Mommy," Isaiah screamed into Arthur's ghoulish-looking face.

"Jesus loves me, dis I know," Arthur began to sing gently at the child. "For de bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong, dey are weak, but he is strong."