Sean Barnet knew he was breaking curfew. He had done it many nights before this one and would probably do it many nights afterwards; the reward was just too great not to sneak out.

Rome was a beautiful city at night; the blackness was lit up from cars and buildings along all the streets. It was in the late hours of night that the city cooled off and people could begin to venture out into the streets without the sun baking them.

Sean was one of those people. He opened the Book of Mormon he was clutching in his hand and removed the bottle of Yager he had been recently sent by a friend back home. It was cool to the touch and he gulped down a swig before placing it back into the book. A hole had been cut into the pages and the scriptures removed. There was no guilt when Sean had done the deed, only the necessity of having a convenient place for his bottle.

At twenty years of age, Sean could think of a million other things he would rather be doing in Rome than serving his mission. After a few weeks of preaching the word, he had found a new form of entertainment. A woman named Chelsea had stayed after in the Book of Mormon study class he taught, it was in the classroom she showed him how welcome his teaching had been. He smiled a bit as he relived that afternoon. She had fucked him for nearly an hour straight and they had continued the affair for another month.

The linkage between sex and religion had been a shocking one for a boy from Utah. He had never been one to wait until after marriage, but he knew that if he was going to score, it would not be from a very religious girl. That well held theory proved false in the heat of Rome. The women he was teaching were trying to reach a better closeness to God and he was more than willing to be their instrument in that discovery.

Tonight he was meeting up with two women he had been teaching for the past three months. It had taken some fancy footwork but he had finally convinced them that it was necessary for them to engage in a threesome, all the better to show their love of God.

It was never Sean's intention to become a missionary. He did not like, nor did he care about the Mormon religion. But when high school ended and he was given the choice of joining the Governments army, or Gods, he had chosen a holy path. Only one year remained until he was done serving his mission, then he would be able to stop sneaking around.

He was walking past an alley when he heard a small sniffle from inside. There was a pathetic air about it and he stared into the darkened walkway. Clothing hung on lines between the close quartered buildings and dogs were heard barking everywhere.

"Hello?"

He took a few hesitant steps inward, the light from the streets glinting off his Elder Barnet nametag.

"Is someone in there?"

No answer.

Alarm bells began to go off in his brain but his reaction time was slow and the hands clamped around his face too quickly. The bite was unexpected but he continued to struggle against the ironclad grip.

"You should have stayed indoors, boy." The female voice rasped in his ears before tearing off a chunk of flesh from his neck. He could feel the suction on the wound as the blood was being pulled out of him.

As Sean realized death was close at hand, he gave a small sigh of understanding. It was as the life pumped out of him he had a last thought and wondered if it was because of his religion or because of his actions….. either way, he was going to hell.

For Mature Readers Only

#4
December '02

Strange Tales Presents

Witches

"Unwell"
Written by Megan Curtis

Lilith knocked on the door of the hotel room before opening it. She was carrying several bags with her and fumbled to turn the door knob.

"Honey, I'm home."

Vicki stood next to the window staring out at the street below but she turned and smiled as Lilith entered.

"I was starting to worry. Where have you been?"

Lilith deposited her bags onto one of the beds before collapsing into a chair. "Well I could not remember where the market was and there were tons of people wandering around. It's December, you'd think they had better things to do than get in my way."

"It's still warm out."

"Tell me about it, anyway the guy haggled a little longer than I thought he would, but I got the bread and cheese and meat so we can make sandwiches. Tomorrow night though I'm taking you to that restaurant I told you about."

"The one where the guy from Poland works?"

"Yes, he's adorable; you're going to love it. Plus he'll give us free drinks and the lemon liquor is to die for." Lilith smiled at her own pun and began pulling things out of the bag. "Not to drastically change subjects or anything, but have you thought about how we are going to stop your father from killing you?"

"No clue. I don't even know why he's trying to kill me. It makes no sense."

Lilith didn't look up; afraid that her next comment was going to cause her companions beautiful features to vanish in rage. "Well you told me he doesn't like you very much, so maybe this is his way of getting rid of you."

"Then he would have killed me earlier or he wouldn't bother with the damn Darkhold. He'd just kill me. There's a reason he's using the Darkhold to do it though."

"Well I thought we could start searching a few of the churches later tonight if you're up for it. We can start at St. Peter's and move on to St. Paul's. Unless you know where your father is."

"No, I don't but he has offices in both buildings. Wait a minute, how are we going to be able to search those churches without running into the Swiss Guard."

Lilith rolled her eyes as she took a bite of her sandwich and swallowed. "Please, let's call them what they are; Mercenaries. And I have not met anyone I couldn't hypnotize yet, so I think were ok as far as running into trouble. If we do find your father then I could even have them kill him." Lilith proceeded with the next part of her questioning carefully, unsure of how Vicki was feeling. "We are here to kill your father aren't we, because you haven't really answered that line of questioning?"

"I'm not sure yet. My turn to change subjects." She smiled apologetically. "Do you feel bad about just taking off on Clea and Topaz?"

"Truthfully? No. Why do you?"

"Not really. Well, maybe for leaving poor Topaz with Clea, but not really. After all they left us in that little cottage."

Lilith grinned crookedly at her. "Yea, damn them for leaving us in that cottage with alcohol! Look what happened!" She pointed at herself and then Vicki. "We had the best sex ever, damn them! Damn them to hell!"

Vicki laughed and moved towards the food to make a sandwich. "All right, let's start at St. Peter's. It's been awhile since I've been in those catacombs, but maybe we'll find something."

"Yea, but in the meantime you need to figure out what were going to do if that something turns out to be your father."

Topaz stared at the white cliffs that were slowly growing smaller in the distance. She was standing on the back of a ferry moving across the English Channel. The White Cliffs of Dover were blending slowly into the gray sky and mist that covered the water this morning.

The wind had driven most of the passengers inside the ferry, but Topaz could not resist staying out in the elements, staring at one of natures masterpieces as it slowly vanished before her. She grinned as she began to think about all the other people who had witnessed this event before her time.

She finally decided to give into the wind and made her way into the glass lobby of the ferry where Clea was sitting by one of the windows flipping through a magazine. They had not spoken since leaving Avalon and Topaz could sense that her mentor was angry about something, what it was remained a mystery.

"Hey Clea can you hand me my bag?"

The older woman passed the blue backpack to her companion without looking up from the article she was engaged in.

Topaz could do nothing but smile despite Clea's frosty demeanor, she was in too good of a mood even though she had left the man of her dreams behind, but she believed him when he said they would meet again.

She pulled out a worn novel from her backpack and began reading, already knowing every word in it. Clea glanced over and then put her magazine down in disgust.

"What are you reading?"

"The best romance novel of all time, In the Shadow of Midnight. Why? Do you want to read it?" She held the book out as an offering.

Clea snapped it out of her hands and made little disapproving noises as she read the back cover. "Is this what you think love is? Is that why you were with Arthur, you think he's finally the one to come and rescue you?"

There was long held bitterness being released here and Topaz felt her own anger and confusion mixing. "What are you talking about?"

Clea gave a bitter laugh. "You really don't know do you? For someone so in touch with their own magic, you really don't have a clue about yourself."

"Ok Clea whatever you're raging on about, you can just spit it out instead of dancing around the issue. Is this about my power? It's not as if I abuse it or anything."

"It has nothing to do with your power. It's about you. Arthur is a perfect example of the way you behave. You would have stayed in Avalon with him."

Disbelief colored Topaz's features. "I think I am demonstrating that that is wrong. I left with you; I decided to leave him and Avalon to come with you. I am loyal to you Clea!"

Clea took a deep breath as she looked the other woman in the eyes. "I placed a spell on you so that you would leave. I made that decision for you."

Shock coursed through Topaz's body and she stood up slowly. "Why would you do that?"

There was a hint of regret and desperation in Clea's face as she stared up at her. "You want so desperately to be rescued by someone that I thought you might have been led to believe that Arthur could do that for you. You have had to rescue yourself from every situation you have come across, I understand how desperately you want someone to do that for you, make life a little easier. But I'm telling you right now that for people like us that just can't be a possibility."

"How dare you? I am not a child! You can not treat me like I'm five even though I know it would be easier to control me that way! That's it, I'm done." She turned and walked back outside, taking her bag with her.

The boat ride passed without either one making a move to repair the breach. The boat docked and Clea lost sight of Topaz as they disembarked, she searched for a few minutes and decided to sit and wait.

The unloading of the ship took a few hours while Clea watched and stared about as people boarded other boats and continued leaving the ferry. She still could not see Topaz anywhere.

Clea stood at the dock all day, workers passed and gave her curious looks but left her to her business. After 3 hours she began to chant a spell to locate her friend… she could not find her in the immediate area and sent the search radius larger. It was then that she encountered the counter spell, being chanted by Topaz.

She stopped chanting and hung her head in defeat knowing she'd alienated the most promising student she had. Hoping that her charge would return, Clea stayed at the dock for another two hours, finally giving up hope and climbing into a cab. She stared at the passing country side for the duration of the trip, finally asking him to drop her off in a small town a few miles away. From there she could get to an airport and go back to the states. This was a fool's errand, and she was tired of doing it. The girls would just have to learn how to work together on their own, she was done.

"You are not to leave!" Priestess Beth winced as her voice boomed through her small room. Her only son had his hand on the door, about to leave her but now he turned to stare at her in disgust.

"I am not the small child you could order around who would listen. I am an adult and I can make my own decisions." He remained standing by the door, arms folded in an unyielding position.

"You will listen to me! I am your mother!" In her rage Beth did not control part of her power and a glass on her desk shattered. "You do not need to leave Avalon, there is no purpose to it, and you are needed here."

"On the contrary, King Tramone is on the other side of those shores and he will protect your island, The Knights are no longer needed with his support. Only a few on Earth know of Avalon's existence and would not invade it for fear of your magic. I am not needed here, I am however needed elsewhere and I will go."

Beth walked around her desk and stood before her son, eyes pleading but full of her feelings, that of betrayal. "It's because of that girl isn't it?" She smiled in triumph as he gave a start. She laughed at his surprise. "I see everything, haven't you been able to figure that out yet."

It was her turn to turn her back to him and she walked back to lean on her desk. "Topaz is more attractive than that little blonde tart you were spending so much time with, but you should be patient and wait for her to come back here. Then I could begin to train her and you can begin to learn about your own powers." Her eyes lit at the thought of all she could accomplish with her son under her control.

"Stop it mother!" Arthur had stridden forward, grabbing her arms and giving her a little shake. "I will not bring her back so that you can twist her into a younger version of yourself! This is the last time you will EVER see me, do you understand?!"

Beth continued to shake her head in denial. "No! You are my son! You must stay here, you must!" Tears of frustration streamed down her face. "Your father left me too, don't leave me like he did!" She began to claw at his shirt, trying to get a grip.

Arthur's frustration finally got the better of him and he released her, shoving off her hands. "Goodbye Mother. I am sorry that it had to be this way."

Beth collapsed to her knees, hugging herself as she watched her son walk out of her life. The urge to cast a spell, keeping him here was overwhelming, but she knew it was hopeless. He had learned to counter-act any controlling spell she might put on him. A trick his father had taught him. All she could do was lay down on the floor, crying to herself pitifully.

As soon as Arthur stepped out of the room, he took a deep breath of fresh air. That had been difficult, especially with her throwing his father's abandonment in his face. But he felt drawn to Topaz and was going to help her in her quest. The thought of helping people appealed to him and he was excited to be with her.

The boatmen smiled at him as he climbed aboard with his meager possessions. They were a little surprised that he was taking Hern, his horse with him, but they had learned never to question The Knights for fear of ending up with a sword in their bellies. Instead they did as he ordered and transported him to Earth. He disembarked quickly and told them to go back to Avalon instead of waiting for him. Surprised and curious they left their Mistress's son on the shores in the Earth world and returned to the safe cocoon of their own.

"Can you hear me?" Vicki adjusted the microphone headpiece she was wearing only sparing a moments glance at the guard she had just knocked unconscious.

"Sure can." Lilith licked her lips after the brief snack she just had on a very dead guard. Vicki would probably freak out if she found out, but there was no real reason for her to find out. Besides the guard liked to rape little kids, he had a good violent death coming to him.

The headsets crackled a little as Vicki continued to adjust hers. "Where are you?"

"North side, just heading into the crypt. Didn't know St. Peters could look this creepy."

"It can." Vicki gave a little shudder as she thought about those few times she had been down into the crypts below. Some were open to the public, but the ones she and Lilith were walking through were sealed off. Mostly because they held a few secrets the Vatican wanted to keep hidden.

Vicki was going into the crypts from the South side of the building, while Lilith was taking the North side. If all went according to plan they would meet in the middle and then proceed into her father's private room.

She walked slowly down a flight of stone stairs, grimacing at the dusty walls and floor. There were only a few footprints and she followed a set that was going in the direction she wanted. Deep down she hoped that her father had a good explanation for his behavior, but she knew that he didn't.

Lilith wasn't fazed by the dark damp smell emanating from the previously used crypts. She passed quickly through them and smiled as she and Vicki met right where they were supposed to.

There was a dusty shelf that used to host a body and Lilith smiled in faint memory. "I think I killed the guy who used to be here."

Vicki stared at her in horror. "What? Why?"

Lilith just smiled and shrugged. "He cheated on me. I'm kidding by the way, I think the guy who was here died waaay before my time. That one however," she pointed to a shelf higher up. "He died in the 6th century, pretty sure daddy-kins took care of him."

"Oh. I always thought these guys were martyrs or something, or that they died around Christ's time."

"I'm sure most of them did, but some of them didn't, but got buried here anyway, probably by accident. People probably thought their graves were those of ancient martyr's and buried them here. Mistakes like that happen, no big deal."

They had continued walking down rows of crypt-shelves until they entered a smooth stone hallway. One pair of footprints was in the dust and Lilith, taking the lead followed them.

"So Lil, that kind of brings up a question I have. Um, how many people have you had sex with?"

Lilith didn't even blink at the question. "Men or women?"

"Both."

"I don't think you really want me to answer that question."

"Sure I do. I know it's a lot, that's ok."

Lilith laughed a bit. "You have no idea. I have lived hundreds of lifetimes there is no end to the amount of people I've fucked."

"You don't have to be so crude about it." Vicki's voice was hinted with anger.

"Look Vicki, we are going to have to discuss this in detail some other time and I'll explain to you the difference between what I'm doing with you, and what I have been doing for centuries."

"You mean you aren't just wasting time with me?"

Lilith stopped and turned to stare at Vicki. "Of course I'm not." She ran her hand along Vicki's cheekbone and smiled. "You are an amazing person and I genuinely care for you. I thought you knew that. Listen, while were right here I might as well tell you that-"

"DIE DEMON!"

Both women turned at the sound of a voice emanating from the wall on their left side. They were knocked on their backs as a dark figure came flying at them. It decided to focus on Lilith and began hitting her unmercifully with a large bat.

"HAUNT ME NO MORE!"

Vicki moved quickly and shoved the figure from behind. It knocked him down across Lilith but she easily rolled him off of her and stumbled to her feet.

In the scuffle the figures hood had been knocked off revealing a familiar face.

"Father?"

The figure looked up at Vicki in shock. "Victoria? Why are you haunting me?" Instead of acknowledging his daughter, Vittorio Montesi began groaning and rolled from side to side. Unfamiliar words were flowing out of his mouth and Victoria fell to her knees as the feeling of breathlessness and pain washed through her.

"Stop it!" Lilith fell to her knees beside Vicky then crawled over to Vittorio punching him in the face to stop his chanting. She quickly placed her knee over his throat and held his mouth in-between her index and pointer finger. Raising her arm above her she held her hand in a fist.

"You have five seconds to tell me why you are trying to kill your daughter."

"I'm not trying to kill her," he sputtered out. "I am trying to kill all demons; her death would just be an added result of that."

To Be Continued…