“Like what?”
“So much that you can’t even imagine,” Frank began.
“My mother was killed by a devil cult I think,” Vince broke in, the words just tumbling out as everything began to come together. “The local detectives just think it’s some twisted kid or something, but… hearing all of this really ties it all in.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Frank said. “When I heard about your mother, I knew they’d tracked her down. And that’s why I had to get to you before they did.”
“But who are they?” Vince admonished. “I still don’t understand all that’s happening.”
“Okay, first things first.” Frank took a sip of Dr. Pepper, put the can in a holder between the bucket seats. “You need to know some background, how I came to find you and know about all this stuff. Okay?”
Vince nodded; he wanted to ask Frank why this cult would want him dead, but he remained silent. He took a sip of Coke, sat back and waited for Frank to begin.
“When I began my research into the occult, it was because of the repressed memories and dreams I was having that were coming out during therapy. At first I thought it was bullshit. The dreams actually first started coming sporadically about three years before I went into therapy. I wrote a novel loosely based on them called Darkness Inside. I thought I was purging the dreams when I wrote that novel. The dreams became a flood when the book was published, and that’s when I sought therapy. I thought I had another idea for a book—in fact, I’ve written several things based on these dreams, but we don’t need to go there. What you need to know is what I found in my research.”
He took another sip of Dr. Pepper and continued. “When I started doing my research I realized that there were many different kinds of satanic cults. There’s the usual group of stoned teenagers who have maybe listened to a little too much Danzig or Marilyn Manson, smoked too much dope and think Satan is cool and form an informal coven out of a sense of camaraderie. Most of the time these groups are harmless. Sometimes they cross the line into vandalism and other petty crimes. Sometimes they cross the line further and sacrifice neighborhood pets. Very rarely do they cross that line into killing people. Most often they’ll do blood ceremonies where they prick their fingers, squeeze blood into a chalice and drink it as their benediction. For the most part, these groups are very unorganized. Their theology is largely made up as they go along, but they usually find inspiration in black metal bands, horror movies, and a snippet from The Satanic Bible. In short, they’re usually formed out of rebellion.”
“The Satanic Bible?” Vince was amazed. “You mean one actually exists?”
“That’s where the second group of Satanists comes in,” Frank said. “That would be the ‘legitimate’ satanic groups.” He emphasized the word legitimate by moving his fingers in the air: Quote, unquote. “I call these groups legitimate because they have taken the pains to register their organizations as institutional religions, and have even gone so far as to advertise themselves in local phone books. Groups like the Church of Satan, the Temple of Set. Both of these groups revolve around the basic belief structure of The Satanic Bible, which was written in the late sixties by Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey. LaVey passed away almost two years ago and the reins have now been handed down to his companion, Blanche Barton and his oldest daughter, Karla. The group itself is basically atheist. They don’t even believe in the Devil, much less God. They use Satan as a symbol of man’s carnal, natural instincts and behavior, and encourage this through ritual designed to appeal to man’s basic Jungian need for religious ritual. To the LaVeyan Satanist, you,” he pointed at Vince, “are your highest God, thus if you are a LaVeyan Satanist you worship yourself.”
Vince was soaking this in. “Wow! I’ve never heard of this.”
Frank managed a small grin. “Satanism in this context is somewhat misleading. In actuality, it is a philosophy of Jungian ritual and social Darwinism that seeks to appeal to man’s basic’s instincts. LaVey was very heavily influenced by a German philosopher named Frederick Neitchze and utilized his concepts and philosophies when formulating his church’s beliefs. While LaVeyan Satanists use the traditional trappings of the occult like the Baphomet symbol and invoke Satan and various demons in their rituals, these are only used symbolically. Despite what born-again Christians may think, LaVeyan Satanists are harmless. They don’t believe in killing innocent people, or animals or children, nor do they engage in the type of behavior that your average born-again might like you to believe. In fact, they explicitly disapprove of such behavior. They’re very law-abiding people.”
He continued, holding up three fingers. “Then, there is the third kind of Satanist, the kind that most of our current myths of devil cults are based on. The more traditional form of Satanism, I guess you could say. Traditional in that unlike the legitimate Satanists, these groups, or group in this case, really believes in the Christian Devil and God, and they worship him the way Catholics pay homage to Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Unlike the LaVeyan Satanists, they whole-heartedly believe in blood sacrifice and they practice it. They are hold-overs from the old European devil cults of the Middle Ages and their sole purpose in life is the total destruction of not only Christianity, but man in general. It has been suggested by various groups that this group is largely imaginary, that it has been fostered for years by the Christian church and doesn’t exist, except in the minds of those who wish to believe in them.”
He paused for a moment, his eyes riveted on Vince. “To a certain extent, the skeptics are right. Fundamentalist Christians who specialize in writing about the occult from a Christian standpoint claim Satanists kill 50,000 people a year in ritual killings. That’s twice the number of the average homicide rate. They also claim they’re responsible for the majority of missing person’s cases and the list goes on. Most of what they say about Satanism is pure bullshit.” He leveled his gaze down, took a sip of Dr Pepper. “But unfortunately, a group like this does exist. They aren’t responsible for 50,000 murders a year. And they aren’t involved in the majority of kidnappings and child molestations that occur, either. They don’t run all the day care centers in America and rape our children. But they do exist, they can—and do—kill, and they are so powerful you wouldn’t believe it. It is this last group that our folks were involved with. A group that has been gaining strength since the late sixties and is now established all over the country and in many parts of the world. They worship not only Satan, but a god that is even older than Satan, a god that was worshipped when man was just a primitive ape with no language skills. This god is almost unknown to everybody but an elite sect of devil worshippers and these people are very secretive, very real, and very dangerous.”
All of this was coming at Vince so fast that it was hard to process, much less believe. He took another sip of Coke, his mind racing with a thousand questions. “I just have one question. If you found out my mother was killed and you feel she was killed by… one of them… how can you be so sure they don’t know about me yet?”
“I made extra sure of that, trust me,” Frank said, sipping his Dr. Pepper and looking out at the park beyond.
“Are you sure? Because… if you’re sure they don’t know about me, then who was the guy that tried to kill me yesterday at John Wayne Airport?”
“What’s that?” Frank raised his eyebrows, interested.