Le Dragon Rouge

Chapter 4

    Le Grand        

GRIMOIRE,

OU L'ART DE COMMANDER
LES
ESPRITS CELESTES,
AÉRIENS, TERRESTRES, INFERNAUX

AVEC LE VRAI SECRET

De faire parler les Morts, de gagner
toutes les fois qu'on met aux Loteries,
de dácouvrir les Trésors cachés, etc.

Imprimiré sur un manuscrit de 1522.

      Hoffman held the book in his hands gingerly. The fact that it had survived all this time spoke to the power that it contained. This book had been lost for centuries.The earliest known proof of it came from the writings of one Honorius of Thebes. It was known as the Devil's Bible. Over the centuries since Honorious the Vatican claimed to have the book but most scholars scoffed at this claim since Christianity came in very late in the game. It wasn't rewritten in French until 1522 and soon after that it was rumored to be in the collection of Catherine the Great only to disappear again after her death. She kept this book handy as she watched the Free Masons rise under her reign. She was practical and looked to all methods of security even the occult. She kept the book close in case she should call on a demon or Lucifer himself to rid her kingdom of such dangerous men. After her death the book disappeared, perhaps kept hidden by her a former lover. This particular lover returned to Prussia to live out the rest of his days a rich man and none believed it was simply due to his prowess in bed.  After all Cathrine wasn't even Russian by birth she was Prussian so it was no surprise that the book eventually turned up in Hitler's enormous library of the occult sometime during the 1930's. Some whispered that the book was responsible to his rise to Chancellor in 1933 and then finally to his absolute power. It was believed he had made a deal with the devil or perhaps he was the devil himself but payment came earlier than he had expected. Those contracts can be very tricky, and as far as anyone knew, there were no lawyers who offered their services when it came to demonic contracts, no matter what their reputation.
     Either way Hoffman was ecstatic that he had been able to rid himself of Avril and his "princess" daughter. He was sure that Avril was dead but he was unsure of Sydney's status. One moment she was there...the next she was gone which meant she could return. In the meantime it was important to get the Romeni man back to seal the box permanently. Hoffman was unsure the little man had the power to do it though, the box it seemed was from ancient Egypt. Both items were well known in occult circles but Hoffman was surprised, to say the least, to find both of them together in Warsaw. He thought that had been a great coup but now he wasn't so sure. And if there was one thing Helmut Hoffman did not like to grapple with was self doubt.
      He sat down and opened the book. It was time to make a long distance call to hell and to see if he could finish what he had started:

      Empereur Lucifer, Prince et maître des esprits, je te prie de quitter ta demeure dans quelque partie du monde qu'elle puisse être pour venir me parler; je te recommande, conjure de la part du grand Dieu vivant le Père, le Fils et le Saint Esprit, de venir sans faire aucun bruit et sans exhaler aucune mauvais odeur pour me répondre a haute et intelligible voix, article par article, sur ce que je te demanderai; sans quoi tu y seras contraint par la puissance du grand Adonaï, Eloim, Ariel, Jehovam, Tetra, Gra, Maton, et de tout les autres esprit supérieurs qui t'y contraindront malgré toi. Venite, Venite. Submiritillor LUCIFUGE, ou tu vas être éternellement tourmenté, par la grande force de cette Baguette Foudroyante. In subito. »

      The smell of sulfur filled the room and when Helmut looked he could see Le Dragon Rouge wearing a zoot suit with a sporty red hat. His cigarette moved as he spoke,

      "Oh for Christ sakes Helmut, can't you go two days without calling me. I wish you had two souls for payment, for yours, as dark as it is, is not going to be enough for all the help you need. You're the son of a Nazi for god's sake you'd think you'd understand how to be bad, evil even, and carry through with a simple project like this. What is your problem now?"

      "It seems my dear Lucifer that I might have accidentally misplaced Sidney Avril," Helmut said with a frisson of fear in his voice.

      "Well where do you think she went? You do at least have an idea don't you," said the devil through clenched teeth, or were they fangs?

      "I believe she is trapped in the ancient Egyptian box I found along with the grimoire. She can't get out can she?" Helmut asked without much conviction.

      "Not only can she get out you fool, she can now undo all you've spent your pitiful life building. This is bad, very bad and you have to be the world's most inept evil character. Maybe I'll take you now and put us both out of our misery," Lucifer whispered,

      "Please, no not yet," Helmut begged. "Give me 48 hours. I have an idea."

      "Well it better be a good one because the clock is ticking and my old cabana boy is pretty burnt out. I'll see you in exactly 48 hours and then we'll decide when your eternity begins. You do realize your time on this mortal plane may be quite limited. I know you had your heart set on more than just a measly 48 hours. You'll get no more chances. Your friend Avril is anxious to see you. And if anyone is going to get beaten for eternity by the Foudroyante Wand it's not going to be me!"

      Lucifer turned into a swirl of red smoke, entered the grimoire which shut with such force even the implacable German jumped as he wiped the sweat from his waxy brow.

And all the way to hell Lucifer could hear Helmut punching the wall and screaming
Sheisse,Sheisse,Sheisse...the devil stopped counting after twenty-five but chuckled at the German's very very bad luck.Schadenfreude never felt so good.

Reviews

[therisa]

Interesting, doesn't begin to describe your story, Icelandicblue. Looking forward, to the torturous events that Hoffman must face, over the next 48 hours. Nice to see him, squirm like that, after what he has done to Sydney.

[icelandicblue]

I know huh...now the hard part how to make the weasel squirm. Thanks so much for the kind words.

[therisa]

Just sharing the love, which you have given to me, over the years.

[Lyn Anderson]

Wow, great development. I should have reviewed and scored the previous chapter but I kept right on reading to this. I love the addition of the French.
notes: perhaps take the So out at the beginning of the "he sat down and opened the book"
"she can now undo you've spent" -- missing an "all?"
a couple of commas here and there, but a really great read. Very Clive Barker feel for sure, but different.

[icelandicblue]

Hi KL...Thanks for sticking with the story. I made the corrections per your advice. I will go back and add commas. It's easier to see where they belong when the piece is published but I will make note at some point and go back in and add them where necessary. One thing about writing something of this length is that I am finding punctuation to be one of the more difficult aspects. Strange but true. I'm glad you like the story so far. Thanks!