There were only three gathered on the afternoon that saw the first real confrontation with the dark side of reality, a direct run-in with elements of the satanic force. Leahaana, Patrick and Linda were the only ones available for a Rescue Circle.

Ultimately there is no evil in the universe, but man lives and has being within the lower three dimensions of the Omniverse. Each dimension is complete, a separate universe with rules and laws peculiar to itself. The dark force, the activities of what is called evil, is active within these three lower dimensions, most specifically the physical and astral (emotional) planes.

(NOTE: I personally believe that what is of the "D-evil" is "evil", or that rather the "dark Forces", as Tau refers to them, are those who do not submit to the LIGHT of the Creator. I believe that this is simply what "evil" is, a lack of the Light of God. Darkness in this sence indicates hiding, deception, lies, concealment, for nefarious reasons. So in this sense "evil" is the proper word for the forces of darkness. In the original Greek tet of the New Testament, "evil" contains the meaning of "harmful" and "worthless", and I would think that this describes perfectly many of the reptilian parasites which infest this universe. - BRANTON)

Many will ignore the activity of the dark force, citing admonishments from a variety of spiritual teachers to do so. Ignoring the dark ones will not make them go away, will not diminish their influence upon the universe, nor will it protect one from feeling their influence in their lives.

For physical man, evil is a very real and evident force. It is not omnipotent, nor unbeatable, it simply is, and as such must be dealt with in these pages.

A Circle was called on the previous evening, with many lost ones gathered and taken into the Light. Usually several days would pass before another Circle was convened. People engrossed in the work of the Circle sometimes used their energies without remembering to recharge their batteries, restoring their bodies to an invigorated state. Time was needed to reenergize and recover. Then too, some people just didn't care to participate. Circles were not called every night for that reason alone.

Something was bothering Patrick. He was restless, unable to concentrate on any one thing. He tried to read, quickly finding that he couldn't concentrate enough. Television was boring and the idea of renting a movie or something else wasn't sitting well with his inner balance of correct or incorrect.

Sometimes a shower helped. Water is concentrated Prana, a Sanskrit word meaning universal or divine energy. Sometimes a light meditation in the midst of falling water stimulated his mind to reveal whatever it was that could not ordinarily be realized. Sitting cross legged under the falling water, Patrick slipped into meditation. Almost immediately he realized what was bothering him. Jael was there, and greatly agitated. They had found someone who needed immediate help.

Still dripping water and with only a towel wrapped around himself, he found Leahaana in the living room.

“Leahaana,” he said, “we need to do a Circle. Now. Something's not right.” Patrick was seldom wrong when his intensity of feeling reached a level high enough galvanize him into this much activity. Leahaana felt him before he walked into the room, his intense seriousness flashing around him like a neon sign. She was becoming accustomed to his up and down power surges and took it all in stride.

“Linda's room is the quietest,” she said. “We'll ask her to join us and conduct the Circle there.” Patrick went to put on some clothes while Leahaana went to find Linda. It was one o'clock on an otherwise slightly boring afternoon.

Rescue Circles are always tape recorded from beginning to end, but this afternoon a recorder was unavailable. No matter, they said. Nothing would happen that might require going back to verify facts, personalities, or locations. “If anything happens we can take notes.” Big mistake.

They seated themselves in a roughly equilateral triangular pattern around a low coffee table, approximating as best they could a circle with three people. Energy rotates in a circular pattern, and Circle energy always rotates in a clockwise direction. The basement room was warm and snug, centrally heated and heavily insulated to keep out the fierce Canadian winter.

Linda and Leahaana both took blankets from the bed and wrapped themselves in them. Patrick was hot blooded by nature and would need nothing more than he normally wore to insulate him from the cold astral wind which would soon blow from the center of the room. No amount of house insulation could keep that wind from blowing.

All three began the deep cleansing breath exercises which would enhance the altered state of consciousness required for the work of the Rescue Circle.

Speaking firmly but softly, Leahaana invoked the protection of the White Light of the Christ and the protection of Lord Sananda, He who is Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

Patrick followed up with a simultaneous invocation of his own, telepathically sent throughout the universe, or at least as far as he could envision. All three felt the descending spiritual armor of the White Light of the Christ surround them, enfolding them in its power and protection. They were ready.

Jael is the name of a powerful guardian angel who watches over Leahaana's activities within the Circle. Jael is the Gatekeeper for the rescue sessions conducted around Leahaana. (note: This has changed. Michael is now Gatekeeper during the Circle - Tau) Nothing was permitted to come into contact with the Circle without Jael's permission. Jael was also given the responsibility of guarding and protecting all within the Circle. Lord Michael had specifically delegated the authority to Jael which gave him command of several squadrons of Michael's Legion of Light, the Legion of Electric Blue Fire Angels, Warriors of the Light in service to the Christ.

Leahaana called to Jael, informing him that they were ready, immediately stiffening her body as she was lead into contact with the lost soul who had elicited such agitation in Jael, an unusual event in and of itself.

Linda squinted, her eyes tightly shut, with the effort to see what was happening in the distant domain of astral Earth. “It's a man,” she finally said. “He's in his early thirties, I think.” Her head swiveled from side to side as she gained more information, as though she were scanning the space around her. “A suicide?”

Leahaana nodded her confirmation. “Yes,” she said. “His name is Alfred. He's sitting in a car in a garage.” Linda picked up on what Leahaana was saying.

“Chicago.” Linda said. “He's in Chicago and he killed himself by,” she hesitated. “By breathing carbon monoxide!” She finished triumphantly. She leaned back in her seat, momentarily exhausted from the effort of psychically seeing what had happened over six years ago in the physical world and was still happening in Alfred's mind.

“I have him. He's still sitting in the car he killed himself in.” Leahaana's skin began to darken in color as she took on some of the physical characteristics of death by carbon monoxide poisoning. Her fingernails began turning blue as did her lips and ear lobes. She began to take on the appearance of a corpse.

“Alfred? Can you hear me Alfred?” Patrick spoke for the first time. Until that moment he had continued to mentally summon the protection of the Arch Angel Michael and His Legion of Electric Blue Fire Angels, and surrounding their abbreviated group with additional protection. He had a bad feeling about this session and wanted some extra armor plating. His wish for a sword was irrational, but extremely comforting. Patrick's conscious memory of the Excalibur Ceremony was especially strong.

Alfred began speaking through Leahaana's voice. “Yes. I can hear you.” Alfred's voice was flat, dull. “I can hear you but I can't see you. Who are you?” He suddenly became very agitated. “Are you from the Satan? Did Satan send you to get me?”

“No Alfred, we're not from Satan.” Patrick tried to keep his voice calm and gentle. Suicide victims often thought themselves hell bound. Their guilt and fear was a little by-product of the hellfire and damnation punishment teachings of the fundamentalist Christian churches.

(NOTE: There is a definite distinction between "Christ-ianity" and "Church-ianity" or religiosity, which often presents an unbalanced picture of who God is. Some denominations focus on the WRATH of God and minmize God's GRACE, while others focus on the GRACE of God and minimize God's words concerning evil. God is a God of BALANCE, not ETREMISM... - BRANTON)

“We've come to help you, Alfred, not to collect you. We work at the behest of, and under the guidance of Jesus The Christ. Satan may not come into this place. We are angels of the Lord, sort of, and are here to help you.”

“Thank God! Oh, thank God,” he said. Tears began flowing down Leahaana's face as the emotional relief flooding through Alfred effected her body. “I prayed and prayed and prayed, but no one came. Not until now, and now I'm dead. Why did you wait so long?” Something about that statement bothered Patrick, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

“Why are you sitting in your car Alfred?” Linda was leaning forward in her chair, intent on seeing. Leahaana/Alfred shrugged slightly.

“I didn't know where else to go. I remembered that if you committed suicide you couldn't go to Heaven, so I just sat here waiting to see what happened next.” Leahaana/Alfred shrugged again. “I just sat here,” he repeated.

Suddenly inspired, Linda asked, “What year is it, Alfred? What year did you commit suicide in?”

Leahaana/Alfred looked confused, puzzled. “The year? 1986, why do you ask?”

“This is 1992, Alfred. Six years have passed since you killed yourself.”

“Six years?” He echoed. “I've been sitting her for six years? No. That's Impossible. It can't be. I've only been here for a few hours. They haven't even found my body yet. I've been waiting for them to find my body.”

Patrick, speaking in his calm and measured voice, tried to reassure him. “It's all right, Alfred. Just relax. You've been trapped in what we call the 'seconds of energy.' When you died you apparently died under great emotional stress. Your mind created a time loop and you moved into that loop at the instant of your death. Your mind forced you to experience over and over again the things that happened to you at the exact instant of your death. For you that meant just sitting in the front seat of your car.” Patrick smiled, trying to put Alfred at his ease. He was never certain whether the victim could see him or not. Sometimes they could and other times not.

“It's quite normal,” he said. “Lots of people get hung up in the seconds of energy when they die. That's one of the reasons we're here to help. It's time for you to move on, to go into the Light and get on with your real life.” He paused, trying to give Alfred a few minutes to let it all sink in.

“Then I don't have to go to hell?” The relief in Leahaana/Alfred's voice was pathetic.

“No. God's Infinite Mercy is extended to everyone. No one goes to hell, Alfred. (I would have to disagree with this statement, especially since Biblical teaching states that "the devil and his angels" who are enemies of the LIFE-ESSENCE of God,and seek to destroy this life-essence in every creature, are said in THE WORD to be denizens of Hades/Hell. As stated before, hell is a place where the "water of life" of God does not exist, but only the fiery wrath of those who hate the Creator - BRANTON) Everyone who wants to goes into the Light. Everyone includes you too, doesn't it?” Leahaana/Alfred nodded, a smile slowly spread across their face.

“Yeah,” Leahaana/Alfred said, “I guess it does.” No one said anything for a few minutes. They all bathed in the Clear White Light of the Christ that permeated the room, and through Leahaana to Alfred.

“Do you mind if we talk for a little while?” Patrick and Linda looked at each other, surprised that Alfred wanted to chat. People caught in one form of astral trap or another were usually tired, deenergized, ready to rest, ready to go into the Light. Patrick shrugged. Okay.

“Sure, Alfred. What's on your mind?” Linda's natural beauty was matched by her even greater inner beauty, and both were reflected in her voice. Leahaana/Alfred smiled even more broadly.

“Well,” he began, “it's rather a long story, but I've got to tell someone what happened to me and it looks like you're it.” Leahaana/Alfred licked their lips and took a deep breath.

“I killed myself to protect my family,” he said. Patrick shook his head in frustration and reached for pen and paper. He wished very much for a tape recorder.

“It all began about a year ago. Oh, make that seven years ago. I work, make that used to work, as a computer programmer. It wasn't much of a job really, but it gave me a regular paycheck, promised a good if boring future, and gave us enough to get married.” Leahaana/Alfred closed their eyes and breathed deeply before continuing.

“I met Ellen, fell in love and got married. Nothing out of the ordinary, maybe, no big Hollywood-type romance, but we loved each other very much. We had two children in four years, a boy and a girl. We were happy, planning for the future and building our lives. We were even going to buy a new car. All we had was this old VW Beetle I'd had ever since I was in college. It was old, but it ran and was paid for.”

Leahaana stopped again, breathing deeply. Patrick and Linda were getting concerned for her. She was stopping much to often to rest, and it looked like this was going to go on much longer than usual.

“Leahaana? Are you all right? Would you like some water?” She nodded and Patrick held a glass of water to her lips. After sipping a little she began breathing deeply again, recharging her body with oxygen. She never even opened her eyes.

“One day I realized that I was bored with my job. I began dreading going to work, looking for ways to avoid it. Life with Ellen was good, but she was so very ordinary, so predictable. Our life was down to a series of scheduled events. Chicken on Sunday, meatloaf on Wednesday, sex on Saturday, you know, that sort of stuff. I just got bored.”

“Some acquaintances at the office were New Age students, or so they said. They were always going to meetings and retreats and stuff. They were really into it, always wearing crystals and pendants, or reading some book on astrology or magic. I asked them to tell me about the New Age and they did. They gave me a few books on white witchcraft, astrology, numerology, that kind of stuff. They also told me to go down to this bookstore that specialized in New Age stuff and let my own higher consciousness guide me. They said that I'd be directed to whatever I needed to read.”

Leahaana/Alfred shook their head, a tear rolling down their cheek. “That was when it all went bad,” he said. The deep blue color of carbon monoxide poisoning was leaving Leahaana's skin.

“I went to the bookstore on my lunch hour the very next day. It was quite a place. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of books on all sorts of stuff. I sort of gravitated to the section on black magic and witchcraft and stuff. I wanted to be a controller, as they had called it, one of the ones who pulled the strings of the world. I suddenly wanted all kinds of things, money, power, cars, even women. I didn't want to hurt anybody or anything like that. I just wanted what all the other guys wanted. That's when I met Kara.”

“Kara was a real knockout. She was about five seven, blond hair, blue eyes and a figure good enough for Playboy or Penthouse. I was terribly flattered that she'd even talk to me. She sort of crashed into me while I was leafing through a book. The crash knocked her down and I helped pick up her books and stuff. I remember she was wearing a black split skirt that came apart as she fell. She had beautiful long legs and red underwear. I helped her up and she started apologizing like crazy. We got to talking about books on magic and stuff, really hit it off, you know?” Leahaana/Alfred shook his head again, as though trying to clear away some of the cobwebs in his memory.

“She gave me a book on witchcraft and asked me out for coffee. I really had to get back to the office, but she was so beautiful and so flattering that I called in sick for the rest of the afternoon. We went for coffee and then to a hotel room. I wasn't proud of it when I thought about Ellen, but it just seemed to happen. She seemed to genuinely like me, and I was absolutely hooked on her. She flattered me just being with me and wanting to have sex with me. She was just what I’d been dreaming of.”

Leahaana reached for her water, thirstily draining the glass, which Patrick promptly refilled.

“Afterwards, she promised to call me the next evening, but I didn't hear from her for almost a week. Then she called me on Wednesday. I don't remember giving her my office number, but I guess I did. Kara invited me to a get together with some of her metaphysical friends. 'Not really a party, just some people getting together to find out more about God,' she said. It was set for eight o'clock Friday night. She offered to pick me up at home, but that scared me. I didn't want Ellen to start suspecting me of fooling around on her. I said I'd meet her at the book store.” Leahaana suddenly exploded into a frenzy of coughing.

“I couldn't think of anything else but Kara and how she felt to hold, to be with, to make love with. I told Ellen that I had to entertain some out of town business clients. I lied to her and she just smiled and told me to have a good time. That really bothered me. It still does. She trusted me, but I went anyway.”

“The 'get together' was more party than anything else. People talked about God and what life was all about. Everyone treated me like visiting royalty, and that flattered me too. I had a beautiful woman draped on my arm, a drink in my hand and people seemed interested in what I thought and what I had to say. I remember thinking that it doesn't get any better than that.” The emotional pain he felt was reflecting itself in Leahaana. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks and a sob echoed through her voice every once in awhile.

“The hostess was a woman named Cassandra. Everyone looked to her for directions during the party. She seemed to be the unofficial-official leader for everything. She made me feel as though I was a dear old friend who'd just come home. Everyone was impressed, or seemed to be, with everything I had to say, and that impressed me. They laughed at my jokes, told me how intelligent I was when I talked about God, in short they told me everything I wanted to hear.” The sarcasm in his/her voice was unmistakable.

“For about five months there was a party every week or so, maybe ten days would go by, but never longer. There was a ritual we went through at every party. We'd drink a special wine they gave me and recite something in a language I'd never heard of. We'd all hold hands and form a big circle around this statue. I think it was from Egypt or someplace like that. It was a weird tasting wine too, kinda bitter and sweet at the same time.”

“Kara and I made love every time after the party was over and sometimes while it was going on. I'd never met anyone that knew so much about love making. She made me feel like I'd never felt before. But I couldn't get Ellen out of my head. I felt like a rat, but I did it anyway. I did it anyway.”

“Finally, on a Monday afternoon, Kara called me at the office to tell me that there was a very special gathering that night. Some very important people from Europe were going to be there and Cassandra had specifically requested that I come too. It was hard to get away on Mondays, but I said okay, I'd be there.”

“That time Kara insisted on driving me. I'd been meeting her at the book store or someplace like that, but this time she insisted that she pick me up at home. I told Ellen that it was business again, and she never doubted me at all.” Alfred hung his head in shame. “I was so stupid,” he said quietly. “So very, very stupid.” He looked up suddenly, his eyes staring out through Leahaana's.

“Tell the people not to listen to their vanity,” he said. “It's their downfall, their doom.” His icy stare from beyond the grave made the hair on Patrick's neck stand up.

“Anyway,” he continued, “Kara picked me up at nine o'clock. She drove her BMW, it was the big model that costs a fortune, and that impressed Ellen. We'd often talk and dream about one day being able to afford that kind of luxury car.”

“Kara drove around the corner from my house and pulled over to the curb. She wanted me to wear a blindfold. I thought it was silly and said so, but she was absolutely adamant. She said that it was part of an initiation and that if I really wanted to become a member of 'The Society,' as she called it, that I'd wear the silly thing and stop complaining. This society stuff was new. I'd only heard anyone make reference to any society a few times, and then in passing. They always shut up when I came around. It didn't matter though, I would have joined anything if it meant seeing Kara. Besides, she had this way of asking you to do something that wouldn't let you say no.”

“After I put on the blindfold we drove around for almost an hour, and all the time I had the feeling that she was trying to deliberately confuse me with all the turns so that I'd not ever be able to find wherever it was that she was taking me.”

“Finally she stopped and I took the blindfold off. We were somewhere out in the country, at least it looked like the country to me. The car was parked in a huge circular drive way with about thirty other cars. There must have been ten million dollars worth of cars sitting there, lots of expensive cars I only saw in magazines. Just before we went inside she gave me a great big kiss and told me how proud of me she was. I felt ten feet tall.”

“A butler gave us masks as we went inside. They were those half face things with feathers and things all over them. Mine was a dark blue devil mask with slanted eyes, pointed ears and black and blue feathers. Everyone wore a mask except for Cassandra. There was some powerful money in that room. The cost of the jewelry alone would have paid for both my kids colleges ten times over. I saw a Rolex watch with gold and diamonds that must have cost a million dollars all by itself.”

“I danced with Kara and Cassandra and several others, and every time I turned around someone was pouring that weird wine into me. I guess I drank about a gallon of it. Then Cassandra took me into a little room off to the side of the ball room and asked me if I liked all the people I saw. I said yes, of course. I thought they were wonderful.”

“Then she wanted to know if I wanted to join the Society of Belial. I'd never heard of Belial, but I said sure, I'd love to join.”

Leahaana's hands began an uncontrollable shaking. Everything stopped until that was under control. Another glass of water, some deep breathing, and they began again.

“Okay. Cassandra gave me a black robe with a red star on the front and back of it. I know now that it was a pentagram with two points of the star pointing up. It was the sign of the Devil, but I didn't know that then.” He shook his head. “I guess I was awfully stupid and naive.”

Linda shivered in the sudden wind that blew from the center of the room. She pulled her blanket tighter, wrapping her arms in it. Patrick felt it too, but didn't react outwardly. He thought about the seeming coincidence of the wind with the mentioning of Satan, dismissed it, then remembered that there are no coincidences and shivered in spite of himself. His breath left steaming clouds of mist in the suddenly frigid air. He wished for his jacket.

“I took off all my clothes and put on the robe. Cassandra watched me the whole time and stopped me when I was standing there naked. She unzipped her dress, took it off and threw it onto the floor. She wasn't wearing anything under it. It only took her a few seconds to get me fully aroused and we made love on the floor. I remember thinking I was going to like this Society thing a whole lot.”

“We were pretty quick, well, I was pretty quick. Cassandra hadn't even really gotten into high gear, but it didn't seem to bother her. She smiled at me, walked over to a table and took a blue jar and a green bottle out of the drawer. The jar had some sort of light green cream in it. She smeared the cream all over my genitals and penis and told me to put on the robe. Then she gave me the bottle, watched me drink it and left. Whatever was in the bottle was horrible. It almost made me sick, but not quite. It was like acid for a second, then nothing at all.”

“Whatever that cream was, it was dynamite. I began feeling a tingling, then a burning, then an icy cold. Next thing I knew I had an erection the size of a rake handle. It wouldn't go away. No matter what I did, it just stayed there. Luckily the robe covered it, but it was obvious what was going on.”

“Kara came for me in about ten minutes. She was wearing a robe just like mine, but with a hood. She felt inside my robe and giggled. I remember she said, 'that's a good boy,' and led me away by my new handle. I thought at the time that it was all great fun.”

“Kara led me to an elevator, one of those small ones that only hold two or three people. That impressed me too. Elevators in private houses were really high class, or so I thought. We went all the way to the top of the house. Three stories, I think, maybe four. I'm not sure. The elevator opened onto a room with a skylight that took up the entire roof. There were gas light torches in brass holders along the wall, black marble columns and a huge gold pentagram inlaid in the marble floor. An altar was at one end of the room, and a big statue of a goat was sitting atop the altar. Kara called it the Goat of Mendes.”

“I knew what the goat was and what it represented. It was then that I tried to leave. I wanted to leave, but I couldn't move. Kara told me to go to the altar and kneel in front of it. I never wanted to do anything less in my life, but there I went, just like a lamb to the slaughter. I even smiled. It was like I had no will of my own.”

Leahaana/Alfred's breathing became labored, harsh and quick as the memory of that night flooded through Leahaana's body.

“I knelt in front of the goat idol and Cassandra came up behind me. I could hear a lot of people coming into the room, but I couldn't turn around. No one told me to. Cassandra said something to the crowd and they answered her. I didn't recognize what language it was. It sounded like German or Romanian or something, but I'm not sure.”

Leahaana's breathing slowed to a more normal rate. Her hands clutched the arms of the chair she was sitting in like talons.

“Cassandra told me to stand up and turn around. I did so immediately, still smiling that stupid little smile. She took off her robe and began dancing around the altar. The upper half of her body was painted blue. There was a red jewel in her navel. I remember wondering how it stayed in there without falling out. Cassandra chanted in the same language I'd heard earlier and the people chanted back.” Leahaana/Alfred shivered violently. “Then Kara brought out a large blue bottle. It looked like a perfume bottle, only about two feet long.” Leahaana shivered again.

“Cassandra took off my robe and left me standing there with my erection sticking out like some little flag pole on a building. It embarrassed me, but I couldn't even blush. She took the bottle from Kara and set it in front of me on a little pedestal I hadn't noticed before. Then the horror came.”

“Cassandra pulled the stopper out of the bottle and everyone in the room began chanting in a sing song voice. Somewhere along the way they lost their robes and were all standing there naked. I remember thinking how ugly they all looked. What I had seen as beauty was only an illusion, because these people were savage, ugly and savage. Some of them looked like they were two hundred years old.”

“Then something came out of the bottle. It looked like red smoke, but heavy and oily. It slithered out of the bottle just like a snake. Then it fell to the floor and flowed over to my leg. Then it started coming up my leg. I wanted to scream, but couldn't. I wanted to run away and hide, but all I could do was smile.”

“That damned smoke came up to my groin and settled itself around my erection. I wanted to scream, but I only smiled. That thing slipped into my body through the tip of my penis. It was like an electric shock, then nothing. Nothing at all, and that scared me more than the shock. Have you ever pissed on a spark plug?” The question caught them off guard. “No matter,” he said. “It hurt like hell.”

“That set off an orgy. Cassandra told me to climb up on the altar and lie down on my back. I did it. Cassandra climbed on top of me and started gyrating back and forth. It took awhile, but eventually she exploded in her orgasm. It was Kara's turn next, a sort of reward for bringing me in. Then one by one all the other women in the room took their turn. Then some of the men did things I don't want to talk about. It was more sex than I'd ever had in my life, I orgasmed a million times. It was like I was some sort of satyr or something. That cream junk kept me hard for hours. Finally Cassandra told me to sleep, and I did. When I woke up I was sitting in my car in my garage. I have no idea how I got there or how long I'd been there. I'd lost an entire day.” Breathing deeply, Leahaana/Alfred closed their eyes and rested.

“That was the last I ever saw of any of them,” he finally said. “I tried to find Kara again. I looked in all the old places we'd gone, but no luck. I even went for drives in the country trying to find the house. Nothing. It took me awhile to smooth over the problems at work, but even that got resolved.”

“I thought it was all over. I thought I'd been used, but I'd had some good sex in return. I was glad it was over, glad to be able to look Ellen straight in the eye again.”

“About three weeks after the last episode on the altar, the dreams began. Horrible dreams of murder and mutilation, sex with children and animals. It was like looking into the mind of a homicidal maniac, a demon. I'd wake up screaming, jumping out of the dream to keep from killing any more children. It scared Ellen to death and made me a nervous wreck.”

“Then the nightmares came out my dreams. I began to have thoughts about what I'd only dreamed of. I fantasized about killing people. I'd find myself daydreaming about slitting throats, of killing and killing and killing, slaughtering pretty little girls and boys and then raping the pieces of their corpses. I'd be waiting for a bus and have a vision of killing all the other people waiting in line, slicing them up like a steak on a plate. I even went to a psychiatrist, but all he did was prescribe a tranquilizer and tell me not to work so hard at the office.”

“One day I suddenly realized what had happened. That smoke thing was an Imp, a demon, and it was inside me. I could feel it expanding, getting stronger. I could feel it spreading its little tentacles, like thin red fibers, into my legs, my arms, my brain. It was slowly taking over my body and my mind. It was the Imp that was giving me the dreams and thoughts. But as it took over me, I realized that I knew what it knew. That's why I asked you if we could talk. You've got to warn the people before its too late.”

Linda sat there, round eyed and staring. Patrick wasn't much better. He kicked himself for the hundredth time for not having a tape recorder and he was almost out of paper. He wrote as quickly as he could, trying to put down the gist of what Alfred was telling them, wishing that he knew shorthand.

“That thing was deliberately put inside me. That's why they recruited me. They wanted a host for their little demon thing, and I was the ideal candidate. Anyone without strong religious beliefs, anyone with a weak connection to God can become a victim.”

“Their group is a cult based on murder. Belial is an age old name for Satan. I think it comes from Atlantis. They kill people for Satan. Those little demon Imps are behind the serial killer infestation that's currently loose in the world. Remember the Son of Sam killer in New York? He was part of this thing, this Society of Belial. So is the Zodiac Killer on the west coast. It's a conspiracy of murder that is international in its organization. I learned something else too.”

“They're getting smarter. Some of the hosts for the Imps are willing volunteers. The Imp will give the host good sex feelings in return for the murders committed, but that's not the worst part. They're training the hosts, the people like me, to recognize children who are potential Light Workers, incarnated servants of God. They find the children and kill them. They hunt adults and kill them if they get the chance, but they're after the children.”

“The Imp finally realized I was tapping into its mind and threw me out. It didn't like my resistance and redoubled its efforts to bring me under control. I realized that it was just a matter of time until I began to kill people. I didn't want that, but I wasn't strong enough to throw it out or to go on resisting it. It knew my weakness. Sex with beautiful women. It promised me all the women I wanted if I'd just give in to its demands.”

“Just before the end I had thoughts about killing Ellen and the children. They became so strong I could hardly stop myself sometimes. Finally I had no choice. There was no one else to turn to.”

“One afternoon I went into the garage, sealed all the cracks with wet towels, got into my old VW, put a Simon and Garfunkle tape on and started the engine. The Imp went crazy, but I could still control it. I even enjoyed holding onto to it as I died. It was one very pissed off dude.” Leahaana/Alfred shrugged, laughing a little. “You know the rest,” he said.

Linda and Patrick sat there staring at Leahaana. Finally Patrick shook his head. He wanted to say he didn't believe it, that there weren't people walking around the world controlled by little monsters who targeted Light Workers and killed them. He wanted to, but he couldn't. He knew it was the truth.

“Thank you for sharing this with us, Alfred. We'll get the information to everyone we can.”

Leahaana/Alfred smiled.

“No, thank you,” he said. “I owe you more than I can ever thank you for. I'd still be sitting there if you hadn't found me.”

Linda's gentle voice was full of love and compassion as the tears flowed down her cheeks. She understood what he had sacrificed, what he had felt and what he had gone through.

“It's time to go home,” she said. “It's time to go home, Alfred. It's time to rest awhile.” Leahaana/Alfred slowly nodded.

“Yes,” he said. “I'd like to rest, thank you.” There was a long pause. The sound of Leahaana's deep breathing filled the room.

“Do you think they'll punish me very much? For killing myself I mean.” Patrick was surprised, something not easily done.

“Punish you! Alfred, you're the closest thing to a real hero its ever been my privilege to meet! Good God, man! Punish you! They'll greet you with open arms and laurel wreaths for your incredible sacrifice. Without you we'd never have a clue about what's happening. No, Alfred. Thank you. Thank you very much indeed.”

Linda was openly crying, tears falling from her cheeks onto her blouse. “Alfred, this is Linda. Do you see a white light anywhere around you?” Leahaana/Alfred nodded. “That's where we're going, Alfred. It's time to go into the Light.”

Leahaana shivered. “He's gone,” she said. “Alfred's gone into the Light. The Light reached out and took him. I've never seen that before. It just reached out and, well, it hugged him.” She lay back against the cushions on the chair and relaxed, tired but not exhausted. Finally she opened her eyes and smiled. “Now,” she said, “what was that all about?” She hadn't retained many memories of what had just occurred.

It took Linda and Patrick a full forty-five minutes to tell her everything that had happened. Leahaana just smiled and drank from her crystal glass of water, quietly listening to their story.

“What happened to the Imp?” She asked quietly. Patrick and Linda stared at each other. No one knew.