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WAS SPREADING FAR AND WIDE, AND THERE WERE TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO WANTED HIM DEAD. HE WAS BUYING UNION INFLUENCE IN SURROUNDING STATES WHERE THE LOCAL POPULATION WAS SUFFERING FROM UNEMPLOYMENT. AND SO THERE WAS, AND IT ONLY WORKED TO HIS ADVANTAGE.

WHEN TALKING ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT, IT ALSO HAD TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT FELISTER WAS A SUBTLE MANIPULATOR - ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CAME TO SPECIFIC LABOR DONE AT NIGHT. THERE WERE TOO MANY WILLING TO BECOME PART OF HIS FRAUDULENT SCHEMES. OF COURSE, FELISTER COULDN'T ACCEPT EVERYONE.

HE NEEDED REAL CRIMINAL ELEMENTS WHO HAD EXPERIENCE BOTH ON THE STREET AND ON THE BATTLEFIELD. AND THERE WERE FEW OF THEM. HE WANTED TO RAISE STANDARDS ACCORDING TO WHAT THE SITUATION DEMANDED.

FELISTER IN HIS LIFETIME WAS EVEN IN THE HABIT OF TAKING OUT SOME OF THE PRISONERS ON THE PRETEXT THAT THEY WOULD DO A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF WORK UNDER A RELAXED REGIME ON HIS FARM. SO HE SECONDED THE OVERSEERS TOO-THOSE VENAL AND UNSCRUPULOUS BASTARDS!

THE PRISON AUTHORITIES PRETENDED NOT TO CARE - NATURALLY, FOR A PARTICULARLY HEFTY BRIBE.

- WHAT A MAN THE FELISTER IS!" EXCLAIMED ONE OF THE PRISONERS NAMED VINCE REGINALD, WHO WAS TO WORK ON HIS FARM, "SO HE GIVES US A SECOND CHANCE!

TO THOSE MORE FAMILIAR, THIS WAS NOT EXACTLY SO. SOMETIMES THE BRUTAL FELISTER HAD TO DISTRIBUTE ADDITIONAL SHIPMENTS OF THE GOODS AROUND THE STATES, AND FOR THIS REASON THE MEAT OF SOME OF THE MURDERED PRISONERS WAS BRUTALLY INTERFERED WITH THE PORK.

YES, SOME OF FELISTER'S FARM CUSTOMERS HAD ACTUALLY EATEN IT AND HAD EVEN SAID THAT THEY PARTICULARLY LIKED THE COMBINATION OF FLAVOUR AND AROMA BETWEEN PORK AND CHICKEN AND THAT THIS OWNER DEFINITELY UNDERSTOOD LIVESTOCK FARMING. STILL, FELISTER WAS CAREFUL NOT TO OVERDO IT, AND ONLY THOSE THAT ACTUALLY DESERVED IT WENT INTO THE MEAT GRINDER. FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THEM WAS VINCE REGINALD, WHO HAD TRIED TO SHRINK A KILO OF THE STUFF AND RETAIL IT ON THE STREETS OF KANSAS CITY - AND THAT WAS BEFORE THEY ADDED FENTANYL. FELISTER INTERPRETED IT NOT ONLY AS POOR PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, BUT AS A DISPLAY OF VERY, VERY BAD TASTE IN GENERAL! THIS INGRATE WAS BEATEN WITH METAL PIPES AND BRUTALLY CASTRATED, AND LATER SKINNED ALIVE AND MINCED, ALONG WITH THE FLESH OF SOME OF THE BOARS THAT HAD BEEN EATEN.

AT SOME TIME, FELISTER DECIDED IT WAS FAR MORE INTERESTING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOME TAX BREAKS FOR HIS PERVERTED BUSINESS. TAX LAW IN THE STATES WAS FAR TOO COMPLEX, AND ONE COULDN'T JUST FIDDLE WITH IT - ONE HAD TO HIRE A TAX SPECIALIST, AND ALSO A SEPARATE ACCOUNTANT TO HANDLE JUST THAT PART OF RUNNING THE FINANCIAL OPERATIONS - OF COURSE, THIS APPLIED TO SOME OF THE LARGER ENTERPRISES, AS FELISTER'S WAS IN PRACTICE. BETWEEN, BY THE WAY, MR. EMBANKS TRUSTED ONE OF THE EX-CONVICTS, WHO HAD STEPPED INTO THE ROLE OF THE REAL ACCOUNTANT, AND FELISTER HAD HIRED AS A FRONT SOME GRANDMOTHER FROM SOME VERY BACKWOODS TOWN-A LONG WAY FROM KANSAS CITY. HIS FARM'S REGISTRATION ITSELF WAS AS A STOCK CORPORATION, WHICH IN EFFECT HAD TO PAY QUALIFIED DIVIDENDS TO ITS FELLOW STOCKHOLDERS, AND THEY FELL INTO THE LOWER TAX BRACKET AND COULD OFTEN GET EVEN A ZERO TAX RATE. BUT HERE AGAIN, FELISTER HAD FOUND A LOOPHOLE. THE LISTED CO-SHAREHOLDERS WERE EFFECTIVELY HIS FORMER WORKERS WHO HAD EXTENSIVE CRIMINAL RECORDS AND HE WAS VISITING THEM TO POCKET SOME OF THE PROFITS - HOW DID THAT WORK? WELL, THE CASTRATOR WAS WORKING MAINLY WITH PRISONERS UNDER HOUSE ARREST WHILE ON PROBATION AND TRANSFERRING SUPPOSEDLY INHERITED SHARES OF HIS ENTERPRISE FROM THE FORMER "BALLERS" WHO HAD FALLEN FOR HIS BAIT. AND SO THE CAROUSEL WAS ENDLESS. THIS WAY BOTH SIDES BENEFITED - NO ONE WAS HARMED, BECAUSE USUALLY THE PRISONERS COULDN'T GET A NORMAL JOB, AND USUALLY THEY COULDN'T COMMIT CRIMES, AND THE FENCE'S DECENT DIVIDENDS COULD BRING THEM FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING FOR THEM!

TO AVOID UNNECESSARY BLATANCY, FELISTER MADE THE LAWYERS WHO HANDLED THEIR CASES PROVIDE THEM WITH SPECIAL POWERS OF ATTORNEY, WHICH THEY SIGNED WILLINGLY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CRIMINAL SCHEME. OF COURSE, THEY ALSO RECEIVED A FAT FEE, WHICH WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF A LONG SERIES OF FRUITFUL COOPERATION.

IN BETWEEN, THE TAXMEN WERE SNIFFING AROUND ALL OF THEM FOR A LONG TIME, BUT FELISTER MANAGED TO GAG THEM!

FELISTER MANAGED TO SAVE BETWEEN A MILLION AND A HALF A MONTH OUTSIDE THE OFFICIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH THE CARTELS, WHICH USUALLY PROVIDED HIM WITH ABOUT THREE OR FOUR MILLION. SOON HE SAW HIMSELF WITH TOO MUCH FRESH FINANCIAL RESOURCE, AND BEGAN TO CONSTRUCT A PLAN HOW TO GET HOLD OF THE MYTHICAL GRIMOIRE ON THE TRAIL OF WHICH ZONARA AND I HAD SET OUT.

THE BOOK SCARED HIM WITH THE POSSIBILITIES OF POWER IT COULD PROVIDE. HE CRAVED TO BE INFLUENTIAL AND SIGNIFICANT. HE COULD EVEN SCREW THE MEXICANS THEMSELVES, USING HIS KNOWLEDGE OF NECROMANCY GRANTED TO HIM BY THE HIGHER POWERS.

BY THE WAY, THE KNOWLEDGE OF NECROMANCY WAS NECESSARY TO FELISTER FOR ANOTHER REASON, NAMELY TO SUCCEED IN HIS CHERISHED GOAL. NECROMANCY, WAS A MAGIC ASSOCIATED WITH THE WORLD OF THE DEAD, AND FELISTER KNEW THAT THE ENERGY OF DEATH WAS NEITHER GOOD NOR EVIL! THE INTERESTING THING WAS THAT AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH, SUCH A LARGE AMOUNT OF NEGATIVE ENERGY COULD BE RELEASED THAT COULD KILL DOZENS AND DOZENS OF PEOPLE. THAT WAS WHY HE HAD TO HANDLE DANGEROUS KNOWLEDGE WITH AN INCREASED AMOUNT OF CAUTION, AS IT COULD CAUSE SOME UNPREDICTABLE CONSEQUENCES.

THIS TIME HE HOPED TO GET HOLD OF THE ABRAMELIN GRIMOIRE, WHICH, BY THE WAY, WAS ALSO USED AT ONE TIME BY THE FAMOUS ALISTER CROWLEY[1].

FELISTER LONGED TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING THAT NO ONE BEFORE HIM HAD DONE IN RECENT TIMES - TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL THIS ENERGY OF DEATH, BUT THERE WAS A CATCH - HE HAD TO LEARN TO LIVE WITH IT.

FELISTER HAD OBTAINED THE GRIMOIRE AFTER A VERY LONG SEARCH, AND FRANKLY HE HADN'T BEEN PARTICULARLY ENTHRALLED WHEN IT FIRST FELL INTO HIS HANDS.

FOR SUCH A HEFTY SUM HE HAD EXPECTED MORE, BUT LATER HIS OPINION CHANGED CONSIDERABLY. THE GRIMOIRE COULD HAVE OPENED THE DOORS TO KABBALAH, THAT ANCIENT TEACHING AROUND WHICH THERE WAS SO MUCH MYSTERY, BUT IT COULD ALSO HAVE POINTED HIM IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TOWARDS TRUE MAGIC, WHICH COULD TRULY GIVE HIM LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES.

FELISTER ALSO HAD YOUNG BOYS ON HIS TEAM - SOME OF THEM WERE REALLY TOO YOUNG, SO MUCH SO THAT THEY HAD HARDLY LIVED. THAT BEAUTIFUL SENSE OF "BLUE SPRING" THAT THEY WERE DESPERATELY SEEKING BUT WAS REALLY THE ROAD TO NOWHERE. FELISTER CALLED THEM THE LOST GENERATION - A YOUNG, IMPETUOUS GENERATION THAT WANTED TO DO SOMETHING WITH THEIR LIVES BUT DIDN'T KNOW WHAT, AND MR. EMBANKS WAS GIVING THEM A CHANCE TO GET INTO THE BIG GAME - AT LEAST FOR A LITTLE WHILE, OR MORE ACCURATELY TO THINK THEY DID. THEY NEEDED HIM TO FIND THE PERFECT ADEPT TO PERFORM THE RITUAL, AND THAT TOOK TIME. AND FELISTER HAD TOO MUCH TO DEAL WITH.

FELYSTER CRAVED DEATH, BUT HE WANTED TO GET ALL HIS AFFAIRS IN ORDER BEFORE THAT, AND THEY WERE NOT FEW. HOW MANY TIMES HAD HE TRIED TO REALIZE HIS OWN CURSE WAS SLOWLY PUSHING HIM TO THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS?

AND WHAT CAME NEXT? TO GAIN UNLIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD, OR OF THE NETHERWORLD ITSELF? OF THOSE BOUNDS WHERE NO MAN COULD TREAD!

FOR THE INITIATION, FELISTER FOUND A TRUE PRACTITIONER OF MAGIC WHOM HE HAD BROUGHT HOME FROM ALMOST THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD-ALL THE WAY FROM EGYPT.

ACCORDING TO THE INSTRUCTIONS, THEY WERE TO DO THE INITIATION OF FELISTER HIMSELF IN THE GRAVEYARDS, AND THEY WEREN'T THAT FAR AWAY. BUT BEFORE THEY STARTED THERE, THE MAGICIAN TOLD HIM:

- "IF THE SO-CALLED "WORDS OF POWER," PUT INTO THE DEAD MAN'S MOUTH ARE USED, EVEN THE GODS THEMSELVES WILL OBEY HIM!

- "THEN MAKE ALL MY MALEFACTORS GO AWAY," LAUGHED FELISTER WITH HIS IMPISH GRIN. HE WAS JUST A LOOSE PSYCHOPATH!

EVEN THE EGYPTIAN MAGE WAS SLIGHTLY TAKEN ABACK - NOT BECAUSE HIS WORDS WERE UNUSUAL, BUT BECAUSE OF THE CASUALNESS OF THE MAN WHO HAD SPOKEN THEM.

ON A RAINY MORNING, FELISTER SIMPLY WALKED WITH THE EGYPTIAN IN THE AGREED DIRECTION, AS THE LOCATION WAS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE FOR PERFORMING THE RITUAL:

- "AND REMEMBER THAT THE NECROMANCER LIVES HALF HIS LIFE, AND WILL DIE AS HE WAS MEANT TO DIE," RATHER STRANGELY ANSWERED THE

FELISTER NEEDED AN INTERPRETER TO UNDERSTAND HIS CONFUSED RAMBLINGS. BUT STILL HE MANAGED TO KEEP UP AND GRASP HIS INTERLOCUTOR'S MEANING. HAVING BEEN INITIATED, HE FINALLY UNDERSTOOD THAT HE HAD TO PERFORM THE SECOND PART OF HIS JOB OF INITIATING THE ADEPT AS WELL.

SOON THE CEREMONY COULD BEGIN AND HE MADE THE BOY FOLLOW THE RITUAL - IT TOOK HIM A FULL EIGHTEEN MONTHS AND A HUGE AMOUNT OF DISCIPLINE.

IT WAS ME HE HAD CHOSEN, BUT ACCORDING TO THE REQUIREMENTS, I WAS NOT PURE ENOUGH - AFTER ALL, I HAD KILLED INNOCENT ANIMALS!

THIS HAD PUZZLED FELISTER, BUT HE HAD NOT REVEALED HIS DESIGN TO ME, ONLY THAT HE INTENDED TO MAKE ME THE ADEPT WHO WOULD SUCCEED HIM.

HE HAD QUITE OFTEN TAKEN ME TO THE CEMETERIES, WHERE HE TOLD ME

- IF YOU TREAT THE DEAD WITH RESPECT, THEY WILL BE YOUR FRIENDS ALONG THE WAY. THEY WILL WANT TO HELP YOU FOR HAVING TREATED THEM WITH DUE RESPECT AND THUS ALLEVIATED THEIR SUFFERING IN THE AFTERLIFE.

SO MY DUTIES INCLUDED THE MAINTENANCE OF MANY OF THEM. FELISTER'S CEMETERY WAS PRIVATE, MAINLY BECAUSE OF LEGAL RESTRICTIONS THAT PREVENTED OUTSIDE OBSERVERS FROM SEEING EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING ON IN IT.

IN TIME, FELISTER BECAME CONVINCED THAT THE USE OF SERIOUS SECURITY WAS NOT AT ALL UNNECESSARY BECAUSE THERE WERE SEVERAL SERIOUS CASES OF ROBBED GRAVES!

AFTER A WHILE, HE PICKED UP ON ANOTHER BOY WHO WAS A NEWCOMER AND WAS THE ONLY ONE WITHOUT A CRIMINAL RECORD - HE HAD ALSO BEEN PICKED UP FROM SOME ORPHANAGE!

BUT HE DIDN'T HAVE MY QUALITIES - LIKE UNSCRUPULOUSNESS AND INTELLIGENCE!

SOME OF THE INMATES RESENTED SEEING WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO THEIR COMRADES, AND ALL THIS WAS HAPPENING AT A TIME WHEN THE TAXMEN WERE ALSO BEGINNING TO TIGHTEN THE CIRCLE AROUND FELISTER. AND A LITTLE LATER DETECTIVE DONOVAN APPEARED AND ENDED HIS LIFE THROUGH HIS WELL ORGANIZED OPERATION.

 

[1] Alistair Crowley - famous English occultist and Kabbalist, ceremonial magician.

DEADLY PURSUIT

CHAPTER NINE: DEADLY PURSUIT

 

THE TWO OF US WITH ZONARA WERE TO CONTINUE OUR WANDERINGS, AND CROSSING THE DESERT FIELDS OF UTAH WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING. THERE WAS STILL NO ONE AFTER US.

- "IT'S STRANGE REALLY," THE GIRL TURNED TO ME, "BUT PERHAPS ..."

SHE SEEMED TO CATCH HERSELF BY THE HEART.

- "APPARENTLY SOMEONE HAS DIED," SHE SAID WITH HIDDEN SORROW. "IT'S SO SAD, AND I EXPECTED TO MEET OTHER PEOPLE AT THE END. 'THE ROAD IS DARK AND NOT FOR EVERYONE," SHE FINISHED AMBIGUOUSLY.

WE CONTINUED ALONG THE GRITTY PATH, WHICH WAS LOST IN INFINITY.

I HAD THE STRANGEST FEELING THAT SOMETHING ABOUT THIS GIRL WAS NOT RIGHT AT ALL. BUT THE MORE TIME PASSED, THE MORE I BECAME CONVINCED THAT THE SITUATION REALLY COULD SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL. SOMETHING ABOUT THE WHOLE STORY SO FAR DIDN'T ADD UP AT ALL.

IF SHE HAD ACTUALLY