"Yes."
"What must I do?"
"Let them attempt to take you."
"And then?"
"They will discover the awesome power of the Almighty."
"Through you?"
"Yes."
"He could stop all this, couldn't He?"
"With one gesture of His hand."
"Then why doesn't He?"
"Humankind must find their own way, Janey. He gave them a brain, the power to think, to reason. And He gave them compassion, if they will but use it. He gave them everything … all things to create a world of good. It is up to humankind to decide which path they will take."
"Hey, bitch!" the harsh voice rang from the yard. "I got about nine inches of cock I'd like to shove up your ass just to listen to you holler."
Jane Ann looked for the mist of Balon. But the mist was gone. She almost went into a panic. Then she saw the tentacles of vapor hovering over the Bible. The mist seemed to be drawing strength from the Word of God.
"Hey, Janey!" Tony's voice rang out. "How about comin' out here and givin' some of that good pussy to my buddies?"
"How can one man change so?" Jane Ann muttered.
"Very easily," Balon projected. "The Dark One offers much to those who are less to begin with."
"A caste system in Heaven? Really, Sam!"
"Step out on the porch, Janey," Balon told her. "Let them see you are not afraid."
"But I am afraid."
"You are afraid of what awaits you at the end, not of what confronts you now."
Jane Ann opened the door and stepped onto the porch. She looked at Steve Cleveland. "What do you want, Steve?"
"Some of your pussy, baby," he said, and stepped forward, reaching for her arm.
Steve recoiled backward, his face on fire, the bubbling and popping of burning flesh filling the late afternoon air. He began screaming, running from the house, dashing into the road, where he tripped on the curb and fell into the gutter, to lay screaming out his life as the fire intensified, his head engulfed in flames.
"You like the fire of your Master?" Balon's heavy voice cut through the afternoon. "Then enjoy it. Here … let me introduce you to God's power."
A woman erupted in flames, her body seeming to explode. A man standing beside her suddenly found his feet on fire, the flames spreading upward, engulfing him. The man and woman ran blindly down the sidewalk, howling in pain. They fell heavily, beating their feet on the concrete as they felt the pain of their brains cooking. Their wails soon diminished into low moans as life began to leave them. Steve Cleveland had already passed into the misty veil, slipping through, the wind sighing as he met his Dark Master's world.
"Whores and bastards!" Balon's voice sent waves of fear through the panicked crowd. "Leave. Get out! Your time for her will come soon enough . . . but not now. Get out!"
They needed no further urgings. They ran in all directions, Tony leading the pack. The Devil's spokeswoman, Jean, had not told them anything like this would happen. They ran to her.
And The Tempter watched all that was happening, watched it glumly. He simply could not believe his enemy had bestowed so much power in Balon. That was not at all like Him. Surely He did not believe that simpering whore, Jane Ann, was worth all this? Unless … the Dark One pondered, unless … He knew she would meet the challenge at the end. No! the Ruler of the Netherworld rejected that. No! Not even He would go so far. Or would He?
He shifted his never-closing eyes to the house of the Jew and Jewess. If that damnable lump of clay was with life … with breath from that … meddler in the sky … that would be an insult just too great for him to tolerate.
Satan saw half of what was once a human member of his Coven go flying through the air, the torso leaking blood and intestines and organs. The golem stood like a massive fortress in the center of the yard: a sentry against the forces of evil. The golem held one of Satan's people in one huge hand. Then, with no more effort than was required to open an envelope, the golem ripped off both arms and sent them flying across the street, where they smashed through a picture window.
The armless body screamed and flopped on the sidewalk, thick crimson gushing from empty arm sockets. He lay squalling in helpless agony.
Satan's forces scattered in fear and blind panic. The golem lumbered slowly up the walkway and sat down on the porch. A giant gray man, without features, without emotion. Here only to serve God's people.
"You son of a cosmic whore!" Satan screamed his message to the firmament. "We made a deal after Prague."
"I make no deals with you, Lord of All That Is Ugly." The silent voice filled the sky, heard only by the demon of all demons.
"Why here?" Satan howled his outrage. "Why for these five people? Why not in Israel?"
"The people of Israel can take care of themselves—as the world is rapidly discovering. And how do you know I haven't helped there?"
But Satan was in no mood for questions and answers. "All bets are off, you son of a bitch! We agreed twenty years ago, over this very spot, that I would leave Balon's bastards to their own wiles; in return, you would leave me this miserable village. You lied!"
"I do not recall any such agreement."
And while Satan howled and screamed his outrage at this supposed trickery on the part of God, the Almighty brooded among the thousands of worlds under His command.
Had He placed too much on the young man from Balon's seed? Was the young man mature enough to victoriously fight the odds against him? He had given the young man powers far beyond any He had given any other in many years … or rather, He smiled … Balon had.
The Heavens winked at the smile.
All right, He had done all He could do. Far more than He ordinarily did. It was time to withdraw. To think. Because there was the matter of His mighty ageless warrior, who was becoming restless, anticipating a fight between good and evil on earth, and wanting very much to be a part in any upcoming confrontation.
There was that to think about.
"The black mass that starts the ordeal will begin tonight," Sam said, startling Nydia. "Both here and in Whitfield."
She stirred in his arms. "How do you know that?"
"I just know," Sam replied in a whisper.
They lay on the bed in Sam's room, listening to the howl and rage of the storm as it slammed the mansion. They were fully clothed, and had not made love that day. The impact of the knowledge that they were half brother and sister had finally hit home, sobering them, and, to some extent, frightening them.
"Your father told you?" she asked.
Sam's reply was a long time coming. When he did speak, his voice was hushed. "One of them."
TEN
Jimmy slipped through the huge house, knowing he was deluding no one of his kind, and knowing that, in all probability, he would be stopped before he could culminate his mission. But he had to try, for the urges rearing up in him had grown too powerful to suppress and too wild to placate with his hand and thoughts. He knew he was not as intelligent as he had once been, back when he was a policeman in Whitfield, so many years ago.
And as quickly as the thought came to him, it was removed from his mind, leaving the near zombie standing dumbly in the dim hallway, wondering what he had been thinking.
Jimmy heard a door open and ducked behind drapes in the hall. Peeking through the crack in the heavy drapes, he watched Balon's bastard son walk down the hall, past him, and into the stairwell leading downward. He listened to the footfall until they faded.
Quickly, Jimmy shuffled to Nydia's door. He stood listening for a moment, hearing the young beauty humming a soft tune. His erection was throbbing, his groin aching, his tongue swollen as he placed his hand on the doorknob and gently turned the brass.
Nydia was naked, all her beauty exposed to Jimmy's hot eyes: the full, mature breasts, rose-tipped; the heavy bush between her legs. He could not see her face for it was turned from him.