Rewrite:The Night Gods (Original): Revelations & Nice Night For A Murder

Google Images... Artist Ian Joyner

[I got so caught up in my photos that finally came in, I forgot I had this ready to post. As always, advice welcome to integrate the two stories. Also- if you haven't read both stories, please don't offer advice, this is for people familiar with both stories (although you're welcome to read and comment)]

REVELATIONS

How do you explain something you don't understand yourself? Entities...beings...demons... phantoms that live behind my eyes, there yet not there. Forms without form. Shadows with substance. Speaking yet not uttering a word. You probably think I'm crazy...believe me, the thought has come to me as well. The prison shrinks pronounced me SANE! They said it was a ploy- a ruse to get an insanity plea. How could I tell them how I fought these things for so many years and fight now, to this very day? All I ever tried to do was to explain what I knew... knew but didn't know. One thing that I do know for certain is that I'll never walk out from behind these walls again, so what have I to gain by manufacturing the story? I've even tried to kill myself several times to make them go away- to no avail. Somebody has to know the truth and this is my confession... Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa.

fallen at work and was laid up for a awhile. The doctors had put me on some pretty heavy pain meds, some kind of pills and in keeping with my philosophy- if one is good, five is better- I was adrift on the river between semi-consciousness and death. I was lying on the couch, smoking a Lucky and watching the movie on the back of my eyelids... That's when the Night Gods chose to reveal themselves to me. They came as if in a dream yet I was awake- more or less. What I mean is that I was conscious enough to be aware of what was going on around me. Maybe it was because I was at the proper wavelength to slow them down enough to make them visible... these beings of smoke and ether. They spoke without speaking, putting ideas in my mind and letting me know where they were coming from telling me of their plan, if that makes any sense. It's all difficult to try to explain... the ideas would come and I knew they weren't mine and then in the background of my consciousness I heard- it's us. But I didn't really "hear" it in any understandable form.

Why me, I asked? It was then that they told me about Donna. YOU did this, they told me without saying a word. My mind shrieked against the horror of it. No, no, no, I cried... It couldn't be, it was too horrid to contemplate. Donna was my friend, I cared for her. Harming her was so far beyond the pale of belief- but yet... The Night Gods chuckled, humorless and dry. Remember the woods, they asked? In Portsmouth when you felt us there, watching? We knew then that you were the one... the one chosen to fulfill our destiny... You are but the beginning, the beginning of what's been going on forever. The beginning and the end at the same time... of something that has no beginning and no end. You are our destiny and we are yours.

Destiny? I was far beyond comprehension at this point... what could they mean? Were they even really here? Was I crazy? And what was this destiny of which they spoke? Maybe I was just too high on the pills... they told me it wasn't that. Could they read my thoughts? Slowly at first and then more rapidly it began to play like some movie from Hell.

Although most were unaware, those in power had succumbed to the powers of darkness. Some knew and embraced the darkness. Others were only interested in the power, fickle creatures, easily bought with sex, money and power. The Night Gods called them puppets... marionettes dancing on command at the end of invisible strings. Soon they would pass a law legalizing the murder of infants in the womb. When life becomes meaningless, the demons rejoice. As America goes, so goes the world... when the people of America harden their hearts against the unborn, the world will follow. Then perpetual war will follow. Women and children killed by the tens of thousands and more... mere "collateral damage." Darkness will descend over the face of the Earth and our victory will be complete.

My mind screamed- why me, I cried? I'm nobody, nothing. You belong to us they told me...you were born for this. You will be our Messiah. My mind screamed... NO! This can't be... I love God. God does not love you, they told me. Only we love you. You were born of darkness. My mind rebelled... this couldn't be true. I wouldn't do it. No, no... a thousand times no, I told them. They laughed. Your work has already begun- remember your friends Bobby and Jennifer? Slowly it began to come to me. I had done that... It wasn't a dream and neither was Donna, that's why I knew that the papers were wrong. That's how I knew the details better than the police. I hung my head in shame. I'd turn myself in that day. No they told me... you'll do no such thing- there's much work to do.

As quickly as they had come, they were gone. I lay there numbly... it wasn't the medication. I longed for the tranquility of the pills, but I couldn't feel them anymore. I felt cold... cold and alone. I thought about swallowing the whole bottle of pills, but something stopped me. I would fight them, with every ounce of my strength I would fight them and stop their plan. How naive I was...

NICE NIGHT FOR A MURDER

I don't know if he ever actually said it or not, but I could hear in my head Peter Lorre saying those word in that whiny, nasally voice: "Nice night for a murder..." And it was. A thick fog had blown in off the North Atlantic enveloping Cambridge in a London-like atmosphere. It was a night reminiscent of Jack the Ripper, his ghost lurking behind every lamp post. It was a night perfect for the Night Gods.

Mary Alice Eaton and her roommate Evelyn Price lived on Green St.. Both worked at the Commercial Bank in Harvard Sq. where I went to cash my paychecks. There was nothing particularly remarkable about either; both were pretty, without being spectacular... but, tonight the Night Gods wanted blood and tonight they were both going to die. They ate a leisurely dinner, cleaned up, watched some TV and prepared for bed. Someone else was watching too... someone unseen in the fog... someone indistinguishable from the shadows that surrounded him.

Evelyn showered first, patting herself dry with a big fluffy towel. She donned her robe, naked underneath and went to her bedroom to dress for bed. When she got there, she wasn't alone. As she opened the closet door to reach for her gown, a hand came out clutching a rag soaked in chloroform. Her eyes widened, but it was too late to struggle or even to scream. She slumped to the floor and was quickly bound and gagged, her naked body still moist from her shower. She had a good body, slim and athletic... the Night Gods would be pleased with this offering.

When Mary Alice finished her shower, she walked nude to her room as was her habit. She was a blonde with a body better suited to the 1940's or 50's. She was buxom without being fat, large breasts and round supple hips. She had a good body and liked to show it off much to the chagrin of her roommate who constantly admonished her that you never knew who might be watching. Mary Alice didn't care... the more the merrier, she thought. She always slept in the nude and she clicked off the light unaware of a presence behind her. A hand covered her mouth and an arm held her tight. A guttural voice whispered in her ear: "Don't make a sound." She nodded assent and lips tenderly began to kiss her neck and shoulders. Her legs felt tingly and she began to relax. She would do as he said and he would go away. It wasn't the first time she had been seduced in this way by a stranger... but it was the first time she was seduced by THIS stranger.

His hands caressed her bare torso working their way down, first her breasts and then lower... In spite of herself she was beginning to enjoy the stranger's attentions. The kisses on her neck became more passionate and Mary Alice's legs began to feel weak. This was like something out of one of the Gothic romance novels she liked to read... it was so romantic. She wanted to see his face and turned, lips upturned. He kissed her and she opened her eyes. He wasn't handsome in the conventional sense, but certainly not ugly- and those kisses, so passionate. She took his hand and drew him to her bed where they made love. She was so ecstatic she almost didn't notice the knife enter her torso just above her pubic bone and move slowly upward. His hand covered her mouth and her eyes opened wide with terror when she realized what was happening. Then, they were blank, devoid of all life.

Evelyn had come too and struggled futilely against her bonds... they were too tight. When she saw the stranger, she screamed silently against the gag in her mouth. He held a bloodstained knife in his hand and slowly it dawned on her what had happened to Mary Alice... and what was likely to happen to her. She struggled harder still, but to no avail. He grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet, throwing her onto her bed. He was strong, too strong to fight. She searched his eyes, her own pleading for mercy... but none was to come. He turned her on her stomach and sodomized her, plunging the knife into the base of her skull when he had finished. It was over quickly.

I read about in the paper the next morning and I knew. I felt sickened, gorge rising in my throat as I read. I knew the Night Gods were pleased, but I was horrified... not of being caught, but of what I knew I had done. I made up my mind. This was not to happen again... I would end it... end it once and for all. I went in search of an old friend, Karl. Karl was the only honest junkie I ever met. I knew I could trust him not to rip me off. $100 ought to do the trick. I had never tried heroin so that much should kill me for sure. Karl worked painting houses and I found him with no problem. He agreed to help. Of course I didn't tell him what had happened or what I planned, only that I wanted some dope and I would buy him some too. After all, I wouldn't need money anymore. I went home with the stuff and did it like Karl had instructed me. Nothing! The Night Gods laughed.

GIF by @papa-pepper