Anna and Luke turn towards the barn doorway, their mouths agape at the figure stepping out of the shadows beneath its solid frame.
As if Made of Shadow’s himself, the man stepped towards the gaping pair with a sinister smile on his face. Lordy, that boy looks too handsome to be evil, thought Anna to herself. But she knew, she could sense, that this man was pure evil. It seemed to ooze from every pore of him. He stood about 6 feet with long, wavy black hair that seemed to be blowing in every direction in the wind. Dressed in Black clothing, he was impossible to see in the shadows of the barn.
Leaning against the doorframe, looking down while scuffing at a pebble on the dirt with his black leather riding boots, he addressed Anna.
“Did the old man tell you anything Anna?”
“Tell me about what Mister? He done told me a lot of things during the time I’ve been with him. None of us plumb believe half of what the ol’ bugger said though. He done lost it some time ago!”
The Man laughed and then addressed the same question to Luke, who basically gave him the same answer. Looking up at the pair, he seemed to be weighing some sort of decision.
“Your Master doesn’t need a Doctor, he needs a priest. Good Evening, Madame and Sir!” He said on a laugh with a Mocking bow. As sudden the man appeared, he disappeared just as suddenly. He backed up into the barn shadows and was gone. Luke ran inside with his lantern, looking for the strange man, but found nothing. As for going for the doctor, it was impossible. All the horses and livestock were slaughtered, singed and burnt as if struck down by lightening.
“My God…” Muttered Luke to himself, only to jump when he heard Anna Speak behind him.
“I haven’t ever seen nothing like that before Luke!” Whispered Anna in a scared voice.
“Darn it woman, don’t be sneaking up on me like that! You best go tell ol’ Thad that their ain’t no way to get to the doctors.”
Running back into the house, Anna was overcome by the sense of Evil once more along with the scent of death. Quickly going up the stairs, Anna felt a sudden Fear in her heart. She had served her Master for many years and quite frankly, didn’t like the man one bit. It wasn’t going to break her heart any to see the old man dead. He had broken up her and her family some years ago when he sold her husband and children in the slave market. But Thaddeus, she loved Thaddeus with all of her heart. His Mama left him at Jake’s home all the time to go out for nights on the town with her wayward husband. They would leave little Thad there for Days, sometimes months, before they ever thought to come get him. Jake was always demented, he’d been that way since she knew him. So it was up to her and Luke to raise the boy. They both loved him like he was their own flesh and blood, regardless of his race and status in society.
Throwing open the door, Anna found Thaddeus unconscious and pinned to wall in a blasphemous mimicry of the crucifixion of Christ. Screaming Wildly, Anna yelled for Luke while trying to lift Thad’s weight so it wouldn’t pull so much on iron spikes that protruded from his hands and feet. Luke was beside Anna in no time, helping her get Thad down from his position on the wall. Luckily, Thaddeus stayed unconscious for the whole ordeal and was not able to see the faces of the pair weeping as they tended to him.
After getting Thaddeus to his room and his wounded tended with the tender care, Luke went back in to Jakes room. Jake was dead. His eyes were open, mouth agape as if he was silently screaming in horror at something above him. The old mans neck had bruises, marks as if someone had choked him. It was later discovered that Jake was branded on the chest with a marking of some kind. It was the priest who noticed what the emblem was and immediately he made the sign of the cross and bent over to pray. The Brand was the Symbol of Mammon.
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