The Devil Rides a Pale Horse Episode 2

Episode 2: Reincarnation1

The night was still dense and dark, matched only by the snow that was beginning to fall in a steady wave. Doctor Webber sat in his easy chair by the fire and flipped through pages of ancient manuscripts. Nights like this gave him a great thrill, or used to before he retired from his old profession. Now the storm and discord of the outside world only reminded him of times long passed and of the cold blood coursing through his veins. His fingers flipped through the pages until coming upon the one which he desired. His eyes scanned the page for a moment or two before fixing on the small image on the bottom. He smiled at it in a most amused fashion, for after years of searching he had found his hearts desire. The character on the page in front of him was the last of the demon lords, the sixth one in existence. And upon the page itself were the detailed instructions to bring him back from the depths of the underworld. The Doctor chuckled to himself as he continued to read. According to the text he had all the necessary ingredients to bring back the powerful lord save one; he needed a body. 2

The Doctor had no qualms about using his own; however he surmised that he should find a better vessel for his lord to embody. A sudden knock at the door roused him from his delusions of grandeur. He set the papers aside and pushed himself up from the chair. The Doctor wondered who it could be at this time of night. He opened the door to a familiar face, but not a happy one. 3

“Robert! Alabaster is dead!” The Doctor was taken aback; Alabaster was the second in command of the demon lord Mephistopheles. For him to be destroyed it would take a powerful force indeed. He clasped Eria in a firm embrace and brought her inside out of the cold. “Now, now dear you must not despair; Alabaster is not lost to us forever.” “That’s why I came to you,” Eria wept. “so you could bring him back.”4

“Do you have a piece of him left?” Eria nodded and handed the Doctor a handful of ashes. “Good,” he continued. “now we can get to work reviving your friend.” Of course the good Doctor had other things on his mind. For now he had a body to offer his master, and not just any body but the strong form of a demon lieutenant. His heart fluttered with anticipation as Eria piled the ashes in the middle of the room and drew the outline of the pentagram with a knife. “The blood sacrifice my dear, you must let your blood.” Using the same knife Eria made a long incision across her wrist. A shower of blood dribbled down and filled the sacred circle. Robert moved to the medicine cabinet and withdrew the other ingredients for the resurrection and the ingredients for the ritual as well. He checked the ingredients off in a mental list in his head: wormwood, powdered arsenic, elder leaf, rattlesnake venom, and the jellied blood of a cow.5

He quickly poured all the ingredients atop the pile of ashes and began to recite the sacred incantation. “From the ashes rise anew, and bring the world into your view. Repair sinew and grow bone, Let your limbs become as stone. Revive!” No sooner had the words left his lips before the room plunged into blackness and the pile of ashes before them began to form into a body. A few seconds later Alabaster lay stone still on the floor. “He’s back!” Eria exclaimed.6

“He is here in body but not in spirit, I must complete the process.” The Doctor now took the powdered arsenic and blew it across the body. “Through the power of the damned I beseech you to return from the abyss. Move across the barrier at the sound of your voice. I call upon Baphomit!” The darkened room began to rumble as the floor underneath the body crumbled and fell. Alistair hovered in mid air and slowly a pair of wandering lights began to ascend from beneath. The essence came bursting into the room filling it with and eerie blue glow. Then it spiraled downward finally making contact with the lifeless body.7

The light returned to the room, the floor was solid and unbroken, and the pentagram had vanished. But there in front of them was a living breathing body. He sat up and looked around the room. “Who has called me back to the land of the living? Who has invoked the name of the great Baphomit?” The Doctor stepped foreword. “It was I great one, and I hope that your servant can be greatly rewarded for this deed.” Baphomit held out his hand and Doctor Webber helped him to his feet. “Oh, there are great rewards indeed in store for you.” The dark lord mused. In a swift flash of movement he plunged his hand into the Doctors chest. “And had you given me my proper form and not this weak and pathetic shell you would have reaped those rewards!” Baphomit moved his hand deeper and deeper into the Doctors chest cavity. A moment later and he had a firm grasp on the heart. He tore it out with great force and stuffed the vital organ into his mouth. The Doctor still remained standing and watching in abject horror. Baphomit smiled and grasped the Doctor’s skull in his hands. With a sharp yank the head was separated from the body and the demon lord was draining the blood from the neck. 8

When he was quite sated he turned his attention to Eria who was frozen in a state of shock. “Where is Alabaster?” She asked. She slowly began to back away from the carnage toward the door, but Baphomit was not content to let her leave. He dashed towards her and a moment later had her pinned up against the wall. Plucking the knife from he grip he twirled it around his fingers then moved it to her neck. Inhaling deeply he smiled at the smell he received. “A half demon? What an absolute pleasure.” Laughing mechanically Baphomit moved the knife from her throat and placed the flat of the blade upon her naked thigh. Slowly, he began to move it upward. 9

“What are you doing?” Eria screamed. 10

“Fortunately for you the good doctor was kind enough to provide me with a meal I so required; however there are a few other mortal pleasures in which I choose to indulge.” Baphomit flicked his wrist and Eria’s chaps fell to the floor. “Now,” he continued. “you can either let it happen and derive some pleasure from the experience, or you can try to fight me which will result in a much more painful ordeal for you. What are you going to choose?” The rapport of a revolver echoed through the house. Baphomit’s eyes widened as a bullet tore a path from below his chin to the top of his skull. He stepped back and was riddled with a hail of gunfire from Eria’s Peacemakers. She gasped for air as the dark lord fell to the ground. She holstered her guns and just stood there looking at the body.11

Eria turned to leave but was stopped by the sound of a demonic chuckle he turned around to see Baphomit rising to his feet and the bullets she had filled him with falling out of him as his wounds began to heal. “So you have chosen to fight me then!” Eria didn’t have a chance to react before Baphomit grabbed her and flung her to the ground. A moment later he was on top of her, and in another second he had made and incision on her arm with the knife. His mouth clamped around the wound, and instantly Eria was unable to move or speak. “I have put my poison in you; you are now my little puppet. I usually grow board with my playthings, but I have a feeling that you will do much for my purposes.” Baphomit began to slide his tongue along the slopes of her neck and chest. He steadily moved downward and made small bite marks in her stomach, increasing the amount of poison in her body. His hands clasped her legs and his eyes gazed upon her with an infernal lust. Tears streamed down the sides of Eria’s checks; Baphomit only laughed and laughed.12

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Alabasters eyes snapped open. He felt strange and disoriented. The last thing he remembered was floating around in the depths of the abyss. Then someone had started a resurrection ritual and he could feel himself being dragged off toward the surface. But all of a sudden the flow had stopped and like a dam on a river the resulting pressure had exploded and thrown him outward. In the many times he had been resurrected that had never happened to him. He had never had someone else take his body and he certainly hadn’t been force out of the underworld either. He felt around and found that his new body was quite satisfactory. It was young, lean, male, and the hair was long and flowing. But as he continued to inspect he found that his current body had a very critical flaw; it had no face. Alabaster could feel the skull and the eye sockets but he could find no flesh upon the face. “Damn it!” he screamed. The echo made him quite aware of his surroundings. He was in fact in a small wooden coffin probably six feet below ground. He was completely unsure about everything else but one thing was certain; he had to get out of the coffin.14

He could feel his strength returning to him and his demonic power radiating from within his soul. Quickly he pressed both hands against the top of the coffin and pushed with all his might. His unholy strength served him well and the coffin lid exploded to the top carrying a pile of earth with it. A minute later Alabaster had pulled himself out of the hole and dragged himself to a nearby pine tree to catch his breath. The power he had used up to get free really took a toll on his body and he began to feel heavy and out of shape. In moments he had fallen asleep to the sound of his own breathing.15

When he awoke the world was still covered in darkness. His primary concern was to find his body so he could posses it once again, but at the moment he would settle for something to cover his deformity. Feeling along the ground he just happened to find what he was looking for. His hand grasped what appeared to be an old Indian ritual mask; this one however was surprisingly different from the ones he had seen elsewhere. It had no striations for the mouth, nose, or ears; in fact the only markings on the curved white surface where two slanted openings for the eyes. Alabaster also found that when he placed the mask upon his face it contoured perfectly to him and seemed to snap into place securely. This would have to do for now in place of an actual face. 16

With his disheveled form now hidden neatly under the mask Alabaster resolved to search for the body that was lost to him. He raised his head up and felt the whispering wind with his demon senses. Faintly he could feel the spirit energy of his former self, and he began to follow the direction from where it came. Now that his eyes had grown accustomed to this new form he began to see the faint spirit cords that emanated from demon and holy men alike. But these cords he knew to be his own for their color was a deep burgundy with traces of turquoise which signified a demon lieutenant. He knew that it must be his body which showed such power for he was the only one with such spiritual magnitude in this area. Alabaster began to increase his pace as he the feeling of demonic energy grew stronger. Soon he hoped to be reunited with his body and to deal with whoever had stolen it from him.17