Ghost Bat-Spirit of Vengeance
Chapter 1-The Battle of Evermore
"Oh, dance in the dark of night
Sing to the morning light
The dark Lord rides in force tonight
And time will tell us all
The apples turn to brown and black
The tyrant's face is red"
"The Battle of Evermore"– Robert Plant
From the confessions of Jacob Stockman 1793- Whoever reads this journal shall know the vile and despicable depths to which I and my companions did sink on my own farm near the township of Gotham. God have mercy on my soul, for now I have changed and turned from the Devil's rump.
Jacob can still recollect holding the shiny ancient dagger close to his chest, with his eyes closed. Dreading the deed that must now be done.
The storm howled like the Devil itself, that terrible night in the year of our Lord 1764. As I and my six colleagues did gather in my cellar, which I had long used as a Dark Temple for Concourse with the Daemons.
Jacob pictures himself holding the dagger now to his own face, the shiny blade reflecting brightly off of his eyes.
Let only the pure of heart and strong of will read on…for this is the diabolical journal of the Ceremony of the Bat.
We had summoned the Daemon using spells laid out elsewhere in this journal. Now the slaying of the sacrificial victim was all that stood between us and the complete and utter control of the Daemon, may God save us all.
Jacob visualizes the men standing still as statues, wearing their ancient traditional robes which are the color of crimson. He then recalls the man among them who was descending down a ladder into the cellar, but would eventually climb the ladder of influence in the world.
Mr. Thomas Jefferson, who has since risen in the world of politicking, did lead the sacrificial victim into the temple.
Jacob remembers the girl….so young. So beautiful. The perfect specimen of a female. An angel whose soft bare feet, now walked unholy ground. She wore a cloak also of crimson. The hood covered most of her head and lent a shadow of darkness over her eyes. She wore nothing under the cloak, which barely covered her pale as snow white body and supple breasts.
With all her angelic beauty we had changed the girl into an empty vessel. Her eyes were blank. Empty, like two unseeing moons. Her mind deadened by the potions we administered. She was now ready.
The girl….the Human Bat, had undergone the prescribed steps of preparation necessary for her to be sacrificed and thus make the Daemon our servant. Horrible indeed were those preparations. To most men, these devilish deeds would be quite unfathomable. We had though, drifted so far down the twisted road of the macabre…that we did not realize the true extent of what we were about to unleash.
Jacob remembers the beautiful girl obediently climbing onto the Black Altar, still under the spell she was under. The hood of her cloak, now down, revealing her beautiful red hair, which falls and spills around the cold, dark stone upon which she lays. The cape now split and draping over to both sides, also hanging off the alter, revealing even more of her enchanting body. Jacob then recalls how he raised the blade high above her and had the blade pointed down, directly to her chest.
I raised the Sacrificial Knife above her young chest and waiting heart. It was time to do the wicked deed but Alas! I could not bring myself to do it! My arms seemed to be suspended in the air by my own uncertainty. By my own shock and realization! What Madness had led to this path!? What utter twist of logic had brought me to believe that any amount of worldly power and influence was worth the killing of one of God's beautiful creatures. The men looked at me with confusion. Why had I stopped? Why was she still alive? If only my sudden realization was enough! It was already too late. We had already proceeded too far down this treacherous path to turn back now!
Jacob remembered his shock as all of the candles in the chamber were extinguished all at once and total and complete darkness befell the entire chamber. He still feels the utter fear he felt then as he and the other men heard a deep and bellowing growl, which seemed to have come from the depths of Hades and echoed throughout the chamber. Then, just as suddenly as the candles had been extinguished, the flames and the candles were re-lit and light once again filled the room, only to reveal a sight so horrible, it has stayed seared into Jacob's brain to this very day.
A great winged creature did fill the doorway of my temple. It was the Daemon, intent on our destruction! Thomas Jefferson, whose rashness had first opened the door fell back into mine own arms and there was much screaming and panicking. Remember, I and my colleagues had performed a vile ritual, the Ceremony of the Bat. The Daemon had been summoned and all that stood between us and the complete control of the Daemon was the sacrifice of the young maiden, who we deemed the Human Bat in said ceremony. The victim to be sacrificed, who now started to rise on the alter, as the substances we had given her were now starting to subside and she started to warily stir, trying to figure out where she was and what indeed was transpiring. Moments ago, I had been poised, with sharp blade in my hand and unspeakable wickedness in my heart to kill the young girl, to give her to the Daemon. I then saw as the young girl's eyes filled with terror as the effects of the potion started to subside and she watched as the Daemon rose before us. The Daemon stretched out its terrible bat-wings and with eyes glowing red, flew towards one of my colleagues, Henry, and opened its large beastly mouth full of sharp fanged teeth. I watched as the Daemon's monstrous jaws clamped down over Henry's entire head and with one horrendous bite, ripped Henry's entire head off of his body, with blood spurting from his neck all over the room.
The girl screamed an ear-piercing scream as the remaining five of us scurried like rats up the ladder and out the temple door. And once were out and to safety, did we not shut and seal that door? Did we not entomb, in the Black Temple, the young girl, with the Winged-Beast, with the summoned, yet uncontrollable Daemon?
None of us ever returned to the Temple. I sold Stockman's Farm and proceeded to leave the Gotham Provence and go straight to Canada. One of the remaining five ended up committing suicide, one lost his life at the Battle of Saratoga. Thomas Jefferson rose in the world of politics. The last survivor besides myself, Thomas Wayne; who had been a prominent surgeon…..seemingly disappeared from the face of the Earth. My underground Black Temple remained underground and undiscovered and the memory was lost to all but the few remaining living beings among us who partook in the Ceremony of the Bat.
Jacob then closes his journal and begins to prepare for bed by proceeding to put on his sleeping gown and night cap. He pours himself a hot cup of tea to calm his nerves before bed. He desperately needs this, especially after recollecting the macabre events of the past. He gets out a book to read by candlelight, as he generally does as well to help him ease into slumber. Just as Jacob takes a sip of tea and starts to read…WHOOSH! Suddenly a gust of wind enters the room (even though all of the windows are shut) and extinguishes the candles. The room is now completely dark. Jacob then hears a guttural growl that he has prayed to never hear again. Just then, the candles are suddenly lit again and Jacob sees….
"You! The Daemon! It-it cannot be! It simply cannot be!" Jacob yells while gasping for breath.
"Speak my name Jacob! For you know it! Even that night you did not speak my name. Perhaps in hope of thinking it would somehow lessen the weight of your vile transgressions. NOW SAY IT!"
"Bar…(gulp) Barbatos," Jacob somehow managed to force out of his throat. "You are the Daemon Barbatos."
"Indeed, Jacob…and now I have returned" Barbatos declares.
"But…..but how!? The Dark Book stated that if any step of the ceremony is incomplete, that you would not be able to leave from the threshold of the Dark Chamber unless verbally invited out by one of the individuals that partook in the wretched ritual?" Jacob asks.
"Ahhhhhh…that is exactly what happened Jacob! Some time later, one of your ilk did indeed return to the Dark Chamber and it is he who set me free from my prison!" Barbatos contends.
"Who!? Who was it Daemon?" Jacob furiously asks. I MUST KNOW WHO!?"
"Why it was your trusted doctor Jacob….It was Thomas Wayne who set me free!" Barbatos declares.
"Why have you come to me now? I am an old man…..I must only have a matter of years left to live. Why not just leave me to die?" Jacob asks.
"Because…..you have something that I need" Barbatos declares. "I need your…..SOUL. Of all the beings I have encountered, none have felt a sense of PENANCE for their sins the way you have Jacob. The girl in the tomb was full of pureness and innocence. She gave me half of what I needed. Your soul will give me the rest and will make me more powerful than you can ever imagine!" Barbatos professes.
Barbatos then leaps forward with his giant bat-wings spread wide he lands and grabs Jacob with his terrible clawed hand, pulling Jacob closer and closer until…Barbatos opens his mouth and begins sucking the very life energy….the very soul from Jacob. As he does, his eyes begin to glow bright red. Once Jacob's soul has been completely taken from his body, Barbatos throws the empty, shriveled carcass on the ground. He then protrudes fiery flames from his head and bat wings. Barbatos stands basking in his own terrible omniscient power.
"I…..AM….ETERNAL!" Barbatos declare before smashing through the window and flying into the night sky leaving a fiery trail behind.
Prologue
Let's backtrack a bit shall we? Back to the night when Thomas Wayne unbounds the door that had been fastened shut and locked that dreadful night.
Barbatos was indeed surprised Thomas had returned. Thomas told Barbatos that he wanted the Daemon to be free, but on one condition. That one day when he needed him that Thomas would call upon Barbatos and that the Daemon would oblige his command. Barbatos thought this a fair deal for his freedom. So, he made the deal with Thomas.
"You may be free Barbatos! Leave this Dark Temple to wreak havoc and chaos upon the unsuspecting world! I will call on you for a favor when the time comes!" Thomas declares.
"Yes, human. When the time comes indeed!" Barbatos declares before spreading his wings and flying off and heading for the nearby village to begin his reign of terror.
"Yes Daemon!" Thomas declares. "But you should perhaps be a but more care of WHO you make a DEAL with next time!"
Thomas then begins to transform from his ordinary being into a creature with red skin. Hair and clothing. A creature with bright glowing eyes and ears that come to a point and sharp fanged teeth.
"You will regret making a deal with…MEPHISTO! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!"
To be continued..
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Barbatos76