The Book Waitress (Book 1, The Book Waitress Series) (16 page)

He turned and left the room without fanfare. The snick of the lock amplified her dire situation.
Before she had a chance to ponder and go insane, a woman in scrubs came in. She looked all business, but what kind of business Camille wouldn’t even try to guess.

“Hello, I’m here to prepare you for your special presentation to our Lord and Master. Your full participation is crucial to your success here today. I shall be etching your body with
important symbols for the ceremony. So if you feel the need to scream while I’
m working, go ahead, as i
t only enhances the sacrifice
.”

Lord, give me strength to endure and survive despite my initial resignation to my
dark
fate. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to belong to Satan! I want to live to fight the evil in this world!

Glint
from the instruments as the woman took them out of their plastic casings caused her
eyes
to blink and water.
They looked so sharp and scary!
Keep it together, don’t scream. Whatever she does, don’t scream.

She brought over a tray of assorted tools and picked up one that looked like a surgeon’s scalpel. A broad smile crossed her face.
“Let’s begin, shall we? First, I shall etch a pentagram on
your stomach
.
Let’s see
what a good lamb
you can be.
”

Chapter Ten

Derek made quick work of emptying his pocket of goodies from his backpack onto his cot.
He silently thanked his parents for training him to be prepared for anything. Now, to see if anything he had would help him escape. The
digital recorder wouldn’t
help, but the granola bar was useful. He opened the wrapper and broke off a piece to eat. A bobby pin wouldn’t help from the inside, but the sewing kit had needles that could be used as a weapon. The thread could be twined together to make a garrote of sorts.

He got down to business, not knowing how long he had before attention returned to his condition.
First weaving
the various needles into his waistband
,
he then
began the tedious task of blending all the different colored thread together. With nothing else to keep his mind occupied, his thoughts returned to Camille. He could only imagine what they were doing to “purify”
her for sacrifice, a
nd was helpless at the moment to do anything about it.
It made him sick.

Her demeanor as they took her
concerned him, too. When they’
d spoken, she seemed resigned to this imposed fate. Had he more time to talk with her, he may have been able to turn her outlook around. Instead, he could only wonder if she snapped out of it herself and chose to fight for her life.

***

Victor smiled pleasantly at the people and shook hands with a few who insisted on being seen rubbing elbows with him as he entered the library. Most were leaving at this point, as it neared closing. He needed to speak with Susan personally. It was time she moved up to the next level in her commitment to the Mission. As he drew near to the circulation desk, he caught her eye and she put down the book held in her hand. She walked out to greet him.

“Victor, hello. I’
m glad to see you.” She leaned in and spoke in a hushed voice. “I’ve been worried sick about Nancy. Where is she?”

In the same quiet manner, he answered.
“Susan, may we have a few moments in private together?”

“Certainly. Come into my office.” She led him behind Circulation to her back office and closed the door. “What’s going on?”

“Nancy won’t be returning to work, Susan.
And you may want to find a new roommate. She won’t be returning to life, either. Her usefulness had come to an end, thanks to your keen
observation of her working against me.
I’m asking you to step into the High Priestess position. I think you’
re ready. Y
ou’ve shown loyalty and dedication
to Satan
. It’s time.”

“Really? Oh, my word! I’m so honored. I’ve listened to Nancy practic
ing her chants, so I’m familiar with them. Oh, thank you Victor.”

She impressed him by not missing a beat. No tears shed over Nancy and joy over becoming High Priestess earned her even higher marks. “Use her handbook and practice well. We sacrifice day after tomorrow.”

“Yes, I will. I’ll make you so proud, I promise.”

“See to it.
I must go
.
I have work piling up on my desk at home.
” He shook her hand, opened the office door and proceeded out to his awaiting car.
Soon, he wouldn’t have to work
to keep his billions
ever again. Satan had promised him.

***

There was a light rap on Victor’s study door. He looked at the clock on his desk and grew concerned. He had reason to be awake after midnight, but who else would and need to see him?

“Enter!” His
housekeeper appeared as the door opened and behind her, his
second in command.
“Orion,
come in. W
hat brings you here
at this late hour
?
You should be at home, asleep.
” Victor remained seated by his desk in the study.

“Sir, there’s news to report. I’m not sure if it pertains to us, but I had a feeling
,
and thought I should bring it to your attention
personally and
immediately
.” He paused and seemed to be fighting for the courage to speak of it.

“Out with it, then. No good keeping it in. Whatever it is we will deal with it.”

“I just heard over the police scanner that they found a dead body
, burned beyond recognition,
in the forest.”

“
I see. Anything else?”

“They were calling in from a forested area.
Overlord,
I think they found our ceremonial site.”

“Damn. I told Bart to go back and collect the bones once they cooled. All right, let me think. I left nothing there that could be linked to me.
The
site
, however,
is prepared for sacrifice.
That’s
not
a problem.
The
entire police department
’s
under our thumb
, but the station on the mainland may have heard about it, too
. Get in touch with Bill Hadley
and have him
handle it.
Now, i
t
’s
going to
take them a while to figure out who the body
belongs to
.
In the meantime,
we
need to
move
up
the rituals
and change where to do
them
.
They must come first. Everything depends on them occurring.”

“You said we needed water for one of them. Doesn’t the library have a well in the back?”

“Yes, you’re right. It does. Brilliant idea. We can sacrifice the child in the basement and right out back, we can sacrifice the Marked One. It’s all open back there
, though
. Get one of those
huge
party tents. We’ll
tell people that the well needs
extensive repairs and the tent is to
contain the construction work and
keep
people safe
ly away
.
Rent a few generators to
mask any sounds from the ritual. And let Bob and Dan know they need to park their plumbing trucks in the parking lot
.
Get one of those covered walkways, too, to connect
the tent
to the backdoor
of the library
. No one should see who’s walking in and out.
”

“Got it. I’ll arrange everything and call Bill straight away.”

“Orion, you’ve done well. Very well.
”

“Thank you, Overlord. I am most grateful and honored. I live only to serve him and the Mission.”

“It’s good to know you have the Mission’s health always on your mind. I shall speak highly of you to Satan. You may go now.”

Orion bowed to him and walked out a much taller man than he did coming in. If things didn’t go well, Victor knew his second in command could pick up the pieces and move forward without him.

He picked up the phone and called Susan. It rang only once before she picked up
and answered
. “Hello?”

“Susan, it’s Victor. Change of plan
s
. Our library meeting
scheduled for Sunday
has
been
changed to tomorrow at six o’clock in the evening. Please call everyone in the morning and notify them of the change
as they are all expected to be there
. Thank you.
Good evening.”

He hung up before she could utter a word. It was late and he had even more to do now. Visiting his sacrificial lambs would be
first on his late night agenda.
Bart would need to pay for his serious misstep. He’d have to think about his consequence and whether it required something of a more permanent nature or something semi-permanent. Then he’d prepare his body and mind for the rituals.

A hidden closet behind his desk contained the
red
robe he’d wear tomorrow. He put his arms through their holes and covered his head with the hood. Down to the basement he marched, eager to see the boy and the young woman. He reached the boy’s cell first.

Peering through the window slit, he saw
him
sleeping on the cot, a
plush toy in his arms. His mother had done well to ease his worry. She would be moved up in the ranks for her ultimate sacrifice.
He moved on to the reporter down the hall. He would make a nice extra sacrifice. It would show his followers that those who question the Mission or try to stop their freedom of worship were not worthy of living. He looked through the slit in the door and saw the young man sleeping while sitting up on the floor. He walked on to the other side of the basement where Camille Dutton had been moved.

He heard some muffled moans and sobs as he came to stand by her door. Looking in, he found the sacrificial r
ite preparer still hard at work on
Camille, her canvas. Intrigued, he decided to go in and watch. Rather than knocking, he used his key to unlock and open the door. He stepped in and smiled as the preparer turned and greeted him.

“This is such an honor, you being here, Overlord. Thank you.”

“I’m fascinated with your work and wanted to see it firsthand. Don’t let me interrupt you. Please, continue.”

“Well, first I’ll explain what I’ve done so far. The pentagram has been etched into her belly
over here
.
” She lifted Camille’s
top
and pointed low on her abdomen.
“
Eight inverted crosses have been carved into the skin on her legs and arms
, as you can plainly see
.
Now, I’m just about to begin the final series of markings. Please have a seat. Our lamb here has been helpful at times and not so very at others. I do believe this last bit will
be just the ticket to make her offering the sweetest possible.”

“You do know your craft, don’t you
, Melissa?”

“Thank you. Working in plastic surgery has its benefits, sir.” She laughed and turned her attention back to her subject on the table. “Now, Camille, these are the last markings I will be making on you. They
’ll
be the most painful, so feel free to scream as loud as you wish. In order to do these, however, I will need to secure your head. We wouldn’t want to ruin a perfectly good etching because you were weak and moved your head.”

Camille
seemed dazed and in considerable pain. As Melissa strapped her head down
and taped her eyelids closed
, she pleaded to be released. She tried to talk reason to him, and he let her
ramble on
to placate her.

“
And now I will begin the final symbols on her eyelids- the pitchfork wheel, one on each eyelid.”

Victor thought Nancy’s last breaths were music to his ears, but to hear the tortured scream come from Camille as Melissa began her handiwork, he knew this to be a truly special moment. Suddenly, a searing pain swept through his chest, and he grasped the door frame so as not to fall to his knees.

Satan’s voice echoed through his mind. “I am pleased, human. I can taste her soul as she screams. Give her to me soon. I grow impatient for what is mine.”

“Yes, my Lord and Master.
Tomorrow it shall be done. She shall be yours and you may enter our world.”