Evil Agreement

  Evil Agreement

  by

  Richard L. Hatin

  Publisher Page

  an imprint of Headline Books, Inc.

  Terra Alta, WV

  Evil Agreement

  by Richard L. Hatin

  copyright ©2012 Richard L. Hatin

  All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents, except where noted otherwise, are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any other resemblance to actual people, places or events is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Publisher Page, except by reviewer who wished to quote brief passages in connections with a review written for inclusion in broadcast or print media.

  To order additional copies of the book, or to contact the author:

  Headline Books, Inc.

  P O Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764

  www.HeadlineBooks.com

  ISBN-13: 978-0-938467-33-5

  First Electronic Edition

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2012939308

  Hatin, Richard L.

  Evil Agreement

  p. cm.

  ISBN 978-0-938467-33-5

  1. Thriller-Fiction 2. Mystery-Fiction 3. Religion-Fiction 4. Satanic Ritual-Fiction

  Printed in the United States of America

  To my best friend and wife Anne,

  with whom all things are possible!

  1

  A large number of cars and small pick up trucks began to converge from several directions. They slowly merged into a procession of over seventy vehicles traveling east along the dirt road that paralleled the south bank of the Winooski River here in north central Vermont.

  It was just after 1:00 a.m. in the morning. After traveling eastward for a little over three miles, the line of vehicles turned southward onto another dirt road. At the intersection two men armed with shotguns stood guard. Once the last vehicle had driven by, they pulled a wooden gate closed. They next padlocked it to prevent anyone from following. They went to their truck and soon joined up with all the other vehicles.

  This narrow and winding dirt road would last for nearly a mile. The vehicles kicked up a dusty cloud that nearly obscured the driver’s view of the road. Everyone was driving with only their parking lights on. No one was using their headlights.

  Suddenly several young men with flashlights waved the vehicles to pull over and park. They began to park in the field next to the Game Warden’s house while other vehicles pulled to the side of the road and came to a stop. Everyone exited their vehicles. Entire families stood together in the road. The ages ranged from eight months old to ninety-one. There was very little conversation between the assembled, only an occasional muffled greeting.

  Many of the people had brought along flashlights or lanterns. A few had homemade torches. Soon the flashlights and lanterns were turned on with the torches saved for later.

  The crowd, numbering close to two hundred, began to slowly move further southward along the dirt road. The sound of a bubbling small brook once known as the Sutton River could be heard as it passed the left side of the road. After traveling for another few hundred yards the crowd turned to their left and crossed over the brook by way of a wooden bridge. Now there was no longer a dirt road to follow. There were only two rutted tire tracks worn into the side of the mountain. This pathway was suddenly a much steeper climb.

  No one complains about the hiking conditions, or the lateness of the hour. They are all familiar with what is to be expected.

  A few of the travelers steal a glance at one another as they silently climb the mountain.

  Tonight there will be a sacrifice. There is always a sacrifice. It has been this way since the 1840’s.

  Blood will be spilled. This is a necessary part of their “Malum Pactum,” Evil Agreement. The ritual will be kept alive by a dark offering. A promise made long ago is still a promise to be kept.

  Their ancestors had once been part of a coven that made a pact with Moloch, one of Satan’s lieutenants. The coven, originally formed in 1843, made a solemn promise to Moloch to perform a special one-time ritual and sacrifice to invite Satan to life on earth, to rule over them.

  Something went horribly wrong and the coven failed in keeping its Evil Agreement.

  Ever since, the coven and their descendants have repeatedly journeyed back up this mountain to offer human sacrifice to Moloch and Satan, and to renew their vows to keep their promise, and complete the demanded invitation ceremony to Satan.

  The large group of people finally arrived at their destination. They were nearly at the summit of the mountain that overlooks Camel’s Hump, Vermont’s second tallest peak.

  The torches are lit and the promise keeping ceremony will soon begin.

  Moloch, dark and evil will soon make his appearance and stand over them, at the blood stained stone altar, and demand the required offering.

  However, unknown to all, their procession and gathering is seen from across the valley. From high atop Camel’s Hump Mountain, a single pair of eyes has been watching. The one who is watching is soon joined by another.

  The coven’s secret existence is now at risk.

  2

  They had been hiking on the scenic Long Trail, which feeds into the Appalachian Trail, for fifteen days. They were planning to hike the entire length of Vermont’s Long Trail. Fresh out of college the month before, Michael Delvecchio and Julia Brodsky had planned this hike as their graduation present to one another.

  Julia was leading the hike this morning. It was Monday, July 21, 1997. The weather was overcast and cool. They were hiking the southeastern ridge leading to the summit of Camel’s Hump. They had at least another hour’s hike remaining before they would reach the summit.

  They were at an elevation of around three thousand feet. The air was only slightly thinner at this elevation. They were in peak physical form. Even so, they felt the strain of hiking at this altitude. Julia stopped along the trail and looked back at Michael. He was a typical tourist hiker. His head seemed to be attached to a swivel as he turned in one direction after another taking in all the sights. Julia on the other hand was a point to point hiker. She moved resolutely from one point on the map towards her intended target location. Only something unusual could distract her from her primary focus, which was to reach her destination by the shortest route possible.

  “Michael, I think this is a good place for a break.”

  Looking around for a moment Michael gestured to a large flat rock about fifty yards further up the trail “How about over by that rock? It looks like it opens up to a nice vista.”

  “Okay by me,” she said, shrugging.

  They soon arrived at the rock. It did indeed open up to a splendid vista overlooking several other mountains to the south and the valleys in between. The summer sun was beginning to burn through the cloud cover, bringing warmth to the chilled summer air.

  They unbuckled and removed their backpacks and sat down on the rock. From a side pouch on his backpack Michael removed a plastic container half filled with his own custom blended trail mix of assorted nuts, dried fruit and cereal. He offered some to Julia who took a handful. He did likewise.

  “Great view, huh?” said Michael.

  “Uh-huh!”

  Julia pulled out her trail map and began to examine it closely.

  “According to the trial guide back at the AMC hut yesterday, the northern trail on the north face is closed because of erosion. Do you remember, she said this spring and summer have been unusually wet and they have had to temporarily close that trail? So, to con
tinue north after we reach the summit this afternoon we are going to have to double back down this trail to that fork we came across a couple of hours ago. See, according to the map we can follow this lower trail around the middle elevation heading north and it will link back up with the main trail right here.”

  Julia is pointing to the map, while Michael is busy gazing at the panorama spread out below.

  “Michael, you didn’t hear a word I just said.”

  Looking at her holding out the map to him, he breaks into a smile.

  “Julia, I heard you. I remember what the guide told us.”

  “Well, let’s get going, Michael. It’s your turn to take the point.”

  “Okay! Just give me a minute, will you?” said Michael as he lifted up his backpack and in one fluid motion he swung it up onto his back.

  In a couple of minutes they were off to reach the summit.

  The hike to the summit was a good deal more difficult than the earlier part of the climb. This part of the trail was steeper, mostly a bare rock surface, sometimes covered in moss. It was also damp from the low misty cloud cover, which frequently smothered the summit. The summit was 4,083 feet above sea level and at that elevation should have had ample tree cover. Instead the last four hundred feet was barren of trees or even small bushes. It was generally believed that acid rain from the south and west, which usually drifted to the northeast, had destroyed the fragile ecosystem of Camel’s Hump summit.

  As Michael and Julia reached the summit, the sun broke through the cloud cover once again. There was a stiff breeze blowing from the west. The entire summit was now awash in bright sunlight. There were broken clouds all around the summit, drifting away quickly to the northeast. Michael danced around with his arms raised in the air striking a familiar pose from the motion picture, “Rocky” while trying to sing the theme song even though he didn’t know the words.

  “Ta, Ta ta ta, Ta ta ta ta ta.”

  “Michael, you’re something else.”

  “Yo, Adrienne, Adrienne, come here.”

  Even though they still had their backpacks on, Michael embraced Julia and gave her a hearty kiss.

  They had lunch on the summit.

  They started back down the trail around one o’clock. By two o’clock in the afternoon they had reached the area of the large flat rock where they had begun today’s hike.

  “Julia, let’s pitch our tent here for the night.”

  “Why here, it’s still early?”

  “Because, I want to stop and smell the roses.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “We seem to be always moving along just to get to the next spot on the map. For once, I’d like to stop and enjoy the area.”

  “Okay, fine with me, Michael, but remember we need to reach Jay Peak within the next twelve days. Sally, Carey and Tommy will be waiting for us.”

  “I know,” said Michael, “we’ll make it in time, trust me.”

  “Michael, I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you.”

  “Julia, that really hurts,” said a playfully pouting Michael.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area. Late in the afternoon they picked a spot to pitch their tent, a pine needle covered dry and flat spot about a hundred feet due west of the large flat rock.

  After supper they listened to the portable radio that Julia had brought and read from the paperback books that each had stuffed into their backpacks. Julia enjoyed reading Anne Rice’s books while Michael enjoyed reading action adventure books by Tom Clancy.

  The chill of the night quickly embraced the eastern side of the mountain. The setting sun couldn’t be seen from their location. However, the sky was free of clouds and soon the darkening sky began to twinkle with a vast display of celestial splendor. Far from the distraction of man-made light, the night sky revealed a wondrous galaxy of “billions and billions of stars,” as Carl Sagan was often quoted as saying. Michael had read Sagan’s book Cosmos and ever since found that he was drawn to look up into the night sky with renewed wonder.

  The two settled in for the night around nine thirty and soon went to sleep.

  3

  “Julia, Julia, wake up, you’ve got to come and see this.”

  Sitting up in her sleeping bag, she rubbed her eyes and tried to focus on Michael, who was knelling beside her.

  “What is it?”

  “C’mon, hurry, before they’re gone.”

  “Who’s gone?” she said as Michael quickly exited from the tent.

  Knowing him, he would just pester her until she went along with whatever was consuming him. She reached inside her sleeping bag and pulled out her hiking boots. She crawled from the tent and was greeted by the chilly night air. She suddenly had an urge to pee.

  “Hurry up, Julia.”

  Because of the light from the nearly full moon she could see him moving over to the large flat rock. She stood up to follow him.

  This had better be quick, she thought, I’ve got to go.

  In a moment she was standing beside Michael who was about halfway across the large flat rock. Even with the moonlight, they had to be careful to not get too close to the edge. Distance can be deceiving in the woods at night.

  “Look down there and tell me what you see.”

  Julia tried to focus her eyes upon the black void below. Directly below and to her left, which would make it about two miles northeast of their position, there seemed to a string of twinkling lights moving slowly in unison.

  “Well?”

  “I don’t know Michael, it looks like a road or something and a line of cars in succession. Big Deal!”

  “Wrong, now look at it again through these,” he said handing her his binoculars. He was excited.

  She took the binoculars and looked through them. It took her a moment to locate the lights and to steady her gaze. She slowly turned the lens into focus. It was unmistakable, even from this distance. The lights were coming from a long line of people climbing a path through the woods. Many of them were carrying lanterns or powerful flashlights. She thought she could even see children mixed in. There had to be over a hundred people making this curious trek. The trees shielded many of the people from view.

  “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “People climbing in a sort of procession right?”

  “I suppose so, I’m going to go and pee.”

  “Uh-huh,” said Michael who had reclaimed the binoculars from Julia and was now using them to examine the curiosity once again.

  She went back into the woods and was relieving herself when Michael called out to her.

  “Julia, you have got to see this!”

  She soon returned and he handed her the binoculars again.

  This time she had no trouble locating the moving lights. They weren’t moving in a line any more. Instead they were formed into a circle around what clearly appeared to be a bonfire.

  “Neat, huh?” he seemed to ask.

  “What time is it?” asked Julia.

  “Oh, it’s uh...nearly two o’clock in morning.”

  “Curious, what would kids be doing on the side of a mountain in the middle of the night watching some bonfire?”

  “That’s what I was wondering,” said Michael.

  Even without the binoculars, one could make out the crowd around a now fully engaged bonfire.

  “I’m going back to bed Michael.”

  “Yeah, me, too.”

  “Say, Julia, would you be interested in ...”

  “Don’t you dare ask me what I think you’re going to ask me Michael Delvecchio.”

  “But...”

  “The answer is no and I mean it.”

  Later that morning, after breakfast, they resumed their hike. Michael was persistent in pestering Julia to accompany him on a minor detour. He desperately wanted to explore the area where they had seen the bonfire earlier that morning. His intense curiosity combined with his ability to get his way soon prevailed upon Juli
a. They would pursue this little sidebar adventure, which Julia estimated would take the better part of the day provided that Michael agreed to let her chart their course for the rest of the hike. He quickly agreed to her terms. His hiking pace quickened once they had struck a deal.

  By ten thirty that morning, they had reached the valley below. In this valley was a swiftly moving stream which was seemingly impossible to cross. Alongside the stream, on their side, was a hard packed dusty, dirt road. Michael moved along the road heading south by southeast. After a couple hundred yards the road curved to the left across the stream by the means of a professionally built wooden bridge. They were soon across the bridge following the road, which was now fading into a well-worn logging road.

  A pair of unfriendly eyes watched as they crossed over the wooden bridge and moved along the fading road. The eyes belonged to a young boy who was no more than thirteen. He was wearing coveralls over a white t-shirt. He also wore an old camouflaged colored army surplus hat. He was carrying a 30-30 caliber Winchester lever action open sighted rifle. Once the couple disappeared along the road, the boy took off at a full run back down the road. He needed to tell the warden there were strangers lurking along the sacred path. The warden would know what to do. Maybe this time the elders would let him participate in the cleansing.

  Michael was moving along at a faster pace. He kept looking to his right and left searching for signs of what the two of them had witnessed earlier this morning. The road, or what was left of it, was reduced to two ruts in the ground, which kept winding its way ever higher. Michael stopped and looked back towards Camel’s Hump.

  “What do you think, Julia?”

  Julia was the better orienteer between the two.

  She consulted her compass and shook her head.