SAGA OF DARKNESS VISION OF LIGHT
Chapter Fourteen - Blackmail
by Dennis R. Cook
More than one thing had begun to bother me about
Prometheus since his return earlier in the day.
For
One,
he was no longer clothed in the skin tight
tunic
in which we first found him in. He had on a
monstrous sweat suit. Since his body maintained
the
perfect temperature regardless of the weather, why
the
change?
Another thing which had begun to gnaw at my
insides had to do with his choice of lingo. I
couldn't figure it out. Had Prometheus spent
the
past
few days around high school students on the beaches of
southern California, or watched a lot of tasteless
television? At any rate, Prometheus seemed much
more
human,
and I wasn't sure I liked the change, although
I was
certain I could adapt if the rationale was
acceptable. His comment to Ketchum that he had
become
as a man needed clarification, but I had
decided to keep quiet for the moment.
Ketchum had been intrigued by our recap of events
leading to the discovery of Prometheus, but
had
remained "untouched." That is, we hadn't
converted him to faith in God.
"That's for you fellas’," Ketchum said,
meaning he was perfectly satisfied with his life
the
way it was, and wanted no "new" realities to
complicate his rationalist, materialist perspective.
I doubted Old Blackgoat needed to make the
effort
to encourage Ketchum to invite Jesus into
his
heart, knowing the Spirit of God needed time to
prepare the ground before sewing. The seeds of our
story
would need a little time to germinate. The
fertilizer of a little personal combat with the
devil,
Blackgoat would say, would make a believer out
of
him. After all, I knew Old Blackgoat's
experience with hardcore (you ain't gettin’ me in that
church
door) nonbelievers suggested a conversion
pattern. Faced with the loneliness associated with
death,
most chose some form of repentance from their
unbelief, asking somehow, if possible, after all the
evil
they had done, if God wouldn't somehow reveal
himself to them in a way which would enable them to
know
death was not a thing to be feared. I knew it
was
Blackgoat's experience that God never failed any
of
them.
I didn't know exactly how the Lord would work on
Ketchum, but I was certain of one thing, Satan
wasn't
going to take lightly the spoiling of perhaps
his
most favorite earthly habitation. In fact, I was
convinced in a whole-hog-kind-of-way that we had all
earned
more than our fair share of affliction, not to
mention, temptation, trials, and testings,
persecutions and the like.
At any rate, having given Ketchum the kind of
thorough exposition of the problem we had promised,
and
with him having taped every word, the silver-tongued Texan then invited us to view what his men
had
discovered on the west side of the elevator.
That stirred me up! But before made our
way
through the double doors leading to the unholy
sanctuary, Old Blackgoat joined us. "I must go
down
to the church to prepare for the evening
service," he said. "Can I count on the two of you
to
water the sheep and make it to the church on
time?"
"Whew, is it that time again, already?" I said.
"Don't worry, Old Blackgoat," Steven reassured the
sage,
"we'll see the sheep are watered".
"Hey, no need to run off," Ketchum piped in.
"This
is your reservation. You need to join your two
compadres here and come see what we found on the
other
side of the elevator".
"Are you going there, right now?" Old Blackgoat
asked,
needing to make the most of the time he
had
available.
"That's where we're headed," Ketchum said,
again
showing signs of fatigue.
Ketchum’s men had removed the back wall of the
elevator transport.
And it didn't surprise me that the corridor leading
to the
elevator continued on the other side of it. We
found wooden steps at its end that led down to a lone
cavern. It had few frills, if any, I could see.
Tire
marks covered the damp cave floor.
Ketchum used a remote device he had found in
Dr.
Sheolman's other car to elevate a hatchway. The
little
demonstration showed how Dr. Sheolman had made
his
escape.
All loose ends, save one, had been tied up. It
was
unfortunate, but Ketchum's men hadn't, to the
moment, located any device which might have been used
to
help hypnotize Steven and me, if indeed we had been
hypnotized, but of course Dr. Sheolman could have
taken
that with him. However, that still left us
with
the mystery of the vortex.
Blackgoat departed soon after Ketchum had
completed his little demonstration. I marveled how
well
the ol' fella carried himself as he sauntered
off in
the direction we had come. He was one tough
cookie!
Soon thereafter Ketchum got on the horn and
radioed an all points lookout for Dr. Sheolman in the
southern California area. In the mean time, Steven
and
I
high-tailed our way back up the mountain where the
sheep
were waiting, and made ourselves some lunch of
peanut
butter. Somehow,...I wasn't surprised when
Prometheus picked up the jar.
I nudged Steven when Prometheus started eating.
"He
isn't supposed to need food, is he?" I
asked.
Steven gave me a puzzled look. "He has been acting
a
little strange this morning, hasn't he?"
"My thoughts exactly," I said.
Steven and I jumped up from the weathered rocks
where
we had been sitting eating our sandwiches, and
casually walked over to where Prometheus was standing
at the
other end of the shed.
"I might as well tell all," Prometheus said,
before
Steven and I could pummel him with questions.
Prometheus sat the empty peanut butter jar on
the
post a few feet away from the outside edge of the
shed,
and turned toward us. "I've become mortal,"
Prometheus said in a soft voice, a voice that
cloaked both humility and embarrassment.
"But how can that be?" Steven and I asked,
exploding with incredulity. "We've seen you appear
and
reappear. You've read our minds. You still
have
incredible strength!"
"All true," Prometheus acknowledged, waving an arm
in the
air to suggest an inability to explain his
circumstances.
"Why, you even told Ketchum you were an angel
of the
most high God," Steven said.
"I...I..still believe I am, in a way,"
Prometheus said. "I do still have all my
original powers, I just seem to have acquired the
needs
of the flesh. Don't worry, having read your
minds,
I understand my human behavior has been
immature, and that I haven't chosen the best examples
of
human behavior to emulate. I will do better.
"It's just that since my moment of glory to
Father
on the cross, I've found that I have emotions
and
desires. I get tired and have to sleep. I
get
hungry
and have to eat. I feel cold and heat."
"Do you still have the pure oil of lamb's
blood?" I asked.
Prometheus rummaged deep into the well of his
sweat
suit, an oversized pocket that as a marsupial’s
pouch,
could have hidden a young Kangaroo. Steven and I
marveled as the titan's hand and forearm disappeared,
then
reappeared holding the familiar bootblack can
containing the pure faith. He handed to Steven.
"I wonder," Steven said, "if the other side could
have
somehow used this stuff to strip you of your
immortality?"
"Perhaps," Prometheus said, "but somehow I
think
my mortality has to do with my conversion to
Christianity. That Father has honored my belief in
His
Son cannot be denied. Perhaps the price I must
pay
for salvation must be that of a man, to live out
a
mortal life trapped in an imperfect shell, subject
to all
its failings, my present hope secured by
faith
only in what Father supplies me through Son and
Spirit.
I suppose if my future return to Father's house
means
I must forfeit my immortal shell for a time in
order
to learn what it is to rely on Christ and all
that
He is more completely, then and only then, to be
enabled to comprehend and appreciate the greatness
of
what God did for us in sending his precious one to
pay
the penalty for our perverseness, then I accept
the
challenge to endure the sufferings inherent by
fortune of inhabiting this mortal robe, and purpose
to
endure to the end, as it is written, and be saved.
I
accept my role.
"And that is?" Steven asked
"The role of a servant," Prometheus said humbly.
"I
will live as Jesus gave us commandment, to walk in
love
and faith, even to the death on your behalf if
necessary."
"This is without precedent," I murmured, head
down.
"Maybe so," Steven said, "but all precedents
are
covered in one parameter-less statement.”
"And that is?" I said.
"All things are possible for God, and, for those
that
believe," he reminded me.
"There is no doubt," Steven said, addressing
Prometheus, "that God has made a special case of you
beyond
the experience of most any born of man. Joseph
and I
witnessed your conversion, and not only did we
witness it, the Spirit of God bore witness within our
spirits, that you had indeed become a child of God.
"If the Lord desires your faithfulness to
withstand the test of time, we ain't goin’ to stand in
His
way. It ain't easy being mortal, and it ain't
easy
being Christian. It may well be God's way of
making
certain you won't change sides again when
Satan
comes tempting you with some global scheme of
rebellion. And brother, considering the signs of
the
times
goin’ on all around us these days, you can bet
your
bottom dollar, a scheme of global portent is
just
around the corner."
"True enough," I said to Steven, "the Lord
doesn't take betrayal lightly. Look what humanity
has
had to endure as a consequence of Adam's
disobedience."
"I suppose it really does make sense when you
think
about it," Steven said. "Since you have
received the gift of salvation, it's fair you suffer
the
consequences, too."
“Oh, I remember now,” I said.
“What?” asked Steven.
“Somewhere in the Old Testament there is a prophecy
about
Lucifer. And in that prophecy he is described at
his
end as just a man. Perhaps Lucifer has to take
upon
himself humanity in an attempt to overcome the same way
Jesus
did. You know, to keep planet Earth and its
kingdoms from becoming the kingdom of our Lord. Of
course
he fails, but it does at least shed some light
on the
change in nature apparent in Prometheus.
Dark, ominous looking clouds were gathering in
the
west as we finished watering the sheep. The area
had
been dry for some time, which wasn't unusual of
course, but a good rain was always appreciated on the
reservation. I, however, wasn't sure how I would
like
working in it.
We were running on Navajo time. Rushing around
didn't
help. We were still late for church. Even
so, a
few men were standing outside the front door as
we
drove up in Steven's old 4X4. I assumed they were
on
Navajo
time, too.
Approaching them, however, I detected an overall
look
of concern on their faces, a concern that
quickly melted into curious wonderment as they caught
sight
of Prometheus. I expected a barrage of
questions, but the group stumped me by resuming their
deliberations. That puzzled me! "Something's
wrong,
here," I thought. Two of them, I observed,
were
on the church governing board.
"Ya’-ta-hey," the men chorused in unison as we
approached.
"Ya’-ta-hey," we replied, taking care not to give
offense as we moseyed on in and sat down behind Mrs.
Begay,
who also seemed to be wearing a stark look of
concern on her face.
"Have you seen Old Blackgoat?" Mrs. Begay
whispered, using caution not to alarm any of the
others
seated in the sanctuary.
"Isn't he in the pastor's study?" Steven
asked.
"No, he isn't back there," Mrs. Begay whispered,
"I was
the first one here this evening. The church
door
was still locked. That hasn't ever happened
before. Old Blackgoat always unlocks the church,
or
has
for as long as I can remember. I had a few of
the
men go over to his house a few minutes before you
arrived. He didn't come to the door. His
truck is
parked
behind the church as usual, but no one seems
to
know where he is."
Steven and Prometheus were half way out of their
seats
before I could get "let's go check" out of my
mouth.
Reaching the front door where the Navajo
gentlemen were still gathered, we checked to see if
any
had searched inside Old Blackgoat's trailer or
the
barn area, and received firm negatives on both
counts.
Prometheus was first to arrive at the trailer.
Finding the door locked, he forced his way in.
There
wasn't
any sign of Old Blackgoat. It didn't appear
that
he had been inside either.
The men who had been standing out front when we
arrived were way ahead of us, having observed that we
didn't
find Old Blackgoat in his house. They raced
to the
barn area ahead of us, throwing open doors and
overturning bales of straw in what, it seemed, had
become
a frantic search for Old Blackgoat.
If they were thinking along the same line as I,
seconds could mean life or death for the old saint.
I
suspected a heart attack or stroke. He was the
right
age.
With everyone else inside the shed, I
circumvented the conventional entranceway and trotted
around
to the side of the shed which opened to
grazing land. A six wheeler pickup neatly
concealed
in the
shed's open bay brought me up short. Dr.
Sheolman!
A lightning charge shattered the air and
scorched the earth not fifty yards from where I was
standing. Mammoth rain drops began pummeling the
semi-arid turf. A tumultuous thunder clap
followed.
I
noticed the hair on the back of my neck was
standing up.
Steven, Prometheus, and company, startled by the
abrupt
onslaught of the storm, having found nothing
on the
other side of the bay, bolted through the
doorway that opened at the hood of Dr. Sheolman's six
wheeler.
"Look out, Joseph, behind you," Steven screamed,
above
the roar of the storm.
A half turn of my torso storm-ward froze me in my
tracks. Two man-like, green scaled, serpentine forms
only
yards from me were approaching fast.
Two arms clutched my shoulders from behind,
sending chills zinging up and down my spine, but I
quickly realized it was only Prometheus pulling
me
back to join the others in the bay.
Within seconds the beasts stood before us. We
were
about to be addressed by ambassadors from the
netherworld. Prometheus bristled.
"Wait!" Steven commanded, stepping in front of
Prometeus and placing a hand firmly against the
giant's waist, as if he could
restrain him. "They are here to deliver a message.
We
have to let them speak.”
"Our master has taken the one called Blackgoat as
payment for that which you have stolen,” the one to the
right
of us said. “If you desire the man to be returned
to you
alive, then those responsible must deliver the
substance stolen to the gate of the Adamic Plain. You
may
only reach the Adamic Plain by passing through the
vortex
which shall appear here this night at the
witching hour".
"In addition," the green-scaled specter on our
left
said, "there is one more item which our master
desires to have returned to him in exchange for the
one
you call Blackgoat".
"And that is?" Steven asked.
"The fallen one who stands there," the specter
said,
serpentine lips turning upward, displaying
his
obvious pleasure with the demand, knowing we were
in no
position to bargain.
"We await thee," the serpent on the right
said
ominously, pointing a crooked gargoylean finger at us
all.
Struck dumb by the spectacle, we stood
speechless, hearts in our bellies as the serpents
turned, and disappeared into the fierce thunderstorm
still
pummeling the semi-arid turf.
I felt the perplexed eyes of the Navajo
men.
Despite a rich and cultural spiritual
tradition, these Navajo had little knowledge of real
spiritual darkness. I hated the idea that they had
come
face to face with the gargoyles only to discover
their
shepherd, Old Blackgoat, was firmly in their
evil
grasp.
"Is it true?" Harold Yazzie asked. "Have they
taken
Old Blackgoat?"
"Yes," said another, "don't you belladonnas
think
we have a right to know about all of these
things
happening on our reservation?"
"Of course you do," Steven said kindly, "but
please
hold your questions for now. I'll explain
everything when we get over to the church. I think
the
sisters need to hear, too, so they will know how
to
pray".
"Joseph," Steven said, "you head over to the
pastor's study and get hold of Ketchum if you can.
I'll
address the congregation."
I wasn't lucky enough to catch Ketchum at
home,
but I left a message on his answering machine
giving
him the church phone number to call. I hoped
we
would hear from him before the bewitching hour.
Meanwhile, I waited patiently by the
phone
with the study door open. I wanted to hear
everything Steven had to say. It didn't surprise
me to
hear
gasps and sighs coming from the sanctuary as Steven
recapped the events of the previous weeks. He
didn't
leave
anything out. He started from the beginning
with
the theft of the sheep and carefully detailed
all
the events. It had to be overwhelming for most
of
them. I didn't envy Steven one bit, but it had to be
done.
He told them of our discoveries about Dr.
Sheolman and the pure oil of lamb's blood, the
passageway of the serpent, the unleashing of
Prometheus, our confrontation with Death, our escape
thanks
to Prometheus, our trip to California, the
recapture of Prometheus, our vision of his torment
and
conversion to Christianity, his subsequent
escape, our stakeout above the passageway, the
kidnapping of Torre and Arlena, the involvement of
the
FBI, our deliverance from the bear by Prometheus,
and
finally, Dr. Sheolman's gambit, which set up the
kidnapping of Old Blackgoat.
One thing Steven failed to say about the vortex
that
still had me wondering, was that perhaps the
vortex
wasn't a ruse after all, but a true entranceway
into
the fifth dimension. Otherwise, Steven was
thorough, so much so that the men were shaking from
fear,
the women were wailing. Nasty stuff this
business of spiritual warfare!
I had some of those disgusting carnal thoughts
about
it all. You know, how dare the devil touch
one of
God's elect! They didn't last long. I could
see
from where I was sitting, Steven had remained
unperturbed by it all. That helped me some.
On the
other
hand, I wondered if he hadn't lost his marbles,
but my
spiritual man sensed otherwise. Steven reined in
the
bleating sheep like the good shepherd he was, and
began
to preach. Then a strange thing happened, the
likes
of which I've never seen before. A glory cloud
rolled
in through the front door and filled the room.
Everyone was filled with the most astounding peace.
It was
incredible! God had the answer to Satan's
fear!
And comforted everyone with the fact...He knew
what
was going on!
"Whoa, glory!" I yelled from the back of the
sanctuary.
"Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus," Steven
Said.
"You have often heard Old Blackgoat stand
before
you and warn of the wrath of the Almighty God
which
is to come, for which cause many of you have
repented of your sins and believed on Jesus Christ of
Nazareth to the dawning of a new day upon your soul.
You
have all become new creatures in Christ Jesus by
taking
Him as your savior and making Him Lord of your life.
You
have all become born again and Spirit filled believers.
Therefore, I say to you, fear thou not! For even our
Lord
Jesus did describe these days that are at hand,
saying, false Christs, and false prophets shall
arise,
and show great signs and wonders, in so much
that,
if it were possible, even the very elect would
be
deceived.
"But take heart, my beloved brothers and
sisters, for you are God's elect, and He has saved
you
from the wrath now coming on this present world.
"This evening, after the specters of terror
departed from the brothers and me, one dear friend
made a
profound statement. He said we have a right
to
know about all these things that are going on
around
us. I'm sure our brother didn't realize it at
the
time, but the phrase, all these things, is the
key
phrase so often repeated in our Lord's great
judgment discourse of Matthew chapter twenty four.
"I dare say it is of the utmost importance that
every
person in this generation who has called upon
the
name of the Lord know the truths revealed in our
Lord's
sign of all these things.
"Wars, such as in the middle east, rumors of
wars
as with Israel, famines as in Ethiopia,
pestilences such as AIDS, false Christs such as the
Hindu,
and false prophets such as the Satanists, are
all
fulfillments of this very prophecy, the sign of
all
these things.
"But fear thou not, for there is yet one sign
which
must be fulfilled before the Almighty God's
great
day of wrath can come, the testimony of which,
as a
sign, is as legally binding upon man, as it is
upon
our Father in Heaven. For it is written, this
gospel
of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the
world
for a witness unto all nations before the end
can
come. Brothers and sisters, 'this gospel' is
contained in the following phrase: he that shall
endure
to the end, the same shall be saved."
Ketchum still hadn't returned my call by the
time a
few people began filing out the front door.
It was
then I made my way to the front of the
sanctuary where many were still praying for Old
Blackgoat. I was about to join them when I noticed
a
tall
figure standing just outside the doorway, as
though
waiting for the crowd to disperse so he could
come
in. It was Ketchum.
It didn't take him long to make his way to where
I was
standing up front. I took him aside to the
pastor's study and closed the door.
"When I got your message I came straight on,"
Ketchum began. "Didn't figure you really wanted me
to
disrupt your service by ringin' in, besides,
thought I would try and talk with Torre and Arlena
one
more time, but didn't find them at home."
"Listen," I said, "we have real trouble. Old
Blackgoat has been kidnapped by Dr. Sheolman. He's
holding him for ransom. Old Blackgoat is going to
die if
we don't meet Dr. Sheolman's demands by
midnight."
"Why, it's 11:00 P.M. now," Ketchum
countered. "What's he askin' for anyhow?"
I gave Ketchum a look of skepticism steeped
with
concern to clue him in beforehand that he was
going
to find Dr. Sheolman's newest gambit hard to
swallow. Ketchum picked up on it.
"I was afraid you spiritual types were goin’ to
pull
me in on something strange," Ketchum moaned.
"Let's
have it."
"All I can tell you," I said, "is that
seeing
is believing. Dr. Sheolman has ordered Steven
and me
to deliver Prometheus and a small amount of
Sheolman's sheep oil to a place called the Adamic
Plain,
a location somewhere inside a vortex which
will
appear behind Old Blackgoat's sheep shed at
midnight."
"Where's the note?" Ketchum questioned.
"Sorry, no note," I responded, trying not to sound
like I
was playing a game with the man.
"Well, then," Ketchum asked, "did he make
his
demand by phone?"
"No," I said.
"Awe crap! Joseph, quit playin' twenty questions
with
me and cut to the chase. How, who, what...let's
have
it!"
"O.K., you aren't going to like the truth, but
here
it is," I said. "The messengers that
delivered the blackmailer's ultimatum were of the
green
skinned, gargolean, serpentine, demonic type
that
defy gravity and disappear into thin air
whenever they want to. Are you satisfied?"
"Oh," Ketchum sighed, throwing his head back
to
signify his disbelief, "then what you're tellin'
me is
some ghosts showed up and gave you and Steven an
ultimatum. Is that right?"
"That's right," I said sheepishly,
convinced of the absurdity of it all, but added, "I
realize you have every right to be skeptical, but you
witnessed Prometheus demonstrate his power."
"Point well taken," Ketchum said, "but
who
else saw these ghosts?"
"Nearly a half dozen men of the congregation,"
I
said, knowing from his question he was at least
going
to give me a chance to prove I was telling the
truth.
Something else flashed through my mind as well.
It
seemed my ability to perceive had been switched on
by
some unknown hand. I knew why Prometheus had
been
allowed to experience the flesh, so to speak.
He was
free to demonstrate the reality of the spirit
realm
to Ketchum. If he hadn't been, Ketchum and
I
wouldn't have been this far into our conversation
about
Blackgoat's kidnapping. Ketchum would have
vanished seconds after I told him how the message of
the
kidnapping had been delivered. Prometheus and
the
bear had made an almost believer out of the FBI
man.
"Alright," Ketchum said, "get those other
men in
here. I want to check out their story to see
if it
corroborates your own. You wait in the
sanctuary."
It was 11:45 P.M. by the time Ketchum finished
interrogating each of the men who had accompanied
Steven, Prometheus, and me in search of Old Blackgoat,
and
who had seen and heard the specters. Time was
running short. I was anxious to hear what Ketchum
had to
offer as a solution. Steven was standing withme
when Ketchum came walking up. Prometheus had
already headed to the shed area.
"Let's go," Ketchum motioned, extending his
right
arm toward the door. I could tell by the
anxiety in his voice he was masking the frustration
of
feeling forced to believe something he didn't
want
to believe. I suspected that most of his
thoughts played havoc with his trained rationalist,
materialist mind. He was being asked to accept a
theory
that sounded something like mass hypnosis
blah,
blah, blah. But I knew his spiritual
perspective was soon to include greater
enlightenment, and beyond that, I was firm in my
conviction, the Lord was going to make use of that
man in
the future.
The rain had long since stopped when we made our way
toward our rendezvous with death. I prayed hard
under
my breath God would allow us to complete our
mission by saving Old Blackgoat's hide and nabbing
the
Satanic scourge of the Navajo nation, Dr.
Sheolman. I knew Steven was chomping at the bit to
meet
the
person behind Satanism in the southwest, but my
thoughts were elsewhere. "It's a fearful thing to
fall
into the hands of the living God," I thought,
"but
what is it to confront the minions of His arch
enemy?"
The passageway of the serpent which held our
beloved brother Old Blackgoat appeared right on
schedule. At the bewitching hour the vortex appeared.