Keene Brian - A Gathering of Crows

“Not just powwow,” Levi corrected her. “Powwow is ineffective against the things outside. The wards I placed over the door, for example, are powwow based but infused with other disciplines, as well.”

“What kind?” Myrtle’s eyes shone, and Levi cringed at the eagerness in her voice.

“I’d rather not say.”

“Powwow,” Esther said. “Witchcraft. Seems like the same thing to me.”

“Be that as it may,” Levi said, “right now, it’s the only thing keeping us alive.”

“God is keeping us alive, Mr. Stoltzfus.”

“You’re a religious woman, Esther. I’m sure you prayed tonight. Has it occurred to you that perhaps God sent me to safeguard all of you? Perhaps I am the answer to your prayer.”

“I don’t—”

“Look,” Donny interrupted. “I don’t reckon this is the time for a religious debate. Those things are still out yonder, and I for one would like to know what we’re dealing with. I don’t know shit about magic, but I do know what I saw tonight, and I do know that Levi saved our asses. I’d like to hear him out.”

“Yeah,” Marsha agreed. “Me, too. Finish the story. What happened to the colonists, and what does it have to do with tonight?”

“The settlers never went to Croatoan. In fact, they never abandoned the colony. Something else happened to them—something far worse than simply running out of supplies. I told you that Croatoan has different meanings. Among them, it is also one of the names of an entity known as Meeble.”

“Meeble…” Donny frowned. “I’ve heard that name before. In Iraq, I think. Can’t remember where or why, exactly.”

“It’s certainly possible,” Levi said. He was about to continue, when his attention was drawn to the window. He sensed a presence outside. He stood up, walked to the window and looked into the darkness. Seeing nothing, he returned to the chair and sat down again.

“What is it?” Esther asked. “What’s wrong? Are they out there?”

“I believe so. At least one of them was. If my theory is correct, then they’re searching for us, and they won’t leave until they’ve killed us all. But I’ve taken steps to mask our presence inside these walls. We’ll be safe. They can’t enter. Not without my permission.”

“But why do they want to kill us?” Marsha’s tone was exasperated. Panic flashed in her eyes. “I don’t understand this.”

“I don’t either,” Levi admitted. “At least, not all of it. At this point, I’m still just connecting the dots and seeing what picture they make. All I have is a theory, and that theory is tied into Croatoan, Meeble and the lost colony of Roanoke. As I said before, the settlers never abandoned the island. What White didn’t know—and couldn’t have known—was that after his departure for England, five of the colonists began dabbling with the occult. Keep in mind, they were in an already-bad situation. The crops were failing, much of their livestock was dead or sick. Things looked grim. Perhaps these five men prayed to God for help. Perhaps, when their prayers weren’t answered to their satisfaction, they turned to other means and methods. Other gods. Perhaps they prayed to someone else, all in an effort to help their fellow man.”

“How is that any different from what you and I do?” Myrtle asked.

Levi hesitated. He wanted to tell her that there was a world of difference between what he did and her crystal-gazing, pseudo-New Age nonsense, but this was neither the time or the place. Instead, he simply smiled as politely as he could and continued.

“It’s not any different, except that these men were amateurs. They didn’t understand the forces they were dealing with, nor how to bend them to their will. In the end, they didn’t even invoke the right entity. Instead of summoning a nature spirit or something helpful, they accidentally began worshipping something else, and eventually, they brought that something else into our world.”

“A demon,” Donny guessed. “Meeble.”

“It was indeed Meeble, but Meeble is not a demon. He’s something different. And here is where things might get difficult for you to believe—especially for you, Esther. All I can say is that I believe them with the utmost sincerity.”

Randy laughed. “Shit, dude. I saw what these fuckers could do with my own eyes. I’ll believe pretty much anything at this point.”

Donny and Marsha nodded. Esther scowled. Myrtle leaned forward, staring at him with rapt attention.

Levi took a deep breath and exhaled. “Much of what we think we know about the history of our planet and the development of the human race is wrong. Our history books and oral traditions are full of inaccuracies. This is especially true of our religious texts. The primary doctrines of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Shinto, Satanism, Wicca and all of the others have been tampered with and rewritten by mankind so much over the years that none of them reflect the original works. Instead, they are filled with inaccuracies and falsehoods. It takes many years of study and searching to learn the real truths. You might believe, for example, that the Bible is the inspired word of God, but it isn’t. You’ve been taught to believe that it is, but what you believe is a lie. The Bible is not God’s word. Neither is the Koran or the Torah or any of the other holy books.”

“Then whose word is it?” Esther challenged.

“They are the words of men, edited, parceled, snipped and changed countless times to reflect the will of the men in charge, rather than God’s will. If you truly want to know God’s word and seek His will, then you’ve got to look beyond the Bible, because the book we’ve been taught to call the Bible is not the complete text. Do you know how many books and scrolls and interpretations were excised over the years? Hundreds. It’s not the inspired word of God. It is composed only of the books men decided should be in it. It doesn’t give us the complete picture. For that, you have to turn to other texts. Perhaps they aren’t in the canon, but they were written at the same time and they are just as valid. Those texts give us a true understanding of God. For example, the Bible we all grew up reading tells how God created the universe, but it says nothing about the universe that existed before ours, or about the enemy that came from that other universe.”

“You mean Satan?” Myrtle asked.

Levi shook his head. “No, I mean the Thirteen. In the beginning, the entity we know as God or Yahweh or Allah, or hundreds of other names, created the heavens and the Earth. That much is in the Bible. What the Bible doesn’t tell us is that in order to create this new universe, He needed a lot of energy. So God destroyed the universe that existed before ours. He reduced it down to the very last atom and utilized the harvested energies as building blocks to create our universe. The old universe ceased to exist and ours was born. However, in addition to God, there were thirteen other denizens of that previous universe who somehow escaped the destruction. Nobody knows how. Suffice it to say, when our new universe sprang forth, they were still here, and they were enraged by what had happened. These entities are collectively known to us as the Thirteen, and they’ve been the enemies of God and all of His creations— human and otherwise—ever since. They’ve sworn to destroy anything created by God. After all, He destroyed their universe. Perhaps they merely seek revenge, or maybe they plan to build a universe of their own—a third universe, in which they are the ones in charge. Whatever the case, they are not gods or demons, though they’ve often been mistaken for such. They are not susceptible to all of the same magicks, workings and laws that govern, banish or bind demons, angels and other supernatural entities. Very specific—and dangerous—magic must be used when confronting them. That magic is known only to a few, of which I am one.”