you might as well come back inside. There isn’t much we can do tonight. And I wouldn’t even go into those woods alone in the daylight.”
“Maybe I can get Johnny Dovecrest to help me look for her tomorrow,” he said, turning back toward the house. “I sure hope she’s all right.”
“So do I,” Vickie said.
-6-
Seti stood beside the huge stone altar and marveled that he could see, even in the dark. He didn’t know how—and he didn’t care—but he did know that this presence, perhaps it was even Satan himself, inhabited this ancient place of blood and sacrifice.
He had seen this place before in his dreams. And in his nightmares. It was a place of power. A place where miracles could happen.
Tentatively, he reached his hand out and touched the highly-polished stone. Its surface was ice-cold to the touch and he wondered how many souls had perished on its smooth surface. Then, with a smile, he thought of how he would be adding to its history.
“Master, I have come,” he whispered. “I have answered your call and have traveled many miles to be with you.”
And the presence, which had shared his mind all along, seemed to come awake and find him, as if opening its eyes for the first time.
“Yes, you have,” it said in words that were not sounds, but patterns in his own mind. For a brief instant he wondered if he were going mad and carrying on an internal dialogue in his own brain. The outside world already considered him crazy. That idiot talk show host had actually called him a nut case on the air.
Then the presence began to show him things, things he could not possibly know, but which were true. He watched and he believed.
The mental slide show may have lasted for hours, or it may have flashed past in a matter of seconds. He had no way of knowing for sure.
But now he understood. For the first time in his miserable, tormented life, he truly understood. He accepted this presence as his god. If it were not Satan, it was the closest thing to him. And this master promised him rewards beyond his wildest dreams.
He dropped to his knees beside the magic stone altar and knew that this was real, that this was a god of power, a god that would take the world for its own, destroying the weak as if stepping on a worm. This god would give pleasure, not deny it. This god would take what it wanted, when it wanted, and he, Seti, would reap the rewards.
“I will serve you,” he said, still touching the stone. “Show me how.”
And, as the presence responded with unspoken instructions, Seti realized that his purpose in life was now fulfilled. He had found his home at last, had found meaning in his life. He would feed his next victim to his new god, to bring it strength, to help it resume its place in the world.
Now that he had met his god, the world would learn to fear his name.
CHAPTER SEVEN
-1-
The next morning, Faith had still not returned, though they had left the patio door open all night, which had let in a swarm of mosquitoes. The bowl of chicken they’d left outside had attracted a horde of ants, but the cat had completely disappeared.
Erik and Vickie stood on the patio looking into the woods.
“You remember what Dovecrest said,” she reminded him. “Those woods go on forever.”
Yeah, he thought. And for some reason he thought there were stranger things going on than either of them could imagine.
“What do you think happened?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied. But deep down inside, he had a very bad feeling that the cat would never come back. He was probably jumping to conclusions, but he couldn’t help thinking that Faith was dead.
“She’s never stayed out all night before,” Vickie said. “Not in all the years we’ve had her.”
Erik nodded. “How’s Todd taking it?”
“Not too well. He keeps saying that the stone got her.”
“I guess I’ll have to have a talk with him,” Erik said, hoping he could finally get to the bottom of this whole thing, once and for all.
They stood silent, looking off into the woods.
“Faith will be all right, won’t she? I mean, after all, she’s a cat and cats can pretty much take care of themselves.”
“From most things.”
But the nervous edge to his voice betrayed his concern.
“What do you mean by that?”
He shrugged and debated about telling her about the devil worshiper that Steve Harvey had told him about. He was jumping to conclusions, though. What would devil worshippers be doing in Chepachet, anyway? It didn’t make any sense.
“I mean, she can’t protect herself from everything. She’s a house cat, not a tiger. I just hope she hasn’t been hit by a car. But, knowing Faith, she probably stopped at a neighbor’s house for a hand out and decided to stick around.”
Erik looked back towards the house to where Todd was watching from his bedroom window. The boy waved, almost sadly, and both Erik and his wife waved back.
“Poor kid,” Vickie said. “He loves that cat. Do you really think someone might have found her and taken her in?”
“It’s possible,” Erik said, trying to remain positive, despite his bad feeling.
“Maybe we could make a ‘lost cat’ sign,” she suggested. “We can hang it up in the neighborhood, and I can knock on a few doors with it. Todd’s heartbroken about this. We’ve got to do something.”
“Yeah, that’s an idea,” he said. “We can try the sign. I can scan a picture of Faith into the computer. And I can hang copies at the plaza down the road, too.”
Vickie nodded.
“I really should search the woods,” he said gravely.
“Maybe you could go see Dovecrest and he’ll go with you. I really don’t want you out there alone. You might get lost. I’m sure he’d go with you if you explained the situation.”
Erik still wasn’t sure how he felt about involving the Indian, but he nodded anyway.
“I suppose,” he said. “But let me make one of those posters, first. Then we can copy it.”
“Why don’t you ask Todd to help you,” his wife suggested. “I think his cold is better and it would do him good to feel useful.”
“Sure.”
Then he took one last look into the woods before returning to the house.
-2-
Just as Erik went inside, Johnny
