"Dr. Washington, why is the sky turning black?" said Andy.
"I think dark magic is near," said Dr. Washington warily.
Soon, it was pitch black. The lights on the jeep were feeble.
"Let's pitch a tent," said Andy.
"Fine!" He had hoped to move on, but had finally come to see travel was impossible.
It was quite a big tent. They had done many things to make the tent more home-like. Andy had brought a few very stuffed portable chairs, which were very comfortable. Anthony had brought a radio that picked up signals from Tucson, Arizona, and even Salt Lake City.
"Nighty, night! Don't let the bed bugs bite," said the yawning Dr. Washington.
Suddenly, an enormous gust blew against the tent. The tent stood but a piece of paper flew in.
Anthony read,
"Testimony from beyond the Crypt
When the darkness comes
Eternal life for the bearer
A gift from the way below
Ripe to defeat the world
Revenge on Professor Childermass"
"Oh, my lord!" exclaimed Dr. Washington.
Anthony continued,
"Ever clear is the clue
Derived to save you
Reader once read the apocalypse
Will surely come unless you
Find the clue."
Once Anthony finished, he immediately said, "Dr. Washington, how can we benefit from this?"
"Anthony, I really do not know," said Dr. Washington. The situation was desperate.
"I've already made something out of it," Anthony said proudly.
"What?" said Andy and Dr. Washington.
"Mattheus Mergal, Jr. can't be a real person. He's is not really anything. In fact, he just sent his spirit to earth as Mattheus Mergal, Jr., but who, by all means, is just a spirit."
"That also helps us reason that…" Andy was interrupted.
"Hello, hello, hello!" In walked an apparition of Mattheus Mergal, Jr.
"Don't try to stop me. Great darkness shall come. You impudent fools shall be in my grasp. My…" At this the apparition shimmered. Its hand clenched the air.
Andy took advantage of the situation. He threw some of his holy water at it. It disappeared, but in the distance, an uncanny scream was heard from the mansion in the moonlight.
"It happened and there is nothing we can do about it," said a very frustrated Dr. Washington.
"He, he, he," said something.
Everyone screamed.
Chapter 2: The Situation is in the Air
"Quite a nice breeze," said Dr. Washington. He woke up Andy and Anthony.
"Open the flap," said Andy.
Anthony jumped up and opened it. "Don't look," he said. Then he fell over.
"Help!" squealed Anthony.
"Oh, what is it?" said Dr. Washington. He went over and became hysterical. He pulled Anthony up from the air.
"We have a minor dilemma," said Dr. Washington. "We are stuck in the air."
"Mergal! Five hundred bucks, it is Mergal!" said Anthony.
Out in the moonlight (it was always night because of the evil presence) a ghostly figure appeared. He floated through the flap.
"Once the star of death is down, the skull must be cracked," said the phantom. Then, as if in a trance, the figure made mystifying movements. After a few of these, it began to flow. Then it glowed like a hot coal and blew up. Everyone fell to the ground in the tent.
"Strange similarity to Urban," said Dr. Washington. Then in a loud, yet somber voice, he said, "We must go now."
Chapter 3: Into the Enemy's Homeland
Andy, Anthony, and Dr. Washington trudged along. It was a calm now and the temperature was only 62 degrees Fahrenheit. The desert sand was black and looked polluted. The PF Flyers on Anthony's feet had soles that were filled with sand.
Using the testimony from the crypt, all three people had worn red. This got them past the first stage. Mergal had place the Shadow as his "watchdog", and he need to bite all the visitors. In other words, kill them.
As they got nearer, a faint light was glowing on the roof. In the light, you could see a small, black star, obviously not meant to be seen. Imprinted in it were three words: Death, Tood and Mort. It was the star of death and was the subject of their first mission.
Out of the sky, came a drop of magical rain. To Andy, it was pesticide, his worse nightmare. To Dr. Washington, it was tests, his worse enemy. To Anthony, it was blood, in fat drops. He began turning queasy.
In the mansion, Mattheus Mergal cast one last spell. Then with a sweep of the cape, he melted into a wall with a dark shadow following him at a stone's throw.
Soon, the rain was coming down in torrents. In fact, Andy thought that they were birds. He was right. And the birds looked like they hadn't had lunch.
"Dr. Washington, the air is getting heavy," said Andy.
Right after the shadow went into the door, a wind started blowing. Soon an elephantine sandstorm was raised.
"Run! Forget about the supplies!" screamed Dr. Washington.
Even though Mattheus Mergal had raised the storm, it still was able to damage his mansion. The star fell and the first stage had been completed.
Chapter 5: The Door in the Skull
"Let's go explore the house," said Andy. He was afraid of the looming mansion, but he had to save the world from the grisly powers of Mattheus Mergal.
As they walked through the house, they saw many hex and spell books. They were not meaningful to Andy, Anthony, and Dr. Washington, but they knew they could not be good signs.
Anthony was particularly interested in an ornamental skull. It was make in a gothic style. While he was touching it, a door opened. They were on the right track.
A tunnel was inside the doorway, and everyone assumed it led to the bowels of the earth. Inside the tunnel, which like everything the group had seen at the house, was made in a gothic style. All three of them, Andy, Dr. Washington, and Anthony, went into it. They were going straight into the lion's den.
"Very interesting demonic signs," said Dr. Washington after noticing the carvings in the tunnel.
After 15 minutes of walking, they reached a room and an apparent dead end. In the room was another skull, which seemed to be Mattheus Mergal's trademark. Unlike the one in the house, this one was made of solid gold ore.
Anthony had a sudden urge to put his finger in the empty eye socket. After sticking his finger in, he could not get it out.
"Who dares to confront me in my usage of the Book?"
Uh-oh, it was Mattheus Mergal, Jr.
"Please enjoy your trip to the dead. It is a permanent voyage," Mattheus Mergal hideously cackled those words. He attempted to put a French flair on the last word, which was about as bad an attempt as Chico Marx trying to sing in an opera.
With this, he motioned to the skull. In the socket appeared eyes and flesh that was starting to make something. Soon, it was a full-grown figure. Skin, blood, and bones.
Dr. Washington was in another world. He was thinking about a strange inscription in the wall:
"LLUKS EHT HSAMS EM TSNIAGA"
Then it came to his head. He motioned to Anthony and pointed at the inscription. Anthony understood. He jumped up and smashed the skull against the wall. As he did this, everything exploded.
"Huh?" Andy said as he woke up with a start. "Where are we?"
He woke up Anthony and Dr. Washington. Then his question was answered.
"We are in Portland!" cried Anthony. "It says so on the sign."
Sure enough, on the sign was the inscription "Portland, Maine Cemetery." Still the strangest thing was the book. None of them knew where it had come from. It had just appeared.
The book seemed to glow. In it, the words, The Book of Shadow and Death, were chiseled. The unearthly fire surrounding it seemed to come out of the letters. Next to the satanic book was a chest.
"I suggest we leave that there," said Andy. He was eager to express his feelings. "Let's go home."
That is exactly what they did.
As fog eventually leaves, so did the book. It was completely gone in a few minutes. Still evil was near. Waiting. Willing to wait all the time it needed. The attack need to be perfect.
Chapter 7: The Spirit in Hiding
It was happy day when Andy, Anthony, and Dr. Washington arrived home. Dr. Washington had barbecue and invited all of his and the kids' friends.
This wasn't all meant to be a party though. Dr. Washington wanted to discuss the journey and the book; so one by one the guests left. Soon, only the journeyman and Father Johnson were left.
They raised many subjects in the intense discussion that took place until midnight. One of the many was where to put the book. They decided to put it in Dr. Washington's attic, which they thought, was adequately protected. At midnight, this all stopped because of a blackout.
"Where am I?" said Andy. He walked around and tripped over a wire. This got everyone scared and they ran around in confusion and fear.
Then in the air, a voice said, "I will get my revenge on all of you!"
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
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