WARNING: Some Explicit content, parental discretion advised!!!


~1921 Waverly St., Philadelphia, PA, USA~


*It was a simple brownstone in southwest Philadelphia, a quiet neighborhood with many normal working families, hard working families. Yet something was going on in this quiet residential area that most people here would be unable to think of without abhorrence. *

*In this quiet brownstone apartment a 9 year old little boy was being tortured by his own parents. The little boy was currently locked in a closet, handcuffed to metal bar that had been installed for just that purpose. The boy was crying, his pain was great at the moment. The sores on his body from the cigarette burns had been rubbed with salt and though he had felt greater pain before, no pain was as great at what was currently being experienced*

*The boy did not suffer alone. Outside the back wall of the brownstone a man sat upon the ground his back to the wall. He sat there silently, his eyes closed and a faint smile upon his face. The pain the boy experienced only seemed to give pleasure to the man. The fact that it was the boys on parents that were doing it to the boy only enhanced the experience for the man.*

*In truth, pain and suffering gave physical strength and rapture to the man. The more defiling and degrading the suffering the more intense the feelings the man gained from it. He had felt more intense feelings before, but for the moment he was enjoying this one immensely*

*A car pulled in front of the brownstone and the man sensed it and smiled. It was the boy’s father and the man knew that soon the real pain for the boy would begin. The ‘mother’ was good in her own way, but the man’s father was an artist in torture. The scars on the boy’s body attested to the man’s way of inflicting pain and yet not doing enough damage to permanently damaging the boy or crippling him in any way*

*When the father entered the boy’s room the man outside sat up a little straighter. The boy’s closet door was jerked open and the father stood looking down at the little boy a cruel smile on his lips that the boy couldn’t quite make out in the bright light from outside.*

“Happy Birthday Son!” *the father said with a laugh* “Ready for your present”

*the boy cried faintly, he knew that on each birthday it only mean greater pain than on any other day and that the healing and scars would be greater and last longer.*

*the man outside laid his head back against the wall and his smile grew larger as he soaked in the degradation and suffering that went on for hours within. The screams of the 9 year old were faint, muffled by the special insulation that the father had installed. Yet the emanations that only this man could feel were the sweetest sustenance on Earth*

*The man who sat in the backyard of the brownstone on Waverly St was disappointed as he opened his eyes, they narrowed slightly at the loss of his ‘entertainment’. The 9 year old boy who had been the ‘plaything’ of his parents for the last 6 years was dead. The father had become a little overzealous in his ‘birthday present’ to his son. The boy’s tortured heart had taken too much lately and in a sudden burst of exertion had ruptured and the boy had died quickly. But he had to hand it to the boy, he had lasted for almost 4 straight hours tonight. The father had been on a personal best in his torturing.*

*Molasar rose to his feet and leaned against the wall, he thought for a moment of going inside and destroying those who had prematurely brought his ‘dinner’ of suffering to an end. But then he thought that perhaps people such as this just might be of further use to him one day*

*Night had fallen while he had ‘supped’ on the elation of the boy’s pain, so now one was around to watch as the man dressed in black raised his hands out to his side, forming a cross with his body, as he rose up into the air, floating higher and higher till he disappeared off into the distance*

*To Be Continued*

(If you wish to post your thoughts so far, please let me know what you think. I know it is Dark, but really I am a nice guy, Really! )

No kidding lol

When is part 2 coming?

...whoa...

I totally shivered...

Awesome.

Eagerly awaiting more.

It makes my spine tingle.

this is awesome stuff, hope to see more (and hopefully it gets more eviler >

(Yes I will have part 2 soon. Finishing it up. Hope you enjoy it! )

very intriguing Mysterion! Can't wait for part II!

~ St. Joseph's Orphanage for Boys, Brooklyn, NY~
~~ December 20th, 2010~~

Father Jack Ryan sat at his desk in the office in the St. Joseph’s Orphanage for Boys an looked over the file again and wondered what it was about this case that set his teeth on edge. He looked at the background checks on the couple, Herbert and Sara Lom, they seemed the perfect couple. He a NY accountant and she a homemaker, they were apparently unable to have children themselves. They had excellent references and seemed the perfect adoption parents; yet why did he feel something wasn’t quite right.

They had shown up a month ago and taken a look at several of the boys and when they saw Jimmy they had fell in love with him. Sara had dolted on the 10 yr old boy and Father Ryan had immediately became suspicious. Most new parents wanted a baby and few wanted a boy as old as Jimmy. Most boys his age had almost given up on finding a home; Jimmy was no exception. Ryan had developed a relationship with the boy; Jimmy was intelligent and the Father had taken to teaching the boy Chess which they played in his office several nights a week. The boy was quite good and it allowed them to talk a lot.

Father Ryan wondered if it was the thought of losing the boy’s company that inspired the thoughts of distrust for the Loms. Afterall they checked out and the church had already approved the adoption, only Ryan’s personal recommendation remained and he was considering what he would do.

All the boxes had been checked; the Loms had even taken the boy for a weekend visit and Jimmy had come back all elated about everything. They had spent the entire weekend with the boy and everyone seemed happy and ready to complete the adoption. Yet Ryan had delayed a couple days as he pondered his own feelings.

As he looked through the file one more time trying to find any reason to reject the Loms there was a knock at the door. He looked up and saw a smiling Jimmy standing there in some new clothes his prospective parents had bought him.

“Father Jack?” Jimmy said questioningly, requesting permission to enter. The Father nodded and the boy bounced in obviously excited.

“Afternoon Jimmy,” Ryan said smiling also as he didn’t want the boy to sense his feelings, “What’s up? Why arent you playing with the others?”

It was game night, when the broke out all kinds of board games and the boys spent hours having fun and laughing it up. Usually Jimmy loved game night and excelled at many of the games that required some sort of thought or brain power. Something that made a lot of the other boys not want to play him.

“Oh, I’m too excited!” The boy said as he hopped onto the couch to the side of the office. Ryan closed the file on his desk and rose stretching, how long had he been sitting there staring at that file.

“Excited?” Ryan asked, “Thinking about the Loms are you?” He knew the answer to it but had to ask, maybe the boys’ response would help him decide.

“Of course!” The boy blurted out almost too quickly, “I cant wait. So.. Ah…. When do you think things might be complete?”

Ryan could tell that Jimmy was as anxious as the Loms appeared to be. Sara Lom especially was anxious for the boy to join their family. The Father had to admit that Sara seemed genuinely as excited as Jimmy did.

She had visited the Father earlier today and pleaded with him to grant his blessing to the adoption. It was only a few days till Christmas she said and she really wanted Jimmy to spend the holiday with his new family. He had found her exuberance hard to ignore, she had a way about her that was very compelling.

She was a young woman, about 25 and 8 years younger than her husband, and though he considered her perhaps too young and inexperienced to handle a boy of Jimmy’s age, he couldn’t reject them on just that alone. She had left the office hoping to hear from him by tomorrow with his answer. So now he sat there trying to find a reason to block the adoption, so far he had been unsuccessful.

“Well Jimmy.” Ryan said with a sigh, “I must say since your visit to the Loms you have been very eager for this adoption. You really want this huh?”

He silently hoped that the boy would say something, anything to validate his ill feelings. Come on Jimmy, help me out here.

“Yes Father,” Jimmy sounded quite composed for a 10 yr old. He started down at his feet for a moment as he swung them back and forth. He looked up at Ryan and he knew that the boy wasn’t going to say anything to help.

“I really like them. Sara especially. She is so nice and she spends so much time with me. I just know it is going to be great there.” Jimmy said, talking faster as his excitement struggled to remain in check.

“Please Father!” Jimmy said as he locked eyes with him and the Father knew that he would approve this adoption. He didn’t see that he had a choice, he had nothing but his gut feeling and he wasn’t sure about that.

“Well Jimmy,” Ryan sighed as he sat back down at his desk and opened the file before him. Picking up his pen he paused one more moment before signing his name to the forms.
“Guess it is for the best then.” He said as he finished and closed the file and looked up at the boy and smiled, “I am happy for you Jimmy. I hope you enjoy your new family.”

Rising he walked around the desk and he rocked back on his heels as Jimmy bounded off the couch and crashed into him hugging him tightly.

“Thank you Father!” The boy said and kisses the back of the Priests hand, “You wont regret it. Everything will be great, you will see.”

Jimmy let go after a few more seconds and then turned and ran out of the office. Father Jack Ryan sighed as he looked after the boy.

“I hope so Jimmy. I hope so!”

He would call the Loms tomorrow morning and let them know that they could come and pick up Jimmy whenever they wished. He was sure that Sara would insist they come over right away and pick him up. He had no doubt that Jimmy was already packed and ready to go.



~ St. Joseph's Orphanage for Boys, Brooklyn, NY~
~~ December 21st, 2010~~

The next morning the Loms came to get Jimmy who was packed and waiting just inside the doorway of the orphanage, watching anxiously for their arrival. Father Ryan stood next to him his hand resting on the boy’s shoulder.

A large black Mercedes S600 pulled up in front of the building and Jack felt his trepidation return as he saw the Loms get out of it. They walked up to the front as Jimmy danced back and forth from one foot to the other impatiently.

“Good Morning Jimmy!” Sara Lom said to the boy with a dazzling smile. She was a petite thing, about 5’8” and thin, short blond hair hung to her shoulders. She was pretty, Ryan would admit, but she wasn’t a knock out. She had a compelling quality about her that seemed unnatural to Ryan. She definitely seemed to type that got what she wanted and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Good Morning Father!” She said to him gracing him with that same brilliant smile, “Thank you very much for your call. We are so glad to have Jimmy with us before Christmas. It is going to be a great holiday season.”

Father Ryan smiled back at her, but it was a wooden one as he tried to quell his feelings.

“Good morning Mr and Mrs Lom. I am glad this all worked out. I wish all of you a very happy and Merry Holiday.”

Taken this as a sign, Jimmy left Ryan’s side and ran to Sara. She laughed and swept him up in her arms and hugged him tightly. Ryan had to admit it looked like a good match all around. He just hoped it all worked out.

After a few more pleasantries and good byes, Father Ryan watched as Sara put Jimmy in the back of the Black Mercedes and then with a wave and a smile she got in the passenger side front of the car with her Husband driving. The priest watched as the car drove down the street and turned a corner. He hoped everything would be alright.

(More to come)

~ St. Joseph's Orphanage for Boys, Brooklyn, NY~
~~ December 23rd, 2010~~

Father Ryan sat at his desk reading a book when the phone rang he looked at it for a moment before he picked it up. Before he could even say hello a frantic voice sounded over it.

“Father? You have to come and get me Father. Please!” The tiny voice said and it took Ryan a moment to realize who it was on the other end.

“Jimmy!” he asked.

“Yes, Father you have to come and get me. Please!” The boy said again!

“What is wrong, Jimmy?” He sounded worried, where they mistreating the boy?

“It’s Sara! Father, she has changed, she isn’t nice anymore! Please Father come and get me!” Jimmy pleaded with him.

“Did they hurt you?” Ryan waited breathlessly for the answer. Was he fears realized? Were the Loms hurting the boy?

“No Father! They haven’t hurt me really. But, it’s Sara. She is different. Please Father I don’t want to stay here anymore. Please Father come and get me!”

Ryan sighed, it sounded to him as if the boy was just having cold feet. It wasn’t uncommon for boys to have problems the first few days. Fears about a new place, new people, and perhaps the Loms, Sara especially, was having to be stern with the boy and that is why Jimmy thought she was different.

“Listen Jimmy. Sometimes it takes some time to adjust to a new place. Maybe you are just afraid of the new place and perhaps Sara is just trying to help you. If she isn’t hurting you there isn’t much I can do really.”

This was true. If there was no abuse then he couldn’t justify doing anything to interfere. Now if there were signs of abuse, or the boy told him that they had beat him of something he would act. But even the boy said that he wasn’t being abused.

“No Father. She isn’t hurting me. But she had changed. She isn’t nice and I know she is going to do something bad.” The boy sounded really upset and Ryan wished he could do anything.

“Listen Jimmy. Christmas is just two days away,” the Father tried to console the boy, “just wait. Things will settle down. You will probably get all kinds of gifts for Christmas. I am sure you will have a great day and afterwards you will forget all about your fears.”

The boy was silent for a moment, only a few sniffles on the line told the Father that he was still there.
“You think I will get lots of presents?” Jimmy asked and Ryan smiled slightly.

“I am sure of it. The Loms love you. Don’t worry.”

“Ok,” the boy sniffed, “but if things don’t improve then will you come and get me?”

“Of course Jimmy!” Ryan promised.

“OK, Thank you Father!” The boy hung up then and the Father sighed as he hung up the receiver. He wondered what was going on. Was the boy in real trouble or was it indeed just nerves about a new home and family? He wished he knew. He made a note to call the day after Christmas to talk to the Loms and Jimmy. Just to check.

(more to come)

~ St. Joseph's Orphanage for Boys, Brooklyn, NY~
~~ December 25th, 2010~~

“Merry Christmas Jimmy!”

Father Ryan said as he sat at his desk just returned from the services that were just concluded. It had been a long day and it was late. He was done for the day as Father Johnson would take care of the late evening services. He lifted the drink of scotch he had poured and used it to drink to the well wishes he had spoke to one of his favorite boys. Ah, not his anymore. Jimmy had been adopted 4 days ago; he wondered how things were going. Last he had heard from any of them was when Jimmy had called a couple days ago all nervous and wanting to come back to the orphanage. He hoped he made the right decision in not going and getting the boy.

RINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Father Ryan jumped when the phone rang, it was loud and it wasn’t a normal ring, it went on and on, one long ring. He looked at it and then to stop it he picked it up and put the receiver to his ear and listened a second before speaking.

“Hello?”

“Father…. Father… why didn’t you come and get me Father? Why?” a tiny voice sounding far away said in a pleading tone.

“Jimmy?” Ryan asked as he wasn’t sure from the voice, but he recognized the line of questions from the other night, “Jimmy.. what is wrong? Are you alright?”

“Father.. why didn’t you come and get me? Why?” The voice pleaded with him and then began to cry long and hard and continued.

“Jimmy? What is the matter? Where are you?” Ryan asked frantically as he rose to his feet waiting for an answer as he held himself in check from springing into action to do something. Yet no answers were forthcoming. The crying continued interspersed with an occasionally plea for “Why didn’t you come and get me Father?”

Father Ryan yelled at the phone, pleading with the boy to tell him where he was and what happened but there was no other response.

“I’ll be right there Jimmy… don’t you worry.” Ryan said and then hung up the phone and grabbing his coat off a hook by the door he rushed out of his office and in minutes he was outside the orphanage getting into his old beaten Chevy which looked like it was donated to the church.

He jumped in and soon he speed out of the parking lot headed for the home of the Lom Family. He knew their address because he had gone there to check out the home as part of the pre-adoption process. He speed through traffic and he counted it a miracle that he wasn’t pulled over by a cop.



~10th Ave & 26th St. Chelsea, Manhattan~
~~ December 25th, 2010~~

Fourty five minutes later he screeched to a halt in front of the upscale apartment in Chelsea district in Manhattan. It was a new modern building with high rise apartments, all upscale and expensive. It had shown that the Loms made a decent, or perhaps indecent, amount of money. But it showed they could provide for a child without doubt.

On the way here Father Ryan had worried and fretted about what he might find and how he could have let this happen. The boy was obviously in trouble and he had to get him out of there. He kept telling himself that he should have never let it happen.

Jumping out of the car, leaving it in a no parking area, he ran up to the lobby of the building. There he immediately encountered the doorman and his first obstruction. The man had asked if he was on the list of expected guests and Jack had tried to explain that he wasn’t but that it was an emergency. He wouldn’t let Ryan pass, priest or no, but he did call upstairs and got no answer at the Loms Residence.

Ryan pleaded with the man but he would not budge. Finally Jack had enough and desperate he shoved the man aside and raced past him to the elevator. The man caught him there and attempted to stop him, but Father Ryan had always been one to stay in shape and he had boxed a lot as a younger man. The doorman was knocked down this time and Ryan got into the elevator when it arrived and as he pressed the floor for the Loms he saw the doorman leaping towards the phone at his desk.

The elevator seemed to take forever but finally it dinged and the doors opened on the 23rd floor. There he ran down the hallway to the apartment where he knew that Jimmy was in trouble. Reaching the door he pounded on it and yelled Jimmy’s name. There was no response. After pounding for a few more seconds he took a step back and slammed his shoulder into the door. The frame cracked but didn’t give so Ryan gave it a few more hard shoulders before the door crashed inward. As he entered the door he thought he saw someone down the hallway looking in his direction.

He immediately noticed that the lights were on in the apartment and he seemed to be looking into the living room area. Everything seemed in order and looked like no one was home. Then he noticed that sitting in a chair in the living room was Herbert Lom. The man sat there staring out the large picture window that over looked Manhattan.

“Mr. Lom?” Father Ryan asked in surprise at seeing the man just sitting there, he couldn’t have missed his pounding and breaking down the door, “Where is Jimmy?”

He waited a few seconds and when he got no response he stormed over to the man and walked around in front of him and stopped. The man sat there his eyes open, staring blankly out the window, his mouth hanging half open. The man didn’t look like he knew that Ryan was even there.

“Mr. Lom? Herbert?” Ryan yelled at him and reached out and shook his shoulder; the man sat there unresponsive and looking almost dead except for the vacant dead stare. Shaking his head he left the man there and went towards the hallway where he knew the bedrooms lay.

“Jimmy?”

He found the door that Sara had said would be Jimmy’s room, the one they had made up already for the boy even before the adoption was finalized. She had been so sure that they would get the boy they had spent a couple grand to set up the room with everything a little boy could want. He didn’t knock, but he opened the door and stepped inside.

“Jimm….” Ryan’s voice trailed off as he entered the room and flipped on the light switch. The room was completely trashed, and everything seemed splattered with blood. He paused to look around and at first he didn’t see the boy, but then seen the lump laying on the bed.

“Jimmy.” He said breathlessly as he leaped to the bed and grasped the limp form of the boy. He felt him and saw all the blood covering him and the bed. It looked like several people had been butchered here, there was no way one person could have so much blood, let alone a small boy. He knew the boy was dead.

The little body in his arms shuttered and Ryan pulled back from the boy and looked at him. He was alive? But how? Maybe the blood wasn’t his? He felt the body shutter in his arms and then the boys eyes opened a minute and looked around. They settled on Ryan and then focused on him.

“Father… why did you come and get me?” Jimmy’s voice was weak and barely audible.

“Oh Jimmy.. I’m so sorry.. I..” Father Ryan started but was stopped by a loud voice.

(More to come)

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”

Ryan turned his head and saw a policeman standing in the doorway to the bedroom, his revolver pointing at the priest as his eyes took in the horror of the room.

“Don’t you move you sicko!” The cop said, apparently sure this was all caused by this man here, “You move one muscle and I will blow you away.”

“This boy is still alive,” Ryan said still holding him and not moving, “Call an ambulance, Hurray!”

The cop looked at the bloody shape in the man’s hands and then turned his head slightly to call down the hallway, but his eyes never left the priest.

“Call the EMTs.. we got a hurt boy here.” He said and then turned his full attention back to his suspect.

“Ok, slowly I want you to lay the boy on the bed and then get up and move to that wall over there. Move!”

Ryan didn’t want to let the boy go but he knew he had to do it and besides he couldn’t help the boy now. Slowly he laid Jimmy down and got to his feet and moved to the wall opposite the bed and put his bloody hands on the wall. In short order he was being handcuffed and trying to explain who he was and why he was here as he waited impatiently for the EMTs to come. He hoped they could save the boy. While they waited he wondered where was Sara Lom?

Is anyone reading this thread? I am wondering if I should continue or not? If not one is reading or enjoying then I wont continue.

Ok I wont bother to continue since it seems no one is reading or commenting on it. I have more but might as well keep it to myself for now! :-/

...don't be that way... we're just dumbstruck by the awesomeness, is all.

I'm still reading along and enjoying the tale... Gives me the oogie-oogie-wah-wahs... I liiiike it!

I'm still reading! Like I said, its very intriguing, although I was confused later on when it switched from "Father Jack" to "Father Ryan" and it was the same person -- "Father Jack Ryan".

~~10th Police Precinct, Manhattan, NY~~
~~ December 25th, 2010~~

Father Jack Ryan sat in a holding cell deep in the 10th Precinct building waiting for someone to sort this entire mess out. He had no doubt that he would be exonerated but at the time he was under arrest for what someone had done to Jimmy. He had run the entire mess through his mind over and over and couldn’t explain it. Why had the Loms adopted a boy just to torture him? They could have picked up any kid off of the street for their sick twisted games. Where was Sara Lom? The police had found no sign of her. Had she fled and left her husband to face the consequences?

“Father Ryan?”

He jumped as someone boomed his voice from nearby and he turned and saw a man in a suit standing outside the bars, the man had the look of a detective. When Ryan didn’t respond the man went on assuming he had the right man.

“I’m Detective Peters, I want you to come with me.”

It wasn’t until then the Father noticed that the door was open and the detective was waiting for him. He jumped up and hurried out of the cell, not liking that place one bit.

“What is going on?” Ryan asked with a worried expression, “Where is Jimmy? Is he alright?”

Detective Peters studied the Priest for a moment then gestured for him to follow him out of the cell block. He said nothing till they got to a interrogation room, there he gestured for the Father to take a seat.

“Please tell me is Jimmy going to be ok?” Ryan pleaded with the man. He could tell the man was studying him as he shut the door behind him. He gestured again for the Father to seat himself and then after a few long seconds the Priest sat heavily in the chair.

“Father Jack Ryan, correct?” The detective asked to which the man nodded.

“Well Father, we have quite a situation here. Why don’t you tell me your story.” Ryan didn’t want to go into it all right now, he was worried about Jimmy. Before he had been removed from the apartment he had heard the EMT exclaiming how the boy had managed to still live after losing all that blood. It couldn’t have all been his, could it?

He knew the Detective wasn’t going to take no for an answer, so he began to tell the story as much as he could remember. He talked of Jimmy and the orphanage; how the Loms had shown up and selected Jimmy as their object of Adoption. He even spoke of his doubts and how he had dug deep to find a reason to reject the adoption but could find nothing.

He told of how the adoption had happened a few days ago; how Jimmy had called up wanting to come back to the orphanage and how he stupidly assumed it was the typical fear that many newly adoption boys have about a new family. How he got the call tonight and how he had rushed over to the apartment and what he had found. He glanced at the clock when he was done and saw that a couple hours had past while he talked and now the worry about Jimmy returned.

“Now that I have told you everything,” he asked the Detective, “can you please tell me what about Jimmy?”

“Well Father,” the man started then paused looking at the Priest, “I thought when they brought you in here that we had our man. A sick twisted individual who would do something like this to a boy; but the preliminary investigation seems to point away from you. You were found at the scene but the doorman collaborates your story that you just arrived there moments before and there is the presence of Herbert Lom that remains.”

The detective paused to gather his thoughts and look at a pad he held before him which obviously had notes from what they had learned thus far.

“Besides all that I get the feeling from you that you really do care for the boy,” the detective said as he looked back at the Priest, “and I consider my gut feelings to be pretty accurate over the years. So in light of the evidence we have gathered, it has been decided to release you from custody.”

Father Ryan was shocked and relieved at the same time that he was to be released so soon. He jumped to his feet and looked ready to run out the door.

“Ok can you tell me what is going on with Jimmy now?”

“Well I can do one better,” the detective said as he walked to the door and opened it, “lets go to the hospital and see for ourselves.”



~~St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center~~
~~ 170 W. 12th St., Manhattan, NY~~
~December 25th, 2010~

The hospital floor where Jimmy lay was madhouse; Father Ryan and Detective Peters found the entire floor swarming with doctors and medical staff. All of them seemed to be hustling around as if about some important task all seeming needing to be done yesterday. When they stopped a nurse and asked about the boy she directed them to a Dr. Stevens.

After a few more moments of asking people they finally were pointed at Dr. Stevens and after flashing his badge and asking for an update on the boy’s condition, they managed to get the doctor alone in a small waiting room.

After securing the door, the doctor turned to them; he immediately began throwing questions at them. Where was the boy found? What happened to him? Who were his parents? Were they alive?

Detective Peters had to almost restrain the doctor to get him to stop; they inquired what was going on and why were all the staff running around like they were in some kind of panic?

“You don’t know?” the doctor asked incredulously, “this boy is a miracle! He should be dead. There is no explanation for what is happening to this boy.”

After a few more moments, the doctor was able to calm himself and relate the boys condition. According to all tests, the boy had no blood in his body yet he was still alive. He breathed, though it was usually to draw a breath in between screams. He looked about himself though he didn’t speak; his screams were the only sounds he made.
Even they were growing weaker as his throat seemed about to give out at the sheer volume of high pitched screams they were asked to emit. The boy had no heart beat; yet somehow he still lived. They had performed tests on the boy trying to determine how this was possible.

Father Ryan didn’t like was he was hearing for several reasons; he didn’t like to hear of something that sounded much like the work of the devil; he didn’t like to hear that Jimmy was suffering and being experimented on without seeming care for his condition. All the doctors and medical staff seemed interested in was finding out how this boy could be alive when he should be dead. He should be dead. If there was nothing they could do they should end his suffering.

“Doctor?” Ryan said with a tone that said he didn’t find this at all as fascinating as the medical staff seemed to, “what are you doing to end the boy’s suffering?”

“Doing?” the doctor stopped and stammered, “ah, well there is nothing that we can do. We have tried to pain killers but they don’t have any effect. He doesn’t have any Blood. Do you realize what that means? Anything we give him won’t be able to distribute throughout the body. It is useless.”

“What about the pain?” Father Ryan asked, “you going to just let him suffer while you try and find out how it happened?”

“Yes that is the bad part.” the doctor sighed and showed the first sign of compassion, “his constant screaming. At least the man is quiet but he is worse than the boy.”

“Man?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, Mister Lom.” the doctor said, “we have him down on the 9th floor. He hasn’t made a sound but his condition is deteriorating much faster. You see that is why we have to find out all we can now, we don’t think they will last much longer.”

“Where is Lom?” Father asked the doctor. He had to talk to Herbert Lom, maybe he could find out what they had done and where was Sara.

In a few minutes, Detective Peters and the Father were in the room of Herbert Lom. A couple of NYPDs stood outside the room but from the looks of the man he didn’t need any guarding. From what he could tell the man hadn’t changed since he had last seen him. He lay in the bed, slightly upright, staring vacantly ahead. Monitors next to the man showed a flat line on his heartbeat, a slight respiration rate, but not much else.

To one side a Electroencephalogram (EEG) ran showing the man had no brain electrical activity of any kind. It was the weirdest thing to look at a man, who except for his breathing showed all signs of a cadaver. He just lay there, his blank staring eyes and slack jawed expression making him look like a zombie out of some bad B movie.

When Father Ryan saw the man he lost it; he rushed to the bed and grabbed the front of the man’s hospital gown and yanked him up to look into his face. He absently noticed that the man seemed impossibly light for the large man that he was normally.

“You Bastard!” Ryan raged at the man, his ire growing as he got his hands on the man responsible for the boy’s condition, “what did you do to Jimmy? Where is Sara?”

Ryan felt a restraining hand on his arms and turned his head to look into the face of Detective Peters who shook his head.

“Don’t do this, Father!” Peters said as he gently tried to remove the Father’s hands from the man. Slowly Ryan released Lom and the man sagged back against the bed, a faint sigh escaped him as breath escaped from his body. The sighing breath changed into a moan which caused the two men to look at the man as if expecting him to come out of his stupor.

Herbert Lom’s moan grew louder and began to take on a cadence and after a few moments it became obvious that the man was trying to say something. The two men listened closely unknowingly they leaned closer as they tried to make out what the man was saying. They were both taken by surprise when the man bolted upright and reached out and grabbed Ryan and turned to look into the man’s face. His eyes focused on the Priest and his mouth opened and he spoke.

“Molasar!”

Father Ryan was frozen for a few seconds and then reflexively he shoved at the man who held him. His hands hit the man in the chest and penetrated. He looked down and saw his hands buried up to the forearm in the man’s chest. The cavity felt empty, his hands felt no internals organs, just empty air. He yelled and tried to pull away but only succeeded in pulling the man, who was surprisingly light, from the bed.

As both Priest and Detective recoiled from the moaning man, the body was dragged from the bed and fell to the floor. The man slipped from the arms of Father Ryan and crashed to the floor. When he hit the floor, the thing that had been Herbert Lom disintegrated into a cloud of dust which made the men retreat from the choking powder suddenly filling the air of the room.

Retreating to the hallway, the two men coughed and tried to keep the remains of Herbert Lom from choking them as they turned and looked back into the room. They watched in horror as the powder settled to the floor. Nothing but the dust remained of the man that had once been Herbert Lom.

(To Be Continued)

~~St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center~~
~~ 170 W. 12th St., Manhattan, NY~~
~December 26th, 2010 - Shortly after Midnight~


“Molasar?” Father Ryan thought, “who or what is that?”

He sat in a hospital waiting room on the floor where they were keeping Jimmy, sitting and wondering what in God’s name was going on here? It seemed the impossible was happening. Jimmy, alive but bloodless and in constant pain; Herbert Lom turned to dust right before his eyes. If he hadn’t seen it he wouldn’t have believed any of this was possible. If he hadn’t had Detective Peters there to witness it all he might have thought he was hallucinating. But it was all real; impossible but real!

Still there was the mystery of what was happening to Jimmy? Would he share the same fate as Herbert Lom? It was hard to say. The hospital staff didn’t know how long Jimmy would last as he was and they were bound and determined to find out as much as they could before he passed. They said there was nothing they could do, nothing they could give him. He didn’t have any blood, no heartbeat, only a shallow ragged breathing and that was just to supplement his constant screams.

Father Ryan had gone down to see the boy after the Herbert Lom incident just to see if the boy had suffered the same fate. But they bow was still there; clad in a hospital gown that looked 3 sizes too big for his tiny frame. He could tell immediately that the boy was still alive from the screams he heard even from the hallway.

Walking into that room and looking down at the boy had been the hardest thing the Priest had ever done before in his life. He saw when Jimmy’s eyes locked with his own. The boy could say nothing, just ragged screams which were growing fainter as his throat was growing hoarse and sore. But the boy said much with that gaze. It said to end this torture. Jimmy’s eyes told the Father that he had to do something to stop it. The boy’s gaze was pleading with the Father to save him. To stop the horror.

He had fled the room and sat here for the last hour pondering what if anything he could do. He had in turn pleaded with the doctors but to no avail. The Father wasn’t the guardian of the boy, not anymore, and therefore the hospital said that he had no rights to determine whether they should end his life. Only his legal guardian, currently Sara Lom, was the only one who could order them to do something to stop it.

Sara Lom? Where was she? She had to be a part of this or was she a victim too. Maybe this Molasar had killed all of the family. Maybe Sara didn’t have anything to do with it. But for the moment that didn’t matter. Father Ryan knew that he had to end this horror. The boy had pleaded with him to end it and he had silently sworn to God that he would stop it. But how?

He had thought on it for awhile now and the only solution he saw was to take the boy out of here and end it. He knew what he risked; it would be considered kidnapping, but what choice did he have. The police were helpless as well. Detective Peters had told him that there was nothing they could do for the boy. They were investigating and trying to locate Sara but so far they had no more idea of what was going on than the rest of them. After what Detective Peters had witnessed he had washed his hands of the hospital, preferring to investigate at the Lom’s apartment.

Father Ryan couldn’t believe what he was contemplating’ but after much prayer and thought he saw no other way he could fulfill his promise to Jimmy. So he rose and left the hospital to run some errands; he had some things he had to get and check out if he was going to do this tonight.

(To be continued)