The Cult of Megot Vazuul (open)

Deep in the heart of Louisiana there is a small town called Evergreen, named so because of the wetland pine barons that surround the small burg. By small I mean a population of around 400 people, most of which were born and raised there. It's tight-knit locals inhabitants are a simpler folk; a people whom have lived with the pungent fart smell of the nearby paper mills the entirety of their lives and have found a way to become indifferent to it. It is this inbred obliviousness that created a perfect breeding ground for the cancer that has been eating away at it for the past three years. After all, keeping dirty secrets isn't all that different from getting used to an odorous environment, you just don't talk about it, or pretend it isn't there and sooner or later you can't tell the difference.

Small town, backwoods churches aren't much different from cults, they do strange things during services, they are secretive in nature, and they often scare uneducated populace with curses and threats of hell. So when the Cult of Megot Vazuul moved into the small town, locals assumed it wasn't anything other than another obscure sect of the radical Pentecostal churches around the area. It was well known that the preachers of these seemingly irreverent services often had such obscure translations of the 'good book' that it almost sounded like another religion anyway; so when the cult moved in to a small flood damaged church outside of town, none of the locals even batted an eye.

The truth was far darker than any of them could imagine though. Megot Vazuul was not some forgotten prophet that the missed out on canonization when the Catholic Church took final editing rights. It was a black mass, and it's leader was a self proclaimed decedent of Aleister Crowley. Father Peter Bright had amassed a following of 40 people, under the banner of his 'Do as thou will' doctrine. He was the earth bound avatar of the Elder God, Xirdneth 's desires, or so he claimed. Acclimation wasn't terribly difficult, as his congregation was consisted of 28 young women, and in a town of only 400 it was difficult not to date your cousin, so the influx in fresh females was a welcomed one. The only catch being that the young girls would only allow consummation once the local pledged his undying belief in Father Bright's dark god. It didn't take long to assimilate the vast majority of Evergreen, the mayor and sheriff each got a pretty new wife and the rest just followed suit.

Captain James Warden ( The Eagle ) did not know any of this when he walked into the town proper of Evergreen. He only knew that this was a small town in the middle of nowhere, and a perfect hiding place for a man that wanted to lay low for a while. 'Perfect' wasn't exactly true, the soggy stink of the paper mills was running pretty low on his favorite things list right now. His enhanced senses were picking up the sulfurous stink and pushing his gag reflex to almost the point of puking.

Jim had grown a short beard and his hair was far longer than he'd usually kept it while in the Service, it had him feeling a bit shaggy but the disguise was enough. He still adorned his uniform, but it was carefully hidden away under the flannel shirt and blue jeans he'd stolen off of a clothes line a few miles back. Unfortunately the heat was oppressive and wearing multiple layers of clothes had a nice layer of sweat starting to form at his brow, but it was a price that had to be paid for a man that was on the run from the US Government. All Jim wanted right now was a room in a local boarding house and a cool bath.

But being a good samaritan had it's drawbacks and as Jim approached the crossroads at the towns center, he realized he was going to have to hold off on that much needed bath. There across the way was a group of three young pretty girls trying to tote enough groceries to feed a small army. Each of them struggled with multiple over stuffed satchels while two used there free hands to pull a small wagon which was overflowing as well. The locals seemed unaffected by the scene and ignored the girls, going about their business as if the girls weren't even there at all. Jim thought it strange, that in a small town , ones that were renown for manners, nobody even bothered to offer the girls aid, but his good nature didn't debate it long before he bolted over and offered his assistance.

"Hi,my name is Jack Holden. Can I give you girls a hand?" Jim said, making sure to give an alias.

Beat had been staying in Evergreen for a few days now, living out of a hotel. He abhorred every moment of it. Even though he was keeping what was by his standards a low profile. Even while trying not to garner attention a tall, foreign-looking city boy stuck out like a sore thumb. He sat on a bench, an attempt to downplay his impressive height while eating a sandwich. Point of fact it was more like two buttery pieces of bread that contained little more than lettuce. It was incredibly difficult to find vegetarian fare in this town, and people always looked at him funny when he ordered it. The ignorant bumpkins around here disgusted Beat.

There was no way around it though, Beat needed to be here. Smashing cults was kind of a hobby of his, and this one warranted a closer look than it's out-of-the-way location might imply. Something was here that didn't belong in this world, and for Beat that usually meant doing battle with some otherworldly asshole. Unfortunately even Beat wasn't all-knowing, and little towns like this didn't leak quite as much information into the ocean of cyberspace. So for now he simply observed and waited for a proper opportunity. One silver lining though, people in towns like this tended to ignore the strange going-ons so the cult didn't try dreadfully hard to hide its presence. As he sat and ate he saw a group of pitifully young girls toting a comically large portion of groceries. He pondered taking action, but decided it was best to wait a bit. Then a man he didn't recognize walked up and offered to help them. If he was interacting with them, that meant he was out of town. Strangers tend to get in trouble, and Beat couldn't exactly sit around and let that happen. This stranger had just both presented Beat with an opportunity, and forced his hand. His face seemed kind of familiar, but then again all white guys looked the same to Beat.

He threw away what remained of his sandwich, the majority of it, away and stood to his full 6'7''. He walked over to the group, a short trip with his long strides. Though it wasn't his style not to stand out, he was dressed relatively plainly. Tight jeans for a bottom, and a black long-sleeved leather jacket that was zipped up to hide whatever he was wearing underneath. A black baseball cap sat snugly on his head, the brim tilted slightly down. Straight black hair fell out from underneath, framing a pale, soft, feminine face. He approached the group putting on a friendly smile and extending a naked hand with long, slender fingers. "Indeed, it's a shame to see a bunch of girls this pretty having to work so hard. Why don't you let me take a few bags for you? It's not like I have anything else to do right now." He ended his sentence with a friendly chuckle, and waited to see if the girls even acknowledged him.

"People are staring at me." Beads of sweat strolled down from the brim of her hat down to the twitching nose, make a concerted effort to make sense of the odd aroma surrounding the small town. "It's because everyone in this town is a racist."

"Given your demeanor, dress, and the fact you're talking to a spirit animal no one else can see, I would place racism fairly low on the reasons people are staring at you." The small spirit corgi kept pace with his companion, while examining the cross looks Elaine received, strolling down the sidewalk in her running capris and cowgirl boots. "...Let's put that card back in the deck, but keep it close to the top."

Throwing her arms down against her hips in protest of weather, Elaine gazed at the downcast branches of the weeping willows cascading the broken sidewalks beneath her feet. "Why is it so hot here? This is stupid; I want it to be cool."

"It's not the heat; the humidity is making it so unbearable."

"Oh my god, I said something about it being hot, and you don't even address the question at hand. This is why we have a bad partnership."

"I feel asthough we should place a pin in that thought and find somewhere to escape this heat."

"That's a really gay way of saying something I don't get."

Putting a more applicable means of getting his message across, the small spirit animal made his way up the path to a two story building behind a sign welcoming visitors with a faded lettering. "Come on girl. Over here; let's go."

Lowering her head and grunting a little, Elaine followed suit and strode up the the walkway which faltered into disarray many years ago. Her small dog walked through the closed door causing Elaine to mimic the feat with her ever so useful feat of shadow stepping. The heel of her boots clicked loudly against the hard wood floor of the small lobby area under the watchful eye of the motel manager, gazing at her through speckled lenses.

Elaine let out a disgruntled moan. "Why don't you have an air conditioner."

"Dun need it." Air blew across the crag ridden face of the the middle aged woman with stringy hair plastered to the side of her head.

While it seemed unpleasant, it could be better than nothing. Could. "Ask if they have boxes in each room." Her companion asked.

"I don't care about boxes. I want it to not be hot." Elaine peered over and blasted at her dog, raising an eyebrow from the cross woman taken back by Elaine's unprovoked comments to her side.

"By box I mean a cooling box."

"We ain't got no room." Her coarse words hoped to chase away the new comers.

"There barely looks like there's another soul on this block, let alone this establishment."

"Oh my god, what a dumb thing to say." Diverting her gaze and speaking to spirits caused Elaine to flay about like a girl possessed by a ghost with social anxiety disorder. And probably Asperger's Syndrome.

"Don't know what to say. Ain't got no room." A sinister scowl gazed across the closed space. "You might try the church."

"Buddhist don't believe in churches..."

"Yes, they do."

"...So, I'll just go find the local community college and meet up with my Buddhist brothers."

"Ain't got no college round here."

"Well played. I'll take a room."

"Ain't got no room."

"Oh my god!"

"Miss, I believe we can accommodate you in one of our specialty rooms." Flapping the ridges of his white jacket to fan himself, a man with slick backed hair greeted Elaine with a sly smile. "We just aren't use to someone with such..." He chuckled at her odd disposition. "...Unique flair."

"That's racist."

"But, if you would just come this way, we'll show you to your room." His clean and well manicured fingers motioned for her to follow with each finger acting on its own accord.

Elaine moved past the reception desk and through the halls behind her well tailored host. "Better not be hot in there."

"You'll find it most accommodating." The narrow knob shock against its loose hinges as the door creaked open. The dense air permeated from the crack in the door and accosted the low pressure of the hallway.

Elaine moved through the door into the room adorned with rustic furniture and dimly glowing lamps. "Why do you keep saying the same word over and over..." A forceful bludgeon struck down against Elaine's back, knocking her to the ground. With her last glimpses of consciousness, she heard the creak of the door close, and the deadbolt within the door snap into place.

Captain James Warden, aka The Eagle , easily could of taken, not only all the groceries, but all the the woman and their wagon as well up with his mighty arms, but 'Jack Holden' (alias he'd given)was trying to lay low, not draw attention. So, when another extremely tall man approached to lend a hand, he graciously excepted the help and shared the load. This left the girls with no bags to carry and only a few in the wagon.

The girls giggled and thanked each of the men. 'Jack' introduced himself to the young slightly effeminate looking tall fellow. Although his arms were full of bags of groceries, he managed jostle them around enough to offer a handshake to and ask his name. "Jack Holden, nice to see I not the only gentleman in this town, I was beginning to think I'd picked the wrong burg to settle down in.."

The three twenty-something girls giggled and swooned at the two handsome men as they introduced themselves. " I am called Megot Ulyssa, and this is Megot Halya, and that is Megot Olpysa " The oldest of the three girls, spoke for there group while the other two giggled sheepishly behind her.

"Wow....those are really.....uuuhhh....unique names, are you girls sisters?" 'Jack said, not trying to come off in a rude manor, but he shot the tall man a sideways glance to see if he was as off-put by the girls odd monikers.

"hehehe....yes well we are 'sisters'....but not by birth....only by covenant, we are all member's of Father Bright's House of the True God, We had secular names but once you take the sacrament of fluids , you're given a new name by Father Bright. 'Megot' is our title....It means 'Scarlet Woman' , because we are still unmarried. ' The girls all giggled at Ulyssa's explanation, and it's obvious undertone.

Your both new here, why don't you swing by and have lunch, we have plenty to go around as I am sure you can see...hehehe, If we're really lucky Father Bright might even give a sermon. " Ulyssa extend the offer with a coy smile forming on her plump lips.

'Jack' was unsure, apprehensive to say the least ,as what these girls were describing sounded a lot like some sort of cult. He looked over at the tall man to check his reaction to the revelation. "I can only speak for myself girls, and don't go thinking I don't appreciate the offer, but my own faith was recently shaken and I don't know how good listening to your preacher is going to go over with me right now....I would certainly help with your bags though" 'Jack said apologetically.

"Don't be silly, It's nothing like any of those boring stuffy services I am sure your thinking it is. We have fun with a capital 'F' round here! Anyway, it's a few miles outside of town, so we'll have the walk there to talk you into it .....you'll see, come on it's a long walk, let's get going, heheheheh" Ulyssa giggled and then slipped her hand into the bend of 'Jack''s bag filled arm. Both Halya and Olpysa did the same with the tall stranger and the beautiful girls began ushering their ensnared prey down the road.

Beat pulled his long skinny arm through the handles of the bags he was carrying and met Jack's hand with his own bony digits, giving a quick somewhat loose handshake. "I'm Beat. Sorry to say I'm just a visitor here, but who knows? These girls might just convince me to stay?" He gave a chuckle. Beat used his real name, though it too was an alias of sorts though it had been years since he discarded his born name.

The girls introduced themselves to both men. Beat kept a big smile plastered on his face. "What lovely names." Beat casually commented at hearing the girl's odd names. Unlike 'Jack' Beat seemed to be very carefree about the whole situation. Beat wasn't sure what to make of Jack yet. He was obviously a visitor, and this wasn't a town that generally received visitors. Beat wondered if he was looking for something, or running for something. He looked middle aged, older than Beat looked but younger than Beat's true age. Old enough to have gotten into some trouble, for certain. It was of no concern to Beat, he was no vigilante. At least he never tried to be.

Things were odd here. In a way, a cult like this was more dangerous than the over-the-top ones Beat usually dealt with. Not for him, but for people like these girls. Physical brainwashing generally did more damage than that of the magical variety. Of course, even if they recovered they'd still be ignorant yokels.

"If you don't care about these people, why are you here?" a voice only Beat could hear piped up in his head. Mr. Eimin always seemed to pick the most annoying times to be awake. Beat was willing to bet money he'd be silent when Beat actually could use him. "Who said I don't care about them? I can care about idiots too." Beat retorted back silently, his familiar hearing his thoughts. [color=darkblue]"I am a part of your mind, there's no use arguing over what I already know. Our discussions would be so much more productive if you didn't try to deflect me like the tamed bear you keep around." [/color] "Yeah yeah, I still have to protect the balance of the world. With great power and great looks comes moderate responsibility." Mr. Eimin didn't pay any attention to Beat's humor. "and if you happen to come across a magical artifact or two?" If Beat hadn't already had a big phony smile plastered on his face, he would have smirked at Eimin's comment, though he didn't bother responding.

When the girls invited them to their congregation, Beat was exuberant. "Oh my, how generous. I'd love to stop by, sounds like fun.!" Beat happily replied. Although given the way the girls latched onto the two men, he doubted anything short of violence would have let him get away without coming with the girls. As the two pretty young women latched on either side of Beat, he flashed Jack a mischievous smile.

Deep within the backwoods of the pine barrens that surround the refurbished house of worship Father Peter Bright sat behind a large oak desk. The rear room of the church still had much of the same subdued tastes in decor it did when it was a bassist chapel, with the only real notable exception being the lack of any crosses or religious iconography. Instead strange arcane symbols marked several tapestries and one large one on the floor just in front of Father Bright's desk.

The room is darkly lit with the only real light spotlighting the underneath of Father's Bright's pallidly thin face. The man himself is tall and skinny, wearing a red robe, marked with the same insignia that decorates the floor in front of his desk.

The door of his personal office is first knocked on and then after several polite minutes entered by a handsome man wearing a white fringed coat. Father Bright knows this visitor well, he is called 'Consor Davi' ; a name that he himself had given the man. Davi was Father Bright's right-hand-man and the sly smile on his face told him everything he wanted to know.

"Greetings Consor Davi...I see you're looking awful chipper this afternoon, did you catch yourself another 'little bird'?" Father Bright said barely looking up from his paper work.

"Yes father, I did, she is a celestial..." Davi answered, his teeth showing through the gap in his thin lips.

"Where is she now?" Father Bright said, now actually looking up from his studies.

"Out back....in the root cellar....The boys are hooking her up right now as we speak, by three o'clock tonight her body will be drained of it's natural fluids and replaced with 'Vazuul's sap', she will forever be a servant to your cause." Davi said, rubbing his hands together menacingly.

"I know you are lonely Davi, My attentions have been deep in the study of these tomes and so we haven't had much 'alone time', So I will forgive this transgression but you must remember that we should stick to selecting from the stock we have here in Evergreen in order to keep a lower profile. A stranger could have family that will come looking for her and that could cause problems...Do you understand?" Father Bright said in a slightly aggravated tone.

"Yes master..." Davi responded and let his head drop out of shame.

(Elaine is now chained in the hidden underground root cellar just outside the property line of the Church. Within this clandestine basement, the otherworldly 'roots' (more like tentacles) of Vazuul creep up from the earthen floor searching for sustenance. They seek to enter any and all orifices and suck the victim dry of all it's fluid, replacing it with it's own mind altering secretions. This process isn't immediate, it will take hours)

"Ouch..." Recovering from the impact of the ambush, Elaine rubbed her throbbing head. "My back hurts. I think I slept on it wrong."

"Someone knocked you out; you really didn't have time to mind a comfortable sleeping position."

"Did you see who did it?"

"Can we please stick with--oh, you asked something pertinent to the issue at hand. I feel a little taken back."

"Do all ghosts talk like Frasier's thesaurus?"

"Like you ever watched Frasier."

"I like Cheer's and gave it a shot. Did you know the little dog isn't even looking at anyone in particular? He's staring at a treat the entire time."

"Some less than savory people incapacitated you and locked you in a room; can we focus?"

"I'm sorry we can't all walk through walls like you."

"What do you do again?"

"I have to have a running start."

"You're the worst."

While the odd sound of conversation rattled through the room, Elaine patted off the smudge of dirt from the long sleeve dri fit shirt hanging just below her waist. With only a few steps, Elaine made her way out of the room and into the interior hallway running through the hotel.

"Our room was situated on the exterior first floor, and you jumped into the hallway!" The small animal followed through the wall with an astonishment in his voice.

"It's okay I got this." Elaine flung her draw string backpack around to peak into her bag. Without hesitation towards the situation at hand, she brought out one of her pistols. Knowing the proximity of he firearms, and bearing no hesitations for subtlety, Elaine loaded a remote detonation round into the chamber. Meeting with the apprehension of her companion, Elaine pointed the gun towards the window at the end of the hallway. "I'm going to make a door."

"You don't need a door!"

But she made one anyways. The round spiraled down the corridor, impacting into the plaster below the window sill. A motion of her hand spun the barrel of the gun into the palm of her hand, allowing her thumb to graze over the detonation trigger located on the handle of the gun. "Open says-a-me."

Rubble burst out from the small explosion. Glass and antiquated stone shot out while water burst from shattered pipes in the floor fixtures. A trail of smoke billowed up from the smoldering hole blasted in the wall, framing Elaine in a silhouette of calamity. "What's dat." Emerging from the glories of her isolation fan, the crag faced woman peaked her head from the reception area into the back hallway.

"Now you've got rooms." The point of her gun lifted her hat off of her face enough to allow the exterior light to illuminate her demeanor. "I won't even bill you for the mold removal."

"Oh yes, literally jumping through a ring of fire is much better than the alternative of going out the side of the building."

"I know right." She spoke without a hint of inflection.

Before the dog could explain his course of context, a gang of men burst through the door. "Elaine, trouble."

"My middle name is danger, not trouble."

"We can rectify that mistake after we get out of here."

A young man with a blue collared shirt grabbed at Elaine's forearm, but she quickly pulled her arm against the fingers latched together to break the hold. Swinging back against his staggered state, she slammed the butt of her pistol against the back of his neck. Believing in his comrades ability to grab Elaine, the second man reached out to wrap her up with both arms, only to grab air. Elaine dug her shoulder into his side and pulled up, flipping the man onto his back. "Grab her!" The man in the blue shirt called out from the ground to the third man. Seeing the dispatched men and the gun swinging around her finger with liberal discretion, his legs pulled him towards the door he entered as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Lates, yo." Stepping over the crippled masses on the ground, Elaine made her way to the exit and felt the warmth of the flame against her face. "Great, now it's even hotter!" Her shoulders dropped in disbelief, as she walked to the side corridor running perpendicular to the hole she made. "I should just go out the side." And she did.

The walk to the church was relatively short, and Beat passed the time by forcing flirtatious chatter with the mindless girls he was aiding. He tried to formulate a plan on the way. Hopefully this "Father Bright" character would make an appearance as the girls suggested he might, giving Beat a direct target. If not, he was at least hopefully present at the church. Beat could slip away and find him, that might be better in the long run anyway as it would provide Beat with the chance to question the good father alone. Worst case scenario he wasn't here at all, but at least Beat could get a lead on his location or find the source of the disturbance, assuming Bright wasn't the source himself.

They arrived at the church, but before Beat could bother putting any of his plans to action or even setting foot in the building a loud explosion rang off in the not-so-distant distance. The smoke rising from the edge of the Church's property made the location easy to find. From the reactions of the girls, Beat surmised that this was not a common occurrence. He twisted his mouth into a look of annoyance. "For being in the middle of fucking no where, there sure are a lot of strangers showing up to complicate things." He spoke to no one in particular, oblivious to those he had walked with. It seemed with this new development, the girls were no longer useful to him.

"It seems the time for discretion is behind us, time to do my thing." He gripped the bill of his plain hat between his thumb and forefinger, raising it up quickly and flinging off his head and into the air. Just before it began its descent back down, it simply vanished with a puff of bluish smoke, as if it had been incinerated. Beat unzipped his jacket, revealing a thin black and white striped cotton shirt underneath. "I suggest you get the hell out of here Jack." Beat said over his shoulder, as if suddenly remembering he wasn't standing there alone. "Shit's about to get all "strange fiction" up in here." With that, Beat sprinted off towards the source of the smoke.

The smoke rose up from the ground, some sort of cellar or storm shelter it seemed, but the door was still closed, so no one had exited this way. Beat held out his hand, and the door flew off its hinges to reveal the opening underneath. With all the smoke raising up, Beat had no way of seeing if anyone was inside. "Only one thing to do then." Beat gracefully hopped down, his thin frame cutting through the smoke as he disappeared underground. He expected a sarcastic comment from his familiar, but it seemed he was asleep. Figures, he usually is when the action starts. A short moment later Beat emerged from the ground, satisfied that no one was trapped in the smoke. He coughed the smoke out of his lungs before lighting a cigarette. He took a puff while his mind went to work, deciding his next course of action. Just like before though, his plans didn't meat much. A commotion arose from a nearby building, and a young woman emerged from it. Beat raised an eyebrow. "Well what do you know, looks like I'm not the only Asian in the county after all." He smoothed over his hair with his right hand, the hat he wore didn't really do much damage to his straight black hair. "and maybe not even the best looking one." He made his way up to the woman, quickly deciding he was stunned by her beauty, as he often does. He made his way up to her.

The fire, as it turns out, was in the building, and not the cellar at all. Some passage must connect the two, which meant this hotel was controlled by the cultists. Not much of a discovery, considering the majority of the town probably was. Beat quickly approached the woman, a look of genuine concern on his face. "Are you quite unharmed miss? I assume you are not with this unsavory group, given that you are far to stunning to be from around here?" He looked at the woman with his dark eyes opened wide. "Worry not, I assure you I shall endeavor to help you escape! Although we might have to make a short detour while I extinguish whatever force is behind all this." Beat added the second part casually, as if he was talking about picking up milk at the store. "First though, there's something important I must tell you. and that is...." Beat trailed off, looking down at the black jacket he wore "I usually dress much better than this."

Ace Stormer was in town trying to find out what he could about a supposed Cult of Megot Vazul. He had reason to believe the cult was involved in very dark, evil activities. He headed to a church he knew was most likely an occult hotspot. "Dear God, look at that smoke!" A large column of smoke was rising from the ground. Ace turned and saw a man and a woman standing nearby. He ran over to them. "HEY! Did you happen to see who started this. The man was wearing a black jacket and he was obviously trying to flirt with the woman. "Huh..picked a funny time to flirt." he chuckles.