16.7.2006
The Veil
The Veil
http://www.netsaga.is/media/files/01%20Track%2001.mp3
Kim was on her way back from Italy where she'd been negotiating loans for her merchant bank in Paris.
Her schedule had been so busy that she'd missed the train with her sleeper reservation.
So she tipped a guard to let her know if any of the cabins turned out to be free.
To fill in the time Kim read several magazines from cover to cover and drank lots of coffee.
About three hours into the journey, when Kim had given up hope of a comfortable night's sleep, a woman passenger came and sat down beside her.
The woman looked at Kim but said nothing.
"Is something wrong?" Kim asked.
The woman shook her head but then said,
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with the guard earlier about wanting a cabin."
"Yes, I could have done with one," said Kim, "but they're all taken".
"Well I have one", the woman announced.
"I will gladly give it to you if you can do me a small favour."
"What do you want me to do?" said Kim, a little anxiously.
The woman took a manuscript out of her bag and handed it to Kim.
"It's a story I've written about a girl called Emma", the woman explained.
"Before I get it published I want an objective opinion from a complete stranger."
The manuscript was not very long so Kim agreed.
The woman told Kim her cabin number and said she would go and clear her belongings.
Kim asked her what her name was.
The manuscript was not very long so Kim agreed.
The woman told Kim her cabin number and said she would go and clear her belongings.
Kim asked her what her name was.
"Nicole Kozak", the woman said and then left.
Kim began to read.
The story started on Emma's sixteenth birthday, when all her problems had come to a head.
My parents were in the process of getting divorced.
On my birthday I overheard them talking about me.
They were arguing about who I would live with when they separated.
It sounded like neither of them wanted me so I decided there and then to run away from home.
For the next two years, I begged, stole and borrowed to keep myself alive.
No matter how hard things got, I never called home.
Then one day I met a man called Roger Lubak.
He was a warlock - a male witch.
He fascinated me and after a month or so we got a flat together.
He taught me everything he knew about witchcraft.
It was like somebody pumping adrenaline in my head.
It opened up a whole new world for me.
When Roger couldn't teach me anymore I read books on the subject.
My thirst for knowledge knew no bounds.
One day I came across a cult called the Veil in one of these books.
There wasn't much information about them so I asked Roger who they were.
He nearly blew my head off.
I'd never seen him so angry.
He said they were an evil and dangerous group of people and I should stay away from them.
Instead of listening to his words of warning I became determined to find out more about the Veil.
As you can imagine, this caused problems and in the end my obsession broke up our relationship.
I moved out of our flat.
My only goal in life from then on was to make contact with the Veil.
But nobody would talk about them.
Then an old friend, Zo, looked me up.
She too is a witch.
It was nice to see her again and we talked well into the night.
As she was about to leave, she said she'd heard I was interested in a sect called the Veil.
I told her if she was going to start lecturing me about the perils of good and evil she'd better go.
But she said no, she wanted to help me get in touch with them.
You could have knocked me down with a feather because Zo, of all people, would have been the last person I'd have questioned about the Veil.
After I got over my shock, I asked her what she could do for me.
She replied that she would set up a meeting for me with somebody from the sect.
When, two days later, I turned up at the wine bar that Zo had named, I waited and waited but nobody turned up.
I was fuming when I got home.
Just as I was about to phone Zo there was a knock on my door.
It was Edmund Stoll, the man I should have met at the wine bar.
He did not apologise but explained that he had to protect the Veil's security and make sure I was serious about joining their sect.
I calmed down and Edmund told me about the Veil's history.
Then he gave me a small crucifix and said to wear it upside down.
He told me to get on my knees to take the oath.
He recited a Latin verse which I repeated.
At that moment, two women entered my flat and walked straight into my bathroom.
They were here to help with my initiation, Edmund explained.
We continued with the oath.
The women came out of the bathroom naked.
Edmund then told me to go back into the bathroom with them.
I obeyed.
They got me to take off my clothes and step into the bath.
Then they poured a strange smelling perfume all over my body.
As they rubbed it in, it started to burn and burn badly.
I tried to get out of the bath but they held me down.
Eventually I blacked out.
When I came to about five minutes later, I was sitting in bed.
The women told me that my burning skin was because I had been anointed with the scent of the Veil.
They then gave me a potion to drink which they said would help me to sleep.
I fell asleep and starting dreaming about sex.
I dreamt I was having sex with a man whose face I couldn't see.
No matter how hard I tried to look at him he wouldn't show me his face.
I woke up suddenly, wanting to tell the three sect members about my dream but I was alone in my flat.
I saw nobody from the sect for about a week.
Then Edmund came round to take me out though he wouldn't say where.
We drove south out of Paris but I wasn't paying attention to the route.
After an hour or so we were on a track in a large forest.
Edmund pointed to a derelict monastery in the distance and said,
"That's where we're going."
Finally we parked and walked into the centre of the decaying building.
Edmund bent down and lifted up a large stone revealing a long flight of steps.
I had to lead the way, down the steps and along a passageway to a door.
Edmund told me to go ahead.
I opened the door and was confronted by a cavern full of people, all of them naked.
My instinct was to turn and run but I was dragged into the cavern and my clothes torn off me.
Then I was raped continually for what seemed like several hours.
When they had finished with me I was put me into a small room.
I was speechless with rage.
When Edmund came into the room a few minutes later, I nearly exploded.
I wanted to kill him and but as I rose to attack he pinned me against the wall, shouting
"Wait! Wait!"
The door opened and three men were brought in and tied up against the wall.
"These are the ones who defiled you,"
Edmund informed me and placed a knife in my hands.
When I saw the knife the compulsion to kill became overwhelming.
I ran over to the men and started stabbing them mercilessly until I slipped in the pool of blood that had gathered at their feet.
Spent and exhausted, I was then picked up and taken back into the cavern.
I was laid on the top of an altar and tied down.
As the sect gathered around me, they started chanting
"Dammot, Dammot."
Out of nowhere appeared this man-creature who stood erect in front of me.
Somehow I instantly recognised him as the man I had had sex with in my dreams the night of my initiation.
His face and body were a mass of twisted sinews that radiated evil and rage.
But what frightened me most was that I was getting turned on by him.
He mounted the altar and penetrated me without me being able, or willing, to resist.
When he finished he let out a blood curdling roar and then disappeared.
Dazed and numbed, I was untied by Edmund and taken home.
I went straight to the bathroom and scrubbed myself raw but it didn't help.
I still felt filthy inside.
Over the next three weeks I felt sick every day and each time I looked in the mirror I saw Dammot's face leering at me.
Eventually I called Edmund who agreed to come round.
When I told him what was happening to me, his face suddenly lit up.
"You're carrying the demon seed", he announced.
"You're carrying Dammot's baby".
It had never occurred to me that I was pregnant.
As Edmund was about to leave to spread the good news to the other Veil members, I realised that I had to act now.
Once the sect knew about the baby I'd never be able to break free of them.
So I persuaded Edmund to stay a while to talk about what had happened in the monastery cavern.
I disappeared into the kitchen to make some coffee and laced Edmund's with rat poison.
As I handed it to him I asked why I had been made to kill three members of the sect.
Edmund looked at me and said,
"I suppose I can tell you now that you are one of us.
Those men were not members of our sect - they were just taken off the streets.
It was like an insurance policy so that you wouldn't go to the police."
Edmund stopped talking and clutched first his stomach and then his throat.
"You've poisoned me",
he shouted as he fell to the floor.
He tried to crawl to the telephone but I grabbed a hammer and smashed him over the head several times until he started foaming from the mouth.
I didn't know if I'd killed him or not.
I didn't stay around to find out.
I packed whatever I could and ran from the flat.
I spent the next nine months hiding from the sect and interviewing childless couples about adopting my baby.
I found the right couple and handed the baby over to them immediately after the birth.
I didn't even have a chance to name him.
But what really matters is that he'll be safe from now on.
All I have to do is to cover up every trace of my connection to the Veil and then I must die.
The manuscript ended there.
Underneath was a message written in red ink.
It said:
"There is no girl called Emma.
The story is about me, Nicole Kozak, and it's all true.
There's no time to explain everything to you because time's running out.
I've seen Zo on the train so the sect are closing in.
If they find me they will force me to reveal my baby's whereabouts.
He must be given the chance to live a normal life.
I need your help.
You will find my body in my cabin and instructions on how to dispose of me."
Kim could hardly believe what she was reading.
This can't be happening, she thought.
But the only way to find out was to go to Nicole's cabin.
Screwing up all her courage, Kim headed for the sleeper carriage, hoping this was all part of some interactive fiction plot.
As soon as she opened the cabin door the sweet and sickly smell of death smacked her in the face.
She held her nose as she fumbled around for the light switch.
Then Kim's stomach turned inside out.
Nicole's body was hanging in front of her.
She'd never seen a dead person before.
She wanted to scream and scream until someone came.
But she remembered what Nicole had said about Zo being on the train.
Kim slumped down on the cabin floor trying to gather her thoughts.
It was then that she noticed Nicole's holdall.
Inside were a small spade and shovel and a note telling Kim how to dig the grave.
"The train will have to slow down just before it enters a tunnel", the note read.
"That's when my body should be taken off the train.
The manuscript must be buried with me and you must memorise the address of the adoptive parents".
The train blew its whistle and started to slow down.
Kim opened the cabin window and threw out the holdall and Nicole's coat as the train approached the tunnel.
Then she jumped out herself, dragging Nicole's body behind her.
The train sped off into the tunnel.
Kim found a secluded spot, hidden by bushes, and started to dig.
It was only when she had placed Nicole's body and belongings in the grave that she realised she had left the manuscript on the train.
The thought of Zo getting her hands on that manuscript filled Kim with dread.
There was nothing to be done but walk to the nearest town and get the next train to Paris.
Finally arriving at the Gare du Lyon, Kim went straight to the lost property office.
Yes, a manuscript had been handed in but had been promptly claimed by a woman off the train.
Now Zo and the sect knew the address of the adoptive parents.
Kim called her boyfriend, Neil.
He came to the station to pick her up and Kim told him everything.
"We have to go to the adoptive parents' house straight away.
I think I can remember the address", she said.
The door of the house was wide open.
They rushed inside.
There were signs of a struggle and blood on the floor.
They searched the house but there was no one there.
"What do we do now?" asked Neil.
"We know Zo's involved but we don't know where she lives".
"There's someone who might", Kim replied.
"Roger Lubak, Nicole's ex-boyfriend."
After an hour of searching through telephone books they found his address and drove straight there.
Kim related to Roger all that had befallen Nicole since the last time he saw her.
He wasn't surprised but he broke down when Kim gently
told him that Nicole was dead.
"Our priority must be to save Nicole's baby", Kim insisted.
Roger and Neil agreed.
"I know where Zo lives", said Roger.
"I'll take you to her flat now if you want."
They set off immediately.
On the way, Kim asked Roger why the sect needed Nicole's baby.
"It was an unhappy coincidence that Nicole came along just as the sect were looking for a woman to conceive with their leader.
The baby is part of two worlds:
the good from Nicole and the evil from Dammot.
But the evil will only manifest itself if the baby is handed over to Dammot", Roger explained,
"and that's what we have to prevent."
"Are we too late?" asked Kim.
"I don't know", Roger replied grimly.
"What's the date today?"
When Kim said it was October 31st, Roger gulped and said,
"Today's Halloween, the eve of All Saints Day.
Nicole's baby was a huge achievement for the Veil and what better way to celebrate that achievement than to hand Dammot his son at Halloween midnight?
It's the time when the dead walk the earth and when sects like the Veil have a special ceremony to worship the devil."
They arrived at Zo's flat, kicked down the door and started looking for clues as to where she might have gone.
They could find nothing.
"Kim," said Roger urgently,
"is there anything you can remember about your conversation with Nicole or in the manuscript that could help us?"
Kim sat down and thought hard.
"Nicole was taken to the Veil's headquarters by Edmund", she said after a moment or two.
"He took her to a derelict monastery somewhere in a forest south of the city.
I think it must be Fontainebleau."
"But where in Fontainebleau?" said Neil despairingly.
"It's getting dark and we don't have much time".
Roger had an idea.
He made a quick phone call.
"I have a friend, Tony, who sells surveillance equipment.
He's willing to help."
They speeded round to Tony's shop.
Tony gave each of them a walkie-talkie and a spray can of infrared dye to mark their way through the forest.
"But how will we see the dye if it's dark?" asked Kim.
"With infrared sights", Tony replied.
He took out a map of Fontainebleau forest.
"Kim, you and Neil will search the north and east side while Roger and I take the south and west", he said.
"But remember," Roger warned, "we only have till midnight".
It was only when they reached Fontainebleau that they realised the daunting task they had set themselves.
After a couple of hours they were beginning to lose hope.
Then Kim's excited voice crackled through Roger and Tony's walkie-talkies:
"We've found it.
We can see the monastery and there are people trooping in.
We're hiding behind some trees".
Keeping to the plan they'd agreed on, Roger and Tony headed back to the car to contact the police.
Kim and Neil crept through the trees marking a circle around the monastery with the infrared dye.
Then they saw a car draw up.
A woman stepped out carrying a baby.
"That's Zo, isn't it?" Kim whispered excitedly.
"What should we do?"
"We must follow them in, as if we're members of the sect",
Neil replied.
"You're joking, aren't you?" Kim asked in a shaky voice.
"No", said Neil determinedly.
"The sect will be too busy organising their ceremony to notice us".
Realising it was their only chance to save the baby, Kim reluctantly agreed and they followed the next couple to arrive into the monastery.
After descending the steps that Nicole had described, Kim and Neil were ushered into a small room to undress.
Kim looked at Neil angrily and said,
"Got any more great ideas?"
But she knew they couldn't give up now.
The cavern was packed full of naked people.
Kim and Neil squeezed through their hot sweaty bodies
towards the altar which people were circling, chanting and wailing.
Zo and the baby were nowhere to be seen.
The sect started chanting for their leader,
"Dammot, Dammot".
Everyone began to dance with wild abandonment.
A girl jumped onto Neil's back and started kissing him lustfully.
Before Kim had a chance to react she was grabbed by two men and fondled mercilessly.
She screamed for help but her cry was drowned out by all the noise the sect was making.
Suddenly everybody stopped still.
All eyes were on the altar.
Out of nowhere appeared the man-creature with his limbs of twisted sinew and eyes as black as his soul.
He raised his arms and the sect went mad, dancing themselves into a frenzy.
In the confusion Kim and Neil managed to work their way back to the entrance of the cavern.
Who should come through the door at that moment but Zo, carrying Nicole's baby.
Without thinking, Neil grabbed the baby off her and ran down the passageway followed by a terrified Kim.
They tore up the steps.
Kim picked up the walkie-talkie she'd left above ground and tried to contact Roger.
But there was no reply and they realised from the sounds below that at any moment the sect would be in hot pursuit.
"Let's run!" Neil shouted.
They dashed into the forest, leaping across fallen branches and smashing through brambles and creepers.
At last they collapsed, amazed that the baby was still fast asleep.
This time Kim managed to get through to Roger.
"We've got the baby and he's alive and well", she gasped.
"Well done!
We're close to the monastery now.
We can see people milling about.
The police are here with dogs.
Hang on in there!" said Roger.
Kim and Neil could hear the whistles and the dogs barking now.
They slowly headed back to the monastery.
The sect members had scattered like wasps at a barbecue and though the police managed to catch some of them, many got away.
That meant Nicole's baby would never be completely safe.
As they huddled together wrapped in blankets, waiting to be taken home, Kim and Neil looked at each other.
Without saying anything, they both understood that the most important thing in the world was to protect this baby.
They were allowed to adopt the child.
They named him Nicholas after his mother and Roger and Tony agreed to be its godparents.