GATHERING – TWO

Rise up this mornin,
Smiled with the risin sun ...

Darkness is no longer on the way. It is right here, right now as it has always been only now both like and unlike in the past, it ... he ... is about to make itself or himself known ... A belief or a lack of belief is not necessary. If you live then you will be as much at risk as the next person, the Devil does not discriminate ... time to unleash ...

1.

Evil comes in all shapes and sizes. It does not necessarily need to be created. It can simply just ... exist. What can be more frightening, more sinister than a terror existing with a singular purpose, a terror existing in the form of a young boy?

Yeah, a boy, Arthur Billingsworth terrorized Majella Smith for some time up until such a time came when she had been taken from her family. His smile, the sinister way he looked at her as he so often followed her, staying only a matter of a few feet behind her. He was out to get her, he wanted to end her ... didn't get to do so by such time she had been taken.

Perhaps his own actions played a part in her being taken. To make things worse, only he and she were aware of what he was doing to her. A silent evil of his own, she would unwillingly take back for his actions. He stayed off the radars of others. If the evils of youth were unspeakable, then it could only be imagined as to what may come in adulthood.

Arthur was not born in the shadow of Darkness; he was not created, though surely Darkness knew of his existence. Maybe he didn't. Being so wrapped up in his own personal war, perhaps one or two things were and are ... overlooked. What if this Arthur fellow had succeeded in bring about the end of one of the nine? What then? Would he then have the attention of the Price of Hell? He may still have a say in what is still yet to come.

As a boy he done despicable things, many of which he done quietly, inconspicuously, such as taking a local dog away from its home, hiding it from plain sight, leaving it to hang from and by a tree where it was to die long before a search came about, a search where it eventually be found still hanging.

Sometimes some things just fall into place as if it were actually created with a purpose. Arthur Billingsworth is not a son of Darkness though perhaps he does have a part to play. At the Ball of all Balls, Arthur was in attendance. He kept to himself, for this night is not his night. His time is not now, his place is not here so he will wait and in the here and now he will just watch ... observe.

***

A gathering has begun. Arrivals, intentional or otherwise, have been made. A stage has been taken to. It is time for things to really begin. As Majella Smith and Nancy Ellis come together in the middle of a dance floor and briefly talk for a first time, Darkness has made his way onto the stage. Those in attendance gather round, some already know the score; some have no idea and others only suspect ... something. Darkness turns to face the on-stage big band and as if he were a conductor, he raises his arms ... and music begins.

Yeah, this is a ball which has been coming for such a long time. Through the crowd a girl, a young lady by the name of Tammy Lester, makes a move. She has come to this event with the knowledge that another is here. Quite some time ago, the freakiest and most horrid moment of Tammy's life occurred, a moment she has come here to seek vengeance for.

There are others here too with connections, so many connections either with one of those nine girls or with someone else in attendance at this event and many, if not all, of these with connections will want to do something about this reunion of sorts or more precisely ... a first gathering. Those wanting something might just get that something in some form or other.

Many had gathered outside before an entrance into a ballroom would be made and such a gathering caught the attention of former champion boxer Paul Malone and it caught his attention to such a degree that he just had to end a training session run to eventually make his way inside to see what all of this is about, without knowing why such a thing has caught his attention so.

Yeah, outside the venue ... two of the nine come back into one another's company for the first time in a couple of years or so and the last time they were in close proximity neither had been particularly nice to the other. Lonnie Turner had hit Maxene with a bolt of electricity and in return Maxene sent Lonnie sailing through the air.

'Once we were close and then we were not ...' Lonnie says as she comes close to Maxene. Maxene stands perfectly still, her dark hair draping down over her face. 'Where are your buddies? I am sure they are close ...'

Lonnie looks round and cannot see any of the shape shifting hellhounds that Maxene likes to keep close. Maxene chooses this point in time to smile, and this is the first time in a very long time that such a thing has graced her face. Even with her hair draped as it is, her smile is clearly visible. Perhaps for the duration of this evening, these two sisters will be somewhat civil to one another. Nothing, however, in this place at this time is a given.

Maxene too, despite the fact she more associates as more animal than human, is appropriately dressed but again, not fully set appearance wise for this evening. How and why, this is as it is, Lonnie won't even begin to inquire for she knows she will not get a verbal reply. Indeed, Maxene is wearing a dress, not the classiest kind of dress though still a dress all the same and with her hair the way it is, she seems more ready to step onto the set of a horror movie rather than being ready to attend a ball set up partially in her honour.