Sam Spade 16: Case of the Dark Prophesy

Angela came up to her other side and whispered, "Such cute horns and wings." She looked at me, "Her horns are cuter then yours Samantha."

Sue Ann reached up and felt her head and tried to touch what was only there on the ethereal plain. Finally she turned her head and looked at me, "I will make you proud of me Goddess." She dimpled and added, "I love you so much Samantha and my early wedding present."

I kissed her tenderly and then said, "You two wrap everything up here and drag Jasmine back home. I need to go talk to someone." I knew who I needed to see and feeling him out took a step. I stood outside a castle looking around confused. How the hell did a castle end up in greater New York?

Knocking on the door I waited and wondered if he had the info I needed. An elderly man so old that he moved like he was a robot with his batteries running down answered the door. He looked at me not speaking and moved out of the way. I stepped in and waited as he closed the door just as slowly. "The master will see you in the library."

I followed him slowly down the hall and to a room off to the side. The library was two stories tall and was filled with books from the floor to the ceiling. On one was a fireplace large enough to roast a whole cow. Though it was warm out, there was a fire burning brightly. Walking forward I failed to notice any heat and realized I was looking at a holo fire." Is it something with your kind that likes tiptoeing around?" I asked not turning.

"Not at all Miss Spade," the man's voice replied from one of the overstuffed leather chairs facing away from me. A man stood looking regal and holding his place in a book with a finger. "What can I do for you?"

"Can you tell me the connection between Racine and Stephen Wolfe?" I asked as I walked over to him.

"You can do better than that Miss Spade. Your wife can tell you the latest gossip." He said gesturing to a seat next to his. He waited until I sat down before sitting. "It is not often I allow an outsider inside these days. I have all I want and need here."

"It is an impressive collection of books," I said agreeing. Suddenly unsure of myself I looked at my hands, "I am cycling out of control. How do I stop?" I asked softly.

"I was afraid that was your question Miss Spade." I looked at him as he continued, "I don't have an answer. None of us do. Some fear it is the prophesy coming true." He opened the book and read aloud.

"He who only comes by night will find himself kneeling before the dark goddess in absolute submission."

"The mother of all who stood up to the angels sent by god, will kneel before the dark goddess and press her lips to the ground in submission."

The sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve will flock to the dark goddess and the power she has over all living creatures."

"When all have seen the power the dark goddess holds in her hand; the great war will begin."

"She will return to the stars and her daughter will fight with the angel of death at her side."

"Only those who follow the dark goddess's teaching will survive to populate the world under her daughter's dark power."

Looking up at me he said, "Your little show last night focused the spotlight on you Miss Spade. You bested the forces, sent against you. You showed your daughter and angel of death and took a night walker as your own." He paused and then added, "Only those you told and myself know of what happened on the mesa. However as soon as she returns to kneel at your feet, the war will begin."

"Who wrote it?" I asked not very impressed.

"Inanna," he replied. Seeing my blank look, he added, "She is the Queen of Heaven and is considered the goddess of love, fertility and of course war...Mesopotamia." He closed the book and said, "Ask her yourself about it. I'm sure she can tell you better in person then reading a fifth hand translation."

Closing my eyes, I relaxed my mind until the world became nothing more than a silent gray fog. "Inanna, attend me I wish your guidance." I called out mentally.

"I will come," the voice regal on tone replied. Suddenly I heard, "Goddess I live only to serve."

Opening my eyes, I saw Lilith kneeling with her lips to the floor before me. I looked at the man who said softly, "So it is true." He looked from me to Lilith, "It has been a long time daughter."

Lilith sat back on her heels and looked at the man. A look of defiance crossed her face before she calmed and said, "And you father." She looked at me, "How may I serve you goddess?"

"Inanna tell me of your dark prophecy." I said not daring to ask who I am sitting next to.

Instead of looking at me she stared at the man, "After my one hundredth child was taken by angels and killed, I had a dream." She looked at me, "I saw a woman of power take each race of man into herself. Each of the four races would give her new power to add to her own." She paused a moment, "Once she has gained the last, the war would begin. For one hundred days the world would hang in balance as she fought the evil." Her eyes cut away as she added, "The war will end and you will be our goddess forever."

She left something out. Not only did she break eye contact I could feel something was held back. "What did you leave out in the end Inanna? Tell me all, good and bad both."

Her eyes locked on mine, "Just when the war is won the goddess will be betrayed and she will fall. Her daughter and the angel of death will avenge her and win the war. Thus she would bring peace and love to all races in her mother's name."

Getting off the chair I knelt before her, "Is there no way to bypass the war?" I asked tenderly.

"No goddess it has already begun and he knows it." Lilith's eyes cut towards the man. She looked at me, "I am ready to return home with you. I had hoped I could delay the war by staying away. But now that you were tricked into summing me and all who can hear knows it, there is no point in my being apart from you." She paused and looked at the man, "I know who will betray her. My sisters and I will kill him."

Looking at him I said, "You are not who I came to see. I see that now and any other time I would love to sit and ask why. However, I have other business to attend to just now." I looked back to Lilith and held my hands out to her. She looked at them for a second before taking them and standing. "Come love, it's time to go home."

We arrived in my office at home still holding hands. Though she wanted to sink to the floor and kneel before me I kept her standing. "Do you trust me?"

"Do I trust you?" she asked confused. "You are my goddess, my world. Of course I trust you."

I tore at my wrist with my fangs and offered her my bleeding arm. "My life for yours. Feed and live."

She brought my wrist to her mouth and tasted my tainted blood. A moment later she was hanging on for dear life as she chewed and sucked. My wives showed up and watched with bright eyes. The last was Angela with Jasmine and Sue Ann. She shushed Sue Ann with a mental finger to her lips. Though I had fed well and got as much as I gave only Angela's strength was enough to stop Lilith from draining me dry.

Lilith came back to reality after a second and saw the goddess's bloody wound close. "You must feed her also," Angela said holding me up. "Say the words and feed our goddess."

I don't know how she ripped her artery in her wrist but I latched on and drank as I heard her say, "My life for yours. Never will you die while I still live."

Lilith's blood was intoxicating in its purity. Within the first few swallows I was refreshed completely. I drank a little more before lifting my mouth away because I knew I would be performing this two more times. Stopping I formed a rose, as red as arterial blood as the night and perfect in every way. Meeting her eyes, I said tenderly, "Through death comes life and love."

Not believing her eyes Lilith looked at the rose her goddess created out of thin air. She took it and after looking at Angela broke the stem short. Like the others she put it in her hair and looked around to see what to do with the stem.

"Give it back to Samantha and say the same words." Angela prompted.

"Through death comes life and love," Lilith said handing the rose stem back to the goddess. Something changed she was not giving it to the goddess, she was binding herself to her sister wives and Samantha the woman. She felt odd, confused and very needy.

"It's called love," someone said in her mind.

I looked at her and tore my chest open with the stem. "Two bodies, one love." I pulled Lilith closer and guided her head down to my torn and bleeding breast.

She licked and then kissed the bloody breast. Looking up she brought her lips to Samantha's and whispered against them, "Two bodies, one love." The flash of emotion she had been feeling grew until it filled her world. She would follow the goddess anywhere but her heart belonged to the woman. "I love you," she mewed.

"I love you too," Samantha replied. She heard the chorus of agreements and welcomes from her sister wives. She turned to Jasmine, "Why wait until tonight?"

"No reason I can think of Samantha," Jasmine replied. Any fears she had fled as she watched Lilith go through it.

It took a little over an hour for me to marry Jasmine and Sue Ann. Oh sure I could have cut corners but this was special. It was getting married in all ways except a white dress. Once I finished I said mentally to Heather, "Can you find three willing girls so our wives can feed?"

"Or more to become blood slaves," Molly chimed in.

"Of course Samantha," Heather replied. She walked out and in under a minute came in with half a dozen girls who stood in a line with glazed eyes.

I watched as Molly led Lilith to the first girl and said to her, "Don't take all her life force, just about half." Like Angela, Lilith was a noisy feeder and would have drained the hapless girl had Molly not stopped her and moved her to the next in line. She then did the same with Jasmine and Sue Ann until all three had fed properly. Returning to the first girl she tore at her wrist and pushed it against the slave's mouth. She only allowed a swallow or two before pulling it away as she spoke again, "In time little one, you will become our sister but for now you are bound to Samantha and her wives as a blood slave." She repeated it with each until she finished. "You must bind them fully Samantha." She said mentally to me.

I stepped forward so I stood before the six women. Their eyes tracked me but other than that they remained still. "My life for yours, your life for ours." I raked my chest with my claws until it was covered in my black blood. "Drink and close the circle." Six women moved forwards in mass and began licking and sucking the blood from my body. "We are one," I intoned.

I was pushed back and laid on the floor as they licked and nuzzled my bloody chest. From overhead I heard Heather say, "Do not hide your bite marks, show them with pride so all will know you belong to Samantha and her wives." I closed my eyes and floated in the haze of pleasure that was washing over me. Both from the girls licking and worshiping my blood and the feelings of love by my sister wives. When I next opened my eyes, the blood slaves were gone and it was only me and my wives all making tender love to each other.

Lilith's world had changed more than she imagined possible. She was currently resting with her head on Samantha's chest as her hand was working her magic on her lover's body. Hands were doing the same to her as songs of love and devotion flowed through her mind. Her song joined theirs and together their minds joined in love for Samantha the woman behind the goddess. She raised her head to look at her lover's face.

"Oh Samantha, I can't bear to lose you," she whispered to herself. Unbidden the dark prophecy came to her mind and spread to her sister wives. It was as fresh as it had been when she dreamed it so long ago. Cries of horror and fear rolled through them as the goddess fell from an unseen hand. When she saw the face of the attacker she heard their gasps as their knowledge flowed into her. They knew this man and loved him. He was Samantha's only living family, her uncle. In an instant she knew all about him and how he had saved the goddess's life time and time again.

"If I had a nickel for every time some said I was going to die, I would be rich," I said mentally to them. "Be calm my loves. The future will take care of its self. For now, just love each other and be at peace." I let my mind rest and fill with the love I had for these women.

Her fears and worries fled just as fast as they arrived and Lilith returned her head to her mate's chest. She sent out, "Daughter, she is the one and I love her so much."

"Yes she is and I too have found I love her," Maradith's voice replied.

It seemed as if I were once more outside my body and looking down at us. This has happened twice before, both times I had been near death. I looked at the seven women all cuddling with me and each other and felt their love for me and each other. Kitten entered and her mind nuzzled each woman as she moved among them. She suddenly stopped and looked up at me, "Why is momma up there?"

"I don't know baby," I replied.

She looked at the bodies and then back up at me, "Why doesn't kitten have a flower?"

"Because my kitten doesn't need one. You are my kitten and all know it." I paused and then crouched down, "Does kitten want to be more like my wives instead of my kitten?"

Suddenly a spirit of a cat woman was before me. "Samantha, I will become what you wish. If you want me to become a drinker of blood, I will. If you want me to become a feeder of pleasure, I will. You have only to ask."

"I asked what you wanted Kitten," I said caressing her furry cat face. "I am happy to keep my kitten as she is now as long as she is happy too."

"Momma talks funny," kitten replied with a purr.

Lilith sat up and saw Samantha talking to a cat woman. She felt the love the pair had for each other. "Hello I am Lilith and who might you be?" It was only then that she realized she was out of her body.

"This is Kitten. Say hello to Lilith baby," I said.

"Hello momma wife Lilith," Kitten said. She moved up to Lilith and nuzzled her as her hands caressed the woman's spirit body. After a second she stopped and said, "You are the elder who seeks peace."

"Yes Kitten. However, now I have found peace in your human, my wife Samantha."

"I know of your dark dream story." Kitten paused as to think and then continued, "Samantha doesn't die. The goddess falls but the person, my person and your wife remains." Kitten looked at me, "Momma knows already and is setting it in motion." Turning back to Lilith she said, "Do not interfere with Alvin and Samantha."

"Kitten, I saw Samantha die. I can't lose her now that I have found love in her arms and mind," Lilith said.

I realized the others were listening in but staying out of their discussion. I would have interrupted but I was seeing a side of kitten that rarely comes out.

"You saw the goddess fall and her daughter take over and teach her message to the remaining races." Kitten countered, "Samantha lives on. Elder, you do not know her as I do. She does not like being the goddess. When one of her slaves fails she takes it personally and is hurt by it. Watch and you will see too." She looked at me, "Samantha, I disagree in you choosing Alvin to do the dirty work but it is your choice." Turning back to Lilith and the others still in their bodies she said, "Bad things will happen if you harm Alvin."

"No one will harm Alvin," I said. I added a moment later, "That means you Angela."

"As you command goddess," Angela said. "I disagree with Kitten but will follow your command. However, if you do die, his death will take an eternity."

"Yes that's my angel of death alright," I said. "My loves, I know you worry about me but be at peace." I wanted nothing more than to float in this pool of love but I did have work to do. I slid back into my body. Getting up I said, "Time to get to work." I looked down at Marie, "See that the ponies are properly groomed and have trained for inspection in the morning." Turning to Heather I said, "Marty and crew are coming tomorrow morning. I want the barn out building cleaned and ready for them. Jasmine will help you in that aspect." Turning to Sue Ann, "Find out everything you can about a vampire named Racine and Stephen Wolfe. The latter is over in the east end."

"He is a breed that runs Wolfe Brothers Salvage goddess," Molly spoke up.

"I figured as much seeing how much Racine hates him and me." I replied. "Angela, Molly, and Lilith, you three are with me tonight." I met Angela's eyes, "And so it begins again."

"Yes goddess, we will be ready." Angela replied.

"Before we leave... Lilith it is time for you and I to join. Come with me." I turned and walked out with Lilith following with her head down. We went up to the play room where several slaves were lounging. At my entrance they all knelt with lowered heads. By the time I walked to the drum the room was full, all knew what was coming. Lilith would have knelt but I mentally commanded her to stand.

I reached into the now full drum and caressed the glossy black ooze. "Here, in this drum, is my essence and the essence of your sisters who have given their lives in my service. All except three who..." my voice broke as the sharp pain of their loss swept through me and then through everyone in the room. It took a second for me to get control but by that time all were crying softly without moving. "...Who lost the battle before I ascended."

"Trust me," I said mentally.

"I do goddess, without fail," Lilith replied with bright eyes.

I lifted her up and said, "I know it should be a pool, but we have been busy." I set her in and said, "Dunk under and remain until you and I are one." With her eyes still on mine she slowly sunk under and though the drum was full, it didn't overflow. She came right back up, a female figure covered in shiny black oil. I lifted her out and waited. The last of the black to fade was her eyes which remained locked on mine.

Her voice was husky and dripped sex said, "I understand now goddess."

"Angela will arm you and Molly." I looked at Angela, "I will meet you out front." Mentally I added, "Ready to face death love?"

"With you beside me? Bring it on love." Angela replied.

I had a bad feeling as I walked to be bedroom. Not only did I put on daddy's pistol in a shoulder holster I put on a second one and selected a push dagger and laid it against my lower back so I could draw it quickly. My body took on the look of wearing a black glossy body suit with fingerless gloves and high heeled thigh high boots. In one boot top I placed a dagger so I could fight with a blade in each hand if needed. "Not if Samantha, when," I said to myself in the mirror. I put on my fedora and trench coat before walking out.

Outside I saw Angela was wearing her hat and coat also. She opened the coat to show she had a pistol on one side and a shotgun on the other. I looked at Lilith and saw she had two sword handles sticking up over her shoulders. "I never found the need to learn how to shoot. Please forgive a lowly slave," she said kneeling with head lowered.

"Forgiven," I said as I turned to Molly. She stood looking down and as far as I could tell she was unarmed. "Molly?"

"Goddess, I can't shoot ether and never learned blades. All I have ever needed are my claws," she said not meeting my eyes.

"You will stay here tonight," I commanded. "To walk into the dragon's den unarmed is to find death." I paused and then added, "I can't lose you Molly. I want you to seek out the slave Jenny ask her to teach you how to shoot tonight." I paused and went over and hugged her to take the sting out. Mentally I said, "I'll not march my wife to her death without giving her a fighting chance."