I do apologize for the length of time between postings. I was waiting to see if anyone found this story interesting and I did receive several emails so I shall continue the story line. Also the last posting had many "?". Why this occurred, I am not sure but hopefully I have solved the problem.
This story is based on magic, witchcraft, and supernatural events. This story does have sex encounters, but does involve issues of same-sex relationships. If you do not wish to read any subject matter of the supernatural, sexual issues between people of the same sex, or it is illegal for you to obtain this material, please do not read this. The author retains all rights to this work.
If you have feedback please email me at sockingsaw@hotmail.com with SHADOW PRIEST in the heading.
------- The Shadow Priest: The Dark Reaver
Tablet One: The Start
"Another death?" John Carr looked at Detective Sam White as he sat in his winged back chair in the library. "Was there another coffer?"
"Yes." Sam White sighed as he felt the questions were always the same and the answers never came. Sam stared at John, who was in a light white suit, which was a change in the normal loose fit tropical shirts. He was even more handsome and attractive than before. Sam had to resist the urge to jump on top of him.
John grinned, and then tapped the side of his chair. "We are closer to the truth." He stood up and pulled his shirt down. "We know there is a dark power behind this, and they have unleashed The 7 Djinn."
"Three of which are now trapped." Victor Marquez walked into the room carrying a tray of tea and small sandwiches. He was in his normal black suit which seemed to be contrasting to John's white suit. He also had an alluring look that made Sam wince in pain.
John pointed to the tray. "Would you like some detective?"
"No thank you." Sam did not like being in John's house more than he had to. It creped him out with what he knew the two gentlemen hid. "I must return to the office and file some paperwork. Unsolved murders are hard to make disappear." He nodded and then walked out of the room.
"He is hard up for one of us." John smiled as Victor handed him a plate of sandwiches and a cup of tea.
"More you then me." Victor said with a hint of jealousy. This was understandable as Victor could not have John at all. He sat down in the other winged back chair with his own plate.
"I am wondering if there is something else that is doing the killing." John took a bite of his sandwich and thought about the prospect of another hunter.
"With only four of the seven Djinn operational they would be virtually ineffective." Victor finished what John was thinking.
"So what is this one?" John looked at the fire place and grinned.
Tablet 2: Side Effects
John was still in a white suit still and walked into the police station. He was soon followed by Victor in his black suit. John looked around and spotted Sam sitting at his death holding his head in his hands. Sitting next to his arm was a cup of coffee that John could see was steaming from the heat. John looked at the clock and it was already one in the afternoon.
"Rough night detective?" John walked up to Sam's desk with a large smile that when Sam raised his head made him think of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. As if John had been reading Sam's mind his smile went from a smile to a frown.
"Worst nightmare since I was in elementary school." Sam took a drink of his coffee. "Repeat dream that would not go away no matter how much I tried to think of something else."
"Ah." John nodded and sat down in the chair next to his desk. "We need to see the folder from the most recent death."
Sam reached for a folder on his desk and handed it to John. "Take it."
Victor grabbed the folder and opened to look at it. He flipped the pages and looked at the autopsy report. "It says she died of drowning?" He then flipped to another page for the police report, "But he was in his bed?"
"That is the reason I got called on the case. I arrived saw the coffer on the desk next to the bed and knew we had another mystery killer." Sam looked at John. "And that took me to your doorstep."
"And aren't you glad you have!" John slapped the desk as he stood up and spun to leave.
Victor closed the folder and placed under his arm and nodded to Sam as he followed John out the door.
Tablet Three: Locked
"Damn!" John slammed his cell phone down on the counter as he got off the phone with the family head in Arizona. "They refuse to admit that something bad is going on, and refuse to allow my travel to visit the family council."
Victor walked over and picked up the pieces to the phone. He pulled the MicroSD card, and the SIM card out of the back. He tossed the rest into the garbage.
"They said there was `no way that the Seven Djinn was free and that I was over reacting'." John slumped in his chair and started to rub his temples with his fore-fingers.
"I would assume they do not want to think the worst." Victor had gone to the safe in the wall and pulled out a new phone. He inserted the SIM card and MicroSD card. He flipped it open and dialed some numbers on the phone. After two minuets he handed the phone to John. "Please be careful. This is the last one."
John took the phone and looked at the screen for a second. "I think I am going to bed."
Victor watched him leave the room. He was usually upset when his family refused to listen to him. They never took his advice, or his caution for that matter. Even when he was right the family thought it was a lucky guess. Victor felt it was due to his sexuality. He was technically the first Shadow Priest to be gay. They never seemed to care, but Victor always got the vibe that he was not the best Shadow Priest they ever had.
He picked up the folder that contained the case file of the three previous victims that had died under mysterious circumstances. He climbed the stairs to his bedroom carrying a class of red wine that he enjoyed.
As he climbed into bed and pulled the blanket up over him, he looked at the most recent murder. Same age as the other two victims: 50. The other two had been female, but this was the first male. Typical a murderer like this would only attack the same victim over and over again. Underworld creatures kill, not for the kill but for the substance that is provided. They prefer male or female, black hair or blonde hair, and so on. To switch sex's meant they were dealing with an abnormal underworld creature.
He reached for his glass of wine to take a drink. As he raised it to his lips he realized it was all gone.
"Odd." He said out loud as he placed it back on the table and looked at the glass. He could not recall taking a drink yet, and there it stood, empty. He strummed his fingers on the folders that lay under his hand. Maybe he was more tired than you thought.
As he reached for the light to turn it off he saw a shadow move under the doorway. He paused. "Hello?" He yelled out.
A knock on his door and then it slowly opened.
"Victor?" John's voice came from the crack in the door.
"Yes John?" Victor perked up at the sound of John. "Something wrong?"
The door swung open and Victor gasped as the sight of John standing naked took his breath away. It has been several years since he had seen John naked.
When Victor has first discovered that John was to become the next Shadow Priest, they had developed a relationship in the same of 3 days. Victor never knew that such deep devotion and love could have happened in such a short time. Victor soon discovered that the love he had for John had a high price to pay. He could either leave him and find another love, or stay and never have the ability to touch John again. If he did death would follow quickly as John's power would be unleashed and demolish both his body and his soul.
After reading through the Codex that detailed his role as The Consort to the Shadow Priest, he decided that something had been mistranslated and was constantly looking for a way that he could return to the touch of his lover. For now he was the loyal Consort of the Shadow Priest.
"What are you doing?" Victor almost screamed the words as he saw John approach him. "You know this is insane!"
"Why is it insane?" He moved closer to the bed and ran his hand down the edge of the bed. His dick was about 3 inches long limp, but would grow to 7 inches when hard. "You know your work has discovered that we can be together." He leaned over the bed and started to crawl. His blue eyes were glowing as if on fire.
"What…what are you talking about?" He stuttered as he attempted to clear the fog that was starting to fill his head. "I never found…"
"Of course you did silly. Remember?" He started to kiss his legs and moved slowly up towards his stomach. "You discovered it two weeks ago."
"I never…" He felt the fog start to cover and he had hard time thinking. He was certain he had not discovered a way. He was certain of it, but ever time John looked at him he felt the fog erase more of this certainty. "I may have?"
"Yes you have." John moved up and kisses Victor hard on the lips. It had been over 8 years since he had felt the tender lips of John. Immediately any caution Victor had left in him was over. He gave in completely to John.
John pulled away and smiled slyly. "I love you." As he said that he moved back down to a waiting cock that was growing with every passing heartbeat. John grinned and shoved the now 5 inch partially inflated dick into his mouth.
Ecstasy was the word that would describe Victors mind and emotion. Almost heaven he was sure. He groaned. He patted the back of Johns head. John pulled off and grinned.
"My turn!" He moved so his own member was within range of Victors mouth. Victor accepted the now hard seven inch cock into his mouth and another surge of ecstasy ran through his mind. He forgot how good this felt. John always tasted like cinnamon for some reason. He figured it was part of the uniqueness that John was. He started to speed up and he could feel the stomach in front of his face tense up. He rolled his eyes up to see Johns face; Looking down at him smiling.
"That feels awesome love!" He smiled again.
Victor turned his attention back to the task at hand. Since it had been 8 years he was anxious to taste his seed once more. It was always sweet like liquid sugar. As his eyes flashed down the wine glass caught his eye. It was full again. Quickly the fog flashed out of his mind just as John started to tense and he could feel the hot cum hit the back of his mouth. The sweet taste of sugar again greeted his mouth. Without thinking he started to swallow as fast as he could.
After several minuets John collapsed on top of Victor.
"That was amazing!" Victor leaned back. Apparently John was right. There was nothing to fear. Nothing bad had happened. He sighed happily, but was thirsty. He reached for the wine glass and raised it to his lips. As he titled it towards his lips nothing came out. The glass was once again empty.
"What the hell?" He pulled the glass back and looked at it. "I must be going insane!"
John made a muffled attempt to say something but just ended up snorting and was back asleep.
The thirst that Victor felt was once again in his mind. His realized that his mouth was dry, as if he had not taken a drink for days. He got up and went to the bathroom to grab a glass of water. He typically did not drink tap water, but he was to thirsty to go down stairs to get a bottle.
He filled the glass up with water and placed it to his lips, but no liquid fell out.
"What the devil?" Victor coughed trying to clear his dry through. He again filled the glass and put it to his lips, and again nothing feels out. He did this twice more, and each time the glass came up empty. He started to slam the glass down on the counter top but heard a voice come to his head.
"Don't think about it." Victor spun around to see who was behind him, but found no one. He turned back to the sink and looked at the glass. He coughed again. He filled the glass once more and placed it to his lips, but pulled back before tilting the glass. The water was still in the cup. He thought for a second and put the glass to his lips again, and nothing happened. He pulled the glass back and looked at it. There was no hole in the glass as water had been there a second ago.
"Don't think about it." Again the voice appeared out of nowhere. Victor looked around and coughed. He was hardly noticing how dry his throat was, and even how thirsty he was. He walked into the bedroom and looked at John sleeping on the bed peacefully. Without realizing it he lifted the glass to his lips and took a drink. The water was cold and it burned as it went down he coughed water up.
As he coughed, John rolled over and looked up at Victor.
"How did you do that?" He asked.
"Do what?" Victor's surprised look at the question made John laugh.
"Drink the water." John sat up on the bed and looked at the wine glass on the table and the glass in his hand. "People usually drown before they realize they have had a single drip of water."
Victor thought for a second. "Ecna Rep Pa La Er!"
As he said that the image of John was replaced by a man in a red trench coat and a black glass cross necklace. He was pale and had long white hair that went down to his mid back. His eyes were jet black, and his lips were grinning to show sharp jagged teeth. His fingers were long and bony that ended with 2 inch long fingernails.
"Clever." He stood up and walked to the door. "I underestimated the power of you and your `mate'. But I will not do that again!" He slammed the door shut and Victor feel to the floor light headed, and the world went black.
Tablet Four: Answers
Victor awoke to find John wiping his forehead with a cloth. He was in his robe that was white silk. He coughed to clear his throat.
"What happened?" Victor asked as John handed him a glass of water. Victor looked at it as if not sure what to do, put it to his lips and felt the cold water. He took one gulp and it was gone.
"You were having a bad dream." John pulled the cloth off and leaned over smiling. "I heard you coughing in here and you were sound asleep. I attempted to wake you but couldn't."
"I was almost dead. It was a dream that started out good, but then turned violent. You came to me and I sucked you off, and you went to sleep. I started to get a really dry throat and mouth, but I could not get any water as it continued to disappear from my glass. After several failed attempts a voice came to me and told me I should `not think about it'. Somehow my mind forgot about the water and the dryness and I was able to drink some water." He looked around the room real quick. "Hand me that book on the shelf. The third one on the top shelf from the right."
As John went to get the book Victor continued his story.
"This made you in the dream wake up and seemed to be unhappy that I was able to drink the water before realizing I had drunk too much and drowned. Before he could leave I was able to discard his appearance in a dream with a spell, and now I know what has been killing these people."
He flipped through a book till he got to a painting of what he saw in his dream. "Sad part is I never knew I went to sleep. One moment I was looking at the chart, the next I was asleep apparently."
He turned the book to John who nodded at the story.
"Reapers." He took the book and looked at the picture. "The real Nightmare on Elm Street."
"Reapers?"
"They come in your sleep and fulfill your greatest fantasy." John grinned as Victor turned red. "After the fantasy is fulfilled the Reaper is able to capture the soul. If the victim is unable to overcome the `puzzle', in your case and our other victims cases, the Reaper gets the soul and you die."
"But how did I beat it?" More questions than answers.
"I do not know. Apparently someone is watching over you." John patted Victor on the leg and stood up. "But now we know what we are looking for and we can deal with it."
"How?"
"The same way that the kids in that silly horror movie did it: Pull him out of the dream and kill him like you would any other person." John walked out of the room.
Tablet Five: End Game
"You want me to do what?" Sam was sitting in the basement of John's house and had heard the most idiotic idea ever.
"We want to put a sleeping spell on you to draw out this Reaper." Victor restated the proposal and sighed. This was not going to be easy."
"But this thing will kill me!" Sam yelled out louder then he intended.
"Only if you let him." John smiled. "We cannot do it as he has already attempted to take Victor, and I, well I am immune."
"Just remember, he will let your deepest desire seem like a reality. If you let him do that you will lose. But you still remember what we tell you now as the dream will happen as if nothing occurred." Victor handed him some yellow liquid. It smelled like orange juice, but he had seen Victor mix it before his eyes.
"This mixture will lure him to you as he is draw to strong desire. This will amplify your desires 10 fold." John sat down across form Sam. "Once you have him, you can pull him back to our world by placing his in his hand."
"I recommend you place it in the hand of anyone in the dream." Victor countered. "Anyone can be him."
Sam sighed and thought for a second how insane this idea was. How can a piece of paper travel with him across barriers? But he shrugged and realized he would have to do this if he did not want more people to die.
"If you are not out in 10 minutes we will pull you out." John continued the lecture. "Not that I know what we are dealing with I know how to break his spell. It will not be easy and it may cause you to be in the hospital for a week or so, but you will live at least."
Sam groaned. He had lasted longer in his position than any other detective before him. He was not about to let this be his last day. He took a gulp of the liquid Victor had given him and place the glass down on the tray.
"Okay now what…" He looked around and the room was empty. He looked at the glass and saw there was no liquid left, even though he was sure he had not taken the entire glass. "Okay where did you guys go?"
He stood up and walked towards the door that led to the first floor. He opened it and walked through. He found himself standing in the streets of Albuquerque. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the bright sun, even though he thought it was 11 PM. He looked up and down the street to get his bearings. It did not look familiar to him at all.
"Sam!" A voice behind him was calling. He turned to see who it was and he almost dropped the paper in his hand.
"Sam, what are you doing here?" A male was running up to him. He had blond short hair and skin that was fair to look at. His eyes shined green. He had a little patch of golden hair under his lip, but otherwise clean shaven. Instinctively Sam reached his hand up and placed it on the mans face.
"Nick?" Sam's voice came out barely audible as he said the name.
"Yes silly of course it is!" He looked shocked as if Sam had slapped him in the face. "Don't act like you do not know me."
Sam pulled back his hand and he found himself on the verge of crying. He had not seen Nick since his younger years. He was 17 and Nick was 15. They had meet on the internet and seemed to hit it off pretty good. They had only meet once before Nick's mother had discovered some nude males on his computer, and that was the last he had seen of Nick.
Nick smiled. "What is wrong?"
"I have not seen you since you were 15." Sam made a hard effort to talk.
"No silly, we have been together since I was 15. We graduated together and moved in shortly afterwards."
Sam's mind started to become a fog and everything around him started to seem like he had known it for a long time.
"We…have?" Same asked quietly not wanting to ruin the surprise that may have happened.
"Yes. We live in that house at the end of the street." He pointed to a one story house with a cinder block fence blocking of the back half and nice manicured lawn. A blue sports car was parked next to his police issued car. "Come on lets go in. You wondered out during breakfast."
Sam focused on his car, and the certainty that he had not see Nick since he was 15 started to fade away.
Nick reached out to grab Sam's hand. Sam reached his hand out and clasped his with Nick's. He smiled as he felt the warmth of Nick's hand against his. As Nick grasped hard against Sam's hand, Sam hear the crunch of the paper that John had given him. As if slapped by a cold rag he the world spun quickly and he found himself sitting in the chair in John's basement.
The body of Nick lay on the floor at his feet, breathing but unconscious.
"Nick!" John dove to the body on the floor rolling him over. The same face he remember seeing so long ago looked back up at him. Much older but still the same lines. His eyes filled with rage as he turned towards John and Victor. "What type of evil do you play with?"
John looked at Victor with shock as John's rage set his eyes on fire.
"You two have no right!"
John slowly moved towards Sam and the new body and knelt down.
"Sam, this is not who you think it is. This is a Reaper. He would have killed you."
"No!" Was all Sam could say as he laid over the unconscious body of his first love. He may not have had the opportunity to get to know Nick, but he knew it was true love.
John looked as Victor and sighed and shook his head as he stood up. He waved his hand over the body and it shimmered as it turned into the body of the Reaper Victor had seen in his own dream.
As the body changed, Sam realized something was going on and looked at the new hideous body of the Reaper before him. All feeling left his body as he realized it was not Nick, and that the trick was not John and Victors, but the Reaper itself.
The Reaper opened his eyes to see Sam holding him. "Well isn't this nice." He smiled his sharp tooth smile. "Someone crying over me for once?"
Sam's eyes glowed once again with fire as anger and rage he had felt at John were not at this creature in front of him.
"No one care for you!" Sam seethed through his teeth and jumped up to the table and grabbed one of knives that John had brought out. He lunged back at the Reaper lying on the floor. "No one cares if you live or die!" He sank the knife into the Reapers chest.
John and Victor stood in silence as they saw the knife glow as it sucked the life force out of the Reaper. They had no idea Sam could wield the weapon in such a manner.
As the Reapers last amount of energy rushed towards the knife in Sam's grip he grabbed the shirt of Sam and pulled him towards him.
"This was all planned. You played your part." He released Sam and his eyes closed shut.
Again John looked at Victor in surprise at the whole unfolding of events before him.
As Sam pulled the knife out of the Reaper, the body turned to a pile of dust. Tired Sam placed the knife back on the table and slowly walked towards the stairs.
"Never ask me to do that again." And he went up stairs.
Tablet Six: The Awakening
John followed Sam up stairs as Victor went about cleaning up the dust mess left behind by the Reaper. Sam was sitting at the kitchen table, his head in his arms crying.
"You want to talk?" John went to the refrigerator and pulled out two beers. He placed one in front of John and sat down in the chair next to Sam.
Sam looked up at John, his eyes red and puffy, but the anger still showing. If John had not known better he would have thought Sam's eyes were on fire.
Sam reached for the beer and took a drink. He knew he should not drink so late, but after the night he had the hell with it. He sighed and realized he had better explain his story.
"I meet Nick while I was in high school. He was 15 and I was 17. I did not know many gay guys at the time, in fact I did not know anyone but I was gay. I had internet and used it to find other gay guys in New Mexico to talk to." Sam took a deep breath as he realized the story was still painful. "I accidently meet Nick in a chat room and we started to talk. We spent almost a full month talking on the phone and internet. Finally we decided to meet. I do not know how he felt but I felt an instant attraction. Love at first sight I guess you could say. I do not know if he felt the same way or not. Never had the opportunity to ask him.
"After we meet I knew something had happened and I was happier in all my life. Even my friends saw the change. I thought things would last for a while. They did not last even a month after we meet. Apparently someone else Nick had been talking to had sent him some pictures of naked men. She went hysterical and banned him from ever seeing me again, even though I did not send the pictures. After that, I became cynical and uncaring. I never allowed anyone into my heart again. They moved shortly after to that. Someone said Colorado, but I was never sure for certain. I figured he did not love me like I loved him though, as he never even attempted to make contact." He sighed heavy and took a long drink from his glass.
John sat back in his chair and thought for a second.
"How do you know he did not try to contact you?"
"Another person that lived down the street told me he did not care about me and that he did not love me and that it was all in my head. After all how could you love someone after only meeting them once?"
"You would be surprised." John looked towards the door to the basement. "He could have just said that to be mean."
Sam shrugged.
"Listen, there is something more going on as well." John placed his hand on John's arm. "To kill a Reaper you must be able to wield magic, which you apparently can do. Only a magic user can make that blade work the way it was supposed to. Apparently there is more to your history then you know."
"I know." Sam looked at John. "I have know for a very long time."