Reginald
carefully walked up the steps of the dilapidated Masonic Lodge on the hill in
the middle of town. His grandfather had raised him after his parents had been
killed in a car accident when he was a child. Although his grandfather was a
Mason, he remembered that the only other time he had been in the building was
for his grandfather’s installation ceremony. That must have been close to forty
years ago, he reminisced. He returned to his hometown after the passing of
his grandfather, Lucian. He had died a few months ago, ironically enough in a
car accident. Reginald had returned to his hometown to settle his
affairs. As he reached the top of the
stairs, he was greeted by his grandfather’s best friend, Abraham.
“Reginald, it
overjoys my heart to have you join our ancient craft. Your grandfather would be
so proud if he were still alive.”
Abraham exclaimed while extending his hand to Reginald. “Thank You,
Abraham.” Reginald stated excitedly while shaking Abraham’s hand. “Let’s
introduce to the others, shall we?” Abraham said, he smiled and led
Reginald across the hall to the dining room. Reginald was shocked at how little
had changed since he was last in the building. The dining room looked pretty
much the same.
“Reginald, I’d
like to introduce you to our Worshipful Master, Romero, and his brothers, who
are the Senior and Junior Wardens here.”
Abraham said. Romero wasn’t quite what Reginald expected. Romero looked pale, with long dark hair, a beard,
sunken blue eyes, and lips that were a cold blue. Romero extended his hand,
which Reginald took. As he began to shake his hand, Reginald couldn’t help but
notice that it was cold to the touch. He
wore what appeared to be a vintage white suit coat, with a light blue shirt, an
orange Hermes ascot tie, blue pants and brown shoes.
Abraham also
introduced his brothers, a pair of identical twins, Alexander and Alexi, who
wore identical vintage powder blue tuxedo suits, with shirts which were identical
to Romero’s, they also had the same long dark hair and beards. Instead of the
orange ascot, Alexander and Alexi wore matching white bow ties. The three men
appeared to be of middle eastern heritage.
Still shaken by his introduction to Romero, Reginald could only whimper a
quiet “Hello” to his twin brothers. He was struck by how tall and large the
three of them were. All three of them were built like Offensive Linemen and had
to be at least six foot five inches tall, and over 300 pounds. Solid oaks of men.
Abraham noticed
Reginald’s behavior; asking “Is everything okay, Reg?” Reginald replied, “Yes, everything is fine. I
apologize, I’m feeling a bit peckish.” “Let’s get you some food then.” Abraham
replied. Abraham approached the buffet, followed by Reginald. “Ah, Prime Rib!”
Abraham exclaimed. Reginald looked and saw that it was a little too pink for
his tastes, but he was starving, so he cut himself a couple of slices, grabbed
some mashed potatoes, green beans, and the apple cobbler for dessert. He was
pleased they had horseradish for the prime rib, heaping it on top of the au-jus-soaked
meat.
Reginald sat
down, cut into the prime rib, and began to devour it. He looked around and
noticed that no one else other than Abraham was eating. “Is it normal for no
one to eat before a degree?” Reginald asked. “They’ll all come in to eat in a
bit. They’re busy getting the lodge room
ready for your degree.” Abraham replied. “When did you decide you wanted to
become a Freemason?” Abraham asked Reginald. “A few years ago, I saw a program
on the History Channel, and as I approached my fiftieth birthday, I decided to join.
When I came back here for the funeral, it was a no brainer. As you know, my grandfather
and I were close, and my one regret is that he won’t be here to see me receive
my first degree. The least I could do is
join the lodge that he loved so much.” Reginald replied. “Yes, Lucian would
have loved to see this.” Abraham replied. “Come, let’s get you ready.” Abraham
said as Reginald finished his last bite of cobbler.
Abraham led Reginald
to another room. He gave him an outfit which looked like pajamas. “Put this
on.” Abraham said and stepped outside of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Reginald took his clothes off, folded them neatly, and put on the outfit. He waited
for Abraham to knock, which came a minute or so later. “Ready?” Abraham asked. “Yes.”
Reginald replied. “Great, I’m going to blind fold you now. Then I’ll lead you to another room that we
call a Chamber of Reflection. Once I sit
you down in there, you’ll hear me close the door. You can take your blindfold off as soon as
the door is closed. There will be some objects in the room, along with a pencil
and a piece of paper. We ask you to reflect upon what you want out of joining
the Fraternity, and to write those desires down. We also ask you to write down
a bucket list, things that you want to accomplish before your time here on
earth is done. We will read the paper at the first meeting after you’re raised,
several months from now. I think that
you’ll find that as you go through your degrees, you’ll find that these things
will seem insignificant, both in terms of what you want from the fraternity and
in terms of what you place importance on in your bucket list.” Abraham stated. He
then closed the door.
Hearing the
door close, Reginald took off his blindfold. He was seated at a desk, with a
single black candle illuminating the small room. There was a mirror and skull
sitting on the desk, along with the pencil, bread, water, and piece of paper. He
looked around the room, seeing images of an hourglass, a cockerel, the initials
V.I.T.I.R.I.O.L., salt, sulfur and mercury, and a scythe. He also noticed what
appeared to be an older black and white photograph that appeared to have fallen
on the floor in the right rear corner of the room. It was stuck partially between the floor molding
and the floorboards. Reginald got up from his seat and bent over to pick up the
photograph.
He was shocked
at what he saw. His grandfather and Abraham were young men, Reginald estimated,
that they must both be in their twenties; but Romero, Alexander and Alexi
looked the same. He wondered how this could be. His mind was racing. It didn’t
make sense he thought; surely it was some trick, some ruse, some form of
psychological hazing. They must be
photoshopped. They’re trying to take the piss out of me. It’s the only
explanation that makes sense Reginald thought.
He tried to
focus on writing what Abraham had asked of him. Yet he found himself staring at
the photograph. He thought he heard a jingle of keys or coins outside the door,
which snapped him out the semi-hypnotic trance he had almost put himself in
concentrating on the photograph. It was then that it dawned on him. The
memories came flooding back, as if the metallic jingling had awoken something
he had long buried deep inside of him. He had the unsettling realization that the
picture was genuine. He remembered that he had met Romero, Alexander and Alexi
before.
It was the last
time he was in the Masonic Temple before tonight, some forty years prior, at
his grandfather’s installation as Worshipful Master. He had been wandering the
Temple building prior to the event. He remembered that his grandfather had forbidden
him to go into one room. He told him, directly, that the room was off limits to
visitors. Being a young man, aged ten at that time, he was naturally
inquisitive. While his grandfather and the other lodge members were distracted;
he entered the room. He was surprised to find the three brothers, and he
remembered. He remembered that is where he had met Romero, Alexander, and Alexi
for the first time. Each of them was hunched over and Reginald remembered that
they were feasting on a human corpse. He remembered screaming and running from
the room. The next thing he remembered was being in the dining room, eating a
piece of chocolate cake. He had no recollection of the room and what he had
witnessed until this very moment, some forty years later.
Reginald felt
like he was going mad. He tried the door handle to exit the Chamber of
Reflection. It was locked. He began to panic. He banged on the door with
reckless abandon. His fists pounded against the wood, shaking the door. He
screamed: “Let me out of here!” He picked up the wooden chair he had been
sitting on, and with all his might, swung it towards the door. The chair
disintegrated against the door, splintering into several sharp pieces. It
seemed as if the walls were closing in on him. He suddenly felt like he
couldn’t breathe, taking long gulps of air, trying to keep himself from
hyperventilating. He heard the metallic jingling
sound again. He grabbed the sharpest piece of the splintered chair and placed
it on the desk, not having any pockets in his candidate’s outfit, he put the
photograph in the waistband of his underwear. He then grabbed the splintered
piece of chair, using it almost like a baseball bat to knock loudly against the
door. He continued his screams,
demanding to be let out of the room.
He heard a
knock, and then a whisper. It was Abraham. “For God’s sake Reginald, calm
down!” Reginald curtly replied to
Abraham. “Abraham, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’ve had a change of
heart. This isn’t what I thought I was
getting into. Let me out of here at
once!” “I’m afraid that I can’t do that
Reginald. You’re just going to have to sit tight and please be quiet.” Abraham responded. “I remember everything, Abraham.
I remember the body, and I have this picture I found. You and Grandfather as
young men, along with Romero, Alexander, and Alexi, who look the same as today,
and the same as the day I discovered their resting place. I remember screaming,
and then being in the dining room, eating chocolate cake. I don’t know what’s
going on here, but I don’t want any part of this!” Reginald screamed.
“Lucien always
feared this day would come. I told him that the hypnosis was a temporary Band-Aid
for your trauma. He felt that you’d think that it was a nightmare or write it
off as such. I promised him that I’d
look after you. That’s what I intend to
do. But you must do exactly what I say,
when I say it. I can’t have you questioning anything I tell you to do. Now, you must be quiet and follow directions,
no matter how absurd they might seem. Is that clear?” Abraham stated calmly and quietly. “Yes, just
let me out this room.” Reginald replied. “Good. I’m going to open the door
now.” Abraham said. Reginald had no intention of obeying Abraham. He knew as
soon as that door was opened that he was going to run out of the building and
go directly to the police. He didn’t care about his clothes, his wallet, his
phone. He would explain that he had been
held against his will and ask them to retrieve his items for him. He would
present the photo as evidence of the strangeness he had uncovered.
The door began
to open, and Reginald threw himself towards the door, attempting to force it
wide open. The force of his full weight knocked Abraham’s slender frame back
and Reginald fell right on top of him. Before Abraham could gather himself,
Reginald was up on his feet, running down the hall, trying to remember if this
was the right way so that he could escape the building. He heard a gunshot behind him, and a piece of
wood from the doorframe on his right-side splintered when the bullet impacted
into it. Reginald’s heart felt as if it might leap from his chest. He had never
felt such panic in his life. Time seemed to slow down for him. He then saw
Romero was in front of him charging directly towards him, sword in hand.
Instinctively, Reginald dropped and slid towards Romero, his heels up, much
like he was taught how to slide into second base as a little league baseball
player. Another gunshot echoed behind him, and he saw the sword fall from
Romero’s hand, as the bullet impacted Romero’s torso.
“Dammit Reg,
I’m trying to help you! Grab the sword and cut off his head before he comes
to!” Abraham yelled as he ran up the hall towards Reginald. “Cut off his head?
Are you mad?” Reginald replied. “Yes, cut off his head and hurry. He will not
spare us when he awakens, and the other two are most likely close by.” Abraham barked at Reginald. Reginald picked
the sword up from the floor, and stood over Romero, getting ready to swing with
all the force he could muster. He swung once, and then twice. The sword was
dull, barely cutting into Romero’s neck. Reginald kept swinging it. Finally, he
felt the sword reverberate in his hand. Sure enough, it had gotten stuck while
trying to sever Romero’s head from his body. Reginald yanked on it. Romero’s
eyes opened wide, sheer terror across his face. “Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Romero screamed, as his head fell off his body. “I’ll kill you for
thisssss!!!!!!” Romero hissed. Reginald was shocked to see that his eyes were wide
open along with his mouth, and that somehow, he was still able to speak
although his head was severed from his body. Without thinking, Reginald kicked
Romero’s head down the hall, just as Abraham had finally reached him. Romero
cackled as it rolled. “Kill you!!!!!!!” He kept repeating as it rolled end over
end down the hall, it hit the far wall and tumbled a bit more before resting on
its left side.
“Where are the
other two?” Reginald asked Abraham. “They must be in the lodge room.” Abraham
replied. “What’s going on here Abraham?” Reginald demanded. “No time for an
explanation now, Reg. We’ve got to stop the others, and I’ll tell you
everything that you want to know.” Abraham answered. “Follow me!” “We need to get out of here Abraham! Let’s
get the police and they can handle this.” Reginald replied. “Reginald, you have
no idea of the powers that we’re dealing with here! You have seen that Romero is
able to speak and curse you although his head is separated from his body, do
you think the Police are going to be able to stop the others? We don’t have
time. We must end the others before they
summon him.” Abraham stated.
“Summon who?”
Reginald asked. “Cain!” Abraham emphasized. “They are going to summon Cain. You
were meant as a sacrifice. They want to bring him forth from the land of Nod. Now
break that glass and grab the fire axe. We’re going to have to break the door
down. As soon as I discovered their plan,
I came here to rescue you.” Reginald did
what Abraham instructed. Sure enough, upon checking, the double doors leading
into the lodge room were locked. He made his way into the preparation room, but
found the door which separated the preparation room from the lodge room was locked
as well. There was a faint chanting coming through the door, and an unholy red
light creeped into the preparation room from beneath the door and through the old
keyhole. Abraham yelled: “Quickly Reginald! We must stop them! Use the Axe and chop
through the door!”
Reginald swung
the axe several times, taking large chunks out of the antique wooden door. The
unholy red glow enveloped the room with each strike, and he could finally make
out the chanting. Reginald knew immediately that they were speaking Latin. “Veni,
o Cain, prodi de terra Nod. Veni in conspectum nostrum, pone vindictam tuam
super JEHOVAM. Nomen eius maledicimus, tuum veneramur. Infernum erumpere in
terra. Deduc nos, et viventibus epulabimur, et ex ossibus eorum medullas suges.
Tenebrae cadunt. Tenebrae praeessent. Gaudeamus in sanguine inimicorum
nostrorum Seth fratris tui. O Cain filius satanae, te rogamus. Veni in mundum.
Vincamus nos de viribus Boni. In novum mundum inducas nos ordinem. Ad victoriam
nostram perduc nos. Prope est.” The men repeated over and over. Abraham stood
behind Reginald, his pistol at the ready.
Soon the door
split from the frame. Reginald could not believe his eyes. A circle of twelve men
wearing black hooded robes stood around the altar. The men held hands while
chanting. A book which looked to be bound with Human Flesh sat open upon the
altar. Three tall black burning tapers were positioned around the altar. One on
the far-left side away from Reginald, and the other two on the left and right side
of the altar parallel to the side closest to him. They formed a right triangle.
A pulsating red glow was being emitted from a portal suspended in mid-air,
right above the men and the altar.
Reginald jumped
as a gunshot rang out extremely near to him. This startled him. He saw one of
the men drop to the ground. As soon as this happened, the chanting stopped, and
the portal disappeared, taking the unholy red glow with it. He heard a rapid
series of gunshots follow the initial one, and more men fell where they stood. He
then heard a muffled series of clicking and felt liquid come out from his left ear.
Touching his left hand to his left ear, he saw that it was blood. His ears rang.
He saw only one man remained standing, and he was soon charging directly
towards Reginald and Abraham.
“You’ll pay for
that! I will paint these walls with your
blood!” the man yelled. Reginald stood tall, raising his axe, and prepared to
swing it in self-defense. He noticed that the hood had fallen off the man. He
saw that it was either Alexi or Alexander coming directly towards him in a
beeline. As they were identical, he was unsure of which twin it was. As he got
closer, he noticed the stiletto in his left hand. Suddenly and unexpectedly, he
felt Abraham brush his right arm as he passed by him. Abraham was charging
directly towards the twin to meet him. Before he could issue a warning, the
twin grabbed hold of Abraham with his right hand, lifting the frail old man from
the ground. He raised the dagger in his left hand and plunged it into Abraham’s
torso several times. Blood began to pour out of Abraham, staining his white
tuxedo shirt, and dripping to the black and white mosaic tile floor of the
lodge. The twin then tossed the old man, and he flew a foot or so in the air
before hitting the floor.
As this was
happening, Reginald threw the axe with all his might towards the twin,
remembering how he had thrown one at the axe bar where his company held their
last Christmas party. Time seemed to stand still for Reginald as he watched the
axe tumble end over end. The twin didn’t realize what had hit him until it was
too late. By this time Reginald had
sprung into action, and as the axe impaled itself into the Twin’s torso,
Reginald was a few steps away from him. A shocked look was on the twin’s face
as he slumped to the ground. Reginald heard the dagger clatter against the tile
floor. He stood over the twin and extracted the axe from the twin’s chest.
He ran to
Abraham. Abraham was pale but had managed to sit himself up against a wall.
Reginald saw that he was coughing up blood. He gurgled to Reginald. “You must
cut their heads off and burn down the lodge. Our ashes must be spread by winds,
so that there is no remembrance of any of us, or what happened today. A journal,
which is on my nightstand, will explain everything. It’s written in a pigpen
cypher. There is a key under the front
mat of my apartment. You remember where I live?” Reginald nodded yes. “Good. Good.” Abraham
said. He smiled at Reginald and expired, drawing a raspy last breath.
Reginald then
got to work on his grisly task. He had just finished cutting the head off the last
robed man when he heard a skittering noise. Romero’s adult head was being held
aloft by a small torso, two small arms pulling it along the floor, his organs were
being dragged behind him, as the creature had no legs. “Killlllll Youuuuu….” It
hissed over and over, as Romero dragged himself towards Reginald. After all the
high strangeness that Reginald had experienced that evening, he wasn’t at all
shocked at the sight he had beheld. He
calmly raised the axe once again and removed Romero’s head from its small torso.
It continued to hiss at him.
Reginald
carefully arranged the bodies into a pile near the altar. He went into the
preparation room and changed back into his clothing. He tore down the curtains
from the lodge room windows and threw them into the pile. He then kicked over one
of the long black tapers which were still burning. The candle ignited the curtains,
which in turn started to ignite the bodies. Reginald quickly ran down the
stairs, and he exited the lodge building before the smoke and flames could
overwhelm him.
He ran down the
hill, finding his car which he had parked on a side street and started it. He
drove immediately to Abraham’s apartment. Finding the key under the front mat
as Abraham had told him. He unlocked the apartment door. He flipped on the
light switch right next to door, which illuminated the hallway leading back
into the apartment. He reached the living room, and turned on a lamp, and soon
discovered Abraham’s bedroom. He saw a withered old leather-bound journal
sitting on the nightstand next to Abraham’s bed, a skull with a crown was on
the front cover in the lower right-hand side.
Reginald
grabbed the journal and fled the apartment. He got into his car and drove home.
He parked his car in the garage, entered his grandfather’s home, and turned on
the television. He sat down at his dining room table, which occupied the space next
to his living room. He opened the journal and began to decrypt the Masonic
Pigpen cypher with a key he had found on the internet. The strange, angled
markings, some with dots, some without, soon began to reveal themselves to him.
What he read as he decrypted the journal bewildered him. Reginald was surprised
to learn that what he was reading was in fact his grandfather’s journal.
The journal
read:
At the time of
the building of King Solomon’s temple, the beautiful queen of Sheba had come to
Jerusalem to visit him. She was intrigued by the tales of his riches and wisdom.
While out for a walk one day, she came upon Hiram Abiff, who was the chief
architect of the Temple. She was immediately taken in by his looks and charm. The
Queen and Hiram began spending time together. Solomon desired the Queen, and
his jealousy and lust for her flesh clouded his judgement. He began to hatch a
plot.
Solomon learned
that there were three brothers named Jubela, Jubelo and Jubelum who desired to learn
the secrets of the Master Mason or the Master’s word. He struck a deal with them
and communicated it to them in exchange for them eliminating Hiram. They would
murder Hiram and board transport to Ethiopia to flee the country.
Solomon had
underestimated how beloved Hiram Abiff was by the builders of the Temple. Because
of the outcry of the workers at Hiram’s disappearance and not wanting to have a
revolt on his hands should his role in the murder be discovered, Solomon ordered
the assassins hunted down and executed. He also put an embargo on all sea
travel; only allowing those who had his pass to travel by sea. The brothers
discovered that Solomon had double crossed them when they attempted to book a
passage to Ethiopia, needing King Solomon’s pass and not having it. They turned
back to the country, to hide themselves and preserve their lives as long as
they could.
While they were
secreting themselves in a cave, they found themselves with little food left. Near
starvation, they discovered some mushrooms inside of the cave and made broth
from them. The brothers had a vision of Cain, who explained he was the
progenitor of their race. He prophesied their capture and execution. He gave
them a choice, in exchange for their servitude, he would grant them everlasting
life. The brothers, desperate to keep themselves alive, hastily agreed to the
conditions. In doing so, Cain had granted each of them his mark, a small red
triangle on the back of their head. Cain ordered them to recruit as many
followers as they could to worship him, stating that when the time was right,
he would return to Earth to unleash Hell in order to punish Jehovah for sending
him to the land of Nod.
The brothers were
captured, and Solomon ordered them executed. However, the brothers were
resurrected after fifteen days, just as Cain had promised. They fled Jerusalem
and made their way to Egypt, finding work as stone masons having been taught
the Mason’s word by Solomon himself. They would continue to earn a living as
such, travelling the world, building great edifices of stone; never staying in
one place for too long. That is until about the mid 17th Century, as
the operative Stone Mason guilds began to transition to Speculative Freemasonry.
As the Stone
Masonry work dried up, the brothers understood that the secrecy of the Masonic
Lodge would be the only thing that could protect them going forward. They moved
from town to town, eventually migrating from England and settling in this
corner of the Northeastern United States.
The brothers came
to town, and offered money to Reginald’s grandfather, Lucian, and Abraham in
exchange for allowing the brothers to live in the Masonic Temple. After proving
themselves as fellow Masons, Lucian and Abraham agreed to the arrangement. The
only caveat was that no one would be allowed into their living quarters. The
brothers proved to be good members and brothers until the day on which Reginald
had discovered their terrible secret. To keep them from killing Reginald,
Lucian and Abraham agreed to keep the brothers secret and to bring them fresh
corpses which they could eat. Abraham, being a psychiatrist, was able to
hypnotize Reginald so that he would not remember the incident with the
brothers.
Since the day
in which Lucian agreed to keep the brothers secret, he began to research who
the brothers might be and how to kill them. Naturally, he became fascinated
with the occult. After years of research, Lucian believed that he had learned
the identity of the brothers and became convinced that if the mark of Cain
could be destroyed, that the brother’s immortality would be taken from them. The
only way that he knew to do this would be by severing their heads from their
bodies and burning the mark away. He relayed all the information to Abraham.
Eventually once
Reginald had grown up and moved away from home, and Lucian felt he were safe,
he told Abraham that he planned to kill the ghoulish brothers. He knew that he
was doing so at significant risk to himself, so he made Abraham promise to
protect his grandson, the only family he had left should he fail.
At this point,
Reginald noticed that the writing in the journal changed, and he came to
understand that the subsequent entries were those of Abraham. He learned that
Abraham watched
as the brothers tore the limbs from his body and feasted on Lucian’s corpse. The
brothers then put the body into the car and staged the car accident, burning
the body alive to cover the crime. Abraham was an old man at this point but
knew that he might be able to defeat the brothers with Reginald’s help. When
Reginald came back to town for the funeral and inquired about joining the
lodge, Abraham felt that he should put his plan into motion. He began to
conspire with the brothers to help them make Reginald a sacrifice to their god,
and to help them summon him from the land of Nod. They had planned to have the
ceremony the evening of Reginald’s first degree. When Abraham brought Reginald
into the lodge room, Cain would be there and would take Reginald as prey.
Abraham wrote
that he would have go along with the plan to sacrifice Reginald until the very
last moment. The last entry in the journal was dated yesterday. It simply said:
Tell Reginald the truth before we reach the lodge room. As he shut the journal,
he realized that the local news was on the television. They were talking about
the fire at the old Masonic Lodge on the Hill. Listening intently, he
heard Romero’s unmistakably hiss “Killlllll Youuuuu….” The hiss had come from
behind him.
~DAL
WB Darin A. Lahners is our Managing Editor. He is a host and producer of the "Meet, Act and Part" podcast as well as a co-host of an all-things-paranormal podcast, "Beyond the 4th Veil." He is currently serving the Grand Lodge of Illinois Ancient Free and Accepted Masons as a member of the Committee on Masonic Education He is a Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph. He is also a plural member of Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL), where he is also a Past Master. He’s also a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282, Salt Fork Shrine Club under the Ansar Shrine, and a grade one (Zelator) in the S.C.R.I.F. Prairieland College in Illinois. He is also a Fellow of the Illinois Lodge of Research. He was presented with the Torok Award from the Illinois Lodge of Research in 2021. You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com. 
