MEPHISTOPHELIA

BY CHRISTOPHER TOILKIEN

[ part 3 ]

This story is a creation of my fevered imagination and is a work of totally fiction. No one should ever be allowed to neither mentally nor physically treat a little girl this way. No matter how much of a little miscreant female she may be.

Placement

An adult sized human form strode along the ocean turbulence rounded pebble beach. All but its face concealed by hard used seagoing attire. And even that, almost hidden by a full beard, bushy eyebrows and an old naval officers cap. Last night a storm had swept up out of the Atlantic. Sending hard pounding surf and even harder driving soaking rains onto the western shore of this part of the Welsh Atlantic. coast.

A life at sea, constantly exposed to both its beauty and bedlam, held him close. As if it were a long divorced, but still engrossing lover. This morning, as it was his lifelong habit. He arose before dawn to see what last nights storm had washed up on the seashore near his cottage.

Smashed up timbers, there were a plenty. The remains of an ancient oak driven halfway onto the beach were relatively unusual. It’s dark sodden mass, forcing the searcher, to take a detour almost up to the looming overhead seaside cliffs, in order to walk around it.

For the first time in many years, what he found, that fate delineating morning surprised and shocked him. The allover tanned pink flesh of a young, raven haired girl lay entwined in its upper branches. Her limp form, bound tightly in place with strong ropes, recalling into his mind a feeling of grief and loss over a similar incident, long ago. His only daughter swept overboard and lost at sea. After an unforeseen storm, drove his ship up onto these very rocks.

His arms reached out for her poor little form as his sailors curved bladed knife sliced through her restraining ropes.. His mind showing him another’s features. But this one stirred as he lifted her up. Red tinged water dribbled out of her mouth and he quickly altered his grip into the lifesaving Heimlich manoeuvre. Jerking her body repeatedly backwards into his, until she coughed up all the water out of her lungs.

First stopping to wrap her ice cold body in his greatcoat. Then carried her off, as fast as he was able, along the gravel beach. And up towards his warm lodging. But, its door would not open. He tried the ancient full mortise iron lock twice. In frustration, even kicking it, with one steel toed boot. But even after bouncing his formidable shoulder off it twice. The oak wood, iron braced door would not budge.

Unlocking his old Morris, he slid her into the vans front bench seat and drove off towards the port towns small hospital. A few hours later a constable approached an old sailor slumped on a seat in the corner of the hospitals waiting room. “The triage nurse informed me you were the one who brought in the girl that washed ashore this morning.” He opened with. But after repeating himself, reached forward to waken the probably sleeping old man. And then caught him as his body slumped forward towards the floor.

The experienced constable knew from what his eyes and nose brought to his mind. The man was dead. Pushing the body back upright, then walked off to report his finding to the infirmary’s chief nurse. No need to make a fuss in a room full of waiting their turn still relatively healthy citizenry.

Puzzles Within Conundrums

A few weeks later, in the middle of the night. Two men in white lab coats over rumpled shirts and pants stood beside a woman in a light gray impeccably tailored skirted suit. All three adults observing an infectious diseases isolation cells monitor screens views of a very pretty black haired girl. The mysterious girl was sleeping on a hospital bed’s mattress set in the middle of the otherwise bare metal room. Her limbs securely restrained by hospital straps used to secure violent or criminal patients. Her room’s isolation, complete with sealed naval style entrance hatches.

“She was found entangled in a huge ancient oak that had washed ashore after a storm on the Welsh Atlantic coast near the ancient Druidic Island.” One of the men noted. The hundreds of years old tree had been literally torn right out of the ground, great roots and all.

“Actually, from the evidence of the marks on her wrists, waist and ankles.” The other man added.” She was tied to it, and then the tree was set afire. As if she were meant to be, an ancient Druids sacrifice.”

“And that is why you sent for me, brother?” The woman inquired.

“For that, and because of the other strange things that have happened since she was found.” The man replied.

His younger sister had been sent off to a private Swiss finishing school by their stepfather just after her thirteenth birthday. He died of a heart attack two years later. His sister had gone on to gradate top of her class from a prodigious physiatrist school. Immediately after graduating top of her pears, she was hired by one of Frances best psychiatric hospitals. But had quite a dozen years later and joined the staff of her Swiss school. Collecting young girls whose abilities or characteristics’ placed them outside of what the rest of the world considered as normal.

“Such as?” She asked.

“Father Campbell, when he came to visit her. As he does with every new patient at that hospital. Was unable to enter her room. Even though another had entered first and held the door open for him.” The man said in a puzzled tone.

“He could not, or would not enter.” The first man wondered.

“It was as if he ran into a solid invisible wall.” The other man noted.

“I remember reading the report by the man who found and brought our latest patient there.” The obviously worried man continued. “He told the emergency staff he had to bring her directly to the hospital after his own front door mysteriously would not open.”

“Possibly because our research later found that his old two story stone house had been a holy mans hermitage before he acquired it.” The other man added.

“He himself was found dead in the infirmary’s waiting room that very morning.” Her brother said.

“An autopsy showed his perfectly healthy heart had simply stopped functioning for no apparent reason.” The other man added. “But as every one of his glands, was found to be riddled with inoperable cancer. He had been saved from a long agonizing death. As if he had been granted a quiet, peaceful ending for rescuing that girl.”

“So you sent word to me.” The woman noted. ”You had found another little mystery wrapped in a little girls body, for me to spirit away.”

“Yes, as you have had experience dealing with young females. That are, in most other peoples experience, literally out of this world.” The one this woman referred to this man as her brother replied. “At least this one does not move or set afire objects with her mind, as others we gave you may have.”

“Fine, we will take this one off your hands as well.” The woman informed the two men. She then nodded to the four standing just behind her. The two pairs of men and women wheeled an ambulances gurney into the room and began transferring the unconscious girl onto it.

“We have kept her mildly sedated as she is hysterically terrified of strangers. Apparently, when she is conscious, believes someone is always trying to rape or kill her.” The first man explained.

“As usual, the sealed stainless steel wheeled box contains all the blood, hair and skin samples we took.” The second man noted. “As well all her bodies waste.”

“Are you sure there will be nothing left here to prove she ever was?” The woman inquired.

“The monitors are not connected to any recording device. And we use a foolproof sterilization procedure on the room.” Her brother promised her.

“Does she even have a name?” The woman inquired.

“She has recently had Mephistophelia branded on her skin right above her repeatedly abused sex.” Her brother informed his ever mysterious sister. The name some would use for. “Satan’s Daughter.”

“This one appears to look very similar to that one we handed over to you a few weeks ago.” The second man noted. The other dark haired girl you directed us to take all the same trouble with.

In both cases, making it appears she had died. Along with those we believed were her family. In a horrific automobile accident. When we substituted for cremation with her parents bodies, an almost identical unclaimed girls badly burnt body. Then hid her away here, until you came for her.”

“Yes, another little girl, frantic with terror.” Her brother added. “Believing everyone was trying to either capture, abuse, or kill her.”

“You will take care of the paperwork and death certificates for this one as well, gentlemen?” The woman inquired. The two men simply nodded in agreement.

”What exactly does your sister do with all the little mysterious girls she gathers?”

The second man wondered out loud? Right after they had wheeled away the latest in a long line of mysterious girls who had eventually been remanded into their care..

“Keep them, and thereby this world safe from each other.” Was all he would ever say on that subject. “The details of which it is better for our lives and sanity, we never know.”

As he pulled the entrance hatch wide open. The first man then nodded towards a newly arrived, third man. Who was dressed as if he were a fireman on a call. Except he wore a flamethrowers tanks on his back with its spray nozzle in his hands. The man then walked into the room and began sterilizing it.