《Grotheske Book 1 - The Case of the Man in the Tree》


 Things that Go Bumping in the Night

    Already past midnight.


    My favorite anime song broke the silence in my bedroom.


    Without asking permission, the loud sound, coming out of the phone, interrupted my sleep.


    A deserved night of sleep after a long and boring day at my office.


    And it just woke me up right when I was enjoying a pleasant dream.


    Usually, when that happens so late in the night, it means bad news or, with luck, only a mistaken number.


    So, it not only bothered me to wake up a few hours after I went to bed, I was also anxious.


    However, no matter how late in the night, I had to answer that call.


    As it will be revealed, that night was not one of those lucky wrong number nights.


    My bedroom so engulfed in darkness, that the only light was a blue glow from my phone. Bright enough for me to grasp the device without having to grope around on the small table by the side of my bed.


    As I rolled my arms to the table, Voluptia, my partner, didn''t move at all. She was slumbering so deep that not even the loud noise coming from the phone could bother her sleep.


    I could not help but feel jealous.


    For a moment I thought that was really a very good advantage being a succubus. Not only could she transform her shape in any kind of sexy and desirable women she wanted to be. But also shut out completely from space and time when she needed rest.


    Then, I remembered our past together. All her sacrifices to be with me and their cost for both of us... and I felt sorry for her.


    Very ashamed for thinking that way, after all she¡¯s given up for me.


    On the other hand, since I am just an ordinary human being, I am not that hard to disturb.


    So, I decided to end that melodic sound, loud enough to wake me up at that time and answer the call.


    Of course, I could just ignore it.


    Yeah I know a lot of people would just take a look to the number, see that it was from an unknown caller and return to sleep. Acting as if nothing had happened.


    Yes, that would be a very normal behavior; however, my job obliges me to answer the phone no matter how late.


    A peculiar job that is hard to explain to those not believers in the occult. Those without real knowledge about good and evil and all its shades.


    You could say I am a detective.


    I am a private investigator. Not the usual type that only gets rich by following cheating husbands and wives or go looking for people that are missing.


    I don''t deal with normal crimes.


    Only the unnatural type of cases.


    Things that go bumping in the night; or even during daylight.


    I begun calling myself "Detective of the Supernatural". I was inspired by an Italian comic when I made that title up. And; I think the word "Supernatural" can explain what I do well enough, partly because of the famous TV show.


    Only, in my case, it is not a show.


    Is a daily certainty.


    Those nasty things love to make our reality their playground¡­


    And that is when I come in.


    This may sound crazy, for the closed mind, but the fact is: those things not only exist, but I have dealt with a lot of them.


    And, it all started when I was a teenager.


    As I mentioned before, I share an apartment with my partner. It is a very luxurious penthouse in the heart of this enormous city of S?o Paulo.


    One of the biggest cities of the world.


    We live in a very wealthy way: my clients, have money to cover all my expenses and much more.


    Because I am the only one that they can depend on, when those nasty things are in action, my name became rather famous in the high society.


    Did I mention that my partner is a succubus?


    It is true, and like every succubus, she is a beauty to die for.


    I mean it literally...


    Talking about Voluptia, she was sleeping in the air, floating, several inches above the floor. Almost completely naked in her see-through pink lingerie. Yet, the dim light of the phone did not allow me to see her delicate shapes.


    That is how she sleeps, she does not share the bed with me, and we can''t allow that to happen.


    You might think, since my partner in life is a succubus living with me, a mortal, one could think she is not dangerous after all.


    That she is the good kind of demon, right?


    Wrong, definitely wrong.


    Unfortunately, she is dangerous. In fact, mortally dangerous.


    Voluptia has an inner part of her personality, that when dominant, have only one desire: suck out the sexual energy of any men, that includes me, and satiate her hunger.


    The result about that..., well..., in the end, she will absorb all the vital force that keeps that male alive, leaving only a shell with a satisfied expression in their face.


    I must make a smart remark here: that it is not a bad way to depart from existence.


    But I want to postpone that as much as I can.


    We share a bond since we were younger . Because of this bond, she developed a kinder persona. A persona that also happens be in love with me.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Some of her needs can be controlled with the help of a charm spell.


    An amulet that I carry in my necklace. Given to me by her own father, that amulet provides her with an alternative source of nurture and allows me to seal the violent and insatiable sex driven creature, that we call Grotheske, bringing out the sweet and kind Voluptia.


    Sounds like slavery, but, in reality, it was her desire to live this way. She despises killing people.


    So, we are both well with it.


    Her father.., mmm well he is not that happy...


    But, that is another story.


    Unfortunately, there is a consequence of wearing the amulet: we cannot touch ourselves in any romantic way, or the spell will weaken. Her second persona would control her body and I would die in a very pleasurable way. Even not being their desire to do so.


    Her gluttony persona, when surfaced, does not really care about love...or so, i thought.


    But she loves to provoke me all the times.


    It is hard to say if it is her or Grotheske, trying to break the seal...


    However, what I have to tell here and I want to register in those memories is far more important than that part of my past. I will see if I tell about that in a future time.


    Let me come back to my narrative and tell about that call, and all that followed it:


    I was already prepared to hear something odd when I answered, for all the reasons that I stated above. However, nothing had prepared me to listen to that voice again. It was a voice from my past, the voice of someone very loved by me. And that someone was in so much despair, that decided to call me at that odd and late time of the night, without thinking twice.


    I touched the button to answer. The caller must have realized that the call was complete and I started to hear the voice of a young woman, coming out of the device:


    "Hello, can I speak to Mr. Roger Soares? It is urgent.", said the unknown young woman voice.


    "Hello, this is him speaking, how can I be of service?"


    "Oh," she sounded a bit embarrassed at first, but right after she realized that I was the one that she was after she recovered fast and continued, "hello again mister Roger", she replied "This is sister Paula, I am calling at this late time of night because our venerable Mother Superior "Mother Ana" is in need to speak with you as soon as possible."


    "Mother Ana"...


    The sound of that name sent me straight to the past. To a time before my adoption by a rich family. A time when I lived in a foster home with other children with no known parents, or relatives. A Catholic institution ruled by a college of nuns, here in S?o Paulo.


    The oldest sister there was called Ana. She and several other sisters lived in the orphanage and took care of the kids at that time. To me and those kids they were our foster mothers. She was very kind and severe when needed to be. But, she loved all her children with a very deep dedication to every one of us.


    Still, that made very little sense: why an old nun, that must probably be around her seventies, at that time, wanted to talk with an ex-foster kid, almost ten years after we last spoke? And why so late in the night?


    "Mother Ana"? Please, do you mean sister Ana of the Saint George home for foster kids?"


    "Yes, she said you would recognize her by that title. Well mister Roger, that sister Ana is now our Mother Superior here, and she wishes to speak with you, right now."


    "But why so late?"


    "I m afraid I can''t reveal much by the phone, and probably not even she. We have a case for you. All I can say is that a hideous thing happened in our School, and we are so desperate that we could not afford to wait till the morning to call. Your number was given to us by a very respectable senior that you helped two years ago. "Dr. Rochard" I believe you must remember the details of the case in question. He said that if you could not help us, no one else would be able to do it ".


    In fact, I did remember Dr. Rochard and his case. It was one of my first cases, as a licensed detective. Solving it, the way I did, served to give me enough privilege to be known as the problem solver, that I became nowadays. Yes, the case was still very alive in my memory. Like it happened just a day before: a bunch of medics were being targeted, by a vengeful Baital: an Arabian kind of vampire.


    The media got right that it was a case of vengeance. However, there were a lot more about that case. Only I and a few others, like Dr. Rochard, one of the few survivors, knew the truth about the Baital.


    The voice sounded again, interrupting my thoughts about that old case''.


    "We are in such a hurry to explain more, I m very terrified; so is the Mother Superior. She will talk to you about what is happening here, I must add: this is not a social call at all, mister Roger."


    "Well put her in," those words made me more curious, also very worried about the old nun that I still cared a lot; even being so distant to me because of all the traps of time.


    Still, one thing would never change and I said it to sister Paula right away:


    "I am always ready to help one of my mothers in the orphanage, especially sister Ana, no matter what it is, tell her that she has my total support."


    "She knows it, I will put her in the phone now, just a second, please".


    Moments later I heard a low and tired voice coming from my cell phone:


    "Roger, my beautiful kid, is that really you? Please speak loud, because my hearing is not like it used to be."


    "Yes mother, it is me, how are you?" I said as I raised my voice a bit, still dazzled by hearing her old voice after so long" I m sorry that we lost contact for so long, a lot of things happ..."


    "There is no time for that now, my son", she said in a worried voice cutting me in the middle of my sentence, "I need you to come here and as fast as you can. As sister Paula must have said, time is of the essence, we have a terrible thing happening here, and I was told that it is the kind of thing that only you can deal with, and to my surprise, God choose one of my own kids to help me in this time of probation. So, please, my son, for the love of the Lord, drop everything that you are doing right now and come here as fast as you can."


    The way she spoke made me worry more:


    "Mother, are you well? I can feel..."


    She cutted me again:


    "Son, we need your services, and we don''t know anyone else to ask for help, in these times of need. My son, the Devil is working here, in this sacred place, very close to the house of God", she was very desperate and I sensed that she was almost crying, that made me feel a grip inside my heart, and she continued, "sister Paula is sending you the location to your phone, I am afraid I don''t understand very much about those things. We are not in the old orphanage, anymore. Hurry please, we will take care of any expenses that you might have, and I will explain everything to you in detail when you arrive here. However, my son, this is a very grave and shameful situation, so I might ask and I need you to promise me full professional discretion about everything that happens here, we still did not contact any authorities. Not only from the clergy; but from the police. Yet, we will need to do so soon. Still, I don''t know how to proceed, that is why I need you here as fast as you can."


    I assured her that I would never reveal anything about what was happening and that I would go there right away. She seemed more relieved: I could feel that she had absolute trust in me.


    Because she sounded very desperate, and I cared very much about my old mother, I got worried sick. With my mind trying to understand what was happening. What could be so urgent to make an old woman like her, forget about the time and call me, not only as an ex-foster kid, but as an investigator of the supernatural. And in such a hurry?


    According to what she said, that was the Devil''s work. Well, in my line of work there are many kinds of Devils that could be the reason. And many of them really hideous and violent.


    That made me feel a mix of anger and preoccupation.


    I taught to myself that "if any of those things were menacing someone so important to me, not only would I investigate and deal with it, fast, but if I found out that she was somehow hurt, I would make the culprits wish that they never messed with her."


    Sister Paula''s voice broke my thoughts:


    "I am sending you the coordinates, we expect to see you soon, sorry again about the time of the night. The truth is that we are really not thinking right because of this. God bless you, mister Roger, and grant you a safe trip", said sister Paula, before she hung the phone up.


    I gave a look to the location and realized, almost immediately, why she was so secretive about what was happening. I also realized that this case was in fact located in a farther away place that I thought.


    One that was, private, well guarded and difficult to access.


    I used my mental link to reach out Voluptia in her subconscious state.


    "Dear, I need you to exit your rest state. We need to go to the airport right away. We are being expected," I told her while I looked at the two noncommercial plane tickets that were now appearing in the visor of my phone.


    That was a proof that they knew about her.


    I wondered what else Mr. Rochard had taught about my partner, and continued sending my telepathic message:


    "We have a brand-new case, and I have the feeling that this one won''t be an easy one to deal with..."


    -----


    And so begins or story, this will be only one of many cases in this series. If you liked hit the like button, join me in this supernatural adventure. Subscribe and support the author. See you in our next exciting episode.


    Reproduction without the consentiment of the author is forbiden. Names situations and events are used in ficticious way. This is a work of fiction.

 The Devils Work

    After two hours on a plane, we arrived at Jordan''s Fields: a city known by its German inheritance and world famous because of their annual beer festival.


    Voluptia and I rented a car and proceeded to the mountains.


    The car was driving up in a narrow, but well conserved road, carved in one peak near the city. The climate of the region was said to have healing properties.


    During centuries, many people visited the outskirts of the city to enjoy the benefits of the mountain climate.


    The sun would take at least one hour to appear. It was, indeed, a freezing winter night where a few dim stars appeared as little spots in the cloak made by the clouds. This lack of natural light, since the moon was totally covered by the clouds, gave the view outside the car a spooky and guttural appearance.


    The road was empty.


    The only thing that we could see was the car headlights cutting the darkness in front of us. The lights slowly revealing some silhouette of the pine trees, that covered the road from both sides.


    The path would take us to a place on the top of that mountain where an old hospital facility was built. A place used to treat patients of tuberculosis in the nineteenth century. The hospital was bought and transformed by the Catholic Church and became an elite school for youngsters.


    The Church also maintained a monastery there.


    The old hospital was still functional and continued to receive patients suffering from the disease to take advantage of that miraculous climate.


    I wondered how odd it was for a nun used to work in an institution to help the poor to end up being in such a high position in an important institution for the wealthy and famous.


    But, I could imagine the voice of the old sister Ana and almost could see her replying to my inquire with a humble smile: "God works in mysterious ways my son".


    Voluptia was too quiet in the passenger seat with her hands resting in her lap. And that bothered me since it was not her normal behavior. I could not imagine what she might be thinking. Her face looked calm, but instead of her energetic and provocative usual self, she acted more reserved, during the entire trip.


    As I drove the car, I got lost in my thoughts. I guessed that using normal clothes instead of the provocative stuff, made of latex and leather, that she loved to wear was not helping to cheer her mood.


    That change of appearance was necessary. Due to the nature of the place that we were about to enter. She needed to blend and be out of the radar of the students. Especially from the staff.


    However, that would be easily said than done.


    Besides the fact that she was wearing a very long black wool skirt and a top dark blue blouse with long sleeves. Leaving almost nothing of her white skin exposed. One could easily perceive her sexy figure and her purple eyes. Her firmly and well-shaped breasts were pushing the wool of the blouse as if they were about to jump out of it. Her svelte legs and rounded bottom that filled the skirt gave to her a vintage attractive beauty hard to not be appreciated. Especially when she moved.


    Her hair was combed backward and ending in a ponytail. I noticed that she was also wearing less makeup than usual. Yet her thin and more than welcoming lips and her hypnotic and charming purple eyes had a magnetic effect.  Especially to the opposite sex. She painted her hair red, instead of her usual pink or purple tones that she used to wear.


    About that color, I remember saying to her that her hair looked more like a cosplay than the real thing. She smirked and said, "And who do you think inspired anime creators to color the hair of their characters?"


    I could not say if she was playing or telling the truth. But we laughed together.


    I was anxious about her. We were driving to a school that was ruled by the Catholic Church.


    The two tickets for the private jet confirmed that they knew about her existence.


    But, did they knew about her true nature, as well?


    She could get more exposition than we wanted by traveling with me to that place.


    On one hand, I had to go to the school because of the request from mother Ana.


    The way she acted and spoke assured me she might be in terrible danger.


    On the other hand, I was afraid they could try to do anything bad to my partner, thinking she was an evil servant of Lucifer.


    That is how they used to declare every single demon that existed.


    A thing I discovered that was not always the case.


    Demons have a society very similar to our own. Some are pure evil, some are devious, but there are those that remain neutral. And even those that are good or attempt to be good.


    That was my partners case.


    And that is why I didn''t want her to take the plane with me.


    After we discussed the details of the night call from sister Ana i backed off.


    However, Voluptia was adamant, and if there is a thing I learned, in a hard way, her father too I''m afraid to add, is that:


    Once she decides, or wants something, no one can stop her.


    So, both of us headed to the local of the mysterious case.


    Heading practically nonstop to Holly Mother of Health.


    A school so secret that I only knew that it existed, because, when I was a teenager, my own adopted father considered it as one source for my formal academic education.


    Still, how could a succubus: a daughter of Lilith, the damned first woman of the holy scriptures and mother of demons, be welcomed to people that used to exorcize their kind and feared them? How would they react by seeing a real demon in front of them? Even being a demon that was trying to find a peaceful way of coexisting with humans. Would they accept her that easily? Or would they treat her like an abomination and hunt her?The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I tried to focus on the path, since that was not the best time to get lost in thoughts.


    As the school grounds started to appear, I could notice some silhouettes of big buildings on the horizon.


    The school was in the middle of a pine tree forest. So, where the forest ended we could see a place that surrounded by a very tall wall. The wall that didn''t allow to see inside; only the top of a few facilities.


    A few more minutes, driving straight the road, we arrived at a huge and sturdy gate.


    But I didn''t need to announce my arrival.


    There was a security outpost set by the right of the entrance.


    From there, a yellow light come out of the small window of a very thin cabin.


    We directed our car by the side of this cabin.


    An uniformed security guard came out and approached our car window.


    "We came by request of the mother superior. I am Mr. Roger Soares", I said while I was extending my identification and forcing a smile. Those things were always felt like a nuisance to me. So, I had to pretend I was ok with that.


    "We were informed that you are expected, sir. The parking lot is easy to find. Follow the main street and then turn left in the second turn, it is by the left side of the main building, you can''t miss. I will announce that you arrived. Have a nice stay, sir."


    Well, the guard was kind, after all.


    However, "a nice stay", would be the last thing that would happen that night.


    I smiled in reply and drove inside the gate and I noticed that Voluptia sensed my awkwardness and giggled.


    That made me feel better.


    I drove to the place that he had directed me to park the car.


    By the look of things: or the guard was a good liar, pretending that everything was normal. Or he really was not informed about whatever was happening inside the school.


    As I drove as instructed, I saw some silhouettes of some tall buildings and a very imposing church. Probably, Holy Mother of Health, the church that named that place.


    It was the oldest thing inside the grounds of the school. I read during the flight that the church was built in the late seventeenth century. That was before the hospital or even the inn that was part of the institution existed. The brochure told me that the inn was always crowded with the patients with the tuberculosis. The evil of that century. And so fearful that the disease claimed many famous Brazilian historical personalities.


    This part of the state, belonged to a distinct Portuguese family with ties with the nobility of that time. A local legend told that their patriarch was suffering from the disease and was miraculously cured.


    Inside the grounds it was dark.


    There were only a few street lamps on. That made a perfect sense. In such places, a curfew was set. The students could not wander the streets after a designed time of the night. So there was no necessity of powerful street lights.


    The place was huge. Far larger than I imagined. The local resembled much more a university than a high school.


    Then I remembered there were a hospital and a monastery too, inside those walls.


    We parked and got out of the car.


    A nun arrived shortly after. She was wearing her usual dark habit with a white nun hat. By her young looks, she should be one of the youngest sisters of that order. Most of her hair was covered, and she definitely used no makeup. But she had a pretty face. Her upturned nose definitely gave her a very cute aspect. Her pink lips forming a smile. Very sexy for a nun.


    I imagined that she might be only 22 years old, at most.


    She moved towards us in a very delicate way as I was examining her figure...


    Then, I realized that my partner was giving me a furious gaze. I froze right away and stopped looking at the girl.


    "Well I suppose that introductions by my part are unnecessary, but I am Roger Soares. And this is my partner, Vol...", I stopped in the middle of the sentence. Her name was chosen by her to provoke and could be odd to the hearing of the young girl in front of me.


    But Voluptia  didn''t care and completed my phrase, taking my arm in her hands in a very possessive way:


    "Hey there I am Voluptia," shameless if her name would be awkward "and this is my cupcake Roger. We have a meeting with your boss, we are inseparable you know that?"


    She was really pushing me towards her shoulder what made me give a shy smile: I was feeling ashamed.


    But that way of reacting was the proof that I needed to know that my Voluptia was back to her normal self.


    "May the Lord bless you, I am sister Paula, we talked by phone." she answered with a smile "Mother Ana is expecting you two. She did not want to go sleep, she wanted to be up to see you two arrive, We tried to make her rest for a few hours but she didn''t want to rest until she could talk to you, mister Roger."


    "I will take you to her office, and she will explain everything", she made the sign of the cross by her chest and I didn''t know if it was because she was thinking about what happened before, or because of the presence of my partner.


    Voluptia was dragging me by my arm in a very demanding way. I felt like I was her puppet, I looked to her and she showed me her tongue.


    I knew the discussion was over...


    Every time that I looked to the nun in front of us; instead of the large building with a dozen of windows covering the front and side walls or the landscape, I could feel her nail tightening her grip in my arm. And it was painful.


    Which I tried to ignore, pretending it had been just her imagination...


    We arrived to a huge door inside an arch that was projecting from the facade of the building. In the arch, there was an inscription in Latin, just below the name and the crest of the school. But it was too dark to read at that moment.


    Sister Paula opened the door with her keys and held it by the side. Invited us to enter the hall.


    Inside the hall I got astonished.  That was a very marvelous architecture design. The Hall had, a mix of modern and old baroque, styles. We could see carvings in the pieces of wood that adorned the reception desk. The cabinets behind it were decorated by glass doors. They had a lot of papers, schedules, charts and documents hanging inside. Every detail of the decoration and carving of that room were very well designed. Details like roses, branches with their leaves and many angels covered the ceiling and the pillars on the four corners.


    The light blue tone of the wallpaper contributed to give the place an atmosphere of calmness and peace. The color making us think about a clear sky.


    Four huge chandeliers provided a very strong light, but instead of the candles, there were rounded lamps, where those should be.


    Blue and white dominated the entire place.


    A sacred place, no doubt about.


    As the saint''s pictures, hanging in the walls, and a huge statue of the Holy Mother of the Health could confirm.


    We followed sister Paula to a huge double door that led us to an internal patio. In there, four large corridors formed a cross in front of us. Those corridors were full of doors by all sides. They ended in the sides of an internal square. With some white benches decorating it. In the middle of that square stood an enormous staircase adorned with four beautiful sculptures of angels one by each side of the pillars of the handrails.


    Even Voluptia was admiring the place.


    She could be a demon; but a succubus, and especially she, have a refined sense of aesthetics, that would render a lot of art critics and artists jealous.


    We climbed those stairs.


    As we moved up, sister Paula was telling us that the Mother Superior''s office was on the second floor.


    After another big corridor full of doors we arrived at the only door with some light coming from the inside.


    Sister Paula entered first, and we followed.


    Inside were two nuns an old man and Dr Rochard. He recognized me as soon as I got inside the place and moved towards me...


    However, it was my old mother wrinkled face that caught my attention and made me stop.


    Voluptia copied me and did the same as I stood still.


    She recognized me and moved quick for someone of her age, giving me an amorous hug. Then she kissed both sides of my face


    "My son, how wonderful is to have you here in this moment of despair."


    She was moved by the emotion, and I sensed her voice come out with sadness mixed to the joy of seeing me alive and well.


    I hugged her back. With her tiny and fragile body in my arms I smiled.


    "I came as soon as I could. So, mom, tell me what is happening here? What kind of Devil''s work are we talking about?"


    She sat in her chair and everybody silenced and moved close to her.


    I approached her desk, and she gave me some photos.


    She told me a student took weird pictures in the depths of the forest inside school grounds.


    I examined those pictures.


    Without a doubt, taken by the camera of a cell phone.


    I put my hand in my mouth in horror; even to me, a vision  terrible and violent.


    And I realized what happened there didn''t need a full examination of the place to be qualified as not natural.


    Without a single doubt, "Devil''s work" seemed to be an accurate way of describing what I saw in those pictur