Section Eight

Gleanings from the Dark Side

Entry #0057: Driving Back to Mulvern

I often feel chills running up my spine whenever I reflect on the hideous event that transpired that day. I didn’t really get a feel for the whole rift phenomenon until right after that ghastly episode. But that hideous paranormal maelstrom was perhaps the most physical manifestation of the dark rift we had seen so far, although it was not the rift itself. As Sheila had indicated, the real rift was the continual thinning of the veil between the earth plane and the dark plane. And clearly this was causing the reality shifts, I was certain of it.

Anyway, while we were riding in the van, back toward Mulvern, I pondered on the missing footage in Travis’ camcorder when the vortex appeared. So I checked my micro-recorder, listened to it and skipped ahead, and at the point the vortex appeared, the sound quality decreased, but wasn’t totally gone. But then the growing eerie sound the thing made didn’t help any either. So I had to piece together the best I could any talking, plus rely on memory too in order to transcribe any conversations into my ongoing entries. Why Travis’ camcorder was effected worse than my little unit, I didn’t know. Maybe something about filming paranormal subjects.

And why videotaping some paranormal events can be clear and others not, I had no definite answers. As Travis had indicated, this seemed rather inconsistent, because I had seen footage of actual apparitions or ghosts that seemed very real, and whether or not they were mere hoaxes, I didn’t know for sure. Why some film footage seemed intact during paranormal events and others were totally obliterated, I had no idea. Many times things made no sense when it came to investigating paranormal activity. And Chad’s suggestion that ruined footage may be due to the intensity of the event was just a working theory at best.

As we rode home late that night, we were all pretty silent, shocked and also drained due to the bizarre paranormal events that took place. Back in Mulvern, we each returned to our own homes. I slept restlessly the rest of the night and late into the morning.

Entry #0058: An Abrasive Call from Garret

 The next night after that eerie ordeal, I had a horrible dream that I fell into that hideous maelstrom of swirling liquid cement as I got sucked into it, feeling the thick fluid pouring into my mouth and into my lungs, suffocating me as I panicked profusely -- but suddenly I woke up, coughing and hacking. Fortunately, I was breathing normal air. That last paranormal event was one nerve-racking traumatic ordeal!

So early this morning I just sat at my desk in my station of operations, sipping hot coffee and munching on a toaster pastry; apple cinnamon.  I stared at the blank screen, preparing for my next account entry -- but I felt no urge to write anything at the moment.

So I called Jezz at her place of work, the KZXY radio station and told her about the event that took place yesterday, the bizarre supernatural maelstrom that we finally sealed, but only after one of the employees got sucked into it. She said either the whole crew was on the same bad acid trip, or something truly freaky was going on here in the high desert. I asked her if she would change her mind about joining the gang. She said she would think about it. I said if she didn't want to join the crew to at least come to an event. She considered that.

After that I decided to take one of my long walks in the desert, though it was rather chilly out, so I grabbed my buckskin jacket -- when my cell phone buzzed on the desk.

I answered it, and I sighed heavily.  It was Garret.

"Hey, guy, what’s happening?" he beamed.

"I was just stepping out."

"Really? Hey, we could meet somewhere, chitchat."

"Not today. I was getting ready to go out on one of my long walks, need to get out and breathe some fresh air."

"Hmm. I see. Well, did anything exciting happen lately?"

"Not really." I was suspicious, felt like he was probing for something.

"Well, uh, aren’t you hanging out with your paranormal group these days?"

"Sometimes. Not always. "

"So? What are they up to?" he probed further.

"Nothing really."

Garret said sharply, "Come on now. I heard a rumor. Something big happened. I should’ve been there, you know."  He started getting a tad angry.

"A rumor? What did you hear?"

"I've got my sources," Garret snapped curtly.

"Exactly what are you playing at, Garret?" I pushed.

"I'm not playing at anything. You know me. I just want to be in on the action, that's all."

I shot, "You weren't invited, and Chad doesn’t want you on the crew."

"Why not?!"

"You tend to be too aggressive and belligerent. People don’t like that. It’s a turn off."

"Yeah, well, you gotta be forceful sometimes, because it's like I said, we should be able to get what we want in life. Let nothing stop us." Then he hung up.

Did it ever occur to him that if that was the case, Chad and I should likewise get what we want – which was to NOT allow Garret on the team? Evidently not. I gathered that everything revolved around him, a typical arrogant man who sees himself as the center of the universe.

I finally went out on my walk, wearing my buckskin jacket, but it wasn't a pleasant excursion, because talking to Garret didn’t just frustrate me, but it left me feeling drained again. The winter air was chilly outside, but I felt a different chill through my body, something more supernatural.

What the hell was the deal with this guy anyway? But upon reflection, I felt there was more to his probing than just a desire to join our crew. I suspect he wanted to know exactly what happened on our last outing. Like what? As if he had expected something or knew something more about the whole ordeal that we didn't? Exactly what was Garret hiding anyway? And what did he know?

Entry #0059: Monica’s Intuition

I knew I would feel better after talking to Monica, so I called her up. We had a long talk. Her mother was still recovering in the hospital; hard to tell how long it would be. Monica said she wanted to move up here soon, but it was important to stay with her mother for now.

 Anyway, I updated her on everything that happened so far, especially the infuriating Garret, and the last bizarre paranormal events that took place. I told her she would have been a great asset in this particular case. She said she wished she had been there too, considering how extraordinary and powerful the psychic anomaly was. She was glad we were able to return it to where it came from and seal it off.

Coming from her well-developed intuition, she informed me that she had a strong feeling that I should not trust Garret, that there was definitely something sinister about his nature. Also that she was picking up on the fact that the dark rift was increasingly opening wider and that there was definitely an evil agenda at work, not just some random psychic phenomenon, and that some ominous entity was involved, whose  identity she couldn’t penetrate. I asked her what we could do about the situation. She didn't know at the moment but that we would have to meditate on the matter, and she emphasized by "we" that she meant me and her. Then we should tell the others in the group what answers we receive.

Monica emphasized to me that the veil was already gradually thinning out between the earth plane and the Other Side due to the rising vibration, but that demonic forces through the Dark Side seemed to be taking advantage of this, that a more specific thinning of the veil between our earth plane and this dark plane was allowing these dark forces to come through more freely. It was as if something or someone, some dark entity perhaps, was trying to force the two realms to merge as the dark rift grew wider, and this seemed to be what was causing the reality shifts I was experiencing, or the confusion of reality, which seem to be a little too malleable and incoherent lately. I agreed with her wholeheartedly.

We said our good-byes and that was that.

It was lunchtime and I made myself a tuna sandwich with potato chips, and a mug of hot coffee. With my plate and mug to one side of the desk, I proceeded to enter the next account entry.

So, there was an evil agenda behind the dark rift and some unknown ominous entity behind it. Sheila even suspected as much, but verification from Monica was reassuring, yet discomforting at the same time. So, the plot thickened like freshly mixed hardening cement. As long as it didn’t get supernaturally liquidized again like before.

Entry #0060: A Call from Leo Stroud

 Christmas and New Years came and went. It was the New Year of 2011. The desert was blanketed in snow, transformed into a weird white desert wonderland. But the wintry white stuff didn't last long here. In fact, upon the second week of January, the snow began melting away.

As I was working on online research for Zones Unknown that afternoon, down in my station of operations, my old friend Leo Stroud called. We hadn't talked in several weeks, since he was so busy with his computer business in St Louis.

Leo opened with, "What’ve you been up to, old pal?"

I beamed, "Leo! Good to hear from you!"

"So, any more paranormal shenanigans happening lately?"

"Naturally -- or should I say, supernaturally. But I’ll wait ‘til you get your butt out here and I'll tell you all about it."

"That's just like you, leaving me in suspense. Typical writer."

 "Takes one to know one. Anyway, how soon are you getting out here?"

"You don’t have to hold your breath much longer. I'm leaving my driveway in a couple hours. Probably be there in a few days."

"Cool! I'll have to straighten the place up a tad, buy a shitload of groceries, you know. Do you remember where the old cabin is?"

"Of course I do. It's been a couple of decades, but I'm sure I could find it again."

"I'll have a twelve pack of beer waiting!"

"Hell, I have to get my butt up there sooner!"

After idle chitchat and mindless drivel, we hung up.

I was excited to see my old buddy after about seven years, which was the last time I visited him in St. Louis. I busied myself to straighten up the joint, up in the cabin as well as the bunker below. Then something strange happened. After a quick trip to the small bunker bathroom, I entered my station of operations, and lying at the right-hand corner of my desk was that strange volume that had once mysteriously disappeared, The Shadow World, exactly where I saw at last!

Entry #0061: Gleaning Insight from the Mysterious Shadow World Book

As reality shifts go, this was a humdinger! Either that or I had a poltergeist. I've had things disappear and then later reappear before, which could all be explainable. Sometimes it's simple absentmindedness, or my mind playing tricks on me, or even someone else playing the tricks, or perhaps some strange mental illness -- like schizophrenia. All such possibilities could explain what appeared to be reality shifts. But considering I was now a paranormal investigator, though a newbie at it, I had to discount the usual skeptic’s explanations. Many strange things had been occurring lately, and some of these incidents were shared with others, especially members of the paranormal crew. A dozen people had witnessed that psychic maelstrom out at the West Coast Merchandise Outlet. But the phenomenon of this strange volume disappearing and then reappearing a few months later was pretty eerie.

Then a thought occurred to me. Was this some kind of bizarre moment of synchronicity? A reality shifting synchronistic moment? Was something or somebody trying to send me a message? I was seeing shadow people, experiencing weird reality shifts, witnessing that psychic maelstrom from another world, the Dark Side, or the shadow world, and then this book about the shadow world reappears -- exactly where I last left it!

I did something I hadn’t tried in a long time, something I used to do with various spiritual books or even the Bible. I would ask a particular question, then open the book on any page at random, and see if I could perceive a message there somewhere. Some people think this technique is stupid, like the Magic Eight Ball, but sometimes it seems to work.

I asked aloud, "What exactly is happening to me lately?"

Then I opened the book, my eyes focused on a particular paragraph, and I read it:

Alright, that was pretty general, if not vague, but then the question was pretty vague too. So that didn't help much. I decided to ask a more specific question this time.

So I asked, "What or who caused the dark rift to open?"

I closed the book, waited a few seconds, then reopened it at a random page -- then read where my eyes landed:

I wasn't sure if this helped me or not. But if it did, it may have been suggesting that some group of individuals had opened the dark rift, perhaps with some conscious intention in mind, and then perhaps something got out of hand, and so the rift began to continually widen. And this deceased husband who was a warlock; did he represent the dark entity that Sheila had sensed when we experienced the swirling vortex? Perhaps all of this would make sense as the days unfolded.

Or perhaps this simple little exercise I attempted was just a crock of shit and I was searching for answers in the wrong places. Besides, Monica said we should meditate on the matter. Wasn't this a form of meditation? Perhaps a lazy man's method.

Entry #0062: One Last Gleaning

That afternoon, I took one of my long desert walks, but I couldn't focus on anything except what was happening lately, and using this strange book to get answers. A desperate man's method perhaps. But another burning question came to mind. Unfortunately, I made my little walk shorter than planned. I returned to the bunker and put one last question to The Shadow World.

"Regarding the evil entity that Sheila sensed in the vortex, what is its evil agenda?"

I opened the book and read:

 I felt a chill run up my spine. Something in this answer seemed to ring true, but at the same time, I personally held no staunch belief in the Armageddon or Apocalypse, or such misinterpreted Bible prophecies, where translators misconstrue symbolic concepts and archetypes, then from all these create their own crazy ideas. Any discussions about this I would rather leave for my Zones Unknown blog, except I must at least say here that many people misunderstand the word “apocalypse,” which originally meant revelation, or the unveiling of something, but currently it means the end of the world. Of course in the Book of Revelations it can be explained as a revelation of the end of the world – if taken literally. But more progressive folks see this as more of the end of one era and the beginning of another, not necessarily involving some kind of mass destruction. However, millions of people believe this is the case.

  At any rate, if it was true that entities from the Dark Side wanted to completely destroy the veil that separates the two worlds, then the forming of this dark rift makes perfect sense as a means to accomplish this – and then some kind of demonic Armageddon type war would unfold.

I tried calling Monica, couldn't get through. So I called Jezz. Although she said that silly technique of opening books was a crock, she couldn't help but wonder about some of the answers I got, which I read her from the book itself. I told her that if practiced readers of Tarot cards could get answers, then this questionable method should also work. I told her we had to find out what the hell was going on, and who or what was causing this rift. She told me she had another one of her premonitory dreams, one where she was walking down a sidewalk next to Fanny's Thrift Shop, where a fellow whom she knew was supposed to be Garret walked out of the front door and approached her, and his face twisted into a sinister grimace, then he laughed maniacally at her -- and then she woke up. I asked her to describe the guy, since she never really met him face-to-face. When Jezz described the man she saw in her dream, his face and clothes, she was dead-on.

She felt there was a reason that she saw Fanny's place in her dream and the fact that Garret walked from it was a clue. Jezz felt these were keys to something, something that would possibly lead us to the next step of unraveling this whole mystery.

I suggested that someday we should go together and visit Fanny’s Thrift Shop. Have a look around.

Entry #0063: Contemplating the Weird Transpiring Events

The next day when I got out of bed to put my coffee on, I noticed that the book was gone! Not on the desk where I left it yesterday! And not anywhere! Talk about history repeating itself -- this was a reality shift repeating itself. The first time the book appeared like that I was truly surprised. This time I just felt frustrated. But strangely, it felt like I was in the middle of somebody's practical joke, like some kind of cosmic prankster was at work.  But then that sounded delusional, since I'm just an insignificant human being amidst seven-billion on the planet.

But if this was an instance of synchronicity caused by a reality shift, then it was no accident; some kind of unknown forces were at work.

So these eerie shifts in reality could swish and swirl, congeal and uncongeal the physical substance around us, or change reality as we know it, into unreality as we don’t know it, implying we actually live in a weird world of illusion.

I had a lot of questions. Did these freaky events occur randomly, chaotically, or was some intelligence behind the scenes? Was the synchronicity of events real, or just an unexplainable phenomenon to give us imagined meaning to life? Was it all sheer misguided coincidences bubbling forth with nothing behind them? Questions to philosophize over -- unto exhaustion.

I may believe in a Cosmic Intelligence that guides all things and all events, but realize there are gazillions of stars and bazillions of galaxies, and googolplexes of planets, and we’ve got seven-billion humans on Earth, not to mention other scads of life forms here, including inhabitants on other planets. So why would the Master of the Cosmos want to keep track of every jot and tittle across the wake of the whole universe – or universes? It wearies the brain. I pondered such things as I shrugged my shoulders, sighed of frustration, and then drank my coffee.

Entry #0064: Talking with Garret

That same morning after I finished breakfast -- made a ham and cheese omelet on my potbelly stove for a change, with toast and more coffee -- I climbed down into the bunker and entered my station of operations, when my cell phone rang. It was Garret. I didn't like talking to him, but he insisted that we meet at the Kountry Kitchen and chitchat. I told him I was too busy, had various projects. Although I knew I might get some kind of information from him, considering what Jezz’s dream had revealed, I didn’t want to actually meet with him, but I told him we could talk a little bit on the phone at least.

He grumpily replied, "Fine. But sometimes I feel like you're avoiding me."

I sighed, "It's just that I've been really busy lately. And a good friend of mine from the Midwest is coming to visit me anyway. I won't have much time at all."

"Really? Hey, I’d like to meet him!"

"I don't know, we'll see. Like I said, I have a few minutes now, so what did you want to talk about?"

Garret explained, "Well, for starters, I just got this cool book I want to show you, The Life and Times of the Mysterious Aleister Crowley.  I’m a big fan of his, I'm sure I told you before."

"No, I don't think you did."

"I'm sure I did," Garret insisted. "I got the book down at Fanny's, by the way."

"I didn't know they had any New Age type books like that down there."

"Uh, yeah, sure they do. You just have to know where to look," he replied weakly.

I sensed his awkwardness, like he was covering up something strange. 

Garret continued, "But I've got to show this book to you, it's got a lot of old photographs of Crowley himself, like in his weird costumes you know, like his magician garb, or his Egyptian outfit, and this one picture where he looks like an alien!” He laughed. "I'm looking at it right now, and, man, you should see it!  It’s like one of those large coffee table books, you know. It’s a biography of his whole life, you know, and the whole book is in chronological order from his younger days to when he died. Really cool shit here!"

"Sounds cool," I said lethargically -- not that I wanted to get a word in edgewise.

"I've always been impressed with his grim philosophy, and it all boils down to his famous motto: ‘Do what thou wilt.’ That says it all, man. I always say you should do what you want in life, and that sums it up, just do what you will, basically."

I was afraid to open up one of those arduous conversations, but I had to ask, "But doesn't that mean you might be violating other people's free will?"

"What are you talking about? Yeah, I’ll step on some people’s toes, but they shouldn't get in your way in the first place. A lot of those people are victims because they allow themselves to be victimized, so it's their fault if they get in the way."

"What about proper morality? Don't you think people need to learn the difference between good and evil?"

Garret said, “Good, evil, it’s all irrelevant, There just mirages. Like I said, we have a right to do whatever the hell we want in life."

"What about karma? Learning and growing from your mistakes?"

"That's crap for idiots that don’t think they’re free to live life. There’s too many damn rules in this world that bind us from experiencing life all around us.  The idea of consequences for our actions is a crock of shit!"

"So you're saying it's all right to go out and murder somebody."

"What do you think war is all about?"

"That doesn't make it right."

"Hey, only the body can be killed, the soul lives on."

"But you might be hindering a person's personal mission or something he's got to accomplish in life."

"Too f#@&ing bad! He got in the away, so he blew it."

"So where does God fit into your philosophy?"

"If there is a God, I don't think he gives a f#&k."

 I knew a stubborn person like this couldn’t easily be budged from his bleak position, so I didn’t push it. Better to change the subject.

 Entry #0065: Talking with Garret, continued … 

Next, to test him, I asked, "Say, I should check out Fanny’s place and see if there's any more cool books like you have, especially on metaphysical subjects."

After a pause of silence, Garret said curtly, "There’s nothing like that there. Uh, I was lucky to find this by accident."

"I see."

Then his voice became grave as he said, "I want to tell you a secret."

"What secret is that?"

He whispered strangely, "Aleister Crowley is my spirit guide. He talks to me often."

"Really?" I wanted to just hang up the phone. Either this was one of his crazy lies, or he was completely delusional and believed this himself.

"So, we gotta get together sometime soon; gotta show you this cool book to you."

"Maybe another time. But I gotta ask you, have you ever heard of Rook’s Books?"

Garret paused for a few seconds before he briskly replied, "Never heard of it. Hey, I gotta go."  He hung up abruptly.

I had a feeling that would end the conversation fast. Although I would have been curious as to what his honest reply would have been. I felt sure he knew something about that strange place. But my enquiry either opened a door with him -- if he wondered how I even knew about the place – or it slammed it shut.

I put the phone down and sighed heavily. Somehow I had to discontinue my association with Garret, since it wasn't a real friendship. If I could blatantly tell him I didn't want to see him again, he would obviously get hostile. So I kept putting it off.

Something occurred to me as I reflected on his awkwardness when I had commented that I didn’t know you could find New Age type books down at Fanny's Thrift Shop. Mostly it was a place where she sold old clothes and household goods, stuff you'd find at a Goodwill, but the only books I ever saw there were old hardbound classics, and Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries, or those Reader’s Digest anthologies and such. But nothing exotic or eccentric as the book Garret purported to have purchased there. What occurred to me was that Garret would probably find a book like that at Rook’s Books, which is why I asked him that question -- that strange phantom place that somehow coexisted with Fanny's. It obviously existed in a parallel universe, one I accidentally entered when I experienced that particular reality shifts back in July. So did that mean Garret also knew about its existence, which meant he somehow had access to it?

Too many questions kept popping up every time I dealt with Garret. And according to Jezz’s dream there was obviously a connection between him and Fanny's Thrift Shop -- and possibly Rook's Books. But what the hell was it?

Which led to another question. Who the hell was this mysterious Rook person who most likely operated Rook’s Books? Did I want to really find out?

The plot continued to thicken, more and more each day.