No one really knew why it had been named Druid Hill Park. That the massive public park founded on the north side of the city was given such a name was just another mystery of the area’s early development. In truth, it can be said that the reasons for it were rarely if ever even mentioned. It was as if something was keeping itself hidden; concealed by the very mystery of the park’s origins. It was as if some very force of darksome enigma was utilising that very nomenclature to hide in the eldritch recesses of the local consciousness.
Nevertheless, the time would come when the mystery would be revealed. For on the night in which our story begins, in a secret chamber beneath Druid Hill Park, a very strange ceremony was taking place. It was a ceremony conducted by one person; one who was seemingly a man of middle years, his face still showing signs of handsome distinction despite bearing the marks of lifetimes of extreme unhallowed wickedness. His hair was long and dark, and his visage was decorated with a thin moustache and goatee. Most of all, his pale eyes shone with an absolute hypnotic glare.
He stood before an altar of stone, about which were numerous candelabras, all of them filled with burning candles of ebon black. It was an altar stained with thick fresh blood -- the blood of a black cat slaughtered by a cruel ritual dagger.
The man, clad in a black hooded ceremonial vestment, raised his hands as he began the chant of evocation:
“Oh beings of darkness, creatures and inhabitants of the blackest night, I do call you forth to witness and aid in my conjuration. Oh spirits of the Druidic way, I do invoke your power that I may raise from the dead the spirit of one who cries out for vengeance. I call her forth and raise her up, she who shall this very night gain her revenge upon the one known as Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I do conjure and call and evoke and bring forth, by the power of the ancient rites of the people of Dis, most awful god of the Underworld!
“For seven nights I have here prepared the ritual, and now is the moment when all comes to pass! Come forth now, one who seeks the life, the existence, the very soul of he who is my enemy and hers! Come forth! Come forth, Leticia Winsor! Come forth, you who are known as the Druidess!”
With this there appeared, in a weird mist hovering above the altar, the form of a young woman clad in black, her hair and eyes dark, her countenance at once lovely and horrid.
“Come forth now!” continued the villain, exulting in the success of his ceremony. “Come forth! I, Magister Don Wingus, do command it!!!” …
My name is Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I carry within me the vastly superior genes of the legendary Watchers of Algol, the most intellectually advanced race in all of the known galaxies.
Whilst most Algolites live in elitist seclusion, I am an operative for an organisation known as the KOSMIKOS. Assigned to Earth -- and assisted by the beautiful Miss Millie Drake -- I protect its people from alien invasions, mad scientists, and indeed all manner of menace. I am -- The Daemon-Star!!! …
In our secret headquarters, located as it is within the golden trapezoidal roof of a certain downtown skyscraper (the ground floor of which is a take-away restaurant known as “The Pizza Gate”), I sat at my desk, surrounded by computer equipment and also by artefacts from the many amazing adventures of my long and storied career. I was clad in my usual finery, including a frilled poet shirt, colourful velvet suit, and jungle boots. My panama hat and opera cape hung from a near by hallstand.
Seated in a near by armchair was my companion, Millie Drake, who had been idly looking through some old movie magazines until I had interrupted her reverie by announcing that our equipment had detected a strange flow of energy in the city. Millie is an exquisitely beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, lovely violet eyes, and sun kissed skin. The purple dress she wore only served to highlight the soft curves of her slender pubescent figure.
“So, Daniel,” she spoke, “you say the strange energy reading is coming from a near by public park?”
“Indeed so,” I confirmed. “It is from Druid Hill Park, located on the City’s north side.”
“Is it an extraterrestrial signal?”
“Oddly enough, no, although its powers are certainly beyond anything known to present day Earth, hmmm? It seems to be Dissic energy.”
“Dissic?” enquired the girl.
“Relating to the deity known as Dis,” I explained, “one of the Underworld gods of ancient pagan mythology. Specifically, this is one that was worshipped by the Druids.”
“But we know the pagan gods aren’t real, don’t we?”
“Oh, of course they are not,” I agreed. “In reality, Dis was an energy being that existed in the far past of Earth’s history, one of those known as the chthonic forces that ruled the planet for a period long before the ascent of the human race. Later, his form -- like so many others -- became an object of worship.”
“Is it something like the Celtic spirits we faced in that Greenwolf case?” asked Millie.
“Not really. The Druids were no actual relation of the Celts. In reality, they were a group of wandering Semites of Middle Eastern origin, so Dis is actually more closely related to Hades and other Mediterranean gods.”
“Well, we need to go investigate this, don’t we?” said Millie, standing up.
“Quite so,” I agreed, fetching my hat and cloak, “but be warned that this could be a dangerous mission indeed. My past dealings with Dissic or Druid energies -- long before your time, Mills -- were rather… problematic, hmmm?”
“How do you mean?”
“I shall explain later,” I replied
“What about Kit-10?” asked Millie, indicating our mobile personal computer that resembles a small mechanical cat.
“She had better stay here. The powers of Dis could be damaging to her circuitry.”
And with this, Miss Millie Drake and I hurried on our way. …
It was just after midnight when we arrived at Druid Hill Park. The full moon shone down over the area, putting forth its spectral argent light upon all. I parked my specially-modified 1957 Cadillac Eldorado convertible (affectionately known as “Lolita 2”) and then Millie Drake and I entered the park.
“So are we certain about exactly where the energy readings were coming from?” enquired Millie.
“Let us see,” I replied. “The Transonic should be able to pinpoint it with some accuracy.”
I took the said device, an highly-advanced scientific instrument in physical form somewhat resembling a writing pen, from a pocket of my jacket. Activating a certain setting, I then utilised it to scan the area.
“By the Spires of Daemonia!” I swore. “Readings show that it is indeed Druidic energy, and has been used quite recently for a ceremony intended to raise the dead.”
“Oh my gosh!” exclaimed Millie. “Who would do such a thing? Daniel, you don’t think it could be…”
“Let us not speculate until we get more facts, hmmm?” I counselled. “If such a ritual has indeed been performed here, it could mean that…”
“Daniel, look!” suddenly cried the girl.
I looked to-wards where she was indicating and beheld an horror indeed. Approaching us through the trees of the park were numerous creatures, small and squat manlike things, but with cloven hoofs and hairy bodies. They were red of hue and upon their heads were stubby horns.
“Daniel,” shivered Millie Drake, “what are those things?”
“Those are tomb-haunts; servants of Dis.” I explained. “A sort of ghoul, hmmm? They are said to visit graves in order to feed upon the psychic essence of death itself.”
“But… this isn’t a cemetery. Why would they be here?”
“If there is any truth to the old legends, they would also be attracted to places where certain rites of necromancy have recently been enacted.”
Then I heard Millie scream. She screamed because the creatures -- those grotesque tomb-haunts -- had in mass started to run directly to-wards us!
“Mills, my dear…” I said. “Run.”
We turned and hurried away from the tomb-haunts, fleeing through the park. The hideous creatures were behind us and were gaining quickly, moving with a supernatural speed. Horrible as they were in appearance and intent, by far the most grotesque thing about them was their utter silence.
“It is strange for tomb-haunts to attack Algolites,” I said as we continued to flee from them. “They are usually rather servile to our kind.”
“Maybe they are being controlled by something else,” offered Millie.
“Yes, I believe that may indeed be the case,” I agreed. “Something -- or someone!”
As we ran, I made a few adjustments to the transonic device and then held it on high above our heads. There was then a tremendous flash of light and, for just a fraction of a second, that late night at Druid Hill Park was illuminated like unto midday.
I looked behind us. “It worked. They tomb-haunts have vanished.”
“What did you do?” enquired Millie Drake as we halted our running.
“I utilised the transonic setting that simulates sunlight,” I explained. “Such a thing is anathema to the tomb-haunts, which is why such things are never seen in the daytime.”
“The same thing you used on the vampire Orlock?”
“Yes, except that the tomb-haunts are not destroyed by the sunlight. They are only annoyed by it, hmmm?”
The horror thus for the moment abated, I returned the transonic to my pocket and then Millie Drake and I continued our investigation of Druid Hill Park.
“Daniel,” said Millie as we walked, “you said you would tell me more about your previous encounters with Druidic powers.”
“Quite right, love,” I replied. “You see, many years ago, before I met you, I was involved in a case for the Kosmikos investigating an Earth-girl, or rather a young woman, by the name of Leticia Winsor. She was an eighteen year old aspiring ballerina, from a small town in New Jersey.”
“What interest did the Kosmikos have in her?”
“Well,” I continued, “it appeared that Leticia Winsor -- known as ‘Letty’ -- was descended from the Druidic priesthood. Her father was English, her mother Italian-American. There had been nothing unusual about either of them, but as for Letty Winsor… well, she had been showing certain mentalist abilities that had caused a connection with the ancient god Dis.”
“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Millie Drake.
“She had even begun to refer to herself as ‘The Druidess’ and to delve into the lore concerning the Druidic practices. This did not go unnoticed. In fact, it had gotten so bad that the Kosmikos had received word from the Absolute Convention of Algol that she had to be terminated. Otherwise, if Leticia Winsor were allowed to develop and utilise her abilities, Dis could rise again and gain in power -- forsooth, a power that could bring chaos upon this planet and others.”
“So was she terminated?”
“Yes, she was taken to the proper place for such an undertaking, so to speak.”
“Where was that?’
“Stonehenge.”
“Stonehenge?” wondered Millie. “The real Stonehenge?”
“Quite so,” I affirmed. “There amongst the huge standing stones on the Salisbury Plain in Great Britain, Miss Leticia ‘Letty’ Winsor was quietly brought to her end, and the power of Dis was thus prevented from ravaging the planet Earth.”
I was then interrupted by a man’s voice, a voice of wicked mockery with which I was all too familiar.
“How nice, Rumanos,” he said. “Telling your little friend tales of your past as a political assassin.”
Millie and I whirled around to face the direction from which the voice had come, and beheld the figure of a man clad in a black, hooded ritual vestment. His face was first in shadow, but he then stepped forwards into the moonlight. Of course, I recognised him immediately. I recognised him as my oldest and most bitter enemy, the renegade Algolite who is the most dangerous and evil criminal in all of Time and Space.
“Don Wingus!” I said his name. “I should have known. So you did escape from the Onyx Skull.”
“I assure you I have only gained in power since our last encounter,” replied the villain as bizarre ebon-black energy began to play around him. “I have gained the powers of Dis, god of the Underworld, and have enacted a rite that will bring forth that which shall destroy you!!”
“Wingus, you fiend!” I charged. “What horror have you perpetrated now? What terrible rite of necromancy? To this moment I pray that it is not what I suspect!”
“Oh, but it is, Rumanos,” chuckled the madman. “It most certainly is. It involves Leticia ‘Letty’ Winsor -- that poor little ballet dancer that you murdered at Stonehenge all those years ago. Did she do any pirouettes for you before you killed her? Did you at least have one of your famous sex sessions with her first? Oh, I forget. She was too old for you, Daniel Rumanos, you old child-lover. So you just killed her. You just murdered her in cold blood and left her for the tomb-haunts. You assassinated her for the cause of your precious meddling Kosmikos and have thought nothing of it since.”
“Letty Winsor was dangerous,” I rejoined. “She had contacted the powers of Dis and would have opened this planet and others to unimaginable horrors if she were not stopped. It was an unfortunate necessity, but a necessity nonetheless, that she be terminated before such extreme eldritch darkness could be released into the world.”
“Oh bravo, Rumanos,” mocked Wingus. “Bravo. Spoken like a politician. You missed your calling. Rumanos, for all your ridiculous sybaritic lifestyle, you are really -- underneath it all -- just a servant of the system. You are a tool in the game of power for your Algolite superiors. You are a fool. Really, do you even realise how the people of this wretched planet -- the very people whom you have so nobly sworn to protect -- would react should they ever find out and truly comprehend what you really are?”
“What are you babbling about now, Wingus?”
“Oh, you know what I mean. You know exactly what I mean. You are an alien to them. You are not an human being. You are a creature from another world that the Earthling race will never accept. If they knew what you truly are, and if they could realise what it is that walks here amongst them, you already know what would happen. They would join together en masse to hunt you down. They would condemn you with no hope of reprieve. You would not be welcome on this planet. To its people -- no matter how much effort you put forth to ‘help’ them -- you are nothing more than a monster!”
Whilst Don Wingus spoke his loathsome tirade, the tomb-haunts had returned and were by now well-nigh surrounding us on all sides. Millie Drake moved closer to me and I took her hand.
“What is the true reason for all this, Wingus?” I questioned. “Why would you again unleash these horrors upon the world? Is it really just an attempt to annoy me?”
“Your time is at an end, Daniel Rumanos,” replied the wicked Magister Don Wingus. “You cannot escape. The tomb-haunts will no longer flee from your little sunshine maker, for they are now under my control and are enshrouded by the eternal darkness of Dis. And that is not all, Rumanos. Someone else will now be joining us. Someone you know.”
“Daniel,” said Millie in horror, “look at that!”
I looked upwards, above us at what Millie indicated. What I then saw was a grotesque sight indeed, for hovering in the air a few metres distant was a form; it was the face of a young woman with dark hair and eyes, the remainder of her figure shrouded in black. It was a face that looked down on me with sorrow. It was a face I indeed recognised -- recognised from a deed of my past that I had previously buried far within the deepest recesses of my consciousness.
“You see, Rumanos,” said Don Wingus, “here in the justly-named Druid Hill Park is a certain connection to Stonehenge. It is a connection that I have discovered, a psychic connection that was only subconsciously descried by the city developers when they gave this place its mysterious name. It is a connection that I have utilised to bring forth the spirit -- the psychic essence -- of Letty Winsor. Yes, she is the one you murdered and left behind all those years ago, and she is the one who will now destroy you and your companion!”
As I looked, the ghostly form of Miss Leticia Winsor began to drift downwards to-wards us.
“It is the night, Rumanos!” exulted Don Wingus amidst peals of his own horridly insane laughter. “It is the night of your doom! It is -- the revenge of the Druidess!!”
My dear readers, do you recognise and comprehend the extreme horror, forsooth the sheer terror of the grotesque and unholy situation in which Miss Millie Drake and I now found ourselves? There we were, under the leprous moonlight in the city’s horrifyingly-named Druid Hill Park, surrounded by the grotesque tomb-haunts and seemingly under the power of the evil Algolite known to eternal infamy as Magister Don Wingus. There we were, facing the very manifestation of the sprit of the one known as “The Druidess” -- the same Miss Leticia “Letty” Winsor whose physical destruction had been ordained by the Kosmikos -- so long ago -- and carried out by me. There we were, as the ghostly figure and face of that long-deceased young woman hovered and descended upon us like the wrathful phantom that she indeed apparently was!!
Then something truly extraordinary happened. Then, in that moment of horror, I looked up at the face of Letty Winsor. I looked up and understood.
Suddenly, the hovering spirit changed its course. She was no longer descending upon Millie and me, but rather was headed directly to-wards the evil Don Wingus!
“Daniel,” whispered Millie to me, “look at the tomb-haunts.”
Indeed, the creatures were also now headed directly to-wards Wingus, running to his location quickly with obvious unkind intent.
“No!” cried Don Wingus in sudden terror. “No! You cannot do this to me! I am Magister Don Wingus of Algol! I am your master!”
The figure of Leticia Winsor and the tomb-haunts then surrounded Don Wingus completely, cutting off even his horrible protestations. A few moments later, there was a tremendous flash of ebony-black and the supernatural horrors vanished completely -- taking the villain with them.
All was now quiet under the moonlight in Druid Hill Park there in the City. It was suddenly as if the evil that had threatened us -- and in truth had menaced all of the planet Earth -- had never even been.
“Daniel, what happened?” asked Millie Drake. “Why did the Druidess turn against Don Wingus?”
“Well, you see,” I replied, “back when she was alive and exploring her own interest in supernatural lore, Letty Winsor had discovered certain stories of my own cases. This had caused her to develop a certain romantic attachment to be -- an attachment that was unrequited, of course. This is one reason why the Watchers of Algol found her too potentially dangerous to continue to live. The perversion of such an attraction -- which would have been against the Nymphet Code and numerous other Algolitish ordinances concerning our interactions with Earth-people -- would have caused her to gain a certain repartee with the darkness of Dis, forsooth an interaction that, is she were allowed to remain in physical existence, would have brought forth chaotic terrors beyond anything that this world has ever seen.”
“But her attraction to you remained,” rejoined Millie, “even after death. She refused to hurt you.”
“Forsooth,” I affirmed, “and she turned against Don Wingus, the very one who had called her forth and who had ordered my destruction.”
“So what will happen to him now?”
“They will have taken him into the Hades dimension that is the home of Dis, where I am certain Wingus will find himself suitably punished.”
“I hope we have finally seen the last of him, then,” said Millie.
“A strange people, the Druids,” I opined, changing the subject. “So little is known of them on Earth, hmmm? The only primary sources are a few lines in Julius Caesar’s ‘Commentaries’ and a mention in Tacitus.”
Millie Drake and I had by now walked back to our car.
“Let us now leave this accursed place,” I said. “I know a nice establishment that opens early mornings, where we can get some bagels for breakfast.”
******* DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN
