Claiming the Oracle, chapter 3

Chapter 3



         The picturesque farm with it’s a large old Victorian style two story house, complete with a widow’s walk and porch swing, set back off the main road is home to many generations of Jenkins’.  The long half mile driveway leading to the house was flanked with beautiful pink and white cherry trees. 

         Mrs. Jenkins, along with the younger women in the family, meticulously tend the large flower and kitchen gardens.  The gardens start in the front yard, running along the wrap around porch, down along the sunny southern side of the house and open into the largest garden in the back yard.  They tends to all types of flowers, vegetables, fruits and herbs.

         The farm boasts of the best corn and soy bean fields in the region.  Along with everything else, Mr. Jenkins’ raises milking cattle.  Not too long ago, when he took running the farm over from his father, he added an apple orchard.  The orchard has been a huge hit with the many families that take it over in the fall at picking time.

         The farm’s been in the Jenkins’ family for hundreds of years with more than ten generations having grown up to work it.  The family has always worked hard to expand the farm each time it changed hands from father to son.  As a result of all the expansions, the original house no longer exists.  In its place, is a machine garage and the very first field now only grows the ghosts of once operational farm equipment.

         There are other not so picturesque places on the farm.  Places like the machine garage that houses the many farm machines needed for all of the planting and harvesting.  Then, there are the large composting plots.  There, all of the cow patties, hay bedding, corn cobs and other various plant materials get recycled into fertilizer for the fields and orchard.  Lastly, there was the machine grave yard, where Farmer Jenkins’  likes to tinker with broken down farm equipment.  He tries to fix them, but more often than not, he uses the broken down machines for spare parts.

         In this more unsightly place that’s often never seen by members of the human public, a place referred to as “the Dark” by Muridae, one will find the rougher, more wild mice. The ones that can’t live in regular society live here because just like humans the Muridae too have vices.  Often when one of these vices cause a mouse to live in the Dark they are never heard from again.  It’s been this way since long before the first mouse settlements on the farm ages ago.

         Very rarely, a child might be born to some poor sickly female mouse living in the Dark.  The unfortunate child is usually diseased and addicted before birth.  Sadly, the children die within days of their birth.  Many goodwill missions have been sent into the Dark trying to help the addicted, sickly, and pregnant.  More recently these missions of mercy have dwindled.  After countless failed missions, most of the so called “upstanding” mice have given up hope of ever rescuing anyone once they’ve turned to the darkness.

         The farm was always a busy place between planting, growing, harvesting, storing, milking, breeding and selling, where many things could go unseen.  Now, with the goodwill missions few and far between something dangerous has gone unseen.  A dark presence was emerging, scraping and fighting for its very survival.  It’s hungry, hungry for life, prosperity and most importantly hungry for the power it had been denied.  This unseen dark force was slowly amassing a dark army.  This faction was training for war, a war no one was suspecting.

         If one were to venture out to the machine grave yard they would find an ancient and magnificent maple growing in the middle of the silently rusting ghosts.  The maple was a part of the original Muridae settlements.  When the farmers moved to the big house the mice relocated as well abandoning the colony homes carved within.  Many goodwill missions used to set-up base camps in the old homes.

         There hadn’t been a goodwill mission set-up in the old maple in over three generations.  Even so, the old maple was not completely deserted.  The dark unseen force had taken up residence.  It’s recruiting others to join it there.  This dark force was headed by a most handsome and charming mouse by the name of Caleb.

         Caleb was born in the Dark to a ruthless alcoholic mother.  He didn’t perish like those before him because his mother was only living in the dark for a short time when she gave birth to him.  She’d not yet been fully consumed by the darkness she was now living in.  The poisons that so many are addicted to had yet to enter her veins and steal the life of her unborn child.  Raising a child as a single parent is difficult in the best of circumstances; and nearly impossible in the Dark. 

         Caleb barely survived his first couple years of life.  He was a hungry child, very rarely given any sustenance, but somehow managing to get just enough to keep going.  As Caleb grew, he learned quickly how to fend for himself.  It was easy for him to steal what he needed; for all of the mice he grew-up around were either addicted to drugs, alcohol, or both.  The women traded their bodies for what they wanted.  The men ran the drugs, used what they didn’t sell and prostituted the women.  There were no authorities to stop anything.  No one was there to police the pimps and drug lords because all of them were ill effective and short lived.

         As Caleb grew up in this world of darkness, he saw many horrible things the drugs made mice do to one another.  He resolved to never become addicted like the others.  He resolved to escape the Dark.  As a child, he grew up hearing stories of the goodwill missionaries.  For a long, long time he believed he would be rescued by them.  Sadly, that rescue would never come.  On the day Caleb turned seven his life was changed forever and the last flicker of hope he carried would be forever extinguished.

         The morning of Caleb’s seventh birthday was a brilliant sunny June morning.  The sun hung lazily in the sky with the promise of being a very warm day.  Caleb’s mom had been doing well the past few weeks with his coaxing she had cut back on her drinking.  Caleb, with the naivety that is childhood, thought he could fix his mother.  He was trying to make her well.  He wanted her to get clean.  Mostly, he wanted her to become a respectable mouse again and move them out of the Dark.

         He planned the whole day.  They were to picnic on the shaded side of the old maple.  He packed games they could play like cards and checkers.  He packed a book in case his mom wanted to read.  Caleb started packing their picnic lunch when it was still early morning.  He had decided to let his mom sleep in while he prepared the sandwiches and drinks.  He was just about finished when someone started pounding loudly on the door, startling him. 

         “Sophie! Hey, Sophie open up!” a male’s voice shouted through the closed door.

         Caleb instantly recognized the voice on the other side of the door.  His mom’s pimp, Little Tony, had come looking for her.  Scared but determined not to let him in, Caleb, yelled back to Little Tony through the door.  “She ain’t here!”

         “Don’t give me that!”  Little Tony yelled back.  “I’ve had your place watched all night.  I know she’s there.  Now, get that wench out here before I break down the door!”

         “I told ya, she ain’t here!”  Caleb tried again to convince Little Tony to leave.  “She ain’t been home for days.  It’s just me and I was sleepin’ before you showed up.  I’ll tell her you was here but I don’t know when she’ll be back.”

         “That’s it; I ain’t givin’ ya anymore chances to open the door!”  And with that, Little Tony started to kick down the door.  One, two, three hard hits and the old wood gave way.  Little Tony brushed past the now splintered and broken door.  He marched straight to Caleb.  Caleb scared, was visibly shaking as Little Tony rushed toward him.  He was no fool; he knew he was in deep for trying to lie to Little Tony about his mother.  Reaching Caleb in two heart beats, Little Tony grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him off the floor.

         Face to face with Caleb, Little Tony spoke through clenched teeth.  “Where is she?  And don’t get cute cuz I ain’t askin’ again.”

         Even with Little Tony breathing down his neck Caleb still thought he had a chance.  “Little Tony, don’tcha think she’d be out here with all the noise you’re makin’?”

         “I warned ya not to get cute,” replied Little Tony.  With that last comment Little Tony threw Caleb against the wall with enough force to knock him unconscious for hours.

         The light softened with the setting of the sun by the time he finally woke.  Caleb awoke to a horrible headache and a ringing in his ears.  Slowly, he got up off the floor making a mental note of all his aches and pains.  Luckily, nothing was broken but he did have a large bump where his head had hit the wall.  Then the memory of that morning came rushing back to him.  His heart raced as his feet propelled him to his mother’s room at the back of the apartment.  The door was closed.  He lifted a shaking hand to the doorknob, Caleb slowly turned the knob and opened the door. 

         The only light in the room came from a small window on one side of the bed where his mother slept.  Cautiously, he entered the room.  He took only a few steps before he saw his mother on her bed just as she had been that morning.  Relief started to fill him as he arrived next to her bed.  He reached out to shake her awake only she did not wake.  Caleb moved the sheets down and touched her on the arms; she was cold.  Fear, disbelief, horror and most of all hate filled him with the realization that Little Tony had killed her.

         That was the day the light of hope and goodness died in Caleb, forever.  It passed away during the day with his mother.  He was reborn that night; he was now a child of the darkness.  From that night forward, he swore to get even.  He learned the drug trade and how to run a prostitution ring.  The drug lords and pimps were weak, disorganized and pathetic; drunk on their own drugs, they usually killed themselves by overdosing.  Caleb quickly moved up the ranks.

         By the time he was fifteen, Caleb had taken control of the drug rings.  He was a god to the drug fiends.  He forbid his sellers to use the drugs they sold, building a guard that was made up of big, strong men.

         Over the next ten years, as new mice moved into the Dark, they met Caleb.  If he thought they could be beneficial he had them cleaned-up and recruited them to his guard.

         His main base of operations was housed in the old maple tree.  There he lived in the upper level penthouse.  He had some of the smaller apartments converted into a large luxurious penthouse.  His guards lived in the lower ground level apartments.  Caleb not being a fool saw the need for good protection.  With that realization, he started building in layers of safety while reorganizing the apartments in the old maple.  He had a small crew of mice working to make the apartments livable again.

         One day, a crewmember was working in a lower basement apartment, when he stumbled onto a hidden passage.  Curious, the worker followed the passage to see where it would lead.  To his amazement, the passage led to a small library filled with old books.  The room was not too large, maybe the size of a small apartment.  The room had no power just old candle holders with melted wax dripped down them.  Close to the door opening, at the end of the passage, the worker found a half used candle.  He lit the candle and started to look around the room at the books.

         The books housed in the room caught his attention because they were unlike any he had seen before.  They appeared to be really old.  The books were covered in a thick layer of dust.  Their keeper was long gone leaving them to rot away.  The worker grabbed one of the books to bring back with him.  He’d no idea of just how significant this discovery was going to be.

         A short while later, the worker found himself standing in front of Caleb explaining how and where he made his discovery.  In his hands, Caleb held a very old, hand bound book.  The pages were thick, the words handwritten and the ink was starting to show signs of fading.  This book was nothing exciting from what Caleb had read so far.  It was merely an accounting of the local laws at the time of the first settlement.  However, one very important thing jumped out at Caleb.  The date on the page, it couldn’t be possible.  If this date is accurate then the area around the old maple was inhabited by mice long before people settled the Americas.  Even before the dark ages mice have lived in the area of the farm.

         Caleb spent most of the next year reading every book found in the library.  Like the first book, the rest were handwritten accounts of the daily lives of the first Muridae.  Caleb was unloading the last shelf of books, preparing to take them back to his apartment when he made a discovery of his own.  On the floor, stuck between the bookshelf and the wall was a small but thick book bound in white leather with a black onyx jewel encrusted on the cover.  Reaching down, Caleb picked up the book; holding it he could swear he felt it humming with power.  “I must be tired to think a book is humming,” Caleb thought to himself.  He placed the book on top of the pile he planned to bring to his apartment and left the library.   

         That night, as Caleb settled in to read before going to sleep, he picked up the white book with the black stone on its’ cover.  Again, he felt it humming with power.  Perplexed, he opened the cover and was disappointed to find the book was written in a strange language he’d never seen before.  Whatever it was, it was a very beautiful language.  Like the other books, this one was handwritten but it was written in a shiny silvery ink.  If Caleb didn’t know better, he could have sworn the ink was true silver.  Curious to see how it felt, Caleb ran his fingertips along the pages.  Carelessly, he got a deep paper cut.  He turned his finger over to look at the cut and as he did a drop of blood landed on the open book.

         He reached for a tissue to wipe up the blood while cursing at himself for being so careless.  When next he looked at the page a strange thing happened.  While Caleb watched amazed the blood disappeared.  Only it didn’t vanish; instead it was absorbed by the page like water soaked up by a sponge.  Starting at the spot on the page where the drop of blood landed and spreading outward across the page, the silver wording morphed into a language he could read.  Quickly flipping through the rest of the book he was astounded to find all of the other pages morphing like the first one.  Excited and just a little apprehensive Caleb started reading the strange book.

         The dawn broke on a new morning with the sun peeking through what remained of the seasons first snow clouds.  A thin blanket of fresh snow covered the grass and a crisp chill filled the air.  Caleb was still in bed reading.  He didn’t stop reading at all through the night.  The knowledge contained in the small book could change his life.  The book contained dark secrets the likes of which have not been known for ages.  He thought about all of the history he read over the past year.  In all of those books spanning all of those centuries there was never a mention of the white book or the knowledge it held.  This left Caleb perplexed as he contemplated how long the library had been lost to his kind.  He wondered who amassed the collection and did they know about the secrets held within the white book?  A world of possibilities was opening to him and  the only question left as far as he could see was…Could he do what needed to be done to take the power the universe was presenting?  It took him only a moment to decide.  He would use all of the resources he’d amassed over the past ten years to aide him in his quest for the ultimate power.

         The sun now shone brightly through his bedroom window motivating Caleb to get out of bed and prepare for the day.  While dressing he thought, “I’ve made-up my mind; I am going to take the power being presented.  Surely the Gods have chosen me; why else would this information find its way to me.  My life’s been a testament to my great will and strength.  Who else could’ve survived what I’ve lived through?  My life, until this point, has been a refining of my spirit.  This book lays out my final test.  If I… no, when I complete this quest I will be given my great reward.  I must keep this book hidden it should stay with me always.  No one else must know what I am trying to accomplish.  I need to plan.”  Half dressed with only pants and an unbuttoned shirt on; he left the bedroom and headed to his study, his head swimming with plans and dreams of glory.

         The study was on the other side of the penthouse. Leaving his bedroom, Caleb headed down the hall towards the study.  Passing through the living room he’d walked half way through it before deciding to grab a bite to eat.  In the kitchen he made a plate of nuts, cheese, some dried fruits and wine to bring with him to the study.  “That should hold me for a while,” he said a loud to no one.

         Once in the study, he set down the plate and wine then returned to the door, closing and locking it.  That should buy him some privacy; not that any of his mice would think to enter without knocking.  “One can never be too careful.”

         He set about organizing his thoughts and making a plan of action, “First, I have to search this tree for the old sanctuary mentioned in the book.  According to the text, I have to perform the power transference ritual on the summer solstice.  That gives me about eight months to find and prepare the sanctuary and ritual tools.  Then, I have to find an Oracle and their keeper.  Where are my blueprints?” he muttered out loud.  “Luckily, I have already remodeled most of the old homes.  That really reduces the areas I have left to search.  Let’s see….hmm” Caleb grabbed the tubes containing the blueprints to the many floor plans for each level.  He unrolled each one and examined the notes left by the crew.  According to the blueprints, nothing existed above his penthouse but solid tree. He looked through each floor’s blueprint searching for any sign of an entrance to the ancient sanctuary, to no avail.  Thirty sets of blue prints, thirty floors and no clues to the location of the sanctuary.  “This may not be as easy a find as I first thought,” Caleb pondered aloud.

         Needing to stretch his legs after hours of examining blue prints, Caleb left the penthouse to walk each floor.  He started at the basement level, reasoning that the library was discovered there, plus it wasn’t inhabited.  He would have to come-up with a good excuse to search his guards apartments, if need be.  The basement level was three feet underground and bigger then the massive tree trunk.  Deducing that the occupied space in the basement couldn’t be the sanctuary, Caleb started his search along the outer walls.  Slowly, walking the perimeter he knocked on the walls listening for a hollow sound.  More than an hour passed by the time he made his way completely around the basement.  “Damn, I though for sure it would be down here,” he said, aloud in frustration. “Where could it be?” Without realizing it he started walking towards the library.

         Standing in the middle of the library Caleb took in the layout of the room.  Bookcases lined all of the walls with more cases filling the open floor space.  There was no other furniture to be found.  Lighting one of the candles near the door; Caleb started to examine the bookcases along the walls.  He quickly learned they were built into the walls.  Knowing that the bookcases are immovable, Caleb began to empty a single shelf.  With the shelf empty, he tried to remove it with a good upshot and to his satisfaction the shelf gave way.  Now that the shelf was out of the way, Caleb tried knocking on the wall again listening for a hollow sound.  His heart was raced with excitement at the possibility of a find, when he instead he’s met with disappointment at the dead sound made by his knock.  Resetting his resolve and squaring his shoulders Caleb was determined to find the ancient sanctuary.  This little stumbling stone would not deter him.  He began the daunting task of removing volumes of books and checking the walls for a possible entry.  He worked long into the night, fighting the aches and pains from moving the substantial amounts of books and the exhaustion from lack of sleep the night before.

Slowly, he made his way around the room.  He finally reached the last bookcase.  He repeated the same ritual as before, first removing the books then the shelf.  Licking his lips and taking in a deep breath in anticipation, he knocked on the last wall only to be filled with despair.  Giving up for what’s left of the night, Caleb headed to his lonely bed.

         Collapsing onto his warm, soft bed he fell straight to sleep.  He slept through the next day, waking late into the evening only when a knock on his bedroom door roused him.  “Boss, hey boss, you okay in there?” Jim called to him from the other side of the door.

         Jim, his right hand man, has been in Caleb’s service almost from day one.  Jim is loyal like a brother to Caleb because, the way Jim sees it, Caleb saved his life all those years ago.  Jim was lost in the bottle when he arrived in the Dark.  He’d had lost his loving wife and small child to a barn owl attack.  Caleb told Jim the story of Little Tony and his mother’s murder.  He convinced Jim to get clean and help him get revenge on Little Tony.  In doing so, Jim felt he was redeemed, as a male.  Jim’s been by Caleb’s side ever since and would give his life to protect him. 

         A knock sounded again on the door a little more urgent this time.  “I’m up.  I’m up, Jim quit it will ya?”  Caleb called out.  Getting out of bed and slipping on a robe Caleb headed to the door.  Running a hand through his tussled hair he opened the door to greet his friend. “Yeah, Jim, whatcha need?”

         “Nothing really, I was just a little worried aboutcha cuz Betty said you didn’t come to dinner last night and no one had seen you today.  It’s not like you.  Usually you make at least one stop to check the construction work.  I thought maybe you caught a fever or something.” Jim replied.

         “No, I am working on a new project to tell you the truth.  I will most likely disappear often until I’m done.  I’ll tell you what.  I’ll leave the day to day operations in your hands.  That’s overseeing all the dealers, the cash flow and the construction.  I need to be free to focus all my attention on this new venture,” Caleb instructed. 

         Curious Jim asked, “Yeah?  What’s this new project you got goin’ boss?  Is it anythin’ I could help ya with?”

         “I can’t talk about it yet.  I have too many loose ends to tie up.  Just knowing you are running my operations is help enough.  When I have things more settled, I may have other projects for you, but right now I need to do this on my own.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need a little more sleep,” Caleb finished.

         Jim nodded his head and turned to leave as Caleb closed the door.  He climbed back into bed only to throw the covers back off with the sudden inspiration to check the basement floors.

         Caleb dressed quickly and grabbed the white book as rushed out of his bedroom only to run right into Jim.  The force of two muscular bodies meeting sent Caleb falling on his rump.  “Umph, geez Jim, I thought you were going to check on the construction?”  Caleb questioned.

         “An’ I thought you was gonna get some more sleep?” Jim questioned suspiciously.  He offered a hand to help Caleb onto his feet again.

         “Thanks” Caleb replied, accepting the help Jim offered.  “I was but then I got a hunch and decided to follow-up on it.  Anyway, what were you coming back to see me about?”

         “I forgot to tell ya.  Betty said, dinner’s ready and that ya better get your fanny in an’ eat or she’ll make ya wear it.  I would do as she says boss.  She can be mighty frightin’ when you rile her.”

         “Yeah, you better not let her hear you talking like that.  She’ll likely break a leg or two just to prove she’s nice.”  Caleb said as the two men head toward the dinning room.  “Care to join me if you haven’t eaten already?  I could use a buffer.  I know she’ll chew at me for missing dinner last night.”

         “Thanks, but I already ate.  Besides like you said I need to check on the construction.  I think those guys have been laggin’ since then haven’t seen ya.  I’ll see ya in the morning to give my report.  Night boss”

         “Alright, just leave me here to survive the wrath of Betty on my own and here I wanted to nominate you for body guard of the year,” joked Caleb.

         Jim, not being someone to be out done, joked back, “ Aww, poor babe can’t even handle a female.  I thought we had the talk about the birds and bees already.”

         As it turned out, Betty was in a great mood and prepared way too much food.  Caleb ate dinner alone as usual.  Being a boss can be a lonely life.  The power makes you feel safe but the reality is you can’t trust anyone.  Everyone is out to get a piece, a piece of you, a piece of the power, a piece of the prestige and a piece of the money.  It makes one very vulnerable.  Caleb would like to have a wife and children some day.  That’s not possible now and with a heavy heart he realized it may never be possible as long as he lives in the Dark.  He’s in way too deep; no matter whom he chose to replace him as head of the organization; it wouldn’t last.  He has too many enemies, not to mention, what respectable woman would marry an ex-drug boss.  He was surrounded by worn down, addicted, haggard females; not one suitable to be his wife.  Not wanting to travel down this lonely road again, Caleb finished his dinner quickly and headed back to the basement.     

         “There must be some trick to it,” Caleb thought.  “I know the sanctuary is here; I can almost feel it calling to me.  Let’s see….with the book it took a drop of blood before I could read the words.  Could that be what it takes?”  Pondering his options he continued to pace the whole of the basement floor; deciding to reserve the library for last.  The floor beneath his feet was dirt and felt firm. The tree started higher up. The Muridae that built the basement used boards to extend the walls lower.

         Caleb found himself drawn once again to the library; here the floor was wooden planks covered by a rug.  He slapped himself on the forehead at just how cliché the scene looked.  Of course the door must be under the rug, it’s always under the heavy piece of furniture, covered by a rug. The only problem was all of the books and shelves he left strewn everywhere.  “Well Caleb, you have two choices clean-up your own mess or get others to do it for you.”  He rolled up his sleeves and went about setting the library in order again.

         It took him working through most of the night before the shelves and books were righted.  Once the floor was clear, he had a better view of the rug.  For the first time, he lit all of the candles in the room.  The light offered by the candles illuminated a previously unseen pattern in the old tattered rug.           

         The rug was round and multi-colored with scenes depicted on it.  On the outer ring was a naked dancing mouse.  The mouse was the same but the moves changed as the mouse danced along the edge.  The next circle had a copper pot depicted over a fire and various items in the circle.  The next inner circle showed the dancer again in three forms of cleansing: bathing, a sage inscent burning, and meditation. The center of the rug depicted a door half open with bright light shining through the opening.

         Flabbergasted when he fully comprehended the meaning in the pictures, Caleb tried to figure out what ingredients he would need for the potion.  He was able to figure out that he needed to collect seven ingredients.  There was a copper pot, water, salt, fly and magic mushrooms, jimson weed seeds, and morning glory seeds.  “It’s a good thing I operate the drug ring,” he commented quietly.  “I can get the shrooms and seeds in my own back yard; no questions asked.”  He examined the rug more closely, looking for any other clues that might lead to opening the door.  In the second largest ring, he found that the sun fazed into the moon and back again several times.  He assumed that it symbolized the passage of a day and that he would need to prepare the potion and let it simmer for three days before it would be ready.  In the cleansing ring, he found the same sun and moon symbols under each picture.  The only thing that concerned him was the largest ring depicting the dance.  Did he have to perform the dance depicted?  He decided to try the cleansing and potion only.  “If nothing happens I’ll learn the dance and then try again. Worst case, nothing happens and I learn a new dance.” Caleb said aloud.

         Three days later, Caleb returned to the library with the potion wearing only a robe and slippers just incase.  He lit all of the candles and again double checked the instructions on the rug.  He reaffirmed the completion of the cleansing rituals, one on each of the past three days.  He picked up the drink and proceeded to down the whole glass quickly.  “Oh man, that’s nasty!  Now, what do I do?  I wonder how long I should wait before anything will happen?  Maybe I should….”

         Before he could utter the next word the room started spinning.  Caleb lost his balance and fell to the floor.  Unable to form a coherent thought, he aimlessly got to his feet and stumbled around the room.  As he bumped into the bookcases he knocked books to the floor.  A couple of times they landed on his feet.  He let out a yell at the sudden pain and when reaching for his foot, fell to the floor again and again.  Soon the room stopped spinning but now it morphed and changed like the colors of oil in water. 

         His head and stomach couldn’t take anymore and he began to retch.  Just when he thought he couldn’t feel any worse he started to convulse.  Giving in to the realization that he was dying, he stopped trying to get to his feet.  He closed his eyes and waited for a final breath that never came. 

         Within a few moments, he began to feel better.  Cautiously he opened one eye and then the other.  His sight was back to normal and the room looked the same as when he first entered.  Slowly he sat up; his body fought against the movement and threatened to retch again.  Caleb took a couple soothing, deep breaths until the feeling passed.  As he shifted his weight to stand, he heard a noise like the tumblers in a lock turning under his left hand.  Quickly, he got up to move the rug; all thoughts of ill feelings lost.  Once the rug was moved out of the way Caleb could clearly see a door outlined in the floor.  A small handle was carved into the wood.  Pulling with all of his strength, muscles taunt with the effort needed, the door finally opened.  There was no bright shining light to greet Caleb, only stairs. 

         Caleb placed a steadying hand on either side of the door frame as he descended the stairs.  He didn’t get very far before he noticed the lack of light in the stair well and turned back.  With a candle in hand, he re-entered the stairwell.  This time he noticed the stairwell was spiral with more candles evenly spaced along the wall.  Caleb lit the candles as he descended further underground. The air was stale and smelled of mold; the smell got stronger the deeper he went.  The stairwell was not very long a couple of turns and he reached the bottom.  The light offered by his lone candle was swallowed by the dark stone the room was made of.  Caleb searched the wall to his right for more candles.  He found more lining the walls every few steps.

         The entire room was about the same size as the library located above it.  Once the last candle was lit, Caleb turned to take in the view of the entire room.  On the floor in what looked like silver, was a large pentagram.  There was a hole in the floor at each of the five points on the star.  He knelt to investigate the holes.  They weren’t too big; running his hands over the holes Caleb felt a waxy residue left from burnt candles.  Standing, he started to explore the entire room.

          It didn’t take him long to find two cupboards built into the eastern wall, near the bottom of the stairs.  In the first cupboard, he found numerous tools and boxes of multicolored candles.  In the second cupboard, he found a plethora of dried herbs, seeds, bugs and other body parts to petrified to be named.  Everything was dusty and most of the labels had faded. In the very back of the second cupboard, Caleb found a catalog of the ingredients it held.

         Ecstatic over his latest find, Caleb took out the white book and sat in the center of the pentagram.  His opened the book to the page he’d been reading over and over the past three days.  The chapter talked about the ritual tools and spell supplies he needed to complete the power transference ritual. 

         While reviewing the description of each tool and their purpose he laid them in a row on the floor in front of him.  There was the black knife named for the color of the handle.  The black knife was well balanced with the blade and handle the same weight.  The blade was about the length of his hand and almost as wide. It was straight along the top with a deep curve to the cutting edge.  Running down the middle of the blade was a space that almost cuts the blade in two.  It felt heavier then Caleb expected.

         Next, was the censer.  It was a small hollow brass ball.  The ball opened in half on a hinge.  The bottom was solid while the upper half had a starry design cut into it.  The censer was used for burning cleansing incense.           Then there was the chalice.  It was a long stemmed wine goblet made of pure gold with rubies, emeralds and sapphires circling the goblet.  The chalice was used for drinking ritual liquids. 

         The white handled knife followed.  This knife looked less imposing than the black knife.  It had the same weight, balance and length.  The blade was about half as wide.  It looked like something Betty might use in the kitchen.  Even though this knife looked unassuming, it was the one used for cutting during rituals.

         Next on the list of tools was a wand.  The one in this group was wooden.  Caleb didn’t know what type of tree it originated from but the wood was gnarled and misshapen from tip to handle.

         Finally, there was a black cauldron used for potion making. 

         Lost in dreams of power, Caleb re-read the instructions for the power transfer.  According to the directions, the transfer had to take place on the night of the summer solstice.  “That gives me six months to get my hands on the Oracle.  The coming year is a Deliverance year.  I will have to figure out a way to find the next child, if there is one.”  he said aloud, while contemplating his plans to obtain the ultimate power.

         Almost as if in answer to a question, there was a noise in one of cupboards of something falling over.  “What the heck was that?”  Getting up Caleb walked over to the cupboard to check on what made the noise.  In the same cupboard as the tools, he found a book; The Grimiore of Gabriela the Great was written in gold on the cover.  Caleb gathered the books and tools and headed back to his penthouse for some much needed sleep.

         The next morning, after a hot shower and a good breakfast, Caleb shut himself in the study to read the grimiore.  The book was a journal of sorts.  It chronicled the life of Gabriela the Great.  She was a high priestess to the mice.  According to the book, Gabriela lived during the time of first settlement before humans inhabited the land.  She earned the title Gabriela the Great by discovering a way to identify the Oracle Children before their third birthday.  As creator of the ritual, during the Year of Deliverance, it became her main responsibility to find the Oracle Children.  The process of finding the children eventually caused the priestess to go insane. 

         Caleb found the book fascinating especially, the entry outlining the ritual used to test for Oracle powers.  “With this information, I will be able to find the next child.  When I have the child, I will be able to perform the power transfer ritual.  Then I will…” A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.  “Yes, come in Jim”

         Jim entered the study closing the door behind him. “Hey boss, how ya doin’ today?”

         “I’m fine, slept like a babe.  What were you able to find out?”

         “Well, I tracked down Woody, the mushroom pixie.  He will do what you want,” Jim replied.

         “Good.  He owes me that much; considering he was short in his last shipment of magic mushrooms.  Anyways, he knows the plan?  He is to keep hidden and only report on the activities of Oracle Fay.  He will report her location to you when she leaves her precious Flower City?”  Caleb inquired.

         “Yeah, yeah, he’s fine with doin’ all that.  But boss, why d’ya need that info?  What does it have to do with the Dark?”  Questioned Jim, curious about the strange directives from Caleb.  Never before had Caleb ventured into the activities of those living outside of the Dark.

         “It has to do with my current project.  Let’s just say, between you me, I may have come across away to…improve our situations here in the Dark.  I may…have need of the Oracle to assist me in this.  And…let’s say, I am looking for the right time to approach her.  I would hate to choose the wrong moment and have her refuse to assist us,” responded Caleb.  He knew Jim well enough to know that if he didn’t give a reasonable answer Jim would keep pressing.  Caleb believed he gave him an adequate amount of information without really saying anything at all.

         Just as he expected, Jim was satisfied with the answer.  “That’s great boss.  Does this mean your wish of not living in the Dark may be realized?”

         “Yes, now if you’ll excuse me, I still have much planning to complete before I can meet the Oracle,” Caleb said, dismissing him. 

         Jim turned to leave the room but before he could open the door Caleb asked one more question.  “Oh, Jim by the way, how has the construction been progressing?”

         Jim turned back to face Caleb,  “Its doin’ fine.  I don’t let them get away with slackin’.  The last of the remodelin’ will be complete in a few months.  I expect they’ll be done ‘bout May or June.”

         “That’s not good enough!”  Caleb said, a little more forcefully then intended.  “I want them to get it done by the Ides of March.  I’m tired of all the mice and noise.  Tell them, I have moved up the time table and that I will pay them double to get it done by then.” 

         “Okay boss, I’ll let’em know to high tail it.  Is there anything’ else before I go?”  Jim asked, while reaching for the door knob.

         “No, that’ll be all.  Thank you,” Caleb replied returning to his plans.