The police detective had smelt that nauseating perfume of evil in the air for the past hour; a cloying cold mustiness that was stronger than the scent of pine trees and belied the balmy late spring atmosphere. The silence, too, was noticeable. The absence of birdsong nd the soughing of the mountain breeze seemed to have lapsed into a calm where not even a leaf rustled. As though the world held its breath and waited.
The tall detective in the dark, travel-stained and crumpled suit shrugged off the uneasiness he felt with deliberate effort, paused on the long steep forest path to wipe the sweat from his high brow and aquiline features. A dry tongue flicked the fringes of his jet black moustache and his narrow, deep-sunken eyes stared ahead into the shadows of a gathering dusk. But nothing moved. A three inch scar down his left cheek, a ten-year-old disfigurement, was whiter than his own sallow complexion.
Tall and lithe, it was diffficult to detewrmine the age of his police detective; he might be as old as fifty or as young as twenty. Agile in every movement, yet those eyes reflected a maturity, even a hint of fear. Because for this detective this was the end of a long trail, one that had stretched across ten years where death had lurked in the village and forest alike, but his quarry had eluded him. Until now. There would be no escape for the Black Torment.
The detective had followed this same trail earlier that morning, memorised every detail from aloft as his astral body glided and hovered in the shape of a kestrel. He was a hawk that missed nothing, ignoring the easy prey. Searching mile after exhilarating mile until he came across his first clue. And he saw the dilapidated woodcutter's shack and knew he had found the hiding place of the most evil creation, an entity reborn time and time again in human form. Satan's ambassador spawned in hell to wreak his vengence on Earth, truely the mythical anti-Christ.
At first the hut had appeared to be deserted; no sound or movement from within, not a wisp of woodsmoke out of the rusted iron stove chimney protruding from the warped roof. The detective blinked in the sunlight, considered heading back to his bed and breakfast accommodation. But there was no hurry; a fw more minutes, possibly hours, were nothing compared to the years of relentless pursuit. This creature, after all, had seduced his daughter. He would wait forever.
The sun rose high but there was no warmth in its rays. The detective felt the chill and knew it was unnatural in spite of the height above sea level. Tiny eyes that missed nothing picked out three rectangles of newly turned earth on the fringe of the surrounding trees. Graves! In them would doubtless lie the remains of victim, after victim. The beloved ones who never returned home. Beyond these stood a stone curved in the shape of a heart. A few roses wilted formed the wreath. Deep down he knew that was the resting place of his beloved daughter.
A movement, so sudden disturbed the eerie still. He saw the ill-fittting door being scarped back; a human form emerging.
It was nothing like he expected it to be. The human form was peacing to the eye. The silken black hair which flowed like curtains down his back, and the well fitted suit gave the appeal of a courtly gentlemen. Those eyes were not that of a devil sick of sin. The were the softest shade of teal. This was the b*****d who had enchanted his daughter, and stolen her from the sanctity of her bedroom.
"So you have come." The voice was smooth and cultured, mockingly defiant. "You are stubborn human. So foolish, because we could have gone our separate ways and now it is too late. Again you disturb the sul and peace of dear Christina. She always wanted for her soul to float with freedom and grace in the kingdom of the bird. I will not let you destroy that."
The detective had come to the conclusion that this being was a deluded lunatic. How could he possibly speak of his daughter a in such a manner? That creature knew nothing of his sweet-hearted Christina.
"No," the detective stepped forward, gripped a tiny crucifix in the pocket of his jacket and wondered if it would be powerful enough. "There is no room for a murderer like you in this world."
In seeing the blessed item in the fists was the detective. A axe was lifted by the Black Torment. He held the weighty object with ease. In one fatal swing the detective's world became nothing but darkness.
....
The coming of the snows had hindered the search parties and the passing of time was a convenient excuse to forget. Since the disappearance of the detective, no-one went up into the mountains. for it was aterrible place to be lost in. The locals knew of the creature since inhabited the area.