The Book of Lazarus

Steve Kuehn

Description

A terrible curse has robbed Dallas Drake of his memories. He recalled being a painter, possessed some skill with sorcery; even recollected his time in the American Civil War—an officer assigned the grim duty of returning zombies to Hell and bringing peace to the dead. But when Judgement Day arrived, he’d forgotten the sacred texts and could not recall how to save mankind from damnation.
Christ had returned to earth and a great darkness covered the land. Preparing for his Father’s divine return, the son of God searched out the last copy of the Book of Lazarus, the cursed and forgotten book of the Bible. For Lazarus had been dead four days and had witnessed many things. Lazarus knew the truth about God.
Dallas Drake and the Seven Pilgrims must travel the Paths of the Dead. For mankind needs an antichrist to stand against the Lord of Heaven and Hell.

Sujets

• Horror
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 24 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665574235
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE BOOK OF LAZARUS
 

 
STEVE KUEHN
 
 

 
 
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
 
 
 
© 2022 Steve Kuehn. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse 10/21/2022
 
ISBN: 978-1-6655-7422-8 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6655-7423-5 (e)
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.
CONTENTS
The Lovers
1     Farrar
2     The Paths of the Dead
3     The Wind of Fortune
4     Athena
Michael Harvester: A Child has Arrived
5     Memories of Magic
6     The Holy Ghost
7     The Princes of the Dawn
Michael harvester: The Human Soul
8     She-Life-in-Death
9     The Talisman
10   Iron and Silver
Michael Harvester: The Christ
11   Hell Awaits
12   Saint Lazarus
13   Durango Dog
Michael Harvester: Blood Sacrifice
14   The Words of Lazarus
15   The Black Castle
16   The Iron Horse
17   The Quick and The Dead
18   The Seventh Seal
19   The Door Between Day and Night
Michael Harvester: Abaroth
20   The River of Kalb
21   Of Angels and Fire
22   The Mark of the Beast
23   The Tombs of the Damned
24   Abaroth
God is Dead: An Epilogue
 
 
 
 
 
 
For Angie Prieto
 
Two Pisces racing upstream,
Forever and ever it seems.
From the River Styx to the Apocalypse,
Trapped in this waking dream.

THE LOVERS
 
Humanity turned its back on the Lord and scattered themselves to all corners of the Earth. In time, the people transformed Chaos into Peace, harnessed Fire for its Light. And finally, gazing inward, Humanity gave birth to the Leviathan. Such audacity, Humanity believing it could wield such power. Terrible was the Lord’s wrath. Furious with jealousy he returned to e arth.
-The Book of Lazarus
Chapter 4 verse 35
Southeastern Colorado
March 21, 1852
T hey were on their own.
Dallas Drake prodded cold ashes with a booted toe before scooping them, hand trembling, into a small cloth sack. He didn’t know why he needed the ashes. Perhaps it was intuition, or a memory forgotten—the same clairvoyance had sent him and his betrothed fleeing into the mountains three days earlier.
He scanned the gloomy snow-covered slope finding no movement among the trees and rocks, but with his mind he sensed Captain Samael and his Federal agents closing in from the mountain pass above. Too close, they were closing in.
Purple dawn spread above the woodlands to the east. While snow had fallen in the night, covering their tracks, those Federal mind-trackers could still locate them if they weren’t careful. Drake hurried to the old cabin, pushed open the broken door and roused Seven from her sleep.
“We have to get moving.”
She woke in an instant, clutching the crucifix strung about her neck. “Are they...?”
“Not yet. But I sensed them up in the pass. Half dozen Feds, the captain. And the Mo ther .”
Seven scrambled to her feet, shedding straw. She sensed them, too. A Moonchild, she sensed most things—including the absence of the book.
“Where is...?
“I burned it.”
“I hadn’t read past…”
“Damn that book,” he cursed. “It’s done enough damage.”
Frightened, they hurried down the mountain’s eastern slope. Indian territory spread as far as eyes could stare, and while last fall’s Fort Laramie Treaty had produced a great deal of fanfare, this was still Arapaho and Cheyenne land, and a treaty was just a piece of paper. Drake carried three pistols stolen from the fort armory and kept them looped through a bandolier across his chest. The troubling question—what are three shots against Federal Marshals and Indian warriors?
The sky brightened to tombstone gray, leaving Drake to wonder what God thought of their plight.
Past a row of snow-covered cairns, Seven broke the chilly silence. “The Mother is wroth,” she whispered. “I can sense her anger even through the mountains.”
“The Mother is always angry. If nothing else, our escape has bought the fort and the other children a few days of respite.” He looked about in disgust. “All this shit over a Holy book. Perhaps they’ll all get themselves killed in an avalanche.”
Seven stopped, stared at him, eyes large with fright. “Dallas, I sense murder in her heart.”
Dallas turned. “Murder? No. I can understand hate . She may have developed rage over our disappearance. But murder? The Mother is not that … possessed.”
Seven shook her head. “No. I sense her intent to kill us. She must be close at hand for me to distinguish between mere anger and these …these dark intentions. Not possessed,” she corrected, “but possessive. We belong to the Mother.”
“We do not belong to her. Or anyone, for that matter. Not anymore.”
Murder? For borrowing a Holy book and reading it? Granted, the fort’s library remained forbidden, so it hadn’t been honestly borrowed. And forgiveness? Drake never sensed anything but contempt from his federal guardians, but never had he suspected they’d want to kill him or any of the other children.
Seven pocketed the hard cheese she’d been nibbling these three days. Wrapping a wool shawl about her dark hair, they started downhill again towards the Arkansas River, and God willing, Kansas.
By midmorning, sunlight dazzled the snow and looming mountains. Kansas continued as a mysterious rectangle memorized from a map tacked up on a schoolroom wall. Seven clung to his hand. Drake did not want her to sense his own fear. But, alas, there was no hiding emotions from a Moonchild. Born of blood and water, she knew the fear in his heart and squeezed his fingers tight.
“What did we read in that book that instigated such a panic among the chaplains?”
“I already told you. And I will never repeat it again. You heard the Mother, any who possess such knowledge are marked.”
The same answer. “Remind me. No harm. Not even Captain Samael can get inside your head and see what you really know and feel,” he told her. “Not when you are coffin-minded.”
“You are so forgetful lately. Remember, they promised to summon someone who could break me, and open my mind.”
Drake recalled something to that effect. Captain Samael was a monster.
All students read the Old and New Testaments, but it was the Book of Lazarus the Mother had caught them reading. Her reaction had been as alarming as the words written within the tome. So alarming, in fact, they had fled the confrontation, the forbidden library and hid.
The ensuing calamity had been frightening, driving the young lovers to flee with little more than the clothes on their backs. Three days later, feeling the sun upon their faces, the sense of freedom was worth the risk. Even if they died in the wild, they would die free and with one another. They sure as hell weren’t going back.
Upon waking that morning, Drake had left the abandoned cabin in search of berries along the south-facing rocks and stumbled across an improbable cluster of bright winter violets. He picked the flowers and made a bridal wreath before building a small, desperate fire to burn the stolen book. Now, he halted there on the slope, turned and gave her the wreath. He just wanted to see her joy and surprise.
“Soon, I will make you a true bridal wreath.”
“This is a true bridal wreath!” she gasped. “This is!”
She threw her arms around him and held him close.
“If you say so,” he said hopefully. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. We can be married at the next town.”
“We will.”
And they fled quickly down the mountain.

“They are on horseback,” Seven spoke suddenly.
“I’m sure they are. I would have liked to steal a pair of horses for ourselves, but no way of getting in and out of the stables without getting caught.”
Late winter in Colorado, her hand felt understandably cold, but the dread filling her voice chilled Drake’s heart. “I’m only saying this because they are drawing closer every hour. We may need to hide before they are upon us.”
Heart throbbing, he stopped, eyes darting across the pine-laden hills below.
“We cannot hide here,” she insisted. “We must use the forest for cover. All forests are haunted, you know. We can use the forest’s energy to mask our location.” Sounding less certain, she added, “The Mother’s anger, the searching minds of the agents … they keep fading in and out, like music carried on the wind. I think they … or something is hiding their minds from us.”
Drake’s stared upward. He not so much saw it but sensed a dark shadow circling Mount Sneffel’s ridged peak—a distant flap of wings and it vanished. Whatever it was, it was large. Too large. No eagle or a red-tailed hawk. Something was following them. Drake felt its chilling gaze upon him, then that too vanished.
Heart’s racing, they pounded down the snowy slope towards a stand of pine trees. Seven fell