A society’s sense of propriety is in constant flux. More conservative elements resist inevitable change. Institutions are fortresses of status quo standing against continuous onslaughts of progressive opinions. But since propriety is merely the aggregate of opinion, these institutions have no more sway than the sum of the opinions of those who reside within them. Resistance is pointless.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: change, multi-culturalism, propriety
What exactly is the devil up to? Is he only a thoughtless automaton, tempting mankind away from Grace? Or is he a dreadfully intelligent creature with such a sinister plan that the very act of reading about it may destroy a mortal’s faith in God?
Feel free to send and post links to this page. The Devil’s Work is actually entirely copyrighted by Brian O’Dell. Go figure.
Near future cyberpunk/espionage thriller where ‘everyman’ Hayden Chase must adapt to the high risk and ruthless environment of information smuggling… or die.
001.00 – Flagged!
002.00 – The Midnight Club
003.00 – Cache
004.00 – Take What You Can Get
005.00 – A Few Questions
006.00 – Underground Russian Apartment Rental Mafia
007.00 – Account Not Found
008.00 – The End Of The Beginning
009.00 – Transcript
More coming soon…
Chase is being published as a serial blog. Feel free to send and post links to this page, but please don’t post the story text elsewhere. This is the copyrighted work of Brian O’Dell and the author plans to take advantage of the inherit versioning abilities of works published on the web. Check back for new additions to the story and, maybe, updated versions of the existing story pieces…
Tags: Chase
I returned to St. Luke’s, not to launch myself from its bell tower as Valdes did, but because I had formulated a plan. I made one final attempt to free myself from the bonds of the contract I had made with Mephistopheles. I imagined that if I were able to make it to the church alive, my success would be guaranteed. If anyone has the power to negate the legal trappings of such a luciferian pact, surely Christ, himself, could do so. Thus I sought the council of a priest, who may speak for Christ in His absence.
Last night I dreamt of my own descent into Hell. The dragon flung my body into the pit as if I were a useless rag and the lake of fire yawned wide to swallow me up. I saw thousands of hands reaching above the flames. They were the hands of the damned writhing in agony. They welcomed me to eternity. For one brief instant, my scream drowned out the cries of the multitude.
Mephistopheles came to me again this evening in his tails and tophat. “I have something I want you to see,” he announced. “It will, undoubtedly, provide an unlimited source of motivation for you.” He smiled his toothy grin and held his cane nonchalantly over his shoulder, tapping the back of his hat so it sat lower on his forehead, giving him an even greater devilish appearance than he had already. I wondered what mischief he may be up to and grabbed my own coat and hat and followed him.
I went to the Hellfire Club at the devil’s summons. A mist appeared around my bed in the morning and I heard Mephistopheles’ voice speaking to me from it. He promised to show me many treasures which would be mine if I would attend him today and speak with him about my studies.
Mephistopheles visited me today in my rooms on Church Street. He no longer wore the simple clothes I had seen him in when he first appeared to me and he didn’t bring his Bible. Dressed as a gentleman of a higher class, with long black tails on his waistcoat, a top hat and walking stick, he reclined on my sofa and dropped his gloves in his lap. We sat in my parlour and talked about my studies for awhile.
I went to Cornelius’ shop today. I did not visit him with sinister intentions in spite of what has occurred. I only wished to speak with him, to determine who he had spoken to regarding the book I procured through him.