Subj: Theodore Pt.2
Date: 3/18/00 6:58:16 PM Central Standard Time
From: Marcos1

The carnival was the talk of Collinsport. Posters advertising it, seemed to be posted on every corner. Young Quentin Collins and his best friend Evan Hanley, were very excited about it. Theodore Stokes had promised to take them.

{The Poster}

Come one, come all. See a woman that can turn herself into fire. See the wolf that walks like a man. Watch the dead come back to life. Come one, come all. If you dare!

Come and see the fabulous Selene, Goddess of the moon. She will bewitch you with her beauty.

(below these words, was a painting of a woman. She had blond hair, was wearing a brown robe, with a necklace of silver half moons, connected by ruby red beads)

~~~

Theodore sat in his cottage. The coming of the carnival both excited and disturbed him. Because he knew she would there. She was such a beauty, with her well sculptured face, lovely tresses the color of the moon. But her greatest beauty was in her eyes. Her eyes were hypnotic, blue jewels, so beautiful, greater than the jewels of the greatest King, or the richest man. He would have to look away from those eyes. He didn't want to be fooled again.

Theodore thought back to their first meeting. It was just several years ago for him, but almost a hundred years for her. To explain the paradox, Theodore had met her in the astral realm.

In my house there are many rooms, so explains the prophet. There are many different planes of existence. These planes occupy the same space as our physical realm. They co-exist. But we would never suspect of their existence, except for the occasional display of the paranormal. There are some people however that are sensitive. They can truly hear voices from beyond. Theodore Stokes was one such man.

Theodore had never suspected that he was lonely. His books, opened a window of discourse, with all of the great thinkers of time. He was enthralled with this. Thoughts of passion, romance, and sex, almost never occurred to him. But then one night, he started to hear her voice.

"Theodore, dear Theodore, you must help me. I was a victim of my class, a poor servant misused by a man, and then destroyed by fire." He heard the sound of a woman weeping. "My name is Angelique Bouchard Collins. You must help me."

Night after night, Theodore heard this voice. It was a voice full of love, passion and truth. He felt very sorry for her. But he wasn't naive. He knew that the most beautiful creature that had ever lived was Satan, himself. Images of demons were often lovely, their voices sweet and soothing. But to listen to them, was to embrace chaos and death, and be destroyed. But then one night, he met her.

In his sleep, Theodore, would drift between the different planes. His astral body would travel near the realm of the angels. He would feel such joy being the traveler soaring to heights of pleasure. His soul would drink of the high energy of the dazzling white light. But like most men, feelings of lust, would come to him. Then he would fall deep into the darkness of the astral realm. A world of confusion and lost hope. It was in this world that he first cast his eyes upon Angelique. He looked into her eyes and then he was lost.

As the Roman's said of Circe. *All men marvelled as they looked upon her, For from her head floated the locks of hair, Like glittering sunbeams and her face shone, Yea, gleamed, as with a gust of flaming fire.* So it was with Angelique. Theodore Stokes fell in love with her, heart, body and soul. What happened to Angelique, became more important than his own life. It was like the joining between Cupid(heart) and Psyche(soul), Theodore could not live without his dear Angelique. The books didn't matter any more. Nothing did.

Rescuing Angelique from the astral prison was fairly easy. He used the ancient manifestation spell and called her from the fireplace, one cold winter night. At first she appeared to be grateful. They made love night after night. But then one night, Theodore woke-up on the other side.

He found himself in utter darkness. He was very afraid. He could not see anything. But what scared him worse, was that he could not longer feel his own body. He remained in this realm for what seemed to be a thousand years. Until one day, he heard a voice.

"Theodore Stokes, are you out there?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"Well, well, well, my good man. My name is Eliot Stokes...your grandson. And I'm here to rescue you."

Eliot explained that through a paradox of time. He had come from the future, to rescue a man, that some day, would be his very own grandfather. He had been fighting a witch by the name of Cassandra, and in the act of fighting her over something called 'the dream curse', he had gleamed memories from her mind, memories of trapping a man in the lower astral plane, a place often called hell by mortals.

Theodore returned to his own plane and time. But try as would, he could never find Angelique. Now, the carnival was coming to town, and on the poster, a picture of Selene, Goddess of the Moon. She was Angelique, he was sure of it. Now, revenge would be his.

To be continued--