FLICKER STREET Treatment # 16: Sojourn

Shorter but no less eventful. Enjoy!

FLICKER STREET Treatment # 16 – Sojourn


I. The Case of Caulder Gaunt and Ethan Byron


The peculiar case of the man called Caulder Gaunt was almost one case of spontaneous generation – he was seemingly born fullblown: an adult without parents or a past. But some force wished Gaunt to find his way; to retrace the steps of memory that had been wiped clean. Caulder awoke in Hallmark, in January 1955, wearing a costly suit and bearing a wallet with ID (which gave his birthdate as January 1, 1925) and thousands of dollars in cash. Instinctively, he sought out a bank and soon had some sense of security. One night, he decided to drown his sorrow and insecurity at the Lucifer Club.


There, he took a an immediate shine to the Indian belly dancer Acacia Blessing. He was mesmerized by her. When they were introduced by the club owner Javier, there was an immediate bond. But there another man enamored of Acacia, the businessman Ethan Byron. Ethan had a troubled marriage but his wife was about to have their first child. Ethan (b. 1920) had only been married for two years to Virginia de Ruyter (b. 1925) and the couple had suffered a miscarriage. They had high hopes for their next attempt at childbearing.


Acacia was married to Junius G. Hand at this time, though to date no one had told Junius that his son by Erszebet Singer survived and was adopted. Junius was overjoyed over Acacia's pregnancy, and did what he could to ward off the wolves at the club. Soon, however, she was showing and stopped dancing until after the child's birth. So all Ethan and Caulder could do was drink and fantasize over the lovely Acacia.


Virginia de Ruyter was the paternal granddaughter of the much-discussed Ananias de Ruyter, one of the founding fathers of Hallmark. Virginia's father, Victor de Ruyter, was something of a criminal, involved in all manner of vice and heavily entwined with the local mob. This made his daughter into something of a crusader for social causes, which was very compatible with husband Ethan's aspirations to one day become District Attorney and truly clean up Hallmark. But Ethan, unlike his bride's family, was not an heir to millions and his dreams seemed all but unattainable. That is, until he made the acquaintance of the mysterious Caulder Gaunt.


Caulder needed a job; Ethan needed a friend. And so, as fate would have it, Ethan brought Gaunt in at an entry level position at OrDeR Enterprises. Ethan had an uncanny knack for spotting sound investments and was soon rising at OrDeR. Ethan's son by Virginia, Clayton Ethan “Clay” Byron was born in early 1956, and his presence helped cool some of the friction between his parents. But in 1958, Junius and Acacia divorced but Acacia stayed at the club at Javier's urging. Ethan and Virginia had been arguing over money; Ethan soon had a drunken affair with Acacia. Caulder advised him to hide this from his wife, which he did, and definitely from the public as he had won the post of Hallmark District Attorney. Ethan and his wife were soon high on Tony Duarte's hit list.


II. The Chinese Connection


In 1963 Shun Ti the undisputed female master of Feng Qi (and originally the Omegan called Ish) was slain by Kith M'Nali, the “Black Tamerlane”. Kith was found out and he and the Black Skull Society, tolerated in Feng Qi for many years, were exiled permanently. Kith had been anticipating this for decades, and so fled to a new headquarters in Japan that he had set up in case of such an occurrence. He also had a secondary HQ in America that he had begun putting together as early as the 1850s. He had created an underground railroad for slaves in America. After they were free, many slaves indebted to him did his bidding, as did their descendants. Ironically, working for Kith M'Nali was akin to slavery itself. The man born Abasse Mathabane learned little from the struggles of his people; personal power was ultimately his sole objective.


Feng Qi was intended by Shun Ti to be ultimately inherited by Kar-Fai Liao, whose father Tsun-Lun was Shuni-Ti's son and her greatest disciple. Kong had slain Tsun-Lun as he had Tsun-Lun's father The Claimer and took his title for himself. With Kong now apparently deceased Kith was running out of allies and Shun Ti was running low on heirs. Ko Sui-Li (b. 1920), mother of Kar-Fai, took the reigns of Feng-Qi, but was constantly plotted against by her sons Li-Ang Liao and Zhey Liao. Zhey had always been loyal to Kong, and advised Li-Ang to build on the power vacuum left by Kong and Kith. Li-Ang envisioned himself an overlord in the manner of Kong, with the world's vice in his lethal grasp.


Sui-Li reorganized Feng Qi, and made her son its overlord. Under Kar-Fai's aegis, Archimedes Ko, son of Bram Vallard, was largely in charge of overseeing the temples and Solacium. Ko was young, but had been a monk almost since his birth (in 1943) and was a master of martial arts and Zen principals. His twin sister Mei-Chan Ko, the “Ghost Cat”, had also trained since birth. Kar-Fai needed the fresh blood, according to Sui-Li, as Kar-Fai spent much of his time ruminating on thoughts of vengeance against Kith for slaying his grandmother Shun Ti. Sui-Li refused to let her son turn Feng-Qi into an engine of destruction; Kith had tried and failed many times to do just that.


In 1964, Ethan and Virginia Byron were slain by Marco Allegretti. Under the advice of Bram Vallard (who that year co-founded the Aggregate), Archimedes offered to take in the eight year old Clay Byron. Kar-Fai felt he could mold Clay (pun unintended) into the instrument of vengeance he'd been yearning for. Not surprisingly, the Byrons left their fortune to Clay, but made Caulder Gaunt the trustee of the estate. Gaunt had power of attorney for the Byrons. Ethan had come to see Gaunt as a brother, and trusted him completely. Gaunt naturally agreed, but he asked one thing of Ko: that he be allowed to train alongside Clay at the monastery. Kar-Fai trusted his sincerity and felt bringing in those of different races, as Shun Ti had done, honored the original Pan-Asian creeds that Kith corrupted.


Most surprising to all was one other child who wished to train at Feng Qi: his name was Clive and his mother Jerusha Dharma brought him to the monastery she had heard so much about over the years. She was with Myrus T Fellbane, now her fiance (much to Clive's chagrin). They brought with them something Clive's father had entrusted Jerusha with – a sword and amulet that were said to be 1000 years old and once drove the vile Presence Vaikuntha from this plane of existence. Jerusha felt that Feng Qi would be the safest place on Earth to house the items, just as she felt that Exodesia would be the most unsafe place imaginable. These items were forged by a Hindu cult called the Black Cabal; legend had it that if one man was ever worthy of bearing sword and amulet, he would inherit the powers of the entire Black Cabal. Jerusha wished this for her son. Her motives were not exactly pure however; she harbored a deep resentment of Clive Dharma's father, Cary Bradcroft, for seemingly abandoning her in his quest for power in Exodesia. She felt Clive could be molded, as Kar-Fai was molding Clay Byron, into an instrument of vengeance.


Fellbane, however, had other plans. He desired the power of the Black Cabal for himself, and had schemed for nine years to be in the position to claim it. Fellbane asked Kar-Fai Liao if he could train Fellbane in some of his mystic arts. Kar-Fai was offended that such an interloper would see the training at Feng Qi as something so casual and superficial. Fellbane caused a mild uproar with his commentary following Kar-Fai's refusal to train him. Kar-Fai lost control and with one blow killed Fellbane.


Jerusha was shocked and asked to speak to Sui-Li Ko alone. Sui-Li felt Kar-Fai's action was rash and out of control, but she admonished Jerusha that Fellbane brought a potential evil with him to Feng Qi, and that was not to be tolerated. Jerusha confided that Fellbane had cast a spell nine years prior so that she and her son could not be found by Cary Bradcroft. Sui-Li was surprised, as the Shadow Baron had become well-known in mystic circles for his power and knowledge, though he'd not yet wrought the good he went on to accomplish leading the Aggregate.


Jerusha understood, but asked that Kar-Fai weave a new spell protecting her and Clive from Bradcroft. Kar-Fai did so, and added the caveat that only one who wielded the sword and amulet of the Black Cabal could banish the spell. All was made well for the time being. Jerusha was invited to stay at Feng Qi to live, and she agreed.


Thus, Clive Dharma, Clay Byron, and Caulder Gaunt trained together with Mei-Chan Ko under Archimedes for nine years. Caulder fell deeply in love with Mei-Chan but feared upsetting their dynamic at the monastery by sharing his feelings. Gaunt was a confident man, but he was troubled, as he still had no memory of his life before 1955. By 1975, Gaunt and his young fellow pupils had excelled at their training. But Clay Byron desired a slightly different path. He announced that he was leaving for training in Libania under the Marchessa. The others chose to remain in Feng Qi for a bit longer. Clay embarked, and Kar-Fai wished him well, and dubbed him “Sojourner” for his restless spirit. Clay promised Clive and Gaunt that he'd meet them again one day.


The one saddest about Clay leaving was Kar-Fai's young son, Jun-Kim Liao (or June Kim, born 1967) who saw Clay and Clive as older brothers and Gaunt as an uncle. Jun-Kim was the offspring of the marriage of Kar-Fai to Colleen Soh (b. 1940), a half-Irish, half-Korean whose father Kim Park Soh (b. 1918) had lived at Feng Qi in the 1930s and 1940s and became an agent of Bram Vallard via his connection to Feng Qi, where he had trained in the 1920s. Kim Park's other daughter, Lerby Soh, married Vallard's son Randolph Hoxworth (b.1947) and the couple settled in Hallmark and had three daughters: Betsy, Lerby, and Jill, all of whom would one day meet their cousin Jun-Kim, whose importance to this narrative will grow as we move along.


III. Lucifer Revisited


Alec Duarte first encountered Kicia Marie Blessing in 1971 when he came to Hallmark to finish off his father Tony Duarte and Tony's partner and lover Marco Allegretti. He set up his place of operation in a Hotel 6 and that evening, after staking out Tony's mansion, dropped in at the Lucifer Club for a few drinks and to see naked girls dance. He was sexually frustrated due to his time with Mariposa Marisol. Celibacy was getting old for him. Kicia was a stunning dancer at the club who caught his eye immediately. He soon learned after a table dance from Kicia that she was only 15 years old. The pimp Diggs Reale who, at that time, owned and ran the Lucifer Club had managed to persuade Kicia to start stripping at 14. He roped her in via her mother Acacia, who Javier, the founder of the club, enlisted as a dancer after he met her by chance on a trip to India in 1954. One year later, Kicia was born, the offspring of Acacia's marriage to Black Torpedo Ray, whom she had wed one week after meeting him.


Acacia knew her daughter looked much older than her age, and she knew the next stop on the illusory highway to fame and riches offered by Diggs was a life of turning tricks. In 1971, Kicia's father was in prison, framed by Diggs and Eli Singer; he and Acacia had divorced in 1958. Alec was the first man Kicia had danced for that didn't immediately attempt to score with her. She was fascinated by this 23 year old loner with pale blue eyes and a swanky moustache and soul patch. At the end of the evening, Alec bid her a fond farewell and she gave him her phone number. He said he didn't know how much longer he'd be in Hallmark; only that he would be back and look her up – and hoped she'd be in school by then.


Three years later, Duarte returned to Hallmark for phase two of the Marchessa's three mandates. He decided impulsively to make it a stealth mission, mainly to get a job in Hallmark and establish a dual ID so that he could move freely as Cowan, whose cowl he first donned on this trip (the cowl would have many configurations over the years). But above all, he stayed around to see Kicia Blessing. The job he chose was as a cab driver; he was utterly fascinated by taxi driving.


Alec began hanging out at the club for a few weeks, getting to know Kicia's father; they became fast friends. Ray approved of Alec, and Alec alone, as a match for his now 19 year old daughter. Acacia had returned to India for a time, but Ray wanted her back at the club, their differences aside. Alec made some young friends who frequented the Lucifer Club, much to their families' dismay. From Gossingham, he met Shirley Townshend Drake and her husband Shelby and son Lance. Lance was only six years old and already craved heavy metal and occult imagery; his favorite group was the infamous White Rabbit, led by the rowdy Hasty Greenhalgh, and his favorite shop was Bradcroft LTD. Lance loved Alec; Alec wasn't sure what to make of this kid but appreciated the cameraderie. Lance's uncle was preparing to open a comic book store in Hallmark called Origins, but for now, was holding mini-conventions at Northland Mall in upper Hallmark. H. Sidney Drake looked down on his relatives, especially nephew Lance's proclivities as Sidney was a devout born again Christian.


One of Alec's drinking buddies was a fellow cabbie at Zenith Cab: Renee Pointier, a French immigrant who was in her 30s and certainly an alcoholic. She and Alec had a few drunken nights of wanton sex, but he felt he was getting far off track from his fixation on Kicia, not to mention his impossible yearnings for his teacher the Marchessa. Renee dug Alec a good bit, and confronted him over Kicia. He made his feelings apparent, and Renee soon left Alec, Zenith, and Hallmark – at least for a good 10 years. Her replacement became Alec's “sidekick” for the duration of his time cruising Flicker Street for fares: a 16 year old cabbie-in-training named Hobie T Reale, Diggs' nephew. Alec taught Hobie some martial arts and Hobie referred to Alec as “teacher”. Alec said he was on a mission, Hobie could not come along, and when next he came to Hallmark, he would give Hobie a proper training. The two would often smoke ganja and ruminate on the nature of the universe, which Alec would soon be doing in a whole different venue.


In the midst of all this, Alec never wavered in using his tightness with Ray to see Kicia every chance he got. They had a sweet and tender dynamic that belied the violence and vice surrounding them. Alec practiced using his hard-won skills to hit the mob, and was only marginally successful. Finally, the time came for his mission: to infiltrate Javier's Order of Cosmic Emptiness. He managed to kill guest speaker Antioch Moldor, a powerful warlock and founder of the Aggregate analog group the Damnation Brigade. Javier let Cowan escape and was intrigued by him.


It had been two months of what was supposed to be a two week mission. Alec went to see Kicia one night when she was home alone studying (Ray got her back in school) and Ray was clubbing. They finally had “The Talk” (capital “T”, capital “T”), which was what Alec called the awkward crossroads a potential couple invariably arrived at, in order to decide to be a couple or not. Alec tried to spill his guts, and was doing okay when Kicia savagely seduced Duarte. She had wanted him for so long she was boiling over. After an hour of oftimes tender, oftimes tempestuous coupling, the two lay in bed and finished “The Talk”.


Kicia didn't think they would work unless Alec took her with him when he left and unless Alec got over his infatuation with his teacher. Neither seemed possible, and for the first time that he could remember, Alec Duarte – Cowan – cried. He said goodbye to Kicia and expressed that should their paths cross again, maybe they could be together. Kicia found this unlikely and said some soul-crushing things to Alec to disabuse him of this notion and get him to leave before she, too, lost it. And thus, Alec returned to the Marchessa for three more years, and consummated their attraction. Kicia dropped out of school and embraced the Flicker Street bohemian crowd, the hub of Hallmark's outcasts, freaks, loners, artists, and aesthetes. There she met the enigmatic Brother Zodiac and the two began a passionate affair filled with romance and music and – other, darker things to be discussed shortly.


IV. Sojourner's Solacium


Sojourner made it to the Marchessa's Solacium in Libania in 1975.He submitted himself for training, and was accepted. He met Cowan for the first time, having no idea yet that Alec avenged Clay's family's deaths. Duarte helped Sojourner adjust to the different approach of Marchessa's Solacium. Clay responded well to his new teacher. Clay was intrigued by the relationship Libania and FOPA had with Serafinia. While at the Solacium, he met Redmund Jeffrey, an African-American spy for REACT posing as a FOPA double agent. Jeffrey was there to aid in destabilizing relations ever further with Serafinia. Ironically he married a Serafinia native and had two daughters they raised in Serafinia: Laura (b. 1956) and Ophelia (b. 1958). Clay met and fell for Laura Jeffrey. With Redmund's permission they wed. Redmund despised Byron, however, and plotted to eliminate him without provoking the Marchessa.


Laura was soon pregnant, and, in her eighth month, she was killed by an explosion set at the Solacium by Redmund and meant to be blamed on the Serafinians. Laura's child, to be named Jeffrey Byron, survived however, and Redmund gave the baby to Ophelia and demanded she and her husband Charles Mourning raise the child as their own back home in the U.S. with Redmund's aging mother, the baby's great-grandmother, Cecilia Jeffrey. The child was born in June 1976 and was named Michelito Mourning. It would be many years before the truth of his parentage was outed.


Redmund's own wife Unocita Quonquonero tried to kill him for using her and playing with their family's lives. Redmund beat her badly and she confided in Clay that she contemplated suicide daily. She threatened to tell Clay the truth about why the Mournings left South America so suddenly after Laura's death. Redmund killed her, making it look like suicide. Unocita's brother Rajael cried out for Redmund's blood. Alec Duarte knew it was time for the monster Redmund Jeffrey to pay the price, and so he challenged him to a duel of hand to hand combat. Redmund was no slouch in this area, but hardly up to the training of the Marchessa. Alec snapped his neck and his threat was over. Once again, Cowan had avenged Sojourner without really knowing it; Alec was none the wiser than Clay was about Clay's son.


With Redmund's entire family gone, Clay Byron focused once more deeply on his training. When Alec left the Solacium in 1977 to fulfill his final mandate, Marchessa knew he may never return, and he did not. Clay was left behind to lose himself in honing his body and mind to their sharpest points in order to obliterate the pain of his lost wife and son. The Marchessa promised Alec that when Clay seemed ready, she would send him back to Hallmark to claim his fortune and, hopefully, his place beside Cowan in the Aggregate. Cowan did indeed find his place among the Aggregate, as recounted elsewhere, but he was pained to learn that Kicia was involved with the enigmatic Brother Zodiac.


V. Black Cabal Rising


In early 1977, Jerusha Dharma fell ill and could not be saved by anyone at Feng Qi. Clive felt it was time to conclude his training there and go to London to get his mother's affairs in order. He left behind Mei-Chen to train for one more year before she headed to Hallmark to petition for membership in the Aggregate. With the resources available to him via the Byron estate, Caulder Gaunt accompanied Clive and loaned him a large sum of money and helped to establish his credentials.


Gaunt called upon a friend and former co-worker at OrDeR Enterprises, Oswin Juan Clancey for help in Clive's ventures. Oswin flew to London from Hallmark with his associate Stephanie Ransom Avril, wife of Egon Avril of the infamous Avril clan discussed in our tenth installment. Gaunt and Clancey forged documents such as an archaeologist's degree, a tidy bank account, and any other identifying documents. These items were created for Clive under the name Randell Coventry. Clive Dharma wished the world to continue with their ignorance of his existence.


Oswin Clancey (b. 1953) is noteworthy as the son of Zachariah Clancey and Dawn Cheshire, both discussed thoroughly in earlier treatments. He was an executive in advertising at OrDeR. He and Clive bonded immediately and he used his resources to help “create” Randell Coventry. He was also looking to invest in new ventures. Stephanie was as well, and she had a degree in archaeology and shared Clive's interests. It was implicit that no one involved in this enterprise reveal the truth. Gault assured everyone that they would be rewarded richly when Clay finally took control of his fortune. Another investor, the Frenchman Aloysius Pascal, came on board in late 1977, and he and Clive became best friends. He, Clancey, Stephanie, and Gaunt set up shop in London, where Clive stayed for nearly two years, scraping together enough cash for one last grand expedition. Thus was Coventry Expeditions born. During his time in London, Clive/ Randell engaged in a short-lived and tempestuous marriage to Pascal's sister Margeurite.


Caulder worried that he had been corrupted by Clive's obsessions and that their years at Feng Qi were for naught. He missed the peace he had found there. But he found himself drawn in by the danger and clandestine nature of his activities. He wondered what kind of man he really was before his amnesia. He decided to forge ahead with Clive's plan and head to Hallmark, where he met with Cary Bradcroft and propose a merger with Bradcroft Ltd. Cary agreed to consider it, but felt he should meet with Coventry himself first.


For Gaunt's part, he decided to stay in Hallmark until the Ghost Cat arrived as planned to petition for membership in the Aggregate. He felt the time had come to tell her how much he truly loved her. But Mei-Chan rejected Caulder's advances, however. She simply did not see him in that way. Gaunt was frustrated beyond words. He began hanging out in Flicker Street, drinking heavily and filled with self-pity. He took up painting, producing abstract portraits inspired by his time at Feng Qi. The more he painted, the more bizarre the symbolism – images of vistas unimaginable filled his canvases, as visions of frightening planes and creatures filled his lucid dreaming. He dreamt almost nightly of Clive and his sword and amulet. In his dreams the Black Cabal was reborn as one man, wielding the ancient talisman against a mad god with a third eye and six arms.


As for Clive Dharma, he left Stephanie in charge of their London office and planned an expedition to Exodesia in 1979. He felt they needed a guide, a go-between to survive in Exodesia. Gaunt recommended Javier, who was grudgingly welcome in Exodesia. Javier went to London to meet with Clive, Oswin, and Aloysius, and soon the four of them were in Africa, making the expedition up the mountain where lied the city of Exodesia. They came before the priest Assias, whose attention was drawn to Clive's talisman. Assias attempted to barter with Dharma for the objects. This was in vain. Clive announced that he wished the defeat of the Shadow Baron and could assure it happening if Assias trained himself and Pascal in certain Exodesian and Piscean arts of dark alchemy. Oswin had no desire to learn and Javier was already well-versed. Assias agreed, and Dharma and Pascal trained for one year in Exodesia. During this time, Arch Priest Urias was in America working for SkullCorp and assembling a new Damnation Brigade to plague the Aggregate. This was fortunate as he coveted the secrets of the Black Cabal himself. Assias was not a member of the Obscuros; thus, Clive and Javier correctly believed that he could be trusted.


Oswin was housed in Exodesia's Azure City, a place where Exodesians of a more benign bent than the Obscuros dwelt. Assias was the prime minister of sorts of Azure City. Javier finally felt at home somewhere in Exodesia. The year at Azure City went by quickly and surprisingly well for Clive's party, especially given the dark forces at work all around them. Oswin attributed much of this to Clive's talisman, which Oswin believed gave Clive a certain aura that protected the group. Though this seemed to be mere speculation on the part of a layman, it actually was a correct assumption.


In the summer of 1980 Clive “graduated” from his studies in Exodesia. The next stop for the Dharma party was Hallmark. Pascal was sent to the London office to meet with Stephanie. He was to work there, while Gault and Oswin took care of business with Cary Bradcroft. Javier bowed out of the whole affair, but thanked all for helping him actually have a decent experience in Exodesia. Clive now assumed the identity of Randell Coventry and began traveling with Stephanie to archaeological digs to gain actual experience at the position he had faked his way into. Before he left Hallmark, however, he met with one final investor – someone he'd wanted to seek out for some time – Orphee deLander. What passed between them was to be revealed to the public late that year and will be discussed in our next installment, in which Clive steels himself to finally face Cary Bradcroft.


Welcome to Flicker Street!


Henry Covert
October 31, 2015


Flicker Street, all characters, images, and story elements are Copyright (c) 2015 George Henry Smathers Jr.

FLICKER STREET Treatment # 15 - I Luciferi

The longest installment yet. Enjoy!

FLICKER STREET Treatment #15 – I Luciferi


I. A Digression Rising...


Now it's time to take a sideways glance at a wild cluster of subjects interlaced to forge a complete portrait: a sharp slice of the Hallmark “street scene” over 30 years of mutations and permutations, at its very nexus point on Flicker Street itself. This is only one such scene but we explore it here as a respite from the labors of the Aggregate.


Explored within is the history of the infamous Lucifer Club, from 1952-1982. Through the lives of its owners and patrons we can trace the bloody fingerprints left on the world by the wounds and scars of an American city (albeit a unique one).


II. The Lucifer Club


In 1952, the man called Javier, son of Biazel Karollus, was embracing his Exodesian side and was assisting Arch-Priest Urias the Grand Necromancer as Urias made a bid to become one of the birthing SkullCorp's inner circle. Javier envisioned an exclusive club where the more decadent and, shall we say, curious denizens of Flicker Street and beyond could congregate and indulge themselves without a care. Javier did not really discriminate with the “exclusive” tag; he was not against lower classes of folk patronizing the club – as long as they paid. Urias lent Javier some capital, and a handful of Hallmark's finest chipped into invest, all with the caveat that it be repaid in one year, and Javier would become co-owner of the club, with Urias a silent partner, hence the club was yet another source of revenue for SkullCorp. Javier's plan was to eventually buy out Urias – if that was possible.


Javier opened the club on New Years Eve, 1953. From the first night, two groups that would be mainstays and lifeblood of the club congealed. The first group to hold court in the club revolved around Nels Christensen, a cohort of Javier's that worked for the Machine. He was an investor in the club. His brother, Lambert Christensen, would often visit. What Nels did not know was that the Lambert that would drop in on him from time to time was actually Bram Vallard aka the Apparition (and his split personality Royal Hoxworth aka Saturnine). The real Lambert “loaned” his ID to Vallard for long stretches while he tooled around Europe. But the real Lambert died in 1950. Vallard continued the ruse however, keeping Nel's older brother alive. Vallard was such a master of disguise and subterfuge that Nels never discovered the truth.


Nels found a motley group to drink and watch the exotic dancers with. One of his employees, Judd Fullerton, who he condescended to in the workplace, became a treasured drinking buddy, as did Judd's best friend, Henry Colter (b. 1923), who played drums in the closest thing the club had to a house band, the Ulysses Reale 6. Henry was the only white member of the band, so Nels tended not to invite Henry's bandmates over except for an occasional toast. Shiloh Mercer, the soprano sax player, often crashed their gatherings in an extremely inebriated state. Shiloh was another of the African-American branch of the Mercer clan, and was the 6th great-grandson of Ewen Cromwell. The whole group enjoyed Shiloh's company, except Nels and his friend Jonathan, an occasional member of this poor man's Rat Pack. Jonathan Sebastian III was a wealthy German-descended heir who was a major investor in the Lucifer Club. Jonathan was often referred to as the “sixth wheel” by the employees. Javier actually was himself a tight member of Nels' crew, though unlike Nels and sebastian he was fair to everyone.


There was a final key player in the “Christensen Quintet” as they became dubbed due to an off-hand remark by Ulysses Reale's bass player, a real cut-up called Ondine Jackson. Jackson's epithet was hardly appreciated by Nels, but it stuck. Nels had recently invested a great sum of money in film production and distribution, and wanted foreign films as well as cheapo American flicks on his slate. Nels befriended an Italian producer whose young nephew, Luca Stenoretti (b. 1923), was honing his craft as a cinematographer. Nels flew to Italy to see Luca's latest work on a film called The Sirens of Pallas, a period adventure film with mythological elements (this at that time had not yet coalesced into the genre we now know as peplum, or “sword and sandal” flicks). This was the first film Stenoretti directed himself (and shot as well).


Stenoretti wielded a secret which kept Javier installed as as the “fifth banana” in the Christensen Quintet. Luca's mother, Isabella Clerici, was Javier's daughter; hence Biazel's granddaughter. Luca admired his charismatic grandfather and knew he was a practitioner of “black magic” (though Javier always told him it was “grey magick”), and was amazed that Javier looked younger than he himself. Javier agreed that he and his grandson would not go public with their relations. But Luca resolved that his films as a director would always be suffused with horror or the occult, even in his lower key thrillers and westerns. Later, Luca's half-brother Blasco Clerici, would work on Luca's films and also join Biazel's order (which Luca refused to do, as did Javier).


III. “The Others”


The second group of regulars that helped define the club, and caused some controversy in the media, was all African-American and were a tight bunch. Playfully called “The Others” (referring to being seen as on a lower tier as Christensen's cohorts and also distinguishing this group from the Ulysses Reale 6), their main man was definitely Ulysses P. Reale, trumpeter - a proud, strong black man who refused to be cowed into submission by the likes of Christensen or Sebastian. His wife was Emmaretta Swope, who often sang with Reale's group or with a small orchestra. Reale himself did no drugs, though he drank, but some of his pals in and out of his group were users and/ or dealers. His alto sax player, the virtuoso James Colburne, was a heroin addict, as was Ulysses' childhood friend Paul Cutler, a quiet, kind gentleman with a roaring habit who also dealt when he could.

Reale and Cutler were joined by three other perennials: the aforementioned Ondine Jackson; Octavius Flay, a pimp who'd grown up with the rest but refused to drop out of the macking business; and young Junius G. Hand, who was on the waitstaff in the club's kitchen. Sebastian especially hated that such a menial would come and hang out in the club when his shift was over. Shiloh Mercer would gravitate to the “Others”' table regularly, unlike Colburne, who was into his own thing, and that amounted to: his alto and heroin. And he romanced both harder and more often than any woman who came his way, though he did end up getting married in the 1960s.


IV. Erszebet


Junius Hand looked up to Flay's pimping success and loved Ondine's quick wit. He imagined a life dazzling folks with his talents in both areas. He even had a name for a whole new persona to do just that: Black Torpedo Ray, after an aquatic creature he saw in one of his father's books. Junius had a serious, very forbidden crush on the club's main dancer and arguably greatest attraction: Erszebet Singer (born 1930). She was gorgeous and seemingly unattainable. She was quiet, but when she did speak, she lit up with a thick South Carolina accent that made her hard to follow in conversation. She was a burlesque star of some acclaim, and Javier had cultivated her to the delight of the club's investors, who he easily paid off within a year of opening. Then only Urias had any stake in the club besides Javier.


Erszebet was not the only popular dancer that plied her trade there. Felicia McGee, formerly the mystery woman known as Crimson Velvet, made many a guest appearance; her lifestyle, however, was ruining her good looks. Arronaxe LaRue was a popular performer. “Her claim to fame was her frame”, the saying went. She was not lithe and athletic like Erszebet; she had enormous breasts and extremely wide hips, and tantalized the crowd with both. Geneva was also a shapely and popular dancer but she was black and was forbidden from performing regularly. She was also Ulysses' sister and Ondine's wife.

Erszebet was a quarter Jewish and was quite devoted to her Bible readings. She found no shame in her work, however, but her brother, Eli, certainly did. Eli Singer was a bit of a proselytizer, which made him rather unwelcome at a place like the Lucifer Club (though the archways of the club's front door portrays a falling angel bearing the epithet: “All are welcome. Harm none”). Erszebet and Henry Colter were actually related. Henry was a half-uncle to Eli (b. 1929) and Erszebet. Thus Henry's and Erszebet's constant flirtation was somewhat incestuous, and angered Junius. Eli, however, would rather his sister be with their uncle than a black man any day. The roots of Henry's and the Singers' families (as well as those of many other noteworthy denizens of Flicker Street and beyond) lie with the Parminters of Gossingham; their family history will chronicled further along in our narratives.


V. The 1953 Affair


During the Christmas holidays in 1953, Javier held a lavish “Yule Bash”. Colburne's alto solo on “Greensleeves” was a scorching highlight of the Ulysses Reale 6's set. The music was really jumping; the alcohol was plentiful, those that needed a fix got one out back, and the girls were on full display in all their pulchritude. Arronaxe almost stole the evening when she doffed her top, but Erszebet continued to reign supreme, dancing with a Santa hat on – and not much else.


As the evening wound to a spastic close, Erszebet went missing. Eli had come to the club to disrupt her “unholy frolicking”, but she was nowhere to be found. Javier asked Eli to leave and Singer swore he'd destroy the “pagan heathen bastard” Javier before he died. While Javier was avoiding a serious problem, another arose. Nels, Henry, Judd, and Luca were extremely intoxicated and wanted a special table dance from Erszebet. They went looking in Javier's office, and found her making love with young Junius G. Hand! Javier came upon the scene.


“Did you know about this?” asked Nels. Javier indicated he did. He plead with the four not to tell anyone for fear that Eli would launch a literal lynch mob against Junius. Then Erszebet confessed she was already pregnant with Junius' child. This wasn't the first time they had carried on. Javier hatched a scheme: if her pregnancy was found out, the Christensen Quintet would claim they had a mad consensual orgy with a willing Miss Singer. Erszebet thanked them, and agreed to go along, but worried it would ruin the men, especially Javier and Nels. Nels was furious, but swore to go along with the pact, even though he really thought Junius should be lynched anyway. Not only was he a Negro, thought Christensen, but he was damned annoying with his constant jokiness.


Everyone went about their business, but in a few weeks Erszebet was starting to show. The rumor mills began grinding as she stopped performing and wouldn't allow herself to be photographed. Javier leaked the story to the media himself, though no one knew this save him. As predicted, all was traced to the Yule Bash. Javier admitted to the media there'd been an orgy. The other men all said, “no comment” (as did Luca in Italy; he was actually quite taken with Miss Singer and wished it had been him).


The scandal almost did in Erszebet. “The Baby with Five Fathers” and “Heir to the Christensen Quintet” were some of the labels attached to the unborn child. The baby's complexion (even given Javier's odd skin tone) would give away that it had a black father. Geneva Reale had agreed to deliver the baby (she had studied nursing before resorting to dancing) in secret, and it would be sold to a black family. Geneva knew a couple: the Jamaican Heracles Torrance and his mixed-race wife Tamara Welsh. They could not have children, and little Dane Hand, as Erszebet called him, became their son, Dane Torrance (who we know as an adult aka The Troubleshooter from recent accounts).


The official story was that the child was stillborn. None of the five men save Javier knew what had become of the child. Part of the pact the five men swore was that they would no longer congregate at the Lucifer Club. They did agree to attend a 15 year reunion there if the club still stood in 1968. Javier soldered on through the scandal and finally bought out Urias in 1960. Junius never did learn the truth about what happened; he assumed his child was in fact stillborn. He did become a pimp, following in Octavius Flay's footsteps. He was ambitious though; now known as Black Torpedo Ray, he hoped one day to own the Lucifer Club himself.


VI. The 1968 Affair


The reunion did indeed come to pass. The Yule Bash of 1968 was something to see at the Lucifer Club, still owned by Javier but managed by Black Torpedo Ray. Times had changed. The drugs were more mind-altering, the music more wild and free, the women baring more than ever before (in other words everything). Flicker Street pulsated with the orgiastic energy that flowed in and out of Javier's “pleasure palace”. The Ulysses Real 6 reunited for an amazing set. Colburne and Mercer were solo artists by this time, and each led their bands to the utmost heights of free jazz. Ulysses was still something of a hard bopper, and some of his newer arrangements, mixing R&B and rock influences with his wife's bewitching voice, blew away the teeming throng at the club. Ondine Jackson was back on bass and cracking wise. His wife Geneva, who danced and sang back up to Emmaretta, had blessed him with a son Ondine Jr. in 1945 andOndine Jr.'s wife, Violetta Amadeus, had given birth to their son Amadeus “Amajack” Jackson mere weeks before the bash.


Henry Colter was more straight ahead bop than funk, but he could still mix it up on the drums a bit. Of his family, his wife, Mary Rudisill (b. 1920; a relative of the Palmers of Hallmark) and two sons (Radley Colter, b. 1940 and Milburne b. 1950) attended the party, though it was a bit much for Mary. Young Milburne had a great time. Of the “Others”, Octavius Flay made the party, flanked by a stable of his finest ladies of the evening. Black Torpedo Ray said, “Damn Flay! I may be a mack daddy, but you still the mackest of the macks!!” Most of Flay's offspring made it to the bash: his sons Cornelius, Moxon, and Jaffa; and his daughter Octavia, who was there with her boyfriend Euphrates Straw of the Aggregate (who was also there to keep an eye on Javier). Octavius' daughter Bethel was a devout Christian and she was in church that night. She would eventually marry her pastor, Judah Greene, and have a lovely daughter Scheherazade. All five children of Octavius were from his marriage to Ulysses' sister Rochelle Reale, making the Flays and Reales cousins.


Ondine and Ulysses have been discussed, but one beloved member of their crew from elder days was missing: Paul Cutler, the quiet, kind addict had finally succumbed, leaving behind three beautiful daughters, all of whom attended the bash: Naomi, who brought her 10 year old son Hobard Torino “Hobie T” Reale, to the party but not her estranged husband Godfrey Reale (Ulysses' son); Zandalee, who was at the time dating Hiawatha Hand but had her eye on his half-brother Black Torpedo Ray; and Pauline Cutler aka Cotton Suede, much discussed in these pages.


Black Torpedo Ray hosted the Lucifer Club Burlesque Film Festival. It began with vintage clips of Erszebet and many of her peers; and continued with three shorts specially made for this festival. These were the work of directors Matthias Creed, Cornelius Flay, and Luca Stenorettli, all honored guests at this Yule Bash. Luca and Henry were not the only members of the infamous Christensen Quintet to adorn the party. Javier was present, naturally, as were Judd and even Nels, who'd been living in Europe ever since the scandal broke.


Ray also hosted another special triple event, this one an unadvertised surprise: performances by the “big three” dancers of the fifties, opening with a still comely Geneva, and continuing with the jaw-droppingly buxom Arronaxe, and, finally, at age 38, still stunning and radiating her signature charisma, Erszebet Singer. The assembled throng was bowled over, and Ulysses and the other musicians played some swanky, evocative stripper-appropriate tuneage. Shiloh Mercer in particular soloed madly with no abandon while Miss Singer shook herself gradually into a frenzy.


Two hours later, the Christensen Quintet were plastered and Erszebet was still sailing on her first trip with LSD, as supplied her by Arronaxe. The six adjourned to Javier's office, where Erszebet immediately grabbed Henry in a passionate kiss. They made out while Javier went to confer with Ray and let him know not to disturb them. When he returned, Judd was crying in the corner, Henry was asleep with his pants off, Erszebet was naked and being fondled by Luca, Nels was cursing in the other corner, and Javier found himself curiously and intensely aroused by the whole thing. “Life imitates art!” he screamed as Luca made love with Erszebet on his fold out couch.


After Luca rolled off Erszebet, she called out to Javier, “I want you! I want you want you want you!” Javier was not the kind of man to indulge in what we now call date rape. He was not the kind of man to make love to a woman with anyone else around either. And he thought it so twisted that the story they concocted 15 years ago to save Ray's life had stirred to life, a gargantuan beast of brobdinagian lust.


So he made love with Erszebet. Afterwards he noticed Henry and Luca had dressed and were just outside the doorway. Nels and Judd were nowhere to be found. Erszebet dressed but was still tripping. Javier called for Ray and asked him to get her home; Javier would lock up and get the others out. Ray went out the back with Erszebet. Javier heard Nels call him, “Let me the hell out of here!” Javier ran downstairs, Henry and Luca behind.


Nels told Javier this was it; he was done with the group, the club, and “that slut”. Henry almost struck Nels for his remark. Judd asked if they could just leave. Javier agreed only if they made a new pact, that no one would speak of what happened. “Of course you idiot”, said Nels. “Now for chrissakes, let us out of this infernal place”. Luca lunged forward to deck Nels, but Judd held him back. Then, when Luca was calmer, Judd said, “Okay. Good night. I'm riding with Nels.” Judd was sobbing.


Nels and Judd took off. Outside, Ulysses' son Diggs Reale was pacing in the alleyway. He had been in and out of the club all night, seething mad. He was also a disciple of Octavius Flay and a rather nasty pimp and procurer in his own right but was jealous of Ray's success. He was waiting, waiting for a chance to plant certain items in Ray's car and to pay off his partner in sabotage – Eli Singer. Singer called the police after the club had closed down at 3 am. Only the Christensen Quintet, Erszebet, and Ray were inside then. By the time Nels and Judd roared away, only three of the 'Quintet' remained and they spoke for a moment about what happened, then resolved to lock up, leave, and never see each other again.


And so they each departed, just as police cars came into view. Ray was in his car out back talking to a sobbing and shaken Erszebet. Diggs had hastily split. But Eli Singer was heading back to the club to confront the Quintet. He found the front door locked and began screaming madly. The police drove up and immediately accosted him; then they spread out and covered the alleys and the back, where they found Ray and Erszebet. The cops confronted Ray and asked to check his car. They found a ton of cocaine and some semi-automatic weapons concealed in the trunk.


The police dragged Singer to the back of the club. They thought he was drunk (he was) and they were going to have some fun and rough him up. When Eli looked up, he saw Erszebet being pulled out of the car and Ray resisting arrest. “That ain't my shit you rat-soup-eatin' motherfuckers!” was one memorable curse Ray hurled at the men in blue. He used kung fu (his own peculiar technique) on the cops but their sheer number hemmed him in. Eli grabbed one of the cop's guns and shot his Erszebet, then shot at the cops. They blasted him away, and he lie cold and dead in the snow as the police pushed Black Torpedo Ray into a car and took Erszebet, shot in the arm, to an ER.


The police report was chilling: a pimp resisting arrest, a hooker shot by a wino who had to be killed in self-defense... everything was distorted, but to the racist, sexist police commissioner it was just another day. The mayor called for the club to be closed. Javier realized he needed to lower his profile or face the wrath of someone like his father or Urias. So the club closed while Black Torpedo Ray languished in prison for nearly five long years.


VII. The Prince of Flicker Street


Erszebet recovered quickly from being shot, and grieved her mad brother. She soon found out that she was pregnant again. She resolved to once again give her child up for adoption. It was a daughter, born in September 1969. She named her Celeste but her new parents changed her name. It would be years before this girl would find out her true parentage. Even Erszebet wasn't sure if it was Henry's, Luca's, or Javier's. She was actually going to tell Ray that their son Dane was alive when the cops came upon them. She swore she'd tell him one day.


Javier sold the club to Diggs Reale but soon divined that Diggs and Eli Singer were responsible for what happened that night right after Javier left. He admonished Diggs not to reopen too soon; the authorities would be all over the club all of the time. Diggs shrugged off Javier's advice and proceeded to reopen, making sure to keep all the right wheels greased, so to speak. Diggs was highly prosperous, keeping the “all are welcome” sign and attitude, though in fact, whites were rarely welcome, unless they were dealers or cops on the take.


In late 1973, Junius Gauge Hand was being offered a deal by his prison warden and the FBI
to get him out of prison to help them take down Diggs. In no time, Black Torpedo Ray was back on Flicker Street. He had scores to settle and was not to be trifled with. The first thing he did was have dinner with his daughter Kicia Blessing (b. 1955). Kicia's mother was the exotic Indian belly dancer Acacia Krishnamurti aka Acacia Blessing, who Ray wed briefly from 1954-1958. Acacia was a discovery of Javier's and was popular at the club. Kicia was hanging out in Flicker Street with the bohemian crowd. Ray was proud of her for not being a whore or a druggie. Ray next went to the Lucifer Club, where he confronted Diggs and warned him to sign the club over to him or die. Diggs laughed and accused Ray of tripping on some manner of drug. Ray beat him senseless and forced Diggs to sign the club over to him.


It had come to Javier's attention that Ray was free from prison. Javier went to Hallmark and sought out Ray, who was staying with Ulysses Reale. Javier was glad to see his friends again and together they mapped out a strategy to get the club back on its feet, so to speak, as Diggs had driven it into the proverbial ground and made of it his own personal pleasure palace of pimping and hard drugs. Their efforts were successful, though it took a few years. Ray integrated the club more, and forced the macks and dealers who hung out there to do their business on the streets, not inside the club.


The disco craze of the  late 70s inevitably hit the Lucifer Club like a tsunami, and with it came a shock wave of cocaine fever. Ray started to burn out as the decade waned, and personal troubles involving his children took a toll, so finally, in 1982, he sold the club and retired early, living like a prince, and treating all of Flicker Street as his kingdom.


VIII. Thaumaturgy Revisited...


The man who purchased The Lucifer Club was known as Prester John Grey, and he was well-known all through Flicker Streeet and the larger Hallmark music scene. Prester John was born Vance Orlison Parminter in 1949 in Exodesia, the offspring of Grey Parminter and Basil Dylan Orlison (son of “Doc Vance” and Eve Dylan, daughter of Dr. Basil Dylan, the first major physician in Hallmark), both born 1920. Basil D. Orlison had a sister, Faustine, b. 1922, an occultist who owned the first occult shoppe in the city, even before Malcolm Bradcroft's shoppe, called simply Faustine's. Faustine married the aspiring bookstore magnate TR Bessemer Jr., an African-American entrepreneur. Their children were Eve Bessemer, b. 1953, and Taurean Bessemer III, born 1955, who as an adult merged his business with the smaller Noel chain, though Bessemer-Noel in its entirety was later sold to OrDeR Enterprises.

Faustine and Malcolm Bradcroft merged their interests into one shoppe, and in tandem, willed it to Cary and Ashton (though Ashton was technically not alive to see it). Faustine passed away in 1955 in childbirth. Hence Bradcroft LTD was born. In the years between Cary taking the shoppe and his affair with Katherine Van Juss (1956-1959), he began to fancy Grey Parminter, a formidable witch, whose lover Basil, was slain by the Exodesians in 1953.


Grey Parminter's story goes something like this: Her grandmother was Exodesian High Priestess Phallasma III, who begat a daughter, Selma Cairne, a powerful witch. Selma and her husband John Petty Parminter, the great-grandson of Exodesian Lodin, wished to spearhead a 1939 expedition into Exodesia – well before the Bradcrofts. But they weren't nearly as mentally or spiritually prepared as the Bradcrofts. Their expedition included: Grey, a teen of immense magickal promise; her lover, Basil; Selma and John Petty Parminter; Selma's sisters Ainwe and Anowre and their husbands, the occult book collectors Rainer and Werner Faust, who were brothers. The party was captured and tortured by the Obscuros. Grey offered her life and that of her lover and son if the others could go. Priest Assias was not thrilled, but he capitulated. Selma blessed her child and departed; she also bonded with her mother Phallasma, who favored her granddaughter Grey.


The small family unit stayed but Basil was put to death for heresy in 1953 for studying the Presence Vaikuntha. Grey was afraid for her young son, and they fled Exodesia. Grey had been converted to Hinduism just before Basil's death. The mother and boy had also been delving into the legend of Vaikuntha, as well as his defeat 1000 years earlier by the original Black Cabal (a group that forged a seemingly indestructible sword and amulet). Grey forsook the Exodesians and sought out Vaikuntha. She invoked his worship to gain revenge, realizing Urias would have her dead. Grey took Vance to Gossingham MA, near Hallmark. Faustine, ill at this time, was divesting her share of the curio shoppe to Cary, as noted previously.


Cary Bradcroft welcomed Grey Parminter Orlison with open arms – very open, as they began an affair. However, they always distrusted each other. Young Vance had never felt anything for the emotionally distant Basil, but was drawn to benevolent Cary Bradcroft. Where they parted company was over the mad god Vaikuntha, which Grey was beginning a coven for – a coven infused with a Hindu/ neo-pagan/ scorched earth vibe. Cary's concern was enormous, especially as she had befriended Katherine Van Juss, sorceress and a lover of Cary's on occasion. Cary's daughter Sarah was Katherine Van Juss'' though she was married to the mage Janos Disraeli, which whom Katherine had a son, Griffin (later known as Rory Sabbath).


Janos confronted Grey over Vaikuntha. They fought; Grey was killed. Janos was afraid his delicate balance of power with the Shadow Baron would be ruined. He made it appear that Biazel had done the deed. The bottom line was that Janos slew Grey, for her evil intentions regarding Vaikuntha's imminent manifestation were bearing deadly fruit. As for Vance Parminter, he always believed his mother was slain by her lover Cary Bradcroft. Grey had convinced her son to become a lifelong acolyte of Vaikuntha. Young Vance Parminter ran away when his mother was killed, and the Bradcrofts were never able to locate him, or so Cary wished everyone to think. So he allowed Vance to became the homeless street urchin who began hanging out in Flicker Street in 1966. Cary kept tabs on Vance until Vance developed a 3^rd eye, which grew in 1972 and blocked all psi “transmissions” Cary'd been tapping into astrally via Vance's mind.


IX. The Third Eye... Opened


Vance Parminter first emerged in the Flicker St scene in 1966 at age 17. His 3^rd eye hadn't opened yet. In 1968, he met Althea Westin (whom he immediately fell for) and her fiance, Rankin Hogarth, who she was pregnant by. She had the child in 1968 and named him Franklin Westin Hogarth II after Rankin's congressman dad, who attempted to destroy his son and Althea's lives. The couple fought violently over his dad and their son, leading to Rankin fleeing with his son and forming a commune with James Diablos and others in 1969. After the couple's divorce Althea took in the couple's son, whom his dad had renamed Wesley Francis Garth, whose nickname was “Scrapper”. With Vance's role unknown to Rankin, Hogarth was soon reinvented as Desi Decadence, a 'shock rock' superstar. Rankin was pushed to the extreme in a chaotic spell that ruptured his persona. This was Vance's first real working, so perhaps his sloppiness can be forgiven. But he did it for love and, after all, made Rankin a rock star (which Vance differentiated from being a musician).


Rankin/ Desi and Vance lost touch, to Vance's relief. Vance pursued Althea and at last consummated their attraction (Vance was 23, Althea 19). They wed soon after, and had a child, Anjou Faustine Parminter (b. 1972). Vance busked, playing acoustic blues, and wrote and sang poems of a Lovecraftian bent. Althea waited tables and Wes, Anjou, and their parents eked out a meager existence. Musically, Vance was offered to jam in 1969 with Opal Masque, the German progrock band led by Glu Volker and Hercule Fogg. Volker had heard a crude demo recorded a year earlier and dug Vance's concepts. They recorded their premiere album, La-Bas (Down There) in early 1970; Parminter was 21. He then adopted his famous cowl and white mask, covering his 3^rd eye, which emerged when he turned 23. Anaximander-Zayan played bass on this first album.


Vance was especially curious about his Exodesian heritage. After an ill-fated pilgrimage to Exodesia and rejection by the Obscuros, he assumed the Parminter forenames, but rejected the family name, becoming “John Grey”. As he studied the occult he added an exalted title in some would say a blasphemous context and became Prester John Grey (Presbyter Johannes being a legendary figure of early Christendom). He draped himself in occult imagery but seemingly venerated the cross and crucifixes. As noted, he was famed for wearing a large black cowl and a chalk white faux porcelain mask evocative of the Phantom of the Opera (concealing his 3^rd eye), framed by extremely long dreadlocked hair. He was known for playing the guitar with small daggers and cross-shaped plectrums.


In 1971, Volker, Fogg, and Prester John recorded Weltanschauung and toured tirelessly with a lineup consisting of PJG, Anaximander, Glu, Fogg, and synth/ vox/ sax man Jorg Jungen Reinl. In 1972, they added female vox/ keys with Anke Mueller and switched bass to Brit Hasty Greenhalgh. Also in 1972, Prester John's daughter Anjou Faustine Parminter was born. The constant touring and occult obsessions were rending PJG's marriage. In 1974, Anke died (allegedly an occult sacrifice) and Reinl decamped, leaving 1975's final Opal Masque album, called Torn from Me Mother Whore, for years to feature PJG, Hasty, Glu, and Fogg.


In 1973, PJG and Althea separated, and in 1975, divorced. Grey even wrote the lyrics and music to the chilling lament of their marriage, the title track on Torn from Me Mother Whore. In 1975, PJG finally recorded his scary acoustic album In Nomine Anti-Christ. Althea raised her two children alone back in the Mt. Mosaic area.


From 1976 -1979 PJG was a key member of bassist Grady Voorman's psyche-funk project Cold Meat, also featuring Gilligan Dubecker on drums, Reinl on alto and tenor sax, and Gibson Dubecker on piano and synth. Sadly, Cold Meat coincided with the termination of the marriage between Althea and John. PJG was to spend the next decade plus working alongside Desi Decadence once more.


X. Lucifer Rises Again (1979-1982)


There was an extra-musical, clandestine reason PJG sought out the ex-Rankin Hogarth. Desi was essentially PJG's creation. Part of his persona, from his debut as Prester John Grey onwards, was as a follower of Bradcroftian occultism. He became an authority on the various orders and factions abroad in the world of ritual magick. He realized that the Bradcrofts were against Vaikuntha (who his mother was an adherent to). Grey had sworn a vow to his mother to become a vessel for Vaikuntha, and none would deter him. When Vaikuntha returned to this plane, PJG became a secret worshipper, and actively sought out Vaikuntha's avatars, beginning in 1979.


In 1982, the idea of the Lucifer Club strongly appealed to Prester John Grey, so he re-opened it as a rock club, heavy on the metal, brutal with the punk, all subtlety be damned. He cultivated a strong image in the scene and was revered by clubgoers and record mavens alike for his work with Desi, Cold Meat, Opal Masque, and solo. No one could predict in 1982 that Grey's finest years as a musician – and most devious years as an occultist – were yet to come.


Originally this article was to contain a more comprehensive genealogical look at the Parminter clan of Gossingham, but that fell just beyond the purview of this piece. Look for more info on this remarkable family in future accounts.


Welcome to Flicker Street!


Henry Covert
October 16, 2015


Flicker Street, all characters, images, and story elements are Copyright (c) 2015 George Henry Smathers Jr.

FLICKER STREET Treatment # 14 - Extrapolations

FLICKER STREET Treatment # 14 – Extrapolations


I. How Sharp...?

“It's like a beauty pageant for mystery men”, grumbled Alec Duarte over his drink. “Instead of a baton, some clown'll break out num-chucks”. He laughed as he swilled down his paper-bagged lunch, much to the chagrin of his associates in the Aggregate. He was hoping the membership drive would divert his attention from thinking about Kicia Blessing.


The first prospective member was introduced to the group. He was called Serpent's Tooth and boasted an elaborate partially-scaled out fit that covered his entire head and body. Ledge wanted a piece of him but Straw took the honors. Serpent's Tooth was holding his own against Straw, who, like Ledge and Duarte, was slightly inebriated, which the Shadow Baron was not too thrilled with. Then, before anyone could move, Straw collapsed.


“Don't beat a drunk when he's down, Tooth!” cried the ever ill-timed Thomas Ledge. Soon, Cary realized that his first applicant had thrust his fingers into a sensitive nerve cluster on Straw's back which temporarily disabled Euphrates. Ledge wasn't pleased and sprung up to wail on the smaller man. “I could just cry 'Uncle' but I guess that'd be redundant”, said Serpent's Tooth. Then he peeled back his mask to reveal -


“Damon Carroll!" spat Ledge. "My brother's foster kid! Hell yeah you can call me uncle. Guys, I helped raise this boy. My brother Clarke and his wife were Damon's foster parents til Damon joined that cult. How's that goin' for you, by the way, kid?”


Damon replied, “It's not a cult. And I just finished college. Now I'm studying to be a chiropractor. Listen, this is secret stuff; can I trust everyone? No offense - “


Straw made his way off the floor and answered. “If you trust Ledge, then you're already half way to making a public service announcement, the way he talks. By comparison, the rest of us are 'loose lips, slink- uh, sink ships. Man what's you do to me? I didn't drink that much.”


“We are taking much risk trusting you, Damon-san,” added Konchuman.
“You're safe here, Damon”, stated Cary. “Just let us ask the questions for awhile. We have some time before the other applicants arrive so can you tell us more about yourself and why you wish to join?”


The unadulterated truth about Damon Carroll should be laid out at this time. Much of this he relates to the curious seven. At the points where Damon finds it inconvenient or painful to relate events, we will make note but keep the reader clued in.


II. Baphomet


Damon was born in 1956, a Pisces. Biazel was not thrilled about Damon's parentage – that his beloved daughter Velupsa Karollus could engage in an affair with Kong of all men disgusted him, especially when she was still married to Biazel's disciple Smith Fabricand, who was besieged by the Bradcrofts at this time. Smith was killed while Velupsa was pregnant with Kong's child. Biazel made sure for decades that no one, save Velupsa and himself (not even Kong) would know who Damon Karollous' real father was. Biazel took the newborn child from an ailing Velupsa and put him in a foster home, foisting him off as Damon Carroll. Biazel did have plans for the child but it would be years before they came to fruition.


After an unpleasant upbringing in foster care, in which the highly intelligent Damon was hardly challenged (except by a plethora of bullies), he was finally taken in by Clarke and Sadie Ledge in 1965. Damon did so well in public school he was allowed to skip a grade and graduated from high school in 1973. His time with the Ledges was also coming to an end that year (not 1969 as reported elsewhere). The Ledges' marriage was crumbling, as Sadie had learned of Clarke's homosexuality. As soon as Damon graduated, he fled to California, angry at both his foster parents. Sadie died that year, and Clarke in 1974 (as covered elsewhere).


Damon went to college in California for four years and his experiences there were uncanny and are what lead him to becoming Serpent's Tooth. He had been secretly studying the occult for a few years; hence, the contention with his parents. Damon was especially interested in Kabbalah, Kundalini, tantric magic, and alchemy. He attended several meetings of like-minded folk, and, at one, in early 1974, he met a shy androgynous girl who called herself Chrome. She asked him to attend a meeting of her coven, the Order of Cosmic Awakening. Damon got a distinctively bad vibe, and the reigning wizard of the coven was a wizened, gnarled old man with gleaming green eyes. His name was Biazel Karollus and he informed Damon that he was his grandfather but that Velupsa Karollus, Damon's mother, was dead. “But meet your other living relative, Damon – your cousin, Chrome Genet, or as we call Chrome here: Baphomet!”


With that, the cultists tore away Chrome's clothing to reveal her true nature as a hermaphrodite. Biazel went on a tangent about the “third sex” being revered going back to ancient times as beings especially receptive to incredible magickal power. These integrated beings could mate with males or females, but were incapable of parthenogenesis. Damon was rushed by the throng, and though he fought boldly (Clarke had taught him to fight since he'd been beaten in the foster home), the wave of robed disciples buoyed him about and forced him into an elaborate ceremonial room. They pushed Chrome in afterwards. Damon skipped over much of what followed in his account to his prospective teammates. Suffice to say, Damon and “Baphomet” did indeed “mate”, though Damon found it distasteful. But despite that, there was something in hir eyes that softened Damon's heart. She was the aggressor in the affair, yet Damon still saw hir as an innocent of sorts. S/he chanted while making love with Damon, softly, invoking the tantric energies.


After all was said and done, Damon felt defiled and disoriented. Chrome slunk out of the room, tears in hir eyes. Biazel entered and confronted a dressing Damon. “S/he's my daughter Genesse's offspring. Your family. We thought we'd bring you into the fold in a pleasurable way. What do you think boy? I know tantra appeals to you. As a matter of fact, I know everything about you, Damon Carroll. Things even you don't know. Or aren't ready to grasp quite yet. What say you boy? Join the order?


“Hey! The boy's ready to crack. Moldor! Come in here. Damon, Antioch Moldor is a lieutenant of mine whose had right good success disrupting Disraeli's more – unh, benign branch of our thaumaturgical tree. Recently had a mix up in Massachusetts with that bastard Javier. Well, you don't know what I'm talking about.... but you will”. Biazel's eyes glistened emerald in the dim light. While the old man spoke in his peculiar accent, Damon had been curling his hand about a flaming brazier behind him. When Moldor approached Carroll, Damon hit the man with the brazier chained loosely to the wall. He wrapped the chain around Moldor's neck and screamed, “I'm leaving! And don't try to follow me. I-I'll kill you.”
“Let it be as it may then, boy. Kill me?” he wheezed as he laughed.
“Then – him!” screamed Carroll as he jammed the flaming brazier into Moldor's face, scalding him slowly to death. Blood and wax sprayed on Damon's robe, which he doffed as he bolted out the back door. He ran, and ran...


This nightmarish experience, and the abuse he suffered in his youth, mitigated by the solid values espoused by Clarke and Sadie Ledge, made Damon's mind a roiling but fertile petrie dish of possibilities. After college, he sought out Javier of the Order of Cosmic Emptiness in Hallmark. Javier carried on the Order of Gammadion, a “good” order to Biazel's decidedly evil one. No sooner had Damon set foot in Hallmark than Javier found him in his new apartment. Javier, it turned out, was family to Damon – the son of Biazel and a half-human, half-Exodesian woman called Sharima; hence, Damon's uncle.


Javier offered to train Damon unconditionally. Javier was surrounded by dark forces and yearned for filial companionship. Damon agreed, and the two men trained for over a year until Damon abruptly severed their alliance. The crestfallen Javier accused Damon of using him as a stepping stone to train with Cary Bradcroft or even Juniper Thoth (aka Jennifer Roeg, daughter of Gerhardt Vossius/ Kanabal; a left-hand path mage that we'll be dealing with in future volumes).


Damon apologized; he didn't ever mean to use his uncle and told him how thankful he was. But he was, indeed, wishing to train with Bradcroft next. Javier grudgingly gave Damon his blessing. Damon created a masked identity because he wished to move about inconspicuously in Hallmark and continue his chiropractic studies. Bradcroft happily welcomed Damon. He announced that a new member had been found. But the “try-outs” were far from over. There were several more candidates to consider. And the team demanded Cary employ a more diplomatic system of arriving at a decision instead of simply by a sorcerer's fiat. Bradcroft agreed that they would review all of the applicants and vote as a group afterward on who would stay and who would go.


III. Candidates


The next candidate was Lars Poole (b. 1957), the first-born son of Orphee deLander. Poole went by the code name Corona, as he could generate a heat plasma field around himself and, like his father, cause tendrils of energy to emanate from it. He was not nearly as powerful as his father but he could be a great asset. After Corona spoke briefly and nervously to the group, Cary brought in a young man named Stephen Bartholemew aka Myrmidon after a Greek legend. Stephen did not care if his ID was public or not and rarely referred to himself as Myrmidon. Stephen has been discussed briefly in an earlier installment as he was the son of the White Archer, Brandon ver Dorn. He was born in 1959 to Medea Strasser Bartholemew, a former REACT spy who studied under REACT's "superspy" couple Thurston "Tyger" Smythe and Annabelle deVries. When ver Dorn's assignment for REACT ended, he sadly abandoned his identity as Sigmund Bartholemew and his bride. He never knew he had a child and REACT shielded him from that info.


Medea remarried when Stephen was three, but her husband refused to give the child his name, which was Angelo Blatanski. Angelo was an abusive, insufferable idiot by all accounts. He was a very low level mob informant and steelworker at Vossius Metalworks. and took out his frustrations daily on his wife and on Stephen. This nurtured in Stephen a repressed rage that rarely took a firm shape, but when it did it was bloodthirsty. None of this was shared with the Aggregate, at least not then.


Blatanski was allegedly killed by an undercover policeman in 1975, though Stephen's own mother suspected Stephen was the true culprit. He was never even considered as a suspect, but despite it all, Mrs. Blatanski cast out 16 year old Stephen to fend for himself. He was able to work full-time at the Harness & Toffler grocery chain, where he met his best friend - Lars Poole. Lars had encouraged Stephen to apply for the Aggregate, though Stephen was only a self-trained street fighter and marksman. He caught on quickly, and had the benefit of the marvelous ver Dorn genes.


The next applicant was the young martial artist Ko Mei-chan, known in Asia as Ghost Cat. She was born in 1943, the fraternal twin of Archimedes Ko, and spent some time at Feng Qi studying with the late Shun Ti. She was amazingly youthful, looking all of a schoolgirl when she was 32 years old. Her father, Bram Vallard aka the Apparition (and Saturnine and many more) was, of course, the schizoid co-founder of both the Aggregate and the Silent Seven before them. Ghost Cat took part in some training with her nephew Jun-kim Liao, who was being groomed to be a true force of nature in the martial arts world. The team were impressed with the demonstrations of her skills, particularly in a playful match with Konchuman.


IV. Greetings from Gossingham


Supposedly every party has its crashers, and that seemed to be the motivation of the final applicants: a couple, Garnet and Cynosure. Garnet was a gorgeous woman clad head to toe in shades of garnet, her birthstone, replete with duster, blazer, and incredibly long scarf. She looked more like a rock star than a superhero, though in Flicker Street, the two often bleed into and subsume each other. She claimed to be a superior fighter and assassin-for-hire, seduction being her hook to draw in the enemy. She radiated a deadly charisma.


Cynosure also cultivated a baroque rock star image, with part Edwardian dress, part gypsy flamboyance, and a completely made up lavender-painted face and a WWI fighter helmet, goggles and all. He would be labeled “steampunk” in the modern era, no doubt. He was fully color-coordinated with Garnet. His claim was heightened senses – all five honed to superhuman levels. Beyond that, he was a bit of a scrapper and admitted he could really use some “combat training” but mainly just loved playing music (he was toting a gorgeous guitar with him).


Cynosure spoke little, letting his lady friend do most of the talking. Garnet was young but tough; perhaps callous is a better word. She demanded entrance into the group so vehemently that Cotton asked, “Young lady – are we bein' pranked – or what?? Don't waste our time”. Alec grinned broadly at this.


Garnet was born Garnet Pace in Gossingham in 1957. She went to work for a SkullCorp warehouse in 1974. She quickly acclimated herself to the company's set up and advanced quickly. Her seductive persona helped immensely. She first knew Cynosure as Cyrus Parminter, a childhood classmate (and sometime boyfriend) of Garnet's sister Ruby Pace, born, like Cyrus, in 1962. Cyrus dreamt of becoming a rock star since he was a small child and had the innate talent to build towards his dreams. When he was twelve, he began going by a name he created: Convy Lee Sutch, and refused to ever answer to his legal name. He had a troubled relationship with his mother, and became legally emancipated at age 13. He moved in with Ruby and Garnet and their cousin Sam, who shared a trailer park dive. Sam, a journalist, was the closest thing Convy Lee had to a paternal figure in his teens. With Sam's help, Cyrus Parminter legally became Convy Lee Sutch in 1977. Under Garnet's tutelage (and often under her warm body), Sutch created the Cynosure persona and was inducted into a small team of Skull corporate spies. Garnet went way for a time for "training"; she was actually bearing CL's daughter, Sarah Pace (b. 1979), who was soon adopted by a barreb couple who were also extended family to Convy Lee. Thye called her Jynx Parminter. 

It was in this capacity that they applied for membership in the Aggregate. But the assembled throng was not really fooled. There seemed to be more style than substance for sure. When the group voted, Corona, Myrmidon, and Ghost Cat were voted in, bringing the Aggregate's number to a healthy 11. Their latter two hopefuls were rejected. Garnet angrily stormed out. Cynosure trailed behind but paused to make a filial gesture at Stephen, the “devil's horns” or “evil eye”, because he thought Bartholemew seemed cool. Their paths would cross again, and often, as we shall see in future accounts.


And so the Aggregate faced a new and uncertain year. They spent most of their time training; getting in sync with each other; learning each other's peculiar moves and techniques. In our next treatment, we hope to gather together some dangling threads and advance our narrative further than before. But let's clarify some points re: certain organizations in Flicker Street's orbit.


V. 1979: The State of Things


This is as good a time and place as any to iterate the convoluted intrigues of Skull and REACT – who does what exactly and whose side are they on? On the surface the impression given FSO and the Aggregate is there's a simplistic 'good spy (REACT) vs. bad spy (Skull)' cold war scenario. Things are quite a bit more complex than that, as is no doubt evident by now.


SkullCorp began as a vice and racketeering outfit (as 'The Machine') that segued, simply put, into an international conglomerate that deals in entertainment and media. Skull uses money from its overflowing coffers to fund armies in South America and destabilize regimes in foreign countries. Many politicians are where they are due to Skull's largesse, and hence votes for such actions are plentiful. Skull's main base in South America is in Libania, a country with a long history of political and territorial strife. As of 1978, Generalissimo Copron is the ruler of Libania, having performed a military coup partially funded and carried out by REACT at the onset of President Eisenhower's administration. There is constant strife between Libania and neighboring Serafinia. The two have been enemies for centuries, their conflict rooted in religion and the sacred ground of the Ziggurat, on the border between nations. Serafinians are considered savages by Libania, but are not – as rumored – cannibals. The ancient Yashaharo clan, whose villages border Libania to the south, are still cannibals, and live a Stone Age existence to this day.


Libania's ruling military party is FOPA (English translation; in English Freedom Of the People's Army), coincidentally pronounced the same as the French phrase faux pas. They have been espousing socialist values, albeit beneath a militaristic patina, for decades. American and Libania are officially enemies in the cold war, and no trade or embargo between the two exist. They are ruled by President Carter in 1979 as Communist and a terrorist threat. This hasn't made him rule out mending relations if he's re-elected. Serafinia is considered a US ally.


And now, we turn everything we've just learned upside down. In actuality, as mentioned above, Copron gained power under Eisenhower, though Ike was out of the loop of all the CIA and REACT maneuvering. The benefits to this were manifold: Libania is one of the world's richest sources of homegrown illicit drugs; Copron wanted arms to conquer Serafinia and outlying nations such as Enquador; and so a permanent trade was set up in the 1950s. The US, with the knowledge of REACT's upper echelons, purchased massive quantities of drugs for decades while arming FOPA to the proverbial teeth.


So what are the connections between Skull and REACT, who both fund Libanian military aims? In the US' case, the drug supply and the hiring out of FOPA agents for an occasional regime change is the main connection between FOPA and REACT. But Skull also develops highly advanced technology extrapolated from that shared by Omega Ceti I. Libania has bases underground and in the jungle where cutting edge experimentation takes place daily.Through FOPA, Libania (read Skull) began purchasing this alien tech as early as the late 1950s. The pods, regenerators, tellaxes, cybernetics, etc. went full circle into the hands of REACT and used against Libania. Thus both ostensible sides (REACT and Skull) were officially engaged in a cold war. And so we ask again: where does one end and the other begin in this Ouroboros-like construct? Bottom line: our true heroes on the world stage fight against both sides, and struggle to stay above the fray. The Freedom Squadron Ops has succumbed to the charade; the Aggregate has not and likely never will. And this is the status quo in 1979. Much grist for conspiracy theorists indeed.


Welcome to Flicker Street!


Henry Covert
October 10, 2015


Dedicated to the editors that gave me a chance: Michael Huegen, Samir Shukla, Scott Homewood, Steve Puchalski, Sam Gaines, Dave Yount, Allen Freeman, Shawnti Therrien, Jason V Brock, Win Scott Eckert, Dennis E Power, Michael Croteau, John Donald Carlucci,... and Sarah L Covert.



Flicker Street, all charactes, images, and story elements are Copyright (c) 2015 George Henry Smathers Jr.