But the first journal failed to produce anything interesting with regards to the Soul Eater. There was no mention of him at all. And it wasn’t until Lauren had pored through nine of the journals that she finally found it.
There on the final pages of the tenth journal that had been started in 1947, she found what she’d been seeking.
Few of the Devil’s children are as fearful as the Soul Eater.
For years, I could not fathom its purpose. I was only able to
trace its nefarious deeds back through the annals of history.
It seemed its existence was rumored only in whispered legends,
and yet, I somehow knew it was much more. Little did I realize
the truly awesome power with which its Dark Lord bequeathed it.
In truth, the Soul Eater is a more a demon than man — and yet it
may assume the guise of a man as easily as we draw a breath.
Indeed, it is by this form that the Soul Eater accomplishes his
task. For as a man he can walk among the peoples of earth
with no fear of discovery.
He is the Devil's emissary — the primary instrument for his
resurrection.
Lauren looked up from the journal and felt cold fear wash over her. My God, she thought, how will we be able to stop this? She took a breath and kept reading.
The Soul Eater is responsible for collecting evil, for it is through
the evil of others that he, the Devil, lives and lives best.
The words echoed inside her head. Sister Donovan’s last words. Here they were, in Graham Westerly’s own hand.
The Soul Eater steals the souls of those who are most evil
within our society. For years I felt confounded by this theory.
It was only after much research that I learned that the Devil’s
power was scattered on Earth by God as a way of keeping the
Dark Lord from ever coming onto this plane. Unable to
manifest himself here, the Devil languished long in the
netherworld, constantly trying but finding no suitable portal of
evil through which he could enter our world.
So he created the Soul Eater. He sent this demon to our plane
with the purpose of harvesting the souls of the most evil. The Soul Eater gathers these souls. And if he is able to gather enough of them,
he will be able to open a portal to Hell and enable Satan to enter a physical body here on Earth.
I know not how the resurrection would occur. Nor do I know
how many evil souls must be gathered for the resurrection to
occur. I know the Soul Eater has wandered our plane for
millennia. Always at work. Always gathering. Perhaps he
keeps these evil souls within him, but I think not. I think he
must have some means to contain them — be it natural or not.
In the guise of a man, the Soul Eater may be reasonably assumed
to be vulnerable to those things that all men are. In his true form,
however, the Soul Eater would be almost impossible to vanquish.
Of all that I have encountered, none has disturbed me as much as
The revelation that Satan is actively trying to gain access to our
World. I believe that if the Soul Eater were successful, his
Master would be impossible to banish again.
Lauren slumped back against the wall. Her breathing came in fast gulps. This is it, she thought. He’s trying to bring the Devil here.
To Boston.
I’ve got to tell Steve.
She glanced back at the journal. The next few entries scared her even more.
19 March 1947
Few die without leaving some indication of how they have shuffled off this mortal coil. And yet, the victims of the Soul Eater bear no indication of the manner of their death. It was by this means and this means alone that I was able to first pick up the trail of the demon.
I heard of a mysterious rash of deaths in Rio de Janeiro in early March. Four victims, all died without any signs of their death. They simply ceased to live. I’d studied the Soul Eater — scant though the information was — long enough to know his peculiar calling card.
I flew to Rio on two days previous, determined to find and kill the demon if I could.
21 March
Another body has turned up bearing no signs of death. The victim was well known to the police — suspected in over two dozen murders. Evil apparently found a home within him and thus he drew the demon without even knowing it.
This latest body was discovered roughly twenty miles to the north of Rio.
He is moving.
And I am on his trail.
29 March
Is there any time in our lives when we forsake logic in favor of intuition? I know not what draws me out of Brazil now. But I feel it deep in my soul that my quarry has left the country — his work here most likely done. But where will he go next? If he is wandering South America looking for evil, I must make certain assumptions and pray they are right.
My gut tells me he will head for either French Guyana or Venezuela next. One of my guides has secured a small plane and we fly today into a small town named Curanya to see if I am right.
