by Adam Jones:
PREFACE
These letters were confiscated as evidence in a national murder investigation that began in Chicago in 19XX. News reports saw very little coverage of these incidents because they were classified as highly confidential. Since then, pieces of evidence have begun to leak out to the public. What transpired after was the largest undocumented manhunt in United States history for a killer who called himself Mephistopheles. Read with caution.
Mephistopheles – The name, originally Hebrew, is derived from “mephiz” meaning destroyer, and “tophel”meaning liar. Mephistopheles is a fallen archangel, one of the 7 great princes of Hell (one of the maskim,q.v.). According to Cornelius Agrippa, Mephistopheles “stands under the planet Jupiter, his regent isname Zadkiel, who is an enthroned angel of the holy Jehovah.” In Seligmann, The History of Magic, Mephistopheles is “a subordinate demon, a fallen angel too, and sometimes admitted to the presence of God, but his is not the devil.”
The nature of this quote can be found here.
Date: January 1st, 19XX
Dear Horace Grisham,
It’s my pleasure to notify you that you’re a winner! You’ve been chosen out of millions to be a part of a proverbial hanging! You live such a despicable life that your works will now reap you great reward!
You’ve already opened the letter so you’re involved now. You can‘t run away from this. This is not escapable. You cannot hide under your sheets from it, the mean monster in the closet is finally coming out – and he’s ready to teach you a lesson.
I’m glad we actually get to communicate now! I’ve been following you for a long time and I feel I know so much about you! But you don’t know me at all. So I wanted to introduce myself.
I’m Mephistopheles. You don’t want to know where I’m from…but I have always found you to be a great companion. I‘ve tagged along your coattails for several years now and the payoff is going to be quite exciting. Thank You!
What is important is that I’ve come for your soul. I’m sorry to bring you this news. I know it’s not a good time. You can rest comfortably knowing it’s never a good time for anything, but you deserve to be punished. You know what you’ve done. And so do I.
To believe me is up to you. It would be better if you did though. I guess we’ll both find out if you really do or don‘t take this seriously. Nonetheless, I’m really excited to meet you!
For the sake of humor and the spare measure I have left in my palm, I wrote you this letter. I thought it appropriate to let you know I was coming. Talk with you soon!
Kisses,
Mephistopheles
Date: 19XX
Dear Horace Grisham,
Hello Horace! I apologize that I haven’t shown up yet, but I’ve been a little busy. Don’t worry though, I’ll be there soon enough. I hope you’ve been well!
Last night I watched a man die. It was epic. Not for the reasons you are thinking though. It was
epic because he found himself. That’s what I’m all about, I want people to realize who they really are and sometimes it takes convincing. Who am I kidding, it always takes convincing!
The question remains though in your mind why you feel I’ve always been around you. Think outside the box on this one. I’m everywhere, and it’s my job, to sift through the masses for the very worst. When I find them, I cleanse them. In more ways than you can imagine. Don’t worry you’ll see…
Do me a favor though and write down everything bad that you’ve done in your life. That might help and save time. It would really benefit the situation if you are as honest as possible too. If you force me to pull the truth out of you then our time will be limited together. If we do it my way we can go over everything faster without worrying about how you intend to lie to me. Don’t do it! My apologies, it’s just that I have a lot of experiences with deception so I can see it easily in others. The Truth shall set you free.
Hey thanks again, you’re being a good sport about all this!
Respectfully,
M
Date: 19XX
Dear Horace Grisham,
You’ll never believe what happened! I was on assignment and met an actual serial killer! Yeah, for real! He was this guy in Boston that used to poach on young men. He’d bring them back somewhere and do terrible things to them. It was a sad time in his life.
Anyway, I was finally able to come to an agreement with him! He realized I was right. He didn’t need all the limbs he was born with. In fact, he didn’t need many of the things which protruded from his body. Once he agreed, I let him live and sentenced him to an encumbered and difficult life, but with the promise of another chance on the next go round. I was astounded— what a deal maker! His courage was admirable. So when I got done with him, he actually said THANK YOU for it!
It was a joyous occasion.
I was wondering, did you write out your list yet? I don’t think you have. I think these letters are making you a bit nervous and you’re weighing your options. I want you to know that you’ve had your whole life to weigh options and you’ve had thousands of experiences where you were given the chance to be decent and kind and you passed them up. You logically and methodically chose against them. You paved the way for your fate now and there is no way to change it. No going back. Why is that so hard for people to understand?
See you soon,
M
Date: 19XX
Dear Horace Grisham,
I have to tell you Horace — I can’t decide if I am really excited or really nervous. It’s such a bundle of emotions right now piled on top of me and it’s hard to breathe and articulate how I feel. I want you to know that I’m going to take this very seriously, because I care about your soul.
Don’t question my convictions – I have the courage of my convictions. You’re the one who doesn’t. If you don’t believe me, and you need proof, then how would I know that you actually killed a bum? I remember it well. I was there watching you – the heavy drinking and the pouring rain made it hard to see him in the road, but when you jammed on your brakes your mind was really wondering what it would feel like to run him down like a dog. Who would miss him, right? Then your foot let off the brake a little and before you could change your mind, you’d killed him. It wasn’t enough just to save him.
All that was left was a mangled man and you—the one who used his money and influence to keep himself out of prison. I’ll be honest with you Horace, I’ve been in prison, and it is a rare thing to find a monster like you.
Lies are all people know. That’s the only way that most people know how to communicate, how to socialize, and how to fit in — LIES. It’s disgusting. The weird part, the part I’ve always found fascinating, is that they know very clearly that what they’re doing is wrong. They may not feel the same way about it that someone else does, but their cognizant enough to know what’s right and wrong, and they make their decision anyway. And it marks them. It sure marked you.
There is only one way out for you. It only comes now and it only comes once. Tonight before you go to bed, pray for forgiveness. Pray for it like you prayed for power…pray for it harder than anything you have ever prayed for – and when you’re done – do the right thing and put a gun to your head and pull the trigger.
It’s either that, or wait for me. But I assure you, I am not a pleasant visitor.
See you tomorrow. Look sharp.
M
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