The dark Bible

1-1

1Montagnana, December 1977

The boy was sick. He hardly ate anymore and vomited everything he ingested within a few minutes. The mother, a widow for a couple of years, was beginning to despair because of his health conditions. They lived in one of the most beautiful walled cities in the Veneto: Montagnana, in the Padua area. The walls were one of the most distinguished and best-preserved examples of medieval military architecture in Europe. They dated back to the mid-fourteenth century when the Carraresi, lords of Padua, wanted to expand and strengthen what was an essential frontier of the Paduan state against Verona, under Scaligeri ruling at that time. The fortified city, built with overlapping layers of bricks and stones, was crowned by Guelph-type battlements. They were six to eight meters high with perimeter towers that rose over twenty meters.

He's fine, ma'am. He is a bit exhausted, but don't worry!

It was the only phrase, repeated several times, by many illustrious doctors who, after having subjected the boy to dozens of tests, declared his perfect state of health. Yet, he was ill, in fact, very ill. The mother was now more than sure after noticing that the situation was getting worse every day. The boy now presented conspicuous bruises all over his body as well as impressive purulent pustules and his voice was different, cavernous. He couldn't get out of bed, the light made him nervous and aggressive, so he hadn't left the house for days and stayed in the dark without wanting to see anyone, not even his mother. But the woman's greatest concern was her son's gibbering: incomprehensible, meaningless sentences. Perhaps, the desperate attempt to save him, disconsolate by the useless science expressed by medicine, led his mother to turn to the priest of the Parish of Montagnana. Don Renato knew the woman as a humble widow dedicated only to the family who, in order to support herself and her child after her husband's premature death, carried out some occasional cleaning work in the neighbors' homes. What the woman said made the elderly parish priest's skin crawl. He immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

«I have to see the boy now! » was Don Renato's only request.

Arriving at the small house, the mother let the priest enter the boy's room who, as soon as he saw the priest, began to address him with unusual aggression.

Without any fear Don Renato asked him: «How do you feel, boy? »

The young man's eyes bulged. His pupils were dilated and were surrounded by a red halo.

«Afharmak hunted insites makbel ther! » He replied with a voice that seemed to come from beyond the grave.

«My God, Father, what did he say? » the mother asked terrified.

«I don't understand», replied the priest, , «but I don't like it at all. This is not normal. »

As soon as those words were spoken, the temperature of the room dropped suddenly, making the woman shiver even more. The parish priest prayed and blessed the boy with holy water which, upon contact with the body, added pustules to those already existing. The priest understood.

They left the room and the mother, offering a cup of tea to the elderly parish priest, asked him: «What do you think, father? »

«It's more serious than I thought», said Don Renato, «I think the boy is possessed by the Devil. »

Two days later

The Praglia Abbey dated back to the twelfth century.

The monks had always established a close bond of solidarity with the local people, offering the community all their products and services. On the one hand, this allowed them to earn a living and to provide for the ordinary maintenance of the monastery; on the other, it guaranteed to be able to bring help to various situations of need and poverty that gripped the people who came to them, confident and full of hope. In addition to the daily fraternal service and the stable commitment in the various areas of life of the monastery, the monks in Praglia took care of some specific work activities: the restoration of ancient books, herbal medicine, beekeeping, the publication of works of monastic and spiritual character. Not only that, but the monks also had a real perfume distillery. They successfully sold them in their shop inside the Monastery. What very few knew, however, referred to some particular monks. Particular because they were true and authentic exorcists, regularly recognized and authorized to exercise by the Vatican. Don Renato had no doubts when he turned to them to heal the boy from Montagnana. Having made the appropriate arrangements, requested the necessary authorizations from the Curia, he obtained the blessing of the Bishop of Padua. Three monks from the Abbey of Praglia left for Montagnana. They showed up in the house that same evening, gave the order to the mother not to enter the boy's room for any reason in the world, even Don Renato was held out of the room and invited to pray with the woman. The three monks entered the room and the boy remained calm. In fact, he was strangely calm, like he was expecting them to liberate him from all his ills. The monks immediately realized that they were in the presence of who-they-thought. They spoke to him in the unknown language and the boy answered without problems.

«It’s him! » the one who appeared to be the oldest said to the other two.

«No doubt». One nodded.

One of the three opened the bag and took a large cylindrical steel tube where the letter N was engraved, another prepared a medium-sized syringe and a test tube, the third took a small syringe sucking a bluish liquid into it.

«Ready? » asked the eldest.

The two nodded. The boy was made to fall asleep with a powerful narcotic. Then, with a syringe in the genitals they took the semen, immediately transferred it to the test tube which they sealed and deposited in the cylinder that contained liquid nitrogen. They also closed the container and injected the bluish liquid into the boy. They left the room and advised their mother not to enter the room for the next few hours because he would need to rest. At the same time, they reassured her by telling her that everything had gone according to plan. They wanted nothing and left in silence. The mother had finally calmed down: that son, her only son, would recover, she was convinced of it. She let a couple of hours go by in which it seemed that the boy was better because he had slept without getting agitated. When she decided it was time to wake him up to eat, she opened the door and saw him naked: every bruise or pustule, now, had disappeared from his body. The woman approached her son, his eyes were open and fixed, he was not breathing. She screamed with as much voice as she had in her throat: his only and beloved son was dead. When the Carabinieri arrived, accompanied by the legal pathologist, at first glance they could not explain that sudden death. They would have looked for the causes with an autopsy, but they would never have found them. Meanwhile, they began the search for the three monks: a search that was short. They found them not far from the house, behind a row of garbage bins: dead. Their death was also classified as mysterious, but the time of death matched that of the boy. The woman and Don Renato were accompanied to the place where the bodies of the three religious were found so that they could confirm their identity.

But they did not recognize them. They were not the same ones they had seen just before.

2.

Fourth Crusade ‘Reconquest of Zara’, year 1202

In the year 1202, the largest and most beautiful fleet set sail to begin navigation. The year before, Boniface I of Monferrato had been appointed commander of the Fourth Crusade in the Holy Land. Although, after the complete failure of the Third Crusade, in Europe, they were little interested in repeating the adventure. Jerusalem was in the hands of the Kurdish-Muslim dynasty that ruled Syria and Egypt.

The fourth crusade was commissioned by the very young Pope Innocent III, elected at the age of 36 in 1198. A few months after his nomination to the papal throne, he encouraged Catholics to reconquer Jerusalem by issuing his first encyclical. Nobody was excited by the idea. The reaction of the European states created numerous controversies with the Pope, but anyone who pulled back would have incurred in excommunication. To avoid it, Venice asked the Pope for a dispensation from participation, having established high-level commercial relations with Egypt; a new crusade against that people would have meant incurring financial disasters for the lagoon city. But the Pope was adamant, and it was thus that he began the fourth crusade, just over three years after his encyclical. Arriving in Zara, now under the aegis of the Kingdom of Hungary, the crusaders were not well received, in fact, the population proved hostile. After five days of siege, however, the inhabitants had to surrender and witness a bloody looting, despite their being a Christian city and therefore protected by the Pope. The consequence was the excommunication of the crusaders and their commander, who, realizing that their life was in danger, and they could not even go home, they decided to establish headquarters in Zara, especially as winter was upon them.

Boniface established his lodging and command in a dilapidated building which he also used as a church. During the cold season, he did what he could, also using his influences, to put the blame for the taking of Zara and the looting on the Venetians. The Pope, once the necessary testimonies had been taken, annulled the excommunication of the Zara crusade and gave it to the Venetians. In the meantime, however, Boniface had organized to attack Constantinople as well in an attempt to confer to the Pope the success of a battle that would have been epic for the Church. However, while organizing the assault, a young Muslim named Iblis Abdul Hassad showed up at his camp. The boy made his way among the crusaders and introduced himself to Boniface I's assistant.

«I have to speak to the supreme commander, Messer Boniface I of Montferrat. I have news that will lead him to certain victory over Constantinople». Iblis began.

The commander's assistant was intent on chasing him away and, if he insisted, he would even put him to death, but he realized that the boy could not have been aware of their plans on Constantinople, so he thought there had been some information leaking. He tried to investigate the subject, but the boy was adamant, he would only speak with the commander. It would have been a bad idea to bring a boy in the presence of his superior without having first warned him, but the eyes of that strange visitor gave him an unsettling feeling. He decided, therefore, to help him. He would think of the consequences of that decision later. As he imagined, Boniface I was angry with him, although curious to hear what the boy had to say. He made him sit down struck by the mysterious air that surrounded him: he appeared young, but with the physique of an adult already formed and sculpted, the black pupils contrasted with the bright red outline, the sinuous, almost feline movements.

«Your young life is at stake», Boniface began, «if what you have to tell me doesn't pique my interest. Choose your words well. »

The boy went too close to the commander and said: «Send your servant away, crusader, from this moment his services are no longer needed. »

Boniface was almost annoyed, but he could not think otherwise, he ordered the assistant to go out and leave him alone.

«But my lord ... » the assistant tried to blather.

«Get out of here! » Boniface thundered in reply.

The boy smiled faintly, took a heavy book from the bag and handed it to Boniface who inspected it thoroughly before opening it. The features of that book were impressive: embossed leather cover, bearing the effigy of a pentacle with incomprehensible writings and, inside, pages that appeared to be ancient containing texts, formulas, and drawings. Those images and formulas meant nothing to Boniface. He carefully browsed through a few pages. As he tried unsuccessfully to read the text, he realized that he was beginning to understand some words. He read in one breath, always understanding a new word, another word, whole sentences, or the whole page. He had forgotten the boy, too busy with frenzy, more and more convinced that there he would find every answer to his problems, in fact, to every problem. He immediately realized that, with the use of those teachings and formulas, he could dominate men, to the point of making them his slaves. He felt invincible, but he was never satisfied with that text, for hours he let himself go to that reading and only woke up after reading and understanding the last page. By now he knew everything about that book. He had absorbed its strength and knowledge. He looked up at the boy, he was still there, patiently waiting and never having said a word. But he was no longer the boy he was before, now he was a mature man. Twelve years had passed: Boniface I of Montferrat, without noticing the time, without feeling tired or hungry or thirsty, had read the book in twelve long years.