December 1988


Sarah was running later than normal.


She'd stopped to talk to her favorite teacher, Mrs. Maxwell, before leaving school for the day. It was Christmas vacation! The most wonderful time of the year! Surely she could spare a few moments to chat her favorite teacher up and spread some holiday cheer, right? Besides, Mrs. Maxwell always had cookies on hand for such a visit.


Eager to get home quickly, Sarah decided to take a shortcut across the middle school field, then directly through the old lot where they used to park the busses, years back.


That lot could be a little creepy and if daylight wasn't still barely clinging on, she wouldn't have gone that way.


"You got a light, Doll?" An adult woman with uneven black box-dyed black hair stepped out in front of Sarah, startling her. The woman seemed somewhat familiar, but Sarah couldn't place where she might've seen her before. And the cigarette she was holding appeared to already be lit.


"Uh, oh, no. Sorry," Sarah's voice cracked with nervousness. She put her head down and tried to walk quickly past the woman. The sunlight was starting to fade now.


"That's okay, Beautiful. It's a disgusting habit anyway." The woman stepped in front of Sarah, to block her.


"Where you going? Why are you in such a hurry? You going to see Santa?" The woman dropped the cigarette and stamped it out with her foot. She was smiling menacingly, exposing her jagged, yellow teeth. She smelled like stale cigarette smoke and cheap drugstore perfume.


"Um, actually yes," Sarah tried a fake little laugh while continuing to maneuver past the woman, but before she could even try to run, someone grabbed her from behind and put an odd-smelling rag over her face.


The last thing she heard before everything went dark was "There is no Santa Claus, Toots. And there's no God either. You belong to us now."


--


October 1988


"What in the Devil are you watching?" Louanne asked Sarah who was intently glued to the television set. Sarah didn't typically watch the kind of program she appeared to be fully invested in. It was an evening talk show with one of those hosts who was constantly getting punched in the face.


"That's funny, Mom! It's actually about the Devil!" Sarah smiled faintly without taking her eyes off the screen.


"The Devil? That's awful! Turn that garbage off!" Louanne reached for the dial.


"Mom, no! It's really interesting! You should watch it with me! Please?" Sarah grabbed Louanne's hand in an effort to stop her from switching off the set.


"Wait a minute," Louanne was now focused on the program in front of her. "Is this about Satanism? They mentioned it at church a few weeks ago. Pastor Rich says it's a growing epidemic and is probably signaling the End Times," She sat down beside Sarah.


"Yes, it actually is! It's really freaky but kind of interesting too." She and Louanne were speaking but hadn't moved their gazes from the TV.


"Up next, Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be talking to Tzarinah and Jarrel Greer, who are the leaders of a group called the Dead Hearts. What you're about to see may be disturbing to some viewers. Please send any little children or those faint of heart out of the room. We will return after this commercial break." The host on the show said directly into the camera.


"The Dead Hearts?" Louanne shuddered.


"Yeah, that sounds yucky," Sarah was making a face. "Most of the show hasn't even been that bad, though. My social studies teacher would just call it hype." She smiled proudly at this retained knowledge.


"Honestly, I'd believe that," Louanne chimed in. "They use that kind of thing to help increase music and movie ticket sales. It's all just one big money-making scheme," she chuckled. "But I think I'd rather do dirty movies rather than this trash though."


"Mom! Gross!" Sarah was now the one shuddering. She couldn't believe what her own mother had just said!


Just then, the program came back on.


"Here with us today are Tzarinah and Jarrel Greer, they are the--" The host was trying to introduce the weird-looking couple seated behind him when the woman interrupted him.


"Priestess Tzarinah and Priest Jarrel Greer, Gerald. Our faith demands respect." (Priestess) Tzarinah sneered.


The host, Gerald Rivena, appeared to be less than impressed at the interruption.


"My show demands respect too, Priestess Tzarinah. Please wait until I am finished speaking before you jump in. I assure you I will give you plenty of time."


Tzarinah's nostrils flared; Jarrel nudged her and slightly shook his head as if to tell her to cool down.


Louanne and Sarah sat in silence, barely even blinking.


"It seems as if you have a lot to say, Priestess. So I'm going to give you the floor. Please tell the audience and those viewing at home about your organization, The Dead Hearts." Gerald said icily.


"This Church of Satan stuff is an insult, Gerald. It's just a bunch of spooky child's play," Tzarinah waved her hands toward some of the other guests on stage, in disgust. "What we offer is true darkness."


"What do you mean by true darkness?" Gerald looked genuinely curious.


"Anton Lavey was right when he said that human beings are just animals - that we shouldn't be condemned for giving in to our more animalistic nature," Tzarinah began. She was unusually well-spoken. "In the animal kingdom, there are two basic goals. To survive and to multiply."


"Multiply?" Gerald asked.


"Yes, you know, have a long line of progeny." She beamed proudly.


"So your group believes in having lots of children then?"


"Yes. But not just any children. Perfect children." Tzarinah sneered again.


"Speaking of children, wasn't your husband Jarrel once your stepson?" Gerald looked pleased as he dropped this bomb.


The crowd gasped. Louanne and Sarah gasped audibly as well.


"Oh, hush!" Tzarinah commanded, holding her hand up as if to say 'Halt!' "Yes, I was married to Jarrel's daddy some years back, but he was just too squeaky clean for my liking." She looked annoyed at the thought of her former husband. "But he and I divorced and a year or so later, guess who came knocking on my door?" She looked over at Jarrel. He really did seem much younger than her.


"It wasn't like that, or anything..." Jarrel finally spoke up. "I mean, not when she was married to my dad. She and I hardly ever even talked. She didn't really like me back then." He cast his eyes downward.


"Is that true, Priestess? You didn't like him back then?" Gerald seemed taken aback by all of this new info.


"It is true, Gerald. I don't really like teenagers." She bared her uneven teeth in a sinister smile.


"But if your goal is to have many children, how are you supposed to handle that? Kids do turn into teenagers, after all." Gerald stepped closer to the stage.


"As long as I don't have to birth them or wait on them, I'll be just fine." She shrugged.


The camera panned back to Gerald who was standing next to a member of the studio audience.


"We have a question from the audience," he handed the mic to the woman next to him.


"Hi, thanks, Gerald. Yeah. My question is why do you call yourselves The Dead Hearts? Honestly, it sounds kind of like a rock band." She smiled as the audience laughed.


"Quiet!" Tzarinah commanded again. "You're a real comedienne, aren't ya, Toots?" She was still sneering. "Well, let me tell ya! My heart is dead. I feel nothing for almost anyone or anything. My sole purpose is to survive, and in our faith, we encourage everyone to do whatever it takes to survive. It's kill or be killed out there, Doll. And I have no problem being the last one standing if I get into such a situation."


The audience went silent.


"Are you telling us that you are okay with taking a life?" Gerald had taken a step back.


"Not only am I okay with it, I encourage it!" Tzarinah smiled broadly, her dead eyes looking completely empty but somehow twinkling at the same time.


Just then the program cut away and went into a commercial.


Louanne and Sarah sat in silence before slowly turning to look at one another.


"That was scary," Sarah spoke first. "That woman is a lunatic!"


"She's an absolute psychopath," Louanne shuddered. "You'd think they'd vet their guests a little better than that."


The program came back on as suddenly as it had gone off.


"We are sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen. We had to unexpectedly cut to commercial as the subject matter had veered into territory that is generally not permitted by the program censors and the FCC. We have asked The Priestess and The Priest to leave, and they will not be welcome on our set again." Gerald looked like he had seen a ghost.


"Yeah, they don't represent any of our beliefs," one of the other guests who was seated onstage spoke up.


"Ours either." Another panelist chimed in.


"Here's a shot of us escorting the Greers off the premises," Gerald spoke up.


The screen cut to Tzarinah and Jarrel being accompanied by security, to the building exit.


"This is hilarious!" Tzarinah was yelling. "I have a right to express myself and practice my beliefs! You are all making a big mistake here! This is not the last you will be hearing from us! I play the long game, baby! You will all know my name!" She was yelling as the security officers physically pushed her and Jarrel - who wasn't resisting - out of the door.


The scene cut back to Gerald on the set.


"I hope you guys called the police," he spoke, still white as a sheet.


"And with that, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are out of time for tonight. Be sure to look out for one another - you never know what kind of person may be lurking in the shadows. See you next time."


The credits began rolling and Sarah stood to turn off the set.


"That was really freaky," she said, turning to look at Louanne.


Louanne stood and walked to the shelf where she grabbed her bible.


"I think I need a little time with the Lord, after that." She opened the book.


"I'll join you," Sarah said, walking closer to Louanne and her bible.


They weren't a particularly religious household but for tonight, they felt like they might need a little extra protection from the evil they had just witnessed.


Unfortunately, Louanne's bible wasn't enough to keep Sarah safe several months later...