The Chaos Case

By Quentin Ravensbane

Clive fixes occult problems.

Mr. Malnar had a doozy.

Malnar had been stupid. He tried to summon the ancient Olmec dark god Tezcatlipoca and succeeded in opening a gate into Chaos. Now he needed Clive to fix it.

Now Clive and a group that he has assembled must race the clock to close the Chaos Gate before the universal laws change to make reality hostile to the living! Will they close the gate before the darkness claims our universe?

Find out! Get THE CHAOS CASE to find out now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JD Lovil Publishing
• Release date: Aug 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393089858

Book preview

THE

CHAOS

CASE

Quentin Ravensbane

COPYRIGHT

The Chaos Case

Digital Edition

Copyright © 2020 Quentin Ravensbane

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any way by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

ISBN:9781393089858

Published by JD Lovil Publishing

Books by Quentin Ravensbane

BEYOND THE CHAOS GATE

THE CHAOS CASE

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. The name, characters, places, and incidents depicted in this novel are all products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book is an attempt by the author to create a cosmic paranormal mystery/Detective novel. It contains both worldly and cosmic paranormal entities. It is a difficult task to balance such entities and their effect on the story successfully. The author hopes that he did an acceptable job.

CONTENTS

1 THE DEMON

2 THE TOME

3 HOME

4 MALNAR

5 BLACK EYES

6 ECHOS

7 FEAR

8 WATERING HOLE

9 TTT

10 ALTON

11 GREEN

12 THE UNIVERSE UNVEILED

13 SARA

14 HAPPY FAMILY

15 CONSOLIDATION

16 DISQUIET

17 BUGS

18 SHAPESHIFTERS

19 VANISHING POINT

20 RAKSHASA

21 SKINWALKER

22 LOREN'S REPORT

23 ENCOUNTERS

24 DEPRESSION

25 THEO

26 GRIEVING

27 HOPELESS

28 HOPE

29 RESOLVE

30 ACTION

31 RESOLUTION

1 THE DEMON

REALITY LEAKS. THERE are places where the veil between universes is thin. Demonic entities work in those places to rupture the veil and change our world in ways that bring chaos to our world. I was staring at one such entity now.

The demon rode a well-dressed man, who doubtless did not realize the demon’s presence. Many of the possessed only felt the effects of bad luck and a mild to severe depression. Demons cause an abundance of depressive mental illnesses by possession, obsession, or one of the other degrees of infestation.

I watched the demonic aura, shifting around the man like a midnight black shadow. I do not always see the auras of those around me, but it is hard to miss a demonic one.

I was in my early youth when I first realized that not everyone could see the spectral auras of the living and spiritual entities such as demons and ghosts. Along with a few other minor skills I appear to have inherited, this ability makes professional occult problem solving a foregone conclusion.

Sunlight bathed the street, so much so that most of the other people strolling along it wore sunglasses. Amidst all this light, I was relatively shocked at the darkness of the shadow-aura flicking its way across the sidewalk.

Our paths intersected in front of the local Subway. The demon slowed to a stop in front of me and addressed me.

Refuse the assignment, said the demon. You will fail, and my Masters will bring you pain and death if you interfere.

I assumed the demon had said his piece since he backed away three paces and looked confused. The man the demon was riding obviously had no recollection of what had just happened.

As the man wandered away, I reflected on my circumstances. I had received the email notification of the new assignment from my Handler just this morning. That the demonic realm already knew of my assignment suggested they had installed an agent in the loop.

The source of information might be a psychic one, a myriad of talents not lacking in those of the demonic variety. However, it was much more likely to be a more mundane source, since the world has a constant data stream, which they could tap. There are many wealthy demons in this world, and money brings easy access even to the data flowing on the dark web.

This was a question with no sure answers. Until I knew more about who or what this Master might be, it would be better to review what I know than to speculate about the unknown.

It was only this morning that I received an email from Zeno about the current assignment. Zeno was the only name I had for my mysterious Handler, who contacts me to give out jobs dealing with my sort of thing.

I realize Zeno had other operatives contracting for tasks of a more illegal nature, such as hitmen. He usually gave me my assignments out in the open, instead of from a site on the dark web. This sort of secrecy would be necessary for some of the others. At any rate, I received the information this morning, which made the data trail very short if they intercepted it from that source.

I operated a Sub Rosa investigative agency that specialized in the more occult side of things for about twenty years now. It would surprise you how often the wealthy citizens of the area got into spiritual hot water. They were thrilled to pay me in cash, bitcoin, or bullion to make their problems go away.

I possessed several assets I could call on to help me solve this mystery. The average citizen would consider most of those assets to be strange, and the most normal-seeming of them was probably the most dangerous of the lot.

The first person on my list was a local bookshop owner named Mike. Do you know how an intensive library search often yields no information of use? When you needed to find the book with the answers, you could show up at The Dark Morning Bookstore, and Mike could sell it to you.

I wandered in the general direction of the bookshop. At the same time, I pondered my current circumstance and noted that my aura-sight had not switched off after my demonic encounter, and several humans and ghosts had crossed my path. Almost every color in the rainbow was displayed in the auras I observed during the short time I walked.

Most spectral presences do not seem to notice me when I am close, but this time, I realized more than one of the specters I met reacted as though they actually saw me. The spirits seeing me was not usual. It was slightly unsettling, but it could be a coincidence. When my energy pegs at the right levels, it sometimes attracts their attention.

A couple more minutes found me at the mouth of the bookshop, so to speak. I was welcomed by the landmark of arcane art, with which Mike decorated his window. The expected cool shadowed interior awaited me, with its smells of pages of old books and the faint aroma of incense.

2 THE TOME

I ENTERED THE DARK Morning bookshop. The expected aromas and sensations greeted me. It was like a home away from home. Mike shuffled over and enthusiastically shook my hand. I think that he was delighted to see me. The store was not precisely a nexus of foot traffic, so he was probably lonely.

It is good to see you again, Clive, Mike said when he had finished pumping my hand. Where in hell have you been keeping yourself?

I have been swamped, twiddling my thumbs and scratching my bum, I replied. I have a new assignment, and I thought that I should get some intel. What do you know about an Olmec god called Tezcatlipoca?

Mike got a thoughtful look on his face. I know enough about Tezcatlipoca to avoid anybody involved in his side of religious belief, he said. Tezcatlipoca was a dark god of the Olmecs, Toltecs, and Aztecs. They didn't see him as evil, per se, but he was all about the dark, discord, human sacrifices, and death. I hope that what you are involved in is only theoretical and not actual.

Well, I am not sure what it involves, I protested. My new client is Simon Malnar. He apparently was involved in a ritual using a totem of the god, and things have started getting a little chaotic for him. He thinks that he might need some help sorting it out.

Your new client is Simon Malnar? Mike asked in an awed voice. The owner of Augmentation Unlimited, and our local billionaire?

Yep. That's the one, I replied. I was wondering if you had any information I could use?

I can tell you some general information about Tezcatlipoca. He was sometimes called 'The Smoking Mirror.' He is usually associated with obsidian and sometimes depicted as a jaguar. When he is described in a human form, he is generally missing a foot due to having it bit off by a monster he fought.

What about his powers and disposition? I asked. If you met him in a back alley, would you run away or ask for a favor?

If you met him in an alley, it wouldn't matter, because you would already be dead, Mike explained. It takes a blood sacrifice to get his attention usually, and he is the destructive side of the Aztec gods.

If Tezcatlipoca were a Lovecraft god, his name would be Yog Sothoth, Mike continued. This is one guy you do not want to invite to the party, because he would change the whole world around you into some chaos hell dimension.

Let's assume that Tezcatlipoca is real, and has that sort of effect on the world when he shows up, I speculated. Do you have any idea about how he might change the world in this 'chaotic' way?

Mike got that gleam of secret knowledge in his eyes and wandered a few steps to a pile of books on a nearby table. Picking up a leather-bound and old-looking book, he retraced his steps back and handed it to me.

I looked at the cover, which did not enhance my knowledge in the slightest. There was no title, no author name, and no hint of the subject of the book. Flipping it open, I saw packed pages that seemed to be more about philosophy than occult magic, which is what I expected.

So, what is this? I asked. Is this your answer, and if so, to which question?

It is a book about how the mind changes reality, written by an unknown author, Mike explained. It is more a scientific treatise on how changing reality works than it is a book of spell work, but it contains a reasonable explanation for how the mind can change reality. If Tezcatlipoca exists and changes the world, this is probably the most reasonable explanation for how he does it.

I looked at the book with a bit more respect, resolute to read it at the earliest possible moment. I knew that Mike was not a crass capitalist, but I decided to ask anyway.

So, how much do you want for the book? I asked. I saw a complex compilation of expression march across his face as he considered the potential sale.

Let's call it an indefinite loan, Mike suggested. I don't want to sell it, but I will loan it to you to help you in your quest.

I appreciate the loan, I said, but can you give me a thumbnail picture of how this mind over reality thing might work?

Certainly, I can. Have you heard of something called the Mandala Effect? Mike asked.

I have a vague idea what it is, I replied. Something about how a lot of people misremember history, right?

Sort of correct. There is a theory out there that the historical events are not immutable, and sometimes they change from one outcome to a different one, Mike explained. If you believe in the Many Worlds Hypothesis, some people believe that we may occasionally slip from one world history where event A happened into a different world history where event B happened instead.

Many people have the same mistaken idea about items that they remember differently than history says they were. One of my personal examples is that I remember the color Chartreuse as being a muddy reddish-purple color. Still, our world says that it is actually a pale greenish-yellow color.

Okay, I have noticed a few odd things like that, I admitted. I usually chalk it all down to my mistake, but it helps my ego to consider that it might be the world's mistake.

Mike gave me an odd dismissive look before proceeding. There is a theory in quantum mechanics that the mind of an observer may exert some control over the outcome of events around it, he continued. Believers in the Many Worlds idea have speculated that the mind picks the worldline that has its preferred outcomes, and so it experiences the only result that is real for that given event in that universe because it has 'followed' the outcome to that universe.

That sounds a little convoluted, but I think I follow the idea, I admitted. If that is talked about in the book, I will read up on it with interest.

I talked a few more minutes with Mike before I secured the book underneath my arm and prepared to head home. After saying my goodbyes, I headed off toward my home,