First Draft: The Adventure of The Mystic Society

Chapter One : Holmes Deception

I firmly believe I could hold a complete conversation with Sherlock Holmes, never utter a single syllable, and, because of my friend's innate and remarkable powers of observation and his long practiced ability to instantaneously infer and deduce from those observations, he would perceive that I had held up my end of the exchange admirably. So it began on this dismal, cold November morning at the uncivilized hour of 2:00 a.m. I had not seen Holmes for almost two weeks, when I was startled by his sudden and dramatic arrival at our lodgings at 221 B Baker Street. He carried the damp chill of the early hour into our sitting room and, despite the roaring fire, a distinct shiver ran along my spine as much in response to the cold as to the eerie spectacle Holmes presented. He was dressed from head to boot in black. His overcoat was hooded and, as he threw back the moisture speckled cloak, I was aghast at the firelit visage before me. Holmes' face was unnaturally white and on his forehead and beneath each eye was inscribed a glyph that I could only call demonic.

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Holmes smiled weakly at the shock his entrance had caused, but his countenance quickly reverted to a deadly serious introspection. As he braced himself with both hands against our mantle, he spoke, his voice distant and uncertain at first as he struggled to bring order to what must have been overwhelming chaos.

"I am sorry, Watson, that your discomfort has you stirring at this ungodly hour; however, it is fourtunate for me that my chronicler is at hand to aid me with the miasma of information I have been afforded this very morning."

I know enough of Holmes' methods to follow his reasoning this far. I had positioned the cane chair in which I was seated at an angle to the fire; this allowed my wounded leg to absorb the intense heat. I raised my forefinger, preparing to comment on his bizzare appearance, when Holmes responded to my unasked question.

"I assure you these markings, though they seem to be etched into my skin, are not permanent. I used a method of Mehndi long practiced in the Middle East and they will,in fact, fade with one or two applications of alcohol. It was an absolutely necessary part of what I consider the finest and most detailed disguise I have ever employed."

Holmes removed his coat. Beneath it he wore a loose fitting tunic of black silk tied at the waist with a blood red sash. The tunic was soaked with rain or perspiration and he removed it as well. To my astonishment, his entire torso was covered with elaborate pagan designs that seemed to radiate from his navel upward across his chest and then down his arms ending at his fingertips. A second and separate group of diagrams began at the center of his throat and curved behind his ears and onto his scalp, which I now realised was completely shaven. The uneven shadows caused by the fire light made the unholy artwork acquire a life of its own; it flowed and crawled upon his flesh and with each new movement acquired a more dreadful symbolism. My face must have certainly declared how unnerved I was and Holmes had to address me several times before I could once more focus on his narrative.

"Watson, if you could hand me my robe and be so kind as to pour us each a (double shot of ......) I will light the lamp and relate what promises to be the start of a most unusual adventure."

My friend drank deep from his glass, extended his legs toward the fire and assumed a contemplative posture with his hands clasped before him rhythmically tapping his forefingers.

"Ah, it is good to be here...now. This is my sanctuary and, as usual, Watson, your presence has fortified me and, as the acolytes of the Universal Path might say, your energy has had a positive impact on my life force."

Holmes smiled at his own humour, a genuine smile that evidenced the triumph of his intellect. He had distilled all the sights, sounds and details amassed during the prior wekks into precise statements of fact that appeared before him as clearly as canvas and paint before the artist. And like an artist, he applied layer of fact upon layer of fact until the resulting syllogisim pointed to the truth.

"You, above all others, know how the majority of my cases begin. I will be presented a problem, a conundrum, a cryptic message or at times a full blown crime to test my talents. Other times, I'm alerted to an evil that is more insidious because it is invisible and, like certain astronomical phenomona that can be detected only by the effect it has on other bodies, sets in motion events that, at first, seem disconnected but serve to advance the designs of one individual. So it was with Moriarty, and so it is with The Shining Path of Universal Truth."

"And speaking of Moriarty, he had no less than three of his agents infiltrate the Chakra rite I participated in and even immodestly might say was the focal point of these last three days. Yes, Watson, ordinarily it would be imprudent of me to be at arm's length to these men, but I have learned something of great value from this experience - there is nothing so invisible as a naked man in a crowd."

"Damnation, Holmes, you mean to tell me you were completely disrobed!"

"Come now, Doctor, in your practice it is at times necessary for your patients to do the same. I assure you it was an essential part of my deception and do not suppose that these markings stop at my trousers. Enough of this and on to the more salient features of this case."

"Imagine, Watson, a chef creating a dish from a hodgepodge of ingredients and you will have a sense of the Universal Path. Cloak this unsavory concoction in secrecy and ritual, establish a confusing, meaningless initiation procedure that assures the convert he is one of the "select few" and produce documents and texts written in biblical style and it would appear almost anyone can attract a following."

"There are converts, of course, who believe in this doctrine wholeheartedly..........
I began to speak. Again, Holmes predicted my query and answered.
"Yes, how indeed, Watson, could an individual profit from this situation.............

tantra yoga
chakra centers
Alestair Crowley -- do what thou wilt is the whole of the law.