Debauchery

There was a long road ahead of Willy; the nursing home was far away from Atocha. He didn't know exactly how to get there, but he had time, and as a ghost, there was nothing that could hurt him. Walking down the street under the lights of the lamps, he remembered when all his life went south. It was 1972, and he was a young, ambitious, and motivated architect with a few successful works in Spain and France. He was still young, just entering his thirties, but he was a genius and a growing powerhouse among his peers. Willy got invited to a high-profile dinner at the luxurious Château de la Belle in the beautiful Côte d'Azur, France. It was a great honor; he got lucky. A man with a lot of power and relations got a fancy on one of his simplest works and decided he wanted to meet the architect.

This meeting would be more transcendental for his future than he expected.

"Oh, Mr. Argent, it's a pleasure to meet you." A fifty-something-year-old white man greeted him. The man was balding and a bit chubby, but something about him was charming.

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Crowley, and please call me Willy."

"Very well, then just call me Edward."

They hit it off immediately; something about them clicked, like they had been meant to meet.

"I have seen a few of your works; there is something on your buildings—something powerful, wild, mystic—and I love it."

"Glad you enjoyed it. Normally, architecture is about mathematics and an artistic touch, but for me, there is something more. It's like there is more to buildings—some kind of energy... Have you ever had the feeling that there is more around us than we can see?"

Crowley smiled. "You are what my instinct told me you would be."

They spent more time talking on many subjects, and Crowley introduced him to many powerful and rich people in the French high class. Past midnight, Crowley and a group of his closest friends separated from the others. As if it were a signal, most people would leave the premises, and it would seem that the party was over. However, such an assumption would be wrong. Crowley invited Willy to the basement.

Instantly after entering the underground room, a strong spirit drink was served. It had a mix of alcohol and a few herbs that Willy did not recognize. The drink was strong and burned the throat, but it was flavorful at the same time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a newcomer, Mr. Williams Argent Palau, a young, promising architect and a man that I have confirmed has the touch. Like many of us, he has some sensitivity towards what is hidden to the less gifted. Please welcome him to our group, and as usual, let's enjoy ourselves to our hearts content." Crowley spoke to the crowd.

Willy felt a little bit weird, but in a good sense; the drink was doing its thing, he felt unbound and unrestricted, a feeling of freedom invaded his mind and his body, and arousal and desire took control over him. He wasn't the only one; the underground room had turned into the scenarium of a frenetic orgy in which the young Willy took part.

After that night, Willy was invited to a few more parties, and his fame among the wealthy and influent people across Europe increased, but mostly in Spain and France. The debauchery and degeneration increased with each party; the amount of alcohol, drugs of all kinds, and sexual deviancy was reaching biblical proportions.

With time, Willy's personality had become twisted beyond recognition; he developed a sadistic preference and did some acts that were legally and morally reprehensible.

"There is nothing like enjoying other people's pain. But is not enough, is never enough," he told Crowley one day in one of their private meetings.

"Soon, I will show you something that will take you to a new level," Crowley promised.

Finally, that day had come. Willy was invited to a very exclusive party; there weren't many people, just some of Crowley's closest friends, whom he usually called the gifted ones.

As always, the event was celebrated underground in the basement of a mansion. All kinds of metallic structures had been carefully and precisely assembled in the room. In the middle of it, a pocket watch took on the protagonist role.

"Willy, please come and touch it," Crowley invited.

Willy did as instructed, and after a few seconds, he removed his hand in surprise.

"There is something there," Willy said.

The others in the room smiled; Willy was one of them.

"Correct, a soul, to be precise." Answered Crowley. "I knew you would be able to feel it. Yes, my friend, there is another world; there are ghosts, souls, and a lot of things beyond what our eyes can see."

The other members of the reunion got close to them.

"This contraption helps us magnify our abilities and allows us to interact better with a spectrum. Ghosts are not abundant; some seem to be bound to something or some place, like what happens with this watch. Now let's activate it." After explaining how everything worked, Crowley lowered a switch, and electricity started running through the metal structure, making the structure create a humming noise.

The assistants to the event touched the pocket watch, Willy included; they didn't see anything, but they could hear the screams and have the sensation that the ghost bound to the watch was suffering. Crowley pulled a second switch; the screams increased, and Willy felt it clearly: pain, fear, desperation, madness. How many times has Crowley used this contraption on this ghost? It was exhilarating, and by the time the event was over, Willy still had a hard time.

"How many times have you done this?" Willy asked.

"A few times, ghosts are hard to come by, and they don't last long. It is a shame; that feeling is wonderful." Crowley answered with a smile, and everyone agreed.

Many of the guests were excited as well; that same night another party was organized, and they got to enjoy themselves.

From that day on, Willy started dabbling in the occult, and Crowley opened a lot of doors for him in that sense. After learning the most esoteric aspects of this new world, Willy started learning some engineering, which also elevated his quality as an architect. Four years later, he was a common face in the high spheres of the esoteric and supernatural worlds.

Unfortunately, just because they knew about the esoteric world, that didn't mean they were immortal. The advent of the HIV epidemic caused many casualties among the members of the Crowley esoteric group. After some of them got scared and came to the conclusion that the disease was some sort of divine punishment for their many perversions and transgressions, the group disbanded. Crowley was betrayed and used as a scapegoat for many illegal activities, including drug smuggling, human trafficking, and sex slavering. Most of the charges were true to begin with; Crowley disappeared from Europe. The last news Willy had about him was that he died somewhere in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Things got a bit ugly for Willy; he managed to get Scotch free from the esoteric group debacle, but his runs with Crowley and his bunch had some consequences. In 1981, he was diagnosed with HIV. Willy managed to keep it a secret; there was a lot of stigma around the disease; he kept on working and made it to the height of his career; he worked on many projects without stopping his progress in esoteric engineering; he did a few tests, which worked out quite well. Copying Crowley designs, he came up with his own concepts and versions. Creating traps for souls and many devices that could affect ghosts and spectrums to some degree.

By 1985, Willy was obviously sick. However, he managed to complete his best work to date, the Atocha General Hospital, which was both the zenith of his architect career and also his best esoteric engineering work. In the last months of his life, his last work was an unassuming building that would later be used as a nursing home for the elderly. One Saturday of the year 1987, Willy broke into the building and hung himself in the machine room. With the suicide and some dubious design choices, the value of the property decreased; later, it was sold to a greedy man of business. Willy Soul was trapped in the building of his own creation; there, he had time to learn more about this new form of existence and plan for his future. Many of his theories about the spirit world were correct, and his most ambitious project was on its way.