As we approached the mansion, I could see that it seemed like normal- looking, large home. The Baron had his driver park his limo in front. The driver and maid waited in the front seat, while the Baron and I got out. Three women dressed in men's clothing came out to greet us. We were escorted up to the front door and let inside by them. There we found the two sisters standing in the lobby of their home. They looked nearly identical, except they were dressed differently. One looked traditionally feminine, in a dress with long hair. The other looked feminine as well, but her clothing and short hair gave her a slightly manly appearance. She wore what looked like man's suit, except that it had lace and decorative stitching. And the tie that she wore turned out to be made of black pearls. The first thing I noticed when we entered the lobby was the smell.
The house smelt faintly of cigarettes and incense. And there was stuffy feel to the air. I had to continually repress the temptation to cough. The sisters wore heavy perfume. Nancy's perfume was floral. And Bernie's perfume smelled like men's aftershave. I felt
immediate feeling of fear once we entered we the house. I could feel a slight discomfort in my solar plexus. And this pain grew more intense the longer we were there.
The sisters seemed happy to meet with the Baron and me. When the two of them spoke they were like one person; sometimes they spoke at exactly the same time saying exactly the same thing. And they often completed each other's sentences. They smiled almost continually, and they spoke with cheerful emotion in their voices.
They were clearly intelligent and very articulate. They both were very complimentary to me. They told me that they were fans of my modeling and that they were very pleased to meet me in person. They both went on about how lovely I looked and
how prettily I was dressed. At first I felt embarrassed and humiliat- ed by their comments, but I went on smiling and thanked them politely. Then my viewpoint shifted and I felt pride in my feminine persona. I straightened my back and smiled as brightly as I could. They showed us the living room where there were photos on the
wall. They showed us photos of their parents and grandparents. I noticed that everyone in their family, both male and female, had nearly the same face. They all had small chins and turned up noses, all of which gave them a slightly piggish appearance. They
explained that their family was very concerned with their aristocrat- ic bloodlines. They explained that for any generations they only intermarried with other certain aristocratic families. In this way they maintained their breeding. They said all this with a rather snobbish tone of voice that suggested that they believed themselves to be
our superiors. But the Baron seemed aloof to such implied insults. On the first floor of the home there was a sturdy wooden door which lead down into the basement. It had a special lock on it. Bernie unlocked it with a key which was hung around her neck.
After the door was unlocked, there seemed to be tensions between
the Baron and Bernie. The two of them made eye contact and
stared at each other intensely.
The Baron asked "Are you inviting us in?"
Bernie answered "You are our guests."
She opened the door.
"You first," she said.
"I must insist, you go first," he replied.
Bernie entered the dark stairwell. The Baron followed and I
was behind him. Nancy brought up the rear. Although Bernie trotted quickly down the stairs, the Baron proceeded slowly. I soon discovered why. The entire staircase was painted flat black, as were the walls. There was a tiny overhead light that shined dimly. Before us, about a third of the way down, there was a curtain of red beads. We cautiously pushed through them. Then a bit further down, we faced a similar curtain of blood red beads. We pushed through them as well. The beads made a slight rattling sound as they closed behind me. A unique smell rose out of the basement, it smelt of overly perfumed incense and there was a faint, rotten smell, like that of dead meat that had been left out for too long. I could feel bile rise in my throat as we proceeded downward. Finally after we pushed through a third red curtain, we found ourselves in the basement. We were stunned by what we saw. At first we couldn't say anything. Nancy came around from behind us. "What do you think?" she asked.
"It's beautiful" I replied. On the east and west walls there were paintings in the Egyptian
style, like those you might in an ancient temple. The immediate impression was that of beauty. But the Baron knew better that to trust the two sisters. He said
nothing. I walked to the with the two sisters, but the Baron remained at the doorway.
I looked back over to at the altar on the north wall. It was between the two sphinxes. It was made of stone. It was a flat table with blood channels in it at the top. It was wide enough that a child could be laid on it for sacrifice. Behind the table
was a red wall with a large, golden, inverted pentagram paint- ed upon it. On a ledge in the center of the pentagram sat a golden statue of a dragon. It looked more Chinese then Egyp- tian. Each of the two Sphinxes had a face on it which was identi- cal to one of the two sisters: the Sphinx by the black column had Bernie's face and the Sphinx by the white column had Nancy's face. The statues were of a high, professional quality.
The two sisters seemed to go into a trance state as they walked toward the altar. Each bowed her head before the Sphinx which depicted her own face. They each knelt before her respective mirror and began to worship her own image.
Barker, Kerth. 2014. Cannibalism, Blood Drinking and
High‐Adept Satanism.

Issmag Gallery May 15th 2019
Curated by Anna Teterkina