Unearthing Things That Shouldn't Be Unearthed

He’d been traveling through little secluded towns  
He’d always been fascinated with this part of the world  
That week his tour guide took him to the market  
Lined with street vendors and small dark stores  

That day he walked into an old curio shop  
He skimmed through books written in Arabic  
And some that were “ancient transcripts in Aramaic”  
At least that was what the translator said  
 
But what caught his eye was a dusty bookshelf in a corner  
It had several books and what looked like a large box  
When he opened it, the only thing he could think of was  
“It looks like a very old Ouija board’  
 
“How much for this?” he asked the translator  
The translator asked the shop keeper  
The shop keeper looked confused and shocked  
As if he didn’t know he had that item in his store  
 
“It’s not for sale” the translator said also sounding confused  
“No, he said more than that” the American replied  
“No sale, no sale” the old store owner said in broken English  
Then said other things to the translator  
 
After some haggling, the American offered so much money  
The shop keeper could not refuse the temptation  
And as he wrapped the board in an old burlap bag  
All the shop keeper said was “careful, careful”  
 
Back home  
He looked up translations for the letters in Arabic  
So that he and his friends could play the game  
And though things seemed to be fun at first  
They started experiencing things beyond explanation  
 
They spoke to an entity, who claimed was from Babylon  
Who spoke of murder, deceit and ancient worshipping  
And as the friends wanted to know more, the entity asked for favors  
He asked for gifts, for offerings in order to give them more  
 
And so the friends complied and brought offerings  
The entity would tell his story and then ask for more  
The entity eventually asked to inhabit a body  
So that it could feel physical pleasure once again  
 
After playing the game for weeks  
Some of the friends decided to stop playing the game  
Which made the entity angry  
Each and every one of them began to have bad luck  
 
One had a terrible car accident  
One had a mental breakdown  
Another lost everything in a house fire  
While one’s apartment was flooded  
Another lost all his life’s work  
 
The entity kept asking for more offerings  
Until of them of them decided to give in…  
 
When the police arrived at the man’s residence  
Each officer would step back outside vomiting  
Unable to handle the smell of decomposition  
Bodies piled up in a bathtub, flayed for display  
Surrounded by candles like an altar  
 
And though he hasn’t been seen since  
Every now and then a small town goes into lockdown  
“Another victim found”  
Splayed under a shrine  
 
Then there are reports  
Of a strange wild looking man peering through windows  
With visceral eyes  
But he is looking for another sacrifice