Cabal

Cabal is a 1988 horror novella by the British author Clive Barker. It was originally published in the United States as part of a collection comprising a novel and several short stories from Barker's sixth and final volume of the Books of Blood. Plot Boone, a young man suffering from an unspecified mental disorder, is told by his trusted psychiatrist, Decker, that he is responsible for brutal serial murders in Calgary, which Boone has no recollection of committing. After a suicide attempt, Boone is taken to a clinic and told by a fellow patient named Narcisse that he knows the location of Midian, a semi-mythical city that welcomes monsters. Believing that Boone is an emissary of Midian, Narcisse reveals Midian's location to him and maniacally savages his own face with a razor. Horrified, Boone escapes the clinic. Following Narcisse's directions, Boone locates Midian, which lies beneath a cemetery. At the cemetery, two of denizens of Midian, known as Night Breed, reveal themselves and attack Boone; one of the assailants bites into Boone's neck, but he narrowly escapes. Decker appears and reveals to Boone that Decker himself had committed the murders and framed Boone as a scapegoat. Boone is shot dead by the local policemen, who had been pursuing him alongside Decker. Boone's body is placed in a morgue, but it later mysteriously disappears. Boone's lover, Lori, is unable to cope with what she has been told about Boone, so she travels to Midian for answers. Along the way, she makes friends with Sheryl, who accompanies her, though Sheryl stays in town and does not enter the cemetery. Lori encounters a small, frail creature writhing in pain at the cemetery. One of the Night Breed, Rachel, begs Lori to bring the creature to her. When she does so, the creature transforms into a human child: Rachel's daughter, Babette. As thanks, Rachel says she knows Lori has come for Boone, but the Night Breed leader, Lylesburg, silences Rachel and refuses her entrance to Midian.