The cleric knights sat around the long
table. Each one a fighter. Each one a preacher. In the forty years since the
death of the great king, Onrius Skiv, the Goblins had held the upper hand. Many
of these thirty knights had seen the horrors of war with Havskel of the Deep
and had looked into themselves, into the place where their soul ached to rejoin
its Gnuph body in Mhalasia. Since the death of Onrius Skiv, the kingdom had
divided. Skiv, ever the peace maker, had held it all together. Now it was a
time of warlords, thieves and, of course, the Goblins.
In the great, green hall of Elbum
Cathedral, the High Cleric Adron’etz and the Warlord Pflezka took their places
at the council table. Adron’etz raised his glass and blessed the cleric knights
with the Rites of Olhm-Shuul. When the blessing was over they drained their
ornate goblets. Adron’etz took a deep breath.
“Zjon the Sword is dead. Struck down
by Havskel of the Deep. Havskel is still in possession of the Skiv Killer but
lacks the true stone.” All but Pflezka closed their eyes at the mention of The
Stone. “The seed of Zjon have scattered to the corners of the world and have
secreted the stone. Unlike my brethren in the High Council, I do not feel that
hiding the Stone is sufficient. Until the Stone is returned to Elf lands, we
are vulnerable to Havskel’s hoards. So you have a task. A task that may not end
in your life time. A task that will one day deliver the Elves from the
onslaught of The Tainted. A task that will reunite our people with our Gnuph
bodies of old.”
An unease spread through the cleric
knights. The High Cleric’s words were frightening. It was strange that he would
hand down a charge that went against the High Council of Orders. The High
Cleric rose and held aloft a golden seal. “This is your crest! The Crest of
Elbum. Your sole purpose is to find The Melk Stone, wherever it is in the world,
and return it to the elves so that we may be victorious. This is your mission, the mission of your
children, and all your bloodline until the quest is complete.” He looked at one
of the knights. “Mantah. I am placing you as leader. You are to recruit those
you deem worthy and stand as high judge over those you deem guilty. As you
decide, I will uphold.” He looked to the knights. “Mantah and all those whom he
appoints are the law makers. They are The Mezo.”
The Knights of Elbum rose and faced
Mantah. They bowed. Their lives were his. His was the divine right. The driver
of their souls. The keeper of the quest. He was now The Mezo.
- Big City -
APERTURE
by Eric Schwartz
Charlie blinked.
While he and the young lady had only met for a moment, the power of her eyes
and the beauty of her face had stayed with him all these weeks. She had rushed
out so suddenly at their last meeting, he wanted to grab her and make sure she
didn’t bolt again.
“Miss Danae?”
Charlie said again. “What are you doing here.”
Kalista was
rushed. She stepped up to him and removed her ball cap. Her long hair fell
around her face. “I’m sorry, Mr. Pickens.” She moved past him into his office.
“The door was open.”
“Miss Danae,
I’m…”
“My friends call
me Kali, Mr. Pickens.”
“Kali. I’m sorry
but Smiles isn’t here.” Charlie shut the door to his office. He didn’t mean to
but something inside of him made him want to be alone with her.
“I know. I am
here to see you, Charlie.” She stepped up to him again. “Please don’t think me
forward.” She took his hand and stared up into his eyes. The moment seemed like
forever to Charlie. The urge to lean forward and kiss her was strong. Her siren
eyes beckoned him. Her body was close. He watched her breasts rise and fall as
she breathed. In his mind, he knew that this was part of what a Siren was. He
thought of Laura and broke through the spell a bit. An instant later Kali
released his hand. She turned and sat gracefully in the chair. “It’s true,” she
said.
By this time
Charlie was well aware of Kalista Danae’s gift. The young Siren could see
images of person’s future through simple or, as Stack and Needless speculated,
more complex touching. He felt a shiver in his spine. Something was wrong.
“I read about
the attacks in the paper,” she said. “At Serenity. I was as shocked as anybody.
But it put some pieces together for me.”
“Pieces?”
Charlie sat in his chair, staring intensely at her.
“Several weeks
ago, when we met outside this office, just briefly, I saw things.”
“Yeah. You said
I wasn’t like the rest of them, I was different.”
“Did I?” She
chuckled. “Yours were some of the most intense images I have ever received. I
understood very little. But some of those images made sense when I heard the
news.”
“The vampire
attack?”
“I knew I had to
see you. I had to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“I believe
you’re in danger. Or will be. Soon.”
*
Needless
stumbled backward, stunned. The brilliance of the flash had left him
momentarily blind. He heard the shrieking of injured vampires and the sound of
a thousand voices yelling. He heard fists and rocks and sticks colliding. He
was sun-blind in the middle of a riot. He felt a sharp pain and was thrown to
the ground. As the white-purple after-image began to fade he realized that
several angry young men were bearing down on him. He pulled his shield up in
time to hold them off. The half-elf rolled out from under them and gained his
footing.
Needless thrust
forward with his shield and knocked one of the young men back. With his free
hand he grabbed another and forced him to the ground, shouting “Don’t move!” He
turned in time to see his fellow officers fire gas canisters into the crowd.
What had happened? It had all gone to hell. As if second nature, he slipped one
of several, plastic strips out of his belt, the ones they use because it’s
impractical to have thirteen pairs of handcuffs, and cuffed the man on the
ground. The other two had scattered into the crowd.
There was no
order, no battle lines. Everybody fought everybody else. The suddenness of the violence had taken the riot squad by
surprise and they had broken ranks. It was a free for all.
Needless looked around and
saw two vampire youths on the ground, their faces splotched with severe burns.
The sunshine grenade had been diffused by all the people, but where it had hit
them, their skin had browned and bubbled. He rushed to them. They were both
shivering from the cold and slipping into shock.
Needless knelt
beside them and bellowed into his radio. “This is Sgt. D’yen!” Before he could
speak again, dozens of voices screaming for ambulances blasted from his radio.
There was no point. He looked down at the oldest of the two.
“Can you walk?”
he asked. The vampire nodded. Needless looked at the other, who wasn’t doing as
well. He took a deep breath.
A moment later,
Needless, with one of the injured vampires thrown over his shoulder, the other
running beside him, fought his way through the chaos, to the street where the
ambulances would arrive.
*
Wood splintered,
glass shattered and the doorframe was ripped from the wall as the Ironton
police rammed through the door into the kitchen. Only a few dozen feet away, in
the garage, Stack Fury and his temporary partner Callisto had discovered a
fertilizer tank filled with what Stack was sure to be discovered as the blood
of the Serenity victims. As the last slivers of the door jam fell, police began
to roll through the kitchen door and spread into the house.
Stack and
Callisto soon followed.
It wasn’t a
vampire home. The occupant was an elderly human, Warren Blevins. Stack feared
the worst. Something in his gut told him that the owner had no idea of what was
stored in his garage, or that the police were there. Callisto turned on his
flashlight and the two eased down the stairs to the basement, guns at the ready
for whatever they might find.
The musty smell
of the dank, unfinished basement hit them with a drop in temperature as they
descended the stairs. Their feet finally came to rest on the cement floor and
they began to look around the room. Unfinished wooden shelves lined several
walls, containing the bric-a-brac of a lifetime. Winter Season decorations, old
books, dust-covered board games and boxes were crammed onto shelves. Above them, the wooden beams creaked as the
Ironton police moved with all the stealth of a drunken fat man.
An old workbench
adorned another wall of the basement. A few tinkering projects laid unfinished
on the bench. Tools ranging in age from shiny new to decades old hung in their
proper place on a peg board mounted to the wall. While Stack had never been
here, he knew the place. It reminded him of the basement of his father’s house,
his grandfather’s house. His sense of dread grew.
Light trickled
through the grime and weeds covering the windows that sparsely lined the
wall near the ceiling. Callisto dragged his light along the wall near the
floor.
“You think we’re
looking for Blevins?” Callisto whispered. Stack nodded and moved his light
along the opposite wall. Finally the two lights converged on a freezer in the
corner. It was a large unit that opened at the top like a casket, the best
friend of hunters and fishermen. Stack and Callisto looked at each other and
moved toward the freezer. Stack sighed. It wasn’t large enough to hold a man.
Unless…
Stack’s light
fell on the old man’s frozen stare. Callisto surveyed the body and jumped back
with a gasp. Blevin’s frail, naked form had been snapped in half and stuffed
into the freezer. His throat had been slit. As Stack leaned in an ran his
gloved hand along the slit on the throat, his eyes came to rest on something
else. An emblem, about the size of a foam coffee cup bottom, burned into the old
man’s chest.
*
Charlie stared
into the girl’s eyes. Fearful and sultry. Deep, swirling pools that seemed to
want and warn him. He nodded.
“Kalista, what
exactly did you see?” he asked.
She smiled
gently. “It’s not something I can put into words easily. The images started out
slow but quickly grew faster.” She closed her eyes. “You are on the phone. You
are seeing newspaper pictures of The Serenity and blueprints. That was the part
that started making sense. You are very afraid. Mmmm, ‘Both, please’? Then things are a little disjointed. You are cold
and in the dark. Needless is there. There is a scuffle and then burning.”
Charlie
swallowed. “Somebody burns me?”
“No. Burning. A
hot green flash. Nothing you have ever known. This is where I don’t understand
what follows.” She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. The
images were too difficult to explain. Things she understood but couldn’t
comprehend. Words. Numbers. Movement. She opened her eyes and looked at Charlie
and shrugged. “All I can feel in the moment is Mathtalker. Does that mean
anything to you?”
Charlie looked
at her quizzically. He shook his head. “What happens next?”
Kalista looked
into him. “Black. Just blackness.”
“Like…”
“Death.” Kalista
murmured.
Charlie felt his
knees shudder. He had just heard the circumstances of his own death. He looked
at her. “Why are you telling me this? You don’t even know me.”
“I felt I owed
it to you. You…” She swallowed hard. “You confirmed some of my suspicions.”
“About
Manzetti?” Charlie said, regaining his footing.
She nodded.
“Yeah. I probably have said too much already.” She caught her breath for a
moment and headed toward the door. She moved out into the main waiting area.
Charlie rushed after her.
“Wait. Is he
after you? Does he have something on you?” He yelled after her.
“I don’t…I don’t
know.” She stopped and turned. “I don’t even know who he is or how he fits into
my life. All I know is that I feel him around me. I know he’s looking for me. I
need to get out of the city for a while.”
“Smiles…Stack…they
can protect you. You can help them find Manzetti.”
Kali shoveled
her hair back into her ball cap and slipped some sunglasses over her eyes. She
chuckled slightly. “They can’t even protect themselves from him right now.” She
opened the door. “Please don’t look for me.” She sighed. “And watch yourself.”
When the door
closed Charlie could feel the quiet of the room surround him. He shuddered
slightly.
*
Mayor Denizen
looked out of his window at the riot as it spilled out on to the streets around
center park. Behind him Smiles and Venect watched also. The Mayor’s aides and
staff seemed much more content to watch it all unfold on a bank of televisions.
They all groaned as one of the national cable news networks began running a
feed from the local affiliate. Things were not going well. Except for the
constant din of the overlapping newscasts, nobody spoke.
The Mayor put
his hand up on the glass. He had already been told that it would be pointless
and dangerous for him to venture down into the fray. His mind raced. His city
was falling apart and he felt helpless to stop it.
The phone rang.
One of the aides pulled himself away from the televisions and answered.
“Mayor Denizen’s
office. Yes sir. Yes. I understand. Thank you.” The aide hung up. Wordless, the
Mayor turned. The aide sighed. “That was the Governor. He’s mobilizing the
Militia.”
The Mayor’s eyes
lowered. Smiles and Venect looked at each other. The Mayor braced himself. “I’m
going down.” Aides stood, terrified. All shouting that it was too dangerous,
pleading with him not to go. “Enough! I am going down there. Tell the media
that I will meet them outside the main door.” He looked at Smiles. The Mayor
could feel that this man didn’t have a political bone in his body. He searched
Smiles face for justification. Smiles nodded. That was all he needed. “And
somebody get me a bullhorn.”
*
Phendra Ilken
sat in front of his television, watching the devastation unfold in the heart of
the city. He frowned that so many elves were being hurt. But it was for the
greater good. Everything was going according to plan. It was only a matter of
time before they would find the second marker.
Everything had
been prepared for. It had been so long since their name had surfaced. Soon the
police would find the symbol and their name would once again begin to strike
terror. An announcement that they were still alive, still strong, still
looking.
After decades
they had found the location of the first marker. The marker laid a thousand
years ago. It was the first step in the path to the ultimate goal. He just waited for the news that would mean
they could begin their move. He looked down at the ring. A ring older than the
city, older than nearly anything. The ring that declared him Mezo.
*
Throughout the
city, smaller riots were breaking out. Shop windows were being smashed and
stores being looted. The television was over and over again reiterating that
the free-for-all had begun and Big City was up for grabs. Racial dislike and
tension began to bubble up and spill over. Bars emptied as drunken patrons
began to join the fighting.
In the heart of
it all, Needless Action was trying to save lives. He placed the Vampire youth
into the arms of a waiting EMT who quickly worked to help the boy. Needless
watched for a moment, making sure that the boy was going to be all right.
“Is he going to
be okay?” Needless yelled over the noise of the riot.
“He’s in shock.
I need to get him to the hospital.”
Their
conversation was cut short by shattering glass. Needless’ head whipped around
to see a group or rioters approaching. They were pitching rocks at the
ambulance. They saw the two Vampires that Needless had helped and they began to
charge. The EMTs looked up, horrified. Needless turned back to them.
“Get them out of
here!” Needless helped the more-mobile Vampire into the ambulance. The two EMTs
pulled the other in and shut the door. Needless heard the engine roar to
life. He turned back to see the group charging, pipes and bottles
in hand. ‘Shit’ was his only thought.
The rioters
descended on the ambulance and Needless.
Feeling his
human blood erupt inside him, Needless pitched his shield into one and kicked
another one back. He felt himself gripped from behind and he used his attacker
as a wedge. He rolled back and brought his police issue boot up into the jaw of
another rioter. He then completed the flip and found himself behind the guy who
had tried to restrain him. As the surprised attacker turned, Needless drove his
helmeted head into the unsuspecting face of the attacker. The thug fell to the
ground. As Needless broke free of the group, he realized that the ambulance
couldn’t move because of the crowd that had gathered.
Without a
thought, Needless clambered to the top of the ambulance. Reaching the top he
found a young elf had scaled the ambulance as well and was kicking out the
flashers on top. Needless grabbed him by the nape of the neck and flung him
back down on to the street.
Inside the
ambulance the terrified driver jumped as a pair of black boots appeared out of
nowhere and landed on the hood in front of him. Needless Action pulled his
beloved Really Big Gun, Penny, out of its holster and slid down the hood into
the crowd of people attacking the ambulance.
He rocketed feet
first into a pumped up guy, lost in the moment, as he was smashing the
headlights. As the guy sprawled backward he jerked back, ready to smash a
skull. He found himself on the business end of the Really Big Gun.
“Penny for your
thoughts,” Needless blurted, staring into the guy. The guy scrambled to his
feet and moved back. The surrounding crowd also fell back as the crazed cop
began making wide, sweeping motions with the gun.
“Mother fuck! I
have been dying to use this all day! Please, one of you, give me an excuse. And
believe me, these ain’t rubber fuckin’ bullets! So, unless some of you want to
star in a closed casket funeral, you all best go home and let this ambulance
pass.” He turned to the driver. “GO!” He bellowed.
The crowd gave
the ambulance wide berth as it pulled forward, siren wailing, and headed off to
the nearest hospital.
Needless wanted
to arrest all of them. They all stared at him for a moment. He knew that he
couldn’t take them all out. He was a cop. He couldn’t take any of them out. He
would have had longer to worry, but that was when the armored military
personnel carrier hove into view.
A few moments
later the Governor’s Militia joined the battle.
*
Tim Carnaby
hadn’t left the lab all day. He sat eating goblin take-out with the traditional
slit bottom bowl. He had learned the method from a culturally aware friend at
college. Purists claimed it was the only way to eat Hot Kzeek Stew. Of course
the purists had their own slit bottom bowl, a Nok bowl. Carnaby, being only a
passing purist, used the cardboard one provided by the restaurant.
Hot Kzeek Stew was a two
phase meal. The spicy stew would be poured, steaming, into the Nok bowl. The
bowl would then be hoisted above the face, the head tilted back. The diner then
squeezed the malleable bowl (traditionally made soft wood with a lining of a
cave hog stomach) until the broth began to seep from the slit into their open
mouth. The person would then slowly enjoy the broth. When the broth was done,
the meats, fish and vegetables that had been steeped in the broth and strained
could then be eaten from the bowl in the second phase.
Carnaby knew that the
process wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Many a novice would squeeze too hard and
get scalded by broth, or at the very least ruin their shirt. Most people gave
up. Too much effort for soup. Carnaby, ever the perfectionist, made certain he
was a pro. It was great soup. If nothing else, it impressed dates and gave him
a reason to show off. If he ever had dates, that was.
He hadn’t eaten all day.
He had spent the entire day analyzing evidence from Serenity, and more was due
any minute. He was going to eat, dammit. He had been gorging himself on Kzeek
Stew, Highland Grass noodles and Underworld Dumplings (admittedly a human
concoction of blind cave fish and cabbage, but good all the same). It was the
first moment’s peace he’d had in what felt like days.
He had just lowered the
nok bowl to begin eating the stew’s fixings when his printer roared to life. He
rolled his eyes. A fax. Slowly a black and white image began to emerge from the
machine. The image was a close up of skin with some kind of symbol apparently
burned into it.
He put down his food and
gently lifted the picture from the tray. The phone rang.
“Carnaby,” he said,
lifting the receiver to his mouth.
“Tim! It’s Stack. I’m out
here in Ironton. We’ve got the truck you scoped. You were right, my man. It’s
stashed at an old guy’s house here. We found the home owner folded like a
wallet in a freezer with this burned into his chest. Can you find out what it
is?”
Carnaby stared at the
picture and nodded. He then realized that Stack couldn’t hear him nodding.
“I’ll see what I can turn up.”
“I’m sure you will.” The
line clicked and Tim listened to the dial tone for a moment before he hung up.
He reached into the bowl
and popped a chunk of meat into his mouth. He sighed through bites and turned
to his computer.
*
“It
is a scene you would think came from one of the oppressive dictatorships
elsewhere in the world. Tanks and soldiers patrolling the streets. Angry
citizens turning on police, firemen and emergency medical workers. Innocent
people being beaten, buildings burning. The frightening truth is …this is our
home.
Early
yesterday morning, an alleged vampire attack at the Serenity Club in the heart
of Big City’s trendiest area claimed the lives of 178 souls and left dozens
more struggling for life in area hospitals. Tonight unanswered questions,
racial tension and general anger boiled over into a full blown riot which left
14 dead, hundreds wounded and a city in shock.
What
started as a protest march from Center Park to City Hall, prompted by EVUN
spokesperson, The Elfnigma, turned deadly when a live sunshine grenade was
thrown into the gathering protesters. The riot began so quickly that the riot
police standing by were completely unprepared and soon overwhelmed. In an
unprecedented move by Governor Haljis, the Militia was soon called in to put an
end to the violence.
The
riot lasted nearly four hours before police and military were able to break up
the rioters. During the four hours, Mayor Denzien and the team he has assembled
to help the community in the wake of the Serenity Massacre took to the streets
to help comfort the wounded and plead with ordinary citizens to stop the violence.”
The scene cut to Mayor
Denzien standing atop a car yelling into a bullhorn.
“I
promise you. Justice will be done. It will be swift and fair and no race will
be targeted. But this fighting has to stop now!”
The mayor’s comments were
cut off mid-sentence as the scene returned to the anchor.
“The
Militia, local law enforcement and the mayor’s office have issued a curfew for
the next 36 hours. For now Big City remains in a state of forced quiet. Fire
fighters are still battling some blazes in the center of the city, but
estimations of property damage during the four hours is still forthcoming. We
here at BKKY will keep you up to date as…”
Smiles switched off the
television. He leaned back against the headboard and took a long drink of
whiskey. He had been put up in a hotel room for the duration of the crisis, sequestered
and on call to the Mayor’s office. Outside his window, the lights of the
military, police and the fires created a second daylight. He tried hard to put
the events of the day out of his mind. He hadn’t slept fully in almost two
days. The three or four hours of alcohol induced sleep the night before hadn’t
provided any rest.
He stubbed out his
cigarette and kicked off his shoes. He glanced at the clock. Quarter past one.
He shifted and re-shifted his body until he was prone on the queen size bed. He
stared at the smoke alarm light on the ceiling as it throbbed gently. He closed
his eyes.
He thought again of his
father and of Gina. He hadn’t thought about the pictures in hours. Possible
proof that his sister was still alive. It raised a hope in him that didn’t sit
well. He was used to being alone. His father. His mother. Gina. All gone.
As he exhaustion took him
he thought of how proud Gina would have been of what he had done that day. It was the sweetest thought he’d had in a
very long time. An instant later, the middle-aged gumshoe let loose a snore
that gave the vampire Venect, sitting in bed in the next room, reason to
chuckle.
*
Stack awoke with a jolt.
Callisto flashed his badge to the checkpoint guard who waved them through. The
car accelerated. Stack was slumped back, nearly wedged between the door and the
seat, his arms folded against his chest, sore and numb. Callisto looked over
and chuckled.
Sunlight was beginning to
stream out from the behind the mountains to the east. A wave of pain ran
through Stack’s neck as he sat up in the seat.
“Good morning.” The pudgy
detective laughed.
Stack peeled his tongue
from the roof of his mouth and nodded slowly. “How long was I out?” He looked
at his watch, which told him nothing.
“You went back out to the
car about four to get something and I found you passed out there. You’ve been
out for a couple of hours.”
Stack smiled. “Thanks.”
“No problem. I got kids. I
know it’s best to let them sleep. We wrapped everything up in Ironton. They’ll
be transporting the fertilizer truck to Big City in a couple of hours. Blevins’
body is already in the hands of the Ironton M.E.”
Stack nodded. The streets
were strangely quiet. It was the weekend now, but traffic still seemed to start
up about now. Then Stack began to vaguely remember getting news of the curfew.
He felt hung over. He wanted a Java
Jalopy Double Shot in the worst way. He prayed she’d be out tooling the empty
streets, looking for him.
He ran his fingers through
his matted mess of hair. He needed a shower, badly. “Any word from Carnaby yet?
On the symbol?”
Callisto shook his head.
“Nothing yet.”
Stack could feel his gut
again. That nagging itch that told him that this wasn’t a vampire attack.
Something else was at work. But what? Why make it look like vampire? He knew
the symbol was the key. He half closed his eyes from the glare and tried to
send all his thought energies to Carnaby.
*
Laura sat propped up against her headboard. Something wasn’t
right, she could feel it. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was
in the air. An unease was floating in this nearly perfect moment. Outside, the
Big City dawn held the promise of a new day. She could smell the coffee brewing
in the automatic coffee maker two rooms away. Charlie breathed gently, his head
resting on her stomach. She ran her fingers through his hair and watched his
head gently rise and fall with every breath she took.
It was a perfect morning
but there was a smudge. In the back of her mind she was uncertain. Like one of
Stack’s absent-minded sculptures, on the verge of collapse for no known reason.
She knew it wasn’t the Serenity Massacre. While horrible, she was fairly immune
to that type of news. She had to be, it was her job. No, there was a second shoe hanging in the air and waiting to
drop.
She and Charlie were
quickly approaching their second anniversary. Charlie had fit into all the
spaces in her life that she had been unable to fill. The excitement that he and
all the people this relationship had brought to her seemed to fulfill her. Her
life before Charlie and Smiles and Stack and Needless had been fairly
uneventful. He brought with him an energy that seemed to overtake the jaded
righteousness that seemed to fill her days before. She was now a woman of
action. A strikingly un-journalistic thing for a journalist to be.
It had almost cost her her
life on several occasions. The car accident while chasing down the lake
monster. The crooked cop who almost killed her and T’lea. Countless other
dangers she’d started facing. She had almost lost him, too. But she found, in
her heart, that she wouldn’t trade it for anything. She had a new found zest
for life. All because of Charlie.
She wondered for a moment
if she was in love with Charlie…or the life she now found herself in.
Laura had arrived late
home. The rioters were starting to disperse. Nothing more seemed to be coming
from City Hall. She called the night editor and said she was going to get some
sleep. Her hands hurt from the writing she had done all day. When she had
arrived home, Charlie was already there. He’d been drinking, didn’t seem to
want to talk. He just wanted to be with her, to hold and kiss her. To make
love. Maybe, she wondered, that was what was making her uneasy. Something was
bothering Charlie and he didn’t want to tell her.
Charlie quivered in his
sleep. Laura looked down and smiled. Then she let her head roll back onto the
headboard. She closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the morning. She drifted
back to sleep.
*
Needless sat alone in the
booth at the Gobblin’ Goblin, watching as the Big City streets began to come to
life. Life goes on, he told himself.
His coffee seemed to help maintain the adrenaline buzz from the past 24
hours. The club, the riot. He swallowed hard. Even without the riot, sleeping
was not on his agenda. His gut hurt too much. He had lost the first woman he’d
ever loved.
He looked into the gently
swirling black of his coffee and thought of Sioux.
He had been taken off of
riot duty sometime after midnight. His thoughts were filled with nothing but
Sioux and the desire to make it right with her. He returned to the station,
showered and rushed to Sioux’s apartment. After several knocks he had used the
key she gave him.
The furniture was still
there, but all her personal stuff was gone. Clothes, pictures, toiletries, all
gone. He found a letter to him on the counter.
“John, I am leaving. I know you didn’t mean for the
things you said this afternoon to affect me as deeply as they did. I know you
would never hurt me intentionally. The problem is, John, I have been denying
who and what I am for a very long time. I didn’t want to face the fact that I
am a vampire. I have struggled for a very long time to assimilate myself. To
sleep in a bed rather than a box. To deny my heritage. The events of the past
day have thrown that all back in my face.
So
I am leaving. I am going to stay with family in my ancestral home. Please don’t
come after me. I know you and I know your passion. I need this. I need to find
who I am. Thank you for your love. “
Needless looked up from
his coffee. His head spun from the swiftness of the end. A clean break. No
chance to defend himself. No real goodbye. He thought of her tenderness after
the ordeal at the clinic. The two weeks they’d spent at sea. The love they’d made.
His gut twisted again. He shook it off and realized that he had bent the spoon
absent-mindedly.
It was going to be a long
day. He finished up his cup of coffee.
He had to find Stack.
*
Stack pulled the towel
around his waist as he stepped from the shower. He never favored bathing at the
station, but there wasn’t much else to be done. There was too much to do for
him to go home. He thought of Arrow and realized that he hadn’t fed him in two
days. He tried to remind himself to run home later and feed him. He stepped to
his locker and began extracting a fresh set of clothes. As he slipped into his
spare jeans, Breen entered and sat on the bench near him.
“Hey Cap,” Stack said,
toweling his head again.
“Long couple of days?”
Stack chuckled. “Yeah.”
“So what’d you find out in
Ironton?”
Stack sat on the bench and
buttoned his shirt. “It’s a mess. If it was a vampire sect, why would they
drain the blood and truck it down to Ironton? Why would they slit Blevins’
throat? And the sheer size of the attack. It’s not adding up. “
Breen sighed. “Well, it’s
about to get a whole lot more confusing.” He held out a manila folder. Stack
opened it to find crime scene photos. “These are the vamps you took a look at
in the warehouse yesterday. Riddled with bullets and blasted with a sunshine
grenade. We thought it was a retaliation killing for the Serenity but the M.E.
said it happened before the news really started to break.”
Stack looked confused at
the twisted bodies in the picture. “So? Drug deal? Purist blood market?”
Breen shook his head.
“Their teeth match bites on the Serenity victims.”
“What?!”
“I had the lab boys run
them just to be sure.” Breen leaned in. “But check this out.” He pulled out a
close up of a tattoo. “Each one of them had this.” Stack recognized the body
art.
“They were Viss Kvazan?”
“What do you know about
them?”
“Purists, blood market
hoods. We pick them up for hate crimes, vamp supremacy stuff. But it’s all
penny ante shit. Vandalism. Assault. They’re on the watch list but…nothing like
I saw yesterday. It’s too big. They’re small time hoods, really. Last night
took planning, took money. Viss don’t have the resources.” Stack sucked a
mouthful of air. “Oh…man.”
Breen knew the brain was
on it. “What?”
“What if the Viss were
brought in as goons?” Stack was shuffling the photos.
“By a larger group?”
“Even non-vamps. Opposite
but equal motives. Another group.”
Breen wanted to stick his
hands into Stack’s skull and massage the brain. “How would that benefit them?”
“Driving a wedge between
vamps and everybody else always suits the Viss. They’re anarchists.
Anti-vampire retaliation would feed their cause. Make them the heroes.”
“So what happened? Why’d
they get whacked?”
“Double cross? They’d
served their purpose and were cut loose.” He looked at Breen. “We’re dealing
with some ruthless people. They’ll kill anybody. They have no regard for any
kind of life. But what do they want? A political statement? Revenge? What? This
was a planned, strategic attack. This wasn’t a random act of violence. This was
stealthy and deliberate.”
Breen stood. “I need you
to find out who this group is and what they want. I got a call from Bledsoe an
hour ago. If we don’t have some answers in the next few hours…the Bureau is
taking over.”
“Oh shit.”
“Exactly. I need some more
answers by noon.” He patted Stack on the arm.
Stack breathed deep.
*
Carnaby looked at his
watch. Too early. All of this…too early. His coffee steamed gently in the
morning breeze. He looked again at the address. He refolded the paper and
shoved it into his pocket. He bounded up the steps to the brownstone and turned
the antique doorbell knob. He waited a moment, looked at his watch, reaffirmed
the address and rang the bell again.
A moment later he was
shocked by the sound of a window above him slamming violently open.
“What the bloody hell do
you want?!?!” Came the haughty, foreign voice. Tim backed out from under the
porch roof and looked up. Three stories above him a man of late middle age,
salt and pepper hair tossed about on top of his head, and hand-holding a ratty
terry cloth bathrobe around himself, was sticking his head out the window. He
was comical looking, but furious. “So?! What do you want?”
“Dr. Elrich Chandler?
I’m…uh…here about your web site.”
“Oh shit. Another role-playing
idiot. Go away!”
“Actually. I’m a sci-fi
dork. But I know a lot of gamers. My name is Tim Carnaby. I’m a forensic
detective with the Police Department. I discovered your web site while
investigating a piece of evidence.” The old man seemed unconvinced, but more
open. Tim reached into his bag and extracted the photo that Stack had sent him.
“It seems to be a brand of some sort. We discovered it burned into the chest of
a murder victim. One connected with the Serenity Massacre. I found the same
symbol on your web site.” He extended the picture above his head.
Dr. Chandler adjusted his
glasses and seemed to stop breathing for a moment. He ducked back inside and
the window slammed shut. Carnaby sighed. A moment later the front door opened
and Tim Carnaby was invited into the first solid lead in the case so far.
*
Smiles took a long drag
and leaned back against the marble column. Here he was, helping to save some
lives at the behest of politicians, and they wouldn’t even let him smoke inside
the building. Over the last few hours the militia guards had gotten to know
Smiles rather well. The first couple of smokes he came down for, he was frisked
and his ID checked. Now he just made the international symbol for cigarette, a
two fingered “V” moved back and forth in front of pursed lips. The guards just
chuckled and waved him through now.
“Do you have a light?”
Smiles was surprised by the female voice that seemed to come out of no where.
He turned. His eyes met a pair of pale green elf eyes. They twinkled. She
smiled. “Sorry. I gave this up a week ago.” She chuckled. Her black hair,
flecked with the blue, was cut into a bob that swayed with a fluidity as she
stepped toward him. Her pant suit gave nothing away but still teased Smiles
into imagining, if only for a moment.
She stopped close to him. “So, sorry, I don’t have a lighter.”
“Not a good week to quit.”
He lit his lighter. The woman rested her wrist on his and cupped her hand to
protect the flame. As she pulled gently on the cigarette with her lips, and the
cherry flared, her eyes rose to meet Smiles’. His face suddenly felt to him
like weather beaten leather. Like he should apologize; ‘sorry, my good face is
at the cleaners, I had to throw this on.’ The woman stood up and joined him in
leaning against the column. After her first drag, the woman pinched a tobacco
leaf off her tongue with her thumb and pinky and flung it to the brickwork
walkway. Smiles could only think one thing…’Holy shit! She’s smoking
straights.’
“What a horrible couple of
days.” She said, looking at him. He nodded. “I have barely been home in 18
hours.” She looked over and extended a hand. “Sue Bley’na. I work for the
Department of Diversity.” She looked over and smiled at a passing militia guard.
“Robert Johnson. My
friends call me Smiles.”
“I know who you are. Your
father nearly built our department from the ground up.” She looked at him with
a wry smile. “We have a conference room named after him.”
“He would have been
proud,” Smiles chuckled.
“You smoke filtered?”
Smiles looked down at his
smoke. “Yeah. I haven’t smoked straights since…I was at the academy.”
She turned and held out
her pack. “Here take one.”
Smiles chuckled. “Oh! No
thanks. I’m good.”
Her reply was slightly
more emphatic than Smiles expected. “I really think you should take one. It’s
going to be a long day.” The twinkle left her eye for just a moment. Smiles
glanced down at the pack. There, sticking out of the pack like an offered cigarette,
was a note.
Another guard moved past
them both. Sue winked at the guard, who smiled.
The twinkle returned to
Sue’s eyes. Smiles slipped the note out and dropped it into his own pack. “Ah!
What the hell. It’s like riding a bike.” They both chuckled.
“Well, catch ya later.”
Sue said, dropping her cigarette to the ground and crushing it under foot.
Smiles watched her walk away. She was still beautiful, but now there was
something else. Something dangerous. Smiles hated the fact that a hint of
danger made him want her even more.
A couple of minutes later,
Smiles stepped into the elevator, the door slid shut. He quickly unrolled the
note:
“4th
floor ladies room. 10 minutes.”
Smiles returned the note
to his cigarette pack.
*
Charlie pulled up into the 15 minute parking
outside The Herald. Laura rifled through a few things in her bag. She stopped
and looked over at him.
“Thanks for the
ride. Will I see you tonight?” She smiled.
Charlie nodded.
He took a deep breath. “Kalista Danae came to see me last night.” Laura looked
at him, stunned. “It shook me up a bit. That’s why I haven’t been…myself.”
Laura felt a
lump in her throat. “What…happened?” She feared the worst.
Charlie smiled
weakly. “No…I didn’t sleep with her.” Laura’s shoulders visibly eased. “She
told me that she had visions that I was in danger and might…die.”
The pit of
Laura’s stomach dropped. It was worse than worse. “How did she…”
“It has
something to do with Serenity. She didn’t know what.”
A panic gripped
the journalist. “You have to leave town. Go get away until the whole thing
blows over. That’s the deal right? She tells you because you can change
things.” She caught herself. “Did you believe her?”
“She believed
herself. Which was enough to convince me. I just…”
“Just what?”
“Look I can’t
hide out. Smiles needs me. Stack and Needless might need me. If I can help
solve these murders…I have to try. I’ve been in danger before. I just have to
be extra careful.”
Laura nodded.
She wished he would get out of town. Go up to the Skion valley for a week. But
she knew that he was right. She felt the responsibility too. She leaned in and
kissed him, hard. She wanted the kiss to go on forever. When it ended, her eyes
fluttered open and Charlie’s face was out of focus through tears.
“Please,” She
said. “Go home and just try to stay out of trouble as best you can.”
Charlie nodded
and smiled. “I will.”
Laura stepped
from the car. The pit of her stomach never rose again. That was never a good
sign.
*
Smiles eased
into the ladies room. As he stepped through the door the only sound he could
hear was the echo of the hinges. He scanned for signs of life, nothing. He
stepped into the room.
“There’s nobody
on this floor today.” Came her voice. She stepped out of the stall at the far
end of the room.
“No?”
Sue ran her
fingers through her hair and looked in the mirror. “No. This is a public floor.
Marriage licenses, stuff like that. With the building shut down, this is a dead
floor. “
“I assume this
isn’t a romantic rendezvous.” Smiles smirked.
Sue looked away
from her reflection, to him. She smiled wryly. “No. You seem to be the only
person in this entire building that I can trust. And if not trust, at the very
least, rely on.” She moved to him.
Smiles’ brow
furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I am privy to a
lot of information from a lot of sources. Something is about to happen and I
can’t let it go on. “
“How do I know I
can believe you?”
Sue held up a
small shoebox. “Open it. I think this will let you know that I’m not full of
shit.”
Smiles put the
box down on the edge of the sink. He looked back at her and then down at the
box. He lifted the lid. His breath caught in his throat.
*
Needless crashed
into the seat across from Stack. Stack looked up from photos of Serenity. The
two looked at each other for a moment.
“Any headway?”
Needless monotoned?
“No. I’m waiting
to hear from Carnaby. He’s out on something and his phone is turned off. Any
sleep?”
“No. Where’s
Callisto?”
“Gone home for a bit.
Checking on his kids. This is all hitting him kind of hard.”
There was a pause.
Needless looked at his hands. “Sioux is gone.”
“Gone…like…”
“Gone, gone.
Left town. She packed up her stuff and left. I didn’t even get a chance to say
good bye.”
A quiet settled
over the two desks. Both men deep in thought. The moment was shattered by
Stack’s phone. The detective’s hand rocketed out and snatched the receiver from
the hook.
“Forray.”
“Stack! It’s
Tim. I’ve got something. It’s huge and you’re not going to believe it. I have Dr.
Elrich Chandler with me. He’s an iconologist and historian from BCU. He knows
what the symbol is.”
“Bring him in.
We need to talk to him. Time is wasting. If we don’t have something to the
commissioner in the next hour, the Bureau is taking over the case.”
“Well that’s the
problem. He doesn’t want to come in. Once he saw the symbol he freaked out. You
have to meet us.”
“Dammit!” Stack
looked at his watch. “Okay. Downtown. Near City Hall. Clarence’s! That pub at
the corner of Whedon and Carter. That way, if this is the information we need
we can take it straight to Bledsoe.”
The two hung up. Stack bolted out of his seat. “Let’s roll.”
*
Smiles Johnson
had seen a lot of things in his nearly fifty years, both as a cop and in the
private sector. But the shock of this took the cake. The image was
unmistakable. He new the mask like the back of his hand. Artist renderings.
Pirated television images. He looked up at Sue.
“You…you’re The
Elfnigma.”
Sue nodded. “So
I am. I thought that showing you that might be a sign of good faith between us.
Also that I am very serious in what I say.”
Smiles placed
the top back on the box and handed it back to Sue. “Believe me. I am all ears.”
“Let me start by
saying that I don’t know who committed the murders at Serenity. I have no idea
of their motive. I can tell you that it was an Elf action, using hired Vampires
as grunts.”
“How do you
know?”
“Three years ago EVUN was
contacted by an elf saying that he was an agent with the Bureau and he would
like to become a member. He said that he has compiled a series of scenarios
based on Bureau protocol. He told us they would help us plan operations. When I
asked him what kind of scenarios, he said they were pro Elf. He wanted to
exchange the information in return for membership. I told him I would take a
look at the information. A few days later I get a copy of this “dossier”. These
are straight terrorist scenarios, pointing out the Bureau’s weaknesses and
every planned movement after a terrorist attack.”
“So what happened?”
“I turned down
his membership. EVUN isn’t a terrorist organization. We may be anarchists but
killing people isn’t our cup of tea. He got pissed off, of course…but I kept
the file. The Serenity massacre is in there. Bureau protocols for a massive
Vampire attack. How to frame the Vamps…it’s all in there. This guy plotted this
attack.”
“You think this
guy fell in with another group? A group who would pull off something like
this.”
“I do. But
here’s the worst part. This guy is Gray P’yan, the Field Director for the
Bureau’s Big City office.”
“What?!”
“Yep. In less
than an hour the Elf who designed this attack will be the lead investigator.”
Smiles slapped
his hands to his head. “This is crazy! What do they want?!”
“I don’t know.
But I know what will happen next. They’re going to sweep the caves.”
“What?”
“The planned
next step in the Bureau scenario for investigating a massive Vampire attack in
Big City is to sweep the caves. Clear every last Vampire out, house them
temporarily in the Sportsdome, and conduct a security sweep. This has to be the
ultimate goal for some reason. The only reason to frame the Vampires in the
first place seems to be to get into the caves.”
“But anybody can go in and out of the caves.
People go down there all the time. To the bazaar…to the “dark market”…I don’t
understand how that could be a motivating factor.”
“I’m just
telling you what is going to happen next. Within the next 6 hours the Bureau
will be flushing cave-dwelling Vampires out and conducting a security sweep.
The man who is going to make this happen is the one who planned the Serenity
attack. That’s all I know. Filling in the rest of it is your department,
Smiles.” Sue looked at her watch.
“Look, if anybody in this building can do something about it, it’s you. But we
need to get back before we’re missed.” Sue, The Elfnigma, leaned in and kissed
Smiles on the cheek. “We never had this conversation,” she whispered in his
ear. He suddenly felt a thick file slide up between his arm and his ribs.
A moment later,
The Elfnigma…one of the most sought-after figures of the modern day, left,
leaving only a slight hint of lipstick on Smiles’ cheek.
*
Stack and
Needless moved through the pub to the back table. The high wooden booths made
excellent cover for Carnaby and the large older man that sat with him. The two
detectives sat across from them.
“Dr. Chandler,
my name is Sgt. Adam Forray, this is my partner Sgt. D’yen. Tim here tells us
you know what the symbol means.” Stack slapped another picture of Blevins’
branded chest on the table. Chandler nodded and took a drink of water. “So what
is it?”
“It means “good
kill” or “righteous kill”. The Elbum have three kill levels; righteous,
protection and survival. Each kill is branded with one of three insignias.”
Needless put up
a hand and shook his head. “Back up. The who?”
“The Elbum. The
Order of the Knights of Elbum…” Chandler said it as though they should
recognize it. When no recognition came, he sighed. “You have all read your
history, I hope, religious or otherwise?” The three shrugged and nodded.
“During the Third Goblin Crusade the Elf King Onrius Skiv was struck down in
battle by the Goblin King Havskel of the Deep.” Stack and Needless exchanged
glances. “In the years that followed, the Elf kingdom broke down. It became an
in-fighting land of warlords and cleric knights who tried to hold fast to the
traditions of Elf religion. At a place
called Elbum Castle, a group of Cleric knights, half elf of the sword, half elf
of the cloth, were charged by a rogue warlord with the quest to return the Melk
Stone to the land of Elves, ensuring victory over the Goblin hoards.”
Needless laid
his head on the table. “The Melk Stone. Crap, Stack, not again.”
“So these
Elbum…they’re long gone…right?” Tim injected.
Chandler drank
more water. “That’s the thing. No one knows, except the Elbum. The story goes
that the second Elf Messiah, Zjon, sent his children into the wilderness with
the Stone, hiding it from all who sought it. While in the wilderness, they
founded their own order, who protect the Stone to this day. According to
legend, the Elbum search to this day. They live and work among us, but they
meet and communicate in secret. Their eventual goal, is the ethnic cleansing of
our world, through the Stone. They believe the stone holds that kind of power.”
Needless slammed
his hand down on the table. “Look! I’m sick of this! Carnaby! We asked you to
bring us a lead and you bring us a FANTASY WRITER!!”
Stack looked at
him. “Needless! Of all people, you should be a little more open to this.”
Needless looked at him. He thought again of the Lake Monster incident. Of poor
Wyshok Meen and the Skiv…and what Wyshok had asked of him. Needless thought of
his little secret.
Chandler
coughed. “I’m not asking you to believe. I’m asking you to understand that THEY
believe.”
Stack pointed
again at Blevins’ chest. “This was found on the body of a man, whose garage was
storing the blood of the Serenity victims. How does this all fall in line with
the Melk Stone or the search for it?”
“You see, the
Elbum aren’t hotheaded, zealous terrorists. They aren’t impetuous. The last
reported Elbum surfacing was over a hundred years ago. If the Elbum are indeed
behind the slaughter the other night, there was a reason. Somehow killing all
those people was necessary. It took them one step closer to the Stone.”
Carnaby looked
confused. “But you said the stone was hidden forever.”
“According to
lore, in which some truth always lies, the path to the Stone is found through a
series of markers. Hidden clues. A puzzle, laid by the Children of Zjon, to
pass on the knowledge of where the Stone resides to future generations.”
Needless
shrugged. “So killing all those people was simply a step to something else. It
was not the goal.” He looked at Stack. “I can’t wait to get my hands on these
fuckers.”
“Sgt. D’yen,
this isn’t a street gang. This isn’t a group of drug pushers that you can go
round up. This is the secret society to end all secret societies. The Elbum can
be anywhere, anyone. They are lawyers, bankers, butchers, crossing guards. They
live and work among us. Most Elbum rarely, if ever, take part in a mass ritual.
They have money, power, clout…and they use it. They use it to protect
themselves and to push forward their agenda. IF you find them, they will not
hesitate to kill you. To them their cause is big enough that no life is enough,
not even their own.”
“Look,” Stack
interjected. “Let’s pretend for a moment that this is all true. For this to
have occurred, the murders, The Elbum would have to have taken a giant leap.
But why Serenity? Why make it look like a Vampire attack?”
“How would they
benefit from framing the Vampires? You have to think like a chess match. With
each move you need to think 3 moves ahead. Why Vampires? I’m certain we shall
soon find out. The Elbum don’t wait long.”
Stack’s phone
rang. “Forray.” He answered.
Breen’s voice
came back at him. “They’re early.”
Stack looked at
Needless. “Who?”
At the police
station Breen watched Bureau agents move through the office toward his door.
*
Charlie’s phone
rang. It seemed strange, but Charlie felt an urgency in the ring.
This was the
call.
“Hello?” He
answered, reticently.
“Charlie, it’s
Smiles. I need you to do something. I need you to go down to the Vampire caves.
Try to get to Hardin Row. See if you can get some information. The Bureau is
going to sweep the caves. There is something down there that the people behind
the Serenity Massacre want. But it would need to be something that the Vampires
would need to be out for.”
Charlie smiled
sadly to himself. “Then why would the Bureau…”
“Exactly. We
have a much larger problem than anticipated. Just see if you can get in and out
fast. The cave sweeps will not take long. I don’t know that I can get away from
here.”
The two said
their good-byes. Charlie turned the car around and headed toward the nearest
street level cave entrance. He leaned over and reached under the passenger seat
for a second gun. He was taking no chances.
*
The elf was impeccably
dressed. A little salt and pepper colored his short cropped hair at the
temples. He stepped up to the podium as the City Hall press took their seats.
“For those of
you who don’t know me, I am Bureau Director Gray P’yan. As of 11:30 this
morning, the Bureau is taking over investigations into the Serenity Incident.
We will consult the local authorities and with the investigators who have taken
the case this far. Any leads or tips that come to us via our web site or our
866 Hotline, are anonymous and will be followed up on. We are going in to this
investigation with nearly fifteen hundred agents in the field. We also have the
Governor and Mayor’s blessing to use the Militia at our discretion.” Gray
coughed. It only provided a moment of relief.
Laura sat
recording every word being said. Something was wrong. Something in Gray’s tone
seemed to indicate that there was bad news coming. Laura wasn’t wrong.
Gray took a sip
of water. “Our first major operation in this investigation, is a full security
sweep of the Vampire Cave.” A commotion went up. Gray held up his hands. “We
have received credible information that a Vampire terrorist cell is using
sections of the Caves as a base of operations. We know this is inconvenient for
law-abiding vampire citizens. However, this will not be a military operation to
begin with. We ask that all Vampire families, residing in the Caves, report to
the Sportsdome between now and 6:30 tonight. After that, the Militia will move
in for the security sweep.” The commotion seemed to grow. “This is not an
internment!! We are simply providing accommodations until the security sweep is
over. When the sweep is over, citizens are welcome to return to their homes.”
“How long will
the sweep take?” Came a voice.
“No more than 36
hours.” Flashbulbs blew. Journalists mumbled.
The pit of
Laura’s stomach turned. There would be more riots. There would be more unrest.
This was outrageous, even for the Bureau, who she had long distrusted.
At the back of
the room Stack, Needless, Carnaby and Chandler looked on. Stack and Needless
exchanged glances. Neither of them fancied working with the Bureau. They
silently agreed to maintain radio silence for a while.
On the far side
of the room, Smiles Johnson had broken a sweat. It was word for word as The
Elfnigma predicted. The voice directing the sweep, and trying to calm the fears
of the city and the Vampire population was attached to the hands that typed the
files and plans tucked into the back of Smiles’ pants, under his coat. He had
to do something. He suddenly realized that The Elfnigma was right. He was the
best suited for this.
It was time to
play P.I. again. Enough of this peace talker bullshit.
It was time to
make the swamphog squeal.
*
Charlie hit
Hardin Row not long after news of the Cave “purge” as some were calling it
broke. He noticed homes and apartments, built into the dark rock face,
beginning to empty. There was no panic, just angry vampires, grumbling and
carrying overnight bags.
Charlie knew
that this had all happened before. 50 years ago the vampire caves were not
sovereign territory. Often the police, the then “Service”, the militia, they
would often trample in, take suspects up top. Routine evacuations of areas were
often done. It was some of the darker moments in Big City’s past.
The vampires, it
seemed, hadn’t forgotten those days and were fully expecting something like
this. Charlie cringed at the thought of living with that uncertainty in your
mind all time. Knowing that at any moment now your rights could be taken away.
If this was a set up as Smiles suggested, someone needed to pay for what they
were putting these poor people through.
Hardin Row was a
quarter mile long stretch of cave that had become something of a cultural
center. Pubs, buskers, shops all lined the illuminated cave. Big City had
pumped money into the “gentrification” of the area. It was the face that
Vampires wanted to put forward: progressive, accepting and pretty hip. While
the businesses had changed over the years, some of the old dive bars still
stood. When Smiles told Charlie to go to Hardin Row…it wasn’t to go to the
fragrant candle shop. Charlie was looking for the darker element that still
existed on the Row.
Charlie stepped
into a dingy dozen-seater bar, The Worm Hole. He eased himself down on to the
seat. He pulled some petty cash, which came from the “bribe box” back at the
office, and laid it on the bar in front of him. A few less than savory looking
characters sat at the far end of the bar.
The bartender was loading some cardboard boxes. He noticed the money on
the table. His eyes slid up to meet Charlie’s gaze. He chuckled.
“Sorry, son,
we’re closed. Or haven’t you heard?”
“Actually, I’m
not thirsty. I was actually looking for some information.”
The bartender
looked at the money. “Boy did you come on a bad day.”
“I’m hoping to
find out about any strange goings on recently, here in the caves.”
The bartender
put down the box. “What, aside from the verbal assaults and vandalism by
non-Vamps? Maybe you’re referring to the government’s current trampling of our
rights. Any other strange…’goings-on’ and you’ve come to the wrong place.” The
bartender turned back to the box angrily.
Charlie turned
off his detective mode. “Look. I’m working with Robert Johnson.”
“The guy on TV?”
“That’s right.
The one working with your Ambassador and the mayor. He’s received some
information about the Serenity killings.”
The bartender
again put down the box and leaned in. “What do you need to know?”
“We believe that
the whole cave sweep is part of a larger plan. I need to know if there are any
locations in the caves that are generally off limits to outsiders. Any location
that a sweep would clear the path to?”
The bartender
thought. “There’s a few. Let me see. One of the four temples would be off
limits, but they all have visitor centers. The Gash. The Walk of Relics. Those
are all religious sites. There’s probably a few governmental facilities that
nobody is allowed in. “ The bartender snapped his fingers. “You know what, “ he
exclaimed, writing quickly on a bar napkin, “go to this address. There’s a guy
who lives there. A non-Vamp who lives down here. He’s a historian. He’s one of
the few non-Vamps who has been to some of the deep cave sites. He comes in here
every once and a while.”
Charlie slipped
a few bucks to the bartender and glanced down at the napkin; Dr. Barnell Jhah - 1344 Apt C Skaro Court.
*
Callisto hung up
his phone and opened the door in shock.
“Stack!” He said
as Stack stepped into his kitchen, followed by Needless, Carnaby and some crazy
looking older man that Callisto had never seen. “Everything okay?”
Stack turned and
began piling change in his pocket. “Sorry Callisto. This was the only place I
could think of. The Bureau has taken over the investigation and we’re flying
under the sights right now. We do, however, think we know who is behind all
this.”
Callisto took a
sip of coffee. “Who?”
Needless held
out his hand, giving Chandler the floor. Chandler shrugged. “The Elbum…the
KNIGHTS of Elbum.”
Callisto
blinked. “The Elbum? THE Elbum? The Melk Stone and all that?” The others just
stared. “What? There was a Mysteries of
History about it two weeks ago.”
Needless looked
at Stack. “We’re wasting time. We need to figure out what our next step is.”
Chandler raised
a finger. “If I might…”
“What?!”
Needless snapped.
“Well,” Chandler
coughed, “it occurred to me that perhaps the Bureau has already given us our
answer.”
“What do you
mean?” Stack leaned on a chair.
“Remember, we
said that if The Elbum were behind this, there would be a reason why they would
involve Vampires and kill all those people.”
“Right. The
killings themselves were not the goal.”
“Exactly. What
if, and this is purely speculation, of course,
the Elbum knew that the caves would get cleared out and that was their
goal.”
Carnaby jolted
to life, as though he had suddenly jacked into the conversation. “What if the
Melk Stone is in the caves!”
Chandler nodded.
“Or at the very least, a marker.”
Needless shook
his head. It made some sort of sense. “Okay. Just to recap this, for those of
us just joining…The Elbum, an ancient, secret society, in search of a mythical
stone, receive information that their next “marker” is in the Vampire caves.
For WHATEVER reason they need the vamps out…so they hire a bunch of mindless
pro-Vamps, the Viss, to help them pull
off a massacre, implicating Vampires, the whole time making the Viss believe
that they are simply anarchists. The Elbum double cross the Viss, whack
them, kill an old guy, take his garage,
and stash a lawn-care truck full of the drained blood of 150 or so nightclub
patrons there and wait for the Bureau to sweep the caves, so they can go down
there and retrieve whatever it is they need?”
They all repeated it in their head and nodded. “So presumably our next
move is to head down to the caves.”
Stack shook his
head. “But where? There’s a hundred miles of tunnels and cave systems along the
coast and under the City.”
Callisto sipped
his coffee again. “Obviously it would have to be a place that they normally
wouldn’t have access to. Otherwise they wouldn’t need the Vampires out.”
“Religious
site?” Chandler offered.
Stack’s phone
rang. “Forray.”
“Stack! It’s Smiles.
Where are you on the case?”
Stack smiled.
“Oh, man, you know that the Bureau is on the case. We’re kicking back watching
the results on the news.”
Smiles chuckled.
“Bullshit. Have you made any headway? I literally have had a huge lead fall
into my lap.”
“We think we
know what group is behind this. But, right now we’re not sure where to start.
We’re figuring that they are going down to the caves, now that the Bureau is
clearing them out.”
“You’d be right.
I have Charlie down there making inquiries. Look, Stack I can’t go into a lot
of details right now…but don’t trust the Bureau. Members of the Bureau are
involved. I can’t say who. Do you have a name yet on the group?”
“Yeah, some
group called the Elbum. Some secret society. They’re pro-Elf and …look it’s
gonna take too long. We’ve got some expert with us. So Charlie is down there
snooping around? We’re off radar right now, so we can’t do much. “
“Yeah, I hear
ya. Look, I’m going to take care of things at my end. I might end up in prison,
but do what you can on this. Stay close to the phone, I may need your expert.”
Stack hung up
his phone and turned back to the group.
*
Smiles closed
his phone and rounded the corner, nearly walking straight into two Bureau
agents, who blocked his path. One of them shook his head and held out his hand.
“Sir, please
hand over the phone.”
Smiles looked
down at his phone and looked at the two agents. “You need to make a call? Rates
are good but I’m dying on minutes this month.”
“Sir. All
communications to and from City Hall need to come through us until further
notice.”
Smiles grinned.
“Even to my stock broker?”
“Sir, the phone
and come with us.”
Smiles dropped
the phone into the agents hand. “Take me to the Mayor’s office. I need to talk
with Director P’yan.”
*
Charlie checked
the address again. Apartment C seemed to be the building’s rear, garden level
apartment. Charlie descended the short flight of stairs and knocked on the
door. After a moment, he heard some movement inside.
“Yes?” Came a
voice through the frosted glass.
“Dr. Jhah? My
name is Charlie Pickens. I was told by the bartender at the Worm Hole that you
could answer a few of my questions.”
The door opened
to reveal a pale, dark haired elf of late middle age. “Well, he would know. I am always winning at bar trivia night,”
Dr. Jhah laughed. “Come in.”
Charlie stepped
through the door. The cramped halls of the apartment were lined with books.
Charlie couldn’t figure out exactly where the Doctor slept, as every piece of
furniture seemed to be covered with books and papers.
“So, Dr. Jhah,
you’re a local historian?”
Dr. Jhah stepped
into the kitchen, leaving Charlie in the living room. “That’s right. Can I get
you something? A cup of coffee? A whiskey?”
“No thank you. I
actually am here representing Robert Johnson, who is working with the mayor’s
office, regarding the murders at The Serenity the other night. He seems to
believe that the Vampires have been framed in order to have the caves
abandoned.”
Dr. Jhah
continued to putter in the kitchen. “That’s so horrible, what they’re doing. I
won’t go without a fight.”
Charlie
continued to nose around in the room and he talked. Dozens of notebooks,
parchments, open books rested in every available. Spot. “Good for you. I’m just wondering, why it
would be necessary for…whoever is doing this…to have the caves free. Are there
any areas that you know of that are off limits to non-vampire visitors?” The
last few words Charlie said came out slowly because his eye caught a small
stack of papers. Newspaper clippings from The Serenity. Schematics of the club.
Meeting times…They were all half under a larger, Elven, leather-bound
book. Charlie’s spine began to tingle
with fear. “ACTUALLY!! Now that you
mention it, some coffee would be great.”
“Cream and
sugar?”
“Both please.”
Charlie’s mind raced. Mostly with the words ‘oh crap oh crap oh crap’. He was
in the lion’s den. His eyes searched for some way of alerting the outside
world. He was terrified, but he was the only one who could tell anybody where
to go. His cell would be no good here. Kalista’s words came back to him. ‘oh
crap oh crap oh crap’ . Finally he spied the phone. He lifted the receiver and
quickly dialed the only number he could think of. Even if he was wrong, and he
prayed he was, it was for the best.
“I hope instant
is all right.” Came the voice again.
“Hi, you’ve
reached the desk of Laura Medrano. I am on the phone or away from my desk right
now. Please leave a message…”
Charlie casually
laid the receiver down so it could pick up all the ambient noise of the room.
He turned and smiled just as Dr. Jhah returned to the room…
*
“Mr. Mayor, I’m
truly sorry.” Director P’yan said. “A security sweep of the caves is necessary
and Bureau protocol.”
“It is trampling
on the rights of Vampire citizens!” Venect barked, losing his cool.
“Mr. Venect, at
this time, we have no further use for you or your entourage. I would ask that
you return to your hotel room for the time being.”
“The hell I
will. I am going down to the Sportsdome to help comfort those you have
displaced.”
“I would ask
that you don’t do that at this juncture.”
“Director, what
would it hurt?” The Mayor asked.
“At this time it
would send a bad image. We need the Vampire population to believe that their
leaders are with us on this. I’m sure you understand.”
The door opened
and Smiles walked in, lead by the agent. He winked at Bledsoe who stood in the
corner. Bledsoe’s mouth dropped open. The Mayor rose to his feet.
“What is the
meaning of this?” The Mayor barked.
The Agent looked
at P’yan. “We caught him leaking information on his phone. We aren’t sure to
who.”
P’yan nodded.
“Mr. Johnson, right? Who were you giving information to?”
Smiles smirked.
“Some friends.”
The Mayor looked
confused. “ Mr. Johnson?”
“Mr. Mayor, I
have come into the possession of some information. Information about the
Serenity attacks that the Bureau doesn’t have. I was talking with one of my
sources so that I could have some information locked up before I brought it to
you.” Smiles stepped forward.
“If you have
information, Johnson, you are obligated to share it with the Bureau.” P’yan
smiled in the most forced, unpleasant way Smiles could think of.
“I’m afraid I
can’t do that, Director P’yan. I will give the information directly to The
Mayor or Commissioner Bledsoe and no one else.”
Janet Bledsoe
stepped forward. “Dammit Smiles! I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but
we are trying to prevent a repeat of what happened last night.”
“I understand
that Commissioner Bledsoe. I also understand the importance of the documents I
have.”
“What
documents?!” P’yan said cautiously.
Smiles reached
inside his coat, to the back of his pants. P’yan and the other agent drew their
weapons. Smiles produced a dog-eared, manila folder thick with papers. He held
it aloft. “This file, which was given to me only a few short hours ago by a
secret source, points a nasty finger at who one of the plotters of the Serenity
attack could be.”
“Hand over the
documents, Johnson.” P’yan warned.
“Not yet.”
Smiles took a slip of paper out of his pocket and slid it across the desk. “Mr.
Mayor, if you would be so kind as to call that phone number and put it on
speaker phone.”
The Mayor looked
at Bledsoe. Bledsoe shrugged, it pained her to say it. “Mr. Mayor. I have known
Robert Johnson for years. I don’t like him. He’s got a rogue streak. He has a
problem with authority…but he was a good cop and he is still a good
investigator.”
The Mayor nodded
and dialed the telephone. Smiles smirked at P’yan. The speaker phone came to
life and rang. A moment later an impatient voice answered.
“Forray.”
“Stack! It’s
Smiles. I’m here with the Mayor, Commissioner Bledsoe and Bureau Field Director
P’yan. Could you possibly tell them what you have found so far?”
“Uh…sure.” Stack
recounted the last 36 hours to the room. The truck, the blood, the garage, the
body, the symbol…finally capping with Dr. Chandler’s theory. “I guess that’s
it.”
The Mayor
nodded. “Thank you Sergeant. Could we speak to this Dr. Chandler?”
“Sure. One
second.”
A moment later
an accented voice blasted from the speaker. “Mr. Mayor. This is Dr. Elrich
Chandler, professor of Iconology and Symbology at Big City University.”
The Mayor sat at
his desk. “These Elbum. In your professional opinion, they are the ones behind
the attack.”
Chandler
chuckled nervously. “I do sir. At the very least, people trying to be The
Elbum. I guess my gut feeling is…YES…it’s them.”
“And you believe
that sweeping the caves is helping them?”
“I do sir.”
The group
thanked Chandler and hung up. The Mayor looked at P’yan. “Call it off.”
P’yan chuckled.
“I’m sorry Mr. Mayor, you have no authority in this matter. My orders come
directly from the Justice Department.”
“WHICH…” Smiles
interjected, “leads me to my next bit of business.” He shook the folder as a
reminder. “The Elbum, as you heard are patient, meticulous, and yet they chose
a bloody, violent attack…staged to be Vampires. Why?”
“To sweep the
caves.” Bledsoe blasted. “We got that.”
“Did you know
that sweeping the caves was the Bureau’s protocol here?” He looked at Bledsoe,
then to the Mayor. “You, sir?” they both shook their heads. “There are very
strict provisions in a scenario like this, I have come to find. The Elbum
followed them to the letter! From the number of dead, to the use of a noxious
gas…Bureau policy is quite clear on several points. And still, The Elbum played
this as straight as an arrow.”
P’yan burst.
“All right! Enough of your P.I. crap! You’re under arrest for obstructing a
federal investigation!”
Smiles, turned
and faced the Mayor. His jaw clenched in anger. His hand shot out and grabbed a
marble paperweight from the desk. In one fluid motion, Smiles pivoted and
pitched the stone at P’yan. The paperweight slammed into the elf’s chest,
winding him and knocking him backward. Smiles leapt forth and snatched the gun,
spinning and training the sight on the young agent who brought him there.
“Junior, I
really would put your sidearm on the ground. I’m not going to shoot anybody
here. I just want to finish talking. That, and I’ve had a really bad couple of
days.” The agent slowly placed the gun
down and stepped back. Smiles turned and shoved P’yan into a chair.
“Smiles! What
are you doing?!? That’s the Bureau Field Director. And, you are now holding the
Mayor and the rest of us hostage.” Bledsoe shrieked.
Smiles shook his
head and tossed her the gun. He held the folder up. “As I was saying. The Elbum
have somebody on the inside. Someone inside the Bureau told them EXACTLY how to
pull this off and get the Bureau to sweep the caves. This folder has the plan
and the name of the individual.” He turned and looked at P’yan. The Elf fought
for breath and glared at him. “Gray P’yan, the lead investigator…is a member of
the Elbum society, is an Elf Supremacist and planned the Serenity attack from
start to finish.”
“Wait a minute!
WHAT?!” Bledsoe was in over her head.
The Mayor stood
up. “Mr. Johnson, where did you get that information?”
“Believe it or
not, I got this from the Elfnigma. It’s a peace offering. See, our Director
P’yan here tried to get into EVUN several years ago. He tried to bribe his way
in with his position and a series of planned scenarios that would undermine any
Bureau investigation. The Elfnigma turned him down. He was too radical. They
are an anarchist group who likes to shake up the ant jar. EVUN is looking for
all creatures to have an equal voice. P’yan…he’s a full on supremacist with an
eye toward genocide. Once he got turned down, he fell in to the Elbum who took
his plans and used them for their own purpose.”
P’yan smiled.
“When the stone is found, you…or your Children will die. The Final Messiah
shall put his hands into the stone and unlock Melk’s pain with his worthy
touch. He will wield the stone to slay the tainted who have kept us from
Mhalasia! The gate will open and all elves will join their Gnuph bodies of
old.” His rant done he looked at Smiles. “And I will wait until then.” He smiled. There was a snap of tiny glass as
P’yan bit down.
Smiles leapt to
him. “No! P’yan! Where are the Elbum going?!” He grabbed P’yan’s jacket as the
swift poison took the Bureau director.
Bledsoe, finally
coming up to speed, shrieked. “Holy shit, it’s true!”
The Mayor picked
up the phone. “We need to get this cave sweep stopped.”
Smiles stared
down, furious at the cooling body of P’yan. Then he turned to the Mayor. “No.
The Elbum need to believe it’s business as usual. Once they go into the caves,
we can get them. But if we call off the sweep, they’ll know something is up and
slide back into the scenery. You heard Stack. These guys can be anywhere. The
only way to bring this group to justice is to let the sweeps continue.” He
turned to Venect who had watched all of this unfold silently. “Venect. Please
trust me. It’s the only way.”
Venect looked at
the Mayor. He nodded. “But where in the caves are they going?”
Smiles looked
back down at the Director. He didn’t have a clue, but he hoped Charlie did.
*
The bleeding had
stopped. Charlie was starting to build a picture of what was around him. He was
bound in the back end of a motorized cart some of the Vampires used in the
caves. He was aware that they were moving through some tunnels that he wasn’t
familiar with. The tunnels were dimly lit but heavily decorated. He felt the
cart slowing down. He heard voices after a moment.
“Mezo, my
apologies, he showed up asking questions. ”
“As long as he’s
alive and can complete the final puzzle, I don’t care.”
Charlie passed
out again. His last thought echoed inside him…”It’s true. I’m going to die.”
*
Tears were
blurring Laura’s vision. She drove erratically through Big City’s late
afternoon traffic. The message still played over and over in her brain.
The strange
sounds of a room. Charlie’s voice.
“Thank you, Dr. Jhah. I see you have been
following the Serenity story.”
Another voice joined
Charlie.
“Oh…the papers. As you can see I am
a collector of history. These horrible attacks are history. Or will be someday.”
“You also collect schematics and
blue prints? These look like you’ve had them for a while. All this writing. You
have things marked on here that haven’t been announced by the police yet.”
“Mr. Pickens, I think it’s best if
you leave.”
There was a
momentary scuffle. Laura can only assume that Charlie pulled out his gun.
Charlie’s voice
returned. “Best for who? You or me? So
tell me Jhah, what are you looking for? Where are you going that you need the
Vampires out?”
“Pahnasia’s Gash, Mr. Pickens. That
is our target. Even I can’t get close to it with those Sucker Clerics around
it. We have important business there tonight.”
“Had. You HAD important…”
There was a loud
crash and Charlie yelped. Jhah’s voice came back, over the sound of
Charlie groaning. “You dare come into my
home and threaten me?! You tainted animal! If the Mezo didn’t need a piece of
filth for tonight, I would kill you where you lay!”
There was then a
loud beep as the voice mail system cut off the message.
Crying, speeding
and dialing frantically, Laura tried to find Stack and Needless. The phone
finally rang.
“Forray.”
“Stack!! Where
are you!”
“Laura?!”
“It’s Charlie!
He’s going to die. Kalista Danae told him. He’s down in the caves.”
“Laura. Calm
down. What are you talking about?! Kalista Danae skipped town weeks ago.”
“Shut up and
listen to me!! She showed up at Charlie’s office yesterday and told him that he
was in danger. That he might die today in the caves. That it had to do with
Serenity. He’s down there, isn’t he?! Smiles asked him to go!”
“Yeah.”
Laura gritted
her teeth. “He went. I told him not to go. Whoever he was looking for, they
have him. They’ve taken him. He’s in trouble. He’s still alive, they need him
for something. We have to get to him.”
“Laura…I…we don’t
even know where they’re going…”
“Someplace
called Pahnasia’s Gash. Someplace in the caves. I’m going, with or without you.”
“Now hold on.
Look.” There was a pause. “You know the Palace Avenue street level cave
entrance? Meet Needless and I there in… half and hour. How did you…”
“I’ll tell you
later. Get there as soon as you can.”
Laura, terrified
and furious, tossed the cell phone into the passenger seat and rounded a corner
with a squeal.
*
Stack closed his
phone. “They’re going to Pahnasia’s Gash. That’s the old tourist spot, I know
where it is.” He looked at Needless. “They have Charlie. He’s alive. We’ve got
to get him out of there.”
Chandler balked.
“You can’t take on the Elbum by yourself.”
Needless shook
his head. “We don’t have to. We just need to get him out before backup gets
there. We just need to buy some time. Something to bargain with.”
Stack looked at
Carnaby and Callisto. “You guys get to Breen, fast. He’s got to get Special
Weapons to Pahnasia’s Gash right away. Tell him what’s going on. But Chandler,
keep it short. We won’t have a lot of time.”
“There will be
no bargaining. They want one thing and one thing only. They are totally
ruthless.” Chandler said, begging them to believe him.
Needless smiled.
He thought of a promise he made. “I think I have something that will give them
a pause. We just need to swing by my place to get it.”
“Fine. But it’s
the Mezo you want. The leader. He’s the top of pyramid. He’ll be calling the
shots. He’s the one you will have to get to.” Chandler coughed.
Needless patted
him on the shoulder as he made his way to the door. “Thanks for the tip, Doc.”
*
The man with
green eyes, Charlie’s secret protector, was in a panic. He had lost Charlie in
the caves. The woman, Kalista, has said something. The old man had heard it
through his surveillance equipment. One word that sent a wave of shock down his
spine. A word he had neither heard nor uttered since Charlie was an infant.
He had to find
the boy. So many things depended on it. But there was something else. Concern.
Love. He feared for Charlie. The old man slipped from building to building
avoiding the military as they cleared out the Vampires.
The word again
echoed in his mind…MathTalker.
*
Pahnasia’s Gash
was a 7 story high wall of stone, split millions of years before in a turbulent
earthquake. One of the great landmarks of the Vampire caves, it was once a spot
frequented by tourists and school field trips. All that changed within the last
decade. When ownership of the caves and natural subterranean features returned
to native Vampire hands, The Gash was closed to the public and held in
spiritual esteem by the vampire population, visited only on high holy days. To
native Vampire believers, Pahnasia’s Gash was the resting place of their Mother
God, Teselna. The Gash, the grave marker.
To the Mezo…the
Gash was nothing more than an indicator. An answer to a riddle.
To
Charlie…Pahnasia’s Gash was the last thing he was ever going to see. The
fulfillment of a hooker’s prediction.
To Stack,
Needless and Laura, it was a hiding place. They crouched on one of the high
catwalks that surrounded the giant cave, a remnant of the tourist days.
“If we’re going
to do anything, we have to do it soon. Tim and Callisto will have made it to
Breen by now. When Special Weapons gets here, Charlie is a goner.” Stack felt
Laura tighten next to him. He looked at her. A strange concern came over him.
“I promise you, Laura, nothing will happen to Charlie.”
“No it won’t. I
have a plan. I just need to get Charlie away from them and stall until back up
gets here. There’s no way we can take out a small army. But I think we might
have an ace up our sleeve.” Needless patted his pocket.
“What did you
need to get?” Stack looked at him confused.
Needless put a
finger to his lips and made his way to steps descending down to the cave floor.
Not far away,
hope had left Charlie. The Mezo looked down at the young man.
“It will all be
over soon, boy.” He said. “You have a great purpose.”
Charlie chuckled
a hollow chuckle. “Do tell. Isn’t that what you villains do? Get your victims
on the ropes and then divulge their diabolical plan. One trick pony. Tell me or
don’t. I don’t care.”
“Actually, boy,
it’s nothing of the sort. Tonight we will find the second marker. The next
step. The next key in the puzzle, with the final goal being the Melk Stone. But
you see, our enemies are cunning. Each marker itself is a puzzle. Each one
booby-trapped. That’s where you come in. Part of the marker’s combination is
certainly a taken life. I would rather toss yours in there than a pure elf
soul. You understand.”
Charlie sighed.
“Fuck you.”
As the three
descended the iron stairs into certain madness, Laura felt something metal in
her hand. She looked down to realize that she was holding a gun. Her eyes met
Stack’s gaze.
“It’s real
simple. Point it in the direction of the person you want to shoot. The
reaction may shock you.”
“I have shot a
gun before.”
“I know. But
you’ve never killed anyone before.”
Laura said
nothing else. Stack was right.
The thought had
barely finished when a shot rang out in the cave. Sparks flew as a bullet
struck the metal stairs near where the three were moving. Needless bellowed
something. Stack grabbed Laura’s hand and began charging down the stairs.
Needless stood and returned fire, covering the other two as they ran. His Elven
ears could hear more and more feet running their direction. He gave up his post
and ran.
As shots began
to volley in the dark, the three reached the cave floor.
“How the hell
can they see us?” Cried Laura.
“They’re elves.
They can see anything in the dark! We’re dead!” Stack shot back.
Needless finally
stopped running. “Fuck this.” He stood up. “MEZO!!!”
The shots
stopped. The three stood still for a moment. From the far side of the Gash a
voice answered; “Come forward. Who are
you?”
“My name is
Police Sgt. John D’Yen. I have come for Charlie Pickens!” Needless bellowed to
the darkness.
“Oh! The boy.
He’s alive. But not for long.”
“We want to cut
a deal.”
A few moments
later the three were led into a small, lit circle of robed elves. Needless was
led a few paces forward to the Mezo. Soon he could see Charlie, kneeling on the
ground. He’d been roughed up but no major damage.
“There are no
deals.” The Mezo said matter-of-factly. He looked deep at Needless, his eyes
scanning every feature. “You are not pure. I can smell human in you. Tainted.
No better than this boy. It is now understandable why you wish to stop us.
Because you know you will die in the great cleansing…with all the others.”
Needless could
smell his breath. He could feel the warmth of his body. It was like the senses
of two elves reaching out and greeting each other. Needless realized that he
was in the presence of the purest pureblood he had ever encountered.
“I understand
why you are doing this. I know what you are looking for. I don’t care about any
of that. All I care about is the lives of Charlie and my friends.”
“You have no idea of
purpose. Your lives mean nothing. The second Marker that shows the path to the
true stone, the Melk Stone, is here, within these caves. Tonight, after
hundreds of years, we will be closer than we have ever been. You are nothing. 4
lives? I am talking about a search that
commenced millennia ago! We are too close to let it slip away.” The Mezo glared
at Needless. “There is no deal!”
Needless
smirked. “Oh, I think you will probably want this.” He held out a small, dark
stone. Laura looked at Stack, who shrugged. The Mezo looked at the stone,
equally confused. ”Don’t let this fool you. This is a diffusing stone. It keeps
me safe…from this…” Needless pried the stone open. Lying on the crystals
within, pulsing gently with amber light…the Skiv.
Stack lunged
forward. “Needless!! You can’t!” Needless shot him a look.
The Mezo’s eyes
grew wide. “You…are the keeper of the Skiv? You knowingly walked in here with
the Skiv?”
“Here’s the
deal. The 4 of us walk out of here alive and you and your posse get the rock.
If you don’t like that deal, I pop this bad boy into my mouth and toss a little
Elbum salad.” He shut the stone with a loud SNAP.
“The Skiv will
eat you alive. Your human blood can’t contain that power.”
“Maybe not. But
I figure, I got nothing to lose. If you’re already going to take us out, at
least this thing will let me take a couple dozen of you out first.” Needless
swallowed hard. He only needed to hold off the bloodshed a few minutes until
back up arrived. He begged the universe to let this stand off last.
The universe had
other plans.
The Mezo felt a
zeal grow in him. An uncontrollable rage,
always his weakness. One of the tainted was holding a piece of the
stone, The Skiv, the Second Messiah’s legacy. Unable to control the rage he
lunged for the diffusing stone and half the room moved with him. Needless and
Charlie found themselves in a sea of Elbum, scrambling to save the Skiv from
the attackers.
The Mezo grabbed Needless’ wrist.
“Stupid half
breed. You’ve brought us the means of our deliverance, gift-wrapped. You shall
not touch the stone!!”
Needless
struggled to bring Penny level with the Mezo’s head, but his arm was held by
another assailant. Behind him he could hear Stack and Laura fighting to get
through to him and Charlie. There were too many. He could feel the Mezo
reaching for the diffusing stone.
Charlie
struggled against his attackers. He drove his head into the bridge of a nose.
He kicked as they swarmed him. He could sense them on him. He knew it was
nearing the end. He knew that they would never get out of here alive. He knew
that Laura, Stack and Needless had risked everything for him. Now they would
die too. He silently begged the universe to help him make it right.
The universe
obliged.
In the scuffle, the
diffusing stone snapped open and the Skiv flew through the air, its magic like
feelers, expanding out into the cave. Searching. A primordial act of survival.
The Skiv, the chip of the true Melk Stone, found its protector. It fell into the space between Charlie’s
foot and his shoe.
Charlie felt the rock…a
subtle irritation in his shoe. Then he felt the heat of the Skiv’s magic. Then
the universe exploded.
Charlie’s body
jerked and threw his attackers in all directions. The swarm fell away. Needless
and the Mezo both looked at the open diffusing stone and then at Charlie. In
the moment when blood seemed to leave the Mezo, Needless brought Penny up and
brought her crashing down again across the Mezo’s face.
The
expanse…shifting images of a thousand years…whispers of trinity…every
conceivable hue of every possible color reached into his mind…keeper of the
hope…the dream of the countless…MathTalker…
“Charlie NO!”
Laura screamed.
Needless fell
backward at the feet of Stack and Laura and watched it all unfold. He watched
in disbelief as Charlie turned and began to decimate the Elbum that were about
to kill them.
The Watcher with
green eyes rounded the corner, led by the sound. He stopped in his tracks,
paralyzed as he watched it unfold before him.
His body
illuminated the cave as Charlie howled at the burning in his mind. The moment
stood still to him. The force, velocity, power of every movement anticipated,
prepared for, countered. He was a machine. Every Elbum attack thwarted. Cloaked
elves pitched like bags of groceries.
His hand shot out and gripped the throat of The Mezo.
The Mezo stared
in horror at the expanse in Charlie’s eyes. Fury glowed in the boy’s gaze as he
flipped the Elbum leader, yanking back on the neck at the last moment like a
wet towel, snapping his spine in two. The Mezo collapsed dead to the cave
floor.
The images
shifted faster. Words he didn’t understand. Flashes of things that couldn’t
have been real. Countless understandings. It all began to swirl in his mind
until he could no longer keep up. Something had broken. Something was fighting
to fix itself. His mind was burning out. A cry went up from Charlie, the young
man’s arms flailing wildly in the darkness.
“Help him!”
Laura pleaded with Stack.
Stack could only
stare. Disbelief had finally overcome him.
Charlie glowed
brighter, his flailing body now hovering several feet off the ground. As the
power began to take Charlie one last cry for help escaped his mouth,
“NEEDLESS!”
Needless’ heart
sank. He knew what he had to do. He raised his gun. Laura shrieked her protest.
Needless held his breath and fired.
Charlie watched
the bullet explode from the barrel. He watched it move toward him as his
surroundings slowed down. He watched it sink in. He felt the pain.
With a single
convulsion Charlie dropped and the Skiv fell free and scuttled across the cave
floor. Needless slid across the floor and picked up the tiny rock with the
diffusing stone. He slipped the stone into his pocket and stood up. The guilt
was humbling. His mind was filled with concern for the kid who had, through a
series of miscalculations on Needless’ part, managed to save them all.
As Stack and
Laura moved forward to help Charlie, wounded Elbum scattered in all directions,
running from the man who had savaged them all. Laura knelt down and pulled
Charlie close. In the distance, gunshots and police radios could be heard
echoing off cave walls.
“Laura?” Charlie
said looking into her face. Laura began to cry. Blood gushed from the young
man’s shoulder. “Laura…it’s so dark in
here.”
Stack and
Needless looked at each other.
As Charlie began
to black out he mumbled, “Honey, I can’t see anything.”
The Watcher
fought the urge to run to the boy. He stepped back into the shadows, his deep
green eyes slowly filling with tears.
Moments later,
BCPD Special Weapons Force lights fell on Adam Forray, Laura Medrano and Sgt.
John D’Yen, who carried the gently breathing form of Charlie Pickens.
*
Laura sat in the
waiting room watching history unfold on television. Standing at the podium were
the Mayor, the masked Elfnigma (from a hidden location), Goblin community
leaders, Venect and Smiles. It was a photo op for the newly announced Bridge
Action Group. The past 24 hours had been a litany of calls for peace,
announcements about the Serenity Massacre and, finally, this goodwill
moment. Laura chuckled to think of
Smiles in that group. She knew he was hating every moment of it. She became
aware that the doctor had come in.
“How is he
doctor?”
“He’s resting
now. It was a clean shot. Straight through his shoulder. He should fully
recover in a matter of weeks.”
“Has he started
getting his vision back?”
The doctor
sighed. “No. It seems he has lost his vision completely. We can’t find any
retinal or nerve damage. It’s just…not working. We’re going to keep him under
observation for a few days.”
Laura nodded.
“Well we’ll hope for the best.”
“That’s good.
But you need to help him cope with the fact that he may never see again. You
will both need to think about how his life will change. I can provide you with
the names of some counselors who can help in these situations…”
The doctor
continued to talk but Laura wasn’t listening anymore. Her mind was with
Charlie.
Across the room,
an older man with green eyes listened to every word and sighed. If only they
understood how terrible this was. Not just for Charlie. He wondered, had it all
been for nothing?
*
On the other
side of the country, in an east coast high rise, Rena Telios dropped her
briefcase on the bed. She sipped the glass of wine she had poured and
unbuttoned her blazer. She breathed a sigh as she sat on the edge of the bed
and ran her fingers through her salt and pepper hair. She stared out the window
at the lights of the city, her eyes scanning the skyline as they did every
night, searching for the signal.
She hadn’t
received a communication in nearly a decade. But her oath kept her here. It
kept her searching the skyline nightly. She sipped her wine but the sight
stopped her swallow. She stood and stepped toward the window. The image in the
distance was undeniable.
The signal for
communication.
An hour later,
dressed and wet from the east coast
rain, Rena reached the roof of the building. She pulled an old key out of her
purse. A key that she was given years before and had only been used twice. She
unlocked the steel door and stepped out into the drizzly air of the city. She
moved forward and found it the makeshift fire pit where the signal had gone up.
An ancient
mixture of herbs had caused the fire to change colors in a deliberate
succession. A signal centuries old. Near the fire she found an envelope wrapped
in plastic. She opened the envelope. Rain drops began to collect on the words
as she read them.
“The enemy have reached the second marker
but went no further.
Many dead. It will take
some time for them to
reorganize and make
another attempt.
Presence may soon be
requested in BC.”
Rena sighed. As
she was taught, she folded the message and lit it and dropped it on the fire
pit. The oils and herbs that had soaked the paper blazed purple for a moment,
signaling to the watcher that the message had been received and understood.
Rena turned and
left the rooftop, her mind three thousand miles away in Big City.
THE END
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