The Nostradamus Scrolls

by Preston William Child

  In between avoiding getting shot, Purdue hurried over to the old woman and heaved her up to her feet. She was sobbing, shrieking as he ran with his hands on her hips, nearly dragging her along with him through the park and toward the surveillance van.

  “Purdue!” He heard Nina's voice through one of his ears. “Hurry the hell up!”

  “I'm going as fast as I can!” Purdue yelled back.

  In his other ear, he heard the actual Old Lady laughing. She was probably sitting back somewhere, maybe even in a similar setup as the van, and enjoying the sight of Purdue fleeing for his life from her armed subordinates. Everything must have been going as she hoped—it might have even been better than she hoped.

  The shots had officially been fired. If the Order of the Black Sun and the Old Lady weren't at war before, well, they certainly might be now. That was an assassination attempt, and plenty of wars started that way.

  Purdue was just relieved that they were keeping a fair distance away from the gunmen, which was helping to deter their accuracy. They were close to the van. He saw the door slide open and saw Julian and Sam waiting for him, swinging their arms to signal him to hurry inside.

  The gunmen were closing in behind them. Julian hopped out of the van, which helped make room for Purdue and his elderly cargo and started walking in the opposite direction of the van. Julian straightened his tie as he passed Purdue and offered a mischievous smile like he was about to perform some incredible magic trick. As Purdue help the old woman into the van, he heard more gunshots ring out and turned around to see Julian Corvus walking straight toward the three gunmen that had been pursuing Purdue. Their guns were targeting Julian, and the bullets they sprayed hit him but weren't as effective as they probably hoped. Thanks to Julian's immortality, he was the perfect distraction to stop them from getting any closer to the van.

  Purdue could only watch as they continued to shoot at Julian, and he got into a close-quarters brawl with them anyway, ignoring the healing bullet holes in his torso while he started beating them all to a pulp. They all were armed, but it didn't matter. Julian's body was much more dangerous than their guns could ever be. He systematically beat them all down with relative ease. Purdue and the others just watched in awe as their greatest enemy became their savior for a moment.

  Gerald pulled the van up to Julian, and the unconscious guards and Julian hopped inside casually as if nothing happened, but the holes in his business suit said otherwise.

  “I hate your guts,” Sam said. “But even I'll admit that was impressive.”

  “So happy to hear that,” Julian said. “I aim to please, of course. But once again, you should thank Dr. Gould for giving me such a gift.”

  He liked to rub that fact in Nina's face, just more constant reminders that she had unfortunately given him immortality.

  Purdue was glad to be in the safety of the van, but the security of the van made him momentarily forget the earpiece in his right ear, where he could still hear the Old Lady's breathing.

  “Oh, wow,” she finally said. “That Julian Corvus continues to be as much of a violent brute as he always was. You should have seen some of the things he did for the Order of the Black Sun a long time back, when he was in charge of the Eclipsed. The horrors he committed...it's odd that you would work with that breed of monster.”

  “As opposed to your breed of monster?” Purdue said aloud, and everyone in the van turned to him in confusion, but then immediately realized who he was speaking with. “So that was your big move? Lure me in and have a bunch of your goons riddle me with bullets? You should have just met me in person and shot me yourself then. You might have had a better shot on that bench.”

  “Maybe you're right,” the Old Lady laughed. “The next time we meet might have to be face-to-face then.”

  “Um, Mr. Purdue,” Gerald said, holding out his hand as he drove like he was expecting Purdue to give him something. After a brief moment, Purdue realized that he was waiting for the earpiece that the Old Lady was speaking through. “Could have a tracker component to it. We can't hold onto it.”

  That was smart of him to realize. Purdue nodded and reached for the earpiece but wanted to ask one more thing before abruptly ending this conversation.

  “So that's it then? You and I are going to fight over the future?”

  “It seems so,” the Old Lady laughed. “I was hoping that my search for the rest of Nostradamus's scrolls was going to be without any opposition like you, but alas, I guess we will have to stomach you for a short while longer. It is no matter. We are still going to get to them first.”

  “I don't know,” Purdue said. “I can't imagine those old bones of yours can go very fast, aye? See you in the future then, you old bat.”

  Purdue took the earpiece out of his eardrum and handed it to Gerald, who proceeded to roll down his window and toss the device out, and the Old Lady's voice along with it. Purdue was partially relieved. He felt gross having the Old Lady be that close to his brain.

  Everyone in the van slowly turned to the other old woman that had been involved in this whole meeting—the sobbing mess of a woman who was huddled in the back part of the van. She was a wreck, terrified out of her mind; Purdue wasn't sure if she was more scared from the whole ordeal she had just been through or just by the fact that she had been pulled into a van by a bunch of strangers that she had just helped trick into an ambush—maybe it was a mix of both.

  Nina went over to her and tried to calm her down. They wouldn't be able to get many answers out of her when she was just screaming and sobbing out sounds of panic. They would need her calm enough to at least be able to form actual words. That would be a good start.

  The Old Lady could hear all of the voices fade away. David Purdue and his friends had gotten rid of the earpiece. It was just as well. She didn't need to speak to Purdue any longer. She should have known it wouldn't be so easy to get rid of him. There was a reason that he had been such a thorn in so many people's sides for so long. Now he was a thorn in hers, but she could remove it...it would just take a little bit longer than she initially expected it to. That was all. He was a threat that she hoped to remove before he could cause any more trouble, but since he was so elusive, she could hold off on trying to kill him for the time being and reset her focus back on the remaining scrolls of Nostradamus.

  “I think that went rather well,” Donatello Amaro said behind her awkwardly. “They're reporting back that they nearly had Purdue by his escape van but one of the people he is with attacked them. They say they must have shot this man over a dozen times, but he kept coming all the same, like he barely even cared at all.”

  “Julian Corvus,” the Old Lady deduced. “The Spear of Destiny gave him immortality before he took control of the Order of the Black Sun. To this day, that snake still can't be killed by normal means.”

  “Julian Corvus?” Amaro said, pursing his lips. “Forgive me, but as I recall, Julian Corvus was an enemy of David Purdue. Was he not the one that nearly killed him before Purdue fought back and overthrew his position in that Black Sun society?”

  “That's him,” the Old Lady. “And you are correct. They were trying to murder each other for quite some time. But now it seems they have lowered their swords and put aside their differences. There's only one thing that can unite two warring powers like that...a common enemy. Me, no doubt.”

  “You think so?”

  “Of course,” the Old Lady said. “According to the plants we had put inside the Order of the Black Sun when Julian was in charge, he had every intention to turn the Order's attention on me when the time was right and planned to put a bullet in my head. He didn't like knowing that there was someone out there that knew so much about the Order and had resources that dwarfed even his own. Purdue's fight with him postponed his plans to come after me, but now...it seems like he has chosen to turn his sights back on us, with Purdue's help no less.”

  “What is the old expression?” Detective Amaro asked. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend? This s
eems to be a clear case of that, doesn't it?”

  “Yes, it does,” the Old Lady said. “But I highly doubt that any enemy could make David Purdue and Julian Corvus friends. This is simply an alliance of convenience. And such thinly tethered alliances like that can easily be severed.”

  She hoped that she was right about that. David Purdue was already proving himself to be a rather annoying challenge to her power, and she knew that Julian Corvus was not someone that should be trifled with lightly. The two of them together were undeniably a real problem that she would need to solve. They were both some of the best at what they did, and that was just on their own as individuals. Together, despite being mortal enemies, they could be a much much bigger problem for her and her allies.

  “What now then?”

  “Forget about David Purdue for the time being. We can deal with him later. We already have enough of a head start to move forward with the next stage of our plan.”

  It took a long while, but the panicked woman's breathing finally slowed, and her tears stopped rolling down her cheeks. They got her a bottle of water and Nina sat across from her calmly. She was the best option to talk to her since Purdue was quite displeased with her for luring him into a trap. Hopefully, she would have something helpful to tell them about the Old Lady, otherwise they had just practically kidnapped some woman for no real good reason.

  “That's it,” Nina said soothingly. “No one is going to hurt you.”

  “Someone might,” Julian said flippantly. “We probably should for her tricking us like that, and the real Old Lady probably will for this not nearly as impressive old lady failing her. So I think it's safe to say that someone might hurt her at some point in the near future.”

  “You're not helping,” Nina said with a glare.

  “Sorry,” Julian said. “If it were me, and I wanted to get some information out of her, I would just get it out...the simple way. The guaranteed way. No discussion. Just...”

  “Lock her up in a dungeon for months,” Nina said, referencing her own time as Julian's captive. “Torture her?”

  “It wouldn't be for months,” Julian said. “We'd accelerate it much quicker than that. I still could if you would like me to.”

  The old woman was trembling but Nina just patted her shoulder. “He's not going to hurt you. I'll make sure of that. What's your name?”

  The terrified lady slowly managed to speak. “Constance. My name...it's...it's Constance.”

  “Well, it's nice to meet you, Constance. I am Dr. Nina Gould—”

  “Don't tell her your real name!” Julian snapped. “Amateurs.”

  “Will you relax, Julian Corvus?” Nina snapped back, emphasizing his name. “There's no need to scare her more than she already is.” Nina turned her attention back to the woman, who was staring worriedly at Julian across the back of the van. “How did you end up in that park? Were you working with the...the person who was speaking in your ear?”

  “They—they made me...they took me from my home...kept me in a room for...I don't know how long it was...a day, maybe two. They told me...” She started to tear up. “They told me that if I didn't do exactly as they said, they would hurt my family. They had pictures of my grandson, of my daughter, of my—” She broke down in a blubbering mess, but Nina was comforting and patient with her. Finally, Constance continued. “They said all I had to do was sit on that bench and say exactly what I was told to say. They said I should try my best to sound like her...”

  Luckily, she hadn't done a good enough impression to fool Nina.

  “They said as long as I did that, they would let me go, and my family would be okay. I didn't know what it was about...I still don't know what any of this is...I just want to go home. I just want to make sure that they're...” She started breaking down in hysterics again. Even Julian couldn't blame her for that. There was a high chance that her family could be in danger now that Constance had failed the Old Lady. “But she wouldn't hurt them, right? I did everything they told me to. I did whatever they said!”

  “I'm sure they're okay,” Nina said with a warm smile, but she wasn't sure herself.

  No one knew much about the Old Lady still and what she was capable of outside of the vague horror stories that Julian had told them. Even her time meeting her hadn't revealed much to Nina about what the Old Lady really wanted and how far she was willing to go to get it. Their best bet right now was to see if Constance knew anything.

  “She could be a plant,” Purdue whispered beside Nina, sounding paranoid. Naturally, he was probably pretty paranoid at the moment, given that he had just been tricked into having a conversation with the wrong old woman.

  Nina ignored him. “Is there anything you could tell us about the people that took you? Anything at all? Anything that you might have overheard or seen when they had you?”

  Constance wiped away some more of her tears and stared at the van wall. They all watched her intently, which probably wasn't helping her concentration.

  “They talked a lot about catacombs,” Constance said. “They said that quite often. Something about exploring catacombs. Something about scrolls in catacombs.”

  “Catacombs,” Nina repeated. “Like the ones beneath Paris?”

  “I...I don't know...I'm sorry.”

  Nina and Purdue looked at one another uncertainly.

  INTERLUDE: WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG

  Agatha didn't usually care for fortune-tellers. The majority of them were just charlatans trying to make some quick money. Everyone knew that, and they still would go to them anyway. Some people just liked to hear a bunch of made-up nonsense. She didn't get that. Agatha much preferred facts over fantasy. She didn't need to hear about who she would marry in the future—in truth, she didn't plan to ever marry some sap—and she certainly didn't

  Agatha immediately knew that this fortune-teller wasn't like the rest she had seen over the years. The fortune-teller—perhaps not so ironically—was called May, and she was a young woman in her thirties, just like Agatha, with dark skin that made her bright eyes even brighter. When she spoke, she spoke with real confidence in her words. It didn't sound rehearsed or dramatized like so many of the others did. There was a real charisma about her that seemed to draw people to her table, which was tastefully set with totems and cards rather than a giant crystal ball.

  “What can I help you with? Why have you come here today?”

  Agatha gave a small smile. It seemed like such an obvious question, so she gave an obvious answer. “I want to hear what the future holds for me, of course. The same reason that everyone else comes here. Although I'm sure it will just be the usual affair in the end, won't it?”

  “I can show you what may happen, but it is just one of many possibilities. I cannot guarantee it will come to pass.”

  That sounded extremely convenient for the fortune-teller. Only being able to predict what could happen was hardly a prediction at all; it was more like a vague guess or a crackpot theory based on nothing factual. That way, May would never technically be wrong in her prophecy since there was a high chance of her prediction never happening. Agatha almost got up and left right then and there since this fortune-teller was probably just as phony as all of the rest were. But something—the look in the woman's eyes perhaps—compelled Agatha to stay seated. The fortune-teller didn't seem like she was dramatizing anything; in fact, this all seemed so normal for her. Maybe she just forgot to make this a big display, or she was just sick of her job, but Agatha couldn't help feeling that there was something authentic about this woman. She might as well stay and see if May remained as genuine as she initially seemed.

  “You do not believe me, do you? You are...what is the word...?”

  “Skeptic.”

  “Yes,” May said. “That's it. Skeptic. Let me show you that your skepticism is not needed here.”

  ((CONNECT))

  May pulled out a knife and poked the tip of it into Agatha's palm, drawing blood. Aggie flinched but didn't mind pain too much, especially when it
would help her possibly get what she wanted. May closed her eyes and squeezed Agatha's bloody hand and closed her eyes. Moments later, the fortune-teller started throwing herself around in her seat, her eyes rolling up. She writhed and squirmed in her chair, convulsing as she clung to Agatha's hand with a painful vice grip. When she spoke, she sounded distant rather than sitting just across the little table.

  “The world is an open book to you. You enjoy glossing over earlier chapters to see what you have missed, but really, you mostly want to skip to the final page...to see how this all ends. You hope you can contribute to a happy ending. You hope you can rewrite the whole book in your own words.”

  So far, she wasn't wrong. Agatha wanted nothing more than to have an influence on the world, but she never thought much about the world being a book, but when she thought about that analogy...it still applied to her. Maybe this fortune-teller was the real deal for once. That would be a welcome surprise, but all Agatha could do was focus on the pain running through her hand and up her arm. Drops of blood splashed down onto the table between them as May squeezed harder.

  “You might be able to make a difference. I cannot see if it is a good difference or a bad difference. It might not matter. Bringing about change is not always about good and bad. No, no, no, no. It is about the change itself. The act of transformation. You are already transforming, aren't you? Becoming something far greater than what you were before. You are currently in the midst of your change, tucked away in your cocoon. When you emerge, you may be great. You may not.”

  There were the fortune-teller's uncertainties. Agatha felt her anger coursing through her body and suddenly threw her free hand on top of May's, squeezing her hand back after having to endure her grip. May looked surprised by the disturbance, but her eyes were still closed, lost in whatever vision she was supposedly seeing.

  Agatha would get the real future out of this woman. “I didn't come here for possibilities. I didn't come here for mights, mays, or maybes. I came here to know the future, to really know it. Tell me what I want to know. Tell me what is for sure going to happen. Now.”