Old World Pharmaceuticals

by Brian Myrick

  “When was the last time you went to his house?” Azreal asks.

  “I’ve intentionally avoided going there for a long time now, because I know I will see that his forest has grown,” Haley says, looking concerned.

  “Yes, I think we are both just as guilty of looking the other way when it comes to Gabriel’s habits,” Azreal says then stands and walks to the window.

  “How long can we just keep ignoring it?” Haley says. “We both know that his forest is going to have more trees in it.”

  “You think he is the one reason for the recent disappearances, don’t you?” Azreal asks.

  “We’ve seen this before,” Haley replies sadly. “I don’t know how many times. We can’t just keep hoping he stops. This time, we must do something about it.”

  “So, what are you suggesting we do?” Azreal asks.

  “He needs to start over somewhere no one knows him,” Haley says. “Somewhere less public.” Haley continues. “A less developed country, where his indiscretions won’t be noticed, and if there are, they can be bought off. South America, maybe?”

  “So, you want me to send him away?” Azreal asks. “Just abandon him?”

  “We aren’t abandoning him, Azreal,” Haley argues. “We are saving him again, and this time, we are saving ourselves too.”

  Azreal drops his head and puts his arm on the window frame to support himself. After thinking for a few moments Azreal responds. “You are right, this is the best thing for him and us. It finally must be done.”

  “We should go tonight,” Haley says. “The sooner we address this with him, the better.”

  Azreal says. “We’ll let Steven know on the way out that we will be gone for a few days.” Then, they both walk out of Azreal’s office and shut the door behind them.

  ***

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Year Is 2018

  A

  ngela, Mike, Troy, and Frank are sitting at the table in Angela’s office, going over the papers from the Senator’s box.

  “Well, we don’t really have anything here that doesn’t sound-well, crazy,” Mike says. “Let’s go check out this Gabriel guy.”

  “Who knows?” Troy says, “We may get lucky.”

  ***

  Outside of Gabriel’s house, Angela is sitting in the front seat of a car while Mike sits next to her in the driver’s seat. Both of them focused in on Gabriel’s massive, steel gated entrance.

  The police radio crackles to life with Frank’s voice, “A black Mercedes four-door just past us.”

  Mike picks up the radio mounted inside his car to respond but waits a second until he sees the Black Mercedes pull up to Gabriel’s gate and stop. “10-4, we have eyes on it,” Mike says into the radio. “Get ready to move, we are going in with that Mercedes.”

  “10-4, we are rolling now,” Frank responds. “The steel gates start to open, and the Mercedes slowly move toward them and then past them as it enters the long driveway to Gabriel’s estate.

  “Move, move, slow, though,” Mike can be heard over the radio, “we want them all the way inside the gates. No lights.” Mike pulls out from the side of the road and follows, with Frank’s car right behind him. No headlights; the cars blend into the night.

  The gates close behind them. Mike and Frank pull their cars over as soon as they get inside the gates. The Mercedes continues up the driveway and comes to a stop behind Samantha’s Mercedes, that is still in the driveway.

  Gabriel swings open his front doors and steps out onto his driveway and into the cool night air. Azreal and Haley get out of their Mercedes and Azreal walks around the Mercedes to stand next to Haley in the driveway.

  “So, you have both finally come to my home to see me, how nice,” Gabriel says.

  “Where have you been these last few days, Gabriel?” Azreal inquires.

  “I have been here, Azreal,” Gabriel says with a smile. “Why do you ask?”

  “What have you been doing, Gabriel? And where is Samantha?” Haley asks.

  “I have been here grieving, my friends,” Gabriel says as his smile changes to an emotionless cold face.

  “Grieving?” Azreal asks.

  Gabriel walks out of his doorway and a few steps closer to Azreal and Haley, “Yes, grieving, and I have you two to thank for that! I would blame Samuel also, maybe then I would blame him the most, but he isn’t around anymore for me to blame.”

  “What are you talking about?” Azreal asks.

  Gabriel stops and looks hard at Azreal and Haley for a few seconds, then breaks out into laughter and throws his hand in the air. “You two fools don’t even know what has happened, do you?”

  “Gabriel, we came here because we wanted to help you,” Haley says.

  Gabriel laughed again and then looks back at them with a crazy glazed look in his eyes, “No, Haley, you didn’t come here to help me, and if you knew what happened, you really wouldn’t be here for that. So, have you two seen Samuel lately? Did he say his goodbyes to you?”

  Azreal and Haley look at each other wondering what Gabriel meant by his statement.

  “From that look, I guess not,” Gabriel says. “I thought for sure he would have at least said something to you, Azreal?”

  “Did something happen to Samuel?” Azreal asks.

  “You could say that,” Gabriel says with a laugh. “I went to his house looking for someone to blame, but he beat me to it.”

  “What did you do!” Haley shouts.

  “Unfortunately, I didn’t do anything to him,” Gabriel says. “Like I said he beat me to it. You two can stop by and look at what’s left of his place.”

  “What happened, Gabriel?” Azreal asks.

  “He finally did what he said he was going to all these years,” Gabriel says. “Him and Emma are gone, and he is lucky he did it himself before I got to him!”

  Azreal lowers his head in sorrow, “The Sun?”

  “Absolutely!” Gabriel chuckles. “The house was just ashes and sticks when I got there.”

  “Why did you go there?” Haley asks. “What happened to make you angry enough to want to hurt Samuel?

  “You don’t need to worry about that FDA agent anymore, either,” Gabriel says.

  “Fuck, Gabriel, you killed him, didn’t you?” Haley yells. “They will come looking for all of us!”

  “Why, Gabriel?” Azreal asks. “Why would you do that?”

  “He came here with Steven’s little friend Jacob and a crazy story that he had to have gotten for Myrick,” Gabriel says and starts making circles with both fingers pointing at his head like a crazy person.

  “How do you know Myrick had anything to do with it?” Azreal asks.

  “Because he came with a gun full of silver bullets!” Gabriel hisses. And then points straight at Azreal with his index finger. “That had to be Myrick. You two didn’t keep your deal with him, did you!”

  “I was going to talk to you about him, but you never came in this week,” Azreal says.

  “He got a shot off before I know what he had in the gun,” Gabriel says still looking at Azreal with crazy eyes.

  “Dan?” Azreal asks.

  “Yeah, Dan,” Gabriel yells. “He killed Samantha right where your standing!”

  “Samantha is gone, too?” Azreal asks.

  From the bushes lining Gabriel’s driveway, Troy and Mike emerge with their guns drawn and sighted in on Gabriel.

  “I have heard enough!” Mike shouts at Gabriel. “Stop right where you are, you murdering son-of-a-bitch!”

  From the bushes on the other side of the driveway closer to Azreal and Haley, Frank and Angela emerge from behind trees, guns drawn and pointed at them.

  “Get on your knees, right now!” Mike shouts. “Downright now!”

  “Did you bring more new friends?” Gabriel asks Azreal in a sinister voice.

  “No, Gabriel we must have been followed,” Azreal replies.

  Azreal and Haley
turn around to face Angela and Frank.

  “Don’t hurt them,” Azreal yells to his companions!

  “Azreal, you are on your own now!” Gabriel hisses back at him.

  Gabriel turns and squares off with Mike, sizing him up quickly.

  “I wish you would!” Mike yells. “I’m not going to tell you again! Get on your knees!”

  “Angela, you have grown and done well, I’m happy for you,” Azreal says.

  “Get on your knees!” Angela shouts in response to Azreal. “Now! Now!”

  “Angela, I don’t want anything to happen to you, please lower your weapon and leave,” Azreal says. “This can all be worked out.”

  Faster than light, Gabriel charges at Mike, grabbing his hands that are clenching his gun and with one powerful squeeze from Gabriel’s hands Mike’s hands are crushed, unable to control his gun it drops onto the ground. Gabriel spins around Mike and is behind him before and can move, forcing him to spin in a circle away from Troy, who is trying to stay sighted in on Gabriel with his gun. Ready to shoot at the first opportunity. They end up with Gabriel standing behind Mike with both of them looking at Troy. Mike is on his knees being choked by Gabriel now the same way he choked Dan and the same way he has chocked hundreds of others.

  “Shoot!” Gabriel shouts at Troy, taunting him. While still crouched hiding behind Mike. “Go ahead and kill your friend!”

  Azreal spins around to look at Gabriel, “Gabriel, stop!”

  Gabriel slowly pulls a small silver bladed knife from under his jacket in his back waistband, that he had intended to use in killing Samuel earlier that night, he then raises it to Mike’s throat.

  “Gabriel, stop!” Azreal shouts again.

  “You fool, it’s too late for you to make this go away,” Gabriel yells back to Azreal. “We must be what we truly are again!”

  Gabriel looks over his shoulder at Azreal.

  “Do it,” Mike whispers to Troy as he struggles to breathe.

  Gabriel is looking at Azreal when BOOM! A bullet from Troy’s gun wizzes by the side of Gabriel’s head, missing him by centimetres. Gabriel quickly looks back at Troy and another bang! The second bullet from Troy’s gun finds a home deep in Gabriel’s shoulder. Gabriel jerks back and involuntarily slice deep across Mike’s throat with his knife.

  Gabriel stumbles back a few feet, releasing Mike before catching his balance, and then focusing on Troy. Mike immediately grabs his throat with both hands, in an effort to stop a thick stream of blood squirting out of his throat with every fading heartbeat.

  With the speed of a rocket, Gabriel lunges over Mike at Troy. Before Troy can process what is happening, Gabriel is on top of him, stabbing and slicing him, over and over and over so fast that Tony can’t see where all the blows are coming from. Frank sights his gun in on Gabriel’s back and pulls the trigger three times. BANG, BANG, BANG, all three bullets dig deep into Gabriel’s back, forcing him to push forward. Gabriel spins around, looking back at Frank. Troy falls to the ground in a lifeless bloody mess on the driveway next to Gabriel.

  “Stop!” Azreal shouts in desperation.

  Haley seizes the opportunity, and in a split second, she quickly moves and rips Frank’s gun out of his hand. Then, with the deliberate force of a hammer hitting a nail, Haley punches Frank in the center of his chest. Frank flies backwards, several feet in the air and lands hard on his back, holding his chest and trying to catch his breath, gasping for air.

  Angela turns to look at Frank, then back to sight in on Haley. Azreal moves in and snatches her gun, before she knows he is there, then flings it deep into the bushes next to the driveway. Azreal pushes Angela back a few feet and onto the ground. Sensing Gabriel approaching fast from behind him, Azreal spins around and grabs Gabriel. One hand seizes his throat and the other on Gabriel’s hand that is controlling his knife. With force and speed, Azreal lifts Gabriel up into the air and then slams him to the ground, still clenching Gabriel’s throat like a vice-grip. Azreal quickly startles him with one knee on each side of him forcing Gabriel to remain on his back. Then slowly manipulates the hand, still holding the knife over the center of Gabriel’s chest.

  “It’s okay, my brother,” Gabriel says in a whisper to Azreal.

  “Why are you making me do this?” Azreal cries back at him.

  “You always knew it would have to end this way,” Gabriel hisses. “I’m a monster, and I can never stop being that! No matter how hard you wish it, I will never stop being what I am.”

  Azreal looks up at the night sky and stars flickering in and out as he quickly forces Gabriel’s hand to plunge the silver knife into his own chest. Azreal springs backward as Gabriel burst into a brilliant light of flames and then to dust and ashes.

  Angela stands up and looks at Azreal, in disbelief of what she has just seen. With her mind still trying to process it all, she scans the area for her gun, that is lost in the bushes. Then back to look at Azreal again. Azreal stairs back deep into her eyes, unlocking a flood of memories and emotions that she tries to control. Slowly a lifetime of pictures of Azreal runs through Angela’s mind. Angela walks a few steps closer to Azreal no longer fearing him, still confused she raises her hand and points her finger at him. “You, you’re the man from the party,” Angela says. “When I was just a little girl, you played ball with me. And I remember you carrying me.”

  Angela walks a few more steps toward Azreal to look at him closely in the moonlight. “I have seen you other times too. In the hospital when my mom was sick, I thought I saw you come out of her room and I passed you in the hallway.” Angela continues. “That was the day my mom got better and was able to come home from the hospital, it was you…” Angela still moving closer, she is now only a foot away from Azreal. “And the day I graduated from high school...” Angela stops and looks down still recalling more and more images of Azreal flashing through her life. “The day I was promoted to Agent at the FDA, I saw you in the parking lot on the way to the ceremony… You have always been there.”

  Azrael looks at Angela and smiles as he opens his arms to embrace her.

  THE END

  About The Author

  Brian Myrick was Born in Wasco, CA and lived most of his life in Bakersfield, CA. For the last twenty years Mr. Myrick has been a Federal Agent with the U.S. Government and has traveled extensively throughout the world doing assignments on behalf of U.S. Government. In addition to his federal service he is also a successful business person, owning a chain of bars and restaurants.