by B.A. Savage
“Come on, little bro, you can’t die on me. Tough it up! You can’t die.” As he leans down and holds his brother close crying, he doesn’t notice Big Sal’s eyes open. Little Sal lets out a loud scream from behind the car; then silence.
One of the Cuban men is attacked from behind by an unseen assailant.
The other Cuban notices and starts calling for his comrade. He notices that there’s a pool of blood under the car where he saw him last.
Figuring his comrade was dead, he focuses on saving his own life. He hears something behind, he turns and it’s Little Sal and his partner, they both have bullet holes and blood pouring out of them. They seem unaffected.
He shoots Little Sal twice, who keeps his pace toward him.
“What the hell!?”
The Italian boss has enclosed himself behind some metal storage containers. He turns his head sharply to see someone approaching, he lifts his Derringer, ready to fire until he notices who it is, “Bu, but, but you’re dead. I watched you die! It can’t be!”
Janell stared out of the window, without the grin wavering one bit. There is no more gunfire. She stands with the same look, until one of the warehouse doors opens and lets light pours in. Her look turns to panic. She runs and enters the elevator. As the door shuts, the same grin appears.
Chapter Four
Deep within the dark enclosed cavernous lair lies a laboratory filled with high tech gadgets and decomposing bodies. The bodies are stored in a cylinder like structures, filled with an unknown substance. Out of the darkness that serves as doorways to this room, enters a huge muscular black man, in a torn monk style robe. His walk is steady and emotionless. As he passes by several machines he approaches a stairwell that seemingly leads to an upstairs area.
Once he has passed the stairwell a dark figure leaps from the top of the stairwell. This figure comes crashing down on the back of his neck with a sword. The momentum of the attacker and the motion of the sword sent the black man rolling forward several feet. The black man stands up amazingly unharmed from the attack. He turns around and looks at his attacker, a dark mysterious woman with a look of disappointment on her face.
The man says with a monotone voice, “You and your infatuation with death have never ceased to amaze me. Hopefully one day this will not wear thin on my patience, and you end up dead yourself.”
The man turns and continues his walk down the path he was originally going. The woman looks at her sword and is visibly upset that it did no damage. Violently she swings the sword at the stone wall, taking a huge chunk out of it. She throws the sword to the ground, and follows after the man. Once she arrived a few feet from where the black man stopped, she also stopped. He pays little attention to her presence. It doesn’t seem to bother her.
As the black man types in a password on the computer in front of him, and starts looking at the information on the screen he asks out loud, “Well, how have the bodies taken to the enhancements?”
His question is answered from what appears to be a creature flying slowly towards him also from out the darkness, “Master, they have taken well, as you have predicted, the range in which she can control them seems to be a mere 300 feet.”
“Good, I have managed to inquire the Stones of Forgat, which should allow her ability to be broadened by ten-fold.”
The lady walks up and stands beside the man overlooking the information as well. The creature that was flying has landed on the counter to other side of the man. The creature’s appearance is quite unique. It stands two and a half feet tall, with bat like wings, and matching fangs. With a chimpanzee body, scorpion like tail, and its right arm has a lizard feel to it with razor like claws, while the left arm still has its chimp form. Its head has the same feel of its right arm, but its eyes appear to be that of a raccoon.
The man says to the lady, “Grimsley, go retrieve Kane; it is time for part two”. The lady walks off and up the stairwell.
The black man continues, “Were you able to acquire enough bodies to help us get better specimens now that I am back with the stones?”
“Yes, Master, we were able to capture and eliminate enough transients, and we are waiting for your command.”
“Good job, Diabolical Chee-Chee.”
The man continues to type on the computer and study the information.
He thinks out loud, “It’s amazing how much more the human body can take when it’s dead and silent, versus being alive and complaining.”
Chee-Chee replies, “Yes, Master, complaining is a very humanistic trait.”
“I agree.”
Ms. Grimsley walks back down the stairwell with an even bigger black man in tow. Once both individuals are in close proximity of the man typing, the man turns around and asks Kane, “Is it time yet?”
“No, Master, it is not.”
“Good, let’s start part two.”
Chapter Five
Detective Thomas Allen is walking back from the water cooler when he is confronted by two fellow police officers.
“Steal any good jewelry from the stiffs lately?” says the officer holding a bagel and cup of hot coffee.
“Yeah, or did you accidentally steal it from a sleeping street person, who you mistaken for a stiff?” adds the other.
Before Detective Allen could muster a response, Captain Dennis Dearmyer calls for him to come into his office. He heads towards the Captain’s office but not before he gazes over the accusing officers with angry in his eyes.
As he enters the office, he asks, “Yes cap?”
“Shut the door.”
Allen does.
Dearmyer says, “Son, I know you are a good cop just like your father was, but I don’t know what to do with you.”
“What did I do? Those idiots started with me first. Everyone acts like I’m a curse.”
“Some people think you are.”
Thomas just shakes his head in disbelief.
Dearmyer continues with a reassuring smile, “I’m not one of them. That’s why I had you re-assigned here. Now, I’m not going to talk to those two or anyone here about the way you are being treated. We are all adults and you all need to handle it like adults. If I talk to them, it would only make things worse. Time will work things out. Trust me; I’ve been on the force for 20 years.”
“I know. Cap, I hope this is not the only reason I was called in here.”
“No, it is not. Got another case for you.”
“No disrespect Cap, but this dead body detail is not helping with my image around here, with the whole curse thing and all.”
“I understand, but I figure something basic like dead body abductions would be a good start for the cursed man.” Dearmyer finished that statement with a smile that received a smile in return.
“Plus this one is not missing…yet.”
With his curiosity sparked, Detective Allen asks, “yet?”
“Just call it a hunch. Six mortuaries have been robbed within the last 3 weeks. All the bodies taken within 48 hours of being buried. That is correct right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I don’t imagine, whoever these sick fucks are, that they would overlook the dead body of a semi-celebrity.”
“Who?”
“Chris Schrock”
“Semi-celebrity?! Are you joking?! The six time Mr. Karate USA, the star of his own TV show ‘Sure you wanna kick it with me?’ Spokesman of Ha-Ya Action Gloves? Semi-celebrity?”
“I remember, when you were a little kid and your father took you to see him in person. He’s one of McLaughlin’s City’s most famous celebs ever, but he’s not really known much outside the martial arts world.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I heard about his death too. Died filming his first ever major motion picture. Man that sucks.”
“Well, he is going to be flown back to Mack City, this weekend. We need you to stake out the place for the two days after the funeral. We have you an apartment set up with surveillance; you’ll be teaming up with one of the vets here, McBaue
r. He’s a good cop. Here’s your info.”
Allen graciously takes the folder.
“Kid?”
“Yes, captain?”
“Be careful, there’s no telling just how weird these fucks are. Don’t hesitate to radio back up if you need it. The mayor was a friend of this family, so you know brass has their hands in my pocket and they ain’t just fishing.”
“No problem, cap.”
Chapter Six
“Well Kid, I’m about to go see Tina. Think you can handle it by yourself for a while?” says Detective McBauer.
During the first six hours of the stake out, pretty much all that could be talked about was talked about, and during that time frame one thing that Detective Allen picked up was that McBauer’s wife’s name was not Tina, “I thought your wife’s name is Sally?”
“And your name better be Mud.”
“Ohhhhh….Ok, don’t be gone too long, just in case I need you.”
“Kid, I’m not your babysitter. You’re doing just fine and I’m in it for the cheap thrills, I don’t use pills, so I won’t be long.”
“Too much information.”
“You asked.”
McBauer exits the apartment.
About thirty minutes pass and Detective Allen is daydreaming back to the moment he first met his childhood hero, Chris Schrock. His father told him all week that they we going to see his uncle’s prized moose head that he just caught. Young Thomas thought it was going to be another boring trip to his uncle’s, whom he despised. Ever since, he heard Schrock state a real man uses his hands and faces his adversaries face to face, not with a gun and out of arm’s reach. To young Thomas, his uncle was a coward, hiding in a bush, camouflaged, with a gun with a scope, “what kind of challenge was that?” He thought.
He had hoped that if he had fell asleep during the car ride, his father would just let him sleep in the back seat until it was time to leave. To Thomas’s father, the stern proud Cuban that he was, father-son bonding was just that, bonding. He woke Thomas as soon as they arrived.
Wiping away the sleepiness from his eyes with both closed fist, Thomas sat up in the seat to find that they were at the Americall Shopping Plaza.
“What are we doing here? Thought we were going to Uncle Toupes?”
“We are, just not today.”
Confused and still groggy from the car ride, Thomas followed his father into the mall. It only took a few steps inside before Thomas realized what was going on in front of him. On center stage at a podium with an American flag on it, was Chris Schrock, surrounded by 100’s of kids, mostly with their fathers.
Schrock did everything that day from breaking boards and cement blocks with his bare hands, to signing autographs and an inspiring speech, part of which Thomas took with him to help keep him motivated through the tough times of losing his father and mother.
As the adult Thomas looks out the apartment window, he mouths those life changing words, “Dream it, believe it, live it.”
Movement from across the street in the cemetery grabs his attention. He quickly grabs the high-powered binoculars. He sees two people who have just starting to dig at the grave and two people standing by, apparently the look outs.
He looks at his watch, “Damn it! Where the hell is McBauer? I can’t wait!”
He radios for backup to the location, and then hightails it out of the apartment, down the stairs and across the street toward the graveyard.
Once in the cemetery, Thomas approaches slowly and in the shadows. He waits patiently behind a large gravestone, label “Johnson”. He cracks a joke to himself about the name, “this is one big Johnson.”
Thomas looks on as the two people digging have almost finished exhuming the casket.
“What the hell is taking back up so long?” He listens for sirens but nothing. “I can’t let captain down.” He leaps from behind the cover of the tombstone with his gun drawn, “Freeze! Hold it right there.”
The two apparent lookouts don’t budge, as if they didn’t’ even hear him, yet they are facing him. The two digging stop digging until a voice can be heard shouting, “Imbeciles! Continue to dig. Grimsley will take care of the officer.”
The men do as told, while the other two still stand motionless.
Thomas looks around to try to find where the voice came from.
“Up here you imbecile!”
He looks up on top of a huge stone monument over 20 feet tall. There is a woman, with long black hair that covers most of her face. She is wearing a black cloak that almost blends in with the darkness of the night. On her shoulder is a bat-like creature. It appears to be a mixture of several different reptilian creatures and some creatures of the night mixed into one, two foot tall creepy doll.
“What in the hell?”
The creature on her shoulder speaks, “You could not even begin to comprehend what I am, imbecile!”
The lady tilts her head enough that Thomas can sense that she is looking at him. Even in this darkness, the cold darkness of her eyes stands out. She then looks back at the two motionless men. The men start toward him.
This grabs Thomas attention, as he points his gun and yells the same instructions as before.
The men don’t stop.
“Damn it, don’t make me shoot!”
They continue.
Thomas thinks to himself, “This is the part I hate, but kinda like.”
He puts his gun away, and readies to defend himself hand to hand style.
Thomas lands several martial arts kicks and punches to the approaching men sending each to the ground on several occasion, only to watch them get up as if they we getting up from watching TV to use the restroom.
“What gives? They should be hurting, shit my hands are! They aren’t even making a sound.”
That pause, allowed one of the attackers to get close enough to grab him with an icy grip.
“What ice box did they you climb out of?” Thomas flips his attacker over his shoulder and to the ground as he leans for to punch him, he notices that the man’s face is decomposing.
“What in God’s name?”
The crackling of a whip can be heard right before Thomas feels his feet being drawn together from behind and taken out from under him. He hits his head on a rock on the way to the ground.
Thomas is trying to fight blacking out, but is losing the battle and everything seems to be blaring together. From his sideways view of the world, he sees the creepy creature that was on the woman’s shoulder floating toward him.
“About to die and the only thing that you can ponder in your pathetic mind is what is the creation that is in front of you. Imbecile!”
The creature extends his paw and its razor claws; he lifts his paw to strike, then stops suddenly. “Are you sure? You are lucky imbecile, next time you will not leave my presence alive.”
Chapter Seven
Thomas’s involuntary concussion nap is broken by the jolt of the gurney being lifted to the lock position. He tries to sit up but the restraints are holding him down. “What the hell? What’s going on? Get these off me.”
A paramedic states, “Sorry, detective but you were out cold, restraints were necessary. Let me get those off of you.”
As Thomas sits up, Captain Dearmyer walks up to the gurney. Thomas asks, “What’s going on Cap?”
“I don’t know, you tell me. I got here and you were out cold, the body is gone and there is no sign of anyone, and where the hell is McBauer?”
“Right here sir.” McBauer had approached almost as the same time as the captain did.
“And where the hell were you?”
“Umm… family emergency.”
“Family emergency?”
“Yeah, I told the kid about it. I told him I’ll be right back. Right kid?”
Thomas agrees with the look of obvious disbelief, “Yeah, right back.”
“I guess I just had bad timing, huh?” McBauer gives a small laugh.
Captain is not smiling. He t
urns his attention back to Thomas, “So why didn’t you radio for backup?”
“I did. They never came. I sat here as long as I could; I had to act, but I gave them at least ten to fifteen minutes.”
“Well I’m going to look into this. I was told that this was called in by a passerby that thought that people were fighting in the cemetery.”
“Well, we were fighting in the cemetery.”
“And where are they now?”
“Like I know.”
“Well, someone better know! I got the Mayor and the Chief breathing down my neck and I thought you could handle this.”
“Captain, these were no ordinary grave robbers. I hit them with kicks and punches that would have dropped a cow, and they just kept getting up.”
“I don’t know about a cow but this situation sure is bullshit.”
“Come on captain, I’m a 3rd degree black belt in 3 different art forms. I know how to take a person down and out. I’m telling these people…well, this is going be hard to believe…but I think they were…dead.”
“Dead? Did I hear you right? Dead?” Dearmyer motions for the paramedics, “Strap him back down, he’s got head trauma.”
Pushing the paramedics off him, “I’m serious captain, the two that attacked me were cold and decomposing.”
“Good Lord, this is what I have to give to the Chief? Dead bodies being abducted by dead bodies?”
“I know how weird it sounds but it’s the truth.”
“You get some rest, you got some explaining to do first thing tomorrow morning.”
Captain walks off.
McBauer walks up to the gurney, “Good looking out kid, but come on, at least my excuse was believable. Dead bodies, get out of here.”
Thomas shakes his head in frustration and lays back down on the gurney. They roll him off.
Chapter Eight
The two men who were digging the body up earlier are now dragging a 10 foot by 6 foot crate on wheels. Laying next the crate, also being pulled is the lifeless body of Chris Schrock.
“Man, these jobs would be so much easier if we didn’t have to dragged this damn crate around everywhere.” Mumbles one man to the other.
“You know what’s in here right?”
“Yeah, and have you noticed that this thing has a parachute on it, and we don’t even have one for us on the copter?”
Unnoticed, the creature from the graveyard has flown and land quietly on top of the crate. “Is there some reason that you two are speaking?”