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by Charles W Jones

Becki watched him from the gray corner between the living-room window and the short wall dividing the dining room, making it her duty to be his guardian as the one God had assigned him had stayed at a distance. Luckily, he hadn’t seen her when he returned from the bathroom, otherwise, he would’ve yelled at her to leave.

  After hiding the key in her special spot, she returned to be near him. She liked him a lot, though she’d made fun of him when they’d first met, she enjoyed looking at his stocky build and hair covered chest.

  He made her happy the way his muscles bulged at the shoulders and biceps, giving way to a large round chest, over a flat stomach. He reminded him of the way her father had looked before he went to war but never came back.

  His eyelids closed for the final time as sleep claimed Tyler. Careful to not make a sound, she crossed the room to the sofa, watching his face go slack as he drifted deeper into sleep. She tapped a finger on his knee, expecting him to jump awake but he didn’t. Satisfied he wasn’t going to wake and spoil what she wanted to do, she sat next to him.

  Lifting his arm, careful not to wake him, she slid into the back cushion, wrapping his arm around her. She listened to his heartbeat as she lay her head against him, feeling his warmth radiate into her. Content, she slept.

  Cody’s entrance into the apartment from the kitchen door didn’t disturb them. Seeing Becki nestled under Tyler’s arm wasn’t something he ever expected to see; at least she wasn’t a threat.

  Trying not to disturb them, he returned through the dining room to the doorway into the hall and to his room. He didn’t feel comfortable in the hotel, but he wanted clean clothes for tonight.

  After collecting a clean shirt and some toiletries, and stuffing them into a bag, he snuck back out the door to the alley.

  His mind raced to where he was going as he headed east on the buckled sidewalk. Walking the side of the highway made him feel exposed to scrutiny, so when he reached King Street, he cut across it to the abandoned service station to First, continuing east. He froze in his tracks.

  Ahead, a block away was the park where the circus had set up one summer evening, but it wasn’t what caused him to stop.

  The Red Grouse used to stand between him and the park. It had burned to the ground several years after the fire on Main Street.

  He’d felt horrible for the family who’d lived there at the time. They had two children, younger than him. He’d heard them tell of the strange slots in their bedroom doors. Knowing the house, at its creation, had been a house-of-ill-repute, he had the feeling the slots were for the madam to make sure her clients were getting their money’s worth.

  Now as he observed where it had been, he was surprised to realize it was one of the four houses at the corners of town. Two familiar looking children, playing in the front yard of the home standing where the whore house had been, paid no attention to him as he continued his excursion to the end of town.

  He hadn’t planned what he was going to do once he left the Shanley, or where he was going. A single green-painted, metal picnic table sat alone in the middle of the park below the canopy of elms. Warm air gusted across him, the afternoon was beginning to warm, but at least the trees gave him shade. His body glistened with perspiration.

  He glanced at his watch; he had four hours to prepare. His mind went blank, and everything he’d read in the last few months disappeared. Memories of what Belphegor had told him, floated through the emptiness.

  Belphegor’s explanation of God’s word had caused confusion, but when Hector had agreed with the Fallen Angel it grew. Nothing made sense. The earthbound Angel had never lied to him, but Cody was sure there had been countless omissions and wasn’t it, in the end, a lie?

  Wishing for Hector to show herself, he leaned back on his elbows on the lawn in need of grooming. Bergen was sure Cody would know what to say tonight as he had the night before. But at the moment, he had no idea. All left to do now was wait until seven and hope.

  The TV babbled to Tyler as he slept, giving him strange dreams of things he had to have and perilous adventures; a wet mop was all he needed to fight off the dangerous men who had hunted him.

  His eyes flew open, and his gaze traced around the dimmed room. He jumped from the couch calling for Cody and Jen, but just like before his nap. They didn’t answer.

  Muttering under his breath, he searched the apartment, confirming they hadn’t returned. Voices beyond the door to the lobby and the ringing of the desk bell took him from his search. With a hand on the knob, he realized he wasn’t dressed, and retreated through the open double-doors to pull on some clothes.

  The crowd in the lobby was greater than the number of rooms in the hotel (at least three times greater) even if he found the key to open the basement, the four dank rooms down there didn’t do much to reduce the number he’d have to turn away.

  An irritated woman stood first in line, the frown on her face giving her the impression of a bulldog. Having no idea how to handle the situation, Tyler stepped back into the apartment and locked the door. Where were they? What was more important than their duties?

  The only thing on his mind was facing Mr. Bel’s displeasure. After Cody’s first disappearance, he had come to understand the boiling wrath stored inside the man always ready to fly from him at any moment.

  Determined to find them, he snatched his phone from the table and pressed Jen’s name, hoping she answered this time. The phone rang three times.

  “Hello, Tyler,” a sweet, melodic voice said in his ear. “You need to go out the back door, and walk to the end of town.”

  “What? Who is this?” He demanded. “Did you kidnap my brother and Jen? Mr. Bel will pay any ransom, and you’ll regret—”

  The phone cut off before he finished. Mr. Bel had warned about people who were against him, and how they attempted to stop him from his dreams. Now they had struck.

  He bolted from the apartment, through the throng in the lobby and upstairs. His bare feet pounded the floor as he trotted to the end of the hall. Before his clenched fist hit the door to knock, it swung in.

  Mr. Bel turned happily from the window. How he wished he didn’t have to tell the man of Cody’s abduction (Jen didn’t matter to the man). He did not want to see the smile removed from his glorious face, and feel the anger filling the room. If only he’d alerted Mr. Bel when he had discovered they were gone, he wouldn’t have to suffer this encounter.

  “You look upset,” Mr. Bel said, placing his glass on the dresser top. “What is wrong? Eli forget to order capers?”

  “Cody has been abducted,” he said abruptly. “I just called Jen, but the kidnappers answered.”

  Mr. Bel laughed at the quirky joke. Seeing the distraught appearance hadn’t faded from him, seriousness replaced the laughter. “Impossible, no one would dare. Not now. What did they say?”

  “They told me to go to the end of town.”

  The man’s brow scrunched together as his head tilted to the side. “It doesn’t sound like a ransom call. What else did they say?”

  “Nothing. When I told them you’d be angry, they hung up.”

  “Hmmm. Are you sure you dialed the correct number?”

  “Yes,” Tyler replied, his stomach tied in knots with every second he stood in the room. “They’ve been gone all day. Bill said they were in the basement and locked the door when they left. He hadn’t seen—”

  “They were in the basement? I didn’t know Jennifer was selling those rooms.” Tyler shook his head. Mr. Bel tapped his chin, glancing down the hall. Shadows stalked the corridor and sitting area. “Well, I’m sure they’re fine. Cody’s more than likely in the theater, you know he loves it there.”

  “Oh? Yeah, I didn’t think to look there, but Jen—”

  “She, I assume, is with Eli. I told you, he’d steal her away from you.” To poke him more, he continued, “When you called, she disguised her voice and gave you those bizarre instructions.” Tyler blushed.

  “I guess she’s done with us. You’ll have to find so
meone to run the hotel, or maybe it’s your new job since the restoration is finished.” Mr. Bel turned back to the window with wine in hand. “Why don’t you go back down, and check in our guests before you go to the theater to see I’m right about where Cody is? You have an hour before he goes on.”

  “Yes, sir,” Tyler replied meekly, backing into the hallway.

  When the door clicked shut, Belphegor returned the glass to its position. A deep frown embedded itself on his face. He faded, matching the paleness of the light coming in from the windows. His features melted away, dissolving into nothingness. A dark shadow flooded the floor, moving stealthily toward the door and under it, passing Tyler on the stairs, unnoticed.

  At the bottom, it paid no attention to the frustrated people in the lobby but moved around the corner to the black rectangle under the basement door. Though he’d told himself he’d pay more attention to what they were doing, he’d been daydreaming about going home. Their punishment would be swift if they caused Cody any harm he’d not ordered them to perform.

  The moment the shadow entered the boiler room, Belphegor reformed into his earthly shape. To his right, the door to the room holding his treasured offerings remained closed, while the tunnel stood open. He strode along the wall to the door leading outside. The empty carcass didn’t immediately catch his attention as it looked like discarded clothing. Then he found a clot of hair, and he knew his child had fed, and he saw the events leading to the woman’s death. He smirked.

  They had done his bidding without being asked, luring her to the basement, and giving her to the growing beast; punishment for her treacherous act of turning her back on Cody when he had given her a job. Eli hadn’t yet received his reward for stealing the woman from Cody, but now his concern was locating the one who he had chosen to help him return home.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.

  2 Peter 1:19, KJV

  After the few guests were checked in, Tyler bolted down the street to the theater, but he didn’t find his brother anywhere inside. More concerned, he stepped into the Top Hat.

  The only person he knew inside was Eli bringing food from the kitchen. He was still unsure whether he cared the man had taken Jen from him and didn’t want to speak to him with at the moment for fear of a heated exchange.

  The voice from the other end of the phone echoed in his mind. Outside the Top Hat, he searched the road to the end of town where he had been told to go.

  Standing at the back door, unnoticed by Tyler, Eli watched with his lower lip pushing the top into his mustache, making the coarse hair touch his nose.

  Eli thought it a strange time for Tyler to be going for a walk, but leaving the restaurant to learn what was happening wasn’t an option right then. The aroma of sizzling steaks brought him back from wondering about the man.

  As he reached the end of the block, Tyler’s feet refused to move another step. Vibrating beads caught his attention. A rattlesnake coiled under a clump of sagebrush stuck its red tongue at him. But it wasn’t what stopped his movements, he wanted to continue his trek to the next block and the remaining distance, but his body refused to obey its orders.

  No matter how he strained, his legs didn’t move him forward. His stomach tensed, forcing air through the lengths of his intestines with loud rumbling. Tingling climbed his legs. Gray clouds pushed around his consciousness, impairing his sight. The beat of his heart turned erratic, his breathing no more than a wheeze. Dizziness swayed the world around him through the tunnel left of his vision.

  His right leg moved backward a step after much concentration, the symptoms he suffered wavered.

  Another step back with his left removed them more. The snake shook its tail harder, coiling tighter, readying for the strike.

  Tyler swung around the opposite way, looking like a marionette controlled by an amateur puppeteer. A stumbling step toward the theater returned his vision to true. Another, and the tingling in his legs smoothed away. One more caused his bowels to stop feeling as though they were going to fail him and fill his jeans with shit.

  Without looking over his shoulder, he ran to Main Street never wanting to feel what he had felt ever again. The closer he came to the theater, his mind erased memories of the sensations. Opening the door, the timeline stored in his head told him he had left the Top Hat no more than seven seconds ago. A few people waiting inside, glanced at him as he entered. Tyler greeted them with smiles, though he was eager to find Cody.

  Racing down the aisle, he focused on the closed curtain. At the edge of the unused orchestra pit, he turned right to the short steps leading onto the stage. His hand pushed the red velvet back, allowing him to pass to the side of the stage.

  All the lights beamed down, focusing on the polished oak floor. The lighting coordinator nodded at him as he crossed to the back. The open floor leading down to the tunnel was dark. He hoped he didn’t need to search for him in the basement.

  In less than thirteen minutes he needed to find his brother before the audience filled the theater. He cussed in his mind as the lanky man pushed a dust mop across the stage, the cords to his headphones swayed with his steps. The backdoor with its blaring red ‘Exit’ sign over it was closed, maybe Cody was in the yard, meditating before it was time to speak.

  “Should’ve looked there first,” he mumbled, pushing the door open.

  Flowers bounced in the breeze. Bees jumped from blossom to blossom, filling their sacks with nectar. A rabbit twitched its ears and nose as the door opened.

  From the backdoor, he scrutinized the backyard; the white table sat empty, a blackbird perched on the rock that Cody had insisted be brought in.

  Back inside, Tyler wanted to scream. Where was he? He peered into the Green Room again, but it was empty, as was the bathroom next door. Voices of patrons, muffled by the curtain, came at him. Pushing back the curtain enough to see through, he peeked at the audience finding seats, Holy Bibles held in most of their hands.

  The clock on the wall behind the draw cables where he stood, told him three minutes remained before his brother was to begin tonight’s sermon. The clang of feet on the spiral staircase spun him around.

  The brilliant blond of Mr. Bel’s hair poked from the darkness below. His heart raced. What was he going to say? Definitely not, ‘Cody hasn’t returned, but don’t worry, I’ll go on for him.’

  The second hand counted down the seconds before the curtain was to open. Mr. Bel watched with satisfaction as he approached. Tyler tried to relax the tension straining his face. The backdoor swung inward. Mr. Bel’s head turned to glance behind him.

  Tyler expelled a loud sigh, then hissed, “Cutting it short, aren’t you, Cody?”

  Cody glared at Belphegor, something he hadn’t done since the day of his arrival. Tyler had seemed anxious before his brother came in the back door. Something had happened. Reaching his hand to Cody, Belphegor sent inquiry into him; each was rejected as Cody twisted away, avoiding contact.

  Besides his attitude is different from the interested pupil, his attire wasn’t what Belphegor had expected Cody to wear while sharing his message—the brown suede vest, Cody wore most of the time, was unbuttoned, revealing his tanned chest and abdomen. The tattoo, he was ordinarily diligent in hiding from the world, shown clearly on the side of his lower arm in the bright stage light. Worn jeans without a belt drifted below his navel, giving a glimpse of dark hair above the button. No shoes covered his dusty feet.

  “Maybe, we should cancel tonight,” Belphegor said, trying again to search Cody’s mind, but was met with the same barricades. “You look exhausted. Have you been outside all day?”

  “I have,” he replied, keeping his attention on Tyler; looking at the Fallen Angel allowed infiltration. “I needed time away.” He nodded to Tyler as he stopped center stage. Tyler pressed the button on the wall, causing th
e motor to pull the curtains open. He continued, addressing the audience once the curtains were open, “I took a walk with a friend today. We discussed everything imaginable from current affairs to history. We even talked about the weather.

  “My friend told me things I had never dreamed possible. Things which weren’t possible. However, this friend doesn’t lie, so I believed what was said without question. The biggest thing I came to realize when our conversation was over, is God is love.”

  Belphegor sighed with relief, the way Cody had acted there hadn’t been any way to predict what he’d planned on saying.

  “He loves us no matter what we do. He loves us if we do wrong. And even when we don’t confess our wrongs to Him, He keeps us in his hands. He doesn’t care how we dress or what we look like on the outside. His love is unconditional.”

  Pausing, he looked from face to face. At the back, he was surprised to see people standing. He continued, “Another thing I learned today is, not everything is as it seems. People work to manipulate you to do what they want. Sometimes it isn’t a bad thing. They have a goal, and they want to see it through. I’ve been manipulated into speaking to you about God’s love. The person who pulled my strings to do this might not have had the best intentions.”

  Belphegor balled his fists.

  “The true intentions aren’t clear. Do they matter?” Cody’s voice raised with his answer. “I don’t think it is. After our discussion ended, I questioned the motivations. I put the facts together and saw no reason to stop my mission. How can sharing love, His love, be bad? I don’t come before you today with anything to hide.”

  Tyler smirked remembering his brother coming downstairs holding his clothes in a ball at his naked side. The thought of his stripping on stage before the world made him want to laugh. Belphegor stood nearby. Tyler flicked his sights toward him to steal a look. The man’s jaws which had ground together earlier were now relaxed.

  “I left my shoes outside, I walked the unpaved street barefoot, something I loved doing as a kid. I love the way earth feels, how its power connects with my callused soles. The soft caress of a grassed yard is a comfort.” Tyler realized Cody was at the park a few blocks away at the edge of town. “Hot sand baking in the sun, scorching with its touch.” He made his way to stage left for the water sitting on the table hidden behind the curtain.