Jasper: Purple Flamingos Fly at Midnight (Jasper - Purple Flamingos Fly at Midnight Book 1)

by Refner, Daniel

  chAPTER thirty-six

  Thursday Morning

  Breakfast was a quiet occasion as Jasper sat between Aunt Debbie-Lynne and Lance. Throughout the meal the only thing Aunt Debbie-Lynne could dwell upon was the lake incident. How scarred Jasper must have been at the thought of her drowning. She felt shame in that moment but then she would glance over at Lance, they would lock eyes upon each other, and that feeling would simply vanish from her thoughts. Lance was everything to her, and she could only hope he felt the same. With her whole heart she believed he really did. Jasper cleared his throat. Aunt Debbie-Lynne looked away from Lance, having not realized how long she had been gawking at him or that her eggs had fallen off her fork a good two minutes ago. It was an awkward moment, to say the least. Jasper couldn’t bear it any longer. He left the table, shaking his head. He went outside and climbed up on top of Thunder’s back, crossed his arms, and began to pout.

  Abbadorn appeared out of thin air, floating right next to him. Neither Thunder nor Jasper jumped; they weren’t even startled in the least. “Lust, love, and endless emotions…human beings, what a mess,” Abbadorn said as he raised his eyebrows and looked toward the front door.

  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “Dester and Rosezella were just like that when they first came together.”

  “Did you really have to bring my parents into this? Besides, they were in their twenties, not near death.”

  “Age discrimination from a teenager, this is a new one for me, and death is just a return ticket to home.”

  “Right, Abbadorn, like you’ve met a lot of teenagers. At least Mop and Tate are well-suited for each other.”

  “Do not be bothered by all of this. Soon it will be time to leave this place, and things will once again be as they were. Your life and relationships you form along the way are part of a pathway that you follow. Once in a while you come across a detour, it leads you away from your original path but eventually you return. Life may not be recognizable after the experience. One seemingly simple life choice can change everything, like starting a relationship with someone for example.”

  Jasper laughed out loud and buried his head in Thunder’s mane before replying to Abbadorn’s statement. “You honestly believe that both of these couples are going to go back to normal after experiencing this level of feeling for each other…angels don’t know much about carnal want and desire. It won’t end here; it will just grow again but at a slightly slower pace. Love is not as much a feeling as it is a decision you make at the core of your being. If humans relied on feelings alone, then all marriages would end in divorce.”

  “So they have freely chosen to give themselves over.”

  “They have freely decided to love one another. Life is all about choices.”

  “So it would seem.”

  Meanwhile, back in the house… Sir Lord Bucket gave the orders for the black ops team to depart to Moses’ garden with the sonar equipment and directed Teddy to go along with them as an advisor and guide.

  “Great Grandpa, wait…” Jasper shuffled over to him quickly. “Will you safeguard the trumpet of Gabriel for me? Something tells me it is not such a good idea to have the key and the trumpet on my person at the same time. I can’t really explain it, but I don’t want to ignore my gut feelings. It would make me happy if you were the one to hold on to it. Will you?” Jasper took the trumpet off his back and held it out by its sash.

  “I would like nothing more than to help you,” Teddy said as he took the trumpet. “This will be here for you when you return. Safe journey to you and all your friends, Jasper. Give Great Grandpa a high-five.” A smack of the hands later and Teddy departed with the rest of the team.

  Bucket, who seemed most happy this fine morning, addressed those who were left and waiting to go. “If everyone is ready, I believe it is time to walk over to the lava slide.”

  The group could have been mistaken for tourists taking a stroll on a Florida beach. They walked in step and close to one another as if they were all old friends many lifetimes removed; it was such a casual event. Sir Lord Bucket and Abbadorn led, the rest of them followed: Reggie with Tammy Sue and Lance with Debbie-Lynne. Jasper, Stacy, and Thunder brought up the rear. As they began their short walk to the slide, Aunt Debbie-Lynne took hold of Lance by the arm and looked up into his eyes and said, “In for a penny, in for a pound.”

  “Indeed,” Lance replied.

  “A penny doesn’t weigh a whopping pound,” Jasper commented.

  “No, you’re missing the point.” Stacy paused briefly to form her response in a way that didn’t leave Jasper feeling stupid. “A pound is a British monetary measurement much like our dollar.”

  “We call it an idiom expression,” Lance said to Stacy.

  “It means if something is worth doing, take a chance at it.” Tammy Sue Tate said while she held Reggie’s hand tightly.

  “You might as well go the whole way, commit and take all the risks, not just some,” Reggie said, giving Tammy Sue’s hand a few quick squeezes of his own.

  “Yeah, Jasper, what he said.” Stacy winked at Jasper, who smiled right back at her as if finally catching on to the hidden meaning of this group conversation.

  “Did you know that it takes 100 pennies to equal an English pound?” Bucket said aloud…and all three couples burst into laughter.

  “Do you have a favorite idiom?” Lance asked of Debbie-Lynne. This one question began a lightning round of idioms being shouted out by the group as they continued their walk toward the lava slide. Even Abbadorn joined in.

  “The birds and the bees.” Abbadorn winked at Jasper as he shouted that one.

  Bucket answered back with, “Dirty old man.”

  “Why pay for the cow when the milk is free,” Jasper said with a proud smile across his face.

  “Head over heels,” Stacy offered.

  “A blessing in disguise,” Aunt Debbie-Lynne said as she batted her eyelashes up at Lance.

  “It takes two to tango,” Lance countered as he returned a smile to Debbie-Lynne.

  “X marks the spot,” Tammy Sue said, crossing her index finger over her heart.

  “Kick the bucket,” Reggie retorted, and that prompted a dirty look from his older brother, who was now looking back over his shoulder.

  “A dime a dozen, hit the hay, third time’s a charm,” Tammy Sue rattled off while pinching Reggie’s arm hard enough to make him pay attention to her at the moment instead of some silly sibling rivalry with Sir Lord Bucket.

  “The ball’s in your court.” Reggie’s eyes begged forgiveness.

  “Rain check,” Tammy Sue Tate answered as she looked away.

  “Not playing with a full deck,” Bucket said with a repugnant smile.

  They arrived at the lava slide like a group of students getting ready to board the school bus for a field trip. Jasper transformed Thunder into a dog for the trip on the slide. Abbadorn was getting ready to operate the slide when Bucket pulled out his prototype remote control and asked permission to use it on the slide in order to test its operational readiness. He punched in his command identification authorization code and inputted the coordinates for away point 21. The pearl glass doors turned red, parted open. The door spoke of its current condition. Lieutenant Commander Reginald Mop pumped his fist into the air in triumphant amazement, the remote he had helped to design, worked. “YES!” Reggie shouted. Then, as he brought his arm down, he knocked the remote out of Bucket’s hand.

  “That’s an eighty-dollar remote!” they all shouted in a laughing uproar.

  “Time to board the train,” Abbadorn said with a smile. He asked them all to stand side by side, two by two; then he levitated them into the air and floated them inside the tube compartment. The doors closed, lava swirled about the outside of the tube and then it rocketed away. After a few moments it came to a halt. Abbadorn looked down at the controls and was pleasantly surprised. He announced their arrival at away point 21, then said in a most serious tone, “I have neve
r been here before, so stay close to me. There is no telling what we might find. Good or bad, we need to be ready.” The doors parted, and the group floated out to a soft landing about five feet from the doors. The doors closed, and the group stood there transfixed and awash in a blue light.

  The cave they now stood in was completely engulfed in this blue light. Expressions of disbelief were uttered from each.

  “Creepy cow, go home,” Stacy whispered.

  “Mole-men, thousands of them, frozen in place by the blue light of that hourglass, and if I’m not mistaken, that is the same hourglass in the pictures of the Lord’s throne room.” Bucket reached for his holstered gun.

  A look of panic crossed Tammy Sue’s face as she drew her handgun out. Looking past the hourglass, she said, “That isn’t the ship we’re looking for. Is there something you forgot to share with us, Abbadorn?”

  “Just look at the size of that thing!” Mop called out.

  “Dester!” Lance shouted.

  “Rosezella!” Debbie-Lynne fell to her knees, placed her hands in the praying position, and closed her eyes.

  “MOM, DAD!!!” Jasper shouted and took off in a full-court run in the direction of his frozen parents. The key in his pocket caused him to leap in the air as it willed Jasper in the direction of the hourglass as well. The key knew the hourglass and longed to be reunited. Dester and Rosezella each stood with one hand holding onto an arm of the hourglass between them. The blue light originated from the hourglass, trapping, holding in time, all that was caught near it and in its direct path.

  Abruptly everyone stopped moving, including Jasper. Without warning a very deep, very evil laugh echoed from high above. It gradually became louder, closer, causing a wave of terror to wash over the group. Collectively they placed their hands over their ears to block out the fear, but each of them felt “dead as a doornail.”

  chAPTER thirty-seven

  Due to his substantial hearing loss in both ears, Sir Lord Bucket was quick to lower his hands; he stood up and shouted as loud as he could over the growling laughter. “IT’S A TRAP!!!” He repeated this three times until the whole group had their eyes back on their leader. “Get back in the lava slide now!”

  But what was to come next no one could have imagined happening. A mist of black smoke raced across the cave directly for Bucket. Abbadorn heroically jumped in front of mist. It hit him squarely between the shoulders and knocked him off his feet. It melted over the top of him. Two human-like forms could be seen underneath, fighting each other. Abbadorn struggled intensely, but in a matter of seconds the mist dissolved away and Abbadorn was taken.

  Seconds later the laughter stopped. Everyone stood, their eyes fixed upon the spot that had last held the glory of the angel Abbadorn. But that event alone didn’t take their breath away as much as the next moment. There came a noise; it was like a pounding, maybe a crash. The whole cave floor shook, and Gezon the terrible demon landed. His form was that of a gray dragon. His enormous, long-reaching talons were red and his razor-sharp fangs were white. He could have been a mutated Ohio State Buckeye fan for all they knew, but then he spoke. “I AM GEZON!”

  The remnant life-force echo of the angel Bell that resided in two unequal halves inside Jasper and Thunder instantaneously recoiled, causing Thunder to leap to Jasper’s side with a series of defensive growls and barks. The dog didn’t bother the great dragon. With his left appendage he seized Sir Lord Bucket, and with his right he scooped up Stacy into the air and held her tight. Stacy screamed while Bucket shouted with indignation and pounded his fists against Gezon’s talons. Resistance was futile. Gezon demanded everyone hold their ground and not move an inch. In that moment the group felt lost and completely helpless, but those emotions were about to be trumpeted by sheer horror; with sinful malevolence the dragon Gezon forced his thumb talon through the back of Sir Lord Bucket, and with a snapping gesture of his remaining talons he shredded his body. Blood sprayed everywhere. His head, ripped from his shoulders, fell to the cave floor like an egg falling off a tall brick wall. Gezon took what was left of his body and shoved it in his mouth…he proceeded to lick his talons clean.

  He spoke again. “And they say that everything tastes just like chicken…” Lick… lick… lick…“I beg to differ. Stand before me, Jasper Indiana. Tell me, what do you think little Stacy will taste like?”

  “Put-her-down,” Jasper said, his voice riddled in disbelief.

  Gezon sneered. “You have an attitude. Throughout human history that has been my favorite characteristic of your species. What has surprised me about human nature is the relative speed in which a human can change his attitude when provided with the proper motivation. Take Stacy’s life, for example. All I have to do is snap my talons, and it’s lunchtime for this old dragon.”

  “What do you want?”

  “The key, of course. Just give me the key, and you can have your female companion in return and in one piece.”

  Jasper took the key from his pocket and held it; he dropped his hands to his sides and willed the key to float directly in front of him. Gezon began to fidget and drool. “You want this key?” Jasper taunted.

  “Yes, give the key. Do so of your own free will and it will be mine.” Gezon was working himself up into a lather of saliva. His tail swung from side to side, crashing into the cave wall behind him. Chunks of stone collapsed to the cave floor throwing up dust and debris in every direction.

  Jasper reached for the key and willed it to go directly into the palm of his right hand. Like a fast-pitch baseball player he took a step back with his right leg and positioned his body for the long-distance throw of a lifetime. Jasper took a chance at a quick glance back at the lava slide. Gezon did not notice; he was unable to take his eyes off the key. Jasper needed to make sure the team understood what he was planning to do. He nodded at them and they returned his nod. He willed Thunder to retrieve Bucket’s lava slide remote and run back to Aunt Debbie-Lynne. Thunder had the remote and was racing to her side before he could even finish his thought. Debbie-Lynne readied the remote for a quick emergency exit with her finger on the button that read ‘EVAC,’ which was programmed to return to The Palace of Holyroodhouse and the infirmary she knew they would soon need. She waited for Jasper to pitch the key before pushing the command button on the remote.

  Mop, Tate, and Lance could see that Jasper was about to pitch the key as far away from them as possible. Mop looked to Tate. “Go after Stacy and help Jasper get her back to the slide when Gezon drops her. Lance and I will go after Dester and Rosezella. Be ready.”

  Jasper shouted to Gezon, “I give you this key, Gezon…GO FETCH!” Jasper launched the key across the vast opening of the cave. As anticipated, without thought or care, Gezon released his grip on Stacy, causing her to drop to the cave floor as he took off after the key like a crazed wild animal after its wounded prey.

  The mole-men were the offspring of female angels that mated with human males. Just the opposite of the Nephilim, who were the children of fallen male angels that mated with human females. There were multitudes of mole-men, frozen, but even if they weren’t, they could only overwhelm an army by their numbers and not their brains. The mole-men were as dumb as a box of rocks, able to follow orders that contained one or two simple commands. They made for a slow-moving work force, and often their labor efforts needed tweaking. Suffice it to say, the carnivorous cave of Infernal Maximus looked as if someone had dumped a metal fabrication factory in the middle of nowhere and had forgotten to clean up before visitors arrived. In other words, it was trashed. Lines of haphazardly-repaired machinery stretched out all in one direction that led to the massive ocean liner-size drilling ship at the end of the cave; this ship was shaped like that of a submarine with a very large drilling bit wedged in at the front and other smaller ones slicing outward at every angle. A boarding ramp, much like the one on Noah’s ark, was in the middle of this vessel, and at the top of the ramp, frozen in the blue light of God’s hourglass, stood Infernal Maximus. The son and
seed of Lucifer, the most powerful Nephilim that ever walked the earth. He had killed his mother at birth by the sheer size of his body. Sadly, and it came by his father as a blow to his own pride, Infernal Maximus was not the most famous of Nephilim recorded in human history. That honor went to the giant killed by a small shepherd boy with a slingshot and a smooth stone. His name was Goliath, and the boy would later become King David. Goliath’s supernatural powers had been no match for a stone thrown in faith. Lucifer had sent his son to build a ship at the same time the Lord had commanded Noah to build the ark. It was a race that had taken 120 years, but Noah won that race. God sent the worldwide flood to wipe out all that was wicked, including the Nephilim. Infernal Maximus was the last of his kind. He had only the company of the mole-men all of these thousands of years. At the dawn of the industrial age, his ship-building took earnest construction and was finally completed. The ship was ready to carry out its single mission. Invade Abraham’s Bosom and drill up beneath the prison of Hell, freeing Lucifer’s army to walk upon the earth once again. As fate would have it, and by no choice of their own, Dester and Rosezella showed up and were left with no other course of action but to stop the ship and its departure from the cave, leaving everyone frozen in time for 16 years.

  The key went flying into the air like a football thrown by a professional NFL quarterback from one end zone to the other. Gezon had almost caught up with it. Jasper had silently willed the key to go back to the hourglass because that was where the key had told him it belonged. When they had first arrived, it had leaped inside his pocket. In the same manner in which Jasper and Thunder communicate, the key had told Jasper that if put back into place on the hourglass, then the light would deactivate, freeing his parents and all that were held frozen in time. It was finally time for Jasper and the key to separate, this key that had been broken in two and hemmed inside the binding of his baby blanket and sent to Allegan with him by Lance. But if Lance did not take the key out of its encasement on the hourglass, then who did? Who left his parents stuck in time?