by Ron Ripley
Again, Ken thought. I must do it again.
He pictured Clyde, and the faceless man appeared behind the King, and he held a wicked bayonet in his hands. The weapon was plunged into the King’s back, and Clyde let out a cackle of pure glee.
Florence stepped forward and stamped her foot down.
The pavement rose up in a wave, rolled forward and broke upon the King.
Septimus Rex fell onto his back and screamed as the bayonet was pushed deeper into him. Clyde landed on top of him and shoved his hand into the King’s mouth in an attempt to smother him.
Ken took a deep breath, and then he realized Florence was beside him.
“There is nothing to fear here, Kenneth,” Florence said, looking at him. “Nothing at all. I have been there, where you’re going, and returned, for I cared not for it. But you, stalwart watchman, you will ascend with the rest.”
“Now,” she said, looking at the King, “let us finish this beast before I cannot turn my anger away from the heathen Roy. Find yourself a piece of iron, Kenneth. Arm yourself.”
Ken nodded, looked around and saw a twisted iron bar at his feet. He bent down and picked it up. With the heavy piece of metal in his hand he started to run, and Florence ran with him.
They reached the fallen King together, and with Clyde, they started to beat the unholy life from Middlebury Sanitarium’s Lord and Master.
The King’s screams of rage took on a higher, frenzied note of panic. He attempted to defend himself. The King locked eyes with Ken as he howled, “I made you! You are mine! I am Middlebury and Middlebury is me! You are my Watchman, set to watch over my domain!”
“Strike hard, Watchman!” Florence snarled, driving her thumbs into the King’s eyes. “Listen not to the foul speech of this beast.”
The King shrieked in pain and Ken struck him with all of the force he could muster.
“I am not your Watchman!” Ken screamed. “I am Middlebury’s, and Middlebury is not you!”
He locked his finger’s around the King’s throat and choked him. He slowly squeezed the life out of the King, who writhed beneath him, his screams cut short as Florence tore his tongue out.
“I am the Watchman,” Ken hissed, “and I watch over the residents of Middlebury, both the living and the dead.”
The King went limp in Ken’s hands and blackness crashed down upon him.
Chapter 52: Will the Morning Come
It ended where it began.
Somehow, Brian couldn’t remember exactly, he and Anne had arrived at the guardhouse. His car and Anne’s were still parked at the Head Nurse’s house.
She wanted to go get them, but Brian stopped her.
“We have to get outside of the gates,” he said.
“Why?” she asked.
Before he could answer, a second explosion rocked the Sanitarium. In the brightly lit night sky, he saw the massive amount of debris rise up and quickly fall.
“I think this is the end,” Brian said. “The end of all of it. The end of Middlebury.”
He could feel himself slip into shock. He started to shake.
“Brian!” she said. “Hold on. You need a doctor.”
“Yeah,” he said, chuckling nervously. “But I’m pretty sure the phones will work outside of the gates. We need to get out there, Anne.”
She hesitated a moment and looked at the warmth offered by the guardhouse. Then Anne shook her head, steadied him again and helped him to pass through the gates. They cleared the boundary and made their way across the road to the tree-lined edge and another explosion ripped through the air. More followed quickly, and the buildings started to collapse.
Clouds of smoke roiled out towards the guardhouse and the gates and the stonewall.
Yet the smoke seemed to strike a barrier and rose up instead of out, and curled back in upon itself. From within, the smoke shapes appeared, the shapes of people. The faint outlines of men and women and children. For the briefest of moments, the shapes stood still, and then, as one, they ascended to the heavens.
Anne looked at him, then reached out, cupped his chin in her delicate hands and held him steady as she leaned in and kissed him. The feeling was electric, her strong tongue traced the outline of his lips and she tasted incredibly sweet.
Brian pulled away, ashamed at the pleasure. He shook his head. “I can’t. I can’t, Anne.”
“I understand,” she said softly. “I just needed to know.”
Jenny’s face flashed before Brian’s eyes and his desire to touch Anne again disappeared. Jenny was far too important, far too special to forget.
Anne was a nice girl, and pretty. But she wasn’t Jenny.
“We should get you to a hospital, Brian,” Anne said, and then the sound of hundreds of windows breaking cut her off.
The shattered glass fell in shards. Starlight and moonlight were reflected thousands of times. The earth shook, groaned and let out a long hiss which threatened the foundations of the world.
“Oh my God, Brian,” Anne said softly. “What about Ken?”
“He must be dead, Anne,” Brian said after a moment. “He must be. They all must be.”
“How do you know?” she asked in a whisper. “How do you know he’s dead?”
“Because Middlebury might exist without its King,” Brian said, “but never without its Watchman.”
Chapter 53: Back in Business
“How are you feeling?” Jenny asked, looking up from her needlepoint.
“Sore,” Brian answered, bringing her a glass of red wine.
She smiled up at him, put down her stitching and took the glass. “Thanks, Babe.”
“You’re welcome,” Brian said. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then went to his own chair. He put his Booker’s neat down on the table, picked up a book titled, Passing Strange about ghosts and hauntings in New England, and got comfortable.
“You made good money on Middlebury,” Jenny said, looking over the edge of the wine glass at him.
“Yes,” he agreed.
“And they even coughed up the money for your hospital bill,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, at least I didn’t have another heart attack,” he said, grinning.
“Small comfort, Brian Roy,” Jenny said with a sigh.
He went to speak again but the ‘ghost phone’ rang on the table beside Jenny. Brian closed his mouth as Jenny answered it.
“Leonidas Group, Jenny speaking.”
She paused for a moment, put her wine glass down and her eyes widened. “Really? Hold on, let me tell my husband.”
“What?” Brian whispered.
“Rye, New Hampshire,” she said, shaking her head. “There’s a headless ghost running around the Protestant Church.”
Brian chuckled and looked at it his watch.
Ten minutes past six.
“Tell them I’ll be there in an hour,” Brian said, and Jenny shook her head as she passed on the information.
Chapter 54: Finding the Way
When the darkness cleared, Ken found himself upright beneath the wide branches of a weeping willow tree. He could hear bird songs in the distance and the air smelled sweetly of spring.
Something rustled beside him and he turned to look.
Francine Borden stood with him. In her hands, she held her stuffed dog.
“Kenneth,” she whispered. “Can you help me?”
He squatted down and looked at her. In a soft voice he asked, “What do you need help with, Francine?”
“It’s time to go,” she said, looking out at the canopy of whip-like branches which hung around them. “It’s time to go, Kenneth, but I don’t know the way. Can you help me?”
Kenneth held out his hand to her and she took it.
Her skin was warm and soft. A little girl’s hand.
He smiled at her.
“Of course I can help you, Francine,” he said, standing up. “We’ll find the way together.”
He held tightly onto her hand as she clutched her
dog to her chest, and together they stepped through the veil to see what awaited them.
* * *
Brian and Jenny will be back in another adventure in June 2016! The First Church
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Middlebury Sanitarium
Chapter 2: A Job Proposition
Chapter 3: Ken Buckingham on the Graveyard Shift
Chapter 4: Getting Ready to Work
Chapter 5: Ken, Middlebury Sanitarium, September 2nd, 1969
Chapter 6: At Middlebury Sanitarium
Chapter 7: Ken, First Night, 1969
Chapter 8: In the Head Nurse’s House
Chapter 9: Introductions are Made
Chapter 10: Ken, October 12th, 1970
Chapter 11: In Ken’s House
Chapter 12: Ken, May 13th, 1975
Chapter 13: Heading to the Crematorium
Chapter 14: Smokes
Chapter 15: Ashes to Ashes
Chapter 16: The Residents of Middlebury Sanitarium
Chapter 17: Ken, May 11th, 1980
Chapter 18: In Ken’s House
Chapter 19: Building Three, Middlebury Sanitarium, November 2nd, 1982
Chapter 20: Meeting the New Hand
Chapter 21: Anne Goes to Work
Chapter 22: Ken, the Library at Middlebury, June 22nd, 1976
Chapter 23: Talking with Ken
Chapter 24: Ken, February 15th, 1970 before Ike's Death
Chapter 25: Difficulty Listening
Chapter 26: The Library
Chapter 27: Ian at Middlebury
Chapter 28: A Silence Broken
Chapter 29: The Children
Chapter 30: An Unwanted Interview
Chapter 31: Running
Chapter 32: Into Hiding
Chapter 33: Ken Goes Under, July 1st, 1977
Chapter 34: Seeking Shelter
Chapter 35: The Girl with the Dog, June 6, 1989
Chapter 36: Denied Access
Chapter 37: Ken, May 6th, 1986
Chapter 38: Making a Call
Chapter 39: Alone in the House
Chapter 40: Ken and an Old Friend
Chapter 41: Ken, September 2nd, 1998
Chapter 42: In the House
Chapter 43: At the Guardhouse
Chapter 44: Ken, August 27th, 1973
Chapter 45: An Explanation...of Sorts
Chapter 46: Better Times Have Been Forgotten
Chapter 47: When Will the King Arrive?
Chapter 48: With the Watchman
Chapter 49: Embracing Destiny
Chapter 50: Fear is Motivation
Chapter 51: Septimus Rex Forces the Issue
Chapter 52: Will the Morning Come
Chapter 53: Back in Business
Chapter 54: Finding the Way
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