by JD Dutra
She sighed, the familiar sight of people roaming through garbage in this side of town was a weekly occurrence. She opened her electronic gates and then touched the button for the garage door opener. As she eased up into her driveway a third person got out of the car and began to sort through a different garbage can.
“She watching us. Keep diggin’ and don’t look at her house no more,” said Jimmy.
They kept on roaming through the garbage, Baby Ray and Jimmy collected plastic bottles and tin cans, while Oneita looked for any letter or document that should’ve been shredded but wasn’t so that she could do a more lucrative recycling of her own. They spent a while per can, going down the street, away from the rich woman’s home.
Oneita fumed with anger, comparing Mei Lin’s home to hers, she had so much more than she did and yet when it was time for her to extend a hand and help her move out of the ghetto, she denied her.
That phony Asian forcing me to sleep in that filthy dump while she sleeps in style in a luxury mansion.
“She gonna pay for this, oh I swear she will!” Oneita’s voice echoed into one of the trash cans which had some fancy looking documents at the bottom of it.
When Mei Lin got inside the elegant comforts of her home, she took her high heels off and walked briskly through marble tile and authentic Persian carpets, going directly to the back, to turn on some lights. She then made her way in the dark up to the second floor, where she opened a drawer in her bedroom and got a night vision scope she usually would have mounted onto one of her rifles. She went to the front window of her dark loft which faced the street, careful not to disturb the slit in the curtains that kept her hidden in the darkness of the room. She adjusted the focus on the night vision scope, zooming in on each of their faces.
“Oneita and Raymond,” she whispered to herself, recognizing two of her most persistent applicants. She wondered if this was a coincidence or if their presence on her street meant something entirely different.
She watched them for a moment, thinking that they looked miserable, tired and broken. Mei Lin felt terrible that she had personally denied the housing grant Oneita had applied for, but she had just been arrested. Besides, with her criminal record, she’d have a hard time keeping any job she would ever find, she had no employment history at all and was in her 30s. Now there she was, roaming through garbage on her street with Raymond and someone else.
“Maybe I’ll call them to come see me at the office tomorrow,” she said to herself, her instincts telling her this wasn’t just a coincidence. The three dumpster divers disappeared from sight, digging and scavenging from trash can to trash can, heading away from her home and into the dark night.
Chapter 10
White House, Washington D.C.
Thursday, October 22nd, 2020
8:30 A.M.
“I am curious about the accident the media televised. That alone made this emergency meeting easier to swallow,” said French President Allain Villeneuve as he checked his already perfect fingernails.
“Indeed, but it better be something incredibly urgent. I do not appreciate being summoned like this, despite his assurances of the necessity and importance.” replied German Chancellor Amalia Braun. She put down her cup on the coffee table and ran her hands over the back of her hand-tailored skirt as she prepared to sit down on a comfortable leather chair. They were the only people inside the Oval Office at the White House and her light blue eyes gazed around the room. Looking for something to entertain herself, she picked up a copy of the day›s Washington Post.
President Villeneuve looked around the room. The early morning sunlight bathed the famous Resolute desk, carved in the 1880s from the timbers of the British Arctic Exploration ship of the same name. It was a magnificent piece of furniture, with symbols of all kinds cut into its ornate design and he crouched down to run his fingertips over carved leaves and branches. On the wooden door that filled the gap between the desk›s legs there was an eagle holding an olive branch in its right talon. On its left, the sinister side as it is said, there were thirteen sharp arrows pointing upward. It was the great American seal.
The world must choose American peace or American war.
President Villeneuve chuckled silently at the thought, wondering how the entire world didn’t see how this symbol perfectly fitted the American way of playing chess with other countries. It amused him that every country played its role to perfection, sliding the scale between government control and freedom exactly as they were commanded. Threatening each other from time to time was the perfect diversion and excuse for government leaders to have the freedom to print all the money they wanted, and pass the laws that made it legal for them to pocket as much of it as they could.
One of the front double doors opened and President Barry Soetoro walked in. He wore a pair of glasses with a blacked out lens over his bruised eye, his dark skin had a purplish-green shade to it on one side of his face around the dark lens of his glasses. The eye that stood behind the clear lens was dark, alert and filled with drive.
“President Villeneuve, Chancellor Braun, thank you both for coming at such a short notice.”
The Frenchman stopped his wandering and walked over to the American President as Chancellor Braun tossed the newspaper aside and stood up. They all shook hands and then sat, the American opposite the other two.
“Hello Barry, why are we here?” President Villeneuve said, pulling an expensive Italian necktie from the folds of his clothes before crossing one long leg over the other. Chancellor Braun, resting one elbow on the arm of the chair, said nothing as her blue eyes gazed at Barry.
“Before we begin, I need your word that what I am about to say does not leave this room. I know the oaths we all took, the organization we belong to, but I just need to speak off the record with the two of you as the fellow leaders I am closest to. I trust you, of course, but I still have to ask.”
He leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees and holding their gaze with his good eye. His fingertips touched each other in front of him and he waited, as if he were about to discuss something of the utmost importance and secrecy.
The French President and the German Chancellor looked at one another for a few moments and the slightest nod passed between them.
“You can count on my discretion,” said President Villeneuve.
“On mine as well,” said Chancellor Braun.
“Good. Thank you,” said Barry. He cleared his voice and leaned forward in his chair a little more.
“The room was swept for listening devices earlier today, but I still want to speak as softly as I can just in case.”
The silence between his two visitors urged him to go on.
“This…” a long finger circled his injured eye, “Is what I got for expressing my opinion that going on with the plan is a terrible idea. I think things can spin out of control and I like the way things are right now. We have a few minor problems globally, currencies need to be reset, reissued, but I think that what we have considered before is wrong. It’s just too… too inhumane and wrong…”
“Go on,” said President Villeneuve.
“Amalia, would you please pass that newspaper you were reading to Alain,” asked Barry.
She picked it up and turned it over so that today’s headline faced her European counterpart.
Senate Votes Unanimously To Raise It’s Pay By 18%
“That’s Democracy. It is the will of the people, that our pay be raised by 18%,” Barry said with a smile.
“That’s hardly the will of the people Barry, you know that,” said Chancellor Braun, unamused.
“Exactly,” Barry said, then waited for his argument to sink in a little more. He continued.
“What we’ve got here is a machine that, if dismantled, who knows when it could be put together again. Certainly none of us here will be alive to reap the benefits of a global renaissance. Even if we stay in those bunkers in the Colorado Mountains or in the Swiss Alps for 10, 15 years, when we come out the world w
ill be far from rebuilt.”
His two visitors exchanged glances in silence, trying to measure each other’s reaction to the American President’s words.
“What kind of life will we have in those dark, cave like bunkers anyway?” He continued with his best politico showmanship, as if he were campaigning all over again.
“What you are saying… c’est impossible!” said President Villeneuve, his tongue suddenly feeling dry as he slipped momentarily into his own language.
“Even if the three of us agreed to try and stop things somehow, or go against ‘them’ it would be impossible. They’d shift the entire world against us first, then if that doesn’t work, they’d do it via the population in our own countries,” said Chancellor Braun, sounding as though even entertaining such thoughts were sheer madness.
“At the moment we can control every aspect of human life within our own countries,” Barry said. “We can print as much money as we want to buy the best products and services the world has to offer. The rarest of wines, the most advanced electronics, the most comfortable homes. Every single pleasure the world has to offer can be bought with the money we can bring into existence with the click of a button, no matter how expensive these luxuries can be. Why would we want to disrupt that?”
“I certainly see your point Barry, but how could such a thing even be done?” asked Villeneuve, whose forehead was lightly shining with perspiration.
“You two stop this nonsense,” said Chancellor Braun struggling to keep her voice down. “They’d have us shot like Kennedy or die ‘of a stroke’ before any of this could get traction. They can turn off entire passenger airplanes in midair, you’ve seen the reports. We have given up much to be who we are today, especially our dignities. It could be even worse than death, they could keep us alive and shame us until we die of old age with just a fraction of the deals we’ve made”, said Chancellor Braun, who looked like she wished she’d never come.
“Calm down Amalia,” said President Villeneuve as he pulled out a silk handkerchief from his suit’s breast pocket and lightly tapped it on his forehead. “They aren’t invincible and there are ways I’m sure.”
“During my time in hospital I slowly remembered what happened on the night of my accident,” said Barry with the slight edge of fear to his voice. “I was alone in my gym that morning and a large white man walked in, someone I had never seen before, wearing a dark suit and a pinch front hat. He looked angry, there was a lot of hatred in his eyes. I told him to stop, that I would call security; when he continued towards me I yelled for help, but still no one came.
“What did he say to you Barry?” asked Chancellor Braun.
“After I started screaming for help? Absolutely nothing. He simply gripped the edge of my t-shirt and just lifted me straight out of the machine I was working on, like I was a rag doll. He held me in the air for a few moments, and I kicked his stomach, it felt like I was kicking a granite column. He held me right up in the air as he walked towards one of the walls and I remember reaching down to try to punch him but his arms were too long.”
Barry’s voice started to shake and the confidence he’d shown earlier had vanished.
“Go on. How did he give you that terrible bruise?” Asked President Villeneuve, bringing his finger close to his own eye as if his curiosity was exceeding his sense of sympathy.
“He just dropped me and I fell down between him and the wall. Then he picked me up again, pinned me against the wall and kneed me on the side of my stomach. That was the worse pain I’d ever felt in my entire life… up to that point. I curled up and he gripped my throat, lifting me up and I remember my side here where he’d kneed me, feeling like it was going to burst. I couldn’t breathe. Then he finally spoke, whispering through an almost closed mouth.”
The other two could now only stare as Barry fought the salty tears that burned his eyes.
“The man told me that the One Seeing Eye was always watching me, knew my thoughts and actions. He then said that he would now mark one of my eyes… for my remembrance. I was dazed from so much pain but I remember him slowly removing his hat. From this close I realized his skull was huge, almost elongated and he was completely bald. He looked like an old Egyptian sculpture and his eyes were jet black, piercing and so incredibly cold. He was so close I could feel his breath on my face and when he saw on my face that I was scared out of my mind, he just… smiled.”
Barry shook his head at the memory and his normally tanned features visibly lightened.
“His teeth were all triangular, sharpened and pointed like the mouth of a shark. I closed my eyes for I don’t know how long, I was so frightened and I screamed again. When I opened my eyes, all I remember was his massive skull coming in my direction, and when I turned trying to escape it, I remember this crushing blow to the side of my head, and everything went dark.”
The German Chancellor suddenly looked quite pale herself and she rubbed her hands together as if she were sweating in the cool room. Villeneuve was stunned in silence.
“He must have hit me a dozen times. When I woke up in the hospital after almost two weeks of an induced coma, they told me I had several fractures on the side of my head,” said Barry, his hands now visibly shaking.
“He hit you only once, Barry,” said President Villeneuve, suddenly in need of a drink despite the early hour of the day. “That was a ritualistic warning. I would say that he is what some people call, an Enforcer; there are old tales of them all over Europe and Asia among the heads of the states. Some people think they are pathetic boogeyman stories Presidents and Prime Ministers tell each other when offices are passed on to the next man in line. But there is truth in them… as now you know…” Said President Villeneuve, who then got up and went to the wet bar inside the Oval Office, to mix himself a drink.
“Yes, Barry, when I heard about your accident, I guessed that they had something to do with it. I wish I was wrong,” Chancellor Braun said before turning to President Villeneuve. “Bring me something strong please Alain,” she said, feeling her heart pound inside her chest. She shuddered at the thought of getting a visit herself.
Barry’s fingers were trembling, but he held the arms of his chair, trying to hide it.
“I’ve been in power for seven years,” said Barry in almost a whisper, “and I thought the people who pulled the strings behind the scenes were just… ordinary people.”
“They are people Barry, just unlike the three of us,” confirmed the Frenchman. “But if the tales are true, and from what you said they must be, this must actually be some separate species. The Bible calls them giants, sons of God or fallen angels. The Illuminati, Bilderberg, Bohemian Grove and the other secret societies and occult organizations the powerful belong to are just gateways for ‘them’ to influence this world without being known. You were right when you associated them with the ancient Egyptians and, from what I have heard, they were there back then, leading the Pharaohs for a period of time. No one knows exactly what they are, but they do walk among us,” said President Villeneuve, passing a whiskey glass to Chancellor Braun. She brought the rim to her lips and inhaled its perfume, it was floral, fruity and it opened her appetite.
“But can they be killed?” Asked Barry, but he received no answer, his words made the sweet taste of the aged whiskey turn bitter on the Chancellors tongue. He continued.
“There are elongated skulls displayed all over the world, not the re-shaped human ones, the real deal. The skulls with a bigger mass than the average human one, with different cranial plate arrangements.”
“There are hundreds of them in Paracas, in Peru, their DNA isn’t like ours,” said President Villeneuve. “How do you want to end or stop this Barry?”
“All I need to know is if I can count on the two of you, for now and then I’ll reach out to other leaders. I am sure there are others who feel the same way we do,” said Barry, his voice returning to normal and they both looked a little impressed at his ability to maintain his resolve.
“I can�
��t commit to anything until I know exactly how this is going to be unfolded,” said President Villeneuve. “But if the right plan and the right people get behind it, you have my support. There are too many unruly young men in France these days and I could use a thinning of the herd. A draft for a war could be just what I need.”
“You have my support as well, but I am afraid I will not let it be known until the 11th hour. Please do not mention me by name when you reach out to others. Just say you have an influential world leader with you that you can count on,” said Chancellor Braun as she tried to discreetly wipe her sweaty palms on the arms of her chair.
“Yes, I do not wish to be openly counted upon either, Barry, so please simply tell others you have two world leaders on your side already,” said President Villeneuve, keen to follow the lead of the German.
Barry smiled and nodded as he leaned back on his chair, finally able to relax a little. His body ached and his face had started to throb in pain.
“I promise I will be discreet and both of you must remain vigilant, you never know how close they can be. I was being taken care of by a, Dr. Singh, while I was in the hospital, an Indian man who wore turbans when he came to see me. When I started to remember what happened and asked him to remove his turban in front of me, he weaseled his way out of my room to get me some medication but never returned. He is currently missing, and so is the Secret Service man who was with him. The hospital cameras have them entering the main elevator and never coming out of it.”
“What about their records? What do they say?” asked Chancellor Braun.
“My staffers are looking into it, I just left the hospital two days ago, and nothing has turned up yet. I don’t trust any of my Secret Service men anymore. I’m keeping just a handful of them, as far away from me and my family as I can,” said Barry. “Dr. Singh’s credentials were added and deleted from the hospital database by an unknown person or organization. The investigators told me that it’s like he was never an employee there to begin with, he has to be connected with them somehow.”