“When is this going to happen? I mean, is it even going to be in my lifetime?” Aiden asked.
“Very soon, in fact. Of course, I am immortal, but even in human terms it will be very soon. You will see the signs. There will be unrest all over the globe first. The Gods will return amidst war and conflict. Then they will clean things up,” Lev said.
“So, they’re literally coming here in physical form?” Aiden asked.
“Yes, indeed,” Lev said. “Actually, they’re here already. They are in human bodies or at least what looks like human bodies, but will soon have their own bodies back. Don’t ask how, it’s very complicated in human terms. Besides, we need to get in there and get done,” Lev said.
“True. Your skin is so pure white though, you stand out like a sore thumb,” Aiden replied. “How are you going to maneuver through the hospital undetected?”
“I can become invisible. The doctors and other staff will only see you, some of the patients will see me. I will still be able to tinker with their minds and read their minds to tell you later on. You will not be able to see me either,” Lev said. Then he disappeared right before Aiden’s eyes.
Aiden knew Lev was responsible and would be where he needed to be. He got out of the car and went to the front desk in the hospital. He identified himself as NSA, showing his badge. They were indeed NSA, but a secret department that most NSA agents know nothing about. He told her he needed to question a few people. Aiden felt odd not having a partner, and some of the hospital staff thought it was odd also.
He had the names of the individuals he needed to speak with; there were three. He gave the names to the nurse, asked for a room to question them in, and had her bring them in one at a time.
First was the doctor, who was in a hurry. The door whipped open. “Fine, fine, I’ll answer your questions, but make it fast, I have patients to tend to.”
“Are you Dr. Jeanette Gordon?” Aiden asked.
“Yes, I am. What do you want?” Dr. Gordon asked.
“I am Special Agent Aiden Banner with the NSA. I have some questions that could affect national security. I’m sure your lunatics will be fine for 15 minutes or so. If not, we can take this to some place more official. That will consume even more of your time,” Aiden said, somewhat intimidatingly.
Dr. Gordon clearly got the message. “I’m sorry, it’s been a rough morning.”
“Please have a seat.” Aiden motioned to the chair. “I’d like to ask you some questions about a patient named Ray Spangler. Can you tell me why he’s here please?”
“Doctor patient confidentiality; I can’t tell you much about my patients,” Dr. Gordon said. She was clearly annoyed that he was there, and still wasn’t feeling very cooperative. “Why are you interested in Ray Spangler?”
Aiden found this interesting, she seemed to want to protect him, which was an unusual way for a doctor to behave with a patient. “What difference does it make to you?”
“Well, he is my patient,” she said.
“How long have you known him?” Aiden asked.
“I don’t see the relevance of that,” she said, almost insulted.
At this point, Aiden realized there was a previous relationship. He expected the doctor to be the easiest to convince, now he knew she would be the hardest. “You don’t need to know; would you rather answer these questions behind bars?”
“No.” She sighed. “We grew up together.”
“You were dating him. How long before he came here? And I don’t care how relevant you feel the question is,” Aiden stated.
She was caught. “I don’t have to answer anything. I have things to do.”
“You can answer here, or we can go somewhere more formal.” Aiden was beginning to lose his calm.
The doctor was also losing what was left of her loosely held together calm exterior. “You can’t…I…I…” she sighed in frustration. “Look, it’s kind of a conflict of interest, but I’m not even sure he’s crazy.” Yep, she was going to be a problem.
“I’m not here to out you or your relationship with your patient. I’m here to get information, which I will stop at nothing to get. Just answer my questions truthfully, and I will disappear with nobody ever knowing what we discussed,” Aiden said.
“Alright, yes, we’ve been dating off and on since we were teenagers,” she said.
“What makes you think he’s telling the truth?” Aiden said.
“He doesn’t submit any other signs of mental illness. If he just snapped and killed everyone, there would be signs. There aren’t. He’s very aware of everything. He even questions his own sanity,” she said.
Aiden thought, “I think this one is a lost cause,” to Lev.
Lev replied in Aiden’s mind, “you’re right, I can’t get through. Leave her for the clean-up team and move on.”
To Dr. Gordon, Aiden said, “Thank you for the information; what you have said won’t leave this room. I have a few other staff members to question and then I’ll be gone. Have a nice day, Dr. Gordon.”
She nodded and left without a word.
Aiden went to the desk and asked the nurse to call the orderly, Jared Reese, into the room for questioning. A young attractive man walked into the room and closed the door. He turned and looked at Aiden with intense dark eyes that sent a chill up Aiden’s spine.
“Something’s wrong with this guy,” Aiden said in his mind to Lev.
“Yes, this one is different. He is not our concern though. Ask your questions and let him go,” Lev responded in his head.
Out loud Aiden said, “Good afternoon, Mr. Reese, how are you today.”
Reese looked directly into his eyes. Aiden was afraid he might suck out his soul. “What the hell is wrong with this guy? Something is very off!” he said in his head.
“Good afternoon,” Reese said with a smile, “I am well; however, I have a lot to do if we could just move this along.” He looked in the direction of the chair where Lev was sitting and stared right into his eyes for a few seconds.
“I’ll tell you later,” Lev said in Aiden’s head.
“Of course,” Aiden said out loud, “I just have a few questions about Mr. Spangler.”
“Spangler? Okay, shoot.” Reese said. He slowly and methodically adjusted the glasses on his nose.
“I understand you and Mr. Spangler have had quite a few lengthy conversations,” Aiden stated.
“Yes, though I don’t see why the government cares about my conversations with a mental patient.”
“That’s classified. However, we are investigating something and would like to know what Mr. Spangler says in his conversations,” Aiden said.
Mr. Reese was very relaxed, one arm resting on the back of the chair as he leaned back and assessed Aiden. His eyes went from his shoes all the way up to his eyes, sizing him up.
At this point, Aiden was certain that Mr. Reese was a serial killer. Perhaps he was trying to decide if he should just kill Aiden and save himself the time, or would a government worker be missed too much?
“Alright,” Reese finally said. He had decided not to kill him after all. “He talks about the incident he believes landed him in this place. About a paranormal investigation and being possessed. He maintains his innocence, saying a demon killed his family and he doesn’t even remember anything from that night.”
Reese looked at Aiden as if he were discussing the weather. Aiden was certain that Reese not only believed the story, but knew from first-hand experience that it was true. “Let it go,” Lev said in his head.
The two men stared at each other a few more seconds. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Reese,” Aiden said. “You’re free to go.” Part of Aiden was angry that he had to let him go; he was certain this guy was a menace to society. Another part of Aiden was just relieved he didn’t have to deal with him.
“Good day to you, Agent Banner.” Reese confidently rose from his chair and walked out the door.
Aiden let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Lev
appeared in his chair. Aiden looked to him for an explanation. “I will explain in the car,” Lev said.
“Who’s next?” Aiden asked.
“Give me a moment,” Lev replied. After about ten minutes, Lev opened his eyes. “I have searched the minds of all the others in contact with him. There were slivers of doubt as to whether he was really telling the truth, or if he was delusional. I was able to take that doubt away and firmly place in their minds that he was just delusional. For those people, the government showing up and questioning them only pushes them into believing the story. We can leave now.”
The two men remind silent on the walk out. Lev was invisible again, so as not to arouse suspicion. Once they were in the car they found themselves back in the garage, and Lev began to explain what was going on with Jared Reese. “Mr. Reese is not entirely human. He is descended from an ancient race that has been here since before the Ancient Ones left this realm. Like mine. Did you noticed he looked me right in the eyes?”
“No, I mean, I saw him look toward the chair, I didn’t realize he could see you,” Aiden replied.
“Oh, he looked right into my eyes, and he spoke into my mind. He only said ‘Hello’ but he was acknowledging my presence. He works for the Ancient Ones just as we do, that’s why we had to let him go. He is not our concern, he is on our side,” Lev explained.
“Okay, he sure didn’t feel like he was on our side. He creeped me out,” Aiden admitted.
“You were expecting a human. You know that our kind exists, so when you see someone that is supposed to be human, but isn’t fully, you feel it. He is indeed dangerous, but he’s doing what the Ancient Ones need him to do. If he strays from that, his own kind will take care of it,” Lev explained.
“Understood,” Aiden responded. “We just have to take care of the doctor then.”
Lev nodded.
“Right. I’ll tell Sam. Can I just ask you one more thing?” Aiden said.
“Of course, Aiden. How can I help you?” Lev said, he knew what was in Aiden’s mind, but he felt it was impolite to answer without letting Aiden ask the question. He also realized it unnerved the humans when he did that.
“The Ancient Ones put the veil in place when they left this realm. Why? What is it for? I know if it breaks too soon existence is destroyed, but what does it do?” Aiden asked.
“The veil keeps the dimensions separate. Once the veil is gone, all the other dimensions will flood into this one, because this is the original dimension,” Lev said.
“So, you’re saying all the things we investigate are just the tip of the iceberg? Things are about to get much worse?” Aiden asked.
“Worse? You are used to reality being hidden from you, that’s all. You will grow accustomed to it. What humans now call reality is quite boring. I’m not sure how they deal with it. You at least have seen a glimpse of reality,” Lev said.
“I’m not sure I want to see full-on reality. The stuff we investigate is the stuff of nightmares,” Aiden replied.
“What you have now is a gross imbalance. Look at the world, there are too many humans. It’s too homogenous, there must be other things. Your race is miserable because they think they are the only forms of intelligent life. They are constantly searching for answers. Soon they will have those answers. There are so many humans that they invent stupid reasons to fight amongst themselves. Look in this country alone. People fighting because their skin color is different, or they’re from this group or that group; it makes no sense. You’ll all see that when the veil is gone, it won’t be a bad thing. Everything will be fine, you’ll see,” Lev said.
Lev’s words didn’t calm his fears, and that was his problem, he was afraid of what was coming. “One more thing, why would Pazuzu torment a twelve-year-old boy?”
Lev smiled, “That’s simple, you’re thinking of a normal child. What is in a child, though? A soul, sometimes a very old soul. In this case, he was a very old enemy that had done terrible things to children. Set, or Pazuzu, figured he’d even the score a bit.”
“That makes sense. Okay, Lev, thanks. I’ll go talk to Sam.”
“Goodbye, my friend,” Lev said. Then he disappeared.
Aiden got out of the car and headed for the elevator. The Muzak version of “Slow Ride” was playing in the elevator. Aiden began loudly singing the lyrics that were missing from the Muzak version and playing the air guitar all around the elevator.
The music helped cheer Aiden up a bit. He thought of the nightmarish creatures he hadn’t seen yet in other dimensions. He thought they might be on their way to this dimension, this thought would remain at the back of his mind. He knocked on Sam’s door and entered, after hearing a “Come in”.
As Aiden entered the room, Sam looked up from her desk. She saw something in Aiden, the turmoil that was going through his mind. “Aiden, what’s up? You look a bit shaken, my friend.”
“Hey Sam, oh it’s just the job taking its toll, I guess,” he said.
“Well, since you’re here presumably to give me someone to kill, why don’t you come with me and we’ll go have drinks afterward? This job is tough; we know things we’re not supposed to know. Things we have to keep from everyone else we know. We all need to talk it out every once in a while. I could use that myself right now, and a drink, I can always use a drink…or ten,” she said.
Aiden laughed, “You want me to go with you to kill someone, then go for drinks? Do you realize how fucked up that is?”
“Yes, but we both know it has to be done. One person’s life is not more important than everything. You know if we didn’t do our job, the matrix…” she began.
“…would break too soon and destroy all of existence. I know, I guess sometimes I feel like I’m losing my humanity,” Aiden said.
“If you were losing your humanity, you wouldn’t feel anything. It’s something I have to remind myself of regularly. Let me go talk to the big boss and we can be off…hopefully,” Sam said.
She walked down the hall to the clacking of her heels on the tile, down to the room with the closet, gateway, or whatever it was. Sam wasn’t sure really, but it didn’t matter to her. She sat in the chair opposite Atum.
He didn’t wait for her to ask, “She will be leaving the hospital for dinner soon. There is an escaped convict who I’m sure the police will be happy to have in custody. He has a CZ-P-07 he took from a police officer he killed; I believe you have one of those. You must go to the hospital right away, then drinks with Aiden. It will do you both some good.”
“Tell Aiden, if he gets burned out, he can join The Black Dawn. It is an organization connected to us, they watch over my daughter while she is in human form. They keep her safe from those that are trying to harm her,” Atum said.
“I didn’t know you had a daughter,” Sam said, realizing she didn’t know much about Atum besides that he was a god.
“I have many. My daughter, Dawn, needs a great deal of protection. He wouldn’t have to be one of the ones that kills those that are trying to hurt her. There are other ways of watching her and helping her keep on track. He would just have to become her friend and help her if she gets lost.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him. Thank you, sir,” Sam said as she got up to leave. She made her way out of the closet and into the hallway. She ran into Bertha in the hallway. “Hey girl, what’s going on?”
“I swear the non-humans are getting restless; there is a sighting every few minutes it seems,” she said.
“You know what Atum says, it will get worse as we near the end,” Sam said.
“Yeah, I just asked if we were that close, they said ‘no.’ How bad is this going to get if we’re a year or two off. It’s going to be insane,” Bertha said.
“Well, that is what the Ancient Ones are known for, Chaos and madness,” Sam said.
“True, well I have to give this case away, later,” Bertha said.
“See ya,” Sam said.
CHAPTER 3: BLOOD AND SACRIFICE
Bertha jumped into the ele
vator to the song “Walking on Sunshine.” Sometimes she wondered if the elevators were programmed to play what people needed to hear. She always felt better after an elevator ride. She danced and sang the song all the way down to the fifth floor. By the time the elevator doors opened, she had a huge smile on her face and felt better.
“Ted Burnäs, you’re up!” Bertha called out.
Ted was very excited when he had a case; he jumped up and nearly ran over to Bertha. She handed him his case number and sashayed back to the elevator. Ted ran back to his desk and grabbed his hat and coat, then headed for the garage.
“Good morning, Agent Burnäs,” The robotic female voice said after he swiped his finger and punched in his case number. His car rose out of the floor, not that he would have to drive it anywhere. “Jero will be your partner on this assignment.
“Here is the story of the case you are working on, it is called…:”
“HIS BROTHER’S MAKER”
We are not only our brother’s keeper; in countless large and small ways, we are our brother’s maker.
Bonaro Overstreet
“How long has it been since you’ve seen each other?”
Hayden trailed his fingers along the inside of her forearm, making Aisling nearly forget the question. And how to breathe.
“A long time,” was his only reply.
She wanted to ask how long a long time was, but something about Hayden’s silence made her hold her tongue. Aisling couldn’t imagine not seeing her sister for a long time; they’d been best friends their whole lives.
When Aisling was eleven and Nikki was nine, their family moved into a larger house, where the girls would finally have their own bedrooms. Within a week, Nikki had moved into Aisling’s room and the second bedroom had become a walk-in closet that was the envy of every girl in school. Their parents rolled their eyes at Nikki and Aisling but, secretly, were glad of the girls’ relationship.
Protectors of the Veil Page 5