Poppy looked troubled at his macabre revelation which somehow had an element of truth within it and she was also confusingly pleasantly surprised because she had simply thought that he was a conman but he had redeemed himself with his insightful insights into her secretive past. She did recall the mysterious faceless man with mirrored eyes that reflected light in such a way that he could have been perceived as an owl like creature. She also remembered feeling troubled by his presence especially when she saw him ominously staring back at her through the crowds and she had also felt his dark presence when she made love to Merlyo. She had indeed felt something awful and dreadful that night so much so that she had felt ill later on and through up in the bathroom just before she had reunited with Ness. This was yet another convoluted reason she had not wanted to see Merlyo again after that night because of this troublingly strange occurrence that she could not explain or rationalise within her confused mind.
A pondering Poppy then looked at the still shaking Voodoo Doctor with a new sense of optimism and satisfaction, thinking that this day was not a total waste of her valuable time after all. He was still transfixed on the mirror behind her and so she curiously turned around yet again and again saw nothing of interest before she then startlingly heard the Voodoo Doctor scream “Ahhh!” Poppy spun around to see a petrified Voodoo Doctor as he remained within his throne of bone, sweating and steadily slouching down whilst he slowly looked up behind him. Poppy could see nothing but the spiritually sensitive medicine man had momentarily heard something sinisterly malevolent whisper a hideously maddening truth within his own ear. A dark truth about his past that no one could know in the realm of the living and therefor the horrific whispering voice must have originated from the hellish land of the dead.
The eerie voice had come from behind his beloved throne and it was so real to him because he felt the air move around his ear lobes which unnaturally caught his immediate and unflinching attention. The unknown thing had spoken in its otherworldly dialect from a forgotten past not just within his own ear but into his very shallow soul. He frantically speculated how the ethereal creature could have leapt from one realm of existence into another and imagined its hellish silhouette behind him as he now felt the same deep breath that he had felt within his spirit walk, bellow down upon him. The sweating Voodoo Doctor then suddenly shot up from his throne and spun around, expecting to see something behind his throne but there was nothing, nothing at all.
This violent movement in turn knocked the wax doll from the table onto the floor, breaking its head, arms and legs off to which he then looked down at it in horror as the broken figure lay haphazardly upon the wooden floor in its newly twisted and grotesquely dismembered form. An ethereal and otherworldly laugh then rippled through the boxcar as only the spiritually attune Voodoo Doctor could hear its maddening hackle, further panicking the already disturbed man. It then spoke again in its otherworldly and sinister voice as it looked down at the broken wax doll on the ground from inside the mirror, pleasantly enjoying tormenting the spirit walking interloper “Isn’t it beautiful!”
The Voodoo Doctor’s true fear was now evident from his face as Poppy alarmingly looked at the disturbed clairvoyant as he started to hypo-ventilate and panic and just as she was about to ask him what did all this mean, the boxcar door suddenly violently slid open. The open door suddenly released all the accumulated smoke that had built up within the weed laden boxcar and freed it of all of its precious contents into the air outside.
Both the startled Poppy and the Voodoo Doctor looked on as the suns gleaming light filtered into the darkened chamber and instantly revealed the two detectives standing within the unsettled and sunlit smoke. Both Merlyo and Zalewski where coughing and had their colt revolver and twin silver pistols drawn whilst pointing them in the unseen direction of the startled Voodoo Doctor. Zalewski then shouted “FREEZE! VOODOO! You’re under…” but before he could finish, a startled Merlyo shouted to Zalewski “LOOK OUT! DUCK!”
Zalewski instinctively ducked as he briefly caught a glimpse of the impressively decorated multi-coloured baseball bat of the guard as it crashed into the boxcar wood above him. The baseball bat was swung with such tremendous force by its skilled wielder that it splintered upon impact and caused many wood pieces to fly off in all directions. Merlyo then instinctively acted upon seeing the guard’s hesitation and desperately grabbed the splintered lethal weapon whilst he dropped his revolver and punched the guard as hard as he could in the face. The forceful punch knocked the goat legged guard to the ground unconscious and caused a large bellowing cloud of dust to develop which further confused the already chaotic situation. Both startled detectives then then quickly gathered themselves as Merlyo reclaimed his revolver and spoke to the shocked Zalewski “You ok?” to which he thankfully nodded before looking at the unconscious man and vocalising his impressions about his partners forceful punch “Right in the kisser!”
The two of them then proceeded to turn their efforts back onto the outrageous Voodoo Doctor whom had taken the opportunity to grab the small wooden box on his table and threw it and its escaping contents of blinding white power at them. The two bumbling detectives coughed as the vapours of the thrown white powder liberally filled their lungs and coated them within a thin layer of white. They then attempted to frantically scramble and climb into the now smoke infested boxcar and awkwardly bungled there way clumsily into its unseen interior.
The silent on looking Poppy simply sat there and rolled her eyes in contempt as she witnessed the comical catastrophe that was suddenly developing around her, disinterested in pursuing the gifted Voodoo Doctor and rather keen on seeing how the dynamic detective duo where in action. The nimble Voodoo Doctor jumped onto the steel ladder which was behind his throne and its old rusted metal buckled under his weight as he began to frantically ascend to the top of the boxcar’s access hatch in a desperate effort to evade capture. Both hesitant detectives were reluctant to search for the elusive Voodoo Doctor within the sightless interior before Merlyo paused and lowered his revolver before also hastily putting his hand over Zalewski’s pistols and motioning for him to do the same. Merlyo was afraid of himself, or his trigger happy partner, accidentally shooting the unseen Poppy within the smoke filled boxcar and they looked into its interior until they both suddenly noticed a vague light appear above them and through the thick smoke. They both then realised it was the roof access hatch to the outside and suspected that it was the escaping Voodoo Doctor. Merlyo then forcefully shouted after the crooked charlatan “Where you going to run doc? This trains not going anywhere! Let’s not make this harder than it has to be ok?!”
Both detectives then suddenly and alarmingly heard a train far beyond the adjoining boxcars making a large “honk” sound which reverberated throughout the rickety old wooden frame of the boxcar. Meryo’s then said to himself “Shit!” as he recalled the outside environment in detail and theorized that the Voodoo Doctor was attempting to run the full length of the old boxcar line in order to jump onto the moving train which lay further up the track. Both white faced detectives then knowingly looked at each other in alarm as the distant train once again honked and they frantically quickly put their separate weapons in their shoulder holsters and moved towards the steel ladder. The smoke then finally cleared to reveal a knowingly smiling Poppy with her arms crossed, still sitting by the table and taking immense pleasure in watching the chaotic events play out. Merlyo looked at her in amazement as she spoke in a distinctly sarcastic manner “Don’t look at me detective, he’s your ‘prime suspect’ after all!”
Merlyo just gave her an apologetic look before he proceeded to hastily follow the escaping Voodoo Doctor up the old rusty ladder that barley held under the struggling detective’s weight and creaked in an uneasy protest. Zalewski hesitated before he joined the frantic Merlyo on the unstable ladder as he curiously drew his finger across his desk to gather up some of the mysterious white powder and licked it from his finger. He got an immediate buzz from t
his action and then excitedly shouted up to the steadily ascending Merlyo “Merlyo this is wacky dust! You know, like the song!” Merlyo angrily shouted back to Zalewski, wishing him to refocus on the immediate concern of capturing there escaping charlatan “Come on he’s getting away!”
Zalewski then immediately put his whole sweaty palm across the face of the desk and gathered as much of the miraculous powder as he could and smothered his lips in it, before smiling and winking at the amused Poppy. She amusingly reciprocated his knowing expression with a wink of her own as she then curiously noticed that he saw something of interest behind the Voodoo Doctor’s throne. He hastily grabbed the mysterious item before then frantically following his pursuing partner up the rickety old ladder which now struggled with the combined weight of the two pursuing gumshoes. The ladder creaked in protest for the constant angry abuse that it was getting after years of blissful retirement within this old boxcar. As the white face smeared Zalewski frantically climbed up the fracturing stairs he eagerly licked his lips, instantly recreating the buzzing feeling in an unabated bliss.
Merlyo finally stuck his head up and out of the still smoking boxcar and coughed while frantically looking for the escaping Voodoo Doctor. After a moment he saw the fleeing charlatan hesitatingly pause on top of a nearby boxcar roof as his impressive top hat flew off in the wind. The determined Merlyo then pulled himself up and proceeded to hastily follow the scampering Voodoo Doctor and quickly jumped from one boxcar to another. He desperately needed to catch up with the speedy conman because he could see in the distance that the steadily moving train, which was on the opposite and still in use train track, was starting to slowly pull away. The surface on top of the rusty boxcars was immensely slippery due to the years of neglect and build-up of slimy green moss which appeared to cover everything in sight. The determined detective however tentatively ran upon this illuminated green moss at half speed because he was weary of putting a foot wrong and tumbling over the edge to an unknown fate.
As he ran after the fleeing charlatan, a white powdered faced Zalewski finally climbed up and out of the still smoking boxcar and coughed as he did so. Merlyo turned and gave him a disapproving to his struggling partner as he took this moment to withdraw his revolver before turning yet again to continue his dramatic pursuit of the Voodoo Doctor. Merlyo felt a new wave of determination flow over him as he held his trusty weapon within his hand and frantically ran from derelict boxcar to boxcar in order to make up for lost time and catch up with the surprisingly fit and nimble suspect. The Voodoo Doctor was steadily disappearing with pace as he sped towards the distant moving train and was fantastically fit for a man whose body was saturated in his potent magic weed.
A coughing Zalewski quickly followed his frantically pursing partner whilst clumsily withdrawing both his twin silver pistols and also jumping from one slippery boxcar to the next. The slow drizzle of warm rain made the task all the more difficult whilst the sun also beamed down ahead of the chasing detectives so as they could only briefly glimpse the elusive Voodoo Doctor as he leapt from one triumphant leap to another. The struggling Merlyo found it hard to match the impressively fleeing Voodoo Doctor who made his leaps and bounds appear to be effortless within the masking brilliant sunlight and its visually fire like raindrops. Both detectives frantically ran but they were limited to the single slippery walkway on the top of each old boxcar, hindering the two men and forcing there limited pace to further slowdown.
The younger and fitter Zalewski could not overtake the slower and more cautious Merlyo and thus they were both handicapped by his lack of speed. Whereas the fit Voodoo Doctor was alarmingly now almost already at the distant intersection point to jump from the dead line of boxcars to the living and moving train. The exhausted Merlyo then suddenly stopped which caused the unprepared Zalewski to bump into him from behind, much to his irritation, and he then aimed his revolver upwards whilst looking into the blinding sunlight and fired it whilst he shouted “GOD DAMMIT VOODOO! I’M WARNING YOU DON’T DO IT! YOU’RE UNDER ARREST! DON’T YOU JUMP YOU SON OF A BITCH OR I’LL SHOOT!”
Both struggling detectives squinted their eyes to try to get a good view of the Voodoo Doctor’s reaction to the determined threat and could just see that he looked briefly at the two for a moment before smiling and then dramatically jumping onto the moving train in his desperate bid for escape. The Voodoo Doctor flew through the air with such grace that it surprised even the on looking detectives as he just did not make the roof and almost slipped off completely before his hand desperately grabbed the rattling steel railing. The daring doctor struggled to cling onto the train’s slippery steel roof railing as it shook and wobbled as it took his sudden and massive additional weight. The moving train still swiftly moved along as it was undeterred by the drama that was surrounding it whilst the exhausted but exhilarated Voodoo Doctor desperately clung on. He then slowly managed to pull himself up and onto the roof of the slowly moving train boxcar and felt a new wave of triumph exhilaration saturate his already oversized ego.
The triumphant escapee then gave the on looking and defeated detectives a sarcastic salute which was immediately followed by an abusive “up yours” hand gesture. The infamous doctor was so pleased that he had managed to evade the two bumbling detectives that he then arrogantly started to dance and shout abusive names from his native language at the both of them “Lalala! You guys are Chi-Chi Men and Battyhole! Fassyhole’s! Battyhole-mandole! Chi-Chi Man a Boom Boom! Hahaha! Lalala!...” He then started singing and dancing to a tune they both did not recognise as he sarcastically gloated at his remarkable victory from the bitter jaws of defeat. The smiling and laughing Voodoo Doctor then proceeded to pull down both his trousers and pants to show the disgusted detectives an unexpected and rather unpleasant view of his bare naked ass which he happily slapped a few times before pulling them back up again and dancing so more.
A defeated Merlyo and Zalewski slowly and dejectedly walked the rest of the way until the end of the static, derelict boxcars and simply watched the insolent, indefectible Voodoo Doctor apparently make his miraculous escape into the sunlit distance. As they stood there in a defeated silence for seemed like at least a minute of watching a joyous Voodoo Doctor disappear into the soft and sparkling sunlit rain, Poppy then surprisingly came up from behind them both and grabbed Merlyo’s lowered revolver from his hand. She then proceeded to calmly kneel down ahead of them at the tip of the long dead boxcar line and take a prolonged aim at the rapidly disappearing and delighted Voodoo Doctor. A tired, sweating and confused Merlyo then looked at the exhausted, white-mouthed and powder smeared Zalewski in puzzlement whom in turn looked at a focused Poppy as she knelt there and aimed for what seemed like ages. After a silent moment of immense anticipation she then fired a single shot which echoed around the entire train yard like a thunder strike and the mystery bullet seemed to take forever to get to its elusively distant target.
In the far distance she hit a large, loose metal signaller that suddenly swung around the back of the smug Voodoo Doctor’s smiling head and hit him, knocking the unsuspecting rogue into the open trapdoor of the unknown contents of the boxcar that had been so happily dancing on a moment ago. An impressed Zalewski immediately became excitable and joyously commented on the amazing shot “Great shot Poppy! Wow! Unbelievable! That was fantastic! Where’d you learn to shoot like that? Did you see that Merlyo? Absolutely amazing!”
A satisfied and smirking Poppy then stood up, turned swiftly around and shoved the used revolver back into the sweaty hands of the shocked Merlyo. The detective awkwardly smiled at her but she did not reciprocate his warmth, choosing to ignore him and swiftly walked past the pair and back down the top of the derelict boxcars. She then paused and shouted back at the two detectives whilst turning her head to the side as the sun kissed rain continued to fall “I was actually aiming at the Voodoo Doctor, Zalewski! And Merlyo! Next time be honest with me ok? That’s why I like you. Don’t bother calling me again gentlemen unless you have a
good suspect and don’t forget I was never here ok!”
As a defeated Merlyo reluctantly looked at the leaving Poppy walk off into the fire like rain which coated all, he felt ashamed of his deception and promised himself he would never do such a thing again. He internally reprimanded himself for trying to manipulate a woman whom could not be manipulated and chose to accept the difficult situation that he had with her for what it was. Meanwhile the elated Zalewski continued to joyfully voice his amazement at Poppy’s miraculous shot whilst still looking at the ever disappearing train of the Voodoo Doctor. His white faced partner had apparently ignored Poppy’s comment about her aiming specifically at the Voodoo Doctor and Zalewski put it down to her reluctance to accept such credit for the outlandishly spectacular shot. He continued his over joyed and elated delight at the clever rogues demise as he licked yet more of the white power from his lips whilst shouting “Poppy you got to teach me how to shoot and we also have to hook up for a drink! That was incredible! Can you believe that shot!? Fantastic!”
Merlyo turned and gave his elated partner a disapproving look, knowing what he meant by his insinuating drink comment until the over excited Zalewski then excitedly pointed to show his partner the contents of the boxcar that the Voodoo Doctor had so unluckily fallen into. Written on the side of the carriage in big bold letters was the word “MANURE” and an already overjoyed Zalewski then laughed hysterically as the train took its smelly cargo off into the distance and finally out view altogether. Merlyo then also smiled at the good doctor’s poetic demise and turned around to see that the elusive Poppy had sadly disappeared again but hopefully for not too long this time because he still desperately required her compassionate love.
The Noir Evil Page 41