Mystery: Suspense: The Lazarus Phenomenon: : A Private Investigator Mystery Crime Thriller: (horror, thriller, science fiction, mystery, police, murder, ... (Marie Avalon Mystery Crime Series Book 1)

by Josh Law

  Marilyn nodded.

  “Yes, that’s the only logical explanation.”

  Alex opened his mouth to say something, but the words never came out.

  “Guys!” Renee interrupted. Her eyes were glued to the room’s ancient TV set.

  It was trained to the local news.

  “I’m Erin Pickler. We’re live here at Lake Nighthorse where local fishermen allegedly witnessed a 17-year-old Caucasian male being dragged into the water chained to the bumper of an unmanned truck. What makes this account of eye-witness murder even more harrowing? The 17-year-old is being identified by police as Nicolas Avalon. The victim of the infamous Main Street vehicular homicide 7 months ago.”

  Marilyn leaped to her feet. The truck was bobbing about in the water like an apple. Police and firefighters were combing the lake with machinery. Would they find young Nicolas’ body?

  Durango was stricken with an epidemic of psychological insomnia from the image that appeared next. There were splashes and bubbles around the nose of the truck. A firefighter shouted and pointed at the water. Several people crowded close to the shore.

  Suddenly, Nick’s head cleared the surface of the water gasping for breath. His hair was clinging to his face and he spluttered. His eyes were wide with terror.

  “I cut him from the crash! I took his body from the crash!” One of the firefighters was screaming hysterically and pointing at the boy.

  Hysteria seems to spread infectiously. The boy made a bolt for it, swimming into the deeper water at a break-neck clip.

  The camera lingered in his wake as though it had been abandoned.

  Marilyn, Renee, and Alex exchanged glances.

  Chapter 5

  He jerked. It felt like he had been asleep for centuries. The frigid water jarred him to the bones. All of his muscles were pulled by the force of his thrashing into wakefulness. He could feel them tearing.

  His eyes came open underwater. Blurry, greenish gray, dead worms floating about his head. Lake water.

  He couldn’t remember anything. Yet somehow this situation felt all too familiar. Larger than life.

  His head cleared the surface. He gasped for breath out of reflex. The late afternoon light pierced into his panic-stricken mind. It was the only thing he could focus on for a split second. Light. Too much. Toxic to the delicate balance of his quaking world.

  Then there were people screaming. Why were they screaming?

  He felt his head spin around. He was in the middle of a lake. There were firefighters, police officers, and local news crews along the shore. Some of them were transfixed in silent terror. Some of them were pointing and screaming random things.

  “I cut him from the crash! He-I’d know that face anywhere!” One of the firefighter’s had collapsed to his knees in unholy terror.

  Nicky bolted from an instinctual reaction. They were the predators he was the prey, so far as he was concerned. This Frankenstein’s monster life was new and threatened. He had to make tracks and fast.

  It was an auditory hallucination. Hysteric en-route, Nicky didn’t know that. He could hear their voices in his mind. The people that had done this to him.

  “Hyperkalemia, Nicolas. It means too much potassium in the blood. You know the nutrient in bananas. For most people it’s a disease. It causes irregularities in heart rhythms. You remember, we’ve talked about it, that’s what we call arrhythmia. You and your family, however, seem to have a highly unique irregularity in your gene pool. You appear to have scheduled hyperkalemia. It’s almost like clockwork, but your blood seems to trigger bouts of the imbalance at sporadic intervals, as though it were making an excess to use for some purpose...”

  Nick tried to block the voice out. It was impossible to stuff his ears when he was treading water. He could do nothing but grit his teeth and listen to this schizophrenic monolog.

  “Nicolas! There’s something else! It’s stunning. At the same time your blood produces the excess potassium your adrenal glands seem to enlarge on their own. They produce benign tumors like clockwork that seem to absorb this excess potassium for some reason! Do you know what this means?”

  Nicolas broke out into tears. Not a hallucination. A memory. His dark and twisted memory.

  “Shut up! Shut up, you sick-“

  But the voice wouldn’t go away.

  “Nicolas, I think we should seriously perform some tests. Based on the data I have compiled it would appear that you have the basic static forecast for chronic Lazarus syndrome!”

  “Playing God! They’re playing God with me!” Nick couldn’t control the tears. He couldn’t remember much, but he’d remembered enough.

  Enough to know that this didn’t end until the tests failed.

  * * *

  The Mach 1 tore through the Durango countryside. Red dust bled through the air.

  “Where else? Where would Nicky go if he was scared and couldn’t head back to your old tree fort?” Marilyn’s heart was hammering in her teeth.

  “I-Hold on…”Alex leaned heavily against the back window. His eyes had light in them for the first time since Marilyn had gotten here. He had a purpose now. As much as it totally freaked him out, Nick was alive. He was his brother, for real this time. He was also apparently a murder victim for the second time this afternoon. If he had to move Heaven and Hell, Alex was going to save Nicky. He just had to figure out how.

  “Watch it!” Renee screamed and covered her face with her hands.

  He’d materialized center-street. It appeared the wild goose chase was over.

  Marilyn brought the Mustang to a shrieking halt, drifting so hard to the left that they made a crescent moon of dust. It rolled over Nick like a tidal wave. He was painted scarlet as it stuck to his drenched clothes and hair.

  Alex jumped out of the back seat. Felt his throat close. There he stood. Back from the dead. Scared out of his mind.

  “Nick?” Alex called and raised his hands. It didn’t matter. He felt like running to him and crunching his spine in his arms. He was alive. For the first time in a grief-stricken Eternity they were flesh and bone in the same air space.

  “Nick, it’s me, man. It’s Alex.” Alex took two stumbling steps forward. He couldn’t contain himself. He ran to him.

  Nick caught Alex as he flew like an inbound missile into his arms. He was sobbing into his shoulder without a care now. Even though he knew they couldn’t stay here for long. There were people coming for Nick.

  “Alex…”Nick gasped and pulled his brother closer.

  “Yeah, it’s me! Hey!” Alex was hysterical. He leaned up and grabbed Nick by both sides of his face. The boy swallowed and pressed his palms into Alex’s chest.

  “Dude, you’re in danger.”

  “What?”

  “They-these people- They’re doing something to me. It’s like a weird experiment. They kill me then they use some kind of mutated gene in my blood to bring me back to life again.”

  Nick was shaking without motor control. He kept twisting back in Alex’s arms, trying to see behind him.

  Alex forced Nick to turn around.

  “Come with us.”

  There was the sound of approaching engines.

  “Get in! Get in!” Renee was screaming at them from the car.

  “Nick! How many times have we been over this?” One voice was shouting.

  “Running is pointless. “The other belonged to a woman.

  “Get in, boys!” Marilyn shrieked and drove forward. Renee did a backflip into the back seat. She kicked open the back door and held her arms out to haul them both in the moving car.

  “Nicky, come with us. We can save you…” Alex’s eyes were pleading.

  “You won’t be safe with me.” Nick’s lips twisted in nervous spasms.

  “Nick, please. I can’t live through your funeral again.” Alex coughed, trying to keep his cool. Nick nodded. He was obviously terrified, but he knew he could trust his best friend.

  They took to their heels. Renee grabbed Alex up from un
der his armpit. Alex grabbed Nick around the waist. The two boys and their caretaker all tumbled into the back seat. Renee hugged Nick and kissed his scalp, crying in overjoyed excitement. Alex leaned up and slammed the flapping door shut.

  Marilyn watched the happy reunion in the rearview mirror with butterflies in her stomach. Now that she could see Nick for herself, she knew he belonged to her. From his expressions to his nose. He was her child, no questions.

  She didn’t get to enjoy laying eyes on her baby for the first time for very long. This happy reunion moment was shattered by the sound of gunfire.

  “Whoa God!” Marilyn started to swerve serpentine style.

  The valley Durango sits in is surrounded by huge conifers. Beautiful and treacherous for off-roading drivers.

  “Hang onto your behinds, gang!” Marilyn put the car in neutral as they coasted off the road.

  “Who are you?” Nick tried to sit up. Renee was hugging him from the front and Alex had his arms wrapped around him from behind making it almost impossible for him to move.

  “Hello, Nicky. Here’s another curve ball for you. My name is Marilyn Avalon. I am your birth mother.”

  Chapter 6

  Nick’s eyes crossed. He almost choked and looked into Renee’s eyes incredulously.

  “It’s a long story. Just…don’t ask. Don’t say anything, Nicky.” Renee held his face in her hands. She might not be his birth mother, but she loved him like he was her own child. He was back from the dead. For the second time. The world was spinning off its axis. That was okay. It could spiral away into the darkest part of the Universe for all she cared.

  Dust swirled around them mixed with needles and branches. They could hear the loud baying of attack dogs. It was a blood-chilling sound, like the hounds of Hell, come to drag Lazarus back to whatever dark thing he’d left behind in the After-life.

  A tree crashed onto its side in front of them. Marilyn popped the car back in drive having gained some ground and steered to the left. A razor blade of fire ran like electricity up the trunk. Smoke wafted in through the windows and they began to choke.

  “Lady, listen to me! You have to give me back to them. They’ll never give up until you do!” Nick was desperate leaping forward and leaning over Marilyn’s shoulder.

  “You’re crazy! Over my dead body!” Marilyn’s felt the blood of adrenaline laced desperation rush to her head.

  “Actually, it’s over my dead body. This-They’re doing an experiment. It’s something to do with potassium in my genes and some weird adrenaline thing. They’re trying to figure out how to medically produce resurrection!” Nick beat his hand against the dash in agitation.

  The car skidded in pine needles. There was a hiss. Their pursuers were lighting the woods on fire on purpose. Go figure.

  “What?! That’s insane!” Renee shook her head in horror.

  “Maybe not! It’s worked twice now, I guess. I can’t really remember all that much.” Nick’s eyes were wild and his hair stood on end. Ashen around the lips, he looked back at Alex.

  “They want Alex too. I don’t know why. They just keep demanding I tell them where he is. He’s in danger. You have to give me back.”

  “They want me for the experiment too, Nick. We have the same defect in our blood.” Alex smiled sheepishly.

  Nick laughed in surprise.

  “Bummer. It’s almost like we’re related!”

  “We are.”

  Nick tilted his head to the side.

  “Nicky, we have the same birth father.” Alex tried to clear his throat. The words felt heavy on his tongue. Every bit of this situation was surreal.

  Nick slid to his knees in the floorboards. His mouth snapped open and closed like a baby bird trying to eat a worm.

  “I’m your biological brother, Nick. Crazy, I know. But it’s true.” Alex smiled.

  “What is this a family reunion?” Nick blinked wildly.

  “It won’t be if we all get killed.” Marilyn looked over her shoulder. For the first time, she and her deceased/resurrected son were face to face. She swallowed. His green eyes were intense. Alive and in pain. Confused and hunted. She needed to save him. So that he could live to know his mother and that she did love him. Older and wiser now, she did love him and would only ever love him more.

  “I need you to try and remember everything you can about these water-brains that are using you for Frankenstein drugs.” Marilyn tried to level out her tone. She’d never been his mother before now and didn’t really know where to even begin the whole “Mama” thing. She did, however, realize that if she wanted to level with this kid she couldn’t tick him off from the get-go.

  Nick licked his lips. Marilyn jerked the wheel. The trees were collapsing around them. Whoever they were, whatever their real motives, they would move Heaven and Nature to bag the monster they were creating.

  “I don’t know. It’s…I…my head hurts. He’s been taking my blood and x-rays and sticking needles in me. Told me I have, uh, chronic Lazarus syndrome. Whatever that means.” Nick leaned against the passenger’s seat eyes staring into Eternity.

  “Oh God!” Marilyn looked back at Renee.

  “What?” They all asked her at the same time.

  “I know who it is. Or at least I know who one of them is.”

  “Who? Wait ‘til I get my hands around their throat!” Renee’s eyes popped in fury.

  “You’re not going to like it.” Marilyn felt her head spinning. She should have seen this coming. How could she have not seen through the mask of perfect caring?

  Renee swallowed.

  “Wait…You think it’s Dr. Swift?” Renee suddenly remembered their conversation on the porch. Dr. Swift had attributed Nicky’s phenomenal resurrection to what he’d called Lazarus Syndrome. By the way he’d talked about it, he was obsessed with it. This and the fact that he’d been so confident and concerned about Alex’s condition. He’d stressed relentlessly having him hospitalized for his psychological duress.

  The devil was always in the details. How ironically frequent were these details on open display! They’d missed it because his concern had been so appropriate for his role. Because he’d just belonged there in the hour of need. He was the Doctor and so he fit.

  Alex’s eyes suddenly lit up.

  “The Doc and my Dad. They had to have conspired together! He’s the only one who would have known about both Nicky and me. He would have known about the gene too because he has to have been the one who passed it down to us. He’s the only parent we share!” Alex hopped in his seat, hair standing on end.

  “Ach! Yes, there are two of them. One’s kind of a grunt. Taller. Older guy, older than the Doc he’s like 40 something.” Nick rubbed his forehead.

  “Sounds like my dad.” Alex swallowed and his hands shook.

  “There’s a woman too-“Nick didn’t get the chance to finish this sentence. A silver Camaro came crashing through the trees. The driver bumped them.

  The Mach 1 began to spiral in donut shapes. Their heads smashed the windows out and blood dripped into the cockpit. Through the dust, they could see her. The driver with beautiful golden hair.

  Alex sat bolt upright, despite his injuries. He’d turned the gray/white color of sugar in his horror.

  “Mom…”

  Chapter 7

  Alex bailed from the car, out of his head.

  “Alex, wait!” Nick dove headfirst out of the back and caught him around the stomach.

  “Mom!” Alex was hysterical. His dead loved ones were rising all around him with no plausible explanation other than his pediatrician and his father’s psychotic experiments.

  “Well, look who grew up handsome!” Mrs. Prescott swaggered into the dusty path. Her brows were raised and she was beaming. Marilyn got out of the car and stepped around it with extra caution.

  “Oh, hello. You must be Army’s whore. The one that gave life to this little bastard. Well, congratulations. It’s marvelous, really. He’s the best test subject we’ve ever had. Other tha
n me, anyway.” Mrs. Prescott grinned from ear to ear.

  “You died of cancer. Like 5 years ago!” Renee’s face blanched as she said this. She stepped out of the car and plucked a small pistol from a holster concealed on the inside of her bomber’s jacket.

  “Hey, now! Watch where you point that thing! I’m not overly keen on going back to the grave. Nicolas can relate.” Mrs. Prescott flashed a menacing smile at Nick and blew him a kiss.

  “Well, that depends. If I’m such a great test subject, then just take me and let these guys walk.” Nick stepped forward. He shoved Alex behind himself with a graceful sweep of his arm.

  “No way!” Alex grappled Nick’s shoulder and thrust him back to standing side by side him. He threw a shielding arm in his way when he tried to step up again.

  “Yeah, I think we’ve established that you have Lazarus Disorder, Nicky. That’s what we’re calling it anyway. The one disease that all of Humanity is quite literally dying to catch!” Mrs. Prescott fluffed her long golden hair and rolled her eyes. She was dancing in place, eager to give them the down low.

  “Your dad, other than being the finest thing that ever walked the Earth, has that special something in his blood that can literally trigger the body to reanimate itself long before decomposing. Apparently, this lovely genetic defect can also reverse decomposition in human corpses! They submitted a gas form of his adrenal extract into my vault. After a period of three months, my body’s decomposition had stopped. Further exposure to the gas plus electrical impulses being sent down my feet and hands and the decomposition was actually beginning to reverse. My body, while dead, was healing itself of decay. When I was a whole cadaver again, they began to inject me with the serum. They performed regular resuscitation attempts. I revived beautifully!” She laughed, a sadistic gleam in her eye.

  “What a way to make up for having an affair! Army did feel really guilty about the three or four-night stands with you, Marilyn. I’m the one he really loved, you know. There’s no real question of that now, is there? So, he raised me from the dead. Then he promised me that it would be your little bastard that we would make the guinea pig out of. While Alex would get the superfood from our harvest. We would inject him with those test results that worked. He’d be prime ready for the ROTC. To carry on in his father’s footsteps as the ultimate soldier! Or basketball player! Or whatever he wanted to be! He would be the prime specimen of a human being on Earth. Whatever he became, he would be forever. Just let us have Alex. We’re not going to hurt him. We’ll make him immortal!” Whatever the psychotic experimentation had done, it had made her batty. She rolled her head on her neck, totally crazed.