Carpathian: An Event Group Thriller (Event Group Thrillers)

by David L. Golemon

  “Why should it be,” Sarah said as she finally forced herself to turn away from the window. “It’s a Golia, just as Alice has said all along.”

  Ryan slowly turned and was about to say something and then stopped. He instead went over to the large bar and poured himself a small shot of whiskey and then downed it. He was used to all sorts of danger, as most ex-fighter jocks were. But to face something like that with only a few millimeters of glass between you and a myth that could not possibly exist really placed a crimp in Ryan’s self-image of being unafraid of most things.

  “What is it, Mr. Ryan?” Jack asked, knowing exactly what the naval aviator had seen. He had seen the same thing and was wondering if he was slowly losing his ability to interpret what he was seeing correctly.

  Ryan slid the small shot glass so hard down the bar that it hit a bottle and nearly shattered it, bouncing off the bottle and onto the floor.

  “You’ll think I’m nuts,” he said as he tried his best to avoid the eyes of Sarah and Jack. Pete was still ensconced in staring at the large window.

  “Well, then we’re all heading for the insane asylum because I think I saw what you did,” Sarah said. “Jack?”

  Collins smiled and then joined Ryan at the bar and figured he could allow himself one on-duty drink—after all, how many times do you actually see a werewolf at your window and know for a fact that it was real? He poured himself a shot and then quickly drank it. He set the glass down and smiled.

  “You mean when the Big Bad Wolf changed its eye color to one that matched Captain Everett’s perfectly, or was it the fact that the damn thing saluted me?”

  Pete Golding looked over at Jack, who poured himself a second shot and sipped at first, and then finished the whiskey.

  “You mean the captain is—”

  “Yes, I think that was Carl and he’s…” Collins laughed and then poured a third shot, thought a moment and then pushed it away shaking his head in wonder. Pete lowered his head and said the words that Collins couldn’t.

  “He’s a werewolf?”

  “Oh, man, this is way too much, way too fast. You mean this thing Alice has been talking about is actually real. I mean, a Lost Tribe of Israel, all right, yeah, sure, I can buy that, after everything we’ve seen the past few years, no problem. But the captain a werewolf? Okay, I have to really consider quitting this job.”

  The mission was taking a turn they never really believed could happen.

  “Well, it proves one thing,” Sarah said as she walked over and picked up the shot glass that Jack had sent flying off the bar and then placed it back near the colonel and placed a hand over the lip.

  “And what’s that?” Jack asked eyeing the glass and the hand over it.

  “Operation Grimm,” she said and then finally smirked and looked at Ryan, Pete, and then back at Collins. “Alice was damn near perfect in naming her Event, wasn’t she?”

  The question went unanswered as the morning broke on the day of the grand opening of Dracula’s Castle, and the last night of the Jeddah.

  17

  PATINAS

  Carl had felt the beast stiffen and fight against his suggestion of contact with Jack and the others. Everett had not known if the Golia would allow him to manipulate his body control long enough to give Collins the heads-up. He did manage to see the astonished faces of his friends through the double-paned window and knew that either they saw the signs he had given them or they had just been too shocked to see an actual Golia that they hadn’t registered anything from Stanus other than the enormous teeth and muscled body. But Carl knew the whole experience had been worth it when, for the first time in the many years he had known Colonel Jack Collins he saw the man actually take a step back from a situation and his eyes widening. It would make for great conversation in the complex mess hall.

  * * *

  Stanus was running at full speed up the side of the mountain, as if the large brain of the animal knew something was happening up at the pass and the Golia needed to be there. Carl was trying to see what the Golia was seeing but only succeeded in bringing the animal to a complete stop a mile past the castle. The sun was up and the morning rays were being diffused by the large storm slowly coming up from the south. Stanus shook his head while staying on all fours. Everett felt the animal start to fight him. The beast continued to shake its massive head hard enough that saliva was starting to fly from the growling mouth. Suddenly in his sleep state Carl felt his stomach heave, once, twice, and then a third time.

  Stanus struggled to get to his hind legs, and using one of the large pine trees for support raised its muzzle to the morning sky and let loose a howl that frightened the man inside the head of the giant wolf. The large, thick, purple-colored claws dug into the bark and tore loose a four-foot section of the tree as Stanus struggled to get Everett out of its head. The beast hit the ground and rolled. The activity was forcing Carl to place every ounce of his sleeping mind into calming Stanus. Anya had said that a Golia can only be hitchhiked on for sometimes as little as five minutes before it will start to become uncooperative about hosting the traveler.

  Carl felt the sensation of the animal’s being start to fade from his vision as Stanus not only hit the ground hard and rolled, but the animal was actually shaking its head as if that alone could shake loose the stranger that was inside it. Suddenly Everett felt the power of the Golia ebb into nothingness as his strength left his body. He no longer could feel Stanus around him. He could no longer feel the raw emotion of the animal and knew that the spell was done. His mind seemed to tumble as the power of the wolf left and did not return. His body was deflated, his mind now putting out useless information of confusing thoughts and animalistic rage.

  Captain Carl Everett’s time as a werewolf was over.

  PATINAS PASS, THE TEMPLE OF MOSES

  Carl thrashed and rolled half on and half off the old Army cot. His arm flew off and hit the stone floor. Madam Korvesky had just been brought in and laid upon a hardwood bed that was higher than the cot Everett was on. The old woman reached out and took Anya by the hand and stilled her from going to Everett.

  “No, girl-child, let him come to the surface on his own, do not interfere, you know better than that.”

  “But Stanus has dislodged him completely; he’s never done that before.”

  The old woman smiled and then lay back on the wooden table just as Niles and Charlie Ellenshaw walked inside. Niles held up the large black bag and showed it to a very nervous and angry Denise Gilliam. She nodded her head and then gestured for Niles and Charlie to enter.

  “Stay close, I’m going to need you two.”

  Ellenshaw exchanged an uneasy look with Niles Compton, who knew what the doctor was going to ask.

  On the cot Everett finally vomited onto the floor of the small stone enclosure. The red substance spewed onto the stone blocks and then when he thought he had most of the souring potion out of his stomach it heaved once more and then the last of the poisonous fluid finally convulsed from his stomach. Anya wrested her hand from her grandmother’s and hurried to Carl’s side and with the aid of Niles and Charlie lifted Everett back to the cot.

  “That is worse than waking up the morning after a Shanghai drinking binge,” Carl said as he squeezed his eyes closed against the flare of the several torches that lined the walls. He blinked and saw that an electric light had been strung into the small hut and was focused on the table next to his bed. Anya held Carl’s hand for the longest time as his mind attempted to come back fully into his head.

  “Stanus has shown you the ability of the wolf, and now you will pay for that,” Anya said and placed a hand on his forehead and then wiped off the gleaming beads of sweat.

  “Captain, did you find out the disposition of your people at the resort?” Madam Korvesky asked.

  “I … think I did … hell, now I’m not too sure.”

  Anya smiled as she looked down at him and then worried over his lack of color. The spell had taken far more out of Carl than she re
alized it would. She now knew that the strength Everett was using to hold the mental link with Stanus had proven far too much for the large American. He was now exhausted and there wasn’t anything he could do now but rest.

  “What is happening here?”

  They all turned to see Marko Korvesky standing in the doorway. Two large Gypsy men were on either side of the smaller Marko and all looked angry.

  “Grandmother, you know bringing them in here is strictly forbidden by Jeddah law.”

  The small laugh from the old woman made Marko cringe as he took in the face of his sister as she stood over the American.

  “And it looks as if this man has been traveling.” He looked down at his grandmother with an angry expression. “Did you order this?”

  “Yes, and now I have orders for you, man-child,” she said as Denise started prepping her swollen ankle and leg for the impromptu surgery. “A storm is coming,” she said, finally looking at Marko. “Tonight you will see your fondest wish fulfilled, my grandson: you will prove your worth and become king of the Gypsies, and join the long line of Jeddah going all the way back to Kale Al-Saul.”

  Marko and Anya were both shocked at the statement.

  “The future of our people and of the Golia will be in your hands, Marko, in the next few hours. Many Golia and Jeddah will not be seeing the dawn after this coming night.”

  Marko looked back at Anya, who was watching the exchange while holding the American’s hand. It looked as if she were struggling with his grandmother’s decision.

  “Do you plan on cutting off my grandmother’s ankle or Mikla’s?” he asked the doctor as she brushed past him with a pan of water that Ellenshaw had retrieved from the mineral hot springs that spewed forth the steamy liquid from deep beneath the mountain. She stopped and stared angrily at the arrogant man.

  “Your grandmother needs to be in a hospital,” Denise said as she handed Niles Compton the bowl of water. “I don’t have the right equipment and the sanitary conditions are off the scale in here. I’ve got dust and dirt falling from a three-thousand-year-old ceiling and I’m performing major surgery on a woman in her eighties when her grandson could place her in one of those broken-down pieces of crap you people drive and get her to a real facility where they can treat her!”

  Niles saw that Denise was close to losing it. He was asking too much of a medical doctor to suspend her belief long enough and actually cut off the old woman’s lower leg to save another that a scalpel would never touch. He stepped up to her and gestured outward by holding the pan of water. Denise nodded and understood that she had just lost it. She gestured for the director to place the water at the head of the table. Denise reached into her bag and brought out a small bottle of morphine and then looked at Madam Korvesky. Denise halfheartedly smiled, shook her head, and then started arranging her instruments.

  “Do you think my grandmother would listen to me?” Marko asked. He sniffed and huffed. “If she is choosing Mikla over herself so be it. She hurt herself by being secretive about her plans when all of this could have been avoided by naming me the heir many years ago.” He stepped closer to the table and looked down upon the old woman. “Now we will do things my way,” he said and then shocked everyone by leaning over and kissing her on the forehead.

  “You are not king yet, man-child, I have one last task for you.”

  Denise slowly pushed a syringe into the small brown bottle and then looked at Niles and shook her head in anger. She knew the old woman could not survive the amputation, she was just too old and the infection had spread too far. Her fate would be the same as Mikla’s, only Mikla would die before the surgery was completed. Denise eased the needle into the old woman’s arm and then she locked eyes with Marko.

  “Say your good-byes, because your grandmother has chosen suicide over common sense.” Denise angrily threw the needle against the far wall of the room. Charlie Ellenshaw eased over to the young doctor and placed his arm around her.

  Marko ignored the indignant American doctor and returned his attention to Madam Korvesky as her eyes started to settle into a far more relaxed state.

  “Go to your new friends at the resort and have them release the Americans.” The Gypsy queen ordered her grandson as she allowed her eyes to flutter shut as the morphine was starting to take effect. “Explain to your partner that if this is done, he will be rewarded in the ways of avarice. The trinkets you have delivered to him are nothing compared to what the Gypsy queen is prepared to give him for the favor of releasing the Americans.”

  “I do not have to ask, I will order their release.” Marko once more leaned over and spoke directly into his grandmother’s ear. “After that, the Jeddah will begin a new life, one we deserve. Do you understand me, Grandmamma?”

  She lightly patted his hand as she started to slide into unconsciousness. “You will be king so you will be able to do anything you want. Now go and free the Americans, they will not want to be at the resort after the day ends tomorrow night.”

  The last words were nearly unintelligible as Marko allowed her to sleep. He closed his eyes and said a small prayer for the woman that raised him, one that he respected and loved like no other, but also one that he had always feared as being the one who would always make the hard choices and decisions. That was something Marko himself hoped he had inside of him.

  Suddenly Marko’s demeanor changed completely. He turned to Anya and then looked down at the American.

  “These people must be gone from Patinas tomorrow.” He looked from Niles to the faces of the others. He stopped at Denise and then said, “Please help my grandmother, I would not want to see her go out this way.”

  “Listen to me, you little backwoods jerk, I’ll do what it is I—”

  “Doctor!” Niles said louder than he had intended.

  Denise cut off her angry reply and then just shook her head.

  “I will gather my men and we will pay our partner a visit, have lunch, and wish him well on his grand opening of his ridiculous castle. Then I will order your friends released. Then you will leave Romania and never return. This mountain is not yours.”

  They all watched Marko leave the room, quickly followed by the two large men, who hesitantly patted their friend on the back at his new honor.

  “Well, we have little time, her fever is up to a hundred and five degrees. We have to remove that leg now.”

  As Marko climbed the large staircase he stopped and looked back down to the four village women who stood silently around Mikla in the center of the temple. His eyes traveled up to the gallery high above and saw that every single one of the Golia young were lined up and watching Mikla. Marko then turned with a smile and started outside.

  As one, the Golia started howling as Mikla yelped and started growling as the amputation had started.

  With the pain-filled howl of the sleeping Golia echoing inside the lost Temple of Moses, the last twenty-four hours of the ancient tribe of Jeddah were about to begin.

  * * *

  Denise Gilliam fought for one solid hour to remove the shattered lower right leg of Madam Korvesky. The blood loss had been tremendous. Dr. Gilliam was amazed at how the old woman seemed to control not only the pain, but also the flow of her own blood. At first Denise was willing to chalk the strange ability up to a fluke, but she was now convinced that Madam Korvesky actually managed to control the speed at which her heart was operating. That told Denise that the Jeddah had more than just unusual control of their minds, but of their bodies as well. It would be later that Denise, Alice, Charlie, and Niles would conclude that the Jeddah had the ability to not only control the Golia to a point, but also the physical and metaphysical world around them. They thus came to the conclusion that the rumors of vampires, werewolves, and other strange in the Carpathians were the kind of stuff that made legend seem like fact.

  As the surgery was taking place, Niles and Charlie Ellenshaw stayed as close to Mikla as they dared. Several of the village’s biggest men-folk had managed to slip restraining rope
s around Mikla to hold him to the stone dais. The ropes had been passed around the eight-hundred-pound beast several times because the men of Patinas knew what it would take to restrain one of nature’s most tenacious killers.

  Mikla had calmed down when Madam Korvesky was given the morphine injection by Dr. Gilliam. One minute Mikla was snapping and snarling at the men around it and the next the bright yellow eyes became dull and the great Golia listless. The men still kept their distance. It was crazy Charlie and later he would admit to being pressured by the bravery of Ellenshaw that pushed him to follow the nutty cryptozoologist toward the now still yet perceptive animal. Charlie’s eyes were fixed firmly on the dais and the ankle of the Golia. Compton wrung his hands together as he too watched the wolf for the reaction that they knew was coming.

  “I’ve always heard of remote healing, Niles, but never remote healing with a pinch hitter before. I mean to take the leg of someone who wasn’t actually injured, only psychosomatically, and that removal of the offending limb is supposed to heal the actual injury that occurred to another entity—amazing.”

  Niles looked at Ellenshaw, who was excited at what was happening since they entered the temple. Compton, as was his habit, always watched and then calculated his opinions. And thus far the director of Department 5656 wasn’t completely satisfied that Madam Korvesky could be trusted. Her sudden turnaround on the appointment of her grandson, Marko, spoke of a plan that Niles had yet to figure out. It was like the old woman had become tired of the struggle and surrendered the leadership of the tribe of Jeddah to Marko and not the better-equipped Anya.

  Charlie looked from Mikla to Niles and then at the four men standing around but still far away from Mikla. Charlie gulped and then placed a hand near the break in the beast’s right lower leg. The wound was swollen and Ellenshaw could clearly see the break in the bone. One bend was larger than the others but he still counted three separate breaks. He shook his head as the odor hit him. He turned back to Compton with a sad shake to the head.