The Grim Spectre

by Ralph L. Angelo Jr.

  “She’s being held for questioning. She made some outlandish claims in this morning’s paper, and I want them substantiated.”

  “What? You can’t do that. What gives you the right to hold my reporter at all?” George exploded with rage.

  “I can hold her overnight without charging her as under suspicion, which is exactly what I’m doing right now,” The Mayor replied.

  “Suspicion of what?” Bobby yelled, he could barely contain his rage at the moment.

  “Of aiding and abetting a threat to the city. She claims to have had contact with this ‘Grim Spectre’ maniac and yet she won’t divulge any information about him to me.”

  “C’mon William, you know that’s a lie. This girl has nothing to do with this monster or whatever he is. In fact from her story he saved her life,” George countered.

  “Maybe so, George, but she refuses to divulge any information about this Spectre guy.

  “But why?” Bobby asked in surprise.

  “That’s what I’m trying to get out of her. Right now this ghost is a threat to Riverburgh. My police force and I are here to make the streets of this city safe for everyone living within it.”

  “Now you want to take that oath seriously?” Bobby asked, “Why the sudden change of heart?”

  “Don’t be a wise guy, Terrano; I get enough of that around here. Do you want to see her? I’ll take you to the cell she’s in.”

  Bobby looked at the Mayor in disbelief, “Are you kidding me? You have Tammy in a cell?”

  “She’s in a safe cell, apart from anyone who could pose a threat to her, but she’s going to remain there at least until morning when I’ll see if she changed her mind and wants to talk about what she saw.”

  Bobby and George both looked at the Mayor in stunned silence.

  “Relax gentlemen, she’s fine and in good hands. Nothing’s going to happen to her. But the sooner she talks about what she saw and who she suspects The Grim Spectre really is, the sooner she gets to go home. Right now she needs to be shaken up a bit by a night spent behind bars.”

  “You don’t have the right,” George began, but Winston silenced him with a wave of his hand, cutting him of in mid-sentence.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, George, I do. I can hold her legally, without charging her, for observation overnight, which is exactly what I am going to do. Come and get her in the morning; she’ll be free to go then, and perhaps she’ll learn to be a little more respectful of the law.”

  “Or more respectful of you? Isn’t that what you really meant?” Bobby asked.

  Winston looked at Bobby through squinted eyes and said, “No, Mr. Terrano, and yes, I do know who you are, I mean what I said. This city is in a war right now with some mad ghost who is causing all kinds of trouble. This Grim Spectre is terrifying innocent citizens all over this town. I want all the information I can find to stop him and end his reign of terror. Your girlfriend is holding back information I can use to trap this madman and put him away for good.”

  “He’s a ghost, how can you put a ghost away?” Bobby snapped.

  “Most people, myself included, do not believe this is some otherworldly avenger but instead believe him to be just a man in a costume.”

  “Really?” Bobby barked, “You think this is just a man in a costume? A man who disappears and walks through walls, and oh yeah, he floats and flies too. I’ve never heard of a ‘man’ being able to do any of that, have you?”

  “Perhaps not,” Winston conceded, “but that does not mean it is not a man, perhaps a stage magician, using simple sleight of hand tricks to fool the weak minded into believing him a ghost or avenging spirit of some kind.”

  “Are you serious? Have you opened your eyes?” Bobby shouted, “Also, everything this so-called ‘Grim Spectre’ has done has been what I’d call heroic. He’s been going after criminals, thugs and gangsters. In fact, you said ‘he’s terrifying innocent citizens,’ and you couldn’t be further from the truth on that remark. The only people The Grim Spectre is terrifying are those same thugs and villains. You’d see that if you weren’t so worried about how your public image looked.”

  Winston narrowed his eyes and his face turned red with anger. Then he replied, “Not another word, Mr. Terrano, not another word, or you’ll spend the night in jail as well, and I guarantee you won’t have as easy a time in there as your little girlfriend will have tonight. You need some cooling off time, Mr. Terrano, so you can forget about visiting Miss Thomas tonight. Go home and cool off.”

  Bobby opened his mouth to answer when both George and Jack grabbed his arms and began to drag him away.

  “Not another word, Bobby, you heard the man,” George whispered in his ear, “Not another word.”

  Bobby looked at George and he was fuming.

  They all left city hall and descended the steps toward the road.

  Once on the sidewalk George turned back to Bobby and said, “Are you nuts, Bobby? You can’t take him on by yourself. That guys the Mayor. He could throw you in jail just as easily as he threw Tammy in there.”

  Bobby fidgeted a moment then relaxed angrily, “Aaahh, you’re right George. I’ll just stay out of the mooks way. Anyway, I have to go play a gig before I lose another job. That doesn’t mean I won’t be thinking of Tammy the whole night.”

  “Bobby, just go back to whatever bar you’re playing in and try to have a good night. Tammy will be all right. I’ll be here when she’s released in the morning. But right now I have to go write a scathing article on the Riverburgh mayor’s office and it’s overstepping of its own authority for the late edition,” George commented.

  “Okay, okay I get it, George. I’ll stay out of this guy’s hair, for tonight at least.”

  “Bobby, stay away from him, period,” George reiterated, “Let me handle it.”

  “All right, I got it,” Bobby promised, “I gotta get to work. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Bobby pushed away and hailed a passing cab. An instant later the cab disappeared into the sea of cars heading away from city hall.

  George watched with neutral eyes and finally said, “Damned fool, he’s not going to listen to me, he’s going to get himself killed. How happy will Tammy be when she gets out of there in the morning and finds out her boyfriend did something idiotic and ended up in jail, or worse?”

  Jack shrugged his shoulders non-committedly.

  ***

  Several blocks away, Bobby exited the cab in front of McKinley’s. He threw the cabbie a few extra dollars for getting him back there quickly and then entered the bar and played his trumpet with a fiery vengeance.

  ***

  Hours later, and long before daylight, Bobby exited McKinley’s and thought, ‘Winston wants the Grim Spectre? Well he’s gonna get him, and it’s gonna be something he’s gonna regret wishing for. It’s time to see how scared this tough guy mayor can get.’

  Minutes later, Bobby entered his apartment and put down his trumpet case. He stood in the center of his apartment and said, “Costume.” Instantly his clothes changed into his Grim Spectre outfit. The belt at his waist widened and changed to a metallic gold color from the simple leather belt he wore and his clothes stretched and grew into the glowing white outfit and cape he wore as the Grim Spectre. He reached back and pulled the hood up over his skull-like face mask.

  He walked over to the bathroom door and looked in the full length mirror he had hanging there. He fingered the magic belt at his waist and said, “Winston wanted a meeting with me, well he’s about to get one, and it may be something he’ll never forget.”

  He turned and faded from view, disappearing as he stepped though the wall and headed toward city hall and a confrontation with destiny.

  Chapter 22

  The mayor slept soundly, his room was empty of anyone save himself. His wife was away visiting her sister in Manhattan and his children were both long grown and had gone on with their lives.

  He slept wrapped in silk pajamas and snored soundly.

/>   He awoke suddenly to a blinding light in his room and a terrible voice, as if from the pits of hell itself roaring at him, “Winston, awaken, I command you. Awaken now or I’ll drag you unconscious to this building’s roof and hang you from its flagpole.”

  William Winston’s eyes opened slowly at first and then catapulted open in abject terror. Floating in his room at the foot of his bed was a creature out of nightmare! The Grim Spectre had come, and he was angry!

  “Wha-What do you want? Wh-why are you here?” the big man stammered fearfully.

  The Grim Spectre floated, his arms were bent at the elbows and his hands were held open like grasping, glowing claws before him. They crackled with energy like lightning, only slightly brighter than his own glowing form. His face was, as always half hidden in shadow, but what showed was a skull with deep set glowing eyes, like flaming coals from the pits of hell.

  All of this the terrified Mayor took in while pulling his silk sheets up to his nose, quivering in fear.

  “You have made it known that you wanted to see me, you consider me a threat and hold a woman against her will under the guise of some obscure law of man., I will have none of it! Do you hear, William Winston? I demand that you release that woman now! She has nothing to do with my mission.”

  “Wh-what is your mission?” Winston stammered.

  “To rid this city of evil, in all its forms!” The Grim Spectre’s terrible voice shouted.

  Suddenly the door to the Mayor’s bedroom was kicked in and Captain Carson stood there with his service revolver drawn.

  He was stunned by the apparition that floated before him with a flowing cape that moved as if alive, for there was no breeze present to move it. Yet it billowed and swirled about the horrific figure.

  “My God!” Carson barely whispered, “You are real.”

  “Indeed I am, human gnat,” The Grim Spectre replied, “Leave this place, mortal, I command you, for this is none of your concern.”

  “Like hell, Ghoul,” Carson shouted, “stand away from the Mayor or I’ll kill you where you stand.”

  The Grim Spectre laughed in a voice that sent chills through the very marrow of both Carson and Mayor Winston, “You fool! Leave now or suffer the same fate as this foul deceiver. This is your final chance.”

  “Go to hell, Ghost,” Carson shouted.

  He began firing his pistol and the bullets passed right through the immaterial form of The Grim Spectre, embedding themselves into the wall above the terror stricken mayors head!

  “Stop firing, you fool!” Mayor Winston shouted in terror. He ducked and threw himself to the floor on the side of the bed, covering his head with both arms as he cowered there. Carson continued to unload his revolver, emptying all six shots at The Grim Spectre, who floated there impassively.

  “T-the bullets, they all passed right through you, you really are a ghost,” Carson looked at his gun in his hand and then at The Grim Spectre floating before him, “I-I can’t believe it,” he muttered.

  “Believe in me, o mortal, for I have come to avenge the helpless in this city as well as the dead.”

  The Grim Spectre reached forward toward Captain Carson with his crackling, sparking hands when more bullets slashed though his still immaterial form.

  Quickly The Grim Spectre spun toward the direction the interruption had come from and found a half dozen Police officers forcing their way through an adjacent door into the Mayor’s bedroom,

  “I have no time for this foolishness,” The Grim Spectre announced and turned toward the wall as bullets continued to tear through his insubstantial form,

  He turned back toward the Mayor once again and said, “This is not over, William Winston; your deep corruption is known to me and you have made of me an enemy, release the girl now, or next time I will not ask.”

  The bedroom was full of policemen all staring in incredulous fear at the terrifying figure floating before them and glowing brightly, their weapons rendered useless by his very presence.

  Without another word he floated forward through the wall and into the night.

  Chapter 23

  Oscar, Phylo Zeus’ manservant, pushed through the door of Zeus’ study. Immediately Zeus looked up from the paper he was reading, “What is it?” Zeus asked.

  “There has been a sighting of The Grim Spectre.” Oscar replied.

  “Well, what of it? Where was he seen?” Zeus spat out.

  “Within the Mayor’s very bedroom, it seems. He appeared and demanded that the Mayor release Tammy Thomas from incarceration.”

  “Wait, Winston had Tammy Thomas under arrest? For what and why wasn’t I notified?”

  “From what I can glean from your rather useless contacts within both the police force and the Riverburgh Gazettes own offices, Miss Thomas had a meeting with His Honor yesterday morning and he demanded she tell him all she knew about The Grim Spectre, since it seems she is the only person to walk away unscathed from a direct encounter with him. The young lady refused, citing Fourth Estate privileges. Winston immediately jailed her and ordered her held for mental observation.”

  “He thinks she’s crazy?” Zeus asked.

  Oscar shrugged and replied, “Doubtful. I would deduce that he was merely seeking to shake her up as it were.”

  “So where does the Spook come into all of this?” Zeus steepled his fingers and thought deeply.

  A moment passed and Oscar offered, “Perhaps it is one of two scenarios: The first being that he is truly a spirit sent to Riverburgh to clean it up and avenge those who were wronged or are too weak to defend themselves, as he so claimed, by the way within the Mayor’s very boudoir.”

  Zeus snorted and grinned, “Boy, that must’ve went over well.”

  “Or two,” Oscar continued, “he is merely a man in a costume of some kind who has an affection for Miss Thomas. Though it could be simply a combination of both scenarios as well.”

  “What?” Zeus asked, intrigued, “You mean he could be a ghost in love with her?”

  “Or it could be a man in a suit of some kind simply looking to protect someone unjustly incarcerated.”

  Zeus threw his hands into the air, “This is just too much! I got a ghost running around the city making life tough for me and Winston both, a reporter who can’t keep her nose outta trouble and because of this spook bustin’ up every illegal activity I got going on, all of my profits are down across the city. This ain’t good, Oscar. It ain’t good at all.”

  Oscar nodded his grey haired head and said, “It does indeed seem a bit troubling, Phylo.”

  “Yeah Oscar, a bit.”

  Zeus walked across his study and picked up a bottle of bourbon and poured himself a tall glass of the stuff, and then downed it quickly. He turned back toward Oscar who waited patiently with his hands clasped behind his back.

  “Any new talent come to town over my offer?” Zeus asked after a moment.

  “Not that I know of. The Priest is still out there, somewhere, but he seems to have missed The Grim Specter’s latest appearance, though I believe he will catch up to him, eventually. Dr. Simian is diligently working in the lab you have provided for him, but on what I do not know. There is rumored to be two men headed to Riverburgh from New Jersey at the moment. One is a pyromaniac of some sort and the other is reportedly made of stone*, or at least his skin is as hard as the substance. There may be others. But as of yet none that we know of.”

  “Okay, Oscar, just keep me up to date. This stuff with this ghost is getting’ outta hand,” Zeus concluded.

  ***

  The Grim Spectre hovered invisibly above the courthouse in the black of night. Below police were scurrying around while the Mayor barked orders from the courthouse steps. The Mayor looked about nervously, scanning the sky for some sign of the spectral avenger.

  But he was hidden, invisible to the naked eye.

  ‘There,’ thought The Grim Spectre, ‘finally, they’re releasing Tammy.’

  He watched silently as Tammy was brought to the curb fro
m within the courthouse.

  “Get your hands offa me,” she shouted and pulled her arm free of the cop who had led her out by the elbow.

  ‘She’s angry, and I don’t blame her. Winston is no dictator, no matter how he may see himself. He does not have carte blanche to do whatever he wants to whoever he wants. What he did to Tammy was wrong, but at least he took me seriously.’

  Tammy sat down within a waiting police car that pulled away from the curb. Instantly The Grim Spectre floated away after the car, tailing it from the sky.

  ‘She’s either going home or to the paper. My bet is the paper,’ he thought to himself.

  The Grim Spectre floated invisibly above the police car, easily keeping pace with it until it pulled over in front of the Riverburgh Gazette. Tammy stormed out of the back door of the idling car and slammed it. She turned then and bounded up the marble steps outside the place to enter the lobby.

  “Evening, Miss Thomas,” the night watchman named ‘Zachary’ said, “You’re here late.”

  Tammy fumbled around inside her purse, finally pulling out her wallet before answering. She opened it to her Gazette ID and showed it to Zachary, who just waved it off.

  “I know it’s you Miss Thomas, go ahead, just go in,” Zachary said. He was an older black man with white hair popping out from beneath his guard’s hat.

  “Thank you Zachary. I’ve had a lousy night and day for that matter. That pompous, imperious, wanna-be Mussolini, The Mayor practically held me hostage for the day. Something happened and he released me tonight, but whatever it was it must have scared the heck out of him. But right now I have to write an article for the morning edition about how this man took the law into his own hands and used some trumped up ‘observation’ law to keep me as his practical prisoner.”

  Zachary nodded slowly and then said, “You be careful now, Miss Thomas, that mayor is as much a bad man as the gangster who sits on top of the hill over yonder,” he thumbed in the direction of the Olympus room at the top of the hill, “I don’t trust either one of those two. But this mayor can come at you all legal-like and there ain’t gonna be much you can do about it. That’s something to keep in mind.” he nodded his head as he made his point.