by Arjay Lewis
“A couple of sealed earthenware pots,” Luis said. “They were supposed to be X-rayed the next day, to find out what was inside.”
“Can you get me a photograph of the vessels?” Marlowe asked. “If there were markings on the outside—”
“Marlowe, we both have to get some sleep.”
“Of course, you must rest.” Marlowe nodded in agreement. “I have slept enough. I must to work.”
“So what did Cuccolo have that Abraxas wanted?” Eddie wondered.
“I believe it was one of the four boxes of Glooskap.”
“I missed that. Who is he?” Luis asked.
“A Native American deity. According to legend, he gave four exceptional boxes to four mortals. If the Great Evil has one, then we have more to fear.”
“What’s the problem?” Luis shrugged. “He might sell it on eBay?”
“No.” Marlowe’s expression was stony. “The talisman grants to the bearer the thing he desires most.”
Eddie nodded. “And what ‘big, red, and bad’ desires most is all of us dead.”
Forty
Eddie woke in the guest room he’d used on his last stay. Someone spoke gently in his ear.
“Eddie? Play with me?”
Eddie leapt up with a start and called out, “Lights.”
Candles burst into brilliant fire at his command, and he saw that Bob hovered above the bed. He’d grown stick arms with three fingered hands which tightly held a box of checkers.
A hopeful look moved across Bob’s suggestion of a face. Eddie lay back in the bed and tried to slow his breathing.
“I can’t play now, Bob.” Eddie found for once he wasn’t angry at the small ghost. In fact, the creature’s gentle wake-up to play was almost endearing.
Almost.
He checked his watch: just past noon.
“I gotta wake up Luis,” Eddie said.
Bob’s unmatched pair of eyes lit up with excitement.
“Me wake! Me wake!” he tumbled over and over.
For the briefest moment, Eddie considered Bob waking his partner with the same technique the blob of ectoplasm used on him previously.
“No, Bob, you’d better let me do it,” Eddie finally decided.
“Awww!” Bob said, disheartened; that is, if he possessed a heart or any other internal organs.
“I’ll play whatever game you want next time I’m here.”
“Promise?” Bob said, his attitude elated.
“I promise.”
“Okay, Edddieee!” Bob cried gleefully and put the box on a table, then disappeared through the wall.
“What did I get myself into?” Eddie got out of bed.
He was dressed in a pair of pajamas, transformed from his suit. He grabbed his staff, which had been in the bed next to him.
He made his way down the hall to the bathroom. There, he showered and shaved, again delighted by the fact that the exact grooming products he wanted were available on a shelf.
Eddie placed his pajamas on the wooden hanger, which rested on the towel rack, and with a wave of his staff altered them back to their original form. The transformation went well, except when he opened his cell phone, it now used Chinese characters.
He sighed and walked down the hall. On the front of each door he noticed a subtle accessory he’d overlooked: a small brass plate with lettering etched on it.
The one for his door was blank, but when he touched the doorknob his name inscribed itself into the metal, as if an invisible hand engraved it.
He continued down the hall to the next door, and looked at the little plate. In fancy lettering, there were the words:
Luis Vasquez
Eddie knocked on the door.
A mutter came from within. Eddie opened the door and said “Lights,” as the candles burst into flame.
“Jeez!” Luis sat up in bed and rubbed his face. He wore a pair of boxer shorts and a muscle-style undershirt.
“Come on, we have to get moving,” Eddie told him.
“Why, we got no jobs,” Luis covered his face with a pillow and lay back down.
Eddie stood still for a moment. Luis was right, they were suspended. He could go home in time to help make dinner. Even more important, he could spend time with his mother.
While he did, the demonic bastard and whoever helped him would be closer to the completion of their plans.
Eddie set his jaw. “Because, I’ve got to train, and you are my freakin’ apprentice.”
“You got a better term for me? You make it sound like I go out for coffee.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Bathroom is down the hall, Breakfast is downstairs.”
“Yeah, and I shouldn’t use the elevator.”
“Can you find your way?”
Luis shrugged. “I think so.”
“Also, watch out. There is a small green ghost—”
“A what?”
“A ghost, named Bob—”
“Bob?”
“Yeah, well he likes to scare people.”
Luis sat up in bed, “Isn’t that what ghosts do?”
“Well, yeah, but he won’t hurt you. He just likes to surprise. He got me in the shower the other day.”
“Great,” Luis wiped his hand one more time over his face. “There’d better be coffee when I get down there.”
“You want me to call Maria?”
“I’m a big boy. You call Cerise, I’ll call Maria. Head downstairs. Considering just how many stairs there are, I’ll be down by two in the afternoon.”
Eddie nodded, walked out, and started the trek downward to the first floor.
He pulled out his cell as he walked and called home. He believed he got the right number, even in Chinese.
“Hello!” Cerise answered, a hopeful tone to her voice.
“Hi, baby,” Eddie said.
“You sound better, sugar,” Cerise’s voice was tired but under control. “You’re not in jail, are you?”
“No, I’m not. But Luis and I were so wiped we stayed here in the city.”
“Where did you go?”
“That guy I brought out, Marlowe? He’s got a place and put us up.”
“When are you coming home?”
“I’ll be home tonight, I promise.”
“I’m counting on you, Eddie. I really need you home by seven-thirty?”
There was something in the back of Eddie’s mind, but he couldn’t recall it. “No problem, baby, I’ll be there.”
“Tell me what happened.”
Eddie quickly gave her the edited explanation as he trudged down the steps. The entire time, Cerise listened patiently.
“So, I’m suspended until further notice.”
Cerise sighed. “At least you’re not in jail.”
“Someone knew I would be there, Cerise. Someone set me up so I would be suspected for the murder. Luis and I are going to nose around, see if we get any leads.”
“Is that wise, sugar? You go near an official investigation while suspended and they have grounds for dismissal.”
“It’ll be okay, baby. I’m definitely traveling only in unofficial circles.”
“Just come home tonight, sugar, please? Seven-thirty.”
Eddie smiled. “I adore you, baby.”
“We’ll get through this. Seven-thirty, don’t forget.”
He hung up just as he reached the bottom step and walked to the breakfast room.
Marlowe sat with a coffee cup, reading a large and dusty leatherbound book that appeared ancient. Spread out on the table were several very old books in various conditions: four scrolls, one of which looked as if it might fall apart then and there, and a stone carved tablet with what looked like hieroglyphics.
The open book was written in strange characters that didn’t look like any language. The symbols were shaped like small triangles with little tails hanging from different locations.
“What’s all this?” Eddie asked.
“Research Bankrock found,” Marlowe answered, as
casually as if he was riffling through the morning newspaper. “This writing is Cuneiform, the language of ancient Babylon.”
“Silly me.” Eddie went to the chafing dishes, which once again held fresh, hot food. He helped himself to bacon and eggs. “What is the book about? Good plot, exciting characters?”
“All of these are prophecies of the End Times,” Marlowe gestured at the scrolls and stone tablet. “All cultures have their stories, but Babylonians were the most fascinated by the destruction of the world.”
“Big partygoers, huh?”
“Actually, the festival of Eaoster was quite a celebration. Went on for days, lots of costumes and drunkenness.”
“And now we celebrate it as Easter?”
“The name was passed down, but it was more like Mardi Gras or Carnivalé. That would be the closest modern equivalent.”
“Anything in your reading material to help us?”
“This is an interesting correlation,” Marlowe’s hands gingerly turned the book’s pages as if they were quite delicate. “The information herein was written 2,500 years ago, by a prophet named Abednego during the reign of the Babylonian king, Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar. The book I’m holding was hand copied from the original scrolls more than five hundred years ago.”
“Great. But, is there anything to help us in the here and now?” Eddie faced the coffee set and said, “Coffee, light no sugar.”
The cup and saucer leapt at his words, as though eager to have someone to serve. The coffee pot poured, the creamer pirouetted and added its contribution, and the china with the finished mixture floated into Eddie’s hand.
“Considering this prophet didn’t even know there was a land across the sea that would be one day called America, it is quite…poignant.”
Eddie sat across from Marlowe. “In what way?”
“The author speaks of a distant future, and a place where a great oasis is in the middle of a man-made desert—“
“That could be Central Park.”
“He claims it to be a place of great power. Then, here,” Marlowe turned the page, “he writes of a time when a Great Evil will rise, casting aside the fetters that bind it.”
“Sounds like our guy,” Eddie chewed on the delicious bacon.
“Here it says, ‘And it shall gain great power from five potent charms.’”
“We know he’s got at least three, right?”
“Abednego also mentions those who carry a dark power. This allows the Great Evil to bring down on mankind the final destruction.”
“Points to our warlock,” Eddie said. “Last night, I was set up by someone. You’ve got to ask yourself, who knew I would be there?”
“Those of us here, of course. But, I cannot believe that Eugenia or Ahbay have anything to do with the Great Evil.”
“What about Daniel? I mean, he showed up in the nick of time. How did he know where to be?”
“He was on a mission for me in the park, but he told me you asked him to track a snake?”
“That’s right!” Eddie slapped his forehead as memory returned. “The only tracks away from two of the murders were of a snake. I was thinking that Abraxas left the scene of each murder as a snake.”
“Daniel said it was very slow going, but following a broken path he happened to be led to that tunnel just as the demon attacked you.”
“I don’t want to complain about someone saving my life, but the timing is suspicious. What about the others? I mean, besides Eugenia and Ahbay, Drusilicus showed up with Bankrock, and Dru said Caleb was lurking nearby.”
“A large list of suspects,” Marlowe frowned.
“Marlowe, I know it wasn’t me who set that trap, and I don’t think it was you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Marlowe sniffed.
“You’re the one who said it had to be a powerful wizard to make Alex throw himself into that fire. I gotta ask, who is more powerful than one of the Five?”
Marlowe blanched a bit, looked to his book and began to turn pages frantically.
“What did I say?” Eddie asked.
“A passage I read, I just scanned it, but now that you—” Marlowe found the correct page and reread it. “Here it is.”
“Can you translate?”
Marlowe studied the odd script. “It says that one of the elements upon which the world is created has fallen to an angry heart.”
“Well, that’s clear as mud. Care to translate your translation?”
“One of the elements could be one of the Five. We each carry a representation of the five elements. One who has fallen to an angry heart, that could be someone with a vendetta.”
“So, this prophesy suggests that it might be one of the Five?”
“I don’t know, Eddie. Although we do not spend much time together, these are my friends, I have known them for centuries, and fought by their sides,” Marlowe’s eyes were suddenly quite sad.
“I have to look at everyone as part of the investigation. I also need to question the people who were here about that elevator…”
“I examined it, Eddie. The supporting cables were damaged by magical means. It’s a good thing you were at the ready.”
“I got lucky,” Eddie looked at the other books and scrolls. “What else did you find?”
“Have you heard of the Hebrew name for Hell, Eddie— Genhinnom?” Marlowe lifted one of the scrolls.
“No, what does that have to do with—”
“The Hebrew name comes from an actual valley named Ben Hinnom, the sons of Hinnom. Hinnom comes from ‘nohem,’ which means ‘to moan.’”
“The sons of moaning?” Eddie attempted.
“There was a place in ancient Judea, where they would sacrifice children to a most horrible god, Molech. There stood a large hollow metal idol, and worshippers would light a fire in it until its arms were white hot and then place their child— their own child—on the scorching limbs.”
“Oh, God,” Eddie winced. “Why?”
“It was a way to receive power,” Marlowe said. “There was a fortress with seven rooms. If you sacrificed flour, one room was opened to you, a ram and it was four. But if you sacrificed a child to this god, the seven seals were released and all the rooms were open to you.”
“The seventh seal,” Eddie pondered. “Isn’t that something about the end of the world?”
“Exactly!” Marlowe considered for a moment and picked up another scroll to examine it. “According to the prophecies of St. John the Divine, seven seals are opened to rain down destruction and the final battle for this world.”
“Armageddon,” Eddie said with a nod.
“You can see how these two predictions use some of the same terminology,” Marlowe said. “Through my research I have found that Molech is indeed one of the Great Evil’s most ancient identities. This must have to do with the fifth talisman.”
“So the fifth talisman, whatever it is, can open the seventh seal. Are we any closer to knowing what it is?”
“Not yet. However, this you will find interesting.” Marlowe unrolled a parchment scroll. On it was a very good drawing of the statue of Amatsu Mikaboshi, surrounded by Japanese characters.
”Hey! That’s like the drawing I got from Akio,” Eddie said.
“Indeed,” Marlowe pointed at the letters on either side of the center figure. “And these words warn of an ancient charm that must not be touched, ‘lest it awaken the evil deity.’”
“Let me get my copy,” Eddie said, got up and walked out to the living room, where he’d left the book, Talismans Through the Ages. He brought the book into the breakfast room, and extracted the copied drawing.
“Well,” Eddie said, “it’s like closing the barn door after the horses have—”
A folded brown paper slipped out of the book and fell to the table.
“What’s that?” Marlowe asked and picked it up.
Eddie riffled through the book. “I dunno. It was in the book.”
Marlowe took in a breath s
harply.
“What is it?”
Marlowe looked up at Eddie. “This is virgin parchment, and it is inscribed.”
Marlowe turned the paper around and on it Eddie saw a red-brown circle with symbols drawn within it.
“I repeat. What is it?”
“This sigil is used to bind and control demons,” Marlowe turned it to stare at the symbol.
“What kind of ink is this?” Eddie tentatively touched the markings.
“It is not ink, it is blood,” Marlowe said. “Where did you say you bought this book?”
“At Magickal Cherub. Caleb was copying something when I walked in. Looks like I need to have another talk with Drusilicus’ apprentice.”
“I believe so!” Marlowe studied the artwork. “This is not the work of a beginner.”
“Marlowe, could an enchanter do all these things? I mean, throw Alex into the fire, make that woman do the release spell, all this other stuff?”
“With the right talisman, many things are possible,” Marlowe observed. “Is it wise to question him by yourself?”
“Marlowe,” Eddie picked up the parchment, folded it and put it in his jacket pocket. “I’m under suspension and suspected of murder. I have to find out who is doing this, or at least eliminate suspects who aren’t.”
A voice came from the doorway. “Besides, who said he would do it by himself,” Luis walked in. He was clean and wearing his wrinkled suit.
“Oh, sergeant, I neglected to clean your clothes. No matter.” Marlowe waved his hand and a circle of white light surrounded Luis, starting from the ground and rising to his shoulders. As it passed, the suit became clean and perfectly pressed.
“Man!” Luis admired his outfit. “That’s a lot better than dry-cleaning. I didn’t have to send it out or even take it off.”
“Get some food, partner,” Eddie said. “We have a case to solve.”
“Yes sir, lieutenant,” Luis went over and opened one of the chafing dishes. “Egg burritos! Can you believe it? It’s just what I wanted.”
Eddie smiled. “Wait’ll you try the coffee.”
Forty-One
By subway, Eddie and Luis headed downtown to Alphabet City, which gave Eddie a chance to tell Luis about his previous meetings with Caleb. He also mentioned Drusilicus and the night of his initiation.