by Arjay Lewis
“Someone going with us to that shrine, or portal, might not be a friend. And once they have us there—”
“We must leave that in the hands of the Divine.” Marlowe meandered into the woods.
“I hope somebody let the Divine know we need help.” Luis followed after Eddie.
“Amen.” Eddie placed his hand on Luis’ shoulder as they entered the woods.
∞∞∞
A voice came over Wilcox’s earpiece. “We traced several people to a park, sir.”
“How many?” Wilcox said. He was still inside the Berman house, but rose from the floor.
“Hard to say, sir, but we spotted the suspect and his partner going into a grove of trees.”
“Are the b-b-bats still out there?” Wilcox stuttered, as he fought to keep his voice steady.
“They seem to be gone, sir.”
“Conners!” Wilcox roared.
“Yes, sir,” Conners replied.
“Are there injuries?”
“I just had the wind knocked out of me, sir. Some abrasions and contusions, but nothing major.”
“Okay. I want all our men to converge on that park.”
“Yes, sir,” Conners told him.
“Roger that,” came the voices of the team leaders.
Wilcox yanked his earpiece out and turned to face Eleanor Berman. He pointed a finger at the older woman.
“Not polite to point, dearie.”
“You are under arrest!” Wilcox’s voice was a low growl.
“I am the widow of a police officer, young man.” Eleanor put her hands on her hips. “If you have charges, they’d better be good.”
“Aiding and abetting the escape of a fugitive!” Wilcox announced.
“What fugitive?”
“Your son!”
“Oh, stop! How is he a fugitive? What crime did he commit?”
Wilcox was dumbfounded for a moment. He really didn’t have any charges. All he had were suspicions and that wouldn’t hold up.
“Well, I—I mean…where did he go?”
“He went for a walk. Is that a crime?”
“We were attacked!”
“By what? I didn’t see anything,” Eleanor folded her arms.
“You didn’t see those giant bats?” Wilcox bellowed.
“Oh those, they’re around here all the time,” Eleanor gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “You probably just scared them.”
“I…scared…them?” Wilcox repeated in disbelief.
“Look, young man, why don’t you sit down at the table and I’ll make you a nice cup of coffee, and you can wait for Eddie to come home and talk to him.”
“Cup of—” Wilcox’s mouth fell open. This woman was insane, his men were beaten by a bunch of flying rodents, and Eddie was off somewhere laughing about it.
“No, thank you…uh…ma’am,” Wilcox gritted his teeth. “I’ll be off. Please do not leave the premises, in case I have questions.”
“Of course not, dearie, it’s dark out there.”
Wilcox nodded tightly, opened the door, and left.
“Good night, young man,” Eleanor waved as she shut the door.
Cerise walked out from the kitchen and smiled at her mother-in-law. “Good job, Momma.”
“I know how to handle slackers,” Eleanor heralded. “Oh! I think we are going to need to wash the welcome mat. That boy had hisself a accident.”
“I’ll take care of it, Momma,” Cerise sighed. She went to the kitchen and got a pair of heavy rubber gloves, then returned to the front door. She wasn’t wearing shoes, so she quickly put on a nearby pair of bedroom slippers, which bore the face of a bunny on the front, and pointed ears that stood above her toes.
She picked up the mat, and looked over at the vans, which still littered the street, as the men in black assembled and headed in groups toward the nearby park.
She took the rubberized rectangle with the fanciful “Welcome To Our Home” emblazoned on it around to the side of the house, where stood an outdoor faucet.
She turned on the water and began to rinse the surface. As she finished, she turned off the water and hung it dripping over the nearby fence that separated the Berman property from its neighbors.
“That’s that,” Cerise muttered to herself, as she took off the gloves and hung them next to the mat. She sighed and leaned against the fence. “Hope you’re doing okay, Eddie. I wish I was there with you.”
“I desire the same thing,” a voice croaked near her ear.
Cerise turned, ready to yell, but a large stick was passed in front of her face, and the scream was frozen in her throat. Her eyes glazed over and her expression became dream-like.
“Yesss,” the cloaked wizard hissed. “I think being there with your husband is a fine idea, indeed.”
Fifty-Six
In the darkness with trees overhead, Eddie wasn’t sure when he and Luis shifted from Teaneck to the Big Apple, but he did feel the ground change as he walked out of the trees onto a rocky summit.
“Where are we?” Luis asked.
“Sh!” Eddie hissed. “I think we’re near Belvedere Castle.” He looked around and got his bearings, deciding they stood just north of the 79th Street transverse road. They were close to one of the park’s most fanciful creations. Rising out of the summit of Vista Rock stood a medieval castle with square buildings, a parapet, and even a tower to suit the most demanding princess. It overlooked a small, man-made lake, and matched the rock as if sculpted from the landscape by elves.
Marlowe was still ahead of them, and he turned to look back.
Eddie drew near to the older man and whispered, “Why here?”
“A safe place to assemble,” murmured Marlowe. He pointed up at the cut stones that formed a stairway to the castle. “We can observe the obelisk from the parapet, and approach with care.”
“Check out the terrain?” Eddie quizzed.
“What’s wrong with all of you just waiting for this warlock guy and piling up on him?” Luis challenged.
Eddie turned to his partner. “It might not be healthy for your daughter.”
Luis came to a full stop, his eyes instantly wet. “That’s right, my baby’s there. She must be so scared.”
“We shall endeavor to save her,” Marlowe placed his hand on the big man’s shoulder. “And you shall help!”
Luis nodded and wiped his face with the back of his hand. “I just don’ know why they went after her. How did they even know about my family?”
“This dude must’ve found out I chose you as my apprentice,” Eddie whispered as they climbed the steps. “Marlowe, only people in our party had that information.”
The group began to climb as short walls rose up on both sides of the stairs. They reached a landing, and the terrace opened before them. They could see clearly in the light of the moon, which was full. The great stones of the castle rose in a square building to their right. The windows were arched and high, and reflected black in the darkness.
They walked in the direction of a small outdoor pavilion. In the dim light, they could barely see the red and yellow paint that was so intricately detailed on the Moorish building. Even so, it wore an exotic appearance.
As they drew closer, Eddie could make out Eugenia, Ahbay, and Drusilicus. There they were: the Five. And Luis as backup. He then realized two people were missing.
“Where’s Caleb?” Eddie started.
“What?” Drusilicus replied. “I thought he was with you.”
“He was right behind me,” Eugenia said, glancing about. “Or so I thought.”
“He is a Newling, we should have taken him in hand,” Ahbay acknowledged. “He may have teleported elsewhere.”
“It’s not our fault,” Drusilicus bickered. “We were too busy trying to get out of there.”
“What about Bankrock?” Eddie peered at the group a second time. “He’s missing, too.”
“We need to focus, my friends,” Marlowe commanded. ”Look upon the obelisk.”
&n
bsp; The group looked off to the east past the body of water below them. The view was spectacular. The full moon was high in a crystal-clear sky. The windows of tall buildings were merely hundreds of floating rectangles of light in the distance.
Directly under the moon, Eddie could see Cleopatra’s Needle poking up from the shadows, its pointed head jutting out from the jagged silhouettes of the treetops.
“Look, the obelisk is directly under the moon,” Eddie gasped.
“That’s just because of where we’re standin’,” Luis pointed out. “Depth perception, or something.”
“No, friend Luis,” Marlowe intoned. “The obelisk is indeed in alignment.”
“How many centuries did the sleeping forces lie in wait for this night?” Drusilicus declared solemnly.
“You mean this was planned?” Eddie frowned.
“It would appear to be the case,” Ahbay reasoned.
“All part of a larger design,” Eugenia marveled.
Marlowe spoke with reverent awe. “You see Eddie, that obelisk was brought from Egypt and put into that particular spot, knowing it would be in perfect alignment on this very night. See how the forces of good and evil work in harmony without meaning to.”
Drusilicus nodded. ”To think that the object that might destroy all humanity would rest on Greywacke’s Knoll.”
“It is a mighty fetish,” Eugenia agreed.
“Fetish?” Luis blurted. “You plannin’ something kinky?”
“No, Luis,” Marlowe said, “the older meaning of the word ‘fetish’ is something that contains great magic.”
“I wish we’d known that it was the fifth talisman sooner,” Eddie lamented.
“What do we do, Marlowe?” Drusilicus began. “Stand here until midnight? Let us combine the power of the Five, and shield the site from the Great Evil.”
Marlowe stared off at the Great Lawn, its grass gleaming in the silvery moonlight. “He is right, we must take action my friends.”
The group headed downhill from the castle, and due east to follow the footpath. The route was lit by the occasional cast-metal street lamp, the design of which harkened back to gas lights of a century earlier.
They walked past a shadowy figure on horseback.
“Who’s that?” Luis asked, as he looked up at the statue holding two crossed swords over his crowned head.
“King Jagiello,” Marlowe confirmed. “A Polish warrior, fought the Teutonic forces in 1410.”
“Oh, I should’ve known.”
“Keep your eyes sharp and your minds clear,” Marlowe warned. “We do not wish to be taken unawares.”
“For once,” Eddie muttered.
They turned a corner and in front of them, lit only by a single street lamp, stood Greywacke Arch. The opening was not a gentle curve, but pointed in the center. It was made out of hand-carved stones, and the inside of the tunnel was lined with red brick interrupted by patterns of yellow. Around the opening, small fleur de lis decorated every other stone up to the keystone, which was carved with a pattern of interlocking vines.
Eddie stopped cold and pointed, “Whoa! That design on the arch! That was the face that was on the medallion.”
“What?” Luis said.
“The design in the center looks like a face.”
Luis half-closed his eyes and looked where Eddie pointed. “Yeah, sort of. Some guy with a big mustache.”
“That reminds me,” Eddie pondered. “Marlowe, when you left the room to call Daniel, I looked on the table and the medallion was gone.”
Marlowe shook his head. “I took it not.”
“Any of you see where it went?” Eddie turned to the others.
Drusilicus, Ahbay, and Eugenia shook their heads and murmured denials.
“Great,” Eddie grumbled. “Then Caleb has it. Any way to track that kid down?”
“Many ways, Eddie,” Marlowe confided, “but we must keep to our task for the present. How stands the hour?”
“It’s almost eleven,” Eddie glanced at his watch. “Hey, I thought you could just feel the rhythms of time.”
“I decided it wouldn’t hurt to check,” The old wizard grinned. “Let us go on.”
They purposefully strode up the wide staircase. At the top of the stairs was Obelisk Terrace, with the huge carved stone rising majestically into the night sky, seventy feet high.
“We are hidden by the trees that surround this structure,” Marlowe assured. “We should be undisturbed.”
“What do we do?” Eddie asked.
“We must form the five points of Seiman,” Ahbay reported.
“What?” Eddie questioned, uncomprehending.
“In common parlance,” Drusilicus translated, “we must create a pentagram.”
“I have a compass,” Marlowe reached into his pocket. “You all must remain in the positions I place thee.” He turned his head to Luis, “Do you know thy task, sergeant?”
“What you said at Eddie’s house is that I stay at the bottom of the stairs and let no one up,” Luis recited.
“Good, good, now be off,” Marlowe waved his hand at Luis, who trudged purposefully down the stairs.
Marlowe held out his small compass and took Eddie by the arm and carefully situated him about ten feet from the obelisk.
“Marlowe, I am still not happy about Caleb wandering off,” Eddie protested.
“Lieutenant,” Drusilicus said as Marlowe went to him and adjusted his position, “would you please attempt to pay attention to the task at hand?”
“Are you quite sure we are strong enough?” Eugenia worried.
Marlowe stepped to her. “We shall do the best we can.”
“I’m veddy certain of that,” Eugenia said as Marlowe gently guided her to her spot. “But, our powers were affected that night with Trefoil, and Marlowe, you faced that terrible mirror a second time.”
“Banish your doubt, dear lady,” Ahbay placed himself across from Eddie. “Doubt will weaken our intention.”
“All of you listen to me,” Marlowe announced in a commanding voice. “Together we have the ability to face and defeat our foe. The spells we will place around the site will stop our opponent. Let us begin, Eugenia.”
Eugenia’s clothes transformed to yellow robes and she held out her staff. A yellow beam of light, like a laser, leapt from the top and stretched out to touch the top of Ahbay’s rod.
Ahbay’s clothes shifted into his green silk kimono, and he sent a similar beam of green light to Marlowe’s staff.
Marlowe, whose raiment changed from a well-cut suit to flowing white, gestured and sent his own ray to Drusilicus’ staff.
Drusilicus’ Armani suit became an ocean-blue set of robes and he fired a blue light toward Eddie.
It’s now or never, Eddie thought. He could feel his clothes altered to scarlet robes and boots. His staff glowed red, and light shot to Eugenia’s staff.
They were now all connected, the rays of colored light forming a pentagram that surrounded the obelisk, which began to glow in otherworldly colors of its own.
Marlowe began to chant in that strange language again as a breeze whipped up from nowhere, as if nature itself was affected by their work.
At the bottom of the steps, Luis stood guard. He glanced back over his shoulder at the light show taking place above him.
A shadow approached in the darkness.
“Oh boy,” Luis muttered. “And me without a weapon.”
He turned to face the figure as it drew closer. He hoped that it was just a New Yorker out for an evening stroll.
But it was someone he knew.
Cerise Berman stepped into the pool of light from the street lamp Luis stood under. Her face wore a blank look, and she stared straight ahead, oblivious to her surroundings.
Luis went to her and noticed that she was wearing bunny slippers on her feet. He gently took her arm, which stopped her.
“Cerise?” he whispered.
Cerise’s head slowly turned to face him. She blinked twice and re
sponded, “Luis?”
“Yeah, it’s me. What’re you doin’ here?”
She looked around calmly, then returned her gaze to him. “I have no idea.”
In his peripheral vision, Luis saw something move nearby in the darkness and turned just as a beam of light crackled through the air and struck him like a freight train. He spun from the impact, and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Cerise looked down with her mouth open, and swung about to face the figure in the shadows.
“Go on, my dear,” the raspy voice told her.
Cerise’s expression became blank again and she began to climb the stairs.
Fifty-Seven
“We don’t see any of them, sir,” came the voice through the earpiece.
“Damn!” Wilcox cursed. They’d circled the woods in Teaneck for the last half-hour with no sign of Berman, his partner, or any of the other suspects. In fact, the only things in this three-block park were squirrels, ground hogs, and maybe a rabid raccoon.
At least the bats are gone, Wilcox thought with a shudder. It was weird how they showed up just when Berman made his move.
He thought back to the night Cuccolo died, how the mobster rose up in the air. It was strange as well because in his memory he had the oddest impression that it was a giant in a Native American headdress that held him aloft.
His cell phone rang.
“Yeah,” he barked into the receiver as he pulled off his earpiece.
“It’s Sam,” the voice said.
“Seen anything?”
“Two people just left that townhouse on Eighty-Fifth Street.”
“Who was it?” Wilcox demanded, calming his temper.
“One was a tall African-American woman. The other, some guy all bundled up, with a hood covering his face.”
“Where did they go?”
“Into the park. I’m following. Heading for the Great Lawn.”
“Stay on them,” Wilcox hung up.
He stood there and glanced at his watch. It was just past eleven. He wondered if he should stay here and search more, but his gut told him if he wanted Berman, he would find him in Manhattan.
“Team one and two,” Wilcox spoke into his walkie-talkie. “Head for the trucks, get ready to move out.”