by H. T. Night
“The answer to who murdered Katherine’s mom?”
“That is why you came,” Archibald stated. “Anthony, you know better than anyone that there is a whole other world that humans know zero about. Everything I do is for a reason. Every person I recommend attending the Alchemy Academy, I do for a reason.”
“You wanted me to meet Katherine?” I asked. “But how would you know?”
“Know that she is possibly the love of your life? I didn’t know that. That is all you two. I knew that there was an energy deep inside of her that would mesh well with your energy. I knew you two would connect and talk. But this love stuff is all you two.” Archibald switched gears to the book. “Go somewhere and read this book from cover to cover. You will find that there is a reason for everything. Even a reason why you’re seeing me now.”
My mind wasn’t as sharp as I wanted it to be. The room was doing funny things to me. I looked Archibald in his eyes and said, “Anything else you can say to me?”
“You’re chosen, Anthony, to do great things. It is only a matter of whether or not you choose to take this path in life.”
“And what life is that? No one knows what the hell I am?”
“The story hasn’t been written about you yet. You’re not an immortal; you’re an in-between, not fully a human. You are the first of your kind.”
“My kind? There will be others?” Suddenly, my chest began hurting again. And the room started spinning. I felt Archibald’s hand take mine and lead me to the door. “Read the book.”
Suddenly, I was thrust outside the door and I was facing the computers. Luckily, no one was on them, which was extremely odd for a college. My chest pains were gone and my mind didn’t feel so mushy. I could actually form cognitive thoughts. I needed to take this book back to my home in Fullerton. Also, that was where my alchemy ring of protection against evil was sitting in my sock drawer.
Chapter Twenty-two
I left the library and made my way to Kat’s Bug in the Administration parking lot. I was relieved to see there was no ticket on her window. I jumped in her car and took surface streets to my house in Fullerton. All the while, the damn book was cursing at me like a sailor.
I pulled up to the driveway, parked and I went to my room with my book. The hissing and cursings were relentless. I laid the book on my bed. I went to my sock drawer and put my uncomfortable, ugly ring on. Once the ring was nice and tight, I turned my attention back to the book. The curses and hissings had stopped. Wow, I thought. The ring has that much power. It shielded my identity from the underworld.
Ever since I’d started holding it, the book had a weird aura around it. It was a presence that was separate from the sounds that came out of it. I opened up the book carefully and began reading everything. The book was broken into supernatural deities and their effects. There was so much in this book that it made me wonder who the hell took the time to understand all of this and place it in a book?
The author was anonymous.
As I dug through the book, I was drawn to chapter eleven. The chapter was about the Cherufe creature. There were only two or three of these creatures in our world at the present time.
The Cherufe was described as an evil humanoid creature made of rock and magma. It inhabited the magma pools found deep in the Chilean volcanoes, the source of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions throughout the country of Chile. The Cherufe were also said to come from meteorites and that they created the volcanic stone that caused the damage throughout the volcanic regions. Every eighteen years, the Cherufe was freed from the depth of the volcanic rock and was free to roam the earth for a given amount of time. But the Cherufe must always return to Chile once the time has expired.
Once the creature had the maximum energy given to them from the pools, it was able to leave Chile and roam the world once again.
Wait! Volcanoes? Lava? Kat wears a lava-rock necklace and she said it was a gift from her mother. Is this the connection? There was a reason why I was drawn to this chapter.
So, I read further. I learned that the only way to abate the Cherufe’s appetite for destruction was to satiate the beast’s taste for human flesh by throwing a human sacrifice into the bowels of its volcanic home. Cherufe preferred the delicacy that came from virginal maidens, but liked the taste of revenge even more.
Revenge? Why would it seek revenge? What if someone carelessly took power from the pools and made the Cherufe wait a longer time to be freed? What if that person was Katherine’s mom?
There was a theory that the mythological origins of the beast might explain the anomalies of geological events, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
I read over chapter eleven four times. When I finished the fourth time, I decided to take the book back to Archibald Maximus. The book was filled with too much evil and I didn’t want the huge coffee table book in my presence any longer.
I drove back to Cal State Fullerton and parked in the Administration parking again. I was pushing my luck to not receive a ticket, but maybe I’d be back in thirty minutes. It was 5:30 p.m. and the library would be open for another half hour.
I reached the third floor of the library, hoping the Occult Reading Room door was still visible. Once again, I was not able to see the door from a distance. As I walked closer, the door appeared in all its glory. I was relieved. At the very least, I wanted to return the book. Too much weird energy was coming off the damn thing.
There was a much bigger problem than that book. If it was the necklace that the Cherufe was after, Kat wore that necklace at all times. Whoever this monster was that craved revenge on her mom to the point of murdering her would probably strike again for the same reason.
It appeared now Katherine could be in a whole lot of danger. Before I took on her case, I told her that I would protect her. It looked like now I would be doing both.
Chapter Twenty-three
I stepped into the reading room and Archibald was seated once again at his little table in the corner. I walked over to him and laid the book on the table. Archibald looked up at me. “I see you found your ring,” he said, expressionless.
“The Cherufe. Why is this so important?”
“It is the most important clue in your little puzzle,” Archibald responded, looking at me whimsically now with his green eyes.
“How do you know?”
“My instincts are always right on,” Maximus said, congratulating himself.
“What would those instincts be?” I asked. I was annoyed that Archibald just didn’t come out and tell me. Instead, he had me go on this little adventure. “So, you know who did it and why? Why won’t you just tell me?”
“That is where you’re wrong, Anthony. I am certain of the who. And I partially know the why. The how is a complete mystery.”
I looked at Archibald and asked, “Could you put this book back on the shelf? I could go my entire life and never want to see it again.”
Archibald stood up and walked down the same aisle of books I had retrieved it from and put it back. As he walked back to sit in his chair, he said, “You may think I was playing with you by handing you a creepy book and expecting you to find the key. But I wasn’t.”
“What were you doing then?” I asked.
“I was confirming my suspicions to be true. You confirmed them. Contrary to popular belief, I am not all-knowing about things supernatural.”
“Okay,” I said. “The book says there have only been maybe two or three of these creatures ever in the history of the world. What makes you think the Cherufe has anything to do with Katherine’s mom’s death?”
“Sheila, Katherine’s mom, was once an apprentice of mine.”
“An apprentice? Her mother?”
“Yes. She had all the knowledge in the world. She was the smartest person I have ever known. I knew she could do miraculous things with that kind of intelligence.”
“Was she a practicing alchemist?” I asked.
“She was the best I had ever seen. She craved everythin
g about the supernatural and beyond. She had visited Chile a year before she died. She went to witness, firsthand, the Cherufe in its natural habitat, and of course, in its dormant state. She studied there for three months. She came back and two weeks later, she was murdered.”
“Wow.” I stood and began to pace in front of the table. I had no idea how a Cherufe could commit the kind of murder that had happened to Kat’s mother. And why the hell would the monster use a gun? I decided to ask Archibald something. “Why was Sheila on so many antidepressants?”
“I think her madness was what made her brilliant,” Archibald responded.
“Why do you think the police had your name in their case notes?”
“They tried to reach me and ask me questions. I made myself available and went to their precinct. I had little information that would help the type of investigation they were seeking.”
“What kind of investigation should they have been seeking?”
“Something that wasn’t of this world.”
“You didn’t offer up that possibility?’ I asked.
“Hell, no. God only knows how bad they would have screwed it up. There are very few people in law enforcement that we can trust.”
I nodded.
“Any more questions, Columbo?” Archibald asked.
I grinned and said, “I have no idea who that is.”
Archibald shook his head at me.
“This Cherufe creature,” I said, “is pretty bad-ass, isn’t it?”
Archibald took a moment and looked intently into my eyes.
“You’re pretty bad-ass yourself.”
I knew at that moment, Mr. Maximus’ plan was for me to fight this thing when it popped up. The question was, when and where would it pop up? “This is the moment where I usually need my mom.”
“Anthony, you were a fighter.”
“Yes.”
“You have come up with a great potion that allows you to fight with fire.”
“That still sounds like a pretty hard fight,” I said. “The Cherufe is made up entirely of lava.”
“That may be true. But, remember your lessons, Anthony. Fire defeats fire.”
I nodded my head. Now, things were becoming clearer to me.
“You’re going to need to kill the Cherufe, Anthony,” Archibald said, simply. “That is the only solution to this problem.”
I held my breath and nodded my head.
Suddenly, my chest began to spasm and Archibald walked me to the door before I could pass out from dizziness.
Suddenly, I launched out of the room and had to catch my balance. Again, not a soul sat at the computers. I hurried straight to Kat’s bug and once again, felt relieved at no parking ticket. I made my way back to Big Bear.
Chapter Twenty-four
As I drove back, I pondered the Cherufe and what it had to do with Sheila Norquist’s murder. I felt lucky that I didn’t hit much traffic. I pulled into the Academy parking lot at 6:45 p.m.
I was more confused than I was before I’d left Cal State Fullerton. But Archibald Maximus had told me when the time came, fight with fire. So, that is exactly what I was going to do.
I stepped into my dorm room and Barry was sitting at the computer, looking at sports stats.
“Hey, it’s the enigma of the Alchemy Academy,” Barry teased. “Takes three out of six days off. Who knows why? I sure don’t. I just know you have been acting extremely weird ever since you met that girl.”
“It’s not Kat’s fault. The reason why I’ve been acting weird has nothing to do with my relationship with Kat.”
“You have a relationship now?”
“I think we do. Why the hell do you care?” I was letting out my stress on Barry and it wasn’t fair. I paused and said, “Look, bro, I’m sorry. I will tell you what’s going on when I feel it is okay to do so. I have a lot on my mind.”
“All right, man.” Barry turned around and began surfing the Internet.
“I’m going to go for a run,” I said.
“Do what you have to do.” Barry was annoyed that I didn’t trust him with whatever information I was withholding. I knew I needed Kat’s permission to tell him about her mom’s murder. He was going to have to stay in the dark for a while.
It was surprisingly chilly on this summer night. I changed out of my shorts and t-shirt and put on my running sweats, my shoes and my black hooded sweatshirt. I walked out to the beginning of my trail and stretched. I took a minute and then started a light run. There was at least an hour of sunlight left.
I ran hard and I ran far. It was a good stress release. I began to think about Kat’s mom and the Cherufe. What had happened on that fateful afternoon, eighteen years ago? I thought about all the clues and dismissed anything that had to do with her father.
The mom must have run out of gas just as she’d pulled up to the house. How did this beast shoot her in the head and leave no trace? Why did it use a gun if it was a beast? How did it leave no mess whatsoever?
As I thought, I continued to run up to the end of the trail. I jogged up to the school and went straight to the showers.
I took an extra-long, hot shower. The water felt good. When I was finished, I used one of the bathroom towels and headed back to the dorm. I knew I had to take the wet towel back or there would be a dorm-wide towel search.
I came to my room wearing just a towel. I was expecting Barry to make a smart-ass comment, but he didn’t say anything. He was mad and his silence was my punishment.
“Barry,” I said, putting on a pair of black basketball shorts and a white t-shirt, “what’s the matter?”
Barry was playing a video game on his laptop. He was sitting at the desk and had his back to me.
“Don’t do that,” Barry said.
“Do what?” I asked.
“Try to act like nothing is wrong and I’m being silly for giving a shit.”
I paused. This seemed to be bothering Barry more than I thought. “I wasn’t doing that. This is something that is extremely personal to Katherine. I think she should be the one to tell you.”
“Well, call her and tell her to come over here. I need to know what the hell you’re doing. You skip classes. You keep secrets. I have no clue what is up with you.”
“You want me to call Kat?”
“Why not?” Barry said. “You call her for everything else.”
“No, I don’t,” I protested.
“The other day you called her because you killed a bug with the fly swatter.”
“I killed the fly with my hand. Not even Mr. Miyagi can do that.”
“Call her, man. I want to be in the loop. I’m bored as shit up here. I need some excitement.”
I looked at Barry and laughed. “I’ll call her.”
I called Kat and asked if she had a little bit of time if she could come over to my dorm. I didn’t want to ambush her, but I knew how I was going to bring this up to her. I needed to be honest and real about what Barry meant to me as a friend. And I was going to need his help.
Katherine showed up in an hour. She was dressed very pretty and wearing a white and red dress with a red bow in her hair. So beautiful.
I had Kat sit on my bed. Barry sat in the desk chair and I stood facing my new girlfriend.
“Katherine, before this sounds like I’m about to profess my love for Barry, that is not where this talk is going. I’m going to explain how close Barry and I are as friends.” I looked at the floor. Katherine was respectfully silent, waiting for me to speak, knowing this was hard for me. “Barry and I had our breakthrough because of trust. We were able to make it over the hump that held us both back by trusting each other.”
She nodded.
I continued, “So, Kat, I’m going to ask you if you can do something that is completely out of bounds for me to ask. But I feel I need to ask you to help my friendship with Barry. Because right now, he is having a hard time trusting me.”
“Why?” Katherine asked.
“Once again, I don’t say this
lightly. I trust Barry with my life.”
“I got it, Anthony.” She was now becoming annoyed.
“Is it okay if I tell Barry what happened to your mother?”
Kat looked at me and said, “Sure. If it means that much to you for him to know.”
I looked at Barry and said, “Years ago, Katherine’s mom was murdered and it was a strangely mysterious death. It is a cold case to this day.” I looked at Kat and said. “And for the last few weeks, I have been investigating her mom’s murder and not having doctor appointments.”
“Investigating a murder?” Barry said. “I wasn’t aware you decided to be Sherlock Holmes.”
I shook my head at Barry and smiled. “The things you don’t know.”
“I don’t know things because you keep secrets,” Barry reminded me.
“Look, I am sorting everything out and when I feel I have a stronger handle on it, I will share with you both everything I have learned.” I turned to Katherine. “But until that time, may I please have your necklace?”
“Huh?” Kat was extremely surprised. “What does my necklace have to do with anything?”
“Please trust me on this.”
Kat looked at me, puzzled, and said, “Sure.” She then took off her necklace gingerly and handed it to me.
“May I wear it?” I asked.
Kat looked at me skeptically. “Are you sure this isn’t your way of claiming your territory?”
I smiled. “Maybe it is.”
“Pissing on her would be easier and faster,” Barry joked.
I looked at Barry and laughed. “No, it wouldn’t.”
The three of us settled in and watched a movie. Tonight, I was going to keep the information I found out about the Cherufe to myself.
Chapter Twenty-five
Our school doesn’t pay much attention to Halloween.
None of the students had much of the Halloween spirit. We weren’t going to spend a lonely night waiting for the great pumpkin in a pumpkin patch. Barry, Kat and I went to the movies at the local theater on Halloween night. My mind was still engulfed with Kat’s mom’s case and the Cherufe. I was becoming accustomed to my new necklace. It was almost as ugly as my newly enlarged ring. Almost.