by Steven Swaks
“Old Meyers is going to take my case?”
“Only for a few days, Jack.”
“Meyers hasn’t solved anything in months. He can hardly find his money to buy a coffee and donut in the morning. What makes you think that he’s going to help out?”
“He can do more than you in this bed.”
“What about Cortez?”
“His wife is pregnant up to the eyeballs and he’s working a bunch of smaller cases. It would be a headache to transfer everything.”
Delano grunted, “I should be back in a few days, maybe even early next week.”
“Good, and you did most of the cleaning work already.”
“Without much result.”
“You’ll get him, I trust you.”
“Thanks, Chief.”
“By the way, did you know Jim Mackenzie?”
“Isn’t he the guy from that shop on Denali?”
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“What about him?”
“He’s in a drawer downstairs.”
“Why? What happened to him? Let me guess, he killed himself.”
“No,” the chief shook his head, “freak accident.”
“I can’t wait to hear that one.”
“A radiator fan blade broke and flew into his neck. It severed his carotid. A couple of kids were there. They said he died in a minute.”
“This is getting worse.”
“What is this, Jack?”
“Oh, please, you can’t deny what’s going on. I just got beat up by a ghost in my office. Yeah, Frank, a ghost. There’s no other way to put it. Now we need to get our heads out of our asses and be honest with what’s going on. Trust me, getting punched by a whole lot of nothing is going to make you a believer in a hurry.”
“Jack, I don’t deny something happened–”
“That’s a nice way to put it, something happened.”
“But I don’t want to give into that… mass hysteria.”
Delano didn’t comment.
“Take a thousand people, one of them says that he sees something with enough conviction, I guarantee you another fifty are going to see the same thing, even if it is not there.”
“Look at me, Frank, this is as real as it gets.”
“I know this is real, Jack, but did you consider that there could be another explanation?”
“Another explanation? Which one? Tell me! I’m curious to hear that one!”
“Jack, please tune it down a little, I’m still your chief, all right? I don’t know what happened in your office. For what I know, you had a psychotic episode. Now, take the time you need to recover, and get back to work. I can’t afford to lose my best man.” The chief relaxed. “Look,” Burns glanced at the window onto a small parking lot and a small strip mall with a drycleaner, a pawn shop, and a donut shop. “Half of my department is losing it for whatever reason, and I don’t have the slightest clue what to do about it.” He turned back to Delano. “Work on getting out of here and getting better. I need you to come back.”
“I’m working on it, Chief.” Delano gave a faint smile.
Frank Burns parted the light privacy curtain and walked out of the room.
~
Four scaly creatures the size of mountain lions appeared at the corner of a corridor. The biggest led the small group, black snout beneath yellow eyes sniffing the hospital odors. It made two steps to the right and retreated to the other side of a long corridor with patient rooms on either side.
It inhaled the strong hospital scent. It cocked its reptilian head and opened its mouth, revealing long and sharp teeth.
The other three creatures sneered in anticipation.
The small pack continued forward, large claws clinking on the linoleum floor. They passed by a nursing station, one of them climbing onto the counter where a nurse was. She kept her eyes on a computer screen, filling out a patient’s chart. She couldn’t see them, for they were from the other side, the twisted and vile side, the sanctuary of hatred and despair.
If they had one, their hearts would have been beating harder as Delano’s room was coming closer. They didn’t know the exact location yet, but they were homing toward it like jackals zeroing on a dead carcass. Death was sweet. It was their food, their very reason to be. They were the troubled soldiers from Hell, soulless, heartless, without mercy, and eager to please their grand master.
The larger one stopped. It took a long and slow whiff and quivered. The prey was nearby. Soon, they would thrive in utter violence. It would be beautiful, rough. They would snatch yet another existence. Believer, non-believer, it wouldn’t matter. They were coming to terminate a life.
~
Jessica enjoyed her lone time by a camp fire. She watched embers rising in the night sky and gazed at the million stars above her. She wondered if they were the same she had watched in her childhood. She took a dry branch and stirred up the fire. More dots of bright lights lifted in the warm air. Tall spruce trees encircled the meadow and the stream, guarding her like silent giants.
She was alone in the woods, but she felt safe. She was in Heaven after all. She knew this stay was temporary. She knew that she would soon go to the city and meet Him. She couldn’t wait.
Jessica sensed an uncanny change. She couldn’t tell what, but something was happening. She glanced around her, but didn’t see anything out of place, the stars, tall trees, the glistening water of the stream, and her cabin hadn’t changed. There was something else. She hadn’t seen anything in particular, but she knew something was there, maybe even watching her.
Alert, she stood like a spooked deer in the woods. She shallowed her breathing and listened for any suspicious noises. There was no sound, nothing that could pinpoint anything unusual. You’re in Heaven, Jess, nothing bad happens in Heaven, she thought.
She walked through the woods to the edge of the chasm and looked at the cliff in front of her. Even in the midst of the night, the moon lit the rocks jutting out of the sheer wall.
An ominous long shadow slithered along the cliff to the entrance of the tunnel. Something evil was happening. Not where she was, but in Stone Falls. She didn’t know how she could tell, but she knew.
She grew concerned. She kneeled on the short grass and closed her eyes. She prayed. He was there, waiting to be summoned. She had always believed in Him, and He had never failed her. She knew He could intervene in whatever was happening in her town. She knew it would be nothing for Him, a snap of His fingers or a mere thought.
Jessica opened her eyes. The long shadow vanished into the dark tunnel. She stayed alert, unable to interpret what was happening. The forest was as peaceful as it had been only a few minutes before the maleficent sighting.
A man dressed in a Victorian suit, leather jacket, and holding an elegant black cane slowly walked out of the tunnel and looked down at her.
Even in the darkness, she saw his monstrous face staring at her. She didn’t know who he was, but she knew what he was not: human.
~
The four creatures traversed the door into Delano’s room, as if they were ghosts in a haunted mansion. They were not spirits. They were demons visiting for a single strike to please their master. It would be quick, a short attack to reap the soul of the victim. The human was not a believer. It would be easy, sweet, a reward for their good work.
Unaware, Delano was resting on his bed, eyes closed to find a sleep which was not coming. The muted television was playing. The detective picked up the remote and turned it off.
The four creatures looked at him like predators admiring their prey before the kill. The larger one stood on its hind legs. It opened its front claws at the end of deformed hands and snarled in pleasure. Victory was upon them.
Towering over the four puny demons, two large angel warriors in silver armor and white folded wings entered the room. Without speaking, they looked down upon the creatures and drew their silver swords. The first angel swung his sharp blade through the air and beheaded one of the creatures. I
ts head rolled on the ground and vanished at the same time as the rest of the body in small puffing black clouds.
The second angel stabbed another demon standing on the bed in the heart–or where its heart should have been. The monster jerked its fronts paws back and blew in the same black smoke.
The largest of the vile creatures shrieked in surprise. It sprung back, jumped through the wall, and landed in the bathroom behind it.
The warrior closest to it lurched forward to chase it.
The other angel slashed the fourth demon as it was finding refuge on top of the television screen anchored to the wall. The small beast squealed in pain and fell backward, green blood splashing over the gray tile flooring. The green splatters puffed in a small gray vapor.
Delano was still trying to find sleep, eyes closed in the midst of the invisible fighting before him. His restless mind wandered past cases and Jessica’s murder, unknowingly feeding on the frenzy around him.
The first angel entered the bathroom following the same path through the wall.
The creature was escaping, running away in the parking lot.
“Respice in me daemonia!” the angel said in a thunderous voice.
The demon stopped and turned around.
The large angel took a silver arrow out of a quiver hanging off his belt. He placed it on his bow and aimed “Peribitis!” The arrow shot across the air and smashed through the pest in an inaudible sloshing.
A woman with her young daughter walked over the dead demon. The little girl stopped and looked back. After an instant the creature disappeared in a black cloud.
“Hurry, Celina, grandma is waiting for us!” The mother pulled her child by the hand.
“But, Mommy, I saw something weird,” the little girl protested, still looking back.
The mother looked behind them. “There’s nothing, honey.”
Coming Down
Delano was a cop, and a true cop was never off. Even a two-day stay in the hospital and another three in the confines of his home couldn’t change anything about that. There was so much television he could watch–movies only, no soaps or talk shows–sitting on the couch with his feet on the coffee table.
He felt that he was in jail, locked up and forgotten by the rest of the world. Heck, jail was better. At least the inmates had a roommate and social time in the center yard. He was by himself, on a romantic tête-à-tête with his big screen.
Once in a while, his hand took a life of its own and dialed the station’s number to get some updates. So what, that mechanic jerk had managed to die from a fan blade. Talk about a strange way to go. Delano didn’t care. The city might even be better off without him. He only hoped another crooked mechanic wouldn’t take over the business.
Delano’s phone rang in the middle of a shootout. After all, the movie Heat was the best choice for a lone cop. He picked up after reading the caller ID: SFPD. His voice was stern, almost dull, to hide any kind of unprofessional excitement.
“This is Detective Meyers.”
“Hi, Meyers.” It wasn’t that Delano did not like Meyers, but the two didn’t hang out after work, ever. Meyers was too… old might seem too harsh, or perhaps it was accurate but not in a conventional sense. Meyers was born old. He was too slow, too cautious, too unwilling to take any chances. He had never married and had stayed in the house where he grew up after his parents passed away. Talk about boring. How had he become a cop? Because daddy was a cop, and even then, Stone Falls was at the edge of his limited capabilities, the old Stone Falls, with its whole lot of nothing beyond a couple of kids trespassing in an abandoned building, not the new out-of-control one. This new dynamic was completely beyond his anemic abilities.
“Please tell me that you have a lead on the Miller case,” Delano asked him without much hope.
“We do.”
Delano sat upright on his couch. “You have a solid lead? On the Miller case? My case?”
“Yes, I think we’ve a good one.”
“What? What did you find?” Delano stayed still unwilling to miss any information about to reach his inner ear.
“We might have a suspect.”
“You might? A suspect?” he shook his head in frustration, “Do you have a suspect or not?”
“We think so.”
Delano gritted his teeth. Getting info out of this guy was worse that yanking nuclear codes out of a North Korean, “Who?”
“A transient.”
“A hobo?” The suspense fell like a bad line at the end of what could have been a good joke.
Delano was glad and frustrated. Meyers, the slow Meyers, the slug Meyers, was about to solve his case. Lucky break.
“Did you tell the Chief?”
“Not yet.”
“Don’t tell him. I want to be there when you break the news.”
“But, you’re out on sick leave.”
“I feel better.”
Right after a quick briefing, Detective Delano entered Chief Burns’ office with Meyers trailing him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be resting at home?” The chief asked with a calm voice.
“I’m all right.” He glanced at Meyers and turned his gaze back to the Chief. “You’re going to like this one.”
“What is it?”
“We, I mean, Detective Meyers, might have caught the bastard.” Delano said taking a seat.
“Which one?” Burns asked while rising bushy eyebrows.
“The one who murdered Jessica Miller.”
“Really?” The Chief sat back in his office chair, “a few days ago you boys had nothing, and now you tell me that you have a suspect. Who is it?”
“Meyers has the scoop,” Delano looked at his colleague. “Go ahead, tell him.”
“Two days ago, some girl went by herself in the woods for a morning run–”
“Not a good idea,” Burns said.
Delano took over the conversation, “I know, it’s not very bright, but that’s beside the point. Some hobo jumped her thinking she would be an easy score. Turns out the gal was feisty as hell and scratched him right across the face. He got spooked and ran away. She called 911 and gave a good description of her attacker. And guess who we have downstairs?” Delano’s index finger jerked toward the floor.
“The bum?”
“You got it. One of our guys picked him up two hours after the assault. The gal has already identified him.”
Chief Burns shook his head. “What’s that to do with Jessica Miller?” he asked looking at Meyers.
“Well, sir, we can reasonably assume–”
Delano cut him off. Meyers was a crawling sloth merely catching the events in his open arms rather than being proactive and finding something by himself. In his absence, the officers had run the bulk of the investigation running common sense leads where Meyers was a step or two behind, unable to make a true decision and follow good leads or his guts (if he had any). “Look, Chief, I don’t want to be too optimistic, but we haven’t had a rape in the mountains in ages, and now we get two? Come on.”
“Where was this one?”
“Half a mile from the Miller’s scene.”
A large smile drew on the Chief’s face. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy squatted in a hunting cabin in the area.”
“He did. Detective Meyers ordered a sweep around the location and found the shack he was staying at.”
“Did you search it?” Burns asked Meyers.
“We did, sir.”
“And?” Burns leaned forward.
“We didn’t find anything tangible…”
The chief pursed his lips.
“But! We’re going to grill the living shebang out of him and yank out a confession!” Delano said hardly able to contain his excitement.
“That’s if he is your guy.”
“Please, give us some credit. It’s possible that’s it’s not him, but the odds are way in our favor.”
White Lights
Tracy Miller enjoyed driving alone in the canyon. She l
iked the sun filtering through the trees, the serrated rocks at the edge of the road, and the mountains towering over the narrow highway.
She wasn’t as strange as she made it look. The whole Goth appearance was only a façade, a rebellious way to contradict her mother and assert her independence from her sister. Now that Jessica was gone, there was no point to continue that game. Brad would be the first one to like a slide toward normality.
She lowered her window and extended her arm. The cool air felt good on her skin.
~
“Jessica Miller!” The name echoed through the meadow like the complaint of an angry beast.
Jessica put her book down. She stood up from the small wooden chair she was sitting on and looked out the window, but she didn’t see anything.
She stepped out of her log cabin, for she knew where the voice was coming from: the tunnel. She walked barefoot through the meadow and into the woods. The shallow moss felt good under her feet. It was comforting, like a warm carpet in a comfortable home.
She didn’t even know why she was answering the call. She only felt she had to go. What else could Gina tell her? She walked to the edge of the chasm and looked up.
Gina was standing at the mouth of the tunnel, arms crossed to contain a bubbling anger.
“Finally,” Gina said with a cold voice. “You took your time.”
Jessica didn’t comment.
“You see, I was nice to you, Jessica. Really, I was. I was patient, almost understanding. I even took the time to explain what was happening.” Her head was rocking, highlighting the key words of her speech, “but now, frankly, you’re starting to seriously aggravate me.”
“What are you talking about?” Jessica asked, opening her arms.
“Please, drop the innocent saint act, will you? You know perfectly well what I’m talking about.”
Jessica shook her head, “No, I don’t.”
“I know you intervened with that cop.” She cocked her head, coming closer to the edge of the abyss. “What? You think I wouldn’t find out?”