Manic Monday: (Dane Monday 1)

by Dennis Liggio

  "After that was Avalon's Hope. Carmichael created his model for the city. Affordable housing for the everyman. He believed if you gave everyone good homes, crime would diminish - an idea shared by modern sociologists too, though for different reasons. So he made Avalon's Hope and sold the blueprints to investors who claimed to follow his vision. It wasn't clear if they didn't understand the point of the project before the agreement or didn't care. But they looked at the blueprints, thought it cost too much, then had their own architects use the plans for cheaper, smaller, lower quality buildings. Those are what you see especially on the east side of town. Carmichael saw this as a great betrayal and the beginning of the fall of Avalon."

  "I think we heard a little about this," said Dane with a look to Abby.

  "We actually met -" started Abby.

  "Tell us about his disappearance," said Dane.

  "Carmichael's 'breakdown' was in full effect at this point," said Linda. "He condemned the developers who he sold the Avalon's Hope plans to. The words he used and how the newspapers reported them... it made him sound crazy. Then there was the talk of secret societies, that Carmichael was an occultist, that he worshipped devils with Avalon's elite. Nothing substantial and much of it could have been fear mongering. At this point his fortunes were poor. He still owned Avalon's Hope, but he didn't have much money. He was working on the Terminus, the hotel at the center of the city. He had spent the rest of his money on that and was borrowing heavily to get it made. But it was taking too long and he was spending a lot on things the lenders thought were superficial - lots of Avalon Brass decorations, opulent building materials, elaborate façades and artwork. The hotel was slowly heading toward completion, but the debtors were circling.

  "And then sometime in 1929, Carmichael disappeared. Some said he fled because of his debts. But those who had met the man found that unlikely - Carmichael was always obsessed. Debt wouldn't cause him to stop before a project was done. His close associates were tight-lipped. I can't find any record of any of them saying anything other than they were sad to hear of his disappearance. The Terminus Hotel was almost finished and creditors basically slapped the equivalent of a coat of paint on it before opening it. All of Carmichael's plans and notebooks disappeared. Creditors took over the Terminus and Avalon's Hope was vacant for a long time. It was practically forgotten about, though it did start getting rented years later.

  "His disappearance is an Avalon mystery, but a very old one. Mostly when you hear him mentioned today, it's about his public works projects. The highway is of course well used today. The sewers have massive capacity, easily keeping up with Avalon's growth. In some ways he was prescient for what Avalon might become, and in other ways, I'm sure he'd be disappointed. Avalon's Hope was left to die and is now... destroyed. His model for Avalon was completely discarded. He's lucky the Terminus Hotel has been maintained as both a functional hotel and a historic site by the friends group. They have lots of money to invest in maintenance and restoration."

  "Friends group?" asked Abby.

  "Yeah. Friends of the Terminus Hotel, is their name, I believe," said Linda. "It's fairly common for historic sites to have a friends group. City and state governments rarely have enough money to maintain historic sites or build exhibits. So a local friends group, a non-government affiliated non-profit, will form and collect donations to restore or maintain the site. They have fundraisers, get donors, and are often a special project for bored wives of affluent families. They can also be very possessive, claiming that no one else, not even government officials are allowed to interfere with a site, sometimes even with government-owned sites. The Friends of the Terminus Hotel are pretty inclusive. I'm almost positive that they have more historic records than they have let on, but they've so far rebuffed me on any attempts to look at them. I appreciate their efforts with the hotel, but I also feel like they're holding back our full understanding of that time period."

  Dane and Abby shared a look. The blonde woman at the hotel had mentioned something about Friends. Had they just been dealing with a psychotic nonprofit group this entire time?

  There was a beep on Abby's phone. She pulled it out and checked her notifications.

  "Someone texting you?" said Dane.

  "I set some news alerts last night," said Abby distractedly. "Anything that might have something to do with the case. And well... we should turn on a TV."

  Linda got up and moved a stack of books and papers, revealing an old television on the top of one of the file cabinets. She clicked it on. "What channel?"

  "All of them," said Abby.

  Every news channel was reporting the same thing. A strange press conference had been called. Rather than inside a building, this was a table setup outdoors in front of a large set of stairs. There was a faint wind blowing, causing the tablecloth to blow. Linda knew at once from the background that it was at the Terminus Hotel. But it was the single individual sitting at the table behind the microphones which drew her attention.

  "My God, that looks just like -" said Linda.

  "Roger Carmichael," said Dane.

  It was indeed the old man Dane and Abby had met the night before. He still had the same old man features strangely covered with pink lineless skin. He wore a fine suit and had papers in front of him on the table.

  Beneath the footage of him, the news channel was frantically displaying graphics. A banner displayed across said, Man declares himself to be Avalon architect Roger Carmichael, and had a small black and white picture of a smiling Carmichael from the 1920s. Could this be the same man?

  As Carmichael hadn't begun speaking, the anchors were having a field day talking about the implications of Carmichael being alive. As this was Channel 5, Tug Johnson was discussing it with another member of the news team, Vicki Livingston. Vicki was wondering when Carmichael was going to tell the world his aging secrets.

  "I've seen enough old pictures, there's no way that's not Carmichael. Same bearing and everything," said Linda. "That's why you were asking about him! You knew about this!"

  "We met him last night," said Dane. "It's his goons that are trying to kill us."

  "Roger Carmichael is trying to kill you," said Linda. "As a native Avalonian, do you know how ridiculous that sounds?"

  "Wow, I never took a step back to think of it that way," said Abby.

  "What do you mean?" said Dane.

  Linda shook her head dismissively. "You never stayed awake in class, did you? Did you not hear about Carmichael in every history class as one of our city's favorite sons?"

  "I grew up in Glenntown," said Dane. "They're still jaded about the Avalon connection."

  "Roger Carmichael is nearly mythical in the Avalon school system," said Abby. "Saying Roger Carmichael is trying to kill us is like saying Ben Franklin is trying to kill us."

  Dane turned to the television and narrowed his eyes. "He's no Ben Franklin," he said icily.

  On screen, Carmichael cleared his throat. Tug and Vicki became silent, as well as everyone near Carmichael. The only sound that remained was the wind heard faintly over the microphones.

  "People of Avalon," came Carmichael's voice. He was trying to keep his voice confident, but there was a nervous moment where his eyes flashed to the microphones, clearly unused to the technology. "I have been away from my beloved city for a long time. When I left, it was a time of giants. It was the turning point, the inception of a new era. It was a time when human spirit and innovation were going to hold back the tide of human nature and corruption. Though there were already men who had failed their moral obligations, there was a chance. A new era of Avalon. A pure Avalon. A decent Avalon. A great Avalon.

  "Sadly, you have all failed.

  "That new era never arrived. You were given the tools to make the city an ideal, to engineer the greatness of mankind, and instead you praise glitz and glamour, you pursue money as your god, and you are more corrupt than ever. This Avalon I have returned to is a mockery of the values the town was founded on. There was a turning p
oint, but you chose wrong and have all thrown it away. Your city is riddled with crime and corruption. The magnificent art of the past has been left to fall into ruin, a reflection of the internal morality of the typical Avalonian. You have created a city for small men and small minds, and so it has only produced the smallest of men with the smallest of minds. Your city is a blight upon humanity. I am ashamed to call this city Avalon and you should all be embarrassed to call it your home.

  "It is possible that this world as a whole has become corrupt. It is possible that the failure of men is a worldwide event. I do not yet know. I know for sure that Avalon had been given the tools to become better, that it had the potential for greatness. Instead it is now a bloated corpse filled with ticks gorging themselves on filth. Like attracts like, so I blame the city. The world may be corrupt, but Avalon is my city. One must keep their own garden clean before criticizing another's. So it starts here.

  "I have judged Avalon a failure. The city makes men weak. The city is the problem. And she shall be cleansed. People of Avalon, I know you are simply victims. But know this - you are not so innocent as to keep me from my task. This city will be razed to the ground. If you choose to ignore this warning, your safety is your own responsibility.

  "You have until five in the afternoon to vacate the city or make your peace with God. No further warnings will be given."

  Without pause or further discussion, Carmichael grabbed his papers and rose from the table. At first there was only a shocked silence. But as Carmichael began to walk up the stairs back into the Terminus Hotel, there erupted a roar of reporters desperately shouting questions at him. None were answered as he walked up into the hotel.

  The television cut back to Tug Johnson looking shocked. He quickly recovered and began stammering out his reaction to Carmichael's announcement, seconds later resuming his normal anchor tone and confidence.

  "Well that answers a lot of questions!" said Dane.

  "And yet it just raises more," said Abby. "And of course, city-wide panic."

  "But it answers the most important questions!" said Dane. "Who's the villain? Roger Carmichael! Where is he? The Terminus Hotel! What are we doing? Going to the Terminus Hotel! See? All the most important things we need to know!"

  "Ah, the classic Dane Monday approach," said Linda.

  "I see you also don't approve," said Abby.

  "Yes, but who's going to stop Dane from leaping through the jaws of the lion to end up in the belly of the beast?" asked Linda. "You? Others have tried before you but to no avail. We've just ended up in the belly with him."

  "Is this really the time for a criticism of my methods?" said Dane.

  "When it can get us killed, yes," said Abby.

  "She's got a point," said Linda.

  "Look, you two just saw what I saw!" said Dane. "Carmichael wants to level New Avalon! How is he going to do it? No idea! How am I going to stop it? Also no idea! Can I even stop it? Who knows? But the thing is, I have got to try! It's what I do. I'm not going to let him destroy the city. I'll figure it out. I always do."

  "I don't know what I'm doing but I'll make it up as I go along?" said Abby. "You're not really inspiring trust."

  "That's the Dane Monday strategy, Plans A through Z," said Linda. "To be fair, it usually works. But isn't it scary?"

  "Abby, you don't have to come with me," said Dane. "But I have to go. This is my moment. This is always my moment. You wanted to see my world, this is where it leads. I'm totally fine if you want to stay here or leave the city. But the hotel is where I'm going."

  "Umm," said Abby. Old Abby and New Abby were currently having a fist fight in her head over whether she followed Dane or bowed to Linda's, and technically Jaya's, advice. New Abby was heavily bruised but was definitely not out yet.

  "It's stupid and reckless," said Linda, "But do you really want to hear how this works out second hand? My days of following him into certain danger are over, but if you've never done it at least once, you're probably going to regret it. Getting pursued by robots is one thing, but going to the villain's base to kick that hornet's nest? That's a ridiculously foolish thrill that isn't matched by anything else."

  "You're telling me to go? I actually thought you were rather conservative," said Abby.

  Linda smiled. "We all had our days of youth."

  "Are you leaving town?" asked Abby. "The university is still pretty central."

  "Me? No," said Linda. "I plan to stay here, leave the tv on, send some emails, grade some papers. Maybe go down into the basement shelter if things get dangerous."

  "Why aren't you going to run?" said Abby.

  "Dane said he would deal with it," said Linda. "That's good enough for me."

  "Hmm," said Abby. New Abby had just punched Old Abby in the gut. It was a good hit and Old Abby's eyes bulged.

  "I have to stop at Alastair's first," said Dane. "If you're not getting out of the city immediately, you can at least come with me there. He's on the edge of Old Avalon, though, so he's near the hotel. You can decide from there if you want to come with me or leave. It might be harder to get out from Old Avalon, but who knows? We don't know yet how the city will be destroyed!"

  "Why Alastair's?" said Abby.

  "He has the results on the statue. That may or may not help us. And we don't know how Carmichael plans to destroy the city. I'm going to guess magic, so I want to get Alastair's take while we're there. And like I said, he's on the way."

  "Okay, I'll come with you," said Abby. New Abby was doing a victory dance, made more dangerous by her fist fight induced concussion. "At least to pick up my camera."

  "That's terrific! I'm sure you won't regret it!" said Dane.

  Both Abby and Linda raised their eyebrows at him.

  "I'm sure you probably won't regret it!"

  Resurrection

  Dane and Abby walked to Old Avalon. They didn't want to take any form of transportation to avoid any of the panic that could happen from Carmichael's announcement. There was a chill to Avalon's streets, but not outright panic. A few people seemed to be loading cars with belongings, but not many. This was probably due to the threat not being specific. Destroying a whole city was a tall order, especially when coming from a bizarre gentleman who claimed to be one of Avalon's favorite sons missing for nearly a century. Rather than panic, almost everyone was holding their breath to see what would happen.

  As they entered Old Avalon, the air was a little more tense. There were obvious police and government vehicles heading in the direction of the hotel. The authorities wanted to be ready. They also knew that Carmichael had made no specific threat, but if anything was going to happen, they expected it to come from the Terminus Hotel.

  When they knocked on Alastair's door, there was a longer wait. Then the gap opened again.

  "It's just you two?" said Alastair.

  "Of course," said Dane.

  Alastair cast another glance at Abby, as if willing her appearance to change to her real form as some demonic entity, but then he gave up and unlocked the door.

  Abby and Dane followed the occultist into his home, taking seats in front of his desk. Abby took a quick glance around for Alastair's infernal cat, but did not see it. Alastair slouched in the chair behind his desk, idly rubbing his chin. Dane and Abby stared back, waiting for him to speak.

  "I assume you are involved in this latest event?" said Alastair.

  "Carmichael threatening to destroy up the city?" said Dane. "Oh yeah, it's at the top of my to-do list. I'm just getting prepared. So what's the magic with the statue and writing we found? Let me guess, resurrection."

  "Of a sort, yes," said Alastair with a mirthless smile. "It's not going to bring any dead person back to life. It will bring back someone who had their spirit banished or locked away in a particular place. The technique used with the statue is interesting, as it forms a new body for them."

  "That explains why Carmichael has no wrinkles," said Abby.

  "Yes, that would be a telltale sign of the new body,
" said Alastair. "Pink skin that has never known the light of day or a summer breeze. I imagine it would be a little painful for the first day or two."

  "What do you mean locked away?" said Dane.

  "That's where we get to the writing on the walls," said Alastair. "The glowing writing I did not see was likely an old spell. Containment and banishing is my guess. The new, more physical writing was to break the containment spell. Mostly ineffective, as the difference between casters was probably very great. The new writing is clearly an amateur. But, it was enough to make the smallest hole in the containment. And as we know from the rather hermetic way magic can work, it takes just a minor imperfection to break the seal."

  "So someone broke Carmichael out of jail and put him in a new body," said Dane.

  "In essence, yes."

  "Intriguingly interesting, but probably bad for the city right now," said Dane. "Since the cat's out of the bag, what are your thoughts on Roger Carmichael?"

  "The gentleman on television or the historical person?" said Alastair.

  "Do you believe they're different?" asked Dane. "You were just telling me about pink skinned resurrection."

  "Without full verification, I wouldn't be absolutely sure. When drawing back a spirit, you never can be sure if you get something else instead. And most entities are known to lie."

  "Lovely! Abby, take a note - Carmichael may be an evil demon sent here to level New Avalon, not actually Roger Carmichael." Dane paused. "Don't actually take a note, I think we'll just ad lib if it's true."