Signs Book One: The Unwanted

by Andrew Michaels

  “Richard told me about the place when we moved back, but we never made it there,” She said.

  “You lived with Richard?”

  “Come on, let’s talk there.” We walked out into the parking lot where she got into a tiny little sports car, it looked like a clown getting into one of its joke cars. “You lead I follow,” she said as she drove behind me to lil’ red.

  I drove slowly enough to let her keep up while trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Richard had moved back from somewhere in Washington at some point and most amazingly he returned with an Amazon warrior in tow. We pulled into The Dive and walked through the side door to the bar section of the building which was nearly empty tonight. The band that was playing, The Miscreant Marauders, could have been the reason, they sucked.

  “I haven’t seen you in a while,” The bartender said to me as we walked in.

  “I really haven’t had anyone to come with,” I said and saw him look up at Aubrey.

  After the waitress sat us and took our drink orders, Aubrey looked at me and said. “I feel like you should know, I wasn’t sleeping with Richard.”

  “Really not my business,” I replied, shocked at the comment.

  “I know, I don’t know, but it seemed important,” She stammered.

  “So why did you come back with him?”

  “He said I was his door prize for leaving Washington,” she gave a weak smile, I could see that he meant something to her. “This is my fault,” She burst into tears.

  “Wait, what? What’s your fault?” I asked.

  “Richard and Dean dying, they…” her words faded. “Look, I do need to talk with you but I need to calm down first. I’m going to go for a drive, but I promise I’ll come back.” Aubrey took a cloth napkin and walked out.

  “Well, that was different,” I said to the empty booth.

  “She coming back?” the waitress asked a minute later.

  “She said she is but I have no idea.” I replied as she set the drinks down and then handed me a piece of paper. She stood there waiting I figured it was the check. “I was told to make certain the drinks were –“

  “Read it.” She mouthed.

  Now I felt like an ass, I read the piece of receipt paper, ‘You know about ‘THEM’, don’t you?’ below it were the words, ‘yes’ and ‘no’. I circled the ‘yes’. She promptly sat down and pulled out a notebook.

  ‘I knew it,’ she scribbled. ‘Does your friend?’

  ‘I don’t know, I just met her at a funeral,’ Not really sure why, but I wrote it as well.

  ‘Richard knew, he was in my call circle,’ she wrote.

  ‘I’m very new to this, what is a call circle?’ I jotted on the page.

  ‘People that you know you can write to, like this or email,’ her response was on a new page. ‘Have you seen yours?’

  ‘I don’t know that I have one.’ I replied.

  ‘Oh you do, I can feel the cold around you,’ she wrote.

  ‘Cold?’ I asked.

  ‘They always bring the cold, all types do that… some types actually have a smell to them. Gee you really are new to this,’ She snarked.

  ‘Types?’ I asked.

  ‘Oh dear…’ she replied and then proceeded to write for about 5 minutes conveying all she knew about CAs, Lurkers, and Legends. ‘These are the only types I know of for certain, but there may be more.’ The band was going on break so she had to get up.

  My head was reeling as I read the descriptions of the types she had written down. And then I read back to the first statements, they all bring cold, I can feel the cold around you, some have a smell. I remembered the persistent odor from the ditch.

  Fifteen minutes later the waitress came back, “My boyfriend is in the band and the owner just said it’s too dead tonight. That he didn’t want to pay for them to play to no one. I want to talk to you more but I have to leave. I’m really sorry, but he’s my ride home. What’s your email address?” she asked. I wrote it down along with my name, she read it and then put it into her pocket. “Thanks Edward, I’m Lilly,” She shook my hand and left.

  I walked up to the bar still carrying Aubrey’s drink, not sure if she was coming back, I assumed she wasn’t. Having ordered another drink I sat at the bar, resolving to stay awhile since I had come all this way. To my pleasant surprise my solitude was short lived, Aubrey returned seemingly in a better mood.

  “I’m so sorry about that. It’s just with all that’s happened, Richard killing himself and then Dean crashing, it’s all just been too much to deal with.” She said.

  I took out my notebook and scratched out a note, ‘Do you know about ‘Them’?’

  Aubrey took the paper and wrote ‘Of course, I thought that was obvious’.

  ‘Nothing is obvious to me anymore,’ I wrote, poking holes in the paper when I dotted the three I’s.

  ‘Understood, this is a lot to take in,’ she took her drink and the papers and walked back to the booth we had previously been in.

  ‘Ya think.’ I wrote when we were sitting again.

  ‘Lol…’ she smiled as she slid the note back.

  ‘How did Richard know Dean? What was this crisis of believing you referred to? Mrs. Schmidt obviously took it as a crisis of Faith, but I don’t think that’s what you meant at all.’ I asked.

  ‘You’re right. You see, when Dean was first introduced to this reality, he became heavily involved in drugs. He thought it would help him cope. Richard helped him through that. It was sometime after he had sobered up that I met him. Richard asked me to speak with him because of a question that Dean asked him, ‘Is it a good thing when they all go away?’ That day went to go see Dean for the first time. I told him about Legends, and I told him that there were various types of Legends. He was terrified, rightfully so, I told him to watch for strange things to happen around him, and that he should write them all down. From that information I could perhaps help him identify his legend,’ Aubrey wrote.

  ‘And did you figure it out?’ I asked sliding the paper back.

  ‘I did. On the third day he sent me a note that all the milk he bought would turn sour as soon as he put it in his refrigerator. Only one Legend does that, it’s called Al Fear Liath Mor, or the Greyman of the Mountain. I explained it to him, it was the night before he went for a drive to clear his head. Trying to escape a Legend that controls fog, in a fast moving car… In the end he made it easy for the Greyman to win.’ She finished writing, balling her hand and shaking it out.

  “Not used to writing so much?” I asked.

  “Not with a pen no, I usually type all night long.” She smiled and we passed the notes back and forth until the bartender let us know it was closing time.

  “Look I know there is still more on your mind, why don’t I follow you home.” Aubrey said.

  “Fine with me.” I said, and I offered a tip to the bartender.

  “Mr. Danvers says it’s all covered.” The bartender said giving a thumbs up.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Holy cow, did your clock just strike six?” Aubrey asked, several hours after we got back to my house.

  “It did,” I replied, the kitchen table was covered in notes, every piece of paper in my house had been used, so we resorted to writing on samples of paper towels from work.

  “I have to hit the road. We can chat more later in the week.” She hugged me and started to walk out.

  “Gee, even vampires have until sunrise to be in their coffins.” I poked.

  “The sun rises at six thirty-seven today,” She smiled and walked out.

  That’s when my tiredness hit me, it had been days since I got a decent night’s sleep, yet it felt like weeks. If my head hit the pillow I don’t remember it. I woke to the sound of the all too familiar pounding on my front door. I glanced over at the clock already knowing that it would be showing 9:45 A.M. again. It did.

  “One minute!” I yelled pulling on my pants and heading down the steps pulling on my shirt on the way. “You’re jok
ing right!” I said as I opened the door, a bit too smart-assed.

  “I will give you seven seconds to find your shoes.” Detective Gottlie said stepping in the house. I grabbed the pair next to the door, “I would suggest they go on your feet.”

  “Ok? But what the heck is this about?” I asked, standing up after my shoes were tied.

  “Mr. Clark, you have the right to remain silent –,“ he spun me around and started to handcuff my wrist.

  “What?” I didn’t fight, truth be known I was almost drunk from sleep deprivation.

  “Anything you say can and will be..” blah blah he read my rights to me.

  “Why are you arresting me?” I asked, turning to face him.

  “I knew that you were involved in this, I just needed some proof,” Detective Gottlie said.

  “Involved in what?” I asked.

  “The murders, along with your buddy.” He held out a plastic bag, I could see the note with my name and email address which I had given the waitress less than twelve hours earlier.

  “And?” I asked fearing the answer.

  “She was found this morning, well most of her was found.” He wiped his head, which I noticed was sweating profusely.

  “Did she have the same marks as the girl at the hotel?” I asked.

  “What girl? What hotel? Are you telling me you killed a girl at a hotel?” he asked.

  “The one you called me about the other day? The one you told me not to talk about at the funeral.” I demanded.

  “I called you because of the picture of the truck and we spoke about growing up with Richard. Mr. Clark, are you ok?” The detective pried.

  “I didn’t have anything to do with anyone’s death. The waitress left The Dive with her boyfriend. I stayed and closed the bar with that girl you saw me chatting with at the funeral. As a matter of fact she just left a couple hours ago.” I explained.

  “Tell it to the Judge,” He replied.

  As we rode to the jail I wondered why he hadn’t just gone ahead and charged me? My brain couldn’t comprehend that I was actually being held in conjunction with that poor girl’s death, when the true culprits weren’t even anything that could be handcuffed.

  We parked and he got me out of the car, they didn’t take finger prints or anything just took me to the back rooms.

  “I’m placing you in solitary, I will be keeping you handcuffed. I’m not losing another suspect to some death ritual.” He said putting me into a room, my hands were pulled out of two holes and then re-cuffed. He shut the lights off as he left, leaving an eight by eight window of light to give the room an eerie cast of fluorescence.

  “This sucks, go ask the bartender, or find Aubrey Shaw. I’m innocent, innocent, I tell ya. Do I at least get a lawyer?” I was talking to an empty room.

  The quiet of the space and my inability to move was making me grow more and more unnerved. The sound of deep, raspy breaths echoed off the walls. “Hello, is there anyone in the other cells?”

  “Heheheh…” The raspy breaths changed into an even raspier laugh. A moment later the cold, followed closely by that god awful stench as if the swamp gas from the ditch was now seeping from the drain located in the center of the room.

  “Fuck,” I whispered, knowing I was not going to like anything that was to happen next. I focused on the floor, remembering everything that Aubrey had written. The figure that filled the darkness in front of me seemed to be so dark that the very darkness of the room pulled into it.

  “Heheheh…” I could feel that he was bending down to meet my eye level.

  “Pissy shitty mother fucker!” I mutter over and over.

  “Hehhhhh,” The exhalation of putrid breath caught me as I happened to be taking a breath.

  “Wrrretttchhh…” I tried to stop the gag reflex but was unsuccessful. After the second wretch my peripheral managed to focus on the visage that filled my line of sight. The sickly green-gray skin appeared to be wet, or at least it shimmered, reflecting the light as if it were wet. The long hair appeared to be missing large clumps of it, those spots of the creatures skull shined through pearly white.

  “Heheheh…” This time the laugh, if it could be called a laugh, sounded farther away. I felt the cold amplify, the darkness grow vast and limitless and before it my insignificance resonated through my soul, I would have killed myself if I could have in the immenseness of it. The eye that looked in upon my despair showed the reason for my new found loathing, it was hollow, only a white twinkling star spot could be made out in the center of its seemingly empty sockets. A pale light emanated from somewhere deep inside pulling you to gaze directly into it. I must have passed-out.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Wake up sleepy head,” It was Detective Gottlie’s voice. “Although I can’t blame you for sleeping, it’s damn cold in here.”

  “And it stinks,” The other policeman said.

  “Here,” The detective removed the handcuffs from my wrists. “Come on out.”

  “Did you talk to the bartender?” I asked.

  “I did and you’re free to go for now.” Detective Gottlie said, as the police officer stepped from the room ahead of them. “Listen,” my back slammed against the wall, “I don’t know how you did this, but this all started with you and I guarantee that it will end with me.”

  “Am I free to go?” I asked, not waiting for an answer I began to follow the other cop.

  “You are, but Mr. Clark…” He paused as I turned back to him, “Don’t leave town.”

  I called for a cab from the front desk thanks to a nice secretary and walked outside to wait. Fifteen minutes later I was on my way to my house. Hoping that I would have enough time to grab a bite before I had to rush off to work, I didn’t. Changing from my puke covered clothes, washing my face, grabbing my cell-phone and running out to my car I arrived at work with limited time to spare.

  “Good night, Edward,” The last of the day shifters said as they headed off.

  “Have a great night,” I replied, walking over to grab my headset. I jumped right in surfing the shit out of the Internet, looking for any new piece of information about the Unwanted Watchers as I could. I was surprised the number of people that were offering their theories on this ‘curse’ as they called it.

  The lights on the floor, along with the call center dropped out as I spoke with a customer. “That never goes well, that crazy lady will swear I hung up on her.” I said as I attempted to make it through the maze of cubicles using my cell-phone as a flashlight. I made it to the outside corridor and walked along the windows. I could see the scribbling appear on them as I walked by. I moved closer to the cubicles until I was assailed by the stench, but this time it was different, a sweet horrible smell. I kept walking, trying to think what the smell was until the bitter cold caused my breath to show itself as smoke.

  “Oh for fuck sake,” I mumbled moments later, finding the breakers in the panel were simply turned off and not tripped. I walked down the same path I had just travelled, the lights were coming up slowly. ‘Odd,’ I thought. Obsequious to my task, I ignored the anomaly and walked back to my desk, needing to re-engage my headset. “I like that one,” I said as I walked by a particularly decorative ocean scene, mermaids waved to a ship that rode above the waves. “Flying Dutchman?” I asked.

  “Uh huh.” The moaning answer came when I was well beyond the window. As I turned the corner to my cube-jungle my headset finally connected, followed by the new stink, there in front of me, a second Lurker in less than twelve hours was testing me. I kept my eyes looking toward my desk in the distance, smashing my shin into an unseen open drawer. I fell grasping the injury without realizing I was quite literally inches from the creature. My peripheries felt sharper than ever before, I could easily make out the blond hair of this Lurker. The features appeared to be more feminine than the earlier one. Its skin a grayer tone and was definitely wet and dripping its own juices on the floor, leaving a puddle to pool at its feet. The other difference was the twinkling star
-spot it was teal, not white.

  “Not yet,” The voice was guttural and truly befitting a supernatural entity. If it said any further comments I did not hear for I once again passed out.

  “Hello?” The voice in my ear was angry, yet concerned.

  “I’m sorry, the connection must have picked up while I was away from my desk…” I fell into my bullshit, ass kissing routine. The woman actually had a real complaint and didn’t know what to do. The elusive nice person, see how they walk down the street looking out for the jackanapes that care only for themselves…

  “Thank you so much.” She said.

  “And you’re certain I can’t send you some coupons for your troubles?” I asked.

  “No, that’s ok I didn’t call for that, I was worried about the chemical makeup of the softening agent that’s all.” She said and then hung up.

  “Tag you’re it.” The day shift supervisor said forty-five minutes later.

  “I’m starving. What did you bring me?” I asked.

  “Your freedom, use it well,” He joked.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I pulled into my driveway happy to see Nelli was home. Nelli, “SHIT!” I ran from my car. I threw open the door finding her sitting at the table holding all the papers.

  “What’s the deal with these ‘Unwanted’?” she asked, as I tried my best to stop her. The Lurker with the white spot appeared behind her as the door was ripped from my hand and slammed shut. I saw the teal eyed Lurker standing next to me, but in a blur, it was over by Nelli with the other one.

  “She doesn’t know!” I screamed as they closed in on her.

  “I don’t know what? Good god, what the fuck is rotting in that trash ba—,“ Her words were replaced with a scream as the Lurker ripped her scalp from her head and then not appreciating the new sound, he muted it by ripping her head from her body in a fountain of blood. At the same time the other entity took a leg in one of its hands and punched out with the other, the force causing both the separation of her leg and its fist coming away bloody as it had entered her chest.