by Nico Augusto
The darkness turns to blinding light as Heaven appears and then fades away. Eddie Tonobu knelt inside his temple sanctuary praying to his God…
DAKOTA
Buddhist Temple
Eddie exited the Buddhist temple of the city he was in, Dakota. The police units were waiting for him; he was determined to end this enquiry today.
Numerous amounts of evidence gathered in New York and in Little Rock made it possible to find the suspect. Now at last came the moment to arrest the killer.
There were two dozen police cars and the US Marshal truck.
Eddie got into the car and he could feel the tension. It was thick enough to cut with a knife. A few miles between the center of the city and the small cabin felt like an eternity.
A helicopter could be seen in the air, following the dozen police cars as they headed up the narrow trail to the cabin. The police arrived at full speed and skid to a halt in front of the small, discreet cabin.
Eddie opened the car door and put his foot out on the ground.
*****
HEAVEN
As James seemingly lay in a coma, his mind went somewhere else. It traveled across time and space and settled in the life of his father. He was able to see Lionel Marshal; the detective as he investigated his last case…James lived the time through his father’s eyes. The case was related to the Banished and to Monster, this terrifying cluster of Banished and James.
James found himself…or his father really, standing in front of the entrance to the woods. There was a road sign in front of him with the name of the village written on it. It’s red and white like the village signs in France. His father was about forty years old and his age shown through slightly in streaks of gray in his hair and beard. His hair was slicked back from his face and he was wearing an old leather jacket. In his right hand he held an old colt .45 and in his left a radio controlled trigger. He leaned back against an old 1950’s Renault.
Lionel was talking on the radio, informing his back-up that he is about to go to somewhere. Twenty three children were missing, accompanied by two teachers, they had just totally disappeared. It had been nine months since any of them had been seen.
Lionel entered the forest. He was hyper-alert, vigilant. On his path, it began to rain. It was a cold autumn day, and as he walked he could feel the ravens observing him. When he gets closer to them most of them fly away in a rush. The twigs and branches on the ground snap and creak under Lionel’s weight. After about twenty minutes of walking, Lionel is guided by the children laughter. It seemed to be carried to his ears on the gentle autumn breeze floating through the trees. Other than the laughter, the sounds of nature, trees rustling and ravens calling played in the background.
Directly in front of Lionel was a fence made of stone and behind that, an old castle.
The castle consisted of two twisted towers that made a dark and morbid impression on the sky behind it. The stones were grey and some of them were completely covered in ivy. On either side of the stairs that climbed up into the dark and spooky castle, two stone lions stood guard.
Lionel notices there were roundabouts and swings. He got the impression that children were not far away. He needed to enter the castle to better assess the whole situation.
Moving slowly, he approached the entrance, pushed open the glass door and snuck inside. The temperature inside the stone castle was even lower than it was outside. He could see his own breath in the air.
Once inside he faced a long corridor. Medieval armors were posted in front of each door along the corridor. Ancient paintings clung to the walls and on his right was an old wooden table that held a bird cage. Inside the cage an ortolan sat on his swing. When he saw Lionel, he cried out.
“Shut up, old parrot!” Lionel said to it. He suddenly froze…it sounded like he’d heard someone saying his name. Listening intently, he picks up the sounds of a conversation coming from somewhere on his right.
He heard a man say, “The cop is dead, I burrowed him under the tree … these Americans …”
A woman’s voice came next saying, “Very good … we almost got caught … You will have to stop playing with them!”
“I know, I know,” the man said, “How many kids are left? They keep asking for more, they are so active. Are they still talking to you?”
“Oh you! You do not believe me!”
Lionel did not quite understand the conversation, but one thing was certain, a cop had been killed and some children were in a grave danger. He felt someone coming from behind him before he turned and saw him. It was a man, running towards him, carrying a sickle. Lionel shot him several times and the man collapsed. The gunshots resonated throughout the castle. Lionel ran through the corridor, taking the door on his left and closing it behind him. He heard the voices coming closer.
He crossed the room and saw that there was a huge mirror in it. The decor was quite strange; it looked a little bit Chinese.
He was facing a door. He opened it slowly and was faced with complete darkness. Stepping in he realized it was a stairwell. He took the first two but his foot missed the third one and he fell down about six feet before he hit the ground. His arm hit so hard that the sound of his bones breaking screamed out across the room. Lionel screamed too, losing his gun as he hit the ground. He immediately reached his left arm out to search for it, but he groped around in the dark vain. He was startled then by a strong light cutting through the darkness. He blinked several times until his pupils adjusted just enough to allow him to see a silhouette.
It was a man with a mask, sitting on a wooden horse, a medieval instrument of torture. His mask had pointed and shapeless ears, scarce hair and a terrifying face. It was like the face of a harlequin made out of plastic, and melted in a few places.
The man was holding Lionel’s weapon …
“You can’t do anything, they command us … we execute …” the man said.
He took aim at Lionel’s head with the cop’s own weapon and pulled the trigger. The bullet passed cleanly through Lionel’s head. The man with the mask crossed the room on his wooden horse and leaned over Lionel as the blood rushed from his head and pooled underneath him on the floor. . Then he climbed off the horse and a violet substance oozed out of his body and penetrated Lionel’s.
HEAVEN
The transformation was complete… James had become the Monster. James opened his eyes and looked at his hands.
“What was that nightmare?” He wondered.
He could feel something new inside his chest. It was an unknown sense of power. The color of his skin looked violet to him and all around him he could see the same forest as before only the colors were different. Everything looked as if he were wearing a pair of colored sunglasses.
He pulled himself up and as he did he noticed that he was strangely taller, closer to the tops of the trees. There were white and black flashes all around him, making it difficult to see. It took him several minutes to process what was happening but it finally dawned on him that he was no longer himself. The voices he used to hear outside of his head were now inside. The substance all around him and inside of him were the creatures that had been following him. He was lost…no longer in control of himself. The Banished had control of his body now and they would progressively destroy anything that was left of him.
James could hear their voices in his head, expressing their desire to conquer the Earth.
******
HEAVEN TOWER
The young companions were getting ready to climb the second tower. The way up seemed as difficult if not more so than the first one. It was full of traps. Ani was panting, the day was about to end and the sun was still hot. Ani used any little shadow to protect himself. Yann was doing his best not to feel dizzy he didn’t think it would be a good idea when they were up so high.
Once on the top of the high tower Yann and Ani, in a complete silence, saw above them an airplane. There was no sound and the plane was leaving behind a luminous trace. It was an unrealistic scene.
“Follow me!” she told them.
Yann and Ani had made it, they activated two towers. The white shape accompanied them all the way down. The night was coming fast and the incredibly bright, close stars began to shine. The friends followed the voice that led them into the forest, in the direction of the Infinity Field when suddenly a shrill cry rang out all through Heaven. The monster was following them, hot on their heels, and it seemed furious. The boy and his dog began to run with everything they had inside of them as the hideous monster chased them. It was hard to breathe as he got closer to them, it was as if his evil reached out somehow and stole the oxygen from the air.
They ran through a wheat field and were surprised to find a sparkling door frame in the middle of it. The light from it became stronger as they approached and they could see a long corridor stretched out inside of it. Yann and Ani realized before they reached it that the Monster had caught up. They threw themselves to the ground and curled into a ball for protection. Strangely, the Monster passed above them and headed to the door frame. It threw itself to the door and as it reached it, black shadows began to dislocate themselves from it and one by one they passed through the door.
Yann, Ani and the white silhouette sat in horrifying witness of all of this. It was a disturbing sight and they were helpless to do anything about it. Something abysmal had just happened, the Banished left Heaven and made its way to Earth.
Left behind, on the ground, was a man who had been left behind by the shadows. He pulled himself up and with his hands on his head he looked around, confused.
“Where am I? Ah, my head …”
“Who are you, sir?” Yann asked him.
“Eh...I don’t know. They were in my head!” he yelled out loudly, “Where are they? Oh my God, they managed to do it…”
“What are you talking about? Please, calm down, you’re in shock…”
“The Banished … I heard them in my head … They want to destroy the Earth … They want the children … Oh no, what have I done?” His voice and his facial expressions were a mixture of horror and anguish. Then suddenly, he stopped talking. He was staring the space between Yann and Ani. The silhouette that for them had only been a white shape for James was much more. It was Sarah…his wife. He’d found her at last.
“My dear Sarah!”
“I see you … Finally,” she told him.
“I missed you so much, I..." James was crying.
“You know each other?” Yann asked, confused. There was nothing but silence for several minutes before he went on to ask, “You are the voice, aren’t you?”
“Yes, my dear boy,” Sarah told him before looking back at James.
She put both of her hands on the sides of his face and said, “I know what you’ve been through … but it is time to go now!”
I thought I lost you forever … We have to stop them, you know what they want, don’t you? They want to take back all our hope!”
“You can’t do anything more in this life, you have done so much already. I love you. I love you, do you know that? Trust me; you will be able to help in another life.”
“How is that? Another life? Is this the end of the journey?” Yann asked.
“No, my boy, this is only one stage of this long trip … This life is much longer than the life itself … But it is time to go now, we have to move.
“And our son?” James asked her, “Thomas? Did you see him?”
“He is waiting for us on the other side of the season …”
“I let them do what they wanted … that was them who killed our son … all they want is children … and me, ah, what did I do, I was so weak …”
“You must not feel guilty … You did everything you could … Come, it is time to leave all of this to others … We are going to find our son.”
“Yann, can I have the pendant…the one that I gave you to track the monster?”
Yann took the pendant from around his neck and gave it to Sarah. James was looking at it with wide eyes as she held it out to him. “Thomas’s pendant. I thought I’d lost it….”
“No, Yann’s been keeping it safe for you,” she said. Sarah had known that as long as Yann held the relic the monster…James would not be able to harm him. It was all that James had left of his son and he had cherished it.
“Do our parents wait for us as well? On the other side?” Yann asked her.
“Yes, this is a magical place; you will find your parents there. Just pass this door …” she told him.
Yann went closer to the door and Sarah crouched down in front of Ani,
“But you, my dear, you stay here! Your time did not come yet! You still have some things to do in here … You know that, don’t you? You are the only one to know this place as anyone else and you love the Earth so much … I can see it in your eyes …”
“But why? How? No, I want you to come with me, Ani!” Yann scooped the little dog up into his arms and held him against his chest. “I love you; you know … I want you to stay!”
“Do not worry, he will be happy, trust me,” Sarah told him.
Tears were streaming down Yann’s face as he clutched on to the little dog. If one looked closer, they could see the tears gathering in Ani’s eyes as well. Yann looked at Sarah with wide, pleading eyes and said,
“You don’t understand, to take him away from me is the same as if you cut out a piece of my heart…Ani and I need each other. Please don’t make him go.”
Sarah gave Yann a sympathetic look and said, “It’s hard to understand, I know. It’s just not his time. His work on earth is not finished.”
The tears flowed down Yann’s cheeks and spilled onto Ani’s shiny coat. He told her, “I don’t know how to say good-bye to him.”
Sarah smiled and said, “Just tell him how you feel, from your heart.”
Yann held the little dog so that they were face to face. He was holding him so tightly against his chest that he could feel the little dog’s heartbeat and it felt like it had merged with his own. “You’re not just a part of my heart, Ani. You are imprinted on my soul. I will never, ever forget you. I’m going to love you until time no longer exists. You will always be my best friend. I love you, so much and I will wait for you…forever if I have to.
His words were hard to understand because as he said them he was sobbing so hard that he could barely take enough air into his lungs to speak. His longing for Ani was a physical ache in the center of his chest and the little dog had yet to leave his arms. He didn’t know how he was going to let him go.
As if she could read his thoughts, Sarah said, “You can do this Yann. You can do this because you hold not only love in your heart for each other, but now you also have hope in your heart for the day when you’ll be reunited. Forever.
Yann hugged his dog once more and Ani whimpered, sadly. Whispering in the little dog’s ear Yann said, “I’m not going to say good-bye old friend. I will say so long for now. I’ll be waiting for you. Take care of Shirley for me. Kiss her and remind her of me and how much I love her…I love you Ani!
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“NEW BEGINNINGS”
SHIRLEY’S APARTMENT
Ani opened his eyes slowly … The sound of Sarah’s voice telling him that his time hadn’t come yet still resonated in his ears. He looked around to see that he was now lying on the wooden floor in Shirley’s apartment.
Shirley was panicking, trying to resuscitate Yann. She’d already called for the ambulance and the dispatcher told her the police were on their way as well. She used mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but it wasn’t working and she was becoming desperate. There were pills scattered across the floor, the same ones that Yann had taken at the orphanage. Ani got himself up and Shirley was looking at him wi
th despair in her eyes.
“Oh, my God, please, help me!” The tears flowed like a river down her lovely face and she sat on her knees in the floor. Ani went to her and she took him into her arms and hugged him tightly against her chest. The ache inside of her was so deep that she had to scream to let it out or her chest would have ripped wide open.
The ambulance attendants rushed in through the door she’d left open and started taking out their equipment. Ani wiggled loose from Shirley’s grasp and went over to nestle himself against Yann’s cheek. He lay down next to his best friend and closed his eyes.
Two flashes take place between the best friends and suddenly they’re together again in the midst of a magnificent field for a short instance…a train was not far.
NEW JERSEY HAMPTON CEMETARY
Five days later.
Late in the morning, Shirley, Matt, Eddie and Ani were in front of the Northman’s tomb.
Shirley leaned over Yann’s stone and kissed it. Matt stood next to her, deeply moved by her grief. On his shoulder was a bag with a very old book sticking out the top and in his hand was a bouquet of magnificently bright colored flowers. He laid the flowers down on the tomb and stepped back to make room for Eddie.
Eddie looked rough and haggard. His hair stuck out from his head in different angles and there were deep, dark circles underneath his eyes. He leaned down and took Ani into his arms, stroking his head gently. No one was speaking and only the sounds of nature and the distant hiss of traffic penetrated the silence. They were each lost in their own sense of grief, pain or longing as the brilliant sun shone down upon them.
Eddie had initiated a probe into the orphanage after what happened to Yann. He was still on the other case, but the men who headed up the probe kept in touch with him. One of the detectives told him about what a strange man the director, Mr. Pratt was. In spite of his important status, they had found strange things he used to dress himself up in in his room. He’d made something of a shrine to Miss Pratt, his assistant which they found strange as well.