“What? And what would I do?” asked Diego. “I have no idea where I am.”
Kizzy said nothing.
“And what if they shoot you? That would be the end for me.”
“We can’t make it to the woods,” Kizzy said.
“Yes we can. If we’re lucky they’ll only leave a couple cops outside we can make a run for it.”
“We can’t do that,” said Kizzy, louder this time.
“Why not?” Diego asked.
“There’s something out there,” she said.
“Something out where?” asked Diego. “You’ve got to stop being so childish.”
They looked out the window and saw ten flashlights moving over the yard towards Laura’s house. The lights shined up into the attic window. Diego ducked and Kizzy dove to the floor.
Diego peaked back out the glass. “It looks like there’s just two cops left outside.” Quietly he opened the window. “Come on.”
“No,” said Kizzy. “I can’t.”
“This is no time for that,” hissed Diego. “Come on.”
He grabbed Kizzy by the shirt and pulled her to the windowsill. She resisted.
“You’re wasting time,” he said. “We’ve got to go now.”
Kizzy could hear the police entering the front door downstairs. She looked to the woods. Whatever was out there was waiting for her now. The police officers footsteps came stomping up the stairs. Diego’s face was distraught, like he was about to cry at any moment. She had never felt more sorry for another person in her entire life.
12
Kizzy stood paralyzed in the attic. The police were coming up the stairs as Diego climbed out the small window.
“Look, I don’t know what you think is out there,” he said, as he crouched in the windowsill. “But the cops are going to kill you.”
Kizzy glanced back at the hatch down to the house. The police officer’s shadows grew on the wall. She made her hands into fists. It was time grow up and face the fact that there wasn’t anything out there. She climbed out onto the ledge of the little window. Diego slid over to make room for her. It was so far down to the grass below and the cool breeze on her face woke her up to the danger of the jump. She held her breath and jumped off. The fall took the breath out of her lungs as she hung for many moments in the air. When finally she hit the ground a twinge of pain shot from her knees up through her thighs. Diego landed next to her with a heavy thud. He grabbed her by the arm they sprinted for the woods.
“Hey they’re out here!” one of the policemen shouted. He opened fire with his pistol.
The shots exploded like thunder claps through the quiet night. The noise echoed out into the woods. The bullets whizzed past Kizzy’s head, like angry wasps from hell. She kept running, faster than she had ever run in her life. The cold air burned her lungs. The forest loomed ahead of her like a dreadful finish line as a barrage of gunfire came roaring from behind them, from the police officers emerging from the house. Kizzy ducked down and dove into the woods. The low hanging leaves hit her face and her hands slipped on the moss covered rocks.
It was so dark, she could hardly see a thing. The moon was hiding behind the clouds. Soon police flashlights came cascading through the trees.
“We’ve got to go deeper in,” Diego said.
Kizzy followed him, scrambling on her hands and feet over the dead leaves and twigs. About two hundred feet into the woods they stopped and held their breath. Beams of light shined in through the forest, ricocheting off the trunks and through the leaves. But Kizzy and Diego were in total darkness.
Kizzy heard footsteps crunching behind her on the forest floor. Her blood ran cold. “Was that you?” she asked Diego.
“Was what me?”
“The footsteps.”
“I shuffled my feet a little,” he said. He moved his feet up and down in the leaves. But the sound wasn’t the same. Kizzy heard the footsteps moving around her left side.
“Shh. There’s something here,” she said.
“It’s just your imagination,” he said.
She reached out towards Diego’s voice and blindly grabbed for his hand. She felt his leather jacket and pulled him close to her side. The footsteps came from behind them. Kizzy began to shake with fear.
“Maybe its just an animal,” said Diego.
From the darkness something pulled hard on Kizzy’s hair. She screamed and immediately covered her mouth.
“What’s wrong?” hissed Diego. “They’ll hear you.”
“It pulled my hair,” Kizzy said, holding back the tears. “What should we do?”
She could feel Diego taking the gun from his pants.
“Hey! Whoever you are, get out of here,” he snarled. “Oh no...” There was real worry in his voice.
The footsteps ran away.
“What’s wrong?” Kizzy asked through her tears.
“It grabbed the gun from my hand,” he whispered, his voice was shaky. “What is that thing?”
“It was the thing I was telling you about,” said Kizzy.
The policemen’s flashlights were coming closer.
Kizzy got to her feet, ready to run.
The footsteps came back from behind and pushed her to the ground. Kizzy wanted to scream but couldn’t, the police were too close. She scrambled to her feet and backed away until she came to a tree. There was nothing but darkness around her. The footsteps approached again, calmly coming towards her.
“Get out,” came a growling voice from the dark.
“Who are you?” Kizzy asked the darkness.
“I said get out!” it hissed.
“Please don’t hurt us,” Kizzy said putting her arms up to defend herself.
The footsteps stopped.
“Who are you?” Kizzy wept.
“I’m Iris,” came the voice from the darkness. Suddenly it was soft like a woman’s voice.
“Why are you attacking us?” Kizzy asked with a shaky voice.
“Because you frightened me,” Iris said.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” said Kizzy. “We’re only here to hide. The police are after us.”
“What have you done?” Iris asked, sudden caution her voice.
“There’s been a misunderstanding,” Kizzy said.
There was silence.
“Please,” said Diego. “Do you know where we can hide?”
“Are you a man?” Iris asked, her interest seemed to be peaked.
“Yes,” said Diego.
There was another long pause.
“You can come to my house to hide,” said Iris finally. “I even have food if you’re hungry.”
Kizzy looked back at the approaching lights. The police were close, she could hear the leaves crunching beneath their feet. She breathed deeply and her lungs trembled. “Ok,” she whispered. “We’ll come with you.”
A cold metal hand grabbed Kizzy’s and pulled her deeper into the woods.
∞
Leo walked with his hands thrust in his pockets as he approached the front doors of the church. Police sirens were howling from every corner of the city, but he wasn’t on duty until later that night. So for now it was somebody else’s problem. The heavy wooden doors closed behind him, sealing off all the noise from the outside world.
Leo could see through the grated wood that someone was in the confessional with Father Morrigan. All he heard were low mumblings as both parties were both completely still. Suddenly the curtain opened and old man Archie Fairbanks came lumbering out. Leo felt bad for the guy. Not only was he stuck forever with one foot in the grave, but Father Morrigan knew all his secrets.
“Hey man,” Leo said to him with a smile. “How’s it hanging?”
Archie tipped his hat as he wal
ked past.
“Leo, my son,” said Morrigan as he emerged from behind the curtain, carrying a plate of white wafers. He seemed to have an extra skip in his step. “God’s peace upon you.”
Leo just raised his eyebrows.“You seem chipper.”
“I guess I just love my job.”
“I wish I was so lucky.”
“Well Leo, focus on what you do like, the part that makes everything else worth it.”
“Yeah, I’ll think about it. Well, anyway I need more crows.”
Morrigan hushed and whipped the plate of crackers at him. Leo caught the plate but most of the white wafers fell to the floor. Morrigan regained his composure and adjusted his cap. “Into my office please my son.”
“You want these?” Leo asked.
“Just put them down on the pew,” Morrigan hissed.
Leo sat them down and walked into the small back room. There was a desk, not the type of desk you’d expect to be in a church, but more like a school teacher’s desk, and a computer sitting amidst a whole stack of papers. It’s speakers were playing a catchy jazz tune. Leo liked that song.
“Leo, what the hell is wrong with you?” Father Morrigan asked after he had closed the door. “Are you stupid?”
“What’s the matter man?” Leo asked.
“Talking about the crows out in the open like that,” Morrigan said, taking off his little red hat and throwing it at Leo, exposing the bald patch on the top of his head.
“I don’t know if you noticed this or not, but no one’s out there,” Leo said, his head bobbing.
“Archie Fairbanks,” said Morrigan.
“Are you kidding, that guy can’t even hear himself fart.”
“It’s the fact that you feel comfortable just blurting it out that bothers me,” said Morrigan. He went behind his desk and sat down. “And why do you need more crows anyway?”
“Well, they keep dying,” Leo said. “And it’s kind of a bummer.”
“You’ve killed another one?” asked Morrigan as he glared over the desk. “You know how hard they are to get?”
“Hard to get? They’re all over the place.”
“Yeah, but I have to send men to catch them and I have to pay them to do it. You’re costing me.”
“Hey, you want them to mate don’t you?” asked Leo, his voice was defensive. “And I’m the only person who knows how to do it.”
“Well you’ve got to mate them before you kill them,” said Morrigan. “That way they’re still alive. It’s not so hard you moron.”
“Hey dude,” said Leo putting his hands up. “Take it easy with the names alright? I have to alter their DNA back to what it used to be. And that’s kind of hard to do without killing them.”
“I’m a simple man Leo. And I have made a simple request. I want crows that can breed. I want them to be fruitful and multiply and spread all over this earth. And I want them to eat the Enoch beans while they do it. Is that too much to ask?”
“No, I know all that. It just that it takes time.”
“I want them by Sunday,” Morrigan said.
“Uh, well, I’m not going to make any promises.”
Morrigan pressed a button on the keyboard of the computer. A creepy looking old dude who wore a green suit came from the back room. He looked like he had some botched plastic surgery. He ate a bagel with cream cheese as he walked in.
“I want breeding crows by Sunday,” said Morrigan. He rubbed his necklace cross.
“Yeah, like I said, I’ll try but I doubt it’ll happen,” said Leo.
Morrigan motioned to the man in the green suit. He walked over to Leo and held him down by the shoulders.
“What’s with this?” Leo asked as he tried to squirm out of the grip. But the man was too strong.
Morrigan pulled a pair of scissors from his robe and walked around to the front of his desk. He scraped flakes of skin from his finger tips.
“You know we’re in the same business?” He said as he rubbed the star on Leo’s uniform.
Leo looked down and laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“No, we are,” Morrigan said. He pointed at the door. “You know how many people come here to confess?”
“Not many?” Leo said. The pressure from the man in green’s hands on his shoulders was beginning to hurt his back.
“Distressingly few,” Morrigan said. “Archie Fairbanks is one of a handful. And what’s the reward for his faith? An eternity stuck in that freakish old body. Everyone else gets immortality for free, regardless of whether or not they’ve earned it. The church used to be the one that handed out that reward. Not anymore. Every druggie and atheist and thief gets to live forever now. That’s not what I call fair. Is that what you call fair?”
Leo shrugged.
“There’s no guilt in the world. Let me rephrase that. People don’t feel the guilt they have. And all I want is what was taken away. I only want justice, Leo. That’s the business we share.”
“Well, it’s a thin connection,” Leo said.
Morrigan ignored him. “And they don’t let me control the pill distribution for the city. But they don’t realize that I’m the only person qualified to do it.”
“You know, I’ve heard all this before,” Leo said.
Morrigan smiled and spun the scissors in his index finger. They twirled for a few seconds, the shiny silver reflecting the orange candle light. Suddenly, he grabbed them from the air and stabbed down violently on the armrest of Leo’s chair. The man in green wrapped his arms around Leo’s body so tight that he couldn’t move.
“And the longer you take, the longer this injustice goes unpaid,” Morrigan said. “Breeding crows create the shortage in the pills, and I have enough saved up to give to those who come here to confess their sins and receive their due reward.” He pulled the scissors form the chair and cut open Leo’s right shirt sleeve.
“What are you doing?” Leo growled.
“Looking for a good vein,” Morrigan answered rubbing Leo’s forearm.
On the radio the Banshee song “Evelyn Where Are You?” began to play. Father Morrigan groaned and got up to go change the channel.
“The world lost one of its few true artists tonight,” the radio host said morosely.
Morrigan froze mid-step beside his desk.
“The recording artist Banshee was murdered in his dressing room at the Concert hall in Yanloo City tonight,” the announcer went on. “He was found with a knife stabbed into his chest, presumably by a deranged fan. The killer and an accomplice are still at large. I don’t know what to say about this, I’m really just in shock.”
Morrigan looked at the scissors in his hand. He closed his eyes and fell over onto the desk, knocking a tall stack of papers onto the floor. “Dennis, let him go,” he said with a wave of his hand.
The man released his grip but Leo stayed in his sprawled out position in the chair. His hair and clothes were a mess. His face was red and he was panting deeply. “What’s going on?”
“There’s been enough bloodshed tonight,” said Morrigan. He looked away into the corner. “You got lucky.”
“What made me so lucky?”
“My brother’s dead,” Morrigan said. “And I want you to catch whoever did it. Your men will no doubt be trying to kill them. But order them to be brought back here alive. I’m going to do to them what I was going to do to you.”
“Yeah, well I’ll make the call to my superior officer,” Leo said as he stood up and rolled up his cut shirt sleeve. “And then he’ll make the call out to the men, it just may be too late.”
“I want them alive, Leo.”
“Well, I’ll try my best. What about the crows?”
“That can wait for now,” said Morrigan.
Leo nodded and wa
lked towards the door.
“And if you fail,” said Morrigan. “You’ll wish you were dead.”
“Yeah, that’s lovely,” said Leo.
He shook his head and left. As he exited the church two police cars came roaring to a stop around the side of the building. This was it. They had finally figured what he had been doing with Morrigan. He went to raise his hands. The armed officers leaped from the car and entered the shipping offices.
Gunfire rang out into the night. Leo put his hands back in his pockets. Hopefully whoever was on the receiving end wasn’t the person Father Morrigan wanted alive.
He sighed. Was all this worth it? This deal he had with Morrigan. He was too far in to escape now. Then he remembered her face. She was still stuck in her self-inflicted exile, and this was his twisted way of ending her imprisonment. All he wanted was to see her again.
13
Kizzy was pulled deeper into the woods and instinctively she reached out for Diego. Her hand caught his and he was dragged along too. As Kizzy ran she heard what sounded like mechanical joints creaking. What was this thing that was pulling her along? When they reached the edge of the forest the moon crept out from behind the clouds and she could see the silvery light reflected off Iris’s small brass body. It seemed unnatural to see a machine moving on its own like that.
The three ran through the ghost town in a chain of android, woman and man. They entered a house and Iris closed the door behind them.
It was pitch black inside and smelled dusty and old. Kizzy open the curtain. The moonlight shined weakly through the glass, the dust danced in the air.
Diego glanced out the window. “I think we lost them for now.”
The police officer’s flashlights were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they had gone back to the city. Kizzy, Diego and Iris stood in silence for what felt like an hour just staring out the window. When they were satisfied that the police were no longer a threat they sat down on the floor.
“Do you have any candles?” Kizzy asked.
The Enoch Pill Page 13