Eye Bleach

by Paul E. Creasy

  Billy just smiled, floating just above the ground out of her reach. He waved to her as he floated towards the light.

  Sylvia followed and found it too difficult to keep up. As she trudged through the drifts, her momentum decreased as she slogged forward. The snow grew deeper, reaching up to her knee at first, and then her thigh before finally topping out at her waist. She soon was stuck fast and began to thrash wildly.

  She glanced around for something she could use to free herself from the snowdrift — a branch, a log, anything. There was nothing. The trees were too high to reach. She did see something, though. Like a forest decked out for Christmas, tiny blue lights formed on the branches. They blinked and flashed brightly against the white backdrop of snow, growing in intensity as each second passed. As Sylvia continued to struggle, the flickering grew faster, and the blue brighter before eventually crashing over her in a blinding sapphire wave.

  Chapter 36

  May 1st, 2017 - Floriston California - 2:12 AM

  “Pratt! Did the smelling salts work?” Officer Pete Hanson shouted.

  “I’m not sure,” Officer Joshua Pratt answered, “She started to come around, but then passed out again. I think it’s OK. It looks like she just has gone back to sleep. There for a minute, though, I thought she was a goner. I couldn’t find a pulse.”

  “What about now?”

  “I took her vitals. They seem normal. Well…, as normal as can be expected in this situation.”

  “How do those rope burns on her wrists and ankles look?”

  “I think she’ll be all right. I can’t be positive until she wakes up, though. It’s possible she sustained some permanent nerve damage.”

  “I hope the other ambulance gets here soon,” Pete said. “Notice anything else? It seems like that medical training class you took really has paid off.”

  “I don’t see any excess swelling,” Joshua said.

  “How about that taser burn on her neck?” Pete asked.

  “I bet that was a real kick in the head,” Joshua said. “I don’t think it will cause any lasting damage.” He paused and looked back at Pete and said, “God knows what these bastards were planning to do to her.”

  “Who the hell knows? At least we got here in time,” Pete said.

  Joshua looked down at the woman and said, “Yeah, just barely, though. She’s lucky. It could’ve all been much worse.”

  “True,” Pete said. “Well…, the Floriston rescue squad is on its way. I called for another ambulance after they took that poor girl to the hospital. They just radioed and said they would be here in fifteen minutes. We’ll have them take her to Tahoe Forest, too.”

  “I think the police and EMT resources of Floriston are going to be stretched mighty thin tonight,” Joshua said. “I bet they haven’t seen this much action in a decade.”

  “Yeah…,” Pete said. “And I doubt they have enough space in their jail to handle thirty shrieking, naked, blood-spattered, devil worshipers. I am sure it’s pure mayhem up there.”

  “Did you get a good look at that pregnant girl we sent off in the ambulance?” Joshua asked. “That poor girl. They hacked her up like a side of roast beef.” He pointed down to the unconscious woman at his feet and added, “Jesus! I hate to think what they would have done to this lady here had we not come when we did.”

  “The girl will survive,” Pete said. “I am confident. She seems tough. The EMT told me she was in shock. He did say she should make a full recovery, though. Well, as full as can be expected.”

  “Those bastards!”

  “At least her baby is OK. Hopefully, she can be helped. You know, they can do wonders now with modern prosthetics. It’s not like the old days.”

  “No…, but, I know it isn’t professional to say this,” Joshua said. “I wish I could have five minutes alone with the bastard that chopped that young woman’s feet off! I swear to God, I would pummel his ass into the dirt. I would make damn sure he wouldn’t even think about hurting any women in the future, I can tell you that! What kind of person does something like that?”

  “Animals, no doubt — complete and deranged monsters,” Pete said. “You are new to the force. Sadly, in time, you will become quite accustomed to monsters. Do me a favor, though. Keep that kind of talk just between us. I don’t want the Captain hearing you say stuff like that.”

  “No…, but still…”

  “Look, I get it,” Pete said. “I feel the same way. But, we, as police officers, cannot allow our personal feelings to get in the way of our duty. Justice has to take its lawful course.”

  “Yeah, but just look at all of this!” Joshua said as he pointed out over the field. “This whole thing is crazy! What kind of justice system can handle nutjobs like this?”

  Pete nodded. In silence, they stood and gazed out over the macabre scene, absorbing the full horror. The torches around the pentagram continued to burn. In the center of the flaming circle, the altar was still in place, saturated and dripping in a thorough coating of fresh gore and blood. Above it, a stark-white, bloodless pig dangled upside down from a makeshift cross. It was completely drained of life. The thick open slash in its throat almost appeared to move as the severed wound caught the light from the flickering flames below.

  Out in the meadow, the scene was made even more surreal by the reflection of the continuous flash of blue police lights. The glare caught the sight of a few handcuffed, blood splattered stragglers, naked but for the police blankets wrapped around their shivering bodies, being pushed into the back of several squad cars. It had been a long and bizarre night for the tiny Floriston police department, every officer available pressed into service by the late-night emergency State Police request for backup. On the ground at Pete and Joshua’s feet, pools of still warm hog blood covered everything, and, in the cold mountain night air, a light trail of steam rose from several red, shimmering puddles.

  “I tell you, Pete, this is just about the most fucked up thing I have ever seen,” Joshua said. “I mean, have you ever seen anything crazier than this?”

  “Nope…, never,” Pete answered. “Not in all my years. Not even from my time in Afghanistan and Iraq, and trust me, I saw my share of twisted shit there. This is definitely one for the archives.” He pointed above them to the unholy and blasphemous mockery of the crucifix and said, “and holy crap, just look what they did to that pig!”

  “Yes,” Joshua said as he shook his head. “I wouldn’t even know how to begin to describe it. I don’t envy you filling out the report on all this!”

  Pete sighed and said, “yeah, I have no idea how I am going to even begin writing the AAR. I mean, if we didn’t have the pictures you took, I am sure the captain would say I was lying — or drunk. But this? No way. He would think I was making it up. It is beyond belief! Who would do such things?”

  “Assholes,” Joshua said. “Sick, perverted assholes. But, I guess this does finally explain all those complaints we have been getting from the farmers about their missing livestock. It turns out, old Sister Margaret was right again — as usual.”

  “Good thing she was, too,” Pete said. “I would have gotten my ass in a real sling if I had staked this out, without permission, and it had turned out to be nothing.”

  “Well…, what could you do? ‘Ours is not to question why’”

  “‘Ours is but to do or die’, right?” Pete said. “Yeah…, see…, I remember. Those years at St. Sebastian High School were not wasted on me.”

  “Well, Sister Margaret beat those lessons into us both,” Joshua said. “As you remember, if she tells you to do something, you DO it!”

  “And you don’t ask questions,” Pete said. “It’s funny, I graduated twenty years ago, but, she still commands my instant compliance.”

  “I bet if she hadn’t become a Nun, she would have been a very good drill sergeant.”

  “She was much scarier than my actual drill sergeant,” Pete said as he laughed. “And I was in the marines, if you remember!”

  “Ye
ah,” Joshua said as he smirked. “I think you have mentioned that…, a few bazillion times.”

  “Shut up, asshole,” Pete said with a grin. “But…, those were the good old days back at St. Sebastian High, weren’t they?”

  “They sure were,” Joshua said. “It was good seeing Sister Margaret again on Friday, even though it was under such sad circumstances. I will really miss Father Morales. He was a good man.”

  “He certainly was,” Pete said. “I can only imagine what he would say about all of this!” he added as he pointed out over the scene.

  “Did Sister Margaret explain how she knew something was going on up here?”

  “No,” Pete said. “And, of course, I didn’t ask.”

  Joshua laughed. “You were a good student.”

  “Actually, I was a bad student,” Pete said. “But, I remember her yardstick,” he added with a chuckle.

  They both looked down when they heard a small moan coming from near their feet. Joshua pointed at the woman on the ground, naked underneath the sizeable gray blanket they had placed over her body. Her face was covered in blood. She coughed loudly.

  “That’s a good sign,” Joshua said. “She’s coming out of it now. I will say this again. She got really lucky tonight. Really, really lucky. I bet if we had been five minutes later we might have had a 187 on our hands.”

  “Easily,” Pete said as he leaned down over the woman and spoke. His tone was low and friendly, and he said his words slowly and deliberately. “Are you OK, Ma’am? Can you hear me? If you are unable to speak, please raise your right arm.”

  Sylvia opened her eyes. The blue flashing lights temporarily caused her to wince and close them again.

  “Ma’am, can you feel your fingers and toes?”

  “Who…, who are you?” she said as she re-opened her eyes.

  “She can speak,” Joshua said. “That’s good.”

  “I need you to try and move your fingers and toes for me, Ma’am,” Pete said. “You were tied up pretty tightly. You also had a severe electrical shock from a taser. We need to check your extremities for nerve damage.”

  Sylvia nodded and complied. She was relieved when everything seemed to move properly. When she tried to speak again she found she couldn’t. Only a grunt emerged from her mouth. Her tongue was thick, and her throat was dry as sand. It hurt to swallow.

  Her mental fog began to lift, and pain began searing through her body. She felt hot bile in the back of her throat and started to feel sick. She sat up. She blushed when she realized she was naked, covered only by a police blanket. She wrapped the coarse woolen covering tightly around her shoulders.

  She rubbed her wrists and ankles as her fingers explored the deep cuts in her flesh from the ropes. The wounds were raw and burned as if on fire. The only pain worse was the one in her skull. Her head was pounding. She opened her eyes fully to allow them to adjust to the semi-darkness. The flashing blue lights continued to cause her to squint and her head to throb.

  “That’s great, Ma’am,” Pete said. “I think you are going to be all right! You were very lucky. I’ve seen injuries like yours cause permanent damage. Now, just sit back and relax. The ambulance should be here any minute.”

  She opened her eyes wide and cried, “I remember! I remember!”

  “What Ma’am?” Joshua said. “What do you remember?”

  “Do you think she is having a stroke?” Pete whispered. “She did take quite a jolt from that taser.”

  “I’m not having a stroke, officer,” Sylvia said. “I am telling you, I remember. I remember… everything!” Her hand flew up to her mouth as she gasped. “EVERYTHING! Oh, God! Billy!”

  “Who’s Billy?”

  “My son.”

  “Was he here? We will find him, I—”

  “—No…, he…., he died. A long, long time ago.”

  “I’m sorry,” Pete said.

  Sylvia smiled and added, “But, I know where he is. I will see him again one day, and he is happy.”

  Pete smiled back and said, “Yes! ‘No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’.”

  “But…, I do remember,” Sylvia said. “I remember everything! Everything!”

  Pete said, “I…, I didn’t want to subject you to any questions before your recovery, but, we will need to get a statement from you soon. If you are up to it, please tell us what you know about what went on here.”

  Sylvia dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. “I… I should have called the police. I knew I should have called the police before Heather and I came…,” She stopped herself and cried, “Heather! She… Oh my God!”

  “Are you referring to a Heather Stringer, aged 24, from Mountain View, California?” Pete said as he looked down at his notepad.

  “Yes…, she…, she attacked me! She…”

  “We know. We retrieved the taser and have her in custody, Ma’am,” Pete said. “Along with quite a few others.”

  “Alyssa! Oh, dear God, did they—”

  “—Is that the girl who was maimed?” Joshua whispered.

  “I assume, so,” Pete whispered back.

  “Is she all right? Her baby! They didn’t get her baby, did they?”

  “No, Ma’am,” Pete said. “The EMT said her unborn baby will be fine and she should make a full recovery. We got here just in time.”

  “How did you know Alyssa?” Joshua asked.

  “Father Morales was right,” Sylvia said as she stared out into the field. “He was right about everything!”

  “Father Morales?” Joshua said. “You knew Father Morales? How do you…hey, wait a minute,” he said as he paused and studied her face. “You were at his funeral service on Friday, right? I recognize you now, once I knew the context.”

  “I was there,” Sylvia said. “And so was Heather.”

  “That’s right, I remember her too,” Joshua said as he wrote something down in his notebook. “This is very interesting. I don’t know where this case is headed, but, it certainly is an interesting development.”

  “You were at Father Morales’ funeral, too?” Sylvia asked.

  “Yes, we both were,” Pete said as he pointed to Joshua. “We were both very close to Father Morales. We were students of his back in High School, and we both still attend St. Sebastian Catholic church. Father Morales was a fine teacher, a wonderful priest, and an overall great man. I will really miss him. But, how did you know him? Better yet, how did Heather? There has to be a connection.”

  “It’s a long story…, but, Heather was only there because of me,” Sylvia said. “In fact, I wouldn’t have even known Father Morales had passed away had his assistant not asked me to come to the funeral. You know, Father Morales was going to have lunch with me the day he had his heart attack. I learned from papers his assistant gave me that he wanted to warn me about all of this,” Sylvia added as she pointed over to the bloody altar. “Father Morales was so worried about Alyssa. I know he was planning on coming here himself today to help her. He was absolutely convinced she was in danger, and, by God, he was right!”

  “He was right,” Pete said. “As he was about most things.”

  “I knew I made a mistake. I swear I was going to call the police, but, Heather said they wouldn’t believe me.”

  “Obviously, she had planned on bringing you up here and didn’t want any police involved. For what purpose, or how all of this relates, I cannot say…, yet. But, I will figure it out. I will,” Joshua said. “In a way, Heather was right about one thing. If you had called the police, we probably wouldn’t have believed you.”

  “So, who called you then? What made you believe them?” Sylvia said.

  Pete and Joshua looked at each other and smiled. Simultaneously they said, “Sister Margaret.”

  “Sister Margaret called you?” Sylvia said. “SHE is the one who gave me Father Morales’ notes about all of this. She was the assistant I was talking about and is the whole reason I came up here!” />
  “Well, that explains how Sister Margaret knew about this,” Pete said. “My God, that woman still has eyes in the back of her head — twenty years later.”

  “Just like the old days,” Joshua said.

  “This isn’t too much for you, is it, Ma’am?” Pete said. “I hadn’t intended on questioning you until after you were checked out by the hospital.”

  “No, I’m feeling a bit better,” Sylvia said. “But…, I could use a cup of coffee.” She shivered as she wrapped the blanket tighter around her body. “And…, my clothes.”

  “Sorry, I can’t help you with the clothes, Ma’am,” Pete said. “We found some in the field, but, they were shredded. I am sure we can get you something to wear at the hospital. Now, about the coffee,” he added as he turned to Joshua. “That we can do something about.”

  “Going to get it right now, Boss,” Joshua said.

  “We always carry a thermos,” Pete said as he turned to Sylvia and winked. “And we have donuts, too. You know, we have a stereotype to maintain.”

  Sylvia smiled and shivered again.

  “It is a bit chilly tonight,” Joshua said as he returned with the thermos and a Styrofoam cup of steaming hot coffee. He handed it to Sylvia and said, “this should warm you up.”

  “Thank you,” she said before taking a long sip. The warm coffee rushing down her throat helped. Her shivers subsided, and she said, “I really want to help as best I can. I owe it to Father Morales.”

  “Ma’am, I feel sure you can. Now, I know we have a thousand questions to ask, so if it is too much, just let me know.”

  “OK.”

  “Good,” Pete said. “But first things first, can I have your name?”

  “My name is Sylvia Mars—,” she paused. “My name is Sylvia Delaney!”

  “OK, got that,” Pete said as he wrote down the information. “Now, we have a Darryl Summers in custody, along with his mother, Melody Summers. What can you tell us about them? They seem to be the central figures here.”

  “I don’t know much, but, I do know Darryl was the boyfriend of Alyssa. I can’t explain what this is all about, though, but…,” she stopped cold. After clearing her throat, she said, “they aren’t the ones orchestrating all this. It was the high priest. Did you get Father Ted?”