by Roy Bright
Martin interrupts him. “Yeah, see. Two guys!” He reinforces the point with his fingers.
“You’re missing the point, Mart. That makes seven people who have mentioned some sort of animal in connection with this case.” He makes a reinforcement of his own by holding up seven fingers. Martin is about to say something when he cuts him short. “Don’t you fucking dare call it a coincidence you son of a bitch, don’t you fucking dare.”
They both laugh.
“But seriously, Mart, this case is just too damn weird. Something very wrong is going on here and I don’t mind saying it again.”
Martin stares at his partner. He is going to have to concede that he doesn’t have any answers to explain the strange occurrences surrounding this case. He puts that out of his mind for a second and brings the situation to hand. “All that aside, what we need to do is find Gary, the kid and I guess now a hooker; everything else is secondary, well for the time being at least.”
Pete nods and looks around, surveying the scene. “It seems this was one hell of a fight buddy and I for one am worried for Gary.”
Martin looks at his partner for a second then joins him in surveying the wreckage.
Paul interrupts their deliberating, “Hey boys, listen up!” He waves them over.
They break out of their trances and walk over to the sergeant.
“Right, guys, we got a couple of things on the go here. First and foremost, the Captain wants Gary and the child located ASAP, so I’m putting you two on that.”
They acknowledge the order.
“Secondly, I wanna know what the fuck we are dealing with here.” Martin holds his hand up. “Well, Sarge--”
He cuts him short. “I don’t wanna hear it, Mart, seriously, man I don’t. I know you and a few of the other guys are having a lot of trouble with this ‘animal’ connection to the case but, I just got off the phone with a guy in Forensics. They have analyzed the saliva found at the orphanage and are on record to state that it is definitely not human.”
“Animal?” Pete asks in the hope of validating his argument with Martin.
“Unidentified, Pete, but definitely not human.” Paul responds.
“Unidentified? What the fuck does that mean?” Martin blurts, confused.
“It means, Mart, that it’s unidentified. We don’t know what the fuck it is, but whatever it is,” he looks at both men in turn, “it ain’t human.”
All three stare at each other in silence.
Pete has a million and one unanswered questions racing through his mind and since discussing the details of the case with Gary the day before, he has had the feeling that something terrible was about to happen and his anxiety is now rising by the second.
The police radio in Pete and Martin’s car interrupts the silence with the sound of a female voice. “Unit nine, unit nine, this is dispatch, over!”
Pete crosses the ten feet over to his car to take the call.
The operator in dispatch is impatient. “Unit nine, unit nine this is dispatch… over!”
“Yeah, yeah, gimme a minute goddamit,” he moans aloud. He sits in the driver’s seat and picks up the receiver just as the operator attempts to raise him and Martin again.
“This is Detective Stillman, go ahead dispatch!”
“Detective Stillman, we have had a report from a truck driver heading west down the 27 who believes he saw the vehicle you guys have an APB out on.”
“Okay, dispatch, great, did he say roughly where?”
“Yeah, he said the car was in front of him for a few miles then turned off and headed toward Bohemia County Park way. How would you like us to proceed?”
“What’s the confidence level on this call dispatch?”
There is a brief silence.
“Confidence is high, Detective. From our guy’s description and the fact, he made the point that he doesn’t see too many vehicles of that make and color these days, it’s been flagged as good information.”
“Copy that, dispatch, gimme a sec. Hey, Paul, would ya come here for a second, please.”
Paul breaks into a small jog and heads toward Pete, recognizing the urgency in his voice. He leans into the car, resting his arms on the roof. “Yeah, man, whadda we got?”
“Dispatch just took a call from some trucker who reckons the car with our suspect was headed down the 27 westbound and then turned off towards Bohemia County Park. I need authorization for eyes in the sky.”
“Do it. Let’s see if we can find this bastard. Did he say if Gary or the kid was with him?”
Pete shakes his head. “Didn’t say, man. I doubt he would be able to tell y’know, low car, big truck an’ all that.”
He nods. “Okay, well, get our boys in the air and get ’em combing Bohemia. I want you and Mart to head out there and coordinate the guys on the ground.”
“You got it.” He raises the handset once again. “Dispatch this is unit nine, over.”
“This is dispatch, go ahead, unit nine.”
“Okay, we need a chopper in the target area. Have them search for the vehicle, plus get any nearby ground units over there ASAP and have them set up as best a perimeter as their numbers will allow. Detective Dowd and myself are en-route and will be OICs on scene when we arrive.”
“Copy that, unit nine, dispatch out.”
Martin has joined the two men. He quizzes his partner. “What’s the score, bro?”
“We got a possible on the car that Gary and the suspect are in, apparently headed toward Bohemia Park. I’ve put eyes in the sky and you and I are headed on over to coordinate from the ground, so get your fat ass into the car, big boy.”
“Cheeky bastard, you’re fat… I’m not fat.”
Pete smirks as Martin climbs into the passenger side of the vehicle.
Paul leans into the car. “Pete, let’s find him and the girl safe and well, okay? I don’t want two dead cops and a dead kid on my watch.”
Pete nods. “We’re all over this.”
He pats him on the shoulder. “I know, man, thanks. Okay, get over there and get this done.”
Both men close their doors and Pete fires the car into life. He turns on the siren and heads off at high speed.
Paul’s cellphone rings once again and he picks up. “Detective Sergeant Keenan.”
A deep, gruff, southern voice on the other end addresses him. “Sergeant Keenan, this is Agent Jones, FBI. I have some, very valuable information I wish to share with you regarding the case that you are working on.”
“FBI? There’s been no need for you guys to get involved just yet. What kind of information, Agent Jones?”
“Oh no, no, no, Sergeant, not over the telephone, that wouldn’t be… comfortable for me.”
“Okay, where then?”
“What if I were to come to you and give you this… information… at the station?”
“Sounds fine to me, Agent Jones. Head on down there and I will join you as soon as I can.”
“Oh, goodie, that’s wonderful. I shall see you down there soon, Sergeant.”
The phone goes dead.
Paul has taken an instant dislike to this Agent Jones. Not so much because it was a Fed who seemed to be trying to muscle in on the case, as they always were, but his voice just made him feel, uneasy. He didn’t like this guy at all, not one little bit. He puts his cell phone back into his jacket pocket, walks over to a uniformed Sergeant and asks him to take charge of things here and wrap them up as he needs to get back to the station.
The Sergeant acknowledges and heads off to coordinate the remaining officers on scene.
Paul heads back to his car. The brief conversation with the Fed has left an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He brushes it to one side and climbs in.
No one at the motel has noticed they were being watched, not that they would have had much of a chance anyway as their observer was very hard to spot. The winged demon that was sat on the roof of the motel watching them, had spent centuries perfecting its camouflage, leaving it almost
invisible to the naked eye, save for tiny disruptions at the edge of its surface. It had been listening with intent, gleaning as much information from the cops as possible, tucked away out of sight. All of that was going to change very soon though. The time for hiding and remaining in the shadows was soon to be over and the realm of man will know first-hand just what it is they fear in the darkness the most. The demon lifts itself into the air with a downbeat of its massive wings and heads towards Bohemia County Park.
Nineteen
Saturday 10 November 2012, 11:17
Gary returns from his foraging trip a little cleaner than when he left. The dried blood on his face from the cuts he received in the car has been washed away and with his face now cleaned, the damage doesn’t look quite as bad as it first did.
“Where’d you find a bathroom out here?” Abi is curious.
“Little stream, about three hundred yards down that way.” He says, indicating with his head as his arms are full of firewood. “Water seems clean enough; good enough to wash in at least, wouldn’t trust drinking it though.”
“Shame,” she sighs, “I’m damn thirsty as well.”
“Trunk!” Judas shouts whilst throwing the keys at her, not bothering to look. She catches them in mid-air, inches away from her face.
“Thanks!” she says, shaking her head in annoyance.
“Don’t mention it, just don’t drink it all!” This time he does look at her.
She smiles. No cockiness this time, she knew he meant it.
Gary drops the firewood onto the ground next to Judas who is busying himself, folding and grouping together smaller sticks and dry leaves in order to make a start on the fire while Charlotte looks on as if being taught a lesson on camping, although he isn’t giving her one.
He pulls out the Zippo lighter from the left front pocket of his jeans, clunks it open and ignites the kindling then clicks the lid closed. “Anyone got a smoke?” he enquires.
“Sorry,” Abi holds up her hands. “Kinda dropped my bag whilst running from big ass scary monsters back there.”
He looks at Gary who shakes his head, then turns his attention to Charlotte who tuts at him in disgust.
“Smoking is bad for you!” she declares, matter-of-fact.
“Kid, there ain’t anything in this world that is bad for me. Trust me, I have tried everything.”
She looks at Gary who sees she doesn’t quite understand and so moves away from the subject, not wishing to explain. He takes the opportunity to get the proceedings underway. Turning to Judas, he enquires, “So, you were gonna tell us what the hell is going on?”
He looks at Gary for a second then asks, “You sure you don’t have any smokes, Mr. Cop?”
He smiles, “I’m sure. So let’s talk about you, eh?”
Everyone in the group turns their attention towards him and he rubs his chin before conceding. “All right then, you all sitting comfortably?”
Abi sits on the ground next to the small fire that is now starting to create welcome warmth. She holds her hands up to feel the heat and then rubs her upper arms with the warmth flowing from her palms.
Charlotte moves over to her and sits in between her lap.
She smiles and puts her arms around her, comforting her, feeling a sense of responsibility for the child. She likes it.
“Okay, folks, here’s the deal. My name is Judas Iscariot and I was born in, well let’s just say it was two or three years before a certain, Jesus Christ came onto the scene.”
Gary and Abi exchange a glance, not knowing what to make of his opening gambit.
He recognizes this and becomes more forceful with them. “Look, you people want to know what’s going on, so just fucking listen; okay?” He receives another look of disdain from Gary. He notices, but decides not to announce that fact to him and continues. “Basically, I am the Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus Christ by identifying him to the Sanhedrin priests with the now infamous ‘Judas Kiss.’ For my sins, I was punished by God to walk the earth forever more.”
Abi snorts a laugh.
“What, you don’t believe me?”
She stares at him and then laughs again. “What? You’re Judas? And God really does exist?”
“Errr… yaahh! What, you don’t believe in God, I take it?”
She glares at him. “Have you seen my life? Why the hell would I believe in a God that would do this to me?” She motions to herself, to the way she is dressed, an obvious indication of her chosen profession.
He shakes his head. “Sister, God didn’t do that to you, you did it to yourself by throwing junk down your gullet. You can blame the Almighty for a lot of shit but turning pretty little Hollywood starlets into crack whores, well, that ain’t one of them.”
She looks at him in disgust and tears well up in her eyes. She turns away.
Gary interjects. “Hey, look, go easy on her. In fact, go easy on us all will ya?”
He sighs, as he is growing tired of these little games; games he doesn’t have time for; games he should not be playing. “Look, you lot either want the truth and the facts, or you can quite simply all go your own way.
My business is with the kid and no matter how much she begs me this time, I will leave your raggedy asses here in the park and complete my mission without you, you got that?”
“Broadway!” Abi remarks, still looking away.
“What?” He says, turning towards her.
“It was Broadway that I came for, not Hollywood. I wanted to be on stage not in front of a camera.”
He shakes his head. “Okay, fine, Broadway, who gives a shit? You didn’t make it, boo-fucking-hoo. Let’s just move on and deal with the fact that some nasty ass demons are on their way to try and kill us or should we have a good cry about little Miss Guys and Dolls here’s failures?”
“Dude, that’s enough,” Gary commands.
Charlotte looks upset from the bickering and name-calling and she lowers her head into her lap, trying to shut it all out.
Judas notices and it makes him feel uncomfortable. It’s a sensation he hasn’t felt in a long time. He shakes it off. “Okay, look. I am sorry that your life turned out like shit. Hey! Mine hasn’t fared any better. I was a goddamn hobo a little under twenty-four hours ago, so you were doing a damn sight better than me. Let’s just get back to story hour, shall we?”
They nod, all except Abi who just continues to look away, not wanting anyone to see her tears.
“Okay, so where was I? Oh yeah, I betrayed Christ, his dad got pissed, I was punished and made to walk the earth for eternity, ya-di-ya-di-yaa. As part of this punishment, I am unable to die, it’s one of his little jokes you see and trust me, living this long is a punishment not a blessing. Now what’s made it a particularly nasty punishment is the fact that I have rules imposed upon me.”
“What kind of rules?” Gary enquires.
“Well, for one, I’m not allowed to be in a loving relationship in any way, shape or form. That is as much to say I can’t have a wife, children, anything. It is also against the rules for me to amass wealth or to make better of myself by anything I gain over the years.
As you could imagine, a guy walking around with a trove of treasures from 640AD would make a tidy penny or two.”
Still refusing to face him, Abi starts to peck holes in his story. “Why do you have the car, the money and guns then?”
“Because, my dear, I have been allowed to keep the spoils from some of my adventures but not allowed to use them for my own betterment. You see, I found a little loophole in the system about four hundred years ago. Anything I stored and didn’t use was okay.”
They look at him, confused.
He sighs, adding, “They haven’t cottoned on! It seemed I had kinda bucked the system. It must work as I never got a call otherwise, so most of this gear is what I claimed as my own when the powers that be gave me little tasks to do.”
“Tasks?” Gary asks, further intrigued.
“Yeah, that’s what they like to call
them, tasks! Basically, I am at their beck and call to carry out any and all jobs that need doing from time to time, jobs that only someone with my specific skill set could manage. You know, put down some demons and shit, who have been getting out of hand. I can’t refuse to do them either since if I don’t help or if I break any big rules, my punishment will be served out in hell and not here on earth.”
“What’s the difference?” Abi scoffs, still refusing to face him.
“What?”
“What’s the difference if you serve your punishment here or in hell? I mean, isn’t it the same to you?”
He pauses, a dark look in his eyes. “You ever been to hell, sister? You ever seen what it throws out? Fuck that! I ain’t going to hell under any fucking circumstances!”
Gary doesn’t feel it would be appropriate to warn him about his language here.
Looking around and into their faces, he feels that they may be spent on the theatrics so he lightens his mood somewhat. “Anyway, that’s my side of the story, or the abridged version at least. What is going on here is where it gets interesting. You see, that little girl there, is the most important thing that humans will ever have in their existence.”
Abi now turns her attention to back to the group and they all look at Charlotte who just smiles, a little embarrassed.
Gary is confused. “How is this little girl so important to, humans, as you put it?”
He scratches his chin. “Well, I don’t have the full details but sufficed to say, it would appear that she is the Second Coming of Christ.” They all look shocked, not least Charlotte.
“I would imagine she shares His bloodline passed down the ages or some shit, or her mom was porked by the big guy upstairs, I dunno, he tends to do these things now and then. What I do know is that tomorrow morning, at 08:34 precisely, young Charlotte here will become seven years old and at that point she will have a massive Awakening, a huge revelation where she will understand her task at hand.” He offers her a sympathetic look. “Believe me when I say this, kid, I feel for you on this one I really do. I mean, how the hell is it meant to be fair to put that kind of fucked-up pressure onto a seven-year-old’s shoulders? For God’s sake, at least let the kid go through college and get wild a little before responsibility kicks in.”