Souls At Zero (A Dark Psychological Thriller)

by Neal Martin

  "Jesus Christ," Black breathed. "Are you seeing this?"

  Black was referring to the two massive red flags that hung from the roof of the huge three storey house at either side of the wide front entrance. The flags looked to be about six feet wide and draped halfway down the front face of the mansion. In the centre of the blood red material was a large emblem of some sort. A black circle, inside of which was a symbol that looked a lot like a reversed swastika. And in the centre of the swastika was a bird figure with outstretched wings. A red falcon.

  "Unbelievable," whispered Edger. "What fucking world do these people live in?"

  "A Nazi inspired one by the looks of it."

  Edger took the binoculars from Black and used them to get a closer look at the house. Men in dark suits were walking up the steps to the large wooden front doors. Obviously members of the cult, there for the ritual and whatever else they planned on getting up to. More men in suits flanked them. Edger noticed the ear pieces on some. Security.

  Moving the binoculars up the steps towards the front doors, Edger saw a very tall man standing just outside the doors. The man wore a dark three piece suit and a spotted bow tie. His hair was grey and close cropped to his skull. His face was gaunt, severe looking, even when he smiled and greeted his guests.

  Gabriel Mason. Nice to meet you.

  Strangely, Mason looked somehow younger than he did in the photograph Edger saw of him. In the photo, Mason looked nearly eighty years old. Looking at him now, if Edger had to guess, he would put Mason in his early sixties. Handing the binoculars to Black, Edger said, "Take a look. Mason is there."

  Black took the binoculars and peered through him. "I see him. Reminds me of a fucking Nazi himself."

  Edger had to agree. Even from a distance, Edger could almost feel the malevolent intent emanating from the cult leader.

  "Alright. Let's go. We move to the east side of the estate. Make our entrance there."

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Black drove the car back the way they came about a mile and a half, until they arrived at a road leading left off the main one. Edger directed Black down it, and they carried on driving, only fields either side of them, and beyond the fields on the left, the forest that marked the perimeter of the Mason estate.

  Edger pointed to a break in the hedgerow just up ahead. "There," he said. "Turn the headlights off. Take it slow."

  Slowing the car, Black turned onto what amounted to a dirt track that cut through one of the fields. Barely able to see in the darkness, he drove halfway up it before stopping the car under a group of trees and cutting the engine. The track carried on towards the forest for about another half mile, but they didn't want to get too close, as there would likely be more security around the perimeter.

  They both sat in the car for a moment as the silence settled ominously around them. "You think we should wait before we head in?" Black asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Just to be sure everyone is there?"

  Glancing at his watch, Edger saw it was 9:58 p.m. He shook his head. "We go in now."

  Black nodded, and Edger noticed the tight look of fear on the other man's face. He didn't blame Black for being scared. Edger felt the rush of fear in his own system as well. He just hid it better than Black did.

  They both got out of the car, quietly closing the doors behind them. The night air was cold on Edger's skin after the heat of the car. He looked up to see a clear sky and a moon that was almost full. He would have preferred a little less moonlight, so they could blend into the darkness better once they infiltrated the estate, but he knew mission conditions were rarely perfect, so he didn't sweat it. He took a deep breath through his nose as he waited on Black opening the boot of the Audi, the smell of pine trees and manure mixing with the cold night air in his nostrils. In the distance there was the faint whoosh of cars passing by on the main road.

  "I took the liberty of getting some extra ammo," Black said, his voice hushed but still sounding too loud in the stillness of the night. "Courtesy of the PSNI."

  Edger remained silent as Black opened the boot of the car. Inside was the large, green military bag. Beside the bag was an extra flak jacket and a few boxes of 9mm bullets, along with extra magazines. Edger was glad to see the extra ammo. You can never have too much ammo.

  While Black took out his police flak jacket, Edger took the tactical body armour from out of the green bag and put it on over his black sweater, leaving his jacket in the boot of the car. The body armour had pouches along the front, which Edger filled with spur magazines. It was always a policy of his to carry as much ammo as he could while on a mission, as you never knew what lay ahead. On more than one occasion, it was a policy that had saved his life. Spotting the grenade in the bag, he took it out, and hooked it to the front of his vest.

  Black had also procured two leg holsters, and he handed one to Edger, who strapped the holster to his right thigh and slid a Glock 17 into the pouch. He had another holster strapped to his right ankle, and he slid the small Smith and Wesson Bodyguard into it.

  "So, just to be clear," Black said while checking one of the Colt Tactical Carbines. "We're taking no prisoners here, right."

  Edger shook his head as he reached into the boot and took out one of the remote explosive devices. "Right. We can't afford to, Black. As far as I'm concerned anyone on that estate is complicit in what goes on in it. And not only that, they killed my ex-wife and tried to kill my daughter." He took the other Colt rifle out of the boot, checked the magazine before slamming it back in with his palm and putting the rifle on the roof of the car. "So no, I'm not taking any goddamn prisoners."

  Black nodded. "Fair enough, but you do realise that there will be innocents in there. The kids they keep locked up. The kid they are going to—I can't believe I'm saying this—sacrifice tonight."

  "We do our best to free those people." Edger picked up one of the Semtex explosive devices. "But I plan on blowing that whole fucking house to smithereens."

  Nervously eyeing the Semtex device, Black said, "Do you know what you're doing with that thing?"

  "I specialised in explosives during my Legion training."

  "Of course you did. So what's our objectives here before we go in?"

  Edger put the canvas bag with the explosives in it over his head and across his chest. "We stay covert for as long as possible. The second they know we're here every guard in the place will be on top of us. I also don't want the cult members scattering to the wind before we can get to them."

  "So what if we come across any guards?"

  "Take them out quietly. Here." Edger reached into the bag in the boot again and took out the two sheathed double edged knives, handed one to Black.

  Black took the knife and gave a small laugh.

  "What?" Edger asked.

  "Nothing. I still can't believe I'm doing this. The cop in me is screaming that this is all wrong."

  "Yeah, it is fucking wrong. It's wrong what they do to innocent people. It's wrong that they get away with murder and every horrible crime they commit."

  "I know that."

  "You can back out of this if you want, Black. Go be with your daughters for the time you have left. I won't hold it against you."

  "Fuck you, Edger. You know I have to do this as much as you."

  Edger nodded. "Alright then."

  Taking his phone out, Black said, "I need to make a phone call before we go."

  As Black walked a few feet away from the car, Edger watched after him, not having to ask who he was going to call.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Walking away from Edger, Black dialled a number in his phone and put the phone to his ear.

  "Hiya, Daddy," his youngest daughter, Jessica, said, upon answering his call.

  "Hiya, love," Black said back, a lump already forming in his throat at the sound of his daughter's voice. "You alright?"

  "Just watching a DVD. You sound funny, Daddy. Is everything alright?"

  "Fine, love. I just wanted to phone, see how y
ou were doing. What DVD are you watching?"

  "Tangled. The end still makes me cry every time."

  Black smiled. He knew the Disney movie well after watching it enough times with his daughter.

  "We were supposed to go to the cinema last night."

  "I know, love. I meant to text you. I was—"

  "Working. I know."

  His daughters grudging acceptance of his excuse, and the rush of bad feelings it brought with it, cut through Black, and a silence fell between them as he walked further away from Edger and the car, stopping to look out across the darkness of the fields beside him. "I'm sorry I let you down again," he said, his words sounding hollow even to him.

  Jessica carried on the silence for another moment, then she said, "So what case are you working on? It must be important. I know you wouldn't miss our date otherwise."

  "It is important. I'm working on it now, in fact. I hope to close it tonight."

  "Maybe we can finally go to the cinema then."

  "Yeah." Black closed his eyes as hot tears stung them. "Maybe."

  "Daddy, what's wrong?"

  "Nothing, love. I'm just very tired, that's all."

  Jessica sighed. "Sometimes I wish you did a normal job, Daddy."

  Black snorted and a smile crossed his face. "So do I, love."

  "Maybe you could stop being a policeman and do something else."

  "Aye, maybe."

  "It's okay, Daddy. I know you won't."

  Another knife to the heart.

  "Listen love. I just want you to know…" He trailed off, hardly able to say what he needed to say.

  "Know what, Daddy?"

  "I need you to know that I love you…and that you're the most important thing in the world to me…and that you're going to be alright. Everything's going to be alright, love."

  "Daddy, you're scaring me," Jessica said. "Why are you talking like that?"

  Black wiped the tears from his eyes. "Is your sister there?"

  "She's in her room."

  "Will you put her on the phone for me?"

  "She won't talk to you, Daddy. You know that."

  "Just tell her I need to speak to her. Tell her it's important."

  Black listened as Jessica sighed and left her room to go next door to her older sister's room. He heard her open the door, and a blast of loud dance music hit his ears. A second later, the music volume was turned down, and Jessica informed her sister that their father wanted to talk to her.

  "No, I don't want to," Black heard Lisa say.

  "He says it's important," Jessica said. "I think you should, Lisa."

  There was a moment of silence before Black's eldest daughter took the phone. "Hello?" she said, her voice full of scorn and unconcealed bitterness, which burnt through Black. He used to have such a close relationship with his oldest daughter. Since he had the affair and the family split up, that relationship was in tatters.

  Too late to do anything about it now. Just tell you love her. That's all you can do.

  "Hello, love," he said. "It's me."

  "I know." She couldn't have been any blunter.

  "Listen, Lisa, you don't have to say anything. Just listen for a minute. Can you do that?"

  Silence.

  "Okay," he continued. "I know you blame me for a lot of stuff."

  "I blame you for everything."

  Jesus.

  "I didn't mean for us all to split up, Lisa. I didn't mean to hurt anyone, least of all you and Jessica."

  "But you did."

  "I know I did, and I'm truly sorry for that, love. I don't expect you to forgive me for what I did, but I hope someday when you're older that you might at least understand why it happened."

  "You had an affair, Daddy. What else is there to understand? You ruined our family."

  "Don't Lisa," Jessica said in the background.

  "Shut up, Jessica!" Lisa shouted, then to him she said, "Mum said you're a selfish bastard and she's right! Just…fuck you!"

  The phone went dead.

  Black stood stunned for a second. Then he hunkered down to the dirt road and burst into silent tears. He stayed that way for a few minutes until the tears ran dry.

  "You alright?" Edger asked him when he walked back to the car.

  There was a look of recognition in Edger's face, like the ex-Legionnaire knew exactly what he was going through. The look on Black's face was the same look Edger had when he left his own daughter back in Lisburn. A look of pain and regret.

  Both men stared at each other for a second, then Black took the Colt rifle from off the roof of the car. Slammed in a magazine and said, "Let's get these fuckers."

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  The serum worked.

  Mason stood in front of a full length mirror in his living quarters and marvelled at the changes in himself, amazed that those changes had come about in such a short time. In his present state, he looked at least thirty years younger. His was no longer as gaunt as he was before, his cheeks having filled out, his jaw muscles less wasted. His eyes, which had cataracts in them only the day before, were now bright and clear, the vision in them back to 20/20. Even though he had been wearing glasses since his early forties, he no longer needed them. His teeth, as well, had been restored to their former glory after having been worn down and lacklustre for so many years.

  Then there was his body. His once sagging skin had now tightened around a filled out musculature, and his bones and tendons no longer ached, both now having a strength in them he hadn't felt in decades. Even the life force running through him felt completely revitalised, like an electric current ramped up as far as it would go.

  It was a complete renewal of the body and mind.

  A renewal of his very soul.

  Despite his jubilant demeanour however, Mason was aware that he took a chance when he injected himself with the serum. There was still no telling what the long terms effects might be. It could well turn out that the serum would end his life after a brief spell of effectiveness, but Mason didn't think so. He wouldn't allow himself to think that.

  The old woman he had first tried the new serum on had transformed quickly as well, going from an ageing geriatric to a middle aged woman almost over night. It was astounding really. The woman was so overwhelmed by the changes in her, she was even willing to overlook her kidnapping from the retirement home. Mason merely smiled at her before he put a bullet in her head with his father's Walther P38. Her body was dumped in the incinerator after that, all traces of the serum in her system being completely destroyed.

  Of course, it would have been hard for Mason himself to hide the changes in his own body. As he stood at the front door of the house greeting the arriving Red Falcon members, every one of them had stopped and stared at him, there faces a picture as they took in the massive difference in his appearance and overall demeanour. Each member, without exception, had a look of want in their eyes. They all knew what he had been working on. Many of them had provided him with resources over the years so he could work on cracking Project Red Falcon, or the Immortality Serum as many of the members preferred to call it.

  Little did the members know however, that not one of them would get their hands on the serum. The Immortality Serum was his and his alone.

  He had other plans for the Red Falcon members, which would become clear when they all gathered in the main room downstairs for the Blood Sacrifice Ritual.

  Mason finished admiring his new self in the mirror and walked with a once long forgotten spring in his step to the large double wardrobe in the corner of the room. The wardrobe was filled with his customary three piece suits, but it was the item in the middle of all those suits that he went for.

  His father's Nazi SS uniform.

  Mason took the black uniform out and stood admiring it for a second. One of the things he loved about the Nazis was there sense of style. No other uniform in the world could purvey such fearful authority as an SS uniform. As Mason carefully put on the uniform, a smile spread across his face, a
reaction to the overwhelming sense of power and pride that swept through him every time he wore the outfit. After he slipped on the black leather jack boots, and donned the black peak cap, he went and looked at himself in the mirror again. With his rejuvenated looks he appeared even more ferocious than usual in the uniform. The only alteration he had made was to the design of the red armband. He still kept the original one safely in a drawer, but the one he wore now depicted the emblem of the Red Falcon Country Club with the reversed swastika and the falcon in the middle. Apart from that, the uniform was exactly the way it had been when his father wore it before him for the portrait hanging above Mason's fireplace.

  Mason looked at his watch. 11:14 p.m.

  Almost time. The ritual was due to take place at midnight.

  The last ever ritual, and the beginning of a new chapter for Professor Gabriel Mason.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

  The night was still apart from a gentle breeze as Edger and Black made their way up the dirt track towards the gate that would take them into the forest surrounding the Mason estate. Both men crept along the hedgerow on the left side of the dirt track, staying low, with Edger leading the way. Inside, Edger felt calm and completely focused in the present moment. About two hundred yards from the gate, he raised his fist and indicated for Black to stop. Going down on one knee, Edger looked through the scope of his Colt rifle, aiming the cross-hairs towards the gate at the end of the dirt track. After a moment, a guard came into view, pacing back and forth on the other side of the gate, occasionally disappearing behind a tree. Edger kept looking through the scope to see if the guard was alone. After a moment, he concluded he was.

  Lowering the rifle, Edger looked round at Black, raising one finger.