As she rode the elevator, it occurred to Salma to press the button for the third floor. She did not step completely out, but rather peeped her head out long enough to see if the officers were still stationed at the room where they planned to ensnare the hired assassin if he should make another attempt to reach Caeli. Of course, Salma knew they were wasting their time, but it would be good if they kept up the appearance. Unfortunately, there were no chairs outside the door, and the hall was surprisingly devoid of people. Neither staff nor patients could be seen from her place at the elevator door.
She released the elevator and continued the ride up to her office on the sixth floor. From there, she retrieved a large backpack with a bright red cross on the back. Salma crossed to a tall steel cabinet in the rear and unlocked it using a key from a long silver chain she wore around her neck. She retrieved several vials of medicine and chemical reagents before securing it once again. From several cabinet drawers that lined the same wall, Salma gathered a couple of empty vials, alcohol wipes, a small surgical scalpel, latex gloves, and a few other items that were not on her list, but that she deemed might be helpful.
Salma filled the backpack, collected everything else that she needed, and was locking the exterior office door when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. A police officer stealthily approached her and now stood directly in the hall to the left. As she took a step backward to put some distance between herself and the officer, Salma jumped when she bumped into a second man, also in a police uniform. Both caught her by surprise.
"Sorry gentlemen, I didn't see you there," she recovered quickly.
"Is there something that I can do for you?"
"Dr. Yamanu, we’re going to have to ask you to come with us please," the first officer stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
"Would you mind telling me why?" Salma asked.
"It seems that one of your patients has gone missing. The chief asked us to make sure that you didn’t leave before he had a chance to speak with you."
"Oh my! Ok. Just a second," she offered no resistance. Salma finished turning the key to be certain that her office was secure then turned to face the waiting officers
"Ready. Where are we going?" Salma asked casually.
"The employee lounge by the front lobby doors. We will wait there until the chief arrives." The first officer led the way, and the second trailed behind her. They escorted her to the lounge, where Salma carried her bag with her into the room and sat down at the table to wait. She hoped it wouldn’t be long. Her friends needed her, and time was important.
Ben had been waiting for approximately half an hour before he began to worry. Salma should have arrived very soon after him, but she was still absent. After another ten minutes of restless pacing, Ben gave in to his fear for her and decided to ask for help.
"Vin?" Ben could not see him, so was uncertain if Vin was still nearby, but assumed that he would be.
"Yes. I will go and check on her. Wait here," Vin replied to the unspoken question, and a strong breeze ruffled Ben’s hair as it blew passed him, causing him to shiver slightly at the oddness of the sensation.
Ben rubbed his chin as he waited, pondering the situation. Not much had gone well for him the past few days. He now knew that he was betrayed and his mission sabotaged by at least one man he trusted. Ben supposed he should be glad that he was still alive, but it was little consolation. After several minutes, he took hold of his tote bag and began to unpack its contents and arrange them on the table to help take his mind off his fear for Salma. The unpacking didn’t take long, and Ben still could not figure out how the items were going to be used.
He walked around the kitchen and dining room and then widened his circuit to include the living room and part of a hallway. Ben observed a variety of photos, figurines, books, and other knick knack items that let him learn a bit more about the kind of life Vin and Caeli must have shared.
One thing was obvious from the photos. They were always smiling at each other. There was no question that had been happy together. Ben felt a chill in the air again twenty minutes later. Vin appeared beside him as he stood in the hallway looking at the framed images hanging on the wall.
"She is fine," Vin stated. He knew Ben was worried about Salma, and could feel his tension ease upon hearing the news.
"A couple of your men were ordered to detain her. She was waiting under guard to speak to the chief."
Vin had located her without much difficulty. He informed Salma that he would distract her wardens so that she could sneak away. A stack of papers and charts at the registration desk ten feet away suddenly flew into the air and scattered as they fell to the floor. The young, buxom blonde volunteer who came out from behind the desk to retrieve the errant files stumbled as if pushed from behind and managed to scatter the pages further. Both officers, confident that the doctor was content to sit and wait, went over to offer their assistance to the pretty, young lady.
Salma took the opportunity to slip out of the lounge and then quickly out the front doors to the parking lot. She borrowed the car of one of her coworkers, who always left his keys above the sun visor. Once Vin saw Salma safely on the road, he returned to update Ben and wait with him until she arrived at the house.
When the three were reunited at Vin’s home, they began to work on the project. Vin showed both of them an image that he wanted to recreate as accurately as possible. They started with the album. It was filled with the card stock, and the edges of the pages were treated with a blue chemical from Salma’s bag. After an hour, the main structure of a large book was nearly finished. The pages looked aged but well preserved. The leather on the cover was also chemically altered to look much older than it actually was. They painted geometric shapes on the front and used the packaging tape to help distress the finished product.
Ben and Salma took a break and went to fix sandwiches in the kitchen. Vin had no need for food. He stood staring down at the book on the table. It was not a great replica, but if his enemy was distracted with other concerns, it might just work. The trick would be getting it to respond the same way the original did. When Ben and Salma finished their meal, they rejoined Vin to tackle the last critical step.
"In your home? Really? Vin, why would you do that?" Salma was bewildered by the admission that he and Caeli both kept a few liters of their own blood and stored it in a small refrigerator in the basement.
"Never hurts to be prepared. That is some sort of boy scout motto, isn’t it? It seems to me that it was a fortuitous choice," Vin answered flatly. Ben returned just then carrying a chilly bag that steamed in the warmer air of the house.
"We have to find a way to make it glow when touched by bare skin. I need your medical expertise on this Salma." Vin explained the result he was attempting to achieve.
"I’m sorry Vin, but I just don’t know anything that will do that. Other chemicals could be made to glow, but I’ve never heard of blood having such a reaction. Maybe I can search online and see if there is a way," the doctor was baffled, not only at the request, but also at the thought of such a reaction being possible.
"Wait," Ben interrupted. They both turned to look at him.
"I have an idea. It’s off the wall, but I saw it in one of the clubs we raided a while back; one that fronted for a drug cartel. They discovered this method of mixing the drugs with another chemical that reacted to some sort of fluorescent light after being injected into the bloodstream. I never did understand what purpose it was supposed to serve, because the drugs were eventually absorbed by the carrier. However, I saw the results firsthand. It gave off an amber sort of glow when exposed. If we can find out which chemical they used and mix it with Vin’s blood, then it should glow nicely under a certain light."
Ben gave Salma the information she needed to search online for the name of the chemical. Vin was trying to figure out how he could make that work, since it was obviously the only idea they could muster. He let his two friends work on the mystery chemical while he conside
red his options.
"I’ve got it!" Salma exclaimed suddenly, "and I literally have it. It is one of the dyes used in radiology. I have a small bottle of it in my bag. I use it for the portable x-ray unit when I spend the day working with the team that drives the mobile van. Let’s give it a try."
They set to work busily mixing and testing until it was as good as it was going to get. They applied the mixture to the patterns on the front of their book and allowed it to dry.
While they worked, Vin explained that the blood was necessary because the original book reacted to a trait inherited through certain bloodlines. Vin's blood contained that genetic key. He added that it would be someone else who shared a distant blood heritage with Vin who would be expecting to see the images glow. They would need to fool her when she initially touched the book.
When they were finished, Vin was pleased with the replica and thanked both of them wholeheartedly. Now the remaining task was up to Vin. He hoped he was up to the challenge. He left Ben and Salma to guard the fake book while he departed to set his plan in motion.
CHAPTER 28
The pretty lady and the red haired man returned to the museum and waited for ten minutes before the woman descended to the stone cellar. She wanted to be certain that Vin was gone before she retrieved the book. When Dalla emerged from below, the man picked up a pair of duffle bags stuffed so full that the zippers looked as if they might burst from the strain of the ill begotten trinkets they contained. The pair went out the front exit of the museum not bothering to lock the doors behind them. They did not intend to return.
Scott had called for a taxi while she finished her conversation with Vin. Like Dalla, Scott could also detect Vin's presence, though not as strongly. Her ability was innate. Scott had worked diligently to develop his acquired skill ever since his near death overdose opened his eyes to such possibilities. Scott's mentor, the deacon, found him in a pharmaceutical stupor and offered him the chance to get cleaned up and fight back. He was taught to despise those who the deacon determined were responsible for Scott's sufferance of such an existence. Scott jumped at the chance, having nothing better to do. He did not want to end up in another rehab clinic or, worse yet, dead.
Dalla had been one of the first people Scott met when he arrived at the secluded campus. He developed a crush on her almost immediately, and he wasn’t the only one. There were approximately forty other students who lived on the grounds, most of them young men who stuttered and stammered or embarrassed themselves whenever Dalla joined them at mealtime or walked passed them in a hallway. It was quite a juvenile sight to see, but she seemed to enjoy the attention immensely.
Mostly, Dalla just flirted and teased the guys mercilessly, but once or twice she took a special interest in a particularly handsome face or well-formed body. Scott considered himself to have both, but had been waiting for the right opportunity to pursue her. He was thrilled beyond words to be chosen by their mentor to work with Dalla on this assignment. It was a chance to spend time alone with her, far away from any competition. It hadn’t taken long for Dalla to become bored with her new surroundings while they waited to complete the assignment. She amused herself by partaking of the entertainment Scott offered.
Now, even that diversion was trivial to her. Once she was alerted by the cleverly designed ring in the cellar that their target was near, Dalla quickly lost all interest in Scott. She was too busy pouring over each and every detail of the plan. It really wasn’t that difficult. Yet, it was of the utmost importance that she succeed, and that the outcome be exactly what the deacon desired.
All they had to do was locate the book, secure it until after Vin got a look at it, and then bring it back with them. First, they killed the caretaker and his wife who occupied the house at the back of the museum. They altered Scott’s appearance slightly to look like the curator. Dalla already looked shockingly similar to the lady. Thus, they resembled the displaced couple and began to use their identities to find the exact place where the book was stowed away.
It took less than a day to locate the little room in the cellar, and only a few hours more to create the power ring and rig the contraption that would delay Vin long enough for Dalla to be certain it was him. There were, after all, a few other curious ghosts who pestered and annoyed her with requests to send messages to loved ones left behind. Out of sheer boredom, Dalla delivered a few of the more interesting messages in return for a fee or trinket of value. That much of the story that she related to Vin had been true.
Of course, Dalla never actually fulfilled all the requests. She simply didn’t care about anyone, not since her mother died when she was twelve. She was sent to live with her maternal grandfather, a wealthy upper class member of society. He raised her well, provided her with a proper education and all the amenities that money could buy. However, her beauty was not lost on the overindulgent, lonely, old man. Dalla paid for her room and board with the only means that she possessed. She learned at an early age how to use her fine figure and good looks to get what she wanted from men, and she was not at all shy.
Now that Vin had seen the book, believed her to be an innocent victim of her ability to hear the dead, and an unwary inheritor of the bloodline that allowed her to be a keeper of the book, they were ready to return home to the deacon's compound. The monastic campus was a forty five minute drive from the museum. Scott was not disappointed that the additional excitement at her first victory put Dalla in a mood for a very pleasant taxi ride. Neither Scott nor the leering driver would soon forget that trip.
The cab finally pulled up in front of the old building, and Scott knew this is where the fun would end. Dalla would return to her normal routine, and he would be nothing more to her than the memory of a few brief moments of pleasure. Scott did not mind. He would return to his studies and prepare for the impending battle alongside his fellow pupils.
CHAPTER 29
Antonius walked down several hallways before reaching the main dining room. It was full. All of the people here were his students, and each one inherited or acquired some degree of psychic or elemental ability. He pulled them from lives of misery and inadequacy to join him here. He provided them with shelter, education, and training in the use of their gifts. In return, they were completely loyal to him. Nearly forty diners stopped what they were doing as the deacon entered, and cast their eyes downward as a show of respect for his superiority over them.
"Thank you," he responded with the appropriate amount of feigned gratitude and humility to the accolade. Then they resumed their meals and continued their conversations.
Antonius sat at the first table to his right as he came into the dining hall. It was empty, as it was every day, no matter if he showed up or not. The same young man who called him out to meet with his visitor now carried a metal tray over to where the deacon sat. Lowering the tray, he placed it on the wooden table before the deacon, and then turned and walked away without a word. The tray contained a large bowl of steaming beef stew, two thick slices of warm, buttered bread, and an apple which had been sliced into eight identically sized pieces. There was also a tall glass of green tea. Antonius began to eat with an enthusiasm he had not experienced in a long time.
By the time he ate enough to satisfy his hunger, all of the students had finished and left the hall through a side entrance. That door led to a large, grassy field on the backside of the property. Antonius used this area to work with them in groups and individually. The students were conditioned to know that whenever the deacon left his room and graced them with his presence in the dining hall, he expected to work with them outside after the meal. Today was no different. In fact, today was more important than ever. It was the last chance that Antonius would have to prepare them for the upcoming battle, to ensure they would not let him down. He needed to be certain they would fight as they had been taught. Therefore, Antonius wanted to confirm that each one knew his or her own special task. Lastly, the deacon needed to verify that they were properly motivated to win. He could not risk f
ailure.
Antonius spent the next three hours testing them, encouraging their anger and resentment toward those they would be facing, and boosting their egos so they believed themselves to be invulnerable assets instead of expendable pawns. He was pleased with the results and headed back to his room to rest.
Halfway down the hall, the deacon was observed intercepting two people. There was a red headed young man and an attractive lady, whose appearance struck a chord of familiarity with Caeli as she watched from the small window in her cell door. The young man was summarily dismissed. The deacon harshly stopped the lady from entering the room directly across from Caeli’s cell, and instead led her into the room at the end of the hall, across from where Caeli had determined the man’s own chamber to be.
Dalla placed the book on a pedestal in the middle of the floor just inside the door. The deacon scrutinized the book as she was running her hand across its surface at his behest. The resultant glow sent chills down his spine.
"The Book of Elements is finally mine. For ten years, I've been searching. All this time, Mesi hid it right under my nose," Antonius mused aloud.
At long last, he would have his revenge on those who ended his marriage and took his son. He would tear down the barrier that was created by those who thought their existence superior to that of mankind and who dared to believe they could stand by and watch from their perfect world while people on this side suffered and died.
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