by Tom Clarke
Darrel shook his head, “Turns out that Scherell is a courier for the Vatican and was released on some diplomatic nonsense after he got pinched.”
Jim stood up from his chair, took a deep breath, and walked away from Darrel. “You mean to tell me that the phone is associated with the Vatican?”
Darrel nodded, “Looks that way bro.”
Jim placed his hands on top of his head, “Nico, Jesus Darrel, Nico was working with those guys.”
“No! Now hold a second Jimmy” Darrel said as he stood from his chair. “Nico told us that his crew had been infiltrated and that he was on the outs.”
“You're right,” Jim replied, “I just…. I mean, he seems different. I have not been able to put my finger on it, but he just seems different.”
“Of course he does Jimmy, he was standing right there when they blew that bomb up at the Vatican remember.”
“Jim” Thor interrupted, “These two with you?” he asked, pointing at a small, high resolution security camera screen on the wall which showed Tyler and Nico walking in the front door of the shop.
“Yeah” Jim replied, walking closer to the screen.
“Dude, look at Tyler,” Jim said, pointing at the screen.
“What’s that little shit doing?” Darrel asked as he, Jim, and Thor watched Tyler start taking cell phone pictures of the interior of Thor’s shop behind Nico’s back. The three watched as Tyler said something to Nico and then walked back out the front door of the shop.
Jim opened the door to Thor’s office, “Nico get in here quick” Jim quietly yelled. Nico ran over into the office and then shut the door.
“What’s wrong?” Nico asked as he looked at Thor who was standing there smoking his cigar and smiling.
“Hey, be cool, here he comes back in the front door” Darrel said.
Thor moved closer to the small screen, squinting and looking hard at Tyler as he walked around his shop, “I know that guy. I mean I don’t know him, but I’ve seen his picture before. Jesus Christ, that fucking guy is dead!”
“What do you mean?” Jim said.
“What I mean is I saw an article in the paper a few weeks ago about a Sheriff’s Deputy that was found dead in the woods, and that’s the guy, they had his picture.”
“Are you sure?” Darrel asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. The newspaper is probably over there at the bottom of that stack.”
Darrel ran across the room and started leafing through newspapers that had been tossed into a stack in the back corner of the room.
“Hey, hey man, he’s making a phone call” Thor said.
“Jim, if he’s one of them, we can’t let him make any phone calls” Nico blurted out.
“One of who?” Thor blurted out. “And who the fuck are you?”
Jim tapped Nico on the shoulder, “Come on, lets grab him.”
Nico nodded and followed Jim out the door of the office and into the shop. “Hey Tyler” Jim hollered, “who you trying to call bro?”
Tyler hung up his phone, “Hey Jim, I was trying to call you, see where you guys had run off to. So how are we doing?”
“Good my man” Jim replied. “Hey, let me use your phone right quick. I got to make a call and mines almost dead.”
“Yeah mines low too, why don’t you use Nico’s phone” Tyler replied.
Just then Darrel walked out of the office with a rolled-up newspaper in his hand. “Found it Jimmy. Thor’s right.”
Tyler started to ask who Thor was when suddenly Nico grabbed him from behind. Nico ran his right arm across the front of Tyler’s throat while reaching up with his left and grasping his right wrist. Nico pulled his arm, and Tyler, against his chest, pinching Tyler’s carotid arteries between Nico’s bicep muscle and forearm. Tyler struggled, but within a few seconds the blood flow to his brain had been restricted enough that he passed out.
“That’s cool!” Darrel said as Nico lowered Tyler’s limp body to the ground.
“Vascular Neck Restraint, I will teach it to you sometime” Nico replied. “It seems to work exceptionally well on this one. I got him with it at the hospital too.”
As Tyler started to twitch Thor came out of the office with a set of flex-cuffs. He tossed them to Nico, who in turn secured Tyler’s hands behind his back.
Jim looked at Thor a little crossed eyed, “What are you doing with those?”
Thor snorted, then replied, “Mind your business cop!”
8.
Sarah
The darkness began to give way to a dim, cloudy light. It started as a pinpoint, but steadily expanded. As the light slowly increased so did Shelly’s awareness, then her focus came back, and then her sense of smell.
As the rest of her senses came into focus Shelly started to realize that she was sitting on the ground in the grass. A strong garden smell started to come over her. “Good morning” a female voice with an unidentifiable accent said. “I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up. Did you have a nice nap?”
Shelly sat up, she was in a grassy area surrounded by flowers. She looked around, “Where am I? Who are you?”
The other woman laughed, “Stop being so silly and help me finish picking these roses for the basket.”
“Seriously” Shelly replied, “Who are you?”
“Okay, now stop with your game, you are starting to frighten me. You know very well that my name is Sarah and we are here in the garden, making flower baskets for the party tonight.”
Shelly looked down and saw that she was wearing a flower print summer dress and no shoes. Next to her was a weaved wicker basket with a selection of roses and other flowers in it. As she looked around all she could see was open grassland with trees in the distance.
The sun was bright, but the temperature was cool. A part of her was screaming that this was all wrong, but another part was at peace and relaxed with it. “How long have I… we been here?” Shelly asked.
“Oh, a couple of hours I imagine” Sarah replied. “Things would be going a lot quicker if you had not decided to take that nap.”
Shelly smiled and the part of her that was sounding the warning bells started to vanish. As she stretched her arms above her head a feeling of warmth and peace came over her. “Sarah, I’m sorry, but my nap must have left my brain a little groggy. Who is the party for again?”
Sarah, who was wearing the same flower print summer dress as Shelly stood up, put her hands on her hips and just shook her head. She held out a hand and helped Shelly to her feet, “Come on you, we still need to go and collect some fruit.”
Slowly getting to her feet Shelly suddenly felt a sharp pain radiate from her head, down her spine, and into her wrists and feet. She started to let out a groan but then as suddenly as it was there the pain was gone and replaced with a feeling of warmth, like being wrapped in a blanket.
Once on her feet Shelly started to take a good look around. The entire area looked somewhat familiar, but she just could not put her finger on it.
“Come on, the garden is just over here,” Sarah said as she ran ahead. As Shelly started to move to catch up, she again felt a sharp pain in her ankles and wrists and again as quickly as it was there it was gone, replaced with that warm enveloping feeling.
As she caught up Sarah turned and tossed Shelly an apple. “So, have you heard from him?” Sarah asked in a playful voice as she pulled other apples from a tree and placed them in her basket.
“Heard from who?” Shelly replied as she looked at the apple admiring the deep red coloring.
“Why your young man, of course, Jim. He’s coming to the party this evening…. Isn’t he?” Shelly stopped in her tracks, she was having a hard time concentrating. Jim, who was Jim she thought.
Sarah looked at her, walked over, and put her hand on Shelly’s shoulder. “Yes, that’s his name, Jim. You said that he was going to be bringing a couple of friends with him to the party tonight. Tell me, who is he bringing?”
Sarah looked at Shelly expecting a response,
but when none came, she turned and started to walk away. “Is it that friend of his Nico? He sure is handsome, I hope it’s Nico.” Sarah turned back towards Shelly, “Please tell me it’s Nico! If it is will you introduce me? The four of us can come here and have a picnic after the party.”
Shelly just looked at Sarah, “Jim?” she said in an inquisitive voice. “Yes, Jim” Sarah replied.
Shelly looked at the apple again, she had always loved apples. As she stared at the red piece of fruit a thought of how hard it had been to get good apples at the grocery store in Montana began to manifest itself in her mind. “Jim” Shelly said again, this time with conviction.
“Yes, Jim!” Sarah replied, except this time there was a snarl in her voice, almost animal in nature.
“Kitchen” Shelly said in an almost whisper.
Sarah grabbed her by the shoulders, “Jim, you remember Jim, don’t you?”
Shelly looked up and into Sarah’s eyes, they did not look human, more like looking into the eyes of a dog. Shelly exhaled, clenched her teeth together, closed her eyes and head-butted Sarah as hard as she could.
As Sarah stumbled back and then fell to the ground Shelly announced, “Yes, I remember Jim, and I also remember this apple orchard. It’s from a picture hanging in my kitchen!” Shelly threw the apple she was holding at Sarah and then yelled, “What the hell is going on!”
Just then the pain in her wrists and ankles returned with force. As if waking from a deep sleep Shelly opened her eyes and saw that she was sitting in an old metal chair, her feet and hands bound to the chair with zip-ties.
Standing in front of her was Sarah, holding her nose and swearing. Sarah turned and again Shelly could see that her eyes were more like those of an animal that that of a human. She snarled, showing a mouth full of teeth, like those of a dog.
As Sarah took a step forward Shelly pulled back in the old metal military surplus chair as far back as she could, turning her head away. Sarah stopped, bent down, and with a snarl on her voice said, “I’m sorry, you just caught me off guard when you headed butted me.”
Shelly opened her eyes and looked up, the monster that was moving in on her was gone, standing in its place was Sarah, the young woman from her dream. “I’m sorry I hit you” Shelly said, “I just got scared. What did you do to me? Where am I? Why am I tied to this chair?”
Sarah smiled as she ran her hand down Shelly hair. “I was trying to talk to you in a dream you were having” Sarah said as she walked behind Shelly. “This is a very dark and dank place, I thought we could get to know each other in a, well, more pleasing environment. As for the chair I didn’t want you to get up and start moving around while we were dreaming together, I’m sorry if the restraints are uncomfortable.”
As complete focus slowly returned, she was able to get a better view of where she was. Shelly could see that she was in the center of a large room with no windows. She started to take notice of an odor of rotten meat and blood.
As she looked around the poorly lit room, she saw that the floor was cement, directly to her left a floor drain, and off in the corner was a set of large hooks hanging from the ceiling, the type that butchers used to hang meat for processing.
On the other side of the room was a large standing mirror in a very ornate and antique looking frame. Painted on the walls all around the room was different spiral patterns with various glyphs and hieroglyphic symbols.
Shelly watched as Sarah walked across the room and placed her hand against one of the spiral patterns on the wall. Sarah closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed as the spiral pattern started to emit a weak glow. “Why am I here?” Shelly asked.
Sarah turned back towards Shelly, smiled and replied, “You have found yourself caught up in the middle of something much bigger than yourself. Indeed, much bigger than your husband Jim, who at this very moment is looking for you. I know that you spoke to my love and master, and I know that he told you that we just want to go home. That’s all true Shelly, we just want to go home.”
Struggling against her restraints Shelly asked, “Then why don’t you? Why do you need us?”
“Your husband, Jim” Sarah replied. “He managed to kill an associate of ours. Well, associate is probably not the right word, more of a rival. You see he was building a power base to overthrow my master, and Jim put a stop to that.”
“So why not just ask him to help you?” Shelly asked in a comforting tone of voice.
“Because he has been corrupted by that deceiver Nico!” Sarah replied in an angry aggressive voice. “Your Catholic church, they hate what they do not understand, and they fear what they hate. Years ago, they branded us evil and have been waging war against us ever since.”
Sarah leaned in close to Shelly, “Nico has deceived your husband with the idea of his friendship to get to us. He is using Jim, and when he does not need him anymore, he will discard your husbands broken body and move to his next unwitting victim.”
Shelly just stared at Sarah for a few seconds, “I don’t believe you. Nico saved Jim, he saved those women at Rockets when your so-called rival was cutting people’s heads off. Nico is a good man and one of my husband’s best friends.”
“Shelly don’t you see, he is using your husband. He is a deceiver, he is not what he seems just like the rest of your corrupt so-called church. All they seek is power and dominion over your kind, they demand loyalty through oppression.”
Shelly shook her head, “No you’re wrong, you don’t understand.”
“Don’t I?” Sarah replied as she walked away from Shelly. “They tell you what to believe, what to think, how to live. They demand that you submit your very soul and kneel before the people that they put into power.”
Sarah turned back to Shelly and in a sad tone of voice said, “They have been leading your kind astray for hundreds of years. Shelly, they are all corrupt and are bent on destroying what they don’t understand and whoever they feel opposes their agenda.”
“And what agenda might that be?”
Sarah looked directly into Shelly’s eyes and with a slight smile replied, “Why, world domination of course. It’s the same for all religions, they want to be the ones to rule you, keep you from your full potential, keep you on your knees while they sit on high in their golden thrones.”
“And what about you” Shelly asked with a hint of defiance in her voice, “What do you and yours want?”
“We just want to go home Shelly! We just want to go home. For us to do that your husband needs to retrieve the talisman from the cave where my love was imprisoned by the true monsters. And we need to know if Nico is with him.”
Sarah leaned in close, “Please, tell me, is Nico with Jim?”
Shelly hung her head as she again tried to struggle against the plastic zip ties restraining her wrists and feet. “I don’t know. How can I trust you after those men you sent to my house? They tried to kill me!”
Sarah stood and stepped back from Shelly, “A mistake, miscommunication! I never wanted that, but others felt that we needed to send a message to your husband. My child, the only reason you are here, the only reason any of this is happening, is because Nico has lead Jim astray. Believe it or not I am trying to help you. Please, just tell me, is Nico with him or not?”
“I don’t know” Shelly said as she looked into Sarah’s eyes. “I don’t know where Jim is, who’s with him, I don’t even know where I am. All I know is that I am tied to a chair in a room with someone, who is not human, who is playing games with my mind.”
“And strapped to that chair is where you will stay” came a low voice emanating from the mirror in the corner of the room. The light in the already dimly lit room dropped some and a chill came over Shelly. As she watched in horror shadows started to form and then dissipate in the corners of the room.
A low-pitched hum began to ring in her ears. As it became louder it was joined with a banging sound almost as though someone was banging a couple of rocks together.
As the light started t
o come back up Shelly could see several men standing in the corners of the room. They were dressed in brown suits and large brimmed hats reminiscent of rural America during the dust bowl days.
As she watched they began to chant in a language that was unfamiliar to her. It sounded almost like a cross between French and Egyptian. As they continued to chant some of the men raised their hands in the front of their faces, their palms facing outwards while others got down on their knees, covered their faces, and started rocking back and forth.
The light in the room started to come up a little more and then started flickering. As Shelly looked up, she saw that Sarah had stepped back away from her and had a look of fear on her face. Then, as Shelly watched the look of fear turned into one of excited anticipation. Sarah started chanting in the same language as the other men in the room and then she held her hands out in front of her face and quickly turned her palms forward.