Anna remained impassive, with an expression of interest when he paused to gauge her reaction to is story. The dog’s tail thumped below the table. He glanced around, alternating between Anna, Cletus, and straight ahead for a few moments.
“What happened next?” Anna said with casual curiosity in her voice. Ogden looked at her suspiciously.
“You sound a lot like them doctors I was sent to before my discharge,” he said.
“I am not a psychiatrist,” Anna replied. “I am an anthropologist. I study the belief systems of different groups of people. Our meeting was entirely coincidental.”
“I don’t think I should say anymore.”
“What if I were to tell you that I believe you, and that I have seen equally unexplainable things?”
Anna noticed that the other patrons of the cafe were giving them disparaging glances. “Perhaps we should continue this conversation in private,” she said as she signaled the waitress for the check.
Chapter 8
March 11, 1930
Half an hour later, Anna and Ogden were in a room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The luxurious furnishings were a stark contrast to the desperation outside. Anna reclined in a comfortable armchair and Cletus had availed himself of the couch. Ogden sat in the chair by the desk.
Anna had booked the room for a week. The concierge had looked on the disheveled soldier with disdain, casually whispering to Anna that the hotel did not encourage the hiring of “those people.” In response, Anna booked a room for Ogden as well, demanding that the two rooms be adjoining.
“You said in the cafe that you had seen weird things yourself,” Ogden said. “Prove to me that you’re not just trying get on my good side.” Anna was surprised at the man’s candor, especially as she had just paid for a week’s stay at an exclusive hotel, but she kept her manner neutral.
“I will be back in a moment.” As she stood, Cletus perked up, but remained sprawled on the couch. Anna went into the bathroom and began removing the makeup that concealed the various scars that she had collected.
“I have encountered several alien entities in my travels,” Anna said while she washed. “Most of them were hostile, and some of them caused me injury.” Ogden gasped when she returned from the bathroom. “These scars I received after inadvertently summoning something from beyond.” The soldier examined the round marks on the right side of her face.
“That could just be from smallpox or something like that,” he said.
“Smallpox would have covered my whole body,” Anna replied, “not just one side of my face. And the smallpox would not appear in a linear pattern, like tentacle marks.” She unbuttoned the top of her blouse, knelt in front of the soldier, and lifted her head that so he could see her neck up close.
“Those marks are the remains of rope burns from when I was captured by a sorcerer in another dimension. These as well,” she added, presenting her wrists for his inspection.” The soldier was speechless. Anna took his hands and looked into his eyes.
“I have also fought the sorcerer’s goat-man minions in the New York Subway.” Ogden stared in disbelief. “And I fought flying tentacled mutant cultists and banished the god that they had summoned in a Manhattan church.” She stood, buttoned up her blouse and returned to the armchair.
“There are many such creatures,” Anna said authoritatively, “and most, if not all of them seek to directly or indirectly cause harm to humanity. I am here in Boston seeking out such a creature. A being that feeds on people and then assumes their identities.”
“And why would you be looking for that?” the soldier asked.
“Because its plans could mean the end of all life on Earth.” The soldier studied Anna’s face.
“There’s more to it,” he said.
“It plans to sacrifice my sister,” Anna said. “Now, I have told you about myself. Tell me about you. You said that this frog-creature had drained its victims’ skins. You saw it drain the boy. What happened next?”
“Then I saw the girl.” The soldier shuddered, and Anna rubbed his shoulder to comfort him. Ogden looked up at Anna and she nodded encouragingly. He took a deep breath and a drink before continuing.
“She was the farmer’s daughter. Maybe ten or twelve years old. She always wore a pretty white dress with little blue flowers.” Ogden stared blankly into the distance for a moment. “I had seen her on several occasions. Feeding the chickens, putting the cows to pasture and such. And I watched a frog-thing leap onto her chest. It knocked her to the floor. She screamed.
“Next thing I know, I have my rifle up and I’m shooting at the thing.” Tears welled up in the soldier’s eyes. “I was terrified. My aim was off. The first shot hit the girl in the head. It seemed to anger the thing, because it let go of her and hopped toward me. I fired again and again, but it was so fast. It leapt at me and I finally hit it. It exploded!” Ogden gestured with his hands. “Ka-boom! Like an artillery shell!
“I must have been thrown out the door and knocked unconscious,” he said after a few deep breaths, “because the next thing I remember is smelling salts from the corpsman. The patrol had arrived, and the farmhouse had burned to the ground. As I got my bearings, I noticed that I was under guard.” He paused and stared blankly at the far wall.
Cletus whimpered and leapt off the bed. Then he trotted purposefully to the soldier, sat facing him, and rested his paws on the man’s thighs. The sensation snapped Ogden from his trance. He returned the dog’s feet to the floor and bent down to pat his flanks. Cletus licked the soldier’s face. The soldier wiped the slobber away with his sleeve and returned to his seat. He took a deep breath.
“A short time later,” he continued, “Some officers arrived and questioned me about what had happened. I told them the truth, but they didn’t believe me. They thought I was trying to cover something up. I was put in the stockade. A few weeks later, I was charged with murdering the family and burning down the house. They said that I had assaulted the girl since she had been the only one home, and then shot her in the head. The remains of her family must have been destroyed by the fire.” He lowered his face to his hands and started sobbing. Cletus rested his face in Ogden’s lap.
“And you were imprisoned?” Anna asked after Ogden accepted her handkerchief. He blew his nose. “Take a deep breath.” The solider did so. “And another.” He complied. After several breaths, the tears stopped.
“No,” Ogden continued, “I wasn’t. I was in the stockade for a few weeks, when a Major Stillwell came to my cell. He asked me to tell him what had happened. A few days later, I was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with shell shock.”
“So you received a medical discharge,” Anna said. Ogden nodded, but he refused to look at Anna. She took his hand. “What is it?” She examined his face and posture. “You were hospitalized when you returned home.” He looked at her with an anxious expression. “There is nothing to be ashamed of.” She smiled encouragingly.
“I was pronounced mentally unfit and confined to the trauma ward at the Boston University medical school with veterans who had been mentally unhinged by the war.”
“How long were you there?”
“Five years, from May 1922 to March 1927.”
“What happened to secure your release?”
“I don’t know,” Ogden said with a shrug. “I never changed my story, and they never believed a word of it. I was a model patient and never caused any trouble. I guess they figured I wasn’t dangerous.”
“And what did you do after your release?”
“I went home to Southie,” Ogden said with a frown, “but the building my family had lived in was gone and the neighborhood was all Irish. From the moment I arrived, I knew I wasn’t welcome there. They ran me off a few times. The last time, they beat me senseless and dumped me in the Roxbury Canal. I was taken back to the BU hospital, but they kicked me out after a couple of days. I think they found out who I was. In any event, I’ve been on the street ever since.”
“It sounds like yoar
e quite familiar with Boston,” Anna said, “and with the community of unfortunates here. Is this correct?”
“I suppose I know the lay of the land pretty good,” Ogden said with a shrug. “If you need to find something, I can probably help.”
“That is what I was hoping you would say.” Anna gave a knowing grin. “I can certainly use your assistance. In exchange, I will provide for you for the duration of this endeavor.”
“Just what is it that you’re trying to do?” Ogden asked.
“I am seeking to prevent Armageddon,” Anna said flatly. She wanted to gauge the soldier’s reaction, and she was not disappointed. Ogden did not even blink.
Chapter 9
March 11, 1930
“How do you plan to do that?”
“There is an alien presence somewhere here in Boston,” Anna explained in a professorial manner. “This being will meet with a German archaeologist and trade alien knowledge for what it needs to pursue its own goals. This knowledge will be misused by mankind and result in the extinction of humanity and possibly the entire planet.”
“You say it like it’s already done.”
“That will be the course of events if we do not prevent that meeting.” Anna looked into Ogden’s eyes and said, “My mission is to exterminate the alien, known as a Xuxaax, before it learns of the German’s discovery.”
“What does that have to do with your sister?” Ogden asked, ignoring the gravity of Anna’s statement. She concealed her surprise.
“I traveled to another dimension,” Anna continued, “where I discovered that my persona there had a family, including a younger sister, that does not exist in this reality.” She paused to assess the soldier’s response. He continued to listen intently. “When I returned to this world, I thought that I had left all that behind.”
“But that isn’t the case,” Ogden conjectured.
“No, it is not.” Anna collected her thoughts. She was intrigued by the soldier’s face-value acceptance of what she told him.
“I recently had a dream in which I saw my sister. More importantly, she recognized me, and she begged me to help her. Of course, I thought it was just a dream. But then I had a meeting with another person I had met in the dream. Someone who I did not know. This person informed me of the impending doom of our world, and that my alter-ego’s sister was somehow connected to it.”
“How do you know that this guy is legitimate?”
“Because the body of the person I met was inhabited by another alien, whose kind travel across time and space observing the multiverse. As I understand it, they can see probable future events, but they cannot interfere with them — directly at least. The being I spoke with has seen the future of Earth if the Xuxaax and the German make contact. That is why he recruited me to prevent that.”
“So why not just kill this German?”
“The Xuxaax’s own plans are harmful to humanity. If the chain of events related to meeting with the German is prevented, it will devise another means for achieving its goals. If it succeeds with its own plans, we are all doomed as well.”
“And who are you to go after this thing?”
“I am part of an organization established to prevent interference with humanity. It is called the Longborough Foundation for Ethnographic Research. The cover purpose is to study different cultures around the world. It was established after that extra-dimensional incident I told you about. This is the first task that the foundation has pursued.”
Ogden Shroud sat back in the chair and closed his eyes. Anna could see that he was considering all that she had told him. After a moment, he opened his eyes and stood.
“I’m going to get some sleep,” he said. “Wake me up for dinner.” He walked to the door, opened it, and left the room.
Cletus watched the soldier leave, and then looked at Anna and cocked his head.
“I don’t know,” Anna said in response, “but I think he will help us.”
◆
Anna skirted the perimeter of Boston Common, stopping only to let Cletus do his business. While she waited, Anna noticed a pair of skinny young girls admiring the dog. From their slightly worn dresses and scuffed shoes, she suspected that they were living in the shanty town that dominated the open area. The two looked at Anna hopefully.
When Cletus had finished, he looked at the girls, then to Anna, and then sat with his tail wagging. Anna glanced from the dog to the girls and sighed.
“All right,” she said to Cletus. Then, to the girls, she added, “Would you like to pet him?” The girls smiled broadly, and the younger of the two ran up and wrapped her arms around Cletus’ neck.
“We used to have a dog,” the older girl said, “before Father lost his job.”
“I am sorry for your misfortune, but —”
“Oh, no, miss,” the girl protested. “We are not looking for charity. It’s just that losing Princess has been especially hard on Clarabelle.” She indicated the other girl.
“She is your sister?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Where are your parents?”
“Mother and Father are out looking for work.”
“And they leave you here alone.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the girl said defensively. “Mother has entrusted me with looking after Clarabelle, and there hasn’t been any trouble.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Father lost his job in December.”
“Right before Christmas,” the other girl added.
“Yes, right before Christmas.” The older girl sighed. “Then we lost our house. We were staying in a shed down in Roxbury until the old man who owned it kicked us out.” The girl scowled. “And he had that big house all to himself! You could see that half of the rooms were empty through the windows, but he couldn’t be kind enough to give us shelter from the snow in his shed.”
Anna was taken aback by the girl’s vehemence. The old man was displaying the same attitude that she herself had shown back in Wellersburg. Privacy aside, there were people with nothing who needed shelter.
“Some people are just inconsiderate,” Anna said with a sympathetic expression. At that moment, she felt uncomfortable. “Excuse me, girls,” she said, “but we have an appointment.” The two stepped away from Cletus.
“Thank you for letting me pet your dog,” Clarabelle said.
“You are most welcome,” Anna replied. “His name is Cletus.” At the sound of his name, the big dog wagged his tail, leaving a furrow in the snow. The younger girl laughed. “What is your name, dear?” Anna said to the older one.
“Susan Miller, ma’am.” She curtsied.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Susan,” Anna said. “And you, Clarabelle.” She choked up on Cletus’ leash and he stood. “Come on, Cletus,” she said, continuing toward Essex Street and the Western Union office.
◆
Anna skirted the perimeter of Boston Common, stopping only to let Cletus do his business. While she waited, Anna noticed a pair of skinny young girls admiring the dog. From their slightly worn dresses and scuffed shoes, she suspected that they were living in the shanty town that dominated the open area. The two looked at Anna hopefully.
When Cletus had finished, he looked at the girls, then to Anna, and then sat with his tail wagging. Anna glanced from the dog to the girls and sighed.
“All right,” she said to Cletus. Then, to the girls, she added, “Would you like to pet him?” The girls smiled broadly, and the younger of the two ran up and wrapped her arms around Cletus’ neck.
“We used to have a dog,” the older girl said, “before Father lost his job.”
“I am sorry for your misfortune, but —”
“Oh, no, miss,” the girl protested. “We are not looking for charity. It’s just that losing Princess has been especially hard on Clarabelle.” She indicated the other girl.
“She is your sister?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Where are your parents?”
; “Mother and Father are out looking for work.”
“And they leave you here alone.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the girl said defensively. “Mother has entrusted me with looking after Clarabelle, and there hasn’t been any trouble.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Father lost his job in December.”
“Right before Christmas,” the other girl added.
“Yes, right before Christmas.” The older girl sighed. “Then we lost our house. We were staying in a shed down in Roxbury until the old man who owned it kicked us out.” The girl scowled. “And he had that big house all to himself! You could see that half of the rooms were empty through the windows, but he couldn’t be kind enough to give us shelter from the snow in his shed.”
Anna was taken aback by the girl’s vehemence. The old man was displaying the same attitude that she herself had shown back in Wellersburg. Privacy aside, there were people with nothing who needed shelter.
“Some people are just inconsiderate,” Anna said with a sympathetic expression. At that moment, she felt uncomfortable. “Excuse me, girls,” she said, “but we have an appointment.” The two stepped away from Cletus.
“Thank you for letting me pet your dog,” Clarabelle said.
“You are most welcome,” Anna replied. “His name is Cletus.” At the sound of his name, the big dog wagged his tail, leaving a furrow in the snow. The younger girl laughed. “What is your name, dear?” Anna said to the older one.
“Susan Miller, ma’am.” She curtsied.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Susan,” Anna said. “And you, Clarabelle.” She choked up on Cletus’ leash and he stood. “Come on, Cletus,” she said, continuing toward Essex Street and the Western Union office.
◆
As Anna proceeded down the street, she came upon a crowd gathered on the sidewalk, looking into the windows of a shop. As she got closer, she noted that it was a luncheonette. The homeless people glanced longingly at the diners inside. As she and Cletus approached, a policeman blew his whistle and dispersed the crowd. He tipped his hat at Anna.
The Hunter in the Shadows Page 5