Chapter Ten
Matt and Telia’s Thanksgiving meal with Francis, Owen, and Samantha was subdued. A light snow turned the ground to mottled green and white and the sky was a cold and austere blue. They had an excellent meal, but the celebration made each of them feel homesick.
In the days that followed, Matt, Owen, Francis, Samantha and Telia continued their work. Their careful and well timed persuasion touched off a war within the Brotherhood’s structure between the drug cartels and the financial arm of the organization.
Francis collected news stories and Internet reports about the result of their activities. Seemingly unrelated events were actually joined together by their invisible hand. Financial executives were dying all around the world, and the cause of their death was invariably reported as suicide when in fact they were casualties of a war within the Brotherhood. The FBI and DEA were making record drug busts, and drug cartels came under assault from mercenaries working for the financial arm of the Brotherhood. Cartel gang violence erupted in Latin America and even in cities in the United States.
The ultimate goal, however, remained murky and distant. It was not clear what impact their efforts were having on the Beast, and the violence weighed heavily on them. Innocent people were invariably caught up in the destruction, and the carnage was slowly closing in on Wall Street. As a heavy snowfall blanketed the Lodge, the group prepared to unleash a financial tsunami.
Francis paced the floor of the barn. He was alternating between chewing his fingernails and drinking a tumbler that was full of whiskey and ice. After weeks of watching Matt, Telia, and Owen make the trip to the other side, Francis finally decided to take a turn.
Matt told him, “When you first cross over, the strangeness of the experience might just knock you back. If you can remain calm and focused you can stay over there, though.”
Francis climbed into the center of the reflector and put the headset on and relaxed. He thought he knew what to expect, but when he closed his eyes and awoke in another world, he was amazed.
Samantha, Louis and Telia greeted him.
He said, “Alright. I feel like I really missed out by putting this off for so long! So is this really my own dream?”
Samantha kissed him on the lips and brushed her fingers through his wavy hair. “Yes, it’s like we’re all dreaming together.” Her touch was like an electric arc that crackled along his entire spine.
He asked Samantha, “Can I, um, touch you?”
She nodded and he tentatively touched her face. She felt real to him. She appeared to be wearing a fluffy fur coat and a tight white sweater. She purred, “Don’t stop there. Be bold!”
He ventured a hand underneath the coat. She felt hot, her body was warmer than a human’s but her flesh was soft and firm and very human. He started getting lost in the sensation, but pulled himself together,and said, “That’s nice. But, alright, let’s get right to work. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to remain focused.”
Samantha rolled her eyes, “Always with the grubby business!”
Francis felt her reach through him and in a moment she pulled them all to a bleak, sandy, windswept place. The sky was charcoal black, and the scene was lit with only a ghostly glow. He was astounded at the change in the scenery. “Where in the world is this?”
Telia answered, “It’s really not a where in geographical terms, but this corresponds to Wall Street, more or less. Bleak as hell. Washington DC is the same.”
Samantha said, “Arcadia’s so nice because we’re all there and Matt’s breathed new life into it. So now there are streams, beaches, meadows, a sunny sky. However, the Beast is really strong in these bleak places. It’s consumed the gods and souls of the people.”
Francis was perplexed, “You know, I’ve been listening to you guys for weeks now. I see this, it is literally here in front of my eyes, well, my mind’s eyes. But, how does it work. I mean, what’s the mechanism that feeds the Beast?”
Samantha put her hand on the side of his head. “It’s about the minds of all the people and things that connect them to this bleakness. Money, for example, countless people are devoting their entire being to the pursuit of digits. This feeds the Beast. Apparently, just as I nudged and coaxed Matt’s family, the Beast does the same thing with others. Just as we’re now working with Seth to defeat the Beast, Seth once worked with the Beast to displace me.”
He nodded and said, “So how do we do our mission?”
Telia said, “We wait for the Beast to arrive to talk to his disciples. You see the shadows shimmering here on the sand? It’s the Disciples, I think their human counterparts are in a conference room. If you concentrate on Jimmy Pearls, you’ll actually see him.”
Francis concentrated and a shimmering form appeared. Jimmy Pearls was a man in an expensive tailored suit with white coiffed hair. He exuded an easy manner and had a weirdly plump and youthful face for an older man. Jimmy piloted a vast and old Wall Street Investment Bank--PJ Gormans. Touching off a conflict between the drug cartels and the investment banks would create a tsunami in the global financial markets, and that’s what they intended to do.
A shadow swarmed overhead, like a million black birds swirling in a dark sky. Telia, Samantha and Francis perceived a hissing sound as it flowed into the men. The shadows that marked the seated men jiggled and shifted as it whispered.
Francis could make out the syllables. It spoke to him directly. “It’s all lies. You are being conned. These shadows are a trick of Samantha. She is the true snake. You were meant to be more than an errand boy and a servant.” He felt cold, and anger flowed through him.
As the beast departed, he felt Samantha flow through him like a warm stream of honey, and he heard her whispers to the men in the conference room. He made out a few words, “Transfer cartel money.”
He snapped back to the barn and normal consciousness.
He heard Matt through the headset. “Welcome back! You were over a long time.”
Francis shook his head and looked at his hands and patted his arms and chest. Telia was sitting on the couch near the control panel. She breathed deeply and shook her head like she was coming up from a deep dive into a pool.
Telia said, “That was different. Something strange happened.”
Francis jumped down the last few ladder steps to the floor. “It was very weird. I heard the Beast! I saw it too. It’s really like a swarm of thousands of shadows, like reptilian scales.”
Telia said, “I felt those whispers, but I couldn’t make them out.”
“Why could I understand it?” Francis rubbed his hand on his chin thoughtfully. “It said Samantha is trying to trick us.” Everyone looked at Telia. She didn’t seem concerned.
Matt asked, “Do you feel anything? Like when Samantha touches us, it’s sort of like warm electricity.”
Francis shrugged and said, “I don’t know, maybe something. It was more like listening to a phone call than talking to a person.”
Owen said, “Now it knows about us. I think we can assume that.”
Francis said, “I agree, Owen. We really need to step things up. Maybe we need to take out the men in that room.”
Matt asked, “Is it even feasible for us to do that? It’s quite possible it doesn’t really know anything about us at all. Maybe it just makes you hear things.”
Owen stood up and walked around the room. “I think we need to act as if we’ve been compromised.”
Francis nodded, “I think we need to assume the worst.”
Matt put his fingers together in front of his face and pondered their options. “There’s a difference between being exposed over there, where time and space aren’t really significant, and being exposed over here, where we would be rolled up within hours of being discovered. I think acting directly against those men is more physically dangerous for us than battling the Beast on the other side.”
Francis groaned and shook his hands. “Matt, I think the die has already been cast on this one. We might still have the init
iative and might be able to shape events instead of trying to react when it’s already too late. They’re probably searching us out right now!”
Telia responded calmly, “It doesn’t work like that, Francis. We can see them because we already know who they are, and how they’re connected, plus Samantha’s, our guide. What if the way you feel now--panicked, wanting to murder is the equivalent to how Samantha makes us feel--all horny and inquisitive?”
“Hmmmm.” Francis stopped. “I started to feel this way over there.”
Matt added, “Francis, maybe you’re more susceptible to its influence than we are. We’ve had Samantha influencing my family for hundreds of years, apparently, so maybe we’re shielded somehow.”
Telia said, “Well, more years than that, I think.”
Francis frowned and slumped into a chair. “Fuck my life! Why do y’all have a goddess in your life?” he said. He felt small and alone.
Telia sat on the arm of the chair and wrapped her arms around his head and hugged him to her breast. “I am in your life, Francis. It’s up to you to accept me or not.”
He sighed and pushed her back. “Telia, Samantha, whatever, I mean why them, why not my family?”
She said, “Francis, your family once had a Samantha of your own. She was taken from you or you left her. It is really just an accident of history that I’m still around and with the Wells family.”
Francis put his head in his hands. “This is all so crazy. I thought I was prepared to experience it.”
Owen patted him on the shoulder. “You did really well, Francis. You discovered new things that might be of vital importance in our struggle.”
Francis nodded and said, “That is true.”
Matt scribbled in his notebook. He emphatically pointed at Francis and Owen. “You’re right, you’re totally right Owen. We need more information about this thing, and apparently, Francis, you’re the only one of us who can get it.”
EPISODE THREE -- Cold Break
Present Day
The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter Page 21