Past and Future
This story takes place almost two days after the story 'Blast From The Past'.
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The screams echoed and bounced around in Ryan's head. It seemed they were going to become a permanent part of his new persona. Two weeks ago he would never have believed that his life could turn out this way. Two weeks ago he had been a very different person. He had been Ryan Dallion, an almost commercial artist. Now he was Ryan Dallion, a man who fought the devil in his own backyard.
After his mother had died, his whole life had seemingly gone with it. Memories and nightmares of a different life wrapped themselves around him. Ryan was mentally dragged into another person's mind. And that Ryan had been terrorized, tortured, and killed in the name of God. But these were strange thoughts to be having at the breakfast table.
Ryan sat back, a spoonful of cornflakes forgotten in mid air. "Are you going to eat that, or start a conversation with it?" Kate sat down next to him. Her blond hair was trying desperately to escape a clip, and her borrowed clothes bunched up all over the place. Ryan shoved the cornflakes into his mouth, making a show of chewing them. "That's better," she exclaimed, patting his head. Kate smiled, "You look alot better." "I could say the same thing about you." In Germany, Kate had been brutally crushed by a werewolf. Ryan thought she was dead, but around here the dead never stay that way for long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kate wondered what Ryan was thinking about. He had such an intense look on his face. For the thirtieth time she wondered if that was what he always looked, intense and withdrawn. She sighed. Kate had known Ryan for eight years, yet now it seemed like she had just met him.
A handful of cornflakes made it's way from the box to her mouth. As she munched, Kate glanced around the shop. It would be the first time she had a real look at it. The first time she had been too worried about Ryan to look, the second she had been too exhausted to give a damn.
The place was stuffed to the rafters with all sorts of nick nacks. Every available space was taken up with African masks or carvings, ancient statues, scrolls, bits of antique furniture, and everyday odds and ends. The store itself was almost all wood. The place had a few levels, two for the store itself, and two for the living quarters. The whole place had an old apothecary feel to it. Secrets seemed to lurk in every corner, including a converted satanic temple under the basement floor. She hadn't been there herself, not yet anyway.
"This place defiantly has character," she breathed. Ryan glanced up at her. "What?" "Nothing, just talking to myself." Kate's eyes wandered around the small kitchen, taking everything in. Ryan on the other hand barely looked at anything. He seemed to have an intimate knowledge of the place, which in a way, she guessed he did. Boy, he sure was a mystery these days. Ryan winked at her.
A set of bells over the door began to tinkle as Jack entered the store. "Good morning everybody!" he said cheerfully. His rich baritone voice filled the cramped quarters of the store. In his arms, Jack held a bag of groceries. Kate turned quickly when she heard a rustling sound. Micki stood behind her, still on her pjammas. "If you say so, Jack." She smiled. Kate returned it.
Jack climbed the short sets of stairs and dumped the groceries on the table. His face was slightly red from the wind, making him look almost obnoxiously cheery. "What a night we had!" Jack eased himself into a chair. Micki grabbed the cornflakes before Ryan could poor himself another bowl. Dumping the last of the cornflakes into a bowl, she gestured towards the bag. "So what's with the groceries?" "Well with two more mouths to feed, I thought I had better stock up. Wait till you see what I've got planned for dinner!" A voice called from one of the bedrooms, "Trying to poison me again, old man?"
Micki rushed to help Johnny into the room. He'd broken a few ribs jumping out of a window in Germany. "Believe me Johnny, if I had wanted to poison you..." Johnny smiled, "I'd have been dead long before now." Kate thought he looked very pale. Although, she had never actually seen him in good health. And they'd only know each other for almost two days. He seemed to sense her eyes on him. He gave her an encouraging grin. It seemed to say 'I've been worse off.' Kate worried about people who were so used to seeing each other hurt. It just didn't seem right.
Kate jumped when the phone rang. So did Ryan. They grinned sheepishly at each other. Micki ran to answer it. It was buried under a pile of magazines. Micki tossed them to another table with a practiced motion. "Hello?" Again Kate tried to place her accent. It was almost English, maybe somewhere in Vermont? A careful expression came over Micki's face. Kate had seen that expression before. Micki held the phone out to her. "I knew it. My mom, right?" Twenty-one years old and her mom still treated her like she was three. Kate carefully placed the phone to her ear.
"Hi mom."
"Don't hello me young lady. Where the hell have you been? You've been gone for nearly a week!" The voice on the other end sounded panic stricken. "More like six days really. And I left a note." Wrong thing to say. "A note? A NOTE! Dear mom and dad, went to Chicago. You call that a note? If your father hadn't found that scrap of envelope, we still wouldn't know where you were." And that would be a bad thing? "I was going to call..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everybody stared as Kate slammed the phone down. She turned to them. "I have to go home." Ryan stood up. "What!?" "My mother and father are worried." She rolled her eyes heavenward. "Well you can't just leave me." Ryan's eyes widened in panic. Kate ran her hand through her hair in a familiar gesture. "I'm not. There's no way I'm leaving now." Jack carefully removed his glasses. "Maybe if you went home," he raised a hand to forestall any protests, "And explained things in person?" Ryan was still on his feet. "No way, Jack. Kate's parents would never let her come back. They'd pop her tires if they had to. They're good people, but they're crazy when it come to Kate." Kate sighed. "Over protective to the point of asphyxiation."
"Sit down everybody." Jack replaced his glasses. When everybody had scrambled into their respective seats, Jack spoke. "Now we're going to figure this out." "Jack, she's twenty-one. Her parents can't control her anymore." "Johnny, I don't want irate parents coming here and poking around. They could get hurt." "Whoa." Kate raised her hands. "I don't want my parents getting hurt. I just want them to back off." Micki sighed. "This is crazy! Why doesn't one of us just go down there with her. That way, Kate sees her parents, but has someone to back her up when she leaves?" Ryan was nodding. "Good, but who goes?" "I'll go," Johnny volunteered. Micki glared at him. "Oh no you're not. You're not going anywhere for at least a week. I'll go." "Great," Jack said clapping his hands. "It's all settled. You leave tomorrow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnny was sound asleep. Ryan glanced his way a couple of times as he tried to avoid sleep. The cot they'd stuck in Johnny's room was so comfortable. He had hoped it would keep him awake, but it was having the opposite effect. Ryan's eyes slowly closed. Opened, then closed...
... Mists swirled around the floor and climbed the walls, unaware of gravity. Hooded men chanted strange mantras. Then the screaming began, as he knew it would. It started softly, growing louder and more distinctive by the second. Disembodied faces howled at him from the darkness.
Ryan tried to run from the distorted faces. His arms were held fast behind him. He was manacled to a charred beam. Ryan pulled and pulled, but he couldn't free himself. The voices became a screaming wind. The chants became chains, joining him with the beam. Then the laughter began. It mocked him from the darkness. It's horrible evil baring down on him. Ryan screamed...
And woke himself up. Luckily, he was the only one he woke up. Johnny was still snoring blissfully. Ryan lay back, wide awake, awaiting the dawn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning was a long one. Kate and Micki were ready to go by nine, but the guys didn't finish giving advice until after ten. With a final, "Don't let them intimidate you", they were off. Jack and Ryan helped Johnny back into the house. Then they all settled down to wait. Micki had promised to phone the minute she got there. The only problem was that it would take almost a day to get there, and the guys had nothing to do until then.
It began to rain around noon. Johnny had Ryan bring in his lap top. Johnny lay back upon all the pillows he had been forced to endure, hands poised over the key pad. Ryan sat in the chair next to him. "So, you're a writer?" Johnny smiled sheepishly. "Sort of. I mean, I have had a few short stories published. Nothing big." Ryan looked at the lap top. "Why don't you write about what happens here?" Johnny shook his head no. "Jack made me swear not to write about this. He doesn't want anything to interfere with what we do here. I understand. I don't like it, but I understand."
Ryan heard rapid footsteps heading up the stairs. "Johnny!" Jack called throwing open the bedroom door. "We've got a lead." Johnny sat up as best he could. "On what? The hat? The tie tack?" Jack shook his head. "The cane, Johnny, the cane." Ryan stared at his new friends. He had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. "Remember how you kept insisting that Carstairs had to know something?" "Yeah." Johnny was closing down his writing program. "I had an old friend of mine tail him. Turns out he's been dealing in stolen goods. Carstairs has a cache of merchandise in a warehouse on fifth. Hopefully," "We'll find the cane." Johnny tried to get out of bed. "Well let's go."
Jack pushed him back into bed. "You're not going anywhere. You can barely move around. I'm not going to lose you because you couldn't keep up with an old man." Johnny shoved at Jack angrily. "A snail could keep up with you, old man." They glared at each other. Ryan cleared his throat. "Why don't I go with Jack?" "I don't want to just sit here, wondering whether you guys have been murdered." Ryan though about it. "We're not going to get killed Johnny. There's no reason to worry. This is routine." "I remember a trip to France that was supposed to be routine." Johnny cast Ryan a meaningful glance.
Ryan was getting angry. It was a wonder that these people could get anything done. Now they were discussing some stupid trip to France. "Okay! Shut up." Jack and Johnny glared at him. "Johnny can keep in touch with us through the computer. We'll wear the headsets." Johnny was nodding. "Do you have Internet access?" "Yeah, doesn't everybody? Oh, I get it. I find the blueprints to the warehouse." Jack was relaxing. "Johnny then directs us. It would definitely save time." Johnny was already linking to the net. "Okay guys, let's get going."
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It was Micki's turn to drive. Kate lay back in her seat, rubbing at her eyes. "What's wrong Kate? Didn't you sleep well?" Kate sighed, but it quickly turned into a yawn. "No. I had this nightmare. Probably just anxiety. I hate dealing with my parents when they're hell bent on doing what's best for me." Micki laughed. "Your parents sound a lot like my ex-fiancée. He was always trying to do what was best for me." Then Micki started laughing. "What?" "I was just thinking about the time he snuck into my room at the shop. Ryan though he was a prowler. He almost clobbered Lloyd with his electric guitar." Kate started laughing. "Your ex-fiancée's name was Lloyd?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan was a little nervous when he saw Jack's car. "It looks like a hearse." "It's an antique." "Great. An antique hearse." "Get in the car." Ryan reevaluated his opinion of the car in seconds. This was defiantly a cool car. Just then a loud burst of static erupted in his ear. He yelped. "Hey Jack, Ryan can you hear?" Johnny strange whispery voice was surprisingly loud. "Yeah, we can hear you. Loud and clear. You might want to turn it down a bit, this is a private FM remember." Mercifully Johnny's voice got softer. Jack sighed. "Much better. Johnny, have you located the blueprints?"
There was a pause. Johnny's voice was thoughtful. "Yeah Jack, I got it. That's a big place you're going into. Two levels, twelve hundred square feet to cover and the place is built like a maze." "Anything unusual?" Jack made a left. "The whole place is weird." "Try to be a little more specific Johnny." Jack sounded a little irritated. "Jack, this place is suppposed to be a warehouse, right? But it's seperated into over twelve rooms on the first floor. I don't even see any sort of loading dock. There's room enough for storage. I don't know. This doesn't feel right. Be careful in there." Jack parked the car. "Aren't we always?"
~~~~~~~~~
Micki shoved the remains of dinner into a trash can. They still had another seven hours ahead of them. They should have left late last night. They could have been there by now. She got back into the car. "We should have taken a plane." Kate sighed. "Don't I know it." Kate started the car and they were off, again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnny listened as Jack and Ryan called out there positions. He had marked them appropriately with two fruit loops on the printout of the warehouse. So far everything had been pretty quiet. He directed them towards the likely hiding spots and they reported back to him. Although not perfect, it was a good system.
Ryan tripped over a piece of wood. He swore at his own stupidity and kept moving. "What happened?" Johnny asked, his voice sounding small and tinny in his ear. "Nothing. Juts me being my usual graceful self." He tripped again. "You'd think I'd be good at this sort of thing by now." Ryan waved his flashlight to the left. "Relax. You've been out of practice for quite awhile." Ryan headed towards a pile of boxes. "I know, I know. It's my memory. It's driving me crazy. Part of me tells me I do this sort of thing everyday." "And the rest?" "The rest says this is the most exciting thing that's happened since Kate and I used to set flaming bags of crap on Mr. Hansen's step." "Cut the chatter you two. I think I've found something."
Ryan followed Jack's voice to the second floor. He was in a large room stacked to the rafters with boxes. The boxes were all shapes and sizes. The whole room smelled musty. Ryan spotted Jack over by a wall. It looked like he was listening to it. "Give me the dimensions for this room again, Johnny." Johnny's voice sounded thoughtful. "Two hundred square feet. Why? What's going on Jack? Tell me what you see."
Ryan hit the four walls with his flash light. The room was definitely not two hundred square, he thought. It was maybe half that. Jack was down on his knees examining the floor. "Ryan, come here. Take a look at this." Jack indicated a floor board. It didn't stop at the wall. The board seemed to pass right under the wall. "Maybe they did the floor before adding the partitions." Jack looked at him wryly, "Do you really believe that?" "No."
Ten minutes later, Ryan and Jack had found the catch. The door swung open soundlessly. Jack nodded as if the meant something to him. "Johnny, we're in. It's a room." Johnny sounded annoyed. "Well obviously. What does it look like? Do you see the cane anywhere?" Ryan shone his flashlight on the far wall. A pentacle had been burned into the light wooden surface. "Jack." Jack wasn't paying attention. "It's a small chamber, completely furnished." "Jack." "I'm sure the cane is here. I'll keep you posted." "Jack!" Jack turned to face Ryan. He stopped when he spotted the pentacle. "Johnny, we may be in trouble."
Johnny tapped furiously at the key pad. He scanned web after web, searching for information. "Routine. Damn." Words scrolled past his screen just slow enough to be read. "Jack there's nothing here. There are no active cults in Chicago. Not since we took the last one down on '95." Johnny waited. Jack's voice echoed in his ear. "Check Rasheed's web page. We're going to take a quick look around for the cane. Then we are leaving. I don't want to get anywhere near a satanic cult right now." "Right."
Johnny knew exactly what he meant. Ryan was a perfect sacrifice for any cult. A coven could sense his presence a mile off. Too bad the forces of good didn't have the same ability. He linked into Rasheed's home page. Nothing. "Damn."
"Nothing. It's not here." Ryan carefully replaced the books on the shelf. His body seemed to be signaling him to run like hell. Ryan shook the feeling off as he stood up. "Jack?" Jack was investigating the contents of a chest. "Not here." Jack grumbled straightening. "Let's go."
Ryan moved for the door. He never made it. Something on the floor stopped him cold. A small cross on a chain lay in the center if the floor. "The chain's connected to the wrong end." He remembered saying, but not much else. The next thing he knew he was outside getting shoved into the car.
"Ryan," Jack was saying, "Are you okay?" He sounded so worried. Ryan wondered why. "Yeah, I'm fine, Jack." To his own ears his voice sounded distant, and maybe just a little shaken. "Thank God." Jack breathed, almost to quietly for Ryan to hear.
That night Ryan went to bed a little early. For some reason he was very tired. And his right hand hurt. He didn't even notice how hard he was clutching it. He was asleep in seconds.
Downstairs, Jack and Johnny sat round Jack's pile of occult books. "He just wigged out?" Jack removed his glasses, quietly pacing them on the table. "I don't know, Johnny. One minute he was fully conscious, carefully examining the room. The next he was just standing there. I'm worried about him Johnny. His face was completely devoid of expression. I had to practically drag him to the car." Johnny swiped at his dark hair. "Could this be a side affect of his returning memory? Like remembering a traumatic even?" For a second Jack looked very old, "I don't know. I just don't know."
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was well after one o'clock in the morning by the time they arrived. Kate had been driving and her foot was completely asleep. Fortunately, the pain was keeping the rest of her awake. She glanced over at Micki. Her red hair was billowed out around her head. She was deeply asleep. She looked so relaxed. It was a shame to wake her. Especially if it was to send her into the lions den.
"Maybe we'll just go to a hotel, and come back in the morning." She had her hand on the ignition, just as the front door to her house opened. The lights were on in a flash. In the distance Kate heard a dog barking. "Great. They've got me surrounded. I wonder if I should raised my hands above my head when I step out of the car."
Kate shook Micki's shoulder gently. "Come on Micki, wake up. We're here. And my parents are baring down on us." Micki groaned, slowly opening one blue eye. "Already?" She grumbled sleepily. Kate gave her a shove. "Okay, okay. I'm up." Micki leaned forward and shook her head. "We should have gone to a hotel." She moaned as a tall woman began tapping on the window.
Ten minutes later they were in the Brannigan residence. It was a home over a store, just like the shop in Chicago. The place was small and comfortable not at all cluttered like 'Curios Goods'. The store was also lighter. It had more lamps and the walls were paneled in an almond stained wood. Micki thought it must have been a wonderful place to grow up. She hugged her mug of coffee tightly, trying to keep her mind focused on the conversation.
Kate's mother, a friendly woman, mid forties with auburn hair was trying to elicit a straight story out of her daughter. Kate was evading everything with an expertise which spoke of similar experiences. "I took Ryan to meet his cousin, that's all. We didn't think it was such a big thing. He was lonely. He needed family; Micki was the only family he had left. So I took him to see her." The woman wasn't stupid. "They why is she here with only you? Where is Ryan?" Kate looked flustered. "Mom! It took forever to get here. I don't know about Micki, but I'm exhausted. I'll explain everything tomorrow. I promise. Can we just get some sleep now?"
Mr. and Mrs. Brannigan set Micki up in the guest room. It was small, but comfortable. The dresser was a real antique. Micki carefully ran her hand along the edge of it. There was a real presence to it. Micki shook her head. Once a yuppie... It was defiantly time for bed.
~~~~~~~~~~
... Ryan knelt before a man in robes. The man held an upside down skull in his left hand. He right hand was pressing down on Ryan's forehead. One quick downstroke. One horizontal wipe. The man laughed as he worked, whispering unintelligibly. Ryan couldn't move, his body was frozen. He wasn't in control of his own body. Fear welled up from his guts and spilled into his mind.
Ryan silently screamed at the horror around him. The bones of the dead leered at him from the floor and walls. Jaws opened in equally soundless screams, seemed to echo his pain. The room burned his thought with it's evil, possessing him. Ryan tore the front of his shirt. The flesh underneath was scarred. the devil had marked him. Marked him as his own.
Then Ryan did scream. His mouth opened and tortured sound exploded out of him. As he screamed at the faces of the dead, the laughter started...
~~~~~~~~
Kate bolted upright. Sweat poured down her face, but her flesh was icy. What the hell was that all about?!? She shook her head to clear the dream from her mind. Kate checked her watch. It was six o'clock. Was too early to be up. She lay back, clutching her pillow. It would be a long wait till morning.
~~~~~~~~~
Ryan bolted upright. 'This is getting to be a bad habit' he thought as he leaned back on the cot. Pain shot from his right palm to his wrist. "Ow!" He hissed, gently opening his fist. the fingers were stiff and red and in the center of the palm sat the inverted cross.
Several hours later, Ryan came out of his room. Jack was pouring over a stack of old books and manuscripts. Ryan casually dropped the cross on the table. "Hey Jack," he drawled. "What's this?" Jack stared up at an oh so familiar expression. Ryan had his politely interested look on his face. It almost always hid worry behind incurable curiosity. Jack would have smiled, if he hadn't seen the necklace.
"Where did you get this?" Jack tried to keep the edge out of his question. But when someone who was once possessed by the devil hands you a symbol of evil, you worry. A puzzled look crossed Ryan features. "I think I remember seeing it at the warehouse. I don't remember picking it up, but I guess I must have." Ryan paused. "Is that bad?" Jack glanced down. "I wouldn't worry about it, Ryan. it's probably nothing." Probably.
"Good. Anything new on the cane?" Ryan sat down neatly avoiding a pile of books. "Maybe. What we found in the warehouse might have been a meeting place for some cult. Or it might have been Carstairs personal black temple. I doubt the cane would be stored there. Unless...," Jack glanced over the warehouse blue prints. His voice lowered, "Wake Johnny."
~~~~~~~~~~
Kate lay her head down on the breakfast table. She was getting nowhere. Even Micki was starting to look frazzled. Brannigans fifty, shop crew zero. "Mom, dad, look. Ryan is fine. I'm fine." "I'm fine too," Micki said, grabbing another cup of coffee. "Last night you said 'Ryan needed to be with his family'. If Ryan needed to be with his family so much, then why is Miss Foster here?" Kate's mom stood up, dumping the remains of her breakfast into the sink. Kate recognized that look. Mom obviously thought she'd scored a major hit with that one.
Micki looked exhausted. Kate could tell she wasn't used to this sort of extensive interrogation. "Mrs. Brannigan, I came here with Kate because Ryan didn't want her to come home alone." Kate's mom reseated herself at the table. It was Kate's dad's turn to attack. "Then why didn't Ryan escort her home himself?" Micki ran a hand through her red hair. "Ryan was just getting settled. It didn't make sense for him to pick up and leave." "So he just let his best friend travel over fourteen hours with a complete stranger?" Mr. Brannigan's balding pate was turning a delicate shade of red. "That doesn't sound like 'our' Ryan." "Yeah, well, you wouldn't believe how much the last few days have changed him." Micki breathed, almost to herself.
Kate sympathized with Micki. She'd weathered these kind of interrogations before. they were insanely frustrating. Kate could almost see Micki reaching the end of her rope. Funny, the end looked amazingly like two nooses. Wonder what those were for? Micki was fielding yet another question about her personal life. "So you're not married?" Kate's dad asked, it sounded more like he was accusing her. "No I am not and frankly I don't think that is any of your business." She stood up. "Listen, I came here because Kate and Ryan asked me to come. I did not come to be interrogated by you. Yes, I am Ryan's cousin. Yes, Ryan is going to be living with me, Jack and Johnny from now on." Before Micki could continue, Kate's mom stood up. "You're living with two men?!?" Her hand went to her chest. "What kind of woman are you?"
"That's it!" Micki exploded. "I'm done. Kate, I've got to get out of here. I'll be at Ryan's old place." Kate tossed Micki the spare keys. "Okay, I'll catch up with you." Micki slammed the door behind her. Kate's mom sat down. Turning to her husband she smiled, "That cousin of Ryan's, she's a bit high strung isn't she?" Her husband replied, "Oh yes, but she's very nice." Kate's mom nodded. A sigh exploded out of Kate. "You two are impossible!"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnny winced as Jack dropped a stack of books into his lap. "Sorry." Johnny just nodded. Jack cleaned his glasses on a square of white cloth. "This morning I remember what you said about the warehouse, how everything was weird. So I went over the blue prints and I found this." Jack pointed to a small room on the first floor. "What?" Johnny asked, puzzled. "Well, look at the shape of the thing, Johnny."
The room was shaped like a cross. Johnny wouldn't have noticed it because of the bathroom icon planted right near the cross beam. It made the room seem 'L' shaped. "Wow, I should have seen that. it's so obvious." Jack patted him on the shoulder. "I didn't see it until Ryan dropped this on the table this morning." Jack held up the inverted cross.
All this time Ryan had been studying the blue prints, but he glanced up when he realized all eyes were on him. "What? Did I forget to put on deodorant?" When he got no reaction, Ryan sighed. Johnny shifted his gaze back to the blue prints. "Check this out. The temple Jack and I found is right above this room." "My god, Ryan. You're right. That settles it. We have to go back there."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Kate entered Ryan's old house and tossed the keys on the floor. She stopped. The keys shouldn't be on the floor. They should have landed on the end table next to the door. Kate's anger at her parent's dissipated as she examined the room. It was trashed.
The end table was smashed into five seperate pieces in the center of the room. The sofa had been slashed and someone had dowsed most of the room in red paint. Paint bloody hand prints coated the four walls with cryptic runes. But the most frightening thing of all was that there was no sign of Micki.
"Micki!" Kate maneuvered her way upstairs. Chairs and paintings had been smashed indiscriminately. Someone had even torn up the blue carpet on the stairs. Kate got more and more upset the farther she went. She had spent most of her life in this house, to have it vandalized like this was too much. Where was Micki? "Micki?"
A soft voice called out. It was farther along the hall. "Micki?" "In here." It sounded like Micki was in the studio. Actually it was originally just a spare bedroom, but it had been made into a studio before Kate had met Ryan. Kate pushed the door inwards and stopped. It was horrible!
Everything in the studio had been throw around. The place looked as if a whirlwind had been through, except for the walls. Kate stepped over the exploded tubes of paint to get a better look. In blood red paint, words were written. But she couldn't read them, there was something off about them. They glittered wetly at her, making a cold bead of sweat drip between her shoulder blades.
... An unconscious Ryan lay on the ground. A larger man in flowing robes was leaning over him. Ryan's chest began to burn as the man carved into his flesh...
Kate shivered...
~~~~~~~~~
Ryan shivered as he entered the warehouse. 'Something wrong?' Jack's eyes asked, while he tried to keep from asking out loud. Ryan didn't like all this baby-sitting. He knew they meant well, but it was getting on his nerves. "I'm fine," he whispered switching on his flashlight.
Johnny's voice whirred into Ryan's ear. "Make a left. there should be a wide expanse in front of you." "There is," Ryan heard Jack answer back. "Good. Go straight across it. At the end there will be two doors. Our magic number is two." Ryan flicked his light over the far wall. "Jack, there's only one door." "Oh, I think not." Jack got there first and began tapping on the wall. Ryan avoided that wall altogether and entered the other door.
The stench assaulted him first. This was definatly a bathroom. In fact, it was one of those rare bathrooms in which everyone for reasons unknown, suddenly forgot how to flush. Blur tiled walls spread out around him. Stalls crowded the left side, and mirror and sinks to the right. Ryan flicked his light over the back wall and something glittered. Ryan moved closer. The wall seemed clean, the tiles were unbroken. Ryan jumped back as her heard a familiar sound...
Jack stopped examining the wall. "Johnny, did you hear that? It sounded like the vault opening." "You know I did, it came from Ryan's microphone." Johnny was puzzled. "You're with him, right?" Jack didn't answer. He rushed into the bathroom on time to see Ryan backing away from a gaping hole in the wall. "Ryan!" "I didn't do it, Jack. I swear." "Then RUN!!!" Ryan back pedaled away from the door as black robed figures began to ooze from behind the wall. He turned and bolted through the door as the sea of blackness headed for him.
Jack had already started moving things toward the door. "We've got to buy enough time to get out of here." Ryan leaned up against the door. "You should just run, Jack. They're here for me." Jack missed that last part, but Johnny didn't. "Who's there for you? What's going on you two? Damn it! Don't leave me hanging like this." The door started to move beneath Ryan's weight. "Black Death. Come for me. It starts again," he whispered. "Jack! Help me! I can't hold it!" Then the pressure stopped. Ryan practically fell to the floor. His eyes looked slightly glazed.
Jack warily opened the bathroom door. The wall at the end of the hall was slowly closing. All the attackers were gone. Jack left the bathroom. Ryan still sat on the floor next to the door. "Jack, let's go home. I don't want to some here anymore." Jack squatted down next to him. "But then we'll never know what's going on here. What kind of evil in behind that door." "I don't want to know, Jack! I just want to go home." Angrily, Jack helped Ryan to his feet. "Come on, let's go."
Ryan stared behind him at the bathroom door. They had been after him. He could feel it. But why hadn't they grabbed him? Had they heard it? Jack hadn't. Ryan shivered as he remembered the voice. It had been horribly familiar. Then suddenly he couldn't stop shaking. Jack had to support him most of the way back to the car. And the voice just kept echoing in his head...
...No.... It is not time.... Leave him.... Death is not for him this day....
~~~~~~~~~~
Kate shook her head. A voice was echoing in her head. it gave her a bad feeling. She turned away from the paint splattered wall and spotted Micki. She was in the center of the room, carefully coping the runes off the wall. "Do your parents have a fax machine?" Kate nodded. "Good. We have to get these to Jack. I've got a bad feeling about this." Kate reached out to touch a mangled piece of canvas. "Stop." Micki grabbed her hand. "Unless you want to explain to the police how your fingerprints got there." Kate pulled her hand back. That was when she noticed Micki's gloved hands.
"How often do you do this sort of thing?" Kate was angry. Micki smiled sadly. "A lot. ever since the late 80's. The police probably wouldn't bother you, but we don't have time to waste. That's not important." She held up the sheets of paper. "These are." "Do you think this has anything to do with Ryan? Or did they just attack this place cause it was empty?" Micki's face clouded. "I won't know till I get these translated." She placed a hand to her head. "I can't help thinking that I've forgotten something very important."
~~~~~~~~~
.... and she who is linked loses her link to the past as the Time draws nearer...
~~~~~~~~~
Kate slammed the car door. Things were getting curiouser and curiouser. First weird nightmares, then vandalism, Ryan was going to be institutionalized by the end of the year at this rate. And Kate wasn't far behind him. "Oh what a tangled web we weave." Micki smiled. Kate smiled back. She was sure glad Micki was here. The two had bonded rather quickly, but Kate was cool with it. She'd never really had a girl friend before.
Kate and Micki walked towards the Brannigan Shop/Home. A bright orange light flashed briefly in the upstairs window. Kate frowned. "That's funny," she thought. The next thing she knew, Micki had thrown herself and Kate to the ground. Chunks of masonry rained down. Kate heard herself scream from a long way off.
~~~~~~~~~
Micki lay on top of Kate, shielding her. The front of the store had exploded outward, flames shot up the side of the building. Sparks were already starting in the adjacent buildings. My God. MyGodMyGodMYGOD! Kate's parents were in there! Micki left Kate crouching on the pavement and headed towards the flaming building.
She ripped off the scarf as she got closer and tied it around her face. The heat was unbelievable. There couldn't possibly be anyone left alive in there, but she has to check. Micki climbed over the burning rubble. It was a wonder the rest of the building hadn't collapsed by now. Coughing and choking, Micki found remains of the stairs. As she tried to climb them, something slid to the ground next to her with a sickening thump.
Micki double up with a racking cough. The thing on the floor was what was left Kate's mom. The smell of burnt flesh assaulted Micki's already scorched airways. Screaming involuntarily, she jumped back, away from it. Then she gathered courage and leaned closer the body, checking for a pulse. She found none. Micki double up a second time when her hand came away coated in melted flesh. Screaming and retching at the same time she moved back towards the exit. As she stumbled out of the house, she realized something very important. Mrs. Brannigan's throat had been slashed. The exposed spinal column had made Micki lose more that one meal as she made her escape.
Outside the building, Kate caught Micki as she stumbled, retching out of the blaze. Micki caught her eyes, so full of hope and couldn't keep them. As her gaze slid away she saw the first of the tears. Micki fell to the ground as the first of the fire trucks arrived.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan sat forward. "Why haven't they called?" Jack tried to placate him. "Maybe something's come up. They probably busy handling Kate's parents. If there as much of a problem as you say..." Johnny lay on the couch, writing. "No, Jack. It's been over thirty hours since they got there. Micki would not have just forgotten, no matter what happened. Maybe we should call them?" Ryan was up before he finished the sentence.
Ryan sat back down a few minutes later. "It's temporarily disconnected." Ryan was quiet for a minute. "Something's wrong." "Maybe a line's down or someone forgot to pay the bill..." "Now way, never happen. I'm going to call her neighbors." Ryan reached the phone and it rang. Ryan grabbed it. "Hello?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ryan, it's Micki." Micki could hear Ryan exhale heavily on the other end. "What's going on down there? You were supposed to call yesterday." Great, Micki thought, he sounds cheery and relieved. "Look Ryan, something horrible has happened." "Where's Kate?!" Ryan's voice went up two octaves. "She's right here, she's okay. It's her parents. Ryan," she said softly, "they're dead."
~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan fell onto the sofa. Color began to visibly drain from his face. He could hear Micki's frantic yelling coming from the phone, but he couldn't answer her for several seconds. "How is Kate?"
Jack and Johnny were worried and impatient. "What's going on," Johnny asked, closing down his laptop. Judging by the look on Ryan's face, it was pretty bad. "Can I talk to her" Ryan was asking. "Why not?" A pause. "Right." Jack moved closer to Ryan. "What is happening, Ryan?" "Is Kate hurt," Johnny asked. Ryan covered the mouth piece, "Kate's parents were killed." Jack shook his head sadly. "What a terrible thing to happen to such a young girl." "What a terrible thing to happen to anybody," Johnny commented glancing at Ryan, then looking down.
Ryan listened to the details then suddenly handed the phone to Johnny. "She wants to talk to you." Johnny took the phone gingerly from Ryan and placed it to his ear. "Micki?" The voice at the other end sounded relieved. "Johnny, it's pretty bad down here. We're at the Eighth District. they're questing us." "They don't think you had anything to do with it?" Micki coughed. "No, I don't think so. They're just looking for any lead at all." "So it was an accident?" "No, I don't think so. Johnny, I know it wasn't. I haven't told the police this, but I saw Mrs. Brannigan's body." Micki swallowed. "Her throat was cut."
~~~~~~~~~
Micki watched Kate to make sure she wasn't listening. Her head was pillowed on her hands and Micki's overcoat was draped around her shoulders. Kate looked so out of place here. All around her people were bustling, except where she sat immovable. "She's in shock Johnny. She doesn't need to know this... ever." Johnny tried to protest. Micki cut him off. "there's more, but it'll keep till we reach home." Johnny didn't sound happy, but he held his tongue. He was good like that. Micki carefully replaced the receiver. Then she turned to face the detective.
He smiled at her, softly. "How's the girl?" Micki tried to return his simile, but she couldn't. "She's as well as any girl who just lost both her parents can be." The detective led her to his desk. "I sure picked a great time to sub in Philadelphia didn't I?" He smiled again, this time ruefully. "But I tell you, that mountie was driving me crazy." At Micki's puzzled expression, he laughed. "Nevermind. It's a long story. Look, as far as I'm concerned this was a horrible accident. it looks like the gas pipes just exploded. It's rare, but it does happen. So why don't you take the girl home and just leave me a number where I can reach you both. If anything else comes up, I'll let you know."
Three hours later they were on their way back to Chicago.
~~~~~~~~~
... "It begins again," the voice was so familiar to him, yet not. "The past is the future, Boy. It is all as it was." The chamber misted over, becoming the warehouse building. Darkness oozed from the ceiling, the floor, the walls. It all came calling his name. In a second or an eternity he was overwhelmed and absorbed by the darkness...
~~~~~~~~~
Ryan was awake. Sleep wasn't much fun lately. The nightmares were getting worse. And now that Kate's parents were gone, his dreams had more to haunt him about than ever. Ryan got out of his cot and headed for the living room. Johnny was sitting on the sofa, typing.
"Don't you ever sleep" he asked as Ryan sat in the chair opposite him. "Not if I can help it." Johnny glanced up at him sharply. "Nightmares again?" "Again? They never stopped." Johnny closed down his lap top. "I thought Jack said they were repressed memories or something." "Yeah, well either I repressed a whole hell of alot, or I'm going crazy." Johnny smiled to himself. "I always thought you had a screw loose."
"Micki and Kate should be back soon" Ryan said, glancing at his watch. Johnny reopened his computer. "Not for another hour. Since you're up..." Johnny proffered a mug. "Coffee?" Johnny shook his head. "Not in my condition. How about a mug of hot chocolate?" Ryan walked to the kitchen. "It's a sad day for the human race when a grown man passes up coffee in favor of hot chocolate. And I suppose you want those little marshmallows?" "God Ryan, I'm an invalid, not a girl!" Ryan looked slyly over shoulder. "So is that one handful or two?" "Two. Those buggers are small."
Ryan stirred the chocolate slowly into the milk. On the thirtieth pass, a soft thus startled him. "Did you hear that?" Johnny stopped typing. "Hear what?" The thud softly repeated itself. "That." Johnny gazed at his computer screen. "Yes, but I choose to ignore it." Ryan was confused. "Ignore it? Why?" Johnny looked up. "Because if, and I do mean if not when, I went to investigate something horrible would happen." Two thuds and a whump. "I got to find out what that noise is. It's driving me crazy." "Right," Johnny said. "I'll miss you."
Ryan grabbed a flashlight. "You're not coming with me?" "No." "Great." Ryan headed down into the store. He crept silently down the stairs and past the clocks. African masks leered at him as he headed down the second set of stairs. Jack would go if he were here. Sure, let's send the amnesiac who just happens to be back from the dead to check it out. His luck seems to be holding. Ryan swung the flashlight left over the door to Jack's room. Then right.
He let the light linger on there great metal doors of the vault. There was no way in hell (ha ha, his mind thought) that he was going in there. A shadow moved behind him. He turned in time to see a second shadow join it. "Look guys, I bet you just got the wrong address. I can help you out." A third shadow joined it's fellows. "I know how expensive it can be if you don't deliver that pizza in thirty minutes." Ryan backed into a fourth shadow. "Johnny!!" he shouted as the cloud of black overwhelmed him.
Up in the living room, Johnny heard a shout. "Ryan?" he called. "Is that you?" Who else would it be, stupid? Johnny gingerly eased himself up to his feet. He moved quickly down the first flight of stairs. By the time he reached the second set of stairs he was unconscious. A blow to the back of his head quickly dragged him into oblivion.
~~~~~~~
Micki sat staring at the papers. Lucky for her. Detective Vecchio hadn't noticed them. The copies were remarkably good, considering the artist but almost meaningless to her. "Isn't that the Infinity symbol?" Kate asked pointing to the eighth glyph. Micki smiled at her. "I think you're right. The past and future, forever joined. This looks familiar." Micki pointed to another glyph. "I wonder where I've seen it before." "Nevermind about that, what does it mean?" "Death." They stared at each other. "We have to get back. I really need Jack to look at these." "Do you think this has anything to do with Ryan?" "God I hope not I don't like the looks of a few of these symbols."
Micki was positive the glyphs had to do with Ryan, but how do you tell a girl who just lost both her parents that he best friend may be next? Micki smiled gently as the girl leaned against her. No, better wait till we're on the ground. At least from the ground they'd be able to act in someway.
~~~~~~~~
Jack waited by gate Twenty-Three. The plane was due in any second. He hoped the young girl was okay. It was a shame that Kate seemed to have already contracted the 'Curious Goods Curse', Jack laughed to himself. Johnny had spoken as great lengths about how the curse insidiously sneaked into you after being in the shop too long, how it kills everyone close to you or anyone who you care a great deal about. It would have been terribly amusing if it hadn't been so deadly.
Ten after midnight, the place was down. Twelve thirty the girls exited the plane and hurried to meet Jack. Kate looked terrible. Her eye make-up had run down her cheeks, her clothes were rumpled and dirty and her pretty face held a sadness that hadn't been there three days ago. Jack snapped her up into a burly bear hug. A slow, sad smile rewarded his efforts, then the sadness reappeared. He smiled reassuringly.
"Now what's go important you couldn't tell me what it is?" Micki smiled and gave Jack a quick hug. When she stepped back he could see the worried look on her face. "Ryan's house was trashed, horribly." She handed over the small stack of paper. "Here, these were covering the walls." Jack glanced at them. Infinity. Death. The Lion. The Phoenix. A dark glower fought for control with his forced cheerfulness. It won the war. Jack scowled. "Let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~
...A child lay before him. He raised a great bone. He was going to kill her. It was what the Master wanted.
...Death was what she deserved.
She's just a little girl...
...Kill her.
She wanted to help me. She knows my name. She's calling my name...
...Kill her!
I cant!
...You are mine! You will do as I say!
The pressure stopped suddenly as the bone slid through flesh and into the heart.
... Nooooo!! My plans!!
My soul.... more.... important......
The ground rushed up to great him like an old friend. Pain burning through his chest. Voices shouting, calling his name....
~~~~~~~~
Ryan opened one eye slowly. The second eye opened shortly after the first, then wished it hadn't. A figure stood above him, which wasn't to hard since Ryan was upside down. The figure crouched beside him. It was very disturbing to Ryan's brain which was still trying to register things right side up.
A silky voice purred from within the black robes and hood. "Hello, Mr. Dallion. Welcome back to your life." Ryan stared into the depths of the hood. "You!" he exclaimed. The man within the robes laughed. "No," he corrected gently, "You."
~~~~~~~
Kate shivered all the way back to the shop. She could feel to the very bottom of her soul that something was up. And she was beginning to wonder it her parent's death had been an accident. She was especially disturbed when Jack began filling them in on what had been occurring at the warehouse. "Where's Ryan now?" "He's at the shop with Johnny. Don't worry, Kate everything will..." "Do you dare tell me everything will be all right, Jack." Jack sighed and nodded. Kate stared off into space as the rest of the silent drive continued.
The shop was really quiet. "Johnny?" Jack called. "Ryan?" A muffled, "Jack?" from behind the counter. Micki and Jack ran to the counter and began helping Johnny up. "Where's Ryan?" Kate asked softly, then headed for the basement stairs.
"He's gone Jack. they got him. He heard a noise..." Micki shushed him. Jack checked his head. "We should get you back to the hospital." Johnny grabbed Jack's arm. "They'll be time for that later, after we find Ryan."
Kate came back up the stairs. "Looks like they grabbed him outside the vault." Jack hefted Johnny up onto a chair. "Damn." Jack swore softly. "I have a very bad feeling about all of this, like I'm missing one very important piece of the puzzle..." Kate glared at him. "Well can't you figure it out later? We've got to go after Ryan." Micki sighed. "But how are we going to find him? Who knows where those people took him?"
"I've got it!" Johnny exclaimed, nearly knocking Jack over. The three listened intently. "The warehouse." "Johnny, why would they take him there, to a place we've been? Seems pretty damned stupid."
Johnny persisted, "No, look at it this way, remember how Ryan freaked out the two time he was there? Well? And this cult trashing his house. It's too much of a coincidence." "And you don't think hiding out in the same warehouse we have tried to get into twice isn't just a little, well, convenient?" "Yeah, but if they expected us to come for him, why hide? The only reason they would hide would be to buy time. My blackout probably bought them all the time they needed. What is we were meant to find the warehouse? "You mean to see if Ryan was back with us?" Jack was starting to come round. "Well, it's worth checking out. Maybe the group sent to Philadelphia was a back up, in case Ryan hadn't rejoined us. The only question left unanswered is why?"
... It begins again... They will follow the trail like lemmings... Their entrails shall decorate his temple like ribbons of the truest red...
"It's a trap," Kate whispered, then louder, "It's a trap! He wants us to come." Everyone looked at her. "What Kate?" Kate stared at them. "Ryan is in the warehouse. I've seen it in my dreams. He wants us to come. that's why it's so easy. We shouldn't go." Jack looked at her curiously. "Who wants us to some?" "A man in black, surrounded by death." "Can you be more specific," Johnny asked, "Like a name?" Kate shoo her head.
Everyone grabbed a headset and climbed into the car. It was agreed that Johnny would be safer if he relayed messages from the car. They had wanted to take him to the hospital, but there wasn't time. Kate rocked gently back and forth the entire time. Johnny placed a calming hand on her shoulder. She smiled weakly up at him. When they got there, Jack took Kate with him in the front and Micki circled round the back.
~~~~~~~~
Ropes fastened Ryan's arms outstretched. He still hung upside down, and he wasn't feeling very good. There was a lot of voices crowding around in his brain and only one was his. The twelve people swirled around him and somehow a goat appeared in their midst.
The thirteenth man leaned heavily against a carved piece of ivory. The cane was capped in a gold goat's head. he smiled when he caught Ryan's curious gaze. "It was once thought that this cane was an alicorn. Men murdered their own mothers for possession of it. Now, with a little help from your uncle it will be the resurrection of my lord. And after him, his Lord." The twelve chanted behind him, becoming louder with each pass around the goat.
"The moon is almost in position, Ryan. Can I all you Ryan? Oh, it doesn't matter. You won't be you long enough to care. Anyway, Ryan, do you what time it is in France? And what day?" Ryan shook his head warily. the man clucked disapprovingly. "For shame boy, you died today. What a thing to forget!" The man leaned forward, his face wreathed and shapeless in the shadows. "Tonight, on your anniversary, you are going to repeat your performance from ten years ago. Only this time, we are going to get it right. Happy Death Day, Ryan! Enjoy!" He breathed a blue powder in Ryan's direction. Everything wavered in and out of focus for a minute. Ryan's eyes finally settled on the goat. It looked towards him, sending a shiver up his spine. The goat's eyes were scarlet.
Ryan tried to cry out; his voice was gone. A cough racked him sending a shower of the blue dust back into the air. The man with the cane began tearing down the draperies. "They are here!" he shouted exposing wall after wall coated in the bones of the dead. "The sacrificial lambs, a blood feast for the damned! It is time!" If anything the chanting got louder. the voices rising to a single scream. A fire exploded into existence in the center of the room. The flame glowed darkly blue with black flames running along it's edges. "Noo!" screamed Ryan soundlessly.
A jade beam lanced from the tip of the cane. It blazed across the room and blazed into Ryan's head. The pain was unbelievable. It tore thought the upper layers of his mind and ripped its way down to the voices. Ryan cried out again, this time making a pathetic rasping cough. Then the voices in his head joined together, creating a sonorous bass. "Alive," it screamed. "ALIVE!"
~~~~~~~~~
Jack stood in the bathroom gazing at the wall. "Should I wait outside?" Kate gazed at the urinals. "Come on, I think I've got it." Kate heard a click, then the wall swung slowly open. "After you." "No, Jack. I think not." Jack smiled softly. He walked into the darkness. Kate followed quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~
Micki came round the side opposite where Jack and Kate were entering. She could hear chanting, and a weird keening. Micki approached the wall carefully. "It this it?" Johnny sighed into the microphone. "As far as I know. There's a way in on the opposite side. Jack and Kate just went in that way." "What about this side?" Micki slid her hands along the wall. It's wood paneling was an obvious place to hide a secret door.
Moving farther along the wall, she kept an ear open for Kate and Jack. So far they were in the shadows, keeping low. then suddenly the keening jumped up several octaves and Kate whispered, "My God! That's Ryan!" Micki stepped up her search. "Damn it Johnny! Gimme something I can use." A frustrated Johnny called back, "I've got nothing. Damn it, I've got nothing. There's only the blue prints. Wait! Move to your right. You'll see a door. No, you won't but it's there." Micki slammed the wall, and it slid silently open. "I'm in!"
~~~~~~~~~~~
"ASTEROPH SHALL LIVE AGAIN!"
Ryan continued to scream uselessly. His mind felt smaller. Asteroph was taking control. It was like he had been there all the time waiting. Ryan fought the stream of alien thoughts as they ripped across his head. His heart felt like it was burning its way free of his chest.
'I'm drowning,' Ryan thought. Asteroph laughed. "You should have died a long time ago, boy. The devil called you and you failed him. Now die in your own mind!" Cold laughter pooled around him, cutting off his thought and sinking them in a sea of horrors. "This is the world I will create from your ashes." Blood ran like water through the streets. Garroted people cried piteously for their lost organs. Men butchered their children and ate their entrails. Ryan screamed as his lungs fill with thought of blood.
Ryan's body hung limp as Asteroph's last disciple called the demon back from the grave. In a few minutes he would once again find favor with the prince of darkness. His coven swarmed around him. Their voiced raised in the word of the black mass. Then into the room exploded a blond haired girl. He smiled pleasantly at her. Her presence had been predicted by Asteroph himself. Her link to the boy would finally destroy Ryan's mind.
He aimed the staff at her and the beam lanced into her skull. She crumpled instantly, clasping the sides of her head. "Ryan!!" she wailed as the darkness invaded her mind. Out of the shadows leapt an old man. He, too, had been predicted. "Beware the aged, his secrets can unlock the Light" Caleb, high disciple of Asteroph, swung his cane. It contacted with the old man's stomach and he went down with a satisfying thump.
Caleb turned back to the boy. His eyes had begun to glow jade. The process was almost complete. The girl's peril was distracting him. He couldn't concentrate on his own thought. Ryan was slowly begin destroyed by his need to help. The good were always so weak when it came to the pain of others.
Caleb suddenly realized there weren't as many coven members as before. As he watched, he saw Helen slowly crumple to the ground. A flash of red hair was all that pointed to outside involvement. "Show yourself!" he shouted. A voice laughed at him. "No." Female, definitely female.
~~~~~~~
Micki saw Jack stir. That was when she decided to answer. Keep the enemy playing Marco Polo. She smiled as she kept moving. Micki had taken out four coven members, plus the two Jack and Kate had taken out on their way in. That left six. Micki hit another as he passed the post she was behind. The candle stick she hefted made an excellent weapon. She laughed quietly. Five left.
Jack was up and moving again. The head man was too busy looking for her to notice. Micki smiled. Experience had taught her well. Blind luck had served her very well, but it was nothing compared to a candlestick and experience. the she spotted Ryan and the laughter stopped.
Micki could now understand why Kate had shouted. He hung upside down from a tight noose around his feet. his arms were stretched out and away from his body, tied to two posts on either side. Jade glittered from within his dark brown eyes, his face an image of frozen terror. Sweat streamed down his face and into a basin set there for that purpose. His gaze was fixed on Kate, who's hands clawed at her head.
Micki jumped, startled, Jack was speaking into his microphone. "I'm going to get that cane. Distract him. I want to get behind him, then go for Ryan." "Right," Micki whispered. She moved to the center of the room. "Hey! You wanted me? Come and get me!" Johnny was yelling frantically in her ear. "He said, 'Distract'. He didn't say commit suicide!" Micki ignored him and dove behind a pillar as a beam of green light exploded from the cane in her direction.
~~~~~~~~~~
Flames. Fire. Raining Death. "Help us! HELP US!" Kate screamed at the building. "Mom! Dad! No!" She charged towards the building, but no matter how fast she ran she still couldn't make it. The building exploded into flaming chunks of cement. Her parents screamed, "You let us die! It's your fault." They wailed, "Why couldn't you save us? We hate you!" "No! I tried!" "You murdered us!" Flames crawled up the remains of the building as two charcoaled bodies fell from the blaze.
Kate ran to them. Their bodies were barely coated in their own roasted flesh. Tears ran from Kate's eyes to the ground hissing in the heat. She fell to her knees before her parents. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. Their lifeless corpses hissed and chinks of flesh cracked and melted away. Kate leaned forward, and stopped. A skeletal hand had clasped her throat. She screamed pulling bits of melted muscle away as she clawed her way free. The charnel covered skeletons got to their feet. "Mom, dad," she cried, backing away. "Don't do this. Please." Whispery voices clashed around her mind. "Betrayed. Betrayed. BETRAYED!"
~~~~~~~~~
Jack moved closer to the robed man. The cane was inches from his reach. Another blast erupted from the can. A soft cry came from Micki as she crumpled to the ground. Jack could hear Johnny yelling at her, trying to find out what was going on. Jack tuned it out as he made a grab for the cane. He got a hold of it, but the man in black hadn't let go.
The man cried out in annoyance and the other coven members stopped their mindless chanting. It had made them easy prey tonight. They never even noticed Jack. It had been like taking candy from... well, a coven ember. Jack never took candy from children. His mind riveted back to the present when a coven member smashed a candelabra over his back.
Jack stayed upright, which was not an easy task. He also maintained his hold on the cane, which was a miracle. "Leave go, old man! I will grant you death soon enough. No need to rush into it." He shook Jack free of the cane. And aimed it at him. Then he smiled. He pointed to two of the remaining conscious coven members. "Grab him. Asteroph will need a blood sacrifice." "Asteroph?" Jack was stunned. "He's dead!" The man with the cane threw back his hood. "No. He has been imprisoned, but I will set him free! ME! Lowest of disciples, Caleb Delacroix, exhalted by my master Asteroph!"
Caleb's face was a mass of scars and tattoos. Crystal blue eyes bore down on Jack from a demonic continence. The ears had been burned pointed. The flash tattoos and mangled to honor the devil. His hair was long and ratty and splattered with unknowns. He carried the cane like it were a staff, his eyes alternately glowing jade then sapphire.
Jack looked towards Ryan in horror. "Not Ryan! Hasn't he suffered enough at the hands of your master?" A hysterical gleam glowed green in the sapphire, blue in the jade. "Yes, I know. Don't you see? That's why he is so prefect. he has served his master well, now he will do the same for mine."
~~~~~~~~~~
Micki saw the golden flash, the molten blaze shot through the air. There was no escape. She was tossed like a rag doll. Again the coin blazed. Again it hungered for her life force. A scream, exploded out of her. It was an animal rage. She clawed at her head like a cat. Then, she began to move.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan's life force was getting weaker. He didn't even notice. Kate needed him. She was more important. Ryan tried to project reassuring thought her way. He didn't seem to realize that he was dying.
"I am free! Free! FREE! THE BOY'S SOUL IS MINE!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack saw a flash was red behind Caleb. Then an angry human ball launched itself at Caleb. Surprised, he was smashed into the ground. Micki rolled off, practically snarling. the cane skittered across the room. Five coven members bolted after it. Jack ran after them, smashing into the last coven member. He wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Jack crashed into another coven member. This one wouldn't go down. he tossed Jack back towards Ryan.
Jack got a good look at Ryan then and it froze him cold. Ryan's hair was growing and changing color. his eyes glowed feverishly green. his expression was a snarl. Scariest of all was that he was beginning to move. One arm had ripped itself free.
Jack looked back towards the coven members. Micki had taken out two more, leaving two racing for the cane. They didn't get it. The cane had already been claimed. Caleb moved towards the black robed figure. But he didn't see what Jack did. This coven member wasn't wearing sandals. He was wearing sneakers. He tore off his hood and smiled.
Johnny held the cane aloft. He didn't have much time to figure it out either. So he whirled the cane above his head, spewing green light in every direction. The remaining coven members collapsed. But when the light hit Micki she sat up, shook her head and wandered shakily to Kate. The minute the beam had hit her, she had begun to sob piteously. Micki put her arms around the girl, to comfort her.
Johnny looked to Jack for instruction. They came quickly. "Get Caleb, then point the blasted thing at Ryan. Hurry, you damned fool!" Johnny whipped the came round and pointed it at Caleb. He has been trying to slink off. The man screamed as the light touched him, crumpiling like he'd suddenly lost his spine. Johnny turned towards Ryan and was shocked into immovability.
It wasn't Ryan. It was Asteroph. Ten years and Johnny could still remember his face. The horrible craggy features, the mustache, the skeletal hands. "Get him, Johnny! It's the only way to save Ryan!" An unholy wind surrounded them. Candles flew free, chunks crashing into Johnny. Johnny cried out as one hit his rib cage and he fell. Jack screamed, heading for him. Jack slid across most of the floor as Asteroph spoke.
"I AM FREE! AND NOW THE DEVIL SHALL HAVE HIS DUE!" A bolt of lightning struck the floor inches from Johnny. Jack grabbed a hold of him. Helping Johnny steady the cane, he let loose a blast of jade fire. It careened into Asteroph, knocking him backwards.
He howled in horror as the flames ate at him. Chunks of flesh melted into air as a green whirlwind engulfed him. Heart wrenching screams clawed at their minds, begging for rescue. A siren song, compelling then to help their friend. Kate started forward, "Ryan!" Micki quickly tackled her. Light erupted from Asteroph's mouth, spewing to the far corners of the room. Then with one final howl, he was gone.
The green whirlwind settled and died. A figure stepped out of it's light and collapsed to the floor. Everyone ran forward as the green glow faded from Ryan's body. They grabbed him up and dragged him from the place. All the coven members were gone. Those who's bodies hadn't been eviscerated by the cane's light had fled. It was over.
~~~~~~~~~
The Curious Goods Antique Shop was not open for business the next day. All the members were too damned tired to get up before noon. And when they did get up, no one felt like dealing with anyone but themselves.
Kate sat real close to Micki. the two had bonded over the past week. Micki sat with one arm around Kate and the other around Johnny. Jack and Ryan sat next to one another, doling out the chocolate milk. Marshmallows flowed like wine. And everyone said it was a hell of a day's work.
Kate placed the cane in the vault herself, as everyone watched. It seemed Fate had decided to align her with those at the shop. Johnny thought it was great, because he wouldn't be the only one who had no idea what was going on. And Ryan was glad to have so many friends who didn't give a damn how many times he was possessed by various demons.
_____________________________END____________________________________
This story takes place almost two days after the story 'Blast From The Past'.
_______________________________________________________________________
The screams echoed and bounced around in Ryan's head. It seemed they were going to become a permanent part of his new persona. Two weeks ago he would never have believed that his life could turn out this way. Two weeks ago he had been a very different person. He had been Ryan Dallion, an almost commercial artist. Now he was Ryan Dallion, a man who fought the devil in his own backyard.
After his mother had died, his whole life had seemingly gone with it. Memories and nightmares of a different life wrapped themselves around him. Ryan was mentally dragged into another person's mind. And that Ryan had been terrorized, tortured, and killed in the name of God. But these were strange thoughts to be having at the breakfast table.
Ryan sat back, a spoonful of cornflakes forgotten in mid air. "Are you going to eat that, or start a conversation with it?" Kate sat down next to him. Her blond hair was trying desperately to escape a clip, and her borrowed clothes bunched up all over the place. Ryan shoved the cornflakes into his mouth, making a show of chewing them. "That's better," she exclaimed, patting his head. Kate smiled, "You look alot better." "I could say the same thing about you." In Germany, Kate had been brutally crushed by a werewolf. Ryan thought she was dead, but around here the dead never stay that way for long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kate wondered what Ryan was thinking about. He had such an intense look on his face. For the thirtieth time she wondered if that was what he always looked, intense and withdrawn. She sighed. Kate had known Ryan for eight years, yet now it seemed like she had just met him.
A handful of cornflakes made it's way from the box to her mouth. As she munched, Kate glanced around the shop. It would be the first time she had a real look at it. The first time she had been too worried about Ryan to look, the second she had been too exhausted to give a damn.
The place was stuffed to the rafters with all sorts of nick nacks. Every available space was taken up with African masks or carvings, ancient statues, scrolls, bits of antique furniture, and everyday odds and ends. The store itself was almost all wood. The place had a few levels, two for the store itself, and two for the living quarters. The whole place had an old apothecary feel to it. Secrets seemed to lurk in every corner, including a converted satanic temple under the basement floor. She hadn't been there herself, not yet anyway.
"This place defiantly has character," she breathed. Ryan glanced up at her. "What?" "Nothing, just talking to myself." Kate's eyes wandered around the small kitchen, taking everything in. Ryan on the other hand barely looked at anything. He seemed to have an intimate knowledge of the place, which in a way, she guessed he did. Boy, he sure was a mystery these days. Ryan winked at her.
A set of bells over the door began to tinkle as Jack entered the store. "Good morning everybody!" he said cheerfully. His rich baritone voice filled the cramped quarters of the store. In his arms, Jack held a bag of groceries. Kate turned quickly when she heard a rustling sound. Micki stood behind her, still on her pjammas. "If you say so, Jack." She smiled. Kate returned it.
Jack climbed the short sets of stairs and dumped the groceries on the table. His face was slightly red from the wind, making him look almost obnoxiously cheery. "What a night we had!" Jack eased himself into a chair. Micki grabbed the cornflakes before Ryan could poor himself another bowl. Dumping the last of the cornflakes into a bowl, she gestured towards the bag. "So what's with the groceries?" "Well with two more mouths to feed, I thought I had better stock up. Wait till you see what I've got planned for dinner!" A voice called from one of the bedrooms, "Trying to poison me again, old man?"
Micki rushed to help Johnny into the room. He'd broken a few ribs jumping out of a window in Germany. "Believe me Johnny, if I had wanted to poison you..." Johnny smiled, "I'd have been dead long before now." Kate thought he looked very pale. Although, she had never actually seen him in good health. And they'd only know each other for almost two days. He seemed to sense her eyes on him. He gave her an encouraging grin. It seemed to say 'I've been worse off.' Kate worried about people who were so used to seeing each other hurt. It just didn't seem right.
Kate jumped when the phone rang. So did Ryan. They grinned sheepishly at each other. Micki ran to answer it. It was buried under a pile of magazines. Micki tossed them to another table with a practiced motion. "Hello?" Again Kate tried to place her accent. It was almost English, maybe somewhere in Vermont? A careful expression came over Micki's face. Kate had seen that expression before. Micki held the phone out to her. "I knew it. My mom, right?" Twenty-one years old and her mom still treated her like she was three. Kate carefully placed the phone to her ear.
"Hi mom."
"Don't hello me young lady. Where the hell have you been? You've been gone for nearly a week!" The voice on the other end sounded panic stricken. "More like six days really. And I left a note." Wrong thing to say. "A note? A NOTE! Dear mom and dad, went to Chicago. You call that a note? If your father hadn't found that scrap of envelope, we still wouldn't know where you were." And that would be a bad thing? "I was going to call..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everybody stared as Kate slammed the phone down. She turned to them. "I have to go home." Ryan stood up. "What!?" "My mother and father are worried." She rolled her eyes heavenward. "Well you can't just leave me." Ryan's eyes widened in panic. Kate ran her hand through her hair in a familiar gesture. "I'm not. There's no way I'm leaving now." Jack carefully removed his glasses. "Maybe if you went home," he raised a hand to forestall any protests, "And explained things in person?" Ryan was still on his feet. "No way, Jack. Kate's parents would never let her come back. They'd pop her tires if they had to. They're good people, but they're crazy when it come to Kate." Kate sighed. "Over protective to the point of asphyxiation."
"Sit down everybody." Jack replaced his glasses. When everybody had scrambled into their respective seats, Jack spoke. "Now we're going to figure this out." "Jack, she's twenty-one. Her parents can't control her anymore." "Johnny, I don't want irate parents coming here and poking around. They could get hurt." "Whoa." Kate raised her hands. "I don't want my parents getting hurt. I just want them to back off." Micki sighed. "This is crazy! Why doesn't one of us just go down there with her. That way, Kate sees her parents, but has someone to back her up when she leaves?" Ryan was nodding. "Good, but who goes?" "I'll go," Johnny volunteered. Micki glared at him. "Oh no you're not. You're not going anywhere for at least a week. I'll go." "Great," Jack said clapping his hands. "It's all settled. You leave tomorrow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnny was sound asleep. Ryan glanced his way a couple of times as he tried to avoid sleep. The cot they'd stuck in Johnny's room was so comfortable. He had hoped it would keep him awake, but it was having the opposite effect. Ryan's eyes slowly closed. Opened, then closed...
... Mists swirled around the floor and climbed the walls, unaware of gravity. Hooded men chanted strange mantras. Then the screaming began, as he knew it would. It started softly, growing louder and more distinctive by the second. Disembodied faces howled at him from the darkness.
Ryan tried to run from the distorted faces. His arms were held fast behind him. He was manacled to a charred beam. Ryan pulled and pulled, but he couldn't free himself. The voices became a screaming wind. The chants became chains, joining him with the beam. Then the laughter began. It mocked him from the darkness. It's horrible evil baring down on him. Ryan screamed...
And woke himself up. Luckily, he was the only one he woke up. Johnny was still snoring blissfully. Ryan lay back, wide awake, awaiting the dawn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning was a long one. Kate and Micki were ready to go by nine, but the guys didn't finish giving advice until after ten. With a final, "Don't let them intimidate you", they were off. Jack and Ryan helped Johnny back into the house. Then they all settled down to wait. Micki had promised to phone the minute she got there. The only problem was that it would take almost a day to get there, and the guys had nothing to do until then.
It began to rain around noon. Johnny had Ryan bring in his lap top. Johnny lay back upon all the pillows he had been forced to endure, hands poised over the key pad. Ryan sat in the chair next to him. "So, you're a writer?" Johnny smiled sheepishly. "Sort of. I mean, I have had a few short stories published. Nothing big." Ryan looked at the lap top. "Why don't you write about what happens here?" Johnny shook his head no. "Jack made me swear not to write about this. He doesn't want anything to interfere with what we do here. I understand. I don't like it, but I understand."
Ryan heard rapid footsteps heading up the stairs. "Johnny!" Jack called throwing open the bedroom door. "We've got a lead." Johnny sat up as best he could. "On what? The hat? The tie tack?" Jack shook his head. "The cane, Johnny, the cane." Ryan stared at his new friends. He had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. "Remember how you kept insisting that Carstairs had to know something?" "Yeah." Johnny was closing down his writing program. "I had an old friend of mine tail him. Turns out he's been dealing in stolen goods. Carstairs has a cache of merchandise in a warehouse on fifth. Hopefully," "We'll find the cane." Johnny tried to get out of bed. "Well let's go."
Jack pushed him back into bed. "You're not going anywhere. You can barely move around. I'm not going to lose you because you couldn't keep up with an old man." Johnny shoved at Jack angrily. "A snail could keep up with you, old man." They glared at each other. Ryan cleared his throat. "Why don't I go with Jack?" "I don't want to just sit here, wondering whether you guys have been murdered." Ryan though about it. "We're not going to get killed Johnny. There's no reason to worry. This is routine." "I remember a trip to France that was supposed to be routine." Johnny cast Ryan a meaningful glance.
Ryan was getting angry. It was a wonder that these people could get anything done. Now they were discussing some stupid trip to France. "Okay! Shut up." Jack and Johnny glared at him. "Johnny can keep in touch with us through the computer. We'll wear the headsets." Johnny was nodding. "Do you have Internet access?" "Yeah, doesn't everybody? Oh, I get it. I find the blueprints to the warehouse." Jack was relaxing. "Johnny then directs us. It would definitely save time." Johnny was already linking to the net. "Okay guys, let's get going."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was Micki's turn to drive. Kate lay back in her seat, rubbing at her eyes. "What's wrong Kate? Didn't you sleep well?" Kate sighed, but it quickly turned into a yawn. "No. I had this nightmare. Probably just anxiety. I hate dealing with my parents when they're hell bent on doing what's best for me." Micki laughed. "Your parents sound a lot like my ex-fiancée. He was always trying to do what was best for me." Then Micki started laughing. "What?" "I was just thinking about the time he snuck into my room at the shop. Ryan though he was a prowler. He almost clobbered Lloyd with his electric guitar." Kate started laughing. "Your ex-fiancée's name was Lloyd?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan was a little nervous when he saw Jack's car. "It looks like a hearse." "It's an antique." "Great. An antique hearse." "Get in the car." Ryan reevaluated his opinion of the car in seconds. This was defiantly a cool car. Just then a loud burst of static erupted in his ear. He yelped. "Hey Jack, Ryan can you hear?" Johnny strange whispery voice was surprisingly loud. "Yeah, we can hear you. Loud and clear. You might want to turn it down a bit, this is a private FM remember." Mercifully Johnny's voice got softer. Jack sighed. "Much better. Johnny, have you located the blueprints?"
There was a pause. Johnny's voice was thoughtful. "Yeah Jack, I got it. That's a big place you're going into. Two levels, twelve hundred square feet to cover and the place is built like a maze." "Anything unusual?" Jack made a left. "The whole place is weird." "Try to be a little more specific Johnny." Jack sounded a little irritated. "Jack, this place is suppposed to be a warehouse, right? But it's seperated into over twelve rooms on the first floor. I don't even see any sort of loading dock. There's room enough for storage. I don't know. This doesn't feel right. Be careful in there." Jack parked the car. "Aren't we always?"
~~~~~~~~~
Micki shoved the remains of dinner into a trash can. They still had another seven hours ahead of them. They should have left late last night. They could have been there by now. She got back into the car. "We should have taken a plane." Kate sighed. "Don't I know it." Kate started the car and they were off, again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnny listened as Jack and Ryan called out there positions. He had marked them appropriately with two fruit loops on the printout of the warehouse. So far everything had been pretty quiet. He directed them towards the likely hiding spots and they reported back to him. Although not perfect, it was a good system.
Ryan tripped over a piece of wood. He swore at his own stupidity and kept moving. "What happened?" Johnny asked, his voice sounding small and tinny in his ear. "Nothing. Juts me being my usual graceful self." He tripped again. "You'd think I'd be good at this sort of thing by now." Ryan waved his flashlight to the left. "Relax. You've been out of practice for quite awhile." Ryan headed towards a pile of boxes. "I know, I know. It's my memory. It's driving me crazy. Part of me tells me I do this sort of thing everyday." "And the rest?" "The rest says this is the most exciting thing that's happened since Kate and I used to set flaming bags of crap on Mr. Hansen's step." "Cut the chatter you two. I think I've found something."
Ryan followed Jack's voice to the second floor. He was in a large room stacked to the rafters with boxes. The boxes were all shapes and sizes. The whole room smelled musty. Ryan spotted Jack over by a wall. It looked like he was listening to it. "Give me the dimensions for this room again, Johnny." Johnny's voice sounded thoughtful. "Two hundred square feet. Why? What's going on Jack? Tell me what you see."
Ryan hit the four walls with his flash light. The room was definitely not two hundred square, he thought. It was maybe half that. Jack was down on his knees examining the floor. "Ryan, come here. Take a look at this." Jack indicated a floor board. It didn't stop at the wall. The board seemed to pass right under the wall. "Maybe they did the floor before adding the partitions." Jack looked at him wryly, "Do you really believe that?" "No."
Ten minutes later, Ryan and Jack had found the catch. The door swung open soundlessly. Jack nodded as if the meant something to him. "Johnny, we're in. It's a room." Johnny sounded annoyed. "Well obviously. What does it look like? Do you see the cane anywhere?" Ryan shone his flashlight on the far wall. A pentacle had been burned into the light wooden surface. "Jack." Jack wasn't paying attention. "It's a small chamber, completely furnished." "Jack." "I'm sure the cane is here. I'll keep you posted." "Jack!" Jack turned to face Ryan. He stopped when he spotted the pentacle. "Johnny, we may be in trouble."
Johnny tapped furiously at the key pad. He scanned web after web, searching for information. "Routine. Damn." Words scrolled past his screen just slow enough to be read. "Jack there's nothing here. There are no active cults in Chicago. Not since we took the last one down on '95." Johnny waited. Jack's voice echoed in his ear. "Check Rasheed's web page. We're going to take a quick look around for the cane. Then we are leaving. I don't want to get anywhere near a satanic cult right now." "Right."
Johnny knew exactly what he meant. Ryan was a perfect sacrifice for any cult. A coven could sense his presence a mile off. Too bad the forces of good didn't have the same ability. He linked into Rasheed's home page. Nothing. "Damn."
"Nothing. It's not here." Ryan carefully replaced the books on the shelf. His body seemed to be signaling him to run like hell. Ryan shook the feeling off as he stood up. "Jack?" Jack was investigating the contents of a chest. "Not here." Jack grumbled straightening. "Let's go."
Ryan moved for the door. He never made it. Something on the floor stopped him cold. A small cross on a chain lay in the center if the floor. "The chain's connected to the wrong end." He remembered saying, but not much else. The next thing he knew he was outside getting shoved into the car.
"Ryan," Jack was saying, "Are you okay?" He sounded so worried. Ryan wondered why. "Yeah, I'm fine, Jack." To his own ears his voice sounded distant, and maybe just a little shaken. "Thank God." Jack breathed, almost to quietly for Ryan to hear.
That night Ryan went to bed a little early. For some reason he was very tired. And his right hand hurt. He didn't even notice how hard he was clutching it. He was asleep in seconds.
Downstairs, Jack and Johnny sat round Jack's pile of occult books. "He just wigged out?" Jack removed his glasses, quietly pacing them on the table. "I don't know, Johnny. One minute he was fully conscious, carefully examining the room. The next he was just standing there. I'm worried about him Johnny. His face was completely devoid of expression. I had to practically drag him to the car." Johnny swiped at his dark hair. "Could this be a side affect of his returning memory? Like remembering a traumatic even?" For a second Jack looked very old, "I don't know. I just don't know."
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was well after one o'clock in the morning by the time they arrived. Kate had been driving and her foot was completely asleep. Fortunately, the pain was keeping the rest of her awake. She glanced over at Micki. Her red hair was billowed out around her head. She was deeply asleep. She looked so relaxed. It was a shame to wake her. Especially if it was to send her into the lions den.
"Maybe we'll just go to a hotel, and come back in the morning." She had her hand on the ignition, just as the front door to her house opened. The lights were on in a flash. In the distance Kate heard a dog barking. "Great. They've got me surrounded. I wonder if I should raised my hands above my head when I step out of the car."
Kate shook Micki's shoulder gently. "Come on Micki, wake up. We're here. And my parents are baring down on us." Micki groaned, slowly opening one blue eye. "Already?" She grumbled sleepily. Kate gave her a shove. "Okay, okay. I'm up." Micki leaned forward and shook her head. "We should have gone to a hotel." She moaned as a tall woman began tapping on the window.
Ten minutes later they were in the Brannigan residence. It was a home over a store, just like the shop in Chicago. The place was small and comfortable not at all cluttered like 'Curios Goods'. The store was also lighter. It had more lamps and the walls were paneled in an almond stained wood. Micki thought it must have been a wonderful place to grow up. She hugged her mug of coffee tightly, trying to keep her mind focused on the conversation.
Kate's mother, a friendly woman, mid forties with auburn hair was trying to elicit a straight story out of her daughter. Kate was evading everything with an expertise which spoke of similar experiences. "I took Ryan to meet his cousin, that's all. We didn't think it was such a big thing. He was lonely. He needed family; Micki was the only family he had left. So I took him to see her." The woman wasn't stupid. "They why is she here with only you? Where is Ryan?" Kate looked flustered. "Mom! It took forever to get here. I don't know about Micki, but I'm exhausted. I'll explain everything tomorrow. I promise. Can we just get some sleep now?"
Mr. and Mrs. Brannigan set Micki up in the guest room. It was small, but comfortable. The dresser was a real antique. Micki carefully ran her hand along the edge of it. There was a real presence to it. Micki shook her head. Once a yuppie... It was defiantly time for bed.
~~~~~~~~~~
... Ryan knelt before a man in robes. The man held an upside down skull in his left hand. He right hand was pressing down on Ryan's forehead. One quick downstroke. One horizontal wipe. The man laughed as he worked, whispering unintelligibly. Ryan couldn't move, his body was frozen. He wasn't in control of his own body. Fear welled up from his guts and spilled into his mind.
Ryan silently screamed at the horror around him. The bones of the dead leered at him from the floor and walls. Jaws opened in equally soundless screams, seemed to echo his pain. The room burned his thought with it's evil, possessing him. Ryan tore the front of his shirt. The flesh underneath was scarred. the devil had marked him. Marked him as his own.
Then Ryan did scream. His mouth opened and tortured sound exploded out of him. As he screamed at the faces of the dead, the laughter started...
~~~~~~~~
Kate bolted upright. Sweat poured down her face, but her flesh was icy. What the hell was that all about?!? She shook her head to clear the dream from her mind. Kate checked her watch. It was six o'clock. Was too early to be up. She lay back, clutching her pillow. It would be a long wait till morning.
~~~~~~~~~
Ryan bolted upright. 'This is getting to be a bad habit' he thought as he leaned back on the cot. Pain shot from his right palm to his wrist. "Ow!" He hissed, gently opening his fist. the fingers were stiff and red and in the center of the palm sat the inverted cross.
Several hours later, Ryan came out of his room. Jack was pouring over a stack of old books and manuscripts. Ryan casually dropped the cross on the table. "Hey Jack," he drawled. "What's this?" Jack stared up at an oh so familiar expression. Ryan had his politely interested look on his face. It almost always hid worry behind incurable curiosity. Jack would have smiled, if he hadn't seen the necklace.
"Where did you get this?" Jack tried to keep the edge out of his question. But when someone who was once possessed by the devil hands you a symbol of evil, you worry. A puzzled look crossed Ryan features. "I think I remember seeing it at the warehouse. I don't remember picking it up, but I guess I must have." Ryan paused. "Is that bad?" Jack glanced down. "I wouldn't worry about it, Ryan. it's probably nothing." Probably.
"Good. Anything new on the cane?" Ryan sat down neatly avoiding a pile of books. "Maybe. What we found in the warehouse might have been a meeting place for some cult. Or it might have been Carstairs personal black temple. I doubt the cane would be stored there. Unless...," Jack glanced over the warehouse blue prints. His voice lowered, "Wake Johnny."
~~~~~~~~~~
Kate lay her head down on the breakfast table. She was getting nowhere. Even Micki was starting to look frazzled. Brannigans fifty, shop crew zero. "Mom, dad, look. Ryan is fine. I'm fine." "I'm fine too," Micki said, grabbing another cup of coffee. "Last night you said 'Ryan needed to be with his family'. If Ryan needed to be with his family so much, then why is Miss Foster here?" Kate's mom stood up, dumping the remains of her breakfast into the sink. Kate recognized that look. Mom obviously thought she'd scored a major hit with that one.
Micki looked exhausted. Kate could tell she wasn't used to this sort of extensive interrogation. "Mrs. Brannigan, I came here with Kate because Ryan didn't want her to come home alone." Kate's mom reseated herself at the table. It was Kate's dad's turn to attack. "Then why didn't Ryan escort her home himself?" Micki ran a hand through her red hair. "Ryan was just getting settled. It didn't make sense for him to pick up and leave." "So he just let his best friend travel over fourteen hours with a complete stranger?" Mr. Brannigan's balding pate was turning a delicate shade of red. "That doesn't sound like 'our' Ryan." "Yeah, well, you wouldn't believe how much the last few days have changed him." Micki breathed, almost to herself.
Kate sympathized with Micki. She'd weathered these kind of interrogations before. they were insanely frustrating. Kate could almost see Micki reaching the end of her rope. Funny, the end looked amazingly like two nooses. Wonder what those were for? Micki was fielding yet another question about her personal life. "So you're not married?" Kate's dad asked, it sounded more like he was accusing her. "No I am not and frankly I don't think that is any of your business." She stood up. "Listen, I came here because Kate and Ryan asked me to come. I did not come to be interrogated by you. Yes, I am Ryan's cousin. Yes, Ryan is going to be living with me, Jack and Johnny from now on." Before Micki could continue, Kate's mom stood up. "You're living with two men?!?" Her hand went to her chest. "What kind of woman are you?"
"That's it!" Micki exploded. "I'm done. Kate, I've got to get out of here. I'll be at Ryan's old place." Kate tossed Micki the spare keys. "Okay, I'll catch up with you." Micki slammed the door behind her. Kate's mom sat down. Turning to her husband she smiled, "That cousin of Ryan's, she's a bit high strung isn't she?" Her husband replied, "Oh yes, but she's very nice." Kate's mom nodded. A sigh exploded out of Kate. "You two are impossible!"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnny winced as Jack dropped a stack of books into his lap. "Sorry." Johnny just nodded. Jack cleaned his glasses on a square of white cloth. "This morning I remember what you said about the warehouse, how everything was weird. So I went over the blue prints and I found this." Jack pointed to a small room on the first floor. "What?" Johnny asked, puzzled. "Well, look at the shape of the thing, Johnny."
The room was shaped like a cross. Johnny wouldn't have noticed it because of the bathroom icon planted right near the cross beam. It made the room seem 'L' shaped. "Wow, I should have seen that. it's so obvious." Jack patted him on the shoulder. "I didn't see it until Ryan dropped this on the table this morning." Jack held up the inverted cross.
All this time Ryan had been studying the blue prints, but he glanced up when he realized all eyes were on him. "What? Did I forget to put on deodorant?" When he got no reaction, Ryan sighed. Johnny shifted his gaze back to the blue prints. "Check this out. The temple Jack and I found is right above this room." "My god, Ryan. You're right. That settles it. We have to go back there."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Kate entered Ryan's old house and tossed the keys on the floor. She stopped. The keys shouldn't be on the floor. They should have landed on the end table next to the door. Kate's anger at her parent's dissipated as she examined the room. It was trashed.
The end table was smashed into five seperate pieces in the center of the room. The sofa had been slashed and someone had dowsed most of the room in red paint. Paint bloody hand prints coated the four walls with cryptic runes. But the most frightening thing of all was that there was no sign of Micki.
"Micki!" Kate maneuvered her way upstairs. Chairs and paintings had been smashed indiscriminately. Someone had even torn up the blue carpet on the stairs. Kate got more and more upset the farther she went. She had spent most of her life in this house, to have it vandalized like this was too much. Where was Micki? "Micki?"
A soft voice called out. It was farther along the hall. "Micki?" "In here." It sounded like Micki was in the studio. Actually it was originally just a spare bedroom, but it had been made into a studio before Kate had met Ryan. Kate pushed the door inwards and stopped. It was horrible!
Everything in the studio had been throw around. The place looked as if a whirlwind had been through, except for the walls. Kate stepped over the exploded tubes of paint to get a better look. In blood red paint, words were written. But she couldn't read them, there was something off about them. They glittered wetly at her, making a cold bead of sweat drip between her shoulder blades.
... An unconscious Ryan lay on the ground. A larger man in flowing robes was leaning over him. Ryan's chest began to burn as the man carved into his flesh...
Kate shivered...
~~~~~~~~~
Ryan shivered as he entered the warehouse. 'Something wrong?' Jack's eyes asked, while he tried to keep from asking out loud. Ryan didn't like all this baby-sitting. He knew they meant well, but it was getting on his nerves. "I'm fine," he whispered switching on his flashlight.
Johnny's voice whirred into Ryan's ear. "Make a left. there should be a wide expanse in front of you." "There is," Ryan heard Jack answer back. "Good. Go straight across it. At the end there will be two doors. Our magic number is two." Ryan flicked his light over the far wall. "Jack, there's only one door." "Oh, I think not." Jack got there first and began tapping on the wall. Ryan avoided that wall altogether and entered the other door.
The stench assaulted him first. This was definatly a bathroom. In fact, it was one of those rare bathrooms in which everyone for reasons unknown, suddenly forgot how to flush. Blur tiled walls spread out around him. Stalls crowded the left side, and mirror and sinks to the right. Ryan flicked his light over the back wall and something glittered. Ryan moved closer. The wall seemed clean, the tiles were unbroken. Ryan jumped back as her heard a familiar sound...
Jack stopped examining the wall. "Johnny, did you hear that? It sounded like the vault opening." "You know I did, it came from Ryan's microphone." Johnny was puzzled. "You're with him, right?" Jack didn't answer. He rushed into the bathroom on time to see Ryan backing away from a gaping hole in the wall. "Ryan!" "I didn't do it, Jack. I swear." "Then RUN!!!" Ryan back pedaled away from the door as black robed figures began to ooze from behind the wall. He turned and bolted through the door as the sea of blackness headed for him.
Jack had already started moving things toward the door. "We've got to buy enough time to get out of here." Ryan leaned up against the door. "You should just run, Jack. They're here for me." Jack missed that last part, but Johnny didn't. "Who's there for you? What's going on you two? Damn it! Don't leave me hanging like this." The door started to move beneath Ryan's weight. "Black Death. Come for me. It starts again," he whispered. "Jack! Help me! I can't hold it!" Then the pressure stopped. Ryan practically fell to the floor. His eyes looked slightly glazed.
Jack warily opened the bathroom door. The wall at the end of the hall was slowly closing. All the attackers were gone. Jack left the bathroom. Ryan still sat on the floor next to the door. "Jack, let's go home. I don't want to some here anymore." Jack squatted down next to him. "But then we'll never know what's going on here. What kind of evil in behind that door." "I don't want to know, Jack! I just want to go home." Angrily, Jack helped Ryan to his feet. "Come on, let's go."
Ryan stared behind him at the bathroom door. They had been after him. He could feel it. But why hadn't they grabbed him? Had they heard it? Jack hadn't. Ryan shivered as he remembered the voice. It had been horribly familiar. Then suddenly he couldn't stop shaking. Jack had to support him most of the way back to the car. And the voice just kept echoing in his head...
...No.... It is not time.... Leave him.... Death is not for him this day....
~~~~~~~~~~
Kate shook her head. A voice was echoing in her head. it gave her a bad feeling. She turned away from the paint splattered wall and spotted Micki. She was in the center of the room, carefully coping the runes off the wall. "Do your parents have a fax machine?" Kate nodded. "Good. We have to get these to Jack. I've got a bad feeling about this." Kate reached out to touch a mangled piece of canvas. "Stop." Micki grabbed her hand. "Unless you want to explain to the police how your fingerprints got there." Kate pulled her hand back. That was when she noticed Micki's gloved hands.
"How often do you do this sort of thing?" Kate was angry. Micki smiled sadly. "A lot. ever since the late 80's. The police probably wouldn't bother you, but we don't have time to waste. That's not important." She held up the sheets of paper. "These are." "Do you think this has anything to do with Ryan? Or did they just attack this place cause it was empty?" Micki's face clouded. "I won't know till I get these translated." She placed a hand to her head. "I can't help thinking that I've forgotten something very important."
~~~~~~~~~
.... and she who is linked loses her link to the past as the Time draws nearer...
~~~~~~~~~
Kate slammed the car door. Things were getting curiouser and curiouser. First weird nightmares, then vandalism, Ryan was going to be institutionalized by the end of the year at this rate. And Kate wasn't far behind him. "Oh what a tangled web we weave." Micki smiled. Kate smiled back. She was sure glad Micki was here. The two had bonded rather quickly, but Kate was cool with it. She'd never really had a girl friend before.
Kate and Micki walked towards the Brannigan Shop/Home. A bright orange light flashed briefly in the upstairs window. Kate frowned. "That's funny," she thought. The next thing she knew, Micki had thrown herself and Kate to the ground. Chunks of masonry rained down. Kate heard herself scream from a long way off.
~~~~~~~~~
Micki lay on top of Kate, shielding her. The front of the store had exploded outward, flames shot up the side of the building. Sparks were already starting in the adjacent buildings. My God. MyGodMyGodMYGOD! Kate's parents were in there! Micki left Kate crouching on the pavement and headed towards the flaming building.
She ripped off the scarf as she got closer and tied it around her face. The heat was unbelievable. There couldn't possibly be anyone left alive in there, but she has to check. Micki climbed over the burning rubble. It was a wonder the rest of the building hadn't collapsed by now. Coughing and choking, Micki found remains of the stairs. As she tried to climb them, something slid to the ground next to her with a sickening thump.
Micki double up with a racking cough. The thing on the floor was what was left Kate's mom. The smell of burnt flesh assaulted Micki's already scorched airways. Screaming involuntarily, she jumped back, away from it. Then she gathered courage and leaned closer the body, checking for a pulse. She found none. Micki double up a second time when her hand came away coated in melted flesh. Screaming and retching at the same time she moved back towards the exit. As she stumbled out of the house, she realized something very important. Mrs. Brannigan's throat had been slashed. The exposed spinal column had made Micki lose more that one meal as she made her escape.
Outside the building, Kate caught Micki as she stumbled, retching out of the blaze. Micki caught her eyes, so full of hope and couldn't keep them. As her gaze slid away she saw the first of the tears. Micki fell to the ground as the first of the fire trucks arrived.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan sat forward. "Why haven't they called?" Jack tried to placate him. "Maybe something's come up. They probably busy handling Kate's parents. If there as much of a problem as you say..." Johnny lay on the couch, writing. "No, Jack. It's been over thirty hours since they got there. Micki would not have just forgotten, no matter what happened. Maybe we should call them?" Ryan was up before he finished the sentence.
Ryan sat back down a few minutes later. "It's temporarily disconnected." Ryan was quiet for a minute. "Something's wrong." "Maybe a line's down or someone forgot to pay the bill..." "Now way, never happen. I'm going to call her neighbors." Ryan reached the phone and it rang. Ryan grabbed it. "Hello?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ryan, it's Micki." Micki could hear Ryan exhale heavily on the other end. "What's going on down there? You were supposed to call yesterday." Great, Micki thought, he sounds cheery and relieved. "Look Ryan, something horrible has happened." "Where's Kate?!" Ryan's voice went up two octaves. "She's right here, she's okay. It's her parents. Ryan," she said softly, "they're dead."
~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan fell onto the sofa. Color began to visibly drain from his face. He could hear Micki's frantic yelling coming from the phone, but he couldn't answer her for several seconds. "How is Kate?"
Jack and Johnny were worried and impatient. "What's going on," Johnny asked, closing down his laptop. Judging by the look on Ryan's face, it was pretty bad. "Can I talk to her" Ryan was asking. "Why not?" A pause. "Right." Jack moved closer to Ryan. "What is happening, Ryan?" "Is Kate hurt," Johnny asked. Ryan covered the mouth piece, "Kate's parents were killed." Jack shook his head sadly. "What a terrible thing to happen to such a young girl." "What a terrible thing to happen to anybody," Johnny commented glancing at Ryan, then looking down.
Ryan listened to the details then suddenly handed the phone to Johnny. "She wants to talk to you." Johnny took the phone gingerly from Ryan and placed it to his ear. "Micki?" The voice at the other end sounded relieved. "Johnny, it's pretty bad down here. We're at the Eighth District. they're questing us." "They don't think you had anything to do with it?" Micki coughed. "No, I don't think so. They're just looking for any lead at all." "So it was an accident?" "No, I don't think so. Johnny, I know it wasn't. I haven't told the police this, but I saw Mrs. Brannigan's body." Micki swallowed. "Her throat was cut."
~~~~~~~~~
Micki watched Kate to make sure she wasn't listening. Her head was pillowed on her hands and Micki's overcoat was draped around her shoulders. Kate looked so out of place here. All around her people were bustling, except where she sat immovable. "She's in shock Johnny. She doesn't need to know this... ever." Johnny tried to protest. Micki cut him off. "there's more, but it'll keep till we reach home." Johnny didn't sound happy, but he held his tongue. He was good like that. Micki carefully replaced the receiver. Then she turned to face the detective.
He smiled at her, softly. "How's the girl?" Micki tried to return his simile, but she couldn't. "She's as well as any girl who just lost both her parents can be." The detective led her to his desk. "I sure picked a great time to sub in Philadelphia didn't I?" He smiled again, this time ruefully. "But I tell you, that mountie was driving me crazy." At Micki's puzzled expression, he laughed. "Nevermind. It's a long story. Look, as far as I'm concerned this was a horrible accident. it looks like the gas pipes just exploded. It's rare, but it does happen. So why don't you take the girl home and just leave me a number where I can reach you both. If anything else comes up, I'll let you know."
Three hours later they were on their way back to Chicago.
~~~~~~~~~
... "It begins again," the voice was so familiar to him, yet not. "The past is the future, Boy. It is all as it was." The chamber misted over, becoming the warehouse building. Darkness oozed from the ceiling, the floor, the walls. It all came calling his name. In a second or an eternity he was overwhelmed and absorbed by the darkness...
~~~~~~~~~
Ryan was awake. Sleep wasn't much fun lately. The nightmares were getting worse. And now that Kate's parents were gone, his dreams had more to haunt him about than ever. Ryan got out of his cot and headed for the living room. Johnny was sitting on the sofa, typing.
"Don't you ever sleep" he asked as Ryan sat in the chair opposite him. "Not if I can help it." Johnny glanced up at him sharply. "Nightmares again?" "Again? They never stopped." Johnny closed down his lap top. "I thought Jack said they were repressed memories or something." "Yeah, well either I repressed a whole hell of alot, or I'm going crazy." Johnny smiled to himself. "I always thought you had a screw loose."
"Micki and Kate should be back soon" Ryan said, glancing at his watch. Johnny reopened his computer. "Not for another hour. Since you're up..." Johnny proffered a mug. "Coffee?" Johnny shook his head. "Not in my condition. How about a mug of hot chocolate?" Ryan walked to the kitchen. "It's a sad day for the human race when a grown man passes up coffee in favor of hot chocolate. And I suppose you want those little marshmallows?" "God Ryan, I'm an invalid, not a girl!" Ryan looked slyly over shoulder. "So is that one handful or two?" "Two. Those buggers are small."
Ryan stirred the chocolate slowly into the milk. On the thirtieth pass, a soft thus startled him. "Did you hear that?" Johnny stopped typing. "Hear what?" The thud softly repeated itself. "That." Johnny gazed at his computer screen. "Yes, but I choose to ignore it." Ryan was confused. "Ignore it? Why?" Johnny looked up. "Because if, and I do mean if not when, I went to investigate something horrible would happen." Two thuds and a whump. "I got to find out what that noise is. It's driving me crazy." "Right," Johnny said. "I'll miss you."
Ryan grabbed a flashlight. "You're not coming with me?" "No." "Great." Ryan headed down into the store. He crept silently down the stairs and past the clocks. African masks leered at him as he headed down the second set of stairs. Jack would go if he were here. Sure, let's send the amnesiac who just happens to be back from the dead to check it out. His luck seems to be holding. Ryan swung the flashlight left over the door to Jack's room. Then right.
He let the light linger on there great metal doors of the vault. There was no way in hell (ha ha, his mind thought) that he was going in there. A shadow moved behind him. He turned in time to see a second shadow join it. "Look guys, I bet you just got the wrong address. I can help you out." A third shadow joined it's fellows. "I know how expensive it can be if you don't deliver that pizza in thirty minutes." Ryan backed into a fourth shadow. "Johnny!!" he shouted as the cloud of black overwhelmed him.
Up in the living room, Johnny heard a shout. "Ryan?" he called. "Is that you?" Who else would it be, stupid? Johnny gingerly eased himself up to his feet. He moved quickly down the first flight of stairs. By the time he reached the second set of stairs he was unconscious. A blow to the back of his head quickly dragged him into oblivion.
~~~~~~~
Micki sat staring at the papers. Lucky for her. Detective Vecchio hadn't noticed them. The copies were remarkably good, considering the artist but almost meaningless to her. "Isn't that the Infinity symbol?" Kate asked pointing to the eighth glyph. Micki smiled at her. "I think you're right. The past and future, forever joined. This looks familiar." Micki pointed to another glyph. "I wonder where I've seen it before." "Nevermind about that, what does it mean?" "Death." They stared at each other. "We have to get back. I really need Jack to look at these." "Do you think this has anything to do with Ryan?" "God I hope not I don't like the looks of a few of these symbols."
Micki was positive the glyphs had to do with Ryan, but how do you tell a girl who just lost both her parents that he best friend may be next? Micki smiled gently as the girl leaned against her. No, better wait till we're on the ground. At least from the ground they'd be able to act in someway.
~~~~~~~~
Jack waited by gate Twenty-Three. The plane was due in any second. He hoped the young girl was okay. It was a shame that Kate seemed to have already contracted the 'Curious Goods Curse', Jack laughed to himself. Johnny had spoken as great lengths about how the curse insidiously sneaked into you after being in the shop too long, how it kills everyone close to you or anyone who you care a great deal about. It would have been terribly amusing if it hadn't been so deadly.
Ten after midnight, the place was down. Twelve thirty the girls exited the plane and hurried to meet Jack. Kate looked terrible. Her eye make-up had run down her cheeks, her clothes were rumpled and dirty and her pretty face held a sadness that hadn't been there three days ago. Jack snapped her up into a burly bear hug. A slow, sad smile rewarded his efforts, then the sadness reappeared. He smiled reassuringly.
"Now what's go important you couldn't tell me what it is?" Micki smiled and gave Jack a quick hug. When she stepped back he could see the worried look on her face. "Ryan's house was trashed, horribly." She handed over the small stack of paper. "Here, these were covering the walls." Jack glanced at them. Infinity. Death. The Lion. The Phoenix. A dark glower fought for control with his forced cheerfulness. It won the war. Jack scowled. "Let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~
...A child lay before him. He raised a great bone. He was going to kill her. It was what the Master wanted.
...Death was what she deserved.
She's just a little girl...
...Kill her.
She wanted to help me. She knows my name. She's calling my name...
...Kill her!
I cant!
...You are mine! You will do as I say!
The pressure stopped suddenly as the bone slid through flesh and into the heart.
... Nooooo!! My plans!!
My soul.... more.... important......
The ground rushed up to great him like an old friend. Pain burning through his chest. Voices shouting, calling his name....
~~~~~~~~
Ryan opened one eye slowly. The second eye opened shortly after the first, then wished it hadn't. A figure stood above him, which wasn't to hard since Ryan was upside down. The figure crouched beside him. It was very disturbing to Ryan's brain which was still trying to register things right side up.
A silky voice purred from within the black robes and hood. "Hello, Mr. Dallion. Welcome back to your life." Ryan stared into the depths of the hood. "You!" he exclaimed. The man within the robes laughed. "No," he corrected gently, "You."
~~~~~~~
Kate shivered all the way back to the shop. She could feel to the very bottom of her soul that something was up. And she was beginning to wonder it her parent's death had been an accident. She was especially disturbed when Jack began filling them in on what had been occurring at the warehouse. "Where's Ryan now?" "He's at the shop with Johnny. Don't worry, Kate everything will..." "Do you dare tell me everything will be all right, Jack." Jack sighed and nodded. Kate stared off into space as the rest of the silent drive continued.
The shop was really quiet. "Johnny?" Jack called. "Ryan?" A muffled, "Jack?" from behind the counter. Micki and Jack ran to the counter and began helping Johnny up. "Where's Ryan?" Kate asked softly, then headed for the basement stairs.
"He's gone Jack. they got him. He heard a noise..." Micki shushed him. Jack checked his head. "We should get you back to the hospital." Johnny grabbed Jack's arm. "They'll be time for that later, after we find Ryan."
Kate came back up the stairs. "Looks like they grabbed him outside the vault." Jack hefted Johnny up onto a chair. "Damn." Jack swore softly. "I have a very bad feeling about all of this, like I'm missing one very important piece of the puzzle..." Kate glared at him. "Well can't you figure it out later? We've got to go after Ryan." Micki sighed. "But how are we going to find him? Who knows where those people took him?"
"I've got it!" Johnny exclaimed, nearly knocking Jack over. The three listened intently. "The warehouse." "Johnny, why would they take him there, to a place we've been? Seems pretty damned stupid."
Johnny persisted, "No, look at it this way, remember how Ryan freaked out the two time he was there? Well? And this cult trashing his house. It's too much of a coincidence." "And you don't think hiding out in the same warehouse we have tried to get into twice isn't just a little, well, convenient?" "Yeah, but if they expected us to come for him, why hide? The only reason they would hide would be to buy time. My blackout probably bought them all the time they needed. What is we were meant to find the warehouse? "You mean to see if Ryan was back with us?" Jack was starting to come round. "Well, it's worth checking out. Maybe the group sent to Philadelphia was a back up, in case Ryan hadn't rejoined us. The only question left unanswered is why?"
... It begins again... They will follow the trail like lemmings... Their entrails shall decorate his temple like ribbons of the truest red...
"It's a trap," Kate whispered, then louder, "It's a trap! He wants us to come." Everyone looked at her. "What Kate?" Kate stared at them. "Ryan is in the warehouse. I've seen it in my dreams. He wants us to come. that's why it's so easy. We shouldn't go." Jack looked at her curiously. "Who wants us to some?" "A man in black, surrounded by death." "Can you be more specific," Johnny asked, "Like a name?" Kate shoo her head.
Everyone grabbed a headset and climbed into the car. It was agreed that Johnny would be safer if he relayed messages from the car. They had wanted to take him to the hospital, but there wasn't time. Kate rocked gently back and forth the entire time. Johnny placed a calming hand on her shoulder. She smiled weakly up at him. When they got there, Jack took Kate with him in the front and Micki circled round the back.
~~~~~~~~
Ropes fastened Ryan's arms outstretched. He still hung upside down, and he wasn't feeling very good. There was a lot of voices crowding around in his brain and only one was his. The twelve people swirled around him and somehow a goat appeared in their midst.
The thirteenth man leaned heavily against a carved piece of ivory. The cane was capped in a gold goat's head. he smiled when he caught Ryan's curious gaze. "It was once thought that this cane was an alicorn. Men murdered their own mothers for possession of it. Now, with a little help from your uncle it will be the resurrection of my lord. And after him, his Lord." The twelve chanted behind him, becoming louder with each pass around the goat.
"The moon is almost in position, Ryan. Can I all you Ryan? Oh, it doesn't matter. You won't be you long enough to care. Anyway, Ryan, do you what time it is in France? And what day?" Ryan shook his head warily. the man clucked disapprovingly. "For shame boy, you died today. What a thing to forget!" The man leaned forward, his face wreathed and shapeless in the shadows. "Tonight, on your anniversary, you are going to repeat your performance from ten years ago. Only this time, we are going to get it right. Happy Death Day, Ryan! Enjoy!" He breathed a blue powder in Ryan's direction. Everything wavered in and out of focus for a minute. Ryan's eyes finally settled on the goat. It looked towards him, sending a shiver up his spine. The goat's eyes were scarlet.
Ryan tried to cry out; his voice was gone. A cough racked him sending a shower of the blue dust back into the air. The man with the cane began tearing down the draperies. "They are here!" he shouted exposing wall after wall coated in the bones of the dead. "The sacrificial lambs, a blood feast for the damned! It is time!" If anything the chanting got louder. the voices rising to a single scream. A fire exploded into existence in the center of the room. The flame glowed darkly blue with black flames running along it's edges. "Noo!" screamed Ryan soundlessly.
A jade beam lanced from the tip of the cane. It blazed across the room and blazed into Ryan's head. The pain was unbelievable. It tore thought the upper layers of his mind and ripped its way down to the voices. Ryan cried out again, this time making a pathetic rasping cough. Then the voices in his head joined together, creating a sonorous bass. "Alive," it screamed. "ALIVE!"
~~~~~~~~~
Jack stood in the bathroom gazing at the wall. "Should I wait outside?" Kate gazed at the urinals. "Come on, I think I've got it." Kate heard a click, then the wall swung slowly open. "After you." "No, Jack. I think not." Jack smiled softly. He walked into the darkness. Kate followed quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~
Micki came round the side opposite where Jack and Kate were entering. She could hear chanting, and a weird keening. Micki approached the wall carefully. "It this it?" Johnny sighed into the microphone. "As far as I know. There's a way in on the opposite side. Jack and Kate just went in that way." "What about this side?" Micki slid her hands along the wall. It's wood paneling was an obvious place to hide a secret door.
Moving farther along the wall, she kept an ear open for Kate and Jack. So far they were in the shadows, keeping low. then suddenly the keening jumped up several octaves and Kate whispered, "My God! That's Ryan!" Micki stepped up her search. "Damn it Johnny! Gimme something I can use." A frustrated Johnny called back, "I've got nothing. Damn it, I've got nothing. There's only the blue prints. Wait! Move to your right. You'll see a door. No, you won't but it's there." Micki slammed the wall, and it slid silently open. "I'm in!"
~~~~~~~~~~~
"ASTEROPH SHALL LIVE AGAIN!"
Ryan continued to scream uselessly. His mind felt smaller. Asteroph was taking control. It was like he had been there all the time waiting. Ryan fought the stream of alien thoughts as they ripped across his head. His heart felt like it was burning its way free of his chest.
'I'm drowning,' Ryan thought. Asteroph laughed. "You should have died a long time ago, boy. The devil called you and you failed him. Now die in your own mind!" Cold laughter pooled around him, cutting off his thought and sinking them in a sea of horrors. "This is the world I will create from your ashes." Blood ran like water through the streets. Garroted people cried piteously for their lost organs. Men butchered their children and ate their entrails. Ryan screamed as his lungs fill with thought of blood.
Ryan's body hung limp as Asteroph's last disciple called the demon back from the grave. In a few minutes he would once again find favor with the prince of darkness. His coven swarmed around him. Their voiced raised in the word of the black mass. Then into the room exploded a blond haired girl. He smiled pleasantly at her. Her presence had been predicted by Asteroph himself. Her link to the boy would finally destroy Ryan's mind.
He aimed the staff at her and the beam lanced into her skull. She crumpled instantly, clasping the sides of her head. "Ryan!!" she wailed as the darkness invaded her mind. Out of the shadows leapt an old man. He, too, had been predicted. "Beware the aged, his secrets can unlock the Light" Caleb, high disciple of Asteroph, swung his cane. It contacted with the old man's stomach and he went down with a satisfying thump.
Caleb turned back to the boy. His eyes had begun to glow jade. The process was almost complete. The girl's peril was distracting him. He couldn't concentrate on his own thought. Ryan was slowly begin destroyed by his need to help. The good were always so weak when it came to the pain of others.
Caleb suddenly realized there weren't as many coven members as before. As he watched, he saw Helen slowly crumple to the ground. A flash of red hair was all that pointed to outside involvement. "Show yourself!" he shouted. A voice laughed at him. "No." Female, definitely female.
~~~~~~~
Micki saw Jack stir. That was when she decided to answer. Keep the enemy playing Marco Polo. She smiled as she kept moving. Micki had taken out four coven members, plus the two Jack and Kate had taken out on their way in. That left six. Micki hit another as he passed the post she was behind. The candle stick she hefted made an excellent weapon. She laughed quietly. Five left.
Jack was up and moving again. The head man was too busy looking for her to notice. Micki smiled. Experience had taught her well. Blind luck had served her very well, but it was nothing compared to a candlestick and experience. the she spotted Ryan and the laughter stopped.
Micki could now understand why Kate had shouted. He hung upside down from a tight noose around his feet. his arms were stretched out and away from his body, tied to two posts on either side. Jade glittered from within his dark brown eyes, his face an image of frozen terror. Sweat streamed down his face and into a basin set there for that purpose. His gaze was fixed on Kate, who's hands clawed at her head.
Micki jumped, startled, Jack was speaking into his microphone. "I'm going to get that cane. Distract him. I want to get behind him, then go for Ryan." "Right," Micki whispered. She moved to the center of the room. "Hey! You wanted me? Come and get me!" Johnny was yelling frantically in her ear. "He said, 'Distract'. He didn't say commit suicide!" Micki ignored him and dove behind a pillar as a beam of green light exploded from the cane in her direction.
~~~~~~~~~~
Flames. Fire. Raining Death. "Help us! HELP US!" Kate screamed at the building. "Mom! Dad! No!" She charged towards the building, but no matter how fast she ran she still couldn't make it. The building exploded into flaming chunks of cement. Her parents screamed, "You let us die! It's your fault." They wailed, "Why couldn't you save us? We hate you!" "No! I tried!" "You murdered us!" Flames crawled up the remains of the building as two charcoaled bodies fell from the blaze.
Kate ran to them. Their bodies were barely coated in their own roasted flesh. Tears ran from Kate's eyes to the ground hissing in the heat. She fell to her knees before her parents. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. Their lifeless corpses hissed and chinks of flesh cracked and melted away. Kate leaned forward, and stopped. A skeletal hand had clasped her throat. She screamed pulling bits of melted muscle away as she clawed her way free. The charnel covered skeletons got to their feet. "Mom, dad," she cried, backing away. "Don't do this. Please." Whispery voices clashed around her mind. "Betrayed. Betrayed. BETRAYED!"
~~~~~~~~~
Jack moved closer to the robed man. The cane was inches from his reach. Another blast erupted from the can. A soft cry came from Micki as she crumpled to the ground. Jack could hear Johnny yelling at her, trying to find out what was going on. Jack tuned it out as he made a grab for the cane. He got a hold of it, but the man in black hadn't let go.
The man cried out in annoyance and the other coven members stopped their mindless chanting. It had made them easy prey tonight. They never even noticed Jack. It had been like taking candy from... well, a coven ember. Jack never took candy from children. His mind riveted back to the present when a coven member smashed a candelabra over his back.
Jack stayed upright, which was not an easy task. He also maintained his hold on the cane, which was a miracle. "Leave go, old man! I will grant you death soon enough. No need to rush into it." He shook Jack free of the cane. And aimed it at him. Then he smiled. He pointed to two of the remaining conscious coven members. "Grab him. Asteroph will need a blood sacrifice." "Asteroph?" Jack was stunned. "He's dead!" The man with the cane threw back his hood. "No. He has been imprisoned, but I will set him free! ME! Lowest of disciples, Caleb Delacroix, exhalted by my master Asteroph!"
Caleb's face was a mass of scars and tattoos. Crystal blue eyes bore down on Jack from a demonic continence. The ears had been burned pointed. The flash tattoos and mangled to honor the devil. His hair was long and ratty and splattered with unknowns. He carried the cane like it were a staff, his eyes alternately glowing jade then sapphire.
Jack looked towards Ryan in horror. "Not Ryan! Hasn't he suffered enough at the hands of your master?" A hysterical gleam glowed green in the sapphire, blue in the jade. "Yes, I know. Don't you see? That's why he is so prefect. he has served his master well, now he will do the same for mine."
~~~~~~~~~~
Micki saw the golden flash, the molten blaze shot through the air. There was no escape. She was tossed like a rag doll. Again the coin blazed. Again it hungered for her life force. A scream, exploded out of her. It was an animal rage. She clawed at her head like a cat. Then, she began to move.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan's life force was getting weaker. He didn't even notice. Kate needed him. She was more important. Ryan tried to project reassuring thought her way. He didn't seem to realize that he was dying.
"I am free! Free! FREE! THE BOY'S SOUL IS MINE!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack saw a flash was red behind Caleb. Then an angry human ball launched itself at Caleb. Surprised, he was smashed into the ground. Micki rolled off, practically snarling. the cane skittered across the room. Five coven members bolted after it. Jack ran after them, smashing into the last coven member. He wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Jack crashed into another coven member. This one wouldn't go down. he tossed Jack back towards Ryan.
Jack got a good look at Ryan then and it froze him cold. Ryan's hair was growing and changing color. his eyes glowed feverishly green. his expression was a snarl. Scariest of all was that he was beginning to move. One arm had ripped itself free.
Jack looked back towards the coven members. Micki had taken out two more, leaving two racing for the cane. They didn't get it. The cane had already been claimed. Caleb moved towards the black robed figure. But he didn't see what Jack did. This coven member wasn't wearing sandals. He was wearing sneakers. He tore off his hood and smiled.
Johnny held the cane aloft. He didn't have much time to figure it out either. So he whirled the cane above his head, spewing green light in every direction. The remaining coven members collapsed. But when the light hit Micki she sat up, shook her head and wandered shakily to Kate. The minute the beam had hit her, she had begun to sob piteously. Micki put her arms around the girl, to comfort her.
Johnny looked to Jack for instruction. They came quickly. "Get Caleb, then point the blasted thing at Ryan. Hurry, you damned fool!" Johnny whipped the came round and pointed it at Caleb. He has been trying to slink off. The man screamed as the light touched him, crumpiling like he'd suddenly lost his spine. Johnny turned towards Ryan and was shocked into immovability.
It wasn't Ryan. It was Asteroph. Ten years and Johnny could still remember his face. The horrible craggy features, the mustache, the skeletal hands. "Get him, Johnny! It's the only way to save Ryan!" An unholy wind surrounded them. Candles flew free, chunks crashing into Johnny. Johnny cried out as one hit his rib cage and he fell. Jack screamed, heading for him. Jack slid across most of the floor as Asteroph spoke.
"I AM FREE! AND NOW THE DEVIL SHALL HAVE HIS DUE!" A bolt of lightning struck the floor inches from Johnny. Jack grabbed a hold of him. Helping Johnny steady the cane, he let loose a blast of jade fire. It careened into Asteroph, knocking him backwards.
He howled in horror as the flames ate at him. Chunks of flesh melted into air as a green whirlwind engulfed him. Heart wrenching screams clawed at their minds, begging for rescue. A siren song, compelling then to help their friend. Kate started forward, "Ryan!" Micki quickly tackled her. Light erupted from Asteroph's mouth, spewing to the far corners of the room. Then with one final howl, he was gone.
The green whirlwind settled and died. A figure stepped out of it's light and collapsed to the floor. Everyone ran forward as the green glow faded from Ryan's body. They grabbed him up and dragged him from the place. All the coven members were gone. Those who's bodies hadn't been eviscerated by the cane's light had fled. It was over.
~~~~~~~~~
The Curious Goods Antique Shop was not open for business the next day. All the members were too damned tired to get up before noon. And when they did get up, no one felt like dealing with anyone but themselves.
Kate sat real close to Micki. the two had bonded over the past week. Micki sat with one arm around Kate and the other around Johnny. Jack and Ryan sat next to one another, doling out the chocolate milk. Marshmallows flowed like wine. And everyone said it was a hell of a day's work.
Kate placed the cane in the vault herself, as everyone watched. It seemed Fate had decided to align her with those at the shop. Johnny thought it was great, because he wouldn't be the only one who had no idea what was going on. And Ryan was glad to have so many friends who didn't give a damn how many times he was possessed by various demons.
_____________________________END____________________________________