"Gotta say, when you asked me for a drink I didn't expect...this".
"And just what were you expecting"?
"I don't know, maybe a smokey jazz club with Barry Manilow playing in the background"!?
"Personally, I prefer Johnny Mathis, he's smoother on my musical pallette". The Bar they had walked into was very reminiscent of the one back in National City. And, now that she really looked at him, she saw how perfectly American he looked. He was in a black vintage Lynyrd Skynyrd concert shirt that prominently displayed a skull with wings and 'March 20th 1974 One Night Only', topped with a worn black leather jacket. His jeans were Wrangler brand that we're, dare she admit to herself, perfectly sculpted to his legs and back side. And to top it off he wore a perfectly worn-in pair of brown cowboy boots. He had walked to the bartender, said something, and the bartender produced a key, handing it to James. "Detective, if you would be so kind as to follow me". Okay, now what? "We're not getting a drink"?
"We are, but you need to see something first".
Maggie didn't know what she expected to see, but a replica of an Egyptian temple didn't make the list. Four columns stood at the side walls, three at the back and two at the front. In the center was a desk which James knelt behind. A few clicking sounds later he emerged with an ornate box in hand. He looked up to see a very awestruck Maggie looking around, taking in the room. "I've gotta say James, this is a very nice reproduction".
"I don't think so. It's not, the columns at least, are not. These columns stood in the heart of the temple at Karnaq. Anyway, this is what I wanted to show you". Walking up to her he opened the box to reveal a beautiful, glowing blue meteorite , small, and held in a golden circle with a gold chain. She could sense a power from it that was almost intoxicating. "Don't touch it", he warned, "this is just a piece of the meteorite that made me the way I am".
"And that is"?
"Immortal". The word ringed and echoed in her mind. "Immortal as in..."?
"As in I can't die.., well I can but I come back". Maggie took a deep breath. And then another. And then another. "I've experienced my share of crazy in my life, but this...heh, this is a new one".
"But not unbelievable"?
"I've seen people fly, at this point, nothing is unbelievable".
"But you struggle to believe this". It was not a question. He could see it in her soft brown eyes. She wanted to believe, she'd seen too much in her life not to. But, those were tangible and material. This, this was, while physical, invisible. For all she knew he could be some freak, which she wasn't ruling out, trying to get in her pants which, oddly enough, she didn't believe. In her life she had never seen any eyes more sincere. She saw the same age and wisdom in his that were in her abuelo's. Though, if he were to be believed, he was much older. "Okay, let's say for the moment, I believe you. What made you like this"? James placed the medallion on the desk and pulled up a chair to his desk, which Maggie took, and pulled out a bottle of his best whiskey. "This, detective, is a long story".
"Fifty thousand years ago the earth was different, in so many, countless ways that it would take me many, many years in order to tell them properly. What was most different was myself. I was a cro-magnon with very little speech capabilities and even less mental faculties. It was a dark time for all man-kind. One day while I and some others were out hunting a star fell. In our simple minded state it was the earth that fell. I alone was brave enough to go investigate, but I was not the first. A man from our rival tribe, The Blood, ours was The Bear, named Vandar Adg, was already there, but changed so much. He stood upright, the brow ridge he had once had was shrunken back and his eyes spoke of great intelligence. And, he smiled at me. As if I were his friend. My curiosity won out over caution and I touched the glowing blue star. Now I have lived for more than fifty thousand years and I have not aged a single second since I first touched the mother of my medallion". Maggie looked as if history had been rewritten for her. "I know this is a lot to take in Detective, and I promise to clarify any questions you have". Maggie let out a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. So let's say this is all for real and that I believe it, which I don't,"
"Nor did I expect you to".
", what does this have to do with the case"? James nodded solemnly. He knew this was the logical line of inquiry but he had been dreading it. "During the year 1789 Vandar and I had decided to put our differences aside and travel together as comrades. We made our way to Paris, France and made a life. I became a scholar and book seller while Vandar became a military leader. It was not a good time to be in France at the time due to the political and civil unrest but I felt I could help those in need and possibly provide a voice of reason. I met a particular tortured soul named Jaques. I did my best to help him, he was a young man of about thirty, well I say young but, then again, everyone is young in comparison. Anyhow in about 1792 all hell broke loose in France and civil war came. I was a medic behind the lines and I found Jaques. He was mortally wounded. I couldn't let him die that die, but maybe I should have if only to spare him the misery he now lives with".
"You mean he's still alive"?
"Not only alive, but he is the very killer we are looking for".
"So what are we waiting around for? Let's go get him".
"Because, detective, it's far more complicated than that. Jaques has a nasty habit of taking off to God knows where. I don't know where he is, but I can guarantee he's close by".
"How can you guarantee that if he runs off to 'God knows where'"?
"Because, this time, he wants to be found. You see, to him, it's just a silly game to play. He gets bored, he needs to kill, he's addicted. He gets off on the thrill of taking a human life. And it also keeps him alive".
"Gives him life"? James sighed heavly. "Yes. Detective, I healed Jaques by using power from the stone. The only thing I can think of is that the life he was given was taken from someone else, so he needs to kill in order to live. This man has left a bloody trail through history". James Shepard wished to all the world he could take back every word. But she needed to know everything if they were to catch Jaques. Jaques; how James suffered knowing he wished he would have just let the man die. It would have served the world better. But, then again, what is it to gain the world and lose your own soul?