Tracker – The Past Comes Back to Haunt Us – Part 4
Cole & Mel dropped Jess off at the airport. Jess was relieved at finally having convinced Mel that there was no need to see her board the plane. Standing in the boarding line she looked around for Nestov.
Grinning like an idiot he waved his tickets at her. "When we get in to London I will soooo be ready to party".
Jess smacked his shoulder. "We're supposed to be investigating, not partying".
"And what law says we can't do both?" Nestov asked with a shrug.
Jess rolled her eyes at him as they began the boarding process. 'No wonder Cole was always pinching this guy.' She thought to herself.
The trip was uneventful and they checked into a small hotel in London.
"We might as well get going" Jess told Nestov.
"Well, I've been thinking about that" he said. "I don't think we should both just walk in there. What if something goes wrong? One of us needs to be able to rescue the other."
"That makes sense". Jess said. "They'll be expecting me, so I will go in and you can sneak around and see what's going on since you seem to be so good at sneaking".
"You aren't goin ta hold that basement thing against me forever are you?" Nestov turned puppy dog eyes on Jess.
"Don't try it!" Jess snapped at Nestov, still wondering how she had ever agreed to let this moron come along. But secretly she was relieved just a bit to have someone else with her, even if it was this idiot.
"Let's go then" Jess went to the door, Nestov following in her wake. "We'll get the feel of the place before the meeting".
The Fire Down Below pub was easy to find. Slightly run down it sat nestled in on older part of London. It seemed to cater to a much older crowd than the Watchfire had.
"What a dump" Nestov declared from the passenger side of the rented mini.
"Yeah, well we aren't here to find dates so who cares" Jess replied.
"Good thing too, no one in this whole area is under 65" Nestov growled back.
They had scouted the area thoroughly, deciding on a plan. Jess would go in and talk to this Sam guy while Nestov disguised himself as an elderly man in a wheel chair just having a drink in the bar.
Jess was impatient, she slowly pace beside the rental. Nestov had said to give him 15 minutes to get settled inside the bar before coming in. Well his 15 minutes were up. Settling her bag on her shoulder, Jess entered the pub's front doors. A weird light was strobing, not the usual fare for this type of bar decoration. Looking around she saw movement at the back.
"Oh my God! Stop!" Running towards the figures disappearing behind the slowly closing doors, Jess was abruptly caught by a large, bald, black man.
"Hold on sweets. Where d'you think you are going?" The large man's voice was a bass rumble.
"That man in the wheel chair, he er he looked sick or something. I thought I could help." Jess lied smoothly suddenly remembering that the plan was should one of them be caught the other needed to stay free to help.
She found her arm caught in a vise-like grip. "I was born at night lady, just not last night. What is that guy to you?" The menace in the man's voice was palpable now.
"Nothing! I swear! I just thought I could help." Jess was intensely aware that there might be more danger here than she thought.
A voice rang out from the speaker above the bar. "Bring her below Davis, we might actually get a customer and we wouldn't want to disturb our clientele would we?"
In the pub's basement, Nestov woke quickly, moving like the elderly man of his disguise. Not because he was still in character, but because whatever had happened in the bar made him ache in every joint of his appropriated body. His brief attempt to stretch was halted as he realized he had been secured to his motorized wheel chair with duct tape with the same across his mouth, effectively gagging him. His Desserian senses told him he had not been out long at all a few minutes at best, but apparently long enough to have been trussed up like a hog.
He looked up in alarm as Jess was hustled down the basement steps by the bartender. 'Cole was soooo going to kill him when he found out about this. Resigning himself to a date with a collector, he looked at Jess in askance.
"I saw you being wheeled away when I got here. Why are you tied up?" Jess realized that Nestov couldn't very well answer & turned to her captor. "What's going on here?"
The large man smiled at her.
Jess hoped that wasn't HIS best 'I'm harmless' smile.
"Your questions will be answered in a minute." He gestured for her to sit. "Sam will be right with you and since you already know our other guest you two can wait here together."
It was bizarre, a trip through Alice's looking glass. A short line of what appeared to be geriatric hippies filed into the basement, most of them keeping to the shadows. There seemed to be 4 or 5 males and one lone female waiting off to the side in the darkest part of the room.
A short, round man with a bushy white mustache stepped close to Nestov "What are you doing here with an alien?" he asked peering intently down at the bound Desserian.
"What Aliens?" Jess is puzzled. "You mean aliens? Like illegal immigrants?"
There is a light yet alarming laugh. "Silly child, no."
Jess realizes they mean something totally different and looks at Nestov. "Oh. You mean aliens like ET?"
There is a brief silence. "Why have you come? To spy on us?"
Jess shook her head. "No! We were just trying to find out something." And pulled out the maps and address book. "I found this and thought I could help my friend learn more about her grandmother."
Another brief silence ensued. Then..."She has the map," said another from the shadows.
"Do you have the key?" a second one inquires.
Nestov & Jess stare at one another. "What key?" Jess has trouble swallowing, remembering Gran P's words 'take care of Jess, she controls the key.
The small blonde woman came forward, the dim light of the basement shining on one half of her face. She slowly turns to face Jess and reveals patterns of ruined skin on her jaw, Jess' eyes widen in horror and pity. The mark is a vaguely familiar shape. Aurora pointed to her face & said "This key".
Jess recoiled a bit. "I don't know what you are talking about" her voice went small in sudden fear. These people were nuts. Jess stood abruptly "I want to leave NOW! If you try to keep me here it will be kidnapping! My, my, uh sister knows where I am and she'll send the Bobbies if I don't check in soon."
"Not exactly the finest of fighting brigades anymore, are we my friends?" The voice that spoke from the shadows was lightly accented, more Wales than Brit. Lighter than a true baritone but not quite tenor. Never the less it made all of the room's occupants rigid with tension.
Stepping into the lighter portion of the room, the man appeared to be in his early thirties, unremarkable dark hair, prominent nose and hazel eyes, yet his visage held each of the people captured in the tableau with the fascination usually reserved for snakes.
"Was it too much to ask that you would be one of the dead?" Aurora was the first to recover her aplomb enough to take a snipe at the stranger.
"Eamon are hard to kill Rory. Surely you remember that much."
A long fingered hand skimmed lightly down Aurora's disfigured cheek, withdrawing as she flinched away. A slight smile acknowledged her small move.
"What in the name of the one you call God made you summon me?" The piercing fierceness of his changeable eyes caused the group to draw a collective sharp breath. "And if I may ask?" he paused "How did you old farts manage to capture a Desserian?"
As the man approached him Nestov drew his body in as tightly as possible. Something about him made Nestov want to disappear, not just blend & hide, really disappear. Even Cole's collector did not scare him as badly as did this man.
"Ah! Those are racial memories Desserian. Eamon once hunted your kind for sport, relax, the fear will fade with time." The figure stopped in front of him, seemingly studying him. "Don't forget about the threat completely mind you, there may yet come another dark time & that warning sense could come in handy for one of your ancestors." It wasn't quite a smile that he gave Nestov, more the hungry acknowledgment from predator to prey.
Cole & Mel dropped Jess off at the airport. Jess was relieved at finally having convinced Mel that there was no need to see her board the plane. Standing in the boarding line she looked around for Nestov.
Grinning like an idiot he waved his tickets at her. "When we get in to London I will soooo be ready to party".
Jess smacked his shoulder. "We're supposed to be investigating, not partying".
"And what law says we can't do both?" Nestov asked with a shrug.
Jess rolled her eyes at him as they began the boarding process. 'No wonder Cole was always pinching this guy.' She thought to herself.
The trip was uneventful and they checked into a small hotel in London.
"We might as well get going" Jess told Nestov.
"Well, I've been thinking about that" he said. "I don't think we should both just walk in there. What if something goes wrong? One of us needs to be able to rescue the other."
"That makes sense". Jess said. "They'll be expecting me, so I will go in and you can sneak around and see what's going on since you seem to be so good at sneaking".
"You aren't goin ta hold that basement thing against me forever are you?" Nestov turned puppy dog eyes on Jess.
"Don't try it!" Jess snapped at Nestov, still wondering how she had ever agreed to let this moron come along. But secretly she was relieved just a bit to have someone else with her, even if it was this idiot.
"Let's go then" Jess went to the door, Nestov following in her wake. "We'll get the feel of the place before the meeting".
The Fire Down Below pub was easy to find. Slightly run down it sat nestled in on older part of London. It seemed to cater to a much older crowd than the Watchfire had.
"What a dump" Nestov declared from the passenger side of the rented mini.
"Yeah, well we aren't here to find dates so who cares" Jess replied.
"Good thing too, no one in this whole area is under 65" Nestov growled back.
They had scouted the area thoroughly, deciding on a plan. Jess would go in and talk to this Sam guy while Nestov disguised himself as an elderly man in a wheel chair just having a drink in the bar.
Jess was impatient, she slowly pace beside the rental. Nestov had said to give him 15 minutes to get settled inside the bar before coming in. Well his 15 minutes were up. Settling her bag on her shoulder, Jess entered the pub's front doors. A weird light was strobing, not the usual fare for this type of bar decoration. Looking around she saw movement at the back.
"Oh my God! Stop!" Running towards the figures disappearing behind the slowly closing doors, Jess was abruptly caught by a large, bald, black man.
"Hold on sweets. Where d'you think you are going?" The large man's voice was a bass rumble.
"That man in the wheel chair, he er he looked sick or something. I thought I could help." Jess lied smoothly suddenly remembering that the plan was should one of them be caught the other needed to stay free to help.
She found her arm caught in a vise-like grip. "I was born at night lady, just not last night. What is that guy to you?" The menace in the man's voice was palpable now.
"Nothing! I swear! I just thought I could help." Jess was intensely aware that there might be more danger here than she thought.
A voice rang out from the speaker above the bar. "Bring her below Davis, we might actually get a customer and we wouldn't want to disturb our clientele would we?"
In the pub's basement, Nestov woke quickly, moving like the elderly man of his disguise. Not because he was still in character, but because whatever had happened in the bar made him ache in every joint of his appropriated body. His brief attempt to stretch was halted as he realized he had been secured to his motorized wheel chair with duct tape with the same across his mouth, effectively gagging him. His Desserian senses told him he had not been out long at all a few minutes at best, but apparently long enough to have been trussed up like a hog.
He looked up in alarm as Jess was hustled down the basement steps by the bartender. 'Cole was soooo going to kill him when he found out about this. Resigning himself to a date with a collector, he looked at Jess in askance.
"I saw you being wheeled away when I got here. Why are you tied up?" Jess realized that Nestov couldn't very well answer & turned to her captor. "What's going on here?"
The large man smiled at her.
Jess hoped that wasn't HIS best 'I'm harmless' smile.
"Your questions will be answered in a minute." He gestured for her to sit. "Sam will be right with you and since you already know our other guest you two can wait here together."
It was bizarre, a trip through Alice's looking glass. A short line of what appeared to be geriatric hippies filed into the basement, most of them keeping to the shadows. There seemed to be 4 or 5 males and one lone female waiting off to the side in the darkest part of the room.
A short, round man with a bushy white mustache stepped close to Nestov "What are you doing here with an alien?" he asked peering intently down at the bound Desserian.
"What Aliens?" Jess is puzzled. "You mean aliens? Like illegal immigrants?"
There is a light yet alarming laugh. "Silly child, no."
Jess realizes they mean something totally different and looks at Nestov. "Oh. You mean aliens like ET?"
There is a brief silence. "Why have you come? To spy on us?"
Jess shook her head. "No! We were just trying to find out something." And pulled out the maps and address book. "I found this and thought I could help my friend learn more about her grandmother."
Another brief silence ensued. Then..."She has the map," said another from the shadows.
"Do you have the key?" a second one inquires.
Nestov & Jess stare at one another. "What key?" Jess has trouble swallowing, remembering Gran P's words 'take care of Jess, she controls the key.
The small blonde woman came forward, the dim light of the basement shining on one half of her face. She slowly turns to face Jess and reveals patterns of ruined skin on her jaw, Jess' eyes widen in horror and pity. The mark is a vaguely familiar shape. Aurora pointed to her face & said "This key".
Jess recoiled a bit. "I don't know what you are talking about" her voice went small in sudden fear. These people were nuts. Jess stood abruptly "I want to leave NOW! If you try to keep me here it will be kidnapping! My, my, uh sister knows where I am and she'll send the Bobbies if I don't check in soon."
"Not exactly the finest of fighting brigades anymore, are we my friends?" The voice that spoke from the shadows was lightly accented, more Wales than Brit. Lighter than a true baritone but not quite tenor. Never the less it made all of the room's occupants rigid with tension.
Stepping into the lighter portion of the room, the man appeared to be in his early thirties, unremarkable dark hair, prominent nose and hazel eyes, yet his visage held each of the people captured in the tableau with the fascination usually reserved for snakes.
"Was it too much to ask that you would be one of the dead?" Aurora was the first to recover her aplomb enough to take a snipe at the stranger.
"Eamon are hard to kill Rory. Surely you remember that much."
A long fingered hand skimmed lightly down Aurora's disfigured cheek, withdrawing as she flinched away. A slight smile acknowledged her small move.
"What in the name of the one you call God made you summon me?" The piercing fierceness of his changeable eyes caused the group to draw a collective sharp breath. "And if I may ask?" he paused "How did you old farts manage to capture a Desserian?"
As the man approached him Nestov drew his body in as tightly as possible. Something about him made Nestov want to disappear, not just blend & hide, really disappear. Even Cole's collector did not scare him as badly as did this man.
"Ah! Those are racial memories Desserian. Eamon once hunted your kind for sport, relax, the fear will fade with time." The figure stopped in front of him, seemingly studying him. "Don't forget about the threat completely mind you, there may yet come another dark time & that warning sense could come in handy for one of your ancestors." It wasn't quite a smile that he gave Nestov, more the hungry acknowledgment from predator to prey.