Chapter X: Through Her Eyes
Agent Aiden sits motionless behind the wheel, while he waits for his partner to exit the Starbucks with his Peppermint Mocha Latte. For some reason he couldn't get the pair's odd encounter with a certain Mr. Astur out of his mind. The weird symbol on the yellow sign seemed permanently etched into his subconscious and all he keeps hearing over and over again was Astur asking him if he had seen the sign at the front of the shop. He tries to shake it off as he slowly adjusts the rear view mirror. To his horror he catches a glimpse of the frightening and mysterious figure spotted by Parkes a short while before. The image reflected in the mirror was that of a very tall and ominous looking shape, dressed in filthy yellow robes and wearing a featureless mask that sported horns at the top. At that very moment, the passenger door opens and in pops Agent Parkes, holding her partner's cup of coffee. Aiden gasps loudly at being startled by both her sudden appearance and the shock of seeing the frightening entity.
"Whoa cowboy, it's only me." says Parkes half-jokingly.
Aiden exhales nervously as he again looks into the rear view, only to find the figure has disappeared "Oh sorry, lack of caffeine got me jumpy." he says, grabbing the beverage from Parkes.
"If you ask me, all that damn coffee is what's making you jumpy. That's like your third cup today."
"You know damn well that caffeine calms my nerves, not the other way around." he says, taking a sip.
"So where to now?" asks Parkes.
"I figured we do more background. I'm thinking we hit up the boyfriend's house. I know his mother has already been questioned, but wouldn't hurt to do a follow up."
"Sounds good to me, but you sure your good to drive? I don't want you swerving all over the road from coffee jitters." says Parkes playfully.
"I'm fine woman." Aiden says with a chuckle as he backs the car out of it's parking space.
Some time later, the two F.B.I. agents pull up to a modest house in a well kept suburban neighborhood. As the car comes to a rest on the curb just in front of the house, Parkes smiles "Wow, can't get more Americana than this. Sort of reminds me of growing up on Orchard Street on the northside of Dunwich."
"You know I've always wondered about that. You grew up in Massachusetts, but I've never heard you speak with that New England accent." asks Aiden.
Parkes looks at her partner and raises an eyebrow "Pok da Kaa, happy?"
Aiden erupts in laughter as the two get out of the car and begin to walk up to the front door. Aiden rings the doorbell as he and Parkes wait patiently.
"File said she's a single mother, the kid's father passed away a few years ago from liver failure." says Parkes in a low voice.
"Yea that might explain why the lawn is four feet high." says Aiden in a snarky tone as he looks out at the uncut grass.
A few seconds later, the door cracks open showing a middle age woman with straight brown hair "Yes?" she asks, her voice strained.
"Mrs. Edith Chase?" asks Parkes.
"Can I help you?" asks Edith.
"How are you today ma'am, I'm Special Agent Parkes, this is Special Agent Aiden with the F.B.I. We were just wondering if we could ask you some follow up questions about your son's case?" asks Parkes as both she and Aiden flash their badges.
"The cops already took me down the station." says Edith.
"That's right, but that was local PD. The case has been handed over to the Feds, a.k.a. us." says Parkes.
"It'll only take a few minutes Mrs. Chase, then we'll be out of your hair." says Aiden.
Edith just nods and opens the door "Of course, come in." she says as the two agents walk inside "Just have a seat on the couch."
"Actually do you mind if I use your bathroom." says Aiden as he looks at his partner "I think it was all that coffee." he says with a wink.
"Uh, sure, just down the hall to the right." says Edith.
"Appreciate it." says Aiden as he makes his way down the hall and into the small bathroom.
"Can I get you and your partner something to drink, coffee maybe?" asks Edith.
"No…no more coffee for us but thank you." says Parkes as she chuckles.
After relieving himself, Aiden begins to wash his hands when the eerie echo of Astur's voice starts to sound off in his head once again. Trying to ignore it, Aiden splashes water on his face and looks into the vanity mirror. The same yellow robed entity is now standing right behind him, it's reflection glaring in the polished glass.
Terrified but mustering enough resolve to speak, Aiden whispers "Who are you?"
"Have you seen the yellow sign." begins to echo loudly in his head, almost to the point of being deafening.
Aiden places his hands over his ears, but the echoing only intensifies. The sound becomes so loud that it literally brings the agent to his knees as he pleads "Please, stop! Who are you?!"
The sounds suddenly cease, and Aiden slowly pulls his hands away from his ears. The yellow entity is nowhere to be seen and the agent leans against the toilet "Just what in the fuck is wrong with me?"
"So it's just you and Zack than?" asks Parkes.
"Yea, Harold, my husband, passed on about four years ago. I told him a six pack every other night wasn't the healthiest thing in the world, but in one ear and out the other I guess. Zack took it especially hard. His dad was his hero." says Edith producing a weak smile.
"I can imagine…" says Parkes as Aiden rejoins them from down the hall "It's about time, I was just about to send a search party."
"Well when you gotta go, you gotta go." says Aiden as he casually sits next to his partner on the couch "Hope I didn't miss much."
"No I was just inquiring about Zack. Must be tough having to raise a teenage son, God knows at that age they're in their formative years." Parkes says, directly addressing Edith.
"Boy don't I know it." says Edith with a laugh "Zack can be a hand full at times, but he's always been a good kid." says Edith as she gets up and walks over to look at a photo on the fireplace "Zack would never be gone this long without at least calling me. I just know something awful has happened." the mother says as tears roll down her face.
"Is there anything else you can remember about that morning Mrs. Chase? Did Zack say or do anything unusual?" asks Aiden.
"It's just like I told the sheriff, it was about five thirty or so in the morning. I was in the kitchen about ready to go to work when he strolls in with a big smile on his face. He said that he was heading off with Jenny to go on some diving trip. I didn't ask to many questions because they would hang out like that all the time. Didn't say where exactly he was going, I just figured it was offshore near one of the coves. He told me he loved me, gave me a little kiss and left. That was pretty much it. I haven't seen him since."
"…and Jenny, how long had the two of them been dating?" asks Parkes.
"About six months I'd say. They met in diving class."
"Did you ever have any problems with her, did Zack ever mention any kind of arguments or disagreements they might have been having?"
"No, in fact I had never seen him any happier with a girl than what he was with Jenny. She was so pretty and I could tell, she really had eyes for my Zack."
"I guess a mother knows." says Parkes.
Aiden smiles in agreement when a flash of images start flooding across his mind. Suddenly he's not sitting on a couch, but rather on a small boat out in the middle of the ocean. Things are distorted and out of shape, the sky taking on a sickly red coloration. Calvin Jeffries walks out of the boat cabin and is pointing a gun directly within Aiden's line of sight. Jeffries pulls the trigger several times and Aiden feels the searing pain of the bullets tearing through his body. The terrified high-pitched screams of a young woman echo across the sky. Back in reality, Aiden sits silently in a semi trance as blood starts to drip out of his nose.
Parkes looks over and notices what is going on. She immediately runs over to her partner "Oh my God, Josh, your nose!"
This snaps Aiden back into the real world and he hurriedly tries to stem the bleeding by putting his hand over his face.
"Oh God, hold on, I'll get some tissues!" shouts Edith as she runs into the kitchen.
"Are you alright, did you smack your nose on something?" asks Parkes as she grabs from tissues from Edith and places them to her partner's nose.
"No, no, just a little nose bleed. I used to have em' as a kid." says Aiden as he takes control of the situation, placing several wads of tissue into his nostrils.
The awkward silence pervaded the car as the two agents drove down the road away from Edith Chase's house. A bloody cotton ball protruded from Aiden's left nostril and Parke's looks over in concern.
"So you wanna tell me what's going on?" she asks.
"Nothing is going on Jordy, I just had a little nose bleed. Sometimes this shit happens, what can I say?"
"You looked like you were in some kind of trance before I came over. As matter of fact you've been acting all kinds of fucked up ever since we came from creepy ass rain man's shop. Now I wanna know what's up?"
"Alright to tell you the truth, I haven't been sleeping all that great for the past few nights. Maybe you were right, maybe I need to cut back on the caffeine a little. I'm just a tad off my game today, it's all good."
"Well than maybe take a few days off, I can handle things until then. I don't think this case is going anywhere any time soon."
"I don't need a few days off, just one good night's sleep."
"Your my partner and I worry about you Josh. Goddamit you need your rest."
"I'll be fine Jordy, I promise. In fact, just to prove it, I'm gonna take the rest of the day off. Straight home, right to bed. You want me to drop you off at home or the field office?"
"Drop me off at the office, I got some more filing paperwork to do. You sure your ok?" she asks with a concerned breath.
Aiden just glances at her with a cheesy smile which causes her to chuckle in relief. A short time later, the agents pull up to the nearby F.B.I. field office and Agent Parkes exits the passenger's side.
Before she goes in, she looks back "Straight to bed." she says in a stern but motherly tone.
Aiden crosses his fingers "Scout's honor."
This seems to satiate her, and she finally turns to walk inside the building. The happy go lucky expression is immediately wiped from Aiden's face and is replaced by a worried demeanor. He pulls off again and onto the road.
About thirty minutes later, Aiden takes a familiar route that leads right back to a previous stop, namely, Carcosa Pleasure Craft Rental. He pulls up to the front and gets out, but a very different sight greets him. The building is boarded up and dilapidated, looking like it had been abandoned for quite some time. The crumbling sign on top reads "Roger's Bait & Tackle" and the mysterious yellow boat is nowhere to be found.
"Just what in all hell is going on?" says Aiden as the ominous silent whispers in his head begin anew.
This seems to panic the agent and he rushes to get back into his car and drive off. As the vehicle peels out, the same disturbing entity, dressed in the filthy yellow robes, looks out from behind the building, the soulless eyes of his blank yellow mask, staring out at the departing automobile.