Chapter 4

When Bo arrived at Pale Beak, it was already crowded. There must be over fifty young, fierce ladies with swords and shields cheering and celebrating something.

The Angel, however, was sitting at the bar drinking alone. When she saw Bo, she gave her an eyeroll.

"Fucking finally!" She drawled loudly. "Thought I was gonna pay for my own drinks tonight or something."

Bo sat down beside her and ordered herself a beer. She enjoyed it quietly while listening to the loud crowd behind her. It made her feel alive again.

"A cat got your tongue?" Tamsin clicked her fingers in front of Bo's face. When she noticed how distracted Bo seemed, she rolled her eyes again. "When you are done brooding there, I've got someone that might interest you."

"Okay," Bo nodded. She left some cash on the counter, before she followed Tamsin to the outside.

The blonde took her to the parking lot on the back side of the bar. She walked to her truck and opened the door.

"Whoa!" Bo exclaimed when she saw a man inside the truck tied up and gagged. "Who is this guy and why did you have him tied up in your truck?"

The man struggled as he shook his head frantically at Bo while letting out muffled screams.

"This is the guy who sold Kyron that warehouse unit twenty something years ago," Tamsin explained.

"I thought yesterday we agreed to talking to him, not kidnapping."

"Oh, I tried the talking part but that didn't work out so well, so…this is for the greater good, right?" Tamsin shrugged as she tore off the masking tape on his mouth.

"Please don't hurt me! I have a family! I have two kids!"

"Shut up, dude. We just have a few questions for you."

"Of course, of course, anything! I'll tell you anything you want to know, please!"

"You auctioned off a warehouse unit twenty something years ago. We want to know who that unit belonged to."

"O-over twenty years ago? That…that was a long time ago! I don't…I don't think I'd remember."

"It was unit 851, if that helps. You sold it to a guy. He has short, dark hair, a crooked nose like it was smashed by a brick, and a very bushy beard," Tamsin described.

The man gaped. "Twenty something years ago, unit 851, auction…." he muttered.

"What? Do you remember something?"

"I think it might have been the unit that Gary Myers' aunt rented. Yeah, I think so…I think so…."

"You better not be making shit up, dude," Tamsin hissed. "You just said you wouldn't remember."

"No, I mean, of course I don't remember every unit I've auctioned off but this one was…this one was rented to Gary Myers' aunt."

"Who is this Gary Myers? Is he famous or something?"

"No, I mean, yes, locally, yes. He murdered his entire family, including two little kids. It was terrible! His face was on the news for months."

"So this Gary Myers was a cold blooded killer?"

"Yeah…he was only 17 when he did that. Can you believe that?"

"What happened to him?"

"I think he got locked up in a looney bin somewhere."

"And the warehouse unit?"

"His family was all murdered by him, so all their stuff went to his aunt. After the police investigation, she rented a warehouse unit and stored his belongings there. She said that she just couldn't bear the thought of having his things at her own place. Several years later, she stopped paying for the unit, and that was why all those things ended up being auctioned off."

"And you are sure those things belonged to him?"

"Yeah, I mean…that was what his aunt told me when she rented those units."

"Do you know which mental hospital he was in? Is he even alive?"

"I don't know. I honestly don't know. It's been so many years, and I didn't follow his news that much."

Tamsin rolled her eyes. She asked a few more questions, and after she realized that the man knew nothing more, she tucked a fifty dollar bill into his pocket and untied him. "Alright, have a wonderful night."

The man fled in fear immediately.

"So…the journal book belonged to a serial killer? Seriously?" Bo murmured. "And how the hell are we gonna find this guy?"

"I guess I'll do some digging and meet you here tomorrow," Tamsin sighed. "This is soooo not how I want to spend my night time."

She combed her fingers through her hair carelessly, before she glanced at Bo. "If you are in the mood, those Amazon chicks in there are probably looking for a wild night."

"Oh," Bo nodded. She took a few steps towards the bar, before she turned and offered, "I did owe you an orgy, so…."

Tamsin let out an amused chuckle. She leaned in and tapped Bo's cheek playfully. "Have to take a rain check. I got someone else to meet tonight."

With that she hopped into her truck and started the vehicle.

"Fine, don't say that I didn't offer," Bo said to her loudly as she watched her drive away.

Tamsin drove to the other side of the town, pulling her truck into the parking lot of a small, rundown church at an intersection right beside a railroad.

She inhaled the crisp night air after exiting her truck. While scanning the surroundings, she briefly checked her phone. Then, she entered the church, heading straight to the confession room.

She entered the chamber and sat down. She cleared her throat loudly, before she said, "forgive me, father, for I don't really give a damn."

"I was just wondering when you'd show up," the person sitting in the other chamber replied. His voice was low and hoarse.

"I never miss my appointments," Tamsin snorted.

"Would you like to provide any updates today?"

"I think I know what he's looking for now."

"Oh? Do tell."

"He's looking for the Book of the Dead."

The other person went quiet for a long time. "Are you sure?" He eventually asked.

"Yep, pretty sure," Tamsin replied. "Saw the sample printout he gave…her. I am fairly certain that its content was originally from the Book of the Dead."

"Why would he be looking for something that does not exist? He knows it better than anyone!" The man raised his voice a little.

"Technically, it did exist, for millennia, before it was destroyed in the war," Tamsin corrected him.

"Just like you said, it was destroyed. How could he possibly find something that has already been destroyed?"

"Turns out, someone might have seen it a little over twenty years ago," Tamsin said. "I have no idea how, but that person wrote some of it down in a journal book. The text was legit."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

The man went quiet for a long time. "Does it really…was there a copy somewhere that we are not aware of?" He muttered along. Then he told Tamsin, "if there is a copy out there, find it and bring it to us."

"Well, my other client is also looking for it. How am I supposed to bring it to you and her? You do understand the person behind her is the King of Hell, right?"

"Of course we know that," the man said impatiently. "That fraud does not intimidate us."

"Whatever, two clients, one item. You want it, you will have to convince me. Otherwise, it's going to be first come, first serve," Tamsin told him firmly.

The man went quiet, and Tamsin's patience ran out. "I'm leaving," she announced as she stood up.

"Don't fly away just yet, Angel. We'll make it worth your while," the man offered.

"Empty talk, worth nothing."

"When you find out more about it, we'll talk more."

"Not promising you anything," Tamsin replied. With that, she left the church.

As she backed her truck out from the parking, she glanced at the side mirror.

Beside the church, on the crooked branch of a half dead tree, a jackdaw stood there. The bird watched her vigilantly with dark, sparkling eyes.

The next Day, Tamsin met Bo at Pale Beak again. She invited Bo into her truck and handed her a file folder. "It's the Myers murder case files," she explained. "I am warning you. It's very graphical."

Bo opened the folder and started reading. "...on the night of August 5th, 1988, Gary Myers got up and took a knife from the kitchen. He entered his parents' bedroom, and stabbed his father, Richard Myers, 18 times and killed him. Then, he beat her mother, Karen Myers, who tried to call for help and killed her. His baby sister Lucy, who was only 7 and sleeping with their parents at that time, was strangled. He left the room after he killed her, and walked upstairs, to his older brother Daniel Myers' room. There he killed him, and his girlfriend Julia. He then went to the guest bedroom, where his sister Janet and her baby boy Cole had stayed. He stabbed her to death, and smothered him with a pillow."

"Fucking sick bastard, huh?"

Bo nodded as she skipped the crime scene photos. "The neighbors found him wandering in the neighborhood with bloodied clothes and a knife in his hand. He got arrested immediately, but the police never figured out why he did it. According to the officers who made the arrest, he was talking nonsense but didn't seem violent at all. He was deemed incompetent to withstand trial, and was sent to a psychiatric hospital named Green River Asylum."

"Well ain't that name appropriate." Tamsin commented.

"Based on this," Bo tapped the folder cover with her finger, "this guy is a complete lunatic. Do you think we will even be able to get anything useful out of him?"

"Actually, you might be able to."

"Huh? Why?"

"You are a sex demon. You have that charisma that charms humans. You can make humans do things, can't you?"

"Yeah, but he's crazy."

"Still, a human," Tamsin started the car. "What do you have to lose anyway, hmmm?"

"Who do you say you guys are again?" The front desk guy at Green River Asylum could barely talk coherently after getting a seductive smile from Bo.

"Researchers. We are researchers," Bo explained with the sweetest, softest voice as she gave him a wink. "We'd like to interview one of your patients, if that's okay."'

Being completely under Bo's spell, the man only managed to give them a idiodic smile, before he let them inside. He did not even check any of their credentials.

"I feel dirty," Bo grunted, and Tamsin laughed.

Both of them recognized Gary from his mugshot when they walked into the activity room in B wing. He was in a chair by the window. He didn't look violent, or crazy. He just seemed…tuned out from this world.

"Gary Myers?" Bo called his name cautiously. She had to repeat his name a few times, before the man finally turned to look at her.

He just gave her a blank glance, before he turned to stare at the trees outside the window again.

"I'd like to ask you about a journal book you once had," Bo showed him the journal book. "Do you remember this?"

Gary slowly moved his eyes on the journal book. Then, he looked away.

"You have written down a lot of things in this journal book. I just want to know where you have seen them."

Gary stared at her numbly and quietly.

Bo gave him a smile, putting her demonic charisma into full force. "Gary," she breathed, "tell me, where have you seen these? You didn't come up with these hieroglyphs yourself, did you?"

Gary's dull eyes slowly lit up. He locked eyes with Bo and mirrored Bo's smile in a creepy way. "I…" he muttered, his lips trembling. "I…those…those writings…those writings…."

"That's right. Those writings. Where have you seen them?"

"I saw them…I saw them…there."

"Where? Tell me."

Gary pondered as he flipped through the journal book pages. The look on his face alternated between excitement, fear, anger and sadness. "It was…in the summer. I had just turned 17. Daniel…my older brother, he got admitted to college. Before he left for college, we went on a road trip."

"We? You mean you and Daniel?"

"Me, Daniel, his girlfriend Julia. There was another girl. She was a friend of Julia's I think. Her name was…her name was…Heather, I think. We took my grandmother's old van and headed to the Grand Canyon. We drove and drove…then, one night…we were driving on the interstate. It was too dark, and everyone was singing, so we missed our exit."

"What happened next?"

"We had to get off the interstate and turn back, but those back roads were…confusing. We got lost and ran out of gas. We waited on the side of the road for a car or something to pass by and help us, but there were none, so we decided to walk to the nearest town to spend the night and maybe get some gas afterwards."

"Okay, that's good. You are going great, Gary. What happened next?"

"We walked. It was really dark outside, but it was…so peaceful, you know. Then, I told them I needed to take a leak. I thought I'd catch up with them, but as I finished…you know, everything just…went dark."

"What do you mean everything just went dark?"

"It was like everything had suddenly disappeared. Everything. That was when I saw…that."

Gary's eyes opened wide with fear. He shivered so hard that he was unable to continue. Bo had to use her charisma to calm him down a little.

"Gary, look at me. Look at me. Focus. What did you see?"

"I saw…a temple. It was there, in the middle of nowhere."

"A temple?" Bo frowned hard and turned to Tamsin briefly. The blonde seemed unusually calm.

"I…I don't know. Maybe it wasn't a temple. Maybe it was something else. I don't know. I don't know…it was a temple. It was there. It was there…."

"Okay, okay, Gary, just calm down. Tell me what happened next."

"I…went inside."

"What do you see in there?"

"It was empty. There were candles. There were candles burning. The flames were pale white."

"What else do you see?"

"I see...an altar. There was a...there was a statue behind it."

"What kind of statue?"

"I don't know. I wasn't anything I've ever seen…it was…it was something that…"

He started shaking again. Bo spent more time comforting him.

"Was that the place where you saw those writings?"

Gary wasn't listening to her. He just mumbled along. "Wall paintings…I saw them. I saw paintings. They were everywhere. There were pictures. I saw…I saw everything!"

"Including the hieroglyphs you wrote down in your journal?"

Gary shook his head frantically. "No…no…I…I blacked out for a while. I don't know how long but when I woke up, I was inside the crypt."

"You mean the crypt beneath the temple?"

"I…I was in the crypt. There was a casket. It was all over the casket."

"What was all over the casket?"

"The writings…the inscriptions, those little drawings…they were…alive….I walked over to the casket, and I opened it. There were more of them inside, many, many more…they were dancing, laughing and screaming…."

He held his head in great agony as he groaned, "I tried to understand them but I couldn't. I couldn't."

"You tried to understand those hieroglyphs? Why?"

"I don't know…I don't know! She wants me to. She made me!"
"Who? Who made you?"

"It was her! She's in there! She's the woman in the casket! She's staring at me!"

Gary jolted violently, falling out of his chair. He started to scream as he hit himself, then everything around him. "No! No! No! Get away from me. Get away from me!" He yelled.

The nurses quickly came over and sedated him. They took him away afterwards.

Bo gaped at the scene. Then she turned to Tamsin and said, "so…let me get this straight. He went into a mysterious temple, and then found a casket there. That was where he had seen the hieroglyphs, the very hieroglyphs that should belong in the Book of the Dead. Is it just me, or none of this is making any sense?"

Tamsin didn't answer her. She beckoned Bo to follow her to the outside. When they were alone again, she replied, "actually, I think it all makes sense now."

"Huh?" Bo frowned.

"Have you ever heard of something called the Dark Temple, or the Ghost Chapel?"

Bo frowned hard at those two names. "No, I don't think so. What are they?"

"They actually refer to the same thing, some sort of…structure that would appear out of nowhere."

"What do you mean?"

"Like…a temple that just appears out of thin air in front of you. Then it just…disappears. And it doesn't just appear in the empty field or anything. It would…turn an abandoned structure into itself, like it was a ghost possessing that building."

Bo took quite some time to get herself familiarized with that weird idea - a structure possessing other structures. "So you think that was what Gary encountered. The temple he saw was that…that Dark Temple."

"Mhm," Tamsin nodded. "That could also explain why he had committed those horrific murders. It was said that the energy inside Dark Temple was soul shattering. If the soul of a human like Gary Myers got shattered, they either die or go insane."

She paused and pondered for a while, before she added, "interesting, though…he saw the content of the Book of the Dead in the Dark Temple…That is…really…."

"So, if what he said was all true, then the Book of the Dead somehow…exists in a…ghost building…? Ummm…can we find this Dark Temple or something?"

"You don't find the Dark Temple, sweetheart. The Dark Temple finds you. It only appears randomly, and so rarely that…for the past few centuries, there had only been a dozen or so sightings."

"Then, how, I mean why did it appear in front of Gary Myers?"

"I don't know if anyone can answer that question."

"Do you think I should talk to my father about this? I mean, he's the King of Hell, right? Dark stuff is kind of his territory."

"Whatever you want to do on your own time is totally your own business," Tamsin shrugged. "Let's head back to the bar and call it a day, shall we?"

On the way back to Pale Beak, both of them were unusually quiet. Bo was looking through the window the whole time, being lost in her train of thoughts.

When they drove past a torn down barn, Bo suddenly jolted as she pushed against the passenger side door. She pounded the window with her hands and yelled, "stop the car! Stop the car right now!"

"Gee, what's gotten into you?" Tamsin pulled the truck to the side of the road. Bo dashed out before the truck had even come to a full stop.

"Hey! Where the hell are you going?!" Tamsin yelled as she rushed to follow Bo.

Bo didn't answer her. She just sprinted towards the barn like her life depended on it.

Tamsin's jaw dropped as she noticed the silhouette of the barn glitched for a split second. Bo, who had just ran into the barn, had vanished into thin air.