Hamelyn's Curse
Prologue
All his life he had dreamed of it. Sometimes in the past Sometimes on a ship. But it had always been his.
Chapter One
Colby inwardly groaned. "God! How much longer is he going to spout maths at us? I am so bored."
Charlie Eppes was standing in front of an FBI Chalk board. Droning on about some obscure mathematical theory. That sounded pure gobble de gook to him. Colby shivered.
"I wish someone would turn the damn fans off!" he mused. "It's bl**dy freezing in here." He looked about the large open plan office. Okay! It was Mid Summer. But even for California. It was hot! The temperature had topped 100 degrees every day. For the past two weeks.
All around the windows were open. Fans whirred noisily. Apart from Colby - everyone was in short sleeves. Ties and jackets had been discarded. Across the room Colby could see two men who were actually in shorts. The icy frisson enveloped him again. Colby glanced sideways at David, his partner. Clearly he was not feeling the sudden drop in tempereture. His face was beaded with sweat. Colby although not wanting to appear inattentive. To the Eppes lecture - could not resist looking the other way. Liz and Megan were obviously as hot as David. Both women were in thin summer dresses Megan's hair was damp with sweat Liz had flopped into a chair, fanning herself with a magazine.
Quite suddenly Charlie's voice seemed to dip and fade. The room began to spin. The bright sun shrank to a pin point then disappeared. Colby blinked, shocked. He was no longer in the Bullpen. Half alarmed - he turned. Instead of desks chairs and glass fronted cubicles. There were houses Strange old white ones with Pitched black beams criss crossing their facades. Most had gabled upper floors. That jutted out over the street. It was bitterly cold and :-
Colby shuddered in fear and disgust Less than metre away amid a pile of rubbish. Sat a large black rat. It stared unblinking at Colby. Over laying the bizarre scene was an indescribable stench. Colby cringed instinctively.
His hand hovered over his gun. All the hackles on the back of his neck stood up. Colby's breath shortened into frightened huffs. Then he heard a strange noise. A melody rising and falling. It was far away but getting closer. To Colby it almost sounded like a flute. The rat looked round. In a single moment. It was gone flying away down the old cobbled street.
As quickly as it had vanished. The light returned. In a flash of dazzling gold. He was back in the Bullpen. Colby gasped as if someone had thrown cold water in his face? David Sinclair heard his partner loudly cough and turned. In time to watch Colby's legs buckle as he slid unconscious to the floor. Blood began gushing from his nose ears and eyes. "Colby!" David yelled Totally distracting everyone's attention from Charlie's lecture. He started to complain about the interruption. But instantly closed his mouth as the entire room looked around. Liz reacted even as David dropped to his knees beside Granger. She flew to her desk and wrenched open a drawer. Quickly rummaging through it. She found a small vial of smelling salts. She chucked them to Don Who now, also knelt beside the unconscious form of Colby Granger. Megan strode to a wall intercom and pressed a button. Instantly bellowing into the panel. "Medical Emergency! Medical Emergency! Chief Medical Officer to the Seventh Floor VCU. I repeat Chief Medical Officer. To the Violent Crimes Unit on floor seven.
TBC