B00724AICC EBOK (34 page)

“
But you can’t always have what you like.”

Wei set the timer on the grenade to sixty seconds and then was gone in a flash; he smashed right through the solid door as if it was paper. Inside he tossed the grenade through a normal sized doorway where three Middle Eastern looking men were busy trying to put together the components for the huge bomb. They were having some sort of argument and sounded stressed. One of the components was in backwards and so the green light wouldn’t go on. Not being able to get to their original location, they were simply going to set the bomb off then and there, happy to go out with a bang.

They hit the ground at the site of the grenade and Wei killed the two on the left as Bao chopped off the tall one’s head to his right. He stopped the head from rolling and perhaps setting off one of the traps. Wei picked up the grenade, entered the four digit code that halted the countdown that would have caused it to explode when it reached zero. He placed the weapon snuggly back into his pocket. Upon closer inspection, the beams appeared to be nothing more than light connected to nothing.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

HAVING JUST EXITED THE READING ROOM at the Boston Athenaeum, one of the oldest independent libraries in the country, Michael stood stunned outside the entrance of the building. He was speechless for a time and searched for the words to respond. His face and forehead showed stress, a blow that he had no defence against. His world had been disrupted as if a huge asteroid had just hit it. It was devastating news. Lauren was pensive as she waited for Michael to respond. She watched as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. It was a difficult situation for both of them. Life didn’t always grow roses, at times the weeds simply took over.

“
You’re really moving to New York?”

“
Listen Michael, it’s not personal. Duty calls. This stint in Boston was only for six months until they replaced two other sheriffs that had been killed. I’m heading back to my regular post in New York.”

Michael was upset and he attempted to conceal the extent of his feelings but it didn’t work. The pain on his face was too obvious. He wanted to cry but didn’t. “So that’s why you were so weird in there. Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

“
I don’t know. I’ve only known for a couple of days. I was supposed to be here for six months and it’s been eight. So I figured that they were going to leave me here. Michael, you could come with me. I have a beautiful two bedroom apartment on the upper west side. A new life for both of us.”

A small brown and white dog took Michael’s attention as it wandered into the street. It appeared to be a mixture of several small breeds. It had no collar and was quite dirty, as if it had been rolling in a mud puddle. When it ran in front of a car that was driving over the speed limit, he rushed and saved it, placing it down on the sidewalk before returning to Lauren. The dog barked twice at him and then headed down the sidewalk. Lauren liked that even in his anguished state he cared enough to save the poor animal.

Michael looked discouraged. “I can’t go with you, I have obligations here.”

“
That sucks. I’m disappointed you’re not coming with me. I thought that maybe you would. I haven’t had much time to process the information. I guess it’s too early in the relationship to ask too much out of it. I didn’t think I’d care for this much this fast.”

“
So this is it? We just go our separate ways?” Michael felt like punching the building but didn’t. He faced away from her not knowing what more to say or do; his emotions were raw and he couldn’t think. The fact that it was her obligation to leave made it all the more difficult. Michael knew it wasn’t her fault but he wanted to blame her.

“
New York is not that far away.”

“
When do you leave?”

“
Tomorrow night.”

“
That is just GREAT.”

“
They called me again this morning. It’s getting heavy in New York.”

Silence gave way to anguish. “What am I supposed to do here without you? You’re the first thing I think about when I get up and the last thing when I go to bed. This whole freaking thing is like a bridge underwater.”

“
What is that supposed to mean?”

“
A bridge underwater. It’s something that my grandfather used to say when he meant that something was useless.” Michael blurred off down Beacon Street and almost ran into a red Toyota Yaris on School Street.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

THE SUN SHONE THROUGH the living room window onto the new brown carpeted floor, creating a rectangular shape of light. She was wearing her hooded Persian Rose colored fleece robe which made her look majestic. Jenny stood with her feet into the light as she got lost in her own world of what could be and what should be. Memories of past kills flickered through her mind like unwanted old clothes; they were tossed out like so much junk. She refused to feel sorry for vampires that would have killed and drained both her and her mother. The carpet tickled her feet. The smell of her mother’s strong black coffee was palpable even from out in the kitchen. The child had sampled coffee once without her mother’s permission and to her it was a distasteful beverage; she had had to put eight tea spoons of sugar in it to make it sweet enough to drink, and ended up tossing it anyway. She considered that as she grew into adulthood her tastes were likely to change, but for the time being coffee was tantamount to muddy water.

Out through the window and across the street she could see several people walking around in the park, out for a Sunday stroll. One had a frisky black lab that was chasing a tennis ball. Jenny felt sad for all the people that were dying by vampire fangs. She wondered what made them tick. Could a good psychologist cure them? She didn’t think so. Why did they have such a bloodlust for people?

Jenny wiggled her bare toes and imagined the summer sun energizing her like a huge rechargeable battery. She cracked her toes on one foot, and then the other, and then stood on them as best she could, like a ballerina. How awful must it be for ordinary children in this world of fangs?

Jenny took her chips off the coffee table and finished them. She had watched some old Bugs Bunny cartoons but then had turned off the Sony big screen. The girl downed the rest of her large glass of milk. The child remained deep in thought as she glared at the foot long statue of the carved wooden bat on the end table near the lamp. Her small enchanted objects only kept vampires away from a distance of less than twenty feet, and when she attempted to infuse more magic into a larger object it simply hadn’t worked. So now she worked on a medium sized bat to see what would happen with it.

Jenny learned a lot about herself and her capabilities inside dreams. She learned that each vampire that was turned away from the magical item and forced to leave the area had an effect on the item itself. In the dream that had been repeated over and over, it exhibited blue energy particles that were pulled from the object, which was what made the vampires with evil intentions depart the area. At least that was what she was taught in her dream, that each and every vampire that was turned away took magical energy from the amulet until it was no longer effective. At that point the item would have to be recharged like a spent battery, but of the few objects that had been enchanted, so far none had actually powered down. That could become a dangerous situation for someone that was out and depended upon the protection of the magical item. What if the one her mother carried suddenly stopped working? That would turn her dreams into nightmares.

It took time and concentration to charm an object, although she did realize that it was important work. The bad vampires were becoming much too bold, with battles flaring up all over the world. Many of them were getting ideas of forming groups, and in some areas where red sheriffs were lacking they were virtually unstoppable. They now occupied entire villages in certain parts of England, utilizing people as cattle. It could take weeks or even longer to get enough red sheriffs together to battle them. Nightmares were becoming reality where reality was becoming a field of wilted daisies with no rain in sight.

Jenny took the bat and focused on it, as if she was staring at a real night-flying mammal. She talked to it in a sing-song voice. She told the animal to be good to her. Jenny then patted it on its head and then jumped on the sofa placing her head against the comfy cushion. She could hear her mother singing in the kitchen and it made her smile. She held the bat in her hand and concentrated on it, envisioning evil vampires having to flee from it. The process had to be repeated, as if playing a movie scene over and over and over.

It had been a late night watching an old John Wayne movie. Within a half hour she had fallen asleep and dreamt of waterfalls sparkling in the sun. Because of her proximity to the falls, the sound of the water was thunderous. She looked down at her bare feet and saw that she was standing on small rounded rocks. The water sprayed her face and made her feel wonderful from the inside out; it invigorated her as nothing had ever before. Jenny walked through the water which was quite cold; she arrived on the other side dry and warm. Both of her hands tingled almost as if they were asleep.

“
Hello?” The sound of her angelic voice bounced off the walls. “Hellooooooo.”

“
I’m in here!” It was an unfamiliar man’s voice that had responded. It connected with one ear and then the other as the voice bounced around.

On the other side of the waterfalls was a cave system that led to enchanted things. Crystal balls protruded from the wall, half way in and half way out. She thought they should fall but didn’t. Small red pouches lined a path leading deeper into the cave system. She was sure the crimson pouches with gold lace contained essences of magical properties. She followed a tall man in a black cape who ran from her, and around each corner he appeared further away, so much so that she feared she would lose him altogether. But she also felt that it was absolutely necessary that she get to him, although she didn’t know why. And then around another right turn was a dead end.

Jenny made her way past a hole in the floor to the wall, with each and every step echoing up into the tall cavern, and ended up facing what she deemed to be a puzzle etched into the solid rock. A drop of water dripped at regular intervals but wasn’t within view. The puzzle was nine small squares that appeared to be buttons. It reminded her of tic-tac-toe. She instinctively knew that she had to push three in a row, but which three? She pushed hard on the top right button and heard something move somewhere, like rock grinding against rock.

Jenny awoke from the dream that had been so genuine that she could feel and actually see the imprint on her index finger from pressing hard against the uneven top right button. Her dreams had never been ordinary. Half asleep she placed the bat on the coffee table and reached for the remote control that was out of reach. Magically, the remote jumped into her hand. She sat straight up and wondered if she was still asleep.

“
That didn’t happen.”

Jenny opened her hand at the empty milk glass and it flew through the air and smashed into pieces over her head and against the wall. She screamed and ran into the kitchen where her mother was sweeping the floor.

“
Jenny, what did you break?”

“
Mother, I can move things! Magically. The remote flew into my hand. My glass smashed against the wall! I thought it was a dream but it’s not! What am I gonna do?”

Allison knew that her daughter was extraordinary so she wasn’t about to dismiss it. “Calm down and show me.”

Jenny held her hand toward a piece of bread on the counter and concentrated. The first few seconds nothing happened, and then the piece of bread wiggled and then stood up as if it had come to life. The toaster flew and smashed near the kitchen window, and the microwave went hurdling right through the window and into the yard.

“
All right Jenny! Stop!”

“
Okay,” said Jenny in a meek voice.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

IN THE DARK FOREST the night was mild and muggy. A soft wind made its way through the trees as an almost full moon helped to light up multiple eyes. A skunk had gone through the area in search of a mate and some of its pungent odor remained. A moose made its way noisily, cracking branches and disturbing smaller animals. A barn owl hooted from near the top of a sycamore tree. The woods were alive and frisky.

Keith sat in the new trailer that he had pulled some eight miles down a forest trail, and then into a clearing in the forest. A family would soon return home to discover that their home wasn’t there anymore. The sun had set hours ago. It was dark without electricity but he could see perfectly well. He grunted loudly as he ate. His recliner chair suffered under his heft, and the life expectancy of that piece of furniture was to be greatly diminished by his girth. He was wearing no shirt and his breasts were larger than most. Keith’s white underwear weren’t as white as they could be.

Ideas were festering in his malevolent mind as he consumed, feeding on the corpse of old man Masheck who had only five hours earlier been out mowing his lawn. He nodded at his designs of hopeful things to come. Keith held the headless corpse upside down and sucked the last of the blood out of it and let go with a boisterous belch. He slurped noisily into the neck several more times as it rested awkwardly on the floor. The head had come off with a snap and a crack as one snaps a lobster.