The Scarlet Plan

by Rick W. Warren

  She had a pretty smile, but she couldn’t hold a candle to his one true love. He couldn’t believe he was going to see his sweet wife again. They were going to be young again and they would re-live the very best of times. He felt like he did at Christmas when he was six years old. That year he got his first bicycle and he could hardly contain himself. It felt like Christmas again.

  3

  “Hello, Mr. Weller. I am Dr. Thomas Rule. I will be your guide in recollection today. Can I call you Earnest? You can call me Thomas. I have found that a first name basis actually helps in the process.”

  “No problem Dr. Rule, I mean, Thomas,” Earnest replied.

  Thomas Rule was on the commercial Earnest saw advertising Flashback Inc. He appeared to be a man in his early fifties with a kind demeanor. He carried himself with confidence and Earnest guessed that he probably was popular with his female patients. Earnest thought of his son, Martin, who was probably around the same age. He had called him yesterday to tell him about this place, but only got his voicemail. He left him a message, but in a way was relieved. Martin was skeptical of things like this and probably would have tried to talk him out of it. This was certainly something he didn’t want to get talked out of.

  “This is my assistant, Lucy,” Thomas said with a dramatic wave of the hand. “She is a scientist and was very instrumental in the discovery of perfect recollection. Don’t let her age deceive you. She may be young, but she is the brightest mind I have ever encountered!”

  “How young?” Earnest asked genuinely curious.

  “Twenty-three,” Lucy replied with a grin. “Don’t worry. I hold a Ph.D. in Psychology and Biology. I’m properly trained to probe your mind.” Lucy took her knuckle and tapped him on the forehead.

  “Twenty-three and you already have your Ph.D.?” Earnest replied. “That’s fascinating!”

  Thomas laughed. “I told you she was bright!”

  4

  Earnest laid on the table while Thomas and Lucy put a helmet, connected with many wires, snuggly on his head. “Sorry that this doesn’t come in Wi-Fi, Earnest, but it gets the job done,” Thomas said in his characteristic charm.

  “So how do we do this, Thomas?” Earnest asked. “Do I just lay back and think or do you have to talk me through it like some sort of hypnotism? Do you have to inject me with anything?”

  “Actually, Earnest, it is fairly simple. No injections and no hypnosis. When we turn on the helmet, simply lie back and try to think back to the memory you wish to re-live.”

  “How long does it take? Since I am perfectly remembering something does it take as long as the memory took in real life?”

  “Great question,” Thomas replied smiling. “Actually it is much faster than that. Just as your mind can rapidly remember a situation, even perfect recollection happens in a fracture of the time. We have found that an hour of recollection in your mind equals about 5 minutes in real time.”

  “Really?” Earnest said elated. “I can spend an hour in my memories for 5 minutes? That’s wonderful!”

  “Yes, Earnest, it really is. I believe Lucy is ready and so am I. Are you ready to remember?”

  “Absolutely! By the way, are you guys able to see what I see? Are you able to record what is in my mind?”

  “Sorry, Earnest. We just get to look at brainwaves. Your memories are all yours. Now just close your eyes. What do you want to remember first?”

  Without hesitation Earnest replied, “The day I met my wife.”

  5

  For the next hour, lying in that office with the helmet attached to his head, Earnest Weller re-lived the greatest moments of his courtship with Cheryl Williams who would later become Cheryl Weller. It was absolutely amazing and everything Earnest could have hoped for. Her smile, her laugh, her hair, and every other wonderful thing about her was there. He not only was able to remember, but he was able to completely experience everything again. He could taste the meals they ate, smell her perfume, hold her hand, hear her voice, and kiss her for the first time a second time. Everything happened again and in some ways it was better than before because he had the wife of his youth back again. His final memory before his time was up was their wedding day. She was as beautiful as he had always remembered her. The vows were said and the reception had started when he heard Dr. Thomas say, “Time to come back, Earnest. You can always pick up where you left off.”

  Earnest opened his eyes and saw that he was still in the office. The only others who were there were Dr. Thomas and Dr. Lucy. It was as if he had been in a completely different world and now was forced to return to reality.

  “So what do you think?” Lucy asked.

  With tears in his eyes, Earnest replied, “Absolutely amazing! What you have accomplished here will change the world. I got to see my wife again. I got to experience the best things that ever happened to me. I can’t wait to go back. I’ll be able to see the birth of my children and go on our family vacations all over again. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

  “Well, Earnest, it appears as if this trip down memory lane was a success,” Lucy said warmly. “This is what we had wished for you. Now you will need to take a little time before you head home. We want to make sure you are well oriented before you leave.”

  “When can I do this, again?”

  “We recommend a two day cooling off period in order to make sure you are not over-stimulated. We can schedule you for Thursday this week if you want to return.”

  “Absolutely! By the way, what does this cost? Money is not an object, but I want to make sure you are paid.”

  Lucy glanced over to Thomas who then replied smiling, “This session is on the house Earnest. We hope to see you soon.”

  6

  It would be wonderful to say that everything turned out well for Earnest, but sadly that is not how this story ends. Something they had not warned him about was the fact that the reality of his memories was going to be a reality he preferred to live in instead of the present. At home he just sat in anticipation of his next appointment and his contact with the outside world had almost completely diminished. It had been two weeks since his first appointment and he had been there every third day. It became an obsession to him and he always wanted more.

  Due to his constant recollection, something else began to happen as well. He began to see a man. Even though it was his own memories, he never remembered seeing this man before. The man was not in his earliest memory, but showed up in his later years. On occasion when Earnest remembered going out to eat with his wife (he chose to recall them because he loved his conversations with her in her final years) he noticed this man in the background. The man was over six feet tall with blond hair cut short. He had a square jaw and a stern look on his face. He looked like a man you would not want to pick a fight with nor would you want to stare at him too long for fear that his hateful gaze would strike you dead. The old phrase “If looks could kill…” came to Earnest’s mind.

  As Earnest began to look at the events at the end of his wife’s life, he noticed that this man had been in the background at various places and occasions. He was even at Cheryl’s funeral! “How did I never notice this before?” Earnest thought.

  Earnest sat in his recliner looking at his wife’s chair. Her book sat unmoved on her end table. He felt a wave of emotion as he looked at the book while he leaned over to grab it. “My dear wife,” Earnest said as tears began to form in his eyes. “You never got to finish your book. I guess I’ll have to finish it for you.”

  With that he grabbed a piece of paper that was laying on the coffee table and using it for a bookmark he placed the book down where it was before.

  “Unfortunately, you not going to be able fulfill that promise,” a voice said behind him.

  Earnest froze as he lost his breath and his pulse raced. Without turning around He knew who was behind him. It was the man. The man that had been stalking both of them w
as in his living room. Earnest tried to speak, but nothing came out.

  “You weren’t supposed to see me,” said the man as he walked around the chair to face him. He was smiling, but the eyes never changed. “You were supposed to remember your wife. You were supposed to enjoy the time we gave you before we were finished with you, but now you have sped up the process. No matter. I don’t like to wait anyway. On behalf of the Scarlet, thank you for your donation. We will put your money to good use.”

  Terrified, the last thing Earnest ever saw before he fainted was the needle in the man’s hand. Earnest Weller never woke up.

  7

  The autopsy said heart attack and Earnest’s kids thought no different. He was cremated and buried next to his wife. The big shock came when the will was read and they had seen that everything that their parents had was gone. The bank accounts read $0 and all of their money had been transferred to an offshore and unknown account. Martin Weller knew something was wrong. He knew that his parents would never have done such a thing, but unfortunately the money was transferred with Earnest’s authorization and it was gone forever. There were no signs of fraud. It wasn’t the money, however, that Martin was ultimately concerned over. Rather, he knew they had been stolen from and he began to wonder if this had anything to do with his father’s death.

  It was when he began to go through his parent’s belongings with his brother and sister that something grabbed his interest. He opened his mom’s book on the end table and noticed the piece of paper that said Flashback Inc. with its phone number underneath.

  “I remember dad leaving a message about this a few weeks ago,” Martin said as he dialed the number. “I wonder what this place did for him.”

  As Martin waited for someone to answer, a message responded back to him telling him the number did not exist. He tried again, but got the same message. No one was there.

  Like so many memories, Flashback Inc. had disappeared.

  Second Quarter

  The Rain Falls

  Saturday, October 17th -

  Sunday, October 18th

  1

  Thomas Rule, A.K.A. the Actor, stood at the window in his hotel room and watched as the sun rose in the east. Last night’s storm had caused a bit of trouble for the city as three inches of rain came down in a half hour’s time. Flash flooding was going to be the topic of today’s news around the city, or at least that was what was thought until a news item of much greater worth appeared. Thomas grinned to himself as he raised a cup of coffee to his mouth. He thought about what was ahead for Galesburg and the pure power of it all gave him a rush. The people of this city had no clue what was really coming for them. To Thomas, he didn’t think of the people of “The Burg” (as residents liked to call it) as people at all. To him they were sheep and he was the wolf. The only thing that protects sheep from the wolves are the shepherds and the shepherd that was in the way of the Scarlet was now floating in Lake Storey.

  Thomas put his coffee down on the table and turned on the television. No news yet. He picked up his phone and looked through different local pages on social media, which he had joined through yet another alias. Nothing. Jack McKenzie had not yet been found. He put his phone back in his pocket and began to make his way to the door. He was going to meet the Thinker in about ten minutes and the Thinker was never late. He was continually impressed with the things the Thinker came up with. He was definitely not the guy you would want to play in chess. The Thinker was always twenty moves ahead of anyone. He had detailed scenarios in his mind for a variety of different situations. In this line of work you had to because curve balls were always thrown your way. Even last night was a curve ball, but they adjusted accordingly. Originally they were supposed to hunt down Jack and yet he surprisingly showed up to them. While it concerned them to know how he knew where they were, the result turned out to be the same as planned. Thomas was sure that this would be a topic that the Thinker talked about today. How did Jack know where to find them?

  Thomas walked to the elevator and pushed the “down” button. The door opened immediately and he walked in. Thomas began to wonder about the Cleaner and what he might be doing right now. Would he be downstairs waiting for them as well? He doubted it. The Cleaner loved isolation and didn’t care much about the planning. All he cared about was the implementation. That was why they had kept his services for as long as they had. The Cleaner was efficient at chaos and that is exactly what they used him for.

  The elevator door opened and as Thomas stepped out into the lobby, he saw the Thinker eating breakfast and reading the newspaper. Thomas made his way towards him, but not without first warmly greeting the woman behind the hotel counter. His role as “The Actor” was to make sure that he was endearing to everyone. The last thing he wanted to look like to anyone was a threat. His job was to make sure everyone felt safe and secure around him. The devil masquerades as an angel of light and he had to do the same.

  The Thinker looked up from his newspaper as Thomas approached him and sat down. “Good morning, Actor,” Thinker said. “Anything interesting happening today?”

  “Pretty dull, so far,” Thomas replied. “It rained a lot last night in a short time. I saw there was a little bit of flash flooding.”

  “Any more storms expected for later?” Thinker asked with a grin as he looked over the top of his eyeglasses.

  “Yeah, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of them yet,” Thomas answered with the same smirk.

  “Well it’s a good thing we know how to prepare for storms then, don’t we?”

  “Absolutely. By the way, do you by chance know what the Cleaner might be doing today? I see that he sped up the timetable for the shadows. He has a special hatred for this town. I think he is more zealous for what we want to do here than he has been in any other place.”

  “I’d say you’re right,” Thinker replied as he set his glasses on the table. “He is having trouble being patient for this one. I am inclined to think that he might find some additional things to do here than what the Scarlet has designed. That’s one of the reasons we are here. It’s to keep him focused on the plan.”

  “Sometimes it’s like trying to wrap your arms around a tornado when it comes to him.”

  “Yes, but at least he’s our tornado and we get to direct where he is going to touch down.”

  “So, then, how is our scenario playing out? Is everything still on schedule? Jack’s appearance was unexpected.”

  The Thinker took a sip of coffee and leaned back in his chair with his long thin fingers interlaced over his stomach. “Yes, it was unexpected, but the result was the same. We shouldn’t forget that there is some power on his side as well. The difference, however, is that they are weak and lack the will to do what is necessary. That is why they will fail. That is why he failed.”

  “I have to admit that I am getting excited,” Actor said. “This will be our greatest display of carnage yet and the Scarlet will be very satisfied with our results.”

  Thinker leaned forward and took another sip of coffee. He couldn’t help but smile. “We had a good rain, but the real storm is coming soon.”

  2

  Emma woke up with a start around 7:45 in the morning. She groaned as she looked at her clock. Today was Saturday and that meant it was supposed to be a day to sleep in. The last thing she wanted to do was get out of bed at 7:45. It was silent in her apartment. Bosco was asleep next to her and didn’t even move when she woke up. What woke me up then? She wondered.

  She rolled over to her end table and grabbed her smartphone. She always kept the ringer on in case she got a call on a breaking story, but for some reason the tab on the side of her phone was switched to silent. As she looked at the phone, she understood what woke her up. She had already missed three phone calls from her boss and she had just received a text saying “CALL ME AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS!!!” The vibration of the phone must have woke her up.

  Emma sat
up to get her bearings. She was still a little foggy, but the message was like cold water thrown onto her face. Something was going on and it must be serious. She scrolled through her contacts and found her boss’s name (Henry Victor) and called him up.

  The phone barely rang when Henry answered. “Emma?” Henry asked with both a nervousness and softness, which was unusual for him. Henry wasn’t a bad guy, but he was usually direct in his talk. He was always distracted by the hundred things running through his mind at once. “Emma, are you ok? I tried to call you earlier a few times and you hadn’t answered, which is unusual for you.”

  “I’m fine,” Emma said confused. “I was trying to sleep in this morning and I must have accidentally put my phone on vibrate. What’s going on? What’s happened?”

  Henry paused for a couple of seconds as if he wasn’t sure what to say. “Well, we have a big news item breaking and I think it’s important you come down here.”

  “Well, what is it? What’s going on?”

  “I think it’s better that you come down to the paper and we talk about it here.”

  “OK? Why can’t you let me know on the phone? I’ll be down there as soon as possible. I need about ten minutes, but why in the world can’t you tell me anything now?”

  Henry sighed. He knew Emma’s tenacity. It’s what made her a good reporter. He didn’t know how long he would be able to withhold from telling her what he knew she wouldn’t want to hear. “We just got word from the police that there was a murder here in Galesburg.”

  “Oh my goodness!” Emma said alarmed. “Where did it happen? Has the victim been identified?”

  “It happened at Lake Storey and they do know who the victim is. Two joggers found him floating in the lake.”