by Dave Dykema
To save face, she couldn’t return his call right away. She didn’t want to let on that she was screening. That turned people off, and in the real estate game she couldn’t afford to do that. Often the pivotal point in closing a deal was not the house or property itself, but the relationship she had with the buyers.
As she waited impatiently for some time to pass, she mulled over what Reverend Stone could possibly want.
*2*
Kim gently replaced the phone in its cradle. She trembled with nervous excitement.
“Well Sparks, this is it,” she said to her cat almost dreamily, scratching his mangy whiskers. “I’m going to truly join the ranks tonight.”
Sparkle wasn’t particularly interested. He just enjoyed the scratching. Kim, however, was very interested.
One by one, the call went out to Stone’s followers.
*3*
Dan wished he had gloves. He had been standing outside for hours now, first hiding a block away to see if the police showed up. When they didn’t, he became more bold and started pacing back and forth on the street in an effort to keep warm. While he was looking for his first hiding place he missed Stone leaving.
He didn’t think Janet would stand still after what went on between them. She would act in some way, either going to Stone and warning him or hiding from the man. It all depended on what kind of influence he held over her.
Dan wanted to hang around to see if he could get a gauge on it.
*4*
Twenty minutes later Janet reached for the phone. For a time she debated whether she should even call Stone back. In the end, it was fear that motivated her.
*5*
He was about to give up and go home, perhaps soak in a warm tub before calling Melissa and letting her know the developments of the day. Maybe Janet was right. Nothing was happening. Maybe he should drop his vigilance, but the warning she gave worried him:
If you care anything for Melissa, drop this right now. You’ve no idea how dangerous he can be…
What did that mean? How dangerous? Life-threatening?
Dan’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Janet emerge from her building onto the street. It was a go.
“Too late to back out now,” he muttered to himself. A passerby glanced back at him, quickened his step, and clutched his groceries closer to his chest.
Staying out of sight, in the shadows, Dan followed Janet to Stone’s building.
*6*
Janet felt relief to see the other cars outside. They confirmed Reverend Stone told her the truth about this being another meeting when she called him back. For some reason she didn’t trust him fully and was afraid that she would be alone with him.
She was determined this would be her last meeting. As the days wore on, she found it increasingly difficult to live with herself. But pulling away from Stone proved to be more challenging than she first thought. It was like trying to kick cigarettes or drugs. She remembered watching some of her college friends that she supplied agonize during the early stages of withdrawal. Most never made it, eventually reverting back to their narcotic of choice.
She realized that Reverend Stone and his teachings were her narcotic. Even though the days of her friends’ frivolous drug indulgences were over, she had a better understanding of their pain. She disliked the way her younger self handled the situation, offering money for more drugs instead of trying to be helpful and supportive. At the time all she wanted was for her partying friends to come back. She was selfish.
Breaking away would be hard. She didn’t have any friends to help her. She had driven Dan away. There wasn’t really anyone at the office. And this wasn’t something she could confide in others anyway. How would she explain the killings?
She thought about breaking away now, starting tonight. But the pull was too great. She was already there, why not go inside and see what the man had to say?
*7*
Kim spied Janet coming through the door. She hurried over.
“What do you suppose this is all about?”
“I don’t know,” Janet replied. “Stone didn’t say much to me over the phone except to be here.”
Kim frowned at her friend. “His name is Reverend Stone. We must always treat him with respect, even when he’s not around.”
Janet shrugged off the comment. If he wanted to be called Reverend Stone so much, why did he refer to himself as Jim on the phone? Kim was obviously star-struck, so Janet offered no defense.
“I’m sorry. You’re right, of course.”
Kim immediately forgave her and assumed a nervous, almost frenzied state.
“Do you think we’ll perform the ceremony again? I still feel so strong, so invigorated from last night. I’ve never felt so powerful in my life!”
Kim had been invited to soak her crystal in the fresh blood last night as Reverend Stone revealed to her the true secret of the power lying dormant within the gem. But for some reason, she wasn’t required to take part in the bloodletting as Janet had been forced to when it was her initiation. Janet was jealous of the fact.
“I suppose we’ll find out soon enough,” Janet said, pointing. “Here he comes.”
The dozen or so people gathered hushed. All eyes were on Stone as he emerged from his office, followed by three men—Bill Cambridge, Jeff Goodall and Paul Rogers—all of them longtime followers. This seemed a little odd since Stone generally liked to be alone before meetings. A caul of concern enveloped everyone.
Stone sensed this from his chosen. He raised his hands to command their full attention, silencing the last whispering voices.
“First, let me say I’m glad so many of you came on such short notice. I know you didn’t expect to be summoned. I’m sorry you had to leave the comfort of your homes, but sometimes it is necessary. You that are gathered here belong to a special group, an elite core of individuals whose actions will be richly rewarded.”
He stepped over to the velvet ropes cordoning off the door that led to the back and unhooked it. With a broad sweeping gesture, he encouraged those present to join him.
“Come,” he said. “We have business to attend to.”
Kim broke apart from the group and quickly took an excursion to the back room. Hesitantly, the next person separated himself from the others and followed her. Others soon followed, but they were cautious. Stone was acting differently. Something was up, and some were not sure they wanted to find out what.
Janet understood that she had to go as well—there was no getting out of this one. Reverend Stone was treating it as almost a “Last Supper,” with his twelve or so most loyal followers his disciples.
She took a step forward, only to suddenly have her arms wrenched behind her in a lock hold. Stone’s men sprang forward without warning, seizing her. As Goodall maintained his grip, pulling her arms practically out of their sockets, Rogers clamped a chloroform soaked cloth over her mouth and nose. She fought them, holding her breath and kicking out with her legs. Everyone else was in the other room already, most likely oblivious to her struggle. Janet wiggled and squirmed, jumping up and down. The pain in her arms and shoulders was beyond belief, but she fought on. She could feel Goodall’s grip slipping and thought she might get out of this yet. But then Cambridge punched her in the stomach. The wind momentarily knocked out of her, her lungs hitched, desperate for oxygen. When she finally did breathe, she sucked in the contents of the cloth, tasting a burning, sweet flavor.
As she slumped down, she saw a vague image of Stone standing over her, hands on his hips, a triumphant smile on his thin lips.
*8*
This time, Dan was determined to get inside. He felt as though his future with Melissa depended on it.
Just forget you ever met him, for her sake as well as yours. Don’t let her go back there…
He found it odd that Janet would show concern for his new girlfriend. Bitterness or jealously were more likely. The fact that she was scared for Mel—and there was no doubt that she was afraid from the expression on her face�
��gave Dan a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach, with icy tendrils reaching out toward his extremities.
As he slinked through the parking lot, weaving between the rows of parked cars, he had an intuitive tug that told him this was a special session, called in a hurry, and that not everyone could be reached. There were a lot fewer cars than at either of last night’s meetings. He sensed an all or nothing feeling of dread in the air.
Dan stopped by the glass doors leading inside. Crouching behind a Honda Accord, he could see most of the gathering room. It appeared to be empty. He thought of tiptoeing inside, but decided to use that as a last resort. Instead, he headed to the back, and the cul-de-sac.
*9*
Janet woke to find herself bound and gagged. Her clothes had been striped off her, baring her naked flesh. Around her, candles flickered.
The scene was all too familiar. Janet’s stomach knotted up into a tight ball, constricting painfully. When the two men who knocked her out came forward and lifted her into the cistern, she moaned, the sound muffled through the cloth stuffed into her mouth and tied off with another strip behind her head. She cast her eyes rapidly about, trying to read the expressions of those around her, but too many stayed in the shadows, hiding from the dim candlelight.
She hoped it was a dream, her conscience punishing her by bringing forth the countless demons of those she stood by aimlessly and allowed to be killed. Her mind tried to rationalize her actions, pointing out to her ego that she never impaled anyone to get to their blood until after they were dead. Her id argued that she enjoyed it just the same.
“I’m asleep on my couch, I’m asleep on my couch,” she mumbled as a kind of mantra, though it sounded like “Mim ahseeh uh ma couu” through her gag.
“What’s that, Janet?” Stone asked, leaning forward. “I can’t understand you.”
His taunt proved to her that this must indeed be happening. Panicked, she retreated into her recitation even louder, squirming against her bonds.
Stone stood upright and spread his hands to address his children.
“We have here a traitor in our midst. This is intolerable and cannot be forgiven. She has divulged secrets from our inner sanctum—secrets we don’t even share with the novitiates.”
Janet’s mind fought to overcome the murkiness clouding it. What secrets? What is he talking about? When did I—Dan! He somehow knows what I said to Dan!
She began to shiver uncontrollably. Stone again looked down at her, reaching out to brush the hair out of her eyes, caressing her forehead as he did so. He gave her a patriarchal smile. Janet thought she saw a tear forming but he turned away before she could be sure. He once again addressed his group.
“Witness and remember.”
*10*
Dan faced a tall wire mesh fence. It was the same sort of chain-linked fence that served as a backstop for thousands of baseball diamonds across the country, except it had a sharp tangle of barbed wire looped around its top. It’s shielding the world from something, Dan thought, something far less wholesome than Little League foul balls.
Frowning, he inserted his toe in one of the small diamonds in the pattern of the mesh. He pulled himself up, lifted his other leg off the ground, and searched for a foothold. The fence sagged with a chang! as his full weight pushed against it. He felt like a mountain climber, but appeared more like a drunken Spider-Man, all arms and legs, as he fumbled his way up.
At the top, he faced the grim task of dealing with the sharp barbs of twisted metal waiting to poke through his clothes and cut him. He found gaps in the wire through which he could grip the top of the fence, and then he swung one leg widely over the top, hooking his toe back in the fence on the other side. Straddling off-balance, he swung the other leg over. As he maneuvered awkwardly, he lost his toehold, his sneaker slipping on the chain-link.
Dan plummeted down, his sleeve catching in the barbed wire. Like claws, the metal talons slashed through, cutting his forearm. He landed hard on the concrete below, rolling on his shoulder to soften the fall. He came to a stop when he crashed into the cement wall of the building. He pulled back what remained of his sleeve and appraised his wound. Three parallel gashes spilt open the skin. In the dark, the blood looked black, slightly shiny from the distant streetlights. The cuts weren’t deep, but they hurt like hell.
He had come too far to back away now. Visions of a warm bath and Melissa massaging his sore shoulders tempted him, but he cast those thoughts aside. He pulled his sleeve back down and held his cut arm against his chest, trying not to streak any blood on the ground or walls.
The backdoor was padlocked, but Dan found it had some give when he tugged on it. It opened a small crack, about the width of three or four credit cards before stopping. Dan didn’t want to push his luck and settled for what he got.
He dropped down and sat cross-legged by the opening. He pressed one ear close and listened, drawing in a sharp gasp when he discovered he could actually hear voices. Someone had just asked, “What’s that, Janet?”
He leaned in closer, taking in what was said.
*11*
Kim came forward from the shadows and without hesitation slit Janet’s throat. Janet barely felt the cold steel blade against her skin—it all happened so fast. Thick blood seeped into her throat and she choked on her own fluid, coughing out a fine mist of red. She tried vainly to swallow, her gash opening and closing like a mouth. Before she died, Janet saw some candlelight glint off the bloodstained knife and thought of heaven.
Stone came up from behind Kim and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her close against him. He whispered, “I’m proud of you” in her ear, and removed the knife from her hand. She held it so tightly he had to wrench it free, her knuckles white.
Some of the others tentatively began to lurch forward, coming to cut Janet’s corpse and bathe their crystals. Stone stopped them.
“No. I don’t want you to soak your crystals in her blood. It’s tainted. You won’t get any strength from her. It is only for me. As far as we’re concerned, Janet Evans is a non-person. She never existed, none of us ever knew her, and her name will never be mentioned again.”
*12*
Dan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The voices were muffled, but he was sure he could make out Stone’s among them. And although he couldn’t understand, he was pretty sure he heard Janet moaning something.
And then she simply stopped making noise.
He pulled at the door, but it wouldn’t budge, and he didn’t want to try harder and make any more noise. He was learning that macho deeds were not as easy as they were on TV and in the movies. Tired and fearful, he fell back against the wall, shell-shocked, eyes closed.
They suddenly snapped open. During that instant of respite, rationality came back to him, and he realized the imminent danger he faced. He sprang to his feet. There was nothing he could do here, and now his fight or flight response kicked him in the sides with both heels.
Dan hightailed it out of there, vaulting over the fence like a teenager. Pain meant nothing, noise meant nothing, being seen meant nothing—all that mattered was to be as far from those muffled cries as he could. He hit the ground running and didn’t stop, heading into the night.
*13*
“It doesn’t stop here,” Stone explained to his shocked audience. “The threat still exists. There is still the man Janet spoke with and warned about us.”
“Who is he?” someone asked.
“Bring him here! We’ll take care of him for you!” someone else yelled frantically. They were quickly overcoming their surprise and rallying around their leader.
“His name is Dan Freeman,” Stone said. “He is a photographer for WKBC, channel 4.”
The twelve that were gathered began to inch closer to Stone, unconsciously, listening intently to his plan as it unfolded. Already Janet, once a well-liked friend, was becoming nothing more than a slab of meat, another anonymous face killed to serve a greater cause.
“I also want someone else from that
station taken care of,” Stone continued. “Melissa Van Dyke. She’s a reporter. She’s been here, snooping around, and promises to be a thorn in our side. Some of you may remember her.”
A gentle murmur waved through the crowd, ebbing and rising in volume. It was clear that including them in his plans formed solidarity among the faithful.
Stone reveled in the control he had over his people. Kim cut Janet’s throat without question; the rest were eager to do anything to help, including murder. He could see it on their faces, although they were draped behind hooded robes. He had a raging erection in his trousers unlike any he’d had since he performed his first ritual slaying some five years ago. He soaked in the power of total dominance over them all before he delivered his ultimatum:
“For the preservation of us all, they must be eliminated.”
Enthusiastic heads bobbed up and down in agreement, acknowledging their support. If Melissa and Dan were in the room right now they would be shredded apart on sight by a dozen clawing hands like a scene straight out of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Stone could see it in their glassy eyes, in the way their tongues wagged.
“That is all,” he said, excusing them. “Remember your duty.”
Like children on a field trip, they filed out excitedly. Stone put a hand on Kim’s shoulder as she was leaving, stopping her. He waited until they were alone to speak.
“Before, when I said I was proud of you, I wasn’t kidding,” he said, slipping off her robe. He caressed her bare shoulders, looking deep into her glazed eyes, urging her on.
Kim stepped out of the bundle around her feet and pressed close to Stone, running her hands across his chest. Without saying a word, she allowed him to remove the rest of her clothes. He then took a step back and stripped off his own until he too was naked.
