Protectors of the Veil

by Dawn Matthews

  Once Gary got to the station, he sat in the car for a while. He was contemplating what in the seven hells he was going to tell the commissioner about Joe’s death. Poor Joe, Gary wondered what he could have done differently. He could have tried to shoot the tentacle, but he could have hit Joe instead. Then if he had grabbed his gun, he wouldn’t have been able to grab Joe. Gary drank the rest of his spiked coffee and put his head back. He would tell the commissioner the truth, no matter what happened to him as a result. He owed Joe that much.

  Gary steadied himself, got out of the car, and went to the commissioner’s office. He checked in with the secretary. He didn’t even sit down because the commissioner wanted to see him right away. They had been friends in high school, and knew each other well. At first the commissioner greeted him with a smile, it faltered when he looked at Gary’s face.

  “My God, Gary, what’s happened?” the commissioner asked.

  “My partner was just killed,” Gary said.

  “Mary! Get Gary a whiskey!” he said to his secretary. Nobody spoke a word until she brought the drink and left the room. Gary took a big gulp of it, then the commissioner spoke again. “What happened?”

  Gary sighed, “You’re not going to believe it. I lived it and I don’t believe it. I owe it to Joe to tell you the truth, so here it is…” Gary told the commissioner the whole story. He even added his thoughts in the car right before he came up to the commissioner’s office. “I’ve been trying to think of a way I could have saved him, John, but I can’t come up with an answer.”

  “That’s when you know you did everything you could to save him. There was nothing you could do, and if you had done something differently, you might have ended up at the bottom of the bay, too,” Commissioner John Walter said.

  “What?” Gary was stunned. “That’s it? You know something about this. You can’t be this calm unless you know something. What the fuck is going on here, John?”

  “Keep your voice down, my old friend,” John said. “We need to get out of here. Let’s go to my house and we’ll talk.”

  Gary nodded; he took the hint. There was a good chance John’s office was bugged or that someone was listening somewhere. This was a conversation for utter privacy. John drove Gary to his house, as Gary wasn’t really in any condition to drive. He felt like the world was made of jelly and he couldn’t stand.

  “I have to make a phone call. Make yourself at home, there’s bourbon over there with some ice. I’ll be right back,” John said.

  Gary relaxed as much as he could. He had his drink, which helped him relax, and he sat back with his eyes closed for a minute. John was back before he knew it.

  “Okay, Gary, what I’m about to tell you is pretty unbelievable but it’s all true. As police commissioner, you learn a lot about how the world works that the public would never believe. When I first became commissioner, I was approached by a man with the secret government. You know the ones all the conspiracy theorists talk about. Only it’s all real. Anyway, this guy told me that there were two sides fighting for control of this world. He made their side look like saints and the other side look like evil devils. I was a fool. You know the old saying, ‘if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.’ I don’t honestly know anything about the other side, not really. I know they kill to protect something, but I’m not sure what it is. The ones you ran into today that killed Joe Talbert, they were on that side. They certainly aren’t squeaky clean, but they do seem to have a reason for what they do. They don’t do the horrible things I’ve seen Order do. I think I made the wrong choice, Gary. Not just once, many times…every time. When I did those horrible things to the most innocent of people. I chose to do that. And here I am making the wrong choice again,” John said almost flippantly.

  Gary sighed, “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you, John?”

  “I killed you the moment you finished that drink. That particular decanter is filled with bourbon spiked with a lethal dose of thallium. That’s why you’re slurring your words and having a hard time holding the glass. You’re my friend, one of my best friends, and I’m killing you. If I don’t, they’ll destroy me. It’s not so much that I’m afraid of death or even public humiliation, but I know what they are capable of. I’ve seen it first-hand, hell I’ve done it. The torture before death, I’m sparing you my friend. It might not seem like it, but I am doing you a favor.”

  Gary’s lifeless eyes stared at the couch as he sat flaccid against the chair. Right before he died, he had the thought of shooting his friend but his muscles would not cooperate. It was too late.

  The phone call John made was to a clean-up team. They arrived right on time. They were always nearby just in case the commissioner need someone to clean his mess. He usually did.

  John was late and couldn’t be bothered with bodies, at least the kind that weren’t for a sacrifice. John was part of the organization that is failing now. The deep government, some call them. Others call them the New World Order. They are the secret government that has controlled the world for ages. They do it with ritual human sacrifices. They worship a God of Order that feeds off fear. They use those that would be most afraid for their rituals. Mostly children. I won’t even discuss what they do or how.

  End of story.

  The Team takes only the strongest. They are trained rigorously and have to pass several tests before being chosen because we value strength, bravery, endurance, and perseverance. We also value freedom. Yes, these people are sacrificed, but had we not used their energy, their essence, their souls, they would have gone to waste anyway. Soon they would have been dead. They train the best of the best that will never be able to change to our side. That means when the veil falls, these men would have suffered the worst.”

  “Why?” Sam asked. “Why would they suffer more than anyone else?”

  “Because these men were too strong to fall and weren’t completely overtaken by the insanity. That means they would have been aware enough to see the horror going on around them and they would have been among the last to devolve,” Atum said.

  “What do you mean ‘devolve’?” Sam asked.

  “Let me explain exactly what is going on. Those that are on the side of Chaos are evolving. Everyone’s DNA is changing. Those on the side of Chaos are becoming more sophisticated. They must change to survive in the pure Chaos environment that is coming. The other side is going to devolve into Nothingness. Those that are on the side of Order but still strong will have the most difficult time. It will take them longer to be obliterated,” Atum explained.

  “Jebus!” Sam exclaimed. “So, both sides do sacrifices, but the Order side sacrifices the most vulnerable without care…”

  Atum interrupted her, “In fact, they have a ceremony where they sacrifice their ability to care. In essence, they sacrifice any part of them that is Chaos. Thus, becoming more Order, closer to Nothing.”

  “My mind is blown. I certainly understand that this is the side to be on. I just didn’t realize we did the whole sacrifice thing. I do appreciate that the sacrifice is fairly well thought out. What about Bertha?”

  “Bertha is still fighting the insanity. She will be okay for now, this bout of insanity she’s almost won. Eventually, she must be moved. I think she is okay for now. There is a combination of things going on. The rest of the staff has noticed it, too. It will take her some time, but she will be back to her old self soon,” Atum assured her.

  “That’s good news, at least,” Sam said. “When you said what I do is sacrificing, what do you mean?”

  “The people we destroy are sacrificed to save our people. The Team sacrifices a person every five years to help further our work. The sacrifice isn’t done to silence them, but to power our activities. Whether someone is killed by your hand to protect the veil or by another hand to power our work, both are about completing our mission. I will say this, there are two sides. One is sanity and one is insanity. That shit about an all ‘good’ and ‘benevolent’ God is just that, bullshit. Terms like
good, bad, benevolent, evil, they’re all subjective terms. Nothing is as simple as humans believe, they think in black and white. That is silly, have you ever seen anything work that way? We have never claimed to be all good, sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. Sometimes things have to be killed. It is what it is. If you’re looking for a fairy tale, you’ll be very disappointed,” Atum explained. “In fact, I’ll tell you a secret. If the veil fell too soon, all humans would be infected and all our work would be undone. We would have to kill all humans and start all over. We tell you that the veil falling too soon would kill you because that would be the end result. We MUST get rid of the illness for good at any cost.”

  “I get it. It’s hard to see from a human perspective, but I get what you’re saying. Thanks, I needed this talk!” She said.

  “Any time I can help, don’t hesitate to come talk to me. If you’re conflicted it puts our work in jeopardy,” Atum said.

  “Good point, boss,” Sam said. “I’ll let you get back to it. Later.”

  “Take care of yourself, Sam,” Atum said.

  “Will do,” Sam said, thinking she really needed a drink right about now.

  CHAPTER 16: AFTERMATH

  Bertha, feeling a bit more control and at ease, jumped in the elevator. Thin Lizzy’s “Fighting My Way Back” came on.

  “Ha! Thanks elevator, sorry about that beating I gave you yesterday,” she said, but after she said it, she felt silly apologizing to an elevator. It did kind of have a personality, though, and she didn’t mean to lose her shit like that.

  The doors opened and Bertha yelled “Jason Gehr!”

  Jason grabbed his hat and coat and ran over to her. She handed him the file with a smile. He headed right for the garage. He swiped his finger on the fingerprint machine and punched in the numbers of his case.

  “Good morning, Agent Jason Gehr. Here is the story of your assignment:”

  “THE GATES OF HELL”

  There are portals that lead to other dimensions all over the world. One such place lies in New Jersey and is known as the “Gates of Hell.” It is said to be a portal to hell, though many people label just about everything hell or the devil. It is a series of tunnels that lead underground. It is said to have seven underground layers and the final layer they say is the devil…but which one?

  Tobe Campagno was the Captain of his local Fire Department. He also grew up right near the Gates of Hell. He heard all the stories and had even ventured into the tunnels as a teen. He had never gone the whole way down, as something always happened that spooked his friends. They’d run off, so he felt compelled to follow them. He also felt a strong pull from the tunnels. He felt like whatever was down there, it wanted him to come. He got the distinct feeling that if he went the whole way down, he would never be coming back.

  A few of kids in Tobe’s neighborhood went missing. Tobe started having dreams about the kids going into the tunnels known as “The Gates of Hell.” He saw them descend further than he had ever been. Then a pair of glowing red eyes showed up in front of the three boys. Two of the boys started backing up. The thing with red eyes ran at super speed behind the one boy and he started screeching at the other two. They turned and ran, leaving the other boy alone…with the creature.

  The creature, which Tobe knew as Red-Eyed Mike, did not screech at the boy. Instead he quietly turned to him and took his hand. He led the boy through the gate, but the boy’s body did not follow. It remained outside the gate.

  The dream then turned to the other two boys, who were lost in the tunnels. In another section of the tunnels there were some people looking for trouble. If they found the boys their deaths would not be as pleasant as the other boy’s. Tobe woke up as soon as he saw the vagrants looking for trouble. He had to go get those boys out of the tunnel. He made a call to the local police and another to a friend named Shawn Havering Smith.

  “Hey Shawn, this is going to sound weird, but I just had a dream about those missing kids being in the Gates of Hell. You wanna come with me and check it out?” Tobe said.

  “That is weird, bro, but it’s worth a check. I’ll meet you at the entrance in 20 minutes,” Shawn said.

  Both men came with flashlights, water, and baseball bats just in case they encountered some unsavory people. Tobe also brought a notebook and pen to keep track of where they were. They descended three layers, calling for the boys, before they heard them scream for help. They were unharmed, but shaken, dehydrated, and hungry. Shawn and Tobe gave the boys some water; they didn’t want to drink the stuff from the ground. It probably would have made them sick.

  “There were three of you, where is the other boy?” Tobe asked.

  The boys looked at each other before the tall one with deep brown eyes responded, “We kind of left him by accident. We saw this creature with glowing red eyes and it screamed at us. It was so loud. We were so scared we just ran. It took us awhile to remember that Jake was behind the creature. It didn’t have the same effect on him. He wasn’t afraid of it, and it didn’t seem to want to scare him off. We did try to go look for him once we were lost, but I’m not sure we even made it to the same location. We keep getting turned around. It’s so dark, and I swear that thing is making us confused.”

  “Okay, Shawn, take these two up and I’ll go look for the other boy,” Tobe said.

  “I don’t think you should go on alone,” Shawn said. “Even IF what these boys say wasn’t entirely true—” The boys started to protest, and he continued, “I believe you, I’ve seen him myself. I’m just making a point. Even if Red-Eyed Mike didn’t exist, which we all know he does, it’s still too easy to get lost down here. There are some pretty shady people that hang out down here, too.”

  “It’s okay,” Tobe tried to reassure Shawn even though he knew he wasn’t coming back. He had to bring him along to get the other two boys to safety. “Don’t wait for me, these kids need to eat and get home to their frantic parents.”

  Shawn looked intently at Tobe; he knew something was up but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “I’ll take the boys to the police station and I’ll have someone come back with me to find you.”

  “Fair enough,” Tobe said, but in his head he finished the sentence, “it’ll be too late by then.” He turned and headed for the next tunnel without looking back. He descended the last four layers of underground tunnels without incident. He knew Red-Eyed Mike would be waiting for him at the end of this tunnel. As he expected, there were red glowing eyes ahead. He shut off his flashlight, figuring Red-Eyed Mike was used to the darkness. He just headed towards the eyes.

  When he got pretty much in front of Red-Eyed Mike, Tobe realized something was crunchy. He pointed his flashlight to his feet. As he expected, they were human bones. The bones of some of the people that have walked into these tunnels and never walked out. His light hit a teenage boy, recently dead…the Jake that he was supposed to be looking for. He knew his body was about to be on this pile as well.

  “You belong with us, to help us fight Order,” the small man said. “You know what will happen, but you will be back.” Tobe saw a vision of a war fought between Chaos and Order from other dimensions. This dimension was what they were fighting over. This dimension was the dimension that was to fully separate Order from Chaos. When that was done, all the dimensions of Chaos would come together as one and the dead that were Chaos would return. All the dimensions of Order would also come together, but they would devolve into Nothingness and be obliterated.

  “If my body dies and remains here, how will I come back?” Tobe asked the little man.

  “Only the part of you that is Order will remain and eventually disintegrate. You don’t need that part, there will be no Order. The part of your physical form that is pure Chaos will be with you and will come back,” Mike said.

  Tobe just realized that Mike wasn’t speaking out loud, but into his mind. “Why will they be obliterated?”

  “Because they will be disconnected from the Self-Created One, the Mother of All
Chaos. Chaos is existence, without it, there is Nothing,” Mike said.

  “What do I do?” Tobe asked Mike.

  “Take my hand, it will be easy, I assure you,” Mike said into his head.

  Tobe dropped his flashlight and moved toward Mike. He was ready to be a warrior for Chaos. The small man’s hand was warm. He could see what looked like a black hole or something, a big circle that was swirling inward. When he stepped forward, his body made of Order dropped to the ground. He felt a mix of emotions, but there was no fear. He felt welcomed. He felt like he was where he belonged.

  ***

  That was the end of this story for Tobe. Shawn’s part in this story was just beginning. A couple of hours later, Shawn returned with a small team of cops. They decided to split up and check as much of the labyrinth of tunnels as they could.

  Shawn led half the team to where in the tunnels that people called “The Gates of Hell”.

  They made it all the way to the end without seeing Mike because Mike knew they were just there to find the bodies. They weren’t interested in the portal, at least not tonight.

  Shawn was deeply saddened at the loss of his friend. The men carried the bodies of Jake and Tobe back to the entrance. They called the coroner to pick up the bodies and the police went to notify the families. Shawn called all their friends to tell them what happened. He kept playing his last few minutes with Tobe over and over in his head. He knew something was wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He had to get those boys home. He felt he should have made Tobe go with them and the two of them could have come back later. Would that have saved Tobe, he wondered, or would it have just ended with his death as well? He couldn’t be sure.

  As the days passed, Shawn went to work and did his daily activities, but he couldn’t get those tunnels and what happened to Tobe out of his head. He was certain Tobe knew he was going to die, but how and why? According to the autopsy, his heart just stopped. Jake’s autopsy results were the same. Did something scare them to death? Or did something else happen?