The Hollowed

by Jay Caselberg

  Chris barely glanced as they passed a newsstand and the headlines shouting at the passers-by. Big black letters announced an embassy bomb in the Philippines. Some extremist group had targeted the American Embassy again. 23 dead. Chris sighed and shook his head.

  “So much for the War on Terror,” he said.

  Jason shrugged. “Yeah. Same old, same old. Can you see a coffee place?”

  “I think there’s one up here.”

  Jason nodded. “And not before time,” he said.

  They wandered in, ordered, and took up seats facing the window. After they’d sat in silence for a while, watching the people walking by outside, Jason asked, “So what are you hoping to achieve here?”

  “Well, I’m hoping we can spot one of these vans and follow it, see where it goes. Not only will that be confirmation, but it might give us a chance to work out what’s happening to these people.”

  “What is it with you and Stase, Chris?”

  Chris frowned and turned to look at his friend. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, Claudia’s mentioned a couple of things. Girls talk, you know. I usually don’t pay much attention, but you know those two.”

  “Why, what’s she said?”

  Jason watched a girl walk past outside, assessing before answering. She was cute, and Chris followed her with his gaze too.

  “Nothing particularly,” said Jason, still tracking the girl. “Just that things might be a little tense between you two.”

  Chris rubbed his fingers up and down on the outside of his tall, white latté mug. “Well, you know. Things haven’t been great. The operation, the house, all that stuff. Yeah, things have been a bit tense, if you know what I mean.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “Doesn’t seem I can do anything right at the moment. Of course, she won’t talk to me about it, not that I’m that keen on beating the whole thing to death, but it’s almost as if she blames me for everything. Yeah, of course she’s going to talk to her girlfriends about it. I can never understand that whole thing. Can you? The sort of stuff they’re prepared to talk about. The intimate details.”

  Jason watched another girl walk past as he sipped at his coffee. “No, not really. Jesus, can you imagine if we talked about that sort of thing?”

  Chris shrugged. “Yeah, well. It’s private isn’t it? I’m amazed at some of the things she talks about with her friends.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

  They lapsed into silence again. Chris toyed with his now empty mug.

  “So, shall we get back to it?” he said, looking at Jason.

  “If we must.”

  They headed out to the car and started driving around again. It was slow going and they seemed to be getting nowhere. About 3:00, Jason wanted to stop for another coffee and something to eat. He suffered from low blood sugar and it was beginning to take its toll. Chris spied a likely looking spot and slowed to a crawl, looking for somewhere to park. They’d just got out and were heading towards the place when Chris stopped in his tracks. He grabbed Jason by the arm.

  “Do you see that?”

  “What?” said Jason. “Listen, man. I really need to get something to eat.”

  Across the other side of the road, a narrow underpass covered some concrete steps that led up to a broad, flat, paved open space on an upper level, a place where office workers all clustered to eat lunch. Chris could see the space was pretty empty at the moment, being mid-afternoon, but there, in the shadow of the small ascending tunnel was a man, sitting, huddled. He was maybe mid-thirties, well dressed, with light brown, receding hair. Chris had seen that blank expression before.

  “Look, over there, in the shadow of that archway.”

  Jason frowned, looked in the direction that Chris was indicating, frowned again and shook his head.

  “Listen, Chris, I’m serious.”

  “Jesus, Jason. Concentrate. Think about what you’re looking at. Study it.”

  Jason looked up and down the street as if looking for assistance, then back over to where Chris was pointing. He squinted across.

  “I don’t…”

  Chris gripped his arm more tightly. “Concentrate, goddammit.”

  “Ow.” Jason shook his arm free. He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes even further pulling his arm free from Chris’s grip.

  “Wait…ah…okay. There’s a guy over there, right?”

  “Yes. Look at him carefully.”

  Jason frowned with concentration. “Yeah, doesn’t look right, does he?”

  Chris was disturbed that Jason seemed to have so much difficulty even seeing the man let alone maintaining his concentration. At the same time, he was relieved that Jason could see him. Chris grabbed Jason’s arm again.

  “You wait here. I’m going to get the car.”

  Jason frowned at him, having a little shake of his head. “Listen, Chris, I really do need to—”

  “No time! Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

  Chris dashed down the street, heading for where he had parked the car. He fumbled in his pocket for the car keys as he ran, managing to snag them and pull them free. He pointed the electronic key at the car when he was still a hundred yards away from it, desperately listening for the alarm signal that would tell him the car was unlocked. He raced the last few paces and wrenched the door open, bundling himself in, strapping on the seatbelt and shoving the key into the ignition. He had no idea how long the guy had been sitting there. He only hoped he could trust Jason to stay in place until he got back.

  Quickly, he touched the button that wound down his window, and looked out, seeking an opportunity to pull out onto the street and do a U-turn.

  “Come on, come on,” he muttered under his breath as one, two, three cars decided to take that moment to pull around the corner and head his way. Finally, there was a break, and he managed to turn the car and head back down the way they had come. Just as he was reaching the end of the street, the lights changed.

  “Dammit,” he said under his breath, giving the steering wheel a quick slap. He drummed on the top of the wheel impatiently, waiting for the lights to change again, watching the traffic passing either way on the adjoining street, praying that he would see no white van, at least not yet.

  The lights changed, and he turned, driving slowly up the side of the road towards where Jason was standing waiting for him. Thankfully there had been nothing behind him. He drew up beside Jason and hit the hazards. He glanced up in the rear-view mirror as Jason leaned over and opened the door.

  “Don’t get in,” Chris told him.

  “What?”

  “Just stand there with the door open looking as if you’re talking to me and keep an eye on the guy over the other side of the road.”

  “Hmmm.” Jason didn’t look impressed.

  Chris looked up in the rear-view mirror again and then into the wing mirror, checking what was coming. He didn’t want a police car to suddenly turn up and move him on. The traffic flow had started again. Dammit, they could put up with him sitting there.

  “Can you see any sign of anything?”

  Jason glanced around and shook his head. Chris was starting to feel uncomfortable and exposed.

  Just then, Chris glanced in the side mirror and felt a rush of nervous excitement. There, coming up the street behind them was a white van. It looked the right shape. From what he could see with his limited viewpoint, it looked like there were two men riding in the front.

  “Shit, this is it,” he said quietly.

  “What?” said Jason, one hand on the car roof, leaning over inside.

  “The van. Can you see the one I mean? Keep an eye on it, in case I have to deal with something.”

  Jason stood up and looked in either direction, then leaned back in. “I don’t see what you mean,” he said.

  “Shit!”

  The van swept past them and Chris kept watching it. It started to perform a wide circle, through the traffic, performing a maneuver that would turn it to com
e back the other way. There was no way Chris could perform a stunt like that. How far was it to the next intersection?

  “Jason, quick, get in.”

  “What?”

  “Fuck it, man. Just get in will you?”

  Jason had barely half closed the door when Chris took off, racing for the next intersection. As they were turning, he remembered the hazards and flicked them off. He glanced over at Jason, who was looking less than impressed.

  “Listen,” said Chris. “For some reason, you’re having problems seeing what I’m seeing. You saw the guy in the archway. Well, the van’s here now. When we get back on to the street, you’re going to have to concentrate again, actually look for the bloody thing. It’s there. I just hope to hell we’re fast enough.”

  He threw another U-turn and ended back at another set of lights, rocking back and forth in his seat, willing them to change. Finally, they did, and he tore around the corner, then immediately slowed. The van’s back doors were open, and the two clean-cut guys were just in the process of closing them. He slowed to a crawl.

  “There. Look. Can you see them?”

  Jason craned forward in his seat, putting his fingers up to his temples, frowning ahead at the road.

  “Shit. Yeah. I see it. Damn. It was as if I were seeing it but not seeing it. I could see it was there, but… Christ, what’s going on?”

  “Keep your focus,” said Chris. “We need to follow these bastards.”

  The two clean-cut men, white coats and everything, climbed back into the front of the van and it slowly pulled out from the curb, gently accelerating down the street. Chris sped up in pursuit, receiving a blast from somebody’s horn behind them for his efforts.

  “Oh, fuck off,” he said, not even looking to see who had blasted him. He had the van in his sights now and that was all that mattered.

  “You can see it, right, Jason?” he said.

  “Yeah.” Jason was still frowning. “Though it’s kind of strange.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I’m finding it hard to maintain concentration on it. I have to really work to keep my attention there; it’s as if it keeps wanting just to slide off and away to something else.”

  “Uh-huh.” But thank God he was actually seeing it now.

  They followed the van for about four blocks before it turned off. Chris almost lost it then. An unfortunate snarl in the traffic, another set of lights and he was cursing. He accelerated into the side street, just in time to see the van turning another corner towards the end. Jason seemed not to see it at all.

  “Is it still there?” Jason asked.

  “Yeah, just turned into a side street, but I need to hurry.”

  He accelerated up to the corner and took it, the tires squealing slightly as they rounded. Jason clutched for his seatbelt but said nothing. It didn’t take Chris long to catch up.

  “There, do you see it?”

  “Oh, yeah. Right.”

  The van led them on a route chasing through back streets and major roads. There seemed to be no particular pattern to the route they were following, but it was heading somewhere. It wasn’t too long before they were out of the city proper and into the sprawling suburbs. The streets became wider, tree-lined, and there were fewer other cars on the road. Chris wondered where they were going.

  The van slowed, and Chris eased off. Nearby, a large building, fenced off from the rest of the surrounding area loomed through the trees. Large, pale stone blocks formed flat blank walls. The van pulled through a gate and Chris stopped, pulling to the side of the road.

  “What do you think it is?” he said.

  Jason leaned to one side, trying to get a better view. “Something big.”

  “Well, yeah. Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “You want to take a look?”

  Chris nodded. He engaged the parking brake, gently opened the door, stepping out and closing it just as quietly. He stood beside the car waiting for Jason to join him.

  “Damn,” he said. He could see what it was now. “It’s a church.”

  “Hmmm. Bigger than a church,” Jason said. “You want to take a closer look?”

  “Uh-huh. But let’s try and keep out of sight.”

  They quickly hurried across the road together, looking both ways and keeping to the concealment of old, gnarled, broad tree trunks as much as they could while they moved closer to the side of the church. Jason was right. It was bigger than a simple church. It was huge. A graveyard sat at one side, old stones arrayed in lines, marked with lichen and old trailing vines. The moss-covered ground appeared well tended. There was no sign of the van.

  It took Chris a moment or two to notice it in the shadow, but atop one of the slightly leaning old stones, perched a large black bird. The cool, dark shadow reached out tendrils to Chris’s chest and he sucked in his breath.

  “What is it?” asked Jason.

  Chris shook his head. “Let’s take a look.” He turned away from his winged adversary, turning his face away from its clear dark gaze. They walked along the front of the ground; tall sandstone posts inset with arrow point barred iron fencing separated the roadside from the churchyard. There was nothing Catholic about the church itself. It was Calvinist in design: austere, pale stone, no adornment. Large double wooden doors sat at the front above wide stone steps. A simple grassed lawn was broken only by a simple blacktop path from the front gate.

  A wide lettered sign sat next to the gate, supported by twin posts. The faded lettering had once been in gold, but was now gilded black atop the flaking cream paint beneath. The name was indistinguishable, but Chris could barely make out the last word: “Cathedral.”

  Farther down, another gate led into the churchyard proper. It sat open and twin muddy tracks led in from the road, divided by clumped and dirty, spattered tufts of grass. This driveway had seen lots of use, and recently, through all-weather by the looks of it. They walked slowly along the fence and down to the open double gates. The back of a single white van poked out from behind the rear of the building. Even farther back, the grounds looked slightly overgrown; a profusion of weeds clustered in the rear corner, their tops sprouting pale white flowers. Chris stood at the gate, scanning the grounds, looking for any sign of life. Apart from the bird he’d seen in the graveyard, there seemed to be nothing. Another large tree shaded the muddy ground at the rear, obscuring it from direct sunlight. A scattering of old brown-grey leaves littered the ground below.

  Jason was watching him, leaning against one of the gate posts. “What do you want to do, Chris?”

  Chris chewed at his lips. “I don’t know. Hang on.”

  He scanned the grounds again. The large, wooden front doors of the building were firmly closed. There was no way in there, not without alerting anyone inside. Jason had turned and draped his arms over the top of the stone gatepost. He was resting his chin on top of them, alternating between squinting his eyes and frowning, then opening them wide again.

  “Damn,” he breathed. “The bloody van still keeps slipping out of focus.”

  “Wait here,” said Chris.

  With a quick look in either direction, then one more assessment of the unmoving grounds, he dashed towards the back of the cathedral down the central strip between the muddy ruts leading around to the rear. Tall plain windows were set at regular spaces down the building’s length. They were constructed of smaller multiple panels of slightly opaque glass, revealing nothing within. Set in the standard cruciform, the building jutted out in front of him. The path curved around, behind, and he slowed to a quick lope, rounding the edge of the corner. As he reached halfway, he saw the complete side of the van. He drew up short, and slipped to the side, pressing himself against the wall and sidling along it until he could poke his head around the corner.

  There wasn’t just one van. Three more sat parked in the shade, all identical. Chris sucked in his breath, his heart pounding now. A strange floating feeling nestled in his stomach. Nothing moved. Nothing. There was no sound
, not even a breeze rustling the leaves. He could smell the damp ground and something like mold mixed with mud. He tried to still his breathing, struggling to work out what he was going to do next. He didn’t have a plan. He had no idea what he was going to do.

  Any idea of making plans was suddenly whipped away from him. A loud squawking came from the branches above him, again and again, loud, beating down across the damp empty space. He heard the sound of a door.

  “Shit!” he said, tore himself from the wall and dashed back out to the gate. “Jason, quick. Let’s get out of here.” He waved one hand in the direction of the parked car. “Move it!”

  He didn’t dare look around. He didn’t want to see those faces, that clean-cut blandness. He just wanted to get out of there.

  Jason stumbled from the gate. “What?” he said. “What?”

  “Just move!”

  They reached the car and piled in. Chris slammed his foot down on the accelerator as soon as he got the car started, skidding from their standing position, jerking them out onto the road and away.

  “Jesus, Chris, what are you doing?” said Jason, his breathing heavy, his features pale.

  “That was too close. Way too close.” He eased off on the accelerator and slowed to an acceptable rate. “Sorry. I got scared. That’s all. I just realized back there I didn’t have any idea what we were going to do. At least I know now where it is.” He kept driving, noting landmarks as they went.

  “So, what next?”

  “I don’t know. I need to think about it. Sorry, Jase. Fuck.”

  At least he had the confirmation now—he wasn’t going mad after all.

  “You believe me now, don’t you?”

  Jason took a moment before answering. “Yes. I suppose I have to. Very strange the way things keep on sliding in and out. Hmmm. I don’t know if I believe quite everything, but there’s definitely something going on. I want to look some things up tonight, see if I can come up with anything.”