Wizard's Blood [Part One]

by Bob Blink

  His two daughters remained in the area. One died in child birth, and the other lived to be eighty-three but had only a single son and a single daughter.

  Oscar’s eldest son prospered, and had a family of his own. Eventually the time came and he passed on the family legacy in turn to his own eldest per Oscar’s wishes. This pattern continued until Charles Foraster, the only son of that generation, was told the family history as part of his inheritance. His own father was on his deathbed, and had no option but to pass everything to Charles. After hearing the story, Charles knew the old man was cracked. He didn’t know if the disease that had ravaged his body had affected the man’s mind, or if he’d always been a bit screwy. There had been rumors about some oddities when the man had been a boy, but who knew. Needless to say, he didn’t bother with passing along such nonsense when the time came, far sooner than Charles would have liked, to hand things off to his own eldest.

  The chain had been broken, and while everyone continued to retain ownership of the land, it was due as much to their liking where they lived as it was to the odd request perpetuated in each generation’s will. Then came Randy’s grandfather, Raymond.

  Growing up, Raymond knew he was different. There were a number of things that led him to believe this, not the least of which were a few abilities he possessed which would have been the cause of some serious problems had he been foolish enough to speak of them. The fact he could do things like spontaneously start fires worried him a lot. How did he come by such abilities, and did his family have any history of such skills. So he started to look. He found a few things, such as the fires that killed some of his ancestors. He found reports of odd behavior, but nothing specific. Eventually he inherited the family fortunes, and gained access to some of the odd items that had been in the family for generations. There was a log he couldn’t read, and several odd crystals like nothing he’d ever seen. There was a small pendant, which seemed to be quite intricate on the inside, but which he was afraid to try and open lest he damage it, and which didn’t seem to have any real function. He kept looking, and gradually found enough bits and pieces to formulate an improbable but fantastic possibility.

  When he tried to involve his own son, long before it was time to pass on the inheritance, he found a wall of rejection. His son couldn’t believe Raymond had become involved in such utter nonsense, and the resulting arguments caused a family rift that, while it varied in degree over the years, never completely disappeared. When Randy was born and later showed some of the same abilities Raymond had himself discovered as a child, he tried to intervene on one occasion when Randy was caught experimenting. This caused even more trouble between the two men, and Randy was kept away from Raymond for years. Deciding to bide his time, Raymond anxiously waited for Randy to become an adult, when he could approach his grandson as such and tell him of his legacy, but he was killed in an automobile accident before the time arrived.

  It had been almost a decade since his grandfather had died, but thinking about going through his father’s private study brought back memories of the last time he’d seen the old man. His father and grandfather had been having one of their frequent disagreements, a real shouting match this one, and had gone inside the office to yell privately. That memory triggered other thoughts about his grandfather and he wondered if he’d find something that might lead him to the topic grandfather Raymond had wanted to discuss with him. When the old man had made the suggestion, Randy had the odd feeling he might be thinking about Randy’s unusual ability, something his dad refused to acknowledge.

  Well, time would tell he decided. He didn’t feel like rummaging around in the kitchen, yet he was hungry enough for a real breakfast. Perhaps he should jump in the Ford Explorer and run down the road to the diner. If he ate a good meal now, he could probably work through the afternoon and make some real headway.

  He was walking over to the key-board and had just reached out his hand to lift the car keys off the hook where he kept them, when a burst of sparkly pin pricks went off in his mind. It didn’t hurt exactly, but each little burst of light was accompanied by a very odd tingling prick, and the pattern seemed to swirl around inside his head. Crap! Was he having a brain hemorrhage?

  As suddenly as they began, the little sparkles disappeared, and Randy stood there, his hands on his temples, heart racing, wondering what to expect next. Maybe he’d better go in and see Dr. Carter instead of digging through the office. He didn’t like this at all. After a moment, when nothing more happen he breathed a bit easier and dropped his hands. He was facing one of the windows that offered a view of the back of the house, and suddenly realized someone was standing out in the yard on the little knoll off to the right of the garage. What was he doing there? The rear area was all enclosed with a high stone wall, something his dad had added when he sold the land across the street. The gate was usually locked, and it should be obvious this was private property.

  He looked more closely to see what the intruder would do next. From what he could see the man was of average height, with dark hair and beard and odd looking clothes. The patch he was standing in was in full sunlight, and the loosely fitting garments the man wore appeared to be dark in color but also to sparkle strangely as the man moved. Randy wondered if the man was drunk. He seemed to be oddly disoriented, and stood in place, weaving a bit, as if trying to regain his balance.

  As Randy watched, the man seemed to recover. He suddenly stood straighter, and looked around with interest. Randy was sure he could see the man smile as he did so. Suddenly he started moving. He walked off the knoll, then stopped and turned around. He looked the knoll over closely, and then at a couple of the nearby trees. Then he walked back across the small patch, stopping briefly at the far side. After a bit of hesitation, the man made a complete loop around the small knoll.

  Randy would swear the man was measuring something. It was as if he were mapping an electric field or some such, but no instruments were present, so it didn’t seem likely.

  Then the man started moving. This time he walked toward the garage, stopping when he got close enough, and reached out his hand. He examined the structure of the building, running his hand along the stucco surface. After a moment he slapped it solidly, and then dropped his hand. Satisfied, the man began to move again, walking along the garage and towards the side of the house which led to the gate and the front yard.

  Not ready to confront the man directly, and seeing he might be leaving, Randy hurried down the hallway to another window where he could watch and see what the intruder did.

  Moving purposefully now, the oddly dressed man walked along the pathway, stopping only to reach down and pick one of the roses that were growing along the wall. He carried it with him as he reached the gate, and tried to push it open. When it didn’t open as the man pushed at the latch Randy realized it was still locked, suggesting the intruder hadn’t come in this way after all.

  After puzzling out the latch, the man suddenly stepped back. A bit of a flicker brought Randy’s attention to a couple of bright bottles hanging from the man’s pants. One seemed to dim noticeably as he watched. The man shook his head as if surprised by something, and then reached out and pushed the gate open. For some reason, this time there was no resistance and the man was able to exit into the front yard.

  Randy hurried to the living room and arrived in time to see the man walk out into the front yard and down toward the street. He was taken by the way the intuder seemed to be carefully looking at everything. He couldn’t put his finger on what exactly gave him the impression, but it seemed liked the intruder was looking at his surroundings as if seeing them for the first time. The man looked at the houses across the way, and then down the street observing a couple of cars as they made their way up the street and past the front of the house. He seemed particularly interested in watching a couple of people on the street, and Randy wondered if he was interested in the way people were dressed by the way the man fingered his own shirt as he watched. After five minutes, during which
time the man simply stood and observed, he suddenly looked up at the sun, and seemed to be estimating the height in the sky. Nodding his head as if something had become clear, the man turned suddenly and started back toward the back of the house.

  Oh no, Randy decided. The man wasn’t going back there. He had hoped the odd individual would simply walk out the front and wander off, but now it appeared he was going back into the yard. Randy hesitated, trying to decide if he should call the police or confront the man himself. While he hesitated, the intruder had made his way well back into the yard.

  “Crap!” Randy exclaimed, and hurried for the side door deciding he’d handle this and chase the guy off. He’d seen the man headed back toward the knoll through the window just before going out the door, so Randy hurried along the side and was just about to make the turn around the rear corner of the house when another burst of those bright pin pricks struck him again. He put his hands over his eyes and groaned. What was happening to him?

  As before, they only lasted a minute and then disappeared completely. No question, he was going to see the doctor after getting rid of this guy.

  Hurrying around the corner, he saw the knoll where the intruder had been headed, but could find no sign of the man himself. He hurried out in the yard and looked around. Nothing! After a ten-minute search he gave up. He didn’t know where the man had gone, but he wasn’t around. He couldn’t have imagined it, could he? After all those strange sensations in his head?

  Even more certain he was going to see Dr. Carter right away, Randy walked back toward the house, then decided to go lock the gate against further problems. When he reached the gate, he discovered the lock had been destroyed. Somehow the top loop had been cleanly cut on both sides all the way through making it useless. Randy looked at the cut and was surprised to see it was cut cleanly through as if someone had used a laser. How had the intruder done that he wondered?

  Chapter 14

  It was five weeks before Randy saw the intruder again, and he had almost forgotten the original incident. The sudden onset of the bright flashes brought the day clearly back to mind, and without conscious thought he hurried to the window where he could see the little knoll out back. For some reason he automatically associated the intruder with the odd and frightening flashes in his mind, although if he had thought about it there was no rational reason the two should be connected.

  Quickly, he looked outside. Sure as shit! The bastard was back! He was dressed differently, but Randy remembered the face. Well, he wasn’t going to disappear on him this time. Randy wanted an explanation, and wanted to know how the man kept getting inside the yard. He’d replaced the lock with something even sturdier, but still had questions of exactly what had been done to the previous one.

  He hurried to the door, but when he opened it he was surprised to see the man just outside. He looked up at Randy when the door opened, and stepped forward toward the opening. He was dressed in simple clothing that resembled a sports shirt and Levis, but which were clearly poorly made copies. On his belt, a leather one this time, hung three of the oddly colored “bottles”, although from close up Randy realized they were some type of large crystal that pulsed with a soft glowing light.

  Close up Randy could see details he’d not been able to make out before. The man had the same overly long hair and beard, but also a long scar that extended from just below his left eye down below his chin. The man’s eyes were intense, intelligent, aware, and cruel. In the shaded light, it was difficult to be sure of their color. The intruder’s lips held a slight sneer of superiority.

  Randy felt compelled to take a few steps backwards into the house, making room for the intruder to step forward and inside as well. The man seemed confident of his actions, yet strangely it appeared as if he was poised to flee if necessary. Seeing Randy’s submission, the man’s sneer shifted to a brief smile, and he relaxed, closing the door behind him.

  Randy wasn’t sure why, but it seemed perfectly natural to have shed his anger from a few minutes before and lead the intruder calmly back into the large living room. He turned and stood, waiting to see what would happen next. He didn’t have long to wonder.

  The stranger walked forward without uttering a sound and looked into Randy’s eyes. Suddenly Randy felt his muscles lock up, and knew he couldn’t move or utter a sound no matter how much he might want to. His vision dimmed, and then went dark, although he was still totally aware of his surroundings. He wanted to scream as he felt something brush across the surface of his brain, inside his skull. The feeling only lasted moments, and then he felt as if a series of probes had plunged into the core of his mind from a multitude of directions. It didn’t hurt, but the intrusion was repugnant.

  Many sensations began to assault him almost simultaneously. He could feel his mind being probed, and felt as if information were somehow being extracted. At the same time, without realizing how he could know such a thing, he knew that something, some kind of knowledge or ability, was being fed into his mind simultaneously with the extraction. For long moments Randy was totally helpless, the surprise, shock, and total alien nature of the proceedings freezing him.

  As the sensations continued, he slowly became aware that something else was happening, slowly gaining strength in the background. In some unknown way, his mind was rebelling, and without his conscious action or direction was taking subtle actions of its own. His memories were being searched now, but even as the activity proceeded, his mind was closing off sections, denying access. At the same time, his mind was seeking the source of the intrusion, and unaware to the intruder was extracting far more knowledge than had been offered. He was getting more than he was giving up, although Randy couldn’t control anything that was happening and couldn’t have explained how he knew this. He realized the probing had changed and was digging into his private memories rather than simply seeking knowledge about his education and training. He could see memories of himself as a child, growing up. Suddenly there was an image of Sharon and him, naked, locked in a sexual embrace at the time of climax.

  “No,” his mind screamed and clamped down on the intrusion. No one had the right to see into his mind.

  Almost immediately, far faster than the process had started, he felt the intrusion into his mind fall away. Vision returned, and he saw the intruder back away abruptly, a look on his face that suggested tremendous fatigue, and surprise at the effort that had just been expended. For some reason Randy noticed the crystal bottles, and noted that two of them were now dark, and empty looking.

  He was able to move now, but despite his anger at the intrusion, he felt no desire to act against the strange man who had to be the sources of whatever had just happened. Neither man moved or said a word for long minutes. Randy couldn’t understand why he just stood there.

  After almost five minutes, the intruder spoke, his voice a bit husky and the words colored by a touch of an accent, but clearly in English.

  “What is your name?” he asked.

  “Randy,” he responded pleasantly.

  The man nodded as if he’d just confirmed something. Then he spoke again, this time in a language that Randy couldn’t understand. But no, suddenly he could. Why had the words sounded unintelligible seconds before?

  “What is the name of this place?” the man had asked.

  Once again Randy answered simply, although for some reason he spoke in the odd language he hadn’t known he knew. “The city here is called Boulder, Colorado,” he replied.

  A number of questions followed, the exchange switching back to English. Randy realized the first had been a test, and that the “knowledge” he’d felt being loaded into his brain had probably been the language they’d just used.

  Finally the man tired of the question and answer game, and directed Randy to take him outside and show him around. Randy knew instinctively that the man wanted to see the city, and led him out to the garage where the Explorer was parked. The man was obviously interested in the vehicle, and while Randy watched he walked over to i
t, touched the metal surface, and walked around looking at the external features with great interest. He examined lights, the glass windows, the tires, virtually everything as if he’d never seen a car before. Finally, realizing the man was ready to proceed, Randy opened the driver’s side door and slipped into the seat. The man had watched, and stepped over to the passenger side and climbed in himself. A brief exclamation of pleasure escaped the man’s lips as he sat on the smooth leather seat.

  Randy pressed the garage door opener, which caused the man to look around suddenly, but he relaxed as soon as he realized what Randy had done. Starting the car, Randy backed out onto the street and then drove towards town. While he drove relatively slowly, it was obvious the man was not used to the speed, and it took him a while to relax. Gradually he became more comfortable, and he watched with obvious enjoyment the other cars, the houses, and the city approaching in the distance. He started asking questions again, only waiting for the answer before immediately turning to something else.

  The man had him drive around for over an hour, then suddenly inquired about clothing. It was obvious he wanted Randy to take him somewhere so he could get more appropriate clothing. That was simple enough, and they headed back down the street to one of the larger malls that Randy frequented. Inside, they went into the first department store, and for over an hour Randy helped the man pick out a complete wardrobe, with numerous shirts, pants, a couple pairs of shoes. When it came time to check out, the bill ran well over a thousand dollars. Randy knew he was expected to pay, and that seemed only right somehow.

  Shopping complete, they returned home. Randy and the man unloaded the purchases, which other than the set of clothes the man was now wearing, his original items discarded in the trash, they stored in the spare room downstairs. It was a room Randy seldom entered, and it had a lot of space. Finally the strange man seemed satisfied, and they returned to the living room. The man gave him a long look, then abruptly turned and walked out the door. Randy saw him walk past the window, and knew he was returning to the knoll out back. He couldn’t see any reason to go look, and was still standing in place when he felt the strange prickles in his head once again.