Trifecta

by Pam Richter

  Nora ran down to the beach to make sure all the children were safely out of the ocean. Water is an excellent electrical conductor and these storms could be dangerous. Michelle went with her. By that time it was late and the party was winding down. They both got drenched as they shouted at three teens, in a rubber life raft, to come out of the water.

  The teenagers, two girls and a boy, lanky and giggling, were whispering as they pulled the rubber boat out of the water. Nora smiled and asked if they had been in the punch bowl. One girl said no, rather breathlessly, pointing down the beach and relating that there were a bunch of naked people, just down there, dancing inside a circle. They had paddled over to see.

  "Damn witches," Nora said, when she and Michelle were alone, after the teens scampered to put the boat away. "Terrible influence for the children. Henry and I walked down one night to see what the fire was on the beach. They have this big witch's cauldron boiling, just like in the movies, and they perform some kind of rituals. They were fornicating, right out in the open." Nora had her lips compressed, eyes wide and indignant. "Luckily they do it in the middle of the night, so the little ones don't know about it. You can bet the older ones will be waiting impatiently to watch next time."

  Nora went inside, shaking her head, and Michelle stood on the lanai to wring her hair out over porch railing so it wouldn't drip all over the floor when she went inside. She probably looked like a witch herself, with her hair dripping wet. Still, she thought, she might take a walk down there. Couldn't get any wetter if she tried. Maybe it was Omar and his sisters. But she didn't want to go alone.

  "There you are." Nakamura came out on the lanai. He leaned against the railing beside her, "I love the smell of the rain. The air here is so pure and clean. I'm sorry to say that isn't true of Tokyo."

  "Would you mind getting wet?"

  "Not terribly. Why?"

  "I want to walk down the beach. Some kids said there was a witch's circle. You can see the light of their fire from here." She pointed through the rain at a distant smudge of firelight on the beach. "Maybe we can see what Omar and his witches are up to. It probably isn't them, but I'm curious."

  "Okay. Sure," he said nodding

  "I'll go get Heather," Michelle said.

  Nakamura stood there, disappointed for a moment, watching her go inside. A romantic walk along the beach in the rain. Just what he needed with his new assistant. Right. He had to admit he was a little too attracted for strictly business. He hadn't thought of that as a possibility when he had come to Hawaii, ready to hire Michelle because of the quality of her work, sight unseen, because he needed someone who spoke English as a first language and who understood Western ways. Now the attraction was making him uncomfortable. Unprofessional to be feeling that way about an employee. But they would probably get in the swing of things once they were in Tokyo, seeing altogether too much of each other.

  Hawaii was such a romantic place he was getting in the mood of the islands. The tropical weather, the full moon and balmy air, not to mention the lush vegetation and the beautiful volcanic mountain and sea vistas were enough to make anyone romantic. Also, the islands were isolated, which contributed to the vacation feeling he found here. They'd probably fight over different aspects of the business and become good friends in Tokyo, after a while. Still, he thought wistfully, she looked like a mermaid with that long wet hair and her big yellow eyes with those thick dark lashes. He thought her tiny freckles were cute. She must hide them with makeup when she was working.

  He watched through the window as Michelle went over and whispered to Heather, who was sitting on the floor, listening to the guitarists. He saw Heather nod and grin mischievously. They both came outside.

  The three slipped quietly out into the rain, which was steady now and not so hard driven, but they bowed their heads because the wind blew the rain directly at them. They were soaked in seconds. Nakamura mentioned that they had better stay way back, on the off chance it really was Omar. He might not take being spied upon too happily.

  "Especially since they're all naked," Michelle said, nodding at him.

  "What?" He looked at her, surprised.

  "That's what the kids said. They were dancing in the nude."

  "No shit!" Heather said, obviously delighted to be sneaking up naughtily upon a group of naked people.

  Michelle nodded. "Yeah. They even have a witch's cauldron, with stuff brewing inside."

  "Hey, now," Nakamura said. "If it is Omar, this could be dangerous. Maybe Heather should stay way back. We know his witches were trying to hurt her just this evening."

  Heather stuck a tiny tongue out at him. "No way. You're not leaving me behind."

  "Probably isn't him anyway," Michelle muttered. Maybe it wasn't such a cool idea to sneak up on them.

  When they got close, they moved away from the ocean, across the beach and walked crouched over under the palm trees, through weeds, thick wild banana trees with wide leaves, and the beautiful ferns that grew lush in the tropical weather. Water dripped from the trees, but other than that the foliage above was so thick that they were drier here, although it was hard to tell how close they were getting because of the dense undergrowth.

  Nakamura was leading and Michelle bumped into him when he stopped abruptly. Their cover had suddenly grown sparse. They were directly opposite the magic circle, only a few dozen feet away. The bubbling cauldron was on their right. The hot stones beneath the pot hissed continuously as the rain pelted them. Thick steam rose from the pot, standing unattended in the rain.

  A lightening bolt seemed to come from nowhere and landed in a banana tree to their left, which burst into wild flames. It was very close. The lightening above the ocean came every few seconds, like living silver streaks with many wide branches. The booming thunder was almost simultaneous with each separate display.

  "Sit down," Nakamura whispered, pushing Michelle into a sitting position. He hoped they wouldn't be noticed if they peeked from above the weeds. He had blindly brought them much too close. He looked at Heather, but she was already crouched on hands and knees, sliding into a sitting position. They might have to sit here until the ceremony was over unless they could back up very quietly. He was glad it was raining for it had covered the sounds of their approach.

  Nakamura had been too preoccupied with hiding to really perceive what was happening in the circle. Now, when he looked, he was shocked and suddenly embarrassed. He felt the skin on his face burning. It was like a live porno show. He wished he had come alone. Not with two women whom he liked very much. He glanced quickly at Michelle. She had absolutely no expression on her face. Her eyes were wide.

  There were about twenty people inside a circle delineated clearly in the sand. There was some sort of wooden alter in the center with several candles lit atop it, throwing light on all inside the circle. Torches guttered around the circle, also highlighting those inside. They must have been lit electrically because they burned brightly in the rain. Only one rather small chubby man sat outside both circles, drinking from a large cup he was holding. A woman was dancing in front of him, obviously dancing for him. Her movements were sensual and sexually explicit. The small chubby man had his back to Nakamura so he couldn't see him clearly, except to notice the man did not move except to occasionally take sips from the cup.

  There was a gigantic man on the other side of the circle who began having intercourse with one of the women. It happened so abruptly Nakamura felt that the grotesquely large man might be raping her. Nakamura could see his hips and back moving rhythmically, but he could not see the woman underneath. The big man obscured most of her body and a few people were in the way.

  There was no doubt that Omar was the master of the circle. Nakamura recognized him immediately. He was wearing a flowing black robe and was holding a long sword. Omar was not joining in the festivities, but he seemed to be watching in satisfaction with dark predatory and greedy eyes.

  Nakamura had a feeling that he was seeing pure evil in its most illusory form
as he watched Omar. He could tell by the frenzied movements that the people in the circle were not in their right minds. As he watched, two more of the men had disrobed and were preparing to copulate with the naked women. It was group sex. An orgy in the rain. But it was ugly and degenerate. The whole scene was horribly and unwholesomely obscene.

  Another lighting bolt slashed low across the sky and he could hear it land with a popping sound, lighting another fire, this time in a small bush not far away. He felt like he was in hell, with the lightening and the thunder booming, watching the demons.

  The man who had been sitting outside the circle dropped his cup and then very slowly, like a sawed off tree, rolled silently to the ground in a fetal position. He did not move.

  Nakamura glanced at Michelle, whispering that they should try to leave. She didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes were opened wide and he thought tears were rolling down her cheeks, but it was hard to tell in the rain. He leaned toward her to ask her if she was all right. Before he could stop her she stood up and started running directly toward the circle. She moved so fast he didn't even have time to try and hold her back. She stopped at the edge of the circle.

  Heather stood up and yelled, "No." Then she took off after Michelle. Nakamura stood up and saw Omar looking at all three of them. If looks could kill, they would all have been dead, Nakamura thought to himself as he hurried after Michelle and Heather.

  Michelle had run right into the circle. She stood in front of Omar yelling, "It was you. All the time it was you," over and over again. She was obviously furious at him.

  Omar shook his head, frowning at Michelle. "You are interrupting a religious ceremony, Michelle."

  "You call this religion?" Michelle asked, looking around at the couples writhing in the sand around her.

  "You've obviously remembered," Omar said, gesturing on high with his sword. "I promise you wealth beyond your comprehension. More power than any woman on earth."

  "I don't want it," Michelle muttered, looking around at the couples humping on the sand. "Just leave me alone."

  Omar gave her an awful smile, "Afraid I can't do that, my dear. Your position with me is preordained."

  Heather had almost reached the circle. She was hurrying forward.

  Nakamura saw Omar move his arm up toward the sky. He was pointing up with his sword, then suddenly he slashed his arm down, pointing directly at Heather. Michelle had seen his movement and turned around to see what Omar was gesturing at.

  Omar did not move his arm, just kept aiming the sword at Heather as she rushed nearer. She had reached the outer rim of the circle and was starting to step inside carefully, so she wouldn't step on the bodies lying in the sand, when a lightening bolt came out of the sky and hit her directly in the chest. Heather slammed to the ground as though she had been shot by a bullet, her shirt on fire.

  Nakamura wasn't even thinking as he ran and leaped on top of Heather, trying to put out the fire, rolling her in the sand.

  It was like a freeze frame inside the circle, everyone watching. Nakamura put his head on Heather's chest, trying to hear her heart beat. He heard nothing and started beating on her rib cage. He might break a rib but he had to get her heart started. Luckily he'd had some medical training and knew what he was doing. Michelle was suddenly kneeling beside him and he instructed her in mouth to mouth resuscitation. She did exactly what he what he told her to do. Michelle was blowing into Heather's mouth for a specified number of times, then he resumed thumping her chest, above her heart.

  Nakamura was frantic. There was no heart beat. He had only four minutes until brain damage would start. He didn't know he was muttering, "Beat, damn it, beat. Please start again," over and over. He did break a rib. He knew when it happened, groaned, and kept up the heart massage. He listened again and heard what he though was an erratic double beat. Then he was too busy to listen and he had Michelle checking Heather's carotid artery.

  "It's started. Oh, thank God. Her heart's beating," Michelle said after what seemed like an eternity.

  Heather was taking some deep gasping breaths. She remained unconscious. She started thrashing and groaning.

  "Run to Henry's. Hurry. Call an ambulance. I have to stay with her."

  Michelle took off at breakneck speed down the beach.

  Peripherally he had been aware of running feet around him. Some of the witches and onlookers had panicked and were rushing away. But some were very calmly throwing sand over the hissing boulders around the black cauldron. The tent was fastidiously being taken down.

  "Don't take away my light," Nakamura yelled at the giant who was putting out the torches, but he just kept dousing them with a little tin tent-like object which fit over the flames.

  "You fucker. I need the light," Nakamura screamed at the enormous man, but he didn't hear, or wouldn't do what Nakamura asked.

  Nakamura looked around for help. Omar was directing some people around the chubby man who had been sitting outside the circle. The man seemed to be unconscious. As Nakamura watched, the red haired witch forcefully rolled the man on his back and pried his mouth open. Another woman was pouring liquid down his throat. The pudgy guy sputtered and choked, swallowing spasmodically. The remaining liquid they poured all over him. Nakamura heard the man coughing as he held Heather, trying to sooth the thrashing, whispering in her ear, over and over, that she would be fine.

  When Nakamura looked up again, the short chubby man who had liquid poured down his throat was quiet, lying where they had left him. The beach had been deserted in minutes.

  Michelle was running in the rain faster than she had ever gone in her life. She was running for Heather, and she was running away from the sudden memory that had overtaken her when she saw Omar and the giant, Samson Stoker, together in the magic circle.

  She didn't feel her breath gasping or her heart beating frantically as she pelted the mile through the rain to Henry's. She was crying. This was all her fault. Tears streaked her face. She should never have brought Heather. It was stupid and dangerous. She shouldn't have revealed their position. It was all her fault and Heather might die because of her stupidity. She had seen the horrible burned skin from the lightening bolt as Nakamura had worked on Heather. The flesh was blackened around the outside, in a big circle. Inside it looked like the skin was peeled off. Michelle bit her lip and flew down the beach.

  CHAPTER 22

  What a fucking fiasco, Omar thought tiredly as he entered his condominium, mentally going over the events of the night. It was almost 3:00 a.m. and he was exhausted. He went directly to the kitchen with a package that Samson had given him and put it in the refrigerator. He whistled for Lucifer, but the cat did not respond. Omar cursed, he would have to crawl under the bed and get him. Damned cat. He hadn't been able to feed Lucifer this evening, after all. Lucifer had refused the frozen food and Omar had not had time for fiddling around, what with setting up the ceremony in the new location and dealing with the cops who had confiscated Lucifer's food. Now Omar was thinking that to top of it all, he might have made an annoying error concerning Ginger.

  It was just lucky that they all had been able to escape before the police and ambulances had arrived on the beach.

  Samson was driving the van back to the storage facilities near the Honolulu Airport where Omar hid all the large paraphernalia necessary for the rituals on the beach; the tent and the items that went inside, the gas burning stakes. It looked like they might lose the black cauldron. It was too hot to remove from the beach and so heavy that even Samson usually rolled it to the site. But that kettle had been with him for years and Omar felt a gut-wrenching melancholy at the thought of losing it. Samson would return to the beach later and haul it away if it was safe. The police might still be there, late into the night. He had told Samson to stay up all night, if necessary, to try to retrieve it.

  He had to admit he was a little depressed about the new development. Michelle remembered him. It was almost inexplicable. It made his future plans for her much more complicated.
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br />   Omar stripped off his clothing, donned a silk nightshirt and robe, lighting candles in the bedroom and padded barefoot into the kitchen.

  He removed the package from the refrigerator and put the contents in a bowl. He left the organs intact because he knew Lucifer liked to work for his food; to tear, rend, and rip with teeth and claws before eating it.

  Omar pulled Lucifer out from under the bed by the scruff of his neck. Michelle had spoiled the cat, coddling him, petting him and making him tame. It was obvious by the way the little animal tried to lick his chin and patted his face. Women. You really couldn't trust them. Not ever. She had no idea the discipline a cat like this required. He was the smartest of a line Omar had been breeding for years. Now look at him. His hair had obviously been combed and he wanted to, Omar searched with revulsion for the right word. Cuddle, he thought with distaste.

  Omar put the bowl on the floor. He placed Lucifer next to it. The cat sniffed with disinterest, twitched the end of his tail in repugnance and backed away, spitting and growling.

  "This is special, Lucifer. You must eat it."

  The cat looked up at him and meowed sadly. Lucifer was asking for something else in his own feline way.

  "I don't believe it," Omar muttered under his breath. He spoke louder for the cat. "Exceptional food, Lucifer. Just for you. A great sacrifice was made."

  The cat kneaded his paws, blue eyes staring.

  "Go ahead, eat it. It's Ginger."

  * * *

  "You can't go home," Nakamura said.

  It was almost six in the morning. They were standing in the hospital corridor outside Heather's room. The distinctive smell of rubbing alcohol and pine disinfectant seeped down the hallway. Michelle had been holding back tears for so long she was exhausted.