Valmont Sharp: Monster Hunter

by David Raymond II

  Though he is more active thanks to the medicine and hypnosis mixture, Francois Luminare is far from his prime. He will never be back to his prime, and he has accepted that. The curse will get worse with time and cheating like this speeds it up. That is the reason he is watching the front door instead of fighting along side Valmont. That is what he wishes he was doing.

  Francois is sitting on a chair near the front door tapping his feet with his head hanging down. There are seven guards watching the front door along side him. Four of them are Wayte security members and three are police officers. Francois never bothered to learn their names, except for the one watching him. He is forced to remember Eliza. He is dressed in a brown leather jacket with lots of hidden pockets on the inside and a belt filled with monster hunting supplies over his shoulder. Compared to Valmont's costume his is simplistic at best.

  A report comes in on loud speakers that were set up around the manor, “All men are to stand down, Vargas Thanatos is dead and the show is over. Report to your designated briefing area. Valmont Sharp is injured but alive, the wolf-man was not so lucky.”

  There is a shared sigh of relief in the room and the tension that all the cops and security officers have starts to lift. There is laughter and smiles in the hall and everyone is happy, “Good it's over.” An officer says.

  Francois looks up from his seat, his face seems to gain a bit of it's color, “You did it again Valmont.” To Francois Luminare every show is a test of his willpower, Valmont's choices and actions make Francois very worried. Valmont's actions have gotten very self destructive lately. “You added a few more months to your life.”

  Francois is in no big hurry to leave. He is tired but not overly so. He watches as the guards leave and go their separate ways. He watches them with a bit of envy as they are young and full of life, like he use to be. He is not paying much attention to anything as his phone rings, he looks at the caller id, it's Nashton Wayte, “Hello Nash.” He says trying to sound happy.

  There is tension in Wayte's voice, “Francois this is important, come to the back entrance now.”

  Francois jumps up from his chair, “What?” He ignores his sore knees and the over all growing tired ache in his joints. “What is this about?”

  “It's not over.” Wayte says, there is a distress in the man's voice that is very unnatural. “Your daughter is in danger as is Valmont's son.”

  “WHAT?” He yells as he sprints to the door. The house staff and security guards turn to look at him. They have never seen Francois this emotional, this upset. The man is always half dead, right now he seems lively. As he reaches the door he has to catch his breath.

  A female security officer for Wayte Investigations walks up to him. His is his assistant for this show Elisa Malcolm, “Are you alright Mr. Luminare?”

  “I'm fine, now I have to go.” He reaches for the door but she opens it.

  “I will take you to Mr. Wayte. I have been ordered to do so.” She motions to her radio. Her badge says Malcolm.

  Francois brushes her off and opens the door, he then runs over to the back of the house. He has to stop every few feet to catch his breath, “Damned curse.” As he catches his breath Ms. Malcolm grabs his hand.

  “Come on sir.” Elisa Malcolm of half native American and half European decent with dark blue eyes and black hair. Her skin has a dark almost caramel tint to it. She is a tall woman at five foot nine and has a kind face. She is a veteran of the Sharp show. She does not like guarding Francois he is a pain to work for and never once called her by name. She doubts Francois Luminare even knows her name.

  Francois grudgingly takes her arm. He is feeling stronger then he has in years and has been abusing that fact. He probably should have taken things easier and now he's paying for it. “Damn it.” He mutters, he is worried and he is blaming Valmont. If his daughter is hurt he does not know what he will do.

  Nashton and Victor are talking with a young police officer as Francois is lead over to the back of the house. The chief of police is fuming with anger while the retired FBI agent is doing his best to keep his cool. Yet even Nash seems impatient. “Wait until Francois gets here then say that again, calmly.” He tells the police officer who is a very young man with a nervous twitch in his hands. The officer seems wet behind his ears and clearly not suited for the job.

  “Yeah I'm here.” Francois mutters. He looks over the kid eying him suspiciously, “How old are you fifteen?”

  Nate Jefferies clears his thought, “Twenty one sir.”

  “I see.” Francois is trying to play it cool, trying to act like Valmont. Valmont would never let pressure control his mood. He would never rush things. “Hey where is Valmont?” He asks realizing his friend and enemy is no where to be seen. He expected Valmont to be front and center ready to take charge to save the kids. There is a camera man, a different one then before but no Valmont or Alfred.

  Nash looks at Victor and raises a hand, “Now is not the time.” Victor closes his mouth, he was about to say something rude about Valmont. “We have to head to the museum now.” He takes off in a jog, “Officer Jefferies walk with Francois, help him keep up and let him in on what you saw.”

  Nate nods his head and offers Francois a hand. Elisa gives him a sly smile, “Good luck kid.”

  Nate gives her a questionable glance, “What?” He does not pick up what she means. She smiles at him and moves away. Turning toward Francois is again offer a hand, “Come on we have to get to the museum.”

  “I feel so helpless.” Francois says taking the kid's hand. “I can't even walk fifteen feet on my own and I'm a tired old man in my late thirties.” Francois sees that the young cop is about to say something and shoves a hand in his face, “Don't bother I don't need your pity.” He walks as fast as he can so that he does not fall too far behind Nashton and Victor. “So tell me what exactly did you see?”

  Nate nods, he does not quite understand what's going on. He was only briefed quickly by Victor Randal yesterday. The truth of everything is still setting in. “It was strange, black magic. This French speaking man, tall and lanky wearing a large black leather jacket, like a twisted version of Valmont Sharp's Monster Hunting uniform. Now I was up on the maintenance deck watching from above so I did not hear everything. But I got the gist of it.”

  It was no surprise to Francois that Victor Randal had a couple spies searching for secrets and trying to find dirt on Valmont. Still this kid is too fragile for that type of job. He does not seem like the type of person you would send for an information gathering mission. “I see.” Francois says slowly. “Go on.”

  “Well this man, I'm told he's called Gabriel Tarque. busted it all dramatic like and defeated the security team. He had control of one of them and took their leader hostage. This man then walked over to a secret entrance behind a painting and descended down some stairs.” Nate is talking quickly, trying to get all the information in before they reach the museum. He is trying not to walk to fast because he does not want Francois to fall.

  “You don't have to move that slowly.” Francois mutters, “We are in a hurry.” He is pushing to go faster not caring about his condition. He almost trips over his right foot but catches himself.

  Nate frowns, “Okay, I did not wait too long but I had to make sure the floor was clear. Then I climbed down got a briefing of the situation from the guard that was left in the museum and ran to get Mr. Sharp.” He looks over at Chief Randal who is standing by the museum door waiting for him and Francois Luminare. The Chief has a perpetually angry and disappointed look in his eyes. “I think he's mad at me.”

  Francois coughs and then whispers, “I think anger is his only emotion.”

  Nate forces down a snicker as he does not want to laugh at the chief's expense. He respects the man too much and has seen the man's bad side, he never wanted to be on it.

  “Alright, the teams all here.” Nashton Wayte exclaims. “Are you up to this?”

  Pulling a classic colt pistol his signature weapon Francois pushes aw
ay from Nate. “I am fine, I still feel better then I have in years but my energy seems to be draining by the second.”

  “Sounds good enough to me. Lets go save those kids.” He motions to the camera man, “Turn on to the sharp monster network frequency, code 26.” That means it's an emergency show of high importance.

  Despite knowing they are in a hurry Chief Randal speaks up in anger, “Nash I thought you had sense. Putting on a show now of all Times?”

  “I am part of the Sharp Monster Experience. This is how we do things.” He says calmly. He moves in front of Victor with the camera man focused on the two of them, looking back as he talks. “Hello I am Nashton Wayte with a special presentation. It seems the show is not over. We have just learned that Vargas Thanatos was a distraction and the true target are the hidden secrets of the Sharp Museum. It is time for the truths of the Sharp Show to come out. As it turns out we have been lying to you this whole time.” Nash is trying his best to channel Valmont but he knows his boss would be playing this so much better.

  He continues talking as he moves though the museum never once slowing down. “Every time you have seen the Sharp Manor Museum on the Sharp Monster Network you were lied to. Half those exhibits are fakes. When we told you Chris Sharp, Cole Labrone, and Charolette Luminare were safe in Vincent's summer home in Florida you were lied to. They are in the high security museum subbasement which is suppose to be the safest place in Sharp Monster manor. We were wrong.” Nash is hoping to god that Ustence Griffith has enough common sense to not show up. Last thing they need is another wrinkle in the form of that ghost.

  Victor Randal is angry, really angry, his rage is building to levels that are high even for him. He can feel his heart racing and his blood pressure rising. It almost feels like he's having a heart attack. No he's just fighting the urge to punch Nashton Wayte in the face. He walks back to Nate and Francois and glares at Nate, “I need to talk.” He then walks slowly as Nash and Francois move toward the picture.

  The nervous officer gulps and wipes the sweat off his brow, “Am I in trouble?”

  “Yes but that can wait. You did good.” The chief smiles, “This is better then I can imagine. Valmont is in deep water and he's not even here to play life guard. Keep your eyes open Nate, use that photographic memory of yours.” He waits for Nate to nod his head.

  Nate slowly nods in agreement, “Understood sir.”

  Nashton is still busy talking to the camera and the audience but he does notice Chief Randal go off to talk to his fellow officer, 'Always full of surprises huh Victor.' Nashton can't let his curiosity get the better of him right now. He has to focus on his own duties. He opens up the picture of Valmont and descends the stairs, looking back at the camera. “You are about to see the biggest secret of the Sharp show. What we have been trying to not show you.” He stops in front of the electronic door which is wide open and waits for Francois to catch up.

  Francois stops short as he sees the door wide open. “Oh crap.” There standing in front of Chris who is lying on the ground unable to move is a scared out of his wits lawyer. “Chris.” With his gun in hand he jumps down half the steps and then jumps again landing on the floor of the sub basement, “Drop your gun.”

  Anton Rast looks at Francois with a weary eye, “I want to.. but I.. I can't. I am ordered to kill Chris Sharp if you get closer.”

  Francois stops “You're?”

  Rast frowns his eyes are tearing up, “Yes I'm under that man's control.” Rast is commanded against even saying Tarque's name but he has been fighting the control for so long that he knows ways around it. “Besides even if you stop me there is the old man and the little girl.”

  Francois pops his head up and looks around, “Charolette?” He can't see his daughter.

  “We are safe.” Yosif answers instead of Charolette, “Your daughter escaped.” There is a sense of pride in the old man's voice, “Cole and one of the security officers has me and three more of Wayte's men hostage.”

  Francois nods, “Okay.” He says. He looks behind at Nash who is talking to the audience.

  “So you are caught up. The Sharp show has been compromised by the vengeful Gabriel Tarque who you may remember from a couple years ago. The fake Voodoo Shaman has gained real powers and has taken control of the Sharp show for some nefarious purpose. The camera will remain on but I have to leave you as your host.” Nash then wonders back to Victor Randal, “Victor I have a plan and I need you to do something.”

  The Chief of police lifts one of his eyebrows, he is shocked he is needed, “Yeah what is it?”

  “I want you to sneak in behind me and get to the entertainment room.”

  “What's an entertainment room doing in a locked off secret basement?” Victor can't stop being a pain in the behind even for a second.

  “Never mind that. I want you to save Yosif. Francois and I will deal with Anton Rast and Tarque.”

  “Fine.” Victor looks away so that Nash does not see his smile, “I want answers when this is over.” He feels he has one and there is no way Sharp can dig himself out of this hole.

  “We will see Victor.” Nash knows that Valmont is already coming up with reasons for this unsuspected show. That even sedated and in bed the boss is already working on how to explain this to the audience and skeptics, especially the aggravatingly pissed off chief of police.

  “I'm taking Nate with me.” Victor grabs Nate by the hand, “Come on sneaking is your specialty.”

  “Yes Sir.” Nate slowly moves behind the chief and follows him down the stairs. He and Victor Randal turn and move behind the stairs walking in the opposite direction from Anton Rast. It is almost too easy to get away from Rast since in his zombi state his attention is so focused that he can't see anything outside of what he's suppose to see. A weakness of the zombi that is easy to exploit.

  With Francois moving ever closer to Anton Rast and the camera man focused on those two Nashton Wayte reaches the bottom step and looks around for Gabriel Tarque, he remembers Tarque as a attention hog and is surprised he did not make his presence known right away. “Where is that faker?” He mutters. He walks over to the true museum and his worst fears are realized. There was Gabriel Tarque with his black skull cane raised in the air over the case holding the book of Thoth. The book is still safely in this reality vanishing slightly then reappearing, keeping it out of play and out of the hands of those who would use it for evil. “No Don't do that.”

  Chapter Thirty Five