314 Book 3 (Widowsfield Trilogy)

by A. R. Wise

  Since the experiment in 1996, Vess obsessed about duplicating the results. However, it wasn’t as simple as just turning the CORD back on again. The military had taken Tesla’s machine, so Vess and Oliver set out to build a new one. That process had been far more difficult and expensive than either of them had anticipated. The CORD was a delicate machine, and the addition of uranium made it much harder to complete. The Accord had access to such material, but Vess had taken over communication with them, severing Oliver’s ties with his former employers. From that point forward, Vess oversaw everything.

  The years following the 1996 event had not been kind to Vess. The old man’s age was finally catching up to him. He became frailer as time passed, and eventually admitted to Oliver that the telomerase levels in his blood had begun to fall. While he still produced more of the valuable enzyme than the average person, his cellular structures were no longer immune to the degradation of time. He was slowly dying.

  The acquisition of enough uranium to power the CORD became their largest hurdle. Oliver had expected that The Accord’s ties to the military would’ve made the process of securing the radioactive material easier, but Vess insisted that wasn’t so. Instead, they were forced to capitalize on the collapse of the Soviet Union to secure their goods. The arms race was long over, but the extent that the Soviet Union had gone to in an attempt to compete with the United States had left them with an overabundance of uranium and plutonium. By the early 2000’s, their stockpile of radioactive material had made it to the black market. Vess was able to get enough uranium to power the CORD, but it had to be delivered in small amounts to avoid detection. This process ended up taking years, and during that time Oliver was left to manage Widowsfield.

  In late 2004, Oliver and Vess completed the construction of a new CORD. The machine was hidden in the bowels of the Cada E.I.B. facility, but it was wired directly to the town’s power grid, which was fed by the hydroelectric dam on the Jackson Reservoir. Oliver argued with Vess about the need for the Eldridge to be rebuilt in the reservoir, but Vess insisted that the ship was of no consequence any longer. The entity had moved into the town itself. Vess believed that in the original experiment, in 1943, the entity had moved from one of the sacrificial relics he was carrying and into the Eldridge. Then, in 1996, the CORD allowed it to move from the ship to the town itself.

  Great care was taken to ensure that Widowsfield was isolated from neighboring towns. The electric grid was severed, and connections to outside counties destroyed. The only power coming into Widowsfield was supplied by the dam in the Jackson Reservoir, and Vess believed that this would help contain the entity once they built a new CORD and activated it.

  On March 14th, 2005, they attempted to use the machine with Lyle Everman inside. It didn’t work.

  Vess was convinced that their new CORD had been built incorrectly, and he insisted a new one be constructed. That had been two years earlier, and now their new device was ready to be tested. Unfortunately, Vess was too ill to attend, and he asked that Oliver find a new psychic to be placed within the machine. During their last experiment, the introduction of radioactive material hadn’t produced the tell-tale green electricity that meant the machine was working, and Vess wanted to know that the new CORD was functioning properly before he attended an experiment.

  When Oliver found Nia in Chicago, he tried to call Vess to tell him the good news. However, Vess’s illness had worsened and his communication with Oliver had been sparse. He was excited to hear that a replacement for Lyle had been found, and he told Oliver that The Accord would happily fund whatever Oliver thought was necessary to get the experiment moving in the right direction. Oliver continued his work with Nia, and never sought permission from The Accord or any other part of Cada E.I.B. for the massive expense. It wasn’t until Vess’s illness had passed that the old man discovered how much Oliver had spent.

  Vess had lied to Oliver about The Accord’s involvement with the Widowsfield project. It turned out that Vess had been funding the project on his own, and Oliver’s overspending nearly bankrupted the dying man. But Oliver was convinced that what Nia had discovered at the murder scene was evidence that the entity could be placated by any sacrifice, and that they didn’t need to use a psychic in the CORD to contact it.

  Oliver and Vess knew that a woman named Terry had been murdered at the house on Sycamore at around the same time that the CORD had been activated. That was also where they found the catatonic child. Oliver proposed that the CORD be activated at the same moment that a new sacrifice was offered in the house, but Vess insisted that the most important part was having a psychic placed within the machine.

  Unfortunately, Nia and her friend had to be killed before the experiment could come to fruition. Though Oliver couldn’t have explained why, he knew it was the right decision.

  He knew he would have to call Vess and explain what had happened, but he delayed the inevitable. Oliver got up and walked back into the CORD’s room. He stood in the threshold and stared at the machine that had become the focus of so much of his life. He knew that if he called Vess with nothing to report other than that Nia was dead, and that all the money they’d spent over the past couple months had been for nothing, that Vess would likely shut down the entire operation. It seemed criminal that all that work would go to waste.

  None-the-less, he had no choice but to close the book on the Widowsfield project for the time being. Oliver turned off the only light in the room, shrouding the CORD in darkness once again, and then locked the door on his way out.

  It would be years before he went in the room again.

  Inside Cada E.I.B.’s facility in Widowsfield

  March 13th, 2012

  Shortly after 5:30 AM

  Oliver was standing in front of the CORD as its door stood wide. He’d nearly finished dragging the body of the young nurse into the machine as the silver rings began to spin on the pillars that bookended the steel box, but it was more difficult than he’d anticipated. He panted from the exertion of dragging her through the hall and to this room. He’d rerouted power to the machine, and the process of powering it up was nearing its end. The next step would be to cut the cord, and release the uranium from the stopgap to allow the CORD to be fed the radioactive material.

  The handle of the butcher knife was slick, and he passed it over to his other hand so that he could wipe his right palm off on his pants. He’d never murdered someone before, but this was in the name of science. The nurse’s death might facilitate the greatest discovery in the history of mankind. Just like a war general had to accept that he might be sending thousands of soldiers to their deaths in the interest of winning a battle, Oliver had sacrificed the nurse to reach a similar end.

  The girl’s blonde hair was wet with her blood, and a small pool had collected on the floor of the CORD’s interior. Oliver rolled up his sleeves as he prepared for what he had to do.

  Blue bolts of electricity crackled along the spinning rings, and Oliver flipped the final switch on the CORD’s panel that allowed it to draw in the final surge it needed. Next, he went to the orange stopgap mechanism and held his finger over the red switch that would cut the cord.

  “Now or never,” he said to himself before taking a deep breath. He flipped the switch. He heard the stopgap’s gears churning, but it sounded more lethargic than he remembered. He was terrified that something was wrong, but he could only pray that it would work properly.

  He didn’t have time to watch for the electricity to take on the green hue that he’d seen in 1996. This time, he was going to try and offer up the sacrifice to the entity in Widowsfield the same way that had been done by the murderer in the house on Sycamore. He was even wielding the battered kitchen knife that they’d found stabbed through Terry and stuck in the floor.

  Oliver went into the CORD, ducking to avoid hitting his head, as the lightning zapped around him. He straddled the nurse and stared down at her stomach. His arms were trembling, and his eyes watered as he tried to convince himself th
at killing her had been the right thing to do.

  Her eyes fluttered, and her head rolled. She started to raise her arms, and then she realized that someone was on top of her.

  “What…”

  Oliver was spurred into action. He stabbed down with all his strength, and the blade easily pierced her belly. The nurse’s grogginess evaporated. She came alive to defend herself. She screamed and scratched, but Oliver continued his assault. He pulled the knife out and tried to stab her again, but she thrust her hands up at him, catching the blade between the ring and middle fingers of her right hand. His strike slit her down to her knuckle and she retracted her hand as she cried out in pain. She thrust her hips up hard enough to turn to her side, and then she gripped the threshold of the CORD as she cried out for help.

  The lights in the room began to dim as the CORD utilized the majority of the building’s power. Oliver saw that the reflection of the electricity shining in on him was still blue, but he didn’t have time to worry about why it didn’t glow green yet. He pulled at his victim, and she continued her desperate attempt to get away. He stabbed at her over and over, each strike glancing off her bones and leaving long cuts that immediately bled. Within only a few seconds, the smooth steel walls on the inside of the CORD were decorated with smears of blood as Rachel desperately tried to get away.

  She continued to kick at Oliver, and was able to knock him off of her. He sliced at her calf, cutting her deep, but she was fueled by adrenaline now. Pain wouldn’t slow her.

  She screamed for help as she started to crawl away. Her formerly white Keds, which were now blood red, squeaked as she tried to gain traction, and her knee slammed back down as she slipped. Her foot fell near Oliver, and he took the opportunity to disable her. He aimed carefully with the knife before hacking down at her Achilles heel. She wailed in pain, and then kicked at him hard enough to send him pounding against the opposite wall. She tried again to get away, but the most recent wound was too grievous. She collapsed again, and this time the pain was intense enough to stop her. She flipped over onto her back so that she could face her murderer.

  “Why?” she asked as she crawled backwards out of the CORD.

  Oliver rose and followed. He wasn’t a psychotic murderer, and he didn’t take pleasure in this. He was horrified by what he had to do, but he wasn’t going to let heaven slip away. He needed to meet The Skeleton Man that Paul had met. He needed to know the truth.

  “Why?”

  “I’m sorry, Rachel,” said Oliver as he stalked her. He was crying as he loomed above, the knife in his hand dripping with her blood. “I wish it didn’t have to be like this, but trust me…”

  She cursed at him and begged for her life as she continued to try and get away. She turned back over so that she could crawl, showing her back to her attacker in her attempt to flee.

  “I’m sending you to Heaven!”

  Oliver lunged and pounded down on Rachel’s back. The force of his landing knocked the woman’s breath out, and she could only make pitiful gasps as he pulled her head up by her hair and then slit her throat.

  CHAPTER 20 – Burn It All

  Widowsfield

  March 13th, 2012

  Shortly after 5:30 AM

  “Let me check her airway,” said Helen as she held onto Paul’s arm to get him to stop pushing the gurney along.

  Rosemary’s breathing had become shallow as they were moving through Cada E.I.B.’s facility, but then she started to cough and choke. Paul and Alma felt helpless and just watched as the old nurse worked.

  Helen lifted the back of Rosemary’s neck so that her chin was pointing straight up, and then she put her finger into the dying woman’s mouth. Helen looked back in frustration, searching for something, and then said, “There’s not enough light in here.”

  As if in wicked response to her complaint, the already sparse light in the hall grew dimmer. The red emergency lights that had blazed so bright moments earlier had begun to fade, as if the power was being drawn somewhere else.

  “She needs to go to a real hospital,” said Helen. “She’s going to need a…”

  Rosemary sputtered on the gurney. She reached out and grasped at Helen, and the nurse moved closer to help.

  “Don’t worry,” said Helen. “We’re going to get you someplace that can help.”

  “No,” said Rosemary. “You can’t. You can’t.” She was struggling to speak and it sounded like her mouth was filling with liquid.

  “You need a CT scan,” said Helen. “We can’t do that here. We have to…”

  “Vess will come,” said Rosemary.

  Helen looked up at Paul and Alma as if they might offer a better explanation. Alma looked over at Paul and then back at Helen before asking, “Who’s Vess?”

  “He worked with Oliver, right?” asked Paul.

  Helen nodded and then said, “He’s our boss.”

  Rosemary was holding onto Helen’s arm. Alma saw that part of the psychometric’s hand was touching a beaded bracelet that the nurse was wearing. Rosemary said, “He’ll be here.”

  “Vess?” asked Helen. “I don’t understand.”

  “He’s coming. Keep me here…” Rosemary coughed, and then tried again to speak, but Helen cut her off.

  “Fine. Have it your way.” Helen motioned for Paul and Alma to help push the gurney again. “Let’s go. I’ll do what I can here, but she still needs to get to a dang hospital.”

  They wheeled Rosemary along as fast as they could without causing the trip to be too bumpy. The lights in the hall got dimmer as they went, and when they got to the elevator the power in the facility had grown so weak that the call-button was no longer illuminated.

  “I don’t know what’s going on,” said Paul, “but I sure the hell don’t think we should be hopping on an elevator.”

  “The building has back-up power,” said Helen as she jabbed her thumb on the ‘down’ button.

  The elevator door squeaked, and then opened only a foot wide before the door stopped. The elevator within was pitch black.

  “Well, that settles that,” said Paul.

  The light in the hall wavered. “I don’t understand,” said Helen as she looked around. “Something must be wrong.”

  “Let’s take the stairs,” said Paul.

  Helen agreed, and then she showed them how to lower the gurney so that it could be carried. Paul took one end while Helen and Alma struggled to support the other, and they made their way slowly down the stairs to the level where the sleepers were kept.

  “Paul,” said Rosemary as they were nearing the sleepers’ floor. “Listen to me.”

  “Just relax, dear,” said Helen.

  “Paul,” said Rosemary again, ignoring Helen.

  Paul was holding the front of the gurney and Rosemary was looking directly up at him. He gave the woman a pained smile and said, “I’m right here, Rose.”

  She gave him the first honest smile he’d seen from her. “My mother used to call me Rose.”

  “Just keep calm,” said Paul. “We’re almost there.” He pressed his back into the bar that opened the door to the sleepers’ level and then they unlatched the accordion base so that they could rest the gurney on the wheels again.

  Rosemary reached out and grasped Paul’s arm. “You have to save her.”

  “Save who?” asked Paul, although he was only humoring the addled woman. He was certain that she’d lost so much blood that she was either hallucinating or about to.

  “Alma,” said Rosemary, which drew Paul’s attention.

  He gave Alma a puzzled look and then asked Rosemary, “What do you mean?”

  “The Skeleton Man,” said Rosemary, although her consciousness was fading. “He’ll try to use her.”

  “I’ll keep her safe,” said Paul.

  “Put things back where they came from,” said Rosemary. “Put The Skeleton Man back in his wall.”

  They pushed the gurney down the hall and past the sleepers’ room. Helen explained that they needed to get in
to the room where Alma and the others had been kept. That was where the medical supplies that the nurse needed were located.

  “But your friends locked themselves in,” said Helen. “Maybe you can get them to open the doors.”

  “I’ll see if…” Paul started to walk away from the gurney, intent on banging on the door that Stephen and Rachel were locked behind, but Rosemary panicked when she thought he was leaving.

  Rosemary reached out to Paul and nearly knocked herself off the gurney as she grabbed at his arms. “Stay with me. Talk to me, Paul.”

  “I’ll go see what’s up with them,” said Alma as she started to walk away from them. “You stay with her.”

  Paul wasn’t sure what was wrong with Rosemary, or why she was so intent on Paul staying by her side, but he did as she asked. She held onto his arm and pulled him closer.

  “You’ll be fine, Rose,” said Paul.

  Rosemary looked over at Helen, and then back at Paul as she whispered, “Why’d you keep the noose?”

  “What?” asked Paul. The injured woman’s question shocked him.

  “The noose in the closet,” said Rosemary. “The one you were going to hang yourself from before your friend called.”

  “I don’t know,” said Paul as he looked over at Alma. She wasn’t more than six feet away, and had just started knocking on the door that Stephen and Rachel had locked. She hadn’t heard Rosemary, and Paul didn’t want her to know about his near-suicide. That wasn’t something he wanted her to worry about.

  “You kept it as a symbol,” said Rosemary.

  “Sure,” said Paul. “Look, I don’t want to talk about that.” He glanced over his shoulder as Alma called out to their friends. He could hear Rachel speaking from the other side of the door, and then the ‘clack’ of the lock coming undone.

  “You let an object own you,” said Rosemary.