by Karl Morgan
He took a large gulp and asked, “If reality is an illusion, Faith, then is nothing real?” Troy laughed and Faith frowned at him.
She took a sip of her champagne and replied, “All of the really important things are real, like love, tenderness, family, and faith. The world around you is a tool to allow you to manifest those things.”
“Ah, I see,” he replied. “Well, actually, no I don’t.”
“Don’t feel bad, Bill. You see things the way you are supposed to see them, the way your eyes were meant to see and your ears were meant to hear. But something strange has happened. Even my uncle is trying desperately to understand the horrors this planet is facing right now, and usually he is the cause!”
“What does all this have to do with me?”
“Let’s go back to my dad’s office. He is the best person to speak of this.”
“Okay, how do we do that?”
“Kiss me, Bill.”
“Uh, you know I’m a married man, Faith.”
“I’m not asking you to date me or fall for me; just a little peck on the lips will do the job.”
“How can kissing you do that?”
She put her hand on his cheek and replied, “It is an act of faith, Bill, to demonstrate that you believe in me. Don’t be afraid, I won’t bite.” He leaned toward her and she closed her eyes. He touched his lips to hers.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” she smiled.
He opened his eyes to find them sitting on the couch in Dom Emmanuel’s office. He was wearing his normal clothes and she was wearing a business suit. “Wow!”
J.C. and Dom were sitting on the couch on the other side of the coffee table. “Well, tell us about your little adventure. What did you learn?” Dom asked.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but something about how our feelings are real, but the world around us is only an illusion. Is that right?”
“That’s not bad,” Dom laughed. “Unfortunately, it’s easier to say than to actually know and accept. But that’s enough for now. With what you already know, you can be assured that there will be no nuclear explosion here tonight, so I recommend that you and your guest stay in the hotel and start your adventure anew tomorrow. I’ve already prepaid a two-bedroom suite and fine dinner for you two.”
Bill stood up to leave and said, “Now that you mention Mary, she told me not to believe everything I see or hear here. Is she right or you?”
“Bill, you just said that the world was an illusion, so I suppose that makes her correct. She fears us but does not yet know I am her uncle and wish her only the best. Perhaps that fear is irrational, but then again she is human like you and suffers the same lack of perspective. Your road trip should give you both the opportunity to examine what you believe to be real. We’ll see you soon.”
“If Mary is my sister, does that make you my uncle too?” Dom smiled and nodded. “Okay, do I just go out the door?”
“Why don’t you try it?” Dom said.
Bill walked over to the door and pulled it open. The curving walkway next to the hotel entrance was outside. “Bye now,” he said and waved and then stepped outside and closed the door behind him.
When Bill found Mary in the car, she was asleep, so after he woke her, he had no trouble convincing her to stay at the Bellagio and sleep in a real bed. As special guests of the Emmanuel family, the hotel staff went out of their way to coddle the dogs as well. At dinner that night, Bill was at first hesitant to tell her about his meeting with Dom and his children, but ultimately relented as he now had some verification that she was indeed his sister. He woke at seven o’clock the next morning to find Mary already getting prepared for the road. He took a shower and got dressed and they had breakfast at the hotel buffet. By ten o’clock, they had pulled out of the hotel and headed north again. Since there was no evacuation order, freeway traffic was normal, so they took Interstate 15 north toward Salt Lake City. There would be several hundred miles of small towns and long stretches of open space, so they felt comfortable they could avoid any more incidents. Bill called Audrey before they left the hotel. She, Sandi, Tom and the kids were leaving Cody and heading to Jackson, Wyoming, hoping to find better accommodations while avoiding large cities. Bill did not mention Dom Emmanuel. Such conversation over a phone would sound like the ravings of a lunatic.
Two hours outside Las Vegas, Mary suggested a bathroom break and Bill pulled off at the first exit with a gas station. While she was gone, it struck him that he had not put gas in his car since he left home early yesterday morning. He glanced at the gage and it showed full. “Oh crap! Now the damned gage is broken.” He drove to the nearest available pump, ran his credit card and started to fill the tank. It stopped after a few cents. “Huh? That can’t be right.” He started toward the store to complain about the broken pump when it hit him. If everything was an illusion, then gas was an illusion too.
Mary walked past him as she returned from the restroom and asked, “Is everything okay? Are we gassed up and ready to go?”
“Yes we are,” he said, fighting the need to rationalize the situation. “Let’s hit it.”
An hour later, they had just passed through the St. George, Utah, environs and continued northeast into the center of the state. Mary’s cell phone rang and she answered it. Bill glanced over at her and noticed she was very quiet and listening intently and nodding her head. She disconnected the call and sighed. “Bill, can we please stop at the next exit?”
“Are you okay? Who called?”
“He said he was our father.”
Bill shivered and looked forward. He could feel his hands becoming cold and moist. “Did he have an odd deep, gravelly voice?”
“Yes. He said he needed to speak to us. There is supposed to be a small diner just off the highway at the next exit. He wants to meet us there.”
“Is that all he said?”
“No. He said I should ask you to look at your gas gage.”
Bill looked down and saw that it still showed full, but as he looked, it began to drop quickly until it was almost at the empty mark and the yellow fuel warning light came on. “This can’t be good.”
“What happened?”
“The tank was full the last time we stopped, and the needle just dropped to empty while I was looking at it.”
“Is it broken?”
“No, that would be too easy.”
“I don’t understand.”
Bill turned on his turn signal and moved onto the off ramp. “I think we’re both about to learn something and it won’t be pleasant.”
“Let’s get back on the highway, Bill. I’m getting a really bad feeling about this.”
The car stopped at the end of the exit ramp. A small road ran in both directions perpendicular to the freeway. A few hundred yards down the road to their right, a small dive restaurant sat alone at the side of the road. A small neon sign said ‘Lou’s’. “Okay, Mary, I’m going to get back on the freeway.” He pressed down on the accelerator to get onto the on-ramp, but the steering wheel turned right as he struggled to keep it straight.
“Bill!”
“The freaking car is driving itself! I can’t control the wheel or the pedals!” The accelerator sank to the floorboards and the car screeched away from the intersection, leaving patches of rubber on the roadway. Bill watched the car race forward as the speed approached seventy miles an hour. Mary screamed and Bill wrestled with the wheel. The brakes squealed and the wheel turned in his hands, causing the car to spin around several times until it came to rest in a parking space in the empty lot. Both of them were wheezing for breath as the cloud of dust settled around them. The doors flew open, their seatbelts unbuckled and both were pushed out onto the pavement. The car backed away and zoomed out onto the road, leaving them behind. Within a minute, it had disappeared over a rise in the distance. “I guess this is the place,” he joked as he stood and then helped Mary to her feet. “Let’s go see what Lou wants.”
“How do you know his name?”
“He told me.” She just looked back at him without a reply. Bill opened the door and they stepped inside.
The inside was bare wood that looked old and desperately in need of a coat of paint. The floor was covered by a layer of sawdust. There were several simple wooden tables and a few booths along the front and one side of the dining room. A jukebox stood against a third wall with the restroom doors on either side of it. A small dance floor separated it from the tables. The other wall was dominated by a long bar and ten stools. The wall behind it was full of shelves filled with liquor bottles and a massive mirror that was cracked in several places. An older heavy-set woman stood behind the bar, wiping away the dust with a rag. She smiled at them but said nothing. There were several small light fixtures over most of the booths and tables, but the lighting was quite dim.
Bill took Mary’s hand and led her over to the bar, standing in front of the barkeep.
“Bill and Mary, it’s so good to see you again,” the woman said.
“Do I know you?” Mary asked.
“I think Lou wants to see us,” Bill interjected.
“In due time, sonny. How about a drink while you wait? The chicken wings and nachos are great here. Are you two hungry?”
Bill looked at Mary and could tell she was terrified and looking to him for help. “Sure, we’ll have a couple of beers and some nachos.”
“Great, I’ll get right on that,” she said. She went over to a small window hidden among the shelves of liquor and shouted, “One order of nachos, Lou, and get on it!”
The deep voice replied, “Coming right up!”
She came back and filled two pint glasses with beer and set them in front of her guests. “Take a load off. You can sit anywhere you like. I’ll be right back.” She turned and headed toward the restroom.
They sat on bar stools next to where they stood and took a sip of their drinks. “What do you think happened to your dogs and the car, Bill?”
“I’m sure we’ll get everything back when Lou is finished talking to us. Please try to relax.”
“I don’t know how you can be so calm at a time like this!” she exclaimed.
“Mary, I know it’s strange, but remember what happened yesterday. We killed dozens of terrorists and cut off their heads. Shit, I’ve never fired a rifle in my life and I was like a sniper. Something really weird is happening and I don’t think we have a choice other than to go through this and see what comes next.”
What came next was the piercing sound of engines outside the building. Bill rushed over to a booth and pulled open the curtains. Dozens of motorcycles were parking in front of the restaurant. Soon it seemed like there were hundreds more. Bill rushed back to Mary and held her hand. “Let’s try to stay calm.” She glared back at him.
The door opened and men in black leathers began to file inside. Each was quite large and muscular, with most having long hair held back by bandanas and heavy beards. All had holstered pistols on their hips. “Well, what do we have here?” one of them laughed as more and more entered the room. Soon, more than one hundred bikers filled the restaurant, forming an impenetrable wall between Bill and Mary and the front door. Bikers sat on the stools on either side of them while two more stood less than three feet in front. “What the hell are you two doing in our place?”
The biker next to Mary ran the back of his hand down her cheek and licked his lips. “This one’s a keeper, Jonas.”
Bill started to move toward him but the biker seated next to him pushed him down on the stool and held him in place. “Chivalry is dead, pal, and you are about to join it.”
The barmaid hurried out of the restroom and stood behind the bar. She barked, “Leave my customers alone and get out of here!”
The leader of the bikers pulled his revolver from the holster and slammed it down on the bar between Mary and Bill. “And what do you intend to do about it, old lady?”
In a quick single motion, she withdrew a shotgun from under the bar, cocked it and shoved it into the leader’s face. “How about this?”
“My boys will kill you and them, and then burn this dump to the ground. If you’re so tough, pull the trigger, you old bag!”
The man next to Mary put his arm around her shoulders and smiled. Bill sat frozen, desperately wanting to help Mary, and wondering why his super powers had not kicked in.
“Old bag? How dare you call me that, Jonas? No beer for any of you and just wait until your father hears about this!”
The leader frowned and stuffed his pistol back into its holster. “Ah, Mom, you know I was just playing?”
The angry stare on her face melted as she put down the shotgun and then she began to laugh. Immediately, the bikers began to laugh as well. The two sitting next to Bill and Mary stood and walked away, joining the others at tables or booths. Bill and Mary exchanged bewildered looks. “What the heck just happened here?” Mary gasped.
“I don’t know. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.” He turned to the barmaid and asked, “What’s going on here?” She said nothing but looked to her right. Bill followed her glance and saw Lou coming out of the kitchen with a large plate of nachos. He motioned for Mary and Bill to join him at a booth. As he walked toward it, the bikers got up and moved elsewhere. Mary and Bill joined him and sat down. A moment later, a biker came over with a pitcher of beer and three glasses, set them down and walked away. Across the room, Bill could see several bikers pouring beer for their compatriots. Three more were in the kitchen preparing food for the group. “This is the strangest place, Lou.”
He frowned and replied, “Why don’t you both just call me dad? My name really isn’t Lou, but it sounds sort of like it. Dad is certainly true though.” He extended his hand to Mary and said, “Merihem, it is so good to see you.”
“It’s Mary, sir,” she said as she shook it.
“Okay, have it your way, Mary. Please have some food. I’m told my nachos are great, but it’s mostly my children who say that.”
Bill took a chip and tasted it. The cheese, meat, beans and peppers were wonderful together. “It’s great, Dad.”
“So, you think this illusion is strange, Son? Would you say it was stranger than your visit with Dom Emmanuel?”
“You know about that?”
He frowned at him and said, “I’m surprised you’d ask such a question, Son. He is my brother after all.” He noticed Mary staring at him. “Go ahead, Mary, spit it out. I know you’re dying to ask me.”
“You are the Evil One, aren’t you?”
He chuckled and Bill shuddered at the thought. “Humans are so simplistic in their reasoning! You create these theories based on the way you choose to see the world and then start labeling everything and everyone. It stands to reason that since you were raised by humans that you’d have been indoctrinated into their silly ideas.”
She pulled her crucifix from under her blouse and held it up to him. “Get back demon!”
He clutched at his heart and moaned, “Argh! You got me!” Then he burst into laughter. The bikers were laughing too and Mary blushed and tried to shrink down in the booth. “Mary, please don’t be upset. I didn’t mean to make fun of you or anything of the sort.”
Mary had pressed herself against Bill and tried to hide her face behind his back. Bill comforted her and said, “It’s okay, Mary. This man is our father and only wants to help.” He put his arm around her shoulders and held her tightly. “Dad, your niece Faith said something yesterday that I still don’t understand.”
“She is such a sweet girl. Please go on.”
“She said that you and Dom were both trying to figure out why these horrible things keep happening and that usually you cause them.”
Their father ate a chip and took a long drink of his beer. “Yea, it is strange that some force is unleashing all this terror on the planet and I didn’t do it. Dom and I sensed a change some time ago, and that is precisely why you and Mary are here now. His family and mine seem helpless to solve the riddle, and so we put you t
wo on Earth to figure it out.”
“We’re not humans?” Mary squeaked at last.
“Dad, I have a wife and a child. How can I have kids if I’m not human?”
“Bill, if everything is an illusion, why couldn’t you?”
Bill’s head snapped back as if he had seen a ghost. “So you’re saying humans aren’t human at all. They’re illusions too.”
“I never said that, Son, and frankly we don’t have time to argue about such things. The facts are that the world and people behave as reality. A terrorist could cut off your head and your body would surely die. All the people of Earth are in real danger. Now you and Mary have to go figure out what happened and why, and then find a way to stop it.”
“We’re all counting on you, brother,” said a voice and Bill turned his head to see all the bikers gathered around their booth.
“And we are going to help you,” Jonas smiled.
“Bill, your car is outside now,” his father noted. “And yes, gasoline is an illusion too, as is the car for that matter. You and Mary need to continue on to find your family. They will all be in mortal danger in the near future, and will need you to save them.”
“Please don’t forget my grandchildren,” the barmaid said as she joined them at the table.
“Don’t worry, Cora, I won’t forget,” Bill’s father said. “Mary and Bill, tomorrow morning, a group of terrorists are going to attack a large daycare center in Provo. They intend to either behead the children or sell them into sex slavery. Drive there now and spend the night at this hotel.” He handed them a piece of paper with the name and address. “I’ve already booked two rooms for you. Be outside the daycare center by nine o’clock in the morning and stop them any way you can.”
“Who could behead children?” Mary groaned.
“They must be bat-shit crazy,” Jonas offered.
The old man took Bill’s hands and said, “There is more, but it is still in doubt, and you need to know that the leader of the terror army knows who you two are. Go now, it’s a long drive north.” After they stood to leave, Bill hugged his father, and then his brothers joined and they all said their goodbyes. Minutes later, they were back on Interstate 15, heading into the vast emptiness of central Utah.
