Council of Peacocks

by M Joseph Murphy

  “Don’t tell me you’ve lost faith in me.”

  Elaine sighed. “After everything you’ve told me about traveling through time, I’m not sure what I believe anymore. If even the past is subject to change, absolutely nothing is absolute.”

  “You should be able to relax for a few days. Are the children secure? Be careful what you say on these lines. I can’t guarantee they’re secure.”

  “Of course,” Elaine said. She was in Hong Kong with a group of look-a-likes. They’d been hired to make the Council believe all the Anomalies were there. Energy emitters designed to mimic the use of EFHB were activated at irregular intervals. “Everyone is secure here.”

  “History tells me it’s vitally important no one find the Anomalies at least until next week. You'll know everything you need to by then.”

  “Is that when it happens?”

  “Yes,” he said. “That’s when the Djinn shows up.”

  ***

  Josh pressed the bandage firmly against the inside of his elbow and stepped onto the elevator. After a fourth day of tests and bloodletting he’d developed a new-found loathing for doctors and needles. In the elevator with him were two Chinese men speaking Mandarin in hushed tones. Both were dressed in nearly identical dark suits. Only their ties were different.

  There was no one in the lounge but the television was on. On the screen, was a thin, black woman with a thick accent. She walked down the aisle of a talk show studio audience asking the crowd if it was possible to ever really know someone. This led to a story about a woman who, after five years of marriage, found out that her husband was actually her biological father.

  “Good to know trash TV isn’t confined to North America.” Josh turned the TV off and headed toward the cafeteria.

  The lights flickered up and down the entire length of the hallway. A feeling settled over him. He looked up and down the corridor. It was empty. He clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly, searching the fitful shadows in each doorway. Then, near the end of the corridor, something caught his eye. Movement. He took a step forward and peered closer at a half-open door. In the last few days he’d passed by it many times. A closet. He’d seen the middle-aged janitor pull cleaning supplies and a mop from there.

  ‘Something’s wrong.’ The door was open, just a crack. Previously, it had always been locked. Worse, the light that pulsated above from the rows of fluorescent bulbs did not touch the darkness on the other side.

  The door swung slightly more open.

  In that second, rational or not, he decided it was not his imagination. Someone was watching him. He charged toward the unseen watcher, fists at the ready and jaw clenched. Then he saw movement again. A flash of gold light, like sunlight off a ring, hit him in the eyes. He slowed. He stopped, head throbbing.

  The door swung open even further and a voice, at once familiar and alien, hit his ears.

  “Remember,” it said.

  And he did.

  ***

  Four summers ago, life in the Wilkinson house changed completely. After the death of Tommy Delonki and the shooting in Lebanon, Josh found himself jumping at shadows. He barricaded his closet door at night and consistently slept with his weapons – a knife under the pillow and a baseball bat beside the bed.

  One day after school, he walked in on his mother. She sat on his bed holding the baseball bat across her lap.

  “What exactly do you think is going to attack you?” She asked the question with barely concealed worry in her voice.

  Josh could only shrug in response.

  “The world is not a scary place, Joshua,” she said. “I don’t want you living in fear for the rest of your life. What happened in Lebanon was terrifying. And the way those savages killed poor Tommy, well, I can see why you’re frightened. But you’re home now. You’re safe.”

  Josh blushed, his face heated and eyes watery. He couldn’t tell his mother what had really happened to Tommy. He couldn’t tell her about the monsters with wings or the horrible things he’d done to protect Tommy. He just shook his head and learned how to better hide his weapons.

  A week later, his father was shipped off to a seminar in Greece.

  Therese decided it would do Josh some good to get away from Ottawa for a while, so they flew down to Windsor to visit her brother. Eugene Froese was older than her by two years. Although brother and sister remained close, they rarely saw each other. Josh barely knew his cousin Travis. What happened in the woods that week put a wedge between them. They never spoke again.

  Josh and his mother landed at Windsor airport where they were met by Gene and Travis. While brother and sister hugged, cousins stood by, bonded by feelings of discomfort.

  During the car ride from the airport, Josh’s mom talked and laughed with her brother while Travis hid by playing his Nintendo DS. Josh looked out the window and watched the rain fall on the gray city.

  The Froeses lived on the east end of Windsor in a neighborhood of wartime homes and bungalows. They ate well that night. Gene’s wife had cooked a feast. The food put Josh in a better mood. By the time they were on dessert, he found he was actually smiling for the first time in weeks.

  “I have to say, Travis,” Therese Wilkinson said. “It actually looks like you’re turning out okay. You gave your mother more than her share of headaches when you were younger.”

  Travis grinned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Gene and his wife, Margaret, shared a quiet but genuine laugh. “Yeah, he’s a perfect angel. In fact, the last time you guys were down, didn’t Travis get Josh arrested?”

  Josh looked up from his pie, startled for a moment. With everything else in his life, he’d completely forgotten. “That’s right! I was thirteen. You and those damned friends of yours convinced me there was a Windsor by-law prohibiting bathing suits.”

  “Hey, I was the injured one,” Travis said. ‘I had to see you naked. It took three months of therapy to stop the nightmares.”

  “He’s still no angel,” Margaret said. “But he’s doing better in school.”

  “Volleyball team still kickin’ butt, too.” Gene beamed with pride. “You should see him on the court. Moves like a tiger.”

  Travis grinned and hung his head in modesty.

  “Josh is quite the athlete, too,” his mother said. “Oh I know what you’re thinking. He used to be so skinny and gangly but in the last six months or so he finally hit his stride.”

  Josh groaned. “Dear God, mother. You know that never gets any funnier, right? I’m a runner. Cross-country. She throws in that ‘hitting my stride’ crap all the time. It’s so weak.”

  After learning he was a runner, Travis invited Josh to join him in the morning for his daily run. Josh agreed, happy for the chance to work his muscles. They ran down to the banks of the Detroit River, then along parkland paths all the way downtown. Josh was surprised at his cousin’s endurance. Halfway through the 10k run, most people would have been winded. Travis barely broke a sweat. Josh, as usual, barely felt the exertion. His body was fueled by willpower. He never tired. It seemed in his cousin he’d found an equal.

  For the next three days, they repeated the pattern. Then, on Friday night, Travis invited Josh to a party his friend was throwing.

  Ignatio – Iggy to his friends – came from a rich Italian family. They lived in a sprawling mansion in South Windsor, in a neighborhood filled with luxurious houses. It was a pool party filled with thin girls in small bikinis and fit guys, mostly volleyball players or other athletes from Travis’ high school. For several tense minutes, Josh was reminded of the bush party, the one where he had watched Tommy Delonki die. Then he caught the attention of two girls and his mind was otherwise occupied.

  Hours later, Travis appeared, his knuckles bloodied and chest covered in scratches.

  “What the hell happened?”

  Travis shook his head and looked over his shoulder. “Nothing. Nothing much. Some perv watching us.”

  “Travis nailed him!” />
  Josh looked over at the thin olive-skinned Italian slurring his words by the pool. Iggy hadn’t changed much since the first time Josh had met him two years ago.

  Josh felt tense. “Is he still here?”

  Travis shook his head again. “I don’t think so. It’s dark back there. I was just getting a drink when I saw something moving behind the pool shed. First I thought it was just an animal. Then I saw something shiny. Like gold in sunlight. Wasn’t sure if it was a watch or something else. I started walking toward it. That’s when I saw him. Some jerk was back there watching us. Anyway, I shouted out to him. He started to run away and I just booked it. I ran at him and started punching.”

  “What did he look like?” Josh found the whole thing unsettling and very familiar.

  “I’m not sure. It’s kind of a blur. I remember seeing him, remember running and hitting him, but it’s strange. When I stopped hitting him he was already gone. Guy must move pretty fast, whoever it was.”

  The next day they were both too hung over to go for the morning jog. Then, that afternoon, they were both kidnapped. The Froeses decided to take their guests on a picnic in Ojibway Park.

  ***

  Josh felt his knees buckle and threw himself against the corridor wall for support. This flash of memory was different from the other ones he’d had recently. Rather than bubbling up from behind a wall of sludge, this one felt like it was being sucked out of his marrow. His head throbbed and all the strength in his muscles dissipated.

  “What the hell are you doing to me?” He forced himself to stare into the darkness, to see what was in the closet down the hall. Once again, he caught a flash of gold and memory overwhelmed him.

  ***

  Ten minutes into the picnic, Josh began to feel something. Fear. He kept looking over his shoulder, scanning the woods, not sure of what he might see, hoping he wouldn’t see anything. ‘Come on, Josh,’ he told himself. ‘This isn’t back home. There are no Edimmu here. Nothing is going to come running out to get me.’

  That’s when he saw it. The glint of gold.

  He froze, staring at the reflection. He dropped the piece of chicken he’d been holding and slowly slid off the picnic bench.

  His mother looked annoyed. “What is it, dear?”

  “Nothing,” Josh lied. “Just thought I saw a friend from the party last night.”

  “Really?” Travis followed Josh’s eye into the woods. The gold light flashed again and silent rage washed over Travis’ face. “Oh. A friend. Dad, we’ll be right back. I have to go say hello.”

  “For God’s sake, Travis, no fighting, okay?” Gene looked into the woods blankly. “Where is your friend? I can’t see anyone back there.”

  Josh looked over at his cousin. Without saying a word they silently agreed to do whatever it took to show this guy the downside of spying.

  Past the mowed and paved façade of the picnic area, the woods took on another life. All sounds of civilization faded away, leaving only the call of birds, the whispers of the wind through the trees, and the hushed steps of their feet in the underbrush.

  “Where did he go?” Travis whispered. The trees were far enough apart that they could see for quite a ways.

  Nothing moved.

  Josh put a finger to his lips, motioning for silence. Even at 16, when he decided to take control of a situation, his entire demeanor changed. His shoulders stiffened and he seemed to grow several inches taller. There was a gleam in his eyes like a wild panther. Now when he moved, his feet made no sound against the ground. Josh was barely conscious of the change. It was only when he saw Travis staring at him that he realized anything had changed at all.

  “How did you do that?”

  Josh looked confused. “Do what?”

  Travis stared for a second longer, then shook his head. “Never mind. Just for a second there, I thought….Must be the nerves.

  “Must be.” Josh turned away from his cousin, afraid his face would betray him.

  “Wait.” Travis mouthed the word. He put a hand on Josh’s shoulder and pointed at a spot several yards away. “Over there.”

  Josh looked where Travis pointed. He caught the blur of shadows and the glint of gold disappearing behind the trunk of a massive oak. He sprang. Behind him he heard the heavy thud of footsteps as Travis followed. His body seemed to take over his mind. Gone was the anxious depression that had weighed on him since Tommy had died. He wasn’t jumping at shadows; he was chasing one.

  “Wait!” Travis whispered behind him. Josh stopped sharply. He nearly caused a collision with Travis, who could not stop as quickly. Even stationary, he kept his eye on the shadow.

  “You’re moving too fast!” Travis said. “I can’t keep up.”

  “I’m not the one moving fast.” Josh watched the shadow spin quickly and disappear. “The thing we’re following? That’s moving fast. Too fast for...”

  “Thing? Too fast for what?”

  “Too fast to be human.”

  Travis stared at him.

  He stared right back.

  “I’m guessing you don’t mean it’s a deer.”

  Josh shook his head and looked back into the woods. “I think I know what this is. You should go back. It’s not safe.”

  “Not safe? And what are you? Wolverine? No offense, short stuff, but, well for one thing, you’re insane. We’re not chasing a Sasquatch here.”

  “I know. They don’t migrate this far south.”

  “For another thing…” Travis stopped and did a double take. “Wait. Did you just…? Come on. There’s no such things as Sasquatch, wastoid. And that thing we’re following is totally human. I saw it last night, remember?”

  Josh turned slowly back to Travis. “Did you? Really? And what did ‘he’ look like?”

  “Well he…” Travis chewed his lip. He looked around the woods as if searching for a way out of this ridiculous situation. “It was dark. I didn’t get a good look.”

  “You didn’t get a good look at it because it wouldn’t let you get a good look. Think I’m crazy all you like, but I’ve already lost one friend to these things. I’m not going to lose another.”

  Travis took a step back, then lowered his head. “Is this about that friend of yours? The one killed in the gang fight?”

  “The what?”

  “Look, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything, but I overheard your mom a few nights ago. She was talking to my parents about how a friend of yours got stabbed during a gang fight a while back.”

  Josh rubbed the back of his neck. “Tommy didn’t die in a gang fight. And that thing we’re chasing is moving about 100 miles per hour without so much as snapping a twig. If we keep chasing it, you’re going to find out I’m right. So it would probably be best if you headed back.”

  Travis looked at his hands for a moment, then looked down into Josh’s eyes. “There's no way in hell I am heading back without you. When we catch this guy and you see he’s nothing but a perverted Peeping Tom, will you please do me a favor and start taking your meds?”

  Josh smiled. “Deal.”

  In the distance Josh saw the glint of gold again. For the first time he got the impression they weren’t really chasing the thing. Maybe it was luring them somewhere. Normally that would have been enough to make him change his tactics. But something about the light drove him onward. It compelled him.

  “I’ve never been this deep in the woods before.” Travis jogged easily behind him. Though both had been running for more than twenty minutes, neither was out of breath. “I had no idea it even went this far. We must be over the Salt Mine by now.”

  A few seconds later, Josh began to notice changes around him – subtle at first but increasingly hard to ignore. First he noticed a light mist hanging between trees and covering the underbrush. Then he heard strange bird calls, completely unlike anything he’d heard before. They sounded more like vulture-sized parrots than anything native to North America. Then he saw the trees and stopped in his tracks.

  “Wha
t is it?” Travis stopped beside him. “Did you lose him?”

  Josh shook his head and studied the trunks of trees ten feet in diameter. They rose 100 feet above him before the foliage began. The bark was ruddy, like redwood, but the leaves were long and flat stars like elongated maple leaves. Looking past the leaves he saw the sun. It took a moment for his brain to process what he was seeing. The sun had a light blue tinge to it. It was also twice as big in the sky as it had been when they'd entered the woods.

  “Where the hell are we?”

  Travis looked up at the sun. “This isn’t right.” Mouth gaping open, he spun around quickly. “This can’t be Windsor. We don’t have Redwoods or any type of tree this massive. What the hell is going on?”

  “I don’t know.” Josh suppressed a shiver. “But I’m guessing our friend does. Still want to put money on him being human?”

  Travis punched Josh in the chest.

  “I take that as a ‘no.’ Are you sure you don’t want to head back?”

  Travis his put hands in the back pockets of his shorts and looked around. “Sure. I’ll head back. When you can point out exactly where the way back is. I’m completely lost. Hell, I can’t even use the sun to find east or west.” He pointed to the sky and then looked into the woods. “Where the sun is now, if that way is east it would be about 9:00 in the morning. If that way is west it’s closer to 7:00 p.m. So unless we’ve pulled a Superman and ran back in time….”

  “Or we’ve been running for six hours. I get you. Neither one makes much sense. What time do you have? What does your watch say?”

  Travis looked at his watch, then brought his wrist up to his ear. “Broken. Yours, too, eh?”

  Josh nodded. “You wouldn’t happen to have a cell phone, would you?”

  “It’s back on the picnic table. But even if I did, I’m guessing it wouldn’t work, either. Maybe we should just find this guy and find out what’s happening.”

  They started walking after that. Josh saw no sense running when their quarry was obviously not trying to escape. The underbrush grew thicker the further they went, as did the mist. He only caught occasional glimpses of the thing they were following, but it was going in a straight line now. It seemed to be moving slower as well, although Josh could still not make out any features except for the fact it was in the shape of a man.