Storming the Kingdom

by Jeff Dixon

  “Well, by now you are probably thinking, I wish you would have made this just a little bit easier. Hawk, I trust you are beginning to sense that this is far more important than any other quest you have been on yet. It is. Walt knew things, Walt understood things, and Walt was entrusted with things that even I don’t begin to understand. It is who he was. And there were secrets, not bad secrets mind you, but secrets…serious secrets that he had to protect. He had to protect them to protect those he loved, the things he loved, and the things he created. And now you have to protect them. Listen closely: Anthony Fremont and his orchestra sure could play a song. There is only one way to get there to hear them, and if you don’t, well…you won’t be able to follow along. Be careful.”

  The screen went to black, and Hawk tapped the delete button, closing the application. He powered down the tablet. “Who are Anthony Fremont and his orchestra?”

  “They’re playing at the Tip-Top Club,” Shep answered unexpectedly.

  “Where is the Tip-Top Club?” Jonathan asked.

  Shep pointed up, and the three others looked toward the ceiling of the library they were standing in.

  “At the top of the attraction?” Juliette looked back toward Shep.

  “At the top of the hotel in the Tip-Top Club.”

  “How do you know that?” Hawk wondered.

  “I read the sign in the lobby a few minutes ago,” Shep explained.

  “But there is no real Tip-Top Club up there, right?” Jonathan asked. They all had gotten to the point where they rarely assumed anything during the times they were trying to solve these mysteries. “And if there’s no real Tip-Top Club, then how can you get there?”

  “That’s the thing,” Hawk said. “I don’t have to go the club itself, but I do have to find the one way to get there.”

  “You mean one of the elevators?” Juliette gulped.

  “I guess.” Hawk walked toward the boarding area for the freight elevators that lifted and lowered guests in a horrifying experience that was designed to create terror.

  His friends joined him and started looking around. It was a boiler room. The story line for the attraction was built on the idea that these elevators were still operational, unlike the elevators in the lobby of the hotel.

  “Shep, can you run this thing?” Hawk asked.

  “The attraction? The elevators?” He thought for a moment. “Yes, I think so.”

  “Then let’s get the power turned on. I need an elevator. You need to open the doors for me.”

  Shep moved off toward the control center to begin firing up the attraction.

  “Do you have a plan?” Juliette asked, fearing the answer.

  “Don’t I always?” Hawk smiled.

  “No.”

  An explosion of sound filled their ears. A moment later, the room trembled.

  “Shep, what did you do?” Juliette turned to where Shep stood at the control switches.

  “Nothing!” Shep yelled back at her.

  “What was that?” Jonathan placed his hand on the wall as if expecting another tremor.

  “It sounded like something exploded,” Hawk said, looking around. “And it was close.”

  “I didn’t do it,” Shep exclaimed.

  “No, I think it came from outside.” Hawk looked at his friend, toward the elevators, then toward Shep again. “Juliette and Jonathan, how about checking out where that came from? Shep can give me a lift to where I need to go.”

  “You sure?” Jonathan asked.

  “I’m sure,” Hawk replied as another explosion, similar to the first, rattled the room. “Like I said before, that was close, but it didn’t come from inside this building. Something is going on outside…and I need to get into an elevator.

  CHAPTER THIRTY - FIVE

  Two Days Ago

  4:30 A.M.

  The doors to the elevators opened in the boiler room, revealing the passenger cars for the Tower of Terror. Guests would step inside, take their seats, be secured in place, and then the elevator cars would begin their journey up into the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Hawk stood at the door and peered inside. He glanced back at Shep, who stood at the ride controls, staring back toward Hawk. Juliette and Jonathan had left to see what was happening outside. Normally Hawk would have been the first to race outside to see where the noise came from. However, this was not a normal day, and he had a sense of urgency wound up in a race against an unseen clock that seemed to be ticking louder and louder with each passing minute.

  “What are you going to do?” Shep leaned over to catch a glimpse inside the elevator.

  “I’m going to go inside and then get up on top of the elevator car.” Hawk turned toward Shep to explain. “‘Anthony Fremont and his orchestra sure could play a song. There is only one way to get there to hear them, and if you don’t, well…you won’t be able to follow along. Be careful.’ I think whatever I need to find next is on the outside of the elevator car. So all I have to do is have you open up the doors for me, stay close, and if this place starts to crumble around us, let me know.”

  “Why not inside the car?”

  “Great question, but if it were in the car, any guest could have found it by now. I have no idea how long ago this scavenger hunt was created. Could have been a week ago, could have been years ago…the only one who knows is Farren, and well…”

  A long pause ensued before Shep said, “That makes sense. But there are actually four cars. How do you know which one?”

  “I don’t. But if I get on top of the one, I should be able to jump across to each one fairly easily.” Hawk looked back into the elevator. “Right?”

  “Right.” Shep nodded. “I’ll stay here. If you need me, just holler.”

  Hawk moved inside the passenger car of elevator 1, climbed up on the back of a seat, and quickly found an access door that opened up so he could get on top of the elevator car. It was not as easy as he had hoped, and he struggled to pull himself up and through the opening.

  The Tower of Terror was an ingenious attraction. A ride in each of the elevator cars combined the creative use of multiple ride systems. There was the standard elevator-ride system that worked like any other elevator. A Vertical Vehicle Conveyance system would pull the cars up with stops on different floors, allowing guests to look out and see various show scenes as the doors opened. The doors would then close and carry the guests up to a higher floor and repeat the process. When the elevator cars would reach what is known as the 5th Dimension, another operating system would kick in: the Autonomous Guided Vehicle System. It is a battery-powered system that uses wires under the floor to guide the ride vehicle through the 5th Dimension. The effect is amazing; the elevator drives itself right up to the drop shaft at the front of the hotel, where the elevator car moves into and locks itself into position inside a preset ride vehicle that is attached to pulleys, which will hurtle the elevator car up and down in the last elevator shaft of the attraction. So the riders move seamlessly from one elevator shaft that pulled them upward, across the floor of the hotel in the 5th Dimension, into another elevator shaft that is rigged to fling the riders up and down. All in all, it is a terrifically terrifying attraction.

  As Hawk pulled himself up onto the car, he could look across and see there were four other cars all positioned to load guests in the morning when the attraction opened. The interior of the elevator shaft was dark, and he decided to use the flashlight app on his cell phone. When he turned it on, it threw out a hazy white glow that allowed him to see the top of the elevator he was standing on.

  “How’s it going, boss?” Shep’s muffled voice drifted up from his position outside of the passenger cars.

  “So far, so good,” Hawk yelled back.

  He explored the top of the elevator car under his feet and saw nothing. There were two cars to his left and one to his right that he would have to check next. He decided to jump over to the one on his right. It was not a far leap, and he landed solidly. Positioning himself on the car, he allowed the light to pour acro
ss the top of this car like he had the other. He saw something written on the other side of the car and moved across to get a better look. But he heard something behind him. Hawk stopped suddenly.

  Slowly he turned his light toward the other three elevator cars. Standing on the top of the car farthest away from him was a short man. Dark hair, dark glasses. In the low light, Hawk could see he was smiling and shaking his head.

  “You’re good, I will admit it.” The man continued to smile at Hawk. “Like I told you once before, your usefulness to us is over. You are out of time.”

  “Shep!” Hawk yelled. “Start the attraction, now!”

  Instantly the interior of the elevator car grew dark; the doors had closed. Nor was there any light coming through the roof of the car next to him, the car he had entered. Hawk made a quick calculation that Shep would activate the ride vehicles, and the first one to move would be the one Hawk had climbed through the roof of. He jumped back toward it as it began to move. The initial jolt of elevator 1 beginning to climb caused his stomach to sink. He had been sure the explosions moments ago were outside of the building, but that was before he was riding the attraction. He prayed the blasts hadn’t done damage to the ride. If they had, he would know very soon. His attention now turned as he saw the dark-haired man spring over one car, catch and steady himself, and prepare to jump onto the car Hawk was positioned on, already beginning to move up. Hawk slid across the car and watched the man jump…and slam into the side of the car as it rose into the air.

  Hawk heard the audio track of the attraction featuring the voice of Rod Serling, saying, “You are the passengers on a most uncommon elevator about to ascend into your very own episode of The Twilight Zone.”

  Hawk felt the elevator rise for a few seconds before coming to its first stop. He’d been on this ride many times and knew that the doors inside the car opened to reveal a long, dimly-lit hotel corridor with overgrown plants and doors to guest rooms running the length; morning newspapers and room service trays lined the hall. Outside a window at the far end of the corridor, a violent storm raged and lightning flashed. The ghosts of the five passengers from 1939 appeared for a moment, then turning to face the elevator, they beckoned the guests to come with them. These images were created using a Pepper’s ghost effect just like in the Haunted Mansion. Hawk normally would have been fascinated by the show unfolding in the ride, but today, atop the car, he was equally fascinated by his view of the walls of the elevator shaft surrounding him. He moved to the edge of the car, bracing himself for what he might see when he looked where his assailant had fallen when he missed the car. He got to his knees and crawled to the edge. Cautiously he peered over the side.

  A hand shot upward and grabbed his shirt, pulling him downward to the roof of the elevator.

  The dark-haired man was clutching the side of the elevator with one hand and now had his other hand locked on Hawk’s clothing. How the man had managed to attain a handhold on the side of the elevator was a question Hawk wished he could answer, but he had no time. He pulled back against the man’s grasp and fought to maintain his own precarious perch on the roof of the elevator. Suddenly the elevator stopped again. As it did, Hawk found himself lying flat on the roof as the assassin was using his grip on Hawk as leverage to pull himself upward.

  Hawk grabbed the man’s forearm in an attempt to break the grip, but it was clamped down like a vise on Hawk’s shirt. As Hawk struggled to pull away, his efforts were actually assisting the man to pull himself upward. Below them, the show piece played out, the elevators doors closed, and the elevator moved upward again.

  The assassin scrambled to the top of the passenger car as Hawk rose to his knees. The man lashed out with a vicious punch that hit Hawk across the jaw. Numbness spread across the side of his face as he was knocked backward, stumbling toward the edge of the roof. He landed in a heap and rolled back to get to his feet. He rose and stood just as his attacker did the same. The dark-haired man threw another punch, but Hawk ducked this one.

  Hawk caught a glimpse of the same kind of handgun the man had used in the hospital, tucked into a holster beneath his jacket. The assassin saw that Hawk had seen the gun, and he once again smiled as the elevator car jolted to a stop. Both of them staggered to maintain their balance.

  Hawk knew what was coming next. The elevator car was switching ride systems and now would begin moving horizontally across the floor of the hotel toward the elevator drop shaft. The AGV system had kicked in, and the smooth ride carried them through a field of stars and floating shapes that recreated moments from the opening credits of the Twilight Zone television show. Hawk leaped toward the man as he released the gun from its resting place. Hawk grabbed the man’s arm, managed to match his strength, and made sure the gun was facing away from him.

  The gun fired, kicking slightly, the silenced barrel emitting a flash as the shot rang out inside the attraction. Hawk and the assassin were locked together in a hand-to-hand struggle that turned into a series of wrestling maneuvers, which allowed Hawk to stay so close that the man could not turn the gun toward him.

  Hawk’s mind raced. This elevator car they were on would soon be sliding inside another container, which was waiting for them in the drop shaft ahead. He turned toward it, and his attacker did the same. The short man realized what Hawk was seeing and released Hawk so he could jump from his perch on the elevator to the top of the box the elevator car was disappearing into. Like an automobile driving into a garage, the ride car slipped inside. As it receded inside, Hawk jumped too, and now both men were on top of the massive drop car that was connected with cables on the top as well as below.

  Rod Serling’s recorded voice played from the elevator car below them: “You are about to discover what lies beyond the fifth dimension, beyond the deepest, darkest corner of the imagination, in the Tower of Terror.”

  Hawk reached down toward the roof of the car for some sort of handhold. The world was about to fall apart around him.

  CHAPTER THIRTY - SIX

  Two Days Ago

  4:50 A.M.

  On the last word of Serling’s narration, the elevator was snatched downward. The effect was horrifying. Cables whined as they were ripped through the pulleys with dizzying speed. The top of the elevator car was literally torn away from beneath them. Hawk had managed to grasp a steel support bar on the top of the car. As it dropped, his body was lifted into the air as he held onto the car falling beneath him. The dark-haired assassin had not managed to find anything to hold onto and watched as the roof he was standing on suddenly disappeared, leaving him momentarily floating in the air and then following the descent of the vehicle in a free fall. Hawk should probably try to see where the man was, but he was preoccupied with trying to hold on.

  The elevator car slammed to a halt. Hawk fell back to the roof and the other man crashed down an instant later. He hit the metal roof and fell partially across Hawk, breaking the full impact of his fall. The gun clattered out of his hand and slid off the side of the elevator’s roof. The jarring stop registered with each man just before the elevator rocketed upward. The Tower of Terror was designed to randomly drop guests, then send them up the elevator shaft to do it again. This assured the ride would always be different. Acceleration pinned them to the roof as the car flew skyward. Hawk had been anticipating this moment from the instant they’d started fighting on the attraction. Keeping his firm grip on the steel support, he grabbed the dark-haired man by the collar. He noticed the man’s glasses were gone—he assumed they had flown off his face in their downward plunge moments ago.

  The world dropped out from underneath them again.

  Hawk’s mind recognized the moment the car was violently pulled downward. The feeling of weightlessness and floating were fleeting. Replacing those unusual sensations was the sickening reality of a free fall. Hawk’s arm tightened, his fist locked onto his handhold. His other arm extended into a fist gripping the collar of the assassin. The man’s face reflected the horror of experiencing this attracti
on in a way that had never been done before. Terror could not begin to describe it. Hawk knew he would get only one chance to win this battle, and it was coming quickly.

  The plan was simple. The car was going to come to an abrupt stop once again, and when it did, they would both crash back down to the metal roof. Hawk would use that momentum and drag his attacker down as well, intensifying the impact and hopefully leaving him stunned so Hawk could escape or survive or…

  He hadn’t had time to fully develop the aftermath of this moment, and he wouldn’t have time to concoct a plan now. With a ferocious jolt, the car stopped below them, and he came crashing onto the metal of the roof. He pulled his arm downward with all his might, and the attacker crashed into the roof next to him.

  Hawk bounced back upward from the impact, and his grip was broken, releasing the man’s collar. He watched in shock as the man dropped off the roof and down the side of the car. Hawk flipped over to try to grab the man as he went over the edge but could not get there in time. Now the container was getting ready to move back up to reset itself, while the elevator car inside would slide out and move slowly toward the unloading zone. Knowing time was of the essence, he rolled off the roof and back onto the elevator car as it moved to the exit area. He remained on his back, trying to slow his breathing.

  The elevator car slid to a stop. A shaft of light cut through the darkness from the still-open roof panel. From below he heard Shep’s voice as soon as the doors opened to the elevator.

  “Hawk, are you up there?” Shep poked his head up through the opening in the roof. “Are you alive?”

  “Yep,” he offered wearily. “The assassin is in the drop shaft somewhere. Go get him.”

  “Sure.” The very unsure response echoed in the shaft as Shep disappeared.

  Hawk worked to turn over and checked to see if anything was broken, shattered, or even worse. Other than being shaken up and flung around, he seemed relatively intact. He worked his way over the opening in the roof and dropped through it into the passenger car of the elevator. He staggered briefly and then steadied himself.