by David Gallie
I half expect the old man to say something mean and threatening to me but instead, I’m disarmed by his honesty.
‘I do apologize, Lynk if you feel I’m too brash at times. Years of having to sulk in the shadows have forced us to question everything and trust nothing. I’m sure you know how that must feel in a way.’
Ironically, I did know how that felt. Not so much the sulking in shadows part, except for the time Roland made me stand in a corner of the dining room with the lights out for an hour as some sort of bizarre punishment for having hiccups.
‘I understand, it’s hard to trust anyone,’ I say and then jump as Steven taps the window next to me. His face is distorted by the rain but I can see the tire iron in his hand and I start to get out.
The coolness of the rain feels good as it splashes against my skin. I don’t want to get soaked but it’s been so long since I was last outside, even in the small garden back at the asylum.
‘Which way?’ Asks Steven, stepping aside to let me out of the car.
Bill and Joe climb out of the mini-van and Derek takes up the rear of the little group as I lead them across the small car park and down a narrow alley at the side of the building.
A dumpster forces the men to turn sideways and shuffle along the wall while my slender frame still leaves plenty of room on both sides for me to move. There is a small, square opening at the rear of the building, I think it’s there for people trying to escape a fire but I’m not sure. The fire door has a small green sign above it which is now brightly lit as the night makes its presence felt.
When I turn to face Steven and the others there is a bright flash of smoke. When it clears I can see two young men standing before me, one is wearing a white T-shirt with gold flakes through it, and the other has a red t-shirt on with silver flakes through it. They both wear dirty jeans similar to my own and at a guess I would say they were my age.
‘Well hello hot stuff,’ says the one in the red T-shirt as he bows to me.
‘Ignore him, he’s hyper,’ says the other as he too bows before me.
I look at Steven and the rest of the gang unsure if they can see the newcomers, but it seems they can because their eyes study them the same way they study me. With an underlying curiosity.
‘Who are you two?’ I ask, taking a step back. A frown crosses my face as I begin to worry that this may be some kind of trick.
‘We’re the help,’ says the boy in the red t-shirt and in the dim light I can see the flicker of a flame in his eyes.
CHAPTER 12
‘My name is Artemis,’ says the boy in the red shirt as he straightens up.
‘I am Jerub,’ says the boy in the white and I admire how the gold flakes sparkle in the dim light.
‘Our bosses told us we were to help you and so here we are, ready to help. Really ready to help as we stand in the pouring rain doing nothing. And oh, hey guys,’ Artemis raises his eyes in surprise when he notices the others watching them both intently.
I introduce each man in turn as my friend, figuring that Satan and God have probably already told them everything they need to know anyway.
Artemis speaks in rapid fire, it’s like he can’t sit or stand still like a child with ADD. Jerub, on the other hand, seems more in control of himself, slightly more elegant but there is no mistaking his youth.
‘So Lynk, what’s your plan?’ Asks Jerub, nodding at each man in turn with a short smile on his face.
I open my mouth to tell them when I hear the rustling of keys coming from behind the fire door. Without thinking, I motion for Steven to get ready with the tire iron while everyone tries their best to hide out of the way.
Eventually, the door swings open and I can just about see the black bill of the guard’s cap as he fights to get his cigarette packet out of his pocket.
Steven senses this is his chance and brings the tire iron down on the back of the man’s head. His body crumples to the concrete without as much as a grunt.
‘What a shot. One swing, one KO!’ Cries Artemis and I find his energy infectious but also a little annoying.
Bill and Joe say nothing as they rush forward and drag the guard back inside the building. Once were all inside Steven pulls the door closed and we realize that the museum might be small on the outside but inside it’s pretty damn big. There is glass cases everywhere, showing off relics and other items which belong to the county’s history.
‘Hey look, guys, the first axe ever used in Orange County, well I’ll be damned. Oh, wait a minute I’m already damned, damn it!’ Artemis has no volume control as everyone continues to scan the cases looking for the altar.
‘You are such a dumbass man,’ I hear Jerub say to Artemis in a very matter of fact kind of way.
‘What, so I like history, nothing wrong with that oh shiny bright one,’ retorts Artemis, I try to concentrate but I can’t stop the smile growing on my face as he tries to pick on Jerub.
‘Since when have you ever liked human history?’ Asks Jerub, he sounds on the verge of despair.
‘Since five minutes ago when that security guard took a tire iron to the head. I never knew it could be so exciting,’ there is no containing Artemis’ excitement and I wonder what Satan was thinking sending him along as one of my helpers, surely he must have known that what I have to do involves some form of stealth.
I hear Jerub sigh and when I glance back at the pair of them I see he has turned his attention to the cases.
‘What you’re looking for was here,’ I hear Jerub say and I stop dead in my tracks and head over to where he and Artemis stand. He’s pointing at a glass case. Its floor is lined with straw and a small plaque near the front reads the altar of Ezikal. There is nothing else inside the case except straw and I feel a sense of urgency suddenly well up inside me like a fountain.
‘This is bad,’ Derek says as he looks over my shoulder. I don’t feel so uncomfortable around him now, ‘if the person who has it, is the same one performing the ritual then we have no idea how much time we have left before they perform the final ritual.’
‘Actually, you have one more day to go before you need to worry about the ritual being performed,’ says Jerub and I look at him curiously. How does he know that?
‘What makes you so sure?’ I ask.
‘Because each ritual was performed by Ezikal on the last day of every month remember. Tomorrow is the last day of the month. The drulite you’re looking for will stick to the same day to ensure all the shadows are present when the ritual is performed.’
‘What’s a drulite?’ I narrow my eyes at Jerub, his face is handsome but it lacks the imperfections that would make him human, such as freckles or the occasional spot. Even his hair looks flawless.
‘It’s what we call a black soul,’ chimes Artemis, looking pleased with himself, ‘you know, those folks who do bad enough things to get their one-way ticket to hell.’
I nod slowly in understanding and I see it pains Jerub to agree that his hell bound partner is correct.
‘He’s right. Regardless of how this plays out, the Drulite will be heading straight to hell and we might get lucky and he’ll take Artemis along with him,’ says Jerub, drawing a shocked look from the boy in the red t-shirt, and I notice his face is also too perfect even for a hell spawn.
‘I thought we were cool!?’ shouts Artemis.
‘We are when you’re not talking so much,’ replies Jerub, allowing himself a wisp of a smile.
‘Will you two please shut up and concentrate. You’re here to help me. This isn’t helping!’ I cry, annoyed at the pair of them.
Both men hang their heads in shame, or at least I think its shame or possibly guilt. I can’t tell.
‘I do apologize, Lynk,’ says Jerub, nudging his partner.
‘Yeah, I’m umm, sorry I think,’ mutters Artemis and I know that was pushing it for him so I accept their apologies so we can concentrate on the matter at hand.
‘If you say the ritual won’t be performed until tomorrow evening then that s
till gives us time to locate the key before it’s used,’ says Derek, looking hopeful.
‘Yes, but the problem is the school now stands on the ground where Ezikal and his followers used to worship. So I can’t think of any other places where it might be until it’s time for the ritual,’ says Steven a look of anxiety spreading across his face and for some reason it pains me to see him that way.
‘That’s okay, Lynk knows how to follow the trail,’ chimes Artemis, flashing me a wicked smile which makes him look very much like Satan in the dim light of the museum.
‘I do?’ I look up surprised at the faces staring back at me. I can’t see any trail. I can’t even see a fingerprint on the glass case.
‘Sure you do, Death help her out,’ says Artemis again, he looks like he could hop with the amount of energy bursting out of him.
Before I can say anything I feel Slendy’s bony fingers clamp onto my shoulder and then something weird happens to my eyes. My vision blurs and changes until I’m looking at everyone and the room but it’s like a negative version of a moving image.
When I glance towards the case that once held the altar I see a large red smear like a hand print. I look down on the ground and sure enough, I see large red footprints leading away from the case and out the way we came in.
‘I can see red footprints,’ I cry, waving my hands before eyes and watching them wobble around as if they’re at the bottom of a glass.
‘See princess, I told you could see the trail,’ chortles Artemis.
‘Don’t ever call me that!’ I growl at him, ‘That’s what I was called in the dungeon and I will not be called it again!’
Artemis puts his hands up and backs away from me while Jerub simply shakes his head at him in disgust.
‘Geez, I’m sorry, I’ll call you hot stuff from now on,’ he quickly changes his tone but the energy levels are still high.
‘Whatever,’ I sigh and push past all of them as I follow the red footsteps on the floor until I reach the fire door again.
‘Where are you going Lynk?’ I hear Bill ask from behind me and I don’t turn to look at him because I don’t want to lose the trail in front of me.
‘We have a lead that I need to follow,’ I say and make my way back outside into the pouring rain. I can sense Jerub and Artemis flanking me on both sides while Slendy and the rest of the gang follow behind.
The trail leads us back to where we started at the roadside. Even though the county is a pretty decent sized place there is little traffic out on the roads.
My vision is still wavy and distorted. Everything looks like it’s being constantly redrawn by a child’s hand as I glance up and down the street, trying to find where the trail continues. A Harrington’s water truck passes us by, its driver paying no heed to the crazy girl and her companions. The truck leaves behind a trail of bright red tire tracks in its wake.
My eyes shoot open when I realize the driver of the truck is the person we’re after.
‘That truck. The driver is who we’re looking for!’ I shout and point in its direction as it continues towards the railway tracks. The barrier is coming down forcing it to wait.
‘Are you serious?’ I hear Derek ask next to me, but even as he says the words he’s running for the car and so is Steven.
‘Yes, we need to catch him,’ I cry, climbing into the back seat of the car as Steven throws it into gear and does a U-Turn on the road.
The negative waves give way to the real world again as the link between me and Death is broken. I notice he’s on the seat next to me while Artemis and Jerub have vanished. Their spirits so they don’t have to worry about transport. Hell, they probably already know where to find the guy and just won’t tell me.
I can see the look of concentration on Steven’s face as he guides the car down the street, but the truck is already on the move again as the crossing barrier rises up to allow traffic to pass over the tracks.
‘Steven be careful, remember we have to be mindful of the law,’ says Derek, glancing in his rear view mirror.
I feel the car slow as Steven lets up on the gas pedal. The truck is still in front of us, but it’s further along in the distance. We’re no longer chasing but following it.
Hopefully, it will lead us to the key.
CHAPTER 13
I have no idea how long we follow the truck for but it feels like forever. Now that night is in full swing I imagined the driver could probably spot us trailing him. But we keep going anyway.
The houses flanking both sides of the road soon give way to fields. In the distance I spot a set of large buildings. They’re made of corrugated steel and I instantly think of the big sheds farmers use to keep bales of hay inside. The truck slows and takes a sharp left towards the buildings.
Our car keeps on going and at first, I don’t understand why we aren’t heading in the same direction. Then it hits me when I look up and see the sign for Harrington Waters on the front of the largest building. It would look blatantly obvious we were following the driver if we followed him into the compound.
‘That looks like a very good place to keep the key out of sight,’ says Derek, glancing over his seat at me.
I agree, although my vision has returned to normal again, and I don’t know how to get it back to the way it was when I could see the red trails. But I feel certain that’s where the key is being kept.
‘What now?’ Asks Steven, keeping the car at a steady thirty.
Derek glances at his wrist watch. It’s not as expensive looking as Roland’s but it doesn’t look cheap either.
‘It’s only eight o’clock. If we’re going to go snooping in there then we better find some place we can lay low until it’s closed,’ He covers his wrist watch again, and I think to myself that it’s probably a gift from someone dear to him.
I’ve never had such possessions, although my aunt did buy me a lovely teddy once at the local fair when I was seven. I loved that teddy with every fiber of my being. Even when Christmas rolled around I never really wanted much. The most expensive gift I had ever asked for was my laptop computer and that was only because I needed to be online to research my school work.
I never set up any social media profiles and I certainly had no interest sitting in chat rooms talking to strangers from halfway around the world. Why would a girl need to do that when she could sit and talk to a stranger from another world who happened to be right next to her?
As the thought of my aunt pops into my head my eyes shoot open. I have an idea.
We drive for another ten or fifteen minutes before Steven finally brings the car to a stop outside the small white washed house. The garden, even at night, looked immaculate. My aunty June loved her garden and took great pride in it.
My stomach begins to knot again as I stare out at the house and the light burning in the living room. My aunt was home and probably watching TV. I wonder how she will react when her crazy niece turns up at her doorstep with four strange men. I imagine she will want to call the police.
‘Are you sure about this Lynk?’ Asks Derek, glancing over at me again.
I nod my head. Even though I’m nervous I need to know that my aunt is okay and maybe get a reason why she has never bothered coming back to visit me in the dungeon.
The rain splashes against my cheeks once again as I climb out of the car. I enjoy the sensation because it distracts me from the anxiety I feel as I make my way down the garden path towards the front door of the house.
Slendy and the rest of the gang are behind me as I press the bell. I can hear it buzz somewhere inside the house and I think that maybe my aunt isn’t in. Maybe she has gone out to visits friends for the evening.
But that thought doesn’t get time to gel as I hear the rattling of a security chain and then the clunk of a lock being turned. When the door is pulled open wide enough for a person to look out, I see the confusion on her wrinkled face.
‘Hi Aunty June,’ I say.
She recognizes my voice almost instantly and when she look
s straight into my eyes her face lights up like a Christmas tree.
‘Oh my God, Lynk, is that really you?’ She cries, throwing the door open to get a better look at me.
Her delight wavers a little when she sees the men standing behind me and her eyes linger on Derek longer than I would have expected. I don’t say anything but I get a jolt up my spine that tells me these two know each other.
‘Can we come in?’ I ask.
Her smile returns and she steps aside to usher us into the place that I used to call home.
‘Old Bart and his boys have been here looking for you,’ says June as she sets about making coffee for the guys. I offer to help while they take a seat at the kitchen table.
I can’t shake the thought of how she looked at Derek before we entered the house. The feeling that they know each other intensifies as every so often she eyes him with a little bit of disdain.
‘Old Bart?’ I ask.
The name should be familiar to me but my memories are a little washed out after so many trips to shock therapy.
‘Sheriff Bartholomew,’ she says, pouring coffee from the urn into each cup, while I fix some sugar into a dish along with milk into a jug.
‘Oh yeah, I forgot about him,’ I say, remembering the sneer on the sheriff’s face the day he hauled me away from the burning school building.
‘I don’t see how you could forget him, the man beat you pretty badly the day you were arrested,’ she grabs two cups, her hands are a little shaky with age, but she manages to sit them on the table and Bill and Joe take them with thanks, ‘you were black and blue all over your body, except your face, of course, he was smart enough not to touch that.’
‘The shock therapy must have made me forget that,’ I say, carrying the milk and sugar over to the table as my aunt follows behind me with the remaining two cups, ‘Roland and Melina used to think it was hilarious to zap me.’
If there is bitterness in my voice I can’t hear it, but I can certainly feel it in my heart.
