“More of the same and it’s getting worse. We had more uprisings today in several cemeteries around Pittsburgh. On top of that, the watchman from the first uprising was apparently murdered in his house last night.”
“Shit. I guess it is getting bad.” I petted my dog behind his ears, his favorite spot.
“Unfortunately, that’s nowhere near the worst news I have for you. Reports of citizens being attacked by men made out of stone are coming in.”
That caused me to sit up in bed and pay closer attention. She continued, “As of right now there have been ten reported deaths and they all have a similar calling card.”
“What’s that?”
Gretchen said, “All of the victims were young Japanese women. These stone men seem to be targeting them. A few officers tried to shoot them, and they said the bullets just ricocheted off the men and only made them angrier.”
“So they didn’t apprehend any of the stone men?”
She scoffed, “No. The police followed them until a red fog surrounded the stone men and lifted them off the ground, carrying them away and disappearing into the clouds. Does any of this make sense to you?”
It made a great deal of sense while terrifying me at the same time. “Vaguely. I understand the principles behind what you are describing, but I don’t know where to start.”
She growled, “Well, you better hurry up. My daughter is now in direct danger. And by the way, why did she text me last night talking about what a big jerk you are?”
She was talking to her mom about this stuff? That wasn’t cool. “It’s just a little misunderstanding. She wants me to be friends with Felix.”
“Isn’t he a great young man?”
Not my partner too. “I’m not sure we are talking about the same person. I’d rather keep our relationship private from you, no offense. Have you heard anything about my dad yet?”
Her tone softened, “We haven’t. They still haven’t found anything at the correctional institute to go on.”
My mind flashed to the Sendal Spirits picking up a stone man and carrying him away. What if they did that with my father? Wait, they couldn’t just squeeze him through the prison bars, could they?
I said, “Okay, thanks for checking.”
She paused for a few moments, and I thought the line was dead when she sighed, and said, “Listen Merlino, I know life isn’t all roses for you right now, but the journey is full of peaks and valleys. I’ve been through many of them myself. I guess what I’m trying to say is keep your head up and try not to let everything get to you. Easier said than done, I know.”
We gave each other a hard time, but I really cared about her. “I do appreciate it, Gretchen. Send me all the new information when you get it and I will start to go through everything and try to make sense of this. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Good bye, Mike.”
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, a new day arrived, full of surprises. I heightened my hearing and listened to a conversation downstairs. I got up and as I neared the door, the voices became clear. I grabbed the blue robe hanging on the back of the door and threw it on.
I went downstairs with Colossus nipping at my heels, cut through the living room, and joined my three friends at the breakfast table. I said a quick hello. Everyone was busy eating and just gave me quick nods.
A full plate of eggs, bacon and a buttered bagel sat in front of me. Alayna and Reg were about halfway finished with their meal as Carolyn devoured a red sausage link. No fork or knife necessary.
“What do you got there?” I asked.
She spoke with a full mouth as she chomped away, “Blood sausage. It’s good.”
Reg clarified, “Morcilla. It’s a Spanish flavored blood sausage I found down in the strip district. Don’t care for it myself, but this young lady seems to like it.”
The vampire crushed about six links in a few minutes, leaving pieces of meat and casing covering her shirt.
I put some of my bacon and eggs in Colossus’s bowl and he joined us at the head of the kitchen table. “So what’s the occasion? Why the early morning party? And I never would expect for you to be awake right now.” I directed the last comment to Carolyn.
Alayna said, “I came to visit and Reg was outside so we decided to make breakfast for everyone. What are you doing today, young man?”
I could tell she wasn’t happy that a vampire was staying with me by the tone of her voice. I answered, “Not much. I’m going into the office and hopefully find out more information about those Dybbuk Boxes I was telling you about. Then, I am going to call and apologize to Satoku for something I shouldn’t even be apologizing for.”
Reg laughed. “Ha ha. That’s what a relationship is most of the time. Saying sorry for stuff you don’t understand.”
I continued, “That’s not the worst of it. Gretchen told me the stone men that are being raised from the dead are murdering young Japanese women. Satoku is probably more worried about that than being mad at me.”
Alayna said, “No, we can stay mad at someone during high stress periods. Most times it will only amplify it.”
Such soothing words from my mentor. “Great, so what should I do?”
Reg recommended a traditional solution, “Flowers and candy usually work. Sweet talking too.”
I said, “I wish I were as smooth as you. I guess I could buy her something. She’s not the flowers and candy type girl though.”
Carolyn blurted out, “Tell her that you will take care of her. Women love security. Tell her that you’ve heard about the killings and you want to protect her. Pledge to her that you would do anything to protect her life, and I’ll bet she forgives you.”
The young vampire seemed to be sage beyond her years. “That is a good idea.”
Reg said, “Yeah, I’m a little mad I didn’t come up with that one myself.”
“I’ll be right back,” I said, and went up to my room to make the call. Due to my social anxiety, my hands started to sweat, and my heart raced out of control. I stared at her name on the phone list for almost a minute before pressing send.
She picked up on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Hey...hell...hello, how are you?”
“How am I?” The sharp tone in her voice indicated that she wasn’t happy. “How am I, you want to know? Let’s see, my boyfriend is acting like a jerk right now, and, oh by the way, there’s a pack of zombie murderers out there targeting women like me. I’m not doing very well right now, Mike.”
“I totally understand and that’s why I am calling. I want to apologize for last night.” Even though nothing was my fault. “I’m sorry for what happened.”
“I just don’t understand why the two men I like most in this world can’t be friends. I get that he is quirky and somewhat braggadocious, but so are you to a certain degree.”
This conversation wasn’t going the way I would have liked. Nothing in my life seemed to be going how I wanted. I had to swallow some pride. “I will try to be friends with him. Speaking of those murders, I don’t think you should be running around without protection.”
“My mom gave me that pistol a while ago and I don’t usually carry it, but now I think I should.”
I guess she hadn’t heard that the bullets bounced off the stone men. “I was thinking that maybe I could protect you. You can just stay around me and I will keep the stone men at bay.” I had forgotten about my vampire friend and quickly realized how that might complicate matters.
“Felix has already offered, and I took him up on it. He’s going to be right by my side, 24/7. Don’t you worry, I’ll be safe with him around.”
That was not what I wanted to hear. “Are you sure? I’m not trying to demean him, but I think you would be safer with me.”
“See, this is what I’m talking about. You think that you’re better than him.”
I paced around my room, tense. “I don’t think that I am better than him as a person. I know more magic than he does. It’s a fact. Th
at is all I am pointing out. I’m only saying that I have a lot of skills that could keep you safe. That’s it.”
“Sorry for biting your head off. I’m just super-stressed out with finals coming up and everything.”
“I totally get it. That’s why I am making this offer. I want all your worries to be at bay and I just feel like I can provide the best security for you in the city of Pittsburgh.” Stop using the phrase, ‘at bay,’ you idiot.
“I appreciate it, I really do. However, I am going to stick with Felix on this one. Do you want to say hi to him?”
Do I want to say hi to him? I’d rather smash my testicles with a spiked hammer. But there wasn’t a spiked hammer handy. “I’m actually on the run, but just tell him I said, hello, and if anything happens to you, I’ll be having a long talk with him.”
“Sometimes you can be such a little boy, Mike. Bye.”
She didn’t wait for me to return the closing pleasantry and hung up the phone.
Am I really being that big of an asshole by worrying about my girlfriend’s safety? I just don’t see it. The list of problems, profession and private, was lengthening rapidly.
Girl problems. Daddy problems. Dybbuk Boxes. Sendal Spirits. Murderous stone men. Am I forgetting anything? The vampire tight rope. On top of that, Alayna hated vampires and I had one as a permanent house guest in the apartment she’d rented to me.
Oh yeah, I’m doing friggin’ great.
I went back downstairs and explained to everyone what a disaster of a phone call it was.
Alayna looked at me with a twinkle in her eyes. “Should we work on a potion or experiment?”
I smirked. That normally helped cheer me up. “I do like that. With my mental state, maybe we should try for tomorrow. I have to get to the office today and pretend to do some real work.”
Feeling down, I decided to wear a suit to the office to give off that professional vibe. I rarely got walk-in clients, but I wanted to look sharp for the thirty second walk down the street. I strutted outside, but no one was there to notice. I rolled down the sidewalk and entered the front door of the office.
No missed calls, which meant no messages to check. I sat down at my desk and peered out the window at the cloudy sky, hiding the sun. I checked my email for the messages from Gretchen about the murders, but she hadn’t sent them yet.
I kicked back in the chair, realizing there wasn’t much I could do. I had no idea where the Sendal Spirits or the stone men were. Running around looking for them would be a colossal waste of time. The puzzle was beginning to come together, but I needed several more pieces to understand this fully.
I paced around the office, bored. I caught a long, shiny black streak out of my peripheral and went to the front door. I looked through the glass opening at a stretch limousine in front of my office. This was not an everyday occurrence, or an any day occurrence for that matter.
Chapter 13
A WEREWOLF DRESSED in a classic chauffeur’s outfit walked around the front of the car and to a door near the back of the vehicle. I was frozen in place as the werewolf opened the door, pulled a red carpet from the bottom of the door, and backpedaled up to my office.
An old man in flowing burgundy robes emerged from the limousine. He had white hair with hints of black that curled and hung below his shoulders. His matching beard appeared to be braided in certain areas, but upon closer inspection, I believed it was just a natural entanglement. His shimmering robes were belted with thick golden rope, tied in a perfect knot.
The man was neither tall nor short, not fat or skinny, but his age was apparent from his hair and the way he grabbed the railing to help him get down the steps. He descended the final stairs and the werewolf pulled open the door. I stepped to the side in awe.
The man entered, hands buried in the chest area of the robes. I detected magic on this person and wondered if he was going to pull a gun out and shoot me. The magic wasn’t strong, lucky for me. We had a several second standoff, until I said, “Hello there, Micheal Merlino.”
I extended an open right hand. The older man thrust his palm into mine and we shook. His hands were a little fat and very soft, almost like a firm pillow. I looked into his gray eyes flecked with bright silver and waited for him to say something.
His bellowing voice said, “Socrates, the pleasure is mine.”
Whoa. What? “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”
He smiled. “I get the same reaction wherever I go. You aren’t the first.”
I knew about the Greek Gods being in Pittsburgh, but this man was a mortal, right? “But I thought you died from having to drink the poison hemlock? In the prison?” I sank into my desk chair.
I pointed to the leather seat facing my desk, and he sat down and crossed his legs. “That wasn’t me. When the Greek Gods realized my life was in jeopardy, they sent in a body double to take the punishment. I didn’t agree with the death of an innocent man at first, but the Gods can be persuasive.”
The man didn’t have a Greek accent, although I’m not exactly sure what one would sound like. He didn’t speak like an ancient philosopher, choosing to go with the local vernacular. I assumed he adjusted his speech patterns to suit his audience like the Celtic Gods. Disappointing.
He continued, “I am here to talk to you about visiting with the Gods. They would enjoy conversing with you on a myriad of subjects.”
Cool, but suspect. “Why me?”
He shifted around in the chair. “You may not care to acknowledge it, but you are a rather unique individual. Your skills and moreover, your honor, have been noticed far and wide. They asked me to bring you back to the Olive Pit. I hate that stereotypical name, but they do have the most delicious briny treats down there. Would you like to talk to Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Demeter and even Hades?”
Hades, not so much. But the rest of them, hells yeah. “I’m still a little confused. Why did they send you?”
He leaned to his side and crossed his legs, trying to get comfortable. “Several reasons. First, I am a good representative. Please excuse the blatant narcissism. Second, they respect you. The Gods could have sent a seductive temptress to appeal to the shallowest of senses, but they didn’t. They sent me because we respect your mind, young wizard. There’s much to be learned, but we expect greatness out of you.”
“You do know that I swore an oath to the Celtic Gods and I can never take that back?”
He ran his middle finger over his golden belt. “We will not ask you to swear an oath. This is more along the lines of working together to keep Pittsburgh safe. An information sharing partnership. You help us and we help you. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the backing of two sets of Gods? Nobody else can claim such an accolade.”
I’d heard about the Greeks moving into Pittsburgh, but never expected them to recruit me. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to hear them out. Long as they know where my ultimate allegiance lies, I’ll take the meeting.”
He grinned, keeping his teeth hidden. “Wonderful news. I shall come back tomorrow, but I will leave a nugget for you to savor. If strange supernatural event started, and there is an all-out war, you aren’t very safe with the Celts. The Greeks will win out easily. Not the Celts, not the Romans, not the Egyptians, not the Norse. It will be the Greeks. You’d be well served to listen with open ears.”
“I understand.”
“Until tomorrow then.”
“I will see you then. Thank you for stopping by.”
Socrates had trouble getting out of the chair. He walked to the door and tapped it with his cane. The werewolf driver pulled open the door and held it as Socrates walked outside and up the red carpet to disappear into the back of the limo. The chauffeur rolled up the red carpet by using a little hand crank, closed the door, and hopped in the driver’s seat.
I stepped outside and shielded my eyes from the sun that had peeked out from behind the clouds. I noticed a crowd gathered on the other side of the street. What, they’ve never seen an immortal ancient Greek philosopher wi
th a werewolf driver before? Normals.
That wasn’t exactly the philosophical experience I was looking for. I had wanted Socrates to impart some knowledge to me, not recruit me like a college football coach. I would never turn my back on the Celtic Gods, but double backing of both groups of deities would give me more power in the city.
I’m glad I wore the suit now. It did feel good to have another group of Gods show interest in me. Felix had said that he was close to the Japanese Gods, but I thought he was lying to impress Satoku. The phone rang, and I snapped out of the deep thought and went back inside.
I sat down and checked the caller ID on the phone. Jonathan Rickleshaw. Just the man, excuse me, vampire I wanted to talk to. I was surprised he was awake in the morning.
I kicked back in the chair and hit the Answer button. “Hello, Mike Merlino.”
“Mike, excellent news for you. This is Jonathan, by the way.”
“Great to hear, Jonathan. What did you find out about them?”
Not only was he awake, but I could hear excitement in his voice. “I knew they were old. Didn’t I tell you? I found out that they were crafted likely in the seventeenth century, most likely the 1620s.”
My eyes widened, seeing dollar signs. “That’s a little older than I had anticipated.”
“Here’s the kicker. If these were your run-of-the-mill petite cabinets from that time period, they would be worth a few hundred apiece. However, these are made with the highest level of craftsmanship I’ve seen in a long while.”
“Wow,” was all I could manage to get out.
He continued talking fast, “They have quite the history too. Apparently, they bounced around Europe before settling back in Poland. During World War 2 when the Nazis were blitzkrieging their way through Poland, the Jews were obviously desperate.”
Made sense. He continued, “Some of them even turned to dark magic to trap the malicious Dybbuk spirits into the boxes. I assume they planned to open them when the Germans arrived, but most of the time, they were forgotten and not opened. These particular boxes were sent home from a WW2 veteran and that’s how they eventually ended up in Pittsburgh.”
Bloodline Awakened Supernatural Thriller Series: Books 1-3 Page 30
