Tesser: A Dragon Among Us (A Reemergence Novel)

by Philbrook, Chris

  "Talk," Tesser said leaning forward in his chair. The room cooled a bit.

  "The media sees a bat-winged dragon scaring a city, and immediately, you become the villain. Tried and found guilty in the court of public opinion. The boogie monster, the bogey, the bump in the night. But, we both know different. Abe knows different. No matter how many television newscasts show Ellen standing in my garden peacefully, the world is still frightened by what happened here in this city, and that is your fault. Tesser, scared humans do very stupid things. I remind you of the atom. But I tell you this; humans who are excited and see good and kindness… they can change the world. You want to bring magic back? You want to rescue Matty and your sister, Kaula? Then tell us the truth, to our faces. Show the world who Tesser really is and why he is here once more."

  "You want me to speak publicly?"

  "In a calm, rational way. In this form, your human form. Of course you should arrive or leave in a way that people will not be able to look away from. Something majestic and beautiful. Something that people must watch and will never be able to forget."

  "You've got an idea already. Sneaky old bastard," Tesser said wryly.

  Mr. Doyle grinned. "Guilty as charged, your honor. As someone under what amounts to American house arrest, I feel as though I have a certain amount of clout in the political arena. The people close to me have very strong connections I can draw upon if need be. I have access to something they want. I feel like I could arrange an event the likes of which the whole world wouldn't be able to turn away from."

  "When would this happen? I don't want to delay the search for Matty."

  Mr. Doyle considered some thoughts. "I think three days. Yes. Give me three days. I think this event would need to be held in a different place. A different city."

  "I fly very fast old man. You should see it."

  "I'm sure before the end of my days I shall see you spread your wings in more peaceful times. But now, prepare a statement to the world. Think of what you can say to billions of scared, confused people and all the strange little creatures of the night you've stirred up. You've poked the hornet's nest; now it's time to calm the hive."

  "Interesting metaphor."

  "I am a very interesting person, Tesser."

  Chapter Forty

  Matty

  Matty's consciousness was elusive. She spent most of her time in a deep well of dreams that she couldn't climb out of. Her mind drifted to and fro in swirls of color, memory, and precognition. Some of what she saw she knew would come to pass, but in her haze, she could never quite hold on to what she saw. It was exhilarating and frustrating all at once. Matty's spirit was strong, however, and she fought. She fought in her own way.

  "She's a tough one," Matty heard a technician say to a colleague. Matty kept still, her eyes closed. "It's always the quiet ones. We've got her on double the normal drip of sleepy juice, and she's still coming to at least once an hour. It's like trying to sedate a fucking elephant. She's something else."

  Whoever the man was speaking to responded, "And she's pregnant too. I wish we could hit her up with stronger shit."

  "Stronger shit? This stuff that came up from R&D is the same shit we keep Purple tied down with. She's on dragon dope, man. I just hope it doesn't fuck with the baby."

  "Maybe that’s the whole point of this. Maybe she's not sick like Mr. Fitzgerald says. Maybe this is all some kind of evil conspiracy to mess with the fetus. Maybe we're in the dragon-making business now."

  There was a moment of silence, and then the two laughed at the absurdity of it all. A few seconds later, Matty felt a tingling running up her forearm where the IV was, and soon after, she drifted back into an unhappy slumber, leaving the surface of consciousness far above.

  "Why are you here?" A feminine voice asked.

  "Me? Why am I here?" Matty asked in response.

  "Yes. Why are you here? This is not a good place. You should leave if you can." The voice was old, but had a youthfulness to it at the same time, like a child who says something wise when you least expect it.

  "I don't know where I am. I was taken here." Matty suddenly realized where here was. She sat on a wooden bench in a room, a large room about the size of a high school gymnasium. Her toes were in short but thick gold grass. There was a roof above, impossibly high and speckled with lights that glowed like fluorescent stars. All around her were computers and printers, tubes and wires, tables and desks, all decayed and overrun by vibrant purple flowers. In the corners, just on the periphery of her vision she could see tall trees reaching toward the ceiling. She couldn't see if they reached it or not.

  "Hm. Being taken here is a very bad thing indeed. I was taken here," the voice said sadly from nowhere.

  "Who are you?" Matty asked.

  "I'm Kaula."

  "Kaula? That's a pretty name. What does it mean?"

  "Thank you. It means many things to many people, Matty. Eventually it will mean something to you."

  Matty felt queasy. "How do you know my name?"

  "This is a dream, Matty. The impossible is possible here."

  Matty suddenly felt much better. "Oh yeah. Well, I thought I was all alone down here. After Mr. Fitzgerald sent his goons to get me, I thought I would be killed."

  A tall, young woman came around the edge of Matty's vision then. She was long of leg and had platinum hair that picked up the purple from the flowers and trees. She had eyes with a hint of an almond shape to them and looked faintly Asian. She smiled at Matty as she took a seat on the wooden bench next to her.

  "You're far too important for them to kill, Matty. Besides, you aren't what they really want." Kaula's exotic eyes drifted down to Matty's tummy.

  "They want my baby, don't they?" Matty's hands moved to her stomach defensively, protecting the tiny growing child within.

  The woman named Kaula nodded and looked back up to Matty. "They want your baby and her father."

  "Her father? I'm going to have a girl? I wanted a boy. Well, I wanted another boy." Matty's mood swung dark. Her emotions welled inside and she felt a tinge of physical pain.

  "I know. Poor Aiden never had a chance, and such a pretty name for a young boy. I'm sorry, Matty, but these things happen for a reason. Had Aiden been born, your daughter would've never come about. And she is so very important."

  That made Matty feel a little better. "They want Tesser?"

  "They do," Kaula said firmly.

  "Why?"

  Kaula smiled and then thought about how best to phrase her answer. "Tesser is very special. One of a very small group of very important people. It was no accident that you two met. You too are special. And your love, it will change the world, Matty. It is such a beautiful thing to watch happen. There is more magic in that than you can imagine. You have been strong, Matty, and brave, but you will need to be so much stronger before this is all over."

  Matty's vision was clouding. It felt as if a mist were forming in the strange indoor-outdoors she and the woman in her dream were in. The mist came with a matching fog in her mind. "I'm sorry, Kaula, but, I'm special?" Matty blinked her eyes repeatedly trying to get the haze to go away.

  "You are not just human. Tesser can sense it, I'm sure, though I cannot say if he knows exactly how or knows exactly what you are. It is not important right now though. All will come to light soon, Matty. For now, protect your child as you have been. Fight against the Veil toxins they pump into you. Do not succumb to their manipulations. You must be as strong as I am. Keep hope alive, my child. In the end, you are needed to keep all the balance."

  Matty lost the dream as Kaula spoke. She drifted backwards as if falling through clouds, and once again, the ill comfort of forced sleep was upon her.

  One thought echoed in her mind, bouncing off all the others. It came in Kaula's voice. "In the end, you are needed to keep all the balance."

  Chapter Forty-One

  Sergeant Spooner

  Henry Spooner was in Beth Israel hospital on the same floor as Abraham Fellows. The
Feds felt it was easier to protect the two injured men that way. Spoon wasn't sure what good a bunch of uniforms and suits were going to be if those damn things came for him.

  What kind of fucking person explodes into smoke when they die? Tesser said daemons? What the fuck is up with that? First he says daemons are real, then a goddamn tree starts moving like in that Lord of the Rings movie, and then he turns into a fucking fire-breathing dragon? Man. What next?

  Spoon's hospital room door swung in and a handful of officers came through. They were all detective rank or higher and wore suits that were purchased off the discount rack. All except for one gray-haired man. He led the pack like an alpha wolf right up to the side of Spoon's bed. Oh yeah, the inevitable ass reaming, that's what's next.

  "Sergeant Spooner, I just wanted to stop in personally to say hello. I'm Commissioner Kearney. May I call you Henry?" The well-dressed cop asked.

  Yeah, I know who you are. "It's nice to meet you, Commissioner. Henry will do just fine." Spoon extended his hand with a small wince. His hip was still smarting, even after the painkillers. Spoon noticed that the commissioner wasn’t wearing a sidearm under suit jacket. I think if I were the Commissioner, I'd carry my piece. Now more than ever.

  "I just wanted to let you know how much the city appreciates your actions the night the dragon happened. Quite the story, eh? What was it like to be right there? At that thing's feet?"

  Spoon fought back a small wave of nausea. A side effect of the medication he was on. "That thing is a man, sir. At his feet. It was scary, sir. Real scary. I'm glad I was there though. Lucky."

  The commissioner nodded emphatically, apologetically. All the sycophants around him did the same. "Luck, yeah. Hey, you want to talk about luck? None of the weird shit that's happening in other places is happening here. Have you been watching the news, Henry?" The Commissioner asked pointing at the remote hanging on the arm rail of the bed.

  "No, sir. I'm trying to watch as many sports as I can. I find the news is mostly bad news, and I get enough of that at work. It always seems like I get a call when the Patriots are on."

  "Ain't that the truth, Henry. Well, weird stuff, not dragons, but still real weird stuff all over. Santa Barbara had these flying, singing things lure a whole shitload of folks right off a pier to drown. They looked like feral, winged bat people. SWAT had to bring 'em down with sniper fire. They lost a whole tactical team trying to move out on the pier. The singing. Made 'em crazy. And Cincinnati. Whoa, Nelly. They got that abandoned subway system under the city, right? And a couple days ago, these giant fucking rats just appeared down there. Huge things. Each one the size of a Doberman. They came out of those tunnels and started to bite people. They have eight dead there tonight. They're getting flamethrowers from the Army to go down in there and burn them out. But not here, Henry. Not in Boston. I think the weird shit in the world is afraid of old Beantown. I think they know not to mess with us. Boston strong."

  Spoon snickered, shaking his head.

  "You don't agree, huh? You think something else is going on here? Do tell."

  "Commissioner, that dragon, Tesser, is likely one of the most powerful creatures this world has ever seen. Nothing in the fossil record tops it, right? He'd eat a dinosaur and shit gasoline. So we got one of two things going on here as I see it. I figure either all the weird shit in this city, or near this city knows a dragon is here, and doesn't want to risk getting burnt up, eaten alive, or thrown off the side of the fucking state senate dome like a discarded chicken wing. What scares me, Commissioner, is that I don't think that's what's happening. What I believe, is that the things—and I do mean the things—that were going after Tesser are so fucking horrible, nothing wants anything to do with the city of Boston right now. We've got a problem no one wants any part of. I'd bet not one weird incident has happened in a hundred mile radius of here. I think there's a cancer in this city, and it's keeping folks that know about it away."

  "Well, you're right about some of that. Some strange things up in Maine, and northern New Hampshire, but not much else nearby," the Commissioner said.

  "I thought as much. Same as back in Afghanistan, sir. When everything goes quiet, the locals go to ground, and when all seems safest, you prepare for the worst. You're usually less than a hundred meters from a friend dying." Spoon looked down at his feet. He imagined them encased in his old Army boots and could almost taste the thin mountain air again.

  "You alright, Sergeant Spooner? You look a world away."

  "Yeah. For a minute there. Thinking of friends I don't have anymore."

  The Commissioner let the room stay quiet for a minute, respecting Spoon's reflection. "Sergeant, when you're healthy there's something I want to talk to you about. An opportunity of sorts."

  "Oh yeah?" What the hell is this all about?

  "Well, you've got a connection with this dragon, this Tesser. If he were to return to the city, to anywhere, would you be willing to try and talk to him? Be America's envoy to dragonkind? It might mean some travel. I understand if you don't want to go anywhere near that thing again, but there are people above my already high pay grade who think you should strongly consider it."

  "Please stop saying 'that thing,' sir. He has personality. A sense of humor. Honor. He's a good person. Don't forget, he rescued a woman who was about to be raped, and the kid that got shot up and kidnapped."

  "He caused several million dollars in property damage and managed to scare the shit out of a lot of people too. Call him what you will, Sergeant, but the government wants someone to talk to him, and your name keeps coming up as the best option far and away. I'm buying you, we are buying you time, but eventually, the men in black suits are going to come knocking, and by then it'll be out of my control. Just think on it. Until you're out of here I think I can protect you, but kid, you're in demand right now. This was a courtesy visit."

  Shit. "I appreciate that, sir. More than you know. I don't know if I'm qualified to be a dragon diplomat or whatever that job might entail. I can tell you, Tesser was a good person to me, and if there's anyone who might be able to talk to him, it might be me. Emphasis on might."

  "Fair enough. We're also trying to wrap up the investigation into the shooting. We'd like to spring you from here and get you back on the job. And Sergeant, don’t take any goddamn book deals. You're a better cop than a writer."

  "Maybe I'll do the morning show circuit. Bang some actresses."

  The Commissioner grinned and shook Spoon's hand. "That's the spirit."

  "Oh, and tomorrow, make sure you're watching the television at two. Something's happening down in DC. We were told to pay attention, so heads up. I think I'm going to fly down later tonight to attend whatever it is. I know the mayor and the governor are heading down. I figure there'll be enough space for me to stand somewhere and look important. When you're given a chance to rub elbows with the big folks, you might as well push for it. Advice you may want to listen to."

  "Yeah, you bet. Have a good time if you go. Represent the force well. Thanks guys, appreciate the visit. Tell the men to stay frosty. Strange times."

  "I will, Sergeant. Hey, what did you call those armored people from that night? Devils?"

  "Daemons sir. Tesser said they were daemons. Creatures from Hell, I think."

  "I wonder if you're the first Boston cop to kill a daemon? We're gonna need to draft up some kind of service award for that I think. The people love heroes, Sergeant. They love 'em, and right now, they're scared and they need a hero. You'll do just fine. Get well soon, kid. My office or an office much larger than mine will be in touch about the job offer."

  "Of course, take care guys," Spoon said after another handshake. The Commissioner and his lackeys walked out of the room, all very animated and happy about how the strange visit went. The door shut with a soft medicinal click, and the wounded cop was alone again.

  Ah shit. I wish Bobby was here. He'd actually make me smile.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Abraham

  I
wish this little fucking button worked more often.

  Abe was propped up in his hospital room. No longer in the Intensive Care Unit, he was on a recovery floor of the Beth Israel Hospital, and he had the controller for his pain medication in his hand. The smooth rubber depressor in the center of the plastic controller had a button beneath it, and the button only released so much of the pain relieving love so often. He pushed the button rapidly, trying to intimidate the machine into giving him an extra dose early. It was a cruel game.

  I feel like there's a chainsaw inside my abdomen. A running chainsaw. Covered in lemons. Seriously. They should double how often I can hit this fucking switch, and that might let me get some goddamn relief. I haven't slept decently since I woke up in the ICU.

  Abe heard Alexis just outside the door of his private hospital room. She was talking to the two suits in the hall. "Look, you two. You let me in. I was here this morning and I was here last night. I'm on the list. Look at the damn list." There was a pause. "See, right there. Top of the list thankyouverymuch."

  The door opened, and the feisty redhead came through it. She was all smiles.

  "Hey you," Abe said. It hurt to talk.

  "Hey. How are you feeling today?" Alexis asked as she approached. Her arms were filled with sweet treats and soda, as well as a handful of books Abe had asked her to retrieve from his apartment. Apparently, there was no way she could get into Mr. Doyle's home. It was under heavy guard ever since the attack.

  "I was just thinking of lemon coated chainsaws lodged in my large intestine."

  "That bad, huh?" She stroked his forehead and gave him a kiss. He was the tiniest bit sweaty from the pain.

  Abe nodded sadly, "Yeah, pretty bad. I'm still on a liquids only diet, babe. They won't let me eat that stuff. Thank you for bringing it though."