The E-Stone was in her hands, shifting in a kaleidoscope of colors. It was responding to her desire. Amanda pulled out a small baton, holding it in her right hand. Tyler donned a special pair of gloves and two odd looking bracelets around his wrists. The bracelets each had a mini-display.
“Get ready to move,” Sebastian said. With that, he sprang up and ran towards Murchowski. His sword drawn and at the ready. His appearance broke the witches' concentration except Tawny. He swore he detected a smile on her face when he rushed in. Amanda and Tyler charged from behind their position. Murchowski looked down and saw the advance.
“Tawny. Laura. We will finish the ritual. The rest of you ... deal with them.”
Surprise flashed across Tawny's face.
“We can't finish the ritual with just the three of us.”
“Do what I say!”
Tawny closed her eyes and continued chanting, fighting back her desire to flee. The power from the stone was building, beams of multi-colored light slicing through the cracks of Murchowski's fingers. The ritual called for nine to contain the power and distribute it without destroying the target of the infusing process.
“Mwen ofri bèt pou tèt mwen nan pouvwa a nan yon sèl la fè nwa!”
Tawny's eyes opened, staring up at Murchowski. She recognized the language. Haitian Creole. She recalled the incantation for the ritual in her mind. It was not in that language. Incantations were specific. It required recitation of the words in the proper language and without error. Body posture and position were factors many times.
Uncertainty changed to understanding. Murchowski had an apiet — a spell workaround. She knew something Tawny didn't. She had held back.
Tawny chuckled.
Two witches came at Sebastian and stopped short, their hands waving in various motions in front of them. The one to his left shot a bolt of fire from her fingertips. Right on its heels, the one on the left shot a bolt of lightning. Years of training honed to instinct responded. He blocked both bolts with the blade of his sword, the bolts disappearing, absorbed into the metal. He closed in, slamming the hilt of the sword into the temple of the witch on the right. In a fluid movement, he delivered an underhanded swipe with the edge of the blade on the hands of the witch to the left. The lacerations turned dark with blood, her scream cut short by a boot kick to the stomach, toppling her onto her back. They used their hands as a focus. Sebastian knew if they could not use their hands for their spells, physical confrontation would be short and sweet. That needed to happen quick to get to Murchowski. He pressed on forward as the two recovered from the blows.
There would be no mercy.
Sebastian ran forward raising the blade, poised to follow through where her neck was. Murchowski's eyes glanced down.
“Back!”
Sebastian flew backwards past the witches into a pallet of boxes. Whatever was in them was hard enough to stop his fall, sending a rocket of pain up his back. Murchowski's words shook the foundations of the warehouse. The overhead lights hanging from the ceiling swayed back and forth, vibrations galloping through the floor and walls. Everyone stopped.
“No,” Tyler said. “We're too late. She's finished.”
Part VIII - All Evil Things
Neff thought he heard someone scream something and then the whole warehouse shook. In the front offices, supplies fluttered off desks onto the floor. Pictures crashed to the ground.
Did someone just detonate a bomb?
He froze in his tracks and pulled out his radio.
“This is Detective Neff of 41 Police Department in Toledo Ohio. I have a situation here at the Ampoint Complex, address 2151 F St., Perrysburg, OH 43551. We have a possible bomb attack and need bomb squad and a bus on site.”
He gave the details again to the dispatcher. “Sir, can you give us an exact number of…”
“Listen,” he said. “I don't have time to sit here and have a long conversation about it. I need you to send units down here and I need you to send them now!”
With that, he moved through the office toward the warehouse door. Something was going on, but he wasn't sure what he was seeing. There was a group of women standing in the middle of the warehouse. One of them holding something, bright, coruscating light pulsating in and out, shining its colors throughout the warehouse. Everybody was standing except one who was floating.
Floating?
Whatever had happened, it wasn't a bomb. That was good news. The bad news was that whatever had happened, it wasn't a bomb.
* * * * *
“It doesn't matter,” Amanda said. “The mission stays the same.”
Three witches were coming at them.
“I'll take the two on the left.”
She ran towards the witches, the red baton in her hand. Clicking a button in the middle, the baton expanded becoming a small quarterstaff. The witches both threw balls of energy at her which she reflected with her quarterstaff back at them. Through the screams, she slid down to one knee beside them and slammed the quarterstaff into the ground. They flew through the air, one slamming into the wall, the other onto the floor over the pallet.
The third witch stopped near Tyler before throwing a handful of seeds at him. Tyler looked at them as they landed on the ground.
“You didn’t plan that, did ...”
The seeds sprouted vines in an instant, verdant tendrils wrapping around Tyler’s ankles and legs, making their way up to his torso.
“Ask a stupid question I guess,” he said as he tried to sidestep the vines. But the rate they grew and entwined was too rapid. Pressing a button on his bracelets, he grabbed two of them. Their movement slowed, stiffened, then stopped altogether. Tyler broke free as pieces fell to the ground in small splinters, tinkling like glass shards.
“Flash freezing. Extreme low temperatures. Lots of science you wouldn’t be interested in.”
“A comedian.”
“Me? No. Not at all. More like stalling for time.”
The witch didn’t know what hit her as Amanda slammed her quarterstaff into the side of her head. She fell to the floor in a lump, unconscious.
“Oh man. That had to hurt.”
Sebastian got to his feet though his effort was slow. The room shifted with his attempt to stand up straight.
“You come here to stop me from obtaining my destiny? You. A worm. A seed bag. You are worthless.”
Murchowski walked towards him. There was something about her that was horrifying. Terrifying. Fear overwhelmed him in an abrupt invasion. He closed his eyes, attempting to focus. Concentrate.
Focus on the Light. Focus on the Light.
“Kneel before me you coward! Kneel before me worm! I am your master. I am your all. I am your goddess! You are mine and I will wear you into the ground for the rest of your days on earth. You will fear me!”
Sebastian didn’t know what was going on, but it didn’t seem to be affecting just him. It was affecting others as well. The only ones who seemed unaffected were the two witches standing next to her. For some reason, they were immune.
The infection spread across the warehouse bringing everyone to their knees. His body quivered uncontrollably as he fell on all fours. The fear was overpowering. Amanda curled up into a ball. Tyler knelt, his head buried between his knees. The other witches were in various positions of prostration or pseudo-fetal positions. Murchowski drank in the intoxicating feeling of power, bathing in the palpable fear shown towards her.
Sebastian glanced up, which was almost an impossibility to carry out. Murchowski stared down at him, still holding the E-Stone, a frenzied look in her eyes.
She still held the E-Stone. Why? The ritual was complete. Why was she still holding the E-Stone?
Through the terror and the darkness threatening to consume him and everyone in the warehouse, a light came on.
Hope.
She had not completed the ritual. If she had, the E-Stone would not be powered. She still needed it.
Murchowski stood over him, smiling from ear to
ear. He struggled to say something but couldn't get the words out. She saw him fumbling with his own tongue and bent down, grabbing him under his chin with a vise grip.
“What do you have to say to your queen?”
“S… S…”
“Speak up!”
“S… Stupid.”
Focusing on that sliver of light, that fragment of illumination, Sebastian mustered the strength to swing and knock the E-Stone out of Murchowski's hands. It slid across the warehouse floor halting in a central point to where everyone was. His reward was an expression on Murchowski's face he'd just seen on everyone else.
Fear.
Sebastian focused on light. Focused on hope. In his head, he repeated Scripture.
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Though it had not dissipated fully, there was a significant decrease in the wave of fear's strength. He grabbed Murchowski's wrist, giving it a violent twist until her body turned, using it as leverage to get to his feet. He pulled her towards him, their faces inches from each other.
“You let your hatred blind you. Pride comes before the fall.”
There was a crack as the hilt of his sword slammed down into Murchowski's jaw, unconsciousness overtaking her.
Everyone else was recovering except Tawny and Laura. They were making a move toward the E-Stone. He was still recovering from the effects of the intense fear which drained his strength. It was a herculean effort to knock the E-Stone for Murchowski's hand and render her unconscious. He would not make it in time to stop them from grabbing the stone.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated, pointing the sword at the stone. The sword glowed, the energy reminiscent of the witch fire it had absorbed. Tawny was within inches from grabbing it when a beam of energy shot from the tip of the blade, hitting the E-Stone. It ricocheted off of the far wall and slid in front of Tyler's feet.
Sebastian smiled.
Thank you.
* * * * *
Neff could look up again. The fear was vanishing. That did nothing to clear the confusion in his mind. Things had happened far above his pay grade. Either that or his eyes were playing tricks on him. He could have sworn he saw a sword shoot a beam of ... something across the warehouse. In his world, swords didn't shoot anything. In his world, fireballs didn't shoot out of people's fingers and vines didn't grow out of thin air, all which had happened moments before the fear came. He expected Mulder and Scully to appear any second.
Events were happening too fast. He couldn't assess the situation and ascertain who was who or what was what. The only thing he knew was that there were two sides fighting over a rock. The best course of action was to keep his head down and pray backup would arrive soon.
* * * * *
Tawny clapped her hands in mock applause.
“Well. I am impressed. You followed the breadcrumbs. Thank you so very much. You were instrumental in helping me.”
Sebastian stood, staring at her, silent.
“So, what are we to do now? What is your protocol? Last I checked, it was stoning correct? Or maybe it was burning at the stake. I'm not sure. These things change so often.”
Sebastian kept his ground, saying nothing.
“Oh come now. I don't know what you're all somber about. You've won. The question is, what are you going to do with us?”
“I'm not going to do anything with you,” he said.
“Oh. I see. So we are at a stalemate.”
“No,” Sebastian said. “I said I wasn't going to do anything with you. But he is.”
He turned and looked at Tyler who was busy tapping away on a small display on his wrist. Tawny looked at him, smiling but perplexed. Then he stopped typing, waved at her, and tapped an icon on the small screen. Below all the witches appeared an aperture in the floor. Its sudden appearance caught them all off guard, their fall quick and sudden through the hole. Tawny had the presence of mind to reach out, grabbing a hold of the edge of the floor. Sebastian walked over to her, his brown leather boots in front of her fingertips. He looked down into the hole which was misty and obscured. He heard the screams of the others cut off as their apertures closed.
“Please!” she said. “Aren't you supposed to have mercy? I can tell you more information. I can tell you about others.”
Sebastian didn't react. He looked at her, a mix of pity and resolve on his face. When it looked like she couldn't hold on any longer, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her up, motioning for Tyler to shut it. He stood nose to nose with her, staring into her green eyes.
“Fine. Let's go have a little discussion.”
Tyler and Amanda walked up to him as Tyler put on a special pair of tech handcuffs on Tawny.
“That's in case you want to get all weird and start waving your hands in the air,” he said. He attached a small, circular device on her neck. “And this is an audio cancellation device. It cancels audio from your vocal cords in case you get the urge to speak in tongues.”
“Freeze!”
The four of them turned towards the warehouse entrance where a black man was holding a gun at them.
“Toledo police. I'm placing you all under arrest,” Neff said. “Do not move or I will shoot.”
No one moved. They all looked at him, hands raised.
“I don't know how long you've been standing there,” Sebastian said. “But I'm going to guess you have been standing there long enough to see what's happened.”
He let the reality of the situation sink in before continuing. “Your eyes weren’t playing tricks on you. What you saw was real. You will not believe it though you've seen it. I understand. I could be lying to you. But if I’m not, you must know that we could stop you from doing anything. You may get lucky enough to hit one of us with that gun but by that time, we will have put you down.”
Neff squeezed the handle on his 38 revolver. He was breaking protocol by taking them on by himself which was insane. He wasn’t sure what to think. However, he would shoot first and ask questions later.
“Plus,” Sebastian continued. “At the most, you have us all on trespassing. Maybe breaking and entering. There are no other people here. No cameras. If we wanted to do you any harm, we could have done that already. Please.”
Sebastian gauged the resolve in his eyes and knew Neff wouldn't budge. They didn’t have a lot of time if he was a police officer. Backup was on the way.
He stepped towards Neff, sword drawn.
“Do not move. Don’t ...”
Neff pulled back the hammer on the revolver.
“Do not move! Put your hands where I can see them! Get on the ground!”
Sebastian continued to advance, his sword in front of him.
“Get down on the ground now!”
Sebastian was a mere twenty feet away from Neff. He saw the pull of the trigger. Raising his sword faster than seemed possible, he deflected the bullet. Neff’s eyes widened as Sebastian continued to advanced. Neff stepped back and shot three more times and each time, Sebastian deflected the bullets with his sword until they were face to face.
“Please stop shooting.”
Neff froze, dumbfounded. The sword couldn’t have been more than an inch wide. It was impossible to block a bullet with that.
“Listen. I don’t have time to explain.” He waved the others to him. “We’re going to walk out of here and you’re going to wake up with a little bit of a headache.”
Neff didn’t even have time to think. After the second hit, everything went black.
Part IX - Something In My Coffee
Neff stood in line at the coffee shop behind a small line of patrons, the mix of different blends and pastries a welcome companion to his senses. His eyes wandered to the shelf on his right that held an array of thirteen different coffee dispensers on the top two shelves while the bottom shelves held tins of tea of various flavors
. A wire stand set next to it, full of overpriced greeting cards. He had adopted the place as his regular morning stop for the past year and the crew knew him by face though not by name. He wasn’t particularly talkative until he had his morning coffee. The normal routine was a greeting with small talk and a smile which he returned. Depending on who it was, they would ask for his order or asked if he wanted the usual.
Three days. Replaying, skipping on the reel of his mind, playing repeatedly. It wouldn’t leave, pressing at the foyer of his memories and violating the space of his thoughts.
The warehouse incident was not just an exciting moment in Neff’s life. It was life changing. There were a litany of events that transpired which didn’t make any sense. He had attempted to piece it together but the scenarios always had a flaw, a glaring blind spot when trying to explain it any other way except the way he saw it. Yet, it could not have happened that way. That was a fairy tale. That was the delusions of an overworked cerebellum. Too many years on the job. And so it went in the perpetual hamster wheel of doubt and reason.
“Detective? Hello?”
Neff blinked, snapping out of his meandering. “Sorry about that,” he said to the young lady stationed at the counter. He recognized her. Her name was Darlene. “Taking longer than usual to wake up today,” he said, giving her a weak smile.
“I understand. The usual?”
Neff was about to nod his approval then stopped. His normal double mocha latte didn’t seem so appealing. Trying to return to life as usual wasn’t working. Reality had changed. He had changed though he wasn’t sure to what extent.
“Actually, let’s have a caramel supreme today.”
Darlene’s eyebrows raised. “Looking for a change of pace?”
The Dark Corner Page 18
