The Dark Above

by Jeremy Finley

“I don’t understand. What was that girl doing? What happened to your agents?”

  “She’s one of the four, Senator.”

  Kate turned to the agent. “You’re still fixated on that theory?”

  “I think this video proves it’s much more than a theory.” Flynn pointed to the screen. “She killed those men just by looking in their direction.”

  “We’re doing detailed autopsies on them now,” the director said, his chin in his hand. “But already our physicians are confirming they died of cancer.”

  “No one just dies suddenly of cancer,” Kate said.

  “They do when they’ve been attacked by someone implanted with the ability to kill with disease,” Flynn said.

  “For Christ sake.” Kate stood. “This is what got you thrown out of my office last year.”

  “And you refused then to even hear me out that it was starting again. But it’s worse this time. The deaths, the storms, the sicknesses, the bloodshed. We knew the abducted were returning again—”

  “I can’t listen to this bullshit again.” Kate reached for her phone, which she’d left on her chair.

  “After what you’ve just seen, after what your own mother and father believed, how can you continue to doubt—”

  Kate pointed at him. “Because I read your parent agency’s own reports of what happened in Argentum. I devoured them, and the Homeland Security reports. I questioned the authors of both reports. I reviewed every single bit of available information. And the conclusion was unquestionable: There was no proof of any mass abductions or their return. This comes from your government agencies—”

  “Not mine. You never read the reports from the SSA,” Flynn said with a scowl.

  “Because until five minutes ago, I didn’t believe that you even existed.”

  “Flynn, thank you for delaying your trip. You should have been in the air an hour ago.” The director motioned to the door.

  The agent looked at Kate for a moment, clearly wanting to say something, and then walked out.

  As the door shut, Mark said quietly, “Senator—”

  “I will not waste a second more of my time on these theories. I want to know who has my nephew.”

  “There’s a second video. Please take a moment to watch.”

  As she exhaled, he reached around to his keyboard and opened another window. This time, the video came from a steady camera showing a landing strip.

  “The camera was mounted on one of our helicopters. Watch that Porsche driving up and the van behind it. I’ll zoom in. Our agents shot out the tires, so don’t be alarmed by the bullet sound.”

  Kate held her breath, her arms folded across her chest. She watched as the van pulled up to the stalled Porsche and a man in a mask with a long rifle jumped out. He forced open the door, and another man, also wearing some sort of mask, held up a gun to the front seat.

  “Who the hell is that?” she demanded.

  “We don’t know.”

  Moments later, a tall man with red hair emerged from the car with what looked to be the same little girl from the earlier video. As the agents scrambled towards them, the girl pointed in their direction.

  Kate watched as once again, they began to twitch and fall.

  “My God,” she said.

  A moment later, William and another man from the Porsche were practically shoved into the van, with the girl scrambling to follow.

  “Wait a minute,” Kate said, pointing to the screen. “Is that—?”

  The director paused the video. “Quincy Martin. Yes.”

  “What in the world is he doing there? Is he in on this?”

  “We are actively reaching out to his company to find out. We know that Wired magazine is reporting that Mr. Martin has been privately voicing to investors that he’s wanted, for a long time, for your nephew to endorse his latest version of a hologram app. Turns out his competitors are scrambling to release their own. Apparently, he’s been frustrated by his inability to find William.”

  “He also happens to be a complete conspiracy nut who regurgitates abduction theories.”

  “We’re aware.”

  “Please keep playing the video.”

  Kate reminded herself to breathe as she watched the van spin around, seemingly waffling as to what to do, and then ram into the tail of the helicopter that had landed behind it. After pushing the helicopter, it drove out of the gate.

  The director then closed the laptop. “What you don’t see is that someone in that van then threw out spike strips to slow anyone chasing them. But unfortunately, we had no ground pursuit. And by the time we got our helicopter that was still operational in the air, they were gone.”

  Kate knew she was trembling. “My God. All those agents…”

  “Their bodies, and those from the field, were recovered and placed in our helicopter before anyone in the media could make it there,” Mark said.

  “That girl…”

  “It’s why we had to show you, Senator. So you understand.”

  “And there’s a dead civilian killed by live fire from our agents—”

  “She was also recovered before the media arrived. I promise you a full investigation is underway into that terrible mistake.”

  Kate began to pace, looking back at the screen. “What the hell did I just see, Director?”

  “There’s much we need to discuss. Please take a seat.”

  “We have God knows how many dead federal agents, an active kidnapping of my nephew, and apparently a nut-job billionaire. And I just watched a little girl kill those agents without touching them.”

  “You understand our concern.”

  “The most important question: Where are they now?”

  “We don’t know. We are scrambling to get agents on the interstates and side roads. It’s a somewhat isolated area for us. We sent most of our agents in the helicopters, never anticipating it would go…”

  “This badly? Because it’s bad, Director. I know very little of your branch, but surely you’ve made the FBI director aware. Even if the media doesn’t know—at the moment—about the deaths of these agents, they will soon. The FBI has its fair share of leakers. My God, the president needs to know as well.”

  “The FBI director is well aware of the dire situation at hand. But as you know, he and the president don’t see eye to eye on most things. Which is why, frankly, we need you to understand just how serious this has become.”

  “I think all the director has to do is show that video to the president and he will be quite alarmed.”

  Mark began to click the pen in his hand. “Do you recall what happened when Agent Hallow came to you with his theories?”

  Kate remembered vividly throwing him out of her office personally, and telling her secretary never to allow him to return. The agent had left his business card and yelled something about calling him when she’d realized the truth.

  She motioned to the laptop. “I don’t even know what to make of it. But if federal agents are dead, then the president must know immediately.”

  “We’re hoping you will be the one to show it to him.”

  “And tell him what, exactly? I don’t even know how to explain what I saw. I’ve spent the last fifteen years stamping out the ridiculous theories surrounding my family.”

  “We will fully brief you on what we know. Now that you’ve seen the video, and your nephew is involved, you know the stakes. And frankly, it has to happen right now. In fact, neither the president nor any of his cabinet even know about the SSA. And there’s a reason for this—”

  “I don’t even know what SSA stands for, for Christ sake.”

  “Sky Surveillance Agency. Truman created the agency and ordered it to act independently of our government. That was when they started keeping the files.”

  “The files?”

  The director reached into his desk and pulled out two thick binders. “And I want you to read these in particular.”

  “What are these?”

  “Copies of the files of
everything we know about your family.”

  Kate suddenly felt hot all over.

  “You have files on my family?”

  “We have files on all the abducted.”

  She looked at the voluminous black folders as if they were venomous snakes. “I’m sorry, but how can these even exist after everything I’ve been provided from the FBI that contradicts that notion—”

  “We are independent, as I stated before. Please begin with this one. It’s about your mother. Unfortunately, it lacks some important documents, which were stolen.”

  “Stolen?”

  He slid the folder towards her.

  “We don’t just have to contain your nephew and that girl, Senator,” he said. “We must find them all. Your mother must be brought in as well.”

  * * *

  The sound of her cell phone ringing brought on a brief moment of relief. Lynn stood from her vigil in front of the television in Tom’s study and walked to the door. Roxy leaned back in her chair, looking at her questioningly.

  “It’s Don.”

  “Just take the call in here,” Roxy said.

  Lynn walked out, hearing Roxy mutter something about already being in deep. She answered when she’d reached the kitchen. “Don?”

  “Hello there, Miss Lynn.”

  She couldn’t help but smile, thinking immediately of the first time she’d met him. Even in those terrible dark days in Argentum, desperate to find her grandson and knowing her deepest secrets had been exposed online, the smile and twinkling eyes of the proprietor of the town’s general store was a reminder that kindness could surface even in the bleakest of circumstances. Without Don Rush, none of them would be alive today.

  “Thank you for calling me back so quickly,” she said.

  “I would have done it sooner, except for our cell service out here is no good.”

  She paused, closing her eyes, her stomach dropping. “So you’ve done it, then?”

  “Successfully off the grid.”

  “You felt it, then.”

  “Yes ma’am. Woke up yesterday morning and thought for sure this was it. My whole body felt like I’d been rung like a bell, and that any minute it would start happening. I tried to sneak out, but you know I’m an old man, so I knocked over the dang cane just getting out of bed. Barbara came in to see what had happened. I guess the expression on my face, and the fact that I told her to run out of the house and not stop running, did not help matters.”

  “Barbara is with you?”

  “Right over there in the driver’s seat.” Lynn heard a soft voice speak in the background. “She says hello, Lynn.”

  “Tell her…” Lynn stammered. Offer an apology? But, of course, it had been Barbara, all those decades ago, when they were both young women, who willingly entered this world of shadows and secrets to try and find her missing brother.

  “She knows, Lynn. I tried to convince her that I needed to go off on my own for the time being, that the safest thing was for me to put as much distance between me and anyone with a heartbeat. But she’s stubborn, this sister of mine. So we’re out here in the middle of nowhere. Did you do the same?”

  She exhaled. “I wanted to, but … circumstances have prevented me.”

  Don chuckled. “I bet one circumstance is an ornery woman with a fondness for quilted vests and cuss words.”

  “Roxy is part of it. But … I won’t burden you with the rest. If you’ve truly unplugged…”

  “I haven’t read any news in days. Blissfully unaware, except for the fear that it’s finally happening, after all this time. But … your ears aren’t bleeding, are they? No headaches? And I assume no one is dying around you?”

  Lynn shook her head. “No. Nothing. But…”

  “I know. It’s there. No doubt about it. It’s back. That damn feeling that I could never understand before, like I was always being watched. Had it all my life, until the bastards took all the others away that night in Argentum. Then, it was gone, and I felt free, for the first time. Now that it’s back, boy do I hate it. Any word from William?”

  Lynn swallowed. “No.”

  “Well, I can tell in your voice that something’s up. I could usually find out on my own, but we’ve taken the camper and there’s zero internet access out where we’re going. I hate to not be of help to you, Miss Lynn. After everything you and Roxy and your husbands did for me.”

  “Funny, I was just thinking of how indebted we are to you.”

  “Please. You gave me back my life. Roxy and Ed opened up their home to me, until Barbara finally dragged me up north. I began to think maybe we’d just all die of old age and those fears we had were bunk. I had a flicker of it about a year ago, but it went away pretty quick. But now it’s here…”

  “And it’s not going anywhere. I know.”

  “It’s easy for me to skip town. No wife, no kids, just a very protective twin sister who refuses to let me go on my own.”

  “Hush,” Lynn heard Barbara say.

  “But I know it’s harder for you, Lynn. You can’t exactly run off can you? Not with all those daughters and grandsons and people so reliant on you. If Roxy knows something’s up, though, then I doubt she’s left your side.”

  “She’s in the other room. I’m just trying … to protect her. Although I suppose it’s moot at this point.”

  “And I know you’re worried about Will. If we’re feeling this…”

  I’m more worried about him than anything else.

  “Yes. I’m frankly terrified.”

  Don sighed as the cell phone cut out briefly. “I think, my dear lady, we’re getting deep into no man’s land. I’m gonna lose you. I guess this is goodbye.”

  The tears that sprang to Lynn’s eyes surprised her. She struggled to keep her voice from revealing the sudden wave of grief. “You take care of yourself, Don. And Barbara too.”

  “I’m sorry that Tom is gone, that you’re facing this without him. But you’re not alone. Both my sister and your friend know what they’ve signed up for. Sooner or later, we’re going to have to explain this to them.”

  “I just wish I could.”

  “Lynn, you’re worlds smarter than me. Haven’t you realized it yet?”

  Lynn blinked. “I honestly don’t know. I can’t describe it.”

  She heard Don cut out, but then his voice returning with urgency. “… control.”

  “You broke up, Don.”

  “… I didn’t realize it … all those years … until it was gone. That’s why the last fifteen years … been so great … the weight lifted … now it’s back. What we’re feeling … control. Something’s controlling us.”

  SIX

  Once again, he was in the storm.

  The wind struck with such force that it burned. William’s ears rang from the muscular howls, forcing him to want to cower. But his limbs refused to move, like the pole of a battered flag enduring the worst of a churning squall. He immediately regretted looking down, for among the choppy whitecaps, something slithered, spreading out like black veins in the deep.

  In the far distance, as always, was the bracing city. And even from this distance he could see the hint of white, the eyes of someone watching the impending catastrophe.

  He blinked, and was in flames. The hills upon which he stood were scorched of any life, blackened and beaten by the flames. A closer examination did reveal movement among the ashes. Something writhed and twisted, moving like moles beneath the ash, rushing towards two singular eyes that stood out like missing pieces in a puzzle of smoke that was void of any colors but black and gray.

  He knew what came next. Brutal violence, the sound of gunshots, tears of pain and fear, around another set of eyes.

  Then gurneys rushing with unmoving bodies, desperate pleas for help. Through the windows of the hospital he could see towering rocks on the horizon.

  A moment later he was inside that stone, as scales slid across his arms and legs and around his neck, moving over his chin and nearing his lips. Barely, he
could see the eyes, full of fear and horror, lost in the creeping, shining tendrils—

  His own scream brought him from the dream, and to a frantic face looking down at him. Ash blond hair fell down shoulders to meet a bandana hanging around her neck. His last glimpse of the woman had been behind the wheel of a van, frantically driving through the predawn light.

  “What’s wrong?” she demanded.

  He tried to catch his breath. It always took him a few minutes to fully awaken after the dreams.

  “Calm down.” She placed a firm hand on his chest, holding him down. “There’s nowhere for you to go at the moment.”

  It all came back: the sharp pain in his arm, the collapse of Lily, and then Quincy fighting in the seat behind him.

  “You drugged us,” he managed to say.

  “Had no choice,” she responded in a quiet voice. “The sedative must have given you some hell of a nightmare. But it’s over now, and we need you to be quiet. Don’t want to wake up the others.”

  He looked over to see another double bed in the room, where Quincy and Lily lay side by side.

  “Don’t panic,” she said. “It’s important she stay asleep until we can figure out how she’s able to do what we saw. And nobody wants to hear Quincy Martin’s crap at the moment, so it’s just fine that he keeps sleeping too. We have no intention of hurting anyone.”

  “You’ll understand that’s hard to believe.”

  “Well, we had strict orders to bring you in unharmed. And we needed some time to process what happened out there. So it was just best that you slept on the road.”

  He vaguely remembered the last words of the man in the front seat.

  “My grandmother … she knows about this?”

  “She does,” said a whisper from the window. The man with the shaved head stood peering out through blinds, a long rifle in his hands. “And we intend to deliver you in one piece. Thus the necessary constraints.”

  “Who are you?” he said, sitting up despite the woman’s pressure.

  “You’re stronger than I thought,” she said.

  “My grandmother would never, ever condone a kidnapping. Not of me, and never of a little girl.”

  “Your grandmother didn’t see that little girl just kill federal agents by looking at them. And if she thought you were in danger at all, then believe me, she would have authorized it.”