“You missed. How sad. You tried to save yourself and failed miserably. Your pathetic display proves you’re not a man worthy of living. You don’t even comprehend what you face. Do you want to know what stands before you?”
“Does it matter what you are? I think not. You’re a sorrowful rabid animal that needs to be put down. You killed Mark Galos. You have killed decent police officers. You have threatened the lives of the innocent. You put a bullet into my wife’s heart. It is time to pay the bill and pay you will with your life. By the way, I hit every damn thing I aimed at.” I fired one shot into its ugly forehead. Maggots and bits of bone and grey matter flew out the back of his head. I fired the rest of the clip save one bullet into the center of its chest. The grouping is no larger than a fifty-cent piece. Cool. The last shot I fired into its right knee. The knee exploded into a cloud of dust and bone.
The creature fell to the ground. I tossed the gun out of reach. It is of no more use to me now. I raced to close the distance with the creature and leaped upon it. I began to wail on him with everything I had in me. After I got a couple of good licks in, he tossed me away with such strength, I flew across the room and landed against the entertainment center; I fell to the floor. My back and left side screamed in pain. The parasite’s strength is unbelievable. It is even stronger than when we tussled at the corner. It doesn’t seem fair. Here I live a good and decent life pay my taxes, without grumbling, I hurt no one, and if I do, I try to make it right. Helping lost ghosts travel to the next world, it is a little above and beyond. You would think I could catch a break, but no.
“This is going to end too soon. I must give my family more time to get away.” Roaring a challenge, “You have plagued me and mine long enough,” I shunted the pain to a part of my mind which isn’t doing anything right now. I slowly stood to face him again. “I will end you.”
“You surprise me, Mr. Clerk Guy. Oh yes, you said I could call you Nate. You surprise me, Nate.” To my disbelief, the parasite began to rise. Gone are the various holes I had blasted into him. Somehow its knee had reformed, and the monster is beginning to rise. “Did I surprise you?” It came at me and far faster than I thought anything could move. It grabbed my shirt and lifted me off my feet. It backhanded me with such force my ear began to ring. “Your car is gone. Where did your wife and daughter go? Tell me quick, and they won’t suffer long. I promise you. It will be the least I can do for the man who singlehandedly stopped me in my holy quest. Try to hide them, and when I track them down, they will experience sweet torments before their end.” Its words fired me.
With a torrent of moves, I never knew I had, I launched an attack. Somehow my muscles knew what to do. My shirt tore from its hand. I gained my footing again. My blows began to land. I even fended off some of its counter attacks. It surprised me. The monster caught my right arm and twisted it almost to the point of breaking. My weight shifted, and I lost my balance. It shoved me across the room. Tumbling into the dining room table, a crack could be heard, and I felt a pang in my side. Fractured rib no doubt. As I held myself up on the table, I said, “Hate to disappoint, but I know not where they are. I sent them off with a full tank of gas and a load of cash.”
It laughed, “They won’t escape me.”
Picking up the centerpiece off the table, I flung it at the creature. Charging as it batted the distraction away, I hit it dead center, and we went flying into the wall. It may be stronger than me several times over, but his mass is the same as a man. I reached for the lamp on the end table. I bashed it mightily in the head. My God! It is smiling again. We rolled around wrestling for leverage. The advantage is his. It pinned me down, and I couldn’t move. It is over. “Dear God, let it be I bought my family enough time.”
He smacked my head hard. So hard, I thought I saw little birdies circling my head. In my haze, he asked, “Where did you send them?”
At first, I couldn’t think, then the fog began to clear. Laughing at him, I said, “Poke, prod, hit, and bash as you will. I can’t tell you what I don’t know. Don’t think you can track her either. She is smarter than she is beautiful. Why they will melt into the surroundings when they find a backwater place. She’ll never look back either. Hell, this gives her an excuse to start over.” He relaxed just a bit. Searching for a memory of when I was the most pumped and when adrenalin surged through my body, I found it.
The memory of the first time Charlene and I held hands came to my mind. Her touch fired me then, and the memory of it set me ablaze now. Raging, I threw it off me. I stood before it did. No mercy no quarter I seized it and lifted it off the ground with one hand Darth Vader style. Wailing on it with one hand, while the other hand tried to squeeze the life out of it. It was honestly surprised. I stunned it into inaction for a moment, but the moment faded. It lifted a hand to the one around its throat. It pried my thumb and nearly tore it out of the socket. It fell out of my grip to his feet with me slugging him as hard and as fast as I could. It threw me against the wall. I crumpled to the floor. My breathing is ragged, and the air burned in my throat. The last of my strength is spent. My whole body screamed at me in pain. There is nothing I can do.
“You are full of surprises. You have been a better opponent than I thought. Of course, I am thousands of years out of practice. Now enough is enough. Tell me where they went to, and I will snap your neck quick and clean.” It grasped me by what remained of my shirt and a great deal of my skin. It pulled me up to look it in those clouded and yellow eyes. Those eyes are dead and have no soul.
“Well, if there is a bright center to the universe they’re on the planet that it’s furthest from,” I mocked.
“Star Trek. You’re quoting Star Trek to me,” It said in disbelief. It slammed my back into the wall. “Where did they go?”
“First, get your fandoms straight. The quote is from Star Wars, not Star Trek. Second, I told you I don’t know where they went, but go ahead and don’t believe me. Every minute I delay you here, they travel further and further away. Say I’m going to be off the clock soon, you want to take in a movie or grab a bite to eat? It will put them a hundred miles or more down the road.” The look of confusion on his face is almost worth the beating.
Almost.
“Nathan, get down,” I heard Charlene yell. My heart sank. Crying, I prayed, “Oh God, no.” Why could she not listen to me this one time? “Charlene, run!”
The creature grinned a toothy grin at me. It released me, and I flopped to the floor. I looked up in time to see the effect the double-barrel Greener shotgun had on the creature’s chest. The roar of the gun is deafening. His back sprayed out in chunks and mist. The pieces hung in the air for a moment and then congealed back into the wound. Charlene gasped, and John used some language which burnt my ears. It started off to deal with Char and John. They stood there, dazed. In my head I heard the words, “With your shield or on it,” but it is not in the voice of my mother. It is in the same voice from my attempt to murder Mark Galos. What can I do? Suddenly, a fierce barking erupted from Blossom’s bed. With all the goings-on I had forgotten to send her off with the family. The creature turned to the new threat. Blossom leaped at the creature. She had gotten a hold of him and wasn’t letting go. In the corner of the room, I saw the sword I helped craft. I crawled to reach it. As I reached my blade, I heard a crash and yelp from Blossom.
No time.
I stood and unsheathed the katana. My eyes pained me as light reflected off the blade. Calling for rage from my body one last time, none answered. I remembered what Karma had said, “Your daughter’s love can be a source of strength the same as your wife’s love is.” In my mind, I heard my daughter say, “Kick the mean man’s ass.” Love filled my being. If felt as if I had never been in this fight. My body is renewed. I screamed a challenge to the monster fouling my home. It ignored Charlene and John and turned, once again, to me. I swung my blade down upon it and struck its right arm between wrist and elbow. His hand and wrist disintegrated as it fell to the floor. Shock covered its face when it looked upon
its empty arm. I pulled my blade back up, then lunged it into the horror’s chest. My blade pierced it in the same place the bullet had struck my wife. Twisting the blade, I hoped it would bring it agony. True pain did seem to reach its face. “Outstanding!” I removed my blade. It fell to its knees. In a great sweeping arc, I separated its evil head from its corrupted body. There was a slight tug on the blade as it sliced through what once was Mark Galos. Its entire mass fell into a pile of bits, pieces, and dust on the floor. Floating in the air is an orb of light. It wavered a little then sped toward me. It grew in my sight until it filled my vision and entered me
In my mind, I felt its presence. I quickly came up with a plan I hoped would work. My awareness turned inward. In the long corridor of my mind filled with the filing cabinets of my memories, I placed my mental minion. It has the look of being battered and bloody. A figure of a man came walking out of the gloom of my mind toward my avatar. It towered over the beaten figure of me. My avatar looked up at the monster in my mind and said, “Is this how you look or is this only another shell?” My minion started to crawl away from the intruder. “I stopped you, after all. You’re not so tough,” I gloated. It kept pace with me easily.
“Stopped? You have only given me a new shell to inhabit.” It is smiling as it looked around my mind. Different images appeared all around. They are bits and pieces of my memory for its entertainment. Distractions until I am ready. “I think I’ll like it here. Your memories are so clear and complete. I’ve never experienced anything like it before and believe you me I’ve experienced a great many things.” It kicked my minion. My minion howled in pain in the confines of my mind. My minion crawled further away. “Why are you running? You can’t escape your own mind. There is no place here where you can hide.” After a few more steps it said, “I knew I would need a new host after this fight. I hadn’t planned on it being you. But your body will do nicely. It will be a pleasure taking your wife with her believing it is you. She will be most free and pleasing with her favors for the man who saved her and her daughter’s lives twice.” His laughter reverberated in my mind. It pulled out a file memory of Charlene and threw it up with the other images. It is the memory of Charlene undressed and in my shower. “I believe I will enjoy your memories.”
Well, I don’t like this. It is gaining a bit of control in my own mind. I must be quick.
The creature continued, “I think it will be most satisfying to plunge a dagger into her heart as I bring her to the edge,” he laughed again. Oh, he has so got to die. I willed my minion to jump at him. He batted the image of me easily out of the way. I willed a maze of thoughts to appear between it and the minion. “You can run for a time, but hide from me in your mind? I don’t think so.”
It wound its way to my minion. Step by step, it drew closer to the place I had reserved for it. One more step. It took the step unaware. I screamed, “Now,” in my mind. As fast as the speed of thought, my avatar vanished and was replaced with my true self. Threads of thought began to spring up all around the entity. With each moment, it grew more and more entangled in my mind. I raged at the entity, “You have beaten my body, but this is my mind, and I reign supreme in here. Yes, I am the master of my own domain.” With all my will, I drew tighter my thoughts to bind him more and more. The noose of my mental trap is closing. Tighter and tighter, I pushed it into a cell in my mind. Its screams of agony rang through my skull like Christmas bells during the holiday season. He is now nothing more than a knot of discomfort. I will take great pleasure in kicking the knot from time to time. In the end, the parasite is no more than a headache, and I have always known how to deal with those.
Waking up on the couch with Charlene fussing over me, I did my best impression of Han Solo and said, “I feel terrible.”
“Jokes? Really, Nathan? You are nearly killed by… by… whatever it was, and you joke.” She withdrew the damp cloth from my head, “If you can joke, you don’t need this.” She tried to stand and walk away. Taking hold of her hand, I pulled her back and down. I kissed her. When she was well kissed, I asked, “Where is Moiraine? I hope she didn’t see any of this. Did she?”
John broke in with, “No. She is with some friends of mine down at the American Legion Hall. They would die rather than see her come to harm. Good men one and all.”
“John, I asked you to take them far from here. Why did you come back? Not that I am complaining considering how it all turned out.” I started to sit up. Ouch. I am sore all over.
“Well, it’s like this you see,” he paused to compile his words then frustration touched his expression. “You’re married to her. How often have you got your way once she has set her mind on the other?”
With a half laugh, “Point taken.” As I tried to stand up, the room spun, and my legs wobbled. I said, “I think I will sit here for a moment.” I gave instructions to my body to send damage control parties to where they are needed. I just sat there and breathed in and out a few times. “It’s a puzzle, and I don’t understand. In all my visions, we died.”
“My husband, in all the scenarios you played out in your incredibly thick and handsome head, did we ever come to your rescue?” She is looking at me with love in her gaze. I would bed her right now, but most of my systems will be under repair for a while.
“No. I was supposed to be a hero. No one rescues the hero.”
“I was correct in saying you are thick,” she shook her head and took a breath. “My husband, ever since you stood up to my father, ever since you cried in my arms over the prospect of a future alone, ever since you held our daughter in your arms for the first time and hushed her cries, ever since you took a job you hated so our future could be secure, and a multitude of others acts too numerous to mention, you have ever been a hero.” I was about to say something snarky, but I think this was a moment better left unsnarked. What do you know, I guess I can learn when to keep my mouth shut.
“Nathan, what was that thing? It looked like a corpse,” Char asked.
“It was a man once I think. Now? I’m not sure. I’ll know more after I start interrogating it.”
John asked, “What do you mean, son?”
Tapping my head, I said, “It’s up here now.” Both John and Charlene gasped. “Did you see the orb of light?” They both nodded. “It is its life essence I think. We had a battle of wits in here,” Tapping my head again. “Don’t worry, it can’t escape or take control. My migraines have given me plenty of practice at keeping the monsters at bay.”
Remembering what Karma said, “Before we can start, you need to deal with Mark Galos.” Well, I guess I can cross it off my honey-do list. What are we supposed to start?
“Son, I don’t know if it was a trick of the light, but your sword was shining. It was brighter than the mid-day sun on a clear day. Right, pretty it was.”
“No, Dad, it wasn’t a trick of the light. I saw it glowing too.”
“It’s news to me,” Stretching out my hand, I took up the Katana. It is on the floor, forgotten. It felt warm in my hand. It wasn’t glowing now. Is there a switch somewhere? I reexamined the sword I had wrought. I held it aloft and said, “Flame on.” Nothing. I evoked, “By the power of Grayskull.” Still nothing. “Thunder Thunder Thunder Thunder Cats Ho.” If anything, the blade looked a little duller.
“Nathan, my love, stop. You look like an idiot,” Char said, smiling all the while.
“Nothing new there,” I sheathed my blade. What is going on in our lives? Ghosts, monsters, visions, traveling in the realm of dreams and the like, is it over or only beginning? Is my family safe? If not, can I protect them? Can I find a permanent job with benefits? The rent is due soon.
“Nathan, you look so serious. What is wrong?”
“A storm is coming.” Both Char and John had quizzical looks on their faces. Pausing, then I said, “Has anyone checked on Blossom? The old girl gave that thing what for.”
“Blossom is,” tears started running down Char’s cheeks, “dead.” It is quiet in the house except f
or the gentle sobs of my wife. After a few moments, I looked around the house. The furniture had been righted. There were no broken bits and pieces on the floor. Even what is left of Mark Galos’ body had been swept into a pile. Ending the silence, “Cleaning Char?” John and I both burst out laughing. It broke the tension, and it even made Charlene smiled for a moment as she nodded her head yes.
It had been a long, tough day and an even tougher fight. My body ached in places I don’t remember having. I took a long hot shower before going to bed. After my shower, I stepped out into my bedroom to dry off. Char had already drifted off to sleep. I finished drying and started to brush my teeth. I glanced behind me in the mirror. A tall man, taller than me, stood there smiling at me. He is dressed in a uniform similar to the one the parasite in my mind wore. I spat into the sink and looking through the mirror to the intruder behind me and said, “Give me a minute to finish up, then I will kick your ass too.”
Epilogue
As I walked up to the door, my stomach is doing flip-flops. My nerves are on edge about this whole idea, but a promise is a promise. I keep my word even to the dead. After ringing the bell, the door was answered by a handsome woman in her twenties. A small child looked at me from behind the protection of his mother.
“Yes?”
“Hello, my name is Nathan Embers. I am sorry for disturbing you at home like this, but I have a letter for you from your,” I swallowed hard, “husband.”
“You must be mistaken my husband was killed a few years ago.”
“I know. Before he died, he dictated this letter.” Lying shouldn’t be the answer, but the truth would confuse her. “May I come in? The explanation could take some time.” She glanced back and forth for a moment and motioned for me to come into her home. She led me to their living room and offered me a seat, so I sat down on the couch. She sat down on the other end of the couch. She told her boy to play in his room while we talked. She offered me something to drink. Manners, I like that. “Thank you, no.”
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