Authors: Pamela Carron
Cranford hesitated before turning and walking away, leaving Frank to pick himself up exclaiming,
“Let’s get out of here. This part of town gives me the creeps!”
Cranford grunted without looking at him.
“After what we just witnessed, even more so.
You have seen this stuff before. I can tell. Why didn’t you warn me?”
Frank flagged down a cab and gave him his own address.
“I think we deserve something to settle our nerves and I have just the thing at my place. We can talk freely there.”
Cranford looked at him in an odd way. There was something about his behavior during this whole thing. He certainly had not acted like a rookie. He was sure he had experienced this type of sacrifice before.
When he expected to get to the apartment and offered a beer or even something stronger, what did he do? He took him to where a bar was evidently his kitchen table and sat him down, while he made a large pot of hot tea. After pouring them both an oversized cup, he too sat down on the other side of the bar, so that he was facing him.
Cranford’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, as his gut told him something was out of context with his young partner. There was complete silence while they sipped on the hot tea. Somewhere in the small apartment, he could hear a clock ticking. Looking around at the humble surroundings, he certainly could not accuse Frank of living above his means.
The place was unusually tidy for a young man, the furnishings sparse and simple. The only thing that Cranford could see that made a personal statement was the books scattered across the coffee table, He could see because the kitchen opened up to the small living area. Instead of a sofa, there was a recliner and two other mismatched chairs gracing the room.
Cranford began feeling much calmer and wondered if it was the tea. It was surprisingly good. Frank told him that it was a special blend he kept for times just like this and with him it was often, for this was not his first time ‘out the gate’.
“Okay, so I believe you were going to explain to me why we let that kid die back there, instead of trying to save him.”
Frank sat his cup down and stood.
“First, let me warm your tea.”
“No need, I have plenty and it does not need warming, but thank you.”
“Well, let me warm mine.”
When he had added to his cup of tea, he remained standing.
“Promise me you are going to hold your judgment, at least until I finish the whole story.”
“Alright, but you are not standing over me like this. Sit down!”
“Yes, sir…”
He took his seat at the same time sucking in his breath and let it out slowly as he explained.
“I am a lie. Everything you know about me is a lie. The file you got on me
is all made up
. I came to your department as an undercover agent of the IAIB.”
He held up his hand when Cranford would have spoken.
“It means, the Investigation of Alien Invasion Bureau. I know you have not heard of it, not many people have. It is highly classified. It was not my decision
to not include
you, but then it was not mine to make. Anyway, we have been working on this particular sect for two years. It
is believed
within my department that these are people who have been seized as host for aliens. Last year we had a major setback when a man named Jacks got thrown into the equation.”
At this point, he paused and Cranford mused,
“He almost got killed by a bunch of…are you saying that these people tonight are some of the same ones who Jacks and his friends claimed were on that rooftop back when?”
Frank nodded,
“I am saying that this is bigger than you can ever imagine. Not only that, but it is so dangerous, you have to know you cannot ever breath a word of what I am about to share with you. No matter how great the temptation, swear to me now or I will not go any further. We can stop right here and you can have that desk job, or you can come aboard and we can catch the people who are responsible for Purcell’s death. It is up to you, man.”
The older man grimaced at the fact the younger man did have experience and apparently a lot of it. He was dead serious when he replied,
“Bring it on. I am good for it and who wants to retire from behind a desk anyway?”
After this, a smile brightened both faces and a calmness that had nothing to do with the tea settled over them as Frank continued his story.
“This thing goes as far back as time, but in the last two hundred years it has been perfected more and more. The ritual we witnessed tonight is an ancient one performed for the god, Moloch, performed secretly once a year… there are others all throughout the year, but this is a special one where only a few are allowed to participate. We call this group the privileged Society of Satan. Their other big one is on Halloween…why not, it makes the whole thing much easier when mixing it in with all the ghost and goblins,
wouldn’t
you think? You and I are probably the only non-members to ever witness what we did tonight and live to tell. If we are lucky, we have a recording which may identify just one of these creeps!”
“I still don’t understand what the people we saw tonight have to do with aliens?”
“Oh, they are aliens alright. But not the kind most people think.”
“What does that mean?”
Cranford asked, not understanding.
“Some say it was a portal opened accidently, some think it was purposely devised by the angels who refused to be born of woman and go through the flesh life. These entities took women to wife and produced giants back in the day….you may know the story of David and Goliath…nevertheless, the offspring of these unions became an infestation, thus the reason for the flood of Noah’s day. It destroyed the bodies but left the spirits of the giants to roam the Earth as demonic beings without flesh bodies. They are constantly looking for bodies to inhabit and they prey upon the weak and sickly. They raise children from infancy using trauma based mind control to make them become the happy little sacrifice, like the one we saw tonight. You saw what they do. Unbelievably, these are the lucky ones. The rest of the poor little bastards
are conditioned
to become host for these sick beings and rarely put up a fight. Every
once in a while
, there is one who rebels and usually that life ends quickly. In every great
once in a while
, one escapes. That one, even though
castrated
, beaten, and battered, becomes the enemy. It is rare that one escapes unscathed, but it
has been known
to happen. I believe this Jacks character happens to be one. He carries the mark of one set aside to be a host and from the looks of his mark, he
must have been meant
for someone with authority. Anyway, like I said, he was one of the lucky ones.”
He stopped talking and Cranford was not sure what it was he saw in the man’s eyes but it was something that caused him to moan and go stark white as he uttered the words,
“Oh my God…you!
You are talking about you!”
9
J
acks answered his phone and listened as one of Sang-mi’s sons informed him of her death. He felt numb as he heard himself responding. He had just talked with her a few days before and she was fine.
“I understand.” He spoke with sadness. “I am so sorry. Of course, I will be there. I loved her too. I will be there as soon as I can make the arrangements. Thank you for calling me right away.”
When the voice on the other end was gone, Jacks wiped away a lone tear that trailed down his cheek. Sang-mi was gone, he would never hear her words of wisdom or her sweet voice singing her silly little rhymes again, and he felt desolation and a sick feeling consumed him as he mourned the only mother figure he had ever known.
Honey immediately started packing for the both of them. She was determined to accompany her husband to Sang-mi’s farewell service. She made the necessary phone calls to her patients and arranged for airfare early the next day. She figured three days would cover the time needed for the funeral and Jacks told her that the family had invited them to stay with them at Sang-mi’s house. From what she gathered that was a real honor.
Dwight and Sheila returned from their vacation the day before and were over for dinner, as she wanted to catch them up on what was going on since the last in depth conversation at their house when Jacks returned from his last trip to New York. She was hoping this was the last tie to that place for Jacks. With the final deposition done on a lingering old case now turned over to someone new and Sang-mi gone, there was no real reason for him to keep making these trips. She understood his grief over Sang-mi’s death but admittedly, now there was a certain amount of relief. The city held no glamour for her but rather the horrible memories of
being kidnapped
by
Asa’s
goons.
Jacks was the last one to make it that evening to dinner, as he had several things he had to finish up so he could be away the next few days. By the time he made it home, Honey had already updated their friends not only on Sang-mi’s death, but also on the lab report about the DNA match. Dwight and Sheila both commented on Sang-mi’s death and expressed their sorrow to Jacks. When Sheila asked what caused her death, Jacks admitted he had not asked the son of San-Mi but assumed it was natural causes.
“You know, she was in her seventies and as spry as she was she did have complaints with her heart from time to time. I did not pry, for it would be the family’s place to share that sort of information when and if they chose to.”
It was Sheila, who during dinner, brought up the subject of the DNA.
“Honey told me the test came back positive and you have decided to leave it alone. So do you think it is just another trick for Asa to come after you again?”
“There is no reason for me to think otherwise. Asa is a liar, so why should I believe this is nothing more than another attempt to get back at me for all the trouble I caused him? No, I will not let him manipulate me again!”
Surprisingly, Dwight seemed to agree.
“Good for you! We have to deal with enough evil as it is. I say stay as far away from that creature as you can!”
Honey made a face and determined to change the subject to a happier one.
“Are you still having morning sickness or has it subsided yet?”
Sheila made a similar face and groaned,
“Oh, it is definitely still coming and going. I wish I could remember who it was that told me after four months I would not have this any longer!”
“Was not me, girlfriend! Probably Mildred or Shirley, because I know it was not Jean either…by the way, who I got a beautiful postcard from today!”
“I bet I got one too! I hope so. I have not even picked our mail up from the Post Office yet, we have been so busy catching up with everything else. What did Jean have to say?”
Honey had brought a pie to the table and the men were attacking it with gusto, ignoring their girl talk, so she motioned for Sheila to follow her into the other room where she produced the card, which she read.
“The picture is one I actually took from the top of a peak here in the Pocono’s. I printed it myself. We have had some snow but not nearly as much as usual, or so the locals tell me. The writing is going great and though I have enjoyed being here, I am getting homesick to see you all soon.
Hugs to the both of you, Jean.”
Turning it back over to the picture side, she said,
“How pretty!
She can have the cold and the snow though. I will never live anywhere north of the Dixie line again! However, it sounds like she is getting some work done, anyway. I am glad to hear that she is at least enjoying life a little, even if it is alone.”
“That is just Jean. She is happy and that is what counts. I miss her though and will be glad when she gets back here!”
While the women talked merrily, the conversation in the kitchen had turned serious. Dwight was relieved the women left the room and in spite of his earlier agreement with Jacks, he retracted his comment.
“I don’t want Sheila subject to any dark stuff with the pregnancy and all but Jacks, do you really think you have made the right decision with this DNA thing?”
“You mean you don’t agree with my decision to not pursue it?”
“I am just saying, what if your mother is alive and is somewhere, maybe even locked away or like those kids we helped, under his power and can’t help herself?”