Finale...Part 1

It wasn’t long after we left the hustle and bustle of the airport that the roads became dark and deserted. Part of it was the time of night, which was late for most folks, so traffic was light. But part of it was also that we were literally in the boondocks of far western Dade County, where civilization ended and the Everglades began.

Soon there were no streetlights at all, no other vehicles on the road. We were driving in an alien landscape on a small, elevated road surrounded on both sides by trees, tall reeds and stretches of open water illuminated only by the headlights of the van. The only sounds now were the hum of the engine and the thwack and splat sounds that the droves of large bugs made as they hit the windshield. Even Ravyn had grown silent as we drove, her normal chatter seemingly forgotten as we pushed further into the vast swamp.

A half hour after entering the Everglades, the van slowed. John was watching the left side of the road carefully. Finally, after seeing an unlit, hand painted sign and the small driveway that followed it, he turned down off the main road and onto the rough, rutted dirt road that seemed to swerve back and forth through the canals and open pools.

Another fifteen minutes found us parking in an unlit dirt lot filled with about a dozen old battered pickups and junker vans. The lot was surrounded by several ramshackle mobile home trailers that had definitely seen better days, each home sported a tin sided shack or two as attachments.

As we exited from the van we were met by a group of rough faced men who were obviously of native american descent. They were, in general, taller than the students and men I had met on John’s reservation, but the demeanor was very much the same. All of the men were armed, most with rifles, but some had large knives sheathed on their belts as well.

John stepped forward immediately and began speaking a language I didn’t recognize to one of the older men. Their conversation seemed formal at first, then turned friendly within a couple of exchanges. John turned to the rest of us and said, “We have been welcomed by Leonard Davis, an Elder of the Miccosuccee Indians. He has offered us the hospitality of his hearth. He also has told me that Herne and the others have already moved into their positions for the morning. He has a pair of air boats waiting to take us to our positions. We should make ourselves ready, we need to leave within the hour.”

That set off a flurry of activity. Ravyn and Cerrydwen grabbed their bags and were shown to one of the mobile homes to get changed in private. Jim plopped back down inside the van, popped open his computer case and began pulling out pieces of strange looking equipment and checking them for functionality.

Not having much else to do, I took a little walk around the compound. It wasn’t long before I found the edge of the dry land, I was amazed at how quickly it came. Looking around, I saw the a wooden dock jutting out into the water with two large, flat bottomed boat bobbing next to it. Each boat had several rows of metallic seats in front, but was dominated by the towering, lifeguard-like seat that sat just in front of the equally dominating fans that comprised the back end of each boat.

John came up behind me, I heard his approach when he scuffed his boots on some pebbles, more than likely because he didn’t want to surprise me. “Soon my Brother, your family will be safe.”

“Are you sure about this whole thing John? Do you really need to die to accomplish this?”

He reached down and picked up some of the pebbles and stood back up. “I am as sure of the plan as I am that these stones will sink if I throw them into the water.” He picked one out and tossed it towards the water. It landed with a splash, which must have surprised some nearby creature, as a second, louder splash followed. The water rippled outwards.

“But I still don’t understand what purpose will be served by your death.”

“Death is a vital part of life. My death will allow me pass beyond the veil of this world and to access powers and skills I cannot yet wield because I am tied to this earthly shell. Once those ties are severed, particularly by the one who will do it, I will be free to act in ways that he cannot counter. I will be able to summon allies and call upon aid that is not available to the living.

“Do not trouble yourself over me, over what must take place. Concern yourself with stopping that monster that has been created in your image. Only you have the strength and the knowledge of how to stop that thing. I have seen the wards that have been placed on that creature, no magick any of us possesses can harm that beast.”

“I don’t know about that John, I’ve Ravyn do some pretty amazing things with that fire of hers. Can’t she destroy that thing?”

John looked back from the open water to me, “No. Even Mistress Fyre cannot truly harm that beast. The energy which fuels the fire she wields would only strengthen it, that was the work of the one you call the Little Devil.”

“What about Drake, why do I get the strangest feelings around him that lead me to believe he is more than he appears to be? I’ve never seen him do anything like what I’ve seen El Diablito and Papa Locks do, or even Ravyn, Herne and Cerrydwen for that matter.”

“The Professor has done some extensive research on this Drake, he was able to find some information and photos of him from the 50’s, when looked pretty much the same as he does now. There were references to him being a war refugee from WWII. However Jim’s research into the archives on the Third Reich lead him to believe that Drake went by another name in Germany, and appears to be very similar in appearance to a little regarded scientist who was a very active member of the early Nazi party in the 30’s called Klaus von Graffen. This von Graffen was accused of some very serious crimes in the Nuremburg Trials, mostly involving experimentation he did on captured Allied soldiers and on prisoners in the death camps. He was tried and convicted in absentia, and was never confirmed to have been captured or killed in the war.”

“Wait a minute, if that’s true, he would have to be pretty damn close to hundred years old by now. If this is the same guy you are saying he is, anyway.”

“Yes. I have looked at the Professor’s files, or as much as he would show me anyway, and I can say that I believe the two to be one and the same. It appears that he has found a way to at the very least extend his life beyond that which is considered normal. I can tell you this also, I have searched the Three Worlds to the best of my abilities, and I can find no trace of him anywhere within the Realms of Spirit. I have been unable to locate him on this world while in Spirit Form as well.”

I told John of my own experiences seeing Drake while in Spirit Form and how Drake always seems to be able to see me when I am there.

“In all of these incidents you describe though, you did not go looking for this man, but he came to where you already were in Spirit Form, so I still think he has found a way to block any Spirit from locating him or affecting him in some way.”

“I have also felt how he is much stronger than he appears physically,” I said as I looked back out into the darkness. “He has a number of secrets that he refuses to yield.”

We heard the footsteps of a number of individuals approqaching behind, so we turned to face the newcomers. Ravyn, Cerrydwen and Jim joined us, another half dozen of the Miccosuccee hung back, just out of easy earshot.

Ravyn was dressed from head to toe in a close fitting outfit that was most distinctive for it’s vivid colors of red and orange. It was a combination of a wetsuit and costume of some sort. The only skin that was showing was her hands and her neck and head. Her hair was pulled back into a very business like pony tail. Amazingly, in one hand she was easily carrying that strange duffle bag that I had strained to carry with two. It was still packed to near bursting, but must have magickally lost all of its weight! Her Phoenix was glaring, brighter than usual, and for once, shifting and moving about almost impatiently.

Cerrydwen was a vision in dark leather and some sort of blue dye or paint on all of her exposed skin, which was more than her usual style. She was wearing large, clunky leather boots, tight fitting pants that appeared to be either leather or some sort of plastic, and sleeveless leather vest that showed more than a little blue cleavage and some of her midriff as well. Her hair was pinned back by an assortment of bone-colored pins and combs. At her belt hung two sets of weighted balls connected by thin cords, bolos, I think they are called.

Jim stood there in the same clothes he had come from the airport in: jeans, sneakers, t-shirt and a well worn baseball cap. He did, however, have several devices hanging from his belt and a handful of gizmos in one hand, an aluminum baseball in the other. He held out the gizmos to the rest of us, each taking the one he directed us to.

“These watches are the latest in communication technology. They have built in tracking high-frequency radios, they’re all set on the same frequencies. They also have chips that will allow me to track where you are in case we get separated, and most important, these puppies are waterproof to a level deeper than you’ll find in these swamps. Put it on and I’ll show you how to use them.”

We did so. As he finished his spiel and demonstration, John pulled out necklaces for each of us, made from multi-colored beads and animal-like charms made of various stones or bones. He said, “These have been given to me by the Miccosuccee elders. They have been charged to give you the protection they can provide against the creatures of this wet world we are now in. Wear them with thanks to the people and the Spirits of this place.”

We each put on the necklace given to us and then were led to the airboats.

Cerrydwen, John and Jim were shown to one boat and were joined by three of the Miccosuccee, one of who climbed up into the pilots seat and fired up the giant fan.

I climbed into the other boat, and turned to help Ravyn in by reaching for her bag. Her Phoenix positively glared at me, so I drew back my hand. Ravyn laughed, “It’s alright dear, I can take her. She doesn’t like all of this water one bit!”

With that she leaped lightly down into the boat, bag cradled in both hands. I reached out to steady her, she gained her balance quickly and settled into one of the middle seats. We were joined by only one man, a tall, older man who only carried a knife at his belt, how climbed into the pilots seat without a word and fired up the engine.

The fans were quite loud as they were fired up, the boats were freed from the moorings, and we were off, roaring into the vivid living darkness of the Evergloades, without so much as a flashlight to guide our path.

Riding these boats was unlike any other boat I had been on. They glided over the water and grass effortlessly, almost sliding with each turn before the speed of the fans managed to push the boat forward again.

As the wind was rushing by, I leaned over and asked Ravyn about the bag, “So what’s in that thing anyway?”

She leaned over to me, almost laughing with joy, “It’s an egg!”

“A what?!?”

“An egg for my Phoenix to hatch from!”

“I didn’t think there was any such thing as a real Phoenix!”

“Well, it’s a little something I came up with, with Her help of course.” She nodded her head back towards the spiritual Phoenix that was her constant companion and guardian.

It glared at me, almost smug in its satisfaction, if such a mythical being can look smug.

“You meant that thing, I mean, she…will be able to manifest in this world?”

Ravyn giggled in glee and nodded, “Isn’t that just too cool?”

I nodded and sat back in my seat…this ws going to be a strange day ahead of us.

End Game...part 2

We arrived in Miami late that night. We stopped at Miami International Airport as soon as we got there in order to pick up the next group of our colleagues, John Red Bear and the Professor, each coming from different parts of the country. As with the ladies, both John and Jim were travelling light, only a carry-on bag each, and Jim with a second bag packed with his powerful laptop and its various accessories.

John’s face was calm and peaceful, you would hardly know that he was planning on sacrificing his own life, unless you knew him as well as I had come to over the last few months. He walked with an easy, seemingly carefree and assured gait, his cowboy boots clicking loudly on the tiled floor of the airport.

Jim was a bit more nervous. His large, looming presence automatically intimidated people out of his way in the crowded hallways of the airport, but I could tell he as sweating more with nerves and excess energy than the South Florida heat. He brought us up to date with the current plans, using carefully worded sentences and code words to convey the information.

He started with, “Herne is already here, with a small cadre of John’s students. They have made contact with some valuable allies who are very familiar with the terrain.”

As we made our way out into the parking lot, he continued, “I have also been in direct contact with Zulu, he has greenlighted the mission.”

That last had me curious, since I had never heard of any of the ORC’s I had met referred to by that name, “Who’s this Zulu?”

The Professor looked to John, John looked to Cerrydwen, Cerrydwen looked to Ravyn.

Ravyn smiled, grabbed my arm as if to lead me back to the van faster, “Zulu is someone we don’t talk about much, and never out in public. Let’s just leave it at this, you will definitely be meeting Zulu at the end of this mission, if we manage to pull it off. Don’t even bother to try guessing at who he is, because you won’t get it, and even if you did, I won’t be able to tell you.”

“Wait a minute, this is my daughter and my ex-wife that are in danger here, and you are telling me there is someone out there who could say ‘no’ and you guys wouldn’t be able to help?”

Ravyn patted my arm reassuringly and whispered into my ear, “No silly, we helped you before didn’t we? No, Zulu’s approval just makes things so much simpler in certain ways. Let’s just say that we won’t have to worry about interference from any law enforcement agencies, either local or federal, and they might even be available to help clean up the mess. He’s got some serious drag.”

“Oh.”

We got into the van, with John taking the driver’s seat. I climbed into the backw ith Jim. He looked down as he climbed over Ravyn’s big duffle bag, stubbing a toe as he did.

He called out after a few curse words, “Ravyn, this isn’t what I think it is, is it?”

Ravyn looked back from the shotgun seat, beaming her brightest smile, “I’m afraid so Jim, thought we might need her on this one.”

I looked down at the overstuffed duffel bag, “Hey you didn’t say there was anyone stuffed in that thing!”

Ravyn laughed, “Something’s in there alright, but don’t you go poking your nose about in my business now, you’ll see her at work soon enough!”

I shook my head, trying figure out what the heck she was talking about. I happened to look up just as the van was started and we began to pull out of the parking spot, I thought for a moment that I caught a glimpse of Ravyn’s protective, fiery Phoenix looking back at me, or was it the bag that it was staring at so intently? In any event, I sat back and got lost in my own thoughts.

Editor's Note

It is expected that the conclusion of this storyline will be posted in the next couple of days, depending on technical issues related to travel and web access at my destination. If all doesn't go as planned, the next post might be made no sooner than May 27, 2005. Hopefully this will not be the case.

Thank you for your feedback, your patience, and your readership, it means the world to me.

-Doug Pierce, Editor/author

End Game...part 1

This first journey of self-discovery and redemption began back on January 6, 2005 with my first post on this blog. I started this journey as a monster, the strange creation of circumstance, desperation and of an evil genius. I am ending this first journey more alive than I had been in a dozen years, and simply more...human.

It has taken the nearly unlimited compassion of a powerful group of strangers, the deaths of innocent bystanders, the manipulation of my deepest fears by the men who created me, the recovery of boundless love for family that I had thought had been lost to me, the exploration of a small part of the previously unknown worlds of Spirit, and the most surprising discovery of all-the discovery of my own Soul, to bring this first journey to near completion.

As the plans fell into place over the next several days for what I hoped to be the final confrontation with Drake Kampmann and his followers, I thought only of the possibility of seeing and saving Jasmine and Katherine, my daughter and my ex-wife. As I followed the arcane instructions given to me by the Professor on which accounts to use in which location as I spent oodles of money from the various secret accounts that Drake had apparently stashed awayover the years, I fervently hoped that the Tree had been right about the Convergence of seeing my daughter and her mother safely in the Everglades.

Doubts kept nagging at me, but I continued to make my way slowly towards Florida, stopping at almost every major city and a few minor ones along the way to donate large chunks of Drake’s money to desperately needy charities like soup kitchens, shelters for battered women, and orphanages.

Each of the donations was pretty similar, I would call Jim to let him know which town or city I was in, and he would tell me which bank branch to go to. I would go into the bank lobby and show the teller my credentials. After a number of deeply suspicious looks and some phone calls (usually to Ravyn Fyre, Cerrydwen, or Jim himself since the contact info for the accounts was changed by the Professor as needed) to verify the strange requests, I would take the cashier’s check that the teller prepared for me, already made out to the charity of choice, and go play benefactor to the charity. Almost always, the directors of the charities had been called in advance and were awaiting my arrival with teary eyes and grateful hugs as I presented them with certified checks of over ten thousand dollars each.

The size of the donations was very important, since any amount over $10,000 triggered all sorts of reporting procedures that the banks had to follow on those transactions, meaning that it would be all that much easier for the Bureau to track them down later and freeze or seize them.

By the time I had reached northern Florida over a week later, Drake must have figured out the patterns and moved or closed the remaining accounts, but by then we had donated over a million of his ill-gotten dollars, and flagged many millions more in accounts he wasn’t able to move or drain in time.

Luckily, this eventuality had been planned for, so I moved on to phase two of the plan, picking up speed and heading directly to the airport in Orlando to pick up some of my comrades-in-charitable-crime. It was with great gladness that I saw the Sisters of Shadow and Light as I waited for them in the baggage claim area.

Ravyn Fyre was radiant as ever, smiling as she spotted me, but that smile didn’t extend to her eyes, which had a hard, determined look to them that was more reminiscent of Cerrydwen. Her inner fires burned as bright and strong as ever, her Phoenix vigilant.

Cerrydwen looked relieved to be off of the plane, her dark glare and hard, angular jaw set in that perpetual frown that was so familiar to me now. Shadows seemed to gather around her as she walked, other passengers seemed to shiver as they slid out of her way without even realizing it.

We would meet with the others later at a different airport, after they completed their tasks.

Both Ravyn and Cerrydwen were travelling very light, one small carry-on bag for each, but there was a large military style duffel bag that needed to be collected and transported to the vehicle. My questions as to the contents were met with a smirk and a wink from Ravyn and a shrug from Cerrydwen. I grabbed the bag, actually feeling the weight contained inside, the straps were straining to stay intact as I hefted it to my shoulder.

We left for Miami in that same evening, with me driving the rental van that I had been using since New Orleans.

En Passant...Part 3

I left the Underworld by following my usual path. I emerged in my cheap motel room comforted to see my body sitting as it was last posed. It was dark outside, so time had obviously passed since I had left, although I had no idea if it was just the day, or more than one day.

I slipped back into my body and felt things snap back into place. I got up and set up my lap top in order to check the latest news and to update the blog. I also downloaded the information packet from e-mail that John had indicated would be waiting for me, including the account number and information I was to use in my next purchase.

I also took the time to draft and send some messages of my own. I had a directory of the Bureau’s e-mail addresses, so I took the time to locate the individuals that the Professor had indicated I should contact with specially worded messages that contained the information we needed that particular person to know.

These messages were part of the carefully orchestrated plan of attack that the Professor and Herne had come up with when they had analyzed the data they had captured in our encounter with Dr. Geek and his team in Vegas. I knew that at the same time, similar messages were being forwarded to certain men and women with influence in Congress, the White House and the media. Apparently, the ORC’s were going for the throat in this confrontation.

The more pieces I saw begin to fall into place, the more impressed I became with these folks who had thrown their lot in with me.

As I finished the assigned tasks that I could complete via my computer, I turned the thing off and sat there trying to comprehend everything that happened with my last journey. I was still amazed at the serenity that John possessed, with the sure knowledge that he would soon die.

As a cop, I had often left home for work feeling that I could very well be killed in the line of duty and felt that I was prepared for that event if it happened. I don’t think my ex ever really accepted that possibility so that had caused more than one fight before our divorce, especially as I got more and more involved with the project that brought me into contact with Drake in the first place.

But the sacrifice of himself that John was fully willing to undertake was beyond my comprehension, and I was already dead!

I was a pretty good at chess when I was younger, in my teens I had even played in several tournaments and had shown the potential to eventually become a master if I had kept up with it. It was becoming obvious to me now that the game being played between Drake and myself has been like a chess match for quite a while, but it was only now that I was recognizing the patterns and moves being made.

Luckily for me, I had some very smart allies who had raised a defense of our own, and were now planning our own series of attacks. Would Drake be ready for our moves?

The coup de grace of our strategy involved a fairly rare move in competitive chess that involves the taking of one pawn by another called ‘en passant’ which I believe is French for ‘in passing’, but don’t quote me on that!

The brillliance of this plan though was not that we planned to take one of Drake’s pawns in passing, but that we would put one of our pawns in such a position that he wouldnt be able to resist taking that pawn ‘en passant’ as he went for an even greater prize. Hopefully, he would take the bait, and in so doing, leave himself open to our counterattack.

The fact that John was willing to put himself out there as that sacrifical pawn, knowing that it would mean his death was simply amazing. I have known other cops for whom I would have taken a bullet, and they would have done so for me, but I can’t say that I would have done it knowing that for certain that I would die in the process and for someone I hardly knew.

I shook my head to clear the cobwebs and packed away the computer and its components. There were other tasks that needed doing and a relatively short period of time to complete them.

En Passant...Part 2

“You’ve certainly gone about making yourself at home here, haven’t you my friend?”

I couldn’t believe my ears, I looked up in surprise to see John Red Bear standing just outside the tangled roots of the Tree. I looked back from him to the image on the leaf that I was holding in my hands, and back up to him again, dumbfounded. “But...”

He snickered, glanced at his own image on the leaf and then looked back into my eyes, “Nice likeness, eh?”

“But I thought a fallen leaf meant that you had died!” I managed to stammer out.

“It does.” He had an impish look to his face, like he was holding back some humorous secret. “But in this case, it is foretelling my demise. I gave my permission for the leaf to be released while you were here.”

“What? You’re going to die soon? And you’re laughing about it?”

He laughed, a deep hearty laugh. “Consider it an occupational hazard of being a Shaman. I’ve known for quite a while that my time was growing very short. Indeed, when I met your former comrade, the Haitian, I thought my time was over at that point, since I had seen that face in a Dream since I was a youth. His face was always associated with my death. But when you and Herne rescued me, and the Frau healed me, I realized that I had just a little while longer. I must thank you very much for that, because this additional time has allowed me to set my earthly affairs in order and be better prepared for what is to come.”

“But how can you be so casual about this, about dying?”

He walked into the circle of roots, came up and put his arm around my shoulders. “Look, when much of your life is spent in exploring the majesty and the mysteries of the Three Worlds, you find that there is very little to fear in the passing from the One into the Three. Death is not only the end of one journey, but also the beginning of many others.”

We were now walking among the roots, his arm over my shoulders. We came to the trunk of the Tree and he took his arm off, reached out a tentative hand and touched the bark with his fingertips.

“I must say that I very impressed. I have never seen another Tree like this one. What happened here?”

In halting words, unsure of the reality of any of this, I explained what I could remember of my encounter with El Diablito and my fears at the time when I could not get into contact with anyone. I then told him about driving the baton into the ground and the emotion and energy that I had charged it with, hoping that it would serve as a beacon and warning to any who answered my impassioned Calls.

As I told the story, he had kept his fingers in contact with the metallic bark, had closed his eyes, and seemed to be only half listening to what I was saying. My voice kind of trailed off as I watched him and ended my story.

He remained there for a moment longer, then openned his eyes and pushed back from the Tree. “You have created something here that is both strange and wonderful. In all of my journeys throughout the Three Worlds, I have heard many tales of such Beings existing, but this is the first such one I have actually encountered. This is a very rare and special event.

“You have here a treasure beyond all measure, a resource that will help you to do much good with your remaining time in the One World. I am glad that you will have a true guide in the coming time when I will be unable to be here for you.” A tear trickled down his cheek.

It was hard to hear, to see this emotion from the man who had shown me how to take control of my own existence again, the one person who had reached out and prevented me from becoming the monster I was heading towards turning into. I looked down at my shoes, scuffed some dirt from a nearby root. “John, I can’t thank you enough for helping me when you did. If you hadn’t been there for me, I don’t know what I would have turned into.”

He reached out with both hands, gripped my shoulders with his talon-hard fingers, “Rusty, you are on a special kind of journey, a journey of redemption and salvation, for yourself and for others you have yet to meet. There are challenges coming to the One World that may change it forever. There are dangers that must be met and overcome if Balance is to be restored and maintained. You are not alone in facing these challenges, these dangers, but you are vitally important. Learn from the Tree, master your strengths, overcome your weaknesses, and you will have repaid my efforts a hundredfold.

“It was my role to find you and prepare you for the first steps on your Journey. The existence of this Tree here and now, tells me more than anything else, that you are now ready to begin that Journey.”

I couldn’t hold back anymore, “But what about the image I have seen of my daughter and ex? They are in danger, I can’t be worrying about saving the world when they are in such danger!”

“I understand your concern, and that is another reason I am here to see you now. The Professor has been able to locate where your former Director has established his headquarters, it is a place in the Everglades near Miami. Ravyn Fyre has asked me to seek you out and let you know this information, and that we have as an organization have found it to be a good time to prepare a strike against this enemy.

“Our plans are just now shaping up, but we wanted to get you involved as well, since we know how important it is to you.”

“I saw the image of that bastard taking my daughter and ex into a building in the a swamp, that was probably the place. It is pretty inaccessible from what I saw, he was gathering his own strength, I think he is expecting at least me!”

“Yes, but we will have some surprises of our own for him and his followers. I think he will have taken your family as bait and likely as insurance as well. But here is what we would like to do...”

En Passant...Part 1

The journey back to my body went by a different route. After disengaging from Kenny I found an openning down into the Spirit World and followed the path down to my usual entrance point. I quickly found myself on that now familiar path to the clearing where the Tree waited for me.

It was with more than a little smugness that I stepped into the clearing to face my....my what? Could I really call a tree a mentor?

In any event, I was a little cocky when I stepped into that clearing, intent on proving the Tree that it had been all wrong about me and what I could do.

“Hey Tree, I did it, I saved my son from that bastard Drake!”

Silence.

“What, you can’t handle it when you are wrong? Cat got your tongue Tree?”

More silence.

“You know, you could be more helpful here. I was hoping to get an idea of what to do next, now that Kenny is safe.”

This was getting to be silly.

I walked up to the trunk of the Tree and touched it with my now fleshy fingertips. Nothing seemed any different than before. Still cool and metallic to the touch. The branches were shifting in the breeze as they had in the past, but there was no sense to the sounds. The damn thing was ignoring me.

I walked around the trunk towards the back, where the cave openning was. I was feeling drawn to the pool again.

Uh oh.

I entered the cave, bending down to fit inside it, following the stairwell down into the lightly illuminated chamber. The only sounds around me were the gentle breathing of the Tree and the drip drop of the water into the pool that filled the back half of the small chamber.

A cold pit formed in my stomach as I approached the pool and bent down to look into the water.

The ripples from the last drop were just fading away when the image of a large building surrounded by a lot of palm trees and an expanse of swampy marches. There was no visible road leading up to the building, but a couple of odd looking, flat bottomed boats were pulled up to a dock that stuck out into the water. Another such boat was pulling up, propelled by a huge fan on the back. Several people were in this rather large air boat, as I believe they are called.

I could make out the image of Drake’s smallish figure, as well as Papa Locks and the monster that he had made out of Greg. A few other men in suits were with them, as well as the ‘driver’ of the boat, a raffish looking man dressed more like Crocodile Dundee than anything else. Two other figures caught my attention though, my daughter Jasmine and my ex-wife.

Jasmine was looking scared and wide-eyed, especially as the Greg-monster got close to her, but Papa Locks seemed to be keeping a tight leash on the monster. It seemed to lick its lips in anticipation.

I sat there stunned as I saw this, knowing somehow that this was the end of the vision that I had interrupted in my haste to save Kenny. This time, I was unable to move as the vision played out.

The men in suits escorted my daughter and ex towards a set of double doors into the building. Someone openned the doors from the inside, I could see additional figures inside the well lit interior. The place was a veritable fortress.

I desperately wanted the vision to take me inside the building, but the image seemed to be withdrawing slightly, and falling closer to the level of the water, just as the water of the vision began to obscure the building itself, a fresh set of ripples caused by new drops from ceiling broke the vision up.

I sat there for a moment, determined not to interrupt any new images it wanted to show me, but nothing new materialized.

“Damn you Tree! How did this happen?!?”

The gentle breathing stopped, the familiar whispery voice of the Tree became audible again. “You are not the only resourceful, determined person. Just as you make plans and exert your Will, others of strength exert theirs as well.”

“Why didn’t you show me this before?”

“Had you but exercised patience, you would have seen these images.”

I knew in my heart that the Tree was telling the truth. I had been so determined to save Kenny from Drake that I didn’t stop to think what else might happen. “Can I possibly stop this from happening?”

“These events have already been set in motion, just as they were with your son.”

“But I saved him! Maybe I can save Jasmine and Katherine too?”

“Did you change what happened with your son? Did not the images happen as you saw them take place?”

“Yeah, but the result was different! I convinced him not to go!”

“Did the images show your son actually go anywhere?”

“No, but...”

“The images shown to you by the pool will occur as you have seen them. These events are already in motion. These images are previews of what you will experience at some point in the near future. With that foresight, you can more wisely plan for these events.”

“You mean what I have seen will happen no matter what, but that I can affect how prepared I am for that event?”

“Impressive, a first lesson learned. There are intersections in time. Places where multiple strands of possible futures intersect. If you know where the intersection-or Convergence- occurs, you may choose the path that is most advantageous to your cause, whatever that cause may be.”

“How do I know when this will take place though?”

“The ‘when’ of this event is dictated in part by the path that you and others who may know of the event choose.”

“Does Drake have access to this kind of knowledge?”

“I am your Yggsdrasil, not his. It is quite possible though that he may have access to such knowledge and use it accordingly.”

“Damn. Then how do I know which path to take, or even what paths there are to take?”

“The paths to a Convergence are numerous, both for you and for any others involved in the event.”

“Can you give me anything less cryptic to work with here? This is my family again!”

“Wisdom is earned, not given.” With that the damn Tree resumed it’s breathing, the branches sighing in the winds of the Spirit World.

I went up the stairs, stooping low to exit the cave through the bunch of roots that framed the entrance. As I stood up and stretched, I noticed a leaf that was falling.

I reached up and caught the leaf before it hit the ground. I turned it over and saw the image it revealed. I looked up at the Tree and cried out. “NOOO!!!”

Love Hurts

I stood there aching as I watched my son count the money he had received from Drake.

“Wow, there’s over two thousand dollars here!”

I tried reaching out, to make my presence felt by him, to try to communicate my need for him not to take this bastards’ money or his help. Sure, it seemed free and easy money now, but Drake never gave anything away for free. He always collected in spades on any investment he made. I had learned this lesson the hard way. I desperately wanted Kenny to avoid learning these lessons the way I had.

Something in what I was doing seemed to be having an effect. After totalling it up and inspecting his ticket, he appeared to grow introspective. He put the ticket on the kitchen table, put the wad of cash in his pocket and wrapped his arms around himself, like he was cold again. He grew pensive and quiet.

Soon he was leaving the kitchen, heading back to his bedroom. I followed behind, continuing to put out firm but gentle pressure to alert him to my actual presence. Once in his room, Kenny reached up to one of the shelves for his sports memorabilia that I had put up for him so many years ago, pulled down the baseball glove that had the word ‘Dad’ written on it with black, indelible ink that was now lightly faded. He slipped the glove onto his hand and grasped the old, yellowed baseball that was cradled within. I remembered that was the ball I had caught for him at Tiger Stadium when we went to his first pro baseball game. That ball had been hit out of the park by Alan Trammell, the Tiger’s great shortstop at that time, who had later autographed the ball for us when I had used my badge to get us into the clubhouse to meet some of the players.

The memories of our time together as father and son came flooding back to me as I watched him aching for those times as well. Tears were flowing down his cheek as he held the ball and glove tightly to his chest.

Our connection in that moment was timeless, wordless and utterly precious. I came closer to him, reached my arms out around him and tried to cradle him in love. His gentle tears broke into wracking sobs as he collapsed to the floor, glove and ball still held tightly to his chest.

“Please don’t go to Florida, Kenny. I love you. I miss you so much.” I whispered this over and over into his ear as I held him as tightly as I could.

Somehow, someway, my words came through. He looked up into my face, his eyes red and swollen, “I miss you too, Dad. I won’t go. I don’t know why, but I can feel you here right now with me, I won’t go if it means so much to you. I love you, Dad. Please come back again soon. Jasmine and mom need you too!”

I noticed that the baseball had fallen from his fingers, it lay on the carpetting, the now faded signature of Trammell facing up at us. Using every bit of spiritual muscle I could gather, I concentrated on picking the ball up. At first it just kind of rocked back and forth until I was able to get a better feel for the forces I needed to exert to pick it up. Finally though I was able to bring the ball up off of the floor until it was floating in front of him.

Kenny noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye, looked at the ball floating there, then looked back up to where my face was. “Dad, you really are here, aren’t you?!” He reached the glove out beneath the ball, open and ready to receive it.

I bobbed the ball up and down just once, like a nod, then dropped the ball into his waiting glove.

The glove closed around the ball then was brought back close to his chest as he started sobbing again.

One more time I reached my arms around him, poured all of the love and energy I could into him and whispered softly, but firmly into his ear. “I will be back, I promise. I love you.”

Is it Live, or Memorex?

The rosy light of the dawning sun was playing across the eastern horizon and I was still far west of the Mississippi. There was no damn way I’d make it to Michigan in the timeframe that the Tree had given me.

But there was a way that part of me could get there in time. And strangely enough, it was the part of me that would be the most comforting and acceptable to my family who knew I was dead...my Spirit. I didn’t know if I would be able to communicate with him, or anyone else for sure, but it was worth a shot.

So I pulled off the highway at an exit where I had spotted a cheap motel that had advertized 24 hour check in service on one of their many billboards, probably for less than honorable reasons, but that didn’t matter to me at the moment. I needed to find a place to store my body where no one would bother it too much and where I wouldn’t have my shit stolen again.

I paid the clerk of the motel for 2 days worth of sleep time, pulling out a wad of cash that we had confiscated from the Dr. Geek’s crew. I paid a little extra so that I wouldn’t be disturbed by housekeeping and parked the car in the back, out of easy sight of any passing cops.

I brought all of the stuff I might need from the car, including my computer, batons, and even the strange bottles of red liquid that were yet to be tested. As I turned the car off, I yanked one of the starting wires completely out of the ignition, effectively disabling it--I planned on renting another one from the rent-a-wreck place next door anyway. I planned on leaving a note in vehicle for the local yokels to deliver to the nearest FBI branch, after I was gone.

Once inside the room, I locked the place up tight as a drum, using every one of the four various locks, chains and deadbolts to secure the place. Then I got down in the increasingly familiar lotus position and prepared myself metally for the long journey ahead.

I wasn’t sure if I could actually enter the Spirit World and then exit it somewhere else, so I planned to do this the hard way, fly like an eagle straight home to Michigan. It would be the first time I would fly myself home, hopefully I wouldn’t get lost. Somehow I felt though, that I wouldn’t have any trouble, something told me that I would be able to feel my way home.

I slipped out of the body, this was getting easier every time I did it. I leapt through the door as if it wasn’t there and found myself soaring into the sky with a mere wisp of my Will.

I don’t think any airplane ever made has flown as fast and as sure I flew that morning. I felt almost like a missile in flight, locked into a set of coordinates that I could feel more than see, as I whipped through the sky, unaffected by air currents, storms, turbulence or any of the other hazards of normal flight.

If I hadn’t been so locked into getting home and trying to save Kenny, I might have enjoyed the freedom that this mode of travel offered me or I might even have thought about the possibilities inherent in being able to travel so quickly to anywhere in the world. But those things didn’t occur to me then.

I had no way of telling how much time that had elapsed, but the it was still morning according to the Sun when I felt the tug downward that told me I was approaching...home. Damn, what a weird feeling.

Like a kid on a plane ride, I was able to spot my old house from far above. I dove down towards the house, intent on finding my son and saving him from the mistakes I had made!

I passed through the roof and down into the family room, barely taking note of the many changes that had been made in the intervening...years...damn. The TV was on, but no one was watching it at the moment. It felt so strange to be in my own former home, that was driven home even harder when I saw the photo that was sitting on the mantle. It had been one of the last family photos taken before the divorce, but there it was-all four of us smiling the plastic, family photo-smile of fake happiness. It brought back all sorts of emotions seeing us all there together in one place. I stood there for a few moments, almost forgetting what the Hell I was doing there in the first place.

Coming back to reality, well as much reality as one could have while walking around his old house more as a ghost than anything else, I started moving towards Kenny’s room.

I found him there, getting dressed. My first sight of his face was just like the image I had seen in the pool beneath the tree. He was so much older now! It was hard to believe he was actually this grown up now. He was beginning to lose the soft curves of youth, the future harder lines of his jaw and cheekbones were beginning to show now, giving a glimpse of the man he would soon be.

Just being so close to him now, I could feel his youthful energy nearly bursting forth from his body. But something had caught his attention. He was looking right at the spot where I was standing in, his eye slowly widened. I heard his soft whisper. “Dad? Is that you?”

I shouted at the top of my non-existant lungs, “Yes! I love you!”

But he couldn’t hear me, not in the way that I needed him to, he just shook his head like he was trying to shake himself out of some weird feeling, “Just wishful thinking I guess.” He then began speaking to no one in particular, even as I jumped up and down trying to attract his attention. “I wish you could be here Dad. I think you would be proud of the choice I’m making today. I almost can’t believe I’m gonna get a full scholarship to the University of Miami. A criminal justice major!”

The doorbell rung, he perked up a bit and walked right damn through me on the way to the front door! By the time I turned to follow him, feeling a sense of dread at just who might be there, I saw Kenny rubbing his arms as if he was cold.

He openned the door as I came up behind him. Just like in the image of the pool, I was standing behind him, seeing the back of his head. He was talking now, “Hello Mr. Kampmann, I’m really surprised to see you here yourself. Please come in!”

I heard the evil, oily voice. “Well, on occasions such as this, I like to do this personally. It’s not often in my line of work where I can actually give out good news. Thank you for the offer, but no, my time here must be very short.”

“Wow, Mom would kill me if she knew I had an important guest and didn’t at least offer you something to drink. Are you sure you won’t come in?”

I was absolutely frozen in place, unable to stop what was happening, but unable to look away. This was playing out just like the image in that damn pool!

“No, son, I’m sure. I do however have something for you. I wouldn’t want you to make such a big decision without at least making one trip to Miami to see things for yourself. I just know your father would have wanted the best for you, he never rushed his decisions, and I’m sure he’d want you to do the same. It is spring break next week, as I understand it, so please accept this envelope as a token of my appreciation and in memory of your father.”

Oh that bastard! I finally was able to shift my perspective, just like in memory of the pool image, and as able to see that bastard’s face as he handed the envelope to Kenny.

Kenny took the envelope and openned it tentatively, seeing the ticket inside and the small stack of bills, topped by a $100 bill, just as I remembered. Kenny looked back at that slimy bastard, “Thank you, Sir! This will be a great chance to check out the school. I know Dad would be honored to think of me following in his footsteps. This is a great opportunity!”

Drake looked past Kenny directly into my naked soul, smiled that bloodless, evil smile of his, and replied. “Yes, it’s as if he’s watching over us now, beaming with pride. I know he’s watching out for you, son. You couldn’t have a better protective angel.”

Kenny beamed back at the praise, “Yeah, it’s like I can sense him here as well. I know I’m on the right path Mr. Kampmann. Thank you so much!”

“Don’t think of it again, it is entirely my pleasure to help the family of someone who continues to mean so much to me.” The son of a bitch smiled right at me as he said this.

With that Drake turned on his heel and headed back to the shiny black SUV that waited for him in the driveway. I caught the smallest glimpse of Papa Locks getting out and openning the door for that bastard. As he passed the Haitian, Drake seemed to stop for just a moment, whisper something to his servant, and get in. Papa Locks flashed a quick smile as he shut the door and climbed back into the front passenger seat.

Kenny closed the front door, locked it, and started counting his Spring Break cash windfall.

RB-Phone Home!?

I got back in my car, which had been running the whole time since the knuckleheads had hotwired the thing, destroying the ignition in the process. Having been a cop, I knew how to turn the car off and get it running again if I had to, but the fewer times I had to do that the better.

Once I was back on the road though, I had to try calling home. I rummaged around in my bag for my cell phone. Found it and the car charging unit, plugged them in and sat there driving with one eye on the road, and one eye staring at the buttons on the keypad, trying to visualize dialing the number that had been my home phone number for so many years.

This was going to be an interesting call, “Hi, I’m your dead father, please don’t take the money from my old boss...” Yeah, that would go over real well.

Maybe I should try, “Hello, this is Agent Rusty Bones of the FBI...an evil man who used to be your father’s boss is about to offer you a lot of money and plane tickets, don’t take it...” Hmmm, another real winner.

I was beginning to realize how difficult this was going to be. As far as I knew, neither my two kids nor my ex-wife knew about what happened to me after I died. Part of that was a conscious decision on my part, part of it was determined by circumstances.

It was only this last January, when I started this blog, that I had the actual freedom of movement to reach out to them if I had chosen to do so. I remembered though the admonitions of Drake, Dr. Geek and the rest of those stooges, strongly advising me not to get in contact with my family, since it would only cause needless heartache and confusion. Besides, I was supposed to be this big-time secret and they wanted to maintain that secrecy for as long as possible.

So even if I had reached out to them when I could have, it would have been almost fifteen months since my funeral, and how was I going to explain this situation to any of them?

My ex-wife might actually have been to comprehend what happened, she had been involved in some neopagan group during the break-up of our marriage, and had talked about spirits, gods, magick and all this other stuff that at the time had seemed like so much nonsense to me. Look at me now, I was a regular visitor to the spirit world and just got through possessing some damn fool of a junkie!

Yeah, she might have understood, but she had her own life now, and it would have been cruel of me to try to come back into her life. With the kids, Kenny and Jasmine, I felt a hell of a lot more guilt. But Kenny was getting to be a young man now, Jasmine would be 15 in June, and it had to have been hard on them to lose me in the first place. I had rationalized it to myself that it would only have messed them up more if I tried to come back into their lives in some form.

I must have driven tweny damn miles with that phone open and staring at me. I never did punch any of the buttons. Any call I made now would probably make things worse. I really couldn’t find anything to say that wouldn’t be dismissed immediately as some prank call at best.

The small scenic highway I was on originally intersected with a major interstate where I could go either east or west. I merged into the eastbound traffic, dropped the damn phone in frustration and just drove.

As mile after mile rolled by, I was alone with my thoughts and memories, confronted by all of the mistakes that I had made. Every mile marker that I passed marked another error--every forgotten anniversary or birthday, every missed ballgame or recital because of work, every overly harsh word of criticism I had uttered in a misguided attempt at making them better, every missed chance to express my love and affection for them--each and every marker another monument to my failure as a husband, as a parent, as a human being.

The (Un)Dead Guide to Hitchhiking the Galaxy

(This post is in honor of the late, great Douglas Adams and the openning of his movie this weekend.)

I returned from the Spirit World to my body faster than I can ever recall doing before. My focus was not on the journey itself, but on the end result. I slammed into my body, felt things click into place and activated my optical nerves to get my bearings.

It took a moment to realize that it was now dark outside, it was a brilliant vision of dazzling stars and a very large, very bright moon that hung in the night sky. Even in my haste to get back to my car and my cell phone, I was taken aback by the sheer beauty of this sight.

The piercing sound of breaking glass and all too quickly after that the roar of an engine and the sqeal of tires brought me back to reality. Cursing, I turned around and started the rather more laborious process of climbing back up to the lookout point and the parking lot. In the dark, things weren’t quite as easy as it was in going down, but I was inspired to get up to the top quickly. Pulling myself up to eye level with the ground, I cursed even more as my eyes confirmed my fears, that my government sedan had been broken into and stolen while I was coming out of things below. I could see the tail lights of my receding car about 3/4’s of a mile up the road, with a second car not too far ahead of that.

What do you think the probability is of getting your car stolen on a lonely mountain road while you are down a cliff meditating at night?

I clambered over the top of the fence and and leaped over into the now vacant parking lot, landing amidst the shards of my broken window.

This was an intolerable situation. I didn’t have time to go walking towards Michigan!

I sat down into a lotus position, dropped my arms to my sides and set my Spirit free to pursue my car and the hooligan(s) who had taken it. Flying in the dark wasn’t nearly as exhilirating as it was earlier, but this wasn’t a joy ride to purify my soul, this a was mission of necessity. It didn’t take long for me to catch up to the cars, even though by now they were a couple of miles away.

I swooped down towards my wayward automobile and dropped through the roof and settled into the backseat so I could get a better handle on the situation. The front seat was occupied by two long haired young men who looked like they had spent a little too much time in the local meth lab. Both were skinny, almost bony in appearance. They were laughing and joking with each other as the passenger was going through the bag I had left on that seat, probably looking for drugs or money. He seemed to be rather disappointed with my various odds and ends.

My choices were pretty limited at this point. The father these two knuckleheads drove, the farther I would have to walk in order to collect my car. I needed to stop the car without damaging it too badly, or causing these two meth-heads from doing something so stupid that they would crash the car. There just weren’t a lot of options in Spirit Form. I was pretty sure I could disable the car, but I was also pretty sure I couldn’t get the thing started back up again if I did so, which made that an unsavory option.

I thought briefly back to that time when Papa Locks attacked me with a host of small spirits and how it had felt when they had tried to invade my body, and also back to the monster they had created out of Greg’s body. Spiritual possession was obviously possible, but would I be able to actually take over some living person’s body?

How fucking ethical would that be? Did I really need to worry about ethics when these two addicts had stolen my car, possibly preventing me from helping Kenny?

‘What the hell,’ I thought, ‘it can’t be that hard to impose my will on one of these schmucks, they can’t have much damn willpower if they are drug addicts anyway.’

So with that admonishment to myself, I gathered up my own will power and slipped inside the passenger’s body, I didn’t want to experiment for the first time on the driver and then total the car by accident. It was remarkably easy to slide inside his body and impose my Will on his voluntary muscle movements, yet it was also extremely unpleasant. Our thoughts breifly merged, his were focused on getting his share of the money from this gig so he get some more stuff, while I was focused on gaining control of his vocal cords.

After a moment, I was in enough to control to make my host grab at his own crotch and double over, I was able to get out a few words. “Dude, pull over man, I gotta piss.”

The driver looked over at him/us will a puzzled look, “What’s the matter with you Bobby, you just pissed before we took this ride.”

Bobby’s thoughts were trying to struggle in answer, but I clamped down on him briefly and said, “Dude, I don’t know, but I go, real fucking bad!”

Ricky (I picked his name up from Bobby’s panicked thoughts) looked disgusted as he put his foot down on the brakes, and pulled over onto a wide spot on the shoulder. “You better hurry dude, we don’t want to get too far back from the others, they’ll take our beer!”

The car rolled to stop. Bobby’s spirit tried to rally again as he began to sense my intentions. I forced him back into the recesses of his own overly empty mind and forced the body to open the door and stand up. I moved around to the front of the car, pretended to take a leak, and then wandered o ver to the driver’s side window that had been broken open. Using all of the Will I could muster and then all of the strength this pathetic body had to offer, I coldcocked Ricky before he could object. Luckily he wasn’t much of a physical specimen either, as his head slumped to side from the blow.

I opened the door, pasted him again for good measure, and pulled his limp form from the car. I pulled him out far enough so that he was in no danger of getting run over, by this or any other cars and then slipped into the driver’s seat. Luckily, the road was wide enough to turn around at this point and head back down towards my own body. Unfortunately, the lead car must have noticed us stopping and had pulled over as well, just about a half mile ahead of us. When they noticed this turn around, they also made the turn.

I punched the gas and roared back down the mountain towards my own body. I didn’t trust this pipsqueak’s body in any kind of real fight.

Bobby’s spirit was starting to gain a little strength out of desperation and practice...it seemed the longer I was in his body, the more he learned about his own hidden reservoirs of strength.

The car behind us was gaining on us as I slowed down in order to account for the internal struggle I had to fight with Bobby’s increasingly restive spirit as well as keeping enough concentration to stay on the road. They did however, stop when they came upon Rick’s unconscious body, so that gave me a little respite.

A couple of minutes later I pulled the car into the lookout point parking lot, with just enough control remaining over Bobby’s spirit to bring the car to a stop without running over my own body and to put it into park. I forced us to open the door and we fell out of the vehicle, thrashing on the ground as I held control jsut long enought to insure he couldn’t flee very easily when I transferred back to my own body.

Finally, I gathered myself up and leapt from his body to mine, snapped down into place and was up and moving quicker than I thought would have been possible. Bobby, being a little newer to the experience was slow to regain to full control of his limbs and his senses. Just as he was getting to all fours again, I was standing over him grinning like a fool as I punched him into unconsciousness.

I had just enough time to reach into the car and pull out of my batons as the second car came screaming back into the lot. It skidded to a stop and two more kids stepped out, clubs in hand. I could see Ricky clumsily fumbling around for something in the back seat of their old beater.

One asked, “Who the fuck do you think you are man?”

While the other said, “We’re gonna fuck you up old man!”

I wasn’t much in the mood to play. I made short work of them. Ricky was the last to fall, even as he pulled out the rusty old revolver he had been digging around to locate, my baton came down first on his outstretched hand and then with a quick flick I busted his nose and knocked him out.

The Sins of the Father

I woke up from a night’s sleep for the first time in over a year. I was still lying among the roots of this strange Tree that called itself Yggdrasil, clasping the now crumpled leaf with Jennifer’s image on it. I lay there for a minute, gathering my thoughts, realized where I was and what had happened, got up to face the Tree.

The leaves and branches still moved to their own rhythm, I couldn’t discern any audible message from the sounds, so I started walking around the tree. I folded the leaf with Jennifer’s image on it and stuck it a pocket of the jeans I was wearing.

On the far side of the trunk, I noticed that the roots at the base of the trunk parted, revealing a small cave-like openning that descended beneath the bulk of the tree. Some smaller roots seemed to form a stairwell down into the depths. As I approached this curious openning, I could hear the steady drip-drop of water falling into a pool.

Remembering an image from a very popular movie of my youth, Empire Strikes Back, I stopped at the entrance and asked out loud, “What will I find down here.”

Unfortunately, there was no Yoda to spit out cryptic messages to me, or at least my Yoda wasn’t talkative at the moment, so I took a deep breath, hunched over and slowly descended into the darkness below.

The passage didn’t go that far really, as it descended in a curve that seemed to be about the same circumference as the tree trunk above me. The walls of the passageway were rough textured metal, much the same as the trunk above, but with the certain slickness that comes from being slightly wet. The stairwell openned up into a small chamber that was lit only by the soft glowing of what appeared to be a moss of some kind, which provided just enough light to see the small pool the filled the back half of the small, ten foot by ten foot chamber. The steady dripping of water from above the pool kept the surface of the pool from being totally still, as each drop brought a new round of gently expanding ripples that reflected in the dim light.

The only sounds in the place were my own breathing, the water dripping, and a constant gentle whispering sound sort of like a bellows, perhpas the Tree needed to breathe as well?

I approached the pool and took a knee. I reached down to the ground with both hands, bracing myself before bending out over the water, looking into the pool.

What I saw at that moment nearly caused me to jump back from shock, because the face that looked back out of the water was that of my son, Kenny, only he seemed older now than I remembered him being. He looked like a young man, could he be that old already? He was how old now? Shit he had to be nearly nineteen now, Jeezus. This could be his face now.

I had pulled back, but now looked back into the pool to see how he had changed. The image had changed slightly, now instead of showing him as if he looked directly up at me, I could see the back of his head. He was talking to someone else. I couldn’t hear the words that were being spoken, but the conversation looked friendly enough.

I could tell that Kenny was in the living room of the house I had left to my ex-wife with our divorce, and that he was talking to some man, but the way the image was set up, I couldn’t clearly see the face of the person talking to him. I could see that whoever it was, was in a suit of some sort.

I moved to the side, hoping against hope that the pool would shift its view for me as I did so. It didn’t. Kenny and whoever he was talking to seemed to be wrapping up their conversation. The figure leaned forward, envelope extended towards Kenny in one hand that looked vaguely familiar. Just then, the face of his visitor came visible, I called out in horror as I recognized Drake’s cruel image as he smiled bloodlessly at my son!

I saw Kenny take the envelope from Drake and open it. Inside, I could make the images of what appeared to be a plane ticket and a wad of green bills, topped by at least one hundred dollar bill. “NO! Kenny don’t take it!” I called out as I reached into the water, hoping in vain that I could disrupt the scene I was seeing.

I pulled my clasped fist from the water. As the ripples from my futile attempts break up the meeting of Drake and Kenny faded, I could see the final image of Kenny walking Drake to the front door. The two of them shook hands, Drake seemed to be smiling not just at Kenny, but through Kenny and directly at me. That bastard of all bastards!

My hand still wet from the waters of the pool, I got up and tore back up the steps until I was out into the air again.

I called out to the damnable Tree! “Yggdrasil! Was that happening now or in the future?”

Finally, I could make sense of the sounds the tree was making again, as it answered. “It matters little, for you will be unable to change what is about to happen.”

“You mean it hasn’t happened yet? But I can’t stop it from happening?”

“Indeed. You have seen the near future, whether it is a day hence or a slightly more, it matters not.”

“How can you be so sure? How can you know that I can’t stop it from happening?”

“The events that lead to what you have seen have already occurred, what you have seen is a result of the actions that you and others have already taken.”

“I have to try something. I can’t let that bastard get ahold of Kenny.”

“It is your nature to try.”

“What else am I supposed to do? Why did you show me this, if I can’t do anything to stop it?”

“It is my nature to show you. To become fully who you need to be, you must overcome your nature. You must use such information to take action that is not anticipated, you must find Wisdom.”

“He’s my son! I can’t allow him to fall into the hands of that foul creature.”

“Perhaps it is not for you to affect the choices that your children make.”

“What kind of father could I be, if I didn’t at least try to help him?”

“What kind of father have you been up to now?”

“That’s not fair!”

“I agree. You haven’t been fair to them, for many years now. You can’t make up for a lifetime of errors in one moment.”

“I was killed though! I didn’t abandon them or anything!”

“You abandoned your children and your wife many years prior to your death. You sold yourself body and soul, into servitude.”

“I did what I had to in order to provide for my family!”

“There are far more important ways to provide for a family than money. Were you there when your son needed his father for support and approval?”

“My wife was there full time! We had a deal, she would raise the kids, I would bring home the paycheck.”

“So a father’s worth is solely in the paycheck he brings home?”

“No, I didn’t say that! Enough of this shit, I’m going to go save my son!”

“I cannot stop you from trying.”

“Good! I’ll be back when I have saved him, just to prove you wrong.”

“I will be here. You have much to learn yet.”

“Fuck off Tree!”

Yggdrasil Reborn

After trading in the SUV I commandeered from the Transit Point for my own FBI issued Crown Vic that was waiting at the cheap motel that we had rented for our escape if we needed it. Strange as it may seem, I needed more than anything to escape from the people who had laid everything on the line to help me.

Looking back, I think it was being around people again who accepted me as if I were one of them, a real person. I had become too used to being the monster in the room, the central attaction to the Freak Show. Those folks accepted me without question, well, without too many questions anyway.

I felt an immeasurable relief in seeing that they came through the attacks without much harm, but also a tremendous sadness at knowing that so many innocent people had died just to lay a trap for me. Although I felt these things deep inside my spirit, I had no way of expressing them in a tangible way. I could shed no tears of relief, joy or sadness. Hugging or touching someone was just a mechanical exercise that didn’t bring any soft warmth, that couldn’t convey anything resembling the feelings I wanted so badly to express.

I needed to get away, to just be in the only way that I could. So I picked up the Crown Vic and my computer and other equipment that had been left on the Reservation when we went to go rescue John Red Bear, and had subsequently been driven up by one of his students to this meeting in Vegas.

The only one in that room was one of the Frau’s students, a young lady- Stephanie, she preferred Willow-who was taking care of the two giant familiars, Rowan and Morrigan. She was somewhat surprised to see me so soon, but was helpful in getting my keys and computer bag for me. I tossed her the keys to the SUV parked next to my car and told her that the others would probably be calling her soon.

I settled into the familiar confines of my car and headed for the mountains.

A few hours later found me parking the car at a highway observation point high in mountain range that I never knew the name of. I got out and went walking to the railing that separated the steep drop off down the side of the mountain from the parking area. Ignoring the dire warnings meant for mortals, I climbed over the railing and clambered down about twenty feet until I found a nice ledge wide enough and sturdy enough to support my weight. I sat and stared out into the expanse of high rocky cliffs, scrub land and desert that made this part of the country so breathtakingly beautiful.

The sun was high overhead, but still there were shadows cast over the land that slowly shifted as the earth rotated under the unforgiving sun. Wispy clouds drifted, sometimes gathering briefly before being dispersed by the strong winds. The wind whipped and whispered, elusive secrets carried to the ear only to be blown away before they could be fully comprehended.

I sat back against the rock of the mountain and slipped from my body. I felt free enough here, in this place, and at this time to soar like the eagles who hunted these far reaches. The winds beneath the wings of my Spirit were the energies that ebb and flow everywhere in the world, but most particularly in the high winds of the jet stream. I flew for hours, letting all of my petty, earthbound concerns slip from my Spirit, cleansed by wind and sol.

Just as the sun was beginning to be obscured by other mountains to the west, I looked down and saw my body nestled on that ledge just beneath the small parking lot for that scenic observation point. But now I noticed a small cave openning about forty feet below my body. Without really knowing why, I felt compelled to fly towards that openning.

Like an Eagle swooping in for the kill, I dove towards the cave at a breakneck pace, needlessly flinching as I hit the black openning and dove from one World to the next.

Soon I found myself standing at my normal entry point to the Underworld, the familiar path in front of me that would lead me to the clearing that I had last been to only yesterday evening in real time. Somehow though, things seemed just a little different, the path was the same, but was fainter, almost overgrown with new foliage, like some long period of time had passed in this place while I had been away.

The place felt different too. Where before I had always felt a little strange coming into the Underworld, like it was supposed to be a place of darkness and perhaps a little evil, now it felt almost vibrant, alive.

I followed the path towards the clearing that I had always felt was John Red Bear’s place, but now felt familiar, intimate.

As I rounded the bend and came upon the large boulders that had marked my entrance to the clearing, I noticed that the middle of the former clearing stood the dark, glistening, gnarled trunk of an enormous tree that appeared to be more metal like than wood. I stopped, stunned. The dark surface of the tree seemed to both suck in and reflect light at the same time. The trunk of the tree was easily wide enough for three people to encircle with their arms outstretched and not touch each other’s fingertips. The black tree also seemed to be swaying in tune to its own internal beat that differed from the breezes that affected the surrounding trees. Huge, knotty roots emanated from the trunk in all every direction, as if the giant tree needed to grasp tightly of the earth beneath it. Overhead, the branches of the mighty tree were as black as the trunk itself, and were covered with full, hand-sized leaves that rustled with each movement of those branches. The leaves were obsidian black on the upper sides, but almost white on the under sides. Looking up in awe, I could make out that some of the leaves seemed to have images of some sort on the white under sides.

Perhaps against all reason, I felt an irresistible urge to touch the Tree.

Carefully, I picked my way through the tangle of roots, kicking softly through some leaves that lay fallen on ground between the roots, I reached the trunk and touched it with the flesh of my living hands. The bark felt vaguely familiar, rough textured, metallic, and cool to the touch. But soon, a throbbing warmth flowed up from inside, warming my fingers and giving me the strangest sensation that the Tree was trying to talk to me. At first Ipulled away, not sure what was going on, but I couldn’t resist touching the bark again with my hand and then my ear.

From deep inside, I felt more than heard a breezy, metallic whisper, “Welcome home, Father.”

I pulled back again. “What in the...?”

This time, I could hear the whisper in the movements of the branches and the rustling of the leaves. “It is you who planted me, Father. I have grown tall and strong, waiting for your return.”

“I don’t remember planting anything but a baton here...son of a bitch! Is it possible?”

“All things are possible in this place. You planted a weapon, as warning and beacon to others.

Your fear, your need, your Life all nurtured me. I have grown from your seeds of stregnth and have become strong.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Yggdrasil Reborn”

“Isn’t that the name of the World Tree of Norse Mythology?”

“It is.”

“So are you THE Yggdrasil?”

“I am your Yggdrasil.”

“Oh, I see, it’s all clear now!”

“Your need called to me, so I have come. I shall remain so long as your need remains.”

“What exactly is my need?”

“When you come to know and understand that, my time will be over. For now, you may know that I am here, that you have a place of refuge in times of trouble. Know that you may come and seek answers to questions you may have, or for questions to answers that you may find. Here you will find the power to Dream again, to find Love, Loss and Hope. In my leaves you may find the images of those who have need of you, or who the memories of those whom you have lost and seek to find again. In my roots you may find the Water of Life, and in my branches you may find the Forbidden Fruit of Truth.”

“I see.”

Apparently my introduction was over though, since the rustling of the Tree now no longer seemed to form understandable words. I looked down at one of the leaves at my feet and found myself staring at the likeness of Jennifer, the girl who had died in the suite of that damnable hotel and who’s Spirit I had spoken with. Her image was smiling, peaceful.

I collapsed in a heap, scooping up the leaf and clutching it close to my chest. I lay there weaping amidst the tangle of warped roots for her and the others who died so needlessly.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

I stood looking at these good, brave people who had been caught up in the strange odyssey that I was travelling. On each of their faces I could see the some part of the human experience that I now lacked.

John Red Bear looked tired, almost exhausted as he stood there, face streaked in sweat that was his own and blood that wasn’t. He seemed to have aged ten years in the three months that I have known him.

Cerrydwen’s dark glare spoke of a deep, unfathomable rage that could only be contained with the strongest of Wills. Her shoulders were hunched with the effort of not lashing out at the rest of us just for being here and witnessing the struggle within her.

Herne and Moira showed the concern for their friends and for their fallen companions back at the hotel, but also reflected back at each other the kind of deep, enduring and complimentary love that only two soul mates can express.

Jim had the hard, determined look of someone who was faced with an almost insurmountable challenge, a challenge that would be faced and overcome regardless of the consequences. He was obviously piecing together a plan of attack based on the information he and Cerrydwen had peeled away from Dr. Geek.

Ravyn had the stricken, mournful look of someone who had just realized that someone they loved and cared for had passed away. Tears filled her eyes as the moment of crisis had finally passed, allowing her to mourn the passing of her two students, Jennifer and Eric.

The Frau had stopped to rest for a moment on her cane, but came up between Cerrydwen and Ravyn. Leaving her cane behind, she placed one hand firmly upon the shoulder of Cerrydwen, lending strength there, while also taking one of Ravyn’s hands gently into her other hand, sharing in the loss that seemed to be swallowing the smaller woman.

In that moment I felt alien, alone, inhuman.

“Look,” I started, “You folks have done so much, risked so much, and now lost so much because of me. I can’t, I won’t ask anything else of you. I can’t thank you enough for the aid, for the inspiration, you have given me.”

Jim looked up in surpise, “What are you talking about? We are in this as deep as you are now...”

I held up my hand, “I know this mess isn’t over with by any stretch. But you all have lives to return to, friends to bury. I think you have enough information to work with now on this group of Drake’s to do some serious damage to him without further endangering your lives. You can use that information and the threat of public exposure about the things that he and his people have been doing to protect yourselves.”

Jim nodded.

“You folks need to regroup, to plan for the future and to protect yourselves and your families. If I stay with any of you, I will be placing you and those you love in too much danger. I can’t bear the thought of anyone else paying that kind price again.”

Herne asked, “What are you going to do then?”

“I probably should find out if I am still actually an agent for the FBI. I don’t know for sure yet though. I have some unfinished business with Drake. I need to find Papa Locks and that monster of his for sure. But I don’t know what I’ll do first.”

Cerrydwen looked up at Papa Locks’ name, “That one is mine.”

John pitched his hat into that ring, “If anyone here has a grudge against the Haitian, it is I. But I agree with Rusty on two points. First it is that we do have lives to return to, and affairs that must be set in order. Second, though, is that that monster they have created must be stopped. As long as the Haitian has that thing for a servant, no one here, or anyone that we love, is safe.”

Ravyn wiped away her tears and spoke up, “Don’t you dare try to take on that thing on your own. We can ill afford to lose you to them, and face the possibility of having them take you out and then use your body the same way. But I agree, we all need time to regroup and prepare for the next conflict. We all know that it will come, and when it does, we need to be ready.”

“I need to spend some time on my own, to figure some things out. I know how to contact each of you, and you know how to reach me, through the blog, by my cell phone. or in the Spirit World. If you are in danger, I will help in any way I can. But I can best help you out by making myself scarce. Jim, I’ll be getting in touch with you soon, maybe I can put some stress on Drake’s organization, bit by bit. I was never good at goodbye’s, so let me just say farewell for now.”

I picked up the keys to one of the SUV’s outside and walked out of the building. Using the remote locks button, I found my truck, got in and backed out. Lookiing up I could see the group watching me from the doorway just as the sun was starting to come up...a new day dawning as I pulled out onto the street that would become the Strip, the true Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

Seizing the Initiative...Part 3

As I helped to gather the wounded men from outside I was amazed at how many of these men I recognized from my time in the Necro Labs. Many of these guys were just glorified lab assistants, while others were clearly hired muscle of some sort. All of them were wearing the dark suits and accoutrements that were normally the reserve of actual agents, so this was quite the attempt to present the image of being an FBI task force of some sort.

Each of the captives were stripped of weapons, wallets, cell phones, PDA’s and fake credentials. The credentials I threw into a pile to be destroyed, while the weapons were unloaded and stacked up for Herne’s growing collection of confiscated firearms. (Although Moira claimed anything and everything with a sharp point, she had nearly a dozen blades of various sizes.) The cell phones and PDA’s were piled up next to one of the many desktop computers in the room to be reviewed and data-mined by Jim once he had the time.

The wallets were stripped of cash, credit and debit cards, state issued identifications and driver licenses and tossed into a bag that would be sent forward with the wounded.

Dr. Geek was now sitting cuffed to one of the chairs and trying his best not to look Cerrydwen in the face as she questioned him closely on a number of issues. His shattered nose had been patched up the best that we were able to do so, while his two front teeth had been bagged and put in his pocket for future use if the dentist in his soon to be new location could restore them. Jim had Dr. Geek’s laptop computer and PDA booted up on the desk nearby and was busy prompting Cerrydwen with the right questions to make sure he got all of Dr. Geek’s passwords, PIN numbers and encryption codes to his various accounts and programs. Of particular interest were his e-mail accounts and the various Necro Lab files he had stored on the computer. It was a veritable treasure trove of information on Drake’s organization and its members, associates and secret allies. He was clearly trying to resist giving up this valuable information, but he was no match for the Will the Cerrydwen applied to him whenever he lied or tried to refuse to answer. She constantly moderated her voice between calm admonishment to motherly approval and back to stern disappointment as needed to elicit the answers she demanded. I almost felt sorry for his ass, especially since the more she questioned him, even I began to feel like a disobedient child who had deeply disappointed his beloved mother...shit, I don’t know if even Drake could have matched her Will for Will.

John Red Bear, the Frau and John’s two students were busy tending to the various broken limbs and bones among the poor bastards who had been trapped in the building with me, and were doing their best to alleviate the suffering of the wounded. John had found the small case of syringes that one of the lab geeks had used to subdue Ravyn and was using the 8 or 9 remaining needles to put those in the worst shape to sleep. After he injected each one, he carefully tagged them by sticking the needle through some visible article of clothing and bending the needle in such a way as to form a harmless hook. This served the humanitarian purpose of alerting whichever medical personnel who next treated them as to what was used to put them out.

The Frau didn’t seem to need any medical equipment, as she moved among the bleeding, and often unconscious men, she would touch many of them, mumble a few phrases and immediately ease their discomfort. The poor soul who had tried to face down Moira and was cut up pretty badly also benefitted from her ministrations, with most of his wounds closing up without obvious bandages at her touch. The wounds seemed to scab over surprisingly fast when she touched them. Her matronly manner and soothing words calmed the fears of the still conscious.

Ravyn spent her time examining the control panel for the Transit Room. She appeared to have an affiinity for the gems that were placed near each set of symbols. Every few minutes she called out the location of another one of the symbols, excited perhaps by puzzling out the answers, but maybe also because of the surging energies that seemed to flow in and around the panel. She was still upset at me, so I didn’t bug her, leaving her to the new toy she had found.

After twnety minutes or so, there was a few moments of excitement as a surge of power lit up the control panel and then dissipated after a muted flash lit up the sealed Transit Room.

There was a lot of pounding on the door and some muted voices heard screaming profanities, but they obviously couldn’t get through the locked portal.

Ravyn called out shortly after they arrived and disturbed our work, “It looks like whoever they are, they came from Atlanta!”

Jim broke off his work with Cerrydwen and Dr. Geek and came over to the control panel. “Let’s send them somewhere else. Don’t want to make it too easy on them.”

I joined them at the panel and asked, “Which symbol is Atlanta?”

Whehn Ravyn pointed it out, I quickly smashed the crystal that connected to that symbol, extinguishing the mild glow that persisted after their arrival. “That should keep anyoner else from coming from there, now let’s send them packing.”

Ravyn pointed out another symbol and said, “That should be New York. Hope they dressed warm!” With that she placed her hands on that symbol, energy seemed to flow from her hands into the symbol for New York and then up into the crystal that was connected to it. There was a throb of power and a flash of light from behind the shield covering the window into the room, and then silence. “They should be gone.”

I unlatched the window shielding and raised it up, observed that the room was indeed empty, then dropped the shield back down into place. Then I reached down and destroyed the crystal for New York. “There, they won’t be coming back this way from there either.”

Jim looked at Ravyn, “Which of these is the most remote location here?”

Ravyn studied the panel. “Well, this is Chicago, this one is Washington DC, let’s see...ooh here is Vancouver!”

“OK,” I said, “Who’s up for a scouting trip to Vancouver?”

“We’ll go,” said Herne, with Moira nodding excitedly. “But I’ll want to see how that thing works so we can get back easily enough.”

John piped up, “Shane here will go as well.”

With that, we unlocked the door quickly, Herne, Moira, Shane and myself piled into the Transit Room and closed the door behind us. We only had to wait for moment before a spinning sensation caused our vision to go dark, a sudden jerk and we were standing in another room just like the one we left, but with a slight variation on the painting scheme.

The door out was unlocked, in what must have been standard operating procedure when the places were idle, and the control room beyond was dark. A quick bit of exploring revealed this place to be remarkably similar in outlay to the place in Vegas, with computers, security cameras and desks lining the walls of the control room.

While the others checked out the outide perimeter, I went to the control panel and destroyed the crystals linking this place to Miami, Atlanta and New York, just to keep the chances of a nasty surprise reduced. I was careful to leave the Vegas symbol of a pair of dice alone.

The others returned shortly to report that the place did seem to be pretty remote. They confirmed that there were no vehicles in the parking lot.

“OK, let’s get back and report this to be a good place to send our captives. But first let me eliminate the possibility that anyone else will use the roundabout way of getting here.”

I then smashed all of the crystals in the control panel except the Vegas symbol, and then stepped back to let Herne set the panel for transport. He did so quickly as the rest of us got back into the room. He joined us moments later, shutting the door just in the nick of time to join us in our dizzying return trip.

Upon our return, I smashed all of the crystals in our own panel, except the one connected to the Bear symbol that represented Vancouver.

We then began the tedious task of loading 5 or 6 of the wounded at a time into the room and transporting them to Vancouver. I went on each trip, since the vertigo had less of an impact on me, and I could easily move event he largest of the wounded men. I quickly got the hang of activating the device and jumping back into the room just in time to make the return trip.

By the time Dr. Geek was the last of the wounded captives remaining, he looked thoroughly drained and beaten. Cerrydwen put her arm around his shoulder, consoling him as she escorted him away from the grinning Jim, who was in his glory with all of the data he had mined from the beaten scientist.

I went over and slapped the bastard on his back, “Gee Doc, aren’t you glad you didn’t get a chance to load me up with all those weapons you had planned? I don’t think you would have survived the results of that.”

He looked at me blankly, I’m not sure he even recognized me at that moment. I escorted him into the Transit Room and shut the door behind him.

Ravyn sent him to join his men. “There,” she said as she did so, “let him figure out what to do in a foreign country with no ID’s no money, and no way to get out quickly!”

I smashed the last link between this Transit Point and the rest of their network when I crushed the crystal connected to Vancouver’s symbol. “Now what?” I asked, looking at my friends, who all looked visibly relieved to be done with the prisoners.

Seizing the Initiative...Part 2

In the end, it was a damn good thing that the captors weren’t actually law enforcement officers. No matter how much Dr. Geek’s Lab Rats would like to think that they too have what it takes to be agents, they showed on that night that they lacked the skills, training, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances that all good law enforcement officers possess.

My trap wasn’t particularly well laid or executed, since it was pretty much a spur of the moment decision, but it certainly worked well enough to handle this collection of knuckleheads relatively easily.

When the door openned into a darkened room with broken glass on the floor and chairs pushed around randomly, there was some cursing and grumbling mixed with the questions thrown back towards Dr. Geek about whether to proceed or not. After about thirty seconds of debate, one scared looking man was sent in to find a working light switch.

I remained behind the now open door, waiting motionless in the total darkness, knowing that he wouldn’t find anything very easily in this darkness.

Before long, several others were sent in to stumble around in the dark to try and help their comrade. One guy can perilously close to me, but something seemed to guide him off to the side and away from my little patch of shadow.

Dr. Geek stepped into the doorway called out to the men inside, “Never mind about the lights, someone look to see if the Transit Room is still functional.”

That was my cue. I slammed the door shut with a strength that surprised even me, the satisfying thud and groan before it slammed completely shut told me that Dr. Geek was still in the doorway when I acted. The sudden cutting of even the dim ambient light from outside left the 7 or 8 victims inside stunned. Their moment of stunned silence quickly turned into a mini-inferno of pained screams, bone crushing thuds of my batons on legs, shoulders and arms, and the sobs of the still conscious wounded. The poor bastards never had a chance. This part of the battle was over in less than a minute.

As quick as all that was however, I was worried about my friends outside, so I didn’t take any additional time to make sure that no one was in jeopardy of dying, there was no time for niceties. I yanked open the door, bloody baton in hand, ready to leap into the fray outside as well, only to see that my companions were handling things rather well on their own.

Jim had one scrawny fake agent in a wrestling move over his head and was just in the motion of bringing the poor bastard down into another couple who were fumbling around trying to draw weapons that they were obviously not very proficient with.

Herne was busy pummeling a larger goon into senselessness with his bare fists while his wife, Moira, had somehow come up with a very wicked, very sharp knife that she was using with great skill to back down another goon. That poor soul was bleeding from several small cuts on his face and was busy holding his bleeding limp right hand with his still functional left.

John Red Bear was standing over a couple of fallen men, his bruised and bloody knuckles the only evidence of what was used to subdue them. He was now working on taking the hand cuffs and bags off the heads of his two students.

Cerrydwen was standing calmly among three other fake agents, their weapons dropped down at their feet as two of them were sobbing uncontrollably in the face of her dark glare, while the third just stood there with a slack look on his face that I had seen once before, back in Chicago, when she had subdued that bounty hunter.

The Frau was sitting on top of Dr. Geeks chest, his hands pinned at his side, his face a bloody mess from a clearly shattered nose and maybe now missing some teeth from the impact of the door on his face.

The only person of our group who I didn’t immediately see was Ravyn, I was just about to ask about her though when a concentrated bolt of flame erupted from behind one of the SUV’s and knocked me off of my feet and back into the control room. My one baton went spinning back into the room as well, falling with a clang near one of the downed Lab Rats. Luckily the bolt had been more solid energy than actual flame, so the only damage done was to my pride, but then I guess that was pretty well deserved at this point.

I sat up to see her standing in the doorway, an enormous image of the Fierce Phoenix filling the rest of the doorway behind her. Her fiery red glare held me silent as I sat up, brushed at my chest to make sure everything was still there. I could see the remains of the hand cuffs dripping off her arms in little molten drops, but remarkably, the rest of her clothing was untouched.

“I hope you REALLY enjoyed that look back in Chicago, because that’s the LAST such look you’re getting! Now you better fess up as to what the hell is going on around here or we’re gonna find out just how bad Zombie flesh smells when its fried!”

I raised my hands in a defenseive gesture, but dropped them down immediately when she raised her right hand, flame dancing from her fingers excitedly. “It’s going to take a few minutes to explain. I fell into a trap that Drake laid, and the only way I could see out of it, to protect you and the others was to play along with things until I could find a way to turn things back around.”

Her glare, and her flames, were still fierce and angry. “So when was this trap sprung on you, and why didn’t you tell anyone so that we could face this challenge together?”

“When I realized that the man you knew of as Agron was one of Drake’s agents, I didn’t know excactly who I could trust, so I went looking for him before he could try to alert Drake to everything that we were doing. But look, I wasn’t thinking straight, I was scared for you guys, I was scared for myself, I didn’t know what was going on.”

By now Ravyn had stepped into the room, allowing Jim and Cerrydwen to follow. Jim loomed in the doorway, blocking out the light from beyond with his bulk. “So you just let me lay there asleep, leaving a damn note? Do you know the danger you put us into?”

“Yeah, I found out afterwards. Look, Papa Locks has found a way to animate another officer who was killed after I was. I had helped to release his Spirit, so I was pretty surprised when I saw the face of my friend being used by that host of dark spirits that Papa Locks has animated that body with. He used that monster to kill everyone in the suite, making it look like I had done it. He disappeared right after I showed up. When the police came, I didn’t think it was too wise to resist. But even they had been coopted by Drake and his men. I was hoping that they just wanted me, and that you guys would be left alone if I cooperated.”

Herne came through the doorway, followed by Moira and John. “Fat chance of that, man,” said Herne. “I don’t think this Drake fellow is going to let us get away with the damage we’ve done to his network. It’s a war now and he isn’t going to stop until we are gone, or he is.”

“Yeah, I get that now. And I had already made the decision to try and get you guys out of whatever mess was being made, which is why I broke my deal and refused to leave here when they tried to transport me back to Florida.”

“So that’s why they were bringing us here,” said Cerrydwen. “I remember one of them referring to this place as a Transit Point and how they were going to send us somewhere far away, but I was puzzled when they didn’t take us to the airport.”

“I don’t know exactly how it works, but I can show you what I saw the guy do when he used it, although I am afraid I disabled the link to Florida. Can I get up now?” I asked looking at Ravyn.

The fire in her eyes and on her hands seemed to dim just a little during the course of our conversation. “I suppose, but I am watching you buster. There had better be no more nasty surprises out of you, or I’ll toast your circuits pretty damn quick!”

Cerrydwen put her hand on Ravyn’s shoulder, “It’s OK sis, I can see the truth in his words. I knew he wasn’t involved in the killings of the suite, just like I told you before. You know me, I don’t trust easily.”

Ravyn looked over her shoulder at Cerrydwen, “Yeah, that’s true. You don’t normally vouch for anyone. All right.”

John spoke up now, “We need to gather up all of these prisoners and bring them inside. We can interrogate them and find out how to use this device of theirs to send them somewhere far away were they can get medical attention, but can’t get us into trouble. Then we can discuss with more information what we need to do next.”

With those wise words, everyone pitched in, bringing in the wounded from outside, and the one man I had killed while I was in a hurry inside. I was saddened by his death, but resolved to continue the struggle against Drake and his minions.