Playing Hardball...Part 2

I turned to face the Frau. “OK, we’ve seen what’s happened at the Coop. What else is going on?”

Frau scrunched up her face as she moved to take a seat on a comfortable looking sofa and waved for the rest of us to do the same. “You all might as well sit down. Things have gone from bad to worse in a hurry.”

Cerrydwen emerged from the kitchen to place a steaming platter of eggs, sausages and toast on the counter that separated the kitchen from the immense common room. “If anyone’s hungry, come and get it while it is still hot.”

Ravyn rushed to the bar stool nearest the food and began piling a plate high with servings of everything. She waved at the Frau to begin speaking. “Don’t wait on me. I’ve never been so hungry in my life. I’m listening!”

The Frau nodded, setting her cane to the side as Alexa came bouncing up into her lap with an energetic giggle.

“Herne did note that everyone that Ravyn and Betsy had sent out there had arrived safely, but the news was certainly not all good.” Her glasses slid down towards the end of her nose as she spoke. “He has already received a second group of refugees from the San Diego Circle and has heard reports of an attack on the Salem House in Boston, but he hasn’t been able to reach Tessa or any of the other principles of Salem House.”

Jim gave a low whistle and took off his hat in frustration. “That means that three of our largest teaching facilities have been hit on the same night!”

Ravyn looked up from her plate, her mouth half full of food. “No wonder he mentioned the Railroad.”

The Frau nodded. “Yes, he has activated the Railroad and has been sending out the refugees first.”

I looked around, everyone else seemed to know what the Hell the ‘Railroad’ was, so I had to ask. “What is this Railroad business and what does it have to do with these attacks?”

Jim stood up. He began twisting and wrenching his baseball cap in his large hands as he began to explain. “The Railroad is one of major contingency plans. It was actually something we came up with when we were dealing with Drake and his minions, when we thought that we might be pitted against the FBI and other federal agencies in trying to help you in those early days. It is based on the Underground Railroad that helped freed slaves escape the South before and during the Civil War. It is a way of moving our people around without too much notice.”

“I guessed as much, but where are these folks going and how are they getting there?”

He shuffled his feet and twisted his cap even tighter in his hands. “We have a network of transit points that link each major ORC facility to few select safe houses scattered around the country that are known only to select principals in each facility. It was one of those transit points that Ravyn activated to get most of the folks from the Coop to Herne’s Lodge in the Rockies.”

Frau cleared her throat. “Yes, as well as the dozen or so from San Diego. The Lodge is one of our primary rally points, but Herne is concerned of the possibility that it has been compromised as well. That was why he activating the Railroad to move out most of the refugees to even safer locations until we can get our bearings and come up with an appropriate response.”

Ravyn bounced up from her stool now that her plate was empty and stalked over to me. She stood facing me, hands on her hips. “I know one thing that we’re going to be doing! Bane hunting! I…”

My Bureau issued cell phone chose that moment to erupt in music, silencing Ravyn in mid-sentence. With more than a little trepidation, I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. I didn’t recognize the number, so I flipped the phone open. “Bones here.”

Agent Jennifer Wilson’s voice hissed through the crackling static of the ear piece, but she was clearly trying to mask it. “Damn it, don’t use any names. It’s about time you I found you. Look, I can’t talk long. The Bureau is shutting us down.”

“What? Why?”

“I just received a summons from very high in the Bureau. All work in our unit is to cease immediately and all agents and assets are to report for reassignment immediately. The scuttlebutt is also that you’ve been compromised and have gone rogue, but I don’t believe it. There is an all point’s bulletin out for you to be taken into custody by any means necessary. That’s why I had to use this disposable phone to call you. I recommend that you dump this phone immediately when we terminate this call and get rid of any other Bureau issued items that might be traceable.”

“Damn! What about you?”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. Oh, two more quick things. First, that body that I was examining disappeared along with all of my notes and computer files, but I can tell you that I think they have an aversion to silver, the purer the silver the better. Second, your friend in DC, the one named after the African tribe, has been taken very ill and has been quarantined for the last week. No one except his doctor and the guards that have been assigned to his room is being allowed to see him for any reason.”

“Jesus…”

“I have to go. Remember, ditch your phone immediately and get away from wherever you are. There are serious resources being dedicated to finding you right now and they don’t have good intentions.”

The phone went silent and the squealed in protest as I crushed it in my hand.

I looked up in the questioning, concerned faces of my compatriots. “Well, it looks like we just moved from the frying pan to the fire. We need to pack up as quickly as possible and get the heck out of here, pronto.”

(To be continued…)

Playing Hardball...Part 1

After an impromptu and emotional celebration, we returned to the house to find the phone ringing.

The Frau picked up the cordless phone while simultaneously offering instructions. “Naomi, you’re closest to Ravyn’s size, can you get some clothes for poor Ravyn? Rusty can you take care of this table? Cerry, would you be a dear and start some breakfast going?” After about the tenth ring, she fumbled with the buttons on the phone and answered that. “Hello?”

Her face lit up as she heard the voice on the other end of the line.

“Oh, Herne, I’m so glad you called. Ravyn’s back with us now!”

There was a pause as she listened to him respond. His voice was almost audible over the handset, but I couldn’t quite make out the words.

“What? Oh dear! Yes, by all means, activate the Railroad. I’ll let everyone here know about your concerns and start the ball rolling on our end.”

Jim’s face tightened considerably at the mention of ‘railroad’, he stood still as he tred to catch whatever was being said by Herne.

She paused again as he spoke for quite some time.

“Yes, we’ll turn it on now. Yes, we’ll notify the families. You guys take care. Let us know when everyone is safe!”

Frau’s demeanor had changed considerably by the time she punched the button to hang up the phone. She looked she wanted to slam the phone down, but thought better of it at the last moment. Instead, she turned to me. “Rusty, will you turn the television on to the Wolf Network News channel please.” Her teeth visibly grated as she spat those words out.

I nodded and went looking for the remote control. The WNN was not the first choice of anyone here, as it clearly had a hard line conservative bent to its coverage. By the time I found the remote, everyone had come back into the main room, gathering about the TV.

Ravyn was now wearing a pair of loose grey sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt that was clearly two sizes too large for her as she carried the bubbly Alexa in her arms. Naomi followed right behind.

The TV flickered on and we could immediately see why the Frau wanted to watch this channel. The screen was split into two main images and scrolling news banner beneath. The words ‘Breaking News’ were emblazoned across the top of both images. The screen on the right must showing earlier footage of the Coop lit up at night by the blazing fire that we had just barely escaped from. The left side of the screen was of a reporter talking with the smoldering ruins of the Coop as the backdrop.

The scrolling ‘news’ that rolled beneath the footage was supposedly encapsulating the highlights of the coverage to date. Just the first few snippets of it were enough to get Ravyn to gasp and Jim to clench his hands in anger.

“BIZZARE FIRE AT COLLEGE TOWN OCCULT HOUSE IN CHICAGO SUBURBS.”

“POLICE SUSPECT POSSIBLE SUICIDE PACT AMONG STRANGE CULT MEMBERS.”

“20 BODIES DISCOVERED IN OCCULT HOUSE FIRE NEAR CHICAGO.”

“NEIGHBORS CLAIM RESIDENTS OF OCCULT HOUSE WERE SATAN WORSHIPPERS AND THAT HOUSE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHUT DOWN YEARS AGO.”

The reporter’s voice came across in response to a question from the studio. “Yes, Bill, I just finished speaking with a spokesperson for the East Napierville Fire Department and he has confirmed that fire appears to be very suspicious in nature and that they believe that accelerants were used, leading them to believe that the occupants of the house set it on fire themselves.”

The screen flashed over to a studio where a heavy set, balding man sat at an anchor desk and asked another question of the reporter. “Sam, I’ve seen some reports here that this house may have been used by a Satanic cult of some sort, can you give us any more information on that?”

The screen flipped back to the reporter, who listened to the question in his earpiece, nodding eagerly as the question ended. “Indeed, I can Bill. According to several neighbors that I spoke with, including one that we’ll roll the tape on here in a moment, this house was run by a wild woman known only as Ravyn Fyre. All of the witnesses agreed that this Ravyn Fyre was a well known witch and coven leader for a bizarre group that called themselves Trolls or Goblins, or some other name like that. She apparently used this house as a recruiting center and for strange night time rituals that often involved large fires and animal sacrifices. Let’s roll the tape of this interview.”

The screen flickered to show an older woman who looked an awful lot like Evelyn Olsen, a kindly neighbor that Ravyn had shared many a meal with over the years, but her mannerisms were not quite right. “Oh yes, I’ve always known that the people in this house weren’t to be trusted. When I tried to report on them though, they threatened me to keep me quiet. Ravyn Fyre even threatened to make my precious kitties disappear if I reported her to the authorities.”

The mike in front of the woman moved as the reporter asked another question. “Mrs. Olsen, do you think that the folks in this house were involved with occult activity in any way?”

She nodded vigorously. “Oh yes. I can’t remember all of the times I saw those young people dressed in strange robes-or even in nothing at all-dancing around fires at night.” She visibly shuddered. “I pray for the souls of those poor folk in the fire, I’m afraid that they will be heading in the wrong direction, if you know what I mean.”

The Frau snorted at that last statement before she spoke. “Rusty, turn that off. I’ve seen enough.”

(To be continued…)