Shaman - the Awakening (22 page)

“You have brought justice to the spirit world and the middle world. For this you will be rewarded. Usually there is a price to pay, but you have given up so much already, Spirit Warrior. You will be aided in what you seek,” Kayah said.

“Thank you, Great Mother,” I replied.

I left Nina with Kayah and ventured to the Kiva alone. I remained there for most of the day, chanting and, with the assistance of peyote, slipping into the dream world. When I arose from the Kiva several hours later there were all sorts of gifts laid out in front of it. The Hopituh had heard of what I had done, apparently, and wanted to show their appreciation. They were masterful artisans and their gifts were exquisite. There was pottery, baskets, woven clothing, food and drink. The people weren't present when I exited the Kiva. They were shy and peaceful shunning the spotlight and standing clear of attention. They were uncannily similar to me in several characteristics.

The night had come when I rose from the Kiva. I was just in time to hear the Great Mother bless the village. I loved this Hopituh tradition more than any. Her voice had such a profound, serene effect on me, it was soothing to hear her beautiful voice echoing over the village. It took me back to pleasant days of the past, when I was a boy and my mother used to say nightly prayers with me. Then she would read me a bedtime story before I fell asleep.

When the Great Mother completed the prayers, she joined me at the base of the Kiva. I felt ambivalent. I was elated and honored by the gifts, but saddened because I still didn't have all the answers I was looking for. Kayah attempted to calm me and told me not to get discouraged. She grabbed my hand and said, “They have shown you all you need to know.” Nina was at Kayah's pueblo. I decided to remain at the Kiva for a while longer.

The night is a totally different animal than the day. Man has feared the night since the time when we were living in caves. When we were afraid of what we couldn't see and the horrors that came when the sun went down. This was when the predators came out to hunt. This was a time when man was prey and you would find him curled up in a corner in fear, hoping to make it through the night.

Things haven't changed much since the days before we discovered how to use fire. We have always utilized fire as a protector. It protected us from the elements, predators and the night. We are still afraid of things that go bump in the dark. We attempt to illuminate the night for protection, but there are those few among us who gravitate towards it. They find comfort, ease and purpose in the dark. The moon is their sun and the night offers protection. They see the unknown things in the night and are the things that go bump in the dark.

I was on the run and Gracie was running out of time. My back was up against the wall again. Soon we would be coming up on the week when he kills the victim. I stood outside the Kiva and just starred at the night skies. The stars were gleaming and there was a quarter moon out. I spent a lot of time out at night, gazing at the different phases of the moon. I watched its cyclic progression while listening to the coyotes howl and sing to her brilliance. I lay back down on the mesa ground and continued to stare up at the sky until Nina found me, as she always did; my Eagle protector.

“Hello, you,” she said with a warm and very pleasing smile.

“Good evening,” I replied.

“How's it going?” she inquired and lay down next to me on the ground.

“Not so good, Nina. I can't get to him.”

“Who, the killer?” she asked?

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Kayah said you're trying too hard to see what you already see,” Nina stated.

“I know, she mentioned something like that to me as well. It sounds like a riddle,” I replied.

“Such is life,” she said and held my hand. She knew I was feeling down.

“Did you see all the gifts the Hopituh left for you?”

“Yes, they're very nice.”

“They provided me with gifts also. You should have been there when they were coming up. They were touching me, holding me and hugging me. I ate and drank so much my stomach is swollen,” she said, laughing and placing my hand on her perfectly flat belly.

“Yeah, you're becoming a fatty,” I replied. We both laughed and she hit me affectionately. She was athletic and very physical, even when she played.

“Even the council members came. They asked if you could pay them a visit before we depart. I think they want to thank you in person. It's beautiful out here tonight, isn't it,” Nina commented, looking out at the calm and magnificent night.

“Yes, it is,” I stated, staring at her beauty. Then she looked back at me and smiled. It was in her nature to be loquacious, so I let her continue until she swung on top of me and began kissing me under the beautiful, starry night.

“You're thinking about Gracie?” Nina inquired but knew the answer.

“Yeah, we're sharing the same starry sky and moon with the killer,” I answered, and that's when it finally dawned on me.

“What is it,” Nina inquired as I sat up from the ground.

“Kayah was correct; the answers are right in front of our faces. They have been there all the time. It's the moon, Nina. The killer is following the moon. We need to look at a calendar with the moon on it.”

We got up and rushed to where the laptop was located in the pueblo. I googled for a calendar with the moon phases on it, then accessed my personal files. I juxtaposed the dates of the killings on the moon calendar and there it was, plain as day; the killer's schedule. It contained when he abducted the women and when he killed them.

“All the abductions occurred on the new moon of each month, or as the Native Americans call it, the dark moon. The only killing that I witnessed was Jessica. It occurred on January 16
^th
during the full moon. Following this pattern, the other women were killed on the full moon as well. This means Gracie has until the 16
^th
of February before he takes her outside and ceremoniously kills her.”

“I have to call Steve and let him know.”

“But how is this going to help find him? All we know is when he's going to commit this murder.”

“Well besides telling us how much time we have to work with, we now have his pattern, He follows the moon, which means we have to research lunar followers and worshipers to see if we can make a match.”

“I'll access the BIA database and research anything pertaining to moon worshippers.”

“Thanks, Nina. I'll call Steve and inform him so they can work on other possibilities as well,” I said. This wasn't a big break, but I'd take whatever crack in the case I could find!

After I notified Steve of our lunar findings, I asked to be excused to return to the Kiva. I didn't want to dreamscape, but just meditate and reflect. I wanted to see if there was anything I might have missed in my hastiness. Nina insisted on being with me, so I let her come. I lit a fire in the Kiva. It was a cold night on the Black Mesa. I laid out the prayer rugs and sat in a lotus position to meditate.

Several hours went by as I continued deep into the night, with Nina curled up beside me. I dreamscaped occasionally to check in on Gracie, and then continued meditating. It was becoming as fluid as Asku and Kayah had said it would be for me to traverse the different realms. I no longer needed the assistance of sleeping pills or peyote, but I still had some lessons to learn on reading signs and symbols.

I saw morning approach in the opaque sky above. I was getting sleepy, so I placed more wood on the fire to sustain it while I slept. I lay down and snuggled behind Nina with my arms around her, to ensure her warmth when the fire subsided.

When I woke, Nina was no longer within my arms, but up and waiting, as usual. She was an incredibly caring and patient woman.

“Good morning, sleepy head. How are you?” Nina inquired.

“Starving,” I replied.

“Yeah; me too. Let's say we drive to Tuba City and grab a meal,” she suggested.

“Sounds like a winner to me, but I have to see the Great Mother before we depart,” I replied.

“Did you find out anything last night,” Nina inquired.

“Yes; a lot of things were illuminated for me. I heard the howl of the Coyote. I know who he is;
he is like me!
I'll explain everything when we talk with Kayah.”

We exited the Kiva and went down to Kayah's pueblo. Kayah, like Nina, was already up and waiting for us. We sat down in front of her on the rugs she had waiting for us.

“I am enlightened, Great Mother. I needed to slow down and refocus. I have spent so much time in the Spiritual Worlds that I have neglected the signs and symbols of the Middle World. It all makes sense now. Only two of the Kachina Spirits appeared at the Jemez Order. The Kachinas you've shown me when we first met in the dream world are illustrations of not only the two dead priests who were found, but of the third missing priest. Monsignor Davis mentioned that there were no more missing dead priests. The third priest escaped and is alive.”

“Each dream is particular and unique, Cheveyo. Learning how to read and interpret them is just as important skill as being able to receive them. Until now you have visited and received dreams from Middle Realm, from the Earth, but receiving and interpreting visions from the Upper and Lower Realms is different. When you are channeling you're utilizing the spiritual world. There is an old Hopituh saying:
Give the Navajo corn and he will eat for a day, but give the Hopituh seeds and a plow and he will not only eat forever, but he will also feed the Navajo.”

“I have heard this before in a different context, Great Mother,” I responded.

“You must learn how to utilize the tools given to you, Cheveyo,” she replied.

“The third priest is the one I am chasing. He appears in the Spirit World because he is like me. He is able to use the night as I do. He is able to evade and not be seen. He knows of me and that is why he carefully shields himself from my visions. I believe him to be a Shaman, and his spirit guide is the coyote. What can you tell me about the coyote, Great Mother?”

“He is a powerful adversary. He is more powerful than most because he is underestimated in his strength. What he lacks in physical prowess he multiplies in intelligence, which is his greatest tool. He is cunning and clever. He is the true trickster; a master of deception and disguise. If he is a Shaman, he will be difficult to find and just as difficult to defeat. He will fool and trick you. When the coyote howls at night he will continue to do this, from one spot continuously for an extended period of time. This is to fool the other animals of his whereabouts. Once they relax, thinking they know of his location, he sneaks away and observes from another to pounce on prey and avoid enemies.”

“He is a loner, but is also opportunistic. He will travel with other coyotes, no more than three or four to a pack. He is most dangerous in a pack with support, but he is also more reckless and careless. He takes uncalculated risks while in a pack.”

“You will never see him by day, only by sunrise and sunset. He is active at night, like you Toquer Shoo-coots. You trick him in order to catch him,” the Great Mother stated. “He appears with the other Kachina Spirits, but he remains unknown. I do not know his identity. He keeps it shrouded from me also. He is powerful in the spirit realm,” Kayah added.

“So we've been attempting to track a shaman all this time?” Nina said in astonishment.

“Yeah, that's why he is so similar to me. That's why he covers the victim's eyes. He doesn't want others with vision quest abilities to see him. The eyes are not only windows to the soul, but window to the psyche and to our dreams. It isn't called vision quest for nothing. I think we are looking for a cult comprised of other escaped priests in which one verifiably is a shaman. Monsignor Davis confirmed that `they' are not missing! That is probably why Jessica said it felt like there were several hands on her before they killed her. There actually were several hands,” I stated.

“So how do we locate them?” Nina asked.

“We remain on the course we first took; we look for the priests at places they congregate,” I said.

“Seriously? You can't narrow it down?” she inquired.

“It already is. We start with the NAC-NA, the Native American Churches of North America. We begin with all the ones within the radius of our crime scenes, but first we need the coyote footage at the scenes of the abductions. I have a theory I need to look into. I'll call Steve and see what he can do.”

“Are you going to brief him on this new discovery?”

“Not yet. He has a lot on his plate and I don't want the A.D. to mess this up. We're dealing with a small window of time and a narrow margin of error.”

Nina and I thanked the Great Mother for all her assistance and she wished us luck and a safe journey. We stopped by the Hopi Tribal Council Facility in the Kykotsmovi Village on the way to Tuba City. The council was extremely thankful for what we did for the Hopituh Shin-nu-ma and joined us for a meal in Tuba City. The council picked up the tab and asked if we could return at a later date. They wanted to honor us with a celebration for uncovering the truth of the missing Hopi Priests in Jemez. We agreed and departed.

Steve sent the coyote footage to Nina's GOV.com address, since it was considered government property. I checked the footage while Nina drove. Steve also included a message about Monsignor Davis:
Monsignor Davis was discovered dead in his room at the Jemez Order Facility. It was confirmed that he committed suicide. The FBI found two bodies exactly where you said they would be and arrested Arelio Sanchez and Jose Gutierrez in the killings of Priest Maize and Honanie. The rumors have started that you might be connected to the serial killer.

I was wondering when they would get around to that again. The killings had been going on before I even came to Albuquerque and never mind the fact that I have an unblemished track record for solving some of the FBI's worst crimes. They always thought it could be an officer of the law. I guess I'm a dead ringer for the profile; young male, pretty much isolated, a loner treated as an outcast, with mental health issues. The serial killer and I had more in common than they could ever fathom.

“They found the buried priests and arrested Sanchez and Gutierrez. There are also rumors about me being involved with the coyote because of the way I dropped off the parcel without being seen,” I briefed Nina.

Our next stop would be to visit the Native American Churches. There were three NACs in the radius of the serial killing abductions; one in Tuba City to which we were en route, one in Chinle and one in Window Rock. They were all on the Navajo Nation Reservation. In our questioning of the staff we would be looking for anomalies in answers to eliminate and narrow down our suspects. This was our big break in the case. I could feel the pieces coming together.

The NAC / NA differs in practices from church to church, but the one thing that they have in common is that they're peyotist.

There wasn't a service being held at the church when we arrived, but the doors were open, so we let ourselves in. We weren't expecting a warm reception. We haven't received one yet and the news of the FBI on Indian Lands had most of the Res in an uproar. The Hopituh just wanted justice for the fallen priest and to vindicate the Coyote Society of having anything to do with this killer, who called himself by their name.

We met with a young parishioner when we entered the Native American Church of Tuba City. She was cleaning the aisles. Nina spoke to her in Navajo. None of the leaders were present for questioning. We'd probably fare better questioning her anyway; she seemed receptive. We began by asking her preliminary questions leading up to the core of the interrogation. I didn't understand Navajo, so Nina conducted the interrogation. We inquired if she heard anything about missing women in the big cities, and asked if she had noticed anything strange or peculiar around the church or the Reservation.