Modern Rituals (18 page)

“If that is what you want, we will await your return,” Keto said.

“James, I’m coming with you,” Olivia said.

“You sure? Could be dangerous,” James said.

“I’m not much for waiting around,” she said. “Let’s go.” She turned to Keto and Colette. “See you back at the classroom.”

“Be careful,” Colette said.

James watched as Colette and Keto continued across the bridge, then he and Olivia backtracked into the multipurpose room, descended the stairs and exited the front doors. The shouts originated beyond the classroom building, past a clump of small offices—further still, in a field or even beyond the forest’s edge. They pursued the faint cries.

“Help! Anyone! Dear God, where am I?”

They rounded the last of the smaller structures. A high-fenced basketball court stood before them, and James immediately made eye contact with a man standing beneath a hoop.

“Thank God! Someone!”

The man ran to them. Olivia and James braced themselves.

James noted his attire. It was casual—even stylish. The man’s features sharpened as he jogged their way. He oozed charisma. Tanned, square-jawed and well-proportioned—James had seen his type before on Abercrombie billboards. He gave them a half-cocked smile through which gleamed pearly white teeth.

“Thank God!” he said again. “I’ve been searching for hours.”

James turned sideways and held up his hand.

“Whoa, there. Who are you?”

The man slowed and kept a comfortable distance.

“My name is Trevor. I’m lost—I have no idea how I got here. Where are we?”

“Your guess is as good as ours,” Olivia said.

“What? Are you serious?” Trevor said.

“Unfortunately,” James said.

“You said you’ve been here for hours,” Olivia said. “Where?”

“Mostly searching the wooded area, trying to find a way out. I kept running into a wall or something—it was weird. Before that, I was in the school—but it was empty, so I was trying to find a town nearby,” he said.

“Have you been attacked?” James said.

“Attacked? What? No—why?” Trevor said, voice cracking.

“Tell us what you were doing before you came here,” Olivia said.

“That’s just it—I have no idea how I got here,” Trevor said.

“No, what were you
doing
before you came?” Olivia said.

“Oh. I, uh, was giving CPR to an old man. I’m a fireman—standard procedure. He was a goner anyway. But that was back in Middleton,” Trevor said.

“Wisconsin, eh?” James said.

“Yeah, you been?” Trevor said.

“No.”

James leaned over to Olivia and whispered, “He seems harmless—should we take him back?”

Olivia looked Trevor up and down.

“Come on, pretty boy,” she said. We’re in danger and we think we found a safe place.”

11

On the way back to the classroom, James peered into the night sky. It lacked stars—lacked vitality. This did not surprise him. This place, with its demons poised in the shadows, forsook these things.

“Jesus! What happened here?” Trevor said, stepping over a broken desk in the classroom.

“You don’t want to know,” James said. “Follow us.”
 

 
James felt along the wall, found the hidden handle and turned it. The passage door slid open.

“Whoa—didn’t expect that,” Trevor said.

James’ legs wobbled with each step down to the altar room. His stomach grumbled. His head swam. He wondered how many hours it had been since they arrived—instinct told him a quarter day or so, but his body hollered weeks.

“Careful, the passage narrows here,” Olivia said to Trevor midway.

“Where’d these candles come from?” Trevor said.

“You seem to think we have more information than you,” James said.

The passage opened and the three collected in the now-familiar safe house.

Horace sat upright against the wall, legs outstretched before him, his skin flushed, his breathing steady. Colette stood near Keto in one corner of the room. Tomas stopped pacing in the opposite corner, glancing at James and then at Trevor.

Tomas bolted across the room. He grabbed Trevor’s shoulders, slammed him against the wall and shoved his elbow between Trevor’s jugular and jaw.

“Who are you?” Tomas said.

Trevor’s body tensed and his knuckles went white as he attempted to remove Tomas from him.

“Hey, back off! I didn’t do anything,” Trevor said through clenched teeth. James thought Trevor might fight back, but instead he went limp.

James dug his hands under Tomas’ shoulders, planted his feet and yanked. The bald man didn’t budge. Olivia joined in—Keto too.
 

Tomas growled.
 

At length, they managed to disentangle the two men. James wiped away a flood of sweat that stung his eyes.

“Cool off man!” James said to Tomas. “This is Trevor—we found him outside. He’s just as confused as we are.”

Trevor slid to the ground coughing, hugging himself with one hand and rubbing his neck with the other.

“You better watch your friend—he nearly killed me,” Trevor said.

Tomas spit. “You are dead if I decide it,” he said.

James looked at Tomas. He had misread the man. Tomas was more than just an annoying twat. He was dangerous. James resolved to keep a close eye on him.

“Tomas, we found Anthony,” James said. “What happened?”
 

“Fuck you,” Tomas said as he prowled back and forth, staring at Trevor.

“I get it. You’re pissed,” James said. “Just…please tell us what happened.”
 

Tomas’ nostrils flared. He whirled in place and struck the wall, collapsing into it. He rested his forehead on the wall, anchoring himself with his fists.

“We restored the power. I left him to console himself. When I came back, the girl had killed him,” Tomas said.

“Console himself?” James said. “You saw the girl?”

“Yes,” Tomas said. “He was going on about his wife—he killed the man who was fucking her. I saw the girl—she is mine now,” Tomas said.

His
now? Does he feel for Anthony or is he just batshit crazy?

“Okay…did you see her kill him?” James said.

“No,” Tomas said.

An E-chord twanged in James’ gut—was his intuition amiss?

“Tomas, are you upset about Anthony?” Olivia said.

“Anthony? Fuck him, the whining cunt,” Tomas said, unwavering, his composure restored. “I want the girl—I do not like it when my prey evades me.”
 

Olivia crossed her arms and frowned at Tomas.

“What girl?” Trevor said.

James’ face darkened. “Not sure it’s a
girl
, per se. More like a demon out of a movie. You know those scary films with the grimy, long-haired, wet girls that go around murdering people? That, but worse.”

“Oh,” Trevor said, eyebrows slightly upturned in an otherwise blank face.
 

“Horace, were you here the whole time?” James said.

“Why, yes,” Horace said. “Do I strike you as mobile? The best I can manage is a sad hobble.”
 

James furrowed his brow.

“All right, well, we need to think through some new information,” James said. “Keto found an expensive computer cable in the garden that has no business being here.” He refrained from explaining the cable’s origin. “And we found another statue. I’m not sure how to explain this, but I believe someone (or something) is trying to help us. Olivia and I have been…” he paused. “…seeing things.”

“What kind of things?” Trevor said.

Olivia and James hesitated.

“Writing. Words out of nowhere,” Olivia said.

“Writing? Has anyone else seen this?” Trevor said.

“No—no one else can,” James said. “It’s been helpful so far, but now we’re stuck.”

“Stuck?” Trevor said.

“Yeah. The last bit didn’t offer much on finding the next statue,” James said.

“Statue?” Trevor said.

James handed Trevor the wooden figures.

“Wow, these are depressing. Any idea what they’re for?” Trevor said.

“Not sure,” James said.

“We found one in this room and another in the garden,” Colette said.

Trevor locked onto Colette. “I’m sorry, we haven’t been introduced. My name is Trevor—Trevor Banks. And you are…?” Trevor said, his lustrous teeth positively beaming between full, smiling lips.

Colette blushed across the room. It smacked James as it passed him by, stinging slightly.

“Colette Anderson. A pleasure,” she said and playfully waved Trevor away.

Trevor’s eyes moved to the altar. His eyebrows lifted.

“Is that a butsudan?” Trevor said.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” James said.

“I spent some time in Japan,” Trevor said. “A bit shoddy, isn’t it?”

“There’s a keyed switch underneath—it triggers a trap door that drops beneath the room. Olivia and I spent some time down there; that’s where we first saw the writing,” James said.

“I apologize profusely, but I’ve been out of the loop,” Horace said. “All this talk of cables and statues and writing has me flummoxed. What are you suggesting James?”

“I’m not sure, but I had an epiphany while we were searching the garden,” James said. “All this seems too perfect—a bit artificial, you know? For one, we’re the only people here. Also, has anyone felt a breeze? And what’s up with the invisible wall and finding that ridiculously expensive cable?”

Trevor chuckled.

“Are you suggesting this is some elaborate arena designed by an elitist organization for the purpose of killing people with ghosts?” Trevor said.

“Um, no,” James said. “But now that you mention it…”

“Maybe you are crazy,” Trevor said. “Well, if it’s ghosts and statues you want, I saw a strange, cult-looking symbol painted on the gym roof—that’s where I first arrived. I didn’t think much of it because I wasn’t
thinking—
I was so out of my mind. Now, it seems like it might be important. Should we check it out?”

James considered it. Thus far they hadn’t encountered anything conspicuous—the altar room and the Buddha statue’s secret compartment hid themselves from onlookers. A painted symbol practically announced itself.

“It’s worth checking out, though maybe we should wait until morning when the sun comes up,” James said.
 

“What if there isn’t a morning?” Olivia said.

James remembered Anthony hanging from the power box.

“Well, it seems like we’re safe here,” James said.

“That isn’t a guarantee,” Olivia said. “Look, these cryptic messages—they don’t feel like part of all this. Something is trying to push us toward collecting these statues, and we need to listen.”

“Not that I have any say, but I’m with Olivia,” Trevor said. “I don’t want to be here another second longer. I’m going. Who’s with me?”

“Me,” Olivia said.

Colette glanced at Keto, whose gaze stayed locked on Trevor.

“I’ll go,” Keto said.

“I’m coming,” Tomas said.

“Count me in,” Colette said.

“Looks like you have the consensus Olivia,” James said. “I’m in.”
 

“Don’t forget about me,” Horace said. Every eye turned toward him.
 

“Come again?” James said.

“I’m coming along, like it or not,” Horace said. “I don’t want to be left alone here any longer. I’m feeling much better. Here—“ He pressed his hands against the wall, pushing upward by degrees, pausing after each movement. Once upright, he placed a modest amount of weight on his damaged ankle.

“Oh dear God!” He said, between a whimper and scream.

“You’d better keep off that, or you’ll make it worse,” Olivia said.

“Yes—I believe you are right,” Horace said. “James, can you fetch me something to use as a crutch in the room upstairs? I recall having a mop that worked reasonably well.”

Who was James to argue? He made his way out of the room, up the stairs and into the classroom. He surveyed the wreckage and spotted a long, wooden plank—likely a piece of shelf—that sported a hand-sized hole in the center. He retrieved it and then found a thick book and folded it over the wooden board’s splintered end. He secured it by slamming the book against the wall, driving the board into the book’s spine: a crude armpit cushion. Chintzy but functional.

He went back downstairs and handed Horace the makeshift crutch. Horace thanked him and set himself on the board, book in armpit. He took a few steps across the room.

“Ah, much better. Shall we be on our way?” Horace said.

“Are you sure Horace? If that thing shows up again, you won’t be able to run,” Olivia said.

“And none of us will help you,” Tomas said.

“As reassuring as you both are…I’m coming,” Horace said.

“Let’s move then,” James said.

12

Trevor led them to the gym roof. A pang stabbed his conscience—these were good people.

Hell, under different circumstances, I’d probably be having a drink with folks like this.

He recalled a failed ritual’s consequences.

They’re just pawns. Dammit all to hell.

13

Theo leaned back in his contoured, fiber-mesh chair and placed one hand on his head.
 

I can count on Trevor.

He prepared himself for what was about to happen.

Purgatory 8’s doors unlatched and a procession of decorated officials filtered into the monitoring facility, General Holmes at the helm. Holmes proceeded to Theo’s workstation, obstructing his view of the room.

“Theo, what are you playing at?” Holmes said.

“I’m sorry, what do you mean?” Theo said.

Theo felt the room’s attention on them.

“Inserting Trevor into the ritual? You know how dangerous that is! What were you thinking?” Holmes said.

“Oh, that?” Theo said. “Yes, well, I have substantial evidence that an unknown entity is interfering with the ritual.”

“Explain,” Holmes said.

“Better to show you,” Theo said.

Susan, prepared as always, tapped her screen, sending a series of camera feeds coupled with spectrographs and timelines to HULK. Holmes focused upon it.

“Susan, scrub to 23:47:22.2. Yep, there. Good. Okay, see these four standing in front of Buddha? Watch Feed B as Part Five makes her way to the rear of the statue—Susan, slow it to .25x speed—okay, just as she rounds the rear…there! See it? Susan, zoom into Feed D—get in real close to Buddha’s back,” Theo said.