Warlock, page 23
Guys smiled.
“You knew Antony, did you do?”
Joe nodded:
“Yes. I met him one evening here. He came to watch over the goods. He was new here, and as he said scouted territory. But later he said that that day he does not want to go home, and searching for a reason to delay.”
“You became friends from a start?”
Joe waved with his head. Alex understood that it would be all time – before an answer Joe would be nodding or waving. A narrator knew this effect – that’s a camera affect.
“No. He came here from time to time, buying soda or sweets. Ones he wants to buy some beer, bur I said that he is too young. He told that in his former country people could buy it at sixteen, and even earlier. But I thought that he just was kidding at me.”
“So,” said Alex. “Just weather talk. Nothing serious?”
This time Joe stopped for a second, but then nodded:
“Yes. Or... No. I mean – nothing serious. Sometimes he tells me something about his country like first time, sometimes something about games or movies. You know, like that.”
“But once he asked you for a favor?”
Joe looked on the sides:
“Not for recording.”
Alex worried that Joe now close for a talk at all, and said:
“No problem. Without a root of a case – just a favor. Ok?”
Joe nodded:
“He came here and asked for it. Yes. But it was hard, because his favor… He needs to buy something from me. My friends buy it every time. In addition, they know that I have it every time. I do not want to upset them. But Antony said that he pays a double, and I’m agreed.”
Alex frowned:
“Your friends?”
Jim shrugged:
“Yeah. It’s a small town, you know. I sell them something, they – take me to the company. Almost barter.”
A narrator smiled.
“Ok, to the case. What do your friends say then?”
“They were upset, naturally. I said that next time I’ll buy more, that I got more money from a new guy… They asked – whom I’m talking about? And I said that it was Antony, and it was a couple days before.”
Joe looked to the floor:
“They were furious…Asked me if I know where he lives, and so on. But then one of them said – hey, there he is!”
Barns frowned:
“Antony was here?”
“No”, said Joe. “He was in front of the shop. Right there, on the pavement. They walk outside, and I was with them. He stands there with a plastic bottle in his hands, full of some brown liquid. They asked him about that thing that they want to buy, and he said that only thing that had left from it – liquid in a bottle. Then he said “Down”, and poured out all from bottle on them… They run for him, but they can’t catch him. And finally a police stopped them. Blots of quid cause questions, and they were detained…”
Alex thought a little then asked:
“How do you think…”
But Barns was interrupted by ringing of the bell above the door. Some old man in a checkered costume came in. He was blind – his eyes were totally white, but he goes straightly to counter where said:
“Hi, Joe. As usual.”
The salesperson nodded, said “Hi” in answer, and gave him two packs of cigarettes.
Man turns his head to Jim and Alex, guys smiled to a man, despite his blindness and said “Hello” almost at the same time. Old man smiled:
“Hello, young men. You’re not local, are you?”
“Yes,” answered Barns. “We are here to shoot some video. We’re making a serial.”
Old man nodded, and walking to the door said:
“Hope that you find here your story, and hope that you are prepared to it. Any search it like a diving – the deeper you want dive, the better readiness you need to have. Our mind - deepest place in our world.” At the door, he turned to the guys. “Have a nice day!”
Three of them said good-bye almost automatically. Jim shrugged a little. Joe saw this and smiled:
“Mr. Able is a former military driver. He can tell you an interest stories. Some of them are really creepy.”
Alex looked after an old man a little, then turned to Joe, looked into his notepad, and recall his previous thought:
“Yes, I wanted to ask you. That day, how do you think - that was Antony’s perfect plan, or he’s lucky day?”
Joe frowned:
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” said Barns. “Do you agree with me, that it’s a pretty unusual plan? Many point’s many moments had to play into his hands. You know what people talk about Antony?”
Joe signed:
“Oh! I see. I think that that was he’s lucky day. All was very smooth.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t remember any problems that Antony could find that day. Even traffic lights, you know, they can spoil all day, but even they played on his side… I can recall…”
Joe lifted his head, and his eyes were full of excitement:
“Yeah. There was one moment that I find strange, but remembered only now. That order “Down”, that I heard before Antony squeezed his bottle…”
“Yes?” interested Alex.
“That day, after all I was puzzled. I heard some girl voice. Not Antony’s.”
Alex frowned:
“Maybe someone in company…”
“There were only boys.”
“Huh,” murmured Barns, wrote something in a notepad, and said. “Thank you, Joe. One more question. Do you know something about party incident?”
Eyes of Joe lost their light and become dimmed:
“With a car?”
“Yes,” nodded Alex. “You said that you knew that group. You were there?”
And again Joe waved with his head:
“I worked that day for night. However, I talked with Antony before, and he said that he wanted to seduce one girl. I said him do not be stupid, because that gang would beat you. But he said that he had one plan, an experiment he said. I asked – what kind of? And he answered that he had charm she can’t refuse.”
“Charm.” Pointed Alex.
Joe nodded:
“Uh-huh. Later I heard that guys set a trap for him. They wanted to let him… Let him to take her to bed, undress him, and throw out his clothes, but something went wrong, and girl spoil all plan.”
Alex pricked up his ears:
“How come?”
“Guys said that she was carried away. And even after they jumped out she said that they must leave him alone.” Joe looked strictly to Alex. “She was girl one of the guys, and he begun that fight. And then was crash… That guy died in the hospital, and Antony lived. But…”
Barns were as if on needles:
“But? “
“But he wasn’t former Antony after that… Something was broken inside of him…And then there was dead of the second guy, and group was broken totally”
“You said that Antony wasn’t himself anymore. What do you mean?”
Joe looked to the wall and said:
“I can’t describe it… He became colder. You know, like vets in the movies with that syndrome…” he turned his head to Alex. “You know, after war.”
Barns said:
“PTSD”
“Yeah, I guess it is. Anyway, after that we had seen one more time and that was last our talk”
“What are you talking about?”
Joe shrugged:
“One thing… Another… Then we talk about death of David, the second guy, who died. I said that it was horrible that a car shot him down. Antony said then that it was logical consequence. I’m asked what does he talking about, but he’s only smiling, you know, without any emotions, just a curve of the mouth, and said – he wanted to beat me, put me to the brink, and I showed it to him…”
Alex noted that, and said:
“Do you know what does it mean?”
Joe lifted up his shoulders, grimaced, dropped them and said:
“I don’t know…But when a car knocked down David, he was looking on a penny with a strange picture on it”
Eyes of Alex opened wildly:
“Do you know what picture it was?”
Joe looked ahead of him and murmured:
“It was something geometrical… With many corners…”
“Hexagon?”
Joe frowned:
“What?”
“Honeycomb”
Joe’s face brightened:
“Maybe… Yes… Yes,” Joe nodded. “I think that it was it.”
Alex looked on Jim, smiled, and then turned fast to Joe:
“Thank you, Joe,” said Barns, and shake hand of salesperson. “Thank you very much,”
Joe smiled and nodded:
“Thank you, guys. It was nice to talk with you.”
Jim turned off his camera and shake hand of Joe too:
“It was nice to meet you, Joe. Have a nice day!”
Cast of “ABnormal” walked out from shop, Alex was smiled:
“So?”
Jim shrugged:
“Well, that was nice talk, but…”
Barns stopped:
“What?”
“There were interesting details,” said Helper walking by. ”But most important details you prompted him”
“What do you mean?”
Jim turned to Alex:
“Hexagon. He doesn’t give a shit of hexagons, pentagons and pentagrams. Come on. We have another point, come on.”
Barns growling sit into the van and Jim rolled out from the parking lot.
---
That day sun decides not to watch over the Earth, and when in the second part of the day Jim stopped van near the cemetery, outside was dark like in the evening. Because of the wind, guys wear on jackets, checked their electronics and went out. They cemetery keeper him smoking near the workshop in the same way as last time. He recognized them and was wondered why do they returned. Alex said:
“We found more information. Say, do you find here a body, a couple of months ago? A hobo.”
Keeper choked smoke from the cigarette, cough a little, and asked:
“How do you know?”
“So, you found it?” said Barns seriously. “Where?”
A keeper was puzzled:
“Nobody knows about that case. How?”
“We have good informers,” said Alex, looking up the skies. Little drops of rain began to fall. “Can you show us that place?”
Keeper, continuously smoking led them to old part of the cemetery, where tombstone was nearly blank and hidden between old tall trees. The wind bussed loudly between the branches, it became much darker, and rain become stronger. Finally, keeper stopped near the old crypt, and said:
“Here. Here I found him,” he opened a rusted gate. “It doesn’t lock, and I think he lived here some time…”
Jim turned on his camera long time ago, and now flash a light on it.
“… It was awful,” said keeper. “Blood was everywhere. And that smell… He was here for some time, and it was too hot this summer you know…”
Guys stepped inside, and watch over. Several tombstones with remains of words on them and stone bench. Alex pointed to the corner of the bench, helping Jim with his own flashlight:
“Here, look”
Light snatched out of darkness brown spot. Alex turned to the doorway, where keeper stopped, reminding to Barns a vampire that had no permission to enter:
“Say, it’s his blood?”
“Yeah,” said man throwing out cigarette butt, and lightning up next one. Because of nerves, wind and rain, he lights a light from third attempt. “He laid there,” keeper swayed with his hand, pointing on a bench. “Blood dripped from his mouth.”
Alex turned to the man and said:
“I heard that police took out from his throat something. Do you know what that was?”
Hands of keeper began to shake:
“How… How do you…”
Ray of the light from the Jim’s camera jumped to the walls behind the spine of a narrator. Helper said:
“Dude, look at it…”
But Alex does not even move. HE still looks on a keeper:
“It was a coin. Am I right?” He almost screamed because of the wind and rain that roared outside. “Sharpened coin! Like a honeycomb?!”
“Dude!”
“Am I right?!”
A keeper does not say anything, and he only nodded.
“Jim,” said Alex, do not turning to cameraman. “Is it a hexagon on a wall?”
There was total silence from behind, and narrator of “ABnormal” smiled, and turned to his friend to see that he expected to – hexagon with a dot in one of his corners on a wall of the crypt.
“Now, Jim!” screamed Barns. “What can you say? Do I win additional day here?”
He see pale face of his friend, who can't say anything. Alex smiled a little, and patted his friend to the shoulder:
“Come on, buddy! There rain outside, and I want coffee.”
When they got out from crypt keeper was gone, and they must find exit by themselves. With such weather, it wasn’t an easy task, but fifteen minutes later, they climb into the van. Jim started an engine and turned to Alex:
“Dude, this case is scaring me. And I would be waiting with the impatience the end of this additional day,”
Saying this, he led a van toward their beloved dinner.
They eat their mills almost without talking. Jim was scared, and Alex too tired to climb a fork properly – it falls from his hand twice. Coffee doesn’t help him from influence of warmth and dryness of the Nancy’s dinned. He began to doze at same minute they sat at a table. Jim tried to hold up his friend in consciousness with talk, but he cannot think straight – his thoughts returning to the hexagon in the crypt. He knew that this information Alex took from a diary, and he can only hope that it was the creepiest thing that written there.
On the way to their hotel, Alex dozed in the van and Jim must shake him hardly to wake up when they were at the parking lot, across their room. They runt to the room and walk in totally wet. Jim walked to the bathroom, took off his clothes, and squeezed toothpaste to the toothbrush and went to the room. Alex Barns, half-closed was asleep.
Jim doesn’t bother about light that was turned on, finish his routines and fall asleep, hoping that his dreams would be without nightmares. However, he was wrong.
---
Helper realized himself sitting behind a wheel of their van. The situation was so common that he didn't do pay attention to other details. The day was sunny, and he was getting a pleasure from driving. Van rolled through suburbia street with nice white houses on the both sides of the road. Spotted shade, created by branches of the tall trees that grows here and there complete a nice effect of this picture.
Jim looked to the right and saw Alex, who read Antony’s diary. Helper smiled and said:
“Get off of that notebook, dude, it would make you crazy.”
“No, it’s not,” answered Alex. “It shows me more than I can get from interviews.”
Jim shrugged and turned to the window. Sky becomes cloudier, and a street become a little bit darker. Only now, the driver noted that it’s a quite long street. HE looked around and saw continuous raw of the houses to the horizon.
“Dude?” he asked Alex. “Remind me, where are we?”
“We are here,” answered Barns, tapping with a finger on the page of a diary. “All here. It’s all here, I need to find it.”
“Wha… Alex, are you kidding?”
Abut barns said nothing. He continues his reading.
Jim looked through the window, and saw the same houses, grey sky and understood that street become much darker.
“Alex! Hey! Where. Are. We?”
“I… I just couldn’t understand… Here, near the warlock… On the other hand, on ritual in the school… Somewhere…”
Jim shakes his head:
“You lost your mind?”
Streetlights turned on, and anything around became darker and darker with every inch that they drive. It seems that darkness surrounds them closer and closer. Helper turned on lights of the van, but their help was not great. Van still rolled through the endless road with houses and trees. Jim can’t see them properly, but knew that they are there.
“We are here,” said Alex. “Somewhere… Here… Need to find it…”
He began to repeat this word over and over, changing their places, stopping on the half of one and starting another.
“Nee… Here... Somewhere… Somewhere... Here… Need…”
The strangest thing Jim noted just now – Alex does not move. Despite his obsession with finding something in the diary – none of his muscles move. He sat still and just talks endlessly.
“Need-somewhere-find-here-we-are-need…”
“Stop,” said Jim.
“We-are-somewhere-need-to-need-to-”
“Stop,” Helper repeated with no effect. “Stop! Stop! Stop!!!”
Suddenly Alex turns his head to Jim, like a mechanical doll, at an unnatural angle for human neck. His eyes were empty – just a holes that had hexagon shape. They were black as night around them.
Jim looked through the window behind empty eyes trying to find something usual, but doesn’t see any streetlight anymore, even road disappeared it total blackness. Then honeycomb-eyed robot-Alex said:
“Hey! It was you.”
Still looking on Jim, Barns lifted his hand and pointed to the street beyond the windshield. For a fraction of a second, Jim saw two people ahead, and he did not have time to break.
There was a sound of hit, and crackling.
Jim was screaming, when mechanic Alex near him lifted a diary and continues to pronounce his senseless net of words. In addition, in the same moment, when Jim realized that he just hit Antony, he woke up…
There was Alex above him and shook his shoulder:
“Hey, hey. Jim, wake up.”
Helper sat on the bed, and looked around with the wild eyes. His breathing was heavy, and a forehead and spine were wet.
