Brothers against brothers...

[DeletedUser]

Elliot had stolen a car once, he had been on a Marine Recon operation deep behind enemy lines. When approaching a seemingly abandoned house, his company had come under fire from a fortified position on the hill overlooking the home. While his company took cover inside the house and began to return fire, he and a former juvenile delinquent who'd been reformed in the Marine Corps, went out behind the house to find an operational, but very rusty, Honda. His comrade had shown him how to match the wires to make it start. The company had started the car, waited for nightfall and then continued on, after they could slip out unnoticed. They ditched the car sometime around midnight and continued on foot.

Now, in the Mental Ward's hospital, Elliot looked from car to car, trying to find one that either, had the keys in it, or one that he thought he'd be able to hotwire. He found none and ended up slamming a fist onto a car hood, before slumping down onto the concrete in defeat. He sat there, listening to the approaching sirens and waiting for the group of burly nurses to find him.

It was at that moment, when all hope had faded, that a woman rode a motorcycle into the garage and left it idling as she put the helmet on the seat and ran inside. She seemed rather distraught. Elliot grinned wickedly, she'd be very distraught when she walked outside in a few moments.

Elliot looked through the motorcycle's saddlebags for a moment, he came up with a motorcycle jacket with padded shoulders and a pair of pants that wouldn't fit him. He sighed, as he pulled the jacket over his shoulders, zipped it up in front, and placed the helmet on his head. He hoped that no one would notice his pants, until he made it somewhere where he could get a good pair of pants. It was then that he wondered Where AM I going? The thought sent a chill up his spine, before he sat on the motorcycle and throttled it back.

It was relatively simple to follow the path of Vy's kidnapper, up until the traffic jam. Then there were no more roadside altercations to follow. So, he pulled into the parking lot of a nearby store, and went inside, clutching the motorcycle keys in one hand, and a twenty dollar bill found in the flap of the Motorcycle owner's wallet.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Michael realized it was impossible to wait any longer. Careful to keep his face in the emotionless mask that he used in everyday life, he pulled out his dry erase board and uncapped his marker. To speak without thinking means your instincts are stronger than your reservations. An admirable quality, and one not often seen in this day and age. He hesitated, then erased the message and wrote, If you've read my dossier, I assume you know about my...condition?

 

[DeletedUser13682]

John nodded. "Yeah, we're fine. Mary was a bit shaken up, but she seems better now. Got us really excited though." John thought a minute about whether he should continue with this conversation. "Mary got really interested in that and decided to look up stuff she had heard. What you did last night fits pretty well with something that happened to Sir Mallory in the first Crusade. He and his party were attacked by Moslems, but the Moslems were losing, and the only way they could escape was by using a smokescreen, produced the same way you produced yours."

John considered at this point, whether to go on, and decided to continue. "Now, it mentioned witchcraft, though I don't know if they mean Salem Witch Trial witches, Bene Gesserit, or whatever, but you can't be a witch, right? All magic I've seen is just show, and Penn and Teller can explain all that easily. So that's not the interesting part for me. The interesting part is what Mallory was looking for. You haven't heard about where a thorn from the crown of thorns is located, have you?"

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Devon read the two messages Michael presented to her. She smiled and nodded. She said, "Of course. Can't let something like that hold you back. I'm half surprised you use a tablet and marker method of communicating, I have to admit. There are several electronic devices that are quite portable, and you could also use sign language." She blushed and said, "I don't know if you know sign language, but I do. My sister is deaf."

She looked up as the door to Matthew's office opened. As he did so, it was apparent that whatever the meeting was concerning was not pleasing to him. He frowned slightly, rubbed his temples and said, "I'm sorry Michael. Something's come up, and I'm afraid I'll have to cancel lunch." He looked at the two and smiled wanly. He said, "I think Ms. Youngman and yourself should go anyway. Use the corporate card Devon, and get to know each other." He smiled, and closed the door.

Devon looked at Michael, shrugged and stood up. She said, "That seems about the norm around here. Mr. Fieldman often gets distracted by corporate affairs. Generally, we get calls after hours, when he doesn't get all those calls throughout the day."

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A bored looking clerk looked up from behind the counter, gave Elliot a once over glance, and shook his head as he muttered about crazies. He returned his attention to a dime novel. The store Elliot had chosen seemed to be dollar store. It was filled with low end merchandise, but missing clothing. The guy lifted his eyes, as Elliot looked around, and asked, "Something I can... um... help you with then?"

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Rael was at Dominic's side for several miles of the escape. She suddenly leaned back, and slammed on the brakes. She performed a powered turn, once again crossed over the median, and raced off in the opposite direction abandoning Dominic once again.

Dominic felt the diminutive arms of the prophet squeezing his sides constantly as he weaved through the city toward the safe house. She dismounted as he killed the engine, and walked with her eyes lowered toward the sidewalk. She shuffled along with him, almost in a reluctant gait. They maneuvered through the bookstore, and climbed the stairs. As she entered the apartment, she immediately moved to the couch, sat down, and placed her hands in her lap.

Dominic looked at the small woman, who kept her gaze cast at the floor. She was frail looking, and much thinner than was healthy. She wore white scrubs, and her long brown hair appeared unkempt and wild. Her wrists and hands were wrapped in gauze, which appeared to have been recently bled through. She stirred slightly as Dominic explained others would be along, and then asked her name.

She turned her head toward him, and lifted her eyes toward him. He tried to steel himself, but again, his head was filled with the vision of thousands of men and women screaming out lamentations. He found he couldn't tear his eyes away from her sorrow-filled eyes. This forced his mind to continue to be assaulted by the unsettling scene, which soon evolved into a dilapidated wasteland of half-broken buildings, heat, and smoke, as she barely audibly mumbled, "Violet." His mind was freed as she lowered her eyes back toward the floor once again.

The woman jumped startledly as his cell phone rang, and she shied further back into the couch. He saw the caller was Rael. As he answered she said, "We're facing some problems here, but will be along as soon as we can. Until then, watch her. I can't be sure we lost Hell's soldiers. If you need to leave, give us a shout when you can." She hung up before he could respond.

The prophet shifted slightly on the couch, drew her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. She rested her forehead against her knees, as she rocked to and fro while murmuring, "Light descended upon dark, and still the monsters came. The fool becomes errant, the seeker discovers, the soldier finds faith, the friend proves false, the enigma presents, the tempter is triumphant, the journey starts, and a treasure emerges."

Violet quieted momentarily, before she released her legs. She stood awkwardly, and staggered toward the washroom. She stopped, whimpered pitifully, and appeared to begin to hyperventilate as she took several shallow breaths. She suddenly sucked her breath in deeply as if in great pain, and emitted a piercing, tormented scream as she arched her back.

Violet fell to her knees, and as she did so, the white scrub shirt that was pulled tautly against her back was suddenly, and inexplicably, soaking through with fresh blood that appeared to be long streaks crisscrossing her back in irregular patterns. She remained on her knees, and hugged her head in her arms as she cried softly.

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The woman listened to John patiently, as he continued to prattle on about smoke screens, and witches, a guy named Mallory, and finally the crown of thorns. She smiled bemusedly and said, "Wow, that's a lot of tangent conversational material. I guess we can start with the first part." She looked around conspiratorially, and then leaned toward John. She said, "I have no idea what you're talking about with a smoke screen. Just a defective cigarette I guess."

She smiled and continued, "I don't believe in magic either. Witchcraft indeed." She returned the book she'd been reviewing to the shelf, and turned entirely toward John as she folded her arms over her chest. She said, "Now, Sir Mallory and the Crown of Thorns. That I know I little bit about. I'm actually studying theology. Sir Mallory was part of the first crusade. He sought the crown of thorns, thought to have been placed on Christ's head by Roman soldiers during the crucifiction. Why he was doing so? No idea, other than times were different. The church was much more powerful, and to retrieve religious artifacts, especially those directly related to Jesus Christ? A lot of political clout, if nothing else. Perhaps that is why he sought a thorn."

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"No Rael wait I need to talk to ..." Dominic sighed loudly in frustration, tossing the mobile down onto the small square coffee table that sat next to the couch. He needed to talk with her, any of them something wasn't right with this woman, twice now it had happened to him, the screaming and the cries of sorrow that forced their way into your mind every time she made eye contact. Closing his eyes tight he tried to dispel the images writing inside his mind, the burned landscapes and ruined buildings were like some horrific Sci-fi movie only much worse. He could smell the smoke and taste the ash as it floated down from the sky like snow, twisted creatures scurried across the barren landscape, more beast than the men that they once were. In the distance he could hear the rotors of an oncoming helicopter and instinctively knew it was his, hew was going to crash again.
“Ex…excuse me a minute…I need to...”Dominic stammered quietly before rushing into the small kitchen. Twisting the cold tap, Dominic splashed the ice cold water across his face, the sudden shock destroying the images before they could crawl out of his sub conscious for him to watch. Casting a quick glance through open doorway Dominic watched the girl as she rocked back and forth, his skinny arms gripping onto her knee’s as she started to quietly speak to herself. The words were completely meaningless to him and yet seemed to be vitally important if incomprehensible at this point in time.
Shutting off the tap, Dominic stood with his head over the stainless steel sink, water dripping from his soaking wet hair as he summoned up the courage to face her once again I am terrified of her… of what she can do.
Standing up straight Dominic turned to face the living room, a weary smile on his face “Sorry about that I just started feeling…” Dominic stopped mid sentence as he saw the frail girl stagger towards the bathroom “Violet? Are you alright?” Dominic asked his concern for girl’s welfare growing by the second to turn into shocked panic as the scream ripped through the small apartment. He watched in growing horror as the back of her top began to turn crimson as wounds appeared in her back.
Kicking over the coffee table in his haste to reach her, Dominic pulled the back of her top up to expose the lacerated flesh beneath “Oh dear god” Dominic breathed as his eyes took in the full extent of her injuries, none of them were life threatening but they needed immediate attention before she passed out from blood loss.
Running into the bathroom Dominic ripped open the small white painted medicine cabinet and began throwing its contents onto the floor as he desperately searched for something to stop the bleeding. Finding a roll of bandages hidden at the back of the cupboard Dominic returned to Violet and once more pulling up the back of her top began to tightly and expertly bandage the wounds covering her back “Listen to me Violet, I am a paramedic I can stop the bleeding, but I need to know what’s happening here” he spoke slowly and calmly like he had been trained to do oh god I think some of these are going to require stitches…where the hell are you Rael?

 

[DeletedUser]

Elliot looked around the store in a near panic, while trying to keep his face calm. He had obviously failed, by the look upon the clerk's face when he turned around to ask him if they had any clothes. That was when he saw the sign in the window that read 'Everything's A Dollar.' Elliot felt like balling, but instead he calmed his voice and asked, in a shaky tone "Man, I really need some pants, I'm late and my boss will have my manhood on a plate if I don't get in soon. Where's the nearest clothing store?"

Elliot walked to the door and looked out onto the parking lot to make sure his stolen bike hadn't in turn, been stolen from him.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

John sighed after the woman got done with her response. "Now, I know for a fact that you do know what I'm talking about." John looked around, noting that there were lots of people around. "Fine then. If you want to talk in private, we can talk in private. I know what I saw, and I am a man of fact. I want the facts."

 

[DeletedUser25825]

The woman lifted her eyebrows, and looked highly amused as John levied demands upon her. She smiled and said, "Facts eh? I think I shared just about all of the facts I intended on sharing. We can't always get what we want, or the world would be paradise, or Hell." She shrugged, and looked passed John toward Mary.

She looked back at John and asked, "Why the sudden interest in the Crown of Thorns anyway? Don't most people think the whole bible thing to be a bedtime story? Also, you, yourself, mentioned you're a man of facts. Well, I hate to tell you this, but fact is a crown, supposedly woven of vegetable matter some millenia ago? I'm guessing would be rotted away long ago now. You'd have an easier time finding King Solomon's Mine." She continued to smile, obviously enjoying teasing John.

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The guy looked Elliot up and down and nodded. He said, "Yeah, the pajamas just don't quite cut it, do they pal? There's a Goodwill store not two blocks down that away." The man hooked his thumb to the right, and returned his attention to his book.

Elliot glanced out the window, and did not observe anything amiss with the idling motorcycle in the parking lot. He exited the store, and heard the distant rumble of a large number of motorcycles, which judging by their bark was unmistakably Harley's. He saw a club of Hell's Angels slowly riding down the highway. They did not appear to be in any hurry, and kept a tight formation in the right driving lane, as other drivers sped passed them.

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Violet did not protest as Dominic attempted to stop the bleeding on her back. The lacerations were varying in depth, and severity, and criss crossed her back haphazardly. It almost looked like somebody took a scourge to her back. She whimpered as he ministered to her wounds, and said, "I don't know what's happening. I... I just see things... terrible things. When I do, and it's new, I... I get punished for it. People think I'm crazy, and do these things to myself."

As she weakly explained her perception of what was happening, she unwrapped the gauze from her right hand, and Dominic observed a ragged puncture that appeared to have pierced through her palm and out the other side of her hand. She said, "This happened when I saw the monsters amongst normal people. They... they hunt always you know. Looking for weakness to exploit and turn to their cause." Violet re-wrapped her hand as she continued to say, "I saw them coming for me. Was looking forward to the end, but the light stopped it."

She sighed and admitted, "My wrists... yeah... I admit it... I did that. I just want this all to end. But he didn't let me. When I cut myself, a man appeared and told me I was too special to have it end that way. He whisked me away to the hospital, and I knew this was never going to end." She trembled and began crying again.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Dominic finished bandaging the wounds on Violet's back, red rosettes of blood were already beginning to seep through in places, if he'd had his first aid kit with him he may have attempted to stitch some of the more serious wounds, but alas his first aid kit had been in the saddle bag on the side of his Triumph, currently several hundred miles north of here, a burnt out wreck from his first dealings with the legions of hell.
Also like most men Dominic had absolutely no idea how to deal with a crying woman, especially one he barely knew "Come on lets go take a lie down, I'll see if I can find you some clean clothes and maybe a little something for your back" Dominic spoke softly as he gently lifted the crying girl to her feet and led her towards the smaller of the two bedrooms, hoping that he was doing something right.
The Bedroom was decorated in pastel blue wallpaper with a matching duvet covering the single bed at the back of the room with a chest of drawers and wardrobe on the left hand wall, a thin layer of dust covering their tops, obviously this place hadn't ben used recently.
Sitting Violet on the edge of the bed Dominic went in search of some clothes for her, teh pajama's she was currently wearing were covered in blood and dust from the ride into town, he would also need a change of clothes as his were now drenched in blood from both the fight back in the hospital and from treating Violet's wounds, apart from it being disgusting it made him stand out like a sore thumb.
"Do you have any family around here? Brothers or sisters?" Dominic asked tentavitly over his shoulder trying to distract the girl from her plight and stop her crying if only for a little while. He could remember his step mother telling him about the book of Job, at the time he hadn't paid her any heed now he was wishing he had as he felt it would probably come in handy around about now, there were certain similarities at the moment, he just hoped that Taerael and the others could help her, he could keep her safe up to a point but the other stuff was way over his head.
Pulling the bloodstained shirt over his head and then tossing it into a corner, briefly revealing a slim and well muscled if not quite athletic physique before pulling on the black T-shirt he'd found at the bottom of the drawer "Are you going to be alright while I look in the other room? There aren't any women’s clothing in here" Dominic asked he didn't want her to do anything stupid whilst he was out of the room although he didn't think she would. However before an answer could be supplied the deep rumbling of Harley's could be heard coming down the street, cutting her off mid sentence.
Dominic had never been one for Harleys, preferring the much faster and sleeker racing bikes such the Triumph and the Hayabusa, but he went over to the window anyway, his curiosity or possibly paranoia kicking in at the sound of so many engines. Peering out of the window he watched as the Hell's Angels slowly cruised down the street in his direction dressed in their leathers and chains the epitomy of rebellion and violence, stepping hurriedly back from the window Dominic walked out into the living room and retrieved the knife from under his jacket and tucked it into his right boot, he hoped they were just standard Hell's Angels out for a ride as opposed to the other kind who would no doubt be hunting him and Violet down right about now.
"Don't worry it’s probably nothing...I am just going to check the other room" Dominic said with a smile, catching the worried look on Violets face hoping that his own nervousness wouldn't show through.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Michael, with some relief, put away his board and marker and began to use sign language. "Yes, I know sign language. I just don't use it in regular situations because in this profession, needing to have a translator is complicated at best. At least with my board, all I need is a standard language translator, although I know a couple other languages myself...as for the electronic methods of communicating...I wasn't aware that such devices existed."

Upon Devon's explanation that most of Matthew's calls came later at night, Michael again had the sense of unease he had felt about taking the job...although he had never owned a business, most operations he knew about took place during the day...the fact that Matthew normally conducted his business at night...unbidden, the airport scene leapt into his mind, and his doubt intensified. Not letting on what he was thinking, he merely shrugged and signed, "Must be urgent then."

 

[DeletedUser13682]

That woman is good, thought John to himself. Now, let's see. There is a way of getting information from here, I just have to find out how. "King Solomon's Mines, you say?" John asked. "Well, now that you mention it, I am interested. Who hasn't heard of the wealth within them? But last I heard, they were sealed by an old hag. Besides, how would you get to Kukuanaland without the map? Who knows what Allan did with it?" John was hoping that going off about the mines would help him in getting this information. If this didn't work, then he hoped he could come up with something else.

 

[DeletedUser]

Elliot thanked the bored cashier in an under-the-breath fashion, before walking out the door. He hoped none of the people walking along the sidewalk would notice his medical ward pants, but luckily, all of their gazes were fixed on a band of bikers that were rumbling down the road. Elliot had always thought groups of bikers looked funny and these ones were no exception. Big and fat or small and skinny, there was no middle ground in the weight of the bikers. Their tattoos reminded Elliot that it was a bad idea to get them homemade, and an even worse idea to get them somewhere where they were visible even fully clothed.

Bikers tended to have bad attitudes, so Elliot stood by his stolen motorcycle until they had passed and were rolling down the road at a good clip. Elliot proceeded to the Goodwill the clerk had told him about two blocks away. Elliot was in no mood to fight with Hell's Angels, so he stayed way behind the group of ruffians and exited into the parking lot of the Goodwill with minimal fanfare.

Goodwills, in Elliot's opinion, were never all that good a place to shop. Dull flooring and bad roofing made the place smell badly, or maybe that was the vast majority of the clothes they had flopped out on racks. Old ladies who just wanted something to do pawed through them, while their young people forced to go tried to sit in discreet corners, not wanting to be seen by any peers that might be passing by.

Finding a good pair of jeans that fit him well and didn't smell too bad, Elliot took them to the cashier, where he forked her the twenty dollars and left hurriedly. He then sat by his bike in the parking lot, trying to think of his next move.