| COMING INTO PLAY |
| Tossing his position in bed, he turned to his left and threw his arm out to wrap around his wife�s stomach, but it fell through and hit the mattress. The absence alarmed him and awoke him fully. Opening his eyes, he gazed across the bed. Elizabeth? Quickly, he darted out of the bed and searched the room; his family was nowhere inside. Greg panicked. Oh my God! Where are they? Rushing out of the room, he left his sword behind, for his family meant much more to him than someone else�s useless heirloom. So, he hurried through the hall to the hotel lobby. There he found Elizabeth and Harmony, thus greatly relieving him. �Hey, good morning,� Elizabeth said, looking up from the main desk. She was munching on some potato chips. �Could almost say good afternoon, sleepy head.� Greg�s heartbeat returned to normal. Seeing his family safe and sound comforted him enormously. Elizabeth was sitting at the main desk, eating while reading a newspaper. Searching around, she found some food stashed behind the counter, obviously from an employee�s personal hoard. Also, there was a two hundred and fifty-piece jigsaw puzzle. Harmony had it scattered about the lobby�s carpeted floor, which made it rather difficult to get the pieces pressed together. She had only a fourth of the puzzle put together. So far, it revealed some kind of a building. The box�s lid had no picture of the assembled work, so the end result was truly a mystery, which, in turn, increased the difficulty of the project furthermore. �What are you talking about? It�s only.....� He looked at a clock that was hanging on the wall behind the counter but then decided to abandon the rest of his own statement. Cleverly, he changed the subject, for it was 10:48. �So... where�d you get the food?� �Oh... found it behind the counter here. Some pop too. I have it outside packed in some snow gettin� cold. Your favorite... root beer.� She smiled at him, knowing how much he loved root beer. He loved it nearly as much as he loved unloading parcel trucks hours on end in the heat of summer or in the dead of winter. �Well... I could go for just about anything right now. Even root beer.� �Should be cold by now. Put it out a while ago.� His throat was aching from being so dry. He hadn�t a drink since the previous afternoon before they had departed on their road trip. Even root beer wouldn�t stop him from soothing the ache. He passed by Harmony on the way toward the doors. �Hey, Harm. Whatcha making?� She pressed another piece in and looked up at her dad. �Not sure. Don�t have a picture to go by. Looks like a house or something, Daddy.� �Hmm....,� he studied it. �I�ll help you after I get a drink.� �Don�t need any help. I�m gettin� it,� she replied. She had thought he meant that she wouldn�t be able to do it, which did not appease her. �But I wanna help. Guess I don�t have to if you... don�t...want...� �...no, I...,� she interrupted, �you can help, Daddy.� She had changed her mind. All he wanted to do was spend some quality time with her. �All right then. Be back in a flash.� He got to the doors and Elizabeth called out. �They�re right outside the door, honey. To your left, buried in the snow.� Opening the door, a gigantic draft whooshed in. The sheer cold of the wind made his bones ache. The sun was out, though, and it shone exuberantly, reflecting off the surface of the snow and nearly blinded him. He covered his eyes in reflex and then looked down in the direction of his feet. He spotted a reddish-brown can half concealed in a pile of snow. He reached down and grabbed the can and pulled out a six-pack. One was missing, however; previously consumed by the employee who they belonged to, no doubt. Walking back inside, he shut the door. Then, he detached a can and opened it, before handing it down to Harmony, who was fumbling about with a piece that she had no idea as to where it belonged. �Here ya go, Harm.� She took the can he offered. �Thanks.� �You�re welcome.� Greg walked over to the desk and pulled two more cans from the plastic rings and then placed the remaining on the counter. He slid one over to Elizabeth and opened the other for himself. There was a moment of silence, which he broke by munching on some chips and taking noisy sips from the soda to quench his insatiable thirst. She was busying herself with the newspaper that she had found on the counter. It was already open to the business section when she found it. She wouldn�t get to the headlines until later. �Did you feel anything last night?� Greg asked her. She looked up from the article, �What are you talking about?� �Like an earthquake, y�know? I thought I felt a rumble last night.� �Nah. I didn�t feel anything like that.� �Hmmmm... strange.� He paused a moment, feeling befuddled. Then, he continued, �So... you done with the chips?� �Yeah...� She went back to her reading. So, he grabbed the bag and took himself a seat on the floor to help Harmony with the jigsaw puzzle. A while later, Elizabeth excused herself to go take a shower. He remained and continued pressing pieces in the best he could without a picture to go by. ~~~~~ �I don�t know. Looks like a building.� �And that looks like the back of a school bus, Daddy,� Harmony commented, pointing to a small yellow blob on the left-hand side. They had most of the puzzle done except for one big chunk toward the top of the middle. It definitely looked like a school. On the building itself were a few letters. �Vagra.� As it appeared, this puzzle was displaying a school in this very city. That�s weird. Greg thought. A tiny town with its own jigsaw puzzle? It had taken them so long to finish the 250-piece picture that Elizabeth came stepping out of the room, dressed and drying her long, black hair. There were only fifteen or so pieces remaining. Greg�s assumptions were justified as he placed the last piece in, as the full phrase written on the building was �Vagrant�s Hideaway Elementary School.� But, there was more than just the school in the picture. In the direct center, there was a symbol which somewhat resembled a crucifix painted over the picture. The paint was a red substance that reminded Greg of blood, but it wasn�t. Someone had put this together before and drawn that crucifix over it. What does it mean? Then, studying the picture closer, he noticed tiny writing in the same red paint in the lower left-hand corner. It read, �It happened here.� What happened? Elizabeth sat down at the desk, towel in hand, getting the dampness out of her clean head of hair. With one hand, she flipped through the newspaper, going back to the main page. The first thing she saw was a bunch of red paint all over the main article. �RUBBISH - They know nothing!� And there was a strange marking, also, painted near the words. She began reading the article. What she read upset her stomach. �Greg, you better come take a look at this.� He looked up from the floor. �What is it?� �Just come take a look. It�s a newspaper article about something that happened in this town.� Greg hopped up off the floor and went over to her side. Immediately, he recognized the marking on the newspaper; it was the same symbol that was on the puzzle. He began reading the article. The Williamsborough Confabulate Friday, January 18, 1985 Series of deaths in Vagrant�s Hideaway continue to stupefy police by Taylor Murphy Another body was found last night, Thursday the 17th, this time at Vagrant�s Hideaway Elementary, totaling now three victims, in the worst crime spree ever to befall this small town�s peaceful history. Police found the body of 8-year-old Patricia Waters on the school�s roof when the janitor, Walter Bailey, discovered a trail of blood in the hall leading to the roof�s entrance. He informed the school�s principal, Zachary Brainerd, who then immediately contacted the town�s sheriff, Dudley Shockey. �There is nothing more tragic than the loss of a child, especially under such circumstances. But, we will track down this murderer and bring �em to justice. There�s no doubt about that. He will be found,� stated Sheriff Shockey at a small press conference held last night in the Vagrant�s Hideaway Community Center. The only information in regards to Patricia Waters� death was that her murder was of the same M.O. as the previous homicides, further fueling police suspicions that all three cases are linked. Without any reliable leads to trace the company responsible, only speculations can be made at this point. Both the Williamsborough Police Department and the Bigsby town sheriff, Nathan Moore, have teamed up to combine efforts to lend a hand to their neighboring residents. Williamsborough Chief of Police, Daniel Crowe, suggested that the VH murders are possibly linked to the murder of Jack Caine of Presque Isle last week. The particular case has not yet been closed, but police have strong leads to a probable suspect. Nicholas Rant of Presque Isle lived with Jack Caine and was seen by an eye witness leaving the scene of the crime just moments after Mr. Caine was killed. Police have not been able to track him down, believing him to have fled the city. The M.O. is not the same as the VH cases, but police are not ruling him out as a possible perpetrator. �We feel it�s possible that the Caine case and the Vagrant�s Hideaway cases could coincide. It�s not a definite but we are keeping all options open at the moment. And as always, this action urges a swift resolution. We will prevail,� Chief Crowe announced at the same press conference held last night in VH. Chief Crowe also stated that reinforcements were due to arrive in a couple days if none of their leads panned out. The time frame between the murders in VH has only been two days. Residents of VH have up-roared in a state of panic. �Something has to be done about this,� Michael Waters, 48, a distraught father of little Patricia, said. �She was just a child. Why would anyone do this?� Only time will tell, and hopefully..... before a fourth victim falls prey to this mysterious killer. As if things weren�t grave enough for the Urbanics, now they had to contend with the knowledge that there was a maniac going around killing people in this town. And even more disparaging, the date on that newspaper article - it was just the day before they had arrived, meaning the killer would still be on the loose. But, with this in mind, Greg thought perhaps that was the reason for the residents� disappearance. Maybe they fled for fear of being the fourth victim at this criminal�s hand. But would the criminal have fled? That was the most disturbing thought. ~~~~~ �What are you hoping to find?� She asked her husband. They saw the school up ahead. It was indeed the same place as in the jigsaw puzzle. There was a bus tipped over on its side in the front drive. Greg carried Harmony on his back so she wouldn�t have to trudge through the deep snow. He let her do most of the holding on because he held onto his sword himself. �I don�t know,� Greg answered, �nothing else to do. Phones out. Cars don�t work. I can�t just sit around and do nothing. Plus, I wanna find out what happened here.� �What happened here? There�s a killer running around and everyone fled. He could still be here for all we know,� Elizabeth retorted. She was upset that he was willing to risk their lives to uncover this mystery. She would have preferred just to stay at the hotel, but Greg was deter- mined to come here no matter what, and lest she be left alone without protection, she had to follow him. �No. I don�t believe that anymore. Think about it. If they fled, then why are their cars still here? No... something else happened. And if the killer was still here, then he probably vanished along with everybody else.� His words made sense but it was nothing more than a hypothesis, and it did not supply any more comfort to her. Either way, a killer or not, whatever was occurring in this town could not be a good thing. As they stepped onto the school's grounds, snow began to fall once again. The wind had subsided from last night�s fury and the flakes were now coming down thick and with gentleness. Harmony gazed up at the sky. With naught a single worry floating about in her innocent head, she reveled in the wondrous winter scene. This type of snowflake was her favorite; they filled the horizon with graceful angels and decorated trees, roofs, and all the sort with marvelous enterprise. She smiled as flake after flake landed on her warm face and melted right away. What a splendid gaiety it was to be a child! - to be unharmed, untouched by the leering and seething peril that doomed all pugnacious adults. They approached the over-tipped bus. Only a bit of yellow showed through the snow that was caked over it. Greg kneeled down and had Harmony get off. Then, he inspected the bus. Something about it bothered him. �This is odd,� he said, running his hand along the back door, brushing the snow away so he could better see the vehicle. �What?� Elizabeth inquired. �This door,� he continued, �it has a cage over it, like on a prison transport bus.� �But why would an elementary school need a bus like that?� �I don�t know. Here, hold this for a second.� He handed Elizabeth the sword. Then, he circled around to the front side of the bus and started to climb on top of it. �What�re you doing, Daddy?� Harmony chuckled. Seeing her dad getting on top of a bus was amusing to her. He grunted as he hoisted himself up onto the hood. �Oh... just checking something real quick.� Once he was on top, he began to brush some of the piled snow off so he could check out the windows. After exposing three windows, his assumptions were brought around full circle. They all had bars over them. Next, Greg picked a spot in the middle of the side panel and knocked away all the snow that covered it. He wanted to see if this bus had the usual writing on the side, indicating as to who owned it. Clearing a small spot, he read, �ementary Sc.� So, it is a school bus after all, but why do they have bars on the windows? He climbed back off the bus. Elizabeth approached him. �Bars on the windows too. But I brushed off some snow to see what was written on the side. It is a school bus.� �That makes no sense. They�re kids. Why would they need to lock �em up? How weird.� �I don�t know. It is weird.� He reached out and took the sword back from her. �Well, shall we go?� ~~~~~ After having entered the school, they walked down the main hallway. Greg and Elizabeth stopped to look at a bulletin board that posted a couple newspaper articles on the previous murders in Vagrant�s Hideaway. Both were taken from The Williamsborough Confabulate. As they read over the articles, Harmony�s attention focused on something else - a little white balloon. It seemed to be partially filled with helium as it floated about three feet above the ground. A piece of string dangled along the floor. A small draft pushed the balloon into a nearby classroom. Harmony, absolutely captivated, followed after it. Elizabeth turned just in time to see her daughter entering through the doorway. �Harmony, get back here!� She called out. Then, the door to the room slammed shut. Immediately, both parents became frantic and ran over to the door and started pounding on it. Greg tried the knob over and over again. �Why won�t the door open!? Harmony!!� Elizabeth shouted. Inside, Harmony looked over her shoulder at the commotion coming from the door. Then, she returned her attention to the balloon, which was floating to the back of the room. The eloquent motion of the balloon came to a stop at a student�s desk in the back row. Slowly, Harmony headed toward it, all the while Greg rammed the door, trying to force it open. And then, from inside the room, coming from the direction of the desk, there was a voice that whispered in the background. �Where is it?� Not knowing true danger, yet extremely suspicious, she crept toward the calling voice. �I know it�s here somewhere.� �Harmony! Please say something! Harmony!� Elizabeth was on the verge of breaking down. Tears streamed down her face and her hands were shaking. Greg continued to charge the classroom door; it was beginning to give under his force. �I want it back. Where�d it go?� The voice kept beckoning her to come closer. Only she could hear the voice. Her parents were too far away and making far too much noise to hear it. Suddenly, a little girl stood up from behind the desk and grabbed a hold of the balloon�s string. The little girl giggled. �Hee-hee. I finally got it back. My balloon.� Harmony looked at the little girl in confusion. But, she didn�t fear her. In fact, she was kind of happy to see her. The girl looked over at her. �Who are you?� �Me. I�m Harmony. Hi.� �Hi. My friends call me Patty.� �My friends call me Harm. Well, mostly just my parents. But some of my friends too.� �I finally found my balloon. I thought I lost it.� �What�re you doing here all alone?� Harmony asked. Suddenly, the door flung open and Greg came barraging in. Harmony turned to see what was going on. �There you are, sweetheart! You okay?� He asked. �Yea, of course I am. I was just talking to Patty.� Elizabeth walked in, frantic beyond belief. �Oh, Harm. You scared me half to death!� Harmony turned back around to face Patty, but she was gone. And so was the balloon. �Hey... where�d she go?� �Where�d who go, Harm?� Asked Greg. �Patty.� �Patty who?� �A little girl. She was just here, Daddy.� �What are you talking about? Little girl?� Greg inquired, not understanding her. �I was just talking with a little girl named Patty. She had a balloon.� Greg looked around the room and saw no sign of this Patty. Then, he looked over at his wife, who was looking at him. �Are you sure you saw someone?� �I�m sure, Daddy! Don�t you believe me?� She was getting annoyed. �I believe you, Harm. It�s just........ there�s nobody here.� �But she was.....� And then she gave up. She didn�t know herself where Patty went. Also, it was obvious that he didn�t believe her, so why bother continuing on? �It�s okay, Harm,� Elizabeth consoled her. She walked over to Harmony and bent down to give her a hug. �Let�s just get out of here. This place is giving Mommy the creeps.� As they walked out of the room, Harmony looked back. The room remained empty. ~~~~~ Places can be rather scary when all the lights are off and sunbeams peer through shadowy hallways, illuminating the dust in the air. All three walked close to one another, holding hands. Nerves were on end, especially after the classroom incident. �Greg, when are we gonna get outta here? I don�t think we should be here anymore,� Elizabeth pleaded. She didn�t like being here at all; this school was getting the best of her emotions. �Soon, soon, Liz. I just wanna..... check things out.� �What�s there to check out? Is there something you�re looking for in particular?� �No... I...� Greg was the type of person who liked to investigate things and find out the facts. It was a strong trait that he passed to Harmony. He could be considered brave, not letting fearful situations stop him from being adventurous. �I�m just having a look around. Maybe there�s a clue somewhere as to what�s happening here.� Silence followed. Greg wasn�t in the mood to explain himself and Elizabeth wasn�t in the mood to listen. Happenstance found the Urbanics behind a door that normally Greg wouldn�t have taken them through. It was a heavy-set door that was covered with rust and it was tucked away in the far rear of the building. What had brought the trio to investigate behind it was a crashing noise. Discovered moments later was the source of the interrupting sound - a bucket, which had been sitting on the edge of a shelf for God knows how long and finally, how coincidentally, decided to fall just as they were walking near it. Yet, even more of a coincidence was what discovery followed the first. A hallway behind the door turned into a staircase that led to the roof of the school. Walking to the top of the stairs just to see what was up there, Greg spotted something that required further investigation. There were red stains on the tile floor that streaked underneath another door. He tried the doorknob; it was cold. Pulling open the door, a strong wind gusted inward. Then, he disappeared from Elizabeth�s sight. �Hey! Wait up!� Quickly, she and Harmony ran up the steps and headed to the landing. The snow was exceptionally deep on the roof. She didn�t dare venture into the mountain outside, but Greg was halfway across already. �Now what are you doing?� She yelled out over the sound of the wind. �Just taking a look around,� he hollered back. Taking a look around? She thought he was crazy. Going through thigh-high snow and for what? �Well, just hurry up. It�s cold up here.� She herded Harmony and herself back inside to keep warm while her husband did his thing. Brushing the snow off her pants, she looked down at the floor and saw the red streaks. She knew that it must�ve been blood. The thought gave her goose bumps but at least it wasn�t fresh. Then, she saw some yellow crime-scene tape in the corner of the room. Finally, it dawned on her that this is where that little girl must have been murdered. And if that wasn�t an unsettling thought... �Wait a minute,� Elizabeth said out loud, �Harmony.� �What, Mommy?� �Waters... Waters...,� Elizabeth whispered. �Puh... Patrish... Patricia Waters. That was her name. Patricia... Pat... Patty.� Her face grew pale. �Oh my god.� �What�s wrong, Mommy?� Elizabeth bent down to look Harmony in the eye. She grasped her shoulders. �What was the name of the little girl you said you saw?� Harmony looked down. �You don�t believe me. I know you don�t. Daddy doesn�t either.� �Look at me, Harmony!� Harmony looked back up. �Listen. I believe you. Now what was her name?� �Her name was Patty.� That was what she had thought but she wasn�t positive. �Are you sure it was Patty?� �Yeah, Mommy. Why?� �Oh God.� Elizabeth stood up quickly, taking a hold of Harmony�s little hand. She shouted out to Greg. �Gregory! Get back here now!� She couldn�t have known her name. No way. He loomed over the edge and gazed at the white surroundings. It seemed the weather would never let up. By this point, even if there was a car magically awaiting for them to hop in, they couldn�t even drive out of this town. The roads were way too snow-covered. They�d need a land rover. Another day of this and they might even be trapped indoors. Hearing his wife screaming bloody murder, he turned around. �Be right there, hon.� He took a step and his foot hit something that was buried under the mountain of snow. He looked down and saw something black peeking out. Bending over, he grabbed it and removed it from the snow. It was a large, thin, rectangular box with a latch. He didn�t bother opening it yet. And then, he leisurely crossed the roof back over to his trembling wife. ~~~~~ They took a break in the school cafeteria to calm down for a moment. Large windows let the afternoon sunlight in. A lot of snowfall was still coming down, blocking some of the sun, but there was enough light to see fairly well. Elizabeth shared her epiphany with Greg. It was true that Harmony couldn�t have known Patricia Waters� name, but the alternative would have meant that she saw a ghost, which was not a theory that Greg heeded much approval to. The conversation continued. Harmony explained everything that she had seen, but in time, once details were exchanged and concerns were stated, the conversation ended. There was no answer to this riddle, so why bother thinking about it? If the ghost appeared again, then conversation could recommence. So, with thoughts of the ghost under wraps, curiosity turned to... the box. The metal box was still frigid from being buried on the roof for who knows how long. Greg had trouble undoing the latch due to a build-up of ice sealing it shut. He picked up the box and turned it latch-side down and smacked it against the edge of the table four times. Doing so, he successfully loosened the ice. Flipping it back around, he undid the latch and opened the lid. He peered inside. Elizabeth was sitting across from him and she couldn�t see inside the mysterious box, and his method of inspection was much too slow for her liking, for it taunted her curiosity. �What is it?� She asked, eager to find out. Finally revealing the object, he brought it out and placed it on the table. �It�s a book,� she commented bluntly. �Yep.� Indeed it was. But, it wasn�t the standard book one would find in a book store or a library. This particular volume appeared quite old and ornate, something that seemed to have been written many, many years ago. It was over-sized for the traditional hardback and it was leather-bound; and the leather was quite faded and worn. Engraved on the cover was the strange crucifix symbol that was painted both on the jigsaw puzzle and the newspaper article. Somehow, this old book was linked to the current phenomenon occurring in Vagrant�s Hideaway. The pages inside were yellowed, musty, and tattered. The document was unusually thick, mainly due to the heavier paper that was used, but also, because it consisted of nearly one hundred pages. �God! This book looks ancient.� He opened the book to the middle and a cloud of dust flew into the air, making him cough and turn his head momentarily. �And smells ancient too.� She watched him ponder over the pages for a while, flipping through ten or so. �What does it say?� Elizabeth asked, dying to know. All he saw on every page was some kind of foreign text, or so he presumed. However, the letters did not resemble any alphabet that he was familiar with. In fact, they didn�t even look like letters; tiny pictures, almost like hieroglyphs, would be more accurate. �I can�t tell. Just a bunch of weird drawings, like those Egyptian things. There�s nothing to read.� �Well, let me see.� He showed no sign that he was going to hand the book over, so she stood up and walked around to the other side of the table. She sat down beside him. �I don�t know about you, but that looks like words to me.� She was looking at a page that had English text on it. �Yeah, just found it. But look here.� He flipped back a couple pages and then a few more, keeping a hold onto the page with the text on it. Then, he went back to that page. The two of them read the words. They were written in a dark brown ink with a fancy font, and also, it appeared, that the author must have used a quill pen to produce such stylish lettering. Here they read, �I am the One, back from the Void.� The script seemed simple and modern enough, not quite as antiquated as Greg expected it to be. Elizabeth looked at her husband, quite dumbfounded. �And is this supposed to be something important?� �Your guess is as good as mine,� Gregory answered. �I�d think it would be, locked up in this box and stashed on the roof and all. Somebody thought it important.� He then took time to flip through every single page to make sure there weren�t any more pages of text, but there were none. They were all composed of the same strange markings. �Probably should hold onto it just in case. Somehow I feel it is important.� ~~~~~ The snowfall let up as they walked back to the hotel. The gleaming sun could be seen once again, though it would not last much longer. It was nearly 2:30 and the sun would be setting soon. Greg tried to start a couple of the cars that were left abandoned road-side. All were as dead as the town. Coming back to Wanderer�s Retreat, Elizabeth and Harmony rushed inside to the warm surroundings, which were most inviting. Their clothes were soaked from the waist down. Greg lingered a moment outside the doors. Looking up and down the road, he noticed how tranquil this place was, that is, disregarding the current state of affairs. A relaxing town it could portray under normal circumstances. Any other given day. He sighed, then smiled slightly, and walked inside. |