Red Twilight: A Dawning Of Power

Chapter 23 Light of Day

It feels like days have passed since the fighting began, but it has indeed been only hours. Back in the Lamia's Back, Snake runs at the door. Latching onto it, he shouts in frustration as he shakes it furiously. He falls off the door and kicks it once more for good measure. "Come on!"

The party fans out, everyone finding a place to relax in the bar. El looks at Snake.

"Didn't I already explain why that won't work?" El rests against the pool table.

"Well," Snake throws his hands in the air, "what do we do now?"

Spooky pours some beer from the tap. "We drink free beer and eat peanuts until someone comes looking for us," he says.

"What the f.u.c.k kind of plan is that!" Snake yells.

El's head drops, disappointed. "It's a better one than any I got."

"We didn't find the other bikers or a back door," Pistol adds.

"Likely Job ate them," Trash guesses.

"Lizzet is missing still, too," Jacob adds, a look of pain on his face.

"I might have said this already, but Lacerti and I saw her being drug out the front," El pops in.

"How are you, Larry? Fine, thank you, just a little mutated. And yourself? Oh, great. I kinda wanted to go to a hotel last night, but a friend of mine said we should check this place out instead," Larry says to himself.

"Hey, Larry, how did you figure out that code, anyway?" Snake asks, approaching his brother.

A talent seven hours of video games a day will give you."

"Talking about games," El looks at Larry, "can I keep your phone?"

Snake's head snaps left. "You can keep the phone, but I want my gun, come to think of it."

"Deal." El hands Snake his gun back, he then pulls out his eagle and looks down at it, he roles it around in his hand looking it up and down, a mark scratched into the but of the gun catches his attention, a number 62754. "hmm…" El squints as he invasions the number. He flips open Snakes phone and looks at the key pad, another puzzle, and he may just know the key.

Time passes hard as the air becomes warm and heavy. Pistol racks up a game of pool. Trash, Spooky, and Jacob join in; Ashley watches and listens, strangely calm.

"Jacob, have you always been able to use magic?" Pistol asks.

"Not to my knowledge," the old man admits.

"So how did you do it?"

"I opened my mouth and the 'Architect' spoke. That was an awful impressive display of power on your end, as well."

"Maybe it is time for me to stop running," Pistol whispers cryptically.

"Where will you go next, Charlie?" Ashley pipes in.

"I'm going home to find out the rest of my family's history. From there, I don't know," he explains. "Well, Trash, it looks like your COP worked like a watch."

"Don't you mean charm?" the girl sorceress asks.

"I haven't had many charms work, but I've had a lot of watches, though," Pistol jokes. "You didn't really learn that in school, did you?"

"Are you kidding? Circles of Protection and Runes of Protection are just the beginning of what Mr. Jack Jules has in the school's hidden library."

A shadow creeps along the barroom floor. Ever slowly, ever softly, light seeps in

through a hole in the ceiling barely larger than a silver dollar. A pounding noise echoes

through the room, and a voice follows. "Hey … anyone home?"

Snake runs to the door. "Moses!"

"What the hell is going on?" the man on the outsides asks.

"Moses, we are locked in here; can you open the door from your side?"

The door shakes futilely. "Yeah … just let me go get my tank."

El looks at Snake, then at the hole in the roof only now in the light of day visible.

"Do you know that man?" he asks.

Snake nods. "Yes, it's Moses, the man we came here to meet."

El pushes Snake to one side and places his ear to the door. "Moses, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, what is going on?"

"Moses, this door is locked with an I-bar, the same kind as is commonly used in the construction of commercial buildings. Do you see it?" Moses makes a sound indicating understanding. El continues, "Steal beams like that are designed to offer deflection in the mathematical sense; they absorb top-down pressures but are relatively soft in the center, fitted to one another to hold loosely in strings, making buildings in essence aerodynamic. Pushing from this side, we are pushing with the grade of the metal, so it will not budge. I have some steel cable and a zip clasp in my truck. If you tie it around the center of the lock and slowly pull it, it will likely pull the door straight out of the wall. Do you understand?"

Moses pauses as he looks about then exclaims, "Yes!"

El finds the crossbow from the bar's storeroom and ties his keys around an arrow.

"What is the weather out there like right now?" he shouts through the door.

"Partly cloudy, no wind, about a hundred degrees."

"Keep your head down; I'll send you my keys." El ties his keys to an arrow and lifts the bow over his head, El takes his shot straight, clean anr true as always into the hole in the roof, then bounces out atop it moments later. Shortly they hear the sounds of a diesel engine revving. The backup siren squeals, followed by the twisting of metal, the locking of the clasp, the warping of steel, the bending of the door, and then they witness the door falling off the wall altogether.

Cool, dry air fills the bar, and rays of sun bathe the party. Covered in blood, sweat, and dust, they all file out, returning to the beautiful daytime world. Moses steps down from the truck and laughs at the horrid sight of the battle-worn party. Snake stiffens his lip and harshness floods into his eyes as he briskly moves to Moses. He slaps his tiny friend, hurling him to the ground.

"What the f.u.c.k, Moses! How the hell did you find this place? Were you playing darts with Satan? Did you use the psychic hotline? Draw it out of a hat? How the hell did you come up with this?"

Moses stands up, rubbing his jaw. "What's the matter? Santa pinocha looks like santa vaca, or what?"

"As a matter of fact, Moses," Snake calms down as he looks back at the pub, "it kind of did." Moses's accent is a muddle of a dozen or so dialects, but Snake is pretty confident Moses just compared a p.u.s.s.y to a cow. Snake's eyes turn to the darkness of the bar, he squints into the darkness. The nameless cowgirl hides at the edge of his vision, Snake can almost see her wave him good by.

Once outside, everyone pairs off to share words—everyone but El and Lacerti, who approach their truck, El stopping for only a moment to whisper with Moses and collect his keys. El stands alongside him, refusing to make eye contact. "Hello again, client. I know you know me, and yes, I remember you, so if you know what's good for you, you will do as I say and not react to me in any way—I am a ghost. Give me my keys, and say nothing of us." El takes his keys and he and Lacerti are off into the sands without another word.

The driver looks in his mirror and reflects for a moment longer on the men that were his team for a day. He cracks a smile, knowing that though not everything is OK, they will cross paths again. This isn't the end of a journey, it's the beginning, and they all have a part to play in this game, even if they don't understand it.

As they begin their trek, Lacerti crosses his arms, lying back in his seat. "You're still thinking about them," he says lazily.

"They're good people."

"Your father wouldn't approve."

"Maybe some tunes?" El says, changing the subject.

"You never listen to the radio."

"I think now is a good time to start."

Lacerti chuckles a little at El as his heartless facade fades away, revealing, momentarily, his loneliness. El reaches for the radio and turns the dial, looking for a working station. A woman's voice comes on. "You are listening to KOTOR. Next up we have Iron Maiden and 'The Long Distance Runner' …" Time is long, and things are not going to improve. The next adventure rests just on the other side of the valley.

***

As Snake and Moses discuss the value of gold, a hand takes Larry's shoulder. He spins about, catching a glimpse of a man in the door to the bar fifty feet away grasping a duffle bag and vintage revolver. The strange man then vanishes into the blackened depths of the Lamia's Back. Larry watches a moment, trying to decide whether or not he believes his own eyes.

"OK," Moses nods after several minutes of arguing, "you can have your money, but I'm not happy about it. I had big plans for my share, now you are threating to take my dammed coat off my back."

"I don't give a shit dad, do you have any idea how hard this much gold is to get a hold of? Besides, supply and demand; I have the supply on hand, and I want cash."

Moses laughs at Snake and his clever crime savvy. "Snake, you piece of shit, you have more lives than a cat and are just as cunning. Let's go home and I'll find the rest of the money."

"Good." Snake nods and retires his gun to its holster in his overcoat. He calls over, "Lances, kid, come on. I'll give you a ride to the next town down. You're on your own from there, though. Larry, let's go. Moses is taking us home."

The group of them gathers into Snake's car and begins their journey, Snake driving, Jacob in the passenger's seat, Larry and Ashley in the back. "Lances, I just noticed you're wearing a ring." Jacob looks down at his hand as Snake talks. "Opal stone for the back, set gold, diamond-shaped, etched, inscribed with the letter G. You're a knight, aren't you?"

Jacob nods. "Snake, it's not a man's past that makes him who he is. It's his future."

Snake nods. "I know, Father. The circ.u.mstances of one's birth are not so significant to his life as the choices one makes and the path he carves through history." Jacob nods, dumbfounded by the seeming clairsentience of the other man's words. "So, Father, where will the future take you?"

"The Church of Jesuit. I will tell them my story and take my rightful place amongst them in my fight against evil."

"The warrior priests of the first Masonic right organized 400 CE, right?" Snake demonstrates that he is well read. A deep respect for the priest drawing out the better man Snake may have become.

"Yes, that is absolutely right; how did you know that?"

"I read James G. Robinson's book The Legion," Snake explains. "So, Father, do you like Dio?" Snake holds up a CD.

"Who?" Jacob responds.

"Rodney James Dio, former bassist for Black Sabbath. 'Holy Diver,'" Larry adds.

Snake puts in the CD and they cruise down the road.

Snake holds true to his word, dropping off Jacob and Ashley out front a church in a nearby town. Then he calls the sheriff's department, spinning tail of a massive drug ring operating out of the Lamia's Back bar before he and Larry make their way out of town without further ado.

***

As everyone else makes their ways to their vehicles, Pistol, Spooky, and Trash are left alone in the parking lot. "Spooky, I want you to take Trash and go back to Mississippi," Pistol says, slapping Spooky on the arm and holding him momentarily. "I'll catch up."

"I don't understand," Spooky pipes up, "what are you going to do?"

Pistol smiles as he walks backward away and points over his shoulder. "I'm going to make sure there wasn't a back door."

Trash tries to argue with Pistol, but Spooky holds her back. Spooky understands and knows that there's no point. Pistol knows what he has to do, and Trash would just make things harder on him. The former fighter digs through the saddle bags and moves

Trash's things to his bike. He says, "Trash, it's time to go; Pistol will catch up." Pistol walks around the outside of the building after watching his friends ride off. His whip glows bluish white as he finds his way to a sudden, steep drop-off in the ground. He looks down to see half of the pyramid exposed and a death pit of thousands of wrecked cars and trucks that have been pushed in. His eyes widen and he gasps for air.

Out of the wrecked cars come groups of monkeylike monsters that seem to have been pulled inside-out. They are covered in metallic shells and lack eyes, and they sniff the air and instinctually as the move slowly toward Pistol. They leap at the walls of the pit and start swiftly jumping. Charlie "Pistol" Belmond pulls his whip from his waist and leaps in, whip flashing a golden blue, to meet destiny head-on the strange and evil thing in the deep stirs Belmond's next adventure waits, a battle that will lead him across the cosmos, jumping between worlds. The sound of breathing thickens the air.