Chapter Thirteen
I watched the amazing color-play of the sunset in the distance. Another day gone by.
The Russian’s half dried blood glistened in the last rays of the disappearing sun. All was quiet now. Not even the wind dared to make a sound.
I was sitting on the upper step, my back to the windshield, and turned to look at the others. Mark sat on the first seat, his shirt and face a mess. He’d gotten a little in the way and caught some of Louis’ punches. Lucy sat a few seats back, leaning over, her head resting on the headrest of the seat in front of her. Her eyes were closed. She looked frightened and tense. Louis sat in the back, holding Tiko’s body, his head resting against the window.
I turned back again and stared into the desert. Somewhere a lizard felt observed and disappeared into an untraceable hideout, leaving a small trail of dust behind.
We never expected anything like this to happen. Movie-people use such scenes to keep people glued to the screen, but us killing another human being … not even in my worst nightmares I’d have dreamed of carrying out such a dreadful act. In the heat of the fight we had fear and hate triggering us, blocking intelligence and decency from taking hold of our minds. Now that it was over, we slowly became aware of what we had done.
The silence felt threatening and the body began to stink. The stench of sweat and piss made me want to puke.
Mark whispered: “What do we do with the body? We don’t have anything to dig that big a hole into the ground.”
“Maybe they’ve got some tools inside,” I said pointing to the concrete tits. “Surely we can find a shovel in the basement somewhere. They might have used one from time to time.”
Mark stared at me as if I’d been talking about a vampire vault or something.
“O.k., let’s go and search the place. We also need to tell the other girls. Maybe they can help us free whoever wrote that note.”
A little reluctant I got up and together we walked over to the concrete tits. Lucy stayed in the bus with the others.
As we approached the building I noticed that suddenly one of the nipples shot up about three meters into the evening sky. It was stuck on a metal stick which looked like some kind of antenna. I signaled Mark to look over, but in a careful way so as not to attract attention.
“Someone is sending a message,” I said. “Don’t know if that’s good or bad. I just don’t want to fight an army of Russian hookers entrenched in Tit-castle. Who knows whom they might be calling as the cavalry?”
“True, we’ve got no way to find that out beforehand, but I think we should go for it anyhow. We still have the element of surprise on our side. I mean, even if someone did send a message - we’re just guessing after all - if we act now there’s no way they’d have finished their plan. Let’s try the door.”
To avoid being called a coward, I agreed. Still, I felt we had saved enough people by now. But what could I do, standing next to Mark whose battered face looked like he’d just returned from a war party. Next to this battle veteran, I was no more than a replacement.
Mark took off his leg and while holding it with his left hand, slowly opened the door. Silence jumped us straight in the face. The hall was empty. We pointed directions at each other. I’d go for the back while Mark would take a look upstairs.
Mark climbing the stairs triggered a series of loud creaks. I felt left alone.
The further I walked away from the hall, the darker it became. There were no lights, no windows, not even a door. Everything had become pitch black. It took me a while to get accustomed to the darkness.
Still half blind I let my hands wander over the wall to my right side. Suddenly I made out a door handle. I instantly opened it, completely ignoring upcoming thoughts about possible hidden dangers that might lure behind it.
I entered a large room with a huge mahogany desk in the middle. The window at the far end was shattered. On the desk was a pink rubber phone in the shape of a bald pussy. It had a huge hole in the middle. Whatever normally would have filled the crater was missing.
As I stepped closer to the desk I saw the body. Like a giant bloody been bag it was lying under the window. The face resembled that of the other Russian like two drops of water.
An arrow stuck deep inside his beefy neck, a little blood still dripping from the wound. The throat was cut, too. The pool of blood he was lying in suggested he didn’t have much left. It must have happened just before Mark and I entered the building. He held the phone’s missing part in his right hand. A fleshy rubber dick with the balls being the mouthpiece. Some people never develop taste.
Suddenly I felt a cold rush at my neck as if, for a split second, a current of air brushed by. I turned, but there was nothing to be seen.
Then the broken glass under the window cracked as if someone stepped on it . But there wasn’t anybody to be seen!!! I was scared to death. Goosebumps shot up sky high.
I said: “Who’s there? No need to hide, I won’t hurt you …. don’t be scared.”
I hoped that whoever was making the noise wouldn’t get that I was the one scared shitless.
Then again a brush of air on my neck. This time colder … and a whisper. It was like a voice and at the same time something completely different. I know this sounds like a big pack of bullshit, but I swear to God and all Grandma’s saints that it is true. Although I didn’t understand a word of what was being said, I was sure someone tried to tell me something.
What - or whoever - just spoke now stood directly in front of me. I noticed the light changing slightly as if the air moved in itself. He or it was looking at me and I through him ….
I felt less scared, now that I had it facing me.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” I asked.
It instantly replied in a chilling whisper filled with pride: “My name is Wild Cloud!”
Oh my God, this was so funny that I had to use all my strength not to burst out laughing.
“Tiko’s Dad! But I …. we thought …. you are dead, right?”
“I am what you white people call dead, though I still live. I passed on, so to say. You could see this as a life in another reality, beyond earth and humans’ trivial desires.”
“But what are you doing here with me and why aren’t you with Tiko?”
“Dear boy, the reality I’m living in is so huge. No human being would ever be able to imagine its dimensions. I was hunting buffalo on the wide plains as I heard Tiko cry for help. I raced over but I came too late. By then the damage was done. I did the best I could to help him. I called on the spirits to send him the force he so desperately needs to heal his wounds. While I was with him in the bus I also watched the fight, of course. Because I knew about the Russian’s twin, I came here to prevent any act of revenge.”
“So you shot him? You can move things?”
“No, I cannot. But I can make people do things for me. If you wouldn’t have been so scared and had looked out of the shattered window, you would have discovered one of the Russian girls hiding outside, beneath it. She is an excellent student.”
I felt like a prick starring in a fifties B-Movie. On the one hand I had this guy calling me a coward, on the other it was hard to suppress the tickling in my cheeks. Probably read too many comic books. Or would you call this telepathy?
“Don’t let me frighten you, my boy. I’ll take care of Tiko and I’ll be there whenever you need me. Remember the thunderstorm that attacked the bus? That was definitely not what you thought it to be. If it wasn’t for me and my warriors, the entity that attacked you would have succeeded in stopping your journey right then and there. Not that I’m proud of it or anything - just stating a simple fact. But what am I talking to you here; you need to get on. After all you still got a long road ahead of you.”
If, at the time, I would have known what he meant by all that, I’d have canceled the whole trip. But then again I wouldn’t be sitting here, telling you the story. So I instantly forgot about his prediction and instead thought of the thunderstorm.
What ’Being’ could have wanted to attack us? Was it another ghost? Grandma believed in ghosts. Mom and Dad often made fun of her talking to departed souls. But what would any of those want from us? And what did it have to do with me? Why does Wild Cloud care? So many unsolved questions.
“You felt right, son. I have a reason for still being here. Tiko is being taken care of. He was badly hurt but is healing now and will soon regain consciousness. I am here because of you. I wanted to thank you for what you did for my son. I am very grateful for that, as is Tiko. There’s just one more thing I need to say to you. Please take your time to search the building thoroughly. You need to free all the girls. You wouldn’t want to walk away from here with the feeling of having missed out on one, now would you? Take care Damon – and goodbye.”
And with a cold brush of air he was gone.
“What did you mean by that?“ I called after him.”you can’t leave us now, we still need your help!”
No reply.
I thought about his last words. Of course I’d look everywhere to free the girls. But I wouldn’t want to be responsible for yet another helpless soul.
Outside I heard a rustling of leaves. Must have been the shooter getting away. While staring at the mess in the room my memory replayed the last hour in fast forward mode. What a happening. Two dead people whom I never even would have met had I stayed at home. Tiko reduced to near pulp, the ever so peaceful Louis turned into a criminal …..
What was going on here and were we really heading in the right direction?
I sent a quick prayer to Grandma’s saints. You never know. Maybe that would help.
I closed the door behind me as I left the room. I could hear Mark talking to some girl upstairs. She was weeping. My God, what must these girls have been going through …
I went back to the hall and called Mark: “Everything o.k. with you upstairs?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I found two girls up here. Scared shitless. I don’t understand everything they say, but from what I can tell, there’s still one or two left in the basement.”
“Yeah, I know. I already spotted one, the one who killed the fatso’s twin brother. I’ll try and keep looking for the other. That is if she’s still down here somewhere.”
Silence, just a few whispers and more weeping. What on earth had they done to the girls?
“That must have been Ivan,” Mark yelled down. “The other one was called Boris.”
“I don’t give a shit what they’re called. I just want to get them done away with and then get the hell out of here!”
Ivan, Boris, damn! This whole mess we were in. I felt so angry I could burst. I wanted to hit the walls, burn the place down and kick them twins in the head. Although that probably wouldn’t give me any relief. I wouldn’t be seeing their pain. It would be like kicking dead pigs.
“Hey Mark, sorry for what I just said. It’s just the tension going to my head. I’m off again, looking for the last girl. When you take those two outside, tell Lucy and Louis I’ll be joining you soon.”