Music City Macabre: The Low Lying Lands Saga: Vol. 1 (17 page)

“You keep the key to your most valuable asset on a chain around your neck? Who the hell made that decision? Henry Blake?” I asked incredulously

“Shut up, Prescott, you asshole. Yeah, I’m liking this honesty thing better by the minute. You two come up here and watch this. ” Shields put the key into the clear box and turned it all the way to the right until a green light came on. She then turned the key three hundred and sixty degrees to the left, back to its original position. Another green light appeared. One more turn to the left brought the key back to twelve o’clock and its original position. A final green light appeared, a sound similar to a breached vacuum seal, and the clear protective box retracted into the wall, exposing the keypad.

“This is a three step process. Step two is the keypad.” She typed the code 092470 into the keypad and, to my surprise, the keypad rose upward, then retreated back into a thin pocket the size of a card slot in an ATM. Once the keypad disappeared, a thin mechanical arm protruded several inches from the wall. The end of the arm had a four- or five-inch bar with a flat red line in the middle. “Part three,” said Shields, “The scan.” She pulled back the sleeve of her coat and on the underside of her right wrist, tattooed right over the veins, was a barcode.

“That must’ve hurt like a son of a bitch,” I said.

“Focus! Once this barcode is scanned, the door will open. You and Cole go first. I’ll follow you. For now, the dog stays out here.”

She placed her wrist under the scanner. I instinctively backed up, not knowing what to expect. For a moment, absolutely nothing happened.

“Maybe The
Network’s offline?” I said.
Not hardly, Prescott.

“For once, Prescott, will you please just shut the hell up!” I put my hands up in an “I surrender” gesture and slid back another couple of steps behind Cole. Who, by the way, I think also wished I’d shut up.

Quiet at first, then growing in volume was the groaning and squealing of bolts, electronically coming to life and releasing. Honestly, it was one of the most unpleasant sounds I’d ever heard. Shortly, a loud clanging signaled that the bolt or bolts had made it across the expanse to their destination, and the door swung into the room about a foot.

I wanted to charge, but the unknown was too much to risk. This whole production was way past the point of a computer or super charged CB radio...wasn’t it? The weak stream of light filtered out of the room into our hallway, giving us the opportunity to look inside before we entered. As we approached the door, the power went out in this section of the MSZ. A single light was visible through a small square window down the corridor.

I looked at Cole and said, “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

I drew one of my Glocks, racked a bullet into the chamber, and started to push the heavy door open. Shields put her hand on my arm and said, “A gun at this point is absolutely unnecessary.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. I have no idea what you have in there, there’s no light, and personally, I’m over all the cryptic bullshit.”

Cole said, “I’m with him.” He produced a small army spec flashlight, pointed it toward the door, and we walked into the room.

What we saw would have reduced lesser men to tears, but not me and Cole. Not yet. There had to be an explanation. We used the extremely bright LED flashlight to tour of all four corners and there was no getting around it. The room was empty. Granted, on one wall rested a very generic military cot, but the walls were devoid of any decoration, and if someone stayed in here there was no plumbing. Was this a cell? Did The Network (and possible Black Hand turncoat) have to be incarcerated for their own protection? If so, apparently he just pissed in the corner. The room didn’t smell like that, though.

I turned back and Shields was standing right behind us. I grabbed the flashlight out of Cole’s hands and shined it in her face. She had a look of absolute horror that frankly scared the shit out me under the circumstances. She clearly had not expected this.

“What kind of game are you playing here, Shields?” I asked.

“I...uh...oh, God,” she muttered. She looked completely defeated. Like she’d put all her eggs in one basket in the hope that The Network would still be viable. That this one thing could save us all. I, of course, was let down, because I love a big reveal, but I didn’t know what it was so I couldn’t be crushed that it wasn’t there. I turned to Cole, who didn’t look disappointed as much as outright furious.

“What the hell is going on, Laura?” Cole shouted. Lexi galloped into the room and stood in front of me. “Is there even a network? Or was this another one of The Three’s brilliant lies told to spread hope when there wasn’t any?”

“Cole! How many times did you see The Network in action? How could you possibly doubt its validity?”

“See it? None. I took your word for it. I trusted you, and again you’ve lied to me, and here I am standing in an empty room with nothing to show for my blind faith.”

I started to intervene, because we needed to decide on our next move, when my flashlight started to flicker. I turned away from the two of them and rapped it against my palm a few times only to have it die completely.

“What the...seriously,” I said, because this was the perfect cap to some serious bullshit.

Over my shoulder I heard Cole say in a very odd voice, “What is
that
?”

I turned to look and I saw it right away. Had there been even a shred of light in the room, it would’ve been invisible. But there it was, all the same. A soft glowing light, about the size of pinhead. It was flickering as it floated erratically around the room.

“I have no idea. Shields?” I turned to her and knew instantly that she knew exactly what it was. Tears were cascading down her cheeks. Just her expression said the weight of the world was off her shoulders.

“It’s The Network
.
” That’s all she said.

Cole walked up and stood next to me as we watched the light bounce around the room. It was currently the size of a quarter but was growing by the minute. And wow was it bright. Cole impulsively brought his Mossberg around and pumped it.

“Cole. No. Put it away. Shields says it’s on our side. Whatever it is. Just stand here with me and let’s let it play out. I don’t think its gonna hurt us. Besides, I don’t know what else to do.” Lexi, for the first time since I met her, was actually behind me. I guess some things are just out of the protective duty lists of dogs.

The light was growing exponentially, now, in size and illumination. Cole and I both had to shield our eyes with our arms. Still, I couldn’t take my eyes off it. It was like one of those things, you don’t know what it is, but it if you look away it might disappear and you’ll never see it again.

The light slowly began to change, morph into a shape. Something was emerging from both sides of the illumination. It wasn’t just a light. This was so much more. The radiance was overwhelming us all as we continued to back up all the way back to the door. It didn’t seem crazy at all when I took my sunglasses out of my coat pocket and put them on. When my eyes adjusted, my brain had to convince me of what I was seeing.

Wings. Emerging out of the brilliant light were large feathered wings. I dropped to my knees in fear of the fact that I was in the presence of an angel. The wings fully expanded to about eight feet or so in total width, then they gently fluttered a couple of times and began to retract. As they retracted, a man’s legs emerged from the radiant light, and a torso began to take shape. By the time the wings completed their journey, the light had disappeared completely, my flashlight worked properly, and there was a naked man standing in front of me. I mean. An actual,
real
live angel was standing in front of me.

“Lights,” it said. And there were. Cole fainted.

MALCOLM

“Malcolm!” Shields said enthusiastically through sobs. She ran to him and threw her arms around him. “You’re alive!”

“Yes, Laura. Just barely. It takes a great deal of energy to vanish, and even more to return. I won’t be doing that again for quite a while. Ah yes! Mr. Prescott. Thank you very much. I will call you that, so don’t bother asking me not to.”

“Hey!” I hadn’t even formed the thought in my head yet to ask him...it...what the heck was I supposed to call him...it? “How do you even know I don’t want to be called that?”

“One moment, please. I need to address my appearance.” He snapped his fingers and instantly he was wearing blue jeans, boots, and navy blue button up shirt. What? Was I in the presence of the most metrosexual angel in history?

“No, you are not, Mr. Prescott, in the presence of the most metrosexual angel in history. I just threw something on.”

“Hold on! Just hold the fuck on for a second.” I said

“Language, Mr. Prescott.”

“Let’s start over.” Cole stirred on the ground and Shields went to check on him. “You are an honest to goodness ANGEL! Yeah?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Why am I not freaking out right now? Or spontaneously combusting? Or I don’t know…freaking out?”

“You have seen, first hand, the demon Chaos enter your father and speak through him. You have also witnessed the essence of Chaos enter the bodies of other Regulars and become the creatures so eloquently called Freaks. You are not freaking out, Mr. Prescott, because your brain has already surmised that angels are the next logical step. The missing piece? In fact, you have never said it aloud before, but you have wondered where we were. The angels. Isn’t that true?”

“Yes. It’s true. Ok. So...yeah. You’re an angel named Malcolm. How do you know so much about me, Malcolm?”

“We have much to discuss, Mr. Prescott. And you have much work to do. But first, let’s get our friend Michael up and about. We should find another place to talk. I believe, Laura, that you have set up camp in the Student Union? I must vacate these premises. Despite the fact that the MSZ was my home, I can no longer stay here. The pain and suffering that took place here is weighing heavily on my soul.”

I pulled Cole, who was still not nearly returned from la-la land, up and put his arm over my shoulder. Shields—I couldn’t make myself call her Laura—took the rest of his weight and we slowly made our way out of the building. The miracle of interacting with an actual angel and the sheer excitement of it all was quickly forgotten when we once again made our way through the sea of bodies. Was there any possible way to make what happened here right? Would killing Kade be enough? One life for hundreds. It wasn’t a fair trade. Kade’s death would not bring these people back.

No, it will not Mr. Prescott.

What? Get the fuck out my head, Malcolm!

Language.

Shut up.

Mr. Prescott…

Quit calling me that!

I’ve been in your head since you walked into The 88. Your thoughts have been my words. We are linked, Mr. Prescott. My, oh my, it was quite the bone chilling evening, wasn’t it? The weather gets much warmer, even in December, the farther south you come.

“Shut. Up!”

Shields, from the other side of Cole said, “Huh? Nobody said anything. What’re you on about?”

“Oh...uh...nothing. I musta got carried away with my internal debate.” I said, sounding nuts.

“Care to share the topic of your internal debate?” said Shields.

“The weather, actually. Just wondering why it was so much warmer here in December than Chicago.”

Malcolm said, “It’s the evil, Mr. Prescott. There’s more of it here.”

“Well, that is certainly debatable,” I said.

Once we were out of the morgue formerly known as the Murfreesboro Safe Zone, we all felt like we were breathing new air. Clean air. The air of life! The entire time I was in the MSZ I felt like I was inhaling death and exhaling life. As if every breath I took in there was time off the clock and, if I didn’t get out of there, I was going to die.

Shields and I carried a still semi-conscious Cole back to the Student Union. Shields and I set up a makeshift bed for Cole on one the couches I had found earlier. I told Lexi to stand by and watch Cole while Shields and I went to get food and supplies from our vehicles.

Oh, and Malcolm, the angel I still was having a good ol’ time taking in, disappeared after casually saying, “I’m going to go have a look around.” I’m quite sure there was some heavenly magic or something going on, but his wings simply emerged upward from behind his shoulders and expanded outward in a most staggering display. It was nearly impossible to not get caught up in it. He lifted himself effortlessly a few feet off the ground and glided towards the doors of the Student Union. He touched down ever so briefly, pushed open the door, then vanished right before my eyes.

“He does understand that he’s just revealed himself to me, us, as an angel right? He can’t just fly off like that. I have questions!”

“He...does that.”

KADE LEARNS THE SCORE

About thirty-five miles up interstate 24, sitting in his office at the Hard Rock Cafe
,
Kendrick Kade suddenly, and rather violently, vomited. What he didn’t know was, at the exact moment of his eruption, Malcolm the angel was making himself known to the Regulars at the Murfreesboro Safe Zone. Kade had been sitting back in his rolling office chair, one that he finally really liked, with his feet crossed and resting comfortably on his desk.