We returned to New York to the familiar smells of the air
and damp that both Carter and I had been friendly with.
Janet was waiting in the Hangar, she had been somewhat
anxious regarding any new information as we had given her very little to go on
in the last week.
We explained to her in full the discoveries and setbacks we
had experienced, Carter did most of the talking as he was better equipped to
explain it from a non cult enthusiast way.
At the end of our recount, we told her that the centre of the darkness
her father had been chasing in the United States was located in Pasadena California.
We requested her assistance once she had concluded that we must finish her
father’s work, to supply us with additional men for the event, most likely
violent that would be required.
She was not a supporter in violence yet we felt we had no
choice. We left the hanger both
requesting to visit our families and return in a week as to recover, this was
not denied.
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I returned home, Zoe and Chloe emerged from the house to
greet me, unfortunately my appearance left Chloe shocked and afraid, my face was
still battered and I did what I could to hide my lack of teeth.
Once inside Zoe was not impressed, we discussed for hours
that I felt I needed to complete this work that I had started so many years
ago. She was right, there was no use
arguing, we moved here to close the book on my past life and begin fresh. However my life seems to follow me wherever I
go. Unimpressed, she did not enjoy my
company as she knew I would not be deterred from completing this work that had
been so consuming for so long.
I did my best to contact Father Rigel, the one man I knew
capable of aiding me in what was to be a dangerous encounter. I spoke to Father Gregory, he requested
copies of all information I had gathered, he would do his best to aid me in
understanding this darkness I had uncovered.
Father Rigel however, could not be reached.
The next week was spent with me barely moving from my study,
I was pouring over the literature I had collected on my investigation, so much
of this seemed so surreal that it couldn’t possibly be real, however with every
turn of the page, reality and events that have transpired made themselves known
in full force.
I scheduled an appointment with the dentist to have false
teeth prepared, the least I could do to amend my current appearance.
Chloe slightly warmed as my bruises went down, sitting with
her until she fell asleep was the highlight of my week, Zoe remained quiet, not
wanting to partake in my company while I was so consumed with my work.
Before I knew it I was on my way back to Carter’s office, I
had said my farewells to my family, giving Father Tom specific instructions to
keep a close eye on my family, his devotion always freely given.
I was early as usually, waiting a little while for Carter to
return from his usual watering hole. I
told him that I had been unsuccessful in recruiting anyone to our cause, he on
the other hand presented two fellows, Jimmy, a driver and all around useful
man, and Ron, a much darker man, a professional burglar of some sort, both men
suggested to Carter by his contacts both above the law and below it.
It was Tuesday the 19th of November that we took
to the skies once more on our way to Pasadena, Ron and Jimmy both overcome by
the lavish interior of the plane.
Once on the ground, everyone knew their roles, Ron was to do
his best to obtain any technical data or plans on the house, Jimmy was to get
his hands on some transportation, once obtained, both Jimmy and Frank would
keep a close watch on all the comers and goers of the house. Carter wanted to touch base with his friend
the local cop who had been the investigating officer of what happened in 1924.
I spent much of my time familiarizing myself with my
firearms. My hands shaking as I knew the
time to use them may be upon me sooner than I had hoped.
Frank and Jimmy returned to our hotel, a somewhat plain and ordinary
establishment, their assessment was simple, lots of visitors during the
day. Some Hispanic, others more notably what
was known as Zoot Suits, finely dressed men who’s clothing seemed a little on
the loose side, all coming and going for no longer than 15 minutes.
Ron also appeared with plans from the city records office,
his plan was simple, a night reconnaissance scheme. His plan was to get close enough to pick a
good point of entry and assess the movements of the staff at night. Jimmy had familiarised himself with the
surrounding streets as to best plot a steady and secure get away should we need
to leave in a hurry.
We instructed Frank and Jimmy to keep their recon going,
asking them to tail the zoot suits and see if any patterns emerge on who may
have information we could use.
Ron, Carter and I all made ready for an uncomfortable night and
left the hotel to begin our night observations.
When we approached the street, we ditched our vehicle, it
took several minutes of Ron’s navigating to find a good place to watch from,
the neighboring house shared a long hedge wall with Trammell’s estate, we all
lay flat under the dense foliage as midnight approached.
Lights were on in the house, the upstairs balcony was lit
along with several rooms littered around the upstairs and down. It was clear the kitchen was a staging area
for any guards and staff. To the south
of the house, the coach house was dark, no lights there, from Jimmy’s intel,
this is where Walker was to be found most of the time.
Movement took our attention, the second floor balcony, a
large man clad only in a robe smoking a long cigar began pacing, almost
inaudible from our position, he was muttering something as he paced back and
forth. He began to defile himself as he
walked, clearly this man was in some way broken. Carter was the first to recognize him, this
was one of the men in the photo’s we had collected of the unsavory activities
Echiavarria had been involved with, from what we remembered, his was in many of
the photos. We could only assume this
was Samson Trammell. Another man emerged
onto the balcony, both men spoke briefly before returning to the interior of
the house.
All activity seemed to cease for the night after that.
At first light, a large van entered the property, some sort
of food delivery, unloading at the back of the house where we assumed the
kitchen was located. It departed with
minimal staff activity, by around 9:00 AM a car would approach the carriage
house every half an hour or so, a collection of Suits, Hispanics and high class
individuals would meet with Walker and enter the main house, then withdraw and
drive away about 20 minutes later.
We decided to move, we had seen enough, with the morning sun
creeping high and the shadows we had lurked in beginning to fail, our departure
was called for. As we moved back from
the hedge an elderly man stood in our way, we all froze.
Carter broke the silence, forgive me sir, he said,
explaining that we are investigators looking into the house next door as
complaints had been made. At this news the gardener seemed to relax slightly, he
began explaining that had made several such complaints himself.
He began telling us of the many things he had seen while
working, his name was Brooker, a man who had tended these gardens for over 30
years. He had seen many things, from
what seemed to be a body being removed from the house, to strange naked people
celebrating at night.
He took us to a corner of the garden, explaining to us that
one night about 18month ago he heard some strange sounds coming from this area,
he pushed back the thick moss on the ground to reveal a large stone mouth
protruding from the ground. He explained
that when he first saw it, it was not stone, but a breathing, talking mouth of
horrific design. He ran screaming only
to return with his mother’s silver crucifix, driving it into the mouth, it
turned to stone.
I got down on my haunches to examine the mouth, this was
almost identical to what I had seen in the Sanatorium in Savannah. A strange feeling came over me as I rose to
my feet, I could not explain it, something familiar yet harrowing.
Brooker explained to us that the Saunders family, the owners
of this house were out of town for some time, we agreed to pay him handsomely to
use a room within to operate out of for the next few evenings, finally
something that has worked in our favor.
We returned to our hotel shortly after, Frank also returned
around lunch time, explaining that the men who had visited the house, began
distributing something all over town, from high society homes to derelict
hovels. One house in particular was
getting deliveries very regularly.
Carter and I decided to pay this house a visit, once we got some rest.
It was about 5:00PM when we set out to visit this supposed
customer of the zoot suits, Frank was driving with Carter any I in the
back. We both carried our pistols, we didn’t
think once house merited such a large potential threat as to require shotguns.
Carter knocked on the door, the response was a brazen ‘whose
there’. Explaining that we are a
supplier he let us in, his appearance was terrible, injection marks covered his
arms, his face and torso badly scratched, his eyes sunken in his skull. He demanded his ‘stuff’. Carter refused and told him who we were,
without hesitation the man threw himself at Carter, launching an assault of
devastating violence. Carter was under
the man, I stormed to the fray throwing a wild hook punch that connected with
the man’s jaw with almost no effect but a swift jab to my groin, I stumbled
back, undeterred I launched myself at him again as Carter also landed several
blows on the mans mid section. Again I
struck his head, with little more effect he swayed and lashed at me, enough to
take me aback again.
Carter managed to seize the opportunity to reverse his
position, throwing the man to the ground and pin his chest there by smothering
his back. I had had enough and drew my
pistol, I slammed it into the man’s face and told him to calm down or he would
be shot. Carter did the same, with two
pistols now trained on the man, he resigned himself to a position of surrender.
Carter began is rough questioning, Lee, the man’s name was,
he told Carter of the ‘Nectar’ he had been receiving, collecting an empty vile
from Lee’s rubbish, it was an amber coloured liquid smelling of moss. In between pieces of information Lee
continued to throw insults and remarks more so at me than at Carter, something
that made me want to hurt him as Jack had hurt me.
Lee spoke of how he first encountered the elixir. During a visit to Bangkok, he was offered
this substance and it made him violent, uncontrollably violent, his experience
led him to the unlicensed fighting world where the substance was common. He
explained that what he gets delivered here makes you erotically charged, where
in Bangkok, it makes you violent.
He seemed to like Carter, most likely because they had been
brawling, he told us that when in Bangkok we should go to the ‘Fragrant honey
Shop’ that is where it can be found.
We left soon after, Carter looked like he was going to thank
Lee, and all I wanted to do was break him.
We had arranged to meet everyone at the house next to
Trammell’s estate. We all ate and began
taking shifts watching what the night’s darkness would reveal.
For hours people are dropped off at the residence, mostly
fancy dressed and financial outgoing people, all entering from the rear of the
house.
Most lights began to go out around 11:00PM, with everyone
that has entered, the closest estimate would be 20-30 people inside. At midnight, everything is quiet, no signs of
life, what would appear to any passers-by as a sleeping house.
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