The Chardon Chronicles: Season One -- The Harvest Festival (18 page)

A high school group wandered the path as Matt
sank deeper into meditation. The group split up and strung out into
two long lines on either side of the monument. As they flanked him,
Matt felt a sudden shift, almost a sensation of expansive motion as
his mind opened and his imagination shifted color--instead of
‘seeing’ nothing but black with his eyelids closed, he experienced
a vague kaleidoscope of mottled gray forms. He gasped and opened
his eyes and lost the feeling. He had one thought upon returning to
a normal frame of mind, “Bananas Foster”.

He wasn’t sure how to interpret the
experience. He started walking back toward the car. The kids filed
past him behind their teachers and a park ranger. Two of the girls
were wearing the same T-shirt, a cartoon of a banana with a
startled expression running away from a cartoon dog. The words
“Bananas Foster” were written in script characters under the
picture.

He stood by the path as the kids walked past.
He looked back toward the serpent’s head and saw the kids on either
side and finally, he understood how it worked. “Ahhhhh….” the
epiphany was sweetly satisfying.

He got out his own notebook and quickly noted
an entry.

June 16, 2004 -- Serpent Mound State Park,
Peebles, Ohio

Made first connection to the other side.
The monument acts as a reflector--the geometry of the monument
might be important and help focus the signal; the connection is
actually made through the minds of a
group
of people. I made the connection through a high school class
field trip. Gives new perspective to religious ritual and mega
structures. Some might be in hands of real practitioners, others a
cargo cult imitation.

Robbie stopped the car on the curb. The
yellow Lamborghini was in the lot of a small brick office building
with a subdued sign in the front ‘Transcendent Productions’. They
waited for about 20 minutes and nothing happened.

David said, “Well… maybe if we had two cars,
we could cycle through watch duty.”

Robbie scratched his beard, “by the time we
get a second car, we could miss him leaving. Who knows where
they’re going to go?”

David responded, “This might be a long haul…
waiting. I’m not really sure how often they do the blood
thing.”

Dana was inspecting the ends of her hair and
lounging on Johnny’s chest. She spoke up, “I think something’s
going to go down soon. Be patient.”

Only a few minutes after she spoke, a limo
pulled into the lot. Two men got out. One of them was in his early
thirties, and short, maybe only 5’ 4”. He wore a dapper charcoal
suit with a blue tie. The other one was tall, older, and had wispy
white hair.

Robbie laughed, “that’s definitely Vampire
Elvis.”

Dana pointed, “Man, check out that ring, it’s
like he’s doing curls.That left bicep’s got to be toned!” she
laughed.

Robbie said, “Johnny! bust out the mic, I’ll
patch it through the car speakers.”

Johnny took out the I/R audio transducer and
aimed it at the plate glass windows and robbie turned up the
audio.... there was horrible feedback. “Oh shit…” Johnny said.

“There’s a wheel there on the side to cancel
out the local vibrations. Lemme turn this down while you dial her
in.”

Johnny tried again. They heard the men
talking. It sounded like an old time wax cylinder recording.
Vampire Elvis and Brillo Head embraced and warmly greeted each
other.

Vampire Elvis spoke, “Tony, you know Jeff
Goldstein, right?”

Tony shook the dapper man’s hand. “I sure do.
He helped us out in New York--made for a memorable night.”

Jeff smiled a robotic smile, “Well, we aim to
please. Our customers are always satisfied.”

Vampire Elvis put his arm around Tony’s
shoulder. Vampire Elvis was a skyscraper. He was at least 6’ 2”,
and in his youth had probably been 6’ 4”. Age was compressing him,
but he still moved well and had an animated face and bright
eyes.

“What are you gentlemen in the mood for
tonight?” Jeff asked.

“We’ve been talking about this all week… The
anticipation is delicious.” Tony said.

Vampire Elvis said, “We want a couple of
girls--tweens--that’s what they say now. One black, but not too
black.”

Tony threw in, “Caramel.”

“Right, caramel,” Vampire Elvis said, “and a
white, really pale one. Some freckles would be nice. Not slutty
girls. Good, wholesome girls. Fresh.”

Tony added, “Oh and a red headed boy--young,
like 8 tops. Any kids with pets?”

Jeff replied, “Yes, I have just the boy, he’s
got a rabbit. Loves it.”

Vampire Elvis said, “Oh that one’s all
mine…”

Tony laughed. “Oh man, you with the boys.
What’s up with that?”

“It’s an acquired taste… Give it another
couple decades and you get tired of the snatch and start to
explore.”

Jeff just nodded. “Party supplies?”

Tony said, “yeah, why not? I already got a
guy, but if you can handle it, great---just don’t fuck us on the
price.”

Jeff responded, “Oh I wouldn’t dream of it.
And this is a ‘fountain of youth’ treatment, too?”

“That’s the highlight of the night!” Vampire
Elvis said. “It’s such a good way to wind down.”

“OK.” Jeff said. “You’ve got the address?”
they nodded. “How about 9?”

“Sounds good. We’ll get warmed up and meet
you there.”

Jeff walked out of the building and climbed
back into the limo. The limo backed onto the street and pulled
away.

“What the fuck was that?” Johnny said.

“That sack of shit.” Robbie pointed at the
limo, “is Jeff Goldstein. He’s a pimp for these freaks. I’m not
sure if he’s one, or just a servant. I’d like to get that guy,
too.”

David interjected, “The ‘Empire’ is really
big on the flesh trade, especially the fringe freak stuff.”

Dana said, “if you didn’t catch on, they’re
going to rape kids and transfuse their blood.”

Johnny said, “I got that… Jesus Christ… I
mean, why don’t we call the cops.”

“We
are
the cops on this one.” David
said.

“Can’t trust Five-0, son.” Dana did her best
gangster rapper voice.

“She’s right.” David said, “we might get
lucky and there’d be an investigation. Or we end up arrested on a
bogus charge. Or these guys get arrested and pay a shitload of
money to bribe everyone involved in the prosecution.’

Dana said, “Don’t you get it yet, we’re out
on the frontier fighting these fucks. No law out here.”

Johnny’s eyes hardened. “OK. I get it
now.”

8PM rolled around. Vampire Elvis and Tony
piled into another limo. They were both already really warmed up on
cocaine and shots of bourbon. The limo pulled away. Robbie waited
for another car to pass before pursuing them.

Dana pulled out her 1911 and checked the
chamber and the clip. She pulled out a second clip.

David said, “whoa, whoa, whoa. That thing’s
too loud.”

She pulled a short compound bow from the
duffle. “The gun’s the back up. Always need a plan B.”

Robbie said, “Remember, we film first…”

Johnny said resolutely, “We’re not letting
these guys fuck kids. No way.”

“Right, of course, no way.” Robbie said,
“But, trust me, they’ll take their time. We want to record as much
as possible before we go in.”

They followed the car down Hillsboro past a
few mansions. The limo pulled into a house with a high wall and a
wrought iron gate. The gate was swinging shut as Robbie drove past.
He circled around the block and parked on the side of the road at
the rear of the house.

Robbie laid out the plan, “Johnny you get
over that wall with the camera and laser, and start recording. If
you get caught, you want to make a scene. Here take this.” he
handed Johnny a handgun with a silencer. He pointed, “safety
on/off. A round is already chambered. It’s a semi auto, just point
it and pull the trigger.” Johnny nodded. Robbie continued. “If you
get found out and fight back, they’ll get spooked. You get out of
there. They won’t call the cops, obviously. We’ll follow them and
do the rest in that case.”

Robbie continued to lay out the plan. The
rest of the crew would move into position, and wait until Johnny
texted them a message, then they’d get inside. Johnny was going to
mop up any stragglers.

“Oh, and don’t film us!” David said.

Johnny looked to see if there were any cars
or any people on the sidewalk. They were parked under some shade
trees and the spot was inky black. The streetlights only
illuminated the front of the house. His heart was pounding as he
walked along the tall brick fence through the sultry night air. The
corner had ornamental bricks that were jutting out like a ladder.
He climbed over and hopped onto the ground behind shrubs that lined
the interior perimeter of the yard.

The large manicured yard was softly lit from
the interior lights of the house. Every window shone with the
yellow glow of incandescent lights. Johnny looked around for any
signs of motion lights or security cameras. Nothing was obvious,
even so, he struggled to stay between the fence and shrubs and
looked for a vantage point from which to film. He could see people
through a huge line of plate glass windows. The house was stucco
sided, and a terraced garden led up to a big patio at the rear of
the home. He saw Tony and Vampire Elvis.

He setup the camera and the laser. He double
checked that it was recording, and quickly looked around the front
to make sure no LEDs were shining. He plugged in the headphones and
hooked up the audio to the camera.

The two men sat down on a huge cream color
leather sofa. They were sipping drinks and occasionally doing a
line of coke from a silver tray.

Tony said, “whew! that’s some good shit. Do I
still have a nose?”

Vampire Elvis laughed, “I know. My face is
numb. I’m so worked up… damn.”

“How old’s that body?” Tony asked.

“I think I hit the big 100 a few years ago. I
lost count.”

“Damn! That one is holding up well. You might
get another twenty years.”

“Maybe. That’s pushing it. I need to start
working on a new one.” Vampire Elvis said.

Tony laughed, “No doubt! I remember the black
plague. Shit. I ate it before I was ready. I didn’t get back for
another three hundred years. Boooring.”

Elvis lounged back, “Hey, uh Tony, I don’t
know if you go this way, but man, I got some wood. This one is well
hung.”

Tony laughed, “get it out! It’s been awhile
since you showed me.”

Elvis stepped out of his dress pants and
carefully folded them, “These suits, the tailor is so good. Money’s
not a problem, obviously, but you just have to wait.” He was
wearing boxers. He slid them down and a giant semi hard cock
flopped out.

“Shit son! That’s like a midget’s leg. This
guys pretty normal.” Elvis sat back on the couch and Tony got on
the floor and crawled over.

“Ever been a woman?” he asked.

“Sure… but only a couple of times. It’s so
rare for the women to reach out.”

“I’m going to try to take all that in…” Tony
eyed the cock.

“Good luck, fella!”

Tony tried to swallow the enormous member,
but gagged and backed away. “Man… Ugh. Too much!”

Vampire Elvis said, “Well at least you got me
warmed up. At this age, it takes a while. The coke helps, but
still.”

“No problem…” the door rang. “ohhh they’re
here!”

Vampire Elvis slipped his underwear back on,
which now was like a tent. He sat back down on the couch. An
eastern european looking man wearing a black turtleneck ushered
three kids into the room. A second man carried a cage into the
room. There was a rabbit in the cage. A little red haired boy stood
near the rabbit and avoided looking at the men. His eyes were puffy
and red.

“Awww, he’s been crying.” Vampire Elvis said.
“Give him some of this.” he gave the cocaine tray to the man. The
man dipped his finger in the coke and smeared it in the boy’s
mouth. The boy spit and backed away dazed. The men all laughed.

Johnny typed the text and had his finger
poised on the “send” button.

Elvis took the rabbit out of the cage. “You
can pet him.” he said to the boy. The kid held on to the rabbit
like a life preserver. “But then you’re going to kill him.” the boy
didn’t comprehend. “You’ll do it, too.” Elvis stroked the boys
hair.

Johnny clicked send. He held the gun in his
hand. It was all he could do not to walk out and shoot the men.

Tony spoke, “Girls, come to your uncle Tony.
I’ve got some presents for you.” the girls shuffled over to him.
“Take these… it’ll be trippy.” The girls took a pill, and drank
water to wash it down. He stroked their hair.

Elvis knelt down, “you’re gonna kill that
bunny, boy, then I’m going to wreck you. Then I’m going to take
your blood.”