STERLING

 

Sunday January 12 - 1625 CST

Three days until Turbocharger activates

 

"Steven, come take a look at this." Doctor Johnson waved me over to a window he was peering through.

Every other window had been boarded up except this one. The reason why was obvious. There was a wide sheet of plywood leaning up against the rotting wood of the home's siding like it had been recently pulled and laid there. Of course, no one would have noticed it. This was the back side of the home. Nothing was back there except for a yellowing field of weeds and an epicly overgrown view of the Black River.

"What am I looking at, Doctor?"

Johnson shined a pen light through the glass into the gloomy interior. It was all worn hardwood flooring and flower print wall paper that had faded from years of sun bleaching. Johnson's anemic little pen light fought back against the shadows but was losing this particular struggle. But as my eyes adjusted I could begin to make out vague shapes.

On the floor was a painted circle. Whoever put it there was definitely into transient techno-sorcery. They'd painted the usual pentagram but interspersed between the lines were long undulating lines of runes and scripts in forgotten languages that I knew were authentic because I could already feel the oncoming migraine that only the real deal could produce. Then there was the paint.

It was so dark it looked black. But I had seen it enough to know what it really was. Blood turned that color once it had begun the process of breaking down. That left no doubt in my mind who we were dealing with. "We've got cultists."

Johnson shifted the light of his mini flashlight around searching the frame of the big bay window. "We need to find a way inside."

Then a third voice spoke up. "What you need to do is put your hands where I can see 'em."

I turned to see a green and tan uniform, cowboy hat, and the gaping maw of an automatic pointed at my face. The uniform had the six-pointed gold star of a local law enforcement agency and read "Sheriff Moreau Parish" in bold letters that circled the center of the star.

Just to show good will I put my hands up as instructed. "Deputy, there's been a misunderstanding. We're federal agents here on official business. If you'll let me I can show you my—"

"Don't you reach for nothing." The muzzle of his automatic wavered as he took a cautionary step back. The guy was obviously scared. Strangers showing up in a sleepy town and poking around abandoned houses would make any cop nervous. The last thing I needed to do was push him over the edge, especially when he had a gun pointed at my head and his finger on the trigger. "There's been a misunderstanding alright. One, you're trespassing on property that's off limits to everyone without the sheriff's express say so. Two, I'm not a deputy. I'm the sheriff."

The sheriff reached up to his lapel where he had his radio's handset clipped and gave it a squeeze. "Dispatch, I've got two burglars at gunpoint. Send unit two to my twenty."

So much for keeping this operation low key.

I opened my mouth to say something in my defense but stopped as a shadow loomed up over the sheriff. This particular shadow happened to be seven feet tall and built like a bull. It was Adam and he reached out one of his meaty arms to pluck the gun out of the sheriff's hands.

The sheriff protested and tried to get the pistol back, but Adam just stretched his long arm out to its full length where the sheriff couldn't reach it. He looked like a child trying to get a toy back from an angry parent. "I'm not giving it back until you explain why you were pointing it at my friends."

When the sheriff looked at me with eyes pleading to call off my pet monster he got a face full of my FBI creds. After a moment he peered up over the top of them at me. "You really are with the FBI aren't you?"

"We are. My apologies for not calling ahead. We received a very short notice tip on a case that had gone cold on us…until now."

"So this is about the disappearances then?"

I nodded. Not because I hadn't the first clue about any disappearances in the area but it certainly sounded like a lead on our cultists. Wherever you found cult activity you always had missing persons. "My team's been tracking down an occult group. Their MO includes kidnappings and painting ritual circles like the one inside this house. If you have anything that could help our investigation we would appreciate it. I'm Agent Sterling by the way. That's Adam, and this is Doctor Johnson. He's a consultant on this case and an expert on occultism."

Like most people, this sheriff was put at ease by the comforting lies I told him. It was unfortunate that we had to do things this way but it was the only way. The truth would only put the man on edge and we would be back to waving guns in faces. "Sheriff Dubois. Bob Dubois." He held out a hand and I shook it. "Can I have my gun back now?"

I nodded to Adam and he returned the piece. "That guy across the street said he saw some people come here not long ago. He also said the army came here about three years ago."

For an instant I was sent back in time, almost three years to the day. Back when the CTTC was first stood up and we had rolled out heavy to this very house. I knew the place well. Too well in fact. Because you never forget the most traumatic memories of your life. It wasn't the army that had showed up, but a hundred armed airmen. And at the head of them was a colonel, newly installed as their commander, and completely unprepared for what they would find in this house of horrors. Several of them never made it home from that ill fated mission.

"Agent Sterling?" Sheriff Dubois looked at me questioningly.

"I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"I was just asking if you wanted me to get the key to this house. I can have a deputy bring it here."

"That won't be necessary." Johnson called over to us from the back door. "It appears the door is unlocked."

Johnson twisted the handle and gave it a little push. Then the rickety old door swung inward. I really didn't want to go inside and see what new nightmares had been brought forth since my last visit. But it was too late to back out now.