Temple of Set

Storm Chapter 7.

Storm slunk into the house after saying goodbye to Tracy who had given her a lift home. She hung up her coat and headed upstairs thinking to be hard at work on her notebook computer doing homework. Hoping Ted and Janet were running down leads, Storm thought to go upstairs and put off her eventual interrogation until later. As she took her first step upstairs Janet’s voice called out in a sing-song lilt.

“Oh Willow… Willow… come down and see us.”

“Shit!” Storm muttered, trudging around to the staircase downwards. “I have homework to do, Scully. Give me a break.”

“We know you’re heading over to see Wolverine later so get your butt down here and debrief,” Janet ordered. “Ted wants to discuss our day demon chasing and terrorizing the school.”

Storm walked down to join her FBI handlers, setting her bag down by the stairwell.

“First, that was some excellent work out there today,” Ted complimented her. “As Janet told you, we’re riding the wave with finding the bodies. The FBI and police have the park in lockdown while they investigate your find.”

“Get on with the good stuff Archibald,” Janet insisted impatiently.

“We have something on June Grable,” Ted did as ordered, holding up a warning finger at Janet. “After digging through all her past history, we came up with a suspicious connection from her college days at…”

“Cal State Berkeley,” Janet broke in heatedly. “A known hotbed of liberal commie witches. I always knew we’d get something on those traitors.”

Storm started laughing halfway through Janet’s diatribe but shut up quickly when she saw Janet was dead serious.

“Okay, you don’t like Berkeley graduates,” Storm commented carefully. “What exactly are we talking about here, sororities, clubs…”

“She’s a friggin’ witch!” Janet relaxed against the back of her chair as Ted made calming motions directed at her. “I just can’t believe we never turned up this cultish angle until now. We’ve been chasing our tails all these months believing it was some run of the mill serial killer.”

“Grable is officially someone of interest,” Ted added. “That means we have some leeway now in how we want to pursue her since you found the kid’s bodies. That won’t come out for days by the way. It’ll be under wraps with the usual cover of DNA testing takes time, next of kin… anyway, we have a few days to hit this lead hot and heavy. Jan and I like your idea of Chris going over to Grable’s house but we feel it’s just too damn dangerous.”

“Can you get a search warrant to tear her house apart?” Storm asked hopefully. “I could probably spot something connected to the murders, including how she may be controlling this thing, or if it’s controlling her. Do you think she’s working alone?”

“Nope,” Ted smiled, handing Storm a spread sheet of phone numbers. “Grable gets calls from two main sources when she’s off work on both her cell-phone and her land line: Amador and McGraff.”

“He’s probably onto me, thanks to my shooting off my mouth at lunch,” Storm sat down dejectedly. “Kevin even came in and blew Amador’s bogey story.”

“We think their whole act was staged in the office after Amador knew it wasn’t going to work,” Janet explained. “You’re right about them knowing something’s up and you’re behind it. It’s possible that cloud thing communicated what it knew to Grable and she tried getting you thrown out of school by proxy. This is exactly what we wanted. We’re smoking out the bad guys. Tonight, we have to find out if we have the right bad guys.”

“What about the supernatural bad guys?” Storm asked seriously.

“Frankly, we don’t know,” Ted replied. “Janet told me what led to finding the victims and what happened when Logan consecrated the site.”

“We found something in Grable the Goth’s college background,” Janet told her. “If you can hack into the group’s Internet site, maybe you can come up with something to fight it.”

“Why don’t we nuke her from orbit,” Storm suggested only half in jest.

“She belonged to that Temple of Psychic Youth I think you mentioned before and later to the Church of Satan,” Janet went on. “It’s morphed into different cults since she was with them. Grable settled for something called the Temple of Set.”

“I’ve run across them before,” Storm said excitedly. “They’re bad news. I can get in, and probably come up with some more information like a member list. I doubt they’ll have anything on there for vanquishing whatever Grable called up from hell.”

“If she called anything up,” Ted reminded Storm gently. “I’m not much on coincidence either, but we have to be able to make a righteous case. Think of the difficulty in tying her into anything unless we first get probable cause. We need to search and find something significant.”

“The whole thing will be circumstantial.” Storm threw up her hands. She stood up angrily. “Even if you find some of the kids’ personal stuff in her place, I’ll bet you won’t find anything tying her directly to the killings. This is insane. You two can’t let her keep killing people. Sometime you’ll have to make a choice.”

“C’mon Wendy,” Janet said, putting an arm around her shoulders. “You’ve turned into our big gun on this. Find out what you can and see if we can get a little further. Don’t look so far down the road.”

“Okay… I’ll quit whining and see what rocks I can turn over,” Storm relented, plopping down in front of the computer, jetting into the cyber stream. “I still say we need to let Chris at least go up and knock on Grable’s door tonight and see what pops up. I’ll get Logan to come along. You two can be parked across the street, ready to rock and roll.”

“We’ll think about it,” Ted replied warily, looking at Janet for support.

“Grable won’t snuff the damn girl right on the sidewalk, especially if Logan goes along,” Janet pointed out. “It would be interesting to see whether she answers the door. Maybe we can sneak around outside and get a peek into her place before you bunch show up.”

Storm stayed silent, her fingers working the keyboard with blinding speed. Her brow was knit suddenly in concentration as Ted and Janet watched the screens cascading faster than their recognition processes. Suddenly, Storm slapped the table with the palms of her hands in triumph. She then pointed at the final screen on the monitor.

“Look what I found.”

Ted and Janet peered at the screen, first with incomprehension and then with realization.

“Holy crap,” Janet muttered. “Is this the membership key?”

“Yep,” Storm answered. “The names on the left are their on-line avatars. This is a small sect of Set. If not for the lead from her time with the Church of Satan, I wouldn’t have been able to trace her avatar through to this sect. Notice the troubling aspect of our little Midwest spin-off?”

“It appears all the victims were members too.” Ted sat down, running his hands through his hair. “Is there anybody around here that’s not a member?”

“Chris, Tracy, Nancy, Logan, and Carol aren’t members. That’s promising,” Storm replied. “If you have a file with the names of all the faculty and students at Harding, I can cross reference them to the membership. I’m copying all their downloadable files and checking for helpful items. It doesn’t look like there’s anything else of value like meeting dates.”

“What about those links in there to spells and incantations?” Ted asked, pointing to a ledger on the screen.

“I flashed through them already,” Storm answered. “They’re mostly old stuff that’s been floating around the Internet forever in the demon and witchcraft sites.”

“It looks like a pretty full repertoire,” Janet commented, reading over the list. “You know all this stuff, Wendy?”

“Well, the list does include the one I used to make that girl’s clothing disappear,” Storm informed them, pointing at the one she meant on the screen. “I’ve worked with the ones not Satanic in nature. I’m not into the demon stuff.”

“Oh, so you’re the good witch.” Janet shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m asking this but do you know a few we can use to stop the monster.”

“It’s not that easy,” Storm said. “We’d have to get something that belonged to the creature. Then I could try casting something relevant. If it’s inhabited Grable, we could collect something of hers.”

“We’ll be in the basement of the Hoover building in no time, Ted,” Janet sighed. “Start practicing your ‘the truth is out there’ shtick.”

“We’ll be up on charges if we let any of these kids get hurt playing Dungeons and Dragons,” Ted replied. “I’m…”

“I have to call Logan,” Storm said suddenly, having hacked in a spoof program which would allow them to enter the site’s hidden files at any time. “He’ll be working by now.”

“Heyyyyyyy…” Janet said, as Storm popped up from the chair. “Did you ever consider Ted and I might want to peruse the site? We don’t read a thousand words a minute, Willow.”

“Just click on the file marked witch on the desktop,” Storm replied, pointing to the symbol she had added. “It will take you right into the hidden files. I have an idea to protect Chris from anything bad over at Grable’s house.”

“What?” Ted asked, turning toward Storm, who was already heading up the stairs.

“Better I explain it later,” Storm called out. “You two will just make bad jokes about it.”

“Not anymore,” Janet muttered tiredly so only Ted heard her.

“A new believer?” Ted asked quietly.

“I’m cynical, not stupid. Storm guided us to a place no one could find. I saw those poor kids’ souls slip out of the earth and that creature streak straight out of a tree screeching like a tortured cat. We’re in trouble. Best case scenario, Wendy figures out some way to end this, and we get stuck explaining it.”

“Ouch,” Ted remarked. “And the worst case?”

“I ain’t going there,” Janet said, looking directly at Ted and reaching under the neckline of her sweater. “Look what I got while I was out today.”

Janet held up a large gold crucifix on a light gold chain. Without a word, Ted pulled out a silver crucifix from under his shirt, smiling. Janet laughed uneasily, sticking her cross back under her sweater. Ted noticed her hand was shaking slightly. In their nearly three years as partners, Ted had never seen Janet shaken, including two life and death situations.

“We are so screwed,” Janet stated resignedly.

“Welcome to the club, I’m the President. Have a little faith, Scully,” Ted urged, taking her hand. “Maybe after we beat back the forces of darkness, Storm can do that little disappearing clothes trick on you.”

“Maybe… she won’t have to,” Janet replied, grasping Ted’s hand. “I was raised Catholic. I admit I’m not much on the whole church thing. I believe in God and this is the first time I’ve feared for my eternal soul.”

“One thing I really believe is true.” Ted clasped her hand in both his. “You can’t lose your soul unless you wish it away. These kids and their teachers conjured up something bad… something wicked they thought would be cool.”

“I thought this whole thing of recruiting the bad girl geek to find a serial killer was a ticket straight to a change in career,” Janet admitted. “Today, we may not have saved anyone’s life, but we freed five souls from hell. If there’s any chance this thing… you know… comes close to snatching me… promise you’ll put a bullet in my head.”

Ted began a snappy reply. Seeing the way Janet was looking at him, he just nodded.

“Okay, I promise,” Ted agreed. “How about we beat it instead of feeding it.”

“On it,” Janet slipped her hand out of Ted’s grasp and turned to the computer. “Let’s find something on that site Miss Know-It-All missed.”

“Now you’re talkin’.” Ted turned to his own screen, networked into Janet’s station. He glanced once more over at his partner, thinking of her in a completely different light.

* * * *

“Hello?” Logan asked questioningly, holding his hand over the ear not pressed to the phone, trying to blot out the noise from the crowded restaurant.

“Sorry to bother you at work,” Storm apologized. “I was wondering if you knew that priest well enough to acquire a couple more things.”

“Sure,” Logan said, straightening at the sound of Storm’s voice. He had thought maybe his folks were calling about some emergency at home. “I’ll call him. What do you need?”

“I need you to round up as much salt as you can and stock up on more holy water.”

“I can handle that. The rush is on over here right now. I can get free to make a trip over to see Father Daniels in about an hour. See you at six?”

“I’ll be there. I’m rounding up everyone else too,” Storm told him. “Thanks Logan.”

“No problem, you can owe me.”

“Owe you what?” Storm asked with a giggle, trying to mask the way Logan’s voice sent shivers through her. “I thought you liked being an Exorcist.”

“Luckily, I’m not a priest, so I can like other things,” Logan answered lightly, trying to dispel the images of exactly what those things entailed. “I have to get back to work, Willow.”

“Not you too!” Storm gasped. “You know Willow liked girls in the Buffy series.”

“That’s because the Werewolf dumped her,” Logan chuckled.

“So, you’re a werewolf, huh?”

“Does hair on my chest count?”

“Hummmm… I’ll let you know when I inspect it,” Storm teased. “See you soon.”

Storm immediately called Chris.

“Hi, Chris, it’s Storm. Can you recruit Nancy and Carol for a meet over at Burger King?”

“Oh, hello Willow, is it zombies, vampires, or…”

“If you don’t want to do this, say so,” Storm cut her off impatiently.

“Take it easy.” Chris changed her tone at the urgency in Storm’s voice, but at the same time her heart leapt up into her throat figuratively. “We’ll be there. Do we have backup?”

“Absolutely. See you at six, okay?”

“Affirmative, commander,” Chris answered sarcastically and hung up.

Storm’s next call was to Tracy. “We’re on for tonight, Tracy. Want to just go to the King and see what’s up, or are you through with this all together?”

“I’ll pick you up at a quarter till, Willow,” Tracy offered. “Are we going to Grable’s?”

“Yes, and we’ll have plenty of backup. Besides, it will be Logan, Chris, and Nancy at the door. I think Grable’s onto me. We’ll have the FBI with us.”

“I’ll bet your FBI friends are real thrilled to have a sixteen year old running their operation,” Tracy commented wryly. “How’s that going over?”

“Better since this morning with what Janet saw at the park. I can leave you out of this, Tracy. It’s not a game.”

“Just have your homework notes with you when I pick you up. I need some magic help in Physics.”

“I’ll get right on it.” Storm laughed. “Bye, Trace.”

“Bye, Willow.”

“You…” Storm began a retort, but Tracy had already hung up.

“I’m going to forget what my name is if I stay around this place much longer,” Storm muttered, hanging up the phone.

By the time Storm and Tracy walked into Burger King at a minute after six, Chris, Nancy, and Carol were already sitting at a table with Logan serving them. Logan had already pulled two tables together and placed three extra chairs around them. The restaurant was still crowded, but thinning out quickly after the dinner hour. Storm was amused to see the three girls had all dressed in blue-jeans and black parkas. She and Tracy wore blue-jeans too, with black sweaters. While Storm wore her dark gray trench-coat, Tracy had chosen to wear a black windbreaker over her sweater. Logan gestured for them to sit down as they walked over, having already put two meals on the table for Storm and Tracy.

“I rustled up your favorite meals from last night,” Logan said sitting down with them at the table. “You five look like evil elves.”

The five girls laughed in surprise at Logan’s uncharacteristic zinger.

“That’s better than being Willow’s groupies,” Chris said finally, grinning at Storm. “Well, what do you have for us, fearless leader?”

“We’re going to Grable’s. My folks will be watching out for us. If Logan managed to get the items I asked him for, we’ll be all set. This is not a burglary. You three will walk up to Grabel’s house and ring the doorbell. Logan will be right behind you. The rest of us will be out front. I’ll have already fixed things at the entrance so there won’t be any problems.”

“How the heck did you talk your folks into all this?” Carol asked suspiciously. “I had to actually tell my Dad I was meeting a study group here. He called over to your parents’ house to check my story.”

Storm leaned forward over the table. She felt confident in sharing her secret having found out none of their group were on the Temple of Set member role. “They aren’t my parents. Ted and Janet are FBI agents.”

As the three girls not privy to Storm’s secret looked at each other in stunned disbelief, Storm quickly went through the details in a hushed manner, including the events the three did not know about in the park that morning. She brought them up to date on her hacking into the Temple of Set website and the number of members she still needed to investigate. When she finished talking everyone was hunched forward in their seats.

“You…you didn’t let us in on this because we could have been part of it?” Carol asked.

“No, I didn’t even suspect all this until Ted and Janet came up with Grable’s college connection to the Church of Satan. They thought it was better if only the ones we had no other explanation for were in on it. It’s important now for all of you to know. Ted and Janet are probably cussing me out right now for outing them to three more people but it can’t be helped.”

“So… they’re listening to all this?” Chris inquired uneasily, clasping her hands in front of her. “This gets freakier by the minute.”

“Better to have the FBI backing us up over at Grable’s than a couple of yuppie parents,” Nancy added logically. “You said you had something planned for protection.”

“Did Father Daniels help you out with the salt and holy water, Logan?” Storm asked.

“Yep. He laughed like hell until I told him how I used the holy water this morning and what I saw. Father Daniels took one look at my face and went to suit up formally. He led me over to the church and performed the ritual blessing at the altar in full robes. I have a couple gallons of holy water along with a twenty-five pound bag of salt he blessed. It’s in the trunk of my car. They have bags of the stuff left over from when the King changed over to packets of salt.”

“That’s great!” Storm said in a relieved tone. “We’ll need it.”

“Do we have to do this after dark…” Carol began to ask when Storm’s cell-phone rang.

“Uh oh,” Storm chuckled answering her phone. “Witches are us, Willow speaking.”

She heard Ted chortling in the background and an aggravated snort from Janet.

“Thanks for consulting us on your revelations,” Janet retorted. “Ted and I are going to check out Grable’s house before you bunch get to the front door. Make sure you don’t arrive there until at least eight-thirty, okay?”

“Aye, matey,” Storm replied.

“We’re going to have that Mother/Daughter talk real soon you smartass little…”

“Bye, Scully, see you soon,” Storm ended the call. “We can’t approach until eight-thirty.”

“I assume you have some protection spell plotted for the salt and holy water,” Logan said.

“I’m going with what worked for us this morning. There’s no use getting fancy with something from hell. We’ll do it together.”

“Do you believe?” Logan asked. “If you don’t you said it won’t…”

“I believe,” Storm stated, picking up her bag. She took out five wooden crosses, six inches in length, made out of oak, and handed them to each of her friends.

“You all better believe too,” Storm added.

The others took the crosses from Storm immediately, without a word.

“This is better than a horror movie,” Tracy joked.

“I hope the ending’s different than those damn ‘Jeepers Creepers’ movies,” Chris shuddered, holding her cross with both hands. “This thing can’t skin us, can it?”

“Best not to go there,” Storm answered carefully. “Anyone wanting out, now’s the time to say so. No one in their right mind would fault you for going home and skipping out on this crap.”

“I’m in, but I wish I hadn’t eaten that Whopper,” Nancy said, evoking laughter.

“You really hacked into the FBI?” Chris asked, looking at Storm as if she had beamed into Burger King from a alien spaceship.

“More importantly, they caught me. I was bored. It made me into an ex-felon. I’m not bored anymore.”

“What should we do if Grable asks us in?” Carol asked.

“Don’t go in under any circumstances,” Storm told her forcefully. “Just keep up a conversation about her being absent. Ask her if she has heard about the police finding the bodies in Perkins Park.”

“And if she doesn’t take no for an answer?” Carol persisted.

“Say, oh look at the time, we have to go, bye,” Storm rattled off a short answer. “Don’t go in past the threshold.”

“We’ve got it,” Nancy replied. “Now, about that chemistry homework.”

2001 Buick Century

One of my customers’ wives ended up stuck yesterday with their 2001 Buick Century. She had been on the freeway before exiting into the left lane at an intersection stoplight. It would no longer move forward in drive gear. Her husband went to the scene of four wheel tragedy and found the car would move in reverse, first gear, and second gear – but not drive gear or third. He had it towed into my shop where I scanned it for engine and transmission codes after making sure the engine was running well.

It had set a code P1811 which is a transmission code related to the pressure control solenoid. After further research I found out it’s a relatively common code but it means two different courses of action depending on mileage. If the vehicle has over 90,000 miles as this particular Buick, it means major overhaul is the only safe solution. If the code shows up at low mileage the pressure control solenoid can be changed relatively safely. There have been numerous valve body updates so I would recommend major overhaul with all the updates. Many times on the high mileage vehicles the overdrive clutch hub shaft strips.

I’m blogging this today because I’ve run across more than a few of these early 2000’s GM four speed electronic transmission failures in the last year. This customer has had regular transmission filter and oil flush treatments so I don’t believe this failure has to do with maintenance. If it happens to someone coming across this blog you may be able to move the vehicle to the roadside in first or second gear if the vehicle will not move in drive. The P1811 code appeared in each of the past failures so it is one key element. I wish I could have projected some humor in this but it wasn’t possible.

Recruits

Storm Chapter 6.

A tall, portly man almost Logan’s height looked up from the papers he had just received from the secretary near the long office counter. He had thin graying hair and wire rim glasses. His dark gray suit fit him loosely. The matching black and gray stripped tie completed his somber look. He nodded at Logan and Storm.

“Hello, Logan, and it’s Storm, right?” The man asked in deep raspy voice.

“That’s right, Mr. Spelling,” Storm replied. “We met when my Mom signed me in.”

“You wanted to see us, Mr. Spelling,” Logan stated.

“We have an unfortunate situation.” Spelling gestured toward his office. “It seems during an altercation outside the high school yesterday, Dave Amador and Marty Meyers were injured. Mr. Amador has demanded an investigation, claiming his son was assaulted. Let’s take this in my office so you two won’t have to repeat your version of what happened.”

Having served in combat for nearly a year in Iraq, Logan felt nothing but a slight interest in the meeting ahead. Storm, who had been arrested and led away from her home in handcuffs by the FBI felt some anticipation in looking forward to Janet’s participation. As they cleared the doorway into Spelling’s office, they saw everyone seated around a table in an adjoining conference room.

Janet met Storm’s look with something between impatient anger and a knowing bond. Logan’s Father, a clean shaven man with short dark hair and dressed in Navy blue work clothes, gave Logan a small wry salute. The twins, Marty and Chuck sat with their hands clasped on the table in front of them, not looking up, while a harried woman with red hair drummed her fingers nervously on the table, fiddling with the hair by her right ear. Dave Amador, wearing a cast on his right hand and wrist, looked directly at Storm with a challenging grin before turning his attention down at the table again. His Father, a heavier double of his son, sat back from the table, his legs crossed. The senior Amador wore a three piece, dark brown business suit with red tie.

Spelling gestured for Logan and Storm to be seated near the head of the large conference table next to the one he sat in. “Have a seat you two and we’ll begin.”

“This is concerning an incident outside the high school yesterday morning,” Spelling addressed the group as Logan and Storm sat down. “Commissioner Amador claims his son David and his son’s two friends Marty and Chuck Meyers were attacked by Logan Stanfield and Storm Crandall. Is that correct, Commissioner?”

“Those are the facts, yes,” Amador stated belligerently. “These two attacked my son and his friends for no reason. The Stanfield boy broke my son’s wrist.”

“I didn’t break his wrist,” Logan stated plainly, looking directly at the older Amador. “I volunteer to pay for the X-Ray done by a place of your choosing, Principal Spelling.”

“He has a cast on his arm, Logan,” Spelling replied.

“Yeah, I know,” Logan added, still looking directly at the Commissioner. “I’d know if I broke it. I didn’t.”

“Are you insinuating…” Amador began to bluster.

“What about it, Commissioner,” Principal Spelling interrupted. “We should confirm the injury before this goes any further.”

Amador reddened. “Broken, sprained, who cares?! My son was attacked, and his friend’s ankle almost broken. I want these two expelled!”

“I’ve heard your version of this,” Spelling replied in measured tone. “Why don’t you tell us what your version is Ms. Crandall.”

“I was walking to school alone when…”

“You weren’t with Mr. Stanfield?” Spelling broke in.

“No, I hadn’t even met him yet,” Storm said. “Dave Amador and his two friends began harassing me as I walked. When Marty pulled the book bag off my shoulder to look through it, I stomped on his instep and ran for the school. Dave and Chuck chased me. Logan intercepted them and when Dave raised a hand, Logan gripped it for a moment, driving Dave to his knees. Logan released him and everyone went to school. I saw Dave near the end of the day. He was carrying his books with the hand he has a cast on. I’m sure his teachers saw the same thing. We…”

“So you admit to attacking my son and his friends over a harmless prank, you…” Amador broke in angrily.

“Woe there, Pointdexter,” Janet cut him off. “You better rein in that mouth of yours. I saw your son and these other two harassing kids when I drove Storm to school the first week we were here. I should have reported them then.”

“Bullshit!” Amador shouted, standing up in a rage. “You and your daughter come here making wild accusations, and…”

“Are you calling me a liar?!” Janet pushed out of her chair and went around toward Amador in the blink of an eye.

“Wait,” Mrs. Meyers said, standing up, and holding out a hand in placating fashion to halt Janet. She grabbed Marty by the ear. “Did you grab this girl’s bag, Marty? By God, you better tell me the truth. You and Chuck haven’t been the same since you started hanging around with David. Now you tell me the truth, boy!”

“I…I grabbed her bag,” Marty admitted, his head tilted to relieve the pressure on his ear.

“Have you and Chuck been hassling kids on the way to school in the morning?” Mrs. Meyers asked, resignation plain in her voice.

“Yeah, we did. Let Marty go, Ma,” Chuck answered for his brother, still staring down at the table dejectedly.

“This doesn’t prove anything!” Amador shouted, pounding his fist on the table. “Those two will say anything under coercion. My son…”

“Kevin McGraff saw what happened,” Storm cut in. “He’s not afraid to tell you what he saw. No one’s pressuring him one way or another.”

“How do we know you’re not…”

“I’m warning you, you little turd,” Janet moved past Mrs. Meyers, pointing a finger at Amador, who stepped back with his hands up. “You keep running off at the mouth, and…”

“Please, Mrs. Crandall,” Spelling pleaded. “Let’s all sit down. I’ll have my secretary call Kevin McGraff out of class. If he backs your daughter’s story, the school’s part in this investigation will be over.

Amador looked relieved, but Janet’s face had not changed expression, causing Storm to launch half way out of her seat.

“C’mon Mom,” Storm added her plea. “Do what Principal Spelling asked. Please sit down. Kevin will clear this up.”

Janet never looked away from Amador. Her fist clenched and unclenched at her side. She relaxed momentarily and everyone relaxed around the table. Janet shot forward suddenly, gripping Amador’s lip between her forefinger and thumb, twisting Amador’s head as she twisted his upper lip. Janet leaned down, as Amador danced with a kind of mewling sound issuing from his mouth.

“Be real careful what comes out of your mouth from this moment on,” Janet whispered fiercely as even Amador’s son had scooted away from the two. “Understand?”

Amador nodded his head in agreement as he continued to dance in place.

“Good,” Janet said, releasing Amador and walking back toward her seat. “Please call McGraff, Mr. Spelling. I believe we can wait calmly now.”

Spelling looked around the room doubtfully. When Amador sat down patting his lip gently, Spelling went out to give directives to his secretary. He came back a moment later and sat down.

“After the Meyers’ boys’ revelations, if Mr. McGraff backs up their account of yesterday morning,” Spelling reiterated, looking at Amador directly, “we’re done here. Would you like to add anything, Logan?”

“Storm related it just as it happened,” Logan answered.

“And before you say anything, Amador,” Logan’s Father instructed calmly as Amador had become animated once again. “You’re up for re-election this year. Not that anyone in this room would vote for your whiny ass, but if the newspapers get a hold of what you’re trying to pull here… well, you can forget about the free ride you have now.”

Amador started to respond. One glance over at a smiling Janet and he huddled with his son for a moment, speaking to him in an urgent whisper. Five minutes later, Kevin McGraff walked into the room, escorted by Spelling’s secretary. A confused look entered his facial features when he saw the attendees in the room.

“You wanted to see me, Mr. Spelling?”

“Did you witness the altercation yesterday morning before school?” Spelling asked.

“Yes, I did,” Kevin smiled. “Marty there tried to take Storm’s book bag and got his foot stomped. Then, Dave and Chuck chased Storm toward the school. It was going to be a close race until Logan popped up in front of them. That was the end of the chase.”

“Thank you, Kevin,” Spelling said. “You may go back to class.”

“Anytime,” Kevin replied, looking directly at Dave Amador. “Anytime.”

After the door was closed behind Kevin, Spelling stood up.

“I’m sorry. As I see it, I should be thinking of expelling your son, Commissioner and the two Meyers boys. Something valuable has come out of this: I realize I will have to extend the safety perimeter around the school.”

“Not for these two, Mr. Spelling,” Mrs. Meyers stated angrily. “My boys will not be bothering anybody from now on, or messing around with this trouble maker over here. I’ll walk them to school holding their hands if I have to. My husband detests bullies. I’m sure he’d like a chance to reeducate his sons.”

“Very well, Mrs. Meyers,” Spelling nodded. “Marty, you and Chuck may return to classes. Dave, you owe Ms. Crandall an apology, as do your two cohorts.”

“I’m sorry,” Marty told Storm, and his brother echoed the statement with some sincerity.

Dave stayed quiet, looking at his folded hands in front of him on the table. The elder Amador stared at Spelling as if daring him to say something. Spelling obliged him.

“You’re suspended for three days, David,” Spelling stated. “After your return I will be watching you. Any more incidents and you will be expelled. Is that clear?”

“I hear you,” Dave retorted, standing up. “Can we go now?”

“You haven’t heard the last of this, Spelling,” Amador added angrily. “C’mon, Dave, we’re getting out of here.”

Amador and his son brushed by Spelling on the way out, slamming the conference room door behind them.

“I think this meeting is at an end,” Spelling said with a sigh. “Thank you all for coming. I know this whole thing was engineered by the Commissioner, but it did make me realize I’ve been neglecting some safety concerns around here. Please accept my apology for any inconvenience this caused you. There really wasn’t any real alternative.”

As the group left their seats to walk out, Mrs. Meyers held out her hand to Janet. “I meant it, Mrs. Crandall. There’ll be no more trouble from my two boys.”

“Thank you,” Janet replied with a smile, shaking the woman’s hand. “Call me Janet.”

“I’m Anne. Things just haven’t been the same since those kids disappeared and my boys started hanging out with that Amador kid,” Anne said gratefully. “You sure ate that arrogant toad Amador’s lunch today.”

Logan’s Father came over too, shaking hands with Anne and then Janet, while Spelling pulled Logan, Storm and the two Meyers boys aside for a moment. “I’m Mike Stanfield. That was a most gratifying get together.”

“Here’s hoping we’ll only see each other at PTA,” Anne said with a sigh, before walking out of the room with a warning gesture for her sons.

“You have a hell of a kid there, Mike,” Janet commented. “He’s a Marine all right.”

“Oh,” Mike said with some surprise, looking over at his son. “He doesn’t usually tell anyone about being a Marine for some unknown reason. My wife and I almost croaked when he disappeared. Then we get a call he’s been found, he’s been wounded in action, and received the Navy Cross. It’s pretty tough to chew him out after all that.”

“I can only imagine,” Janet laughed.

“We’re proud as hell of him and no dirt-bag like Amador is going to mess with him while I’m breathing,” Mike added with a gritty tone. “I know Logan thinks highly of your daughter. She’s the first friend, outside of Tracy Washington, Logan’s talked about since his stint in the service.”

“I’ll keep an eye on them,” Janet promised him.

“You do that,” Mike laughed. “Nice move on Amador. I’m sure Logan won’t go out of his way to get on your bad side. See you at the PTA.”

“Bye, Mike, nice meeting you,” Janet said, taking out her PDA and making a few notes.

Mike put a hand on Logan’s shoulder, smiling up at his son as Spelling completed the re-entry forms for each of the four students to return to classes.

“Next time, tell your old man about the day’s events, so I can plan my schedule.”

“Sorry, Pop. I didn’t think it was any big deal and I sure didn’t think Dave Amador would claim to have been attacked.”

“I understand.” Mike nodded, shaking hands with Principal Spelling and then Storm while ignoring the Meyers boys. “I’ll see you at home. Nice meeting you, Storm. You two… stay away from that jerk, Amador.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Chuck replied dejectedly. “We’ll end up grounded over this until sometime in the next century.”

As Mike left the room, Logan shook hands with first Chuck and then Marty. “I’m glad you two didn’t have anything to do with this. Are we square?”

“Sure Logan,” Marty answered with respect. “Man, Chuck and me weren’t looking for trouble from you. Like Chuck said, no more screwin’ around with anybody.”

“Glad to hear this,” Spelling said approvingly. “You four get along back to class.”

As the four students exited the office, Storm waved at Janet, who had looked up from her notes in time to wave back. She gave her the forefinger and middle finger pointing at her eyes and then at Storm gesture, mouthing ‘I’m watching you’. Storm giggled and walked out with Logan. Spelling approached Janet.

“I must say, Mrs. Crandall, that was a bit more than I’ve seen in a meeting from a housewife,” Spelling complimented her. “Commissioner Amador can and has been very intimidating at PTA meetings and board meetings.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Janet asked in some surprise. “You folks around here let that twerp push you around? If he tries anything, Mr. Spelling, you call me. I have some friends in higher places than him. If nothing else, I’ll go over his house and kick his ass.”

Spelling burst into laughter, shaking Janet’s hand with both his. “I bet you… would… Mrs. Crandall. I bet you would.”

“Wow, exciting morning, huh?” Logan commented to Storm as they walked down the hall toward World History class. “Want to meet up later at the King? We can work on our spells and incantations.”

“I think we’re going to need them,” Storm replied with a short laugh. “I hope Tracy can get away tonight too. I should talk to her more about my handlers.”

“You were right about Janet,” Logan said admiringly. “She’s not much for subtlety.”

“We didn’t get along very well at first. She still knows how to stick the needle in just enough to make me howl. Of course I’ve been holding my own on that count.”

“So I’ve noticed. Are we still getting together for lunch with Tracy and the Gremlins?”

“We’ll hit the lunch room once we hook up with Tracy and find out,” Storm said, as Logan opened the classroom door for her. They entered Kensington’s World History class as quietly as possible.

* * * *

Tracy met Logan and Storm as they walked down the hall from class.

“I heard on the grapevine you two were pulled out of class,” Tracy said. She fell in alongside them near Storm. “Any casualties?”

“Just Dave and his Dad,” Logan replied, explaining what Janet had done to Amador and Dave Amador’s suspension.

“She did not!” Tracy exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Oh my God, that is so hot. Where are we lunchin’ at?”

“We figured the cafeteria would be the best place to pick up our three cohorts,” Storm answered. “Do you know if Carol, Chris, and Nancy have lunch this hour?”

“They do,” Tracy said, pointing across the crowded cafeteria at a table where Carol was waving at them from, with Chris and Nancy sitting next to her.

More than a few students watched the three walking through the cafeteria. The rumor mill in any high school grinds out news at a pace far in excess of the school’s hierarchy’s wishes. Have the same set of characters cast in two consecutive days’ gossip and in short order, rumor plots begin looking for those particular characters. Add in pop culture names, mystery backgrounds, escalating unanswered questions, and the mix rapidly shoots past the normal attention span of gerbils most high school students foster.

“What’s going on?” Carol asked immediately when Storm, Logan, and Tracy came into earshot. “We heard about…”

“It was nothing, Carol,” Tracy said, sitting down next to her, as Logan pulled two more chairs over. “Old news from yesterday - all cleared up. Anyone see anything?”

“No, we were hoping one of you had picked up on something,” Nancy answered with a shrug. “Only person I noticed missing was Dave. I heard he was suspended in your old news meeting. I take it there’s no news on the park, huh?”

“Not yet,” Storm replied. “My Mom was summoned to the meeting so she would have said something if she had anything to report. Not even an absentee?”

“Our English teacher was absent today,” Chris spoke up for the first time. “Ms. Grable.”

“Grable the Goth?” Tracy chimed in questioningly. “The one who always looks like Morticia from the Adam’s family and practically orgasms when she reads Dante?”

“Are there two?” Chris retorted derisively, provoking chuckles from everyone but Logan and Storm. “Okay, I see that means something to you two. What’s up?”

“We…” Storm’s cell-phone vibrated and she answered it.

“You were right,” Janet greeted her succinctly. “They unearthed the remains of five bodies, all pending DNA confirmation. There were enough personal effects with the bodies to make it pretty clear who they are. I’ll fill you in on the details later. Tell your little friends, but play around with swearing them to secrecy. They won’t be able to keep their mouths shut and then we’ll see what happens when they talk. Ted’s on Grable as we speak, Good work.”

“Are you going to pick her up?”

“We can’t do that yet, Wendy, or all this shit will be wasted and she’ll get off. All we have so far is your friend Chris’s report Grable was absent today. Let’s not blow this. Ted and I are floating in the good graces of our boss after finding the bodies. Don’t shoot us down yet.”

“Understood, Mom,” Storm added, and hung up. She hunched over the table. The others did as well when they saw the look on Storm’s face.

“The police unearthed the bodies of who they think are the missing students over in Perkins Park,” Storm related in a whisper. “Keep it to yourselves. It hasn’t been confirmed yet.”

“Jesus! That means the cloud thing from last night was definitely what murdered them,” Carol concluded in a hushed voice. “What’re we going to do?”

“Same thing as today, Carol. Calm down,” Logan urged. “Keep our eyes open and stay out of the park, although I doubt the thing will be haunting there anymore.”

“Do you think Grable has something to do with this or not?” Chris persisted. “She’s creepy enough to be involved in anything.”

“I’m writing her name down,” Storm told her, taking her notebook out, knowing the action was just for show. “I’ll see what I can find out about her tonight.”

“I’ll spring for dinner at the King, if all of you want to compare notes later,” Logan volunteered. “We can get together at six and still have a couple hours of daylight.”

“Sorry,” Carol said immediately, shaking her head. “I don’t want to be that near to Perkins. Besides, my Dad is reining me in for a while after the supposed accident last night.”

Nancy looked at Chris, and received a barely perceptible head shake in return.

“I think Chris and I will be staying away from there for a while too, Logan, but thanks for the offer. We’re only a few days away from the study group thing on Saturday at Storm’s house. Besides, we can meet in here for the rest of the week at lunchtime. Speaking of which, I need to go get something to munch.”

“I’ll pick up Storm and come over,” Tracy agreed, as Carol, Nancy, and Chris headed over to buy lunch, while the three remaining companions took lunch out of their bags. “As I told you before, count me out of Park assaults.”

Logan stood up, and gestured at the drink machines. “What do you two want to drink?”

“Diet Pepsi,” Storm said. “Thanks.”

“Same for me, Hulk.”

Logan nodded and turned away. He came back a few moments later with the drinks, walking with the other three girls. They sat down and ate in silence, enjoying the relative normalcy. Kevin McGraff approached, carrying his tray, and stopped to speak.

“Is this the study group warm-up?” Kevin asked, winking at Tracy.

“Sort of,” Tracy replied. “Pull up a chair, if you don’t mind not having a table for your food.”

“Table? I don’t need no stinking table,” Kevin joked, pulling another chair around to the table and sitting down while balancing his tray. “Quite a meeting this morning.”

“We survived, thanks to you,” Storm said. “I’m sorry about dragging you into it but I remembered you telling me about seeing the whole thing yesterday with Dave.”

“I didn’t mind a bit,” Kevin replied. “It got me out of English. We had a sub anyhow. Did I miss anything, Chris?”

“Nope, I was telling them Grable the Goth had been absent today,” Chris answered.

“She’s okay,” Kevin piped in, frowning as he took a bite of his sandwich.

“We…we thought maybe her absence… with all that’s been happening…” Storm began hesitantly, perking up at Kevin’s immediate defense of Grable.

“All of what?” Kevin asked, looking around questioningly.

Storm decided to take a gamble. She related in detail what had happened the night before, and ended it with the fact the police had uncovered the remains of five bodies in Perkins Park. Instead of being shocked or even interested, Kevin shook his head dismissively.

“Wow, you’re pretty well informed, Storm. I haven’t heard anything about any bodies being found.” Kevin chuckled a little. “I have no opinion on monsters in the park.”

“You would have if that thing had reached for you last night,” Carol retorted, standing up. “I’ll see you all later. I have to take care of a few things before class.”

“What’d I say?” Kevin asked innocently. “It’s not that I don’t believe you guys but I’m just not into monsters.”

“We know it’s hard to believe,” Storm said. “Do you know Ms. Grable pretty well?”

“She’s a good teacher. I like English though. What’s this about?”

“The five girls who were killed all dressed Goth and they were honor students,” Storm replied. “We were just snooping around for something out of place, especially with what happened to Carol.”

“I don’t remember you being real big into English, Kev,” Chris interjected.

“Can’t get through high school and on to college without it,” Kevin replied. “Anyway, I better get going too. Are we still on for Saturday, Storm?”

“Oh… yeah… here,” Storm jotted her address down on a piece of notebook paper, and handed it to Kevin. “Is noontime okay with you?”

“Perfect, and don’t forget I need help in Chemistry, big time,” Kevin said, standing up with his tray and walking away with a wave. “See ya.”

“That was weird,” Logan commented thoughtfully, watching Kevin walk out of the cafeteria area. “No interest, no shock…just some meandering around. You know Trace, I’m gettin’ a bad feeling here about my old buddy Kevin.”

“I knew it!” Tracy smacked her hand on the table. “As soon as I get happy thoughts about some guy, they end up with some friggin’ Freddy Kruger thing going on.”

“Hey, let’s not go over the cliff here,” Nancy put in, holding up a hand. “Kevin didn’t react the way we may have expected but it doesn’t mean he’s involved.”

“He is pretty tight with Grable,” Chris added. “I guess the key here is what you find out about Grable. This whole thing could be bullshit if she just caught the flu.”

“Would you be willing to go over to her place and see how she’s doing?” Storm asked.

“Let me think,” Chris replied, tilting her head up thoughtfully with one hand on her chin for a moment.

“No, and hell no!” Chris stated comically, giving Storm the wave off. “If you think I’m going over to some witch wannnabe’s house, where she might have ‘The Darkness’ waiting for me, you’re out of your sophomore mind.”

“Just asking,” Storm shrugged, as even Logan laughed at Chris’s unequivocal answer. “Five kids are dead because of this thing.”

“The police won’t believe cloud monsters. Even if they did, what the hell would they be able to do about it?” Tracy speculated, shaking her head. “Something human generated this shit and Chris at least came up with a suspect. I got nothin’.”

Tracy’s comment quieted her remaining companions.

“I guess we’ll get together tomorrow once I find out more as to what the police came up with,” Storm said finally. “Let’s keep up the surveillance of things extraordinary and get together for lunch tomorrow.”

“It’s not a big thing,” Nancy related hesitantly. “But taking orders from a sophomore kind of sucks. I know you got it going on, Storm, but flying in the dark with you… well, I’m less than enthusiastic.”

“Does it make a difference if kids are dying and the best chance of maybe catching the killer rests in her hands?” Logan asked, looking around at his friends solemnly. “She’s not forcing you to do anything. I know Carol will want in on it.”

“Yeah, we noticed,” Chris sighed. “First, Carol couldn’t stand the sight of her and now she’s Storm’s bitch. What’s up with that?”

“She told us you stopped the monster, Storm,” Nancy said finally. “How…how did you do that? Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to follow your lead if we understood what the hell it is that makes you so special.”

“Storm chanted something,” Tracy stated suddenly. “She said it over and over until a bunch of wind and stuff off the ground blew into the cloud, causing it to dissipate.”

“A chant?” Chris asked, looking around in confusion.

“Maybe we ought to forget this group thing,” Storm suggested, standing up, with Logan and Tracy following her lead. “Just watch your backs for a while until we see where this goes.”

Storm turned to walk out. Chris called her back.

“Wait… we’re in,” Chris said reluctantly, getting a nod from Nancy. “Let me think it over about the visit to Grable the Goth’s house.”

“Thanks, Chris… Nancy,” Storm turned around for a moment. “We’re doing the right thing. The police need a new lead because this thing won’t stop. Do you have a cell-phone?”

“Do dogs piss on bushes?” Chris fired off a quick retort, evoking laughter as she dug around and came up with a piece of paper and pen. She jotted down her number and handed it to Storm. “Don’t call me unless you can guarantee I’m not going to end up as bait.”

“I’ll go with you to the door, Chris,” Nancy volunteered. “I have to hang around until I see Willow here chase the monster.”

“Great… another nickname,” Storm muttered, as the others laughed at Nancy’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference. She waved and walked toward the exit with Logan and Tracy.

“I bet Janet will like the updated witch reference nickname,” Logan proffered, stopping Storm in her tracks.

“Oh my God, thank you for reminding me I’m transmitting,” Storm hissed through clenched teeth as Logan patted her shoulder.

“You’re… oh, I see,” Tracy giggled, pulling Storm along again. “I’m glad I didn’t run off too much at the mouth. Hey, Willow, do we get badges?”

Used Engine Job

I had a complex themed conversation with a customer late on Friday. I answered the phone and it was a gentleman with an inquiry into pricing for an engine job.

“Hi, I need a price for you guys to replace an engine for me.”

“If you give me the make, model, year, manual or automatic transmission, and number of cylinders, I’ll call you back with a quote.”

“Ah… sure… it’s a 1984 Acura four cylinder with manual transmission.”

Warning bells are clanging in my head because I know this guy can buy a late 1990’s to early 2000’s Acura with a running engine in decent condition for the same price as an engine job on his old clunker. It’s unfortunate, but true. I begin handling his inquiry with care.

“Is your Acura in showroom condition? I ask that because you could buy a much newer running one for the amount you’d pay to replace the engine on your ‘84.”

“I already talked to the guy at a wrecking yard and I can get an engine for $400. I just need a price for you to install it.”

I don’t install used engines because I’ve long passed the socioeconomic condition that would require me to do so for survival. They are a bad gamble, labor intensive, and you don’t know they’re faulty until you try to run it upon completion of the job. Of course the wrecking yard will send you another… no charge – the labor is a dead loss though. No matter how many times you explain to a customer about the gamble, if a shop takes in a used engine job… they own it until it runs.

“I’m sorry, I don’t install used engines or engines rebuilt by anyone other than my rebuilder.”

“You don’t?!”

He seems genuinely surprised so I explain the reasons behind my policy.

“I can understand then what you were telling me about it being a better deal to buy a newer car with the same money. Do you know any shops that install used engines?”

“None I know of,” I answer truthfully. “The wrecker may know where you can get it done. They may have more than one shop buying used engines from them.”

“I’ll call him back and see. Thanks for the advice.”

“Sure. Thanks for calling. Sorry I can’t help”

I hung up thinking times better not get so bad I start thinking about used engine jobs. Looks like it’s time to audit my expense sheet and see if I can shave off a couple of bucks here and there so I won’t be tempted. :)

First Superman

A copy of Action Comics #1 from April, 1938, the first appearance of Superman, was auctioned for $317,200. They say there are only about a hundred of that issue still in existence and they very seldom come up for auction. This particular copy was purchased by a nine year old boy in a used book store in the fifties for thirty-five cents. I love hearing these little gems. I never owned any Golden Age Comics like Action #1, but I did have complete runs of the very first Marvel Comics Titles and hundreds of fifties era DC comics. I ran afoul of my Mom when I was fourteen or fifteen and she tossed my collection. I was pretty annoying so I’m sure I had it coming; but it would be nice to have all those comics now.

I wish the comic book publishing giants could figure out a way to get the price down on today’s comics. $2.99 is about the cheapest you can buy today. It keeps kids from collecting comics in the numbers I did at 10 and 12 cents.

Here’s a link where you can actually page through Action Comics #1:

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/yeung/actioncomics/cover.html

The Park

Storm Continues

Tracy knelt next to Carol, who had collapsed from exhaustion, sobbing and trying to catch her breath. Ted and Janet, arrived seconds later as Tracy wrapped Carol’s lacerated hand in a piece of Carol’s already torn blouse. Janet exchanged stunned looks with her partner, as Ted hastily holstered his 9mm Glock. Ted approached Logan calmly, getting his attention, his hands out in calming fashion.

“Put the pipe down kid,” Ted urged.

“Who the hell are you?” Logan questioned, turning toward Ted, the pipe still gripped tightly in white knuckled fists.

“They’re my folks,” Storm said suddenly, putting a comforting hand on Logan’s wrist calmly.

“This is my Dad, Ted and that’s my Mom Janet with Carol.”

“Sorry,” Logan said apologetically, dropping the lead pipe and running a hand through his short black hair. “That was impressive, Storm. I’m Logan Stanfield, Sir. Those are my friends Tracy Washington and Carol Wangdon.”

Ted grasped Logan’s outstretched hand, his jacket billowing out momentarily, revealing the holstered automatic at his waist. Logan saw the flash of gun and holster, grinning at Ted knowingly.

“Brother rat,” Logan said.

“Are you two okay?” Ted asked, shrugging noncommittally. “Logan’s right, what the hell did you just do, Storm?”

“Yeah, Wendy,” Janet added, cradling Carol’s head as Tracy kept pressure on Carol’s hand, ignoring Ted’s disgusted negative head shake at Janet’s use of the derogatory nickname. “What were you shouting before that thing took off?”

“I…I summon the Valkyries, Sword-wielding partners,” Storm answered hesitantly.

“You summon what?!” Janet repeated.

“Later Jan.” Ted bent down next to her, peering into Carol’s eyes in the darkness. “Carol, you with us? C’mon, give me some sign here.”

“I…I was… this thing… it…”

“We all saw it,” Ted interrupted gently. “I meant are you okay other than your hand? We need to get you to an emergency room and get that looked at. Can you walk, or should we call an ambulance.”

“Wha…what about the police?” Carol asked, looking around at the familiar faces near her as she sat up. “That mon…monster was what took those other kids. Oh my God… it…it almost had me. How…”

“Easy,” Janet soothed, helping Carol up to her feet. “Any ideas on how to handle this, Ted?”

“You mean monsters in black clouds, a girl with claw lacerated hand, and an incantation in some foreign language that ended the attack?” Ted held up his hands in a helpless gesture.

“Latin… it was Latin,” Storm inserted, drawing a snort from Janet.

Ted peeled back the compress Tracy had pressed to Carol’s wounded hand, causing Carol to flinch in Janet’s supporting grasp and look away. Blood welled up from three thin razor like slashes extending from Carol’s wrist to the knuckles of her right hand. Ted looked at the wound closely, gauging how deep the wounds were.

“It looks like you’ll need some stitches but it’s not as bad as it looks.” Ted covered the wound again, letting Carol hold the makeshift bandage over it. “Give me something, Jan.”

“Long night with cops, hospitals, and pissed off parents,” Janet replied. “I don’t see any way around it.”

“No one will believe this,” Tracy added, resignation in her voice. “My Dad is going to kill me. I might as well of died in the fight. If he don’t kill me, we’ll all end up in the looney bin anyway.”

“May I make a suggestion, Sir?” Logan asked Ted.

“Anything kid, anything.”

“You and your wife go home. I’ll take Tracy and Storm back to the Burger King. Tracy can give our other two friends a lift home while I take Carol to the emergency room. She can say she was fooling around in the park, and fell against something. I’ll call her folks from there.”

“I love the plan,” Tracy said immediately before Ted could speak.

“What about that thing?” Carol asked plaintively. “We can’t just…”

“What are you going to tell the police, genius?” Tracy kidded her. “You stalked the park looking for killers and found a black, cloud monster?”

“Logan’s plan sounds good,” Janet said thoughtfully. “Let me drive Carol’s car to the Burger King, and then she can call her folks from there. She can tell them she fell in the parking lot or something. That way they won’t come unglued about her park outing and they can take over from there.”

“I have a good first aid kit and she can clean up a little,” Logan added in agreement. “It’s up to you, Carol. If you think you can sell the cops on cloud monsters…”

“Okay, but what do we do about that thing?” Carol cut him off, repeating her reservation.

“Nothing,” Storm put in succinctly, looking at Ted tentatively. “We can call the police tomorrow and I’ll tell them I saw a weird cloud thing in the park. It won’t do any good, but all we have is your hand as evidence. The police would just brush it off as mass hysteria anyhow. What would they do anyway, traipse around here in the dark searching for what? They’ll look at us like we have a third eye.”

Carol nodded, turning her right side toward Janet. “The car keys are in my right jacket pocket.”

“Maybe Logan could just bandage up my hand if it doesn’t look too bad and I could drive home,” Carol suggested tentatively as Janet reached into her pocket and extracted the keys. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I guess if we’re going to cover this up we might as well go the whole route, because I don’t want to spend the night in an emergency room.”

“I’ll drive her home,” Janet stated, putting an arm around Carol’s shoulders. “Ted can follow me over and we’ll explain we were at the Burger King when Carol came in. That is, if it looks as if she can’t make it home on her own.”

“What about Nancy and Chris?” Tracy asked. “They know where she was.”

“I’ll talk to them,” Carol said. “C’mon, let’s get this over with.”

A half hour later, Logan bathed Tracy’s hand in peroxide, and covered the wounds with anti-biotic cream. He then placed strips of gauze over each of the claw wounds. Logan added tight strips of adhesive tape along the wounds and at ninety degrees to the gauze strips, closing the furrows. He finished with an elastic wrap over his handiwork. Ted watched Logan with obvious admiration while Janet, Tracy, and Storm filled in Nancy and Chris as to what happened. Ted and Janet had decided to take a chance on the whole truth as to what had transpired in the park, rather than leave the two out of it all together.

“Nice work, kid,” Ted complimented him. “I can guess where you learned it.”

“Thanks,” Logan said, smiling at Carol. “How’s that feel?”

“Wonderful,” Carol replied, flexing her hand. “I…I don’t know how to thank you, Logan. I’ve been so mean to you, and…”

“Old news,” Logan interrupted her gently. “Do you think you can drive?”

“Sure, but I don’t know about sleeping.”

“If it’s any comfort, I don’t think I’ll be sleeping real well after seeing that thing,” Logan admitted. “Keep a light on, and say a prayer. It works for me.”

“Really… you… I mean…”

“Yeah, I get scared,” Logan finished for her. “Everybody does, right Mr. Crandall?”

“And then some, kid, and then some. Stand up, Carol, and let me get a look at you.”

Carol stood up from the chair she had been facing Logan in. Ted noted she had cleaned up well, and her hooded sweatshirt covered the torn blouse. Tracy had brushed Carol’s hair and tied it back into a ponytail while Logan had cleaned her wound. Other than the bandage, Carol looked unscathed, at least externally. Ted nodded approvingly.

“You’ll pass muster at home. Are you still okay with doing it this way?” Ted asked.

“I don’t see any other way we can do it,” Carol answered with a shrug. “How would the cops get that thing anyway? This… this is just too weird.”

“Janet and I will back up Storm’s story about this cloud thing,” Ted assured her. “As to what the cops can or can’t do I can’t answer right now. I’m as clueless as you are. Ready?”

Carol nodded and they walked out of the back room together. Carol immediately apologized to Nancy and Chris. They had agreed if Carol could drive, she would take her friends home with Janet tailing them to make sure everything was all right. Nancy and Chris were too confused about the night’s happenings to question the strange explanation they had received.

“I think it would be an excellent idea for all of you to come over to our house for the study group on Saturday,” Janet urged. “It will give us a chance to talk this out after a little time has passed. You have our phone number now. Please call us if you have any regrets about what we’re doing or not doing.”

“We’ll be there,” Carol said, with Nancy and Chris echoing her statement. “Thanks for coming after me. It would… I mean…”

“We know Carol,” Storm assured her. “We’ll see you all in class tomorrow.”

Janet followed them out, and drove the Honda behind Carol’s car to see them all home safely.

“Want me to follow you home, Tracy?” Logan asked. “I can come back and close up afterwards.”

“I’ll be fine,” Tracy said, giving both Logan and Storm a quick hug, before shaking hands with Ted. “You’ll have to show me how to do what you did out there, Storm.”

“When I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know,” Storm replied. “See you tomorrow.”

“Bye Tracy, good to meet you,” Ted gave her a little wave as Logan walked Tracy out to the parking lot, and into her car.

Logan returned seconds later, taking a seat opposite where Ted and Storm had sat down after Tracy left. He folded his hands in front of him on the table with a questioning look at Ted.

“Can you tell me what’s really going on, Sir?”

Ted took out his FBI identification and showed it to Logan. “My partner and I have been assigned to work this serial kidnapping case undercover with Storm’s help. Tonight was as big a shock to us as it was to you. We actually thought we’d acquired a lead, but now I’m thinking we’re back at square one.”

“It seems you know a lot more now,” Logan replied. “The only question is what the heck you can do with it. This clears up why Storm’s been giving us the third degree in school about the Perkins Park stuff. I didn’t know the FBI recruited teenagers for dangerous undercover work.”

“I…I sort of messed up with the law back home and…” Storm began reluctantly.

“No need to explain.” Logan grinned, holding up a hand in a stopping gesture. “Been there, done that. I won’t blow your cover and I’ll help in any way I can. This thing has to be stopped. I guess now would be a bad time to compare you and your partner to the X-files, huh?”

“Very bad,” Ted laughed. “And definitely a bad idea around Janet. When you were swinging that pipe, Logan, did you feel it make contact?”

“Yes, but those snapping things in the mist were freaky,” Logan answered, spreading his hands palm down on the table. “They looked like unattached maws of teeth, jutting out at me like in the Aliens series. Any idea where to go from here?”

“Storm uncovered something similar with the prior victims,” Ted explained. “Tracy told her the two she shared a class with before their disappearances were into the Goth look. Janet and I found pictures in the school archives indicating the other three girls were into Goth too. Only problem is Carol didn’t appear to be into Goth. I expect we’ll have to look further into that prospect. My partner already calls me Spooky Mulder, so she’s really going to flip out when I mention conjuring demon familiars to do a human’s bidding. Right now, I don’t know what else to think.”

“She saw what happened,” Storm offered. “The Valkyrie spell wouldn’t have worked if this thing was some magician hiding in a cloud of colored water vapor.”

“That was awesome, Storm,” Logan said in a hushed voice. “Dave and his twin toads are lucky I interceded before you really had a go at them this morning.”

“Actually, I don’t do so well with human attackers,” Storm admitted. “Most of the stuff I’ve been studying involves protective measures against unnatural phenomena.”

“Well then,” Logan said, taking her hand, “let me handle your light work, Wendy.”

The three shared a laugh over Logan’s pronouncement. Storm felt Logan’s touch race through her as if she had placed her hand in a flame. Janet barged through the door in her usual blunt manner, getting a perplexed look on her face upon seeing the three laughing together. She walked up to the table and sat down.

“Okay, what’d I miss?”

“I told Logan everything and he’s agreed to help in any way he can,” Ted answered. “How do you think this went down with Alverson and Vasquez?”

“Since we’re as new to black cloud monsters as they are, it probably went down okay. “What the hell are we going to do with this shit, Archibald?”

“We have a couple ideas,” Ted replied after giving Storm the evil eye for laughing at Janet’s use of his middle name. He explained what they had discussed in Janet’s absence.

“Well, I can at least work with that,” Janet remarked. “I officially hate this. Another thing, what the hell was the Valkyrie thing, girl? Was that the real deal?”

“I felt it, Janet,” Storm replied excitedly. “I knew it would work. It was power.”

“Don’t even think about doing the clothes thing on me, Missy. I’ll fry your bacon if it takes me a lifetime.”

Ted and Storm laughed uproariously, while Logan smiled at the two in bewilderment.

“Clothes thing?” Logan asked questioningly.

“Never mind, it’s an inside joke,” Janet replied with a smile. “You were aces out there, Jarhead. You gave Wendy enough time to summon the Valkyrie hit parade.”

“Jar… oh yeah, you guys know it all, huh?” Logan surmised.

“We’ve had audio and visual surveillance from the beginning.”

“So… you’ve been… listening to everything?”

“Part of the whole undercover thing, kid,” Ted gestured it was no big deal. “We’re not supposed to allow Storm to ever come as close to danger as she was tonight. Our bad.”

“Hey… let’s not get too far past the whole no Goth deal with Carol,” Storm broke in. “Why did this thing break pattern. If that’s our only solid connection, we’re screwed.”

“She was dressed all in black,” Logan said. “Maybe it only screws with mean girls. It didn’t attack until Carol was by herself.”

“That’s pretty thin, Logan.” Janet sighed. “A monster cloud taking only mean girls? Of course it’s as good as the Goth angle. I can’t believe this shit. We’ll be stuck in the basement of the Hoover building until we draw retirement, if they don’t commit us outright.”

“There’s a real person behind this,” Storm stated firmly. “We have to find out the key to what attracts it, or makes these kids its targets.”

“It messed up tonight,” Ted added. “No one’s seen the thing before except its victims. Tonight it had an audience. Either dark cloud has switched gears, or thanks to shutting down the park, its target rich environment is gone.”

“It could be something which draws power from something in the park,” Storm suggested.

“Maybe it can’t attack anywhere else. Otherwise, why bother haunting a spot people are avoiding like the plague.”

“I’m getting a headache,” Janet retorted. “Let’s call it a night. Maybe we could check out the park early tomorrow morning before you go into school.”

“How early?” Storm asked plaintively.

“Suck it up, Wendy. We need to see if you can sense some kind of clue before someone drops a house on you.”

“Very funny,” Storm chuckled as her companions enjoyed a laugh at her expense and Janet’s Over The Rainbow movie reference.

“I better get the place locked up,” Logan said, standing and walking over to the door with the others following.

Logan set the alarm and locked the door once they were outside.

“Nice meeting you, kid,” Ted shook hands with Logan and walked toward the Honda.

“You two have three minutes to say goodbye,” Janet said, glancing at her watch. She turned away and followed Ted. “Even the Jarhead couldn’t get a quickie in that amount of time.”

“You…you are so gross,” Storm gasped. Logan turned away, stifling laughter.

Logan took her hand, walking toward his Pontiac.

“Pretty bad get together, huh?” Storm asked, glancing up at Logan as they reached his car and he unlocked the driver’s side door.

“I’ve had worse,” Logan replied, “just not quite as weird. Can I join you in the park tomorrow morning?”

“Sure,” Storm brightened perceptibly, pulling out her newly acquired cell phone and readying it. “Give me your phone number and I’ll call you just before we leave.”

Logan told her the number. He checked it when Storm held her cell phone up for his inspection. He nodded his okay. Logan cupped her chin with his right hand, leaning down and brushing his lips lingeringly over Storm’s. The kiss jolted Storm like nothing else she had ever felt. For an instant, she forgot where she was, or when. There was no mistaking the attraction Logan evoked in her. Logan pulled away slowly before Storm’s cell phone dropped to the ground from her nerveless fingers.

“Thanks for the save tonight,” Logan whispered, kissing her again lightly. “See you in the morning.”

“O…okay,” Storm replied dizzily, turning and walking to the Honda with Logan watching her until she had entered the backseat before getting into his own car.

“Whew, Wendy, that was hot,” Janet needled her immediately as the Pontiac drove out of the lot and Ted followed. “I’m telling your Mommy.”

“Shut up, Scully,” Storm retorted. “Unless of course you want to ride to the house without your clothes.”

“Bull…” Janet glanced back at Storm who was raising her hands up. “Don’t you dare!”
* * * *

“Storm?” Logan’s voice answered on the first ring.

“Hi, did I wake you up?” Storm tingled just at the sound of Logan’s voice.

“I’ve been up for an hour,” Logan chuckled. “Since the service, I don’t sleep in much past five in the morning.”

“Janet and I are heading to the park,” Storm replied, trying not to think of waking Logan up in person. “Do you still want to go? We’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

“Of course. I’ll meet you there. It’s barely light enough to see though. At least it’s not raining. Should I bring anything, like a machine gun?”

Storm laughed. “No, I’ll have Janet with me. She’s cranky enough this morning to eat the black cloud.”

“I heard that, Wendy,” Janet called out from the kitchen, where she was having a cup of coffee with Ted.

“Okay then, see you in a few,” Logan agreed, and ended the call.

Storm went into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table with the cup of tea she had cooling on the counter.

“Well,” Janet prompted her.

“He’ll meet us there in twenty minutes,” Storm replied, sipping her tea.

“Are you two sure about this field trip?” Ted asked. “What is it you’re thinking to find?”

“First off, Carol dropped her pepper spray and stun gun where she was attacked,” Janet pointed out. “The thing materialized somewhere near where she lost her stuff. Secondly, Wendy might find some sign of what’s making Perkins Park the main monster zone. You go ahead and drive the piece of blouse to Cleveland, Tracy held over the wound. Maybe we can get a real lead from the DNA they find on it. We’ll cover the Twilight Zone part.”

“Okay, I’m just saying don’t get too confident over there,” Ted urged. “I know this thing’s never taken anyone during the day but it was never seen before either.”

“We’ll be fine, Archibald,” Janet replied, getting up from the table and signaling for Storm to follow. “Let’s go Wendy before Ted grounds us both and you miss out on playing around with your little friend before school.”

“Some little friend,” Ted retorted. “He must be around six foot four. I’m six two and I was looking up at him.”

“You better can the Wendy stuff, Scully. You’re supposed to be my Mommy, remember?” Storm reminded her as they walked toward the door.

“Now there’s the roll of a lifetime,” Janet commented sarcastically.

Logan parked his Pontiac in the same place he had the night before. He slipped out of the driver’s seat, tucking the lead pipe under his coat. It was a typical Fall morning in Ohio: overcast, windy, and gray, as if someone had stolen the color palette from nature’s page on the state. Janet eased her Honda in behind him and shut off the engine as Logan turned to face them expectantly.

“Oooohhhh, Wendy, he even looks hot first thing in the morning, scars and all,” Janet grinned over at the return scowl Storm glared in her direction immediately.

“Shut up, Scully.” Storm turned her attention back to Logan, as her pulse quickened with the excitement of being near him again.

Logan met the two in front of the Honda.

“I thought we’d go directly to where we found Carol and backtrack to her lost stuff from there,” Janet said after a quick hello, in which Storm leaned against Logan and took his hand. “That is, if you two can quit canoodling long enough to walk with me.”

Logan laughed lightly, but Storm favored Janet with yet another Vulcan Death Stare. With quick glances back toward the car, Janet found the spot where the ground had obviously been disturbed from the group’s confrontation with the eerie cloud. From there, they were able to trace Carol’s haphazard flight from the predator to where she and her two friends had been hiding. After a brief search, Logan found the pepper spray can and Janet located the stun gun.

“Carol told us she zapped the thing,” Janet said, placing the stun gun in an evidence bag. “Maybe we can get something from the electrodes. Let’s split up and start looking for anything out of place from here. Stay within visual range and call out if you find anything, no matter how small. We all know how goofy this probably is, since we have no idea what the hell we’re looking for. Don’t discount what you might think of as silly. If it catches your eye, or looks out of place, give me a shout.”

When she received less than enthusiastic looks from her young companions, Janet shrugged resignedly. “Fine, you two go that way in ever increasing semi-circles and I’ll go this way. We don’t have a lot of time, so let’s be thorough with the territory we do cover. We’ll have to make this a daily gig until we’ve found what we came for, or we’ve covered the whole park.”