Paul’s van was repaired and he was on the road headed north, while Marie’s friend, Susan, was giving a statement to local police officials. She provided an excellent description and the police were able to get his name from the hotel register. That information was about as useful as a bowling ball in a golf tournament.
Paul felt a constant vibration as he drove, much the same way a hungry shark feels fish vibrations from miles away. He smiled like never before. A vibration that strong had to be the last one. When he surveyed the contents of the van, he couldn’t imagine Malvada having that many more ‘things’ to retrieve.
He was getting hungry and decided to take the next exit and stop for a bite to eat. About a mile before the exit, he saw a man who was walking along the side of the road and Paul thought he was in need of a ride. The man was of average build, neatly groomed and appeared to be in his early thirties. In many ways he fit the description of Paul himself. He pulled off the road and waited for the man to catch up to Paul’s van. The man was in no hurry and walked leisurely in Paul’s direction.
Paul used his side mirror to monitor the man’s forward progress. Suddenly, the man stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face the highway. Then Paul saw a car drifting dangerously toward the shoulder of the road. It became clear that if the car continued on its current path, it would hit the hitchhiker and smash directly into the rear of Paul’s van.
Paul shot his hand forward and turned the ignition key to start the van. There was a grinding sound and Paul quickly realized that in his haste to evacuate, he had tried to start an engine that was already running. He slapped the transmission into gear and just as he was about to floor it, he glanced in his side mirror. The hitchhiker still had his body facing the highway, although he had turned his head toward the approaching vehicle. The man stepped back a step or two and as the car passed in front of him, he thrust his leg forward and kicked the wayward car back onto the highway. The subsequent jolt and thud from the impact awakened the sleeping driver. Paul was able to see the startled driver’s face as he passed Paul. Paul returned the transmission to park and awaited a rendezvous with the man. He walked up to Paul’s window and said, “That wasn’t as close as it looked. I could’ve waited longer. There was plenty of time. I’m just not as melodramatic as some.”
Paul didn’t know what to say. He’d never seen anything like that before. The force of the man’s kick alone, pushed the driver out of danger and clearly saved his life.
The man looked down the highway at the fading car and driver he had just saved and said, “That man’s been driving for ten hours and awake for 20. He left a business meeting and dinner last night and decided to drive home without sleep so he wouldn’t miss his daughter’s eighth birthday party. He’s got a present for her hidden in his trunk. It was his lucky day!”
Paul nodded and replied, “Sounds that way.”
The man looked ahead at the icons on the exit sign and then at Paul. “There appears to be places to eat up ahead and I’m starved. If it’s not out of your way, would you mind dropping me off at one of them? I’ve got quite a few miles under my aching feet already and could use a break.”
“Don’t mind at all. I was planning on stopping to get a bite to eat myself. Hop in,” said Paul as he reached over and unlocked the passenger door.
“Thanks,” said the stranger
A stunned and speechless Paul had temporarily forgotten about his lethal cargo. He put the van in gear, merged briefly with oncoming traffic and then exited where he had planned prior to seeing the stranger.
Paul spotted a small diner and said, “How’s that place look?”
The man glanced in the direction of the diner, smiled and said, “Looks like it has great ambiance. It’ll do fine. By the way, my name is Adrian Stackhouse”
Paul kept his right hand on the steering wheel and offered his left to shake the man’s hand. “Paul Porter.”
They entered the parking lot of the diner, parked and walked in together. They were seated almost immediately in a booth with no surrounding patrons. It wasn’t until after Paul reviewed the menu and made a selection that he realized that Malvada’s ‘things’ had absolutely no reaction to Adrian. The last time he gave someone a ride, the ‘things’ in the back went crazy and the van rocked in anticipation of a fresh meal. Not this time. This time the ‘things’ had absolutely no response. It was odd. The stranger kicking the car was odd too. Paul pushed the menu to the edge of the table, clasped his hands and stared questioningly at him.
Neither spoke while they waited for their food to arrive. The server brought Paul a cup of coffee and the stranger got a glass of milk. The stranger swallowed some milk and gazed at the guests sitting at nearby tables, while Paul studied different painting reproductions adorning the walls.
When the server finally brought their meals, Paul was first to speak. “I’ve got several ideas on how you were able to alter the course of that car. I suppose I could continue to speculate for the rest of my life. It would be so much simpler if you would just tell me.”
The stranger looked at Paul, swallowed a bite of food and said, “Yes, of course it would.” He took another bite of food, chewed and looked away at a couple that had just entered the diner. He swallowed again and said, “I try to provide an edge against people that serve as representatives of evil. I am as mortal as you are, however, I do have some extra-mortal advantages. Unlike you, I chose the position I have.” The man took another bite and continued to watch the couple while he chewed.
“What do you think you know about me?” asked Paul.
Adrian wiped his mouth with his napkin, took a drink of milk and wiped again. He looked at Paul and said, “It’s funny how people like to play cagey games with words. Always saying just enough to answer a question. I’m not much into word games so let’s put all the cards on the table and see what we have.” Adrian sat back and dropped his fork on his plate. “I know that you’re on a mission of sorts as a result of a confrontation with evil. I’m also on a mission of sorts as well. However, mine is as a result of a confrontation of a different nature. I’m powerless to do anything about you and you are powerless do anything about me. That is why your cargo had no interest in me.”
“How is it that you know so much about me and I know nothing of you, if we’re so similar?” asked Paul.
“It’s the necessary edge to keep things in my favor. If we hadn’t had this chance encounter, you’d never have known about me.” Adrian looked at the couple again. “See that couple over there?”
Paul looked and nodded.
“It’s a bit of a story, somewhat complicated so bear with me. When the man entered the diner, he had a taste for steak. When he saw fish on the menu, he changed his mind and ordered that. The morning cook overslept, got to the diner late and didn’t read the menu for the day. As a result, he didn’t take any fish out of the freezer to thaw. In just a few minutes, there will be a subdued bang coming from the kitchen. That will be the sound of an electrical short coming from a light fixture over the stove where the cook was standing. If he hadn’t gone to the freezer to check on the fish, he’d have been standing directly under the short and subsequent fire. The incident would have certainly startled him and caused him to lose control of a hot pan of grease. Which in turn would have spilled all over the assistant cook to his left.”
There was indeed a small bang and several guests at the diner stopped eating and turned in the direction of the sound. The fire was quickly extinguished and the manager of the diner reassured everyone that everything was under control. The guests slowly returned to their meals and idle chatter.
“How did you know all of that?” asked an amazed Paul.
“It’s part of the job. Unlike you, I’ve had many more years to master the tricks of my position. For lack of a better description, an evil counterpart of mine, planned and made possible the electrical short. I simply influenced the man to order fish, knowing there wasn’t any thawed.”
“You’re like a guardian
angel then,” suggested Paul.
Adrian chuckled and replied, “Not really an angel. My being here was mere chance. People like me don’t select the how, why, when and where issues of mortal life. We travel around and do whatever we can, wherever we can. If we were to devote our existence to one individual, there would be many thousands of people left defenseless. People would begin to rely on our influence rather than their own inner abilities. Like I said, we roam the world and try our best to keep things in balance.”
“Got it. Now I understand luck better. When someone says it’s your lucky day, it’s probably because one of you guys happened to be in the neighborhood.”
“Precisely. It’s all random. Lifestyle has nothing to do with it. Take for example the guy who decides to work late on a project that could actually wait until the following day. Because he stayed an extra 30 minutes at his desk, he missed a catastrophic vehicle pile-up on the highway. He probably had one of us nearby to lend a hand. He was in the right place at the right time,” stated Adrian.
“Wish someone like you had been around when I had my run in with Malvada. To this day I don’t know why we did what we did.”
“Tremendous evil forces like her draw lesser evil forces. They hover in the area and persuade rational people to do irrational things. It’s the combined influence of their powers that sway thought.”
“Have you met many people as screwed as me?” asked Paul with a half-smile.
Adrian chuckled again and replied, “I’ve heard of people that have been tasked with a mission similar to yours. You’re the first one I’ve dealt with face to face. I run into other people like me from time to time and we share experiences. That’s how I heard about your situation”
“How did you happen to get your job? Did you die and receive an assignment from up above?” asked Paul as he looked upward.
“Believe it or not, I had a position similar to yours. I was single and had a job unloading trucks for a chemical manufacturer. The warehouse wasn’t climate-controlled and we always felt the outside temperatures, no matter what extreme they were. It wasn’t my life’s ambition and I only wanted to work there long enough to earn enough extra money to back to school. One night I was driving home after covering the graveyard shift for a friend, when a drunk driver went left of center and plowed head-on into me. I remembered seeing his headlights coming straight at me and then the next thing I knew, I was in the trauma room of a hospital. I was strapped down to an ambulance stretcher and could feel a cold intravenous fluid coursing through my veins. There were nurses and doctors hovering over me, speaking in foreign medical terms. Suddenly, all of the activity stopped. I opened my eyes and saw a solitary woman standing to my left. She was wearing green, medical garb with a white mask and clear, plastic face shield. I’m not sure if she was a doctor, nurse or what. She told me I could let go and pass on, or I could come work with her and explore some wondrous possibilities among the living. I hadn’t thought of my own death before that night and was decidedly opposed to the idea of leaving earth so soon. I told her I’d love to be on her team. You might say it was a forced opportunity. I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened them again, she was gone. A hospital orderly passed by me at the same time, saw my eyes open and screamed for a doctor to return. Once again, there was a swarm of medical personnel hovering over me, jabbing me with needles and barking orders. I went into a deep sleep and woke three days later in a recovery room. They had a needle stuck in the back of my left hand, an oxygen mask over my mouth and nose and a bunch of monitoring devices standing around my bed. The same woman that asked me to be on her team in the trauma room was sitting by my bed, staring at me. She covered indoctrination material with me and explained I would learn more as I recovered.”
Adrian finished the last of his milk and scraped the few remaining bites from his plate. He wiped his mouth with his napkin, looked at Paul and said, “You’ve got to quit thinking of things in a three dimensional-frame of mind. There are tremendous things going on all around you, all of the time. You’re not aware of them because there are too many other things going on to capture your attention or you rationalize them with three dimensional-thought. People always think they need an immediate answer to every question that exists. If there isn’t a ready solution, they make one up so it’s nice and organized. It’s like driving by an office building. You assume there are hundreds of people inside working. You might visualize people typing on a keyboard or see others that are reading or talking on the telephone. That’s organized, rational thinking. It’s something you do everyday. You can’t possibly know exactly what all of the people are doing and you have no idea how many are men, women, etc. You can’t know about the guy who has just been fired and is worried about his mortgage payment on the way down the elevator. It’s the same way about other dimensions, Paul. You think in terms of there only being a heaven and a hell. I guarantee that it’s more complicated than that. I know that it sounds like an introduction to some sort of metaphysics course and you’re somewhat baffled. There will come a day when it’s very clear to you. I can’t say exactly when. All I can tell you is that it will be soon. Very soon.”
“Is there any way you can help me?” asked Paul desperately.
“Wish I could. When I look at you, only one thought comes to mind and it’s about the pentagram. All I know is that you need to leave it behind. Who knows, we may even run into each other again and I’ll have more thoughts that may help.”
“You really think so?” asked Paul hopefully.
Adrian smiled and said, “Nah! I’d say the chances of our paths crossing again are slim to none!” He stood, removed some money from his pocket and said, “I’ll cover this one. Sometimes I don’t eat for days so it won’t affect my budget in the least. I keep thinking of a guy named Winston Cross. I don’t know exactly where he is or what I’m supposed to do once I locate him. All I’m certain of is that he’s northwest of me.”
“Thanks for the meal. Can I give you a lift back to the highway?”
Adrian started walking toward the entrance and without looking back said, “No, thanks. Stick to your path. It’ll all be over soon. When the time comes, make sure you leave the pentagram behind.”
“I’ll do that.” Paul’s mind rapidly skimmed over all that he had heard in the preceding conversation with Adrian. There was a lot to digest and the thoughts would provide ample company for miles of highway to come. It was encouraging to Paul to hear that his journey was coming to an end, regardless of what kind of end it would be.
Paul finished his coffee, left the diner and looked around for Adrian. He was nowhere to be seen. When he got back into his van, he felt more aware of his physical surroundings. He felt things he had never stopped to think about or experience before. For some reason, he could feel his socks pressing against the inside of his shoes. He felt his belt pulling his waist in and could hear his cotton shirt rustling against the back of the driver’s seat. He looked out the windshield and admired a small bird darting after airborne insects. Adrian was right, there’s always something going on and most of it has nothing to with Paul or anyone else for that matter.
Paul felt invigorated and wished he could share his startling discoveries with the world. Even if he did, who would listen? They’d probably try to lock him in an asylum and that would only further delay his mission.
Paul started the van and headed back to the interstate. As he was backing out of his parking space, he saw the couple that had been the focus of Adrian’s discussion, leaving the diner. He watched them walking hand in hand until they got into their car. Then he smiled, put the van in gear and drove off.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE BEACH