Chapter 8
“Where to?” Tory asked.
“The nearest car wash,” Jeremy said.
Tory took them to a carwash. She paid for them to go in, and once the car was being pulled in, Jeremy pulled a car ad from a magazine and manifested a car in front of them. They switched cars. Tory was going to let him drive, but he pointed for her to drive. They got in, minimally wet. The windows were dark and so if they were followed, no one would have noticed them in a new car. They were away from Tory’s car before it emerged from the other side. One of the employees took it off the line and parked it, took the keys inside. Jeremy had them park at a store across the street where they watched her car for a while. After half an hour of the car sitting there, he decided the car wasn’t be tracked. He indicated Tory should drive.
“Where to?” Tory asked.
“If you know where Alliance airport is, head that way,” Jeremy said. “I35W, going south.” Jeremy closed his eyes. He saw through the hawk’s eyes, circling above the apartment complex. “You can see what the hawk sees?” Tory asked.
“Yes. I experience everything my live manifestations experience,” Jeremy said.
“If they’re hurt, you’re hurt?” Tory asked.
“Yeah,” Jeremy said. “Not injured, but it feels like dying sometime. A few times I have wished for death there was so much pain. Even after they dissipate, it can echo for hours.”
“The thing you two were talking about? The thing he didn’t say?” “No law enforcement,” Jeremy said. “If we bring help, they’ll kill them.” Tory nodded. Tears fell. “Why did you come back?” Tory said. “I don’t know. I had a feeling,” Jeremy said.
“I thought you don’t believe in that stuff,” Tory said. Jeremy opened his eyes and looked at her? “In feelings?” “Intuition,” Tory said.
“Feelings exist. Intuition exists,” Jeremy said. “It’s not magic. And feelings can be wrong. Intuition can be wrong. Hell, even intellect and rational thought can be wrong. Most scientist don’t track that part. It was reasonable to explore the feeling.” She let go of the wheel and touched his arm. “Thank you.” He touched her hand and patted it. “Who’s the Goddess?” Tory asked.
“That’s a little harder to explain,” Jeremy said.
“Try,” Tory said.
“You remembering apologizing to Isis?” Jeremy said. “I, too, am a devotee to the
Goddess Isis.”
“Seriously? You can summon Isis?!” Tory asked.
“Yes. No. Sort of. There’s levels. It’s complicated. I don’t understand half the shit I do,”
Jeremy said. “I am a huge fan, had a crush on, quite frankly was in love with, two specific women. Valérie Allain. Valérie was on a PBS show, ‘French in Action.’ I manifested her because I wanted to learn French.” “You speak French?” Tory asked.
“No,” Jeremy said.
“But you…”
“Didn’t make it that far,” Jeremy said. “Joanna Cameron was the other love. Joanna was the actress that played Almighty Isis in the 70’s television show, ‘The Secrets of Isis.’” “You manifested the Goddess!” Tory said.
“No, I manifested the actress that plays the Goddess,” Jeremy said. “But the Goddess was the first personality that stepped out. She had autonomy of action. And spooky things happen with her. And though I can manifest the doppelganger of the actress, I can’t guarantee the goddess will arrive. Chadek was right, no one just summons a Goddess. They have their own agendas and time tables and it doesn’t matter what my needs are. It doesn’t matter if I am in crisis.”
“What kind of spooky things?” Tory asked.
“Well,” Jeremy said. “I can sometimes hear her voice, even when I am not manifesting her.”
“Really?” Tory said. “Like what does she say?”
“She told me not to come into your home guns blazing,” Jeremy said. “I was going to kill them.”
Tory touched his hand. “Thank you for listening to her. We’ll get James and Maria back.
This will be made right.”
“I don’t believe that,” Jeremy said. “Things don’t just work out. People get hurt. People die.”
“But vengeance isn’t good for the soul,” Tory said.
“I agree with that. I even believe in forgiving. But I don’t forget,” Jeremy said. “And
Chadek and his men need to die. Nothing personal. They’re just not nice people.” “Not your job,” Tory said.
“They have your son! They have your friend,” Jeremy said.
“And we will get them back. Maybe we can sell the thing in your safe,” Tory said.
“The thing in the safe has no value,” Jeremy said.
“What is it?” Tory asked.
“It’s not open to discussion. It has no value, except to me,” Jeremy said. “Let it go. I can raise the ten million dollars. Maybe before the end of the week. I will try not to kill anyone until
James and Maria are safe.”
“Even after, don’t,” Tory said.
Jeremy was quiet. “Tory. You don’t know me. I am not a nice person.”
“I don’t think you know enough about yourself to make that assertion,” Tory said.
“Do you know the three temptations of Christ?” Jeremy asked.
“Yeah,” Tory said. “Actually, very similar to the temptations of Buddha. All people are tempted.
“I failed,” Jeremy said. “What?”
“The temptations of Christ. I failed, all of them. Not only did I fail, I invited in their seven sisters, the deadly sins and slept with them all,” Jeremy said.
“When did you learn to manifest?” Tory asked.
“I didn’t learn…”
“When did you discover this ability?” Tory rephrased.
“Just after puberty,” Jeremy said. “I entered early. Maybe seven, eight.” “So, you were a child, and you manifested who?” “Does it matter?” Jeremy asked.
“No, not really,” Tory said. “Our society is disconnected with sex, to such a high degree that it creates and drives neuroticism. The only thing we teach, and we teach it badly with pseudoscience and religious themes, is abstinence. Society has zero tolerance for anything other than heterosexual sex, in very confined, contextualized, and limited expression. Society has zero compassion for people who stray outside those confines. So, you have an ability. You made some hot girl in your room materialize out of thin air and you were overwhelmed with biochemistry and curiosity and it worked for you. If you tried to talk about it, you would most likely get shut down at best, shamed at worst. It worked so well that maybe you went overboard from time to time. And then, you had a tragedy. You lost your parents. Why wouldn’t you go to the thing you do the best to seek comfort, solace, love? Even now, if you shared the knowledge of what you can do, and why you do it, you would be shamed, labeled a perv. You are not a perv.
You are not broken. Anyone who stumbled into your ability would struggle with this. Anyone. Male or female. And if you knew what was in the brains and minds of most people, like 95 percent of most people, you would know you were normal, and have compassion with yourself and others. The other five percent, they have the same motivators and wants, but they have practiced hiding it so well that any genuine nice thing they do is in actuality a way manipulating them into situations where there is higher degree of chance they will be rewarded with sex.”
Jeremy was processing her words and tracking the movement of Chadek and his people.
They were departing from Tory’s apartment in two sedans. Avril was carried and placed in the back seat where she lay, perhaps went to sleep. All of this came from the hawk’s perspective, perched on a light pole. As they drove off, the hawk took flight.
“It was above and beyond overboard,” Jeremy said.
“Tell me about it,” Tory said.
“Maybe later,” Jeremy said. “Turn here.”
They arrived at Hicks Airfield, came around to one of the middle hangars. Plane were parked in the grass, wings secured to ground anchors. He had her parked on the side, and led her to the large sliding door. And opened it enough for them to pass through, then closed it. There were holes of light that allowed them to see enough to find a shelf and light a candle. He dropped his backpack. There were lots of shelves, metal shelves lined the wall, and then others spaced in front that allowed access from both sides, and endless assortment of magazines. Jeremy had already gone to a particular stock and ripped a page out of the magazine. A dining room set arrived in the center of the room. It was well illuminated, but the source of the light was apparent. He collected paper and pencil and went to the table and began drawing.
“You live here?” Tory asked.
“Yes,” Jeremy said. He quickly sketched out the sedans. He drew bubble and connected a line to the license plates, and wrote the numbers down in the bubble.
Tory went to the window and looked out onto a blue sky. A tree in the backyard. Birds enjoying a bird feeder. She went out of the area and looked at the wall, which was like the wall of a set, and discerned only the wall and the window and came back to the window.
“Don’t think about it,” Jeremy told her.
“How can you not think about it?!” Tory said.
“Practice,” Jeremy said, using a second paper to sketch a crude map, not to scale, Tory’s apartment to where they were presently.
“Can you go…”
“Don’t go there,” Jeremy said.
“Why?”
“Weird things happen there,” Jeremy said.
“Weird how?” Tory asked.
Jeremy looked up from his work. “It’s not consistent with consecutive openings,” he said.
“You encounter beings out there.”
“Beings?” Tory asked. “Not human?”
“Some are human. Some look human, probably not human. Some definitely not human,” Jeremy said. “This is a really a distraction at the moment that I don’t want to think about.”
Tory sat down. There was a bowl of fruit on the table. She picked up an orange. Jeremy slapped her hand.
“Never eat anything I make!” Jeremy said, angrily. He was suddenly sad by his reaction, and tossed the food off the table “It will leave you hungrier than you are now, and it will kill you.
I go to sleep, the stuff I makes goes away, and it will rip a hole right down the center of you.”
Jeremy looked down at his drawing. He clenched the pencil. “Some of this I found out the hard way. I wanted to be cool. I made candy for classmates. The next day I was the only one in class because everyone else was sick. Everyone but me. Everyone told. I provided the candy. When I couldn’t explain where I got the candy from, I was suspended. My family received death threats. Sufficient death threats that my parents moved us.”
Tory reached out and touched his hand that held the paper to the desk. “You were scared just now.”
“I am sorry,” Jeremy said.
“For keeping me safe?” Tory asked.
“I over reacted. I sometimes overreact around people,” Jeremy said. “That’s another reason why I keep to myself. I have been taking care of myself for a long time, Tory. My parents used to have a live in nanny. My father traveled a lot. A consultant, and mom would go. I got the nanny fired and replaced her with one of my bots. I am so use to having my own way that I don’t do well with others.”
“That’s not completely true,” Tory said. “You were respectful to Chadek. That means you exercise discernment. Hitting my hand just now, that felt more like fight or flight response. You have PTSD. Maybe abandonment issues, but one of the qualifiers of PTSD is a decreased ability to make connections with others.”
“Which is also explained by being on the spectrum,” Jeremy said. “I have ASD.”
“Multiple whammies,” Tory said. “Nothing happens in a vacuum, Jeremy. Autistic fantasies is a complicated thing where people with ASD create solid world paradigms with a whole cast of characters, but with you, you actually manifest the characters! You’re not broken.
You just need more experience doing something different.”
“People around me get hurt,” Jeremy said. “And I am not saying that because I am morose and moody. People get hurt. Sometimes the things I manifest have a will of their own and they do things…”
Jeremy stopped talking. He wrote an address down. He began tracing out a mega mansion, in Dallas. He frowned. Taking more control, he brought the hawk closer, trying to spy into bedrooms. As he came back around, one of the henchmen had remained by the sedans to take a personal phone call. He was looking away from the car, sweet talking his girl from the sounds of it. “Korosho,” he had said, a word Jeremy recognized. Jeremy landed the hawk on one of the sedans. He read the bin number and wrote it down in a bubble next to the appropriate sedan and put the hawk in flight. He went around the building again.
“I don’t see them,” Jeremy said. “I would bet they’re here. There’s no way I am going to get in here without people dying. And when people start dying, they will likely kill…”
“So, we need to raise the money,” Tory said. “Rob a bank?”
“No,” Jeremy said. “Why does everyone want to rob a bank? Hell, half the time any more, banks don’t hold a lot of cash. The ones that do, well, they’re the harder ones to take out. Even if I smashed a tank through the wall into the vault and did a grab and go, it would attract a lot of attention and be tracked by copters. Just really difficult. It has to be planned and everything has to go just right.”
“You’ve done it before?” Tory asked.
Jeremy added some more details to the image. Security walking the property. Guard shacks. Cameras. Hidden cameras that looked like plants. Cameras in the trees. Chadek came out into the back and sat down. Henchmen to. James and Maria came out. Maria was asked to sit. James was encouraged to go swim. True to a kid not understanding completely, he went out to swim. Two teenage girl joined him in the pool. Maria was asked questions. Avril was brought out and instructed to sit. Another female came over and began to shave her head with sheers, straight to the scalp. Avril was tearful. “You know the rules,” Chadek said.
“It took forever to grow it this long,” Avril complained.
“And you can grow it again,” Chadek said. “Would you like your hair cut, Maria?” “Fuck you,” Maria said.
“Keep cursing, and I will do more to you than shave your head,” Chadek said. “I have family here. You’re safe as long as you cooperate.” Jeremy came back to Tory. “They’re alive,” Jeremy said. The presence of other kids complicated things even further. One never goes in with guns blazing in real life. “James thinks he’s own vacation. Maria’s struggling to keep her cool.”
Tory cried. Jeremy stared at the table, not sure what to do. She recovered on her own and wiped her eyes.
“Okay. I am okay. So, how do we get ten million?” Tory said.
“Do you have your cell phone on you?” James asked.
Tory pulled it out of her purse. Jeremy backed up. He gave her a number to dial and asked that she put it on speaker phone. It rang. A male answered.
“Who is this?”
“Hello, Charles,” Jeremy said. “It’s Jeremy. Can you hear me?”
There was silence for a moment. The sound of a door closing. “You know I had nothing to do with that fiasco.”
“No, I don’t know that,” Jeremy said. “But that’s not why I called. The Goddess needs a donation.”
“No problem,” Charles said. “What’s the name of the charity?” “It’s personal. I need to raise ten million in 7 days,” Jeremy said. “Fuck,” Charles said. “I am not asking you to front it. I will earn it,” Jeremy said.
“You’re coming out of retirement?”
“It’s important.”
“Well, if you’re willing to service Cowboys, I can probably have a million for you by the end of the night,” Charles said.
“You know I hate the cowboys,” Jeremy said.
“You live in Texas,” Charles pointed out.
“Because no one was looking for me in Texas,” Jeremy said. “Anyway. Can I crash at your place?”
“Sure,” Charles said. “You are always welcome here.”
“I am bringing a friend, if that’s okay?” Jeremy said,
“You finally have a sidekick?”
“No.”
“You have sidekick,” Charles said.
“I will hurt you,” Jeremy said.
“Come visit. It’s been too long,” Charles said. “I’ll put the word out. We’ll get your donation.”
“Thank you, Charles. See you in a couple hours,” Jeremy said. The phone call ended.
“Where are we going?” Tory asked.
“Miami,” Jeremy said, getting up from the table. “Might want to turn your phone off.”
He selected several backpacks and tossed them in the middle of the floor. He found a fanny pack and brought it to her. He asked her to put it on.
“What is this?” Tory asked.
“Emergency parachute,” Jeremy said.
“Why do I need a parachute?” Tory asked.
“Safety,” Jeremy said.
Tory began to put on the chute. He tried to point out how to do it and then just took over. It brought them close to each other; he secured it tight. He put her hand on the pin to demonstrate how it worked. He became aware that she was looking into his eyes and backed away.
“I am sorry,” Jeremy said, looking at his feet.
Tory stepped back up into him. “For keeping me safe?” “For invading your space,” Jeremy said, taking step back.
Tory stepped back into him. “You have my permission to be this close. You have my permission to touch me, to kiss me, to speak softly to me…”
“I am trying not to objectify you,” Jeremy said.
“You’re not,” Tory said. “And I am telling you, you can. I want you to see me.”
“It doesn’t stop there,” Jeremy said.
“Take it as far as you like,” Tory said.
“You don’t know me,” Jeremy said.
“Teach me,” Tory said.
“Grab the backpacks,” Jeremy said, and walked away.
Jeremy found a magazine, tore out a page and headed towards the hangar door. He was wadding up the paper and tossing it even as he was opening the door. Just outside the door was Sikorsky S-97 Raider. It was pristine, as if it just came off the assembly line. He walked to the door and opened it up. He nodded for her to climb up.
“Seriously?” Tory asked.
Jeremy nodded, took the backpacks from her and tossed them in. He offered her a hand up. He followed her in and shut the door. The red backpack contained two headsets. He gave one to her and headed up front. She followed him to the cockpit and took the available seat. He taught her how to put the straps on and how to plug the headset in.
“You can fly this?” Tory said.
“Yep,” Jeremy said, starting the APU. Avionics came to life.
“Electronics work for you?” “If I make it, it works,” Jeremy said.
The engine spooled up, blades were turning.
“You just make any aircraft you want whenever you want,” Tory asked.
“Pretty much,” Jeremy said. “You good?”
“This is safe?”
Jeremy thought about it. Nodded. “Pretty much.”
“So, why the chute?” Tory asked, patting the fanny pack.
“If I pass out, get shot, have a heart attack or stroke, or just simply fall asleep,” Jeremy said. “Just pull the pin. You’ll be alright.” “You’re not wearing a chute,” Tory said.
“I am not,” Jeremy said.
“You don’t care if you live or die?” Tory asked.
Jeremy took hold of the controls and they ascended, vertically, nose down, going slightly forwards. They crept up to the taxi way, and proceeded down the taxi way, looking for traffic, and then proceeded down the runway, going up. “You fly whatever you want and no one ever asks you questions?” Tory asked. “When confronted with ghosts, or aliens, no one ever asks questions,” Jeremy said. “Excuse me a moment.” They ascended to altitude and accelerated to top flight speed. “Don’t hold the pin.”
“What if I forget?”
“You’re not going to forget and we’re not going to fall,” Jeremy said. “It’s just a precaution.”
“We pass over the gulf to get to Miami?” “Yep,” Jeremy said.
“You have life rafts?” “No,” Jeremy said.
“So, how safe are you?” Tory asked.
“There are condoms in the red bag,” Jeremy said.
Tory laughed. “And you need condoms because you sweep so many girls off their feet?” Jeremy frowned. “I was joking.” “So, no condoms?” Tory asked.
“I have never needed them,” Jeremy said.
“You ‘re not speaking to Air Traffic Control?”
“My transponder communicated we’re special ops, homeland security,” Jeremy said. “No one’s going to bother us. Even if someone’s curious, we’ll be there and off radar before anyone realizes we’re not the same team.”
“How did you…”
“Get TCAT codes and numbers? Spies,” Jeremy said. Tory looked at him, skeptically. “You manifested agent and infiltrated military headquarters?” Tory said.
“Piece a cake. Almost everyone that works at the CIA and the Pentagon have public photos,” Jeremy said. “You can go into any lobby and find the equivalent of a year book. I manifest anyone I want and remote control them right through the front door and no one bats an eye. Mostly. I’ve been caught up in conversations I didn’t know how to back out of.” “So, how did you get out?” Tory said.
“I feigned being sick, went to the bathroom, and dissolved the character,” Jeremy said.
“Why would you break into the CIA and Pentagon?” Tory asked.
“I don’t like conspiracy theories,” Jeremy said. “I wanted to know if the government was as corrupt as people think. It’s not. There are a lot of stupid people. In and out of government jobs, but most people, they care about keeping people safe, and they take pride in their jobs.”
“Really?” Tory said. “You’re like a god…”
“No,” Jeremy said. “I took risks. I hurt people. And all I’ve learned is, there is no ultimate evil machine that’s grinding people down. We live in a system, and it has problems, but it’s not the system, it’s the people and how we see things and respond to things.” “You hurt people how?” Tory asked.
“No one walks into a secure building without being seen,” Jeremy said. “Some people lost their jobs because they couldn’t explain what they were doing back at work, or in an unauthorized area, or with classified information that didn’t pertain to them. Even if they got corroboration that it wasn’t them, they still lost their jobs because clearly, there was a spy that looked like them, and that messes with people’ minds. So, I can manifest transponders and the right codes. People don’t ask questions in real time. But someone, reviewing data somewhere, is going to see an unauthorized flight going almost supersonic speeds, and they’re going to ask questions and department heads will be asking who is working what and there might be some quarrels and loss of trust between departments. And so, doing what we’re doing, it puts people in harms way. This is a problem. I don’t like it. I am probably rushing things and making bad decisions, but I want to get to Miami, get our money, and get back to Chadek as fast as I can so I can end this.”
Tory touched his arm. “Thank you for helping us.” “Don’t thank me,” Jeremy said.
“Why?”
“Because, first, I haven’t succeeded in helping you, and two, Maria and your son are in danger because I didn’t follow my own rules,” Jeremy said. “This stuff is happening, it’s because of me.”
“You can’t blame yourself for what Chadek does,” Tory said.
Jeremy didn’t respond.