Entry 3 (Masks)- New York: goodbye to Dick, hello Yosef/Rene/Guin, Jackson Elias and his Carlyle clues, bad-Ju-Ju zombies
Months pass since the island mystery. Dr. Teller
becomes the sanatorium shrink; Amanda returning home to their mansion too
anxious to get the hell away from that frightening scene! Everyone
tries...tries to return to their normal life. But the exposure to horror has
scarred all...not just Mic's burned flesh. Eddie listens instead of laughing as
the speakeasy joint drunken conversations shift to "You won't believe this
shit" stories. And he invests in weapons...a welder's torch for one. And a
flask of Holy-Water just in case! PI Dick has moved on, burying his memories in
his work.
Retired police officer Rene is the new badge, coming from
Canada. And in his investigations, he's linked with a museum curator named
Guinevere from England. She, introducing the group to the aspiring student of
rare antiquities, Yosef.
For
its Yosef in receipt of a London cable-gram from one Jackson Elias asking for a
team to aid his research...
And then the phone call, rushed and out-of-breath, "Hotel Chelsea, 8pm, don't be followed." Circuitous drive to the hotel, piling out of the hooded-Renault like circus clowns spilling from their tiny car. Fancy hotel, valet parking, stares at most of us dressed too low for THIS high-brow resort.
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Five
bodies crammed in the elevator ride up to room 410. Knock but no answer.
Silence. Eddie searching for a room-service maid with a key. Mic using his own
key...large shoe to the door. Finding a blood-splattered room...body sprawled
across the bed and his killers still present.
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Two darkies in some ceremonial garb (headband with a red
flap hanging before their eyes). A whitie similarly dressed charging with a
machete. Gunshots and chaos before the lone survivor tries to exit via the
fire-escape ladder. Kicking free of Yosef grabbing for his leg but Rene's shot
topples him out the window falling 4 stories only to splat in the alley.
Confirming the body on the bed is Elias; a strange rune carved in his forehead.
Mad rush to collect papers, wallets, anything worthy before the cops arrive.
Back at our own hotel, we inventory the collection: blurry picture, match book,
letter, business card, flier regarding a lecture tonight, letter.
Days
researching WTF was Jackson into. Who did he piss off? But the clues are
misleading. News release of Elias' death offer little clues without
incriminating us.
Back
to the clues at hand, Eddie reasons the picture may be of the Carlyle yacht in
a Chinese harbor, Hong Kong? So he's off to the NY harbor looking for the
yacht. No luck. He soon learns their yacht "Tides of Fortune"
doesn't match the ship profile nor match the visible letters "DAR".
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As for the business card and letters, they offer names to pursue.
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"Hey Mic, isn't the charm you plucked from Capt Ebenezer's neck from the Pacific Islands?" Following that lead, Mic inquires at the university set as the lecture site. Upon mention of "headbands with red tongue looking appendages", he's told of a local shop (Bad Ju-Ju) that sells such voodoo/cult items. Meanwhile Rene is seeking Mariam at the Rare Bookstore regarding her letter to Mr. Jackson.
"Why
he's a well renowned author. I have him under contract to write and deliver a
manuscript detailing the truth of the Carlyle Expedition. He sent me this
draft. I'd pay handsomely if you could finish the book. All expenses
paid."
Yosef's library search revealing the headband a signature of
"The Bloody Tongue Cult. Thought to be linked to the Carlyle massacre as
their cult thrives in the mountains within the Kenya Rift Valley."
Which
has us enroute to the "Bad Ju Ju" store deep in Harlem. Empty narrow
streets, shuttered stores across the street. A bell atop the door jingles as we
enter to find an aged darkie behind the counter.
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Yosef guessing correctly it is his business card, Silas. But
denial knowing about "The Bloody Tongue Cult." Only a seller in this
neighborhood. "He's Lying." Threatened torture by Mic then Rene. Even
Yosef taking a curved blade hanging from the walls to threaten amputation. Till
Yosef notes Silas fiddling with something around his neck. A key chain. Mic
checking upstairs but only a curtain as a door. No lock. Search of the small
store till Rene steps on a rug bump. Pulled back to reveal a trapdoor. Click,
down we go pushing Silas in the lead.
The smell of iron as we enter a dark room. Blood puddles beneath wall straps. A large stone with attached chains hanging from pulleys in the ceiling beams. A curtain that Mic investigates...zombies! Silas gleefully admitting his ties to the "Bloody Tongue Cult" as he assumes we are meat for his creations.
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A bullet to Silas' head to stop his gloating, in failed hope
his death will stop the creatures. Gunshots and scrambling to avoid their
claws. Mic knocking one to the floor where he proceeds to pummel it. My
welder's torch doing the most damage.
All clear, Mic checks out the curtained room where the zombies came from. Ceremonial curved blade, a lion skin complete with claws, and a wooden African mask. As the rest of us investigate the room, Mic decides to scare Yosef, putting on the skin cloak and then arms raised he "roars" as he puts on the mask. He collapses into dream state. Awaking later to describe images and actions as if he was on another plane of existence.
Sounds of someone entering the store above. We ambush the
two darkies dragging a tied and gagged woman down the stairs; an obvious
sacrifice that is thwarted as we kill the newest cult members.
OK, where do we go from here?!
Jackson's notes describe an interview of someone claiming they saw and meet Tom Brady in Shanghai. The same Tom 'Jack-Of-All-Trades' factotum of the Carlyle Expedition! Thus the significance of the matchbook. And Jackson's insistent claim not all expedition members were massacred. But why didn't Tom come forward out of Kenya? Why his mysterious presence halfway around the world and his desires to remain hidden? What of the other famous figure heads...Roger the playboy, Sir Aubrey Penhew, the psychologist and even the photographer?
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