"The Sanguinarians"
"The Sanguinarians"
2/23/1961
I.
Scotty Lansdale took a minute to examine the hotel room. It seemed acceptable. Two twin beds with a nightstand and a lamp between them. A twelve inch TV with rabbit ears on a dresser, two padded chairs and a writing desk in one corner with its own lamp and chair. There was a dial phone on the nightstand. The bathroom seemed clean enough, it had no odor he could detect but he still fretted. Kobal was touchy about smells.
Placing the suitcase and the cylindrical duffel bag at the foot of one bed, Scotty crossed over to the window and pulled the curtain aside. Under a crescent moon, the snoozy main street of Perkinston, Indiana was visible across the parking lot. In an emergency, he and Dr Kobal could easily escape through this window and get into their car. Well, Scotty would. Kobal was as likely to crash bodily out through the window in his impatience.
At twenty-seven, Scotty's manner seemed older because of what he had been through. The ugly unfair divorce which had cost him his house and half his income, then the loss of his job because of the rumors spread by his ex-wife. He had lived out of his car for eight months while doing short-term odd jobs for gas money and meager meals. The courts had eventually cut him loose from his burdens as he had been bled dry, but there had been little relief in that. Knowing that Andrea was living in the house he had renovated himself, living with the damn idler who had come between them... Let it go, he thought. Nothing he could do about it now.
This motel had seemed most suitable because it had a room at the far end of the L-shaped building, and the manager's office was barely within sight. Scotty went into the bathroom, scrubbed his hands and face with hot soapy water and resigned himself to what the next few minutes would bring. He brushed his thick black hair back with his fingers but it remained unruly.
Out in the parking lot, the bright red Chevy Impala sat waiting. It was three years old, with sixty thousand miles on it, but the important thing was that he had been able to pay cash for it. Leaving as little of a paper trail as possible was crucial. As Scotty walked toward the long car, its rear door opened and a massive dark shape emerged. The car visibly lifted up on its suspension as Kobal's four hundred pounds left it.
Not more than five feet eight but broader than normal men, Dr Kobal was as always completely bundled so nothing could be seen of his person. All in black, the long overcoat and flannel trousers and thick-soled brogans were not unusual garb in this chilly March wind. The black wool scarf covering Kobal's face, the wide-brimmed slouch hat and the leather gloves were unremarkable as well this time of year.
Of course, Kobal also dressed like that on the worst dog days of Summer.
Using a thick cudgel as a walking stick, still bent over, Dr Kobal strode to meet Scotty half way. "Good, good," rumbled a deep oddly-accented voice. "The key?"
Scotty handed over one of the two keys he had been given when he had registered. "The room seems okay," he ventured.
"Arrgh. Most of my life I slept under trees with my elbow for a pillow. Hurry. Tonight, the ancient winds of trouble blow. Heads will roll across the ground."
"You do have a way with words, maybe you should have been a poet." Scotty obligingly followed the hobbling figure across the parking lot. Whether Kobal's legs were unusually short or his arms abnormally long, his proportions were definitely amiss. The Okali sorcerer lumbered through the door and was making a chair creak under his weight as Scotty closed the door behind them.
"This will do," Kobal said after a cursory glance. "You carry out your functions well, Scotty."
"Oh sure. Driving that big old cruiser up and down every highway in the nation. Buying and cooking food wherever we go. Signing different names for everything while trying to remember which of my fake drivers' licenses I'm using. And that's not mentioning all the terror and the screaming and running for dear life from drooling monsters who want to rip me apart. It's a drag, man, a king-sized drag. Still, we haven't been caught yet."
The sorcerer tugged off his leather gloves to reveal gnarled, dark-skinned hands with talons rather than fingernails. "When I found you, you did not have enough fuel in your car to drive to the next gas station. You had not eaten in a day and a half, you had not bathed for longer. Now at least, you are comfortable."
"Yeah, I suppose that's true." Scotty admitted. "You know, I never asked where you got that big old wad of twenties and fifties you were holding. You didn't bring it here from your jungle."
"Spoils taken from a fallen enemy, nothing more. That Voodoo hungan had no more need for material goods."
Scotty plopped down on the edge of one of the beds and shrugged out of his sportcoat. He was wearing a plain white dress shirt and black slacks. "What's funny is that I never liked horror movies or science fiction stories. My folks said I had no imagination. Now I'm living in a permanent nightmare."
"Arrgh. Do not despair so. You are doing worthwhile work by helping me. Surely you can see why I would find it difficult to get by without an assistant like yourself." Kobal tossed the slouch hat aside and unwound the scarf to reveal the head of a Mountain Gorilla.
II.
In the subdued light of the motel room, the Okali sorcerer was a surreal sight. Dr Kobal had thick bristly black fur, dark tan skin and deepset green eyes under the brow ledge. He was not exactly identical to a true gorilla, since he lacked the sagittal crest and his chin was more pronounced. The Kobalim of Okali also had a different hip structure than true gorillas, allowing them to stand upright more easily, and their thumbs were long and dextrous as a Human's.
Even after months of traveling with the sorcerer, Scotty still stared. He tried to put a light tone into his voice, "You've drawn a few stares in public but to be honest, I think most people take you for an old man with bad arthritis."
The huge bullet head turned. When Kobal spoke, he was perfectly intelligible. He had been working on losing his weird Okali accent with its rising inflection at the end of each sentence. "Rest, Scotty. Sleep if you can. Tonight we hunt."
"Oh wonderful. What is it this time? Bigfoot? Leprechauns?"
"All that has come to me is a name I do not recognize. The Sanguinarians." Kobal bent with a grunt and unlaced his heavy shoes to let his long narrow feet breathe. "Arrgh, blessed relief. Soon I must have shoes handmade to fit me. These are torture."
"Good luck finding a shoemaker who won't lose his marbles when he sees those tootsies."
Rising with his cudgel in hand, the huge brute remained otherwise dressed. He went over and stretched out on the other bed carefully, having broken a few bedframes already in other rooms. "It is still early," he said. "The creatures of the night will not be out and about for hours yet." He turned over away from his assistant and sighed as he fell asleep.
"Creatures of the night like you..." Scotty muttered. "And I'm beginning to think, like me."
After a while, Kobal began that deep rasping which seemed to be his snore. Scotty Lansdale dug around his duffel bag from a fresh shirt, socks and underwater. Quietly as possible, he took a hasty shower in steaming hot water, toweled dry and emerged to find the sorcerer still asleep. Good. Dressed again except for his shoes, he checked that the door and window were locked, lay down on top of the covers and was soon deep in exhausted slumber himself.
After midnight, the sound of the toilet flushing rousted Scotty. He remembered a troubled dream, something about pulling a weight at the end of a rope while his grip kept weakening but the details faded quickly. From the bathroom came vigorous splashing and the thump of heavy footsteps. He knew better than to enter a bathroom after Kobal's use of it, the big brute's digestive system produced its own distinctive stench.
As Scotty blinked and stretched, he felt starved. The bathroom door crashed open, swung by a hand which knew little delicacy. Kobal was wearing the flannel trousers and a Navy blue pullover that Scotty had purchased for him at a shop for big and tall men. The sorcerer walked upright, leaning on the dresser as he passed it and Scotty figured once again that Kobal would have been happier if he simply dropped down to support himself on stiff arms with his knuckles on the floor.
"Hope you're hungry, chief," Scotty ventured.
"Call me 'doctor.' Yes, I am hungry. Absolutely."
"On the way in, we saw a diner a few miles out of town. I'd have to order a meal to go for you since you won't eat in public."
"Crowing into those booths is a struggle," Kobal admitted. "Closer, though, is that McDonalds a few blocks away. The fast food is mediocre at best, but I can allow it. If they are open, we might drive through."
"Sounds okay to me. I'm still surprised you're not a vegetarian, Doctor. I pictured you eating huge amounts of plants daily, lots of roughage."
Kobal grumbled deep in his mighty chest as he struggled to get his shoes on. "I am fully omnivorous, my boy. My people back home eat meat when they can, bird's eggs and lizards and fish mostly." He heaved up erect and started putting those long arms into the sleeves of his overcoat. "Ah, I can sense evil stirring in the night. There must be a reckoning. The voices of victims crying out to be avenged will be satisfied."
"When you get all poetic like that, I never know what to say," Scotty replied.
"Words should be better than silence." The sorcerer wrapped himself up again in his scarf and floppy hat. During the daytime, if there was a chance he might be seen at close range, he also carried dark sunglasses but he pocketed them for now.
They went out into the darkness. A wind chill near zero and a general lack of night life left the streets nearly deserted. They cruised for a few blocks in silence, then pulled into the drive-through lane of the McDonald's with its gaudy arches and a sign OVER ONE MILLION SERVED. While Scotty got the standard cheesburger, fries and Coke, the voice from the back seat ordered two fish sandwiches, two Big Macs and a coffee black with no cream or sugar. At the last second, Kobal added double onion rings as well.
They ate as they drove around, getting to know the layout of the town. Scotty was used to the ferocious noises from the back seat as if Kobal had killed a rabbit and was devouring it whole. It didn't bother him anymore. Sometimes he felt you could get used to anything in a roommate. How long would this arrangement go on, he wondered? Maybe he should start socking away a few dollars for a stake when he told this monster it was time to end their partnership. A few of their close calls had b been a little TOO close for comfort.
But did he really want to anger Kobal by leavinf? He had seen those paws snap open a padlock with no effort. "So, Doctor, where are the bad guys hanging out tonight?"
"I am not certain," rumbled the deep voice as a final wrapper was crumpled up. "Drive around at random. I will know when we are near."
"You're the boss. Look at that wild split level building, that's the new town library. So, anyway, why are these Sanguin-whatever-they-are interested in blood? Is it for the kicks?"
"No." A long pause followed. "Scotty, it is a fact that gralic magick can draw vitality from fresh Human blood. Vampires stay active for centuries by drinking it. Ghouls and Zombies function at a lesser level by consuming bodies which still have traces of blood in it."
"Makes my stomach turn, thinking about it."
"It is one of the Five Forbidden Art," Dr Kobal said. "Even living mystics can extend their lifespans and restore lost youth by drinking blood. This is an abomination and I will not suffer them to live."
"You're the boss," Scotty repeated.
III.
By two in the morning, they found themselves rolling along a country road with only residential buildings scattered every mile. Along a deserted stretch, Dr Kobal ordered Scotty to pull over. The sorcerer scrambled out of the back seat, clasping an ankle length cloak around his neck.
"Uh-oh, I know what that means. When you put your cape on, you're not going to the opera," Scotty observed, cranking down his window.
"Stand by!" Kobal flung his long arms wide and shot straight up into the air. In an instant, he could barely be seen in the starless overcast sky.
Scotty shook his head. Watching that ungainly form lift off so silently and so swiftly was a stunning sight. What really fascinated him, though, was how graceful Dr Kobal became in flight. You'd think that wide chunky body would be awkward, but no, Kobal could swoop and turn like an iceskater. Now the sorcerer plummeted down and landed as lightly on his feet as a ballet dancer.
"I have seen the nexus of infamy," the warlock growled. He stood beside the car, arms folded with the cloak pulled over his body to conceal him entirely. "A barn, of all things. A structure where more have walked in than have walked out."
"Well, THAT sounds ominous. What's the plan, chief?"
"Do not call me chief." He climbed into the back seat again. "I believe I must count on you for a diversion. Drive another mile, then turn right onto a dirt road which bears no sign..."
After rolling quietly down a deeply rutted dirt road with his headlights off, relying on barked instructions from Kobal with his night vision, Scotty sagged back in his seat when the sorcerer told him to stop.
"Make a three point turn. Careful. Good, now if we have to leave the scene with haste, it will be more expedient."
"Whatever the plan is, I bet I won't like it," Scotty groused.
Kobal seized his assistant by the shirt front, nearly lifting him off the ground, not necessarily to intimidate but simply as a sign of how often he forgot his strength. "Hear me. These are my words. The fields are fallow. No crops have been grown here for years. At the end of this road is a two story red farmhouse with its windows well lit. Across a path from that house is a barn in poor repair. That barn calls me. It cries in fear and despair."
"Pretty good for a barn. Most of 'em can't talk."
The Okali sorcerer released his aide and made what might have been a chuckle. "You banter to keep your courage up. Very well. You will knock on the door of that farmhouse. Ask to use their phone. Your car has broken down, and you headed down this side road hoping to find help."
"Aw, boss, what if they're devil worshippers or cannibals? Look at the screwballs we've already tangled with."
"I will join you very shortly. After I get a look at that barn. Go now!" Without waiting to see if his orders would be followed, Kobal flung his cape back and rose up to vanish into darkness.
"You're two tons of fun to work for." Scotty Lansdale muttered under his breath. He started trudging down the dried dirt road, his eyes adjusting to the gloom as he went. As he approached the farm house, he was surprised to see a gleaming black Jaguar E-type, a new 1961 model. Next to it was a shiny silver Cadillac Coupe De Ville. Scotty didn't realize he had stopped to stare at the luxury cars until the beam from a powerful flashlight dazzled him.
"I assume you can invent a good reason for being here?" purred a silky smooth woman's voice. A second flash came on, pinning him in the beams. Scotty could see nothing of the people holding those lights.
"Oh, hi! Sorry to intrude, maybe you can help me. See, my car stalled out up the main road. Idiot light came on. I got it going for a bit and started down here to see if maybe I could use your phone."
"He is a poor liar, Marius. Listen to his voice falter."
A second, more authoritative voice said, "My boy, at the moment you have my Parabellum aimed directly at your center point. Dear Camilla is not as accomplished a marksman as I am, but her Marlin 30-30 would hardly miss at this range."
"Whoa, settle down, let's get a grip. I'm not a burglar, I only wanted to ask to use your phone...."
"Spare us. Your arrival is most fortunate. Our herd is getting thinned out." The flashlight beam moved up and down the prisoner. "You seem young and healthy. Camilla, what do you think?"
"Heh, I see this as an unexpected windfall. Once we have him secured, perhaps Willets can tow his car back behind the willows." Her voice sounded very young to be so calmly discussing such matters.
The man called Marius turned his flash inwared to reveal the distinctive shape of a German Luger made so familiar in the war. "Observe? That insures you will not form any rash ideas about making a run for it. Walk toward the barn. Camilla and I will follow closely."
"Don't seem like I have much choice." Despite his attempts at bravado, Scotty was shaking with the cold certainty he was near to being killed. Where was Dr Kobal? When you really needed that spell-casting primate...
The wide double doors were of the barn stood open. As they approached, the glare from a naked bulb hanging over the doors revealed the captors to be two surprisingly good-looking people. A young man and woman evidently of college age, both blonde and trim and well-dressed in an upper class way. The man even wore Ivy League slacks with a buckle in the back.
Seeing the surprise on their captive's face, the woman laughed out. "Oh, honestly. If you could see yourself. I'm forty-two and Marius just turned fifty. What's our secret? Why, it's a protein-rich all-natural diet."
Glancing past her into the interior of the barn, Scotty felt like his heart missed a beat in horror.
IV.
Directly inside the doors was a sort of lounge area with three comfortable recliner chairs, a table holding a modern hi-fi record player and a rack of LP albums and a few ash trays. A waist-high refrigerator hummed. On a folding table were cocktail glasses, napkins, a bin of crushed ice. Although incongruous for the inside of a barn way out in the sticks, this was not what shook Scotty to his core.
Five corpses hung upside down from chains fastened around their ankles, chains which were looped around rafters high overhead. Stripped to the waist, arms hanging down limply, the dead men were positioned so that their heads were five feet off the sawdust-coated floor. Blood-soaked gauze bandages covered a small area of their necks. Beside the bodies were aluminum stands which held IV bags and clear plastic tubing.
White tape covered the mouths of the dead men. Their eyes were open and still pleading even after life had dripped away.
But even that was not the worst. As they stepped into the barn, a young woman stirred listlessly and raised their heads. Still a teenager, with long black hair matted and uncombed, she wore a loose pastel hospital gown which fastened in the back and which left arms and legs bare. The girl was fastened to a metal pole by handcuffs around an ankle, and both hands were tied behind her. Like the male corpses, the female victim could not make more than muffled sounds through the adhesive over eir mouth. Those brown eyes bulged out in panic, but the girl seemed far enough gone into hysteria as to not fully comprehend the situation any more.
A hot caustic sting at the back of his throat warned Scotty he was about to vomit. He had dropped his hands withoutr realizing it. Turning, he saw the woman named Camilla had stepped back away from him. She pointed the long barrel of the hunting rifle not at his chest or head but exactly at his right thigh. So he could be captured alive, he realized.
"Welcome to the festivities," laughed Marius. "I do hate it when our stock dwindles like this. Only one cow to milk, that will hardly do. You seem sturdy enough, I believe you can be bled for months with no trouble."
"Vampires....!" Scotty whispered.
"Oh, please. Do we look like the Undead? Silly. We are as alive and healthy as any one you might meet at the beach," Camilla replied. "No. Marius here read some of the poems of the later great Jean-Georges Bouchard and he caught some hints in THE SKULL BENEATH THE SKIN. The first week of drinking blood was not pleasant. High iron content, you know, causes some stomach distress. But our bodies adjusted to it."
"The grey hairs turned gold again, wrinkles smoothed out, aches and pains vanished," Marius said. He was holding his Luger with a two-handed grip steady as rock. "The Fountain of Youth is real, my friend, but it is not some mystic pool of water, it's the hot salty rivers that flow within your veins and arteries!"
"I take it back," Scotty said as he tried to get hold of his nerves. "The Undead are driven by primal instincts. They have no free will. You're actually lower than vampires because you know better."
"Stop, you'll hurt my feelings," Marius laughed. "There's room at that post for one more cattle. You may form a sort of bond with this young lady over the rest of your time on Earth. I'm sorry she doesn't look her best, heh heh."
A freezing gale blew through the barn, making everyone gasp at the unexpected chill. Marius and Camille swung around, forgetting all about Scotty. Horizontal to the ground, a flash of deep red flame sliced entirely through Camille's neck. The wound was cauterized by the intense heat. No blood or core flowed from that seared stump as the decapitated head hit the sawdust-covered floor and the body fell the opposite way.
"I foretold heads would roll this night," growled Dr Kobal.
Reacting a few seconds too late, Marius swung his arm out full-length and extended the Luger at this strange intruder. He screamed in agony as another burst of red force tore through his wrist to sever the gunhand neatly as if sawed through by a high-speed tool. Marius fell to his knees, clutching at the raw end of his wrist with his other hand.
His black cloak whipping wildly in the winds which only now ebbed, Dr Kobal strode forcefully into that barn. Completely covered by his garb, not even his deepset eyes could be seen from under the brim of the hat. "My magick is Darthan inspired, it is neither gentle or painless," he thundered. "Wretched fool, speak and buy yourself a few more seconds of life. Where are the others?"
"You!" gasped Marius, sagging to the ground as he weakened from the trauma. "Rumors are true. One of the Speaking Beasts of Okali, here in the world of Men. This is beyond belief."
"Your peril is worse than you realize," Kobal snorted. "I studied under Delatinor Kje! The spells which power the isle of Maroch are mine to blast you with. Where are the others in your coven?"
"Willet and Morrisey are waiting for us to begin the ceremony," Marius answered. "Do not slay me yet, I beg you. There is much I can tell you. Other cells of Sanguinarians exist in Florida, in Brazil. We are only one part of a movement."
"We shall see how long using your tongue can prolong your life," Dr Kobal said. He stamped his cudgel on the hard ground. "Scotty, see to the living victim."
After a few minutes of examination, Scotty stood up. "It doesn't look good. She's alive but I think she's gone into shock. Her mind has shut down. I doubt she even knows what's going on at this point. Maybe it's for the best."
Kobal drew his cloak around him. "A hard mercy. The best we can hope is that she may recover her senses in the hospital with no clear memory of this."
"I guess.. look out!"
Against all prudence, Marius had lunged to seize the fallen pistol with his remaining hand, rolling over onto his side. The single shot he loosed went nowhere near his enemy. Dr Kobal swung a gnarled hand in an outward circle, lashing out a crescent wave of red gralic force which tore through Marius and ripped him into halves at mid-chest.
"So much for getting information from that joker," scoffed Scotty.
"I refuse necromancy," Dr Kobal told him. "To make that head speak and answer questions is too vile even for my ah, flexible ethics."
"You're serious?! You could interrogate a corpse that's been cut into parts?"
"It has been done," Kobal replied. "But that is beyond a line I will not cross. Come, Scotty. There are still two members of this cult to account for. Then we must phone for an ambulance to help this child.. as far as she can be helped."
"Murders this gruesome, a young girl held captive, it's going to sell a lot of newspapers."
"Feh! You should know better than that, my boy. None of this will be in any paper. Nor will the six o'clock news mention a word of it. The FBI's Department 21 Black will seal this farm like a tomb and the placid masses of humanity will sleep better knowing nothing of these atrocities."
From outside the barn, a car door slammed and powerful motor roared into life. Dr Kobal swung around, took three quick steps and dove up into the air to sail out the open doors. Trying to act more calm and collected than he really was, Scotty Lansdale took out his handkerchief and picked up the Luger from where it had been dropped a second time. He found there was a round in the chamber, so he thumbed the safety back on. Holding the gun was reassuring. The late Marius lying there in the dust had claimed there were only two more members of this cult but how could anything he said be trusted? Maybe there were a dozen.
Red lightning cracked nearby, flaring up the night with its lurid glare. The sharp thunderclap echoed back and forth from the hills in the distance. Scotty imagined some homeowners in the area looking up at the sky and wondering if a storm was brewing. If they only knew.
The dark massive shape came plummeting down from darkness, alighting within reach of the barn door. "The final two Sanguinarians were in that car. They will do no more evil."
"You're not much for rehabilitation, are you?"
"Bah. Your insolence is a flimsy disguise over your fear, so I tolerate it. Walk back to the car, Scotty. I will use the phone in the house to call both the police and an ambulance. That suffering child in the barn will soon receive the care she needs."
"Wait a minute. Doctor, don't you know a spell to make her go to sleep? Let her wake up in a hospital bed when she's sedated and can take time for digest all this?"
Dr Kobal scoffed. "My magick is about retribution and destruction. She will be tended soon." Seeing the expression on Scotty's face, the Okali sorcerer softened his tone. "I did not learn a full range of techniques from the Dartha who tutored me. He wanted me as a bodyguard and fighter. I.. am sorry, Scotty."
"I know better than to question you, Doctor. Let's face it, you can be touchy. But you've been in our real world for a year now. I'm just saying, maybe you could expand your bag of tricks a little to include some healing spells, you know?"
With that, Scotty Lansdale took off at a brisk pace back down the dirt road to where he had left his car. Standing alone, Dr Kobal watched the retreating figure for a moment, then wheeled around and headed for the farm house. Life had been easier among the other Speaking Beasts. Humans always brought up difficult issues.
7/12/2020
2/23/1961
I.
Scotty Lansdale took a minute to examine the hotel room. It seemed acceptable. Two twin beds with a nightstand and a lamp between them. A twelve inch TV with rabbit ears on a dresser, two padded chairs and a writing desk in one corner with its own lamp and chair. There was a dial phone on the nightstand. The bathroom seemed clean enough, it had no odor he could detect but he still fretted. Kobal was touchy about smells.
Placing the suitcase and the cylindrical duffel bag at the foot of one bed, Scotty crossed over to the window and pulled the curtain aside. Under a crescent moon, the snoozy main street of Perkinston, Indiana was visible across the parking lot. In an emergency, he and Dr Kobal could easily escape through this window and get into their car. Well, Scotty would. Kobal was as likely to crash bodily out through the window in his impatience.
At twenty-seven, Scotty's manner seemed older because of what he had been through. The ugly unfair divorce which had cost him his house and half his income, then the loss of his job because of the rumors spread by his ex-wife. He had lived out of his car for eight months while doing short-term odd jobs for gas money and meager meals. The courts had eventually cut him loose from his burdens as he had been bled dry, but there had been little relief in that. Knowing that Andrea was living in the house he had renovated himself, living with the damn idler who had come between them... Let it go, he thought. Nothing he could do about it now.
This motel had seemed most suitable because it had a room at the far end of the L-shaped building, and the manager's office was barely within sight. Scotty went into the bathroom, scrubbed his hands and face with hot soapy water and resigned himself to what the next few minutes would bring. He brushed his thick black hair back with his fingers but it remained unruly.
Out in the parking lot, the bright red Chevy Impala sat waiting. It was three years old, with sixty thousand miles on it, but the important thing was that he had been able to pay cash for it. Leaving as little of a paper trail as possible was crucial. As Scotty walked toward the long car, its rear door opened and a massive dark shape emerged. The car visibly lifted up on its suspension as Kobal's four hundred pounds left it.
Not more than five feet eight but broader than normal men, Dr Kobal was as always completely bundled so nothing could be seen of his person. All in black, the long overcoat and flannel trousers and thick-soled brogans were not unusual garb in this chilly March wind. The black wool scarf covering Kobal's face, the wide-brimmed slouch hat and the leather gloves were unremarkable as well this time of year.
Of course, Kobal also dressed like that on the worst dog days of Summer.
Using a thick cudgel as a walking stick, still bent over, Dr Kobal strode to meet Scotty half way. "Good, good," rumbled a deep oddly-accented voice. "The key?"
Scotty handed over one of the two keys he had been given when he had registered. "The room seems okay," he ventured.
"Arrgh. Most of my life I slept under trees with my elbow for a pillow. Hurry. Tonight, the ancient winds of trouble blow. Heads will roll across the ground."
"You do have a way with words, maybe you should have been a poet." Scotty obligingly followed the hobbling figure across the parking lot. Whether Kobal's legs were unusually short or his arms abnormally long, his proportions were definitely amiss. The Okali sorcerer lumbered through the door and was making a chair creak under his weight as Scotty closed the door behind them.
"This will do," Kobal said after a cursory glance. "You carry out your functions well, Scotty."
"Oh sure. Driving that big old cruiser up and down every highway in the nation. Buying and cooking food wherever we go. Signing different names for everything while trying to remember which of my fake drivers' licenses I'm using. And that's not mentioning all the terror and the screaming and running for dear life from drooling monsters who want to rip me apart. It's a drag, man, a king-sized drag. Still, we haven't been caught yet."
The sorcerer tugged off his leather gloves to reveal gnarled, dark-skinned hands with talons rather than fingernails. "When I found you, you did not have enough fuel in your car to drive to the next gas station. You had not eaten in a day and a half, you had not bathed for longer. Now at least, you are comfortable."
"Yeah, I suppose that's true." Scotty admitted. "You know, I never asked where you got that big old wad of twenties and fifties you were holding. You didn't bring it here from your jungle."
"Spoils taken from a fallen enemy, nothing more. That Voodoo hungan had no more need for material goods."
Scotty plopped down on the edge of one of the beds and shrugged out of his sportcoat. He was wearing a plain white dress shirt and black slacks. "What's funny is that I never liked horror movies or science fiction stories. My folks said I had no imagination. Now I'm living in a permanent nightmare."
"Arrgh. Do not despair so. You are doing worthwhile work by helping me. Surely you can see why I would find it difficult to get by without an assistant like yourself." Kobal tossed the slouch hat aside and unwound the scarf to reveal the head of a Mountain Gorilla.
II.
In the subdued light of the motel room, the Okali sorcerer was a surreal sight. Dr Kobal had thick bristly black fur, dark tan skin and deepset green eyes under the brow ledge. He was not exactly identical to a true gorilla, since he lacked the sagittal crest and his chin was more pronounced. The Kobalim of Okali also had a different hip structure than true gorillas, allowing them to stand upright more easily, and their thumbs were long and dextrous as a Human's.
Even after months of traveling with the sorcerer, Scotty still stared. He tried to put a light tone into his voice, "You've drawn a few stares in public but to be honest, I think most people take you for an old man with bad arthritis."
The huge bullet head turned. When Kobal spoke, he was perfectly intelligible. He had been working on losing his weird Okali accent with its rising inflection at the end of each sentence. "Rest, Scotty. Sleep if you can. Tonight we hunt."
"Oh wonderful. What is it this time? Bigfoot? Leprechauns?"
"All that has come to me is a name I do not recognize. The Sanguinarians." Kobal bent with a grunt and unlaced his heavy shoes to let his long narrow feet breathe. "Arrgh, blessed relief. Soon I must have shoes handmade to fit me. These are torture."
"Good luck finding a shoemaker who won't lose his marbles when he sees those tootsies."
Rising with his cudgel in hand, the huge brute remained otherwise dressed. He went over and stretched out on the other bed carefully, having broken a few bedframes already in other rooms. "It is still early," he said. "The creatures of the night will not be out and about for hours yet." He turned over away from his assistant and sighed as he fell asleep.
"Creatures of the night like you..." Scotty muttered. "And I'm beginning to think, like me."
After a while, Kobal began that deep rasping which seemed to be his snore. Scotty Lansdale dug around his duffel bag from a fresh shirt, socks and underwater. Quietly as possible, he took a hasty shower in steaming hot water, toweled dry and emerged to find the sorcerer still asleep. Good. Dressed again except for his shoes, he checked that the door and window were locked, lay down on top of the covers and was soon deep in exhausted slumber himself.
After midnight, the sound of the toilet flushing rousted Scotty. He remembered a troubled dream, something about pulling a weight at the end of a rope while his grip kept weakening but the details faded quickly. From the bathroom came vigorous splashing and the thump of heavy footsteps. He knew better than to enter a bathroom after Kobal's use of it, the big brute's digestive system produced its own distinctive stench.
As Scotty blinked and stretched, he felt starved. The bathroom door crashed open, swung by a hand which knew little delicacy. Kobal was wearing the flannel trousers and a Navy blue pullover that Scotty had purchased for him at a shop for big and tall men. The sorcerer walked upright, leaning on the dresser as he passed it and Scotty figured once again that Kobal would have been happier if he simply dropped down to support himself on stiff arms with his knuckles on the floor.
"Hope you're hungry, chief," Scotty ventured.
"Call me 'doctor.' Yes, I am hungry. Absolutely."
"On the way in, we saw a diner a few miles out of town. I'd have to order a meal to go for you since you won't eat in public."
"Crowing into those booths is a struggle," Kobal admitted. "Closer, though, is that McDonalds a few blocks away. The fast food is mediocre at best, but I can allow it. If they are open, we might drive through."
"Sounds okay to me. I'm still surprised you're not a vegetarian, Doctor. I pictured you eating huge amounts of plants daily, lots of roughage."
Kobal grumbled deep in his mighty chest as he struggled to get his shoes on. "I am fully omnivorous, my boy. My people back home eat meat when they can, bird's eggs and lizards and fish mostly." He heaved up erect and started putting those long arms into the sleeves of his overcoat. "Ah, I can sense evil stirring in the night. There must be a reckoning. The voices of victims crying out to be avenged will be satisfied."
"When you get all poetic like that, I never know what to say," Scotty replied.
"Words should be better than silence." The sorcerer wrapped himself up again in his scarf and floppy hat. During the daytime, if there was a chance he might be seen at close range, he also carried dark sunglasses but he pocketed them for now.
They went out into the darkness. A wind chill near zero and a general lack of night life left the streets nearly deserted. They cruised for a few blocks in silence, then pulled into the drive-through lane of the McDonald's with its gaudy arches and a sign OVER ONE MILLION SERVED. While Scotty got the standard cheesburger, fries and Coke, the voice from the back seat ordered two fish sandwiches, two Big Macs and a coffee black with no cream or sugar. At the last second, Kobal added double onion rings as well.
They ate as they drove around, getting to know the layout of the town. Scotty was used to the ferocious noises from the back seat as if Kobal had killed a rabbit and was devouring it whole. It didn't bother him anymore. Sometimes he felt you could get used to anything in a roommate. How long would this arrangement go on, he wondered? Maybe he should start socking away a few dollars for a stake when he told this monster it was time to end their partnership. A few of their close calls had b been a little TOO close for comfort.
But did he really want to anger Kobal by leavinf? He had seen those paws snap open a padlock with no effort. "So, Doctor, where are the bad guys hanging out tonight?"
"I am not certain," rumbled the deep voice as a final wrapper was crumpled up. "Drive around at random. I will know when we are near."
"You're the boss. Look at that wild split level building, that's the new town library. So, anyway, why are these Sanguin-whatever-they-are interested in blood? Is it for the kicks?"
"No." A long pause followed. "Scotty, it is a fact that gralic magick can draw vitality from fresh Human blood. Vampires stay active for centuries by drinking it. Ghouls and Zombies function at a lesser level by consuming bodies which still have traces of blood in it."
"Makes my stomach turn, thinking about it."
"It is one of the Five Forbidden Art," Dr Kobal said. "Even living mystics can extend their lifespans and restore lost youth by drinking blood. This is an abomination and I will not suffer them to live."
"You're the boss," Scotty repeated.
III.
By two in the morning, they found themselves rolling along a country road with only residential buildings scattered every mile. Along a deserted stretch, Dr Kobal ordered Scotty to pull over. The sorcerer scrambled out of the back seat, clasping an ankle length cloak around his neck.
"Uh-oh, I know what that means. When you put your cape on, you're not going to the opera," Scotty observed, cranking down his window.
"Stand by!" Kobal flung his long arms wide and shot straight up into the air. In an instant, he could barely be seen in the starless overcast sky.
Scotty shook his head. Watching that ungainly form lift off so silently and so swiftly was a stunning sight. What really fascinated him, though, was how graceful Dr Kobal became in flight. You'd think that wide chunky body would be awkward, but no, Kobal could swoop and turn like an iceskater. Now the sorcerer plummeted down and landed as lightly on his feet as a ballet dancer.
"I have seen the nexus of infamy," the warlock growled. He stood beside the car, arms folded with the cloak pulled over his body to conceal him entirely. "A barn, of all things. A structure where more have walked in than have walked out."
"Well, THAT sounds ominous. What's the plan, chief?"
"Do not call me chief." He climbed into the back seat again. "I believe I must count on you for a diversion. Drive another mile, then turn right onto a dirt road which bears no sign..."
After rolling quietly down a deeply rutted dirt road with his headlights off, relying on barked instructions from Kobal with his night vision, Scotty sagged back in his seat when the sorcerer told him to stop.
"Make a three point turn. Careful. Good, now if we have to leave the scene with haste, it will be more expedient."
"Whatever the plan is, I bet I won't like it," Scotty groused.
Kobal seized his assistant by the shirt front, nearly lifting him off the ground, not necessarily to intimidate but simply as a sign of how often he forgot his strength. "Hear me. These are my words. The fields are fallow. No crops have been grown here for years. At the end of this road is a two story red farmhouse with its windows well lit. Across a path from that house is a barn in poor repair. That barn calls me. It cries in fear and despair."
"Pretty good for a barn. Most of 'em can't talk."
The Okali sorcerer released his aide and made what might have been a chuckle. "You banter to keep your courage up. Very well. You will knock on the door of that farmhouse. Ask to use their phone. Your car has broken down, and you headed down this side road hoping to find help."
"Aw, boss, what if they're devil worshippers or cannibals? Look at the screwballs we've already tangled with."
"I will join you very shortly. After I get a look at that barn. Go now!" Without waiting to see if his orders would be followed, Kobal flung his cape back and rose up to vanish into darkness.
"You're two tons of fun to work for." Scotty Lansdale muttered under his breath. He started trudging down the dried dirt road, his eyes adjusting to the gloom as he went. As he approached the farm house, he was surprised to see a gleaming black Jaguar E-type, a new 1961 model. Next to it was a shiny silver Cadillac Coupe De Ville. Scotty didn't realize he had stopped to stare at the luxury cars until the beam from a powerful flashlight dazzled him.
"I assume you can invent a good reason for being here?" purred a silky smooth woman's voice. A second flash came on, pinning him in the beams. Scotty could see nothing of the people holding those lights.
"Oh, hi! Sorry to intrude, maybe you can help me. See, my car stalled out up the main road. Idiot light came on. I got it going for a bit and started down here to see if maybe I could use your phone."
"He is a poor liar, Marius. Listen to his voice falter."
A second, more authoritative voice said, "My boy, at the moment you have my Parabellum aimed directly at your center point. Dear Camilla is not as accomplished a marksman as I am, but her Marlin 30-30 would hardly miss at this range."
"Whoa, settle down, let's get a grip. I'm not a burglar, I only wanted to ask to use your phone...."
"Spare us. Your arrival is most fortunate. Our herd is getting thinned out." The flashlight beam moved up and down the prisoner. "You seem young and healthy. Camilla, what do you think?"
"Heh, I see this as an unexpected windfall. Once we have him secured, perhaps Willets can tow his car back behind the willows." Her voice sounded very young to be so calmly discussing such matters.
The man called Marius turned his flash inwared to reveal the distinctive shape of a German Luger made so familiar in the war. "Observe? That insures you will not form any rash ideas about making a run for it. Walk toward the barn. Camilla and I will follow closely."
"Don't seem like I have much choice." Despite his attempts at bravado, Scotty was shaking with the cold certainty he was near to being killed. Where was Dr Kobal? When you really needed that spell-casting primate...
The wide double doors were of the barn stood open. As they approached, the glare from a naked bulb hanging over the doors revealed the captors to be two surprisingly good-looking people. A young man and woman evidently of college age, both blonde and trim and well-dressed in an upper class way. The man even wore Ivy League slacks with a buckle in the back.
Seeing the surprise on their captive's face, the woman laughed out. "Oh, honestly. If you could see yourself. I'm forty-two and Marius just turned fifty. What's our secret? Why, it's a protein-rich all-natural diet."
Glancing past her into the interior of the barn, Scotty felt like his heart missed a beat in horror.
IV.
Directly inside the doors was a sort of lounge area with three comfortable recliner chairs, a table holding a modern hi-fi record player and a rack of LP albums and a few ash trays. A waist-high refrigerator hummed. On a folding table were cocktail glasses, napkins, a bin of crushed ice. Although incongruous for the inside of a barn way out in the sticks, this was not what shook Scotty to his core.
Five corpses hung upside down from chains fastened around their ankles, chains which were looped around rafters high overhead. Stripped to the waist, arms hanging down limply, the dead men were positioned so that their heads were five feet off the sawdust-coated floor. Blood-soaked gauze bandages covered a small area of their necks. Beside the bodies were aluminum stands which held IV bags and clear plastic tubing.
White tape covered the mouths of the dead men. Their eyes were open and still pleading even after life had dripped away.
But even that was not the worst. As they stepped into the barn, a young woman stirred listlessly and raised their heads. Still a teenager, with long black hair matted and uncombed, she wore a loose pastel hospital gown which fastened in the back and which left arms and legs bare. The girl was fastened to a metal pole by handcuffs around an ankle, and both hands were tied behind her. Like the male corpses, the female victim could not make more than muffled sounds through the adhesive over eir mouth. Those brown eyes bulged out in panic, but the girl seemed far enough gone into hysteria as to not fully comprehend the situation any more.
A hot caustic sting at the back of his throat warned Scotty he was about to vomit. He had dropped his hands withoutr realizing it. Turning, he saw the woman named Camilla had stepped back away from him. She pointed the long barrel of the hunting rifle not at his chest or head but exactly at his right thigh. So he could be captured alive, he realized.
"Welcome to the festivities," laughed Marius. "I do hate it when our stock dwindles like this. Only one cow to milk, that will hardly do. You seem sturdy enough, I believe you can be bled for months with no trouble."
"Vampires....!" Scotty whispered.
"Oh, please. Do we look like the Undead? Silly. We are as alive and healthy as any one you might meet at the beach," Camilla replied. "No. Marius here read some of the poems of the later great Jean-Georges Bouchard and he caught some hints in THE SKULL BENEATH THE SKIN. The first week of drinking blood was not pleasant. High iron content, you know, causes some stomach distress. But our bodies adjusted to it."
"The grey hairs turned gold again, wrinkles smoothed out, aches and pains vanished," Marius said. He was holding his Luger with a two-handed grip steady as rock. "The Fountain of Youth is real, my friend, but it is not some mystic pool of water, it's the hot salty rivers that flow within your veins and arteries!"
"I take it back," Scotty said as he tried to get hold of his nerves. "The Undead are driven by primal instincts. They have no free will. You're actually lower than vampires because you know better."
"Stop, you'll hurt my feelings," Marius laughed. "There's room at that post for one more cattle. You may form a sort of bond with this young lady over the rest of your time on Earth. I'm sorry she doesn't look her best, heh heh."
A freezing gale blew through the barn, making everyone gasp at the unexpected chill. Marius and Camille swung around, forgetting all about Scotty. Horizontal to the ground, a flash of deep red flame sliced entirely through Camille's neck. The wound was cauterized by the intense heat. No blood or core flowed from that seared stump as the decapitated head hit the sawdust-covered floor and the body fell the opposite way.
"I foretold heads would roll this night," growled Dr Kobal.
Reacting a few seconds too late, Marius swung his arm out full-length and extended the Luger at this strange intruder. He screamed in agony as another burst of red force tore through his wrist to sever the gunhand neatly as if sawed through by a high-speed tool. Marius fell to his knees, clutching at the raw end of his wrist with his other hand.
His black cloak whipping wildly in the winds which only now ebbed, Dr Kobal strode forcefully into that barn. Completely covered by his garb, not even his deepset eyes could be seen from under the brim of the hat. "My magick is Darthan inspired, it is neither gentle or painless," he thundered. "Wretched fool, speak and buy yourself a few more seconds of life. Where are the others?"
"You!" gasped Marius, sagging to the ground as he weakened from the trauma. "Rumors are true. One of the Speaking Beasts of Okali, here in the world of Men. This is beyond belief."
"Your peril is worse than you realize," Kobal snorted. "I studied under Delatinor Kje! The spells which power the isle of Maroch are mine to blast you with. Where are the others in your coven?"
"Willet and Morrisey are waiting for us to begin the ceremony," Marius answered. "Do not slay me yet, I beg you. There is much I can tell you. Other cells of Sanguinarians exist in Florida, in Brazil. We are only one part of a movement."
"We shall see how long using your tongue can prolong your life," Dr Kobal said. He stamped his cudgel on the hard ground. "Scotty, see to the living victim."
After a few minutes of examination, Scotty stood up. "It doesn't look good. She's alive but I think she's gone into shock. Her mind has shut down. I doubt she even knows what's going on at this point. Maybe it's for the best."
Kobal drew his cloak around him. "A hard mercy. The best we can hope is that she may recover her senses in the hospital with no clear memory of this."
"I guess.. look out!"
Against all prudence, Marius had lunged to seize the fallen pistol with his remaining hand, rolling over onto his side. The single shot he loosed went nowhere near his enemy. Dr Kobal swung a gnarled hand in an outward circle, lashing out a crescent wave of red gralic force which tore through Marius and ripped him into halves at mid-chest.
"So much for getting information from that joker," scoffed Scotty.
"I refuse necromancy," Dr Kobal told him. "To make that head speak and answer questions is too vile even for my ah, flexible ethics."
"You're serious?! You could interrogate a corpse that's been cut into parts?"
"It has been done," Kobal replied. "But that is beyond a line I will not cross. Come, Scotty. There are still two members of this cult to account for. Then we must phone for an ambulance to help this child.. as far as she can be helped."
"Murders this gruesome, a young girl held captive, it's going to sell a lot of newspapers."
"Feh! You should know better than that, my boy. None of this will be in any paper. Nor will the six o'clock news mention a word of it. The FBI's Department 21 Black will seal this farm like a tomb and the placid masses of humanity will sleep better knowing nothing of these atrocities."
From outside the barn, a car door slammed and powerful motor roared into life. Dr Kobal swung around, took three quick steps and dove up into the air to sail out the open doors. Trying to act more calm and collected than he really was, Scotty Lansdale took out his handkerchief and picked up the Luger from where it had been dropped a second time. He found there was a round in the chamber, so he thumbed the safety back on. Holding the gun was reassuring. The late Marius lying there in the dust had claimed there were only two more members of this cult but how could anything he said be trusted? Maybe there were a dozen.
Red lightning cracked nearby, flaring up the night with its lurid glare. The sharp thunderclap echoed back and forth from the hills in the distance. Scotty imagined some homeowners in the area looking up at the sky and wondering if a storm was brewing. If they only knew.
The dark massive shape came plummeting down from darkness, alighting within reach of the barn door. "The final two Sanguinarians were in that car. They will do no more evil."
"You're not much for rehabilitation, are you?"
"Bah. Your insolence is a flimsy disguise over your fear, so I tolerate it. Walk back to the car, Scotty. I will use the phone in the house to call both the police and an ambulance. That suffering child in the barn will soon receive the care she needs."
"Wait a minute. Doctor, don't you know a spell to make her go to sleep? Let her wake up in a hospital bed when she's sedated and can take time for digest all this?"
Dr Kobal scoffed. "My magick is about retribution and destruction. She will be tended soon." Seeing the expression on Scotty's face, the Okali sorcerer softened his tone. "I did not learn a full range of techniques from the Dartha who tutored me. He wanted me as a bodyguard and fighter. I.. am sorry, Scotty."
"I know better than to question you, Doctor. Let's face it, you can be touchy. But you've been in our real world for a year now. I'm just saying, maybe you could expand your bag of tricks a little to include some healing spells, you know?"
With that, Scotty Lansdale took off at a brisk pace back down the dirt road to where he had left his car. Standing alone, Dr Kobal watched the retreating figure for a moment, then wheeled around and headed for the farm house. Life had been easier among the other Speaking Beasts. Humans always brought up difficult issues.
7/12/2020