Special Circumstances - 19. Assault Team

Letting the minutes go by was nerve wrecking. I was alternating between senseless pacing and leaning against a wall waiting while the minister was staring into the distance.

As my phone indicated twenty minutes had passed, I couldn’t hold back any longer. “We can’t just wait here.”

Morris-Walker was annoyed at my interruption. “Yes, Jamie, we can. We have nothing to fear from them. They are under the barrier. Feel free to check the rest of the ruin.”

The minister resumed his thinking pose, staring at the hovering stone. There wasn’t any point in arguing with him. I did as he suggested and checked the rest of this level. It was decayed and vandals clearly had some fun here, but I was able to verify we were indeed alone and the floor plan we had was still accurate.

There was a set of stairs on the other side of the hall which lead down to the ground floor. I took them and found the ground floor at that side of the plant was equally covered in debris. Knowing what I was looking for, it wasn’t possible to get to the centre from here either. Nevertheless, I checked that part of the ground floor too. The feeling of despair intensified even though I’d known what to expect when I approached. I left the area behind and climbed the stairs.

Returning to the minister, I found him still staring into the distance. When I approached, he lifted a hand, making clear he didn’t want to be interrupted. I sighed and turned away. Dressed up for a frontal assault, I felt dumb standing in the middle of this ruin. How did I get into this situation in the first place?

Cursing the day I met Morris-Walker and his ghosts for the first time, I leaned against a wall which didn’t seem close to collapse and waited for a reaction from the minister. To stave off my hunger later, I let the flow of energy into my eyes ebb away, leaving me with normal vision. I only had one energy bar with me, and it was in the car. Who would have thought the minister would engage in mental exercises tonight? Now, I could only see what lay within the cone of light created by my weapon’s torch.

Time crawled. I resisted the urge to turn on my phone’s data connection to browse. This situation reminded me of a duty I’d had, guarding a murder scene in a factory. The phone signal had been dreadfully bad making the phone useless as a source of entertainment. So, I stood there, thinking about my open cases and the next steps I would take on each of them.

Here, I couldn’t even think about work!

When I looked around the same dreary scene for the how-ever-many-ieth time, I had an idea. If the ritualists were hiding under that barrier of theirs on the ground floor, beneath them was the level with the piping for the compressed air. Maybe, we could get at them from underneath.

I just couldn’t stand here being idle. Pulling up the floor plan in my mind, I found the small staircase leading down. Taking up the machine pistol into combat stance, I carefully descended the stairs.

There was no exit at the factory’s ground floor level. This staircase led directly into the underground level. The air grew colder with every step into the bowels of the earth. Finally, the stairs ended in a dark, small, and damp corridor. I could just about stand upright. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, everything was made of red brick. While there was some detritus on the floor, this was the cleanest part of the ruin so far.

I enhanced my vision. Then, I saw a lone, naked man blocking the corridor about ten meters ahead of me. In contrast to the other manifested ghosts which had been large, this creature stood in the corridor just fine. It didn’t move, standing unnaturally still, not reacting to my presence at all.

I took a step forward. Still no reaction from the manifested spiritual entity. I advanced step by step, weapon at the ready. Suddenly, the HK was pushed into my shoulder. I’d hit the invisible barrier. There still was no reaction from the guard.

Curious, I stretched out my left hand, touching the barrier. It was bizarre as my hand met the resistance of a wall which wasn’t there.

I stepped backwards carefully. As the guard hadn’t reacted at all, I wondered whether it perceived me being on the other side of the barrier. Covering my retreat, I hastened upstairs as quickly as I dared.

When I arrived, the minister was standing on the loading bay for the missing converter staring down at the ground floor. Did he think he could will the barrier away?

“Minister?”

He shuddered, because he hadn’t noticed me approaching. “What, Jamie?”

“I think I found an entrance, sir. There’s a manifested entity guarding a corridor.”

He spun around. “Where?”

“At the entrance to the underground level.”

Morris-Walker came over to me. “Jamie, you have again proven your usefulness. Lead on.”

Ignoring the ubiquitous insult, I led him down the long staircase. Getting from the loading level to the basement was the equivalent of about four flights of stairs. Reaching the bottom, I checked the guard was still there, unmoving. Only then did I signal the minister to step down into the corridor. Holding his own pistol torch in front of him, he approached.

As soon as he set both feet onto the floor, I was suddenly grabbed by the ankles. Looking down to check what held me, I missed the attack from the above. It was as if the walls, floor, and ceiling had come to life. Brick arms grabbed at me from three directions, and I couldn’t move to evade them!

Without any other option, I fired at the arms coming out of the wall to my left. Only my fear kept me from reacting to the sudden sound of automatic gunfire in the confined space. The bullets shattered the fragile bricks. I ducked low and fired at the arms trying to grab me from above. Finally, I took careful aim and freed my feet.

I turned to check on the minister. He was in the process of being dragged into the wall with brick arms holding him on all extremities, the head, and also at the torso. I couldn’t fire at this without hitting him!

Glad for my tool set, I took out a hammer and started bludgeoning at the arms. To my surprise, I had an effect! The first brick arm shattered under my blows. Morris-Walker took a deep breath. I continued with the arms holding his torso, then his legs and finally his arms.

I didn’t know how long it took to free him. At that moment, I thought hours passed with me hammering and hammering. When I shattered the last of the brick arms, Morris-Walker staggered from the wall and collapsed onto his knees. I took a step back, checking the corridor for more brick assailants. As I couldn’t find any, I knelt next to him.

He panted. “Thank you, Jamie.”

“That was scary.”

He looked at me. “Scarier than the green horde?”

I tried humour. “Absolutely. I won’t ever again go down a brick corridor without thinking that arms will grow to grab me.”

He snickered. “Yes.”

“In earnest, what was that?”

“Just another form of manifested ghost, Jamie. However, an ingenious trap. That was another assassination attempt.”

“Yes, sir. One could think the ritualists had something against you personally.”

“It does appear so, Jamie. It is me who is disrupting their machinations, and that is why they are targeting me.”

I looked down the corridor. “The guard hasn’t moved.”

“Good. Let me check out the barrier down here.”

I got up and held out my hand. He scrutinized me. I nodded. He grabbed my hand, and I pulled him up. He was shaky on his legs, but he didn’t dare touch the wall to steady himself.

“Are you okay, Minister?”

“Yes, Jamie. I am fine. Just a bit shaken.”

I thought I saw him grimacing when he took a step towards the barrier. I replaced the magazine in the HK and aimed at the guard. I didn’t know what would happen when Morris-Walker was doing whatever he was doing. However, I shouldn’t have bothered. It didn’t react when Morris-Walker touched the barrier.

“I need to investigate this in a bit more in detail. It is different from above ground.”

“Be my guest,” I muttered.

Morris-Walker had been at it for a quarter of an hour. The HK became heavy in my arms, still standing ready in case the manifested entity decided to suddenly move. It was far too close for comfort, barrier or no. I didn’t know whether this was a bidirectional barrier. Maybe the ghost could leave the warded area freely if it so chose … or if it were commanded to do so.

A quick glance at my watch showed it was quarter to midnight. “Minister, what’s taking so long?”

He removed his hand from the barrier and exhaled loudly before he turned to me. “I think I can open it, Jamie.”

“Good, what are you waiting for?”

“I can only disrupt its manifestation for a couple of seconds.”

I looked at him. He wasn’t suggesting what I thought he was suggesting, was he?

“Long enough to let you slip in. Just you,” he finished.

I relaxed my stance and turned to him. “So, that’s it?”

“Yes, Jamie.” Morris-Walker sighed. “It all comes down to you now.”

I glanced at the the manifested ghost blocking the corridor. I secured the machine pistol and pulled out my combat knife.

I gave him a grin. “Of course, Minister. Morituri te salutant.”

Morris-Walker’s soft chuckling stopped me from turning to face the ghost.

“Oh dear, Jamie,” he said in this detestable upper class accent. “You are funny. Morituri is the future form of the participle, active, of the verb mori i.e. the active, future, nominative, plural. Salutant the plural conjugation of the verb to salute. You are only one, so the correct singular form and conjugation would be Moriturus te salutat.”

How much I hated the geezer’s guts. “Thank you, Minister. I’m sure you have been waiting all your sheltered life to finally find a use for your exhaustive knowledge of a dead language.”

He still smiled. “I am sorry, Jamie. You just brought some memories to my mind.”

I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. “Did you just apologise to me?”

He appeared puzzled. “I did, did I not?”

“It must indeed be the end.” I faced down the corridor.

I gripped my radio and pressed the transmit button thrice. Then, I got ready to sprint through the open barrier once Morris-Walker gave me the signal. “Do it.”

Concentrating on the fight ahead of me, I didn’t check on what Morris-Walker was doing. I pumped energy into my muscles. As I didn’t have any point of reference, I couldn’t tell everything was slowing down around me.

The wait was agonizing. Then there was a flicker of light. The barrier’s surface – like rippling water - was visible only for a moment, and then it disappeared. I took this as the sign and started running. If I’d interpreted this wrong, I may have sprinted into a solid wall.

I wasn’t wrong. I ran past the spot where I’d been stopped earlier and closed the distance to the lone guard quickly. To my horror, it started moving. The bastard was as fast as I was! In my mind, this began to take the form of an elaborate trap.

Anyway, I was too busy to contemplate the thought any further. We collided. I hit it with a forceful kick which should’ve sent it reeling, but instead it hit me with its fists. Without the additional armour I was wearing, I would’ve been bruised and sport broken arms. This time, it didn’t try to grab my throat. It wanted me pummeled.

Using the knife to defend myself, I landed some cuts on its arm and chest, but it was oblivious to pain. No blood flowed from the cuts which were clearly visible. My actions didn’t seem to matter at all.

My combat stance was crouched, so the height of the corridor wasn’t an immediate issue. The distance to the barrier was, though. The guard slowly but surely drove me back with its flailing fists, reducing my room to maneuver. If I didn’t do something soon, I would test whether the barrier was bidirectional by being pushed into it.

Pure luck rescued me. The creature stepped towards me with its left arm raised. This presented an opportunity as I was unexpectedly too far inside its fighting arc for it to prevent me thrusting my knife into its throat.

I didn’t have any time to prepare myself. I had my knife deep in the guard’s neck when there was the sudden flash of light resulting from its involuntary return to its home reality. I was temporarily blinded.

Panting heavily from the exhaustion, I slowed down to assess the situation. Apart from the bruises on my body, no trace remained of the manifested spiritual entity that had guarded this spot.

As my adrenaline levels diminished, I became aware of that annoying feeling of hunger. I felt pain from my left torso and right upper arm. Gosh, these assholes carried a punch. I also became aware of something else. The power here was almost tangible. Although I wasn’t impaired in any way, every movement felt as if I was under water.

In front of me, the corridor ended in a T-junction with a modern fire protection steel door to the right and one to the left. While I didn’t hear any movement, I heard my radio beep its warning signal for a severed connection.

I looked back the way I’d come where Morris-Walker was still standing stretching out his hand, probably touching the barrier. I lifted a hand, and he lifted his free one in response. I stepped up to him. He said something, but the sound didn't penetrate the barrier. I tapped against my ear and then typed a message on my phone, ‘Going to explore. I will report back here.’ I held out my arm for him to read. He looked at my phone and nodded his understanding.

I sheathed the combat knife and readied the HK. While I could see in the dark, I still needed at least a trace of light for that to work. Carefully and as silent as I could manage, I approached the T-junction.

In a police tactical operation there would’ve been enough officers with me that two sufficiently big groups could enter the two areas simultaneously. We’d always been told that lone officers should retreat and reconnect with their unit. That wasn’t an option here. I was alone.

A rule from computer games came to my mind, ‘In a dungeon, always go right.’ After a quick glance at the door on the left and hoping nobody would come at me from behind, I turned to the door on my right.

I tried the handle. The door opened easily towards me. The corridor behind was lit. Someone had installed LED lights along the arched brick ceiling. How convenient.

“’Come into my parlour,’ said the spider to the fly,” I whispered to myself and stepped forward.

There were four recesses going off from the lit corridor, two sets opposite each other. The first set was about five meters ahead. The second was about ten meters farther. I advanced. Straining to hear, there was no sound beyond my radio indicating it had no connection every thirty seconds.

When approaching, I could see there were no doors but curtains covering the entrances to the rooms behind. The curtains were open, and both rooms were lit by the same custom lighting system. I glanced into the room to my right. There were some tables. And a fridge? It seemed like a kitchen, but nobody was there.

In the room to my left were five identical one-person tents pitched. In the middle of the small indoor camp was an electric heater. Indoor bonfire? How romantic. I wanted to ensure the tents were empty and approached the campsite. Each tent was open and indeed vacant. I moved on as searching them for identifying personal effects could wait. Stopping the ritual was more important.

I returned to the corridor and approached the next recesses. Instead of curtains, simple wooden doors closed them. These were clearly a recent and makeshift installation. I opened the one to the right. It swung into the dark room. A quick sweep with the weapon’s torch didn’t show anything of interest. Apart from debris, it was deserted. I shrugged and turned to the room behind me.

Carefully opening the door, I found a well lit bathroom. There was a port-a-loo to the left and a plastic shower to the right. Well, even ritual murderers had bodily functions. Having a shower in the cold cellar was probably not pleasant. I wondered how they’d transported these things down here through the narrow staircase.

Relieved this area was clear of manifested ghosts and similar otherworldly surprises, I hastened back the way I’d come. On my arm, my phone vibrated. One of the alarms which I’d programmed had sounded. It was now half an hour until the expected conclusion of the ritual.

Morris-Walker was still at his place in front of the barrier. I typed a message, ‘Only half an hour left. To the right is their camp. Empty. Going left now.’ The minister nodded his understanding. He said something. From the movement of his lips, I discerned he wished me good luck. I grimaced and turned back towards the T-junction where I approached the door to the left.

Resuming a tactical stance, I opened the door. I was hit by a wall of stench and involuntarily moved my head. The smell of decay and feces was vile. On the positive side, the corridor behind was lit. In the distance, I could hear something. Faint … chanting? A shudder ran down my spine as I stepped through the entrance.

This corridor was much less clean than the campsite. There were signs of recent activity, footprints in the dirt and a discarded cigarette butt. I saw spots which might’ve been dried blood. It was much colder here than in the camp area. There were four recesses in this area as well.

Relieving my poor nose, I tried breathing through my mouth. Bad mistake! Now, I had a foul taste in my mouth. I had to spit it out.

My instincts told me I wasn’t alone. I took a couple of steps into the corridor. Suddenly, there was a noise - a soft scuffling sound, like someone trying to move silently. I tried being even quieter, while approaching the first set of recesses.

The stench became more intensive. It emanated from the room to my left, like the muffling noises. Surprise was my friend. I turned around the corner quickly.

The room was unlit. A small figure stood in the light of my weapon’s torch, just a couple of meters from me. The laser dot was clearly visible on the child’s chest. The boy wore nothing more than a dirty nightgown. He shied away from the light, lifting an arm to shield his eyes. In the other hand, he held something.

To my horror, I recognised what he held was a forearm. Shocked, I stared at the appendage. It had obviously been torn off and was covered in bite marks. Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure anymore that this small creature in front of me was a child at all.

A hateful hissing sound escaped its mouth as it reeled under my torch. I nearly missed it lowering its arm. No, it wasn’t human. It had elongated ears, and the mouth seemed to stretch over the whole front of the round skull. My aim hadn’t wavered at all. The red dot indicated clearly where the bullets would fly. I pulled the trigger for a short burst. The projectiles perforated the small torso. With a flash of light, the nightmarish creature was gone.

Immediately, most of the stench was gone from the room too. I looked around. In addition to the remnants of the forearm, the floor was littered with body parts. At first glance, all of them showed signs of having been gnawed. I counted four skulls, but a more thorough search of the room would have to wait. The gunshots had most certainly been heard. I was running out of time.

The corridor was empty. The room in front of me was lit. I saw a wooden staircase leading up through the partially collapsed ceiling. Like the other interior items I’d encountered so far, the construction was new and hand-made. The floor was littered with debris, apart from a path leading to the stairs. This was too easy.

As I stepped into the room, I expected a trap. Yet, nothing happened. No creature jumped up from among the debris, and nothing was thrown at me. However, dried blood was visible in patches. My heart pounding, I reached the bottom of the wooden stairs. Now, I was able to hear the chanting clearly, a deep, sonorous sound.

I climbed the stairs. The scene in front of me was out of a fantasy computer game. The area here was free of debris and detritus, clean even. In the centre, the ritualists stood in a circle. They wore black robes with the hoods up, masking their faces. In the middle of the group, was a person shackled on a concrete block.

We were under the barrier. I could see the upper level of the ruin where the minister and I had stood. The old factory’s roof was high above us. There were garden lamps erected all around, illuminating the eerie scene well.

Time to end this horror. “Armed Police! Get on the ground and don’t move!”

There was no reaction from the five men, nor from the assigned victim for that matter. They continued chanting unfazed.

“Armed Police! On the ground now!”

I was used to a lot, but not to being ignored. I stepped up, weapon ready. They completely ignored me. I checked for potential guards, but there weren’t any. Coming up closer, I saw the bloke who stood at the head of the prone victim held a knife.

“Oi! Drop that knife now!”

Again, my command was ignored. The knife gave me a reason. I aimed at the man’s lower leg and fired a shot. The bullet ricocheted off. For a brief secund, he was covered in a flickering light.

Another fucking barrier. “You gotta be kidding me!”

I secured my useless machine pistol and drew my telescopic baton. It had helped before, so why not now? I approached the bloke with the knife and took a swing at the hand holding it. The impact was hard, but for me, not for him. He didn’t even flinch.

Frustrated, I put the baton away. I walked behind him and grabbed him from behind, trying to topple him. I may as well have hugged a tree. My maneuver had the same effect as my attempts before, that being, none whatsoever.

“For fucks sake!” I exclaimed and gave the man a kick to no avail.

I tried the same on the other four ritualists. Because they stood farther from the block with the victim, I was able to circle them. I even tried putting my fist right into their faces. If they were able to see me, they should at least flinch. Everyone flinched when they thought were about to be punched. It was a natural defense mechanism. But they didn’t react.

I could only stand there and rub my bruised hand.

“Jamie! What are you doing?” Morris-Walker’s voice came from behind me.

“What?” Surprised, I turned towards the makeshift stairs. “How?”

“I was able to disable the barrier.” He appeared as if he’d run a marathon, sweaty and exhausted.

“Well, it’s of no use, Minister. They have personal barriers as well.” I kicked one of the cultists. ”Could also be made of stone.”

“Damnation!”

He glanced around, found a suitably big piece of debris and sat down.

I walked over to him. “Are you okay, Minister?”

“I am exhausted, Jamie. That barrier was a feat.” He yawned.

“What do we do now, sir?”

He gazed at the mustered ritualists performing their work, chanting unabated. “They must under no circumstances complete the ritual. Try freeing the victim.”

I wanted to slap myself. Why hadn’t I thought of that?

I ran the short distance to the concrete block. Only now did I take the time to check the victim, a young woman about my age.

“They shackled her well, Minister. She’s strapped to the concrete block on her upper and lower extremities, her throat and her torso. She couldn’t move even if she was conscious.”

I leaned closer.

Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, and she screamed. I involuntarily took a step back.

I tried soothing her. “Hey, keep calm. Police. We’re here to help you.”

An odd screech escaped her mouth. Suddenly, there was silence and she closed her eyes. I knew she had to be frightened and afraid but right now, I had to ignore her in order to help.

I returned to Morris-Walker. “No way of getting her out of those shackles. Unless we cut her ourselves.”

My phone vibrated the last alarm. “Fifteen minutes, Minister.”

The minutes were counting down, and he was still sitting there. The place was so full of power, it became oppressive. I had difficulties breathing.

The chanting was changing. It became more frantic. I had to do something! This was highly unethical, but if I were to connect the taser to the victim, I would potentially be able to shock the ritualist when he was cutting her with his knife. I took out the Taser, unrolled some wire, and started working.

“What are you doing, Jamie?” Morris-Walker said from the right of me.

“Trying to shock the murderer when he cuts her.”

His chuckles weren’t audible over the blokes’ chanting. I saw him shaking his head, though.

“Any better idea?” I hoped the sarcasm I felt came across.

“Yes, and you will not like it.”

I turned to face him and glared. What brilliant idea had he cooked up now?

“We must kill the victim before he does. No sacrifice, no power for him to harness, no ritual.”

I must’ve misunderstood. “Are you kidding me?”

Morris-Walker shook his head and sought my eyes. “No, Jamie, I am not. It is the only way.”

“Let me rephrase my previous question, Minister. Are you nuts?”

He shook his head. “Unfortunately not.”

“You are serious.” The gravity of his request sank in.

He nodded.

I needed to speak loudly over the chanting. “Minister, aggravated burglary maybe, but murder?”

“Look around you, boy!” He shouted. “Is this normal to you? Do you really think sitting in court on a murder charge is of any consequence here right now?”

I was speechless. I first glanced at the helpless woman shackled to the concrete block, then at the minister.

He lifted his pistol. “I can do it.”

“No, you won’t!” I couldn’t believe this!

“Jamie, step aside!”

“The hell I will.” I put my hand on my pistol, ready to draw. “Don’t make me!”

He didn’t point at me but at the woman on the block. The air was dusty, the laser beam emanating from his weapon was visible. I drew my pistol slowly.

The ritual was coming to a close. Even I was able to see that. They had all raised their hands, the leader lifting his knife over the head of the woman.

“It must be done, Jamie!”

I turned to the side and lifted my pistol.

The ritual leader was lowering the knife.

The shot rang loudly in my ears.