Special Circumstances - 15. The Paranormal Hits Home

I followed the usual routine on Friday and arrived at the Home Office building in good time to chat with Melanie. Although I’d gotten detailed updates from both Melanie and Nam, and they’d met again since, this was the first time I saw one of them in person since the blind date.

I knocked at the office’s door, and Melanie asked to enter. I opened the door and only stuck my head into the office. “Safe to enter? You aren’t going to throw anything at me?”

She laughed. “Come in, you.”

I closed the door behind me and went to her desk. “So, everything went okay.”

She leaned back in her chair to look at me. “Yes, it did. He’s a really nice guy.”

“But?”

“No but! We’re meeting again tonight.”

“Oh, dear. I think we need to have the talk then.” I winked at her.

She blushed. “Jamie!”

I laughed. “Not the bees and flowers talk. I might be a couple of years too late for that.”

“Jamie! You outrageous, little…”

I held my hands up in defeat. “Sorry! Sorry! I do have a message nonetheless.”

“And why should I listen to you?” She asked in mock indifference.

I turned serious. “Because also police officers have a heart. Often hidden underneath layers of cynicism, sarcasm, and apparent indifference, but we do. The nature of our jobs requires those close to us to know some handle-with-care instructions.”

Melanie was surprised. “What do you mean?”

I explained about my own experiences, and we discussed potential relationship issues. The discussion was honest and frank, and we didn’t notice time passing. Melanie’s alarm went off at five indicating for her to make a move to be on time for her date with Nam. Melanie left while I stayed in the empty office. Today, Morris-Walker was late. Uncharacteristically late. I watched a film on the phone, waiting for the minister’s arrival slouching in a visitor’s chair.

When the minister did arrive around half past seven, he was fuming. I’d never seen him like this before. He stormed in, ignored me, and slammed the door to his private office hard.

About ten minutes later, he emerged, a changed man. “Good evening, Jamie.”

I decided to start with a clean slate. “Good evening, Minister.”

We left the office, and I locked the door with my card and code. While Morris-Walker appeared calm, he was uncharacteristically quiet. I decided staying silent was my best option. I liked to be left alone when I'm angry, so why should I impose myself on the minister?

We got into his car, and I drove out of London. The three hours drive to the minister’s home was long and quiet. He neither called anybody nor did he seek small talk. He also didn't ask for the radio. Usually, I didn’t need any useless noise around me to feel comfortable, but the silence in the car was oppressive.

As usual, I’d connected my private phone to the car’s infotainment system. It was more of a habit now, I didn’t need the navigation to the minister’s home anymore. Against all protocol, I started a random playlist. The system’s algorithm had chosen Metal.

The first song came to an end, and Morris-Walker asked, “What was that?”

“Sabaton, ‘Night Witches’.” I doubted that told him anything.

“Do you have anything more angry?”

I was surprised because I didn’t think of him as a Metal fan. So, I chose what I thought to be a good compromise. “Powerwolf, ‘Armata Strigoi’.”

As he didn’t complain, I let the phone continue playing. When we arrived at his Tudor mansion, we followed the usual routine and parked the car in the garage.

Although we arrived late, the Turners had adjusted and prepared everything. We both had dinner. I ate with the Turners downstairs while Morris-Walker was eating on his own in the dining hall. While for them this arrangement was perfectly normal, I found the distance odd.

The Sergeant wasn't available this weekend. While I liked the knife fighting training, I had to admit quietly training knife throwing was nothing I strongly objected to. I did a last check of the grounds and the house and exercised with the knife before retiring to my room.

The mansion’s burglary alarm sounded and woke me. Waking from deep sleep was never easy. It took me a moment to realise where I was. I jumped out of the bed. The electronic alarm drowned the usual creaking of the floor boards. Grabbing my utility belt, I fastened it over my tracksuit bottoms, the only clothes I wore to sleep. I retrieved my weapons from behind the bed. Checking and readying them, I placed Taser and pistol in their holsters on the belt and slang the machine pistol on its straps over my right shoulder. Finally, I took the combat knife from the desk and attached it to my belt.

I’d tried and listened to the different alarm sector sounds over the last couple of weeks. While that had annoyed the inhabitants, especially the minister who had chided me for the infernal noise, it did pay off now. This alarm indicated to me a breach in the main wing’s ground floor. Main entrance. How bold.

I considered donning my ballistic vest and boots, but I had a really bad feeling about this. All my instincts told me I didn't have any time to spare. I’d taken far too long retrieving my stuff. I ran out of my room barefoot and with a naked torso but loaded with weapons.

The house was dark except for the small, undulating, red lights of the alarm system. I looked down the corridor leading down this wing. The alarm lighting reminded me of a Star Trek episode I had once seen, but the Tudor house’s interior just didn’t quite fit the scene. It was strange what thoughts I came up with in crisis situations.

I hastened to the stairs in the main wing. These came from the ground floor ending on the first floor in a T-junction. To the right was the wing where my room was located. To the left was the private wing for the minister.

Someone was destroying something downstairs. Wood and glass were breaking. My previous diligence in checking everything about the house came in handy now. Knowing there was a light switch in a small cupboard hidden in the paneling, I turned on the lights.

A normal burglar would flee now. However, the sounds didn't abate. On the contrary, it seemed to me as if they increased. I readied the machine pistol and moved carefully to the stairs to look down to the ground floor. From the outside, someone was in the process of smashing the main entrance door.

I saw movement to my right. Risking a glance, I saw the minister who was in his blue, silken pajamas and carrying a pistol. He gave me a nod.

I knelt at the top of the stairs on one knee, aimed the HK, and shouted, “Armed Police! Stand and be identified!”

It might have been my imagination, but the arms flailing at the main door had claws. What tricks the mind can play. I blinked it away.

The door finally gave in with a loud crash. Then there was a sudden silence which was only broken by the burglary alarm. A nightmarish creature stepped over the remnants of the door into the entrance hall.

I didn't know how to properly describe it. It was easily two and half meters tall. Somehow, it resembled the offspring resulting from a wild mating between a sumo wrestler and a T-Rex.

This was impossible! I’d thought that too often over the last couple of months.

Disgusted at what I saw, I glanced at the minister. Morris-Walker didn't seem surprised. He readied his pistol, but I was sure he couldn't see the main entrance from the edge of his wing’s corridor.

The creature with claws slowly ascended the stairs on two legs, like a nightmare come to life.

“Shoot it, Jamie!”

Police training kicked in. “Armed Police! Get on the ground! On the ground now!”

It looked up to me. Instead of eyes, there was an eerie green glow emanating from its eye sockets. A shudder went down my spine. Suddenly, it hastened up the stairs towards me. I fired a burst and hit it straight in the chest. The green glow disappeared, and it rolled backwards down the stairs.

I had no time to process what had just happened. More of these creatures entered through the destroyed main entrance door. The minister fired his pistol. I shot bullet after bullet into the oncoming nightmares. As the creatures died, more walked over their fallen comrades coming closer and closer. I reloaded.

This couldn't be happening!

Firing short, controlled bursts in full automatic mode, the empty shell casings were flying out of the MP5. Still kneeling at the top of the stairs, it felt as if I was in a first World War machine gun nest. I aimed right, fired, downed a creature, aimed center, fired and downed another, and finally aimed right, fired and downed yet more. Surrounded by the stench of fired gunpowder, I swung back, repeating the process in reverse order.

Nearly every single shot being a hit, the bottom of the stairs was a killing field. To my horror, the creatures started climbing the walls, and I was running out of ammunition.

I was fucking afraid, plain and simple.

I got up and loaded my third and last magazine. “Retreat!”

“Come to me!” The minister shouted over his gun firing.

He concentrated his shots on the two creatures climbing the wall on his side of the entrance hall.

Still firing bursts, I hastened backwards to reach his position, taking down two in the process. To any onlooker, I must’ve seemed like Vasquez in Aliens. Yet, I didn’t want to end like her.

Most disturbing was the silence of the creatures. No sound emanated from them, neither when crawling towards us nor when being hit. The only sound was our gunfire over the blaring alarm.

Morris-Walker disappeared into the corridor leading to his rooms. I stepped backwards, still firing and downing one more of these impossible creatures as it crawled over the balustrade. Having pumped my last bullets into the closest one, I dropped the empty HK and drew my pistol. I turned and ran down the corridor. The floor was polished. I was grateful for being barefoot. In my boots, I would’ve surely slipped.

The minister had taken position in a door frame. He waited till I’d passed him and started firing. Grateful that he hadn’t shot while I was running down the corridor, I took position in the doorway opposite.

I was impressed. The man was a good shot, hitting the assailants most of the time. I joined in. They were crawling on the floor, on the walls, and even on the ceiling. It was like a horror shooter game. I was sure if Brian who had tried turning me into Leon Kennedy could see me now, he’d get off without touching himself.

I was running out of ammunition. Still they were coming. With annoying clicks, both our pistols announced the end of their usefulness. There was only one option left to me.

I sighed and looked at the minister. “Run!”

Not awaiting a response, I holstered the empty pistol and focused on the flow of energy into my body, increasing my speed so the world around me seemed to slow down. I drew the combat knife from my utility belt, glad I’d taken the time to attach the illegal blade.

I ran up to the disgusting and eerie creatures which were crawling so slowly. I deliberately didn’t look at them in any more detail. Choosing the one to my right, I just rammed the knife straight into where I believed the head was attached to the throat. I saw the green light fade from its eyes, and it began to collapse.

I withdrew the knife and repeated the action on the beast to the left. On this one, I had to turn the knife before the green light faded. Quickly, I pulled the knife out and stabbed the one in front of me in the throat. It was able to take a step further before it also started to collapse.

I was on a killing spree in a time loop. As the old Scottish SAS sergeant had explained, I was in survival mode, and my only goal at the moment was to do exactly that, to survive. These things were not human, not even from Earth. I was killing living beings nonetheless if the fading green glow was any indication. I wondered how easy killing had come to me, from afar as well as from up close. A stray thought came to my mind. Could I do it to humans, too?

Having freed my knife, I jumped to the one crawling on the ceiling. I aimed for the neck, but I missed cutting a jugular. When I jumped again, its blood dripped on me, but this time, I hit it. I could see it was coming down, and I ran further, not to be buried under its weight. These things seemed heavy. I didn’t want to find out the hard way.

I maintained focus on the flow of energy into my muscles, turning myself into a slayer of these beasts as I walked the corridor towards the stairs. The whole situation felt like a computer game. I was full of adrenaline. With each creature downed, my fear of them diminished. Instead, I got angrier.

Approaching the stairs, I couldn't make out any more of these creatures crawling towards me. At least, I thought I couldn't. I carefully reduced the flow of energy into my muscles, letting myself slow down. There were two which I’d thought were corpses moving towards me. I increased the flow of energy into my muscles once more and dispatched them with vigor.

Standing at the top of the stairs, I repeated the test. I reduced the flow of energy slowly. There was no further movement which I could discern, so I let the energy ebb away.

It was so surreal. The burglary alarm was still blaring. The hall and the staircase held the acrid scent of gunfire. I stood at the top of the stairs, surrounded by inhuman, otherworldly, green bodies which littered the ground. The combat knife I held was dripping black blood. Looking down at myself, I was sprayed with the black stuff. My knife hand was completely covered in it.

I inspected the black substance on the knife. It had the consistency and colour of the machine oil I used for my motorbike. Changing the angle of the knife, I watched the thick fluid form heavy droplets which dripped to the ground. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought it smelled strangely sweet, like mango.

I stared at my hands. My right, holding the knife was fine. My left hand trembled. I felt so dirty.

I didn’t notice Morris-Walker approach.

“It is not over yet,” he whispered.

I turned towards him. “How do you know? Looks like a slaughterhouse to me.”

He seemed to notice his surroundings for the first time. “Indeed.”

I gazed at my knife. “And I’m the butcher.”

“Jamie,” he said sternly, “You are doing an excellent job. Without you, this attack on me would have succeeded, and I would be dead now.”

He wanted to clap me on the back, but refrained from it. Probably, because I was covered in their black, goo-like blood, looking like a mechanic who’d crawled into an engine. Instead, he just stood next to me.

He made a sweeping gesture. “These were not summoned or they would disappear. They are coming from somewhere. We must find the gate.”

I felt so hungry. I needed food, not stalking around his grounds. “What have you just said? Gate? What gate?”

“Let’s go!”

I stood where I was. “Barefoot, I don’t want to step into that mess of splinters.”

“Then get some shoes,” he said indignantly.

I sighed and concentrated on the flow of energy into my muscles. It was more difficult this time. I was already hungry like no tomorrow. Nevertheless, I went to collect my dropped machine pistol and brought it to my room. I then put on the trainers and ran back to Morris-Walker where I reduced the flow of energy back to normal.

He tried to act not surprised. “There you are. Finally.”

“Yes, Minister.”

I followed Morris-Walker as he walked downstairs and then stopped at the destroyed entrance. We took cover to the right and the left of the broken doorway and checked outside. Neither of us detected any movement.

The minister made ready to go outside.

I waived for him to stop. “Let me go first.”

“But you do not know what you are looking for.”

True. “So, what am I looking for?”

He thought about that for a second and then said, “You will notice.”

I glared at him. “This isn’t the time for jokes, Minister!”

“Trust me, Jamie. You will notice.”

I grimaced and took the torch from my utility belt, then handed it to Morris-Walker. “Here, you’ll need that.”

I concentrated on enhancing my sight. It was such an effort, I felt drained. However, the landscape in front of me brightened as if somebody had flicked a light switch. The scene outside was clear, and I stepped out carefully.

Moving out of the entrance area quickly, I stayed close to the mansion’s wall as I scanned the yard. I would notice, the minister had said. Given the current circumstances, what could be considered worth of notice?

To my right, the garage and its immediate surroundings seemed undisturbed. In front of me, the main driveway was clear as far as I could see. To the left, however, where the main front garden was located, something odd stood on the grass.

I tried to focus on it. It wasn't really an object but rather a round, dark hole in the landscape. My first association was an old science fiction TV series named Sliders. Mike always complained about me watching too much science fiction.

Morris-Walker caught up with me, shining the torch around.

I pointed at the unusual thing in the garden. “Is that it, Minister?”

He shone the light in the direction. “Yes, it is.”

“What now?”

“It is a gate. It must be closed.”

Did he really think me that stupid? I rolled my eyes. “I got that, Minister. How do we close it?”

He looked at me for a moment before he answered, “I do not know, Jamie.”

“Are you kidding me?”

He sighed. “There must be some form of anchor.”

I couldn't believe it. “Wonderful, Minister. What does an anchor look like?”

“That is just it, Jamie. I do not know.”

I looked at the thing on the grass and sighed. I was too pumped up on adrenaline right now to notice the night’s cold.

“Look for anything unusual in the vicinity of the gate,” Morris-Walker said.

I shook my head in disbelief. “Well, let’s go searching then.”

I openly strode towards the thing in the garden, and Morris-Walker followed suit.

All my instincts were telling me to run as we approached. Goosebumps rose. With every step I took, the feeling of dread increased. It just felt wrong. Something like that shouldn’t exist.

“There!” Morris-Walker pointed with the light beam at an egg shaped stone which was laying in the grass close to the thing.

“You might be right, Minister. I run that path in the mornings. I doubt I’ve ever seen it before, the grass is meticulous.”

I started to move towards it, but he grabbed my forearm, holding me back. “Wait.”

I turned to face him. “What?”

He sought my eyes. “Jamie, do not look into the gate!”

What kind of request was that? I was confused.

“Jamie, I implore you! Do not look into the gate! What is on the other side is an alien reality, one we cannot fathom to understand. What you see will drive you mad. Literally.”

That was a stern warning, and I admit to having been curious. “Okay, okay. I won’t.”

“I mean it!” He held my gaze a while longer and then moved slightly to the right so we’d approach the hovering thing from the ‘side’, if one could call it that.

I didn’t want to understand or make sense of anything right now. Heeding his advice, I deliberately looked at the egg shaped stone in the grass, ignoring the gate.

That was a big mistake. When Morris-Walker was approaching the stone, another nightmarish creature stepped out of the gate onto the grass. With its tentacle arms it tried to reach Morris-Walker. I didn’t have much choice. I lifted the knife and charged the attacker.

The right tentacle arm shot towards me. I sliced it with the knife. In contrast to the green reptile things, this creature screamed. It uttered an undulating, screeching yelp which made me cringe. However, it retracted its injured arm.

It turned towards me. While that secured Morris-Walker, I somehow doubted that was good news for me.

My brain refused to make sense of the creature in front of me. It didn’t have a head. No eyes or mouth either, just a square, vaguely humanoid torso whose arms and legs were tentacles. Where had that scream come from then? How did it stand upright on two tentacles?

Well, these were unimportant questions. My immediate thoughts were more martial. Where should I strike it? I opted for keeping my distance and trying to distract it.

It was quick. Very quick. And I was out of juice. I was starving and felt as spent as I did after a day’s workout session. I was unable to concentrate enough to manipulate the energy flow and was grateful I could keep my darksight working. Adrenaline and fear kept me going. Somehow, I was sure I mustn’t be touched by those tentacles.

Morris-Walker was doing something while I was playing cat and mouse with that alien thing. It and I set into a course of feinting and attacking. So far, I’d avoided being hit. Whenever an arm came near, I’d been able to cut it. Alien or not, I thought I could feel the creature’s growing frustration.

Not only that, I was tiring fast. “What the fuck takes you so long? Close it already!”

“Be silent and let me work.”

Asshole!

The thing slashed out at me. I avoided the tentacle, but it, in turn, avoided my counterstrike. I was about to start a feint attack, when suddenly, all was over. In a flash of light, the creature in front of me was gone. The gate, too.

I blinked, trying to regain my vision. Morris-Walker was laying on the grass, but moving. Next to him was the egg shaped stone, now broken in half.

I looked at my knife, then down myself. The black goo was gone. I sheathed the knife and went to offer the minister a hand. He took it, and I pulled him up.

“Thank you, Jamie.” It was funny as he straightened his pajamas.

“That’s it?”

He looked around. “Yes, Jamie. That is it.”

I hoped he was right. “Where’s the guy who opened the gate?”

“Long gone by now, I would imagine.”

We went back to the house. The adrenaline ebbing away, I felt the chill of the night. And the hunger. I started shivering, but I doubted it was only the cold.

Till now, I hadn’t really understood what was at stake here. All that nonsense about an occult ritual to open a gate to another dimension, it was true. If Morris-Walker was correct, the green creatures and tentacle Joe were but a mere taste of the horrors which would await us if the ritual completed. A tremor of fear shook me.

In the house, apart from the door laying in ruins and bullets and casings laying all over the floor and stairs, nothing remained of the green creatures which had tried storming up the stairs.

“Just like in a bad dream,” I murmured and went to turn off the burglar alarm in the sector.

“Well, it just needs a new door and some clearing up. Turner will take care of that.”

This guy was unbelievable. “Speaking of, Minister. What do we tell them?”

“They know, Jamie.” He turned towards his office. “Please bring your weapons and meet me in my office.”

I knew the routine. We’d done it before. I went to collect the HK with its empty magazine from my room and the two empty magazines from where I’d dropped them earlier and headed for the minister’s office on the ground floor.

When I entered, he’d already opened the big safe standing in the corner next to his desk and taken out a box of 9mm ammunition which now stood on his desk.

I checked the firearms and arrayed the four empty magazines on the desk. I’d need to clean them, but right now, new ammunition was all that was required. It felt so surreal as I put the bullets into the magazines. The hunger was now becoming painful.

The minister stood by a little drinks cabinet. “Would you like a glass of whiskey, Jamie?”

“No, thank you, sir.” I was so hungry, any sip of alcohol would probably make me drunk instantly.

“Not your taste?”

“No, sir. I’ve tried it once. Tastes like soapy water.” I really couldn’t understand how anybody could actually like the stuff.

He let out a loud sigh, most likely despairing over my working class tastes. Having finished at the cabinet, he went to the big old sofa where he sat down to sip from his whiskey.

After I’d filled the magazines, I reloaded, double checked, and secured the weapons. I holstered the pistol and strapped the machine pistol over my shoulder. The big old grandfather clock in the room showed twenty past two.

“I will get something to eat and then guard the entrance, sir.”

“No need, Jamie.”

I turned to him. “How can you be so sure?”

“That gate took a lot of energy to create. All they had, short of a sacrifice, I would assume. We are safe from any attacks for a couple of days.” He took a sip.

To me, he seemed less indifferent than usual. “Are you okay, Minister?”

He took a moment to reply in annoying upper crust accent, “Of course, Jamie. I am fine. Why would I not be?”

I walked over to the sofa to face him. “Because alien monsters just tried to invade your house and kill you. I’d think this has hit home.”

“Clever pun, Jamie,” he said and sighed. “Yes, it has.”

He took a sip and looked up to me. “All the other attacks have been a distraction. A message to back off. If I had lost my life in the process, fine, but this was a properly planned, organised, and resourced assassination attempt. I have never had anybody really wish me dead.”

He emptied his glass, put it on the tray next to the sofa, and stood up. This time, he put his hand on my shoulder and searched my eyes. “Thank you, Jamie.”

I just nodded. No words were necessary. At the same time, when I looked at him, I saw a vulnerability I’d never noticed before or even found possible.

He needed some emotional support. “Would you like a hug, Minister?”

He took his hand off my shoulder and looked annoyed. “I am not like you, Jamie.”

This time, it was for me to look at him repulsed. “Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean that any emotion I show is a sign I want to get into your pants! I’m offering a friendly show of emotional support, you know? For someone with whom I just went through shit together.” I took a step back. “Anyway, sorry, if I offended you, sir.”

I turned to leave, but he grabbed my forearm. I looked at him, and he took me in an embrace I reciprocated. The silk of his pajamas felt strangely cool on my naked torso. Maybe it also was the HK which was wedged between us.

He held me tight. His hair smelled of lavender. His breathing was calm and rhythmic. I just held him equally tight. He didn’t cry or anything. In fact, he didn’t utter a sound. I didn’t release the hug first. It was Morris-Walker who finally stepped back from me.

I searched his eyes. Time for me to give a lecture. “Minister, all we’ve experienced is real for us but not for anybody else. However, our minds will react like any other human’s. We’ll try to cope. For a while that’s fine, but if you start getting sudden, unwanted, distressing memories of any of these events and you feel really awful, or you feel as if you relive these moments, or you have nightmares then you must seek professional help.”

He looked at me in disgust. It was clear he wanted to reply, but I held up my hand and shook my head.

“My turn,” I said. “As much as you didn’t want me to look into the gate, that much I want you to take care of your mental health.”

I didn’t give him any chance to reply. I just turned and started leaving. “Good night, Minister.”

“Good night, Jamie.”

I closed the door to his office behind me and went downstairs to the kitchen. I had to eat something! Having plundered the larder, I started with breakfast cereal and continued with half a loaf of bread worth in sandwiches. I was happily munching away when Mr Turner arrived.

“What an ungodly hour to eat, young man.”

“Well,” I replied after wolfing down the last bite of a sandwich, “I had some unwelcome visitors to deal with.”

“I’ve noticed,” he replied stiffly, then added in a more friendly tone, “Thank you.”

I started another sandwich. How I hated the unnatural hunger I had after using my abilities. “I’ll help you clean up after I’ve eaten.”

“No need, young man. First, I doubt you’ll finish all that tonight.” He pointed at the bounty from my larder raid which was neatly arranged on the big table. “Also, you’re a guest here.”

I lifted my arms defensively. “Just offering. I work here like you do.”

“Well, not quite, young man.” He walked back up the stairs.

What did he mean by ‘not quite’? While I didn’t live here, we all seemed to share the same secret knowledge. However, at that moment, I didn’t have much time to dwell on it.