The Last Christmas On Earth

EPISODE V-7

"Time is about to come. As the fathers of our fathers predicted a long time ago, the mother of all catastrophes will soon arrive. It will be powerful enough to destroy everything, but the benevolent gods protect us and Quetzacoatl will return from the House of Aztlan to take us safely with him, aboard his winged chariot.

Tell the people to prepare, the time has come to open the way for the return of our savior," said the shaman in a cavernous voice. A moment later he began to breathe badly, a rattle came out of his throat and his chest throbbed spasmodically, as if he were witnessing a frightening vision, or rather as if he were actually experiencing it himself. An adept took a step towards him to rescue him, but the High Priest stopped him. Once the climax of the crisis had passed, the Oracle's breathing slowly became regular again.

"But for all this to happen," he continued, "a courageous spirit will have to challenge the abysses and face many pitfalls. Only in this way will it be possible to recover the Key which will open the doors of our salvation."

The gong sounded again, the shaman stared at the great priest one last time through the white of the upturned eyeballs and then fainted. Pedro Ayala realized, excitedly, that the prophecy had spoken of him. He thought proud that if the Oracle had given him this privilege, it meant that he was fully worthy of it and that, therefore, his heart had been kept pure. With a heart full of happiness, he dedicated thought of gratitude to the masters who had prepared him for all his life for that trial and promised himself that he would not disappoint them.

"Luke, please listen to me. I promise we will come back with a mandate, but now let's go, for God's sake! You have no idea how dangerous it can be to stay here ..." Helen implored him once more, enervated by the situation and exhausted by her protests. He looked down and became thoughtful and she hoped she had managed to reason with him.

"And if those down there meanwhile die? I don't want to have them on my conscience," said Luke instead, looking at her disappointed in an attempt to exploit his sense of duty. "What if we die, then?" He wanted to counter her, but now he realized how stubborn he was and he knew she wouldn't be able to convince him. He checked his watch for the umpteenth time and pointed to the trapdoor with a nod of his head, sighing resignedly. Luke let out a smile and hurried himself down, at the bottom of the stairs he found the switch with the glow of the phone display. The light came on and the look of that big room left Helen and Luke open-mouthed, that cellar was much bigger than the upstairs rooms and remembered in every detail the most classic of the mad scientist's laboratories. An entire wall was occupied for the whole length by a shelf that housed a mixture of new and ancient objects piled up in bulk, there were some books written in unknown languages, a radio still packed, an ancient typewriter and a microscope electronic in disuse. And then piles of newspapers, a wooden train, some electronic cards, and many other things all strictly covered with dust. A tangle of cables running along the floor was connected here and there to some condenser and other abstruse devices. On the opposite side, scientific equipment was placed as advanced as it was incomprehensible.

Among these, there was also what at first glance might have seemed like a sunbed. But Luke noticed that it was connected to a very complex device, which knew less about everything than tanning. A portion of the basement hidden by a separé housed a perfectly equipped operating room: it was so clean that the steel gleamed and the bed reminded Helen of what she had seen lying in her recurring nightmares. Then he noticed the cabinet filled with jars containing human fetuses and was sure that the place seen in his dreams was just that, but he didn't have the time to let himself go to despair because right then she and Luke heard a new prolonged moan, a kind of cry from the underworld.

Adam Parker parked his thunderous Guzzi amaranth just outside the pedestrian area of the city center; he feared that the vibrations generated by the stone paving could damage his bike. When he jumped down from the saddle, the sidecar occupied by Cain leaned conspicuously, threatening to overturn. He hurried to move his weight aside to restore balance to the vehicle, then he clung to the edge and put out his legs, that he had kept shriveled inside the small and very uncomfortable compartment.

"Wait here, I'll be back in a minute," Parker told him as he headed for his office.

"But why I have to wait, there is not a living soul around here!" Cain protested. He started pacing back and forth to stretch his legs.

"Better safe than sorry," replied the other.

"All right, but be quick," the resigned big boy agreed to sit and wait in the scorching sun. Adam nodded and quickened his pace, it seemed to him that his very fine hearing had picked up a scream coming from his own office. Arriving at the door he looked around and spotted Helen's Cherokee parked down the street. He cursed, saying that his presentiment was right and moved sideways to peek inside the studio through a window, but could not see any movement inside. He swore again and plunged his hand into his trouser pocket to search frantically for the keys, found the one he was looking for and put it in the lock.

Helen and Luke hesitantly entered the gloomy corridor from which the rattle came from and found a semi-hidden door leading to another large room, even that one immersed in darkness and equipped with a cell closed by a railing. They caught their breath and crossed the threshold holding their breath because there was a horrible stench. They approached the railing cautiously and looked over the bars, but the impenetrable darkness prevented them from seeing inside. Not finding the courage to open the iron door, because they feared that, once inside, they could also become prisoners, Mc January decided to go back to look for a torch.

But just as he turned around, a skeletal hand came out from the bars and grabbed his ankle, tearing out a terrifying scream. Helen didn't understand what was happening, she was paralyzed by horror. Luke kicked to free himself and ran out to look for anything he could use. He came back clutching an old umbrella with the intention of recovering Helen, using again the light of his cell phone, when he arrived in front of the railing, they finally saw her. The woman was spilled on the floor beyond the bars and complained faintly, her face was a bony mask and the graying skin was reduced to a bleeding wound, her lips were dry and chapped because of the thirst she suffered. Taken aback by that gruesome vision the two took a step back and hit the door behind them, which creaked open. Luke and Helen looked in and froze: over the threshold Eve and Dr. Parker were watching them hidden in the shadows. Helen let out a scream, Luke raised the umbrella to hit them but the two continued to stare into the void without moving. Then he took courage and went into the room where he found three other perfect copies of Eve and three of the doctor, and then three copies of a much younger man and woman and two copies of Harry. They were all so motionless that they looked like wax statues. Luke guessed that they were dummies or something like that and approached curiously to touch them. He discovered that they were made of flesh and bones, but they were like catatonics and were standing because secured to trestles. Luke placed his ear on the chest of a doctor's replicant and could feel a slow and very weak heartbeat, similar to that of a bear in full hibernation. Helen was panting heavily, she was about to have a hysterical attack. She grabbed Luke by the sleeve and dragged him out overcoming his weak resistance. Once outside, Mc January bent over the phone again to see who the prisoner was.

"Oh my God!" Helen said, covering her nose so as not to smell the stench. Luke took a handkerchief from his pocket and brought it to his mouth. Meg was lying on the floor breathing heavily, she was terribly thin and the whitish light of the telephone made her look even more ghostly.

"That's where she was over, I knew she didn't go to her sister ... they kidnapped her, but why they did this to her ..."

"She's not alone, look over there," Luke said, pointing to the shapes of other bodies lying on the ground behind Meg.

"Toby!"

"Not only that, in the far corner there are at least two other people," Luke said, directing the light beam toward the darkest corner.

"Holy Christ, the false journalists," Helen murmured. In a flash, she saw Dr. Parker waiting outside the Country Hole and told herself that her first impression had been the right one, that evening he was not there by chance.

"We have to free them," Luke said, reaching for the docking bolt, but Helen stopped him.

"Stop, we can't do anything for them now. Look at them well, look at their faces, "she whispered worriedly," they are all emaciated, they have blood in their skin and their eyes are glassy ... they will not live until tomorrow."

"But can't you feel how that woman moans?"

"Of course I can, but do you want to end like them?" Helen asked him, Luke shook his head.

"Then we must leave this place immediately, the air is stale and they are certainly contagious," said Helen. Then she walked towards the exit with an unsteady step, because her legs could not stop shaking.

"I'll join you in a second," Luke said, setting the phone to "photo" mode.

Crossing the surgery room to return to the trapdoor, Helen noticed a column archive for medical records, she recognized it instantly because that was also a recurring image in her nightmares. Although she didn't want to stay there a minute longer, when she saw the open file resting on the top shelf she couldn't help but get close to snooping. The file contained the personal data of Harry Robinson and she began to leaf through the reports and a whole series of radiographs, echo, and various medical examinations.

"Dr. Parker!" A shrill woman's voice called just as he was turning the key in the lock. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the reflection of Mrs. Murphy's pistachio green dress in the window of the pharmacy, and she was fast approaching. Then he pretended not to hear her and unlocked the lock. He was determined to slip into the studio and lock her out. He opened the door, but he didn't have enough time to enter because she was physically on him.

"Doctor!" The woman screamed louder, and he turned around pretending to be surprised.

"... Mrs. Murphy?"

"Dr. Parker, it is a true miracle you are here!" Said the old lady, grabbing him by the edge of his plaid jacket. "Run, run, we must hurry," she added desperately.

Adam shook himself annoyed and moved to the side to escape her stink of rancid cat food.

"Mrs. Murphy, please calm down and tell me what happened," he said as he straightened his jacket.

"It's about my poor Miao. He has his usual convulsions, he needs an immediate injection but my husband is down at the marina for the Festival."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Murphy, but I've told you at least a million times that I'm not a vet," Dr. Parker said angrily; that woman was wasting his precious time.

"I know, doctor, I know! Forgive me, but right now in the village there is not a living soul and if my Miao does not immediately take his injection he will die in terrible spasms" she insisted grabbing him again by the jacket.