51: The Series

51: The Storm Chapter 17

The following day, Lindsay was out of bed early. She had dozed off a couple of times during the night after their uninvited guest had shown up but had only slept for a few minutes each time. Walking into the kitchen, she found Wren pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Good morning,” he said, pouring a cup for her. “Did you sleep at all last night after Big Bob’s call?”

“A little, but not enough,” she answered.

“Do you want to cancel the visit with my friend today? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we did it another day,” Wren told her.

“No, if you think he might be able to help with everything that is going on, then I want to talk to him, and the sooner, the better. I saw my phone was missing from the nightstand. Has Dillon texted or called either of us this morning?”

“He has, and he said everything was good last night. I don’t think they noticed anything that happened. To ensure things were alright, I had a couple of people watch them overnight.”

“Did they find him eventually?” Lindsay asked.

“They did around 4 a.m., and he was tranquilized and transported. Randy is keeping him under complete sedation for now.” Wren told her as they walked into the living room and sat down to watch the local news. “You were right; he was hurt. Randy said it almost looked like he was beaten, and he appears to be quite old. He will be treated and brought back up here when he can fend for himself again.”

“I’m glad they found him and can help.”

“So am I, I think. I keep trying, but I cannot wrap my head around the fact that he came here to find you and, in his own way, ask for help and, not once, but twice in a week. It has to have some bond with you that I can’t understand,” Wren told her.

“I don’t understand either, and hopefully, that is one of the things that your friend might be able to help us with,” Lindsay told him. “When are we meeting with him?”

“He wants us to have lunch with him around one. He said it would give him a chance to cook for friends, which he hasn’t done in many years. He also said he’s heard a lot about you and wants to meet you,” Wren told her. “I will go make breakfast for us. Stay here and relax a little. Even better, lie down and try to get some more sleep.”

Wren went to the kitchen and began pulling things out of the refrigerator and placing them on the counter. Lindsay could hear him turn on the oven and place a skillet on the stove as she lay down on the couch and covered herself with a blanket. She woke up almost an hour later with him gently shaking her.

“I made you a plate,” Wren said, sitting beside her on the couch. She sat up, and he handed it to her. He had gone all out with eggs, bacon, biscuits, and gravy. He went back into the kitchen and came out carrying his plate. “I refilled your coffee, too.”

They ate breakfast and talked about how their day was planned. After they finished eating, Lindsay sent another text to her son to ensure he was still doing well. Thankfully, Dillon answered, saying he had a good night and would be home around six that evening.

“I have an idea,” Wren said.

“What’s that, babe?” Lindsay asked.

“I think we should take advantage of the fact we have a little while before we have to go,” Wren told her.

“What exactly do you have in mind?”

“I say we go back into the bedroom and sleep for the next three hours,” Wren said, smiling at her.

“I think that is a perfect idea. Just make sure you set the alarm,” Lindsay said.

They went back to bed and were both asleep almost as soon as their heads hit their pillows. Crook cuddled up with them on the bed and went back to sleep with them. They all slept until Wren's alarm went off, waking him and Lindsay with a start. Crook stretched, groaned, and started to wag his tail as they began to get up. They quickly dressed and left to go to visit Wren’s friend.

-

Wren drove, which made Lindsay happy. She usually hated riding in a vehicle someone else was driving, but she was comfortable when Wren drove. She was probably more relaxed than he was riding with her when she drove, especially when she was responding to a call. The drive was beautiful. Wren’s friend lived out in the county on a gravel road along one of the rivers. They drove up the long driveway and stopped in front of a large, old farmhouse. As soon as they exited the car, the front door opened, and a man with white hair stepped onto the porch.

“Wren, my boy, it is so good to see you. It has been too long,” the man said as he grabbed Wren in a bear hug when they stepped onto the porch. “And you must be Lindsay. You are just lovely, my dear, and from what I have heard, Wren is a fortunate man to have you. My name is John Lingerfelt, and it is a pleasure to meet you. Come, come; I am making lunch for us.”

Lindsay had noticed he had a pronounced German accent. She looked around the sitting room he had led them to and saw many pictures that looked to be him with his family. Some of them seemed to be much older than they could be for him to be pictured in them. John instructed Lindsay and Wren to sit on a sofa as he hurried to the kitchen. He came back with tea and cookies for them.

“I hope that you like the cookies. They are pfeffernuesse. I learned to make them from my grandmother many, many years ago,” John told them softly.

“I remember these,” Wren said. “If they are the same as what you have made in the past, we are in for a treat.”

“They are the same, my boy. I am also making something else you will remember, hasenpfeffer. I even made it with rabbit,” John told him, smiling.

“You are very quiet, my dear. Is something wrong?” John asked Lindsay.

“Oh, no, sir, everything is fine. I was just looking at the pictures around this room,” Lindsay told him.

“You have noticed that I am in most of them, ja?” John asked with a thin smile.

“I have. I also know that there is no known way that you are old enough to be in some of these. Are they of your father or grandfather?” Lindsay asked him.

“No, I am the one in all of them. I may not look it, but I am old enough to be your great-grandfather’s grandfather. As a child, everything was normal, but when I became a young man, my family and I realized that I was not like others. I did not seem to get older as my brother and sisters did. I am what the comic books and movies would call a mutant,” John explained in a soft, calm voice. “It has given me the wonderful ability to do and see things which most could only dream of. Unfortunately, with that comes a burden. It is normal to outlive one's grandparents and parents, but I have outlived my siblings, wives, children, and generations of grandchildren. That has taken a toll on me. I have become very lonely, which is why I am so happy to have you, my dear, and Wren came to visit with me today.”

“Mr. Lingerfelt, I can’t even begin to imagine the loss you have had over the years, but I promise you that I will do everything in my power to make sure you are not lonely,” Lindsay told him.

“Please call me John. You are even more remarkable than what your husband has told me. Most people become upset or frightened after I tell them what I told you. It does not phase you in the least,” John said to her. “Let us eat and enjoy each other’s company. I have the table in the kitchen set for us if you will both come with me.”

They all walked into the kitchen, where the table was set with beautiful antique china. A large pot was sitting on the stove and the aroma of what he was cooking filled the room. John carefully pulled a chair out for Lindsay to be seated. After she and Wren were sitting at the table, he went to the stove, removed the pot, and carried it to the table. He lifted the lid, and they could see the stew still bubbling. It looked and smelled delicious. John carefully served a plate to each of them and then sat down.

“John, I hate to jump right into things, but if you haven’t heard, there was an incident on the base that caused a rather large security breach,” Wren told him.

“I have been hearing things at night but thought that it was just in my head from all the years of hearing them on the base and before,” John replied. “What type of incident and breach?”

“There was an explosion which took down all the containments, all of them. Everything that was being housed or contained, including in the cryogenic storage, is now out,” Wren told him.

“Everything? Was anyone injured in the explosion? Has anyone off of the base been injured?” John asked.

“There is still one person unaccounted for on the base. There has been no trace of him found, but we believe he was killed. It is possible that he is responsible for what happened, but we still don’t know for sure. As far as anyone off the base being hurt, there is only one I know of, and she has made a full recovery. There have also been some strange occurrences involving members of the county sheriff’s department,” Wren explained.

“Which person is missing?” John asked.

“Aaron White,” Wren answered.

“I remember him; he started just a few weeks before I left. I never got to know him,” John said, turning to Lindsay. “What has happened in your department, my dear?”

Lindsay paused before answering John, “That is a little hard to explain. We have had a few instances of what we have been calling a poltergeist, two of which were inside the department building. Four of my deputies have experienced time loss, and I think everyone at some point has seen some type of strange creature, lights, or heard sounds.”

“The poltergeist can be a very nasty thing to deal with. How have you been dealing with them?” John asked her.

“John, she yelled at it, and it listened to her. It stopped and followed her instructions. Have you ever seen it do that before?” Wren said.

John looked at Wren in astonishment and replied, “Instructions? It has never followed instructions, ever.”

“Yes, it followed her instructions. I watched it in her department. She told it to stop, and it did. Then she told it to put everything back where it had come from, and it did,” Wren told him.

John looked at Lindsay with bewilderment and asked, “It listened to you? I have known them for over a hundred years and have never seen them listen to anyone. For it to listen to you, you must be more special than any of us realize. What else has happened?”

“We had a run-in with a rather large dog-like creature,” Lindsay told John.

“Did it look like what could be called a werewolf?” John asked her softly.

“It did, and I don’t think I will forget it anytime soon,” Lindsay replied.

“That is Anubis. We named him after the Egyptian god of cemeteries and cremation. He is an evil creature that seems to kill simply for the enjoyment of killing. He has been held for nearly as many years as our little friends who like to throw things. I think he was studied even more than I was. Was he recaptured?” John asked.

“No, Lindsay killed it. She shot it as it charged one of her deputies. I was there when that happened. I had a team come and collect it,” Wren told John.

“But is it dead? What did they do with it after it was collected?” John asked him.

“It was frozen,” Wren answered.

“Keep it that way. If it thaws, it will be furious,” John told them.

“Wait, it could still be alive?” Lindsay asked.

“I would say it most certainly is still alive. I have seen it come back to life a few times. You see, it has an accelerated healing rate, which I have seen before. It will go into a coma-like state to do this. All appearances are it is dead, but then it will awaken, and it is always very aggressive when that happens,” John explained calmly.

“John, this is why we need your help if you can. Anubis has not been listed in any file or record that has been found so far, and Wren did not even know about him. You might be the only one who knows what else got out,” Lindsay told him.

“I took all the files to the sheriff’s department. Lindsay has been helping me go through all of them because I was not being told everything that has gotten out of containment. Her department has been making the first contact in many cases as things are reported to the department, so I thought they should all know what they could be facing,” Wren told him.

“That was smart. I always thought the sheriff should be aware of what was taking place just in case something like this did happen. Have you found anything in the files that has helped yet?” John asked.

“We have found information about a few things my department has interacted with and one I encountered about a year ago,” Lindsay began.

“And recently,” Wren interrupted.

Lindsay nodded, saying, “Yes, and recently. Other than that, it has given all of us an idea of what could be out there, and I have to admit I find it disturbing that this has been here for so many years, and no one knew.”

“What did you encounter a year ago? Nothing had escaped then, had it?” John asked them.

“Nothing that had escaped. Lindsay responded to a call and was attacked by one of our large friends living in the national forest. One of them showed up at our house twice in the past week, and we believe it was looking for her,” Wren said as he looked at Lindsay.

Lindsay looked down at her plate while Wren told the story to John. She was trying to keep her composure as Wren spoke. She had not realized it would bother her to hear him talk about what had happened to her.

“It was the same one who helped me the night I was attacked,” Lindsay said quietly.

“It bonded with you. They are very smart and have emotions like us. They are also extremely territorial and will become violent to defend it if necessary. They do, at times, reject one from their groups. I never discovered why, but when it does happen, the rejected member will bond with others outside of the group, including other species,” John explained. “You said it helped you, my dear. How did it do that?”

“One of them hit me and knocked me into a tree. I had a cut on the head, a broken collarbone, a dislocated shoulder, and a concussion. After I was hit, he picked me up and carried me into the woods, stopped the bleeding from my head, and guarded me until one of the other deputies arrived,” Lindsay told John.

“And this is the same one that came to your home?” John asked with a hint of surprise.

“Yes,” Wren answered. “I had the lab make a DNA comparison between what was found where she was attacked and what had been found at our home, and he was at both locations. It took him a year, and he crossed the county to do it, but he found her. Lindsay recognized him as soon as she saw him.”

John turned to Lindsay and softly said, “My dear, you do seem to have quite a connection to things that are not considered by others to be normal. For someone to connect to only one of them is very unusual. After hearing of this and our poltergeist friends listening to you, it makes me wonder if you might not be special.”

“Special? I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what you mean,” Lindsay answered, glancing at Wren.

Wren’s brow was furrowed, and he looked at his friend with confusion and worry.

“Yes, special. Over the years, I have found that every so often, someone who has a connection to things like those studied and housed on the base will come along. These people are perfectly normal in most ways, but on another level, they can connect, communicate, and interact frequently without even knowing they are. There are many parts of the brain that we still do not fully understand. It has been my belief that in some people, those parts are more active than in other people. I think you are one of those people that has a part or parts which are more active and lets you do what you have been doing,” John explained.

Wren smiled at her and said, “That would explain a few things about you. You do seem to know what people think before they know themselves. Not counting, I will always believe one of your gut feelings over intelligence I receive any day.”

“If I am one of those people, it would explain a few things. Do you know how this would happen?” Lindsay asked John.

“It is possible you were born with it. It could also be from the head injury that you received,” John told her. “This talk seems to be bothering you, so what else do you need help with?”

“I have found a box that contains only empty file folders. There are a few hundred folders in it that were used at some point. Each of them has a case number on it that does not match any of the electronic files, so we have at least been able to rule that out as a source. Do you have any idea what could have been in them?” Lindsay asked John.

“It is possible that I might be able to help if you would bring them here. I have kept many records on my own. I might be able to tell you at least what was in them if that would help you,” John told her, smiling.

“That would be wonderful. Hopefully, the things that are related to those files are gone and will not be anywhere near here,” Lindsay said.

“That is possible. I remember a few subjects that were destroyed for different reasons, and we did keep the folders after we emptied them, but there were never as many as you have said. That truly concerns me. Please, both of you finish eating, and then you must come with me. I want to show you something,” John told them.

All three of them quickly finished eating and followed John through his house to a door that looked like a closet. He unlocked the door and turned on a light. There was a set of stairs leading down into a basement. They reached the bottom of the stairs, and John reached over and hit a switch, turning on the lights in the room.

The room was much larger than it should have been and had clearly been built long after the house had been. It was a full laboratory with an entire wall filled with file cabinets and every piece of equipment that would be needed to continue to do the research John had done while working on the base.

“Welcome to my private laboratory, children. This will help us with the problem that is going on in this county right now. I have everything the lab on the base has, plus a few more things that I have found to be useful over the years. I have records that date well before World War I, and I have personally worked on all of them,” John told them with a broad smile.

“This is amazing. How long have you had this?” Wren asked.

“I have had a laboratory of sorts since I was a young man. This particular one I built not long after I purchased the home. That is one advantage of living without close neighbors. No one ever knew I was building anything,” John said with pride. “I have research on everything that I have ever come across. If you want, you may bring the box of folders here next weekend, and we will begin to go through them and see if we can find out what should be in them.”

“Thank you for this. I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate this, John,” Lindsay said.

“Of course, my dear, it is my pleasure. Let us go back upstairs. I think we will be spending enough time down here later,” John told them.

They walked back upstairs and into the sitting room they had been in before eating. They talked and listened to John’s stories for hours before Lindsay’s phone alerted her to a text message. It was Dillon saying he would be home in about an hour. She looked at the time and saw how long they had been there.

“Is everything OK?” Wren asked.

“Oh yeah, everything is fine. It was Dillon saying he will be home in about an hour,” Lindsay told him.

“Is it that late?” Wren asked, looking at his watch. “John, I’m sorry to do this, but we must go. Her son is camping with friends, and we will want to hear everything about it when he gets home.”

“Of course, Wren, think nothing of it. My dear Lindsay, you will come back next weekend and bring this one with you, won’t you?” John said, gesturing toward Wren.

“I will be here, and he has to come. Someone has to carry the box,” Lindsay said with a big smile.

John walked them to the door and watched them leave. It was nice to have friends come and visit. He walked to the table where the leftover tea and cookies were sitting. He carefully picked up the cup Lindsay had been using, took it downstairs to his laboratory, and set it on one of the counters. He had more questions about the sheriff he wanted to ask. He felt that she would not have known the answers even if he had asked.