The Preparation(Chapter 3)

Jason had patiently given his undivided attention to what Mr. Hartman had been saying for the last hour and a half. The lecture was full of expressed disappointment and derogatory comments towards freshmen. Jason had heard rumors from graduates that Hartman had been one of the toughest professors on campus. Sometime through the years, Hartman had obviously changed his views. Maybe he had grown older and just didn’t care anymore. Jason intentionally went out of his way to get into Hartman’s class. He loved the entertainment that Hartman provided on a daily basis.

Jason had to really force himself to be interested in the course material on a day like today. He was so excited because he finally had a date with Janiece. He was trying to look as though he was in control of himself like always but, for some reason, seemed to be having trouble keeping his mind where it should be. He was beginning to become lost in the simplest of discussions.

“What did you think about the poem Jason?” Professor Hartman asked diligently.

Jason pulled himself back into reality for a second. He realized that everyone was looking at him expectantly. “I’m sorry Professor. What did you say?”

The professor sighed exaggeratedly. “I had such high hopes of turning you into my poster student Jason. You let me down man!” The professor said all of this with a smile on his lips to show that he was kidding Jason.

“Sorry sir. I guess we can’t be on our guard all of the time. Besides, you needed more to complain about.”

“Well, Yeah! But I was hoping to use someone else as a source for entertainment besides you. Oh well.” Professor Hartman directed his question towards another students who had to be awakened first. He began another tirade about college freshmen and how they never listen.

Jason was blushing quite proficiently when he glanced over to see Janiece smiling and stifling a giggle. He wasn’t sure were the blood was coming from, but he realized that there was more rising to his cheeks. If he kept blushing like this, some limb might fall off of his body due to a lack of blood.

He smiled good-naturedly and went back to his musings.

Nicholas had lost all sense of time while crying in the dark closet. After a while the world started to come back into focus for Nicholas. He moved slowly at first to allow the blood to flow back into his aching limbs. He wasn’t a young man anymore. He hadn’t been young in a long time. Despite the life that Nicholas has tried to create for himself and Jason, the fear that the world would crash around them was ever-present.

Nicholas slowly rolled back onto his haunches and let his arms droop to the floor next to him. He straightened his back and flinched every time a vertebra cracked or popped. When the throbbing pain in his spine began to ease, he opened his eyes and looked up towards the dark ceiling.

One thing was certain in Nicholas’ mind: nothing would happen to Jason while Nicholas was alive. He stood to his feet and clenched his crackling hands into fists. Jason was his charge. He would allow no one to harm this young man. Jason was Nicholas’s friend, his apprentice in the Word, and much more. Eventually, Nicholas lowered his eyes from the ceiling and unclenched his hands. He inhaled a deep sigh and opened the door. He was going to start protecting Jason before it was to late. He left the closet behind and moved forward through the hallways.

Student’s, who normally laughed and pointed at Nicholas if they even noticed him, were moving away from his as fast as they could. The man that had seemed so harmless just this morning was now walking with straight back and broad shoulders. But what scared the college students more than anything was the look of cold determination in Nicholas’ eyes.

“Everyone make sure to read the list of short stories by next time.” Professor Hartman was shuffling his papers together while giving his last assignment of the day. Students were beginning to pack up their books and papers to leave before the next class shuffled into the room.

Jason zipped his book bag and pushed his chair in. He was slinging his backpack over his shoulder when he caught a glimpse of Janiece out of the corner of his eye. She was making her way towards him when one of her friends distracted her with a few words, probably about some new fashion or something equally ridiculous. Jason was glad for the distraction, even though he thought that Janiece was too intelligent for a conversation about clothes or hairstyles, but was growing more nervous every second. Jason’s hands began to sweat and shake slightly from worrying about how the date would go. His insides were so jittery that he wasn’t sure he could eat. But he would probably blow his chances for a second date if he just sat there and stared while she ate.

Janiece finally stole away from the girl and made it over to where Jason was standing. She set her things down on the desk beside her and tilted her head slightly to the left as if waiting for an answer to an unasked, but important, question. Jason, unsure of what it was that he was not being asked, smiled politely like he hadn’t noticed her quizzical expression and turned to log out of the computer he had used during class.

He took his time logging out in hopes that she would go ahead and voice her question. After a few agonizingly quiet seconds, she did.

“So, where are ya taking me to eat on this date?”

Jason was intensely relieved that she wasn’t asking about her hair, clothes, or if anything made her look fat. While he thought that she always looked great, it was a conversation that he didn’t want to have and, from watching how his father always handled those situations, one that could get him into trouble. He opened his mouth to answer when he realized that he didn’t know where he was taking her. He had been so preoccupied with asking her out that he hadn’t thought about the next step.

Seconds were wasting away while he was mentally kicking himself and looking like an idiot with his mouth still hanging open. He quickly turned his drooping mouth into a yawn and put his hand over his lips to be polite. Well that was one embarrassing problem solved. Now he had to come up with a place to eat real quick. Was Taco Bell too cheap for a first date?

“Uh... I don’t know.” Brilliant. He was really working his charm now. “Where would you like to eat?” That was a little better.

She smirked slightly, amused by his inability to speak coherently. “Well if your gonna’ let me choose then you’ll have to trust my judgment. Do you think you can handle it?” Her lips were forming a full-fledged grin now, tempting him to make the leap and put his taste buds at her mercy.

Jason would willingly trust her about anything. Even if trusting her included that she would have a knife at his throat while making the suggestion. He didn’t want to seem too eager to please her this early on though so he decided to play coy.

“I don’t know if I can go that far out on a limb. I value my life and culinary tastes.” He rested his chin on his right hand and his right elbow on his left hand. This pose made Jason appear as thought he were contemplating some great mystery.

Janiece feigned insult and covered her mouth in mock surprise. “Jason! How dare you suggest that I would harm your sensitive culinary desires in the least bit!” She moved her hand up to her eye where she began to wipe away fake tears. “After all that I have done for you! Is this the thanks I get for going out with you?”
She abruptly turned her back on Jason and began quiet, over-dramatic, sobs. Jason was so amused that he remained motionless for several seconds trying to suppress a laugh. Her voice cut through his humor.

“Hellooo! I need consoling here! Are you just gonna’ stand there and let a lady suffer by herself?” She had turned back around and was looking Jason in the eye. Jason quickly took the opportunity to take her in his arms and console her ‘grieving soul.’

Shortly after this embrace the both burst out laughing as the urge overcame their attempts to suppress it. When they gathered their wits again, Jason once again realized that they still didn’t have a plan for the date.

“Seriously, Crazy Lady, where would you like to eat?”

Janiece wiped some real tears from her green eyes and picked up her book-bag. They began walking out of the classroom and made their way down the hall weaving in between students trying to get to class on time.

After thinking about her answer for a few minutes, Janiece turned her head toward Jason. “Would Taco Bell be too cheap for a first date?”

Jason had to stop in his tracks and make sure that she wasn’t kidding. When he discovered that she was serious he smiled and put his arm around her shoulders.

“A girl after my own heart!”

There was a Taco Bell a block down the street from the college that was normally packed with college students. Today was no exception. Jason managed to nudge a path through the door and take a spot in line for him and Janiece.
Having nowhere to store their book bags, Jason and Janiece had carried them all the way to Taco bell. One of the reasons this particular restaurant normally had only college students was because of the amount of book bags covering the floor. It was not unusual to see a student taking up an entire table with books, notes, and homework.

After a surprisingly short wait, Jason and Janiece were at the front of the line and ready to order. Jason paid for the food in return, receiving the ticket and two cups. Memorizing the ticket number, Jason threw the receipt into the trash. Janiece had already poured her drink and picked up some napkins.

Looking around, Jason realized that every table in the small room was currently filled by more people than deemed safe for each seat. “We may have to eat outside.”

Janiece looked around for a few seconds trying to think of a solution. “Well it looks as though you’re right. I’ll go ahead and save us a picnic table outside while you get the food.”
“If it gets ugly out there yell and I’ll come runnin’” Jason said already turning his attention back to the service desk. Jason was glad that everything was working itself out smoothly. He was afraid that a million things would go wrong.

Now that the day had calmed down a bit and was looking good for Jason, he turned his mind to Nicholas once more. Unsure of what else he could do, Jason muttered a prayer for his long-time mentor. Something was definitely bothering Nicholas for him to breakdown like he did that morning.

Jason quickly put these thoughts from his head. Nicholas was more than capable of taking care of any problem and would ask Jason for help if he really needed it.

In the Central Intelligence Agency’s Langley branch, a rather tall, dark, middle-aged man was focusing intently on the report he had just been handed. The information and suspect profile was the exact same as the other eight reports that littered his desk. The only object that made this file different was the picture. While there were obvious differences between the killings, each murder was linked by the golden chain and strange charm found on top of the body at each site.

The charm was very unique and was chosen by the killer for some, as of yet, unknown purpose. Overall, the charm was about an inch and a half long. The center of the charm was a staff with a Celtic cross as a headpiece. A snake wound around the staff until, at the bottom of the headpiece, the snake appeared to be in the act of just swallowing the cross.

The serial killer had left similar necklaces at nine murders in the last four months. Two victims had been American. Two very powerful Americans, one of which was a Senator. This was why Special Agent Kay Williams had been assigned the case. With the UN acting as though this was the work of a terrorist faction, the United States had to get involved. The FBI was working the two national cases while Agent Williams had been assigned to handle the international fallout.

He removed one of the many photos of the body and set the rest of the file to the side. He stood up and stretched the kink out of his back before walking around his desk to pin the photo on an overcrowded corkboard. Next to the other eight crime scene photos, the newest addition faded into the mix rather fluidly.

Kay took a step back from the wall so he could have a better look at the collage. The victims were so unique and unconnected that he would have never attributed them to the same killer. Except for that necklace found at each site. There was no other hard evidence to go on. No prints, fibers, scratches, or DNA. The guy had never even sneezed at a scene of crime.

Kay sighed and returned to behind his cluttered desk. He had read each case file at least five times. Nothing made any sense. This killer chose his victims entirely at random. Most serial killers picked victims due to their ethnicity, gender, or some personal reason. Kay had exhausted all possibilities with each of the deceased and come up with nothing.

The newspapers in Europe had begun to refer to the murderer as ‘The Interrogator.’ This was from the way that each victim appeared to have been tortured before death as though the culprit wanted information. England police and special intelligence forces had several suspects for The Interrogator. Each was being carefully monitored for clues as to their innocence or lack thereof. Despite the surveillance, England had no more information than Kay.

He was about to go over the files once more when an intern knocked on his door. He was sick of these snot nosed kids who were only here to get school credit. “It’s open.” He yelled towards the door.

A rather tall, dark-skinned young man walked through the door carrying a printout. “Sir, this fax just came in from England.” He hastily handed over the document.

Kay searched the young man’s suit until he found a nametag. “Thanks Nathan. Keep working for that A.” The intern then turned around and slunk out of the office. Kay really didn’t see the point in having interns. Especially when those interns had bad attitudes and posture.

He turned his attention back to the fax and sat up straighter in his uncomfortable office chair. The fax was from his contact in MI5. One of their suspects was seen boarding a plane for the States. Kay scribbled down the destination airport’s address and left his office searching for the annoying intern.

“Hey, uhhh...” Kay searched his recent memory trying to figure out the kids’ name. He had just used it in his office. “Nathan!”

At the rather loud pronunciation of his name, the intern turned around to see Agent Williams jogging his way. “Yes sir?”

“I want you to arrange for a ticket to this airport.” Kay handed him the scribbled address.
“Right away. What about your meeting with Mr. Tucker?”

Kay had forgotten about the new recruit he was supposed to be training. “Tell him to find someone else to bother. This is too important.” It was probably for the best anyway. The kid was nice and well-mannered but wasn’t too bright. The new guy would be shuffled back and forth for a few years before being assigned a harmless position somewhere in the basement.

Kay didn’t bother to listen to Nathan’s response as he continued through the hallway.

Jason finally heard his ticket number shouted over the many talking students and pushed his way through to the counter. An employee handed him his order and turned to the next customer. Bounty in hand, Jason once again navigated through the overcrowded restaurant towards the back door.

Jason had to elbow another student out of the way so that the door would open and it was designed too. Not happy to be rooted out of his spot, the student angrily jabbed Jason back before shifting away from the door. Rubbing his side, Jason quickly slipped through and searched the picnic area for Janiece. He spotted her at a table near the corner of the building and changed course.

Jason set the tray down on the table before taking a seat on the bench opposite of Janiece.
“Took ya long enough. I was beginning to think that I’d been stood up.” Janiece said good-naturedly as Jason tried futilely to make himself comfortable on the concrete bench.

“I don’t know how they can serve everyone that eats here. There’s only one register!” As much as Jason liked Taco Bell, this particular store wasn’t known for its speed or service.

Janiece began to unroll her Taco’s and was just ready to take a bite when Jason stopped her. “I’m sorry. I always pray over my food.”
“Oh! Of course, I’m sorry.” Janiece quickly set her food down and bowed her head reverently.

“Dear Father. I thank you for your blessings on this day and ask that you will now bless this food. For though you give our spirits nourishment, we must eat bread in this life. Please help us make it through the rest of the day. Amen.” Jason then lifted his eyes to find Janiece looking at him with curiosity and a little admiration. Jason didn’t press the issue about religion but hoped that she would ask him about his beliefs.

While they ate in silence, enjoying the weather, a crow flew in and landed on the table. Jason and Janiece jumped slightly at the birds landing.

“That’s odd behavior for a bird isn’t it?” Janiece asked, noticing that the bird wasn’t moving. It seemed to be there only to observe the two as they ate.

Jason had noticed the staring birds’ behavior as well. Something in the birds’ eyes unsettled Jason. He almost leapt to his feet in recognition. “That’s the same crow that was on my porch this morning!”

“Why would a bird follow you around? You didn’t feed it did you?” Janiece had set her food down and was studying the crow.

“No! It just stared like it is now.” Jason ripped off a piece of his taco and held it out to the unmoving crow. The bird didn’t move as Jason’s hand grew closer.

Jason was just ready to bring his hand back when the bird moved. It hopped right up to Jason’s hand and bent it’s head over his fingers. Jason looked at Janiece quizzically until he felt something warm. The crow slowly tilted its head back up and flew up to the top of the nearest picnic table umbrella.

Jason looked down at his hand to see a tear rolling off of his finger.