“We need to get to the source of that energy signal and keep it out of their hands.”
Tyler and Amanda nodded in silence. Amanda moved to the front of the line they formed with Tyler in the middle and Sebastian taking up the rear.
“Stay close. We’re almost as blind as they are. Make sure we have whatever they want before we make ourselves known. We will have to move in the dark here.”
Furtive steps passed the door threshold. Amanda reached inside her jacket near her waist and pulled out a small baton. Tyler turned the brightness down on his screen, then placed his hand on her back, paying attention to the display.
“Right,” he whispered, as they passed through the threshold leading to the main floor of the store. Voices came from near the front.
A stale, musty smell assailed their nostrils as they crept further into the store, the senescence of the furniture, books, and other paraphernalia revealing itself. They crouched low behind the counter, trying to stay out of sight.
“How in the world are we going to find anything in all of this junk?” a voice said from off to the left of where they were. “Shouldn’t we have used a scrying locater for this?”
“If that was possible, there would have been no need to go to Meechum Forest. It’s protected by something that makes scrying impossible. So, we have to do this by hand. Stop complaining and find the stone.”
So. They were looking for a stone. That made it simpler to locate once they reached the general vicinity of the energy signal. There couldn't be a lot of those lying around, not even in an antique shop.
“Stop.”
They made it to the corner of the long counter before it made a sharp turn to the left before Tyler gave the word.
“It’s about twelve feet northeast from the opening.”
Amanda peeked around the corner. Flashlight beams cut through the darkness of the room. One was near the front of the store. Another was further out on the opposite side from where she was. She wasn’t sure where the other two were.
“Is it O.K. to go?” she asked. Tyler looked down at his wrist screen.
“I think so. I’ve lost sight of one of them. They must have moved behind something.”
Amanda looked at the distance she needed to traverse. She estimated seven to eight steps if she were standing up. Maybe less. That wasn’t an option. She had to stay crouched. Plus, she didn’t know what she was looking for. Too much work.
“You go.”
Tyler looked at her.
“What?”
“You go. You're carrying the equipment so you’ll be able to see where it is exactly. We won’t have to communicate and risk alerting them. Just go, grab it and come back.”
Tyler looked back at Sebastian, who nodded.
“She’s right. It would be easier if you did it.”
Tyler turned away, looking at the dark floor. He didn’t like doing direct work in the field. He was the support guy. But Amanda was right. All field teams had intensive training. If he ran into trouble, he knew how to handle himself. A sigh crept from his nostrils. He hated that kind of thing. Sebastian and Amanda were more natural at it. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Not in this situation. It required stealth, so maybe it was something up his alley.
He nodded, more to himself than anything. Looking down at his wrist screen, he took a deep breath and moved out onto the main floor. There was a tall cabinet display he had to circumvent to get to the destination where the energy signal was the strongest. Stopping, he found himself in front of a large table; the signal reading one hundred percent. The reading put it at the center of the table. A quick glimpse over the table's edge revealed it was full of small knick-knacks. Tyler closed his eyes. It would have to be in the middle of porcelain and glassware. The only way he could grab it was if he stood up.
He looked down at the display to see where everyone was. He located three of them but still couldn’t locate the third. That was a little disconcerting. If he grabbed it, he had to be quick about it. He had to do it with none of the other things on the table and making a ruckus.
He steadied himself against the cabinet, slithering up to his feet, using it for support. Something moved inside, falling over with a clunk.
“What was that?” someone from the front of the store asked. “Sarah?”
“Yeah?”
“What was that?”
“What was what? I didn’t hear anything. I think the heater just kicked in. All I hear is a hum.”
“I thought I heard a noise from the back of the store.”
Tyler froze midway in his ascent, his thighs parallel to the floor, trembling.
“Janis.”
There was no reply.
“Janis?”
A light lanced across the table in front of him. Tyler’s jaw tensed, his legs wobbly.
“Hey. I think I found it.”
Tyler tried to use the cabinet for leverage but his weight shook it, several things inside clinked, clicked and fell. The young girl in front of him shone her light right in his face.
“Someone’s here!” she yelled, snatching up the stone.
Tyler let out a grunt as he attempted to get to his feet, but his weight was too much, toppling the cabinet. He fell backward with it, a loud crash filling the darkness as glass shattered as it hit the floor.
“She’s got it!” he shouted back to Amanda and Sebastian. “She has it and she’s headed out the back!”
Part IV - Special Delivery
Jason awoke with a start two hours later from one of his routine nightmares based on his life. The differences between the two were in environment and physiology. In his dreams, both were pronounced, marked by grotesque distortion. His dad was the most ominous among them, his features resembling free flowing Silly Putty. In addition, he loomed over everything. He was already big to begin with, but in his dreams magnified
