With a sweep of my leg, I tossed him to the ground, not releasing his neck as I knelt on his chest. Words flowed out of me, the secret language taught to us by my mother. It’s a prayer to release the evil Spirit from its host body. The man screamed louder as the ghostly shape I’d seen possessing him writhe through him.
This was killing him, but looking down into the man’s eyes, I could see he was already dead. For all the fear and pain, there was no light in those eyes, just the same deadly dark beady eyes that had stared at me in our first meeting. Once this Spirit left him, he would truly be dead. I had no choice. I pressed my knee harder into his chest, repeating the prayer slowly, firmly.
As if my words were poison, the Spirit released the man. His hands stopped prying at my arms and dropped to the sand beneath us. His neck split open and the dark Spirit flowed out onto the ground like a snake, trying to reach the safety of the rocks we fought among. I gave it no quarter, drawing my knife and driving the blade down through the Spirit. It let out a sick scream of its own, then curled into a ball around the knife, and died.
Looking down, the man stared at me still, but there was no breath, no Spirit, not even the one he’d once possessed. He had been nothing but a vessel for the evil. Now he was nothing.
Standing up, I heard more screams from somewhere higher in the mountains. Looking to the sun I felt the desire to let myself go to it, but I must find the Maxa’xak. I must end it, once and for all. I prepared myself to follow, but I am not alone. My family stood behind me, shining. Possessed by the same light of the sun. Behind them stand others. Star People. We are Star People, here to save the Earth People from this demon.
I step over the one I crushed. There is true killing that must be done.
I hit my leg on the table as I jump up from the sofa. My body felt hot, but not from the blanket. I felt a fever and saw a glow in my skin that didn’t belong there. “What the hell?” I rubbed at my arms, but the iridescence remained.
“You okay?” Lutz called out from his bedroom and I heard him open the door.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around me, heading for the bedroom. “Just bumped into the table. Sorry I woke you.”
“You didn’t.” He was in the hallway as I slipped into my bedroom, closing the door. “You sure you okay? You don’t have to run off. I’ve seen you in your jammies.”
I try to laugh, dropping the blanket. The glow was gone. “Ahmmm... I need to take a shower. Help yourself to whatever you want.”
“Okay. I need coffee. Mind if I change the pod? I can smell that fru-fru stuff you drink.”
“Yeah, whatever you want.” I checked everywhere on my arms. The fever was gone too. Going to the bathroom, I checked the mirror and pressed my hands to my face. Nothing. No heat, no glow. Just the short-breathed panic. Did I imagine all that?
I wanted to tell myself it was a dream, but deep down there was still that warm feeling. I yearned for it, as if it was something taken from me a long time ago and finally found again. A shower might resolve that feeling. A cold shower and then a phone call.
By the time I finished the shower, my body felt normal again, while my imagination was more convinced it was all part of the dream. I dressed and tucked my burner phone into my pocket, heading out to join Lutz.
The smell of bacon permeated the apartment and he was at the table, reading his own tablet as he crunched away on a thick crispy slice. “Made enough for two.”
“Thanks.” I headed into the kitchen, fixing myself a fresh cup of coffee, but skipping the cream and sugar. “Find everything you wanted?”
“And then some. Thanks for the hospitality.” Lutz turned his tablet to me. “You see the news yet? Is Delgado out on this job?”
Scrambled eggs with cheese and onions, bacon, toast, our usual patrol breakfast. I loaded up a plate and joined him at the table, taking his tablet. A burned out stolen delivery truck found off Hwy 8, filled with bodies of dead illegals. “Yeah. He got called out at four this morning. Don’t have any details yet.”
“Shame. All our work and this still happens. Damned Coyotes.” Lutz took his tablet back. “They’d have been better off coming through our corridor.”
“Maybe.” My instincts weren’t so sure, but I didn’t want to say anything right now. I restarted my tablet. Normally I spent the first morning home reviewing mission recordings for my official report. Then I’d forward it to HQ.
That was the procedure, but today was different. I had something serious to deal with. Even though the patrol leaving this morning was working the different sector, I had to say something to someone.
“Let’s go over this business yesterday and then we can decide what to report.”
“Happy you asked. I need to see it all again, just to know we didn’t dream it all up.” He smirked his doubt.
I set up my tablet, downloading the recordings and set them to play side-by-side. Lutz propped his legs on an empty kitchen chair, leaning back in his chair. Since nothing had happened the first three days, other than undisturbed relief stations, I fast-forwarded to our leaving RS4.
We reached the point where I noticed the fake brushing of tracks. The recording showed me leaving the main wash. Lutz’
