Janus the Arrival (The Janus Trilogy Book 1) (20 page)

   
As a result, he found that he now possessed
a body similar to that of an eighteen year old human, yet he also had a brain
with outstanding intellect, which would have proved far too powerful for any
normal human being to handle. Keeping a very close eye on any changes that occurred,
Jamie acted like a proper mother hen fussing over its young chicks. He was also
becoming very articulate whenever he approached them, as he knew exactly what
was required. He simply couldn’t wait to observe the emergence of his fellow
beings into this beautiful new world, where eventually he and his four female
companions would become the planets Elders. Once this was fully achieved, they
would then reign as the true parents of all Pagosians.

His
face was dead stern. She could clearly see the skin had gone all taught and
held an expression of total disbelief. This was firmly etched amongst the
wrinkly, aged contours that stared silently back at her. Dana waited, knowing
that the reaction would follow very soon. As if on cue, it suddenly came.

   
‘You did what!’ Her boss exploded, before
the next words came flooding out.

   
‘Well on your head be it! I really can’t
believe it, especially from you’ he shouted, looking her straight in the face
as he did so.

   
‘You’re either losing your marbles or your just
plain bloody stupid,’ he uttered, before sitting back down in his reclining
chair, seeming as if he may be calming down a little.

   
‘Call the others in and we’ll tell them the
latest, if that’s alright with you young lady,’ he added, with a slight hint of
sarcasm in his voice.

Arriving
home, feeling absolutely knackered, Dana wondered if she’d caught a slight
glimpse of admiration from her boss soon after their altercation, or whether or
not she’d just imagined it. On the whole he was generally a pretty good
manager, but there were the odd days when you really didn’t know if you were
coming or going with him. This especially tended to be the case whenever he
appeared to be under pressure from his so-called superiors, not that he’d ever
admit that to anyone. Dana remembered a conversation they’d had together in the
local pub after work one evening after work a few years ago. She recalled how
he’d become so heated about that particular word.

   
‘Superiors!’
he’d exclaimed, really loudly. ‘
Superiors
!
Superior to what?’ he’d continued. The next bit had been the worst.

   
‘They wipe their bloody arses the same way
we do, don’t they?’ Poor Dana had become so embarrassed at the time, especially
seeing as how the majority of customers had sat staring rather menacingly at
them for their disturbing the peace. She honestly wished she’d known him in his
younger days, because she’d heard so many different stories told about what he
and her father had got up to. These had included numerous reports that had become
almost legendary about their somewhat slightly irregular policing activities.
This also meant it hadn’t been very safe to be a criminal back in those days,
especially when you had those two after you.
Sitting
with her head in the clouds busily thinking about this subject, Dana was
suddenly struck from behind without any warning. She suffered a strike to the
right side of her head, which caught her directly on the temple and sent her
senses spiralling into a state of half-consciousness. Coming around, and finally
regaining her wits about her a good while later, Dana once again found herself
sitting bound tightly to one of her dining room chairs, which in all honesty,
was seriously starting to become a bit of a bad habit in her opinion.

   
‘Oh dammit! Not again!’ she moaned, in a
very frustrated tone. However,
she was
really taken aback, when instead of discovering an FBI man standing before her,
the figure that appeared was none other than Vicky.

   
‘Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh help!’ she screamed.
She struggled frantically yet completely in vain to release herself. Vicky
simply looked on and just bided her time as she watched Dana struggle against
her bonds. She sat totally unperturbed and just waited patiently until the
police detective eventually calmed down enough for her to talk to her.

   
‘Good evening my dear old friend,’ she
started, with what she knew would be quite a difficult conversation at first.

   
‘
You
murdering child killer!
’ Dana screamed at the top of her voice. Vicky had
already decided not to react. Therefore, she just sat and waited a little bit
longer until the woman calmed down and fully regained her composure, before
choosing to continue.

   
‘Please note that I actually took the time
and energy to bring you here in the hope that you’d want to understand a little
more about what’s going on, especially seeing as how you knew Janus so well.
Although now, I’m starting to have second thoughts. I’m not so sure I should
even have bothered with you in the first place, if this is how you’re going to act.’
This last sentence certainly seemed to get through to Dana, who finally
relented, and then apologised to her abductor for her unprofessional behaviour.
She had no choice anyway, she wasn’t exactly going anywhere in a hurry, and so
she took the only sensible option open to her, and promised to listen to
Vicky’s version of events. After listening to what she had to say, whilst
trying her best to take it all in without being biased, Dana now had her
doubts, and she really couldn’t decide if a murder had actually taken place.
Officially she still had no hard evidence to support her claims just yet,
although Vicky had just admitted face-to-face to having destroyed the body. If
it was only a shell, as she was now being led to believe, then the question was
whether or not the boy had been killed, especially if his spirit had no longer
been in the body prior to its destruction? Another problem facing her, would be
the issue of who in their right mind would actually believe such a thing?

   
‘Let’s establish the reason for why you’re
here in the first place?’ Dana suggested. Vicky looked directly into her eyes
before shrugging her shoulders and giving what she deemed to be a more than
reasonable reply.

   
‘Ok! Let’s play it your way for a change.
Here I am, all alone with what I call ‘my mission’ and you have to understand
that at the end of the day, it’s
your
planet that I’m essentially trying to save.’ Dana shifted a little
uncomfortably in her chair. She then decided to plead with Vicky, now that she
had her undivided attention.

   
‘Please! At least untie me Vicky. It’s not
exactly all that easy sitting here trussed up like a damned chicken. Look, I
can’t believe for one minute that
you
with
all your superior knowledge and power really need my blessing in order to
continue what you obviously intend to do anyway.’ To say that Vicky was
disappointed with her response, would have been a bit of an understatement, and
the fact that the woman appeared to resent her so much, didn’t go down too well
either. Yet despite the animosity she was getting, Vicky still chose to untie
her, in the hope that this would help to defuse the current tension, gain some
sort of trust, and help change Dana’s mind. Having finally been released, and
massaging her wrists in an attempt to regain the blood flow into her arms, Dana
remained where she was and listened carefully to the rest of her account.

   
‘The media have long forgotten most of the
earlier stories about the so called
Ray
Gun Killer
who they kept going on about at the time. However, that’s now
classed as old news as far as the public are concerned, plus the killings
appear to have stopped anyway.’ She stared at Dana with hope in her eyes before
continuing on.
 

   
‘Nothing has been found to link this
individual to the abduction of Jamie Green so far, and as long as you remain
silent, I can assure you that no one will be any the wiser.’

   
Dana couldn’t believe the nerve of the
woman. As a matter of fact, she’d almost been coming around to her way of
thinking. Well that was up until Vicky had ended the statement by adding. ‘If
you just turn away and ignore me for a short while, then I can just get on with
the rest of my plan without any unnecessary interruptions. I can then get rid
of the last two children, and before you’ll even know it, the whole thing will
be over and done.’ Vicky then looked Dana directly in the eye, having captured
her complete attention, and then she simply sat back and asked. ‘So what do you
think now?’

Dana
did pretty well and stayed relatively calm. She knew the woman was already
peering somewhere inside her head, and knew exactly what she’d been thinking.
With this in mind, she gradually got up from the chair, as she didn’t want the
blood to rush to her head, and casually took off, as she headed towards the
kitchen. Dana pretended to be deep in thought about the proposition that Vicky
had just put to her. She knew she had to try her best to block her out if she
could. Then, as she passed by the dressing table, which stood slightly lopsided
on the uneven floor, she swiftly reached into the top drawer and carefully
removed a pair of regulation police handcuffs. She’d managed to achieve this
without Vicky even seeing her, and in some strange way, she felt extremely
pleased with herself. Dana knew she’d have to remain positive and move
extremely fast when the time came. The odds were completely stacked against
her, and seeing as she’d probably only get one chance, she really couldn’t
afford to screw it up. Seconds later, Vicky entered right on cue, without any
warning. Trying her best to remain level headed, in a well-practised manoeuvre
that she’d actually used before, Dana struck out with a neatly delivered karate
chop. In a single, perfectly timed stroke, Dana had somehow managed to catch
Vicky off guard, and then spin her around by using her own body weight against
her. While the opportunity presented itself, Dana immediately jerked Vicky’s
right arm up between her shoulder blades and instantly cuffed the metal ring
around her bare wrist. With no time to loose, Dana forced the surprised woman
backwards, using all the momentum she could possibly gain. While she still
appeared a little stunned, Dana remained firmly in control and hooked the
adjoining part of the handcuff onto one of the steel security bars that guarded
the window. Vicky struggled in a wild effort to break free. She then looked up
and shouted very angrily.

   
‘You stupid fool Dana. Don’t you realise
what you’re doing?’ Dana had already decided that she wasn’t going to hang
around and listen to her protests. She immediately dashed back into the living
room, and was all fingers and thumbs, as she frantically picked up the
telephone receiver and dialled for some much needed assistance. Having got straight
through and explained the current situation to her boss, she was literally just
coming to the end of the conversation, when she heard the sound of shattering
glass. Shouting out an apology and throwing the receiver down on the table, she
ran straight back to the kitchen to see what was happening. Once she entered,
Dana nearly heaved at what she saw when she stared across at where Vicky had
been standing just moments before. The thick metal bars guarding the now broken
window, had been physically pulled apart. This not only meant that Vicky had
escaped; it also meant that she must have leapt the enormous distance to the
ground below. This was a feat that would have been completely impossible for
any normal human being to have succeeded in doing, and if Dana hadn’t known
what she did, she’d have thought the whole thing impossible. What was more
disturbing however was the fact that although one end of the handcuffs still
remained attached to the bar, hanging somewhat obscenely from the other end,
was a section of severed arm. The limb dangled from the shiny metal ring and
looked like the sort of prop more likely to be used in a graphic horror movie.
It contained large lumps of raw flesh which were now exposed to the surrounding
air. There was also a crude exhibition of tendons along with what she knew to
be the connecting muscles that strained downwards towards the kitchen floor. A
mass of sinewy tendrils entwined themselves around what was recently Vicky’s
shoulder bone, and this protruded out like an accusing finger from inside the
dark bloody cavity. Dana was still in a state of shock as she walked back to
the abandoned telephone. She hoped he was still on the other end of the line,
as she needed to cancel the call for help and somehow manage to explain the unexplainable
to her boss.

The
complete repair of tissue and re-growth of peripheral nerves from the few
fragments of arm that remained, had taken just over fifty hours to fully regenerate.
It was a large limb to replace and it wasn’t something that could be rushed if
was to be done correctly.
 
In order to
achieve this, Vicky had needed to confine her body to what would best be
described as tropical style conditions. Therefore, in order to simulate such an
effect, she’d booked into a hotel for three days under a false name, and then
had to ensure that she concealed her missing arm in the process. A large coat,
she’d managed to gather on the way had helped. No one at the reception had
appeared to notice, and getting a room had proved quite easy to do. Having
requested that she wasn’t disturbed by any cleaning staff on their daily
rounds, she promptly found the room she’d been given and entered straight away.
Vicky quickly located the bathroom, and turning on one of the bath taps, she
instantly transformed it into a sauna, having ensured that the water coming out
was piping hot.

   
On Earth the re-growth of a major new organ
is mostly limited to lower organisms such as worms, which rather amazingly,
have the capability to grow whole new segments of their bodies. Such abilities
also apply to certain species of lizards, whose biological system allows them
to reproduce new tails, as and when required. Vicky had known from Janus’ past
that the Dra-Na-Zee had long possessed the skills to heal themselves. Yet she’d
taken a real gamble in escaping the way she had, because she wasn’t entirely
sure how good these powers really were, especially when it came replacing a
whole arm. In all honesty, Vicky had fully understood Dana’s reluctance to go
along with her plan. She did serve in a role where the main aim was to prevent
such atrocities as abduction and murder, after all. However, she had at least
tried to make her aware of all of the facts before going any further. She knew
it was only a matter of time before she became fully Dra-Na-Zee, both in mind
and body, which would complete the transition. Yet she still had a short time
left to finish her mission in what she felt would be the most merciful way. She
understood that this looked extremely barbaric on the surface, but that really
wasn’t what this whole thing was all about.

Tim
had just about had enough. Vicky was no longer around, and even when she had
been there, they’d always ended up arguing. The constant police harassment that
had been going on recently had also started to take its toll, and Tim was about
to put his foot down, as the time had finally come for him to stop being used
as a scapegoat whenever she wanted. The man was certainly nobody’s puppet. He
never had been and he never would be, so he sure as hell wasn’t going to start
doing so now. Admittedly, he always fell for the charms of beautiful women, and
he never seemed to learn his lesson until the last minute. But by then it was
usually far too late to do anything about it. Yet this time, as he was busy
packing his personal belongings, he made a solemn promise to himself that in
the future, Tim Blake would take top priority above
all
women. Now, with the savings he’d already put aside for a
rainy day, and once his friend Ian from the local estate agents, hopefully sold
the business for him, he’d have a nice little nest egg to fall back on. Right
at this moment, Tim honestly couldn’t think of a better time to finally put his
hard earned money to use. It seemed long overdue from his current perspective,
and it was only when you ended up in such a situation, that you’d finally wake
up and see sense. Fortunately for him, the police had already returned his
passport, having confirmed that they’d finished with him for now. Yet he hadn’t
forgotten that they’d also passed the remark that they’d certainly be keeping
an eye on him in the near future. Well as far as he was concerned, they could
jolly well go and take a long walk off a short pier for all he cared. He’d soon
be on his way to the Algarve, and then they could stick that in their pipe and
smoke it.

Duke
William de Pre’ sat ever so proudly in his domain. His office walls were
adorned with a vast array of hunting trophies that he’d steadily collected from
all over the world, as a result of his earlier hell raising years. This was his
place, and it was only accessible by a handful of reliable people that he
trusted completely. It was his inner sanctum. It was the room in which he believed
he could both physically and mentally escape from the everyday worries of the
world and feel fully secure. The morning post lay half unopened as he read the
text of the letter before him for a third time. This was a mixture of both good
and bad news, as it finally confirmed what he and his wife had both been
waiting for. It stated the courts final ruling on his dearly departed daughter,
and informed him that Marie’s suicide had been classed in the category as Death
by Misadventure.
Reading on, it finally
concluded that the case was now closed, pending any sort of appeal. This would
have to be carried out within a set time period, and added that her son Charlie
was now duly authorised to be cared for by his grandparents - The Duke and
Duchess de Pre’ currently
presiding at
Findon Manor. William was absolutely elated at having received the news, and
once it had finally sunk in, he hurried out of the room clutching the letter
tightly in his left hand. He felt on top of the world for a change, and
immediately shouted up the stairs for his wife with a booming voice, as he
decided to stride up them two at a time, which he certainly hadn’t done for a
good long while.

Following
a couple of aborted visits to the house, Dana and her colleagues eventually
decided to approach the estate agents, which they’d already found to be
situated along the main high street. Once there, they were slightly taken aback
as they were instantly told that the keys had been dropped back in at the
beginning of the week by the owner. It was here that they discovered both the
house and Tim’s garage were now up for sale, with him having thrown in the
towel without any prior warning. Evidently, he’d already headed off to Portugal
in order to get way from the countryside, and start a brand new life in the
sun. According to the estate agent they’d talked to, he seemed as happy as
anything.

Duke
William de Pre’ had originally taken the trip to London purely for business
reasons. His long time friend and accountant for the last nineteen years, a
well-groomed and pleasant man by the name of Ralph Maddox, sat across from him
as they relaxed in the solace of the Park Lane Gentlemen’s Club. They talked,
much as they always did, about current events, stocks and shares, and politics.
They both looked the part as they sipped the finest Brandy the establishment
had to offer, having just devoured a substantial three course meal together,
with William being a beef steak man and Ralph preferring to stick to the fish
selection. These meetings only occurred during each quarter of the year, unless
of course something untoward ever happened, in which case they’d agreed to
convene an emergency meeting, which fortunately they hadn’t had to do so far.
Both men really looked forward to these events and had never grown bored of
their conversations. In fact, some of the topics they discussed had been quite
controversial at the time, and they both liked ones that tended to represent
the odd challenge now and again. It definitely helped prevent any chance of
boredom setting in. Ralph lived locally in Kensington and therefore he only had
a short distance to travel whenever he went to the club. Duke William on the
other hand, owned a small pad situated just off Kings Road in Chelsea. He’d
been incredibly wise with his choice of investment and purchased the place just
four years earlier, when house prices had been at an all-time low. During these
trips to London, he always took full advantage of the opportunity at hand,
especially with regard to his sexual requirements. He would usually don the
guise of someone known as Duke Willy, whenever he went out on the streets and
sought a companion for the night.

   
Having already bade a fond farewell to
Ralph, the powerful figure of Duke William strode forward and promptly breathed
in the invisible killer of polluted fumes in the London air as he made his way
on foot towards the continuous bustle of Oxford Street. A tall dark haired
woman had suddenly appeared from nowhere, and as they collided with each other,
the folder she’d been carrying under her arm fell and spilled its contents onto
the grubby pavement directly at his feet.

   
‘Oh do forgive me young lady!’ He exclaimed
in his usual gentlemanly manner. Without even thinking about it, Duke William
was smitten the moment he gazed into the woman’s fascinating deep blue eyes.
They appeared to hold an almost hypnotic quality about them, and were something
he’d never seen the likes of before. Finding it very hard to look away. Not
that he wanted to. The Duke found he was absolutely lost for words, which was
totally unheard of for him under normal circumstances. Fortunately, Vicky broke
the silence as they both bent down to gather up the scattered documents at the
same time. They only just narrowly avoided banging their heads together in
doing so.

   
‘Lucky it’s not a very windy day. Otherwise
we’d both be running around like mad, trying our best to catch everything,’ she
said. Duke William soon gathered his wits about him and finally took the
opportunity to offer his sincere apologies.

   
‘Excuse me for
being so forward, and I can promise you that this is not what I would use as a
chat up line, but I wonder if I could prove how sorry I really am by taking you
for a drink sometime soon?’

   
‘Why Yes, that would be very nice indeed,’
she replied. ‘I’ve literally just finished what I came here to do, so now would
be an ideal time if that suits you.’

   
Without any further ado, Duke William
reached out and took Vicky’s dishevelled folder from her. He instantly switched
it over to his left hand and after gallantly linking his right arm in hers, he
quite literally frog-marched her into the nearest public house. As things had
turned out, this also happened to be one of his favourite haunts, whenever he
was in the local area.

   
‘Talk about being swept off your feet!’
Vicky exclaimed, as they sat peering at each other over a very expensive bottle
of wine. This had been supplied in person by the landlord, once they’d found a
table, which Vicky did find rather impressive. They sat together in a secluded
corner and talked to each other for hours, before Duke William eventually gazed
down at his Rolex watch. It was always amazing how time just seemed to shoot
by, especially when you became so engrossed in such deep and riveting
conversations.

  
 
‘My
goodness look at the time young lady. Without hoping that I’ve already taken up
too much of your time, I wonder if I can be so bold as to ask if you would you
care to join me for a bite to eat?’

Twenty
minutes later they were sitting at a table in very expensive restaurant, which
was normally virtually impossible to get a table in, waiting for their order to
arrive. Having contacts and money certainly came with many benefits.
 

   
In the meantime, Duke William leaned across
and informed his companion that members of the royal family had been known to
frequent this restaurant on occasions. Before long, the two of them were knee
deep in conversation again, but this time it was all about the pro’s and con’s
of supporting England’s long running aristocracy.

   
The Duke’s Chelsea home contained some
amazing antiques, one of which was his all-time favourite piece. This was a
small nineteenth century Japanese Okimono style Netsuke, and it was a piece
that had passed down through the family for a long, long time. This was a
high-quality figurine that depicted a couple of South Sea Island divers
struggling to free a chunk of coral from a reef. What made it far more
interesting was the fact that they were also under the watchful eye of a large
copper Octopus. Vicky looked much closer and couldn’t help but admire the
amount of work that must have gone into creating it. She also commented on its
intricate detail, and quite surprised Duke William with her knowledge about
such work. He was even more impressed however, when she then continued on and
pointed out that it definitely contained small amounts of beryl minerals, which
according to her, were more commonly known as emeralds. He also noticed that
her hand had settled on his leg. Its warmth could be felt quite clearly through
the material of his trousers, and he was already aware that he was starting to
get a hard-on.

    
A short while
later, and by some of the sounds coming from the master bedroom, anyone within
hearing distance would have thought that two young lovebirds had just
discovered the first joys of ecstasy. Duke Willy was certainly on cloud nine at
the moment, and he was attempting to regain his breath in time for the next
round, especially as Vicky was just about to straddle his erection once again.
Goodness only knows how the hell she’d managed to get him ready again. The pair
of them had been at it for almost an hour and a half, with the odd break every
now and again. Now and his manhood was beginning to feel quite sore, but as he
lay there he wondered just how much more of this rampant sexual display of wild
lovemaking he could physically endure. He was sure that for someone of his age
there had to be a limit before it eventually became far too dangerous for him
to continue. Fortunately for him, it did stop pretty soon after their next
session. He slept like a baby that night, which was just as well, because Vicky
wanted another round the very next morning. Seeing his concern however, she
finally relented and let him off after one quick shag.