The Grim Spectre (15 page)

Phylo Zeus sat at his desk and was going over his ledger and figures from his many clubs-his legal activities-he had already gone over his illicit ones earlier that day.

A knocking came from his doorway. He looked up to see Carl standing there, his fedora in his hands. His black and grey pinstriped suit was neatly pressed and looked impressive upon him.

“Well?” Zeus asked.

“Well, Boss, we found Billy and the boys, or rather what’s left of them,” Carl said.

“What do you mean ‘What’s left of them?’ What’d you find?”

“Down by the dock, we found their bodies, and they were all bitten up. We wrapped ‘em in sheets an’ brought ‘em back to the monkey doctor. He looked ‘em over an’ said it looks like they were bitten by snakes, but he said that was impossible ‘cause it would have to be hundreds of snakes.”

“Popadoo,” Zeus breathed heavily through grit teeth, “Go on, get outta here. I’ll go see Doc Simian myself. I have to see how far along he got on my special project anyway.”  

Zeus left his office and descended a staircase into a basement. When he reached the ground he walked down a long hallway and finally came upon a door  two of his men stood guard over.

“Is the chimp up?” Zeus asked.

“Yeah, he is, Boss. He don’t sleep much. He’s always fiddlin’ wit’ somethin’,” the thug on the left said. His name was Al.

“Okay Al, you and Steve here keep an eye on things for a while longer an’ then I’ll have you both relieved for the night, got it?”

“Okay, Boss,” Al said.

“You got it, Boss,” echoed Steve.

Zeus smiled and patted both men on their shoulders then entered the room. It had been a simple room in his basement, now it was a full-fledged lab, filled with beakers and Bunsen burners and a wall sized black board with chaotic scribblings across it. The odd shape of Dr. Simian stood hunched over staring at the black board in deep thought.

“Penny for your thoughts Doc?” Zeus asked.

Simian turned around and faced his employer. He removed a set of reading glasses from his nose and set them down on a nearby work table. Then he turned and said, “I am making progress, Mr. Zeus. Much progress indeed, actually. We are nearing our goal.”

Zeus smiled and said, “I’m glad to hear that, Doc, I really am. But my goal won’t be reached until this plan is implemented completely. Riverburgh’s gonna know who owns this town an’ everyone in it by the time we’re done. This is gonna be one helluva party, Doc. One helluva party I tell ya.” He slapped the man-ape on the back and exited the room, shutting the door behind him. Then he turned to Al and said, “Keep an eye on him. If he needs anything, I mean even if he needs to go to the bathroom, you tell me, got it?”

“I got it, Boss,” Al said.

Zeus turned and walked back down the corridor and ascended the staircase.

***

The next day, in the mayor’s office Mayor William Winston sat talking to one of his subordinates when his desk phone rang.

“Excuse me, Paul, it’s my secretary,” he said to the man seated opposite him. Both of them were smoking big Cuban cigars, and he placed his into a nearby ashtray before speaking into the phone, “What is it, Alice? I thought I told you I wasn’t to be disturbed?”

The woman on the other end of the phone call was nervous and it showed the moment she began to speak, “I-I’m sorry, Mayor, but you had better come out here. T-there’s someone here to see you, and he says he’s not going to leave until you do.”

“Throw the bum out, I don’t have time for this nonsense, I’m the most important man in Riverburgh. Get some of the boys in blue up here to escort this jerk off the property and you can tell them not to be gentle about it.” Winston leaned back in his plush chair and grinned at his guest, then reached and picked up his cigar. He took another puff from it with a huge grin plastered across his face. But then his secretary spoke again.

“I-I’m sorry Mr. Mayor, but he insists, and the police that I called, they didn’t do so well,” she stammered.

Winston slowly moved his ponderous bulk from his desk chair and his guest followed him curiously. Winston exited his office and entered the reception area. He stopped short immediately, so short in fact the man following him bumped into him in surprise at what they both saw.

The Grim Spectre floated terrifyingly in the center of the room, his hands glowing and sparking. He turned his terrible face toward Winston and raised one hand to point at the mayor, “You,” he said with his horrific voice, “You and I will have a meeting now, and I will not wait a moment longer. Nor will I be dissuaded from speaking to you.”

The Mayor gulped hard and looked around the room. Roughly a dozen police lay spread about the reception area, all moaning and groaning. Some were unconscious, but all were breathing.

“How? I-I never heard a thing out here,” Winston turned and asked Alice.

She shrugged fearfully, “Your office,” she said, “you sound proofed it when you were elected, remember? Y-you said you didn’t want to hear what was going on out here.”

“Enough! You and I are going to speak, and we will do it now,” The Grim Spectre commanded.

The Mayor’s guest began to follow the Mayor back into his office, fright coloring his face a pasty white, but the Spectre stopped him with a glance, “No. You will leave now. This is between Winston and I.”

“O-okay Mr. Spectre, w-whatever you say.” The man, who was named Baxter, backed away from the Mayor’s office then turned and ran down the stair case toward the exit, both terrified and gladdened that he did not have to sit through what was to come.

“Inside,” The Grim Spectre ordered.

Winston gulped hard and turned to enter his office. The nightmare avenger floated into the room behind him, passing through the wall instead of the door.

Winston tried to stay as composed as possible and sat back down behind his desk, fumbling with the items upon it momentarily.

“What do you want? You seem to have no fear of me or the police with the brazen way you just showed up here, in broad daylight, no less,” Winston said.

“Why should I fear that which cannot affect me?”

“I-I guess I get your point,” Winston nervously agreed, “Now what do you want?”

“You are an evil man, of that I have no doubt. But there may still be a glimmer of the good man you once were within you. I have come to offer you a chance for redemption,” The Grim Spectre said.

“You do know there’ll be a hundred cops here in a few minutes and they’ll all be gunning for you?” Winston asked.

“Whether you send a hundred or a thousand it does not matter William Winston. They cannot harm me, but I can most decidedly harm you. This is your last chance to turn your back upon your life of evil. Turn your back upon Phylo Zeus and his criminal activities and rejoin the side of the just and lawful. You are the mayor of this city and this city looks to you in times of crisis. Do not make the mistake of believing you are above the law and are untouchable. I can reach you anywhere you may hide.”

“Get out of here!” Winston shouted, “You don’t come into my office and threaten me like I’m some street thug. I am the mayor of this city, and I know what’s best for these people, these sheep who are too stupid to think for themselves. If I make a little profit along the way, well what’s wrong with that?”

“If you must sell your soul to make that profit there is much wrong with it, William Winston. Reconsider your position; if you do not, then I will continue to consider you an enemy and I will treat you as such,” The Grim Spectre said.

He pivoted in midair where he floated a half foot above the ground and floated toward the wall and then through it. A chill ran down Winston’s spine as he watched The Grim Spectre disappear.

Surprisingly, Winston burst from his seat and ran toward the door to his office. He swung it open and watched in disbelief as a veritable army of police stared at The Grim Spectre floating away from them. A Sargent shouted ‘Hold your fire, you’ll hit the civilians.’ repeatedly while the Spectre passed through a wall and disappeared completely.

Winston wiped his sweat soaked brow and back to the wall, slid to the floor in a heap.

Bobby sat at the bar within McNulty’s tavern. He had just finished playing for the night and his trumpet was in its case next to him.

“Good crowd tonight,” Brian, the bartender said. He refilled Bobby’s scotch and soda.

Bobby smiled and nodded before taking a pull off of his drink.

“I try my best, Brian, I try my best,” Bobby said.

“Well, you succeeded here tonight, Pal. That was the liveliest crowd we’ve had in here in weeks,” Brian said.

“I don’t think I can take all the credit; I think they heard the best bartender in Riverburgh worked here,” Bobby replied.

“Okay, okay let’s just leave it there then. You gonna need a refill or are you good?” Brian asked. He was a six foot tall red haired man in his early twenties. He had taken over running the bar from his father a year earlier and still wasn’t sure it was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

The door creaked open then, on noisy hinges and four young women walked in, one more gorgeous than the last. Brian leaned across the bar to Bobby and said, “You know, sometimes it ain’t such a bad gig runnin’ this place.”

Both men continued to check out the newcomers when Bobby turned back to Brian and said,

“You know what, Brian? Right about now you’re damned right.”

Both men clinked their glasses into the others with big smiles spread all over their faces.

“Is this a private party or can anyone join?” A sultry female voice asked.

Both men turned towards the voice and Bobby broke out intro a big smile the instant he realized who it was, “Tammy!” Bobby jumped off his bar stool and hugged his girlfriend, “Boy, am I glad to see you, Beautiful,” Bobby said.

Brian smiled, threw a bar towel over his shoulder and said, “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone, I have tables to clean.”

A second later Brian was gone in the crowd.

Both Bobby and Tammy turned toward one another, “So you made it after all,” Bobby said.

“Yes, I’m here, but a little too late to hear you play, I’m sorry,” Tammy said. She nuzzled up closer to Bobby and kissed him on the lips.”

“It’s okay, Tam, you’ve seen me play a hundred times anyway. So what’s up in the life of a big city reporter?”

“Well, I heard today through the grapevine, that The Grim Spectre paid another visit on our esteemed mayor the other day, in broad daylight no less.” Tammy said

“That is the rumor going around,” Bobby replied.

“So what I don’t get is how come The Grim Spectre didn’t just kill the mayor when he had him in his hands?”

Bobby took another long drink from his glass of scotch and turned toward Tammy, popping his fedora up higher on his head he said, “Maybe, My Dear, because The Grim Spectre is not a killer, at least not by nature.”

“Well he looks like a killer; hell he looks like a monster,” Tammy replied.

“I’ll give you that, but if he killed anyone it’s always been a gangster who was trying to kill him.”

“If he can be killed,” Tammy added

Bobby took one last pull from his glass and set it down upon the bar, “Hey Brian, I’m outta here; I’ll catch you next week. And thanks,” Bobby said.

“You’re welcome Bobby, see you next week, and thanks again,” Brian replied as he was just re-entering the back of the bar.

Bobby and Tammy exited the bar into the warm summer air.

“Night,” a pretty blonde said to both Bobby and Tammy as she leaned against the wall of the tavern outside.

Bobby tipped his hat to her and Tammy smiled. They walked past the woman and into the beautiful summer night.

Bobby wrapped his arm around Tammy’s and he held onto his trumpet with the other hand. The two of them walked down the sidewalk away from McNulty’s. The warm summertime night air was comfortable as they walked.

“So? What’s up with the world of the big time reporter?” he asked with a smile.

“Oh you know, still trying to come up with something with this Grim Spectre guy. Also trying to uncover something,
anything
that I can use to force this so-called mayor to resign.”

“I thought we talked about that? Wasn’t it enough that he wanted to keep you in jail for some trumped up charge? If The Grim Spectre hadn’t of intervened, you might still be there. I really think you should keep away from this guy. He’ll screw up and will implicate himself in some crime or another. Just be ready to write about it when it happens,” Bobby said.

“Oh…you don’t understand,” she hissed.

“What don’t I understand? Try me.”

“I’m a reporter; I have a…responsibility to let the people know what’s happening around them, to point out crimes that are happening right under their noses that they never see. As a reporter I’m sorta…a sacred guardian of the truth. I have to keep my eyes and ears open all the time…so I…notice things…” Tammy trailed off and pulled free of Bobby’s arm. She turned around and looked back at McNulty’s in the distance.

“Things like four gorgeous women walking in alone and a fifth one standing outside the door, like she was on guard duty or something?” Bobby asked.

Tammy turned and looked at him, “How is it that a musician has such good instincts when it comes to stuff like this? And how is it that if anything, they’ve gotten better in the last six months?” Tammy questioned.

Bobby shrugged, “Not important now, Hon. You should go find a Cop and I’ll keep watch on the place just in case.”

“Are you kidding me? I’m not gonna just stand around when there’s a story happenin’ right in fron’t o’ my eyes,” she said.

“There you go again, destroying the English language whenever you get nervous.”

“Cut it out,” she mumbled.

“Besides, it’s probably just our own overactive imaginations,” Bobby said.

Tammy turned and walked away, back toward the bar when gun shots rang out from the place.

“Does that sound like overactive imaginations to you?” she yelled back to him over her shoulder as she began to run.

Bobby caught her in two strides and grabbed her by the shoulders, “Hold it right there, Red. You’re not going anywhere near that place. Turn around and go find a cop like I said. You can write about this after it’s all cleared up.”

“An’ what’re you gonna do?” she asked.

“I’ll stay right here waiting for you to come back with that cop, or maybe a whole army of them. Just go hurry and find somebody before we hear more gun shots.”

Tammy turned reluctantly to run away, then Bobby grabbed her by the elbow, dragged her close and kissed her fully and passionately. Her eyes went wide at first then she succumbed and returned the kiss. He released his hold on her and slowly pushed her away, “Now go, hurry,” he said.

“I-okay I’ll be right back, an’ Bobby, t-that was nice,” Tammy stammered.

She turned and ran, her heels click-clicking down the sidewalk rapidly.

Bobby watched her disappear and then he turned and began walking back toward the bar.

A few buildings short of it he turned into an alleyway. He touched the plain leather belt about his waist and thought
‘The Grim Spectre.’

Instantly his clothes disappeared and in its place was his Grim Spectre uniform.

Wordlessly he floated upward and disappeared halfway up the buildings side. Invisibly he flew over the rooftops until he hovered over McNulty’s.

‘The guard is still there, watching the door, making sure no one gets out or in now. Tammy and I just got out in time I guess before they launched their little robbery. I’ll leave her for now and take care of the other four inside.’

The Grim Spectre flew invisibly through the rooftop and descended into the bar itself.

Inside, the patrons were all huddled on the floor, their hands held above their heads, interlocked on the back of their skulls.

The four women were blocking the various points of the bar. One, a blonde stood on the bar, brandishing a pistol. All four of them were dressed identically now; in leather with short skirts.

‘I have to play this smart or there could be a hundred dead innocents here. Wait a minute, where’s Brian?’

The Grim Spectre scanned the room and saw his friend lying in a heap near the bar, blood stained his shirt, but his chest continued to rise and fall. Nearby a shotgun lay just out of his reach.

‘I’ve got to draw all of their attention to me. My entrance has to be spectacular and stunning; something that will frighten the hell out of them,
’ he thought.

He hovered invisibly in the center of the room and thought,
‘Visible and blindingly bright.’

Instantly he appeared with retina searing brightness! His uniform radiated light like a newborn star!

“You evil women will drop your weapons and allow these innocents to leave immediately or your lives will be forfeit!” he roared, the magic belt somehow increasing his voices volume a hundred-fold.

“Shoot him!” The nearest one shouted.

All four women turned and fired their pistols at him in a hail of lead that roared like thunder through a valley. The patrons of the bar covered their ears reflexively and crawled flat on the floor away from where The Grim Spectre floated.

The woman standing on the bar aimed her pistol at his head and fired repeatedly, but the bullets merely sailed through him harmlessly and into the ceiling.

“Foolish wenches, did you think your terrible crimes would go unnoticed?” he roared.

He dove through the air and collided with the woman on the bar, becoming solid again as his right fist collided with her jaw. She fell to the ground behind the bar and was still.

“You ain’t gonna take the ‘Sin Sisters’ down that easily,” a black woman by the back door of the bar shouted. She continued to fire her gun at him. He turned in mid-air and flew toward her, his hands crackling with energy. He grabbed her by the throat and his ‘shocking touch’ flowed through her, rendering her unconscious instantly.

Now he stood again and turned his horrific visage upon the remaining two, “Yield or fall!” he shouted.

The two women turned and ran out the back door of the bar, and right into the three police officers who were just about to storm the place. They all had their guns drawn as the women burst out the door.

“Freeze!” one of the cops shouted from behind his car’s door, his gun aimed at the two remaining ‘Sin Sisters.’

“W-we give up; take us away, but inside-t-there’s some kind of monster, a ghost or something. S-save us from him. H-his hands glowed and h-he killed Miranda and Naomi,” A brown haired Sin Sister spat out.

Two of the cops looked at each other and quickly entered the bar. The third stayed with his gun drawn on the two women who were now down on the ground with their hands behind their necks.

Inside the bar the two cops cautiously made their way to the front but the bar was already empty, the patrons had all run out the front door the minute the remaining ‘Sin Sisters’ had escaped the wrath of The Grim Spectre. The woman at the front had been subdued already by the police in front of the bar.

One of the cops turned to the other after checking the two downed women within, “Their both breathing, but he was definitely here. This one’s got burn marks all around her throat. He got her good.”

The other officer replied, “This bartender isn’t in good shape, but he’s still breathin’. We need to get an ambulance here right away. He’s shot in the chest.”

Floating invisibly above the building, The Grim Spectre watched silently as Brian the bartender was driven away by a waiting ambulance a few minutes later.

He watched a moment longer, keeping track of the movements of one person in particular on the ground, Tammy Thomas.

She was interviewing as many people as possible, taking notes in her small pad and then scanning the sky as if she knew The Grim Spectre was still nearby and watching.

After a moment he turned and flew away into the night.

A moment later Bobby Terrano appeared from an alleyway between buildings and ran to her side, trumpet case in hand, retrieved from where he had hidden it. She hugged him immediately, obviously worried, and then continued to take notes from the bars patrons and the waitresses.