Chapter 1

Adam Yates frantically pushed the brakes as his mind grasped the horrible possibilities. His car slid one-way then another as he quickly turned the steering wheel to avoid the car racing through the intersection. He remembered belatedly to pump the brakes to keep the car going straight. The small red Japanese car continued through the red light as if unconcerned about the consequences. Adam's 79 Ford Granada slid through the intersection then toward the right side of the road. There was a small bump and then the vehicle came almost to a stop. The back tires hung for a moment over the deep ditch and then it slowly tipped. The car slid down the snow covered incline and came to an almost gentle stop. It was resting half way between vertical and horizontal.

Adam shook himself and tried to get his hammering heart to slow down. There had been no violent shocks so there should be little damage but there was no way it would get out of the deep ditch without at least one tow truck. Adam thought of his finances and knew he had only a dollar and seventy-three cents in his pockets. His bank account had less than a hundred dollars and he was unsure if that would be enough to get the car out. His thoughts on the driver were harsh but not vicious. He figured that he or she should be forced to get driving lessons at the very least. More violent responses were not in his nature.

The engine had stalled again and Adam shut the car off and removed his keys. When he was sure everything was stable, he pushed hard on his door and it creaked open. It was difficult to slide up the seat and out the door. Once out he mentally kicked himself and had to go back in to get his lunch pail and thermos. With both secured he found the thermos rattled and he knew that it had broken even though it was empty. He took it anyway and looked for anything that he would need for the next few days. A piece of paper reminded him of his duties so he took a pen from the glove box and soon found that it would not work. A broken pencil was broken once more to expose some of the fresh lead. A short explanation of the incident then his name and phone number were written on the bottom. The note would hopefully stay on the dash for the police to read.

Getting out this time he dutifully locked the door then labouriously climbed three metres to reach the crest of the snow-covered embankment.

He was on Markham Road and wanted to head south to his home. Just behind was the intersection to Steeles Avenue and a six-kilometre stretch of open railway lands and industrial sections. Through his thick glasses he could see the snow blowing sideways in the strong wind. Far to the south he could barely see the CN Tower near Toronto's waterfront.

He looked around for some help but he had been on the afternoon shift and had to stay a few hours over to send a shipment on its way to Montréal. Nobody would stop for him anyway.

The sky was black with small clear lights both in the heavens and on the earth. His exhaled breath showed the frozen condensate. The cold wind quickly took the small cloud into the night. There were no pedestrians about and the only grouping of lights were in the distance. Even beyond this would be his home in Scarborough, a community in Toronto's eastern side.

Bundling up as good as possible, he looked around and started to walk. The toque on his head and his wool mitts were not enough for the biting wind. It went through his trousers and up the lining of his parka. If he was lucky someone would take pity and give him a lift but that never happened. The packed snow crunched under his feet but none of the cars or trucks going his way stopped at his outstretched thumb. He figured this was the way it always was. He seemed to have been born under a dark cloud. The buildings in this area were all industrial but became commercial closer to his home.

At 57 he remembered his youth. His features had been fair and to tell the truth he still looked at least common. Schoolwork had been easy but there were always bullies that found it necessary to make his life miserable. His father was arrested when he was just eight. His mother had told him that he had gone for and extended stay in the 'hospital'. His father had never returned though his drunken mother once mentioned that he had only been in there fifteen years.

Real friendships were never made but on occasion he would have an acquaintance to chat to for a few moments. When puberty arrived he was unprepared and had nobody to turn to, to find out what was happening. Girls that he suddenly found interesting wanted no part of him. The bullies seemed to find more ways of making his life a hell on earth.

Luckily he was an only child. This was preferable to having his home life made even worse. His mother collected welfare and either drank or smoked most of it. She had a weakening disease that would have kept her from working if a job had been available. Books were his sole refuge and his library card one of his most valuable possessions. Science Fiction, History, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry were studied far beyond his years. Reading an interesting book enough times allowed him to absorb the information even if it was by rote.

He started out as a paperboy then to a clerk in a grocery store so he could make some money but most of it went to his mother and her vices. She at least didn't bring men home, which Adam was happy about.

When he finally graduated high school it was necessary to work instead of going on to college or university. With a dependant he was not able to spend his money trivially on girls. When he was old enough, the welfare his mother got for him disappeared but she continued to get a lesser amount for herself.

At thirty five he met a woman that was interested in him. A quick marriage, against his mother's wishes, ended almost as quickly when Marcy couldn't put up with Adam's mother anymore. At thirty eight he had not risen from the bottom of any organization he worked for, they seemed to all find less work and have to cut back or go into receivership.

Four years later Adam's mother Rachael died of complications from her smoking that she refused to abandon. Adam was now free of her but now had an empty apartment to come home to every night. Employment was readily available but he always had to start at or near the bottom of the ladder. Some companies looked at his employment records and thought him to be a jinx though his work record was perfect. He began to leave out some of the companies that had gone into bankruptcy but that felt like lying and that left a sour feeling in his stomach.

He tried to help those in trouble in his neighbourhood. The pretty women or those with children got more aid but rarely did he get anything in return. He had to pay a hooker to relieve him of his virginity at almost thirty and to this day the only freebie was with Marcy but she took what money he had in the bank when she left.

Adam had to stop and rest even though he was not walking fast. A pain in his chest told him to watch out. Under OHIP, he was able to get medical attention through the provincial government plan. He found that he had a heart condition to add to his worries. There was very little that could be done and a rest with no money was impossible.

When he recovered he continued on his way. There was still an hour and a half's walk and though his ears, hands and feet were getting cold he figured he could make it. Of course if he didn't then that was ok too. Life was not that precious to him. Here his luck would probably fail him too. He figured he would end up being forced to live as a cripple or in pain and unable to end his miserable existence.

He was angry that he had to take his pail and thermos because his hands could at least be in his pockets. Forty minutes later his finger tips and his toes were numb. He figured he would get frostbite now. This would put him off work and that meant that he would get fired one more time. The present job was working in a warehouse and had risen to the position of dispatcher but that also meant that he had to do his share of loading and unloading stock. He had been late many times because of his car but he could afford nothing better.

Transport trucks came by more regularly now and the wind of their passage sent shivers down Adam's back. There was no sidewalk and the snowbank ruled out walking further from the road. After the latest truck went past he could hear a disturbance ahead but no distinct voices. Adam turned his head and closed his eyes to further concentrate on the sounds. He missed the silent flash of violet light from the construction area about three hundred metres ahead. No further flashes were seen and the noise had stopped too.

When Adam got close he found an area between two trailers that had no snow of any kind. Looking into the dark area he could see nothing amiss. The noises were dismissed and Adam resumed his trip home. He was twenty metres past this area when he heard the groan. His hearing was not that good but he seemed to hear this with his mind but this was stupid. He did suspect that somebody was in trouble and he looked for an easy way across the ditch beside him.

Adam ran or rather walked faster the way he was going and turned to the right to enter the construction site. All sorts of ideas were going through his mind but he had never failed to come to someone's assistance if they called to him. Walking through the deep frozen ruts in the land, he searched for the cause of the noise. When he got near the trailers he could see very little. Some areas were vividly eluminated and others not. With only a bit of hesitation he went into the dark area.

Metres beyond the trailers and beside a cement block wall he saw a leg lying on a pile of plastic covered masonry mix. A light on a pole partially illuminated this area. He rushed closer and saw three others dressed similarly in dark outfits that were unsuited to the weather conditions. He knelt beside the first and saw that the man's face was burnt completely off but the clothing was not even singed.

The chest was not moving and he didn't have to feel for a pulse to know that the person was dead. Getting up and looking around, brought him to one more dead person. The cause of death was the same and he looked until he found another. This one had been decapitated and one more seemed to be turned inside out. Organs, blood and bare muscle were all that he saw.

Adam could barely contain his gorge at the sight. These were the first people, other than his mother or a body at a funeral home, that he had seen. A small sound to his right alarmed him and he turned fearing that he too would join those already dead here.

On closer examination he saw an old man dressed in an expensive business suit but he too was out of place. Going closer he could see a small movement of the rib cage. Now hurrying he tried to see what he could do. His hands were free after leaving his lunch pail and thermos beside the first corpse.

The man was indeed old. He was short, had long white hair and his skin was wrinkled as only a very aged person could be. One hand when he moved it out from under the torso showed the typical disfiguration of age. Beside the man was an old wooden cane but on closer inspection was too long and must be a walking stick. On the other side was a leather tube almost a metre long and eight centimetres in diameter. It was capped with leather at both ends and had a strap as if it were carried over a shoulder.

The man's face suddenly reminded Adam of his long dead great grandfather. As a boy he had watched the old man dying and had been old enough to call the police and that was long before there was such a thing as 911. The ambulance had come and taken the old man away and he didn't even get a chance to say his goodbyes. His mother didn't take him to the funeral. He never got over his feelings of helplessness.

Adam had taken first aid courses when they were given free at his place of employment. He did what he could now. The man was in shock and didn't respond. Thinking about the man he took off his parka quickly even though the cold wind was still biting his flesh. It was placed over the man and Adam got up to run to find a telephone.

As he stood he could hear footsteps approaching in the snow and felt relief that he didn't have to run very far. He knew that time was important for the old man. The steps got closer as Adam approached them. He was phrasing the words about the man as he saw the clothing of the three newcomers. They had the same clothing as the dead men.

Adam saw the man in the centre who was a metre ahead of the other two, grin widely at seeing him. Adam said, "There is an old man on the ground. He's seriously hurt. I don't think he'll live without some medical attention."

The man he spoke to looked beyond Adam to examine the unconscious man on the ground and completely ignored the bodies. "I don't think you have to worry much about his health any more. He will be dead soon and it is about time. He has plagued us since Rome became a republic."

"I don't know what you are talking about. He's only around ninety. He needs help and if he gets it in time he may live."

The man smiled again and said, "That's all right, we don't want him to live."

Adam was shocked at this declaration. He had met some very bad people in his life but none seemed as bad as this man or his two attendants. All three took a step forward and out of the shadow. They moved as if given a silent order and Adam retreated. He looked around and saw a wide mouth shovel with a 'D' handle. He rushed for it and picked it up threateningly as he stood almost over the man lying on the ground.

"Stay back. I know how to use this and I will hurt you. Leave the man alone." Now Adam saw all three grin at him and it reminded him of nothing more than a group of three sharks ready to feed.

The leader was just three metres away and whipped out his hand. Adam had time to think it held a gun but he saw nothing. The wooden handle in his hands reacted as if it had been struck with an axe. Adam was pushed backwards a step and found he had two portions of shovel now.

Adam was now the most frightened he had ever been in his life. He didn't understand what was happening but he knew that if he failed the old man's life was forfeit. Brandishing the two portions menacingly, he took a step forward to his old position. He was sure that it would mean little to the three men.

The grins on the three got wider than before. Adam felt himself being picked up by invisible hands and thrown contemptuously at the cinder block wall six metres away. He had just enough time to curl so his head didn't hit. As he slid to the ground the only thing he could think of was his grandfather and what he had failed to do almost fifty years before. Blood was running down his face and his hands were slippery with the substance.

The work glasses had come off but the strap around his neck ensured that he wouldn't lose them. They were put shakily back in place. It was difficult to get back on his feet but he did. He was surprised to see the two pieces of the shovel nearby and he picked them up to fight with. The grip was not very good as the wood kept slipping. The man curiously hadn't moved and he got part way back to his position close to the old man when he felt a blow to his body. He bent over in encrusting pain. Tears were in his eyes but he knew that he had to get up quickly. He tried to gain his feet but stumbled twice before standing with a shovel blade over his stomach as if this would prevent a reoccurrence of the blow.

The three men said nothing but Adam took one staggering step toward them and felt his left arm grasped by unseen hands and twisted slowly upward. Adam screamed until he heard the unmistakable snapping of his bone. He felt the jagged end rip through his skin. He was released and fell heavily to the ground. The pain was so great that he should have been rendered unconscious but he couldn't find refuge there. His bad luck was still following him here and would not allow it.

The men seemed to look at the old man now as if ready to feed. Their opponent was now less than nothing. Adam had a great deal of difficulty but managed to get to his feet with one arm and a nearby pile of blocks. His left arm hung down towards his feet but that didn't seem to matter now. If he died now there would be nobody to mourn. A quick death would deny him the life of an invalid or a man that would not be able to end it all.

A wooden stake used for surveys was lying at an angle beside the blocks and he unsteadily reached for it. It was frozen into the mud and it was a torturous hell to get it loose. The old man was being raised horizontally from the ground by an unknown force as Adam got close enough to bring his makeshift club weakly down on one of the three men that now ignored him.

The old man fell back to the ground. Immediately the man he hit flung out his hand but this time a long bladed knife was there. He felt it slip between his ribs with very little pain or difficulty. When the knife drew back for another plunge he saw the old man slowly trying to get away now that the three had stopped focussing on him. Adam's life was over and all he could do was give the old man a few more seconds of life. He yelled as loud as his punctured lung would allow and he tried to bring his wooden lance around for one more swing at what the books called his mortal enemies.

The stake only came up a metre before Adam fell to the ground and the three men moved so his blood-splattered body didn't touch theirs.

I woke up and felt pain in my arm and vividly remembered the fight. When the memories came to me, I wondered why I wasn't dead. My right hand felt my chest and only found a small lump like what I would get just after a scab had left. The left arm was still sore but I could flex my hand and that was something that could not happen with a broken arm. Though it was painful, I brought up my left arm and found it bare but whole. There was some new pink flesh where the bone ends had come through the skin.

I tried to get up but found I couldn't. There were no visible straps and my body seemed strong enough but I could still not move very much. Looking around the large brightly lit room I saw that I was in a large laboratory. Black topped tables sprouted a rigid framework and this supported all kinds of glassware. The room stank of chemicals and there were all kinds of apparatus around me being used.

Off to one side was a bank of computers and a large screen that must have been three metres across showing data with characters from languages I had never seen before. Turning my head to the other side I saw a long wall of cages. They were of all sizes, and contained all sorts of animals. There were hominids, reptiles, amphibians, and even some rabbits. Other cages held odd animals that he had not seen before and to be truthful I would never want to see. Some had large teeth and claws. It was the ones that looked helpless that were the ones that seemed to frighten me the most. They had the same kind of features as the three men that had almost killed me.

No sound came from the animals though I could see the animals mouths move to complain about their captivity. I looked down at my feet and tried to move them so I could get out of the invisible bindings. I was completely naked without even a sheet for privacy. I worked harder and harder to get loose until I started to panic. I remembered my bad heart and forced myself to calm down. I felt like one of the animals in the cages across the room.

Chapter 2 »