New
Arrivals
Author-Suzie and Author-Kate
Dunshee
Titles
Tales of Surprise
by Suzie and Kate Dunshee
Summary: A storm, stories--and a surprise.
Disclaimer: Some of the characters in this story belong to the UPN Network and Pet Fly Productions as part of the television show The Sentinel. I do not claim these characters as my own. No money has changed hands.
It was a dark and stormy night. The day had been warm and humid, and a thunderstorm had rolled in as the sun went down. Rain was pounding down outside as lightening flashed and thunder boomed.
Three men had finished dinner and were just settling down to watch the game, when there was a flash of lightening, a loud kaboom, another bright flash ... and then darkness. Not just darkness, but *blackness*, inside and out. The power had gone out.
Jim quickly located the flashlights and Blair brought candles from his room to shed a bit of light in the dark loft apartment.
"So much for the game," Simon sighed, sinking into the loveseat next to the couch in the living room, while Blair and Jim sat on the couch.
The three men moved to sit around the table, looking at each other in the dim light of the candle's glow.
"How about a game of cards?" Jim offered. "Maybe the power will be back on soon."
Then Blair spoke up, "Hey I have an idea, why don't we tell ghost/horror stories?"
"Sure," said Simon, surprising himself that he was so willing. "Haven't done that since Daryl was in Cub Scouts."
"Why not?" said Jim, always willing to indulge his partner.
"OK, who wants to start?" asked Blair.
"I'll start," said Jim, "this is a horror story with a riddle and I want to see if you guys can figure it out."
"Ohh, this could be interesting," said Blair, getting excited.
"OK, here it goes," stated Jim, "by the way this is based on a true event. Many years ago, there was this ranch, it was nice and well run. Well, one night it was dark and stormy, much like this night. Anyhow, the next morning, some people came by and found everyone dead in their beds. Now, all the doors and all the windows were locked from the inside. To this day no one has been able to figure out how the killers got in and out of the rooms, no one."
There was almost complete silence for the next few minutes, the only sounds being those of nature, for the storm, with its thunder was still going on.
Then Blair said, "whoa."
"I'll second that," said Simon.
"Well, do either of you have an answer to the riddle?"
"Let us think about it for a moment, Jim," said Simon.
"Yeah."
"Okay," said Jim.
Blair thought, 'Well if they didn't go through the door or window, they would have had to go through a wall, the ceiling, or the floor, since the first two don't make sense, I guess it must be the floor.'
Simon thought, 'assuming they didn't pick the lock or have a key, they would have gone through the roof or the floor, here the floor makes more sense.'
"OK, I have my answer, what about you, Sandburg?"
"Yep. Do you want to tell your answer or shall I?"
"I'll go, the killers somehow came up through the floorboards."
"Well, I got the same answer, Simon."
"How'd we do, Jim?" asked Simon.
"You had it correct, that is the answer, one of the future generation's hired hands figured it out, by realizing that there were crawlspaces underneath all of the buildings and ways to remove the boards while you were in the space. And no, you aren't the first to come up with it, but it makes the story more interesting the way I told it."
"Well, I guess I'd have to agree with you there, Jim," said Blair.
"Yeah, me too, would you like to go, Sandburg, or should I?"
"I'll go," Blair grinned, bouncing slightly in the chair. "I heard this story years ago when I was down in Mexico at an Aztec dig." He thought for a minute, making sure he had all the information in his head before starting his story. "Okay, at one time there used to be four suns in the sky. Over time each sun died until there was just one left ... that's the sun we see in the sky today. This fourth sun, Chalchuitlicy, had been a water goddess. She dressed in emerald green and was the color of copper ..."
"Leave it to Sandburg to come up with a story about a woman," Simon chuckled.
Jim grinned and nodded his agreement.
"Hey, it's my story! I'll tell it my way," Blair said, trying to sound indignant.
"Go ahead, Chief, we're listening."
"When the first humans appeared, Chalchuitlicu had been the earth's source of light and warmth for hundreds of years. The other Gods became jealous of her and criticized Chalchuitlicu for introducing fire to humans, because people tended to misuse it. On one particular night, the God of Darkness, Tezcatlipoca, accused the Sun God, Chalchuitlicu, of becoming vain and selfish. This really hurt her feelings and she began to cry. Her tears put out her light and torrents of rain fell across the land."
Blair stopped to take a breath, but found the neither Jim or Simon had a comment to make. With a satisfied little smile he continued his story.
"The ensuing flood from Chalchuitlicu's tears engulfed all the land and every man, woman, and child turned into fish so they wouldn't drown. But there was one family that survived to start the human race again. The Gods did their best to push the earth up out of the water, and finally succeeded, but it was still dark with no sun. There was no fresh water ... 'cause tears are salty. The Gods assembled at Tectihuacan, which is the Place of the Gods, and came to the decision that there had to be a sun and a moon. The Gods decided on a sacrifice and stated that whoever volunteered wouldn't live to see themselves as sun or moon, because they would have to change their form so the sun and moon could last forever."
Jim stood quietly and went to the kitchen and brought back three beers.
"Tecuciztecatl, who was the God of Snails and Worms, was the only one to volunteer. He was rich and vain, and thought that his sacrifice as the sun would bring himself immortal glory."
Jim opened each bottle, setting one in front of Blair and another in front of Simon before going back to his chair.
"But no one wanted to be sacrificed to be the moon. The Gods looked at each other, then at the quiet little Goddess known as Nana, the unsightly one. They told that if she agreed, they would change her body. But little Nana didn't want to die and the Gods told her that she might help children not yet born. Tecuciztecatl prepared himself by dressing in firy feathers and brightly colored robes, turquoise and jade jewelry, and a golden collar. Little Nana didn't have anything but a torn, thin paper dress to cover her misshapen body."
Simon remained silently amazed at the story unfolding, and also wondered how Blair could talk so long without taking a breath.
"The Gods built a huge roaring sacrificial fire in preparation. The sight of the fire had Tecuciztecatl trembling with fear, but little Nana sat quietly ... waiting. When it came time to jump into the sacrificial fire, Tecuciztecatl was too scared to do his duty. After several failed attempts, the Gods became frustrated and turned to Nana, ordering her jump. She smiled bravely, thinking about the good that her sacrifice would bring, and leaped into the very heart of the flames. Well, this pissed off Tecuciztecatl and he finally did jump, but he landed in a spot where the fire was weak and mostly ash."
Blair stopped and took a long drink of his beer.
"So, what happened to Nana?" Simon asked.
"An eagle swooped down into the fire and came up with a ball of fire and carried it to the eastern gates of Tectihuacan. Nana had become the sun and sat upon the clouds, and had become beautiful just like the Gods had promised. The Gods were happy."
"And what about Tecu ... whatever," Jim questioned.
"Tecuciztecatl became the moon. A hawk scooped him out of the embers and ashes of the fire, and he was dropped off at Nana's side, where he glowed grey and ashen. The Gods were majorly pissed at the moon for his cowardice and threw a rabbit at him, hitting him in the face. That's why, when the moon is full, you can see the scars left by that poor rabbit's ears and feet."
"That's it?" Simon said. "A rabbit?"
"Well, it was the closest thing there was to grab I guess," Blair said.
"I thought we were telling ghost stories here, Chief?" Jim grinned.
"Well, think about it ... you both were on the edge of your seats just waiting for something to happen. It did have you both going."
Simon sighed, "He's right there, Jim. It was a good story, Blair."
"Yeah, I have to admit that it was good," Jim conceded.
"Thanks, guys," Blair smiled.
"Okay, Simon, it's your turn."
"Yeah, here is one from my family's collection of stories. My parents grew up in New Orleans. They loved it, so even after they moved away, every few years they would return to it. This incident occurred a few years before I was born. There was this one restaurant that they enjoyed to go to every time they were in town, called Maxwell's. It was a Saturday night, it was fairly busy even though there was bad weather that night, for this was in the winter. They were watching this one jazz player, while waiting for their dinner to arrive. He was an exceptional musician. His name was Sam Cole."
Simon paused, and Blair asked, "so what?"
"I'm getting to that, but first I need to use the facilities." Simon returned a short time later.
He then continued his story, "Well, the next night my parents were over at friends of theirs, eating, when my mom decided to talk about the great music that they had heard the night before. Eventually she got to the point where she said, 'I especially enjoyed this one jazz player by the name of Sam Cole.' When she finished the sentence, both of her friends gasped. She asked, 'What is wrong?' The husband gathered his voice first and said, 'Sam Cole?' 'Yep, that's the name, what is it?' 'Oh, just Sam Cole died seven years ago in a car accident, the ironic thing was that the accident occurred right outside Maxwell's where he would perform and was to perform that night. They say every few months, he returns to play his favorite song there. It appears you have joined the list that have seen his spirit play.' 'Oh, my,' was all my parents could answer to that, and soon the conversation drifted off to other things. I'm not sure my parents ever did truly believe what they heard, but as much as I hate to admit it I believe they did see a ghost or spirit."
"Hmm, I never would have figured you a believer, personally I am, from all the things I have heard on my travels," said Blair in a slightly amused tone.
"I wouldn't be, but I have no reason to think that either my parents or their friends were lying, so as Sherlock would say, when all possible explanations are excluded, the impossible remains and must be true."
"What about you, Jim?" asked Blair.
"I don't really believe in ghosts, but I have to say the story made me pause, and I may have to rethink my convictions."
"I have to go, so Jim will start when I return, OK?" Blair said as he stood, grabbing a flashlight before moving towards the bathroom.
"Yep," said both Jim and Simon.
The rain continued to pour, but the intensity of the storm had lessened considerably. There was still the occasional flash of lightening, but the thunder was now a distant rumble. Jim stood and walked across the dark loft to stand at the windows that over looked the balcony.
Blair returned and set the flashlight on the table. "Okay, I'm ready now," he grinned as he settled into his chair again.
Jim continued to stare out into the gloomy night.
Blair looked across the table at Simon, who shrugged. "Jim, everything all right, man?"
When the big man didn't answer, Blair and Simon went to see what Jim was so intently looking at.
"Jim, you okay?" Blair asked softly. His voice conveying worry as placed a gentle hand on his Sentinel's shoulder.
Without moving, Jim said, "There's someone down there."
"Where?" Simon asked, peering out into dark.
"Across the parking lot."
There was a flash of lightening that threw a dim glow over the wet world outside.
"Yeah," Blair said. "I see him now."
Whoever he was, he was dressed all in black with a long black trench coat and a wide brimmed black hat. With his collar turned up and the hat pulled low against the weather, there was no way that even a Sentinel could see the person's face. In the inky blackness, Blair and Simon would not have seen the man at all if not for the lightening and Jim's pointing him out.
"Wonder what the hell he's doing standing out there on a night like this?" Simon questioned.
"He looks like a spy," Blair said with a grin.
Jim and Simon both looked at Blair and said, "A spy?!"
"Yeah, you know, like in those old black and white war movies. The spy *always* dressed like that and stood on dark street corners."
Jim snorted.
Simon just grinned and shook his head. "Yeah, and maybe he knows about Jim being a Sentinel and wants to find a way to lure him to the *other side*."
"And the storm didn't knock the power out," Jim chimed in. "He did it to make it easier to get to me."
"Don't even think that, man." Blair shivered next to Jim. "That really is a scary thought."
Jim put an arm around Blair's shoulders and pulled him into his side. "Don't worry, Chief. They can't sneak up on me ... remember? I'd hear 'em coming."
There was another flash of lightening and the trio, once again, got a quick look at their *spy*.
Blair reveled in the comfort and security Jim offered. "Yeah, I know, but still ..."
With a quiet hum that only a Sentinel would hear, the lights came back on. Jim, Blair, and Simon blinked in the sudden light.
"Great, maybe we can catch the end of the game!" Jim said, stepping over to the TV to turn it on.
"Hey ... look," Simon said, calling the two back to the windows. "He's fading away!"
"Fading away, that's spooky," said Blair with a shutter.
Jim and Blair looked at each other, then joined Simon again. The streetlights illuminated the parking area below and they all looked, but there was no sign of the man. He had disappeared without a trace.
"Um ... the end of the game is on," Blair mumbled.
"Yeah, let's watch that," Simon said, following Blair in the direction of the sofa.
Jim stood a moment longer, his heightened sense reaching out, searching the surrounding area for any sign of discord.
"Jim, you coming?" Blair called.
Jim smiled and turned back to join his friends. Everything was quiet for as far as Jim could stretch his abilities, but he couldn't help thinking about the man in the trench coat and hat. It had just been so ... odd. What if that guy had been ...nah, well Simon did say fading away. 'Nope, don't want to think about the possibility of ghost regardless of what I said earlier.'
Shaking himself slightly at the direction his imagination taking, Jim said to himself, 'Ghost stories and spies! Next time the power goes out, we're playing cards!'
end