The Forbidden Script (16 page)

Jason arrives at the FBI forensic lab to find Kate buried in her laptop.

“What have you found?” Asked Jason.

She turns her laptop screen so he can take a look.

“It says here that when the moon is at its fullest, it increases the medium’s ability to interact with spirits and the world of the dead. Take a look outside. The moon hasn’t been this bright in years.”

Jason didn’t care much about the moon and all this medium crap.

His cell phones rings.

“It’s Jackie!” said Jason,

“Jackie, has she called you?”

Crying and trying to talk at the same time is making it difficult for Jason to understand a word she is saying.

“Jackie Calm down, it’s okay, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”

She takes a deep breath and starts over.

“Mr. Mallock, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”

Jason looks at Kate.

“What didn’t you know?”

“Tony Barrette and Travis are working together. They have taken Sally!”

“Where are you Jackie? Has she contacted you?”

“I tried to call her on her phone, and after I don’t know how many times, someone finally answered, but it wasn’t Sally. He has her Mr. Mallock. Tony has Sally and is taking her somewhere.”

“Jackie where are you? I’m coming to pick you up,” said Jason.

“On my way to the hospital emergency,” responded Jackie.

“Why? What happened Jackie?”

She tries to hold back the tears.

“I went over to Tony’s house, and his guard dog attacked me while I was searching the place.”

Jason raises his voice, but Kate squeezes his arm trying to calm him down.

“Jackie are you crazy? Going alone to that mad man’s house is insane. Kate and I are coming to meet you at the hospital,” said Jason.”

“Okay, Mr. Mallock. I just arrived at the emergency ward. Bye for now.”

Jackie hung up and went to seek medical help.

Inside the van, Sally regains consciousness and is now fully awake. She tries to break her bonded hands, but the nylon zip-ties are too thick. It’s dark inside, and she can hardly make out the persons opposite her, but recognizes Travis sitting next to her.

“Travis help me! What’s going on? Where are we?” She asks.

Travis grips her arm, squeezing it tight.

“Shut up, will you. If Tony sees you struggling, he will only sedate you again.”

“What do you mean? Why aren’t you helping me?” She asked.

One of the persons in the van spoke. “Travis! Shut her up will you, before I do.”

Sally has heard that familiar voice before.

“Who is that? I know that voice!”

The person stands up switching on the interior light. Sally starts to lash out, striking a blow to Rosie’s stomach, who bends over in pain.

“You bitch! You were both playing me all along,” yelled out Sally.

She recognizes the two other girls, also from Miami university, but has never spoken to them before. Rosie stands up slapping Sally hard across the cheek. Travis intervenes and stands between them.

“That’s enough the both of you, now sit down before a make you.”

Rosie sits down, holding her stomach from the pain. She was always jealous of Sally and had a huge crush on Travis. She felt Sally had gotten between them, hoping one day Travis will be hers.

Sally backs away and sits down, wondering if Travis had really loved her or was it just an act for him to convince her in participating in the medium sessions.

Flashbacks pass in front of her eyes as she remembers the fun they had together and when they kissed and cuddled in his dormitory room. It is so hard to believe he was playing her all along. She looks at him with a deep sadness in her eyes, wondering why he is doing this to her.

She turns to him pleading for an answer. “Help me Travis, please! It’s not like you, I know it!”

He turns towards her and unexpectedly takes hold of her, placing his lips on hers, kissing her for a few seconds. Sally is taken by surprise but responds to the kiss, hoping he has changed his mind. After they kiss he slowly backs away. Sally’s expression of sadness quickly turns to fear as she sees the back of his hand coming down towards her, hitting her hard across the face. She spins around from the blow, falling to the floor of the van.

Travis now stands above her as he looks over at Rosie, who is smiling, happy he is back to his usual self again. She enjoys the wild side of him and hates Sally for turning him into some soft, pathetic schoolboy in love. The sound of Sally falling catches  Tony’s attention. He looks through the glass window that separates the cabin from the rear.

He slides the window open.

“For Christ’s sake Travis! we want her alive, not dead!”

Travis then helps her back up onto her seat, but she pushes him away crying from his sudden outburst.

They keep driving along the coast road for another twenty minutes, when Tony starts to slow down and pulls over, stopping near the side of the road overlooking the cliffs. He gets out to take a look, but comes back after a few minutes, parking the van on the opposite side of the road out of view between some trees.

“We’re here. Everybody out!” he says.

The rear doors open, and Travis steps out first, followed by the two other girls Krissy and Stacy. Rosie tries to pull Sally out by her leg, but she holds onto one of the seats. Travis steps up, taking hold of her other leg and jerks her out landing her flat on her stomach.

Tony pushes Travis aside and kneels down next to her saying, “I can make it a lot easier for everyone. All I have to do is get my little black pouch, and you’ll be out like a light bulb.”

It’s around 10:15 in the evening and the moon has lit up the night sky making it clearly visible as they follow Tony over to the other side of the road. The view overlooking the sea is incredible as the whole horizon shines like glittering diamonds. All were curious to why they have stopped at this place. There is no beach within thirty miles, just cliff and rock.

Travis is the first to speak. “Tony! What now? Why have we stopped here?”

Everybody turns to look at him; even Sally is curious to know why they have stopped at this specific spot. Tony waits a few seconds before answering.

“Follow me, we’re not there yet,” said Tony.

He jumps over the low boundary wall and slowly walks down a narrow pathway just visible between the grassy slope. Travis takes his position at the rear behind Sally, making sure she doesn’t try to bolt off. After a while, they arrive near the seas edge of a small rocky bay. Suddenly Tony jumps down between some large rocks, then reappears with a rope in his hand. From behind a large rock he pulls in sight a twenty foot open-top boat which he rented a few days ago and hid it here for tonight.

Travis comes forth, taking the line from Tony. One by one they enter the boat with Travis casting off. Sally looks behind her as Tony slowly steers the boat away from the shore. She wonders however is her father going to find her now.

Meanwhile, Jason and Kate accompanied by Jackie drive away from the hospital after having decided they all go back to Tony’s house. Jason has made it clear that Jackie is to remain in the vehicle while he and Kate take another look around, certain he will find a lead to his daughter’s whereabouts.

According to Jackie, the group must have all left in a hurry with the possibility of having left something important behind. Before arriving at the house, Jason contacts Chief Berks, who has every agent working on the case. He also has back-up from the local Miami P.D. Leaving inspector Andrews in charge. Two police officers are stationed outside Danny’s room, making sure he doesn’t have any unexpected guests. Other officers are questioning anyone who has come in contact with Tony over the last few days, hoping he might have revealed his plans to them.

Jason pulls up just in front of the gate. He steps out of the car followed by Kate, leaving Jackie behind in the safety of the car. Before they leave, she reminds him about the guard dog inside the house. Peering through the closed gate, he and Kate can’t see the animal anywhere. They slowly open the gate being very cautious not to make a sound. Once inside, Kate carefully checks their rear for any sudden movement while proceeding across the lawn. They come to the basement window from where Jackie had escaped. Jason takes a look inside the basement room, then gives the okay sign to Kate. As he is about to enter through the open window, Kate places her hand upon his shoulder for him to stop.

Jackie, who is looking out of the car window, sees a dark shadow moving from the other side of the garden. It’s the dog, and it’s heading for Jason and Kate. The animal must have been in its kennel somewhere on the other side of the garden, hidden away in the dark. Jackie quickly rushes out of the car completely forgetting her injured ankle. She falls to the ground screaming at the top of her voice. Both Jason and Kate look to see where she is pointing. Then they see a large dark shape coming at full pace towards them. Jason quickly helps Kate through the window, then he also jumps through, closing it behind him. The glass window is the only thing standing between the rottweiler’s massive jaws and Jason’s face. He is lucky he left Jackie on watch, or otherwise the huge animal would have easily overpowered him. The animal’s barking and drooling mouth causes Kate to tremble in fear. Covering her ears, she turns and looks the other way while Jason manages to replace the loose panels covering the window, shutting the dog out of view. They smile at each other with relief as the barking, and snarling sounds are muffled behind the wooden boards. Jason puts his arms around Kate calming her down until her shivering body subsides.

They look around the room, searching through drawers and shelving. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, Jason stops and walks out of the room to where the stairs lead up to the upper level. He notices the ceiling in the hallway is higher than the room they are in. To his left are two other closed doors. Jason opens the first door, steps inside and turns on the light. On the far side of the room are two large washing machines and a tumble dryer. On the other side are shelving with cans of paint and some tools. He finds nothing of interest and backs out closing the door behind him. Kate continues looking through the few remaining drawers, while Jason tries to open the other closed door which seems to be locked, so he attempts to pick it. He tries a couple of times but does not manage to unlock the damn door. Jason swears to himself, takes a couple of steps back and kicks the door open, knocking the broken lock and handle across the room. He turns on the lights to an empty room, except for a large Persian carpet spread out in the center. Jason was about to walk out when he noticed something protruding from under the carpet. He bends down and lifts up a corner that is covering some kind of drawing. With one swift pull, he swipes the carpet away revealing a large pentagram just like they found tattooed on the dead girls bodies. Jason walks around it, then steps in the middle. He begins to imagine Tony performing his rituals with participants of his choice, unaware what they are getting themselves into. He clears his mind as he hears Kate calling out to him from the other room.

“Jason! I think I’ve found something, come hurry!”

He hurries out of the room to find Kate staring up at the false ceiling.

“What is it? What have you found?” He asks.

Kate points up to the ceiling.

“Yes the ceiling is false, I know that,” said Jason.

“Turn off the lights,” said Kate, still pointing up at the ceiling.

Jason turns off the lights and looks up in amazement as he sees the whole ceiling lit up like the night sky, revealing all its stars just like you would see in a planetarium.

“My god!” said Jason, “what is it?”

He went next to Kate, who is also awestruck at what they are seeing.

“This is amazing,” she said.

Kate moves over to the door and turns the lights on again.

“You can’t see anything in the light, only when it’s dark,” she said.

Jason noticed two large reflector lights on the walls, but no lights hanging from the ceiling.

“It’s phosphor, just like the luminous face of a watch. The more light it absorbs, the more it brightens up,” said Jason.

Kate, again turns the lights off, and the whole ceiling comes to life.

“We’re looking at the night sky, right? But what does it mean? Why create all of this?” Asked Jason.

Twenty minutes has passed, and Jackie is still waiting for them in the car as the Rottweiler prowls around the large garden. She tries calling Sally again but gives up after a few minutes. She prays her friend is alright and is still alive.

The boat was nearing its destination as Tony kept it at full throttle, gliding over the calm sea with ease. Sally recognized her cell phone ring tone. She saw Tony take one look at who was calling, then he threw the phone into the sea when he saw Jackie’s name flashing on the display. Everyone had their eyes on her phone as it slowly sank into the dark depths. Sally sees an opportunity to get up and charge at Tony, who has only one hand on the boats steering wheel. She rams herself at him, causing the vessel to turn suddenly, catching everyone off balance. Travis topples over onto Rosie knocking her overboard. She screams in panic as she hits the water, but manages to brace the impact and is seen waving her arms out for help. The two girls at the back managed to grab hold onto the boats rails. Travis gets to his feet just in time to see Sally about to jump into the sea with her hands still bound together. He knew she would sink to the bottom like a rock. He reaches out, grabbing her from her jeans pocket, pulling her back down onto the deck of the boat. She struggles to break free from his grip.

Travis shouts out at her, “are you crazy? You could have drowned.”

He held onto her until she calmed down.

“I would rather die by my own hands, then die by a scumbag like you!” Said Sally furiously.

Tony slowed the boat down, and then he took Sally by her hair.

“You will pay for this! Your time will soon come,” he said.

He pulled her into the front seat next to him.

“Tie her hands to the rail, and help Rosie back into the boat.”

Travis helps Rosie back in. Her face is a mess with makeup streaking down her eyes. She also lost her glasses but could make out Sally sitting in the front seat with a wide grin on her face.

“You bitch! What are you smiling at? Just you wait until I get my hands on you,” she said as she tried to pounce on Sally like a wild cat after its prey.

Travis managed to stop her in the nick of time.

“Whoa..! There Rosie, you’ll get your turn once we’re back on land,” said Travis.

At the rear of the boat, Krissy and Debbie kept amazingly calm.

Sally turned to Travis, asking, “what’s wrong with those two weirdos?”

He looked back at the two girls, then back at Sally. “Too much weed I guess.”

Tony made sure they were all seated before he pushed the throttle forward, continuing their journey. The wind was slowly picking up causing the sea to swell. The boat hurdled over the waves landing back down with a thud. One thing Tony did not calculate was the weather. He knew the gravitational pull of the moon would be much stronger and would have a bigger effect on the tides, but he forgot to check the weather report. He had no idea what he was heading into.

Over at Tony’s house things were not going anywhere, and Jackie was growing impatient waiting in the car. She got out and dialed Jason’s cell phone number.

It rang for a few seconds.

“Yes Jackie! Are you alright?” Came Jason’s voice.

“I’m okay, how about you guys? Have you found anything yet?”

Jason looked up at the ceiling.

“I believe we have, but we can’t figure out what it is, or what it means!”

Jackie looked puzzled.

“I don’t understand!” She said.

“Well, you have to be here to see what I mean. We found something printed on the ceiling, but Kate and I can’t figure it out. It seems to be some kind of map or chart of the night sky,” said Jason.

Jackie bit down on her lip.

“I’m coming in to take a look,” she said.

Jason quickly dismissed the idea.

“Forget it Jackie! You’re injured, and what about that damn dog outside? You can’t outrun it. That thing will tear you to pieces in no time.”

Jackie swore to herself.

“We can distract it away from the window somehow.”

On the other end of her cell phone, she could hear Kate talking to Jason.

“Do you think she can understand what this is?” She said to Jason.

Jackie answered before Jason could respond.

“Tell Kate if it’s a map or chart of some sort, then I have a chance of figuring it out. My father owns a yacht, and he frequently taught me how to navigate and read charts,” said Jackie.

Jason and Kate both agreed with Jackie’s decision. Time was running out, and they had to act fast. Jason thought of a way how to distract the animal away from the window, and trap it inside the house. If they left it outside, then they will all be stuck inside with that beast tracking their every move from the outside.

“Mr. Mallock are you there?” Said Jackie, still waiting for an answer.

“Yes, I’m still here. Listen, I’m going into the house and out through the front door. I will try and lure the dog inside the house. I need you to close the front door as soon as it is inside.”

Jackie thought for a few seconds. She put pressure on her ankle, which hurt under her weight, but was bearable to run on over a short distance. The only thing that worried Jackie was if the animal picked up her scent, and turned on her. She surely won’t be able to outrun it with her injured ankle, but she knew it was a risk she had to take.

“Okay, I’ll do it!” She said.

Jason removed the wood paneling exposing the glass window. Next he started banging his fist on the glass to get the dog’s attention. After a few knocks, the animal was swiftly back, snarling and barking like a mad dog with rabies.

“You are an ugly mutt aren’t you?” Said Jason as he backed away from the glass.

Kate gave him a hug before he ran upstairs.

“Stay here and try to keep it at the window,” he said.

As Jason moved slowly through the dark house, he could see every detail of furniture and item without the risk of turning on the lights. Jason wanted to make sure the dog stayed at the basement window. The house was quiet and had a cold, eerie feeling that Jason hated about these dark old houses. The furniture was old-fashioned and made the place even darker, reminding him of a mortuary. Down in the basement Kate kept her distance looking straight into the animal’s eyes, she could almost read its mind as it stared back at her. An animal like this had only thing on its mind, it had an instinct to kill.

Waiting outside with her hands on the gate stood Jackie looking out for Jason’s signal. She could see the animal in the distance and hear it barking. She wondered why Jason doesn’t just shoot the damn thing and get it over with. Then again, she knows that it’s against the law to shoot an animal especially when you’ve broken into someone’s property. Jason knew what he was doing, and she trusted him on doing it the right way.

Across the garden, she saw the front door of the house slowly open, then saw Jason as he stepped out from the safety of the house. He looked across the lawn at Jackie, who was about fifty yards away ready to enter the garden. She pointed to where the dog was. He cautiously walked out onto the front porch in the direction Jackie showed him. Jason was now just twenty yards away from the vicious animal, ready to turn and sprint as soon as it spotted him. A light breeze was blowing from behind Jason towards the animal, which was enough for it to pick up his scent. The size of the Rottweiler made Jason nervous. He was now having second thoughts whether to shoot it there and then. But instead he took a deep breath while the animal slowly turned its head towards him baring its teeth, saliva drooling from its mouth as it stood still sizing Jason up like a predator would its prey.

Beads of sweat ran down Jason’s forehead as the dog took a step towards him. Jason just stood where he was, not moving an inch.

“Jason! Jason! Run for Christ’s sake!” Shouted out Jackie.

Jackie’s loud screams caused him to turn and run as fast as he could to the front door. She entered the garden, but was waiting for a safe enough distance between herself and the dog to close the door once it entered the house. Jason was just ten yards from the door, but to his disbelief, the door was closed somehow. The dog was catching up to him pretty fast. He reached for the door handle trying to open it, but it wouldn’t open. Jason could hear the animals paws crunching over the loose gravel, expecting any moment now for it to bite into him. Suddenly the dog stopped and ran towards the gate after Jackie, who was jumping and shouting trying to attract the animals attention. To Jason’s relief it was working. Then it stopped again, looking back at Jason and then over to Jackie. The damn thing seemed to be calculating distance, choosing between Jason and Jackie. It chose Jackie and paced after her. Jackie was not taking any chances; she fled to the open gate and bolted it shut behind her. Blood was seeping through her bandaged ankle with every step she took. She sat down on the pavement peering through the fence over at Jason, who managed to open the front door. The dog stopped short of the chase as it saw Jackie behind the closed gate. It then went for Jason again, who was now inside the house. He made sure the door didn’t close on its own again, and then opened the door leading to the basement. Jason looked back as the dog entered the house, expecting Jackie to close the front door once the animal was inside, but the door remained open. Their plan had failed and were back to where they started.

Suddenly he heard Kate shouting, “Jason! Close the basement door behind you!”

She then shut the front door, trapping the animal inside.

Kate ran towards Jackie, who was sitting on the pavement holding her ankle.

Jackie said, “god! That was close. I couldn’t make it to the door. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay Jackie. I saw what happened, now lets patch your ankle up again,” said Kate.

Kate dressed clean bandages over Jackie’s wound. “Do you think you can make it inside?” She asked her.

“Yes, I think so with your help.”

Jackie stood up and limped with Kate’s help over to the basement window.

“Hey, Jason we made it!”

“Yes, we did, but are you alright?” He asked looking at her ankle.

“I’m alright now. Kate changed my bandage, and the pain is residing.”

Jackie sat down, taking the weight off her feet. Jason was ready to turn the lights off once she was seated.

“Here it goes,” said Jason.

All three of them looked up at the ceiling as it sparkled to life.

“Jesus! This is awesome! Just like a planetarium!” Said Jackie smiling.

Jason impatiently glanced at his watch.

“Can you make anything out of it Jackie? Is it a star chart? Or some navigational map?” He asked.

She studied it for a minute or so before replying, “well, I think it’s a bit of both!” She said with excitement.

“We know ancient civilizations used the stars to navigate from one place to another, from old maps and weird navigational tools that were discovered.”

Jason and Kate listened with interest.

“Yes, I know,” said Jason, eager for her to get to the point.

Kate asked, “tools! What kind of tools?”

“It’s hard to explain. Some used strings and shells, even sticks to construct maps, but most ancient civilizations used the stars,” explained Jackie.

She pointed to a cluster of stars on the ceiling.

“Look! There’s Orions belt, and that’s the big dipper. The brightest star is the north star, and it’s that star the ancient sailors used the most.”

Jason asked her, “okay, but can this sky map help us in any way?”

Jackie looked up at the ceiling, knowing something was missing, but couldn’t quite get hold of it. She fumbled in her jacket pocket for a smoke to help calm her nerves. Her fingers touched a small item she had in her pocket. Jackie took it out, holding a small notebook she had found earlier while looking through Tony’s drawers and cabinet shelves.

Jason saw the notebook and asked, “what is that?"

She opened it turning the first few pages.

“It’s a notebook that I found earlier on when I came here alone.”

Kate came over to take a look.

“It has some names written down. All girls names,” she said.

After reading out a few of the names, she noticed next to each name was some form of dots, and each of the names had a different pattern of dots.

“My god!” Said Kate, “look! These patterns of dots next to the names are just like some of the patterns of stars on the ceiling.”

Jason quickly came to see.

“You’re right! They are the same. Jackie can you match the stars on the ceiling with the ones here in the book?”

Kate gave the book to Jackie.

She read out the first name, “Claire has the star sign of Gemini, and Ruth has the star sign of Taurus.”

Jackie then searched for the signs on the ceiling. She found them both and pointed out to Jason where they were. Jackie matched a few more, then confirmed the book and the star chart on the ceiling correspond with each other, having a clue of some sort.