Read The Forgotten Eden Online

Authors: Aiden James

Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction, #Action & Adventure, #Horror, #Dark Fantasy, #Fantasy

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BOOK: The Forgotten Eden
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Jack quietly shook his head from side to side, knowing why, but wishing he didn’t.


A goddamned golden mist started pouring out of the Tower Den’s clubhouse. It headed right for him, and then the thing
took him!

Peter drew closer to Jack, his rage and pain radiating heat fervent enough for Jack to feel it from where he sat.


The uncle and his niece screamed through the window for him to get away from the mist, but this innocent little kid walked right into it!” His voice trembled, the tempest within gaining strength. “All of a sudden, the mist began to shimmer, growing brighter until the entire backyard seemed immersed in an ethereal fire. The intense energy from this thing became so unbearable that Jenny and her uncle were forced to turn away.


They ran downstairs crying, and alerted the adults about what had happened. As it turned out, Robert noticed the strange glow and passed it off as the setting sun enhanced by the security lights that had just come on. Once Jenny and her uncle explained what they witnessed from upstairs, he recognized his discernment error. The golden light emanated from the east—not the west, as it should have.


Bobby’s parents sprinted for the door and threw it open. But when they stepped out onto the patio, the strange mist and its incredible intensity had already vanished, along with any trace of Bobby….”

Peter looked away from Jack and sat down on the concrete floor.


Carrying on like this must look pathetic, I’m sure.”

He dabbed at his eyes with his suit coat’s sleeve, looking back up into the younger man’s bewildered face.


If you can bear with me for just while longer, I’ll tie everything together,” he said, his voice hushed. “I believe you can guess that Bobby was never seen or heard from again. When his mom and dad ran out onto the patio, Eileen fell to her knees and cried uncontrollably. She kept saying, ‘They came to take my baby, and he’s
never
coming back!’ Robert couldn’t console her, nor could anyone else.


Jenny, her uncle, and her grandparents were outside with them by this point, searching for Bobby throughout the area. All efforts to find him proved in vain, as if he vanished into thin air! The last thing ever found of him was the Raven Wolff outfit, which Jenny discovered lying on the floor of the Tower Den’s clubhouse.


The entire neighborhood soon joined in the search, and later the police. Eileen’s father had recently retired from the FBI, and obtained the agency’s assistance.


A small breakthrough came the very next day…. A police canine unit picked up Bobby’s scent and followed it for nearly three miles into the forest, until it abruptly disappeared near a small bubbling hot spring. For much of the distance tracked by the dogs and their trainers, a strange set of markings lined up next to Bobby’s scent. At first, the only thing determined from the markings was that they were some kind of footprint. No one could tell what kind of creature had made them, but they weren’t human. Near the end of that week, a prominent zoologist flown in from Memphis identified them, though only generally. The tracks were reptilian.”

Peter’s eyes danced, intently studying Jack’s reaction to this last statement, as if fully expecting some important revelation to come forth. When it didn’t, he looked away and shook his head, frustrated.


Goddamn it
,
Jack! What’s it going to
fucking
take??” he implored, wearily. “You’ve
got
to help me out here! I mean, you’ve got strange reptilian footprints in Carlsdale, Alabama. Then, there are smaller, but nearly identical ones found near Jackson, Mississippi…. You’ve got a strange golden mist outside your home in Carlsdale, that your next-door neighbors, the Palmers, confirmed they witnessed. Then another one is witnessed by Bobby Northrop’s sister and uncle just three months later.”

Jack silently met Peter’s expectant gaze head-on, unwilling to concede anything just yet.


All right ...that’s fine,” Peter acknowledged, nodding as if he just read his thoughts. “Let’s move forward, then. Apparently it’s not enough that I’ve humiliated myself before you and my colleagues. Or, is it?”

Jack remained stoic. He needed more time to absorb this story before responding.


Very well. Follow me deeper into my personal hell.” The agent sighed, forcing a pained smile that almost broke Jack’s steadfast refusal to validate the account.


I’ll bet you’re wondering why this means so much to me...right? Did you know Eileen Northrop told her husband, Robert, that she felt like they were being watched by an unseen presence located somewhere in the woods, which started soon after they moved into the house?”

Jack raised an eyebrow at hearing this. Encouraged, Peter continued.


Did you ever see a photograph of this amazingly beautiful woman, Jack?” he asked. “Here, check this one out...taken the day before Bobby’s disappearance.”

Peter pulled out several photographs from the inside breast pocket of his jacket. He placed one of the pictures directly in front of Jack on the table, who recognized the image of the woman standing in the middle of the photograph. The last time he saw this person’s likeness was on a tabloid cover years ago. Over time he forgot the names involved, but always knew the Northrop’s tragedy was connected to his own.


I thought so,” Peter whispered, after seeing Jack’s subtle nod.

His tone completely void of any triumph, he stood up and brushed his suit off. He moved back to his side of the table. Jack’s blurry eyes followed him.


Eileen never recovered,” he resumed, his voice hollow and barely audible. “She died the very next spring, leaving her grief stricken husband to care for their only remaining child. Shortly after that, in June, Eileen’s mother passed away suddenly from a stroke. The doctors told her husband and Eileen’s younger brother, who had just turned nineteen and was finishing his first semester at Lehigh University, that her health was likely impaired by the stress and sorrow she’d endured over the previous eight months.”

Jack sniffed and Peter abruptly stopped. The younger man’s façade was crumbling.


This only gets worse, my friend,” said Peter. “Remember I told you we share the same hell? I’m quite serious about that.”

He slipped back into his chair, his shoulders trembling as if he might start bawling again at any moment.


You see...Eileen Northrop was my sister. I was the nineteen-year old uncle at Bobby’s birthday celebration, and the only one to watch him disappear into that
goddamned mist!!
I’m still the one who routinely checks up on my niece to make sure she doesn’t take her life when she enters one of her many deep depressions. And it’s up to me to make sure her grandpa, my dad, the former FBI agent Merten McNamee, doesn’t do the same thing by swallowing the barrel of his service revolver!”

Peter buried his face in his hands, the burden of sorrow far too big for him to carry any further. He broke down and sobbed, seemingly oblivious to how he looked to anyone, either inside or outside the room. He could’ve remained like this for quite a while, but a pair of strong hands grasped his shoulders from behind.


Agent McNamee,” said Jack, just inches above him. “I’ll tell you what you want to know. I’ll tell you everything.”

PART II
The Lizard and the Sphere


Are you ready?” asked Peter, his eager tone almost adolescent. Since cleaning himself up in the tiny restroom at the end of the interrogation room, he seemed refreshed. Only the red rims around his piercing blue eyes suggested he recently wept.

While waiting for him to return to the table, Jack paced around the room. To any casual observer he might’ve appeared calm, perhaps even bored. Silently, he debated if doing the right thing or not. When Peter was set to resume their interview, Jack grabbed another Coke from the tiny refrigerator and joined him at the table.


Jeremy’s going to kill me for sure once he finds out about this,” said Jack. “But, we get to check out those books you’ve got for as long as we like. Right?”


Absolutely,” said Peter, turning on his recorder once more. “Don’t worry about your brother, Jack. I’ll talk with him just as soon as we’re done. All I ask is that you be thorough...
very
thorough. I want to know every detail, including what you might view as unimportant—like your feelings, thoughts, and even your physical surroundings. Describe everything you can for me.”


I guess I can do that,” said Jack, surprised at the level of detail the agent wanted from him. “Some shit’s pretty personal, though.”


I do mean
everything
, Jack.”


Okay,” he agreed, and leaned forward in his chair. Peter did the same, and then Jack began his story. “It was just four days after my thirteenth birthday. My grandfather and I’d just finished lunch, and I noticed this weird-looking lizard resting on the back porch when I glanced out the kitchen window. I’d never seen it before, or anything like it.


I mentioned it to Grandpa, but he kept reading his newspaper at the kitchen table. Hell, he only half acknowledged what I said until I told him it looked sort of exotic. At that point, he almost got up to take a look. But the phone rang and he answered it instead. I kept watching the lizard through the window, hoping it didn’t move from its perch near the steps leading down into the backyard. It sat there motionless, except for an occasional head-twitch and flicking its forked tongue.


As soon as Grandpa was done talking on the phone, I told him it still sat on the porch.

“‘
Son, you’d be better off just leaving that thing alone, I’m warning you,’ he said. ‘It could be poisonous for all we know. I wish folks kept better track of their damned pets around here!’

“‘
It’s okay, Grandpa,’ I assured him. ‘I doubt very seriously it’ll bite. Besides, even if it does, I bet it wouldn’t hurt much.’


He frowned, and I remember he stared thoughtfully into his coffee mug, absently stirring its contents at the table while he considered what I said. He might’ve remained lost in his thoughts if not for the sudden creak and slam of the screened door leading out to the back porch. Before he could tell me to stay away from the critter, I was already outside. Peering back through the screen, I caught him smiling a little. He advised me again to be careful.


I remember it was really hot that day. With the temperature near a hundred degrees, only the most desperate and foolhardy folks were outdoors right then—like me, I guess. But I just had to get a closer look at the lizard. It remained in the same spot while I moved over to it, eyeing me warily from atop the steps. It seemed kind of vulnerable, though powerful muscles flexed beneath its green leathery skin, especially along its lower legs, as if ready to bolt back down the steps at any moment. The lizard’s back arched high in a multicolored fan that ran along its spine, and brilliant hues of purple, red, and orange converged down its sides.


Its most unusual feature was a crown of golden spikes and curved horns on its head—”


Like a miniature version of the enormous dragon you later encountered?” interrupted Peter, a wry grin on his face. “And, you never had seen anything like it before, I take it?”


Yeah, that’s correct,” said Jack, wondering if every strange detail he revealed would engender the same immediate scrutiny. “If not for the bright colors and its unusual crown, the critter could’ve passed for someone’s wayward pet. I’d seen some similar sized lizards on display at Pet World up in Tuscaloosa. But the closest thing I’d ever seen to this one was in a picture of a Burmese temple mural, inside one of Grandpa’s National Geographic magazines.”


That’s quite interesting,” said Peter, his tone impressed. He clicked his pen open while paging through his journal.


The lizard cocked its head warily to one side as it studied me, standing just a few feet away,” continued Jack, watching the agent jot down several notes. “Its blue and gray eyes, incandescent, shifted slowly back and forth. I took another step and leaned down toward it, closing the gap between us to a mere foot. Suddenly, it stood up on its hind legs and took a swipe at me with its front claws. I barely escaped the attack, which scared the be-Jesus out of me and made me stumble backward and land hard on my ass.

Peter looked up, closing his pen while the smile faded into a more serious look.


The little shithead hissed loudly and flashed a mouth full of sharp needle-like teeth at me.” A slight surge of smug satisfaction flowed through Jack. He had the agent’s full attention again. “I scooted away as quickly as I could while it took a menacing step forward. But then it stopped and retracted its leg, turning its attention toward the backyard as if heeding some inaudible command to call off the attack. With a low grunt, it turned on its hind legs and raced down the porch steps.


Grandpa called to me from the kitchen, asking if I was all right. He moved over to the back door and peered at me through the screen. For the moment I laid sprawled out on the back porch.

“‘
Yeah, I’m fine,’ I told him, sitting up. ‘That lizard’s long gone now.’


I tried to sell him with a broad smile, but he eyed me serious, as if trying to decide for his own self what’d truly happened. When he stepped back from the doorway, he told me again not to linger outside in the heat.

BOOK: The Forgotten Eden
11.3Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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