The Grim Spectre
Authors: Ralph L. Angelo Jr.
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Action & Adventure, #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Crime, #Mystery, #Genre Fiction, #Horror, #Occult
The Grim Spectre
By Ralph L. Angelo Jr.
Copyright disclaimer
The Grim Spectre
By Ralph L. Angelo Jr.
Cover by Gustav Barta
Interior artwork by Peter Vasquez
Edited by David White
Copyright 2015 by Ralph L. Angelo Jr
Published by Cosmic Comet Publishing
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without permission in writing from the copyright holder, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Contents
1937, the small city of Riverburgh, forty miles north of New York City up the Hudson...
“Benny! Benny! Yeah it’s me, I gotta talk to ya. Somethin’ just happened Benny, somethin’ bad. I was in ‘Little Nicky’s’ knockin’ back a few wit’ the boys. The place was packed an’ the smoke in there, it was like pea soup-it was a good night. When the door busts open, like someone kicked it in, hard! An’ standin’ there in the doorway, framed in th’ moonlight is this guy in a trench coat an’ slouch hat. An’ he’s lookin’ down, like at th’ floor or somethin’. Waddaya mean how could I tell? His hat was pointin’ down, like his whole head was starin’ at th’ floor, that’s how! Anyway, an this is the weird part, his trench coat was blowin’ in from behind, like he was in the wind, but there weren’t no breeze blowin’ Benny. There was nothin’. So’s Big Mack, the bartender, shouts ‘Hey! You comin’ in or stayin out? Yer lettin’ all the flies out.’ An’ all the mooks, they start laughin’.
“But this guy? He ain’t havin’ none o’ it. He just stands there starin’. Then finally after everyone in the whole friggin’ place stops talkin’ an’ is all starin’ at the door this guy raises his head, and his face is still in the shadow o’ the hat mind ya, but he starts to talk, an’ in this voice like death over ice says ‘Where is Joey DeLuca?’ That’s all he says, at least at first. Guys start grumblin’ an’ angrily mutterin’ to themselves when he says it again, this time so loud mugs o’ beer shatter all around the bar, I swear Benny, it was like a crack o’ thunder, ‘WHERE IS JOEY DeLUCA?’ he says.
“Now guys’re getting’ up an pullin’ guns. Then this guy just seems ta shrug an’ the hat an’ trench just seem ta, I dunno, vanish? An’ Benny, ya better sit down fer this one, he’s glowin’ like a star now. So bright it burned my eyes ta look at ‘im. He had a cape on, yeah like he was some opera guy or somethin’, an’ I couldn’t see his face, but I think he had a mask on. But those eyes Benny. Those eyes were glowin’ an’ filled with rage.
“Now the mooks, they all start shootin’ at this guy. Guns is goin off like thunder. I hadda cover my ears. An’ this guy? He just starts walkin’ forward. Bullets is hittin’ ‘im, I swear it, but they look like they’s goin’ through him, like he was a ghost or somethin’.
“So’s I duck down an’ run to the back o’ the bar, lookin’ fer the back door outta there. But before I hightail it outta there I look back one last time, an’ this guy is just tearin’ the mooks apart. He’s punchin’ ‘em an’ kickin’ ‘em like he was a one man army or somethin’. One guy tries ta run out the front door, an’ this guy throws a, get this, whip out and snags the mook around the neck, an with one tug he drags him back inta the buildin’.
“Now he drags the guy up to his face, like eye ta eye and says to ‘im, ‘Where is Joey DeLuca? Answer me little man or know the full wrath o’ The Grim Spectre.’ Everyone else is out cold in the place an’ this glowin’ ghost is just standin there holdin’ this guy off the ground, his feet’re danglin’ there. An’ then I realize it. The ghost, this ‘Grim Spectre’ guy, he ain’t standin’. He’s floatin’ Benny. The ghost is floatin’ in th’ air, glowin’ like a star wit’ this cape blowin’ in a breeze from hell. Then I ran out the back door, makin’ sure not ta slam it. I hightailed it down the alley, an’ ran across th’ highway, until I found this here payphone an’ called you. I’m in trouble Benny. So’s I gotta ask ya, do ya got a place ta hide yer old pal Joey?”
Before ‘Benny’ could answer a shot rang out and the receiver pressed up against Joey DeLuca’s ear exploded into fragments.
Stunned and bloodied DeLuca spun around and gasped in fear and astonishment, “Y-you! G-Get away from me y-you ghoul!”
DeLuca turned to run, but with a sharp crack the whip he had seen within the bar snapped around his legs and with a powerful tug
,
Joey DeLuca was brought painfully to the ground.
He rolled onto his back, fear writ largely on his face. An apparition as if from the pits of hell or a madman’s worst nightmare floated toward him, glowing madly from head to toe. It blazed pure white, blindingly bright. A man it seemed, in a cape and close fitting garb, a shroud or hood was pulled up over his head, obscuring his face, but Joey could have sworn he saw a skull leering at him from within the confines of the hood.
DeLuca shivered in fear as he lay upon his back on the grimy ground. Above him hovered this creature, this monster that could not be a man, but something from the deepest pits of evil, and then the horrible creature spoke. Its voice wavered and shook with a terrible volume, with a force that trembled the very soul,
“Joseph DeLuca, you have been a pawn of great evil. You have aided evil men as they have harmed the innocent and the weak. You have preyed upon those who could not fight back, because you thought no one would stand for them. You thought wrongly, Joseph DeLuca. I stand for them, I, The Grim Spectre.”
The Grim Spectre reached its horribly glowing hand toward the terrified Joey DeLuca and then that hand gripped DeLuca’s face. That was when everything went black.
Sometime later…
Joey DeLuca awoke with a terrified start, his eyes wide, he bolted straight upright.
“W-where am I? What the hell…I’m in my own apartment? H-how? Was it all a dream?”
“No, Joseph DeLuca,” a terrible and suddenly familiar voice replied from the depths of the dark room, “You are not in a dream, but rather a nightmare; an unending nightmare of your own making.”
DeLuca turned and looked about him in the lightless room.
Then the room exploded with brightness, as if a sun had appeared before his very eyes! DeLuca instantly covered his eyes and stumbled backward away from the brightness, falling over the chair he was seated in, tripping over his own feet and slamming into the wall behind him.
“W-whadaya want? Who, w-what the hell are ya?” DeLuca stammered.
The creature he had last seen before he passed out floated before him within his very home. Its cape billowed within the windless room and its skull-like countenance was almost un-seeable within the folds of its hood. Then the horrible apparition spoke,
“I am the spirit of retribution. You are now my agent. Your life, your very soul are within my grasp. You will aid me. You will supply me with whatever I need. Be that information on the scum you work for, or material needs, whatever they may be.”
“What kinda ‘material needs’ d-do ya got?” DeLuca sobbed.
The Grim Spectre pulled two shining .45’s from twin holsters on his belt and aimed them at DeLuca. Then he replied, “You will supply me with bullets for these, as well as whatever else I may need in my quest to return this city, the city of Riverburgh from the clutches of evil to the lawful who deserve to live without fear. You will atone for your past sins by becoming my human, my mortal hands and eyes.”
“Wh-what if I refuse?” Joey DeLuca stammered.
“You do not have a choice,” The ghoul answered matter of factly.
DeLuca did not argue any more. He knew what was implied. Shaking steadily he dragged himself off of the floor and faced the glowing apparition before him.
“You will await my next contact with you. I will find you; I will know where you are, wherever that may be. Do not cross me, mortal, for I will utterly and painfully destroy you if you do.”
Without another word the terrifying creature floated toward the wall of the apartment and then with one last backward glance of its skull-like visage the creature passed through the wall as if it wasn’t there.
Joey DeLuca ran to the window and watched in terror as he saw the caped apparition floating upward and then in one last burst of light the Grim Spectre disappeared. Joey DeLuca collapsed to the ground in fear, his mind screaming in disbelief, and then he mercifully passed out.
Minutes later across the dark and grim city, in a small, non-descript apartment a figure seemed to materialize out of thin air. It was The Grim Spectre, though now he was no longer glowing. His form was a deep,light swallowing black. He would not be seen in a darkened room.
The shades were all drawn in the room and only the slight, diffused ambient light from the street made its way inside.
The hooded figure sat down in a soft leather chair and slumped as if exhausted. He pulled back his hood revealing a head covering face mask with a skull emblazoned on the facial portion. With a tired tug he pulled the mask free and dropped it to the floor.
Beneath the mask was a man with a thatch of brown hair and eyebrows. His hazel eyes bore into the darkness within his room, checking and double checking to make certain no one else was there, even though he knew the answer already. His high cheekbones gave him an almost aristocratic demeanor, but his relaxed manner would dismiss any notion of the same.
“What have I gotten myself into?” he muttered to no one but himself and then almost instantly fell asleep where he sat.
The man who was known as The Grim Spectre began to dream, his tired mind reflecting to a night six months ago. It began replaying a scene he had lived through for seemingly the thousandth time.
***
Bobby Terrano lay amidst garbage cans in a nondescript alley somewhere in Riverburgh. He was beaten and bloody.
“Help me, someone,” Terrano croaked, barely audible, “Somebody hear me, please. I-I think I’m dying.”
Within his own body Terrano felt ribs grinding together and he couldn’t catch his breath.
‘This must be it,’
he thought to himself, ‘
I’m going to die here in some filthy alley, alone and beaten to a pulp. Maybe dad was right all those years ago, I shouldn’t have wasted my time playing that damned trumpet. I should have gotten a real job. Heh, ain’t it funny what you think about when you’re going to die?’
Terrano coughed and spit out a gob of blood. But, as if on cue, a light appeared within the alleyway before him. At first it was a small thing, like the size of a pin head. Then it grew quickly to eight feet across. It was a great, circular disc of white light floating before his startled eyes in the middle of a dark alleyway.
“What in God’s name? Am I going to heaven?” Terrano asked.
In answer a voice replied from within the circular portal (for that was clearly what it was, a portal of sorts but between where, who could tell?) “No Bobby Terrano, I am not here to take you away.”
A glowing white garbed leg stepped through the portal, followed by the rest of the body of a man. He shone blindingly bright, so Bobby Terrano could not bear to look at him for fear of going blind. He turned away and said, “Who, what are you? Are you an angel? “
“An angel?” the mysterious figure replied, “No, but I
can
tell you I am here to save you.”
The glowing man reached toward Bobby and handed him something.
Bobby looked with disbelieving eyes, momentarily forgetting about his considerable pain, “What is this? A belt?” he asked.
“Do not ask any questions, Bobby Terrano. But instead wrap the belt about your waist and be saved. But this is not merely about saving your life, Terrano. This is about saving your city, something you will now possess the power to do,” the strange glowing man said.
Bobby wrapped the metallic golden belt about his waist and clicked the two ends together. Instantly he felt a rush of energy run through him. He felt his bones that had been broken knit back together in a frenzied rush. He felt his damaged lungs fill with air and the materials of his body miraculously heal themselves.
A minute later he stood up, completely healed and feeling better than he ever did in his life. He looked at the glowing man and asked, “Who are you? What do you want of me? How…how did you save my life? What is this…thing you gave me?” Bobby held the belt away from his body as he spoke.
“I am a friend, an ally. That is all you need to know, Bobby Terrano. But also know that you will not see me again. I bring you this great gift, this great weapon to use against the cities enemies. They will have nothing that can stand against it. The knowledge that will soon be imparted to you by the belt will be all you will need to start your war, your crusade against evil. You will strike fear into the minds and souls of evil men. You will root out corruption throughout this city and you will turn this horrible place into a city families can enjoy living in again instead of spending every moment in fear.”
Bobby looked on in disbelief and said, “With this? With a belt made of gold? Are you kidding me?”
“No Bobby I am not. Go home and sleep this night. When you awaken all the knowledge you require will be transferred to you by the belt.”
The figure turned and began to step back through the circular white glowing portal when Bobby said, “Wait, why me? Why not someone else, better suited to this? Someone made for fighting bad guys; maybe a cop or a soldier? Why me? I’m just a trumpet player, hell I don’t even have a trumpet anymore; those thugs stole it.”
The figure turned towards him and replied, “I chose you because you are the right man for the job. You are the only choice. You are the only uncorrupted soul in this city who still has the resolve to fight back.”
“But where did that resolve get me? I interrupted a robbery of some poor girl and I got beaten almost to death by two thugs and the girl ran away in fear. She didn’t even call the cops after I helped her. She just ran. Is there even anything worth saving in this city?”
“You have to decide that for yourself, Bobby Terrano. I have given you the means to reach a great end, an end that will change the course of this city’s history if you but choose to embrace it. You can be the instrument of this city’s redemption, but you must want it. Otherwise all I will have given you is your life back. How you choose to spend it is up to you.”
“Where would I even start this quest you want me to begin?” Terrano asked reluctantly.
“Begin with the man who beat you so badly, his name is Joey DeLuca. He is a small time hood who is not yet beyond redemption. He should be your first mission.”
“Are you sure you’re not an angel?” Bobby asked as the being stepped through the portal and it began to close about him.
“You may call me that now, Bobby Terrano, though later you may ask yourself if I was a devil for what you will go through.”
With that, the portal burst forth with a light so bright that Bobby had to turn his face and cover his eyes, and then with a whisper, it sighed close and Bobby Terrano stood alone in the now dark alleyway.
***
Several days later and Bobby Terrano, through knowledge he had gained seemingly from the belt, began fashioning a costume of sorts,
‘I must be completely out of my mind,’
he thought,
‘I’m putting together a costume and mask and before this I never held a needle and thread in my life. And how is this going to protect me?’
he held up the form fitting white shirt and bottoms made from elastic material and stared at it incredulously.
‘This is like dancers stuff; I’m going to look ridiculous.’
But Bobby didn’t hesitate. He put on the complete suit and then wrapped the belt around his waist and clicked it together. Instantly he felt a charge run through his body. He turned toward the mirror he had above his dresser and his breath caught at what he saw.
His body filled out the suit. His muscles bulged. Behind the skull visaged mask he looked at his own form in disbelief!
‘I-I look unbelievable!’
Bobby thought to himself,
‘L-like some kind of demon or something. Like a-a Ghost or Spectre. A terrible Grim Spectre. Hhhmm, ‘The Grim Spectre.’ I think that’s a name that will make criminals soil their pants if any name will. No thug will be able to stand against me without soiling his own pants. Fear would be my greatest weapon against the scum that run this city. T-they won’t be able to even think straight when they see me! Now to find Joey DeLuca.’
Adding the cape and snapping it in place around his neck, Bobby turned and with a large amount of anxiety opened the window. Then he stepped up onto the window ledge. He reached up to steady himself and thought,
‘The belt, it told me things when I slept. It said I could float or maybe even fly. I-it also told me I could become invisible or more like unseeable, if I thought about it.’
Bobby did just that, he thought about being invisible and when he looked at his hand he could see through it. He saw a faint outline and nothing more.
‘Okay so far, so good. I guess it’s time to see if the rest of this stuff works. Most of it I’m not even sure of. I-it’s like it’s become an instinct now, more than a thought. Well, everything that strange glowing guy told me so far has been true; time to see if the rest is too.’
Bobby took one last deep breath, closed his eyes and thought, ‘
Fly.’
Then he stepped off the window sill. For a moment he didn’t open his eyes, waiting to impact the ground two floors below. But after a second and then two when that did not happen Bobby Terrano unclenched one eyelid and then slowly the other.
“I don’t believe it! I’m flyin’!” he shouted aloud.
Down below heads of passerby-ers swiveled his way and squinted their eyes, then continued to look around to see where the mysterious voice came from before hurriedly moving on their way.
‘I have to be more careful about that now; no more talking to myself out loud.’
The Grim Spectre looked around, then thought to himself,
‘Fly, toward the seedier part of town.’
He focused on where he wanted to go and instantly he raced skyward. Over the rooftops he soared, zooming at least a hundred feet over the tallest building.
Within minutes he arrived at the grimiest part of town; the part of Riverburgh laughingly called ‘Little Paradise’ by its denizens, for it was anything but.
‘Let’s see how the rest of this magic belt works. I guess it has to be magic, what else could do this?’
The Grim Spectre thought to himself.
‘The question now is where do I begin? I have to find some kind of crime in progress, and then what do I do? Just dive in? They have guns, I don’t.’
For the better part of half an hour the newly christened ‘Grim Spectre’ floated back and forth over alleyways and rooftops looking for something, anything to catch his attention. Then, it finally happened, a girl’s scream pierced the cold night air. Instantly he soared invisibly toward it. He landed mere feet from a mugging in progress within the alley.
‘Time for my first dramatic entrance,’
The Grim Spectre thought.
Standing less than ten feet from the two muggers who were in the midst of robbing a dark haired girl while they pinned her to an alley wall with a knife held at her throat, The Grim Spectre suddenly appeared in a blast of white light!
“Let the girl go!” The Grim Spectre roared.
Instantly both thugs turned toward him and opened fire.