Evil on the Doorstep

“Excuse me miss? Are you okay?”

The voice sounded like a dream as the cloud of drowsiness slowly lifted and she came to. Kayla wasn’t sure she was really awake. Placing her hands behind her she pushed with all her might slowly lifting her body to sit upright. Her head spun uncontrollably; nearly every part of her body exploded with pain, Kayla crashed to the ground again the back of her head cracking hard against the pavement.

“You probably shouldn’t move you know. You’re pretty banged up, I saw the whole thing; it was a bad accident. I’ll call the ambulance, okay?”

Kayla didn’t recognize the girl’s voice but she sounded young, and a bit nervous. Opening her eyes proved to need far more effort than normal; it was as though her own face resisted the action. Reaching up to touch them she felt her bulging cheeks and the fleshy part of her eyelids held shut by the puffy skin surrounding them. Groaning in agony, Kayla let her arm drop by her side again.

“What’s your name? So I can tell the paramedics…” The girl asked, apparently rustling around her purse to find a cell phone.

“Uh…Kayla” Kayla paused. “Kayla Murine”

“Really? Okay” Kayla could hear the surprise and laughter in her voice and felt a little insulted.

“No, I’m not named after the actress. My grandmother’s name is Kayla” She clarified, obviously annoyed and not hiding that fact.

“Oh sorry” Kayla heard beeping as the girl began typing in the numbers “I guess that make sense. Hello? Yes, I just witnessed an accident and we need an ambulance right away, we’re at um…”

The girl’s voice trailed off as she moved away from Kayla supposedly to get the name of the street from the sign over the intersection. She lay there unable to move without severe pain, wondering what she would tell her father, she had no idea how she could explain all of this. He had sternly warned her not to go out chasing mirages that she thought were Mom, but she had been doing it since she was old enough to go out on her own. On top of that, she had gone into a forbidden zone, one riddled with terrorist soldiers.

“Did you see a soldier when I had the accident” Kayla asked remembering the boots she saw before she lost consciousness.

“Soldier? No, there weren’t any soldiers, thank God! Don’t think I would be around if there were.”

Unexpectedly, Kayla felt something small and furry brush up against her finger. She jerked her head sideways straining to open her eyes and peered through the sliver of vision that she was afforded for her efforts. Two red beady eyes stared at her in the darkness, teeth bared and salivating. Kayla shrieked at the giant tarantula slowly crawling towards her. Ever since she was four years old, Kayla had a paralyzing fear of spiders. Early memories of being trapped in her toddler bed while a hairy tarantula crept up her sheets flooded her mind. She remembered Mom had protected her. Without even thinking twice she swiftly threw her grandmother’s teacup at the creature smashing it to bits on the wall and scaring it back through the hole in the wall from which it had come. It was nearly the only memory she had of her, and it had been the last time she had seen her before she disappeared. Tarantulas had been very rare in this area until about ten years ago when they exploded in number all over the world. The fly population had increased at a staggering rate with all the dead bodies rotting, and spiders were thriving because of it. Now Kayla was unable to even lift her head let alone run from it and the panic was beginning to overwhelm her. To her relief the girl came back just as the spider was crawling towards Kayla’s face.

“Oh! Get out of here!” The girl cried, swatting at the overgrown insect with a newspaper she had apparently been reading before Kayla nearly crumpled herself under a moving van.

Kayla started to breathe again, she took rapid gasps of air as her body tried to get its fill of oxygen and slowing just in time for the wave of adrenaline to rush to her head. Stupid! It’s just a dumb spider! She scolded herself silently.

“They’re on their way” she was informed. “They want me to make sure you don’t move until they get here”

It seemed like an eternity before Kayla heard the sirens. The world around her spun each time she moved her head and the sickness that rose in her throat as a result kept her from doing it too often. So she lay as still as possible in obedience to the girl’s command. When the paramedics finally arrived, the back of Kayla’s head seemed glued to the ground and the pressure sent a dull ache radiating through her skull. The paramedics wore stiff grey uniforms and wielded their equipment with precision. The chief barked orders at the other paramedics, expertly moving her from the cold ground to the stretcher and into the back of the ambulance.

“Can you feel this?” One women asked while pressing her bony fingers into Kayla’s foot.

“Yes”

“What about this?” as she moved up Kayla’s leg.

“Yes”

“… and this?” the tall, thin paramedic’s hand now pinching her mid-section.

“Ouch!” Kayla yelped in shock.

“From all this bruising, good chance there’s internal bleeding” the lady turned and told the chief in an impassioned tone.

“Damn, you’re right!” He gruffed loudly under his breath, “Push phytonadione stat!”

The medicine felt like lead pouring into her veins and Kayla felt light in the head as the full effect began to set in. The world began to spin slowly then quickly faded as it was swallowed by the fog now taking over her mind. Before she lost all consciousness Kayla heard the sirens wail as they raced towards the hospital.

“I think she’s waking up… Kayla? It’s me Kayla, can you hear me?”

Her head felt like lead as she came to again, opening her blurry eyes. Kayla found herself now laying stiffly in a white hospital bed. There were IV tubes hanging from her hands and monitors beeping in a rhythm as they measured her vitals. Beside her with a worried expression that he was obviously trying very hard to hide, sat her father.

“Dad? What happened? I thought you were …” Kayla let the words trail off. Her voice was imperceptible, but still she thought it better not to finish her sentence, just in case. “Every wall can have ears Kay cat, don’t rule any of ‘em out”, Dad would say. As an officer of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, her father had always taught her to protect the secrets she was entrusted with, at all costs.

“Never mind that now, it’s ok. I cancelled the flight as soon as I got the call from the police that you had been admitted here. It can wait until we get you better.”

“Dad, I saw her… I was following her, she was really here…” Kayla started, excitement welling as the memories returned.

“Oh honey, not that again. I told you, she isn’t here you were just imagining that’s all”

“No! I wasn’t Dad, I swear it was real” Kayla insisted.

A slow ragged breath filled his lungs and then escaped in a long hissing sound of desperation. Kayla heard his feet shuffle as he moved uncomfortably in his chair. “Alright hun… um…I dunno; she wasn’t found at the accident, but I guess she could have been there.” Kayla could tell he was only humoring her. That only served to anger Kayla; she couldn’t understand why he refused to believe her.

“Excuse me Mr. Murine; I just need to check Kayla’s monitors if you don’t mind” Kayla wondered if the elderly sounding nurse had felt the tension building from her post in the hallway and decided to interrupt before a fire broke out in room 737 B. No-one spoke while the woman poked at Kayla and checked her bandages, read the readouts printed from the monitors and replaced the fluids running to Kayla’s IV, but it gave Kayla time to cool off anyway.

Before the nurse left Dad asked her to turn on the news, he always watched the news. Kayla didn’t mind and she had forgotten her anger anyway so she welcomed the slight distraction.

“Fighting broke out in the streets of Moscow this morning as a radical Christian group affiliated with the “Baptist Association of America” held their annual convention this afternoon. Russian authorities say the group were praying in the streets and performing illegal healing rituals, calling on their God to heal the nation. New law in the country states no public religious display will be tolerated so the group has been incarcerated until a full trial can be held. American officials are negotiating their release …”

“Dad, does that mean?” Kayla let her sentence trail off as the phone on her Dad’s hip began to ring.

“Hello… Hi Charlie, I just saw it yes… it has to be tomorrow? ... ok, I know… Alright, book the flight then and I’ll be there inside an hour.” Dad shook his head as he hung up the phone and looked over to Kayla.

“I’ll be alright Dad, don’t worry about me.” Inside she wished he didn’t have to go, but she knew he had to so there wasn’t any point in making him feel worse.

“I’ll be back before you even get out of the hospital Kay cat, I promise you. You have your cell phone, call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Ok Dad”

He kissed her lightly on the cheek as he rushed out of the room.

The news continued on the television. “… Those Christians have to be stopped, all religion was banned years ago … they’re just rebels that’s all they are! MAGOG will show them, then they’ll listen! …” screamed a Russian lady in her 50’s, she waved in front of the camera a thick book with the Russian leader Gandalf’s picture on it. “… Long live the “Militant Aggregate Group of Gandalf …” she chanted incessantly as the camera turned back to the newscaster. “A popular opinion here in Moscow Cathy, the citizens of Moscow are calling for their president to take action against these Christian groups. All of this in the wake of the church bombings last month and with the upcoming CSIS talks here in the capital Moscow, the tension is building fast. Officials will have to cross these picket lines as they meet with the Russian president tomorrow morning to negotiate the release of these groups and work out a peace agreement with this now powerful and growing nation.”

Kayla wondered what this world had come to as she drifted off to sleep in her hospital bed. The effects of the medication the nurse had given her starting to sink in and she succumbed to the welcome reprieve from the aching her body still felt.

...

Kayla woke to blood curdling screams, chaos and mayhem. Shots fired followed by yelling in what she had to assume was Russian dialect. Trying to make sense of the madness Kayla sat up and strained to see through the small sliding glass door to her hospital room. A nurse ran by the door terrified as more shots rang out through the air, plaster broke from the ceiling and the poor nurse hid cowering under the nurse’s station desk. Suddenly a soldier stood in front of her door holding a gun, his back facing Kayla as he barked orders at the nurse.

“… explosions have caused devastation to the entire building and UN officials are still in the building…” the newscaster was now saying on the television. “… we aren’t sure yet if there are any survivors from the blast, rescue crews are just arriving on the scene but they will have to put out the roaring fires before they can get into the building to search for the victims.”

DAD! Kayla couldn’t believe what she was seeing on the screen, billowing flames completely engulfed what once was the Moscow convention center where the UN talks were to be taking place. The pile of rubble that was there now looked nothing like the stately building the newscaster was standing in front of just last night while the protests were being held. Rescue crews began racing behind the newscaster with long hoses trying desperately to put out the flames.

Suddenly soldiers burst into her room and began shouting at her. Confused Kayla began to cry and cowered lower into her bed. One soldier came over and roughly grabbed her arm, scowling darkly at her not saying a word; he immediately handcuffed her arm to the bed rail. He marched out of the room still speaking to the other soldier who swiftly closed and locked the door behind him.

Kayla sat and cried, listening to the screams outside of her room and watching the commotion on the television unable to do anything to save herself, or Dad, now completely helpless at the mercy of Russian soldiers.

_____________________________________________

“Claude, we have a serious problem.” Roche said calmly as he walked in a half circle around Claude. Claude was regularly intimidated by the leader’s strength and power, but right now he was terrified by the grave absolution in his voice. “…and you are going to help us with it. I have chosen you because of your dedication and loyalty to MAGOG. Do you accept this assignment?”

It occurred to Claude that Roche had not even told him what the assignment was, but how could he turn it down. “Yes sir.”

“Good” He took a seat in the large leather throne behind a gigantic desk and motioned for Claude to sit in the small chair positioned in front of it. “The enemy is trying to fool us into believing they want peace, they want us to believe they aren’t trying to take over our forces and steal our land. We have worked too long and hard for that to happen Claude.” Roche looked intensely into his eyes as if trying to read his thoughts, which Claude was fairly certain Roche had the power to do.

“Yes sir” Claude responded, feeling as though a response was expected but unsure what else to say at that moment.

Apparently satisfied with that Roche continued “Claude, we are going to stage an ambush. We’ll take them out before they even have a chance to get to us… and you will be the leader of the operation. Starting now, you will begin preparing the soldiers. It’s time, the moment we’ve been training for. Soon we will reign over them all, and because of your loyalty you will be one of the first Governors of the new world”

A Governor in the New World was a dream come true for Claude, now it was happening, it seemed surreal. As he turned on his heel and departed the room, Claude thought about what this would mean for him. He would be royalty, he would be rich! Never again would he sleep in hard uncomfortable beds but would enjoy plush, warm sleeping quarters with the best linen in the world imported just for him. He would have royal servants waiting on him hand and foot and he would be able to give Ana everything she ever wanted. His dear sweet Ana, she would be so happy for him.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3