The Paladin Prophecy

THE HOOKUP

Ajay opened the door to his closet. A light winked on, revealing an ordinary space filled with clothes and a wall of shelves. They stepped inside. Ajay closed the door, flipped a switch on the wall twice, then activated a small remote he took from his pocket. The shelves rotated ninety degrees, revealing a cramped space with a saddle chair and a tiny workbench, packed with tools, electronic components, and stacked rows of Altoids tins, labeled and sorted by color.

“Please don’t touch anything,” said Ajay.

On one shelf sat six handmade electronic gadgets plugged into chargers. Will recognized four as walkie-talkies but the other two were unidentifiable: two curved and lethal-looking blue metallic loops.

“What are those?” asked Will, pointing to the loops.

“A pair of electrified brass knuckles,” said Ajay. “I came across something similar on the Net and thought I could improve on the design. I haven’t had occasion to use them yet.”

“Dude,” said Nick eagerly, “I am so going to field-test those for you.”

Ajay pointed to something bulky on the bench, covered by an orange scarf. “This is it. Cobbled together from cannibalized parts but it should work.” Ajay yanked away the scarf, revealing a curved oval green screen connected to a hodgepodge of wires, plugs, circuit boards, and a rotary dialer from an ancient telephone.

“Awesome,” said Nick. “What is it, like a death ray?”

“It used to be an old TV,” said Ajay. “Now it’s a video phone.”

“No way,” said Nick.

“Now I see why you have so many locks,” said Will.

“And why, needless to say, preventing Lyle from searching our rooms when you did saved my bacon,” said Ajay.

“So this is completely against the rules,” said Will admiringly.

“Guilty as charged, sir,” said Ajay with a grin.

“Did you know about all this?” Will asked Nick.

Nick put a hand on his shoulder. “Dude, I helped build the room.”

“What’s your friend’s number, Will?” asked Ajay.

Will read it to him. Ajay dialed it on the ancient rotary device. A moment later they heard ringing on a speaker, and then Nando answered: “This is Nando.”

“Nando, how’s it going? Where are you?” asked Will.

“Parked behind your garage, compadre.”

“Any Black Caps in the area?” asked Will.

“Negativo, all clear. Where you at, bro?”

“With my friends the tech experts,” said Will. “They’ve set it up so we can receive video from your end.”

“Cool,” said Nando. “I’m on a four-G smartphone with hi-def and the signal’s flying five bars. You ready to stream?”

Ajay gave Will a thumbs-up.

“Switching now,” said Will.

Ajay flicked on a power switch and a green dot appeared in the middle of the tube. The dot exploded into waves of ghostly interference, and then an image materialized from a cloudburst of static: a shaky handheld shot of Will’s garage in Ojai in living color.

“How’s it lookin’?” asked Nando. “You getting this?”

“Coming in clear,” said Will.

Nando turned the phone around and held it at arm’s length so they could see his face. He wore glasses and a hipster’s Heisenberg hat. Wires trailed from the phone to buds in his ears. “Buenos tardes, my friend,” said Nando, tipping his hat.

“Good to see you, Nando,” said Will. “You can’t see us but say hi to Nick and Ajay.”

“Hola, friends of Will.”

“Good evening, sir,” said Ajay.

“What’s cracking, Nando?” said Nick.

“It’s all good. I improvised a rig for the phone, holmes,” said Nando, holding up a red elastic loop. “My wife got the idea from watching some reality show. Looks goofy, but it’ll let you see what I’m seeing.”

“Go for it,” said Will, then to Nick and Ajay: “We’re looking for some medical records my dad left in the house.”

“How’d you meet this guy?” asked Ajay.

“He helped me escape the Caps,” said Will. “Totally solid guy.”

The picture jostled around as Nando attached the phone to the strap and fastened it to the front of his hat. Fragments of images whooshed around—the garage, the backyard, Nando’s taxi, late afternoon sky—until the camera stabilized on the back of Will’s house.

“How’s that lookin’, guys?” asked Nando off camera.

“Perfecto,” said Will.

“Now tell me where to find that key.”

“In a magnetic key box,” said Will. “Attached to the window by the back door.”

“Copy that,” said Nando.

On the tube they watched as Nando approached the house. They heard his feet crunch on gravel and the sound of his breathing. He pulled on a pair of thin black gloves.

“So it’s sixty-five degrees, a lovely autumn evening here in Southern California,” said Nando, doing a TV weatherman impression. “How is it up there in San—”

“Cold,” said Will, remembering how much he hadn’t yet told either Nando or his roommates. “Colder than that. Much colder.”

“You find anything out about that rented jet?” asked Nando.

“Nothing so far. Still checking.”

“Jet?” said Nick. “What jet?”

Will held a finger to his lips at Nick and mouthed, “I’ll explain later.”

“Not like they walked out of Costco with a toaster under their arm. That’s a multimillion-dollar takedown, homie. Surprised I ain’t seen nothin’ on the news. Say, how’s your dad doing?”

“He’s feeling better. Thanks for asking.”

Ajay looked askance at Will; Will held up a hand, gesturing for patience.

Nando reached the back door. His hands came into view and searched around the window.

“Hey, my cousin Freddie tracked down a website for that National Scholastic Whatever Agency,” said Nando. “I emailed you the link. You get that yet?”

“I’ll check when we’re done,” said Will.

“Got something here.” Nando lifted a small metal box into view, slid open the lid, and pulled out a house key.

“That’s it,” said Will.

Nando moved to the door and inserted the key. The door swung open. “Going in,” he said. Nando stepped inside and closed the door. The floorboards creaked.

Seeing the inside of his old house sent queasy waves of unreality through Will. Sweat dripped under his arms.

“No lights on. Gonna leave it that way, case the Caps got it scoped out.”

“Where are your parents?” whispered Ajay.

“Not home,” whispered Will. “Still at work and … out of town. Out of town on work.”

Nick and Ajay glanced at each other. Nando moved down the hall into the living room. Will’s heart sank when he saw it.

It was completely trashed: Books scattered, chairs broken, wallpaper ripped from the walls. Floorboards had been pried up and left in jagged stumps. The sofa had been torn apart and the stuffing pulled out. Dad’s plaster bust of Voltaire had been shattered. They’d smashed his prized turntable, too, dumped out his record collection and stomped most of the priceless old disks into shards.

“Dude,” whispered Nick. “You been robbed.”

“Doesn’t look too good, holmes,” said Nando.

“The bastards,” said Will, gritting his teeth.

“Did you know about this, Will?” asked Ajay, more wide-eyed than usual.

“I had a pretty good idea,” said Will. “Check upstairs.”

Nando backed out of the room and climbed the stairs. The light grew dimmer; all the doors on the second floor were closed.

“Hang a left at the top,” said Will.

Nando rounded the corner. The whole house was deathly quiet. All they could hear was Nando’s breathing. “Hot up here, man,” he whispered. “A lot hotter. They must’ve left the heat on.”

“My room’s straight ahead of you,” said Will. “Look in there.”

The hallway flooded with light as Nando opened the door. It took a moment for the camera to adjust and then Will saw his room. Or what was left of it. It looked like wreckage caused by a hurricane. Everything had been chopped to pieces. The banner over the window—THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ORDERLY MIND—hung to the floor in tatters.

“Oh, Will,” said Ajay in sympathy.

They were looking for something. Something Dad must have hidden. But what?

“Dude,” said Nick. “All kidding aside. This is serious.”

Will felt sick, hoping and praying that the same kind of violence hadn’t been done to his parents. What do these people want from us? From me?

“Check my parents’ room,” said Will. “Down the hall, last door on the left. There’s a shelf of files next to my dad’s desk.”

Nando padded down the hall. When he reached the door, the camera tilted down. Nando’s hand came into view, turning the knob. He pushed the door open.

As he walked through the doorway, a thin gossamer strand of filament that had been stretched across the threshold snapped. Nando never noticed. And in the furnace room under the basement stairs, a ring on a round steel mesh drum the size of a beer keg rotated slowly to the left. A plug rose out of the barrel with a hiss, and a thick yellowish vapor began to fill the room.…

Upstairs in Will’s parents’ bedroom, Nando surveyed more of the same destruction. Will’s parents’ bed had been slashed and stripped to the coils. His father’s desk had been emptied, drawers pulled out and smashed.

“The shelves are all empty, man,” said Nando. “Maybe the Caps took the files out in those boxes.” The camera focused in on a thermostat near the door. “No wonder it’s so hot in here. Thermostat’s turned up to eighty-five.”

“Check the closet,” said Will.

Nando moved to the open closet; it was a walk-in, deep and spacious and dark. He raised a pocket flashlight and switched it on. The camera followed the flashlight beam around the closet. Clothes and hangers had been pulled off the rails and tossed into a big pile on the floor.

“There’s nothing in here, man,” said Nando. “And they’ve searched it.”

“There’s a false panel in the ceiling,” said Will. “Near the back right corner. Try looking there. You’ll need a chair.”

Nando dragged a chair from the bedroom to the rear of the closet. He stood on it and examined the ceiling, which was covered with a layer of sprayed white insulation.

“Think I see it,” said Nando. “There’s a seam here.” He poked around until a panel, about a foot square, shifted out of its frame. Nando pushed it up and out of the way. “I can see the rafters. There’s like a crawl space. And there’s something up here.”

“Can you reach it?” asked Will.

“I’ll try,” said Nando. The screen went blurry as Nando tilted his head to the side. “I got it.” He brought a black bag down into view and pointed his light at it. “It’s like a doctor’s bag. Real old leather.”

“That belonged to my dad,” said Will.

“Something’s printed near the handle, kind of faded. It’s initials, I think.”

Will didn’t remember seeing lettering on the bag before. “Is it J. W.?”

“No, man. That’s not it. Looks like … H. G.”

“That can’t be right,” said Will.

“Take a look,” said Nando. He held the bag in front of the camera. They saw faded gold letters on the worn pebbled leather below the handle: H. G.

“Open it,” said Will.

“Hold on a sec,” said Nando. “Thought I heard something.”

A moment later they heard a muffled boom, as if something heavy and metallic had hit the floor downstairs.

“What was that?” asked Nick.

“Maybe the furnace?” said Ajay.

“No,” Nando whispered. “I think somebody’s in the house.”

Will leaned in, alarmed. “You need to get out, Nando. Get out of the house.”

Nando jumped off the chair and started toward the open door. “Oh, man,” he said. “What is that? Something really stinks in here.” Then he stopped at the door. “I hear something moving in the crawl space.”

Will shouted at the screen, “Nando, get out of there now!”

Nando spun around. His flashlight whirled and found the hatch in the ceiling. Something stood on the edge of the opening. Will’s first thought was that it looked like a huge version of an insect kids called a potato bug.

But this thing was worse. Much worse. It had a tiny head on a pale stalk; pincers sprouted from its jaws. Big bright eyes protruded from an almost human face. It reared up on its hind legs, revealing a waxy segmented belly and the rest of its limbs, wriggling rows of what looked like black, stubby fingers.

“Aw, sick!” said Nando.

The thing emitted a high-pitched rattling screech and leaped off the ledge at the camera. Ajay, Nick, and Will jumped back from the screen. Nando swatted it away, turned, and jumped out of the closet, slamming the door behind him.

“Did you see that?” Nando asked.

“Yes!” yelled Will, Nick, and Ajay.

They heard the bug hit the inside of the door, then watched as its pincers speared straight through the wood like twin drill bits, secreting an acidic red-orange fluid that quickly liquefied a pulpy wet hole.

“What is that thing?” shouted Ajay.

An automatic pistol appeared in Nando’s hands.

“Dude’s got a gat,” said Nick.

Nando fired three shots, point-blank, as the thing wriggled through the hole it had made. The creature exploded into loose fluids that splattered and burst into flames. Liquid fire flowed down the door.

“That is not a bug native to Southern California,” said Ajay, shaking.

“Ya think?!” yelled Nando.

“Get out!” yelled Will.

“I’m getting,” said Nando.

Nando ran out the door as the fire quickly spread. They saw another bug just outside, perched on top of the banister. It leaped and attached itself to Nando’s leg. The camera spun frantically as Nando hopped down the hall, trying to slap the thing away as it crawled all over him, jaws snapping wildly.

Ajay and Nick jumped as if it had landed on them, slapping at their legs.

“Get to my room,” said Will. “Use the window—”

“Damn, it’s on my back,” said Nando.

Nando slammed backward into a wall. They heard a hideous screech and a loud crunch. Nando quickly turned. The black smear and gooey debris that had splattered from the thing burst into flame.

“Go, go!” yelled Will.

Nando had reached Will’s door when they heard a sickening skittering sound. When Nando turned, they saw a stampede, hundreds of the monsters pouring upstairs, scrambling over each other. Nando fired a burst at the head of the swarm, setting off the combustible bugs like a string of firecrackers, flames erupting.

Nando threw himself into Will’s room, slammed the door, ran to the window, and pushed up the sash. They heard a chorus of band saws behind him. Nando whipped his head around, tilting the phone sideways: A thousand bugs were chomping their way through every inch of the door, all at once, dissolving it before their eyes. Nando emptied the clip at them and what was left of the door exploded.

Then he was on the roof, breathing heavily as he crunched across the shingles. “Somebody call the damn Orkin man!” shouted Nando.

He reached the edge of the roof and jumped into the air. The camera jerked. They heard him grunt as he broke his fall on the branch of a tree, then groan as he dropped to the ground. He scrambled to his feet and limped for his taxi.

He opened the door and turned just as the whole house went up, flames bursting from every window. Nando climbed in behind the wheel and slid his key into the ignition, then jammed the taxi into gear and pulled into the alley.

“Are you okay?” asked Will.

“I’m a long way from okay,” said Nando. “But I’m alive—”

Another bug dove straight into the windshield, screaming. Nando shouted and swerved hard right.

The screen went blank.

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