Archive for November, 2008
Monday Update…..Cerberus Bay Episode 3
I’m happy to have the first part of episode three to post. It’s a pretty good size chunk and i had a good time writing it. Hope you enjoy it.
Cerberus Bay
The red numbers of his new alarm clock softly proclaimed the time to be 3:00 AM. The digital numbers burned in the reflection of Hades eyes like crimson fireflies as he lay on his side in bed, staring into their hypnotic display. Every time he thought the time was stuck or perhaps the batteries needed replacing, the number would change by exactly one minute. 3:01 AM. His eyes took the opportunity to blink in preparation for the next ponderous vigil. Hades body was fatigued, but his thoughts refused to quiet themselves. There was no way they could. Somewhere in the distance was the sound of harsh tapping, like a screen door whose spring had broken and was now being mercilessly tossed about by the wind. Every time he began to feel himself slipping to sleep, the tapping sounded in the night, and his consciousness was forced back into an alerted state.
In desperation, Hades grabbed the clock and began searching for the volume dial. When the detective had given it to him, he had been skeptical. Suspecting a bug or some other surveillance device, but after a thorough inspection he had detected nothing of the sort, in fact he had been pleasantly surprised to find it contained a wide variety of soothing nature sounds. For the past three hours he had been listening to the sound of waves gently washing ashore, but it wasn’t enough. The tapping managed to supersede the soothing, and he was getting desperate. At last his nimble fingers found the volume and with one stroke the placid surf was upgraded to tidal wave strength. 3:02 AM. Turning away from the clock, Hades lay staring at the ceiling as the sonic hurricane enveloped his ears. He waited, cautiously, hopefully, senses straining to see if he could still detect any hint of the tapping outside. He was nearing the point of relief when the loudest tap of the night overcame the gale force waves in his room to assault his eardrums. Covering his ears with a grimace, Hades shot upright in bed. Eyes closed as the sound tormented him, but it no longer came from outside. Never far from his thoughts, the memory that had haunted him for five years found new life in the unidentified tapping, and no amount of ambient noise could drown out the deafening pop that exploded from within his mind. Over and over again it blared and with each forced remembrance, other unwanted details came rushing back. The pounding of his heart, sweat dripping from his face, lungs gasping for air, the intense heat, and then came the sound. The pop sounded again and Hades winced. Now fully awake, he threw back the covers and stormed out of his room. His eyes had been open in the dark so long he didn’t bother to turn on a light. As his steps carried him farther away from the white nose of his room the tapping once again rose to prominence. Slipping quickly into a pair of slippers, Hades marched out onto his porch. Wearing only his pajamas, the cool air of night brought a pleasant chill to his skin that helped diffuse the searing memory. He could hear it quite clearly now. Standing outside the tapping was much closer and more abrasive. A breeze swept through the darkness and the tapping seemed to rise and fall with the strength of the wind. Stepping down from his porch, Hades scanned in every direction, but he saw nothing but the impenetrable wall of double wide pine trees he had planted. There was only one gap in the trees, his driveway. The sound was close enough to be coming from one of the neighbors, but to see which one he would have to leave his property. Hades eyes drifted down to the electronic ankle bracelet. The silent red light flashed on and off, reminding him of his tethered freedom.
“I’ll just take a look.” He thought and a moment later his slipper shod feet were standing at the end of his driveway. The area was not urban in nature and so few lights were present, fortunately a cloudless sky and his own affinity for darkness allowed him a good look at all of the houses across from his own. There were no cars on the road, but he wondered how a passerby might react to the sight of a man standing at the end of his driveway at three something in the morning wearing nothing but his pajamas, slippers, and an electronic ankle bracelet. The thought made him snicker, but it was only for a moment. A gust of wind rolled down the street and Hades listened for the tapping. Right on cue it shattered the silence and Hades focus homed in on the noise. It was coming from the house directly across from his. Having narrowed it down, he began searching for the exact cause. Finally he saw it, and his countenance dropped. There, on the second story of the house across the street, was a loose shutter. It hung out over the roof like a stranded climber only to be blown back against the house with each new breeze. Unable to latch, the force of the blow inevitably sent it bouncing back out over the roof where it was once again at the mercy of the wind. Hades watched it glumly from the end of his driveway. The wind continued to play with it and the tapping persisted. It was so close, and Hades could immediately think of a multitude of solutions to fix the situation. All he needed was a ladder, a screwdriver, and a hammer. He knew exactly where each item was located and the urge to be rid of his adversary began to grow. The tapping continued and Hades attention shifted back and forth from the loose shutter to his blinking ankle bracelet as a number of thoughts began to float around in his head. Thoughts like, was someone really watching to see where he went in the middle of the night? If indeed there was someone there, would paying a visit to his neighbor’s house at 3 AM count as suspicious activity? Though he was most concerned about what it would look like if someone happened to see him walking over to his neighbor’s house carrying a ladder, a screwdriver, and a hammer at 3 in the morning. The ankle bracelet continued to flash in warning when a particularly strong gust of wind sent the shutter slamming into the side of the house. The exploding pop in his mind reasserted itself with painful force and Hades winced once more. Recovering, he stared up at the shutter, teeth grinding in determination. He had to do something. Resisting the urge to simply run across the street with a ladder, Hades took a moment to survey the situation. The offending house was totally dark inside and no cars were present in the driveway. Without a garage, it was likely whoever lived there was out of town. The grass in their yard was a good deal longer than the rest of the houses in its row, another fact Hades was pleased to see. Indeed the very fact that the shutter was being left to swing in the breeze was evidence of vacancy. Still, Hades was uneasy about the prospect. Even though he wasn’t committing a crime, it would look like he was. He had made it a point to never ever be caught in a compromising situation. His unscrupulous activities had been the result of meticulous planning, but this was a spontaneous act, a spontaneous act involving an electronic ankle bracelet. Each successive tap of the shutter eroded his self control until Hades could stand it no longer. Rushing back to his garage, Hades swiftly obtained the required tools. Slipping the hammer and screwdriver into his pajama’s pockets, he opened the garage door and marched out with a ladder under his arm. Pausing briefly at the end of his driveway to check once more for traffic, he was satisfied that there was none. With a deep breathe and one last look at his ankle bracelet, Hades moved quickly and quietly across the street and up to his neighbor’s house. He was now beyond worrying about being seen. Speed and silence were now his utmost priorities. Judging the height of the shutter, Hades extended the ladder upward until he was sure he could comfortably reach his objective. The ground was flat and provided a stable foundation as he raised the ladder into place and gently leaned it against the house. Contact was silent and as Hades ascended the metal rungs in his slippers he took a moment to glance down at the bracelet. It appeared unchanged. The flashing red light did not begin beeping, or blinking faster, and there were no sirens shrieking in the distance; however, his heart continued to pound. Once atop, he secured the flailing shutter with one hand and began searching for whether or not he was dealing with nails, screws, or both. After a cursory examination, he settled on screws. Placing the appropriate head into place, Hades began unscrewing the shutter from its frame. The first screws came out easily and Hades reached down to place them in his pocket, but as he was doing so he caught sight of his ankle bracelet. The blinking light which normally showed red was now showing green.
Hades heart sank.
“That’s not good.”
As he was finishing his foreboding thought, a flashlight clicked on and was immediately pointed to his location atop the ladder. It was followed by the recognizable voice of Detective Tarman.
“The strangest thing happened while I was working late at my office. There I was, exhausted from a long day of paperwork when this light on my desk began blinking. At first I didn’t know what to make of it, then I realized it was attached to the receiver I was given to track the location of a certain notorious criminal. Apparently it was trying to tell me that you were out and about at three in the morning. I was stunned to say the least, yet here you are.”
“Fascinating story.” said Hades.
“Not nearly as fascinating a story as the one I’m sure your about to tell me. Mind filling me in on why you are fiddling with your neighbor’s second story window in your pajamas at this ridiculous hour?”
Hades turned around and squinted into the light, “Mind turning that off?”
The detective adjusted his beam away from Hades eyes, “So you were about to tell me why you’re messing with that window?”
“The shutter actually.” corrected Hades.
“Okay, the shutter then.”
Hades took a deep breath, “I was attempting to remove it.”
Tired, perplexed, suspicious, and now curious, Detective Tarman’s face couldn’t decide on what expression to wear, “You are trying to steal a shutter?”
Hades eyes rolled so hard in his head he nearly fell off the ladder,
“Yes that’s it, after an extensive career of supposedly stealing untold amounts of cash, jewels, and art without ever leaving a shred of evidence, I Hades, the master thief of Cerberus Bay have decided to put the full force of my intellect into a new passion, stealing shutters in my pajamas while wearing a police tracking device around my ankle.”
The detective stifled a laugh at Hades indignation, “Okay okay, I’ll admit it doesn’t exactly fit your profile.”
“I’m so pleased we agree.” grumbled Hades.
“So if you aren’t stealing it, why are you removing it?”
“Because it was making it impossible for me to sleep, every time the smallest wisp of wind passed by, the shutter slammed into the side of the house, like this.”
Hades proceeded to bash the partially hinged shutter into the house multiple times for emphasis. Detective Tarman cringed, “I can see how that would be aggravating, why don’t you just turn up one of those sounds on the clock I gave you?”
“Tried that already, as we speak my room is being engulfed by the loudest electronic waves you can produce.”
“And you still found this shutter to be worth the trouble?” questioned the detective.
“It was making a very specific sound, one I find difficult to bear when trying to sleep, even in small doses.”
Hades realized the absurdity of his statements, but there was no way he could fully explain the situation to Detective Tarman.
The detective’s head bobbed thoughtfully, “You are clearly more sensitive to sound than most people, I can appreciate that, but still…I don’t care if someone purchases a chalkboard that scratches itself and puts it in their front yard, you can’t just stalk over to their property in the middle of the night and take it apart or bury it or whatever.”
“I suppose not.” said Hades, “But since I’m already here and you’re down there can I just finish removing the last few screws?”
The detective shook his head, dumbfounded, “No Hades you can’t, it isn’t your shutter. Whatever screws you removed, put back.”
Exhausted Tarman rubbed the side of his stubbled face, “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with you. I’m tired, and I’m going home to go to sleep where I hope to sneak into bed without having to explain this ludicrous delay to my wife. I’ll be back tomorrow and that shutter better still be attached.”
“Fine.” murmured Hades from atop the ladder, but the detective wasn’t listening. He was already walking back to his car that he had parked a ways away to avoid spooking the thief. Hades watched him go before turning back to the shutter with a grin.
“He didn’t say where I had to replace them.”
Picking his spots carefully, Hades proceeded to screw the shutter itself into the house. When it was securely fastened, Hades descended the ladder, put away his tools, and went back inside.
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