Prey For Me Ch. 01

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Locusts on Harleys are loosed from the abyss.
6.1k words
4.33
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Part 1 of the 19 part series

Updated 09/22/2022
Created 06/23/2000
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Pt. I: The Locusts

Like locusts, they came swarming out of the Badwater Basin of Death Valley. They rode smoking Harleys in groups of ten. Each day another group of ten wove their way through each other's dust clouds on the road from the abyss to their assignations. The names of the leaders of the locusts, Samazaz, Araklba, Rameel, Kobablel, Tamlel, Ramel, Danel, Ezequeel, Baraqijal, Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaqlel, Samspeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael and Sariel would soon be on the lips of those who mysteriously disappeared.

Joshua Marshall noticed with interest the antics of the riders as he sat on his front porch in his rocking chair with his bible and his coffee. His small ranch house sat off Route 372, just a few miles west of Pahrump, Nevada.

Pahrump is a small town of a little over a thousand not far from the California border. A rather quiet place until the events and publicity of the past year Joshua thought as he recalled the events that made Pahrump famous.

Joshua's interest in diabolical murder plots piqued with the death of a rather notorious Las Vegas resident, one Ted Binion, on September 17, 1998. Pahrump came into the picture two days after the death when $7 million in silver bars was dug up which belonged to the late Mr. Binion. All that money just buried in a vacant lot and he had driven by the place hundreds of times. If only he had known. If only Joshua had known that his sighting of the locusts would signal the beginning of an even more fiendish mystery of brutal murder and vexing happenings. It would hit very close to home.

A deputy sheriff caught the three men digging up Ted Binion's millions. The culprits claimed they were removing ordinance that had been stored there. What a surprise when the deputy found all those silver bars in the truck. Joshua couldn't wait for the preliminary hearing to start in a few days, which was going to be televised. Joshua dwelled on the story of the girlfriend of the late Mr. Binion who also apparently was intimately involved with one of the three men apprehended digging up the treasure in Pahrump.

The woman, according to what Joshua had read in the papers and heard on the news, was a real gold digger, or rather silver digger, had also been charged with murder. He wondered if this drama would play out as interestingly as the O.J. trial, which he had watched religiously. His friend Nathaniel thought it would be even better.

"This is going to be a most evil case of macabre murder and malicious mayhem, Joshua," Nathaniel had predicted. They both were soon to become privy to something even more sinister.

Joshua's place was now run down, badly in need of a new roof and some overall attention. Since his wife died a few years back he was too old and disinterested in life in general to really care. His only special interests in life were his bible, Harleys and the little girl next door.

At noon Joshua had his usual microwaved lunch and then took his nap. He was seventy-five but still was as mentally acute as ever. He and his late wife, his beloved Katherine, had only one child, a son. David's helicopter allegedly crashed and burned in 1973 as he and his crew attempted to rescue wounded soldiers. There was no body to mourn over.

Joshua disbelieved the explanation he received from the military when notified of David's death. He knew from his discussions with his own comrades from the big war that the scenario he was given did not jive with the physics of mid-air collisions over friendly troops. It would take an explosion far bigger than a SAM missile and the fuel tanks of a chopper to destroy the bodies of the pilot and crew. The bodies would be blown from the wreckage, and probably be recovered by the friendly troops they were to rescue. Joshua would have been far more satisfied with an explanation like David's helicopter crashed into a fog-shrouded mountain, on a mission over North Vietnam to rescue a downed pilot. Or he was lost in the Gulf of Tonkin trying to return to his aircraft carrier with the pilot he and his crew rescued. He knew there were a lot of reasons for the many MIA in Vietnam. A chopper crash near friendly troops wasn't usually one of them. His reluctance to accept official explanations would serve him well in understanding what was about to unfold.

Joshua did have a granddaughter. He had not seen since the girl since she was twelve. Her mother was a Native American, a Seneca. She remarried and they lost contact. He thought about his grand daughter often, curious about how she turned out. Of course, the girl was a woman now, in her late twenties and probably with a family of her own. Joshua wondered if he had great grandchildren.

The little girl next door was quite the young lady. Eleven years old and just the smartest and prettiest little angel Joshua had ever met. Her name was Rachael and she called him "Pappy." She never knew her own father or her grandparents. Her mother, Laurie, took off long ago for the Wild West from some place in Pennsylvania when she got pregnant at seventeen and never looked back.

In the summer, Rachael stayed with Joshua until her mother got home just before noon. To say Joshua babysat Rachael would be somewhat confusing. It was more like she babysat him. They were very close.

Laurie worked a morning part-time job at a local bank. She was a stunning woman. Many said she should have been a model. She was also married. She had married Marvin Johnston two years earlier. He was a local preacher and travelling salesman, twenty years her senior. Joshua did not like Marvin and he could tell Rachael was not particularly fond of him. Laurie found her old habits hard to break and did some carousing on nights when Marvin was on the road. When she did she would leave Rachael at Joshua's overnight and into the next morning.

Joshua remembered the morning he had gone over to Laurie's to get Rachael, only to find her not at home. A bleary eyed Laurie answered the door in a very skimpy teddy and informed Joshua that Rachael had gone on a business trip with Marvin and his mother. Rachael adored Marvin's mother. A stranger who wasn't wearing much of anything stood behind Laurie on that morning. He held an all black Mossburg shotgun in one hand and something else in the other. Joshua wondered where in the world Laurie found these characters but would never ask. He suspected most of them were on parole. Actually, he didn't blame Laurie for fooling around. He was not one for casting stones and Marvin was such an intolerable boorish sort.

Marvin founded a software consulting firm which occupied his time when preaching didn't. Joshua didn't know what all they were involved in, but he did know one of their current projects was debugging programs to deal with the alleged Y2K crisis. Joshua knew about that because Marvin talked about it all the time. He even incorporated it in his Sunday sermons. "Anything to drum up business," Joshua said to himself.

Pastor Johnston inherited several million dollars from his late father who had been divorced from his mother many years ago. That money enabled the good reverend to hire the best in computer nerds from Silicon Valley. Another important project Marvin's company recently developed an innovative piece of virus detection software.

Joshua first saw the locusts on a Saturday morning when Rachael was home with her mother. Peering through his powerful binoculars, Joshua was incredibly intrigued. He often scrutinized the vehicles and the people in and on them cruising down the highway in minute detail.

Joshua prided himself on identifying classic cars and motorcycles, particularly Harleys. He should because he worked on one almost every day for nearly fifty years.

The Hondas, Kawasakis, Suzukis and their brethren confused him somewhat and so did "modern" automobiles. Like Joshua often said, he could no longer tell a new Chevy from a new Cadillac, but he could sure as hell tell a '69 Mustang Mach 1 from a '69 Chevelle SS396. He recalled fondly the Mustang he once owned, a '65 dark green convertible, black interior and top. Just a six cylinder with a stick shift but it could really go. He thought he was too stupid for selling it, but recalled fondly the woman who bought it. And what a deal he gave her. First and only time he ever strayed on his late wife. But not really he concluded. Even the President said letting a young lady go down on you is not sex. He pondered over what had happened to that girl, Sally. Joshua still recalled those hot wet lips fondly even though it happened more than thirty years ago.

Sally, the randy redhead in her early twenties, had just demolished her third vehicle. "Joshua," she pleaded, "I simply must have this car. It's me. Make me an offer I can't refuse, or I'll make you one."

"It's going to cost you more for insurance than it is for this car, no matter what kind of deal we make, Sally."

What sealed Joshua's intense desire to play "let's make a deal" was her rendition of the Wilson Picket tune Mustang Sally. It was just the way she sang "Ride Sally ride, all you want to do is ride around Sally" and what she did with her body while she warbled.

Sally really could ride as Joshua soon found out and she owned that car a few hours later. Sighting the locusts stirred memories of Sally. She didn't meet her demise in that Mustang. No, a Hell's Angel bumped her off his Harley as they were engaged in some sort of sexual liaison on the moving bike. That was the rumor anyway.

Joshua knew nothing of the computerized systems in the newer vehicles, but he could make an old Harley purr. He considered rebuilding and reconditioning old Harleys his favorite income-generating hobby. Something fun he did to make a little extra money to supplement his Social Security.

That first Saturday morning he first noticed the helmets. The locusts displayed classic German army helmets with Y-straps. Long hair flowed from the helmet of each rider.

The locusts wore rather ordinary looking black leather dusters and chaps, except for the insignia. Their dusters bore an unusual scorpion on the back, with an inscription that Joshua could not read. In fact, he doubted it was in English. He suspected it was Hebrew.

Then Joshua noticed the vests. Not the vests but what dangled on a large chain in the middle of the locust's chests. An Iron Cross. He recognized the Iron Cross immediately. He had one that he took off a dead German soldier during the Battle of the Bulge. He reminisced briefly about the cold weeks he spent in Bastogne in December 1944 while serving with the 101st Airborne. Joshua could barely make out the swastika in the center of the Iron Cross worn by the lead locust. He couldn't see the date, but he knew it was there. 1939 he assumed. Just like his.

The next morning, Sunday, Rachael was again absent. She no doubt had been dragged to her stepfather's church, as usual, to hear his fire and brimstone sermon. Marvin preached a different version of his rapture theory just about every week. It always started off with "Jesus may be coming today." Joshua had visited Marvin's church once. Once was enough.

Rachael didn't like his sermons and she was quite the biblical scholar even at such a young age. She asked Pappy, "Millions of people are just going to disappear? Duh!"

Joshua couldn't argue with Rachael's summation of her feelings about Marvin's sermons. Some might have thought it just a typical pre-teen philosophical statement. Not him, he agreed with her, and it wasn't because he saw the movie The Rapture.

Nathaniel had brought over a tape of the movie several months back. Mimi Rogers, Tom Cruise's ex-wife, stars as a kinky sex swinger who gets religion. She becomes a born-again Christian and the plot involves her spiritual journey and apocalyptic beliefs, culminating in a trip to the desert to wait for the Second Coming.

Marvin drove Joshua crazy because he sent over books for him to read which just gathered dust. Marvin's favorites were books about the rapture and he was currently enthralled with Christian fiction by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. The first book in that series was Left Behind which he had ordered Rachael to take to Joshua and to tell him that if they wanted to talk about religion they should read and discuss this book. It had become a best seller. Just like that other book, Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch, thought Joshua. Mindless drivel.

Sunday morning another group of locusts with their German helmets, scorpion dusters and Iron Crosses smoked by Joshua's place. Joshua was puzzled about only one thing. The dandelions the riders had stuck in their mouths like toothpicks.

Monday morning, Rachael saw the next group of locusts and explained the dandelions to Joshua. "Pappy, I learned about dandelions in school." His ears perked right up. "Because the leaves of the dandelion look like a lion's teeth, the French named it 'dent de lion' which became dandelion in our language."

Rachael then read to Joshua from his very old King James, as she did every morning. His eyes were failing and he loved her melodic voice. Only rarely would she mispronounce a word and he would stop her momentarily and help her pronounce it correctly. They had just finished the eighth chapter of Revelation the past week, so this morning she began with the ninth chapter.

"1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."

Rachael paused for a moment, "Pappy, you remember that huge cloud of smoke we saw over there last week?" and she pointed to the western sky. "Sure honey. I never did figure out exactly what it was and didn't see anything on the news or in the papers. I still think it was some sort of huge explosion at China Lake, the naval weapons center. Probably top secret stuff they wanted to keep quiet."

"I never heard of China Lake, Pappy. Are you sure the explosion wasn't from Nellis? The kids at school talk about strange goings-on there all the time."

"Maybe, but Nellis is the other direction. I talked to some government people who did lead me to believe that it was from some secret project hidden on the Nellis Nuclear Test Site, although they wouldn't say so on the record. I suppose it could have been a crash of something they were working on that strayed from the Nellis Bombing Range/Area 51." Rachael continued reading, verse 3, "And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power."

"Pappy," she interrupted herself, "Don't locusts in the bible usually symbolize immorality and demonic activity?" He wondered where she got that grownup talk. She never ceased to amaze him. "Where did you hear that, Rachael? Marvin?" She nodded and went back to the book.

"4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man."

Rachael blurted out, "Pappy, I know what a scorpion's sting is like. We learned that in school too. Scorpion stings don't usually kill but cause a lot of pain." She graphically described the swelling, troubled breathing, twitching, drooling, slurred speech and severe cramps before she returned to reading,

"6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions."

Rachael frowned and looked very puzzled. "Dandelions," she murmured, mostly to herself.

"9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."

Rachael closed the bible, shut her eyes and was very quiet for minutes.

Joshua was worried the child's imagination was running wild. She was prone to bad nightmares that her stepfather blamed on Joshua's biblical tales. Preacher Marvin said the book of Revelation and many other parts of the bible were not to be taken literally.

Just then, Laurie pulled in the driveway to pick up her daughter. Rachael kissed Pappy goodbye and ran off. She turned, waved and yelled, "See you tomorrow, Pappy!" Pappy was not the only one Rachael would see tomorrow. She would see a locust, up close and personal.

Tuesday morning Rachael woke her mother early for work. She didn't get much sleep that night and she was anxious to get to Pappy's. A nightmare had awakened her in the middle of the night. From what she could recall, it was mostly about a huge swarm of locusts being swept up in a tremendous flood, and she saw Noah's ark.

Joshua's latest Harley project was a 1951 Panhead. "Why the name Panhead?" Rachael had asked.

"Look," he pointed to the motor cover, "Doesn't that look like an upside down pan?"

This Panhead now sat in Joshua's driveway with a FOR SALE sign on it. It had taken Joshua six months to rebuild the engine and recondition this one. He had some difficulty finding parts. He felt it was his best job yet and he was very proud of his work. Most satisfying of all was that this Harley was very much like the first one he owned almost fifty years ago.

Tuesday morning, another group of ten locusts passed Joshua's house. This swarming hoard, however, rode much slower than the first three groups had. Rachael was very excited and waved at the bikers. One waved back. Then he came back. He turned around about two hundred yards down the highway.

He was riding a 1990 Fatboy Grey Ghost. One of Joshua's all time favorite Harleys. When he pulled in the driveway and got off his bike, the first thing that struck Joshua was the man's size. He was huge.

Joshua liked to watch wrestling on TV and this guy reminded him of a particular wrestler. Except the stranger was clean-shaven and he was so strikingly handsome, he was almost pretty like a woman.

The stranger took off his duster and threw it on his bike. The sleeveless black vest with the Iron Cross dangling on a chain down the front emphasized his bulging biceps dramatically. Rachael ran right up to him.

"Hi mister! Nice motorcycle. Did you see Pappy's Panhead?" she said, pointing to it.

"Yes, young lady, I surely did. That's why I stopped." He scrutinized every inch of the marvelous machine very slowly and carefully, and then said, "The bike that made Milwaukee famous." "No silly, the beer that made Milwaukee famous, I saw the commercial." Both the stranger and Joshua burst into laughter and Rachael looked totally puzzled.

She had quite the temper for a young lady, much like her mother, and was peeved that Pappy and the stranger were having a laugh at her expense. She snapped, "The names of your Harleys like Panheads, Fatboys and Knuckleheads are meant to correspond to the IQ of your typical biker dude, like you two!"

Pappy kissed her on the cheek. "You are too much. Please be good. We have a guest."

"Take her for a spin if you like, mister," Joshua said. Rachael yelped, "Can I go too, Pappy? Please, please?" Joshua looked at the stranger who smiled and nodded.

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