Psi-Lords Ch. 1

I stepped out onto the street and pulled a joint outta my pocket. One of my boys stepped in with a lighter. I lit up and prepared to step up to the limo. That's when I heard a voice that'll haunt me for ever, the type of voice that sends a shiver down your spine that you'll never forget.

"Ah, there you are, you know how long I've been waiting? Tisk, tisk. Tres rude! "

I whirled. All my boys drew. Rico said, "What the hell you want? He fingered his piece expectantly. The man didn't move. I thought I saw a smile. I say I thought because I really couldn't see him to well, ya know? Not his face anyways. He was wearing a pinstripe, like somethin' outta the '20s. He wore a fedora hat that covered his face in a shadow that no matter how hard ya stared, ya never could see past it. I remember thinking to myself, what the hell is he smilin' 'bout? He must have some sorta protection. I looked around. Nuthin'. Looked up and down the street. Nuthin'. Then I looked back at him thinkin', damn, this chiphead is wacked! Completely outta 'is friggin' mind! Then it happened. I'd describe to ya all what the hell happened, except to this day, I don't seriously know. All I know is one minute my boys were standin', next minute, they wasn't. I stared in shock; he hadn't even appeared to move!

"Whatthehell are you?" I croaked.

"A friend." He replied.

"A friend? What typa friend waxes my boys and then stands there tellin' me how my friend is gonna kill me?" I started shittin' bricks by the dozen, thinkin' Oh fuk, I'm one dead muthafuka. I am dead, and I didn't even get to do all the things I promised myself and others I'd do. I promised my little girl I'd buy her a good car for her birthday. My wife, I was gonna take her to the Virgin Isles on a second honeymoon, I was gonna make up to my family all that I had screwed up for them 'cause of work. Why now? All these thoughts went through my head as I hurried through a quick silent prayer before I went on to meet my maker.

"Ha, for starters, I did not kill your men, and I am not here to kill you." This he said in a sure, smooth way, like he was findin' this all somehow funny.

"Then what are you here for?"

"To help."

"Help?"

"Help."

"How can you help me?

"The way any friend is capable of helping another."

"Humph. Don't need no friends, got plenty enough. And I sure as hell don't need no help from you."

"Ha," he glanced down, "your poor help would suggest otherwise. I would think that you should count my coming as a blessing." A smile played at his mouth.

"Don't need no blessings either, I make my own luck. Only fools rely on blessings to get them through life."

"Then what fools these mortals be. Everyone could use a blessing, most especially those who say that they don't." Something about the way he said the word "mortals" made you stop. The way it sorta bounces around your mind, ringing like a churchbell. The air itself seemed to hang on the word, "mortals". It made me stop, stop and think. There was a hidden meaning there, I was sure of it. I thought about the words around.

"What fools the mortals be." I remembered it from somewhere. Somewhere in school. I was 15. The day that… the thing happened, so long ago. The day of the nightmare. We had been reading Shakespeare's " a midsummer night's dream". Then… dammit! No! I can't think about that now! I can't lose my cool! Wait-a-minute, "these mortals", that's it… A part of me then lurched awake, a part I hadn't known was there. A part that said "Yes, that's it! Ask about that!"

"'These mortals', you speak as though you aren't one." I gulped nervously. The shitbrick factory started up again. "Just what the hell are you?" Then came the moment that I will remember for the rest of my life. He looked up at me, and I saw his eyes, I think, I saw two bright flashes of blue. A blue so clear it should belong to an angel. A blue so clear it looked like the type of blue you'd see as the color of those tropical oceans in travel brochures. I keep harping on his eyes because to the best of my memory, this was the only time I ever actually saw them. And for all there beauty they held me in a blinding blue glare. I asked him once why he had decided to help me, and he had said it was because I needed it. I had asked him then how he knew, had he been watching me for a long time, spying on me? He just looked at me piercingly and then turned away, refusing to answer. That was the best answer to that question I'd ever gotten.

"I'll let you turn that question over in your head. Let that be the mystery that keeps you up at night." The blue faded from his eyes, his face became a black mask again. "It is only fair, as you, my friend, are the mystery that keeps me up during the day. Contact me sometime, my card is in your pocket." On that he turned from the leaning position he had had on the wall next to the hotel door, and briskly walked away. I reached in to my right pocket with my right hand, my fingers closed on a card, and then I realized a disturbing truth, he had known exactly which pocket I would reach into first.

I pulled out the card and scanned it. It said "Trevor Valentine. 36th and 3rd club NightAngel. Open only at night." I looked up to ask him what the last part had meant, but he was gone with a whish noise. I looked up. I couldn't be sure at the time, but I thought I saw a shadow climb over the edge of the roof above. 10 stories above. On the back of the card it said:

"Welcome to the world of the enlightened, Tony Daconi. Your eyes have been opened to the world around you, the world that most people won't see. The world that people rationalize away. Everything that goes bump in the night, you shall now see what you were at first blind to.

"For better or for worst. Perhaps too soon you are let in to the fold, I would have personally wished that this hadn't happened so soon, that we had time to gently ease you out of the world of the blind, but time dictates otherwise, my friend. Oh and by the way, as a token of friendship, I have a present to give to you to present to your daughter next week on her 16th birthday, it is sitting in you driveway. I suggest you get home before she gets back from her boyfriend's shack across town and ruins the surprise. Oh, and you might want to invest in a pack of condoms for your daughter before she ruins herself. Welcome to the worlde of the reale."

And the card vanished.

To Be Continued...?