The Gift: Day 06

"Sorry, baby," Jesse said, feeling genuinely bad he had to hit her so hard. And then Tina's staff whizzed by his ear, nearly taking it off in the process. He jumped back and brought his staff to bear as she slammed hers down. The impact vibrated through his arms as she wildly attacked him, her eyes wild with rage. He countered her blows as best he could before she smashed her staff into his knuckles. Jesse yelped and dropped the pole as he waved his throbbing hand.

Tina swung her staff and caught him in the face, sending him reeling back into a collection of tapestries that had been draped in front of the box office entrance. Jesse tumbled over, his eyes blurry as he massaged his jaw, "The bitch must pay..."

Tina raised her staff high for the final blow as Jesse pistoned his hand out and used his gift. Tina huffed as the air was forced out of her lungs and an invisible hand shoved her back and up into the air. She sailed across the lobby and landed hard in the potted plants upside down. Alicia and Lindsay looked at each other and then charged him, screaming.

"Momma said never to hit a woman," he closed his eyes and summoned his strength. He reached out with his mind and ripped the billowing maroon colored silk from the ceiling clean away. It wrapped around the two women like a ghostly serpent, binding them into submission. Alicia fell forward, her balance compromised from the shock of the sudden attack of cloth and smashed her face into the floor. Lindsay managed to free one arm from her silk cocoon but Jesse shoved her back with his mind. She bounced off the far wall, shattering an old movie poster display.

"Over did that one," he cringed as Lindsay moaned and then didn't move.

Jesse stood up and after a moment of surveying the damage, he looked to the double doors to his left. He knew that Daniel had to be in there. All of his antics up until now had been theatrically evil, and Jesse could think of no better place for him to set up shop. The town belonged to him, and he could pick and choose any place he wanted. The theater was large, spacious and over-dramatic, a perfect throne room for a false god.

He looked down at the unconscious body of Alicia Stone and her friends. He shook his head, "So they founded the Isle of Lesbos..."

And then the back of his head exploded in pain as something connected hard with his skull. Jesse saw stars and bright colors as his eyes rolled and his field of vision suddenly faded away. He collapsed to the floor and Tina Moss stood over him, her eyes livid with anger and her lips drawn back in a raging snarl. She kicked him hard in the ribs and rolled him over, ready to finish her work.

"Hold," came a quiet voice from the open double-doors of the theater.

"My Lady," Tina breathed, "He attacked us."

"Bring him inside," Diane Brewster said. She could sense Tina's desire to finish him off, such a predatorily savage need inside such a fragile woman. Diane raised a brow and said, "Now, if you please."

Tina took a deep breath and lowered her staff.

"Yes, my Lady," she bowed her head.

***

Daniel watched the helicopter fly over and then hover above the police station. It's rotor blades chopped through the air and swirled the brilliant blue mist around in miniature cyclones as it slowly descended down low enough to be within twenty feet of the roof top. Six black ropes fell out of the open sliding door of the chopper, along which immediately followed six men in black clothing. Daniel thought they might be S.W.A.T. or some kind of special law enforcement unit.

Either way, they were trespassing.

He watched them disperse from the center of the roof and disconnect from their lines quickly. The helicopter lifted back into the open air as the mist curled and wisped around violently. Daniel noticed that each man was armed with what he thought might be machine guns. Red laser target beams emitted from each weapon, creating a stark contrast to the luminescent fog around the six intruders.

They quickly began running across the roof. Daniel could sense their thoughts as they went about their business. They were here to gather information and report back. Their fear was like thick, overbearing cologne that he could smell even from his perch on the roof of the city office just across the street. They were terrified, but they were also committed to carrying out their mission. In fact, they were as dedicated to theirs as Daniel was dedicated to his.

As the helicopter circled overhead, undoubtedly recording their progress, Daniel decided to give the men watching a good show. He concentrated on the roof access and sealed the door shut. He watched the men struggle with it vainly. The lead intruder raised his weapon to fire and that was when Daniel seized his mind. Daniel forced his way inside the man's head and discovered his name was John. It turned out John was a lieutenant with the Sacramento S.W.A.T. team and that he had been sent here to not only gather information, but to also find and capture the ones responsible if possible. Daniel shook his head.

He focused on John's mind and began to flex his incredible grip.

***

From the helicopter, the pilot and co-pilot watched through infrared video surveillance as Lieutenant John Rogers stopped dead in his tracks on the roof. His gun was poised to blow the lock off the door, but the lieutenant seemed to be frozen in place. The two pilot looked at each other and shrugged.

"What the hell is he doing?"

Five miles away, sitting in a luxurious command R.V. near the gas station where Jesse and Elena had been only a few nights ago, Lt. Rogers' superiors watched with equally confused expressions.

"What the fuck is he doing?" someone whispered.

And then Lt. Rogers turned and fired on his team.

"Rogers!" came a panicked voice over the radio from the mobile H.Q., "Rogers stand down! What the fuck?!"

On various monitors, the pilots and men in charge watched as the twice-decorated police officer gunned down his own men before they could even react. The first officer went down under multiple shots to the legs and torso, followed by the second and third officer. The fourth member of the team tried to fire off his gun but caught a bullet in the face, blowing the back of his head and helmet clean off. The fifth officer took Rogers in the chest but was too late. The possessed lieutenant blasted him with sustained machine fire until what was left of him reeled back and tumbled off the roof to the street below.

"Oh Jesus," the pilot groaned and then saw Rogers aiming at the helicopter itself.

"Go go go!" his co-pilot screamed. The chopper banked and began to pull away as bullets tore through their underside and sparks exploded all over the cockpit. A fire ignited just below the control panel and burned his legs and Rogers relentlessly gunned them. The engines whined and sparked under the strain of keeping them airborne as bullets destroyed the huey.

"What the hell is he doing?" the pilot screamed and then doubled over as seventeen rounds drilled up through his thighs and buttocks and into his body. Blood spattered the canopy of the helicopter as he leaned forward and died.

"Mayday!" the co-pilot yelled as smoked choked his lungs, "Mayday mayday!"

He heard more bullets ripping and clinking through the metal skin of the chopper and then was suddenly silenced as one caught him under his chin and blasted through the top of his head.

The chopper began spinning out of control.

***

Daniel watched the dark helicopter spin wildly and lose altitude as it descended towards the train tracks and the riverbed. Smoke billowed from the dying machine as it disappeared behind the police station and the other buildings on the hill between Main Street and Sacramento Avenue. It fell from sight and then a moment later the night lit up with flames and burning wreckage.

The blast blew out windows for a two-block radius as the chopper exploded just in front of the Eagle's Hall. The rotor spun and broke away, slicing through several telephone poles before lodging in an old red Ford truck. Flaming debris fell onto the tracks and spat into the dwindled riverbed. The explosion echoed through the canyon in a violent rumble that sounded more like a hellish dragon bellowing in response to being woken up from a centuries long sleep.

Daniel looked at the last man on the roof of the police station. He seized the John's mind again and sent him a message.

***

In the comfort of their trailer, members of the FBI and local police watched as the helicopter burned. No one could really say anything of any relevance as they stared, open mouthed and wide-eyed. Their reactions said all that would ever need to be said. The insane scenario that had just played out before them was unlike anything any of the experienced men had ever seen. And it had all been caught on the evening news.

The infrared camera that had been mounted to the choppers flickered and began to distort as the fire burned it. The image wobbled and then went dead. From the radio came this simple message: "Stay away from my city."

It was John Rogers speaking to them from the roof of the police station, but they all knew deep down it wasn't really him talking.

Somehow, they just knew.

Then there was a gunshot.

And the radio simply crackled and hissed.

***

Lieutenant Rogers stood for only moment, the bullet wound in his head still fresh and then fell over backwards. Daniel watched for few minutes, like a little boy who had just burned a line of ants in front of his house on a hot summer day. It felt strange, killing them all as he had done. He felt invigorated and filled with energy, as he had been with the man he had killed out of mercy the night Jesse and Elena had escaped him. He also felt a stronger sense of purpose.

The power of the gift felt even more substantial than before. Daniel smiled broadly to himself, completely satisfied and totally at peace with his actions. The intruders were dead and the helicopter was gone. Now the men in charge of the outside world knew they were up against more than just unexplained phenomenon now. These men, many of who believed that God did not exist, would be educated. God did exist, and Daniel would show them that he and he alone wielded that power.

He stood and left the dead men there to rot.

***

Jesse had been expecting to see Daniel sitting atop the stage in the theater like some self-important god, deep in thought and quiet contemplation. Instead, he saw a beautiful woman dressed in elegant robes waiting for him. Her muscular tanned legs were exposed as the cloak of the white outfit split in an upside down "V" shape from her collarbone down. A simple wrap of cloth stretched around her hips in the same fashion that Tina and her cohorts had worn. The woman's large, golden breasts were not hidden by anything other than two very exquisite nipple rings.

Tina jabbed Jesse in the back with her staff, forcing him to walk up the stairs to the stage. He did so grudgingly, wishing more and more he had made sure she was knocked out before he had turned his back on her. He noticed that Diane Brewster was walking along side him, dressed in the same manner as Tina and others had been.

"Mrs. Brewster?" he asked silently.

"Shut up," came another jab into his ribs from Tina.

As he neared the mystery woman, Jesse saw that her skin was a golden bronze color, the kind of tone that women killed themselves for at tanning salons. Her long black hair was cut in an Egyptian expression of royalty, straight and blunt over the eyes yet adorned with intricate braids to the sides of her cheeks.

"Jesse," the woman smiled, her gold colored lips stretching into a grin that revealed a set of the most perfect, white teeth he had ever seen. Her exotic, pitch black eyes looked down on him as he was forced to stand in front of her. Brilliant gold paint had been lavishly applied to the area between her eyelashes and bold, dark eyebrows. Her lashes were penciled and painted in the style of ancient Egyptians, brining out the fierce whites of her eyes. For a moment, Jesse thought her eyes glowed blue.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked simply.

"Address her with respect," Tina growled and smacked the end of her bo into his face. Blood leaked from Jesse's nose as he stood back and glared at Tina.

"I'm sorry," he wiped his nose, "Who the hell are you, ma'am?"

Jesse fell to the floor as his legs were swept out from underneath him. Tina stood over him, poised to strike.

"Easy," the exotic woman put a hand on Tina's shoulder.

Tina looked at her respectfully and backed off.

"I am Helena," she looked down at Jesse.

"You're not Madame Helena," Jesse laughed. He looked over at Tina and commented, "And you're definitely not Tina Moss anymore."

"Shut up," Tina glared down at him, a thin snail trail of blood oozing from her full bottom lip from their fight earlier. Jesse wasn't wild about her new attitude or murderous hobbies but he had to admit the nude-body tattoo look really agreed with her. He wondered what she would do with herself after this was all over and the power of the gift was taken? When she finally saw through the veil of deceit Daniel had placed over her would she be as dedicated to her newfound way of life?

Jesse thought not.

"Must you be so brutal?" Helena looked at Tina sharply. For her part, when Tina met Helena's eyes the primal confidence she had been given by the gift wore off and she shrunk back from the witch.

"Forgive me?" she lowered her head.

Diane looked to Jesse for a moment, her eyes sad and resigned.

"You are forgiven," Helena dismissed them with a wave of her hand, leaving her and Jesse alone.

Once Tina and Diane were gone, Jesse stood back up and asked, "Who are you really?"

"I am as I truly am," the witch replied, her dark impenetrable eyes fixed on him.

"You enjoy playing queen for a day?"

"I play for keeps, Jesse," she smiled seductively and added, "When you came into my shop last Sunday, you and Daniel were playing foolishly."

"Bullshit," he laughed, "Where's Daniel?"

"I am Helena."

"Prove it," Jesse said, his voice echoing through the empty theater.

"Your dreams," Helena raised a sexy brow, "You used to dream about being chased by a haggard old witch. She wanted to kill you. You would wake up just as she grabbed your throat and made to stick you in the oven, just like Hansel and Gretel. You would wake up screaming Jesse, alone and afraid in your bed... sometimes wet, other times..."

"Enough," Jesse looked at her.

"... sometimes not," Helena finished.

"Okay, let's say I believe you," Jesse said, "Let's say you really are the haggard old biddy we met in Derridge last Sunday. Let me ask you something... what the fuck is your problem?"

Helena was unabashedly fascinated with him, "Such fire..."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he asked again, oblivious to her designs on him "You gave two irresponsible assholes like me and Daniel powers that border on godhood and then turn us loose for a week?"

"Yes," she nodded and ran her fingers over the silky robes of her outfit, "Exhilarating, isn't it?"

"How about stupid?" Jesse yelled incredulously and he held his hands open wide, "This whole town has gone to hell in a fucking hand basket because you did this to us!"

People are dead because of you!"

"No," she shook her head slowly and sat down in her regal chair, "Because of you and Daniel."

"That's bullshit!"

"I gave you the power of the gift," Helena said, "But it was you and your friend who acted out with it. It was you who decided how it would be used and in what context, not I. I am not responsible for your actions."

"Give a kid a gun and he shoots himself and you walk free," he laughed and rolled his eyes, "That's real wise."

"You don't like the gift, do you Jesse?"

"What gave me away?" he looked at her sarcastically.

"Very often," the witch took a long drink from her chalice, "We covet what we can't have. Mostly, we desire that which is forbidden. It is our nature."

"Well fuck-a-doodle-doo," Jesse spun his forefinger in the air, "Thank you for that enlightening little pearl of wisdom. What is that from anyway? 'Chicken Shit for the Soul?'"

"This fight will be most one sided," Helena sighed and leaned back in her chair, "You disappoint me, Jesse. But you do have my sympathies."

"I don't want your sympathy, I don't want your power," he glared at her as he vented his rage out, "And I don't want your goddam gift!"

Helena looked at him, her eyes flashing with both smoldering desire and hatred. She despised him almost as much as she lusted after him. She wanted to tear his clothes away and ravage his body as much as she wanted to run him through with a broad sword. She wanted to taste his mouth and taste the pleasure of his semen as a vampire might drink blood. Her body yearned for him in a way that both frightening and wonderful to her. It had been so long since a man had stirred such primal feelings in her.

"And what will you do if you give up your gift?" Helena asked him, her lips cocked into a knowing half-grin, "How will you protect yourself from Daniel?"

"I'll take my chances," he said.

"And how," she asked, "Will you protect your love?"

"My love?" he paused, suddenly nervous.

"Elena," the witch said, looking as though the name had left a bad taste in her mouth.

"She's not my love," Jesse lied.

"Lying doesn't suit you anymore than corruption and greed does, Jesse," Helena rolled her eyes, "Don't."

"I'm begging you," Jesse said as he walked towards her, "Please take this power back from us, Helena."

"And now you're willing to ask politely?" the witch smiled, "Such a short journey from bold contempt and resolve to begging..."

"I'll do anything you ask," Jesse forced himself to kneel at her feet. Helena couldn't quite believe it as she watched the beautiful black man lower his face to the floor before her humbly. Helena sat up in her chair, her nipples hardening and tingling as she considered her options. She could feel her desires for control over him swelling inside her body like heat from a fire, radiating outward and affecting her every sense. She looked down at him and said, "You would give yourself to me to end this?"

"If it means the end of mine and Daniel's power, then yes."

Helena felt her heart beat faster as her sex became wet and slippery, "To be fair, there is much you need to see before you can commit to me, Jesse."

'Since when are you concerned with fair?' he thought.

"Anything," he said.

"Rise, Jesse," Helena said regally as she stood up from her chair. Jesse stood eye-to-eye with her and less than a few inches away from her nose. They were so close Jesse could feel the electrical field between their bodies sparking and crackling. It was the power of her raw sexuality he felt, pure and unadulterated. Helena was alive with it. It surged through her every vein and every muscle fiber. It was in her very genetic make up, defining her and ruling her as she wished to rule those around her.

Her ambition scared Jesse. He felt as though he were standing in front of a door that led to a deep chasm, an abyssal trench that had no bottom he could ever reach. Through the hot sensations of her body she shared with him Jesse also felt the cold core of her heart. Helena was empty inside, her soul hollowed out by her years of being the vessel for the gift.

Jesse wanted to step back and run, but he thought of Elena and his parents. He thought of everyone in Castleton Rock who deserved a chance to live. He couldn't ignore his responsibility to these people. Jesse knew deep down that the only way to save them was to insure that Daniel was stopped. If it meant losing his soul to this witch, then so be it. He had taken the gift, and it was his fight to finish.