The Metropolitan Part 2

Act 2: Noah Mankowski
“Are you alright Sam?” Nikki asks as they step back out into the cold of the narrow side street.

Samantha grumbles as the door closes the door behind them, “Why can’t people speak plainly? Why do they all sound like fortune cookies?

“It’s the nature of the arcane and magic.” Nikki says slipping the Ithaca back within the black wool coat.

Samantha sighs, “”So, okay – what’s with the altar in the back?”

“Altar in the back?”

As they walk back toward the corner, back to Angell Street and the Ferrari, Nikki suddenly stops as she sees a young man in the shadows, “Noah? Is that you?” She takes another step forward, “Noah Mankowski?”

Noah Mankowski turns quickly recognizing her, “You!?”

She holds out a hand, “Do not run, we are outside a sanctuary—so there is no need for you to run. So—please, I have to talk to you!”

Noah puts his finger up to his lips.

Samantha nods in agreement as she hold her side, “Yeah, please no running, not to tonight

Noah Mankowski looks up at the rooftops nervously.

Nikki takes a step forward, “Listen to me. Listen to my voice Noah, I promise I will protect you, I just need to talk to you – we need your help.”

He leans forward out of the shadows and whispers, “This way.” And he just as quickly ducks back into shadows of an alleyway and walks, although rather quickly into what appears to be a maze of alleys and side streets.

“AH, h**l,” Samantha thinks, it’s Boston all over again.

Nikki grabs Sam’s hand to assure hers that she is safe as she follows, and the hurries to keep Noah in sight.

Samantha follows as fast as possible but not so fast as to get winded.

Noah, hugging the shadows, careful to stay out of the low sodium streetlights, follows a twisting and turning route through the narrow streets. Soon, the pavement begins an incline that grows steeper as they have moved now into a different part of town.

Samantha, holding her side, looks backward, worrying about having left the car. And why did they, Nikki could have just as easy driven him here. What is this kid up to?

Nikki is determined to follow wherever he made lead, “Noah you amaze me, you know more about this old city than most historians.”

Noah Mankowski reaches a darken juncture and waits for the two to catch up. Again, he holds up a finger to lips and then points out a darken structure across the street.

Nikki looks to see an old dilapidated church surrounded by and rusted iron spike fence. She recognized the neighborhood – Federal Hill. She was just through this section of Providence the night before.

“You people and churches!” Samantha says leaning against a wall, ‘Why why can’t it ever be a pizza place or a mattress store?

Nikki, now moving closer to Noah Mankowski whispers, “So, who is it, Noah. Who is after you? Starry Wisdom? The Necromancers? The Ghuls?”

“H**l, right now I’d settle for a pile of boxes,” Samantha says leaning against the cold metal of a lamppost.

He doesn’t look at Nikki, his eyes surveying the street before them, then whispers “I don’t know who is after me. The cultists I believe. That used to be their church.”

“Church—then you are talking about the Starry Wisdom Church.” Nikki surmises.

“Or that Interfaith,” Samantha says breathlessly.

Noah whispers, “This is the Italian Neighborhood.”

“Federal Hill.” Nikki adds.

He looks back at her, “Yes, it is. This way. Not far now.”

“Right, let old Smeagol show us the way, “Samantha mutters under her breath.

And suddenly Noah Mankowski sets off down quickly down another alley.

Nikk and Sam continue to follow.

It is only a few minutes and Noah comes to a street. He stops and looks down it quickly, then exits the ally with a rather put on show of trying to walk rather nonchalantly.

“Oh, that’s not goin’ call attention,” Samantha says watching the way he is walking.

Nikki hurries up to walk beside him, careful to keep the Ithaca still hidden under the length of her dark overcoat, “Noah, your poem, we have figured out a few things, we think – we are certain that it refers to Innsmouth and the Devil’s Reef.”

Noah turns to her, “Shh . . .” and he walks over to the crosswalk and waits for the light to change.

Samantha stands for a moment in the cold wind, arms crossed, feeling the twinge of pain in her side as she leans forward now to look up and down the street – where a car has yet to appear, “Ah—why we waiting?”

Nikki steps up beside him and is silent, looking at him.

Noah says back over his shoulder to Samantha, “Because of the light. Shhh.”

The light changes to say “Walk,” and Noah steps off the curb and crosses the street.

“Ark boy is frickin’ Boy Scout, ah, give me a break.” Samantha says.

Nikki walks beside Noah, her eyes scanning the rooftops

Ahead, across the street is a row of houses. Noah casually walks up the steps to one and pulls out a key.

Samantha shivers slightly having traded her coat in order to get safe passage to Boston from a hobo’s in the box car she had ridden down in – she wishes she had it back.

Noah Mankowski unlocks the door and enters, “Mame! I’m home!” He says a bit loudly.

Samantha bites her lip as she so wants to yell out to Mame, “Home with some wild Women!”

Samantha hurries in to get out of the cold, and Nikki starts to enter, but suddenly feels that she can’t. Oh God, not this! He believes – and his faith is strong and . . . he is not the only one, “Noah, may I come in.”

Noah in the small narrow foyer of the apartment turns and looks, “Well of c—well, wait a minute . . . “ and he sees that Nikki seems unable to enter. He backs up to the wall just inside the entrance.

“Noah . . .” She looks pleadingly at him.

“Why—why can’t you—“

“Please Noah.”

Samantha looks back at Nikki standing at the threshold as she steps closer to him, “Let her in.”

He looks at both of them, “Why? Why can’t she come in?”

Nikki gives Samantha a look.

“Because – she’s British – and all those polite British manners and things, now, be a good boy and just say come in.

“No—wait there is something going on here—“ He looks up at Samantha, then at Nikki standing outside the door of the apartment.

Samantha storms over to him and slams her bandaged hand on the wall next to his face, “Let her in!”

“What am I doing to keep her out – why can’t she come in?” He demands. “Who are you?”

Nikki feels this is stronger than just him . . .

Suddenly Samantha is startled as an elderly woman, her white hair pinned back in a tight, sever bun, steps out into the hall and looks at them, “Noah? What are you doing out so late? And with woman?’

The older woman stands looking at them holding a tray of unbaked cookies.

‘If you won’t let me in.” Nikki says and she pumps the shotgun. Her anger – frustration – with herself, with the Nyarlathotep as her still so hair triggered to become . . .

“Or what you going to shoot Mame?”

“Let me in and we won’t have to find out?”

“Mame – go back, back to the living room.”

Nikki’s eyes darkening, she feels the anger growing and she has to stop—has to regain control – what is she doing . . . She lowers the shotgun and holds it out, “If you can’t let me in then just tell me. Mason, what does she have to with the Shinnng Trapeezohedron? The sacrifices are they real or merely symbolic? Are we correct, is the Devil’s Reef the right place?” She is so frustrated with the whole night – the revelation – sick to Bloody h**l of Providence, she rolls her head, “God, there are so many questions. Noah, I need to get in there.”

Samantha suddenly moves over and grips Noah by the throat and slams him back against the wall, “Now then listen here ark boy, I have had one hell of a day, I’ve had to hobo all the way from New York, I had to give up my coat to a bum, I have stolen a car, and tonight I had to deal with a fortune cookie pastor. And now, you. Do you think I won’t break a few things for you? If not try me, now you will be quiet and offer to let Nikki in the house.”

Noah’s eyes are full of fear as he looks at this one-eyed, red-haired, madwoman. In the entrance to the hall his mother drops the tray and runs into the other room.

“Addicts!” She yells.

Samantha looks up as she can hear the woman dialing an old rotary phone. She sighs, god, who even has a rotary phone these days – apparently this old woman.

“Sam she is calling the police!”

“Damn it” She lets go of Noah and stomps down the hall.

“Hello? Police? There are addicts here. We’re—“

The phone goes dead.

Samantha bending down sighs as she has pulled the phone cord from the wall, and rises to look at Mrs. Mankowski, “Sorry, Mrs. Mankowski, but you see your son and I just got back from a date and so, we wouldn’t want the police to get a bad impression. I mean it is our first date and all. And Noah, he likes it a little rough—if you know what—“

From behind, Noah punches Sam in the back of the head.

“Mame! Go to you’re room and don’t let anyone in. Not even me!” He yells at her.

Samantha falls forward holding a nearby table – an old vase falling to shatter on the floor.

The old woman hobbles down a hallway.

Samantha turns now, “Listen up ark boy. We wont hurt you. We don’t . . . well Nikki doesn’t want to hurt you. She just wants to ask you some questions. You answer the questions and we leave. Understood?”

He turns quickly and hurries back into the small foyer of the apartment and watches as Nikki tries to step through the threshold and seems unable to do so – he looks at the Ithaca, “Okay – why? You tell me why can you not just walk through that door?”

Samantha quickly following behind him, “Because she is a vampire and she can’t come in unless you invite her in you dumba** . . . “ And then suddenly having said it, she turns to look at Nikki, ‘Wait, why is that all of a sudden?”

“A vampire! A VAMPIRE!”

“Because he and his mother believe in the protection of God and so do I and so I cannot enter unless one of them invites me in,” She says in frustration and anger with the whole bloody night.

“So that is what it has come down to. They send A Vampire and her Lady Lackey to come find me in my own city to threaten my mother and me. All this time you said you wanted to help me, you were just pretending,” he boldly steps forward, “What have you done to Esther!?”

Samantha makes a groaning noise, “Esther is sleeping in her spare bedroom you dips**t,” she says point at Nikki.

“Noah listen to me – Esther has nearly been killed, twice already, because you will not simply sit down and talk to me, she could be dead right now, as there is a Necromancer in Collinsport who may be after her.”

Samantha looks at him, “They’re co-workers for god’s sake. They own a business together.”

“Esther and a vampire?”

“But it seems your secrecy is far more important than her life.” Nikki snaps helpless that she cannot pass the threshold.

“My secrecy has enabled my survival.”

“You secrecy may get Esther killed!”

Noah Mankowski hesitates for a moment – not certain what to do. Vampires? How is that even possible – but what about the other things he knows . . .

He begins reluctantly, “If any of you . . . go one foot in that hallway . . . towards my mother’s bedroom, I swear, I swear I will cut your head off.”

Samantha looks at Nikki, “Do you want me to just tie him up and take him back with us?”

“No, I want him to trust me.” Nikki says, “I could have already had you tied him up, but he’s apparently not smart enough to have figured that out yet – God, how have you survived this long?”

Noah Mankowski shakes his head, “Okay—alright . . . Just get in already.”

Nikki steps through the door and slowly places the shotgun on the side table. She holds her hand up and out to show she means him no harm.

Noah Mankowski walks over and bends down to pick up the overturned cookie tray and the uncooked pieces of dough.

Samantha settles into a chair with a groan, her pale face betraying the pain she was now feeling from most likely re-breaking her hand.

Noah goes into the kitchen and starts to throw away the dough. “Okay, so you are in, start talking.”

“First off all you need to know something, Esther means the world to me – she – she is like a sister and I will NOT let anything happen to her.”

Samantha sighs and tries to get comfortable in the high back chair with lace dollies on the arms.

Mrs. Mankowski peers at Samantha from around the corner, “Are you really dating my Noah?”

Samantha looks at her, “No ma’am. I am dating her.”

“Oh my God!” The elder woman ducks back and runs into her bedroom.

“But your poem has nearly gotten her killed twice.”

“Look all I did was tell Esther a story about the starry wisdom cult because she told me her story about the interfaith cult. I was trying to warn her.” He opens the refrigerator and takes out a bowl of cookie dough and carries it over to the counter. “I gave you the poem, because you said you were detectives, and I figured you could solve it better than I. But no one – no one – said anything to me about vampires.”

‘Yes, well – let’s forget about that – let’s concentrate on what’s important, the Poem and the Starry Wisdom. Now—are you saying that the Starry Wisdom and the Interfaith are really connected?”

“Forget about it?”

“Noah, please.”

“As far as I have found, some of the members of the Starry wisdom cult, some lower members of little knowledge, drifted over to them after the wisdom’s capitulation. Some of the style of the two is similar, but any real knowledge of the inner workings of the wisdoms was lost to the interfaith.

“Okay, that’s good Noah, we’re talking. Now, so the poem, did you have the poem then, when you first saw Esther or later?”

Noah steps over to sink and starts washing the tray, “No. We found the map after I talked with Esther.”

Nikki walks over and hands him a dish cloth, “So, the poem, where did you get it?”

He takes the cloth from Nikki and dries off the tray, “We found the poem in Vermont. I had read about it, but it was Joey that found out where it was located.”

Noah pulls out parchment paper and lays it on top of the tray – so far, not once in the entire conversation has he looked at Nikki.

“Joey? We’ll get back to that, so where in Vermont did you find it? An old book? A library? Where?”

Noah starts putting clumps of new dough on the tray. “There was a group of us. Joey, Milo, Durand and Susan – and myself of course. It was at an estate sale from the Akeley Family house. A lot of old things there. Things that I haven’t even looked at yet and probably will regret doing so. But anyway, Joey found this scroll.’ He stopped for a moment, this being the first time he has told anyone the story and he remembers now his friends, “ At first, we thought nothing of it. There was this cylin–anyway. That’s not important. But then we looked at it, and it was in Hebrew.”

He concentrates on putting cookie dough on the tray, “Of course I had to translate it. And then that man that came after you, he tried to buy it off of us. But nope. We had a mystery on our hands.” He sighs, “Then—well Susan was the first to go . . . . After that we started running—and I’ve only just stopped.”

“First to go?” Nikki asks, “What do you mean first to go?”

Noah suddenly stops with the cookies, and turns around and looks at the woman – the vampire in his kitchen,”Susan Kubli is no longer with us Miss Collins.”

He then picks up the tray and walks over to the oven.

“Did she die?”

“What? Do I need to type it up for you? She’s Dead! She’s Passed on! She’s gone to meet her Maker! She’s a Stiff! Bereft of life! And so are the rest of our cadre, and no thanks to you for bringing up such a ‘wonderful’ memory of it.” And he turns back around and places the tray in the oven.”

“Then of the five of you, only you remain?” Nikki asks, “Noah, I am not trying to make this hard on you, I am truly trying to help, I just need answers – please believe me.”

He sighs and heads back to the sitting room where he sees Samantha Brook curled up in a chair, asleep. Careful not to let the woman following to see him as he moves his hand to his eye in what can only be interpreted as a wipe of a tear.” Yes. I am the only one left. They say there is safety in numbers, but a group stands out. I ran away, so there, you asked how I was able to survive this long?”

“Were you able to translate any of the poem?”

“No. I was working with the Cantor in Bangor. Together we devised a plan to further cover my tracks. I was to die and hide. The plan as simple, a bullet, a burning building, that the cultists set on fire and we where able to fake the remains. Don’t ask me where or how. But the old man really came through on it. I became no one. I ceased to be with my comrades, and we got to work on solving it. No luck though. It was as if the letters where Hebrew, but the language was not.

Nikki nods, “It is Aramaic, Esther translated it. Now the map on the poem, did you draw that? Is it the Devils Reef at Innsmouth?”

“Aramaic . . . Aramaic! Of course!” Noah says excitedly, “Why didn’t I think of that! Just like the—wait. The drawing? No no. That was already there. But as for Devils reef? Innsmouth?” He stands and ponders the information for a moment, “Yes . . . yes . . . they very well might be.”

“Esther has found it to be a perfect match for Devils Reef.” Nikki informs him.

“Well,” he says with a wide smile, “Esther is so – she is brilliant you know.”

“I know,” Nikki nods in agreement.

“So, can you tell me whatdid the poem translate to,” the young man now beginning to excitedly pace.

“Certainly, It starts, Nikki says from memory:
My City, the dirty river running through it.
You who search for the Gleaming Gem, follow its path downstream and seek the key.
If you follow the river downstream, you will find an Island.
On the Island, look for the shore the two will tell you of.
There sleeps the key to the Gleaming Gem.
He who lays hand upon the key shall commit the acts below.
At the first hour, you shall collect the six chosen by the key, and place them about in protective branches.”

“Wait—wait a moment,” and he hurries back into the small kitchen and opens a drawer, removes a pad of paper and a yellow number 2 pencil. “Okay, can you start again?”

“My City, the dirty river running through it.
You who search for the Gleaming Gem, follow its path downstream and seek the key.
If you follow the river downstream, you will find an Island.
On the Island, look for the shore the two will tell you of.
There sleeps the key to the Gleaming Gem.
He who lays hand upon the key shall commit the acts below.
At the first hour, you shall collect the six chosen by the key, and place them about in protective branches.”

Noah hurriedly writes down her dictation.

“At the second hour, the population must tear apart the two who are close.
At the third hour, the population shall praise my horrible name on high.
At the fourth hour, gouge the head and kill.
At the fifth hour, gouge the chest and kill.
At the sixth hour, gouge the stomach and kill.
At the seventh hour, gouge the knee and kill.
At the eighth hour, gouge the leg and kill.
At the ninth hour, the Witch shall be revived and none shall be left alive.
At the tenth twilight, the journey shall end and you should reach the cursed island of the Gem.”

“Okay, just a minute, just a minute,” he frantically writes, “Okay—go on.”

“The Witch will praise the wise, and should bestow four treasures.
One shall be, the view of the Gleaming Gem.
One shall be, the control of the souls of all the dead.
One shall be, the resurrection of a lost love.
One shall be, to put the Witch to sleep for all time.”
Sleep peacefully, my most beloved witch, Mason

“Hmm. . . yes. . . yes. . . .I see, “he says as he finishes writing and stands at the small island in the center of the narrow kitchen.

“Does any of it mean anything to you Noah?”

He holds up his finger, “Eh. Eh. One moment.” He paces back and forth in the kitchen as he reads and then re-reads it. “Okay, The first line, yes you are right, it is Innsmouth. Apparently it is the hometown of the author. Still don’t know who the author is yet.”

He paces before her, “Now following the river yes . . . you get to the reef eventually.”

“So Devi’s Reef is correct.” Nikki asks.

“The shore the two will tell of . . . hmmm. . . That implies that the island is the reef . . . yes. . . and looking for the shore would be not the island you’re on, but the shore of the mainland. Yes, yes, “ he snaps his fingers and points to Nikki “Yes, Shore the two will tell of . . . Have you ever been to Innsmouth?

“No, but I am headed there as soon as my business is concluded here in Providence.”

He shakes his head and waves his hand, “It’s a horrible place. Don’t stay there overnight.”

“Yes, well, so you stand on the shore looking to Devil’s Reef.”

“No . . . no. . . You stand on devils reef.”

“What is the two will tell of? Could that be lighthouses?”

“Lighthouse – well, let’s see . . . “ he walks over to the seamed window and using his finger draws a small map, “North of Innsmouth is Plum Island. . . “

Nikki steps over to look at his drawing, “Plum Island, okay.”

“Lighthouses. . . there is a lighthouse on Plum Island, but I think it is in the north. . . “ Pointing to the window map he has drawn, “However there is an old one, one that they don’t use anymore that is in the south.”

“Yes there is.” Nikki says remembering memories now from Asenath Upton.

Noah puts a dot on the window with his fingertip. “I think at one point they used both, but then they switched from kerosene to electric, and only one was needed. Cause, I mean, who ships anything to Innsmouth? Okay, lets look at the next line.

Nikki stands close and he looks over at her for a moment, then back to his sheet of paper with the poem translation on it.

“There sleeps the key of the gem.” He says, “Well that is fairly obvious but what exactly is a key? A key can be many things . . . and how do you lock a gem. He who lays hand upon the key shall commit the acts below . . . hmm.” He looks over at Nikki and smiles, “A Phylantry. Shall commit. You see, not may commit . . . not should commit, but Shall commit.

Nikki crosses her arms and leans back on the kitchen counter, she smells the baking cookies, “Well from what I have been able to discover, this gem is supposed to be with in a metal box, and it is suspended by I think seven metallic clasps, so it could be something to unlock what holds the gem within the box.”

He nods to her, “And He that touches the key will be compelled to do. Something that holds a spirit looking for a body. Something that changes your personality. Something that makes it so you WILL do this . . .

‘Yes, this is the part that brings me to the conclusion that we can not find this thing, because to touch it means all of these deaths.”

“Well then don’t touch it,” he tells her, “So, now, moving on to the next section . . . “

“But then again, is it a He what if a SHE were to touch it.”

Noah raises a finger, “Good point. Good point. Still, best not to take chances. So—the six chosen by the key. This indicates the key is a thing that has a mind. It chooses these people it has spoken and they are chosen. The key is either a soul trapped in an item, or an actual person.”

“Yes, it appears so, that the key will cause possession of whomever touches it.”

“Good Miss Collins, you are good at this,” he compliments her, lost now as he is in trying to solve the puzzle, “Now, placed in protective branches . . . well obviously that is the elder sign.”

He scans the next line with his finger.

“Only, based on my information – that which was once inside the gem is quite possibly no longer there, it may have been release long ago, and so there may not be anything within the gem – so that portion, as a warning, may no longer be valid –“

“Hmm . . . that’s disconcerting.” Noah says and continues reading, “Ah! The population must, there is that mustagain, tear apart the two that are close. Well we have already found what two are close.”

“So they must tear down the light houses?”

“Exactly. And I bet you anything that the southern one is scheduled for demolition.”

Nikki frowns, “Okay now comes the ritual killing which I can not see how that is ever going to happen.”

“No?” he looks at her, “You—you don’t believe that people can be kidnapped and slaughtered in horrible ways.”

“Oh I believe it, it’s just not that in order to find it that I am going to do anything like that or allow it to happen – if I can stop it.”

Noah shakes his head, “Well, you know, it might have already happened. Over time you know, one person missing here, another one missing there. Years go by and another one’s gone, and another ones gone and another one bites the dust, you know.”

Nikki tilts her head as if to say, you could be right.

“But, the hours,” Noah looks deep in thought, “1 though 9 and then twilight.”

“Yes, it all seems to have to happen during a day, based on the hours.”

“Well if could happen during the day, at a certain time, over a lifetime. The last one is a twilight, not an hour and so at the tenth twilight, the journey shall end and you should reach the cursed island of the Gem . . . the island of the Gem. Hmm . . . Twilight only happens once per day. In the morning. Or rather twice per day.” He stops and looks at his steam map on the with window, “head, chest, stomach, knee, leg. Five sacrifices over five days, with the tenth twilight being the culmination.”

“Okay, now here is where I think there is some confusion, as the island is the reef, and you are on it looking to the shore, but then on the tenth twilight you reach the island, so this is a second Island?”

“Well yes Plum Island, you see that is an island as well as the shore.

“Oh – I see there is a second island, Plum Island, as I was thinking you went back to the original Island, back to the reef.”

“Right.” Noah nods, “And so. . . the Witch shall be revived and none shall be left alive, but that is before the tenth twilight, or during it. So would you consider Nine o’clock to be twilight? or more along the lines of Six?”

“I would think 6”

“Hmm . . . then it must be 9 AM. That is also a twilight. Particularly in winter.”

“Okay 9am. Ok. So the sacrifices are made at the hours listed over a five-day period 4,5,6,7,8. Now the third hour . . . hmmm.”

“Question, do they have to be made in Innsmouth, could someone, say in Collinsport be doing the sacrifices?”

“I don’t know. The two are the two Lighthouses on Plum Island, so my first instinct would be there. But it does not explicitly state anything so . . . it is possible.”

There is the ding from the oven.

Noah steps over to the oven to check on the cookies.

Nikki moves over closer to him, “Noah, would you go with me to Innsmouth?”

Peering into the oven, he turns to look at her, noticing now for the first time how lovely she is, even thought she is a— “Me? Innsmouth? Again? Hells no! And I recommend you don’t go there either, I mean, there is really no need to. If I were you, I would just check on the southern lighthouse, assuming it hasn’t been torn down yet – remembering that at the third hour, the population shall praise my horrible name on high. . . You know, actually, that’s probably the best indication of whether or not it has happened yet, if that lighthouse is still standing.”

“So Noah, how do I stop this from happening if I don’t go there and get the gem”

Noah shrugs, “Get the historic preservation of lighthouses to save the southern one?”

“Can I just take the gem away from Innsmouth, if it’s not there physically will it stop them from activating the Witch?”

He looks at her very seriously, “I don’t think the gem is in Innsmouth. I have two ideas . . . “

“Oh, great, because my concern is the gem.” She sighs.

“You see at the tenth twilight, the journey shall end and you should reach the cursed island of the Gem. You should reach. Not will. Should. In other words, if you don’t then it is bad for you . . . now, the witch—Mason.

“Just a moment, now you said the tenth twilight, is that 9am in the morning?”

“ . . . She has an Island associated with her in Arkham, not that far from Innsmouth. Also, there is Plum Island, the island of the key. In other words . . . hmm? What, 9am?
Yes. I think so – why?”

“I can’t be there at 9am in the morning.”

“Oh?”

“I will have to find someone to be there for me,” Nikki says.

Noah slaps his forehead, “Of course you can’t”

No wanting to dwell on that statement too long, he steps over and opens the oven and takes the cookies out and checks them again.

“Now. The island of the gem,” he says as he puts the cookies down to let them cool. “You should reach the cursed island of the Gem. Once again, should but might not. This is the twilight. The 9am twilight in which the witch revives and so they should have from twilight till 9 to reach the island, which means that if they DON’T reach the island, which ever island it might be, then the witch will not grant the following gifts or “bestow four treasures.” He leans on the kitchen island, “You see what I am getting at? The Witch will praise the wise, and should bestow four treasures. It’s that should again. At the tenth twilight, everything becomes uncertain. Before it was Shall this and Shall that. Now it is all shoulds again, which means that it is not set in stone.”

“So if the witch revives but there is no one there then she will not bestow her treasures.”

Noah snaps his fingers: “Bingo!”

“I suspect the island of the gem is the island of the witch.” He tells her, “I mean, it only makes sense and the island of the witch is in Arkham.”

“And so, if she does not bestow, then sleep peacefully, she goes back to sleep?”

“Mayhap . . . mayhap . . . it also insinuates that there will be four people. One with conflicting interests on the witches Island, which they should be at by the 9th hour. And if they are not, then the witch will not consider them wise I suppose and say screw’em. But from wherever to Arkham in the time it takes the sun to rise.”

“So, the key is in Innsmouth and from when it is touched there are nine hours and the sacrifices to be made to get to the witches island in Arkham?”

“And the key is on Plum Island, and there are 5 days, 10 twilights, between the time the key is touched, and the witch revives. On each of those 5 days, one is sacrificed at a certain hour.”

“Thank you Noah.”

Noah picks up a hot cookie and bites into gently, “So. What are you going to do about it?

“Well Noah, I just want the gem. If I can get the gem them perhaps I can do away with it somehow and then none of this horror will ever come to pass and we can forget about the witch.”

‘Then my suggestion, is to camp out in Arkham on the empty island and wait. “ He tells her, “Be there before they are – whoever it is that is trying to unlock the secret of this poem. “

He starts putting cookies on a plate and sets them on the table, “Cookie?”

Nikki smiles, ‘Thanks. But I don’t really eat cookies.”

Noah slaps his forehead again, “So – are you? Are you really a vampire?”

Nikki smiles, “Noah, a girl has to keep some mystery,” and she walks into the sitting room and looks at the sleeping Samantha curled up in the chair.

Noah bites into another cookie, “Remember. Ten twilights equal 5 days. There are 5 days when the key is touched.”

Act 3: On the road again

Samantha sat watching the night zooming past outside her window. They had left Ark Boy’s house and had made their twisting way back to the Ferrari – owing mostly to Nikki’s keen sense of direction. Amazingly the car was still sitting there on the deserted street. Samantha had noticed that the swaying traffic light at the end of the street was still red – and she had this feeling that it remained red all this time. She was even more certain when Nikki put the Ithaca away – and slipped into her seat and closed the door . . . as the light turned green.

A rattling old white van suddenly passed them going down the Angell Street.

She looks over at Nikki and wanted to ask, but was perhaps not certain she wanted the answer – had time really been frozen on Angell Street. Was that even possible—just here on this street – perhaps only this block?

Nikki made her way back to the interstate.

And although Samantha had dozed off a bit listening to Mama Noah, while Nikki and Ark Boy were making cookies and discussing all these strange hours and scarifies and witches and stuff, she still was very tired.

She looked over at Nikki, who had been silent since they left Ark Boy’s house. She knew something had affected Nikki back at the – whatever it was a sick chapel, a condemned church, a community center for misfits from hell. Although—something has been wrong with Nikki every since she had arrived earlier that night . . . . .

She was dozing off when she hears Nikki say, “Before I was murdered by my own mother, I had read some of the most vile and horrible of books – words that were written in pure evil. Words I should have never seen.”

Samantha nods.

“But my love for my father – my mother . . . a sense of obligation – that it was up to me to find them – that it was the reason he had left me all of his books, his journals in order to leave me some clue, a trail to follow in order to find them . . . “ Nikki shifts gears and the car lurches forward into traffic on I-93, the high performance engine hurling the car into the night.

“You still have them,” Samantha observes.

The Ferrari continues to accelerate.

“It was not until tonight that I now know just how much those words of wickless infected my soul.” Samantha sees Nikki’s face grown more stern, cold, “I know that I have told everyone I was just a party girl—and I was, but, one that knew things – things that man was never really meant to know . . . and as a girl, I tried . . . I did – I did certain things I had read about . . . and then later, when I grew older, I sought out others, those who knew similar things and much, much, much more, and finally . . . in Paris I meet some people . . . people I knew – I knew what they were and what they wanted, and God help me – I helped them—to do things I would have never envisioned myself doing – in the hopes they would help me find my parents. And instead I opened myself to The Darkness – and it came in.”

The Ferrari zooms down the highway.

“And for my sins – God – God abandoned me – has damned me. And He sent my own mother, Ezserbet, to turn me into – into what I am as his own sick joke, his own cruel irony – because he knew my deepest secret desire – I would do anything to find my parents.”

“Miss Nikki that wasn’t God.”

Nikki looks at her.

“I am more than certain that man back there was not – he may think he is – but he isn’t God. I don’t think God’s damned you.”

Nikki feels the dampness at her eyes, which she refused to let fall, “I am sorry Samantha, I am so sorry . . . but . . . I am so truly damned.”

The Ferrari hurls straight for the rear of a champagne Lexus and Nikki whips the car around and suddenly in front of a SUV with mere inches to spare.

The SUV horn loudly retreating behind them.

“And yet I feel so conflicted.”

“How is that?”

“Although I am un-dead, “ She shifts down as she approaches a clot of cars converging at an on ramp, “I still believe in God . . . that is why I could not cross his threshold tonight, his belief and my belief . . . Samantha, I can’t help feeling that I can be an instrument for good . . . even though I am a monster.”

Samantha smiles “You’re no monster.” And she reaches over and squeezes her hand on the gearshift.

Nikki turns to look at Sam, “Samantha dearest, please, never forget for a moment – there is a monster that lurks within me – and it is very strong and powerful, and very, very evil – if I should ever let it free. To be with me means you have to know that . . . It is only through your help and Esther’s and Rhy’s I can control it as well as I do.”

“Miss Nikki. . . “ Samantha says, “There is a monster in everyone . . . “

Nikki sighs, “Please call me Nikki.”

“Yours may be a bit more . . . potent . . . than others—but that doesn’t make you a monster . . .

Nikki looks out the windshield, “I just know what mine is capable of.”

Samantha looks at her levelly, trying to decided whether to . . . . .

Nikki passes several cars and pulls back into the left lane.

“You should know . . . “ Samantha begins and curls up in the car seat, confession not her strong suit.

Nikki looks over at her, “Samantha, I want you to feel free to ask me anything at any time about what I am—”

“The kind of . . . monster . . .. “ Samantha winces at the word, as she continues, “That I am . . .”

“Oh, Samantha, no, you are not a monster . . . at all.”

“I’ve killed people . . . . . Including cops . . . and doctors . . . “

Nikki glances over at her, “How? How did that happen?”

“Not every hospital escape went smoothly . . . “ She replies not looking into those deep sapphire eyes – continuing to look at the absinthe hued illumination of the dash.

“Before I fought back –I had became a worthless piece of garbage, who would just lay there and take it—you don’t want to know what some cops do when they have too much “spare time”

“Samantha – do you . . . do you feel better now that you are with me?”

“I . . . I feel so much better when I am with you . . . “ She looks up at Nikki’s profile.

Nikki reaches over and lifts Samantha’s chin, “Well darling, I am a vampire. I drink people’s blood. I have to drink it to live. I have had to drink—while I have been here . . . blood is the life . . . and I nearly took a life in doing so – and, Samantha you have to know your blood is so overwhelming . . .”

“You can drink from me if you want . . . Nikki.”

Nikki looks at her . . . there is a long silent moment. Nikki returns her eyes to the road. “Perhaps, we are a perfect pair.”

Samantha blushes looking back down, “Can I ask something? About tonight?”

“Yes,”

Samantha leans over resting her head on Nikki’s shoulder. “Who were those people?”

Nikki passes a slow 18-wheel rig, “The blind minister is called The Metropolitan. The Metropolitan Bishop of Providence. But he is not of the church anymore, he ministers to an arcane underground.”

“And why is he so important?”

“New England is a bit odd, sort of old world – there is what one might call an outré Social Register here. Think blue blood for the supernatural.”

Nikki merges over and continues down the highway.

“Okay – so how did a man with such horrible taste in pizza get to such a point of power?”

“The Metropolitan was once a real Bishop — but he was recruited by various groups to be the middle man, the man who talks to all the other groups. He read one too many books also . . . and, well. . .”

‘This sounds way too much like some mafia, some crazy supernatural mafia.” Samantha says.

“More like an aristocracy, this is New England.”

“I see.”

“Well he died. He’s actually a vampire.”

Samantha blinks, “Did not see that coming.”

“If you look it up in the 1800’s New England was almost like Eastern Europe when it came to beliefs in Vampires – they were right even then. There are a lot of them around.”

Samantha nods, “So he’s like the Bishop of Vampires?”

“No, he is just a middle man—He facilities other groups. There is another strange race here, the Ghul.”

“And what are ghul?”

“They are also known as Ghouls. They are an underground race. They are very strong here in Providence.”

Samantha thinks back to Pickman’s studio and the mean puppy.

“And so, various powers and fractions, witches and necromancers, alchemists and occults, ghuls and vampires, here in New England have become part of their own Social Register, and so, that means they have allegiances and alliances.

“F**k. . . .” Samantha says.

“Yes – precisely it’s all a big f**k.”

“Did we disrupt anything by setting the house on fire?” Samantha asks looking up to Nikki.

“I checked with the Metropolitan and they think it was some homeless people who had been giving them some trouble – so I think we are in the clear on that one.

“The man with the mascara – the great tan – the one who so got to you tonight . . .”

Nikki’s face grows stern, “That is supposedly Stephen Alzis, from New York. He owns a nightclub there. The Club Apocalypse.”

Samantha nods, “That sounds appropriate. But you said supposedly – so what is he?”

“Sephen Alzis is just an avatar. He is really Nyarlathotep.” Her voice cold and hard, “So, it would seem Samantha Brook you met an Outer God tonight.”

“So, we failed in other words.”

Nikki clicks the directional signal and turns off the highway and down a ramp toward the motel in Woonsocket.

“Failed?”

Samantha looks up at her, “I thought we were supposed to be stopping the outer god from getting here and your saying I met him under an hour ago.”

Nikki pulls the car into the main highway “No – the one you met has been here – has been here for a long time . . . we’re trying to stop another.”

“How many are there?”

The late night highway is all but deserted. The Motel Viva sign now visible. “You do not what to know.”

Samantha does not want to move, she is comfortable with her head up against Nikki’s shoulder . . . “And that library is was like the Library of Alexandria.”

“It was part of the Library of Alexandria.” Nikki says and tilts her head to lay it against the crown of Samantha’s red hair.

Nikki whirls the Ferrari into the parking lot and comes to a halt in a make shift parking slot. She cuts the motor off and sits there with Samantha’s head resting against her. She feels human in this moment and sighs. “Samantha, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Miss Nikki – Nikki.”

“Samantha, you said you feel so much better when you are with me . . . “

“I do.”

“So . . . would you . . . I know this may seem all so sudden, but I want you to be with me as my lover—my partner.”

Samantha blinks turning scarlet, “I . . . I . . . “

Nikki feels awkward, “I am sorry – I was wrong . . . you are not interested in . . . in me that way – I under— “

Samantha’s finger touch Nikki’s lips to stop her from talking, “No. I am . . . I’m very interested.”

“Really?”

Samantha beams, “Yes!”

Nikki smiles and reaches over and places her palms on either side of Samantha’s face and kisses her, “Oh – I have been so afraid to ask you.”

Samantha kisses back tenderly, still in surprised shock.

Cue Music End of Episode