Bang, Bang, Shoot, Shoot

As night descends on Collinsport, Nicole Collins finds herself alone. Having returned from London . . . her home . . . back to this strange village – the home of her heritage – of the Collins family name . . . And she begins now to suspect that there is perhaps a vast and deeper conspiracy — whose name is Collins. For she has just received information that can only lead her to believe that the Collins family may well have been involved in the machinations of a group of necromancers that have haunted New England since the late 1600’s. And among these worrisome thoughts, are the growing suspicions that the more she seeks the truth about “Experiment” from which she was conceived, the more she will find it to be entangled among evasions, tantalizing intimations, and veiled allusions. Alone. She can not help feeling now so all alone. But on this night she will be forced in becoming far more concerned about those who are now becoming family to her – those whose names are not Collins.

Solitude – odd that a rich, party girl, as she so often refers to herself so enjoys her solitude. Perhaps it was because she grew up alone, save for Dr. Hoffman – who was always tinkering in her lab, or consulting with Professor Stokes – so that as a young girl, Nicole was left to entertain herself, left to explore the mansion that was her family home – to live in her fathers library. To read books no little girl should have ever been allowed to know existed.

She thinks now of Ibn Schacabao. He was so right in saying, happy is the town at night whose wizards are all ashes. As she sits on the bench and looks at the stillness of the sedate little town of Collinsport she is aware that it’s wizards are not ashes. No, they were still very much alive. Her father had fought some of them before – and now, apparently it was her turn. She knew that somewhere Nicholas Blair was plotting and waiting – waiting on the arrival of other wizards for reasons not yet fully comprehended.

Nikki had arisen and rather than drive to her office, she had at first thought of stopping by the club she like to frequent – to sit in a back booth and listen to the dance music – watch the other women slipping in and out of relationships. It reminded her of a time when she was merely human.

But on driving along the highway she suddenly felt the need to be alone – the need for solitude. And unlike the Man of Steel she had no Fortress. The best to be found was that at 9:00 o’clock in the center of Collinsport one could be assured of a hub of seclusion – the taverns and restaurant along the wharfs being where any activity could be found.

And so she had walked alone and eventually taken up a seat on one of the ancient benches.

Only Nikki felt Esther’s presence now as she turned to see Esther bundled in her overcoat and hat turning the corner.

Purposefully Esther made her way down the sidewalk toward her. For a fleeting moment Nikki wondered where she had been – what she had been doing, perhaps whom she had been with – but she knew that would be prying to ask. Esther had her own life outside of Collins Investigations – a life beyond her.

Perhaps she had been doing nothing more than seeking an evening’s solitude – the same as she had.

“Good Evening Esther.”

Esther comes to a halt looking at Nikki sitting in the darken shadows wearing only a pair of jeans and a light pullover sweater. She stands a moment shaking her head. Not warm in her heavy overcoat and hat, owing to the stiff breeze and the wind chill, Esther crosses her arms, “It’s F***in’ cold Nik! You’re not fooling anyone. Put a coat on. It’s 38 degrees Fahrenheit.”

“It is a nice night.” Nikki agrees.

‘You could even button it – which would be better.” Esther admonishes, “Nik – people don’t sit out in wind chill like this without a coat on.”

“Yes—you’re right.” Nikki nods.

Esther continues to hug herself for warmth, “’t least it ‘sn’t snowing.”

Nikki aware of how Esther is huddled against the cold and the breeze offers with a motion of her hand, “Shall we get in the car?” toward the black Ferrari parked along the side of the street.

“Let’s shall.” Esther turns and moves toward the car, she’s been walking in this stiff breeze for so long her face tingles.

Languidly rising Nikki walks with Esther over to the car.

Esther gets in and closes the door.

As Nikki starts the car the radio suddenly fills the car loudly as Nikki had it turned up when she shut the engine off – she quickly touches the eject button and the whine of CD is heard as it slides out. Esther’ her breath still a white wisp reaches over and turns the radio on as Nikki starts the Ferrari’s heater.

Esther finds a random station, and Nikk smiles, “Oh, this is a good song,”

It is Bob Seger’s Fire Down Below

Esther cuts her eyes over to look at Nikki, “So. What are you doing out here Nik? Just thinkin’?”

“Sometimes I just like to walk the street late at night. At this time of night, it’s like you have all of Collinsport to yourself.”

“I know how ya feel. Though usually out in th’ woods rather than the town.”

Nikki turns in the car seat, the sound of her on the leather seat cushion just audible above the song, “Well – as you know, I used to walk in the cemetery and though the woods that lead from the Old House . . . but, I have found recently I do like this old town at night – late.”

Esther shrugs. “It’s a quaint town when it’s not try’n t’ kill ya.”

Suddenly, a man, wearing in a rumpled black suit with a loosened red tie, steps out of the darkness and quickly strides across the street to stands in front of the car on the passenger side.

Nikki turns on the headlights.

He looks at Esther and Nikki and then draws a gun.

Esther sees the man draw and ducks below the dash, “NIK! DOWN!”

“Hey, you—you—Esther Friedman!” The Gunsel yells.

Nikki’s eyes turn dark blue and her hand instinctively goes for the latch of the car door.

Even as Esther is drawing her own gun while trying to take cover from the small dash – f****** sports car.

The Gunsel holds the gun steady on the passenger side of the car, away from Nikki, “Hey Bitch—you get out of the f****** car and I pop her—you got that bitch!”

Nikki sits for a moment—can she move fast enough.

“Wha’th’ f*** do you want?” Esther yells back at the man with the gun.

“Esther Friedman, that is you—right?”

“You’r wavin’ a gun at me and you don’t know who the f*** I am?”

Gunsel snaps back, “Where the fuck is Noah Mankowski?”

Nikki looking through the windshield trying to judge how to get out of the car and across the hood in time to grab him before he can fire takes note that his hand trembles in the cold, his breath icy fog.

He should be wearing an overcoat—she thinks to herself.

“Noah?” Esther looks bewildered, “How should I know? Now put the F***in’gun away!”

“That ain’t goin’ happen. I know you know where he is – he gave you those fucking notes of his. So—just tell me where he is.”

“I am going to try and see if I can get to him, if you can keep him talking,” Nikki softly tells Esther.

Esther whispers to Nik out of the corner of her mouth, “Right,” her gun drawn, but hidden.

“He lives in Bangor. Your lookin’ in th’ wrong place!”

The Gunsel puts his palm to his forehead, “I don’t know what you are talkin about, in there bitch . . . but like I know you’re really f****** fast. They told me to be real careful with you – that you’d be like something out of that Flash. And so you listen to me—Esther here won’t be faster than a speeding bullet – you hear me bitch? So you just sit the f*** right the f*** there, you got that!”

Esther looks at Nikki.

Nikki looks at her – her hand slowly moving toward the gearshift.

Esther’s eyes acknowledge she understands what Nikki is planning.

“I been to his f****** house,” He says, “He ain’t there and hasn’t been for days. I need to know where the f*** he is—“

“Have you tried Providence!?”

“Damnit, it’s f****** cold out here—“ The Gunsel says, and puts his hand once more to his forehead as if it hurts. “He should have never looked into this s***. Now, come on, where the f*** is he!”

Nikki’s hand slips over to the gearshift. From her booted foot from brake to the clutch.

Esther whispers, “Rammingspeed”

Nikki pops the clutch, shifts, and hits the accelerator and the car spins tires and jumps forward.

Esther ducks as much as she can behind the dash.

The Gunsel fires!

BAM
BAM
BAM

{roll for damage}

The black car strikes him a glancing blow as he spins to the cobblestone street.

Esther reacting quickly brings down her window and fires once, in passing, hitting him in the foot as the car speeds away.

Nikki zooms down the road and turns the wheel of the car hard as it spins a 180 turn.

The black Ferrari is facing down on him headlights glowing as he tries to stand.

BAM

The shot is wide and off the mark.

Nikki rev’s the car.

Esther now leans out the window, revolver aimed.

“F****** bitch!” The Gunsel gets up from the cobblestone street and runs away limping into the night.

Esther yells at him from the window she leans out of “YEAH—THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT!”

Nikki speeds back down to the spot where he had been standing. The car swerving to a halt the as the door simultaneously swings open and Nikki steps quickly out. She runs a few steps; the car idling behind her.

“Bloody f***!” She looks about, then back at Esther – she can’t leave her vulnerable for if she gives chase—there could be other gunmen.

Esther leans over the seat and yells out the door, “Lets get out of here before St. Clair finds out.”

Nikki quick scans the area – her eyes narrowing.

‘Where the f*** did he go?”

Esther looks imploringly from the car, “I don’t know, but I just shot a man in the foot, and I really don’t want to go to jail—“

Nikki nods and walks back to the car, “Okay – we’ll go to the office.”

“Right.”

Inside Collins Investigations, Nikki turns on the office lights. She quickly walks back to check and make sure the front doors are locked.

“Right.” Esther says watching Nikki, she stops for a moment with her hands resting on the back of her office chair, as if trying to decided if she wanted to sit, but then decided no, “Now I gotta s***, cause I almost did just then.” And she hurries to the restroom.

The sound of a large engine and tires on the tarmac can be heard as Rhyaad pulls up rather fast in his large automobile. He gets out and makes his way to the front door, finds it locked, and tilts his head curiously a moment before knocking.

From the restroom comes the sound a toilet flush followed be the sound of running water.

The running water stops and Esther re-enters of the main office.

“Are you alright Esther?” Nikki asks concerned.

Esther still looks distracted, a bit in shock, “What was that? WHO was that?

“I have no idea.”

From the double front doors comes the sound:

knock
knock
knock

“Did you notice how he seemed to be in pain? I noticed how kept holding his head.” Nikki asks as she turns once more to walk over to the front doors.

Esther leans upon the back of her chair and sighs, “And what the f*** did he want with Noah?” She looks up at the door.

Nikki gives Esther a slight wave over her shoulder as it to say it is fine if she knows who is at the door, “Oh, it’s Rhy.”

She walks over and opens the door for him.

“Oh, thank you, Nikki” He says as he looks at her with intense blue eyes. “Is anything the matter? You don’t usually lock the door.”

He came in and wrinkled his nose.

He turns, taking note that as Nikki closes the door behind him she locks it – he didn’t need her ability to peer into minds to know something was wrong.

“Seems someone took a couple of shots at us in the middle of Collinsport a few moments ago.” Nikki tells him

“Shot at you?” He looks at them both. “Who, why? Apparently you didn’t get hit, thank the gods,” he said to Esther.

Esther looks at both Nikki and Rhyaad and then takes a quick look at her watch, “Ugh. It’s late. I’m tired. Can we talk about it later—now . . . now, I need to rest. Please fill Rhy in on all the details. I’m going to sleep here tonight –if that is okay Nik.”

“Certainly—there’s the bed I put in for Sam.” Nikki walks over to Esther and places her hands on her shoulders, “Are you sure you are alright. You did not get hit or anything.”

“I’m fine. Just, just a bit shook up is all.”

She begins to make her way to the stairs leading to the second story storage room

“Noah . . . Noah Mankowski—wasn’t he that friend of yours that had the research on the Starry Wisdom Church?” Nikki asks watching Esther slowly ascend the stairs.

Esther walks along the landing, her hand rubbing along the balcony railing as she reaches over and opens the door.

“W-what happened, Nikki!” Rhyaad asks concerned, looking at Esther and then over to Nikki who is also watching Esther apprehensively.

She turns to Rhyaad, “I had been out walking around town and was just taking a moment to sit on one of the benches– when I met Esther. It was cold, and so we got into the car; and we were sitting there in the middle of the business district, listening to the radio, getting ready to leave when suddenly this man with a gun stepped out of the shadows.”

“And he started shooting at the both of you?”

“Actually he was looking specifically for Esther.”

Esther entering the makeshift bedroom takes her belt and revolver off, placing them it on the dresser.

“Called her by name.” Nikki leisurely moved over to take a seat in Esther chair.

“Disturbing . . . How did he know about her?”

Esther takes her knife and boots off, place them on the floor.

Rhyaad continues, “It’s not that we don’t have enemies of course . . . but I would not think they’d target her.”

Esther takes her coat off, uses it as an extra blanket, and climbs into bed. Nikki did a good job in selecting it as it was comfortable she thought.

“He was apparently working for others as he said they several times.”

“Said? So you actually spoke with this person?”

Esther lies back and looking up at the ceiling, “Shema Yisreal. Adonai Elohaynu. Adonai Echad.”

“No, he was about five feet from the car yelling.” Nikki explains as she rubs her hands together, “He wanted Esther to tell him the whereabouts of Noah Mankowski – apparently, whomever this they happens to be, they are trying to find him—“

“Whatever for – I mean what did this guy do to get a gunman after him?”

“It seems to be connected to those notes he gave Esther regarding the Interfaith and some old cult.”

Esther now curls up and tries to sleep.

“Oh my . . . not the Narth . . . the Nyarht—that Egyptian cult thing?’

“Yes, that is what the notes were about.”

“Well, this is not good. Not good at all. Maybe we should pay a little visit to them, if we can find out who they are?”

“Or we need to quickly find this Noah—who most certainly must be in some danger.”

“Or that.” Rhyaad nodded, “But Esther would be the one to help us with that. Do you think there are any more of them lurking about?’ He turns to look at the large storefront windows, “Should we be on alert?”

“I don’t sense any presence near at the moment – but yes, we must certainly be on alert. Especially for Esther’s sake.” Nikki replies, “I still have the notes Esther gave me—maybe there is a clue in them.”

Rhyaad shrugged. “We could examine them again—but was it all about the Interfaith?”

Nikki suddenly looks concerned, “Oh, bloody, hell I took my coffin out. I want to stay here and make sure she is alright.”

“We can bring your coffin back, Nikki, if you desire.”

Nikki rises and heads toward her office, “Well I need to since I don’t think Sam is coming back – the girl has just disappeared. She never returned from London.”

“Still looking at book in that library, no doubt.” Rhyaad speculates as he took a seat in one of the chairs across from Esther’s desk. ‘The girl is crazy.”

“Oh, let me get the notes.”

“She is another subject I wished to discuss.” Rhyaad says loud enough so that Nikki could hear as she entered her office, “It would seem she must have clung to the boat that night. I’m afraid the woman is much more insane than I had previously thought. And her motivations are certainly questionable.”

Nikki opens the file cabinet and removes the file.

“I agree.” She says returning to the main office lobby, “But—I am not at all certain if she is insane, or if she is just crazy smart.”

Once more pulling Esther’s chair back she sits down and places the folder on the desk and opens the file, “You know—she could be playing us. She does have a contract with TF141. And, as the Lord knows, we have had enough people playing games with us recently.”

She looks from the single sheet of paper, “Okay, here it is,” and she hands the page over to Rhyaad:

Making Connections: the Shining Ankh Interfaith Ministries, and the Shining Trapezohedron.
The Starry Wisdom Cult
Providence Rode Island, Federal Hill, 1844-1877
Large Dark Church
Professor Enoch Bowen
Cult Originated from Egypt
Symbol was an Ankh
Missing Peoples
Missing Newspaper reporter, 1893
Artist/Author Robert Blake?, 1935-Somthing about him
Odd Artifact, Shining Trapezohedron. Found in Bay

Things to do
Tell Nik. Tell Rhyaad. Tell the Massachusetts bastards in Arkham.
DO NOT tell the Cultists

Rhyaad finishes the note and mutters to himself: “Robert Blake . . . Robert Blake. . . ”

“And this Professor Bowen – maybe we should look into these two and see if there is anything of interest.” Nikki nods, “I wonder what this odd artifact is – this Shining Trapezohedron.

“We never solved any of that Nikki.” Rhyaad says passing the piece of paper back over to her, “So much water passes under our bridge . . . ”

“Well—I filed this way, figuring it was all just some paranoid rambling about the Interfaith, and then when they just left – I – I just assumed this wasn’t relevant any more.”

” . . . it becomes a raging torrent that sweeps our bridge away . . . ” He finishes and then nods, “But why would this gunman want Esther dead? I mean it seems illogical that he would shoot Esther, particularly if he believes she can lead him to Noah. More likely they would send someone else after her again, yes?”

“Well, I think that was in reaction to me almost running him over with the car – he fired more in reaction to us trying to flee.” Nikki says, “Plus, he seemed to be in pain. He kept putting his hands to his head.”

“Odd . . . this was before you almost ran over him, or after?”

“Before. He was trembling—but that could have been from the cold.

“Hrm . . .. Very odd that he was trembling and in pain before. What should we make of that? Under the influence of something?”

“Possibly.” Nikki nods, and sits back, “I actually think the clue is this Noah, we need to take Esther and try and find him.”

“I’d agree. And we should be very careful with Esther. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”

“Yes, we need not to worry her any more than I am sure is she already worried, but we need to make sure we keep an eye on her – they might try and – well take her if they think she knows anything about this Noah’s whereabouts.”

“Agreed, but with the two of us—I think we can keep her safe.” Rhyaad nods.

Nikki face expressed a concern, “Well, there is a bit of a problem as we can’t watch her around the clock, you know.”

“That can be fixed. We can hire someone. Ask friends. Or have her sleep in windowless rooms with us, even. Besides with her knives and guns—Esther is no easy mark herself, you know.”

“Oh, I know, it is just I am not certain what we are up against. I mean, pulling a gun in the middle of Collinsport.” Nikki looks off in reflection, trying to recall the incident as if she may have forgotten something.

“People do it all the time in larger cities.” Rhyaad remarks, “And it’s this organization, this Starry Wisdom Cult, that we should be worried about.”

“I am not so certain that is what this is all about . . . I just don’t see the connection at the moment.”

Rhyaad nods.

“And with Vera and now this, I am of the opinion we may have to drop the Kang case.” Nikki says looking back over toward him. “Esther is far more important. Esther is family.”

“Nikki, it must be them. They must be after this Noah person for investigating them. Perhaps he learned more than he lets on. And they are after him now. And worse, they think Esther can lead them to him.”

Cue Music and End of Episode