IMAGINATION'S PLACE
A PLACE OF SHAME
By; Speaker Gerald Polley
Part 2
The size of the house impressed even The Ancient One as he
made his way through its corridors. He became aware that he was
being watched. Surveilance cameras moved as he passed, and on two
occassions doors opened without his touching them. He finally
entered a luxurious livingroom with an attached bedroom off to
the side. The man he had seen in the bar earlier and a beautiful
blonde-headed woman waited there.
"Our guest has arrived, my dear. Would you see if she would
like some refreshment?"
The woman wore an almost transparent negligee, and the beauty of
her movements told The Ancient One she must have been a dancer.
"A glass of milk, my dear, or soda?" the woman asked.
"Just sit down!" The Ancient One said. "And don't
go near that bar. An Isuzu wouldn't do you much good,
anyway."
The woman turned to the man, and with a motion of his hand went
to the nearest chair and seated herself. The Ancient One stopped
by the pool table and began rolling one of the pool balls back
and forth.
"Tell her to behave," he warned his host. "I have
no desire to kill her. With a little training she can be brought
back to usefulness and atone for her mistakes."
"Perhaps she does not want to," his host told him.
"Do you wish to be a goorl little girl, my dear, give up all
the nice things that you have learned so much to
appreciate?"
"I m scared!" the woman remarked. "And I don't
understand. She's just a little girl! Why are you afraid of
her?"
The man laughed. "They understand nothing, do they, my
brother? She sees only the flesh, not what lies inside. Sometimes
their ignorance appalls me! How do you endure them? What makes
you so protective of them? I know, I know! They're your children.
They bear your blood; but so little of it it is meaningless. If
we were allies, we could do so much ... we could MAKE so much!
But no. You could not be persuaded, could you, just not your
nature. You can read her mind, it's unfortunate you can't read
mine!" He reached between the cusions in his chair and
pulled out an automatic pistol. In an instant the pool ball flew
off the table but it didn't strike the man. Instead it struck the
delicate Chinese vase in a little nook by the bed. The vase
shattered and ashes poured out onto the floor. The man gasped and
dropped his weapon. He rose as if struggling. The two double
doors to the balcony burst open, and a heavy breeze began to
sweep through the room. A cloud of ashes was picked up and blown
away, scattered to the four winds.
The man turned to The Ancient One, his chest heaving hard for
breath. "I will live again!" he said.
"Not this time," The Ancient One replied, "because
I don't intend for you to die .... just yet. You see, the one
that led me here was your first wife, and she's waited a very
very long time to be with you again. For her love for you has
never died, though you betrayed her."
"NO!" the man screamed, "NO!"
The Ancient One walked over to the terrified woman and put his
hands on either side of her head. "I'm sorry," he said,
"I must have this body, but promise, before this night is
over you will have another one, and live out your natural life
span."
The terrified woman did not even resist as he snapped her neck.
Moments later she rose, bowed in the Oriental manner, and walked
over to the man gasping in the chair. "Come, my
beloved," she said, picking him up. "I have waited long
for this hour!"
"NO!" the man gasped, "NO!"
"We need the house," said The Ancient One, "There
are some very nice vehicles in the garage. Take your pickl"
The woman nodded and departed, heading for the garage with her
burden. There would be a strange report of a suicide in the
papers the next day. A beautiful woman with a male companion who
had stopped at a filling station, filled the inside of her car up
with gasoline, cheerfully paid the attendant and drove off, to
have the car burst into flames a few yards down the road. The
horrified attendant had called the fire trucks, but by the time
they arrived, only charred bones remained. Authorities stated
identification of the two bodies would be virtually impossible.
At the moment The Ancient One returned to those he had rescued.
"This house," he said, "and everything in it
belongs to you. My friends, here, will instruct you in the work
they do. You may join them if you wish, or go your own way. This
little one has already chosen to remain. They killed her mother
and father when they abducted her. She has no place to go."
"I'll take care of her!" the young man said.
"And I'll help him," volunteered one of the women.
"And I'm not sure what you're up to, but I know it's good,
so I'll stay and help too!"
"What about the boss?" the guard asked. "What if
he comes back, tries to take over again, or, some of his
friends?"
"I think you'll take care of that very well" The
Ancient One remarked. "And your boss will not be back. He's
gone where he should have gone thousands of years ago, and I
don't think he's going to survive the journey. Now, I really must
go. I have promises to keep."
The Ancient One left the little girl's body and materialized as
he did so. "I'll be checking up on all of you from time to
time," he said, "directing your work. Those availing
themselves of the services here won't know they'll be setting
themselves up for a fall, and we've got the records of all their
old operations. It's going to be quite beneficial. And Senator,
don't change your voting habits too quickly. We don't want anyone
getting suspicious."
The Senator nodded and laughed softly. The Ancient One departed.
On his way home