The Satanists

Chapter Ten: Strange Dreams and Disappearing Children

Jimmy pulls ahead of Abe along the way and is the first to run up to the side of the warehouse.

Its boards are painted grey but are quite splintered and old.

The boys place themselves single-file.

The brush above them blocks the sunlight, and thus this lower ground is already in a twilight.---The boys stop. A breeze rustles through vegetation overhead.

Abe whispers, quietly, "Why don't we look what's behind this building."

Slowly Jimmy moves toward the corner.---He hears his feet crunching pebbles.

He peers around the corner:---right behind it and close to the building rises a towering dark shape with a single luminous eye of a light beaming forward,---a lone train locomotive standing on the tracks, a big bright yellow guardrail at the front.---Jimmy actually flinches in his surprise.

The diesel engine of the locomotive is idling,---making a soft rumbling noise.

Cautiously, Jimmy steps forward, advancing at the towering locomotive, though staying off the tracks.---There is an elongated open doorway in the warehouse, the interior is dark,---and something moves in there.

Suddenly, upon the twilight between the warehouse doorway and the side of the towering locomotive, there appears a frightful crooked silhouetted figure, with wide-brimmed crumpled hat, with outspread arms and hands and legs, coming stiffly as if walking on stilts.---It starts uttering some unintelligible rasping gurgling sounds.

Jimmy freezes. Now he hears only what seem to be deep, muffled sounds coming repeatedly out of his own throat.

The frightful silhouetted figure stops in its approach.---Jimmy is jolted into flight, almost knocking over Abe and Sam as he starts scrambling back up and out of the ravine.

<<<>>>

The boy shoots to an upright sitting position on his bed, shaking and sweating, taking deep and terrified breaths.

<<<>>>

At the Sonders residence, as it is night, some of the windows in the house are lit,---and local streetlights provide additional illumination. Trish's Ford Mustang car is parked on the street by the Sonders driveway entrance. Trish and Kyle are getting out of the car.

They stand facing each other for a moment, bidding each other good-night, giving each other a non-lingering kiss on the lips. Then Trish turns and runs to the front door of her house. Kyle waves slightly after her, before turning around and crossing the street toward his own dwelling.

The silver Jaguar XJ-6 car is parked inconspicuously on the street nearby, facing the dwellings of Trish and Kyle down the street ahead. Only the local streetlights reveal the contours of this shiny silver vehicle. Its headlights are turned off. The driver inside is indistinct but appears to be feminine and alone, sitting behind the steering wheel and watching.

<<<>>>

At the breakfast table in the Sonders house, when it is the morning of the next day, a Saturday, and the Sonders family, namely:---Allan, Emma, Trish and Jimmy,---are eating routine breakfast, Allan is paging through the morning newspaper. Jimmy sits very subdued.

And Allan comments, "Uh-oh... Here we go again."

He peers closely at the newsprint.

"Another article on the Sims boy, poor tyke. They found him. Listen to this:---'Last night Timmy Sims turned up on the doorstep of his home, luckily unhurt, but one very confused child. He could not explain where he had been, except to say that someone dark grabbed him and the next thing he remembered was being in the arms of a silver princess lady, who was carrying him. He had no marks...'---Hmmm... 'We may never know what really happened to this boy.'"