Chapter Text
It was a beautiful Friday to drive up into the middle of nowhere.
Okay, not exactly the middle of nowhere but the country roads outside of Shelburne were more remote than the usual destination of the two criminals. Dead Head at the wheel and Shimmer his passenger, the two passed by country scenery. Late autumn withered grasses. Trees trailed off into the horizon. Farmhouses and trail heads. Roads passed over streams and passed by ponds. Dazzling sunlight reflected off quiet waters only bothered by the most yearly of birds. A lady was out on her front lawn tending to a garden.
There was tense air in that car. Shimmer was to head to Shelburne on his own, but Dead Head was getting suspicious of his quiet companion so he insisted that he would come along so that he could see for himself one of Shimmer’s connections. The portal back home was almost complete, but it would need a whistle to control the demons that would emerge from it. Of course, being that this dealt with the true nature of the portal, the purpose of the drive was kept secret from the rest of Dead Head’s crew.
Dead Head was getting uncomfortable after a few hours of nonstop driving but as he turned unto County Rd 17 and saw a property that had a white fence out front with three PRIVATE PROPERTY warnings hung on the posts, he realized he was getting close to his destination.
“This is the place,” Shimmer said, pointing at the place.
“I know,” said Dead Head, who was told was the property looked like earlier.
He turned into the laneway and drove up to a small building with a roof and a porch. There was a car around the corner and another (larger) house farther down the gravel. The area was surrounded– shrouded– by trees with a few branches resting on the rooftops of both buildings. Getting out of the car, Dead Head stretched his arms, then straightened his sleeves, and he and Shimmer walked up the porch to the door. The store owner was seen through the window, raising his head to see the approaching customers.
Walking in, Dead Head and Shimmer were greeted by Parker. “Hi there!” He eyed Dead Head then Shimmer, trying to guess which one phoned ahead. He settled his gaze on Shimmer. “You here for the ‘Hades Whistle’?”
Parker was a younger man, maybe the same age as Dead Head. He had his hair cut short and facial hair that was sparse enough to see through. The store he commandeered wasn’t too special. Around the front room, there were maps and things– basic things that could be purchased at any gas station. The look of the store was a cover, though. Parker dealt in specialty products and dealt with them in secret.
Shimmer would have answered if Dead Head hadn’t taken the lead. Dead Head said, “Yes. Do you have it?”
“It’s in the back,” said Parker, directing a thumb at a nearby door. “Be right back.”
Parker went through a door. Dead Head and Shimmer shared a moment of silence. They exchanged a glance but not a word. Dead Head stretched his arm again, flexing his elbow. Parker came back out with a whistle made of a dark steel with a strange jewel embedded at the end of the pipe. As Parker walked to the counter, Dead Head approached and got a look at the Hades Whistle. The jewel had a weird preternatural aura about it, clawing at light with an abyssal corruption. If anything could control the demons, it would be that.
Dead Head nodded. “Okay. Six hundred?”
Parker nodded. “A-yep.”
Dead Head reached into his pocket and brought out his wallet– a grey thing made of nylon. He cracked it open and took out a small stack of bills. He placed the wad down on the counter and slid it over to Parker. Parker picked up the money, checked to make sure it was the right amount, and then a small grin cracked on his face. “Alrighty! The whistle’s yours!”
Dead Head picked it up, taking a look at it. The jewel continued to glow a hateful essence and the steel around its base looked bundled up. Could the jewel have been volatile enough to melt the whistle’s frame? “This isn’t dangerous, is it?”
“No,” said Shimmer. “The gem gives off a darkness but it is harmless.”
Parker recognized Shimmer’s voice as the guy he heard on the phone. He said, “Yeah. It’s, um, not a, um, dangerous whistle. Not directly.”
“Right,” said Dead Head. He knew that Parker had dealt with a lot of supernatural stuff but he figured it would have been best to not reveal too much about himself or his intentions. He put his wallet away and gripped the whistle tight in his hand. The transaction was done and he had done what he gone there to do. “Have a good day.”
“See ya, pal!” said Parker with a wave.
Dead Head’s cloak spun in the air as he turned face and walked out the door. Shimmer followed behind him without a word. They went back outside and got in Dead Head’s car. The engine purred and the two got away.
Parker looked at the money again and smiled. “Nice!”
He went over to the cash register and put some bills inside, slipping the rest into his pocket. He went into a door into an office with a lot of shelves and stand-up closets. There was a desk by the back window but any official working got seldom use. Most of the time it was him picking up strange artifacts and selling them off the books.
His wife Lea was sitting on the couch by the window, a copy of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six in hand. Afternoon light reflected off her eyeglasses. She looked up. “Was that the whistle guy?”
Parker nodded. “Yeah. The shorter guy. The other guy– he was the mark.”
“What did he say when you showed him the ‘Hades Whistle’?” asked Lea, sharing Parker’s smile and dropping the book into her lap.
“He didn’t say anything!” said Parker, throwing his arms up. “He bought it. Literally, too. Six hundred bucks!”
Lea giggled. “Not bad for welding a jewel onto an old instrument.”
Parker walked up to a closet and opened the doors. They were full of various artifacts and items. Even in the dark, there was a red and black glow from a box of minerals with the same look and texture of the jewel– the one that was on the whistle. He called over to his wife, “Glad we found a use for this mineral stuff. I always thought it looked cool regardless if no magic power left inside.” After pondering for a second how else he could sell it off, he closed the doors.
“It looks spooky!” said Lea. “We could make serious money selling off fake magical items. Those minerals are technically magical. They’re more authentic than the stuff they sell at Hot Topic.” She giggled. “Just as useless, though.”
“Maybe once in awhile,” said Parker, walking up to Lea and giving her a kiss on the forehead. He motioned at the door. “That man looked like a goth or something. I think he’s being set up for a fake séance.”
“Hope he meets his ghost!” said Lea. She chuckled and went back to her book.
Parker put the money on the desk for Lea’s shopping later, than walked out back to the storefront to take the helm. There was a chance that old sage would come by later and Parker wanted to make a serious sale this time.
All that was left was three hour drive back to the city. They went back the way the came, passing by the same ponds, forests, and fields. The woman who was out at her garden must have finished her duties because she was gone from her front lawn.
Dead Head let Shimmer take the whistle. They didn’t have a box for it but Dead Head had a cloth bag in his back seat so Shimmer stuck the whistle inside the bag, tied the string, and stashed it in the glove compartment.
Dead Head scowled. “Don’t put it in there. It might ruin my car’s engine!”
Shimmer shook his head. “It will not affect machinery. It’s just a whistle in all ways except for binding your mind to the demons.”
Dead Head wanted to protest, but Shimmer’s explanation sounded fair. He left it alone.
A moment of silence and then Shimmer spoke up, “There is another matter.”
“What?” asked Dead Head. He groaned. “Do not tell me there’s another item we need besides the crystals.”
“No,” said Shimmer. But then he thought. “Come to think of it, we could get some better jumper cables since the ones we have around shop are old and rusty. That’s not what I mean, however.”
“Then what?” asked Dead Head.
“I’m hungry,” said Shimmer.
Was that it? Dead Head raised an eyebrow. “Hungry?”
“Yes,” said Shimmer. “I need to eat.”
“Can’t you wait?” asked Dead Head, subtle disbelief in his voice.
“Of course,” said Shimmer, “but I’d prefer not to.”
Annoyed as he was, Dead Head sighed and kept an eye out for a Tim Hortons or the like. They had been driving all morning so it would inevitable that somebody would get hungry. It took a couple minutes before Dead Head spotted the McDonald’s arches on the horizon. He pointed ahead. “Is McDonald’s good enough?”
“That’ll do,” said Shimmer, preferring something not so undignified but he could let that slide for one lunch.
“We’ll eat inside,” said Dead Head. “I don’t want my car getting dirty.”
Shimmer flattened his brow. “I won’t make a mess.”
“But I might,” said Dead Head, pulling into the parking lot. “I cannot eat while driving.”
Dead Head parked in a spot by the window so he could keep an eye on the vehicle. He wasn’t going to have someone mess with his car when he had the whistle inside. He shut off the engine and the two got out. The vicinity was quiet with only a hum coming from the garage farther down the road. There was a car dealership, and a car parts workshop beside it. Not a very active place and not a lot of noise aside from the few cars passing by. It was the kind of middle-of-nowhere that could have stretched on forever.
They took a look at the building. It was a smaller McDonald’s. The kind you could only find in those real out-of-the-way places off of main roads and not surrounded by any town. Walking into the place, the place was as small on the inside as the outside. There was only about 10 metres squared of floor space with a few tables by the window for customers. A tipped over cup rested on one. The condiments were on the counter and the soda fountain was on the clerk’s side of the counter.
There was a young woman at the counter who couldn’t fully conceal her surprise when she saw the darkly-dressed man and his glasses-wearing friend walk in. Not your typical customer roster out in the country. She gave the script, anyway. “Hello. Welcome to McDonald’s. How can I help you?”
Dead Head shot his eyes across the menu above the counter and realized he didn’t really care for specifics. “I’ll take a number one.” He looked over at Shimmer, eyeing the menu as well. Dead Head asked, “What are you having?”
“The same,” said Shimmer. It didn’t matter much to him.
The clerk got them their drinks and they waited a few minutes before they got their food. With a half-smile from the clerk, they went to a table. Sitting across from each other, they shared a discomforted glance.
“How did you find that guy?” asked Dead Head.
Shimmer paused, burger suspended in his hands. “I do not remember.”
The interrogation began when Dead Head said, “You don’t remember?”
Shimmer straightened himself up, trying to seem more annoyed than scared. “I cannot keep track of where I learn every phone number or address.”
“So this guy’s number appeared in your phone book?” asked Dead Head. “Magically?”
It was obvious that Dead Head was doing another investigation into Shimmer’s trustworthiness, but for all the lying that Shimmer did to his boss and other men, the acquisition of that number was not so notable. “I might have gotten it from my supplier out of New York. I might have picked it up somewhere. I network a lot. That’s how I’ve gotten the information and resources that we have. It’s not noteworthy.”
Dead Head settled. That explanation was fair. Shimmer cracked a slight scowl. “Are you suspicious of me?”
Shimmer knew that Dead Head was on to him, so over the last week he had been practising a series of explanations and misdirects to help stave off Dead Head’s wariness.
“Yes,” said Dead Head. As he sipped some cola, he eyed the clerk going back into the kitchen. He kept his volume low.“You are secretive.”
“Many of us are secretive,” said Shimmer, taking the hint and lowering his voice, too. “It comes from the business. On that note, you coming along on this drive will likely make it suspicious for our employees. If I had gone alone, your men would have assumed it was some sort of clerical effort. You coming along is going to raise questions. Should we prepare an excuse together?” He mouthed some fries, thinking that he wasn’t going to get Dead Head off his case by playing defence. So he went on the offensive. “And what about you? You do not seem very trustworthy either.” He lowered his eyes. “For one, you are lying to your entire workforce on the nature of the portal.”
“So are you,” said Dead Head.
“Even so,” said Shimmer, “are you one to judge me on being clandestine? How do you think you appear on the other side of that lens?”
“I’ve been explicit with you,” said Dead Head.
“Really?” queried Shimmer. “Then what are you planning to do with me once you have your army of demons?”
It’s not something that Dead Head had thought deeply about because he assumed, no matter how powerful he got, he would require Shimmer’s knowledge and logistical abilities. All knowledge of the portal and demons came from Dead Head so any problems that he could potentially run into would be dealt with through other information of Shimmer’s possession. He wouldn’t say that out loud, though, as it would make him look weak.
“I’ll keep you around,” said Dead Head. “You’re useful.” He noticed that his voice was getting to sharp and his posture was getting too tense, so he relaxed in hopes that the staff of that establishment didn’t think to pay attention to what they were saying. Dead Head spoke softly, “But then that asks the question; why wouldn’t you want to be the one who commands the demons? Why me?”
“I do not want to command a legion,” said Shimmer. “I prefer to help those who would. I prefer to be a second-in-command.”
Dead Head cracked his mouth, resembling a smirk. “You prefer to be a second?”
“Is that so strange?” asked Shimmer. “It’s comfortable for me. I don’t need to be the one in the spotlight.” He paused. “As long as I get a portion of the rewards.”
“And you don’t have to take the risk,” said Dead Head.
Shimmer huffed, something along the lines of a giggle. “I would hardly say there’s no risk in what I do.”
The two finished their meals in silence. As they finished up, a couple guys came walking into the lot and inside the joint. They didn’t arrive by car so they must have walked there from one of the nearby buildings. They were a couple older guys with a rugged look about them. If they were from the one of the car part places, they looked the part. They noticed Shimmer and Dead Head right away as they walked in.
“Hey, Bob!” said the clerk with a hum of familiarity.
“Hey, Tabitha,” said one of the men. “Give me a double cheeseburger combo.”
Dead Head and Shimmer went to the garbage and tossed out their trash, leaving the trays on top. They walked out of the place, got in the car, and pulled out of there. Hitting the old pavement of that country road, Dead Head turned southward back towards the city.