I Am Chosen

Collecting People

Hollis sat next to J.D. and across from Kacey at the Red Hook diner, in their familiar booth near the back.

Bad idea, bringing him into this, Hollis thought. A civilian. And a family member, no less.

Kacey had told J.D. everything, all the way up to their encounter with Valerie Griffin, and had just provided a recap of the battle with the estate staff.

J.D. sat, processing.

"Look," Hollis said, "I don't know how any of this is going to-"

"So the bodies are there, now?" J.D. interrupted.

Hollis had monitored the police radio on the drive over: nothing had come through on high band-if anyone had heard the gunfire, apparently they hadn't reported it.

"The bodies are probably still there, yeah," Hollis said.

J.D., who had been sitting next to the walkway, got up and headed for the door. "Where the hell are you going?" Kacey asked.

Without answering, J.D. kept walking. "Hey!" Kacey said and went after him.

Hollis considered staying. Let the two of them squabble. Then he thought about what he was capable of doing on his own at this point... which amounted to almost nothing. Though he hated to admit it, just the fact that J.D. apparently believed all of this craziness had some value. Hollis also thought about how close the evil influence down in that tunnel had come to making him turn on Kacey.

If her brother truly did have some ideas, something to add that might aid them in defeating their enemy, then he was obligated to listen.

Hollis got up, left a twenty on the table and headed for the door.

Kacey was worried. Hollis was being unusually quiet.

They were following close behind J.D.'s car, a silver Jeep Compass. Hollis was driving, but his thoughts were clearly someplace else.

"I know you think it's a bad idea," Kacey said. "Involving J.D. But he might have some insight, something we missed. A fresh pair of eyes can't hurt."

"Hm," was Hollis's only answer.

"Him reaching out to me is a big deal," Kacey continued. "So far we've been lucky, both of us, to go through what we've been through and still be alive and sane. Relatively, anyway. I just... if something happens to me I don't want to go out on bad terms with my little brother."

Finally Hollis exhaled and said, "Hey back in those tunnels... you know I started to lose it. I'll be honest, having something else inside my mind like that scared the hell out of me. Right down to my bones. To not be in control of your own actions is beyond any nightmare I could think of. But even worse, what it wanted me to do... to you..." Hollis shook his head. "I'm sorry. I have an understanding now of what you went through at the cabin."

"You got nothing to be sorry for," Kacey said. And as far as she was concerned, it was true. "The way I see it, I almost killed you, you almost killed me. We're even."

Hollis looked over at Kacey then, a penetrating gaze in the Taurus's dash lights. It was a look of sincerity, conviction, determination. "We're gonna get through this," he said.

Kacey simply nodded. She hoped that was true. Looking ahead once again she said, "We're here."

The estate was still deserted.

As they made their way across the grounds and into the main house, before reaching the stairs, Kacey stopped her brother and asked if he was sure. "I have to see for myself," he said.

And so they proceeded to the rec room. When they entered, black blood slathered several areas of the space; long smears of it, like giant brush strokes, led from various spots where the bodies had fallen and disappeared beneath the secret door at the dartboard. That wall section was now closed, though Kacey and Hollis had left it open.

Hollis's voice was barely above a whisper as he said "Something came from down there... came and took them." The maggots were even gone from the pool table.

"Crowe. And/or Rhonda White would be my guess," Kacey offered. She turned to J.D. "Well, there are no bodies, but-"

"I believe you," J.D. said. He leveled his eyes at his sister: "I don't think you're crazy. Even if you were, what are the odds of both of you being crazy?" He looked at Hollis.

"Why don't you tell us about this theory of yours," Hollis said, leaning against an arcade machine.

"It's simple, really," J.D. replied. "My theory is that whatever exists down there is choosing people to become part of something that's been described as the Twilight Convocation."

"Yeah we read about that in the asylum doctor's notes," Kacey said.

"I think it needs people," J.D. continued. "Maybe it draws energy from them... feeds off of them in a way."

"For what?" Hollis asked.

"Whatever the 'Emanant Revival' is," J.D. answered. "Something I think this entity tried to do back in 1930. After the coal miners discovered this thing it got inside their heads, drove them insane and planned to use them. Maybe it needed a certain number of people and it didn't have all it needed yet, I don't know. But Booker Finn put an end to it when he killed the miners."

"And now this thing is getting its revenge on descendants of the mine's board of directors," Kacey said. "Using Crowe, who's in turn creating the 'Chosen.' We had already put that together."

"Makes sense," J.D. said, "but what you may not have considered is that this thing is using the Chosen to create a new Convocation; to finish whatever it started in 1930. It's collecting people. These Chosen, they've all ended up in one institution, again."

"'Collecting people,'" Hollis said. "Waiting to reach that certain number of Chosen, maybe..." Hollis was considering, and from what Kacey could tell, he didn't seem to think J.D.'s opinion was too far-fetched. "Okay so when it reaches that number? Then what?"

"Something else the two of you may not have considered," J.D. said cryptically. Kacey and Hollis both waited. Finally J.D. said:

"Then it wakes them up."

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Collecting people for what? That's the big question. And you'll have to stick around a bit to get the answer. See you all in one week!