A Man's Town

“A Man’s Town.”

Richard found the address. It had only been a year of research and determination, but he did it. He wanted to celebrate, but this was only the beginning. Revenge was something for the movies, novels, songs, but this was real life. The questions came pouring in. “Would I follow through with it?” “Would I actually travel there?” Could I actually kill someone?” Richard leaned back in his department store office chair, and as he did it creaked. He put his arms above his head. He looked at the clock. 3:06 A.M. He played a quick numbers game in his head. 3:06?   “That’s 3 sixes.” He thought of the ramifications of that number. “Three-sixes.” He took a calm deep breath. “Always playing games.” He said out loud as if he was talking to someone. He grabbed his phone from his fold out table that he used as a computer desk.. New Hampshire wasn’t that far from him. A seven-hour drive was nothing.  He stood up from the desk. He walked over to his kitchen counter. He lived in a small condo in Philadelphia. Richard grabbed his cigarettes from the counter. He walked to the front door and opened it. The warm summer night/morning hit him like a wall as he walked outside. He shut the door behind him. He sat down on his stoop he lit a cigarette. He took a deep inhale. He held it in the blew the toxic smoke out slowly. He held up his phone. He swiped over the calendar. He had three weeks until the University needed him back to prepare for the upcoming school year. He looked at the time. He went through his schedule.. Nothing..Nothing planned, all of his bills had been paid for the month. No obligations.  Then he sat back, placed his phone on the concrete. He took another drag. He exhaled……Nothing planned……. but Revenge.

                                                               Chapter 2

               Steven Conner was sitting watching his little brother swimming and older sister sunbathing next to the pool. It was hot and New Hampshire was going through a heat wave and the pool brought the three Conner kids much relief. Preston, the youngest Conner boy was standing at the edge of the in-ground luxurious pool when his mother walked out. Preston looked at his mom as he jumped into the pool, making a cannon ball so that everyone around him would get splashed. His mom looked at him sternly as he peeked his head up from the water and blew out from his nose and mouth to get the last or water out. Angela Conner, wife of the Mysterious well to do Politician Martin Conner, looked at all three kids.         

“Tomorrow is your father’s party. I scheduled hair appointments for all three of you today. I also need you two, (she pointed at Preston and Steven) to stop by Milton’s and get your suits.” Angela looked at Shandy, “you and I   have an appointment at the beauty, and then our dresses will be ready to pick up.”

 Shandy looked at her mother. “What time?”

“Let’s get going now.” Angela said as she looked at the boys and snapped her fingers for them to also start getting their butt in gear.

Shandy was just about to get into the pool also, but she got up from her cabana chair, and walked inside. 

Preston went under the water again and swam to the ladder. 

               Steven looked at his mom. “This going to be a big party?”

               “It always is with your father.” Angela said as she started to walk back into the house.

Preston got out of the pool, his curly hair was flat and dripping water as he passed his older brother Steven. He shook his head as he walked by.  The water got on Steven; Steven pushed him. Preston turned around and laughed, as the boys walked into the house.

                                               Chapter 3

                               Richard checked into the hotel. There was only a handful in this small quaint New England City and this one Richard had done his research into. A couple of years ago, this Hotel was a meeting place for some of the world’s most affluential Occult Leaders for a conference. Richard Vidal had been a Professor in Occult studies and had been teaching the Effects of the Occult in Today’s Society at the University for 8 years. He had a deep understanding of Occult Practices and Teachings. Richard wasn’t an Occultist by any means, but the subject called to him, so much so it was his life’s work to understand the numbers, the beliefs, the symbolism, the dates, everything. He knew the players in the games, the groups and the organizations. Richard was one of those people that you had probably heard on a Podcast, or interviewed for a story, or even a T.V. Show. He wasn’t recognizable by any means but had the experience and knew what he was talking about.  

               Richard settled in. He opened his backpack. He pulled out his laptop, and a manilla folder.  He placed his laptop on the desk. He placed the folder down next to it. He opened it up. The folder contained police files and a picture. The picture was of Michael Lebouef. A student of Richard’s. Michael went to the university and was in Richard’s class and the two became close. Michael was a great student and had the drive to research the Occult that matched Richard. Michael had come across a story about a New Hampshire Politician that was into the Occult and that would participate in Occult beliefs. Michael had come to New Hampshire looking for answers and wanted to dig up some information. Richard never knew what Politician Michael was referring to, but after doing research and getting police reports he found that Martin Conner was one to investigate. 

               Michael Lebouef was found murdered on the New Hampshire coast. His head had never been found but the body was found washed up on the beach near the boardwalk. A grizzly scene to those onlookers and kids that found the body.

               Richard took a second to double check the information he found. He was going to figure this out some way or another. He closed the folder, then wrote down the addresses he wanted to check out on the front of the manilla folder. He closed his laptop. He got up from the desk. He checked the mirror, then headed out.

                                                                               Chapter 4

Richard was sitting in his car looking over the contents of the folder. He looked at Martin Conner’s picture, he printed from an article online. He was a good-looking man, very politician looking, taller, in good shape, combed over dark hair, clean shaven. He looked normal, for a politician. His eyes though. His eyes looked dark. He looked disconnected.  He looked like he had experienced eyes. Eyes that have seen it all. Richard pulled out his wife’s picture. She was a beautiful woman. She was tall, she came from a prominent Connecticut family. She looked like a woman whose life was rolled out for her without a say. She looked stern. She was successful in her family’s business (something to do with pharmaceuticals). Her blonde hair was almost something out of California. Shandy Conner was straight from her father. She had dark hair that went down her back, she was tall, athletic, and the same eyes as her father, made her seem experienced beyond her years. She was known as a party girl. She had her run-ins with the media, and a couple with the law, but it just seemed like growing pains. She was in the police report when Michael Lebouef’s body was found. She was questioned but never charged.

 The two boys were different in many ways. The older boy, Steven. He was Ivy league to the bone. He had a keen business sense and a knack for business already. He was the shortest in the family, but he seemed like he was the number two in the family. He had a demeanor that looked like he took no short cuts or didn’t take no as an answer. He had dark hair, clean shaven, looked him self like a young man on the move.  Preston was the youngest. Richard had found newspaper articles on the young man. He was a star football player, a Quarterback, on his way to the Ivy League on Scholarship. He was tall fit, and dark curly hair that seemed like it would never go out of style. He was in articles about his dedication to helping the less fortunate, and if it wasn’t that it was good grades or something to do with football. The boy was a Saint.

Richard looked at the time. It was 7:30 P.M. He knew he wanted to hit the local Taverns and bars to talk to a few people and find out more about this family. 

                                                               Chapter 5

Richard was sitting at the bar. He was drinking his diet coke and listening to the chitter chatter around the bar. He looked up from the bar and saw a television commercial on the overhead TV. He almost fell off the barstool. It was Martin Conner, one of those political commercials. He looked around. The bar had come to a standstill. Everyone was glued to the TV. The volume was down, so you couldn’t hear the commercial, but the patrons were almost hypnotized as they watched Martin Conner walk down Main Street and stop to kiss a baby. The commercial ended, and like Wall Street when the market opened, everyone started talking and yelling again. Richard looked around in disbelief. He looked at the couple next to him. The bearded man nodded. Richard took his chance. “That was Martin Conner, geesh, freaking politicians huh?”

               The man looked at his companion, then looked back at Richard. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

               Richard smiled. “What gave it away?” He chuckled, as he looked at the man.

               The man didn’t budge, or smile, he just looked at Richard. “That man right there has kept this town afloat for years.” He looked at his companion again. She leaned over so she could look at Richard. “We owe everything to that man.”

               Richard was shocked. He looked at both. They stared right back at him. Richard didn’t know what to do. He raised his glass of Diet Coke. “You guys have a good one.” He got up and walked away. He could feel their eyes piercing his back like knives as he walked away. He walked to the other end of the bar next to a younger group. He sat down at the bar stool that was next to them. He heard their conversation. They were back and forth about the new places being built in town. There were some chain restaurants and outlet stores coming.   Which was weird for New Hampshire. The state usually kept a lot of their smaller towns clear of businesses like that. Richard wanted to try his luck again. He butted into the conversation. “Strange the town Mayor would let that happen.”

               The group’s conversation stopped.  A younger woman looked at Richard. “Excuse me. This our conversation, please don’t interrupt.” She looked at her friends, then one of the guys spoke up. “Yeah man, you better walk away. Martin Conner has done everything for this town, he protects us from outside assholes like you, given us great jobs, schooling is the best in the state, and we have the best roads during snowstorms. So back off.”

               “Am I in the Twilight Zone?” Richard thought in his head. Richard walked away. Once again, he felt the stares hit his back as he walked. He wanted to give it one more try before he left, or before he was murdered at this bar. He walked over to a stand-alone table. There was one person standing at the table. He appeared to be by himself. Richard walked up to him. “Hey are from here?”

               The man looked at him. He let out a sigh. “Why, do you want me to leave?”

               Richard smiled. “Nah man. This place isn’t very welcoming.”

               “Yeah, tell me about it. I come here once a week, my job brings me over here for one night. I dread Friday’s man, because I know I have to come here.”

               Richard leaned in. “Is it me or are they very protective of their mayor and this town.”

               The man looked at Richard. “Dude. You don’t even know. Don’t even bring his name up. They love him like he is their first-born man. Just drink your beer, smile when they talk, and leave bro.”

               Richard looked at the man then looked around. “What is it about, why?”

               The man leaned into Richard. “Bro, just leave man. It’s not worth it.”  

               Richard turned around, and then before he turned back, he started to say, “Yeah man it’s like a cul…” The man was gone. Richard looked towards the door he didn’t see the man. Then he felt a strange sensation. He turned around and the whole bar was staring at him. All hundred heads, in his direction. With no emotion, no sound, hell the music was turned off. He looked all around the bar. Every single person was facing him. They were frozen. He placed his drink on the table. He didn’t say a word. He looked at the bartender hoping for some sort of help. She didn’t budge. He looked at the floor, then he looked back up. Martin Conner’s TV ad was playing again. The whole bar turned and faced the TV. Quietly, without a word all Richard heard was the shuffling of feet. He took this chance; he left the bar. He ran to his car, got in, and drove back to the hotel.

                                                               Chapter 6

It took time for Richard to fall asleep, but he finally did. He was awakened by a voice. He felt his arm being brushed. He quickly reacted and jerked his arm, then moved his body. He opened his eyes. He saw the shadow quickly dart towards him. He scooted back until his head hit the headboard behind him. He looked down at his left arm. It had a syringe sticking out, and a band above that. The hotel room light turned on, It took him a second for his eyes to adjust. When they did, the man from the bar was standing at the foot of the bed.   

               “What the?”

               The man placed his finger over his mouth, as to be quiet.

               Richard had already made the decision he was going to yell. He took a deep breath, but as he released his voice, nothing came out.  

               The man smiled. “Sorry man. Wrong place wrong time.”

               Richard’s eyes closed.

                                                               Chapter 7

Richard opened his eyes. He looked at the ceiling. White, but it had a design. His mind quickly scurried; he wasn’t at home. The hotel didn’t have a design on the ceiling. “Oh damn. This was real!”         He tried to move his head. It was restrained. He tried to move his body, his arms, it was also restrained. He panicked. He tried to speak, but his mouth was covered.  He tried to force everything, with all his might he tried, but he wasn’t budging. 

               “Shhh.” 

               Richard looked up. It was the man from the bar. “Hey man. Just chill. I have some people that want to talk”. The man reached down and took the tape off Richards mouth. 

                               “What why?

                               “Shh” The man did it again.

                               “Hello Richard Vidal. Mr. Occult studies himself.”

               It was Martin Conner. He stood over Richard. “I knew you would come someday.” 

               Richard tried to move again. Then he paused. “How do you know my name? Why did you think I would come?”

               “We all know your name. You cause problems for our community.” Then he walked to the top of where Richard was laying, so Richard was looking at him upside down. “Plus Mr. Lebouef was a student of yours; wasn’t he?”

               “Oh you bastard.” Richard replied, knowing that all of his hunches were correct. Martin Conner’s daughter being interviewed by the police was no coincidence.

               “No worries Mr. Vidal. You don’t need answers, I think you already know them.”

               Martin touched Richard’s forehead, in a soft but uncomfortable way. “Don’t worry Richard. They won’t find your body.”

               Martin walked away. Then the man from last night, taped Richard’s mouth shut then placed a thin white sheet over Richard.

               Richard was stricken with fear. He felt his urine warm his legs then dribble on the floor.

 He laid there for hours. Then he heard a door open. He heard laughing. 

               “Get another sheet, we can’t have him looking like this when everyone comes in.”

               The sheet was pulled off quickly. He felt the cool air hit him. He looked and it was the three kids. Shandy, Preston and Steven. 

               Shandy looked at him. “So, this is him. The famous Occult hunter Michael Lebouef was talking about.” She looked Richard up and down on his naked body. “Doesn’t seem like much.”

Shandy walked away. Steven looked at him. He didn’t say anything, just looked at him. Then he moved. Preston, the youngest came up close to his face. He smiled. 

               “Sorry Mr. Vidal.” He said with a creepy smile. 

               “No! No!, Help!” He muttered under his taped mouth.

               Preston smiled. “Sorry. Mr. Vidal, this is my day. This is my…..” He paused and thought of the right word. “My initiation.” He smiled again. “Michael Lebouef, was Shandy’s.” Then Preston looked up and nodded. Richard saw and felt the cover placed over him again from somebody he couldn’t see.

               Richard heard the commotion. He smelled the candles. When the cover was pulled off again, there were hooded figures around him. He saw the knife. He saw the smile. He saw no more.