The ABC Affair- Stonehenge, Chapter 13 Letter M

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Sorry this is a bit late. Thanks to tropical storm Isaias for chasing away my muse. As I've already promised, I will finish this story!

The prompts: megalith, magic

There was a sudden low hum that filled the air, and as it increased in volume everyone began to feel a tingling sensation on their skin.  It was as if they were covered with thousands of crawling ants.

“Run!” Napoleon shouted,”Get away from the stones!”

They took off, heading off in the distance to the cars used by Kit and the others. Parked far enough away; they seemed like a safe refuge from this bizarre situation...that was if the engines worked. At least the tingling finally stopped as they reached their destination.

Kit tossed one set of keys to Kuryakin while he climbed into the second car, miraculously both vehicle engines roared to life and they took off in tandem, getting far enough from the henge, while still keeping it within sight.

Just as before, the comet winked into view, like magic. Again it was in a fixed position above the henge. The concentrated column of light appeared as well, moving as it had before.

The heavy mist appeared, but this time they heard it, a shrieking wail off in the distance coming from Stonehenge.

And then poof, all was silent; the comet and mist were gone again as if by magic. The megalith stood there like a silent sentinel as if nothing had happened.

The silence was broken by the chirp of a communicator.

“I say we get the hell out of here,”Mark spoke; he was in the car with April, Napoleon and Kit.

“Agreed,”Illya answered. “The site must be cordoned off as a safety precaution.

“Yes,”Ellery chimed in.”With the coming Solstice the henge will be invaded by people who fancy themselves druids.”

“Wanna be druids, really?” Napoleon said.

“Unfortunately, that is the case,”Illya said.”I have read about these modern day druidism…In the late 18th century fraternal organizations modeled on Freemasonry employed the romantic figure of the British Druids as a symbol of the indigenous spirituality of prehistoric Britain; the oldest one being the Ancient Order of Druids founded in the late 1700s. Though these druids do not follow the practice of human sacrifice, rather theirs is a movement that promotes harmony and reverence for the natural world.”

“Tree huggers, like in the hippie movements?” Napoleon asked.

“Actually the term is much older than that as it had its origin in 1730 India. There two hundred ninety-four men and sixty-nine women of the Bishnois branch of Hinduism physically hugged the trees in their village in order to prevent them from being used to build a palace. Unfortunately the tree huggers were killed by the foresters cutting down the trees. However, their lives were not lost in vain. A royal decree was established that outlawed any trees to be chopped down in Bishnoi villages.”

“Interesting trivia tovarisch, but not exactly pertinent to our situation.”

“Well you did ask,” Illya said. “Did you not?”

“I suppose,” Napoleon cringed. He mentally reminded himself to watch what he blurted out in front of his partner.

Ellery finally spoke up.”Do you think we should go back to the henge and see if there’s another victim? Though the shrieking was something new; maybe they couldn’t complete the ritual?”

Napoleon and Illya looked at each other. The doctor’s guess was as good as any.

“I think Ellery and I should go check it out,” April said.

Before Napoleon could protest, Dancer held up her hand to stop him.

“Since Ellery and I are women and all the victims are male, it would stand to reason that we’d be safer going there.”

“Logical,” Illya said. He reached into his jacket, drawing his gun. “Ellery do you know how to use this?”

“Absolutely. I was given weapons training when I agreed to work for the Command...though I’ve never had any real field experience.”

As he held out the gun he asked her one question.

“Show me the safety…”

She immediately pointed to it. “This is a Walther P38 9mm Parabellum  with a shortened barrel and a threaded muzzle modified to accept a bird-cage flash suppressor. It…”

“Doc, no need to continue,” Napoleon said.

“Illya,” he turned his attention to his partner.” Sleep darts or live rounds?”

“Live, of course,” the Russian smirked.

Comments

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Another good chapter, thanks.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! Writing has been difficult as my muse has been playing hide and seek with me. lol! I've made a promise to finish this story and I'll stick to that promise.

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm sure we'll all understand if you find it easier to put it off a little.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's very kind of you to say.