"The Lightless" Chapter Four

Chapter Four

            Shawn bit his lip and clenched his fist. The letter in his hand was the very thing he had been afraid of since he came to Earth two years earlier. The first phrase said it all and he read it over and over again, feeling his anger building up like a kinked hose. He reached for his notebook and grabbed a pen. One last attempt, he thought and he began to write

To his royal highness, lord of the lightless, and Emperor of the dimension glass

            Sire, I did not give the proper depiction of my situation in my last letter, please allow me to do so now. You have requested that I return immediately and assume the search for another descendant but before this can take place I must be permitted to explain. I have located miss Park and am now sure that I can bring her back within three months. I could retrieve her now but that will not gain us the result we desire. Allow me to convince her that she wants to come back and fulfill your request and I can guarantee you will have satisfaction within the time frame stated above. Upon reflection of this proposal I am sure you will considerate the only appropriate course of action, therefor I shall not expect to hear from you until I return with the girl.

            May your lamps always burn bright   1^st councilor Shawn Allburr

Shawn sealed the envelope and handed it to the carrier.

            "See that the king gets this letter as soon as possible." He said. The man took the letter and nodded his head then he left the room. Shawn ran his hands through his hair and sat on the sofa. A picture of a beautiful blond girl stared back at him from the coffee table.

            "Abby," he said absent mindedly, "If only you would think through my offer you would see it’s the best way- the only way for us to truly be happy-" the doorbell interrupted his solitude and he felt a little silly as he rose from his seat. A tall man in uniform greeted him with a half-hearted smile.

            "Mr. Allburr?" He said.

            "Yes."

            "Sherriff Robert Brason, I am the one you spoke with yesterday on the phone."

            "Of course, can I help you?"

"I need to talk with you if you have a minute." Shawn glanced at the Smith and Wesson 45 strapped to Robert's hip but moved aside and let him in. They sat down and Robert immediately began to speak.

            "We did find Miss Park, or miss Stills of you will-"

            "Miss stills?" Shawn interrupted.

            "Apparently she decided to use an alias, anyway, she had a long record of posing as a IRS employee and scamming people for personal information."

            Shawn rubbed his chin thoughtfully but said nothing

            "The quire thing is she doesn’t scam them for money, and she only ever goes to families or companies with the name Johnson."

            "She doesn't use the personal information to get credit cards or something?" Shawn asked, feigning curiosity.

            "Nope. She just takes it and runs, don't even know why" Robert said.

            "It's still illegal isn’t it?" Shawn asked.

            "Oh for sure, she will go to prison for posing as a government official alone but we might need your help to bring her in." Shawn pulled back a little surprised.

            "My help? What good am I?"

            "You know her best, we were just hoping you would come along and help us know how to handle her." Robert said, shifting his weight. "You did say she has a mental challenge didn't you?" She sure doesn’t look like she does," Shawn gave the man a warning glance at this but the sheriff rushed on "so it will be hard for us to predict how to handle her. Perhaps you're being there will help her remain calm." Shawn pictured Abby in his mind and had to hold back a laugh, like a mouse stays calm when it sees a snake, he thought but he only said, "I'll come." Then he thought about something, "but don't let her know I am there unless I tell you too. If things get out of your control I will step out and take over but let me remain unseen otherwise." The sheriff nodded his head.

            "Okay, fair enough. We will go tonight, she has been going out with young Joshua Johnson for a week or so now and they have another date tonight." Shawn felt himself tense but Robert continued, oblivious to his reaction, "I guess she caught herself in her own trap." Shawn nodded as he guided the man to the door, when it was closed behind him he turned and sighed deeply. "Yes Abby, you are finally caught."

            "Really Josh," Abby said laughing. "I don't think this is a good idea." Joshua Johnson smiled his most innocent and sweet smile as he buckled his seatbelt. He then grabbed onto the shoulder strap as if it were the only thing keeping him from falling off the Empire State building.

            "I'm ready," He said closing his eyes tight. Abby tapped the throttle of the Camaro and felt the vibration tingle her body.

            "Man alive" she said softly. "This is some car." She looked over at Josh who was now peeking through one partly open eye. "You look really silly" she said happily. He slowly let go of his belt as if easing into a hot tub. "Is it really that scary?" Abby asked. Joshua suddenly became solemn his hand dropped to where hers rested on the emergency break. "No," he said taking her hand, "Not nearly as scary as being here with you alone Barbra. Abby looked at him with a soft smile. They had been on three dates so far, this being their fourth, but she could already feel them both falling. She hadn’t wanted to spoil it with her questions and now she wasn't sure she even cared. Maybe she could just forget the lightless dimension and live on earth. The king might be right, maybe everything would be okay. But even as the thoughts crossed her mind she pushed them aside and looked away from Joshua. She needed to tell him before things got really involved. Maybe things will still work out, she told herself.

            "Josh…" she said.

            "Uho," he said. "I don't like that tone." She smiled at him.

             "I just have something I want to tell you."

            "On one condition," he said

            "What's that?"

            He took her hand and interlocked their fingers. They had never done that before and Abby bit her lip and smiled. "As long as you can tell me while you are holding my hand, you can continue." He looked at her with a mixture of concern and pleasure on his face.

            She felt the temptation to back down but she pushed it away.

            "I have been lying to you about some things," she said finally. Joshua's eyebrows knit together and he frowned.

            "Like what?"

            "Well, first off my name. It's actually Abigail Park." Joshua looked at her with a curious expression.

            "Why did you lie about your name?" he asked.

            "Well," she said suddenly realizing how involved her story was, "because I am not really from the IRS." Joshua tilted his head and raised one eyebrow.

            "No really Josh," Abby said. "But I'm not a criminal, I-" Suddenly she froze. "Ah, something's wrong Josh," She said hastily looking behind them.

            "Did you see your ex-boyfriend again?" He asked

            "No but I know he is close." She turned and quickly put the Camaro in gear. "Okay I didn't realize it but my story is extremely involved." She spoke quickly feeling her heart pounding in her chest as she pulled the car onto the road and pressed the throttle down hard. She felt a twinge of guilt as she saw the bewildered expression on Josh's face.

            "I'm sorry Josh," she said quietly. "I really didn't mean for things to go like this. I promise I will explain if I get the chance but right now is not a good time." Again she was amazed at the way he handled her sporadic behavior.

            "Why are we rushing off again?" he asked with a hint of a smile, "Just curious, I mean I'm getting used to it but I was wondering if it's really just because you like the way she handles." Abby smiled in spite of herself and gripped the leather steering wheel.

            "It's rather complicated but the jest of it is I can sense when my ex- that is when Shawn- is close to me so I have time to run." Josh stared straight ahead and Abby could tell he was unsure how to respond.

            "Did you sense him the first time? Because I was wondering how you could see well enough to spot him in that little Mercedes Benz with practically black windows."  Abby opened her mouth to respond but instead she closed her mouth and bit her bottom lip.  

            "Look" she said urgently.  Josh turned and looked behind them. Two police cars were flashing their lights and pulling up close to the back of his Camaro.

            "Woops," he said. "Guess you better pull over. Hopefully their not cops I know…" Abby shot him a glance then shook her head at his smile. "Just kidding" he said. Abby felt the hair on the back of her neck stand and she knew the cops were not after her for speeding. "Okay," she said "I don't know how I know, but Shawn is with them and I know he has told them some lie about me." Josh ran his fingers through his hair but let her continue. "Maybe if I-" She paused. They were now stopped and several officers were getting out of the cars.

            "What do you want to do?" Josh asked.

            "Just let them take me." She said, "They won't hurt me and I don't want you mixed up in all this." Josh's hand immediately took hers.

            "Too late," he said softly. Abby chided herself for growing careless and began to get out of the car. To her surprise all of the policemen ran back to their cars and used them as protection.

            "GET BACK IN THE CAR!" a man yelled. "STAY IN YOUR CAR MISS PARK" Abby lowered herself back down and looked nervously at Josh.

            "They probably want everyone to do that just for extra safety, don't worry, I am sure they will let you go," here he smiled and added "unless you really do have something to hide."

            "I don't unless Shawn said I do."  A tall man in his mid-forties started walking toward them hand on his pistol.

            "Boy if Shawn did tell them something it was a doozy, that guy looks scared to death." Abby began rolling down her window and took a deep breath. Two can play this game Shawn Allburr, she thought. The officer was now at her window and began to speak.

            "Do you know why I pulled you over ma'am?"

            "Yeah yeah yeah, right me up." Abby said in a high pitched nasal voice. "Sorry sir. But she don't make it easy to follow the speed limit, if you catch my drift. I mean how can I know the speed limit when I can't read the sign, it went by way too fast." As she spoke she moved her arms all around as if they were attached to her mouth. "And another thing," she continued "you guys are way over exerting yourselves, even if you needed to haul me in you wouldn't need fifteen men and two cars. I mean what's with the army of guys?"

            "It just so happens Miss Park," the man said in a mockingly sweet tone "that we are going to take you into the office."

            "For speeding?" she asked.

            "We have a report, or rather a complaint against you from your ex-boyfriend-"

            "Which one?

            "Shawn Allburr." Abby gasped and put her hand over her mouth, painfully aware of what all this looked like to Josh.

            "May I ask what his complaint is?" she said.

            "He accuses you of theft and we have substantial evidence that you have been posing as a government official for a few years now. Abby forced herself to remain calm though her heart was beating wildly. How did they find that out? How did Shawn find that out? She looked at Josh who was obviously very upset.

            "That’s a lie." She said firmly. "And even if I have to go to court I can prove it." She felt the hollowness of her words even as they left but she resolved to stay with them.

            "That's good because you are going to court. Now would you mind stepping out of the car please miss Park. Abby looked at Josh with a frown and mouthed sorry, then she got out of the car. The officer put her in handcuffs, though she wasn't sure why, and then leaned in and spoke to Josh.

            "You can just go on home Mr. Johnson, we don't have anything on you." He then turned Abby away from him and felt down the sides of her body, Abby flinched,

            "Stop that!" she said spinning around.

            "Hey!" the officer said as he whipped her sharply around again, "You best not give me any trouble you hear?" His iron grip tore into her arm and she bit back a scream.

            Josh jumped out of his car and started to follow them.

            "Where are you taking her? I have a right to know." He said firmly. The officer ignored him and kept pushing walking with Abby toward the police cars.

            "Hey!" Josh said, "You know who I am, I suggest you don't treat that lightly." The officer paused for a second, his jaw muscles tightening.

            "We are taking her to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations but I'm sure that won't matter to you. You won't bother with her after this." He was now opening the car door and guiding Abby in, pushing her head as she sat town. Abby bit her lip, she could feel that Shawn was close to her and it made her cringe. He must be in the other car, she though. She looked up just in time to see Josh climb back in his Camaro and speed away and her eyes began to burn. He's probably right, she thought, why would Josh bother with me now?