The Frozen Shadow

Renfield R. Renfield and Amadeus Emanon were at an isolated spot on England's southern coast awaiting the arrival of a dirigible.

"Why a dirigible?" Amadeus asked Renfield.

"Well with all these airports being shut down now and again throughout Europe and in the northeastern United States due to the weather, I couldn't take a chance on a plane," Renfield explained, "that's why I'm having a dirigible flown in from New York City, that way I don't have to worry about airports being closed."

"And what's on this dirigible?" Amadeus inquired.

"A frozen shadow," Renfield replied.

"A frozen shadow?" Amadeus was confused.

"Yes, a shadow that's been frozen," Renfield explained, "I suspect this shadow is a material manifestation of the severed immortal and invisible serpent-dragon head of the demon Rahu mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures as hanging around during lunar and solar eclipses trying to swallow either the sun or the moon. He manifested himself in the U.S. during last week's total lunar eclipse on the winter solstice. According to Scotland Yard computers I hacked into, I believe he was responsible for 372 murders that were committed throughout the U.S. on that day. A mysterious shadow-like entity was seen in the vicinity of all the murders committed throughout the entire time period when the lunar eclipse was taking place."

"How did it come to be frozen?" Amadeus asked.

"It made the mistake of hanging around the northeastern United States after the winter solstice lunar eclipse," Renfield answered, "I guess not even demons can get enough of New York City's Times Square. But following the severe snow storm of the past couple of days, it ended up being frozen in Central Park. An employee of Set Enterprises in New York City found it while he was out snowshoeing in the Park and alerted me."

"How is it possible for a supernatural entity to have been frozen by this severe snow storm?" Amadeus wanted to know.

"I don't believe this was any ordinary snow storm," Renfield replied, "I believe it was caused by the Frost Giants or Jutuns of Norse mythology. They seem to have come down to Earth again for some reason."

"There seem to be a lot of supernatural creatures mentioned in the various world mythologies who have been coming back to Earth this past year," Amadeus noted.

"Indeed," Renfield agreed, "if this keeps up, the UN may have to start worrying about overpopulation of supernatural entities on this planet."

To be continued.

Dark Shadows of the Moon

An elderly couple were walking the streets of downtown Seattle late at night trying to find a taxi.

As this night had been their wedding anniversary they decided to be late night owls in their favourite restaurant.

11:30 PM. Monday December 20th.

They window shopped through some of the store windows as they walked down the street trying to locate a taxi.

"That statue there in the pawn shop window," the wife remarked to her husband, "it's quite ferocious looking. Who is it supposed to be a statue of?".

"The demon Rahu," the man looked at the name tag below the statue.

Just then a figure emerged out of the darkness of night and slit the old man's throat.

The wife screamed.


* * *

In Chicago in a pedriatics unit of a leading hospital, one of the nurses thought she saw a mysterious shadow moving and approaching the room where the new borns were kept.

She immediately ran down the hall.

And opened the door.

Just in time to see the shadow like figure smashing a baby's head against the wall.

She screamed.


* * *

New York City.

The attractive and extremely beautiful blonde was dressed to the nines in a very tight fitting red mini dress, black silk fishnet nylons and black spiked stiletto heels.

She had been partying the night away in a posh nightclub.

She decided to step into a back alley to vomit as she couldn't find her way to the washroom and the door that said EXIT rather than Women's had led her to this place.

She vomited.

All those shooters and cocktails didn't feel quite as good going up as they had going down.

She thought she heard a noise.

She looked up.

All she saw there was shadow.

A shadow that moved.

A shadow that raised the knife.

A shadow that slit her throat.

If she wasn't already dead, she'd have probably screamed at that point.


* * *

Inspector Depp of Scotland Yard was also a member of Interpol and thus received police reports from all over the world.

He was looking at a baffling FBI report he had just received.

A series of 372 brutal and bizarre murders had been committed in the United States of America in just a 3 and a half hour time period.

An elderly gentleman with his throat slashed in downtown Seattle. A new born babe had his head bashed against the wall in a Chicago hospital pedriatics unit.
A young and beautiful twentysomething socialite had her throat slashed in New York City. And the list went on.

Any witnesses to the crimes reported seeing a mysterious and swift moving shadow.

No real human form.

Just a shadow.

Inside the office with Inspector Depp was Inspector Depp's good friend the Canadian vampire hunter Dracul Van Helsing.

He had handed the report to Dracul.

Dracul noted the times.

He checked his own watch which was always set to Alberta time- the time of the province of his birth.

"You know," Dracul said, "all these murders were all committed between 11:33 PM Alberta time and 3:01 AM Alberta time the late evening/early morning of December 20th to 21st."

"Is there some significance to that fact?" Inspector Depp asked.

"That was the exact same time frame of the lunar eclipse which this year fell on the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere," Dracul replied.

"Hm, that is interesting," Inspector Depp pinched his lip with a couple of his fingers, "anything significant about the number of murders committed? 372?".

"Well," said Dracul, "the last time a lunar eclipse fell on a winter solstice in the northern hemisphere was in the year 1638. Which is exactly 372 years ago."

To be continued.

Nicht and Night At The Kremlin

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was inside the lab of FSB scientist Dr. Nicht Werhoffen (who had been a research scientist for the East German Stasi secret intelligence service until the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989).

Dr. Werhoffen had just developed a new genetically modified virus.

This virus was capable when it was injected into a human of entering the bloodstream and then eventually attacking the human brain literally turning the person so infected into a virtual zombie.

"Imagine that, Mr. Prime Minister," Dr. Werhoffen smiled, "turning Mother Russia's enemies into zombies like the plots of so many bad western horror movies."

"This is indeed a major achievement," Prime Minister Putin had to admit.

"So you'd like me to continue working on this project?" Dr. Werhoffen asked.

"By all means," Prime Minister Putin smiled.

The Prime Minister returned to the Kremlin where he once again practiced the song that was making him a superstar sensation on YouTube, "I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill..."

The phone rang.

"Hello," the Prime Minister picked up the receiver.

"Hello," said a sexy, sensuous and sultry voice.

It was the Aztec vampire princess Qonzilqointec.

"I'm just phoning to wish you a Merry Christmas," Qonzilqointec's voice dripped like honey over the phone.

"Feliz Navidad," Putin said in his most impeccable Spanish.

Qonzilqointec answered back, "Feliz Navidad. Gracias."

Putin then told Her Imperial Highness about the breakthrough of one of his scientists in developing a virus that had the power to turn people into virtual zombies.

"Imagine that," Putin chuckled, "a virus that can turn people into virtual zombies."

"I always knew they'd find a replacement for television someday," Qonzilqointec answered.

To be continued.

Murder and Mystery At The Museum

Inspector Depp of Scotland Yard looked at the report in front of him.

A bizarre murder had happened on England's northeast coast.

A well known British archaeologist Cornwall Smith had been murdered.

The man's granddaughter had entered the town museum where he had spent a great deal of time and claimed to have found him in pieces at the curator's desk and on the museum floor.

What she meant by pieces apparently was that his head and arms and feet were lying around scattered all over the place.

She left the museum screaming which totally ruined a BBC TV documentary on peace and quiet and tranquility in small town Britain that was being shot in the village at the time.

When she finally managed to track down the town policeman in the local tea and croissant shop- by the time the pair arrived at the museum- the museum was totally engulfed in flames.

A fire department investigation afterwards revealed that the victim''s computer had suddenly fried causing an electrical fire.

The museum and its contents were totally destroyed.

And the remains of Dr. Cornwall Smith were even far too well done for an experienced cannibal like Dr. Hannibal Lector to enjoy.

To be continued.

The Game's Afoot In Archaeology

He was a retired archaeologist who lived on England's north east coast.

Retired?

Did archaeologists ever truly retire?

Archaeologist seemed to be one profession where its practitioners never truly do retire.

In fact, he was the volunteer curator of the small town museum where he lived.

So, no, archaeologists never truly do retire.

And in fact, he was reading an email from an old colleague of his who lived in Israel.

The man had emailed him photos of marble sandals.

They were sandals belonging to the statue of a woman that had been found in Ashkelon, Israel.

The woman had been found without arms and a head.

But the sandals of the woman were intricately carved.

His colleague pointed out, "I know you always had a foot fetish in your own personal life. So I thought maybe you had some archaeological interest in this matter as well."

The retired archaeologist laughed. He walked over to the museum bookshelf where he kept many of his own personal books.

He reached for one, checked the index, came to a page with a drawing of an ancient Roman statue of a woman, and eagerly sat down where he began to excitedly type a reply to the Israeli archaeologist.

The old man did not notice the medieval swords coming off the wall of the museum by themselves.

One of the swords came over and cut off the man's head just as he wrote, "I believe the statue is of..."

The other sword cut off the man's arms.

A medieval axe rose out of one of the glass cases in the museum and came over and cut off the man's feet and dropped them on the large printed copy photo of the marble sandals.

A young woman then entered the museum.

"Grandpa," she called out, "you're being late for dinner again."

She entered the room.

And screamed.

Grandpa wouldn't be having dinner on this night.

Or ever again.

To be continued.

Mr. X and The National Security Council

To the other members of the U.S. National Security Council, he was known only by the interesting epithet Mr. X.

Indeed Mr. X was the name referred to him by the other members of the National Security Council including the President.

For in actuality, Mr. X was really and truly the unknown member of the National Security Council.

The press did not know of his existence.

The public did not know of his existence.

Anyone in government outside the U.S. National Security Council did not know of his existence.

This mysterious Mr. X had served on the National Security Council under every President (both Democrat and Republican) since the Administration of President John F. Kennedy took office in January of 1961.

Every President since Kennedy had been forced to name him to the Security Council.

Only each succeeding new President knew why in a Book of Secrets that was passed to every President after he took office (a Book of Secrets that was alluded to in one of the Nicholas Cage National Treasure films).

Indeed Barack Obama got his first gray hair after taking office when he read in the Book of Secrets why Mr. X must continue on the U.S. National Security Council.

Inside Mr. X's office in Washington D.C. only a few blocks from the White House, Mr. X was reading a news item.

What disturbed him was not so much the news item itself but a communique he had read some months earlier.

The news item dealt with a 1,700 year old marble statue of a woman that had been found after a sudden and fierce storm in the eastern Mediterranean had caused part of a cliff to collapse in the southern Israeli port city of Ashkelon.

This news item would not have disturbed him so much if he hadn't read a top secret communique some months earlier.

The communique dealt with the Voynich Manuscript a rare and unusual manuscript located in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University.

The book was a mysterious one. Allegedly written in code in an unknown language. Some claimed the 13th Century English Franciscan monk Roger Bacon as its author. The book was said to have been bought by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in the late 16th Century. The 17th Century Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher was asked to decipher it by one of the manuscript's later owners but he apparently couldn't.

Anyways the communique from a few months back made the claim that a scholar had finally cracked the code and claimed the book was prophetic.

Well other so-called scholars had made such claims before.

But in this communique, the proof of his having cracked the code would become apparent in a few months time this scholar had wrote "when in December of this year (2010) a huge storm would hit the eastern Mediterranean and a marble statue of a woman with her head and arms missing would be found as a result of a cliff falling in Ashkelon, Israel."

Mr. X had sent messages to the Directors of the FBI, the CIA and Homeland Security ordering that this man must be found at all costs.

He had also written a message to the head of a covert branch of the CIA asking him to investigate whether Wikileaks founder Julian Assange knew about the existence of this communique.

And if he discovered that he did, then Mr. Assange must be immediately terminated, Mr. X had directed.

And by terminated, Mr. X meant in the same manner as Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator had terminated people.

To be continued.

The Mysterious Statue

Amadeus Emanon sat quietly eating a peanut butter sandwich and reading a small leather bound copy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Renfield R. Renfield who was on the computer cast a glance in Amadeus' direction and noticing what he was reading remarked, "I preferred the pre-Christmas Eve Scrooge to the post-Christmas Eve Scrooge. The pre-Christmas Eve Scrooge is more in line with my thinking."

"I'm not surprised," Amadeus reached for a warm mug of cocoa.

"Yes, this is very interesting," Renfield remarked between mouthfuls of tuna fish sandwich.

"What are you doing?" Amadeus asked.

"Well, the boss," Renfield was referring to their employer the multi-billionaire ancient Egyptian vampire Set, "has a list of statues from antiquity that he has asked me to be on the look out for."

"Why?" Amadeus looked curious.

"Well apparently many statues in the ancient world had spirits attached to them and so the boss is anxious to know if any of these statues should appear again," Renfield replied.

"Saint Paul once mentioned the same thing in one of his Epistles," Amadeus commented, "that's why Christians were forbidden to sacrifice to idols because such statues often had spirits, usually demons, attached to them."

"I don't think the Boss would be too happy if he heard you quoting Saint Paul," Renfield growled.

"Probably not," Amadeus admitted.

"Anyhow this statue that just washed up in the Israeli port city of Ashkelon," Renfield said, "after a massive storm in the eastern Mediterranean hit a couple of days ago- I have a feeling this statue could be one that's on the Boss' list."

"I don't recall hearing about that find," Amadeus sipped his cocoa.

"Yes," Renfield nodded, "the storm caused a cliff to collapse and a statue from Roman times was exposed and subsequently found by a passer-by. It's a white marble statue of a woman believed to be about 1,700 years old and weighs about 440 pounds and stands nearly 4 feet in height. The statue is missing its head and arms apparently which will make identification for our purposes slightly more difficult. But it does have delicately carved sandals which is interesting for our ID purposes as well. Interesting storm that hit the eastern Mediterranean that day. There were winds of more than 100 kilometres an hour which racked up 40 foot waves."

"And this happened in the Israeli city of Ashkelon you say?" Amadeus finished his cocoa.

"Yes, it's where King Herod had built his port of Caesaria," Renfield helped himself to another slice of bread and more tuna fish, "and it also served as the seat of government for Pontius Pilate when he was governor of Judea."

"So this statue," Amadeus was now even more curious, "who do you believe it to be a statue of? And how does it fit in with the Boss' list of statues and their possessing spirits?".

"That, my friend," Renfield smiled like a Cheshire cat as he bit into his tuna fish sandwich, "I'm not going to tell you."

To be continued.