Castaways Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, NV
In a modestly priced room a couple lay in bed basking in the afterglow. “I can’t believe we did it!” Eileen McCoy says holding up her left hand to view the two rings on her finger. She rolls over onto her new husband’s bare chest kissing him passionately. “I love you so much,” she sighs laying her head on his pec. “I want to tell the whole world.”
“You are aware that you can’t wear those to work, right?” Corey Byrnes says softly.
“I know, just let me have this moment,” the new bride says. “I hate that we have to keep this a secret.”
“The only other option is one of us quit our job and neither of us wants to do that,” he replied running his fingers through her dark hair. “You’ve already had a secret uncovered at work, I don’t think another would do your career any good.”
“That was nearly three years ago,” Eileen replies. “Everyone has forgotten it by now.”
“You solving your Dad’s murder in Boston has brought it back to the surface,” Corey reminds her. “How come you won’t tell me all of the details?” he asks. “I am your husband now!”
“Playing that card already are you?” she says sitting up.
“Why not it’s true,” he says lifting his head to kiss her again. “Whatever happened in Boston it changed you enough to give you the courage to become my wife and that is all that matters to me!” He rolls over on top of her in the bed. “Want to do it again?” he grins.
“Why Officer Byrnes are you propositioning me, again?” she giggles. “Keep this up and you will make me sorry I didn’t marry you years ago.” They begin to kiss and make love for the third time since they woke celebrating the love they have shared for two years.
Sands Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas
Across town at the Sands hotel in a high end room Jesse Briggs begins a day that he believes will be the best of his life. He pulls on his favorite pair of jeans, followed by cowboy boots he has had since he was 20, A thin silk shirt for the Vegas heat. In front of the mirror he runs his fingers through his tousled shoulder length dark hair before topping it with his new Stetson hat. Jesse strokes his sparse goatee in the mirror saying with a grin, “The man with a plan!”
Topping his outfit with a woven sweater, that looks like an old horse blanket, he picks up an odd string instrument, no larger than a violin, from a chair. Jesse strums the three strings to check to see if the rough sounding lute-like instrument is tuned to his liking. It is as always as he heads for the door. A short walk to the bus stop, he waits patiently. When the uptown bus arrives he climbs on stopping at the front to strum several notes on his instrument to form a short song. “IIIII…wiillll…beeee…riiiddding …. fooorrr….. frrreeee……tooodddaayyyyy,” he sings out of tune. The driver smiles and gestures for him to take a seat as the other riders of the bus applaud his performance. Jesse takes a seat holding his strange instrument to his chest like a cherished teddy bear he has named the Harmonizer.
Castaways Hotel
Las Vegas
About an hour later back at the Castaways Hotel buffet breakfast, Pam Donaldson takes a seat at a table with a tall flute of Mimosa and a plate of eggs and toast. She is a model beautiful blonde even dressed down with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. The drink is cold and sweet as she sips it at nine o’clock in the morning. Last night was a good one, she marvels at the idea that her best friend is married now. She never believed Eileen would go through with it. The events in Boston last month have really changed the girl she grew up with in San Diego. Pam isn’t alone for long as a dark haired young man approaches as she begins to eat. He carries a plate of fresh fruits topped with whipped cream.
“Are you drinking already?” he asks.
“Give it a rest Choirboy, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!” she replies finishing off her Mimosa in one gulp. “You should talk look at your plate, what are you ten?” Michael McCoy, brother of the bride sits down across the table from Pam not saying anything else to her. He has known Pam almost all of his life and they have rarely agreed on anything. They eat quietly observing the other people in the room.
Pam is a school teacher in Los Angeles and is always up for a good time in her off hours. That is the main reason she took Eileen up on her offer when she invited her on this free vacation, having no idea what was really planned. Corey and Eileen’s elopement was a complete surprise to both Pam and Michael. They were the Maid of Honor and Best man, the only two people the happy couple trusted to keep their secret.
If there is one thing Pam loves it is men and that is who she watches in the buffet line. Who will be the lucky guy to show her a good time on this vacation. Michael is almost the polar opposite of his sister’s friend. He has just started seminary school to become a catholic priest. Las Vegas is the last place he wants to be, but his love for his sister, who comes first before his own needs.
Both are surprised when Eileen arrives at the table with a heaping plate full of food. “Morning guys,” she says starting to eat. “I am starving, really worked up an appetite, I guess,” She smiles at her girlfriend.
“TMI,” Michael comments.
“I’m surprised to see you this morning, Honeymoon over already?” Pam asks.
“Just on hold,” Eileen replies between bites. “Corey has a golf outing today and we still need to keep up appearances.”
“Sis, is this really the best way to start a marriage, with all of these secrets?” Michael asks.
“It’s not like we are keeping secrets from each other, just everyone else,” Eileen replies to her brother’s question. They have already discussed this and he knows full well that they have no choice in the matter if she and Corey want to be together. “I just want to thank you guys again for coming to stand up for us.”
“Of course honey,” Pam says, “All you had to do was call.”
“I’m surprised to hear you say that, I thought you would have more of a problem with us getting married that Michael,” Eileen comments. “What with how your wedding day went.”
“Ancient history,” Pam replies. “Jon and I were never meant to be together, I’m just glad I figure it out before we tied the knot.”
“He was your step-brother after all,” Michael comments under his breath.
“Michael did you talk to Mom, yet?” Eileen asks her brother trying to change the subject.
“No, she is still in one of her silence is golden bouts,” Michael answers. Since their father’s death Clare McCoy has turned deeply to her religion. Not even Michael clearly understands his mother’s actions sometimes. “She has another 24 days before she will speak with anyone.” Clare McCoy has never handled the death of a loved on well, it began with her father’s mysterious death.
“Your mother is still on that 40 days and 40 nights thing?” Pam asks.
“Ever since Dad was killed,” Eileen says sadly, “I haven’t even been able to tell her that I caught his killer.”
Finishing his bowl of fruit Michael stands up. “I’ve got a plane to catch,” he says.
“What do you mean?” Eileen asks sadly. “You’re leaving already?”
“I’ve got to get back to school, this was only an overnight pass,” he answers.
“Kinda like prison isn’t it?” Pam comments.
Ignoring Pam’s comment, Eileen gets up to give her brother a hug, “Be safe Baby Bro,” she says giving him a kiss on the cheek. She almost wants to cry as she sits back down at the table with Pam as Michael walks out of the cafe. Eileen often feels sad for her brother. Perhaps the happiness she is feeling now increases that emotion. Trying to get her mind off of her brother Eileen asks, “So what is on the agenda for today?”
“I thought we would go to a male strip club and have your bachelorette party,” Pam replies with a broad smile.
“Seriously, I’ve already had a fantastic wed night and morning after and you want to take me to look as naked guys?” Eileen complains.
“Hey, you maybe married but I’m not,” Pam replies giggling.
“You have got to be the horniest elementary school teacher in the country,” Eileen comments pushing away her half a plate of food deciding she is finished her breakfast. “Besides those guys are all gay anyway.”
“Maybe we should have invited the Choirboy then?” Pam says with a grin.
“Don’t start,” Eileen says to her friend, “It’s those comments that made him rush back to school.” Part of why Eileen feels sad for her brother is the fact that she believes that he wants to be a priest to hide from his own true feelings. Those feelings are something he refuses to talk about even with her and Pam has never been helpful in that area. She has often thought that was because Pam finds Michael attractive.
“Come on it will be fun, a girls’ night out!” Pam encourages.
“At ten o’clock in the morning?” Eileen questions.
“This is Vegas!” Pam asserts.
Desert Pines Golf Course
Las Vegas, NV
Corey Byrnes may have told his new bride he was going on a golf outing with some friends but that is not completely true. Corey has joined up with the three other men who are not so much friends as associates. He has not at all looked forward to this meeting with Antonio Cifredo.
Mr. Cifredo is dressed in a $2500 Armani golf ensemble, he appears to be in his eighties but still in very good shape for his advanced age. He does not speak for the first two holes, his face does all his talking for him. He watches every move Officer Byrnes makes as they play.
The other two men work for Mr. Cifredo and know it is not their place to speak while business is being conducted. Mr. Cifredo and his men always play first in the lineup leaving Corey to drive last on the third hole. “You’re up Officer Byrnes,” Mr. Cifredo says using the title in a sarcastic tone. The cop is visibly nervous and his hands are sweaty, he wipes his palms on his pants before taking his driver from the bag. Corey does as he is instructed taking a deep breath as he lines up his drive. Corey draws back the club and drives the ball 200 yards onto the green.
Mr. Cifredo clears his throat to speak again, “Do you think I do not know what you have done, Officer Byrnes?” “I am aware of everything that happens in this city.”
“Mr. Coughlin, I know what you must be thinking,” the cop says his voice trembling slightly. “Something has changed about Eileen after her trip to Boston.” he explains. “I couldn’t tell her no, I had no choice!” Cifredo remains silent his men glaring at the blond man from behind him. Byrnes can feel the sweat running down the back of his neck, he feels compelled to speak again. “This is really a huge step forward, sir,” he tries to justify. “Now she will hold nothing back.”
“To whose benefit is this marriage, mine or yours?” Mr. Cifredo asks as he and his men walked back to the golf cart. Mr. Coughlin’s men carry his heavy bag of clubs without question.
Corey Byrnes hoists his golf bag onto his shoulder with no help from the others, “Yours of course sir,” retorts eagerly lugging his clubs to the cart.
The old man stops dead in his tracks before climbing into the cart. He turns pointing his long boney fingers at Corey. “Are you becoming emotionally involved with the woman?” Mr. Cifredo demands.
“Of course not sir, I would never do that!” Byrnes replies and for the first time he questions himself. “My only goal is to get you what you need, Mr. Coughlin, sir.”
“It better be!” Mr. Cifredo asserts climbing into the cart. “We wouldn’t want your bride to find out you are a dirty cop, who is spying on her?” “Would we?” Corey Byrnes silently shakes his head looking down at the grass.
The sound of the golf cart pulling away made Corey look up to see the three men drive away in the cart. A hundred pounds of golf clubs and bag on his shoulder Corey jogs after the cart across the putting green.
Saint Joseph’s Cemetery
Las Vegas, NV
Jesse Briggs makes one stop on the way to his job at The Sharp Dressed Man Club where he works as intermission entertainment. It is at the cemetery to visit his mother’s grave. He sits down on the sparsely patched grassy ground by the headstone holding his Harmonizer in his lap. “I’m going to make them all pay, mother,” he says out loud to the grave. “First, I took their money, now I am going to take everything they have left.” “Then I will find my father and make him pay for leaving us!” “For letting you die!” He does not shed a tear as he speaks. The stern expression on his face never wavers no matter how strongly he feels what he is saying. “I’m going to be the Star you always said I would be.” Jesse strums a few notes on his Harmonizer as a final rehearsal before he stands up to leave.
Paradise Drive
Las Vegas, NV
While riding in a taxi to The Sharp Dressed Man Club, a scrap of paper falls out of Eileen’s purse. On it is drawn a symbol, the same symbol that is on the case she found in her Grandfather’s basement after his death years ago. She took the drawing from Steve Roberts’ room when she was leaving the Enchanted Suites Bed and Breakfast a few months ago. Everything that happened there had given her a different outlook on her life. The strange things that occurred in that house made her feel like this drawing was some kind of message meant for her. After the old man who aged in front of them disappeared no one wanted to talk about it beyond saying it was magic. Steve Roberts even took a different attitude afterward, although it was him who told her about the existence of Zeni-human. Eileen looks over to her best friend sitting next to her in the taxi. Pam is an incredible woman, perhaps too incredible sometimes.
When they were in High School Pam’s step-father was a real prick. Pam always suspected that he was beating her mother but could never prove it. She and Eileen talked about it many times, even involved Eileen’s father. There was never anyway to prove that Joe Morgan was doing anything wrong. Pam continued to push until Joe revealed himself.
It was a bad scene at the house that night. It was a fight that Joe Morgan did not win against his step-daughter. Eileen’s father was on the scene and called his daughter to come console Pam. Joe Morgan went to jail after that night. Pam and her mother moved to Los Angeles and Pam never gave Eileen the full story of what really happened that night.
“So Pam, when I was in Boston, I learned some things,” Eileen propped as she stuffed the scrap of paper back in her purse.
“What kind of things?” Pam asked fixing her make-up in a hand mirror.
“For one thing Boston and Philadelphia have started special units to handle Zeni-humans,” Eileen tells her friend, even though she knows she is breaking the rules.
“Zeni-whats?” Pam questions putting away her make-up mirror.
“Zeni-humans are people that have special abilities,” Eileen explains. “Apparently it is a growing phenomena.” “These task forces are to handle cases involving people with powers that commit crime.”
“I can’t believe you of all people would buy into such a thing,” Pam replies.
“At first I found it hard to believe but then I saw things that were unexplainable,” Eileen says. “Thinking back it wasn’t the first time I’ve seen things I couldn’t explain.”
“Not this again,” Pam says. “We are here to have a good time, not go over ancient history.”
“Pam, you are my best friend in the world, I would never keep anything from you,” Eileen tells her friend. “Hello, my secret wedding?” “I want you to feel the same way.” Pam is silent as they taxi pulls up to the sidewalk outside the club. She reaches over the seat to pay the driver and the two ladies get out of the car not speaking. Eileen knows she has hit a nerve, so she pulls back. “Please don’t embarrass me in here,” Eileen says looking at the poster of jockstrap clad muscle men on the poster out front of the club.
“You embarrass too easily,” Pam smirks.
“You grabbing a stripper’s dick is not too easily,” Eileen retorts.
“Like you don’t check the produce before you buy it!” Pam tells her as they walk into the club. The music is loud and the air smells of cheap cologne. The room is surprisingly crowded for 11 am Eileen thinks, but this is Vegas. The women far outnumber the men, most of the men are working as waiters but there are a few gay customers. Pam takes Eileen’s arm to pull her through the crowd to the front of the stage to get a good view of the dancers. One thing Eileen has learned over the years is there is no stopping Pam when she sees something she wants and the tall muscular brown haired man dancing is one of those things.
Pam lets go of Eileen’s arm to search her purse for cash. “Hey!” “Stud bring that ass over here!” Pam shouts holding up several bills. The bikini wearing man dance over to Pam and Eileen at the edge of the stage. He squats down giving the women a close look at what he has squeezed into his bikini. Eileen can feel herself blushing at the smell of his strong cologne as Pam slides her hand up the inside of his thigh to tuck the five dollar bill. The dancer leans in to give Pam a kiss. The woman is stronger than she looks as he struggles slightly to get away from her. When he does get her to let go he quickly dances away.
“Was that necessary?” Eileen asks.
“He may have a big dick but he is a bad kisser,” Pam giggles. “I like a man who knows how to use his mouth.”
“You are so rude!” “It’s probably a sock,” Eileen comments.
“No, that is all meat in that sling,” Pam says. It is not the first time that these girls have been together that Pam has been so sure about facts that there is no way she could know.
Eileen finds a seat at a table to sit down as she watches Pam yelling to the dancers on the stage. She begins to feel guilty about what she has been thinking about her friend. Just because Pam has said and done some odd things over the years it doesn’t mean she is a Zeni-human. The whole thing in Boston has just made her a little crazy. The detectives from Philadelphia seemed to be completely at ease with the idea of superhuman people being real. The Boston cops seemed almost as out of their element as she did but they kept it well hidden.
As the dancers leave the stage Pam finds her way to the table where Eileen sits. “This is your bachelorette party, you need to loosen up more,” Pam says as she sits down. A shirtless waiter comes over to take their drink orders and Pam is sure to grab his ass as he walks away.
“I think this is more your party than mine,” Eileen comments.
“Hey you may have got laid last night but I didn’t,” Pam replies. “I intend to get some action before I go home.”
“Sometimes I think you must be the horniest woman on Earth,” Eileen giggles. “Do you ever get enough?” Pam just grins as they watch an older woman walks out on the stage to make an introduction.
“The boys are going to take a break, but we have something very special for you,” the woman says. “His name is Jesse, but we like to call him the Musician.” The woman turns holding out her arm as a dark haired young man dressed in a near transparent silk shirt and the tightest jeans Pam has ever seen walks out on the stage. He carries a strange looking three stringed instrument with him.
“Thank you, Claudette,” he says as the club owner steps down from the stage. “I call this song, My new life as a Star begins!” The Musician holds his Harmonizer to his chest and begins to stroke the strings in a random fashion. The sounds that play would be considered barely a musical tone by any other musician. He continues to play to the silent and attentive crowd.
“He’s cute, I’ll give him that, but he is the worst Musician I have ever heard,” Pam says turning to Eileen. Her friend sits staring at the man on the stage her eyes glazed over. “Ei, are you alright?” she asks. The dark haired woman does not react at all to her friend’s question. “Eileen?” she questions again before looking around the club. Every person in the club has their eyes glued to the Musician as he plays his horrible music. No one says a work or moves an inch as they are mesmerized by the man on the stage. Pam is the only one unaffected by the music and it angers her. This is exactly the kind of stuff Eileen has been trying to talk to her about for years. There are times when she can do things that no one else can, like resist whatever is happening to the rest of the patrons of this club.
“Ohhhh….Thooommaaaasssss, aaaabbbbbuuusssiiiivee Thooommaaaasssss,” the Musician sings out of tune. “Ccccooommmeeee ttoooo mmmmeeeeee, Thooommaaaasssss.” Pam turns to look as one of the buff shirtless waitress steps forward still carrying a tray with tall champagne glasses on it. “Oooohhhh…hhhhooowww baaaad yooooou feeellll fffooooorrrr hhhhooowww yoooou’vvveee tttrrreeeaateed meeeee!” the man on the stage sings. “Uuussssee thaaaat glaaaasssss toooo puuuunnniiiissshhh yooouuurrrseeeellffff ffffooooorrrr yooooouuurrrr diiiisssreeeessssppppeeeect tttoooo mmmeee.” Not another head turns to watch other than Pam as the waiter breaks one of the fluted glasses on the back of a chair. He takes the sharp broken edges of the flute and slashes it across his chest. The waiter doesn’t even react to the pain as blood pours from the wound. Then he makes another cut and another deeper into his torso. Pam wants to stop him but is afraid to reveal her immunity to this spell the Musician has cast. “Thooommaaaasssss, ffffiiinnnnniiiisssshhh ttthhhheeee jjjjooooobbb!” the Musician sings and the waiter stabs the sharp stem of the glass into the side of his throat.
“Oooohhhh,” Pam gasps at the sight of the forced suicide. What is going on here is so outside of her world. Eileen is the cop, this is her line of expertise. Pam looks to her friend again who is still motionless. It must be the music, Pam thinks. Pam reaches out her hands to cover her friend’s ears tightly. It takes a few minutes but Eileen blinks her eyes at last showing some sign of consciousness.
“You there, what are you doing?” the Musician shouts from the stage while still playing his Harmonizer. Pam knows she has been spotted. She doesn’t dare risk giving this nutjob a chance to use his songs to make Eileen hurt herself like he did with the waiter. Pam grabs her friend by the waist and throws Eileen over her shoulder and begins to run through the crowd, pushing the motionless people aside to get out. “Eeevvvveeeerrryyyoooonnnneeee sssttttoppp hheerrr!” the Musician sings and the crowd comes back to life attacking Pam.
Pam tries to fight to push away the club patrons and employees alike, trying not to hurt them while still carrying Eileen. Then Eileen starts to struggle trying to escape her friend’s grip. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Ei I’m trying to save you,” she says focusing on restraining her friend. Feeling a strange surge deep within her body Pam lunges forward through the crowd making a twenty-five foot leap to crash through the door and into the street. The mesmerized club goes follow after her still under the Musician spell. Eileen continues to struggle for a few blocks as Pam runs, before she falls back into a relaxed and confused state. Running Pam feels that strange surge again and her speed increases as an incredible rate. She dodges and swerves around pedestrians, most don’t even acknowledge her.
“Pam, what the hell is going on?” Eileen asks returning to normal almost twenty blocks from The Sharp Dressed Man Club in only two minutes. “Why are you carrying me and running really fast down the street?”
Pam slows to a stop to lower Eileen back to the sidewalk. She looks back on her path to see no one still following. Not even winded she asks, “Ei, are you okay now?”
It takes a few more minutes for Eileen to get her bearings back. Threw tear filled eyes Pam explains what happened at the Club and why they are where they are now. “So you think it was the music that affected everyone except you?” Eileen questions.
“It has to have been,” Pam answers smearing her mascara as she wipes her eyes with her hand. “I just want to go back to the Hotel now, let the police deal with it.”
“This is exactly what I was trying to tell you in the taxi, the police don’t know how to deal with this!” Eileen exclaims. “We need to go back there!”
“No, why?” Pam stutters.
“Because you are the only one immune,” Eileen tells her. “Calling the Police will only put them under the Musician’s spell and they have guns!”
“What are we going to do?” Pam asks a look of fear on the mascara smeared eyes.
Eileen gives Pam a hug and then held her by the arms to say, “I don’t know what is going on with you, but I understand you don’t want to talk about it.” “But you are the only one who has a chance of stopping this guy.”
“But I don’t know how to do that!” Pam argues.
“That is why you have me,” Eileen tells her giving her another hug, she knows how needy Pam can be sometimes. “First we need to find me some noise canceling headphones.”
Desert Pines Golf Course
Las Vegas, NV
By the time the men reach the putting green at the fifth hole they haven’t spoken since the third hole. “Have you even seen the box yet?” Mr. Cifredo asks Officer Byrnes.
“No, no, yet she has only mentioned it once,” Byrnes answers trying to impress the old man. “I’m sure when we go home she will show it to me.”
“When she does you need to let me know the moment she opens it!” Mr. Cifredo instructs. “Everything depends on what happens after that moment!” “I haven’t come this far to have my plans destroyed by a horney lovesick asshole!”
“I promise you sir love is not involved!” “It is all for your benefit, so you can get what is in the box?” Byrnes assures the old man.
“Many a man has said that before beginning to think with the wrong head!” Mr. Cifredo tells Byrnes with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t let her feminine wiles get the best of you!”
“She is just another piece of ass to me!” Byrnes insists. “I promise you!” Corey Byrnes takes his swing throwing up a large divot in the grass sending his ball into the lake.
“You are pathetic!” Mr. Cifredo scoffs. Corey knows Mr. Cifredo is referring to him but he does not dare defend himself again. The two goons stare him down, like gorillas at the Zoo as they move to load their boss’s clubs into the cart again.
The Sharp Dressed Man Club
The north end of Paradise drive
Las Vegas, NV
Back at the Club, the Musician has sorted through his captives finding the ones best suited for his needs. Soon he has a gang of strippers and patrons carrying impromptu made weapons that he leads out into the street. His anger funnels into them through the music he plays and the song he sings. The group is just short of a lynch mob but they have no intended target. The Musician’s only plan at the moment is to wreak chaos on a city already filled with depravity. The mob moves out of the club into the street. Shirtless men with bowties swinging chair and table legs as pedestrians as they march. Women scream as the hypnotised patrons punch and attack strangers as the mob moves down the street. The violence expands as more people on the street fall under the spell of the Musician. Soon everyone in earshot has become part of the riot that marches down the street.
A few blocks ahead of the mob Pam and Eileen wait just out of range of the music. Eileen has a large pair of construction worker headphones on her head with a scarf tied around them under her chin to hold them on. She wears protective hockey gear, a helmet, face mask, and pads, that they found at a sporting goods store down the street. In her hands she holds a baseball bat. The two women peered around the corner of the building to see the mob moving toward them. “Our only hope is to get that instrument away from him!” Eileen shouts. From the look on Pam’s face it is clear that she has to add, “Don’t bother arguing, I can’t hear a word you are saying!?” Nor can Eileen hear herself as she continues to shout. The two women step out into the street.
Pam is not at all happy with this plan. Eileen is the cop, she is a school teacher and that is all she wants to be. Pam has no desire to be some kind of hero. But she can’t help but think if she is the only one immune to the Musician’s trick than she does need to at least try. The mob moves closer and Pam can now hear the bad music playing. She turns to Eileen who is still sound deprived and coherent. Pam stands motionless watching the people who are slaves to the Musician’s song. She is not sure what she should do and then Eileen charges forward into the mob. For only a moment she watches as he best friend fights her way into the mob using everything she was taught at the police academy about riot control. Eileen is the bravest person Pam knows. Pam does not intend to stand here and do nothing when she has just launched herself into the biggest fight of her life.
Pam is no fighter but as the mob moves over her it is clear that she doesn’t have to be. She his struck with broken off table and chair legs that leave not even a scratch on her as she pushes them aside. Then she feels that strange surge again that she has only felt once in her life before today. Pam Donaldson now moves through the crowd with strength greater than any of them. She tosses her attackers aside like rag dolls.
The people attack Eileen lose interest pushing past her to the larger threat. Eileen turns to see what is happening. She witnesses her tiny thin friend lift a two hundred pound man over her head and throw him into the crowd knocking down several more attackers. Pam Donaldson smiles broadly showing of her bright white teeth, even she is impressed by what she has done. “Hey, Pam!” Eileen calls out over the shouting voices. “Might want to go easy on them, they are just victims too!” Eileen smiles back, happy to final know her friend’s secret and even happier to know they really do have a chance at stopping the Musician.
While Pam is the center of attention the way she always likes to be, Eileen has a clear path to the cause of this riot. She has taken a couple of good hits to the body that have left her sore, but she pushes on toward her goal. Eileen has been trying to use the bat to not inflict too serious or lasting injuries but is finding it harder and harder to continue to do. The Musician definitely has a strategy keeping the bigger and tougher guys close to him as he continues to strum his Harmonizer.
The Desert Pines Golf Course
Las Vegas, NV
The golf game over Corey Byrnes sits alone at Clubhouse bar. He washes back a shot of whiskey with a cold beer. He is almost confident that he put on a believable performance to Mr. Cifredo and his men. Corey has been working Eileen McCoy for years under the direction of Mr. Cifredo. Mr. Cifredo has been blackmailing him all those years and now for the first time he questions if he is doing the right thing. Eileen McCoy started out as a simple mark in the beginning, but now the situation has become anything but simple. Last night was far more meaningful to him that he ever thought it would be. He has been with many women in every way possible, why was this one so different to him?
“Now get out of here and don’t screw this up any farther!” Mr. Cifredo told him as he left. “Or Eileen Byrnes won’t be the only one learning about your past indiscretions!” How would Eileen feel if she learned the truth about him? he wonders gesturing to the bartender to refill his beer and shot. Would she feel betrayed? Would she hate him? More importantly how would he feel if she hated him? He didn’t like the thought of that idea. Corey really doesn’t know a lot about Mr. Cifredo or his plans for Eileen and this mysterious box. Perhaps the box is the leverage he needs to out maneuver Mr. Cifredo and keep his own past hidden from Eileen. A plan begins to form in Corey’s devious mind as he puts back another shot and sips his beer.
At the north end of Paradise drive
Las Vegas, NV
As Corey Byrnes tries to drink away his problems, the Musician’s mob continues to move north toward the Desert Pines Golf Course. Everything Eileen and Pam have done to slow it down has accomplished little as the mob continues to grow like a snowball rolling downhill. Eileen McCoy has moved too close to the Musician becoming as big a threat as the super strong Pam Donaldson. Now the Musician focuses his mob on both women attacking them from all sides. Eileen swings her bat no longer worried about preserving the safety of other, only herself. With everyone of the zombies that Pam takes down two more join the threat and drag her along in the riot. She can’t even see her friend anymore, only the faces of the strangers that she fights.
Then Pam looks up to see Eileen lifted up above the crowd, her sound damping headphones gone. Eileen has been enslaved once again leaving Pam alone to deal with the mob. Hands and arms clammer all around her pulling at her clothes tearing them. Pam Donaldson feels that strange surge again inside of her like a blazing star that warms her whole body sapping her strength. She jumps up into the air and suddenly she is flying. “Holy Crap!” Pam exclaims as she quickly learns to maneuver her flight. “This is incredible!”, Pam shouts as she soars over the outreached hands that grab for her. She heads toward her friend, colliding with Eileen she pulls her free of the horde that holds her legs. Together they fly off over the crowd that has grown to three city blocks. Exhilarated yet confused Pam uses her newfound power to fly to safety. Pam is in somewhat of a mental fog at this point with all that has happened. As Eileen’s resistance calms, Pam realizes that her friend is hurt and bleeding. The safety she searches for is found at the North Vista Hospital emergency room.
Rushing in, not allowing many questions to be asked, “Her name is Eileen McCoy she was hurt in the riot on the strip,” Pam tells a nurse laying her friend down on a gurney.
“Where are you going?” the nurse asks as Pam turns to leave.
“I hate to admit it, but I’m going back,” Pam tells the nurse, “I need to stop that psycho!”
The nurse follows Pam to the door calling out, “Wait, wait there is paperwork.” Outside in the parking lot the nurse is in shock as she watches the beautiful blonde leap back up into the air taking flight again.
The Desert Pines Golf Course
Las Vegas, NV
Pam’s flight is much faster and skilled this time, more direct. Her confusion is gone, she knows what she must do as she returns to the scene of the riot. The mob as moved onto the grounds of the Golf course. Flying has given Pam a great advantage that she didn’t have before, she no longer needs to fight her way through the crowd.
At this time of day up to twenty groups of golfers litter the greens of the course. The noise of the rioting mob draws the attention of the golfers. The Musician holds the Harmonizer over his head calling out his commands no longer bothering to sing them off key. “Kill them!” “Kill them all!” he shouts to his hypnotised minions. The mob spreads out over the green headed for parked golf carts people playing golf on the beautiful sunny day.
Pam swoops down, rather awkwardly, grabbing hold of the Harmonizer to pull it from his grip. “No!” “NO!” “Give that back!” he shouts.
Pam has no such plan as she smashes the old instrument to the ground from a hundred feet up. Pieces of the old wooden instrument splinter and fly everywhere. Even as Jesse Briggs runs to the sight of the impact the people under his spell return to normal. He falls to his knees to gather up the broken shards of the Harmonizer. Jesse begins to sob as he tries to reassemble the splinters that were once the key to his stardom.
For the most part the people from the mob are confused as to what has happened to them and how they received their injuries of which there are many. The ones under his control for the longest take longer to come around, most of them from the club. When they do return to their senses they remember how all of this began and it is anger that fills their hearts and minds.
Corey Byrnes stumbles out of the clubhouse to see the aftermath of the rioting mob on the golf green. Looking around he spot Pam Donaldson standing not far away. Her clothes are torn and her makeup is smudged. He has never seen her look so disheveled before in the time he has known her. He runs over to her. “Oh my god what happened here?” he asks Pam.
“A nut job was leading a riot down the Las Vegas strip,” Pam replies. “Is this where you were playing golf?” she asks.
“Ya, Why are those shirtless men beating up that man?” Corey asks.
“He is getting what he deserves,” Pam replies. “He wasn’t the Star he thought he was, I guess in a way I was the Star today.”
“Where’s Eileen?” he asks showing concern for his new wife as the cops break up the fight.
“Here come the local cops now.” Pam says. “You know Ei, she always wants to help.” “I dropped her off at the North Vista Hospital, you should get over there.”
“Oh my God Pam!” Corey exclaims, “Why didn’t you say that first?” Corey Byrnes searches his pockets for his keys before running to the car parking lot.
North Vista Hospital
Las Vegas, NV
Corey Byrnes is frantic at the reception desk finding it hard to put together the words to say who he is searching for in the emergency room. “There was, there was a riot!” “My, my wife was brought in,” he says. “Brought into the emergency room.” “She’s a San Diego cop.”
“Calm down sir, there have been no police officers brought in here today,” the nurse tells him.
“No, no she as dressed as a woman,” Corey manages to tell the nurse in his frustration.
“We have had a lot of women brought here today.” “If you just tell me her name,” the nurse says.
“Ei, Eileen McCoy,” he stammers. “She has dark hair and the most warm smile I have ever known.” The nurse gets an odd look on her face. She knows exactly who this man’s wife is. “Oh my God what is it, what is wrong?” Corey panics.
Most of all the Nurse Susan remembers the blonde woman who brought in his wife and her departure from the Hospital. She was in such shock that she had to take a Xanax to return to work. “Your wife is right this way,” Nurse Susan says stepping out from behind the high topped desk counter. Corey is speechless as he follows after the nurse through the crowded emergency room. His mind races to the worst possible outcome and what it will mean to his arrangement with Mr. Cifredo.
At the end of the aisle the nurse pulls open a curtain. “Here she is,” the nurse says stepping aside.
Corey rushed past the nurse to the side of the bed where his wife lays. Eileen has an I.V. in her arm and several butterfly bandages on her face. There is dried blood on her clothing and skin. “Ei, what the hell happened?” he exclaims as he brushes the hair back from her left eye to see the shiner.
“You know me, I can always find trouble no matter where I go,” Eileen tells her concerned partner and new husband. “Where is Pam?” she asks. She only wishes she could share with him what she learned about Pam at last. But it would be best if she waited until she talked to her friend before telling anyone else.
“You are in an emergency room on our Honeymoon and all you want to know is where is Pam?” Corey says.
“I’m sorry baby, the nurse said I could leave as soon as this bag is empty,” Eileen tells him pointing to the full I.V. bag on the pole over her head.
“So you are okay then?” he asks leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek.
“I’m fine, just some bumps, cuts, and bruises.” Eileen explains. “Not even a concussion.”
“So, how the hell did this happen?” he asks. Eileen explains her day leaving out key events like that facts that Pam can’t be injured, she has super-strength and can fly.
Castaways Hotel
Las Vegas
It is around 9 pm went Corey and Eileen get back to their hotel room. Outside the door to their room they discover an unwrapped gift box. Eileen picks up the box as Corey opens up the door to help his injured wife inside. “Do you need anything else before we call it a night?” he asks her.
By now Eileen is getting annoyed by his over attentiveness. “Why don’t you go get me a burger and a shake for dinner,” Eileen suggests.
“Are you sure you should be eating all of that?” Corey asks.
“I need something to take these pills with,” she replies shaking a bottle of prescription pills. Corey heads back out of the room and Eileen turns her attention back to the gift box. Lifting the lid there is a card atop white tissue paper. She opens the card to recognize Pam’s handwriting instantly.
“Hope you are still up for this after our adventure today,” the card reads. “Enjoy your new life, Love you!” “Pam.”
Opening the tissue paper she finds thin pink lace lingerie. “Pam, you little slut,” Eileen whispers under her breathe. Popping back two of the pain pills, she slips out of her clothes as quickly as she can with all of her aches and pains. Getting into a hot shower Eileen tries to wash away her aches and pains. As her hot water washes down her body, her mind wanders to thoughts of Pam and all the things that incredible things she did. There is no question in Eileen’s mind now that Pam is what Steve Roberts called a Zeni-human. She just can’t believe she has been hiding it from her for all these years.
Wherever Corey went for dinner he isn’t back when she gets out of the shower. Eileen slips into the sexy lingerie to walk out of the bathroom. She strikes a sexy pose in front of the full length mirror as she walks by it. Looking over her body she decide to put on makeup to hide some of her more visible bruises. At the sound of the door knob she sprints for the chair opposite the door to pose for her new husband’s return. The pills and shower have relaxed her but do little for her pain. She has never been much for pain pills but there are other ways to overcome pain.
When the hotel room door opens Corey Byrnes is amazed at the sight of his sexy new wife. The bag of food in his hand drops to the floor as she stands to walk toward him. “I’ll eat after,” she says as she begins to unbutton his shirt. She leads him to the bed and they begin a two hour session of passionate love making to assure Eileen that her husband falls into a deep sleep.
Once he is passed out Eileen sneaks out of the bed to get dressed. Most of her aches and pains are gone before she leaves their room replaced by strong feeling of satisfaction. Pam has been missing since Eileen and Corey returned to the hotel. Hurrying down the hall Eileen goes to Pam’s room to knock. It is late and there are some sounds of shuffling inside the room until the door cracks open.
“What is it?” “What do you want?” a shirtless man says peeking out between the doorframe.
Eileen is not surprised to see a man at Pam’s door. “I need to speak to Pam,” Eileen says.
“There is no Pam here!” the man says trying to close the door. “She checked out this morning!”
“Wait there has to be,” Eileen says pushing past the man into the hotel room. The older man steps back wearing only a pair of boxer shorts. Eileen charges into the center of the room to look to the bed where a young nude red-headed woman sits pulling the sheet up to cover her large breasts.
“I told you she checked in this afternoon!” the man shouts grabbing Eileen’s arm. “Now get out of our room.” Eileen wanders back down the hallway thinking, how could she leave without saying goodbye? They have so much to talk about after what happened today.
Eileen heads down to the lobby where she finds a pay phone to call Pam’s home. She will leave a message on Pam’s machine. Dialing the number she knows by heart, she calls it almost once a week, Eileen gets another surprise. “The number you have dialed 555-3746, has been disconnected, please check your directory and dial again,” the recorded message says. That can’t be right, she has done it again. Pam has gone into hiding. It took almost five years the last time after that night with her step-father. She thinks about the note, “Enjoy your new life.” Was that Pam’s way of saying goodbye?