Looking Through Crystal

“Go and call your Mum, will you Jakob” Mike said, pressing change for the hospital payphone into his hand, “Just tell her what’s happened and see if she wants to come down and see Crystal.”

Glad of an excuse to leave the eerie, white waiting room, Jakob jumped to his feet. Something about the place made him very nervous. An elderly man sat in a corner, mumbling agitatedly into his hands, several scruffy children half-heartedly played snap with a pack of cards left on a table.

“I’m sure the phone’s just down the corridor Jake”, Mike said, “Next to the café”

It wasn’t so bad out in the halls, Jakob decided. The air was fresher, the atmosphere less tense and edgy. Numerous nurses in crisp blue uniforms smiled kindly at him, a small, bedraggled figure amongst the chaos of a busy city hospital. Doctors strode importantly across the clean, tiled floor, stethoscopes dangling around their necks. The payphone too, was in quiet little glass booth, and Jakob stood in the silence for a moment before lifting the receiver. He slotted the change slowly and deliberately into the phone, in no hurry to get back to the waiting room. With a sickening feeling of dread, Jakob dialled the number.

“Hello” someone croaked

“Dad” Jakob shrieked, “Did you move back in? Are you staying forever?”

All of a sudden Jakob felt more cheerful than he had in weeks. A happy bubble filled his chest, colourful fireworks launching into the sky around him.

“No mate” Billie Joe said sadly, “I’m just picking up the last of my things. Where are you anyway, your Mum’s been out looking for you”

The bubble burst, the fireworks were silenced.

“Crystals at the hospital” Jakob mumbled into the phone. Tears ran down his cheeks, wetting his still damp coat.

“I can’t hear you” Billie said, “What about…her”

“She’s at the hospital” Jakob sobbed, “Me and Uncle Mike found her, and called the ambulance”

There was a stunned silence, neither of them knowing what to say next. Jakob pressed the handset against his ear, digging grooves into his skin. He could hear his Dad breathing heavily, raking his hands through his tousled hair. Billie Joe spoke first.

“I’ll…erm…tell your Mum, right Jakob” he said, “Don’t worry okay”

“Okay” Jakob repeated, “My money’s about to run out, I need to go”

It was a lie; he still had at least another five minutes, but suddenly his Dad was the last person he wanted to talk to. For a few magical moments, he thought at least one problem had been solved. Now he had twice as much to worry about. Jakob languidly pushed the booths door open, and stepped into the noisy corridor. The shrieks mixed with various people shouting instructions, made his head swirl. He saw a young man being hurried through tall, daunting doors, clutching a blood soaked tissue to his face. A young boy hobbled across the linoleum floor on crutches, edging around Jakob warily, as if he was an unfed lion. It was then that Jakob realised how ridiculous he looked in his dirty coat and pyjamas. He had shoved on the first pair of shoes he could lay his hands on, which were unfortunately Adrienne’s purple Wellingtons, bought for a camping holiday. They were thick with months old dry mud, and his hair was standing straight up in the air like a hedgehog. Which ever way you looked at it, he wasn’t looking his best.

“Jakob” someone said, “Jakob, is that you?”

He whirled around, half expecting some axe murderer to be standing behind him. However, he found only a middle aged man in a thick woolly jumper, arranging his hair nervously. The man bent down, so that his stubby nose was level with Jakob’s, and smiled broadly.

“It is you, isn’t it?” he said, “My mate…he told me…but I didn’t quiet believe it. But you’re here, at last”

Jakob blinked rapidly in confusion. This man wasn’t really frightening, but every instinct in his body was telling Jakob to run down the hall as fast as his legs would carry him. But then, his instincts had leaded him into the whole mess with Crystal. He didn’t trust them anymore.

“Sorry” he squeaked, a politely as he could manage, “I don’t think I know you”

The man rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

“I know you don’t Jakob” he said sadly, “Can we go and have a chat somewhere, maybe at the café. I’ll buy you a cake”

“My Uncle Mike’s waiting…” Jakob began, but closed his mouth again hurriedly. He was
curious by nature, and wanted to find out more about this strange man. But he was also sensible.

“I suppose I could come for a quick chat” he said cautiously, “Just for ten minutes”

This man wouldn’t try to kidnap him in a busy hospital cafe; there would be far too many witnesses. And it was a long time since his last meal, he fancied that cake.

The man placed a large hand on Jakob’s shoulder, and steered him gently to a table in front of the café. He hoisted himself onto a stool nearly twice his height, and looked at the man expectantly. He made no move however, towards the counter piled high with delicious looking cakes and pastries, instead removing an envelope from the inside pocket of his coat. He emptied its contents onto the high, metal table, and looked at them thoughtfully. As far as Jakob could see, they were perfectly ordinary photographs. There were a couple of a small baby, a few of a rather unkempt house, with boarded up windows and paint peeling from the door. Strangely, there was two of a china plate, painted with roses, the sort given as a wedding gift.

“Can I ask you a couple of questions Jakob?” the man said carefully.

Jakob nodded warily. The man’s eyes had an oddly strangled look about them, as though he wasn’t getting quite enough air.

“Excellent” he said, “I want you to tell me how you feel when I show you this photograph”

He slid one of the plate pictures across the metallic surface, one eye one the now suspicious waitress glancing in their direction.

“What do you see Jakob?” he said, “What are you feeling right now, when you look at that photo?”

Jakob stared at him. Obviously there was something very wrong with this man; ordinary people didn’t wander around with snapshots of dishes.

“It’s a plate” Jakob said at last, “It’s...Erm…very nice”

The man nose twitched, a vein standing out of his forehead.

“Think Jakob” he said through gritted teeth, “Do you wish that plate was here, do you want to do anything with it, spin it or anything?”

“No” Jakob said shortly, “I have to go”

He scrambled down from the stool and began to walk hastily away from the café. He could feel the man’s eyes burning into his back; hear him banging his fist furiously on the table.

“Jakob” he shouted after him, “Come back over, please mate. I’ll buy you a cake, sweets, anything you want. I’ll help you, I’ll help Crystal”

Jakob swivelled round sharply.

“How’d you know about Crystal” he demanded, “Who told you she was here? If you’re looking for her, you won’t get near her; I…I wont let you”

The man chuckled.

“I don’t need to look for Crystal, I know all about her” he said, “Sometimes, when people don’t admit to things, like how they feel about plates, bad things happen to them. Now Jakob, Crystal refused to tell the truth about the plates, are you going to be honest with me?
Bad things are already happening to you, aren’t they? We don’t want any more misfortune, for you, or for Crystal, do we?”

His words should have chilled Jakob to the bone, but strangely he felt calmer than he had in weeks. A curious wave seemed to wash over him, bringing him gently to sitting position on the floor. He seemed to have no control of his movements, but for some reason it didn’t especially bother him. His legs arranged themselves into a basket, his arms pinned to his sides like a soldier. Slowly and carefully, the man slid a scratchy sack over his head, and lifted Jakob into his arms.

From somewhere in another reality, he heard Mike shout to the man, beg him to leave him alone. His voice seemed a million miles away, and Jakob’s head was filled with images of plates spinning in circles. There were plates of every colour and shape imaginable, rotating on their edges, dancing in and out view and making him feel giddy. Then came several hard bumps, and Jakob found the man’s grip loosening on the sack.

“You keep it down back here” he hissed, “We’ll only be a couple of hours”

A door was slid shut roughly, and Jakob felt his head instantly become clearer. There was
something abnormal about the man, apart from the fact that he bundled people into the back of vans and carried photos of plates. He appeared to have hypnotized Jakob, or brainwashed him in some way. Suddenly very frightened, Jakob scrambled out of the sack and huddled against the wall of the van. It was hidden from the front, without even a window to tell Jakob the whereabouts of his kidnapper. At first glance it appeared empty, but after a couple of minutes Jakob noticed a white plate, almost camouflaged by the vans white walls. Cautiously, Jakob edged towards it, and ran his fingers over its clean, smooth surface. It felt ordinary. He picked it up, turning it over in his hands.

Remembering what the man had asked him about spinning, Jakob held the plate on its edge and jerked it violently, so that it spun around. It rotated unnaturally fast, continuing to spin for several minutes, before flying across the back of the van and smashing against the wall. Jakob gasped, hugging his knees in fright.

Meanwhile, in the front of the van, the man with the woolly jumper turned to the driver, a sinister smirk playing on his lips.

“Master” he said excitedly, “He’s doing it; the boy is spinning the plate.”

The driver also smiled while lighting a cigarette. His stony eyes flicked over to his servant as he took a long drag and turned into a lay-by. For a moment he considered removing Jakob from the back of his vehicle, but decided against it. The boy might have been small, but he looked fast, and returning to his headquarters without him wasn’t an option.

“Who is getting the other one?” he asked, “I hope we can begin our research immediately”

“Oh yes master” the servant assured him, “Harold was waiting down at that Planet estate.
The girl has learned to harness her powers much more efficiently than Jakob, and she managed to knock him out. We have four members stationed at the hospital to snatch her.”

The driver, known to all his servants as simply ‘Master’, nodded and rifled through a stack of paper in the glove compartment. Finding the one he was looking for, he waved it under the servant’s nose.

“With their powers, we will be able to achieve our goal of three hundred years. I have to inject myself with the blood of the vampire lying in its coffin in the basement, just to stay alive. I have defied death to find Jakob and Crystal, and now we will all be rich beyond our wildest dreams. Over my years, I have met a great many cheats and liars, and I have not been conned once. Now Brian, please tell me what you are hiding from this organisation”

Brian swallowed loudly, rubbing the back of his neck in weariness. He too had cheated death, unknown to his once-fiancé of course.

“Erm…” he said “I…I think Crystal is my daughter. I mean…I was engaged to her mother, for a while”

The driver shot Brian a piercing look and whipped a long blade from his pocket.

“You did not address me as master” he said coldly, “And I am sure everyone in this association has one or two children. Family is nothing in this game; I killed off my own son in the nineteenth centaury.”

Brian nodded.

“After all” the Master continued, “The boys brother, that Joey. He as no powers, and is no use to us. But he knows too much, and eventually we will have Jakob kill him. If the boy can kill his brother, he will have proved his strength as a member of our group, and will be allowed eternal life through the vampire in our headquarters basement”