Southend

7.

by MistThing, published on December 29, 2000

Gabriel parked Kirk's van at the St. Anthony's Guest House driveway. It was almost 3:00 in the morning now, but he had nowhere else to go, and of course he owed Kirk his car keys. He knocked on the Allison's door for the second time that day. Though technically, I first knocked on their door yesterday, he thought and raised his hand for a third knock. A rattle of keys stopped him, followed by the dull sound of a sliding bolt, and Kirk opened the door.

-"Come in, yah raj!"-he whispered, for Annie was probably sleeping-"What happened to yer face?"

Gabriel touched his own bruised face. "Ah, It's nothin'. You should have seen the other guy." He entered the house, Kirk closing the door behind him. Gabriel turned and faced him.

-"Kirk, could I crash at your place for the night?"

-"Good God, Knight, could you do what?!"

-"Sorry, wrong choice of words." Sensitive as always, Gabriel reproached himself. "I mean, is there a vacant room for me to stay in?"

Kirk moved uneasily. "There's the girl's room, if you can handle it."

Gracie. "Handled worse"- smiled Gabriel- "Thanks, I'll take it."

Gabriel stood looking around at what's been Grace's room on the second floor of the Allison's Guest House. Your regular guest house room, whatever it's supposed to look like... Nothin' special. He opened the small wooden cabinet's drawers. Empty ...aside from some clean towels and sheets. There was no trace of Gracie's private stuff - her clothes, her shoes, not even her damn beloved toothbrush. Someone was working his ass off to make Gracie disappear. What's your business with her, Saunders? He sat on the bed, took out Grace's notebook and opened it where he last stopped reading...

"I'm impressed that you read till now, Gabriel. We're going to shift into paranormal territories, so...hang on. I searched the net for other weird accidents around the Mull of Kintyre area. Here is what I found:

1.On the 15th of May, 1973, a combat aircraft 'F-111-E', tail number 68-008, crashed near Skipness, Mull of Kintyre, Scotland. Both pilots ejected and survived.

2.9th of October, 1956, a RAF maritime plane called 'Lockheed P2V5 Neptune WX545', the 36 Squadron, crashed on the Mull during a regular exercise after completing a simulated attack on a submarine. All 9 crewmen were killed.

3.Going back to Second World War, at least six more aircraft crashes occurred on the Mull of Kintyre:

*A 'Fulmar' of 73rd Squadron crashed on March 1944. Grid 716,178 - 50 yards north of Black Loch.

*An 'Avenger' or 'Barracuda' crashed in late 1944 or late 1945, at Calliburn Farm. 3 Canadian crewmen died. Grid 711,257.

*'Vickers Wellington VIII HX420' crashed on 17th of February, 1943. Grid - not sure...74-,27-. Pilot and navigator killed.

*The Killypole crash, date uncertain, probably around May 1942, under strong wind and high mist. Pilot survived. I think grid was 631,188.

*A 'Liberator I AM915' crashed into Arinarach Hill, head of Balnabraid Glen, on the First of September, 1941. All 10 persons on board killed. Grid 733,157.

*Another 'Fulmar' crashed on the 7th of July 1941, 'on a high ground south of Campbeltown'. Both airmen were killed. I think grid is 722,178.

Spooky, huh, Gabriel? And it goes under sea, too! Though I'm not sure it's connected ... 12th of December, 1939, a Destroyer, 'HMS Duchess', sank after a collision with 'HMS Barham' 9 miles of the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland."

Gabriel raised his eyes from the notebook, gazing blankly ahead. "Even now you are doin' my research for me, Gracie" -he spoke softly -"Don't ya know, Gracie, too much research might prove bad for you...You should've called me, damn it... I would've come ..." This constant state of forced vigilance made his head pound in pain and his eyes burn like hell. He strove to keep his eyes fixed to the written lines, the page now hazy and shifting in and out of focus.

"So, Gabriel. I have this wild theory. I've been thinking... there are other locations around the world of mysterious disappearances, unexplained mechanical failures and so-called time-space distortions... Those special locations get different nicknames. Some call them 'Devil's Graveyards'...In fact, a man named Sanderson did an extensive research about the subject. Only, he named those weird places 'Vile Vortices'. OK, so he was a bit overly dramatic, but he's got a point! He claims the unfortunate ones who disappeared, or suffered strange occurrences, crossed over those unique areas at the wrong time of year, apparently with the wrong lunar and planetary alignments activating that particular area."

"Wow, hold it, Gracie!" exclaimed Gabriel "You been drinkin' some Scottish ale? Ah, forget it - you don't drink. Stayed too long in the sun, maybe? Nah, too self-conscious...Hell..." He read aloud now, emitting a curse from time to time:

"Gabriel... I am not asking you to believe in anything. Just keep an open mind. I've looked thoroughly into Sanderson's work , and others like him. They have this theory, about Earth having a planetary energy grid. Grids, to be more precise. The grids meet at various intersecting points forming a kind of matrix. This theory stems back to Plato, the Greek philosopher! Anyway, skipping the elaborate details, one of the many line-systems forming the grids, is called "Ley-lines". Those are the energy lines formed where 'the Sacred Stones' , built by the ancient Megalithic people, are laid in a straight line..."

Gabriel's exhaustion was gone. "Saunders mentioned some Stones! If I can recall his exact words... 'When the Prediction's time comes, when the Stones are aligned'... Fine. They're all a bunch of crazies!" He got up of the bed and paced back and forth around the room. He forced himself to stand quietly for a minute, to read Grace's final words:

"Megalithic Stones are found all over Europe, and the rest of the globe, too. However, for obvious reasons, I'm taking interest in the ones found HERE, in Argyll and The Western Isles. Tomorrow I'm going to Ballochroy, Kintyre - there's an interesting bunch over there.

For now, this is a goodbye. I'm going on a flight at 17:00 pm today over the Western Highlands - want to get an above perspective. Got to put all of this into writing though, because I have this feeling someone's on my tail since I started asking questions and do certain searches at the Dumbarton and Campbeltown libraries databases. Hope I'm worrying in vain. See ya, Gabriel.

Yours, Grace."

Last update: October 24, 2007

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Southend

7.