THE HAUNTING PAST LYSIA'S MYSTERY

THE HAUNTING PAST: LYSIA'S MYSTERY Well, okay, so, maybe it wasn't, actually, Lysia's mystery. It was her friends mystery. When Lysia contacted us, Tami and I were about to investigate a sailing ship. A ship which, allegedly, had a habit, of turning over, on calm rivers, dunking passengers, then returning to port. A Brown Agency client wanted us to check out the story, before they committed their upcoming, family, vacation, to sailing the ship. Ironically (or, maybe, suspiciously), just as we were about to board the boat, ourselves, an inspector popped onto the scene, saying "Spot inspection. Take the boat to inspection station three." Tami and I would have grumbled, about missing a "performance", but only until Lysia contacted us, and explained her reason, for making contact. When Lysia comm-linked us, saying "My friend is having these terrible nightmares, and I am at a loss, as to how to help her. I thought my degree..." and Tami would say "You thought your degree would make you knowledge-able." When Lysia would say "I guess not." Tami would move on, asking "When did the nightmares start?" When Lysia would say "They started after I departed your investigation." When Tami would ask "What did you do? Where did you go? Whom did you see?" Lysia would say "Slow down. As I recall, we went to some carnival. No big deal. They pass through town, regularly." When Tami would ask "Anything unusual happen?" Lysia was just saying "We rode some rides, ate some food, had some laughs, and that was about it." When Tami would prompt "No visits to voodoo tents, or magicians shows?" Lysia would say "Well, we DID stop by a fortune-telling place." When Tami would ask "What happened?" Lysia would say "Nothing bizzarre. The worker was as fake as a lake, calling itself an ocean." When Tami would ask "How so?" Lysia would say "The idiot claimed that Brenny's father sexually assaulted the girl, on MANY occassions. When Brenny denied this, the quack claimed that she "loved" her father, so much, that she blocked the memory". When Tami would ask "Did Brenny black out, at any point?" Lysia would say "Well, she fainted, at the notion that her father MIGHT have raped her." When Tami asked "When she recovered, what next?" Lysia would say "Dont worry. Brenny has been light-headed, before. Just the shock, of hearing those words. And such false committment, from that quack". When Tami would ask "Did the nightmares start before, or after, the carnival visit?" Lysia would say "Afterwards. Definitely afterwards". When Tami looked at me, asking "What do you think?" I would say "I talked with the harbor master, and the ship will be in dry dock, for atleast two weeks. Why not put our time to good use? Help the ladies, then return when the ship is ready to sail". Tami would tell Lysia "We are on our way", then cut the link. After a moment, though, Tami suggested "Should I have asked her if I was invited?" I would remind my partner "Even Lysia knows we are a TEAM. How would I handle a case, without my partner?" By the time we arrived, Lysia would direct us to the local hospital, saying "Brenny has been getting worse. She is afraid of sleep". When Tami would ask "What of her parents?" Lysia would say "Her mother denies that any such thing happened. Her father is with the police. I dont think they WANT to treat him, as a suspect..." Tami would say "But, they have to cover all the bases, just in case". Lysia would insist "Her father cannot be a rapist. I have known him since Brenny and I were children. I would trust him with my life". Tami would ask Lysia the same question, that others had asked, already. "Are you SURE the "dreams" ONLY started, AFTER visiting the quack?" Lysia would say "Of that, I am certain". When Tami would turn to me, saying "Next stop?" Lysia would say "Dont bother." When Tami would ask "Why not?" Lysia would say "After I spoke with you, I decided to check, with the carnival. I wanted to see how the quack was registered." When Tami would say "And?" Lysia would say "The carnival said that, shortly after Brenny's "reading", the quack pulled out of the carnival. He is gone." While I was asking "Which direction?", Tami was asking "Did the quack see anyone else, or give any other "readings"?" Lysia would say "I dont know, yet, but I can check." When I asked Tami "What do you think?" Tami would say "Faker shows up, at carnival, tells women that their fathers have raped them, then the faker just vanishes?" When Tami would ask me "What are you thinking?" I would suggest "I want to contact Mr. Brown. If what I am thinking is correct, then the fathers are, in fact, innocent". Back at Ghost Ship 2, Mr. Blue would join Mr. Brown, on the link, as I posed the question "Would it be possible, for a rapist to, first, hypnotize a subject, then rape them, yet program their conscious, maybe even sub-conscious, minds, to think that ANOTHER man raped the women?" Even I was surprised when Both men would say "Yes! It HAS happened, before." When Tami would ask "When?" Both men would admit "It was several cases ago. In one case, a hypnotherapist convinced young women that fathers had raped the women, multiple times." The other man would say "There was a case I dealt with. One where victims were convinced that it was their BROTHERS." When Tami asked "What happened to the women?" Mr. Brown would say "Un-fortunately, when we tried to de-program the victims, we did not know about the attackers "code". Even when we tried "re-booting" the girls minds, the "code" blocked us". When Tami would ask "For how long?" Mr. Brown would say "The doctors, still, are not certain. This is why the girls are in medically induced coma's". When Tami would summarize "So, if this quack is a computer hack, as well, then he has planted a code. If we do not use the correct "abort code"" Mr. Brown would say "Your friend will LOSE her friend, until further notice". By the time Tami and I returned to the hospital, things had gone for the worse. According to the doctors "When we attempted to administer a sleep agent, to calm the victim, she went into a level of sleep, similar to a coma. I just dont understand it. She should have fallen asleep, until morning. We did not give her enough medication, for this to happen." When Tami would ask "If the girl were hypnotized, COULD this affect how the drug worked?" The doctor would say "This isn't some science fiction show. This is a womans life. Bring me something I can use, and we will review it". While our pilots plotted the course, for the next place, where the quack was to "perform", Tami and I did some research, into the quacks background. Now, granted, there had been three dozen assaults, in towns near where the quack had his performances. The problem, with the data, was that, in each case, the carnival had been scheduled, months in advance. While the quack was not accounted for, every single second, he was verified to be in his tent, doing his performances, on schedule. Nothing bizzarre. It was not until we were about to lift off when word came to us. The quack had not appearred, for his next performance. The carnival was seeking a replacement. Then, there was another problem. The question of "WHY convince girls that their fathers, or brothers, had raped them?" WHAT was the criminals motive? When Lysia brought us more "news", saying "The hospital is running D.N.A. tests, on the girl", Tami would ask "What good will THAT do? Atleast HALF of her D.N.A. will be a match, for her father". Lysia would say "Staff say its standard procedure, when a woman makes a rape accusation. What I dont understand is why, IF her father DID attack her, WHY are the memories just coming through, now?" Tami would mention our discussion, with the Brown Agency. "We think this quack, whomever he is, has hypnotized the girl, into THINKING that her father raped her". When Lysia would would ask "Why bother?" Tami would suggest "There must be something, which the perpetrator is trying to cover up. Think. What crimes would be important enough to use rape, or murder, as a cover?" Then came another bit of "lack of" information. The secretary would inform us, via comm-link "I have checked every source I can think of. This guy, whomever he is, is not "registered", anywhere." When Lysia would ask "What does this mean?" Tami would say "Whoever he is, he has no license, permit, etc. In the old days, these people were called Gypseys". For some reason, the word "Gypsey" raised something, in Lysia's memory. When Tami asked "What is it?" Lysia would smile as she said "You will think this odd, at best". When Tami would say "I thought, by now, that you would understand that "odd" is what we specialize in". Lysia would say "Some of my co-workers are developing a project, based upon some weird happenings". When Tami would say "Spill". Lysia would say: "Near the town, where the university is located, we had some reports, of fires, breaking out, causing the local police force to be on one side, of town, while two banks, and five homes, were burglarized, at the opposite end of town. The police chief THINKS the incidents are related. After all, how often do burglaries coincide with fires? The police chief asked the university to either PROVE, or deny, his suspicions." When Tami would ask "What has the team learned, so far?" Lysia would say "Before the emergency, with my friend, the team had managed to gather information, about other cities, where arson was accompanied by burglaries. By the time I contacted you, the team had contacted three cities, and were waiting to hear, back, from four others". When I would ask "What could be the connection, to this case?" Tami would suggest "What IF the thieves feel that fires are, no-longer, a big enough "draw", to keep the police away from crime scenes." Lysia would suggest "So, they stepped up their game? Going from fires, to accusation, of rape. Thats a pretty big leap, isn't it?" Tami would suggest "Unless you have a better idea". When Lysia contacted the university, from G.S.2, she was shocked to learn that her co-workers were open to the suggestion. The question was "HOW do we PROVE it?" From what her co-workers told us, it seems that the quack was, already, on their watch-list, and the university was, fully, aware, that the quack was moving about. The question was "HOW do we track someone, who does not WANT to be tracked?" This was a case for the "infinite resources", of the Brown Agency. Mr. Brown would "link" with us, saying "Give me everything you have, on this man. I will have my sources start work". Once Lysia provided everything she could remember, as well as the university findings, Mr. Brown would say "Call you, tomorrow". Whoever this, mysterious, man was, the next time we knew of him was when it is alleged that a brother was found, having sex, with his sister. Right about the time, when the local police were gathered, and questioning the siblings, a silent alarm was activated, across town. The police, however, were focused on the two, young, people, neither of whom admitted to what had, just, occurred. In fact, according to the preliminary, police, report, the siblings acted like they were drugged, as if injected, with some memory-scrambling drug. The siblings had been sent, to a nearby hospital, for tests. It would not be until three hours later, that the three of us were informed that, for some, unknown, reason, the Great Mysto had closed down his tent, and departed the area. Local police verified that three homes had been burglarized, shortly after the police arrived, at the carnival. As for the blood tests, it was verified that the teens had been given a hypnotic drug, which made them susceptable to the person, administering the drug. When the police asked about the drug, the doctor admitted that "With this amount, of the drug, in their system, they would have complied, if someone asked them to commit murder". Once the police realized that they could NOT charge a teen, with raping his sister, if he was drugged, at the time, it seems that the emphasis, in this locality, shifted from the burden, of paper-work, to drop the charges, and onto the bizzarre nature, of the crime scenes. It would seem that the police had HOPED to find some strangers finger-prints, at each scene. This way, police would know that it was NOT an "inside job". The problem, as the police informed us, was that, at each crime scene, the only prints, lifted, were those, of local people. No-sooner had Tami agreed that we would look into the matter, when Lysia received an independent report, from the university. According to all of the cases, which the group was reviewing, there were no strangers finger-prints, at ANY of the crime scenes. This presented us with yet ANOTHER puzzle, to solve. Were these, ALL, "inside jobs"? When faced with the odd's, none of us could believe that ALL of the crimes, were inside jobs. No, Tami and Lysia, came to the conclusion, that we were dealing with a "perp", who knew how to cover his tracks. While Lysia held the position, that the thieves wore gloves, when committing robberies, Tami suggested something, which was new to the market. Some sort of spray-on plastic. According to Mr. Black, this product had REAL potential. It could be sprayed over hands, wrists, and arms, creating form-fitting coverings. Sure, either of these was POSSIBLE. I just could not shake the feeling that we were in, for a terrible surprise. It would take five days, for the Brown Agency to track down the Great Mysto. Not surprising, since this was NOT his real name. It would seem that this man, who was born Melvin Jarvis, had spent a great deal of money, hiding, or sealing, ALL of his records. Everything from his birth certificate, right through adulthood. Based upon Mr. Blue's conjecture, it seems that Melvin Jarvis was one of those people, who want everyone to believe that they "appearred, out of nowhere". Melvin Jarvis had NO credit cards, drivers license, Social Security number, not even a library card. As far as the trail goes, it seems that Melvin Jarvis ceased to exist, on what is THOUGHT to have been his twenty-first birthday. It was on this day that it was like Melvin Jarvis was buried, and the Great Mysto took the mans place. The Great Mysto. A man, who dealt ONLY in cash, and who had NO "permanent address". When I asked "If this man has no I.D., HOW do we know it is HIM?" Mr. Brown would say "When my sources went back over the sites, where the Great Mysto performed, they found enough D.N.A. samples, that my, federal, contact was able to verify the mans identifty. About the ONLY thing, that the feds do NOT know is WHERE Melvin Jarvis is. Tami would suggest "There is one, other, thing, which we do NOT know. HOW the Great Mysto received the victims permission, to give them the drugs." Mr. Blue would say "That is an easy one." When Tami would say "Explain", Mr. Blue would say "Its an old trick. Offer a person something to drink. Doesn't have to be booze. It can be soda, coffee, or tea. Slip enough drug, into the drink, and the person becomes a victim, without even knowing they were drugged. After that, its easy. Just inject the victim, with more drug, and the stage is set". When Tami would ask "HOW do we counterract the drug?" Mr. Blue would say "I said I know HOW. Until we know WHAT drug, the victims were given, we could kill the victims, by giving the wrong drug." Tami would sigh as she said "I guess that means we, still, have to FIND the Great Mysto." Mr. Blue would say "Correct". Swell. Now, we had to find a carnival entertainer, who MIGHT be mixed up, with burglars. On top of this, the man had drugged innocent people, and made false accusations. How HARD could someone, of this description be, to find, in modern America? While Tami and I were, sorely, tempted, to use supernatural sources, Mother Superior had cautioned us, about this. When we had few options, or leads, Tami and I turned to the nearest, Wiccan, coven, for assistance. For some reason, all that the coven would tell us was "The one you seek is not mortal. The One is using very dark magic. It is not "power" that they seek. It is the thrill, of the chase. The more you chase them, the more empowered they feel." When Tami would ask "Options?" The coven would, only, say "Deny him his attention. Ignore him. This is how to defeat him." When Tami asked about the victims, the Wiccans gave my partner a sobering answer. Tami came up with her own plan. One which she discussed, with Lysia. Once the two were in agreement, they placed the plan into action. When the Great Mysto made his next appearance, some two months later, the trap was sprung. When the fake offered a young girl a drink, she declined, and asked for a reading. This time, the Great Mysto had another, new, angle. This time, he tried to convince the girl that both her father, and her brothers, had, ALL, raped her. More than once, per man. When the girl asked Great Mysto HOW he could know such things, Melvin Jarvis began revealling information, which only the victims family should know. The girl smiled, though, As Great Mysto repeated the very words, which Tami, and Lysia, had, carefully, constructed, for the womans on-line history. She had to suppress a laugh, when Mysto spoke of the wrong hospital name, for where the girl was born. This, plus the wrong birthdate, and the wrong home address. It was not, however, until Great Mysto tried to, secretly, inject the girl, with drugs, that Tami lead the way, as Lysia, and the police, raided Mysto's tent. Even when in hand-cuff's, though, Great Mysto still smiled, when questioned about the drug, in the syringe. No matter how many times he was asked "Is this the same drug you used, previously?", all the man did was smile. When taken to jail, and finger-printed, then locked in a cell, Mysto still smiled. This, even as finger-print analysis came back with "No Matches", on his prints. The ladies, and I were back, at G.S.2 (after having delivered the girl, safely, to her home), and pondering what to do, for the drug victims, when the call came in. Due to required reading, for her degree, Lysia had promised that ALL drugs, eventually, pass out of the system. This is why patients need regular doses. Just like drug abusers, who need constant "fixes", so patients need medications, as well. As to how long THIS drug, would take, to wear off, all Lysia would say was "It depends upon the concentration, of the drug." While we were resting, the jail called, asking us to return. "Important Information", the chief called it. When we returned to the jail, the chief showed us the footage, of the prison cell. A cell where, one moment, Melvin Jarvis was present, and the next, he shimmered, then dissolved. After the chief shut off the recording, then asked "WHAT did I just witness?" We WANTED to say "Divine Justice", but we would have had to explain. No, best to "let sleeping dogs lie". Two weeks after Mysto shimmered, out of existance, the girls, ALL, came out of their "nightmare". When police asked "What do you remember?" The girls response was the same, each time. "I went to the carnival, entered the Great Mysto's tent, asked for a reading, and woke up, here. Whats going on?" When the police asked about fathers, and brothers, the girls looked at the police, as if the officers were mental. After the girls denied making the accusations, even asking police if they faked previous interviews, the girls received thorough, medical, exams, before being released from the hospital. Then, something, really, bizzarre, happened. Some, local, men, and women, brought forth jewelry, and other valuables, saying "I found this in my place. I know it belongs to ... What is it doing, in my place?" When each person was asked "What is the last thing you remember?" Each person admitted meeting a man, who promised them a way to make money. When they asked him HOW, they, ALL, said "He sent me home, and said to have a good nights rest." When asked "Did you go home?" Each person said "Yes. A great nights sleep. I just dont know how, or why, I woke up, with this stuff, in my place. Did they give it to me? For sake keeping? Why dont I remember?" Ofcourse, each persons finger-prints had been found at each crime scene. No shock, there, since everyone lived, in town. What the people wanted to know was "What am I doing, with their stuff?" While atleast one judge was determined to prosecute the "Whole Lot", for a combination of "Lying, under Oath", and "accomplice, to burglary", the problem, the judicial circuit had, was such things as lack, of motive. That, and the defendants had no memory, of committing the crimes. The girls had no memory, of accusing family, of raping them. The thieves had no memory, of breaking into homes. Psychiatric exams showed that brain functions appearred to be back to normal. Since there are no laws, covering prosecution, of parties, who commit crimes, while under either drug effects, or hypnosis, the cases were dropped. That evening, while Tami and I were preparing, for bed, the Enforcer Demon would make an appearance, to inform us "The demon has been taken into custody. As per the law, I have left the stolen property, what had not been sold, already, to Mother Superior. She will see that the police receive the goods." When Tami would ask "What about the demon. I assume you mean Mysto." The Enforcer Demon would tell us "Whether you call him Great Mysto, Melvin Jarvis, or any, of his other names, he is in for a time, which will make him WISH for maximum security prison. He is OUT of commission, for a very long time, to come. I just thought you would like to know". When Tami would say "Thank You for contacting us." The demon got a look, of regret, on its face, as it dissolved, into the night. When I asked Tami "I thought that G.S.2 had security in place." My partner smiled, as she reminded me "Silly. Security only works against mortals." Oh, yeah. I forgot. As for Lysia, she seems more "lost" than ever. She, really, thought that a college degree would make her "special". All knowing. Things like that. Now, she has her degree, yet she remains in search, of "something". Something, which wil make her feel SPECIAL. I HOPE, in my HEART, and SOUL, that she can find it. Lysia deserves it, after all of her hard work.