THE PROJECTOR part 6

Copyright (c) 2017 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.

By R. Peterson

The boys left the forbidden darkness of Motha Forest a lot faster than they’d ventured in. Kurt figured they’d already wasted too much time and all but raced through the dark pipe pulling Jesse along behind. He was thinking of the captured Momett, Sarah, and what the Hodemedod might be doing to her and not his flashlight beam that kept bouncing off his friend’s coat. Jesse didn’t notice the wiggling in his pocket until it was too late.

The robot that Joseph Callahan had loaned them to extract the alien device from the Royal Theater’s projector and which they affectionately named Mickey had “gnawed” a hole in the heavy material until it was big enough to wiggle through and then fell to the ground with a clunk.

 Jesse’s flashlight showed the metal rodent up-righting itself on the floor of the tunnel. The mechanical contraption twisted its pivoting head to look up at them. Miniature gears spinning inside the body sounded like the warning sound of a Rattle Snake.

 The “mouse” slashed the air with tiny metal claws when Kurt reached for it.

“I thought that thing was supposed to be asleep!”

“You woke it up by bouncing your flashlight around!”

Joseph Callahan had explained that the robot operated on a series of dark matter switches similar to those in a computer that could be activated with light pulses instead of electricity. The boys had only seen computers in magazines, but they sort of grasped the idea.

“What’s the command for shutting it off?”

Jesse pulled out the paper the inventor had given him with a long list of commands. “Mmmmm …dark for ten seconds … then three short, three long, three short.”

Both boys shut off their flashlights and counted to ten. Kurt turned his on with two short flashes before they noticed the robot mouse was missing. “Where did it go?”

Suddenly Kurt’s light clattered on the floor as he shrieked. “It’s going up the inside of my pants!”

Jesse’s voice held a hint of laughter as his friend twisted and danced along the tunnel. “What was the code again?”

            “Three short, three long and three short!” Kurt bawled.

            “Did you know that’s Morse code for an emergency?” Jesse’s voice took on a tone of relaxed wonder as he casually turned on his own light.

            “This is an emergency,” Kurt bellowed. “Shut it off!”

            “We better start over again.” Jesse shut off his light and after listening to frantic screams in the dark for ten seconds finally shut the robot down with the code flashes. “I guess this time I’d better keep it wrapped in this black cloth.” He held up the material Callahan had given him.

            Kurt carefully extracted the mechanical mouse from inside his pant leg and then snatched the dark cloth from Jesse’s hand. “I’m keeping Mickey from now on!” he vowed as he wrapped the tiny robot ever so tightly.

-------2-------

The one thing the boys didn’t plan on after they came out of the tunnel and into the basement of an abandoned farm house was a ride back to Cloverdale. It was still over an hour until dawn when they started running and after a mile without seeing any car lights they began to walk.

“The thing I like most about our adventures is all the careful planning,” Kurt wheezed.

“It takes a little more effort on my part but the results are worth it,” Jesse told him trying to catch his breath.

They had almost reached the bridge where Comanche Creek crossed Canyon Road when they finally saw approaching headlights in the distance.

            “That looks like old-man Romer’s truck.” Kurt peered into the dusty dimness as the vehicle approached. “What’s he doing up so early?”

            “He’s always up before dawn,” Jesse said. “I worked for him last summer. He struts up and down all five of his chicken houses playing Oh Susanna on a Jews Harp. He claims it makes his hens lay bigger eggs.”

Jesse walked out onto the road and Romer skidded his truck to a stop when he saw them waving. A drooling hound dog, half as big as a cow, crowded the torn seat next to him.

            “You young Toms ain’t been out rustling chickens or stealing eggs have you?” He looked at both boys suspiciously.

            “No sir,” Jesse said. “We just need a ride into the Royal Theater in Cloverdale.”

            “Well you ain’t carrying no bags,” Romer said. “So you’re either honest … or more likely stupid. Climb in the back but don’t crowd my livestock!”

Kurt noticed the smell but didn’t have time to complain before Jesse pushed him into the back of the truck and then climbed in and closed the tail gate behind them. “Pigs! What the …?”

            “I’ve got about two hours of chores left before I deliver these hogs to the skinner in town,” Romer snorted. “You boys can work off your ride.” He started the truck with a rattle and a bang. He yelled out the side window through the dust as the rattling contraption began to pick up speed. “But you ain’t going to see no damn movie this early in the morning … not when you both belong in school!”

            Three busses were unloading when Romer careened  to a stop in front of the Junior High School. The sound of squealing pigs caused a group of girls standing on the sidewalk to shriek and then burst out laughing as Kurt and Jesse tumbled out the back of the truck. Jesse noticed Chloe O’Brian staring with a look of horror on her face.

            “Remember,” Kurt mimicked Jesse’s voice as he nudged him. “It’s the extra effort and careful planning that makes all the difference.”

Romer, who was in no hurry, saw the crowd and decided to show off his musical talents. Giggling, the girls stuck around to listen, and they all made a point of holding their noses as the boys hurried past.

-------3-------

            For the first time after he began teaching at the school Coach Evans had two boys shower before P.E. class. Any thoughts of sloughing school and trying to get inside the Royal Theater to fix the projector were dashed when Principal Moss (Porky) personally escorted the boys to each period and waited outside each classroom door thumping the palm of his hand with a metal yardstick.

            When the final bell rang, Kurt and Jesse were sprinting toward West Townsend Avenue trying to get to the movie theater but of course a still angry Ruben Butterfield was cruising up and down the streets and they had to run through backyards and allies before they finally lost him.

By the time they reached the theater it was after six and Mr. Cranston had locked up the show house and gone home for the night. Kurt nudged Jesse as they walked toward the Spare-A-Dime café where Kurt’s mother worked. “There’s always tomorrow.”

            “Tomorrow’s Friday and that’s when the movie begins,” Jesse said. “What if we can’t fix the projector in time?”

            “Then I guess people will get what they want,” Kurt told him. They both turned to look at the Marquee already glowing for tomorrow night’s premier. COMING FRIDAY the lighted sign read. THE EXORCIST … a night you’ll never forget!

            “I’ve got a feeling we’re all going to get it,” Jesse said.

-------4-------

            Kurt and Jesse were first in line at the theater when it opened. Cranston was alone taking tickets. “My wife had to go to Billings her mother is sick,” he explained.

            “We talked to Callahan and got something to fix the projector,” Jesse told him. “Can we go up?”

            “I’ve got the door to the projection booth locked,” Cranston told them as he handed Jesse a key. “Do the repairs fast and make sure there are no mistakes … I can’t afford to have things go amiss two weeks in a row.

            The boys had to push their way through crowds of people to get to the stairs that led up to the projection room. Jesse noticed Chloe O’Brian and Susan McKinney buying Cokes from Cranston. Susan saw them and pointed as she yelled loud enough to get everyone’s attention.  “Where are your dates boys? As long as those pigs are under six they get in for half price.” Jesse tried to ignore her and the deafening laughter but the girls’ words stung like a broken nest of hornets.

            The door at the top of the stairs was indeed locked. Jesse could see light coming from beneath the frame as Kurt fumbled with the key. “Got you little %#$@%$#$ now!” Ruben Butterfield charged up the stairs like an enraged rhino.

            “No,” Jesse begged him. “I promise you can kill us later. Right now we have to fix the projector or something awful is going to happen to this town.”

            “You’re right about that,” Ruben Bellowed as he swung his beefy fist. “Starting with you two #%$%^$%#.”

Jesse saw the punch coming and ducked but Kurt was just about to insert the key in the lock. Ruben’s flying fist knocked it out of his hand. They heard an ominous tinkling sound as it fell between the stair risers. Sheriff John Walker happened to be walking past the foot of the stairs with his wife just as Ruben pulled his fist back for another punch. “Everything okay up there?” Walker stopped and stared.

            “Sure,” Ruben said pushing past the sheriff with a smile. “Just saying Hi to a couple of friends.”

Both boys tried to recover the key after the sheriff left but it was just out of reach. Jesse had to buy a large package of Juicy Fruit gum from Cranston.

            “What’s going on?” the theater owner was worried. “I should have started the film five minutes ago!”

Kurt could hear people in the darkened theater chanting … Start the show! … Start the show!

After allowing Kurt to straighten an unused coat-hanger Cranston followed them to the tiny stairs. “You dropped the key?”

            “He had some help,” Jesse assured him as him and Kurt each chewed large mouthfuls of gum.

            “You haven’t run the film yet … have you?” Kurt noticed a faint flickering from the light under the door … as if someone or something was moving around inside.

            “Just past the opening credits and then back to make sure the film was threaded correctly,” Cranston said. “I didn’t do anything wrong did I?”

Kurt moaned.

            “I guess we’re going to find out,” Jesse told him. He attached a large gob of sticky gum to the end of the coat hanger and with a bit of maneuvering was able to recover the key.

Kurt already had the mechanical mouse out and was programming the code Callahan had given them into the tiny robot by blinking his flashlight.

            “What do we do now?” Cranston asked as the door swung open.

            “Nothing,” Jesse told him. “This robot will remove the alien device from the projector and the show can begin.”

            A cooling fan was running on the projector and a slight breeze blew Kurt’s hair back as he sat Mickey on the floor and flashed his flashlight four times to start it. They didn’t notice the apparition crouched in a dark corner until the mechanical mouse started to skitter across the floor.

With a shriek meant to terrify the dead, a larger than life Linda Blair, complete with gleaming demon eyes and glistening boils on her deathly white face, crab-walked quickly across the ceiling on spidery legs and dropped to the floor before them. “Did you %^&$% think it would be so easy to defeat me,” she hissed. Each of her eyes turned a different direction. “Impossible! For as you %$%#^%# shall soon see … I am legion!”

Kurt, Jesse and Mr. Cranston watched the demon crush Mickey the mechanical mouse with her heavy boot, split open to accommodate a cloven foot, just before they were blown backward by a wave of green vomit. They had tumbled most of the way down the stairs when the door slammed and locked behind them.

It was no longer than six seconds from the time they heard the projector start running … that the terrifying screams from inside the darkened theater began.

TO BE CONTINUED …