Tomb of Odin

Chapter 15

Nina got out of the car. It was not acceptable that she got the address wrong, she had to see the plot for herself. Sam followed her into the open field that displayed an eerie scene. One singular wooden pole, marked “8,” stood by the small inlet from the street that led into the property. Other than that there was nothing but long grass, weeds, and trees. The place was dead silent, save for the breeze and the occasional car that passed en route to the lake.

“This is very Twilight Zone, Sam,” Nina frowned, still convinced that they were just missing something, apart from a whole house, of course. “I’m getting flashbacks to Baciu forest.”

Sam shivered visibly at her statement. He could still vividly remember being caught in some surreal time lapse in the notorious Hoia Baciu forest with Nina when they helped a Czech academic chase down a secret left by her family in Romania.

“Please don’t bring up that ominous clearing,” he pleaded. “I still have nightmares about that bloody night… or… day… we were stuck there.”

“Sounds intriguing,” Purdue said behind Sam, prompting the journalist to jump.

“It was not in the least bit amusing, I’ll have you know. It was damn terrifying,” Sam told him. “What’s in your hand?”

Purdue looked utterly impressed with himself as he lifted the small silver brick level with his eye line. He pressed a button. Sam and Nina waited for flashing lights or some sort of antenna, but all the thing did was to beep in a steady cadence. With a childlike grin Purdue started to step forward onto the field, holding the device fixed.

“Come,” he told them.

“Where are you going?” Nina asked.

“Come, Nina,” he repeated. “Sam!”

“I’ll just stay put, thank you,” Sam protested.

The little machine started to hasten its rhythm, beeping faster as Purdue advanced over the enormous grass patch. His smile stayed fast, almost looking like a painful wince, but he was too excited to abandon his foolish expression.

“Why is it speeding up?” Nina asked, her small frame laboriously navigating the uneven ground and high weeds as she tried to keep up with the lanky, tall billionaire and yet another of his inventions.

“Because we’re getting closer,” he replied, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

Sam had to admit to being intrigued. He bolted off into a firm jog to catch up with them and joined Nina in Purdue’s wake.

“Closer to what?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know, but it is right in front of us,” Purdue marveled. “I call this invention the seeker. What it does is much like echolocation, identifying invisible objects.”

“Oh! Those pesky old invisible objects,” Sam exclaimed, but Purdue did not entertain his mocking, as usual.

Sam looked at Nina with a befuddled frown. She just rolled her eyes and told him, “I don’t know, Sam. You know how he is.”

Purdue smiled as if he had a sweet secret, “It has a few other features as well, I might add, but I won’t bother you with those right now.” He stopped momentarily, still keeping the device steady, but he looked at them to explain briefly. “Look ahead of you. What do you notice? Anything peculiar catch your eye?”

Sam sighed heavily, “I’m too hungover to think this much, Purdue. Just tell me.”

“Do you not see the nose of our vehicle sticking out from the trees ahead of us, even though it is parked behind us?” he asked Sam.

“Mindfuck 101,” Nina remarked, clearly spooked. “I see it! How? Wha—” she stuttered.

Sam saw what Purdue was talking about. He stopped in his tracks, looking thoroughly perturbed. He picked up his Nikon D7200 and snapped a few frames. He passed Nina his video camera, to do the honors. This was too weird to entrust to reminiscence. It was something that had to be documented.

“I get it,” Nina said suddenly. “It’s a giant mirror.”

Purdue pointed at her, delivering an imaginary gold star for her bright perception.

“What?” Sam shrieked. “Where would this giant mirror end then? And where are we in this reflection? I would notice a strapping lad walking toward me.”

Nina laughed as she filmed, “Right there! That is why there is only a fraction of our car visible ahead. That’s where the mirror ends! And it is tilted over here in front of us. I’m sure it is not just one big mirror, Sam. Looks like several tilted at all angles, like a disco ball.”

“Am I the only one who finds the notion of this immensely creepy?” Sam asked his chuckling friends.

“Aye,” Nina nodded, her beautiful auburn locks rocking on her shoulders as she did so. Sam pointed his lens toward her when she wasn’t looking. He could not resist capturing her dark splendor, especially now that she was smiling. So many times he thought he would never hear her giggle again; and times when she was upset with him, when he wished he could just see her smile at him one more time.

The pulse of Purdue’s seeker grew rapid until it sounded out so frequently that it finally became one long tone. He stopped and motioned for them to join him. Carefully he reached out and his fingertips touched the edge of something paper thin.

“If this thing suddenly shows me a giant image of us I’m going to soil myself, I’m tellin’ ya,” Sam puffed nervously.

“Thanks for sharing, old boy,” Purdue smiled, tipping the edge just enough to make it slant ever so slightly, “just… enough… to make the reflection of the trees shift.”

“Just enough to make the alarm go off!” Sam chimed in as a deafening wail assaulted their ears. In agony the three stepped back from the mercury sheets, plugging their ears. At first they did not notice the furious old man charging at them with two dogs by his side. Only when he disengaged the vociferous alert did they see him on their right, holding two vicious beasts on leashes, one on each hand.

“Good morning!” Purdue smiled. “So sorry about the intrusion, but we had no idea how to get to your house.”

“That is the idea, mister,” the man replied angrily in a heavy accent.

“We are looking for Jari Koivusaari,” Sam mentioned almost directly after the man responded.

“Why?” he roared.

Nina left the camera running, just making sure that he could not see her lifting the lens to get him in the frame.

“We are writing a small book on obscure artists and their works,” Sam fibbed so convincingly that Purdue was stunned. “Your name came up as an expert we could interview for some knowledgeable information.”

The angry man was really quite remarkable looking and she had to get a shot of the strange old fellow. He was exceptionally tall, about sixty years of age and dressed in tidy attire, tailored for him no doubt. Nothing in a normal clothing store would fit him anyway.

Boots with steel clips running up to his calves hugged the bottoms of heavy black corduroy pants. In the breeze his turquoise coat took on a life of its own, hanging from his shoulders like a cape, rising and falling like the ocean’s waves. Under his coat he wore a pitch black turtleneck. His face was adorned with a gray moustache and beard that seemed to flow from his face like a white waterfall, ending in an impeccably neat braid that hung down to his sternum. No hair covered his scalp and Nina hoped he had a collection of beanies to warm his large cranium.

“You are a journalist,” the man said. He did not ask, he stated. Sam nodded.

“I’m Jari… and you are a very good journalist. You lie like a priest,” he said abruptly and pulled in his dogs to cease their ruckus. “Come in, Sam Cleave.”

And with that he left the three of them in absolute astonishment, almost forgetting to follow him. He led the way past a clump of thick spruce and birch trees and disappeared into a small canopy of thorny brushes underneath.

Purdue was fascinated by the concept and Nina kept rolling, although she kept the camera low. Sam felt such a fool for lying to a man who knew his name and tried to keep up with Jari. As they passed through the canopy, they walked into a perfectly beautiful backyard, guarded by pine trees. There stood the double-story house of rock and cement masonry, larger than life.

Nina was wary of Jari’s two beasts. She had never been comfortable around canines and these were as exotic and irate as their owner. They stood as high as Great Danes, but had the facial features of pit bulls. Their coats were jet black and shiny like the perfect texture of race horses.

“What kind of breed is this, sir?” Nina asked hesitantly, not feeling like being the next target of his curious clairvoyance. Sam and Purdue glanced at her quickly as if she was that student who dared ask the moody teacher a question. She could almost hear Sam telling her not to provoke his wrath and fuck up the plan.

“This dog is a Presa Canario,” Jari replied boastfully. To their amazement his response was of average demeanor. “Like me, they are much taller than the rest of their breed.”

“They are beautiful,” she smiled nervously.

He smiled, revealing probably the most grotesque part of him. Both upper and lower teeth were visibly pointed, however not by cosmetic adjustment, which made it a hundredfold more disturbing. “Today beauty is um… what you say… abundance?” The three guests affirmed the word cordially. Nina thanked him in his tongue, “Kiitos.”

Jari’s face morphed into a blushing picture of elation at the thoughtful lady’s effort.

“You speak Suomi?” he asked enthusiastically.

“Sadly not, no. Just one or two words,” she replied with a shrug.

“How do you know that?” Sam asked very softly behind Nina.

She replied through teeth clenched in a smile, “Amorphis show at Ruisrock Festival. Now shut up.”

Purdue played it evenly, not drawing much attention to himself in case the perceptive old man knew him too. But Jari paid no mind, which was a relief, temporarily.

“Sit, sit,” he invited as he opened the new bottle of Virvatulet he had fetched from the cabinet. He poured three glasses for them.

“Aren’t you having a glass?” Nina asked.

“If he says ‘I never drink… wine,’ I’m leaving,” Purdue whispered to Sam, who fought to hold his chuckle at the Dracula reference.

“People here choose beer, but this is good Finnish wine. I don’t like it, but my wife does,” he explained in his almost good English. “So, Sam Cleave, what do you want that you come to my house?”

Sam almost choked on his wine. He did not expect Jari to address him so soon.

“And what is the names of your friends?” he continued, flashing his shark-like grin at Purdue and Nina. Sam was frantic under his smooth exterior and his suave tone. He had no idea if he should reveal Purdue’s identity to Jari. And what if Jari already knew them all? He was certainly queer enough.

“This is Nina and that is Dave,” he said nonchalantly, to Purdue’s relief that he did not use his full name. “They are assisting me with research.”

“Wonderful!” Jari cheered. “It is good to have you here.”

The awkward moment was defeated.