The I-Men: United

"My son is not crazy!" Police Officer Robert Foley heard Mrs. Straw cry out as he walked out the door and headed back to his service car. "How many times do I have to tell you, people? Jack is not crazy!" Officer Foley shook his head and then smiled. He was surprised by Mrs. Straw's touchiness over her son's howling at the moon. Still, he felt that he should have been more considerate in the conduct of his investigation. He should not have asked about her son's mental condition. "A rookie mistake," he conceded.

Officer Foley was fairly new with the Force. After spending two weeks warming seats in the office and another two weeks assisting a colleague in the streets, he was then assigned locate and recapture a group of men who escaped from the mental asylum. He did feel that it was rather too soon for him to be assigned to the task on his own, but the trust and confidence which his chief had given him gave him the needed lift.

"This assignment should be easy for you to accomplish," his chief reassured him earlier that day as he handed to him the folder that contained the personal circumstances of the men who escaped from the asylum the night before, "they are dumb, they're not armed, and they're not dangerous.... So, go get them, kid!" Foley took it as an opportunity for him to show the Force what he was made of, so he stepped up to the challenge.

"Again, no luck," Foley sighed as he sat inside the police service car and glanced at the large woman who was standing at her door with her left hand on her waist. He begun to wonder if the men he was trying to locate were dumb at all. Before going to Jack Straw's residence, he first went to the home of Eli Olsen -- one of the five men who escaped; but he likewise failed to find a clue regarding Olsen's whereabouts. One of Olsen's neighbors in the affluent part of the town had told him that Olsen's house has not been dwelt in for years. Eli Olsen was known to Foley ever since he was just a little kid. Olsen was once a prominent medical practitioner in their town, a psychotherapist. Foley's Aunt Elouise used to be one of Olsen's loyal patients. However, several years ago, Foley heard that Olsen was debarred from practicing his profession. It was due to numerous complaints concerning Olsen's unusual methods of therapy. "That silly old shrink has lost it," Foley once heard his Aunt Elouise voice her displeasure of Olsen to his father, "he advised me to howl at the full moon ... to feel well. Rubbish!"

Sitting inside his car, Foley took the brown folder on the passenger seat. He couldn't help but smile when he first read what was typewritten in front of the folder: 'Assignment: i-men recapture'. He had an idea why Carney -- a girl who introduced herself to him as the clerk/ typist/ grooming counselor and more -- did not type the word 'invincible' in full. She wanted to exert little effort in her typing, not to mention her unbelief of the men's true invincibility as hinted by her hands' gesturing of open and close quotation marks whenever she pronounces the word. "Can I call you Bob?" he recalled Carney ask on his first day at the Force, "it's much less effort calling you Bob." He did not mind her calling him Bob, his folks and friends called him Bob.

Foley opened the folder and once again perused the sheets of bond paper that contained the personal circumstances of the men that he was trying to locate. His attention was caught by the paper bearing the name: 'Johnny Wembley'. He realized that Johnny Wembley lived in an unfinished building by the pier, and it was just a block away from where he was. He decided to go to the pier next and try his luck.

Shortly, Foley arrived at the pier complex. As he was approaching the unfinished building, he saw two men on the wide doorstep. The two appeared to be arguing, one was sitting on the concrete step while the other was standing. He pulled his car over and immediately walked towards the two to find out what were they arguing about.

"Leave me alone!" he heard the man who was sitting on the doorstep raised his voice at the one standing. "I'm through with your invincible crap!"

Foley was struck by what he just heard. "He mentioned the 'i' word," he cheered inside him. Yet, as he looked closely at the man, he noticed that the man was drunk and has got the looks of a miserable loafer.

"What invincible crap?" Foley, with imposing tone, asked the other who looked neat and sober.

"Don't mind him, Officer," the sober man answered, smiling, as he stepped backwards and away, "he's just drunk, that all." The sober man then turned around and left quickly.

Keeping his imposing tone, Foley asked the loafer, "What invincible crap?"

"It's about them, Officer," the loafer answered readily, wanting no friction with the police, as he pointed at the man who was walking away, "the invincible men."

"What about them?" Foley prodded deeper.

"They'll be meeting tonight at the graveyard..." the loafer relayed, "he came to spread the word."

"Meet tonight?" Foley concealed his elation with his cynical tone, "Really?"

"Yeah, Officer," the loafer explained, "'cause... you know... the moon will be full tonight."

"All of them?" Foley added.

"All of them, Officer ... old and new recruits," the loafer replied. "A woman might also come and join them, I was told.... Great! Even the women have become loony too."

After hearing all that he wanted to know, Foley left the loafer and went back to his car. He was feeling good about himself, believing that his first success is within his reach. He even forgot to enter the unfinished building and look for Johnny Wembley. Another rookie mistake, but his mind was too far up the clouds to realize it.

He started his car and began to drive his way to their headquarters, eager to report what he had accomplished in so short a time. But then it came to him. What if the loafer was just taking him for a ride? What if no gathering would take place at the graveyard? Surely, he would become a sorry butt of joke for his reliance on a drunken loafer in carrying out his work. So, he decided, instead, to go home, have his lunch and then prepare for his stake out at the graveyard.

The sun was still high when Foley went up the hill. He wanted to be at the graveyard early, before anyone else; so that no one would know that he was there. He chose the headstone on the grave at the highest portion of the graveyard, to be his cover. From behind the shoulder-high stone, he could see the center of the burial ground, directly and unobstructed. Also, he believed that no one would think of coming up to where he was; and, if ever somebody would come, he could easily hide behind the other headstones without being noticed.

Foley waited behind the stone until sunset, going in and out of slumber. When the sun had set and darkness slowly crept in, he began to see some men arriving. "Here come the i-men," he quipped as he watched the men arrive in twos, in threes and more. All in all, he counted, there were twenty four. He watched the men gather at the center of the graveyard, between the graves, and he listened to them talk and occasionally burst into laughter. He tried to identify from among the crowd the five men that he was tasked to locate, but he did not see them. He waited still, sitting on the grassy ground behind the stone and staring at the cloudy sky. He could see the faint glow of the moon behind the thick cloud.

Then, he heard something. "Doctor O!" one of the men exclaimed, "Is that you?"

"Still in good shape, eh!" another followed, "Do you ever grow old?"

Quickly, Foley rose and peered from behind the headstone, and he saw five new men. His heart leaped. The five were the very ones that he was after, and the one holding a bright lamp was Eli Olsen. Foley was ecstatic, success was right in front of him for the taking. Yet, he contained his excitement and waited. He decided to let the men finish first what they came up for, and then he would move in and arrest the five. That way, he assessed, there would become no ardent reason for the five to resist.

The crowd lit a fire and then gathered around it. Foley watched Olsen stand and address the seated crowd. "Brothers...," he heard Olsen speak, "it's so wonderful to see you all tonight. We have grown in number ... you probably have noticed. Get to know each and everyone, I beg you ... and, tonight, let us be one in welcoming the moon in all its glory...."

"Doctor O!" someone interrupted Olsen, "Isn't there a woman joining tonight?"

"I hope ... she would come here again tonight," Olsen replied. "The undertaker saw her here, last full moon. She was howling at the moon. I certainly hope ... she would join us tonight."

"Look!" another one called the crowd's attention, "The moon has appeared from the cloud!"

Foley saw Olsen point at the full moon and then declare: "Invincibility! ..... Seize it, my brothers, it's yours!" The crowd then looked up and howled at the moon, sounding: "Owoooooooooooooooooooo."

As he watched the men howl, Foley heard another howl coming from another place. Distinctly, he could tell that it was a howl of a woman. He looked around to see where the woman was, but he saw nobody other than the men in the crowd. He noticed that the men also stopped howling and were looking around to see where the distinct howl did come from.

Once again, Foley and the men heard another howl with the same womanly voice. Still, they could not find where the woman was. Then the third howl sounded. At the end of the third howl, Foley and the men saw what looked like a white flame that rose from the ground beneath an oak tree near the edge of the hill. The white flame, gradually, formed into an engaging woman.

Foley stared at the woman in disbelief. The woman walked towards the men, smiling. The men scrambled to run, finding their way between the graves. Foley has not seen a crowd dispersed so quickly.

With the men gone, the woman then looked towards Foley. Foley felt a chilling fear. His heart began to beat so rapidly, goose bumps formed all over his body. From half standing behind the headstone, he fell onto the ground on his butt, his back rubbed against the rough stone. His knees were weakened.

As he was trying to compose himself and regain his strength, he once again heard a howl from a distance on his left. It sounded like a howl of a man. Instinctively, he looked towards his left. He saw no one. And then another howl came from behind him. Howl of a woman? He was not sure. It sounded more like a young boy. Then another howl sounded from another place, and another howl from another distance.

Foley closed his ears with his hand and pressed his face against his bent knees. Already, he knew what would happen when those who just howled have howled to three; and, that, he did not want to see. He felt like he was going to pee.

-- Happy Halloooooooween --
(10-31-06)

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- Jack Straw Did It
- Invincible Johnny Wembley
- A Few Invincible Men
- Something About Wendi Sue