Elijah must have realized the impact his story had on me for he looked at me with compassion and did not say another word. He got up off his chair extended his bony hand to me and embraced me. I stood there holding this scraggly beleaguered old man with smokey stained hair. He was gaunt and his clothing hung on him like drapery, I felt sorry for him. He reminded me of the ghost of a prospector that just stepped out of a diamond mine. I handed Elijah all the money I had in my wallet and told him to take good care of himself and said good bye. I had no idea if I'd ever see him again and gave him one last wave goodbye. I didn't have much time to feel sorry for Elijah as the cold snapped me to attention. I had no idea what I was going to do next- I had no place to go to, no one to turn to and no belongings to call my own-they were all left at the Manor. I still had my credit card but that did me no good at the moment. I walked around trying to find a cab to take me to the nearest hotel when I caught sight of the Montauk Tower. I noticed that same light on the third floor, the only light on in the whole tower except for the ground floor. I sat down on a bench in the village green mesmerized with the possibility "he" may be in there or that my damsel in distress was in need of rescuing. I decided to hunker down for a chilly stake out. I'm not going to last long I thought, it being so cold out here but I just couldn't leave. Little did I know the weather was the least of my worries. A few minutes after I sat down a group of young thugs about 5 to 7 of them some drinking beer, smoking and whooping it up happened upon me. They came over and started asking questions, bogus small talk which quickly turned into taunting. The ring leader led the way : "Well, well what do we have here? You lost bro?" He grabbed me by my coat and tossed me over to another hoodlum who then tossed me over to giggling punk who tossed me to the ground. The ring leader spoke up once again " You like soccer bro? Make like a ball !" As he went to kick me I grabbed his leg and tripped him up. His other friends were stunned and rushed over waiting for his instructions. The ring leader got back up and said "You're gonna get it!" Just at that moment I heard a familiar voice, well more like a scream; "Stop, I know this dude!, Come on guys, leave him alone!" It was Chris, the surfer dude from the Motel Montauk. He bent down and spoke; "Hey Mister, you remember me? It's Chris from the Motel!" "Chris help me up, please..." Chris extended his hand and helped me up. The ring leader looked at me pointed his finger in my chest and said, "You got lucky bro!" "Leave him be Red.....he's a friend" He looked at Chris, "You're my bro and I'll let this one slide, but he better be careful- next time I see him he ain't gonna be so lucky-see you on the waves bro..." With that he signaled his posse to move, and on they left. Chris stayed behind.
"DUDE, that was a close one, if I hadn't have been here....what are you doing out here anyway? Don't you know it's freezing? No offense Hombre but you look like one of those creepy dudes just hanging around...Red doesn't take to vagrants, he thinks he owns the town." " Chris, thanks for what you did but I need a place to stay, and some coffee to warm me up. Can you take me back to the Montauk?" "No can do but you can crash with me if you like, it's not much but at least you won't die out here...by the way did you get to visit the lighthouse like I told you?" I looked at him and grinned, Chris was perplexed, "What I'd say?"
I followed Chris to an old beach cottage not far from the Tower. It was dark and I couldn't see much but the place was small, very old, and very tired. We walked in through a yellow door covered in hippy style bumper stickers and there we were in surfer dudes lair. Surf boards were everywhere, empty beer cans, first aid kits and especially clothing all strewn about. "Excuse the mess dude, find a spot and I'll talk to you in the morning..." "Thanks Chris. Thanks for everything. I hope I'm not putting you out..." "Naw, relax. Sorry I have no coffee. See Youuu Mon-ya-nah..." I found a spot on an old sofa and fell fast asleep.
I woke up to the sound of waves crashing on the beach. I sat up rubbed the sand out of my eyes and went over to a sliding glass door and saw it; that big grey imposing ocean. I stepped outside and had a good look at the cottage which was nestled between dunes, mere feet from the mighty Atlantic. I wondered how this ramshackle survived all the storms and was never washed away, and how and who built this place long before you would ever be allowed to build something like this these days especially on the dunes. I turned back to the ocean, it was a beautiful site to see, gray clouds moving out, salt spray and mist, sea shells, drift wood and miles of sand and sea filled my view. That's when I saw Chris in his wet suit, matted long blond hair sitting Indian style with his surf board nearby. I walked over to him. "Good morning Chris" "Oh you're up!" "Yes, and you're up early too I see...." "The waves dude, the waves..." I was starting to understand that surfing wasn't a "thing" or a hobby but like a religion to these guys. People like Chris would do anything to catch a good wave it seemed. I sat down near Chris. "I want to thank you once again for helping me out last night and giving me a place to stay, that was real nice of you" "No problemmo". "Is this your place, I mean the cottage?" "No it belongs to my uncle" "Where's your uncle, is he here?" "Let's just say he's on a vacation, yeah, a vacation" "Your friend back there, Red is his name? What's his story? He looks like a real bully..." "Aw, don't worry about Red, he ain't bad. I mean he can be a real ahole at times but that's only because his dad is a real jerk, thinks he owns the town. I suppose Red learned from dad" " What's his name, the dads name that is?" "Marcus. You know him?" "Sort of." "If you know know Marcus you know trouble....I bet you're in trouble" "I'll tell you all about it. But first let me treat you to breakfast" "If you're buying dude!" "It's the least I could do"
We went into town and on Chris's suggestion to the coffee shop, I think the same one I found earlier that led me to Marcus. We were seated in a booth in front of a large plate glass window, the Montauk Tower was in sight. "Chris, order anything you want." He flung his long blond hair aside, "Dude you have no idea what you're getting into, I'll bankrupt you!" With that Chris proceeded to order everything on the menu, although skinny as a 2 by 4 he must have had the metabolism of a cheetah ordering 3 breakfast combos. We sat there eating our food, Chris too busy to say a word stuffing his face. "Chris, tell me about the Motel Montauk" "It's a pay check" " Funny thing happened to me while I was there, maybe you can help me out and understand it" "Sure" "You checked me in, right?" "Right" "But you didn't check me out. In fact when I asked for you they said no body of your description works there..." "Dude I have no idea who told you that but I have been working at the Montauk for ever! At least 6 months!" "Sorry Chris. I didn't mean to question you like that. It's that, ever since my stay at the Montauk weird and strange things have been happening to me, things I can't explain. It all started at the Montauk. Well it actually started before my stay at the Montauk at the lighthouse but I'll save that story for later. When I asked for you, some older butler type pretended to know me and have checked me in when we both know he didn't. And get this he even asked, "Did you visit the lighthouse like I suggested?" " "No way man! That's my line! I'll kill him!" "Yes Chris. He even claimed he didn't know you and then asked me to check out of the Montauk" "Look dude, I have no idea who that impostor was but when I go back to work, there will be hell to pay if that dude is still around!"
"Chris, I didn't tell you the real reason I'm here in Montauk. Naturally I don't go around telling everyone I meet my business, you understand right?" "Yeah dude but now you got me curious, why are you here, should I be worried about you, I don't even know you..." "Don't worry, I'm not dangerous. I was rescued by a stranger right near the lighthouse and I'm looking for that stranger to thank him. Now don't think I'm crazy but I believe from what I have learned and seen that I was rescued by the legend" "Chris finally stopped eating and his ears perked up, "The Legend?" "They call him the "Montauk Man"", "Never heard of it. I've heard of the Montauk Monster but never the "Man". Dude if that's true that would be so cool! Can I meet him?" "Can I trust you Chris?" "Listen dude anything, anything, I'm solid, I want to help you find this dude. Who knows maybe he's a surfer!" "If you find him Chris let me know. Until then, I'll continue my search for the Montauk Man. What I haven't told you are the strange people I have met along the way starting with this mystery butler at the Montauk. He sent me to the Manor where I had the displeasure of meeting Devon but it's also the place where I think saw the "Man" for the first time, saving me from danger once again. I also had a run in with Marcus, well not exactly but I think he knows something about me and may have even mugged me. The oddest character I have met so far has to have been the the Colonel. This Colonel I first saw in the dining room of the Manor keeping tabs on a woman, the same woman I was trying to meet. This woman holds some kind of key for me. The Colonel must of caught wind of my interest in her and confronted me and I think drugged me, so I think-unless you believe in crazy stuff like time travel. I think I may be interfering with some kind of covert operation he's involved in, I don't know. However the greatest pleasure I have had so far was the pleasure of meeting Montauks own, Elijah..."
"Chris you still with me...wake up!" "No dude I'm not asleep I'm a bit nervous for you-Dude what you just said can't be true. I'm closing my eyes now and when I open them this had better be a bad dream...." "Chris you need to tell me what's going on right NOW! What part isn't true?" "We can't talk here, let's head back to the cottage"
Stay tuned for part 8
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