The Dark Stratosphere Tower
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
3:30 pm
Storm clouds have covered the Vegas valley, rolling through town like wandering travelers. The wind gusts have gradually been picking up all day long. As usual I didn’t get too much sleep last night. Just as I walk outside it starts to pour down rain.
I look up as the rain starts to pour down and then try to cover my head as I walk. I’m at a small building to pick up a small artifact that was sent to me by one of my old friends. I put it in my pocket to keep the rain from getting it soaked.
“My lucky day,” I grumble out as I head in the direction of my car.
This is just another bad thing to happen this week. Nothing has gone right for me. First AXEL’s little pranks and then this ****. It hasn’t rained in Vegas in at least seven months and of course nature picks today to hammer the city.
I continue forth toward my car where Amber is waiting for me. I feel like Roland heading on his endless journey toward the Dark Tower as I try to fight through the rain and the wind.
Storms this bad only pass through Vegas maybe once a year, twice tops so this storm is especially bad. I continue to fight until I reach the parking lot.
I quickly look around, covering my eyes so I can see. I look right and see my gold colored Saturn sitting right where I left it with my girl in the front passenger side seat.
This motivates me as I fight through the pouring rain, running until I reach the car and quickly open the door to sit down in the driver’s seat before closing the door behind me.
Lucky me I left the car running too.
“It got bad after you left,” Amber says to me as I wipe water from my brow. “It started pouring rain. I almost thought it was hailing at one point.”
“It wasn’t,” I reply back as I turn to her. “But it probably will tonight. Not all over town but on the furthest reaches of the city.”
“I know. It was kind of scary, especially when I saw the Man in Black get out of his car.”
I give her a weird look upon hearing this.
“What Man in Black?”
She points toward the building I just came out of.
“The guy who got out of his black Cadillac down there and went inside right before you came back.”
“I didn’t see him. He must of went around the other side.”
“He did. He seemed rather scary to me.”
“What do you mean scary? Like the Boogeyman or something?”
“He just looked evil. He had these black eyes. Like a shark’s eyes.”
I think about it for a moment and then look down at my pants pocket where I put the small artifact I came here to pick up.
“We have to get out of here.”
“Why? What’s wrong? James, what aren’t you telling me?
“Ever read any Stephen King novels?”
She shakes her head.
“No.”
“Well whenever a Man in Black or in a black Cadillac shows up, watch out. Plus I think it may relate to the artifact I just got. But to keep from anything from happening, let’s just get the hell out of here before something does happen.”
“Good idea.”
I put my seatbelt on and turn the wipers and lights on. I then put the car in drive and drive out of the parking lot. As I pull out of the parking lot onto the rain covered street, I look into the rearview mirror and see the Man in Black standing there watching us as we drive off into the distance. The Man does not look happy at all.
* * *
7:30 p.m.
The wind is still howling outside. It’s been stormy all day long and now the wind is pounding against the wall of my house. Amber is staying over because of what happened earlier at the building we went to.
She seems to think that the Man in Black is after me. However I think otherwise but deep in the back of my mind, I think she is right. There was something fishy about that guy so I’m expecting something to go down involving that artifact I received. It’s supposedly something relating to Tioneb and that’s the only reason my friend sent it to me.
I’ll be glad to be rid of it when the time comes. But, until then, I’m just going to stay in from the storm outside and have a night in with my girl. I turn my cellphone off and put it on the charger before turning to Amber.
“So what do you want to do tonight?”
* * *
10:30 p.m.
AXEL Action dials James’ cellphone number. The phone rings four times and then he comes across his voicemail message. He waits until the voicemail message ends. He hears a beep and begins to leave his message.
“James, James! I’ve been calling you all day long! Where’ve you been? Have you been avoiding me all day? I need to talk to you before the show. Get back to me.”
* * *
10:45 p.m.
AXEL tries calling James again. The phone rings for times and again he gets the voicemail message. He sighs and waits for it to finish before leaving a second message after the beep.
“Hi James. Where are you? How are you doing? We don’t talk enough anymore. The Church dissipated and now you turn into a loner. Call me, ****er. Call me back so we can talk. I’m bored. So call me back!”
* * *
11:20 p.m.
AXEL calls James again and again is left leaving a message. Once he hears the beep, he begins to speak.
“James…hello James. You up? You’d better pick up the phone.”
A short pause.
“PICK UP! Oh wait, I get it. You’re ignoring me until I go away. Well that’s fine. You can be a jackass like that all you want. If I leave the team, then it’s over! Your career will be
OVER! You will be nothing without me! NOTHING! Goodbye.”
* * *
Thursday, June 5
12:30 a.m.
AXEL tries to get a hold of James again but again stuck left leaving a voicemail message for his partner in crime. This time, however, he sounds a bit more depressed as he leaves his message.
“Sorry about what I said earlier. I didn’t mean it. Don’t be too mad, partner. Call me back. We need to talk. We never talk anymore now that you are seeing that woman. That Amber. You’re different. You actually have feelings and emotions. It’s weird. Anyway, give me a call back.”
* * *
1:15 p.m.
AXEL calls again and again James does not pick up the phone. This time he is pissed off and is seething by the time the beep is heard for him to leave a message.
“
YOU ASSHOLE! You’re a ****ing asshole! You know why you never have any friends and never win anything? THIS IS ****ING WHY! You just going to ignore me until go away? Well I will NEVER go away ****face! I will haunt your dreams everyday! I will hunt you down and kill you Varga! YOU HEAR ME?! I’M GOING TO ****ING KILL YOU!”
* * *
3:00 a.m.
AXEL calls James one last time and again gets the voicemail answering machine. This time, however, he is regretting what he said in the previous message and leaves a more somber message after the beep.
“James, I, uhhhh, I’m sorry. I forgot to take my Unholy Pills this morning and now I’m losing my mind. I’m sorry about saying I wanted to be in your dreams…wait, I didn’t mean that. What I mean is I still want us to be a team, so we can dominate. Call me back, buddy. Later.”
* * *
9:30 a.m.
Upon checking my voicemail messages, I close my cellphone and turn toward the cracked bedroom door where Amber is changing inside.
“HONEY!” I yell down the hallway.
“YES?” she exclaims back as she is changing her shirt in the room.
“Remember how you got mad at me for shutting my phone down at night when I was asleep?”
“YES.”
“Well you can say you’re sorry about that now.”
“Why’s that honey?”
“Because I just got six calls last night from AXEL last night and he was rambling in them.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because he’s probably forgot his medication again or something.”
“That’s true.”
“Why do I have such crazy friends?”
“That’s not my problem, it’s yours.”
“Right…”
I turn around and think about what she said for a moment before walking over to my
computer desk in the living room and open up the right side drawer. I reach into the drawer and pull out the artifact. It’s still in its packaging I picked it up in. I want to open it, but then again I don’t. I place it back in the drawer and close it before heading back to the
bedroom and shutting the door behind me.
* * *
Friday, June 6
6:30 p.m.
I follow the Man in Black across the street. The street is empty save for two cars waiting at the red light down the street. The inner-city is a concrete jungle. A savage place where anything can happen especially out here in the wild, wild west.
The Man in Black continues walking down the sidewalk when he makes it across the street. I continue to follow him. The guy had just tried to break into my house and steal an old artifact that I have in my collection so of course I continue following the guy. Nobody steals from me and gets away with it.
He heads down the street toward the next light where a bunch of people are waiting for the bus to arrive. Behind me I can hear it driving up after the light has changed. The bus comes barreling by me and stops up at the bus stop where the Man in Black is waiting along with everyone else.
I begin running fast as everyone gets onto the bus. I reach the bus and look inside. However, much to my dismay, the Man in Black is gone. I get off and the bus doors close before it drives off. Once it’s gone, I look down and see a piece of paper. I reach down and pick it up to take a look of it. It says the following.
World Market Center Las Vegas
495 S Grand Central Parkway
Las Vegas, NV 89106
Buyer Information: 888-WMC-SHOW
Main Fax: 702-599-WMC2 (9622)
Registration Fax: 301-694-5124
Registration & Customer Relations: 866-229-3574
Housing/Hotels: 847-282-2529
Hours of Operation
Las Vegas Design Center at WMC: Monday-Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm..
*
Management Offices: Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm.
*
*Hours of operation vary during Markets.
Website:www.lasvegasmarket.com
Email: info@lasvegasmarket.com
I then fold the paper and place it in my right pocket. I know where I have to go now. And, most importantly, I know where the Man in Black has gone.
* * *
7:25 p.m.
After walking for what seems like days, I finally end up at the World Market Center as the sun is beginning to set. I look up at the massive structure and hear a noise inside. I look around to try and find a weapon of some kind but there is nothing lying around.
“****,” I mutter as I head toward the building.
Once I reach the doors, they mysteriously open up. This place is supposed to be closed.
Maybe they forgot about the locks. Or possibly the Man in Black works there. I cautiously go inside and look around the lobby.
There’s nothing too bizarre or creepy about the place. The only exception are three doors that all open up at the same time down the hallway. One person comes out from each of the three doors and each door is shut by each person.
From these doors comes two men and one woman in my direction. One of the men is on African American descent and has dreadlocks. He is wearing a Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant basketball jersey with a undershirt underneath it, and some sagging jeans to go with his basketball shoes. The woman is wearing casual business attire and appears to be Hispanic. The other man is wearing glasses and a suit. He looks kind of nerdy to be honest. They come over quickly to greet me.
“Hi,” the woman says kindly. “Can you give us a ride?”
“What?” I reply back.
“Can you give us a ride?” the woman asks.
“Sure,” I respond with a grin. “Only if I had my car with me. I left it at the house after I chased the Man in Black here.”
“What Man in Black?” she asks.
“The one who broke into my house to try and steal the artifact I just picked up not too
long ago,” I reply back, looking at my pants pocket where I have the artifact safely tucked away.
“Well I did see a Man in Black leave the building right after we came in,” the man with the
dreadlocks says with an accent. “He mumbled something about a tower.”
“The Dark Tower,” I mutter out loud. “He must be going there.”
“Where is this tower?” the man with the dreadlocks asks me.
“The Dark Tower in the center of town,” I reply back. “The Stratosphere Tower, in the
center of town. You can see if from all parts of the city. I grew up in the shadow of it.”
“GREAT!” the man in the glasses responds. “That’s where we’re staying.”
“Just like in the book…” I mutter out loud.
“What?” the man in glasses asks.
“Oh nothing,” I reply. “I can walk you guys there. I know the way. Have for years, actually.”
“That’s wonderful news!” the woman responds excitedly.
I don’t say a word. Instead I lead them outside and point towards the Dark Tower in the distance.
“That is where we are headed,” I say before turning to them. “And nothing shall get in our way.”
I start walking and, before long, hear their footsteps behind me as we begin our quest to reach the Dark Tower. The Ka-Tet is now born. Four travelers now headed toward the gloomy Dark Tower in the distance.
* * *
8:25 p.m.
It’s dark now as we walk over toward Oakey Boulevard and see the train go flying by as we walk past the Little Darlings strip club. As the train speeds past, the front of the train almost looks like it has the face of a skull on it.
“This is getting freaky,” I mutter to myself quietly so no one can hear me as the train
The similarities between the events of today and the Dark Tower books by Stephen King are astounding. First the Man in Black, then the drawing of the three, and now the train.
It’s getting weird. Once the train has gone past, we wait for a moment as the train signals go up again before walking across the tracks and down the sidewalk.
We head down toward the end of Oakey at the Olympic Garden strip club. After a minute or so of walking, we hear something behind us. Everyone turns around and there is a giant tan colored dog staring us down.
“Uhhh…what the hell is that?” the man in glasses stumbles out.
“I think it’s a dog,” the woman replies, too scared to move.
“It is,” I reply as I look over and see a wooden stake lying on the ground next to the sidewalk. “A English Mastiff by the looks of it.”
“How do you know that?” the man in glasses asks with a gulp.
“Because it’s the largest breed of dog,” I reply back quietly. “My little brother is a dog fanatic so I know this.”
“So what are we going to do?” the woman whispers to me.
“Let it charge,” I reply to her quietly, pointing at its foaming mouth. “It’s obviously rabid. So it’ll charge, you guys dodge it. I’ll roll over, grab that stake, and kill the thing.”
“Is that such a good idea?” the woman asks but before I can reply the massive dog charges at us.
They dodge out of the way just like I told them too and I roll away from the dog, which slides backward allowing me enough time to grab the stake. The dog then gets its wits together and lunges at me but I grab the stake and jab it into the dog, which is killed instantly.
I grab the dog and yank it over to a nearby dumpster. I then reach down and read its name off the tag.
“Shardik,” I read before standing up. “Interesting.”
The man with the dreadlocks comes over and helps me dump the dog’s body into the dumpster.
I turn to them and say, “Let’s get to the Tower before something else happens.”
I quickly start walking again and they follow me just as quickly after being scared ****less after what just happened. However, on the bright side we are closer to the Dark Tower than ever before and that is a good thing.
* * *
9:10 p.m.
The Ka-Tet continues down the street toward the Dark Tower. The Tower looms in the distance as we walk closer to it. We walk down the lighted street until we reach the corner.
When the light turns green, we head across the crosswalk in the middle of a crowd of tourists and are now right at the Stratosphere Tower hotel and casino.
We walk in front of the casino and look around. All of us look up at the tower that is in front of us.
“We’re finally here,” I say with a grin.
I look up and notice people looking down from the windows up in the Tower as well as the rollercoaster going all around.
“So are we just gonna wait around here or are we going to go up there?” the man in the dreadlocks asks. “I’m getting ****in’ tired and need to check into my room.”
“Me too,” the man in glasses responds.
“Same here,” says the woman.
“Ok,” I say as I continue to stare up at the Tower. “We go in and take care of business so you guys can go get some rest.”
We then head toward the building and head into the Dark Tower that we have been seeking since I first started chasing the Man in Black.
* * *
9:25 p.m.
Once the elevator is through taking us to the top of the tower, it opens up and we exit out of it. When we look around we are met by an interesting sight. There waiting for us is a man wearing a giant red cloak.
He appears to have been waiting some time for us to arrive at this point.
The man reaches into his cloak and pulls out a grenade.
The man then suddenly turns and runs around the corner out of nowhere. We look at each other and run around the corner after him but once we get there, we find nothing except for a cloak but no trace of the man. It’s almost like he
“What the-” I mutter out before noticing the Man in Black staring right at us. He has an evil, sinister look about him. The kind of look that scares most small children.
“I’ve been looking for you,” I tell the Man in Black as we have a stare down.
“I know,” he replies back as we eyes me right back.
“Who are you anyway?”
“Just call me Randall.”
“Ok, Randall. Why are you after the artifact?”
“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”
He pulls out a switchblade. Just then some security guys notice him and start walking in his direction without him noticing.
“And you won’t be finding out anything anytime soon, Varga.”
Just then the security guys bum rush him and arrest him on the spot as we look on in
awe.
“I’m going to get you Varga!” he yells as he is dragged off.
I turn to my Ka-tet and we head for the elevators. Once at the bottom of the tower, we go our separate ways without even speaking a word. I may never know their names or see them again but this was a day I shall never forget.
* * *
Saturday, June 7
12:15 p.m.
It’s hotter than the inside of a microwave oven outside today. After last night’s madness that lead me to the Dark Tower, I got up this morning and looked around my house before realizing that I had nothing to eat in the house other than left over Panda Express. So me and Amber decided to drive up to Wal-Mart and do some shopping.
I park my golden 2001 Saturn SL in the parking lot and we get out as I lock the car behind us. We hold hands as we head to the entrance of the store in the sweltering heat. We continue through the parking lot when some guy runs past us to the left. We stop and look as store security tackles the guy down and carries him back into the store.
I point at what’s happening and tell Amber, “Can’t I go anywhere without something weird happening?”
She shakes her head. “No,” she replies back.
I give her a look and we continue walking toward the store. She’s probably right, but at least now I’ve finally found somebody who can put up with me. Her love is going to save me from the darkness.
* * *
James Varga’s Journal
7 June.- After my journey to the Dark Tower, I have hidden the artifact in a place it shall never be found by anyone but me. With that done and over with, I am really tired after what has gone down and will probably be worn out for my big match tomorrow. It’s a Triple Threat Tag Team Weapons match too, which is going to be especially tough for me. My mind hasn’t been on it at all for the past few days.
However, my insomnia hasn’t stopped. I still can’t sleep at all most nights. Even with Amber and all the love she’s shown me that’s put a little bit of light into my melancholy life, nothing seems to be able to help me sleep. I can close my eyes and think of her but it won’t help. I follow her to a happy place when I close my eyes but it still doesn’t help me sleep.
My inner dark side is still in there when I sleep, mind you. The Devil appears to me sometimes in my dreams. He appears as Leland Gant from the movie Needful Things. Kind of weird. But anyway he tells me that I am a dangerous threat to him because I can see through his bull****, whatever that means. Anyway, whenever I do sleep, I have dreams about weird **** like that. No wonder I’m not sleeping well.
Tomorrow I must be ready though. I’m wrestling in my hometown and going for a milestone win in my career. This match will either make or break my GCW career. It has to mean something. All of this must lead to something. I just have to wait to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully it will lead to something great…hopefully.
* * *
Sunday, June 8
1:45 p.m.
The match is close at hand. I can feel the excitement in the air. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up. In less than three hours I will be going out in front of my hometown crowd and do my best to give them something to talk about for the rest of their lives.
I haven’t wrestled in Vegas in a long time. In fact, I’ve only wrestled here five times in my career including tonight so this is kind of a big deal.
* * *
James Varga’s Journal
9:45 p.m.
8 June.- Today was a day of both highs and lows. Today here in my hometown I won the biggest tag team match of my career as me and AXEL defeated two other teams in a tag team match which basically shot us all up to number one contenders for the big Warpath show coming up next month. I scored the winning pinfall as well.
However, some bad things came about today. Firstly me and my tag team partner AXEL got into a fight. Bloody clown. And then Jackson gets in my face plus a stupid B-movie actor name drops me like I’m some sort of movie star or something.
To top that off the Lakers lose again to go down two games to none to the Celtics and even almost pull off an impossible upset despite some biased refereeing. Needless to say, this has been a hectic day. Tomorrow will be a much needed escape for me and Amber. Much needed indeed.
* * *
Monday, June 9
I’ve started my drive up the highway toward my summer home in West Yellowstone, Montana. I left Las Vegas earlier this morning and have seen mostly an endless desert of sand since. The hot weather outside only makes me even more happy I decided to leave that hellhole known as Las Vegas.
* * *
Wednesday, June 25
I head down the highway in my car heading back to Vegas to make the final preperations for my upcoming TEAM Super Shows. This is what I need. Hopefully the Dark Tower isn't watching my every move when I get there. But somehow I know I will never be able to escape it's dark shadow as long as I live...
*Note: World Market Center Info taken from -
http://www.lasvegasmarket.com/wmc/about_lvm/contact_us/
