"You push him. I'll go out and make sure no one's around." John opened the door and cautiously poked his head out.

"Way's clear," he whispered and led the way to the service elevator two doors down.

Luck was with them. No one was in the service elevator when it came up to greet them, opening its maws wide open for them to enter.

Once in, John pulled open a panel near the buttons and inserted a metal tip into one of the slit. Then he pushed the ground floor button.

"What are you doing?" Jasmine asked.

"I don't want this elevator stopping on any floor to pick up anybody. I just want to go straight down to the ground floor with no interruptions. Let's hope there's nobody waiting for us at the bottom."

There was.

"Oh shit!" Jasmine muttered.

It was three more guys looking just like the thugs that had assaulted Jasmine earlier. They were not letting up!

In a flash, John had grabbed the wheelchair from Jasmine's hands and plowed it through the two men standing in front.

They scattered to the sides to keep from being barged by the chair's bulk.

He then wrestled with the third man who had avoided the first surprise attack. The first two recovered from John's initial charge, began attacking Jasmine.

Before they could reach her, one of them grunted and slumped over.

Jasmine's eyes widened with horror as she saw an ax impaled into his back.

As he fell to the floor, the ax was pulled out by invisible hands and just as suddenly disappeared.

?Congratulations. You have gained 10 power points from: Tommy Rogers. Active Aggressive Transference.?

Before she could react, the other man's neck had been slashed from ear to ear.

His life blood spurted from his carotid arteries in a gush of hot red viscous liquid. The spray hit everyone, including the unconscious Adam.

?Congratulations. You have gained 10 power points from: Danny Hill. Active Aggressive Transference.?

Her face spattered with blood, Jasmine stared aghast as he clutched his neck, choking and gasping.

Meanwhile, John was punching the daylights out of the third man who was large, but no bull dog like him. Three more rounds of punches and the man slid to the floor.

"Let's go!" John pushed Adam's chair from the service elevator out the side door and up to the blue chevy with Jasmine following behind.

John heaved Adam's body into the back seat of the blue truck and they both jumped into the front seat. With a squeal of the tires, they were off.

He did not want to be around when they found those bloody bodies.

"Jasmine."

"Hmmm?"

"How the hell did you kill those two guys without a single weapon on you?" John asked with great reluctance.

Although he was curious, something inside of him truly did not want to know.

"I didn't."

"You didn't what?"

"I didn't kill them."

Jasmine cleared her throat, not sure how to explain the strange spooky occurrence.

"An ax appeared out of nowhere and butchered the first guy in the back. The second guy got his throat slit with something sharp."

"With what?"

"I couldn't see what it was that sliced his throat." She shook her head.

"Nobody was around you. Who did the butchering? Who did the slicing?"

"I don't know. I didn't see the weapon. I only saw the cut throat after it happened."

John coughed. "I'm getting too old for this shit. I need to retire."

"How old are you?"

"Fifty."

"Is that retirement age for cops?"

"No. It's 56, but I don't think I can wait six more years, Jasmine. All this is creeping me out so bad."

His hands shook even as he gripped the wheel.

Jasmine said nothing. She didn't blame him. It was all creepy as hell for her too, and her family was steeped in this shit!

The drive to La Hacienda mountain range was a forty-five minute drive.

During the entirety of the time, Jasmine kept glancing into the back seat at the unconscious figure of Adam Stuart, hoping against hope that he would remain sedated.

She and John did not speak much. The only time she said anything was to give him directions as they forged up the mountain.

By the time they arrived at the Sho Dai Temple, it was 3 pm.

Sho Dao Temple was massive.

Sprawling ancient red structures with black roofs that curved up at pointed ends were reminiscent of the Asian temples built thousands of years ago across the ocean on another continent.

As they drove through the main gate, Jasmine's eyes were caught not by the massive stone dragons by the sides of the heavy double-doors but by the bright blue handicap sign next to them.

There was a wheel-chair accessible area.

She pointed to the handicap parking spot and John pulled in. They quickly got Adam out of the car and back onto the chair. Then they made their way through the double doors that lead to the main courtyard.

Inside the first gate, the yellow brick courtyard was deserted.

Looming straight in front of her was a large black granite urn, four feet in height and three feet in diameter. It was filled with hundreds of spent red sticks of incense from earlier worshipers who had come to visit the temple.

She took three incense sticks from a small table next to the urn and lit them. Bowing to the three corners around her, Jasmine paid respects to the various demigods and stuck the sticks into the mouth of the urn.

Then she waved her hand at John.

He pushed the unconscious Adam Stuart and followed her toward a red-walled green roofed oriental structure that had an 'Office' sign posted outside the door.

Inside the office, there was a large steel desk empty of anything save for a single potted plant. Of human presence, there was none.

"Hello!" Jasmine called out to the empty chamber. "Anyone here?"

"In a place of worship, there are souls all around." A soft voice spoke up by Jasmine's elbow causing her to jump.