Evil Beneath Us

by Laybourne, Alex

  After another attempt at speech, which resulted in the same growling sound, Simon abandoned verbal communication in favour of a more physical approach.

  As he raised his arms in gesticulation, a look of agony passed over his face. With great effort, and only a stifled cry of pain, Simon managed to cover his eyes with his hands. He stood for a moment and then uncovered them, looking at Jeremy.

  “Eyes? Secrets? Something you saw, or didn’t see?” Jeremy offered, playing along with the game of charades.

  Once again Simon covered his eyes with his hands. A tear dripped from the corner of his eye and fell to the floor.

  “Your eyes … my eyes … eyes shut … close them, close my eyes,” Jeremy shouted, the natural reaction to playing the guessing game.

  Simon lowered his arms and nodded. “Yes.” He managed to form the word to such a degree that Jeremy could understand it amongst the guttural groans.

  For a few moments Jeremy stood in silence, staring at his friend. “I’m so sorry, Simon. This was all my fault. It was always my fault.” Jeremy closed his eyes to hide his tears. The room grew suddenly cold, and then warm, much warmer than the bunker should have been. Jeremy opened his eyes and he was back in Anja’s bedroom. The sheets were disturbed beneath him, indicating a restless sleep, but for the rest, Jeremy felt refreshed and ready. He looked at the alarm clock beside the bed. It was quarter to four in the morning. A time he never normally saw, unless it was when he was coming home, after having snuck out of the house to go cause trouble with friends.

  In Jeremy’s mind, the images of the dream played on repeat. Jeremy mulled over their meaning, trying to interpret the short cryptic message Simon had given him. He had an idea. He didn’t like it.

  It was still dark outside, the sun would not rise and greet the new day for a few hours yet. That was in their favour, and if they acted swiftly, they may make it before the dawn gave their movements away.

  Rolling out of bed, Jeremy left the room, and made his way back through to the living room. It was dark in the flat, but it was small and simple in its design. Jeremy easily found his way.

  Standing in the entrance to the living room, his back to the hallway that led to the bathroom and bedroom, Jeremy stood still and watched. Anja sat in the armchair, her legs pulled upwards. She looked comfortable and peaceful. Jeremy did not want to startle her. He took a few steps into the room when he realized how silent it was. The sounds of slumber that one would expect were not there. Anja was not breathing.

  Jeremy’s heart skipped a beat in his chest. Both at the thought of Anja, his only ally, being dead, but also at the questions of who did it, and were they still in the apartment? Jeremy walked into the room, his body trembling as he approached the silent form. He reached out, afraid of touching the cold and lifeless flesh.

  His fingers brushed the surface of Anja’s arm when she spoke, and Jeremy gave a cry.

  “Jeremy? What’s wrong?” she asked, no trace of sleep in her voice. She opened her eyes and was alert, ready to move. Jeremy watched her chest, and noticed that she was still not breathing. He had never noticed before.

  “You weren’t breathing.” Jeremy gasped. Even in his state of fright his mind had not cleared as fast as Anja’s.

  “No, I don’t need to breathe. Well, at least not in the manner you are thinking,” Anja answered in a matter of fact tone. “Why? I hope my not breathing didn’t wake you,” she asked with genuine interest. “I do not have visitors here. In this place I can let my guard down, be myself.” The need to explain herself was clear. Jeremy did not need to hear it, but Anja was done. As if to prove it, she breathed, her chest rising and falling in well-timed impersonation.

  Jeremy did not comment on the breathing. There was no time to lose. “I think I know how I can get to Dr Marshall.”

  “How?” Anja asked intrigued.

  “I don’t think you are going to like it very much.” Jeremy offered a smile as he explained his dream and the plan he had created upon waking.

  “That is madness. It will kill you.” Anja stood defiant, her voice serious, her facial expression stern.

  “No, I don’t believe it will. Simon is there, he will help me. I know it. It has to work.” Jeremy’s stubborn character began to emerge. He was comfortable in Anja’s presence and needed to show her that he was not asking, but telling her his plan. “We have to move now. While it is still dark,” he added, hoping that moving the conversation forward to their leaving would help put things in motion.

  Anja was not that easily led. “You do remember when I told you about people who looked through the veil, right?” She stared at Jeremy, her face set with disbelief. “It would be suicide. You could not survive that.”

  “Will you take me?” Jeremy ignored Anja, and focused on getting things moving. He was not looking for her approval, and he wanted to let her know.

  For a time, the two said nothing. They stood in silence, not staring one another down, but in self-reflection.

  “Fine, but if I had wanted you dead, I could have just left you in the house.” Anja was upset, but she recognized Jeremy’s iron will and understood there was no arguing with a stubborn human.

  “Trust me, it will be fine.” Jeremy even managed to form a reassuring smile.

  Within minutes, they were in Anja’s car and heading down the deserted street. Jeremy was relieved to see that the sun had not yet started to rise. It had occurred to him that if Anja had no need for sleep, then an accurate alarm clock would also have been unnecessary.

  They drove in silence. There was no awkwardness, no tension. It was an easy void, for both were purely focused on the task at hand, and that which lay before them.

  “If this works, what do you expect to do once you get there?” Anja asked as their destination drew ever closer. She still hoped that Jeremy would change his mind. She felt uneasy with the plan, but would help finalize it any way she could.

  “I don’t know. I am sure I will think of something.” Jeremy smiled. He had a simple idea in his mind, but until he saw the hidden level for himself, he would not be able to know for sure the best way to fulfil it. He needed to see what was really going on. To know what he had to stop before he went about doing it.

  “Then let’s wait. Think about it some more. We can come back tonight, it will give us more time,” Anja offered, but Jeremy shot her a determined look and she knew any further resistance would be futile.

  “There is no time. I escaped. They will be looking for me. Not just the doctor, but the police, people in the real world. They think I killed Simon after all. Plus you have left too. They will come looking for you, and I am sure it won’t take them long to decide we are working together.” Jeremy’s argument was sound.

  “They have no reason to suspect me,” Anja offered, but both knew it was not true. They had no direct reason to suspect anything, but Jeremy was right. They were both gone, and she had been walking a fine line with the amount of time she was spending with him.

  “They will find out. No, this has to be done now. It has to be done tonight.” Jeremy was insistent and nothing would change his mind.

  They pulled up by the side of the road at one of the entrances to the dunes. It was the one Jeremy and Simon would use most frequently. Easy to reach, but not close enough to their homes that they risked being caught. Anja killed the lights, but kept the engine running. Just in case.

  Anja turned to face Jeremy. “I don’t know what I am supposed to say here,” she admitted. “I’ve never practiced a day like this before.” Anja looked at Jeremy and he realized that everything she did was a calculated and well practice façade. Nothing was real to her. It was an act, one she wanted to do, but one she would never do out of nature. Regardless of superiority or how long she spent in the world.

  Jeremy looked at Anja and saw that she had been crying, beneath her mask. “Thank you for saving my life.” He smiled at her. Leaning over the gear stick of the small Ford, Jeremy reached out and pulled Anja close, embracin
g her. He could feel her nipples stirring beneath her shirt, but he didn’t care. He was not afraid of Anja. He wasn’t afraid of anything anymore.

  Jeremy got out of the car and never looked back. It was cold, but the fresh early morning air felt invigorating to him. Quietly, Jeremy scrambled through the bushes and into the dunes. It was not a difficult entrance to use, but a tough one to spot.

  Jeremy stood in the dark and listened as Anja started her car and drove away. He could make out the red rear lights of her car. Watching, he waited until they turned the corner at the end of the street. Jeremy was alone, and he didn’t want it any other way.

  Chapter 13

  Jeremy knew the way to the bunker like the back of his hand, even with the light of the moon overhead casting a strange pall on the landscape. Jeremy would have been able to locate the building even if blindfolded. That was why he had chosen that spot to take his leave from Anja.

  Jeremy moved quickly, and while there was no dream-like beacon to guide him, he knew that he was doing the right thing.

  The silhouette of the bunker loomed before him, and the air seemed to grow colder with every step Jeremy took. The entrance was located on the other side to his approach. Jeremy walked around the building once, checking it. Everything looked as he expected, as he remembered.

  Dropping to his knees, he crawled through the opening. It was tighter than he remembered, the sand having been dislodged during the frenzied attempts of the paramedics to remove Simon’s remains, and themselves, as quickly as possible from the chamber of horrors.

  Jeremy worked his head and upper body into the bunker before it hit him. The stench of rotting human flesh. The air was thick with it. Jeremy stumbled as his body registered the full extent of what had happened to Simon. His arms gave out and he fell into the bunker landing with a thud on the stinking ground. The odour of death was so heavy Jeremy could not only taste it, but had to resist the urge to chew each breath he took. He felt sick, and his head swam with nausea. It seemed to settle on his skin like sweat in a sauna, seeping through his pores, into his being.

  The darkness was total, the small openings that had once allowed light in were covered by sand. Jeremy got to his hands and knees, feeling the sudden dip in the ground as it sank towards the spot where Simon had disappeared.

  Jeremy crawled through the darkness. He stopped when something sharp jabbed him in the hand. At first Jeremy recoiled, but after taking a deep breath he fumbled once more and found the object again. He knew what he had to do with it. Gripping it tightly, he licked his lips. He was sweating profusely in the humid bunker, and he tasted his friends flesh on his lips.

  “Simon?” Jeremy called to the darkness, but his voice caught in his throat. His mouth was dry and his tongue useless in his mouth. The words rolled over it but stuck to the surface as if they were barbed, refusing to be sent out into the world. Swallowing, as best he could Jeremy tried again. “Simon?” His words were stronger.

  No response came. If anything, the silence of the night seemed to intensify the harder Jeremy wished for an answer to come.

  Jeremy knew what he had to do. His dream had not shown it to him, but now he was there, in the dark, it was obvious. His hand shook, but his resolve was strong. Bringing his hands together Jeremy flinched as the piece of broken glass in his left hand punctured the palm of his right. Drawing the shard all the way across, Jeremy felt a wave of pain and a strange surge of relief. His hand was soon warm with blood, and he could hear the drops falling to the ground.

  “Simon,” Jeremy called again. Not questioning this time, but summoning. He held his hand out, clenching his fist so even more blood dripped to the floor. “I’ve got my eyes closed, buddy. Please, I need your help on this,” he called. In truth, Jeremy was not sure if his eyes were open or closed, the darkness had refused to adjust to his vision. However, he had no intention of looking at anything that did arrive, and would clamp his eyes closed at the first sign of action.

  For a while – a time period that felt like an age, but in reality, was not more than ten or fifteen seconds – nothing happened. Jeremy realized he had been holding his breath, his lungs burned, angry with him for withholding air. Taking a deep gulp of the thick air, Jeremy considered the possibility that he was wrong, but then the ground shook.

  Specs of light appeared on the floor, and Jeremy clamped his eyes shut, squeezing them so hard his face hurt. He stood and waited. His hand was still outstretched. Jeremy could not stifle the gasp that sprang from his body when a warm hand slipped into his own. Despite it, Jeremy managed to keep his eye closed. The new hand closed around his bleeding palm and locked into place, holding him.

  The bunker continued to shake, the tremors growing more violent until Jeremy’s stomach rolled and he was filled with the sense of falling. This was no trick of the mind or medically induced hallucination; this time Jeremy really was falling.

  He tried to pull his hand free from the grip that held it. His mind had been sobered by panic and he wanted nothing more than to stop the crazy train and get off, it didn’t matter what station they were at. Jeremy realized, as he fell, that he had never truly expected his plan to work. Certainly not to the extent it was. A conversation maybe, some cryptic clues a possibility. But being sucked beneath the earth and left to fall, that was too much.

  The ground had softened around Jeremy’s feet. The way it had done when the creatures rose and attacked them. As he sank, as he fell, Jeremy was still keenly aware of the pressure that weighed down on him. The worry of being buried, of solid ground crushing him. His chest was tight, his body hurt as the pressure continued to increase.

  Just as Jeremy thought he would not be able to take it anymore, the pressure eased. Sensation returned to his body, starting with a warm tingle in his fingertips. It spread through his whole body. The temperature increased until it was like standing in an oven. Only, Jeremy didn’t sweat. The pressure around him disappeared, as did the feeling of solidity that had encapsulated him. A wind struck up and Jeremy dropped the final short distance to the ground. He landed in a heap. Blind to his descent he had no way to brace himself.

  While Jeremy had managed to keep his eyes firmly closed, he was not truly blind to his new location. His remaining senses were heightened to an extreme. The smells of his new reality exploded in his brain. Fragrances unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Unlike anything he would experience again. This aroma was accompanied by all manner of sounds that sang in Jeremy’s head like an angel’s melody. His skin tingled with an overload of sensation that caused his body to tingle; it washed over him in waves that brought him the greatest pleasure and an indescribable agony. Jeremy understood how people who gazed into a world such as this could not cope with the knowledge of the things they saw, and it reaffirmed his determination to keep his eyes closed.

  “Take me there, Simon,” he said, feeling the hand that held his squeeze him, as if calling his attention back to the task at hand, stopping him from floating away to live forever in such a wonderful state. “He must be stopped.” The words sounded foreign to Jeremy’s ears, but he knew what he had said, and knew that Simon understood him. Together they moved, Simon in the lead, and for the first time in his life, Jeremy was content to follow.

  They walked on what felt like a steadily graded slope, sinking deeper into the earth. Further into the new level of existence.

  The surface they walked on was smooth and warm. Nothing tried to stop them, even though Jeremy was sure they were not alone. He could feel the eyes burning into him, the whispers of his intrusion were being spread.

  After a time, their descent stopped. The ground levelled off beneath them and then began to rise. Slowly, they made the climb back up toward Jeremy’s reality. The sounds and smells that had filled Jeremy with such a sense of completeness fell away. They stopped walking and when Simon released his grip on Jeremy’s hand, all connection with the other world was lost. It fell away and silence reigned. Jeremy felt a great sense of loss in his stom
ach, a sense that something had been removed, and without it, he would never be whole again. Left with only the memories of what he had experienced, Jeremy mourned, for he knew these would be the memories that would last, but would also be the ones to haunt him as they eventually faded from his aged mind.

  Jeremy was afraid of opening his eyes, not because of what he might see, but because of what he knew he would not. He could feel Simon’s presence beside him. It steeled his resolve. Jeremy braced himself for the skinless sight he had been introduced to in his dream. He counted to ten and opened his eyes.

  Having had his eyes closed for so long, Jeremy’s vision was blurred, and it took several moments of blinking before he could make out his location.

  Simon stood beside him. His body was broken and bruised, but it was the colour of healing. His skin was, for the most part, intact. The only thing that was missing were his legs. However, it was neither splintered poles, nor flesh-covered wooden stumps that held Simon upright, but rather fully functioning prosthetic limbs that looked to be a combination of machine and flesh.

  “I’m sorry,” Jeremy said.

  “Don’t be,” Simon answered him. “I am one of them now. I was rescued. They healed me, and accepted me as one of their own.” Simon spoke differently. His voice had changed. He smiled at Jeremy before embracing him in a tight hold.

  “I don’t understand any of this, Si.” Jeremy looked at his friend.

  “You will,” Simon answered, breaking their embrace. “I didn’t either when I first arrived, when I first learned the truth.”

  “Are we here?” Jeremy asked, looking around. They were in a long corridor with brick walls that went back the way they had come until the shadows consumed them. They were wet, and glistened with damp.

  “Almost. You just need to go through that door over there.” Simon stepped back and pointed to a door on the opposite side of the tunnel.