by Richard Lee
“Oh, my god,” she screamed. A few more grunts, then, “I have the book.” Her voice was strained and her breathing was hard.
Peter stopped.
She smiled at him and bit her bottom lip.
“You have my book?”
Terry nodded.
“You signed?”
“Yep,” she said and held up her right index finger.
He hadn’t noticed the plaster until now.
“It’ll bring you everything you want,” he said, pulling out of her.
“This is your last night,” she said, reaching for his erect member. She stroked him and whispered, “No need to stop.”
So he did meet the new owner after all. And he didn’t like her. He wasn’t quite sure why, just knew he didn’t. And suddenly he realized there was a way to return, there was a hole in the loop. It came to him with such clarity he started to laugh.
“Roll over,” he demanded.
She did as commanded.
Entering her, he pushed her head into the covers. He held her cheeks open to thrust in deeper. She started thrusting against him. Peter stretched out his arm to the bedside tale. The drawer slid open quietly. The dagger flew into his hand.
“I can’t wait until I get the altar built,” she said. “I’ll control the fucking world.”
“The book was never made for that.”
“That’s my wish. Total power over everything.”
“That’s fucked up thinking,” he said, pulling out of her. “Get your head down,” he ordered. She did. He stared at her tight ass. He held the dagger in his right hand, the writing glowing brighter than ever before. “You had better read the book all the way through.”
“Why?” she asked.
He rammed his penis hard into her ass. She screamed, rising from the waist up. He grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. He looked into Terry’s pain stricken face and smiled. “I don’t know why,” he said and drew the dagger across her slender neck.
The blood sprayed out, covering the bed and wall. She struggled against him with what little strength remained, but he held her firm. He pumped into her ass. The feeling of ejaculation was strong now.
In the dead language he said, “The book is mine and it will always be mine. My wish is to return when blood is spilled on my dagger.”
He raised the dagger over his head and chanted “re-entry” over and over. It was not a chant he’d learned from the book. The book didn’t have a way to return. But this seemed right. The book and dagger had the power and he had the wish.
He chanted until Terry’s body grew limp. She was barely breathing. He aimed for the heart and plunged the dagger to the hilt. She arched against him at the same moment he came.
Expelling his load inside her, he pulled out the dagger and let her body drop to the bed.
“Give me my wish!” he screamed and plunged the dagger into his chest.
He screamed against the pain and pushed the dagger to the hilt. When he could bear it no longer, he pulled the dagger out. Harsh white light erupted from the gash in his chest. He fell against the backboard. The light filled the room.
Peter was scared. What was waiting for him? Meph-Man existed, he knew for a fact. Black magic was real, as was white. All magic was real. Was Hell real? He had to assume it was, after all that was his final destination.
He feared what was waiting for him down there. All the people he had killed for his own gains and pleasure. Were they waiting for him? It was possible.
Terry looked more beautiful in death. It had been a good thing Trudy couldn’t commit to tonight. If she had serviced him, he might not have this hope of returning. But how long would he have to wait for someone to spill his or her blood on his dagger?
The white light was fading. Peter felt no different. He didn’t feel sleepy or anything. They had lied to him about death. He was alert and conscious of his actions. His sight was blurry, like he was looking through a foggy glass window.
Suddenly bars covered his vision. Thousands of thin straight lines crossed over each other hundreds of times. Blackness surrounded him. The foggy glass darkened and he realized where he was. He was in the dagger. He was in the hilt where all those killed by the dagger went.
He was here. In complete darkness. And he started waiting. Waiting for his dagger to be found. Waiting for blood to touch his dagger. Waiting to return.
Behind him he heard sounds. Scurrying noises as if someone were dragging his or her feet slowly.
Other sounds joined. Voices breathing deeply and whispers of words he didn’t recognize. Faces came into view. Over thirty of them showed in a line. All lives he had taken. All the wishes he had ever asked for and received.
Terry was there also. Her naked body dripped blood from her sliced-open neck.
They all stared at him with cold hatred, but none came too close. Peter had become their master. In this darkness he would never be alone, never be safe. Here they could probably hurt him, cause him pain. Most likely they didn’t realize it yet. But soon, soon they would know it.
“Fuck,” Peter muttered.
Chapter Fourteen
Area City 2368
Eric jumped to his feet and went to the living room. He saw Josh hunting through drawers. The commotion in the other room stopped and silence dropped on them like a blanket.
Josh said, “I’m looking for the cables or whatever for this.” He pointed at the laptop computer.
Eric shook his head, no. He pointed at the doorway.
“Just a minute.”
Eric shook his head a second time and firmly grabbed Josh’s arm.
Josh snatched up the laptop computer.
The sofa struck both of them, bowling them to the floor. The easy chair followed. It landed on top of the upside down sofa. It teetered on the edge. Josh kicked his feet up and forced it in the opposite direction.
Eric pulled his team-mate up as the room started shaking.
The fridge crashed into the counter. Its freezer door snapped open. Ice cubes flew out at them.
Eric covered his head the best he could against the painful assault. But Josh protected the computer. He held it against his stomach and took the ice cube assault.
In the hallway the walls were ripping apart. Large chunks of plaster fell in front and behind them.
That’s when the sound came. The screaming of hundreds. It started as a loud hum, but quickly rose into a roar.
And Rachael, watching them, found her voice. “Run,” she yelled.
The screaming behind Josh and Eric rose in pitch. Individual screams could be made out, tormented wails of men and women in pain.
The hallway elongated. The elevator growing smaller as it seemed to shrink away.
“JUMP!” Rachael screamed. She stood at the entrance. Only her head and shoulders showed, but her voice boomed.
“Help us, please,” someone screamed from the bedroom. “He won’t let us go.”
“DON’T TURN,” Rachael yelled at Josh, who had stopped running. Their eyes locked for a second and he nodded, obeying his leader.
The two ran with all their speed and jumped. They both landed on their sides and slid into the elevator as the doors shut. Rachael jumped out of the way as they fell to the floor.
Josh still clutched the computer. His eyes were black and swelling. The left side of Eric’s head was covered with blood and Rachael saw something sticking out of his bloodied back.
“Don’t move,” she said to him, forgetting he couldn’t hear her.
Rachael saw Josh’s expression change when he saw what she saw. Eric started to move, but Josh held out a hand to still him.
The elevator rocked hard. The sudden violent movement threw both Rachael and Josh off balance. Stumbling for a hold, Rachael’s hand fell on the control buttons. Her finger pushes B. She realized the error and quickly pushed 1 as the elevator started wobbling downward.
With the unsteady movement, Josh managed to grab the protruding piece of wood, most likely from t
he bed, and quickly and smoothly yanked it out.
Eric screamed—vocally.
They all heard it.
Josh pulled off his shirt and held it against the bleeding wound.
The elevator doors opened to reveal Zone Three. Desert sand was everywhere. A long way off in the distance, they could just make out the shape of Eric’s cruiser. The chrome bumpers reflected the sunlight in beams of stars.
Rachael and Josh helped Eric to his feet. She put the video camera in her carry bag, while at the same time trying to swing Eric’s arm around her shoulder. He pushed them away and walked onto the hot sand by himself. His steps were shaky. Ami helped Penny. The girl stared straight into nothingness.
Still, Rachael felt that presence, the darkness around her. She could still see the elevator and for some unknown reason, she wanted to go back inside and travel to the basement and hopefully find a way inside. And for that same unknown reason, she felt sure the door would be open this time.
“Because I have the dagger,” she whispered.
“Sorry, Rachael,” Ami said, “I didn’t catch that.”
The temptation to leave was strong, but she fought it. Her friends needed her and she needed them. She watched the elevator slowly fade until it vanished.
“I’m worried about Penny.”
Ami brushed the girl’s hair from her face. There was no reaction from Penny. It was as if she hadn’t even noticed and didn’t realize she was back in her own time zone.
Rachael saw a trickle of blood running down her leg.
“I wish we had something to clean her up with,” Ami said.
“There’s some old towels and a bottle of filtered water in the cruiser,” Josh said. “Eric won’t mind if we use that.” He glanced at Eric for conformation, but his face was twisted in pain and the guy looked ready to pass out.
“I wonder how long it will take for her to snap out of it.” Rachael put her arm around Penny’s shoulders. “Poor girl,” she said.
“Poor girl? Snap out of it?” Josh said. “What’s wrong with you, Rachael?” His voice rose in anger and fear. “We all suffered in there! Michael’s dead and all you can say is poor girl?”
“Josh,” Ami said. She stood between the two of them. “That’s not fair, and you know it.”
Josh was fuming. His face was bright red the likes they had never seen before. His hands were balled into fists at his side, but his eyes burned the hottest fury.
“Penny was attacked. Look at her, damn it! And you wonder when she’s going to snap out of it?” He clicked his fingers. “As easy as that, huh?”
Tears started rolling down Rachael’s cheeks. She didn’t outwardly sob, but inside she felt the full force of blame.
“It touched me too,” she screamed at him. Her voice broke on the last word despite her efforts to keep her voice sounding normal.
“I guess you’re too strong”, Josh said. His voice showed the true meaning of his words. “That’s why you’re our leader.”
“Stop it,” Ami said.
What we need to do, Eric said suddenly in a weak voice, is regroup. No one has forgotten that we’re a team. Right? He looked at each in turn before continuing. Michael is gone and Penny... Well, I guess Penny will get better. We need to contact the professor and then the authorities. But, he added, not before we get our story straight.
Josh looked at him strangely. “Eric, I don’t think we need to rehearse what happened.”
And that’s where you’re wrong, my friend.
“I don’t get it,” Ami said to Josh. “We’re going to tell the truth, right?”
Josh smiled. “Actually, who would believe the truth? Would you?”
Ami looked at the ground and said softly, “No, not in a million years.”
“The professor would,” Rachael said.
I agree, Eric added. The professor knows us. He’s the only person we can show the video and he is also possibly the only person who can help us find an answer to what happened.
“Let’s go to the professor first. Let’s go now,” Ami said.
“What about Penny?”
“The professor can help her, Rachael.”
“Here’s what we should do,” Josh said, and then added, “if Rachael agrees...” He gave a short lived sneer, appearing to have calmed down, slightly. “We make up a story that will explain Michael’s disappearance.”
That’s easy, Eric said. He and Rachael had a fight on the way to the dig and he got out of the car before we hit the highway.
“Works for me,” Rachael said.
“What about Penny?” Ami asked.
Josh clutched the computer with both hands. He put it against the back of his head like a pillow and looked up into the bright blue sky. He closed his eyes in thought. The others remained silent. After awhile, Josh said, “That’s going to be the hard part.”
“We can always say that we don’t know,” Rachael said.
“She wasn’t with the rest of us and saw something that made her scream,” Ami added.
We rushed to find out what had happened, Eric said.
“Something in Zone Three had attacked her.”
“Some kind of animal. We saw it running off in the distance. It was very fast. We couldn’t see what it looked like.”
“She was lying on the ground when we found her.”
“Her dress had been ripped and she was bleeding.”
Eric stood in front of Penny. As fast as he dared he tore her dress the best he could. Her short skirt now had four rips from the bottom up.
Eric finished their story: And we rushed back as fast as we could.
“It could work,” Rachael said. Her tears had stopped and she was as dry eyed as the others.
Eric’s eyelids fluttered, then suddenly he dropped to the ground.
Rachael was at his side instantly. She called his name, but he didn’t answer. Josh rolled Eric onto his side. His back was covered with blood.
“We need to get him to the cruiser. There’s a medic kit in the glove box,” Rachael said. She took off her carry bag and told Ami to carry it and help Penny. Then she and Josh picked Eric up by the arms and got him to his feet.
Six fighter jets flew past them. They saw the jets before they heard the sound. One was trailing a lot of white smoke.
Slowly they moved towards the cruiser. It seemed to take forever to reach it. By the time they had, eight other groups of six fighter jets had flown overhead.
“Something’s up with the United Air Force,” Josh said. He took the full weight of Eric as Rachael opened the rear doors. She spread a blanket from the boot over the back seat and then got the medic kit from the glove box.
“Lie him face down on the back seat,” she said.
Josh nodded and followed her orders. He was having trouble getting in the back with Eric until Ami helped by lifting Eric’s legs.
Penny stared absently at the scene.
Rachael lifted Eric’s shirt and rolled it up to his shoulders. The wound was horrendous. The skin had peeled back from the hole, leaving a wide open gash. She used the already bloodied shirt of Josh’s to wipe away the excess blood. His skin color had faded, looking very pale. His face was creamy-white from loss of blood.
Making the story must have taken everything out of him, Rachael thought.
From the medic kit she removed the Closer 2300 and Cleaner 1580. She used the Cleaner first. Using her fingers, she forced open Eric’s wound and shot a short spray of antiseptic into it. It created foam inside the wound and it bubbled to the outside edges. Rachael waited a few moments before wiping away the excess with Josh’s shirt. It took three minutes to close the wound with the red laser.
“What do we do now?” Josh asked.
“Now we wait,” Rachael said. “This cruiser is pre-programmed for Eric’s D.N.A signature only.”
Eric awoke four hours later. He seemed fine, except he was a little woozy from the operation. He started the cruiser and managed to get them to the checkpoint saf
ely.
Rachael and Josh had gone to great effort to hide the video camera, digital camera and her dagger, only to find the checkpoint empty. The red beam was visible in the gathering darkness. The guard box was empty, yet the light burned brightly inside.
“Where are they?” Ami wondered aloud.
Rachael opened her door. “I’ll check,” she said.
“No way,” Josh said. “Let’s just go.”
“We have to be scanned through. It’s impossible to turn off the light.” She looked at Eric for help, but he stared forward, pretending to ignore them. “Look,” Rachael said. “There must be someone around. We can’t drive through it.”
“Can we go around it?” Ami asked. She had opened her door also, ready to follow Rachael.
The question brought Rachael back into the cruiser.
“I didn’t think of that,” she said.
“The planes,” Penny said. Her voice was soft and sounded sleepy. She still stared straight ahead at nothing.
“Oh, my god,” Ami said. She grabbed Penny’s hand closest to her. “You’re all right. We were so worried.”
Penny didn’t respond.
“Penny? Penny?” Ami shook her hand, then her shoulders. “Penny, speak to us.”
“It’s no use,” Josh said.
“She’s someplace else, Ami.”
“But, Rach, she just spoke to us.” Tears ran down Ami’s cheeks. “We all heard her.”
“What we heard was possibly just a lapse in wherever she is.” Rachael’s voice was calm and soothing. “We’ll get her to a doctor as fast as possible. And,” she added almost as an afterthought, “that means you too, Eric, oh silent one.” Rachael smiled. He glanced at her, but his face was expressionless.
“I have a question,” Josh said.
I have so many also, Rachael thought, but said, “What is it?”
“Where are the vehicles and tents?”
In the dimming light of dusk, they could see the road ahead and the side. All was clear. All the army trucks and tents were gone. Not a sign they had ever been there, except for the guard box they had been parked next to.
“I don’t know,” Rachael said.
All, except Eric and Penny, climbed out of the car. They formed a group around the front bumper of the cruiser. The three of them stared out at the empty highway. Slowly they walked around the back of the guard box. Desert sand faced them.
