Floating Ink

by James Livingood

CHAPTER FOUR

  Howling

  Ruth studied the book near a cliff face. She decided that it would be best to hear the echo of anything coming, plus having her back against stone made her feel more comfortable. She watched the pages trying to decipher their meaning. The book was filled with almost words, but they looked wrong. She was no code breaker, but she thought she could read it if she stared long enough.

  Slowly, the book’s writing became clearer. The text looked like it was written from a mirror, being backwards. Beyond that, it seemed like the text was larger on the sides of a word, instead of the middle, as if the text was originally inside a bubble. That got her reading individual words, but then she realized that the pages read from the bottom up. After figuring out all those oddities, Ruth was able to start truly reading and understanding the book.

  The book began with talking about the death of a small town. A disease had spread to their colony shortly after ‘strange creatures’ came through. While most people had quick deaths, some had out-of-body experiences. After having these out-of-body experiences, they began to see reality bubbles. These small peeks into other worlds appeared to be based on how likely things were to happen. If a bubble was large and easy to see through, it meant that the other side was somewhat likely. If a bubble was small and faded, it meant that the reality on the other side was difficult to pierce.

  The people that survived looked for the ‘strange creatures’ that had brought pestilence and suffering to their small town. Furthermore, they wanted answers to why they saw these bubbles. While they found these creatures again, the creatures did not speak English. They were left to surmise that the creatures came from outside this dimension. Interacting with people from this world meant that they accidentally pushed or nudged a person to the border of this dimension. The book mentioned that normal humans are not within “arms reach” of the dimensional wall. However, something that these strange creatures did push people against that wall as they passed. That led to the human brain compensating in the form of “bubbles”. What these creatures wanted, or were doing, wasn’t clear. One thing was clear, and that was the mechanics of how these bubbles could be used.

  Ruth was about to dig into this next section of the book when she heard a howl. It sounded like a coyote, but with a wetter sound at the end. The worst part was that is sounded close. She began to hear a rumble of thunder in the distance that shook the very ground. Ruth didn’t want to find out whatever was nearby. She continued forward into the canyon to find a better hiding spot. Hopefully, whatever was nearby would leave her alone.

  The further she traveled the thinner the grass got. Sagebrush and shrubs began to line the ground. The trees were small and had twisted trunks. It was as if this part of the land had not seen a drop of rain in a long time. She continued looking for some kind of rock outcropping. Perhaps she should stop and watch to see if the howling was after her or not. Unfortunately for Ruth, the canyon began to open up into a wild field. If something was after her, it would certainly see her in this area. She scanned around but didn’t see any creatures. She decided it would be best to go out just a little ways, with a rock in hand, to see what exactly was howling. Perhaps it was just some coyote playing with its young.

  As she stepped out into the open field, she got a look at a light brown rock shifting up and down in the distance. It was clear that this thing was coming toward her, but she wasn’t able to determine how fast. She ran back to the relative safety of the canyon and tried to decide what her next course of action. If she stayed around, that beast would certainly be upon her. If she did leave, there was no telling what other things were around.

  She decided to wait just a bit longer until she could identify the beast that was howling and coming for her. She squinted at the boulder like thing, moving closer and realized it had horns. She thought it might be a goat or some kind of cow. She continued looking at it, watching as the sun reflected off the skin as if the surface was slick or wet. As she continued to look, a black blur jumped from a rock and collided with the boulder like thing. The black blur pushed the creature aside, and they both disappeared in a moment. Ruth then heard a loud pained roar that was silenced half way through. Ruth did not want to find out what that black blur was, so she decided that flight was better than fight. She fled away from the canyon walls and looked for some kind of protection or safety.

  It was an odd thing to wish for howling, but it was just the wind now. No birds, no other animals; just the wind blowing slightly. She didn’t feel relaxed by the calm atmosphere. Whatever that howling beast was, it was running from something. Ruth wondered if the black blur had eaten its fill and would no longer come for her. Perhaps, though, it was something that was out just to kill for sport. If that were the case, she wouldn’t make very good sport.

  Ruth looked out from a gnarled shrub. Her eyes flicked left and right, trying to determine some kind of motion. She heard a flick from a tree behind her and then was thrown to the ground. When she turned around to see what had pushed her to the ground, expecting a snapping black beast, she saw nothing. She began to scramble backward and looked for a solid place to duck into.

  As she started to turn around, she discovered a ink blot creature a few inches from her face. It had tracked her down and did not appear in a pleasant mood. It was as if the creature was daring her to fight back and it would then respond in kind. When the floating ink blot didn’t move, Ruth stared it down, trying to determine its purpose. She soon gave that up, as staring contests are meaningless to a creature with no eyes.

  A sound then activated from inside the ink blot. It was a sound that Ruth had heard before in the alley. “Caretaker? Why are you here?”

  Ruth scrunched her eyes together and tilted her head. “Aren’t you here looking for me?”

  “You?” said the ink blot, “No. I am eradicating a potential threat to balance.”

  “So… I can go on my way?” Ruth asked.

  The ink blot began to emit a high frequency. Ruth felt waves of nauseous stomach flipping before the world faded out via twinkling lights.

  “No,” said the ink blot as it started to float away.