Demon Lights

by Michael M. Hughes

  A few seconds later Ray heard the voice he’d been dreading. It sent icy chills down his spine.

  “Are our guests here?” Lily’s voice came through the radio.

  “Yes,” he replied.

  “Splendid,” Lily said. “Leave two of your boys to guard the door. Bring our visitors down. Their timing is impeccable.”

  Ray blinked. For a moment it had looked as if the man with the radio had black worms and enormous leeches swarming his face and hands. “Take off your coats and keep your hands up,” he said. They followed his order, and the cold became unbearable. He waved to one of the other guards. “Get the plastic cuffs,” he said, and his underling jogged back to their vehicle.

  Ray looked at Mantu. His friend’s good eye was darting about, but he could sense his despair. Four guns were pointed at them. If they made a move they’d be cut down in seconds.

  The underling reappeared holding a pile of white plastic handcuffs. He frisked each of them, carefully removing the grenades and their knives. And then the leader opened the door.

  Ray felt the power of the artifact immediately. His eyes did little loops in their sockets and he thought he might faint. The guards didn’t seem affected at all.

  The head guard shoved him through the doors. The inside of the dome was mostly empty except for a few rumbling generators. The walls were see-through and the light from the vehicle outside splintered into rays through the glass panels. It looked like a mad disco. Dim light shone up through a hole in the ground. Wires and tubes ran from the generators across the broken ground and disappeared into it.

  “Are the children down there?” Ellen asked.

  The lead guard laughed. “Mother will explain everything to you.”

  “Mother,” Mantu muttered coldly. “I guess that makes you all a bunch of little fucking babies.”

  A rifle butt slammed against Mantu’s face. He staggered and groaned but managed to stay on his feet.

  “Keep quiet,” the lead guard spat. He nodded and one of the men shouldered his rifle, grabbed the ladder, and descended into the opening. “Now you. One at a time. Climb down or I’ll throw you down. Your choice.” His face was crisscrossed by the refracted beams of the headlights.

  Ray went last. When he stepped off the ladder he took a deep breath to steady himself. They were in a small rocky chamber. Ellen was shaking visibly but he didn’t dare reach out to her. The guard stood a few feet away, pointing a pistol in their direction, attentive to the tiniest move. A bright white utility light hung above them, casting angular shadows across the floor.

  The head guard descended and also drew his holstered handgun. He pulled back his hood. “Hands behind your backs,” he said. They had no choice but to comply as the other guard stepped behind them. The sharp plastic cuffs cut into Ray’s wrists and he winced. When Ellen cried out in pain he fought back the urge to lash out. They’d break his face. Or put a bullet in his head. Claire hissed through her teeth as her cuffs were fastened. She looked at him and he heard her voice inside his head. Be strong. And then: It’s not over.

  The worms were back, so many of them crawling over the lead guard’s face that his features were obscured. Swarming into and out of his mouth and eye sockets. He was infested. Ray caught the look of horror on Claire’s face. She saw them, too.

  Someone emerged from the darkness of the tunnel. A short, pudgy man in a corduroy jacket. His hair was mussed as if he’d been caught napping, and he clenched a pipe in his teeth. His eyes, behind his glasses, reminded Ray of Jeremy’s when he had been near the artifact—the same euphoric madness. He stopped in front of them, beaming, and pulled the pipe from his mouth. “The gang’s all here!”

  “Dr. Regardie,” Ellen said, her mouth curled in disgust.

  Ray looked at Mantu and nodded. It was him. The doctor who had sent the children to be executed and burned. Mantu’s knotted jaw looked like it was going to snap.

  Regardie ignored Ellen and his eyes locked onto Ray. “Ray Simon. I finally get to meet you after hearing so much about you.”

  “So you’re the man who murders children,” Ray said. No matter how this all ends, this man must die.

  The old man seemed truly shocked. “That was not my doing, Mr. Simon. I don’t call the shots around here.”

  “You just follow orders,” Ray said. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

  Ellen stepped forward. “Where’s my son?”

  Regardie slid his pipe into his jacket pocket. “Oh, he’s there.” He pointed down the tunnel. “But he’s a little preoccupied at the moment.” He rubbed his hands together. “Are you ready for the big show?” He didn’t wait for an answer but motioned for one of the guards to join him. “Follow me. Ray and Ellen first.”

  Ray followed down the stone corridor. Another shop light hung overhead. The guard behind Regardie kept his eyes and gun focused on Ray’s face, but his eyes remained cold and empty. God knew what Lily did to train these men to be such robotic mercenaries.

  And with each step he felt the artifact’s power growing. As before, and though he didn’t want it to be true, the power was weirdly and undeniably pleasurable.

  No. This power was evil. Worse—if Claire was right, it was annihilation. Extinction. It was trying to seduce him like it seduced Jeremy, and Malaika, and, of course, Lily.

  Regardie held out his hand for them to stop. He disappeared behind the slits of a thick, opaque plastic curtain.

  Ellen spoke quietly. “Stay away from the thing. Don’t go anywhere near it.”

  “Keep your eyes averted, too,” Claire whispered.

  “Shut up,” the head guard said.

  Regardie reappeared through the heavy strips of plastic. “She’s ready,” he said.

  —

  The artifact was near the back of a central chamber, illuminated by several spotlights. It was floating in a pool of the same shimmering liquid as the one near Eleusis. Around it, in a ring, stood nine children.

  Ray’s heart stuck in his throat. William was one of them, standing motionless, like the rest, his eyes slack and unfocused.

  And there she was.

  Ray had often wondered what he would do when he saw Lily again. He never doubted it would happen. He wasn’t much of a believer in fate, but somehow their destinies had been coiled around each other like a pair of snakes. She wore a flowing, deep red robe that reached the floor, just as he’d last seen her in Blackwater, as if she’d simply stepped offstage and was now back to reprise her role. Her alabaster face, framed by her bright red hair pulled back behind her neck, looked like it hadn’t aged at all, and her unnaturally large eyes burned with fiery excitement.

  He had fantasized about how he would jump on her and tear at her face with his hands and teeth, beating her to death with his fists. But now he stopped in his tracks and stared. He tried to unlock his eyes but couldn’t. She was doing it again, dragging him down, deep into herself, more powerful than ever and fueled by the reflective black sphere floating in its mercurial lake.

  Come to me, Ray, where you belong. That’s right. Come to Mother.

  Ellen kicked him. He blinked, then snapped back to his senses.

  When Lily spoke it was like a needle driven into his eardrums. “Ray and Ellen, together at last! And Mantu, the boy wonder—are you a pirate now? And who might you be, my dear?”

  “My name is Claire.”

  Lily moved closer. “Oh, my. A good witch! Welcome to the party, sister! You’re in good company.”

  Claire stared coldly.

  “And isn’t it amazing how everything fell into place? All of us, finally together. Almost as if by magic!”

  “What’s wrong with William?” Ellen asked.

  Lily turned. “There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s working very hard right now. Doctor, maybe you want to explain?”

  Regardie bowed. “Of course, Mother. William is not really here. The children are providing the energy required to open up the gateway between worlds.”

  “Batter
ies,” Claire said. “You’re using them as batteries.”

  “That’s an inelegant way to put it,” Lily said. “But not far off the mark.”

  “William,” Ray shouted, but the boy didn’t even flinch.

  Lily’s laugh was like the cackle of a rabid hyena. “He can’t hear you, Ray, so don’t waste your breath.” She motioned to the head guard. “Garen and Dr. Regardie, please bring some chairs for our guests. They’ve come a long way and I’m sure they’re exhausted. Let’s show them a little hospitality.”

  The doctor and the guard fetched four plastic chairs from the back of the chamber. “Sit,” Lily said. They all sat except for Mantu. Lily stepped toward him. “Come now, my one-eyed Mandingo. You’re not going to make me carve out the other one, are you?”

  For a moment Ray thought Mantu might lose his cool. But his friend stared for a moment then smiled ever-so-slightly and sat, his gaze never leaving Lily’s.

  “Doctor,” Lily said. “Begin with the offering.”

  Dr. Regardie moved into the shadows and returned with a large ceramic container carved with symbols. He strained as he set it down next to the artifact and removed the lid. “Now?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Lily said.

  Regardie muttered a quiet prayer and tilted the jar. Red liquid, thick and clotted, spilled into the silvery muck around the sphere. Ray didn’t need to ask what it was. It swirled around the reflective black surface, then began to bubble.

  “The children have been so kind with their donations,” Lily said. “This should be the perfect appetizer.”

  Ray couldn’t tear his eyes from the sphere. Beneath its brightly polished exterior, as the blood was sucked into its blackness, wisps of gray clouds emerged. They were morphing, coalescing into shapes, and for a moment he thought he saw hundreds of distorted faces in the shifting tendrils. Eager eyes. Hungry mouths.

  “Don’t look,” Ellen said.

  He turned to her and nodded. She was right. It was too easy to get pulled into it. Just like William had apparently been. And now more than ever he needed his wits about him. “What’s the point of all this?” he asked. “It’s going to kill you. You can’t control it. Don’t you remember what happened to Crawford?”

  Lily’s smile vanished. “I remember quite well what you did to him. Which is why I’ve been looking forward to making you pay.” She touched his cheek and he flinched at the sharpness of her nails. Her fingers were ice cold.

  “He’s right,” Claire said. “And you know it. That thing is antithetical to biological life. If you open up this portal, it will kill you and everyone else.”

  Lily stared at Claire then snorted. “You really do think you’re smart, don’t you, sister?” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Do you think our friends on the other side can just step through and do as they please? Would you move into a new neighborhood without getting to know the locals first? No. They want to get acquainted. That’s why I’m here.”

  Mantu laughed. “So you’re the welcome wagon?”

  She spun around. “One more joke and I’ll slice out your tongue.” She paused, then held a finger against her cheek and laughed. “I really would prefer to ditch this evil mastermind shtick. Don’t I sound like such a cliché? Can we just talk? Like, you know, BFFs?” She batted her eyes.

  Ray’s teeth clenched. He closed his eyes, then regretted it. Dark images swirled behind his eyelids. Creatures of many sorts—batlike, squirming worms, and insectoid—all embedded in some kind of Escher-on-acid matrix. He opened his eyes, blinking away the images. Too much longer and he’d end up like William.

  Lily paced, her red robe gliding across the stone floor. “Where was I? Oh, yes. Our friends on the other side need to get used to our world. They need bodies for a while, to learn how to operate. Although it might hurt a little at first, in the end you won’t remember a thing.”

  “This is death,” Claire shouted. “For all of us.”

  Lily screwed up her face. “You’re all so worried about this death thing. You, witch woman, should know better. We signed our own death warrant decades ago when we started filling the skies and seas with poisons. And look at what’s happening now that we’ve freed the masses from their shackles: cities in flames, cannibalism, a descent back into the brutality that was always there just beneath the surface. No, dear sister, the human experiment was over a long time ago.”

  “You’re fooling yourself,” Ray said. “I’ve seen what’s behind that thing. It won’t spare you.”

  Lily sighed and shook her head as if frustrated with a recalcitrant child. “I’m the liberator, Ray. This will be a cleansing, making way for a completely new world. So though you see me as a monster, I am actually a savior.”

  “You’re fucking insane,” Ray said.

  She laughed, loudly this time, that terrible nails-on-chalkboard cackle. “Silly boy. I had such high hopes for you,” she said. “So gifted, so adorable and earnest, and yet so blindingly stupid.”

  “He’s right,” Claire said.

  Lily paused. “Oh, how cute of you to take up for him. You like him, don’t you? Did you two fuck?” She feigned shock, her hands under her chin. “You did, didn’t you?”

  Claire’s face reddened.

  “Oh, Ellen. That must hurt. But you know how men are. Can’t trust them for five minutes around another woman. Especially a pretty witch like this one.”

  Ellen glared.

  “But then again, you had your fun with that hairy narco, now, didn’t you?”

  “Go fuck yourself, you ugly cunt,” Ellen said.

  Lily froze. She turned to Regardie. “Doctor, did I just hear what I thought I heard?”

  Regardie put the lid back on the container. His hands trembled like he was jacked up on amphetamines. He licked his lips and his eyes zigzagged erratically. “Yes, Mother.”

  “What did she call me?”

  Regardie swallowed. “She called you an ugly cunt,” he said.

  Lily pursed her lips. “Hmm. Do you think we should show her what this thing behind us can do?”

  Regardie smiled. “Oh, yes,” he said. His eyes gleamed beneath his glasses. “Show her, Mother.”

  “Yes,” Lily said. “Let’s give dear little Ellen a demonstration.”

  Ray’s body was electrified. He was poised to leap to his feet. Hands tied behind his back didn’t matter. He’d throw himself into her. He was sure Mantu would be right there with him. They would die, certainly, in a hail of gunfire or shoved into the poisonous pool. But he would not let her lay a finger on Ellen without trying to stop her. It was all over anyway. Dying sooner would just be a faster exit from this nightmare.

  He tensed, waiting for Lily to spring. And then he gasped.

  Lily shoved the doctor. Before the older man could respond he was flailing backward, his arms pinwheeling by his sides, his mouth and eyes wide. His feet slid out from under him and he fell into the iridescent pool.

  Lily started laughing.

  Regardie struggled in the chest-deep liquid. Silver-and-black rivulets ran down his face and he wiped furiously at his eyes. His mouth was open but no sound came out. He struggled to pull away but the artifact sucked him back.

  And then a blast of energy hit Ray. He felt like he had just rounded the top of a roller coaster and was plunging in free fall. What sounded like a million chattering insects reverberated in his skull. His body jerked against the chair. He heard Ellen wailing and Mantu unfurling a string of obscenities.

  Regardie was sucked against the black sphere, his arms pulled backward until it looked like they’d snap out of their sockets. He was being stretched across the spherical surface, his mouth open, tongue lolling from between his teeth.

  “Thank you for your service,” Lily said, saluting.

  And then he popped.

  Ray’s stomach lurched. The man had gone from a three-dimensional human to a lumpy slurry in a split second. The sphere was coated with what had once been the doctor but was now a sludge of clothin
g, liquefied bone, muscle, organ tissue, and skin. It swirled and eddied, bubbling and stretching. The remains of a leather shoe floated along the surface dragging a jawbone with a few yellow teeth embedded in it.

  And then what was left of the man melted into the black surface and disappeared. In a matter of seconds he had been completely absorbed.

  The insane chattering in Ray’s head stopped like a radio being switched off. It was then he realized he was screaming. Ellen was shaking uncontrollably, her eyes closed tight. Claire stared wide-eyed, her face ghastly white and uncomprehending. Mantu looked at him and Ray instantly understood his friend’s message: Do whatever it takes. We’re not letting that happen to us.

  Ray glanced back at the guard beside him. His face was stoic, but his eyes betrayed his shock. So these guys weren’t completely unflappable after all.

  Lily turned to him. “Who’s next?” She walked down the line and stopped in front of Ellen. “Would you like to call me an ugly cunt again?”

  Ellen kept her eyes closed. She was shaking so violently the plastic chair was rattling against the stone floor.

  The children hadn’t reacted at all. They were oblivious, lost inside themselves. Ray couldn’t imagine a child seeing what had just happened. The liquefaction of the doctor was even worse than Crawford’s transformation into a mantislike monster in Blackwater. Worse than the wicked, sharp-toothed phantoms conjured by Sabina in her dark hut.

  He popped. Like a blood-swollen tick.

  Lily shrugged. “Well, if no one wants to volunteer…” She extended a finger. “Eenie, meenie, miney—” Her finger stopped on Claire. Then she giggled into her hands. “Hey, I’m kidding. Relax, you guys! I think one demonstration is enough. And that would spoil the fun I’m going to have watching your faces when the real excitement begins.” She pulled up the sleeve of the robe and looked at her watch. “And luckily for all of you, the window for this working is beginning to open.”