Darlington Woods

by Mike Dellosso

  Occasionally a cloud would drift by the moon, partially veiling it and diffusing its light. The old woman tried to imagine it was the eye of God, watching her as it watches even the smallest sparrow, but instead she kept seeing the eye of the pale one, studying her, searching for any weakness, any vulnerability. With a shudder, she drew in a deep breath and lay prone on the bricks. They were damp from dew and cooler than last time, but she didn't care. She'd been awakened from a sound sleep by a voice in her head. His voice. Abba's. Urging her to pray for the man. He was at a crossroads.

  Evil was all around him.

  She knew the child would be praying too. That's why she'd compelled her to go.

  She lay still, unmoving, quiet. Just listening for His voice, for direction, for comfort. The world was too busy; no one took time to listen to Him anymore.

  Listening, focusing, meditating, she heard it again. This time, This kind can only be defeated with prayer and fasting.

  Of course, prayer and fasting. She would pray more, every waking hour, every thought bathed in prayer. And she would fast.

  "Abba, give me strength. Be my strength."

  My grace is sufficient.

  "Protect him now. He faces the evil. Rescue him from the evil one." A thought occurred to her then. "Send the child. Lead her to him. Spur her to action."

  Again, she felt as though she were one with the man, feeling his pain, his fear. And such pain it was. The pain of loss and regret and grief and great sadness. And fear. Oh, such fear. She trembled and shivered. How could he bear to live with such fear?

  She cried out, "Abba, strengthen him." Tears flowed from her eyes and spilled onto the bricks. She didn't bother to wipe them away. "Strengthen him. Take him in Your arms and hold him. He needs a father. He needs You, Father."

  The voice was silent. The outdoors were silent. The old woman rolled over onto her back, breathing hard, and looked up at the sky. The moon was silent too. But it watched, watched. Its glare pinned her to the patio and held her there. Studying her like an insect under a microscope. Dissecting her soul.

  Finally she could take no more of it and rose and went inside. There she collapsed on her bed and let the sobs come.

  Jimmy stood still, shoulders drooped, head slightly cocked to the right. He was wearing his G.I. Joe shirt and camouflage shorts. Both were crusted with dirt, as were Jimmy's bare knees.

  Rob's heart felt like a brick in his chest. A knot the size of a baseball formed in his throat. Tears leaked freely from his eyes. Still on his knees, he faced his son and opened his arms. "Jimmy. Come here, buddy."

  But Jimmy didn't move. He watched Rob through cautious eyes, holding his ground and not moving. His arms hung limp at his sides.

  Rob stood and climbed out of the hole he had been digging and lowered himself to one knee. He had no idea what Jimmy had been through, so he didn't want to rush his son and scoop him up in his arms just yet. But he had to use every ounce of self-control in his body to refrain. Jimmy was no more than twenty feet away, and Rob could be there in six easy steps. He could hold his son close again. But he would take it slow.

  "Jimmy," he said, stretching out his arms. "Come here, son. Come to Daddy."

  Rob looked at his hands and saw how dirty they were, how dirty he was. He realized what he must look like, caked with dirt, climbing out of a grave. No wonder Jimmy was keeping his distance.

  "It's OK, Jimmy. Really. I love you so much. Please come to me. You're OK now."

  But Jimmy still said nothing and made no move toward Rob.

  Rob moved a little closer, slowly so as not to appear threatening.

  "We'll be all right now, buddy. You and me. Everything's gonna be fine. Come on, let's go home."

  Jimmy's right hand twitched, and he lifted it to scratch his head. He winced and looked at his hand as if it pained him. He then held it palm up for Rob to see.

  "What happened, pal? Hurt your hand?" He stood and took one step closer to Jimmy.

  Jimmy responded not by running for his dad or advancing a step toward Rob but by taking a stride of equal length back ward. He blinked, opened his mouth as if to say something, but then clamped it shut again.

  Rob was tempted right then to run for Jimmy, take him in his arms, and hold him close. Yes, the boy might try to run, but Rob was faster. Yes, he may even struggle, but he'd be in his daddy's arms. Yes, Jimmy might be frightened, but being out here alone in these woods with those demon creatures had to be scarier.

  Shifting his weight forward, setting his mind on what he had to do, Rob initiated the first step but was frozen by a familiar voice: "That's a step in the wrong direction, Rob."

  Rob swung his head to the right and saw Juli standing not thirty feet away. She stood directly under a moonbeam as it parted the canopy and reached for the forest floor. It glistened around the crown of her head like a halo.

  "Juli. What are you doing?" He glanced at Jimmy and noticed his son's eyes had widened and were shifting between Rob and Juli. There was something about Jimmy's eyes that didn't look quite right.

  "Playing superhero. I left my cape at home, though."

  Rob pointed at Jimmy. "Look, I found him."

  Juli had Rob's flashlight in one hand. It was turned off, and she now pointed it at Jimmy. "Don't go over there, Rob. Please."

  More tears flowed from Rob's eyes. "But Juli. Look, I found him. He's so scared."

  Jimmy eyed Juli like he was afraid of her then looked at Rob. "Daddy?"

  At the sound of that word Rob advanced two more steps and practically fell at Jimmy's feet.

  "Rob, don't. Please." Juli said. There was an edge of panic to her voice. "Go back. C'mon."

  "Why, Juli? It's Jimmy. My boy. He needs me."

  Jimmy was standing in the same place. His feet hadn't moved, but now he reached his little arms toward Rob. The distance between them seemed only a matter of feet now. A span Rob could cover in less than a second. He reached for Jimmy, and their fingers almost touched.

  "Tell me why I shouldn't, Juli," Rob said. His heart told him to close the gap between him and his son, wrap Jimmy in his arms, breathe in the familiar smell of sweat and tears, and end all this now. But something else urged him to heed Juli's warning. She hadn't lied to him once yet, nor had she been proven wrong about anything.

  Juli hesitated, then turned on the light, keeping it directed at the ground. Jimmy flinched.

  "Because," Juli said, "that's not your son."

  Rob's mouth went as dry as Death Valley. A buzz spread out across his skin. Not your son. The words throbbed in his ears. He wanted to reject them, push them away, defiantly refuse to believe, but for some reason he couldn't. It was as if he'd known all along.

  He took an almost imperceptible step backward.

  Jimmy lifted his head, and Rob almost vomited right there in the woods. His son's eyes were as black and lifeless as oil.

  Juli was saying something, but Rob wasn't paying attention. Suddenly his hands and feet burned hot, and fire spread across his scalp. He tried to swallow but couldn't. He tried to move but was paralyzed.

  The Jimmy-thing turned its head and in an instant morphed into a darkling. This was the first close look Rob had gotten of one. Its worm-colored skin was stretched tight over its entire body, like a burn victim's scarred flesh. It had no ears or nose, only holes where they should be, and its lips were thin and wide. Behind them were two rows of teeth like the teeth of a piranha. It stood only a little taller than Jimmy, not even five feet, but was mostly arms and legs with a short, sinewy torso. Its chest expanded and contracted with each rapid breath, the muscles beneath that tight skin moving like steel bands.

  Suddenly the thing snapped its head up and drilled Rob with a piercing scream.

  To his right, Juli let out a primal holler of her own and nailed the darkling with the light. It snorted angrily, spun around, and disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

  "Definitely not your son," Juli said, keeping the light moving along the perimete
r of the clearing.

  Rob's legs felt like bags of sand, and he would have collapsed if Juli wasn't right there to support him.

  She steadied him then let go. "You all right?"

  "Yeah. No." He was in a fog. His mind seemed to be stuck like dry gears. "That wasn't Jimmy."

  "Not unless your Jimmy is Eddie Munster's evil cousin." Juli retrieved Rob's light and handed it to him. "Here, light up the darkness."

  Rob flipped the light on and pointed it at a tree. All was quiet again in the forest-as if the whole incident with the darkling had never taken place. He looked at the hole he'd been digging. It was about two feet deep. Suddenly he felt foolish and naive.

  Juli must have noticed because she came to stand beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Gonna have to start calling you shovelhands." She was quiet for a moment, moving her light back and forth. "Anyone else would have done the same thing. You love your son."

  Rob pulled away from her hand and turned around, sweeping the light across trees and underbrush. They were out there, the darkling that mocked his son, along with his darkling friends; he could feel them, just on the other side of the light, watching, waiting. Panic seized him, and he had the urge to run screaming into the woods like some idiot on a warpath. He had the sudden feeling that he would never see Jimmy again. That all this looking and running around in the woods was nonsense, the manic obsession of a madman. But what if it wasn't nonsense? What if it wasn't madness? There was a seed of hope there, a pinpoint of light, and that was what would keep him looking. He realized he would never stop until he knew beyond a doubt that Jimmy was truly gone. And isn't that what a daddy should do?

  Something behind him moved in the woods. Leaves crunched. He swung around. Juli was about ten feet away now, facing him. She mouthed the words, Did you hear that?

  But before Rob had time to nod, several darklings exploded from the shadows, moving faster than Rob would have thought possible, and slammed Juli from behind, sending the flashlight sailing and her to the ground.

  PART FIVE

  Where light abides, fear cannot.

  -THE BOOK OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS

  Fourteen

  ULI HIT THE GROUND HARD WITH A SOLID THUD, THREE darklings on her back.

  Rob was frozen by fear and shock for an instant. One of the darklings on Juli's back reared its head, contracted its abdominals, and let loose with a piercing scream. The sound traveled right through Rob and knocked him back a step. He gathered himself and lunged forward.

  Something charged from his left. He flinched and dodged right, but he was too slow. A darkling hit him from the side, pushing him off course but not off his feet.

  Pain shot up his leg. Something was attached to it. He glanced down and saw a darkling clinging to his pants, its teeth buried in his calf. He shook his leg, lost his balance, and took a spill. Before he hit the ground, though, another darkling was on him, tearing at his shirt.

  Rob rolled in the leaves, trying to dislodge the darklings. The one at his torso groped at his shirt. A hand landed on his head and grabbed a fistful of hair. Rob's head was yanked back. More darklings piled on top of him, immobilizing him and pressing the air out of his lungs. He turned his head and found Juli, on her stomach, arms stretched behind her back, face contorted in pain.

  Rob tried to holler, tried to fight back, but any effort was futile. There were just too many darklings. They were coming out of the woods and into the clearing now in swarms, like bees from a hive. All of them with that same scarred skin and black eyes and piranha teeth.

  Juli was still prone, but now only one darkling perched on her back like a gargoyle, its eyes shifting around the clearing, as if challenging any of the others to dismount him from his prize. She lay still, and at first Rob thought the worst, but then he noticed her back rising and falling with rapid respirations.

  The burning in his calf was radiating up his leg like fire in his veins. With the darklings on him and his head still pulled back, it was difficult to breathe, and his neck was now throbbing.

  Slowly, like the movement of the tide, the darklings began to congregate around the outside of the clearing, forming a circle around the perimeter. They moved about impatiently, shifting their weight from foot to foot, twitching uncontrollably, snapping their jaws, clenching their fists.

  Four of the darklings held frayed ropes with a dog on the end of each, a makeshift leash. The dogs pulled and pawed at the ground, snarled and barked. Foam gathered at the corners of their mouth.

  When a circle was finally formed, Rob and Juli in the center, still pinned down, one of the larger darklings stepped forward and approached Rob. Squatting on its haunches, it leaned forward so its face was only inches from his. Its black eyes were like bottomless pits, no life at all in them. They reminded Rob of a shark's eyes-emotionless, cold, dead, and full of hate. The thing opened its mouth, revealing those knifelike teeth, and snapped its jaws shut. It contracted its abdominals and thoracic muscles several times, like a dog does before it vomits, then released a howling scream that lasted several seconds and smelled of decayed meat.

  Around them, the evil horde began to move about, and a rumble of whispery sounds spread through the gathering. The dogs had settled down some and now paced in front of their masters. The darkling in front of Rob snapped its jaws again at him, stood, and walked to the center of the clearing. There it arched its back, threw back its head, and screamed again.

  On one end of the clearing the line of darklings separated, and the rumbling among them increased. Several of them let loose with involuntary outbursts of screaming. Beyond the reach of the moon's light, there was commotion in the woods, leaves rustling and branches breaking. A tree shook. Something was coming.

  From the dark shadows, three darklings emerged, snapping their jaws and twitching reflexively. Behind them a larger figure followed, flanked by several more darklings on each side and several from behind. It was a man, staggering, struggling to stay on his feet.

  When a ray of moonlight fell on the man, Rob's heart stilled in his chest. He looked at Juli, and their eyes met. He didn't know what she saw in his, but in hers there was obvious fear.

  The man was Asher Wiggins.

  The darklings pushed and pulled Asher into the center of the clearing. Their nimble movements were both graceful and grotesque.

  Rob and Juli were on either side of Asher now, each about ten feet away. Asher's head was bowed, his shoulders slumped. When he came to a halt, his knees buckled, and he almost went down. He wobbled and swayed as if he were either extremely weak or extremely drunk. Rob doubted it was the latter.

  Darklings danced around Asher, taunting him and nipping at him with their mouths. They were like sharks circling their prey, breathing in the scent of his blood, relishing their imminent feast.

  The whole scene made Rob's stomach churn. The darkling on his back continued its grip on his hair, holding his head back. There was an evil electricity in the air, an anticipation of what was about to take place. Rob didn't know what it was, but he had a good idea and hoped to God he would be able to avoid watching.

  Finally, the larger darkling broke from the crowd again and approached Asher. It breathed heavily and wasted no time getting to the center of the clearing. Circling Asher, it clenched its fists and snapped its jaw over and over again. Rob wanted to cry out; he was already sickened by this grisly scenario. The big darkling walked around behind Asher, reared back its right arm, and brought it down hard on the back of Asher's knees. Asher yelped, his legs buckled, and he dropped to the ground, kneeling.

  Now he was on the same level as his captors.

  The big darkling continued circling Asher, eyeing him hungrily.

  Asher turned his head and made eye contact with Rob. Surprisingly, Rob found no fear in his eyes, only sadness and fatigue. He wanted to reach out to Asher and take the older man's hand, extend to him one last touch of hope and love.

  At one point, the big darkling stopped in front of Asher, positioned
its face so close to Asher's their noses almost touched, and let out a sound that sounded more like a hawk's screech than a woman's scream.

  The horde of darklings around the perimeter grumbled and muttered their approval. The excitement in the circle was clearly building, racing from one darkling to the next.

  The big one continued its circling and finally stopped directly behind Asher. It lifted its arm and, with those bony, elongated fingers, took hold of Asher's hair and jerked his head back so the soft skin of his neck below where the beard ended was exposed.

  Asher winced and hollered in pain. He was breathing hard through clenched teeth now. He moved his good eye to the extreme right and found Rob. "Robert," he yelled, his voice strained and high-pitched. "You shine your light."

  The circle fell silent. Not a darkling moved or snapped its jaws. Not a one twitched or shifted its weight. They were frozen with expectation, stilled by unholy eagerness.

  Rob's nerves were overstretched bands ready to snap. He shut his eyes tight. When he opened them again, what he saw happened faster than his mind could register it. The big darkling threw its head forward and sunk its teeth into Asher's neck. As if the cue had been given, the rest of the darklings and their demon dogs came to life and rushed the chilling scene unfolding in the center of the clearing. They tackled Asher as one and engaged in a feeding frenzy matched only by a school of piranha.

  The darkling on Rob's back released its grip on his hair and joined the vicious bash.

  Rob let his head fall to the ground and promptly vomited.

  Then, from across the clearing, he heard Juli scream.

  The air was ripe with fear, saturated with it. Like a sponge fully waterlogged. And the odor was intoxicating. He had no need to join in the feeding. Let the underlings have their fill. His hunger was reserved for Shields.

  It had to happen soon, though. He couldn't control his desire much longer. It was a wild lust, a craving that was almost at full maturity.