Dark Side Darker

by Lucas T. Harmond

  “Sarah?”

  Silence for only a second and then—

  ‘Yes.’ A pause and then, ‘I’m here.’

  Josh wanted to say a thousand things but he found he could barely find any words.

  “Oh Jesus Sarah we’ve been so worried.”

  Again there was only silence.

  “Sarah?” He questioned softly.

  ‘I’m here,’ came the voice. ‘Where are we?’

  “A police man’s house. Oh Jesus, are you okay?”

  The reply was faint. ‘It’s dark here, Josh.’

  Josh grew frantic. He grasped her hand. “Are you awake? Can I help you?”

  For a while he thought that she would not answer.

  ‘Yes.’

  “How??” he blurted.

  ‘I need you to be with me.’

  “I am!”

  ‘No.’

  “What do you mean. Oh god what can I do?”

  There was a long silence.

  ‘I need you here. With me. Here.’

  Josh shook his head. “I don’t...”

  ‘The pill. Take it.’

  Josh froze. “The Blue?” he questioned.

  ‘Yes,’ came the voice. ‘Then we can be together. Oh Josh I’m so scared. There are things here, I can feel them touching me. Please.’

  In the dark Josh could see the light glowing from inside of the capsule clearly. He held it for a long time, hesitating and then finally he swallowed it.

  MEAT PUPPET

  KAREN WOKE WITH A START. At first she wasn’t sure what had awoken her. Then she realised the light was on in the kitchen. She lay there bleary-eyed. She was lying on the sofa, alone except for Rufus’ heavy snoring coming from somewhere in the room. He was lying curled up beneath some sheets near one of the other chairs. At first she had assumed it was him in the kitchen. Clearly it was not. “Ian?” she called. There was no answer. Karen was beginning to feel uneasy. “Josh?” And still nothing.

  There was a sound from within the kitchen, the sound of a drawer being slid open. A moment of silence and then the sound of something being removed.

  Karen sat up and was still deciding what to do when someone appeared at the door. They stood silhouetted from the light behind. There was the glint of something metal in their hand.

  “Josh,” Karen said anxiously, because it was clearly him. “What are you doing?”

  Without answering Josh walked slowly into the darkened room.

  Karen sensed something was wrong and jumped up just as Josh rushed at her, knife held high above his head.

  “Oh Jesus!!!” Karen shrieked and scrambled away. Josh tripped over her bedding, fell to the floor. Karen was backed up against the wall, screaming for Rufus to wake up.

  Josh was on the floor frantically searching for his lost knife.

  “Rufuuussss!!!” Karen screamed.

  His head lifted from the floor. “Huh? What? What!?”

  “Josh is trying to kill me!” she screamed.

  Rufus, still confused from being woken so suddenly, laughed. “What?” Then he looked over to Josh, and saw for himself. “Josh man, what the fuck are you doing?” Josh ignored him and rose to his feet, now again holding the large kitchen knife. “Oh shit!” was all Rufus managed to say as Josh flew at him, knife thrust out.

  “Rufus!!!!” Karen screamed.

  “Oooh shit!” Rufus yelped. He was now face to face, struggling with Josh with the knife-tip eased into the flesh of his shoulder. Normally he was stronger than him but right now Josh had the strength of the deranged. Josh’s faced was contorted with rage, was barely his own and his eyes were black as coal. The knife eased a tiny amount deeper into his arm and Rufus yelled out in pain and terror. “Jesus Karen, get him off me! He’s gone mad!”

  For a second Karen just froze up. She stood watching her two friends locked together on the floor.

  “Oh god! What should I do?”

  “Get him the fuck off me!” Rufus yelped in desperation. He managed to push Josh back from him.

  Karen took a step forward, was reaching down to grab Josh when his head suddenly snapped ’round on her. The knife slashed outwards and she danced away. Rufus kicked out with both his legs sending Josh crashing into the coffee table.

  Karen began to scream again. “What’s wrong with him!?!”

  “I don’t think it’s him!” Rufus managed as he scrambled to his feet. “Come on,” he said as he grabbed her by the arm. “We’re getting out of here!”

  Behind them Josh rose once more. The knife was no longer in his hand. Lost in the chaos of bottles and paperwork which had been sent cascading from the table.

  He rushed at them screaming as Rufus swung shut the door to the living room. Josh collided with it like a bull.

  Rufus stood with his back to the door with the handle locked upward in his grasp. The door pounded from behind.

  “Jesus he’s strong!” Rufus gasped. “Help me hold shut this door!”

  Ian’s voice yelled out from above. “What the hell’s going on down there?”

  “Josh has gone mad!” Karen screamed at the top of her lungs. “He’s attacking us with a knife!”

  “What!?” Came the muted response and then Ian came thundering down the stairs. He took in the scene in seconds. Rufus and Karen both braced against the door and Josh hammering at it from behind.

  “Josh, what the hell’s wrong with you?” Ian yelled.

  There was no reply, instead the pounding stopped abruptly. The three of them quickly exchanged looks.

  “What the hell happened?” Ian asked exasperated.

  “He came out the kitchen with a knife and tried to kill me,” Karen told him.

  “His eyes are all black!” Rufus added. “I think he’s possessed or something!”

  “Possessed?” Ian shook his head and moved to the door. He moved in close and said.

  “Josh?”

  It was met only with silence.

  He tried again louder this time. “Josh?”

  Again there was no answer.

  Ian looked at Rufus’ hand welded to the handle and nodded.

  Slowly Rufus released his grasp on the metal and Ian reached down to open the door. He eased open the door and peered round into the darkened living room. He became aware of a frantic rustling sound and saw a shape scrambling amongst the papers and cans on the floor.

  “He’s going for the knife!” Rufus yelled and Ian flung open the door. The light from the hallway scorched over Josh and his ghost white face and black mirror eyes flashed up. He moved at them like a demented spider, seizing Ian’s ankles in a vice like grip and then clawing his way up his body.

  “Get the fuck off me!” Ian shouted and pulled Josh fully to his feet before punching him in his face with all his strength. The blow sent Josh reeling back.

  He blinked then hissed. “Fuck with fire burst into flames! yes, yes, yES!” Then again lunged at Ian, both hands grasping at his neck.

  Behind them all Karen stood in the hallway screaming hysterically.

  Rufus moved forward to help Ian with Josh, who was struggling with animal fury.

  Ian managed to push Josh back slightly and turned to Rufus. “There’s a roll of duct tape under the stairs. Get it!”

  Rufus nodded and darted behind him.

  “Josh, stop this!” Karen screamed past her tears.

  “It’s not him,” Ian managed. “Look at his eyes!” And he sent a series of blows smashing into Josh’s face, again stunning him.

  Behind them Rufus was tearing his way through the contents of Ian’s cupboard.

  “Rufus get that fucking tape!!” Ian yelled back over his shoulder, again forcing back Josh who slipped on a beer can and fell heavily to the floor.

  And still Karen was screaming.

  Now on the floor Josh again began to search for the knife.

  “Oh no you don’t lad!” Ian growled and rushed him. He hauled him back to his feet, span him round and back handed him across the face. J
osh let out some kind of warped animal howl and sent fingers raking down Ian’s cheek.

  “You cunt!!” Ian barked pushing him back and once more, sending his fist into Josh’s distorted face.

  “Ian stop! you’re killing him!” shouted Karen.

  “He’s insane!” Ian yelped.

  “Got it!” came the call from behind and Rufus lurched into the room.

  “Help me get him into the kitchen. Both of you.” With that Ian twisted Josh’s arm behind his back and shoved him towards the kitchen.

  “Get off me!” Josh howled as he was led, kicked and punched into the kitchen.

  “Get him into that fucking chair!” Ian shouted.

  They threw him down into a chair beside the breakfast bar, both Ian and Rufus pinning him down by his shoulders.

  Ian looked back at Karen. “Tape him down!”

  For a second Karen stood stunned, the tape in her hands and then she burst into life. She began running round Josh’s struggling form like a maypole.

  “Bitch!” Josh hissed and began kicking out with his legs. Both the chair and him crashed to the floor.

  “Get him back up!” Ian barked. Rufus and him hoisted the chair and Josh, now partly taped to it, back to its legs.

  “God what’s wrong with him? Is this the drug?” Karen shrieked.

  “Who gives a fuck? Tape him down!” said Rufus.

  She continued, wrapping the tape ’round him as he thrashed and screamed. Karen stood back and they released their grip.

  Josh sat cocooned in a whole roll of duct tape and still he struggled and howled.

  Ian shook his head. “It won’t hold him. Rufus, there’s some electrical wire under the stairs. Get that and anything else that might hold him down.”

  “Ok.”

  “Josh? Can you hear me?”

  Josh began to laugh. “You dare fuck with us?”

  His voice was not his own.

  “Who the fuck is he?” Karen gasped.

  Ian was still shaking his head. “I think that somehow the others have him. Have him under control.”

  “Oh god!”

  Rufus returned. Under his arms was a bundle of assorted tapes, string and a coil of electrical wire.

  “Well don’t just stand there lad, give me a hand tying him down.”

  Josh had ceased struggling and instead was now just laughing maniacally. “You know this is futile? We’ll still find you and kill you before we leave?”

  “Fuck you! Whoever you are,” Ian growled into his face. “Tie him down!”

  For ten minutes they span round him with tape, wire and string, until they finally stood back and only Josh’s face was still visible. It was barely his.

  CLEAN

  IAN STOOD BEFORE JOSH. The room was bathed in the first light of dawn. Slowly Josh raised his head and blinked. He tried to speak but his voice was muffled by the gaffer tape which had been laid over his mouth. Ian took a long hard look at him. His eyes were again human and confused.

  They’d spent an uneasy night taking it in turns to watch Josh while the others slept in the living room. Eventually Josh had accepted defeat and sat quietly. The growled and hissed obscenities had ceased and instead he had sat there with malevolence burning in his darkened vision.

  Now it seemed the darkness had passed.

  Josh tried to speak again.

  Ian removed the tape.

  Josh blinked at him. Looked around the kitchen and then at Ian. “What happened?” he asked.

  Ian shook his head. “You don’t remember?”

  “No. Nothing. What happened?”

  “You tried to kill Karen and Rufus with a knife.”

  Josh laughed. “What?! No way—I just—I don’t remember. Something about a voice—I thought it was Sarah.”

  “She spoke to you?”

  “No... it wasn’t her. I think it was the others. They tricked me into taking the pill and then he came in, forced his way into my body. I couldn’t stop it. Such force!” Josh shivered.

  Memories of his possession flooded back. That malign alien intelligence that had raped his unconsciousness, had invaded his body and forced him into a closed door at the back of his own mind. So that seeing his own actions had been like watching a dream. A name he couldn’t say with his tongue and the fact that now it called itself Zackeriah. How in one terrible moment he had come to understand the whole of the entity and it’s terrible will. Seen its past and what it intended now.

  “Jesus,” Josh shook his head, felt chilled to the bone. “Can you untie me?”

  Ian hesitated. “I’m not sure.”

  “It’s me Ian, it’s me! The other, he’s gone now.”

  Ian shook his head. “I’m gonna wake the others first. They know you better than me. See that you are yourself.”

  Without saying another word he left the room.

  Josh nearly vomited as stronger memory of the previous night rushed up inside him. He again recalled Zackeriah’s touch and bile burned at the back of his throat.

  “We’ll find you.” A promise. Echoing in his mind.

  “Can I get some water,” was the first thing he said to Ian as he returned with bleary-eyed Karen and Rufus.

  Rufus’ shoulder was bandaged and stained dark brown.

  “Did I... did I do that?”

  Rufus half grimaced. “You stabbed me, you crazy fuck! Tried to stab Karen too!”

  “Christ Rufus, it wasn’t me!”

  Rufus was quiet for a second. “Yeah, I know man but... Jesus you fucking stabbed me!!”

  Karen took a step forward. “Is it gone now Josh?”

  Josh spoke before he could think. “It’s waiting.”

  Ian grimaced. “You mean you could turn at any second?”

  Josh shook his head. “No, that’s not what I mean. It knows me now, but it needs a door to come in... at least at this distance.”

  “What the hell possessed you to take the Blue?” Ian asked.

  “You took more Blue?” Rufus was stunned. “Even after how it fucked you up before? you’re crazy!!”

  “They tricked me,” Josh said. “I thought Sarah spoke to me. She told me to take the pill so we could be together.”

  “Sarah spoke to you?” Karen asked.

  Josh shook his head. “No, it wasn’t her. It was the others. They tricked me... and then It came in. I don’t remember much after that.”

  Ian was locked deep in thought. There was a hardness behind his eyes. “Listen lad, is there any chance they might know where we are now? Somehow through you? Maybe saw an address written down on something?”

  “I don’t think so. They only know what I know and I don’t know where we are, even now. I was too out of it on the way here. I was just sitting with my head in my hands. I didn’t even look out of the window. So no I don’t think they can find us. I don’t think they can... no, I don’t think so. Maybe. I don’t know.”

  “Great!” Ian cursed, and then was promptly interrupted by the doorbell. He spoke to himself. His thoughts coloured by his fatigue. “Who the fuck is that?” No one had called in weeks and he wasn’t expecting company. An uneasy feeling settled in his gut. He turned back to the group. “Okay, you all stay here. I’m gonna’ shut the door on you. Don’t move unless I call you. Okay?”

  Karen spoke quietly. “Who do you think it is?” They all knew what she was thinking.

  Ian grimaced. “Well, that’s what I’m gonna’ find out.”

  As Ian left the kitchen, his mind was a swirl of anxieties. There were numerous possibilities about who could be waiting for him on the other side of his front door and few seemed good.

  He un-slid the door chain and cautiously turned the lock, braced for the worse. He drew the door open in one swift motion, partly surprising the man who waited in his porch.

  “Ian McCalister?”

  Ian took the man in with suspicious eyes. Large and bald. Dressed in an expensive but inconspicuous black suit with a blood red tie. The whole effect reeked of intell
igentsia.

  Behind them sat a sleek black business car and inside sat another suit, his eyes locked onto Ian. The man spoke again. “Detective Ian McCalister?”

  Ian nodded but remained silent. He was consciously aware of the closed kitchen door behind him and the scene it blocked. He wondered, if this man demanded entrance, did he have the authority to deny him? He thought all this but said nothing.

  The man spoke again. “We have been looking for you, detective. For some days now. you’re a hard man to pin down.” He smiled but there was no warmth.

  Ian nodded once more. “Aye? And you are?”

  “Who I am and who I represent is of no importance.”

  “I’m not in the habit of talking with strangers,” Ian said.

  The suit laughed. Controlled and cool. “Habits can be a dangerous thing.” He paused. “I have questions.”

  “And why the hell should I answer them? Without knowing who the hell I’m speaking to?”

  The man largely ignored him. “Believe me, it’s very much in your interest that you do. The people I represent could potentially make life very difficult for you...” Another cold smile, laden with menace.

  Ian folded his arms across his chest.

  “I assume you do wish to return to work?”

  Ian gritted his teeth. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  The man calmly checked his watch, expensive white gold. “Merely a question,” he paused, looked Ian up and down with clear disapproval. “You look like shit detective!” he barked, his mood suddenly changing. “In no state to conduct an investigation.”

  Ian spoke quickly. “I’m on leave.”

  “I should hope so! Still, me and my colleagues are slightly concerned about how you are spending your free time. It seems someone’s been interfering with our work. Making enquiries. If that turned out to be you, it would be, very unfortunate. Very unfortunate and very unwise.”

  Ian crushed his fingers into a fist and then relaxed them. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about!”

  “We understand, that you’ve seen... certain things, things, which defy explanation but no matter how curious, how desperate for answers you may be, you are not to continue any kind, even an attempt, at an investigation of your own. Am I making myself clear?”