Dark Side Darker

by Lucas T. Harmond

  Carthy burst into laughter. “Jesus no!!” he said at last. “Did you ever really think I was? Fuck no!”

  “Then what are you?”

  “Well first up, in my world the nearest thing we have to cops are called Casendrulls and their job’s not about crime as such but maintaining reality, you really wouldn’t understand anything past this point so I won’t bore you.”

  “You’re not answering the question.”

  “I’m an entrepreneur. Just like the guys we’re going to see now, only my operation’s based in the capitol and it’s been running close to twenty years.” He paused. “Twenty years undetected by your people or mine. Their operation’s crude in comparison. Sure, it was a little rough when I was on my way up, but the fucking mess they’re making is beyond compare, attracting the authorities here and I knew they’d draw the Casendrulls to this world and once they did, that it would only be a matter of time till they turned their attention on me. For all I know it’s already too late. Most of all though I didn’t want the threat, I run a unique operation, I don’t need the competition.”

  “Jesus,” said Josh. “That’s all this is about, wiping out the competition for your drug?”

  “Drugs are just the tip of it but, in essence, yes. In time they would have built up a network of puppets and when they learned of me, it stands to reason they would have moved on me and my people. Well the two that remain are equal in power to me and the thought of all three in a direct attack on me was unthinkable, so I decided to move on them first while I was still off the radar.”

  Rufus laughed. “So this is some kind of demonic turf war?”

  “Actually, there’s another level to it but I really don’t think you’d understand.”

  Josh was frowning, the truth troubled him. “How’d you even know this was happening here?”

  “It’s not the first time this has happened. When you’ve been here as long as I have you set up certain security systems sensitive to certain vibrations. Before now, I’ve taken care of the threat quickly but this time they were more powerful, I had more trouble locating them, also your mind’s interference made things more difficult on various levels too. I sensed the disturbance they caused the night they ripped into this world, it left ripples and straight away I could sense lines which would one day lead to a conflict between me and them. They were vague, but all led to the end of my operation and my death by either their hands or the Casendrull.”

  “Why aren’t they aware of you then?”

  “They have been since we executed one of them, but before that I was masking myself. I’ve grown quite good at it.”

  “Hmmm,” said Josh. “So what now?”

  Carthy smiled. “Well, now we stop at a petrol station, get some petrol, kill them and torch the place.”

  “I don’t want to kill anyone,” said Rufus.

  “You already have, remember? Besides they’re not human, their bodies ain’t their own. you’d be doing their hosts a favour.”

  Josh shook his head. “No, I don’t want anything to do with this.”

  “Really? What about Sarah? Remember they’ve got the cure.”

  “Why should I believe that? Everything you’ve said so far’s been a heap of crap!”

  “Okay, you got me, but I can help her, if you help me. Ah here we are.”

  Carthy swung the car off the road into the petrol station. He turned off the engine and turned to his passengers. “Don’t fuckin’ move!” he said, rooting them both to the spot.

  They watched him duck out through the rain and head to the lit-up shop.

  “Josh? Can you move?”

  “No, he did something to us again.”

  “No, me neither. Oh shit, what should we do?! I mean they’ve got my parents, we’ve got to do something but, but that guy? Man, he’s dangerous!”

  Josh sighed heavily and braced himself. “Rufus, your parents...” He was cut short as Carthy returned. First he threw two red plastic cans of petrol into the boot and then sank back into the driver’s seat, but not before giving Josh a warning glance. ‘Shhhhh’ he thought.

  “Okay campers, lets roll,” he said and turned on the ignition.

  BATTLE ROYALE

  TEN MINUTES LATER they rolled to a halt on the murky street next to the warehouse. “Hmm,” said Carthy. “They’re on their way, we’ve got to move fast.”

  “Who?” asked Rufus. “The demons?”

  “No, they’re waiting inside. I meant the police.”

  “They’re waiting for us!?” asked Josh panicking.

  Carthy looked at him disappointedly. “What did you expect? They want vengeance for the man we killed and for messing up their plans. They’ll try to kill us, then flee the city. Seriously what did you expect? you already knew this was a trap. Now come on.” He opened the door and stepped out.

  Josh shakily got out of the car. “I know it’s a trap but that doesn’t change anything. I’m still not prepared. I don’t know what you expect of us?”

  Carthy looked at Rufus. “I don’t expect anything of him, a distraction at best.”

  “Hey, fuck you man!” Rufus shot back.

  Carthy ignored him, moving to retrieve the petrol from out the back of the car.

  “Do they know we’re here?” asked Josh.

  Carthy frowned. “I can’t sense them, they’re shielding themselves, but let’s be honest, we all know they’re waiting for us in there. What other possibility could there be?”

  Rufus felt edgy. He was concerned for his mother and father and he felt no desire to go up against two supernatural creatures with psychic powers.

  He looked at the space past the chewed-up security fence. Before the warehouse there was a space of wasted machinery, oil drums and long ago left-behind industrial transportation crates. A lot of spaces to hide...

  “What if they ambush us?” he asked.

  Carthy shrugged, beginning to march towards the distant building. “If they do, they do. We’ve got to face them sometime.”

  Reluctantly, the two friends followed him, both uncertain of what they would find inside the building.

  Most of the windows were smashed, water cascaded off the rusty iron roof and the huge doors were sealed with coils of chains.

  “Hmmm,” said Carthy. “There’s got to be another way in. Round here.”

  They followed him ’round the corner of the building and found themselves facing a white van. Next to it a dangerous set of scaffold steps climbed their way towards a fire exit.

  Josh shivered as something uncoiled in his mind as something began to focus in on him.

  “Carthy,” he started nervously. “I can feel something in my mind.”

  “I can feel them too. First they’ll read us, get a measure of us, our power, our fears, then the attack will begin.”

  Rufus freaked out, his mind snapping. “Fuck this man! I’m outta’ here! I can’t deal with this. No fucking way man!”

  He turned, began marching way, then remembering his parents, paused.

  “You coming?” Carthy asked sarcastically.

  “Fuck!!! What choice do I have!? They’ve got my family man!!!” He glared at Josh. “If we live through this, I’m gonna’ kill you man.”

  If we live through it, thought Josh, but didn’t say it.

  Carthy had moved ’round the back of the van, he flung open the doors and stared into the darkness.

  “Must be inside,” he said to himself.

  “What?” asked Josh, looking past him. Inside was the gleam of metal, empty bird cages.

  “You’ll find out.”

  “What’s with the bird cages?” he asked.

  “You’ll find out,” Carthy repeated as he began to make his way up the steps. They groaned ominously.

  ‘Welcome to my web said the spider to the fly.’

  They all heard it, tattooed across the back of their minds.

  “Oh, what the fuck was that?!” asked Rufus, looking about all wide eyed.

  “Ign
ore it. They’re just fucking with us. Believe me it’s gonna’ get much worse. At the moment I’m shielding you both from them, but I can feel them getting stronger.”

  They reached the door at the top and Carthy pushed the bar open. The smell of decay hit them instantly. A great many dead things, long dead.

  “Oh Jesus!” said Rufus, shielding his nose, nearly vomiting. “My parents!”

  “No,” said Carthy. “It’s not them.” And then turning to Josh. “At least the smell isn’t.”

  “And what the fuck does that mean?!” snapped Rufus.

  “Nothing,” Carthy grunted and pushed past him.

  Rufus turned to Josh. “Hey man, what the hell did that comment mean?!”

  “Nothing,” said Josh. “Come on, let’s get your parents and get the hell out of here.”

  Cautiously Carthy made his way down the metal stairs. His metallic foot steps echoed in the expansive space and he could feel the others’ presence everywhere. In the back of his mind a sick laughter was spiralling as his enemy closed into his mind. Soon they’d break the barrier and either Josh or Rufus, most likely Rufus, would attack him and he would have to kill them.

  They reached the bottom of the steps, surrounded by darkness and the sick smell thick in their nostrils.

  Rufus was beginning to chuckle to himself and Carthy considered killing him before they took him. Then changed his mind deciding while they were focusing on Rufus it gave himself some respite.

  “Josh,” he warned. “They’re beginning to take Rufus. Force them back like you did in that alley, I’ve got to keep up the field around us.”

  “What?? I don’t know how!”

  “If they take him, I’ll kill him. keep them back, you do know how.”

  Josh was panicked and in no way doubted anything Carthy had said. Weakly he thought about Rufus and his mind flooded with words. ‘You push us out!? you’re next, dead by your friend’s hands, but first the game. you may keep him for now.’ And then they were gone leaving them alone in the darkness.

  “What just happened?” snapped Rufus.

  “They tried to possess you,” said Carthy. “Josh pushed them out. But they’re not really trying yet, I sense they want to show us something first, play a little game.”

  “What is that smell?” asked Josh.

  “Up ahead,” said Carthy with a nod no one could see.

  At first Josh thought there was nothing but darkness and then his eyes began to grow accustomed to the low light and the deep blue midnight sky he could see through the broken windows. He could make out an object silhouetted against the rest, the shape of a cross? And then he noticed the creatures, glowing quietly, the dim internal lights flickering out of the cages in which they floated. There were twenty of them. They looked like spiders with swirling delicate tendrils, smokey bodies that looked as if they would come apart on touch. They changed shape and flickered from one moment into the next.

  Josh was stunned, when he spoke, his voice was a whisper. “Carthy, what are they?”

  “The source of the Blue.”

  And then Josh saw the blue light at the bottom of the cages, a collection of tiny capsules. Were they shitting the Blue?

  “No,” said Carthy, reading his mind. “Eggs. It’s the enzyme their young are cocooned in till they’re developed enough to be born. They must be injected to kill the embryo or it grows in the body of anyone taking it as a drug. your Sarah,” he finished simply.

  “Inside her? One of those?”

  “They’re from our world, almost air. The liquid in those eggs in a manifestation of almost pure psychic energy.”

  “What about the cross?”

  The strip-lights above flickered into life and with them the vocal cry of, “And now the games begin!!!”

  Rufus span ’round in terror looking for the source, but Josh instead stood horrified, his eyes transfixed on what stood before him.

  The body was crucified onto a huge rusty, wrought iron cross. He recognised it immediately. What its purpose had been originally he could only guess, but now Harper’s eyeless corpse, his mouth frozen open in a scream of perpetual agony, was tied to it with slicing strands of barbed wire. His body was bruised and cut all over. It had been rotting for a long time. At its feet was a collection of bodies in various states of decay, most he didn’t recognise, but close to them were the bodies of Rufus’ parents and next to them Karen’s father. Unspeakable violence had been done to all of them, throats torn out, eyes gouged out, innards left to spill across the cold concrete. The smell was unspeakable and maggots churned across the floor and squirmed in the crevices of their new homes.

  Rufus followed Josh’s gaze. “oh god!!!!!!” he cried and fell to his knees.

  “Guess we’re too late,” said Carthy dryly.

  Above and around them manic laughter started.

  Rufus rose to his feet, his face a tapestry of tears. “I’ll fucking kill you!!!!!!!! I’ll fucking kill you!!!!!!”

  The laughter seemed to change directions, seemed closer. They all turned back to the pile of bodies.

  Rufus’ father’s head slowly turned to look at them with its dead eyes.

  Oh god, anything but this!!! thought Josh.

  Quickly his mouth cracked open, the disembodied laughter seeming to echo around the revealed chasm. And then like some kind of sickened puppet the body began to awkwardly get to it’s feet, until it stood, head resting to one side above its torn-open throat.

  “No! No!! noooo!!!!!!!!” Screamed Rufus.

  “Get ready!” Carthy said cooly, and threw a wall of petrol over the now animated corpse of Rufus’ dad, soaking into its clothes and spilling onto the bodies around his feet, most of which were now beginning to move.

  Josh began to back away. Rufus, who was still weeping, followed his lead.

  His father began to stagger forward, its arms outspread as if to embrace them. Behind him, his mother and then Karen’s father also rose to their feet.

  “Oh shit, run!” cried Josh, dragging his friend away.

  Carthy threw another sheet of petrol over the corpse as it lunged at him, and then it seized him, its dead jaws moving to tear out his jugular.

  Josh looked back to see him kick the body away, and then throw more petrol over the gang of advancing corpses. There was roar of air as Carthy set fire to the body of Rufus’ father and then kicked the flaming form to collide with the others. Some caught, but most didn’t. They watched paralyzed as Carthy ducked and dodged in between lashing bodies, throwing more and more petrol, fires leaping up to consume all it touched.

  Suddenly they were thrown to the floor as Nickoloi turned his attention on them. They looked up to see a body, alive with flame, running at them silently, arms outspread to hug them as it burned.

  Rufus was helping Josh up. “Come on,” he said and then they were both running with the body in close pursuit. They could both feel the heat on their back as they dashed around old shelving units and concrete pillars.

  The smell in their nostrils was putrid, no longer rotting, but cooking flesh. And on they ran. Behind them the puppet’s legs gave way, a combination of decay and fire damage to the muscles and nerves. It slumped lifelessly to the floor, still burning, and then Nickoloi abandoned its body and refocused on Rufus. His running feet suddenly found themselves above the floor and the next second he was sent hurtling through the air to crash into the wall. He hit it once, twice and then was hurled like a rag doll to collide with the wall for the third time. With the last impact his screaming stopped and Josh knew his friend was dead. The body dropped to the floor, like some now discarded toy. The wall was dark with his blood and Rufus’ broken body lay crumpled on the concrete.

  Josh screamed, wasn’t sure if the sound was real or only in his mind. He was on his knees, covering his face with his hands, oblivious to the chaos around him.

  Behind him, Carthy punched a body from its feet and then turned to run, but as he did so the body suddenly levitated and flew after him. Th
e smoking body hit him hard, knocking him from his feet, and as he fell its animated limbs were already wrapping around him and clawing at his face.

  “Get the fuck off me!!!!!!!” he howled and with his mind pushed out, ripping the corpse away from his body and sending it soaring up twenty metres to explode against the warehouses’ ceiling.

  “Fuck you!” he yelled and then felt the full impact of his enemy’s psychic assault. Nickoloi had been focusing in to explode Josh’s heart in his chest, but now took Zackeriah’s cue and shifted his attention onto the far more dangerous Carthy.

  Carthy rose ten metres into the air and felt the forces around him begin to tear his body apart, attempt to wrench limbs from sockets. He pushed back hard, but without knowing where his assailants were it was difficult to fight back. Desperately he looked ’round. The force changed, instead squeezing, trying to fold in ribs, crush organs. Then he saw where they were, hiding in the office at the top of some stairs on the opposite side of the building. There were glass windows all along its side. From up there they could survey the entire warehouse. It had to be there!

  Carthy directed his rage at the office. The plate glass windows imploded and the sheet metal walls buckled under the pressure. He saw Zackeriah’s body fly to hit the back wall, and with his enemies being temporarily stunned, he collapsed to the floor. He hit hard.

  Josh was crying over Rufus’s body. He’d known Rufus’ family was dead, he’d known Rufus would die too, in his heart he had known that and yet he had blindly marched him to his death, all for a girl who didn’t love him. What right had he had? What fucking right!?!

  He was crying hard when the doors next to him crashed open with a roar of engines. The riot van crashed through the doors and then rapidly reversed to leave the entrance clear. It was only seconds before the first suit armed with a machine gun ran into the building, and on seeing Josh aimed his weapon at him.

  “Don’t fucking move!”

  Josh, still crying, ignored him. He was in a different world.

  More suits ran in, taking in the scene with horror. The opposite side of the building was now on fire, the caged creatures screaming and small objects were hailing through the air in the feedback from the psychic battle that was being fought.