She was falling for Danny.
She’d seen and heard enough in high school to know how easy it was to cause friction between the person you’re dating and their friends. It went without saying. She didn’t want to be in the middle, and she certainly didn’t want to drive a wedge between them. She hoped Brent’s change in mood had nothing to do with her. It would make things so much more difficult.
Danny caught her eye and smiled.
At that moment, she knew if it came to that, she wouldn’t be able to walk away.
There was no reason to worry yet.
Maybe she was making a big deal over nothing…
***
The Skryel was annoyed but confident.
The Guardian had saved the boys, but to what end? This was only part of the game, one the Skryel enjoyed. It wasn’t strong enough to cross through the veil just yet, but what was the harm in having a little fun first?
All the seeds had been sprinkled. Danny had become distracted by a pretty girl, Brent had finally seen what could happen in the dark, and Eric followed them blindly, looking for any reason to keep the only friends he’d ever had. They were all weak, and their bonds would slowly fray as the Skryel dug its claws into their friendship and tore them apart.
That sentimental old man had grown too close to humans to be effective.
Even the Skryel couldn’t have foreseen the girl becoming involved. A perfect pawn to separate them. A chess piece to be played at the most opportune moment. Already, Brent was showing his jealousy and resentment. It would only grow over time, making him an important part of the puzzle.
Human nature was one thing the monster could always count on.
In Brent, it had a disposable soldier. Easy to influence. Easy to control.
It floated in the icy void, satisfied. The attack had sapped its energy. It needed to rest, needed to feed on the soul energy of those who’d died on the battlefield. Elmview had once again become an endless source of possibility.
The black veil surrounding the Skryel disappeared, revealing the shining light of the multiverse. Every galaxy, every star, every planet… strings of parallel realities tied together like pearls, billions of light years beyond the dimmest points of light in the night sky. Stars had been born and died and the light from their brief existence hadn’t even reached the outer rim of creation. From such a distance it looked like a child’s toys scattered in the darkness.
The Skryel shimmered. A million light-years away, a cluster of universes blinked and went dark, like a string of Christmas lights had been unplugged. Another job well done. If only the Earth-string was so easy.
The beast was pleased. It grew stronger by the second as it listened to the death-cries of a nearly infinite number of life forms.
The exquisite sound of an entire race’s death rattle…
…and the glorious silence that followed.
Chapter 10
A week passed.
They lived their lives like everything they had witnessed was nothing more than a bad dream. Wounds healed. No one brought up going to see Ben, and he didn’t contact them. They were beginning to believe that whatever craziness had visited Elmview had run its course. The days were sunny, the mood was light, and they picked up where they’d left off, looking forward to the remainder of the summer stretching out before them.
Brent had warmed up to the idea of Sam being around. When he thought about it now, it was hard to imagine what the fuss had been about in the first place. So Danny had a girlfriend… big deal. It wasn’t the end of the world. One day it would be Brent’s turn and all the strange feelings he’d hidden from them wouldn’t matter.
The brief glimpse they’d shared of another world and the creature that reigned there faded into yesterday.
They didn’t discuss it, and they purposely kept it from Sam.
They rode their bikes along the weedy path that paralleled the highway. Just a few miles from town stood the new Elmview Mall, built only a few years earlier. There was no better way to spend the afternoon in air-conditioned comfort. The sprawling structure housed a cinema, two record stores, several bookstores, a modern arcade, and a handful of clothing shops. Every year, Santa and the Easter Bunny set up shop outside Sears beneath one of the large, neon-lined skylights. Malls were the wave of the future, and the one constant in their lives they knew would never go away.
Just like VHS tapes and music cassettes.
They rounded the bend and stopped, looking down at the complex in wonder. The parking lot was mobbed with people and packed tight with various makes and models of cars and trucks, motorcycles, and what appeared to be some sort of dune buggy. Traffic in and out had come to a standstill.
“Are they giving something away?” Eric asked.
“Something is definitely going on,” Sam replied.
“Maybe that spicy cheese vendor is giving away free samples again,” Brent said hopefully. “I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving,” Danny said.
“Well, yeah, which is why I want to fill my face with free spicy cheese samples.”
The main entrance was jammed with people. Every few feet stood another child screaming for a new toy or video game as frustrated parents assuaged them with candy and soft reassurances. Groups of teens gathered in packs, cupping cigarettes in their hands, trying to look as cool as possible while coughing out great clouds of white smoke. Someone held up a large white banner with ‘Pink Unicorn Candles’ stenciled in spray-paint. Music blasted from a boombox held on the shoulder of a man who looked like he’d just stepped off his surfboard moments before.
“Maybe we should come back another time,” Danny said. There was a buzzing behind his eyes, a tickle in his head he couldn’t shake.
“Hell no,” Sam said. “I’m not riding all the way back out here in this heat.”
They walked their bikes down the hill and into the parking lot, fighting their way through mobs of loitering visitors. Their attempt to cut through the crowd was futile. They parked their bikes in the bike barn, chained them, and waited for the crowd to disperse.
Brent thought back to the previous August when his father had taken him to an Aerosmith concert in Saratoga Springs, New York. The lights dimmed, the band took the stage, and the crowd went wild. His body vibrated from the thump of the bass drum as the arena erupted in organized chaos. Fists pumping in the air… fans singing along to every word… the energy was amazing.
This energy was different.
Danny watched as people bobbed back and forth, swayed side to side, danced impatiently from one foot to another. There were outbursts of laughter, angry shouts, clouds of cigarette smoke, and the oily aroma of sweating bodies packed tightly together beneath the baking sun.
As if from some silent cue, the crowd quieted at once. Eric and Danny looked at one another, puzzled. They stood on their toes to see what was happening over the jostling crowd. Sam noticed a makeshift stage had been erected near the entrance, constructed of several pieces of plywood laid between two shopping carts.
“What in the world is going on?” she mumbled.
A man climbed atop the platform, dressed in a dirty, black trench coat covered in dust and animal hair. A gray hood covered his head and his hands were wrapped in filthy, loose strings of gauze. His salt-and-pepper beard hung to his stomach, knotted and tangled, glistening from the grease of past meals. His weathered cheeks were pitted and cracked; deep grooves radiated from his penetrating, bloodshot eyes.
He raised his right arm above his head - bandages hanging limply from his wrist - as he prepared his speech for the faithful grocery shoppers, video renters, and fifty-percent-off sales junkies. The crowd watched raptly. Sam stepped closer to Danny as Brent and Eric exchanged a nervous glance.
The man opened his mouth to speak, displaying broken, jagged teeth the color of mud.
“Everything you know is about to change: your friends, your family, your way of life… it’s all about to disappear. I’m not here to
scare you, I’m here to enlighten you, show you the path to the Lord of Light.”
“Get out of the way you crazy bastard,” a man shouted. “No one wants another religious tirade.” A groan washed over the assembly.
“Dark days are coming, my friends,” he continued. “Any man with darkness in his heart will suffer the fires of eternal torment.”
“Give it a rest,” someone shouted.
“Save it for Sunday,” another called.
People muttered, irritated by being kept from their shopping experience. One by one, and then in larger numbers, shoppers walked past him and entered the blessedly cool air of the mall. The man was undeterred. He raised his hand in the air, trying to keep everyone’s attention. His voice doubled in volume.
“Pray for your souls to be saved lest they be forever lost in the nameless void. Don’t invite the Beast into your homes! Don’t allow it to sit at your dinner table. Sing your praises to the heavens and beg for forgiveness before it’s too late.”
“Give it a fucking rest,” a woman yelled.
“No, he’s right,” a man responded. “Listen to him.”
Danny turned to his friends. “Where the hell is security? This is going to get ugly.”
“Let them riot,” Brent said. “It’ll give us something to do.”
Behind them, a group of 80’s hippies stood atop a parked car, twenty years late for their counterculture movement. A girl in a long dress and sandals passed a massive bomber joint to her long-haired boyfriend, bedecked in a tie-dyed Jerry Garcia shirt and hemp necklace. Both were very obviously stoned.
The madman continued. “Evil is coming to this land. Agents of the darkness are everywhere, catalysts of our upcoming destruction. The balance has shifted from light to darkness. Get on your knees and beg for salvation.”
Some did as instructed, falling to the ground, hands clasped tightly in prayer. They were knocked down and trampled as the restless crowd shifted. Mall security had finally made their appearance, exiting the front of the building and screaming at the man to vacate his pulpit. Instead, he yelled louder as his flock scattered.
“Hear me,” he bellowed. “You will be lost, alone and shivering, locked away from His light and His love. Repent! Prove your everlasting love to Him. Vow to walk beside Him in the trial that is coming.”
“Get down or we’re taking you down,” one of the mall cops shouted.
“It’s men like these that bring evil to your doorstep. So afraid to hear the truth they’ll be swayed by the Dark One to silence the word of God.”
Security sprayed the man with mace as he screamed and clawed frantically at his eyes. He lost his footing and tumbled from his platform, landing on the concrete between them.
The crowd had begun moving again now that the spell had been broken. Many ran for the entrance while others turned around and sought safety in their vehicles. The hippies behind Danny jumped up and down on the roof of the car, loudly singing ‘Give Peace A Chance.’ The roof buckled beneath their feet as the passenger window shattered.
Several of the tall, metal light posts swayed back and forth under the strain of the passing crowd. A group of teenagers pushed one another around in shopping carts, running down anyone unfortunate enough to get in their way.
“Holy shit,” Eric said. “This is way better than going to the movies.”
“Can we just get inside before we get killed by one of these crazy assholes?” Brent asked.
They pushed forward through the thinning crowd. Sam forged ahead, mildly amused by the festivities until stepping in a fresh puddle of blood. She uttered a string of profanities as she continued on.
“Your mothers and sisters are all whores,” the mad preacher shouted. Security was trying to restrain the man as he flailed wildly on the ground. “Sluts! Dumpster cunts!”
Danny slowed and stared down as he passed. The man’s eyes were nearly swollen shut, raw and irritated. Tears streamed down his cheeks, forming lines in the grime on his face. He waved his hands in the air, striking out at security, his fingernails yellow and hooked like talons.
“You know what I’m saying is true, don’t you boy?”
“Don’t listen to him,” Brent said.
“The veil has been weakened and soon it will be broken.”
“What are you talking about?” Danny asked.
Brent grabbed Danny’s shoulder and pushed him forward.
“You’ll all find out soon enough,” the man said. “The Darkening is already upon us and you are all damned. The doors of his house will open and Hell will be unleashed.” He laughed hysterically, shaking his head violently back and force, scraping his scalp on the concrete. A thin line of blood ran from his nose and stained his mustache.
Security pulled the man to his feet and waited until it was safe to bring him inside. Without warning he turned and began spitting at them; large gobs of sticky, bloody, phlegm covered their faces and clothing. One of his eyes turned a deep, dark red, filling with blood as something ruptured inside him. He was dragged down a hallway and out of sight, cackling and hurling insults. The entire crazy display had taken less than five minutes, but the damage had been done.
Danny and Sam walked through the automatic doors and sat on a bench in front of the Super Cinema, wiping sweat from their faces. Brent and Eric stood nearby, watching shoppers go about their day like nothing had happened.
Outside, the police and paramedics had arrived, tending to various cuts and scrapes and a few broken bones. The hippie and his girlfriend, still passing a joint between them, got into the back of a police cruiser for a much-needed nap.
“Well, now what?” Brent asked. “I don’t think anything will top that.”
“We’ve been through worse,” Eric said.
“What do you mean?” Sam asked. “Did I miss something?”
Lucky for you, you missed a lot, Danny thought. Instead, he said, “Nothing important. Let’s just enjoy the rest of the day and forget about it.”
Sam rubbed the bottom of her shoe on the floor, leaving red streaks on the tile. “Easy for you to say. I have blood on my shoe. Human blood.” Sam’s tough exterior had finally been tested.
“It’s over now. Just some crazy homeless guy on a God trip,” Danny said.
Eric looked at him knowingly and raised his eyebrows.
In front of the Foot Locker, a woman screamed. People stopped to watch as she brushed frantically at her hair. “Get them off me,” she shouted. “I hate ants! I fucking hate them!”
“Ants?” Brent said.
“The place is infested,” a man loudly replied, slapping at his arms and legs.
The lights dimmed and went out as the colorful signs and storefronts went dark. The large decorative fountain at the mall’s intersection overflowed and poured rust-colored water onto the floor in a spreading arc. Several people slipped and fell to the floor as the water thickened to a foul-smelling, crimson syrup.
Parents grabbed their children and made for the exits only to find the automatic doors frozen in place. Alarms brayed as customers ran from stores carrying free merchandise in their shaking hands. The boys watched with wide eyes as they felt the air change.
The air crackled with electricity as their surroundings blurred, like seeing something through a heat-haze. People panicked, tripping over each other and pulling their family and friends behind them. The metal gate outside Radio Shack crashed to the floor, pinning a screaming woman beneath as she spit blood from her injured mouth.
The large J.C. Penney sign fell to the floor in a shower of sparks. The faint muzak playing on the overhead speakers died with a shriek, replaced by blaring white noise. A skylight shattered, raining glass down on horrified shoppers.
“Stay together,” Danny ordered.
“It’s back isn’t it?” Eric said.
“I don’t know, just don’t get separated.”
“What the hell’s happening?” Sam cried as she burst into tears. “What’s back?” She reached out and grabbed
Danny’s hand for comfort, her palm sweaty and shaking.
“Stay behind me,” he barked.
A man ran from Waldenbooks, screaming and waving his arms as books flew from the store and dive-bombed his head like hungry seagulls. He grabbed a woman and used her as a human shield as she tore at his flesh with her fingernails. He fell to the floor under the attack of bargain-bin paperbacks and was finally silenced by a heavy, leather-bound Bible.
Inside the Pink Unicorn, scented candles melted on the shelves. A river of multi-colored wax slowly ran from the front of the store like a liquid rainbow. The air shimmered and the hair on the back of Danny’s neck stood on end.
“Get outside,” Danny said. “It’s not safe in here.”
“How do we know it’s any safer out there?” Brent asked.
“Just go.”
Danny squeezed Sam’s hand and ran as fast as his legs would carry him. As they passed the security office, the door burst open and the crazy preacher tumbled to the floor, clad only in a pair of piss-soaked underwear. Blood dribbled from his eyes and ears as thick yellow pus oozed from an open wound in his neck.
“Run!” he laughed. “It’ll always find you. Past, present, or future… it’ll be waiting.” He fell face-first and slid across the waxed linoleum. His neck bulged as gelatinous muck poured from the wound and formed a clotted puddle on the floor. The stream of stinking fluid grew steadier as his neck swelled; his skin pulled taut and shiny before tearing open like an overcooked sausage. A mountain of white, waxy worms tumbled from the gash and inched away in every direction.
The man raised his head to speak, but his mouth was suddenly filled with more of the tiny worms. He choked and gagged as they sprayed between his lips like vomit.
Samantha screamed and covered her face as Danny pried the door open; they tumbled through the opening and fell to the hard concrete in a tangled heap. The screams inside grew muffled and distant. The air was heavy and sour. Sam cried and buried her face in Danny’s chest while Eric tightly squeezed his eyes closed, afraid of what horrors might be lurking nearby.
The Darkening (A Coming of Age Horror Novel) (The Great Rift Book 1) Page 15
