It doesn’t know where we are, Danny thought. It isn’t nearly as strong as it wants us to believe.
The Skryel roared. It could hear the boy’s thoughts, but they were jumbled and broken. Danny was somehow blocking the monster whether he realized it or not. It continued on, disappearing around a corner, trailing the remaining wasps behind.
Danny looked at them and motioned with his eyes. That way, he thought. They nodded and waited for his cue. He stood slowly, grabbed Sam’s hand, and ran.
The Skryel’s cry reverberated down the empty halls. It burst through the glass window of a lingerie store, a dusty, red bra clinging to its shoulder.
The floor trembled and debris rained from above as sections of the ceiling split open and collapsed. Brent tripped over a fallen garbage can and stumbled to the floor in a cloud of dust. Eric turned, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to his feet as the Skryel rounded the corner. Danny and Sam stood in the open door, calling to their friends impatiently.
They burst into the parking lot as the Skryel raged behind them, realizing it would be a second too late. They ran across the lot and ducked inside one of the hospital tents, listening closely to determine if they were being followed. They could no longer hear the monster.
A rat scurried to meet them, whiskers twitching. “You got anything to eat?” it asked. Sam squealed and stomped down as hard as she could; blood sprayed from beneath her shoe as the rat’s bones crunched under her weight.
After a few minutes, they risked going outside.
The sun was so bright, they were forced to cover their eyes. A horn blared as an older couple came to a sudden stop only three feet away. Danny turned and looked into the dim interior of the bike barn. Their bikes had remained exactly where they’d chained them.
They were home.
Covered in dust and grime, they grabbed their bikes and sped away from the mall, garnering strange looks from curious shoppers.
They didn’t hear the news about the mall tragedy until later that evening. A large section of the roof had collapsed, killing thirty-three people. Only the Skryel knew about the missing twelve, the ones it had erased, their essence sucked into the abyss where the creature could feed on them like rechargeable batteries.
The Skryel had come close, very close, and now it was nearing its full potential.
Especially now that Brent was under its control.
Chapter 11
“It’s about time,” Ben said, beaming. “I was getting worried you wouldn’t show up.”
“We didn’t really have a choice,” Danny replied.
Danny, Brent, Eric, and Sam stood on the sidewalk and looked up at the old man as he downed a can of soda.
“Eric, Danny, it’s nice to see you again.” Ben motioned to Brent and Sam. “You two have names?”
“I’m Samantha.”
“Brent.”
“I’m Ben, and if you’re here, it means you finally see what’s going on.”
“Not really,” Brent said. “They made me come.”
“Fair enough. I’ll try not to waste too much of your time.” He watched as Brent scratched at the wound on his leg. He’d seen this before… it wasn’t a good start.
“We were attacked yesterday,” Danny said. “All of us. At the mall. It dragged us into The Gray.”
“If it took you all at once, it’s getting stronger. Get your asses up here, we have a lot to discuss.”
They walked up the front steps two-by-two and sat down - Danny and Sam on the porch glider, Eric in a plastic chair, and Brent on the top step, as far away from Ben as he could get without standing on the sidewalk.
“Would anyone like a soda?” They all nodded. “Five sodas coming right up.”
As soon as the door closed behind him, Brent said, “This guy’s ninety years old. How exactly do you think he’s supposed to help us?”
“Be quiet,” Sam said. “Don’t be a jerk.” She still felt the spot on her cheek where he’d kissed her. It wouldn’t have bothered her if not for the crazed look in his eyes when he’d done it.
“Actually, there’s no way to quantify my true age,” Ben said as he opened the screen door. He carried five sodas bundled in his arms. “Brent, be careful of yours. I think that was the one I dropped.”
Sam snorted a short burst of laughter and covered her mouth. She turned to Ben who gave her a quick smile and a wink.
“I love this stuff,” he said enthusiastically. “It all started with root beer in…” his brow furrowed, “…1876 I think. I was hooked from the start. Dr. Pepper came a little later, then Coke after that. Wonderful stuff!”
“You sound like a TV commercial,” Danny said.
Ben opened his can with a loud crack and downed half of it at once.
“Wait, 1876?” Eric asked. “How is that possible?”
“After everything you’ve seen in the last few weeks, do you really need to ask? You can’t count my age on your fingers and toes. Just believe me when I say I’m very old, I mean it.”
Sam and Danny sipped at their drinks, watching Ben as they would a magician, waiting to see what other tricks he had up his sleeve.
“I’ll do my best to give you the penny-tour, but if you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask. This involves all of you now. The Darkening is upon us and the second you let your guard down, the Skryel will come for you.”
“The Darkening,” Sam said. “The man at the mall yesterday, he said the same thing.”
“It’s quite possible. The creature’s influence is already spreading.”
“Well, what does it mean?” Eric asked
“I’ll get to that.”
They nervously looked at each other and back to Ben. Brent stared into the street, his drink untouched, not paying any attention to what this crazy old fool had to say. He dug into his leg wishing the damn itching would subside.
“So, let’s start from the beginning,” Ben said, chugging the second half of his soda and dropping it in the recycling bin. “Let me just grab another drink.”
***
“Before the creation of our universe, entities floated in the void, conscious and capable of thought. There was no good or evil, no pain or sorrow, no feelings of any kind that you’d understand. Born in a vacuum, they knew nothing other than silence and darkness. When the universe came to life, everything changed.
“In this new light, there formed billions of new planets, stars, solar systems. The entities began spreading throughout the universe. They were children experiencing everything for the first time. Curiosity controlled them.”
“How do you create something out of nothing?” Brent scoffed. “If it was just empty space, where’d they come from? Who made them?”
“I don’t have time to get into a metaphysical discussion with you right now. Just listen, will you?”
Brent shrugged. “Whatever.”
“The creature in your dreams, Danny, the one taunting you, was one of the first to come out of the void. The Skryel. In the darkness is where it’s strongest.” Ben stood quickly and grabbed the handle of the front door. “I need another drink.”
“It’s a wonder you aren’t diabetic,” Danny said.
“I don’t suffer from any of your typical human maladies, it doesn’t work that way. I don’t get sick, I don’t succumb to disease. It comes in handy.” Ben disappeared inside.
“I can’t believe how crazy this sounds,” Sam said.
“I know it does, but you saw what happened yesterday. If I was you, I probably would have run for the hills and never looked back.”
“What? You mean that’s still an option?” She smiled and leaned into him as Brent turned and looked the other way.
Why are they so lame? They just met and all of a sudden they’re planning the fucking wedding.
“Don’t you think this is the dumbest shit you’ve ever heard?” Brent asked. “I mean give me a break.”
“You saw it with your own eyes,” Eric said. “I don’t understand how you’re s
till denying it.”
“I don’t know what I saw yesterday. It could have been the heat.”
“We all saw it, Brent,” Sam said. “How do you explain your leg?”
“I got stung by a wasp. Is that supposed to mean something too?”
“Look at your leg,” Eric shouted. “You can’t stop touching it.”
“Stop yelling at me, dickhead!”
“Dickhead? Why are you being like this? We’re all scared, but we have to stick together.”
“I’m not scared,” he said. “I’m just fed up with this bullshit. It’s stupid, it isn’t real, and this guy is a lunatic for leading you around by the nose and making up stories about… I don’t even know… a fucking… Skryel!”
“Yes, a fucking Skryel,” Ben said, opening the door and sitting down. “That isn’t its true name, but it’s the only one humans can understand. In the language of one of the first races, it translates to King of the Abyss, or Shadowking.” Ben lit a cigarette and sat back, blowing out a plume of white smoke.
“Sounds like bedtime stories to scare little kids, and I’m not a little kid.”
“Then stop fucking acting like one,” Eric scolded.
“Knock it off,” Ben shouted, his naturally calm demeanor giving way to a hidden strength they hadn’t yet seen. “Either you sit and listen or you can do this on your own. Take it seriously or get off my porch.”
Eric looked down at his feet. “Sorry.”
Brent fumed. Who does this guy think he is?
“Brent? Is this going to be a problem?” Ben asked.
The boy said nothing but didn’t stand to leave. It was as much as Ben could’ve asked for.
Ben picked up where he’d left off.
“The Skryel had seen the birth of everything. My kind, the Guardians, came later, but unlike the Skryel and its kind who’d been born in the dark, we were born in the light. The natural balance of the universe was formed.”
“Its kind?” Danny asked. “You mean there’s more than one of them?”
“At one time, yes. Countless numbers, just as there were of my kind. Now it is the last, and so am I.”
“This is all really exciting,” Brent said, “but what does it have to do with us?”
“Brent, seriously… this isn’t like you at all,” Danny said.
“Maybe this is the real me. Maybe I’m tired of always being the tag-along. Maybe all I wanted to do this summer was relax and hang out with my friends without having to play along with some stupid game. Did you ever think about that?”
“It’s not a game, son,” Ben warned. “If you think it is, you’d be better off leaving us to our business.”
“Fine,” Brent said. “I don’t need to sit and listen to this shit. I don’t take orders from you.” He stood and walked down the steps, stopping and turning around on the sidewalk to look back at his friends. “You guys aren’t coming?”
Danny shook his head sadly and looked at Eric. They understood the importance of what was going on and that Ben was the only one that could help them.
“Does Sam already have your balls in her pocket, Danny? Ever since she came into the picture, you’ve changed.”
“I’ve changed? Listen to yourself. I’m not even sure it’s you talking anymore.”
“Whatever dude, I’m out of here.” Brent took off in the direction of home, limping slightly on his injured leg.
What a bunch of idiots, he thought. First come the stories of unicorns and mountains made of chocolate, then out comes the camera and off go the clothes. He disappeared around the corner, leaving Eric and Danny to stare at each other in confusion.
“Is he always like this?” Sam asked.
“The Skryel is using him,” Ben explained. “It’s turned him against you. You’re much stronger together, so it’s doing everything it can to tear you apart. He’s not going to come around without a miracle… he’s poisoned.”
“He’s my best friend,” Danny said. “There has to be a way to get through to him.”
“As much as it hurts me to say it, he may already be lost.”
“No! That’s bullshit and I won’t accept it!”
Ben smiled. The boy had a fire in him, that was for certain, but he was young, and that worked against him. His love for his friends might be the only thing that would keep them alive.
“We’ll do whatever we can,” Ben said, “but you need to prepare yourself for the possibility that Brent will turn his back on you.”
“How can this be happening? He was my first real friend.” Sam squeezed Danny’s hand tightly.
“The Skryel has never played fair, Danny. There’s nothing you could’ve done to change the outcome.”
“Well, I’m not giving up! I just can’t.”
“I don’t expect you to. It’s how you’re going to win this war.”
***
At noon the following day, Danny knocked on Brent’s door and waited. He wasn’t expecting him to answer. When he opened the door, it looked like he’d just crawled out of bed. His hair was a tangled mess, and he had large brown pouches under his eyes. He swayed unsteadily.
“What do you want, Danny?” he asked. His voice was thick, his speech slurred.
“We’re going to Ben’s. You don’t look so good.”
“I didn’t sleep very well,” was all he said. He talked through the screen door, refusing to come outside.
Danny noticed how he was favoring his bad leg. He wore long pajama bottoms to hide it from view.
“Do you want to come with us?"
“Not a chance. I’m done with all this shit. He’s filling our heads with this nonsense and I wonder why I can’t sleep at night?”
“Maybe you couldn’t sleep because of your leg…”
“There’s nothing wrong with my leg,” he grumbled. “It feels better already.”
“Brent, you’re my best friend. You have to talk to me.”
“I don’t have to do anything. Things change. We’re getting older. It’s not the same anymore.” He rubbed his thigh, wincing. “Besides, you still have your girlfriend.”
Brent closed the door in Danny’s face.
He walked off the porch and around the corner to pick up Eric on the way. Before he got to his house, he heard Joan screaming. Danny shook his head and pulled himself together.
The whole world is going crazy.
Eric’s front door banged open as he ran onto the sidewalk panting. Joan appeared on the front porch, a bottle of brandy in one hand and a wooden rolling pin in the other.
“You little prick,” she screamed. “I’m still your mother and you will respect me.”
“Respect you?” Eric asked. “I don’t even like you. You’re a waste, and I hate what you’ve become. Dad is probably rolling in his grave.”
“Don’t you dare bring your father into this. Get back here right now!”
“I’m done letting you and Jacky treat me like shit. I’ve tried so hard to get used to the way things are now, but I can’t do it anymore. I’m not the one who’s broken… you are.”
“Get over here now!” Joan threw the rolling pin, missing Eric by several feet. It bounced off the sidewalk and into the street. She lost her balance and fell backward onto the concrete porch slab, splashing her brandy down the front of her dirty nightgown. She started crying.
Eric wanted to go to her, hug her, tell her that everything would be okay, but he knew that wasn’t true. There was no way to fix what they’d become. Instead, he backed away with tears in his eyes.
“I love you, mom.” Eric turned and saw Danny standing there. He blushed, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have seen that.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Danny replied.
They walked away as Joan stumbled to her feet, holding onto the door frame for support. Crying harder, she went into the house and flopped onto the couch. Eric wasn’t the only one looking for answers. Joan had no idea how things had spiraled so far out of control. What had happened to them? H
ow had she become the bloated, hateful monster she saw in the mirror every morning?
She set the brandy bottle aside and prayed to the God she’d forsaken. She prayed for her son and for herself, prayed that the shadows she’d seen creeping up the walls were only a figment of her imagination.
She prayed until the alcohol swept her away.
***
Sam had the house to herself. Her mother and stepfather were still at work, allowing her the freedom to wear what she wanted or play her music as loudly as necessary.
Arthur Bennett had married her mother when Sam was too young to protest. Her real father had picked up and taken off when she was only three. Sam couldn’t even remember his face, and her mother had made sure to remove any old photos she had lying around the house. Her mother was forced to raise her on her own until Arthur entered the picture.
They’d gotten married a week after Sam’s eighth birthday. He played the game at first, getting close to Sam to win brownie points, but it didn’t last long. He treated her mother fine - took her out to dinner, opened the car door, bought her flowers - but with Sam, all he saw was a nuisance. He’d never wanted children in the first place.
Sam wasn’t stupid. She understood the dynamic between a child and a step-parent was often a volatile one.
Clothing on the floor? Blame Sam.
Dishes not done? Blame Sam.
Litter box not cleaned? Blame Sam.
It was a way of life she’d gotten used to.
Arthur had only put his hands on her once. She was twelve. She’d come home late for dinner, her clothes filthy from playing in the grass and dirt. He began shouting about rules, about respect, about the way things were going to be. When Sam turned and walked away, Arthur lost it.
He grabbed her by the back of her shirt collar and pulled. Sam tripped and fell to the floor, her shirt torn and her neck red from the fresh friction burn. Her mother ran into the room to investigate the commotion when she saw the aftermath of their scuffle. She helped Sam off the floor, and with a brief hug, told her to wash up and get ready for dinner. Sam heard her mother slap him from two rooms away.
“If you ever put your hands on her again, you’d better have a divorce attorney on speed dial.”
The Darkening (A Coming of Age Horror Novel) (The Great Rift Book 1) Page 17
