by David Wood
Interlude- Dreams In The Dark
The mountain cavern was vast. So much so that after Ash and his crew first broke through to it they'd had to setup lighting rigs to begin their work. But, as powerful as the lights were, the far end of the rocky chamber was beyond their reach, lost in darkness. It was as though someone had punched a hole in the world that went so deep it tore through the universe into something far older and cosmic. But now, a month later, the lights had been turned off and removed. The men no longer needed them to see in the dark. Ash was thankful for that. Light was an abomination in this place, this…cathedral, and a blight against the Holy Darkness that slumbered deep within it.
Ash stood at the very edge of the cavern, the toes of his work boots peeking over a sheer drop that would end his life if he took one more step, and stared. His eyes, once as green as a freshly mowed lawn, were now pitch black orbs that swept over the rocky walls around him, and then down at the water that gently lapped at the cavern walls two-hundred feet below. It was a peaceful setting, the calmness of it broken only by the distant sound of a pump. He was used to that, though. The pump operated around the clock, and the unending monotony of it turned it into background noise that scarcely registered anymore.
Beyond that, though, another sound permeated the cavern. It wasn't something you perceived with your ears, that could be recorded or amplified. It was a vibration in the bones, a slow throb felt more than heard, and fangs glittered as Ash smiled in the darkness. It was the heart of his god beating a rhythm older than the mountain that surrounded them, and with every hour the beat increased little by little. His god slept, buried in the underground lake at the bottom of the cavern, slept and dreamed, but as the water level lowered, his god stirred. Soon he would awaken, and when he did his dreams would change the world. When that happened Ash would be by his side, reborn as his first Acolyte of Shadows. It would be a glorious day.
Hard rubber scuffed over rocks, disturbing the stillness behind him, but Ash didn't turn. He didn't need to. He knew who approached by the way the man grunted as he walked.
“What is it, Gus?” Ash asked, his eyes locked on the black water below.
Gus Mason coughed and stopped several feet back. “Boss, Tyler and Wil finished setting up that room you asked for, and some of the guys already have their kids here. You want they should…you know…start loading them in?”
Ash wanted to laugh. Over time his crew's bodies had changed because of the holy water that cascaded over them after the cavern was breached, but so far the signs of their rebirth were small, barely noticeable. A darkened iris here, a lengthened canine tooth there. Ash's body had gone through more extensive changes, and it amused him that his crew could work in service of the ancient god and yet still feel fear in his presence. But perhaps that was only as it should be. Within the mountain Ash had found new purpose, and in embracing that he'd been elevated above all others. If his men’s admiration and love also contained fear, so be it.
“Yes, lock them up as soon as possible. When our god rises he'll be mighty hungry, and I want a fitting meal ready for him.”
Gus nodded so quickly the fat beneath his chin bounced like a turkey's wattle. “So does that mean I should bring my daughter in too?”
“Would that bother you?” Ash’s black eyes flashed in the darkness.
“Oh, no, sir. No, not at all. She uh...she's been getting mouthier by the day, and it'd be good for her to finally get put to a good use.”
Gus was as solid as the mountain that pressed down on them. Ash respected that. “That's good, Gus. Anything else?”
Gus's chins bounced again as he nodded. “Yes, sir. We're all set to start up the second pump. Are you ready?”
“The better question, Gus, is if the world is ready,” Ash replied, squaring his shoulders as he kept his back to the rest of the mine. “And the answer to that is no, the world isn't ready. It will be soon, though, and when it is, you and I and the others will stand first amongst the new order. We are his chosen.” Ash turned his head and graced Gus with a glance. “But to do that we must finish awakening our god, so yes, turn on the second pump.”
Gus went back the way he'd come. He shouted orders and directed the crew while Ash turned his attention back to the cavern. The affairs of the small were best left to the small.
With the interruption over, he stared down at the water, envisioned the glorious being that slept far beneath it, and wondered what dreams filled his mind. Sometimes those dreams rose up and touched Ash, filling him with a sense of power and majesty so great he fell to his knees and wept. As his god slowly awoke, the dreams came to him less and less, but it was a sacrifice he was only too happy to make. The dreams would be real soon enough.
As he sought out the dreams of the ancient god, the second pump kicked into life, and the increased noise filled the mountain tunnels with a growl. Moving without thought, Ash reached up and scratched at his right ear as though he were shooing off a fly. When the claws that had replaced the fingernails of his hand scraped against his skin, the ear tore loose and dropped onto the ground with a moist plop. Only a small nub of gray flesh remained, black veins pulsing beneath it. He glanced down at the torn ear next to his feet, but he wasn't bothered. He was being reborn, his body the clay of his god's dreams, and the ears of his old skin meant nothing. His crew would come to know the same glory soon.
Chapter 4
The musty smell billowing up from the bed after Kyle tossed his duffel bag onto it was enough to push him back a step. The motel room appeared to have been cleaned, but how long ago that had been was anyone’s guess. He was just glad there wasn't a dead body stashed in the closet or decaying in the bathtub. Kyle hadn't recognized the guy manning the motel's front desk, but he'd looked sketchy enough that the idea wasn’t unbelievable. A little mustiness he could deal with. In the Army he'd dealt with worse.
As he unpacked what few articles of clothing he'd brought with him, Kyle pulled out his phone and checked to see if Taylor had called or texted him. No new messages appeared, so he pulled up their text thread and typed, YOU FREE YET?
No answer immediately appeared, so he kept the phone in one hand and moved clothes from his duffel bag to the room’s cheap particleboard dresser. As the last pair of pants settled in the bottom drawer, his phone let loose a brief electronic dance beat.
NO. MOM IS WATCHING ME LIKE A HAWK. (O.O)
After their less than pleasant exchange, that didn’t surprise Kyle. I BET. LATER?
AFTER 8. WILL SNEAK OUT AND CALL YOU.
He didn’t want to encourage bad behavior, but he had little choice. He’d snuck out of the house by her age, and for lot less savory reasons. OKAY. DON’T KEEP ME WAITING.
I WON’T. PROBABLY. ;) LOVE YOU.
He sighed. Kids. LOVE YOU TOO.
:) x
Their digital conversation over, Kyle pocketed his phone, turned to the TV on the squat dresser opposite the bed, and looked for the power button. Like the pumpkin orange curtains and green wallpaper that made the room seem like a relic from the 70's, the television could have come from a museum. It was an old 21” tube TV, made long before high definition was even a glimmer of an idea. When he finally found the ON/OFF knob and turned it, the screen took a good half a minute to warm up, and even then the image was fuzzy. He snorted and turned it back off.
“I'll take that as a sign” He pulled on his leather jacket, then patted his pockets, making sure he had his wallet, car keys, and the room key (an actual metal key, not the plastic cardkeys that most modern hotels and motels used). Satisfied that all was in order, he unlatched the door and opened it. Wet air billowed into the room, adding to the musty feel. He wondered if he would ever be dry again.
The Smokey Mountain Motel was laid out in a horseshoe shape, with parking slots in front of each room and a vinyl-covered pool in the middle surrounded by a waist-high chain-link fence. When he'd first pulled in, the parking lot had been empty save for a dented beige Ford Bronco sitting in a space m
arked MOTEL EMPLOYEES ONLY. Now, in addition to the Bronco and his rented Jeep, he saw a red Honda Civic two slots to his right that seemed oddly familiar. When he noted the tiny spare tire on the front passenger wheel well, he realized why. Loud cursing rolled out from the car’s other side.
Kyle stepped around the car from the front and saw a woman bent over and struggling with something in the backseat. He instinctively opened his mouth to ask if she needed help, but the shape of her body stopped him cold. She had curvaceous hips and a cushiony behind – what some of his Army buddies would have reverently called a badonkadonk – and while the red skirt she wore didn't look painted on, it might as well have. Shapely light brown legs extended down from the skirt to small feet in black leather sandals. He couldn't see her from the waist up, but from memory he recalled the black blouse. All in all it was a very pleasant view, but he considered himself too much a gentleman to enjoy it for more than a moment.
Hoping not to startle her, he stepped back, coughed, and asked, “Can I help you, Ma'am?”
“What the huh?” Her body jerked as she pushed herself out of the car.
Yep, it was definitely the woman he'd seen on the side of the road. Her pretty face and bouncing curls were easy enough to remember, but it was her eyes that captured his attention again. They were pale blue, almost gray, and the way they looked out from her creamy brown face made them seem lighter in color. She was gorgeous, easily one of the prettiest women he'd ever seen in person.
“Who are you?” she asked quickly, looking at him and then looking around for anyone else close by. She was probably used to being stared at, but used to it and liked it were two different things.
Hoping he wasn't blushing like a schoolboy developing his first crush, Kyle put on his warmest smile. “Sorry if I startled you. I...uh... It sounded like you were having a hard time with something, and I thought I'd lend a hand.”
To emphasize the point and show he wasn't holding anything, he extended his arms and held his hands out. Her eyes flicked down then back up to his face. After a moment the skin between her brows crinkled and she tilted her head slightly.
“Do I know you?”
“Kinda.” He pulled his hands back. “I saw you this afternoon. You were on the side of the road in your car. I pulled up next to you to help, but you were on the phone and waved me off.”
Her eyes lit up and her lower jaw hung open for a second. “Ohhhh... Right! I remember now. Yeah...um, thanks for stopping, it was just...”
“You don't have to explain.” He shook head. “I understand. The side of the road in the backwater of West Virginia probably isn't the safest place, especially for someone on their own who doesn't know the area. From the look of it you got things all sorted out. I won't insult you by assuming a boyfriend or something came along and changed it for you.”
The last comment was a bit of fishing on his part. He hoped she didn't notice it. She blushed and rolled her eyes, but to his relief the gesture seemed directed at herself.
“Oh, insult away. I'm a modern woman, but changing tires isn't something I ever got around to learning. My insurance company has roadside service. That's who I was talking to when you pulled up.”
The smile he wore made his cheeks hurt, but he didn't want to lower it until he was sure she felt comfortable. “It seemed like an intense conversation.”
“Have you ever had a conversation with an insurance company that wasn't?”
He laughed, hitched up the right side of his mouth in a we're just folks smirk, and extended his right hand again. “Good point. My name's Kyle.”
Her eyes went from his hand to his face just like she'd done before, but this time she returned his smile and shook hands. Her strong grip stood at odds with her soft, warm skin, and his fingers tingled with electricity.
“I'm Maya. It's good to know I'm not the only newbie in town.”
When she let go of his hand, part of him sighed in regret, but to make sure he didn’t seem too eager he leaned back on his heels and put his hands in his pockets with his thumbs sticking out. “No, you're the only new person around. I was born and raised here. I left to join the Army a while ago, and now I'm back visiting. No room at home, you know how it is. But uh... At the risk of putting my nose where it doesn't belong, do you need some help? When I came by it seemed like you were having a time of it back there.” He pointed at the backseat to make himself clear.
Maya glanced over her shoulder and scowled. “Oh, yeah. To get my tire changed I had to move some stuff from the hatchback to the backseat. I guess I didn't do a good job of it, 'cause now it's scattered all over the place.”
Kyle had dealt with his fair share of messes, so he felt qualified to help. “Well, if you don't mind, I'd be more than happy to help. If not, just say the word and I'm outta your hair.”
“I...” Maya stopped, frowning as she tossed her options around in her head. He would take any excuse to share more time with her, but he wouldn’t blame her a bit if she told him to scram. “Okay, sure, I'd appreciate it. You can go over to the other side and gather up whatever slid over there.”
Forcing himself to not smile so wide he’d split his face in half, Kyle nodded and jogged over to the passenger side backseat door. It squealed like a pig getting butchered when he pulled it open. Crumpled paper and fast food bags littered the floorboard, but he forgot about those when he got an eyeful of her cleavage as she ducked down and started gathering things. Her upper body was just as sexy as her lower half, and it took every ounce of his restraint to swivel his eyes away. To occupy his mind he gathered things and made a pile. It wasn't until he grabbed something familiar that his brain slid back into gear.
“Whoa.” He hadn’t expected to find a pair of night vision binoculars. He'd seen a lot of them as an Army supply grunt, but finding a pair out in the wild, especially in the backseat of a woman's car, gave them an alien feel. “What exactly is it that you do for a living, Maya?”
The woman across from him looked up quickly. When she registered what he held in his hand she closed her eyes and sighed. “It's...complicated.”
“Hey, yeah, none of my business.” He shook his hands at her. “If you're some sort of investigator or journalist, the last thing I'd want to do is get in your way or screw things up. Forget I asked.”
Maya made a hmm sound as she opened a canvas bag and stuffed a bundle of notepads into it. Kyle couldn't help but notice the SLR camera, digital camcorder, full spectrum lens attachment, and IR camera light the notepads were settled against. If he'd seen that sort of gear in a place like Manhattan or Paris, his immediate assumption would have been she was a Langley spook, but in a nothing town like Stillwater, West Virginia? The idea was laughable. And Maya didn't seem anything like a spy, though he figured a good spy wouldn't. The one thing he was certain of was that she was a mystery he’d like to solve.
“I tell you what.” She zipped the bag closed and stood up. He grabbed the binoculars and a half-empty leather satchel, then stood up as well. “It was really nice of you to stop earlier on the road, and just now, so let me say thanks with a meal. I can't afford much, but I figure there has to be a McDonald's around here somewhere, right? It's, like, the law or something. While we eat I'll tell you what's brought me to town. Since you’re a local you might even be able to help.”
He wasn't sure what she meant, but if it came with a free meal plus more time in her company, he had no problem with that. “Sounds like a plan, thanks. It's been awhile since I was last here, but I know a place called Woody's Diner just down the street that has amazing burgers.”
Maya's light brown face turned gray and she shook her head while staring straight at him. “No! I...uh... I went by there already. I don't think it's the same as you... Is there anywhere else?”
“Sure.” Maya looked scared silly, and he had no idea what had brought it on, but he wanted to do whatever he could to calm her down. “Across the road is The Basement. It's a bar, but they serve food too. Would that work?”
> The relief that washed over Maya's face eased his mind but made him wonder what had happened at Woody’s. It was one more mystery to add to her collection.
“Yeah, that sounds fine.”
“All right, then let's get this stuff unloaded, and we'll go.”
With a nod, Maya hefted several bag straps over her shoulder, then turned and walked to the room next door to his. She had a time getting the key for it from her purse without dropping everything, but eventually she made it and had the room open. He stayed outside while she unloaded her bags and then came out for what he had. A brief peek told him her room was identical to his, but laid out in reverse. Once all the bags were set down, she shut the door and tested it to make sure it was locked.
“We good to go?” he asked.
Maya smiled and pulled her purse over her shoulder. “Lead the way.”
Chapter 5
The sign for The Basement stood on the side of the road displaying a stream of foaming beer cascading down a set of wooden steps. Kyle and Maya waited for a truck to blow by and then crossed from the motel. In the bar's parking lot were two motorcycles, a yellow construction truck loaded with dirty tools, and a shiny new Cadillac plastered in bright red Republican bumper stickers. After sidestepping a series of puddles, they reached the front door and Kyle opened it. A bell rang overhead.
Kyle, even though he’d grown up in Stillwater, had only been in The Basement twice, and always with his dad. Because of that his memory of the place was dim at best, but he couldn't imagine it had looked as rundown as it did now. Half the light-up signs on the wall were dark, and those that did work seemed weak and hazy. Even the flatscreen HDTV above the bar looked less than high-def. In a day that had seen Kyle's estimation of the town plummet further than ever before, this was one more weight pulling it down.
