Roy approached. “Descendants. Most of you at any rate. You’re related to Adherents that have passed. And tonight they’ll be coming home.”
A fissure of green light split the shadows on the wall behind the altar. And then, as if encouraged by the first, others quickly followed suit. Judy had noticed them as well. The others might not even be able to perceive them, they hadn’t in the rec room or elsewhere in the hospital.
“You want the shadowmen to come through. They’re not just random, they’re your Adherent cronies.”
A frown sullied Roy’s expression. “You will learn reverence. You’re being saved for the most important. Adam will be grateful of your talents. It will make our progress towards the Unravelling so much smoother.”
“You’re a fool.” Judy had worked her mouth free of the gag.
Johnny stopped what he was doing and hurried to reapply it.
“I had a vision. I saw you with Dr Lowman. He’d managed to fight off Adam’s control and you did nothing to stop him taking his own life. Are you sure Adam will be grateful to you?”
Roy rounded on her, striding over with a sudden swirl of his robes like a thunderstorm. “What would you know?” he snarled.
“I told you. I saw it. In this room. Lowman was possessed by Adam wasn’t he? Adam told me earlier tonight. Lowman was compliant and resilient, but ultimately he couldn’t cope with the indignity and he ended it.”
Seth was impressed. It took balls to challenge anyone when you were at their mercy and now that Judy had Roy’s attention, she wasn’t about to yield. Seth tried to move again. Whatever black magic was holding him down, it was focused through the goat’s head on his chest. If he could shift it, he’d be free. There were no other bindings restraining him, so he’d be able to fight back.
Johnny held a dagger to Judy’s throat. The jewels in the hilt caught the flickering candle light and brought it to life. “One more word and I’ll finish you.”
“Not likely. You need me to help open the doors.”
Roy took the dagger from Johnny’s grip. “You’re right. Your presence has sped events up. But don’t be a fool and think that makes you indispensable.” He sauntered around the space, like a party host regaling with a witty anecdote. The robes flowed around him. “What makes you indispensable is you are a relation of Matthew Payton, his granddaughter in fact.”
“He died before I was born.”
“A setback. But he was once Adam Cowl’s right-hand man. And you over there,” he gestured at Michael. “Grandson of Camden Wells. Died in 1973, cancer.” Roy turned to Alicia. “And this feeble thing, great granddaughter of Raj Sule. Bit of a jerk by all accounts but necessary. And last but not least, we have the niece of Anne Scanlan.” He was indicating Glenda. “All of you are indispensable and that is why I summoned you all here tonight.”
Seth didn’t want to ask but he couldn’t prevent himself. “And what about me? Are you saying I’m also related to someone in your cult?”
Roy nodded. “You’re a third generation. Edward C. Lambert, your grandfather. And of course, your mother.”
A kick in the stomach. Roy left the words hanging and all Seth could do was lie there and list all the reasons why Roy would weave this web of lies.
“My family weren’t Adherents,” he said more calmly than he felt.
“Edward Lambert was a prominent council member before he went rogue. Your family have never been far from us.”
“Lies.”
“It’s of no interest to me whether you believe me, but baring in mind I’ve gathered all these other people tonight, why do you think I’ve invited you?”
“I can help open the doors.”
“As can Judy. As can any of us Adherents. You’re not as special as you’d like to think. And also, we have a few others who aren’t special, don’t we?” He wandered over to Peter and when there a glint of light in his hand, Seth remembered the dagger. He wanted to cry a warning, but Roy stabbed the blade into Peter’s throat before he realised what was happening.
Judy screamed. The rest of the group, with gags still in place, wailed and shrieked through their obstructions. Glenda tried to get to her feet but the chain fixing her to the floor made that impossible. Blood spurted from the opening on Peter’s neck. His eyes sought his wife and locked with hers even as he slumped. The blood spilt on to the floor.
And reacted.
The lines of the pentagram flared into life. A golden fire raced around the patterns, searing the symbol into the floor. The group startled and tried to edge back to avoid the flames, but their shackles were too tight and they had to sit there as the fire lapped against their feet. The lines leading to Seth remained dormant, but he sensed that wouldn’t be the case for long.
“Even the unimportant can serve a purpose,” Roy intoned, mesmerised by the reaction of the blood.
The flames dropped to a low continuous burn, the temperature in the room already increasing.
Johnny reached for the dagger and Roy handed it over. “The night is beginning.” He sounded excited. The blood on the blade was a deep red, almost brown in this light. Johnny held the dagger before him, regarding the stain. And then he crossed the room. As he passed Seth, he let some blood drop onto the goat’s head, then touched his finger to the blade and pressed his finger to Seth’s forehead, drawing a pattern. He was being marked. Whatever they had planned for him in this ritual, it was not going to end well. He suspected that even Peter got a better deal than was coming his way. Johnny continued across the pentagram, not caring that his feet were stepping through the flames. He had his eyes on Arjun. The young man’s face shrunk in terror. The eyes widened and Seth saw the flames reflect on his dark pupils. His skin was wet with sweat. Arjun knew what was coming his way, and he tugged at his bindings, throwing all his energy into freeing himself.
When Johnny was within a metre, Arjun’s frustrated noises became cries of alarm, all muffled by the gag but the fear was unobstructed. Alisha was more afraid. Seth feared she might tear her wrists off the way she was yanking them against her bindings.
“I’ll help you,” Seth said, “just don’t kill anyone else.”
Roy moved to stand behind Alisha, his face a twisted with hatred and loathing.
“Please,” Judy said.
Johnny paused. The rain on the roof seemed louder. The smell from the burning pentagram stung Seth’s nostrils. Johnny frowned, glanced at his dad. Then stabbed Arjun in the neck. Blood flowed. Arjun gasped. The dagger came down again, hard on on Arjun’s chest. When Johnny turned, he had blood on his face and he used the back of his hand to wipe it, only succeeding in spreading it across his face like grotesque makeup. Arjun tumbled forward, his forehead smashing into the floor. And his blood ignited the rest of the pentagram lines, the central star pattern ignited in a rush of flame. Where lines intersected, the flames diverged, covering the pattern in seconds.
Seth tried to recoil from the heat but could still only move his head and that only barely. The head on his chest felt heavier than ever. He didn’t imagine ever being able to move it. But the flames didn’t burn. He guessed the goat’s head was protecting him.
A curious painful noise came from Alisha. Her body rocked as grief tried to compete with terror, leaving her trapped in a torrent of pain.
“Seth, the doors.”
Judy.
Seth scanned the room and saw them. Five green outlines. Five doors. All burning their way into this reality at a speed he’d never seen before. Roy and Johnny were not amateurs. They knew how to perform this ritual and it became clearer what their goals might be.
“Excellent,” Roy said, his voice tinged with wonder. It was easy to think of the man as mad, but he was worse than that—he was devout.
“You’re making a mistake. You will not get the response you’re expecting,” Seth said.
“On the contrary, this is proving an exceptional night. Soon, the Adherents will be back and you will be gone.”
“People will come lo
oking for us,” Judy said.
“And they will find you intact.”
Seth caught the confusion in her eyes. He understood what the ritual was about. “The shadowmen, these particular shadowmen, are the Adherents. They’re our relatives come back from the Almost Realm. They intend to possess us, to hitch a ride in our bodies.”
“That’s insane.”
“But accurate.” Roy came to stand by Seth in the middle of the pentagram. Johnny waited by the altar, his back to them both, entranced by the opening doors.
“But we’ve seen shadowmen already. They were there during the first vigil,” Judy said.
“The Almost Realm is full of such entities. The boundaries between realms is thin at the hospital and they are always trying to enter our reality.”
“They’re here,” Johnny said, a note of urgency in his voice. He crossed the room. To Seth it looked like he wanted to put as much distance between himself and the doors.
And the shadowmen in front of them.
Five shadows detached from the wall and took a step towards the altar. Their eyes smoldered red like coal embers. Their features dark but the flickering light of the candles would occasionally pick out a nightmarish feature, a sunken nose, or the points of their ears, or the needle teeth. A new smell of weeks’ old garden waste assailed Seth. Much harsher than they’d experienced with the previous appearances of these creatures.
Michael was the calmest of the captives, but then, he’d chosen to not look up, locking himself away in his thoughts. Glenda’s gaze flipped between the newcomers and her dead husband lying feet away from her. Tears were streaming. Alicia was muttering under her breath. Seth fancied she was praying and he hoped it offered her some comfort.
And Judy was glaring at Seth as if this was in fact his fault. No, that’s not right. She was sad, not angry, and scared for Seth more than she was scared for herself.
Why was he at the centre of the pentagram?
Roy had claimed Seth’s granddad was one of them. It can’t have been true. Edward was a gentle giant who nursed Seth’s grandma whilst she died of cancer. It was ridiculous to claim such a man would have been involved in anything like this.
A gasp from Johnny caused Seth to look across the room and back to the shadowmen. A larger shadow stepped forward., distancing himself from the others, his outline more defined, his posture striking in a way that said he was more powerful than the others. His eyes burned a flaming vermilion. Seth knew who it was before Roy confirmed it.
“Adam has returned,” he said with reverence, and both he and Johnny knelt.
The incense had gotten stronger, the flames lighting the pentagram were higher. And the temperature in the sanctum was rapidly becoming unbearable.
“Keep away from me,” Michael said as the Adam shadow walked around the outside of the pentagram, pausing by Michael. A clawed hand reached out and grabbed Michael by the throat. His eyes widened in terror and he froze with fear, unable to react. And then Adam released him. A deep throaty noise that could have been laughter came from the shadowman. The sound could have come from the centre of Seth’s brain. Michael collapsed, his hands reaching for his neck, massaging the muscles, gasping for breath. Was it Seth’s imagination that Roy looked revealed?
“We’ve prepared for you, sir. In every way you asked. The beacons are ready. Your Adherents can take their pick.”
The shadowmen inched closer, but they were not interested in going for the ghost party, at least not yet. They were deferring to their leader. Even in this shadow form, Seth could sense the reluctance, the unease of daring to upset their elder.
Johnny looked confused and a few nervous exchanges were made between father and son.
Adam stepped into the pentagram. The flames died but the light from the lines somehow remained, charged. Seth could do nothing but wait for the creature to reach him and end it. But he felt a nudge in his side and remembered that he was never ever alone.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Seth said. “You’re a lot taller than I imagined.”
The shadowman’s mouth opened. Row upon row of blackened teeth were put on display. A hideous stench emanated from his mouth and Seth tried hard not to gag, he really didn’t want to be sick in this position.
“I guess they have little call for dentistry where you’ve come from.”
“Be silent,” Roy snapped, “show some respect.”
Johnny stepped across the boundary of the pentagram and the effect was immediate. An invisible force flung him backwards, his feet leaving the floor, and the wall behind him met him with a crunch that made Seth wince.
“I warned you to keep out of the pentagram,” Roy said with a glance at his son. Johnny groggily got to his feet but kept back away from the ritual—his lesson learnt.
Adam approached and stood beside Seth, glaring down at him with red burning eyes. Seth looked away and caught sight of Judy. Of all the group, she was the only one not looking at the shadowmen across the cavern, but at Seth instead. A noise came from Adam. He made a gesture to the other shadowmen and they swiftly moved from behind the altar, each taking up a position behind one of the ghost party.
Alisha was wailing, trying to will her body into as small a form as possible. Glenda was hugging herself, her arms tight around her breasts. She kept flicking from the sight of her dead husband on the floor to the creature that stood behind her. Michael was muttering to himself. He wouldn’t lift his gaze from the floor.
Adam bent and the stench from his mouth intensified. Seth tried not to breathe as the creature reached out a claw to his cheek, like a long-lost lover. But the claws dug a deep gouge into Seth’s cheek and he howled in surprise. “Bastard!” He could feel the blood welling in the wound.
Then another sound from Adam. Almost a word. “Unravelled.”
Adam reached out to Seth’s chest and Seth could only stare as the black shadow claws pierced his chest, this time passing through the flesh. He was trying to possess Seth’s body, hitch a ride. Live again.
But someone else had done that a long time ago and wasn’t about to share Seth’s body with anyone. Seth sensed Charlie moving. And then a shadow hand came out from Seth’s chest and clawed at the arm of Adam. The reaction was swift. Adam snatched back his hand and stormed away from Seth. The other shadowmen seemed confused, unsure what they were now allowed to do. Their leader was due to take a new body, but it had been denied by… they didn’t know.
Roy was speaking but Seth had to strain to hear the words. “I don’t understand. He is yours. He is the strongest of the group, and he has the sight.”
HE IS TAINTED BY ANOTHER.
The words didn’t so much as reach Seth through his ears as through his entire body.
“I don’t understand.”
But Seth understood. Charlie, his hitcher, was protecting him. Already in place and defending his position as the sole rider of Seth’s body. Adam couldn’t make a move whilst there was another in situ.
The light from the doors changed, became dimmer. They’re closing, Seth realised. And that would leave the hitchers trapped in this realm. He needed to stop that happening. With every fibre of his being, he strained, starting with his neck and willing the adjoining muscles to move. He had to get the goat’s head off him so he could make it to the doors and do his thing to force the hitchers back where they belonged. But it was useless. He couldn’t move any more than his neck and head. So all he could do was watch when Adam approached Johnny and gripped him by the throat.
“No! He’s not for you,” Roy shouted.
Adam might have been grinning. It was impossible to be sure with that face. Johnny’s feet had left the ground. Adam held him up at arm’s length whilst Johnny grappled with the shadowman’s grip, trying to prise the hold open. A strange gurgling, gasping noise like a blocked drain came from Johnny. His eyes were wide and staring at his dad, pleading for him to save him. And Roy to give him his due, did attempt it. He tried to grab Adam’s arm, but his hands fell through as
if it wasn’t there. Then Adam’s free arm rounded and connected with Roy’s chest with a terrible noise. Broken ribs perhaps. Roy fell backwards. He slipped to the floor, clutching his chest, glancing up at Adam and his son with fear in his eyes.
If Roy can’t control him, then what chance did any of them have?
30
It had been a mistake to enter the hospital without backup. Malc winced at the pain in his ribs and leant against the wall. He was shaking. The others were in severe trouble and he was moping about down here feeling sorry for himself. But he had just been attacked by a living nightmare. The others were right; the hospital was a dangerous hotbed of activity. Whatever damage the Adherents had done, it had endured.
Joe had warned him not to come.
He felt in his back pocket and pulled out the crumpled photograph of his son that he carried with him everywhere. Taken on his third birthday, it showed a glowing happy boy with a paper crown on his head and a plastic trumpet in his hand. Joe’s face lit up the photo, almost like he’d captured a piece of his son and it lived within the image. He touched the creased photo and made a vow to never again ignore his son’s warnings.
But he’d made other vows in his past. He had a duty to protect these innocents and he would do it even if it meant the end of him.
“God give me strength.”
A girl ran past him soundlessly. She’d come out of nowhere.
“Hello,” he called out, but she’d already turned a corner.
There was something about her he recognised. He picked himself up and cautiously followed her. At the junction, she was already several metres ahead and was at the next corner when he realised it was the clothes. He glimpsed the jeans and Wham t-shirt as she hesitated at the corner and glanced at him.
He met her eyes and said, “Kelly?” The girl moved on and Malc hurried to keep up with her. At the next corner, Malc’s mood darkened. He’d lost her. It had been years since he’d last seen her. As a young boy, Malc had practically lived at Seth’s house and had been exposed to all the trials of his family. Seth’s sister was a case in point. Despite all the loving her family provided, she couldn’t help but take herself off the rails, like the rails were something to be ashamed of.
The Dark Corners Box Set Page 19
