Through the In Between, Hell Awaits

by Robert Essig

  There was a look on Mr. Tight Lip’s face that was a mix of fear and anger. One more patronizing word and his ass was gone as far as Austin was concerned.

  “Fair enough.” As the desk clerk placed the phone to his ear and dialed for manager, he asked, “What’s your name, sir?”

  “Austin Wheeler.”

  “Yes, Ross? Hi, it’s Paul at the front desk. I have a Mr. Austin Wheeler here who claims that he’s—okay . . . okay.” Paul’s eyes rose to meet Austin’s as he talked on the phone and Austin could see that the man feared for the sake of his job. “Yes sir. Okay. Right away, sir.”

  Paul placed the phone back in its cradle. He took a deep breath. It looked as if he was about to cry. He looked Austin in the eyes and that snotty certainty he had been plagued with as soon as Austin entered the Wheeler was replaced with shame, regret, and apology.

  “Mr. Wheeler, I am so sorry. I don’t know how to—”

  “Cut the crap and be happy you have your job. I’ve had a hell of a day and you’ve really pissed me off.”

  A wave of nausea came over Austin nearly knocking him to the ground. His vision blurred. He turned with one hand planted on the back of his neck. His steps were loose and scattered as he walked toward a couch that sat neatly on a large Persian carpet.

  The clerk rushed around the counter. “Are you all right, sir?”

  Austin waved him away. “Fine, fine. Just get my key, will you?”

  “Right away, sir.”

  A woman and a man who had been waiting in the lobby came to Austin’s aid. He told them that it was an old injury that was acting up. Nothing a Vicodin couldn’t cure.

  The desk clerk came around the counter again with a keycard. “Here you go, sir. Ross assured me that you would like room 515. Do you have any luggage that needs to be brought up?”

  “No.” Austin grabbed the keycard.

  “Mr. Wheeler, I just want to tell you again that I am terribly sorry—”

  “Can it, Paul.”

  Paul stood up straight, eyes wide. He was smart enough to shut up and watched as Austin walked to the elevator like a wounded soldier leaving the battlefield that was the lobby. He pressed the up button, entered the elevator, and hit the button for the fifth floor.

  It was probably bullshit that the hotel was full. Not that Wheeler hotels didn’t get booked to capacity, it happened, but usually when there was a convention in town, and even then, there was always to be a room reserved in case Austin showed up. His father made certain that clause applied to every one of his hotels around the world, much to many of the managers’ displeasure.

  That Paul fool had better watch his ass during Austin’s stay. He’d be keeping an eye on him, that’s for sure.

  The room was very nice, as Austin always expected. He figured one of the reasons his father was so compromising about allowing him to stay in the hotels all around the world was that he was like a set of eyes that popped in unannounced from time to time. And when something was awry or the room had problems, Austin always had a chat with the manager and in some cases contacted his father with a report. It wasn’t something that was asked of him, but he knew that one day he would settle down and have to take the reins, and when that time came he would have liked to retain the quality Wheeler hotels were known for.

  Austin headed for the bathroom and pulled off his shirt over his head. He shifted his torso to try to get a good look at the nape of his neck. The pain had subsided, but was still present. He had expected to find a lump there, but he couldn’t see anything.

  Fatigued and weak, He felt as if he could plop onto the bed and pass out for a day or two. And why not?

  Because he had a damn parasite in his body, that’s why.

  The mini bar was stocked. Austin popped the cap on an airline bottle of Stoli and a bottle of brew for a chaser. There had to be a way to remove the parasite without bothering with a hospital. Perhaps a drink would help his mind to think.

  ***

  Audrey arrived at the Wheeler Hotel at five minutes to seven. At the front desk was a man with a name tag that said “Paul” who had an air to him like he preferred the intimate company of his own sex.

  “Could you please contact Austin for me.”

  Paul eyed her with something like contempt, which made her feel very uncomfortable. “Austin . . . ” he said the name implying that he needed a last name, but Audrey couldn’t remember him giving her a last name.

  “I . . . I don’t know his last name.”

  “Hmm. I see. Well, I’m sure you can understand that I cannot start calling everyone named Austin looking for the one you know.”

  “Just how many Austin’s are staying here? It’s not that common of a name.”

  “Ma’am, this is a prestigious hotel. Even if you did know the full name I’m not sure I could page the patron you’re looking for. We get the rich and famous here and I generally don’t help gold diggers and fans get closer to them. If this Austin you’re looking for wanted you to be in contact, he would have given the front desk a note with your name on it. I can assure that there is no such notice.”

  Audrey had a mix of emotions. She was upset with the arrogant ass at the front desk and was wondering if Austin had had second thoughts. She didn’t want the desk clerk to see him get the better of her, so she said, “I’ll just wait in the lobby. I’m sure he’ll be down any minute now.”

  “Very well.”

  After his drink, Austin lay on the bed to rest and free his mind, hoping he would become enlightened and shed some light on his predicament. He hadn’t expelled all the much energy driving from San Diego to LA, but he was exhausted and he had a feeling the parasite was to blame. He’d heard about parasites that brought on bouts of lethargy and fatigue.

  He should have gone to a hospital, but the circumstances under which he contracted the parasite were somewhat shameful, and he didn’t like the idea of lying to them about where he got it.

  It was all so confusing.

  He lay there with the burning in his stomach of liquor and beer and something strange happened. There was a pulsating at the back of his neck where the pain had been bothering him all day. It wasn’t painful this time, just a tight feeling that seemed to swell at the base of his head and then retract. He placed his hand on the base of his neck and he could feel the flesh undulating.

  “Holy shit, this is worse than I thought.”

  And still, he pushed away the idea of seeing a doctor.

  In fact, that urge to head north that he had been feeling all morning, which seemed to cease as soon as he entered LA, had returned. But it was more specific like a compass in his mind with magnetic pull.

  Austin changed his clothes. He wanted to shower, but he had to leave. He had get out of the hotel. As he readied himself for whatever was next, he noticed that as he rummaged around the hotel room the pain in the back of his neck would recede every time he faced the window. Eventually, he tested it by standing straight and turning in a circle, and sure enough, the pain throbbed and only decreased when he was facing the window. He rotated four times and each time was met with the same result.

  The window revealed hoards of fools walking up and down the Strip like lemmings. Eighty percent of the people out there were tourists unloading their money in the shops and restaurants. Austin’s eyes darted from person to person, blurred face to blurred face, shop to shop. What was it that stifled the pain? Was the woman from the alley out there somewhere?

  Austin had a purpose, he just didn’t know what it was. It was out there on the streets of Hollywood. He could feel it, or rather now that he didn’t feel it he knew he was on the right path. What happened last night in that alley was something phenomenal, and Austin was involved in it now that he had a part of it inside his body. And he was sure that the little bastard was leading him somewhere.

  It was seven thirty. Audrey felt like a damn fool for waiting that long, and the fact that her butt was still sitting in the Wheeler hotel attested to the fact that has be
en slowly sinking into her troubled mind since the disastrous audition she went to earlier: her life was in a state of turmoil.

  What was she waiting there for? A man she had met in Riverside who gave her a ride to LA? Was she a damn fool? Sometimes Audrey wasn’t sure. Lately she had visions of moving back to Ohio. She could stay at her parents’ house until she found a job and could afford an apartment. It would be a drag and a deep dent to her ego, but chasing a dream was doing nothing more than creating lines on her face and a whole lot of worry.

  She looked at her phone again. Seven forty.

  This was getting ridiculous. Why did she do this to herself? She waited forty minutes to audition for a part she was all but promised over the phone by someone she thought she could trust. She was supposed to be auditioning for a supporting role next to some very prestigious names, but by the time she was allowed to give it her all, she was told that all the supporting parts had been filled weeks ago and that the women who were there today were auditioning for bit parts, walk-ons, maybe one line . . . maybe.

  Bit parts! Audrey hitchhiked all the way from San Diego for a goddamned bit part.

  She had been getting better gigs in San Diego doing commercials, which paid better than you’d think. She wouldn’t have bothered with the trip had she not been promised a supporting role. But, since she was there, and since she scored the measly part she had auditioned for (a whole ten lines of dialogue, and “you should be happy you got more than just a walk-on” the casting director had said), she decided that she would remain in Los Angeles and check some of her contacts for casting calls and other auditions.

  Now, at seven forty-five, her ass was beginning to get numb and the prospect of Austin showing up was pretty much shot. It was going to be embarrassing to walk past the asshole desk clerk in shame. It appeared as though she really didn’t know Austin and was just hanging around like some clinker.

  Just as she stood to leave the hotel, the elevator doors opened. As she had done the umpteen times the doors opened in the forty-five minutes she had sat there in wait, she looked inside. What she saw made her smile, masking the bounty of anger that she harbored.

  Austin walked out of the sliding elevator doors. He looked odd, somewhat disheveled. He shifted this way and that as if searching for something, which caused him to appear maniacal. As he approached, he didn’t make eye contact with Audrey. He acted as if he didn’t even know her. The smile that hid her frustration quickly dissolved in to what was there all along. As he passed her by, she said, “Hello! Austin? Remember me?”

  Austin continued to walk as if in a trance, stopping in the center of the lobby like a robot. He then turned toward each door. When he faced the one on the left, he cringed, nearly dropping to the ground as if his knees had gone out on him. He grabbed the back of his neck and grimaced, then turned toward the other door facing the north side of the Sunset Strip. He took to that door and opened it to the congested streets of Hollywood.

  “That son-of-a-bitch,” said Audrey under her breath.

  She rushed for the door. As she was about to leave, the desk clerk said, “Miss, I will not have you bothering our patrons. If you cause a scene with Mr. Wheeler I am going to have to call the police.”

  She looked at the clerk with venomous eyes and said, “Fuck you!” before exiting the Wheeler Hotel.

  Inside, the desk clerk took the phone off its cradle and dialed.

  “Austin! What’s wrong with you?” she asked, her voice cutting through the general din of Hollywood after dark. Some people looked at her, but most of them thought she was crazy and did everything they could to ignore her outburst.

  Austin was one such walker, his pace increasing as if he was purposely trying to distance her. What an arrogant creep to walk right by her and act as if he had never seen her in his entire life. He meant nothing to Audrey, but after the day she’d had she wasn’t going to let him get away with this. She liked him. He seemed like such a nice guy, and this certainly wasn’t the behavior she expected. If anything, she just wanted to know why he was ignoring her. She thought there was something between them, especially when he dropped her off earlier.

  She increased her pace and caught up with the asshole, grabbing his arm to halt him.

  His head darted to her has her dainty hand clamped on his shoulder. There was something in his face that was not right, something akin to the fear and sadness he seemed to harbor when she met him in Riverside at the fast food restaurant. But none of that mattered. He couldn’t be too sick or tired or anything to just blow her off the way he did. Even if he was going to see his dying mother in the hospital, he could have said something.

  His eyes met hers and finally recognition filled them, melting his agony into what looked like general shame and hurt. His mouth went into an “O” as he drew in a quick breath.

  “What’s wrong with you, you could have said something, anything.”

  “I’m sorry. I . . . I just have a lot going on right now.”

  “A lot going on! You were heading ‘north’ when I met you without a destination in sight, and now you’ve got ‘a lot going on’. Bullshit! If you didn’t—”

  Austin’s eyes shifted to look behind Audrey, which threw her off track. He wasn’t even listening to her, the bastard. Probably saw some skank in fishnets walking down the strip.

  “Hey, are you listening—” and then she yelped as hands grabbed her from behind.

  “Wheeler security,” said a deep voice. “You’re coming with us, ma’am.”

  And with that she was pulled away from Austin screaming and flailing as if it wasn’t a security guard that grabbed her but a homicidal maniac. She screamed at him and yelled and called for him to rot in hell.

  Again, a lot of people stared at the spectacle while others kept trudging along. It was one way to tell the tourists from the locals who have seen far too much Hollywood eccentricity to give a damn anymore.

  10

  The thing that called itself—herself—Jeanie sat on the floor of her motel room surrounded by her minions. Two of them were missing, which didn’t normally bother her; however, one of them had been gone for almost two days, which wasn’t like them. At times, they lingered with the corpses cleaning the body of soul residue in order to cover Jeanie’s tracks. Her tribe was always looking for her, and she was determined not to be found.

  That’s where Rich came in. He seemed determined and crazy enough for her to begin a new tribe with him. She’d hoped to begin her new tribe with Dano Grue, but he turned out to be less than half as wicked as his lyrics made him out to be. Initially she had hoped Death Fraud could become her new tribe, but they were rock stars, and their obsessions were that of the flesh and the substances that dulled their sensibilities. They wouldn’t prove to be reliable.

  Jeanie’s mercury eyes rolled back into their gray sockets. She sat perfectly still in her natural state sending vibrations into the ethers to her two missing soul suckers. Sometimes the little bastards entered other hosts looking to feed on their souls. That wasn’t a good thing. It was imperative that she regain control of her minions. They starved for souls and so she allowed them to feed on the corpses after she was finished with them. Their purpose was to remove any bit of evidence from the bodies that could lead the tribe to her, however they had a voracious appetite and if they indeed managed to kill a man and devour his complete soul, they would develop into monstrous things that would be very difficult for Jeanie to control. Tiny soul sucking demons were known to become quite erratic and impulsive. She was their master, but souls were like Miracle-Gro and soon enough they would turn on her.

  But using them to clean her trail had worked so far, and they were so small it was near impossible for them to take down a human themselves. She starved them not only to keep them at a manageable size, but to ensure that they had such voracious appetites that they would clean a corpse thoroughly before returning to her.

  Jeanie could feel that the two missing demons were close. Both in LA. But she st
ill wanted them within her. Only then would she feel completely at ease, and she wanted to be comfortable for tonight. It would be the start of something massive that would rock the In Between to its foundation.

  She opened her eyes. The world around her represented something that was always there but could not be seen by mortals. Her motel floor was replaced with a landscape of skulls as far as her mercury eyes could see, sprinkled with ruins of long demolished castles of gray stone and crumbling spires. Some of the ruins were fixed with bones and fragments, but those temporary patches were no matter for the deterioration that came with time.

  These places were lined with walkways paved of skulls that led to mausoleums constructed of bone and mortar. These avenues are the necropolis. No sentinel ever steps foot in a necropolis for fear of rousing the ancient dead who have been damned to the antiquated grounds by Satan himself. They also fear the Black Pit, to which all bone paved roads lead. As for where the Black Pit leads to . . . Hell or worse.

  Jeanie wasn’t one to believe in ancient superstition and myth the way her tribe and every other being of the land did. She was safe here while her tiny demon minions called their rebellious brothers back to her. They were close. She didn’t have to worry any further. They would be with her by the time the Death Fraud show was over, and then she could meet Rich after the show and begin the construction of her post-sentinel tribe.

  Jeanie opened her eyes to the surrounding necropolis. It was quiet and sullen. Everything was dead. There wasn’t a demon, sentinel, or parasite alive, and all the trees were long dead and falling to the skull-lined ground. The myth was that nothing could live on the grounds of a necropolis, that the soil was toxic. The way Jeanie saw it, she wasn’t living there, but visiting for a spell when she needed to gather her thoughts away from the boisterous realms of Earth. She was glad for demonic superstition or else she would have nowhere to run to when Earth became too much for her, as it often did in places such as Los Angeles.