Harbinger Island

by Dorian Dawes

  "That's fucked up," he murmured quietly, shaking his head. "That's really fucked up."

  "There's more like that," Kara said. "I'm guessing if I took a picture of everyone here, it'd be the same. I want to know why."

  Jeffrey's shoulders shook. He stumbled away and pressed his face and elbow against the crinkled wallpaper in an attempt to steady himself. He was trying not to cry in front of her, but memories were resurfacing, triggered by the image. His nose crinkled as phantom smells returned, burned into his brain long ago - piss and shit and fear and death. Jeffrey collapsed on the couch, burying his face in his hands and beginning to quietly sob.

  "I don't know," he murmured. "Don't take any more pictures, please. I don't want any more pictures."

  Kara stormed back outside, leaving him to his tears. Veronika shifted awkward glances between her and the traumatized man on the couch before following. This was all so fucked.

  "What are you gonna do now?" Veronika asked, letting the screen door slam behind her.

  "I'm trying to get a hold of our history professor," Kara said, holding her cell-phone to her ear. "Bartlebro's got a handle on this type of weird shit and he may want to look into this."

  "Didn't he get fired recently?" Veronika said. "I heard he was a sexual deviant."

  Kara gave Veronika an incredulous look. "As a lesbian, surely you should find it a tad suspect that the only queer professor on campus is rumored to be a sexual deviant and subsequently fired shortly after he's outed for being trans. I also know that he identifies as ace but god forbid anyone learn what the fuck that is."

  Veronika frowned and let out an exasperated groan. "I hate this fucking town."

  "Exactly, it's bullshit." Kara stared down at her phone. "Fuck! I can't get ahold of him."

  Veronika grabbed her own phone. "Well, I know someone else who can help."

  "Who?"

  "New gay in town. Name's Dayabir, works at the Historical Society. Knows his shit."

  * * *

  Dayabir had met Veronika the other week in the Stithyan library. She'd been a friend of Leroy's and had taken over his position. They'd spent several hours talking quietly to each other about his death and what had actually happened to him. It'd felt good to find someone else acquainted with the disturbing supernatural phenomena of Harbinger Island.

  He was working the counter when she called. He answered immediately. "Hey, I'm at work. What's up?"

  Veronika was blunt. "What do you know about the old Blackerly place?"

  Dayabir leaned forwards in his seat. "What's going on?"

  "Weird shit. Scary shit. Y'know, typical Wakefield stuff," she said.

  "Get out of there." Dayabir said. He stood from his seat and rushed to Gloria's office. His boss was sorting through bills when he peered his head in and gave her a worried look. "Get out of there now."

  Gloria Padilla leaned heavily on her cane while giving him a fierce look. "Dayabir, what's happened?"

  "There's pictures of us when we were kids, only we're being tortured. It's sick." Veronika continued talking, her voice trembling slightly. The images had affected her more deeply than she was willing to let on.

  Dayabir's mind raced. "Have you ever been there before, like maybe when you were a kid?"

  "I think so?" she sounded unsure. "There are memories I have, but I feel like I didn't have them before today. But it hurts, it hurts like this is something I've lived with all my life."

  "Bad things happened at that house. Roughly around the time you were a little girl," Dayabir said quickly. "There was ritual abuse, and a child was murdered in that house. I'd feel safer if you all left."

  "Fan-fucking-tastic." Veronika's frustration grew. "Gonna see if I can get everyone else out before I leave. May take some doing."

  Gloria had been listening on Dayabir's end of the conversation. She yanked a carpet bag from underneath her desk, then swiftly hobbled towards the back of her office. There was a tall glass cabinet that held dozens of decorated candles of various colors and sizes. She fixed him with an intense stare. "Hang up the phone. We're going into battle."

  "I'm coming, we'll figure this out, just … please, stay safe." Dayabir said his farewells, then followed Gloria out the door.

  There was murder in her eyes.

  * * *

  Kara gathered everyone at the party together. Veronika was already missing the music; Jeffrey's break-down had brought with it an uncomfortable silence. The other guests stood awkwardly in the living room, some with confusion and others with a growing sense of unease. Kara took a deep breath and, with everyone gathered, took their picture.

  Her suspicions were confirmed. It was an image of all of them as children standing in this same house. The rooms managed to look even dingier and darker than before. The children's eyes were darkened, blackened out with angry marks. They walked among barbed wire and broken glass, cutting their tiny feet.

  A waifish young woman named Therese Holiday pointed to the center of the image. "We are being watched."

  Kara hadn't noticed the figure hovering in the photo behind the children. She froze, gritting her teeth as she took in the whole of the shadowy figure. They were a ghostly thing, scarcely visible against the grainy black and white of the photo. Long, wispy fingers wrapped like tendrils of smoke around their shoulders.

  Kara pressed the camera closer and closer to her face. She thought there was something in that shadow, gray and distorted. She plugged the camera in to her laptop.

  Veronika paced behind her. "What are you doing?"

  "There's someone in the photo, a ghost maybe. Think I can probably identify who's in it if I mess around with it a bit."

  Veronika stepped in front of her. "You can look at the pictures later. Right now, let's just get out of here. Peer too hard at the darkness and it'll notice."

  No one else needed any prodding. They were already hurrying out of the house, some in tears. Veronika followed, one hand tightly gripping her snake tattoo. They got to the end of the veranda before Veronika swore under her breath.

  "You all right?" Kara asked.

  "Jeffrey!" Veronika said, eyes wide. She turned her gaze back to the house. "Where is he?"

  The house groaned noisily, like the building had taken on a life of its own. Everyone felt it, a sick feeling deep in the pit of their stomachs. Therese pointed upstairs. Someone was walking towards the window, barely visible through the dust on the glass. Kara squinted and raised the camera to her face. She zoomed in quickly, turning the lens into a set of makeshift binoculars.

  "What is it?" Veronika's fingers crooked in a strange gesture. Kara didn't notice. If she had, she would've recognized the same movements Helena had made weeks ago before she'd cast a defensive spell.

  Kara lowered the camera and in a low voice whispered, "It's Rick."

  She didn't tell Veronika about Rick's expression. He had the look of pure mania, his lip-straining grin wide and unrelenting. There was something in his hands. He backed away from the window, fading completely from sight.

  Everyone waited, clutching each other and whispering. The sky darkened above them. Kara kept staring, waiting for something horrible to happen. Rick's silhouette continued to move back and forth in front of the window. He was working at something on the floor, bending over and moving about the room in circular motions. Kara took several pictures, each in rapid succession as she backed further and further away from the house.

  "Kara." Veronika took her arm. "Let's go."

  Kara lowered her camera and turned her back on the house. Some of the others had already begun pulling out into the dirt road and driving off into the woods. Shortly after, a rickety station wagon pulled into the yard. Dayabir emerged first, moving around to the passenger side to take Gloria's hand and help her to her feet.

  Kara and Veronika approached, only for Gloria to nudge them aside with her cane. "Stand aside, girls. There's little time."

  Dayabir made an apology and a quick effort to explain. He had a habit of talki
ng way too fast when he got excited or was attempting to divulge as much information as possible in a short amount of time. There were several times where Kara and Veronika had to stop him and get him to repeat something he'd said that had come out as a quick jumble of incomprehensible words.

  "I think it might have been sixteen, seventeen years ago? Several children were abducted from their homes all over Wakefield. They were found here s-several weeks later with signs of various cuts in the shape of arcane symbols and b-bound in barbed wire. I don't think they ever found those responsible.

  "The children later told stories. Nasty stories. Rituals. Torture. One said the kidnappers were trying to extract something from them.

  "The Ein Sof," Gloria said. "Some might call it the God molecule, or the ultimate substance. It's the supposed divine origin of all created existence."

  She'd wandered to the front of the house where she knelt in front the screen door. She began pulling candles out of the carpet bag and lining them around her in a complete circle. Gloria chanted fiercely under her breath, quiet prayers of protection from the evil that lay beyond.

  "Why kids?" Veronika asked. "Why children?"

  Dayabir lowered his eyes, pained by the words coming out of his mouth. "There's a belief that runs in these kinds of circles that when life is created, they carry with them the Ein Sof as they are brought into existence and it gradually fades as they grow older. So children are …"

  "The ideal victims," Kara finished.

  "Do you remember any of it?" he asked.

  Kara squinted. Her eyes widened after a moment's realization. "Fucking hell. Are you shitting me?"

  Veronika returned her hand to her tattoo, rubbing it uncomfortably. "I would have remembered something like this."

  "Unless they didn't want us to remember," Kara said. "We were so young."

  Veronika turned to hide the tears peeking at the corners of her eyes. She remembered now. There was a boy. She'd held onto his arm tightly one night as they dragged him away from her, pulling him kicking and screaming into the darkness. She never saw what they did to him, only heard his screams. When he came back he'd soiled himself. There'd been cuts all along his legs.

  She'd always been afraid of barbed wire; now she knew why. A small sob escaped her throat. The horror lingered fresh in her mind.

  "Fuck," she whispered, almost choking.

  Dayabir pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry … I shouldn't have."

  "It's not your fault," Veronika said. "You didn't do anything."

  Kara turned her eyes once more to the attic window and clenched her fist. "Got some questions for Rick. I'd like to see how he handles having his teeth knocked out of his face."

  Dayabir shook his head. "You really shouldn't. Please, let Gloria do her work. It's not safe for you."

  Kara furrowed her brow. "Look, you're a sweetie and everything, but I think I'm a bit more capable at defending myself than either of you."

  "That's not what I meant." Dayabir shook his head. "Whatever's in there was awakened by the returned presence of those abused in this house. It may be drawing power from you."

  Kara groaned. "I hate not being able to solve my problems through blunt force trauma."

  "There may be some problems that you can't just punch in the face." He attempted to give her a smile.

  Kara curled a fist and smiled back. "Doesn't hurt to try."

  "You should go home, both of you," Dayabir said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Or at least go do something that makes you feel better."

  "Fine. I can't go in there," Kara said. "But I know someone who knows a bit more than me when it comes to magic. Her name is Helena, and she's one badass bitch."

  "All right." Dayabir nodded. "Go get her. And then get some ice cream and play some video games. It helps me, at least."

  "Ice cream sounds awesome," Veronika said, giving Kara a sideways glance.

  "I get the hint! We're going!" Kara threw her hands in the air and marched to her car.

  Dayabir turned to help Gloria with her ritual, retrieving more strange candles from the bag and lighting them in turn. She held a rosary and beads high over her head. Her Spanish chanting rose in volume. The house groaned back at her in response. It was like they were singing to one another.

  * * *

  When Helena had first discovered her magic, it'd been one of those fairytale moments. Every kid has that fantasy. Professor Xavier tells you all the things that make you strange make you a superhero. You get your Hogwarts letter. You're secretly a princess.

  That was cool and all, but it didn't keep her friends safe - or even around, for that matter. Helena had few friends outside of Justin and Kara, and with them both off dealing with their own drama, she'd been pretty damn lonely. Her mom and brothers had finally come back from their trip, but it didn't help. She'd give up all the magic in the world just to put things back to normal again.

  Helena's phone lit up with Kara's name. She almost didn't believe it at first. Her finger hovered over the button for several seconds before answering.

  Her voice shook more than she liked. "Hey! It's been a while, how are you?"

  "Not good, do you know the old Blackerly place?" Kara sounded exhausted.

  This wasn't a social call. Helena's shoulders tensed. "Yeah, I think I know the place."

  "Something inside, it's awake, and I think me and some other students were used to do it." Kara said. "Some people from the Historical Society are already here, but I don't feel good about sending an old lady and this dude in by themselves. I think they could use some of your magic."

  Helena almost choked. "Yeah. S-sure. I'll be there right away. Are you still there?"

  "I'm already gone. They said that whatever it was drew power from us, so it's not safe for us to be anywhere near the place. How soon do you think you could get there? I'm worried."

  "I'm already heading out the door. Are you okay? Did anything happen?"

  Kara's voice sounded weak, as if she was trying to stop herself from crying. "Not really, no. I've got a lot of shit to process at the moment. I'm gonna try and just relax for a bit."

  "Please. Talk to me."

  "Just get to Blackerly House and help them out would you? I hate feeling so useless."

  "You were never useless …" Helena started.

  Kara laughed, cutting her off. "Yeah. Right. I'll talk to you later, bye."

  "Yeah." Helena hung up the phone, glumly. "Sure thing, Kara-bear."

  * * *

  Kara and Veronika sat at a table outside the Roasted Dog, silence between them. Veronika kept staring off at the woods or occasionally down to check her phone. Her expression remained anxious, pensive. Worst first-date ever.

  Kara sighed and dipped a fry into a milk-shake. Veronika looked up from the phone for the brief moment to see and react with open-mouthed disbelief. She shook her head and almost laughed. "That's disgusting," she said. "That can't taste good."

  Kara shook her head. "You've seriously never done this? Okay. First time for everything. Try one. Then you can judge."

  Veronika recoiled. "I will not be poisoned by your deviant ways."

  "Suit yourself." Kara sighed and bit into another fry. She exhaled and stared off into the distance. "I think this is the first time I've ever been here without the gang."

  Veronika's brow furrowed. "It's the magic, isn't it?"

  Kara dropped the fry. She sat stiffly in her seat, shoulders back. "What?"

  "When Gloria started setting up her ritual," Veronika said. "You made that same face you're making now, and on the phone with Helena. Any mention of magic seems to upset you."

  Kara exhaled. "Fine. Guilty. Magic scares the living hell out of me. I mean … fuck! I didn't even know it existed until a few weeks ago.

  "None of my experiences with it have been positive or helpful, and I know that's screwed up, and it's unfair … but I'm afraid. I'm afraid and I can't stop being afraid. These people wanted to kill us and it was over magic. We were kidnapped
and tortured as kids over magic."

  Veronika reached across the table to take Kara's hand. She gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sure that her hiding this from you doesn't help things."

  Kara wiped a tear from her eye, then laughed bitterly. "Are we still talking about Helena, or have we moved on to our parents? It doesn't matter. I must sound like a raging asshole right now."

  Veronika held her wrist firmly. "You've every right to be afraid. This isn't exactly new to me. Magic, anyway. The more I learn, the more I wanna say 'fuck it' and get off this awful island."

  "But you can't, can you?" Kara asked, her brow furrowing. "You've thought about leaving before, right? You've thought about grabbing everything and going, but then something happens. A roommate falls through, a bill comes up, or there's a family emergency."

  "Family emergency." Veronika waved her hand in the air. "Mom got sick right before I was going to leave last year and I ended up having to help take care of her in the hospital."

  Kara's eyes were red. "And Helena, I abandoned her. I fight for everyone and I abandoned her 'cause the stuff she's involved in freaks me out too much."

  "I'm not sure she sees it that way," Veronika said. "She seemed pretty eager and willing to help."

  "That's just her way," Kara said. "And here I am, the one crying over French fries and milkshakes while everyone else does the real work."

  "So sit back," Veronika said. "You can't fight every battle. Good way to burn yourself out."

  Kara nodded. "You're probably right. You seem to be taking this better than I am."

  Veronika laughed. "Just trying to follow my own advice."

  "Tired of the weird occult shit?"

  Veronika took a cautious glance around her before leaning in, her voice dropping to a low whisper. "Something is coming, Kara. I'll get visions occasionally. Lately, I keep getting the same one, a fog rolling in from the sea and covering the land. From out of it steps this figure covered in this awful black sludge. I'm actually afraid, and I'm pissed off wondering how much of what happened to us ties into whatever hell is coming to this island."