“There’s nothing to see.” Erica said to no one in particular.
She heard a voice in return. “When I count to ten, you will be awake.”
The voice was distant, but Erica could hear it clearly.
“One.” The voice began.
Erica continued to walk, trying another doorknob.
“Two.”
The walls were a bare, pale yellow.
“Three.”
Erica tried another doorknob.
“Four.”
She continued to walk down the dim corridor.
“Five.”
As she walked, dark in spots appeared on the walls.
“Six.”
Erica walked faster, eager for the change.
“Seven.”
She slowed as the walls showed streaks of dark red.
“Eight.”
Erica tried one last door. One of the few doors that did not have a board over it. She let it swing open.
“Nine.”
Erica peered into the darkness, spotting a tall man dressed in a black suit. Although he had no eyes, he seemed to stare through her.
“Ten.”
Erica’s eyes flew open as she gasped for breath. She looked up at Cambrie, the guiding voice in her meditation. “What’s wrong?” Cambrie stretched her neck as Erica sat up.
Erica shook her head. “Nothing.” She looked at her watch. The entire thing had taken an hour. “We need to do it again.”
“Why? You didn’t see anything.”
“I just need to go back.”
Cambrie stared at Erica. “I don’t get it.”
Erica sighed and looked at her hands. “It’s just…”
“What?” Cambrie leaned in closer.
“I’m just bored.”
Cambrie blinked. She unfolded her legs from under her and stood, leaning on the desk chair for support. “That’s not a good enough reason.”
“Bullshit, it's not a good enough reason!” Erica stood to face Cambrie. “You have no idea what it’s like! Every day, the same thing. The same grey nine-to-five, the same house, even the same television shows after dinner.”
“Those were your choices. Those are safe choices, comfortable choices. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“There is when it puts thirty pounds on you in a year. I’m stuck in an endless loop of drudgery.” Erica looked around Cambrie’s living space.
The studio apartment was smaller than Erica was used to, but it was in a prime Manhattan location and tastefully decorated in Cambrie’s signature Boho style. Undeveloped film, a computer, and two cameras littered the desk Cambrie was leaning on. Above the desk hung a large map of the world that had red pins stuck in the places Cambrie had photographed. Pins had been added to Africa and Australia since the last time Erica had visited.
Cambrie noticed Erica absorbing her surroundings. Everything read in Erica’s face. Cambrie felt a twinge of sadness for her friend. “You can always start over.”
Erica’s eyes refocused on the map above the desk when Cambrie spoke. She swiveled her head to look at her. “I intend to.”
*
“You need to tell me if you see anything. Don’t forget.”
“I won’t.” Erica rolled her eyes at Cambrie.
Cambrie settled into a cross-legged position while Erica set the alarm on her watch. They said that no one should be in there for longer than an hour. Erica wasn’t superstitious, but she didn’t want to take chances either.
“Why do you want to do this again?” Cambrie wouldn’t let it go.
Erica sighed. “Because,” She couldn’t look at her friend. “I lied.”
Confusion overtook Cambrie’s stoic features. “Why?”
“As you were counting me back last time, at around nine or ten, real last minute shit, I saw an eyeless man in a suit.”
Cambrie’s eyes widened. She hopped up from the floor and shuffled around on Erica’s desk for the tiny, red book. Cambrie held it up when she found it, waving it like a flag. “They talk about that guy in here.”
“You’ve actually read that?”
Cambrie’s head bobbed up and down. “It’s interesting.”
Erica shook her head as Cambrie flipped through pages, suddenly stopping on one. “Here. It says, ‘If you encounter a man in a suit, do not speak to him. Tell your guide immediately that you have found him.’ See? You were supposed to have told me.” Cambrie slammed the book shut.
Erica shrugged. “I was coming out of it anyway.” She picked at a fingernail. “But why would I have to tell you?”
“So I can get you out of there. That guy’s dangerous.”
Erica cocked her head to one side. “How?”
Cambrie shrugged. “He just is.” She shooed Erica to her position on the high pile carpet. “Oh, and if you find a room full of clocks, tell me. If you see a weird old woman, tell me. And for fucksakes, if you see that man in the suit again, tell me!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Erica settled on the floor and closed her eyes.
Cambrie resumed her cross-legged position next to Erica and began the guiding process. “You are at the beginning of a long corridor. Many doors line it. They extend as far as the eye can see. Behind each door is a room. Begin exploring these rooms. Describe everything you see, hear, touch, taste and smell as you go.”
Immediately, Erica experienced tunnel vision. Blurs of color whipped past her. In a second or two, the corridor began to form in front of her, with its pale yellow walls and boarded or locked doors on both sides. She would have been discouraged had she not known where to start.
Erica ran down the corridor until the walls began to darken. She slowed, taking in every detail. She touched the dark red spots. As she pulled her fingers away, rubbing the red goo between her thumb and forefinger, Erica put together that it was not blood. Relief flooded her body, until she realized that recognizing it, even if it was blood, was better than having no idea what she just touched. She wiped her fingers on her jeans.
Erica inspected every door she passed until she came to the door that had no board over it. She tried the knob. It turned easily. Like before, the door swung inward of its own volition. The darkness was heavy, but not thick enough that she couldn’t see a black mass with a white face standing at the opposite end of the room.
The man didn’t have eyes, but Erica could tell that he was staring at her. Trembling, she entered the room. The door slammed shut behind her. She didn’t try the knob. Somehow, she knew it wouldn’t turn. Erica stared at the eyeless man as the room around her began to lighten.
“Cambrie,” Erica whispered. “I found the guy.”
Cambrie’s voice faded in. “I’m going to count to ten. When I count to ten, you will be awake.”
Erica kept her eye on the man in the suit, but used her peripheral vision to see the rest of the room.
“One.”
As the room lightened to where Erica could see clearly, she realized she was in a room filled with clocks. The clocks ticked abnormally slow.
“Two.”
Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed a figure standing next to the man in the suit. The weird old woman. The woman started at Erica, holding a basket in both hands. Her eyes were black, bottomless pits.
“Three.”
The clocks ticked more loudly and slower than they had moments before. The eyeless man took a step toward Erica. Like a game of chess, the man stopped as Erica took a step back.
“Four.”
The old woman cackled.
“Five.”
The man moved another step forward. Erica, in turn, took a step back.
“Six.”
Erica backed into the door. The man took another step while the woman laughed.
“Seven.”
The eyeless man was now close enough for Erica to see that he did have facial features. He smiled a hideous Glasgow smile with a mouth filled with pointed teeth. Erica’s scream came out as a croak.
“Eight.�
��
Erica tried to speak, to hurry Cambrie, but she found that she couldn’t.
“Nine.”
It was too late. The man was standing right in front of her. Behind him, the old woman continued to cackle. Glancing over the man’s shoulder, Erica noticed the old woman pulling something long and sharp from her basket.
“Ten.”
Cambrie had reached ten. Erica squeezed her eyes closed. When she opened them, she was not staring up at Cambrie, but at the eyeless man’s hideous smile.
Erica was still stuck in the clock room, resigned to her fate at the hands of the eyeless man and the old woman. Erica had wished for excitement, and she got it.
Legends
“Remember, the devil was once an angel.”
“I don’t believe you.” Chad whined as he pulled a piece of beef jerky from Mark’s pack before Mark could slap his hand away.
“What’s there to believe? It’s horseshit.” Eric poured a half a cup of whiskey, downing it in one gulp.
“It’s not though. The legend goes back centuries in these mountains.” Jack snatched the whiskey bottle out of Eric’s hand as Eric attempted to pour another cup.
Eric and Mark scoffed as Jack leaned forward, elbows on the rickety kitchen table, wetness soaking his thermal shirt. The previous owners had forgotten the old table at the cabin. It was now sticky with spilled alcohol from the group’s game of beer pong hours before. “They say, the creature still stalks these woods.”
Sensing Jack was gearing up for a long, dramatic story, Eric called to the girl sitting in the only lit corner of the living room, reading a book. “Merideth, honey, you got to come hear this.”
“Another one of Jack’s wild stories? No thanks.” Merideth never took her eyes from her book, her voice riddled with annoyance.
Parties were not Merideth’s ideal way to spend an evening. She had left the table hours ago, preferring her book to the increasingly shallow conversation the guys were having. She secretly wished Mark had brought his girlfriend, so she didn’t feel so alone, but Merideth had about as much in common with that girl as she did with Eric’s friends. The truth was Eric only brought Merideth along so he would have a ride home.
“Oh, shit.” Eric lowered his voice, leaning in, stifling a giggle. “I’m in trouble.”
The guys roared with laughter.
When the laughter died down, Jack continued. “Don’t worry about her,” waving his hand near the living room. “You’ve got bigger problems.”
“Oh, Right. The creature.” Eric drew out the last word, mocking Jack’s theatrics.
“You think I’m joking.” Jack slammed back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Aw, you gonna pout?” Eric took a gulp from the bottle of whiskey and slammed the bottle back on the table. “All right, guy. Tell your story.”
Jack narrowed his eyes at Eric and continued. “The creature. It lives in these mountains. Has for years. They say that going into the woods alone makes you vulnerable to it. Like a cat stalking a mouse, it plays with you. It’ll warp your sense of time. You’ll lose your direction. Walking paths will disappear.” Jack looked around the table at his friends.
Eric smirked, Mark drank from the whiskey bottle, and Chad’s eyes teared up.
Jack leaned back in his chair, dropping the theatrics. “The creature took the guy who lived next door. He was new here. Didn’t know the story. Wasn’t around long enough to make friends, I guess.
“When my family was staying here last summer, I was sitting on the back porch with my dad. This neighbor guy was making his way into the woods through his backyard to get firewood or something. Hell, we even waved to him and my dad asked if he needed any help.
“He said he could manage, so we watched him go into the woods. That was the last time we saw him. Later that summer, his house went up for sale. It’s still empty.”
They stared at each other for a few moments, silent. Then Eric shook his head. “Ain’t no creature, man. The guy was probably just there for the summer.”
“I don’t think so.”
“You ever see this creature?” Mark took his lips away from the whiskey bottle long enough to ask.
Jack shook his head. “But I’ve heard it.”
Chad leaned in closer, although it looked as though he was about to throw up. “What’s it sound like?”
“Like a wailing. A high-pitched, anguished wailing.”
“That’s a fucking coyote, man!” Eric was sure he solved the puzzle.
Jack shrugged.
That Jack wasn’t responding to what he had said annoyed Eric. After staring at each other for a while, Eric said, “All right. Let’s go.” He stood.
“Where?”
“To find the creature.”
“No way, man!” Chad’s face had lost its color.
“I don’t recommend it.” Jack replied.
“C’mon. We’ll all go. Even Merideth.” Eric turned to where his girlfriend was sitting in the living room, but she wasn’t there. “Anyone seen Merideth?” Eric called loud enough for her to hear.
No answer.
“Seriously, where’s Merideth?”
“Last I saw her, she was reading, like a nerd.” Mark chuckled.
Eric shoved him hard. “Shut up, douche lord.” Eric left the kitchen to check the bathroom and the bedrooms. “Merideth! Hey! We’re going out. Let’s go!”
Eric returned to the kitchen after searching the house. “Where the fuck is she?” He rushed out the back door.
“Hey!” Jack called after him, hurrying to the open door. “Where are you going?”
“She’s fucking with us.” Eric called back, heading for the woods.
“Dude! No woods!” Jack rushed out after Eric.
“There’s no creature, man! Relax!” Eric responded.
“Fuck that, you don’t even have a light!” Jack followed Eric to the edge of the woods, Chad and Mark close behind.
Jack stood at the treeline, watching Eric go further into the woods. Chad and Mark bumped into Jack’s back.
“Aren’t we going?” Chad asked Jack.
“Nope.”
“He can’t go by himself.” Mark pointed to where Eric had disappeared into the trees.
Jack shook his head. “I know better.”
Chad and Mark stared at Jack. Finally, Mark said, “Well, I’m going with him.”
“I wouldn’t.” Jack said to Mark’s back.
Mark turned to face Jack. “He doesn’t know these woods. You’re a real shithead for letting him go in alone.” Mark continued toward the treeline.
Revelations Page 4
