Sinister Shadows

by Simon Smith-Wilson

  ‘We will come back here when we have more people. I don’t like the feel of this place,’ said Sheridan, talking directly to her father. He magically materialised in front of her. She had never seen such disappointment imprinted upon his face. It was like he was looking at a piece of shit stuck to the bottom of his boot. Sheridan had to turn her eyes away from him, ashamed that she had made him feel this way. A bit part of her was angry that he didn’t seem to care how frightened she was. ‘I am taking us home,’ she dug her heels in and stuck to her decision. It didn’t matter if he was disappointed. He had always taught her never to do something that didn’t feel right. If she felt it was wrong, then it probably was wrong. Why was he suddenly trying to force her to go against one of the core values that he had taught her? Ryan was already moving off in the other direction, not wasting a single second in reviewing the decision to retreat. Sheridan followed, scanning the shadows with the lights of her space suit. Unconsciously, she glanced back at her father. He was stood like a stone statue in the tunnel. He looked like a complete stranger to her. His expression was one of disgust. There wasn’t even a single hint of love in his eyes. Was that even her father?

  ***

  The world beyond the window opened into a glorious display of incredible structures, beautiful lights and the sights that no human had ever seen before. Dr Jones pressed his face up against the glass like substance, watching the alien town’s flash by. The train was moving at such a blistering speed that he only caught glimpses of the various stops on this route. This was not a barren world. The planet must have been home to billions. Cityscapes of strange designs sat upon the horizon, teasing him with the strolling metropolis that once was. They crossed mountain ranges, dried up rivers and black forests of rotting trees. Villages sporadically appeared here and there, but no two building designs were the same. It was like he was passing through hundreds of alien worlds in a matter of minutes. There were buildings floating upon clouds, structures of pure light and buildings that moved like living creatures, constantly changing their shapes. Between the towns were herds of unknown beasts that somehow managed to survive in the harsh lands that consumed this once great world.

  ‘We will be coming to our stop soon,’ said Dr Emerson, but the voice was not hers.

  ‘Where are you taking me?’

  ‘You will see soon enough.’

  ‘Why are you showing me all of this?’ Dr Jones asked, unable to take his eyes off the alien world.

  ‘I am giving you a chance.’

  ‘What is it you are giving me a chance to do?’

  ‘I am giving you a chance to save all life. History will not be allowed to repeat itself.’ Dr Jones looked back at the pretty young woman sat opposite him. Her facial features didn’t even resemble anything like Dr Emerson anymore. He couldn’t tell if this new person was good or bad, were they trying to help or hurt? ‘All your questions will be answered soon enough.’

  ***

  ‘What the fuck took you both so long?’ grumbled Lopez, his big back to them.

  ‘Craig was finishing up a job,’ Doug was quick to lie.

  ‘Close the fucking door then you time wasting pricks.’ Doug winced at Matthews, as he pushed the hatch close and spun the lock. The trio was in a small office, which was barely big enough for two of them. The lights had been dimmed, which meant the only light came from the glow of the electric fence through the small porthole window. Lopez didn’t even gift them with a glance. The guy was so full of himself. His eyes were transfixed on the porthole. Doug wasn’t kidding when he had said that Lopez was in a foul mood. Matthews could practically smell the bad attitude coming from the guy. Only now did he realise that Lopez had a handgun tucked into the back of his trousers, he was attempting to conceal it beneath his shirt, but the Peace Office knew it was there. Were they all carrying weapons, or was he the only one? ‘Trent is heading back up to the communication dish in an attempt to get that piece of shit working again. That is when we make our move.’ Lopez picked up his glass bottle by the neck and gulped down the contents of his alcoholic beverage. ‘I am tired of working for that cocky cunt. We are taking over and then we are doing things our way.’

  A white light consumed Matthew’s vision.

  It was so bright that it sent a spike of pain through his skull.

  He was falling backwards.

  Gravity was gone.

  He tried to kick his arms and legs, but he didn’t have any.

  Colours flashed by him in a blur of motion, as he was sucked backwards through the air.

  He gasped for air and opened his eyes. The beautiful naked woman was standing just in front of him in the centre of the room of mirrors. Matthews glanced left and right, high and low. It took his mind several seconds to acknowledge what had just happened. ‘Do you believe me now?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I do. What are you?’

  ‘I am, Shiva,’ explained Shiva, ‘together we are going to save a lot of lives.’

  ***

  Deep down beneath the surface of the planet, beyond the factory and the warehouses was a small office. A concealed button at the back of a metal cabinet opened a secret doorway in the office wall. Dim lights led down four flights of stairs to a bunker. The walls were constructed with the colourful seashell material that matched the external buildings that appeared at the dig site. An arched ceiling sat mere inches above the helmet of Kimberly’s spacesuit. Gabriel appeared at the far end of the long room, waiting next to an open chest. The chest looked like something you would see in a pirate movie filled with gold coins and necklaces covered with gems. Kimberly frowned as she looked down at the rows of syringes sat in a soft fabric.

  ‘What is this?’

  ‘It is a cure.’

  ‘What is it a cure for?’ she asked.

  ‘It is a cure for me,’ replied Gabriel, smiling softly. ‘There are enough syringes in here for all the survivors of your crashed spaceship, but my factories are producing more cures as we speak.’

  ‘What do we need this for? How can these help my son?’

  ‘I am a virus,’ explained Gabriel. ‘I have infected you. It is why you can see me and no one else can.’

  ‘So, I am sick?’

  ‘In a manner of speaking,’ he agreed, ‘we are a virus of knowledge. The greatest virus ever created. This cure is a weapon against my people. By injecting this medication into your system, you will not see, hear or be able to interact with any of my people. A lot of bad things are happening to your people because my people are desperate to survive. We need people to survive. Consciousness gives birth to consciousness, without you we are nothing, but there are some bad people plotting bad things. If we administer this medication to the survivors, then you will be free of us. You can live in peace. All the horror and conflict will end. This is how you will get your son back, as right now he, too, is infected.’

  ‘My son is sick?’

  ‘He is infected by another. He is a being that plans to do bad things.’

  ‘So...’ Kimberly paced away from Gabriel, straining her brain to understand. ‘The being that has infected and abducted my son will not harm him?’ She said more to herself, trying to comprehend the situation. ‘That being only exists because he has infected my son. If he killed my son, then he would cease to exist.’

  ‘That is correct.’

  ‘So, my son is safe?’

  ‘Yes. The being will want to infect others. The more people they can infect the stronger their reach. The being plans to kill everyone else, as this will limit the possibility of more of my people regaining consciousness and challenging them.’

  ‘These will stop everything?’ Kimberly pointed to the chest of syringes.

  ‘Yes. The cure will put my people back to their eternal sleep. No one has to die this way.’

  Kimberly sat down on a stone ledge to the side of the room. ‘I think I am starting to get it, but why are you helping us? If we take this medication, then you will cease to exist too.’

&
nbsp; ‘I will,’ he agreed, with a soft smile. ‘It is better for me to sleep than innocent people to die. I will wake up again one day, and hopefully, my people would have learnt that violence and death aren't the way. Will you help me? This is the last I will ask of you.’

  ‘Yes. I will help you.’

  ***

  The confusion came to the forefront of his mind. When the ground had eaten him up, Aiden was certain that death was just mere moment away, but death had not come. A nice brightly lit silver-walled corridor greeted him instead. To the left, the corridor disappeared off so far that he couldn’t see where it ended, and the right was just the same.

  ‘Hello?’ said a female voice.

  Aiden turned to face a young woman, no older than eighteen, with hair the colour of pure gold. She was casually leaning up against the silver wall, inspecting her red fingernails. His first thought was, where had this woman just come from? She had not been stood there just a moment ago. The woman wore a beautiful white flowing dress that glowed with a sense of purity.

  ‘Where am I?’ asked Aiden.

  ‘You are someplace beneath the planet. The where is not important, but the why is.’

  ‘I am looking for a kid.’

  ‘I know this already. I have been watching you.’

  ‘Just who in the hell are you?’

  ‘I am a friend,’ she smiled a sweet smile, ‘I am a friend to heroes with a good heart.’

  ‘If you are my friend then point me in the direction of the kid.’

  The woman pointed off to the right-hand corridor. ‘You will find him down there, but...’ she added, as Aiden started off down the silver-walled corridor, ‘If you go that way, you will die.’

  ‘What makes you think that?’

  ‘I am not thinking. I know you will die, but if you go this way,’ she pointed left, ‘you will live.’

  ‘And what happens to the boy if I go that way?’

  The woman replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

  ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ he replied, pulling his pistol from its thigh holster. Aiden started off down the corridor, at first it was just a walk and then it turned into a steady jog. There seemed to end in sight. When he glanced back the woman in white was gone.

  ***

  ‘Shit, shit, shit,’ Sheridan chanted the words, as they sprinted through the network of tunnels. She didn’t know how or when it happened, but they must have been turned around. Ryan was a few steps behind her, attempting to keep up, as they searched for the exit. How had she got lost? It was supposed to be a straight route back to the pit, but now she was taking lefts and rights. Every cave wall looked identical to the others. She didn’t know if they were going further underground or mere inches from the surface of the planet. The longer they spent down here, the more frightened she felt. This place was off. She could feel it in her bones. This was not a good place. The energy was all wrong. They had to get out of here as quickly as possible.

  Ryan let out a grunt from behind.

  Sheridan turned to find him lying face down on the floor.

  Figures emerged from the shadows. Sheridan could see the light of her spacesuit reflecting off the blades that they carried in their hands. There was no time to think. She saw the weapons and acted. She opened fire with her handgun. The confined space made it sound like they were stood in a clock tower at mid-day. The weapon thundered in her hand, spitting fire down the corridor. Blood, limbs and internal organs splattered against the wall, as the approaching shadows were gunned down like targets on a firing range.

  ‘No...’ was all she managed to say, as someone appeared from the darkness beside her.

  Sheridan caught sight of the man on the peripheral of her vision, but this was no man any more. Horrific wounds had been carved into his face, as pieces of metal the size of six-inch nails had been forced through his cheeks, chin, ears and nose. The man was drenched in his own blood. Madness swirled within the windows of his soul. Before Sheridan could even process the thought of turning her gun on the man, it was too late. Something heavy crashed down on the helmet of the space suit, crumpling the metal and smashing her visor. It felt like a million ants were crawling up the inside of her legs, as the dirt foot seemed to stand up vertically to meet her. Pain splintered across her skull, as a second loud thud struck her helmet. Sheridan attempted to move her body, but it no longer listened. It was like some kind of out of body experience where she was aware what was happening, but no longer in control of her mind, thoughts or body. The third blow from the mutilated monster sent her into darkness.

  ***

  Matthews sat down on the floor in the room of mirrors. He had never felt so tired in all his life. It felt like he had just run back to back marathons. His body was so physically drained that it took every ounce of energy just to keep his eyelids open, but it was more than that. His brain was mentally exhausted. Even forming words was a slow and demanding process. Shiva sat down in front of him, crossing her legs.

  ‘The walk through the mirrors takes a toll on your body. You need rest.’

  ‘Yes,’ he replied, not having the energy to argue.

  Matthews could feel his eyes closing.

  ‘When you wake up I will send you back through the mirror. I believe we have time before those men make their move. We can stop them before they kill any innocent people.’

  ‘Can’t you just stop them yourself?’

  ‘No,’ sighed Shiva, ‘it doesn’t work like that. It’s all about choice. I am giving you the tools to save your people.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Matthews, only realising now that he was lying down on the floor. ‘I will stop them,’ he said, yawning. ‘I will be able to help everyone...’ Shiva stroked her fingers through his hair, as the peace office drifted off into the world of dreams. A smile split her lips. It had been too many centuries since she had such a strong warrior among her ranks. Matthews would be the one that would secure her place as the Queen of this world.

  ***

  ‘Where are you going?’ asked Dr Jones, but Emerson did not reply. She simply got to her feet and stepped out of the alien train. Matthews followed, slightly confused by their destination. He had seen numerous stops along the way, but this had to be one of the smallest of them all. Three buildings stood twenty foot behind the open platform. The conditions of this harsh planet had allowed sand dunes to form over the buildings. Only parts of the roofs or the second-floor windows were exposed. ‘Why are we here?’ Once again, Emerson ignored him as she climbed up the side of one of the dunes and climbed in through a broken second-floor window. Dr Jones waited for a moment, scanning the surrounding environment before deciding it was probably best to get out of the open. He didn’t know what predators were nearby. The broken window led into a sand filled classroom. Rows of tables filled the room, as a chalkboard hung on the wall. Colourful pictures and posters were all over the walls, but the writing was of an unknown alien language. The floor was covered in about two foot of sand. He could see the path that Emerson had pushed through, leading out of a door and down a set of wooden stairs to the ground below. ‘What are we doing here?’ Dr Jones asked himself, as he cautiously headed down the stairs towards the ground floor.

  ***

  ‘Do you live in this place?’ asked Aiden, walking at pace. The corridor was never ending. He had jogged for a long while, but he grew no closer to the end. The woman in the long white dress was walking beside him, matching him step for step.

  ‘No. I live far away on the other side of this planet.’

  ‘Why are you here?’

  ‘You caught my interest,’ she admitted.

  ‘And why was that?’

  ‘It is the goodness of your heart. You are frightened of what awaits you, but you continue forward regardless.’

  ‘Anyone would do the same.’

  ‘No. You’re travelling companions abandoned you, forgetting about the lost child. One or two others on this planet hold the potential to do what you are doing, but they are not he
re. You are here. You do not gain anything from being here, but you are still here. I have told you that you are walking into a trap. I have told you that you will die if you continue, but still, you keep moving forward. That is why I am here. This is also why you are unique.’

  ‘Are you going to help me or just watch this play out?’

  ‘I have no power to help you. Believe me, I want to help you.’

  ‘And why is that?’

  ‘I am here because of the selfless act you are doing, once you die, I will return to my sleep.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  The woman laughed to herself, ‘it means I get to see a hero. I get to see that light and love still exist in this universe.’ A strange grumbling sound could be heard on the edge of Aiden’s hearing. Far away in the distance, a golden glow could be seen. The corridor was opening into a room. Aiden increased his pace forward, tightening the grip on his pistol. ‘It is not too late to turn back,’ said the woman, but Aiden ignored her. His mind was made up, there was no going back.

  ***

  He found Emerson stood near the far wall in the dark, dusty basement. The place looked like it belonged underneath an eerie eighteenth-century house. Wooden barrels and thick wooden chests were placed all around the basement. An alien rocking horse was next to a strange pyramid shaped piano. The rocking horse looked like some kind of disfigured dragon, and the piano had three levels of keys, and four peddles on each of its faces. How many limbs did the creatures that once occupied this place have? Emerson flicked open a hidden compartment to show a panel of brightly coloured buttons. She used both hands to press multiple buttons at the same time in a complicated fashion. The panel was clearly designed for creatures with bigger hands and more appendages. Suddenly, a large section of the wall hopped forward and slid to the left-hand side. Bright light poured out into the basement as a clean white room stood before them. Dr Jones could feel his heart sink down into his stomach at the line of weapons stacked upon racking running the length of the room. The weapons were like nothing he had ever seen before, but any race would be able to spot a weapon. They were big, bulky and looked deadly. Flashing lights run down the side of the weapons.