Nameless: The Darkness Comes

by Mercedes M. Yardley

  “That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”

  “Why wouldn’t he let me in the house?”

  He shrugged. “I dunno. He didn’t want you bleeding all over the carpet? You were pretty gory.”

  “That’s exactly it. I was being attacked right there on his doorstep, but he still didn’t let me in. He came outside. The demon left and…” Realization. The thing I was searching for, the ephemeral thought that kept wisping away. I finally had it firmly with both hands.

  “Your eyes just lit up,” Seth complained. “I don’t like it.”

  I poked him hard in the chest. “That’s it. Reed Taylor came out, told the demon off, and it left.”

  Seth snorted. “What, demons are listening to Reed now?” His mouth dropped open. He looked at me with wide brown eyes as he said it again, only this time as a statement. “Demons are listening to Reed now.”

  “Right. And he was aware of the demon in the first place. None of his, ‘Oh, I can’t see you but leave Luna alone’ shtick. He stormed out of there and told it to stand down.”

  Seth was solemn. “So what does this mean?”

  My stomach lurched. I opened the door, spit onto the ground, and wiped my mouth with my sleeve. “This means the game has changed.”

  Seth started the car and squealed the tires as he pulled out. Not toward home, but toward Reed Taylor’s place. Suddenly I loved my brother so much I could have hugged him, if I was prone to such things.

  I wasn’t.

  “It’s more than drugs,” Seth said. He was going way above the speed limit, my hero in chinos. “He let that cat out of the bag by coming outside. There’s something in his house he’s hiding.”

  “Demonic overlords? African diamonds?”

  I sucked in a breath just as Seth stomped on the gas even harder. Lydia.

  “You think?” I whispered. He didn’t even need to ask what I meant.

  “I hope.”

  Tires on gravel. Reed Taylor’s house loomed in front of us.

  I was out of the car before Seth even turned it off. I stared at the neat little house that had suddenly become the place of my nightmares.

  Seth put his hand on my shoulder.

  “Are you ready to do this?”

  I wasn’t. I was terrified at what I’d find inside. My heart hurt at the possibilities.

  “I still love him, you know.”

  “I know.”

  “What if…he’s been the bad guy all along?”

  “Then we storm in there and get my daughter back. You’ll be all right, Luna. You’re strong.”

  “Nobody’s that strong.”

  “Maybe not alone. But you have me, right?”

  “Do I?”

  “You do.”

  The Mark blistered between my shoulder blades. My mouth screwed together.

  “Your wound hurts?”

  “Like a demon.”

  “Funny. What exactly does that mean?

  It means I wished I was dead. “There’s activity in here. A lot of it. It hurt before, but I assumed it was just from the demon attacking me. Obviously there’s a lot more going on.”

  Seth tried the door. Locked, of course.

  “How can I best help?” he asked.

  “Okay. So I assume this will be like Hell House. Only, according to Reed Taylor, it’s not going to look like much to you. But for me…”

  “Yeah. I can only imagine.”

  I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “Ain’t no thing. Except for when I see little girls on fire, or starfish running across the room, or demons under the floorboard and stuff.”

  His face twisted into something ugly and mean.

  “And Lydia.”

  I coughed to hide my quick intake of breath. I was trying to avoid that particular image. “And Lydia.”

  He flicked his hot eyes to me, and then back to the road. “So basically you want me to calm you down if you start to go nuts. Be your touchstone to reality. And let you know there are no dead girls unless I see dead girls.”

  That didn’t sound stable at all. “Right.”

  He looked at me fully this time. His eyes were serious. “I’ve got your back, Luna. I really do.”

  “Thanks,” I said. Years were covered in that single word.

  Using his elbow, he broke the window. The shattered glass sounded strangely triumphant.

  “Let’s go,” he said, and crawled inside.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  “I don’t see him,” Seth whispered. “I thought maybe he’d come to investigate the window.” He started searching behind the chairs, underneath the couch.

  “Lydia,” he whispered. “Lydia, it’s Daddy.”

  I climbed in and was immediately assaulted by the stench of rotting meat. Flies buzzed around the room in a swarm, blackening the broken window.

  “Ugh,” I said, and covered my nose with my hand.

  “What? What is it?” Seth peered around me anxiously. “What do you see?”

  Something that looked suspiciously like entrails hung from the walls. Spider webs made out of skin covered the ceilings. I noticed my feet soaking in the familiar, bloody carpet.

  “I see a slaughter house. How about you?”

  He touched the walls gingerly. “This wallpaper is atrocious, but that’s the worst of it. That’s it. It’s not real, Luna. Let’s go.”

  I nodded, and removed my hand from my nose. If it isn’t real, it isn’t real.

  A small boy swam through the air. He kicked his feet and splashed in nothingness. His dark eyes ran over Seth curiously.

  “Soul surfer?” I asked, and pointed.

  Seth shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “Figured. Just checking.”

  I stepped forward. Seth put his hand on my shoulder.

  “Want me to go first?”

  “Nah. I’ve got it. But thanks.”

  He nodded. “Anytime.”

  His concern gave me wings. I strode through the room, splashing blood out of my way like it wasn’t even there. Which apparently, to the normal eye, it wasn’t.

  I put my hand on the second doorknob, took a deep breath, and opened it.

  Nothing. A blank space. No walls, no floor, no ceiling. I stared at my hand and watched in horror as it seemed to disappear.

  “Seth?” I called, and whirled around. He wasn’t there. “Seth!”

  Nothingness. Absolute nothingness.

  “Answer me!”

  It’s exactly what I was always afraid of. I was abandoned.

  “Are you here?”

  This is what happens to souls when they die. They disappear. They fade away. They’re forgotten.

  Was I…calling out for someone?

  Suddenly I knew it was true. My conversations at the cemetery with Mom and Dad had been a child’s dream. They didn’t exist anywhere.

  “Luna? Can you hear me?”

  There was no life after death. There was only empty space. Empty space meant there were no angels. Or demons.

  “I’m right here,” a voice said.

  No demons. They didn’t exist.

  “I have your hand. Can you feel that I have your hand?”

  They didn’t exist.

  “Luna, answer me.”

  I had been seeing them. Talking to them. Being afraid.

  Of nothing.

  I was crazy.

  “Sit down,” the voice commanded. It was soft and strong at the same time. “Close your eyes. I’m going to help you to the ground.” Someone pushed me gently, and I resisted at first. He was trying to push me backwards into the sky.

  “Trust me,” the voice said quietly, but I shook my head. I didn’t recognize it. I struggled, but was pushed back. I was floating somewhere strange.

  “Now breathe. Slowly. You know how. In and out. In and out. You can do it, Luna.”

  The voice knew my name. I squeezed my eyes shut and concentrated on the feel of his hands.

  “You know what I see, Luna? It’s a small room. Smal
ler than the first room. No windows, so it’s fairly dark. The floor is firm. I can reach out and touch one of the walls if I want to. There, do you hear that?”

  A knocking sound.

  “A wall?” I hated how small my voice sounded.

  “That was the wall. The nice, firm wall. Are you ready to go? Keep your eyes closed, and I’ll lead you.”

  The hands belonged to the voice. He drew me up, which didn’t feel like up at all. It felt like he was pushing me though quicksand. I was afraid I’d choke on it.

  He pulled me gently forward, knocking on the wall every few seconds.

  “Hear that? The wall. We’ll be there in about two more knocks. All right, let me grab the door for you. Did you hear it open? Step through. All right, closed. Take a second.”

  I knew that voice. I stood there, breathing, still not opening my eyes. “Seth?”

  “Yes.”

  The floor was underneath my feet. I could feel it. Seth’s hand was warm. I squeezed it and he squeezed back.

  “I was all alone.”

  “You were never alone. I had you the whole time. Now open your eyes. Better?”

  I opened my eyes and gasped. My hands flew to my mouth and I tried to hold back the tears.

  My father hung by his neck, just like he had when I’d seen him last. His face was bloated; his eyes and tongue bulged. The familiar letter pinned to his chest. “Seth. Luna. I’m sorry.”

  “What do you see, Seth?” My voice cracked. Seth didn’t answer me. I spun around to face him, suddenly angry. “Tell me what you see.”

  His eyes were angry but his voice was calm. “There’s a TV. An old chair. Reed isn’t in here. Neither is Lydia.”

  I pointed toward our father. My hand shook.

  “And here?”

  “Nothing. I don’t see anything.” A beat. “Do you see something?”

  My voice sounded ugly. “I see Dad.”

  The note, written in my father’s neat handwriting, somehow angered me more than the rest of it. I ripped it from his shirt and balled it up in my hand.

  “Hey, you,” I said, pushing my finger against its chest none too lightly. My father’s body shook on the end of the rope. This only pissed me off more. “You’re skating on thin ice, mister. Better explain why you’re wearing my father, and fast.”

  “Luna.” A voice, weak with pain. I stared at Daddy’s body, but it didn’t come from there. Seth was slowly straightening up, oblivious to any noise. His eyes were searching the air for the corpse of our father.

  “Luna. You need to…leave.”

  I peered behind my father’s body and saw a dark shape in the corner. I narrowed my eyes, trying to make it out in the murky gloom. A shine of eyes from inside a hood. Robes that misted at the ends, miserably. Definitely not happy and content.

  “Mouth!” Pushing past my father’s body, I made my way to the demon. I growled when I saw him. He was hanging high up on the wall, nailed upside down with tapered spikes. His hands, his legs, his shoulders. The black robes were tattered and torn, his skin solidified and flayed open. I saw his ribs. I saw his heart beat inside the well of his chest. I reached up to touch his face. He spasmed.

  “Oh, Mouth. What have they done to you? I have to get you down.”

  He shook his head. The movement was barely perceptible. “Leave, Luna. Take Seth and go. You shouldn’t be here.”

  I studied the spikes. I could pull them out of the wall, or if worse came to worse, actually work Mouth off them. The pain from that would be indescribable, though, and I didn’t want to make things any worse.

  “I’m not sure how to pull you down without killing you. How did they do this, anyway? Can’t you become filmy and slide off? Seth,” I yelled over my shoulder. “A little help here.”

  Seth looked around and shrugged helplessly. Of course. What use would he be?

  “No worries, Mouth.” I grinned, even though I didn’t feel it. “I’m good at figuring things out on my own.”

  “Luna, listen to me.” He was getting angry now. Good, anger was a distraction. I pulled on a spike but it refused to budge. He shrieked.

  “I’m sorry! I’m listening. What’s up?”

  I tried again. The pain made sweat bead on Mouth’s forehead. I bit my lip and yanked as hard as I could. He screamed again.

  “You don’t have time for this. You have to leave, immediately.”

  “Not without you,” I said. “This place sucks. Think I’m just going to leave you here to rot?”

  I tugged again. His screams made me wince.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. I leaned my forehead against his. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Why,” he bellowed, glaring at me with flaming eyes, “don’t you ever listen to anything I say?”

  “Why,” I yelled back, “are you always screaming at me?”

  “One of these days, I’m going to kill you,” he threatened.

  “Not unless I inadvertently kill you first,” I answered. For some reason it struck me as immensely funny, and I started to giggle.

  “Luna?” Seth called. “Is everything all right?”

  I was losing it. I laughed harder until I felt tears running from the corners of my eyes. I covered my mouth before my giggles turned to screams.

  “Luna.”

  “Seth, Mouth here is nailed to the wall. Dad’s hanging over there from a rope. Where will I find Lydia, do you think? I already saw her torn apart once. It would be just my luck to find her in pieces.”

  Seth slapped me, hard. My eyes narrowed and I bared my teeth at him.

  “Don’t ever touch me again, or I’ll kill you, too.”

  Seth took a step back. Mouth cursed.

  “You see? You have to get out of here. Remember how this place messes with your mind?”

  “But that was at the old house. This is Reed Taylor’s home. Shouldn’t that make a difference?”

  The demon snarled. “A nexus is a nexus. Stop wasting time and get out of here.”

  “Not until I find Lydia.”

  “I don’t know if she’s here. I haven’t seen her.”

  “Then what about you?” I eyed the spikes. “I’ll figure something out.”

  He shook his head and his voice softened. “You say that so often, but that isn’t how it works. Not this time. I’m sorry, Luna. Thank you for coming after me, but I can’t go. Even if you got me down, I’m trapped here, remember? Leaving isn’t possible.”

  I thought. Then I made a decision.

  “If you were bonded with a human, then you could go, couldn’t you?”

  “What are you saying?”

  I lifted my chin. “If I opened myself to you, as a demon. Let you put your fingers in the Mark, gave you access to my soul—”

  “Don’t you ever say that!” His voice was harsh, grating. His eyes glowed so intensely that I had to look away. “Never, never say that. You don’t want to invite anything in.”

  “I want to invite you, Mouth. I know I don’t always act like it, but I care about you. I do. We’ll get you out of here and find Lydia. I know you can help me. And this Mark literally puts a target on my back. One day it’s going to happen. A demon will work its way in, and I won’t be able to stop it. I’d rather it be you than anybody else. You’d make sure it wasn’t all bad, right?”

  He wouldn’t catch my eye. I turned away, my cheeks burning.

  “Luna,” Mouth said softly. He kissed my forehead and it felt very much like goodbye. “I love you, you know,” he said, “in my own way. As much as I know how.”

  Seth grabbed me by my wrists.

  “Luna, come here,” Seth yelled. “I think we need an ambulance.”

  “Not yet,” I screamed, and reached for Mouth, but Seth pulled me away.

  “Go,” Mouth told me. “Go now. Get out of this house. Please.”

  “Luna,” Seth begged, and I stopped fighting. I turned and ran after my brother.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Seth was crouched over so
mebody on the floor. My heart sunk. It’s Reed. It’s Reed. It’s Reed.

  “It’s Sparkles,” Seth said, squatting beside her. She looked like she was barely conscious. Her demon twined around her arms and legs. “I heard her moaning in the back room. She doesn’t look so hot.”

  Understatement.

  I narrowed my eyes at the sight of her and spit on the ground. “What’s she doing here?” My eyes widened. “Wait, if she’s here, where’s Lydia? Is she here, too?”

  Seth shook his head. “I didn’t see her.

  I knelt by Sparkles, tried to make her eyes focus. “Sparkles! Where is Lydia? Lydia?” Her eyes rolled. I slapped her in the face, but she didn’t even react. Even her demon was moving slower than usual. Groggy. Snapping at me blearily, almost blindly.

  What was going on here? Suddenly I had a thought. I yanked up the sleeve of her shirt. Fresh track marks. She was using. Disgusted, I let her arm fall to the ground with a thud.

  “You’re useless,” I spat. “You’re a waste of a person and a mother. You deserve everything you get.”

  “That’s enough,” Seth said. He sounded tired.

  I turned my anger on him. “How can you be so calm?”

  “I have to be calm or I’m going to lose my mind.”

  I turned my back on him and Sparkles. I was out of here. I marched back to Mouth. He was the answer to all this.

  “My offer still stands,” I said. “I need to find Lydia, and you’re going to help me. Ride around in my soul and blow this joint.”

  A strange giggling in the background unnerved me. It was the demon masquerading as my father, swinging gently back and forth from his rope.

  “He’s here,” Mouth said. I had never heard him sound frightened before.

  “Who’s here?”

  The grotesque body in the middle of the room laughed louder, more manically.

  “He’s come for you, Luna,” the demon in my father sputtered. “He’s waited so long.” His mirth caused the rope to spin in a slow, jerking circle.

  My shoulders tensed.

  “Mouth, tell me who’s here?”

  The Mark scorched anew, forcing a sound of pain between my lips. The laughing demon suddenly started screaming, shrieking, wailing. His skin, my father’s faux skin, started blistering and bubbling. I couldn’t stand it. I staggered away from both of the demons, toward the door. The knob turned easily under my hand, and the squealing abruptly cut off. I tasted bile.