by Jason Brant
They could see the church a few minutes later, a faint glow appearing from the front door. It had been pushed open, leaning again on its broken hinge. A low whimpering came from inside, followed by someone trying to quiet them. Kyle held his finger to his lips, warning Bryan to stay silent as they approached the church.
Bryan gave him a quick nod and did his best to lift Katie a little higher, trying to keep her feet from dragging too heavily on the ground. They were less than ten feet away when Kyle used his hands to tell Bryan to turn off the flashlight.
Moving to the right side of the door, Bryan leaned Katie against the stone wall of the church. Kyle stepped to the threshold of the door and peered inside, squinting in the darkness. He stood that way for several seconds, slowly moving his head from left to right. With his left hand he motioned for Bryan to follow him inside.
Bryan quickly stretched his sore back before grabbing Katie by the arm and trying to lead her into the church. She responded to his movement, but with slow, jilted steps. He tried to keep her in his peripheral vision as he stepped through the door, hoping she wouldn’t fall over and hit her head.
Joey and Travis sat against the far left wall, their dim flashlights resting on the floor in front of them. Joey held his left arm tight to his chest, his right overlapping it as he whimpered quietly. His pale, drawn face appeared to have aged ten years since they’d last seen him. Blood covered most of his clothing.
Travis sat beside him, holding his head in his hands, rocking back and forth in evident panic. When he heard them step into the church he jumped to his feet, crouching low in a runner’s stance. His face lit up like a Christmas tree when he recognized them and he ran over, breaking into sobs as he went.
“Thank God it’s you! We thought you were de—”
Kyle clamped his hand over Travis’ mouth, silencing him. “Quiet.” He kept his voice low and soft, but his eyes blazed with anger.
Travis nodded his head, his lips working under Kyle’s palm as he tried to speak. Kyle slowly moved his hand away before walking past him to where Joey sat.
“It came out of nowhere when we were running back,” Travis told Bryan, oblivious to the catatonic woman beside him. “We were so tired when we got to the top of the hill... we didn’t hear it coming until it was on top of us! It was so... terrible. Oh my god!” His sobs came fast and hard, racking his entire body as he relived the attack.
“Travis, I need you to calm down,” Bryan whispered. “We don’t need it coming back because it heard you.”
“It had these big pinchers, and it took Joey’s hand off like it was nothing! We were dead men, sure as shit. Then something roared, it wasn’t close, but it still shook the trees, and the crab monster ran away!”
Bryan didn’t say anything back, afraid of antagonizing him even further. He walked Katie over to the wall, ten feet from where Joey and Kyle were, and tried to get her to sit down. She seemed content to lean against it, so Bryan left her there.
“What happened to her?” Travis asked, his voice a little steadier.
Bryan closed his eyes, picturing the abomination that rose from the sea. “We saw something that she couldn’t handle.” He didn’t want to go into any more detail.
“Oh. Is that what we can hear now? It sounds like the forest is falling down all at once.” Travis had a queer expression on his face, like his mind had checked out, but his mouth still moved on instinct.
“Yeah. Why don’t you take a seat over by the wall with Katie and relax. Kyle and I are going to check on Joey.”
“OK,” Travis said. He walked over by Katie and started talking to her in hushed tones. She didn’t react, but stared off into the distance, passive. He hoped that whatever happened to her would wear off soon.
Travis’ compliance confirmed to Bryan that he had lost his mind. Since he’d stepped out of the car he’d been nothing but antagonistic and cocksure. Now he stood by a wall and played with a catatonic woman’s hair, petting it like a child would a dog. Bryan watched the two of them for a few seconds, wondering what could possibly happen next, before he walked over to where Kyle knelt beside Joey.
“I can’t help if you won’t let me see it,” Kyle said, trying his best to soothe the wounded man.
Joey sat against the wall and shook his head like a stubborn child. He rocked back and forth slowly, his eyes fixated on Kyle’s chest as tears rolled down his cheeks in streams. Most of his shirt had turned maroon, and a small pool of blood formed under a stream that ran down the side of his thigh.
Kyle looked up as Bryan approached. “He’s in shock. Judging by the trail of blood we followed here, and what’s all over him, he’s probably close to losing consciousness.”
Though Bryan was concerned with the amount of blood that Joey had lost, he needed to figure out what happened to the large wormlike creature that had been locked in the church earlier.
“Joey,” Bryan said. “I need you to focus for a second. When you came back to the church, did you see the thing that chased us out of here?”
Still shaking his head, Joey looked up at Bryan with pain filled, red eyes, but didn’t reply. Travis meandered over, nonchalantly looking around the room, as if there were no pressing matters at hand.
“The church was empty when we got here,” he said. “Except for our equipment, the pews, the books—”
Another roar cut him off, closer this time, louder. Everyone looked toward the door, wondering how long they had before the monster from the water was atop them. The gate didn’t seem open and Bryan couldn’t see any sign that it would be anytime soon.
The centipede creature crashed through the window above Joey, showering them with glass.
Chapter 19
The stained glass cut into its legs and side, spilling rank, black blood down on Joey and Kyle in arterial spurts. One of the legs hung limply, too damaged from the cuts to function properly, while the rest kicked and scrambled as it slid down the wall. As the back end of it cleared the window, it fell to the floor, landing directly on top of Joey, folding him in half at the waist.
Wisps of smoke rose from his back as spittle dribbled from the creature. Its acidic saliva cut through the fabric of his clothing and sections of his hair dropped away as his scalp bubbled. Sores opened instantly on any exposed skin.
Travis fell backward on his ass, the complacency wiped from his face and mannerisms. Kyle dove to the side, barely escaping being crushed by the falling monster. One of its legs smacked against his back, its long claw gouging into his skin and running down the length of his torso.
Kyle screamed in agony as he fell to the floor, blood already soaking through his shredded shirt. He crawled away on his hands and knees, his movements sluggish and pain ridden.
Pinwheeling his arms, Bryan tried to keep his balance as he staggered backward away from the creature. His legs bumped against one of the benches, sending him tumbling over backward, cracking his skull against the stone floor. He lifted his head and watched through blurry eyes as the legged worm fell away from Joey, flipped over, and righted itself.
Black liquid oozed from its side while it stood in place, as if stunned from the fall. Bryan looked at Joey, trying to focus on the wounded Specter Slayer, but had trouble seeing him through the dark. He’d dropped the flashlight in the confusion and it had rolled away, facing in the opposite direction of the action.
Even through the darkness he could see that Joey was dead. His body was bent in half – both his legs and chest rested against the ground, his torso lying between his limbs. Blood seeped from his mouth and ears. His mangled arm, no longer held against him, stretched out over his head, still bleeding from its stump of a wrist.
The worm lifted several of its long, pale legs and impaled Joey’s lifeless body with their claws, burying them over and over. It stopped and stood by its victim, waiting for him to fight back. Travis cried out, causing the creature to shift its body, angling one of its ends in his direction.
Bryan shuffled backward, afraid of s
tanding and being unable to keep his balance from the blow to his head. His feet scraped along the floor as he went, sending small sounds throughout the church.
The beast turned in his direction, rearing on its hind legs as it did. Its serrated mouth opened on its underbelly, sending rivets of gel-like saliva running to the floor. A long shriek came from it, sending chills up Bryan’s spine, the hairs on his arms standing on end.
He stopped moving, waiting to see what it would do. He watched it in the dark, trying to inspect the end closest to him for eyes, seeing none. It had reacted to sound, but didn’t seem to be able to see them. Trying to stay as still as possible, Bryan focused on quieting his breathing, hoping his silence would keep him hidden.
Even in the insanity of his situation, Bryan wondered if their lack of eyes and pale skin was an adaptation to this lightless world. Could demons evolve as regular, earthbound species do? Did that make this another dimension, planet, or something else entirely? At least he felt fairly certain that Hell, or the spirit world, could be ruled out.
Slithering noises came from his right and he turned his head to see Kyle still trying to drag himself away. It turned its entire body around, its many legs thudding heavily on the floor, and scampered in Kyle’s direction. Even in the darkness, Bryan could see that his back was in bad shape.
Bryan jumped up, grimacing at the spikes of pain shooting through his head. He had no plan outside of getting its attention away from his friend. The flashlight lay off to his right, still on, and he jumped at it, scooping it up without breaking stride. He pointed the beam at the creature, guessing the light would ward it off as it had the bipedal beasts by the water.
“Over here, you nasty mother fucker!” he yelled. He waved his hand in front of the flashlight, creating a strobe effect that he hoped would be more agitating on its skin.
The giant creature lifted the legs on the right side of its body in a warding off gesture, exposing its underbelly temporarily, and hissed at him. Kyle whimpered in front of it as he rolled over into a seated position. His eyes looked like they might bug out of his head when he saw how close it was to him.
“Help me, dude!” Kyle looked at the floor around him, searching for any kind of weapon.
The sound of his voice grabbed the worm’s attention again and it lowered its legs, moving toward him. Bryan continued shining the light on it, watching as its hide seemed to squirm under the harsh beam, but it continued on, stalking toward its prey. Kyle slide further away, trying to maintain a safe distance as the creature crept along.
It lowered its body closer to the floor as it approached, preparing to pounce. Without thinking, Bryan sprang forward, raising the heavy Maglite in his hand and bringing it down on the joint of one of the beast’s legs. He heard a sickening pop as the knee gave way. The creature flailed about as it retreated against the wall, two of its legs now dragging uselessly.
In the back of his mind, Bryan noticed that he could barely hear the thuds of its clawed paws as it went. The destruction of the forest grew closer, louder, nearly drowning everything else out. The rankness of the air grew more pungent as well, stinging Bryan’s nostrils. Leviathan drew near.
Kyle stumbled to his feet and staggered over beside Bryan, his face pale and sallow. The back of his shirt had soaked through and clung to his skin and wound. Bryan wondered how deep the gash was, and hoped that it wouldn’t bleed too profusely before they had a chance to tend to it.
“Are you okay?” Bryan asked, not taking his eyes from the creature. It remained by the wall, clacking its claws in angry swipes at the floor.
“No, but I’ll make it,” Kyle said. His reply was weak and lacked any kind of conviction that could have convinced Bryan that he told the truth.
“Move over by the others and get them to stay quiet.”
“What about you?” Kyle asked. He kept his voice low, trying not to instigate their attacker.
“I’m going to try and lead it outside.”
“And then what?”
“That’s as far as I got,” Bryan said. Though that was the truth, he knew that his legs were too exhausted to run far, and he wasn’t sure that he could move faster than the centipede anyway.
“Your plan sucks dude! You can’t outrun that thing!” Kyle coughed several times, moaning after he finished and holding his hand to his lower back.
“Yeah, no shit. All I know is if it stays in here, we’re all dead. If I can get it out in the open, then I might be able to get away.”
“What if we go back through the gate while you’re outside? You’ll be trapped here!”
That hadn’t escaped Bryan either, but he pushed the thought away, afraid he wouldn’t do what he knew to be right. “Will you shut up and get over there,” he said, giving his friend a forced smile. “Katie’s going to need someone to protect her while I kick this thing’s ass.”
Kyle tried to straighten his back and stand at his full height, but doubled over in pain instead, clenching his jaw. “Shit,” he said. “Don’t—”
The creature lunged at them, its underbelly splitting open, teeth reflecting in the light. Bryan reacted without thinking and dove into Kyle, pushing him out of the way and sending the two of them sprawling across the floor. Kyle screamed as he landed on his shoulder, sending fresh blood running from his injured back.
One of the creature’s talons brushed against Bryan’s left leg, slicing deep into his muscle. Bryan clutched at his lower leg, feeling the wide gash that ran perpendicular from his shin to the back of his calf. He tried to move away but his foot wouldn’t work right. His ankle lolled limply as he tried to get back up.
His cries of agony were drowned out by another roar from the sea monster, sending vibrations into his body from the floor. The centipede creature, standing mere feet away, hesitated at the sound, its legs drawing close to its body, as if preparing to flee. The roar came from entirely too close, and everything in the room stopped, wondering if they were all about to die.
As the bellow subsided the centipede creature slowly stretched out its limbs, refocusing on its prey. Bryan and Kyle, wounded, bleeding, and unable to defend themselves, watched as it took a tentative step forward. Neither of them would be able to run or offer any kind of defense, so they sat and watched in horror, hoping it would be quick.
A high-pitched scream cut through the deafening destruction of the forest, catching them by surprise. Katie jumped on top of the beast, driving her fist into its pale hide over and over, black blood arcing through the darkness after each blow. A glint of light reflected from her hand and Bryan could see a small knife jutting from her fist.
The creature screeched and bucked wildly, throwing its front end in the air as it tried to get free of her. Katie was heaved from its back, landing awkwardly against the stump that had been the base of the altar. Her hair fell across her face; hiding it in shadows and making her look like a wild woman. The knife never left her hand, despite the impact from the fall, and she held it out in front of her as she climbed to her feet.
It turned on Katie and squatted low to the floor, ready to pounce. Bryan spun around, careful of his mangled leg, and swung the flashlight again, aiming for another knee joint and receiving a satisfying reverberation up his arm as he connected. The leg buckled from the contact, but quickly regained its footing without suffering any apparent damage.
The distraction was all Katie needed as she dove forward again, slicing and stabbing as she went, cutting deep into the flesh of the monster. She screamed as she attacked, revealing a ferociousness that Bryan had never seen from someone before – as if she were a different person than the one he had been with all night. The worm staggered back, its head shrinking away from the striking blade. Katie pressed on, snarling and cutting.
With blood spurting furiously from one of its ends, the monster raced away from the raging woman and scampered up the wall on the opposite side of the church. Its claws bit into the stone as it went, leaving a trail of holes leading to one of the stained glass
windows. It crashed through the opening, squirming into the tight space and leaving a trail of black ooze in its wake.
Katie stood beside Bryan, wiping the bloody knife against her shirt before folding it closed. Strands of hair clung to her sweaty face, which she brushed away with a quick wipe of her free hand. The effects of her catatonia were gone as she moved, all of her former grace and purpose fully restored.
“How’s your leg?” she asked Bryan, kneeling beside him.
“Fucked. I can’t move my foot,” he said, grimacing as he gently sat it on the floor.
“Try not to move it.” She carefully put her hands on either side of his wound as she inspected it. “The cut is deep into the muscle, but the bleeding has already slowed. Keep pressure here.” She placed his hands above his knee and squeezed.
Trees collapsed nearby, sounding as if they were just outside the church. The Leviathan had arrived, finally smashing its way through the forest to find them. Their battle with the worm monster, carrying Katie through the woods, and trying to stop the bleeding in his leg had all been for naught. They were about to die, alone in a world that no one knew about, and their fate would remain a mystery to everyone.
“Kyle, can you stand?” Katie asked, yelling over the destruction outside.
Kyle didn’t respond. He was sprawled on the floor, not moving, his breathing slow but steady. The blood seeping from his back came in thin streams. Katie called his name again, but he never stirred.
“It wouldn’t matter even if he could get up and do back flips,” Bryan said. “We aren’t getting out of here.”
Katie yelled something back to him, but he couldn’t hear it over the noise from outside. He shook his head at her and gestured to his ears. She pointed at the back right corner of the church and moved her eyes back and forth from Bryan to the hole in the roof.
He followed her gaze and stared at the caved in ceiling, not understanding what she wanted him to know. He was about to give up and turn back around when he saw them – stars. Through the hole, despite the canopy of trees beyond it, Bryan could see the faint shimmer of stars.
