Fire & Rain

There has been a change of plan. Here is the continuation of Fire & Rain. I will have a special Halloween post this Friday.

Enjoy the rest of my fairy tale.

4

As quietly as humanly possible he burst through the office door and trying to contain the anger in his voice said, “Jonathan, you need to look at this.  One of these assholes has been out of bed and fucking around in my hallways.”  He was as red and flushed as an ebony man could get.

“Don’t tell me Gregory shit in the hallway again?  This time I’m going to rub his nose in it before I make him clean it.”

“It’s not shit.  I don’t know what it is but it’s everywhere.”

Jonathan rose from his book and before he could exit the door Darren stopped him and pointed at the floor.  There were large foot prints, almost like someone had decided a Bigfoot hoax in Gray Manor would be fun only it looked like their choice of material wasn’t paint or mud but tar.  “I didn’t hear a damn thing and I’ve been sitting here the whole time.”

Darren shook his head.  “I didn’t hear anything either and I also didn’t see anyone out of bed.”

“Where does it start?”

Reaching for another flashlight off the security desk Darren handed it to Jonathan.  “Only one way to find out.”

It didn’t take long to find the source.  The problem was it gave them more questions than answers.  If it was a hoax, it was elaborate indeed.  The tracks started in the game room at Martin’s wall drawing they hadn’t sponged off yet but it wasn’t a drawing anymore.  The green paper had been torn from the wall and hung in sad pieces as if something had burst free and the bare wall beneath was lathered in that same black brown substance the footprints had been made in.  Neither knew what to say – all they knew was that someone else was going to clean it up.  Darren punched the wall leaving knuckle impressions deep in the plaster and pulling Jonathan from his stupor.  “That shit Gregory did this, I know he did!  I’m going to go yank his sorry ass out of bed and get some answers.”  Screams broke out from across the building followed by an unearthly cry that tore through their eardrums.

“What the hell was that?”  Banging echoed down the hallways and the screaming intensified.  Darren was the first to run followed closely by Jonathan who almost lost his shoe in one of the ridiculously large prints.

Running and ever mindful of the tar pits they arrived at the observation rooms to find the few nurses on the late shift gawking at something so incomprehensible it was almost impossible for their eyes and minds to fathom.  Something was at Rebecca’s door trying its damnedest to break through the thick metal or its lock, whichever gave first.  But it was having trouble aiming.  Its fists were hitting the ceiling, the wall and the doorframe and it cried out in frustration leaving a high pitched ringing in everyone’s ears and then it froze. An immense man made of black goo seemed to be oozing and gathering himself back together keeping his loose shape and Jonathan thought he looked like a never-ending, self-sustaining waterfall.  Sniffing the air he made a watery snorting sound and continued hunting the scent that ended at Jonathan and Darren.  The creature had no face – no eyes, no nose that they could see and until it screeched its deafening cry at them revealing a large, round orifice being stretched from the tar they hadn’t been sure it had a mouth either.  No teeth.  Every time it touched something it left behind a thick film of itself, a calling card of demonic proportions.

No one moved.  Rebecca was still screaming as the monster continued to beat on the door.  It was unreal.  Most of the people watching, including most of the patients who had been woken by the noise, thought they were sleepwalking.  Surely this thing wasn’t real.  It almost had the door folded in two by the time Darren composed himself and went after the monster.  He screamed and threw his flashlight trying to derail it from its mission but to no avail.  It ignored his every attempt knowing it was so close to achieving its goal.

“Darren, no!”  Jonathan could only watch as Darren ran up to the monster and swung with all his might landing blow after blow and pulling away fistfuls of tar.  Silently it turned to him.  Darren’s punches grew faster – he hadn’t noticed the monster turn.  It raised its melting arm over its body and thrust it down Darren’s throat.  The fight ended instantly.  Attempting gargled pleas as his insides filled with the black substance until it began to leak from his pores he was dead before his body slumped to the ground.  The nuisance taken care of the creature went back to its business.  There was no way to stop it – but Jonathan had to do something.

Gregory was at the back of the crowd, as a heavier sleeper he was one of the last to arrive.  “Gregory!”  Jonathan raced to him and had to slap and shake him to gain his attention from the beast.  “Give me your matches.”

“What?”  Jonathan screamed the question at him again; he didn’t have time to play games.  “You always have matches.  You’re not in trouble just give them to me!”

His hand shook as he pulled the matches from his pants.  Choosing to ignore where they had come from Jonathan tore them from Gregory’s dirty hand and ran to the monster.  The door was demolished and Darren’s body had become nothing more than a speed bump of tar.  Fumbling with the matches it seemed to take forever to get one to light.  They were moist and all Jonathan could think was how much he needed to wash Gregory’s ball sweat from his hands when finally one caught fire.  The creature immediately sensed the small flame and pivoted in time to watch (if it could indeed see) Jonathan toss the lit match at it. Screaming in agony it instantly melted down into a flaming black puddle.

5

He stopped writing.  His pen stopped moving right around the part where the wallpaper was found ripped from the wall.  I don’t like the way he’s looking at me or rather not looking at me.

“It only gets harder to believe.  Should I continue?”

He already thinks I’m crazy but I actually feel better.  This story is not as difficult to tell as I imagined it would be.  The detective’s still not meeting my eyes.  Probably for the better.  After tonight I’m willing to believe that crazy is contagious.  I guess I’ll find out at the end.

“None of us knew what it was.  After the thing was dead, Nurse Spinelli ran to call the police.  I wanted to know why it had gone for Rebecca.  Earlier she had said something was coming for her and after what I saw I was ready to go on a little faith.  She led us back to the wall – the window, she called it.  And she begged me to see.”

  

6

“He’s in there.  Coming for me.”  She had accused Martin of drawing the doorway, the way in which this thing could travel through to our dimension but no one else could see anything except the tar stain on the wall.  It had grown since Jonathan saw it last.

Rebecca was still narrating, “He’s coming closer – let him come.  If I can get in – if I could get in I bet I could.  We could.”

“Who is he, Rebecca?  Tell me who he is.”

Her brown eyes turned hard, glinting with something . . . anger, perhaps?  “I’ve known him my whole life.  We used to play games and tell stories through the wall of my bedroom when I was five or so.  He was my only friend.  He told me he was a great king and that someday I would be his queen.  And as I got older so did the games.  He wanted me to do,” she hesitated, her skin flushing with embarrassment mixed with pleasure, “things to myself.  Said he enjoyed watching.  Then one day my mother caught me, sent me to a therapist and I got branded as crazy.  And I am.  He made me that way,” she laughed.  “I’ve wanted nothing to do with him since then but he won’t leave me alone.  And now he has a way to get to me.  But it’s also my chance to change.  I could do so much on the other side.” 

For the first time Jonathan felt sorry for one of them.  Usually Rebecca was a pain in the ass that screamed all day and ended up drugged almost every night.  But now he saw she wasn’t completely crazy – she was haunted, being stalked by a demonic force not of this world.  Jonathan believed her, from the depths of his soul he believed her but he still could not see her tormentor.  Martin was on his other side chewing on a fresh stick of coal with a hard, puzzled look glued to his face. 

“Martin?”  He waited for Martin to nod in acknowledgement.  “You drew this door.  Now how do you open it?”  He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then backed away pulling Jonathan and Rebecca with him.  Whistling to Gregory, he took one last large step away just to be sure.  From some other dark and sweaty hiding place Gregory had pulled another book of matches.  He crossed to the gate as Jonathan yelled, “No!  You’ll burn the building down!”  Gregory ignored him and tossed the flaming stick at the wall.

The tar caught flame and melted away revealing an opening to a black and burning world instead of a bare wall.  Now Jonathan could see – they all could.  Fires burned everywhere in urns bigger than men.  The sky was a gray opalescent and round fiery orbs clung to it like lightning bugs on flypaper.  The floor was black as midnight and polished heavily to mirror the orbs giving the effect that there was no solid place to set your feet but another endless sky.  There were trees in the distance but they shone like diamonds and looked just as cold and sharp and lifeless.  Gigantic columns stood erect sporadically in place only to keep the sky from crashing down.  It was terrifying and magnificent.  And then Jonathan saw him.  He sat atop a bronze pyramid in a throne of onyx with fire cascading from behind.  Not human – Jonathan’s mind couldn’t decipher what he was seeing.  There was no body per say but a tangled mass of snakes and tentacles wildly undulating against one another creating the effect of a body.  Its skin was shades of crimson and black, and glistening with a mucous substance that dangled from its limbs like spider webs.  Atop the disgusting mass was a small flat head full of dozens of beady eyes, intently focused on Rebecca.

Below it, carrying the heavy burden of the king, were more of the oozing tar creatures trudging slowly along leaving behind them a sullied marble floor.  Within yards of the passageway between their worlds they stopped their weary dance and the beast slithered from its throne of hell.

7

Needing to sit before his legs gave the detective had a clean chair brought to him.  He’s no longer pretending to take notes or whatever he calls his scribbles.  No doubt he does perceive it as some tale I’ve woven from the endless depths of my madness from years of working in a place like this.  I almost wouldn’t believe it myself if it weren’t for the humanity strewn over every surface in sight.  I wonder if he’s going to ask me to continue or if I should just keep going.  I would like to rest soon.  I’ve never felt this exhausted in my life.

“Before the monster crossed the threshold we ran.  We knew it was after Rebecca – we were going to take her away, move her somewhere safe.  But it was fast.  We had barely gotten to the security doors when it had ripped apart the entire nursing staff and most of the patients.  Before we knew it we were all that was left.  I didn’t know where we were going to go.  Rebecca said there was only one safe place left.  She took us through the gate.”

  

8

Crossing over was not difficult.  The only noticeable difference was in temperature and sound.  It was so quiet.  The pyramid was nearby as were its beasts but they showed no interest in us.

“Now we wait.”  Rebecca had perched in clear view of the doorway instead of hiding.

Jonathan was the only one who did not understand.  “What do you mean wait?  I thought we were trying to get away – trying to keep you safe?”

She heard nothing.  Gregory and Martin had gone to her and forming a circle the three of them stood, eyes closed.

“Do you feel it?”  Rebecca asked.  Both men nodded in response.  “The change is coming.  Do not be afraid – let it come.  This world will be ours.”

“What are you talking about?”  His heart was racing.  The king was coming back to his kingdom sliming his way back through the portal, tentacles dripping with blood and bile.  He was going to run – Jonathan was going to grab her and run but when he turned she was fading.  She had been its queen all along.  Rebecca’s milky skin was giving way and ripping through were small, sinewy tentacles.  Soon her mortal body was gone having birthed her true form.  Her new skin shone a bluish hue in the firelight and glistened with fresh slime.  Gregory’s body was intact but charred beyond recognition.  Where his sooty flesh had cracked Jonathan could see rivers of lava flowing through his limbs.  And Martin was gone.  Standing in his place was a titan made of charcoal, the thing he loved most.  He looked more like a mountain with legs whereas the other two were pure nightmares.  Jonathan could see now.  This was their world.  It always had been.

The king was still coming.  Martin lifted Jonathan, pulling him out of the way as the beast lunged for Rebecca.  In her new form she was his equal in every way.  With Gregory’s help she gained the upper hand and they began to beat the king.  Rebecca tore at his extremities while Gregory’s every touch melted into him causing him to roar out in extraordinary pain.  Martin threw Jonathan back into his own world and using his forearm as his pencil, colored over the gateway erasing it from existence.  All that was left was a dark charcoal smudge on a bare wall.

  

 

9

“I sat there until you arrived.  I assume she killed the beast, taking his throne in the world she was meant to exist in.  She must have known all along.”

His face is pale.  I can’t tell if he believes me.  Not that it matters.  They’re already strapping me into my straightjacket. 

“Detective?”  He can’t even look at me.  “Could I take the record player with me?  I find it so soothing.”