Descent into Darkness (Crystal Sphere Book 1)

by Ingrid Fry

  Adam was spread-eagled on the floor. He appeared to be wearing a red and white beanie, but it was his brain protruding from the top of his shattered skull. The rest of his head was intact from the eyes down. His rosy lips trembled and moved as though he was struggling to speak.

  ‘Bloody hell. Look!’ I said.

  Ashley held me tighter. ‘Holy Mother of God.’

  Jason followed our gaze. ‘What the?’

  Two quivering antennae emerged from between Adam’s perfect white teeth. Bent insectile legs took purchase on his tender lips as they pulled out a chitinous shell behind them.

  We stood transfixed as a large black cockroach emerged from his mouth. It paused on Adam’s chin, cleaning its face and antennae with spikey forelegs. The task absorbed its attention for a few seconds, and then, it froze, aware it had an audience.

  There was not a sound, not a movement in the room as three humans locked eyes with one cockroach.

  Ashley broke the silence. ‘Kill it.’

  ‘Don’t, Ashley. Don’t move!’ I hissed.

  The cockroach turned and bit Adam’s face. In response, his body jerked so violently it seemed as if he were trying to stand. A loud thunder crack, the smell of ozone, and Adam’s body exploded into a cloud of black dust that filled the room.

  I held my breath. I’d had enough of Adam already; I didn’t want to inhale him.

  For a moment or two, the dust sat like a storm cloud, motionless and brooding, before abruptly contracting and spinning into a black whirlpool. It rotated slowly at first, its blackness displaying an infinite galaxy of sparkling and iridescent stars. It was beautiful.

  The speed increased rapidly—the air moved, our hair flew across our faces and stainless-steel instruments hovered in the air before plummeting into the depths of the whirlpool.

  ‘Move!’ Jason said to Ashley. Ashley responded in an instant and hightailed it out of the room with me in his arms.

  Looking through the window, we blocked our ears and watched a hurricane of loose morgue equipment disappear into the vortex. The black hole spun faster and faster, shrinking smaller and smaller, until it was the size of a pea, and then—pop—it was gone.

  The room was stripped bare. Even the blood had been sucked off the walls. The cobwebs had gone from the ceiling, along with the paint flakes. Mike had vanished too.

  Jason and Ashley stepped tentatively into the room.

  ‘You can put me down now, Ashley,’ I said.

  He rubbed his head and scrutinised the room. ‘Holy snapping aardvarks.’

  ‘Blimey,’ Jason said.

  ‘That proves it,’ I said.

  ‘Proves what?’ they asked.

  ‘The Maestro was telling the truth.’

  ‘Bloody hell.’ Jason took a tissue from his pocket, spat on it, and started to wipe my neck.

  I pulled away. ‘Yuk! That’s what mums do. Gross.’

  ‘What’s a bit of spit in the scheme of things? Hold still. I’m getting the rest of the blood off.’

  My heart started to pound. ‘There was another man in the hospital corridor! Where’s he?’

  ‘I took him out,’ Jason replied.

  ‘Crikey,’ Ashley said.

  ‘Oh, Jason …’

  He kept dabbing at my neck. ‘What is that?’ he asked.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Is that a love bite on your neck?’

  The blood drained from Ashley’s face.

  Jason tilted my head and stared at my neck. ‘It is a love bite! What the hell?’ Pushing me away, he looked me up and down, his laser beam eyes set to maximum. ‘Your bra’s up around your neck.’

  Just as he said that, my jeans fell down around my ankles.

  He stared at me a moment longer, then bent and hoisted them up.

  He tried to zip them closed. ‘Your jeans are ripped.’ He earnestly searched my eyes. ‘Oh, Maggie, did he … are you?’

  ‘No, nothing happened, other than nearly losing the top of my cranium.’

  ‘And your neck? How do you explain the huge red mark?’

  My mind was spinning. What to say?

  ‘Ah, that was actually me, mate,’ Ashley said. ‘Accident. We were hiding in a locker.’

  ‘In a locker? What locker?’

  Ashley pointed at locker five.

  Jason looked at me. ‘Which one were you in, Maggie?’

  I pointed vaguely at the locker bay. ‘Um, that one.’

  ‘Which?’

  ‘Same one,’ I said in a tiny little voice.

  A look of fury flashed across Jason’s face. He pushed Ashley roughly. ‘You were supposed to look after her, you arsehole!’

  ‘I did,’ Ashley said quietly.

  ‘Yeah, sure looks like it,’ Jason said, looking at my state of disarray. My jeans had fallen down again.

  I hauled them up and gripped tight. ‘He did look after me! He saved me. Saved me from some other thug ... in the boiler room … I’d be dead if not for Ashley. I’m so grateful to him.’

  ‘So grateful you repaid him how?’

  ‘Jason! How could you?’ My eyes filled with tears.

  He strode across the room and opened the locker. ‘Tell me. What sort of monkey business happened in here?’

  I took a deep breath. ‘Ashley pretended to be a vampire—because I actually thought he may be one—and he was testing out his new teeth on my neck. He was trying to distract me from my fear and claustrophobia is all.’

  Jason narrowed his eyes. ‘Yeah? And what else did he do to distract you?’

  A tide of red rushed across my face.

  Jason slammed the locker door shut. ‘That says it all. The body doesn’t lie.’

  I needed a lawyer, as anything I was going to say would incriminate me. I think Ashley needed one too. Fast.

  Jason knew Ashley was a scoundrel, but they were best friends. Ashley would never really do anything to hurt him, or me, but Jason knew we had history. This was going to end badly, and I didn’t want to be here having this conversation. I marched over to that damn locker number five, pushed Jason out of the way, rolled out the trolley, lay on it and dragged myself in, slamming the door behind me. It seemed much nicer in the locker, than out there.

  ‘Maggie, get out!’ Jason said through the door.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Maggie.’

  ‘I’m not getting out, until you come in here with me.’

  Jason opened the door, pulled out the trolley and lay on top of me. Ashley pushed us in and closed the door.

  Darkness.

  ‘See Jason? See how it is?’

  ‘Bloody hell, it’s horrible.’

  ‘And we had to be in here for ages.’ I started to shiver.

  ‘Come on, you’ve made your point, let’s get out,’ Jason said softly.

  ‘No.’

  We lay in silence.

  Jason’s breath was hot on my neck, which was enjoyable, as my teeth were chattering from the cold. Tears coursed over my cheeks.

  ‘Please don’t cry.’ He held me and kissed away my tears. ‘I believe you. I love you. Please, let me get you out of here.’

  Knock, knock, knock.

  ‘You guys all right in there?’

  ‘Open the door,’ Jason said.

  Ashley rolled out the trolley, and Jason clambered off and helped me up.

  ‘It’s cool, mate,’ Jason said. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘All good,’ Ashley said as they slapped their arms around each other and hugged like two bears.

  I had to ask the question. I had to know.

  ‘Jason, when you said you ‘took out’ the other guy, the one in the hospital corridor, can you confirm you didn’t merely take him out for a coffee and a chat or something, but you really… killed him. Is that what you did?’

  ‘That’s what I did.’

  ‘Coffee?’

  ‘No, killed him.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘With his own gun.’

  Jason seemed reluctant to t
alk about it, but I persisted.

  ‘How did it happen?’

  He sighed.

  ‘I was searching for you and I found the toilet bag and phone Ash had given you in the bathroom. The nurse at reception said she saw you at the lifts. I figured you’d probably still be in the hospital, so thought I’d start at the bottom level and work my way up.’

  ‘Good plan,’ Ashley said, nodding.

  ‘Anyways, as I proceeded along the walkway I checked a couple of offices and noticed your boots. I’d heard some commotion as I exited the lifts, but it stopped when I started walking. I was checking out an office when someone snuck up and pistol-whipped me. Long story short, he didn’t knock me out. I tackled him, we wrestled, and in the tussle for the gun, it fired and shot him in the guts.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ I said.

  ‘You’re sure he’s dead?’ Ashley asked. ‘It can take a while to die from a stomach shot.’

  ‘Yup, he bled out everywhere.’

  Ashley was puzzled. ‘Who killed the guy that clobbered me in the morgue?’

  I’d forgotten Ashley was unconsciousness for most of the time.

  ‘I did,’ Jason said.

  ‘Crikey.’ Ashley appeared impressed and worried all at the same time.

  ‘Jason saved my life, and the top of my cranium too.’

  ‘Oh, now I’m with it,’ Ashley said, putting the pieces together.

  ‘We haven’t had time to debrief you properly,’ I said.

  ‘She loves to debrief,’ Jason said.

  ‘We’re so behind with debriefing we can’t catch up. It’s crazy.’

  Ashley turned to Jason. ‘You’ve got a gun?’

  ‘Yep.’ Jason removed it from the back of his jeans. ‘It’s a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver. Wish I’d had the wherewithal to grab the morgue guy’s gun.’

  ‘His name was Adam,’ I said.

  ‘He told you his name?’ Ashley said incredulously.

  ‘Yes, he introduced himself.’

  Jason raised an eyebrow. ‘Now I’ve heard everything.’

  ‘He was a nice guy.’

  Jason and Ashley stared at each other, and then looked at me as though I’d gone mad.

  ‘He was going to cut your skull open and scoop your brains out. How is that a nice guy?’ Jason asked.

  I explained what I’d perceived about Adam, and it seemed to allay their fears about my sanity.

  ‘Talking about Adam’s gun,’ Ashley said, pulling a firearm from the back of his pants and waving it in the air, ‘somebody did have the wherewithal.’

  ‘Good work, man!’ Jason said. ‘Now we need a gun for Maggie.’

  ‘Maybe this one will do,’ a male voice behind us said.[18]

  Chapter 19: Marlon

  The man stood six feet tall in his socks (it seemed few people wore shoes on level B5). He had a broad square face, a trimmed mustache, Roman nose and thick eyebrows set low over dark brown eyes. Black wavy hair was swept back off his face, and his ears sat close to his head. He stood legs apart, pointing a gun directly at me.

  He wore a double-breasted army style coat, high collared white shirt and black cravat. There was a small Catherine wheel tattoo under his left eye and his expression was brooding and serious—maybe because of the spreading bloodstain on the front of his shirt.

  He turned his attention to Jason and said, ‘We meet again.’

  Jason’s fists were clenched and his jaw tight. ‘Is there an App I can download to make you go away?’

  Ashley’s mouth twitched with a smile.

  I yelled at Jason in my mind. Christ Jason, now’s not the time for smart arse comeback lines. Leave that to me.

  ‘Has anyone ever told you, you look like a young Marlon Brando?’ I said.

  The man seemed surprised.

  I could feel Jason and Ashley’s eyes on me, and heard Jason yelling in his head for me to ‘Shut the hell up!’

  ‘Has anyone ever told you, you look like a young Maria Schneider?’ the man said. ‘Perhaps we can recreate Last Tango in Paris.’

  His voice was deadly and he had no sense of humour. Not one I liked, anyway.

  We had ourselves a classic Mexican standoff. Jason and Ashley had guns pointed at Marlon, and Marlon had his gun pointed at me. I could imagine to a ‘T’ where this was going. My money was on: ‘Drop your guns or the girl gets it.’

  ‘Drop your weapons, or I will shoot Maggie.’

  Just as I thought. And how come everyone seemed to know my name? It was incredibly disconcerting.

  I could sense everyone’s minds racing, but mine was calm.

  ‘Which scene from Last Tango would you like to recreate?’ I asked.

  Ashley did the inhaling thing with his nose, and I sensed Jason’s horror. The man viewed me with amusement. I was getting to him, but was also highly aware I was playing a very dangerous game.

  ‘Which one do you think, Maggie?’

  ‘I’d have to say the one with the butter, of course.’

  He stared at me intently. ‘Right first time.’

  I opened my hand, and right on cue, my jeans fell around my ankles. I made the right volume of horrified gasp, and said, ‘Oh my God!’ and bent down to pull them up, ensuring Marlon had a full view of my cleavage.

  That moment of distraction—the one I’d carefully planned—was the moment the boys were supposed to take him out.

  Nothing happened. I stood to find them all staring at me. What a bunch of numbskulls! Now things had got a zillion times worse for me, as Marlon appeared all the keener to butter me up.

  All righty then. Plan B. I sure hoped some blood was left in the boy’s brains to enable them to respond sometime this century.

  I held out my hand and advanced towards the man. ‘Okay Marlon, are you ready for me? There’s a fridge in the tearoom over there,’ I indicated towards it with a nod. ‘Bound to have butter.’

  He turned, oh so slightly, and I ducked. The boys shot him dead.

  Second time lucky. Hallelujah.

  My knees buckled from delayed shock, and I collapsed onto all fours watching Marlon disintegrate into a black whirlpool of dust. Leaning across, I snatched his revolver.

  ‘Maggie’s got her gun!’ I said as Jason took my arm and dragged me from the room before the vacuum could get us.

  * * * * *

  The three of us bolted along the shiny corridors following the blue line to room number twenty-three, where we stopped to retrieve my boots. Ashley recovered his from behind a nearby vending machine. Pulling them on, he said, ‘Give me the gun.’

  Reluctantly, I handed it over. He engaged the safety and tucked it away in his pocket.

  ‘I want it back.’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘It’s mine. I found it.’

  ‘Trust me, you don’t want it.’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Have you ever fired a gun? Do you know how to use one?’

  ‘I’ve seen enough movies, and I’ve seen you two.’

  Jason rolled his eyes and gave me a look.

  I made a face.

  ‘You can have it back, but only after I teach you how to use it safely,’ Ashley said. ‘Deal?’

  ‘Deal.’

  As we waited at the lifts, the racket in Jason and Ashley’s minds filled my head. Ticking things over, they weighed and sifted events, consequences, outcomes and what ifs. My brain added to the hullabaloo.

  The roaches in Adam and Marlon—where did they go? Did they survive or die? If so, why would they commit suicide? Maybe there were so many of them they were expendable, like the humans they inhabited. I didn’t like that notion at all. The roaches destroyed matter in a similar way to the Dark Force, but for me, I knew it wasn’t the Dark Force. It was the roach from my vision.

  Ashley’s brain was spinning out of control—What the fuck just happened? What the hell’s going on? What’s Maggie got herself into? Why the fuck do they want her, and what’s with those roaches and the black hole vacuum t
hing? And what the hell happened in that damn friggin’ locker? I mean, really? What the hell got into me? What have I done?

  I focused on my breathing and blocked him out. Poor Ashley, we had to bring him up to speed ASAP. He was more in the dark than us.

  Jason’s brain was whirling too—What are we dealing with now? What’s with the roaches? Is it Maggie’s vision? What happened in that locker? Should I be worried about Maggie and Ashley? Does she still love me? Does she want Ashley back? I’ve killed two people; how can I live with that? What’s going to happen to us now? How can I protect Maggie? How can I protect myself?

  I took a breath and hauled my senses back in. I could barely cope with my own thoughts. Poor Mike, the morgue technician. Here one minute, gone the next, and not an atom of evidence remained. Mike would be a missing person and his family and friends would remain in the dark forever. Just like me with Dad. A sob escaped my lips.

  Ashley took my hand in his. ‘You’re thinking about Mike, aren’t you?’

  I brushed away my tears. ‘Since when did you become a mind reader?’

  ‘I can read you like a book.’

  Jason looked at Ashley in surprise. He went to say something then stopped.

  ‘What?’ I said.

  Jason put a protective arm around my shoulder and Ashley released my hand. ‘I was thinking the only redeeming feature about this entity is it cleans up after itself. There’s no evidence.’

  ‘My thoughts exactly,’ Ashley said. ‘There’s no security cameras down here. The morgue’s been cleaned out, and if it’s sucked the blood off the walls, no one’s going to know what the hell happened. Do you think there’s anything forensics could find?’

  I shook my head in the negative. ‘Trust me, there’s not a particle left. It’s more than sterile. Exactly like our house was for a while.’

  Ashley raised questioning eyebrows at me.

  ‘We had an incident at our place—no roaches—but there was a Dark Force that dissolved matter. It attacked us. We’ll fill you in later.’

  Ashley took a deep breath and appeared pale under his tan. ‘Crikey. I feel like I’m in The Twilight Zone. Life’s never going to be the same.’

  ‘You can say that again.’

  He gave me a grim, thin lipped smile. ‘Life’s never going to be the same.’