Alone in the Darkness

by W. J. May

  Simon ignored the comment. Ignored the fact that Cromfield always seemed to know more about him than he should. Ignored absolutely everything except the immediate problem at hand. “Jacob Decker?” he growled. “How could you do that to me?!”

  His voice echoed thunderously in the cavern below, and for the first time a flash of anger shot through Cromfield’s twinkling eyes. “Mr. Decker is one of the foremost psychics of his generation. Ink as advanced as I’ve ever seen. Why would we—”

  “Let my friend go! Now!” Simon demanded.

  No further preamble was required. No kind of compromise would be made. They were referring to one of his best friends here. In light of present circumstances, this was one of his only friends left. Simon would not leave him to rot in this cursed dungeon. Not for a second more.

  “You had no right to take him!” he shouted, literally shaking with anger as the two of them squared off in the cave. “No right!”

  Cromfield cocked his head curiously to the side, observing Simon like he’d offered up an interesting philosophic question for debate. “And I had a right to take all those other people?” he asked in that same speculative tone. “You had a right to steal their tatùs? To help me study them, at times torture them? At times...even kill?”

  A violent shudder ran through Simon’s body, and he fought the urge to take a step away.

  Stay on point, Simon! This is JACOB! Don’t lose focus now!

  “And on that note,” Cromfield continued lightly, “what did you really expect, Simon? We’ve been gathering information and ink. Cataloguing research and conducting experiments on the best and the brightest. You went to school with most of them. Did you really expect that they would have nothing to do with our plan?”

  Simon couldn’t move. Couldn’t argue. Couldn’t speak.

  His two worlds were suddenly crashing together, shattering to pieces with violent collision despite all his best attempts to keep them apart. He could only hope that he would still be able to find himself in the wreckage that followed.

  “Take your friend, Mr. Wardell, for instance.” Cromfield gazed at him with that same intense calm as Simon began shaking with rage. “Unparalleled abilities. Take your other friend, the female one. Beth—”

  “YOU LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS! LEAVE THEM BOTH OUT OF THIS!”

  Cromfield backed away with a sweet smile, nodding as if this reaction was exactly what he’d been expecting when he posed the question. A hard line came up between them for the first time. A limit to what Simon was willing to do. A self-imposed boundary from the man who had forsworn all boundaries.

  But Simon couldn’t help it. Couldn’t begin to picture Beth and Tristan down in this dungeon. Couldn’t leave Jacob in here and walk away.

  It was like a previously darkened corner of his mind had opened for the first time, shedding sudden light on the obvious truth that lay in front of him. The obvious choice to be made.

  They were his family. How did you abandon your family?

  You couldn’t. Not for anything. Not ever.

  Anger boiled over; protecting his family at any cost burned inside his mind. He glared at Cromfield, clenching and unclenching his fists. “They’re not up for debate. They will NEVER be.” He took a menacing step forward.

  Cromfield took a step back. His lips seemed to want to smile, but there was caution in his eyes. He clearly understood Simon meant business. “I’ll take you to see your friend,” he said as he typed in the invisible passcode and the door in the cave gave way. “But first, there’s something I’d very much like you to see.”

  Simon followed him silently in the dark. Ears still ringing with his own screams. Mind still reeling from the silent decision he’d just made. He didn’t know exactly what it meant for him yet. He wasn’t sure what it was going to force him to do—or perhaps force him to not do. But that resolve was there nonetheless. Building, hardening, taking tentative shape.

  Much to Simon’s surprise, they bypassed the cells altogether and made their way down to the lab. His eyes flickered to the damp stone doors cut into the hallway on either side of him, wondering which one held his friend. But before he could even think to call out to him, the lab opened and he and Cromfield walked silently inside.

  “Dr. McAllister?”

  The imprisoned scientist looked up from his piles of research. He had grown gaunt in his time beneath ground; the sleepless circles beneath his eyes seemed to have hollowed themselves out a permanent residence. He wasn’t wearing shackles, for perhaps the first time since he’d arrived almost a year ago, but Simon didn’t think he had enough spirit left to try to leave. Just to make sure, Gabriel was perched on a counter across the room. A gun in one hand. The baby in the other.

  “Thank you, Gabriel. That will do.” Cromfield never looked at the child when he spoke. It was an odd quirk Simon had noticed his first time at the church. “Take your sister and go.”

  As the child hopped off the table and scampered from the room, Simon couldn’t help but turn to Cromfield with a low undertone. “His sister?”

  Cromfield glanced back dismissively. “Not by blood, but titles can be powerful. Best to give them both something to latch on to. Emotions are powerful leverage, Simon.” On that unsettling note, he turned back to the scientist with a bright smile. “Doctor, the serum if you please.”

  Simon’s mouth fell open in shock as McAllister limped forward and placed a vial with a clear liquid in his outstretched hand. “The memory solution? You—you finished it?”

  A part of him was thrilled with the notion, and he found himself almost smiling as he looked down at the syringe in his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Cromfield was watching him closely.

  “Last night,” he answered, waving McAllister away. “In theory, it’s fully operational. All it’s waiting for is a test on a live subject.”

  A sudden chill ran up Simon’s arms, although he didn’t quite know why. They had tested worse things, on more people. Chances were, this wouldn’t even be painful. He glanced up warily at Cromfield, but before he could say anything the man swept them both outside.

  “But you wanted to see your friend...”

  Simon’s fingers closed automatically over the vial as it simultaneously vanished from his mind. “Yes. Take me to him.”

  It was a long walk. Jacob was apparently being kept in the darkest reaches of the catacombs, and with each step Simon’s heart grew heavier. Jacob had been there for over a week. Not that it much mattered. Simon had seen enough of the prisoners to know that time ceased to hold much meaning when you could no longer see the sun. Some of them, the ones who had been designated for ‘breeding’ purposes and kept for months, had actually begun to go mad.

  Finally, Cromfield came to a stop in front of the last cell. With a calm smile he held up a key, offering it out to Simon.

  Simon grabbed it with no ceremony whatsoever and shoved it into the lock, half body-slamming the heavy door to get it open.

  For a split second, he paused. Was this some kind of joke? Jacob wasn’t in here.

  Then a pile of blankets moved in the corner, and his hand flew up to his mouth. “Jake...?”

  Every other thought flew out of Simon’s mind as he raced across the floor.

  He didn’t have an explanation for why he was there. He didn’t care.

  He didn’t know how exactly to get Jacob out. It didn’t matter at the moment. He’d think of something.

  For now, the only thing that mattered was the fact that his friend was there and he was alive.

  ...If only barely.

  “Jacob.” He fell to his knees beside the broken body huddled in the corner, placing a tentative hand on the blanket. “It’s me. It’s Simon.”

  With a speed and strength that was encouraging, Jacob jerked away from the touch. His dark, matted hair fell away from his face as he lifted his head for the first time. “Simon?” He looked like he couldn’t believe it. “Is that really—” He broke off with a sudden scream, bringing his hand
s to his temples as the blanket fell away. Simon jumped back in shock before leaping forward again to steady him.

  “What’s going on?!” he yelled back at Cromfield, keeping his eyes locked fearfully on Jacob all the while. “What’s happening to him?!”

  It was a truly terrifying sight. One that Simon knew he would remember for the rest of his life. Jacob’s entire body was convulsing, caught in an uninterrupted scream as his fingers clawed desperately at the sides of his face, leaving thick trails of blood in their wake.

  But that wasn’t the scariest thing. Not the scream, or the blood, or the way he was shaking.

  His eyes had turned white.

  Simon gasped as Jacob fell back onto the floor, staring in horror at his friend’s ghostly face.

  “What the hell...?!” Simon whirled around to Cromfield, only to see him watching Jacob with an aloof sort of patience. “What are you doing to him?!”

  Cromfield stared steadily back. “Teaching.”

  A second later, the screaming stopped. Jacob collapsed in a pile on the ground, streams of blood trickling through his hair as he pressed his face against the cold stone.

  “Jacob knows he’s not allowed to use his ability,” Cromfield continued calmly. “There will be serious consequences if he does.”

  Simon’s body locked up in horror as he turned back to his friend. He had been trying to pry something out of his head, fingers clawing desperately against his skin. His visions.

  “Jake...” Simon reached out to him again before realizing he was still clutching the brainwashing syringe in his hand. He quickly set it aside and helped Jacob to a delicate sitting position. Just a cursory look told him that his friend didn’t have much time left in this place. One way or another.

  Most people broke within a few days. Succumbed to the will of forces beyond their control in an effort to save whatever semblance of sanity and humanity they had left. The punishments would lessen over time, and they would drift painfully through whatever experiments Simon and Cromfield set out for them without so much as a sound; hollow shells of their former selves.

  Jacob wasn’t like that.

  There was still fight left in Jacob. A will to escape. To fight. To defy. A single spark, perhaps, but he was clinging to it with everything he had left.

  ...and it was almost killing him.

  “It’s okay,” Simon murmured helplessly. “It’s okay. I’m going to get you out of here.”

  Jacob lifted his eyes painfully to Simon’s face, searching it all over like he was trying to determine whether or not it was real. “What are,” he broke off in a fit of coughing, bowing his head once more to the floor, “what are you doing here?”

  His skin was as white as bone, his body was wasted from lack of food, and the stains of blood on the sides of his face made him look like something out of a nightmare. The only thing that remained the same were his eyes. Simon would recognize those dark, knowing eyes anywhere.

  “I...uh...I just...”

  But he trailed off to nothing, frozen stiff with shock and fear.

  What am I supposed to say? That I’m a part of all this? That I do this on a regular basis to other people so I can experiment with their powers? I just never thought it would be you?

  In an act of desperation, he turned around to look at Cromfield instead. The man was staring down at him, intently watching his every move.

  “You want him to be released?” Cromfield asked softly. Simon’s heart leapt in his chest and he nodded. But Cromfield wasn’t finished. “Knowing what he knows?”

  It was like someone poured cold water down his spine. Simon turned back to Jacob in horror as he realized the inescapable truth.

  Jacob was the first person to cross between both of Simon’s worlds. Jacob was that very collision that threatened to tear apart everything Simon loved in both.

  If released...Jacob would be his downfall.

  A crushing weight descended onto Simon’s shoulders, bowing his head with the force of it.

  “Why did you bring me here?” he whispered. A fleeting thought passed... Simon had demanded to see his friend. “Why did you let him see me?”

  It was a throwaway question, one mumbled only out of shock. He had a very good idea why Cromfield had consented to let him see Jacob. In fact, he had a very good idea why Jacob had been abducted and brought here in the first place.

  Because now Simon had gone too far. Now, there was no going back.

  ...or was there?

  With sudden illumination, he gazed down at the syringe lying on the floor. A simple shot could change everything. Could fix it, even. Jacob wouldn’t remember. He could be set free.

  His fingers closed around the vial, and in his periphery he saw Cromfield smile.

  “Simon?”

  Simon raised his head guiltily. Jacob had been watching everything with near-delirious confusion. His chest rose and fell with painful, broken breaths as his eyes darted between Simon and Cromfield, growing more and more disoriented with every pass.

  “Simon, what’s he talking about?” Jacob angled himself automatically behind his friend as he cringed against the cold stone. “What’s going on?”

  It looked like he was making a great effort to speak. A great effort to even keep his eyes open. But open they were. And they were seeing everything.

  His hand reached out and fastened on the end of Simon’s cloak, trembling, but holding on for all his worth. He was counting on Simon to protect him. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind.

  And I will protect you. Simon’s heart locked down with a shudder. This...this is the only way.

  With shaking hands he pulled off the cap on the needle, flashing Jacob a painful smile at the same time. “It’s going to be okay, Jake. I’m going to get you out of here. But first I...I have to make you forget.”

  “Forget?” Jacob’s face blanched as he glanced down at the needle. His eyes began to whiten again—searching for the truth—but he remembered himself at the last second and flinched back into the wall. “What do you mean? Forget? Forget what? Simon, what’s going on?”

  Simon couldn’t bring himself to look his friend in the eye. He just stared down at the vial in his hand, mind reeling with the task that lay ahead of him. “It’s the only way...the only way he’ll let you go.”

  His eyes locked onto Jacob’s hand still clutched around his coat. Would that be the best place to do it? One little prick of the needle, and both of their problems would go away. Of course, that wouldn’t be the only thing Jacob would lose...

  As if his body sensed a danger his mind could not, Jacob retracted his hand. He sat staring at Simon with scared, panicked eyes. “Simon, let’s just get out of here! Take his ability, and let’s...”

  He trailed off suddenly, looking down at his arm.

  Simon had discreetly rolled up his sleeve and was holding onto him, flicking the syringe with his finger to remove any air.

  “What are you...”

  It suddenly clicked. The reason Simon had walked in here of his own volition. The reason Cromfield had asked him about the release. What Simon meant when he said forget.

  “NO!” Jacob’s feet scrambled weakly against the floor as he tried to get away, wrenching his arm free from Simon. “You can’t—”

  “Jacob, it’s the only way.” For the second time that day, Simon felt like his chest was tearing into a million pieces. “He’ll kill you otherwise.”

  He reached for Jacob’s arm again but Jacob twisted away, staring up at Simon in pure horror as his face turned even more impossibly pale. “Simon...please. Please—don’t. It’s who I am, my memories. I can’t...” He let out a broken gasp as Simon moved steadily forward, his voice rising in panic. “Please! I won’t tell anyone! I swear! Just don’t—”

  Simon shook his head slowly, finally forcing himself to meet his friend’s eyes. “Jake, you can’t stay here—you’ll die. And we can’t let you out, knowing what you know.”

  There it was.

  We.
>
  He’d finally admitted it.

  Without another word, he reached again for Jacob’s arm.

  Except Jacob kicked him in the chest.

  “You BASTARD! Don’t you dare touch me!” The sudden flood of adrenaline had given Jacob new strength, and he shakily pulled himself to his feet. “Of course you had something to do with this, you son of a bitch! I swear to you, Simon, if you do this, I’ll—”

  “You won’t remember,” Simon said simply.

  It was the kick, more than anything, that had made up his mind. Jacob knew how to fight; in fact, he was damn good at it. He could break a man’s chest with a kick like that.

  But that kick...was delivered with the strength and accuracy of a child.

  His friend didn’t have much time left. His mind was strong, but his body was failing. He was either getting out of here without a memory of the place, or he wasn’t getting out at all.

  Simon had to save his friend. He didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t right his wrongs, but this... this he could stop.

  “I’m sorry,” Simon said with all the sincerity he could muster. He outpaced Jacob easily and took him once more by the arm, firm in his decision. “Jacob, I’m so, so sorry.”

  Just like that, Jacob saw his one chance vanish before his eyes. He knew Simon. Knew how to read his voices. Knew that there was nothing left he could do.

  But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try...

  “Please...” he whimpered, but made no move to struggle as Simon slowly lifted his arm, squeezing it slightly to produce a vein. “Lili—you met Lili, right, Simon? Please, please don’t make me forget her.”

  Simon hesitated, and made the extreme mistake of looking into Jacob’s eyes. What he saw there burned forever into his mind. A permanent torture he would never be able to escape.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered again.

  Then he stabbed him. They both watched in total silence as the needle slipped under his skin, the serum emptying out in his veins.

  It was at this moment that Cromfield took a step forward himself, interested to see the results.

  For a moment, nothing happened.