A Life in Darkness

by Heinreich T. Sioson

  During the course of the mission I wondered if I would ever reach this point alive and at last, I returned to where my journey began. I looked up at the ruined skyscraper and Kari joined me in staring up at it. Without saying a word I walked into this once proud and giant building and cimbed up. Kari was content to sit in my arms, at times looking at her surroundings when she could clearly see them under the light of the stars. I reached the floor with the gaping hole I had jumped through when I arrived and realized I could just reverse the steps. Telling Kari to hold on tight I flipped onto the wall and somersaulted through the gap and to the floor above. I landed on stable ground and feet and continued climbing the building until we reached the floor where the gateway was located.

  Setting Kari down I stood in the middle of the desolate room and opened my mind just a little and reached out for the portal’s unique telemetric signature: it was still active. I took out my PDA and laid it flat on my fingertips, where it started to rise and float on its own. I let my arm drop to my side. I glanced at Kari and chuckled as I saw the look of wonder on her face.

  “You’ll be able to do that one day,” I said. Turning to the PDA I used my mind to access report telemetry. I smirked, never thinking I’d be so glad to speak to Emily Jane. Some seconds passed before a screen popped up with a very angry and very scowling Emily Jane Charleston.

  “Where the hell have you been, Darrius?” She was an inch away from screaming, and she might’ve done that had she not seen the look on my face. She paused what she was going to say next and I saw her eyes survey me. Even though we were communicating through a virtual screen I felt her inspection of me as if we were in the same room. Her dark blue eyes had something to do with it.

  Her mouth quirked as she spoke with a calm, controlled tone. “What happened?”

  I sighed. “The mission is complete. I have Kari Greene with me.”

  “I see. Can you show her to me?” I moved the device so she could see the little girl standing behind me. Kari saw Emily Jane and waved. Emily Jane allowed a small smile to show, but it wasn’t a warm one and lived the briefest of moments before disappearing. I turned the PDA around to have the image face me. She added, “And her mother?”

  “She, um, decided to stay behind to buy us some time.”

  She nodded and began inputting data into her computer.

  She asked, “And the missing Scouter, Ethan Barris?”

  I shook my head.

  I saw her cast her eyes down as she paused, and then looked back at me. “I’m sorry. Did he leave anything?”

  “His PDA was intact when I found him. He has a message for his wife and son.”

  “I’ll give the message to his family—”

  “No.” I interrupted her. “I was there, it’s best I give it to them.

  Emily Jane nodded. “I understand.”

  “Thank you.” I paused to say something else, but before I could I felt an intense pressure in my mind that made me buckle over. I tried to straighten my body and then pressure from a second source flooded my mind. This time I did fall to my knees. I dropped the PDA and Emily Jane’s image flickered but remained stable. I heard both Kari and Emily Jane scream my name but their voices were muffled, as if someone had stuffed my ears with cotton balls. My eyesight flickered between night vision and normal sight as I looked around and saw two of the two-legged creatures walking towards me. I was able to halt their mental attacks but it took me much longer to do due to my weakened state. Cutting off their attack caused both figures to jerk back like I had struck them in the face.

  I retaliated by thrusting my hands out causing a wave of telekinetic energy to smash right into them causing them to hit the far wall hard and bounce to the floor. I turned to Emily Jane and yelled at her to activate the portal. She nodded and went to work; it would take a couple minutes for the doorway to Central to appear. I had to buy us some time. I pointed at a nearby desk and told Kari to hide until everything was safe. She obeyed at once and crawled underneath it. I turned back to the two creatures and saw they readied themselves to dash towards me. I thrust my hands out again to hit them with another blast but they dodged my attack, causing the wall behind them to buckle. Safely out of the way they came at me in a blur of movement. I floated a nearby office chair into the air and hurled it at the feet of one of the creatures tripping it, and its momentum propelled it violently through several cabinets and desks to one side of the room.

  The second creature shot jagged black spikes at me: the same ones that had wounded me hours earlier. I dodged to one side and then launched myself at the creature catching it off guard. The surprise counterattack worked and the moment I was in pointblank range I uppercutted it in the jaw. The force of the blow slammed it into the ceiling and wasting no time I pointed at it and brought my finger down to the floor in a single, quick movement. The creature crashed to the ground and right through to the floor below. Looking down through the hole the creature had hit the ground hard but I couldn’t take the chance it was still alive. I glanced about me and saw a handful of copper piping tubes each about three feet long and brought them towards me with a gesture. The tubes floated towards me and when they gathered themselves in a cylindrical pillared formation I threw them at the creature. With each pipe that penetrated the creature it let out one agonizing scream after agonizing scream but I didn’t care; there was nothing but hatred in my heart and thoughts of Fiona’s sacrifice. I loosed the last pipe at the creature’s head and it pierced it with ease, causing its screams to die out with sudden abruptness.

  There was time to celebrate however as I heard a massive sound coming from the distance. I looked at the direction of the noise and moved towards the closest window. My eyes bulged as I saw what was coming. There must’ve been billions of those creatures, both insects and bipedal monsters alike in a massive tidal wave of unspeakable horror. Its size eclipsed most of the buildings around it as its approach swallowed up many of them and the streets below. It looked as if the entire monstrous population of the world was coming.

  I turned towards the PDA lying on the ground and saw her clicking furiously away at her console. I yelled, “Emily Jane, we need extraction now!”

  “Just hold on a little longer, Darrius! The gate machine is having a hard time pinpointing the exact point of origin on your side!”

  I was going to say we were short on time until I felt a rush of air. I was able to react but only just as the creature I had struck first tackled me. I grabbed its arms as we hurtled towards the far side of the building. The moment before my back struck the wall I increased my physical defenses. Despite this my entire back was a single focused point of intense pain as the wall caved in and we tumbled into the room beyond. The impact separated us and we rolled dozens of feet into the space. My abdominal wound was alight with pain but I was able to recover and get up first. The monster got up after I did and continued its attack, launching a flurry of black needles which pierced the ground and surrounding structures as I strafed and jumped out of the way. I was juggling the use of my gift and I could sense a growing tiredness in the part of the mind that governed its use. If I didn’t finish it off soon I’ll be completely drained and defenseless.

  I turned to the other room and reached out to Kari’s mind - she was still safe. Good. Sending energy to my legs I took a long backwards leap through the hole we had just created and the creature moved to follow me. Before it was able to fully clear the breach in the wall I reached out to two metal cabinets on opposite sides and clapped my hands once. The cabinets collided in much the same way, trapping the thing’s legs and obliterating them. I heard the sounds of deforming metal impact upon flesh and bone, rending and smashing as easily as one would a peanut with a hammer. The creature dropped to the floor and began flopping around like a fish on land until it steadied itself with its arms. I walked up to the gravely wounded creature looked at it with merciless and uncaring eyes; how many people – men, women, and children – had this monster killed? As it attempted in vain to
grab at my legs I took mental hold of one of the fallen cabinets and floated it towards the creature’s head. Before it could touch me I released the heavy steel cabinet on top of the creature’s head, crushing it underneath the weight of it. It stopped moving.

  Before I could celebrate another thunderous sound came from outside. It was closer. The monstrous formation of creatures was still headed our way.

  I wheeled towards the PDA’s image and yelled, “EJ, where the fuck is that portal?”

  “It’s opening now!” said Emily Jane. Seeing the event horizon had begun to appear I grimaced when I remembered how slow the doorway was to open. I called out Kari’s name and her head popped out from under the desk. I gestured for her to come to me and she came forward and hugged my leg. I returned the gesture as I stared at the portal with a nervous eye. Another terrible mixture of sound came from the black tidal wave and Kari and I turned to it. The collective had picked up speed. They must’ve realized their prey were close to escaping and were now driving themselves like the maddened demons they were to get us. Seconds felt like hours as the horde loomed ever larger. I turned around and saw the portal’s mouth had grown to the point Kari might be able to enter it herself. But before I could act I turned back to the formation of creatures and my eyes widened. It had taken me but two seconds to look at the portal and back and those things had halved the distance with frightening swiftness.

  I turned Emily Jane’s ephemeral image and said, “EJ, I’m sending Kari first.”

  “No!” said Kari as she tightened her hold on me.

  “Kari, I’ll be fine. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “No!” She held me like a vice. Turning towards the gateway I saw the mouth had grown bigger. Good, I thought. I picked up Kari, and realizing what I planned to do, she struggled and hit me and cried for me to let her go. Tears began to form I didn’t shed. I owed it to this girl, her mother, her father, Ethan Barris and all those who perished on this world for at least one of us to escape this world. If my first mission as a Shifter was to be my last, at least it’d be successful. And I’d be proud. It’d be something I’d take with me in whatever next life waited at the edge of the clearing.

  I got halfway to the gate when the large window behind me erupted into shards of glass. I shielded Kari’s body with my own as two more humanoid monsters broke away from the main group. Before touching down they each launched a burst of serrated needles that managed to graze much of the left side of my body before I dodged out of the way. With Kari caught protectively in my arms I rolled to one side, recovered and got up on a knee. The left side of my face was so cut up and bloodied I couldn’t see out of my eye. The creatures faced me head-on as I stood. I looked at Kari and asked if she was all right. She nodded and I focused my attention on the two who had attacked us. Weighing my options I circled my way right with careful steps to buy some time to think. Each creature began to mimic my movements but in opposite directions; they were planning on trapping me between them. I stopped when I was in a direct line with the backside of the portal and they stopped with me. The gate was larger and I could now fit both Kari and myself into it. However, my assailants were blocking my path. The plan I had in mind was risky but my options were dwindling by the second. I chanced it.

  I brought up my free hand and trickled psionic energies into it. My PDA flew into my hand, distracting the creature on the left and creating an opening. Leading with my shoulder I rammed the center mass of the creature propelling it towards one of the steel beams of the building where it ricocheted hard to the floor. The other creature charged at me. Expecting this I pointed the open palm of my free hand and caught the creature in an invisible grip it struggled to free itself from. With what little energy I had left I flung it out of the window. Doing that was a small comfort however because by the time I looked outside the horde was just seconds away from reaching us.

  I made my move. Shoving the PDA into my coat’s pocket I turned to the portal and with Kari still in my arms I jumped into it at the same time the horde breached the front of the building. One of the last things I saw as the ocean of blue energies surrounded me was the mouth of the gateway shutting right before the creatures were able to breach it. Closing my eyes, I allowed its warm embrace to engulf me and bring me home.

  Epilogue

  Weeks had passed since I brought Kari Greene back from the Sunless Earth. I don’t recall what happened the first few days on the count of the fact the moment I let Kari down onto the smooth marble floor of the portal room I passed out. Apparently I drifted in and out of consciousness until I came to on the sixth day. I remember looking over at Kari who had fallen asleep holding my hand. I squeezed her small one and she woke up almost immediately. I smiled at her and she smiled back. She leaned over to kiss my cheek and ran out of the medi-room and called for a nurse. The next few days consisted of visits from friends and colleagues, congratulating me on a job well done. All the while Kari was with me, refusing to go about her training until I was up and about. Even Emily Jane visited me, which was a genuine enough surprise that it was the talk of Central for some time after.

  The truth was there wasn’t much to brag about; she surveyed me with a cool look and the only thing she said was, “When you can walk you must report to the Conclave at once.” She left soon after that.

  After I was out of the hospital I did go to the Great Hall to give a written and oral report to the Conclave, the governing body of Central. Learning of the full account of my mission the speaker – the same one who found my mentor, Bol Piles, guilty and sentenced him – told me I had done excellent work under harsh circumstances and would be commended. In other words, I thought, I passed their damned test. But I couldn’t say that. Instead, I bowed my head in appreciation and walked out of the hall.

  Despite Kari’s wishes I was not allowed to mentor her in the use of her innate gifts. I was too inexperienced and wasn’t qualified to be an instructor. For a while she sulked and refused her lessons but I stepped in and told her she could come to me whenever she needed for extra tutoring if her instructor was okay with it. Satisfied with that compromise she did begin to learn with the vigor, enthusiasm, and talent that made her the delight of her small class. On occasion she would visit me and we would talk about her lessons and I would give her tips on how to use and control her gift. She missed her mother but she was happy here. And of course, she never went anywhere without her bear friends.

  I did end up seeing Ethan Barris’ wife and son. It was the first thing I did when I was released from the medical ward. I gave his wife, Kim, the PDA with the audio recording of his last message. Looking at her I saw her eyes were bloodshot from crying; she already knew what happened to her husband. When I handed her his last message, I saw a species of sadness and hate as I explained who I was and what I had witnessed. In her eyes, I also saw blame as she glared at me. From behind her I heard the sound of a boy reciting lessons out loud on the proper use of telepathy. It must’ve been her son, Jack. I gave her my condolences one last time and walked away. I heard the door slam shut behind me, but I didn’t take it personally.

  Now that I was on decent terms with the Conclave I was able to settle down into my role as a full-fledged Shifter. I was sitting at my desk when I heard the pleasant female voice of my home’s virtual servant software inform me there was a guest at my door. I touched a screen on a nearby wall and saw it was Emily Jane Charleston. I quirked my mouth and debated on leaving her out there but decided against it. I told my home’s artificial intelligence to allow her in. Moments later I greeted Emily Jane who was inspecting the front parlor with a critical eye.

  She said, “It looks like you have finally settled in. You’re a Shifter now.”

  I nodded. “That I have and yes, I am. That means you’re my Grounder.”

  “Right. I hope we can work well together.”

  “Same.” I wasn’t sure where she was going with this.

  “I was finally able to read your report on the mission. It was drea
dful, what happened over there.”

  I cast my eyes to the floor. “Yeah.”

  “But you completed the mission, which counts for something.”

  I was half annoyed and half amused by the comment but I said, “It better.”

  There was a pause in the conversation until she asked, “You’re still bitter about Bol Piles?”

  I looked at her. “How can I not be?”

  “He broke our laws, you know?”

  “I’m well aware.”

  “Our laws state we must never make contact with anyone from our previous—”

  “I know!” My voice was raised but I had enough sense to lower it at once. “Trust me, I know. I also know that wasn’t the only law he broke.”

  “You understand then?”

  I understood. As much as I hated to admit it, I did. But it still didn’t make his sentence right. I nodded anyway.

  “Good.” Her curt way of speaking combined with her English accent always made me feel like she was putting me down with every word she spoke. In an attempt to change the subject I asked her why she was here. It couldn’t have been to talk about regulations or my feelings.

  “The Voyants have informed the Conclave they’ve glimpsed something in the temporal ether. I’m told a Scouter has already been dispatched.”

  “Okay.”

  “I just wanted to see if you’re up for another assignment?”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Naturally. It comes with the territory.”

  “Good,” she said. She turned to walk out the door which slid to once side to allow her to pass, but she stopped and turned her head to look at me. “One more thing.”