by Matt King
“I’ve never seen him like this. I’ve got to get him out of here.” Bear looked out at the sanctuary. “My keys. I don’t know—”
“It’s okay. I’ll get them.”
The congregation still cowered in the corner, most too shocked to realize it was over. Better to get them out before they started asking questions.
“Let’s go people! Everybody out.”
“What if there’s more of those things out there?” the injured woman’s husband asked.
“There aren’t.”
“How do you know?”
“I have eyes in the sky. If there were more out there, I would’ve heard about it by now.”
Slowly, the group moved off the stage, most keeping a wary eye on August as they moved past him to the center aisle. So this is how it begins, he thought. I hope to Christ none of them had a camera.
“We have to go.” Bear stood with Ray in his arms. Ray’s breaths ticked like a clock winding down. His eyes searched the room, but couldn’t stay open long enough to find what he was looking for.
“My coat’s somewhere over there.” August led them down to the center aisle. He kicked one of the corpses aside and pulled another one off that was lying on top of his suit coat. The keys jingled in the pocket. “Here you go.”
Bear took the keys and hurried down the aisle. The dust on his clothes fell away in clouds with each stride. After a few steps, he turned. “You coming?”
August waved them on. “Go. I’ll find you guys later.”
When Bear ducked through the remains of the front door, August turned his attention to the litter of bodies scattered throughout the sanctuary. Some were in better shape than others. Mostly, it was the bodies he was responsible for that were still recognizable. Bear’s other form, whatever it was, didn’t leave much of its victims. August wondered if maybe he had something like Bear’s animal inside of him, maybe something that Meryn hadn’t revealed yet. Didn’t seem likely, though. If he had anything, she would’ve told him how to flip the switch before the gray crazies attacked.
His attention shifted to covering up the mess. Word was going to get out to every podunk newspaper in the mountains about what happened. And back to Phoenix, the paranoid half of his brain added. Someone had to have heard my name. The thought of facing Coburn and his Horsemen was only slightly less daunting now that he knew what Bear was capable of. The comfort was fleeting, though. Coburn would find a way to hurt him, just like all the rest. The only thing August could do was walk away, leaving nothing behind, and hope that the papers thought the witnesses were crazy.
He went back to the pulpit and found a pack of matches on one of the shelves. Of his list of sins, burning a church was going to rank pretty high, but he had a feeling that the next few weeks would give him plenty of opportunity to top it.
August began stacking the disembodied Pyrians in a heap, placing their spears around the bottom like kindling. When he was satisfied that he had enough to get the bonfire started, he used the matches to light a few of the weapons. The fire took easily. He tossed more of the body pieces onto the mound and watched the flames lick higher. Who knew that enraged gray aliens were so flammable?
The last piece tossed onto the fire was the bottom half of the corpse Bear had torn apart on the stage. It sent up a puff of green ash when it landed. Some of the fire had already started to spread across the carpet and into the pews. August wanted to wait until it reached the edges of the church before he cut out for the hospital. Once the flames made it to the curtains, they’d wick the fire all the way to the ceiling, and there wouldn’t be much left of the place by the time people saw the flames and called 911.
August!
He jumped as Meryn’s voice echoed through his head. “Jesus Christ, what now?”
I don’t want to alarm you.
“Well that’s a bad way to start.”
But you have to get out of there. NOW.
“Why? What’s—”
The stained glass mural at the front of the church exploded in a shower of splintered glass. The floor shuddered as something landed on the other side of the flames. Fire blocked August’s view. Squinting, he tried to find the thing through the smoke already filling the sanctuary.
The eyes were the first things he saw.
They appeared through the flames, blazing white orbs that matched the image of the monster he saw in the apartment. August’s heart quickened.
“Meryn, if you’ve got some tips, now would be a great time to fill me in.”
You cannot fight Talus alone, not yet. You have to run!
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
He will kill you, August!
Already tired and worn out from the fight with the Pyrians, running didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Seeing the eyes closing in through the fire made the decision easier. With the front of the sanctuary totally engulfed in flames, the side door was his only way out. He ran without looking back.
The pounding of Talus’s feet against the floor urged August’s tired legs to run faster. As he cleared the doorway and made it to the graveyard beside the Fellowship Hall, the walls of the church whined just before they burst apart. Splintered boards landed on both sides of him.
Angry roars followed him into the trees. August started to wish he’d put more thought into endurance training. His lungs burned. He avoided an overgrown patch of rhododendron, deciding instead to veer toward the edge of a falloff that he hoped would lead to a river, or better yet, a road. When he got to the edge, his momentum took him over the side, and he tumbled down into a slanted wall of rock. The handles of his blades dug into the back of his head each time he made impact. It was one of a thousand different pains he felt as he came to a rolling stop on a slab of cracked asphalt. The screeching sound of car brakes helped push away the fog in his head.
“What in the hell?” a man yelled from inside the cab. “You tryin’ to get yourself killed?”
August wavered on his feet. “Drive,” he said as he moved to open the passenger door.
“I ain’t goin’ anywhere with you.” The man sneered as he gave August the once-over.
“Look, pal. There’s something really big coming down that mountain and he’s about two seconds away from turning your car into a pancake, so drive!”
The man floored the accelerator, sending up a puff of smoke from the tires.
August kept his eye on the side mirror. A dark shadow landed in the middle of the road just as their car crested a hill. He half expected to see the monster sprinting after them, running at some ungodly speed. It wasn’t until they’d gone a few miles with no sign of the beast that August let himself relax.
“Is it over?” the man asked. “Did we lose him?”
“Looks that way.” August closed his eyes.
The car came to a screeching halt. “Then get out!”
The man reached across and had the door open before August realized what was happening. He soon found himself on the side of the road, coughing in a cloud of dust.
“God damn maniac!” the man yelled.
August stood and saluted the car with his middle finger as it peeled off down the road. Asshole. He looked back to make sure Talus hadn’t somehow made up the distance between them when they stopped.
The hills, for now, were quiet.
A cloud of black smoke from the church trailed away into the pale sky. A fire truck’s siren wailed in the distance.
Are you all right? Meryn said.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Talus is gone, but you need to hurry. Mr. Lawson…
“I know,” he replied. “I’m headed there now.”
CHAPTER TEN
The elevator chimed as its doors opened to the third floor of the hospital. August approached the nurses’ desk with an envelope in his hand. He took in his surroundings, trying hard not to sneer outright in front of the woman at the counter. Everything about the place gave him the creeps, right down to the darkened hallways and the ever-pre
sent smell of people waiting to die. Next to the desk, an ancient man in a wheelchair sat hunched over with an IV bandaged to the top of his hand. His head drooped lazily to one side, lips parted in a silent moan.
“Can I help you?” the nurse asked.
August canted away from the camera above the man’s head. “Yeah, I’m looking for Ray Lawson’s room.”
“Visiting hours ended at six. Are you family?”
“N-uh, yeah. Yep. I’m his nephew.”
She cocked her head to the side as she looked him over. “You sure about that?”
“Oh yeah. I just came to see how Uncle Ray was doing.”
“You look kinda young to be his nephew. Come to think of it, I didn’t know Ray had any brothers or sisters.”
“Look, lady, cut me some slack. I—”
“August?” Bear’s voice cut through the still ward. He waved for August to come back.
“That’s my cousin.”
The nurse raised an eyebrow. “I can see the resemblance.”
Bear looked like someone wandering home after a weekend bender. Stray wisps of hair stood out from his ponytail. His eyes looked puffed. The smudges of gray had been washed from his skin, but his clothes still had remnants of the film. He welcomed August with a nod. “Glad you made it.”
“How's he doing?”
“He was in and out when I got here. The doctors took him away for a long time. I tried to sleep in the waiting room, but…”
“But that’s a pretty hard thing to do after what happened, huh?”
“Yeah. I suppose it was.”
August showed him the envelope. “I got him a card. Don’t worry. It’s clean.”
Bear smiled weakly. “He'll love it.”
“Is he awake?” August looked into the room.
“He was just coming around when I heard your voice. Come on in.”
“Wait a sec,” August said, holding him back. “About the church…you could've warned me about that thing.”
“Later,” Bear replied. “He’ll be wanting to see you if he’s able.”
August followed him into the room. Ray’s body looked frail and weak set against the mass of whirring machines tucked around the bed. Some of his color had returned—or maybe it just looked that way because he was lying on bleach-white sheets. Regardless, it was good to see him looking alert. The skin of his cheeks wrinkled beneath his glasses as he smiled at August.
“You’re still here,” Ray said. “You must’ve taken my advice.”
“Good to see you, too.”
August took a single step closer to the bed.
“It’s okay. You’re not going to break me.”
“Yeah, I know. I, uh, got you a card.”
August leaned forward to put it in Ray’s open palm.
“I’m not contagious either,” he said as he took it.
“Sorry. I’m just not used to hospitals and…”
“And seeing people on their deathbed?”
“Daddy, you shouldn’t say things like that,” Bear said.
Ray waved him off. “Bear, don’t fool yourself. I’m lying on my last set of clean sheets.”
“That’s not what the doctor said. You’re coming home with me.”
“Not anytime soon, I’m not,” Ray mumbled. He examined August’s card through the bottom of his lenses. “Well isn’t that a pretty flower. Let’s see what we have here. ‘I heard you were feeling blue.’” Ray turned it over to read the back. “‘That’s pretty common for a COPD patient.’”
August chuckled to himself. He stopped once he saw Bear’s scowl.
“Well,” Ray coughed through a smile. “That’s very clever, Mr. Dillon.”
“They had a machine on the first floor that let you write your own card.”
“So I see. I wish I’d known you sooner. Not many people around here share my sense of humor.”
Polite laughter ushered in a lingering, uncomfortable silence. Ray seemed to be the only one willing to make eye contact. “Well, should we talk about the elephant in the room or just keep on throwing peanuts over our shoulders?”
The phrase almost seemed to make sense, but not quite. August was on the verge of asking what the peanuts were when Ray volunteered the answer.
“I’m saying that it’s time we discuss things. For instance, I believe you owe me a conversation about how you came to show up on our doorstep. Seems like any worries you had about me not believing you can be thrown out the window.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” August replied. He took a deep breath. “Okay. Truth is, I came here to find Bear.”
“I see. What for?”
“He and I were drafted, more or less. We're supposed to help fight a war, but there’s a chance we can stop it before it begins if we...well, it's complicated.”
“Are you allergic to specifics, son?”
“Can you give me a second here? I’m trying.”
“Sorry. Go ahead.”
“Anyway,” August continued, “you’ve heard about the killings in Ohio and Georgia and South Carolina?”
Ray rocked his head on the pillow. “I try not to pay attention to that stuff. I prefer celebrity news.”
“Serial murders,” Bear said.
“That’s what the papers call it, but he’s a lot worse than your average crazy. This’ll give you an idea of what I’m talking about.”
He handed Ray the newspaper clipping from his jacket pocket.
“My gosh. One man did that?”
“That’s only part of it. You don’t want to know what’s under those sheets.”
Ray gave the picture back. “I don’t understand how you boys fit into this.”
“This guy we're after, he's a weapon. I’m—we’re—supposed to stop him before he can be used.”
“I think you’re a little late,” Ray replied.
“This stuff is only the beginning. He doesn’t even know what he’s capable of yet. I have it on pretty good authority that we don’t want to be around when he figures it out.”
Ray let his head rest on the pillow. He closed his eyes.
“Are you tired, Daddy?” Bear asked.
“I’m always tired, but if you’re asking me if I want you to leave, the answer’s ‘no.’ I’m just trying to let it all sink in.”
There was a knock on the door. “Just the nurse,” a woman said. Her soft pink scrubs made a swishing sound as she walked. She passed August and Bear to check the settings on a few of the machines at Ray’s side. “Are you feeling okay, Mr. Lawson? I don’t like you having so many visitors.”
“They’re fine,” Ray replied. He shied away from her attempt to adjust his cannula.
“You’re breathing better.”
“You can thank the oxygen. You all are pumping so much through me I feel like I could read the Bible out loud in a single breath.”
“They told me you’d have a canister of it when we take you home,” Bear said. “It’ll be small enough to carry around with you.”
“If I go home, I won’t use one of those.”
“Daddy…”
“I won’t, Bear. It’s like putting flowers on a pile of manure. What’s the use?”
That one I got, August thought.
“Not too much longer, okay?” the nurse said, looking from Bear to August. She walked out without waiting for an answer.
“She’s a real peach. Matches her uniform.” Ray coughed. “Now, where were we?”
The part where your son punches me in the face for going behind his back. August took a deep breath and tried not to look at Bear. “I was just getting to the important stuff, which is basically that Bear and I need to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Bear said as he walked to the opposite side of the bed. “I told you that.”
“We need to find him,” August said, keeping his eyes on Ray. “Before things get a whole lot worse.”
Ray smoothed the sheets over his stomach. “I don’t understand this. Why is he killing people? If he
’s a weapon, whose is he?”
“It’s hard to explain. You see, there’s these things out there in space. Sort of like people, but…not.”
“We’re called gods,” a familiar voice spoke from the shadows of the room, “even if we haven’t earned the term.”
When August turned around to find her, Meryn stood in the dark corner with the faintest of smiles on her face. She wore a blue floral print dress he remembered seeing on one of the women in the hospital’s gift shop. As always, the blue spark of her eyes preceded her. “Bear, Ray, this is Meryn. Meryn, these are the nice people you asked me to stalk.”
“How did you get in here?” Bear said, shifting to stand in between Meryn and the end of Ray’s bed. He looked like he wanted to be annoyed with her, but there wasn't much hope in seeing Meryn for the first time and not feeling woozy, as August could attest. Lots of women could disarm you with their looks, but Meryn was in a whole different league.
She held a hand to her chest and gave a slight bow. “It is good to see you again, John,” she said as she rose.
“Do I know you?”
She only smiled and walked past him. She placed a hand on Ray’s arm. “It is a special pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lawson.”
“Don’t get too excited,” August said to him. “She only comes around with bad news.”
“You will have to excuse August. I did not give him his sense of humor.”
“Are you the one that made them this way?” Ray asked.
Meryn nodded. “I wish I could have been more up front with you and your son from the beginning, Mr. Lawson, but the situation called for the utmost secrecy. He would have been in grave danger had his powers been exposed.”
“What are you?” Bear asked. His voice no longer had its protective snarl.
“I am one of the nine members of the Circle. For many years, we have acted as caretakers of this universe, but our beginnings are not that dissimilar from your own.”
“You’re human?”
Meryn nodded. “Humanity is not confined to Earth. There are countless worlds and species of life in numbers beyond comprehension, but humans make up a special breed in the universe. There are many branching paths in our shared family, many trees from the same seed. You on Earth are relatively young. There is a progression to our species, and you are not far along the path. Reaching the apex was thought to be impossible. Only a few of us have ever achieved it.”